Pursuit Night - Pastor John Gray Wednesday September 2, 2020

[Music] do [Music] come on everybody let's just bless the lord i don't know why y'all leaving because you know i'm gonna call on you i just need somebody to give god a shout of praise all over the world god bless you relentless church family somebody just lift up a shout to god real quick just a high five or something if god has been good to you if you're still alive if you're breathing if you're watching this in the middle of a pandemic you should give god a praise if you if you have anything that you can think of that you know you don't deserve give god a praise this is that moment god bless you again and thank you to this worship team thank you guys to our musicians god bless you all over the world to our relentless church family is pursuit night and it is the first wednesday in september we are rounding third and heading for home we've got uh one month before we step into the fourth quarter of the year and i know that many of us cannot wait for this year to be over you are not the only one i along with you and waiting for 2021 but until then i'm still going to look for the goodness of the lord in the land of the living i'm not going to wait until 2021 to believe for god's best i'm not going to wait until the end to believe that god has a significant plan not only for my life but for your life as well and so wherever you are logging in from i want to tell you god bless you why don't you do me a favor and put your city where you're repping down in the comments so that we can give you proper honor and i want to encourage you that this word this experience is for you tonight i'm telling you let whoever whoever you know that needs to hear a word from the lord share it text them send them the link if you can because this is a moment that god wants to speak to you and me and i'm grateful i want to thank you for your love your prayers your support your continued commitment to this church to the work of this church and we are a global church and i'm amazed at not only the kindness but the veracity with which we fight for the things of god it matters when you fight for the things that matter to god god fights for you what matters to god are the poor the widows the elderly the orphans those who are lost broken and hurting who have been uh significantly excommunicated from fellowship because they don't fit the construct that some churches want well we're about love acceptance forgiveness hope and healing that's what we're about and we're going to stay that way because that's exactly who jesus christ was we make no apologies that no matter who you are where you come from or what place on the journey you are in in your faith walk you have a home here a safe place it's a no judgment zone we will walk with you and if by chance you have been wounded by church folk which happens or by folk who are ungodly we walk with you and we cover you because that's what god has done for us and i want to give you uh just a quick glimpse into how your love and your commitment and your generosity have made such a tremendous difference in the lives of people you may never meet so i want pastor demarcus hill to come on up here he just took off his mask because we we are super coveted protected you still that mask looked like a fake mustache that give your daughter her mask back that that don't even fit your head but your head is you got a united states of america here you got a nine head anyway me and demarcus go back many many years uh but he is our outreach pastor pastor demarcus god has been using you and the outreach team of relentless church to meet so many needs of people in this community over the last six or seven months can you just talk to the people greet the people by the way his wife uh is a phenomenal gift to the body for those who don't know elders alicia she is over our children's ministry help with vacation bible school which was phenomenal over 350 kids from around the country in a virtual vacation bible school but pastor demarcus talk to me talk to the people about what god has been doing because of their generosity greek teens greetings relentless church and relentless family rock online i guess everybody's a part of the rock community right now because we can't physically meet in in person uh i wanted to to talk to you about a couple of different things that have been going on in outreach and um it started last year we projected some things that we wanted to do this year because we know that outreach is important not only to our pastors but to the community and that's what the bible says we should do so we started uh projecting what we wanted to do this year before pandemic happened and we started in january we said hey it's the first of the year we know people need jobs so we put on a job fair with over 200 people attending the job fair with 26 vendors that came and said we said well after they get jobs they need health care so we put on a health fair and so right before the pandemic we had a month and we had the health fair in february and we had 15 vendors that came out and we had 150 people come out free of charge to everybody health and wellness health fair that we did here and then march happened and we did loads of love and we went out into the community and we paid for laundry services for over 500 people in the community and then the pandemic hit the week how many people did we help over 500 people over 500 people got free laundry we went to the neighborhood we went to the neighborhood six different laundry mats around the greenville area and we were able to pay for laundry services free of charge brought detergent and um bleach and everything and we bounced and bounced we got we got the the we had bounced out guard we had downey we had the good stuff clorox and gain and tire now hold on for a second before you go into what happened next for those who don't know there are things called um washitaria's or or laundromats for those who who have a washing machine and a dryer in your house you need to know that for some of us growing up for me me too i had a ringer washer what that is is there's a bowl and you wash the clothes and then you put you take them out and they go through a ringer to dry the water out then you hang them on a line that's some of our reality and some people don't have a washer and dryer in their home and what relentless church did is we went to the laundromats and we paid for everybody's stuff for as long as we we we were out there everybody that came we paid for it pastor john we had to watch him in the bathtub with washing powder so we didn't even have a ringer and we hung him around the house so i'm very well familiar with that and so that the week after we did loads of love the pandemic hit and we had to reshuffle something to say hey what do we need to do to make sure that we continuously provide for the community and pastor john said hey pastor demarcus we want to do a drive-by blessing and so he called me one night and by the next day we had the drive-by blessing started and we began to feed people in the reach building the first day we started feeding people 100 families we gave away 100 family meals and so we had a line around the parking lot and we said hey there are some things that we need to do for the community so we partnered with the house of rayford and we had a free chicken sale here on site where we were able to get this kind of chicken parts for people and we sold over 80 000 pounds of chicken i'm in discounted rates and we were able to provide that to the community as a service so that they could get food during the pandemic so that they were able to have stocked food in their houses and so we continued to do things we service food to nurses at the covet unit hospital downtown at buns accords we were able to supply donuts and food for sheriff's departments and the greenville police department we were at the greenville fire station and we've been to nursing homes and had ice cream socials for nursing homes here we've also been able to deliver groceries to people and send gift cards to people and send packages to rock online community members that aren't here physically able to come get things from the church and those that have sent requests and we've emailed gift cards and packages to those people because of your generosity and so this past week we were able to do a back back to school drive we know that there are kids that have to go back to school and even if they don't go back to school you don't know what it's like for a kid to be stuck in a house and we didn't want to leave them stuck or leave them out of our generosity and so this past week we were able to with your generosity uh purchase over 500 backpacks for kids all around the nation we serviced them if you didn't get a backpack here we still have some here and even if you're a rock online community member send us an email an info or reach or reach at our relentless church and we'll mail you a backpack a relentless church backpack and while supplies last let's say that again reach at our relentlesschurch.com if your child or children at the house need a backpack and even if you're doing distance learning still let them leave their their bedroom and go to the dining room with their backpack on let them feel like they are apart and so while supplies last if you or your children need a backpack heck some some adults are going back to school you need it back it's tiny but it'll be on there you know we got some good we got some good ones we you know the easter bay they're not east bay they east west you know it's the cousin but we got them anyway and we also got the seasoning old bay go ahead but i'm saying that to say uh there are so many things that we wanted to do and it just just just thinking about what we have projected we still have about 30 different things that we want to do for the rest of the year if we can get those things going on for the next uh 12 months as we project we don't know how long the pandemic is going to last but we want to make sure that we continue to have things that aren't limited to you being here so we're now going to start to do and reach out and we're going to try to have activities going on that are happening not just on campus but outside in the community so we're partnering with other organizations to make sure that we have a full reach of things that we can do for the volunteers to be able to participate as well as other members in the community but i had this mind this thing in my mind and it was like what are you doing and so there's so many storms that are going on in people's lives from our pastor's lives our church's lives to all of your lives and and what we do in reach is we do something when there's a storm going on we just pull the umbrella out and what we do when we pull the umbrella out is we go cover somebody to make sure that whatever is going on in their storm that's great we keep them covered and so right now i just want to make sure that you understand what this church is made of we're covering church we're loving church jesus said if you've done it unto the least of these and you've done it unto me and so the heart and the passion that we have is not just to cover you but to cover everybody that is connected with the relentless church but also with the community at large it's not just this church but it's other churches and other places in the community so anything we can do pastor john just let us know i love it um outreach is the lifeblood of this church that and our circle groups our small groups uh mean the world and uh right now is an opportunity for you to be generous if relentless church is your church what you just heard is the result of you saying yes to god uh there are enough scriptures for mature believers to read around the idea of being generous my prayer for you is that as the holy spirit leads you and i do mean the holy spirit not your not me or not anyone else not words of of attempt or the thought of manipulation but what the spirit of god says to you to sow right now my prayers that you will do it knowing that your seeds are going not only into great ground they are meeting the needs the thing that touched me the most is he said we did an ice cream social at a senior citizen's home at a nursing home you know what it's like i remember going to the nursing homes i used to be scared of the older people when i was little and no nursing homes smell like vaseline and cleaner and detergent and old bread and but the reality is we always forget about them but god doesn't forget about them and the fact that we were sitting in there some of them gumming on the ice cream not not a stitch of tooth to be found and it blesses god's heart it might be just ice cream to you but it's fellowship and community and remembrance to them and for every single small thing that you've done so that we can continue the work of the kingdom thank you and i want to pray over you and for everyone else who will take this opportunity to give because it is tithe and offering time at relentless church i'm believing god for a supernatural harvest so that we can continue to give and also we are preparing supplies now for the recovery efforts after hurricane laura for all those who might be watching who were impacted in the gulf coast states all the way up into arkansas and then it came across the ohio valley all the way into north carolina if you were impacted please let us know because we are going to be sending supplies down not only into lake charles and the surrounding regions but to other areas and if you are a rock member that was impacted send us an email at reach our relentlesschurch.com so that we can serve you that being said let me pray for your generosity and then we're going to continue on with service lord jesus thank you thank you for the hearts of the people and i pray that you will continue to bless those who are sowing and who have continued to sow unbelievable passion commitment and faithfulness and i ask that you will continue to give seed to the sower and bread to the eater and i thank you lord that we will have more than enough for the things that matter to you and cause us to continue to be wise stewards of the resources of your people this is my prayer in jesus name amen if you've never given and you want to give do me a favor watch this short video that shows you how to give safely and securely and then let's get back into worship and let's get ready for this word i love you guys so much [Music] uh [Music] caught up in your presence i just wanna sit here at your feet i'm caught up in this [Music] no i'm not here [Music] jesus you don't know me more than anything that you can do i just want you to oh i'm sorry when i just went through the motions i'm sorry when i sing you another song take me back [Music] oh i'm sorry [Music] take me back i'm caught up in your presence [Music] i'm caught up in this [Music] blessings [Music] jesus you don't know me more than anything [Music] nothing and else else [Music] nothing else [Music] nothing else [Music] is nothing else we'll do [Music] i just want you [Applause] now [Music] is [Applause] [Music] and i just wanna sit here with your feet i'm caught up in this god we're not here for blessings jesus you don't know me anything [Music] i just want you sing i just want you and nothing else see nothing else nothing else to do [Music] [Music] nothing else yes is i just want you i just want you to say i just want to sit sing i just [Music] [Music] [Applause] i [Applause] i just want you i just [Music] we just [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] sit here at your feet i'm caught up in this holy moment and i never wanna leave and i never wanna leave [Music] i never wanna leave and i never want this [Music] i never want to lead [Music] [Music] oh [Music] hi [Applause] [Music] into this place [Music] you desire to abide in the praises of your people so we live [Music] as we live we offer up this praise [Music] you our lord you are worthy to be praised oh [Music] we worship you our lord my lord my lord you are worthy to be praised my mom turned 78 years old today and they gave her two months to live in 2011. so we give you [Music] glory [Music] oh to be proud [Music] we give you all [Music] we worship you yeah yeah oh lord our lord my lord you'll save me and you are worthy to be praised [Music] [Music] oh thank you jesus that's all right [Music] all the glory yeah we were we give you glory we give [Music] more you [Music] [Applause] [Music] me [Music] you are worthy pj can can you just play me a little organ i just need a little bit of organ [Music] yes [Music] see i needed to be reminded of where i came from because there are people who don't want me to talk anymore they they want they want to mute my praise they want me to be quiet but you didn't save me so you can't shut me up we give you [Music] [Music] you are worthy to be praised don't you ever let anybody mute your praise i don't care what you go through in life you keep lifting up the name of jesus hallelujah thank you worship team for your uncommon grace-filled commitment to this church thank you love and appreciate you you can play me a little more organ i feel i'm i'm i'm getting up there now that organ just reminds me that trouble doesn't last always [Music] god bless you relentless church let's get into this word hallelujah yeah yeah come on over oh yeah yeah yeah romans chapter 8 starting at the 18th verse romans 8. let's get some distance going let's get some social distancing going guys romans 8 starting at the 18th verse while you're going to romans 8 18 i want to acknowledge the woman who raised me uh who who birthed me born september 2nd and she is now 78 years young and i'm not with her today and that hurts me because i i always want to be with my mama but uh these circumstances are extraordinary but mama i know you're watching i believe you're with auntie uh sherry i love you so much a prophetic voice in my life but mommy i want to wish you a happy birthday i love you i thank god for your life your life is a miracle and a testimony to millions of people around the world who needed to hear that god could still do a miracle in these present times so i've shouted i've cried i've done all that i think i got a little bit of voice left and even though they don't have mics they might be able to help me but i'm just gonna say happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday dear mommy [Music] happy birthday to you 78 years old can we give it up for my mama for those who are here shout out mama alice [Applause] grateful for her life i sound real baptist tonight i won't be before you long but i do believe that there's something that god wants me to say and i need to say it uh and i am grateful that you are here uh romans chapter 8 verses 18 and 19 4 i consider that the sufferings of this present age are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us for the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly awaits the revealing or waits for the revealing of the sons of god for i consider that the sufferings of this current pandemic are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us for the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of god it's not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us i want you to write this down because it's a prophetic declaration and i need to tell it to you in the midst of this moment so that you know what's about to happen next the glory is coming the glory is coming now i know i've got nine whole people in a room that seats 3 500 but if i could just get a little help it would spur me on to get this 20-minute message out just a little quicker i'm gonna say it again because people need hope right now this is the first time in our lives and really in the in the life of this nation that we are at the convergence of a spiritual social justice educational election year revolution a societal touch point a crossroads where everything we've ever known is teetering on the precipice of an impossible moment the peace is tenuous and everything that is not real is being revealed and torn down to make uh room for the arrival of that which god intended everyone is shocked that our favorite entertainment venues are shut down stadiums are shut down restaurants are shut down businesses never to be reopened and people are like well what about church well god is in charge of all of it and he wanted these buildings shut down too and i'm going to tell you why because these buildings though nice cannot contain god's glory and oftentimes they have not adequately unveiled or revealed god's glory they've revealed the machinations of man glory is coming and so courtney this idea for me that i consider that the sufferings of this present age are not worthy to be compared the word considered means i got to think about that thing the last thing i want to think about is the suffering that i've been going through suffering from outside and suffering from my own decisions and maybe you're perfect you've made every good decision bless god for you i want you to open a church so i can join it because i want to find the first perfect person whose last name is not christ you won't find them in fact the last time i checked the 66 canonical books of scripture there is only one that is perfect one that is good that is the father that is the son jesus was perfect in every way he fulfilled the law and the prophets god specializes in utilizing those of us who know enough about ourselves to know we're not worthy but he has made us worthy through the blood of the lamb and i consider that the sufferings of this present age are not worthy to be compared with what's coming which means in this season you cannot focus on your right now you need to ask the holy spirit for prophetic insight into where he's taking you because this is not about the what it's about the why glory is coming hebrews chapter 12 i want to read that starting at the fifth verse and you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as sons i want you to type this in the comment section if relentless is your church i'm a son and even if you are uh a female i need you to type i'm a son because sonship is a spiritual principle this is not about gender uh specifications from a human flesh scenario sonship is a spiritual principle whereby which you are in line to receive an inheritance with your name on it that no one else can get and even if they wanted to take it they couldn't have it help me holy ghost it says and you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as sons my son do not despise the chastening of the lord nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him for whom the lord loves he chastens and scourges every son whom he receives if you endure chastening god deals with you as with sons for what son is there whom a father does not chasten but if you are without chastening of which all have become partakers then you are illegitimate and not sons this is deep that means if god doesn't whoop you you don't belong to him don't teach that in church our god gives us cotton candy when we sin but the bible makes it clear that if you're out of line he corrects you if you belong to him watch this furthermore we have had human fathers who corrected us and we paid them respect shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the father of spirits and live for they indeed for a few days chastened us as seen best of them but god for our prophet that we may be partakers of his holiness everybody put this in the comment section holiness is still right holiness is still right and you know when i was growing up i thought holiness was a denomination it's not a denomination it is it is how god has introduced himself to people he said be ye holy for i the lord your god am holy i shunned that idea because i never thought that i was able to be worthy because the idea of holiness the way i saw it was based on external behavior it had nothing to do with an internal commitment anybody can look holy but just because you wear white and have on long skirts and no makeup doesn't make you holy holiness is the circumcision of your heart the sanctification of your spirit and the renewing of your mind holiness is still right now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present tell somebody it hurts but painful nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it you don't know this but you are in training i heard apostle john stevenson out of uh ayers covenant church in in cincinnati he he said you're in training for reigning what a great picture that i'm going to reign with christ but you can't reign with christ in your flesh there is no carnality that can reign with jesus you're in training for reigning okay so there's a pruning that happens the idea in this scripture in hebrews is that god reserves correction on this level for sons why is that important because the principle in romans 8 18 and 19 is that for i consider that the sufferings of this present age are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us for the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly awaits the revealing of the sons the idea is that you are a son and sons are the ones that god is going to uh express or present his glory through somebody say it out loud glory is coming what's the difference between a gift and glory i can think of a particular r b singer right now who is probably the best songwriter that i've ever seen in my lifetime he is phenomenal but just because you have a gift doesn't mean that you've submitted to the holy ghost you can have a gift and not even acknowledge god because gifts and callings have been given without repentance what does that mean god can give you a thing and you'll you'll either submit it to him and watch god maximize it for his purpose or you can say well you gave it to me i can do with it what i want that's what a gift is i can't you god doesn't make us he does not force us to resubmit the gift to him but there are some gifted people that you and i both know but your gift does not equate to glory just because you're gifted doesn't mean you're going to produce glory and i want for you to hear this that god says the glory is coming the glory is not some far-off ethereal bright shining light where god is gonna show up and you'll hear angels talking about no glory is when the people of god get in line with the purpose of god and start executing the plan of god and functioning in the power of god that's when you're going to see the glory of god and i wish i had a four and a half to five and a half second praise break right now if you know that the glory is coming go ahead and bless god wherever you are all over the world [Music] i want you to grab this principle any man or woman can display a gift but only a son can reveal glory get this any man or woman can display a gift you all know gifted singers gifted artists gifted people in different areas of trade commerce finance but it doesn't mean that they have submitted to the holy spirit and are moving in kingdom principles anybody can display a gift but only a son can reveal glory why because sonship is not only pronounced it is a process there was a process many of us me included don't particularly care for every aspect of the process but i said yes to god it's very interesting i want to tell you something my son asked me a strange question he was doing something i didn't like and so i disciplined him and i told him i said come here and almost all the time it's words but every now and then he'll get a little popping something on the back of the pants or on the side not nothing hard nothing crazy but enough to let him know i'm displeased and one time he said he said that didn't hurt and i said it didn't hurt because i didn't want it to hurt but i can make it hurt i didn't do this for your pain i did it for your correction some of us have been tapped by god and we've said in our actions that didn't hurt and god's trying to say that was the light tap the next one you gonna feel because he he has to legitimize you by pruning you to conforming you to the image of the son and that's jesus so my son continued in these behaviors that i was displeased with so i had to ramp up my discipline and when that discipline was over he looked at me with sad eyes and he says daddy do you love me i said you think because i disciplined you i don't love you he's too young to understand that he equates discipline with displeasure when in fact discipline was development and love in action discipline is what a father does when you love your child too much to let them keep doing what they're doing because they can either injure you or harm your sister more than that you're not being raised like an animal in the streets there is a standard here because you will be better than me you are the one carrying my name and i've done enough to the name and i don't need you to do another thing i want you to be better than me and i'm mad enough to say i'm gonna correct you here now i didn't have a father so i'm learning how to be a father but as the holy ghost directs me i'm going to correct my son so that if there's anything in his character or in his development that starts skewing a certain way my job is to correct him and to make sure that he's walking the straight path that his moral compass points true north and the same for my daughter i don't play those games i'm not so glad to have him that i can't raise him the glory is coming my correction was met with a question you i'm in pain right now i mean i i feel disconnected do you love me i'm i'm actually not disconnected i'm more connected because i'm so concerned about you that i'm not going to let you continue in this aberrant behavior and it's funny because the same question that my son asked me i found myself asking god in times of correction and adjustment do you really love me and i hear the lord saying if i didn't love you i would have left you alone the last thing you want is for god to leave you alone if there's anything in your life that doesn't line up with the will ask the lord to come in and deal with it do not do not hold on to it the last thing you want is for god to leave you alone and so my little son asked me this and he didn't understand that discipline is love but but a lack of correction is disregard you're not my son if i let you do whatever you want you're not the daughter if i let you do whatever you want why am i saying this god wants to reveal glory through the sons and daughters of god but you can't get to sonship without discipline discipline and correction are critical components to growing into the person that god wants you and i to become for i consider that the sufferings of this present age are not worthy to be compared what is glory glory is the illumination of the father inside of a broken vessel glory why do we need glory have you read the news are you looking around we need glory but we don't need glory from uh the traditional church definition of it because normally when we think glory we think a great emotional moment in a church service no that's a worship experience but glory is the thing that's left after the experience is over preach i'm trying to preach i got to encourage my own soul today glory is the illumination of the father inside of a broken vessel the unbelievably amazing and anointed pastor pastor johnny miller ypj of faith alive international ministries in south bend indiana uh said god is not looking for perfection god is looking for posture i think that's an amazing thing for you and i to understand i have learned that when you find yourself in a human moment there is no one who is more ready to end you than church folk when i tell you they are more ready for you to never open your mouth again as if you were ever qualified to open your mouth in the first place when i tell you that every single human being that has ever been called by god has had this conversation with god god are you sure you do know it's me without realizing that every single detail of my life and every nuance of my proclivities was completely revealed to god while he wrote my life backwards for me to live it forwards god who knew the end from the beginning which means there is nothing about me that has caught god off guard and neither has it caught god off guard about you there's always going to be a crowd of people telling you hush sit down be quiet you're unworthy join the crowd because i was telling myself that agreeing with the devil and my broken childhood over the voice of god who called me when i was 13 he knew what i was he knew when i was sitting there with a mouth full of braces and the inside of my gum swole up in the side of my cheeks unable to always articulate because of the pain he knew the insecure little boy he knew the boy that was still grappling with abuse he knew the areas that no one else would have ever seen and all he knew about me and he still said pick up the mic keep on walking keep on moving keep on preaching keep on declaring as long as you point people to jesus and not to yourself then you're moving in the right direction but the moment you become hypocritical and deny the lordship of christ and raise up your flesh as the example then you're in trouble but as long as you keep yourself low to the ground and declare that there was none righteous but jesus himself then you can find yourself in opportunities to be corrected adjusted pruned proven so that you can keep producing for the kingdom the glory is coming god is not looking for perfection he's looking for posture that means he's just looking for people who will be available to him our country is in trouble please don't be mad when i say this but i believe that we if we do not change the trajectory of our nation we are heading towards uh something akin to a civil uprising people are killing each other in the streets now kenosha wisconsin they're killing each other in the streets portland oregon they're killing each other in the streets people on the far right in the far left can't even have a conversation they're attacking one another physically the violence is increasing and the rhetoric is increasing and there is a need for a church to stand in the gap and say now that you've tried all of this can we all try jesus oh help me holy ghost no one wants to try the lordship of jesus god is looking for some people that will be postured in humility let me tell you something pride will make you think you are more important than you actually are oh yes it will i don't care how gifted you are god doesn't need you he's not hoping you choose him if you don't he got a million behind you that'll take it so you might want to humble yourself and say yes to god posture yourself in a position that says lord i'll i'll do what you ask and please deal with the unattended issues in my life so that i don't dishonor your name i think about my life i really do i think about the landscape of my life larry and i think about the fact that there are people who are so sad when men of god and women of god uh have awful human moments and they say why how did that happen i don't understand now i don't i don't want to deal with god no more no no hear me hear me whoever you are don't be so worshipful of a man or a woman that you miss god don't ever put anybody on a pedestal so high that you assume that god is somehow like man i heard dr a.r bernard talk about the idea that individuals anthropomorphize god this anthropomorphic tendency to make god like a man we think god is like man we think god is like us we think that he's emotional like us or that he responds like us and god is not a man that he should lie nor the son of man that he should repent but before you get to the rest of the verse just stop with god is not a man let's stop assuming that god is like us when in fact we are like him he made us in his image we didn't make him in our image that's the reason why the doors are closed because instead of conforming to his image we're trying to make god like our image and we have created transactional church welcome to transactional church we want you to sing our songs then we're going to give you an opportunity to pay i mean tithe and then we're going to sing you another song and we're going to give you a message and it's not going to be any substance to it but it's going to make you feel good but it's not going to get you ready for the attack of the devil the moment you leave this place your mirror just your marriage is still going to be in trouble your kids are going to still be off kilter you won't have what you need to make wise decisions on your job and we're not even going to talk about regenerating your flesh or submitting your flesh to the holy ghost or renewing of your mind just want to make you feel good real good that's transactional church i i wore a shirt for a conference that i did virtually recently and on it had the names of some people that had been killed while being unarmed in the presence of law enforcement and i i heard from someone uh from that conference and they said there were people that were deeply offended by your shirt i said did they listen to what i said he said i don't know they couldn't get past your shirt and i thought that was so deep that people had assumed a political ideology based on a justice t-shirt it wasn't about politics it wasn't about color it was about justice which the entire bible is about justice i bring that up because in transactional church we don't actually see jesus we see what matters to us and we put jesus on top of that jesus is the icing our agenda is the cake that's why he threw out both and these doors will stay closed until we put jesus back on the throne hallelujah if it's my last sermon i'ma preach it like i lost my darn mind i got 10 minutes holla at your boy write these down i want you to write these down i said god is not looking for perfection he's looking for posture but there are three things i want you to grab number one i want you to be positioned as a son what's your position my position is a son my son has favor with me because he's my son he doesn't have to do anything he's got favor because he's that's my boy same thing with jesus i know people couldn't stand him but it was the father that said that's my beloved son in whom i'm well pleased you know what's deep he said it and they heard it right there in jerusalem but i guarantee you the native americans that were over here on the continent of north america heard it too they didn't know what they were hearing but i guarantee you he shouted his name out across the whole earth because the bible says at the name of jesus every knee will bow and every tongue shall confess on earth under the earth and above the earth i guarantee you when god shouted out that sonship directive everything in the earth heard it doesn't mean everybody understood it but it didn't change who said it there are people that don't understand your favor they don't understand your posture they don't understand your anointing they don't understand why you keep getting blessed it's because god has said you belong to him that's my son that's my daughter in them i'm well pleased you need you to be positioned as a son i'm gonna give all three and then i'm gonna break them down i need you to be positioned as a son since the glory is coming i need you to get in position position yourself as a son again sonship for those who are just coming in is not about gender sonship is a spiritual principle whereby which you have authority to speak in the earth and god backs you number two i need you to be postured as a servant your position is a son your posture is a servant just because you loud don't mean you have a sting the loudest dogs barking don't always match the bite position yourself as a son that means understand that you have the backing of your father there are people who got into harvard that don't have the grades it just got the right parents [Music] do you understand that god has opened doors for you because he knows what you're going to do once you go through them i wish i could clap but i don't have like the thing i wish you could clap at home the glory is coming he's about to reveal who he is in his heart for people by utilizing the broken areas of your life see there's glory in that story stop running from that part of the story listen i wish there were there are chapters of my life i wish i could erase from the book but here's the thing i didn't write the book but i'm in the book my father wrote the book i'm still a son my free will has caused me to do some things that are right others that are not but because of his love and his corrective uh stance and posture towards me as a loving father he will not allow the chapter or the book to end with me in hell or my family dismembered because that's what the devil wants he wants to kill you he wants to kill your name he wants to kill the oil he wants to stop god's plan but your sonship or that of the sons and daughters of god has yet to be revealed but i'm only talking to those who have suffered through something because the glory is coming you've suffered enough the glory is coming and in fact i'm prophesying that the glory is here and it was your brokenness and the contrite nature of your heart that drew god close to you in this season [Music] i am positioned as a son you don't have to like me it doesn't change that my dad loves me number two i'm postured as a servant rashad if if i don't understand anything else about this season i want to take on the character of jesus christ what does that mean this is god walking around in the earth and here he is washing funky feet after they were walking around in the middle eastern heat smelling like corn chips and manure and he didn't just wash their feet he washed him with the garment he was wearing which means i'll cover you with my glory in the area that you think stinks the most jesus will cover the thing that stinks the most because he knows that once he cleans that area you'll run further and faster am i talking to anybody in relentless online community land that knows that god will wash you and cleanse you and forgive you if you are truly penitent postured as a servant what does that mean i need to look for opportunities to serve if you want me to say it holy ghost i'll say it i shared something with the church i'm going to share with you because i'm tired of running around afraid of saying what the lord told me to say he showed me last year that the church was going to be closed and i didn't say anything i need you to hear me that the body of christ is going to have to serve broken-hearted people in the seasons to come the next few months are going to be deeply challenging for this nation in more ways than one we have lost icons in every area of civic life from our civil rights icons like john lewis and ct vivian to chadwick bozeman and other actors and actresses and other people in areas of commerce and enterprise and academia what i sense in my spirit is that that is going to be a continuing trend for the rest of this year that we are going to see people transition in every area from our religious figures to popular culture figures and many of us will be deeply wounded and impacted and it will be it will need to be the body of christ that is mature to point people to a loving father to give them clarity and direction but i want you to know that god is tearing down every idol hear me by the spirit of the lord he's tearing down every idol i also know that the lord spoke to me and said be prepared for a shocking november a shocking november and that means that all of the over politicization of our culture is going to come to a head and it will need to be the body of christ that is wide open to extend ourselves to those who are hurting and wounded regardless of your political affiliation we need to not be political in this season we need to be spiritual in this season which means we need to be postured to serve hurting people and you don't get to throw people away because they don't agree with everything that you agree with or believe in that is not christ we must posture ourselves as servants finally we need to be prepared for significance i look at my life and the the one regret is that i i agreed with the devil uh about certain things that were lies i i never thought i mattered never been preaching since i was 21 and i always felt like an outsider it felt it felt like a coat that didn't fit right because there was always a distance between what was in my heart and what i saw when i got finished i'd leave green rooms and i'd be like we were just in the presence of god now y'all talking about stuff that don't have anything to do with god and it messed me up and i'm like so i i guess it's a game and it's not a game and i know there are people who are looking at me right now saying you're the clown no no no no hear me i'm not trying to absolve myself of anything but what i realized is that i started seeing duality and so and so i thought that's what it was and god says no no no you have a significance you don't know about i'm like no nobody cares about me if i died today it wouldn't matter they find somebody else to do the same thing find the nice singing happy negro guy who who makes all the people feel safe and god says that's why i had to strip all of that and and and i wanted to tear down the facade of what you were presenting because it was never real let me tell you something i have never been more free in all my life than in this moment where i know that i am not worthy only but by the grace of god and as i go off to get healed and get whole i am more excited about finding out what's been going on in my spirit since i was four years old than i ever have been i'm not running from anything because my therapist reminded me of this the other day he said in our first session some months ago he said the first thing you said is no man in your family has ever taken responsibility ever [Music] and i'm gonna break that devil in half i really genuinely don't care what people have to say about things they don't understand but i will say this my prayer for the super judgmental is that when you need that grace i hope it's there for you the same grace you don't extend to others i hope it's there for you because everybody gets a turn [Music] keep on living there's something back there you don't want people to know and i pray god keeps it covered and i hope that you can stand up and live a whole life and be full and free that's the grace i pray you receive i never thought i was significant didn't know that i mattered it was my enemies that showed me my value [Music] if you're not liked you need to rejoice if they can't stand you you need to rejoice because not only do they not like you it hasn't stopped won't you it won't and can't and merry christmas to you and a hobby no yeah get your joy because your story is a part of your glory positioned as a son postured as a servant prepared for significance my sonship is not up for debate but my posture as a servant is i can either walk in pride or i can humble myself under the mighty hand of god and he can begin to do the necessary work and we need to be prepared for significance now i just prophesied a couple things and i don't know if people wanted to hear what i had to say but our country is on the precipice of a very painful moment we are deeply divided across ideological platforms and i am not here to make a pronouncement or a declaration i just know that there is going to be an angry place of vitriolic violent expression regardless of who triumphs in november the church cannot play politics with the blood the blood is not democratic the blood is not republican the blood is spiritual and eternal jesus cleansed the temple in john chapter two [Music] actually that's not john chapter two we can go with matthew 21 12-17 and jesus cleared out the temple the passover of the jews was at hand jesus found them selling oxen and changing and doing business he made a whip of course and he drove them out and and he said take these things away do not make my father's house a house of merchandise we've been packaging jesus we've been merchandising jesus we've been attempting to market the anointing which is why he had to close the doors and drive us out of here because the the the thing that we are a part of doesn't look like the new testament construct get mad at me if you want but i know i'm right so i want to make a declaration this is the end of transactional religious exercise this is the end of transactional church transactional church is the idea that i tithe but it's really like i pay for you to make me feel good i pay because you're saying what i want you to say no no i tithe because i believe in the principles of the kingdom and even if i get a corrective word that i don't like because it's it's beating up against something in my flesh i'm planted because i know that this is pruning me and making me better this is the end of transactional religious expression and this is the beginning of relational exchange god says church is not confined to buildings we know that but there is a relational exchange where god wants to talk to you at 3 43 in the morning at 5 30 4 in the morning and he wants to do some things that may not make sense but he wants to do it right now so what is he doing jesus was walking in and and and they were talking about the temple like look how magnificent this temple is he was let me tell you something tear this temple down in three days i'll raise it up they got offended they wanted to kill him you took 46 years 46 years for us to build this magnificent effort look at this building and all this technology and technological expression jesus i ain't even in there i ain't even been invited in there this is jesus outside the temple that they they built the temple for him and didn't know it was him and we're killing him but we're worshiping the temple we've been worshiping the wrong thing so these are the three things god is doing as the glory is coming number one he's tearing down temples number two he's realigning mentals and he's he and he's eradicating sensuals [Music] i said he's tearing down temples realigning mentals and eradicating sensuals what does that mean he's tearing down idols things that men made that don't reflect the culture of glory because glory is not about a building glory is what's left when the building is closed glory is what people hold on to when you leave their presence the fragrance of glory and the illumination of glory reveals jesus to people who are in need of a savior he's tearing down temples he's tearing down idols he's tearing down dead things so people can get to a living hope number two he's realigning mentals don't be conformed to the ways of the world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that's the cartoon from the 80s okay realigning mentals that means he's getting your mental game to a new place you got to change your mindset stop looking at yourself as lester what what what is that and you're talking to somebody who's lived that for for years but i i realize now that that that's a lie unseat the lie realign the mental how do you get the mind of christ spend time in prayer how do you get the mind of christ read the word how do you spend how do you realign your mentals watch what you intake your eye gate your ear gate then be careful what comes out of your mouth gate you have to realign the mentals be careful of your confessions your words have creative power in 2020. watch what you say watch what you say finally number three eradicating sensuals what does that mean sensual sense-based or sensuality sense-based uh religious expression that is not rooted in faith you move based on what you feel i don't i'm i feel offended i'm leaving i don't i don't feel like this is god be careful because there's a way that seems right to a man but in the end it leads to death be careful it feels good but it's designed to kill you be careful he's eradicating sensuals if you listen to the voice of the holy ghost he will lead you in the direction of safety he says i've set before you death and life choose life that's deep he says i've given you the choice one is going to require you to move on faith the other the other one is going to cause you to have to subject your senses to the holy ghost because in this season there are some things that won't make sense oh but if you step out on faith the glory will be revealed the glory is coming so we're tearing down temples any idol anything that's not jesus it's coming down we're realigning mentals that means god wants us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds and finally he's eradicating the sensual those things that are rooted in carnality rooted in flesh rooted in a temporal feeling of of of relief or release that do not produce kingdom fruit and when those things happen [Music] the glory will be revealed god is raising up sons and daughters in this season and it and i'm a living witness that for some before he raises you up he gonna sit you down but i'd rather let god do it than man [Music] my notes are done but i feel the holy ghost dante can you play some tender music [Music] because i got my joy you know what's funny i've i i know the season that i'm in and i know how cruel people can be uh and and i just want to to say this to all of the people who have been speaking life you're sowing into your own future your love and your kindness and your grace and your covering that's not being fake that's not walking around blind that's saying i understand the reality of the human condition that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god that is not an excuse to continue i ain't never gonna preach no cheap grace but i will tell you this the glory is going to be revealed and if god can use you and i in seasons when we weren't submitted what can he do now that we are the glory is coming your life is going to reflect the truth of jesus christ in a way that you could have never imagined i love you relentless church keep praying for me my beautiful bride aventure and my beautiful kids john and theory aspen scott and i'm praying for your family as well we gonna make it we gonna make it we gonna make it i had to put a little hip-hop on it you all know that's all you've been in church too long he's like i'm not familiar with that don't worry about it let me pray for you lord jesus bless the people of god bless their hearts bless bless the work of their hands seal this word in your in your presence and i thank you for your name being established and i pray by the power of the holy ghost that you will finish what you started in your people and i ask that your name above all would be greatly glorified thank you for your love and thank you for your correction because that's what you do for sons and your glory will be revealed in the days to come now if you've never been saved you've never given your life to jesus this is your moment this is your moment and i want you to pray this prayer with me lord jesus is me i confess with my mouth and believe in my heart that jesus is lord thank you for the blood that was shed for me i receive the free gift of salvation not through my works but the finished work of the cross the blood is enough to begin again and on today september 2nd 2020 i declare that you are my savior and my lord the holy spirit come live inside and teach me how to be more like jesus each and every day this is my prayer in jesus name amen if you prayed that prayer for the first time you're saved if you're praying it again you are rededicated welcome home we would love to be the church that walks with you that covers you our best days are in front of us and i'm grateful that the blood has covered you now there's a number on the screen i need you to text it don't wait text it now let's stay connected let us walk with you in love on you let us give you the curriculum let's get you connected to our circle groups and when these doors open back up sooner rather than later come on be a part of the worship team come on and ush be an usher an urger come help us build the kingdom together hallelujah for those who say i've been moved by the word and i want to i want to give to this work when this sermon is over there's uh a graphic that shows you how you can give if you wish to be generous i can tell you that the people that are blessed by yourself your sowing would say thank you so i'm saying thank you for them that being said i love you i'm very grateful for your life and may the lord bless you and keep you cause his face to shine upon you may the lord our god be gracious to you show you his favor and give you his peace if there's somebody in your house and you can do it safely and covet free give them a hug and also to my mama happy birthday mama eat a couple chicken wings for me and uh eat some birthday cake as well and when i see you we're gonna celebrate i love you mommy happy birthday love you auntie love all my family and friends and i love love love relentless church relentless relentless relentless in the house religious relentless religious in the house we love you god bless you go in peace and serve the lord

Channel: John William

Views: 4,597

Rating: 4.7894735 out of 5

Keywords: Pastor John Gray, John Gray 2020, Relentless Church, New Sermon, John Gray Today, John Gray, Pursuit Night

Id: rEu7zO2ofRI

Length: 84min 59sec (5099 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 02 2020