Harold Hoffman - What The Wound Reveals | Church ONLINE

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] good morning first church if you're not already when we stand to our feet [Music] [Music] [Music] is oh anyway [Music] is you if you have a need right now why don't you lift up your hands and proclaim that it is [Music] [Music] knowing you are not a man [Music] if you said victory will come [Applause] [Music] knowing you are not a man knowing you victory you can do anything when we take the limits of you you are [Applause] [Music] thank you jesus this next song we're about to sing it's called it is so and um i was listening to it on my way to work or work church this morning and um my mind got caught at the part that says with one touch i am made whole that line is derived from the word of god when it says the woman with the issue of blood she believed that with one touch she could be made whole and i thought about what is keeping me from making that one touch to the lord with one touch her whole entire life was changed it was turned around because she had faith and said you know what i'm gonna reach for the hem of his garment because i know that there's healing in the name of jesus and you know what when she went and touched jesus said who touched me and that's an indication that when you reach out to god he's going to respond he knows that oh lauren reached out to me today so i'm going to be there to help her he knows so right now if you have a need i want us right now just to lift up our hands and if you can just just be like god i want to touch you today i want to feel your need your presence right now god god we know lord jesus that you're a healer lord god we know that's your way maker god god we believe what your word says god we know that by your stripes [Music] there is a promise that points me on my failure there is a still force to silence all my fears of my mistakes are miracles in the making a miracles in the main [Music] i am [Applause] [Music] is so [Music] is unchanging [Music] jesus your kingdom will not be shaken your kingdom will not by yourself and i know that it is [Music] we is that it is is the [Music] forever is behind the letters [Applause] thank you [Music] [Music] thank you jesus cause in my storms you're my peace [Music] oh if you're thankful for the promise of god and the word of god which says that heaven and earth will pass away but my words shall never pass away in an uncertain world the word of god is absolute it's concrete it's immovable and that word of god says i'll never leave you i'll never forsake you that i'm gonna bless you when you come i bless you when you go i'll be your healer i'll be your restorer then i'll watch over you i'll care for you i will provide for you so to whoever it is in this room or on the live stream right now god wants you to know he's still with you he's still working things out he's creating all things new again can we put our hands together mighty god we love you thank you for your word oh jesus [Applause] and it's with the promises that are in the word that we go to god right now because here at first church prayer is our anchor and there's situations represented in front of me i don't know what you're going through i might not know the the complexity of the situation but god does and for those on the live stream that are watching right now god knows exactly where you're at and for the people on the screen behind me god knows all things so it's to that god we pray right now lord father i thank you i thank you for the privilege that it is lord to call out to you lord to to surround your throne right now with the words that are leaving my mouth lord i'm convinced oh god that you are no respecter of persons so god i pray to you now understanding that you are a god of your word you are a god of your promises you cannot lie you said that the prayer of faith would save the sick you said that by your stripes we are healed those aren't babies those aren't potentials those are factual statements in your word so god i i've attached my faith to the word of god and the god that i pray to touch everybody right now touch every situation right now move oh god among us right now have a powerful move of your spirit right now i pray lord that you would be glorified in every situation that you would be magnified in every situation on the mountaintop and in the valley receive glory forevermore o god in the name of jesus i pray in the name of jesus hallelujah hallelujah oh thank god such an incredible presence that we feel right now i'm so grateful as you make your way back to your seats if you're a guest with us today we want to go ahead and put our hands together say thank you so much for being with us you are very important to us here at our first church family uh we want you to know that we'd love a chance to connect with you perhaps that you have questions you may have um you know want to know how to get involved around here whatever the case may be we have something we call a connect card here in person it's found in our lobby at our guest reception desk and for those of you online it is found on our website firstchurchsterlingheits.com we just love the chance to connect with you and maybe answer any questions that you may have so if you fill that out with whatever you're comfortable with us having somebody from our pastoral staff will reach out to you this week and do our very best to make sure that we are taking care of you how many people are enjoying life groups having a good time in life groups for those of you who don't know life groups are just something that we do where we get together outside of these walls and and some of them are in person some of them are virtual but we believe in living life together and we believe that that we are stronger and better when we're together and so life groups provide an environment where we get to grow relationally with one another and grow spiritually with one another it's just an incredible things that that we do here first church if you're not involved in a life group get involved go on the website find a group that that you can connect with it'll be a fantastic time for the rest of the spring semester semester sign up for life groups and today is the third sunday of the month which means growth track is today and you might be asking what in the world is growth track growth track is just a class that we we use to get you connected and get you plugged into what we're doing here in sterling heights uh it's just two classes so um we're not asking for a lot you know it happens during the the preaching of the message today so if you can go to growth track because we believe that everybody has been gifted a god-given ability and talent and he gifted you that for the benefit of the kingdom and so you go through growth track you get connected on a serve team and help us with the mission that we are trying to reach a lost and dying world for jesus christ we like i said earlier we believe so strongly and prayer prayer is our anchor and we do that every monday night here corporately for monday night prayer last monday night i i could go on and on about last monday night but something happened around eight or seven fifty seven fifty five last monday night something broke in here and thus something broke out and it was incredible time of prayer in the presence of god and if you've never come to monday night prayer i promise you you will not regret it and god will meet you here so if you can tomorrow night seven o'clock do everything you can to be with us tomorrow night for monday prayer as you know those who walked in through our front doors this is not a normal sunday service we have a lot planned for you today just going to be an incredible time today is the day that we celebrate two amazing people david and stacey mize over our children's ministry for 20 years 20 years and so we've got some things planned to celebrate them but at the conclusion of the service i just want to let everybody know this is very very important there's cookies there's cookies for everybody in the lobby so before you leave make sure you grab one of those cookies they're fantastic i had one earlier don't tell anybody but it's a it's a fantastic cookie also today we are celebrating the day that we we dedicate babies and and really as pastor does things around here we're dedicating ourselves unto the lord for the babies but we're going to do that today at the conclusion of the service so pastor will give the instructions needed for that at this point i just want to set an expectation for what the remainder of the service and pastor has an incredible message i have a powerful incredible message so make sure you're paying attention to what he's saying it will bless you there's going to be a three-minute time of connection on the screen behind me we're just asking you if you're comfortable to get out of your comfort zone get out of your pew say hi to somebody try to find somebody that you might not have a name for at this time we're going to return a tithe we're going to return an offering unto the lord [Music] and we have a value here at first church that says we live modestly to give radically and i love that uh because it's not something we say it's something that we do and we've we've and if you've been around here any length of time you know that that we are impacting locally we are impacting nationally and we are certainly impacting things globally building bible schools church plants and building churches just an honor to be able to return to the lord what belongs to him and to know that it's getting spent for the growth of the kingdom lord we are so thankful we are so honored to play a role in all of this lord you found us mighty god and pulled us out of the pits that we were in cleaned us up put us on some solid ground and here we stand blessed and favored of you lord freely i return to you now what you said belong to you i do it with a grateful heart i do it with understanding and i do it with a humbling honor of knowing that you're going to use it to find somebody that you're going to use it to grow your kingdom and you're going to use it so that you would be glorified in all the earth lord we are honored to play a role we thank you yet again in jesus name amen [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] brother dave and sister stacy i learned so much and i see kids with you guys and it was really fun i know i was a bit of a class troublemaker but you guys sucks with me always saying stuff highly about me i've been so thankful for everything that you've done for me all the sacrifices that you've made and all the fun we've had i wouldn't be the man who i am today without you guys i love you throughout the years that you have been my teacher it has been the best years of my life we i love you guys so much and so sad to not have you as teachers anymore you have always put us first and you always plan the best things to do jeremiah 3 15 says and i will give you shepherds after my own heart who will feed you with knowledge and understand we just want you to we just want to say thank you for always being there for us brother david and stacey sister stacy i just want to thank you for always giving 110 i've been working with you since i think ellie was one and it just been an awesome experience we are sad to see you go but you have taught us so much and you have put leaders into place and we love you and thank you for always giving always putting our children first and for sacrificing we love you thank you station brother david i'm thankful to know stacy and david and have them as leaders of the sunday school department i i taught stacy when she was younger in sunday school and i'm proud of of her for her accomplishments as a teacher and as a leader and brother david too they've been very easy to work with and i appreciate both of them thank you and foreigners thank you sister stacy and brother david thank you for doing everything for fc kids thank you so much i love you thank you sister stacy and brother david for all that you've done and all the things that you've done for this class brother david and sister stacy thank you so much for all that you guys have done for fc kids not only fc kids but for the staff as well you guys have been amazing leaders and a great example of what leadership looks like we just really appreciate everything that you have done for us thank you for showing us to be selfless in everything that you guys do you literally went above and beyond for everything if it was for the children's revival if it was for the display outside for mother's day or father's day stacy you literally have spent time here that no one knows about you spent a lot of time here over the nights not getting sleeping but yet it came out perfect and we just thank you guys so much and we're so excited for the next chapter in your lives so we love you very much and we appreciate you thank you well that was very special and um i could also go on and on with a lot of stories and i was thinking about stacy um i she was a little girl when i was doing christmas musicals so that means that um yeah i'm a little older than my my niece stacy but anyway we asked the children one day to just give us one word that described the mises and so that's how i'm going to leave this today extraordinary thoughtful artistic the best mize family kind respectful grateful loving times too amazing trusting god and heart indescribable sweet giving caring creative thankful good examples believers in god safe a big heart a big giant heart with a big cake and sprinkles inside trustworthy a blessing so we hope to be a blessing to you today [Music] um make his face [Music] is [Music] make his face [Music] [Applause] [Music] with these [Music] make his face [Music] [Applause] [Music] up [Music] ah [Music] um [Music] generations [Music] generations [Music] generations generation is is foreign uh is is yes ah [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh yes that was perfect guys that was perfect oh yes that was perfect what a perfect song perfect song jesus name now i'm not supposed to do this but i'm gonna do it anyway david and stacy would you please come up here with me [Music] they've asked me not to do this [Applause] laughs you may be seated [Music] i knew this day would come but that knowledge hasn't made this day any easier [Music] within every organization there will always be the ebb and tide of comings and goings [Music] it's the nature of things but when extraordinary servants make their exit it always leaves a hint of melancholy but that lingering sense of regret is always overpowered by a litany and a list of wonderful moments and memories that we've shared with you the two of you have served this church the highest degree of integrity i really kind of feel sorry for those who have to follow you because you've set the bar so high um boy they've got their work cut out for them but i want you to thank you for that because at times it's been my blessing and my curse to always want to do the very best it's been such a joy to be in the harness with people that have held themselves to the same standard [Music] you and i both know the delight that comes in those rare moments when there wasn't one thing we could change or would even want to change we've also known those times when there were times we would have loved to change some things as far as i'm concerned most of the moments i've had with you have been nothing short of just perfection your commitment to excellence it's been a joy to watch and i guess when you think of it this church was not started by a great preacher and he sure didn't have elaborate surroundings but this church was started by a sunday school man and a sunday school woman who understood the value of investing in children on behalf of myself the staff this entire first church family we rise one last time to call you blessed and to thank you for what you've done [Music] so [Music] [Music] but you know i i think for us you know the it seemed to go by so fast but the biggest blessing of all of it was was being able to serve the kids and the families the first church and we were always blessed with you know a wonderful staff of of people who were committed to the children just as we were and uh you know early on when we were learning out you know we took we had great mentors with jack and delores handing it down to us and then you know elder brother and sister hoffman were great examples for us you know a lot of the things i learned to do around first church i learned from uh elder hoffman with his lessons on uh you know not asking people to do things that he wasn't willing to do himself and we always try to uh work that way with our own staff to make sure you know that uh we're willing to get down in the ditch with them and make sure everything was done and done to perfection so you know we're just uh we're overwhelmed with the uh support from everybody and uh thankful for um everybody's you know uh cards and and good wishes so thank you you've been standing for a while so you can remain seated i think it's appropriate at the end of this service i think we dedicated six or seven children in the first service we're going to dedicate more here so that's that's appropriate in john chapter 19 and verse 34 it says but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side and forthwith came out blood and water so i'm going to teach you something today simply called what the wound reveals there's a lot of confusion in i guess i would call it evangelical christianity about what constitutes salvation some say you're saved at the point of faith all you need to do is confess christ which usually means you're asked a series of questions questions like do you believe you're a sinner do you believe jesus died for your sins will you open up your heart now and allow the holy spirit to come into your life congratulations you're saved and there are scriptures that are used to affirm this approach scriptures like if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the lord jesus and believe in thine heart that god hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved there's a scripture in acts 16 and 31 that says believe on the lord jesus christ and thou shall be saved and thy house i've spent considerable time in services past showing you that i've always believed the greatest commentary on the bible is the bible itself and if you use this approach you're not going to be able to get around this verse in john 7 that says he that believeth on me as the scripture has said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water so you're not commanded to do it the way your preacher said or your rabbi or your priest or your pal and friend what's the scripture have to say and if you do a search about what the scriptures say you're going to find verses like this he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved he that believeth not and consequently isn't baptized is damned these signs shall follow them that believe one of those signs is you're speaking with new tongues if you have a red letter bible it's interesting to note those words right there are in red jesus said that i'm not going to reinvent the wheel today but suffice it to say that i strongly agree with acts 16 and 31 that you need to believe on the lord jesus christ but i also can't get away from john 7 38. you need to believe as the scripture has said and the word is very clear that believers are baptized in the name of jesus christ and that believers are filled with the spirit and they speak with tongues the concept of calvinism which is once you're saved you're always saved it's it's a wonderful theory i really wish it was true but it won't stand up to serious scrutiny under the scripture all you have to do is read the first story in the bible and you'll find that there was a family that was in it and then they were evicted and no less than jesus said in matthew 10 he that endures to the end shall be saved it's not just everybody that starts gets the prize but you got to finish the thing and that's why jesus said in matthew 22 many are called but few are chosen it's kind of like the military when they had the draft they called people and then you had to take a physical and you had to take in and then you had to be chosen after you were called and then even after you were inducted in the military you could you you there were several ways of getting out and there there there was a a commendation that you would receive if you did it right and uh an honorable discharge and it says in the book of revelation that when the lord comes back with his church those that are with him are going to be called chosen and faithful so the theories vary but you can't escape the powerful lesson in romans chapter 1 and verse 16. i am not ashamed of the gospel of christ it is the power of god under salvation the gospel will save you and i've asked this question more times than i could possibly remember over the years when i'd asked people what is the gospel most of the time the response is oh it's the good news now let's use scripture to explain scripture is there a place in the bible that tells us what the gospel is and yes there is a place it's in first corinthians 15 1 through 4. in verse 1 he says i'm going to declare the gospel unto you verse number two he said it's why you're saved and then in verse 3 and 4 he tells them what that gospel is that jesus died and he was buried and that he rose again the third day the gospel is death burial and resurrection and you have to do more than simply vocally agree with those historical events in other words confessing christ you have to identify with those events he died we have to die and you can go out in that road and let a truck run over you you can take too many valiums you can put a gun to your temple or you can repent and repentance is death in the scripture you're dying to yourself that's why it says in acts 17 and 30 he commands every men all men everywhere to repent he was buried therefore we need to be buried with christ and we are by water baptism in his name romans 6 and 4 said we are buried with him by baptism he resurrected we need to identify with his resurrection by the infilling of the holy spirit that is affirmed in romans chapter 8 and verse 11. if the spirit that raised up jesus from the dead dwells in you what happened to him will happen to you he died he was buried the spirit came into a dead buried corpse and made it live again we die through repentance buried in water baptism filled with his spirit the bible said to rise and walk with newness of life this can't be dismissed because peter who was given the keys to the kingdom by jesus in matthew 16 used those keys on the day of pentecost to deliver what i can consider the opening salvo of the gospel message when he said repent or die and be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus christ or be buried and you shall receive the gift of the holy ghost resurrection it is important that in acts 17 it doesn't say that jesus suggested it or implied it it said he commanded everyone to repent anyone that tells you that water baptism is just an added work of grace it's the difference between manual windows and power windows is ignoring a verse in first peter 3 and 21 that says baptism doth now also save us and anyone who says that all you have to do is confess christ and holy spirit baptism is not necessary better read ah romans 8 9 that says if anyone have not the spirit of christ he's none of his anyone who denies speaking in tongues has to re-watch cut out acts 2 and 4 and they were all filled with the holy ghost and began to speak with utter tongues as the spirit gave them utterance they're going to have to cut out acts 10 when peter in cornelius house right while he was speaking the holy ghost fell on all them that heard the word the jews that were with peter were astonished because that on these gentiles was poured out the gift of the holy ghost for they heard them speak with tongues toughest audience to convince in the world were those jews those those those self-righteous jews that came with peter they could not ignore the fact these people believed just like we did were filled with the spirit and spoke with tongues these people believed and were filled with the spirit and spoke with tongues acts 19 and 6 paul laid his hands on them the holy ghost came on them and they spoke with tongues and prophesied james the half-brother of jesus who was credited with being the senior pastor or the bishop of the first church in jerusalem he wrote the first letter or epistle to that early church the book of james was widely circulated we have it today in five chapters but it has one central theme and that is the tongue james's message is very clear how can you legitimately say jesus christ is in total control of your life if he has not controlled the most difficult thing to control which is your tongue now when he fills you with his spirit the word compares you to a vessel and when that vessel is filled the contents of that vessel will leak out at the last opening of that vessel which is your mouth you will magnify him through a language you are not familiar with that my brother and sister is true power that is total control when the lord can control the faculty of speech and magnify himself through your language through your tongue and that brings me to my lesson here's first john 5 7-8 there are three that bear record in heaven the father the word and the holy ghost and these three are one and there are three that bear witness in earth the spirit the water and the blood and these three agree in one some people say see there there's the trinity there's the father the son and the holy spirit and that's why it says in john 1 1 in the beginning was the word father and the word was with god's son and the word was god holy spirit please answer a simple question for me how in the world can you separate your words from yourself and what about that verse that says and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us ladies and gentlemen this is so simple there's one supreme spirit you've got a spirit angels or spirits demons or spirits but when you talk about him he is the ultimate the supreme spirit thus given a capital s in the bible that's why it says in john 4 and 4 there is one body and one spirit there's not a spirit of the father separate from the spirit of the son separate from the holy spirit there's just one spirit the father is that one spirit and the son is nothing more than that spirit wrapped in flesh and the holy ghost is nothing more than that same spirit wrapped in our flesh just like it was wrapped in his flesh there's just one spirit are you trinitarian pastor hoffman of course i am i believe in three but three what not three separate persons but three separate things that that spirit did i believe that spirit created the world i believe that very same spirit was wrapped in flesh and died on the cross i believe that very same spirit reinhabits in our lives to give us the power to live above sin call that spirit father call it lord call it god call it holy it's all the same thing there's just one spirit that's why john understood that and said these three are one one plus one plus one is not one it's three but if you understand that father and word you can't separate him from his word look what it says in five and eight there are three witnesses needed in the earth the spirit the water and the blood jesus taught in acts chapter 1 and verse 8 that he expected us to be his witnesses in the earth john helps us to understand that there are three things that you're going to need in order to be what he considers to be a legitimate witness you're going to need the water you're going to need the blood and you're going to need the spirit and that's the problem with doing this all the time because there's more to this than this there's more to this than the cross here's the problem with christianity you have a huge crowd standing at the cross and saying this is all you need right here so we'll hang that thing around our neck and we'll do that motion and then you have the spirit-filled bunch in acts chapter 2 and say if you don't have the infilling of the spirit you people are never going to be saved here's the truth you need them both you need the elements of the water and the blood that you get at the cross and you need the spirit that you get from pentecost for years i'm delighted in showing you the power of the name of jesus especially in water baptism because there's only one legal liquid that can deal with sin and that's blood the problem is jesus died 2 000 years ago so how do we access his blood today it says in 17 and 11 of leviticus that the life of the flesh is in the blood so what is the power of the blood life what is life the power of the blood it's synonymous but watch this verse in the new testament these are written that you might believe that jesus is the christ the son of god and that believing you might have life through his name now we have revelation because the old testament is the new testament concealed but the new testament is the old testament revealed that when you go from genesis to revelation it's like a flower opening up and if you try to pull that thing apart back there in exodus and leviticus all you're going to have is a stamen and a pistol and some petals and it's not going to be anything like the beautiful bloom it's intended to be and if you read that scripture and study that thing and understand that we were built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets jesus christ the chief cornerstone in all scripture all old testament and all scripture is given by the inspiration of god and holy men of old spake as they were moved on by the holy ghost you understand that that this this bible there's no fluke there it's divine engineering it's there for a reason so when you read john 20 and 31 it said end up believing you might have life through his name it's obvious if you have the name you have life if you now go to leviticus 17 11 if you've got life you've got the power of the blood if you've got blood listen to this verse in hebrews 9 and 22 without shedding of blood is no remission that's the negative now look at the positive aspect if you have blood then there is remission so if you've got the name you've got life if you've got life you've got blood if you've got blood you've got remission if you've got remission god got alzheimer's you are a new creation in christ jesus your slate has been cleaned off it's a brand new day no wonder peter said repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus christ for the remission of your sins do you understand the blood is in the name and when we use the name of jesus the blood's in the name now you can understand acts 4 and 12 that said neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved that at the name of jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess there's a power there let me ask you a question are you under heaven is there sky above you above this roof today and if there is then you have the wonderful privilege of having the name of jesus imprinted upon your spirit that's why it says in matthew 18 and verse 16 that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word would be established it's an old testament concept because i know in our bible it said thou shall not kill but that's not what says in hebrew in hebrew it says thou shall not commit murder because if you commit murder it's going to be an eye for an eye it's going to be a life for a life but there were times of course which is what we would call manslaughter if someone died accidentally you could run to one of six strategically placed cities of refuge and they would have a trial there and you needed at least two three were better eyewitnesses that could stand up on your behalf and plead your case and let them know he didn't intend for this to happen he should be exonerated this is what jesus was talking about went out of the mouth of two or three witnesses let every word be established two is good three is even better but the fact is we have four witnesses in the word that water baptism is to be done in the name of the lord jesus christ acts 2 38 says that acts 8 and 16 says that acts 10 and 48 they were it said he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the lord it's acts 19 people who'd already been baptized by no less than john the baptist were re-baptized and it says in acts 19 and 5 when they heard this they were baptized in the name of the lord jesus the kicker for me is in acts chapter 5 and verse 28 when the the council the religious leaders arrested and beat the early apostles and they said didn't we command you not to teach in this man's name do you intend to bring his blood upon this city absolutely because the only way you can bring his blood upon a city is by preaching and teaching the name the bloods in the name and that's the powerful message of the cross that when that soldier trying to convince everybody he was dead pushed that spear through his rib cage and into his heart trying to prove that he was dead in fact provided us with an amazing revelatory witness because when he did it said blood and water came out of his heart what an amazing example of water baptism but there's still one witness that's missing you got to have the hat trick you need the trifecta if you're going to be a real witness you need the water and the blood and the spirit you get the water and blood from the cross you get the spirit from acts chapter 2. i want to be an effective witness i want to repent of my sins i want to be baptized in the name of the lord jesus christ and i want to be filled with the holy spirit so full that he controls my speech there are dozens of verses in the bible that say this it is impossible but that offenses will come i wish i could protect you from wounds i can't but i want you to understand this ladies and gentlemen you and i would not be saved if it weren't for wounds wounds hands feet or torn back holes in his brow hole inside god for the wounds and when you even think of it the gospel message begins with death burial resurrection i had a very dear elder that i truly didn't understand how great he was until many years later but i was a boy young preacher i used to drive a man around by the name of billy cole billy cole never went anywhere alone he got it from billy graham billy graham had a long ministry but he was never touched by scandal and he said one of the reasons he was never touched by scandal was he would never go anywhere alone there was always somebody with him so billy cole adopted that and he would never go anywhere alone he would call me come down here and drive me i'm going to go preach and i had wonderful memories of driving him around two days before he died he called me and he said harold the time of my departure is at hand i need to call you son and explain something to you he said i was praying and saying lord jesus i know it's time for me to go i've done the best i knew i i dedicated my life to emulating the ministry of simon peter and he said i i literally have experienced every miracle that peter experienced in the book of acts i've seen that in my ministry i've done my best to duplicate the ministry of simon peter and he said if i ever heard the voice of the lord i heard the lord that day speak to me and say and that was the problem billy you should have spent that time trying to be like me so he said go to my word and find out what i did right before i died and so he said i went to the word and obviously the last thing he did before he died was say forgive them for they don't know what they're doing so he said i called all 10 of them you know who they were harold he said i i will go to my grave believing i was right but my spirit was wrong he said i had murder in my heart against those men so i i wanted you to know son i didn't want you to question as he said i called every one of those men today and i asked him to forgive me because i wanted i wanted to die like jesus died in a spirit of forgiveness ladies and gentlemen when you get wounded and hijacked it takes over your life and it will not allow that wound to come to a biblical conclusion because the biblical conclusion of a wound is something called forgiveness and restoration and when you allow a wound to have a root of bitterness is it says a root of bitterness springing up not growing down roots grow down but let me tell you about bitterness it doesn't go down forever sooner or later it's going to bloom and it's going to spring up and when it does it says many are offended i i i i want you to understand that when you get wounded and you get full of bitterness and unforgiveness it's it's it's paul said the enemy has an advantage over you i can give you lots of verses that when you wound someone you are supposed to take the initiative and make that right but i can give you just as many verses if not more that show that it is the responsibility of the one that was wounded to make it right which is so against everything we've ever been taught and really what most of us live and if you don't agree with me all you have to do is go to calvary because he was the one that was wounded he he didn't wound anybody he he was the one betrayed and yet he forgave and that event on the cross made it possible for the holy ghost to be poured out on the day of pentecost there would have never been a pentecost if there would have never been forgiveness on the cross before i remember a couple of years ago i was came in here and i laid on the floor right there and i went i was so hurt with something that happened and i was pleading my cause to the lord and and i i didn't say what they said i said and i i didn't do that and you know you know what i said and you know what i did and i'm i'm asking you to validate me i'm asking you to defend me and if the lord ever ever spoke to me it was on that day in that floor when he said well harold you said you wanted to be like me no no no you don't understand i want to walk on water i want to open up deaf ears and blind eyes and and and give all them twinkies and host his cupcakes away and i i want to do the miraculous and it was so obvious the writings when it said you're going to have to be someone that fellowships my suffering before you ever know the power of resurrection ladies and gentlemen i'll tell you when a real a real pentecost occurs when it's the one that was wounded is the first to act and not just waiting for someone to come to them the bible said if you offend someone go to them another verse says if they offended you go to them so the ball is always in your court i don't care if you were the one that did the offending or if you were the one that were offended take the initiative to fix the thing and don't let these funnies persist for years and years and years simple wrongs that could have been simply righted because what i'm trying to show you is my question is very simple what does your wound reveal what's going to come out of your heart when you are wounded will they reveal your venom and your hatred and your childishness or will they reveal your capacity to forgive and your capacity to restore his wounds on the cross showed us what was in his heart water and blood the sacraments of the new covenant think of the power of that how many kabillions of sins have been washed away because of a wound on a cross and someone that was willing to give water and blood instead of weakness and bowel that's why the bible is clear step up stand up grow up here's what it says in isaiah 61 i saw the lord high and lifted up listen to philippians 2 and 9 when paul said that he has given him a name which is above every name now listen to the next book of ephesians where he said that name is far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that's named not only in this world but in that which is to come it's powerful it says his name is above but then it says it's far far above i know there are symbols every set of drums have symbols but according to psalms 150 and verse 5 praise him upon the loud symbols and then praise him upon the high sounding symbols there are praises and then there's another another series of praises in psalms 149 it said let the high praise it not just let the high praises of god be in their mouth a two-edged sword in their hand to execute vengeance upon the heathen punishment upon the people to bind their kings with chains their nobles with fetters of iron to execute judgment upon their and this honor this honor have all the saints praise ye the lord what an honor to not just praise him but have an understanding of high praises i don't have time to read it to you but both daniel and david talked about the lord most high i am inviting all of us today to a higher way of life a life that refuses to allow offense to keep us clinging to the ground because when you lift that cross and you lift that name powerful powerful things happen that's why hebrews said lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees and make straight paths for your feet lest that which is lame be turned out of the way but let it rather be healed follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the lord do you get what it's saying stand up strengthen them feeble knees and when you stand up you refuse to stay lame let it be healed for goodness sakes because this is a holiness church but we're going to need to be more than holiness if people are going to see the lord there's got to be peace with all men that goes along with all this holiness stuff that people have been preaching we've got to get along with one another it's a oneness church let us be oneness and more than doctrine so you stand up hey man let your wounds reveal your forgiving heart he will be lifted up when we do this stand up lift up your hanging heads lift up your sagging eyes lift up those hanging hands and when you get your head up and your eyes up and your hands up then the bible said you can now lift up your voice and with a lifted stance and a lifted hand and lifted head and a lifted voice the bible said you elevate you elevate him because this is what he said in john if i i be lifted up i will draw oh do you understand what we're dealing with here we are not content to simply serve a high and a holy god we want to have a lifted lord that can now release a dynamic that's called drawing i'm not talking that's a sketch here we're talking magnetism it's what the bible said in jude 23 and others say with fear pulling them out of the fire that there's a power when a church understands i'm not just going to praise them i'm going to have high praises in my mouth i'm not going to be limp i'm not going to be lame i'm going to strengthen these legs i'm standing up i'm lifting up i'm looking up why because i want to lift him up because only when he is lifted will all men be drawn hallelujah hallelujah we're going to dedicate children here we dedicated a bunch of children but jeremiah and jessica have another baby number three this is edison this is edison and when they bring him up here jeremiah if you get your sweetheart and get harrison and evelyn and edison bring them up here i want you to look how perfect i want you look how perfect this boy is but i want you to understand something we would have never had him without a wound and if something this magnificent can come out of a wound what can happen in our lives when we take something that the enemy said no weapon formed trust me he's worked on your bitterness for a long time the bible talks about the snare of the fowler he's done everything he could i used to trap things when i was a kid and man i learned how you you cut branches and you stick them in and you force those animals to go where you want them to go and you put that bait in the exact place that when they they reach it boy i used to the elected electricians had these metal boxes they didn't have plastic boxes when i was a kid they all all the medical all the all the electrical boxes were metal and and the electricians would twist these these they were about the size of quarters they would twist them things out to get their wires and their plugs in and i'd collect them i had an auger bit with a one-inch bore and i'd go down to the creek and i'd drill them holes in them logs and i'd put that shiny slug down in the bottom of that hole and i'd put nails around there because i knew them raccoons couldn't stand it they'd come down that log and they'd see that shiny they tried to grab that and when they tried to pull it out i had them that was 25 bucks richer it's a trap there's an enemy of your soul out there that's going to do everything he can to trap you it's going to drive him crazy when your wound turns out to be something that produces forgiveness and restoration and new life [Applause] will you come please precious elders over here we've got ministers uh we've got pastor john and pastor mike and i've got i've got mike gibbs if you're in the service and andrew licht or andrew hill rather and and bob lichtel and and brother brother brother natto i love that honorato he he said you got it right yeah yeah yeah i did i i got that right and there are many many others i could call but i'd like you to gather around these precious people jesus name jesus name amen would you stand with me please and would you stretch your hands if you if if mom or dad are here if grandpa grandma are here nieces nephews ensemble just just please please come up around here and the church if you can just get out of your pew and crowd closer around us here right now stretch shut your arm by faith the bible said if you can't get to jerusalem just look at where jerusalem is just shut your hand out towards jerusalem you will not be able to all lay hands on on jessica and jeremiah and the children here today but stretch your hand this way by faith all right lord jesus we we we are here to dedicate we are here to dedicate a child and in nominal christianity we would stop there because we've already dedicated harrison and we've dedicated evelyn and now we're going to dedicate henderson and we could stop right there but we have an understanding that really edison doesn't have a clue about what's going on right now this is about us dedicating ourselves to you for him lord jesus as a pastor i i don't ever want this boy to grow up and say what did daddy whatever happened to that guy that used to preach in our church what what my uh uh pastor often why why why why why does why does sister huffman go here and pastor robin doesn't go here why whatever happened to ashley's daddy where where is he at jesus where her daddy where did he go lord i if you see in my future that i'm going to bring shame on this church and cause a question to form in the heart of this little fella i'm asking you to take me before that ever occurs i do not want to live a life beneath the dignity of a child of god i know i'm human i know i'm frail i know i got flaws but i'm asking you god right now please don't let me regard things in my heart that will watch me bring shame and a stain and scandal on this church family lord i pray for his dad i pray for his mom dear jesus i want jeremiah to be the priest of the house he's always been a brilliant student he's always been a hard worker but lord i i want him to do more than than been flying a helicopter i want him to do more than just heal somebody's physical wounds i'm asking you lord that this year jeremiah will go to a new level i'm asking you god that he would be more than just daddy but he would be the priest the priest of this house i'm asking you for his sweetheart i'm asking you for jessica god who just quit a very lucrative job could have kept that job and made a big giant stacks of money but said i want to be a mom i don't want to just make money and lose my kids i'm asking you god right now to honor that commitment and that consecration that she chose to reach for the lost sheep and not the lost coin i'm asking you for grandma and grandpa for aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews this is a large extended family oh jesus i'm asking you god that the gibbs crew and the little crew will always be an insulation around this boy that if he ever needs someone to go to there will be more than enough options for him to talk to somebody i'm asking you god for this church for this youth group as these kids grow up i don't ever want to say i don't want to go to church i don't want to go to youth service it's boring nobody i don't have any friends there i'm asking god today to have a youth group that will consecrate themselves to you for them right now for this church family oh jesus i don't want this boy to be raised up in a church that very very seldom does anybody get baptized or anybody get the holy spirit or nobody get healed for months and months and months on a time i don't want these kids going to dead prayer meetings dead bible studies dead life groups dead church services i want this to be a lively place i want them to be excited about being in the church i want them to be excited about serving in the kingdom of god i ask you lord that this church would dedicate ourselves to you for him today that he would see a church of revival a church of worshippers a church of magnifiers a church where people are eager to sit on the front and first to come to the altar and to lift their hands in the list of course in the name of jesus in the name of jesus in the name of jesus let's thank the lord together shall we hallelujah everybody be in the choir right now everybody see their words are there for you uh the beginning [Music] is [Music] hey [Applause] is intercede we're resisting something here right now struggle with me for just a minute oh [Music] yes [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] thank you [Music] is gives me is who are you [Music] oh [Music] ah [Music] so [Music] i'm thankful just an incredible presence of the lord with us today we pray a prayer over you before we dismiss lord who are we we get to feel you like this [Music] and in our darkest darkest nights we know that you're with us and that you're our strength when we are weak lord that even in the very wounds that we occur in life you're gonna use those to reveal what's inside i thank you for this message i thank you for this day for the ministry of dave and stacey mize for every child that was dedicated today it's just been a great day we are so blessed here at first church [Music] i don't ever want to take it for granted how good you are and how merciful you are the greatest honor of my life is to know you and to serve you i pray over these amazing people god that wherever their path may lead in the days and the weeks to come that it would be directed and led a view help us mighty god to go forth with understanding lord with the mission reach and impact the soul mighty god put your blessing upon these people i pray your favor upon these people and i pray your provision upon these people bless almighty god i pray in jesus name amen amen don't forget your cookies in the lobby and tomorrow night monday night prayer i want to see everybody there you

Channel: First Church Sterling Heights

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Length: 94min 18sec (5658 seconds)

Published: Mon May 17 2021