Magicians in the Church | Tim Dilena

how many are happy to be back in god's house you happy to be back in god's house [Applause] you know there's so many different ways that you don't know whether to shake someone's hand anymore you don't know whether to fist pump them you don't know whether yet you have no idea but the only universal way that people have seems that everybody feels safe is when you elbow them why don't you just elbow the person next to you and say welcome home welcome back to church we welcome all those watching online around new york city around the country and around the world here's what i want you to get if you made a single line of people shoulder to shoulder currently living on this planet that have never heard and committed their life to jesus christ i want you to listen to these new staggering numbers that just came out it said that that line would wrap around the globe 40 times 40 times for those that know science knows that the globe at the equator goes around 25 000 miles which means it would be one million miles of people that don't know jesus christ as their savior times square church we have a job to do we have a job to do the work is great but our god is greater and i believe i believe that what is starting today and that even has started 18 months ago is the opportunity to do something that god is going to be glorified for making a dent in that one million mile long line of people and let me just give you the good news today you ready for this this excites me do you know every day around the globe 70 000 people are being born again around the globe today hey and you know what's exciting for me is that some of those 70 000 are sitting in this building right now some of you are sitting here some of you watching online you are going to be part of that 70 000 and i want us to pray and begin to see what god is getting ready to do and allow the holy spirit to speak let's pray father we believe right now in the name of jesus that the holy spirit is going to guide us as a church as we're going into a brand new season as a page is flipping as 18 months is ending that god and the new page is being turned over we thank you for what you have done through pastor david wilkerson we thank you for the work of pastor carter conlon now lord i'm asking you would you help us in these next coming years to be faithful lord god to seeing the souls around the world help us to believe here lord god every single day that lord those 70 000 people we're believing that you were going to do great things with a great harvest and i believe that in jesus name and everybody said amen come on put your hands together one more time let me share my heart with you this morning a lot of people have asked me i'm especially over the last two weeks how i how i feel is we're approaching the opening of the church after 18 months and those that have asked me this question have heard the same answer but they're checking on something of where i'm at every single day let me tell you the verse as we got closer and closer to reopening that has stuck with me it's matthew 28 8 and i want to bring you to the empty tomb and this is what it said about the empty tomb when they saw the resurrection of jesus that they left the tomb and look at these two emotions quickly with fear and great joy that is how i have felt these last two weeks that depending on what was happening that day it depended where the feared the fear meter or the joy meter was going on those days i'm just telling you when i walked in this morning i was i had the fear fear meter going on and then after hearing cece sing i went to the joy meter and then all of a sudden we saw problem technology i went back to the fear meter and then we went back up to the joy meter but let me just say this whether i'm fearful or joyful god is still in charge god is the one that's running this but i want you to understand our heart here at times square church and that's this our goal in the last 18 months was not simply to get back in the building and i believe this is important for us to understand our goal was not to get back in the building you ready for this but to get into every home on the planet that has been our goal that everything that we are that we are beginning to pursue after so don't confuse simply that the doors of the church only have front doors on 51st and broadway the doors are much larger and our goal wasn't simply to open up god's house only but to open up every door all over this world that's why i want you to understand we have been putting things in place to get into the homes the vehicles of technology connect groups which are going to talk about one of the things that is exciting to me folks is tsc films with pastor david hamm he's not with us today he's been under the weather today we're going to pray for pastor david but tsc films has just come out and you saw what they did on easter for christmas but they have just put together their brand new connect group curriculum called prison letters it's taking the book of philippians which paul wrote in a prison cell and they have dramatized it you have the apostle paul in an actual prison cell and is going to walk people around the world through the book of philippians and the goal of tsc films is making the bible come alive to people all over the world and we are seeing what god is wanting to do that's why every single everything that we're doing we want to see people go to heaven j.c rile the 19th century preacher said it like this that the highest form of selfishness is a man content to go to heaven alone i don't want to go alone i want to take as many people with me to heaven folks and i know you do too so let's take a bunch of people with us one of the visions that pastor carter told me when when we were kind of transitioning is is this he says i want to see this even the stage of times square church begin to produce broadway plays with a christian theme folks everything you see behind you this that's here we transform the stage so in less than two hours everything can be moved and pastor david can begin to come right back up here and take over this entire stage and we're believing that god wants to do this so so don't let bells and whistles begin to kind of to kind of blur your vision all this stuff moves out like that and that's why we want to do is we want to find a way to touch people's lives the doors we wanted to open are not just 51st and broadway but every home every place so let me tell you a story here because when my meter was going back and forth with joy and fear and thank god the bible says great joy and then fear so as i was going back and forth some days over the past few weeks one of the things that i would do is i would come here into the sanctuary and i would begin just to pray pray over this place as the amazing people from scs and clark began to work so hard and our staff were working so hard to prepare for this day so one of the things that i did did it last night is i went over every one of your seats and prayed for every seat in this place that god would fill that seat with a person and that person with the holy spirit so let me just tell you something the seats you're sitting in they've been pre-prayed over just want you to know that right now so so no nobody is safe this afternoon i just want you to understand that i prayed i went up in the choir i prayed over every seat in the choir and we're believing let me just say as i started to do that my meter started to go back to the great to the great joy part but it was just a few days ago that god i really believe spoke to my heart real clearly of really what next steps are for us my heart brought my heart brought me to a story as i was praying for the seats brought me to a story of a magician that got saved in acts chapter 8. i knew i knew god was speaking something to me and it was only not only to pro for preparation but also simply was a warning for me and the warning was this do not allow magicians in the church let me say that again do not allow magicians in the church i'm going to explain that in a second one of the things i have seen you're going to see this in this acts chapter 8 passage i've seen all my life over the 40 years of pastoring is what i would call strategic salvations by strategic i mean that some i've seen god save the most unlikely person the most impossible person in an area a neighborhood a region in an apartment building even in an organization because what it does is it lets people know this if god can save him he can save anybody i've watched god do that in fact do you understand that's why times square church exists because pastor david wilkerson goes to brooklyn and god goes after the worst gang and the worst gang member named nikki cruz and says i'm going to save him and every other gang around new york city is going to go if god can save nikki cruz god can save anybody i just want you to understand that today because what does that do it puts hope in people it lets people realize that god can do it when cindy and i started in detroit let me tell you we saw it we saw strategic salvations how many remember how many remember the restaurant howard johnson's anybody remember how come on how many have ever eaten ice cream at howard johnson's okay i had a howard johnson's at the end of my street in detroit but it was abandoned that literally it was one block away from us in detroit and not only was it abandoned but it became a place that had an impossible salvation needed to take place when we first started our church at woodward avenue and six mile in detroit which was that many of you know the story we took over a 900-seat triple x movie theater and started a church in there it was so funny when we started people used to come to us going like you meet in a triple x theater i can't believe it that doesn't seem right i said it's still triple x we just got ex-junkies ex-alcoholics and ex-prostitutes that have all been saved by the power of god so i said we're gonna still stay triple x here's what's amazing when we first started what happened in that howard johnson's that abandoned building they found three prostitutes strangled to death at the end of my stream and when two weeks was over they found 11 strangled prostitutes and there was a serial killer all going all through at this the city was called highland park which is the center of detroit they were they the city was on lockdown going who's going to be next 11 people strangled and killed three of them on my block and we're just trying to open up a church how many know that's not the best way to open up a church with a serial killer going around what's amazing is this is god goes i'm gonna do something and god and god began to do something very strategic do you know ben atkins was apprehended after two weeks and was in prison when our prison ministry teams heard about ben atkins in jail we started praying that we would have opportunities to share the gospel with ben not only did they get a chance to share the gospel with ben ben became born again god gave his life this man gave his life this murder of 11 people gave his life to jesus and he stood on tv on a live camera as as the judge was pronouncing seven consecutive life sentences on ben atkins and i watched on tv with my own eyes that man sitting there and with with literally a piece that he's never known for his 37 years of his life holding one of the bibles from our church in his hand knowing that god was going to help him through this and god was going to work a miracle you know what the people of detroit were saying if god can save that man god can save any man people knew that god was able to do that hey you know this verse say say these words with me matthew 19 26 come on say it with me with god all things are possible come on say it again with god come on how many believe that today okay let me just tell you because this is important do you know what jesus's words are connected to when jesus said those are jesus's words when jesus said with god jesus said this all things are possible what he was saying was does those words here it is are connected to people you think would never become born again let me read it to you here's the context it's matthew 19 with the story of a rich young ruler jesus said to his disciples truly i say to you it's hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven again i say to you it's easy for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven and then listen to what happens the disciples heard this and were astonished and said here it comes here comes the answer to the verse you just read then who can be saved come on jesus this is what he said and looking at them i love it those piercing eyes of the savior looking right at them saying this with people this is impossible come on say it with me but with god all things are possible i want you to think of the most impossible person in your family god can save them today i want you to think of that neighbor in your apartment building in the bronx that you've been praying out of there before you pray them out let's pray them into the kingdom of god that god can do something in these people's lives jesus was saying when it comes to the impossible god can make it possible and listen that includes gang gang leaders it includes serial killers and in acts chapter 8 it includes magicians let me tell you the story of a magician that got saved and came to church here it is acts 8 we're in the city of samaria a city that has never known a revival and i want to read to you what happens listen to these words now there was a man named simon who was formally practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of samaria claiming to be somebody great and then it says this and they all from the smallest to the greatest were giving attention to him saying this man is what is called the great power of god and they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with magical arts but here it comes but when they believed philip preaching the good news now we're going to come back to that name philip in a few moments when they believed philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of god and the name of jesus they were being baptized men and women alike and here comes an even simon himself believed and after being baptized he continued on with philip observed the signs and great miracles taking place and was constantly amazed times square church simon is nikki cruz simon is the highland park strangler he's the miracle conversion of samaria that god was going to begin to go if he can get saved anybody can get saved but let me give you an important side note here i want you to jot down two names that you that you're going to read here in the story the first one is philip and the second one is john and these are two important names here in this story in fact let me give to you john because john's name is about to come up here but i want you to remember first before we read about john what john and samaria had in common in fact remember what samaria meant to john and his and his brother in the book of luke chapter nine you know what it was to them it was firewood and kindling because john and his brother james wanted to call fire down and destroy that city of samaria remember the story it's in luke chapter 9 verse 52. here's what it says in luke 9 52 it says they went and entered the village of the samaritans to make arrangements for him but they did not receive and those samaritans where revival came in acts chapter 8 didn't receive him because he was traveling towards jerusalem and here it comes when his disciple james and john saw this they said lord here it comes do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them do you understand what just happened now you ready for this i want you to see what happens in acts chapter 8 and how god can change a person's heart that's sitting in the church look at me for a second can i just tell you it's not just the people on the outside sometimes that need a work of god sometimes it's the people you're sitting next to that need a work from god don't look at anybody don't look at anybody don't clap and don't clap in anybody's face listen to me close so what happens you ready for this i want you to see that john from luke 9 i want you to see the john and luke in acts 8. now when the apostles in jerusalem heard that samaria had received the word of god they sent them peter and who peter and who john that's luke 9 john luke 9 called fire from heaven down john they came down and this man has a brand new prayer they prayed that they might receive the holy spirit that god took a man that sat in church and hated a certain group of people change that man cancel culture would have gotten rid of john two years ago in luke chapter nine but i'm telling you what i don't believe in cancer culture because i believe in a god that can do change people's lives because god can change the people that our society wants to cancel and samaria did get fire from heaven but the baptism of the holy ghost that excites me okay how about philip not only john who got how to change him how about phillip here's what i love about phillip don't ever think listen times square church that serving in an area around here is beneath you that the only place that you're supposed to be is either sitting there or up here with a microphone i'm telling you listen to me close is that before god gave philip a microphone for samaria god gave him an apron to serve food to widows he's the philip from acts chapter 6 that served the widows that were being overlooked so if god called you to serve in a nursery to greet people to go pack food at feed new york wherever god has called you i'm telling you serving opens up doors for the kingdom of god that philip before god gave him a microphone he had to give him an apron before god put up but gave him an opportunity to preach he said i need you to serve people that can't pay you back and they can't promote you and folks let me just tell you this so if you've got a gift to preach don't wait to get a microphone because you're just not going to get it let me just tell you this you're not going to get it by sitting there waiting for someone to notice your preaching gift you want to set your preaching gift come out then serve greet people at the door be a preacher at the door when people walk in that door just go thank god you're here today come on in let me take you down to the altar right now and bring you to where you need to be hey if you've got a gift to preach it doesn't just work with a microphone it can work anywhere you are that's why joseph listen that's why joseph in the bible was interpreting dreams in prison when he was able to interpret dreams he didn't get a website and a brand new suit he said wherever you put me the gift of god can still be working in those areas don't tell me the nursery is grieving the spirit get in there and wipe some kid's mouth so you're going that's a mean man listen back to our passage verse 17 and they began laying hands on them and they were receiving the holy spirit this is i love now when simon saw that the spirit was bestowed through the laying on the apostles hands here it comes folks he offered them money saying give me the afar give the authority to me as well so that everyone in whom i lay my hands on may receive the holy spirit now folks get ready peter's not going to hold anything back peter said to him may your silver perish with you he says because you thought you can get a gift of god with a checkbook you thought you can get something from heaven with money here it comes simon offered to buy authority he was trying to get authority in fact he was going you ready for this he was going to try to pay for the baptism of the holy spirit instead of pray for the baptism of the holy spirit he was thought that he can bring authority he could bring heaven but his pay and pray got messed up and this is where in that section there i don't know i'm not saying any evil in that section but i'm just saying it was that section over there that god said to me is you better be careful of magicians in the church we don't believe in magic here what do you mean pastor tim let me explain it to you folks what i believe magicians in the church is this i can't explain it any better than this it's trying to buy something on earth that can only come from heaven it's trying to buy it's trying to spend money to do something that only heaven can do it's confusing the price tags that what you think costs money comes through sacrifice and prayer what do you mean pastor tim i want you to hear me now times square church i want you to hear my soul i want you to hear everything i was saying i was in that section and i saw them hanging the speakers up and i saw them putting the screen up and god said these words to me he said listen he said not one of the things that they're hanging or one of the switches they're turning on or anything that you're looking at admiring or any microphone or any screen or camera not one of those things can answer prayer heal the sick save an atheist deliver a muslim baptize someone in the holy spirit get a prodigal home deliver someone from depression or set them free from an addiction there is this this is just stuff the only person that can do that is the presence of god himself that is it folks this is just stuff that's what this is you can't buy god's presence you can't buy god's presence we may listen church we may have updated some things but money can't bring god to this house a screen can't bring god to this house instruments can't bring god to this house we need the presence of god in his house today it's the spirit of simon that thinks if we put the right stuff that god has to show up i'm telling you that's not true that's magic that's magic talk it's trying to buy power and miracles and it doesn't work that way i love what charles spurgeon said he said without the spirit of god we can do nothing we're ships without wind branches without sap coals without fire we are useless to play music to preach without the presence of god folks is nothing it's a show then we need the holy spirit's presence and god was making sure that i don't think like a magician god was making sure i remember where the fire comes from he doesn't come from technology fire comes from heaven fire comes from the throne of god and that's why we need his prayer and anything we do we need the wind of god to blow upon it we need the presence of god to blow upon those things folks and that's why i believe i believe there is a breeze that is blowing i want to explain to you i need you just to follow with me on this i believe god is blowing upon what we talk about these connect groups and i want you just to stay with me for just a moment on this let me speak to that future for just a second because what you see on a stage a screen and all this stuff it's just a tool and our job is not to church doors but to open every door but i want you to hear this i'm hearing stories now in these last 18 months of people who would never have come through those doors of the church but they have been coming through a screen on a laptop and on a cell phone that have never come before and giving their hearts to jesus christ it's been a miracle to watch how god is saving people all over the world and let me just say something about connect groups here at times square church i want to ask you a question stay with me now for just a moment on this what if today at the end of this day right here in times square right right here in new york city a city that has eight million people what if today 800 000 people get saved in new york city today 800 000 we'd call that revival that's revival on broadway and not just this but that would be amazing that's 10 of new york city 10 but that's exactly what happened i have to spell this out for you because this is how god began to speak to my own heart this is exactly what happened on the day of pentecost 3 000 people got saved when the fire of god came down listen verse 41 of acts 2 then those who had received the word were baptized in that day they were added 3 000 souls ready for this this is amazing historians say that at the time of jesus jerusalem's population was 30 000 people in one chapter 10 of the city got saved can you imagine here in new york city 800 000 coming 3 000 conversions 10 of the city and then it gets crazier times square church a few days later acts 4 says 5 000 people get saved now in acts 4 4 when you see that 4 000 i mean 5 000 come to christ now you have 8 000 confirmed born-again christians and at the end of acts 2 people were coming in daily that means you ready for this jerusalem is approaching one-third of its population are now following the resurrected jesus one third of the population that that's what makes that amazing is that is like this sunday 800 000 people get saved in new york city the next week you ready for this two points that number jumps to 2.5 million people saved just in new york city that would be one-third of the 8 million residents of new york city 2.5 million how many know that would change new york city to see 2.5 million souls that gets it that's part of that global line that goes around do you think there'd be a stir of course there would be but here's the part that i want us to understand if you don't do anything with new believers you're gonna lose them you're going to lose those that come in and we have seen in the last 18 months i can't tell you how many have been coming in from around the world getting born again getting saved out of islam out of atheism people that are getting saved from addiction it's been unbelievable but revival needs a tool to manage a harvest of souls see revival is like a is like a lumberjack cutting down the trees but after the trees fall you need a carpenter to come and build something from that that's exactly what happened in acts 3. here it is here's what it says in acts 3 and x2 day by day this is after the 3000 got saved this is important for us to hear day by day continuing with one mind in the temple and breaking bread from here it comes house to house pause there for a second look at me for a second they didn't build a church until the 4th century so where was the church going to meet they have to meet in homes and folks this is important they're being under persecution and they have revival house to house that means connect groups they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart what were they doing they were praising god having favor with people and the lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved that house to house really is connect groups it's joining in the homes it's happening for tsc because our our heart and soul is to see in these next three years 10 000 connect groups worldwide in fact can i give you some exciting things it's already happening can i tell you what's happening these last 18 months of connect groups that's going on let me tell you what's happening with tsc international connect groups you're ready for this they're in argentina brazil canada colombia finland france hong kong israel panama spain sweden taiwan dominican republic and jamaica just joined us today and we think by this evening the ukraine will begin to join us today that's what god is beginning to do and if you're listen if you're watching online god may be even speaking to you that you're you're supposed to be going like why is there one in my country there there you go do it here here's the deal and right here in america right now we're almost at half of the united states of america are doing connect groups out of tsc almost half of the country is doing and the ones i love i met some of our leaders on thursday night our missions department hosted a connect group leadership meeting oh my goodness my heart warmed as sam was telling me sam who leads a connect group he has 40 to 50 police officers all over the five boroughs that join together once a week and they are going through the 260 journey some of them come on break they come right from their squad car call in get a word of encouragement and then they have a chance to go back and that's 40 to 50 police officers all over the boroughs that are doing that today i got to tell you give it up for sam my favorite i got to tell you my favorite is venus yup venus she started a connect group called community challenge she says i'm going to go to the worst streets in new york city and what she does is she bought she bought a bullhorn a bullhorn i didn't even know they existed a bullhorn and she said i got a bullhorn i got food and i set up food and i got a bluetooth this is venus telling me this she said i got a bluetooth speaker i put it on my phone i play gospel music i get on the bullhorn i tell them there's free food but they can't touch it unless i pray for them and she says i prayed for drug dealers i prayed for drug users i prayed for people and i just saw i looked at that venus that i could just imagine her on that bullhorn with her team turn up the music can you come over here ah don't touch that food let me put my hand on your head and pray that god would set you free that's what god is doing at different parts see here's the part i want you to understand connect groups was god's strategy in acts chapter 2 when you have revival and persecution at the same time they said if they're persecuting the church we've got to get back into the homes then folks this is what i want us to understand i i believe this with all my heart pastor carter and i have been praying about this we've talked about this and i want you to hear this right here today from the very get-go i believe that there is going to come a persecution like we have never seen to the church today and i want you to get ready but i believe and like joseph we may have maybe i may be liberal with this i believe we have some years of plenty and harvest in front of us and like joseph we may have seven years of plenty a great harvest of souls that the blessing of the lord is going to come in an exponential way i think joseph when he saw the blessing of god before the famine he saw it in such epic proportion that the bible says they couldn't even keep up with the numbers that their granaries were so full with resources that they couldn't even number them so it says in 4149 of genesis it says joseph stored up grain in great abundance like the sand of the sea he until he stopped measuring it for is beyond measure is what it says and then a famine came in as god brought in that harvest and i believe for us as the church i want you i want you to get this folks get this today the first church the first church shutdown that happened over these late 18 months was from a pandemic i believe this with all my heart the next church shutdown will come because of persecution for those that believe the bible to be the word of god they're shutting people down on internet they're shutting them down online they're trying to take they're going to start taking away 501c3s i'm telling you folks with all my heart they're going to find us if we preach if you preach the bible they're going to try to stop the church but you can shut the church but you can't shut down the kingdom of god i'm telling you that right now i'm telling you and that's why that's why when all of a sudden the famine came to egypt the people of all the earth found where the grain was they looked for where there was going to be food they found the food and i believe it's going to happen today that's why i believe online and getting to these connect groups our goal with those 10 000 connects group is the house to house then becomes a tool from god for revival and persecution so when they try to shut down the church it's okay you can chain the doors of the church but you can't chain the doors of what god wants to do around the world we watched places and things grow here as we couldn't even meet in this place that means when the doors of the church are shut the kingdom of god still advances and that's what we're excited about listen let me get ready to close here but i want you i want to go back to what this magician means to us today acts 8 18 the bible says that simon the magician offered them money saying give this authority to me as well and here's the answer that i want to give to you church here's the answer that simon never heard and it's back in acts 4 that came up in jerusalem as during the connect groups and the home fellowships as they were growing in jerusalem this was simon's answer that i wish he would have heard and it's this when they saw the boldness of peter and john and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men they marveled and they realized here it is folks that they had been with jesus folks that's it and you can't pay money for something that comes through spending time with jesus folks see once again i want you to get this those are five words that can bring revival it's five words that can change a church it's five words that can change our lives it's five words that can change new york city and hear the five words they had been with jesus folks you've got to get that straight it's not a matter of getting all the right props in place we've got to be with jesus sitting in front of me you he'll he'll pray at the end tonight is one of my heroes one of the greatest theologians alive today pastored one of the most iconic churches in london england westminster you've heard him online dr rt kendall let me just tell you something you can have your doctorate from oxford but you better spend time with jesus i'm i'm looking over here and you have doctor you have pastor alvin love and cece winans who've started an amazing church called nashville life in nashville tennessee their son now alvin junior pastors at church but can i tell you this you can have cece wines leading worship but if that pastor hasn't been with jesus it doesn't matter at all it doesn't matter who plays these instruments if they're not being with jesus then it's just a show we need a church that has been with jesus that's what he's asking us to do let me tell you why let me tell you why this is so on me and i want you to listen some young preacher some young pastor may be watching this today it's like the hottest thing now is to go to some successful pastor and they're paying them money to meet with them they're paying thousands of dollars if a successful pastor meets with a young pastor and then what they're doing is that they're trying to almost buy this new thing it's magic it's magic and now they're taking selfies going look who i was with i was hanging out with so and so i'm with this person let me tell you something you can post that all you want you may get followers but you won't get revival you can get followers that you won't get healing you may get followers you may get a thousand followers but i want a thousand souls to come in and god to do something in this place come on folks we must be with jesus that's why i want you to join us every tuesday night as pastor carter leads us in that prayer meeting from summit i'm telling you it doesn't matter whether it's in this building or it's coming from summit we can still pray god's not limited by a tv screen by a screen to pray hey listen how about this one how about starting a connect group calling they have been with jesus connect group how about that one how about somebody in the in the philippines going i want to pray for all the churches in manila then start a group there it is tsc nyc forward slash groups there you go start the they had been with jesus group and just pray seek the face of god when you come out you won't need selfies you'll have the fire from heaven coming upon you and god doing the work inside of you you can't buy with money would only comes through spending time in his presence i met a man this week i have to say this now i have to speak my words very very carefully because of the ramifications of this i had to write this out so i don't miss this because it could cost it could be very very costly we have with us here today at times square church what i believe a miracle man who knows this first time of being with jesus and for security reasons i'm going to choose these words carefully corey and natalie are two international kingdom workers that we support they just got back they just got back recently from one of the most chaotic scenes in central asia they barely got out of alive with just a suitcase in their hand and god is using them through tsc's child cry program to help this area i met cory in this week and for folks i'm telling you and his words to me were this he said pastor tim we're trying to get back there as soon as possible i went are you crazy do you know why he wants to he has been with jesus he has been with jesus i looked at that man i saw the joy of the lord and and working in one of the most dangerous cities on the planet and you know the verse that came to me when i saw fleshed out with him was revelation 12 11. they overcame him by the blood of the lamb the word of their testimony and they did not love their lives so much as to shrink back from death i'm going to ask you a question i see a man running back to a battle while everybody else is trying to get away from that because he knows it's not magic that keeps him but it's the power of jesus you can't buy peace you can't buy joy you can't buy the presence of jesus no matter what you put up string up or a hook up i'm just telling you you can't buy the presence of god it comes from people that spend time in his presence that's what god is looking for from us today let me let me close with this because i'm just telling you these people they had been with jesus then and here's the part i want you to know you can be with jesus now you can be with jesus even forever folks i want to close with this i want you to get this real quickly listen how can you be with jesus now let me give it to you number one spend time in god's word spend time in his word let let me let let the scriptures talk there's so much noise in society today let god talk to you through his bible today i love what what what smith wigglesworth said he said this he said if i read the newspaper i come out dirtier than i went in but if i read my bible i come out cleaner than i ever went in and i like folks that goes with whatever newscast you watch i don't care if it's cnn fox or some some out there news thing i'm just telling you i don't watch that i need to come out clean and not come out dirtier that's what i'm telling you today that's why when you look at the bible i love what one man said he said this a bible that's falling apart usually belongs to someone that isn't falling apart i'm telling some of you going like well why is your bible look new today it's a new bible okay this doesn't count i got a fallen apart bible back at the apartment so just letting you know don't judge me number two spend time with him in prayer spend time with god in prayer i love this i heard someone say before do not have your concert first and tune your instruments afterward begin your day with god don't jump into your day doing your thing and then come back and go god i can't believe man give it all to god at the beginning of the day just tell god and here's the part i've learned can i help you with prayer for a second we will never have time for prayer we must make time for prayer you have to make time for prayer and say this is the priority but let me close with this right now i want you to spend eternity with him this is how we get to heaven this is how we begin to realize how this is the most important question or let me say it like this look at me for a moment because when we deal about spending eternity with god we've got to get this one right if you are wrong about jesus it doesn't matter what you're right about i don't care what you think i don't care if you go like i know the yankees are going to make the wild card i don't care i knew the brooklyn nets wouldn't do it who cares k.d doesn't care about you it doesn't matter i knew stocks were gonna do this i knew this was gonna you gotta i don't care what you get right there you gotta get jesus right you gotta get this jesus right so the question is this i want you i want you to see what jesus said jesus said this no man no woman no student no columbia student nyu harvard mit wherever you go fordham no man student young person grandma can see the kingdom of heaven unless they are born again that's what jesus said jesus who cannot lie said that so if i was to ask you today how do you get to heaven okay get ready now some people be going like i'm i'm a good person that's good that's not what jesus said i'm i go to church great that's not what jesus said i haven't heard anybody i haven't killed it i've heard this one i haven't killed anyone i said great continue on with that but that doesn't get you to heaven those are all good i've been christened i took communion i was baptized those are all nice things that doesn't get you there if anybody knows directions to his own home is jesus he knows how to get to his own house he doesn't need your help and i promise you your apple phone can't help either you can ask siri all you want on how to get to heaven siri doesn't have the answer we already got it from jesus you must be born again that's what jesus said pastor tim then here's the question what is that first of all what does that mean jesus was saying just as you had a first birth physically you need a second birth spiritually how does that happen pastor tim here comes jesus said in order for that to happen you were born physically the first time birth date physical that second birth happens internally and the best way i can explain it as you've heard me explain it for 18 months is these simple letters just abc what do you mean pastor tim i think these letters just help us a each one of these letters just really corresponding to something a it's admitting that i'm a sinner every one of us sitting in this place starting with myself have a condition and it's called sin it can't be fixed with a promise a priest a pastor a program we need help to fix it i'm broken on the inside the diagnosis is sin and i have to start by admitting i'm a sinner or as one person said we're not mistaken in need of correction we're sinners in need of a savior i don't need a second chance i need a second birth well how does that happen pastor tim that's the b word believe it's believing that god sent his son to fix my sinful condition because i couldn't fix it myself if we could fix ourselves folks it would be the worst case of child abuse in human history god's saying go down there suffer for 33 years go to the cross and then i'm going to tell those people if they want to go to heaven they got to be good folks you don't get good and then come to jesus you come to jesus and he makes you good that's the gospel that's how that happens here's what's amazing if i could get myself to heaven by being good listen then jesus would never have had to come and die on the cross for me but jesus did come his death was him becoming my sin bearer he died the death i was supposed to die live the life i couldn't live and then gave me a reward heaven and forgiveness i didn't even deserve and finally it's confessing that's the c word confessing him as lord that's a huge word that's romans 10 9-10 to say the word lord another another translation that is you're the boss now in my life god didn't send a son to come 2000 years ago to get you to church on sunday and to sit in that chair god when jesus rose from the dead and went to heaven he wasn't going when he sees you in church he wasn't going oh finally they're sitting down for two hours on sunday that's not why he came religion wants you for two hours on sunday jesus wants you every day of the week that's what him being lord is that's what it is and that's why coming to church on a sunday is religion born again is a relationship and saying you are now in charge of my life today i want you just to bow your head and close your eyes if you're watching online i want you to prepare to make the most important answer the most important question of your life i'm so excited because some of you are going to become a part of that 70 000 today today your life can change today can be your second birth date is what today could be today could be your second birth date and wherever you're at in this place i don't know if someone invited you today i don't know if you're watching online but today you can be born again pastor tim howe i want to pray a prayer and then listen times square church over the last 33 years we would invite people to come to an altar we have to be very careful right now we don't know what the future holds and that's okay we're just going to be a little cautious here we don't believe in magic here we believe that god can do whatever he wants anywhere he wants any any way he wants to do it that's what we believe and wherever you're at right now in this place god wants to change you online god wants to change you so the question is this have you been born again and today it can happen some of you are going like pastor tim i don't know if i could do this because i'm not perfect exactly perfect people don't go to heaven forgiven people go to heaven and today that can take place here's what i want you to do if you're here in this place i'm going to ask you to do one thing and if you're watching online i want to pray a prayer with you i want to pray a prayer that starts this journey a prayer being born again a prayer that says god i want you in my life i want you to change me from the inside out and in fact we're all going to pray together but if you're here today with every head bowed in every eye closed i can only speak to those that are watching and hear and ask them and ask them this question but if you're watching online you can you can very well be part of this and here's what i'm going to ask you to do if you're here today and say pastor tim when you pray that born-again prayer i want to be part of that i want to start a brand new relationship with jesus today i want to be born again with every head battle every eye closed if you say pastor tim when you pray that prayer when you pray that prayer i want to be included in that wherever you're at this place without any hesitation if you say pastor tim include me in that prayer today in this building online without any hesitation you say include me pastor tim come on hold up your hand right now say put me in that prayer right now i want to make sure i see every hand that's up keep them up high because i want to say is 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 keep them up in the balcony 33 i want to make sure i see every person that's up there folks can we thank god for those 33 folks that just raised their hands come on let's all pray this together come on every one of us dear lord jesus i believe you're the son of god i believe that on the cross you took my sin my guilt and my shame you faced hell from me so i wouldn't have to go you rose from the dead to give me a place in heaven a purpose on earth and a relationship with your father today lord jesus i turn from my sin to be born again come on say it with me now god is my father jesus is my savior the holy spirit is my helper and heaven is my home in jesus name come on let's thank god for those hey and if you're watching online we're so thankful that you made the greatest decision of your life i just want you to do one thing for me if you if you raised your hand or if you may pray that prayer with us at home i want you to text the word connect to 51 000. we're going to send you just some help on next steps it's so simple come on connect some of you have a phone right now if you're in the sanctuary come on text it you've been texting all service anyway come on let's text the right thing now right now connect to 51 000 so we can start the sprint now listen here's i want us to close today we're going to close two ways one of the one of the ways we're going to close i want dr rt kendall to say the benediction and pray for us today i want dr rt who's pastored westminster chapel in london for 25 years and is now part of this church family i want him to get ready to pray for and then as soon as he says amen how many are ready for cece wants to come up and just sing one more song for us when he says amen cece is going to lead us in one more song and when that is done now here's the part that i got you i need you to get it's we're going to though we can't have a giant altar call we're going to have pastor patrick has his teams to pray up here so if you need personal prayer here or online if you need personal prayer we have we have hosts that are willing to pray so if you're online you type in i need prayer for this we're going to have somebody respond and pray for you isn't it great that you can just pray and just type in prayer for somebody right there we're going to pray for you online i don't care where you're at you can be in the uk jamaica you can be down in the dr wherever you're at mexico we're going to pray for you right now but if you're in this building as soon as cc is done the service is going to be over and our prayer teams are going to be up here let's pray would you welcome dr rt kendall to close us out in prayer [Applause] i'm so honored to be here today and i cannot but thank god that he's kept me alive long enough to have a part in a ministry at such a time as this i thank god for a man who's unashamed of jesus unashamed of the gospel and that's what thrills me that's why i'm just glad to be here heavenly father thank you for this day thank you for your presence thank you for the way you have shown up and made us see that jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever and grant that what we've tasted today is the foretaste of the things to come the best is yet to come may your protection be upon tim and cindy thank you for david wilkerson thank you for carter colliman put him here and grant that we may have from this moment from this moment an ever increasing anointing of wisdom love and power now may the grace of our lord jesus christ the love the tender mercy of god the father the fellowship the joy the protection and the sprinkling of the blood of jesus by the holy spirit be with us abide with us now and until we meet again amen

Channel: Times Square Church

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Length: 55min 53sec (3353 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021