9/12/2021 || Altars: He Reveals And He Responds || Paster Justin Bridges || 9am

nothing but all you have given me [Music] me god [Music] oh [Music] good morning heritage of faith say anything is possible amen here we go [Music] [Music] you've always been with us every battle you've already won or we've already won there is no weapon that has ever left a mark on you and there is no army with the power to conquer truth you've always been with us every battle you've always already won show me one thing he can't do show me a mountain he can't move he's the god of the breakthrough when anything is possible show me one thing that's too hard show me waters he can park he's the god of that's advancing like the speed of light and in his kingdom every dead thing is bound to rise [Music] show [Music] show me one thing that's too is [Music] now all of my fears i will turn into praise shake off despair as i sing out your name [Music] shake off despair as i sing [Music] shake show me what they [Music] is is possible a victory dance i [Music] a shake off despair as i sing [Music] anything is possible show me one thing show anything is possible [Music] anything is possible anything is possible [Music] [Music] anything is possible [Music] lord hallelujah hallelujah thank you father thank you father thank you father hallelujah nothing is impossible nothing is impossible hallelujah hallelujah thank you father oh we praise you this morning i first heard this song i said this needs to be the theme song of heritage of faith because what we're about making winners in life right i i think we need to do part of the song again how about you just just lift your voices lift your hands hallelujah father we thank you for your presence in this place today and i thank you that victory is in this house this morning i thank you that victory is in the home that are watching this morning i thank you that victory is in the cars where they're listening we thank you for manifesting victory in this place this hallelujah [Music] all of my fears [Music] [Music] yes show me one thing you can't do show me [Music] [Music] is nothing impossible [Applause] [Music] come on put your hands together [Music] i know a breakthrough is coming by faith i see a miracle my is breakthrough is coming my face oh is [Applause] it's breaking through oh it's breaking through oh you gotta speak it you gotta sing it my god is breaking through my gut is breaking through is [Music] is [Music] make me oh come on make some noise [Music] breakthroughs in my house in your house breakthroughs in our city and breakthroughs in this nation oh god's not done oh god's not done you just watch and see you just watch and see the hand of the lord is on the scene [Music] or just watch and see the hand of the lord is on the scene and breakthrough is coming oh breakthrough is coming oh yes breakthrough is coming oh yes we worship you the god of the breakthrough the god of the great breaking throne hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah thank you lord thank you lord thank you for your goodness thank you for your love thank you for your promises that are yes and amen we worship you we lift our worship we lift our adoration to you this morning our faithful god we've come here for you [Music] [Music] so [Music] and i simply [Music] that will bless you [Music] is search [Music] [Music] much i'm coming back to the heart [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] you search much deeper when you think through the way things when it's all about you it's all about you jesus i'm sorry how i'm sorry is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] it's all about you it's all about you it's all about you it's all [Music] about you it's all about you all these songs it's all about you it's all about you all about our faithful god oh yes it's all about you it's all about you oh we're coming back we're coming back it's all about you it's all it's all about you oh my jesus it's all about you it's [Music] it's all i'm coming back i'm is it's all is you it's all about yourselves [Music] [Music] it's [Music] [Music] now [Music] can you just take a minute just close your eyes in this place every eye closed just in your own heart your own ways just magnify him and love on your father love on your savior just love on it that's why church was created it was for children of god to come together and to worship the living god we worship him in spirit we worship him in truth [Music] with a spirit of unity in the spirit of faith father we come to you and we say our worship is not about songs it's not about what we look like it's not about the circumstances others we worship you we magnify you alone we take our eyes off ourselves our eyes off our circumstances our eyes off earthly and worldly things and we set our affections on you like colossians 2 instructs us to to lift our affections to you to heavenly things to set our affections on heavenly things so we are set on heavenly things this morning on heavenly things this morning hallelujah things heavenly things [Music] oh we love you lord we love you [Music] love you lord i love you lord i love [Music] you lord i love you for your children [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] just [Music] foreign [Music] in this atmosphere this morning i want us to receive communion i believe communion is just an amazing picture and taking communion what is communion it's the intermingling of two lives worship is communion it's us connecting with heaven it's receiving from heaven so the ushers prepare to pass out the elements it's not a this is not a just a religious ritual this is worship i heard someone talk about that scripture where it said you know you forgot your first love and that word if you look up that word love there it actually means love feast if you look it up in the in the in the greek that word you forgot your first love we know that's going back to the beginning that where you first met god but if you look it up it says love feast and what's our love feast it's the communion table i'm telling you everything changes at the communion table now i want you to hear this and this might be different than a pre-lead a prelude to taking communion but in first corinthians chapter 10 verse 13 it says there had no temptation taken to you but such as is common to man but god is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you're able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it have you heard that scripture before no temptation is common to man and that god will make a way of escape what's the way of escape a lot of times we can we can talk about we can say well god's going to give you an avenue and yeah i know the holy spirit can provide someone a word a way out or don't do this don't do that and understand that but but let's look at this in context of what the way of escape is the next verse of verse 14 says wherefore so what is it going to tell us it's going to tell us what the way of escape is so this is all this is all in context here okay wherefore my dearly beloved what's the first way of escape flee from idolatry meaning meaning stop looking at what you're looking at stop going the direction of the way you want to go that's how that's how that's the first way that you escape you escape temptation is one you stop going the direction you're going and you hold up stop wait a minute but then what does it say i speak as to wise men judge you what i say now let's look at the way of escape one it's fully idolatry then is it this the cup of blessing which we bless is not is it not the communion of the blood of christ the bread which we break is it not the communion communion of the body of christ for we being many are one bread and one body for we are partakers of that one bread behold israel after the flesh are not they which eat the sacrifice partakers of the altar what say i then that the idol is anything or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything but i say that the thing which the gentile sacrifice they sacrifice to devils and not to god and i would not that you would have fellowship with devils you cannot drink the cup of the lord in the cup of devils you cannot be partakers of the lord's table in the table of devils do you we provoke the lord to jealousy are we stronger than he now let's look at verse 31 for if by grace be partakers why am i evil i'm sorry verse 31 whether therefore you eat or you drink or whatever you do do all to the glory of god the way of escape in temptation is one fleeing idolatry the second is go to the communion table because your way of escape is through the body and the blood of jesus your way to overcome any temptation is knowing what jesus did at the cross the way the way to escape is going to the communion table because it's at that table we receive the strength we need it's at that table we get the wisdom we need it's at that table we're made strong you know what that table is a place of worship it's a place of worship you do have two cups there if you didn't know that already there's the breads underneath it's easier than trying to open those other packets if you were like well where's the body at it's it's there i don't know what you came in here with this morning or what you're facing maybe it's the temptation to give up maybe there's addiction maybe there's just attacks against your mind maybe there's so many things that you're facing and going through and but i want you to know as we come to this place of worship you're coming to your way of escape make the decision right now in your hearts the bible says in the next chapter it says if we judge ourselves we would not be judged god's not looking at you with the eyes of judgment this morning he's looking at you through the eyes of jesus he's looking at you through the blood of jesus isn't that refreshing that he's not judging us according to our past sins but he judged and he placed all that judgment on jesus jesus made that wave escape for us to come to him just judge your heart right now just close your eyes and judge your heart [Music] sometimes your heart let your heart judge you to say lord is there things that i need to think different act different live different just he's not there to condemn you he's there to be the way of escape out of guilt out of condemnation out of shame out of fear out of guilt [Music] there's no condemnation to those that are in christ jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit by coming to the communion table you're not walking after the flesh you're walking after the spirit and in that place in that moment there's no condemnation [Music] yes father i judge that i judge that [Music] yes lord we thank you for the body of jesus thank you for the manna that you brought from heaven that is sufficient for every single one of us thank you that jesus is bread of life and as we stand at this communion table at this love feast this morning we are grateful for the body the body that was broken the body that was beaten the body that took stripes upon it for our healing so today right now in this moment we stand at that way of escape into freedom spirit soul and body thank you for the body that was broken for me can you repeat this after me heavenly father i thank you for the body of jesus that was broken for me it was for my peace it's for my wholeness it's for my healing it's for my forgiveness i receive it [Music] in jesus name take of his body [Music] thank you father hallelujah thank you that we are partakers of that bread we are partakers of the bread we're takers of the body and partakers of the blood [Music] so father i thank you that because of the blood we stand cleansed because of the blood we stand cleansed free of guilt and free of condemnation i'm so grateful this morning that jesus ascended to the right hand of the father and he took his blood and he went into the holy of holies he went into the heavenly altar of incense and he took his blood and he took it and he sprinkled it on the mercy seat and he sat down and he accomplished and made mercy available to every single one of us so as we take of the blood this morning [Music] we are standing at the very throne room of god cleansed whole and having been made a new creation i thank you for the blood [Music] repeat this after me heavenly father i thank you for the blood of jesus the blood of jesus is life to me and i receive everything it's made available in my life i receive of the blood [Music] oh we worship you and we praise you we worship you and we praise you it was never [Music] forget what's been done for us [Music] oh we love you we love you we love you we love you we love you jesus [Music] thank you [Music] thank you [Music] how [Music] oh foreign [Music] [Music] father we just go back we go back to where it first began with you [Music] we go back to that place where you stepped in [Music] and go back to that place [Music] [Music] phil [Music] just last weekend when we were praying and um and as we were praying and there was something that we were praying through but i want you to communicate what you felt when you went back to remember when we were praying we were praying and and we were on the bed and we were praying and and you went back to where you remembered what god had done a long time ago remember that place [Music] hallelujah thank you father we got done praying and you said you remembered [Music] no it wasn't after communion it was when you're praying we felt like a spiritual attack physically i was praying over you and because you were experiencing a lot of pain he took me back to a place of salvation [Music] you know that's the greatest miracle [Music] that's the greatest miracle you can't say god hasn't done a miracle in your life there's power in that place of salvation [Music] because the holy spirit brought it back to his remembrance at the same time that he brought it back to mine i was back in my aunt's living room and it's like we were praying for healing over my body there was an attack on my body but in the spirit after much praying i went back to that place and i thought lord what am i seeing i was like a place of salvation when i was eight years old when i accepted jesus so you know what devil you're defeated you're defeated when you remember whose you are so it was like bam that was quick release right there it was like the devil was defeated that's the miracle miracle of salvation our name is written in lamb's book of life we're going to heaven we win amen [Music] yeah put it on the spot thank you worship team [Music] hallelujah thank you father don't lose don't lose that thought you know we had um got a message late late last night and and was able to communicate with part of the family early this morning and [Music] ken ledford entered into heaven last night and someone encouraged you to just be praying for judy and and troy and their their family and just praying just the grace of god and the peace of god over them can we do that right now heavenly father we bring the leadford family before you and it's not just them but they're part of our family part of jerry savelle ministries and and lord i just we just bring that family before you and i thank you that your grace is sufficient i thank you that the peace of god would surround about them in amazing ways not just right now but for the days and the weeks and the months ahead and and i just thank you i thank you for the promises that we have of eternity thank your promises are yes and amen so lord in this time i thank you that we will take our place to lift up that family's arms to that for them to be strong and equipped and we thank you lord for your your hand of faithfulness over them in jesus name amen amen we'll communicate and give details ken was also the assistant general manager of jsmi as well and part of the church since it began and just amazing teacher amazing anointed man of god and and um and he he talked a lot about heaven he talked a lot about um the the word of god what a great teacher and i know he stepped into things that he he saw in part here amen amen but i'm so grateful knowing that jesus according to corinthians 15 that jesus took away the sting of death for you and i death is transition there's no sting it's it's just like beam me up scotty you know it's like i'm not making light of that but it's hallelujah also we had some dr savelle contacted us yesterday and just through some prayer and um jesse duplantis was praying as well and he had in his heart that he really needed to stay because of things that had happened with the storm there he really had in his heart that he needed to stay in new orleans i don't know if i said new orleans new orleans is that it he needed to stay in new orleans and so dr phil spent time praying and he had in his heart that that we're just going to do biker sunday next week we're not going to do the whole weekend as we had previously planned and and so i'm grateful for people that are or ministers that are open to change and open to what the holy spirit says amen how about you so we will have just one service next sunday morning so you want to get here early because we're going to try to fit both services into one and so encourage you to get here early it'll be one service at 10 am and also since that change we weren't going to have service on wednesday night but we will now have service on wednesday night i'll be ministering in this service and of course rick and the youth team will be with the youth and the pre-teens and children's ministries as well so just let's go back to that thought for a moment my first love you know think about the altar and eight verses into abraham's encounter with elohim he makes an altar and when he makes the altar it said he called on the name of the lord there the word call is not necessarily like the word that we might do to just to get someone's attention although it means that but there is more of a picture and an image in that word in the original language in that word call means to either invoke it means to invoke with adoration or it means to invoke with worship so it's not saying hey richard no it's richard i require you in my life it's not just calling someone but it's but it's there's there's this there's this communication but it is a communication from the heart of worship and then said he called on the name of the lord vic you know what in the next chapter it said he had to go back to that place if you if you look at we talked about jacob last week and about changing your identity and the altar is a place where you receive your true identity from him and and we learned how he he made that that he put his head on that stone and and he saw the angels coming going up and the angels going down and he realized that this was a gateway to heaven that there's an access that that you and i mr ellis you and i have a relationship with god and that relationship is is not just something natural but it is a gateway to the eternity of the eternities it is an open heaven you and i knowing that jesus came for us that he was the one that was on the altar for us it created an open heaven for you and i for us to live out of this this extraordinary relationship with god and so jacob at that place where he called it bethel meaning the house of god if you go back to we talked about last week you go to genesis 32 in genesis 35 he said go back to bethel and go to that altar what was that that was a representation of their first love and and here they had this they called upon the name of the lord they mean they weren't just calling on th just a person it wasn't just calling me calling kermit but it was everything kermit is it was his character his integrity his person all that all that makes him who he is i call on the name of the lord see the altar is a place where we call on the name of the lord and when we come back to our first love we're calling on the one that saved us we're calling on the one that changed us we're calling on the one who does wonderful things you see when we call upon him vic he reveals and he responds and that's what i want to i want to talk about today that that god at the altar he will reveal himself to you and he will respond to you he always responds to a seeking heart he always responds to a seeking heart that's what the first love is about it's about having them is about seeking the most important thing seeking the thing that changed you calling on the name of the lord romans chapter 10 i believe it's verse 12 and verse 13 was it say call all those that call upon the name of the lord shall be what all that call upon the name of the lord shall be what can you say it a little louder you see see so me calling and and me seeking what causes him to respond let's look at jeremiah 33 the altar is a place where he reveals himself and he responds we have to know that the altar is a place where we seek him jeremiah 33 it says moreover the word of the lord came unto jeremiah the second time so this wasn't the first time it was the second time while he was shut up in the court of the prison saying thus says the lord the maker thereof the lord that formed it and established it the lord is his name call unto me and i will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things that you know it's not i love the employee it says call to me and i will answer you show you great and mighty things fenced in and hidden which you do not know you do not distinguish and recognize have knowledge of or understand so if i call upon on him what he answers me and shows me great and mighty things so when i come to the altar i'm calling upon him when i come under the altar what am i doing i'm seeking him i'm worshiping him what he does he responds he reveals and he responds what did he do in this case he goes i am the lord what did he do he revealed himself and what he do he will respond he will answer let's look at uh psalms 27 psalms 27. and that this was a visitation that jeremiah was having while he was shut up in prison it wasn't when everything was going great no it was when everything was going bad is when he was imprisoned and said what if i call he answers and he reveals look at verse 1 of psalm 27 the lord is my light and my salvation of whom shall i fear the lord is the strength of my life of whom shall i be afraid when the wicked even mine enemies and my foes came upon me to eat up my flesh they stumbled and fell though a host should encamp against me my heart shall not fear the war should rise against me in this will i be confident now think about it a host is surrounding about me thousands of enemies are surrounding me but in this will i be confident in this in this i've got i've got thousands upon 10 000 surrounding me but in this i'm going to be confident joseph what is it one thing one thing one thing have i desired and that will i seek after so this one thing that i will seek after and what is the one thing that i will dwell in the house of the lord all the days of my life and to behold the beauty of the lord and to inquire in his temple what's in his temple the altar meaning meaning for david what was most important to him the one thing that was necessary the one thing needful for him was being in god's presence the one thing that was needful and he's like sam that one thing is what i'm going to seek after and that one thing is to not to visit the house of the lord but my one thing is to dwell in the house of the lord there there's a difference from visitation to habitation sometimes we just like to have visits with god and god desires to inhabit you see the first love he this was his most important thing let's go to psalm 63 psalm 63 read this in the amplified verse one it says oh god you were my god earnestly will i seek you my inner self thirst for you my flesh longs and is faint for you in a dry and weary land where no water is so i've looked upon you in the sanctuary to see your power and your glory so what do you see i seek you my inner self thirst for you and my flesh is longs and is faint for you in a dry and weary land where no water is so understand this he's talking this isn't something that's spiritual but it's something natural and it's something with his soul his mind his will and emotions this is this is something that is really whatever he's going through it's affecting his whole being but what was the answer he goes so i've looked upon you in the sanctuary meaning because this is the way i feel naturally this is the way i feel in my soul this is the way i feel in my mind so what am i i'm going to go to the sanctuary and what was in the old testament sanctuary the altar because it's at the altar where i will see your power and your glory meaning when i dave is saying when i go into the altar when i go to the sanctuary you are going to reveal yourself you're gonna i'm going to see what your power and your glory there see the altar is a place where god reveals and he responds let's go to matthew matthew chapter let's go to matt chapter 7 first god responds to a heart that seeks so when jesus was talking to the church in revelations and he's saying you lost your first love meaning you've lost really it comes down to you've lost your pursuit if i ever stop pursuing a net then i'm losing my first love if i stop pursuing the word of god or i stop you're what you love what you adore is what you're going to pursue i i i can tell by what food you like by looking at your bank receipts about where you like to go eat that's right i mean you're you're gonna you're gonna see what you like what you like to watch what you like to listen to based on looking at some things why because because your decisions are an outflow of what you're adoring and god responds to hearts that are seeking him and i told you matthew 7 right let's look at verse 7. what does it say ask and it shall be given to you seek and you shall find knock and it shall be open unto you for everyone that asked receives and he that seeketh findeth and to him that knocketh it shall be opened to him so here jesus is giving us some absolute statements here this is this is absolute if if i ask i receive if i seek i find if i knock the door is open see this is just this is just matter-of-fact statements so what you're asking for what you're seeking and what you're knocking on you something is going you're gonna find something you're a door's gonna be open and you're gonna receive things based on what you're seeking and what you're pursuing the question is are we seeking the right things are we pursuing the right things the altar is about my place of pursuit my altar is is really really comes down to what i'm pursuing am i pursuing god or am i pursuing things am i pursuing god am i am i pursuing um am i pursuing his work in my life or am i just trying to take care of things myself the altar is about what i'm pursuing let's let's go back a chapter to chapter 6. look at verse five now jesus deals with three different i believe um connections with heaven in his personal walk with with his father he deals with his giving relationship he deals with his prayer relationship and he deals with this fasting relationship and in this section here starting verse 5 he's dealing with the prayer part and he says this in the king james it says and when you pray thou shall not be as the hypocrites are for they love pray they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets that they may be seen of men verily i say to you they have their reward their their reward was to be seen by men instead of seeking god they were trying to seek man's approval so when they were coming to the house of god that that is equated with the altar of god they were coming standing to be seen by god instead of bowing to be seen by god it's about by men to just be bowing did i say that backwards they were standing to be seen by men instead of bowing to be seen by god and here this he's talking about prayer and prayer it isn't isn't a place where i just make requests prayer is communion with god prayer is not a monologue prayer is a dialogue prayer is a two-way communion communication prayer is is is is god hearing you and you hearing god the altar is a place of worship the altar is a place of intercession the altar is a place of of going into his presence so so jesus is really dealing with where do you really seek god and so what does he say here verse 6 but you when you pray enter into your closet and when you have shut the door pray to the father which is in secret and the father that sees in secret shall reward you in the open see it's what i do at the altar between him and me that causes me to see manifestations in my life see it's what i do in my personal at the altar then all of a sudden now he reveals himself but also he responds so what is jesus saying when you go into the closet you're going to see manifestations in your life it's not about what man seeing between you and god but it's what you're seeing between you and god and now also now i'm seeing manifestation because of what's happening at the altar the altar is the beginning place of manifestation ask any great men or woman of god it was their time at the altar that caused them to step into the anointing that was upon their life the closet now we think of a closet yes it can be a secret chamber it can be a you know a it's a sacred place but can i have vic come here i want you to see what this thank you father now this is this is the the the the root of the word for closet okay now what does it say here a that a dispenser or distributor a kind a dispensary or magazine now a dispensary i thank you vic i just want to i'm not i'm just not making stuff up here okay so here the the root word to this word closet yes it's it's a it's a sacred chamber it is all these things but but the first definition is it's a dispensary well what is what is a dispensary i'm glad you asked it's where medicines are prepared and where they're provided that's what a dispensary is it's a place where medicine is prepared and it's provided so when he's saying go into your closet he's saying go to where the answer is go to where is there things prepared for you go to where the wisdom is go to where the strength is go to go to that secret place because it's in that secret place you will receive and know everything that's been prepared and everything that's been provided so it's not just me going to this place and doing this religious time of prayer but no i'm going there because there's things prepared there there's things provided there there's answers there hallelujah see when you seek god and you and you have him as your first love you're always aligning yourself with the answer the one that's dispensing good the one that dispenses wisdom the one that dispenses healing the one that dispenses strength the one that has provided grace the one that made mercy available so when i go to the altar i'm coming to the one that is dispensing everything that's good hallelujah [Laughter] a couple people are getting it here i mean that's that's what the closet is about it's it's not being shut off from the world yes it's getting away from the business of the world but it's going to the answer so when i see god that's what david was saying that hey in a dry and weary land where no water is hey i'm going into the sanctuary because that's where i see your power and your glory that's what jesus is saying hey go into your closet because that's where you're going to see the power and the glory that's where you're going to hear things that's where you're going to receive things that's where you're going to all of a sudden get pictures of what god's called you to do and laying hands on people and speaking things and going to nations and reaching people and touching people that's where it's going to be but it and so often we really want that but are we going to the altar i'm telling you he's always one that honors those that seek him go to philippians for sake of time i'm gonna just maybe just philippians chapter three now you i'm not shifting gears here because i want you to see that god always responds to people that have hearts that are seeking after him now we know the apostle paul wrote two-thirds of the new testament but i want to ask a question why the apostle paul why him you know people say oh well well god well god changed his name no god didn't change his name god never said you shall now be called paul i don't think he liked the word paul because the the word paul means short [Laughter] my dad's name is paul and he's 5'4 so you know paul james bridges that's my dad's name but why why i mean just just this this is my this is my study this is my interpretation of why was he called paul and not saul i believe paul was his roman given name because he was a hebrew of the hebrews a pharisee of the pharisees counting the law he was blameless so i believe it's the name that he took on and why because he was called to minister to the gentiles so believe that's why he he went by his roman given name because he was called to the gentiles but saul and and was labeled he used the name saul because that was his hebrew name and that was a name of royalty and and so so here why did why did god use saul he was a murderer why would he use him why because he was a seeker why he said he said zealously he was he goes zealously i you know i perverted the church he he wasn't doing it he wasn't killing people because he wanted to kill people he was killing people because he thought he was doing god a favor he was more intent about seeking god than anything else so so that's why on the road to damascus a light shown about him why because god is always going to be pursuing people that are pursuing him and i ultimately believe and you can send me letters later and correct me later but i truly believe why the apostle paul because he was a seeker of god and wanted to be used by god he was just uneducated he was just ignorant about the gospel he was just ignorant but he was so he was so intent of being used by god amen why was why was the apostle he was a seeker he wanted god more than anything else he wanted to please god more than anything else and the glory of god showed up on that road road and knocked him off his donkey and saying hey why are you kicking it against the pricks what does he mean he's saying he goes you're coming against the very thing you're wanting to be a part of well you know he goes he goes what who are you lord why why did he have that heart because he had a pure innocent heart to seek god he wasn't saying no you're wrong no you're wrong no he was so he he wanted god more than anything else that's why when he experienced the glory of god he was like who are you lord and he goes i'm the christ i'm jesus that's why he was i believe that's why he was used because he was a seeker that's why he was a pharisee of the pharisees counting the law he was blameless meaning he did everything right why because he wanted to please god even in timothy i believe it says it says that he persecuted the church and he did it because he was ignorant not because he had malice and murder in his heart because he was seeking god he was seeking god there's uh there's i hear reports all the time and a good friend of mine and he's uh he's ordained under our ministry and his name is cameron and he's iranian and and he got born again he's he speaks farsi and and he has a under he has a television broadcast that goes into iran and and he has established underground churches in iran and and he'll tell you that that you know that why because muslims really truly have a heart to seek god and in the midst of that that he knows people that will have visions and dreams of jesus christ and they'll they'll fall out of bed and all of a sudden they'll they'll come to know jesus based on a visitation that they have in a dream why because they're truly seeking truth and let's look at philippians verse 6 in the amplified it says as to my zeal i was a persecutor of the church you know what is it when jesus went in and he knocked over the tables in the in the synagogue and we talked about this number of weeks ago when we talked about altars and the disciples remembered in the psalms it says the zeal of my father's house has eaten me up zeal fervency earnestness desire and so what does this say as to my zeal i was a persecutor of the church because i had such a heart for god i became a persecutor of the church you can go to acts chapter 9 and you can look at the beginning part of that and you'll see a little bit more about his heart for god but let's look at verse 10 and i'll start to close with this philippians chapter 3 verse 10 the amplified now remember in this scripture here it's familiar to us that he said all the things all my accolades all my successes he says i count as zero nothing nothing but what does he pursue first in the amplified says for my determined purpose is that i may know him meaning my success doesn't matter to me anymore my pedigree doesn't matter matter anymore my roman citizenship doesn't mean anything to me anymore but the only thing that matters to me at all is my determined purpose is to know him that i may progressively become more deeply and into intimately acquainted with him and i love the empire it says perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of his person more strongly and more clearly wow vic my determined purpose is he's saying is to recognize jo know the wonders of his person amen amen richard to know the wonders of this person marcus to know the wonders of this person lena to know the wonders of this person what is your determined purpose is your purpose success financially is it is it a business is it a relationship is it having a marriage what what what thing is your determined purpose because i'm telling you none of those other things matter if this isn't our determined purpose because it's in this determined purpose everything else will find its success it's to know him and the power of the resurrection and the sufferings that he went through let's look down at verse 12. he says this the king james verse 12 it says not as though i have already attained either were already perfect but i follow after he's saying i'm not saying i've attained it and i'm not saying i've laid hold of everything he is my determined purpose is to know him and i'm not telling you that i've come to a place where i've arrived and known everything yet i don't already i haven't attained everything yet and i'm not already made perfect but i follow after you see that's a life at the altar the life of the altar isn't saying yeah i already have heard that i already know that i've already experienced that i've already done that i've bought the t-shirt i've done no that no you say no i follow after what i follow after why because there's something more than what i've already known if i get to this far then i get there there's something more beyond that i get that far than there's something more beyond that my determined purpose is to know him and i'm not saying joseph i'm perfect and i have it all together and i'm not saying that i've totally grasped everything that he is but what i follow after i follow after i'm pursuing something i'm seeking something i'm running after something follow after now this says i love this i follow after if that i may apprehend that for which also i am apprehended of christ i know that's a mouthful words but what does that mean he's saying i'm going to apprehend the very one that apprehended me the one that showed up on the road of damascus and knocked me off my donkey and i saw his glory and he blinded me for three days that one i saw that glory i'm not stopping until i apprehend everything he is and all that he is i want to see that glory i'm going to apprehended apprehend hold to that which apprehended me and he says brethren i count not myself to have apprehended but this one thing i do i forget those things that are behind and reach forth to those things that are before you know what you cannot apprehend all that he has for you if you're still holding onto your past that's what he said brethren i i count myself too apprehended but this one thing i do i've got to forget that yes i've gotta i've got to forget what's behind and i have to look i have to reach forth to those things reach reach look at these words that grasping attained apprehend reaching see see i've got to let go of that and reach forth to this so i can fully embrace and and know him and then what does 14 say i press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of god in christ jesus wow i press towards the mark i press towards the mark i press i press i press towards the mark that lets me know that that this isn't going to be automatic in a believer's life a press is something that i have to do the apostle paul is saying hey there's more out there and i want to know him there's more about my heavenly father that he wants to reveal and he wants to respond but i've got to follow after it i've got to let go of those things and i've got to reach for this and i'm going to press towards the mark of the calling of the high calling the high call the high calling of god in christ jesus and there's some things i could unpack with a high calling and what that what that means but but one aspect is high calling is is my place at his throne my high calling is my place seated with him in heavenly places the high calling worship was the highest calling that you'll ever ever step into the highest calling of christ jesus is being like jesus was paul's saying i i'm i'm going to apprehend him leave it behind reach forth so i can be just like jesus you received this word this morning oh hallelujah father we pressed towards the mark this morning we press towards all that you have for us we thank you lord that we we make we make everywhere we go a place of an altar [Music] stand to your feet thank you father hallelujah thank you father we thank you father we thank you we thank you we thank you thank you for the victory that we have in you we thank you for everything that you've made available for us hallelujah thank you jesus oh thank you lord hmm [Music] i don't know about you but i want to i want to press towards the mark how about you if you want to press towards the mark in your life just lift your hands oh how many people you can you can you know that that jesus has apprehended your life you just i know your hand's already up just give me an amen amen give me an amen you know and you know what i want to further apprehend that which apprehended me how about you hallelujah thank you father father we're here this morning as yielded hearts and i thank you for this teaching that you're giving us about the altar that i thank you that this room if not already is filled is a room filled with people that are pursuers and seekers after you and i declare as they see seek and pursue after you i thank you that you will reveal yourself and you will respond and i thank you for just coming back to their first love where god showed up and where god moved and manifested in their life throughout the years that they go back to those moments those times those places and they would remember what apprehended them and i thank you that they would let go of where they're at and they would continue to reach forth to the things that you have in front of them i thank you for depositing victory on the inside of every heart this morning i thank you that they are a victory going somewhere to happen i thank you that they are not going backwards but i thank you they're reaching forwards and as they're reaching forward i thank you that they will encounter and we will encounter the glory of god like we never have before we will see abundant overflow we will see the goodness of god outpoured like never before we will see first things that we've never seen before and we will see restoration recovery and recompense as we press towards the mark and we thank you for it in jesus name amen give them a shout of praise amen you can be seated how many of you were blessed this morning amen thank you pastor we appreciate that amen praise god hallelujah you know as long as the earth remains what is there seed time and harvest seed time and harvest i was praying about lord what would you have me to to give this morning and he gave me this these scriptures out of matthew chapter 16. they're all they're familiar to you it says when jesus came into the coast of caesarea philippi he asked his disciples saying whom do men say that i the son of man am and they said some say thou art john the baptist some elias and some jeremiah's are one of the prophets he saith unto them but whom say ye that i am the question is being asked to the individual the disciple that was there who do you say that i am simon peter he answered and he said thou art the christ the son of the living god and jesus answered and said unto him blessed art thou simon barjona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my father which is in heaven and i say unto thee that thou art peter and upon this rock i will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it and i will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven i will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven now how many of you believe that the keys has already been released how many of you know this is revelation knowledge he got revelation knowledge concerning who he was because that was revealed to him by the father which is in heaven now i believe that the lord has given us all the keys that are necessary to be able to enjoy everything that pertains to natural life and spiritual life and one of those things one of the keys that he gave us is the keys to prosperity and your giving is one of the keys that he gave to you don't just give just because out of habit now it's a good thing to have the habit but don't give because of habit give it because of a relationship that you have been developing between you and the lord in your giving to him that it's not just something that you're going to do on sunday morning or wednesday afternoon because that's just what you do you need to do it because you have a relationship and a revelation within your heart and your life concerning your giving today amen he's made that promise he gave you keys how many of you have a lot of keys in your purse or or in your pocket how many of you know whatever one of those keys stand for how many of you have keys on your key ring that you have no idea where those keys go and it may be the possibility that you might have some but how many of you know that if you don't know where that key goes it's not going to really do you any good and if you don't understand the key of giving to the lord he told us not to to give to him grudgingly or of necessity to the corinthians he said to give cheerfully it's a happy time it's part of our worship that we give unto the lord blessing him in this time that the lord has blessed us how many of you know that this pastor was preaching to you he was giving you revelation of the word of god which are keys to your relationship with him and how to get further down the road how to have a better relationship and an understanding of who you are and what you possess in the lord well it's no different with our giving our giving is not an obligation it's something that we do because of a love relationship we love the lord with all of our heart paul did exactly the same thing with his life he gave his life just as we give our life to the lord and so in this area it should be a no-brainer this would be not something that we struggle with this should not be something that we say well i can't afford to do that you can't afford not to do that i mean you're shooting your own toes whenever we don't obey obedience is the number one key to giving to the lord you see the ways that we can give up there this morning i pray that you've already prayed you've asked the lord what do you have you to do and you're prepared and you're ready to do it amen let's pray father we just praise you we thank you for the opportunity to be able to be a blessing to the kingdom of god you told us to bring our tithes into the storehouse and to prove you now herewith saith the lord of hosts if i'll not open you the windows of heaven pour you out a blessing that you do not have room enough to receive it all and i will rebuke the devourer for your sake so we thank you lord for the opportunity to enjoy seedtime and harvest as we plant our seed we plant it in faith believing and receiving everything that you have made provision for us we lack in nothing you are our shepherd we shall not want you've never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging for bread because you're a provider you've made us that promise and we thank you for it and as we give we give to you with a cheerful heart so we thank you for blessing the the gift now and blessing the giver above all they can possibly ask and or think in jesus name amen let's have the ushers come forward if you would please good morning heritage if you're new this morning welcome we're so glad you're here please don't leave this morning without seeing our welcome team in the foyer we want a chance to meet you and to give you a gift before you leave today today is thrive group sunday so tonight we have exciting business to do as a church right so we have lots of thrive groups um after the service as you leave today we have sweet treats for you and so to remind you of the sweet time that we have tonight and please if you're not a part of a thrive group take a minute to meet the thrive group leaders that will be out there so that you can see their faces and maybe connect with one of them to decide which group you would like to visit tonight so thrive group night starts at 5 30 but children and youth can be dropped here if it's church at five and then you can pick them up again when you're done tonight biker weekend has been canceled so next sunday we're just still going to have one service but it'll be at 10 o'clock everybody say 10 o'clock ten o'clock not nine not eleven ten o'clock one service ten o'clock what oh and where your biker gear and wear your biker gear you can still wear your biker gear bikers so you can wear black and red those are our chariots of light colors so if you're wearing pink you're going to be on the outs that day we'll all know that you didn't get the announcement that would have been me a couple years ago okay so reg so and we will have our regularly scheduled service so we did originally cancel wednesday service because we had a friday and saturday service but we still have wednesday now so come out support pastor as he ministers to us the word wasn't the word good today oh my goodness i'm loving this series loving this series it's so good god you are so good to us all right one last announcement flavor of heritage taste off competition those of you that are bakers and rib smokers well brisket smokers rib smokers we're smokers make sure you sign up online get all the information about that on the website and um sign up sign up sign up so we can have a good time at the anniversary we're gonna have a good time at the university now keep all these events in your prayers and there's a lot more going on at heritage beside this so check your church center app regularly so you can not only enjoy them but be praying over them right church that's what we do we pray right yes amen so let's pray father we thank you for today we just thank you for your word it was so rich father i thank you that you're calling us in to your secret place father for times with you to meet with you so that you can minister to us so that you can reveal yourself in new ways to us father to take us further to take us higher father we're believing for that new era and we're believing for more power and firsts and unprecedented outpourings of your goodness father that are going to flow out of these times of worship with you so we give you all the praise and all the glory today in jesus name amen now go give them jesus you

Channel: Heritage of Faith CC

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Keywords: HFCC, Heritage of Faith Chirstian Center, Pastor Justin Bridges, Jerry Savelle Ministries International, heritage of faith, heritage of faith cc, crowley, tx, texas, fort worth, jerry, savelle, ministries, dr., Pastor, justin, bridges, church, service, worship, kassi, annette, jsmi, hfcc, livestream, live stream, revival, 2021, Wednesday, Jerry, Savelle, Captain Rex

Id: bRiLOc3RJuA

Length: 99min 45sec (5985 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021