Strength to Stay the Course | 11/22

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] hey sgt we're so glad you joined us for service today before we get started we wanted to share some awesome events that are coming up jesus commands us to be baptized when we choose to follow him if you have never been baptized this next month is your chance the baptism application will be available on the sgt website please apply before november 24th this year's women's christmas tea will be held on december 4th and 5th we are so excited about our speaker this year angela denadio who will be ministering through song and giving us a word from the lord due to coveted restrictions we will be streaming the service digitally we highly encourage you to still gather in your homes with those who you're comfortable with for more information visit the church website this wednesday at 7 00 pm is our church's thanksgiving service come on out as we worship and give thanks to god for all that he has been in our lives this year all right church thanks so much for listening to today's announcements now let's worship [Music] good morning church how are you guys doing today everyone well it's christmas season you may not believe it's christmas season yet but they gave me the microphone and i declare it's christmas season if you're up to me we would have had our christmas tree up mid-september this year but uh tiff wouldn't let me do that so it went up yesterday uh you know my favorite part of this time of year is is that there's no stress no extra errands everything is happy everything is fine am i the only one that has that experience yeah listen i know this is the busiest time of year and there's so many extra stressful moments added on but that's why we're gathering here today it's in this place in the presence of god where we're reminded what it's all about it's in this place as we gather as the church we gather with one another as [Music] i can confirm we do not know what just happened uh it's in this place when we gather with other believers that we realize it's time to slow down he is god everything is in his control and so can we just stand today and just do that each and every one of us individually right now just make that commitment in our hearts right now and say god i'm here for you today i'm going to slow down today god god we are here for you today this is all about you god i thank you lord that you are in the room i thank you god these moments are about you we thank you lord you are a good god jesus you are the prince of peace you are the one that comes in in the busyness and in the distracting moments whether we're distracted by good things or bad things or stressful things or happy things it's in this place that we come back to restore our soul back to what its focus was supposed to be which is you and so today we set our eyes on you we fix our hearts on you in these moments oh holy god come in to our lives we invite you in we are available today we love you so much and i pray this in your name jesus amen let's worship [Music] who came to worship the king today [Music] did you feel the mountains tremble did you hear the oceans roar when the people goes to sing jesus christ [Music] [Music] jesus christ the saving one [Music] we see their gods are moving a mighty river through the nations when young and old return to jesus fling wife fleeing wide you heavenly gates prepare the way of the risen lord [Music] let the streets freeze [Music] songs that bring your hope and songs that bring your joy dancers who dance upon injustice sing did you feel did you feel the darkness tremble when all the saints join in one song and all the streams flow as one river to wash away our brokenness and here we see lift it up declare it and here we see that god you're moving a time of jubilee is coming when young and old return to jesus fling wide fling white you heavenly gates prepare the way of the risen lord come on lift up your voice today [Music] and songs that bring your joy dancers to dance upon injustice sing here we see and we can see that gods are moving a mighty river through the nations when young and old returned to jesus fling wide you heavenly gates prepare the way of the risen lord come on let's declare this together one more time open up the doors and let the music play let the streets resound with singing [Music] songs that bring your hope and songs that bring your joy dancers who dance upon injustice yes lord thank you lord thank you lord god i thank you that you have chosen to make us a people of hope thank you lord god we just right now decide to choose joy right now we decide to choose hope that we might be those people who rejoice in the midst of turmoil in the midst of struggle that we might be those who get the ear of heaven because it's in the darkest time that we shout the loudest and that we sing of the goodness of our god who never changes thank you lord thank you god [Music] [Music] at the table of the lord i won't hunger anymore at his table [Music] is oh i won't hunger anymore at his tables come all you wearing [Music] he will restore at the table of the lord's peace oh there is peace at the table [Music] there is peace at the table of the lord oh i won't hunger anymore [Music] there is healing at the table of the lord and i won't suffer anymore [Music] he is able he will restore [Music] at the table and i know he has a place for me oh what joy will fill my heart with the saints [Music] come and find his yoke is [Music] easy he will restore [Music] his yoke is easy [Music] of the lord [Music] i'm invited to the table of the lord i'm invited to the table of the lord he says come just as you are to his tables [Music] the rain [Music] forever you're the king of my life you're the king of my life you ain't [Music] [Applause] [Music] and on the cross the work was finished god you poured out your life just to give us new life now from the lifts of the forgiven [Music] above it all over the universe and over every heart there is no higher name [Music] jesus [Music] there is no higher name [Music] jesus oh nothing goes unsane with you [Music] nothing goes unseen with you jesus and you sent the darkness running out of an empty grave now seated alone in glory and thrown on the highest praise you sent the darkness running out of an empty grave now seated alone in glory enthroned on the highest praise oh you sent the darkness running out of an empty grave now seated alone in glory enthroned on the highest grace you sent the darkness running out of an empty grave now seated alone in glory enthroned on the highest [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus [Applause] [Music] [Applause] there is no higher [Music] [Music] oh i know that i can trust you god [Music] there is no higher name jesus let all of heaven and the earth and songs sing hallelujah to the everlasting one there is no higher name [Music] jesus [Music] i raise a hallelujah in the presence of my enemies [Music] i raise a hallelujah louder than the unbelief i raise a hallelujah my weapon is a melody i raise a hallelujah heaven comes to fight for me [Music] oh and i'm gonna sing in the middle of the storm louder and louder you're gonna hear my praises roar and from the ashes hope will arise death is defeated the king is alive come on church lift your song [Music] oh come on church lift it up i race i'll raise a hallelujah with everything with everything inside of me [Music] i'll raise a hallelujah sing i will watch i will watch the darkness flee i race i raise a hallelujah in the middle of the mystery [Music] sing it out in the middle of the story louder and [Music] will louder death is defeated the king is alive okay people of god there's a moment where david looks at his own soul and he says why are you downcast put your hope in god this is one of those moments i believe right now in the middle of turmoil craziness some of y'all are struggling really really hard right now i'm inviting you even more so than anyone else you who's struggling you who's in the middle of a battle i'm asking you to lift your praise today because yours matters your praise matters it matters right now it matters that you lift it right in the middle of your circumstance man when paul and silas lifted their song when jehovah's the fat's army lifted their song you know why it's so important because the few who sang won breakthrough for many can i say that again the few who sang won breakthrough for many can i ask you today if you're in the middle of a battle can you sow into not only your victory but the victory of those who are singing around you today come on can we be the church and lift up our voice today this is like a david moment it says sing a little louder that's the words of this next part and it's kind of like when david looked at his own soul and said why are you downcast today put your hope in jesus so we're going to look at our own souls today we're going to look at our spirit man we're going to call him or her to awaken and we're going to say sing a little louder come on let's lift it together sing a little louder we'll sing a little louder come on declare it declare it to your spirit sing a little louder why so downcast oh sing a little louder put your hope in jesus or sing a little louder in the presence of my enemies sing a little louder oh louder than the unbelief sing a little louder [Music] [Music] silly [Music] louder and heaven comes to fight for me sing a little louder in the middle of the storm louder and louder you're gonna hear my praises roar [Applause] hope will arise death is defeated the king is alive come on one more time raise your hallelujah i raise my hallelujah i raise my hallelujah [Music] come on let's give a shout to the lord yes hallelujah all glory all honor all praise be unto you lord you are majestic you are sovereign your providential we worship you almighty god we lift our voice to you we lift our shout to you we lift our hearts to you we place our eyes upon you lord for you inhabit the praises of your children your presence is here with us and we glorify you o lord we glorify you we're going to lift that song one more time and i'm going to encourage you because i believe it's the prompting of the holy spirit as you heard from pastor matt and for all of us those of you that are here in the sanctuary there in the lobby those who are joining us right now online wherever you're at we're gonna lift a shout unto the lord in the midst of this song holy scripture says in psalm 100 shout unto the lord and in joshua chapter 6 the lord wanted his children to marry their hearts in obedience to him when he said at the end of this walk i want you to shout lift your voice now the walls didn't need to hear their shout and god is not deaf he doesn't need an increased decibel level to pick up but there's something about obedience obedience to shout unto the lord from your heart unto god and it's all about him and so lord we bring our hearts before you and we're going to lift a shout unto you almighty god that you would bring down the walls of oppression anxiety and confusion and fear and addiction and sin and darkness and you would be glorified in this time we lift our voice to you oh [Music] lord [Music] death is defeated oh the key is [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] right now i raise my hallelujah oh jesus come on get ready let's give the lord a shout [Music] blessed be the name of the lord you are worthy worthy worthy o lord we thank you lord when you want to whisper from us we'll bring you a whisper when you want to shout from us you'll hear a shout for our hearts are yours and doesn't reflect just our personality or the circumstances we're in the midst of but our obedience from our heart and spirit to you lord now i'm going to encourage you in your worship of god that always translates horizontally to love someone anytime i connect with god vertically it always inspires me to love others to really reach to them and the concrete tangible way we can do that right now here in the sanctuary there in the lobby and those of you at home pray for the person to your left and right you don't have to join their hands just right where you're positioned but lift your voice lift your heart and pray for her pray for him extend your love by lifting your voice to god in their behalf touch lord replace that anxiety with peace that fear that depression and discouragement with joy a confusion with your divine guidance and clarity of direction in sickness may you be healed in jesus name may there be financial provision may there be a new hope in your heart for that relationship to be restored that marriage to be strengthened for god's direct intervention in your life we pray one for another in jesus name in jesus name you may have just prayed right now for your spouse or a friend or a complete stranger but you just seal that in jesus name oh may the answer come over her life over his life touch our children right now where they're meeting minister to their hearts speak to them god such difficult season for them envelope them with your peace and your presence speak to their hearts [Music] in jesus name and we extend our prayer now for brothers and sisters all across long island congregations to the north and south and east and west of us throughout the state of new york and america and the world we pray for the body of christ for the advancement of the kingdom for the anointing of the spirit and the great revival that you have ordained that would manifest and bring light in the midst of darkness freedom and liberty in the midst of so much bondage and turmoil and division we ask that the church would rise up and every believer today would hear your voice be moved on by your spirit and grow stronger in you in jesus name now would you pray for me as in a moment i'm gonna deliver to you as you hear me say this to you often not a sermon but i believe a message from god's heart to you as you pray for me i'm going to pray for you to hear and to receive [Music] may it transform you right there at home in your living room in the car as you're listening here in the sanctuary those seated in the lobby to hear to listen to be teachable receptive and obedient in jesus name we pray and everybody said amen amen you may be seated i want to thank all of you for being here in the 10 30 service those of you that are joining us online those of you that are in the lobby we're just so glad that you're here and we know that god is doing great things and i just want to thank you all again for your faithfulness in giving as we continue to advance into expressions of greater and greater ministry to the children to the youth to the young adults to the adults to the married couples to our senior saints that it requires prayer but it also involves finances so i want to thank you for your faithfulness the giving is continuing to increase and we thank you for that we want to be able to get to where we used to be so that we can continue to advance forward and fulfill the vision of this house that involves all of us so thank you for your generosity and your obedience to him and when you exit there in the lobby there'll be buckets and those of you online there's many creative ways that you can give and express uh your generosity to the lord and the advancing of his kingdom through this particular church family now listen one of the things that we rejoice most over is when people are giving their lives to the lord and i want you to see this brief video on our water baptism that we did several weeks ago it was right here in the area those that are part of our church and i'd like you to enjoy some of their testimonies as we see this together [Music] hi my name is alyssa i'm from salsa talking i grew up on long island my name is shyam ramcharitar i'm from ronkonkoma my name is melissa champine i live in eastern talkit and today i'm getting baptized i'm excited to get baptized and it's important to me because it's my way of showing my commitment and giving my life to god in that way basically i'm getting baptized because of the way that jesus has moved in my life and how he has just made me a new person and transformed me he's taken anxiety away from me he's taken an addiction away from me and i owe my life to him my name is kyle norton i'm from east isil new york i went through a bad divorce i was actually drinking a lot and had a lot of bad habits i went to a service one afternoon i ended up speaking to a gentleman who encouraged me to give my life to god my life has changed a lot i've became you know a sober person and having more of a mission to move forward in the right direction i was raised by a single mother you know i have three other siblings as i grew older i saw what my mother went through the struggles to raising four kids and he was always right by her side through every struggle he was there to help us get out of it as a family and now that i'm starting my own family married this year i want to be that example for for my family for any kids i have in the future and i feel like that's the best way to show it you know and i'm glad to take this step with my wife here today as well it's important because it's a celebration i was always shy to say that i would go to church or talk about god or my religion or anything but it's exciting to just celebrate it and say that i'm his daughter i'm getting baptized because i want to follow jesus christ and god more i want to take me by the hand and show me the ways i am excited to be baptized today because i want to give my life to the lord like it's very exciting like i really don't want to [Music] [Music] [Applause] praise the lord i'm sure you're inspired by that when you hear the beautiful testimonies of those who gave their life to the lord and are being obedient to him in water baptism listen on december 6th as you saw advertised there we're going to be doing a water baptism we won't be able to do it at long beach not on december 6 be a little cold out there okay and it was great being there but we're going to have it take place in here at three o'clock in the afternoon and i'm very excited about that so please sign up if you've never been water baptized it is a command of the lord and it will bring so much blessing into your life i wish you could have been out there when you heard pastor mike he was like john the baptist you know he has that booming voice you know pastor mike it was perfect for that day because you could hear him even with the clashing of the waves it was a wonderful day to rejoice with those who were being obedient to the lord and water of baptism i want to share with you a message that the lord placed upon my heart about strength being empowered and strengthened by him considering the season that all of us are in the midst of and what we daily face weekly face monthly face what we've faced throughout this year in the context of your own personal life you might be contending with an area where you've grown weary your energy level is low and i don't mean just physically i mean emotionally mentally and spiritually you might be feeling weak in relationship to going to work or your finances or your physical health and recent reports that you've received about your health and the issues related to that you might be battling a war that you feel you're having in in your marriage and you've grown weary because you want to make the full commitment but your mate is not there yet and your energy level is just so low so depleted you might be contending with a battle in an area of temptation and addiction and then it's hard for you to say no anymore and it's even more difficult for you to say yes to god because your strength level has become so low maybe it's a vision or a dream in relationship to your career your education or future ministry and you just don't have that oomph anymore that energy that strength i really believe that the lord wanted me to address that in this message from his heart to you wherever you land maybe in mothering you're just weary god wants to give you a strength that's natural and supernatural and he wants to deposit that into you in a deep way now there are several steps i believe we need to take to get into a conducive environment where we can be a recipient of that strength that comes from god we recognize he's the source ephesians chapter 6 and verse 10 says now be strong in the lord and in the strength of his might he's the source the source for that physical energy emotional mental and spiritual energy to keep on keeping on to fulfill the task the assignment the call that god's placed upon your life as a husband as a wife as a mom as a dad as a grandparent as a single person as a friend as an employee as an employer as one who teaches or one who is being taught let god empower you and strengthen you especially i want to say that to those that are married couples if you've grown weary in wanting your marriage to be more than weak you want it to be really strong and successful and stable it'll never be perfect but you want it to be strong then please hear this as from the lord to you this day there is hope there's strength that he gives the scripture says in psalm 18 david is speaking here he's well acquainted with weakness low energy level in every arena physically and emotionally mentally and spiritually yet he makes this strong declaration he wasn't just psyching himself up that can be temporary he was engendering a strength that was coming to him from god and he makes this statement in psalm 18 and verse 29 through 32 for by you see he's acknowledging the source the lord is my source for by you i can run against a troop means i can engage in a battle effectively and successfully the workable definition of strength is the ability and the capacity to endure to overcome to advance you want that in your life i want that in mind i want to have strength mentally and emotionally and physically and spiritually so that i can have the capacity and the ability to endure and to advance and to overcome and if that is what the lord wants to give to us and deposit into us and he gives us a strategy and a plan a path that we can embark upon i encourage you to have an attentive year and say oh god do that in my life for by you david said i can run against a troop by my god i can leap over a wall wow that sounds like superman but you can leap over a wall that might be a wall of depression or discouragement a wall of anxiety or fear or worry or confusion a wall of passivity or apathy or indifference a wall of anger agitation or maybe a wall that prevents you from reaching to that lost friend or neighbor because you're fearful he says by that strength you supply lord i can leap over that wall as for god his ways perfect the word of the lord is proven he's a shield to all who trust in him for who is god except the lord and who is a rock that's stability except our god listen to this now it is god who arms me with strength you arm me with strength lord when i'm completely depleted no energy it's gone you will arm me you'll empower me you'll ennoble me you'll deposit into me you'll download into my mind my emotions my soul and my spirit a strength that will give me the ability to face whatever i'm contending with and struggling with now holy scripture i believe gives us some clarity on how to get into that environment to be a recipient in a daily way of that strength give us this day my daily bread boy i need it right now in this situation for you it might be here with your finances i wonder how provision is going to come or in that relationship or with your education taking one more test i believe god wants me to go into this area this career but i'm weary i want to stop i want to put my gears into neutral maybe in your walk with the lord you become kind of weary lethargic you just just can't get up and have that time with him and read the scripture or be a witness for him it just descended over you like a wet blanket these are things that i believe god wants us to do and and they're not sterile this is relational one of the first things i believe is strength will come through surrender strength will come through surrender now you might sound say that well that's that's counter-intuitive i mean that that doesn't make sense why do i want to surrender in order to gain strength biblically speaking surrender is not giving up it's giving over biblically speaking surrender is not given up sitting down it's giving something over your heart your life that situation surrender is really the manifestation of a humble heart a person who says i can see you god and you are relevant and you're here and you're ready to help me see pride blinds you from seeing god but humility opens your eyes to see him and then you become a candidate to be a recipient of the wonderful promise of god depositing into you grace grace is his empowering strengthening presence into your life in proverbs in james 4 and verse 6 in first peter 5 it says god will resist the proud but he will deposit grace into the humble when you say lord i humble myself before you i'm not going to be arrogant and egotistical i'm not going to be independent and self-reliant i'm going to open my eyes in humility and not have them closed in pride and i'm going to see you and i'm going to turn this over my entire life my marriage my finances my education my vision my dream my future my health over to you i mean you've got to do that authentically strength will come to you oh it will be poured right into you as faithful as the promises of god he will pour his grace into the humble surrendered heart in isaiah 40 it says and to those who are weary and have no might i will give strength i'll give strength so purpose right now in your heart say lord i want to surrender to give this over to you the second thing is strength will come through holiness now don't come under condemnation because not one of us in here feels qualified to say i'm holy we all know our shortcomings our secret sins our personal struggles the emphasis though is that god is there ready to help us to heal us to restore us to strengthen us to empower us when we purpose to come before him in a heart of repentance and say lord would you forgive me because see when you harbor listen to me when you harbor in your heart and in your life bitterness unforgiveness lying anger destructive anger arrogance greed materialism lust bigotry it weighs you down and not only does it do that it splits you tears you apart you become fragmented think of how ineffective i would be if the simple task was for me to walk from the front of the sanctuary to the back into the lobby but i became discombobulated i was mutilated forgive me for the graphic aspect of this but if my hand was cut off and thrown over there my arm was cut off and thrown over there and my leg over there my torso over there my head over there terrible side i know but if i'm dismembered if i'm all divided all split up i can't move anywhere i can't advance anywhere as ridiculous as that hypothetical is consider the impact of sin that's why david says this in psalm 32 and verse 4. my sin my iniquity my transgression has sapped my strength my sin has sapped my strength that sin that i'm connected to is just weighing me down hebrews chapter 12 and verse 1. the sin that just easily besets you weighs you down and not only does it weigh you down but as i said it splits and separates and fragments your life you have no energy that's why the beautiful inviting path of repentance doesn't sing depression to me or discouragement to me it sings the beauty of saying okay this is the path i'm going to take i want to walk in holiness lord because you're holy i want to be like you but i also realize that walking in holiness is that environment that makes me whole you put me together correctly we're resistant to holiness boy if you just understand holiness is not god just saying here's my rules and you better obey him it's him saying i want you whole i want your mind to be sound your emotions to be stable your physical body to be healthy and your spirit to be strong i want you whole i don't want you split separated divided and fragmented an invitation to holiness is an invitation to wholeness being put together correctly and when we repent and we become obedient to him and we receive his forgiveness strength comes in that environment of holiness wholeness in him the third is strength will come through struggle in my own personal study of the old and new testament this is definitely an area where the lord will strengthen you in the midst of struggle it says it this way in 1st peter chapter 5 verse 10 after you have struggled another translation is suffered after you have struggled and suffered christ will strengthen you it's in the midst of that struggle that it's again a conducive environment for god to funnel into you to download into you his strength his strength it's just like what happens to us physically if you're working out with weight you know the what's happening physiologically is you're you're basically tearing down muscle in order for it to rebuild itself and come back in a fuller mass of fibers and muscle in the midst of struggle you feel like you're torn down but he's going to build you up to become even stronger in the midst of a struggle god will make you strong if you let him you know a study was done a question was asked of christians where was the time when was the time in your life when you experienced the greatest growth and strength in him 99 of the time they'll respond when i was going through a struggle wow when i was going through that struggle in my marriage when i was going through that struggle with my finances when i was going through that struggle with my identity or my mental acuteness and my education when i was going through my struggle in this area that area of my health or finances and god was with me it didn't happen instantaneously but progressively he pushed himself into me deeper and deeper and deeper and i became stronger and stronger and stronger and i can echo what the apostle paul said in second corinthians in chapter 12 and verse 10 that in the midst of my weakness i was made strong god will strengthen us even in the midst of our struggle the fourth is strength will come through community you know we need one another strength will come through community not only through our surrender and walking in holiness and the struggle that you're contending with but the community of being together that's hebrews chapter 10 and verse 24 and 25 it's so important to gather together and to connect with one another i know for you that are online right now you're not able to do that i respect that i understand that but gathering together like we're doing right now here in the sanctuary in the lobby in the overflow room it's our opportunity it affords us the opportunity to be with others so that empowerment can happen and strength can happen do you know over 40 times in the new testament the phrase one another one another one another appears love one another strengthen one another endure with one another pray for one another whole list of the tremendous importance of being interconnected with others maybe that strength through community simply said is getting help from others i'm not embarrassed to do that when i know wow my energy not physically but emotionally boy you can relate to that right emotionally and mentally and even spiritually you're drained you just can't even get up i can't tell you how much it means to me when i acknowledge that in others then it will sweep around me and pray for me just their presence and maybe a word of affirmation or a word of encouragement just all of a sudden i feel strength coming into me that's why the apostle paul will say this in ephesians chapter 4 verse 16. the whole body you know he's using the analogy of the human body in relationship to us the whole body joined and held together by every supporting ligament you know that's what joins a bone to a bone grows and builds itself up see when we gather see right now you don't realize it you're getting strengthened when you're worshiping with others oh i know some of you have to be alone at home and my heart really goes out to you i want you to feel like you're here with us but when you're with others there's a strengthening there's an empowering they tell you psychologists tell you you want to develop a habit and be routine with it just get one other person to be in agreement with you with it exercise or eating habits you get one other person just one other person to help hold you accountable and work together with you now i know all of us looking forward to this week thanksgiving but then there's the covet 19 conditions and the idea that only about 10 of us can gather together i know that's that's difficult i tell you i saw online this picture of the last supper with jesus 13 you know his 12 you know cuomo wouldn't have looked favorably on that hmm we won't go any further but when you gather together you know what happens there's a strength that comes especially when you're gathering together with believers let strength come through that community now here's the last one and probably to me the most important it almost goes without saying strength will come through connection yes through surrender through holiness through struggle through community but strength ultimately will come by being connected to god in prayer don't devalue don't dismiss don't become neglectful or lethargic with your time with him listen with the pastoral staff i tell all of them and they hear this from me all the time your effectiveness in ministry is only as strong as your intimacy with the lord don't ever let ministry run ahead of intimacy never stay close connected to him it will always strengthen you then to face all that comes in the context of ministry and touching the lives of hurting people connection with god now here's an interesting portion of scripture and at first read you're going to wonder why did pastor select that for an emphasis on to be strengthened through connection with god but let me explain the context of this the historical context and then you'll get it this is the last point exodus chapter six and verse three here is the environment that moses was in remember he was instructed by god to go and deliver the people of israel out of the hands of the egyptians to bring them out of that bondage and at the beginning of it it all dismantles it all falls apart it becomes an embarrassing scene for moses and aaron because even though they did some miracles initially and they spoke with pharaoh and they even spoke to the israelites and saying god is about to set all of you free it backfired because pharaoh becomes angry and he says okay if you guys have so much time that you want to head out to the wilderness to worship god you're going to build those bricks without straw you collect the straw as well before and all the israelites were angry at god they were angry at moses and it's in that environment when god and moses meet and moses comes before the lord and says what happened here at the very inception of the exodus and the deliverance the whole thing fell apart all the israelites are angry at me and aaron they're angry at you and the pharaoh has gripped it with his strong hand that's the environment now and then this is what the lord says to moses i appeared you wonder why is he given a historical lesson follow it i appeared to abraham to isaac and to jacob as elohim you can also put el shaddai those that's a hebrew word for god elohim el shaddai most hebrew scholars will say it communicates the idea of god almighty but a lot of them weigh in and say it really means the god of the heavens el shaddai the god of the heavens elohim god actually it's plural and that's why there's some liberal theologians that will mock the genesis account when they'll say look the hebrew word elohim is presented in genesis 1 so basically you should translate that as in the beginning the gods as if it's an endorsement of polytheism the worship of many gods the gods created the world but any decent individual who wants to understand the hebrew should go to a hebrew scholar who speaks it as their mother tongue and say why is the plural used here and they will respond immediately to you because scholars of the hebrew language will tell you that's what's called the majestic plural the majestic plural means it's not any type of focus on many or a multitude of deities or gods endorsing polytheism but it's a focus on the majesty and how big he is elohim almighty majestic god we can only describe it in the plural so here god is saying to moses now this is how i revealed myself to abraham isaac and jacob as elohim but it doesn't stop there and you wonder why but my name he goes on in exodus 6 3 but my name is yahweh now he introduces that in the hebrew text it's four consonants it's called the tetragrammaton because you have to insert vowels to pronounce it so it's four consonants but when you insert the vowels you'll get yahweh now that comes from the verb to be so the focus is i am the ever present god. why is that significant why did moses need to hear that why do we need to hear that when it comes to connection with god to bring strength because the emphasis here is not the manifested presence of god it's the abiding not the big strong miracles elohim el shaddai almighty god the god of the heavens but yahweh is how i'm revealing myself to you moses in a place where you are so weak right now your energy level emotionally and physically and mentally and spiritually has been depleted by what's just happened with pharaoh and the israelites in their response but at that moment what you need to hear is i am yahweh i am the god on the earth that doesn't minimize he's the god of the heavens but his focus was i'm the god that's here right now with you and i will embrace you and i will strengthen you and i will empower you because my abiding presence will bring that strength to you i am yahweh present with you right now not just the god of the heavens but the god on the earth probably a picture of the incarnation with christ tabernacling living right here with you in the midst of it my embrace now he might give a supernatural miraculous answer but my embrace my abiding presence is what will sustain you and strengthen you i am yahweh let's be connected to him amen let's stand up together and i'm just going to invite you just to take a moment now i'm going to ask the worship team to come up to say lord you fashion this message for me i know it needs to land on my heart so it's shaped and so i really hear you so as everyone stands if you want to remain seated that's fine but just take this as a moment we're going to sing this song and with your eyes closed would you just say lord i need your strength come on now that's where you're at right now i know this is on his heart my energy my my my ability my capacity to endure and to advance and to do anything is really depleted in this area of my life i feel like all hope is drained right out of me about my finances and my job about my health about my future my career but about my marriage i need your strength lord that i can leap over this wall that i can be armed with your strength that i could be strong in the lord and the strength of your might that i can do all things through christ who will strengthen me so i surrender to you lord i humble my heart my i acknowledge my need i need an outpouring of your grace i repent of my sins and i ask that you just forgive me so i can be filled with holiness and wholeness and thereby be strengthened and in the midst of this struggle i thank you for the promise that strength is being poured into me more and more each day and tomorrow i'm going to be even stronger than i am today i thank you for the community right now around me that is together we sing and lift this song i'm going to feel the presence of your strength lord but most of all i connect with you i thank you that you are mighty god the god over the heavens but i'm also so thankful that you're the god that walks with me on the earth in the now in the present tense yahweh is with me and i receive just in your heart i receive your strength like plugging into you right now hallelujah it's happening i know it oh yes a new strength is rising in you yes it is in jesus name to all here even at home as a supernatural visitation right now an impartation by the spirit of the lord you're being strengthened in body in soul and spirit in mind and intellect emotions in jesus name we thank you lord [Music] strength will rise as we wait upon the lord we will wait upon the lord we will wait upon the lord our god you reign forever [Music] you are the everlasting god the [Music] you're the defender of [Music] you lift us up [Music] our god you reign forever our hope our strong belief one more time lifted up our [Music] you you are the everlasting god the everlasting god [Music] you do not faint you won't [Music] you lift [Applause] [Music] we thank you lord we receive that from you right now in this moment we thank you lord you may have appeared to abraham isaac and jacob as el shaddai but you're visiting us right now as you did with moses as yahweh you are the god that is with us right here in the present right now i want to pray this blessing over you and we're going to sing this one more time would you just receive this i pray that the lord god almighty here in the sanctuary there in the lobby at home would fill you and flood you with his great strength you would feel the empowerment of almighty god flooding into the very veins and arteries of your life physically and mentally emotionally and spiritually that you'll be strong in the lord and in the strength of his might i pray this blessing upon you in the name of the father son and holy spirit in jesus name would you say i i receive this i receive this let's lift our voice one more time come on let's lift this that strength comes from the lord our god you reign forever [Music] you are the everlasting god [Music] you're the defender of [Music] you lift us up amen he's the everlasting god would you this week hey as you go home and as we leave this place today and if you're live streaming as you change the channel to whatever else is on tv as we go on this week would you put that somewhere for me i like to create reminders so i'll make it the background of my phone or the background of my computer put it on a post-it put that somewhere that when you're overwhelmed that when you feel weak that when you need strength you say he's the everlasting god he's enough he's my strength would you do that this week well hey you can all be seated right now in a moment we're going to dismiss everyone just a quick reminder we've moved to these three services 8 30 10 30 and 12 30 and during the 10 30 service we have kids ministry available with pastor michael and i know they're having a great time right now that's next sunday as well and for the ongoing future uh as well as this wednesday night 7 30 is our thanksgiving eve service that'll be here in the sanctuary we're all going to gather here and um and we're really excited for that service and hey i'm excited tonight at the end of this service i'll uh uh all prayer leaders the uh the altar ministry team you guys can come down at the end of this service if you remain seated we're gonna have prayer ministry happening in the front of the sanctuary just wait for the ushers to dismiss everyone and then you just remain in your seat if you're in the lobby you can remain in your seat in there once everyone is dismissed you could form a line right here we're going to practice social distancing and everything but uh prayer is available if you have any special requests or you just want someone to pray for you today well hey thank you all for tuning in thank you for coming here today we'll see you next week god bless [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Smithtown Gospel Tabernacle

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Length: 81min 15sec (4875 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 23 2020