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Let's dive into today's episode.
Praise the Lord.
Thank you so much.
You may have to adjust me a little bit.
Praise Jesus.
Let me get set up here.
Thank you.
Did you eat it?
Take the rubber band off of my old Bible.
There's a lot of ring on that, so praise Jesus.
Great.
Some folks use the computers.
I have an old Bible.
I gotta take, gotta be very delicate with it.
It's as old as me almost.
Praise God.
Well, thank you for coming out this morning.
I know that they had put it on Facebook that I would be speaking.
You had every opportunity not to be here, but you showed up anyway.
Praise God.
Let's have fun.
I wanna share with you the word that the Lord spoke to me just a couple of weeks
ago.
I believe it's a very timely word.
Is there a music stand somewhere?
A music stand?
Can I get a music stand?
That's okay.
Oh, here we go.
Tyler is on it.
Thank you, sir.
I know all the, you're thinking, all the cheese is running down there.
You may be wondering what's the pizza box have to do with it.
I'm gonna explain here in a minute.
Imagine if you will, now play along with me, imagine if you will that the pizza box
is your Bible.
It's your Bible.
Now you might say, well, I don't like pizza.
Well, that's okay.
Play along with me.
There's a word in here for you.
So I took a walk the other day.
Since the operation I had, my lungs haven't totally healed.
So to help me, my wife and I usually take walks every evening.
About a month ago, she wasn't home.
She was helping her brother, and I decided before it gets dark, I need to take a
walk.
So I called my wife.
I said, honey, I'm gonna take a walk.
I'll be home in a little bit.
Liar.
But anyhow,
I said, it's gonna be dark before you get home.
Let me go take my walk.
I'll be back.
And then, you know, she said, okay, take your phone with you.
So I decided to walk the same walk that I take just about every other night.
Couple blocks past the house, up a hill, down a hill, up another hill.
I went past.
It's the same path that I take.
And I knew this house had dogs.
Didn't bother me.
Went by the house.
They were barking.
Went by the house, up the hill.
By this time, I'm out of breath.
And I hear the woman saying, get back here.
Get back here.
I turn around, and here's three dogs.
I ain't running.
I'm out of breath.
I'm thinking, Lord, help me, Jesus.
There's two German shepherds with teeth.
When I turned, they're coming at me with teeth.
Like I'm some kind of a dog bone or something.
They're coming at me.
I feel… And you get tensed up, right?
The only thing I had was a water bottle.
I'm thinking, one of y'all is going to feel a water bottle when you're a fathead.
That's my only weapon other than Jesus.
I said, Lord, help me, Jesus.
And I got real tense.
They sniffed around.
The other dog was kind of goofy, you know.
He was just along for the party.
But what I'm trying to say is this.
They sniffed around, sniffed in the grass.
They listened to their mama.
And I said, Mama wants you.
Get on down.
You know, Mama wants you.
Go home.
They went home.
You know, my heart's racing now.
I'm thinking, thank you, Jesus.
Thank you, Jesus.
I made that.
So, I keep walking.
Went up to the cul-de-sac.
Turned around, but it's chilly that night.
I had gloves on.
So, I stopped.
Since the operation, my nose doesn't stop leaking.
I don't have a cold or nothing.
It's just that they forgot to turn the spigot off whenever they were I don't
know.
It's just gross.
So, if you see me going like this, don't shake my hand, but anyhow.
But my nose was really running.
I stopped to blow my nose, took off my gloves, you know, and continued.
Walked back home, got home, took my coat off and my gloves.
My wedding band's missing.
So, for the second time, I lost my wedding band.
And I'm thinking, it has to be back there where I stopped to blow my nose.
And it's like, then I get a phone call.
How was your night?
Well, let me tell you what happened.
I got chased by dogs.
They didn't bite.
I lost my wedding ring and I'm out of breath.
And I'm not going back to look for that ring because it's dark.
And she's like, you're never going for a walk by yourself again.
And I told her, she asked me, she said, what are you hungry for?
I said, you know what?
It's late.
You don't need to be cooking.
Just grab a pizza.
Mushroom pizza.
Anyhow,
she got home with the mushroom pizza and that's when the Lord started speaking to.
Let me explain.
The word of God, if you have your word with you, Galatians chapter two and verse
20, I believe.
Well, it's not on that wall.
We lost the camera.
Paul's writing and he's telling them in Galatia,
beware of those who want to pull you back into Judaism.
Once you find Jesus, and Pastor Matt spoke this morning,
Jesus is our Savior, but is He your Lord?
How deep do you really want to go?
Paul said this.
I'll read there.
He said, my old self has been crucified with Christ.
It's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.
I like that.
But he said, so I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God who
loved me and gave Himself for me.
Now, I could stop right there and preach for an hour, but I won't to save your
time.
But he said, my old self has been crucified with Christ.
Something died, something changed.
I'm no longer who I used to be.
Amen?
And he says, it's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.
You've got to get this.
A lot of people struggle through life because they haven't surrendered to the
new life.
Am I making sense?
You haven't surrendered.
You want the best thing.
You want to live for God, but you haven't surrendered totally.
Oh, I look good on camera.
Praise God.
But he said, so I live in this earthly body by how?
By trusting in the Son of God.
That's his mentality.
It's time to trust in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.
He paid a price.
When you understand the price that He paid for you and the love that He gave for you,
there's something different about that.
Let me explain.
Sometimes, if I do life on my own, when I face a hardship, I get wrecked in
the mind.
I get anxiety, stress, and fear.
Anybody else ever been there?
But when I go through hardships, knowing that He is my guide, knowing that
He is my, listen, He paid a price for me to have stuff.
He paid a price for me to be set free.
He paid a price for me to understand the love from the Father.
If I pay a price for a beautiful, the other day, guys, it just hit me.
I was in the store, and I bought a dozen roses for my wife.
It just hit me.
And out of love, I bought them.
Not love for myself, but love for the one that I love.
I paid a price and to see the joy on her face, because it's not every day she comes
home the flowers.
Thank you, Jesus.
But here's the thing.
When you understand what's in it, life changes.
I'm talking about the pizza box.
How much time do I have?
When you understand, when she come home, remember, this is what?
This is what?
It's your Bible.
When she come home with the pizza, I can smell it.
I'm thinking, this is exactly what I ordered.
Amen?
It's a small, well, this is a large, anyhow.
It was a mushroom pizza.
After the night I had, I was ready to eat.
I could smell it.
If you don't like pizza, it's okay.
But you and I both know, listen, if you want spare ribs and you go to a
barbecue place and you can smell them, you can't wait to taste them.
But you'll never taste them by smelling them.
You'll never taste it.
You'll never taste and see that the Lord is good if you never open up what he's
given us.
Amen?
I can still be sitting at my kitchen smelling this box, and I'll never get any
nourishment out of it until I open it.
Amen?
It's the same way, shakha.
It's the same way with the word of God.
Some of us, and I was bad at this, call myself a born-again believer,
maybe pick up the word once a week.
I don't know about you, but I eat more than once a week.
I know the teenagers are up there.
They're eating donuts.
Pastor Matt, why don't we have donuts?
What the whirr?
Well, here's the thing.
If I never open the box, I'll never taste and see what's in there.
I got home.
She got home.
Inside the box, when I opened the box was, yes, there was a pizza, but there was much
more, much more.
James, chapter 1, says this, if we have it.
He said this letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
He says, I'm writing to you, the 12 tribes, Jewish believers scattered abroad.
He says, how y'all doing?
Greetings.
He said, dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it
an opportunity for great joy.
Consider it an opportunity for great joy, for you know that when your faith is
tested, your endurance has a chance to what?
Growth.
King James says, well, what's the next one?
So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and
complete, needing nothing.
That word endurance is, King James says what?
What's the word King James says?
So when your endurance is tested, I forgot the word King James has.
Patience.
That's the word I'm looking for.
Many people struggle with patience.
Anybody?
But listen to what he's telling us by reading your word.
He says, count it, listen, think it not strange, count it all joy, right?
Let me go here to James.
I wanna go somewhere.
But if you never open the pizza box, you won't understand this.
He says, my brethren, verse 2, count it all joy when you fall into
different temptations.
What?
This is the value of your trials.
Do you know there's value in trials?
I don't know about you, but I wanna learn the values that are in my trials.
You and I both go through different trials.
Let's learn something as we go through them.
I'm just encouraging the body of Christ today.
Open up your pizza box.
He teaches us how to get through our trials.
He says what?
Verse number 3, knowing this, hold on, if you don't open your pizza box,
you ain't gonna know it.
Am I right?
If you don't read what the love letter says, you will never know it.
He says this, knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience.
But let patience, what?
Have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect an entire, only nothing.
That word perfect, hear me, that word perfect means mature.
Mature.
You learn through things by becoming, listen, you're tested.
Now let's learn something so you can become mature.
That's what it's all about.
For years and years and years, the body of Christ had been struggling
through patience.
I don't have patience with my neighbor.
I don't have patience with my kids.
I don't have patience with my dog.
Kick the dog.
I don't know what you do.
But here's the thing.
Let me call you out.
Call me out too.
Stop dismissing the troubles you're going through and getting angry about what
you're going through.
And like Pastor Don say, he would say, ask God, say, God, what am I supposed to
learn through this that I can become more mature the next time it comes my way.
Does that make sense?
So when you're troubled, it's like, okay, let's go through this because we got
this.
My wife and I, when we go through different things that we got to go
through, we look at each other and say, okay, what are we supposed to learn
through this?
Because we want to become more mature in whatever we go through.
What I was saying is, when she came home, I smelt the pizza.
But when I opened the box,
when I opened the box,
there was a love letter in it.
There was a love letter in it.
It said, I love you.
Now I know the pizza guy didn't put that in there.
If he did, we're going back.
I'm just messing.
But I know the pizza guy didn't put that there.
She picked up the pizza and she knew what I went through.
And she says, I love you.
No matter what your day, listen, when you open your Bible, this thing is
full of love letters.
It's full of love letters.
I need you to get this.
Because I want to come home every day to a love letter.
Whether I'm reading about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Ruth, any other ladies,
and whether I'm reading about David, whether I'm reading about whoever.
I used to think, oh, that's a wonderful story.
It's more than a story.
It's a love letter of encouragement to me, how I can get through and face my battles
and be victorious under the call of Christ in my life.
That's the love letter.
When I seen the love letter, it's like, that's beautiful.
I got more than I bargained for.
Wow.
In this pizza box.
And I heard the Lord say, if my children would only understand what's in it for me,
what's in it for you.
Does that make sense?
If you would only open up and see what the Lord's got for you.
Oh, it doesn't stop there.
The scripture tells me in Genesis 9, Genesis 9, pastor, not last week,
the week before, he spoke about the promises, spoke about covenants.
Wonderful job.
God spoke to Noah and he says, I placed my rainbow in the clouds.
It's a sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth.
Little love letter is not all I got in the Bible, in my pizza box.
My wife, my wife, when she knew that I lost my ring, she decided to pick up the
pizza.
It was nighttime now.
She decided, Lord, let me drive around the area where I think he might have lost it
and see if I can find it.
She found my wedding band.
God answers prayers.
She found my wedding band.
God spoke to me, Pastor Rick.
He said, there's more than just nourishment.
There's more than just a love letter.
But he said, there's a covenant.
There's a promise waiting for you.
But if you don't know the promise, you'll never receive the promise.
The teenagers were smorned
and the announcement says, there's donuts upstairs in the loft.
I guarantee you, if they got up there and there's no donuts,
somebody's in trouble.
Well, that was a promise.
The fact of the matter is, the Lord spoke to me, and he says,
my way is a covenant.
Man doesn't have covenants.
Man has contracts.
Contracts can be bought out.
God's covenant cannot be bought out.
God paid the ultimate price for the covenant.
You hear me, what I'm saying?
And when we understand the value of a covenant, things change.
He paid an incredible price for you, and all we have to do is open the box.
Open the box.
There's a love letter and a promise.
A couple weeks ago, and I'm winding down.
I don't know how much time, but anyhow.
A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to my son, house of kids, house this,
house of kids.
He said, everybody's good.
He said, but pray for faith.
My middle granddaughter, she's at this place, well, where I think I was in life,
where things bother you because you're not like the big sister and you're not like
the little sister.
I've been there.
He says, she asked for a phone, but she has to make the payments on the
phone.
They blessed her with a phone.
She had babysitting jobs to help pay for that, but they've stopped.
She's too young to get a job.
Long story short, I was in the shower that night, and I thought, Lord, can I help my
granddaughter anyway?
And he says, why don't you make her a deal, a promise?
He says,
why don't you ask her to write you a 100-word little story and then send her a
blessing?
She's at the point in her life where she's beginning to really like reading.
So I challenged her.
I said, Faithy, I said, this is what I want you to do if you want to do it.
Give me a 100-word little story.
Well, I don't know what to write about.
I said, I don't care if you write about your dad, your dog, your mom, your
sisters.
I got a lot I can say with my sisters.
I got to watch what I say because two of them are here this morning.
Thank you, by the way.
But anyhow, I said, I don't care if you write about butterflies, whatever.
So I wasn't sure if she would take the challenge.
You know what I got Wednesday night?
I got my first letter from my granddaughter.
She wrote an incredible little story, but you know what it was about?
It wasn't about birds and the bees.
It wasn't about sisters.
On Wednesday night, this past Wednesday night and this coming Wednesday night,
I'll be teaching on thanksgiving and thankfulness.
She didn't know that.
This is all about being thankful.
What I'm trying to say is this.
Oh, and you might ask, did you give her any blessing?
Oh, yes, I did.
I just hope none of the other grandkids get a word of this.
Hold your ears, Noah.
So what I'm trying to get, it's a simple gospel to help his children.
I explain it in a way that God speaks to me through illustrations.
There's more in it than what you and I understand.
God loves us so much.
He loves us so much.
Most of you will never see a pizza box the same way.
You'll be wondering what's in it for me.
But when you open it, taste and see.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
He's got a love letter in His Word for you and He's got a commitment for you.
He doesn't have a contract, but He has a promise.
When you totally devote your life to God, get ready.
Get ready for your life to change for the better.
He'll help you see what you're going through, learn what you're going through,
and be victorious in what you're going through.
Would you stand all over the house?
If I could have my prayer team.
Praise the Lord.
You may be in the house this morning.
Maybe that's you.
You haven't opened your pizza box for a long time.
I want to encourage you.
Have a slice.
Have a slice of pizza.
You don't have to get mushrooms.
Get a meat lovers if you want.
What I'm trying to say is a simple gospel.
2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 7
says, I haven't given you the spirit of fear, but of love or of power,
of love, and a sound mind.
It matters.
Listen, it matters every morning who you give your attention to.
The first thing I do in the morning, if the first thing I look at Facebook,
you're in trouble.
Because you listen, I feel you've already polluted your mind.
I really think so.
But before your feet hits the floor, talk to Jesus.
Spend some time with him.
Don't allow your mind to be full of stress, anxiety, and fear.
And if that's you this morning, I want to pray with you.
A simple prayer.
If you're full of stress, anxiety, and fear, and you don't know which way
you're going, would you be bold and make a step so my prayer warriors can pray with
you?
Because this is your day.
To understand what's in the pizza box.
To understand what's in it for you.
I haven't given you the spirit of fear.
God would say stop it.
I didn't give that to you.
Stop palling fear upon yourself.
I've given you the spirit of power.
Power for what?
To face every adversity that comes your way.
I've given you the spirit of love.
He tells me in the pizza box, God is love.
I want that.
I want to know how to love you better.
I want to know how to love everyone.
I want to know how to love my wife better.
I want to know how to love my enemies better.
I want to know, because he's giving me that spirit of love and of a sound mind.
There's people every day fighting battles between the left ear and the right ear.
It's a battle in your mind.
God says, I want to give you the spirit of a sound mind.
When the Holy Spirit invades who you are, when the Holy Spirit speaks to you,
receive that sound mind.
So father this morning, I don't know who else might be needing to come up here,
but it's okay.
Father, I give you praise for this morning.
I thank you, Father, for the revelation of your love, your love letter, for your
promise, God, that's in your Word.
God, we grow by that.
We open, Father, this pizza box.
We understand, Lord God, as we open your Word, there's more nourishment than we can
shake a stick at.
There's direction for every part of our life.
Father, speak to your children today
through a pizza box.
Father, we love you.
Give the Lord a praise all over the house when you do that.
We're still here available for prayer.
As you leave, shake a hand, hug a neck.
Have an incredible week, guys.
Amen.
Thanks for listening to the Harvest Chapel PA podcast.
We hope this message encouraged you and drew you closer to Jesus.
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