Open Heaven Part 1 - Pastor John Siebeling

[Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] hey everyone welcome to the life church online we're so glad that you are with us today it's going to be a great day in church it's encounter weekend yeah it is it's going to be so good my name is caitlin and i'm jerica and like pastor caitlin said it is going to be a great weekend in church we're so happy that you're with us we're going to hang out here for the next 10 minutes or so before we jump into some powerful worship then pastor john is actually bringing the message this weekend for our first part of our new series called open heaven yeah it is it's so so good we heard the message last night maybe some of you did too so make sure you know you tune in again go ahead get your notebooks ready because trust me you don't want to miss it and then after the message caitlyn and i will be back to give you a little bit more information about church life it's going to be great it's gonna be a great day overall in church you picked a great weekend to be with us and why don't you comment in the chat let us know where you're watching from jericho and in our whole team we love seeing where you're tuning in from every single weekend um and so go ahead comment in the chat let us know maybe say hello to some other people that are in the chat with you as well you know we consider uh really the chat kind of like a virtual lobby just like maybe you would come into a physical location a little early and talk with some people you can do that right there in the chat greet some people see where everybody's watching from but the cool part is you can actually chat all throughout the service and so why don't you go ahead say hello to us we've got facebook and youtube like i said pulled up on our phone so we're going to shout you out here in a minute but say hello to us in the chat today yeah and while you're doing that you can also go ahead click that arrow that you see on your screen whether you're watching on youtube or facebook there's a little arrow and all you all that does is it helps you share our service you know it's so cool to see how many people have come and found our services just because of you and your generosity by clicking that button and sharing that service you know sharing truly makes a difference it helps people get connected more into our church they might hear something or someone might do something or say something that could truly change their life so make sure you go ahead click that button share this service we can even send the link out to somebody you can text it email it google chat it slack it do whatever it is you need to do that make sure you get today's service out yeah it's going to be so cool and and we're going to show some people out let's go ahead let's hop on facebook and youtube let's see if you haven't already go ahead see uh comment and let us see where you're watching from we've got cindy on with us on facebook we've got uh jimmy on with us aisha she said she's watching from germantown tennessee anybody on youtube yeah all right we have um sewing brad she's watching from kennesaw georgia i hope i said that correctly georgia okay yes we watch uh we have kim watching from peoria illinois so thank you for watching with us we have olivia watching in arlington james is watching with us t is watching with us mariah melissa yeah sabrina yeah so many people so thank you guys so much for tuning in with us this weekend you got anybody else yeah look i got to shout out my dad my dad's in the chat right now he always says you never shout me out so dad i'm shouting you out thank you for being on with us he's watching from arlington tennessee shout out to my dad but yeah if you haven't already go ahead comment let us know where you're watching from today yeah and hey maybe you already considered yourself a part of our online campus but you're wondering what is my next step what can i do to get plugged in more to church well your next step could be going through discovery online you know it's a easy way for you to learn more about our church and even learn more about yourself i know when i went through discovery i learned so much more about my purpose how i could serve here better at the life church and how i could even serve honestly out in the community and in the world so be sure you go ahead click that link it is all online so whether you're watching in georgia or illinois or new mexico wherever you are in the world you can join in with us make that next step you can join in on our online campus because trust me we're fun yeah i think we are anyways we're fun so make sure you hop in click that button so you can go through discovery and join our team yeah you know another great way to get connected right here with everything that's going on with our online campus is through our facebook group so we actually have a facebook group created specifically for us for our campus for all of our online family and so we would love for you to be a part it's really just a big community you're going to actually see a clip of how do you how you might be wondering how do i join it you're going to see a clip that's going to come up and show you exactly how to do it go to facebook search the live church you'll see it in the little bar right there and then you'll see our page come up you'll click on groups and then you'll scroll down and see our online campus page all you got to do is click join or very simple just click the link that's in the chat it'll take you right to the group and you can join right there and it's really just a great community we're going to be posting all kinds of things how you can engage with others that are part of our campus but then also things like how can we be praying for you throughout the week and it's really just another step of connecting our campus all together yeah it is you know it's a really good tool to have especially when we're going through times like we are right now with our 21 days of prayer and fasting it's a great way to foster community with one another like i said you know we're in day four of our 21 days of prayer and fasting but maybe you know you haven't decided what you're faxing from it is not too late you can go ahead hop in now join us for the next couple of weeks as we pray and we fast together as a church you know we're having these prayer rallies on wednesdays at 12 and also saturday mornings at 10 a.m on facebook and youtube you can join us there you can also um join us we end our prayer and fasting season for big wednesday on january 27th we'll be online then as well but maybe what is prayer and fasting well here at our church we believe that fasting is a way for us to die to ourselves that we can connect more with god and you know in that way you know you could give up something whether it be food maybe you decide not to spend any money or it's a media netflix social media things like that and there's actually some free resources that we have on our website just for use you can check those out at thelifechurch.com we our team has also been doing these devotionals every morning which are super encouraging super awesome so be sure you plug in connecting these 21 days of prayer and fasting yeah and one of the really cool things that we actually did as a church recently is we actually launched a whole brand new line of merch that just recently came out and it's pretty cool so we're going to tell you a little bit about it and then i actually have emily who's hopping on with me her and her husband are our campus pastors right here at our houston levee campus which is where we broadcast from every single weekend emily thanks for hopping on here with us what's up we're gonna talk about some new merch so why don't you give us kind of the inside scoop what is the merch you're wearing one of the pieces kind of the story behind it absolutely so you know several months ago pastor john said something in one of his sermons he said unity does not equal uniformity and that really resonated with me and the team we decided to design some merch pieces to help promote that message to the people around us you know these pieces um say lots of things lots of have different themes on them this shirt here says together and it just is supposed to be a reminder as you go about your day to be intentional about doing life together with people that don't look like you you know unity doesn't mean that we have to look like the people we do life with biblical unity actually means that we are to have fellowship with diversity have fellowship with people that don't look like us so yeah that's such a man such a powerful thought number one and it's really cool that we designed merge yeah just to represent that so we can literally wear that as we're out and just a great reminder and then hey if so there's a link that's coming up in the chat if you would like uh to purchase it you can actually uh just click that link it will take you right there you can see all the pieces of merch but tell us about if they do purchase a piece of merch what do they get yeah so today only we are including a free beanie right here this awesome beanie um with every every online order we're going to slip this into it so yeah special this is a special deal because listen it's exclusive for online campus nobody else has gotten this deal so you want to make sure that you get that and if you purchase a piece of merch you get that free beanie but speaking of all of the merch it kind of brings me back to like some trends okay i feel like right now we're seeing so many uh new trends or not new trends trends from the past transformation services and so a lot of our trends of like when we were growing up is literally coming back up so why don't you comment in the chat maybe tell us what is your trend favorite trend from the past it could be any kind of truth yeah it could be any any kind of tree if you roll it up to church today people be like what what what are you wearing what is this it's like yeah what is maybe one of your favorite trends from either the past or currently you know wedge flip-flops were really a thing that i supported 100 as somebody that's short we don't have a picture here we go right here these flip-flops were in my life back in high school i love them they're huge they're horrible now today uh what about you caitlin i okay so i'm gonna put myself out there i had a mullet as a kid but back in the day it was a real thing okay my hands were possible i don't think it was everything okay wow they're putting me on blast here they have a picture of my mullet look at the haircut it's so cute it's very exclusive yeah i don't know if you rolled up with that hairstyle today i'd be like go back home yeah that's the thing okay back in the back in the day look you got me like stuttering over my mouth like back in the day it was cool okay think about all the people that have well okay she's not gonna she's not gonna say you know somebody mentioned gauchos in the chat laughs i had like every color look at this okay the most comfortable pants those glasses i think we should bring them back no we shouldn't probably shouldn't look you gotta let us know in the chat if there is something that maybe uh you know that that reminisces with you or maybe something that you wore what about like for the guys like frosted tips do you remember oh my gosh yes i mean instinct was really a pioneer i was just about to say ethan on our online team yeah you know he's rocked the frosted tips don't bring them back i don't think i don't think we should bring those they're coming you're wearing frosted tips right now we apologize in advance but listen it's going to be a great day if you haven't already click that link to check out the new merch that we have from our church but if you haven't already also share this service go ahead and share the service let somebody know that church is happening it's encounter weekend okay so it's going to be a special weekend we're going to be taking communion all together so go ahead and grab those elements if you haven't already but it's going to be a great service we're so glad that you are on with us today so why don't we go ahead jump in to service all together it's going to be amazing let's go [Music] [Music] good morning everyone and welcome to church we're so glad you hear this today come on let's worship together this morning stand to our feet [Music] stronger than the mountains [Music] we sing it together [Music] [Music] we will keep on singing [Music] is [Music] you won't give up glory glory to you we will keep on singing [Music] [Music] jesus the king of [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] jesus we the people give you praise you pray we will keep on singing [Music] the name of jesus today come on continue to lift his name let's take our worship to the next level this morning [Music] every night and put me back together and every desire is now satisfied here in your love oh there's nothing [Music] better than you there's nothing i'm better than you there's nothing and nothing is better than you oh there's nothing nothing better to show my weaknesses [Music] there's not a place i'm better than you no there's nothing [Music] nothing is nothing and better than you oh there's nothing [Music] better [Music] we lift our faith and we declare it together this morning [Music] this morning [Music] [Music] [Music] you're the only [Music] is [Applause] [Music] is [Music] you're the only [Music] okay [Music] you're the only one who can [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] is thank you jesus [Music] strongholds are still being loosed god we believe yes we can see that wonders are still what you do [Music] yes we can see that wonders are still what you do we are here what we need [Music] today right now we need to move [Music] is [Music] is [Music] we're here we said with us [Music] miracles happen when you move healing is coming in this room miracles happen when you move and heaven is coming out right now here it goes [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] you know depression has got about when god moves and sickness [Music] come and do what you do oh lord we are here [Music] so come and move cause we need we need [Music] jesus [Music] creation knows the voice that spoken to the voice the breath that brought the dust to life and sang the stars [Music] the darkness hears your voice that drove me back before [Music] once more one word from you things change on your authority your word it's true [Music] things change on your authority [Music] my fight is not my own [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] not be silent and coward at his room for if my god is for me then what have i to fear and i will not deny him the glory that is his will not prevail and strongholds might be moved will spirits not be silenced [Music] foreign [Music] is [Applause] will be [Music] [Music] things change things change on your authority that your word is true [Music] welcome to the life church we are so glad you are joining us today each weekend we have online services available where you can be a part of worship hear an encouraging message and connect with an online community that is welcoming and friendly we're all about helping people get connected and move forward in life and one of the best ways to get started is by taking your next step stay connected and build life-giving relationships by joining an online life group we have lots of different options to fit a variety of interests and we would love to help you find a life group just visit thelifechurch.com to find one that's right for you if you would like to know more about the life church or how to get involved our online discovery experience is the place for you through discovery you will learn how you can make a difference and get planted in church you can register for discovery online at thelifechurch.com god has an incredible plan for your life and we would love for you to be a part of all that's taking place here at the life church [Music] during our 21 days of fasting and prayer we're believing for god to do some great things in 2021 we'll be closing out our 21 days with a big wednesday service at our houston levee austin p and jackson locations as well as our online campus at thelifechurch.com join us january 27th at 7 pm as we gather together for powerful worship and an inspiring message from pastor john hey everyone and welcome to the life church online we're so excited that you are spending your sunday morning here with us especially if it's your first time here yeah special shout out to anybody that might be new with us maybe it's your first time joining us right here a part of the life church online welcome we hope that you feel right at home and part of the family and really on behalf of our senior pastors pastor john and leslie and our entire team we just want to say welcome we're glad that you're here and there's a link that's coming up in the chat it would mean a lot to us if you clicked on that link and let us know that you're here with us it enables us to be able to connect with you and really learn how we can serve you and your family better and we want to get you a free gift for being with us today so make sure that you click on that link get your free gift for being with us and let us know how we can serve you and your family a little bit better today yeah we all love free gifts and maybe you know it's not your first time you already consider yourself to be a part of our online campus well we want to encourage you to take your next step and you might be wondering okay well what is my next step well your next step could be discovery discovery is online just for you so no matter where you're watching from in the world you can join in with us and what is discovery well discovery is an easy way for you to learn more about our church what we've our values who we are what we believe but it'll also give you a little bit more insight into yourself and who you are and your purpose and how you can serve here at church i know it did that for me when i went through discovery so be sure you click that link that is coming up in the chat on both youtube and facebook and join discovery today yeah we're going to take a moment to be generous we're going to receive our regular ties and offerings and you can give very easily online at thelifechurch.com it's a safe and convenient way to be able to give there or if you would like to you could even mail it in to the address that's coming up on the screen here in just a moment but you know right here at the live church one of our core values is generosity we say every weekend we invest and change lives we give generously to invest and change lives and so when you give today know that that's making a difference that every time you give that's exactly what you're doing you're impacting people all around the world today and maybe you've never given before i want to give you uh just kind of encouragement and kind of encourage you to take a step in and to give maybe step out in faith trust god with your finances if you've never done that before i would encourage you to do just that and to take a step of faith and to give or maybe it's uh you've given for the thousandth time i want to say thank you thank you for your faithfulness today as you're giving and you're stepping out and you're being generous with your finances thank you as you give but i'm going to pray a prayer of blessing over you as we give today and in this moment of generosity lord i just thank you god for your goodness and your faithfulness in our life how good you've been to us and in our finances and so lord today we give back to you lord what what belongs to you god i pray a prayer of blessing over every single person who is in this moment that is giving god i pray lord that you would just pour out abundance over them and their household and even lord our church god i pray that as we give and trust you with our finances lord that we would make an impact in our city and all around the world and we thank you for what you're doing in jesus name we pray amen and amen amen all right we're just a few seconds away from today's message so go ahead grab your bible grab your notebook grab whatever it is we're hopping into this new series open heaven it's such a great series i'm super excited about it you'll be here with us four part series we're going to do some more throughout the entire month and take february yeah make sure you're taking notes because note takers are history makers and let's if you're excited about this new this new series and this new message let's go ahead throw some praise hands in the chat let us know that you're ready we're going to hop into the message in just a few seconds let's go [Music] [Applause] all right grab your bibles everybody and turn over to the book of luke hope you're doing well this morning big shout out to all of the locations that are joining us we're all connected together got a bunch of people watching online come on houston levy can we welcome everybody that's connected with us this morning at the 9 30 service just to remind you it's encounter weekend and usually at the very beginning of the year we have this weekend set aside where we have communion together we pray a prayer of blessings so right at the end of my message i'm going to preach a message then we're going to have just a couple of minutes of worship build an atmosphere of faith have communion together i'll pray a prayer of blessing over every single person all right does that sound good everybody well welcome to part one in a series that we're starting this weekend called open heaven look over at luke chapter three with me i love the book of luke for its detail luke was a physician he was not one of the original 12 disciples he was commissioned by a wealthy greek man named theophilus to give an account of the life of christ and so he wrote a historical account of the life of jesus and he was also commissioned by theophilus to write the you know early part of the the history of the church that became the book of acts and so we've got luke and acts and so it covers about 75 80 years of of history and uh luke is a physician so he he writes with some extra detail he actually gives us some interesting uh perspective aren't you thankful that we have matthew mark luke and john we've got four different perspectives of the life of christ is fascinating and uh if you're a new christian if you're a new believer if you're just you know pressing reset in your life let me just encourage you start there start with with the book of john start with matthew mark luke read about the life of jesus and so luke gives us some details how many of you know during christmas we read luke chapter two don't we because it's like the christmas chapter in those days a decree went out from caesar augustus we see all about the the early days of of jesus even when his i love this story when when his parents left him in jerusalem that's a crazy story like they're they're there for the passover luke tells us this whole story they're there for the passover feast they came into jerusalem then they head back home and it was like a few days before they realized that their son was not with them that's pretty amazing that ought to give every single parent some grace and some encouragement and so when they realized what happened they went back and where was it he was in the temple and he said those famous words uh you know to his mother you know i must be about my father's business then we get to chapter three and the story that i want you to see is the beginning of it all literally it's the launch of the ministry of jesus it's a powerful moment i'm going to read verse 21 and 22 i'm reading from the christian standard bible love this i love this translation when all the people were baptized jesus also was baptized so john the baptist comes he's preaching this message of repentance and he's baptizing people in water in the jordan river and jesus goes down into the water himself he's baptized listen to what it says as he was praying what happened heaven opened and the holy spirit descended on him in a physical appearance like a dove and a voice came from heaven you are my beloved son with you i am well pleased notice he was praying heaven opened and the holy spirit came father god thank you for your word let it build us up today encourage us convict us strengthen us renew us we thank you for it in jesus name come on and all the people of god said amen i've got a real strong stirring down on the inside of me for 2021. i got a real i got a real strong leading to focus on the person of the holy spirit in 2021 i feel really stirred about this too to lean into myself personally the holy spirit the move of the holy spirit and also to lead us as a church further into a place where we're experiencing the power of the holy spirit we need the holy spirit we need the holy spirit if if you're a believer that's walked with the with the lord for a long time and maybe you've experienced the holy spirit and and the power of the holy spirit moving in your life let me just encourage you you need him today more than ever you you need him in 2021. we need to be we need to be filled with the holy spirit we need to be led by the holy spirit we need to be empowered by the holy spirit we need to be anointed by the holy spirit we need the holy spirit you need it your family needs it i need it you know this church needs it so i'm declaring 2021 as the year of holy spirit impact 2021 the year of holy spirit impact holy spirit significance and i just want you to think about the role of the holy spirit as we see it in the word of god the holy spirit is always drawn to empty places the holy spirit always fills the things that are empty the holy spirit is always near listen to me there's always near chaos and darkness ready to shine a light and and ready to give clarity into to bring a breakthrough think about genesis chapter one all the way in the very beginning genesis 1. the bible says that that that that um you know there was darkness over the face of the deep and there was there was there was um you know it was formless and it was it was empty and it and there was a void much like there is today in the world that we're living in darkness and and emptiness and and confusion and chaos and yet the holy spirit the bible says was hovering right over the face of the deep waiting for the word of god and as soon as god spoke the holy spirit begin to move and begin to create and begin to change reality think about go all the way to the go all the way to the new testament the book of acts chapter two and and and it's it's the same situation different circumstances there's a there's an emptiness there's a there's a void there's confusion there's the disciples who aren't exactly sure what's happening they're in an upper room and they're praying in the heart of jerusalem and and they're waiting for what jesus had promised and the holy spirit was was was hovering and jesus gave the word and the holy spirit fell the bible says in acts 2 the holy spirit fell and everything was everything was changed and everything was turned around here's what i'm trying to encourage the holy spirit is near and the holy spirit is ready to move and if you think it's dark the holy spirit is ready to shine his light and if you're confused the holy spirit is ready to bring peace into that confusion come on we need the holy spirit everybody we need the holy spirit more than ever i think about my own life and i was raised in a christian home sometimes my mom watches hey mom thank god for my mom's influence and my dad's influence and thank god they were god-fearing people and they brought us to church but about the fifth grade we we stopped going to church for a variety of reasons and got into sixth grade got into seventh grade i've told this story before and for some reason i heard a friend of mine talking about his church his name was ronnie murray and something jumped on the inside of me i can't explain it but i i went right into that conversation interrupted that conversation and invited myself to ronnie's church and that sunday ronnie and his mom picked me up and brought me to their church downtown baton rouge louisiana go tigers a place called first baptist church on convention street started going for a couple of weeks and heard one sunday a message of god's grace and a message of god's love and that i needed to to be saved and that i needed to become a christian and there was a conviction in my life as a seventh grader i walked from that balcony all the way down to the front and i filled out a a decision card and i gave my life to jesus and there was a man right there that prayed the prayer with me and i became a believer in in seventh grade thank god for that salvation everybody say salvation there was a sense that i was disconnected from god and even though i was raised in a christian home i hadn't made my own personal decision come on how many of you know you can't you can't lean into mom's faith or dad's faith you have to have your own faith well because it you know because it was downtown and we lived 40 minutes away from downtown and and because it was you know um it wasn't a lot of young people there's a variety of reasons i didn't really get planted and didn't really get plugged in and seventh grade turned into eighth grade and got into high school and i drifted away i i really wandered away from the faith but i always had a sense of the presence of god and i always had a conviction of sin and got involved in in a church that was connected to the school that i was going to and and i re you know i re i reset i i i renewed my faith in the lord and i came back to the lord i believe the lord was always with me um but i came back to him and i think about salvation and i really never really wandered too far i made some mistakes and i did some things that weren't right but i never never really wandered too far and so so my salvation experience wasn't as dramatic as some people how many of you know some people are literally rescued from darkness and god totally changes their life and turns their life around thank god for that come on can we thank god for salvation today god rescuing us for me what happened was as i rekindled my faith and as i began walking with god and started going to that church that was a spirit-filled church i started to notice the people at this church were really happy to be there i mean they were worshiping and they were clapping and they were smiling and and man the church was packed full of people and and people are studying the bible i just saw a difference and i started to to inquire what's what's the difference here and someone started talking to me about the holy spirit and they handed me a little pamphlet and and i i read that pamphlet beside my bed one night and i kneeled and i received the holy spirit i was baptized with the holy spirit a couple of weeks later uh somebody prayed for me and laid hands on me and i began to pray in other tongues for me that experience totally changed my life it was if it was as if scales fell from my eyes i could i could read the word of god and i could understand it i didn't know it then but i know it now that was the anointing of the holy spirit that was the spirit of god speaking to me from the word of god and i had these experiences where the lord would speak to me and and and phenomenal experiences in worship it was a game changer the holy spirit changed the game for me and i think about this passage in luke chapter 3 that we've just read and i love this story because this is a game-changing story jesus being baptized it wasn't it wasn't just the fact that he was down in the jordan river and the jordan river always represents a place of change in a place of transition it wasn't just that he was down in the jordan river it's all the conditions were right for a move of god all the conditions were right he was in the right place he was with the right people he was praying heaven opened and the holy spirit descended he was in the right place with the right people he was praying heaven opened and the holy spirit fell i said he was in the right place he was with the right people he was praying heaven opened and the holy spirit came open heaven this picture of an open heaven this concept of an open heaven i want you to think about it all throughout scripture this this thought of heaven opening you see it in the word of god from beginning to end isaiah prayed for it in the old testament isaiah 64 1 he said if only you would tear the heavens open and come down i think that's a good prayer for us to pray right now in the name of jesus david said in psalm 144 verse 5 lord part your heavens and come down malachi prophesied it malachi chapter 3 verse 10 he prophesied that the windows of heaven would open over our life and in the new testament it was jesus that experienced it and when he did the holy spirit came and everything changed what is an open heaven if you take notes i want you to jot this down everybody an open heaven it's the holy spirit moving in our lives in a fresh way bringing god's favor blessing and power it's the holy spirit moving in a fresh way everybody say fresh way see we don't need a we don't need the move of god that happened in 1998. we don't need a move of god that happened in 2005. we need a move of god for 2021. we've just come through the most challenging year ever it's it's the most challenging year i've ever faced as a pastor as a spiritual leader and leading this church for nearly 25 years and being in ministry five years before that never seen anything like it the racial um challenges and injustices and the the political division and now we move into 2021 and it seems like the division is even greater i'm here to encourage you that there may be division but in the middle of that division you and i as believers we we're called to stand in the gap we're called to come right into the middle and and we're called listen we're called to call heaven down to earth we stand between heaven and earth we stand in the gap and we need a move of god's we need the holy spirit moving in a fresh way come on our church needs the holy spirit in a fresh way your family needs the holy spirit in a fresh way this city needs the holy spirit in a fresh way the capital c church around the world needs the holy spirit moving in a fresh way come on somebody and what happens when the holy spirit moves at a fresh way he brings grace he brings favor he brings blessing he brings power come on we need a move of god we need a move of god what is the name what does an open heaven look like let me describe it to you it's people unbelievers becoming completely and totally aware of their sin and their lostness and the fact that they're living in darkness it's unbelievers it's people outside the faith convicted of sin turning toward the lord as prodigal sons and daughters coming back home it's christians it's believers who are living a lukewarm life mediocre life living in in sin in their own life and they're completely aware and completely convicted of the sin in their life and they repent and they turn toward the lord come on it's repentance repentance is a beautiful thing salvation is a beautiful thing prodigal prodigal's coming home it's a beautiful thing what's up what's an open heaven look like it's god breaking the power of the enemy over people's lives that addiction that that's got somebody held that that bondage that keeps somebody from living in in freedom and heaven opens and the holy spirit comes and breaks the power of darkness and breaks the chains of bondage come on it's people being set free it's people being set free i wonder do you need to be set free today do you need to be set free from a mentality that's holding you back from god's best is there a habit that is controlling you you're no longer controlling it it is now controlling you and driving you i'm telling you you need a move of the holy spirit to break that addiction in your life and you can be totally free you can be set free what's an open heaven it's god restoring relationships it's it's marriages being restored it's it's sick people being healed in jesus name it's god speaking through people prophetically and people speaking prophetic words it's open heaven it's the holy spirit moving and that's what we need come on we need a move of god we need a move of god i pray in the name of jesus that 2021 would be a year where we experience revival like like like at no other time in an awakening like at no other time and the holy spirit moving in people's lives restoration and favor and momentum and the fire of the holy spirit and the presence of god and newness coming into our lives and maybe it seems like it's the opposite for you right now maybe heaven feels closed you feel like you're striving and you're struggling and it seems so hard you can't seem to get get a breakthrough listen it's the perfect time to seek god it's the perfect time to be in 21 days of fasting and prayer i love this season every year coming into the new year when we begin to fast and pray i can feel i can sense the holy spirit moving in people's lives come on if you haven't joined us yet there's still plenty of time we're only in day four join in with us jump in tomorrow begin to fast begin to pray begin to seek god you know sometimes you got to do what you've never done before how desperate are you how hungry are you to see god bring a breakthrough in your life or a breakthrough in your business or a breakthrough in your marriage come on how hungry are you to see the holy spirit move sometimes you got to do what you've never done before you've got to pray like you've never prayed before you need to fast like you've never fasted before come on can i get a good amen from somebody 21 days of fasting in prayer and i want you to notice this little pattern everybody back to luke 3 and and luke chapter 4 this this little this little pattern of how the holy spirit moved in the life of jesus because it's the same pattern that you and i can see in our lives begins luke 3. we read it already as he was praying heaven opened and the holy spirit descended he's down into the jordan river and he he's in the right place he's with the right people he's praying heaven opens the holy spirit falls now notice what happens in luke chapter four in one chapter in about 20 verses read what happens to jesus luke 4 1 then jesus left the jordan full of the holy spirit now i mentioned that the jordan river is a place of change it's a place of transition and jesus in his own will chose to go down into the jordan river jesus chose transition and change knowing it was his next step to take and it produced an open heaven and it produced the holy spirit coming on his life and guess what happens he leaves that place of change full of the holy spirit then jesus left the jordan full of the holy spirit everybody say full luke 4 1. i'm still in full he's full of the holy spirit you know the bible uses this word baptized with the holy spirit over and over again in fact every gospel talks about being baptized with the holy spirit and then in acts chapter 1 jesus said you'll be baptized with the holy spirit that word baptized is the greek word baptizo which means fully immersed of course when you become a christian listen this is so important i don't want you to miss this because people misunderstand this theological principle when you become a christian you receive all all of god right god the father god the son god the holy spirit the bible says in first corinthians 12 that no one can say jesus is lord except by the holy spirit so of course you receive the holy spirit it's the holy spirit that draws you to jesus but then there's this this this separate experience this subsequent experience that the bible talks about when we are baptized with the holy spirit which means we open our life to the things of god and and and god fully immerses us it's actually jesus jesus fully immerses us jesus baptizes us in the holy spirit and with the holy spirit it's an amazing thing so you got to have this openness like jesus going down into the jordan river you got to open your heart and you got to open your mind to everything that god has for you otherwise you'll just be content with just living mediocre and living just this average sort of christian life i meet people all the time that can't understand why people are so fired up about the things of god or fired up about church it's because they haven't tasted they haven't tasted the fullness of what god has for them and i remember what that was like jesus full everybody say full then in that same verse it says that that he was he was led by the spirit so first he was full of the spirit then it says he was led by the holy spirit guided by i love this i absolutely love this second step in this pattern and and i'm hungry for it and i pray that you're hungry for it in fact i'm praying for for your hunger that you'll be more hungry to follow the leading of the holy spirit than ever before in your life because listen to me the bible says when the days are evil we've got to redeem the time we can't afford to be sloppy we can't afford to make mistakes we got to follow the the the leading of the holy spirit we need to be where he wants us to be we need to be doing what he wants us to do we need to be saying what he wants us to say come on can i get an amen from the church [Applause] everybody say lead and then it says here's the third here's the third step in in the pattern luke 4 verse 14 it says says says jesus returned to galilee in the power of the spirit he was empowered he was led right he was filled he was led number three he was empowered he was filled he was led he was empowered everybody say empowered this to me is the essence of the holy spirit jesus didn't start his ministry until the holy spirit descended from heaven in acts chapter 1 jesus told the disciples don't go try to change the world or do anything without the holy spirit wait until the holy spirit comes because jesus said he will give you power and that's what you and i need come on that's what you need you need a power from on high to live the life that he's called you to live you need the power of the holy spirit to be a great husband can i get an amen from all the brothers you need the power of the holy spirit to be a to be a great mom to be a great friend to to walk out your your calling in your career you need the power you were never meant to try to do this without the power of the holy spirit moving in your life and he will empower you he will empower you to walk through whatever 20 21 brings our way come on he will give you the power empowered wow and then a little further down still in chapter 4 verse 18 it says the spirit of the lord is on me because he has anointed me so come on everybody say full led empowered anointed come on filled led empowered anointed and here's what's interesting jesus this is game on by the way right after he gets out of the jordan river he is he is you know touched by the holy spirit and filled with the holy spirit empowered by the holy spirit and he begins to perform miracles and it's wild blind eyes are opening dead people are being raised from the dead the sick are being healed provision miraculous provision is happening multiplication is happening it's wild and and the lives of everyone who come in contact with jesus are are impacted and and touched and turned around it's because of the power of the holy spirit and then at the end of his life jesus starts talking to the disciples that's fascinating he starts telling them about the holy spirit he starts telling them it's better that i go because if i don't go then then then he won't come the comforter the helper come on wave at me if you need a little help the helper the helper that's the holy spirit and the disciples how many of you know they were kind of grieving inwardly because they they were losing jesus and they didn't realize yet that that in exchange jesus was going to give them the power of the holy spirit and and and in fact jesus said no no listen what you've seen me do he's telling the disciples and he's telling you and me what you've seen me do you will do even greater things because of the power of the holy spirit moving in your life i know there's some of you that are trying to comprehend this and you're trying to understand this but you can't understand it with natural thinking you can't understand it from a worldly perspective you have to listen with spiritual ears and you have to open your heart to spiritual things there are some of you i'm just going to be honest as christians as believers you've been way too involved in what what the bible calls carnal things the things of this world and you've been way too consumed with all the things that are happening around you that that your spiritual life and your spirit man has grown weak and you fast and you pray and you seek god what happens is your spiritual man begins to rise and you hear the word of god and you get on your knees and you ask god to visit you and to move in your life in a fresh way and your spirit man begins to rise again you'll only comprehend what i'm telling you through spiritual ears the power of the holy spirit what is he talking about but we need it jesus told the disciples you're gonna do amazing things but i gotta go in acts chapter 1 he ascends into heaven in acts chapter 2 he sends the holy spirit the holy spirit comes the disciples in that upper room we're in the right place with the right people and they were praying and heaven opened and the holy spirit came in that upper room i said they were they were in the right place they were where jesus told them to be they were with the right people they they were praying doing the right thing and heaven opened and the holy spirit came and boy did the holy spirit came read the book of acts chapter two there was wind there was fire there was a movement come on the move of the holy spirit and those people in that upper room were never the same in fact the world was never the same and in a matter of 30 years the world was turned upside down for jesus because of the power and the moving of the holy spirit and that's what god wants to do in your life today that's what god wants to do in your life in this season the days of just sort of normal church going and normal christianity are over it's time for us to make a decision and choose who we're going to serve and choose how we're going to live this life are we going to believe the bible are we going to believe what god's word says are we going to walk it out listen you can experience that same open heaven that jesus experienced that the disciples experienced and that same pattern can can be in your life come on filled filled and led and empowered and anointed you can be filled with the holy spirit you can be led by the holy spirit you can be empowered and receive power from god to live an amazing life and to live the life that he's called you to live and you can be anointed the question is how how you got to be in the right place you got to be with the right people you have to pray seek god that's to become a part of your life that you're seeking god so think about it are you in the right place are you in the right place if you're not you need to get in the right place you know sometimes the right place is a mentality sometimes the right place is a way of thinking jesus the son of god humbled himself and got down in a dirty river i've been to the jordan river it's not much sometimes we hear jordan river we think of the mississippi it's really almost a little creek jesus the son of god left heaven went down into a creek and humbled himself there was humility and there was desire he was in the right place how many of you know people get in trouble sometimes we say man he was in the the wrong place at the wrong time let me just encourage you get in the right place get in the right place and then the right people are you with the right people are you with the right people we talk about this all the time don't we show me your friends and i'll show you your your future are you with the right people i came into this weekend with a strong sense of the holy spirit that the holy spirit would be convicting people this weekend of ungodly relationships some of you are connected to people that are going in the wrong direction because of your familiarity with them because of shared experiences in the past you're just going right along with them you're being led astray are you willing and ready to break that break that relationship come on you have the power to do it your spiritual life and your future is more important than being accepted and being able to hang with somebody come on are you are you are you with the right people if not you got to get with the right people nobody's perfect but you know what i mean and then prayer are you seeking god are you seeking god this is more than just a prayer that we pray but it's an attitude of our life that we're putting god first that we're making a decision that this year is not going to be like any other year i'm going to put god first i'm going to seek god first i'm going to pray come on place people prayer and god opens heaven and the holy spirit begins to move come on let's stand to our feet everybody let's stand to our feet i'm going to pray i'm going to pray for us and particularly right now in this moment i'm going to pray for people who need to connect back with the lord and then right after that we're going to go right into a little worship don't leave all right the service isn't closing we're going to have a worship moment we'll be long we'll have communion together and i'm going to pray a blessing prayer for 2021. but first i want you to bow your heads at every one of our locations bow your heads close your eyes those of you that are joining in with us online this is your moment to evaluate yourself and to think about your life why do we bow our heads and close our eyes it helps us to think about ourselves are you right with god are you right with god maybe you're here today and you've never made a decision to be a christian you've never prayed to surrender your your life to christ maybe you're here and that's a prayer that that you prayed at some point but if you were to be honest you've wandered from the faith time to come back home in just a second i'm going to lead us through a real powerful prayer we call this a a prayer of salvation or a fresh start prayer and here's what i'm going to ask you to do heads about and eyes are closed at every location if you're here and you know you need to be included in this prayer just a second i'm going to ask you to boldly lift a hand i'm not going to call you down front i don't want to embarrass you in any way but i do want you to to do something to take a step to have an action step and today that means you know just just raising your hand just just saying it's me it's me lord i want to get my life on track it gives me the opportunity to see who i'm praying for and then we're going to pray all together this powerful powerful prayer of salvation come on this is the moment getting your life on track coming back home to the things of god and i want you to know we've been praying for you there's people praying for you right now if that's you if you'd say pastor please include me in this prayer i need to get my life right with god today right where you're standing i want you to boldly lift a hand and say that's me thank you good hands going up all over go ahead and lift them up boldly do it do it with courage okay please keep your heads bad and your eyes closed just honor this moment thank you lord wonderful to see so many hands lifted i'm going to take a second more and we're going to pray this powerful prayer go right into worship come on the bible says the lord is reaching out to you knocking on the door of your heart before we pray anyone else thank you lord let's pray together everybody pray right out loud with me even if you didn't lift your hand i want you to pray in support of those who did all together say father in jesus name thank you for your awesome plan thanks for sending jesus to die on a cross and to rise again so i could have forgiveness and a new life and i ask your father in jesus name forgive me of my sin cleanse me make me new come live inside of me and give me the strength to live for you in jesus name amen and amen come on can we thank god everybody now come on let's lift our hands all together let's build an atmosphere of worship before we have communion together before we pray the prayer blessing for 2021 come on let's build an atmosphere of worship [Music] is [Music] desired [Music] [Music] here [Music] [Music] you alone [Music] desire and i love to [Music] here i am [Music] you're all together love me all together [Music] come on let's lift our hands [Music] come on make this a moment together all together [Music] lord of lords [Music] awesome amazing supernatural god [Music] come fill this place with your presence fill this place with your presence lord you inhabit the praises of your people as we praise you as we worship you come and move lift burdens heal those that are sick thank you lord [Music] thank you lord come on would you just lift your voices and just give him a little worship this morning he's worthy of our praise come on thank him and praise him we honor you today oh god [Music] thank you together if you would just reach down and get that get the cup and the for those of you up in the stadium city should be in the seat back in front of you and even down here on the floor if you're on the fresh first row it's going to be your feet i think that's the case with all of our locations [Music] go ahead and pull the top off and get the bread and even open the cup carefully and we'll get all that out of the way and have this moment where we remember the incredible price that jesus paid for us [Music] communion is a powerful thing seated at the lord's table together we i like to think of it in two ways we remember the price that jesus has paid so the the bread is the body of jesus broken and the cup is the blood of jesus we remember that he paid a great price really he paid the ultimate price for you for me but it also says that we we eat the bread and we drink the cup to proclaim [Music] his coming and so it's it's not only a reflection of the past but it's also listen everybody it's a reminder that this world is not our home this world is not our home jesus is coming back again and we're citizens of a greater kingdom and we're reminding ourselves we're reminding ourselves that all this is temporary [Music] our spirit our life is eternal and it says in first corinthians 11 the apostle paul said for i received from the lord what i also passed on to you that on the night when he was betrayed the lord jesus took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me father thank you for the body of christ broken for us on that cross the punishment jesus that you received was for me for my healing for my wholeness i thank you thank you for the bread let's eat together says in the same way he also took the cup after supper and said this cup is the new covenant in my blood do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me father god we thank you for the blood of jesus oh the blood of jesus the the powerful blood of jesus that washes and cleanses and makes new and it's still doing it today even today people's lives totally and radically saved by the blood of jesus and lord we thank you for your forgiveness we remember the price you paid and we proclaim your death until you come again in jesus name let's drink together amen amen you can put the cup down i'm going to take this moment right now and pray [Music] a real special prayer that we we pray every single year we have this encounter weekend and it's so amazing we have leaders and pastors and they have anointing oil and we pray and lay hands over every single person and and and pray a blessing and we're not going to do that this year for obvious reasons because of the you know because the virus and the restrictions and i can't wait for the day when all that's done and we can just do do what we're supposed to do right everybody and we it will happen we will get through this we will get on the other side i know some of you are like is this going to last forever no it's not going to last forever we'll get through it in the meantime we're going to be wise and we're going to do the right thing but it's just as powerful as if i pray for you right where you're standing and you receive a pastoral blessing for 2021 just a prayer covering over your life for 2021 and over your family those of you that are a part of life church you just receive and it's it's a powerful thing it's impartation and i'm gonna i'm gonna pray the words of of numbers um numbers chapter six um i'm going to pray this over you and by by god's grace lord willing we're going to do this every single service throughout 2021 just pray a prayer blessing over every single person but here's what it says here's what it says may the lord bless you and protect you may the lord make his face shine on you i'm going to teach from this passage sometime in this series i love this passage may the lord make his face shine in you and what be be gracious come on anybody need the grace of god and then it says may the lord look with favor on you and give you peace that's what we need today so here's what i want you to do once you put one hand over your heart and i want you to lift one hand just as a sign of receiving this blessing as we finish up our time this blessing over your life i'm praying that right now numbers chapter 6 come on somebody are you ready to receive i'm praying it over you right now may the lord bless you and may the lord protect you may the lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you may the lord look with favor on you and give you peace and father i pray a blessing over every single person here today over those that are watching online today at every one of our locations every person under the sound of my voice i pray a pastoral blessing a spiritual blessing for 20 21 i pray father god that you would protect that you would shine your face that you would bring favor i pray lord for great blessing spiritually let it be our best year spiritually i pray physically financially relationally in every way your blessing would be great on everyone's life today i speak this blessing for 2021 this pastoral blessing in jesus name come on and everybody said amen and amen come on let's thank god everybody for the blessing of the lord encounter weekend i mean you can't get much better than that no i mean come on and congratulations if you just prayed a fresh start prayer just a few minutes ago we want to say congratulations and tell you about some things to help resource you now that you're on this journey yeah there's actually a link that's coming up in the chat all you have to do is click that link and it'll give you a free gift it's called fresh start with god it's a seven chapter book so maybe you want to take a chapter a day over the next week it's written by our senior pastor pastor john siebling and it'll just tell you a little bit more about that decision that you made and give you a little bit more insight and some of our team they'll be able to walk alongside with you as you get used to this next step that you've made so go ahead make sure you click that link yeah our team is amazing they want to come alongside of you like jericho said so be sure that you click that link and make that step and so we can help resource you now that you made that decision and hey if you're a first time guest with us we want to say welcome we're so glad that you are with us today maybe you're new to the life church maybe you're just new to our online family we're so glad that you're here and it would mean a lot to us if you let us know so click the link that's coming up in the chat it enables us to connect with you but then also get you a free gift for being here and i'm telling you it's a good gift so make sure that you click that link let us know so we can get you that today and maybe you're wondering how do i get connected into the online campus well we actually have a facebook page that's created just for our online campus our online community and so actually there's going to be a video that's going to show you how to join in if you're interested in joining our online campus facebook page it's so simple just go to your facebook search the life church you'll see it right there on your screen you just scroll down find the online campus group and then click join it's as simple as that and then you're in and what's going to happen is really all throughout the week we're posting stuff connecting with you and really with our online community maybe some ways on how we can pray with you and just connect with you and kind of recap maybe even the message from the weekend all kinds of things so make sure that you do that or you can just simply click the link in the chat it will take you right to our page and you can just click the join button yeah it is you know that facebook group is really beneficial when we're in the time like we in right now with 21 days of prayer and fasting you know we're coming alongside each other encouraging each other and praying for each other in that group so like caitlyn said be sure you click that link and if you're wondering well what is prayer and fasting our 21 days of prayer fasting started on thursday so we're on day four but that doesn't mean that you can't jump in with us still go ahead find something that you want to fast from there's all different types of fast it could be something that's food related maybe you want to skip a meal or you want to do a liquid fast more power to you you want to do daniel fast or you know you want to fast from something else like netflix or maybe you need to fast from spending money or something else yeah there's so many things yes all me there's all kinds of things but that's not all we're going to have prayer rallies wednesdays at 12. saturdays at 10 a.m right here on facebook youtube and on our website that you can join in with us for those as well and we'll be ending our time of 21 days of prayer and fasting with a big wednesday right here online trust me it's going to be an amazing time so like i said it's not too late for you to jump in with us make sure you know you hop in pray fast together as we do that as a church yeah so many great things going on as a church yeah really you know the start of the new year this be an encounter weekend and where it's the weekend's not over we've got one more service happening so why don't you go ahead let somebody know hey maybe you know somebody that needs a prayer of blessing in their life why don't you share the service with them let them know that we have another service coming up at 11 15 right here we'll be on facebook we'll be on youtube we'll be on our website thelifechurch.com you can join us on any of those platforms or maybe you just simply missed a part of the service yeah you can come right back and join in and see the whole service you don't want to miss it and make sure that you share the service with somebody let somebody know the church is happening but we're glad that you joined on with us today that you're live with us and we hope that you have a great week and we will see you again soon bye bye guys [Music] you

Channel: The Life Church

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Length: 95min 15sec (5715 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 10 2021