June 9, 2013 - Carter Conlon - Staying Silent in a Perilous Time

I feel victory in this house bless the Lord marked this day on your calendar because today you're going to be free you didn't ask me of what yet today is going to be a wonderful day there's been a witness of the holy spirit from the moment we stepped into the house of God this morning this afternoon pastor William will be speaking on the topic of the power to forgive and I really feel this is a message that people need to hear and this evening one of our young intern evangelists will be bringing the Word of God tonight and there'll be testimony so please don't abandon the Sunday night service folks sort of many many people are coming to Christ bring your friends hear your neighbors and you don't even have to explain it to say come and come and experience it just come and feel the presence of God I've watched it week after week I like watching the skeptics in particular to come in you know the kind folded arms condescending smile looking around about 15 to 20 minutes in the tears start they start wiping their faces because the presence of God is undeniable and I thank the Lord for that I'd like you to turn to second Timothy please chapter one and also if you could find first John chapter four for times sake second Timothy chapter one first John chapter four I want to speak to you this morning about staying silent in a perilous time staying silent in a perilous time now father I thank you for the anointing of your Holy Spirit I thank you for mercy and for strength for all of us thank you Lord that you've invited us into something that you've already determined to do in our time not because we're strong or wise Lord because you are merciful there's no other reason and you're kind you are good and your mercy does endure forever help us to hear these words God thank you that you're not only willing to speak to us but to give us the power to obey and I thank you for this with all my heart touch this frail vessel with your Holy Spirit and give me the ability to speak this clearly let every heart be able to hear it and I thank you for it in Jesus name 2nd Timothy chapter 1 beginning at verse 6 to verse 12 wherefore I put the in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting on of my hands for God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord nor of me his prisoner but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel according to the power of God who has saved us and called us with a holy calling not according to our but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began but has now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ who has abolished death and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel where unto I am appointed a preacher and an apostle and the teacher of the Gentiles for the which cause I also suffer these things nevertheless I'm not ashamed for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day I want to speak to you today about what causes so many of us to be silent about Christ at a critical moment at such a critical moment in history at this present moment in America godlessness has pulled into the fast lane there's an agenda that has sense the moment of opportunity the godless agenda has made its move to overtake everything that is long-standing and cherished all bible-based value and tradition as it has been known this shouldn't surprise us there's been a godless agenda that always always follows every nation every nation that knows God or has known God and it's traveled with us all along but been kept in check because God's people and God's house has had a visible testimony I believe more now than ever before you and I need to regain our testimony as the people of God and honestly take a look at why so many are quiet at such a perilous time I remember when I was a police officer in Canada the laws of that country state that it is a crime both to do something that causes harm to another person or to neglect to do something that allows another person to go in to a place of harm both were a crime and we think about the numbers of people who are about to perish without God the numbers of people in our generation who are living an illusion that somehow mankind can pursue its own objectives in its own reasoning and its own wisdom and some kind of a utopian end awaits them when the end that awaits humankind without God is something that our minds can't even comprehend because of the terror of it it's not time for the Church of Jesus Christ to be silent it's time for you and I to speak as we've never spoken before now Paul identifies the route of silence as being fear-based now principally as I see it it's the fear of retaliation and rejection Paul calls it the afflictions of the Gospel he says for God has not given us the spirit of fear but a power that would be power over this fear that would dominate his end of love and of a sound mind he said be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord nor of me his prisoner but be a partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel according to the power of God it's not even debatable that there are there's going to be rejection there's going to be retaliation verbally at least when we are standing for what represents God in a godless time there's no doubt about it and Paul is writing to this young convert who's following is being trained in the ministry and saying Timothy don't back away because it's going to be different back away because people are going to reject you don't back away because there's going to be inconvenience or even retaliation but God is willing to give us the power to partake of these afflictions of the gospel these things that are going to come else little later on Paul says to Timothy the husband when the labors must be first partaker of the fruits God give you wisdom in this Timothy you're going to have to go through some things you're going to have to go through some trials and difficulties some hard times there are popular seasons in various parts of the world whether it's even popular to be a follower of Christ but then there are seasons where it's not popular to follow Christ and of course we're in such a season right now now the question that comes to each of our hearts is well why would we why should we knowing the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ why are we so afraid of what people think of us why does their approval mean so much to us and the rejection have such power to cast us down why does it really matter what unsaved people think why we're so afraid of the sneers the scorns the threats all of the condescension that comes towards those of us who actually know what the truth is there is a heaven there is a hell both are rapidly coming this way and in between the two there is a Savior we know the truth we know the truth because the truth is alive in us we know the truth because we've experienced the truth and not just a mental assent of the truth that's wonderful in itself but the truth has set us free the truth has produced in us new life the truth has made us into new creations the truth is bringing us into greater measures of strength and freedom every day as we sincerely follow Christ and so we we know it's not just a concept about God but it's a living reality of God inside of it we know the truth so then why does the scorn why do the sneers why does the condescension of those who are headed to an eternity without God and everything that that entails why does their condescension have the power to cast us down why does it have the power seemingly to cause us to keep our mouths quiet proverbs 29:25 tells us that the fear of man brings a snare it's a snare to be afraid of man and why are so many people afraid of other people you know that one of the number-one fears in humankind is public speaking why is that why are we afraid to stand in front of people and speak why are we afraid to be singled out why are we so afraid of people's opinions of us why does our whole identity if we're given a 15 minute lecture to perform somewhere why does a whole identity suddenly hinge on the success or failure of what we're given to say based on people's opinions of what is it inside of us that causes us to be so afraid of other people now I believe that the fear of men has its fuel source in our own nature our sin nature remember in Genesis chapter 3 tells us clearly that sin became entrenched in the human race when we and ourselves fell into the illusion that we could be gods or as gods remember Satan came to Adam and Eve and said God knows in the day you partake of this that I'm laying before you essentially I'm paraphrasing but that's what he was saying you will be as gods and you will know good and you will know evil now Satan himself was not content to be a worshipper in heaven he wanted to be worshiped in heaven and that lust in his own heart led him to think outside of the parameters that God's Word had established for him and he fell and when he came down into the earth he brought that fallen nature into the Garden of Eden and he sowed that nature into humankind into the human race and when that nature to be as God's is sown in us every one of us has that nature we have a sin nature the sin nature wants to live independently of God wants to think independently of God wants to ultimately be as God that means I can determine my own course I can decide what's right I can decide what's wrong God's ways I don't have to follow they're too restrictive they're too now God gave me a mind and God gave me ability to think and therefore I can operate outside of the borders of the parameters that God has laid down from my life and somehow I can reach the same utopian end the does who live within these borders claim that they also have access to now that's called the sin nature it's a delusional State that humanity falls into when that nature of Satan is allowed to reign unchecked inside of them now it's with that nature entrenched in humanity the next and obvious step is the desire to be worshipped that amazing now clearly God would never go along with the plan so the only thing left was for fallen people to turn to each other for approval for accolades and for applause that's why it means so much to people what other people think because we want to be worshipped it's a sin nature that's what our sin nature is all about that's why we can be we can be lifted up by the applause and we can be cast down when the applause-o-meter that suddenly just doesn't even hit the red line it sits around 30 when it should be in our estimation about 80 that's why humankind so lust for the praise of man that's why people are driven to the industries where they they live in this realm of adoration and accolades them and when they get there it's such a trap that they hate it but they're addicted to it they can't they don't know what to do without it so like the lust for men's approval is like heroin addiction really you know it's going to kill you but you can't do without it you look at the mass of people who reach the pinnacle of adoration to their lives and suddenly hating the very thing that they they longed for is too so ironic the only way to escape this snare according to the apostle paul in chapter 1 verse 7 of Timothy is God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind the only way to escape the snare is to call out to the Christ is within us the Christ who lives in these earthen temples the Christ who can give us the ability to escape the gravitational pull in all of us for the approval of other people but also give us the power and the love of God to turn back towards those who live without God for their own good in other words we can escape their either their praise or their criticism but we come back we come back because of this one reason for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son there's no other reason this love of God which has the power to resist the need for other people's approval without rejecting them is ours in Jesus Christ John chapter 6 and verse 15 says when Jesus perceived that the people were going to come by force and make him a king he departed to a mountain place alone he had within himself the power to resist the accolades of man but he also had the love of God so entrenched in him that he could come back and be given for the needs of those who didn't know that they were headed to an eternity without God this is the perfected love of God and it's this perfected love that gives us the strength to face the day that we live in and to do what we know must be done it's this love that has to be the core of your heart and it has to be the core of mine without this I believe there's going to be a falling away in the days ahead we're much of what calls itself the Church of Jesus Christ will cave in in this country to the criticism of a whole generation that feels it can live without God it will be driven into silence but the love of God would compel us to speak the love of God will drive out fear look at first John chapter 4 now please if you have it they're already in your Bibles beginning at verse 13 here's what the scripture says hereby know we that we dwell in him and he us because he has given us of his spirit and we have seen and do testify that the father sent the son to be the savior of the world we've seen it and we testify of it whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God God dwells in him and he in God I don't believe that's I don't feel that's just a belief in it but it's something that is constantly coming forth from our inward parts because doesn't the Bible say out of the abundance of the heart the month will speak and who confesses and continues to confess it's not ashamed of the testimony of Jesus Christ is not afraid of the snares of man is not afraid of the rejection of a society that has held bent on its own destruction and we have known verse 16 and believed the love that God has to us God is love and he that dwells in love dwells in God and God in him herein is our love made perfect that we may have boldness in the day of judgment because as he is so are we in this world there is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear because fear has torment he that fears is not made perfect in love he that fears is like if the blind man was touched of Christ but only saw people as trees walking he had only a half a vision and when he came back again for that second touch and found the Lord was willing to touch him then it says he saw all men clearly he that fears is not perfected in the love of God that's how I read this passage of Scripture doesn't have a heart to see men the way God sees them and then and because of that is driven back by their hard looks is driven back by their condescension is driven back by their their inference that somehow we lack intelligence be we believe in God I don't ever want to stand before the Lord one day and have somebody that I knew looked me in the eye and say you know that this was true you know that this place existed you knew there was a heaven and hell why didn't you tell me I know I was nasty but why didn't you open your mouth and tell me anyway you knew this place existed you knew that all men were gonna go you knew I was going to go here you knew my children were going to go here why didn't you speak to me for what justifiable reason would you keep your mouth closed when my house was on fire and you were walking back and you saw it you saw my children playing in the traffic and yet you said nothing what reason do you have for this the only reason that a child of God would have is I wanted your favor more than the favor of God I wanted you to praise me I wanted you to like me I wanted you to speak well of me I didn't want you to laugh at me I wanted your applause I wanted your accolades I wanted you to stand up and tell everyone how wonderful I was oh there's such a trap when you and I get to the place where we love the praise of men more than the praise of God he goes on to say if any man says I love God it hates his brother and you know in the original text it's amazing the word hate translated in the King James in the original text you want to go back and really speaks of also an indifference he says he loves God and really is indifferent to his brother he's indifferent to the person that he has contact with and his no nose is going into hell and destruction shoulders and basically just goes his way said how is it possible to say that we love God and yet have this indifference to fallen man inside of our hearts Paul tells Timothy and verse 8 of 2nd Timothy 1 be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord nor of me his prisoner I remember when I first got saved I loved God you know I love to go into church I loved singing the hymns were brand new to me and I'd open them up and I would actually cry as I was singing them I loved the fellowship I love the feeling of God's presence but it it it just couldn't translate in the first couple of years into what happened outside of the church not only was I ashamed of Christ afraid to be rejected I was also ashamed of those that knew Christ and loved Christ I remember walking down the street with some of my friends one time the police department seeing a Christian walked towards me and I just cringing inside I didn't mind giving somebody a hug at church I didn't mind saying god bless you God love you what a wonderful day this the day the Lord is made but not in the street with my friends with me and many of you know exactly what that's that's like and so I'm sharing it so that you know that your struggle is not unique to you but it's common to all people we all have to go through we all got to break that that barrier and it's only a paper barrier it's like the beginning of a football game you ever notice that when the football players come running out in the field they break through this paper barrier it's just a paper barrier that's all it is and at some point we have to break through this and get into the game man put it that way and I didn't know how and I was so tired of being ashamed of Christ and in public I was so tired of being afraid to stand out and be different and be distinct that it drove me into desperation and I got so tired of I remember the day I was driving down the street my patrol car literally punched the steering wheel I was so fed up with myself after almost two years of this and I said God I'm going to serve you if it kills me I'm tired of this I'm sick of it I remember the next day or thereafter at work another Christian police officer said to me he said Carter he said we're going down to the prison we're going to share Christ during during the week on an e on an evening and he said well the Chiefs given his permission to do this in uniform and I remember thinking I said Bob there was a riot there just a while ago I said if there's a right in that prison we're in uniform were dead we're absolutely dead and he said to me I know he said you want to come or not and I remember thinking I remember all of a sudden I got this flashback to a couple days before hitting the wheel saying I'll I'll serve you if it kills me and so I eventually I said all right I'll go and and we were on the way to the prison and on the way there he said let's let's stop a friend of mine who was an affiliate of the outlaws it's a type of a Hells Angels motorcycle gang in Canada he said he's a one year spiritual birthday and I looked at besides it's not possible there's no way this guy could be living for God I know what these guys I know their initiation rites and what they go through to get into this gang how is it possible this guy's living for the Lord and he said well you want to come and I thought well the halfway house is not so bad it's a whole lot better than the regional prison so we went to this halfway house on the way to the jail and when we were there this this whole this whole place was full of heavy-duty ex-cons I'm talking about heavy duty this wasn't this wasn't a light transition Center this was this was heavy duty and they were all loving god they're all talking about Jesus they're not ashamed to tell me they're not ashamed to tell me what they've done where they've been how God has saved them how he's filled them with the Holy Spirit and the director of the house ended up asking us if we they were having a service will you stay will you stay for the service and I'm turnin me said you want to stay here instead of going to the jail tonight and I thought sure I'd given the choice I'll stay here for sure so we stayed at this halfway house they had a great service the testimonies were phenomenal the worship was incredible presence of God was as thick as oil in the room and at the end of when it's all over all these ex-cons gathered around I'm in uniform I still had my gun my real gun is on man and I'm standing there and they said have you been filled with the Holy Spirit and I said well I reverted to my theology and I said you of course if when I received Christ I was filled with the Holy Spirit which is true in measure I mean we do receive the Holy Spirit and they said yeah but have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit and I said well and I looked at them and I thought how arrogant what a thought I thought well you guys need now you're getting out of jail you know you you're trying to you're trying to reintegrate into society and you know I mean you got it you got a real tough so God's got to have something for you to kind of get you out of here and back into society but me of course you know and I'm thinking you hypocrite you can't speak even the name Jesus outside of these doors here you're ashamed to the name of Christ you don't have any power and you know you don't and they said would you would you let us pray for you the God give you his spirit and I said alright okay I will you can pray for me and then some guy went around stood behind me I said get away from me don't stand behind me I said I never liked people standing behind me and and they said you probably be wise if we stood there he said I said no I don't need anybody stand behind me so I lifted my hands and they began to pray and the next thing you know I hit the hardwood floor not expecting that to happen and I remember laying there in uniform on this hardwood floor speaking in another tongue thinking thinking that if the chief ever finds this out they're going to put me in a psychiatric hospital but it wouldn't go away it just wouldn't go away and I remember I remember coming out I think that it was that real did that really happen to me and I got in my car and and I'm all the way home every time I'd open my mouth it's this his river would come out of my mouth and I I was just so aware of the presence of God now we were we were being discipled in it church that didn't believe in the second touch of the power of God for the purpose of witnessing cry to Christ and I remember him coming in the door of our farmhouse and my wife was sitting there I said hey listen to this and then I started to speak in tongues and I ran out the door we had a farm at that time of sheep farm and I was running through the fields shouting and praising and singing and speaking in tongues and pastor Teresa sat there and she said oh god my husband has lost his mind he snapped she eventually saw that there was such a change in my life I was no longer bound by Firoz no longer ashamed to speak the name of Jesus Christ there was I found I found God put a compelling love in my heart yes there was a fliction there was trouble I was opposed I was threatened but I couldn't stop speaking because I genuinely cared about the people I was speaking to it wasn't a program it wasn't something that you do I wasn't waiting for the right moment to hand out a tract I was compelled to speak about Jesus Christ these men and women have worked in this department I was part of we're dying in their sin and somebody somebody with the compassion of God had to reach out and I thank God I thank God for that moment and I want to tell you today that if you are desperate you have to be desperate you have to want to be a witness for Jesus Christ you have to be sick of the powerlessness you have to be sick of being one thing in church and being something else on the job you have to be sick of it inside and say god I've had enough of this and I don't care who laughs at me and I don't care who thinks I've lost my mind and I don't care what people say I want the power of God I want the touch of God in my life I want this victory that Jesus offers to those who belong to him I knew I was saved and I knew the Holy Spirit was in my life and I knew if I died I was going to heaven but that wasn't enough I wanted the power of God to stand in a public way for Jesus Christ I saw the promises in God's Word Paul says be a partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel according to the power of God was saved us and called us with a holy calling not according to our own works but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began God said I I saw you coming and I made a way for you I made a way for you to fulfill the calling of God we'll come on your life not in just part measure but in full measure are we I made a way for you to be a voice for the kingdom of God I made a way for you to love people with a supernatural love I made a way to give you courage that only God can give to humankind I made a way to cut the cords of needing the praise and the approval of man and coming back again in the power of God because the love of God constrains you to speak to them I made a way for you to stand in prisons I made a way for you to go it's all nations throughout the world I made a way for you to stand in your skull stand in your College stand in your community stand in your neighborhood stand in your home I made a way for you to stand not by your ability but by the power of God I made a way for you to be everything God says that I called you to be but now is made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ was abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel Jesus Christ destroyed the penalty and power of sin he gave a clear testimony of victory in life through what you and I have been called to speak we're not only called to speak about victory were called to live in victory we're called to be a living testimony but now he said this this victory this plan of God that was made in the heart of God before the world began has now been made evident by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ well Christ lives in me Christ lives in you and when we allow God to be God in us that victory begins to appear the darkness starts to dissipate the bondages start to be broken the wounds are healed the prison doors opened before us we're brought into the realm of a supernatural life we are given giftings we don't naturally possess we're given abilities we could never attain in our own strength we're given words we could never come up with with our own reasoning that the power and the glory might be of God and not of us hallelujah to the lamb of God I thank God that in our weakness he is willing to be strong I thank God he's willing to endure with our frailties I thank God he's touched with the feelings of our weaknesses and our infirmities and tells us come boldly now to the throne of grace come with confidence come as sons come as daughters come to find strength to help in your time of need glory to the name of Jesus Paul said in verse 11 and 12 the first Timothy where until I am appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles for which cause I also suffer these things in other words Paul says I suffer I'm called and I'm appointed every one of us in this century today everyone in roxbury everyone listening at home everyone will hear this tape in the future everyone in the education annex we are called and appointed by God to be vocal witnesses of these truths we're not called to be silent in a moment of crisis we are called to stand for what we believe in we're called to stand and not be ashamed I'm not ashamed of Jesus Christ I'm not ashamed to stand in this pulpit and say he is the god of my life and has transformed me and continues to work in my life I'm not ashamed to say there is only one way to eternal life through Jesus Christ I'm not ashamed of the cross I'm not ashamed the simplicity of Jesus Christ I'm appointed a preacher an apostle a teacher of the Gentiles for which cause I suffer these things nevertheless I'm not ashamed for I know whom I believed and I am persuaded he's able to keep that which I've committed to him against that day I know that I've been appointed to speak that's got to be something in everyone's heart today I'm not afraid of rejection I'm not afraid of the scorn I'm not going to cower down under the sneers of a fallen humanity I know that God Paul said will keep me to the end of my journey he will preserve me and he will keep his love alive in my heart that I'll not become jaded or angry he will give me the power to love those that hate me for their souls sake he will give me the strength that was his when they walked by his cross and reviled him and wagged their heads and laughed and joked and garm and gambled for his garments and all that came out of his mouth his father forgive them they don't know what they do they have no knowledge of who they're mocking and they don't see what's ahead of them you and I must not be silent in a perilous time the only thing that would open our mouths is the power of God and the love of God God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and a sound mind the sound mine is simply to know that these things are right and they're true and the sense to simply move towards it the sense to get up and do like this ex-cop did almost 36 years ago just got up and walked towards the promise of God God has not given us a spirit of fear but power and love and a sound mind and the sound mind says this is right and this is true and what God has done for others all throughout history he will also do for me Jesus himself said if a son asks for bread a father will not give him a stone how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask we either believe these words or we don't it's either true or it's a lie and you and I know that these words are true I challenge you with everything that's in my heart today we don't have 20 years to get this right if we don't rise now as a church age this is going to be a really unrecognizable land in the not-too-distant future we must we must stand in the power of God now I want to give an altar call this morning to those who hear this word and say Lord Jesus Christ I'm tired of being afraid of people I'm tired of needing their applause and their approval but God I need your love to speak I can't do it without your power and I can't do it without your love I'm asking you Lord to touch my life I'm asking you to give me your Holy Spirit I'm asking you to perfect me in that love of Christ that will cast out all fear we're going to stand in just a moment I'm going to ask the people who are have a tendency to rush for their cars at this moment - please have enough respect to let people who want to respond to this altar to come first and then you rush for your car I mean this sincerely I believe it's disrespectful to crowd the aisles trying to get out of the house of God when people are trying to come to an altar as we stand for those who hear this word today we're going to worship for about 10 minutes or so and for those who have heard this word and say God Almighty you're speaking right to my heart you're speaking right to my situation I am so tired I'm so tired of being silent in a perilous time God please give me your power and let the love of Christ be my motivation to open my mouth and speak the name of Jesus would you please stand and those who want to come please just come there's a there's a point in the testimony of the Christian Church when we just don't have time to argue doctrine any longer that we all have the sense to recognize that we need the power of the Holy Spirit to stand up and do what we're called to do we have to call out to God to be in us what we could never hope to be in ourselves you know that and I know that I want to encourage you with everything in my heart today we're going to lift our hands and you talk to God and you tell Jesus what it is you're looking for his power for what is it that you're hoping to accomplish what is it that you feel that God would do through your life what do you want to do with the power of God is it a is a legitimate purpose that you want freedom and power of God for is it to consume on yourself or really is it for the purposes of God remember you sit in James you ask and you ask you miss because you ask to consume it on your own lust and that's even the power of God some people just want the power of God to get more applause they want the power of God to have more favor with fallen people and to feel good about themselves along the journey and he said don't think you'll receive anything from the Lord that prayer won't be answered but if you're willing to be a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel and to stand to be a preacher and a teacher to in a in Paul's case the Gentile world who knew nothing about God and were quite often hostile to the message I don't know with you but I just so want to make a difference in this generation I just so long for people to know and to feel what we feel today I feel like the the four lepers had went into the camp of the enemy and found the enemy was defeated in this great spoil was there and suddenly one day they said we do not well to keep this to ourselves people are starving in the city and we know or provision is we know what the truth is we know the enemy has been routed and gone he's long ago fled into the wilderness and all this great spoilers here why are we not going back to the city and telling the people that we found provision thank God that's why God used those for lepers because they had that heart to go back a lot of other people may not have gone back but they went back and that's I think why he's wanting to use you and I because in our in our weakness and struggle the one thing we will do when the provision of God has given to us as we will tell others about it that's why I believe you've come so would you just lift your hands to the Lord now Father God Almighty we collectively come to you as the body of Christ and I know people are online all over the country and even other countries of the world and Lord we recognize this is the last hour of time God you promised through the Prophet Joel that you would send your Holy Spirit which you did on the day of Pentecost but you also promised in the scriptures the latter house will be greater than the former God we ask you in Jesus name to fill us afresh and anew with your Holy Spirit and give us strength O God and giftings that could only come from the hand of God compel us to speak Lord compel us and make our lives into a compelling testimony in this generation o God we don't want to be just people are just espousing a set of facts but Lord we have to be a vibrant living witness of the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and so take us out of weakness and into strength take us out of captivity into freedom take us out of poverty and into the treasure of Christ within us take a sound Lord of looking inward and help us to look to you the source of our life and the source of our strength o God we say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord we bless your spirit of God we thank you Lord for taking us in our frailty and filling us O God from the crown of our heads to the soles of our feet raising us up to be a mighty army in this generation we're not content Lord just to be Christians in the house of God we're not content more just to vocalize what we believe here we're not content just to sing our songs around this altar Lord God we want to be witnesses wherever we go that's what your promise was to us Lord take us out of weakness and bring us into our inheritance truly we sit at the right hand of God in all victory and Lord so we ask you Father in Jesus name set us at a table in the presence of my enemies and make our cups to overflow God do it for the glory of the name of Jesus Christ hallelujah glory to the name of Jesus glory to the name of Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus let your name be glorified Jesus Jesus in New York City be glorified bigger a final God hallelujah hallelujah father we ask you to fill us and fill us again and fill us again and fill us again and empower us O God with the life that you bought for us on the cross you didn't die and raised from the dead so we could just be a mediocre witness sitting in some house somewhere no no no you promised life and you promised it more abundantly and you promised victory and you promised strength so when we take you at your word today and we come to the throne of God to find grace to help in our time of need open our mouths O God give us the power to speak hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah thank you Jesus thank you Lord begin to pray just begin to pray just pray just call out on God thank you lord thank you God thank you Jesus thank you mighty God thank you Lord Father we ask you to do something in New York City so profound so powerful that the whole world will have to stop and take notice Jesus glorify your name glorify your name my God my God my God glorify your name hallelujah hallelujah thank you Lord for taking us in our weakness thank you God thank you Lord for calling us yours when we don't have it all together thank you Lord thank you God for being willing to walk with us and partner with us hallelujah to the lamb of God give him a shout of praise in this house this morning you

Channel: Times Square Church

Views: 15,040

Rating: 4.8048782 out of 5

Keywords: Carter Conlon, Sermon, Times Square Church

Id: ugvnwOGxohY

Length: 48min 57sec (2937 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 12 2013