Miraculous Deliverance | More Than Meets The Eye

pastors here at lighthouse joined by brittany guy who leads our arts team brittany how you doing i'm so good how was your easter oh it was fantastic um as i shared on the countdown my family was able to come down they live in philly so they were able to be here and then we went to brunch after easter service it was a beautiful day so it was just overall a fantastic easter how about you it was good i did a little cookout and then i took a nap which i think is the best thing anyone can ever do ever solid um tell us how you spent your easter we'd love to know if you did something cool were there you know easter baskets or candy involved that would be bright brunch options brunch offerings is that one of your favorite words i feel like that's one of your favorite words it is well it's one of my favorite words and one of my favorite meals and one of my favorite activities so yeah maybe maybe we'll do a segment called britney's brunch or brunch with brittany on the countdown we'll talk to cam about that cam what do you think oh he's giving me the thumbs down but if you want to hear brent with brittany or british branch let us know in the comments because i think it could be this is spinning wildly off course now what would you like to eat for brunch put it in the chat well you know i got to say i loved last week and and it was to me i found it so powerful that we got to hear stories of what jesus is doing in our community and to be honest you know we were we were hearing some stories from staff you and i we've gotten to hear even more in depth some of the stories that were shared but we know that what sammy said is absolutely true our staff is a staff of miracles no doubt and brittany i know a little bit more about your story than we could share in that format and i know the enemy tried to destroy you it is a miracle that you're here only because of jesus are you here and the same is true of me and i'm i'm just so grateful to know jesus is still working in lives today yeah absolutely it was such an energizing weekend for me um you know 2020 has been a really hard year um and we're only four months into 20-21 but you know after you go through a year like that it's not like you just okay new year new me you know that's a cute little saying but it takes some time to actually work through everything that we we went through and what i loved about that hearing those stories was just the reminder of how faithful god is and the cool thing is i after sharing our stories i got stopped in the halls here at gb i got dms i got people reaching out to me saying hey here's my story or i could so relate to that and so for me it was just this awesome moment and reminder of how good god is how faithful he is and how he does not give up on his kids you know and i just i loved entering that weekend knowing okay lord we're not so sure what what you're gonna do with our stories and then i sure was not expecting to be impacted that way but man it really ministered to me yeah hearing people's stories is one of my favorite things because everybody has a story there's no wasted sons or daughters of god everyone has a story and i wish i could sit down with every single person who comes in every sunday and hear their story yeah obviously time doesn't allow that but that's why we have small groups that's why we have the email stories at lighthouse.church if you have a story and you want to share it there are various ways to do that and and you should john smart i saw him make a comment this week and he said sharing your story is a sacred thing and i totally agree with him yeah and brittany stories are not only happening here locally or in our lh online community jesus is moving around the world and we are very intentional about trying to be a part of god's story in people's lives anywhere and everywhere would you mind telling us a little bit about lighthouse for lympira be my honor so my girl katie warner she is our outreach director here at lighthouse church she's done an amazing job fostering a partnership with the sours and the sours our family who are in honduras and they are just being the hands and feet of jesus and we have such an incredible opportunity and and really privilege and honor as a church to partner with them to sponsor so many kids who are living in honduras and so we thought you know as always you don't want to hear it from me or tc we wanted to share an actual story of lives change and lives impacted through the power of jesus so we've got this incredible interview from emily mcfarland one of our sponsors let's check this out i didn't know what that opportunity really had for me at the time the opportunity to sponsor a child you know at the time i was like okay that's cool you know i'll sponsor a child we'll hang the picture up on the fridge it'll be cool but at the end of the day it's more than just the picture on the fridge it is a relationship and at the time i didn't realize that and i i felt jesus like hey this is not a picture on the fridge this is a time to make a difference this is an opportunity to make a difference to to think that i could be that difference maker in that one child was insane [Music] [Music] foreign when you sponsor a child you get to provide that child guaranteed meals i've never been in a position where i didn't know what i was going to be eating next but these children sure have what really pushed me was like i can provide this child you know a package of crayons or a brand new pair of shoes with a brand new pencil case their favorite color and to think that i could have done that it was just like i had to do it why why wouldn't i if you had the opportunity to make sure that child got to live up to their full potential why wouldn't you [Music] i love that we got to hear not only from emily but also from astrid who is the child that emily sponsors and fun fact about emily emily's only 16 guys and she actually started sponsoring when she was 13 years old she felt that call from jesus got involved in ashford's life and man it's just been absolutely incredible you can tell from astrid's interview and how she was responding just what the sponsorship has meant yeah you know one of the things i did in my family is i asked my kids to help sponsor someone and so we actually went on and we tried to find kids that were around the same age as my kids oh that's just i wanted them to have a little bit of a connect with hey there's someone my age and we're in a position where we can be a blessing to them we can support them we can love on them and i really think it's it's powerful so if you're in a family especially i would encourage you to look into this and in fact anybody can sponsor a child we'd love to know if you are sponsoring a child throw you know tell us your sponsoring if you want to tell us their name whatever you want we'd love to hear about that if you're not we have the opportunity for you to do that right now yeah absolutely so starting today you can go on our website and you can sign up to sponsor a child and it's not just oh let me let me financially contribute you're spiritually contributing you're financially contributing you are you're literally changing this child's life um you get letters back you can pray for them you can pray with them they do the same back for you so it really is an amazing opportunity to be the hands and feet of jesus across the world in a completely different way i know i have some friends that do this um lighthouse verlumpira i hear their stories i've seen the photos it's just absolutely incredible all jesus is doing so i can't encourage you enough i know you said you sponsor you sponsor your child i i do the same thing it's been a huge privilege to be able to i started sponsoring i think it was about nine or ten years ago at a different church um and now my sponsor child she's about 18. and just to be able to walk with her through so many milestones has been has been cool yeah and you know one of the coolest things about if you decide to go through lighthouse for lumpira is that we fairly regularly obviously covid made an impact in this we regularly send teams down there and so i've gotten to speak with people who sponsored a child and have gone on a mission trip served many kids but got to meet their kid actually one of our staff members steve buswell i remember him telling me about what it was like to meet his the child he was sponsoring and i was like that is that's like about the coolest thing and that that's just a story that i think if you're saying i'm looking for something i can pour myself into i'm looking for some way to just make myself available for jesus to use me this is a great one so you can jump on our website you can sign up when it comes time for missions trips we'll definitely let you know when those are happening again we're excited about when that day comes back yeah absolutely well hey no matter if this is your first time joining us at lh online whether you've been here for a minute or so we are just so excited to have you here as part of the lh fam um if this is your first time welcome we consider you a guest it won't take you long to figure out we are family around here and we would just love the opportunity to get to know you a little bit more and also just let you get to know us a little bit more so we have this awesome feature it's called lhchat you can go over to our website or in our app and you can talk to a staff member in real time so if you have questions about the church or things you want prayer for we have people who would absolutely love to talk to you about that you know and actually i'm on the chat team so about every other week you might you might end up chatting with me yeah i'll tell you that ellie's chat i've loved it and actually it's led to me having some really cool conversations getting to hear some stories from people and so i've been so grateful for it so we would definitely love to chat with you and especially like you said if if you're new to the lighthouse community whether a part of the lh online community or physically we're just so glad to have you we believe jesus has a story for you all of us come from somewhere all of us encountered him all of us have been transformed and are being transformed we would just love to to be your community your family as you connect with what god has for you because we know it's an incredible journey yeah absolutely and that's all what this next sermon series that we're in right now called more than meets the eye is about to hear these stories so in a few moments we're going to head over to our sanctuary we're going to have a time of worship and then we're gonna hear another sermon from this this sermon series so however you prepare your hearts let's get ready to worship jesus together let's worship [Music] we need no other hiding place i'll be safe [Music] you promise never to forsake [Music] and [Music] is for jesus [Music] this we know [Music] [Applause] [Music] this way [Music] is [Music] [Music] jesus name will break every stronghold freedom is ours when we call his name jesus [Music] jesus is [Music] jesus [Music] i will call upon the lord for he alone is strong enough to save come on and rise your shackles are no more for jesus christ has broken every chance [Music] what jesus [Music] hey father i just come to you and i ask lord that your presence be in our midst god we know there's nothing that we can't do nothing we can do without you jesus i pray lord god is there anyone in here this morning let me be going through a struggle a hurt a hang up pain father i pray right now that you just be with him your spirit rests within our hearts as we sing a praise to you amen [Music] is [Music] without it i'm not living [Music] [Music] without it is [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] without it is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Laughter] is [Music] [Music] there will be no [Music] is worthy of there will be [Music] is is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] [Music] is your presence is all i need it's all i want it's all i seek and without without it this know me [Music] oh [Music] i will see the goodness [Music] i [Music] i love your voice [Music] i know you as a father i've known you as a friend i have a goodness [Music] with every breath that i am [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is is is [Applause] [Music] every [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] with every breath that i am [Music] [Applause] oh amen hey manny manny man how are we we good we good i uh we say it often and i cannot say it enough we are so blessed by the worship team that we have [Applause] it's not just for the skill and their talent but like i often say to my man aramis i call him black velvet all right and i think god has anointed him his heart for jesus is expressed in an anointing that lends itself to us resulting in worship to jesus as well amen and so i'm so grateful for the entire team and by way beginning i just want to say if you're joining with us for the very first time maybe you're with us for easter we just want to say welcome back we counted such an honor that you would come and kick the tires of the face or check out lighthouse we say around here often if you've been here three times um uh you like us all right you like us and um and you're part of the family all right so if you leave we're gonna come looking for you all right because that's what family does but um we really believe that god is doing something pretty incredible in and among our community and over the forth coming weeks i want to tell you some of the things that he's doing that's absolutely miraculous and mind-blowing and god glorifying but um i just want to say if you're with us for the first time post easter we want to say welcome we consider you an honored guest to the house and uh you find us in a sort of uh uh a a bit of a weighty um collection of talks and or series as we often refer to it and typically post easter which churches are very sort of prone to do is is sort of grease the skids and in light of the visitors that maybe we we had or first-time attenders you you enter into um a sort of a series that's a little more palatable a little more um uh well-received a little more how to make your life better okay uh we don't do any of that all right um we're going to jump into the deep end of the pool this week um uh with no apology and no reservation why because we believe that it brings life it brings life and so we don't around here we we refer to lighthouse church we are not a cruise ship we are a warship and we want to be built and form fit and ready for all that god has for us but also the the tumultuous terrain that we find ourselves in and so i'm gonna pray we're gonna get to work and i'll unpack what that means here in a moment but by way of announcements actually let me let me not forget this i want to do two things one is i want to welcome our online community come on come on with somebody we love you so much no matter where you're watching from or when you're listening or when you're viewing this we want you to know your family we love you so much we consider you part of the lh community and for those of you that catch this before tuesday before tuesday this coming tuesday at 6 30 here in the chapel we're hosting lh men this is for all the men in the house so wives push your men to come to this um son's daughters push dad to come to this we're going to launch into a brand new series through the book of james i'm i'm totally passionate about it i'm going to be leading it i'm so grateful for it pastor ken and i have talked and we feel like this is the lord's direction and so this coming tuesday 6 30 starting in uh the chapel we're going to launch into the book of james bring your bible bring a pen bring a notepad because we're going to do work amen and so with that i'm going to pray and then we'll do work this morning would you pray with me heavenly father we love you lord jesus we've gathered here because we want to experience you we want to meet with you father we want to read the pages of scripture that bring life and bring hope bring clarity and bring perspective so god i pray this morning that as we look into your timeless authoritative word that you by your holy spirit would stir our hearts and give us eyes to see father hearts to receive ears to hear that father we walk out of here more close to you ultimately more resolute to represent you in a lost and dying world father we need you we pray this in the matchless name of jesus and all god's people said amen last week we launched into this series entitled more than meets the eye wherein i said that our objective over the forth coming weeks is that we would take a look at what scripture has to say about miracles reason that i believe that this series is really timely right now i think there's a lot of discussion around the supernatural i think just culturally it's discussed i think just just uh by way of media by way of i don't care if you're on tick tock or if you're on a prime time news outlets people are talking about the supernatural talking about the miraculous and many times it's left very confusing and or mystical and at minimum misunderstood but scripture speaks very clearly about miracles that there's a lot that goes on far more than meets the eye and typically when you look into the pages of scripture miracles fall within four categories four categories this isn't comprehensive but by and large miracles do fall within one of these one would be the miracles of deliverance deliverance of oppression and possession and bondage of which the very enemy of your my soul aims to sort of entrap the believer or the non-believer in we see all through the page of scripture the miracle of deliverance being performed we see miracles of healing both physical healing emotional healing spiritual healing that jesus would perform we see miracles of protection of where god supernaturally would protect his children or his nations or his followers or his disciples from the enemy's schemes and then we see healings of provision that god or or or miracles rather of provision where god would would provide supernaturally um the provisions needed by someone that didn't have the ability to acquire them on their own deliverance healing protection provision so when it comes this idea of miracles i want to be very clear that miracles for all intents and purposes are working definition will be miracles are when god supernaturally invades our natural god supernaturally invades or provides something in our natural now the reason that that's really important that we understand that is because oftentimes things that are coincidental get labeled miraculous like if you pull up at walmart all right and you get a front row parking spot okay that was not a miracle all right i know you want to call it that that wasn't a miracle let me tell you what that was that was somebody that was backing out at the exact time that you were pulling in all right that can happen in the natural if you find a front row parking because you just need to run in and you see that there's an open spot in the handicapped spot and you don't have a disability that's not a miracle either that's a sin all right that applies for the veterans parking and or the expectant mother's parking all right that's not a miracle don't thank jesus for that okay ask jesus to forgive you for that okay so when it comes to miracles miracles are when the supernatural invades the natural as frederick bucher one time said a miracle is when the whole is greater than the sum of its parts a miracle is when one plus one equals a thousand okay and so what that means is is that is only possible through the supernatural power of god where i want to begin today would arguably be the creepiest as some would say the darkest the weirdest the most unsettling place of miracles and that would be the miracle of deliverance many times actually churches don't talk about this this is this is this is left as a doctrine assumed upon many would agree upon it but we prefer not to talk about it but scripture is very clear about the miracle of deliverance can i just say from the onset that i believe one of the greatest masterful tricks the devil has actually been able to use is that he's been able to use the trick of convincing a world he doesn't even exist hear me on that the most masterful scheme that the very enemy that scripture speaks very clearly about very pronounced about very consistent about is the trick to convince the world that he does not even exist and so this is why the apostle paul being one that walked with jesus talked with jesus experienced the supernatural of jesus would write to the church of ephesians and he would say in very clear terms this for we you and i and by extension and those that he would write the letter to thousands of years ago he said for we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies but against evil rulers and the authorities of the unseen world against mighty powers in this dark world and against evil spirits in the heavenly places now i want you to understand what paul said to the church at ephesus would be also peppered all through his epistles and his letters that he would write to the early church as a whole making it very clear that we understood that there is a very real enemy that schemes and plots and strategizes against the children of god and even those that have yet to meet god and what he's doing there is making it clear where the enemy really is because understand this you cannot defeat what you cannot define so so you wind up fighting in areas experiencing struggle and frustration and despair because you're not gaining any ground you're not walking in any triumph you're not walking in any victory many times because all of our efforts in bandwidth are going towards fighting someone that really isn't the true enemy despite what you may think i know your husband is not the real enemy some are like nah that's a lie pastor that's i ain't buying that and hear me on this your wife is not the real enemy they might be used by the enemy but they ain't the real enemy all right your kids are not the enemy i know they act like gremlins sometimes but they're not the enemy your co-worker your boss your you name it you fill in the blank many times we rubber stamp them as the enemy when in fact there is a very real enemy paul refers to these as evil spirits and demons now i know just at that you're like whoa whoa here oh that guy this is the deep end it is it is because christianity hear me on this and i think we're figuring this out rather quickly we certainly have through 2020 and we are in 2021. christianity is not a playground it's a battleground and if you if you go into it seem to i want to feel good i want to get something out of it i want to i want to you know i i want to i just want to go to church and notch my belt and walk out you know a little encouraged you know and you know the the mentality is all wrong and that's why we're getting smoked that's why we're getting our teeth kicked in and that's why the church is divided and that's why why we're seeing people bleed out of the church like it's our job it's all wrong we treated it like it's a playground this is a battleground and paul said there's a very real enemy that rages and wars against you he describes them as evil spirits and the demonic now the question then becomes okay what exactly is a demon i think that's a wonderful place to start heavy as it may be but a good place to start what is a demon most scholars theologians are going to agree that we understand the demonic by largely two portions of scripture that would be isaiah chapter 14 and revelations chapter 12 is where we understand what it is that really was the commencement the beginning of the demonic wherein isaiah 14 tells the story of the fall of lucifer lucifer was part of the angelic host he was an angel he was majestic he was beautiful he spent time in the courts of the king of the universe isaiah chapter 14 ultimately in his pride and in his ego and his desire he gives five i will statements i will ascend to the heights of god i will become like god i will rule like god what lucifer ultimately desired was the throne of god isaiah 14 records that there was a heavenly war that broke out and in in that god cast lucifer out of heaven and in that heavenly war there was only going to be one that's triumphant that's the king of heaven and so lucifer then lost his spot and with him most scholars would agree he took one third of the angelic host with him many people believe that really when it comes to the demonic that is the spirit of the dead it's wrong actually there's not any proof in scripture for that actually someone would say you know my uncle you know ricky you know he was a hell-raiser you know man he wreaked havoc everywhere he went when he died i know he became a demon uncle ricky is not a demon and so what scripture shows us is that when lucifer was cast out of heaven and he took one third of the angelic host with him they became demons and so actually there's but one lucifer but of many of demons and a demon is to satan what an angel is to god and paul clarifies this by saying now those are the ones that rage war against you why because they hate god now there's two things that we fall into when it comes to church no matter your denomination or expression or upbringing or the light that many times there's two mistakes that happen when we talk about the demonic i just want to clarify these for all intents and purposes so we understand where we as a community as a family as a church are coming from the first is the first mistake is is that we over emphasize demonic influence so we give far too much credence to it or or meaning that we blame every problem on a demon all right so there's a demon behind every bush now this is is typically what happens due to if you're part of a charismatic expression or a denomination that lends itself to that leaning but what will happen is there's an over emphasizing of the demonic so every problem is a demon every hardship's a demon every trial is a demon every issue you face is a demon if you're broke you blame it on a demon okay no you're not broke because of a demon you're broke because you spent all your mortgage payment on close a trip to disneyland you bought a car you couldn't afford and now you got the collector beating down your door uh-uh you're not broke because of a demon you're broke because you're dumb all right let's just make that clear right here right now all right demons don't get the blame for that now you can't fit in the pants that i wore you know last summer all right that's not a demon's fault all right that's because you hit mcdonald's three times in a day and for a snack you stop by krispy kreme that's uh-uh a demon doesn't get that blame all right and so there's this over emphasizing of the demonic but the second mistake that churches make is that we under emphasize the demonic meaning that we think everything is pragmatic everything's about discipline everything's about you just got to do this and you get that and and what happens is is that you're blind to the fact that there's a war that rages and you think that it's all about stick-to-itiveness or you think it's all about you you know you you you're staying between the rails and if you you you you know one plus one equals two and all that stuff and and and you think that it's all largely dependent on you and that if there's a problem it's because of maybe something that you're not doing and so you under emphasize the very schemes and strategies of the enemy that war against you and so for us what i i don't want to do is i don't want us to over emphasize but i certainly don't want us to under emphasize and why why sammy why are we bringing this up why are we talking about this let me tell you why because i believe i believe and i've said this constantly and i will continue to do so that judgment starts in the house of the lord so so when we're blaming culture we're looking out there in in into the world and saying everything's going sideways and it's growing increasingly dark and let me tell you before we point fingers at the world let me tell you we got to get our own house in order amen and many times by getting our own house in order we need to be wide-eyed and aware of what we're really raging against that the world isn't the enemy there is an enemy paul describes him therefore we have to be girded up and ready and understood and equipped to fight that enemy that i believe is running rough shot all over the church so the question then becomes when paul talks about demons what exactly do demons do what is it that we need to be aware of i want to just give you briefly three things quickly that we understand that demons do the first is this that demons tempt you to sin demons tempt you to sin this is what scripture says paul writes to timothy in his pastoral letter and it says you pray for those that have been blinded by demons that they will come to their senses and escape the trap of the devil who has taken them captive to do his will i just want to speak to you very clearly many times the temptation that so easily ensnares you and entangles you crushes you renders you full of despair and many times depression and shame and guilt you feel like i don't have victory over i just want you to be aware of something many times that whisper that lore that that trap that thing that you continually fall into there is a demonic influence you sit down in front of that computer gentlemen and you feel like wait a minute whoa whoa you know i'm i'm i'm feeling tempted to go and look at places that that i shouldn't and don't you think that there is not a temptation from the demonic that wants to lure you away from god and into their trap when it comes to even the most subtle or plausible of sins you can't just blame that one culture i believe that there's demonic influence woven all through culture that's why it's so sideways and dark and so what the enemy will do is it will tempt you to sin it will convince you you deserve it you can look at it you can use it you can smoke it you you can entertain it hear me hear me the demonic tempts you into sin but the second thing that demonic does is demons distract you from doing god's will have you ever walked out of here on a sunday morning and you thought to yourself i'm gonna do something about that oh yeah i like that all right i feel bright-eyed bushy-tailed i'm gonna take him on the devil amen i i'm inspired i'm strong i see it we'll go do it okay then two o'clock comes you forgot all about it you're all ensnared and fighting carrying on stress and worrying anxiety's overwhelmed you the message that you were so convinced of that you thought you should walk in and march in you have it's a distant memory where then monday comes or then tuesday and you feel like at the end of the week at the end of the month at the end of the season of your life i'm not growing this is why james the brother of jesus says don't just be a hearer of god's word but be a doer do know this the very enemy of your soul that schemes and plots against you uses their influence to distract you from doing god's will because as long as you just hear it and you don't walk in it you're not obedient to it you don't you don't do it oh well then you never reap the blessings of it and so the demonic will actually influence you to distract you to pull you away from god's will that's on a micro level let's talk macro let's talk about what's taking place in in the midst of this deconstruction movement in christianum right now where where people believe all paths lead to heaven and i can have a little christianity i can have a little i can have a little islam i can have a little bit of you know buddhism i can have a little bit of new ageism i can have a little bit of eastern mysticism i can have a little bit of humanism and i'm just going to package all that in one nice little cocktail and that's going to get me there let me tell you something that's demonic distraction that is a demonic distraction let's talk about churches let's talk about people that that that are planted in churches all of a sudden they get a little burr in them a little anger in them little little a little bitterness in them before they know it they they're breeding toxicity all through that church they're angry then they divide the church let's talk about what we just got through in this whole political season let's talk about the the racial tension and look at what it did to the church busted busted it wide open division all through it fighting one another each side thinking the other side is the enemy you're telling me there's no demonic influence in that because demons will tempt you to sin and they will distract you from doing god's will why because if you don't do it you don't reap the life from it it's just all theory it all sounds great it's all inspiration it's all want that's why the old adage goes good intentions create the pathway to hell you wanted to you just didn't and you didn't reap any of the fruit from it but lastly lastly what scripture shows us is that also demons inflict suffering many times what happens when it comes to those in and among us those that walk with jesus and know jesus that are experiencing pain and hardship and suffering from a myriad of different places when you're living in a culture or an environment in church or an expression that under emphasize demonic influence you don't realize that so much of the suffering that people are facing is from a demonic scheme this is why there's a horrible story recorded in in in the pages of matthew chapter 17 it tells the story of a father it could have ended horrible but jesus was on the scene it says this it said that there was a father that went to jesus and said lord have mercy on my son he said he has seizures and is suffering greatly he often falls into the fire or into the water his seizures overtake him they overwhelm him they they inflict pain on him and and under his con convulsing he falls into the the fire of water i can't imagine being a father me me witnessing my little son silas being overwhelmed by something and witnessing the pain that came from that and it says this jesus replied you bring that boy here to me and jesus immediately rebuked the demon and it came out of the boy and he was healed at that moment he was healed at that moment let me tell you why let me tell you why is because jesus was on the scene and under the power and the authority of his word of his word that demon immediately had to flee immediately had to go at his word he said demon come out of him and immediately it did and that boy was made whole in that moment let me let you know something john 10 10 says this that jesus jesus our great god and king hero of whom we talk about all the time he came that you and i would have life and life to the full that he is the light of the world and in him there is no darkness whatsoever that when he rolls on the scene and under the power and the command of his word demons have to flee he has come to bring freedom he has come to bring liberty he has come to bring joy he has come to bring peace he has come to bring right reconciliation with us and the father he has come as a sacrifice and atonement for you and i so that we could walk in the spirit of the living god that provides us freedom and liberty joy peace and clarity that we cannot get outside of him but but the enemy satan john 10 also tells us that he has come to steal to kill and destroy but ultimately what he wants to do is is that many times when it comes to the suffering that demons inflict it comes by way of depression it comes by way of suicidal thoughts comes by way of despair it comes by feelings of hopelessness it comes by way of of desperation the demons they don't want to just lure you into sin and they don't want to just distract you from god's will but they want to inflict suffering in your life they want to destroy your marriage they want to destroy your testimony they want to destroy your peace of mind they want to destroy and obliterate your health they want to destroy your joy they want to destroy your children they want to destroy anything that might have the fingerprint of god on it and if you don't define where the problem is well then you can't defeat it you're just going to live frustrated and you're going to think that every matter is a practical fix and realize no victory so here's what i want to tell you if you're not depressed yet i'm going to give you some incredible news i want to give you some incredible news i want to speak this over your life and i want you to for some of you you've heard this a thousand times some of you this is going to be the first time you've ever heard it but i want you to know what i'm getting ready to say it's the gospel truth about you about you and it's this you those of you that walk with jesus know jesus surrendered your life to jesus you have miraculous authority over darkness in the name of jesus you have miraculous supernatural not just natural not just not just not just you know uh sort of kind of miraculous authority to overcome darkness in the name of jesus and that's true about you as you sit here right now whether you feel like it or not it's fact and this is why jesus when he when he was sending out his disciples mind you this is pre the holy spirit this is before the spirit came down in the upper room which is a whole another matter we can get into it but but this is what jesus said to his disciples it says that jesus called his disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness he gave them his authority his not not theirs he gave them his authority to drive out impure spirits darkness and heal every disease and sickness he empowered them he gave them not their power uh-uh paul samuel foster doesn't have any power other than the power given me the authority given me by jesus let me let me explain how this works so it was uh not too awful long ago um ruth and i and the kids were all coming back from um um virginia beach this was last summer here we are we're we're coming down 13. so we crossed over the chesapeake bay bridge tunnel all right we're in 13 heading towards salisbury and um um uh i'm i'm i'm hauling i'm getting it all right all right and and and out in the middle of the road steps to state trooper isn't that a sick feeling i feel like i feel it like right now like and he stepped right in the middle of that lane and put that hand up and then gave that finger that way that's all it was all right i was sick all right and bruce sitting shotgun laughing it's your fault this time this and this and that wasn't even encouragement anyway anyway we're all the way down like near virginia and and state trooper and and rooster telling me tell him tell him tell him your brother's an anne arundel county cop tell him that i'm like that doesn't that doesn't work down here it doesn't work down here and so so at that at that moment of course you know i lock him up you know thinking thinking maybe it's the person behind me it wasn't i knew it was me and he and he flags me over true story if i wanted to all right and i just wanted to keep on hauling did that police officer have the power to stop that ford expedition absolutely not it would have been like frogger over what he did have was an authority that caused me to immediately pull over and that authority he wore on his shirt that little gold badge that i knew when he stepped out and he knew it too when he stepped in the middle of that road and he gave that and then that he knew that trucks will move the side of the road why because he operated in an authority given him and it was given him by the maryland state police and that authority made me pull right over listen to me church you have a miraculous authority given you by jesus himself to overcome darkness in the name of jesus you you have been badged to say to the demonic and to temptation and to that which wants to distract you and that which it wants to inflict suffering upon you you have the authority miraculous more than meets the eye to operate in a god-given boldness and and so so what i want us to know as a church is i want us to be aware of a couple things how this works practically and the first is this i want you to to just know this don't don't assume that every problem is a result of demonic influence i don't want you to assume that every problem is uh because that that that's that's that's where we're gets all right and let's not be weird okay don't assume that every problem is of demonic influence but second to that is is don't assume any problem isn't a result of demonic influence here's how this plays out in our lives how this plays out is is that the problems the temptations the distractions the sufferings that we face we apply to it what we can do and we pray to the god of heaven what only he can do okay hear me on that so when it comes to let's get handles here when it comes to like matters of anxiety some of us that are dealing with stress and worry and anxiety and the like okay what i want you to do is i want you if you feel like wait a minute i need to go to a doctor you use a doctor but simultaneously with that i want you to pray with an authority and a boldness that the spirit of the living god would absolutely annihilate that anxiety and liberate you and bring you into a place of freedom in the name of jesus [Applause] when it comes to emotional suffering what i want you to know is is that there is god-given beautiful counselors here in the house that would love to talk to you at the same time these emotional uh counselors might actually bring you in and listen to your story but let me tell you what they're very prone to do is to pray in the authority given them by jesus in the powerful name of jesus to overcome the darkness that renders you in emotional suffering it's one end it's not one or when it comes to addiction hear me on this when it comes to addiction what i want you to know is is that you you you you come to cr you come to cr you talk with kevin you talk with the pastors you get in community of where brothers and sisters hold you accountable and you walk together at the same time you pray with an authority over the darkness that wants to inflict suffering on you according to your addiction it's a one and when it comes to sick let me tell you something let me let me just be totally honest with you when when i preach and i know john would attest to this and and and many others it is almost inevitable many times that i am sitting in my office getting ready praying i feel sick and i know i know like i felt great saturday night it's just sunday morning what happens there is a demonic distraction many times that i have to sit in that office and i have to pray to the king of heaven that he would absolutely annihilate my feelings of fatigue or on health or a stomach that's unsettled and you know what nine times out of ten i walk out of here bright-eyed and bushy-tailed because god ministers to me or i go to the elders or i ask dave to pray for me or a pastor will come and pray for me why because there is a distraction going on and so here's what i want you to know i want you to leave out of here knowing that you have a miraculous authority to overcome darkness in the name of jesus my son asher years ago he out of nowhere was inflicted with an anxiety an anxiety that paralyzed him many of the pastors and elders here no he was anointed with oil people came over my home prayed through my house prayed over asher and so was that we we got asher he wouldn't even go to school he was so fear stricken he got this infliction of death that an infliction of the fear of death that something was going to happen when mom drove that that he needed to make sure where are you going when were you coming home well i mean he was paralyzed he wouldn't go to school because he was so fear stricken that something would happen while we were not in his company and we knew this is a demonic affliction in our home and this is why many times i just want to encourage you pray for your pastors pray for your your pastors families all of them because they there's bull's-eyes all over them in the same way on you this is why we pray for you but we would pray over asher and had i made it a one and done well then hey we would have never experienced freedom but ruth would pray over his his room every single night and eventually eventually i want you to know this god came and spoke to my son while he was laying there one night before he fell asleep and in essence told him you don't have to fear anymore for i am with you and immediately the demonic broke asher was delivered in the same way i was delivered in many ways god wants to use you to experience deliverance when it comes to miraculous deliverance i want to show you what this looks like i want to show you a story of how this plays out in and among our community and so as i bring some chairs out i want to introduce you to a couple and this couple that many of you know about they experienced true deliverance from what i believe was demonic oppression in their lives ultimately god's going to use them to tell their story to bring hope to the hopeless and liberation to the captive but this couple that you know as jp and shanna like banana hines god used to use this a whole set of circumstances ultimately to overcome what held them so captive and i want them to tell you the story would you come one up and tell if you are ever um have an extra slot in your in your prayer journal for one more person you pray for this girl right here cause she's married to this guy right here please pray pray with the authority given you by heaven okay um you two have an incredible story and so much of your life was uh being afflicted with an addiction to the point that it almost killed you you and i have compared notes extensively in such a parallel to our story um and by god's miraculous power the prayers of a faithful wife and his goodness he delivered you sets you free and now has empowered you to tell your story so that others find hope in what god did for you and i just want you to to bless us by telling what it is that god did that overcame many ways the demonic i would i would love to he's gonna make me cry god morning church uh good morning so for 44 years i was addicted to drugs and at a ripe young age of 55 i was literally at the end of my rope i i was dying and uh the well had ran dry uh maybe many of you know i used to be the head football coach at severn park and i taught at severna park and uh during my planning period i was sitting and i had a thought and then there was a command that came over me and the command was not verbal the command was internal that said don't do that because if you do you're going to get busted well of course i didn't listen i didn't care about any consequence all i cared about is that i was dope sick and i needed a fix and i needed now so i ran into the locker room and i stole 65 and i headed downtown baltimore when i got there i i copped six caps of fentanyl and put five dollars in my gas tank getting back to severna park high school and i would teach two classes and i got a phone call to say come down to the office at the end of the day i went down the office and then i was arrested for theft that was the worst day of my life february 15 2017 but it would become the greatest day of my life i i gotta tell you that five second action that sinful nature to steal 65 cost me my career it cost me my character my dignity it cost me my integrity and respect and trust that i had earned from the public from the community from the parents from the administration from the coaches and teachers but more than anything the parent that the students and the student athletes to this day i miss and love dearly that cost me and it all vanished in a heartbeat like that it was gone i became the post child for the newspaper for the tv news for the rumor mill and the gossip column i was that piece of dirt i was that alcoholic i was that junkie i was the thief i was the liar i was going to hell when i was released from the police station that night going home was not a welcome home party whatsoever to say the least the question was and i could not answer one bit why jp why did you cheat on me with drugs i could not give my wife an answer that uh phone call from jail was the one that i had been dreading um i had seen the signs of his drug use but i had maintained an iron-clad fist in trying to control it and our whole existence up until this point was built on denial and the upkeeping of the illusion of functionality uh i was full of anger broken trust shame and embarrassment and we had a beautiful 11 year old daughter caitlyn that i now bore the responsibility of telling that our whole world was about to be turned upside down [Music] when i did this before i didn't see her face and she saw me texting that night while we were waiting on him to come home from the police station is daddy in jail she asked me and my heart broke because i knew we couldn't lie anymore all of our secrets were about to be made very public and we had nowhere to hide uh i tearfully told her the truth the best way i knew how and our journey into the light of truth was about to begin i was extremely resentful of him and the fact that he was going to be tucked away for 30 days in a new jersey rehab while i was left here at home to bear the shame and embarrassment of what he had done and i was trying to do all that while maintaining life as usual for myself and our daughter morning could not come quick enough i was on the phone and i was able to get in a rehab facility in new jersey i packed my bags in five minutes suitcase was ready to go but at the same time i had a thought that i wanted to end my life that day so i went into the living room and i caressed my wife i held her i wanted to just smell her and just just to know that this is the woman that i love more than anything in the world as we're both sit standing there crying our eyes out i have no idea what's on her radar where we're going to be in 30 days all i know is is that jp is gonna be gone and she's gonna see me in a body bag tonight it was extremely hard for me to leave the house that morning to be away from my wife because this was it so i i get out of the house and i jet downtown to baltimore and i get 13 caps of fentanyl i figured that that ought to be enough to do the job i can that'll i should do it sure enough i take it all and i head to new jersey and i make it there nope no stop i i i just want you to know just to clarify i just feel the unction to do this that was totally demonic amen absolutely because that suicidal thought that that action that that that i mean you he was not done with you yet the disgrace the despair the hopelessness the the career the dignity all that's not enough no that's not enough he won't need to don't want you dead 13 caps you go to the city here you are heading to new jersey go ahead so i i end up making it to the rehab facility and i if you don't know they immediately they take they give you a physical and they draw your blood and the nurse tells me she says you have toxic levels of fentanyl in your system there's no way you should be standing right now you should be dead and also you have cocaine in your system so that's probably what's keeping your heart beat well i'm here to tell you that i know this today it was jesus christ that was keeping my heart beat not not anybody else [Applause] so so i stayed i get the stint and i stay in uh i stay in the rehab facility for 30 days while my wife is at home cleaning up everything that had been shattered because of her husband to say that i thought our marriage was over was an understatement um this was the culmination of 16 years of marriage that was lived under the dark cloud of addiction although i hope jp was finally going to be able to rid himself of this demon i certainly wasn't hopeful that our marriage was going to survive this i didn't see him in my future outside of a role of co-parenting and necessity soul felt like it was leaving my body that morning when he left i was sitting on the living room steps our daughter had left for school jp had just left for 30 days in rehab and i was in my pajamas i was a mess uh physically and emotionally and i saw a shadow outside of the front door glass and uh i thought jp was returning for something that he had forgotten and i opened the door to find channel 11 news cameras and a reporter on my porch asking me for a comment my face and my appearance said everything that my mouth couldn't in that moment i just they just backed away and they apologized uh for being there [Laughter] my mind was spinning and i uh closed the front door and i collapsed onto the floor and i started to cry out to a god that i was pretty sure had forgotten me um i had been saved when i was 15 years old um but i walked away from anything that was church related in my 20s and i spent the next 20 years of my life identifying as spiritual but not religious i was doing life on my own terms and although i never fully lost sight of the creator i had most definitely lost sight of the path that he had for me but we were about to be reacquainted why god i asked him and i didn't really expect an answer let alone one as clear as this why would you do this to me and what am i supposed to do now the answer was like more like a whisper but it was the whisper of deliverance in that very moment he gave me calm it was like i saw my whole life passing before me and i saw that he had never left me [Music] it was the miracle of peace for all that i had been through already and for all that was to come it was true undeniable unexplainable peace i got off the floor that morning with shaky knees and shaky faith and i sent up a flare prayer to a god that i really hadn't spoken to in years um my next steps can only be described as 100 holy spirit led i was about to step into uncharted territory and i asked katie if she wanted to attend lighthouse church with me that weekend i was looking for an anchor in the storms and we decided to make our way to lighthouse without any explanation or expectations walking through the doors at langley though was about to be a life-changing experience sammy was preaching on week four of the foolproof series and being back in church immediately brought back those feelings of divine love that i had long ago [Music] it was one of those times when you felt like the sermon was written just for you um i had goose bumps god bumps and i felt like i was home the foolproof book 31 days of proverbs to keep you from acting a fool was on sale after the service i stopped and bought the book and i don't even know why but i felt convicted to share it i wasn't even communicating with jp at that point he was still in week one of rehab and we weren't like able to talk or communicate i had no idea what would take place as a result of this god orchestrated action he knew that our lives were about to change forever but i surely didn't i wrote this note inside the front cover of the book katie and i went to lighthouse church this morning we heard a sermon which was the last of a four-part series based on this book thought i would pass it on to you because lord knows you need help not acting a fool we heard some great messages today and i hope you find some too and i signed it love bear i didn't even read the book sorry sammy but off it went in the mail on monday morning and off katie and i went for the next several weeks to lighthouse church we walked through these doors with a general idea of who god was but we left here with a mission to find out who jesus was and he was about to save our marriage and our family those next few weeks were an experiment in fledgling faith i began to pray and i wasn't even sure i was doing it right but day by day i was learning how to open myself up and be vulnerable to god i had spent years of my life trying to manage and control everything around me including jp's addiction and i learned quickly that letting go was the only way that i was going to hang on and for the first time ever i let jesus take the wheel i put all my hope in the lord and i relinquish all control to god's will he delivered me from chaos and i submitted to his peace and he began answering my prayers in a mighty mighty way he started to show me my path and i was listening dozens of letters of support started pouring in from a community that i expected to condemn me and it was outpouring of love and messages and reminders of the difference that j.p had made in the lives of his students his football players and their families i was reminded of the man that he was and i was reminded of the man that he could be a miracle took place in me that allowed me to start letting go of all that shame pain hurt and guilt he put me on a path to true forgiveness and peace he took all my fears and he silenced them he was healing us separately so that when we came back together we could do so in true unity with god at the center of our marriage so deliverance is the act of being rescued and set free and i thank god for that miracle that took place in the strangest of ways what looked like complete devastation was actually about to be an amazing act of redemption and i had no idea that the book i sent was about to start a miracle of its own in new jersey let me tell you about that book church i'm not trying to give you any pause but let me tell you about the book this book right here is significant for my life besides the bible number one but i reading this in rehab i was on chapter 13. in fact chapter 13 is where sammy foster who i don't know from the man on the moon at this time is talking about him going deeper and deeper into his addiction and i'm like wait a minute wait a minute this this guy is a pastor and he was an addict you mean to tell me he was a heroin addict what does he got that i don't have i obviously he's got the antidote and i want it i need it and it's jesus christ and it was at that moment i took that book and i set it down and i got on my knees and i accepted jesus christ as my lord and savior [Applause] i wasn't ready for that but i can tell you this church i had no idea i had no clue what was going on in that room that night but i know tonight i know today and i know this and this is why i say this the holy spirit was in there and let me tell you why because all that shame fear guilt that i was feeling all those questions is my wife gonna divorce me or my kids gonna want anything to do with dad am i going to lose my job am i going to jail for 18 months how am i going to pay that 5 000 fine who i ask you who's going to hire a 55 year old who's a junkie an alcoholic a liar and a thief who nobody that's impossible but that that that moment that all that vanished in a moment and then just like this in a heartbeat it was gone i was delivered at that moment right there and then i i cried out listen i cried out to jesus and he answered me jesus answered me right then and there because i when he says you crafted me i got you says joke is easy his burdens are light right right so here it was it was like i was in the pit of hell it was like an elevator shaft and it just kept going deeper and deeper and deeper and i it just started closing in on me and i felt claustrophobic and all i know is this is there was no ladder to climb out of there was no no no no holes to dig out nobody could rescue me the only one that can rescue me was jesus christ he was the only one [Applause] i owe jesus christ my life because he gave me life he he saved my life therefore i'm giving him my life and tell the world what he has done for me because because it's from him it's through him and he's for him is everything to him be the glory forever he's the one who delivered me the victory is in jesus nobody else let's stand up together [Music] [Laughter] as we close i i want you i want you to know something this is why the scripture says in revelations that they the early church was written to and said that they overcame the adversary the adversary the enemy of their soul satan and demons by by three things by the blood of the lamb the gospel the gospel the liberating accomplished work of jesus the word of their testimony so what you read in chapter 13 was only my testimony of what jesus did for me that inspired you to want to know the same jesus that said this captive free amen and it says then they love not their lives unto death meaning that they were bold and courageous to tell their story no matter what may come i want you to understand john 1 5 says this the light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot extinguish it can never extinguish it can i tell you what the light is the light is jesus amen that's what the light is and now when jesus is in you any time you walk into a room you bring light with you you have a miraculous authority to overcome darkness in the name of jesus can i tell you what darkness is darkness is not the opposite of light darkness is the absence of light amen and so when you bring light into darkness it has to be extinguished hear me on this church you if you follow jesus you have the light of life inside of you use it when you walk into a room radiate it radiate jesus take authority over darkness walk in boldness walk in the truth of what jesus has done for you and the authority that he's given you and you watch the problems all around you that many times are the very enemy of you become extinguished amen that's the miracle of deliverance i want you as we worship i want you to worship in boldness and i want you to walk in authority because of who jesus is in you amen heavenly father we love you lord jesus we need you and father we understand you are the light of life you are the miracle of deliverance we stand on this stage all of us worship team included father as a testimony of you coming and setting the captives free father thank you for your deliverance thank you for your your your presence and thank you for the authority that you've given us to walk in may we use it for your glory and our joy in jesus name amen [Music] overwhelmed by the weight of your sin jesus is calling have you come to the end of the sound [Music] jesus is calling [Music] [Music] is [Music] jesus is [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] oh is jesus christ [Music] see [Music] is [Music] [Applause] every voice [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] forgiveness was born with the precious blood of jesus christ [Music] [Music] the precious blood of jesus christ [Music] amen [Music] we love you church i want to encourage you if you need prayer for anything we'll have a prayer team down the front don't hesitate to come up we love you have a great day [Music] man i love hearing stories because for me it's one thing to hear what jesus promises us but to see it in someone's life lived out to see it transform someone's life is always so impactful for me and it reminds me jesus tells us in the scripture god's not a respecter of persons and so if he's willing to do it for them he's willing to do it for me he's willing to do it for any of us and if we need a miracle we can still look to jesus who is doing that in our world in our lives today i love that that's so good and i love what you said earlier about how so many of these stories happen in our small groups and happen in community and you know without people to lead these small groups we couldn't have those types of communities and so actually coming up on april 14th and 17th we're having an interest meeting for people who may feel led to lead a small group so um that's not just for in-person that's also for online you can go to our website and sign up for that but man i can i cannot over state how important small groups are especially to this transformation and doing life together as jesus is working through our lives it's absolutely incredible so if you're feeling called make sure you check that out you and i have both led a small group at various times and i do not regret it like some of my closest friends here at lighthouse are from that i've seen jesus work in people's lives i know you've seen that you shared some stories about that it is incredible if you're looking for somewhere to invest your time your energy your life leading a small group will grow you stretch you but you'll also see jesus work in you and through you in incredible ways yeah well why don't we pray and then we'll go on about our day and see what jesus wants to do in us and through us today let's do it jesus we are so grateful that we can place our hope in you because nothing is too big for you nothing is too difficult for you jesus no matter how many times we get it wrong we can look to you and you can set things right and so god we just celebrate these stories we celebrate that you are always doing more than our eyes can see and jesus we just want to continue to place our hope in you thank you that you love us especially when we don't deserve it and jesus may our lives reflect you to those around us so many would come to know you many would know the hope love joy that you offer us all we pray all this in your name amen amen well hey we've loved spending time with you today we are so glad you are joining us we'll be back next week 9 50 for another countdown have an amazing week we'll see you then man i love you

Channel: Lighthouse Church

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Length: 100min 6sec (6006 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 11 2021