BREAKTHROUGH | 10/3 (9AM Service)

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] good morning church family we are so glad you're here my name is nicole and my name is lou let's take a closer look at today's announcements our church's annual business meeting will be held in the sanctuary today immediately after the second service this will be a time for sgt members to hear more about all this happening in our church we hope to see you then moms is a bible study group for mothers of all ages at our church meetings will be resuming this tuesday at 9 30 a.m in conference room 2. common be encouraged and support each other in the lord in this season of motherhood this year's marriage retreat is called you got this and it will be held in connecticut during the first weekend of november this getaway will be facilitated by our very own pastors and leaders including pastor zarlingo and diane registration will be closing this thursday so visit our church's website and sign up today women in the word is a weekly bible study for women of all ages who want to grow deeper in their personal relationship with jesus starting this thursday at 9 30 a.m we will be studying ephesians and philippians in conference rooms 1 and 2. we look forward to seeing you there we are so glad that you're here with us this morning for everything else happening at sgt visit our website or the app and check out our digital bulletin and if you're new to our church we also invite you to visit our welcome center which is located in our lobby [Music] oh hey guys are you preparing for communion sunday because i have the elements right here so i'll just leave this with you although we've used many different elements throughout the years it's the same body and blood that we gather to remember so as we gather on communion sunday if you're here with us in-house and you haven't received the elements make your way to the lobby and make sure you get them if you're joining us at home you can prepare them yourself there these can be a little difficult to do so we're going to show you how [Music] communion is sacred and beautiful we had to give you some logistics because of the size of our church family but no matter what it's about what we're doing together as a family with one another we're turning our eyes towards the sacrifice of jesus and the hope and promise he gives us we don't do this by ourselves we do this together thanks for joining us today all right well good morning church family how are you guys today oh there we go now the mic word good morning church family how you guys doing today it's good to have you in the house of the lord and all of you joining us through live stream welcome as you saw we're gonna have communion today so if you're at home and you have the elements at your house we invite you to go right now get them together and join us for communion after service uh or at the end of the service and i just felt from the lord today as i was coming to church some of us were gonna walk in these doors today just a little like this just a little just a little down a little bit and i was talking to our sweet receptionist here at the church linda smith last week i forget the context of our conversation but she looked at me and she was like pastor remember there's no testimony without a test and i said amen linda you gotta get up there and preach that and she laughed but it's true there is no testimony without a test and i thank god that we serve a king who takes our spirit of heaviness and he gives us a garment of praise so while we right now open up in prayer will you stand with me let's raise our hands like we're a little kid and our dad is gonna or mom they're gonna put a new shirt on us okay first let's let the lord take off that spirit of heaviness lord right now i pray that whenever we came in here that's gonna distract us from focusing on you lord remove it in jesus name take that spirit of heaviness away we pray just like you promised isaiah lord let that be a promise for us say take off that spirit of heaviness and lord give us all a garment of praise that we can worship you with our full heart today all of who we are that you might dance over us and sing over us as we worship and praise your mighty name to you be the glory we pray in jesus name amen [Music] [Applause] come on people of god the holy spirit is drawing the saints [Music] it's calling the saints to worship in this hour let's sanctify this moment let's consecrate it to the lord to lift our heart to him in worship [Music] come on let's sing together i have heard [Music] i have heard a sound coming on the wind changing hearts and minds healing brokenness i feel a generation breaking through despair i hear a generation full of faith declared and our song it will be [Music] out of the darkness we will rise and sing and he is faithful he is glorious and he is jesus [Music] joy love and peace [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] i have seen the light like the break of dawn giving blind [Music] a generation filled with the power of christ and our song it will be out of the darkness we will rise [Music] is freedom and he is healing right now he is hope and joy and love and peace [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] he has paid [Music] [Applause] [Music] and we will praise him with our lives [Music] he has paid the highest price [Music] he has proven his great love for us and we will praise him with our lives and proclaim our love for him [Music] [Applause] he is faithful he is glorious and he is jesus [Music] [Music] hope and joy love and peace [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] come on celebrate jesus [Applause] [Music] thank you jesus thank you god we celebrate you today [Music] we thank you god that a third of the kingdom is joy you said the kingdom of god is righteousness peace and joy in the holy ghost god we pray for a fresh anointing of joy at this hour god that the people of god would carry yes the peace of god yes the righteousness of god but also the joy of the king thank you lord jesus jesus just begin to fix your eyes on jesus today the author and the finisher of your faith just begin to lift your eyes to him today just begin to let him take you out of the circumstance in this moment and just fix your eyes on him [Music] [Music] my hope is found he's my light my strength my song this cornerstone this solid ground firm through the fiercest drought and storm what heights of love what depths of peace when fears are stilled when striving sees my comforter my all in all here in the love of christ i stand [Music] singing christ along in christ the lord who took on flesh fullness of god in hell this gift of love and righteousness scorned by the ones he came to save till on that cross as jesus died the wrath of god was satisfied for every cent on him was laid here [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] come on people of god let's lift this place [Music] then bursting forth in [Music] [Applause] as he glorious in victory since his course has lost [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] sing out no no guilt in life no fear in death this is the power of christ in me from life's first clyde to find breath jesus commands my destiny [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] till he returns or calls me home here in the power [Music] could ever [Applause] [Music] thank you lord thank you lord [Music] just begin to lift your praise today for all that he's done for you just begin to lift a new song to him today just find words today find language to describe to him what he means to you just begin to lift a heart of praise today oh he wants to hear from you today oh how he wants to hear from you today come on people of god just begin to lift it begin to lift that sacrifice of praise yes don't let this moment go by come on give him what you came to give him today [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] you were the word [Music] your hidden glory in creation now revealed in you are christ what a beautiful name it is what a beautiful name it is the name of jesus christ my king what a beautiful name it is nothing compares to this what a beautiful name it is the name of jesus [Music] he didn't want heaven without us so jesus [Music] my sin was great your love was greater what could [Music] us now what a wonderful name it is what a wonderful name it is the name of jesus christ my king what a wonderful name it is nothing compares to this what a wonderful name it is the name of jesus what a wonderful name it is the name of jesus all i hope [Music] death [Music] [Applause] the heavens are roaring the praise of your glory for you [Applause] [Music] [Applause] yours [Applause] powerful is it is [Music] [Music] it is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] yours is the [Music] [Music] what a powerful name it is the name of jesus christ what a powerful name it is what a powerful name it is the name of jesus what a powerful name it is the name of jesus [Music] i believe there might be those in the room today who may be in a tough season have allowed their minds to run in imaginations of what if god's not good [Music] what if he's not the name above every name what if there are some sicknesses whose name is above his name some conditions some broken relationships [Music] some financial issues [Music] man i believe today that we need to be together and lift our faith together those who have seen breakthrough with those who are still waiting on breakthrough and declare that there is no name above the name of jesus that there is no sickness above the name of jesus there's no financial crisis there's no broken relationship there's no lost family member come on above the name of jesus jesus was humbled even to death even death on a cross made himself of no reputation [Applause] and because of that the father has exalted him above every name that at the very mention of the name of jesus that every knee would bow and every tongue would confess in heaven on earth and under the earth that he is lord come on begin to stir your faith in this place begin to stir your faith he is faithful he is above every name death could not hold singing out death could not hold you and tore tour before you the silence of sin and glory the heavens the praises [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] name is jesus christ what a powerful name it [Music] name is is the name of jesus what a powerful name it is the name of jesus [Music] jesus i wanna be tried by fire pureify you take whatever you desire [Music] you take whatever you do [Music] you take whatever you tease that's it singing lord hears my life i wanna be tried by purifying you take whatever your days are lord hears [Music] my heart i wanna burn for you and only for you take my [Music] clean my hands purify my heart i wanna [Music] my life as a sacrifice [Applause] [Music] only who you [Music] and as a sacrifice [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] for you [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] as a sacrifice [Music] i wanna be [Music] by [Music] lord hears my life [Music] [Music] god we just say today not only are you the name above every name not only is your name beautiful and wonderful and powerful [Music] but thank god we are yours that we belong to you that we want what you want we just give you all access today that you have access to every part of our life god that we might reflect your glory in every way jesus we lay down our preference today and we ask you to come in and have your way that you would sit on the throne that you would be the master that you would be the hero of our life that our story would be about you jesus equip us today for this prepare our hearts god that we might hear from you today and not just be hearers but doers of the word [Music] that seeds fall on fertile ground as we hear your word today we love you and we ask this in jesus name and everyone said amen [Applause] praise the lord what a beautiful time of worship before our god amen i'll tell you what for those of you who are joining us online diane and i have had the opportunity of watching the last four sundays online and it's been wonderful we've been in our living room lifting our hearts lifting our hands agreeing in prayer shouting crying the whole thing boy but let me tell you it's nothing like actually being here nothing like actually being here so praise the lord this morning as i was leaving i was in a hurry i couldn't wait to get here um diane started yelling out don't forget your teeth and uh i said what and she said don't forget your teeth don't forget your teeth i said teeth i don't have dentures what's going on and then i got closer to her and she was saying don't forget your keys don't forget your keys now that's important relational proximity and how you hear it's important so we want to move toward the lord when we were singing this song i remember a young man came to me and said pastor how do i stay on fire for him i said stay in the fire you want to stay on fire stay in the fire that means stay close to him where you hear his voice and he's not telling you don't forget your teeth but don't forget your keys remember what he's saying and how he desires scripture says in hebrews 12 our god is a consuming fire may we walk in him and with him it's sad news that our precious brother terry sullivan was part of our church for many many years so many here know him have loved him he was involved in so many expressions of ministry a deacon his wife grace a deaconess he was involved with the missions board the school board served on the combined board and one of the biggest aspects of his life his dna was being a soul winner sharing jesus he went to be with the lord and so i'd like to invite you as a church family to keep grace and the four sons in prayer there'll be a service this evening and also tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock here in the church so keep them in prayer he also had a tremendous influence in the public school system there in center reach as he taught and so there's a lot of students a lot of faculty impacted by his life and he was always bold always courageous to share his faith now i want to share a message that the lord has placed really strong upon my heart as i share this message it's going to be complemented by a song that you've never sung but i know that the lord said that during the singing of that song that he's going to do something in you that is going to be supernatural so though it's going to be a completely unfamiliar song the lyrics are easy but the holy spirit that is upon this song i know directly complements the message he's placed upon my heart about breakthrough then right after that we're just going to land into a moment of having communion and then i want to have the opportunity to share a very special personal announcement with all of you the scripture says in second corinthians chapter nine and verse eight and god is able to make all grace abound toward you that you always having all sufficiency in all things may have an abundance for every good work now in order to experience the reality of that scripture we have to consistently experience in the context of our life breakthrough breakthrough is well to achieve an overwhelming success and victory in a given area of your life that's breakthrough to experience biblical breakthrough is to achieve not by your own self-reliance but a dependence upon god and overwhelming success and victory in a given area of your life then that's scripture and you could put it up again ii corinthians 9 8 and god is able the greek word that's used there that's what the new testament was penned in is dunamis that means he's mighty he's powerful to make all grace grace is not some theological construct grace is the empowering presence of god it's not willpower but an empower will that hell helps you to overcome and be victorious so grace is the empowering presence of god at work within you both to will and to do according to his good pleasure it's based on philippians chapter 2 in verse 13. god is operating on the inside of you empowering you to be that's your that's your your your inner heart your your act your uh attitude your disposition to be in character with integrity and authenticity what he wants you to be and then to do that's the action the conduct the behavior of your life that's in harmony with his perfect will in romans chapter 12 verse 2 it says that we would know the perfect will of god and that we would do that and he says that you'll have all sufficiency in all things i know contextually it sounds like this is a challenge to us to monetarily give but it it says in all things god wants you to abound all sufficiency is what you actually need but then it goes on to say an abundance for every good work that means overflowing a measure that you can't contain it has to flow over that means it doesn't have to do just with you but others you know a philosophy i live by this i tried to with all my heart along with diane to deposit this into our children and i do my grandchildren i say look for somebody to help today you know that you've been hearing that for many many years from this pulpit look for someone that you can help today yesterday when i said that to one of my granddaughters i said listen so many things in life cause us to be me me me me me me and she said you're right grandpa let's kick selfishness right out of our house i said where did you get that i said say that again she said kick selfishness right out of the house i said good job that's right good works empowering us to to have a breakthrough in your life impacts your life yes but it has to impact a multitude of others so that you are empowered to be able to help others to look for someone today to help them it could be with a smile a word of encouragement a prayer maybe finances a meal something look for someone now breakthrough god wants to bring that into your life and mine i i sense that's so strong in my heart when you study i'm going to synthesize this quickly if you study the old and new testament when it comes to the issue of breakthrough in other words achieving success and great victory in a given area you'll find that sometimes it's punctiliar in other words it's it's immediate it's a moment it's a designated time and it happens right then other times it's a process it's not a moment it's a journey some biblical examples take david with goliath that breakthrough was punctiliar it was in a moment right then right there the sun didn't go down it happened almost instantaneously the same with say daniel dealing with the lions in the den that is that is an a breakthrough that is occurring in a moment of time or for example paul and silas in the book of acts when they were in prison and then all of a sudden that earthquake comes on the heels of them lifting their praise and worship unto god it was pontillier it was a moment but then there's examples in the old and new testament of of the breakthrough coming through process like noah constructing an ark 120 years of labor and then a breakthrough comes long process moses in bringing the people of israel out of egyptian captivity the great exodus that was not instantaneous that was a process joshua in the conquest of the promised land when you read through both the book of judges and joshua you you discover it was a process there was longevity to it so however the lord chooses to bring a breakthrough the achieving of a victory success in a given area of your life that might be visible to others or is very private in the inner chambers of your own heart you know boy this is an area i need breakthrough where do you need a breakthrough i know it's a rhetorical question but to reflect on that in your own heart i did when i was preparing this message lord where do i need a breakthrough maybe for you it's it's in your thought life the way you think the direction of your thoughts that then impact your actions and your behavior maybe it's in the context of your emotions that just manifest in different ways that bring embarrassment and disturbance to you you you've become a slave to certain emotions and i know that fear or anxiety is more than an emotion but maybe that's what you would articulate here man do i need a breakthrough i battle this fear in my life this anxiety this thought pattern this mindset toward depression i i wrestle with it i don't have victory in that area maybe for you it's an area of an addiction in your life your dependence up upon a pill or a drug or a drink or for some of you you might wrestle with sexual immorality and you're addicted to fantasies in your mind and in your heart you know where it's at maybe maybe it's a breakthrough legitimately and you're in your physical condition your health just one issue after another is unfolded in your life maybe it is with your finances or maybe you're saying i need a breakthrough in my marriage seems like we just exist we're not really living together we're not advancing we're a sorry example to many maybe you might say i need a breakthrough with my children their wayward i don't understand i i reared them in the church they went to sunday school but they're cold as ice so distant from god how i want to see a breakthrough with my son or my daughter now i want you to understand this breakthrough always requires a breaking it's almost like the prerequisite the precondition breakthrough always requires a breaking but keep in mind that many times you might be here crying out and saying i need a breakthrough in this area of my life and god is saying yes but we have to break this area in your life and you might feel that they're polar opposite they have absolutely nothing to do with the conversation of of the breakthrough you have here it's it's a language that seems almost foreign to you i'm crying out to you for a breakthrough in my marriage and then what god keeps bringing to your heart is he has to break some pride in you and you're saying that's not what i'm crying out for let's deal with that later i want breakthrough with my marriage i want breakthrough with my finances and god is dealing with another area say this has got to be broken as i was preparing this message it was almost like in that quiet time i could see with my mind's eye i'm not going to say it was a vision but it was just my mind's eye i could see an area in the context of my own life like i'm sure that some of you and this is where i ask the holy spirit now to target that area of what he wants to break there's something instantaneous that's going to happen in this service if you're watching online they're at home i believe that i have a strong assurance in my heart that the lord said as i deliver this message and i'm going to read just a short prophetic word that he gave to me and related in relationship to the message but it was as i could see it was like a steel bar with your mind's eye just picture that a steel bar that my hands were both attached to and i thought of the scripture in psalm 18. tell me if you've ever been here psalm 18 verse 17 david in that psalm says oh my enemy this enemy is so strong hebrews 12 verse one and two the sin that can easily beset you that gets the better of you this enemy is so strong david cries and then he makes what sounds like a very weak faith statement he says and this enemy is too strong for me too strong for me you almost feel that his conclusion is not very inspiring yet he expresses something that probably is in your heart and my heart at many different stages in our life but we'll say wow this this addiction this struggle this weakness this propensity to think this way or feel that way or this unforgiveness or this bitterness or this anger or jealousy or greed or whatever it might be it just is it's so strong someone else might say ah i've got no struggle with that at all but you for you you'd say this is so strong and then you might say like david said it's too strong for me and as i was meditating on that scripture in relationship to breakthrough and wondering what the lord wanted to break within me in order to bring a breakthrough this is instantaneous many times the breakthrough for the most part is a process even though it occurs sometimes in a punctual way but the breaking can be instantaneous and i believe and i'm going to give you some specific things that i'm going to invite you to engage with that you're going to have a moment where you're going to experience a break like i did but it was a steel bar i know the imagery is like a prison a place of captivity and bondage and i i couldn't bend that and i said lord i want to say like david said forgive me i've walked with you so many years but this area of my life it's it's strong is too strong for me i can't break it and that's when i heard him say but you're strong enough to give it to me you're strong enough to give it to me in your hands gary it's a steel bar in mine it's a stick it's a twig and i could snap it so do you want to keep holding it or do you want to put it in my hands and i could i could just see that when i handed it over to the lord what's impossible for you and me john 15 verse 5 you can do nothing apart from me then philippians 4 13 but you can do all things through christ who strengthens you the word that the lord put on my heart and then i want to tell you just some engaging things for us to do then we're going to lift this song please hear it maybe just close your eyes and hear this you know i never take lightly never if i'm going to deliver a a prophetic word my precious sons and daughters my precious sons and daughters as you look to me with a heart of desperation and purpose to cooperate with my revealed will i will with a strong hand and in a moment break this steel bar like a twig and unleash a mighty process a breakthrough in your life a journey of overwhelming victory to impact you and a multitude of others i felt so strong in my heart that was his word to you now in order to connect with what i believe is going to be in a moment an instantaneous breakthrough in your life a breaking in order to initiate a process of breakthrough i'm going to encourage you to do these four things the first is the desperation found in matthew chapter 8 and verse 25 then his disciples came to him and awoke him lord save us we're perishing we know the context we're all familiar with the story i'm not going to belabor it we know it was a mounting huge battle they did not bring faith to the table they brought a set of arms they brought looking in the right direction but they didn't bring faith because the scripture as the account is given to us in in matthew 8 luke 8 mark 4 in the synoptic gospels there's an indication that jesus says you all lacked faith so they were not expressing faith but they were expressing desperation and there's something to be said about desperation sometimes you're at a point in your life i can bring faith to the table but i can sure bring desperation to the table i am desperate and what makes desperation a good godly experience is when you're looking in the right direction looking in the right direction desperation sometimes can take the orb of your eyes and you're going to look in the wrong direction that'll lead to despair but when desperation is mounting in your heart with authenticity and sincerity and you begin to look in the right direction then psalm 121 is fulfilled from where does my help come my help comes from the and even though i reach and i don't have the hands of faith to grip it i'm reaching with my arms i'm reaching with my life i'm desperate and the beauty is so many times god will meet you in a point of desperation the second thing is participation there's a place where you have to cooperate and engage your will it's not just sitting back and resting on the sovereignty the providence the supremacy of god there's a point where no no no you have to engage your will you're not a robot you're not an automaton you have a will i've given it to you and you've got to engage it and the scripture will say this in isaiah 40 and verse 31 for those who wait on the lord they'll renew their strength now waiting is not passivity it's active obedience the hebrew word itself means to wrap oneself around so it's action you're engaging your will to wrap your will around his around his you have that moment when you say this area that's got to be broken and i've wrestled with this both from my nature and my nurture both from what i feel like i've inherited genetically or even part of the sinful nature and also in the nurture those who surrounded me the way that my mom and dad and siblings and the environment reared me i mean this is this is who i seem to be no no no no you don't understand i've tried to snap this for years decades it's a steel bar i understand but you're strong enough to say lord i'm gonna i'm gonna give this over to you those who wait god i'm desperate in this moment in this service i'm going to look in your direction and i'm going to move toward you and i'm going to wait upon you i'm going to wrap my will that seems so weak and limp around your strong will third there's an aspect of substitution in other words there's a transfer that happens that no longer are you a slave to this no longer does this own you or dominate you but you come into a different slavery i wish that the in the context of romans 5 romans 6 and romans 7 when it speaks about this biblical truth of of slavery i wish a different word would have been employed but doulas is the word that's used you can't translate that as the akanas which is servant it's translated as slave and and in the context of the passage here in in romans 6 but now having been set free from sin and prior to that he'll say you were a slave a doulas to sin it dominated you it owns you it dictated to you that area in your life it could be your appetite literally physical appetite or other appetites within you just dominates rules you are a slave to it it masters all of us understand that world all of us but then he says no there's a there's a substitution a transfer in exchange that you move to this side that's why paul will say in ephesians chapter 3 and verse 1 chapter 4 and verse 1 he'll say the same thing i'm a prisoner of the lord and here he'll say slaves doulas not diaconaz slaves of god does that mean i lose my identity no it means you're you have a proper expression of identity now does it mean you lose your will no you realign your will with him there's a mystery where here slavery involves a chain here slavery involves a choice and commitment big difference to others looking on it might look like slavery someone looks at you and says i don't want to be a christian i want to own my own life i want to make my own decisions i want to adhere to the humanist manifesto you know i want to do it myself protagoras the greek philosopher that says man is the measure of all things that's where i'm at well fine you could stay there i want to come to this place where in the mystery and the paradox of his ownership i find complete liberty and freedom it's a paradox when he completely owns me and is lord over my life i'm completely free own me lord that i'm no longer owned by that and i'll tell you when god owns you when you're his slave nothing else owns you nothing that fear doesn't own you that lust doesn't own you that anger doesn't own you that despair that depression does not own you he owns you you're not chained you're holding his hand you made a choice and a commitment and that transfer is that moment when you say god i give you this steel bar i give it over to your hands so that you can snap it and what comes liberation second corinthians chapter 10 and verse 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in the pulling down of strongholds our mighty god pulls down those strongholds listen this morning i said diane pray over me luke chapter 4 verse 18 that says the spirit of the lord is upon you and in there two times it says this about captivity it says you will proclaim liberty to the captives and then you will set at liberty those in captivity in other words it's more than just proclamation it's experiential something happens in the presence of god and i believe if you purpose right now as a promise from him i know it in my heart this day not tomorrow this day right now immediately if you will say i am desperate god i'm not going to play around i'm not going to hide this i don't have to articulate it publicly god does and god's not interested in embarrassing anyone he wants you free but if you say i'm desperately looking in your direction lord i want to participate and cooperate by yielding myself to you i want to transfer this over into your hands and i want to experience that instantaneous liberty i believe if you'll do that the holy spirit is about to break something like you saw me snap that twig and when he snaps that breaks it it's going to initiate a process of breakthrough in your life that's why there is something instantaneously the prerequisite to really beginning to see the unfolding of breakthrough in your life comes from something that has to instantaneously break so that process can really be initiated i experienced that this past week he snapped something and from that i just see in me this breakthrough process unleashed like he pro like he spoke it would be unleashed with a success and a power and a victory that isn't just about me oh i'm free no it's so that you can proclaim that to this lost and confused and dying world when you consider the society that we're living in now the perplexity the confusion the deception the lies they're perpetrated constantly excessively in every arena and you know exactly what i'm speaking of you have to be agents of his light and of his life and of his liberty now i'm going to invite everyone to stand now as you do that please if you'll just trust me in this i sense so strongly there's going to be a moment in this song when you just personally privately do just like i did lord i know the steel rod that you're speaking of in my life i know this area that needs to be broken i know but i've been crying out for breakthrough over here but i know the area you're identifying right now by your spirit if you're at home right there here in this place doesn't matter the holy spirit can move strongly right now as we lift a completely unfamiliar song who cares god's about to do something new just begin to marry your words with the song as pastor matt leads us in it and then at a moment in it i'm going to declare in jesus name the fulfillment of that prophetic word where he said he said my precious sons and daughters as you look to me with a heart of desperation and purpose to cooperate with my reveal will i will with a strong hand in a moment break this steel bar like a twig and unleash a mighty process of breakthrough in your life a journey of overwhelming victory to impact you and a multitude of others so let this word be fulfilled i pray father as we lift this song may your spirit just begin to move on her life his life the young the old the close the distant the ones on fire the ones that are cold as ice you're about to move and we welcome we welcome you lord [Music] this is the end of the world as we know we need you we're at the end of ourselves and we [Music] [Music] waiting in this moment waiting in this moment for you [Music] we are desperate in this moment desperate in this moment for you [Music] oh come lord do what only you can do you can do anything anything you want to come lord you can make the mountains move you can do anything anything you want to do this is the hard cry of our we generation you we need you we're on the edge of a wave that is breaking oh we need you we need you oh come lord do what only you can do you can't do anything anything [Music] anything you want to [Music] spread for [Music] we are lifting we are lifting our lives to you believing for breakthrough we are lifting our lives [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] are [Music] [Applause] [Music] we'll you can do anything anything you want to come lord you can make the mountains move you can do anything anything [Music] oh jesus [Music] you can make the mountains move [Music] [Music] for breakthrough we are lifting our lives to you believing for breakthrough oh we are live come on yes spirit of the lord fulfill this in your sons and daughters break this lord with your mighty hair come on give it over to him [Music] break through with jesus like a twig [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] we are [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] father we thank you we praise you your mighty and your strong hand all that which you have done now oh lord let that process of great breakthrough be unleashed that mounts each day to being stronger and stronger and stronger and stronger that you'll be strong in the lord and in the strength of his might and this generation will be impacted by sons and daughters that are free liberated strong in their god to do great exploits to impact this dark world with your light and your love and the brilliance of your liberty oh god so let that be on every single person here young and old everyone in your heart to say lord i i receive what you've done oh i receive what you've done i've come with a heart that cooperates and participates with you that has exchanged this from my hands to yours and in my desperation thank you for building me with hands that will begin to grow with faith we thank you lord in the name of jesus now i want you just to sit gently if you could take that cup you've been given instruction if you're at home you have it there as well with you i'm sure would you open that up and take the bread out what a picture of brokenness in our lord how appropriate it is when it comes to something that god initiates in our life you'll never sustain any kind of deliverance without relationship [Music] you'll never sustain any deliverance that's brought into your life without relationship with him there's something about the manifested presence of god that can touch you instantaneously but it's his abiding presence that sustains you it's his abiding presence communion reminds us of that would you just take the bread look at it and hear these words from the apostle paul into the inspiration of the holy spirit in first corinthians 11 23 for i received from the lord that which i also delivered to you that the lord jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed he took the bread just lifted up a little higher and when he had given thanks he broke it [Music] and said now take eat this is my body which is broken for you do this in remembrance of me let's partake of the bread together the only way you'll sustain any deliverance is through relationship we thank you for your manifested presence that with your strong hand that was broken now with your abiding presence it will be sustained and advanced would you lift the cup up now in the same manner he also took the cup after supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood though this juice is real it is a sacred sacred symbol of his blood that was shed for you and for me [Music] when you partake of it and you drink it remember it's me see this is the moment to remember now him more than your sin or your past it's your moment to say see condemnation invites you to remember your past and your sin conviction invites you to remember what he did more than what you did what he did so we partake of this juice now symbolizing your shed blood what you did for whom the sun sets free is free indeed hallelujah [Music] now it's called eucharistia because it means literally to give thanks so let's thank him we thank you lord we praise you lord we bless you for what you've done instantaneously and what you've initiated in our life in the name of jesus amen amen amen amen now i'm going to still say that to keep it online what time is it i'm sorry 10 16 okay thank you worship team now we're going to shift gears to an announcement that i shared with many of you in leadership and now i want to have the opportunity to share it with you as a congregation i've had the honor and the privilege of uh serving the lord for 42 years 32 of those years has been here at smithtown gospel tabernacle 32 years of our life and 22 uh serving as the senior pastor what a great privilege and honor but i felt like the lord was beginning to speak to me very strongly of a process that's going to be initiated now over the next nine of what will happen in june of 2022 the lord had been preparing my heart and diane's as well but he initiated with me just giving some really clear direction regarding our future i always try to look at any decision that i make through the lens of ecclesiastes chapter 3 and verse 1. it says that there's al there's different seasons in our life different chapters in our life and then in ecclesiastes chapter 12 and verse 13 it says what is the whole sum of an individual's life but to obey god to fear him and to obey him and as i was hearing that i just i just knew in my heart that the timetable of god was beginning to unfold see there's alpha and there's omega moments i've preached that for many years and i'm i try to make sure i practice that there's times when something begins in its season and then it ends you always want to make sure that you end in an oasis and not a desert you want to make sure that you end in the right timing of god and to fear him and to obey him to have a heart of obedience i challenge you to do that and i have to do the same psalm 32 and verse 8 is a key scripture for me as well that the scriptures will say that the lord says i'm going to lead you and guide you and direct you the way that you should go with my eye not an index finger but with my eye that means out of the context of intimacy and heart-to-heart relationship with him he's going to begin to inscribe on your heart a direction and then proverbs chapter 4 and verse 18 really important for me when i'm processing when we are processing through a decision that's me and diane and that is it says the path of the righteous in other words if you purpose in your heart you want to do what's right before god the path of the righteous will grow brighter and brighter even to the noon day in other words there's a progression in guidance that comes from him sometimes it's like a right angle you'll be at point a and then you'll advance to point b almost thinking that that's your destination only that the door is locked but it gives you the advantage of looking down the corridor because it's a right angle to see another door but you never would have seen c from the position of a you had to get from a to b and then cc and so for us one of the words that god gave to me when i became the senior pastor 22 years ago that he said you're going to be here longer than you think but not as long as you think it was a riddle never made much sense to me in my head i thought well i look at the history of smithtown gospel tabernacle and it was 70 years ago in 1951 that they established the first pastor that was pastor harry ring and he served for three years and it was kind of in and out because it wasn't as structured as what we experienced here at sgt now and that was in 1951 for three years and after that was pastor wes brayton who served for four years now the church was beginning to be more solidified and he was the pastor functioning for four years on the heels of that was pastor morris anderson pastor morris anderson served for 18 years do you know when he was installed in june of 1958 when i was born i was just a little baby coming out of the womb and he was the pastor here 1958 in june he served for 18 years then on the heels of that they had an interim pastor that functioned for one year that was pastor carl johnson who went to be with the lord a tremendous wonderful brother in christ but he was it was an interim season as the church was transitioning and then pastor forseth came and served for 23 years and then the lord brought me on i served as missions and evangelism for about nine to ten years and then i was given the tremendous honor and privilege of being your pastor but but the lord said you'll be here longer than you think i thought it was going to be 10 years became 22. i have to be careful if i cry i go high pitch and you won't under you're going to say i'm i'm saying teeth instead of keys but then the other part of it made a whole lot more sense this summer when he started to press into my heart that a timetable was established by him i would announce it to the congregation there would be a nine-month transitional time that's a good symbol of birthing something new that's an excitement for this body uh that it would be a process of nine months and he and he solidified that in my heart in in july uh it was very clear because i thought i shared this with the elders i had shared with them that i i was beginning to sense maybe three to five years from now i had shared that with them two years ago and obviously it was longer than i thought but not as long as i thought and now that little proverb that little confusing puzzle made a whole lot more sense 22 years into it one of the things that the lord has promised me is that in the process that nothing will get in his way see what happens according to our constitution is i need to step completely back rightfully so completely away from the process and it is the responsibility of our combined board that's our elders deacons trustees along with the input from our deaconesses the deaconess board that they form a committee which they've done this past week and that committee of 11 or 12 individuals would begin a process of looking internally and externally so that's why i can't give a two-week notice some of you like wow i usually give a two-week notice you're giving us nine months you're gonna be here a long time yeah i i will you're going to see me through christmas and easter and all of that so um they have the sober responsibility as that committee and in our membership meeting we're going to identify who those committee members are that they will begin that search process and it it's it's a laborious challenging process in the natural but in the spirit they're going to discern the mind and the direction of god as they look internally externally and have a wide range of candidates of course they're going to be non-negotiables things that are very important part of our dna before a candidate is even considered and that's what they had done with myself we went through a whole process interview after interview after interview and discussion and prayer and such and then once that committee uh is able to reduce it down to two to three different candidates then they'll submit that to the combined board and then the combined board will submit that to the congregation for a membership vote that's kind of the process that's involved and again so there's no conflict of interest nothing at all i step completely away from this totally totally and completely and you know once whenever a pastor leaves there's always like what's the real reason oh you know the esoteric knowledge is there a scandal is it his health issue is it internal conflict is pastor and there's a fight among the leader nothing i love spit down gospel tabernacle with all my heart and i have the finest leaders in the land i love working with them everything in me in the natural could be resistant to this but the lord told me something 22 years ago as well when i was selected as the senior pastor and i had decided to head out to california and meet with about 25 some senior pastors just to have them download into me and ask some questions and jack hayford was one of them and tremendous distant mentor to come under his tutelage these are seasoned men of god and i was young at the time and wasn't sure about the journey i was embarking upon and so i went out and i said lord could you just tell me why did you pick me why did you pick me now i was waiting for you know a big word of affirmation like you're you know you're good looking or you're intelligent or you're spiritually mature and you know what he said to me i can count on you not getting in my way that meant so much to me and when he spoke to me this july he said gary i know you and diane love the church there's no internal problems there aren't i love the direction and what god's about to do he said but son if you go beyond june you'll be in my way that's all i had to hear so i said i shared that with diane and it wasn't easy for her either she's very committed very deep in leadership but there was also an excitement in my heart because i knew that i've been preaching from this pulpit obedience all the years i've had opportunity you've probably heard over a thousand plus sermons tired of those sermons but i've preached to you about obedience and following christ how could i not lead with probably the most important sermon i could ever preach to you not with my lips but my feet and i know my master's moving and for diane and i we got to follow you might say where are you going i'm not actually sure i'm not we're not we love overseas ministry we do missions has always been our voice of the martyrs working with them sure i could speculate in conjecture but i really don't know we're waiting we're waiting on the direction from god i'm not retiring i'll be 64. i know my granddaughter yesterday said grandpa why are you retiring i like you as my pastor i said i'm going to still be a minister what's a minister i only know a pastor we had some interesting conversations yesterday so but he promised you move forward in obedience deuteronomy 28 with obedience comes blessing this congregation is going to be so blessed because i want to as your senior pastor as with diane together to leave a wake of obedience to him and he did promise me this too he said i promise you this as your purpose see not to get in my way i won't let anything get in the way of me selecting who i want to become the next senior pastor of this church i promise you that there'll be lives all of us are going to be involved different ways you'll make comments and thoughts and assessment evaluation understandably preferences will you know come all over the place i want someone young or old gray hair no hair this is the short tall italian not italian exegetes the word expository preacher fireball you know everyone everyone's got you've got it you've got it in your head remember someone said to me when i was selected they came with they pastors arlington i like you but you don't look like a pastor i said i'm sorry what does a pastor look like does he have a head no he just does whatever whatever i understand whatever's in you i don't look like that i got it it's okay but i'm your pastor so but can i invite you as a congregation don't give yourself over to gossip at all or even putting too many of your preferences on the table what you do is i'm trying to give you an example too to say hey lord what is your will what what what do you want no agenda no preference i want your will and don't let me or any committee or anyone get in your way because we want you to move mightily in this church and throughout the ministry that god has for all of us amen okay now i'm going to pray a benediction father i thank you for this precious body as we go through these next nine months of transition i pray that you would help all of us to be fully engaged passionate yielded and obedient and never get in your way i pray that lord the work you've done in every soul here apart from this announcement let them forget the announce let them just remember what you did in breaking that in their life and unleashing that breakthrough within them and through them so they could look for someone today and help them through your power by being strong in you i pray this blessing upon you in the name of the father and son and holy spirit in jesus name would you say i receive that all right god bless you good to see you you can go now [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Smithtown Gospel Tabernacle

Views: 880

Rating: 4.8947368 out of 5

Keywords: Smithtown (Location), Smithtown Gospel Tabernacle, SGTchurch, SGT Church, SGT, Church, Church (Type Of Place Of Worship), Sermon, Jesus Christ (Deity), God (Deity), Gary Zarlengo

Id: whIwslrPmic

Length: 94min 12sec (5652 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 03 2021