9/12/2021 || Altars: He Reveals And He Responds || Pastor Justin Bridges || 11am

[Music] oh [Music] good morning heritage of faith are y'all ready to worship are y'all ready to get your praise on let's all stand up in the presence of the most high god hallelujah y'all ready come on put your hands together there is no shadow that has ever overcome your light and there is no rival there could ever fight you've always been with us every battle you've already won we've already won [Music] 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 already won we've already won show me one thing he can't do show me a mountain he can move he's the god of the breakthrough anything is possible show me one thing that's too hard show me waters he can't bark he's the god of the breakthrough anything is possible possible there is a kingdom that's advancing like the speed of light and it is every dead thing is bound to rise oh god our redeemer he's faithful to revive he he's show me one thing that's true now all of my fears i will turn into praise shake off despair as i sing out your name a victory dance i will dance out in faith i will crush this upon me and break every day is [Music] show me a mountain [Music] please [Music] is [Music] [Music] every day show me one thing that's true is [Music] show me one thing that's he's the guy things [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] i know a breakthrough is coming by faith i see a miracle my god made me a promise now my god [Music] so the very point of breakthrough is that something has to be broken through right there's a lot that needs to be broken through right but the god of the breakthrough is visiting this house but i believe he's visiting this city i believe he's visiting this state i believe he's visiting this nation the god of the breakthrough is not done he won't stop until he wins and he's already won so let's stir up our faith amen let's just think about the breakthrough let's get a little attitude because we're more than victorious [Applause] i [Applause] is come on give him the biggest praise you got come on give him [Applause] [Music] is outstretched right now your arm is outstretched right [Music] we we [Music] are is now [Applause] glory [Music] [Music] we magnify you this morning father we magnify you jesus we magnify your name you are victorious and because you're victorious we're victorious we win because you won for us and we may be in a war but we win we already know the end we already know we win every battle we win every war we're winners we're winners in christ [Music] and we magnify you this morning we worship you you alone deserve our praise you alone this this morning [Music] [Music] museums [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] it's all about you it's all about you jesus i'm sorry lord for the things it's all about you jesus [Music] how much [Music] every single [Music] have is [Music] you search much deeper within through the way things appear you're looking into [Music] when it's all about you it's all about you jesus i'm sorry love for the thing we've made [Music] all about you jesus i'm sorry lord for the thing we've made when it's all about you it's all about you jesus [Music] [Music] jesus it's all about you [Music] it's all about [Music] it's all about you it's all about [Music] jesus [Music] it's not about a song it's not about performance but it's all about you it's all about you it's not about appearances oh we've come to you cause it's all about you it's all about you all our worship all our praise god [Music] it's all about you it's all about you oh my god [Music] [Music] it's all about you i'm jesus [Music] [Music] about you [Music] my [Music] shall rise to this [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] it's is [Music] thank you father it's all about him what a opportunity for us right now to take communion so the ushers you can prepare the take communion you know communion is not a just a ritual that we do within a service a religious ritual but it's worship in the book of revelations and jesus talking to the churches and the first church there he talks about that you've lost your first love and that can mean a number of things that can mean going back to what you you first knew to be true what first knew to be real that first encounter that you had with god but if you look up that word in revelations that word love means love feast you know it's a love feast so it's not just not it's not just going back to the first love but but it's just with the disciples that said that they they were aware and their eyes were open to jesus in the breaking of bread so when they had the breaking of bread their eyes were opened to who jesus is so as we take communion this is a this is an act of worship and i had in my heart as i was just praying over how to minister communion this morning i had first corinthians chapter 10 in my heart and in verse 13 and this is a familiar scripture that you don't necessarily think of communion with but as i got was praying over i knew it was something i needed to communicate to us as a family verse 13 it says there hath no temptation taking 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 you've heard the scripture before right that in temptation that god makes a way of escape [Music] i want to ask a question what is the way of escape what's what's the way of escape that that you and i can implement in our lives when we have all hell coming against us or we're facing temptations or addictions or whatever pressure to give in and things in the world is constantly surrounding about us it says that he always gives a way of escape so what's that wave escape let's look at the next verse verse 14 says wherefore so that means wherefore this scripture is connected to the one before it wherefore so because of this what is this way of escape my dearly beloved flee from idolatry what's that mean okay if if you're facing you know temptations the way the escape is stop going the direction you're going stop stop making making your natural things bigger than who god is what is an idol an idol is is making take something that's taking the place of the creator so flee from those things and the next verse says the cup a blessing which we bless this is verse 16. the cup of blessing which we bless is it not the communion of the blood of christ the bread which we break is it not the communion of the body of christ verse 17 for we being many are one bread and one body for we all are partakers of one bread so what is the way of escape the way of escape is going to the communion table to celebrate the answer that's the way of escape no matter what you might be facing the way of escape is going to the communion table and then if we go down without reading to all these different verses verse 31 says wherefore therefore wherefore whether therefore king james is difficult sometimes whether therefore you eat or you drink whatsoever you do do all to the glory of god what is he talking about as you take of this communion this wave escape do it for the glory of god realize it's his strength his ability that makes up the difference in my weakness so let's take communion and let's remember our this love feast some of you might have two separate cups and or some of you might just have one of the packages if you didn't know there's if you have two cups the bread's underneath just clarify like where's the bread at [Music] thank you father amen do you remember when you first made jesus the lord your life wow just close your eyes and just go back to that moment [Music] if you've never had that moment i'd be more than happy to introduce you to my jesus don't don't forget your first love because this first love that brought you out of darkness and delight is also the same one that will make a way of escape no matter what temptation oppression heaviness that you might be facing at this moment [Music] no in the next chapter it says it says if we were to judge ourselves it said we would not be judged i want you to know this morning that god's not looking for a way to judge you this morning he poured all his judgment out on jesus [Music] but according to corinthians the next chapter it says if a man were to judge himself we would not be judged so let's take a moment and just put your hand on your heart and maybe there's some things and situations that you need to judge it's just between you and god just set your heart right in this in this moment this time of worship thank you father [Music] thank you i judged that father i judge that attitude nestle thank you father thank you you repeat after me heavenly father i thank you for the body of jesus the body that was broken for me wounded for me for my peace for my wholeness for my healing i thank you that jesus is the bread of life and i receive it now in jesus name take up his body [Music] thank you father we thank you for the blood of jesus i'm so grateful that jesus after he died on the cross for us went into the heavenly holy of holies and he took his blood and he sprinkled on the mercy seat i thank you that even today from heaven his blood is crying out mercy so father today we receive that mercy fresh and new [Music] repeat this after me heavenly father i thank you for the blood of jesus that cleanses me washes me makes me whiter than snow thank you for your mercy today in my life thank you lord for making up that which is lacking in my life i'm grateful for the blood of jesus and i receive his blood in jesus name thank you father father we thank you i thank you for your presence is in this place today i thank you that we would always come back to this place of worship where our lives were changed that is not a it's not a it's not about things it's not about what's happening it's around us but it's all about our heart towards you so lord help our heart this morning to be aligned help our heart to be settled and established in the most important things in our lives and we thank you for it in jesus name amen amen turn to someone give them a high five and tell my goodness to see them this morning thank you father hallelujah thank you father hallelujah so good to see you all this morning oh wow you know coming back to your first love you know i've been talking about altars um i think probably this might be my sixth uh sunday dealing with this topic and and um you know we've seen some things about altars that we might not have seen before you know it's it's always good to to get revelation on what the word says about certain topics and certain things and that we don't have a religious aspect of what an altar is or where the altar is you know um you know just this this coming back to this first love coming back to this first love you know i you know i remember when my life was first turned around and when i yielded my heart to god and and also it totally changed my whole thought process process about living and about life you know i had a net and stand up in the first service and share something and and there were some things that she was she had a lot of pain within her in her physical body and and we were praying over praying over a situation and praying over things and as we were praying both of us at the same time we both went back in our in our thinking to where our lives first were changed for her it was eight years old in her aunt's living room and for me it was when i was about 20 years old in my sister's living room and and how we encountered the presence of god at that moment and it was something that we went back to and it's something that marked our lives do you have a moment like that where you know that you know that you know when you were introduced to jesus and and something went off on the inside of you like wow something has changed on the inside of me and and and sometimes it's easy through life it's easy through circumstances and pressure and different things where we can forget about where we came from and we can forget about the things that god has done in our lives there's a lot we've covered about the altar so forth but up to this time but i want to remind us of some things about abraham for a moment you know abraham in in genesis chapter 12 soon after that he had this first encounter with god eight verses into it he builds an altar to god and he built an alternate and said he called upon the name of the lord see the altar is a place where you call on the name of the lord it doesn't matter whether it's in front of a church or maybe next to your bed or in your car wherever you choose to call upon the name of the lord that's where he chooses to reveal himself and respond to your heart cry now you've heard me say this before that god doesn't show up where he's needed if god shows up where he's needed then he's really he's really doing a horrible job god doesn't show where he's needed he shows up where he's sought those that hunger and thirst after after righteousness shall be filled right shall be filled and so here abraham was was building this altar and he cried out to god and he called upon the name of the lord now this word call is different than our understanding of hey i'm going to call i'm going to call rick on the phone here i'm going to hey hey uh justin tully can you come here for a moment it's more than that aspect of calling it's it's not just calling but it's actually it's it's calling with a heart of adoration and a heart of worship and he called upon the name of the lord meaning meaning abraham was saying i'm dependent upon what god is needing to do i'm dependent upon god's influence in my life and we see this throughout scripture how the altar is a place of pursuing after god the altar is a place of seeking after the heavenly father and it's in that that as we seek him he will respond and he will reveal himself you don't need to you go ahead and turn to psalms chapter 27 psalms 27 but while you're turning there jeremiah was locked up in prison and this is in jeremiah 33 if you can make no if you're taking notes you can write that down but in jeremiah 33 jeremiah's in prison it said he heard god for the second time and he and he there he called on the name of the lord and and it said and he is the lord god jehovah and it says this call unto him and he will what answer you and show you great and mighty things that you know not of i like the amplified it says i'll show you fenced in things that you haven't seen yet meaning that when you call upon god he's going to reveal some things to you so so here this morning what i'm kind of communicate to you constantly you'll hear me say it over and over that when we go to the altar it's a place where he reveals himself but he also responds because he always honors a heart that's seeking after him he always honors a heart that's pursuing after him let's look at psalms 27 verse 1 says 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 my 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 get a picture of this he's saying hey you know the lord is my light and my salvation so so why am i going to be afraid david the lord is the strength of my life and he says even if a host were to surround about me with the represents ten thousand enemies ten thousand armies surrounding me even if that's coming against me in this one thing i'm gonna be confident one thing what are you confident in when an enemy surrounding you what are you confident in when things look like in your family that aren't going the way they need to go what what do what when you have an enemy maybe it's sickness or disease or or or lack or whatever the situation might be what are you what where what's your confidence in when you're in that position or in that state what does david say he said in this i'll be confident and what do they say one thing have i desired one thing one thing have i desired and that will i seek after that i will dwell in the house of the lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the lord and into inquire in his temple so when an enemy is around him that now that's not our natural inclination when an enemy surrounding me you know i'm like hey i think i need to go to church now maybe i should pray you know or you see we want to we want to respond in the natural or we want to do something to our enemy but he's saying one thing i desired and that's what i'm going to seek after and what was that one thing that i will dwell in the house of the lord all the day all all the days of my life dwell all the days see so often in our walk with god we settle for momentary visitations instead of lifelong habitations see this was this was the heart of david was i want to dwell here and this is the this is the heart of someone that's seeking after god let's look at psalm 63. psalm 63 psalm 63 verse 1 says oh god you are my god i'm reading the amplified o god you are my god earnestly will i seek you my inner self thirsts for you my flesh longs and is faint for you in a dry and worry land where no water is verse 2 says so i've looked upon you in the sanctuary to see your power and your glory my my flesh longs for you my soul i'm in a dry and weary land and there's no water meaning in the natural there's nothing i have to hold on to to strengthen me see this is the way he's feeling physically and the way he's feeling emotionally have you ever felt this way you can be honest i felt this way you know and i'm telling you we are in a land that's dry and weary and there's no water meaning meaning outside outside of god's presence there's nothing there that is available to strengthen you and to equip you and empower your life so what does david say is because i'm in this position of lack i'm in this position of deficit i'm going to the house of god because when i go to the sanctuary that's where excuse me i see your power and your glory i see i see i see so so what was in the sanctuary the altar was in the sanctuary we know early on in the series we talked about how there was an altar outside and there was an altar inside and we're so grateful that we learned that jesus we have an altar jesus hebrews chapter 13 verse 10 we have an altar and his name is jesus and so here he's saying i go to the sanctuary because it's in the sanctuary it's in your presence it's at the altar is where i see your power and your glory it's where where it's where you reveal yourself to me it's where you respond and you do something about my weariness you do something about my lack you do something about my deficiency on the inside of me and this is where we need to live as believers where we're always leaning towards him where we're always leaning into him we're always looking to him for the wisdom looking to him for strength looking to him you know sometimes walking through life we we can just get so overwhelmed and we can just go through the motions of life you know okay i got this and i'll just give you the hard things lord no this is something that you and i have to lean into constantly god always responds to seekers let's look at matthew chapter 7. matthew chapter 7 look at verse 7. ask and it shall be given you seek and you shall find knock and it shall be open unto you for everyone that asks receiveth and he that seeks finds into him that knocketh it shall be open now think now jesus is giving us some absolutes this is you do this then this is what happens you do this and this is what happens you do this and this is what happens so god's kingdom operates on those that are seeking and pursuing after him ask and you've receive seek and you will find it's not well you might no you will find it you have to make it absolute you have to know and know that you know that you know and be convinced that when i go to god's presence he shows up when i go to god's house he shows up when i go to god's word he will speak to me this is how we have to we have to know that we know that we know that he always honors those that are pursuing and seeking after him let's go back a chapter matthew 6. now in in matthew chapter 6 we see several different things that of really we're looking at jesus's relationship with the father and how jesus connected with the father and he's communicating to his disciples on how to have the right heart and he talks about when you give when you pray when you fast we even know the familiar scripture in verse 33 it says what seek first the kingdom of god and what all these things will be added unto you right so so we understand this this seeking is needs to be a priority in the believer's life but let's look at his understanding here of how to pray verse 5. and so jesus says this he goes and when you pray thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are for they love to pray standing in the synagogue and in the corners of the streets that they might be seen of men verily i say unto you they have their reward wow so what would their reward be to be seen by men see prayer is not about me seeing and hearing how good you can pray because you you have your reward already see standing in the synagogue standing on the street corners see see it it's not it's it's standing so what for the purpose that that vic can see me but the altar was never about a place where you stand to be seen by men it was a place where you bow before god it's a place where you surrender before god let's keep reading it says verse 6 says 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 which sees you in secret shall reward you openly now i looked up this word closet and vic come help me again vic help me in the first service now a lot of times we have this idea of what a closet is and you know it's a secret chamber it's a sacred place it's a place that you set apart for god for your quiet time and all those things are good but i want you to see what what this actual the word closet really means now um well the gr the greek word is a dispenser or distributor a dispensary or magazine also a chamber on the ground floor of an interior house a secret chamber a storehouse so think about so he says thank you vic so you go and he says go into your closet go into a storehouse go into a dispensary now a dispensary is not something that we use but if you go to if you go to europe they're going to know what they'll use the word a dispensary a little bit more won't they and and so what is a dispensary a dispensary was a place where medicine would be prepared and provided it's a dispensary it's a place where medicine would be prepared and would be provided so so what is jesus saying he's saying go into where the storehouse is go into the dispensary where the medicine is that's been provided and that's been prepared for go into the secret place because in the secret place there is the answer there is the answer has been provided and the answer has been prepared so so now it's not just i'm going into this this this closet where no one can see me but i'm going into the storehouse to receive everything that i need so when you go to the altar you're going to the dispensary you're going to the storehouse you're going to the one that has the answers you're going to the one that has prepared a future for you the one that's provided things for you that that's made things available for you so so it's not just i'm going i'm going in my quiet place no i'm going to the storehouse [Applause] so it's see the religious people were going in to be seen by my men but jesus is saying you it's you need to go in because what you receive from men will will never perpetuate your life but what you receive from the storehouse will take you farther than you could ever go on your own so this is all about seeking and and you know right after this he says um but when you pray use don't use vain repetition as the heathen do for they think they will be heard for their much speaking be not therefore like unto them for your father knows what things you have need of before you ask need which you need he knows what you need why because there's a storehouse there a storehouse there there there is a storage unit there is there is a warehouse there there are things available thank you father and then jesus says this after this manner therefore pray our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven meaning what's in the storehouse in heaven what can be released out of heaven thy kingdom that what's in the kingdom can be done on the earth so so when i go into the closet i go into the storehouse what happened i'm now with open i'm with open communication with heaven just like jacob was when he built that altar and called it bethel and he saw angels descending and ascending from the throne of god and he called it this is a gateway to heaven you see that's what the altar is it's a gateway to heaven and it's a gateway to walk in and receive everything that's been provided and prepared god always honors those that seek him go to philippians i'm gonna might sound like i'm shifting gears here a little bit but going back to our first love i saw some things in scripture and just sometimes i i i look at scripture and i read it i just i sit there and just ask questions like why why did you choose this person you know why did you choose some of those disciples i mean come on why did you choose the apostle paul a murderer seriously you're going to let a murderer write two-thirds of the new testament i mean after he's also the one that wrote he takes the foolish things to confound the wise i mean i mean seriously paul i mean okay okay god all you come up with was paul and and thinking about this and you're thinking about paul said why did you choose paul he said because i always honor seekers you know you know some i've heard some people say well god god changed changed paul paul from saul to paul i said god didn't change paul's name saw his name to paul there's no one not one place in the bible where you see where god had to change saul to paul see this is don't write me letters okay saw what saul was his hebrew name and meant it meant one who royally reigns paul i believe was his roman name i believe it was roman given name because he was a hebrew of the hebrews counting the law he was a pharisee he also know that he had roman citizenship right and so paul is was his roman name and i believe he changed he changed it to paul because he knew god had called him to the gentiles and if he was going to have as much influence as he needed he needed to go by paul because i don't think paul would be the choice i'd choose because the word paul means short i mean saul like one that royally reigns to paul meaning short it's like my dad's name's paul by the way just for some comic relief i am the tallest in my family so you know i can kiss my dad on the forehead my dad's five foot three so four foot four something like that so me my five foot seven and three quarters so there wasn't anything necessarily i believe that was and someone could maybe prove me wrong later but but there was nothing spiritual about paul changing his name from saul to paul i believe it had to do with who he was called to influence and reach but why did he choose paul a murderer because god always honors seekers i mean paul wasn't a murderer because he had murder in his heart let me hear you let me hear me he murdered because he thought he was doing god a favor it was his way and means of proving to god you're greater than anything else in my life we even know that he said to timothy he goes he goes i persecuted the church and he goes i did it out of ignorance so we know murder wasn't wasn't really his his his heart and because he just had because he hated people no he thought he was doing god a favor and let's look at verse six of philippians chapter three in the king james it says concern concerning zeal amplified says as to my zeal i was a persecutor of the church this word zeal means earnest desire it means boiling point desire i mean we see we just see the same word in psalms talking about the coming messiah we know when when jesus chased the money changers out of the temple the disciples all in one of the accounts the disciples were back he was we remember that was written the zeal of my father's house has eaten me up meaning meaning i am this this i i'm not seeing the house of god being the house of god anymore so what jesus did he took a whip and he chased everyone out and i talked about this i think in the third message on this altars but so so paul had this zeal but it wasn't according to knowledge he had the zeal that it was like yeah i'm doing something for god i'm doing something for god and i believe that's why on actually in acts chapter 9 when god showed up in the glory of god and not knock saul off of his donkey and says saul saul why do you persecute me and paul goes who are you lord he didn't he didn't rebuke the voice why because his heart was for god who are you lord see that's that is a statement of pursuit that's a statement of i'm open i'm ready for correction i'm ready i'm ready for change i'm ready i'm ready for for god to speak into my life and here god totally totally changed and really wrecked his whole religious belief and his religious understanding and god said hey you're kicking against he said he goes stop kicking against the pricks what does that mean he goes you're coming against the you're you're coming against the very thing you want to do you're wanting to change the world for god but you're coming against this you're coming against what i'm trying to do and you're setting up pricks you're setting up a fence and a barrier to keep me from doing what i want to do through your life you see it was that moment when he had that visitation that he realized wait a minute something has to change and we know the story he says he he couldn't see for three days and he said go to a street called straight there man anastonias will come and pray for you but this happened not because i believe god just randomly chose this man named paul he chose them because he was a seeker he chose him because he he wanted god more than anything else in his life he had a love for he had a love for god's house he had a love for the tour of the law i mean he knew it backwards and forwards and inside out he was trained by the best but he was a seeker so he had a purpose where he was he was so caught up in his pedigree where he had come from his citizenship and a couple of verses after what we just read in verse six it says that he says i count all these things but trash dung for the excellency of christ i mean i don't consider anything in my past because i don't care about my past i consider my past as nothing nothing now let's look at verse 10. there's a lot more i could say here but look at verse 10 i'll read this in the amplified actually we need to read verse 9. he verse 8 the end of it says i i count all these things as nothing and then he says in order that i may win and gain christ the anointed one verse 9 and that i may actually be found and known as in him not having my own righteousness that can be called my own based on my obedience to the law's demands let's look at verse 10 for my determined purpose is that i may know him that i may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with him perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of his person more strongly and more clearly and that i may in the same way come to know the power outflowing from his resurrection wow i mean i don't consider my past is nothing but my determined purpose see determined purpose is pursuit i want to ask you what is your determined purpose is it success is it a great job a great family is it what what does your determined purpose look like paul said my determined purpose is to know him and i love how the amplified it says and to know the wonders of this person i want you to know that if if you you've met jesus and you know jesus i i want you to know that you haven't arrived yet and there's still more i want you to know if you've gotten to a certain place in your life and and you you felt god's presence you've heard god's voice i want you to know there's more i see i will not ever stop pursuing god i love where the prophet in hosea says i think it's hosea 4 verse 6 i believe it says he goes he goes come to know and continue on to know the lord know the lord and what continue on to know the lord meaning this is something that's going to be a constant pursuit in our lives as believers what's your determined purpose today let's keep keep going here let's look at verse 12. i know some of you have heard these scriptures preached before but i believe that we'll have some fresh revelation on these scriptures now this is all paul still speaking after his determined purpose is to know him he says not as though i have already attained either were already perfect but i follow after what does that mean i'm not saying i've already attained everything joseph and i'm not saying vic that i'm perfect but i follow after. i'm not satisfied with where i am this carolina i've attained a lot of things and i i've seen god do a lot of amazing things but but i've got to follow after i've heard his voice i've seen him do great things through my hands and i've seen amazing things and and i know i'm not perfect i've got a long way to go but i follow after see see coming in and living a life at the altar is about following after and then he says this and this is in the king james he says follow after why does he follow after if that i may apprehend that for which also i'm apprehended of christ jesus meaning why am i following after he said i'm following after because i want to apprehend i i want to possess the very thing that possessed me i want to lay that i experienced him on the road to damascus and the glory of god like i've never seen before apprehended me on that day and my life has never been the same and i want to apprehend the very one that apprehended me see that that's that's at the i mean i want to lay hold of the very one that laid hold of me but sometimes we just get settled with you know christianity our religious duties when all the while he's wanting to apprehend your life verse 13 brethren i count not myself to have apprehended well see i'm not saying that i've apprehended everything but this one thing i do i forget those things which are behind and i reach forth to those things which are before meaning if i want to apprehend everything he has i've got to let go of the things that are keeping me from apprehending him forgetting those things that are behind and reaching forth you see see these words that he's using here attained apprehend attain apprehend reaching forth so what is he reaching forth reaching forth to attain all that christ is and then he says this i press towards the mark i mean there's whole messages that we can preach about for getting those things that are behind and reaching forth to those things that are behind before but verse 14 says i press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of god in christ jesus i press towards the mark you know if you're going to step into everything that god has for you your purpose it's never going to be automatic it's going to always require a press press against what the world is saying oppress against religion press against um emotions press against fear press against past failures press against a number of things but he says i'm pressing towards the mark of the high of the high call of god in christ jesus now i could i could lay out a number of things on what i believe the high call is but in a nutshell i'll just leave you with this thought pressing towards the mark of the high call the high call is to continue to be like jesus i believe the highest call for us is when david you see me you see jesus hannah when you see me you see jesus when i see you i see jesus if we get we can get so caught up by apprehending everything and and being educated by everything that is happening in politics in our world and and all those different things and all the while god is saying i want you to apprehend me apprehend me apprehend me let me take over your life let me control your life let me direct your life but that doesn't happen until we live at the altar father we thank you for your word today and father that's our heart today is that we would apprehend the very one that apprehended us yes that we'd come back to our first love stand to your feet thank you father hallelujah thank you father father we thank you for your goodness we thank you for your faithfulness we press we press towards the mark [Music] hallelujah hallelujah thank you father [Music] hallelujah holy spirit i thank you you're in this place holy spirit thank you for the conviction my condemnation the conviction that you bring to our hearts and our lives [Music] thank you father as your pastor in my heart is that this would become a room full of seekers a room full of pursuers after god a room full of people that have one desire and one purpose and that is to know him and know the wonders of his person [Music] paul knew it was in the seeking after god that god would continue to reveal himself to paul my prayer for you is and each one of us is that we would pursue god we would prioritize our relationship with god and as we do god would reveal himself and he would respond [Music] say pastor justin i want to be a seeker i want to be an apostle paul to my generation i want to be an abraham a david i want to be a nehemiah i want to be a jesus some all of them had in common is they were pursuers after god said pastor justin i want to be a pursuer i want to be one that seeks after god [Music] if something resonated in your heart this morning as the word was going forth and you say yeah pastor i wow i want to apprehend that which apprehended me i want to go back to my first love i want to let me say thank you pastor for causing me to remember the importance if you say yes to any of those things just lift your hands got my hands lifted oh we love you we love you we love you [Music] thank you father hallelujah as we have our hands lifted the holy spirit i thank you for working in every heart i just ask you to just remove the clutter remove the clutter in our hearts remove the busyness of our hearts [Music] give us a new appetite father [Music] change what we're what we change what we we're hungry for [Music] thank you for doing a work in each one of us father [Music] jesus jesus jesus [Music] um [Music] as cassie's sings just seal this message in your heart today let the holy spirit seal this message in your heart today [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] i wanna sit at your feet drink from the cup [Music] this love is so [Music] oh it's over me [Music] the more i see [Music] the more i find you [Music] [Music] i wanna sit at your feet drink from a cup [Music] this love is so deep it's more than i can stand and i'm out in your peace it's overwhelming i wanna sit at your feet drink from the cup in your hand lay back against you breathe and fill your heartbeat cause this love is so deep it's more than i can stand and i'm melting your peace [Music] this in my heart that if you're here and there's something and it may i said it could be on a wide scale but the word i'm here on the inside of me is you're at a place where things look like they're about to end and that's the only and if if that's you could you could you come forward please and i mean it may be job it may be business it may be relationship wise it could be financial i'm not sure but i just need to do this real quick if that you just come forward real quick you sense things are just at the end thank you [Music] [Music] against breathe and fill your heartbeat cause this love is so deep it's more than i can stay is it overwhelms the fear it overwhelms the darkness i heartbeat cause this love is so deep it's more than i can stand and i'm melting your peace against you cause this love is so deep it's [Music] oh [Music] all your peace [Music] [Music] there was a specific word the lord wanted me to give each one of them and it's this new beginnings and fresh starts maybe you didn't come up maybe you're watching way of internet but i keep hearing you're about to step into new beginnings and fresh starts thank you father thank you father we praise you father oh we thank you for new beginnings and fresh starts oh thank you father for new beginnings and fresh starts lord we thank you for new beginnings and fresh starts hallelujah we thank you father just refreshing every single one of us in this place today thank you father we love you we praise you and we glorify you thank you jesus before we transition and receive the offering um just want to communicate something we have [Music] man totally connected with our ministry and in our church and just been part of the church really since it began a gentleman by name of ken ledford and and he went to meet jesus last night and he's celebrating heaven seeing family but it encourages to make sure we stand strong with miss judy and troy and [Music] his grand grand granddaughters and we'll give you more information but the family is doing well and and so i just continue to just intercede for the family just for the grace of god to surround about them can we pray over the family heavenly father we lift up a family member to you judy and troy and we we lift that family up to you lord and we just thank you that your grace is sufficient we thank you father for the promises that we have in eternity thank you lord continue to surround about them that they would know the peace of god in an extraordinary way in this season and i thank you that you reveal to us father how to be an encouragement and how to be a strength to them through this time just thank you for just the love of god that's been shut abroad in our hearts by the holy spirit lord will continue to surround about them in every way and we thank you for it in jesus name amen you receive this word today amen give god a shout of praise joseph receive our offering hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah you may be seated [Music] you give it's an altar it's an altar um that lady with the widow with the two mites right what made her so special in jesus's eyes she already determined in her heart what she was going to give i mean all these other guys are dumping all this big doe in there and they're doing physical acts but she determined in their heart when jesus took the bread and the fish he he looked up to heaven and he began to just commune with the lord and began to bless it i would have loved to have heard what it was he said over it but he began to bless it and one of the things i i learned pastor justin from the lord was is that giving is a witness that that jesus is alive in you giving is a witness that god is alive in you he's alive in you that that relationship is alive in you and you're trusting the lord and you're actually entering into a precious moment with him and you spend time with them don't just give i mean spend time with the lord that's what i do spend time with them determine in your heart and that what paul said right to the people in corinth and uh that second letter he wrote in chapter nine he said don't give grudgingly right determine in your heart purpose in your heart right sit down spend time with the lord right open your eyes right isaiah 54 verse 2 open your eyes let the lord stretch forth the curtains in your habitations begin to spend time with him as you begin to take your offering and as you begin to take your tithe it's not it's not a debt you owe it's a seed that you sow it's something that you bring to god with in fellowship with him knowing that he's gonna bless you i mean this is real stuff guys this is what i do this ain't a joke this is for real i mean i do this with the lord i spend hours sometimes prepping my offering before i come before the lord i mean i spent time with him i mean i give my heart to him my all you love the lord all your heart mind soul and strength i mean you commune with him when you bring your offer and you commune with him when you bring your money i mean this is a big deal in the kingdom of heaven god's gotta he wants to bless he wants to get involved in your finances but but there's got to be a relationship with you when you do it and you and you tithe with your heart and you tie with your mouth you speak you speak over your offering you speak when you do this i mean you're in the presence of god when you're doing this this is how vital this is you're in the presence of the lord father in the name of jesus there are so many ways we can give we could give online we could give by texting i mean we get we got envelopes provided we've got physical cash there are so many ways we can give lord lord i thank you as they bring this offering to you i think this this has a sweet aroma to it in the name of jesus it's a sweet aroma we release our faith knowing father knowing that you are the abundant harvest this is the year of abundant harvest it's an open door abundant overflow the bountiful eye father the bountiful heart in the name of jesus as those as that offering comes before you we join our faith we release our faith in the name of jesus we release our faith that all grace abounds toward us you minister seed to the soy you provide bread for the eater all grace abounding in the name of jesus father i thank you that promotions come over this body of believers in the name of jesus i thank you that opportunities open up in jesus name i thank you that as they give their seeds father debts begin to decrease i thank you father that favor begin favor is there blessing begins to happen in the name of jesus over their finances and in their life everything they touch begins to prosper because you're involved with it it's a partnership it's a communion it's a relationship giving is a relationship in the name of jesus and we receive that father and we release our faith knowing lord knowing knowing you your breath your depth your height your length everything about you lord i thank you for this in jesus name amen ushers if you can please receive the offering sister nicky amen good morning if you're new here this morning welcome we're so glad you're here please don't leave without seeing the welcome team and the foyer we want to meet you we want to call you blessed and we have a blessing to give you on your way out today um just a few announcements before we leave today um today is thrive group sunday so tonight we have our small groups that meet yay so the sweet time that we just experienced together gets to continue tonight so if you don't know what thrive groups are there's a table on your way out today to remind you of the sweet time we're having tonight you'll get cookies but all the thrive group leaders will be out there so take time to just get to know them if you haven't met them before introduce yourself get to know them and then maybe you'll feel more comfortable attending a thrive group tonight but those start at 5 30 to 7 30 and we just worship a little talk about the word that we've been hearing in church and it's just a wonderful time to get together with family biker weekend has been canceled for this week so we next sunday will be biker sunday so you can still come in your biker gear there'll be a lot of black and red in the house so don't wear pink no note to self um so there'll be one service next week at ten o'clock everybody say ten o'clock ten o'clock next week not nine nine eleven ten and we will have wednesday service this week so come on in on wednesday as usual and then our anniversary is coming up so check out all the details on our church anniversary online and all that other stuff and last but certainly not least let me turn it over to pastor there's one thing i want to do before we we dismiss and i want to sing happy birthday well i'm not going to sing it but to pastor carla so she's been in africa for 30 some years and hasn't been go back and but we want we want her to know that you're family to us here and so we have some flowers for you and have a card for you and so let's sing happy birthday to pastor carla happy birthday happy birthday to you [Applause] you know we we could do the stevie wonder way happy birthday to you happy birthday anyway we love you god bless have a great week go give him jesus you

Channel: Heritage of Faith CC

Views: 211

Rating: 5 out of 5

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: l31tafI2uZs

Length: 93min 45sec (5625 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021