Harold Hoffman - The Next Great Harvest | Church ONLINE

[Music] good morning first church it is an incredible sunday this is all nation sunday and i am excited for it here at first church we have our vision statement that simply states we believe in an inclusive diverse community that will love the lord will learn the word and live the life we believe in an inclusive community a multi-generational multicultural church and we believe that is the first church that you read about in the new testament and so we want to start out with prayer as we do anything here and i am excited to share this moment with my dad and he's going to pray over us in portuguese and as soon as he is over praying i want you to begin to worship and pastor dralen will lead us an incredible time of just song and worship so let's just have an awesome morning and just engage in worship and just enjoy the diversity that is in this room [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] praise god praise god is anybody ready to worship in this house this morning come on [Music] [Music] come on is here we go here we go oh jesus is [Music] you want to patience come on [Music] i oh your name jesus [Music] together is [Music] come on can we high five somebody air five somebody and say hey i'm glad to be in the house today come on put your hands together like this here we go everyone needs compassion everyone needs forgiveness [Music] my god is [Music] how many people believe that jesus [Music] my is is [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] anybody hallelujah zephaniah 3 17 says the lord thy god is in your midst that he's mighty to save mighty to deliver he will quiet over you with his voice and he'll rejoice over us with singing and i just wonder if anybody in this place is just so grateful and so thankful that that that our god came down in flesh and died a gruesome death for me and you to be saved so that that moment we can go out of these doors and witness to every single nation every single tongue every single person and we're going to shine that light as bright as we possibly can so i wonder if you can help us sing us on this next part simply say sign your shine your light and let the world see it because we're shining for jesus come on hit me right here [Music] come on jesus [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] just your voices no music everybody [Music] everybody we're singing now right now just lift up your voice [Music] [Music] hallelujah [Music] he can move [Music] [Applause] [Music] lord we honor you today most times oh my goodness [Music] you know there's not a force in existence that god's worried about i was praying over there and i'm just like lord it seems like the evil and the sinful the nature of man is rising up and i just felt the lord just kind of whispered to me don't worry i've already defeated that it's already been defeated there's nothing that's going to rise up that will intimidate him so that's why we go before god in prayer in sterling heights michigan right now prayer is our anchor it's what keeps us rooted and grounded in the one who never changes the one who's never intimidated and never rattled that's why we pray to him and we believe in it so strongly that we take a section out of each service and we will go before god in prayer and that's what we're going to do right now for every miracle opportunity on the screen behind me god we go before you in prayer lord there's such a peace that i have knowing that you're on the throne you've never vacated it lord and you do not intend on ever leaving it you are all powerful god it's all yours so lord who do i have to be afraid of what situation god could could cause me fear or anxiety god when you are god of all so lord i'm asking you lord to intervene i'm asking you god to move lord on the needs behind me lord but also in the needs represented in this group of people that is in front of me god you're a god that answers prayer you're a god that heals and restores you're a god that repairs lord it's your specialty my lord there's nothing mighty god that will rattle the church of the almighty god you said the gates of hell wouldn't prevail against it i've got no reason to believe that your word is in error so mighty god right now i pray that you would move and act on a supernatural way in the name of jesus i pray and believe in faith in jesus name hallelujah oh you're so rich you're so good in this house man it feels good to be in first church on all nations sunday isn't this incredible where are you gonna go to find the power of god manifest in such a great great way and as you make your way back to your seats if you're a guest with us here today we want to go ahead and say thank you so much for being with us you are incredibly important to us and what we want to accomplish here in this city and for all of us tuning in online thank you very much for being with us online we love and miss you all and look forward to the day we can corporately worship together again amen if you're a guest with us here or online we have something that we call a connect card something that we created where if you have any questions about us if you want to become involved here at first church if you have a prayer request that you want us praying over you can go ahead and fill out those connect cards that's found online on our website first church sterling heights dot com but it is also found in our lobby at our guest reception desk out there in the in the foyer so make sure that you fill that out we will make sure that we are praying over you our staff will this week we'll do our very best to make sure we are taking care of you has everybody been enjoying life groups so far [Music] life groups are incredible and here at first church we believe in living life together not just on sundays during church service we actually want to live life with each other and we do that through through the vehicle of life groups because we believe that life change happens through the context of relationships and what's happening is you know the bible talks about iron sharpening iron when you get the people of god connected together and you grow spiritually and relationally together everyone becomes stronger and we're feeling some of the strength of that from our life groups and it's a it's a great place to connect and make friends so if you are not signed up for a life group you can of course do that on our website i encourage everyone to be in a life group and and that'll be incredible we have a second time guest with us today that is very very special and for adam and josie and clarabella we would like to say thank you for being with us this is actually her second service but we're excited for you and excited what god's gonna do in your family and uh it's it's fun to watch god grow people and that's what he's doing with you and we are thankful for that um we also believe in serving around here i i appreciate you i really do every time i say that i can count on kelsey it's incredible that god came not to be served but to serve and it's it's not a popular thing right now but we're not greater than our master so if he was a servant so should we and we believe in connecting and impacting our community and one of the ways we do that is through the vehicle of growth track growth track is just two classes that happens on the first and the second sundays of every month but it's the vehicle that gets you connected and involved as we want you serving on a serve team where god has actually gifted you to serve and when you're operating within your gifting it's a pleasure and it's a joy to serve the lord and and that's what happened so if you have yet to graduate from growth track please make sure that you do that the first and the second sundays of every month and we'll get you connected on a served team uh as i mentioned earlier prayer is our anchor it's very very vital to everything that we do here at first church uh and we gather corporately to pray every monday night at seven o'clock and um i i don't know how i can be a better salesman to you you just got there's a bible verse that says taste and see that the lord is good you just got to come if you come i'm convinced you will you will find out what we've all been talking about it's a powerful thing when the people of god get together corporately to seek his face and pursue after god it's powerful so monday nights at seven o'clock please make the decision to be with us at this point i'd like to go ahead and set uh expectation for the remainder of the service we've got one more worship song planned it's incredible we've got one more chance the power of god's here we sense his spirit and this worship part this is for him it's so that he would be exalted so he would be magnified and we got one more chance to do that before the preaching of the word and i and pastor's got an incredible powerful message planned for today and uh i just believe that god wants to do something it's expectation is the birthplace of the miraculous so so let's expect something great today but following the the preaching there will be an altar call who cult pastor will call everybody up to the front and uh you know we've got a kind of a new saying around here keep your masks on put your heart open god wants to meet you personally and individually around this altar he'll transform your life in in a moment if you're open to him and so that happens at the conclusion of our service and uh you know we're going to go ahead and return an offering unto the lord while we do that uh there's gonna be a time of connection a three minute countdown timer behind me um we're asking that you do whatever you're comfortable with uh please try to be aware of of not hugging not not shaking hands and and respect that with other people but we definitely want to get out and introduce ourselves to people that we don't know so with that three minute timer going on make sure that you find somebody you don't have a name for and of course we can do that safely one of our values here at first church is that we live modestly to give radically uh i've been around here long enough to to see that be a fact and uh we've built so many things in other countries and i mean it's all nation sundays it was fun looking at the flags and seeing where we have invested and sown into into different countries and different people just know that what's returned unto the lord is not squandered and it's not hoarded uh is spent with wisdom with the motivation of reaching and impacting our world and so with that being said lord we honor you today it's so great lord to be in your presence god i i pray that my heart would never take it for granted how incredible it is to serve you and to know you lord right now we return unto you lord what you said belong to you lord we do it lord with a grateful heart and joy and a smile on our face lord knowing that you will bless those who give and you will take it to reach and impact a soul and one day we're going to see the effects of this church upon this planet it'll be a great day my lord in jesus name amen [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] well good morning first church and praise the lord i said good morning first church and praise the lord come on can we clap our hands in this place and give god some praise oh come on we can do better than that for the king of kings and the lord of lords can we clap our hands in this place why don't we stand and give god a shout of praise in this house for he alone is worthy he alone is worthy thank you jesus thank you lord hallelujah hallelujah praise god you may be seated well i wanted to formally again uh go ahead and just let everybody know that today is all nations sunday praise god praise god and if you're very un you know if this is your first time here or if you're joining with us online uh we want to let you know that that the whole point of this service the vision of this service is to just celebrate the many many different walks of life that walk into this building and and detroit is one of the most diverse cities in america and uh it's just amazing when you can get so many different cultures and so many different different uh ethnicities and so many different walks of life uh all together under the banner of jesus christ so when we come together and we sing and we and we dance and we preach and we you know love and worship it it's great but it's just let me just let you guys know that when that unity happens supernatural things can happen and so man i'm just so grateful so we take we take one service a year to just kind of you know deck it out with the with the flags and and kind of do a different worship set because it's important and i believe that we wouldn't be here today and there are so many different nationalities and so many different this is one of the most diverse churches in detroit in america like seriously i'm letting you know that but i but as as we're celebrating that and we're and we're basking in that that would never have happened had not our pastor had the vision for that to be and and he was very intentional about uh us you know i'll go ahead and say this because he said this publicly so i'm not like saying anything that he didn't say uh he said we're not gonna have like a little white church you know we're not gonna have a little black church we're not gonna have a little whatever church we're gonna have god's church in here and that is that's what's represented in this house we're so grateful but not only do we have so many different nationalities we have what the bible talks about a different tongue somebody that speaks a different language so we're going to worship our god in a in a song in unity but but we're going to sing it in a couple of different languages is that okay praise god why don't you stand in this place we're gonna lift our hands we'll pray that god will have his way during this time jesus i pray right now god by the power and the authority that's in your name god you said when we unify when we come together supernatural things happen and i'm asking for you to break out in this place like never before [Music] hallelujah lord we love you jesus [Music] let all the earth [Music] [Music] uh oh [Music] is [Music] [Music] beginning [Music] oh me how brave is is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] come on just [Music] just one more time real sweet you're the name [Music] [Music] is jesus jesus all right is everyone having a good all-nation sunday weren't they incredible incredible and on top as if it couldn't get any better today is the day that we are celebrating our pastor for pastor's appreciation so once he's done with pastor dralen we'll wait we love you [Music] i've uh you can go ahead and return to your seat be seated i've been attending this church and calling this place home since april of 1993. i'm 39 years old and i was young when i got here but over 27 years this has been my family and this has been the place of growth for me and i've seen a lot of people come and go a lot of worship pastors a lot of youth pastors and a lot of executive pastors and there's been two consistent voices in this place one of them is the voice of the lord and one of them is pastor hoffman and he'll joke around with you he's very very humble he went through when i talked about growth track earlier we went through that as a church family when we first started doing that and remember i told you god has gifted you for things he says that he's not very gifted in the category of mercy so i found that to be wrong with you because there's a time in my life when i was young and i was in a situation that wasn't very biblical and i i had a meeting with pastor hoffman and in that moment i could have received judgment i could have received a lecture and just like jesus i got mercy and i received compassion and love from this man and you need a pastor in your life you need one it's not an elective thing you need a pastor in your life and has there ever been a year like the year that we've had that you haven't needed a pastor to be a voice of reason a voice of direction and instruction in your life and this man has been nothing short of extraordinary this year so he taught me he taught me something a few years ago about leadership and probably when we were going through leadership training and he said you know different leaders have different capacity to lead and and that's perfectly fine that's how god wired each person to lead some people have the capacity to lead a generation that's younger than them and to be able to teach that younger generation and that's fantastic he said fewer people have the capacity to lead younger but to also lead at their level at their their peers their same same age group and he said even fewer people have the capacity to not only lead the first two but to lead a generation that is older than they are because the older generation they're wise and they have a lot of life experience and they're not just gonna pledge loyalty to somebody that they don't trust and uh with this pastor we've got the trifecta we've got a leader that can lead all walks of life and god has blessed him and positioned him to do that at an excellent high level but there is one that you missed that you didn't teach me and uh at an even more rare level god will bless some leaders with the capacity to lead in all other walks but also to be able to lead leaders to lead pastors and to lead other ministers and this man has not just existed as a pastor but he has become the bishop of this church and a voice in our organization it's the verse that you know it says that enlarge my territory god has done that in your life and he's done it because he's searched your heart and he's found it true and one that is a reflection of his and so i'm excited to have you at the driver's seat of this thing and i look forward to what god is doing with us through his leadership so first church family if you could would you let your pastor know now how grateful you are for him [Music] [Music] you may be seated every now and then churches get rotten preachers sometimes preachers get rotten churches they do but every now and then preachers get wonderful churches and i'm i have i'm blessed and very grateful to be called your pastor you're wonderful people i talk about you everywhere i go i'll put you up against any group on the chair on this on this planet you have been very very very kind and tolerant me personally my flaws weaknesses you've allowed me to grow with you been very very kind and sweet to my wife and to my children there have been a few times through the years when i was asked to go somewhere else and i would make a list why i should go why i should stay and one of the things that's always endeared you to me is where in the world could i ever find anybody to be this kind to my children and uh you've been merciful and kind i know brit's gone but ash is still here and where in the world would i could i go to find people that would treat ashley the way you have i love you for that i thank you for that so that's enough you took care of me at my birthday you did something nice for my wife okay this enough okay and you want to give me a gift go to heaven let's go to heaven together that's that's what i want that's what i want so moe will throw him a curveball here this is what it says in acts 2 38 repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus christ for the remission of sins you shall receive the gift of the holy ghost for the promise is unto you unto your children all that are afar off even as many as the lord our god shall call and with many other words did he testify and exhort saying save yourselves from this untoward generation then they that gladly received the word were baptized and that same day there were added 3 000 souls that is the first great harvest my subject for you today are the conditions that surround the next great harvest we are living in a time of what can only be described as a cultural war probably the last time something like this has gone on here was in 1860 and the great subject of slavery was on the docket but we are living in a time this is an election year it's not going to be segregated just to this year but we are in a time right now when people are not just arguing about policies like taxes or health care we are living in a time when two ways of life are at war two philosophies are being promoted two ways of living that make no doubt about this these two ways cannot live peaceably with each other i want to quote from a man named tom kligenstein who's the chairman of the claremont institute one way of life is based on the rule of law individual rights a shared common good this way of life values hard work a willingness to volunteer patriotism self-reliance those types of things in this first way of life there are no hyphenated americans there are no white americans no black americans no native americans we're all just americans our goal is color blindness and there is another way of life and even though this is all nation's day please do not confuse what we're doing today with another lifestyle that is what is being touted as multiculturalism or identity politics this movement is a revolutionary movement i'm saying that not in a metaphorical sense it's not like a revolution the intent is revolution this mindset does not view this nation as a community with equal rights but rather as a collection of identity groups that are defined by race ethnic background or gender and of course all of these groups are oppressed by white males their goal is to have each individual group and there are lots of them proportionally represented in all aspects of life i'm not just talking about recognition i'm talking about power and money the only way you can achieve that goal and satisfy all of these different groups is a never-ending redistribution of wealth and power from one group to another this is not possible the way we are presently set up this will not happen unless a tyrannical government achieves power and like all tyrannies it is necessary to silence anyone who doesn't agree this socialism that's being promoted so harshly and openly in in this country will require open borders sanctuary cities a lot of rights will have to change these people understand if they are to achieve their goal then they have to get you to change your principles they must get us to believe that color blindness is racist that we are not one culture but we are many thus denying something that's on every bit of money in this country a pluribus unum out of many one this will require us to believe that we have sinned which we have but this philosophy goes far beyond that because this philosophy is convinced we are irredeemable we are bad in every way thus the phrase we are systemically racist in order to change this way of life you are going to have to destroy the institutions that teach these values the most important one of these is the family you have to destroy the family it is my personal opinion that america is weak because america has weak churches churches are weak because they have weak families families are weak because they have weak or non-existent fathers if we can fix the dead problem we can fix the family we can fix the church and we can fix this country running a close second to family or religion and education education is in serious trouble already i think the most dangerous place for our young people to be right now is in college and the fourth thing that you have to destroy is community life instead of a community solving their problems you must allow the government to solve all of your problems i read the mission statement from a radical group recently who stated that the burning issue of our time wow i don't even want to go there if black lives matter then why aren't they concerned about the black owned the small businesses they've destroyed with their riots and their fires listen to me folks this is not about george floyd this is much deeper than that last night was the 140th night that portland has burned no one's doing anything about it the poor people of portland are beyond frustration i saw a news media not long ago and the man was saying these people are exercising their right to peaceably protest and the cameraman made a mistake he panned behind them and behind this mob was a street where the businesses were on fire the courthouse had just been disfigured religion has to be on the chopping block as well you have to destroy our past you have to go beyond tearing down statues but literally change history to fit your philosophy recently a statue of frederick douglass was torn down frederick douglass was a brilliant black attorney but he believed in this country so you got to get rid of him and you have to get rid of abraham lincoln who talked about our better angels you have to get rid of george washington and you have to get rid of thomas jefferson because they had slaves you see well let me tell you where it goes after that you're going to have to get rid of abraham because abraham had slaves as well and then you're going to have to get rid of jesus because the bible said we are the servants of the lord jesus christ the greek word is dulos slaves whether you like it or not and it's not politically correct to say it but we are the slaves of jesus christ we render our body as servants to righteousness so not only did george and thomas jefferson had slaves so did abraham and so did jesus it tears me to pieces to see politicians vehemently telling me that i've got to wear one of these masks because if i don't i don't care about other people's lives i have no compassion for fellow citizens and yet that same political philosophy has passed laws that allow babies to be ripped out of the wombs of their mothers in the final three months of gestation [Applause] and if when these babies are born they're still breathing they've been instructed just set them aside and let them expire on their own if these same people are so worried about us saving lives with this then why don't you start in the womb if you're so worried about saving lives you can only look at the confirmations of the latest candidates or candidate to sit on the supreme court to see the absolute terror and fear that abortion might be overturned when my governor pontificated recently about the president and some things that he had said and she said and i quote every word that comes out of our mouth should be carefully weighed as politicians we are affecting the young people of this country by our speech and yet that same governor when asked for a sound check before she gave the rebuttal to the president's state of the union address instead of saying one two three she simply joined the word mother with the second dirtiest word in the english language and she did it not once not twice but three times and then she laughed so governor i want to know what message your words sent out when you play that stupid game after the state of the union address it is into this vortex and this vacuum that the church of the living god has been required to act in first kings chapter first samuel 14 and verse 47 it says so saul took over the kingdom took the kingdom over israel and fought against all enemies on every side against moab against am and against edom against the kings of zobaan against the philistines this verse so clearly defines what i see so much of today saul was against moab and against damon and against eden he made it very clear what he's against my question is what are you for anybody can just tear stuff down what have you built what have you done with your lives i remind you of the mission statement of jesus christ who said you shall receive power after the holy ghost has come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me both in jerusalem in all judea and in samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth jews samaritans which are half jews utter most part which is non-jews none of that mattered to jesus what mattered was souls for jesus foresaw a day when culture and ethnic background would be touted as valued and he let us know even back then what really mattered he was saying i don't care if you're a full-blooded jew a half-blooded jew i don't care if you have no jewish heritage whatsoever he was saying to the church go get them go get them in revelation chapter 18 john tells of a time when babylon will be judged and it says and the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her for no man buyeth their merchandise anymore the merchandise of gold silver precious stones pearls fine linen purple silk scarlet thigh and wood all manner vessels of ivory all men are vessels of most precious wood brass iron marble cinnamon odors ointments frankincense wine oil fine flour and wheat and beast and sheep and horses and chariots and slaves and the souls of men so i've got one two three four five six seven eight nine 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 2 23 4 5 6 27 28 29 29 things mentioned but i would like you to notice the order in which they are given and the priority of things in babylon because heading the list will be the historical favorites of gold and silver followed by precious metals and materials hard to find species of wood various stones commodities from the field followed by animals finally and finally at the list number 29 the souls of men a society where a piece of material and a horse or a goat is more valuable to them than a soul you don't believe that can happen we'll go to africa and study something called blood diamonds and find out that a diamond is worth much more than people go to the destruction of the amazon i dare you to try and find south american mahogany for sale today wars national geographic just put out a magnificent article and said the next great war will probably be fought over water like the wars over oil and precious metals i am here to tell you that on heaven's stock exchange the bluest of the blue chips will always be the souls of men and women they will always be at the top of the list young men young women elderly men elderly women black hair brown hair blonde hair red ear no hair 20 20 vision bifocals good luck finding that sweet spot on those transition lenses white skin brown skin flawless and freckled burnished bronze to the blanco of the albino blue eyes brown eyes green eyes souls go back to your bible if you've got any kind of study bible at all you will find a map that displays the temple of herod during the ministry of jesus christ he renovated solomon's temple if you've ever heard of the wailing wall i'll tell you what the wailing wall is the wailing wall is a retaining wall it's what's left of a retaining wall herod built this wall and filled the void in with rubble so that he could expand what was going on around the temple the wailing wall is all that's left it's it's what's left of a wall that held up rubble because he expanded something what was known as the court of the women on the other side was something known as the court of the gentiles it was very clearly marked if you were gentile and you went to the temple compound you could only go so far because there was a wall there with a sign written in varied languages if you're not a jew don't you dare go past this point this is the spot that the lame beggar chose in acts chapter 3. this spot is chosen with great care because all the people that are going to pass through this gate to get into the temple have to go by him and all of the gentiles who are remaining and loitering on the outside are going to be there so after everybody's going in to have church there's still a huge crowd outside that he might just possibly be able to hit the lotto and get a five dollar bill this man had set for years under the sign of a dead religion that was not able to help him and peter and john and obviously luke showed up and he said you know would you like to buy a pencil from my cigar box would you give me some money and peter famously responded silver and gold have i none but such as i have give i thee in the name of jesus rise take up thy bed and walk and you get a little insight in knowing that luke was there because a doctor would notice this it said immediately his feet and ankle bones receive strength that doctor saw those atrophied twisted feet and said wow what a mess and all of a sudden snap crackle pop and the bible said the man was leaping and shouting and magnifying god went through that arch and it says in acts 3 and 10 and they knew that it was he which set for alms at the beautiful gate of the temple and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened to them and they're saying what happened and all of a sudden peter stands up and he said listen to me this man has don't look on us as someone that has some great thing he said this man is healed because of the resurrection power of jesus christ the stripes that were laid on his back it says in being grieved that they taught the people and preached through jesus the resurrection from the dead they laid hands on them and put them in hold until the next day for it was evening how be it many of them which heard the word believed and the number of the men was about 5 000. that is the next great harvest and i look at what were the conditions that surrounded the next great harvest it said many of them which heard the word believed i made some pentecostal preachers angry some time ago because i preached a message from acts 16 and it says if you'll believe on the lord jesus christ you will be saved because pentecostals you know you've got to have that holy ghost and you've got to speak in tongues and you've got to get baptized don't you dare say you're saved at the point of faith but i will use scripture to explain my position in mark chapter 16 and verse 16 it says he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved and he that believeth not and consequently isn't baptized shall be damned it's in red harold didn't say that jesus said that it goes on to say these signs shall follow them that believe and one of those signs is they will speak with new tongues in acts chapter 10 peter is in a roman soldier's house and pentecostals only go to verse 44. the holy ghost fell on all them that heard the word that's what it says in verse 44. but what most pentecostals don't read is verse 43 because in 10 and 43 it says to him give all the prophets witness that whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins and while peter yet spake these words the holy ghost fell on all them that heard the word so what was peter preaching in kerneus's house believe on the lord jesus christ and they did and they were filled with the holy ghost just like in acts 2 people were filled with the holy ghost before they were baptized peter desperately looks at his posse that he's brought with him and says think of something quick can any man forbid water if you can't think of something we're going to have to baptize these dogs we're going to have to baptize these jewish bums and they couldn't think of anything so they baptized them all and this is what it says cornelius and his household that's not talking about his sons and his wife the word household is a greek word oikos which means everybody in your circle of influence and since he's a centurion and he's got a hundred soldiers under him it is possible you've got a hundred soldiers baptized now and filled with the holy ghost you got a wife you got sons you got daughters you got grandparents you got friends employ i don't know i just know it was everybody who respected this man and that he could influence is affected by what he did and in acts chapter 11 which is the next chapter peter goes to jerusalem and he's in trouble now with the elders because they're saying what is a good jewish boy doing in a dirty house of a rotten filthy dog and peter said these people received the likes same precious gift as we who believed on the lord jesus christ what he's saying was in acts 2 we believed and got the holy ghost they believe and got the holy ghost just like we did so what was i supposed to do i did exactly to them what happened to you and me i baptized them in the name of jesus so you go to acts 19. and you've got people who had heard john the baptist over 20 years before and they were baptized not for remission of sins just because they wanted to repent they go home the bible said paul went through the upper coast found certain disciples which means they're disciplined what they do know about god they love and they are embracing and he said have you ever been filled with the holy ghost and they said we don't even know if we can get it and he said have you been baptized absolutely john the baptist baptized us but he said don't you remember what john said somebody was coming after him who was mightier than he was that he wasn't even worthy to untie his shoes he said that someone has come his name is jesus christ when they heard this even though they're the original baptist even though they've been baptized by john the baptist himself they are now re-baptized in the name of the lord jesus christ and when paul laid his hands on them they were filled with the holy ghost and began to speak with tongues this is happening in a place that look watch what it says in i think ephesians 1 and 13. see see if we we we got that verse in whom you also trusted after that you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation in whom also after that you believed you were sealed with the holy spirit of promise i believe people are saved by believing on the lord jesus christ but this is what it says in john 7 37 38 39 in the last day of the feast jesus stood and cried saying he that believeth on me as pastor huffman said no he that believeth on me as the priest that no no he that 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 holy ghost which they that believe on him should receive for the holy ghost was not yet given why because jesus hadn't left yet but after he left the book of acts people did believe they what do you i believe people are are saved by believing on the lord jesus christ but you got to believe as the scripture says and what does the scripture say about believing it says if you believe you will be baptized if you believe you will be filled with the spirit and speak with new tongues so in so in acts chapter four i'm talking to you about the next great harvest these people believed it wasn't just they mentally accepted that jesus died for our sins i'd like to find that sinner's prayer in a bible i'll give you a million bucks if you can find that thing for me it's not there it's it's it's it's it's it's cut and paste put a little this and let's put the whole council of god together that's what peter let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter this is very apparent and obvious to me that in acts chapter 4 when this guy is healed and they're taking peter and his pals to jail the bible said there was a great company of men that believed 5 000 men believed i don't have any idea how many women believed it just tells me how many men believed so in acts chapter 2 i've got 120 at nine o'clock in the morning the third hour of the day before the day is over i've got 3120. that's the first great harvest but the next great harvest which is a minimum of eight thousand now 120 in a church and probably far more because no women are even mentioned there i'm convinced the next great harvest occurred because a man had an altercation and an encounter with the power of god underneath of a sign that says you can't go past this place if you are of a certain ethnic background or of a certain color of sin or assert it it's just nothing that's that's that's why paul said in ephesians chapter 2 and verse 14 for he is our peace who hath made both one and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us he's talking about that sign that was in that outer court of the temple you can't go here if you don't belong to a certain group he's saying that you who were strangers aliens from the commonwealth of israel having no hope no god in this world he said he tore down the wall threw the sign away and said i don't care who you are i want jew and gentile to come together and of two i want to make one great church that is a pivotal role that has to occur in order to have for us to have the next great harvest it's all nation's day it's all nation this is a jesus thing i have tried for over 30 years to do two things i didn't want to be a foolish pastor and i didn't want to be a frightened one because many of you were not here when i stood in the mud back there where that sound booth is mud all the way over my ankles with a handful of people and two million dollars worth of debt and a voice that said how in the name of god are you ever going to pay for this thing how are you ever going to get people to fill these seats well let me just tell you what's been going on since march we have added so many people to this church you should have been here the for right now we couldn't get all of you in this sanctuary because of the number of people that have been added through the teenager coven 19. we've had a harvest during a pandemic how is that possible that's what the lord's been doing i look up here and i see sophie up here singing with his daddy his mom's back there taking a little movie so i grabbed mike's phone said give me that phone i sister butchers i got i got something right up here man front and center i don't know where all this is going but i know we're on the right track i wish i would have taken the time because you know i'm i'm living at the campground right now it's over two hours away it's a pain in the gluteus maximus or minimus whatever your case may be and and and and and and it's just and i'm sitting out there and i'm thinking boy i wish i'd have told brother mike to put some flags up in the church wouldn't that be nice for for flags on all nations sunday and i come in here early this morning and i look around and my heart just lifted up and i'm going around this room and said we built a church in that one we built a bible school in that one we got a church there we got an orphanage in that one we got a bible school in that one and i'm looking around this room and i can't find many flags that don't have something that this church family hasn't been a part of oh jesus and i remember the fear the fear that grabbed my heart years ago it said you you are building something that's just going to shame the kingdom you're never going to be able to pay for this thing and i'm 63 years old and hopefully in a couple weeks i'll get to move into a house i don't have a mortgage this church doesn't have a mortgage all oh listen to me all i ought to be worried about right now is feathering my retirement nest that's what i ought to worry about got social security to play come in a couple years just just just just get everything that's not nailed down and just get it all ready and just pass it off get me a motor tome and and just drive around and be one like one of them other lazy pastors that i see too many of because they don't just retire they retire from everything and it's just like i don't want to intend to be anything like that so this week we contacted something called live design which is a company in alabama birmingham they are the number one church designers in the country we have contracted with them we're going in december i'm i they're i i'm i'm it's that's the dumbest financial move you could ever make to try and build another church right now but we can't get all of you in the same room now if this keeps up within two years or even less we're gonna have to go to a third service because there's not enough room for that we're gonna so i'm just coming at you because the bible said occupy until i come the the original language says do business until i come back and so i refuse to just be one of these frightened pastors that just sit here and preach pretty sermons to you and say well let's just not stretch our luck here we got a lot of undecided things going no i think we just john gibbs gave me a verse today he said look at this verse pesser he said they've come out they're coming out of egypt they got the army of pharaoh behind him they got the red sea in front of him and you know what the lord said to him go forward just go forward and it's like go where i'm looking at a sea and it said when the feet dipped in the brim of the water the water opened up and god made them away i i'm coming after you i'm just telling you i'm coming after you it'll take a year to get this thing ready but i'm asking you to start saving and start praying about what god would lay on your heart so would you be willing to take three years of your life to help us build a new temple for something in this city to bring touch more would you be willing to do that i am i'm willing to do whatever i personally have to do with my wife to make the sacrifice needed to be able to build something for people i don't have a name for them i've never seen their faces i saw these precious people today in the back and i said what is your name and they said you you you've been gone we they've been more faithful to this church than the pastor's been that said brother mike baptized us dwayne and angie witnessed to us and i'm looking around i just keep doing that again and again and again and again and i'm going oh jesus all problems are not the results of mistakes not knowing everybody's name on a bill is a wonderful problem to have because all of a sudden god's adding and giving us more and more people and i'm asking you listen to what the bible said in ezekiel 18 and verse 4 oh souls are mine oh souls are mine and so i refuse to get caught up in this political cultural war that's going on right now we're going to pray we're going to give ourselves to the word and we're going to be witnesses in this community we're going to be willing to sacrifice our time our talent our money i intend to i don't i you know do you ever hear that thing no no graveyard will ever say boy i wish i would have spent more time in the office no no graveyard ever says that no no tombstones ever said that read what psalm says walk around jerusalem mark well her bulwarks look at her walls tell the next generation my father did this and my father's father did this that when i'm gone i want young people to say you want to know why you got what you got because people that you've never met made a decision to make a sacrifice and a covenant with god in prayer will you stand with me right now jesus name i believe the glory of the latter house is going to exceed the glory of the former i'm looking for the next great harvest but one of the keys to the next great harvest is can you forget about who where they came from what color is their skin well what culture do they have would you please forget about that and say dear jesus there's not going to be a ghetto in the new jerusalem there's not going to be an eight mile between those 12 floors and that city before square not going to happen we we have been trusted with a tragedy we have been trusted with a cultural war that's going on in this nation and i don't expect politicians to fix it i don't think roe versus wade will ever be overturned to be perfectly honest with you i think this city and this country is in trouble the last great hope of this culture is the church of the lord jesus christ we owe this we owe them one more revived hallelujah come with me come with me come with me step out of your pew step out of your bench come up here around here with me jesus state jesus day jesus stand amen i don't want you to kneel i want you to come up here i want you to lift up your head lift up your hands lift up your voice i want you to turn your prayer into praise we're not here to ask we're here to thank him for what he's doing and what he's going to do in jesus name father i magnify you in this place right now i thank you for what you've done i thank you for the bills that you've enabled us to pay i thank you god for the message that you've extricated us from i thank you for the precious souls that you've trusted us with i am so grateful god for what you have done and what you are doing and what you are going to do if not now when if not here where if not us who we are the people the church of the living god we are trusted right now with this time and we're asking you god right now to hear our prayer we're asking you god we repent before you because we are your people that are called by your name and we are humbling ourselves and we are turning from our wicked ways you said if we would do that you promised you would not be a death god nor would you be a benimka you said if we did this you would hear and you would heal and we're asking you god to hear our prayer of praise and repentance holy god we call on you right now we want you to make all things new we want you to make it new fix the marriage that can't be repaired fix the family that's destroyed and broken apart fix the party that's been rallies by [Music] sickness [Music] must be huh i believe [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] [Music] see [Music] me [Music] oh [Music] every now and then you hear a message that that somehow you sense in the spirit [Music] alters the course of this church i think we just heard one and it's an exciting time to be a part of the body of christ in this world and in this climate the church is thriving and uh i'm believing god for the greatest harvest that this world has ever known and it's going to take each and every one of us love one another be kind to one another because that's what's going to draw somebody to christ is when we love like he loves and then they'll be drawn to him so let's let's be intentional about that let's be intentional about being kind to one another and showing the love of christ for one another be here let your light shine be here tomorrow night monday night prayer we'll just keep snowballing this thing there's something if you sense it in the spirit like i do it's like there's something brewing something's percolating right now they're like a like a pressure cooker building up steam and one of these days i'm telling you it's just gonna blow and there's no ceiling to this thing there's no limits to what god wants to do we're going to see it come to pass some of the some of the prophecies that we've heard people waiting to be baptized up and down to quinda road we're going to see it come to pass and i'm excited to be a part of it lord we love you so much today god it's been just an honor to be here among your presence and among your people how did we get so fortunate god to be able to call you our lord lord we're humbled and we are a grateful people i pray that our our hearts would be reflective of yours god let your love be shown through us to people god for the commandment of the lord is love the lord with all your heart love others as you have loved the church so god today we're gonna go out we're gonna love one another we're gonna be great witnesses unto you my god and we will watch the greatest harvest this world has ever known it's gonna we're gonna play a role in it lord it's gonna be greater than what we do here it's gonna be a global thing but we're to have a role we're going to have some ownership in it my god it's an honor and a treat to serve you and to be a part of the church so lord we love you today i pray that you would bless these good people be with them let the holy spirit empower them with boldness and with kindness put the right words in their mouth god when they encounter somebody this week that you would be glorified and that you would be magnified lord in the name of jesus i pray and believe it and call it done god bless you all it's an honor to serve the lord with you go be a light to somebody in jesus name [Music] [Music] you

Channel: First Church Sterling Heights

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Length: 94min 20sec (5660 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 18 2020