CROSSOVER | GET YOUR FEET WET | PASTOR STEPHEN CHANDLER

[Music] [Applause] [Music] i5 city what is going on pastor jimmy here and i am so excited about all that god has ahead of us with union church and i remember the first time pastor stephen and i sat down and started exploring the what ifs what if god wanted two churches to come together what if god wanted to expand our reach all throughout the region what if god wanted to pour out so much on us but he was just waiting for another level of unity well that what if is now a reality and union church kicks off easter sunday april 4th it's gonna be crazy but today we have the amazing we have the stupendous we have the preacher teacher pastor and evangelist pastor stephen chandler who will be the senior pastor of union church here to preach today so whether you're watching on facebook whether you're watching on youtube or whatever social media platform whether you're in the building live or watching even on zoom i want you to stand to your feet right now put your hands together and let's celebrate come on somebody the senior pastor of union church pastor stephen chandler my brother from another mother let's go hallelujah hey since you're on your feet can you give the king of glory some praise can you lift your voice unto god king of glory we honor you god we magnify you god we worship you we declare there is none like you in all the earth you're worthy of our praise you're worthy of our adoration you're worthy of all that we have to give him more god hallelujah i gotta hold it together i'm like tears come in and i'm worshiping it's like hey you gotta go preach here's the thing that blows my mind it's not just words the king of glory he is in this room right now wherever you find yourself watching in a kitchen or a living room or on zoom or whatever it may be god is visiting us in this moment here's what i discovered about god he doesn't just show up to show up it's not like he comes to church just because he wants to be in church if he shows up bodies are being healed if he shows up chains are being broken if he shows up heaven is being released and i don't know what you stand in need of in this moment but here's what i do understand that we are standing under an open heaven and everything that you need is found right in this moment in the presence of god so can you do me can you just lift your hands and just as a sign of god we want to receive all that you have for us in this moment got all that you have for us god speak to our hearts [Music] that lead us god direct us [Music] but you're the one that we long for more more than anything else can we sing that one more time just king of glory [Music] when you said in your presence there's fullness of joy king of glory fill this place [Music] [Applause] [Music] i just want to be with [Music] with you pour out your presents in this [Music] place [Applause] hallelujah hey somebody shot hallelujah in this place come on somebody type it in the chat if you sense god's presence somebody shot hallelujah oh god we bless you we worship you we adore you hey you can go ahead and give an air high five to somebody next to you go ahead and grab your seat i cannot express to you how outrageously overjoyed i am to be with you all this morning in this moment i am not going to lie to you i'm a little emo right now i'm a little overwhelmed just by all that god is doing as we're speaking pastor jimmy rollins is at destiny church burning my church to the ground he preached at 8 30 service over there my phone is blowing up and it's almost like i really hope y'all like me because i may not be able to go back over there because they're like hey we like this guy you stay there and we'll keep him but it is amazing to see what god is doing you couldn't make this up if you tried and i just want you to know i absolutely know what my role is in what god is doing in this season i am the third leg of a relay race and it's just my job to run my leg if you're new and you're not quite sure about the stories and all that in 1994 bishop rollins planted living waters church and in 1997 my father pastor ron chandler planted new life international fellowship church and both men pastored those churches for over a decade and then 10 years ago my father who's actually sitting here right on the front row can you honor my dad dad can you [Music] wave my dad transitioned a church uh to a 23 year old kid uh who was single had never been to cemetery i mean seminary i keep on mixing it up forgive me have a stutter problem i can't get that right [Music] he was single he was young he wasn't educated for the role but god spoke and around that same time bishop rollins transitioned the church to pastor jimmy and god just blessed two houses in a way that we had never thought possible between the two churches in the last over a decade over 15 people have made a decision to follow christ and are no longer headed to an eternity now we are now a part of the body of christ that we serve and then after that pastor jimmy and pastor irene pastored this amazing place just to see thousands of lives transformed healed set free a city turn i want to say upside down but right side up for the glory of god what god has done through this house is nothing short of a miracle nothing short of the hand of god but here's the deal god only gives miracles to people that are going to be good stewards of them and that are actually gonna use it not for themselves but use it for the glory of god and that is what your pastors have done over these last eight years can you honor pastor jimmy and pastor irene we are grateful we are thankful [Applause] the last uh person to honor but probably the most important human honor is my beautiful wife who's on this front row can y'all give it up for my queen zai chandler i am grateful i am uh i'm not ashamed to say this the bible says he who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor uh from the lord i uh pastored destiny church for the first uh three years single and while it was good it had no favor uh it wasn't until i got married that god said now i could put some favor on this house and she steps in and i am just telling you just took the church to a completely different level of grace and favor and anointing i uh i try to preach i do all right but when she grabs the microphone and speaks the word of god there is a boldness there is an unction there is an anointing on her life and i'm just grateful grateful grateful uh just for your your presence in my life and y'all guys up to something good isn't he god is getting ready to move in our city and transform our region for the glory and we get to be the ones that he does it through that he stewards with y'all ready for the word i'm from go ahead grab your bible grab your bible turn to the book of joshua joshua chapter 3 verse 14 joshua chapter 3 verse 14. if you don't have a bible that's okay you can look up on the screen and we're going to read this together it says this so it was when the people set out from their camp to cross over somebody said cross over cross over the jordan i don't know we're in this like kind of crossover series and kind of playing this analogy of basketball and i just love how accusations they cross over jordan cross over jordan crossover jordan michael jordan did get crossed over by allen iverson but that's a different story a different message for a different day that's why he's not the goat lebron is but anyway cross oh blasphemy with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people that's careful the priests were carrying god's presence and going in front of the people and as those who bore the ark came to the jordan and their feet of the priest somebody say the feet the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water for the jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest that the waters which came down from upstream they stood still and they rose up in the heat very far away at adam in the city of zeratin so the waters went down into the sea of arbor the salt sea failed and they were cut off and the people crossed over opposite jericho then the priest who bore the ark of the covenant of the lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the jordan and all israel crossed over on dry ground until all the people had crossed completely over somebody say all the people come on say it with faith say all the people no man left behind he said until people would cross completely over the jordan father god we declare you are king of glory god we know that you've come not to fill a building but to fill our lives for we are the temple of the holy spirit god gotta pray for every single person of the son of my voice god that you would move like only you can god that you would position us god not just for the transition of a church but the transition of our lives to step into the purpose to plan the destiny that you have for us god even before you speak we're preemptively making the decision that when you speak we will obey we're grateful and we're thankful the matches name of jesus we pray somebody shout amen amen and amen we're in week three of a series that we're actually preaching at both churches the exact same series called cross over cross over and we're preparing for this season coming up on april 4th where we will be one church in three different locations baltimore county columbia this will be called the bwi location and by the way if you're from pg county we are coming to pg as well launching a fourth location at the beginning of 2022 but here's what i understand here's what you need to know that it's so vital what church you attend because the direction of your life is going to be dictated based on the church that you attend somebody say prove it i love when y'all say that the bible says this and psalm 92 13 and they don't have this verse but i do want to read this it says those who are planted in the house of the lord i'm gonna get in trouble but that's okay i'm gonna appreciate it it didn't say those who click it doesn't say those who come once a month those who check out it says somebody say planted in other words this is my house it says those who are planted in the house of the lord they shall flourish in the courts of god they shall bear fruit in old age they shall be fresh and flourishing here's what you need to know your life will head in the direction of the church that you're planted in because that's where you're receiving the nourishment from it's going to inspire your faith to trust god in a brand new way so yes i five city and destiny church are in a season of transition and we're becoming union church but i don't want you to get so distracted by the transition of your church that you miss the transition of your life i believe as the kingdom of god we are in a season of transition the capital c church not this local church the church globally well how do you know that well we just came out of the worst 12 years probably of our 12 months of our generation these past 12 months have been oh god help me our prayer life has changed in the last 12 months it went from dear god to oh god and here's what i always know from scripture whenever you go through a storm whenever you go through a trial it is always a setup for a blessing on the other side if you read the book of job god literally said hey satan you take your best crack at job and when you're done i'm going to show you how it's done and i'm going to bless him double for his trouble and i'm telling you the kingdom of god has been under assault over the last 12 months from the enemy and god would not have allowed it if it wasn't a setup for a double blessing that is getting ready to come our way i'm telling you god has something in store for your life telling you you're getting ready to transition to a season of influence that you never thought possible god is getting ready to transition your family transition your business transition your finances god here's his desire he said i don't want you to stay where you are i want you to go from glory to glory to glory to glory to glory so yes we're transitioning to church but it's more so what's happening in the spiritual realm that's what's going on in the natural it's a season of transition here's the thing that i found about transition it terrifies people it's just like what you you you're gonna change what we you you you who no no no no no no i'm good here i like the way that it is right now if we'd be honest it's not change that we don't like it's the feeling of not being in control everybody wants change everybody wants progress it's the uncertainty of what tomorrow's going to look like that kind of throws me off i mean if you would ask somebody hey would you like more influence in your career yeah yeah yeah that sounds good would you like a larger income yeah would you like more autonomy yeah then you have to quit your job and find another one oh i don't know about that i got benefits come on now some of you may have been feeling that way you're just in a circle of friends that that they're not bad maybe they're not even ungodly they've just plateaued they're not challenging you to believe god in a new way they're not stretching you they're not pushing i can say from the platform you can't say it because you're probably sitting next to that friend but uh you've outgrown them and you've known that for a while the only problem is they're familiar they're comfortable i know this relationship and i don't want to take the risk the uncertainty of stepping away from this and somebody say transition i want more from god i want the blessings i want the favor i want the promises i just don't want transition here's the problem there's no breakthrough without transition there's no miracles without transition there's no glory leveling up without crossing over the jordan river my wife and i um we're supposed to say we just went on a little vacation uh but we did not go on a vacation because we took our kids any parents in here understand that if the smurfs come with you it's no longer a vacation you are just a glorified chaperone who paid for the entire event i have a four-year-old named zoe and a two-year-old named roman and uh if you have kids under five you know uh it's a whole deal we put them on an airplane with other human beings y'all and had to figure out two and a half hours of them not slapping somebody spilling their juice box on somebody romans ordering around the stewardess excuse me i don't want to watch this show anymore i don't like roman she doesn't work for you anyway we go down to the beach and we spent a few days down there and they had the time of their life the first day we went down to the pool and they had their little uh floaties on and roman's kicking his feet and he's going nowhere he he's floating he's like dad look i'm swimming i'm swimming i get behind him and i start pushing him forward like dad look at me look at me and he really thought he was swimming i'm a preacher so i see illustration in everything that i do and i looked over my wife i said that's what it looks like when a miracle happens in our life we're like look what i have done and god's like you ain't done squat you're wearing a floaty i'm pushing you calm down but they had the time of their life in this pool and then the next day they said hey we don't want to go to a pool we want to go to the beach and make a sand castle so we went through the little gate and we'd go down to the beach and and there's sand and it was hot and they're like i don't know if i like this and they start walking through the sand and i said okay guys you know i'm a little over achiever so i said we're going to build the best sand castle you've ever seen in your life but here's the key to building a great sand castle i'm going to teach you maybe not from the word but how to build a great sand castle you got to get the wet sand if you get the dry sand as soon as you dump it out it's just going to collapse you got to get the wet sand but in order to get the wet sand you got to go closer to the water so zoe and roman is like we're there we're going to the west end and they go close to the water and jerome and starts scooping up and he he bends down and scoop up the sand and right when he bends down a wave smack that kid over and i mean he had a whole mouth full of salt water it only took him one time and he said no i wanna build no dumb sand castle i want nobody he goes all the way up back by his mom by the little towel and i'm like roman come build he said no i said roman come build he said no i said for the rest of the day he said you can bring me wet sand but i'm not going down there where the water is rough oh he preaching because it's too unpredictable down there i may get smacked with waves that i don't see coming and even if it means i don't ever get to build something ever again i'm not going down there joshua starts marching through the camp and he says hey guys it's time to cross over we're getting ready to go into the promise that god made our ancestors the land that's flowing with milk and honey yo i can't wait to get to heaven to figure out what's so exciting about milk and honey i've had milk i've had honey they're both pedestrian at best but for some reason it was enough to entice these people into the so we get milk and honey oh you don't understand this milk and honey we're about to get they get down to the river and it's all the way flooded it is the highest point the most unlikely time to cross the waters were raging and they get down to the edge of the river and they had heard stories about god parting seas they had heard stories about god moving supernaturally through leaders and and they knew how it was going to go be very careful when you think you know how god's going to do a miracle they get to the edge of the water and they expected joshua to grab moses's staff and to stretch it out over the water so the waters can part just like he did the red sea here's a problem joshua didn't stretch out a staff joshua said get in say what now what you mean get in he said oh oh god's gonna do a miracle after you get wet now i got bible on my side i don't read the bible the bible says they stretched out a staff and the water is part they ain't saying nothing about getting in the water nothing about getting wet i'm not moving until i see a miracle you're not going to see a miracle until you move we get in these positions where we're believing god for great things maybe in your marriage maybe in your business maybe in your health and and we feel like a miracle from god just has a sitting and a lazy boy just waiting for it to happen god says no no that's how i did it before but i've never done the same miracle twice and this time it's going to require your participation the thing about this part of the jordan that was different from the red sea the parting of the red sea was out of necessity they're standing at the edge of the red sea and and pharaoh's army is coming by i bet then they would have jumped into water the enemy was so close behind him they said listen whatever you tell us to do we're going to do it moses stretch out the staff and they're going through this second transition there was nearly no reason to cross over the jordan outside of a promise all their enemies had been vanquished they had been settled in the same place for over 38 years there was no reason to transition other than god said to here's my prayer for us as a church that we would learn to transition before we have to that it wouldn't require the enemy at our doorsteps pushing us into the unknown to put us in a position where we trust god but that we would actually have the mindset that god you said in your word no eye is seen no ear is heard no mind can conceive what you have in store you said all of your promises are yes and amen so if you say there's more for me there's more that i'm going for if you say that there's more promises in front of me there's more promises that i believe for i refuse to stay here because it's comfortable god i want all that you have for me why in the world would you take two phenomenal churches and transition what god is doing through them individually to bring them together that's what's confusing so many people even our friends nationally there you know people are just like oh that's good for you what you all doing over there marilyn what's happening god spoke there's not an enemy behind us there's a promise in front of us and because god has spoken a promise in front of us that he wants to bring revival to this region that he wants to make it difficult to go to hell from the dmv that there's hundreds and thousands of people that are desperately in need of the hope and the freedom that we've already found in christ because of what's ahead of us we said god i want all that you have for me here's the problem it requires us to get wet it requires us to step into the unknown before we see all that god is getting ready to do in our lives i got to speed up god's made us in his image somebody say amen we have one god he manifests himself in three parts god the father god the son god the holy spirit somebody say amen but because you were made in the image of god you were made in three parts as well you have your physical flesh you have your spirit man and then you have your soul your mind your will and your emotions you're literally a carbon copy of your father god our soul is also made up of three parts it's our mind our thoughts our wills our desires and our emotions here's what i've discovered my soul is always anti-faith in order for me to take a step of faith i'm gonna have to get my soul in check what's my soul my soul is the desire to intellectually understand what god is doing god you have to break this down for my mind before i'm willing to take this step god says i don't work like that i love how god explains himself in scripture you ever read genesis chapter 1 verse 1 in the beginning god god what god where did he come from god what was he doing before we got here god can i tell you what i would have said if i was writing a bible none yeah in other words because i'm god i don't have to explain it to you you simply have to trust that i have your best interest at heart i got to get my mind in check if i'm going to take a step of faith i got to get my will god this is not what i wanted yeah but it's more than you could ever ask for and i got to get my emotions in check i don't know if i like this he kind of looked like chris rock i don't know if chris rock can preach he think he's funny but he's not that funny i'm funny we to get our emotions in check say god if you say to take this step you've never lied you've never failed god i'm taking this step of faith here's how i want faith to look i want god to give me the next 10 steps before i take the first one i want god to literally say okay as you take the step of faith then this is going to happen then that's going to happen then that's going to happen then that's going to happen and you're going to land exactly where you want to go it's going to be perfect i'm like god give me the 10 steps he said nope nope that's not how it works when you obey me then you're going to see me move forward not only do i want 10 steps but i want evidence like i i have that like gideon spirit on me where i'm like god i'll obey you if it snows in june god i need this friend that i haven't spoke to in 15 years to pick up the phone and call me on a number that i've changed three times since then and say that there's a word from god and a cloud in the sky and then i'll move that's a note god i want to know how it's going to turn out god you help me like throw a bible at god god you say you're the one that knows the end of the thing before the beginning of the thing since you know tell me tell me what it's going to look like when i transition out of this job and start a brand new one god i want to see what no no no no no he said no no no i just need you to trust me to get your feet wet and take a step of faith here's what you have to understand that's what pastor jimmy and pastor irene are doing right now that's what myself and my wife are doing right now we know that it's god on this side and i'll tell you how and just through the peace of god and we know that it's going to be revival in our city and the kingdom of god is going to be advanced based on what's going on but i don't know the next three steps i don't know the next ten but i know he's never failed me i know he's not like man and he cannot lie i know there is no way he will take me down a path that he doesn't have a plan to make it better than i ever thought possible and i know that i'll never see it until i take that step of faith and say god i trust you let's go for it i'm going to give you just three thoughts three quick thoughts of how do i get out of my mind my will my emotions how do i get myself spiritually in a position where i'm willing to take a step of faith even though i haven't seen the miracle yes and yes i am talking about union church but here's what i'm trying to do i'm trying to agitate you out of your normal i want you to take a step of faith in your career i want you to take a step of faith in your relationships i want you to take a step of faith in your faith when's the last time you believe god for something that changed your prayer life when's the last time that you believed god for something that made you prayer and pray and fast when the church wasn't praying and fasting that's where god wants us to be if you're you're taking notes you can you write this first thing down the first step is this i have to let him order my steps not give me the next 10 steps i have to let him order my steps so often when it comes to taking a step of faith we're like god i'll move when you move just like that and he said no no no you start moving and i'll tell you where to go this is the verse to say walk you the path and you'll hear a still small voice saying turn to the left or turn to the right here's what god wants from us he wants our obedience to start moving forward and as we move he said i'm going to direct your steps in psalm 37 23 it says this a person's steps are made secure by the lord when they delight in his ways the living bible says it this way the steps of a good man are directed by the lord he delights in each step that they take in other words god says don't worry about 10 steps you just take the first step i don't know about you but if i'm on the edge of the jordan it's flood waters i hate to admit this but i can't swim so god i don't laugh that's not funny but i got like i got one step in me and after that one step i'm literally in over my head god says don't worry about ten steps you just take one and he's as a matter of fact i don't want just anybody to take a step in the water it has to be the priest it has to be the ones that are holding the presence of god in the ark of the covenant and he says when the priests step in the water the water is parted sometimes i read this i was like well if i had a big ark of the covenant and i had people to go in in front of me i would obviously know where to go could you imagine they had a pillar of clout and a pillar by fire all they had to do was fall of fire follow the cloud could you imagine if you walked into an interview and there was a pillar of fire sitting right in the room with you well guess this job is mine i'm good you're out house shopping you walk into the house and there's just a cloud hovering in the house oh shekinah's here yep this is absolutely the house that got if we had these physical signs it'd be easy to follow god except we do because the only thing the ark of the covenant was and i don't want to sound sacrilegious but hear me it was just a box where the presence of god rested like it was made by hand it was literally just a box that the presence of god rested is that hey if you would just follow the box that the presence of god rests on you'll never make a misstep first corinthians chapter 6 verse 19 says this do you not know that your body is a box where the presence of god rests it says don't you know that this is the temple of the holy spirit who is in you whom you have found from god you are not your own when it says the priest carried the presence of god and took that step into the river it literally was talking about us recognizing that god dwells inside of us and that it is his still small voice that will guide you and lead you into the purpose and the plan and the destiny that he has for you we just have to learn to recognize god's presence in us even in a situation where you're just like this is off this doesn't make sense this this is weird and then because we have an enemy he tries to put a secular word on it like a premonition or deja vu two words you won't find in scripture it ain't a premonition it ain't deja vu it's the holy ghost inside of me kind of poking saying hey i'm looking to lead you i'm looking to guide you and if we can learn to pay attention to that holy spirit just like them following that priest god will lead and guide you in every step that you take you're sitting in that interview you're answering those questions as best as you can but there's just a sense inside of you of this is mine this is mine this is what god has for me or these people are crazy i don't care if they offer me the job or not i'm out what if we learn to be led by the spirit of the ark that's inside of us about 11 years ago i was the youth pastor at my dad's church i led the youth ministry for the last seven years i was 22 at the time and god had just done amazing things we were in three different high schools all over baltimore city and baltimore county hundreds of kids were coming but i was just sensing a transition in my heart it was the first time in my ministry life that i did not have vision for the future like i literally was like god i don't have the grace for this i don't have the passion for this this is actually draining me and it's the first time i had ever felt drained by ministry in my life by the way one of the ways you know that you're getting ready for a transition is when the grace of god lifts off of you for where you are where it is now a chore to do what you were doing instead of a joy the only problem is god had told me not to leave maryland he said he wanted to do something great in the city and it was about seven years prior i was like hey maybe god forgot maybe that's not going to work out i don't want to disappoint my dad but i got to go because i sense that there's a movement in the spirit so i go and i sit down with my dad and i said hey dad i have something to tell you and he said stephen i have something to tell you too and you got to understand before i was a preacher i had a big mouth it wasn't often that stephen didn't have something to say i was like i got but for for some reason the holy spirit shut me up and he said stephen let your dad talk first as my dad began to talk he said stephen i've been praying and seeking god and and i really feel like our church is in the season of transition and that god is calling you to step in as a senior pastor how do you feel about that and then he said what were you going to tell me nothing nothing at all this actually might be the first time he's hearing this story i was coming to that meeting to say the holy spirit is moving me i'm leaving the church not understanding that the holy spirit yes he was moving me but he was going to take it one step at a time i think it's not until i have made a decision that i was going to step out of where i was in that moment that he spoke to my dad and said okay now let's open the next door for so many of us we're like hey i want five doors ahead he said i just want to see if you're going to take the first step and if you're willing to take the first step then i'll make the next one obvious and the next one and the next one and the next one the second thing is this if we're going to get out of a place of feelings and into a place of faith we have to demand the right evidence god i need here here's what happens when the world looks at the kingdom of god the world starts putting a carnal mindset on what godly things are so the world adds the word blind before the word faith to try to describe how we live oh that's just blind faith you you have no wisdom you have no evidence you're just god's going to heal me some way to be healed god's going to blaspheme no no there's nothing blind about the faith that god's called us to hebrews chapter 11 verse 1 it says this now this is god's faith faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen in other words faith is not blind it has substance and it has evidence and if you don't have substance and you don't have evidence hear me you don't have faith you have presumption you have a god i hope you do it and god says i never said i was gonna do it there's so many people that are bitter at god because he did not do something that he never said he was gonna do and they thought they had faith but they never had the substance and they never had the evidence well can you help me out what's the substance the word of god this is the substance that we apply our faith to god says if i said it in the word i'm going to bring it to pass in your life so let me help you out if you're believing for a miracle in your life you need scripture to back up that miracle you need something that you're holding on tangibly that god has said to say god you said in your word so it's going to come to pass in my life so let's say for example you and your spouse are believing for a child and the doctor said nope that's not your portion that's never going to happen hear me what man says is impossible god says is possible you need to begin to apply your faith but you need some substance can i give you some substance exodus chapter 23 verse 26 it says this no one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land i will fulfill the numbers of your days that's the number of your pregnancy hey that substance of god you said it in your word and i'm gonna believe it to come to pass in my life maybe you're believing for a loved one to come to christ and the more you pray for them it's like the more raptured they become like you were kind of looking at jesus until i started praying for you and then all of a sudden i started praying for your salvation and you lost your ever-loving mind you need some substance for your faith can i give you some joshua 24 14 it says this and if it seems evil to you to serve the lord choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve whether the gods which your father served that were not on the other side of the jordan it goes on to say but as for me and my house or the gods amorites and those who want to land but as for me and my house we will serve the lord you have a teenager that's just kind of going through the season they're losing your mind not their mind your mind as for me and my house we will serve the lord you have a spouse that says you go to church i want no part of it as for me my house we will serve the lord now it says substance and evidence here's why because as soon as you get substance everything you see around you is going to look completely opposite it's like here's what god's word said and life starts going in the opposite direction that's what happened to daniel that's why he was fasting for 21 days because he found a promise in god's word of their deliverance and as soon as he found a promise life got worse and he said god i demand that your word comes to pass in my life i have a substance i must see don't expect a miracle without a fight that's why you have to hold on to that substance and wait for that evidence to say hey this is god and hear me throughout the wilderness all they saw was evidence manna coming from heaven watch this they got every miracle except the one they asked for do you know how frustrating it is when you're believing god for a healing and you get a raise ah thanks i don't know if it was like autocorrect on my text message and you messed it up i said healing not race you know how awkward it is when you're believing for a loved one to come to christ and god heals your body oh thank you for healing my back that i was going to live with they're still ratchet don't miss it that's not god missing the mark that's god giving you evidence that he's still with you and it's not time for the miracle that you've been praying for but there's these little evidences around you it says their clothes did not wear out their shoes didn't get holes in it they had manna every morning they had quail every night just to let you know god is still with you as a believer you should be able to look around your life and say hey i'm not where i want to be but i have evidence all around me that god hasn't left me he hasn't forsaken me every step he's still with me can i give you another evidence that you're on the right track when the enemy attacks you this is counterintuitive i would think when the enemy attacks i'm doing something wrong we have to learn to understand when the enemy attacks we're doing something right because he only attacks what he's intimidated of he only started killing two-year-old boys when god promised a deliverer to israel he only started killing two-year-old boys when god sent the messiah through mary to be the deliverer of the world he only attacks what he's intimidated by early on in my faith when when when i would start going through warfare i'm god i'm tithing what's the problem got them in church every sunday and i learned to realize no you're on the right track and the enemy is threatened by what god is getting ready to do in your life i have such a peace about this union i can't even explain it to you i'm so excited about what god has for the future i can't even explain it to you and i'm so overwhelmed by the attacks of the enemy i can't even explain it to you these last four months health crisis personal business deals that we're almost done falling apart all this different stuff and i'm learning just to get excited because it is god's evidence that hey i'm with you last thing is this you can write this down here's how i learned to take a step of faith here's how i learn to get my feet wet even when it doesn't make any sense i understand that the outcome is always that i win there is no path there is no direction that god can take me on that ends with me losing there is no step of faith that i can take that ends with me taking a step back and not with me taking a step forward romans chapter 8 verse 28 says this it says and we know that half of the things just make sure you're all reading the same bible that i'm reading we know that most of the things we know the things that we like we know the things that are comfortable no no no he said all things all things work together for the good of those who love god those who are called and understand their purpose god says if you live life on purpose there is no way it doesn't work out for your good there's no scenario there's no circumstance there's no moment that you take a step for god and it doesn't work out for your good sometimes on the other side of a miracle i don't feel joy i feel shame and i know shame is not of god but i'm just going to tell you how it is i feel shame because i'm like god why did i kick and scream so much god why was i so fearful why why did i forget who you were when the waters were raging you're a god that can't fail you're a god that can't lie you're a god that has never left me never forsake how would we live if we didn't understand what it was like to lose how would we live if we knew that there's no way that god is going to lead me and my life not moved to a greater level in him you know how do we live we live like the second generation of israel the generation that had never known slavery the generation that has never seen anything but god be their leader in their guide and the second joshua said to that second generation hey we're going they packed us that hey let's do it let's go we're going to step it because we know that all we've seen our entire life is the hand the favor and the grace of god on us first corinthians 15 57 says this but thanks be to god who gives us the victory through our lord jesus christ therefore my beloved brethren be steadfast immovable always abounding in the work of the lord knowing that your labor is not in vain it's in the lord it will end in victory here's a thought that crossed my mind because the first generation decided not to cross over into the promise they left the battle of jericho to the second generation whatever transition we avoid we leave battles for our children but when we make a decision that this transition is not about me this transition is about those that are coming behind me and i want to make sure that those that god is sending behind me they don't have to fight my battles they only have to fight the battles that god made for them so we're going to cross over we're going to take the land that god has for us and we're going to take the territory that god has for us because there's a generation that's coming behind us there's unbelievers that are coming behind us there's a student ministry that's coming behind us there's children that are coming behind us that god designed them to live in the freedom that it's our job to take hold of in this moment high five city i'm telling you what god has done over the last eight years the last 22 years has been mind blowing no eye has seen no ears hurt no mind can conceive but god what god has in store for us ahead of us it's beyond anything that we can ask think or imagine so that question is are we going to cross over are we going to get our feet wet are we going to step into all that god has for us let's pray father god we are god we're in all god that you could have moved anywhere with anyone but you decided to do it with us god i thank you for every single person in the sound of my voice god that you're crossing us over in a new purpose new influence new favor new mercy just where you are with your eyes closing your head bad if you could pray this prayer with me say holy spirit what are you saying to me i just give god a moment to make this time to make this message personal to you i believe with all my heart you're in a season of transition a new favor new influence [Music] but i want to pray particularly for some of those of you watching online those of you in the room [Music] that it's time for you to transition to a relationship with god maybe like the children of israel you've been living on the edge on the outskirts of god but you've never had a relationship with them you maybe you grew up in church you've attended church you've just never surrendered to the god of the church or maybe this is your first time in an experience like this you're like what transition i just came because a friend invited me you had no idea that there's a god that loves you more than you can love yourself that is a purpose a plan a future for you whoever you find yourself if you say pastor i can't say that i'm smack dab in the middle of god's will for my life i can't say that i have an intimate relationship with god like you're talking about but i want him in my life you can make the decision right now all you have to do is repeat this prayer after me can you say this movie say lord jesus thank you thank you for seeing me for wanting me for loving me thank you for hanging on the cross for shedding your blood so that all my sin all my mistakes can be erased be my lord be my savior and use me for your glory in jesus name amen and amen and amen come on church can you celebrate for every single person that just made the greatest decision ever god bless you

Channel: i5 CITY

Views: 979

Rating: 4.8709679 out of 5

Keywords: i5 church, hillsong, arc, red leaders, arc churches, jimmy rollins, irene rollins

Id: uQST4bOJoTk

Length: 53min 42sec (3222 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 22 2021