Knowing Him | Knowing Jesus | 05.30.21

[Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hello life church 7 family welcome we are so glad that you're joining us today whether online or in person today is going to be a powerful day of freedom we are so excited and here are your weekly announcements ladies you are invited to join me and our zoe sisterhood this wednesday for our zoe gathering i am so excited because pastor kaylee islander is going to be joining me for a q and a it's going to be such a fun night we're going to worship together and then kaylee and i are going to talk about all the things all the things all the important things so come and join us for a powerful conversation encounters with jesus and to grow in your relationship with god and other people we're gonna have so much fun it starts at 6 30 p.m there will be child care available so come join us invite your gal pals it's going to be awesome also zoe conference august 20th and 21st oh my gosh i'm counting down the days it's going to be an amazing conference you don't want to miss it rita springer who is an anointed and powerful worship leader speaker will be with us and we're just gonna have an incredible weekend of discovering truly the unique way that god has created each of us so that we can walk powerfully as a marvelous masterpiece so you can sign up today on the app online join us it's gonna be an awesome weekend that sounds incredible but speaking of masterpieces men we have man camp coming up and you need to sign up and register places and spaces are already filling up but we want you to sign up today just go on the app website register it's only 50 june 25th through the 27th and if you have a son that's 18 or younger they are free if they come with you we have 10 sites rv sites and if you're not comfortable with sleeping on the floor you can also stay at a hotel for your convenience but the food is covered it's gonna be an amazing time make sure you register and you know mile we used to be youth pastors we did that was a fun season yes and now we get to say go to youth camp go to youth games but we won't be there oh i wish we were sad but it's amazing time because pastor josh and pastor robin have been playing an incredible camp august 2nd through the 5th riverview bible camp but the guest speaker is none of them mike maya shadow oh it's mae shiro mike meshita mike will be mike will be there and the cost is only 275 dollars 275 it is going to be well worth your time what are the ages that can go um 11 through 17. wow did you just be i just read that i don't know but sign your kid up and find out that's what i always do you know miles some people say they're obstacles but we say there are opportunities and now you get an opportunity to hear from one of our worship directors cole cox would you give it up for him as he shares some opportunities on how you can get plugged into our worship ministry what's up guys i am so excited to tell you about an awesome opportunity we have on how to get plugged into our worship arts ministry if you are a skilled musician that has a heart for god's presence a heart for worship and a heart for what he's doing here at lc7 then we want you to email us at worship lifechurch7.com we are especially looking for electric guitar players and drummers but there's room for more in every area so if this is something that's burning in your heart i want to be a part of this ministry i want to be a part of what god's doing through this ministry then email us can't wait to hear from you wow there's so much happening at life church 7 this summer so many ways for the whole family to get plugged in to go deep and to serve now with that being said let's get ready to worship and encounter the lord yes good morning everyone would you stand with me please as we prepare ourselves to worship i'm gonna read we're starting a new series today pastor mark brought a great message in the first service this morning he'll be sharing with us shortly starting in the book of john for the whole summer and there's a very well-known scripture in john that i want to read to you to get your heart ready for worship but as i'm reading it would you do this would you just open your hands or raise your hands just begin to posture yourself in a position of shaking off everything that's been going on in your mind this week you've come here now to encounter the lord to have the lord minister to you as you minister to him in worship that's the great exchange that happens for us that he's so generous and good well we come and bring a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving and our singing and our finances and the way we love one another he meets us and exchanges and gives us much more in return and here's this scripture this will motivate us to worship john 3 16 that you know very well but just let it hit your spirit newly this morning for this is how god loved the world he gave his one and only son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life god sent his son into the world not to judge the world but to save the world through him there's no judgment against anyone who believes in him let me read that verse again there is no judgment against anyone who believes in him let's raise our hands together jesus we believe in you we believe in you you are the son of god the savior of the world the baptizer in the holy spirit the resurrection and the life the bread of life the living water you are everything that we need and we have come to worship you in spirit under truth and thank you for all you're going to do in our lives today [Music] worthy [Music] worthy [Music] worthy you carried the cross upon your back bleeding until your final breath tears [Music] is no greater love [Music] there is no greater love what you've done it was more than enough more than enough for the cross what you've done the power of your blood was more than enough the sacrifice would change history the nails in your hands the hands that saved [Music] the sacrifice that changed [Music] [Music] [Music] what you've done it was [Music] what you've done what you've done [Music] [Music] thank you all my heart will sing [Music] forever [Music] oh [Music] what you've done the power of your [Music] blood [Music] the power of your blood we say thank you jesus oh thank you you for breaking the bread of your body for spilling [Music] thank you oh my heart will sing forever thank you [Music] thank you come on let's just tell him thank you jesus thank you jesus [Applause] thank you thank you my heart with me what you've done [Music] [Music] what you've done it was more than enough [Music] jesus you're [Music] [Applause] [Music] yeah come on it's baptism sunday come on all up here there you go come on up jericho right here good deal there you go stand right over there let's slide a little bit to the left there you go right there buddy awesome so cool so what is your name and why are you getting baptized my name is jericho and i forgot the word come on and the walls are coming down come on dude you're amazing he told us back there uh that he wants to live his life for jesus forever amen so good so proud of you jericho jericho's a stud all right we love you dude all right what's your name stay right here they go what's your name and why do i get baptized my name is james and the reason why i want to get baptized is my job as a christian is to help other kids find the love of god and my the thing i need to do first is get baptized obedience baby very good high five good all right what's your name and why do you want to get baptized my name is aubrey and i want to give my life to jesus come on and tell the world right come on that's so good all right and what's your name why do you want to get baptized my name is chantel and i want to show my faith to jesus come on that's what it's about very cool you guys stay right there good deal would you extend your hands this way we're gonna pray for every single person so lord we just thank you for every person that's getting baptized thank you for jericho lord james and aubrey and chantel and we just say bless them holy spirit fill them with your presence your power may they walk closely with you all the days of their lives and we thank you for this amazing day may it forever be a defining moment for them that they are following you and loving you in jesus name and everybody said amen let's give the lord a praise one more time [Music] shame is a prison he's cruel as a great shame is a robber and he's going to take my name my love is my redeemer lifting me up from the ground and love is the power where my freedom song is [Music] [Applause] lifting me up from the ground and love is the power where my freedom song is found there ain't no hold grace body [Music] [Music] body down [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] gonna hold my body down [Music] there ain't no gonna way my body down [Music] [Applause] cause there was a battle a war between death and light and there on a tree the lamb of god was crucified he went on down the hill could hold his body down his body down [Music] could hold his body down [Music] could hold his body down [Music] if you walked out the grave i'm walking too if you are down the grave i'm walking to you if you walked out the grave i'll walk [Music] is [Music] [Music] if [Applause] [Music] gonna hold my body down [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] again [Music] down [Music] could hold my body down [Applause] [Music] so i love you lord for your mercy never fails me all my days i've been held in your hands from the moment that i wake up until i lay in my head of the goodness of god one more time i love you lord [Music] i wake up until i lay in my head of the goodness of god [Music] so [Music] of the goodness of god i love your voice [Music] [Music] [Music] god [Music] i am [Music] right [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is cause all my life [Music] [Music] able oh [Music] foreign [Music] oh oh [Music] god [Music] [Applause] so [Music] [Music] spirit of wisdom open my eyes again spirit of revelation open my heart again spirit of wisdom open my eyes again spirit of revelation open my [Music] wanna heart you rightly jesus [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] open my eyes again [Music] jesus cause i know that your eyes are like flames of fire i know that your head [Music] and i know that your eyes are like flames of fire i know that your head is [Music] [Music] that your head is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is no foreign like you in the heavens or on the [Music] there earth [Music] sing to him [Music] oh [Music] [Music] me [Music] is [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] jesus [Music] jesus you're beautiful [Music] [Applause] jesus just close your eyes just for a moment everyone in the room just tell them keep singing that yeah jesus you're beautiful jesus you just lift your [Music] we're not singing songs we're singing directly to his heart this morning come on one more time [Music] let us praise the lord for his great love let us praise the lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for us it's easy to praise the lord when we remember the wonderful things he's done in our life it's really quiet let us praise the lord his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for us yeah yeah and listen to this for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things he satisfies the thirsty he fills the hungry with good things this summer we're going to be going through as jim said at the open through the gospel of john and we're going to know jesus more closer better however you want to describe that than ever before at the end of this summer you are going to have more encounters with him you're going to know him more than you did last summer than you did the year before i'm 41 years old and i'm just getting a glimpse of his goodness i've had encounter after encounter with jesus and i'm just getting a taste of his love for me and of his wonder and his splendor would you put your hand on your neighbor's shoulder person you came with just maybe on their back i just want you to prophesy just begin to pray over them say you are going to know jesus more throughout this summer than you ever have in your life you're going to get a new vision a new understanding a new revelation of his love for you you are going to encounter the love of jesus this summer begin to pray that over them you are going to know him more you are going to know him more this summer than you ever have before yeah now if you're getting prayed over satan now just resay i received that just begin to declare and to agree with that i am going to encounter jesus this summer i am going to starting today i am gonna encounter his love i'm gonna encounter him in a new way deeper yeah thank you lord yeah so holy spirit we just asked as pastor mark brings the word here in just a few moments but just not just today but throughout this summer lord that we would that you holy spirit would bring a revelation of jesus to our hearts into our minds that we would encounter your love yeah say i'm ready the rest of you say i'm ready i'm ready yeah the next 41 years of my life i'm gonna get to know him more and more and the sweeter the more you know jesus the sweeter he becomes you remember that person in your life like as you start to become friends like i'm not sure i want to be friends with them with jesus with jesus it's it's never gets old he just keeps getting song right he just keeps getting better and he never disappoints he's always on time he loves you and he loves me wow thank you lord will you just take your cell phone or your wallet or your purse ladies you have your purse hold your purse up no don't you have to do that i'm just kidding we're we're gonna worship the lord now through our giving we give because we love jesus we give because we want to advance his kingdom we want to partner our finances with what god is doing around the world we give because we want to support missionaries life church is supporting missionaries right now that are sharing the gospel all over the globe amen we give out of obedience we give out of relationship we give out of love yeah so lord i just thank you that life church 7 is a generous church that life church 7 is a generous church i thank you god that you've worked the generosity in my own heart that you have given me an upgrade in generosity i thank you lord take this time now as we give either through push pay or however we give god you would take it and multiply it do what only you can do and that's multiply it for your kingdom for your name we give joyfully say i give joyfully now the rest of you say i give joyfully everybody i choose to give joyfully yeah come on you know it's kind of the progression at first you do it out of obedience you do have a step of faith and all of a sudden it becomes fun how many people give joyfully it's good and every step is beautiful we're all on a journey right but there becomes this joy when you give it's good amen amen hey well before you seated for those of you who have already taken the would you give pastor mark a big hand as he comes up welcome him yeah because he brings the word awesome awesome thank you thank you wow it's been good today and it's going to continue to be good to those of you watching online we want to welcome you thanks for joining us online um we're going to be in the gospel of john chapter one so turn there with me and man those in the balcony just want to welcome you wow i just feel like we're gonna get started in a second but i just feel like there's somebody in this section the lord's gonna set you free this morning i don't know who it is in this section but the lord was just speaking to me while i was over there there's somebody there's a memory or an addiction or something in the lord if you just turn to him this morning he's gonna set you free he's going to set you free and you'll be free and whom the sun sets free is free indeed i know i'm supposed to be getting in the message but i just felt that's so strong that i don't know who it is but somebody over here and maybe it's more than one of you that's okay but just take it take it and god's got freedom for you this morning wow wow um wow yeah so just be open just be open to what he's gonna do this morning and you um today is our this weekend's memorial day weekend and which is awesome but it's not just a long weekend it's to remember those who paid the ultimate price and um jesus said greater love has no person than he who gives down his life for another so memorial day isn't just a monday to go have fun memorial day is a special day for those who paid the price for us to be able to worship like this in our country and so we want to honor and recognize those who have given their lives for us to live in this amazing country called the united states of america so i just i feel led to pray for our country i don't know if there's there's probably many people who've said this but this is a great time to pray for our country would you agree that our country needs prayer i don't know if there's ever time i wouldn't agree with that but i definitely agree right now so let's stand together let's pray for our country we just begin to intercede oh god we thank you for our country we thank you for the united states of america we thank you for the freedoms that we have in this country to be able to worship oh this is such a wonderful country that you've blessed and we just we take a moment god to recognize those who've paid the ultimate price who've given their lives years ago or even in recent years god and we pray over their families would you bless their families as this weekend maybe isn't as as fun or easy as it is for the rest of us god would you touch those families would your presence be with those families god and we again we pray for our nation would revival come to america we know revival's already here it's already here and it is increasing so we ask god for the more in america would you agree with me we asked for more in america god would you touch our government god would you touch the government of america would you touch the state of washington god would you cause revival to come all over the state and all over this country in the name and the power of jesus if you agree with me would you say amen amen amen awesome you can go ahead and take a seat wow we're gonna be in the gospel of john for the next 14 weeks whoo oh man i was talking to somebody last service she said when her her son died she went to the gospel of john and it totally totally gave her peace and helped her go through such a tough time the gospel of john is so powerful and it touches us it helps us to know him the verse we're looking at for this whole series is is coming up on the screen it's john 17 3 it says this is eternal life that they know you the one true god the only true god and jesus christ whom you have sent our life eternal life it's about knowing him it's about knowing him and drew was talking about it that he wants to know the lord more and more there's an invitation for you to know him more and more and this summer we want to invite you to know him deeper greater more so i want to invite pastor nate up here we got something that we're going to be doing to give you an a a tool or an option or a way to grow in knowing him so would you welcome pastor nate as he comes up here shares with us hey thank you a few years ago my dad was looking for a worship pastor pastor gary was not here yet and he was interviewing some worship pastors and this man was very talented great musician great worship leader and my dad asked him a question that completely flipped the interview upside down he looked at him across the table and said could you describe jesus to me and the man broke down in tears and wept and said i've been a worship leader but i can't do that and that's what this series is trying to change every single one of us should have the ability to describe jesus if you don't know jesus how can you describe him to anybody it's more than just a cool shirt thank you very much it's more than a really sweet box it's more than a really there it is sweet box even those things are all going to happen we want every single person this summer to move closer and closer to jesus to have encounters with him and so we felt like it was so important that we give every single person here the opportunity to receive a tool that will do just that they're going to get a box that has a shirt you can buy and what we're asking that says hashtag knowing jesus take a picture inside the box will be one shirt so you got to buy more for your family and we're asking everybody to get with one other person and do it once a week read the bible there's gonna be a bible reading plan there's gonna be activity if you have kids there's gonna be all kinds of great things all with the goal and purpose of mind of knowing loving and serving jesus and we're asking everybody in two weeks to participate with us because we believe it's worth it amen will you join us yes oh come on will you join us all right yes thank you pastor nate so good big idea today is this the christian life is a journey of knowing him more and more the christian life is a journey of knowing him more and more god wants to know you and he wants you to know him he created you because he loves you he created you because he loves you bring him joy and he wants to know you and he wants you to know him so the christian life is knowing him oh more and more more and more so do you know him i know most of us yeah well do you know him do you want to know him more yes what's funny about this age today is um with uh instagram and twitter and facebook and tick tock and all these different social media you can go find somebody famous unless they've been banned but you can you can find somebody famous on there and you can um you can kind of figure out a little bit about their life right you can you can learn about different people on social media maybe some of you follow people on social media that are are famous and i could like start following somebody on social media and begin to tell you hey i know them i saw the picture of where they ate last night and it looked really good i know them i know where they vacationed two weeks ago i know what their kids names are and you would look at me and say you weirdo you know you don't know them you know about them you you know what they show you on social media but i don't know them right we'd all agree i don't know them and if you think i know them i don't know them i just don't it's true i do not know them so what would it take for me to know them uh i'd actually have to spend time with them right i'd have to be maybe face to face in person maybe we'd spend a a a day together we'd hang out go with coffee you know but even in that one moment of that one time being together i really wouldn't know them that well would i it'd only be like an hour or two hours and i wouldn't really know that person because knowing somebody actually takes time knowing people takes time many believers can open up the bible they can open up google they can find it in concordance they can read a book maybe written by a famous theologian they could even look at nature hear testimonies but do does any of that mean that they know god maybe they know about him but you see god designed you and he made you to have a face to face a real encounter with him that isn't because of somebody else that isn't for somebody else it's your own encounter with him and it's in that encounter that you begin to really know him somebody can't have that encounter for you somebody can't do that for you it's between you and him because you were made for a relationship with god so do you know him have you had that encounter have you had that moment with the lord where you you know him you really know him my friend brenda she's in the school of supernatural ministry she just graduated her second year and we were having different students share what god did and it really inspired the sermon because it touched the pastoral staff so much as she got on the mic and she was explaining what god had did had done the last two years and she said i know him i really know him i spent my whole life knowing about him but now i know him i know him i know him i know him there's an invitation this morning to know him in a new way do you want to know him this morning in a new way to see him rightly to see him as he really is so how can we know him how can we know god jesus it's not hard jesus is how we know god how do i know john 1 verse 1. let's read it this is what it says in the beginning the word already existed the word was with god and the word was god and he existed in the beginning with god we could talk about those two verses for a whole message and it wouldn't be enough on what that contains the word logos for word there it speaks to both hebrew and greek thought so we're not even going to jump into that but like some of you need to jump in that just to know him more wow verse three god created everything through him and nothing was created except through him the word gave life to everything that was created and his life brought light to everyone oh isn't that good news man the word this is the best part of the message you guys this is the living word of god he's in it the word jesus gave life to everything have you received life from him oh man it changes how you worship it changes how you think it changes how you move it changes your relationships when you realize that his life brings life to everything man when you just encounter the lord everything begins to change in your life everything gets to change you you get new concepts and new ideas verse five wow the light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it what hope what hope in that verse you may have experienced darkness in your life you might be in darkness right now but how many you know when jesus brings light he can light up any hopeless any dark place and change it he can you might be in a dark place he can change it he can change it wow verse 6 god sent a man john the baptist to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony john himself was not the light he was simply a witness to tell about the light the one who is the true light who gives light to everyone was coming into the world he came into the very world he created but the world didn't recognize him isn't it fascinating that jesus can come into the world and people can't recognize them even today jesus can be in the room and there's some people that are encountering him in powerful ways and others that are scratching their head wondering what's happening wow would we be the ones i'm sorry i'm saying wow a lot but i'm just getting touched by the lord he's literally on me right now man lord we recognize you we recognize you we just take a moment and just recognize him god we recognize you we recognize that you're here you are here in worship you were here before we started worshiping you just love to encounter your people you want us to know you so god just move move today verse 11 it says he came to his own people and even they rejected him so wrote down a few thoughts on what happens when when we know him and the first thing i wrote is this is we're filled with light this life brought light to everything around it this life brought light to everything around jesus is god he's the creator and he gives light and he's the light that shines in the darkness and there's something funny about light um my kids i have four kids they love the light and they don't like darkness they don't like it when it's dark in fact i have so many night lights in every room you know every plug-in's got something on it and uh and then my girls they're twins they're four and they like got tall enough to do the light switch like this always like this bummer like your kids are growing but now they can turn on the light switch stop growing you know and now they're doing the light switch thing and um so we're like what are we gonna do so we got this like light switch cover that's super long like the little fingers can't touch the light you know it's amazing what you can find on amazon and um they love the light my kids love the light you didn't need to tell my kids light's good and dark's bad they just knew naturally but something happens and i don't know why but i think it's just a trick of the enemy that gets us to believe as we become adults that dark is good and light is bad let me explain we believe this lie that the darkness is better it's in the darkness that i'm not exposed that i'm not shamed that i'm not embarrassed that i'm not punished so let me stay in the dark those are all lies right they're lies they're lies that that the enemy gets us to believe it's the reason why with photo development and i know we have like phones and iphones and smartphones that take picture we don't really think about photo development but in photo development they go to a dark room and the dark room is where the negatives develop so the dark room of your soul is actually where negatives develop what do i mean by that there will be negatives that come in our life there's gonna be things that happen to us things that happen that we that are out of our control that are in our control there'll be things that happen but when those negatives are taken into the light you're able to be transformed set free and grow but when those negatives don't actually enter into the light of god and you take them to a dark room that's where they develop sometimes we sin sometimes we do bad things we're like how did how did i end up here how did i do this well you stayed in the dark and you let that negative develop that's how it happened that's it's not like oh man how did i get here you stayed in the dark room and the negatives developed so what if i was thinking about my kids and the lord is giving you revelation what if being childlike is actually learning to love the light and i actually hate the dark because something happens when you're adult and you're like dark you know dark what if we became childlike and said man i always want to be like my four-year-old that i like the light so much that i gotta get a light switch cover but i just wanna live in light in every area of my life man i believed a lie i was in sin for years in my life and i believed the lie that if i got exposed i'd lose my life i'd lose my wife i lose my kids i lose my job i lose my family and the enemy would just whisper though so you're going to lose everything you can't tell anybody you're going to lose it all and finally when i got pushed in like because sometimes god loves you so much that if you're not willing to step out he'll just push you into it thank god for those moments oh it's god's grace some people say last god's judgment no no no no you don't get it that's god's grace because that sin would destroy you that's actually god's grace so i got pushed into the light and it's in that place that man none of those things happened all of them were lies do you know what happened i got set free i got healed wow i received god's love joy freedom power so i mean here or you're watching online you've been living in dark for a long time and those negatives have developed and today is a day of freedom today is the day of freedom today you're going to be filled with light and that light isn't to expose you it's to free you that light will not shame you it'll love you that light will not hurt you it will heal you that's what that light does so let's step into the light let's step into the light today and get free the second thing so we get filled light second thing i wrote is this is we receive our true identity so when we get to know jesus we receive our true identity this verse is so good i mean all these verses are good but this verse is so good john 1 12 but to all who believed in believed him and accepted him he gave the right to become children of god oh yes thank you god i'm in his family thank you i'm not an orphan i'm not a slave i'm a child thank you god they're reborn not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan but a birth that comes from god i've found this as most of the problems problems people experience in their life are a result of misplaced identity i want you to think about that for a moment most of the problems probably in your life that you've experienced are because of misplaced identity what do i mean by that what i mean by that is this maybe somebody has said this is who you're supposed to be somebody else or somebody has said uh you'll be loved if you do this or somebody has placed expectations on you and now you're living for someone else's approval not for god we don't live for approval we live from approval he's already approved us when we believed in jesus and he accepted and accepted us so now we've been given the right to be called children of god so my identity is secure when i know jesus when i accepted jesus and believe in jesus my identity is secure so anytime i'm beginning to have problems in my life i have to go back to have i put my identity in something other than jesus other than being god's favorite son and favorite daughter and the final thing i wrote is this is we experience his unfailing love and faithfulness so those three things are so good just man what if today you received all those you're filled with light you receive your true identity and you get to experience his unfailing love and faithfulness lord do it today lord do it today do it right now wow let's stand together would we just stand let's stand i know you're like man it's not worship time yet i don't care let's just stand together holy spirit would you come right now man we're not taking a holiday from your presence this weekend we want more and more and more so would you just fill your church right now god with light yes god anybody who's feeling convicted about being in darkness oh your light takes that and and embraces us with love so would you begin to fill people with light right now god would you begin to bless them with a true identity god wow that people would experience identity right now that they are favorite sons and favorite daughters and we want to experience your wow your unfailing love and faithfulness so right now would you begin to encounter people god even in the balconies god ah man i just remember i got saved sitting in the back row of a balcony god would you just touch people in the balconies god and even here on the floor god would you just touch us online touch us that we would experience your unfailing love and faith we're not just coming to a service god to sit and get fed and leave we want to experience your glory and your power god we don't need another service we need an encounter with you jesus so would you come god come holy spirit come in power and touch us lord we're available would you just tell them i'm available i'm yielded to you god would you come now holy spirit come and move god i don't need a worship song for you to move i know you can move right now god so would you come and move jesus and would you reveal yourself to us we want to know you more and more we want to know you more and more wow in jesus name amen amen you can take a seat oh man this is unlike any sermon i've done in a while thank you god i got one more point and then we'll just get into worship again because that's where i want to be that's where i want to be john 1 14 so the word became human and made his home among us he was full of unfailing love and faithfulness and we have seen his glory man when you see god's glory you'll never be the same we've seen his glory the glory of the father's one and only son john testified about the about him when he shouted to the crowds this is the one i was talking about when i said someone is coming after me who's far greater than i am for he existed long before me from his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another isn't that the truth let's stand that verse from his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another from his abundance we've all received one gracious would you give god some praise if you receive blessing in your life and from his abundance god we give you praise for the abundance we give you praise god for the blessings in our life wow man i think the more i journey with the lord the more i realize his blessing has been on my life my whole life for the law was given through moses but god's unfailing love and faithfulness there it is again came through who jesus christ no one has ever seen god but the unique one who is himself god is near to the father's heart and he has revealed god to us in the message translation it says that god became man and moved into the neighborhood i like that the word became flesh and made his home among us there's nothing like home right you ever gone on a long trip before you go on a long trip and i used to live on the wet on the west of the wet side the west side and uh i lived on the peninsula so we'd ride a ferry and then a bus and then a train and then the plane like it's like all modes of transportation today [Laughter] i got to encounter transportation i knew transportation more and more those days and um the moment i walked into my door it was just like oh do you ever have that feeling before ah where's my chair anybody got a chair where is my chair and my mug my pillow and my bed and my jammies you know you know what i'm talking about you know what i'm talking about anybody you got jammies over there yeah oh nate nick oh man oh and there's just something about being home do you know your soul is home in the presence you know when you walk into the doors right right on the front of the building right when you walk in there's things on the on the carpet that says welcome home i know for some they're like yeah i know there's like that's offensive because maybe home wasn't great for you but here's what god wants to redeem in your life is home is the presence so your spirit might have been wandering your whole life trying to find a home trying to find something that will make your heart right make your spirit right you've tried relationships you've tried drugs you've tried career you've tried wealth you've tried money you could try it all but the only place that you're really home in your presence when you walk in the door and you realize it's jesus jesus is the home jesus is the place that i was made to live and to be and man he came and he made his home among us oh and now i can live in him he made his home among us and now i live in him christ in me the hope of glory but i live in him he invited me into his life wow so today i want to invite you to encounter him to encounter the lord as we keep reading john there's just an invitation to encounter him in a new way there's an invitation today to encounter him in a new way and towards the the end of of john it goes into john the baptist and kind of backstory on him and then as we keep reading john john the baptist sees jesus and he says the lamb of god there he is the lamb of god and two of john's disciples andrew and the other ones believed to be john who wrote this gospel leave john the baptist say oh that's the lamb of god see you later john the baptist we're going over here we're going to start following jesus they start following jesus and and and jesus notices he's got these two guys falling we ever like anybody have that sixth sense when somebody's close or following you jesus is like okay i see a shadow here who's following me and it's john and andrew and they say rabbi where are you going he says come and see andrew goes and gets his brother do you know who andrew's brother is it's peter andrew goes and gets peter peter we have found the messiah so the lamb of god we've got the lamb of god here now we got rabbi and now we got messiah and then we'll pick it up in verse 43 and it says this it says the next day jesus decided to go to galilee he found philip and said to him come follow me philip was from bresada andrew and peter's hometown philip went to look for nathanael and told him we have found the very person moses and the prophets wrote about his name is jesus the son of joseph from nazareth verse 46 nazareth exclaimed nathanael can anything good come from nazareth isn't that funny i grew up here in the tri-cities seven cities tri-cities and i grew up in pasco so it's always funny about the different cities like people say pasco could anything good come from pasco richland well richland could anything good come from richland or keno you know it's just always this funny thing philip says well come and see come and see what a great invitation when you're telling people this is what god's doing live church seven well i don't know all you have to say is we'll come and see come and see come and see you don't want to come no problem i'm going to be there i'm going to get touched by the lord but you want that come and see it's easy what an invitation come and see for yourself verse 47 as they approached jesus said now here is a genuine son of israel a man of complete integrity don't you love the life that jesus speaks into us when jesus looks at you he speaks life into you sometimes people jesus is going to condemn me he's going to judge me look at the moment that he encountered nathanael whoa that's just so good some of you going to hear from jesus today you're going to hear the words these powerful words of him saying who you really are there's an encounter for you and just him speaking to you and who you really are and nathanael says i love his verse 48 how do you know about me you've had somebody like know about you and they're like act like they know you and that's kind of weird sometimes how do you know me oh yeah that's how you know me and jesus replied i could see you under the fig tree before philip found you i could see you the god who sees you some of you came in here this morning feeling hidden like nobody knows what's going on in your life there's a god who knows what's going on in your life there's a god who sees you there is a god who sees you he actually sees past all the trouble all the decisions all the pain in your life and he sees right to your heart and he loves you he wants to call you to greatness today and then nathanael so i could see you under the fig tree verse 49 then nathanael explained rabbi you are the son of god the king of israel isn't that funny i was like what happened there i saw you another picture you are god i saw you driving on the highway wow it's god i just think it's so funny but listen to the names that they called so john the baptist calls them the lamb of god john and andrew call him rabbi peter calls him messiah and then athena calls him son of god and king of israel so which one is he don't you love the all the above option on tess all of the above he's all of them but you can see that they were trying to discover who he is the christian life is a journey of knowing god more and more the christian life is a journey of knowing god more and more so maybe you've known god as the lamb of god as a rabbi but today you're going to experience him as messiah you see what i'm getting at there's there's a new experience for you to know who god is through jesus i love this jesus he says you're you're the son of god the king of israel jesus says this in the last verse of john jesus asked him do you believe this just because i told you i had seen you under the fig tree you're gonna see greater things than this i hope so hope this isn't it jesus you're gonna see greater things than this i tell you the truth you will all see heaven open wow one of the things we're asking god for is that there'd be an open heaven over this church that we'd see signs and wonders and miracles the first service there was a man who got baptized who got his eye completely healed at healing saturday a month ago we're asking god more lord more healings more of your power happening here in this church we want to be an open heaven we're asking for open heaven actually over the seven cities each city gets touched each church amen each church in this area gets touched by the power and the presence of god and he said you'll see heaven open and the angels of god going up and down on the son of man the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth he's saying this you think you've seen me this is what he's saying to nathan you think you've seen me you haven't seen anything yet and he's saying the same thing to you you think you've seen me if the verse we read at the beginning of this is eternal life actually is this is that they know him the one true god then eternal life doesn't start when i die it actually started when i say yes to jesus and it's actually a journey of my spirit actually knowing him more and more in this life and in the life to come that i just know him more and more and more so there's this invitation today and the band's going to come and we're going to encounter the lord there's this invitation today to know him you know in the last few years it's so funny last night at prayer um i was i was putting out the flags for a prayer and i looked at drew and i said drew if you would have told me three years ago that i'd be laying out flags for a prayer meeting i would have told you you're crazy because i was not no i actually would have laughed at people doing those things and then as i've encountered them i realized there's something powerful and released as we worship god through banners and flags it's actually in scripture it's biblical over the last three years i've just encountered the lord i've encountered him as as healer as restorer as friend as father as deliverer as a savior as messiah and i know there's more to discover even now of who he is of his goodness so as the band comes i want to read a story about somebody in our church who is encountering the lord and then we're going to move into encountering him ourselves and receiving more for him of him so this is the story of anne and she's here in the service she's over here which is a wave she's hearing the service this is ann's story she's a part of our school supernatural ministry i think i believe she's she's drew's cousin as well and she says this about her own journey and and we were in small group together in the school of supernatural ministry as well as um her and first year and when she worships she just loves to worship the lord and it's just this beautiful picture of just abandonment before the lord like i just picture her like like the woman who broke the alabaster jar jesus feet and just worship and didn't care what other people thought that's the way she worshipped so one time i came up to her and i said hey what what is god doing what is god doing and then i got to know her story and when you get to know people's story you understand why they worship the way the worship sometimes we we judge people in the way they worship and we have no idea the story of what god's done in their life and instead of judging him we should say god what did you do what'd you do and be what you did in them i'm not gonna judge i'm gonna embrace and pastor west says this sometimes just get closer [Laughter] if you're offended get closer maybe god will touch you too she said this she said i was five months into a mormon mission in chile completely wrecked in spirit i was depressed scared and confused i had such a deep hesitation within me to share the mormon message and i couldn't figure out why i kept hoping that god would convict me of the message i was sharing so that i could share it more easily but as the days went on i just felt more and more lost i found myself questioning everything right down to whether god was real i remember the conversation my grandpa and i had about a month before i left for chile he said have you read the book of john i lied and said yes he proceeded and you understand that the word is jesus i lied and said yes he ended with all right then everything you need to know is in that book the gospel of john upon recalling our conversation a surge of hope shot through me and i opened up my bible and i fumbled around until i found the book of john and i slowly read every line and within 15 verses we read 15 verses today within 15 verses i realized that jesus i was preaching wasn't the same jesus i was reading i knew that every word i was reading was true and if it was true then things i had chosen to align myself with were false i immediately wanted to go home i made that known i was told that i was being deceived but the words i read had taken root and i insisted that i've been be sent home this was the first time in my spiritual life that i felt sure of something and that made me feel powerful three weeks later i was sent home i wish i could say that i immediately left the mormon church and fell madly in love with jesus but that is not the case i had soul ties with many people of that faith so it took courage to step out i was like an eminem in a skittles package i blended well enough but something on the inside was different eventually i had a breaking point in the midst of tears and regret i heard a voice say go back to the beginning and the first line in the gospel of john came to mind in the beginning was jesus he was with god and he was god and in that moment i cried out the name of jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus and from there everything changed in my life wow can we celebrate and and the life changed what god has done in her life wow let's stand together let's stand together whoa jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus we love you jesus spirit of revelation spirit of wisdom would you come and reveal jesus to us oh we've known you but we're just beginning to know you we know you and we want to know you more god oh in second corinthians 10 it says we destroy every proud obstacle that keeps us from knowing him we destroy every proud obstacle that keeps us from knowing him so you might have a proud obstacle right now that needs to go in the name of jesus you need to humble yourself you need to yield to him there might be a wall right now that's keeping you from knowing him maybe that wall is called pride or control or fear or doubt holy spirit would you come deliverer jesus would you come and break the heavy yoke that that brings in our life would you break fear now would you break doubt control and pride in the name of jesus that has no place in the presence those aren't welcome in your home so we lay those aside right now and we want to encounter you we want to encounter you so holy spirit would you come would you come would you come holy spirit jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus it's you jesus it's the name of jesus that breaks the heavy yoke it's the name of jesus that heals us it's the name of jesus that we want to encounter so would you come jesus some of you are feeling his presence right now you're feeling his presence right now you're feeling his presence right now whatever box you put jesus in to encounter him there's a new experience for you today there's a new experience for you this morning so i want to invite you if you want to encounter jesus in a new and fresh way you're you you need to step into the light you need to step into the light you need to receive your identity you need to experience as i'm feeling love and it's faithfulness would you just come forward right now come forward and experience that he's here why wouldn't you just experience him more and more so come on forward come on forward experience him if that's you just come in the name and just cry out the name of jesus yes why wouldn't you come he's here he's here let's encounter him in a new way let's worship him jesus you're worthy jesus you're beautiful and we worship you any time he touches you just come forward and encounter him in a powerful way [Music] jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus [Music] jesus jesus jesus who you jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] want to know [Music] jesus you're beautiful jesus you're beautiful [Music] jesus [Music] jesus you're beautiful jesus you're beautiful we want to know you we want to see you jesus you're beautiful jesus you're beautiful jesus you're beautiful we wanna know you we wanna see you jesus you're beautiful jesus you're beautiful jesus you're beautiful and there is no one like you in the there is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus [Music] is [Music] [Applause] is [Applause] [Music] let's just tell jesus [Music] thank you jesus you're so beautiful jesus thank you lord let's continue ministering to people keep praying if i can have the prayer partners come down that'd be awesome if you're listening either online or just in this auditorium right now we always want to give people an opportunity to receive jesus we're doing a series on knowing jesus kind of makes sense right but i was thinking about what i wanted to say and one of the most powerful words in scripture was john the baptist said behold the lamb of god who takes away the sins of the world some of us have experienced jesus that way as the one who took away all my sins when you accept jesus as your lord and savior he sets you free from all of the sin all the shame all the condemnation you are free in jesus name so whether you're here in this room or you're online if that's you and you're in this room would you raise your hand if you're online would you put something in the chat we want to pray with you would you raise your hand if you want to receive jesus as your savior this morning yes i see that hand that's awesome is there anybody else oh that's awesome i see that hand that's awesome anybody else anybody else let's leave it up for just a moment want to pray with you that's so cool thank you jesus all right you can put your hand down if you could repeat repeat this prayer with me everybody in the audience repeat this prayer with me say dear jesus forgive me of my sins wash me and make me new thank you for taking away all my sin and all my shame i surrender my life to you and i'm gonna follow you all the days of my life i love you in jesus name amen hey let's give the lord a shout of praise real quick people receive jesus this morning so cool so cool have you raised your hand make sure you get a gift from us we want to follow up with you that'd be awesome one last thing if you're here today jesus is our healer he's our healer i'm just believing today if you need healing if you need freedom if you need any kind of touch from jesus do not leave this room come and get prayer we would love to pray with you because the presence and the power of jesus is here if you're online we love you we bless you we're praying for you as well so father right now i bless every person we thank you lord jesus for what you're doing here and online and wherever people are watching this i pray and whenever they're watching this holy spirit would you touch them in a fresh way reveal jesus to them thank you for the message that pastor mark spoke to so powerful so true and lord it's active because it's your word and we love you we give you praise in jesus name amen amen if you want prayer don't leave if you if you're good to go we'll bless you in the name of jesus [Music] thank you pastor mark for such an incredible word today and if you joined us this morning and you just gave your heart to jesus man we are celebrating with you and actually all of heaven is celebrating with you and we want to get connected with you to help you grow in your relationship with jesus so you can email us at office lifechurch7.com and one of our pastors will be in contact with you thank you so much for joining us today for our live stream we hope you have a great week and we'll see you back next week you

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Length: 96min 8sec (5768 seconds)

Published: Sun May 30 2021