Identity Theft | 5/2

[Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] amen the word of god declares that that this is the day that the lord has made and let us celebrate together in it amen so if you'll stand with us as we worship the lord remember when we stand we have to wear our mask but when you when you're sitting down you do not have to but mask or no mask it will not prevent us from worshipping the lord amen so we welcome all that are here gathered together in the sanctuary those that are gathered with us online we welcome you as we worship the lord together that we support globally and locally and i i just encourage together you can participate in mission that's what mission studies about awareness and participation so let's participate together now by praying god we come to you today on this great day god that you have made for us to gather in it and to bring you our worship i pray god in these moments that we will just allow our lives to be yours that we will empty ourselves out before you that you would receive all that we are god in worship that your name might be glorified today in this place that when we leave we know that we are the light of the world outside of these walls we are here god to declare your name and now we pray for all of our missionaries across the world we lift them up to you god you know who they are minister to them in every way provide for them in every way and we ask god that you would lead us by the holy spirit to eradicate the issue of abortion god give us favor lord and opportunity and partnerships across this island god it is upon your heart thank you god for us to have the opportunity to participate in your mission in jesus name we pray amen and amen now church let's worship the lord together god bless [Music] it's [Music] your blood [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] it goes through the night the precious blood of christ [Music] through the yeah the precious blood of [Music] it's christ every change it's making all things come on it speaks a better word over our lives it speaks more purpose over our lives the blood of christ looks in the face of death and it declares life it looks in the face of sickness and it declares healing this is what we've come to celebrate today it's the blood of jesus that covers our life and says a life that was purposeless now has purpose [Music] so we look to you now father we thank you for the blood sing this it's rewriting my history it covers me it covers me with destiny it's making all things [Music] it's rewriting my history and it covers me with destiny it's making all things right the precious blood of christ is rewriting my history oh it covers me with destiny it's making all things dry over the precious blood and cry is rewriting my history [Music] and it covers me with destiny it's making off me try the precious one is singing out it's singing how we thrive [Music] and it's shouting down the lines it echoes through the night the precious one always it's breaking every chain it's making all things right the precious blood of christ speaks a better word it always speaks a better word [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] it covers everything jesus we look to you today the father who sacrificed everything that we could once again be in relationship with you jesus we re-center ourselves around you today we remind ourselves why we live and what we're here for [Music] we thank you from the purpose that comes from knowing you the purpose that comes from not only pursuing your presence but embodying your presence and bringing it to this world we thank you for your blood and what it means for us [Music] jesus [Music] jesus had the center of it all from beginning to the end it will always be it's always been you jesus jesus [Music] jesus at the center of it all jesus at the center of it all [Music] from beginning to the end it will always be it's always been you jesus jesus nothing else nothing in this world [Music] everything revolves around you [Music] jesus [Music] we need nothing [Music] jesus be the center of my life jesus be the center of my life from beginning to the end it will always be it's always been you jesus oh [Music] who jesus in this world will do oh jesus revolves around you [Music] jesus we came here for one thing lord to lay it all at your feet god we're after this one thing we're after this one thing we're holding nothing back from you today from my heart to the heavens jesus be the center it's all about you yes it's all about you from my heart to the heavens jesus be the center it's all about you yes it's all about you jesus be the center it's all about you yes it my is to the heavens [Music] jesus it's all about you yes it's all about [Music] it's all about you it's all about yourself [Music] [Music] jesus be the center of your church jesus be the center of your church [Music] and every knee will bow in every tongue shall confess you jesus oh jesus be the center of your church jesus be the center of your church come on every knee will bow [Music] shall confess you jesus oh jesus lord jesus oh jesus come on there's still healing in that name jesus [Music] jesus you yes it's all about you from my heart to the heavens jesus be the center it's all about you yes it's all about you [Music] would jesus be the center of it all jesus be the center of it all from beginning to the end it will always be it's always been you jesus jesus [Music] jesus [Music] turn your eyes upon [Music] and the things of earth will grow strange leading in the light of his glory and grace upon jesus look full in his wonderful face and the things of our earth will grow strange leading in the light of his glory and grace who turn your eyes upon jesus [Music] look full in his wonderful face [Music] in the face of earth will grow strangely in the light of his glory and grace [Music] [Music] [Music] he's thinking back to what pastor matt said last sunday [Music] the heart does matter it begins with a heart it begins with the place of love and there's something about the american christian experience sometimes where we hear the name jesus enough that sometimes just that word loses its name his name loses in our own minds can i encourage you before we close before we move on to the next section of service ask the lord to bring you back to that first love ask him to help you return to that place if you're just not feeling it today if you feel like you barely made it into service and you're like hey i'm here he's here just begin to ask the lord remind me of that first love remind me of that place when i first met you and i actually felt the chains fall and i actually saw the healing and i couldn't stop picking up scripture and i couldn't find a moment that i i wouldn't want to spend with you jesus we've come to praise you today because you're worthy of everything you're worthy of everything we have and in fact more but all we can give you is what we have and so we turn our eyes to jesus the author of our faith the perfecter of our faith the one who set up every good thing that we would ever even do [Music] the one who enjoy endureth the cross and joy [Music] we look to you you're worthy of [Music] everything [Music] thou art exalted [Music] oh [Music] far foreign [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] the earth come on sleep i exhausted [Music] [Applause] [Music] is he worthy of your highest praise today come on is he worth looking like a fool [Music] today hi come on is it more than words today is he worthy of our highest grace [Applause] [Music] please [Music] me is [Music] things i [Music] jesus you are worthy of our highest praise and of our wildest praise you're worthy of everything we own you're worthy of all of our thoughts lord so today lord we lift up more than songs we lift up our hearts to you [Music] more than words we lift up our emotions today and our minds today to you trusting that your truth is greater and you're higher lord i thank you for these moments i thank you that we can come to this place and lift you up i thank you thank you that we're not just wanderers around this earth but we belong to you and we have a home in heaven a home with you jesus so we look to you today i thank you for pastor i thank you for his obedience to you that when you speak he's listening and he will just relay your message so i can say with confidence thank you lord for the word that you're about to give through pastor cover him now and give us all ears to hear what you have to speak today we love you jesus we pray this in your name amen you can all be seated in a moment you're going to see a video promoting an event coming up this week for the national day of prayer so i encourage you check it out and please consider coming out and just joining with the whole nation praying today kingdom of god come that's what he taught us to pray he taught us to ask and seek and knock because he is actually listening he taught us that when two or three gather in his name and ask it will be done in 1952 president truman signed into law that the national day of prayer be annually observed every year since then every president has given proclamation to pray for our nation on this day that's seven decades of the people of god in america crying out for his kingdom scripture tells us to cast our cares on the lord because he cares for us he cares about the famous and the faceless he reaches to the masses and the individual we need his power in our nation now more than ever his sickness healing relationship restored justice bringing stronghold breaking power smithtown gospel come cry out in prayer join with thousands of americans who are interceding for his kingdom to come in our country this thursday on the national day of prayer yes i invite everyone that's here in the sanctuary all of those that are in our extended sanctuary the overflow room those who are joining us right now online or maybe you'll see it a little bit later this week join us this thursday you know this is such a significant year our nation desperately needs prayer and the only ones who are going to lift it up in a genuine heart and spirit are those that are true believers so i really encourage you if you can't come i understand but if you can and you can prioritize it be here this thursday 7 30 here in the sanctuary we'll have the covet 19 various protocols in play but most of all we're going to cry out to god for a great revival a great awakening to sweep across all of this world amen and so please join us this thursday at 7 30 as we cry out to god together for our nation for the church and for all those that desperately need him i'm going to share this message with you that the lord placed strongly upon my heart but he actually placed it upon my heart yesterday saturday you see just to give you a little window into a pastor or a teacher or a preacher who genuinely sincerely wants not to give a sermon but a message from the heart of god that there are moments when you really wrestle you really engage in a a fight that precedes a feast and most of the time it's wrestling to hold on to maintain with integrity the direction of the holy spirit the development of the message and then pray for a proper delivery of it but there are some times when the wrestling is god pulling the message away from you in order to give you what's really on his heart for his people on that occasion when you're allowed to speak for him and so i prepared a completely different message on wednesday saturday morning i was visited strongly by the holy spirit i felt the wrestling the angst within my heart the battle i thought it was just to say lord i know this is going to be from you and this is what you want and he said no i'm pulling this message from you gary because there's another message on my heart for my people so i'm going to share it with you now a message that i know that i know if you're here in the sanctuary they're in the overflow room right now or if you're joining us online god wants to speak to you about the topic of our identity now this is not a class in psychology sociology we're now to embark on a journey right now in the study of human behavior i want to share with you from the bible what it has to say about our self-identity the unique identity personality and that godly fashion destiny he's deposited into your heart into your life young or old doesn't matter we're all candidates to hear what god wants to say to us about our identity being strongly and securely rooted in him do you know the bible maybe use the word christian two times but it uses this statement in christ 89 times throughout the scope of the new testament 89 times it says this is who you are in christ in christ as a genuine follower of him a call in your life to be a beloved son a beloved daughter and not to be distracted or derailed or deceived by this world when it claws at your identity in christ and so i want you to really listen with an attentive spirit i know the holy spirit of god wants to speak this to you and indelibly write it upon your heart in john chapter 10 and verse 10 it says this the thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy i have come that you may have life and that you may have it more abundantly when it comes to your identity in christ that is exactly where the enemy wants to sink his teeth he wants to come and dismantle your understanding of who you are in christ that transcends your career your education the accumulation of your experiences it's not even limited by your noted talents and gifts and abilities there's a significant call upon each and every one of us a unique call and the enemy seeks to destroy that to dilute it maybe initially to incorporate deception but eventually to absolutely destroy it this is a season in a time where you have to know your identity in christ it doesn't mean it becomes a path for arrogance or pride or becoming egotistical but it causes it engenders within you a rising up of great courage and confidence and boldness in the lord because you know who you are in him you see when it comes to our self-identity it's really the fusing together of our self-image and our self-concept our self-image is basically how we see ourselves and maybe the adjectives that we implement or employ to describe who we are you might not do that publicly but you do it internally mentally in your own self-talk every day you give a description of what you see and who you are that's your self-image how you see yourself and then your self-concept are the thoughts that you collect together and the conclusion that you form about who you are so your self-image how you see yourself and your self-concept the thoughts that you have about who you are when those fuse together it formulates your self-identity and that self-identity is extremely important the enemy will come against it the thief comes to to rob and to steal and kill as jesus described him the enemy the thief is the devil we can listen to the voice of self and be self-made the voice of others and be others made by society we can listen to the voice of satan and get completely off track or we can listen to the voice of god and be shaped and fashioned to the image of what he has called and destined us to be it's our choice jesus in john chapter 8 and verse 44 gave two titles to the devil he said he's a liar and a murderer those two are married together because the moment you or i believe a lie something in you dies something gets murdered so he's a liar understand this there is a serpent in the garden of your identity there always is that serpent wants to speak just like in the garden of eden there's a serpent in that garden that garden was precious it was innocent but there was a serpent there your identity who you are that garden that needs to be properly maintained as it says in proverbs chapter 4 and verse 23 watch over your heart your garden the your life because out of it your life is issuing it's coming forth watch over your garden but there's a serpent in every garden a serpent that wants to speak and deceive logically intelligently convincingly but not reliable lies well packaged convincing to you to dismantle your identity your self-image your self-concept ultimately your self-identity that needs to be rooted in christ he comes he lies he's a liar and his ultimate intent is to murder to destroy your life and destiny there is a fight there is warfare there is an intensity to that reality i remember as a young man when i gave my life to the lord at 16 years old my dad would frequent flea markets he would go to them and he would sell he used to be an antique dealer and so we would go there but he also did asphalt paving but that was his main profession but then he would sell antiques and we would go to flea markets he'd ask me to come with him early in the morning and i would we'd pack it all up put it on the tables you've been to flea markets and we'd be there and i was just fresh in the lord i wanted to witness to anything that moved and so there was a guy right next to us and so i started to share with him he was a big guy a little intimidating and i started to share with him about jesus and he looked down at me and he looked right into he goes look in my eyes i said i'm looking in your eyes he goes you see in those eyes as the power of the devil that's the power of darkness well at that moment remember i'm a newborn in god i didn't know what i was i didn't know my full identity in jesus but all i knew is i remembered a verse that said in ephesians you were at one time darkness but now you are light and it wasn't a simile it was a declaration you are not like light you are light so i looked at him and i said you look in my eyes you see in those eyes that's the light of christ and the life of god and the fullness of the spirit and you know he went like this oh what are you doing to me and i said whoa whoa i thought i had x-ray vision like superman right then i said and my dad said what'd you do to him i said i didn't do anything i just shared with him the light that's in me see we have to know our identity in christ in the midst of all this deception and darkness you've got to know who you are in him again that's not a platform for arrogance a humble spirit it engenders a boldness within you now one of the most destructive ways the enemy dismantles your identity is through comparison now there's one thing to be said about challenging each other and taking note of the example of another and being refined and corrected by one another but there's a whole nother spirit when you give not into challenging but comparing you determine who you are and the basis of who the other individual is you compare yourself with them intellectually with your education or maybe your material possessions your status your position your livelihood your profession you compare yourself with how they look and how you look what they have and what you don't have if they're married or not married if they're happily married and you're not they have kids or don't have kids you try to form a conclusion about who you are on the basis of that comparison we see an example of that recorded in john 21 when it basically says that peter was inaudibly concerned about who he was because he wanted to know what god was going to do what jesus was going to do with john and he actually inquires and says listen jesus what about him the disciple whom you love what are you going to do with him and jesus looks at peter and says listen no matter what i do with him that's up to me you follow me peter don't define who you are by comparing yourself with john we'll do that we all have a propensity to do that we'll listen to words or comments or opinions criticisms critiques or judgments that descend over our ears as even others compare us with others it's a dangerous path again in your garden of identity there's a serpent and that serpent wants to speak and wants to bite and wants to destroy you be discerning when moments like that happen when you realize you're engaging in a path of comparison determining who you are on the basis of who they are unhealthy comparison will blind you from seeing your uniqueness jealousy and envy will blind you from being able to see who god has fashioned and created you to be so don't go down that path don't get bit by that serpent of jealousy envy in comparison it's unhealthy and it's destructive i remember now this is going back maybe 20 30 no about 25 years ago so i was rather immature then i'm much more mature now but about 25 years ago we had a guest speaker and he was amazing okay and the congregation was coming up to me and saying wow you've got to have him here for an entire week he could teach and preach and prophesy and even sing which i can't do and he was very good-looking and so what did i do i started to compare and instead of rejoicing in his ministry to the flock i wasn't happy because he was so good so anointed and everyone kept coming up they said oh pastor i love you appreciate but this guy he's like the full package so what did i do what did i do i never invited him back again hallelujah bless god i actually never did listen god has made you and he's made me unique i mean we know that all of us seven billion of us on the earth now and millions billions that preceded us not a one of us have the same fingerprint we don't have the same eye print no one else has your teeth print your voice print no one speaks like you do you realize that in all the earth no one has your intonations inflections and waves it's unique to you a unique voice print teeth print i print fingerprint and smell print no one smells like you that's right turn to your neighbor overflow room even at home say no one smells like you now say it in a nice way please be kind in matthew chapter 3 and verse 16 the heavenly father makes this declaration to his son now take note of it he actually says it now jesus full humanity full deity fully god fully man but he wanted and needed to hear the affirmation the acceptance the approval of his father so there's something healthy about that real dynamic that's incorporated in our self-identity where we need to be recognized we need a sense of belonging we need a sense of acceptance and approval all those four are absolute realities the problem is where you go to get them where you go where i go to get that sense of recognition in other words eyes looking at you that communicates value where you get a sense of belonging where you get a sense of acceptance and where you get a deep sense of approval all of those are legit they're real and the human condition is hungry and thirsty for them but you've got to make sure you go to the right well and in your garden those need to be fostered and developed and matured and grown but be careful there's a serpent in that garden that wants to take out your understanding of where you go to get that sense of recognition belonging acceptance and approval and here in matthew 3 verse 16 and 17 it reads this it reads this way when he had been baptized jesus came up immediately from the water and behold the heavens were opened to him and he saw the spirit of god descending like a dove upon him and suddenly a voice came that had to be heard something to be said about something articulated over you and suddenly a voice came from heaven saying this is my beloved son in whom i am well pleased you see in your heart you might say well i need a sense of approval and acceptance yeah jesus did and his father delivered that to him now think of what was being communicated if we were to unpack that in the context of psychologists they would say wow what an incredible affirmation because it incorporated those four dynamics of what we need in the cultivation and the development of our self-identity the father says this is in other words you're recognized this is my eye is on you el roje is a title given to god in the old testament the hebrew language that means the one who sees the one who sees this is i see you i recognize you my see that's belonging ownership possession in a positive way this is my the covering that comes from that authority that proper ownership the father so this my belonging beloved son do you hear paul saying that the love and the acceptance beloved son in whom i am well pleased that's good healthy godly approval every child needs that every teenager needs that every middle-aged person needs that every senior citizen needs that every day but where do you go to get it jesus exemplified that by it came from god his father do you hear me where do you go to get that in your quest to stabilize your self-identity based on your image your self-image and self-concept where do you go to get recognized boy i know that person sees me well i want to know god you see me where do you go for recognition where do you go for a sense of belonging where do you go for that sense of acceptance and then approval go to the father remember in christ not in the world in christ now right after this experience what happens jesus gets tempted the scripture says in matthew chapter 4 and verse 3 the very first temptation what is being assaulted what's this what's being assaulted is his identity in matthew chapter 4 and verse 3 now when the tempter came to him he said if you are the son of god if you are the son of god command that these stones become bread what's happening there it's an issue there of performance perform change these stones into bread other words fashion and formulate the defining of who you are on the basis of what you do think of how we get berated with that every day who are you well this is who i am we identify our title our position our profession our livelihood what we do what we've accomplished our achievements our work isn't that who i am wow if that's who you are it's all wrapped up in that for those of you who retire you're going to lose your whole identity when you disconnect from your career you've got to be more than what you do there's a serpent there's a serpent in the garden that serpent wanted to bite jesus wanted jesus who just received that strong affirmation from his father to succumb to defining who he is who he was by saying well i am what i do no you're not you're far beyond that you're far beyond that the second temptation is recorded in matthew four verse five and six then the devil took him up into the holy city set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him if you are the son of god throw yourself down why so everybody could see you'll increase your popularity everyone will marvel and be amazed so you can define who you are on the basis of what others think about you that's what was at play here there was a serpent in the garden and the devil wanted jesus to identify who he was who he is on the basis of what others think about him have you ever battled that wrestling what do others think about my occupation my profession my career my education my ethnicity my race my experience what do others think about me we can become like jesus warned us don't become a house of merchandise always wanting to sell yourself to others will they buy you will they accept you and that's easy to succumb to what others think about you i i can get plagued with that what does that person think about me and that person think about me and i have to disconnect from that i've got to make sure that serpent doesn't bite me because that'll condition then how i behave toward others and i won't be dominated or ruled by love i'll become a slave to popularity and wanting to be liked i remember a warning that god gave to me as i embarked on the journey of ministry he said gary if you're moved by their compliments you'll be crushed by their criticisms you can appreciate both but don't be dominated or ruled by it because one day you'll be crowned the next day you'll be crucified so it's extremely important maybe you need to ask yourself that question i know it's rhetorical but ask it reflectively in your own heart are you concluding who you are on the basis of what others think about you it could come from legitimate sources like parents professionals or even peers i remember this is almost 20 25 years ago my daughter stephanie came to me and she said hey dad today you know it's called senior auction and at the school what happens is we have to stand in front of a bunch of students and they auction i said what are you talking about the auction it says well what happens is they they indicate they're going to pay a certain amount of money and then you have to go work for them and serve them throughout the day i said what a strange thing you got to participate in that she said yeah so pray for me i got to stand in front of a bunch of individuals and you know they're going to determine if they buy me or not well i went there to the i was in the auditorium and i saw my precious you know daughter get up and she was standing there and i could tell she you know it's what everyone thinks and uh they said okay all right we're gonna auction off stephanie now she's gonna serve you today you know it was a fundraising that was the intent we and um okay who wants to who wants to buy this one guy in the front goes ah 50 cents i was gonna like i'll take care of you later 50 cents a dollar i could see my she started turning a little red someone goes oh two or three dollars i got up i said i'm gonna give a hundred dollars everyone goes who is that i said right here hundred dollars beat y'all i didn't want my daughter standing up there and experiencing that and then i thought of our heavenly father i thought man if i felt that way toward my daughter how much god feels that way about you and i someone might come up to you and say hey you you're worth about a dollar and the lord says oh no you're worth the price of me giving my son that's how valuable you are to me that's how valuable you are to me in matthew chapter 4 and verse 8 it says this the last of the three temptations again the devil took him up on an exceedingly high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their glory and he said to him all these things i will give to you if you fall down and worship me what was he doing serpent in the garden of christ's identity happens to you and to me what was happening there he was wanting jesus to define himself on the basis of what he possessed i am what i have if it wasn't you know i am what i do or i am based on what others think about me this was i am on the basis of what i possess yeah i form the conclusion about who i am based on hey this is the house i live in the car i drive the watch i have the suit i wear the dress i have the purse i've got the the shoes i have oh is it fashionable sure that's what i've got see my material possessions are defining who i am or maybe your talents you know these are the gifts i have artistic gifts athletic giftings it's dangerous you'll get bit and you have to stop and say oh god i don't want to define who i am on the basis of the possessions i have i remember i for a first time i had a brand new suit and we didn't have a whole lot of money and i was teaching at a bible college and i was so excited and clumsy i was i reached to our table and before going to the meeting i was about to speak at i i hid a candle that diane wanted to make it a real romantic dinner and i hit the candle and the candle fell on my pants and then they almost lit on fire and wax got on it and then as i was reaching to get a a a cloth a napkin i hit the sauce and the sauce spilled on my leg and i was like yeah it was a clumsy embarrassing moment and i looked down and my brand new suit pants were desecrated they wax on one and sauce on the other and i remember i i was just there was anger actually surfacing in my heart and diane could see on my countenance how disturbed i was and then i felt like the lord said hey gary how much of you are in those pants and i immediately respond all of me because that's the problem i said oh that's the problem he goes yeah you're pouring your life into those pants the stuff you own sometimes you can pour your life into it that when it gets touched you get touched when it gets disturbed you get disturbed i remember a guy we had just got done preaching about the voice of the martyrs all these precious saints of god who were wrestling and battling and suffering all throughout the world and right after the service he comes in i'm at the door he's so mad he looks at me goes pastors are little somebody's got to do something i said what what's the matter somebody scratched my car i said oh this is not the day to tell me about a scratch on a car not when i've just heard about my saying my brothers and sisters laying down their life for christ i said besides i'm going to ask you something that the lord asked me how much of you has poured into that car i said well that's my car i said yeah i know car didn't just get scratched you got scratched that's the problem your possession now owns you controls you dominates you you poured yourself into it so that's the question i have for all of us you got possessions you own things how much of you has poured into that and we need to be poured into christ and find our identity in him not in what we do not what others think about us not in what we have or what we possess i'm going to ask the worship team to come up but according to galatians and chapter 2 and verse 20. i want to just close by reading this this is this is this is where i go when i know there's a serpent in the garden of my identity and i'm battling and wrestling with forming who i am on the basis of what i possess or what others think or the things that i've done or achieved and i stop and i read this portion of scripture it's my favorite verse in all the new testaments galatians chapter 2 and verse 20. i have been crucified with christ it is no longer i who live but christ lives in me and the life which i now live in the flesh i live by faith in the son of god who loved me and gave himself up for me why is that so important well to me when he says i've been crucified with christ it means my identity is being rooted in him in the cross this is not when he says it's no longer i that live a christ that lives in me this is not personality suicide this is not self-annihilation self-destruction pure buddhism basically teaches that not christianity christianity teaches self-denial it means you have a will and you have an identity you have a personality you have a destiny but you wrap that around god's will in his presence and his personhood it's not a loss of will it's not a loss of identity it's the proper expression and manifestation of your will and your identity in him i'm crucified with christ it's no longer i that live but christ that lives through me i'm in service to you jesus my identity is rooted in you and in the cross and the life that i do live i'm cognizant of these two realities you love me you really love me deeply and you gave yourself up for me that tells me my profound value to him no one else may like me but i know i'm valuable to him that will stabilize your identity so strong and being rooted in him can i invite everyone to stand maybe for you you've never received jesus to be your savior to be your lord the scripture i quoted at the beginning john 10 10 you've experienced a lot of things that have maybe attacked your life tried to destroy your life your identity but jesus said i've come to give life in that more abundantly i'd like every head to be about every eye to be closed here the overflow room even those of you joining us online right now you know god is speaking to you i know he was speaking through me to you i'm making sure that you have an identity that's rooted in jesus christ but the place to begin is to receive jesus as your savior and your lord would you pray this prayer with me jesus i've believed so many lies [Music] i've believed them i have spoken them i've been living them i ask that you'd forgive me and cleanse me i want my life to be restored back to you so i receive you now as my savior the forgiver of my sins and the lord the ultimate leader of my life and i receive the promise of abundant life a life that is filled with purpose and destiny and my identity that is rooted in you and i receive the promise of eternal life and now to all those who are listening i pray that god would give to you discernment when that serpent speaks and brings a lie you'll smash it under your feet in the name of jesus and declare like our master did it is written and you're knowing who you are the recognition the belonging the acceptance and the approval that all of us thirst for you'll always receive that from him your father in heaven in jesus name [Music] oh i was lost but he brought me [Music] i was lost but he brought me oh his love [Music] oh [Music] yes i am [Music] jesus died [Music] me [Applause] [Music] house there's a [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i am place not forsaken i am who you say i am you are for me not against me i [Music] i am who you say i am [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] my [Music] yes yeah come on let's celebrate let's celebrate today what an anthem that we have just sung we are children of god he is for us and not against us we have not been forsaken amen our identities are in christ let this not be something that's lighthearted this should saturate our souls so that when we leave this place we represent christ to the world as a light of the world amen amen what a beautiful beautiful time it has been today to truly gather with all those that are online and those that are here together praise god i want to encourage us today to honor the lord in our tithe and our offering from the beginning of scripture we learn that even abraham before he knew he was abraham was abram and he gave a tenth unto the lord we know that all is god's so we give unto him you can give online you can give into our offering containers in the lobby but it is on to the lord amen i want to encourage you if your need in prayer today if you need prayer today at the close of the service there will be altar workers that are ready to minister to you and if you're online joining us there will be an email address that you can send your prayer requests to because we pray over those requests we are together one body amen one body together i want to remind you to avail yourself to the mission stable as you exit as we're here to eradicate abortion but maybe you are in a crisis pregnancy or maybe you've had an abortion in your past there's ministry for you run to the lord they'll be waiting for you at the table today to comfort you and minister to you so let's pray together now actually declare the high priestly prayer may the lord bless you and keep you may the lord lift up his face to be gracious to you and may lift up his countenance and give you peace amen amen god bless you in jesus name let's go out together knowing our identities in christ god bless [Music] you

Channel: Smithtown Gospel Tabernacle

Views: 1,139

Rating: 4.818182 out of 5

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Id: bJ63LVK1K6I

Length: 74min 35sec (4475 seconds)

Published: Sun May 02 2021