Rob McKee - Success Through Sacrifice

and everybody sing all to jesus [Music] is i surrender my surrender i surrender [Music] i [Music] oh to be mine [Applause] [Music] everything i am [Music] nothing back i surrendered everything i heard everything i am [Music] [Music] everything i am holding nothing back [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] you know i give you everything [Music] i surrender all i surrender [Music] i surrender all cry out to him [Music] take my nothing else we give our lives to you lord we surrender our will to you lord everything belongs to your lord [Music] i'm holding nothing but your prayer tonight [Music] holding nothing but i surrendered lift up [Music] control [Music] forever [Music] you can have whatever [Music] oh jesus [Music] take my might you can have my will it's yours it's yours take my heart take my might lord take my will it's yours [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] come on i know they were waiting to move on but what the lord really desires from us is complete and total surrender he wants to be lord over your life this morning he wants to take control of your situation this morning but first you've got to take your hands off of it and say god i give it all to you every worry every doubt every fear every weight all my shame god take it all you can have it jesus search my heart and take everything that you find you can search the secret places god you can search the hidden places search every dark place of my heart jesus and take it all [Music] one more time i surrendered why don't you put your hands together and give the lord a handclap of praise this morning [Music] god we submit ourselves to you your plan your design your purpose we applaud you god we applaud you in the name of the lord amen you may be seated amen how many are glad to be in service this sunday morning amen how many are thankful for the presence of the lord that we feel in this place amen i want to take just a few moments and talk with you about some things that have transpired here in the last couple weeks and that will be taking place in the next couple weeks and we are today focusing on succeeding through sacrifice this is part of our imagine campaign and if you happen to be here this morning and you have not received one of the packets this was on our very first sunday the imagine campaign you did not receive one of our our packets it's got all kinds of material in it if you just raise your hand and the ushers will bring you one of those then a couple weeks ago we had what is called the discovery resource planner if you never received a discovery resource planner you can raise your hand and they will give you one of those too i want to take just a moment explain discovery resource planner a couple weeks ago i was talking about it and if you just need one of the packets raise your hand and there'll be a discovery resource planner here in a moment if you need one of those we may have everyone covered we've been doing this most sundays but uh let me explain real quickly if you have not looked at the discovery resource planner take some time looking at it you may be wondering okay what's going on around here what are we doing well here's the bottom line we are believing god for a 600 soul revival and that is 600 new disciple makers we believe it it's going to happen and part of that journey is that we need to build a new sanctuary and additional offices and expand ministries and there's a lot to that and part of this in the discovery resource planner will explain what is going on now it's got in the discovery source planner how to budget if you need a budget and you don't know what your budget is it'll help you with that but it's not a budget necessarily tool you can find good budget tools online but what it really does cover is what we are doing here the next few weeks and the next few weeks we will receive the largest offering that we have ever received at one time on a sunday morning it will take place i'm excited already looking forward to that sunday and along with that we'll be making commitments of not only just that one-time offering but also a yearly offering and then a monthly offering and this is over a course of three years all of this is in the discovery resource plan there's a lot of details a lot of explanation i could take time and read that to you today but when i got done it would probably be about time to go home and so i don't want to do that but i encourage you to take some time and look through it also if you have not done so um the small um i think it was small group but the actual the bible study the devotions in that we have uh you want to participate in that that's also in the packet they were handing out a moment ago it's four weeks five lessons each week on devotions and if you have not taken time to go through those they're outstanding very very encouraging um but today we we are talking this is our second sunday of talking about the how we've been talking about the what we know we saw here on the screen a few weeks ago our new sanctuary in the lobby and there's a lot going on with our youth we'll have a new sanctuary soon there's stuff that will take place in here as this turns back or turns into a gymnasium and then um also for multiple purposes here in in this sanctuary but the large part of that being spanish ministry as we continue moving forward there's different levels of what is going on even within spanish ministry of potential growth as we continue to our remodel and um so a lot of that has been taking place a lot of information now it's like how do we do this how do we do this and a big part of this how is that we're not going to build this building that god is leading us to towards building by selling peanut brittle otherwise if it is we're going to have to start a national peanut brittle day and everybody has to buy peanut brittle and eat it every day for a year and we may be able to you know raise enough money to through peanut brittle but but we're not gonna we're not we're not going to um build a building through the peanut butter instead what we're gonna do is we're gonna give and the lord is gonna supply and he is a god who supplies and uh you're going to be hearing about this today and i want to and before the creator comes and receives the offering i want to give you just one example of what i'm talking about right now i remember a few years ago and we were in a transitional season of our life and um i was driving around 465 in indianapolis indiana and when i received a phone call from a friend in california who said eugene are you ready to go to asia we're going to make a missionary trip and i remember thinking to myself i would love to go i have a passion for asia and i would love to go but i really don't have the money right now in this season of our life and if i go i'm not going to receive any kind of offering and going when you speak overseas you don't receive an offering you pay your way there and you don't receive anything and and my only income right now is through ministry here in the states and and helping some churches do some remodels and if i'm gone i'm not gonna receive any money so not only do i have the expense in going but i'm also giving away two weeks of income and and i i remember driving him down the road and i just simply said a prayer as i was driving i said god do you want me to go and instantly i just felt like say yes and i said i have no idea how this is going to work out but i feel led to say yes and he said well i'm going to help you with one of those he said i have a friend who's going to pay your entire way to to asia he's going to take care of all expense and i thought okay thank you lord that took care of one aspect of it but i'm given two weeks away and i don't know where that's coming from but i said yes and i went on with the plans and about three months later we are i'm a week away from headed to asia and i receive a phone call and the guy said man i'm so sorry to tell you this but the guy who's gonna take care of everything he's gonna take care of this this and this but you need a thousand dollars so now i'm like okay now i'm out two weeks plus i need a thousand dollars where is this going to come from a few days later i'm with a friend of mine out in maryland and he's not apostolic doesn't doesn't get everything that we get and he's just he's just not there but on the last day i'm leaving his house and he says i just really felt led of the lord to do this he said i don't know why and he's just a good guy and and he says here's a check and he said i just really felt led of the lord to give to you and he gave me a check for one thousand dollars which took care of the thousand dollars i needed for the trip god's like working it out and so i make my trip to asia i come back again i've given up two weeks i get back in a service that i'm supposed to be a part of i'm not the speaker and lo and behold to my surprise afterwards they gave me a check for seven hundred dollars he said you've been doing missions we want to bless you check for 700 it wasn't just a couple of days later someone calls me up and says i just feel led to give you this and there was a check for 2500. and i i just simply say i said all that just to simply say this i i preached last sunday night for an hour and two minutes someone said it was an hour and five it was an hour and two i went back and checked and and just so you all know i was preaching to myself that's why it took so long i needed to hear it you don't give out of your resources when god speaks to you that's that's that's part of it when god speaks to you you give out of your source [Music] let me explain and i'm going to go away let me explain the little woman she said i just got a little bit of flour and oil but she gave it because god had already said give it she gave it that was her last of her resources but she tapped into a source who gave her enough oil and flour to sustain her and her son throughout the entire famine amen i want to say it again i know i'm not preaching right now i'm just talking but i'm gonna say it again when god begins to speak to you god begins to deal with you you obey what god is speaking to you and deal with you about don't don't worry about what the resources are because when god begins to speak to you he understands that he's the source and god will supply all of your need and can everyone say amen amen brother korea [Music] would you clap to the lord again this morning hallelujah i love to be encouraged thank you dr wilson for encouraging us this morning reminding us that we need to walk by faith and not by sight we want to give you an opportunity to be faithful in your tithe and offering this morning if you need an envelope please raise your hand the ushers are going to be making their way through the congregation keep in mind there are several ways to give here at the pentecostals as you'll see on the screen behind me i have just a few announcements that i want to mention today is the last day of february so we have a a new month coming up full of things uh including our membership class small groups this coming friday there's actually going to be a youth rally and next friday as well so parents be aware the kids are going to be coming or the young people are going to be coming and looking for you and asking for money and let them have the money they need to go have a good time and then go out with their friends and eating all that good stuff but they're going to be blessed i know that they're going to be encouraged i know they're going to hear what they need to hear and we want to make sure that you know that as well we also want to mention this is the fifth service in our imagine campaign has anybody been enjoying all these special services that we've been having amen i have thoroughly enjoyed all the services this is our succeed through sacrifice service but i also want to mention next sunday morning we have a very very special service there's going to be something in this sanctuary that's going to be completely new something that you've never seen before and i want to just leave that with you so you can come and be excited to see what's gonna be going on every service is different because we have so many things that we're talking about leading through and walking through this journey together as a church so next sunday we have another special service that we want to remind you of and we will have services at 8 and 10 for our campaign i also want to mention that tonight at 5 30 we're going to have church-wide prayer as a church before service for the campaign and tomorrow we're going to have the day of fasting now if you can't fast food but because of maybe medication issues and you have to eat with your food that's perfectly fine i like what dr wilson says he says fast something that is of a sacrifice if it's media for young people if it's video games or social media whatever the case is something that does hurt you know to to put down or stop doing so you can uh so we can all be joined together in this and this fast for the for this campaign and i also want to mention nope those are the announcements with that would you stand to your feet with me this morning i'm so happy to be in god's house today and i know that we have a tremendous tremendous message coming up but in the meantime let's pray for the tithes and offering thank you lord god for everything that you bless us with thank you for the doors of opportunity that you're going to open through this journey god thank you for provision and opening doors for those that are in need bring your entire offering to the lord this morning [Music] i thank the lord for my blessings for all the ways he has kept me and i can't forget how he saved my soul i got a reason to praise the lord i thank the lord he is he is he gave me a testimony he's done so much for me [Music] yes [Applause] woke me up this morning [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] [Music] hallelujah clap your hands all ye people and shout unto the lord with a voice of triumph has god been good to you hallelujah let your voice out pentecostals this is the day that the lord has made let's rejoice and be glad in it [Music] [Applause] god bless you you can be seated for just a moment we want to take this opportunity to welcome our guests we're so very thankful each of you are with us today if it is your first time or your second time to be with us here at the pentecostals you should have received a first or second time guest card on the way in there are some free gifts associated with that and we want you to have them so if it's your first time or your second time and you didn't fill out a card on the way in lift your hand the ushers will get that to you at this time first time or second time guest and you did not fill out a card looks like we got everybody we caught over here on the left keep your hand up just a moment longer thank you very much all right anyone else first or second time guest and you didn't fill out a card on the way in all right well we are so very happy all of you are with us today pentecostals while we're thinking of it we don't want to overlook it let's welcome our online audience those that are listening via revival radio we're so glad you're with us today we pray this service blesses you amen now pentecostals will you help me welcome our guests i have several names here and i need your help all right all right so uh to our guests when i call your name or something that sounds like your name if uh you would just lift your hand so we can see where you're seated we don't want to embarrass you but we do want to greet you all right first time guests john katie addison and danica where are you folks at this morning lift your hand right here in the middle section god bless you we're so glad you're here today all right michaela and donna is the guest of ranchica where are you folks at this morning over here on the right god bless you keep your hand up there they are right there god bless you we're so glad you're here our second time guest angela bartos there she is right down front angela we're so glad you're here today god bless you all right special guest caleb and sarah kovelt this is a guest of the salazars these folks wave your hand on us right there there they are god bless you we're so glad you're here today all right now in just a moment we are going to have a period of time where we'll move around the auditorium will shake hands if you are trying to social distance and you don't want to shake hands our rushers are coming down the aisle now with no contact stickers maybe there's someone in your home you're trying to protect an at-risk person so if you'd rather not shake hands lift your hand and the usher will get you a sticker just now here they are this is your chance you can you can uh there's no judgment we understand we want to respect your wishes so if you'd rather not shake hands lift your hand right here in the middle section on your left brother sean brother there you go yes thank you very much keep your hand up just a moment longer we want you to have that sticker if you need it right here in the middle section thank you brother dylan amen uh ushers we need somebody else over on the right hand side [Music] all right still some hands up over here on the right right back there thank you brother sean don't our rushering staff do a fantastic job amen we love and appreciate them so very much could not get along without brother sean and his team amen anyone else needs a no contact sticker and you didn't receive one yet wave your hand stand up and shout whatever you need to do we want to make sure you have that so here's what's going to happen we're going to put three minutes on the clock we're all going to stand now there's a time period where our children will be dismissed this is not that but we're all going to stay here in the auditorium after the greeting so three minutes on the clock we make our way around the auditorium shake hands with every person you can make sure you go by and see our guests let's stand together three minutes on the clock god bless you amen go and shake hands greet one another in jesus name [Music] do [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is can separate us who can separate the love of jesus jesus [Music] is [Music] he never left my timer [Music] is [Applause] [Music] my is my mind [Music] my face [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] yes my is [Music] yes [Music] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] is there anybody who's made up your mind today no matter what the world offers i'm sold out completely dedicated i'm all in holding nothing back i am sold out turn to your neighbor and tell them i'm sold out telling my mind's made up i have decided i'm going to follow jesus my course is set i plotted my destination amen it doesn't matter what the world offers amen my mind is made up thank you choir oh you have another choir so all right well god bless the choirs they come back and sing again you may be seated momentarily i'm glad you came and got me catching my breath but i'm so amazed how easily we lose our focus and have to be reminded to trust them in the lord and not ourselves and that his way is the right way there's a way this seems right to us but the end is disaster and so we have to continually put ourselves on the altar of sacrifice and say lord have your way but that can't happen unless we have a move of his spirit when the presence of the lord begins to sweep into service like this and we come together our will begins to crumble and melt in his presence and we're able to yield to his will and to his way and we'll never be the people god's called us to be until we can walk according to the voice of the spirit according to his will so this song as we transition into the word into the the message for this moment i want us just to focus our hearts on being open and letting the lord have his way because we need an outpour of his spirit not a program not checking the clock not making ourselves feel better but a true outpouring of his spirit this song is a personal prayer and as we sing it you begin to learn it make it your prayer as well lord we need an outpour of your spirit feel this [Music] this place [Music] me [Music] we want you to [Music] how [Music] way [Music] send your glory [Music] you're [Music] [Music] is [Music] right here [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] is [Music] we need your power [Applause] [Music] is oh [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Music] i am is [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] [Music] you're the potter lord i'm just [Music] [Applause] amen hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah amen amen we want the lord to have his way let god's will be done in this place today amen thank you choir god bless you you can go down amen amen god is so good i am so thankful for what the lord is doing i was just over with our spanish sanctuary a moment ago and uh we haven't having a tremendous service over there and uh i'm just so grateful for what god is doing thank you sarah that's beautiful lady that was leading us and singing is my wife cher i'm very grateful for her thank god for her and uh amen it's just it's just uh it's a blessing to serve the lord god bless you may be seated amen i want to take just a moment and for those who i have yet to meet my name is rob mckee and uh it is an honor to have you here with us today i serve as the senior pastor here at the pentecostals we're thrilled that each of you are with us today now i know we've shaken hands but why don't you turn around and just look around you and smile at somebody nearby and uh just somebody in your section i just want to i want you to whisper to him you make our section look really good tell them that all right amen thank god for what he is doing at this time we're going to uh or in just a moment we're going to to uh dismiss our children and pre-teen but before i do i want to mention a few other guests that that slipped in and it is so good to have you if you could just kind of wave at me it's great to have michael liz albright michael liz oh yes god bless you folks good to see you amen wonderful folks it is also uh great to have uh clifton brown clifton where are you seated yes back in the back god bless you sir good to have you here and also uh nicholas irve second time guest nicholas god bless you man good to have you here with us today amen all right well at this time we're going to dismiss all of our children ages two through nine ages two through nine you can stand up and make your way to your class if we have any guests in that age if you want to slip over and check your children in we want to make sure they get in you can do that at this time all right well that's good also all of our preteen this is ages 10 11 and 12. you're having uh service today and so if you want to stand ages 10 11 and 12 and make your way out into the foyer just stand there if you're unsure if you're guest here you can just follow some of these kids that look like they know exactly where they're going just follow them and they will show you how to get there that's it all those kids that know where to go just look around for somebody that doesn't and just invite them to come along with you amen all right praise the lord so good to um to have a church with ministry for children and that's it's a priority we talked about it last weekend and i want to encourage you if god spoke to you last week about getting involved in a ministry uh involving our youth or children then whatever the next generation might be represent to you i want to encourage you to follow through with that all you have to do is stop by the connections booth following service and say i'm i am ready to uh to start helping out in a ministry and they will they'll get you connected with the department leader in that area and but i'm so thankful for the opportunity that we all have to serve the lord amen why don't we all stand together i am thankful for god's word i believe that when we preach the word of the lord or teach the word of the lord we should always approach god's word with an expectancy and a reverence for the power of the word it's not about the speaker it doesn't matter who's speaking or who's preaching that we ought to reverence the word of god in our life and uh even if we're reading the word i think sometimes even the approach to reading the word of god makes a difference in what you receive and so there's a course that we sing before we speak on sunday morning and uh if you're unfamiliar with it you can look on the screen the words will be on the screens and so you can just join in with us i'm asking our my wife if she will please help us and lead it and why don't you just join in with us and sing together word of god word of god speak to me if you have your bible pick it up and hold it to your heart right [Music] [Music] i'm ready to receive the word of god [Music] speak to me [Music] [Music] amen amen if you will turn in your bibles to matthew the gospel of matthew and we will begin reading in verse number uh 38 7 chapter 7 and verse number 38 amen preached this message this morning at the earlier service i'm i just sort of felt to preach it a bit different today so amen i believe that god is is doing something within our church and that will prepare us and lead us into a tremendous revival we're already seeing growth every week and i'm thankful for what god is doing but i really feel that uh where god is taking us as a church will be greater than anything we've ever seen and not just not just so we can claim we got a bigger church but i believe that god is stirring up ministries within individuals here in the congregation that's really the key to it all is god empowering challenging pulling us out of our comfort zone so that we can do the work that god has called us to do and so matthew chapter 7 and verse number 38 let's all read it out loud together give i'm sorry amen let me make sure i got it right all right i'll get it right in a minute [Music] well 7-7 sorry here we go give and it shall be given is that right all right there we go i knew i had the right chapter all right give and it shall be given unto you good measure pressed down and shaken together and running over shall men give into your bosom for with the same measure that ye might with all it shall be measured to you again amen give and it shall be given unto you good measure pressed down and shaken together and running over shall men give into your bosom with the same measures somebody said the same measure that he might with all it shall be measured to you again amen please forgive me i wrote that down by memory and apparently my memory doesn't work luke 6 38 thank you we're going to get it right eventually amen thank the lord man we are way off today god bless you're dismissed and jesus said no i'm i'm picking amen we need to all right let's pray and god ask god to help us rescue this in jesus name lord i thank you thank you for the power of your word thank you lord for what your word declares i ask that you would help us today help us lord jesus to hear your voice and all that we say and do and everybody said in jesus name amen turn around to three people and tell them luke 6 and 38 [Music] tell them even the pastor gets it wrong sometimes amen all right luke 6 and verse 38. i just wanted to confirm it so i looked it up on my ipad just now to make sure he was telling the truth all right amen it was in uh 1952 1952 that a dentist in upstate new york invented an innovative outdoor outdoor game in his barn and he pitched the idea to the gaming and toy company hasbro the entire committee uh the board of directors thought this was a tremendous idea they all said what a great idea let's put it in production they disagreed about the name the branding of this particular game but they decided that it was a game that could be played in anyone's backyard and by children of any age regardless of how young they are any child can play this game and they are going to love it and so they decided we're going to invest in this game and um what was the game well the game went by uh several different names uh this the first packaging uh was called javelin darts and uh it was also called jarts that was another name for it but the idea was uh we're gonna have children stand opposite of one another and we're gonna have a heavy sharp dart that we're going to ask these children to throw up in the air and try to hit a circle with a child standing beside it now we probably know it as lawn darts it didn't take long before disaster hit of course it was a it was a hit it was a hit in american homes in many ways and what wasted one unfortunately sadly three children were gruesomely and unsurprisingly impaled and killed by the airborne darts throughout the 60s and 70s over 6 000 insurance claims of children that were injured by lawn darts and um it didn't really work out it's it turned out to be a very uh very unprofitable investment for the for the company hasbro and uh they ended up paying out more in insurance claims than than they ever made on selling the product in the first place this brings up a a point of investment by the way the lawn darts were discovered in 1980 that they were being used by rival gangs in new york in new york and they were using lawn darts as weapons against other gangs so not all investments are wise investments can we all agree with that but whenever you invest anything into the kingdom of god it will always pay more than your initial investment people have invested and lost in every possible arena of wealth folks have invested in stocks in the stock market in bonds and loss they've invested in real estate and they've lost precious metals and precious metals have the price of precious metals has gone down they've lost they've invested in coins in stamps in bitcoins they've invested in futures invested in in whether or not the market would rise or fall the only investment that is an absolute guarantee in the world is the kingdom of god the bible is filled with a lot of truths and promises of god but today with the help of the lord i want to talk to you about success through sacrifice talk to you about the investment of sacrifice there are over 8 promises which are given in scripture there are roughly 7817 of those promises that are given from god to humanity we know that god is a blesser if you believe it say amen but too often um we miss some of the principles of god's blessing you see any time god gives a blessing he always typically should say precedes the blessing with a promise of blessing james 1 tells us that every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the father of lights with whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning if if we're going to talk about the blessings of god and how that god blesses sacrifice and how god blesses our our offerings then we really have to focus on the consistency of god what good is it to invest in something that pays dividends today but may not pay dividends tomorrow i want you to understand that god has put his reputation on the line he's put his character in check as collateral for his promise every good gift and every perfect gift is from above it all comes from god and with god there is no variableness and no shadow of turning it's it's interesting that james uses a shadow as the opposite of what god is god is not like the shifting shadows some translations say in the morning your shadow may be cast towards the west and then in the evening it's cast towards the east your shadow may change depending on how close you are to um to the light as a matter of fact the moment you begin to walk your shadow will always change uh your environment could change your shadow if you're standing next to someone or something else that could change your shadow but with god there is no variableness there is no shadow of change there is he is the same yesterday today and forever amen he's going to bless you the same in the morning as he does in the evening he's going to bless you regardless of your environment regardless of what you're around or who you're around god's faithfulness is consistent amen let's establish that that god is consistent now this idea this principle that i want to preach this morning and teach this morning i think is important because it it it covers so many different areas of our our service i i used to preach it a lot and i don't say it enough that everything that we do in christian service is a matter of worship everything that we do it should be an expression of our worship to god it ought to even obedience is an expression of worship to the lord what the choir was singing about that attitude of surrender have thy way o lord it's we surrender ourselves to god as a matter of recognizing his deity his omnipotence his presence his love his compassion for us his mercy towards we know i can trust god with my life i can trust god with my future anybody here trust the lord if you trust him say amen amen and and so this idea that everything we do is a matter of worship to god is especially true when it comes to personal sacrifice when when god pulls us out of our our routine and we are we are putting our trust in god to the point that if god does not come through we don't know how it's all going to work out in john 14 and i'm i'm pretty sure it's john 14. jesus is preparing his disciples for a very uncertain future and he knew that there would be questions and days of perplexing trouble as he is walking and approaching calvary he's getting ready to sacrifice himself on the cross and and he tells his disciples let not your heart be troubled ye believe in god believe also in me he said in my father's house are many mansions if it were not so i would have told you i go to prepare a place for you and if i go and prepare a place for you i will come again and receive you unto myself that where i am there ye may be also aren't you thankful for that promise amen now what what the lord speaks to us from scripture is often through our own paradigm we are after the fact of his resurrection and the outpouring of the holy ghost but to the disciples this particular verse meant to them i'm going to remove myself from your presence i'm not going to be with you much longer i'm walking away we're separating for a season but i want you to be encouraged when you can't see me i want you to know what i'm up to what i'm doing and i also want you to understand that you have a promise i'm going to come back and get you what i'm preparing i'm preparing for you what i'm putting together in my absence is for your sake and i'm going to come and get you and introduce you to the inheritance that that i have prepared for you and so um this that's that alone is is a powerful that that we even when we can't see god he's always working on our benef for our benefit and on our behalf that sometimes in life i don't know where god is but even though i don't know where he is i can trust him that god has not forsaken me god hasn't let me down that even in his absence supposed absence i need to know i can trust the lord because he's doing something for me and when he gets done doing it preparing it working it putting it together he's going to come back and grab me and introduce me to my inheritance and all the time that i felt alone and isolated and i felt like god didn't care it will in that moment be worth it all because i'm gonna see what he was up to it's a blessing it's a blessing in the absence of the lord but all of that really is you know it sort of pales because the next moment he says something so unusual um that really it sort of bothered me a bit verse number 4 he says and whither i go ye know and the way you know this week i was meditating on the scripture i didn't know i was going to use it today i thought it was just god speaking to me and and but this scripture really bothered me because he was talking to a select small group of people and he was telling them the way that i'm going you know it and where i'm going you know it you know it's almost like a week to the side saying and you know where i'm going and you know the way that i'm going now how many believes the lord never lies okay i think we could all agree with that that god always speaks the truth but it's this verse that really bothered me because the very next verse thomas now we know thomas at times would put his foot in his mouth and he was a man we call doubting thomas but often you know there's doubt in the room it's just nobody else says it thank god for doubting thomas at least had enough guts to admit there's always going to be people in the crowd thinking i don't know what the world he's talking about i have no idea but they'll never say it and so you know thank god for those people that will just speak up and admit i don't know what you're talking about because it was thomas that responded and and he said lord we don't know where you're going and and we don't know the way either now that was in direct conflict with what jesus just said he said you know where i'm going and you know how i'm getting there you know the way thomas said no we don't know and we we don't know the way we're supposed to know apparently but anytime jesus speaks he always speaks truth because when he responds you know we all agreed earlier we settled it that that jesus never lies and so is it possible that thomas knew but he didn't know he knew is it possible that thomas knew where he was going but didn't know he knew where he was going i know that sounds really confusing it doesn't make a lot of sense is it possible that he knew the way but he didn't know that he knew the way sounds a little contradictory to you i'm telling this is the kind of conversation i was having with myself this week you're telling me i know something and i'm telling you i don't know anybody's wife do that to you you know what i told you earlier no no idea anybody's husband do that to you all right just yeah you know no clueless don't know don't have no idea what you're talking that's what was happening here and jesus responded to him and said thomas i told you you know the way and i and and you know where i'm going and you know the way here's the revelation i am the way i am the truth and i am the life so even though you think you don't know you really do know if you know me then you know the answer that you think you don't know [Applause] i i just i feel i feel the challenge the last few weeks i have felt it spiritually felt people straining against the calling of god god is calling people to get involved in ministry to do things for this vision of of doubling our church membership and and in such a short time and god's calling you and he's pulling at you and many people are wrestling spiritually with this idea i don't know how i'm gonna do this i don't know how i'm gonna work it out i don't know how i'm going to do what god is calling me to do i don't have the time i don't have the resources i don't have the job that i need to have i don't know how it's going to work out i want to tell you that's a lie of the enemy you do know the only way it's going to happen is jesus jesus is the way amen [Applause] somebody shout jesus is the way the only way it's going to happen is jesus i i know that sounds good and it preaches a little bit jesus yeah got to have jesus jesus is the way but if you've got jesus with you you get to share in the attributes of the lord it means it really doesn't matter what your limitations are if you've got the lord and and you're on the lord's team then whatever resources god has they also belong to you that's why i can be a little shepherd boy with just a little experience protecting sheep and i can march out on the battlefield for the first time in my life and i can take on the biggest enemy the biggest soldier with boldness and declare i don't come at you with a sword and a shield but i come at you in the name i'm walking in the power in the authority of the name of the lord of hosts if god be for us who can be against us [Applause] the power is in partnership that's really what it's all about the power is in partnership if god is with me there's no such thing as impossible amen if god is with me there's no such thing as impossible matthew 1 and 27 gabriel is talking to mary and he's talking about this incredible thing that god is going to do with her using her as a vessel and he says mary i don't want you to worry about how all of this is going to happen with god nothing is impossible now mary would have told you that before her problem wasn't that she was imagining or worried that god couldn't do it where her doubt entered her mind was was can god do that through me that's our real issue all of us believe god's a blesser oh yeah but when it gets personal then we have questions but will god do that in my situation will god make a way with my issues i know man i love to hear those testimonies all the people standing up talking about how god gave them this miracle and that miracle but will god do that for me that's the real challenge we have to remember that trusting god is is also trusting god through your weakness and if you can't trust god through you then you really don't trust god we think that god is limited or strengthened by the tool that he uses that god is somehow limited in his ability that that well you know if if it's a spiritual if it's one of these guys up here then god would come through because look at them they're so spiritual you can tell they just got that halo look there's just a haze across them angels just circling around it now if if it was one of them then yeah i imagine yeah the lord would do it because they've got the education and they've got the ability to preach and teach and they've got you know they've got this this incredible skill level and experience with god but i don't have what they have therefore god is more limited in my life than he is in their life but scripture tells us that his strength is made perfect in weakness so that means that the person that thinks that they're strong is actually one of the least likely to be used of god now thank god for the humility of all of these men they're gifted they're talented thank god for their humility the the anointing the ministry that god gives us does not flow through our strengths it flows through our weaknesses that's how great god is he doesn't need our resources what he needs is our willingness to invest our weakness [Applause] amen because when the anointing comes on you you can pick up the jawbone of a donkey and kill thousands when the anointing falls on you you can take just a little bit and multiply it and feed five thousand or four thousand it doesn't matter the little tool or the how little the tool in your life may be it only matters that you surrender your weakness to the lord and let god make up the difference amen and so thomas may not have understood but what thomas didn't understand was that if you've got jesus in your life it really doesn't matter it doesn't matter if you understand or think you understand how god's going to work it all out he is the way now when he references being the life just so you know this he's not speaking about just arbitrary life or death he's talking literally about the resurrection or eternal life that's the context of the scripture when he says i am the life he was saying i'm not only the way but i'm also the destination amen so i i am the life that you're all hoping to reach one day i i am the destination amen if you know me then you know the answers that you need now we cannot do anything on our own but when the way seems impossible when when it seems like we can't understand what god is going to do we often wrestle with surrendering to the lord the lord spoke to israel in in isaiah 43 and 18 and he was challenging them to trying to stretch their faith with what he was going to do for them in the future and he's and he makes this statement he says remember ye not the former things neither consider the things of old now he's talking about the future he's talking about what he's about to do but before he shares with them his promises he first tells them you got to forget the old stuff you got to forget the former things you got to put it out of your mind you got to stop considering in other words reasoning out the the the things of old behold i will do a new thing now and it shall spring forth now i just want to tell you that sometimes when we begin to stretch our faith as we go into this vision campaign and we're talking about you getting involved in ministries and we're talking about giving sacrificial and all of us are going to do that and we're figuring out how how much can i give and what can i do for the work of god for the souls that come into the kingdom and remember that's what this is all about this is not about a nicer building it's not about just having nicer carpet or more facilities it's all about souls amen it's all about souls that's what this is about it's about building the kingdom of god and getting more people ready for heaven amen this whole thing is going up in smoke amen it's all going to be burned up the whole world is going to be burnt up amen the only investment that lasts is what i invest here for god's kingdom because god's kingdom is eternal amen and so as we move forward and we're we're envisioning god doubling what we're doing and doubling our membership and all of this we are going to we're going to come face to face with moments of doubt and most often it's based on things of old former things i know folks that early in life they struggled they they were working two or three jobs and then they got laid off and now whenever god challenges them to have faith instead of taking that step step of faith they look back and consider the old things man i don't know if i can trust god god didn't work in that situation like i thought he should he didn't work in that situation like i thought it would work out and so when god's calling me to take a step of faith it's really hard to step forward as long as i'm looking back and so god had to challenge israel you've got to forget the former things you got to stop considering the things of old he said what i'm about to do behold i will do a new thing somebody say a new thing and it shall spring forth shall ye not know it i love that phrase in the greek it's the word yada and it it's really the same uh root word where we get our word tada as in behold and and um when he says shall ye not know it what he's actually saying is that when when i bring this forth i'm gonna bring it forth it's it's uh the the word uh uh bring it forth is is the word uh to smach and it means to bloom or to blossom so i'm gonna call something to bloom right in front of you a place where you thought it was barren i'm going to bring it forth he said in in that particular place it's going to surprise you and you're going to have a tada moment in other words nobody's going to miss the blessings that god is about to bring in your life you will have that moment where you suddenly you see it and you're not questioning did god do that or was it simply a coincidence god is saying i'm about to do something brand new and it's gonna spring forth in front of you and you won't have any question you won't have any doubt that it was god that did it [Applause] how many here today can lift your hand and say i have a testimony of a time in my life when god made a way based on my sacrifice based on what i gave based on on on a sacrificial gift to god whether it's time or finance or whatever it may be maybe i sacrificed something and god gave me a reward and when i saw the reward i knew that is god anybody here have a testimony like that come on lift your hand i may call on you to give it here in just a minute i'm not picking i'm not playing i actually did that in the early service we had a little testimony service amen and so these blessings of god are easily traced back to the sacrifices that we give but in order to reach them we have to trust god that he was is going to do something in spite of our past now watch this he says shall you not know it i will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert amen for years you know i have been preaching out of james chapter two it's one of my favorite new testament epistles i love the book of james uh one of the first of the epistles written if not the first epistle written written to an uh sort of a an inf infantile church brand new church it was written originally as a as a how to how to live for god manual for this this new uh this new church and um but in james chapter 2 the apostle james he is he is challenging the church in how they operate through faith and i won't take the time to get into it but it's repeated over and over through chapter 2 that without faith it is impossible to please god but faith without works is dead so you you can't just have this conviction i just believe god's going to work it out you know those testimonies we're having i just believe i don't know how he's going to do it but i just believe god's going to work it out god is a god of pattern and process and and that's why preachers at times will use old testament scripture after scripture after scripture reference because if god establishes a way you can find it repeated throughout history throughout the scripture both an old and new testament it is a pattern that means it's a principle something that is is much stronger than a one-time directive from god it's just you can see it here you can see it there the plan of salvation you can go all the way back to the beginning in the book of genesis and see the plan of salvation how it's it's illustrated even in uh in in the ark in in in the flood we we find that there were three floors but one door there were three floors and so we have the repentance baptism in jesus name the infilling of the holy ghost but yet there's one door there's no way to be saved except through jesus jesus said i am the door and and those souls were saved they were saved because they got into the ark we see that that same thread continue in the tabernacle plants beautiful picture of what the church would eventually look like the body of christ would look like when you first walk into the tabernacle you've got that big door there and it's it's white linen it's white linen that surrounds the tent representing the purity of the lord but in the gate itself you find four colors you find red blue uh white and scarlet each of these colors had established repeated themes that represent something about the deity of jesus christ represented first of all the blue color represented his omnipresence it's like the sky the earth or the water is is blue it represented the grandness and the greatness of god and and then we find white which represented the purity of the lord and then we find red which represented the sacrifice of the lord and then then the fourth color which i think is is one of the most interesting it represents his kingship and his royalty and it was the it was the color purple basically well how do you get purple you mix blue and red together amen blue and red the the deity of god and the sacrifice of the lord when those things come together that's what made him king of kings amen whenever he was hung on the cross they put a crown on his head and they said behold the king of the jews that was that was his inauguration to becoming the king of all the world he was taking his throne on the cross and saying i now rule over it all amen and so all of these colors are blended into the tabernacle door and then you walk inside and you see the labor of uh or the brazen altar where the sacrifice is and then you find the labor of water which is the following um instrument within a piece of furniture within the tabernacle and it was a place where the priests would go over and plunge their hands down within the depths of that water and they would wash the blood off of their hands and so you know even even the the uh the construction of that labor or that that that uh labor of water represented something in god's kingdom he was establishing principles it was made moses said i want you to make it out of the looking glasses of the women so they took all of the looking glasses and they made it out of their the brass it was a very shiny reflective type material and the point is simply this that whenever the priest would look down into this labor of water the water was clear and and they could see their reflection in the bottom of that labor of water i mean you get a picture of who you really are but the moment they took their hands and they thrust their hands down into that water the water became bloody and now the only way to see the reflection of who you used to be is by looking through the blood and nobody can see through the blood the blood covers the man that i used to be i'm amen and then and then you find that tabernacle the tent where god's spirit dwells now now it we we know that everything in there represents something about the baptism of the holy ghost amen being born again the new birth experience at one time there were there was a division there was the holy place and then the holiest of holies where the ark of the covenant dwelt but when jesus died on the cross the veil was rent so now there's just one area amen and in in the tabernacle and it represents where the spirit of god dwells amen so there you have the brazen altar the labor of water and the the tent where the spirit of god that dwelling of the spirit of god again the death the burial the resurrection of jesus christ repentance baptism in the name of jesus the infilling of the holy ghost over and over again these principles are repeated throughout scripture this is how god operates it's how he reveals truth you can find it all the way through scripture and so when it comes to this principle i'm trying to teach today i want you to understand this is not some new testament sidelined idea that whenever we give sacrificially god will bless not only not only is the blessing guaranteed but the type of blessing is guaranteed god blesses from the same type of seed that we sow now this is this is what i want you to hear now the lord always asked for an act of faith and i i don't want to get too sidelined off with this but throughout scripture there was always an act of faith that preceded the blessings of god um you know before jesus turned the water into wine in john 2 the servants had to fill the pots with water and then they had to pour it out as though it was something valuable and to into the cups of their guests that was an act of faith that god honored and he blessed them with with the miracle before jesus healed the nobleman's son in john 4 the nobleman had to make that long journey to where jesus was but more importantly he had to turn around in faith and walk home without seeing any visible change in his servant he had to go home expecting that when i get there there's going to be a change when the lepers were healed by jesus and and that one came back jesus does not heal them on the spot we know that because the bible says as they went he sends them to show themselves to the priest according to uh to to the levitical law they were if they believed that they were healed from from leprosy they had to go show themselves to the priest and be examined by the high priest and if the high priest deemed them free from leprosy then they went through a cleansing process and could re-enter society but jesus told them go show yourself the priest basically i want you to make a doctor's appointment that you're healed so he can inspect you and see that you're healed and they had to start making the journey with all their issues and as they went on their way they received their healing okay sometimes if if we want god to work something out we have to take that step of faith just to believe i believe he's going to heal me we've seen it happen throughout our church somebody said that you know i got prayed for cancer last week i i'm not just going to wait for my next appointment i'm going to make an appointment today and i i'm going to i just believe god touched me at church last night you feel any different nope feel the same way but i believe god's going to heal me i just want them to check me out again and when they get there they realize hey they took another set of x-rays and they don't compare with the first set we've had people healed of cancer of all kinds here in this church amen that's not including all the other types of healing that we've seen here we've seen the blind legally blind blind as a bat couldn't see anything completely healed and received their sight here in this church amen so but all of them amen there's power in those acts of faith you always have to act and trust that god's going to work it out amen again i i could take a lot more time you know um the woman with the issue of blood she had to press her way through the crowd and and not only that she had to put her past behind her because every bit of her finance she had given to other people who had taken advantage of her benevolence or her her faith she had given it to doctors who promised i can heal you if you pay me and they they couldn't heal her and she had gone through all of her life savings all of her possessions and she was now out of everything so imagine the mental baggage that she has to overcome now whenever she puts her faith in jesus amen and she presses her way through the crowd believing that all i have to do is touch the hem of his garment and i'm going to receive my healing and i'm not going to give him anything i'm not all i'm going to do is give him an act of service because i have nothing left to give everybody has something that they can give to the kingdom of god i just want to say that amen everybody everybody has something they can give the kingdom of god this woman had nothing she was completely broke and so she decided the best thing that i can give is an act of faith and she pressed her way through touched the hem of his garment amen and she was immediately healed again and again you go through all the miracles of jesus and there was some kind of act of faith even with lazarus who was dead they he told them roll the stone away amen and so believe what you will i don't believe lazarus was alive until the stone was rolled away i believe that that that act of faith is what priests precedes every miracle that god has for the church you want to see more miracles in your life give him an act of faith amen now let's let's uh let's move on whatever you sow god is going to return it to you in the same measure and i come back to our text luke 6 and 38 whatever whatever seed you sow god will return it to you using the same measure for with the same measure that ye might with all it shall be measured to you again i i want to highlight this because i've had many people that have told testified throughout the years well pastor i gave an offering and the same day that i gave an offering my son got the holy ghost praise god thank the lord for that i want to i want to encourage you i want to give the glory to god but i also want to disappoint you a little bit god would have given him the holy ghost without your offering it wasn't about your offering amen and by the way there's a difference between tithing and offering when you tithe you have not given god anything i use this illustration anybody have a set of car keys all right here we go thank you so much what kind of car is it a honda pilot it's a honda pilot i want to say thank you for the honda pilot amen you know why he handed me his keys because he trusts me we have a relationship try walking up to a stranger on the street and saying hey anybody got a set of keys they're not going to give you their keys because they don't know you they don't have a relationship with you they don't trust you amen now again if i turned around to him and said i'm going to give you this but i'm going to sell it to you for ten thousand dollars i don't have the right to sell it to him because this doesn't belong to me the title is not my name it's in his name he owns it this is the best example of tithe that i can think of because because god trusts us he will allow us to hold things that belong to him i have a choice if i hold on to what belongs to god i have now broken god's trust in me the reason why god puts it in my hand is that god trusts me he knows me amen but if i hold on to the blessings or what god has put in my hand and take something that does not belong to me it belongs to him and and then somehow i decide you know what i like you here you go i'm gonna merry christmas that's your christmas present right there i haven't given him anything all i did was surrender what already belonged to him we see this principle throughout scripture uh the the the uh the conquest of of jericho when uh jericho was conquered god called it the accursed thing literally meaning it was to go up in smoke it was the first fruit of the promised land it was the tithe he even refers to it as the tide the old testament reference to tithe was represented and often called the accursed thing or the thing that was marked to go up in smoke and so when when god put it in the hands of of israel they were not to hold on to it they were to surrender it back to the lord to to give all the gold and the silver and everything to the work of the treasury the work of the church the the levitical priesthood that belonged to god and to his work everything else was to be burned up as an offering to the lord they weren't to take anything god had an inheritance for him he had all kinds of blessings throughout canaan that he was going to allow them to possess but that first fruit it belonged to to god and god and god allowed judgment to fall because one man by the name of canaan took of the accursed thing hid it among his own stuff and brought the curse of god upon all of israel amen and so the the principle is simply this that when you hold on or when you when you tithe you are not giving god anything you're zeroing out the balance of what you owe it's important to remember when you say we we don't often and we try not to i try to uh to to correct it if we ever slip up and that is simply we don't ever tr we try not to say you need to give your tithe or you need to pay your tithe because you're not paying anything you're tithing you're not giving anything you're tithing we're when we tithe we're giving god what already belongs to him remember we go off scripture definition not the government all right the government does not define what we preach and what we believe if that's the case after this week we're all in trouble but but whenever we whenever we tithe we have now zeroed out the balance and that allows me now to give offering amen because now i'm not stealing anything from god now i have the opportunity to give an offering and so as we're talking about offering and sacrificial giving all this this is aside from our tithe because tithing belongs to god now i'm i'm hurrying to a close thank you for staying with me uh when when you see scriptural precedent talking about giving it has nothing to do with tithe it has to do with uh with offering when uh jesus said give and it shall be given to you good measure press down and shaken together and running over shall men give to your bosom for with the same measure that you might with all it shall be measured to you again what he's saying is that that when you give something to god as an offering he will never give it back to you in the same measure well i put ten dollars in the offering plate and before service was over with somebody walked up and handed me ten dollars well that's not all your benefit that wasn't from god that was a coincidence because god never gives back in the same measure that you measure it out or he he always gives it more but he does give it in the same category so when people say well i give an offering and god filled my son with the holy ghost and we understand unless unless we've missed something somewhere that's not why god filled your son with the holy ghost well i had a really good day that's wonderful but you were gonna be blessed to have a good day regardless when you sow your seed god returns it from that seed so you sow time you get time back how many of you have ever had the experience well you didn't think i don't have time to pray but i'm going to pray anyway i got too much to do but i'm going to pray anyway and before the day was over with you accomplished everything that you needed to accomplish it was like man where how on earth did i get all that done because whatever you sow you're going to reap from the same measure all right let's let's uh let's look at this principle from scripture and then i then i will be done when when abraham he is sort of the progenitor of the faith the father the faithful and the lord called him to give his son isaac to offer his son isaac on the altar and you know the story how that he tied his son to that altar and he lifted the the knife and uh and the angel immediately stopped abram and said don't lay your hand on the child and then the lord began to give him promise now it wasn't a spiritual blessing that god gave him it wasn't some you know odd blessing god didn't come down and say abraham because you have given you sacrificed your son you put your son on the altar therefore i am going to bless you with cattle i'm going to bless you with riches i'm going to bless you with favor from all the people around you that's not what what god gave him as a result of his his uh offering what god told him was he said and by myself have i sworn saith the lord for because thou hast done this thing what thing you offered your son your seed your child that in blessing i will bless thee and in multiplying i will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is upon the seashore and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because thou hast obeyed my voice when you sowed the seed of your lineage and you put your son on the altar because of that i'm going to multiply this until your lineage is as the stars of the heaven and as the the grains of sand on the earth because god always multiplies the same type of seed that we sow all right i hope i still have you let me give you another example of this when jesus was approaching the end of his ministry jesus said told his disciples the hours come that the son of man should be glorified and verily verily i say unto you except a grain or corn of wheat fall into the ground and die it abideth alone but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit somebody say much fruit so this principle that we just read about with abraham of god blessing the same type of seed also applied to jesus himself which hebrews 12 and 2 says he is the author and finisher of our faith so he is our example we're to look into jesus the author and finisher of our faith so he himself experienced this principle and that is and i i close with this musicians please come jesus said that the only way that you're going to have much fruit is if you're willing to die it has to it has to be sacrificed so when we use the word sacrifice it's just simply saying we've got to lay it on the altar and let it die i'm in a class in school and and it's i'm taking a a class on stewardship and finances the church and and and just it's it's fascinated me the the strange paradigms that churches across the united states even uh some of these denominal churches have about giving and and just this weird idea that that they have about about it and the problem is that they don't really understand the biblical principle that if you're going to give something to god it has to be dead to you you don't just give it to god you put it on the altar it belongs to you amen it belongs to you it all belongs to you because the blessing if you try to hang on to in other words well i want to see where my offering is going how would y'all spend it i need to know before that money is no longer yours if it's yours it's still yours but what you want to do is surrender it to the lord now this is you know we're very open here and everybody knows that i mean we're our books are open we we are very above board in everything that we do around here and and and we've got some amazing talented gifted people that manage it i couldn't tell you who's tithing unless somebody comes up and tells me who's tired i i don't know i don't get into all of that all of the secretaries and the accountants will tell you he don't know i don't know i asked them a ton of questions but at times but i i'm clueless and i don't want to know just don't tell me please because it you know stresses me out but but when it comes to when it comes to giving to the work of god some of you have had questions before because you sowed seed into churches and this is some of the things we have to put in our past and it and then you find out ooh they're not living right you're like oh man next time i give i'm gonna give with strings attached i'm never gonna listen god does not bless you because you put money into a church he blesses you because you allow something to die if that if that were the case then he would have had no reason to honor that widow who who uh who gave that that two pennies or whatever that that small offering that she had and as jesus observed all of them that gave into the treasury and that one little old lady gave just her pennies that's it and and jesus said that you know he had observed all those that gave great sums of money and this woman who gave of her substance and and he said this woman has given more than anybody else and is justified this woman is getting a greater blessing than anybody else and and while that's you know all we understand is about the amount or it's about sacrifice and all that it's more than that because you have to remember that the religious system at that time was so perverted and messed up the religious leaders were taking and stealing and doing all kinds of crazy stuff with offerings and finances and and it was a messed up situation but jesus himself said that that woman is going to be blessed she's going to receive a blessing more than anybody else it doesn't matter if if you know if if your previous offerings maybe at another church and you went to somewhere and you found out man they did this with the offering it doesn't matter you cannot have your blessing stolen if you gave it to god now i i do believe that we need to trust the ministries that we sit under and if you don't trust please find a church where you trust the ministers you know i can tell you i can show you i mean we again we've been very above board and everything there's you know i'm not a millionaire far from it and and uh and and yet it's important that we remember that when we give an offering there will be a blessing and it's going to come from the lord and it's not going to come in some other avenue like well i gave my money and the next day i just felt so good i just man i got a good breakthrough god wanted to give you a breakthrough anyway but god will always bless the seed that you sow very important to remember that because too often we think well i can't really give so i'm just going to pray really hard this week because i need a blessing well remember that god always blesses the sea that you sow now jesus himself applied this principle to his own death and his own resurrection you know when when he died he died alone they hung him on a cross buried him in a tomb three days later he came out of the tomb but paul called him the first fruits of the resurrection somebody said the first fruits because jesus said if if a corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies it abideth alone but when it comes out it's coming out with much fruit well pastor jesus came out of the grave by himself well he's the first fruit of the resurrection john the revelator talks about the kind of fruit that his death his sacrifice produced and his resurrection in revelation 9 and 7 and after this i beheld and lo a great multitude which no man could number of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues stood before the throne and before the lamb clothed with the right white robes and palms in their hand because he sowed his life his life was multiplied without number whatever you sow is what god will bless could we stand together i realize this principle is most often used to reference money i understand that as we move into this time of sacrificial giving it's not going to happen today but as we move into this time and we're trying to figure out what what could we do i want i want you to remember that you will never out give god god is the ultimate of every characteristic that is righteous you can't out love god how many believe that your best day of love expression to god will pale in comparison to the amount of love he offers you back amen you can't be more merciful than god you know you can't you you can't out serve the lord everything you give to god god's going to give it back press down shaken together and running over and when it comes to giving giving represents our life it represents our time that's why jesus spoke one out of every seven verses in the new testament deals with finances because god knows our heart and if we ever that's why tithing is so important because it keeps our heart in alignment with god amen and we're not in alignment with the lust of our flesh or the lust of eyes amen it keeps us living in faith but the lord knows our heart and if if if if our love for finances gets out of balance it'll lead us into sin amen so we've got to learn to trust god with our future and so when when we give there will always be a return and secondly it will always be the same seed that we sowed a few years ago we were doing a week of sacrifice thank you sister cheryl for sending in this testimony and her son needed a job so he could move back to louisiana and she gave an offering in the amount that she wanted her son to make and it was an it was a sacrifice but she gave it in faith believing that if i give this god will come through it was the following week uh that that god made a way and gave him that job there was a there was a a reward a reaping with the same seed after the same measure okay a few years later she said that uh as a matter of fact after when it happened she ran the aisle she said i told god if when he got the job i would run the aisles on sunday night and she did it she ran the aisles a year or two later her daughter needed a better job she said again another sacrificial offering as seed money and she got a wonderful job the job that she needed with making the finances that she needed to make again she ran the aisles god is faithful before service uh brother told me that when they gave in week of sacrifice that i think it was just four days later i believe is what he said i believe that when he when they gave sacrificially that within four days they received a check or they received a check in the amount of three or four times what it what what they had given god is faithful i said god is faithful some amen sister brother and sister cervantes in the earlier service testified that that uh there was a time we called on the church and we did this every year uh for a time that we all sacrificially gave to move the church forward to have revival whatever whatever we needed to do to move the church ahead and uh and they gave sacrificially they didn't know how they were going to do it but they gave sacrificially and they had they had a piece of property they didn't know how to sell it they were trying to sell it and couldn't sell it he said and immediately after they gave sacrificially they sold their property and they sold it for quite a bit more than what they thought they were going to get for it so they were expecting much much less and couldn't sell it and then suddenly they gave their offering and they got much more to the point where they were able to take the excess just the excess and pay off their current home [Music] god is faithful god is faithful now if we had time i'd walk around with this microphone and we'd share all kinds of miracles but i've taken enough of your time this morning i just wanted to establish this principle because it's so important the enemy knows our heart knows our tendency to hold on to things in our life and we when we do that we miss out on one of the most beautiful revelations the beautiful promises of god that he has given to humanity that when we give god will give it back with the same measure pressed down and shaken together you will never out give god not just with your finances but whatever it is that god is calling you to do the enemy will always challenge it and say you don't have time you don't have the resources you don't have the ability you you don't have the the mental state of mind to do it any time god calls us to take a step of faith there will always be a challenge of our flesh of our carnal reasoning that said can't do that you don't have the ability you're gonna you remember what happened last time remember remember your past you want to be poor again you want to struggle again listen we've got to trust god not only with our future but also that trust that our past and say god i'm putting all that in your hands i'm not going to consider that i'm just going to live in faith because i believe you're doing something new you're going to make a way in the wilderness you're going to make streams in the desert amen and so i closed this service i i realized this is not a typical message for sunday morning but i just i believe that god is trying to stretch someone's faith i believe that before this campaign is over with god's going to raise up businessmen within our congregation we're going to start hearing testimonies about people receiving promotions making sales that you thought you'd never make get in favor with clients and and and uh signing up uh new vendors and new clients that you never thought you would ever have a chance with i believe that god is gonna raise up at least six different businesses brand new businesses i'm not talking about people that already have business i'm talking about at least six new businesses within our local congregation people you've dreamed of doing it but you let fear hold you back believe that as we give god is not just going to bless us with a pat on the back a spiritual goose bump feels good good job but he's going to bless us with the same measure that we're measuring it out he's going to bless us with the same seed multiply that same seed amen but we've got to stretch our faith we've got to stretch our faith we've got to believe that god's going to work this out church i have nothing to gain here i'm not here we're not in this you know there's so much perversion in the world and the reason why there's so much attack against our findings is because the enemy knows that when the people of god start trusting god with their thing of greatest treasure then then then much of his uh much of his ability to hold on to our spirits he loses and so he'll attack your mind and attack your spirit attack your faith but we've got to learn to walk in faith and trust god god's going to make a way he's going to do something new something i've never seen before i wonder if we can lift our hands to the lord lord i ask that you would hear our prayer today we surrender ourselves to you god completely totally to you amen i'm asking the ministers to come and stand across the front if you're here this morning and you know god is calling you to do something you've never done before maybe step into a ministry that you've you've had doubts about in the past maybe he's calling you off the sideline and you have questioned i don't know if i'm able i don't know if i'm capable whatever your fear is i want to challenge you to bring it to the altar right now and surrender to the lord our ministers are here is there anybody that wants to be used by god come on let's come let's come let's let's ask god to stir our faith today i'm not taking an offering so i want to challenge you come on step out and let's let this be an act of faith today that today i'm going to trust god with my future lord if you're going to use anybody lord please use me take my heart god help me to live in faith not in fear come on if god is calling you step out of your comfort zone you gotta stop living surrender that fear to god surrender to god you can trust the promises of god every word of god amen you can trust god's promise [Music] i give myself away [Music] here i am [Music] the kingdom of god is the greatest investment it is a sure guarantee you can trust the word of god amen you can trust god with your future you can trust god with your time with your to surrender life to the lord right now god i surrender to your plan to your voice to your will will you speak god's says [Music] [Music] surrender [Music] come on god may be speaking to you to start a business it's time to stop making excuses and trust god [Music] god i'm going to step out in faith come on whatever [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] i give myself away so you [Music] [Applause] come on just pray that prayer of surrender oh here i am come on let's hear the voice of god god help me to trust you [Music] not trust the circumstance not fear my past gotta forget the things of yesterday forget the past [Music] me [Music] [Music] hallelujah come on just for another few moments let's pray this as a prayer of surrender i give all myself to you i am [Music] here i am [Music] one more time let your spirit move [Music] amen amen here i am lord here i am lord whatever we sacrifice to god to give it to god we sacrifice for other things other ambitions other interests it's not guaranteed a return but when we sacrifice things for him for his kingdom there will always be a return always be a return amen i at this time i'm going to ask brother seoul korea our administrative pastor to come and he's going to pray a prayer of dismissal but i want to encourage you this week hopefully you'll be back in service with us again tonight but i want to encourage you this week let's live in faith take take a little extra time for prayer this week take a little extra time to do something for the lord just invest just to see what the return is on your investment to god there will always there will always be a return for the so would you come and pray a prayer of dismissal thank you pastor thank you for that message i am going to be opening my eyes and seeking and looking for god's blessing in my life and i'm going to pray that that he opened all our eyes so when you invest in the kingdom that you'll be able to see it too i remember a long time ago i asked for prayer for some pain i was having in my in my jaw and i like nothing was nothing was healing it no medicine and aspirin it was just not going away and i came and i stood in this altar and i prayed for healing and i got healed and i was so surprised and then i laughed that i was surprised because i believe in a healing god so don't be surprised and if you are surprised laugh at it because because we do serve a god that blesses us let's pray today to be dismissed and let's pray that god would open our eyes so we can recognize when he's returning on our investment thank you lord god thank you for what you're going to do among your children among your people god open our eyes give us discernment so we can see when we are getting a return our investment in the kingdom thank you god for what you're doing in the name of jesus we pray you're dismissed church [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] come on [Music] crazy [Music] [Music] is [Music] to bless the lord most

Channel: The Pentecostals of Katy

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Length: 130min 49sec (7849 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 28 2021