Harold Hoffman - On The Other Side of Excuses | Church ONLINE

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] good morning first church why don't we clap our hands in this house lift up our boys with shouts of praise hallelujah jesus we love you god we thank you lord come on can we lift up a shout of praise in this [Music] [Music] come on house he worthy to be friends [Music] here we go oh [Music] is you are everybody [Music] we will not be shaking up is [Applause] foreign [Music] i love this declaration right here so we will praise you in advance like the victories in heaven knowing you are not a man you said [Music] so we will praise [Music] yes [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Applause] you are anything [Music] [Applause] [Music] if you said victory will come [Music] and so we will praise you in advance like the victories and knowing you are not a man [Music] so i receive it [Music] [Music] if you receive the victory of the lord why don't you clap your hands in this place and shout unto god with a voice of trying thank you jesus thank you lord hallelujah high five your neighbor next to you come on high five your neighbor next to you [Music] say i receive it come on seriously high five the person next to you and say i receive it hallelujah man we've had a week this week so many things that have happened so many things that are going on i'm sure a lot of us have heard what went on in the nettle home pastor sister hoffman dealing with their parents and their house so many different things sicknesses among us issues i wanted to point out the fact that there's always something that happens there's always something that happens here on earth and in heaven i don't know if you remember but about two weeks ago we had about in this room i could look around and say we probably have about give or take 140 150 people but about two weeks ago we were outside on the land where we're going to be building pretty soon and there were 500 people on that line now if you do the math 150 for this service 150 for the other services 300 people there's 200 extra people that we may have never met before who may not be back but some have come back and some will come we baptized four people out on that lawn we baptized somebody earlier today prayer has been unbelievable people have been coming to this house people have been changed there's been people that have gotten the holy ghost at your life groups god is moving god is doing things amongst us but then there's also a scripture in the bible that says the servant is not greater than his master if they persecuted me they're gonna persecute you if hard times hit me hard times are gonna hit you we're not greater than our master so yeah we've been beat up quite a bit this week this next song is a declaration to another scripture that says literally if we don't lift our voice if we don't cry out to god bible says the rocks will cry out in our place i know it's a super cliche line that people have said but i'm just i'm gonna say it again i will not let a rock cry out in my place for the god that save me for the god that redeemed me for the god that is performing miracles right before our very eyes if that's your lord and savior i want you to lift your hands lift your voice begin to cry out to the savior for he is [Music] worthy jesus jesus [Music] will never come on sing it outside oh [Music] dancing where you prophesy of everything you've done [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] is the longer stronger the [Music] the pace the more i believe [Applause] oh me [Applause] is me [Music] so [Music] 34 seconds come on [Music] sure [Music] oh my god how great you are how great how great you lift your are everybody says [Music] [Music] is how great you are oh oh yeah oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] how [Music] my savior [Music] how great in spite of our situations then sings myself [Music] how crazy [Music] i want you to lift your voice and declare that city [Music] this is [Music] and just worship the lord give him the fruit of your lips right here lord jesus i love you god i choose you above all else i choose you above my lips take this whole world but give me jesus take this over but give me your lord your word [Music] [Applause] can we let a war cry go up right here clap your hands all your people lord jesus we love you lord we love you come on give the lord a shout in this house come on give him a shout in this place use your voice as a weapon shout mike you've got the victory already oh jesus yes lord [Music] i [Music] i [Music] one more time with your hands lifted come on we're gonna sing this as a church saying i need the [Music] we need oh bless [Music] me [Music] bearing our hearts [Music] we need you lord we need you [Music] oh jesus come on how many people in this place [Music] every oh in your hands you were there before [Music] i will [Music] lifted all across this place [Music] jesus [Music] and [Music] oh [Applause] god [Applause] [Music] is hey [Applause] is [Music] but we will trust in the name [Applause] [Music] you [Music] [Applause] [Music] happy [Music] please [Applause] [Applause] is [Music] is oh me [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] [Music] i believe [Music] [Music] [Music] 11. [Music] huh oh [Music] me jesus jesus name what a what a powerful move of god in this place [Music] uh i know personally for me i just in contact with so many people i know in the past couple weeks they're going to put some needs on the board behind me but in the past couple weeks there's been so many things that the body just needs from god both publicly and privately and in moments like this when the manifest spirit of god begins to move in this house i think we're obligated to grab a hold of it and to hold on as long as we possibly can until god's done we're not giving up so let me just say this for anybody in this house who has found themselves at the end of themselves let me just say that you are at a very powerful moment because there is no way you can pray and say it's by my own strength you're at a point where it's all on god now you're at a point where your faith is at its maximum and so now we're gonna tap in we're gonna pray bind together for the body as the body in the name of jesus and everything that that name represents i'm asking you god and move in this house manifest yourself with abundance authority clarity in the name of jesus god i'm asking you to touch every single need in this board every need in this house nothing that i could possibly understand but everything you can possibly do in the name of jesus but there's absolutely nothing like your power and god we're gonna do our best in the name of jesus holy holy holy if we can just go back into that song we're just going to continue to pray because there's clearly needs in this house right now and we clearly have a god willing to respond to it in the name of jesus i'm asking you god to touch brother foot right now whatever physical need he has come in like a flood undeniable manifestation of your power in his life let this day be a testimony let this day be a memorial in jesus name [Music] is [Music] impossible i believe [Music] jesus [Music] jesus [Applause] is [Music] [Music] my is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] i believe in you [Music] you are powerful [Music] you are powerful [Music] i [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] you stay the same [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] [Music] is all my trust is i believe in you you're the god of miracles i [Music] me [Music] we are nothing if we are not submitted and submitted and subjected to the will of god wherever you want to take us we'll go wherever you go we'll follow in the name of jesus and i want to thank everybody so much for coming it's already been a powerful move of the holy ghost and the best is yet to come so you can just make your way back to your seats and we'll try to get through the announcements as quickly as possible but as you go back let's put our hands together for all the guests in the house today thank you so much for coming [Music] in case you haven't figured it out by now here our first church prayer is our anchor it's what holds us and so if you want more of what just happened tomorrow night at 7 pm we have corporate prayer i invite you to come join us we also have something called growth track here at first church if you want to know what we're all about if you want to tap in and be used of god through this church and through this congregation we have growth track which happens on the third and fourth sundays of every month which means today right through those doors in the hospitality suite if you are interested in joining you can just go back right through those doors right after our connect time we also have life groups here at first church we believe in living life together and so this week and next week is the last two weeks for the semester but we're going to start up again in a month or so so if you can join in the last two weeks please do so uh just some just some service expectation for today after i'm done here we're going to return our ties and offering and then following that we're gonna have three minutes of connect time where you can just find a face that you haven't seen before and just tell them tell them that you love them and that you're happy that they're here with us uh and then after that pastor hoffman's gonna come up and speak an inspired word of god and following him we're gonna have something called altar call that's where we respond to the priesthood of god and so there's multiple ways to give you can uh you can return in person you can return online in the kiosk in the back so if you bow your head to me as i pray in the name of jesus i'm asking you god to bless every single dollar returned allowed to touch people we'll never know touch countries will never go to and impact situations we'll never be aware of in jesus name [Music] amen [Music] [Music] so [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign like i never did appreciate a preacher that got into a running gun battle with the sound people boy they can make you sound really stupid really quick there's only about a thousand buttons back here and any one of them can give you a bad day so uh why don't you stand with me peyton and mack we're glad you're here delighted that you're here this is uh this is ken to me and uh they drove all the way up here from mississippi and we've had it they've been with us for a couple days i love you proud of you and peyton just finished his now his degree program so he's going to be a teacher and greatest man that ever lived on the planet was a teacher and so i just sure wish they'd end up paying them a little bit more money police officers and teachers two of the lowest paid professions in our society but are there two more important levels of society than them so we wish you the very best please remember michigan is a very nice place to live and um amen early in the morning he came again into the temple all the people came unto him he sat down and taught them and the scribes and the pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery and when they had set her in the midst they say unto him master this woman was taken in adultery in the very act juicy stuff now moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned but you know what do you have to say about that this they said tempting him that they might have something to accuse him with jesus stoops down and with his finger wrote on the ground as as though he heard them not when they continued asking him he he stood up and he said he that is without sin among you let him first cast a stone at her he stoops down again starts writing on the ground when they heard it convicted by their own conscience i guess so went out one by one from the oldest to the youngest jesus was left alone with the woman apparently even this bible study class left because uh they probably had sin in their life too when jesus had lifted up himself and saw none but the woman he said woman where are your accusers is no one going to condemn you and she said no man lord and jesus said unto her well i'm not going to condemn you go thy way and sin no more so my subject for you to consider today will simply be entitled on the other side of excuses so if you have a good attitude you can sit down i've had some interesting things happen in our bible class through the year through the years years ago we had just moved into the building and i was teaching a series of bible studies called lostology basically it was about soul winning and my subject that night was they're lost but they're not stupid and i always had a a visual example i something i used through those classes so when i announced my text that night a guy walks in the back door with a sheet on i didn't know he was everybody else thought he was my visual example i was on a platform i was standing down there he whips the sheet off and he's naked as the day was born and he comes running up that center aisle saying jesus sent me here to bring the blood one of our good men reacted and hit him in the throat he's laying on the ground there going all the old ladies are violated we're throwing jackets on him like a spanish matador you know so they come and take him away everybody's kind of in shock i said i'm going to rename my bible study because he was lost and stupid i just can't imagine you're in the middle bible study and all of a sudden these guys drag in this woman that's hurriedly trying to button up her blouse we caught her right right in the act you know what the law says the law says we're supposed to stone her not exactly this is what the law says and the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife even he that committeth adultery with his neighbor's wife the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death last time i checked it's pretty hard to commit adultery by yourself being the kind and merciful fair men that they were they thought it far more important to drag this unfortunate woman in front of him and to leave the man off the hook truth is they weren't concerned with the woman they're trying to catch him they're trying to get him to say something anything that they could possibly bring charges against him i was teaching in a conference somewhere between the north pole and the south pole and i made a statement that i knew was controversial but considering my crowd they should have understood exactly what i was saying when i got done i went to walk off the platform and there were two elders standing there ready to fillet me remember that vegematic thing when you were a kid slices and dices 17 different ways that's what was fixing to happen to me and anthony mangan got between me and those elders and just looked out into nowhere and said and there were men there to catch him in his words and he walked away and they disappeared they're doing their best to catch him he's riding in the dirt just ignores them boy i don't suppose anything bugs people more than when you just ignore them they keep on jabbering he said okay whoever there is here that doesn't have any sin in your life you start throwing kneels down and writes again i always wondered what he wrote in the dirt i always wondered if he didn't write last saturday 9pm at the no-tell motel while your wife was out of town and guys all i know is interestingly enough starting at the oldest who obviously had been doing the most sending to the youngest who were still rather new and fresh at it they all disappear convicted by their own conscience he looks up and he says okay where'd everybody go and she said there's nobody left and he said well i'm not going to accuse you go and sin no more how let me give you a little bible lesson about the bible there's an old testament and there's a new testament the old testament primarily is dealing with what's known as the law of moses ten commandments now it's a little bit more complicated than that scholars agree and i'm sure not a scholar but i do read what they write scholars agree there are 613 laws in the old testament if you've ever been around orthodox jews they have this blue and white prayer shawl it's called its thesis it's got these tassels on each corner it's not just random deck decoration and ornamentation these tassels are made from 613 threads one for every law in the old testament what was the purpose of the law this is what it says in galatians 3 and verse 24. the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to jesus now back then they didn't have school houses like we do today they had a man known as a school master he would go into a part of town he would get all the kids together and basically say we're going to have school down by the river today we're going to have it you know over by this garden or we're going to do it by this building his job was to get everybody to the place where the lesson was going to be taught that's the purpose of the law to bring us to jesus because the law you know yeah i've heard people talk about the will of god the will of god the will of god i i've heard that phrase all my life and it's like voodoo you know some deep dark mystical secret the will of god it's really pretty simple the will of god is you need to be in the church last will and testament you've got an old testament you have a new testament what was the last thing that jesus said i'm going to build a church and the gates of hell won't prevail against it so matthew mark luke and john is jesus telling us his will the book of acts see matthew mark luke and john said i'm going to have a church the book of acts is how you get in that church you got to be born into it everything after the book of acts will teach you how to stay in the church because you can get out of church not just out of the building i'm talking out you know there's this theory once you're saved you're always saved i wish it was true it's not true all you have to do is read the first story in the bible they're in the garden they get booted out that doesn't sound like unconditional eternal security to me sounds to me like conditionals just you do what i say and i'll let you stay jesus said he that endures to the end the same shall be saved a lot of people start it's kind of like the military years ago they had the draft you get called just because you get drafted domain you're in the military you have to pass the physical you have to be chosen and then just because you're in the military doesn't mean you you get an honorable discharge there's general discharges there's dishonorable discharges that's why the bible said when he's coming back those that are with him are called chosen faithful you gotta finish strong you just can't start this thing this bible said you put your hand to the plow and look back you're not fit for the kingdom it shows us his mercy because a lot of us have turned around but he could very easily say i don't want you and and what i want you to understand is when you when you deal with 613 rules there's a word called minutia fine detail he told these people exactly what he wanted i mean down to what to eat and even though they knew exactly what he wanted they had a hard time doing it because that's the purpose of the law the law requires righteousness but it can't produce it if you study romans chapter 8 for what the law could not do in that it was weak in the flesh some of it is animal those sacrifices didn't wash nothing away it's just like a bulldozer just pushed it ahead for another year that's why when you deal with ephesians in corinthians and it talks about what he did on the cross do you realize he he's got all this they let a guy down through the roof one time these semi-comatose it says he saw their faith this guy can't even have faith he's not even with it but jesus let their faith dictate the healing that day and this is what he said thy sins be forgiven thee ladies and gentlemen i've taught you for years there's only one legal liquid that can deal with sin and that's blood we don't have no calvary yet jesus just added to his own cup remember that cup he drank and that's what says if this possible let this cup pass from me what it's meaning is he's got a i read something one time it's it's like taking a 13 year old girl and and and selling her as a prostitute take something pure and innocent and just bury it and immerse it in the filthiest environment you can think of here's jesus who never did anything wrong he that knew no sin was made sin for us he never killed anybody but he he became a murderer he never molested anybody but he he became the molester those handwriting of ordinances that were guessing nailed it to his cross triumphing over it you want to they know who killed jimmy hoffa the big detroit mystery hasn't anybody ever been prosecuted there's nobody they can't find jimmy hoffa if they could have found them i mean they've dug up swimming pools in clinton township they they they tore a house apart a couple years ago in in bloomfield hoping to find some blood in the floorboards that they did they did the dna guess what wrong dna and so on and on it goes they can't find a body listen to this scripture in a book of colossians our life is hid with god in jesus i i remember i was a kid and my dad gave me this dog beagle dog and and it was little it wasn't full grown but but hunting season came and my i still remember my dad kicked over this this bucket this old tar bucket and it had it was all rusted and the rabbit was living in a bucket and and he kicked that bucket and the rabbit took off well the dog was so little i had him in a pack in the back he said take him out let's see what he can do and i put this little dog on the ground that tail starts going just takes off no no no no dog school no training just instinctive and my dad said okay here's what's going to happen rabbit's going to run in a circle you get up you go down here by the edge of this field i'll get up on the top of this hill he said one of us is going to get see this rabbit okay so i can hear this dog getting further and further away [Music] stops all of a sudden about five minutes later or he said he jumped him he's coming back he said now get ready rabbit's gonna be way ahead of the dog i'm just a little kid man i'm bored out of my mind and i'm i'm by a freshly plowed cornfield dogs in the next county all of a sudden i see a disembodied set of ears go it was so it was down in the rose but it's and the gun's bigger than me and i just wait wait man grab the rabbit put it in the bag it was so cute now the dog finally comes on the edge of the field and he runs past where the rabbit died or or and he goes and he looked at me and he made a half moon and he went back and he picked up the trail again and he goes past where i shot the rabbit and she just stopped and he looks at me and my dad said what you do with the rabbit i said it's in a bag he said show the dog the rabbit so i pulled the rabbit out throw it on the ground dogs like you know napoleon that's my mental model of what happened when you got baptized david talks about the hounds of beishan that i think this is what happened i think it's like satan is chasing you or or or oh oh so where'd he go your life is hid with christ [Applause] see saints got a problem there's no body jesus died paid the penalty for sin and then resurrected but he paid the penalty for our sin so that's why we're a new creation in christ jesus it's like jesus gets alzheimer's i've read all these books all my life how to remember stuff i've never read a book on how to forget but jesus you get this there's three words in the english vocabulary that wouldn't be there if there wasn't god omnipotent omnipresent omniscience or omniscience omni means all so he has all power he spans all three times space relations past present future at the same time and he knows everything no he don't he forgot my past i i remember my past but he doesn't he views me remember that song he sees me through the blood claims me as i am that blood was on the mercy seat the law is in the box but god is viewing the law through the filter of the blood and when he looks at you and me i tell you what he sees redeemed redeemed [Applause] and satan's going how can i prosecute i got no i got no stiff i got no body i'm a new creation i'm not who i used to be it's just it's just powerful powerful truth listen this is john 7 37 38 39 in the last day the great day of the feast jesus stood and cried saying if any man thirst let him come unto me and drink for he that believeth on me as the scripture has said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water but this spake of the spirit which they that believe on him should receive watch for the holy ghost was not yet given because jesus was not yet glorified now if you know your bible matthew mark luke and john all end with the same story he dies he resurrects he leaves you gotta you gotta wait i don't know 60 years to get the end of this story because john is on patmos which is the alcatraz of his day and he hears this voice it says i'm alpha omega beginning end first last he said i turned to see who was talking to me and this is what he said he was like the son of man now jesus wears two hats he's the god man okay he can walk by water he can walk on top of water he's not just a man okay he gets hungry just like any man but he make bread and fish multiply he he's the god man that's why in the bible he's son of man and son of god that's that's the answer to blasphemy jesus said say a word against the son of man and it'll be forgiven you but say a word against the son of god and it won't be forgiven you he's talking about himself and what he's saying is to many of you right now i'm just this guy from nazareth but when i go in that ground and i come back alive and you still think i'm just a guy from nazareth shame on you because i'm more than a man i'm god in flesh you got that i mean he's teaching one day and they said your wife or your mother your wife your mother and your brothers and sisters are with they're outside and he said who is my mother and my brother but whoever hears the word of the lord and does it which means it's matthew 13 matthew will find it's like 54 and 55 are not these his sisters plural are not these his brothers james joseph simon and judas people have taught the blessed holy family mary jo and jesus wrong it's not three it's at least nine you've got mary and joe two jesus is three sisters plural at least two five james joseph simon and judas nine and he could have more than two sisters so the blessed holy family member is nine don't forget that but here's the deal james didn't follow him during his earthly ministry but the first fight in the new testament church is in acts 15. james stood and answered brethren simeon peter simon has declared how god at the first did visit the who's the there's at least four james in the bible all the scholars agree this is the half-brother of jesus he's the bishop of the church in jerusalem you know what that means that means after jesus resurrected he slid up beside he said mom always said you is different and i never did believe it till now rabona my lord my god you're not just my brother you're something amazing so he's in the church and and it's just i've touched you for years about the the feast leviticus 23 passover unleavened bread first fruits pentecost trumpets atonement tabernacle this is this is feast number seven this is september okay that now there's lots of synagogues but there's only one temple it's kind of like the mormon faith the biggest deal in the mormon faith is you get to go into temple it's right out of the old testament the biggest deal back then three times every year all the men had to come to the temple it's september it's a seven to ten day feast they're done priest goes gets a silver pitcher goes to the pool of siloam dips this pitcher out comes out to the outer court pours it on the ground significant of we're pouring ourselves we're emptying ourselves out before you and then they're going home now one verse said he will not cry nor strive but he breaks precedent because they're coming out of the temple they're coming out last mass of the year last church service of the year this is going to last them seven months they're not coming back till april all right and he says are you still thirsty huh did that did how did that how that got that go for you in there huh that dude did all that stuff pour that water on the ground did it scratch where you itch are you still thirsty well let me tell you the difference what you did there that's empty you what i do i feel you he that comes unto me and drinks out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water but this spake of the spirit which they that believe on him should receive for the holy ghost was not given because jesus wasn't glorified yet he said we don't hear about the glorified christ till revelation 1 when john said his hair was white like woo his eyes were were like just like lanterns his his tongue was like a two-edged sword it was like he was wrapped in gold his feet was like melting brass he's he says his voice like that's the glorified christ that's the little snapshot that he saw in matthew 17 when he took peter james and john up and transfiguration they call it it lasted for about three seconds and they're falling and underground but g but john this is years later he's almost 100 years old but he knows it's jesus it was like the son of man but man is this whoa this is jesus on steroids it's the glorified christ so it is it's fascinating to me here's my question how in the world could jesus ever ask a woman to live above sin without the holy ghost where are thy accusers they're gone i'm not gonna accuse you go and sin no more wait a minute you haven't died yet excuse number one you haven't been buried yet excuse number two you haven't been resurrected yet excuse number three you haven't been glorified yet excuse number four holy ghost ain't been poured out yet max two excuse number five listen again with revelation the law is our school master to bring us to jesus isn't that who she's in front of at that moment what he's saying is you get me coupled with that discipline and you can live above sin listen this first this is romans chapter 1 and verse 20 for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and godhead so that they are without excuse because that when they knew god they glorified him not as god became vain in their imaginations and worshiped and served the creature more than the creator who's blessed forever turning him to an image we had a lady come here years ago got the holy ghost wanted to talk to me she said she said i'm the regional or leader for peta do you know what pete is pastor i knew people for the ethical treatment of animals so we go into my office deer hanging over there i got a wild pig in the bathroom i got stuffed ducks missionaries gave me a snakeskin from a big snake i got horns and antlers laying everywhere she's like going like she got tourette's or something she she said you you you you understand what peta is i said oh yes ma'am we have a chapter of that that meets here regularly you do yes it means people who eat tasty animals i mean what do you think these teeth are for salad animals with eyes on the front of their head are prey animals with eyes on the side of their head are predators my eyes are on the side of my head my job is to kill stuff and eat it i am a predator i said jesus ate bread and fish he ate lamb chops oh no the tender compassionate lord would never kill a fish she said that's a greek word which means fish weed that grows in the galilee sea i said lady i went to seminary the words ichthus it means fish he ain't lamb chops you got that grease running off his chin what is that i'll tell you what it is we'll hug trees and save whales we've aborted enough kids in canada we have aboard enough kids in america to populate canada that's worshiping serving the creature more than the creator that's how messed up this is [Applause] i mean are you kidding have a cemetery for your dog but but have nothing for your redeemer i can go on and on that's why the bible said he restores my soul i i had an article i i see it's somewhere back in those files these kids broke into a hardware store in new mexico they didn't steal anything they just changed the price tags and a guy bought a 2500 outboard motor for 25 bucks and pencils were like five dollars a piece and before they cut it caught it they they had to sell the motor my friend jeff woodward was in the first service he called me a couple years ago boss you got to come to gainer mountain right now they missed mark the coach he said there's columbia quad coats on sale for 32 supposed to be 32.4 324 bucks they mismarked it jeff bought them all he did sold him what are you going to do they knew when he brought him up to the counter miss mark that's what the price tag is sell them my point is these guys didn't steal anything they just changed the price tags that's what's going on in our culture abortion ah that's nothing you know but staying married you get we have turned cheap things into expensive things we have taken valuable things and we've devalued them to where they're worthless in our society virginity means nothing anymore nothing we're asking we're expecting our kids to be angels by this world standards and many of them are and i salute you today i i i got fascinated with submarines i i i was on my way to australia 2000 when the olympics weren't where in sydney and the headlines of and i kept the newspapers for a long time until i cleaned out my office a couple of months ago but the kursk was a an oscar-class submarine it's over 600 feet long it's two football fields this thing is massive and it it it blew up and it sunk in a up by norway and they tried to blame it on everybody but it was obvious they they did it so i got started getting fascinated with submarines and so i i found the united states lost has lost two submarines the thresher and the scorpion soviet have lost at least eight probably more but at least eight and so for a while i was fascinated with the titanic and if you've ever read about the titanic it was rediscovered by a guy named robert ballard ballard was a a i used to be submarine commander who worked for something called the woods hole oceanographic society in virginia well when when i heard them when they first interviewed him and he said i was on a secret mission my mission ended early so i had 10 days left and i used those 10 days to find the titanic i always wondered what was his secret mission and it's come out since then what it was because the the the the thresher went down first in the 60s and then 65 i think and then the scorpion went down to 67 and and they're nuclear submarines so we've got a nuclear engine on the bottom of the ocean so ballard's job was to go check on the thresher and a scorpion and make sure that nuclear stuff wasn't contaminating the ocean and so it fascinated me with how did how did you how did you know where they were so i found out about this thing called k128 which was a soviet submarine that sank off of hawaii when richard nixon was president in the 70s and the soviets looked for days and days and days and they couldn't find it but we found it in three days and you know they picked it up we stole a soviet submarine from 3 000 feet how many tons is that way i don't know but it's a massive engineering feat and i'm wondering how did you find that thing it just got declassified very very recently it was called sosus sound surveillance systems when the cuban missile crisis happened in the 60s and we came very close to a nuclear confrontation with russia in the 60s the united states in the 60s spent billions of dollars putting microphones in the ocean they literally had the pacific and the atlantic wired for sound and they literally could hear every ship and every submarine in the ocean and they had these it's called a vector you know vectors when you do it from three points so they they they they vectored that submarine in hawaii they knew exactly where it was they'd go down and howard hughes you know the cia contracted with howard hughes because there's no board of directors for used tool and use aircraft how are you zones at all so all you got to do is deal with howard and he you know so how was the patriot they built this ship called the glomar explorer pulled it but the whole bottom of it's empty they pull it right up in front of the russians right where the russians are watching them reach down and grabbed a submarine pulled up and stuck it in the bottom of the boat it was it's the greatest thing ever happened and they say well a lot of it fell away we don't know if it fell away or not but they grabbed a submarine over a mile down there amazing so i'm listening to these guys from houston texas this engineering company who built this ship and he said well you know we've had a lot of great engineering feats through the years he said we were the ones that proved pangaea was a fact and when he said that and then my ears went up because we got i got bible study coming up in a couple weeks i don't know if i'm gonna do prophecy or or or creation you know i i got a lot of things i'm touring with right now but but this creation thing's always fascinated me because they proved exxon oil proved that south america used to be tucked into africa it has the same mineral components literally in the beginning it was one surface it was one continent but when you read the book of genesis it says and then were the nations broken up and it's just you know i have when when you read about the the noah's flood it doesn't just say it rained it says the fountains of the great deep broke up in the second world war they mapped they mapped the bottom of the ocean and all of a sudden they found out they're right in the middle between america and africa there's a mountain range down there they have things called vents they're still down they're going it's fascinating stuff they proved that all of the nations of the congress were together one at one time but something happened to break them up what broke them up the flood when neil armstrong goes to the moon we got to get us a moon rock we got to get us a moon rock and they got several but what's so fascinating is the very first moon rock that neil armstrong picked up when they brought it back they said there's something very wrong here boys this ain't from the moon this is from here they said what this came from the earth how in the world did something from the earth get on the moon i'll tell you exactly how it happened you ever shot a shotgun boom that's what happened in noah's flood the fountains of the deep broke up boom it split continents apart it shot rocks all the way to the moon what are you saying i am saying the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen if you when when i cut my hand years ago in in in georgia i i had this this surgeon and and when he found out i was a pastor he said he said i used to be an atheist but he said when i started studying hands i realized there's just no way that just happened and he said now all my family were devout christians i read the evolution you want to talk about faith them evolution people got faith it takes more faith to believe evolution in creation i read something in a book one time and it said it would be it would it would be easier to believe that that that you threw a bomb into a printing company and out popped webster's unabridged dictionary than to believe that we are just the the results of random chance what do you say i'm saying if you never went to church if you never had a bible you ought to just be able to look at this world and go whoa there's a god somewhere i mean michigan for goodness sakes if you can't believe in god in michigan i told peyton yesterday i said come back come back in in october i'm to forget about picasso and michelangelo and all them guys i'm telling you come october the greatest artist in the history of the universe is going to walk through the woods and go painting that one yellow painting that one red go and get some fuchsia over there it's it's a display of his majesty it's saying if you the invisible things of god are displayed by by creating even his eternal power and godhead so that you're without excuse listen listen to this verse this is romans 2 for when the gentiles which have not the law do by nature the things contained in the law these having not the law or a law unto themselves which show the work of the law written in their hearts their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts to mean while accusing or else excusing one another in the day when god shall judge the secrets of men by jesus christ according to my gospel let me translate that for you it's the ten commandments and not ten suggestions study any culture any civilization you want to let me tell you what they all agree on everybody anywhere knows you don't mess with somebody else's wife everybody i don't care what culture you you you honor mom and dad they all know don't steal stuff that don't belong to you and don't kill nobody those those those those commandments are they're hardwired into our spirit they are non-optional laws of civilization and what it's saying is these genders read romans chapter 3 it says what advantage half the jew chiefly in every way because unto them were committed the oracles of god what's that mean who had the ark of the covenant who's got the oldest language in the world who did god manifest visibly manifested his presence to i can go on and on and on them jews have an advantage but it says when the gentiles which have not the law do by nature the stuff that's in the law oh now we got a problem because when judgment day comes jesus christ is going to say listen these people did what i asked them to do and didn't have nearly the benefits that you had and you couldn't live by it i've heard all my life grace grace grace people have turned grace into disgrace it's like a license to sin the grace of god covered you ever hear people pray thank you for your mercy and your grace and we think mercy and grace are synonymous they're not listen to this verse in titus and the grace of god which bringeth salvation has appeared unto all men teaching us to deny ungodliness and to live soberly and righteously in this present evil world so we i i went to seminary bible school whatever you want to call it uh grace starts at the cross and and paul talked about the dispensation of grace whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa i got a verse there to just throw that thing into catastrophe it says then noah found grace in the eyes of the lord long time before there was a calvary my father-in-law gave me this example and i've used it for years and will continue to use it here here read genesis 37 story about joseph okay chapter 39 joe gets sold by his brothers goes down to egypt he's a slave and this guy named potiphar's house potiphar's a big deal joe b and joe because it says the whole house of potiphar is blessed because of joseph i told the mayor of warren i spoke in front of the mayor a little while ago for a church called lamb life application managed bishop cast wonderful people i said mr mayor if you understood the value of this church you'd pay off their mortgage boy his eye's going to be if sodom and gomorrah had a home missions church they'd still be alive they'd still be on the planet all them had been dead but the cities would have still been there we underestimate the value of a church mike nedo's somewhere in this room right now i just liked i don't know where you are michael but but i'm dealing with with what i'm dealing with and they get out with the clothes on their back i keep telling people what do people do in these situations without the lord and without the body of christ i wouldn't want to go through what i'm going through and mike came sure it came to pass that's it's go we're gonna it's gonna it's gonna pass okay it was so beautiful man one one i think was dominic's little pal came across the street friday night when that thing's gone he said it's okay young live with us and i went to his dad i said your kids your heart's in the right place buddy in the right place because not only are they going to see that but but i think what what do people do in these circumstances when you don't have the holy ghost and you don't have the body of christ i wouldn't want to go it's like forget heaven it's like man look at the advantage of having the lord in my life and my brothers and sisters around me and you think i'm not going to be a part of the church your day's coming okay look look look look at esther read read read about esther it says in order for her to be the queen she's got to go through six months of sweet smelling spices and six months of bitter herbs you got to go through both of them i'm telling you some of you are are in a sweet smell and spices right now but you better hang on bubbaloo because the bitter herbs is coming and if i'm preaching to somebody right now you're in the bitter herbs then just hang on because the sweet smell and spices is fixing to show up you can't be the bride of christ without having both in your life you you read read the bible it talks about and it's in the book of leviticus chapter 25 it said and you will take the bowels of the willows and it says they are all boughs of goodly trees not the oak no no no not the maple not the but but a willow tree is known for and it's a great picture of sorrow and heaviness but the bible calls all of that it calls the willow a goodly tree why because when i'm weak i've never felt weaker in my life than i do today but he's strong so whatever goes on here today will have nothing to do with harold it'll be with him watch watch when mike and bridget and dominic and and and jordan even addie lost her precious guitar that she sacrificed who knows how long to buy that thing but but but it's all going to come back and you're going to be like job addie you're going to have a better guitar than you lost you're going to have a better house than you lived in your boys are going to remember this for the rest of their lives i saw the goodness of god on display in my family i saw my mom and dad have faith and refuse to implode and capitulate what an opportunity ladies and gentlemen if you aren't part of the church get in the church there's an advantage to the church [Applause] i i i i'm really not to my message yet i want you to understand something this lady could have had all the go and sin no more wait a minute we're on the other side of the cross here i gotta i i i the holy ghost say you got me right here with you right now and what he was showing her is you got me and the disciplines anything's possible gentiles got no law but i know churches that don't believe in the holy ghost but they tithe no holy ghost they just read that bible and say okay if it's in there i'm going to do it. the bible said god is the spirit they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth oh think that's truth no spirit still disciplined in their lives what i'm saying is if he's asking this woman to be sinless before the holy ghost is ever poured out then how in the world can you and i live right now with the holy ghost i've heard that word perfection you know it's like what was it lexus the relentless pursuit of perfection you're never going to attain it you're just always chasing it that's not what jesus said jesus said you be perfect because i'm perfect i'm gonna mess with your theology right now but i'm telling you it's possible to live a perfect life i'll prove it to you if anyone forbid not in or if anybody if for anyone offend not in word or deed the same is a perfect man and a perfect woman can you lay your head down tonight on your pillow and say i did not say one thing negative today and i didn't hurt anybody with my actions or my words then just put a check beside of whatever day this is july it was a perfect day you're a perfect man you're a perfect woman i'm 30 pounds overweight but i still intend to be perfect when i lay my head down to bed at night why are you saying that i'm saying because if that woman could live a sinless life without the holy ghost i can live a sinless life with the holy ghost will you please get rid of this limpers this this you ever seen in a football game guys got the football bus all of a sudden one of these guys break out start chasing him and 10 yards before he gets into the end zone the other guy goes it's called the loser's limp i either caught you but my hamstring or the meniscus that's what it's a meniscus you know and it's just don't you be like in your walk with god that you have to sin that you have to offend that you have to have a bad attitude that you have to be rotten towards your brother and sister i i i ah jesus the the the bible said i have come to bring you life and life more abundantly more abundantly you know what the bible the bible said if you're filled with the holy spirit you can pray in the will of god i can talk to you the word says where where where's it at it's it says if i don't i don't know if it's walk or it's here it is it's galatians 5. if you live in the spirit you can walk in it do you know the bible said you shall receive power after the holy ghost has come upon you and you're going to be witnesses all over this world do you know the bible said greater things than these shall you do because i go to my father oh be careful brother i'm telling you i've i'm doing something right now greater than jesus ever did you know why jesus never preached in michigan but i'm preaching in michigan right now today i'm telling you the holy ghost opens doors and avenues for us that were even off limits to jesus himself oh my goodness do you know it says the love of god is shed abroad in your holy ghost sure love a god shed and brought in your heart by the holy ghost now i know i got some divorced people here but listen if you're in this room right now you're considering divorce take it off that take it off to take off the table all right you said you made a vero for better or for worse you had no idea worse was going to get this worse but here we are what's your answer holy ghost i can't love him holy ghost who allow you to love him i can't love her get renewed in the holy ghost sir and there'll be a love not the love for god but the love of god will flow through you to that spouse oh jesus i got to speak friday and i'm asking well there's this vote coming up friday about a metro district i don't know if it's going to pass or not i personally think it will but my wonderful brethren have asked me to be the cleanup matter so i get to be the last speaker before the vote gets taken thanks a lot fellas but i read something about the difference between a lake model and a river model see i think the problem with the church is we are adopting corporate tactics in the corporate world how many how many how many patrons can you get you know in the church world we we we were in a meeting last sunday and people were saying they just had a thousand people at first church and people were just clapping and going i said wait a minute it's a lot of hot dogs and fireworks okay but people thought that was so amazing listen to me it's like a lake the more people we can get in the lake that's success whoever's got the most people in church that's success whoever raises the most i know how to be promoted into upc just get money problem with it is come january 1 they're wanting what you gave last year plus a little bit more and i'm not knocking that i know you got to have money without a vision of people perishes and without money the vicious perish listen to me folks if those gauges were put up against the ministry of jesus then jesus was a failure who had the biggest crowds who had the most money everybody left jesus when he died even his disciples left him he's broke hanging on a cross he's got no money he's got no crowds that's the problem with the lake approach to church but then there's the river approach to church see i preached about the ark of noah all my life but it's only been recently that i realized something there's something noah's ark didn't have it didn't have steering wheel to never rudder didn't have a sail that ark went wherever the current took it did you ever read that thing was it in ezekiel or daniel with the river you weighed out to the ankles where's that at zego47 i think your weight a little further it's to your knees but you're still touching bottom you're still in control gets up to your waist a little deeper you're still touching bottom you're still in control but then it gets to where you can't touch bottom what's that mean it means you're going to go wherever that current takes you that's what we're after this is what we're after in this church we're not after the lake model we're going to build a new building so we can get more people in it but we can raise it this is not a corporation this is the river model what's the river model take people from point a to point b we've got to get them somewhere the purpose of the church is to keep people who are not involved in ministry in some form of ministry to where all of a sudden it's your church my church the first church to where we're involved in the kingdom that you're not just sitting on these green benches or whatever the color of those chairs are going to be and putting a couple bucks in the plate or a tithing check and say i've done my job no no no no if you want that you go somewhere else in church this is what we're after you have a ministry what is it let's find it and let's plug you in so that you don't lose your sense of the church has no value it has no re 60 percent of america doesn't believe the church is relevant this is not christian america anymore our only hope is to get people plugged in to where they're ministering to other people it's not how many what's our record attendance who cares how many people do we have involved in ministry how much money do you off for goodness sake but it's just you can't believe the outpouring of love with mike and bridget the stuff that's happened with renee and i on and on i can go i can tell you story after story that's what we're after people that just say there's a need wham i can help and start plugging in so stand with me so what's your excuse what's your excuse pastor you don't understand my childhood and i don't and i'm not saying it wasn't rotten but for goodness sakes a new creation in christ jesus i get to well you know pastor i've always been that way you were that way before the holy ghost now the holy ghost is in you you're supposed to be a new creature please don't get the losers limp this close to the end zone this close to the coming of the lord and figure out some reason why you can't serve the lord if he expected that woman to live that way without the holy ghost then i'm convinced you and i can live this way with the holy ghost on the other side of the cross with come with me around the altar with all the bible said who who daily daily loads of me with benefits i think of david david his own father-in-law tried to kill him twice his father-in-law gave his wife away to somebody else he lost his very best friend jonathan he he ends up in ziklag commits has his sin his sin published across the nation the child of that sin dies [Music] i can give you one rotten thing that happened to david after another but this is what david said before he died and i will exalt the name of the lord who only does wonderful things that lady could have said i'd like to live sinless but you don't understand you haven't died yet and you've got to die and you've got to leave and you've got to be glorified and there's got to be holy ghost in no he said i'm with you here right now and that's the secret he's with us right now raise your hands let me pray over you pray with me if you can lord jesus i am so blessed to be alive right now i am so grateful to to be in church right now oh jesus you know how tired i was when i came here today i was absolutely exhausted i've never felt more alive and more energized in my life than i do right now and it's because of anointing and it's because of your presence and it's because these wonderful people that are ministering to me lord dear jesus the value of the holy ghost in my life and the value of my brothers and sisters has just taken on a brand new appraisal on my spirit and i am so grateful lord just to be a part of your kingdom i ask you lord right now that if i'm preaching to anybody that for whatever reason the enemy has magnified an excuse and it's given them a a closed case that they can't possibly serve you because of whatever lord jesus i'm convinced that you are here right now today to overwhelm that excuse and to minimize it and to make you i know mountains are big but you said cast the mountain into the sea there's something bigger than my mountain there's something bigger than my problem there's something able to absorb my obstacle and i'm asking you lord today right now around this order if there's a home under attack then i pray lord a foundation of your word underneath of them a hedge of prayer protection around them a canopy of submission over them oh jesus oh god i pray for that marriage i pray for that family if i get a young man dealing with lust you said flee youthfulness i was a young man i know all about that i know the guilt the horror the horrendous of that i'm asking you god right now to let these young men be delivered if i'm dealing with a young woman right now considering dating the wrong boy getting involved with the wrong crowd having a wrong relationship i'm asking you god right now to help us to be able to inspire them and give the courage to make the tough choice the right choice dear jesus what am i in the word am i going to stand in front of your throne and just spout out one excuse after another it's not going to fly on judgment day it's not going to work in your presence it won't work then it won't work now i'm asking you lord to help us to make a consecration and a commitment to serve you today with integrity and with faithfulness [Music] [Applause] me [Music] here right in the name now jesus [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] i will praise you i will praise you [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] every hand lifted every eye closed in this house lord jesus i'm asking you to move in this house lord as freely as you have jesus there's some people in this room under the sound of my voice [Music] you have never experienced the gift of the holy spirit and you know who you are you've never spoken to tongues before never spoken the language that only god can understand as a sign of being filled with you with the holy spirit if you're in this room i believe that god can fill you with the spirit right now here today the word of the lord has been preached by a pastor he's preached the gospel if anybody wants to be baptized in the name of jesus that can happen here today don't let a day go by don't let another moment pass you by if i and i'm gonna go ahead and make a decree right now if you need to be filled with the holy spirit i want you to come up here to the front don't be afraid i promise you don't be afraid if you've never spoken in tongues before if you've never been filled with the baptism of the spirit now is your moment now it's your hope now is your time the church can lay hands on your prayer i believe god can do this right now you know who you are come on let the lord come on in jesus name in jesus name anybody that has not been baptized in the name of jesus if you've not been baptized [Music] that can happen right here right now don't be afraid don't be afraid in jesus name [Music] jesus [Music] church let's pray right here right now let's pray right now i know that's a big weight i know that could be scary to some people [Music] but trust me you're in a safe place this is a safe environment nobody's going to judge you nobody's going to look at you any different we've all been baptized and filled with the spirit at some point in our life let's pray right now father the name of jesus i'm praying right now god that should move on people's hearts oh god to let them know that today is a day this is a day that you have made god and we will rejoice and be glad but not only will we rejoice god we will be submitted to your word we will be submitted to the words that have been preached to us here today and god we are making a covenant with you today lord that we are gonna follow after you not just with our words but with our actions high not just with our mouth o lord but with everything oh god jesus name that jesus stayed behind oh in jesus name in jesus name in jesus name hallelujah [Music] in jesus name can we give the lord a handcuff of praise in this house hallelujah thank you lord we thank you lord hallelujah thank you jesus i want to extend that invitation if you've never been filled with the holy ghost if you've never been baptized in jesus name today's the day if you don't feel comfortable doing it now that's okay we have prayer tomorrow tomorrow night at 7 pm and if you would like to be baptized we would love to baptize you if you'd like to be prayed for to get the holy ghost or prayed with for any for any other reason we would love to pray with you i'd love to be a part of the story and you join this story and this team and this family it's a great family it's a great church this is a great group of people with great leadership let's pray lord we thank you for the stamp thank you for your presence that we've felt in this place god we thank you for the word that has gone forth we thank you for the worship that has been in this room thank you for the precious presence that we have felt the life-changing presence the manifested presence of jesus in this room i pray god that we don't take this time for granted i pray that we can think on these things whenever we we get down this week or if the enemy comes in like a flood the spirit of the lord will raise up a standard against them i pray that we can recall these moments of worship and prayer pray that you go with us go all around us cause your face to shine upon us oh god help us to be better at work and at school or wherever we may go god offer your glory all for your kingdom in the name of jesus we pray these things everybody said in jesus name come on can we shout it real loud in jesus name now can we clap our hands and just give the lord one more shout out friends hallelujah we thank you lord thank you jesus we love you lord we worship you oh god hallelujah you may be dismissed in jesus name hope to see you all back here tomorrow night 7 p.m for a monday night in prayer god bless you

Channel: First Church Sterling Heights

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Length: 123min 53sec (7433 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 18 2021