Prodigal son coming home
May 11, 2026
How many of you took Mom out for lunch? You took Mom out? Okay, we got a couple of those. All right. How many of you called your mom? Maybe she doesn’t live around here. You called your mom. Good. I hope you have made it a good day for your mom, Mother’s Day, and hope you had a good time enjoying it. And good to see you back. Now, these holiday Sundays, those Sunday nights, those can be rough on a preacher, you know. And pray, Lord, you’re here. That’s awesome. I’m glad to see you here tonight and thrilled to see every single person. Ms. Brenda said she did not get a nap today. She has five puppies at her house that kept her up all night last night. She said she’s still going to stay awake the whole service long and listen to every single word because she’s hungry for God to work in her heart. I’m teasing with it, but good to see you here. Good to see every single person here. Honored to have you.
Don’t forget the AV audiovisual meeting coming up on the 29th. That’d be great. And the baby bottles—all those things are so very important. By the way, praise the Lord for God’s goodness and the offer. They had sent an L-O-I, a letter of intent, a while back, but it just had vague things on whatnot. This is a true contract offer. We’ll be meeting this week. We don’t know what time, but we’ll try to hash out some of the details as far as sharing for a while, who will pay utilities, and what if the air conditioning breaks down—all those good things. Pray that God will bless that, and we have a fully signed contract by next Sunday. That would be a blessing. If we can move up the closing, it could be before August 31st, but it’s just saying by then it’ll be done. We can move that up because we’ve got to keep these monsters, you know, interest, at bay. By the way, if you can, we’re still pushing that $90,000. We’re not quite there. All those things are important to kind of keep that at bay while we’re waiting for the closing. But praise the Lord! I mean, $2.3 cash—all you can say is that’s the Lord. The Lord has done that. We want to praise Him for it and give Him glory for it and thank Him for it, praying that God will see it all the way through. Pre-con meeting with the city tomorrow on the building, so things are moving on there and moving forward. Praise the Lord for all those things, just God’s goodness making things happen. We’re very thankful for all those things and praise the Lord for ushers. If you come forward, we appreciate that. I don’t know if I expressed it—I was so excited about the $2.3—if I expressed it like I should have this morning, but just praise the Lord for your giving. Thank you for that. Some were able to give larger amounts, and that’s just huge. I know of three, really two, two $10,000 checks. I don’t know who they’re from. And then one sold gave some stocks around $10,000. Those were huge. But then sometimes, and pray for those, we’ve got to have those. I think of last Sunday out on the property. Someone who doesn’t have much came and gave $10 towards the building and said, “I want to have a part in that.” Then Thursday night on the prayer meeting, someone came and gave $200 and said, “Me and so-and-so, we’ve been saved.” It’s a sacrifice. Praise the Lord for those widow’s mites. They just seem special here lately. Pray for everybody doing what they can do. Praise God for people that are on board and obedient to the Lord, just following what God is leading them to do. That’s awesome. It’s exciting to be a part of a team where we’re just trying to follow the Lord, and He is blessing. Thankful to the Lord for His goodness to us. He blesses us more than we are obedient. Praise the Lord for that. What a blessing! Excited about what the Lord is doing and what the Lord is going to do. He is very good to us. Praise the Lord for all of our folks.
Pray for Brother David McCord. He got another spot, skin graft taken off. That wasn’t from a switchblade fight he got into. Pray for him; he’s had several of those. He said it’s all right for now, but he’ll probably have another one. I hate that he sent me a picture; man, it looked tough and bad. So pray for Brother Dave McCord on those things, if you would. Good to see him; it looks like it’s healing up there. Keep praying for Brother Dave McCord on that. Brother Dave, would you at least ask for more prayer for the place, brother? God 289, I believe it is.
It’s a tough song for me. I have a prodigal son, and every time I sing this, I think of the prodigal son coming home, and I pray that will happen in my life one day. Okay, let’s sing it out. “Lord, I’m coming home.”
Pray for Brother Adam that he will get feeling better. I appreciate Brother Go Forth leading singing for us this morning and tonight. He texted me this afternoon and said, “Hey, have we heard anything about Brother Adam?” I said, “No, I don’t think he’s going to come tonight,” something along that line. But I said, “A good fellow did a good job this morning named Steve Goldford. You think he’ll do it tonight?” He said, “Wow, don’t do that to me. My head will get too big,” something like that. That’s a good attitude, you know.
I’m preaching for just a bit. We’re over Proverbs, but the subject is seven helps in helping us, or helps to controlling our spirit. He mentioned he’s got a wayward son. Let’s go forth and do a good job of staying on top side. Let’s go forth; he has cancer ongoing and treatments for that and all the things, and they stay on top side. I thought, well, he’ll do a better job preaching this than me tonight, and he does a good job living it. I appreciate that very, very much.
Proverbs chapter 16. We’ll start there. Seven helps, or seven thoughts, to controlling your spirit. It’s vital that we learn to do that and work at that.
We’re starting at Proverbs 16, verse number 32. If you would, would you find that? Would you please stand? Proverbs 16 and verse number 32 in God’s word tonight. Proverbs 13, 1632, man, I get those numbers. Ms. Brenda’s still awake. That’s good. She’s listening to me there. That’s good.
Proverbs 16:32: “He that is slow to anger is better than the mining, and he that ruleth his spirit.”
The word spirit, in the Hebrew, has to do with wind. In the New Testament, it is pneuma, or pneumatic—the air or wind. I’ll often say the air you bring around you. Maybe the closest English word to it would just be your attitude. “And he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.”
Now look over here, chapter 25, verse number 28. There he says, “He that hath no rule over his own spirit.” Notice it is his own spirit. You can’t control everybody else’s. “Over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls.” So if I have no control over my spirit, then the devil can just march in any time.
By the way, sometimes we say the chain is only as strong as its weakest link. There is a little bit of truth to that. If someone in the home has no control over their spirit, Satan can get that home, or church, or a workplace. And still, if others around you have, you know, their spirit’s not right, do we have control and rule over our spirit? Just some thoughts along that line and some seven helps with that tonight.
Would you pray with me that God would grow us a little bit tonight? Father, I for sure can grow in this area. Lord, I pray You grow me, grow us all. Help us to be better Christians and stronger Christians for You tonight. Challenges, maybe one of these things. Let this speak to everyone here tonight. Lord, thank You for what You do. Father, we ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Number one of seven things: Study your spirit. Know your spirit. Be honest about your spirit.
“Are you okay?” “Yeah, I’m fine. What’s wrong with you?” You ever hear anything like that? Just be honest. Study, know your spirit. How are you? You know that verse over there: “Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say, rejoice.” When we rejoice, it means your joy is not going to be here like this; it’s going to tank, and you have to work at rejoicing. This is interesting. The Lord has convicted me lately over these two words. It’s a verse that I have memorized; it’s in there, but I looked it up today. It’s found 36 times in the Bible, these two words in this exact order: “be glad.” Not every one of those are for us, but meaning, I would say 30 of the 36, and I’m just guessing at that, but “be glad.” If I’m going to work and grow at rejoicing in the Lord and being glad, I’m going to have to work at my spirit. I’m going to have to admit when my spirit is not right. It’s going to help me. Sometimes our spirit is vulnerable when we’re just tired and worn out, or maybe we’re just so busy. It’s going to help you learn yourself a little bit. These are times that, maybe sometimes, blood sugar can affect that. Some of you think, “Hey, I need to eat.” I remember years ago, when I was a youth director on one of the first trips with the teenagers from the past church, he said, “Make sure you feed those kids. When they get hungry, they get bad attitudes.” There was some wisdom in that.
So, number one: Be honest and study yourself, and find when your spirit is right and when it is not.
Number two: Admit when your spirit is not right, and pray. That sounds light, but that’s not light. Look if you will over in Isaiah chapter 57. This is a great verse on this subject matter; it’s an amazing verse. I love it. Isaiah 57, verse number 15. We’ll use this verse for other subject matters, but there’s a hidden truth in this verse I want you to see tonight. When your spirit is not right, admit it. That is a little humbling when you have to admit, “All right, my attitude’s not right.” That’s humbling, but that’s all right. And you pray, pray, pray, pray, pray, pray.
Look at this verse, Isaiah 57, verse 15. You’re there tonight? Amen. Look at this verse. He says, “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy.” By the way, that’s a good verse to show to the Jehovah’s Witnesses: “whose name is holy,” capital H there. He has a lot of names. “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit.” Watch this: “To revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” That’s humbling to admit, “I have a bad attitude. My spirit, my attitude’s not right.” It is just humbling. Yet the Bible right there says He revives the spirit. When I have a bad attitude, I need the Lord to revive my spirit.
So, when your spirit is not right—and all of us are there from time to time—study, admit it, and start praying about this thing. Lord, just admitting it before the Lord—there is something humbling about that. “Lord, my attitude is far from what it ought to be. I’m not what I ought to be, and I have a bad attitude. Lord, help me with this.” You know the Bible says, “Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee; and thou shalt glorify me.” Pretty amazing verse, verse 15. Amazing.
Number one, study your spirit. Number two, admit it and pray when your spirit is not right. Number three: If there is an issue that needs to be dealt with, deal with it.
Look over in Proverbs 16, verse number 20. I feel like we’ve got a Wednesday night Bible study going with all these Proverbs tonight. Proverbs 16:20: “He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he.”
If there is an issue that needs to be dealt with, deal with it. Sometimes there is an issue, and we walk around with a bad attitude and complain about it for days before we just deal with it. Sometimes it is an issue you need to deal with. You may need to talk it out with someone; you may need to just talk about it.
Sometimes someone has tests coming up—better not say who. I don’t know if they are good with sharing that or not, but I can get myself in trouble with that. They have tests coming up next Wednesday, if I remember right. The waiting is the hardest part. How many of you have had them say they are going to test you for cancer? How many of you have had cancer about 40 times already? I have. I’ve had 40 different heart problems, just waiting.
If something is getting your spirit that you need to deal with, don’t spend the week complaining about it, moaning and groaning, and just go deal with it. You have to handle it. You’ve got to deal with it if it is something that needs to be dealt with. Don’t spend all week worrying and your spirit being out of whack. Go deal with the situation. Sometimes you just need to deal with whatever it is that is getting your spirit out of whack.
Number one, study your spirit. Number two, admit it and pray when your spirit is not right. Number three, if there’s an issue that needs to be dealt with, deal with it.
Number four: Hang around those with a good spirit.
Look if you will in Second Kings chapter number two. This is an interesting one. It’s fairly known, but I think often we miss exactly what the Bible says. Sometimes it’s almost like tradition trumps Bible, and that’s unfortunate. I want you to notice what he says over here. We are in Second Kings, chapter two. Once you find that, let me just talk for a second here, all right? You found it? Second Kings 2? Amen, you’re there?
This story here is where Elijah is about to go up in the whirlwind. Elisha, his servant, is there with him. It seems that everybody knows that he’s going up that day. Elijah says, “I’m going to go over here to Bethel.” He said, “Let me just go by myself.” Elijah says, “No, I’m going to be with you.”
They go over there, and there are the sons of the prophets. It kind of makes me think maybe they have Bible college there in Bethel and over in Jericho because they go to Bethel, and the sons of the prophets—you know what they are going to be talking about? Yeah, I know, I know, I know. From there they go to Jericho, and Elijah says, “Let me just go over there.” Elisha says, “No, I’m going to be with you.” They go over to Jericho. The sons of the prophets are there. Then they go to the Jordan River, and Elijah sticks with him the whole way. They cross over the Jordan River, and God is about to take Elijah up. Elijah says, “Hey, Elisha, do you have a request?”
Let’s look at verse number nine. Second Kings 2, look in verse number nine: “And it came to pass when they were going over that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee before I be taken away from thee.” And Elisha said, “I pray thee, let a double portion of…” What are the next two words? That’s not talking about God’s Spirit. It doesn’t say God’s Spirit there. He says, “Let me have a double portion of Thy…” He had seen Elijah stand up to Ahab and go through battles, still going on for the Lord. He had gone through a tough time. But he said, “I’ve seen your spirit, and I want a double portion of thy spirit.”
Watch what he says—well, I should say, “I pray thee let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.” And Elijah said, “Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.” He was with him when he was taken up. I understand he did twice as many miracles; I understand all that.
It is interesting: Elijah made this statement twice. He made it the first time over in chapter 17 when he appears before Ahab and the king of Israel, and he said, “Hey, you’re the man that’s causing all these problems, and God’s not going to send rain.” And he said, “The God before whom I stand.” He makes that statement twice. It is interesting if you study Elisha’s life; he makes that same statement twice. Kind of like he caught that spirit.
Here’s the thing: You typically catch the spirit of the people you are around. Proverbs 13:20 says, “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” So, here is the point: Hang around people with a good spirit. That is so vital. When you have a bad attitude, you want to hang around somebody else that has a bad attitude. Misery loves company. But when you are trying to have more control over your spirit, hang around somebody that has a good spirit. Look for it; try to be there. Elijah said, “If you are with me when I go up, then you’ll catch my spirit.”
There is a preacher, Jack Treber, in California. Believe it or not, he is a good preacher in California. Miracles happen! He has a good spirit about it. I like his spirit. He stands for truth, but it is not a mean, down-in-the-mouth complaining spirit. He is just upbeat and positive: “Let’s go do something for the Lord.” I love that spirit, and I want to catch that spirit. Friend, when you are battling having a good spirit, hang around, on purpose, someone that has a good spirit. Try to catch it. That is exactly what Elijah is telling Elisha. By the way, he said, “That’s a hard thing you ask right there, but it is a good thing.”
Number five: Work at your thoughts.
Look if you will in Philippians 4:8. You know it tonight when we get there. You probably already know it. Philippians 4. He is closing the book out to the church at Philippi. In verse number six, he gives them five things to do. Verse number seven, he says, “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus our Lord.” Now we come to verse number eight. Look at Philippians 4, verse number eight. He says, “Finally, let me give you a conclusion. Let me give you a final thought on this. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest [that is more like honorable], whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report.”
“If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” If you are going to have control over your spirit, you have to work. Nobody is perfect at it, but you have to work at your thoughts. Notice it does not tell you what not to think on, because as soon as you say, “I’m not going to think of that,” that is when you are thinking about that. But it tells you what to think on.
You have to work at bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. You cannot necessarily control what comes into your mind because Satan can put thoughts in your mind. But as soon as it comes in there, bring it into captivity. You work at that. The battle is for your mind. Work at thinking on good thoughts. Make a list of good thoughts. When the devil is trying to get you to think on bad things, pull that list out and start thinking about that. Think on these things and contemplate. You have to battle that thing there—the battle is for your mind. Work at it, work at it.
Number six: Play some good Christian music. Music is so very important. Can I suggest 103.7 FM? Praise the Lord, good music on there. Good music is so very important. What happened over there in First Samuel when the evil spirit came on Saul? Very interesting. It doesn’t even talk about words. David just got his harp, and he just played his harp. I’m sure they had tried everything to get rid of that evil spirit, and they couldn’t do it. The servants of Saul, as helpers, realized they couldn’t do anything about it, but when they got some good music, that evil spirit would leave. Music is so important when it comes to the spirit realm.
Look over in Ephesians 5, verse number 18. Your spirit and music are so very important. It is amazing how music sets the tone. I am grateful for our piano players that play the prelude. I like to be praying during that prelude, close to ten minutes before service starts, because it sets the tone; it sets the spirit. Look what it says over here in Ephesians 5:18: “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit.” I notice there is no period there; it is just a semicolon.
Then verse 19: “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” The amazing thing is that it is not necessarily talking about listening to good music. It says singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.
Years ago, I preached along that line, and a man in our church, he could not sing. He worked in another ministry, and they did skits about how bad his singing was. He did not want to sing in front of anybody. But he told me one day after that message, “Pastor, I’m really shocked. It worked.” He said, “I was right.” It is kind of like putting all the windows up. He said, “I on purpose sang in the car, and it lifted my spirit.” This is a guy you would never think sings in his life, and you would not want to be around when he is singing, but he sang. He said it just lifted my spirit. That is what it is talking about—singing to make a melody in your heart to the Lord.
Friend, music and your spirit go hand in hand. If you want to get a good spirit, play good, spirit-filled music—not worldly music. Spirit-filled music is so very, very important.
Let’s go back through this thing real quickly. We’ve got one more point. Just seven helps for controlling your spirit:
- Study your spirit.
- Admit and pray when your spirit is not right.
- If there is an issue you need to deal with, deal with it.
- Hang around with those that have a good spirit.
- Work at your thoughts.
- Play some good Christian music.
Number seven: Look over in James chapter number three. We will be done tonight. Your spirit, our spirit is so very important. I battle my spirit sometimes, and it is important to keep our spirit right. Talking about this building, the devil’s number one thing is that he would like for us to get fighting against each other. Our spirit is vital.
Look over here in James chapter three, verse number three: “Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.” I saw a horse behind our house, not ours, the other day. He was just lying on the ground, worn out, stretching his back. He just turned, got up quick, and took off. Those horses are powerful. I do not want to be standing right in front of him when he is taking off like that. Yet just that little thing controls him.
That is what the next verse says, verse number four: “Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small hymn, whithersoever the governor listeth.” The rudder or the wheel where they control is just so small. Now watch the comparison. Look at verse number five: “Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!”
Here is the thing: If I want to try to get my spirit back up, I talk about good things. If there is an issue that needs to be dealt with, deal with it. By the way, it is just the thought that came across. I think of a man in our church who had an issue with something. I appreciate that he just came and talked about it. He did not go around the church talking about it; he just came and talked. Praise the Lord for that. That is very honorable and very right. You have to take care of it, but do not spend the next 10 years talking about all the bad things, because your spirit is not going to be on top of that.
It is going to take a little while, but because of that tongue—they say it takes a mile to turn an aircraft carrier. It is going to take a while if you start talking about good things. But the more you talk about it, the more you hear it, and typically the more you hear, the more you talk about it. If you are talking about bad, bad, bad things, you are not going to have a good spirit. So talk about it. Work at it.
Let us find some good things to talk about. Back in the day, when everybody sat on the front porch or back porch in rocking chairs, we did not know about every bad thing in the world. We knew about the neighbors over there. Nowadays, we do not know who our neighbors are; that is on Facebook. But if anything bad happens anywhere in the world, we know about it right there. So you can have all the bad things on your mind all the time. We are going to have to work at it more and find good things to think about and talk about: pleasant things, lovely things, good report. Talk about it.
If you need to deal with something, deal with it, but then spend your time talking about how good God has been to us. Talk about, “I’m going to heaven.” My sins are washed away. I like that song we sang this morning: “Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it.” Talk about His mercy. Talk about my sins are gone, gone. Talk about, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed my transgressions from me.” Talk about the Word of God. Joshua 1:8 talks about it.
It may take a while, but after a while, you are steering that ship toward a good spirit and attitude. Sometimes I watch what I am talking about, and I think, “No wonder I am battling my spirit,” because I am talking about all the troubles and trials and problems. If I have to deal with them, I deal with them, but I do not want to spend my life there. I like to be on top side, and I am going to have to control that rudder.
A couple of times, when the children were younger, we would say, “All right, let’s come out in the living room for family devotion.” I said, “We are just going to go around the room, and you tell me something you are thankful for.” Every once in a while, you see a roach on the roof, you know, and you roll your eyes up. “What did you see on the roof?” There would be roaches in the roof at that time. You know, it was not really there, but, “All right, Dad.” That little bit of an attitude type thing. Sarah would never do that; that was always her brother, of course.
It is amazing; even when we start off like that and go around the room, the first time around is the easy ones. The second time around, someone else stole yours, so now you have to think of something else. After a while, you guys start thinking, “What can I be thankful for?” It changes your mind, and it changes your tongue. It is amazing after a while of that, even when you start off rolling your eyes, it changes you. You have to work at it. But he that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that has broken down, no walls. Hey, let us work at this thing about our spirits.
Would you bow your heads and close your eyes just for a moment? Would you talk to the Lord about those truths just for a moment? Let’s stand, if you would, please. Let’s stand. We’ll have a word of prayer and just spend some time. Lord, help us to have more control. All of us—I know I have to work at it. Let’s work at our spirit being right. Father, thank you for your word. Lord, grow us, grow me, in having the right kind of a spirit. Lord, You’ve done so much. Forgive me sometimes; my spirit is not right. Lord, help us to have a spirit. Help us to worship You in body and in spirit. It helps to do so in spirit and in truth. We will thank You for what You do, Lord Jesus, and we pray. Amen.
We will just spend some time for the Lord. “Happy Legion” [unclear phrase]. True worshippers must worship Him in spirit and in truth, and both are so very, very important. We have four minutes till seven. We want to keep up this thing of praying. This week will be crucial. I appreciate your prayers on that. Let’s pray that God would enable us to take the proceeds from this sale before we have to draw from that loan. Your giving is so vital for us to keep that at bay in the meantime. Let’s pray that God would bless. It is amazing. Honestly, I try everything, just spinning my wheels. Nothing is happening. And you start praying—it is incredible. God hears the prayers of His people. I believe in your prayers.
If you would, let’s just come on down to the altar tonight as a church family and let’s take it to the Lord in faith. I think pretty much all of our men have prayed about it that I think of. I don’t want to—I don’t know who has prayed over this thing twice. I am trying to get that evened out. If you have already prayed over this thing twice and I call you, please let me know. Brother Patterson, can I get you up here? Brother Pat, you have not prayed over it twice, I don’t think. Brother Patrick, before you get there—you have not prayed over it twice. If we get those two men to lead us in prayer over this, and God has been so good, let’s just keep going. It is Him that makes it happen. Let us keep going in faith, humbly, asking the Lord to bless this week, which will be crucial. This week, He will work out all the details; it will be Him, not me. Let us just ask that He would work out the details this week and we get a fully signed contract by next Sunday. That would be amazing. Would you pray as these men will lead us in prayer about this now?
Father, we come before You tonight with hearts that are filled with gratitude for what You have already done in answer to the prayers of Your people and what You have accomplished. Father, You gave us this property. It seemed like all hope was against it, but You have provided it for us. I know that what You start, You will finish, and I am so thankful that You have heard the prayers of our people as we have prayed together in our homes. You have raised up a buyer—not just a buyer, but someone who has the cash to actually pay for this property. Father, we are so grateful for that. We are thankful that You have heard our prayers; You encourage us to come to the throne of grace. We are thankful that You have answered this prayer.
But Father, there are still some details to be worked out. The pastor will be meeting with the buyers sometime this week. Anytime there are still details to be worked out, there could be some kind of problems. So, Father, I just pray Your hedge over these meetings today. Don’t let Satan get in there and cause any problems. Give wisdom to the pastor and to the buyers. We understand they are fellow believers of the household of faith. So, Father, please help them to come to an agreement, work everything out, and just bless the sale and the transition of this property. We are thankful so much, Father. We know that You want us to be wise stewards with Your money. So we’re thankful that we’ve got this buyer and this cash that we can hold off and actually have saved tens of thousands of dollars in interest. Again, Father, we know it’s all because of our great Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and everything He has done for us. We just give You honor, glory, and praise, and thanksgiving through Him. Amen.
Dear Lord, as we just come before You today, God, we just thank You for how much You’ve blessed this church. God, a church of our size owning two pieces of land like we do, and that we’re building this building over there—God, it’s unthinkable, really. We thank You so much for the blessing of it. God, as we come before You tonight, we want to just thank You and praise You so much for this offer that we got on the church this past week. God, not just an offer, but an all-cash offer with no contingencies. Lord, it’s something that only You could do. We couldn’t have dreamed this up ourselves. Lord, our faith is so small. But God, You’ve told us that with faith the size of a mustard seed, we can move a mountain. So we’re asking You to move that mountain. Lord, we’re asking You right now that You would just help this deal to go through and just soar through everything as pastor meets with the church this week and the lawyers and the real estate agents and everything to come up with what the final contract will be. God, we pray that this contract would glorify and honor You. Lord, we pray that this deal that is struck could only be pointed back to You. Lord, as we just continue to march down this path of building this church that You have set us on, God, we do ask for Your provision through it all. You’ve provided thus far. God, money is the least of Your blessings that You can give, but we ask that You just provide now for Your church. God, with this interest, it could be tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of dollars, and if we can defer that towards the tail end of everything, it gives us time to save up more and gives us time to just be better stewards of things. God, we pray for Your help in that.
God, we pray for our pastor that You would continue to lead him in the way that he needs to be led for this building to be built. And God, we just pray for Your protection over the spirit of this church. As pastor just preached about our spirit tonight, we pray for Your protection over the spirit of this church. God, so often during building programs, churches can get argumentative over silly things like the color of the pews or the color of the carpet. God, I just pray that You would just be with our church and You would just give us Your gracious spirit. You would just give us love for the brethren, and You would keep Satan at bay. You would just keep him out of the dealings of all of this, out of the contract, out of the building. Lord, help the building to just go up quickly. Help it to go up without issue. Help it to just soar through approvals with the city. Pray for the meeting with the city tomorrow that pastor has. God, we just pray for this building, that it not be a building for us, but God, a building for You, a building for people to be reached with the gospel. God, it’s just a building at the end of the day if You’re not in it. Just four walls and concrete and chairs. But God, when You get involved, it turns into something special. We pray that You would turn it into something special and that You would have Your will and way in all of it. We ask all this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Original File: 2026-05-11 - Pastor Paul Chisgar - Sunday PM 05⧸10⧸2026