Obeying God Rather Than Men. Pt 3. - Pastor Greg Simas - 10.18.20

good morning everybody can you guys hear me loud and clear yeah amen you guys want to stand we're going to a time of worship and welcome everyone joining online we're so good we're so good it's so good to be with you now we're so good that's hilarious but it's so good to be with you guys this morning um if you guys just want to just put your hands out we're just going to pray and then we're going to go into some worship father we just recognize that you're here in this place that you're in every home that your name is emmanuel which is god with us and is god with us always and so we just ask right now father that as we come to you with our worship that you would meet us in this place we believe that we believe that you desire to be with us more than than we even long to to touch you god you desire to be with us even more we can only love you because you first loved us you're so good in all of your ways you're perfect we just want to give you an offering jesus we just want to give you an offering jesus so we just turn our hearts to you right now we fix our hearts we fix our eyes on you we don't look to the left or to the right but we lock eyes with your eyes we lock our heart with your heart and we just come to you with our worship we come to you with our sacrifice of praise we're ready for you we're ready for you god we're ready for you just tell them that say i'm ready i'm ready i'm ready yes god yes god yes father would you just bring a refreshing wind a refreshing of your spirit right now over every single heart father that there would be hope that would be that would be that would lift up our souls there would be hope that would come in that would lift up our spirit that would lift up our head [Music] we thank you god we thank you god yes god yes god the father is so proud of you guys this morning [Music] just as we go into this this time of worship just approach him with boldness just as we look to him see the father's face smiling at you proud of you pleased with you you don't have to work to come to that place says that he prepared the way for us there's no striving in his presence on the cross he said it is finished so father we step into that we've stepped into the finish work of the cross this morning yes jesus amen amen [Music] begin your offering we give you all the love in our hearts jesus jesus jesus a precious lord none on the earth [Music] you are my treasure [Music] it's all i wanna do i just wanna stand [Music] no matter how much the cost i freely give it all to you sing jesus and jesus jesus my offering all my ambitions my hopes my dreams and here's my life lord the sacrifice [Music] i just want [Music] no matter how much love costs i freely give it all to you [Applause] [Music] i just [Music] no matter how much the cost i freely give it all to you [Music] here we are jesus here's our heart jesus come on let's sing it out is it a fragrance [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] no matter how much [Music] [Music] [Music] waste my hours and my days [Music] [Applause] then i'll pour my oil out [Music] is every melody [Music] is is every melody [Music] tell me [Music] i live to move here father we're here to move your hearts [Music] but we're here to move your heart [Music] [Music] just tell me what moves you [Music] is [Music] just tell me so i'll stand with arms high and the heart abandoned in all the one who gave it all and i'll stay in my soul lord to you surrender i am is yours seen that again i'll stand come on declare it now i'll stand with arms high and hard abandoned and in awe of [Music] [Music] one let's sing that again i stand and i'll sing with arms high and hard up and down in all of the one who gave it all and i'll stand for my soul lord to you surrendered all i am who is yours come on let's sing it out every voice i'll stand in doubts [Music] i am just tell me is just tell is [Music] is just tell me what moves you just tell me what moves you but we live to we move to move you lord i'll leave to move your heart and i'll leave to move your heart [Music] i'll leave to move [Music] oh [Music] here's my offer [Music] oh my love to you i bring [Music] i just want you [Applause] i just want you guys [Music] i just want god [Music] it's jesus jesus jesus [Music] let's just stay in this place for a minute just keep your heart fixed the holy spirit just keep your heart fixed on the father just stay here let's let the instruments prophesy [Music] [Music] smooth [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] oh [Music] my heart [Music] yes [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is love you i love you i love you [Music] [Music] yes father we just declare we love you this morning just so simple three words god we love you not just with words but with action we give you our worship we give you our worship thank you jesus [Music] christ [Music] for the river stories of ancient and old times [Music] holy spirit awaken your [Music] just church started [Music] testimonies [Music] prophesy [Music] oh [Music] [Music] awaken your turn [Music] come on let's sing this out let's just ask them this morning see firefall and fire fall wind come below we're ready for more we're ready for more can break down the walls and push back the doors we're ready for more we're ready for more the firefall the wind come below we're ready for more we're ready for more we break down the walls and push back the doors we're ready for more unless you let our firefall we're ready for more [Applause] for more we're ready for more [Applause] [Music] [Music] we're ready for more [Music] heaven on earth come holy spirit [Music] heaven on earth come holy spirit awaken your church prepare the way holy spirit holy spirit [Music] for the revival stories of ancient and old time glory spirit of god god you're just getting started a testimony of mordecai [Music] [Applause] [Music] a testimony of mordecai spirit of god [Music] yes yeah thank you jesus [Music] is [Music] [Music] hmm [Music] just let me burn like you come as close as you want consume this heart at longs to [Music] but i would be worse [Music] come as close as you want consume this heart that longs [Music] [Music] to dwell with you [Music] [Music] until [Music] take my heart [Music] is [Music] come and take all these chains that get in the way of what you want and as i stand in the lane [Music] come and take all these get in the way still i will say [Music] oh jesus [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] take my heart [Music] is [Applause] oh [Applause] is to be where you are [Applause] [Music] he's going to fly with me [Music] foreign [Music] me for i was created to dwell with you jesus and how i hunger [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] ah [Music] holy [Music] is [Music] holy [Music] is [Music] i wanna live [Music] oh is all the days of my life i just wanna be where you are [Music] and pure heart soul [Music] where you are i just wanna be with you where you are [Music] [Music] um [Music] yes [Music] as soon [Music] i'm returning to the secret place just an altar and a flame love is found here in our sacred i hear your voice i see your face you're still my first love you're still my only one you're still my first love you're still my only one there's a table just for you and me break the bread perfect union nothing in between i am yours there's a table just for you and we break the bread [Music] you're still my first love you're still my only one you're still my first love you're still my only way [Music] i feel my heart beating out of my chest may the flame of my heart always forever you're [Applause] is if i wanna stay forever forever [Music] forever like this nothing else and you and me [Music] forever let me never lose this fight [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is is i wanna [Applause] foreign [Applause] [Music] love [Music] la la [Music] [Music] in my heart [Music] it burns fear in my heart in my heart [Music] [Music] in my heart [Music] [Music] it burns [Music] fears jesus our hearts burn for you you are our first love jesus guys everyone watching on the stream everyone in the room i want you to close your eyes right now when you think back whether you're a young christian right now or whether you're seasoned i want to think back to when you were first following jesus think back to that time think back to that time and just thank him say thank you jesus thank you jesus thank you jesus guys jesus is constant he's constant while worshiping the lord brought me back to when i was in fourth grade just praying in my room how simple things felt life brings us a bunch of ups and downs but guys jesus is constant if any of you have strayed from your first love i want to just encourage you today is the day [Music] come back to his arms our hearts burn for him [Music] jesus jesus jesus over the years we have found that you are faithful over the years we have found that you are good jesus i invite you to just rock every heart this morning lord jesus lord jesus [Music] guys just thank him thank him thank you jesus thank you jesus thank you jesus thank you jesus thank you jesus help us lord to keep the main thing the main thing god we say thank you lord thank you lord jesus jesus [Music] let's just revisit this right now everyone it's a very simple course just go ahead [Music] but i feel like the lord just wants to express his heart and our hearts to him thank you for joining us online just jump jump up if you're not up jump up and let's give him let's give him the worship he deserves in my heart [Music] i want you to sing it right to him let's make it a declaration in my heart [Music] in my heart [Music] for you come on everybody [Music] and my heart and my [Music] in heart heart love love ah ah come on everyone let's declare with jesus [Applause] [Music] me [Music] [Music] yes [Music] one more time and my in my heart [Music] so father we're asking you to ignite our hearts again lord touch us with your grace with your love [Music] bring us up through that open door into the heavenly places where everything's settled [Music] we give you praise god fill your people with hope fill them with peace that goes beyond all understanding we choose to trust you and to love you and we thank you in the name of jesus amen for those of you at home wow i don't even know what camera to look at wow all right so i'm going to turn this over to pastor and i couldn't resist because i i'll tell you later all right wow jesus thank you lord wow can we just worship the rest of the day just kidding oh man hey guys real quick before we move on while we were seeing that chorus that last time i just the holy spirit showed me chains dropping so if you're and that wasn't as a result of striving as a result of our hearts unifying with his heart so if you need that freedom just say i got it just say got it okay prophetic act right there whether you're at home you're in here say i got it thank you jesus thank you worship team guys god is so good some days it's just like we're going to get saved all over again you know we're reminded of how good his love is how tender his grace is it's like we're getting saved all over again thank you jesus well guys we're gonna continue to worship but in a different way we're gonna do our uh tithes and offerings and that's a way we worship it's worship's not just singing but it's a lifestyle right and when we when we give we're telling god that we trust you and that we've blessed us with what you've given us so we're going to give some of it back right it's very simple very simple act of obedience so we're going to do that you can give online or through our app i would encourage you to download church center we can give on that but then also so much more and we'll we'll talk more about that another time but church center is our new giving app find convergence and just go with it go for it we are going to have an offering declaration today guys our words are powerful so i want to encourage you we're not just doing this for the fun of it and oh yeah things are coming you know it feels more like normal again but i want to encourage you if you're in the room stand for this okay and we're gonna just declare these truths over our lives it's not just something someone made up at a desk but these are based in the word okay and god's word does not return void so when we say this it releases something okay and the words are up there i don't have it memorized yet so let's just go for it okay um hopefully i do the right tempo here okay here we go as we receive today's tithes and offerings we are believing the lord for jobs and better jobs raises and bonuses benefits sales and commissions favorable settlements estates and inheritances interests and income rebates and returns checks in the mail gifts and surprises finding money debts paid off expenses decreased god's blessings and increased thank you lord for meeting all my financial needs so that i may have more than enough to give into the kingdom of god and promote the gospel of jesus christ hallelujah all right give jesus a clap lord we thank you jesus we thank you for today we thank you for uh the just i thank you for the faithful stewards we have in our house today and lord we just give from our heart and god we thank you that you've blessed us to be a blessing so lord we give it all back we say we love you and we worship you in jesus name amen all right guys check the screen for announcements all right how's it going converges family kenny here and today i have some more exciting announcements just for you so without further ado let's get into the announcements we will be having our prophetic ministry this saturday the 24th via zoom and we encourage you to sign up to receive an encouraging word from the lord click the link in the video description for more details do you have the church center app yet be sure to download it now to be able to connect with all that's going on here at [Music] convergence [Music] [Music] this november we are excited to join forces with other local churches at compassion network's hardy harvest thanksgiving outreach if you want to volunteer to help us on distribution day we will be having an information zoo meeting all about it so click the link in the video description below or go to convergencehop.org hardy harvest to sign up [Music] [Applause] [Music] right and that's a wrap for announcements please welcome pastor greg as he brings us today's message sorry i'm uh i'm late getting to the pulpit for those of you are joining us at home all right well good seeing everybody via online and those that are here today god is good i need more faith in that i said god is good all right well we want to welcome all of our youtubers is that what you say youtubers um and praise god for technology right and um thank you for your faithfulness thank you for your faithfulness tuning in online and thank you for your faithfulness and your giving to the lord and advancing the kingdom of god he's good all right so uh i'm looking at oh cool this is not working i love it oh i guess it is all right so um i just want to talk to you briefly today uh whatever briefly means and um i want us to just kind of today i want to talk to you about responding to the father as opposed to reacting to the devil and it's super important for those of them i mean if you're part of this house you've heard this for quite some time at least over the last two or three years for sure and that is that jesus never reacted to the devil he always responded to the father and so whatever the the enemy tried to throw at him jesus only did what he saw his father doing right and so that's super important that's a that's that's a a born-again lifestyle that will take us throughout eternity well i guess on the earth for sure to hone in on what that means and then begin practicing that that means that we're always tuned into heaven we're always tuned into the holy spirit and we're always asking what are you doing right now and especially over the last seven or eight months that we've been under this under the the the covet 19 everything that's happening you know one of these sundays hopefully very soon i'll i'll just talk about my journey through it um as a senior pastor as a as a dad as a as a husband and and it's been it's been quite a journey i think it's been quite a journey for all of us uh probably and we've learned a lot so if you know me too you know that i try and squeeze every nutrient out of any kind of situation whether you call it a trial or pandemic whatever it is that we're facing i'm always asking the lord to teach me through it because there's always something to be taught there's always something to be um you know you can grow in as a as a pastor and so i i i'm always asking the lord that so i want to share that with you um i i every single month i kind of choose a a new reading plan and uh for my bible reading so you guys know i i'm up early uh and sometimes it's four o'clock in the morning which is ungodly and i i just wake up and i try and i i do say things like this is really stupid you know or i get over 3 30 i would just wake up or quarter four and i go this is really so i'm asking the lord you know am i supposed to pray am i supposed to seek your face am i you know you ask all those questions and um so one of the things i i do do is do anyway i uh i just take a a portion of scripture and uh and i just began reading so i i am i have three spots i always do a psalm i do that every day and so i'm on psalm 46 now and i've been really chugging through the book of acts and so i'm reading the book of acts again so book of acts is 28 chapters i take a chapter every day so 30 30 28 days 30 days every single month i move through the book of acts and i just keep highlighting because the holy spirit keeps bringing more revelation to me and then um i am now moving through the book of esther and uh daniel started with daniel went to esther and and i can't even remember the other one i'm going to do but it's there in the old testament uh definitely not leviticus for sure not gonna not gonna touch leviticus uh at least for now but as you as you go through when you read the word systematically uh the lord could begin bringing highlights as you systematically read and i and i was reading in esther this is kind of part of the introduction and i was reading in esther how many guys love the book of esther book of esther is pretty wild um you have you know if you have villains you have king you have esther you have mordechai you have this whole it could be dozens of movies that are laid out and the plans of the lord will be will be successful will succeed my voice cracked to good so i was reading about mordecai and you know and about haman and i came across this in esther chapter three and this whole thing started you know with esther it's you know if i perish i perish you know it's the but this whole thing started when mordecai wouldn't give homage to haman in other words the king had set up uh haman as like almost the second person in command like he was very royal kind of came out of nowhere and he was being paraded through the city and everybody that you know people that were lined up would give homage that means they would bow and kneel before haman except for this one guy and his name is mordecai and so let me just read to you um in esther chapter 3 it says in verse 2 and all the king's servants who were with all the king's servants and all the king's men all right and all the king's servants who are with don't finish it i know you guys finished it right humpty okay and all the king's servants and all the kings uh my goodness who were with the king's gate bowed and paid homage to to haman for so the king had commanded concerning him but mordecai would not bow or pay homage verse 3 then the king's servants who were within the king's gate said the mordecai why do you transgress the king's command why are you choosing to defy civil commands verse 4 now it happened when they spoke to him daily he would not listen to them that they told it and they told it to haman to see whether mordecai's words would stand for mordecai had told them that he was a jew i tell you why he didn't give homage to to haman is because there is no other god but the living god and he was not going to bow down to haman because of a higher authority they live by and so verse 5 when haman saw that mordecai did not bow or pay homage haman was filled with wrath but his disdained uh but he disdained to lay hands on mordecai for they told him of the people of bordakaya instead haman sought to destroy all the jews who were throughout the whole kingdom the people of mordecai so the whole foundation to the story of esther came out of an experience or an encounter of a man who would not give or pay homage to a king's command and that is to give homage to or to worship i don't know if it's to worship but to give homage to mordecai and i thought that was striking i was like okay this came this whole story this whole letter this whole book is in response to haman's anger and wrath toward a man who would not give him homage or a man who actually chose to obey god rather than man you had the book of esther what i want to bring to you this this morning and is is really this this whole idea of responding to the to the father and not defying an order yes last week when i was done i i came off the platform and i thank you for all your kind words came off the platform and i was like wow i really didn't hit this like i should have like i wanted to you know how the holy spirit might remind you like really and i felt this week i i really need to give this some some time about the why behind the what and so i want to revisit a few things first of all i want to look at the life of jesus and i want you to think for a moment about the life of jesus and i want you to get an understanding of i want us to kind of drop down into the into jerusalem when jesus is walking the earth and he's healing people and he's doing all kinds of things that were actually defying the council or the sanhedrin actually defying the oral law of the fathers so jesus is told the law says that you are to avoid the leper well jesus does the exact opposite and he goes ahead well he's not only to avoid the leper right you're not to touch a leper in fact lepers were actually in the outskirts of the city once they were diagnosed they were actually quarantined to the out outward part of the city and jesus the audacity of jesus to go up to a leper and not only speak to a leper but touch a leper and in the old testament you avoided the leper in the new testament you touch a leper and they're healed so i can imagine the not the new york times but the jerusalem times saying jesus defies the order and touches a leper there's i mean we can go on all day right jesus again defies another court order and he heals on the sabbath like how dare he heal on the sabbath so they're trying to corner him they're trying to they're trying to i don't know frame him around his words but jesus actually heals on the sabbath because he is responding to the father's voice and he's not doing it just to defy an order the motivation of jesus is in response to the father not because someone told them that they can't do something and we have to understand well i'm going to get ahead of myself so jesus defies civil authorities by not washing his hands before a meal i mean the list can go on and on it was not in defiance to civil authority but obedience to the words of his father jesus didn't set out to get the council ticked off well maybe that's there's a higher purpose right jesus steps on the planet to bring the kingdom in response to the words of his father and that's going to cause some problems and it did cause some problems in fact it cost him his life so this is not about reacting to the culture but responding to the words of a father let's talk about let's just revisit shadrach meshach and bendigo and we can even look at daniel they were not trying to defy the culture that was not their motivation their motivation was to stand up with the living god and their loyalty and their worship to him alone so we know nebuchadnezzar builds an idol 90 feet tall he's supposed they're supposed to bow down they understand the consequences possibly they they they choose to stand up everyone else lost their contacts they're all looking for their contacts on the ground they're all paying homage in in the uh in front of the idol but shadrach meshach and abednego say no cost them the fiery furnace but jesus is always in the fire but the motivation was to serve god and serve god alone it's the higher authority daniel same thing we're going to frame this guy we are jealous of his promotion we're jealous of his favor and what's the one thing we can corner daniel on that's his prayer life his devotion to god and if we can build a law that actually militates against his devotion to god we can trap this man and we can put him to death because we would love to get rid of this guy so they convinced darius he wasn't really a smart king or was it i can't remember who there was three of them goes ahead places the order that says for 30 days if you're going to fully devote it to the king and if anyone is doing something other than full devotion to the king or worship or whatever then they're going to be faced their sentence is death so daniel here's the word and he goes up to his room and he keeps the windows wide open and he does what he's always done he prays he doesn't do it to defy an order he does it in obedience to the father he does it in obedience to the lord whatever it costs him he will not give that part up and he doesn't so we know the story of that david goes i mean daniel goes into the lion's den the lord delivers him praise god and daniel is promoted not in defiance but in obedience are you guys there so these men were not simply trying to defy or get or react to an order but they were humbly obeying god so the narrative is never defying anything but responding to the voice of the lord and every single time i i don't know i i try and avoid the news these days i'll just i just try and avoid the news i try and avoid the news but it's like you can climb the highest mountain and the waters will just creep up right and they just keep coming up right and so these are the times that we're living in but what i keep hearing so often or if i read it's defy defied to five to five to five divide to fight defy defy defy you know what you guys the people who write those articles they're they're not generally born again believers they don't understand the concept of the kingdom they don't understand that pastors lay before the lord asking him what do you want me to do lord what is on your heart for our congregation what is on your heart for our city and so we'll get things like they defy this they're listen i've been around in ministry for 35 years full-time ministry 35 years been born again longer than that these pastors are not just going to define order they're responding to the voice of the father now if that means to find an order so be it you'll have amazing prison ministries while i don't want to get in the details can we let me just say this with all humility and love can we stop judging other believers honestly [Applause] i mean i'm like i said i try to avoid the news but every once while my wife will tell me something and she says you know this particular christian organization is saying this about sean floyd and i'm just like please don't we need to reach the world for jesus honestly don't we need to don't we need to share our faith and expand the kingdom what is it with believers listen i can't i don't even do a good job understanding my motives how can i pin that on somebody else i mean honestly personally for me i i just step back and i just say oh god i i don't want to be part of what's taking place right there because i can't judge any man's heart i could i could see their fruit right and as leaders we test the spirits right but i don't sit in condemnation when somebody has multiples of thousands of people coming people are getting saved healed and delivered people are finding jesus they're getting baptized in the holy spirit people are being healed and you're saying that they're doing it for the sake of money i'll tell you what i i just you know when the lightning bolt i just kind of get this i just run over here and i just pray for both but you know what like we're living in a time where we have to be in unity i mean we have to make a conscious decision to stay unified and don't get divided and distracted by what some of these other things that are going on around here and it's just let's just love each other let's pray for each other let's encourage each other let's build each other up if someone goes on the negative trail lovingly pulled them in line and say how can we pray or let's just bless what they're doing like people come into christ like let's let's let's fight if i could say that in the good word good way let's commit to staying unified and not badger and question other people's motives we're to pray did you hear me we're to pray pray in the spirit pray in the with the understanding pray love encourage bring hope trust god look for what god's doing there and bless it am i talking to the right crowd i hope so let's take a look at the apostles for a moment that was my little rant when the angel appears to peter and john in acts chapter 5. their response to them is i'm going to free you go to the temple and preach on this life the angel is hearing the voice from heaven and transmitting the father's heart to peter and john not in defiance to an order you're going to hear this a lot today not in defiance to an order but in response to the father peter and john respond to the angel who actually is hearing the voice of heaven and relaying the command which is in direct violation of what has been commanded and they say go back to the temple and go ahead and preach in what in the name of jesus that was the contention the sanhedrin which was the governing authorities of the day just could not they tried to kill jesus they just could not fathom that these guys would continue to preach in his name and i'm telling you when you read acts chapter 8 which i'm trying to move along as fast as i can all the way to acts chapter 28 it's either you're having breakouts of revival or you're having massive persecution you're having people getting saved signs and wonders believers multiplication and you're getting you're getting threats you're getting beatings you're getting imprisonment all in the book of acts and for so long for me personally i've read through i i wasn't i wasn't i just didn't look at a lot of the persecution i looked at all the miracles i looked at the multiplications i looked at oh there's three thousand five thousand ten thousand like this is amazing signs and wonders and miracles and then there's blood there's beatings i'm not talking about i'm talking about rods they beat them with rods they pull their shirt off and they just beat them accusations questioning their motives and on and on it goes to the book of acts and the kingdom of god advanced and there's not an amen in the book of acts because it continues today so give me about 10 minutes and if you have a pen you can write these down really fast if you have an iphone you can type really fast but i want to give this journey to you guys and then i'm going to try and i don't know i don't know how i'm going to do this because i have a lot and i'm going to try and anyway acts chapter 8 verse 1 and at that time a great persecution arose against the ecclesia which was in jerusalem anytime you see church it's the word ecclesia okay against the ecclesia which was at jerusalem and they were all scattered throughout the regions of judea and samaria except the apostles in saul verse 3 he made havoc of the church or the ecclesia entering every house and dragging off men and women committing them to prison prisons were did not have nice fluffy couches we're talking about dungeons they were dragging them out of their house therefore verse 4 therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word it does not say those who were scattered feared for their life and went into hiding they knew what was going down and they knew what it would cost them but they continued to respond to the voice of the father not just simply going after it to defy an order and the kingdom of god advanced and the name of jesus was being glorified and we hear about philip verse 12 but when they believed philip as he preached these things concerning the kingdom of god and the name of jesus that was the big thing that was the big hinge point do not preach teach move in any way in the name of jesus and they said we're we're just gonna just we're just gonna disobey that because we know how that's impacted our own lives so acts chapter 9 jesus tells paul jesus tells paul when you're when you're going after believers you are actually persecuting me which is a whole another subject which we don't want to talk about right now acts 9 16 for i will show him how many things he must suffer in my name we don't hear a lot about suffering preached but but the lord says paul's going to suffer for my what for my name acts 9 23 now after many days were passed the jews plotted to kill him and they watch the gates day and night to kill paul so here's paul the champion of the pharisees in one chapter in two chapters later he's the enemy of the pharisees and they don't love him they want to kill him so there's a there's a there's a a threat on his life to destroy this guy acts 12 we see that herod kills the first apostle stephen was killed in acts chapter martyred in acts chapter 7. paul of james is actually martyred in acts chapter 12 and they were going to do the very same thing to peter so and peter is released supernaturally by the lord in acts chapter 12. but james is the first apostle that was martyred and so now we have stephen and we have james acts 13 there's a conflict in antioch verse verse 50 says they raised they raised up a persecution in acts 14 there's a conflict in iconium and it says in verse 14 verse 2 they poison their minds against them and there was a violent attempt to take their life let's go let's go there because i now what happened in iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the jews and so spoke that a great multitude both of the jews and the greeks believed and the unbelieving jews stirred up the gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren therefore they stayed there a long time oh my goodness therefore they stayed for a long time speaking boldly in the lord did you guys just catch that all right i'm sorry but the unbelieving jews stirred up the gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren therefore they stayed they didn't run they stirred up a riot they stirred up they the brother they poisoned their minds that was intentional and so it says therefore they stayed there a long time man we got a lot to learn okay i have a lot to learn i'll just say that who is bearing witness to the word and his grace granting verse three signs and wonders to be done in their hands signs and wonders are coming in the midst of great persecution even unto death acts 16 we see paul and silas their thrown they're thrown in prison and it says in verse 37 but paul verse 22 then the multitude rose up together against them and the magistrates tore off their clothes interesting and commanded them to be beaten with rods and when they had laid many stripes on them they threw them into prison commanding the jailer to keep them securely having received such a charge he put them in the inner prison and fasten their feet with stocks and an angel comes and sets them free i don't have time to develop it acts chapter 17 there's conflict in thessalonica so you have i think it was i think it was actually sean who said that the book of acts is about revival and riots so there's conflict in thessalonica it's in jason's home and a mob comes in drags jason to court he gets free of baal in acts chapter 18 the lord has to reassure paul verses 9 and 10 that the lord speaks to paul and he says do not be afraid i am with you that means that paul was acts chapter 19 there's another riot it's in ephesus there's a guy named demetrius who's a silversmith who was jealous because he was losing a businessman was losing income so they set a riot against against paul and his men and that was dispersed acts chapter 20. paul's on his way to greece and the jews are plotted have plotted against him to actually kill him acts 21 verse 13 paul's ready to go to jerusalem and the the people in ephesus are concerned about him going to jerusalem because there have been some a couple visitations a couple of prophetic voices that you're actually going to die in jerusalem and paul says in acts 21 13 for i am ready not only to be bound but also to die at jerusalem for the name of the lord jesus now you guys this is not like two or three years after acts chapter two we're talking 15 16 17 almost 20 years of preaching the name of jesus and continually be getting beaten imprisoned and persecuted while seeing signs wonders and miracles he's not doing this to defy the order he's doing this in response to his father in acts chapter 21 i'm almost done 27-35 he's arrested in the temple while he's in jerusalem and they stepped on they they beat paul and then there was a again commotion and paul actually uses his rights in acts chapter 22 verse 4. and 19 and verse 25 he's again he's bound he's imprisoned he's ready to be beat and then he's he tells the roman centurion is it lawful for you to scourge a man who was a roman and uncondemned and the centurion goes oh my gosh we have been scourging a roman citizen in fact paul uses his rights again when he says i appeal i appeal to caesar he's using his roman rights as a citizen to actually appeal acts chapter 23 there's a another plot to kill paul these guys have an oath that we're not going to eat or we're not going to drink until paul's dead acts chapter 24 paul is accused of sedition which is actually sedition means to incite people to rebel against authority so he's accused of sedition by the high priest nonetheless it says in acts 24 verse 5 for we found this man to be a plague a creator of dissension among the jews throughout the world and a ringleader of the sect of the nazarenes acts chapter 24 is a good 20 years after acts chapter 2. so the high priest still pursuing destroying paul 20 years later still signs and wonders are breaking out not in defiance to an order but in response to the father and that's why we're sitting here today acts chapter 28 verse 31 preaching the kingdom of god and teaching the things which concern the lord jesus christ with all confidence paul continues preaching the kingdom of god this is how the book of acts ends preaching the kingdom of god and teaching the things that concern the lord jesus christ with all confidence and then history tells us that paul is beheaded either between ad66 and ad68 that peter is crucified upside down in that same year under the emperor nero do you think they just did this to defy an order you think they just laid down their life because they wanted to practice civil disobedience they did it in response to the call they did it in response to the spirit of god that lays in them that propels them to share the good news of the gospel why do you think we have an underground church in china that's still assembling civil authority is pulling crosses off of buildings they're destroying bibles but i'm telling you the kingdom of god is alive and well in china because people are still gonna assemble people are still gonna gather people are still gonna encourage each other while it's still called today whether it's in china or a communist country or iraq or wherever it is the kingdom of god will not be stopped and it's going to take an act of our will as believer like this is mild i mean come on this is mild compared what do we see in other nations of the world you guys all right hopefully you guys are all right at home so i sent an email out last week was it last week i ca i honestly can't remember i think it was this week but we're going to open up next week and we're going to do it we're going to do it not because we're defining an order we're doing it because we're responding to what we hear the father saying that's true here's the here's the thing that that we're learning we actually haven't walked this way before and i'm older than you most of you not all of you i don't remember this and when you're a senior pastor you're you're you're thrown right in the middle if you open you're careless if you're closed you're gutless you have to turn off the noise and you have to hear what heaven is saying in a lot of situations the senior leader is in a no-win position and it's a hard position because you're wanting to lead your congregation as god's saying to but you want to make sure there's safety and you want to make sure that you know you're you're stepping in but you're not jesus didn't close the jesus closed the door or not did he did the spirit of god close the door the governor closed the door what started off was up with a pandemic that was supposed to kill 20 or have 25 million cases in eight weeks like it's been a journey you have people in the medical profession you have people in the legal you have all it's like you have to you have to hunker down for the sake of safety but at some point you just have to hear from heaven and do what god you feel god's telling you to do and that's not to that's not to if you know my heart i just want to hear what the lord's saying and if that means like shut it down for another year that's what you're saying that's what you're saying and then i trust him with the rest so it was in that that place of encounter in the first part of october i know i'm going way over my time the first we went we worshiped long so first part of october and wendy and i have been praying about this for a long time pastoring ministering you guys have been so faithful thank you thank you for your prayers for us and like i said in the email but not everyone reads emails so i'm going to say it publicly i remember just before the lord like i've been in we've been in florida seeking god we've been like staff and seeking god like what are you saying and there was a an image that floated over i don't know how you say it like you get an impression and i just saw like this 25 it was like a calendar with a 25 wasn't a full calendar it said 25 with a box around it you know like you knew it was a calendar i think and i so i i don't even know i mean i kind of have an idea of the dates so i i just thought it was are you talking about the 25th are you saying something to me and i followed the trail and i'd spoil the trail so i followed the trail went to my calendar and i said oh that is a sunday if it was a tuesday i would have stopped on the trail and left but it was the 25th was on a sunday and i said lordly and i've been really meditating over hebrews 10 25. do not forsake the sembling together of the saints which is actually a new testament command and so i was meditating on that saw the 25 and then i thought right away it's like what month are we in well we're in october which is the 10th month and so it's not like an angel showed up with big swords and commanded me to open up on the 25th you know like it was a simple encounter that bore witness with my heart it's like that's today so it's 10 25 on 10 25 hebrews 10 25 on october 25th do not forsake the gathering of the assemblies the assembly together on the 25th of october so the lord goes ahead and i just kind of simple bear witness and i tell wendy she's like yeah that's great honey thanks hon no she bore witness she's prophetic so she's just like yes i've been waiting for a long time for god to speak to you so and so i i i told the team that was early early in october and i'm i don't have i don't want to i'll just say this of course i i didn't know we were still i don't know where you know there's all these colored tears in california not tears but t-i-e-r tears so purple red orange yellow whatever and so purple is the most stringent tears like churches don't open in purple red is the next lenient i don't know how else to say it next level where actually churches can open according to the state of california and then there's orange which is you can open up to a certain time a level in attendance i guess and then there's yellow but there is no green because uh our governor says we'll never go back to green uh honestly i have the tape he said that so it was in august we'll never go back to green unless we get a vaccine then we'll go back to green possibly so but i always want to make sure my heart's right i want to make sure i'm responding and not reacting and i i i'll be honest i i have to check that every single day don't react respond what's heaven saying because in the season there's lessons for us to learn like how do we be ekklesia when the everything we preached on for four or five years happened how do we manage and the lord showed me the power of the assembly which is not the building it's the gathering there's power in the gathering and so we were i think we were in the red in cal in alameda county and we actually became officially in the red tier september 22nd which meant searchers should be able to open up but they didn't and i guess in-person dining should open up but they didn't but that's all secondary to what the lord is saying so for you all know is that we've been in the red tier really technically since september 8th in alameda county we were officially there september 22nd and now we've graduated to the orange tier as of this past week which i didn't know that i just knew they were supposed to start on the 25th so now alameda county sent y'all an email i got one saying that on the 26th monday you'll have in-person dining in alameda county and you'll have in-person church services on the 26th moving forward so that is fabulous news right come on [Applause] but i feel it's super important for us so that's a week from monday but i feel it's super important for us to meet next week open up next week based on the word that the lord gave and in response to that word that's my heart my heart is that it's for the people of god to gather i mean there's a lot of reasons right there's a theological reason there's a lot of reasons but but we have seen delivery drivers be saved we've seen people coming to christ we have seen the voice of hope needs to be broadcast the pulpits need to declare not only the goodness the god but there is hope in god to put their faith and their trust in the lord there's a lot of isolated broken people there's a lot of mental disorder right now it's time for the church doors to open to the city it is and i know that i know that this past week san mateo county so no i don't know about sonoma but a lot of the counties in the silicon valley have their church doors that have opened [Music] we just there was only two counties that were hanging on and santa clara actually opened this past week in alameda county is the last county in the in the i think so i you know i well i see color maps everywhere [Music] but that's where my heart's at my heart is we need to gather for those who feel like man i just feel like i need to stay home well then stay home i do not judge anybody stay home man enjoy the online service like go for it i understand uh you are totally welcome to be home and stay home we love you and and we'll continue to love you and you just hear you just hear the voice of the lord and respond to the holy spirit that's all just respond to the holy spirit so the whole point of today is just letting you all know we're going for it next week and that we're doing it not to defy anybody we're doing it in response to what the father is saying so it's 10 25 on 10 25 i'll be preaching next week out of hebrews chapter 10 verse 25. that's the text you guys already have it and it's the importance of the gathering it is what i feel like the lord has taught us over the last seven or eight months like i love zoom i love the technology but we're made to be together we're made to see each other and connect nothing like corporate worship where the presence of the lord comes in and we just go for it i mean i have a new favorite song it's called first love i think it's called that sheesh that was off the chain that was so good jordan played it for me yesterday on youtube is it called first first love i crushed it all jordan's favorite words crush crushed it he played it i said and then they tagged that martin smith song on the end of it you know my heart burns for you how many i remember that one man i remember being in hawaii with wendy just over and over listening to that song in my headphones out in the pool i was probably screaming you know people are simple melodies lasted 20 30 years i have no idea why i said that power of corporate worship i'm looking forward to next week to do that with as many people feel safe to come let's go for it let's go for it stand together for those of you at home you could stand there stand up you have to work a little harder to get off the sofa or the chair but i want you to understand my heart in moving forward it's in response to not in reaction from that makes sense that's where my heart's at so father thank you for gathering us here this morning now that's the afternoon lord i pray that you continue to advance the kingdom through christ ecclesia your bride the church god i pray that as paul says or acts chapter 13 verse 46 reads but when the jews saw the multitudes they were filled with envy verse 46 then paul and barnabas grew bold and said i pray that all of us would grow bold and say what you're saying and release what's on your heart through your people if we thank you for it lord in jesus name amen amen amen we have ministry team here so if you guys want to come forward and if anyone here needs to receive ministry you're totally welcome to receive ministry from the team you're going to have an amazing week so glad you guys came out and for all you at home god bless you guys hopefully we'll see you next week amen you

Channel: Convergence Church

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Length: 122min 9sec (7329 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 18 2020