Passing Your Test - Eli Lopez - May 30, 2021

good morning everybody hey why don't you stand up smile big holy ghost smile that's it feels good in the house of god today amen now turn look at somebody wave at them smile same it's good to see you here this sunday morning if they're close enough you give them a fist bump if not just a good holy ghost wave amen now do it to somebody else that felt so good do it to somebody else hey good to see you [Music] amen [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the lord is good [Applause] the lord is good amen so what we're going to do right now one of the most beautiful aspects about this church is that that we're a family and we've been just enjoying the family today and and we church is so so powerful and beautiful because there's something about where you your faith is strengthened you're strengthened just by gathering with with other believers that's why this past year has been so difficult so challenging is something that is so essential for this faith journey right what was taken away and now that we have it back we never want to take it for granted never want to take this ability just to be the family of god never want to take it for granted we're going to pray for for some members of our family that are hurting today uh yesterday morning pastor somsak and i we early in the morning drove up the mountain to angel's camp and we conducted the service the funeral service the homegoing service for a member of our church brother larry allen's been was a member of christian life center from as long as i can remember i remember being a teenager and he passed away suddenly unexpectedly on july on excuse me may 19th and his families really hurting today did not did not expect to have to say goodbye to their husband their father and just being there yesterday we know that the pain the pain is very very real for them so i want to pray for brother allen's wife sue she watches our service every week she watches online uh for up where they live and then also brother allen's sons and i had an extended conversation with his son matthew yesterday and and matthew is doing good he's attending christian life center in sonora pastor and sister moore also were there and helped us with the service but i want to pray for this family today because the bible teaches us right that when one member of the body hurts we all hurt we care we're there and we go in and we we are that family and and so i wanted to pray right now for larry allen's family that god would give them that special strength that only he can give you you can't explain it but it's so real and those of us that have walked through those dark times we know how real that that strength and that comfort is can you join me in praying lord jesus right now we pray for the family of brother larry allen today god that they would feel in such a real way your comfort and your strength that your peace which surpasses all understanding would be with them even now god that you would help them that you would give them strength beyond what they could have just in in themselves but the strength of god the peace of god the comfort of god be with them even now touch sue today touch her heart that is broken today god i pray for for the members of this family and the friends and the loved ones that they would feel you wrap your arms around them that they would feel your strength oh god that you would be with this family and we thank you for this faithful faithful faithful man in our church for year after year was so faithful to you and so faithful to this ministry bless bless god his legacy and do the work in his family that you desire to do in jesus name we pray and everybody said amen so please remember to pray for their family throughout this week and and i know i know god is going to hear your prayers but also i know how much that family would cherish and appreciate those prayers first thessalonians chapter 2 uh pastor miller mentioned youth camp and uh hey that's a big deal youth camp is a big deal and we are just believing god's going to do something incredible at youth camp this year and so we want to make sure all of our junior high and high school students are at youth camp and uh pastor villanueva has worked hard we've had to change camps because the price was just becoming uh just unreasonable especially i've got three right going to youth camp and and having to pay uh what the other camps were trying to charge us and of course we have to cover our our cost with those camps um and so brother v nuevas worked and found actually our original youth camp camp sylvester some of you have some good camp sylvester memories so our young people get to go back to camp sylvester and they were camps has been so good to work with us and so we want to get all of our young people so the price per student has come down significantly and i thank god for that and we want to get all of our junior high and high school students up to youth camp so register them today today after service get out in that lobby and register and we want to do everything we can that every one of our junior and high school students would be at youth camp pastor chris am i doing okay amen keep going first thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 4 but as we have been approved by god to be entrusted with the gospel even so we speak not as pleasing men but god look what the scripture says about god but god who tests our hearts but god who test our hearts lord have your way in every life and in every heart today and be glorified in all that we do all praise all worship all honor belongs to you and you alone we bless you today and we're so grateful that we could be in your house and being fed by your word we pray strengthen your people in jesus name and everybody said god bless you you can be seated uh my wife is a is a public school teacher she's been doing that for a good number of years now and and of course me being involved uh in the bible college uh you just kind of are aware of what goes on in the world of education you just kind of just pay attention to what's happening and and i i am convinced i think it's it's it's endemic to life nowadays right this culture that we live in i i'm convinced that we're getting we've already gotten but more so we're getting soft right we're getting soft and one of the things and some school districts have banned teachers from correcting papers with red ink because it would be demoralizing to the student to see red ink on their paper and we can't have little johnny feeling bad about himself yeah and you can't even um use the word like failed you can't use you can't put an f on our report card these are some school districts uh it's it's not called failing anymore now it's called delayed success i'm not making this stuff up it's it's delayed success your student has delayed success in every class on their report card and i guess that that that's what we should expect when we tell people that they don't have to try just show up and you get the trophy and we have we are actually preparing this generation for failure because those of us that live in the real world you don't do your job someone else will take it and do it and do it better than you and your company will move on from you they owe you nothing and this thing called the real world those that work harder and those that apply themselves those are the ones that that it's amazing promotions and raises and it's it's amazing how this thing called effort and activity and you know isn't it what the bible says right you reap what you sow but none of us right none of us i'm very aware like none of us where's a good camera i need a camera where'd the cameraman go all right here none of us has this ever happened to you some of you right now it's like like you're going back and reliving the traumas of of high school none of us want to get this back from your teacher none of us like failing the test oh i'm sorry none of us like delayed success none of us like failing the test what we all want right we all we all want to see this right we yeah oh yeah you studied you prepped you prepared you did what you had to do that that just feels good it feels good right when you not only pass the test but when you ace the test right the difference between those two right no thank you i'll take this all day every day and the verse that we read in thessalonians said god test the heart do you know that throughout this journey there are tests that you will take in your christian journey and what's what's amazing about god is you will repeat the lesson until you ace the test can i get an amen yeah you know what i'm talking about now with god i don't know if it's really a b c d or f but i do know with god it is it is pass or fail it's pass or fail and if you keep getting this on the test you keep having to retake the lesson which explains why some of you are going through the same thing that you've been going through for far too long now because when it comes time to take the test god's like uh-uh you got i got to teach you the lesson again until you get this and when you get this god says okay you can move on the test is over because it is god who tests the heart what are some of these tests well there's the test of offense where you where you get offended where you get hurt okay and i've heard this statement made by so many people throughout my years of i was born and raised in this and been involved in this thing called church for a really long time and i've heard this statement i i i could understand that someone in the world hurt me but i don't understand how someone in the church could hurt me and you know what it's amazing i've learned this principle in life the people that could hurt you the most are those closest to you think about that your your closest friends and the members of your family are the ones that can hurt you the most because they know what buttons to push they know your vulnerabilities they know things about you that perhaps nobody else knows and it's amazing how those who are closest to you have the ability to hurt you well then you join the church and you get a new family and when you first come in your new convert right everything is perfect and everyone is perfect it just it just nothing's wrong with church but you stick around here after for a while you start seeing the flaws you start seeing that people yes they're christians but they're not always like jesus and you start realizing that we're all we're all a work in progress that we all have issues and things that that we're working through and and and i want to tell you the reason why it's possible to get hurt in the church is because the church is made up of people people like you and people like me that are imperfect that are works in progress that god's grace is working on us but but there are some rough edges and some hard places and some things in all of us that god is still working to to change and transform because what is the goal the goal for eli lopez is that i would become less like eli lopez and more like jesus christ but that's a journey it doesn't happen instantly the moment i'm saved and so if you interact with me you're going to get some rough edges and some stuff and some junk that that god is still working out of me but i'm still in the process but look what david said david understood this and actually this psalm was actually fulfilled in the life of jesus but david said this in psalm 41 verse 9 even my own familiar friend in whom i trusted who ate my bread has lifted up his heel against me david said i was hurt not by the stranger i was hurt by my friend by the one close to me and these wounds are real you know what else i found i found that in this big beautiful wonderful thing called the church and i'm not just talking about christian life center i'm talking about the church i found that it's very possible to be hurt by leadership why because you trust you just expect the best out of leadership and you just almost let your guard down and you trust and you give honor and you afford leadership a voice a place in your life that that is very special and sometimes even in the church offenses will come from leaders in the church excuse me i read and i will read for you today the story of a young man that was that was that was i was crushed really wounded by an influential leader in his life acts 15 36 then after some days paul said to barnabas so let's talk about these two individuals paul the great apostle to the gentiles is a very driven man he's a very confrontational individual you read in galatians he confronted the apostle peter to his face in front of the entire church he did it publicly paul's confrontational paul is very strong very very i'm sure he had a very strong human spirit that god anointed and god needed him to be strong to do the things that he did i mean paul's the guy that got stoned literally stoned not figuratively literally like stone thrown up he's under a pile of stones he gets up and goes to the next town and preaches jesus knowing it could happen again that that's paul he had a strong human spirit there was a drive in paul there was something in him that and god needed that and god used that but but that same drive that was so beneficial for the gospel it could also be damaging to those that were around him because you read about paul's ministry he was attacked left and right there's a lot of people in the new testament church that didn't like paul he rubbed a lot of people the wrong way and i'm sure it had some things to do with this personality very very strong aggressive then you got barnabas okay barnabas is not even his real name do you know what his real name is it's a question right his real name is joseph you know who called them barnabas the apostles you know what barnabas means to mean son of consolation son of comfort barnabas is the nice guy he's the good guy he's the guy everyone wants to be around he's the guy when you're having a bad day go hang out with joseph and he's going to make you feel good about yourself right and we all need that friend we need that person in our lives that that that uplifting voice that just makes you feel good about yourself and and there's some people in this church i've told them when i'm having a bad day i'm going to come find you because they just have the gift of encouragement they just know how to make you feel special even when you don't feel special at all and that's barnabas the son of consolation wasn't even his name but the apostles gave him that name and it just stuck so you got these two individuals paul and barnabas and so paul says to barnabas right this is the team this is this is like the all-star team you've got moses and joshua you've got elijah and elisha and you've got paul and barnabas in the great history of faith there have been some incredible tag team partnerships that go out and do great things for god and these two they're they're a team they're powerful for god together paul said to barnabas let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the lord and see how they're doing so they've gone out and they've they've they've done their first missions trip and they said let's go back and check all on all the churches that we founded on our first missions trip verse 37. now barnabas was determined to take with them john called mark there's a young minister in the church we know him now as mark he's the one who wrote the book of mark we know ms mark john mark is what he's referred to john whose surname is mark and barnabas says we're going to take we're going to take him with us he's a young minister and it'd be a great opportunity to train him and for mentorship and and it'd just be great god's going to use him in a great way the hand of the lord upon his life we're going to take we're going to take mark with us verse 38 but paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who departed from them in pamphilia and had not gone with them to the work so what had happened on their first journey mark was a part of the traveling team and when they made it to one of their very first stops mark's a very young man he decides to go back home and we don't know why we're not told why maybe he heard about a situation at home maybe he just got home sick we don't know why but he goes home and then paul and barnabas go on and with those with them and they travel and they preach and god does a great work but mark he checked out on that trip very early in the trip and paul says no absolutely not he failed the first time he had his opportunity he had his chance it's over for him no he is not going with us and you got to know okay barnabas is the son of comfort he is he's he he's the guy that when you get knocked down he's going to run and pick you up and tell you you can do it keep going god hasn't given up on you and he's like no we can't send that message to this young minister you're going to defeat him you're going to defeat his ministry what what hope will he have and so he needs to know that he can get back up he needs to know that he gets a second chance come on paul you've got to do this for him you've got to realize that the anointing and the ministry that is before him we've got to give him a second chance then the contention verse 39 the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another how bad was it that barnabas looked at paul barnabas and said man i can't even be around you these are great heroes of the faith and they they said for the sake of both of us making it to heaven let's just let's just not hang around each other for a little while and so barnabas took mark and sailed to cyprus but paul chose silas see that word chose there's intention behind it he made a decision i don't want you i want you instead how do you think mark felt knowing one that he's responsible for the breakup of one of the greatest ministry teams ever and then to know what paul thought about him how do you think how do you think mark felt at general conference when the whole church would gather together and paul walks in and he knows what paul thinks about him how do you think he felt and mark had a choice here see he's wounded he's crushed by leadership he's crushed by somebody very influential in the church someone whose voice carries tremendous weight he's crushed he's hurting he he's he's broken no doubt and and yes yes he'd messed up yes he could have handled things better but but to not even get a second chance to not even to not even get another opportunity to prove himself and and to know to know just and and isn't that the biggest battle right the biggest battles in our minds to think what other people are thinking about us to wrestle with what other people are saying about us doesn't that just become a giant in your mind and you try to sleep at night and you can't because you're wrestling with what they've said and what they've done and what they think about you and it's just a it's this monster that dominates your thoughts and don't you think that was mark what does what is paul saying about me what did you really think about me but this young man made a decision that he was not going to quit on god he was not going to quit on the church and he was not going to quit on ministry even though someone so influential in his life a leader in the church had brought about this type of wound this type of offense he never quit he never gave up he never he never stopped he said i i may not have paul's respect today but i'm going to keep living for jesus i'm going to keep serving jesus i'm going to keep pursuing jesus do you know that the very first gospel that was written is the gospel of mark he's the one god raised up first to record the life of jesus it's the first gospel that was penned in this new testament the gospel of mark but look look what happens right before his death in second timothy chapter four right before his death this this is is in all likelihood the last letter written by paul that we have record of before his execution and look at what he writes in second timothy chapter 4 and verse 11 all these years later all these many years later he said only luke is with me get mark and bring him with you for he is useful the king james says profitable to me for ministry 30 years ago he wasn't profitable 30 years ago he wasn't useful 30 years ago paul wanted nothing to do with him but mark never gave up on god he never gave up on the church and he never gave up on ministry and even if you get wounded by a leader you've got to say i'm going to get back up again and whatever lessons i've got to learn i'm going to keep my heart right i'm going to keep my focus right and that very leader that looked down on him at the end of his life said send me mark he's useful he's anointed the hand of god is with him that's who i want with me that's what i want with me on this journey bring mark bring the one that even when he was offended he didn't allow that offense to destroy him but he learned how to move beyond and to overcome so you can be hurt by those closest to you you can even be hurt by leadership but what do you do when god is the one who disappoints you right what do you do when god doesn't answer that prayer and god doesn't heal and god doesn't come through the way you thought he was going to come through what do you do oh we love the testimonies right and that's what we do we highlight the victories we highlight the the testimonies but all of us have lived well most of us have lived long enough in this in this faith in this journey that disappointments have hit us when god didn't do what we thought he was going to do we had such faith we prayed with such faith we we just knew we just knew it was going to happen but it didn't happen and i have encountered people who were offended but not at a brother or sister in the church and they're offended not at leadership they're offended at god they're angry and they're bitter with god because god didn't do what they thought he was supposed to do god didn't do it the way that they wanted him to do it and they could look over and there's another family in the church and they got their miracle and they got their blessing and they got their answer but but disappointment instead came their way and they're angry and they're bitter and and something in them is broken and it's it's directed at god and and what do you do when god is the one who disappoints you i can't imagine losing a child i can't imagine losing all of my children and that's what happened to job right beyond the wealth beyond the possessions beyond even the health his children his children i i just i all of them and look what he said in job 13 15. you know job still maintained i've done nothing wrong i've done nothing wrong oh you must have been a great sinner job you must have failed god in the worst way that's the only way all this bad stuff would happen to you and job said i have done nothing wrong i've never cursed god secretly i've never blasphemed god i love god i i i know and his friends were saying oh job you know you know you did things wrong and that's why this judgment is fall upon you and job said i'm i'm telling you i haven't but then he makes this statement in verse 15 of job 13 though he slay me yet will i trust him job said i i can't explain why this has happened to me i can't explain in in the the story of my life that god is writing why this hurt and this disappointment and this pain has come my way i can't explain this doesn't make sense and then this is not how i would write the story but then he makes this statement though he slay me yet will i trust him i love to read i love to read it it's so enjoyable and my life has been so crazy busy i haven't had a chance to read just something enjoyable in a really long time and uh and just forgive me for saying this but i don't think theology books are enjoyable so i read them because i have to but you know i'm talking about just just a good fun story to read and and you know what i like i like it when the good guy wins at the end right that's why i used to love as a young person reading louis lemours because the good guy is always going to win at the end and if you don't know what a louis lamour western novel is man you've missed out on life but i love those stories but you know what i found out that before you get to the happy ending there's all this junk in the middle of the book that makes the happy ending so enjoyable and it dawned on me if i were to read a book and nothing ever went wrong for the hero nothing ever went wrong for the good guy if it was just all easy sailing and everything was good and every chapter was positive that would actually be a boring book what makes the story so compelling is the heartache is the disappointment is the hurt and you're wondering how is he going to get out of this how is he going to find his way through how's the hero going to make it out of this and sometimes the hero's left for dead and it seems like there is no hope but you keep turning the page and as you turn to the page eventually the story turns and you finally get to the happy ending and job said this is not the end of my story though he's slaying me today i'm still going to trust him and you've got to turn the page because i promise you if you'll hold on to god god is faithful and god knows how to see you through even if you're disappointed today and you read the end of job's story what a beautiful restoration but job is never going to walk in that victory if he doesn't say what he said in that verse though he slay me yet will i trust him if he didn't express that type of trust in god in the midst of his hurt he never gets to the happy ending of his story what's the title of this this lesson this message passing your test you have got to pass the test of offense if you've been wounded by a brother sister in the church you've got to pass that test if you've been wounded by leadership you've got to pass that test if you have been disappointed by god you've got to pass that test and say though he slay me though he never answered another prayer though he doesn't come through the way that i i'm wanting him to though nothing ever breaks my way again though he slay me yet will i trust him we've got to pass that test you also have to pass the test of blessing what are you talking about brother tech lamarria and the great apostle to ethiopia made a statement that he was amazed at how american christians could live for god he was amazed that with all of our prosperity and all of our blessing that we would still love god and live for god because in his mind it is easier to live for god when you have need than when you have abundance and he's so amazed that american christians can live for god with all that they have i remember when i heard that i was like man that's wow never thought about it that way before but then i remember and i have several stories i could share but i remember there was i guess i was involved in this one that's why it really stands out to me there was a lady in this church you know i want to be careful cause i'm not trying to be you know judgmental but just working as a pastor you become aware of people's commitment levels and her commitment level was always just just not not really committed at all right but things brother haney would teach things that our church would stand for just not very important at all and and lifestyle and conduct and behavior just would never really line up but would still be here most sundays right but just which is kind of around the church and and and yeah okay you know but but never really bought into it never really bought in and then i watched her life fall apart i watched her life fall apart marriage and and family dynamics and and i just i just watched finances i watched her life fall apart and the most amazing thing happened she became such a committed sold out on fire member of this church just i mean and everything brother haney taught from that point forward i mean it was she wasn't just meeting the bar she was exceeding i mean she was she was going to live the life just very very committed and i learned from that that storms can be very beneficial in helping us live for god i don't like the storm jonah did not like the storm but jonah never would have got back in the will of god without the storm god sent the storm the devil didn't send the storm god sent the storm and the storm was saying jonah i love you and i have plans for you and i know you're running from my will but because i love you and because i have plans for you and because i'm not giving up on you out of my mercy i'm gonna send a storm now in that moment jonah didn't think it was god's mercy but it was absolutely god's mercy for the storm to come and for him to end up in the sea and then they end up swallowed by that great fish and all of that and his greatest revival came after that storm after that difficulty so none of us we don't really like the storm but i've i've learned the storms wow god can use storms to get us back on track but here's the danger here's the danger some of us can't live for god unless we're in the storm because the moment you get blessed the moment you get a little bit of prosperity the moment things go your way the god that brought you through the storm you forget about him you forget about being faithful to church you forget about paying your tithes you forget about supporting the work of god you forget about all those things that you were doing when you're in the midst of the storm and the prayers you were praying and the commitments you were making it's amazing how all of a sudden a little bit of blessing comes your way the storm eases up and the sun begins to shine and you forget about all those commitments you made and those prayers you prayed in that time of storm and see moses warned israel he said last in deuteronomy 8 12 deuteronomy 8 12. lest when you have eaten in are full and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold are multiplied and all that you have is multiplied when your heart is lifted up and you forget the lord your god who brought you out of the land of egypt from the house of bondage you have to pass the test of offense but you also have to pass the test of blessing you and i need to show god that we could live for him even as he blesses us even as he prospers us i don't want to convince god that i need a storm to be faithful to him i don't want to convince god that the only way eli lopez is going to pray the only way eli lopez is going to be sold out is if my life has fallen apart and so god loves me so much god loves you so much he will keep you in the storm if that's what it takes to get you to heaven but i don't want god to think that i need the storm every day of my life or i won't pray or i won't go to church or i won't live for him but i want to show god i won't forget you even in blessing even in prosperity even in goodness even when the sun is shining i will never forget you but i will serve you i will follow you i will live for you i will be committed to you and we have to pass the test of blessing remember god tests the heart and we also have to pass the test of this hour ephesians 5 15 says see that you walk circumspectly that means carefully or with wisdom not as fools but as wise redeeming the time because the days are evil therefore do not be unwise but understand what the will of the lord is i want to read that again from from the new living translation and uh this is what it says so be careful how you live don't live like fools but like those who are wise verse 16 make the most of every opportunity make the most of every opportunity in these evil days you know the covet shut down was an opportunity for us to get more spiritual we had more time to pray we had days off work for fasting and consecration we had an opportunity to set things aside and to get focused on god in a way that that was unprecedented we had an opportunity to draw nearer to god when the whole world was shut down and instead people were binging all their favorite shows online spending hours on social media chasing down political conspiracies on this new site and that new site and all the time there was a god saying i've given my church an opportunity to draw close to me the whole world was shut down how many free hours did you you didn't know what to do with yourself how many free hours were there how many free days were there how much free time was there was an opportunity for the people of god to draw near to god and some took advantage of it and they're in a better place spiritually today than they were before this coveted mess ever started and there's others of us that we're more distracted than we've ever been we failed the test of ephesians 5. so be careful how you live don't live like fools but like those who are wise make the most of every opportunity in these evil days verse 17 says don't act thoughtlessly but understand what the lord wants you to do we could talk about and i love our pastor i love our pastor and last week just a message of unity for the church what an opportunity in the midst of all this political strife and in the midst of all this social unrest you know what it's an opportunity for the world to see what did jesus say by this all men will know that you are my disciples by the love you have one toward another if someone were to walk in here today you know what i love is they see everything they see a little bit of everything i think this is what heaven is going to look like i don't think that there's different segments of heaven you heard me say this before there's not a white heaven or a black heaven or mexican heaven or an asian heaven there's going to be a heaven for the people of god and i love that that's what we have here what an opportunity for us to walk in love while the world is tearing itself apart we get to come together and be the family of god like never before and have unity and have love and have care for one another how beautiful is this what an opportunity and so i've got to pass the task of the the test of offense and i've got to pass the test of blessing but i also have to pass the test of this hour so be careful how you live don't live like fools but like those who are wise make the most of every opportunity in these evil days don't act thoughtlessly but understand what the lord wants you to do what does god want you to do in this hour what is he expecting you to do how many bible studies need to be taught hey you know what we still need to be evangelizing stockton we still need to be inviting people to church we still need to be praying people through to the holy ghost we still need to be baptizing people in the name of jesus christ for the remission of their sins the mission of the church doesn't change and some of us have absolutely lost sight of the mission but paul said take advantage of every opportunity people are looking for something that is stable in an unstable world while everything is shifting and moving the church can be a rock saying we know the answer we know the way we know who can help you his name is jesus we have to pass the test of this hour 4 13 says now when the devil had ended every temptation he departed from him talking about the temptation of jesus he departed from him until an opportune time and that's just like that nasty old devil if you could put that up please again thank you he waits for an opportune time to show up on your front door of your house he waits until it's just the right time he looks for that opportune time and that's why some of you have been under such spiritual attack these past few weeks and months because it's been an opportune time there has been an offense there has been a wound and you're working through that hurt and then the devil shows up that church doesn't love you brother so-and-so doesn't love you god if he loved you he would have healed your loved one if he loved you he'd answer your prayer by now and the devil shows up at an opportune time as you're working through that wound that offense let me talk to you real quick just about bitterness and how the devil would love for bitterness to get into your heart in hebrews 12 15 it says this looking carefully anyone fall short of the grace of god that verse that just scares me alone that god's grace could be poured out in my life but because i have the wrong response i could fall short of god's grace lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble and by this many become defiled you know why the devil wants you to get bitter because it won't just stay with you but your bitterness will spread like seeds that get blown in the wind your bitterness will spread throughout this congregation and all of you can think of people in this church that got bitter but that bitterness did not start and end with them it may have started with them but it ended their family their children their close friends it's amazing how that bitterness will spread out and the writer of hebrew said you need to make sure that that if there's any root of bitterness you've got to get it out and those of us that have gardens you know what you've got to do when the weeds show up you got to get those weeds out by the root otherwise they'll just grow back and if there's any bitterness that's starting to develop in your heart you've got to get it out by the root because it won't just affect you it's going to affect your marriage it's going to affect your children it's going to affect everyone around you and i can't allow anything in my heart that would cause my children to be lost i can't allow anything in my heart that would allow those closest to me to lose their way but that's what the devil does he shows up at an opportune time you're going through a time of wounding and he shows up saying if they really loved you they wouldn't have done that to you they wouldn't have said that to you if that church really cared for you they where are they they don't even know what's going on in your life that big old church i thought they cared about you and he'll knock and he'll speak those lies because he shows up at an opportune time in that time of wounding that time of hurt when god hasn't answered the prayers when god hasn't yet come through the devil will show up and cause you to question your faith he will also show up in the time of blessing you don't need to go to church today what a great day for to take the boat out on the lake oh church will be there next week and if you miss next week it'll still be there after that well one day friend the church is not going to be here one day a trumpet's going to sound and that's going to be the day you're going to try to get to church and you're going to be one day too late when the doors are open you need to be at church and you've heard me say this before if you can go to the grocery store and buy groceries then you can come to the house of god and be fed the word of god don't give me these excuses on why you can't come to church you need to come to church you need to be in the house of god you need to worship with god's people don't give me these excuses but the devil will show up in the time of of prosperity and blessing when everything's going right and and oh you know i've worked so hard this week i'm just you know god will understand i'm just going to sleep in on sunday no no no god doesn't understand because his word says do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together come to church tired and take a nap on sunday afternoon but you get to church and you raise your hands and you'll be strengthened by the power of god and i'm gonna go here it's amazing when someone will only have ten dollars to their name and the preacher says pay your tithes they will over that one dollar bill and they will have no problem with it but you give someone a million dollars and you say okay time to pay your tithes and that hundred thousand dollars all of a sudden no no no i can't do that and the devil will say see that church is just money hungry that's all they want is your money all they care about your money you don't have to you don't have to obey that word does it really work wasn't it your hard work that brought you these blessings anyways and the devil will show up at an opportune time in the midst of blessing and then the devil will absolutely show up in a time like this and if we're not careful the spirit of this world will get in the church and we'll start talking and acting and thinking like the world i understand right we all understand right we've covid it's real because i i have friends and loved ones i have friends who have lost loved ones to this i'm not i'm never i wouldn't i would be so i mean i'm trying to think of the word to use the adjective to use how i would be if i were to get up here and act like covet wasn't real i have friends people care about that they have literally lost their parents because of this okay so we're not acting like this thing's not real but we never the church never ever ever ever ever no matter what's going on the church never is to respond with fear to whatever's happening out there because the bible says god has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind we are never to respond with fear we're the church [Applause] but the devil will show up at a time like this and feel people with fear so they hide in their cave and they stop living their lives i just think about how many bible studies were not taught this past year how many bus routes were not run on sunday morning how many small groups didn't happen we can't allow fear to grip us that it paralyzes the church and we dare not we dare i'm not the pastor and if i overstep my place brother haney knows he can yank my chain every day and and i never want to overstep my place and and and and i know what i'm about to say i'm treading into areas that that that i i think the pastor is supposed to address these things and he did last week and and but i want to say this we are never to divide ourselves in this church by race or by the color of our skin or by our ethnicity or our background or even our education status none of that we don't divide ourselves by how much money we have or don't have we are one church we are one family we are one body serving one lord and we've got one mission and there's one heaven we're going to and we need to come together in unity like never before we dare not allow the spirit of the age to get in this church and to tear us apart but the devil shows up at an opportune time so the title is passing your test which one of these applies to you is it a test of offense a test of wounding is it a test of prosperity is a test of blessing or is it a test the test of this hour and of this moment which test are you facing today because remember with god with god it's passer fail with god it's pastor fail and i want to pass this test i want to get through this test i don't want to repeat this lesson because i just want to go and have revival i just want to be the church that god has called us to be i just want to do what god has called us to do and whatever whatever whatever test you and i may be taking today it's either pass or fail with god and i want to do everything i can to pass this test everyone said amen so here here's what we're going to do i want them praise team the music team to come back and uh how many are ready to turn the tables on the devil and to make him regret that he ever showed up in your life in the first place i appreciate all 10 of you that are excited this morning let me say that again how many of you are ready to make the devil regret that he ever messed with you in the first place devil how dare you mess with my kids how dare you mess with my marriage how dare you mess with my church how dare you mess with my finances how dare you mess with with my health how dare you mess with those who are close to me devil i'm gonna regret you're gonna wish you never messed around with christian life center you're gonna wish you never showed up on the front doorstep of my house you're gonna wish you never knew my name because if you thought i was i was after you before you ain't seen nothing yet i'm about to get more on fire than i've ever been i'm about to get more sold out than i've ever been i'm about to become more of a worshiper than i've ever been i'm about to become more of a prayer lawyer than i've ever been i'm about to get more on fire for god than i've ever been i'm ready i'm ready to turn this around [Applause] i like that organ brother fitzpatrick amen make that organ even louder i like that it feels like church in here i need somebody who loves jesus with all of his or her heart just to do a laugh around this building right now i just need you to get so excited come [Music] [Applause] on [Music] now here's the here's the response brother lopez it's just emotion you're absolutely right it's emotion what do you think you're feeling when you're down and depressed what do you think you're feeling when you're hiding in the cave you are feasting on negative emotions but we're about to turn that around because the bible says it's joy unspeakable and full of glory i want the joy i want the victory i want to rejoice in god i want the goodness of god i want the blessing of god so you better believe it's emotion i'm going to rejoice the joy of the lord is your strength the joy of the lord is your strength [Music] brother lopez come on that's not fair you gave us this bible study and you're showing us tests with f's and a pluses and now you're expecting us to get excited absolutely i am because you're about to pass this test oh i see somebody i see your report card i see your report card i said i see your report card you're coming through and you're coming through on top you're coming through [Music] that's it i see your report card [Music] thank you jesus thank you [Music] let me jesus microphones for a few moments i want to make sure you can hear me good genesis 50 and verse 20. [Music] you see god is the one who has the final say and the devil thought he could lock up god's church and lock down a move of god but we're going to have the greatest revival that stockton has ever had man i just wish somebody would believe it this morning i'm telling you i'm so excited for what god is about to do in our midst youth camp is going to be like no other u-camp we've ever had before i'm excited about a summer of revival like we've never had before i'll let the gift of faith be in this church today genesis chapter 50 and verse 20. oh devil but as for you you meant evil against me but god the one who has the final say the one who is still on the throne he cuts [Music] foreign [Music] if you've got a shout why don't you let it out right now there's victory in the house of god [Music] really this is a victorious church you are a victorious man of god you are a victorious woman of god your greatest days of ministry are still before you this is a victorious jerk [Music] [Applause] there is such a release of faith in this building right now if you've been fighting if you've been pressing if you've been under attack i want you to stand to your feet right now and i want you to fight back for a few moments i want you to press through and grab a hold of your miracles and grab a hold of your promise right now it's in the house of god there is faith there is faith there is faith in [Music] operation [Applause] [Music] someone go into warfare prayer for a few moments and you know how to do that get beyond yourself hey it's memorial day this is a day where we honor our veterans this is the day where we honor our warriors why don't some of us get a warrior spirit about you you go get your miracle you go get your promise right now you go get the restoration of your anointing right now he allah [Music] [Applause] [Music] come on rescue your marriage right now you go back and get it your marriage is not over your marriage is not over you go back and get it devil you get out of here quit causing division in this home [Music] hey i see some people praying through that i ain't seen him pray in a little while so we're going to keep this going we're having a move of god today i said we're having a move of god today and we're not about to shut it down we're going to walk in victory really [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] oh [Applause] [Applause] [Music] just keep praying the holy ghost is let me know that there's some of you you're so close you are so close to your breakthrough you just got to take the breaks off today and cross that line and say jesus i'm moving forward i'm going to have the victory that you want me to have i'm going to be the man of god that you've called me to be i'm going to be the woman of prayer that you called me to be i'm coming out of my cave today and i'm going to walk back in my anointing i'm going to walk back in my ministry i'm gonna walk back and claim my promise today it belongs to me it belongs to my church it belongs to my family i claim this blessing i want family units praying with one another if you're in the altar stay down here but husbands and wives would you reach over some you've already been doing that but if your children are around you i want you to lay hands on them right now we're going to have revival in every home at christian life center and it starts right here it starts right now we're going to see every prodigal come back home we claim it we proclaim it in jesus name in jesus name in jesus name in jesus name in jesus name [Applause] [Music] hallelujah [Music] hallelujah hallelujah [Music] [Applause] hallelujah hallelujah [Music] what a mighty god we serve what a mighty god we serve angels bow before him heaven and earth adore him what a mighty god we serve oh what a [Music] heaven and earth adore angel's bow angels bow before him heaven and earth adore him what a mighty god we serve one almighty god [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Applause] oh [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is heaven and earth heaven and earth and earth [Music] [Music] look what the lord has done he healed my body [Music] [Applause] look what the lord has done my body [Music] [Applause] each day he's just the same look what the lord has done [Music] [Music] is i'm gonna come help has me [Music] [Applause] [Music] look what the lord has the lord [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] is

Channel: Christian Life Center

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Id: iW-DcfMqjgw

Length: 77min 41sec (4661 seconds)

Published: Sun May 30 2021