Right Response Part 1 | Pastor Ben Prescott

[Music] [Music] you [Music] [Music] my god who [Music] miss right [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] to [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] I think coming into the college I knew I was embarking on a journey that was going to change my life forever and I got to free Chapel college I was extremely excited about it you know as a new opportunity God put me in the place where he had developed me for so long I was really really excited to get started especially graduating from high school just felt like God was calling me to go in a free top of college everything was a learning experience I didn't really know a whole lot about ministry and started me with that foundation I'm thankful for through Chapel college because I got to experience a freedom and serving a freedom and meeting the pastor's here were available they were present they wanted to get to know the details of my life and do ministry and disciple me into Who I am today the first thing that God told me when I came here was ministry it's not about me and that was a lesson that I learned that God will use you in areas and in ways that you may feel unqualified for you may not think that's your lane but God can still use I stepped out of my own confidence I wanted to do something that I had no idea that I could even do during the college I definitely enjoy student life that was recent of the best moments we cultivated a family I think student life for me was so important free top all college doesn't only provide the practical learning experiences that you need for life and ministry but you also are surrounded by people who are on that same wavelength if you feel a tug in your heart and you know that God is speaking to you about coming here and do it when you take a big step like coming free chapel College he will honor it in such a big way if you're considering through temple college I would say do it jump in do something that scares you you'll learn more about yourself than you ever have do you know for a matter of fact that God has called you into ministry and you feel like God's calling you to go to free chapel College it will benefit you so much because if your Chapel College I'm forever changed I'm better because of it I'm the best version of myself a [Music] [Applause] free Chapel Church family we want to thank you for streaming today's message I want to encourage those of you that are interested in free Chapel Orange County College you can check it out check out for more details on the website and if you want more information you can call the church and the team can talk with you about how you can get involved is so great to be preaching today it's amazing to have some of our students here with us and and they're going to be leaning in for what God's gonna going to speak to us today through his words so wherever you are if you're in your car if in your living room if you're jogging while you're looking at your phone I don't know how you're doing that but if you are all the best to you I want you to get out your Bible and I want you to turn to the book of Romans real quickly and I'm going to show you something we're going to preach for the net the next two sermons I'm going to preach I'm in these following weeks are gonna be from the book of Romans and the book of Romans is one of the most I won't say powerful because the entire Bible is obviously powerful but it it really is a framework many say it's a framework of the Christian faith in a nutshell if you were going to boil down the Christian faith to one book it would actually be you could boil it down to the book of Romans in fact Martin Luther actually his transformation in his life his salvation actually came about through reading and studying the book of Romans so I want to show you something in here and I'm gonna read firstly I'm going to read the main passage that I'm going to preach from and then we're gonna then I'm gonna set it up and and set up a little intro for you that we're gonna that we're going to launch off for these next couple of weeks so let's go to Romans chapter 13 and verse 11 this is Paul and Paul says to the church in Rome he says and do this knowing that knowing the time that now is high time to awake out of sleep I want to stop there real quickly because what this here is giving us and I want to lead into the little sermon title that I have that I think is so applicable for us right now in this season and this climate that we are in as a church as a people as a nation I want to preach today on the right response the right response I don't know about you but for me right now it seems to be a question that I'm asking myself every single day is what is the right response what's the right thing to post what's the right thing to say what's the right thing to tweet what's the right thing to think right now there are so many things bombarding us from the exterior and what is around us whether it be through social media whether it be through friends and things that we're seeing and things happening around us but I think as people of God we have to ask ourself God what is the right response what's the right thing to do not what is everybody else doing because I don't know about you but I'm hearing a lot of people tell me what I should be doing a lot of people tweeting about a lot of people posting about it I should do this I should do that I should do that but I think as people of God we've got to stop for a moment and ask God God what is the right response right now and so Paul is very direct to the Church in Rome it's so direct he says do this knowing the time that now is high time to awake out of sleep for us to really understand what Paul is saying here I want us to just go back a little bit and help I want to establish a better understanding as to the context of this verse the church in Rome at the time Paul actually hadn't been there yet he was sending this letter to the church he hadn't visited yet but the church in Rome was set up was established by Jewish Christians many say that that many of the Jews that were present at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts helped to establish this church in Rome but Rome was was Gentile territory so you had Jewish Christians that establish this church amongst the Gentiles and and they had up and down moments as a church dependent on who was the Emperor at the time the Roman people as I said there were Gentiles they were known for having this idea of religion that that allowed you to believe what you wanted to believe as long as you didn't get too radical about it the Romans were okay you could believe this or believe that or believe in Jesus or worship this Idol or worship that or do this to do that and they weren't too worried about it that was sort of like just look just do your thing as long as you don't upset anyone and as long as you don't get too fanatical and as long as you don't push against the grain too much we're cool with you and so the Jewish Christians that have been filled with the Holy Spirit they started getting excited about Jesus and started preaching and started you know going for it and so the Emperor would would banish the church and actually essentially shut the church down and and send all the Jews away and then a new Emperor would come up and he would be like well they're not so bad let him come back and said they would let him come back and and they went through the season of sort of up and down up and down where the church was continually under attack and what ended up happening was as the church started to grow be because we know that despite what happens around us doesn't matter how strong the battle is around us there's nothing so great as the god that's within us and so the church started to preach and started to move in power and started to move in authority and Gentiles Romans saw what was going on in Romans started coming along to the church so Romans start getting safe so you got these Jewish Christians that they're like we're the real deal where the Jewish Christians and and this is what you have to do to be saved and then you've got these Roman Christians now they're getting saved and they're coming into the church but they're not Jewish Christians that they're Gentile Christians and so there's this question and this battle within the church as to who is doing what and and what they believe they all sort of believe in Jesus but the Jews were saying well if you want come to our church your Gentiles which means you've got to eat this and and you got to do that and you're going to do that and then the Romans they were Gentiles and they're like well or we all want to do that we just want to come to church and these juice like no shut up you're going to do it our way and the Romans are like no I'm gonna do it my way and so there's this sort of bickering going on I don't know if it sounds familiar or you feel that maybe it relates to where we are today as a church at large but there were issues that were going on within the church and within society that were creating this division that there was this disunity that there were these disagreements or what do you believe and what are you for and are you for this are you for that and what do you think of that and why are you not saying anything about this and why are you posting that and why did you tweet that and why don't you like that and I said they were going back and forth back and forth very similar to where we're at right now not just as a church but as a society and so what I want you to see and I want I want to set up this little little foundation for the book of Romans that we see Paul established so Paul comes into this whole thing he sees it rather from a distance and he hears of what's going on and I want to show you before we moved to our our our text main text so we're going to focus on I want to show you because this actually sets up a foundation this first verse of Romans because we see here under the banner of of this topic that we're talking about the right response let's look at Paul's response he knows what's going on he knows they're at each other and he comes in he says this Paul he introduces himself and this is powerful he says Paul a bondservant or a servant of Jesus Christ to be an apostle separated to the gospel of God I want you to see this because this is actually powerful and this verse one of Romans establishes a foundation that sets up the framework for the rest of this book and this is so important and it is the foundation of absolute and complete surrender to the things of God Paul says in order for us to deal with what's going on right now in the church I need you first and foremost to understand what it is to be a follower of Jesus Christ and that is that you need to be a complete and a Lebon servant to the things of God that while we're bickering about what my point of view is what my idea is what my thoughts are what my rights are Paul sits the first it's the foundation straight right from the start and he says you know what you don't have any rights you don't have an opinion you don't have thoughts because you actually surrender all of that to Jesus Christ and that will be the center point that will pull us all together as a people as a church as a community and as a nation the answer is Jesus and this is so important for us to understand this if you do not have that as a foundation for your Christian walk you will never build anything when I was a students truck ssin before I got saved and I was a framer and I would frame houses I never came on to a site where we were going to frame a house where there was not a foundation laid first because if you try to frame a house or frame a building that doesn't have a solid foundation the frame will not last and my challenge to us as a church right now and the body of Christ right now we talk so much well I'm going to get back to church and we're gonna get to church this Sunday and and it's almost like we hear the word of God and we start to build a frame based on what we heard on that Sunday but the problem is is that if we don't have a solid foundation by which that frame is built upon it's gonna not gonna last you will not build anything you won't go from line upon line precept upon precept you build a frame a Sunday based on the words you heard and then it'll be falling apart by Wednesday Thursday and then we come crawling back into Church saying well I need another word no no that's not God's plan for your life God's plan is that we go from glory to glory which means with the right foundation we can build every single day we can build every single week and this is what God has for us so Paul Paul says to the church if we're going to deal with this thing if we're going to set this thing straight if we're going to pull this thing together if we're going to unify as a church if we're going to unify as a people the foundation you need to have first is that we are as Christians called to live a life that is surrendered and Paul understands this because Paul is about to drop on then some of the most powerful verses and scriptures that we know in the Bible but he knows if I don't set the right foundation this thing's not going to hold so this is why he does it so he set it up and we come to this this text and I want to show you what he's saying here in Romans 13 and verse 11 Paul starts by saying these words he says this is what I want you to do this I want you to do this it speaks to us of the mandate that is not just upon the church but the mandate that is upon the people of God that I have a responsibility you have a responsibility it's not just your small group leader it's not just your pasta it's not just your parents there's a mandate there's a calling there's a purpose that's upon you to do something we are in a day and age where we are all pointing at everybody else we're telling everybody else what they should be doing when we need to be saying God what do you want me to do there's a mandate upon us this is where the right response begins the right response begins when we recognize that there is something God wants me to do and I want you to see the order of this because he says this he says undo this he says knowing the time that now the three things that I'm going to give you across these these I'm going to preach us across two sermons next week Pastor Jentezen is going to come and he's going to preach a message that is going to is going to couple so well with what we're looking at here and then the following week I'm going to preach the second part of this but I'm going to give you when it comes to the right response I'm going to give you three things and I want you to see the order in these things I want to give you first when you need to respond why you need to respond and what it is that you need to do this is what Paul says to this church he says and do this knowing the time so the win is right now not not not when you get a little bit older college students not when you step into leadership not once you get married and get get few kids and a fluffy dog a little white picket fence not once you've done everything that you want to do now when you get an opportunity to get up in the pulpit and you plan and what it is that you're gonna say what it is that you're gonna preach no God has something for you to do it's not tomorrow yes now not not when church comes back together on a Sunday we're we're so busy getting frustrated while we can't get back on Sunday and I understand this and there is a level of frustration I have also because I love Sunday church so much but don't get so frustrated about missing what God is what what you are focusing on what you want God to do tomorrow that you miss what God is trying to do today that there is something God has for you to do that and it's not he's not waiting for church to come back on Sunday he wants you to do it right now and this is important because what Paul is doing is he is establishing in the church he's establishing in the readers of this book and the church in Rome that there is a position that I need you to take and the position that I need you to take has to be taken right now when when my son is three Luca and and we've just started like like you know playing catch out in the yard and so I'll say buddy come here and I saw say stand here so I stand there looking and I've got the ball you know and I'll say stand there and put your hands out like that and what am i doing I'm getting him in position for what it is I want to give him and this is this I want you to hear me this is one of my biggest frustrations right now with where we are at as a church at large and as a society I think we have to be very careful that we are that we don't allow what is going on around us to get us out of the position that God has called us to be in because we need to understand that God is about to pour out the greatest outpouring of the Spirit of God and it is possible for us as a church to miss it because we're out of position because we're so frustrated and we're so confused and we're so distracted with everything else going on around us that we're not in the world and we're not asking God God where do you want me right now because the word says that in the last days I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh and there is about to be a pouring out but the church is going to miss it if we're so busy posting this tweeting this way angry at this person we're angry at that person were attacking these people and God is saying don't worry about all of this it caught you by surprise but it didn't get me by surprise position yourself hand get ready for a breakthrough and for a revival in and through the church right now so my challenge to us is that we ready this is what he's saying he says I want you to do this knowing the time that now that now is high time to awake say wake up look at someone on your couch and push him push your husband if you fell asleep and say wake up he says now he's had time to awake out of sleep it means - that speaks to us of opening our eyes open our eyes not not our natural eyes but the eyes of our spirit because God wants to do something in and through the church right now but we are caught sleeping because we are too often we are operating in the flesh and we're called to be people of the Spirit and God wants us to open our eyes right now and see God what do you want us to do right now show me direct me guide me speak to me through your word guide me as I pray direct and order my steps show me look God show me what to do in the spirit but there has to be an awakening that takes place where we see beyond the surface and beyond the frustrations and beyond the hurt and beyond the pain and beyond the divisive nough stats going on and we see what's happening in the spirit because what does the word say we don't battle against Alysha blood but principalities and powers in Romans are earlier on in Romans chapter 12 and verse 2 he says a familiar verse that we know and it says that we are as as people of God that we are to be we are not to conform to this world which means don't give in to or don't allow the natural things going on around you to shape or mold your response don't conform don't be don't be molded by what you see and and this we've got to be so careful as people of God because we are bombarded everything every single day with images with information we're reading things with text we're seeing text we're seeing posts we're scroll and continually continually and if we are not careful we will allow the things going on around us in the natural to actually mold and shape the response we have but that's not the right response it goes on and says don't be conformed to this world but be transformed but be transformed by the renewing of my mind but this is what I want to get to right now by the renewing of um my mind why that I may prove what is that good acceptable and perfect will of God the word prove it means to discern which is another way of describing to see so how do i how do I wake up and see what's going on it's when my mind is transformed therefore I get renewed there needs to be a renewing that takes place by a transformed mind in the Word of God in order to be able to see you're not going to see what's going on if you're just living your life based upon what's on your feed you're gonna miss it because you have to understand if you start looking what's on your feed what feeding start to feed you and start to guide you and start to direct you and you start living in faith I start living in fear and not faith God wants to reveal her God wants to show what is the right response what's the right rapport response so he give he gives us the wind when it's right now now let's look real quickly and I want to show you this so this is what he's saying he says and do this look at these words if you can see on this screen Paul says and do this knowing the time that now is high time to awake out of sleep right so if we were in church right now if we were in this building and I got up and I said right now now is the time to awake out of sleep we will all get on our feet and we'll go yeah and we scream and we get excited because we won why do we recognize as a church and as the people of God that that we need to do something why because if you in we would be real honest we know how crazy things are isn't it so so let's do this real quickly I want to write down what we're gonna go to school we've been okay you ready want to write down okay so why why does the church need to arise let's think let's let's think let me think of some things that that I've said and maybe you've said and we've all said in the last few months right why do we have to step up as a church why do we have to arise why do we have to do something let's write some things down what about this I've said this before yes and this this is crazy someone said that to me yesterday I said how you doing bro I said man this is crazy how many people said that let's write that this is crazy what about this one someone said this to me as well I'm freaking out does anyone said that Bran freak it out what's going on get covert I'm freaking out this right I'm freaking out okay what else have we what well let's just let's just write down some things that we know is going on there that people are anxious we're anxious well we're fearful and then what's what's going on us this this what about just this this sucks this sucks my business is fall apart I haven't been to work some people have told I haven't been I haven't been back to work the business is for people people are hurting it's hurt and this and there's bitterness so so in our minds when we think when I get up there and I get up right now and I preach and we look at Romans 13:11 and we say it's time for the church arise in our minds we think why do we need to arise because of all this crap is that all right because why do we need to arise because I see what's is on the news right now I see the violence I see the hurt I see the pain I see the divisive nosov the enemy and we think in our minds this is why we need to arise but let me show you something because it's wrong it's that's not what Paul says it would make sense wouldn't it it would preach great and in a moment they're going to show you the rest of this first this would make sense and do this knowing the time that now is high time to awake out of sleep because the enemy is attacking so bad that would make sense wouldn't it now is the high time to awake out of sleep because people are freaking out because there's anxiety because this fear because of her because it sucked because there's so much bitterness because the enemy is working it would that would make sense but what does the word of God say throw it up real quick for our salvation is nearer than when we first believed hang on set Paul wait up bro just give me a second you're telling me that I need to arise not in reaction to what the devil is doing but you're telling me that I need to arise in response at what God has done because now is not the time for the church to arise because of all this crap now is the time for the church to arise because of salvation that we need to rise up as a church not in reaction to the enemy but in response to the cross in knowing that now actually is the greatest time for the church now is not a time for us to live reactionary but the right response is to say God still good that that's got to fuel us as a church this is the problem this is the problem too often we let the enemy set the pace for our praise [Music] so the worse things get we know this it sounds churchy it sounds Christian and it sounds like I should tweet it that would that the worse it gets the more I praise we ever said that before doesn't that mean that the devil is setting the pace at which I'm gonna praise so then my praise is like up and down why am I not growing in God because you're praising based upon your problems but we as Christians need to praise based upon the promise that my salvation salvation it means freedom it means deliverance it means hope this has got to be the focus of our response right now telling you Church there's a greater place of depth that God wants us to go to where we are no longer living lives that are in reaction to what the enemy is doing around us let me show you real quickly and I'm going to close second chronicles 20 Jehoshaphat Jehoshaphat is coming up the Moabites the ammonites emirates cellulites all these jokers right he's come up against him and assists so they rose early in the morning Jehoshaphat has jokers all around him it's bad bro yeah I mean this thing is a mess Roselli in the morning went out the wilderness of Toccoa and as they came out you're hot chef at stood and said he's speaking to his army he says o Judah a new inhabitants of Jerusalem look at these words believe in the Lord your God listen if I was trying to if I was trying to rally you know I used to play football Australian rules football it's like it's like American football but we don't have helmets and pads we're not that smart and so in Australian rules football I mean it's it's tough I mean you're gonna get hit hard and it's gonna hurt and we would we would you know gather together in the locker room you know get pumped up get excited I see this is playing you know and and and if I'm gonna rally guys I'm gonna focus all of their attention and energy upon their opponent we would we would come up against teams and and and we would remember how much they beat us last time and we get together you know if you like member those morons well yeah we hate them you know let's go get on you know like this type of thing and it's silly in NN but that's what we're doing in the church we're like man the enemy's attacking yeah he's but my problem tells me that greater is He that is in me then he that's in the world so so what Jehoshaphat does is he doesn't gather his troops and say look at these Emirates and look at these dudes coming against us we're gonna smoke him these guys the idiots these guys are morons let's go kill him no he gathers his troops and he says believe in the Lord your God he says fix your attention upon your God and you're gonna get a strength from that focus that will fuel you'll to be what God has called you to be right now we have got to have the right response as the people of God this will move you listen search this will move you forward it will move you forward and you will no longer live in reaction to what the enemy's been doing but you'll shift and start to live in response to what your God has done he says now it's time to wake up why because this is the greatest day for the Church of Jesus Christ and we're not preaching that enough we're not talking about how powerful our God is we're not talking about how good he is how he stands for what is right what is pure what is just we're not talking about the fact that no weapon formed against us will prosper we're not talking about the fact that my steps are ordered by the Lord even when I go through a dark place I'm gonna come out when I don't focus on the dark but I focus on the light that is Jesus we don't talk about the fact that he's covering us that his hands upon us as a nation that while this may have surprised us it didn't surprise him get your focus of what's going on around you and get it upon the God who has appointed and anointed you it's the right response and I want to pray for us right now and the biggest thing I want to pray right now off this first part of this message is on and pray against distractions because we're getting distracted the enemy might have taken you your business yeah some of you declared bankruptcy maybe you haven't been able to get back to work maybe he got sick maybe he lost a loved one through this pandemic maybe this racial divide and tension right now is stirring up all this hurt this pain that the enemy is trying to keep in front of you to try and paralyze you from your purpose and from your destiny maybe you'll see your so be seen as some of you that are so busy you you don't miss a beat on politics you can tell me who's doing this and who's doing now and while they're doing this and why they're doing that you're spending more time as CNN and Fox News than you are in your word and you wonder why you're walking in fear in our faith we've got to church we have got to I am so concerned that the church is out of position [Music] we're over here running around here doing all this and the enemy is setting the agenda it's time for us to have the right response and say God I'm in your word guys showing me God speak to me God guide me right now in Jesus name I want you all just as you as you're watching just to close your eyes some of you need to just repent for allowing yourself to be distracted to be held down to be bogged down by what's going on around I pray right now lord over each and every one of us but that you would give us clarity clarity in our minds clarity in our hearts it should help us to focus God that we would focus on what is the right response not based on what I perhaps feel but based on what I know in God's Word I pray it over every single person if you're watching this message and you have never actually made a decision to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior you need to pray a prayer with me right now it's such a simple prayer but it's the most powerful thing you will do in your whole entire life it's receiving him into your heart that it's not by works that you're saved but it's by grace it's by the goodness of God and if that's you I want you to pray this prayer with me just where you are while you're watching this screen say with me say dear Jesus I ask you now to come into my heart to forgive me to wash me clean and to make me new I surrender my life to you I don't want to let the enemy set the agenda of my life anymore and I surrender to you come and be my Lord be my Savior and be my best friend in Jesus Christ name a man we are so so proud of you if you pray that prayer right across the bottom of the screen I want you to follow the prompts on the screen they're telling you what to text in the number the text or two because we want to reach out to you and get and resource you a little bit to help you continue this journey that you've just begun it's the greatest journey the greatest decision you can make in your whole life Church I want to thank you for streaming this message online as I said earlier next Sunday our senior pastor Pastor Jentezen Franklin is going to take off from here and preach an incredibly powerful word he is the father of our house and our and all of our campuses over this whole church a free chapel and so I would love if you could tune in next week following that we're gonna pick it up and we're going to actually continue with this word because today we looked at when we looked at why but next time we preach we're going to look at what what as we look at what the right response is we recognize the wind we recognize now why we're responding we're not responding because the enemy were responding because of god but God what is it that you want us to do as the church and that's all we're gonna talk about next time we love you we're praying for you have an amazing amazing blessed Sunday we'll see you next week [Music]

Channel: Free Chapel OC

Views: 1,035

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: right, response, Jesus, free chapel, free chapel oc, God, faith, live, live free, floc, Holy Spirit, jentezen, jentezen Franklin, Jesus is king, believe, advice, God speaking, victory, overcome, inspiration, motivation, worship, church, church online, california

Id: OyvQNCzFl7k

Length: 46min 27sec (2787 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 08 2020