Church Online // October 18th Full Service

[Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] my [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] my [Music] so my [Music] ah [Music] [Music] uh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] harbourside good morning welcome everybody to the online service welcome church we are so glad that you are joining us online welcome to harbourside we want you to let us know where are you watching from we've already seen someone from peru so try to top that try to top that welcome we are honored to have you as we are diving in to go deeper in our relationship with god today is there some things to get ready before service begins here one is communion make sure you get communion of sorts get your family around the couch the lanai the boat maybe we've heard some people watch on the boat that's amazing hey gather everyone but also we have some resources if you have students there's middle school service that happens actually before this but as well as children's resources the kids team is just absolutely doing a phenomenal job they're on this all week they're literally saving me and my wife on sunday mornings with our four kids i want to show you this today they have come up with something so good we are talking about being face to face with jesus today take that little page right there we've got some coloring we are talking about your kids and what they would say face to face with jesus so we're helping them not just believe in god but how can they develop a relationship with god so go online there's children's resources and they're going to help you have an amazing morning for them as well today but we've got some really cool things to celebrate celebrate god has been working all throughout this past week last night we had the women's connect and hope event and i heard we had over 1 000 prayer requests from women sent in last night over a thousand women gathered together with watch parties and they received hope and truth last night so we want you to know women we are praying for you all the prayer requests you sent in you are being prayed for right here right now so awesome another thing to celebrate actually was last sunday we had beach baptism yes it was so neat griffin i think we got baptized it was super wet a little choppy little choppy waves but it was amazing to be out there and see people make that step that leap of faith and so again tonight though we are having beach baptisms for the last time for this year last time for this year at 5 p.m on honeymoon islands hey i'm talking to you if you were thinking about being baptized maybe it was something your an idea that you had maybe you were like is this the season i just want to let you know yes the answer is yes tonight is the night for you to get baptized and let me go a little further you don't even have to sign up just show up to just show up to get baptized so good and baptism is all about new life in christ and one of the things we also want to celebrate is one of our team members stephen law our middle school pastor he and his wife had their baby this past week so amazing they had their son so rachel actually shared about their journey seven years praying and hoping and waiting to be pregnant and so stephen and rachel we celebrate you congratulations on the birth of your son that's so awesome in the chat god's been so good to all of us but in the chat we want to hear how god has been good to you this week specifically so put in the chat how has god been good to you this week and we'll catch up with you a little bit hey next week we got something really special we don't have beach baptisms next week but next week at 7 00 p.m live on youtube we have next class online we've never done this before but we are so excited people from all over the world now can join our church become a member hear about who we are what we believe learn about baptism and why we do this hey we want you to be a part of that evening it is going to be absolutely amazing yeah it's such a great time to learn about who harborside is you've been tuning in we see people from all over the county all over the state tuning in so join us for that to learn more about harbourside and we want to tell you really what we're celebrating is november the 8th three weeks from today we are reuniting as a church it is time we are coming back live services here on campus at harborside if you feel healthy if you are ready to bring your family back on campus we want you to plan november 8th you're going to hear more details about what that looks like we want you to come back and reunite as a harborside family but if you're not ready if you're not feeling like it's time to come back we will still have the online experience 10 a.m just like you're watching right now but man we cannot wait to come fully together as a church again i can't wait to see all the faces to see everyone it's gonna be really really awesome hey there's some of you in the chat right now tuning in we have people from all over i'm seeing the bronx new york i see you irma i see you tim from georgia albuquerque new mexico elizabeth welcome welcome i see you mary i see you susan welcome to service today palm beach we've got palm beach uh down here amazing people from all over hey god has been so good to us in so many ways and you're putting that in the chat i see even right now but we also just want to say thank you for being so good to this church you've sown into this church financially and we just want to bless you and thank you from the bottom of our hearts hey if you'd like to give there's really two ways you can do that one there's a chat there's a link coming into the chat right now you can click that it'll take you online to our church page but also if you'd like to mail checks you can do that at 2200 marshall street safety harbor florida 346-95 so good we want to say once again today is the day you've been thinking about baptisms maybe for weeks for months this is the last beach baptisms of the year tonight is your night so sign up show up we want to help you jump into that relationship with jesus it is truly life-changing and so as we prepare for that i'm going to pray us in to the service so why don't you join hands with whoever you're watching with bow your heads let's pray into the service father you are so good we have so much to celebrate as a church as a family god you are working in mighty ways and so today we prepare our hearts our minds we remove distractions and we pray that the holy spirit of god would enter into every environment every heart every family every individual right now we want to come face to face with you god thank you for what you offered to us thank you that we even get to be in a relationship with you father meet us here today we pursue you we draw near to you right now father in jesus name amen [Music] amen it's good to be here with you guys today wherever you are if you're in your home your living room just want to encourage you to position yourself in a place to get ready to worship and as i was preparing for this morning asking god what do you want to say to prepare our hearts to worship you this week this the scripture verse continue to pop up which is uh philippians 4 8 which talks about fixing our minds on what is real honorable trustworthy praiseworthy says think about such things and the word said think about whatever is real and right now i just want you to recognize what is real what is real is the people around you this moment that we're in this is what's real god's faithfulness is what is real his nearness is what is real and so as we enter into this time of worship i want you to fix your heart it's attention not on what's happened yesterday or maybe what happens tomorrow but this moment here with the lord is what's real let's come let's bring him an offering of worship set your mind's attention your heart's affection on who he is we come to worship you today jesus we're here for you we're here for you you are here for us you are the light song of [Music] [Applause] there's no one before [Music] just recognize that i was made for you and i am without forecoming that's what we're here for [Music] let's recognize who he is [Music] and i was paid [Music] without full [Music] [Music] [Music] i'm a new creation [Applause] [Music] i'm a new creator is [Music] you without fully so we recognize today father that we were made by you when we recognize today in this moment that we were made for you and lord we recognize that we are completely empty without full communion so we come and we surrender ourselves lord and we want to meet with you we want to dwell with you today we want to worship you we come we give you our gift today it's in jesus name amen [Music] thank you jesus thank you jesus one with god the lord must have [Music] worthy cause is your name [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] was [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] is is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] could not hold [Music] the heavens [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] god [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] um you're worthy of all that i can give worthy of this life i live you're worthy of it all you are day and night night and day let in sins arise day and night night and day day and night night and day letting sins arise and day and night night and days day and night night and day day and night night and day let incense arrive [Applause] day and night night and day [Applause] [Applause] is you deserve the glory [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] you are would you just give foreign lord a shout of praise in your home wherever you are today father you are worthy to receive all glory all honor all power lord we come here today to bring you our worship to bring you our lives lord to say lord your voice is the most important voice in our lives we come to honor you today in jesus name amen amen thank you guys so much for worshiping with us today we're going to continue in worship we're so excited you get to experience this right now but we're about to go into a live baptism here on our campus so get ready let's prepare for what god's going to do this morning all right this is kelly newman and kelly has been has decided to be baptized into christ to be a part of his death burial and resurrection kelly i'm going to have you repeat after me i believe i believe jesus is the christ jesus is the christ he's the son of god he's the son of god and i accept him and i accept him as my lord as my lord and as my savior and as my savior kelly because of your confession of faith i'm baptizing you in the name of the father the son of the holy spirit we are here to celebrate really the most important action that any one of us can make on this side [Music] god has shown up for our family in so many ways and we've been wanting to do this for a long time but today is the year anniversary of my dad's passing and i thought it was the perfect day to celebrate him and celebrate god and just never turn back and make the commitment [Music] two things one is for a public proclamation lifestyle and the second is wash clean the past [Music] right god is good i love he saved my life in 2018. almost got killed by r i give him my life i trust him with everything he has been very faithful to me and i love him with all my heart mind and soul [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] wow that was super exciting um we were actually out of town and this last week's baptisms we'll be there tonight but that always moves me and i hadn't seen that until just now so all those people surrendered gave their lives to christ were baptized into jesus identified with the greatest event in all of history the death and resurrection of christ tonight is your night if you've never done this if you've never been baptized if you've never surrendered to christian baptism tonight is your night and we're going to be out there and we're going to baptize you in the greatest name of all names the father son and the holy spirit wow that's a great worship service maybe we should just have communion and go home that was that was really good it's up to me yeah we're not getting off the hook that easy no um we've been on a series called worship works and we've been looking at the old testament the tabernacle the tent because all those pieces in the tabernacle foreshadow new testament worship and it's heavenly worship that's taking place and so this tent which means you know tabernacle is a really big deal and this tint talks about all the different parts and components of basically worship for us today and one of the things i've discovered during this pandemic was i never realized all of those things were so foreshadowing of us today so it's been kind of cool for me personally to be able to study all of that i have a question for you is church for you or is church for god we're pushing the also the secret place same question why are we pushing you into the secret place what do i do in the secret place is the secret place for me is the secret place for god so i want to answer that question this morning in graduate school there were some serious debates that we had for hours and hours and hours about worship and was worship for god was it only for god's people or was it for the unchurched people who is worship really for and i i bet you don't know the answer to this i bet when you come to the meeting place and again we can't wait to open up on november of the 8th and so for those of you that feel comfortable and want to come we welcome you for those two services 10 or 11 30. but when you come why are you here and who is it for when you come to the meeting place is the meeting place for you if it's for you then everything ought to make you happy if it's for you then everything should like tickle your ears if it's for you everything should make you feel warm and fuzzy or is it for god and if it's for god then i guess nothing matters and it doesn't matter whether i like it or not and so we have those two different camps i don't think either one of those are right and i want to answer that question this morning because when you come to the secret place again tomorrow morning or you come to the meeting place which you're right now what is the purpose is it for god or is it for me the answer is aha that's the answer because as we study the old testament tent or tabernacle some of it was for the people it was definitely for the people and there were components that were that the people would go to and feel comfortable with and so then you would have other components that were not for the people other components were for god and we have to be able to come to a worship service and go some of this is for me some of this has to speak to me some of this has to help me and then i i then am able to be able to assist and to worship and minister unto god so i want to talk about this this morning because in this old testament tent a lot of this was for the people the very first part was the gate and the gate was getting through access you couldn't come into the tabernacle without going through the gate and so we got a picture of the gate but i also want you to see this i got a letter from nolan sheets a couple of weeks ago nolan is from a great family uh clinton carrie uh wonderful people uh clint and i fish together he can't fish with a flip but he is a really good doctor and he's a really good father no i'm kidding he's an orthodox fisherman but they've got great kids and nolan he says he wrote it pastor kurt and inside of this a couple weeks ago with the children's resources they were making a gate and jesus is the gate and so nolan makes this and he's got legos and he's got a picture of jesus but i want you i'm going to read the back of it because the back of it is nolan's note to me so you'll see the gate and this was september 27 dear pastor kurt i made these gates to represent getting access to jesus because the gates to heaven open up this is the beginning of my relationship with the almighty lord god he says oh look at that almighty lord god he's ahead of half my elders the lord god almighty and then it says p.s he says i love the church service and this is from nolan age 8. this part is definitely for the people so worship is for people the gate is given to you and the gate is for you and so the outer courts of this tabernacle are for the people because god's got to get you there god's got to clean you up before you can ever go into the holy place which is for god you must dwell in the courtyards and the courtyards with the we have first of all the gate and then we have the altar and the altar is where you come and you lay your sacrifice on the altar again i didn't realize this all foreshadowing today that when you and i come into a worship service that's for us we must lay on the altar whatever prevents us from going into the holy sections with god so when you come to church on a sunday morning what should we probably do first probably the very first thing that we should do in a worship service is say okay god what do i need to lay on the altar today i'm coming with pride i didn't do some good this week i fell off the wagon things didn't go well i've got some heart issues probably the very first thing that we should do and this is for you see god gave the altar for you that's the cross the cross was was the fulfillment of the old testament bronze altar and so here we come into a worship service and say okay god i need you i need you to help me so the access is the gate then we go to the altar and we really lay on the altar whatever's in the way our pride our insecurity you know our guilt our lust our greed whatever is in our way our heart issues and then we come to the laver and the laver and tom talked about this last sunday the labor's like this giant bird bath and that's you clean cleans your feet cleans your hands but the laver was washing us now with the word of god and so the word of god in every worship service is definitely for you but that's where we stop we stop with the laver and then we all go home and we never even got into the holy place and the holy place is now for god so let me say this all over again real quickly every worship service ought to be for you but every worship service also ought to be for god every secret place is definitely for you but also every secret meeting place is definitely for your relationship with your father because you are a priest and as priests what we do then is we then minister unto god so the outer courtyards they were loud the outer courtyards were public the outer courtyards were subject to the elements the outer courtyards it would rain and occasionally it would even even snow in palestine the outer courtyards were again outside loud messy but the holy place it was quiet if the courtyards were a family picnic the uh holy place was like a romantic dinner for two and so inside of the holy place is the only place that a priest could go and so priests went into the holy place and remember what we've learned in this pandemic we're all priests plan a was that you would be a priest and every priest does four things a priest carries his presence this is why you can go into walmart target go into a business go into a restaurant go into a school wherever you're going and you change the atmosphere because you carry the presence you minister unto god and we're going to talk about that in just a minute because that's what worship is really for god in just a minute this is the worship that's for god and you minister unto him and you steward these meeting places and you bless the people you call forth that which is not as though that which is romans chapter 4 verse 17. so as a priest we got to get ready to go into the holy place and so so often in our church and last 500 years and with the reformation the last 500 years we've made the preaching of the word the most important part of every worship service well that does get us clean and the word washes us but then we go home we haven't even gotten halfway through the tabernacle and we go home and so worship is for you i want you to hear this clearly we want you to come to christ we want you to come to the cross we want you to to get cleaned up we want god to forgive you and transform you but you know deep in your heart you were made for more you know that you know inside of you there's got to be more than just coming and getting forgiveness i mean you got forgiveness so why keep coming back why would you keep coming back singing songs listening to sermons if that's it there's more and so what we've done is we've confused the tabernacle the outside the first half of the tabernacle is definitely for the people getting them clean getting them ready to be able to go into the holy place and to meet with god so let's step into the holy place are you ready you came through the gate you you did the submission thing with the bronze altar you got washed in the word the word washes you and by the way when you read the bible make sure the bible's reading you that's the most important part the most important part is not you reading the bible the most important part is letting the bible read you because when the bible reads you that's when you change all right that was last week let's go now into the holy place and that's where the priests and we're all priests if we give our lives to christ we go in and that's where we first of all to the right is the table of showbread and when this table of showbread is seen and you'll see a picture of this when this table of showbread we think of like a giant like kitchen table or dining room table it's a small table it's three feet long it's a foot and a half wide maybe two feet tall it's not tall enough to put a chair under it we think about chairs they didn't think about pulling up a chair they thought about pull up a cushion pull up a cushion and sit down this table is made of acacia wood which stands for sinless humanity it was a special type of wood and it's covered in gold we've never seen gold yet there's never been any gold yet until you get to the holy place we've only seen bronze and bronze is a symbol of judgment so so far there's only been judgment judgment in the outer courts but now there's only gold there's no bronze in the holy place or the holy of holies gold gold gold and so inside now the holy place to the right is this table of showbread and we'll talk about this in a couple weeks to the left is now this golden lampstand that's just incredible but today the table acacia wood sinless humanity on top of this table are like 12 loaves of bread 12 plates gold cups saucers well let's just focus on the bread for just a minute and next week we're going to talk all about communion we're going to do two messages on the table of show bread and it's called the table of showbread because god is constantly showing you his presence when you hit that part of worship you're not going there now for you you're now going there for god and in the table of showbread he is revealing his presence it's called the bread of presence and it smells like fresh baked bread all the time you walk into somebody's kitchen and just made these chocolate chip cookies or this incredible loaf of bread coming out this is what it smells like the outer core smelled like burning flesh and manure and animals and blood this smells like freshly baked bread and now this is called facetime it's called the bread of presence what does that mean bread of presence this means in this room you're having face time with god not facetime on your phone like you know i'm like i'm facetiming john mark okay not not but it's eyeball to eyeball this is now where you are ministering under the lord this is now you're not going in there for you you're going there for him what what breaks your heart what's your will for my life how can i bring you glory what am i supposed to do now with my money my time my business my schooling what this is your time and you are eyeball to eyeball face to face this is face time with god almighty and you go in there humbly and you go in there to listen and when you go in there to humbly listen you now all the distractions of your life fade away until you only hear his heartbeat and understand his heart you see this is where the distractions of all the stuff going on in your life fades away and you get clarity you see him eye to eye face to face heartbeat you are right there with the god of the universe and that ministers unto him as a dad when i have face time with my kids and i get to spend time with them whether they are asking for advice or they just whatever they want blesses me so much to have face time with my children and this is what the table of showbread's all about you're pulling up a cushion you're there to listen you're there to praise you're there to honor you're there to tell him how great he is what is your good and perfect will for my life and that ministers to him because it brings him incredible glory so are there any scriptures for this yeah there are we haven't done one yet so let's jump into the word and let's start with griffin and just read the first one for read psalm 27 verse 8 first okay yes says my heart says of you seek his face your face lord i will seek and the psalmist is saying this this is what's most important what's most important is not the gate what's most important is not the bronze altar what's most important is not the labor that's all for me what's most important is god saved me god serves me god blesses me god honors me now it's my turn and i'm seeking your face read read verse i'm going to get carried away so go ahead and read verse 1 now psalm 27 yes verse 1 says the lord is my light and my salvation whom shall i fear the lord is the stronghold of my life of whom shall i be afraid and when you're in the presence of god and you're in that holy place your secret place the meeting place this is the time where you say you know what you're my light light is energy light is powerful energy and it's the energy that re-energizes you and you're my salvation and i don't have anything to fear now here's here's where you know you're not doing this right when you're driven by anxiety and here's when you know you've got it right when your anxiety dissipates and dissolves because he's the lord and he's your light and he's the stronghold of your life genie keep going before i keep before i stop uh get confused here keep going amen um verse two and three okay verse two and three says when the wicked advance against me to devour me it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall though an army besiege me my heart will not fear though war break out against me even then i will be confident i love those two verses because we've all got conflict we've all got things coming against us and what he's saying to us is you see the whole point is having face time with god this is that first verse that griffin read and we're going to come back to that it's sandwiched in the middle of this psalm but it all revolves around i will seek your face because when i'm seeking your face war can break out when you when i'm seeking your face you know basically all hell can break loose but i am going to be okay i'm going to be confident i've got nothing to fear because i'm sitting there holding the hand of god and when god's holding my hand what have i got to worry about okay john mark read verses uh enjoy your next read verses 4 5 and 6. one thing i ask from the lord this only do i seek that i may dwell in the house of the lord all the days of my life to gaze on the beauty of the lord and to seek him in his temple for in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling he will hide me in the shelter of a sacred tent and set me high upon the rock then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me at his sacred tent i will sacrifice with shouts of joy i will sing and make music to the lord again there's so many gems in those verses i want to just point out he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent you see when you're having face time with god you're you're enclosed in a gold plated room in the holy place you're not out in the elements with the wind and the waves and i saw those beach baptisms looked like a little wavy last week wasn't it you guys are struggling out there i i gotta admit that that made me laugh watching you guys struggle in the waves it's going to be a little calmer tonight i think but this there's there's peace you're inside you're not out in the elements you're you're enclosed in a gold-plated room he's going to keep you high and lifted up john mark reads 7-8 again sure uh verse 7 says hear my voice when i call lord be merciful to me and answer me my heart says of you seek his face your face lord i will seek and when you get to the point where your heart says i got to go into the holy place i've got to go in the holy place your heart's going i'm going to seek him i'm going to seek him i'm going to seek him that's when you know that worship is really for him it's really not for you a lot of worship is for you but that part of worship is for him because now your heart wants to say thank you thank you for what you've done thank you for blessing me thank you for making such a difference thank you for giving me i had a wedding last night and it's rare that a pastor gets to marry all three of the kids i married the oldest son kyle years ago the younger son brian and last night i married i married jacqueline and i said to the father steve you are one blessed man and he knows it he gets it he realizes he's got an amazing family and he was so grateful and we prayed together it was awesome ethan read verses 9 and 10 for us do not hide your face from me do not turn your servant away in anger you have been my helper do not reject me or forsake me god my savior though my father and mother forsake me the lord will receive me i thought about that part about that verse that jumped out though my mother and father forsake me what i think he's saying is there's no perfect parent as good as the father was last night there's no perfect parent you know i've never wanted the three of you to look at me as the perfect parent you already already knew the answer to that but i wanted you to look over my shoulder and see the father because i'm not perfect you're close to perfect but none of and so i think what he's saying is though my father and my mother are not perfect i'm going to go into the secret place i'm going to go into the meeting place i'm going to go into the holy place and i will then seek the lord because he is perfect you need to read verses 11 and 12. yes teach me your way lord lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors do not turn me over to the desire of my foes for false witnesses rise up against me spouting malicious accusations we've all got problems i i want to say this as politely as i can the busier you are and the more pressure you have and the more high position in life you have you you're you're really being foolish not to go into this place because all that access of peace and love and joy and power and direction it's all provided for you god wants to bless you and provide for you he tells us that lissette in verses 13 to 14. it says i remain confident of this i will see the goodness of the lord in the land of the living wait for the lord be strong and take heart and wait for the lord so where we are today is the reason we want you to go into the secret place every morning and every night and every day and the reason we want you to go into the meeting place which is where more than two or three gather together that's where god see when you minister to god god's not going to say well it's all about me i'm going to be selfish i'm going to just receive this no no god's going to give you far more than you gave to god god's gonna bless you i mean i think about my kids blessing me and father's day or whatever i'm gonna far more bless them on their birthdays than they bless me on father's day right and so your heavenly father he just wants to bless him so you minister to god god ministers to you and then both of you get to go out and minister unto other people but it's in that face time with god that that bread of presence where god is constantly there that you will get direction for your life it's in that face time where you will be able to make the most important decisions of your life it's in that face time where doors will open and they've always been open you just couldn't see it but it's in that face time with god where all of a sudden you see the opportunities and the doors that are ahead of you i i love face time with my family a couple of weeks ago i went over to emily's house that e in the evening and you and emily then took off quickly i didn't know i was going to have cali alone by myself for the first time callie is two years old my granddaughter and i'm with her but i'm never with her alone and so all of a sudden you two had to go do something and you quickly you know ran out of the house and there's callie and i together and it's about bedtime and so i'm thinking okay i've raised three kids i i can do this this is a piece of cake 20 minutes into our time just callie and i having this time together she goes she said mommy nana meaning danita no just poppy [Laughter] and that bottom lip started to quiver just a little bit and i said let's go do play-doh you like play-doh cal let's go play play-doh i've watched you distract our kids you're like the master of distraction and he's got a degree in early childhood education she still uses it on me about every day i have to yeah it works and so we went and played play-doh and we did that for like 30 where is mommy and nana like 35 minutes we're playing play-doh and then her mother's a marine biologist so she's reading all these books about dolphins and porpoises and turtles so we started reading books and you know what cali then gained confidence that poppy was okay and poppy can handle this and poppy can put me to bed and poppy can you know take good care of me and here's the whole point of that story some of you are afraid of face time with god you're afraid of poppy the big poppy you're afraid of god almighty you're not quite sure what it's going to be like having just face time with god and your lip is quivering but you go in there and you realize this is good this is okay that's not as good as you and okay you and emily but this is okay and your heavenly father you go in there i want to i want to challenge you some of you listening right now all over the world you have never had face-to-face time with god because of all your sins and you're scared you got to get cleaned up you got to go to the cross you got to let the cross clean you got to let the blood clean you got to do all that absolutely you let the blood of the christ cleanse you but then the best part the best part is not all that stuff that's in the outer courts that's messy that's bloody that smells like burnt flesh the best part is your face time with your heavenly father i love our dining room table i love having the family around the dining room table i love the face time it's your birthday or one of the sons-in-law's birthdays or one of the girls birthdays and it's or it's mother's day and and they're the special person and we go around that table and we tell you know jeff or andrew or emily or erica or asher you know what what's so special and i love that face time because face time is real time and around our table there's laughter there's humor there's tears it's real and it's raw i love our table it's real and and so that's what this table is meant for so let me ask the team a couple questions as we kind of close this morning let me ask the team this question as you as you have face time with god either the secret place or the meeting place what have you discovered or learned um about god you want to go first what what have you discovered about god i love the references in the bible when it talks about the light of his face turning toward us because that's what leads us into victory so what i've experienced when i encounter him when i have this face i draw near to him he literally draws near to me with his face it's almost like a huge spotlight shining down and illuminating his word which then illuminates his character so for me it's his character that i've gleaned from face time with him so for example like in psalm 103 it says bless the lord o my soul or minister to the lord or praise him and the reasons for that because of the benefits which reveal his character because he's forgiven our sins and he's healed our diseases and he's redeemed our life from the pit he's crowned us with love and compassion and he satisfies our desires with good things all of those are about his character so when i facetime him it's like the light of that shines and i can identify with that and and it brings me peace it's really good anybody else enjoyed him sure yeah so in my alone time with god i would say i could probably chuckle at the fact that we call it alone time because when i'm with god i really feel invited into his family and i think about at the very beginning before adam and eve were created there was this family that god already had made inside of himself a father a son and a holy spirit and so the one who is family meets with me and invites me into the family so in my alone face time with god i feel invited into the family of god and that's something that i've learned about him and his character is that he's always inviting us and emmanuel means so much more than god with me it's like me with god me in god's family me a part of god's family you feel included definitely included and invited and invited yeah welcome john mark what's it like with god in the in the quiet time sure i mean a lot of times when i'm spending time with the lord i you know you hear the phrase god is so patient but you don't really realize it until you after you've been washing the word and the word reveals the parts of you that are like man god you are so patient with me like you've been telling me this for a long time and you know really it moves me to to be patient with others just how patient he is with me and um it just makes me love the lord even more i like that he's merciful and patient lisette how about you well this question makes me a little emotional because the fact that we even have access to the creator god of the universe is wild you know so what i've discovered about him in my times with him has been that his presence just the essence of him it's like when my spouse my husband is in the next room over and then all of a sudden he walks into the room and now i'm in his presence to be in the presence of god is the most euphoric powerful humbling thing we could ever encounter it's something worth dying for and that presence it's just he doesn't even have to say a word it's just being with him being near to him that changes everything and every time i'm in that presence i am never the same again i'm marked like i'm sealed there's just something in me that's marked forever because i've tasted and i've seen the goodness of god it's powerful and you know when that happens because all of a sudden the atmosphere changes it shifts there's a shift it's a shift that's right that's right so that's what we've learned a little bit about our heavenly father let me ask you a different question um what what have you learned about yourself because i think i don't think you can go into that room and not learn you want to start with what have you learned about yourself for me kurt is when i when i go in and press in and draw near to him for that face time i learned that i have a decision to make so he may shine the light on his character and i may um worship him for that however am i going to decide to yield my mind to that character for example if i go in maybe feeling unloved because of how somebody responded or whatever am i going to to to glaze on that that that character and choose to to change my thought my mindset about how much he loves me just like psalm 103 says as high as the heavens are above the earth so great is his love towards those who fear him so it's up to me to yield my mind so you have to choose i have a decision to make that or not and you've learned that you have to make that choice i like that griffin how about you what what have you learned about yourself oh the thing that comes to my mind is humility is a necessity and so even years into this journey with god when even when i'll start to pray and i'll say i'll say god and i'll stop and just realize who am i even speaking to just his power and his glory i love what you just said because so often i think all of us can stop from going towards him because we don't feel worthy and it's so good and powerful that he's so good and so perfect and we don't measure up to that but he still allows us into that place and his grace allows us to be shaped and molded into becoming more like him and he wants to be a part of that process so bowing down and having a heart of humility allows me to allow god to lead me to where he wants to be it's a process that he wants to be a part of regardless of where i'm coming from i like the humility i like that that's yieldedness too submission and surrender too jeannie how about you what have you learned about yourself when you you're in that environment i mean i remember this little song that i learned as a kid that it's me it's me it's me oh lord standing in the need of prayer now i'm a mother now right like i you know that song i find that when i'm in his presence pastor i need more i need more i'm standing in the need of prayer god it's me and i'm the one in need you're not the one in need i need you i need you and i learned just it doesn't matter how many degrees you have or how much your education or how much money you need i need you i learn when i'm i in my face time with my dad that he is my dad and then i need him i need him i like that you need more you know um we talk about the secret place we talk about the meeting place and everybody kind of gets the meeting place because they've gone to church all their life and they're not sure if church is for them or churches for god most time we don't know why we come to church but we've answered that question this morning it's both but you guys have just written a brand new album for the secret place and so i know this is on your heart and your mind what have you learned about when you're having that face time with your heavenly father i learned that's what i was created for that's where i belong that's what god died for he died for me to be near him he died for me to hear his voice he died for intimacy with him i think you can all relate to this when you are alone with the lord with the word of god and he begins to speak and reveal who he is to you there's not much you can do in that place i have learned sometimes in his presence just to stop and just to be and that's the beauty of face time with the lord that he wants to bring me into you speaking this question and i'm it's convicting because i'm hearing have i had face time recently or have i just read the word have i entered into this place with my agenda trying to receive something and it's convicting me right now because have i truly experienced face time with the lord recently and and the answer is yes but the answer for all of us is there is more there is so much more and so i believe that for every person watching um what the lord does for me in that place is everything that you're saying there's clarity there's vision there's direction but then i love to do and in that place i can't do anything i just need to be with him and so that's the invitation that the lord has in our face time with him that's really good that's great well is church for you yes is church for god yes it is it's a secret place for you yes it's a secret place for god absolutely if you've never given your life to christ i can't think of a better time or a better moment to surrender jesus i give my life to you if you've done that if you're willing to do that this morning just put it in the live chat let us know today i gave my life to christ and then tonight if you're local if you're not local if you're in ireland you know go find a lake in ireland or whatever you know but but go find a place and then and then get get washed get washed in the blood of the lamb just get washed identify with the greatest event in all of history the death burial and resurrection of christ and then you were made for more this is what we were made for the whole courtyard stuff was great but god couldn't wait until the priest went in to his presence and there god was the table of shewbread the table of presence freshly baked bread which was just the presence and the power and the purposes of god so speaking of bread and lead us in communion let's go serve the lord at the table let's say communion together family if you're the one who hands out the elements in your home go ahead and do that now the fact that you and i get to have face-to-face time with jesus christ father creator of the world is the greatest gift we have ever received ever and this gift was bought at a price as we know the father paid a price the son paid a price the father gave up his son and jesus christ gave up his life so that we could have unveiled access to the father once again this is huge this is the greatest gift and it's all because of the blood of jesus christ that was shed on the cross this is ephesians 2 verse 13. it says yet look at you now everything is new although you were once distant and far away from god now you have been brought delightfully close to him through the sacred blood of jesus you have actually been united to christ you see it's always been about christ from the beginning of time the father was foreshadowing the coming of jesus because he knew that it was only by his precious blood that his children would once again have access to him so from the beginning with the tabernacle yes those symbols reveal things about our relationship with christ and how we can worship god and about us but every symbol ultimately reveals jesus because when the father was giving the design plan for the tabernacle he had jesus in mind the gate is jesus he's the only way the altar of sacrifice that sacrifice is jesus he's the perfect sacrifice the word of god that we get washed in that's jesus too for the word became flesh and it dwelt among us and he is the bread of life the bread of presence it has always been about jesus and so right now we focus on jesus on the cost that he paid on on giving his life for you and for me we focus our mind on jesus and we remember and we don't just remember what he paid but we consider the cost of what you and i get to pay the privilege and the honor that we get to lay down our lives and in turn receive all of him to give away all of ourselves an turn to be given all of him so through communion today we take of the bread and the juice and we remember his cost and we consider our cost the honor we have to have access face face time with jesus go ahead and take the bread this is a symbol for his body and go ahead and take the juice this is a symbol for his blood that was shed on the cross the sacred blood of jesus that gave us access to the father again let me pray for us jesus jesus i am in awe of you in all that you would give your life so that we could have access again father i am in all of you that you would give your son so that we could have access again i thank you for the gift of one on one face time with you lord would you help us every day to remember to commune with you that it is the greatest gift we've ever been given thank you for your presence thank you for your blood father thank you for your son jesus thank you for your heart to love us we praise you and we honor you today it's in jesus name amen [Music] turn your eyes upon jesus look for in his [Music] wonderful [Music] glory and grace eyes upon jesus [Music] [Music] is holy spirit all around me beside me and inside me [Music] lord inside me cause you're pulling me closer pulling me closer [Music] these words together i see creation around me [Music] responding to your glory i will join with those around me singing holy holy holy cause you're pulling me [Music] closed captioning [Music] me [Applause] thank you jesus closer than i've ever been [Music] we love you lord you pulled me close enough to see the fire in your eye yes close enough to hear your heartbeat you do close enough closer than i've ever been see it again you pulled me close enough to see the fart in your eyes [Music] closer than i've ever i see the fire in your eyes closer than i've ever been [Applause] me there is nothing nothing in between [Applause] me [Applause] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] me [Music] me closer closer than i've ever been father we approach your throne oh lord to receive mercy and define grace and we praise you that you have made access for us that we can approach you and you're calling us you are wooing us you're asking us to come closer to be able to look at you face to face father thank you for that invitation now help us to be obedient and lord we thank you for every blessing that's going to follow as a result of us being in that secret place that quiet place that face time place with you we worship you today father son and holy spirit and it is in the name of jesus that we praise you and pray amen amen amen hey he's pulling you closer today so maybe you've been far off maybe you're just tuning in for the first time in a few weeks he's pulling you closer today face to face and so in this season we're just inviting you go to that table go to the table every day with him seven and seven happens every single day but but also tonight five p.m tell us how 5 p.m so if you're sensing that nudge you sense that that god is calling you and he's wooing you to just take that next step of obedience and baptism we want to invite you at five o'clock this evening we're all going to be there and we want to celebrate that decision with you and there's no better time to experience that face time that that obedience in recognizing his death and his burial and his resurrection so we're really excited about that you don't have to sign up show up and we'll be there to celebrate with you five o'clock i can't wait for that hey and we want to be closer to you so whether you're here locally or all across the world we want to know you but we want you to know us and so next week there is a next class online at 7 pm on youtube this is just our way to help you get nearer and closer to us as a church understand what we believe and what our mission is and our core values and so we encourage you jump in with us next week at 7 p.m but we also want to thank you you guys have been so giving to this church and we are so appreciative of that and if you want to give you can click the link that's coming in the chat or you can mail checks to 2200 marshall street safety harbor florida three four six nine five but he's been so good to us so good so good and i can't wait this week to dive in closer with him face to face more face time yeah we can't wait to see you november 8th face to face we love you guys god bless [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] you

Channel: Harborside Church

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Length: 108min 9sec (6489 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 18 2020