Brother Gary Wednesday Evening 7/24/13

Brother Gary Wednesday Evening 7/24/13

David cried out:

Psa 19:14  Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

Acceptable – be a delight to God.  That is beautiful!  The king, the king said, “Oh God, let my words and let my meditation be a delight to you.  Let it be that which will be pleasing to God.” 

I received a phone call from Bob Waters a time back and he said, “You know, I have received so much in my life, I am trying to give something back.”  He is not the only one that has received a whole lot from God.  If there was a scene from this day back of what God has done for us, hasn’t He been wonderful? 

You may say, “There have been a lot of rocks and misfortunes.”  Wwe need to remember the good things and where our name is engraved. 

Acceptable - Let it satisfy a debt.  We are working on our grandchildren to say, “Please and thank you.”  How it must please God when you and I come with thanks.  “I can still walk.  God has been wonderful.”  Can you imagine a life in a wheelchair? 

Every one of us here has been in situations that could have put us in a wheelchair.  The millions of logs that Brother Bob sawed and he can still walk.  Brother Jim has packed ties and rode horses that if he’ll pardon me I will say should have been shot.  He can still walk.

I’m thankful that we have fellowship.  Aren’t you glad that you came to Zion and are not out around looking for something?  I’m so happy with Hebrews 12:22.  I’ve come to Zion. 

I went to school with a man that had the same opportunity that I had, maybe more than I.  I wouldn’t want to watch a playback of his life.  It doesn’t take very much of losing your right focus to end up down there.  His dad probably knew truth as good as any.  One wrong choice and maybe he got it right but it still affected his wife and his son. 

We owe such a debt to those that helped us get to where we are.  I appreciate brother Turnbow, Brother Myron, my mom and my dad, Brother McConahae...

I thank God for Bible salvation and a vision for working for God.

Acceptable – be a good pleasure to God.  We are blessed to live where we are.  We have a lawn that is bigger than any in Santa Fe New Mexico.  Karen has more raspberries in the refrigerator than they can grow all year in Santa Fe. 

Yes, there are problems all around us; it just depends what you focus on.  I understand the price of gas and the value of the dollar, all that.  But just think of the spiritual blessings: having someone to shake hands with having water to baptize and new converts to be baptized. 

Help my words, the thoughts of my heart.  Acceptable - it is a voluntary offering.  It is not something that Sister Hawley comes along and thumps her sisters and says, “You haven’t testified in a while.”  So the next Sunday they stand up and say, “Thank God I’m saved.”  It is voluntary.

I’m thankful I have an income.  You all pay your tithes and offerings. 

None of you can say, “I have a hard time making ends meet.”  Old sister Blanchard could tell you about having a hard time making ends meet.  Yet when we went there, she always had something to offer.

A voluntary giving of your self is a part of being acceptable to God.  When we give what we don’t have to give then God gives back strength.  Strength and praise go together.

What shall I render to the Lord for all of His goodness?  There was not one child, parent, grandparent or visitor that was more appreciated than another at VBS.  I’m glad Isaac was here and I’m glad that Naomi was here.  I thought, “How can we thank you, God, for all the blessings of VBS tonight?”

As a congregation we have received many blessings from God and mercies in the past.  Let us not forget where God brought us from.  Some of us were in snares that planned to never open up but to take us.  After sin, and I was there, in my journey to please God there were snares set. 

Let us not forget where we came from and His great goodness.

I praise God that Bro John’s heart started beating again.  Our lives and Sister Janet’s could be totally different tonight.  It is tough being a widow.  I’m not sure of the hymn story of “lonely days and lonely nights” but a widow has a lot of lonely hours. 

We appreciate the Kelly’s home not burning.  We thank God that their homes didn’t burn.  Dr Smith’s home was spared.

The traveling mercies:  How great God was that those that traveled were protected. 

We thank God for the labors of love locally, the labors of Sister Griffin, Brother and Sister Peters, the sewing at Sister Brenda’s, the giving. 

We are thankful for the basement night.  It challenged us to go to a greater depth of being a living sacrifice and make some changes down there.

We are thankful for the labor of love to write the skits.  The crafts were excellent.  I wish everyone had gone down there and seen those children working on those crafts. 

We have a lot to thank God for.  We can either look at everything and say, “It wasn’t quite like…”, (Don’t go there.)or we can be thankful. 

The precious children!  Sister Dorothy had great-grandchildren here. 

As much as I wanted the ones I invited here, they didn’t come.  Don’t forget that God called more than once to me.  He called Samuel more than once.  Just because their compass is headed the wrong way doesn’t mean that love wouldn’t turn them. 

Remember Brother and Sister Claypool, her mother had sold her as a prostitute but someone came past her, and she got saved.  They came and sang, “Lovest thou me.”

You say I really cared for someone and they didn’t come back.  Are you going to let that stop you?  Isn’t it wonderful that the ones that came were here?  Where would I be if someone hadn’t invited me?

It is a sacrifice to have someone come to our house and take them in, feed them, house them.  We are thankful for hospitality, and the cleanups.  As tired as we all were after Vacation Bible School, everything was back in order when we were back Sunday Morning. 

We are thankful for the meals and the potluck on Sunday for those that enjoyed it.

It was a great blessing to have five Sampson’s here.  If there is any little sister that needs TLC it is Sister Alice. 

Labors of love for the choruses, the memory work, the sowing seed in the hearts of children.  May God help us to give Him much praise.

It was a blessing having visitors from Athol, Carmichael, and Drummond.

The deep disappointment that some were absent that we hoped would be here.  I had so hoped the Howard boys would be here.  I wanted to love them.  I had hoped that my brother would be here.

We will have disappointments.  We cannot focus on who was not here.  We must focus on those that were here. 

Returning to give God thanks: 

Psa 84:4  Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.

Go through tabernacle worship and don’t stop until you get into the Holiest of Holies.  If you worship and dwell in his house, as broken and disappointed as you may be, God will turn it and you will be still praising God.