Prestonwood.Live Sunday Service 9/12/21

[Music] oh you are worthy [Music] [Music] you are worthy [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] be glorified [Music] [Applause] the songs of the people rise [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Applause] [Music] ladies it's almost here fall bible study kicks off september 14th and 15th and there is a place for you check out our website to learn about classes that we offer all through the week and then we as a women's ministry are studying together paul's letters a nine week study on philippians colossians and philemon you don't want to miss it we hope to see you soon [Music] [Music] nations [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] forever [Music] [Applause] [Music] there is just [Music] [Applause] [Music] worthy of it all every breath and every song [Music] it's just one [Music] [Music] [Music] i am trusting in your [Music] i am confident to know you'll bring me through the questions fill my mind or broken [Music] surrounds me i will call upon the name above all names [Music] there is courage for the fearing shelter for the week peace and time of chaos hope and disbelief i rest and hear a voice inside me say be not afraid [Music] trust me [Music] [Music] you're showing me the [Music] your crazy [Music] [Music] the pain [Music] [Music] disbelief [Music] be not afraid [Music] me [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] well good morning everybody my name is rick briscoe i'm one of the worship pastors here at prestonwood the preston wood family is gathered for worship right now and we are so glad you are part of our worship experience today if you don't mind if you just take a moment and put your name and where you're watching from in the comments section we always love to know that you're here you're watching and particularly where you're watching from more than that though if you have a special need in your life or personal uh stress that you would like our online pastor to connect with you about if you'll just drop that in there as well our online pastor is standing by and ready to connect with you all throughout the service so please give us the privilege of the church to connect with your heart today well joel rosenberg is in the pulpit on this incredible weekend a weekend of remembrance uh on so many levels our choir our orchestra is ready and prepared to bring a powerful praise but as we think about remembering i think it's important that we remember that there's hope in jesus and that's why we're here to celebrate so welcome to worship he gives us hope come on let's worship together all right well good morning church family how's everybody doing this morning all right well welcome to service as you can see we are starting service off with a very special occasion because behind us we have our first grade boys and girls and let me tell you i just walked them over here and they are really excited to be here this morning so would you give them a warm welcome so today marks the day uh that these first grade boys and girls will begin coming to family worship here in the big room and i know they are excited to be here and i know we're excited to invite them in and so today in light of this special occasion we have presented a brand new bible to each and every one of these first grade boys and girls and boys and girls we want you to know that your church loves you and we have given you this brand new bible so that you will do what the scripture says and you will begin hiding god's word in your heart and you know how you do that you do that by reading it you do it by studying it you do it by memorizing verses out of it and you do it by obeying what it has to say and we want you to know that your church loves you and we're going to do everything we can to help you in your walk with jesus and not only help you but for all the moms and dads in the room we want you to know that your church is committed to locking arms with you and helping you carry out the call that god has placed on your life to be the primary disciple maker in your home and as a parent of three i'm so grateful for our church so grateful she's sitting right up here miss diana pendley in the kids ministry can we give it up for miss diana in the kids ministry so grateful for her and let me just say this before i pray over you kids and have you do two more things if you want to love on these kids if you want to love on miss diana and her kids team and be a part of all that they do we're still looking for nearly a hundred volunteers each and every week for the kids ministry and so would you show your love to the kids ministry by joining her team and helping her as she ministers to the next generation all right boys and girls i'm going to have you do two more things for me here's what i want you to do i want you to take that copy of god's word and i want you to put it right here on your heart can you put it right here on your heart for me like we said earlier we want you to hide god's word in your heart but boys and girls i want you to think about this the god of the universe who created the world and everything in it and who created you loved you so much that not only did he give his one and only son so that you could be saved but he also gave you his word and he gave it to you so you could know him so that you could love him and so that you could please him and so we want you to hide his word in your heart and here's next boys and girls here's what i want you to do i want you to take that bible and i want you to hold it straight out just like this as far as you can straight out in front of you as far as you can because even though we want you to hide god's word in your heart guess what we don't want you to keep it to yourself no we want you to share god's word with as many people as possible we want you to share the good news of jesus with as many people as possible because god's word says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of god so boys and girls let's bow our heads let's bow our heads across this room and let's pray heavenly father first and foremost we thank you for who you are god we thank you for what you've done through your son jesus god we thank you for the holy spirit that comes and dwells within us when we make a profession of faith and call jesus our savior and lord god thank you for these sweet boys and girls and god i pray as a church that we would come alongside them now that we would pass our faith on to the next generation god that you would use your word which is mighty and powerful to move in the hearts and in the lives of these young people father we love you we thank you for your church and it's in jesus name we pray and everybody said amen give it up one more time for these first grade boys and girls all right boys and girls y'all go find your parents [Music] you see my victory [Music] when all i see is a mountain you see a mountain move and as i walk through the shadows your love surrounds me [Music] there's nothing to fear now for i am [Applause] [Music] battle belongs to you [Music] and if you are born who can be against me thank you lord for jesus there's none impossible for you all right is [Music] [Music] oh [Music] nothing [Music] nothing can stand against the power of our god is [Applause] oh [Applause] oh [Applause] [Music] john 14 6 jesus says i am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except we put our hope in you today jesus we praise your holy name [Music] sing this together in christ alone my hope is found he is my life my strength my song this cornerstone this solid ground firm through the field says drop and saw what heights of love what deaths of peace when fears are still when striving cease my comforter my all in all here in the love of christ i stand lifted up in christ alone who took on flesh fullness of god in heaven this gift of love and righteousness scorned by the ones he came today [Applause] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] i live in here [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the light of the world by darkness [Music] glorious [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] oh this is no [Music] is [Applause] [Music] yes yes we stand in christ and in christ alone and he is our strength our life and the love of our hearts welcome today to preston wood we're so glad that you have joined us my goodness just look around you i was telling joel rosenberg that we're about 95 back well it's looking 110 back today so thank you for being here and so grateful for each one of you and for all of you who are online around the world wherever you are right here in our nation uh we pray that you will experience the presence of god in your place even as we are experiencing his his power and his grace in this place today if you are a guest uh please know how happy we are to have you and uh in fact you can go outside in the atrium right after the service and pick up one of my books this month is a time of prayer and we have our book on prayer which is lord hear our cry that we would give to every person who wants one you can also go to 747 7478 and text in pray and we'll send you a digital copy and we're praying together congregationally throughout the month of september and asking god to renew our hearts our spirit our nation and our world in the face of turbulence all around us today is september the 12th the day after the 20th remember remembrance of 911 2001. i'm sure you saw many of the images the remembrances the reflections upon that fateful day in history when we were attacked and the response of america which was to unite and we still remember those front-line workers firefighters police ultimately our military and those who perished in the buildings in the field in pennsylvania at the pentagon all who died and those who grieve from that day to this day we remember each one reminds us of the mortality of life and the brevity of life doesn't it and of our need to seek the god of heaven one of my favorite images that rose from that that time in our history was what you see on the screen and that cross that someone erected in the midst of the rubble and the debris and all of the death that surrounded it but to lift up the cross and towering over the wrecks of time the hymn writer said is the glorious cross of our lord jesus christ this is our message of hope it is our message of peace in the lord jesus christ so today we're going to have a time of prayer and we're going to begin it with god bless america sung by hebron road and when you listen to the words of god bless america realize this is a prayer it is our prayer and it is our hope that god will bless america god bless america land that i love stand beside her and guide her through the night with the light from above from the mountains to the prairies to the oceans wiped with home god bless america my home sweet home from the mountains to the prairies to the oceans wide america my home sweet america my home sweet oh now would you bow with me in prayer our father and our god you are our refuge and strength our ever-present help in times of trouble our protector our provider our savior and our friend and in these times times so often fill with chaos and confusion confusion and chaos all around us you are the peace our peace in the midst of the storm and while the future is so uncertain you give us the blessed hope and the unfailing promises of your word which is truth you are the light of the world defeating the darkness giving us strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow make us one nation under god again united in truth your truth o lord and your righteousness deliver us from evil and the lies that divide us and from the devils that would destroy us may we rise up to the challenges of our generation and stand up to every enemy both within and without that attacks our freedom and our faith let the church be the church let the people rejoice help us to be filled with your spirit sharing mercy and compassion with broken people in need of your salvation and may we love our neighbor may we love everyone regardless of race or color or creed we pray for our children and our children's children let us live the legacy that we have been given in christ and pass our faith on from generation to generation may we turn from our sins which are many and seek your face and turn from our wicked ways and find forgiveness and peace and life and lord that you would heal our land make us one nation under god again make america beautiful again bless america again and again and again by your grace and in the strong and powerful and saving name of our lord jesus christ amen and amen please be seated [Music] [Applause] oh you are seated on the throne forever [Music] [Music] us [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] your baby [Music] me [Music] we cast our trophies come to our desires in your holy fire the only worthy desperate for revival we cast our [Applause] [Music] is is [Music] is [Applause] uh [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] me [Applause] do your name be the glory [Music] [Applause] um [Music] [Applause] [Applause] thank you please be seated not to us that's one of the cuts on our latest album the prestonwood choir and worship team and you can download that and make it a part of your day we encourage you to listen to great music and our music is great music because it exalts the lord our savior and our god joel rosenberg is not a stranger to prestonwood he has spoken here preached here on occasions before today but in the plan in the providence of providences of god we were able to connect with joel several months ago and invite him to be here on this day the day after september the 11th and the 20th year remembrance and then with everything that's going on in the world again the foment in the middle east and what happened in afghanistan and what is continuing to happen in that country how vital this message you're about to hear truly is today joel rosenberg i was just thinking he's sort of like that guy on tv the most interesting man in the world his product is a lot better than that guy by the way but because his message is the word of god and he's written numerous books fiction as well as nonfiction if you're not reading joel rosenberg then i suggest you start today and he has a brand new book which is called enemies and allies which is incredible he will be signing this book between services after this service after the second service and you can go by the bookstore pick a copy up and he'll be glad to sign that for you but we've asked him to come today and to bring a message and the title that he has chosen is israel iran and the future of the middle east you're going to be encouraged you're going to be equipped you're going to be blessed and you're going to be strengthened in your faith because joel rosenberg is here today joel we're grateful for you and look forward to your message [Music] well good morning it's truly an honor to be with you and especially at a weekend that we've are trying to process still all that we've been through as a nation as a world um i was singing god bless america and uh and yet i'm a dual u.s israeli citizen seven years ago my wife and i and our four sons moved from the washington dc area where we'd live for 24 years and we settled in israel we live in jerusalem two of our four sons have served in the israeli military and it's been a challenge we live in the epicenter of the world we live in a place that people want to annihilate us want to destroy us but remember sorry to say this but remember that israel in the in the theology and the eschatology and the ideology of our enemies radical islamism not all of islam but this subset of radical islamists israel is only the little satan in their view they want to wipe us out there's no question about it but they're coming for the united states israel is considered the great satan and so israel's the is israel is at the tip of the spear now it may seem a little odd to you why would you want to be a citizen of both of these countries you're like i have a target on your front and you've got a target on your back isn't one enough probably but this was the will of god and you know we have a son named jonah we don't want you name your kid jonah you better not go the other direction when god tells you go do something open your bibles if you would to luke chapter 12 luke chapter 12. i'm getting choked up already luke chapter 12 we're going to look at verses 54 through 56 as we process the horror that we went through 20 years ago and many of the horrors that we've been through since and we look ahead at the hope of christ the hope of the church and is there any hope for the middle east and the united states as we think about israel iran and the future of the arab world luke chapter 12 beginning in verse 54. and jesus was saying to the crowd when you see a cloud rising in the west immediately you say a shower is coming and so it turns out and when you see a south wind blowing you say hey it'll be a hot day and it turns out that way you hypocrites jesus says you know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky but why do you not analyze this present time how many of us are guilty of spending more time watching the weather channel than studying the scriptures especially when a monster storm is coming like you know we we process you know the weather she's saying yeah okay good but are you analyzing the moment that you're living in where were you on 9 11 where were you i remember where i was i was living with my wife and boys in washington dc in a townhouse 15 minutes away from washington dulles airport at that moment as i was working on finishing my first book i'd ever written my first novel flight 77 was being hijacked turned around flown over our house and into the pentagon i i didn't have tv or radio on that morning i was finishing a book on a deadline my first my first book was called the last jihad i began writing it in january of 2001. the first pages of the last jihad puts the reader inside the cockpit of a jet plane hijacked by radical islamist terrorists it's flying a kamikaze attack mission into an american city and that fictional opener leads my fictional american president to declare war not only on radical islamist terror cells throughout the middle east but he decides to remove saddam hussein from power in iraq that was the story i was finishing on september 11th 2001. i people of you know u.s news and world report ended up calling me a modern nostradamus people have called me a prophet a psychic it's not true if i was being prophetic the book would have been out already okay i mean just to be honest i was not trying to predict this is going to happen but based on everything that i had learned and studied including a brief but important time in my life where i was working for then former prime minister of israel benjamin netanyahu everything i had learned everything i saw from scripture and from the geopolitical realities and the economic realities of the middle east told me that if we did not stop the forces of radical islamism in the middle east they were coming here now the problem is most people don't want to study about islamic history or radical islamist terrorism or you know even israeli history and other these you know people like you know i'd rather watch netflix i get it so i decided that rather than writing my first book as a nonfiction book it would be a novel people want to be entertained more than they want to be educated okay we can be upset with that or we can use entertainment to try to accomplish what we what we need which is to help people understand something they may not understand on their own and that's what i was trying to do with that thriller and laced the gospel throughout the novel now over the last 20 years i've continued to try to help people uh leaders and lay people understand the times analyze where we are and understand what has got what is our response biblically to the moment that we're in when you write your first novel you just hope that your mother can find it at a bookstore within a hundred miles of her house okay uh now the first novel became a number one bestseller it spent 11 weeks on the new york times bestseller list and i was invited on 160 radio and television shows in in a two-month window people asking how could you have known of course i didn't know my attack city was denver of course that's where my parents lived they didn't take it personally fortunately but i it wasn't new york or washington my uh the the terrorists in my book didn't capture a commercial or hijack a commercial uh airliner it was a business jet a gulf stream four there were differences uh but the but the plot was was chillingly you know close to reality and then the idea that it was going to lead to a war with iraq when the book came out it was still six months away uh from a war in iraq to remove saddam the whole nation the whole world was debating is that a good idea is that a bad idea but those 160 radio and tv and other types of interviews opened a door for me a whole new life for me which was to speak about what is it that we face who is our enemy what is radical islamism and how do we as americans respond how do we build relationships alliances with israel and our arab allies who face these threats even ahead of us more muslims have died in these wars then jews are christians we're in it together and i also try to help people understand how should the church respond and i one of the things i've i've pointed out as i as i think about this this command of jesus to analyze these times right is that most people don't have the time to do it and so one of the questions is how can i be a trusted resource for the church here in the united states and in israel and around the world um how can i be a trust resource how can i train and equip and mobilize and partner with others who can be trusted resources right the body of christ has many different roles and many different functions and we all can't be you know daily or weekly expositors and and gospel preachers like jack that's a that's a role praise god there are many uh uh like him in fact i keep seeing that everybody here seems to have their first name jack or mike i'm not sure if that's everybody on staff but the ones that i've met um it's nice to you guys to invite me when it's my name isn't either jack or mike but anyway so how do we train and equip there are people who whose job are behind the scenes there's job people who's who's whose calling is in front of the scenes people to give people to serve and so my calling in part is to train and equip and mobilize and help people in four areas i because the thing about 911 what was so terrifying was yes that how is it possible these people did this to us how is that even possible how did we miss it but also on a day like september 12th the question was is there going to be a september 12th and 13th and the 14th and the 15th meaning are are the attacks going to keep coming and um there was a sense of helplessness there was a sense of shock anger but also what i what i kept experiencing with so many people was a sense of helplessness like what are we supposed to do give me an action plan and many thank god they they heard the call and they they signed up to serve in the military and we want to thank every man and woman who has served to protect us we haven't had an attack successful attack in 20 years on american soil praise god not certainly nothing like 9 11. and and then many have served in so many other ways but praise god also others said i'm going to be a first responder you know fire police medical but also a first responder for christ like when when the when the when a building is burning when a nation is burning who's going into that nation to take the gospel and to try to save lives and save souls praise god for the the missions movement that has come out of 9 11 as we have processed our anger against islam and the arab world and said it's not them there's a spirit there's a there's a there's a demonic force that's trying to hijack people in that faith they're wrong i mean they don't understand who christ is but that's one issue but then there's people within that who are trying to use that religion use violence to extend their political and religious views how do we go reach them with the transformative message of the gospel right the apostle paul didn't start off as the apostle paul he started off as saul who is what a religious terrorist was he not an extremist who believed that his mission was to go arrest torture and execute people who love jesus that was saul's job that is a religious terrorist and god is in the business of transforming people like this i have traveled all over the world all over the muslim world from morocco in the west to afghanistan in the east and i'm telling you i'm here today not just because of jack's invitation but because i didn't die at the hands of people who used to be terrorists and christ had transformed them i've interviewed them i've talked to them i've listened to their stories and i'm telling you christ is on the move yes satan is on the move in the middle east but so is christ and so is his spirit and our question is to try to analyze what's going on the good the bad and the ugly and i encourage people to to do that to to not be seen as a hypocrite not be seen by christ as somebody who yeah you're all interested in your own life what's the weather going to be like where you're going to go tomorrow how's your your business your family that's all important but christ is saying you have to understand more look up see the world the way god sees it and i encourage people to do that through three lenses geopolitics yes and by that i don't mean partisan politics i'm saying geopolitics what's going on in the world what's happening what does it mean what does it mean to me what does it mean to my family what does it mean to my congregation what is happening and what does it mean in the world of geopolitics also economics right we have to understand what's happening in our economy in the global economy in the middle east economy what's driving these forces some are geopolitical dynamics some are economic dynamics but to just look at the world through those lenses is to be someone who is not seeing in three dimensions right i'm concerned about world leaders political leaders uh even church leaders who are only looking at the world through geopolitical and economic lenses they're important don't get me wrong but you cannot see in three dimensions you cannot see the totality of what's happening and what it means unless you're looking through the third lens also the lens of the bible the lens of scripture because then you know it's like you're at the at the eye doctor and like click click click click click click how does that look uh yeah better but but what we need over that is another lens a biblical lens because it's the bible that teaches us about the concept of evil about the presence of evil it's the bible who teaches us what evil is and how to deal with it how to identify it how to confront it how to overcome it right we're where are we learning that in any other place much of western society doesn't even believe that there's that there's evil anymore oh these aren't enemies they're just people who are misunderstood no jesus says love your enemies jesus allows us to say there are people who hate us there are people who are evil there are people who are our enemies that's not we're not wrong to think of somebody as an enemy but then he tells us to love them he says to love our neighbors and love our enemies come on lord that covers everybody yes exactly how do we do that well we only do it in the power of the holy spirit or you can't love an enemy you can barely love your neighbor tough enough to love your own family at times or yourself without the power of the holy spirit so we have to look at the world through these three lenses and as we do that i encourage people to look through this feeling of helplessness i i encourage people to respond in four different ways and i'm going to focus of course my remarks this morning as we look at how to analyze these present times um specifically on the middle east meaning israel and the arab slash muslim world okay you know these are things are true what i'm about to say with regards to china and north korea and and other places in the world certainly but given that my neck of the woods or neck of the desert maybe more precisely is jerusalem israel and the arab muslim world that's where i'm going to focus on this morning and of course we're focusing on um that this weekend because you know on 9 10 few people in america cared much about what was going on in the middle east i'm not saying that as a criticism it's just you know it just seemed like well there's a lot of trouble over there we get it but that's not it has nothing to do with us it turns out it does right the first lines of this new book enemies and allies in the preface i say it's long been said about las vegas what happens in vegas stays in vegas but nobody says that about the middle east right you can try to look away you can say i i'm i'm exhausted i don't want to deal with anything related to the middle east anymore you can say it whether you're the president united states or a senator or congressman or oral a person or somebody in the ministry you can say i'm i'm exhausted by it enough already but the middle east has a way of pulling you back to demanding that you focus on it right i don't i'm not i don't usually quote the godfather in a you know from the pulpit but i will say the worst one of those was the third one uh in which michael corleone the the the terrible evil dictator says he he's claiming that he's trying to get away from the the mafia but he says the more i try to get out the more they pull me back in that's what happens with the middle east you can look away but there are there's something about what i call the epicenter there's something about that part of the world that's forcing our attention on it so rather than feel helpless here are four ways for strategies that i i would encourage you to to process for yourself learn pray give and go okay learn pray give and go now in the learning area that's a lot of what i do right i'm i'm one of the few people that were born and raised in the united states as a jewish person that didn't get the financial gene okay i'm not your stockbroker or your accountant your hedge fund manager didn't didn't happen for me nor am i your doctor or your lawyer or your chiropractor i don't run a movie company okay i kind of got gypped in my view but i've worked my way through it uh you know i didn't get the classic jewish skill set so um so what you know so most usually i say i i got the gift of making things up for a living right that's what a novelist is i tell my friends you could my journalist friends you can write fake news it's fine there's nothing unethical about writing fake news but there's a job for it it's called being a novelist okay so you have to own that now in my case i do i i wear multiple hats i do make things up for a living that's the novels uh but i also write non-fiction books like this one and i also uh i am a journalist actually we run two news sites uh that we just started september 1st of last year all israel news and all arab news i would commend them to you uh actually uh we're going to announce this week that pastor jack graham is going to be joining the advisory board of all israel news why because we are trying to help people understand in real time as things happen day by day hour by hour what is happening what why is it important and and how are we supposed to pray about it and respond to it how can our learning lead to our praying right and that's what all israel news and all arab news does our lead story this morning is the transcript of the telephone call that todd beamer made from flight 93 the evangelical christian the wheaton college graduate the oracle software salesman father husband who was on a flight that was being hijacked and called in to the fbi and the call center and explain moment by moment exactly what was happening it's a sobering call it's a chilling call but it's also an inspiring call because you hear him explain what is happening and you hear him in real time making the calculation with his team that his friends i mean he didn't know these people but everybody's calling home and they're hearing that these planes are going into buildings you're not this is not the classic hijack situation where you land in cuba and someone negotiates for you they realized they were dying there was no way out of that situation and they were heading to washington to kill many more people and you and you watch in that transcript this man this evangelical christian realized that the best thing he could do since he knew where he was going was to rally the people on the plane to storm the cockpit and try to get it back and prevent this plane from hitting washington dc and you're going to see him ask if he could pray the lord's prayer with the fbi agent and the gte satellite phone operator and then when they're done he says to the the team are you guys ready let's roll it's very powerful it's very powerful i encourage you to to make that part of your learning process and you can even sign up for free emails to have the headlines email directly to you this book this book enemies and allies listen i wish i could tell you the story but of course that's why i wrote wrote the book but let me just give you one story because what what's different about this book is it doesn't just explain in the first section the threats that we face 20 years after 9 11. i do that i also talk about the opportunities what's going on with all these peace deals four arab nations have made peace with israel just last year how is that possible what does that mean how significant is that how did that even happen this is the only book that tells you there's not a single book out there that tells you an update on where the threats are and how we got to these abraham accords peace deals and i do it by sitting in the oval office with the president sitting with the secretary of state the vice president our cia uh directors uh israeli military intelligence officials the prime minister of israel defense minister of israel all exclusive interviews as well as with many of the arab leaders that are making the decisions right now on the future of the middle east the presidents of egypt the crown prince of saudi arabia the crown prince of the united arab emirates the leaders of bahrain uh the king of jordan there's not a single book out there we'll take you i'll take you into those palaces and you'll love them or hate them you'll get to hear these leaders that are fighting radical islamism our best allies you'll hear them in their own voices making the case and we ask them tough questions and then we talk about the future where is this all going including a chapter on prophecy what a what do what do what do christians believe about the future of the middle east it doesn't go well until jesus comes back that's the short version okay but a lot of prophecies that don't bode well for israel or for iran or for the muslim arab world until christ comes back to make it right and and he's not coming to dallas sorry this may be an epicenter now but eventually he's coming to my hometown to jerusalem so what does it mean i'll give you one example of how these things happen i i wrote a novel series a few years ago um about the isis terror group trying they're capturing chemical weapons in syria and then they want to go attack america israel and the kingdom of jordan throughout these three books and in the first book they they hit jordan and isis is trying to assassinate the king and blow up his palace and take over the kingdom of jordan now what happened is the king read the book one of his advisers never heard of me but he picked up a copy in heathrow was shocked and brought it to the king and said your majesty you have to read this he said why he says because you're in it he said what are you talking about it looks like a novel i know but you're actually a named character in the book what well the king actually took two days and read the whole book and rather than banning me from the kingdom forever mind you which he very well may have done he invited my wife and me to come for five days to get to know him and his inner circle and i and i described this in enemies and allies so fascinating we our first meeting with him was having lunch in the palace and it was just the advisor the king lynn and myself no security no other people just us and he said joel i was thinking where would be fun to meet you for the first time and i thought well you did blow up my palace maybe i should bring you here and let you see the grandeur i said well it is lovely your majesty yes i i hope you saw that i didn't want it to happen and i'm writing about worst case scenarios you go no no i see it and uh he said you know i saw that you made me a character but my staff and my my advisors you you fictionalized them i said yes he said but i can see who's who so i bought a lot of copies of your book joel and i i give them to my staff i say here you die on page 47 you might want to read that tremendous sense of humor i he had actually read the second in the series that's why i said majesty i brought some copies of the first in the series just so you have the back story i said can i show you the first page sure i said your majesty the book starts with the first line is i had never met a king before that's how the book starts he goes and he laughed he pulled out a pen and goes well you have now and he handed it back that five day period that that those meetings opened up a door he asked me would you bring a delegation of evangelical christian leaders to to get i like to get to know them i want them they love israel that's wonderful but i want them to understand our side our perspective and the fight we're in against the radical islamists that this is not all muslims in fact muslims are standing up and we're fighting against this but we need to be partners and would you bring a delegation i said i'd be honored and that led to delegations to egypt as well uh two to egypt uh two to saudi arabia one to the united arab emirates we've got one coming in bahrain next year this is crazy what is a jewish evangelical american israeli with two sons serving the israeli army what am i doing sitting with the saudi crown prince by the way i asked him i said yeah i'm guessing you don't use the term evangelical christian here much she goes no that's probably true i said well we've got a pastor on our delegation could he just explain what what we believe who we are of course god is opening amazing doors and i tell these stories in the book so that i hope is a resource for you to learn right in real time where we are right now and hear from president trump uh hear from vice president pence and mike pompeo and others that's the learning praying you'll see in the book and i and i hope what you're seeing the more you learn the more you understand how to pray for our leaders and for the church in the middle east i spent a lot of time talking with uh christian leaders on the ground national leaders in these countries and you'll see those conversations and we asked them how can we pray for you so i hope that's a resource for you and i would also ask you to be praying for president biden okay and his team we we we may you wherever you are on your political spectrum i can guess but i'm not going to we need to pray for him just like we prayed for president trump we need him to change course in some areas and we certainly want him and his family and his team to know christ learning praying giving okay i run a ministry my wife and i founded 15 years ago called the joshua fund i'm not going to get into that right now but i just want to say practically speaking we want to help strengthen the church in the middle east right they're embattled uh they don't have the the prayer support the encouragement the training sometimes the financial support they need so the joshua fund over 15 years has invested more than 80 million dollars to strengthen our brothers and sisters to be lighthouses in israel in the palestinian territories and in lebanon syria jordan iraq and egypt it's some of the most exciting parts of my life if i could just ditch the writing i would just do this joshua fund because i love strengthening and encouraging and praying for and funding ministries in the middle east so that they can do the work of christ on the ground in the languages of the heart languages of people there learning praying giving but also going uh now you'd say well you know i don't really want to go over there listen jack is going to be leading the next trip to israel from prestonwood next year yes covet has thrown them a few monkey wrenches in their plans it's going to be rescheduled for next year but i would encourage you if you've never done it come come with him or go i know learn pray give go but i'm from jerusalem so i say come come and see it step into the story it's one thing to stand with israel from a distance prayer political support encouragement financial support for the church yes that's good but better than standing with israel is standing in israel let the scriptures come alive and you get a better sense of understanding what are the challenges of being at the tip of the spear see the land where jesus was where he died and rose again and where he's coming back to look the challenge that we face is the need to analyze these present times to understand the moment that we're in but also to say lord what is my response when i see you face to face what what will be your expectation of me and will you say of me well done my good and faithful servant you were faithful in a few things right he's not asking to do everything in the world but but is this but is having an understanding of the middle east of israel and our neighbors and our enemies and being a part of advancing the kingdom of christ there is that part of what god is putting on your heart i want to hear well done my good and faithful servant i know you do you are faithful in a few things i will put you in charge of many things enter into the joy of your master let's pray father we thank you for that over the last 20 years has been a lot of healing and a lot of people have come to faith in jesus christ people who were rattled by 9 11. and we're grateful for those who who you've opened their eyes to to receive christ and know the peace of christ when on 9 11 they were just living in fear and terror and horror and anger we all were in many ways you give us peace that passes all understanding and yet there are many more who need to know you and here in this country praise god there are churches like prestonwood to to be lighthouses in dark places but lord help us show us how can we be part of strengthening our brothers and sisters in christ in israel and throughout the arab and muslim world or we know the prophecies are coming for of great judgment and trauma particularly in the middle east those are the places you lay out the prophecies most clearly but lord what can we do between now and then those who've never heard how are they going to believe if they've never heard how are they going to hear unless someone tells them the gospel how will they tell unless they've been sent and trained and encouraged and funded lord show us how to learn pray give and go show us teach us lord and the power of your spirit to love our enemies and our allies and be found faithful in you in the name of our great king who's coming soon we hope really soon the name of jesus christ we pray amen god bless you stand together thank you joel and i'm going to ask that you bow with me in prayer every head bowed and every i close always at the close of our services we invite people to follow jesus today you came on the arm of a friend who shared his faith or her faith with you and you know you need jesus in your life with so much trouble and turmoil trials in the world how could a person possibly live i know i can't without jesus do you have christ in your heart do you have a future and a hope a lot of talk about the future today do you have a future is your future with christ do you know that he's coming for you that you're going to spend eternity in heaven jesus died on the cross he rose again and if you will confess with your mouth the lord jesus and believe in your heart that god has raised him from the dead you will be saved to be saved means to be forgiven of all your sins that christ will live in your life and that you have a future and a hope in heaven with him yes jesus is coming is he coming for you today i'm going to ask you to come forward and publicly profess your faith as jesus commanded and called everyone to do who's following him he said confess me before men and i will confess you before the father in heaven so this is an invitation it's the invitation of christ in our church to put your faith and trust in him upstairs we have ministers in the balcony on the lower level right here online you can text in 747 888 text in jesus we're standing by with our online pastor to encourage you to help you to send you materials so that you may know christ i just spoke with a woman earlier today at our north campus service who during coven was watching online she accepted jesus as her savior online and now she's being baptized as a testimony of her faith in christ some of you online in the region are way beyond you're trusting in christ today and those in the room i'm going to ask you to come today others need baptism you've never been baptized god's way according to the new testament by immersion as a believer in christ make that commitment today come and be baptized and let the world know that you are a follower of jesus why wouldn't you want the world to know that you love jesus and want to follow him baptism is that step of obedience and faith that that places you uh front and center to the glory of god and the grace of god in your life others want to join this church you believe in christ you've been baptized as a believer you want to join this church now and be a part of this mission this ministry to take jesus the message of the gospel the good news to in a bad news world the the message of wholeness and peace in a world that is so filled with brokenness you want to be a part of prestonwood you can do that today you don't have to join up a class you don't have to sign anything just come forward today and say i believe god is leading me to be a member of this church and we will receive you as we receive members thank you lord for this time of decision bless the lives of all who have heard this message of truth today and especially now lord may your spirit convict and convince and bring people to yourself and to your church in jesus name amen and amen who'll be the first to come just step to the nearest aisle or upstairs go to the minister standing on the landing god bless you let's welcome this wonderful couple come on there are others come on if you want freedom just come to jesus there it is what an invitation god bless you sir lady friend come on he is he is [Music] you want your broken life mended made brand new you're broken married healed your broken life transformed come come on [Music] [Music] [Music] we're so grateful for these who have come forward today making decisions for christ always god blesses the invitation and just stay right here for now and we'll take you to our counseling room and i want to invite those of you who may have questions about what it means to know christ to go to guest central pick up one of these bibles new believer's bible we have it for you our people give so that you can receive this as our gift to you and god's word will lead you to jesus so go pick it up god's word will answer many of the questions that we have so many questions in these days open god's word and get the answers from god's word joel is as i mentioned earlier out by the bookstore on main street and you can go by and pick up your book enemies and allies and he will sign it if at all possible thank you for being here thank you for being such a testimony for jesus in this world as i looked back over these past 20 years what happened in america what happened in the world i couldn't help but praise god for what happened in our church the last two decades and i could go on and on about the the blessings of god that he has poured out upon the people of prestonwood and our witness in this community and around the world and yet our job is not finished is it we're just getting started and god has called us to go into all the world and preach the gospel of christ and to pray and give and serve and witness so that people may know hope in the lord jesus christ god bless you and now just know this may his peace be upon you may the lord bless you and keep you may the lord put his countenance upon you may the lord give you grace may the lord give you mercy and may the lord give you peace his peace amen and amen [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] this is where you stone my desperation [Music] this is where all my striving seems [Music] i believe you're healing what's been broken [Music] at the end of at the me of me [Music]

Channel: Prestonwood Baptist Church

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Length: 85min 45sec (5145 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021