Francis Chan - Liberty University Convocation

one of the things that's afforded to us today is that Frances won't just be with us this morning but tonight as well at campus community and say yes can be great [Applause] outside of that Francis and his team are going to spend a few days with us and so graciously crazy love ministries has brought some of their leadership here and we are going to get outside of convocation and campus community several opportunities to roll up our sleeves for mission work together for church planning work together for training and equipping of Saints together and so I've asked Kevin to come who works with this ministry to kind of spotlight a few of the things that they're gonna do they're gonna be here today tomorrow and Friday many opportunities afforded to not just our student body by the way but also we do have some guests we have over 30 community leaders that are some of the pair of church partners that we have that are here with us as well by the way can we just welcome them into the house there was sitting us say we're honored that you'd be with us thank you also our Career Center has some leaders that are in the president's box as well but listen they're gonna be the whole community is going to be coming together for some of these opportunities Kevin will you come up brother and just give us some of the some of the opportunities they're gonna be afforded to us in the next few days yeah hey Liberty you how you how you guys doing it's such an honor to be here to worship with you guys you know for the last six years the Lord's brought our ministry on his journey and I don't know about you but have you guys ever read the Bible and you saw this picture of the church that is beautiful and compelling and powerful and dynamic and at some point you felt like we as the church have settled for less than that well that's the conviction that the Lord placed on our heart as well and so for the last six years we've been pursuing this this biblical church this this model of church where we want everything that God had in mind when he jumped up the church and so we're here going around all these different places and we're here at Liberty you if this is something that God has placed on your heart as well and you want to know more about it we have these opportunities where we want to talk to you we want to share about what God is doing in our ministry and in our lives and I think there's a slide that tells you all the opportunities that are available if we could some of you are going to see these things that you've already been invited to several of those opportunities if you see them and make you think wow I could maybe fit in to some of these subgroups you're welcome to connect and try to be a part of some of these groups that a few of them still have spaces available as well so yeah is that just but they are they just go into that guys to that one link is that right Ashley and then that's gonna so if you'll just can we put that back up again if you'll go to that link all right what if you'll text that it'll it'll take you to a page that shows you the multiple meetings that we have set up for actually let me correct that sorry about that actually this link is different we do this thing called Church intensive where we train pastors and leaders from all over the country to come in and we walk them through a basic ecclesiology and some of our values and practices and we put all that online and we worked really hard to make that available for you guys for free and so if you actually text basic Church two to four 502 you'll find our whole training online and that's for you that's the that's the link that's awesome so that that slide we were having some difficulties in getting that slide up what we'll do is we'll post them on Instagram feed and you know on different feeds for you today that you can link up to there's multiple meetings that Kevin and his team are gonna be having for church planners for pastors different people and then I also want to tell you that they've graciously given you an opportunity to be able to grab the book at two different avenues today number one our bookstore has the book at a discounted rate for you that you can grab today but also their ministry through mail-order has an opportunity for you to get the book as well for $8.00 that'll come within the next week to you and tonight at the end of campus community if you get the book from that Avenue or this Avenue and over 250 of you already have the book because a lot of our shepherds went through it and you want to launch out together in about seven eight days we're gonna mark a day and we'll let you know tonight where you can all go through the book reading together it's a nine chapter book will do a nine week reading of it together if you grab the book today through either outlet or you have it ordered and it's coming or you already have it as a as a shepherd you can take the book and we'll start in about seven eight days a group reading together and tonight after campus come Francis and Kevin and some of the leaders will give you some kind of marching orders and a commissioning to go through that time together can I tweak that at all yeah just real quick it's actually 50% off online and so I think it's gonna go for six bucks and again that's something that we wanted to do for you guys here at Liberty you that's six bucks that's awesome alright that's amazing art let's so let's pray together and then Francis will come up open up God's word for us father we thank you for this moment your mercies that are always made new and we pray that in the next few minutes that your word that's a lamp unto our feet your word is sharper than any two-edged sword cuts through bone and marrow and judges the attitudes of life will do what your word does and so God we're available now to hear from you Holy Spirit speak we pray this in your name amen hey can we welcome Francis I I'm trying so hard to even right now think about the resurrected Christ being on this stage with me you know the Bible says at that end of Matthew 28 at that Great Commission he says I will be with you always always the resurrected Christ after after being mutilated nailed to a cross comes to life and says every bit of authority has been given to me so go and make disciples teach people obey everything that commands you and I'll be right there with you and and and I I tell my my students my preaching students I go gosh can you imagine if Jesus walked on the stage though you could physically see him walk with you how much anticipation you would have of what are you gonna do and I tell my students if you feel any nervousness it's probably because there's sin in your life why do you feel nervous when you get on a stage is it because you're concerned about what people will think of you that's usually where the nerves come or maybe there's a lack of belief that God is really there because I mean honestly if you're one of the disciples and you're walking with Jesus you just everywhere you would go you think what is he going to do today there's no thought of pressure upon yourself it would just be what is he gonna do today and I really believe I genuinely believe that God is here with us right now and that he has been working on your hearts me and my team last night we just spontaneous got into a prayer meeting for this very convocation and prayed that his Spirit would move in you that even last night that you would have dreams last night you'd wake up thinking about things in your life that need to change that you come here with this desire for something fresh something new or last week I was in I was in Waco Texas and so I was only there for two days but someone had told me that that there was a place you could surf in Waco Texas where they created like this wave pool and so I just went online to see if it was open and thought I you know that'd be fun to just jump out there and surf real quick in Texas and because that's that's one of my favorite things that do on this earth is to surf and so I just go okay what what is this wave pool like and it was really cool you know it just showed these people playing on this wave that comes in and and that's kind of cool like every 30 seconds you know cuz usually when you surf you paddle out in the water you don't know if a wave is coming or not you kind of assume you kind of see some things but there's so much unknown I thought that's so nice you can just paddle out to this one spot in this pool and know what wave is gonna come and you know when it's gonna peak and then it's gonna die out and you just paddle back out to the exact same spot over and over and over again that's pretty fun it's so different than going in the ocean where it's like gosh I don't know something huge is gonna come there's been times we've driven for like an hour and just sat in the water nothing happened you know you know get your head bit off there there's so many things that can happen in the ocean by thought this is so nice you can just go to the wave pool and you'll have any fear and when I looked at that thing I thought gosh you know I thought this is what church services sometimes feel like to me it's like this wave that you can create that you know at 9:15 this is gonna happen and you know at 9:20 then you know at 9:40 it's gonna start dying out because it has to you know it's just going to happen and you can do it over and over and over again and I feel like for many years I've been content with that because it's fun and everyone's having a good time but men don't you don't you read the scriptures and go gosh there was so much it was unpredictable like where where you go out that really was a move from God it wasn't man-made it wasn't this man-made wave but things would happen that we're out of your control and it's going to god I want to see that one of my friends in Waco was telling me about about this experience he had where and this is someone I trust so much where he was in this village I forget it was in Nepal or somewhere overseas and he goes literally there was a 60 year old woman who was blind from birth and he prayed for her and she starts screaming just freaking out because for the first time ever she could see and she went back out just running into her village and and he says man everyone and their mother comes flooding to them now they're just swamped because they're here everyone's here and we know her we've been with her forever and this is and I'm listening to this stuff and I'm gonna see that's this stuff I want to see in my life those are the things I want to see and and even as I was praying for this I was thinking you know sometimes with because I've never seen a miracle like that I'm just being honest with you I I want to I see it in Scripture I believe it can happen today I just haven't seen it and I think man like if you guys were all blind or whatever I wouldn't come here with any sense like oh I can fix this right there's just I'm hopeless what am I gonna do and the Lord was convicting me last night of just is that how you view things spiritually like there's literally nothing you can do to change the hearts in that room because sometimes as a speaker you think well if I give a good enough message if I do this maybe I can just change their hearts a little and have them fall in love with God a little bit more rather than a total dependent spiritually on God and so I just want you to know that I've been praying and I've been praying that this would be something that is not man-made because I feel like I know how to make a wave in a room and I'm just done with it there's just no time for that anymore that's just I'm just done playing games you know I was reading what what Paul said this morning just just got up early reading the word and I was just looking at what Paul says in 1st Corinthians 1 when he said Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel not with words of eloquent wisdom lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power he says Christ sent me he called me to preach the gospel but he says not with words of eloquent wisdom lest the cross be emptied of its power so there's some way that I can come onto this stage and preach in a way that diminishes the power of the Cross that decreases the power of the Cross if I come up here thinking man I know how to teach I know what to say I've got a story that's going to work I've got an illustration they're gonna love if I do any of these things and depend on those things there's a way that I can weaken the power he says if I come with that I'll actually diminish the power of the cross and so in in first current in the next chapter he says in verse two first Corinthians two I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified and I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling and my speech and my message were not implausible words of wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God so Paul said I made a choice when I came before you I decided to know nothing this was my decision Paul was brilliant because I decided to know nothing except Christ and him crucified and so I came up there came to the city and I just thought let me just tell them about how Jesus was the son of God and he died on the cross for their sins and how he rose on the third day and he could put his spirit in you to change you from the inside out to where now suddenly you're a slave to what's right now suddenly you desire the things of God and now you actually want his King Paul says that that's all I did he goes because I wanted your faith to rest on a power and I wanted there to be a demonstration of the spirit's power but it was a choice he had to make and he goes so I come and I come with some trembling because if God doesn't move then I'm just gonna sound stupid Paul could have come and made sure that no matter what the people would be impressed by him but he had to make a choice in faith and say no I'm not going to do that because I want to see his power man and I've been praying for that the Bible says that that to each person every one of us including myself is given a manifestation of the Holy Spirit for the common good they understand so he thinks somehow the Spirit of God could manifest through me we read these words but do you understand what that means like for the spirit to manifest through you we understand demon possession we understand like if I were possessed by a demon right now that suddenly let's say I just allow a demon to take over my body what would that look like if II suddenly I Francis is no longer in control but he allowed this demon into them and now he's just speaking the most vile of destructive whatever things it's not him it's that demon so what would it look like seriously if the Holy Spirit right now possess my body and it was in Francis Chan speaking but it really was of God he says something spiritual could manifest through me for your good this power and I'm gone god that's all I want anymore I am so done with the man-made wave I'm reading Scripture and I'm going there is a greater power and until I laid those other things aside and come in weakness and trembling and say Holy Spirit could you just move in this room and convict people who don't really know you because so much of church and the things we do can just be human I know I can fire up a crowd but I could do that for anything now you go work for chick-fil-a and fire them up about their pickles whatever you know it's just you know what I mean like there's there's physical gifting and then there's something that you read about in Scripture that's like supernatural and I'm just so hungry for that I read about the church in the book of Acts right now our church is going through the book of Acts gone you can't fake these things these aren't man-made things I have to have this I was speaking at a conference a few weeks ago with you guys no David Platt dear friend love that guy and this other guy Andrew Scott and and you guys don't cheer for him like no no but uh no we're doing this conference together they both spoke and then it was my turn you know to kind of close out the night and I looked at them I go I feel like these guys aren't gonna do anything with what we just talked about like what what can I say up there what can I say to motivate them to get to the ends of the earth to go these places and and as I'm talking and and ask him and we're planning I just stopped I go wait a second you guys like oh when you gave your life to Jesus today it would have to beg you to spend time with him did anyone have to beg you to get the sin out of your life they don't have to beg you to be his witness anyone beg you to be about the kingdom I go I don't know about you guys but when I gave my life to Jesus as a teenager like something inside happened to me where I actually thought wait I can speak to him so he's standing on this throne and he's in charge of everything and I'll talk to him and he'll listen to are you kidding me you know how do I do this I want to do this one night when I went when God came in to me the the stuff that I was involved in like a sin in my life it's like I didn't have someone begging me hey quit that quit that quit that like inside of me I became a slave to righteousness and I said when the Spirit came in to me like I can't spend my days surfing and golfing that would drive me insane like I have to do something for the kingdom I'm thinking about how everything's changing in the world and we've got this short window of time and I'm like I need to do something I don't want to go to Liberty and just give another sermon and go home no we've got a kid things like think something real has like all these things are welling up inside of me so why is it then do I feel like I need to get in front of a crowd and pull them and drag them and push them towards these things could it be the nothing's going on inside and we need all these external things because when I read the scriptures it says when the Holy Spirit enters into you like from the core of your being your spirit cries out Abba Father like like you don't have to have someone on the platform saying please please spend time with Jesus just take ten minutes a day read the word one verse a day five minutes of prayer just try it okay do it in the shower do it while you're driving do it as you're walking to class just do something just read a verse you know listen to listen to a verse here here's the Bible on you no audio just listen to a man know when the Spirit of God enters into you the Bible says your spirit cries out daddy father I I've never had a dad that that I did have man went a horrible relationship but somehow everything inside of me God just wants to tell you that you're my father now and you're all that I need has anything ever happened like that in you the Bible says you know regarding sin and in a look at this passage in 1st John chapter 3 in verse 5 it says you know that he appeared in order to take away sins and in him there's no sin no one who abides in him keeps on sinning no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him little children let no one deceive you whoever practices righteousness is righteous as he is righteous whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil for the devil has been sinning from the beginning the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil no one born of God makes a practice of sinning for God's seed abides in him and he cannot keep on sinning because he's been born of God by this it is Evan who are the children of God who are the children of the devil whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God nor is the one who does not love his brother because the word is so clear like like if the spirit isn't you I shouldn't have to beg you to get the sin out of your life he says if God's seed abides in you like his D and a is in you and into where it's like you hate all the sin you know the Bible says you know like pigs will return to the mud and a dog will return to its vomit why because my nature a pig will always run back to the mud you can wash him off clean him off he's gonna go back and so if you find yourself like back in the mud I'll let me get another chapel spray me off and you go back to the mud why because you're still a pig your nature has not been changed the Bible says he can put his seed in you to where your very DNA now loathes the mud you used to love and every time you even dabble and it's like I got I don't like that anymore no one has to drag you internally man you're headed this direction I don't know how to make it any clearer than what the scripture says whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil for the devil has been sinning from the beginning no one born of God makes a practice of sinning for God's seed abides enough in him and he cannot keep sinning because he's born of God now some of you are listening to me you're going wait what are you saying Francis Francis are you saying that if I can continue sinning then I love the devil that I'm following Satan of course not but that is what the Bible's saying and and you have to do something you go okay he's just reading the Bible and the Bible says that that if I just go and do what I want to do man you can't call me a Satan worshiper just because I'm doing what I naturally want to do in the flesh man I gotta explain something to you man in scripture 1 when Satan tempted Eve did he tell Eve to worship Him no a Satan worshiper isn't someone that sings to say that did he tell Eve sing to me no what did he tell Eve that looks good huh you want that don't you do what you want God knows that once you take of that you can choose between you decide what's good and evil don't stay under him go do what you do you do if you read The Satanic Bible which I hope you don't but if you do the number one command in the Satanic Bible do what you want it's not worship Satan pray to Satan sing to Satan it's it's always been from the game do what you will and that's why you sing look when you practice doing what you want and you're just dead and you're just because it's because you're a child of the devil you never denied yourself and said god I I want to die I want Francis Chan to die I don't like him I don't like where he's dragging me everything would you die I want him crucified with Jesus so it's no longer Francis who lives but Christ lives in me has that ever happened in your life man do you come here and just feel guilty and feel pressured into different things rather than it coming from inside of you this is my concern a couple months ago I was doing a big stadium event it's like way bigger than this and as I'm praying like God what do you want me to say these people I just had this picture of all of them like floating in it like if this was filled with water and we're all just we've got life jackets on and we're just bobbing around I just had this image no words of God or just in my head I'm just picturing like people bobbing around in lifejackets that'd be kind of fun right but my whole point in that was as I'm looking at all these people with their life jackets on I thought I can't tell who can swim and who can't because something artificial is propping them up but what if they took off the lifejacket then we find out who can really swim and I know so much of the church and so much of even places like this there's enough there are enough Christians and Christian classes and Bible classes and convocations and chapel services to just kind of prop you up but what happens when you're alone and you take that jacket off does everything inside of you because you can swim on you don't need this jacket inside your spirit you cry off I I hear you singing in Chapel but how do you sing when you're alone does everything long for him yeah and what happens when you leave this school and you take the jacket off and you're a total secular environment like are you gonna just do what everyone else in while I was at liberty and everybody was singing so I sang everyone was living this you know semi holy life so I started doing that too and now these guys are doing no or is there something in the core of your being where you're gonna rock I don't sink and you can stick me in the middle of jungle with no one else Spears in my face whatever and I'm not going down I'm not going to give in I'm gonna worship Jesus I'm going pursue righteousness I'm gonna seek his kingdom and I'm gonna I'm gonna make disciples because God's with me is that in you seriously look I don't care what denomination you're a part of whatever else and I'm not here to judge anyone but that's just my concern is I just see a lot of people that kind of just go with the flow and can be propped up artificially but then there's others of us or something happened to us like it was a miracle I can't walk away from Jesus I just can't do it everything in me he's what I'm about and so I'm just asking you this morning it might be hard in this chapel it might even be hard in this campus but at some point you need to take that jacket off all the things that have prompt you up whether it's a Christian family Christian classes Christian school Christian boyfriend girlfriend whatever and everything is stripped away and does your soul cry out for him because you love him you adore him you run into his presence see God revealed something to me just like a week or two ago where I realized you know I love the story of Moses we just read Exodus this week - and how he would go up on the mountain and the lightning and the fire you know and all the people had to stay at the base and he'd go up and talk to God then he'd come back down and go this is why I said and I thought could you imagine could you imagine watching Moses walk up this mountain into a fire and as he speaks to God God's responding and thunder and you're just waiting What did he say what do you say what'd he say tell me what he said and so I have felt like most of my life that's kind of my job like I go I get into the presence of God I come to his word and then I come here I think oh you guys this is what God said and it was just a couple of weeks ago the Lord revealed me friends I never asked you to be Moses you're not there Moses that was the Old Testament something happened when Jesus was crucified the veil was torn and now everyone can go to the Holy of Holies every one of you can go into that mountaintop and have that relationship with him were you along for them and you're going are you kidding me I'm on the mountaintop like I do every morning like god I can't believe I'm in your presence this is for all of us now that's what the church was meant to be was not one guy coming before God and then bringing a message to the people but everyone everyone having been could you imagine if every one of you was like a Moses and you went up on that mountaintop and then we all gather together a bunch of Moses like I know I know right I know I know everyone like that's what the church was meant to be everyone being so alive in him everyone getting the sin out of their life everyone coming and manifesting the Holy Spirit of God for the common good you guys we are putting so much pressure on these individuals to come and feed all of us manifests the spirit to all of us and everything else and I really believe everything could change right now like the church like that's why I flew across the country here was that's hot God please please please could it be that you're calling a new generation that's going I'm seriously going to put to death the consumer mentality of the church I won't stand for any more no more man-made waves I want the Spirit of God working through me and through the church or nothing at all so father I pray that this was really of the spirit so there is lasting fruit I prayed that I didn't go in the flesh God please Lord Holy Spirit moving us cause us to long for that which is from you and not man-made we not settle for less we demand the real thing Lord in our lives and in the church in Jesus name Amen okay tonight we got Francis just to kind of really pick up where he left off and tonight at 6:30 all right so come with your Bible and just open to hear from the Lord all right we love you we'll see you tonight thank you

Channel: Liberty University

Views: 21,186

Rating: 4.9378238 out of 5

Keywords: Liberty University, LibertyU, Liberty, Jerry Falwell

Id: M9J8QorVIqY

Length: 38min 3sec (2283 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 06 2019