MFI Global Conference 2019 | Judah Smith

thank you so much please please be seated so this is I grew up here for those that don't know ministers fellowship international some can be born into it I was born into this movement and have a new staff member with me that we just hired his name's Creed he's from Alabama and he's from a different kind of church and so when Pastor Frank got up and started saying now lift your hands and start speaking out loud and pray and he was like what is this I ain't never met Christians like this this is just just the sensation I get from praying with you is something from from another world it's beautiful it's an amazing thing to realize you you know the older you get you look back hopefully and you look at the wonderful things that you did have and there's so many blessings and and obviously I'm just I love my mom so much I think she's heroic she's incredible I love Pastor Frank and pastor Sharon so much this is heritage and legacy and history for me and to be here at MFI it really is an incredible honor and it means a ton Pastor Mark and Susan Estes and manna house and just I got so many friends Pastor Bob and Sue MacGregor feel like I've been raised by so many people in the room so thank you thanks for allowing me to share with you for a few minutes we are blessed you know to have what we have I know y'all been around enough to know that what we just experienced just in those few moments of prayer is a special thing and there's been men and women who serve and had long nights asking God to restore truth and to restore things that can be covered and lost and even sometimes we can get so cerebral we forget about the supernatural and we forget that the Holy Spirit's on the move and Jesus has changed in people's lives and healing bodies and he still walks among us and all of these things that we hold true some generation paid the price so that we could be here enjoying those kinds of freedoms and that's that's a beautiful thing that's a beautiful thing well there's so much obviously to cover I'll leave so much pastor Frank and then the see pastor Bill Johnson here I've known pastor Bill I think pastor bill first had me come speak when I was like 19 and I didn't know who the pastor was so I did a prophesy and over a bunch of people including pastor bill I think I said something like God is really gonna use you something like that hahaha hope you know that's the best kind of prophecy that son when you prophesy just say something like God you have a purpose God's hand is on your life you know things that are true of everybody and to be honest pastor bill to see you after that prophecy God's really huge - hahaha it's amazing man it's an honor it's just so cool it's so cool to be here with so many friends I love you so much I I won't I won't take long I'd like to share with you something that might sound a little odd I'm really struck by that word embrace house that's gonna Andrew you know what are we talking about embrace and I think there's a lot of things that that we probably need to embrace and I'm sure there are lots of things you are embracing one of the things is that when it comes with a narrative on the streets if I could say it like that I'm not entirely sure that pastors are known for being loving and kind and caring and considerate and sensitive and good listeners and lovers of people and so I'd like to kind of speak for a moment and I understand that I speak from a very limited scope and scale I speak from my time in Los Angeles I speak from my time in Seattle I speak from my time in Portland I'm a West Coast kid been born and raised in an environment that is not inherently Christian it's not Baptist there's no big big church history in the places that I was raised and so a lot of my life has been conversations with people that you know are not entirely familiar with with Scripture and so I understand that I peek I speak from my own vantage point but I'll just say it like this I think we just need to talk for a moment about mean Christian leaders and and this may sound really really dumb down but I just I just don't know if it's okay for us to be mean anymore and I'm just gonna submit that for your own consideration I just find incredible issue with the fact that some of us are still mean and we talking about we follow in the footsteps of Jesus and so the title of my message tonight is when leaders start cutting ears off when leaders start cutting ears off and I'm asking the question why are we not why are we so mean or a more positive question why don't we look more like Jesus and I mean that for myself come on now somebody you just get me in enough traffic all right get me in enough traffic and I go I go from Pentecostal charismatic to atheist okay get me in the right circumstances and situation and all the virtue I've been taught raised an MFI goes out the window III understand this is this is this is an expose on myself why why don't we live love and look more like Jesus age-old question no doubt with a lot of its modern applications and modern I should say we've been affected by a lot of the modern things around us but but I'm just asking the question like I think somebody asked me recently like what are you what do you like see God doing I was like I don't really know right now but here's what I do know I wonder if we could just get pastors to stop fighting online for everybody to see I just is that too small of a vision like I know we all trying to like drop a new album and build our churches and get a cool brand and a new name like I'm down we changed our name too but like like it would just be nice if Christians stopped fighting on Twitter and pastors calling out other pastors and other movements calling out other movements let's be the movement that doesn't do that you know me like that would be refreshing om fi we don't talk about bad about other movements and churches oh that's unusual I know we're trying to be uncommon it's weird so let's let's be and oh by the way if you're like this is news to me pastors are mean to each other by the way stay ignorant that is wonderful stay there don't go online don't download Instagram or Twitter or social media you are right we're you should be okay but for those of us that are laughing right now you're a little bit aware of a lot of the fodder that's out there and as a result of course it reflects on the main point of the universe the focal point of it all the beginning in the end the Alpha the Omega the lily of the valley the Rose of Sharon the lion and the lamb he's everything everything through him for him by him unto him his name is Jesus and we want to live love and look like Jesus so I'm just asking the question why maybe don't we look more like Jesus I want to read from the chapter of 21 book of John it says this in verse 20 it says Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them the one who also had leaned against him during the supper I love this because John writes us about himself it's completely unrelated material but John would like to remind you he is Jesus favorite you got a love John like if I was writing the gospel I would write it like John I'm gonna be honest with you I like John style okay he says Lord who is it that's going to betray you he said and then he recorded an ins he says when Peter saw him he said him Jesus Lord what about what about this man now if you know the dynamics of what's going on right remember Peter has just been restored I love how he preached this he's been restored but humming no he's still troubled he's so troubled it goes like this Jesus says Oh Peter you want to know how you're gonna die it's gonna be terrible you're gonna be a martyr it's gonna be it's gonna be horrible and then you know what Peter does he does what everybody does when they're in pain he goes well what about what about him right and what Peter wants he's not gonna tell anybody what Peter wants is Jesus to go Oh John it's gonna be worse and Peter's never like I'm so sorry oh my gosh that's terrible but that's what he wants right but having to oftentimes that backfires he's like what about John Jesus goes what about John I'm Peters like well what's gonna happen to him he's like well if I want him to live forever what is that to you now that really backfired Peters like what i'm dinah ugly bad that he lives forever this is not fair right and he says you follow me now watch this so the same read abroad among the brothers and the sisters that his disciple John was never gonna die listen what it says John says but Jesus didn't say that Jesus didn't say to him that he was not gonna die but if it was his will that he remain until I come what is that to you that's amazing to have that portion of scripture quoted two times so close but there's emphasis John's making a point here at the end of his gospel it's radical he said everybody thought they heard Jesus say John's not gonna die but John wants to set the record straight Jesus never said that that's what we're gonna go I want just think about this tonight will you pray with me Jesus one more time we pray and what we're doing is we're just pausing to acknowledge that without your participation here this is like a TED talk this becomes your story because you're in it and you're amongst us and you're upon us and you're revealing yourself to us so spirit of Jesus show us Jesus let us see him for who he really is transform us change his shift us rearrange us we ask this in Jesus name and thank you to the Seattle Seahawks won their last game and were four and one deal with it amen kick went wide right and I was like I know there's a god four and one yep you remember growing up when you were a kid can you remember the first time you went to your friend's house first time you went to your friend's house and maybe more specifically it was like the first time you went to have a meal or something now maybe you don't remember but I do okay it was 76 and gleason not too far from this building Portland Oregon and we lived in a neighborhood that was right around the corner from at that time the main campus the main location of Bible Temple okay that's where I grew up and I'll never forget I must have been six seven maybe eight years old and I finally told my Mahama said mom I want to go down to my friends house for dinner okay now this mom both moms might be here tonight okay their last name might rhyme with women Lohmann okay so I say can I go down to Jack and Libby Loehmann's house cuz their son Jackie was my best friend of course we're all of those absolutely now what I did not know as I was in for rude awakening it would be after that night that I would begin to despise my family oh oh okay that's a bad thing all right so we go to the Loehmann's and we sit down on the couch Jackie turns on the Disney Channel and we start watching Rin Tin Tin and reruns of the old Zorro okay and we're sitting there in an hour two hours go by and and and if you if you did if you don't know who liberal omen is she is Donna Reed right her house was meticulous it was spotless it was wonderful was totally clean and my mom's house was - I will say that but there was some other differences we're about to get to so I'm sitting on the couch and we're watching Rin Tin Tin and Zorro and all of a sudden miss Libby with her Irish accent she comes around and she says it's dinnertime boys now in my family when mom says din even before she gets done with her nerve you are up and to the table you know talking about you sit down and you're ready and by the way bring a Bible verse to share with the family you all know what I'm talking about have that picture of that kid that's starving somewhere in a third world just in case you don't like your food have one of those promise boxes where you can pull out a promise from the Lord it's a fortune cookie for Christians right in the shape of a bread piece of bread I'm talking Christian in 76 and Lisa Libby Loman says it's time for dinner I jump up for miss Libby's couch and I look back and Jackie hasn't moved I said it's time for dinner but we got to go he's like sit down man we're good and I was like are you all right bro this doesn't go well for me in my house if I'm not at the table like he's like bro sit down this is this is all new to me I'm like are you are you sure yes so I sit back down still watching rin-tin-tin and what happens next completely transform my worldview Libby miss Libby comes around with a thing called TV trays and she put one TV tray in front of her son she put another TV tray in front of me I'm like thank you ma'am thank you I don't know I'll get it it's okay she's like no I'll sit sit down starts putting napkins and utensils down I'm like are dis a restaurant bro we're gonna if my dad finds out we're gonna die we're gonna die right then she says now she's brings out Heinz 57 a1 sauce ketchup Grey Poupon I'm like what world am I in right then she goes now boys tonight you can have hamburgers or hot dogs or both I'm like oh I have died and gone to heaven as an 8 year old she goes back into the kitchen I'm like should we go get the boy she don't bring it to us I'm like my parents have it all wrong all wrong she comes back we get done even whatever we want then I'm like okay we should probably take the food and he's like no no my mom will come back she'll pick it up right so then he's like you want to go to my room and we go to his room and and he goes I couldn't leave it he said you want to watch TV I said we're talking about he's like I got a TV in my room now you understand I grew up if you had a TV in your room okay it's like they're like a woman in a bikini in your room it's the same thing no it's the same thing TV naked woman same thing I'm like he's like what do you want to watch I mean I was like let's watch Smurfs something we can't watch Smurfs those little demons we can't do that oh my god right we just start watching them I go home that night I remember walking there's only like six or seven houses and I'm walking like this I get home my mom it's like my first dinner out you know she comes back says how'd it go I was like mom we got to talk we got changed some things I was like mom have you ever heard of TV trays I tell you what I got out TV tray my mom left the scene all our members my dad come on out of his bedroom he said what did you say to your mom son I will remove you and make another one help me know what I'm talking about TV trade I'm in trouble I just said it you know hit me crazy though you you grow up and you think everybody does it the way the Smiths do it even something as ordinary as a an ordinary evening having dinner you just think everybody does it like my family does it and then you come to realize like oh man there's lots of different kind of families a lot different kind of approaches and but that's just the reality now I don't mean to insult your intelligence you know where I'm going this is pretty basic stuff I think it is those same ideals those same presumptions those same routines those same experiences that often time lead us to frustration with Jesus Christ and here's here's here's my suggestion we all have ideals and we got to embrace that we can deny it but of course that's fruitless and pointless we want traction we want progress we want to grow we want to see Jesus like we've never seen him before I want to understand him more thoroughly we want to see things we've never seen before in his story we want to understand what he says when he says certain words because we have what we think about those words but maybe what he's saying when he uses those words is different than what we think those words are and so we want that but what we're dealing with is things like cultural ideals right we're dealing with childhood ideals and then we're dealing with just Church style ideals and those just a name just three there's so many more but when we go to this story for instance we take with us those ideals and it starts first by embracing that reality when I read this story I take with me childhood ideals I take with me cultural ideals and I take with me in some cases for those of us that have grown up in church you take Church ideals now in some cases you even see the scripture in a particular way based on the emphasis of your movement or your church we we have ideals now here's a common a common mistake that I make all the time and that is I assume that Jesus holds very dear to my ideals in fact Jesus and I have an understanding everyone else is wrong and I am right right Jesus doesn't like the Smiths do it Jesus understands right his his ideals are my ideals and and yet here's my question we would all right it asked the question if I asked you do you believe that Jesus is to disrupt your ideals your answer would be because your leaders and your brilliant you would say absolutely so my next question is when's the last time that happened when's the last time you were like oh dad was wrong when's the last time you were like well our church kind of miss it on that one when's the last time preacher bear with me hey Church I changed my mind we're not even allowed to do that now don't don't breed insecurity and the people I just think we're we got to embrace the day we're in my brothers and sisters this is the day there's not a lot of secrets cameras are everywhere and so are microphones people are looking for transparency and they are craving it when's the last time we were just in the pulpit like you know what nah I changed my mind I've changed on that I've seen something I've never seen before when's the last time you change your mind about Jesus when's the last time you were like I kind of missed that part of him that's all wow I never seen that before but here's what we do here's what we do and we've all done it we've all done it okay so nobody feel bad we've all done it we hear Jesus say something we filter it through our ideal knowing for a fact that he holds our ideals at his highest it's this he values our ideals more than anybody else's ideals so we hear him say something this is natural now we build expectation based on what we think he said what we want him to say what we think we're supposed to hear him say and then those expectations are not met and disillusion sets in we get a little rough around the edges and we get me now can prove this the church that John is writing to obviously many churches but the church that John had pastored in other churches this is hard to spread it spread for many many years that John the Apostle John the Beloved would never die furthermore they went on to say here's what's gonna happen John we know that Jesus will return because before John died Jesus is going to come back and it became a theme it became a thing historically you can do your research it literally became a thing Jesus never said it but it became a thing and everyone was banking on it now do you do your research John starts to get really old and they're like he doesn't look good true story and you can read some of the ancient writings there little people are saying he you know you know what he must have done something wrong that's why Jesus isn't doing what he said I was like now that sounds familiar we think we heard something it doesn't work out like we said it so we start well there you know they well you know how they are we'll see what happened was and you know there's early writings that tell us people believe that John was less than an apostle and that's why he wasn't allowed to be a martyr and he had done something wrong and so Jesus was gonna come back but now he's not gonna come back and John's gonna die he wasn't gonna die but and it was all this father all this stuff going around about John and we don't know actually if the Gospel of John was compiled after John's death we do know whether it was a gather of his writings that John wanted to set the record straight he never said that he never said that how many conversations did John have Jesus never said I wasn't gonna die no he did not we heard no he he said if if it was his will that he want him he could but you know what's that he didn't but what are we here what wouldn't you want to hear that your pastors gonna live forever I love him he's gonna live forever I mean who does want to be forever young look look at the ideals in the ancient world one of the main ideals is just like it is today I want to live forever I don't want to die well stay young that's what we hear because we want to hear that that take you to another place you know these passages remember the guys in in Luke they're all hanging around and Jesus says this he says say when I sent you out earlier with no money bags knapsack two sandals did you lack anything he said nothing he says all right but now everything's gonna change here's what we're gonna do we're gonna actually take money bags likewise a knapsack let everyone who has has no sword sell his jacket and buy one now the guys are like now let's go right I tell you the scripture must be fulfilled he's numbered with the transgressors written news and they said look Lord what's this what's this what's this where they've been keeping these swords that's what I want to know as soon as Jesus says swords Peters like it's crazy it's probably Peter we don't know we got to we were just keeping in case in depth where where'd those come from well we we just stopped maybe when you were ready we were gonna do it so we got to now Jesus says it is enough he's not saying two swords is enough for 12 guys he's saying stop saying stop that gets worse right Jesus is like swords when the disciples hear swords they hear we're taking down Rome let's go I saved one let's go Jesus because what were they raised under think about it what were they raised under but the Messiah would come and he would overthrow the tyranny of Rome and Israel would be restored and that's what they were taught and that's how they heard Jesus and so when he said sword they would start it gets worse you go down just a few passages while he was still speaking there came a crowd the man called Judas one of the twelve was leading them he drew near to kiss at Jesus and Jesus said to him Judas would you betray the Son of man with a kiss and when those who around him saw him would follow they said Lord shall we strike with the sword and one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear and Jesus said no more of this Peter gets a bad rap how exhausting is this for Peter takes out his sword he when he her sword he thinks a sword he's like should we should take out our swords they're captivating Jesus they're capturing him he he cuts his ear off how confusing is this I love Jesus Jesus is like picks up to hear and he's like stop it Peter's like what stop doing that stop doing what you just told us to get you said sell all of our jackets and get swords what are you what so Peters like got him and um I just think I think the guys were in shock they're like why is he healing our enemies when he told us to get swords this is gonna be really ineffective we're gonna start cutting people when he's gonna heal them all there's no way we can win Jesus we gotta talk strategy you gotta let some of these guys die you know it's just not gonna be good trying to win but but we do that too though you know we do that to we hear one thing and we immediately assume assume that's what this means swords means swords and yet clearly with Jesus swords don't mean swords like you mean sorts Jesus speaking about a spiritual war that's about to break out he's about to accomplish the same greatest act in human history and change the world as we know it as he's saying the war is on about to go to the garden feel the spiritual dynamic but but we hear what we oftentimes want to hear it's time it's time to fight people here's my question to the disciples body of work let's talk body work body work let me ask you and I'll ask you the same question where in Jesus three-and-a-half-year earthly ministry did he ever in any context allude to the fact that when he says sword he means grab and start cutting people think about this one moment where is the scene where you go see see that's what see what see Jesus Jesus is there there it is he's saying when I say sword it means we're gonna we're gonna wear a take over and we're gonna cut people he does the opposite bodywork footsteps of Jesus who he touches and heals when he says swords you have to go I don't think he means swords like we mean swords why because he like takes care of babies and women and Samaritans and lepers and pharisees and sadducees and he like doesn't cut anybody he heals them that's interesting furthermore we got people using the words of Jesus with a tone he never used and I think I think I know why I think I know why I'm just gonna submit this you you've been doing this longer than me I think I know why I think I know why and I think it's the same reason Jesus taught in parables you ever I had one one really brilliant scholar and pastor teacher he told me he said you can't you can't preach from the parables you can't preach in the parables they're too complex or too layer you got to steer clear of those and I thought to myself buddy I got friends who are so broken and so hurting I'm gonna preach from everything okay I'm bringing a book of Revelation even when I don't really know what I'm saying okay we're like we're using everything we can out here to help people who are broken and dying like I don't have the luxury to be like we're not gonna do revelation it's like we're going to use the whole thing okay but but of course because parables are so complex and so later hard to understand the question remains what why why why does Jesus oh you love Jesus like people asked Jesus question and he'll be like he'd be like what are you what I yes and they're like what does that mean Jesus is always asking questions from questions and you're like are you the Messiah and he's like go tell everybody what you see and they're like what does that mean right I mean you gotta be honest Jesus isn't actually always like you know here's what it is he's always like do you see the bird do you see the flowers do you see the ways what does that mean and you're like I don't know yeah I love how we read the words of Jesus now we're like in that beautiful and a lot of people who are new to our church like now I don't know is it and and I just want to know why that that is I think it's the same reason that that we we here's what I'd like to suggest I think Jesus does it this way because if you remove the teachings of Jesus from the person of Jesus you'll never get it right here's what I've concluded when he teaches stuff it's so we go what does that mean he's like follow me okay yeah when we get a chance so can we talk about that one thing cuz it's really crazy I don't really understand it he's like just just just walk with me work with me watch how I do it you you have to but but what we do is is we take the teachings of Jesus away from the person of Jesus and also we cut people's ears off in the name of Jesus in the name of Jesus and the name of Jesus I told him I told the whole movement they're a tear really why cuz I just believe that Jesus is about the truth and the truth will set you free I mean we we got people saying Jesus is the way the truth and the life it's like oh it's kind of a scary tone I think it was good news last time I checked we're taking on the tone of newscasters fighting for air time like I'm not I don't belong to fox or CNN my brothers and sisters I belong to Jesus our tone is supposed to mirror the tone of the Messiah but you don't know his tone if you don't know him if you don't know him and so and so you got a you got to know the person so like the only way to understand Jesus is stay close to him yeah what are you doing trying to understand him right cuz we forget where he said some of the things he said and you got to go back to where he said it who he said it to how he ministered to his posture but like all these things are given to us for a reason and remember Jesus is wildest WOD remember this he says he says to the Pharisees and Sadducees he says you you read this obviously speaking of the Torah and he says you you thinking this you have life but the living word is in front of you can't see the forest for the trees you can't even see me because you're so proud of your Bible knowledge I'm I'm old enough to know live through a couple of generations we were living in a day in an age where if God is not God we're doomed we-we-we we just got to build churches where we give people the person of Jesus not just the words of Jesus do you understand what I'm saying I'm he did it so I saw in with this I'm with this so then I was like wait a minute hold on wait a minute Peter walk with physical visible manifest Jesus for three and a half years and he didn't understand what sword meant we're in big trouble that's what I told God I was like wait a second this sermon is not ending well because any thinking person coming that was a really good servant except that Peter and some of the other guys we're with him for three and a half years three and a half years and this is where I am and I thank God for this movement and I thank God for its history and its heritage and it has a lot to do with what I'm about to read so when they had come together post-resurrection now watch their ideal surface again acts 1 verse 6 Lord is this the time you came back from the dead so we can get Rome right is this the time is it so good we get it down we had a little had to wait on you a little bit but now you're gonna do everything we want you to do right then Jesus says it's not for you to know the times nor the seasons classic Jesus answer so is that a yes or a No you know me that's what I would ask cool times and seasons I'm down I love fall is that a yes or no real quick though off the record but it's like Jesus is saying I don't want you to focus on your ideals I want you to focus on this you're going to receive power you're gonna receive a power you've yet to receive but this power is going to change everything then it's the power of my spirit now the spirit of Jesus the Holy Spirit of Jesus is going to come on you it's going to come on you I would like to suggest that if this does not happen what we believe and pray for in a Scott will never happen this is our only hope this is our only answer we need the Spirit of the Living God to come upon us to give us a differentiation in the world so the lives can be transformed it is still the only play we got we're the movement with one play it's a long bomb just run straight for the end zone so we got let's not be more sophisticated than we are we're not gonna win this war with our brains would I go win this war with our bodies we're gonna win this war in the spirit Jesus has to be God and has to live amongst us he says the power will come upon you and because of the power that's going to be come upon you you're going to be able to tell my story and you're gonna tell in Jerusalem Judea and this power is gonna move you in such a way you are gonna be motivated and impassioned and enthralled and obsessed and thrilled to take it to the furthest darkest places in the world earlier Jesus says of the Holy Spirit if you remember and this provokes me every time he says the spirits gonna come to help her and everything I taught you he's gonna remind you and teach you I mean I've been thinking about that lately I'm like Jesus you you your spirit has to teach me what you mean when you say sword because I think I know what you mean but then I realize I don't know what you what you mean and and that's where what what has been developed over decades and decades in this movement a a cognizant passion and desire for the Spirit of God is something that must be protected and guarded and valued for it's the spirit within us his other name is your helper who will say no no no that's not what he meant remember what he said remember where he was remember who he is I am with you I'm gonna show you and he says memory says and and he will glorify me jesus said oh my brothers and sisters you know the Spirit is active in your life when Jesus is being glorified when the sermons lead to Jesus I know everybody wants us to be practical but can I just say this church didn't start practical this church started supernatural I'm talking about the Church of the Living God I'm talking about the First Church I'm talking about book of Acts Church this was not a systemized process this was an organic massive explosion of the supernatural Spirit of God now administration came later somebody say hey men but it starts first by the Spirit of God Spirit of God and and we we have to be the kind of pastors who and the kind of leaders who go I don't know man sometimes I think maybe we once we've done all we can to understand this in their time when we come to the end of our understanding and just say Jesus honey to show you need to show me something I never seen before this show me something I've never seen before show me something I never seen before that that maybe can't even come maybe it can be confirmed through research but it can't come from research I need you to show me when you say sword you mean sword and I just believed was all in my heart somebody can start playing so this ends very charismatic they'll be great that's one thing we've learned you know play the piano towards the end at least you know I've been picking up on I've been around I've been around looking around I uh yeah I just want to be a mean leader and I want to be a mean pastor knowledge puffs up we know all the words of Jesus got it all memorized but we're so removed from his presence in his person his loving way we forgot that we're all been grafted and we're all Samaritans who are owed nothing before we know it we were in our pulpits man and we're our places to teach anywhere we don't mean to but we start hurting people with something that's supposed to only help them really and I think a new kind of preachers starting to emerge and this isn't about age it's about spirit a broken preacher an honest preacher I know I know we're not all preachers but bear with me for a moment to preach to my own kind preachers willing willing to admit I was wrong Pete preachers who are willing to admit I'm on a journey but you're still willing to admit Church I need your prayer preachers who don't just preach to the church but they live in the church pastors don't just leave communities that are in community pastors who have people to keep them accountable pastors who are willing to share when they look at something late at night on the internet they shouldn't look at and go to a brother and say would you pray for me pastors who open up to their own staff at the risk that their staff won't respect them anymore I'm talking about preachers and pastors who are just like man I want to know the tone I want to know the footsteps I want to know the ways I want to live love and look more like Jesus I just submit that to you tonight for your own consideration in your own prayerful thoughts oh god oh god oh god this we're gonna be in heaven before we know it and I got a sense we're all gonna get there and go oh man my bad it was always about you nobody like you Jesus nobody like you Jesus can you remember for a moment where he found you when he found you can you imagine can you use your supernatural imagination for a moment to consider just for a nanosecond where you would be if Jesus hadn't rescued you it wasn't your doing it wasn't your effort it wasn't your expertise it wasn't your heritage it wasn't your lineage or your background this was Jesus but for the grace of God you are I am who we are by the grace of God the scandalous unconditional grace of God with which comes mercy and peace no we just receive this what wonderful riches we have in Jesus I pray that your spirits overflow and your minds overflow and this book overflows with the wonderful riches that are all in Jesus yield to the spirit let the spirit show you his ways let the spirit show you how he walks and how he talks and how he loves and how he listens and how he cares and how he heals and restores and may we walk in his footsteps made the day come that we arrive in a place called forever and he says you did good son you did good daughter you followed me into the unknown can I pray for you Jesus thank you so much for the moments that we share thank you for your spirit we sent your spirit in this place we sent your grace in this place oh god we don't want to separate your words from who you are for who you are is represented in your words we want to be near you we want to be close to you and so we say spirit of the Living God who gives us the Dunamis power that allows us to continue on you pastor you sir you ma'am have not come this far to go back again God told me to tell you at the embrace conference a global conference of MFI you came here thinking to yourself I cannot sustain the pressure I cannot sustain the pace I cannot sustain the expectation but God told me to tell you cast all of your cares upon him for he cares it is his church it was his idea it was his grace it was his hand on your life in the first place you didn't choose him he chose you and appointed you for a work of ministry and where he's brought you he will sustain you going forward God we thank you for your grace oh we thank you for your grace nobody's like our God you get better and better and better and better we love you Jesus we love you Jesus we love you Jesus we love you Jesus we love you Jesus we love you Jesus we love you Jesus we love you Jesus we love you Jesus we love you Jesus we love you Jesus thank you God thank you God there's a there's a lot of pastors in here you've actually used the word pruning and you're in you're in an incredible pruning season and you've actually started to use the word but you started to second-guess the word he started to say I might just make an excuse for deficiencies or for the fact that we're not growing but the Lord told me to tell you that you're right and what he prunes will grow again and it will be all the more abundant and all the more fruitful for he is he is he is he is the vine dresser he is the vine dresser and he is working for your benefit and for your behalf he's working he's working he's working he's working Oh God we thank you we thank you we thank you we thank you I just pray rest rest rest is an act of worship and I pray that over pastors right now for while you slumber and sleep the one that does not watches over all that he has began on your behalf what he started he will complete and he will finish four you are in the palm of his hand and you are his cherished daughter and you are his chair his son and his thoughts towards you are more numerous in the sand on the seashore he's got a crush on you he loves you he's so proud of you he's not mad at you he is with you every step of the way God thank you thank you you everything we need in this life I pronounce a blessing on my fellow leaders I pronounce a blessing on these pastors the blessing of God that maketh rich and add no sorrow to it be your portion and may his countenance shine upon you that countenance of approval and acceptance and care and affection and love that your father has towards you constantly because of the finished work of Jesus that is your portion that is your promise and that is your inheritance in Jesus name in Jesus name god bless you god bless you

Channel: MFI Leader

Views: 4,720

Rating: 4.9473686 out of 5

Keywords: Judah Smith, Ministers Fellowship International, MFI, Damazio, City Bible Church, Mannahouse, Portland, Conference, Global, Leadership, Pastor, Help

Id: tNkKSsH3IFI

Length: 45min 11sec (2711 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 11 2019