04.25.21 | Pursuit Conference | Sunday Morning

[Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] uh [Music] know [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] uh [Music] uh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] um [Music] so [Music] so [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] hey good morning [Music] [Music] teach you new songs [Music] with us [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] do your best work here [Music] is [Music] [Music] me [Music] my [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] wow [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] is everything changes [Music] darkness [Music] your feet [Applause] [Music] everything changes [Music] [Music] starts darkness and nothing matters more than just [Music] is we can't live without you jesus we love you and we can't get enough oh this is for you jesus [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Music] there is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] without you jesus [Music] we want you we want you [Music] our hearts are yours we want you we want you to [Music] we want to we are [Music] we love you [Music] and we can't get enough [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Music] foreign how can i contain it i cannot contain can i contain it i cannot [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] i cannot contain [Music] this [Music] come on just lift your own voice in your own words this morning and praise him praise him for what he's done praise him for who he is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] my [Applause] [Music] my [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] play [Music] come on [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] myself [Music] [Applause] um come on [Music] thinking out of agreement [Music] agreement with [Music] you never never [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] cause i know that you fight for me [Music] [Applause] [Music] shadow of [Music] is [Applause] [Music] no darkness [Music] [Music] is [Music] my jesus [Music] [Applause] you're right [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the is as you are [Music] no [Applause] [Music] my freedom my freedom my refugees [Music] [Applause] you're right [Applause] [Music] your presence is [Applause] [Music] well just take a moment right now lift those holy hands and just thank him for who he is to you thank you thank him for who he is to you come on i can't testify for you you can't testify for me only you know who he's been to you come on thank you for being father thank you for being friend thank you for being the brother the one that sticks closer to the brother thank you for being your your prohibition come on thank you for being your healer come on thank you thank you for being your savior come on thank you you're my savior thank you now oh [Music] wow [Music] [Applause] [Music] god is not negotiating with the enemy he is not negotiating with sickness he is not negotiating with poverty he is not negotiating with darkness he is destroying it [Applause] and worship is an act of violence against the enemy's camp come on i prophesy over you today that god is giving you back everything the enemy has stolen everything the canker worm has destroyed god is in the business of repaying out of his abundance out of his riches and glory come on guys i want to sing this bridge again i want to declare it in this house come on we are we are here today not to be entertained come on not just to consume come on not not just to observe but to participate in the invitation of the ages to do battle with the high king of glory and in this place to say jesus is exalted and his light goes forth and it's piercing every place of darkness in this community and what the enemy has meant for evil watch god will use for good come on do you believe that today come on do you believe that just waving me are you alive do you believe that today come on what the enemy meant for evil god says i'm in the business of the turnaround i'm in the business of the payback i'm in the business of the get back more than he stole i'm in the business of restoration and reconciliation he makes water come out of the rock dead men come out of the grave laying man out of the wheelchair sick man off of the man and i'm telling you today we're gonna do violence against darkness by exalting the high king of jesus come on guys let's sing this again [Music] no [Applause] oh [Music] [Applause] my jesus [Applause] [Music] you're right [Music] [Applause] your presence is [Applause] [Music] [Music] just like you said [Music] tear [Music] breath of heaven nothing left unshaken [Music] [Music] shall pour [Music] this our eyes [Music] jesus christ [Music] for more [Music] uh [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] oh oh oh there is [Music] is [Applause] [Music] is is [Music] [Applause] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] come on friend by god's spirit it's beginning to rain in the northwest come on we've seen the cloud the size of a man's hand but it prophesies to a greater outpouring friend we're not trying to live up to what any other house is doing we're asking god for an awakening of our own we're asking god to start here to do something in our day and in our midst then i left conference conference was great but this isn't the overflow it's a new day and there's fresh bread in the house for you there's fresh oil in the house for you that's why jesus teaches his disciples to pray give us today our daily bread and that's what i'm asking for for this community god give me today another outpouring god give me today another hour of awakening god let me today see another reflection of your goodness in our lives and in this community and so friend we're pressing in we're pushing it we're saying god do hear what you have so desire to do other places but have found people unwilling god do it here right in on the willingness of your people as we agree with heaven's mandate for earth's reality we say god do it here god do it here god do it here [Music] in acts 2 under the inspiration of the holy spirit peter preaches a prophetic message on the day of pentecost he says in the last days god says i will pour out my spirit on all flesh and then he gives a couple categories of people just so that we would understand that when god says all he means all he says i'll pour it out on men and women he says i'll pour it out on young and old i'll pour it out on jew and gentile i'll pour it out on men's servant and maid servant but here's what i'm confounded by in the follow-up to that prophetic declaration peter preaches this and your young men will prophesy and your old men will dream dreams here's what i love about this it seems counterintuitive to the cultural wisdom once you're old why do you need to dream again once you've already seen everything there is to see and be a part of everything there's to be a part of why on earth do you need to dream again because there is more in your future than there is in your past [Applause] [Music] because the reign of the ladder is greater than the reign of the former [Music] so we're believing that our best days are not behind us but ahead of us you know there's a reason the windshield is bigger than the review mirror and sometimes in our spirituality we get so used to driving with our eyes locked on what's behind us and paul says it this way forgetting that which is behind i press forward to that which is ahead and we're pressing forward and we're believing for the goodness of god in the land of the living and what he is stirring here will not stay here but it will shape a region and it will shake a nation [Music] every once in a while in in the context of a service i'll feel a manifestation of god's spirit let me explain last night as corey russell was ministering i don't know if any of you else felt this but i literally felt the wind of the spirit in this room i felt it i was driving into snohomish this morning into the valley i asked the lord what was that all about and he says you're filling you're feeling the wind because it's time for the pursuit to raise its sails i'm not impressed with the fact that i felt the wind i want to be strategic about what i do when i catch it and guys he's breathing on the church he's breathing on dry bones causing them to come alive he's breathing on a dry and thirsty region he says it's always been in my heart for an awakening in the northwest it's always been in my will to do something incredible in that region and now by his spirit he's breathing on the region i has not seen ear has not heard what god has saved for his people in this hour and what we see for what's coming next will be exceedingly abundantly more than we have ever dared to imagine come on would you raise your hands all across this room as an act of faith watch as we raise our hands god in a prophetic sense we are raising the sails of this church [Music] we are raising the sails of the northwest and we say mighty breath of god blow [Music] mighty breath of god blow [Music] come on if you had daily bread yet come on have you had your daily encounter yet come on have you had your have you had your daily time in his presence yet it's here it's here for you today friend it's here for you today it's here for you today god we need a fresh outpouring of the pursuit god we say do it again but in greater vision i thank you for last week but you're the god who's the same yesterday today and forever so now i say god do it again but in greater measure i say god fill me up again see getting filled wasn't a one-time activity it was an invitation into a lifestyle of awakening and so we say god fill us afresh fill us again fill us anew god do it again [Music] do it again do it again our [Music] [Music] i [Music] [Music] [Applause] oh and now we say god do what only you can do not by man's strength not by man's power watch but by your spirit alone god do your best work inside of us this morning we make ourselves available to you and we'll give you all the praise we'll give you all the glory we'll give you all the honor both now and forever come on all god's people said amen amen come on would you take a minute how to a friend all the way back to your seat and thanks so much for joining us for church good morning pursuit family whether you're joining us in person or online we want to say thank you for joining us here are your morning announcements if you call pursuit your home church and would like to become a member you can go to the pursuit website and fill out our new membership form if you're interested in doing this don't wait our next membership sunday is may 2nd and we would love to include you in honoring our new members on that day membership at the pursuit means you are joining yourself to a church family and committing to a healthy spirit-filled life alongside other believers if you have any questions you can visit our website the pursuit nw to learn more here's what we have coming up here at pursuit this week youth as always will be this wednesday from six to nine pm and make sure to join us friday may 14th at bell chapel for our pursuit chapel and prayer night we have also finished construction on our new cry room located in the back of the sanctuary now open and available for parents with young children to use during any of our services that's all the announcements we have for you today as always if you are looking for ways to get involved text pursuit guest to 94090 stay connected with us throughout the week on all of our social media platforms facebook instagram and youtube at thepursuenw and check us out online at thepursuitnw.com hey friends we wanted to say thank you again for joining us god has continually shown his faithfulness within our community and we wanted to extend an opportunity for you to partner in giving today there are a couple ways that you can give on the screen here you can text to give through the new giving platform by texting pursuit to 77977 give online through our website or come up to the front and put your tithe or offering in the bucket in a few moments the band will start to play and that will signify an opportunity for you to get out of your seat and to come forward to give thanks again for faithfully sowing into our church and partnering with what god is doing here in the northwest we will see you next weekend hey online campus we wanted to say thank you again for joining us here at pursuit for service if you haven't done so say hi to us in the chat and let us know where you are tuning in from if you have any questions or want to learn more about getting involved let us know below and a team member will respond to you if you usually attend our online campus we want to extend a special opportunity for you to become a member of our growing church community just head to the pursuit nw.com about today and scroll down until you find the membership form link also do us a favor and follow us on all of our social media accounts and help us spread the word about what's happening here at the pursuit by sharing this live stream or sharing and liking our posts on social media thank you all again for being part of the amazing things god is doing in the northwest i i believe in what god's doing here i really do i'm really thrilled to have a chance to speak into this so parting of the heavens is not a passive thing it's violent it's a violent act but he's eternally god but he functioned as a man the most convicting thing for me is to realize that jesus did everything he did as a man submitted to the father now if he did his miracles as god i'm still impressed but i'm a spectator when i find out that he did it as a man yielded to the father then suddenly i have a standard that i can't just observe i must pursue and and i may never do it well but i don't have another option 24 years ago i walked into marysville first assembly for the first time and something grabbed my heart and i've been hungry for revival ever since and today we are the fruit of pastor benny's ministry in marysville so many years ago [Applause] [Music] but the agenda of heaven isn't your comfort the agenda of heaven is for sons and daughters to come back home again let's quit looking at the problem people has problems and begin to look at him as jesus looks at him [Music] we need moms and dads that take a generation by the hand and bring them to the throne introduce them to the heavenly symphony where the father sits enthroned and the angels incessantly cry out holy holy holy a generation that is so frequented and lives in that atmosphere they can bring a generation up because you can't take people where you haven't been wow wow wow wow come on god did some incredible work uh at conference over the last number of days and and i just felt like the spirit of god has been speaking to me all weekend it's saying to me russell this isn't some sort of like high water mark that was really cool that hopefully you can wait until next year to live up to again but i believe what happened this weekend sets a new normal for the pursuit northwest it is our new modus operandi it is our foundation that we build upon and friend we owe it to the generation who came before us to run further than them we owe it to them and that is how we repay the debt of gratitude to all the fathers and the mothers and the faith who have laid down their lives through prayer and weeping and intercession for the move of god that we're having here we owe it to them to run with passion and one of the quotes that has most impacted my life comes from beethoven and he says to play a wrong note is unavoidable but to play without passion is inexcusable and i am the result of somebody else's passion for the things of god and i won't ever apologize for preaching passionately or worshiping passionately because as i do i'm imagining another 11 year old here in this room who catches a glimpse of what it looks like to be on fire for jesus and in 20 years they say pastor russell i'm the fruit of your passion come on fred we're doing something here that counts for eternity the gathering of god's people is the most important human activity on this side of heaven oh there's a lot of other cool activities we do there's a lot of other things that are really important as well but the singular most important event you will ever be a part of prior to closing your eyes here and waking up there is the gathering of god's people for when we gather god takes us high and when we are high we get his perspective on the region around us and when we get his perspective we come into agreement with what he desires to do in this place i love that what is starting here in snohomish will not stay in snohomish if somebody gave me this word last night i felt it so true in my spirit they said russell you didn't plant a church in snohomish you planted a church in snohomish county and it's not just snohomish county but there is a reverberating impact of what god is doing in this house and it is soaking the region and what i've found is that when people find living water they'll travel from great distances and endure great hardships just to be apart why because this region has been thirsty for so long and all of a sudden god has found people of faith who say i hear the abundance of rain see not everybody who has eyes sees not everybody who has ears hears and that's why scripture says things that sometimes sound dumb but they're more profound the more you study them he who has eyes let him see he who has ears let him hear why because god does nothing outside first of speaking to his leaders and his prophets and those who have ears to hear the things that he desires to do in the earth as i've been putting my ear to the ground and i'm hearing things i'm hearing the abundance of rain and i feel like what we experience this weekend is like a microcosm it's a down payment it is but one two three percent of what god desires to do here in fullness and that's why we don't live high off the nostalgia of what happened yesterday or yesteryear because god is creative enough to give you something fresh today there's bread in this house for you today there's oil in this house for you today i can't force you to eat i can't force you to drink but what i can do is create an environment by which his presence is so contagious that you can't help but come alive in the river of god in fact david says it this way there is a river that makes glad the city of god and there is a river that is flowing in this place and in fact jesus prophesies it in john 7 he says those who believe will receive and out of their innermost being will flow rivers of living water and god is unlocking what has always been inside of you the potential of his fullness of his spirit friend we've got rivers of life flowing out of us it makes the lame to walk and the blind to see it opens prison doors and sets the captives free we've got a river of life in snohomish i figure it's okay to get excited about jesus i figure it's okay to get excited about the things that he's doing here in the earth there's so much depression anxiety there is a garment of heaviness on this region you can feel it you can feel it it's a garment of heaviness in fact when scripture used that's terms it's speaking to the grave clothes that the hebrew children would wear when they attended funerals sackcloth and ashes heaviness and god says through his prophets he says i'm taking off the garment of heaviness and i'm giving you instead a garment of praise which means that god is in the business of taking off and then putting back on better than you ever had it before so it's time to come out of heaviness come out of darkness come out of depression come out of anxiety come out of stress come out of low level living and put on that garment of praise and see praise is a key that unlocks a big door that swings on small hinges and when ancient gates are open and when ancient doors swing wide what happens the king of glory rides in it's always been the same formula enter into his courts with thanksgiving and with praise oh my life hasn't been great awesome what a perfect sacrifice to offer to him man i feel so broken right now fantastic what a perfect sacrifice to bring to him sacrifice is always connected to worship it's always connected to giving scripture says present yourselves as living sacrifices holy and acceptable unto god it's one thing to praise when you have breakthrough it's another thing to praise when you have a breakdown and i'm telling you the more valuable your praise the more destitute your life circumstance and when you can learn to praise in every season of life it unlocks an inner abundance that the world can't take friend our oil is not for sale but freely we have been given and freely we will give away i can't be bought it's not for sale but it is for free and all who hunger and thirst in fact here's the bare minimum qualifier those who believe will receive you don't need all the facts in order to believe you don't need all the science in order to believe you don't need all the data in order to believe we live in a world that says prove it jesus says i already did those who believe will receive and what's the mandate that follows out of their innermost being willful rivers of living water jesus spoke this concerning the holy spirit and so for us we just said god do your best work here in us and we'll give you the praise and and and the glory and the honor to me sunday should be the best day of our week scripture says i was glad when they said unto me come unto the house of the lord friend you don't have to come to church you get to come to church you don't have to give you get to give you don't have to serve you get to serve you don't have to make the drive you get to drive you don't have to drive around looking for parking you get to drive around and look for parking it's not a have to it's to get to see we ought to change our perspective on what church is we have been so subservient to the god of materialism and consumerism we've made church about us instead of about him the church exists to glorify jesus and in doing so bring people into an encounter with his presence that's it everything else flows from that evangelism community handouts working in the community cleanups giveaways resources but it all flows from this place of a gathering of god's people who have counted him worthy in every season of life that's why the church exists that's why i invite you into things like membership sign up be on the team make a pledge i'm not just here to hang out i'm i'm not just here to to kind of be warmed by your passion or to try to project my spiritual vitality onto a few talented people who stand on the stage i'm here to give my life to this thing i'm here to give my life to this thing i genuinely believe the church exists to glorify jesus and whether i ever get another miracle whether i ever get another blessing whether i ever get another breakthrough he has already been so good i will live the rest of my life just glorifying him see we've attached our worship and praise to an outcome but scripture says while you were yet a sinner christ died for you so while i am yet sick i will praise him while i am yet in need i will praise him while i yet have not seen the breakthrough i will praise him in the valley of questioning and decision i will praise him because even when i don't understand i choose jesus come on the church exists to bring glory to him because christ is the head of the church but watch where fullness is fullness is in his body i can worship god anywhere yes you can but when you gather with like-minded people the tide rises and all boats float i grow up in ballard one of the things that ballard is famous for is what's called the ballard locks y'all know what i'm talking about and ships would be passing through in order to get to the pacific ocean it doesn't matter what size they are don't matter what year they were doesn't matter if they're expensive ships or broke ships it doesn't matter if it's a yacht or a canoe it doesn't even matter what its purpose is whether it's for fishing or leisure or pleasure when it gets into the locks and the tide rises all boats float that's the value of you being here because the tide is rising and you're going to receive from god in this environment in such a way that your life comes up your spirit comes up your mind comes up your family comes up all of a sudden things begin to float isn't it amazing all the things that the american church has been able to build without the holy ghost it's like a boat without water it's like a plane without wings it don't make no sense it might look impressive to a passer by but it ain't going to change anybody's life and we ought to give back to god what has always been his his bride the church let me start here this morning proverbs 21 and verse 20. watch this is the wisdom of solomon it's the wisdom of god speaking through solomon to us today there is desirable treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise but a foolish man squanders it let me read it again there is desirable treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise but a foolish man squanders it verse 22 a wise man scales the city of the mighty and he brings down the trusted stronghold my message is entitled this morning there is oil in this house solomon says that in the house of the wise there is oil and that the wise scale cities and pull down strongholds hear me some of us have encountered unnecessary warfare because we're trying to take cities without first having oil the wise scale cities and they pull down strongholds but if you don't have oil first you don't have the necessary anointing to do and be everything god has asked you to do and be i'm so struck by what that first verse says a foolish man squanders it you know i think squandering looks like in our context being unaware of the significance of what god is doing in this hour being unaware like jacob who fell asleep and woke up he said i had a dream i saw angels ascending and descending god was here but i didn't know it i don't want you to leave this moment leave this service leave this church and look back at it in one two three four five years and wish that you would have dug deep to find the oil that's provided for you in this place fred i say this all the time it's not because we're special it's because jesus is and as we keep our eyes on the author and the finisher of our faith he is faithful to provide time and time and time again come on my primary text this morning comes out of the old testament first kings chapter 17 it tells us a story of a man named elijah who was one of the most significant prophets in the nation of israel he operated as a mouthpiece from god to god's people he was a physical embodiment of a word from god to god's people in that season starting in verse 7 of first kings 17 scripture says this sometime later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land the word of the lord came to him and said go at once to zerepath in the region of sidon and stay there for i have directed a widow there to supply you with food friend the purpose of god allowing you to experience living water is that for the rest of your life you would never be satisfied with anything else the word of the lord came to elijah and said this it is time to go and some of you need permission this morning to leave empty brooks in order to pursue living water empty brooks look like old mindsets empty brooks look like preconceived ideas and notions empty brooks look like past relationships religious nostalgia or dead dry organizations and today god gives you permission to drink deep of this living water that's why we taste and see that the lord is good because once you do you never go back once you truly eat of the goodness of god it so wrecks you for anything less that you refuse to settle for second-tier christianity and elijah's been at the brook of kidron for a season and in fact there's been no rain in the land because it's god's judgment coming against ahab and jezebel and as the brook of kidron dries up the lord speaks to elijah and he says you will go to zarepath there you will find a widow who is destitute herself but she will provide you with food now watch what happens why is it important for scripture to let us know the marital status of the woman she's a widow i believe it's because it makes the story that much more preposterous this widow is broke she's nearly dead she's starving there's a famine there's no rain her family system is falling apart her husband is dead she has no source of income she has no inheritance the lord sends elijah he doesn't say go to the most prosperous man in the city and they will provide for you he doesn't say go to the bank and take out a loan because they will provide for you he doesn't say seek all the things that in our own natural wisdom would seem as sources of provision he says go to the widow but what i've found to be true about the lord is this when he gives you a word no matter how preposterous it seems he is inviting you in to witness a display of his extravagance you know when we planted in snohomish i literally had pastors laugh in my face they said you're crazy you know how hard it is to get there you know how small that city is a bunch of farmers you're really gonna do something in snohomish but watch the lord sent me to a widowed land a dry and thirsty place and he said is unconventional to human wisdom but the wisdom of man is but foolishness to god and when the wisdom of god impacts a preposterous situation in your life the output is a miracle and what if in your life the leading and the directing of the holy spirit is more about him getting glory than it is about you getting breakthrough what if the glory and the brilliance of god was going to be displayed to an entire backslidden nation because what seemed foolish in man's eyes was strategy from god's perspective telling you there's some strategic things in your life there's some strategic decisions there's some strategic moments of clarity some strategic values of decision that you've been in i tell people this all the time but if you don't have a word from god the northwest is about the worst place to be but when you get a word from the lord you stand on that word until you see him perform everything he said he would do and in this place we're seeing the goodness of god on full display friend it don't matter how unqualified you feel god is reminding you today that you have something to supply watch what eliza says god says to elijah i have directed a widow there to watch supply you with food it doesn't matter how unqualified you feel god is reminding you today that you have something to supply to this church you have something to supply to this community something to supply in your sphere of influence why because god has already deposited a supply inside of you and if a widow could feed a prophet how much more could god revive a region if a widow could feed a prophet how much more could god heal your body if a widow could feed a prophet how much more could god redeem your situation it seems like scripture always sets the parameters on the ridiculous in order to get you to believe heaven's reality watch if god cares for the sparrow how much more does he care for you if god feeds the birds how much more will he supply for you if god can raise jesus how much more will he strengthen your mortal body if god did it for them how much more will he do it for you god is always using scripture to define the parameters of his greatness and then encourage us that because he's the same yesterday today and forever because his opinion of you has never changed because he is no respecter of persons that same miracle working god is in the business of outpouring verse 10 so he went to zeropath watch when he came to the town gate a widow was there gathering sticks he called to her and asked would you bring me a little water in a jar so i may have a drink as she was going to get it he called and said and please also bring me a piece of bread watch how she replies as surely as the lord your god lives i don't have any bread only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil and a jug i am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son that we may eat it and die poverty changes your perspective i don't have any bread i'm just going home to die i'm only making one more meal i'm only making enough for me and my son but see god sent a word to a widow and it came with some instructions that would require her to trust god with the little that she had left and in doing so it would position her for abundance hear me clear whatever i choose to trust god with signals to heaven an area in my life in which i can be trusted for more but god i'm just a widow with two mites oh that'll do well i'm just a young man with five loaves and two fishes yeah that'll do i'm only a widow with a little jar of oil and a little pot of a flower but in god's hands the miracle working god makes his supply come to your house and here's what i find so interesting about this story she tells the prophet i don't have any bread but in the very next verse she reveals that she's got the ingredients for bread in her cupboard i don't have it now but i've got some oil and i've got some flour and friend for some of us this morning we have been so busy telling god what we don't have and he's inviting us to open the cupboard of where we are at to see the ingredients of what he is building in this hour i'm telling you we got bread at the pursuit we've got some oil and we've got some flour and it's gonna take some mixing but by god's spirit he's gonna do it see you bring an ingredient to this church that i don't i probably bring a few ingredients that you don't some people here have an expertise that others don't we're all differently gifted but when brought together god takes the individual instruments and he conducts a symphony and scripture says it's not good for man to be alone god sent a word to a widow and in doing so illustrated his heart for the nation here's where i'm going to end watch watch oftentimes we don't like the ingredients we don't like the process we don't like the baking we just want the outcome but in order for god to develop the deep things of your heart he can't afford to fast forward you to the end he's got to develop you along the way because what if the real miracle in your life is who you become on the way to receiving your breakthrough what if the real miracle is the development in your family when you trusted god when everything else was falling apart what if the real miracle is who we become in the life-long pursuit of following his presence what if there is not some sort of magic goal to obtain or gift to receive but instead entering into a lifelong iterative developmental process by which we are so hidden in christ that when people see us they see him well pastor i don't have it all together that's fine you've got some ingredients and watch what our ingredients look like pain yes hurt disappointment betrayal need lack none of those ingredients function as a standalone meal but when the baker of heaven mixes them together they produce a breakthrough oh it's easy to praise when we get our miracle it's harder to praise in the process when we're so busy telling god that we're just gonna go home and die i only got enough for me i only got enough for my little family i'm at the end of my rope i've got nothing left but then a word from god walked into the house watch scripture says when you honor the prophet you receive the prophet's reward now sometimes people have used that in a weird context like you got to honor the pastor things like that let me help you understand that from an exegetical perspective when you honor the word of the lord in your life you receive the reward of that word coming to pass in your life elijah was a walking word from god to a working widow in her house and when the word of god entered into the house even though she had a little debate and dialogue she ultimately followed through with what elijah said and if you continue to read the story the bible says that her jar of oil never ran out her pot of flour it never ran out it kept being replenishing why because she refused to believe the lie of lack for when i give that's what i receive now watch let me adhere let me adhere [Music] verse 14 elijah says this for this is what the lord the god of israel says the jar of flower will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the lord sends rain on the land watch this is good we need the flower of the word and the oil of the spirit and those two ingredients are enough for god to send rain on this land and god won't stop filling this house until what has filled this house fills this region and that's what we're going after [Music] here's what i hear the lord saying he's a pursuit you got enough oil pursue you've got enough flour don't be afraid to expand your borders don't be afraid to stretch out over this land don't be afraid to plant another campus don't be afraid to reach another family don't be afraid to add another service don't be afraid to invite another friend because it's not gonna run out because his provision doesn't come from this place it comes from that place according to his riches and glory [Applause] come on fred i know i'm not bill johnson i know i'm not benny perez i know i'm not corey russell those guys are heroes to me i can't preach like them i can't minister like them you're stuck with me [Music] but i can come alive to exactly who god has created me to be and in doing so it functions as a redemptive gift for this region i don't need you to be like me i need you to be like him i don't need you to be like a guest speaker we bring in i need you to be like jesus i don't need you to be emblematic of every one of my mannerisms but i need you to keep your eyes locked on what he's doing because the tide is rising in the northwest and if you're not already in the river it's a great time to jump on in because when the tide rises all the boats floats and this is who we are this is this is who we are we're a gathering of people fixated on the presence of god enamored with the idea of glorifying him lifting up the name of jesus and in doing so allowing him to draw all people unto himself friend this is who we are come on would you stand with me as we close come on let me pray for you come on let me bless you let me pray passion into you let me pray oil into you come on friend keep oil in your lamp keep oil in your lamp why because the bridegroom comes keep oil in your lamp keep watching keep waiting keep pressing in keep serving keep giving keep showing up keep inviting keep building why because the bridegroom comes keep oil in your laps friend there is oil in this house for you today come on would you just raise your hands across this room god today we receive by your spirit in the innermost part of who we are we say god do your best work inside of us god do your best work inside of us inside of our families our minds our places of work our spheres of influence god we make ourselves available to you god we know that there's been times that we have looked at the ingredients and thought to ourselves i won't ever see the outcome but god today we submit ourselves to the process for we know that there is living bread that is coming our direction god we pray for your help and we pray for your hope in our time of need and we'll give you all the glory we'll give you all the honor both now and forever in jesus name come on all god's people said amen amen friend we got prayer teams up here in front listen if you want prayer before you leave maybe you didn't get prayed for unconference you want somebody to lay hands on you in faith and prophesy i want you to come forward we want to pray for you today add our faith to yours friend if not god bless we'll go be excited to see you next sunday here's what i'm asking you as your pastor invite a friend let them know that there's living water that there's living oil and that we serve a living jesus come on god bless we'll see you guys real soon [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: The Pursuit NW

Views: 650

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: iNeYfgEVsmQ

Length: 94min 59sec (5699 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 25 2021