Calvary Chapel LAX Live Stream

[Music] okay [Music] morning coverage chapel lax good to see everyone welcome once you guys stand with us welcome to everyone who's tuned in online another day to walk with uh with the lord and to to worship him and just to call upon his name to remember his faithfulness and to respond to to his goodness right and to hear from him because he will speak and he wants to speak to each heart here everyone tuned in so let's just bow our hearts and prepare well we do thank you so much you are good lord you are a good good father and we just worship you and we thank you lord for all that you have done all that you want to do lord we just we remember who you are this morning and mayor harshes respond in joy and in adoration and worship god as we turn our hearts and our minds to you today just speak powerfully through your word lord encourage and lift up those who are downcast so we just thank you so much lord be glorified this morning in jesus name [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] you won't give up on me [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] oh [Music] when my mind says [Music] you won't give up [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] my soul [Music] my soul [Music] [Music] is [Music] awaken my soul [Music] morning by morning great is your faithfulness [Music] one step at a time [Music] trust [Music] [Music] oh [Music] my future is secure [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] your faithfulness to me i will trust [Music] [Music] [Music] they're [Music] is and as i walk through the shadows you're the surrounds me there's nothing to fear now for i am safe [Music] [Music] i'll sing through the night oh god the battle belongs to you [Music] [Applause] [Music] me for jesus [Music] oh [Music] oh god the battle belongs to you [Music] almighty fortress you go before us nothing can stand against the power of our god [Music] nothing can stand against the power of our god almighty fortress [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] fight on my knees in my hands if it is [Music] oh you [Music] well we're just thankful so much god that you have declared the victory you've given us the victory lord through your son through his blood or just belief in that faith alone we are grateful for you paying that price lord we just want to sing all for your glory now give you the honor [Music] from my university [Music] though come to the table he will satisfy his goodness [Music] is [Music] [Music] bring your addictions [Music] forever [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] lay them down at the foot of the cross jesus is [Music] amen as a part of our worship we pray for the tithe and offering so when we bow our hearts as we pray heavenly father we just we thank you for this morning and as we're singing lord we we can bring you our pains we can bring you our sorrows our addictions lord and you've you said bring them to me lay them at my feet and take them up take upon my yoke lord and so we thank you for allowing us to to give our burdens to you to give everything to you lord and so we give out of respect and love of our tithes and offerings as we lay them at your feet lord knowing that that your word is going out that that people are being saved and we're just so thankful that uh that we can be a part of that that you've given us provided for us and we can give back to to those who who want to know you who need to know you lord and so again we just lay our ties and offerings at your feet and ask that you bless them in jesus name we pray amen good morning everybody you may be seated so we've uh we've started the operation christmas child which is a project where with samaritan's purse where they give us shoe boxes and we fill them with with gifts toys uh necessities for for children who don't have much um but most importantly that that they don't have the gospels so we're filling these boxes sending gospel messages out to those who don't know um and we started early this year uh so we've got a bunch of boxes back in the children's ministries if you guys are interested in filling them filling them up and sending them out you can speak to pastor mike boone back in the in the children's ministry he's got the boxes and the labels it's about a nine dollar cost to ship out a box so if you guys want more information just go speak to pastor mike and he'll be able to walk you through all that next we've got men's breakfast which is coming up on this saturday the second one one guy's excited three all right yeah more food it's going to be a great time of food not first and foremost but the food is going to be there we're going to have worship we're going to have a message so make sure you guys come on out and just be together ironing chopping and iron but it's always a great time to get together and there's never much left over so come on out again that's going to be this saturday for men's breakfast and then we're also looking for people who are who want to serve we have places in the cafe greetings security so if you guys are interested in serving someplace there's a little card in the foyer that you can fill out or you can go on the website and fill out a servant information page and they'd be able to find you guys a great place to to serve but there's plenty of space and a lot of things to do so make sure you guys get on that if you guys have downloaded the app you can know what we're doing with the events page and see what's going on in the near future but that's all on there and also wednesday nights so we've started a night of prayer so make sure you guys are coming out for wednesday nights at uh 7 p.m and they'll be here all right when we greet each other as we start all right good morning does gloom make you guys tired it's all gloomy i'm driving in i'm just like it's like a nap right now but then worship just pumped me up so that's good that's good we're gonna be in james chapter five today james chapter five you guys ready to end this book some of you are like no it's so good other reviews like please just end it already it's been good it's been so good for me it's been tough but it's been good it's been really good you know james has definitely said some pretty intense things about practically living out our faith but it's all been so relevant to uh irrelevant to the time that we are living in and mainly what he has shown us is that we are to not only be hearers of god's word but we are to be doers of the word that we are not just to let it go in one ear and out the other but as it hits our hearts we should do something about it not just talk to talk but walk the walk right and here in this last section that is all centered around living in anticipation of our lord jesus's return james tells us how it is essential for us the body of christ to be there for one another you know as he said in the weeks before that we are not to be grumbling or strive striving against each other but we are called to build up patiently endure with and as we will see today diligently pray for one another we think uh he's been tough along the way i don't think he stops he's even tougher on us today but i absolutely love it because you know we are not meant to be in this spiritual battle alone and an enormous part of our call as christians is to be there for one another we are family you guys love it you guys love it and as brothers and sisters in christ we are to constantly intercede on behalf of our siblings and make it a priority to help each other stay on course and as close to jesus as possible and what genuinely intrigues me is out of all the practical ways no holds barred little bro of jesus could have ended his epistle he chooses to emphasize the necessity of us helping one another along the way in church what this means is god has a special calling on each one of our lives to be a comfort to other believers who are struggling especially and also to be a beacon of hope to all those who are looking on who are lost without jesus so will you read with me verses 16 through 20 and then we'll get into it in verse 16 james writes chapter five confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much elijah was a man with a nature like ours and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months and he prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the earth produced its fruit brethren if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back let him know that he who turns a sinner from the air of his ways his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins lord we thank you so much for your word we believe your word lord and that it's life to us and that we need to hear it this morning and i pray lord whatever we're facing whatever we're personally going through that we will just hear what your holy spirit has to say to us today and lord we would open our hearts to you as you speak to us now in jesus name amen i have to be honest um this one really hit me today um they all kind of do but this one really did and the more that i study and read the bible the more i see that we are called obviously to be dedicated to the lord but we are to care and consider others as well you know of course we have jesus's words that tell us this is precisely the case in john 13 34 and 35 jesus says a new commandment i give to you that you love one another as i have loved you that you also love one another by this all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another i mean this passage in itself is enough but we clearly see all throughout scripture that we as christians were designed primarily for fellowship with god but we're also designed to fellowship with one another and what james is ending this whole epistle with is telling us that being involved with other christians is an essential part of our spiritual lives that we cannot do it all alone but we're meant to be bonded together that in the body of christ none of us are to take on that role of let me say the grinch none of us are taking the role of the grinch i mean of course that includes being not being grumpy or bitter or a mean one mr grinch but what i really mean is carrying that mentality like the grinch did that i am all that i need i don't need anyone else i have it all no we need one another and one major reason is that it's dangerous when we remove ourselves and isolate from the body of christ and many of us can attest that this is true that when we are alone and isolated temptation to sin grows faith can easily become feeble and unhealthy distractions can easily occur i mean even in the past 18 months of this covet season what devastating stories have we heard regarding depression and despair fear and anxiety mainly because people have distanced themselves and detached themselves from others i mean this is exactly why the writer of hebrews straight up says in hebrews 10 that we are to love and consider one another and not forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the ma as is the manner of some but exhorting one another and he says this and so much more as you see the day approaching as you see that jesus is coming it's more important for us to be around one another through whatever falls upon this world it's more important for us to be together we are to be together lifting up and strengthening one another especially as troubled times hit and continue to grow and the only way we're really going to be able to do this is by being in constant communication with one another but james also takes it a step further by not only telling us to be together but for us to be real and open with each other when we are together look back at what he says in verse 16 he says confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed so we might look at that verse and say wait wait wait in order to be forgiven of our sins are we to set up a confessional booth in the foyer or something like that become priests to one another are we to start playing priests no not at all thank the lord for that that's not what we're called to do scripture teaches us to be forgiven of sins we confess our sins to god to him alone it's it's first john 1 9 that says we confess our sins to god and when we do he is faithful and he is just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness only god can forgive our sins now we know that scripture also teaches if we are odds with one another if we have have an issue with someone that we are to go to that person if they have a problem with us or we have a problem with them to tell jesus tells us in matthew 5 and 18 that we are to go to that person so that we can be reconciled to our brothers so in those ways we do confess our wrongs but what james is specifically talking about here is not that but the necessity to be real and honest with one another regarding our own personal struggles he says confess your trespasses you know the word trespass doesn't mean the guilt of sin but literally refers to things that make you stumble so regarding those things that we are being tempted in or struggling with james tells us to really get vulnerable it's time to get vulnerable that instead of internalizing all we battle with we are to be open with other believers so they can help encourage us and most importantly so that they can pray for us it's not something we like to do but many times in order to grow and get over things that's exactly what we need to do i know i get it most of us want to look like these spiritual giants who have it all together even if we don't and and seriously it's pretty easy to paint on a smile to fix our posture to maybe put a little pep in our step walk through the doors come up here and spend an hour and a half making it seem like everything is going perfect when inside there's turmoil when inside we're going through it big time and james is saying lay all your pride down lay it down and get real about those struggles so your brothers and sisters can help you so your brothers and sisters can be there for you they can give you those words of advice and encouragement and always point you to jesus you know i heard this quote um it was really old quote i think it's like fourth century it says the church is a hospital not a courtroom now i've heard it before the church is a hospital but but that really hit me the church is a hospital not a courtroom you know church is a place where we are to come in and get well to be restored to a right way of thinking and a right way of living like a hospital when people go to a hospital it's because they're broken they come to a hospital because they're sick and they need medicine and that's exactly what the church should be when people come in here they should be restored they should come and they should hear god's word which is medicine for the soul and they should be encouraged and it should not be a courtroom you know it should not be a place where people get scolded and where people are judged and sentenced to death that is not what should take place inside the church now i get it there should be conviction there should be truth absolutely but a sentencing to death and judgment that's what the world's throwing at us when we come in here we should be experiencing a haven where we get into god's word together where we talk about the truth where we sing to his glorious name and we restore healing and restoration you know the truth is that at times we will all find ourselves weak none of us are immune to that and god has brought us here around godly people so that we can all be encouraged and lifted up now this doesn't mean that we are to lay all our problems out on every person we encounter at church right that if someone would come up to you and be like how's it going and then you look at that as an open door to just view every problem in your life i don't know if that's really a good idea how's it going like uh horrible what do you mean how's it going i'm angry someone cut me off on the road and now i want to slaughter them or you know this is my sin and i'm detailing it all for you right now or you know whatever it may be look at our nation look at our state look at our city you're asking me how i'm doing ah i'm doing horrible maybe not probably not a good idea i mean i think if you did that to people probably when they see us coming down they probably take off the other way and hide gotta use the restroom real quick don't wanna hear that but i do believe we can find those on fire full of faith people who we can trust at times who will lend us the ear people who will listen to us give us the best counsel and then most importantly put their hand on our shoulder and pray for us you know people you can go to and say hey i am stressed because of this or my attitude has been really bad i'm having problems at work i'm having problems at in school in my marriage whatever it may be will you pray for me you know as things continue to become more difficult for us as christians in society we need to get a little more vulnerable and open up to others this is what james tells us here at the end of his epistle but maybe we we not only receive from those people maybe also be those people maybe be those people uh who who will lift up and encourage because people are really struggling right now people are going through intense spiritual battles and they need help they need to be cared for and when we come and help let's remember to put on those galatians six one gentle uh attitudes where we don't say come on what's wrong with you and then smack them upside the head get over it no but we get down there with them and we we listen and then we pray for them and we're gentle with them and that's really the best thing we can do when people are going through something it's to take them to the lord in prayer because prayer works and it can heal the situation and give the strength that people need to press on with the lord that's what verse 16 says and god will listen when we pray and he will do something about it look at the second part of verse 16 he says the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much i mean this is such a good verse many of us know this verse when it comes to prayer this is the prayer verse prayer is powerful amen you know if we want to see god do great works in our life and to do great works to those in those lives around us in this church in this world the greatest action the most crucial thing we can do is pray because prayer works it accomplishes things the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much notice james did not say the volume of the prayer avails much did he sometimes we think that the louder we pray the more it will work lord help in this situation no i don't think that's necessarily work god can hear the cry of our hearts the most intimate details of our hearts we don't have to shout it out to him james also doesn't say the eloquence of the prayer avails much i mean how many of us think that i can't pray like them when i hear those people pray it's so articulate it's so moving it's even like poetic and they can almost do like the king james kind of thing thou art god who by the glorious hand have can do the miraculous and we're like wow look at that prayer i can never pray like that no that's not the prayer that works he says the effective fervent prayer fervent does speak of passion but not random excitement and intensity but a passion and commitment for the things of god that will bring glory to his name that's the fervent prayer and the fervent prayer by whom notice it's not the prayer of a self-righteous man or woman it says but a righteous man and what does that mean i mean simply that means by those who belong to jesus those who have been bought by the blood of christ that is what makes us righteous we are the ones that could come and pray fervently to the lord those of us who are cleansed those of us who have have their faith and trust in the lord which also means it is a prayer with the right heart and the right motives one that is not amiss like james tells us in chapter four meaning it's not a prayer of selfish gain or manipulation but one that furthers the plan of god james says you know who is a good example of this kind of praying elijah elijah his prayer was one that was fervent and unveiled much god listened to elijah's prayer and it brought wonderful results now what was that prayer james tells us look at verse 17 he says elijah was a man with a nature like ours and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months and he prayed again and they're heavy and the heaven gave rain and the earth produced its fruit james loves old testament examples have you noticed that i mean when it came to faith working faith working he brought up abraham when it came to going through times of suffering and pressing on he brought up job and the prophets and here when it comes to prayers that work james brings up elijah and he says just do what elijah did but many of us who are familiar with elijah are like what be like elijah i can't be like elijah you mean elijah you know what we're talking about elijah the one who was miraculously fed by ravens who flew in bread and meat to tend to his needs you know elijah the one who revived the widow's son when his when his soul departed from him elijah the one who was caught up to heaven in a chariot of fire and appeared alongside jesus on the mount of transfiguration you tell me be like elijah i can't feel like that yes elijah had spec a special call by god but those incredible things in his life should be an encouragement to us not a discouragement i mean look at the very first thing james points out about elijah it was not one of those miraculous things in verse 17 first part he says elijah was a man with a nature like ours that's the first thing he points out what this means is elijah was no different than you or me he he was not a spiritual super serum soldier like captain america spiritually at all no not at all he was in no way superior but he was human and imperfect just like you and i and and though we see the glorious ways he was used by god we also see some major shortcomings as well you know we read of elijah being full of fear fleeing scared because of a death threat by a wicked king named jezebel we see that elijah was down and depressed at times we even read of elijah throwing quite an irrational pity party for himself you remember that when he when he cries out to god he says i am the only one who follows you lord everyone else has forsaken you i have left here all alone and god so not so subtly rebukes him right he says that's not true i i have seven thousand people who are not who are also following me he's like just chill out drama king it's okay yeah elijah was a man of god but he was a person just like you and me but james says something so important even with those shortcomings elijah did something that was so right elijah prayed elijah was so concerned for the state of the people that he prayed he cared so deeply for his nation he prayed and god listened and answered him you know i'm sure we're all pretty familiar with the who's the greatest god ufc match story between god and ball right we're all familiar with that where fire came down from heaven and kfc to everything right i love that story many of us love that story when we see that but some of us might not be familiar with why it all took place to begin with we know that story we know that fire came down from heaven and consumed everything but why why did it happen in the first place it's all because of the situation james tells us right here and as we recount all that was taking place i just beg you to please stay attentive because i believe what happened here in the story is is so relevant to what we see today and what we're called to do as people of prayer see elijah he was not a perfect man but the glorious results that happened occurred because elijah was a man who believed in god loved the people knew his word and took a horrible situation to god in prayer see it began because elijah knew god's word especially what deuteronomy 11 and deuteronomy 28 stated about the people's current situation which stated this on one side if the children of israel they followed and obeyed god then then god would bring rain to make their land flourish and their lives prosperous like we need rain today they really needed rain in order for their crops to grow in order for their lives to flourish so he says if god said if they followed him he would bring the rain on one side but on the other side god's word stated if the people disobeyed and turned towards idolatry god would turn off the valve of blessing and nourishment which means he would stop the rain and the people would face famine and drought and what was taking place in this society was really really bad it was really bad influenced by his wicked pagan wife jezebel king ahab allowed idolatry to run rampant all throughout the nation where they set up altars as the prophets of the false gods completely took over fully leading the people into idol worship forsaking everything that god established for them in the word it was such an extremely wicked time and kingdom we are told in first kings 16 that ahab did more evil than every king that came before him he was the most wretched of all kings and elijah seeing all that was taking place all the idolatry all the immorality that was filling the land seeing all this he sets his gaze upon heaven and as james tells us he prays specifically that the lord would do what he said he would do in his word and that was to turn the heavenly faucet off and bring drought upon the power in the land and god says as after alleged praise god says okay elijah i will do this but you need to go before ahab and tell him that he isn't getting a drop it's going to be completely dry and so unlike the meteorologists we have today elijah goes in and tells they have a 100 accurate weather report he says for the next three years no rain not even any do in the morning and then after he says that elijah takes off he's like bye-bye he takes off and he goes away and no rain means drought which means famine which means lack of food which means hardship for everyone and is ahab cool with this no ahav is not cool with this ahab is so furious with elijah that he puts a hit out on elijah and tries to hunt him down but elijah cannot be found for three years until he returns and then as elijah returns upon the scene he says surprise i'm back that's my commentary not not in the word but i do love god's word because god's word tells us this it tells us that when we are told when ahab sees elijah he says there you are you troublemaker to which eliza elijah rapunze responds i'm not the troublemaker you are and i almost picture this back and forth no you are no you are new you are you are but elijah gets the last word and he says this he says no you are the troublemaker because you abandoned the lord and led the people into idol worship primarily one false god known as ball who interestingly was supposedly the god of fertility the god of rain and dew i just imagine elijah going how's that working out for you guys worshipping him and then elijah looks at ab and he says this he says let's do this and he says meet me at mount carmel you bring your wannabe 450 prophets to call on ball and we'll see who's god is real it was the whole my dad can beat up your dad moment so they are all gathered together but i detail that it's so important that we often skip over before it all starts elijah goes not before the prophets he goes before the children of israel and he says this to them he says to the children of israel he says how long are you going to sit on the fence and be complacent if god is the real god then follow him and if it's ball then follow him you have to make a choice now and you know what the people said after elijah said this to them nothing not a word they said no word they had their chance to acknowledge god and proclaim their devotion to him but nothing so elijah i'm sure probably thinks okay fine you're going to watch and you're going to see and the duel begins but the first first the rules pretty simple the rules are this the first god who sends fire down from heaven and consumes a sacrifice wins and elijah is so confident he lets the prophets of bal go first so they take a bowl they cut it up they lay it on the wood and call out for ball and guess what happens nothing you guys know it no voice no fire silence so what do they do they do a little ritual dance maybe the floss or something i don't know and talk about elijah having a nature like ours we are told that when nothing happened elijah began to mock them and he said oh what's wrong with your god right now why is he not answering he's like i know maybe he went on a little vacation or maybe he's taking a little nap and needs to be waking up maybe you guys should scream a little louder and then he really lets him out he says you know what maybe he's relieving himself right now maybe he's going poo-poo he just let them have it and you know what they start doing they cry out louder and they start cutting themselves begging ball to show up cutting themselves and bleeding and sweating and guess what happens nothing and they did this all day long we are told that they began in the morning and still by nightfall absolutely nothing happened and so finally elijah has had enough and he says okay you've had your turn it's my turn and again super important detail that we often overlook before elijah begins he gathers all the children of israel together again and he says come near and watch what i do and what he does is he he takes some time to repair the altar of the lord as it was broken which means it's so significant it means it's been a really long time since people truly sacrificed correctly to the lord many of them probably never seen what a true sacrifice was and so elijah repairs it all and then he gathers 12 stones together signifying the 12 tribes of israel reminding them who they really are who they belong to and then the altar is built and all put on it elijah he places wood down he places the cut a ball on it but also he he digs a trench and he pours water on everything and he pours so much water on that it fills the trench completely with water showing that all the people that the false prophets couldn't get a spark but what's coming from god will be quite different and then one more alter important detail elisha he prays and included in his prayer was this he says answer me lord answer me so these people will know that you lord are god and that you are turning their hearts back again he doesn't pray destroy all the false gods and annihilate all these people who should have been following you but aren't he prays for for their hearts to return to god and right after he prays that they are given the greatest fireworks show on the planet right move over disneyland fireworks show there's nothing in comparison to that and the fire that fell down from heaven consumed everything the bowl gone the wood gone the stones gone and the water in the trench it says was totally licked up it was completely dry i mean could you imagine what they saw these people never saw anything like this these people never even saw a true sacrifice but this day something changed they saw the fire of god set everything ablaze including themselves because we are told when when the people saw this all the people fell to the ground face down and together cried in awe the lord he is god twice the lord he is god and elijah seeing the people turn back to god looks this is so cool looks over at ahab and he says to him he says ahab go eat and drink for there is the sound of heavy rain and what is amazing there's no rain yet he says this is the sound of rain it didn't start raining yet rain was not coming down when elijah said that eliza still had to go climb up the mountain and tell his servant to get up and down up and down seven times before the servant saw the cloud as small as a man man's hand rising from the sea but right here he says there is the sound of heavy rain see the sound of heavy rain was not the drops from the sky the sound of rain was the brokenness of the people the rain was there weeping and crying out in repentance for god to restore and to be lord of their lives again you see rain was not the answer to the problem the answer was everyone turning they're turning their hearts back to god the lack of rain was the result of rebellion and getting their eyes away from god and real worship but the rain returned because they looked to the lord and acknowledged him again the drought happened because the leaders of this nation and the people turned away from god and the life of salvation that he freely offered them according to his word now let me ask you does this sound familiar anyway to me it sounds just like america you know i love america i love america i would even go probably further than some of you and say i love california maybe some of you won't say that but i love california and i absolutely love los angeles and i do pray that i will be a los angelino until the lord returns to my and takes me to my true citizenship in heaven but our city our state our nation is in a spiritual drought and it has been for a really really long time and you don't have to look hard at all to see it how god is removed from every part of life here how sin and wickedness is running rampant and how ungodly legislation is being justified and passed and celebrated in our land we look around and we see immorality that is practiced and widespread we see the violence and the hate and the pitting of one group of americans against another group of americans that's the focus that we're seeing right now i mean you look around our nation like elijah did his and we see idolatry and the hearts of the people far from god we see a spiritual drought because we have turned away from god and because of that the rain has halted and it's not going to come until the altar of god is rebuilt and people return to him where the churches in this nation begin to emphasize jesus christ and him crucified once again instead of everything else that they're emphasizing not until we come back to believing in the saving power of the gospel and jesus christ once again will things be restored not until then will we see spiritual rain and the famine and drought caused by ungodliness subside and the truth is no politician is going to save us and make things right again here only jesus christ can and we as christians we should know this and yet so many times we forget this and what this means it all means is we need to do today what elijah did in his day when he saw all the evil that was taking place and that was to pray if we want to see change if we want to see god do a new spiritual awakening here in our land we need to pray we need to pray that god would work miraculously that the people would turn their hearts back to god like elijah saw that day on mount carmel and some of you might be sitting here going justin that's so naive we got to do way more than that we cannot just pray if we just pray it's not going to happen we have to do other things or even you know what justin it's too late it's already gone you know i'll tell you it will never happen if we don't start praying and returning to the basics and essential practices of our faith again that's a guarantee it will not happen you know some might think it's it's naive but it is through prayer that god accomplishes great things the greatest things i mean what a good old camel niece just tell us he said the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much that's what james told us and that's exactly what we see with elijah the whole fire from heaven the whole restoration of the nation came through prayer it came through god i just think what can happen if all god's people start praying again and i mean praying earnestly praying diligently fully committed to it each one of us doing it seriously praying devoting ourselves to prayer and what that means here comes some of us might need to turn off the tv a little bit more muting the latest political podcast or here comes a big one resisting the constant scrolling through social media hours upon hours upon hours upon hours to see what the person's opinion is maybe we need to turn our attention to the one who can actually do something about it and what his opinion is about all these things we need to turn to god and ask him to intercede that is exactly what elijah did and it's so important it was not elijah who set the offering on fire and consumed everything it wasn't elijah who shut off the reign and three years later brought the ring back it wasn't his power it was god's power elijah just cried out for god to do it and because it was in line with god what god wanted to do god worked supernaturally i think it's time to start spending some more energy on our knees asking god to capture the hearts of those who don't know him and restore the right for priorities to those who have wandered off for the individual and the nation you know this is the heart that would have look at verses uh 19-20 he says brethren if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins when someone comes to us struggling we guide them to back to the truth and we pray for them when this nation is engaged in evil we are not to give up all hope we're not even to grumble and complain we have to set our eyes on our true hope and call upon him to work and then we watch him work like he did elijah with elijah but we got to be praying we got to be praying and we have to be living out our faith as god designed us to it starts with us it starts with us you know when talking about prayer so many of us we love to quote second chronicles 7 14 don't we oh we love that verse but have you ever read it i mean we quote it but you know what it's saying what it's really saying what it's asking us to do it says this let's start in verse 13. uh of second chronicles 7 4 7 7 it says verse 13 he says so real but he says when i shut up heaven and there is no rain or command the locust to devour the land or send interesting pestilence among my people if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then i will hear from hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land there are some important steps there that we kind of overlook we kind of just throw out the prayer we say this is what we need to do but are we doing it god's people are to humble themselves what does that mean we've covered that god gives grace to the humble we're to humble ourselves humble thyself in the sight of the lord and he will lift you up humbling ourselves is submitting to god submitting to what he wants not what we want what he wants that's the first thing we do and then we're to pray which is to seek him to believe that he has the power to do something to communicate with him and listen to him seek his face his face not our face not their face what does he want to do his desire his his heart not our own ambitions and then one that we really overlook and turn from our wicked ways we kind of gloss over that one right i don't really want to turn from a wick because i could do the first part turn from workers ways which speaks of getting rid of sin getting rid of sin focusing on holiness and purity in our lives that we should not be messing around with those things that will that will tear us away he says after that then i will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land you know we can't just look around and get upset we as god's people his righteous people need to get serious if we want serious change to happen we can't expect god to start a great awake awakening and a revival if we don't fully commit ourselves to him it won't happen if we are complacent in our faith if we are engaging in sin we actually have no reason to complain we have no reason to complain because god tells us exactly what we are to do to bring rain upon the land we scream we want revival start a revival why aren't you starting a revival i think he tells us according to this he's waiting for us in order to revive this land there first needs to be a revival in us charles spurgeon said revival begins by christians getting right first and then it spills over into the world it starts with us getting right with god believing and following his word making holiness practical holiness a priority is where we start and again you know i teach it all the time it's not that we can become perfect it's not that we enter sinless perfection practically no the holy spirit is working on us we're to yield to the spirit will we fail at times yes but do we assume that grace may be about no i mean first john 3 3 says this says this and everyone who has this hope in him of him coming purifies himself just as he is pure if you're not reading sin from your life you know what that means you don't really believe he's coming but if you do believe he's coming you're going to change you're going to hold those thoughts captive you're going to walk in the the life that he has for you i think it's time to do it it's you know what james has been talking about not just being hearers or speakers but being doers of the world i think it's time that we do what he's called us to do because i believe jesus is coming really soon i believe he's coming really soon and we need to redeem the time and we redeem the time by ridding sin from our lives and we redeem the time by getting on our knees and praying you know prayer is never a waste of time it's the best use of our time we need to get right individually and pray i mean you might say you know justin you're just so naive you might be this a spiritual hopeless romantic or you might just be foolish in my eyes but i don't know i believe that god is not done working here i do not believe it and that's why i come up here and do this you know this is not easy for me to do it's not easy for me to get up and speak in front of people i've told you that but i believe this is what i'm called to do and i'm going to do it because i believe people need to be saved that people need their lives restored that people need to come back and and focus on jesus christ again people need to be rescued from hell and i believe he's working and i want to be used in that work i want to be part of what he's doing i have loved ones who are on the path to eternal destruction i have friends and family who are going that way but i believe god can break those chains i believe he could save millions i mean wouldn't it be incredible if he did that i think it starts with us though you know let's do what he's called us to do you know a lot of people like to point out that america is not in the book of revelation that we don't see it in end time studies some say they do you know fight it here and there and so but but you know the truth is it's not really clear it doesn't seem like it so why is the question is it because we are heading down this spiral of immorality that's a good chance that's what we're seeing that's so many so we're allowing so many bad things to take place that's that we're just gonna be overruled maybe but wouldn't it be awesome if so many americans came to jesus that we were raptured up together and that was that would be the answer i i i i you might say it's naive but i believe it can happen i believe that god could do it i believe whether it's one person that we have influence in or 300 million people that god can do amazing work in this land but he's called us to get serious about it he's called us to get rid of the sin in our life and to start getting our knees and praying for him to work because that's when it's really going to come it's not going to become a grumbling it's not going to be coming by just filling ourselves with things that we shouldn't fill ourselves with it's going to be come by us filling ourselves with the holy spirit and that fire that will consume is a different kind of fire the holy spirit can move in this land and the holy spirit can capture hearts again that's my prayer and i pray that god would use me in that way and i pray that you would catch fire and that you would know that god has something for you in particular to do and to be used in that way because again like if it's one person that you can lead to jesus man that's one soul that you save that you lead um that you lead away from death with salvation man we have such an opportunity right now i think it's time to redeem the time it's time to get serious time to glorify him with our lives rid the sin and see what he does i don't know and i think laura you've done some neat new work here at calvary chapel lax through this past year i'm like what do you want do you want to use this little church in great ways do you want to do that i believe with my whole heart that he does and that's why i'm here and that's why i want to see him work you know again if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then i will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land man our land needs some healing but it starts with us it starts with us amen lord we thank you so much for your love and we just thank you for this day that we can open your word and hear what you have to say and i pray lord that you would revive us first maybe you need to awaken some of our hearts today help us to get back focused on you and what really matters lord and then i believe that time is short i believe lord that we don't have much time and there's no time to mess around and so i asked lord that you would fill us that you would equip us and as isaiah said or as you said and then i isaiah responded who shall i send send me send all of us and help us to do what you've called us to do we love you lord we thank you for this day be glorified through this church as we honor and worship you in jesus name amen amen god is good will you please stand let's let's sing let's respond to him all right [Music] put a relevant message for for our day and age maybe just take these things to heart this week and apply them and seek the lord we have a wednesday night of prayer where we desperately need to gather together and and lift up the needs of this church and this nation and and intercede so i just pray that we would just remember these things and and hold on to them and apply them to our lives amen [Music] i will follow you [Music] foreign [Music] now is [Music] you're the one i see [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] god bless you guys we'll be here for you if you need prayer come on up otherwise we'll see you wednesday night of this [Music] there is you

Channel: Calvary Chapel LAX

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Id: M7tGtb35ulI

Length: 79min 48sec (4788 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 26 2021