Change Your Mindset, Part 1 | Pastor William McDowell

all right um are you ready for the word if you're ready for the word say let's go deeper yes let's pray together and i will um read a scripture in fact let's let's do this i'll read the scripture and then we'll pray uh and i am excited about what the lord has to say to us so as you know as we read scripture we have a custom where we stand to honor the reading of the word of the lord because it is not like any other piece of literature ever written it's alive it speaks to us where we are where we've been and where we're going no other literature no other writing is the word of god that is alive and speaks to our present and our future the way the word of god does and so we stand to do that and so even if you're at home i encourage you to stand it's a way obviously i can't see you doing this so you're not standing for me it's a way to say to the lord i honor your word above all other things so i want to read eight verses in the book of james and the new living translation and then i'm going to switch to the esv to read one other verse i'm going to start with james chapter 1 verse 1 and it says this this letter is from james a slave of god and of the lord jesus christ i am writing to the 12 tribes jewish believers scattered abroad greetings dear brothers and sisters when troubles of any kind come your way consider an opportunity for great joy for you know that when your faith is tested your endurance has a chance to grow so let it grow for when your endurance is fully developed you will be perfect and complete needing nothing if you need wisdom ask our generous god and he will give it to you he will not rebuke you for asking but when you ask him be sure that your faith is in god alone do not waiver for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind such people should not expect to receive anything from the lord their loyalty is divided between god and the world and they are unstable in everything they do now i want to jump down to verse 12 jump down to verse 12 and i want to read verse 12 in the esv i want to read verse 12 in the esv james chapter 1 verse 12 in the esv it reads this way blessed or as we like to say it in our king james vernacular blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which god has promised to those who love him let's pray family father i thank you for bringing us into a new year i thank you for giving us revelation about the season father i pray for your anointing to declare the truth of your word with power lord i ask lord that you by the holy spirit would translate these words spoken by a frail man but the the power of god which is your word to the hearts of every single person who is listening both now and in the future father i pray that you move by the power of your spirit speak to us strengthen us encourage us and allow us to stand lord i pray for your anointing our lord i pray for sharpness i pray god for authority i pray for power and as always i also pray that i would make you proud lord i pray that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart will be acceptable in thy sight o lord my strength and my redeemer and because of your goodness and your grace you would reveal jesus to those who have yet to come to know you in saving faith and i pray that you save people in jesus name amen you may be seated you may be seated certainly goes without saying that we miss you but as you saw already we are preparing for your arrival when the time is right um i have been spending quite a bit of time um really sitting and pondering and meditating on what the lord would have to say to us and and this particular time and i must admit to you that i i shared this with pastor jason and uh just a couple of other friends earlier this week that that i think i'm going through now now just allow me to explain it for a moment but i think i'm going through charismatic withdrawal syndrome and and there's a number of different reasons for that that i won't get into today but but but one of the things that that happens you know we've been preaching prophetically quite a bit and even last week the message took a very very prophetic tone however uh even though we are aware that god does not move based on the gregorian or solar calendar which is used by most of the world um it helps us to keep time but it does not define seasons and so god defines and decides seasons and and one of the reasons why i said i feel like i'm going through a charismatic withdrawal syndrome is because whenever we come to the the top of a new year you almost feel like this pressure to to give a prophetic prognostication as to what's about to happen uh in the new year but i want you to understand that because god defines and decides seasons um those times do not necessarily align with a solar calendar and so if you've been paying attention at all one of the things you understand we've already proclaimed prophetically what kind of season we're in so i recognize that while we're in the first of the year uh there's kind of this expectation to do and that's why i'm going through the charismatic withdrawal syndrome uh part of it is because it's like okay well shouldn't i be having something real prophetic and real you know whatever to kind of frame the year some sort of phrase that we're supposed to catch on to and say this year is going to be the year of but but as you heard pastor caleb say i've already decided in my heart that each time we come to the threshold or the crossing of a new date uh or mark the anniversary of a year on our gregorian calendar my posture before god is yes the bible says to us in galatians 4 verse 4 that when the fullness of time had come god sent forth his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those who are under the law so that we might receive the adoption as sons the reason why i even brought out that particular scripture is because the fullness of time actually means uh the right time or when god had accomplished everything he wanted and the lesson that he was teaching was sufficiently learned he ended one error to begin another god decides the fullness of time our calendars don't do so uh and so god uh determines when the time is and not the calendar god does what he wants and how he wants and when he wants because he's sovereign yet he loves us so much that he lets us in on what he's doing when we ask he has been doing that all of 2020 and now uh we are in the first sunday of 2021 and the unspoken pressure is to have some sort of revelry revelatory prophetic prognostication about the year something that we can proclaim that we can get excited and everyone can shout and say okay this is going to be my year or this is going to be the year of something or or something some sort of title that we want to give it and everyone uh and and i know that that that everyone i know at least um could not wait to get out of 2020. let's just be honest i mean whether it you are a christian whether you are a believer whether you are a non-believer you had everybody saying i can't wait to get out of 2020 by 2020 in hopes that a new year would bring about a complete change from the difficult and challenging year that was 2020 as if the first morning of 2021 would be like waking up from a bad dream for some people unfortunately 2020 felt like an emotional nightmare we're not making light of the fact that you know we've crossed into a new year and so there's there's there's a good reason to have hope and all those kinds of things but but the reality i get some of the the pressure or or let me not say pressure i say burden that i began to feel was that i know that there is an expectation among believers and non-believers alike that somehow or another 2021 is going to be a different season but we've been saying to you new year same season and the reason why we've been saying that is because we kind it's not about temperate expectation it's about the reality of prophetic movement so i'm not trying to throw a wet towel on your fire or anything like that when you when you wake up and you say is gonna be different and that kind of thing um really what you're talking about is you your your opportunity to appraise things different to live different to do things different but as it relates to the season that we're in it's the same and i think that that some of some of the the burden that i begin to feel even as i begin to contemplate as we're moving into uh this next calendar year is i could sense that there's there's a great deal of hope that is attached to change as it relates to the calendar but but that reality of waking up and realizing that the calendar changed what the season didn't was when i read the morning news on new year's eve when i read the morning news on new year's eve even out of florida on new year's eve in florida now i'm not about to like you know go down the road that's going to make you all depressed don't worry but on new year's eve in florida we had the highest amount of covet cases that we'd had the entire pandemic on new year's eve and then they stopped reporting on new year's day uh and and so then what happened was when they reported the numbers uh last night florida and we we're based here in florida florida had its highest numbers ever 32 000 cases of covet now i know that some of you are like i don't want to hear about covet another day in my life i'm sick of it i'm tired of it please don't mention that word again you know it has a this kind of rate and survival rate and that kind of survival rate and everything else and and i get it i mean i to be honest with you i was you know that we have even some people who are questioning like why are you not open and other places are open it's not a part of my message but let me just throw it in there anyway i just want to give you a couple of statistics that might help you understand why we love you so much i just i really i really want to help you because i recognize that that unfortunately covert has some faces that we don't like to face and so it makes it a little bit easier for some people to say hey let's open i i understand that and let me just help you for just a moment my medical folks we have a great deal of them who are part of deeper fellowship church you go ahead and back me up right here but for every one covet case in the caucasian community there's 3.7 or every one hospitalization is 3.7 hospitalizations of african-americans 4.1 hospitalizations of hispanics now if you look at the overall makeup of our church let me just extrapolate that for you for every 100 caucasian people that are in the hospital because of colby there are 370 african americans in the hospital because of kobe and 410 hispanics in the hospital because of covey can i help you i just want to help you for just a moment because those numbers are then exacerbated when you consider the fact that african american the hispanics are the minority of the population so they are the majority of the covet hospitalizations and the majority of the covet deaths but the minority of the population so we're looking at some of these things i know some people like how come we don't i just want you to understand the unspoken part is for a community like ours it's still deadly african-american the hispanics are two and a half times more likely to get it and three and a half more times more likely to die so when everyone says ah it's just a cold don't worry about it just understand we love you all right i can't i can't i can't see your comments so i'm just going to say you know what it's all good so so so what happens is when we find ourselves in a season like this everyone wants to get out of 2020 and enter into 2021 for the reason they're expecting that everything is going to be different and i need you to know that part of the burden that i was feeling was a pastoral burden i felt a burden and leading all week into this time where there's quite a bit of prophetic prognostication prophetic burden was not the thing that was sitting on me i've had a pastor's burden i've had a pastoral burden all throughout this week and i know that this may not necessarily be everyone's life i totally get it so i just want just just go with me for just a moment i'm all throughout this week pastors and prophets have been texting me what is the lord saying to you about the year and all i could think about was i'm not giving y'all what the lord is saying because i have a people that i'm responsible for and my burden has been for you my burden has been for you i recognize it in a lot of these circles i'm one of those voices that people want to hear from in times like this but let me tell you where the pastoral burden is let me let me help you as it relates to this because the initial burden that i feel is not prophetic proclamation but it's for pastoral grounding as we enter into 2021 my burden is for pastoral grounding why because the result of prophetic proclamation is the need for pastoral rounding let me say it again the result of prophetic proclamation is the need for pastoral grounding let me uh say that in a different way to help you understand this a little bit more what god is going to release cannot be carried by a weak people specifically those who are weak in the faith what god so so we understand prophetically what season we're in we're still in the refiner's time we're still in a global trial the the the coming out of it or the changing of the error or the end of the cycle of time or the end of the age will result in the emergence of sons and daughters the emergence of the chosen the emergence of the true church that is overall what god is doing prophetically in earth we cannot pinpoint the time but we know what's happening but if we are going to be a part of it if we are going to say here i am i'm available if we're going to say yes then what we also need to understand is what god wants to release on his people cannot be carried by a weak people i will give you one piece of prophetic insight that is obvious to those with prophetic eyes who are paying attention i just want you the reason why i'm saying this is not to cry loud and spirit not per se but it's to give you insight so that you as a people will not be confused by what you see in the coming days so i'll at least give you a piece of prophetic insight i i want you to understand it's not that god is not speaking prophetically he is it's what i understand is what we need in this moment is to be grounded so so in in the days ahead um and you you're gonna have to pay attention to this for those of us who have prophetic eyes we see this on the immediate horizon this is not a far off horizon it's on the immediate horizon and i don't want you to be confused or alarmed by what you see in the days ahead um even the message of repentance is about to be co-opted co-opted means taking over and and as a result of the message of repentance being taken over what you are about to see is a mixed sound the same word repentance being used to indicate entirely different things that is what you're about to see in the immediate future before it becomes clear what god is doing there will be a mixed sound that comes from the church i'm just telling you what you're about to see happen rejoicing and weeping at the same time rejoicing from those who see god at work through the small beginnings of a foundation for the future being late and weeping from those who say it looks nothing like what once we want what we once had or what we wanted or what we thought it would look like so therefore they can't see god at work at all i'm gonna i'm gonna remind you of how how this works it's in ezra chapter three and ezra chapter three verse eight in esv ezra chapter 3 verse 8 and esv i'm going to get to our pastoral message in just a moment but i'm least going to give you this so that you won't be confused about what you see in the coming days now in the second year after they're coming to the house of god of jerusalem in the second month zerubbabel son of shield teal and jeshua son of jeho uh zodac i i thought that said something different altogether made i'm like oh yeah i know this already made a beginning together and with the rest of their kinsmen the priests and the levites and all who had come to jerusalem from captivity verse let's jump down to verse oh sorry appointed levites from 20 years old verse 8 sorry verse 8 uh and upward to supervise the work of the house of the lord jump down to verse 10 really quickly and when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the lord the priests and their vestments came forward with the trumpets and the levites the sons of asaph with symbols to praise the lord according to the directions of david king of israel they sang a responsibly and saying responsibly responsibly excuse me praising and giving thanks to god for he is good for his steadfast love endures forever towards israel as you know that was the song that was the headset of god they were talking about and all the people shouted with a great shout and they praised the lord because the foundation of the house of the lord was laid but many of the priests and levites the head of fathers houses old men who had seen the first house wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid though many shout out allowed for joy so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people weeping for the people shouted with a great shout and the sound was heard from far away what you are seeing in this particular path i don't want to go too deep into it but what you're seeing in this particular path is exactly what you're about to see happen at least in this nation in the coming days the people of god looking at the same thing but having opposite responses which produces an indistinguishable sound to those on the outside is it crying or rejoicing literally there will be a confusion for a moment as to the position of the church is the church happy or sad because you're going to have some people who are looking at what takes place in the nation over the next coming days and they're going to say this is god and we rejoice they're going to be others who look at it and say this is not god at all this is not as glorious as it once was this is not what we wanted this is not what we've been fighting for and so they're going to be weeping and as a result of the mixed sound will be coming from the house will be indistinguishable to the world so you don't get confused by what you see are you with me it will therefore be critical critically important for those who recognize or acknowledge the hand of god in this moment to be grounded and steadfast it will be critically important for those who recognize what god is doing to be grounded and to be steadfast this particular word steadfast has been ringing in my spirit i may not have a catchy or sticky phrase that will make you shout but i can at least offer you this we're still in it but we're not stuck in it we're still in it but we're not stuck in it um the result of all of this is the holy spirit begin to take my attention over the last number of days and set it firmly on the book of james he began to do that it's a new testament book you know not necessarily uh using some of the prophetic imagery that we've been preaching through uh for for the balance of 2020 to give us a little bit of a prophetic insight into what god is doing um it's it's pretty clear and he began to to lead us there and so um i begin to to look at this strongly and i want you to to take this journey with me for just a moment because the spirit of god has something that he wants to say to us to ground us as a people most scholars uh suggest that this book was written shortly before james martyrdom in 1862 there are some however who placed the time of writing close to the time of the jerusalem council in 80 nevertheless it seems likely that the book of james was the first new testament book written it's interesting the major theme of james is an appeal to the believer that it's necessary to put outward actions with inward faith or else that kind of faith will accomplish nothing the significance of it being the first new testament book written is found in the context in which it was written james was considered to be a leader in the jerusalem church and this particular james is the brother of jesus not james the son of zebedee who was martyred earlier this this particular one is james the brother of jesus he he's the one on when peter was miraculously rescued from prison by the angel um he said go tell james and the others um paul refers to him in galatians as the only other apostle he met other than peter when he went to jerusalem three years after his conversion it's that james who writes the book of james it's a differentiation between the james who is the disciple so paul writes something in first corinthians chapter 15 verse 3 through 8 that i think is valuable for us to understand in order to give us a contextual understanding of when this letter was written and why it was written uh take a journey with me for just a moment first corinthians chapter 15 verse 3 first corinthians chapter 15 verse 3 this is in the nlt uh first corinthians chapter 3 in a new living translation uh reads this way i passed on to you what was most important new living translation i passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me christ died for our sins just as the scriptures said he was buried and he was raised from the dead on the third day just as the scripture said he was seen by peter and then by the twelve after that he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time most of whom are still alive though some have died then he was seen by james that james and later by all the apostles last of all as though i had been born at the wrong time i also saw him which means that james james was writing this particular book saw jesus resurrected stay with me for just a moment this was during the 40 days between the resurrection and the ascension james was present for the ascension which also means then that he was present for the great commission what we call the great commission or the commission is found in matthew chapter 28 and then most also add acts chapter one to that since they're both post-resurrection let's read them really quickly where we we know this quite a bit but it's important for us to hear it again matthew chapter 28 verse 16. matthew 28 verse 16. then the 11 disciples left for galilee going to the mountain where jesus had told them to go when they saw him they worshiped but some of them doubted jesus came and told his disciples i have been given all authority in heaven and on earth therefore go and make disciples of all nations baptize him in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit teach these new disciples to obey all the commands i've given you and be sure of this i am with you always even to the end of the age now let's take a look at acts chapter one acts chapter one so some people will say the great commission is cons all uh there in matthew 28 others will add acts chapter one to it because it's also what jesus said before the ascension acts chapter 1 starting with verse 3 it says this during the 40 days after he suffered and died he appeared to the apostles from time to time and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive and he talked to them about the kingdom of god once when he was eating with him he commanded them do not leave jerusalem until the father sends you the gift that he promised as i told you before we know that gift is uh he talked about in john 14 15 and 16 which is the holy spirit john baptized with water but in just a few days you will be baptized with the holy spirit so when the apostles were with him jesus they kept asking him lord has a time come for you to free israel and restore our kingdom he replied the father alone has a thought has the authority to set those dates and times and they are not for you to know but you will receive power when the holy spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses telling people about me everywhere in jerusalem throughout judea and samaria and to the ends of the earth after saying this he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching and they could no longer see him this is the ascension of jesus christ the context of all of this is what they heard but also how they initially responded i want you to see something for just a moment because i want you to understand ultimately what we're doing is we're building the context as to why james wrote what he wrote but i want you to see what is happening here um one of the things that is taking place in this moment is that the people the disciples of those who have seen jesus those who he's revealed himself to in the 40 days between resurrection and ascension are hearing all of these things they're hearing what god wants to do they're hearing the instructions of christ but they do not know how it's going to happen and some of them were holding on to preconceived notions about how they thought jesus was going to do what he has done the reason why i'm taking the moment to do this is because we still have some of that going on even though we have the scripture we still have people who are trying to push on to jesus how they think he's supposed to move so what happens in acts chapter 1 verse 6 is that now keep in mind jesus is reading let's put that up on the screen really quick jesus is eating with them he's giving he's talking to them about the kingdom he's talking to them about what their assignment is he's talking with them about what they're supposed to do and yet what happens is in this moment he's talking about making disciples making disciples of all nations baptizing them preaching the kingdom the power that they're going to have but look at the question that the apostles asked him in the middle of all this now mind you he's been crucified raised from the dead is revealing that he's alive through a 40-day period before ascending and even then there were people who had followed him for three years who were still confused about how he was going to do what he was going to do so when the apostles were with him verse 6 they kept asking him lord has a time come for you to free israel and to restore our kingdom in other words what they were saying is is it time for a political revolution yet they they were they were literally with jesus the entire time hearing him talk about the kingdom but their mentality was still that there was going to be a political overturning or overthrowing and they were waiting for is is a time come yet for you to overthrow rome had the time come yet for you to overturn rome and roman rule said we can now be in power are you going to overthrow the government and establish your kingdom which is also known as messianic rule he jesus hearing this question doesn't even answer them i i love it he basically cuts them off he says listen it's not for you to know the father alone has the authority to set those dates and times it's not even for you to know and he redirects them he redirects what they are supposed to be doing don't be focused on earthly kingdoms when i have given you an assignment and the holy spirit is coming to you don't be focused on earthly things don't be focused on earthly kingdoms don't be focused on power on earth i've given you power from on high their view of the messiah was based both off of tradition and the prophets and that was that the messianic rule would begin right away and that the political system that oppressed them would be overturned in other words it can be inferred that they didn't fully understand why he came or what he was doing and what he was doing was revealing another kingdom a kingdom that has no end a kingdom that people can't see without being born into it so here he is revealing another kingdom they're walking with him the demonstration of the kingdom they're seeing the breaking out of the kingdom they're seeing the power of the kingdom they're seeing the revelation of the kingdom but they still want power on earth because of their view of the immediacy of his rule and authority it caused them to see and at times want or desire earthly power and we have this going on today so many who have been given the benefit of spiritual blessings who want everything on earth so many who have been given the seed of the kingdom on the inside of them and all they want to do is have power we have unfortunately in some portions of the church a power intoxication it's not strange it is something that that resides in man which is one of the reasons why it's important that we submit to the rulership and the lordship of christ i want you to see something for just a moment you're like i thought you were talking about james i am stay with me i want you to see something for just a moment in matthew chapter 20 we see this um play out for example the bible says this then the mother of james and john the sons of zebedee not the same james who wrote the book of james this was jesus james the disciple okay the mother of james and john the sons of zebedee came to jesus with her son she knelt respectfully to ask a favor what is your request he asked she replied in your kingdom please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you one on your right and on the other on your left but jesus answered by saying to them you don't know what you're asking are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering that i'm about to drink oh yes they replied we are able jesus told them you will indeed drink from my bitter cup but i have no right to say who will sit on my right or left my father has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen when the ten other disciples heard that james and john had asked they were indignant which is basically what you're saying is how dare you like it could be us what you talking about you want us you want to people who wanted authority on earth 25 25 but jesus called them together and said you know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people and officials flaunt their authority over those under them but among you disciples of christ it will be different whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave for even the son of man came not to be served but to serve others and give his life as a ransom for many they didn't know what they were asking for this differentiates true leadership what true leadership is family hear me what true leadership is is service true leadership is service not power as eugene peterson puts it in in romans 15 um you don't have to put on the screen he makes this statement in the message when he says strength is for service not status strength is for service not status we we have unfortunately uh in many church circles and among in the hearts of many believers uh this idea that somehow or another um we're gonna be in power if you wanna be in power power in the kingdom is based on service not based on authority it's based on service it's the the way that the kingdom operates is completely different than the way that most of us like to think that it operates it's why we yell at demons and all other kind of things that we do because we think that somehow or another our power is demonstrative but power is not demonstrative if you understand uh how god operates and moves things by his finger then it's not necessarily by your exertion the exusia or the power belongs to god not us so in the kingdom the way that power or authority is given is by service um they had arguments for example like who is the greatest we see that in luke chapter 22 verse 24 stay with me luke chapter 22 verse 24 and then they begin to argue among themselves about who would be the greatest among them jesus told them in this world kings and great men lord over their people yet they are called friends of people of the people but among you it will be different those who are the greatest should take the lowest rank and the leader should be like a servant who is more important the one who sits at the table or the one who serves the one who sits at the table of course but not here for i am among you as one who serves and you have stayed with me in my time of trial now let me just keep going here jesus told them that what he called them to but they did not see how and it's possible that they fully didn't understand how the assignment would be carried out so what happens is in acts chapter 1 jesus gives them a prophetic declaration about their future your future will be filled with evangelism and power this is what jesus does to them right before he ascends while he's spending time with them he's prophesying their destiny over them the destiny of the church the destiny of followers which by the way reverberates to this day is evangelism and power now the interesting thing is we see this inverse scripture that takes place and we we live in a time now where people like to post a lot of um memes and pictures about how it started and how it's going how it started and how it's going we love to do that right um acts chapter 1 verse 8 is how it started but you will receive power when the holy spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses telling people about me everywhere in jerusalem throughout judea and samaria and the ends of the earth that is the prophetic word that's how it started that's how it started right you'll receive power when the holy spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses telling people about me everywhere in jerusalem throughout judea and samaria and to the end of the earth hallelujah god's about to use my life i'm about to walk in the power of god the power of the holy spirit it's coming upon me hey did you hear the prophetic word over my life you see i'm i'm gonna have a ministry to the nations of the earth god's called me to the nations i have an anointing for the nation the holy spirit has come upon me jesus himself told me he told me that's how it started acts chapter 8 verse 1 is how it's going that's why i said in verse acts chapter 1 verse 8 said that acts chapter 8 verse 1. that's how it started this is how it's going saul was one of the witnesses and he agreed completely with the killing of stephen a great wave of persecution began that day sweeping over the church in jerusalem and all the believers except the apostles were scattered throughout the regions of judea and samaria and what you are seeing is the uttermost parts of the world acts chapter 1 verse 8 how it started i got a prophetic word and i'm going to the nations acts chapter 8 verse 1. how it's going i'm being persecuted and therefore because we're being persecuted we're being scattered we didn't just go we were we were scattered this is amazing to me because that is how the gospel got out not by a group of people who laid hands on people and said we think it's a good idea for you to go and plant a church in samaria and we think it's a good idea for you to go and preach the gospel in judea and come back to us and report how it was no no no you're about to die and if you don't get out of here you will not live and this is how the gospel spread this is how the gospel spread the circumstances which led to the fulfillment of the prophecy probably did not look like what any of them had in their imagination when jesus gave them a prophetic word and then ascended on high and disappeared into the clouds where all them were looking that's not how they thought it was going to be and the the reality of it is we can have prophetic word we can have prophetic insight we can be forewarned we can read the scripture and even when we do that we can still be caught off guard when it happens when he says things to us in matthew chapter 5 like god blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you're my followers be happy about it and be very glad for a great reward awaits you in heaven and remember the ancient prophets are persecuted in the same way listen guys he told them this is how it's going to happen but they probably didn't imagine that that was the way it was going to happen how it started and how it's going now this is probably where we are right now is probably not how you saw things playing out i took a walk in the park yesterday with my wife and we're we're probably a lot more careful than maybe some of you are i know some of you you know may go to disney and restaurants and live your life and if you get it you get it you don't you don't and all that kind of stuff you're like i'm not gonna let this thing control my life and everything else but that's for me because i'm aware of what's happening in the earth i ain't playing with this thing so i i'm probably a little bit more reserved and sheltered than than most are and so we were taking a walk in the park yesterday and it was like our first time like taking a walk in the park since march you're like guys you got to get out more and i'm like yeah no no thank you but when we're taking a walk and we sat down on a bench for a second and we started talking about how like we never could have really anticipated or imagined that it would be like this that it would still be like this we were talking uh with pastor caleb and his wife celeste yesterday and it was like you know it was crazy we were looking at some videos from like april or may and it was like man it everything seemed like it was a long time then we never imagined it would be in january and still be like this now i do recognize again there are many places that are meeting churches that are meeting stuff like that they're taking that risk and that that's up to them and that's fine but we could never imagine that the things would play out the way that they have not only uh with the the pandemic but then also with what god is doing in the earth prophetically the response of some and the lack of response for others probably could have never imagined that something this cataclysmic would take place in the earth and people would choose to ignore god that's been perplexing for many so we probably never imagined this like they probably never imagined they would be where they are a global pandemic that we're walking through political upheaval and confusion social unrest literally worldwide confusing prophetic messages it wasn't being as widely broadcasted when we were talking about revival because i'm sure that when we were talking about revival and praying about revival and and saying revival many people weren't thinking that that it would look like this and and so we certainly weren't talking about concepts or or kingdom laws or immutable kingdom laws like repentance for seeds revival that you can't have one without the other so it's like okay there's a divine invitation but a lot of people refuse the invitation we probably didn't see that happening we didn't see idolatry being exposed we didn't see the refiner being at work we didn't see distinction and separation and due to a pandemic we didn't see closed churches and we didn't see mass gatherings being deemed to be unsafe and as a result we also did not see scattered believers or scattered church people who are unable to come together in community and literally watching me right now from homes across the world scattered and it is in this context that james the leader of the jerusalem church who is now scattered because of the persecution of saul against believers writes his letter to the scattered church those who received prophetic insight from christ himself but probably did not anticipate that this is how it would play out the scattered church is that the context of which james writes his letter he's he's writing his letter to people who can't be together the book of james is not just uh some thing like it's not like paul's letters which are sent to to to whole cities churches it's literally individuals and that's why he opens up his letter and he says this letter is from james this pastoral burden that he has for his scattered church members this is the kind of burden that we have right now in this moment because as much as we've preached to you prophetically i still recognize that you're all over the place going through a lot and so james in the same way is writing to his people who were once able to gather together in jerusalem that are now running for their lives because of persecution and they're scattered everywhere even though there's an opportunity for the gospel to advance they're not together so james says this letter is from james a slave of god and of the lord jesus christ i am writing to the 12 tribes jewish believers scattered abroad greetings now unlike paul's letters which have a lot of structure and commendations and salutations and blessings that are spoken at the beginning that's all james gave why because of the urgency of the moment the moment was so early he's like i don't even have time to waste with a lot of platitudes right now i just want to jump right into it and so he jumps right into it because literally they are scattered acts 8 1 tells us that acts 11 19 tells us that now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over stephen traveled as far as phoenicia and cyprus and antioch speaking the word to no one except for the jews this is a letter written out of pastoral love and concern to make sure that they were grounded he wanted to make sure that they were grounded and he wanted to make sure that they had context and understanding for what was happening to them and the burden that i feel is much like this and the reason why it's important now is because i recognize that the desire of the scattered church is to turn the page as soon as 2021 came to act like the season has changed but it hasn't to act like everything's different but it's not and so therefore there could be a part of you that could lose patience i think i think the reality of it is is the unspoken reality of everyone watching and everyone around the world is that we can get through it if we can just hold on to the end of 2020. most people did not expect that 2021 would still be carrying the same things so here we are in the first sunday of the year and i would love to tell you this year is about to be this and god's about to do this and i'm not saying that god's not going to do things he is but he's going to do a lot in us a grounded people who he strengthens to carry out the prophetic mandate of the emergence these people find themselves scattered and specifically james's letter unlike other new testament letters finding their structure finding structure in the letter of james is not easy why is it not easy because what you are listening to is the heart of a man who jumps from issue to issue to issue because he wants to make sure that everyone is grounded so it doesn't have the kind of structure of the letters of paul instead it some people even call it like the new testament proverbs because there's so many things that he hits along the way and so he's moving quickly from one issue to another there's several things that emerge right away he encourages his readers to respond positively to their trials to deal with in the moment he exhorts them to ask for faith and ask in faith for wisdom he comforts the poor and warns the rich he pronounces the blessing of christians to endure trials and he wants believers not to blame god for temptation all of that is in the first few verses he said i gotta get a lot into you because because i i recognize you're not together in community right now and you're not and you don't have online technology so you got a bunch of people who are facing things separate alone and scattered and the truth of the matter is many of us long for these gatherings that we're able to gather online for just a moment but when you turn off this string you're still having to deal with some stuff and we want to deal with this because this is important that we be grounded if we're going to walk prophetically jumping straight into verse 2 what james is suggesting is that there is a reason for me riding because of the rough times that believers were facing dear brothers and sisters verse 2 james chapter 1 dear brothers and sisters when troubles of any kind come your way consider it an opportunity for great joy one of the reasons why i chose the new living translation for this because most of us know this verse is counted all joy but the new living translation actually extrapolates the meaning here that i think is vitally important for us to get he says we we are used to hearing count it all joy but i want you to hear what that actually means he says consider it an opportunity for great joy for you know that when your faith is tested your endurance has a chance to grow so let it grow for when your endurance is fully developed you will be perfect and complete needing nothing he wanted to immediately provide encouragement and establish the expectation and instruction to the scattered here goes you're supposed to continue to do the great commission no matter what happens in the world or in your world the mission remains the same now let me say this to us in 2021 what james is saying somewhere between 40 and 60 a.d applies to us right now no matter what happens in the world the mission does not change i need you to hear that because it seems like we have a church that is fighting who is essentially saying that if certain things change politically in our nation then it's going to affect the mission are you crazy it will not affect the mission the mission of matthew 28 and acts chapter 1 is unaffected by the circumstances of the earth the christian the believer has the same mission whether it's easy or hard we have the same mission the mission has not changed i i'm just going to encourage you for just a moment for your own sake and for the sake of others to just say this maybe in the comments the mission has not changed the mission has not changed america i need you to understand no matter who sits in the white house the mission is the same at large even if there's a global pandemic the mission has not changed no matter where you find yourself the mission has not changed that's one of the reasons why maybe it might be important for us to take our cues from the believers who live in persecuted lands because the believers who live in persecuted land recognize that they don't need a certain environment in order to accomplish a mission what they need is the power of the holy spirit and that which is already been given to us who sits in the seat of political power does not change the power of god the mission remains the same so james wanted to say to them let me establish something the mission is still the same you are scattered across the world right now and you don't have the ability to gather but guess what it's an opportunity not a burden it's an opportunity for you the mission remains the same circumstances do not affect it there is a purpose for what you are going through so while you go through this is how you grow through it this is what james wanted them to know i recognize that we're not together and you're going through it right now and you're being persecuted and you're being scattered but you're not just going to go through it i want to show you how you're going to grow through it take this perspective so that you don't miss what god is doing count it all joy or consider it an opportunity for great joy why because god who is sovereign over all has a purpose for you in it what's his purpose the full development of perseverance which is patience as a state of mind or as we've taught before peace with god's timing his purpose for you going through is to develop perseverance to ultimately bring you to a place of maturity and wholeness why is this important because god is allowing a people to go through this who are going to come out of the refiners fire and they're not going to have a weak faith and they're not going to be a weak people and those are going to be the people who are going to reveal the glory of god to the earth so he says in this moment this is what i want you to do take this perspective count it joy use it as an opportunity for great joy like you family i can't wait for this to be over i'm not preaching this to you because i'm i'm it's like oh this is easy no it's not easy it's very difficult none of us like it none of us enjoy it we'd love to come back together we love to live life as normal we'd love to do things like we used to do it we love to not have to think about things i totally get it so i'm not saying this as some elevated preacher who is detached from reality the everyday reality of how people live and how you have to think and how you have to operate we're in it together yes sir and so like you i want it to be over but a biblical perspective in this moment tells me that i'm to consider this as an opportunity for great joy because god is using this to do something in me and this is what we do not want to miss this is what i'm pastorally afraid that a number of people are going to miss because we can't wait to get over it and as a result we're gonna use it as an opportunity for something else besides joy because we don't see god in it and i need you family to recognize that as we step into this moment as we cross the threshold into a new year it's important that we take a particular perspective because if we don't we can miss what god is doing i recognize that we love to worship and get on our knees and say yes god i want to be a part of what you're doing but let me tell you how you can miss it when you don't recognize what he's doing and consider this as an opportunity for great joy in other words god has us in it because he wants to do something in us how this family is important how we use this moment will determine what we'll be able to do and handle in the future i want to slow that down for just a moment because i want the weight of that to sit on you for just a moment how we use this moment will determine what we will be able to do and what we'll be able to handle in the future if we don't handle this moment well then it will be clear that we can't be trusted to handle the blessings of the next season well if you were to look at this moment and say how am i going to handle this moment i need to handle this moment because there's a lot of people family unfortunately that are not handling this moment well and they're the ones screaming that stuff is coming and revivals coming and everything else and they are going to be shocked when it's happening elsewhere because they're not handling this moment well they're they're telling people that god's not in this moment that god's not using this moment this moment has nothing to do with god and so therefore there are entire groups of people who are completely blind right now how we use this moment will determine how we are used in the future how we appraise this moment how we how we how we take this moment it can either be an opportunity for great joy or an opportunity for frustration an opportunity for casting off restraint and opportunity for laziness or an opportunity for great joy attached to the knowledge that the sovereign god who is our father is using this moment to prepare us for spiritual blessings what james is saying to his people reverberates to the scattered church now use this moment well use this moment well or change your mindset change your mindset change your mindset if you were to write down what's the point of these two verses or these three verses right here it's change your mindset don't miss what god is doing change your mindset i know you wanted to be over but change your mindset i know you wanted to go back to normal but change your mindset i know you want to get out your house but change your mindset i know you want to come back to church but change your mindset we see it all the time are you meeting are you meeting are you coming back are you coming back we want to get back to normal let's get back together other people do i totally get it but change your mindset use this moment to change your mindset god what is it that you want to do in me while i'm in the scattered position because i don't want to miss it and then come back together and have wasted this last season and my fear if we don't get grounded is that you're going to have a number of people who completely wasted this moment completely missed out on what god wanted to do in this entire moment because he is merciful and because he's merciful this is what we know it won't always be like this that's right it will not always be like this thank you jesus and at the same time that also means that the window won't always be open let that sit with you for a moment will persecution and trials always exist to give you opportunities yes but this moment probably won't come back in our lifetime we can see it through historical cycles this is a once in a generation event those who use these events well even if you look at the history of revival across the world for the last 200 years most of them come right after moments like this so how we use this moment will be important change your mindset somebody said change your mindset opportunity is the correct word here because james is not suggesting that christians facing trials will have no other response but joy that's not what he's saying as if it's a command to never be saddened by difficulties he did not say when you go through trials i command you to have joy he didn't say that he recognized that we have a choice so what he said was consider this an opportunity consider this an opportunity you and i have an opportunity to change our mindset about this season and enter into it saying god whatever you want to do in me in this season do it because i don't want to miss it i recognize that you are bigger you are sovereign you know what you're doing and you are using this to do something in me i refuse to shut my eyes and and put covers over my head and wait for the boogie man to pass like a little child who's scared no no no i'm gonna recognize my father is in control and he's using the circumstances of the earth to produce something in me so he was not commanding them he was understanding that they have a choice rather what he's saying is that trials present an opportunity to rejoice why because the believer should recognize that god never wastes opportunities and he never wastes seasons therefore the trial is never isolated but it's connected to a greater purpose that will ultimately be for our good while i'm preaching to you pastorally i want you to also understand that prophetically this season will come to an end but the next season those who emerge out of this season will be those who submitted to god's process in this one god is looking to see what we will do with this season as a determining factor for our level of participation in the spiritual blessings in the next season are you hearing me are you hearing me are you hearing me can i say it again i know i'm going a little bit long i know we had a long video i know you have possibly things to do and stuff like that we have a surprise at the end totally get it just stay with me for just a moment god is looking to see what we do with this season as a determining factor for our level of participation in the spiritual blessings of the next season i want that to get in you because i do not want you to waste this season there's a there's a part of my heart a part of my spirit a part of what i'm hearing from the lord which says to you who are not guided right now don't waste this season because it's looking to see how you respond to this one and that will determine your participation in the next one oh i wish you could get that in your heart i wish you could get that in your heart because you'd stop playing around with god in the season outward trial means something that is used as a process of testing that's what outward trial is outward trial is something that is used as a process of testing it is distinctly different from a temptation this is why james deals with this a little bit later when he says listen no man if he's tempted say is tempted by god why because because some people will misappropriate what's happening we have that going on right now we have a a whole misappropriation of what's happening and because of the misappropriation of what's happening people are making decisions because they don't have bible so the misappropriation of what's happening is causing people to put to do some silly things and to do some things that are disqualifying for the next season so what what james says here is he says listen i don't want you to misappropriate the difference between trial and temptation when someone is tempted they are not tempted by god outward trial is testing temptation is inward enticement to sin god will never give you an inward enticement to lead you to sin so the recognition of the season the problem is some people are calling this season the devil come on the reason why this is important for you to understand is that this season is testing us not tempting us it's testing us not tempting us that's how we know it's god god tests the devil tempts tempting lead to the enticement of sin testing is or trial is for testing it is to prove something to you and god trials are used to perfect our faith and make us stronger believers if you want to know what is happening right now he's using this season to perfect our faith and make us stronger believers why because i told you that what's coming prophetically in the future cannot be carried by weak believers trials don't come to test if we have faith they are intended like a refiners fire to purify the faith that already exists this is the reason why so many are missing it because you think it's a test of your faith we we have that phraseology quite a bit if you had faith you'd be meeting if you'd have faith you wouldn't be afraid trials do not come to test if you have faith trials come to purify the faith that's there so how do we know our faith is being purified how do we know our faith is being purified when it produces perseverance what is perseverance i want to remind you what i taught you in 2019 perseverance is patience as a state of mind or peace with god's timing how do you know your faith is being purified when you stop wrestling with god over what he's doing god whenever you're done you're done until then i submit god whenever the season is over the season is over until then i submit i'm not anxious i'm not trying to force it i'm not trying to to blast my way i'm not trying to control what you do i'm not trying to move your hand i'm not trying to direct your divine activity instead what i'm doing is i'm i'm patiently waiting and while i'm waiting it's producing and perseverance in me it's producing a peace with the timing of god this is one of the reasons why so many people are going to be so frustrated within this month and the next one because they don't have peace with the fact that we're still in the same season even though we're in a new year they have no peace with that the year is supposed to change everything god is done when he's done that's why i read to you galatians 4 4 you probably wonder why i read it when the fullness of time had come in other words when god had accomplished all that he wanted to accomplish in one era he began another one [Music] when the earth was ready for christ that's when he sent him when the fullness of time had come prior to that moment they needed the governor or the tutor of the law to show them that they needed christ if he had come before then they wouldn't have thought they needed him so when the fullness of time had come when god had done all that he wanted to do and the conditions of the earth were right for christ to come then he came when god has done all that he wants to do this thing is gone until then the purpose is perseverance to produce any people a peace with his timing when faith is tested family the immediate result the immediate result of tested faith is perseverance if you haven't gotten there yet you haven't been submitting the immediate result of tested faith is perseverance but get this perseverance isn't the final goal of the testing it's supposed to be the immediate result but it's not the final goal the final goal of the testing that we go through or perseverance is supposed to be allowed to work in us presumably for a while in order to produce maturity or wholeness how does god produce maturity through waiting this is one of the reasons why we have such an immature generation on earth right now they want everything now you know it's amazing to me this is not a part of my message i'm just going to throw it in there parenthetically and i'm going to keep moving but but we have a whole bunch of people that around us who say that we don't have fathers that's not true we have plenty of fathers now what we what we really have is a bunch of prodigals sons who want the father's blessing without the father's timing we have an epidemic of prodigals who are asking for god's blessings now but they're not mature enough to handle it which is why they were wasted on we will remain immature and incomplete trying to avoid or skip this process or even worse by misappropriating what trials are therefore choosing frustration and sadness over joy this is an opportunity this is a divine opportunity it's a divine opportunity i have more but i know i've been going for a while so i'm going to start landing this plane you can go ahead and play um i know sometimes people will text me but like would you send me the rest of your notes that you didn't preach maybe for another time i i we have the prayer call that's right 10 times a week you get further instruction the perspective that we're supposed to change to is that god is at work god is at work i'm in it but i'm not stuck in it he's working i'm in it but i'm not stuck in it he's working i'm not just going to get out of it i'm going to get something out of it i'm not just going to go through it i'm going to grow through it so so i was going to go through a lot of different things but but but the first point that james wanted to make to the scattered church change your mind change your mindset i know you don't understand why you're going through what you're going through i don't i know you don't understand why it's taking so long but the reason why it's taking so long is god is at work because he wants a mature people who are able to carry out the prophetic assignment you this is what james was saying to those people what they're just saying to us what james is saying to those people is you won't even be able to carry out what jesus said about you if you choose to complain about the season you're in you're going to abort the prophetic seed that was put in you unless you consider this an opportunity for great joy to say wait wait wait wait let me stop complaining about this let me stop being sad let me stop throwing a pity party let me stop saying what was me let me stop lamenting about being in my house let me stop lamenting about not being able to go out let me stop lamenting about not being able to come to church and let me sit for a moment and say god what is that you're trying to do in me and me because right now i don't have the cover of the masses i don't get to come together and say that i know god because my church does i don't get to come together and say i'm a worshiper because my church is a worshipping church am i a worshipper do i know god am i committed to your word what are you doing in me am i wasting this season am i wasting why you sent me here because i want you to understand in the sovereign mind of god he knew something that they didn't know oh he knew that they would never leave the comfort of jerusalem without persecution so he had to break up their little pond otherwise they would have never fulfilled the prophetic promise the prophetic promise was jerusalem samaria judea the uttermost parts of the world but they had never left jerusalem in fact they were such in a christian believer's bubble they wouldn't even fulfill the mandate of preaching to the gentiles god had to make it so that peter had a complete encounter at cornelius's house and when peter had the encounter at canadian's house and preached the gospel to the gentiles and they received and they were filled with the holy spirit when peter went back to the jerusalem church they didn't even believe it they were struggling with the idea now now i want you to understand this man i know i got to stop um all of prophecy had prophesied that the gentiles would receive but the jews in jerusalem were like now that we got it we're good so god had to take stephen as a catalyst as a martyr so that saul would begin to root them out of their comfort zone is it possible that god is using this season to root you out of your comfort zone who is in your samaria who is in your uttermost parts of the world who still cannot see or hear the gospel because you have not considered this an opportunity for great joy instead you've used it as an opportunity for complaining you've used it as an opportunity for sadness you've used it for so many other things and as a result now you can't wait to get through it and so here you are watching the stream on the first sunday of the year hoping that i'll tell you that it's over and that we're moving into a new season and we're moving into a new time and 2021 is going to be this and 2021 is going to be that and say goodbye to 2020. but can i tell you when this season will be over when his people who he's been trying to get their attention say you have it now [Music] there is coming an end to this season don't waste it change your mind we're not at it now but we're approaching it we're not here today but we're approaching it how we use this season will determine everything about how we're using the next one now just quickly move to these two points and i'm gonna just stop just because he goes on to talk about and i was gonna do a whole exposition on this but i don't have time verses five through eight essentially what he says is so the first thing i spend all my time saying change your mind the second thing he's like listen if you're gonna be in the season let me say to the scattered believer pray change your mind pray if you need wisdom ask our generous god and he will give it to you he will not rebuke you for asking but when you ask him be sure that your faith is in god alone do not waver for a person with divided loyalty is unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind such people should not expect to receive anything from the lord their loyalty is divided between god and the world and they are unstable in all they do so what he's saying is believers don't doubt i want you to see at least this thing since i'm here now a wave tossed in the sea this this imagery that james uses is not the imagery of a wave coming to shore that's what we tend to look at it as the imagery is not as a wave coming to shore when he says a person of divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind what he's actually saying is a wave in the middle of the sea changes shape and texture having never having the same shape or texture moment to moment always changing with every variation and direction of the strength of the wind in other words these waves change based on what they're going through they change based on external circumstances so he's not talking about a wave that crests and crashing ashore what he's actually talking about is a wave in the middle of the sea who has no ability or no anchor so it changes based on external circumstances he's saying don't pray anchorless be sure that your faith has an anchor what's the anchor of faith your faith is in god that's the anchor of faith don't don't don't have divided loyalty one day wanting to hear from god the next day wanting to hear from the world can i give you practical divided loyalty god what should i do pastor what should i do you said i thought that was wisdom no are you praying god what should i do hey what do you think i should do about this girl i need to talk to you i got this thing going on and what do you think i should do are you praying you know when you have really good friends when they ask you this question have you prayed about it yeah really good friends when they ask me what did god say why because they know i'm not going to disagree with what god said you want to know why we should be reading this bible so that when one of our friends tells us what god said it's contradicted the word you say pray again he didn't say that because it contradicts his word he will not contradict this word so you need to pray again well i haven't heard anything yet okay then stay don't move until you do don't do something until you hear the bible says to us in proverbs 2 verse 6 for the lord grants wisdom from his mouth come knowledge and understanding he's the one that grants wisdom does he give people wisdom yes does he speak to people yes but man don't please people above him um uh i'm just all right let me stop here's the last here's the last thing i'll say to you because it's the word that was wringing in my spirit and i'm just going to stop i know i've been going forever thank you for your patience the last verse i was going to cover today was verse 12 of james chapter 1 because of what he said he said blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of light that god has promised to those who love him i wish i could go see what the crown of life means it's a spiritual blessing most of us think about a crown we think about something that is jeweled but in james's day just like paul it was more of a laurel wreath something that was given to the winner of a race and what he's saying paul said that most people train on earth to win a race in order to gain something that will pass away but we have a crown of life that is eternal that will not pass away in other words we remain steadfast so that we can receive a spiritual blessing that is an eternal thing which is to say this family i know that it's easy to complain through the season but can i just tell you this there is a reward for those who remain steadfast there is a reward for those who remain steadfast let me just give you what steadfast means and i'll give it to pastor caleb and then don't forget right at the end of pastor caleb ministering for a few moments we have a couple of surprises for you or a big surprise for you at the end so stick with us steadfast to remain to remain under to persevere endure sustain bear up under suffer as a load of miseries adversities persecutions and provocations with faith is to not crumble under the weight it's related to perseverance which is a state of mind but steadfastness the greek word while it's related actually means to stand once you have perseverance it produces in you the ability to stand that kind of person is mature which means that god can trust you with the future family i my pastoral concern for you in this moment is that you don't allow the winds of change to cause you to miss what god is doing that literally you take the posture in this moment to change your mindset to look at this moment as an opportunity for joy because you know that it's connected to something that god is doing to make the commitment to be prayerful in this season and ultimately to be steadfast to be steadfast because how we use this season is going to determine how god uses us in the next [Music] and as a community we say yes and amen yes and amen to what the lord is saying to us and uh i know that all of us are being challenged in this moment by the lord but i think it is so necessary that we heed the word of the lord and we change our mindset we change our mindset changing our mindset is going to affect changing our speech and how we talk about this season changing our mindset is going to affect our conversations it's going to affect how we discuss this season around the dinner table with our family it's going to change the way we view even online gatherings it's not to say that it's going to make it more enjoyable or not take away the longing to come back together again but changing our mindset will allow us to see that the lord is giving us an opportunity for joy because of what he wants to do in us we want to be participants in the future we want to be those who are not standing on the sidelines or sitting on the bench or watching from the stands enjoying what is going on or even looking at what is going on being spectators but we want to be a part of what the lord is doing and so we say yes and amen to what the lord is saying to us if you have stayed on this stream this entire time we know it is not just uh you know that the professionalism of presentation or the excellence of a stream we know that you are hungry for the lord and specifically if you are are still on this stream and you have not yet surrendered your life to jesus you are watching this at another moment and you've not yet given your life to jesus this is a moment for you where where you can respond to the lord and place your faith in jesus you can be saved we're not made right with god uh by the good things that we do the external actions that we take we're made right with god by placing our faith in jesus christ and this is true for everyone who believes you need to understand that god loved you so much that he sent his only begotten son into the world that whosoever believeth in him would not perish but would have everlasting life you need to understand that this opportunity is available to you what jesus did was take the punishment the pain the shame all of the things that are associated with your sin he took them in a moment the weight of them he had no shame because he had not sinned but he took the weight of your sin he took the punishment of your sin in a moment upon the cross so that you would escape the punishment of your sin which is death and by placing your faith in what jesus has done you can receive eternal life you can receive the forgiveness of your sins and you can receive the freedom from sin the reason why you must receive freedom from sin is because right now what you are doing in the life that you're living is are things that you probably don't even want to be doing things that you say that you don't want to say places that you go that you don't want to go but right now the reality is you are a slave to sin but when you place your faith in jesus christ you change masters you become a slave or a servant to righteousness a servant to righteous living you then receive the power of the spirit which empowers you to live a life that honors the lord we would call it expressed righteousness you are made right before god by placing your faith in jesus christ and then you are given the power the ability to express your righteousness in the way that you live in the way that you love others you heard in in our time together in the word about a window a window of mercy the reality is is that the mercy of god endures forever but time does not and so while you have the time receive the mercy that is available to you now i want to say this just you know you you might think if you're just watching that i'm just talking to someone who is uh an unbeliever or someone who's not saved if you're watching this and there is something in your life that you need to repent of in this moment you should also take this moment to place your faith in jesus repent of your sins turn to him and trust that over to him maybe you're someone who believed in jesus at one point and you walked away from the faith or you you you know that this this time uh has really revealed some things about your own heart and you've really your pursuit of god has waned and you have not been following jesus uh the way that you know he's called you to this is a moment for you to respond to him and say jesus i believe in you and i am giving you a wholehearted yes yet again so whether you're saying yes to jesus for the first time or you're saying yes to jesus for real this time this moment is for you and don't let this day pass don't let this moment pass i don't think i need to to to say too much about the fact that we are not promised tomorrow life is but a vapor and it can be here one day and gone the next and so while you have the opportunity to respond to jesus respond to him now this is the last thing i'll say to you you can't do this on your own you can't be steadfast on your own you can't be at peace with god's timing on your own you can't endure trials on your own you need god in order to serve god in this moment if you think that you're going to become righteous by what you can do you're surely mistaken we say this every single week you do not get good to get god but you get god and he makes you good you need jesus if you could save yourself you would have done it already if you could stop sinning you would have done it already the reality is you need jesus you need what he has done you need to place your faith in him and by his power he will give you the ability to live righteously so on the count of three wherever you are i just want you to say this simple phrase i believe and i receive jesus i'm receiving what he has done i'm receiving his crucifixion his death his burial and his resurrection that by placing my faith in what he has done i will die to my old self and i will become a new creation in christ that's you on the count of three i just want you to say these words i believe and i receive jesus again it's not these words that save you it is your faith that saves you we're just giving you this phrase as a as a as a moment as a checkpoint for you to declare verbally in your mouth that you believe with your mouth that you believe in jesus so would you say that right now wherever you are if you want to place your faith in jesus you want to repent of your sins you want to follow jesus maybe you want to give god a fresh yes just say it with me i believe and i receive jesus i believe and i receive jesus i believe and i receive jesus i'm placing my full affection my faith my trust my dependence upon him i am believing in what he has done and i am receiving that today if that's you and you place your faith in jesus we want to congratulate you we want to celebrate you for the commitment that you've made to follow jesus to turn from your own ways and to follow him to turn from depending on yourself and trusting in him we want to congratulate you we want to celebrate you because you've now just begun the journey of following jesus and embarking on the greatest life that there is to live a life filled with him and a life dependent upon him we want to lead you in a moment of prayer i'm asking you to repeat after me again it is not the prayer that saves you it is your faith that saves you we want you to lead you in this moment of prayer to further cement outwardly what is taking already inwardly so would you repeat after me say father in the name of jesus i come to you just as i am i don't know why i usually would just keep going here but someone you're watching right now there there's a specific command from the lord you need to say this out loud and boldly because the enemy is going to try and mess with you and and cause you to think that what took place in this moment wasn't real but there's going to be an outward confession in your mouth is just going to cement something in this moment those of you who've been watching for all this year you know i've never stopped in the middle of this prayer but i just feel so instructed by the holy spirit if there's someone else you also want to place your faith in jesus right now the holy spirit's giving you more time the lord is giving you more time to come into the kingdom so let's pray again say father say it boldly say it out loud father in the name of jesus i come to you just as i am i repent of my sin and i turn to you i believe that you are the son of god and i place my faith in you now and forever with your help i will live for you for the rest of my life in jesus name amen wherever you are we want to congratulate you celebrate you welcome you into the family of god and if you prayed this prayer you placed your faith in jesus today we want you to we want to celebrate you and we want to congratulate you we want our moderators in the chat to be able to communicate with you and connect with you so would you do this if you believed in jesus today for the first time maybe even rededicated your life back to the lord uh you you made a commitment to follow jesus we want you just to put this in the in the chat hashtag i met jesus hashtag i met jesus today was the day you were introduced to jesus personally as your savior and it is the greatest day of your life again you can put that in the chat hashtag i met jesus and our family around the world wants to congratulate you celebrate you you have joined a family of brothers and sisters who have believed just like you who have made this commitment just like you who have turned from their sin just like you and have committed for the rest of their life to following jesus this is a great day this is a beautiful day and we are so amazed by how the lord continues to save souls uh it is it is he who saves souls not our good preaching or effective presentation it is he who saves souls and we are so thankful for that today family we love you so much we have a few surprises for you so we want you to stay on the stream we want you again to continue to read the word of god in community we want you to continue to be a part of the moments together throughout the week in prayer and in the word as a community we want you to remain stand fast change your mindset pray and remain steadfast so that god can use you he can use us in the next season to be a part of a move of god we love you so much we miss you we hope that you stay along for the next few surprises that we have have an incredible sunday

Channel: Deeper Fellowship Church

Views: 16,601

Rating: 4.9496222 out of 5

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Id: ZIgtjXiuxzg

Length: 95min 25sec (5725 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 03 2021