Quarters that makes perfect sense, you know. Federal government must have something to do with the naming of that, you know. But, uh, so Faith was either called with you who also will do it.
And then verse 25 says, "Brethren, pray for us."
And this I really want to share with you this morning as what Pastor asked me to do is just kind of share our ministry. A lot of times, missionaries come and go. They come through, they're either, well, they're hitting churches like crazy. And a lot of times, even the missionaries that you may partner with, you know, you may know what they're doing, but you may not really know them per se.
And I'm not really going to change a whole lot of that today, but I want to give you a little bit more than the average, so to speak, because I have been on both sides of the desk, so to speak, and pastored and been a missionary. But nonetheless, I grew up in Southeast Virginia down there near Chesapeake in the Great Dismal Swamp.
Anybody ever heard of the Great Dismal Swamp? I don't have, okay, a couple of us. And I don't really know if "great" is modifying "dismal" and then "swamp," or if they both modify "swamp." But nonetheless, it's a place.
And anyway, that's where I grew up in Chesapeake, Virginia. I didn't grow up in a Christian home, but by God's grace, the Lord allowed us to attend a Christian school from kindergarten all the way through the time I graduated. And I praise the Lord for that.
It was through the ministry of the Christian school that I got born again, that I heard the gospel. It was through a preacher and a church, wasn't through an altar, or at an altar, brother, but rather through the ministry of a Christian school.
And they have different curriculums that they use throughout the different times, and it was through that I got saved when I was 12 in 1993. Now you're doing the math: how old is this guy? Well, let me save you, I'm 42. You know how we say, "I'll be 43 on my birthday." Why do we say that? You know, we always do that. But if something changes on that, I'll let you know.
But my wife did grow up in a Christian home. She grew up in Northeast Georgia, and really not too far from where we were on staff at the church that was my wife's home church. Now, if you knew that or not, did you? Okay.
And she was saved at the age of five in kindergarten, and she's been such a blessing and help to all of us. So think about this: I grew up in rural Virginia; she grew up in rural Georgia, but in a Christian home. Think about how God has brought these two different worlds together.
Her mom was a Christian school teacher; her dad was a deacon at his church. And so just think about, I mean, it was only God can do that, you know? And praise the Lord for that.
The Lord called me to preach on March 14th, 1999. I was 18 years of age. Would you believe I'm not sure how this has happened? That's almost 25 years ago. And God's been so good to us. Ginger and I were married in 2003 at her home church there at the church that we've already mentioned at Grace Baptist in Royston.
And we did serve there for about a year and a half, from '03 to '05. Ginger and I both graduated from Atlantic Baptist Bible College in 2000. She graduated in 2002 with her—she got two degrees: she got her associate's degree and her Mrs. degree. You figure that out, maybe.
And then I got my bachelor's in 2004, currently working on my master's, and whatever that means, I'm not real sure. But anyhow, the Lord's allowed us to be in a missionary church planting ministry since 2005.
You know, different things, you know, I don't know how about you, how you feel about all this, but sometimes as you serve the Lord and as you go forward for Christ, you know, you don't know necessarily the label, you know, how this or how that. But over the years, the Lord allowed us to put this label on it: it is planting churches in rural America.
And planting churches in rural America has been our ministry since 2005. Most church planters, whether they're foreign or domestic, they usually go to large areas. And I'm not saying that's wrong; I'm not saying that's wrong at all. We need that. But we can't do that while we forsake the small towns and forsake other rural areas.
And you know that first church that we were at was a town called Moorcroft, Wyoming. I became the missionary pastor of Prairie View Baptist Church, and we got 100 on the vote. Man, praise the Lord for that! It means all four people voted yes; we want you to come and help us.
And while we're there, my wife and I lived in Sunday school classes in the basement of the church and used the church facilities over our homes. We really identified as trolls there for the period of time that we were there. The Lord allowed us to be there for almost four years.
But we enjoyed it, man! We were just living our dream. I was preaching, and I was reaching the community. I was doing what God's called me to do, and we were there for that time.
And while we were there, Jacob and Tyler were born. While we were there in Moorcroft, we're talking about rural America; it's about a town of 800 people. But there's a church there that needed—there's people there, rather—that needed to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And when the Lord moved us away from there, He allowed another pastor to step right in. The church never missed a Sunday, and so we praise the Lord for that.
And it was there, preacher, it was there where God really confirmed, called, solidified, whatever the word that you want to use for our calling of our ministry of rural America, planting churches in rural America.
And that's a blessing because I grew up in rural America, where I share a little bit more about that momentarily. But nonetheless, we were there for that time from 2009 to 2012. We were on deputation.
Don't ask me what that is. Basically, deputation is where you march your family around all across the country and let different pastors and preachers pick your family apart and get microscopes and tell you all the things you're doing wrong. Sums it up, doesn't it?
And a few times along the way, people are nice to you, you know? And I'm totally kidding. We had a—we're enjoying this go-around a whole lot more than we enjoyed that go-around. I'm a lot older than I was then, and obviously, you know, I'm older than I was yesterday, you know, so that's a plus.
But through all that, through that deputation time, the Lord allowed us to experience some challenges and some hardships, and a lot of it was my wife's health. My family had—she had multiple surgeries and multiple hospital stays through all that.
But I'll tell you, folks, through all of that, God showed Himself great and faithful, and He never left us. And I praise the Lord for that. He allowed us to go through some deep waters where this verse came alive because He truly is faithful.
During that time of deputation, my family and I increased our family and gave us our first girl, Charity, and apparently that's 11 years ago. And I need to put this in my notes so I know how old they are and she was born because it was in between the two churches. We turned that church over, we traveled around, and now, before we planted the next church, we were traveling.
And she was born in Chesterfield County, Virginia. She's our only Virginia-born child, and so pray for her. But then a little loudness in January 2013 to plant the Blessed Hope Baptist Church of Burns, Wyoming.
So Moorcroft was 800 people; Burns, Wyoming was 300 people. We're really moving up, you know? And remember that we're moving on up, you know? But, uh, that was terrible. Y'all should know that song, you know?
But nonetheless, yeah, 300 people. But folks, from day one, God showed up. All right? In a town of 300 people, our first service had 46 people. And we had ups and downs; we had all that. But we kept 40-50 people. It was a different 40-50 people, you know?
There for a while, I told people I think we have three churches inside of our church. We got three, this 50, this 50, and this 50. And if they all showed up, we couldn't see them all. I think they're just in cohorts, you know? They're just shifting it just so I won't have to put more chairs out.
But nonetheless, the Lord allowed us to—we released a school building. Now don't think a one-room schoolhouse; don't think that it was an old school building much like we have here, I'm probably assuming.
And where the school district built a new school, and so they used the old school and gave it to the town, and the town leased it out. The town moved their headquarters there, and God just really did a great work there.
We expanded multiple times, and one time the town actually offered to sell us that building for about two and a half million dollars, I think it was. And I said, "No, I don't think I will." You know? And, uh, but if you want to give it to us, you know, we'll be glad to talk with you about that.
But anyway, the Lord allowed us to eventually buy a building about 10 minutes from Burns, right outside of town, which puts us into another unincorporated town of Hillsdale. So Moorcroft is 800; Burns is 300; Hillsdale is 50.
50 people. And we bought 15 acres there. It was an old Christian camp, and the building was 60 wide by 210. Just think of Noah's Ark; it just looked like Noah's Ark. And we lived on one end of it.
And so let's just, for the sake of conversation, one-third of it on the west side was living quarters, and the other two-thirds of it was all ministry: sanctuary, you know, bathrooms, classrooms, and all that stuff.
The Lord allowed us to buy that for 26 cents a square foot, and whatever that comes out to be is what we paid for it. I really don't remember what it was, and praise the Lord for that.
When we did that, it just made sense for us to do that because we ended up paying less monthly buying a building than the church was paying less in rent for the facility and then paying me for housing allowance.
So we just reallocated all of that and came out way ahead, and so we praise the Lord for that. But while we were there, we saw people trust in Christ, baptized. Every person that we ever baptized was baptized in a horse trough.
And, you know, that's biblical, you know? But many, many rededicated their lives, many homes saved, and praise the Lord for what God has done there in the Burns-Hillsdale area.
One year for Easter, our high attendance still today, just still stands, is we had 94. 94 was the highest attendance in a little town of 300 people. And folks, only God can do that! Only God can do that!
Before COVID, we averaged about 50, and praise the Lord for that. And again, that varied some with different people. If everybody showed up, it'd be higher than that. But now, after COVID, now with the new pastor, they're doing a great job; it's about 30.
And, you know, everybody weathered COVID differently. But honestly, we never shut down because I'm a little rebellious about all that. And, um, I told our church, I said, "The governor—we're not live streaming this part, are we? I don't care." You know?
But, uh, I told them, church, I said, "You know, the governor didn't send us here to plant this church to open this church, so he sure can't close us." You know?
And, uh, but nonetheless, I'm kind of getting into the areas I don't really want to be into. But, uh, but nonetheless, that's who we are. We wasn't ugly about it; we just—that's just who we are.
We had plenty of space to spread out, and we were mindful of it. And we drank the hand sanitizer like every, you know, every day. And, you know, so, but nonetheless, while we were there, blessed.
So there's 10 years that the Lord allowed us to be there. God allowed Hannah and Samuel to be born there in Cheyenne. And the coolest thing that I love is that four of our children came to know Christ while at Blessed Hope Baptist Church.
And folks, that right there is worth it all. And, of course, most recently, Jake was saved back in April of this year, and then Tyler, back in March, answered the call to preach.
And so we praise the Lord for all that. You know, sadly, in like just a few minutes, I told you what we've just been doing the past 18 years, you know, give or take.
So just have a conclusion; you didn't get all the hyper—I mean, you just got a few of the high points. Yeah, there's a lot of low valleys in there.
And this past January, the Lord allowed us to turn over that church. And, um, okay, I'm jumping ahead of myself. I thought I skipped ahead.
But going forward, we'll pause that thought. Going forward, the Lord is directing us to continue their missionary church planting ministry in rural America. We're heading to, as Pastor mentioned already, with our same signatures, Faith Baptist Church, Colonial Heights, Virginia, still being with us.
God's been working in our hearts; we're planting a church in Bracey, Virginia. Bracey, Virginia is located in south-central Virginia, and it is about 1200 people embracing.
So preacher, where's Bracey at? Well, it's in Virginia, you know? So you got Richmond, and you come out of Richmond. There are two interstates that come out of Richmond: there's 95 that comes straight into North Carolina, goes into Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, on the state line.
Then there's 85 that kind of looks like a spaghetti; you know, it's not straight; it just kind of comes out crooked. Like Bracey, Virginia is about four miles north of North Carolina, so you're almost into North Carolina, Buggs Island area, Lake Gaston, all that area.
There's 1200 people right there in that town, and there's no Baptist church right there in that town. And off of this town this way, there's a work; about 20 minutes this way, there's a work; up the town north, there's a work. But there's no work here.
And the Lord's allowed my family and I to go and plant that church. And Lord willing, we're planning on having our alarm service in January. January 28th will be our first service.
Back, was it that—this is September—back, was it May or June, we met with the Bracey Community Center people. And so we did that, and they're going to allow us to use the building, rent the building for 50 bucks a Sunday.
And folks, that's pretty cheap! And because that's probably cheaper than what we started with in Burns. And the cool thing is that I love this: what God does, Bracey Community Center, on that property, and Bracey Community Center is built in a small building.
I got pictures on our Facebook page. If you go to our QR code, it'll take you to our ministry Facebook page and see all the pictures there, or I can email them to you as well.
But you walk in there, and we met them. I walked in there; it says, "This looks like a church." And I asked them, "Was this ever a church? Was this building ever a church?" They said, "Well, no, not really."
So they said, "Let me tell you the story." And let me tell you the story in brief: back in the 1920s, somebody started Bracey Baptist Church. I was like, "Well, that's cool! Well, where's that at now?"
They said, "It's not." They said, "In the 1920s, I think they were in existence for six months, eight months. It was a very short tenure. A tornado came and flattened the existing building and the property, and since they just eating all that stuff, they never rebuilt or they just disbanded."
And then in the '50s, whoever owned the property in the '50s rebuilt the building on the existing foundation using the existing floor plans. So they rebuilt it just like Bracey Baptist Church was, but they never put a church in it.
It's never—since Bracey Baptist Church has been there and closed, and they rebuilt it since the '50s. So if you look at the whole picture since 1920, well, last I checked, we're in 2023. 100 years, there's not been a Baptist church.
Anyway, I don't know what that does to you, but it does a lot for me. And so we met with them, and they're going to let us use all that. And I can't get into all the details because there's so much to do there.
And God's allowed the first two months of rent already been taken care of, and so we praise the Lord for that. And I tell you, there's ministry to be had in rural America. There's a lot of ministry to be had in rural America.
And, you know, I've had the challenge—I’ve had that challenged a few times over the years: why would you go to such a small area? Why would you go to Moorcroft? Why would you go to Burns? How would you go to Hills? There's only 50 people there.
In short, the short answer is that the Good Shepherd left the 99 and went after the one. So I'm in good company. But with that being said, we're not taking the value off of the 99, but we sure do see the value of the one. Amen?
And ain't you glad someone brought you the gospel? Ain't you glad for this church where you can come and worship? Because I want to say this: a lot of times we liken this to the foreign field somewhere. Not everybody in America has this, so praise the Lord for what you have.
And I gotta say it kind of be bold: pray for those that don't have it and pray for those that are trying to give that to those. Makes sense, you know? As church planters, and I grew up in rural America. I grew up in Chesapeake, Virginia.
And with that being said, that's Southeast Virginia; that's the Bible Belt. That's about three hours from where I grew up. Oh, we're planting the church at—can I share with you? Outside of Jehovah's Witness, outside of Mormons or any other cult, not one gospel-bearing individual knocked on my family's door and invited me to church in rural America, rural Virginia.
Folks, I like to say, "Well, that's just an exception; that's just a fluke." I don't think it is. I don't think it is. I think it happens more than we care to admit.
And, uh, but praise the Lord for those that are reaching people with the gospel of Christ. I'm convinced that we as God's people, we need to reach the cities. We do. We need to reach those inner cities. There's so much sin abounds, but we need to reach the small rural areas as well.
And I'm thankful for the calling that God has for the Ensley family to do just that: to bring a light of the gospel to rural America. So we appreciate your prayers as we go forward, as we try to do the work of God.
We appreciate any financial support as well. We're about 50% of our monthly support, and we're looking to plant the Blessed Hope Baptist Church of Bracey, Virginia, January 28, 2024. That's not that far off, and we need to finish up our schedules and get with it.
And I tell you, I think even just last night or maybe this morning, we're ready to get off the road. Amen? You know? And to get doing what God's called us to do, even though this is part of it.
And we need your help. We need you to partner with us if you're so led. But definitely pray for us. Pray for these three things:
Pray that God will prepare that area for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Pray that God will prepare them for the gospel. Number two, pray that our Lord will prepare them for us. Folks, there's a preparation process, you know? Prepare them for the gospel, prepare them for us.
And let's turn that around and prepare us for them because our ministry model—that sounds weird to say it that way—is to get among the people, is to rub elbows with them, do what they do to a certain extent, and just get among them.
And we need church—would like you to pray for us, support us if God leads you to do that. But also pray for us as we relocate. We've been in Wyoming for 18 years, you know, if you will.
And last I checked, they're not giving fuel away. They're not just moving our stuff for free. And so that big expense when we leave—we got a couple more weeks here in Nevada, Idaho, and then Oregon.
And we're probably middle next month, we're going to finish up packing there in Southeast Wyoming, and we're going to put the remainder of our stuff in U-boxes, if you will. And then they're going to, you know, hold them, and they want a small fortune to ship them.
But the monthly rent is not bad, but it's the Supreme and all that. So with all that being said, did you find your spot in 1 Thessalonians? If you haven't found it yet, you probably just stopped looking because you've had plenty of time.
And so with all that being said, let's—preacher, how does all this work and what you just shared? Well, in my mind, it works perfectly because it's not our work; it's God's work.
And it's what He's called us to do. And if the four quick things that I'm going to give you can help you, not just in ministry, but it can help you tomorrow. It can help you this afternoon. Maybe you're a single parent; maybe you got Mom and Dad in the house, whatever it is.
These things that I'm going to give you are simple, but they've changed my life. They changed my life personally, and they changed my life ministerially as well.
I'm just going to give these to you. Let's look at the verse again. It says, "Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it." Then it says, "Brethren, pray for us."
So real quick, number one: things to remember as you and I serve the Lord. You may serve the Lord differently than I do, but we're still doing what God's called us to do.
Number one: remember in all that we do, God is always faithful, even when you ain't. He is. God is. Preacher, where'd you get that from? Well, the first three words: "Faithful is He."
I want to tell you, if we as God's people get a hold of that truth alone, I think it'll change our Christian homes and change our Christian churches across the country.
Because we get a mindset of worrisome. I'm not going to ask for a show of hands about who worries because then you'll be worrying if I'm judging you or not, you know?
But folks, we're all in it. We're all in this thing together. We're all trying to do the same thing. We're all trying to bring glory to God.
Hey, remember in all of your doing, remember God is faithful. Some thoughts that I put down under that is God is faithful to His word. His word—God is faithful to His word.
The Bible says, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." Isaiah 55:11.
God is faithful, but He's faithful to His word. You know, His word is enough. Churches, we don't have to reinvent something for this new fad, this new age, this new generation.
We just need to take a new look at the old book. We need more of the word of God preached and proclaimed and lived in here, but also in front of the lost and dying.
God's faithful to His word. His word is enough. His word is powerful enough to do the work. God's faithful to His word.
But also, number two: God is faithful to His work. God is faithful to His word, but He is faithful to His work. I love that.
Mark 7:37 says, "He hath done all things well." Matthew 16:18 says, "Christ says, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
God is faithful. He's faithful to His word; He's faithful to His work. This third one is a little personal to me, but it's also personal to you: He's faithful to His worker.
He is faithful to you. We talk about God is faithful, but can I tell you something? He is faithful to you individually, to you.
Well, preacher, I don't know Jesus. Well, He's faithful to you because He sent His only begotten Son to you so that you can have a home in heaven.
You can have a way through Christ. You can't get much more faithful than that. Preacher, I know Jesus; I got saved. He's faithful to you.
To you, He's faithful to His worker, His word, His work, and His worker. You know, even when times are tough—you ever had tough times?
I got a t-shirt one time, but anyway, it burned, you know? I'm kidding. You know, talking about things being broke down, can I just run through some things that we just went through?
And I can—I'm not complaining at all, but God's faithful to us. So January, right out of the gate, three days on the road, someone hits my camper going down the road in Denton, Texas.
I know why they call it Denton, Texas now, and I haven't been back since. I'm just going, you know? And finally, it's back together mostly; it's still not done. It's insurance claims, so it's going to take forever.
But, uh, so that was January. I don't remember all the—like every month something has happened. February, there was something else. I think it was February—was that when we swapped out the wheel bearing on the truck?
And the driver's side wheel bearing went out. Then I—and then one month I changed the right side wheel bearing. And, uh, so for those—let's just get this right: the driver's side is the left side, all right?
And the passenger side is the right side. I don't care how you're looking at it; it's the left side. And there—hey man, can I get a witness? You know?
But so that's this mechanic. I grew up—I'm a mechanic by trade, you know? And, uh, so I changed my own wheel bearing. I changed my other wheel bearing. My water pump went out on the diesel, and I swapped it out, my brother and I.
And, uh, now one—the one wheel bearing we were in a parking lot, in O'Reilly's parking lot, praise the Lord. And I just swapped it out. The other one I was on the reservation up in South Dakota, and I swapped it out.
And the wheel bearing was at Bucky's in Crossville, Tennessee, and, uh, and we just swapped it out. And, uh, but I think it was in March, and March my seat inside my pickup shorted out and caught fire.
It caught fire! Did you hear me? It caught fire! Praise the Lord my windows were up because if it was not up, the whole truck would have been going. I'm still sitting on burnt seats, you know?
And, uh, but folks, I'm not asking for your pity, but I'm telling you to me it's funny; it's exciting because I've had people tell me, "Preacher, isn't that a sign that you're going the wrong direction?"
That was a sign to me that I'm going the right direction! Amen? You know? And so we got a bunch of blankets and shoved down in the hole because it's gone, you know?
And then I got a horse blanket. Everybody should have a horse blanket, you know, laying around. And, uh, we had a horse blanket. I'll put on top of it, stars and bars—excuse me, stars and stripes.
Stars and bars are—anyway, that's too far south, you know? As I got stars and stripes there, and, uh, swam where I know that I've since disconnected that power cord because we don't want to have a rehab.
And, uh, and then just last week, my transmission goes out. But can I tell you that was almost six thousand dollars? I pulled a transmission truck into the shop Monday morning, I think it was.
Am I thinking I just need a service? And then, um, hey, let me test drive. He said, "You need a service, all right; you need a second gear is what you need, and your first gear is messing up because the second gear is messed—is gone, and your valve body is worn out."
That's where the truck's only got 318,000 on it. And, uh, he said, "Well, you got your life out of it." He said, "All right, well, what you saying?"
Because I'm saying you need a new transmission. And I called other shops because I don't like just to listen to one person, you know?
There's wisdom in a multitude of counsel, you know? And other shops were 10 days out if they could get to it. This shop could get to it right away.
And, uh, and Jasper—Jasper Transmission, okay? And, uh, there's a drastic transmission right in this town. They can have it here tomorrow, and if you bring it back, we can have it back on the road by Thursday.
I said, "Well, my schedule's clear; everything I can do, I just don't have six grand." And, uh, the church that I was with, they say, "Hey, let me know what's good, what's going on."
And I told him, "Okay, we're here; take my credit card." And, uh, take my card, and we'll swap it, and, uh, we'll figure out. I said, "I need to raise money."
He just said, "Just hold on; let's talk about it as a church." Long story short, the church that I was with paid in complete full 100% to replace my transmission.
Faithful is He! God is faithful to His word, to His work, to His worker. Spiritual, why in the world you're driving an old 2005 Dodge pickup with 319,000 miles?
Well, one, I got twice as that probably left into that engine. And, uh, but you use what you got. Here's what God's provided for you.
You know, I love to go get a brand new truck. I mean, if you buy me one, I'll drive it, you know? I mean, we can—I signed the paper for all that.
And the begun is faithful. God is faithful. Let me give these last couple points, then we'll be done. Time's running away from me.
And, uh, faithlessly, God is—God's always faithful. Number two: God—remember God's called you to His work. Look there in the verse: "Faithful is He that calleth you."
Now, calleth you. You know, it's not about us; it's not about your background or my background, but it's about you. We're about Him, rather.
And I'm—it's not about my ability, but it's about the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we've had community meals; we have vacation Bible schools; we had revival; we've had movie nights.
Why? Because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's not about programs. I'm not against programs, but it's about the gospel of Jesus Christ, a death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior.
One day, the Bible says the Lord Himself is going to come back and take us on to the house. And, uh, but it's going to be His house.
Number three, we'll move on. I'm running out of time. And number three: remember, not only faithful is He; God is faithful. Not only God's called you to His work, but God's called you.
But also, number three: remember, God will do His work through you who also will do it. You ever feel like you got to figure it out? You ever feel like it all depends upon you?
You ever feel like the pressure of life? I got to do this; I got to do that. Now, I'm not talking about being lazy; I'm talking about not trusting God is faithful.
I tell you, you throw your family in a pickup that God's provided in a 34-foot camper that God's provided—all that's paid for, praise the Lord! I'm not married to a payment; I'm married to my wife.
There's challenges along the way. So I did a figure—I told you the last time I figured us up was 43,000 miles for this past 12 months. It sits more than that.
And I figured it up: fuel cost is whatever fuel cost says. Y'all need to fire somewhere. These fuel costs around here are—I mean, I like across this line, and like, wow, it's—praise the Lord!
And, uh, we have spent, I think it was $1,500 the past 12 months. We've spent $1,500 a month in fuel. Praise the Lord! That's half of our current income.
That's God! 100%! That is God! Faithful is He that called thee who also will do it.
So lastly, verse 25: "Brethren, pray for us." The Apostle Paul says, say unto the Church of Thessalonica, Thessalonians, the great Apostle Paul God used greatly.
He's closing out this letter; he says, "Church, pray for us. Pray that the very God of heaven will shine upon us." Can I say that? Can I say it that way?
Pray that we have favor; pray that we have power; pray that our provisions—because we know we will, you know? And that's the fourth point.
Remember, you and I need people praying for us. And on the flip side of that, you need to be praying for others. I need to be praying for others.
I'm 42, been in ministry for my 25th year, and I tell you, um, and I say this: I remember when people started out with this statement when I started doing missions work.
I think I just took your bulls, and, um, the more I need your money, I need your prayers. I'm like, "Man, shut that guy up!" You know?
I mean, McDonald's ain't giving that stuff away, you know? And, uh, but now, fast forward 25 years, I echo what these other preachers have said: the more I need any financial assistance, monthly support, I need God's people to pray for us.
Pray for my wife; pray for my children. I tell you this morning, the flesh was strong this morning; the attacks were real this morning.
Well, why? Well, it probably has something to do with a family trying to serve the Lord on a Sunday. I don't know if you have anything to do about that.
You know, I'm sure you've never experienced that, you know? You know, six days a week, harmonious family; Sunday morning comes, all hell is going to break loose against you.
And, uh, but that's us, folks. And I probably told you too much or maybe not enough, but anyhow, Pastor, come on.
[Applause]
All right, we'll go ahead and close Sunday School in prayer and give you guys a few minutes to fellowship, get water, whatever you need.
Let's go ahead and pray. Lord, thank You for the Ensley family. Lord, just thank You for his sharing of their ministry.
And Lord, we thank You for the way that You provide for them and, Lord, the way that You provided for our church is always an amazing thing to see how You provide for Your people.
And Lord, we thank You for that. And Lord, I think of even the Old Testament; You told Israel to pray for the prosperity of Babylon while they were captives so that Your work could go on through the people of Israel.
Lord, we live in a wicked nation full of wickedness. The Lord, we ask for the prosperity of America so that we as the church can continue to prosper and see Your work go forth.
And God bless this according to Your will. We look forward to singing and worshiping You together this morning and then worshiping You in the word as well. In Jesus' name, amen.
on Nov 05, 2023
