Sunday AM - Pastor Nathaniel Haney - September, 26, 2021

thank you jesus amen let's all stand together here this morning there's a great atmosphere already in this place just a liberty and a freedom can we take a moment right now everybody across the building lift your hands hallelujah that's it come on in one mind in one accord hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah come on i already know you love the lord or you wouldn't be here hallelujah you already love the lord come on maybe you're struggling and whether he loves you or not but i'm telling you right now you're here you love the lord just love him hallelujah thank you jesus thank you jesus that's it all across the building let's step into his presence hallelujah i will enter into his gates with thanksgiving thank you lord for waking me up this morning thank you for life and breath thank you for your blood that washes me from every sin and from every stain lord your mercies and your compassions they're brand new this morning great is thy faithfulness i praise you this morning jesus come on i will enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise being thankful unto him and bless his name for the lord is good his mercy is everlasting and his truth endureth to all generations hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah jesus hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah it's like something's going to break in here right now why don't you take the hand of that person next to you right now we just need to bind together a little bit right now hallelujah come on begin to worship together begin to find thanksgiving in your heart together right now come on do it in one mind in one accord we're going to do this together we are the body of christ hallelujah and he inhabits the praises of his people oh i bless your name no matter what happened this week i bless your name no matter what i feel like this morning i bless your name i bless your name jesus you are god and there is none else there is no other savior there is no other king there is no other provider oh there is no other healer [Music] hallelujah jesus that's it come on let it ring from your heart let it ring from your spirit let it ring from the depths of your soul i love you jesus i love you jesus i love you jesus hallelujah oh blessed be the name of the lord [Music] hallelujah say it with me blessed be the name of the lord come on say it blessed be the name of the lord come on say it from your heart blessed be the name of the lord come on let those words out of your mouth right now blessed be the name of the lord [Music] [Music] put your hands together and clap into the lord hallelujah amen amen you may be seated let's worship together in song [Music] he's hallelujah weapons are not carnal amen so we fight with praise amen we fight with worship amen we fight with fasting and prayer amen so we gonna sing a little song amen and we're gonna worship god [Music] i'm a soldier is together like this [Music] jesus christ oh together okay this [Music] oh he gave me strength is 24.99 [Applause] that's what that's what it's done me all you have to do is think about it [Music] that's what he's doing [Music] everybody that's what you said me [Music] [Music] you don't have to think that far back hey just this week just this week hallelujah he's worthy of our praise hallelujah thank you jesus hallelujah thank you lord [Music] thank you [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] let alone is [Music] me [Music] is [Applause] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] today [Applause] he's the day i will say [Music] stay with me is [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] is he great to you just the voices amen [Music] give him your best worship with me [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] he's done great and mighty things not just in this earth but in your life amen can you testify to that hallelujah yes hallelujah thank you so [Music] [Music] holy singing a new song [Music] worthy is [Music] hallelujah oh [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] me [Music] guys hello [Music] you're the only one oh me [Applause] [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] is oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] you are my everything and i will adore you is [Music] you are my everything and i will adore you me hallelujah is [Applause] you are my everyday [Music] [Music] he's [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] our pastor has been speaking on faith [Music] so i've got a faith test for you today are you a child of god if you're a child of god i want you to lift your hand if you're a child of god i want you to lift your hand [Music] the lord's been putting a scripture on my mind all week long it simply says if my people [Music] the child of god if my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face [Music] then i will hear from heaven and i will heal their land [Music] [Music] is that hand still up there [Music] you're the people he's talking about you're the people he's asking you right now yeah this is time for our kingdom prayer okay but it's deeper than that right now where does god want to take you right now in prayer if my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray that's your job nobody can do it for you right now you've prayed this prayer a thousand times we have prayed it for years you should already know how to do it would you let something stir up in your spirit right now if my people which are called by my name we have the name that is above every name shall humble themselves and pray right now there's a healing that this land needs there's a healing that needs to take place in this building today there's a healing that needs to take place in this world today there's a healing that needs to take place come on would you humble yourself right now and say i'm a child of god i'm gonna pray big prayers come on would you pray a big prayer right now would you allow the spirit of prayer to get on you right now would you allow you to humble yourself and pray and seek his face right now [Music] [Music] oh [Music] hallelujah come on somebody might be waiting for the next thing to happen then you're not praying if you're waiting for something else to come up here then you're not praying you should be praying as if this is the end that jesus could come in five seconds and your prayer can change the world your prayer can change the world come on somebody pray like it's your last prayer [Music] [Music] we seek your face oh god let the spirit of prayer get in us oh lord god that every moment we can pray big prayers that every moment we can pray and seek your face o god to know you to know you to seek you o god then you will hear from heaven and you will heal our land so desperately needed in this hour oh god we pray for those in authority god we pray and plead your blood over them today we plead your blood over the nation we plead your blood over congress we plead your blood lord over our president and then vice president we plead your blood over our governor we plead your blood over our assembly state assembly we plead your blood over our mayor we plead the blood of jesus over the city of stockton we plead the blood over this state of california we plead the blood of jesus over the united states north america every continent in this world oh god we plead the blood of jesus over every continent in jesus name in jesus name in jesus name every lost soul god you are not willing that any perish but that all come to repentance oh lord this is your will we pray your will we pray your will this morning that all come to repentance o god in jesus name in jesus name in jesus name thank you father thank you for hearing our prayers today thank you for hearing our prayers [Music] hallelujah if it is appropriate we want the healing virtue to flow through this building i know there's people that need a healing how many know someone that needs prayer right now you know somebody that needs prayer come on hold that hand up there you might be the only prayer that's prayed for them today so we're going to pray together we're going to pray for every sick body come on is he a healer does his word said by his stripes we are healed is there somebody that still believes that come on there's faith in the building right now that hand that's lifted for a soul right now that's lifted for someone that needs a healing hallelujah if you know someone that's next to you and needs prayer would you pray for them right now and if you need prayer why don't you step out in faith and say will you pray for me come on sometimes you gotta press your way through the crowd and get someone to pray for you that's faith hallelujah now your hands lifted for someone right now lift your voice right now and pray for them right now lord let your healing virtue flow come on pray right now in jesus name lord your healing virtue let it sweep through this building oh lord every name that is being mentioned across this building i know you know every single one of them lord i know you know every situation i know you know every situation in every family oh god thank you for your healing power thank you for your grace and your mercy today hallelujah jesus we believe in you jesus we believe in you jesus we believe in you hallelujah [Music] hallelujah thank you lord thank you jesus thank you jesus [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] oh [Music] thank you jesus thank you jesus now let's do what's appropriate and just give him thanks and praise him for hearing our prayer this morning hallelujah thank you jesus [Music] [Applause] thank you lord jesus we're allowed to come before the throne thank you god that we can come boldly before the throne thank you lord that we're allowed to enter into your presence thank you lord that we're allowed to bring our request to you thank you jesus thank you jesus thank you jesus thank you jesus amen amen amen you may may go to your seats here for a moment we have a couple of announcements we just need to make here this morning and amen if you are over 65 years of age i'm not gonna make you stand okay but we have a special day here today and most of you know back behind our uh platform here in the back room what's considered probably the choir room practice room all of our elders are invited there today we have a special uh time for you and i think most of you have been contacted we just if there's a visitor here today and you are in that category we would love to visit with you it's a special time of coffee and fellowship and i think they have some snacks back there too so uh welcome you to please come back and uh you're gonna meet the pastors and fellowship with all the pastors and even the lay pastors we want you to come back there and be with us and spend some time here today amen all of our elders say amen amen god bless you sister haney ladies of christian life center who are 21 years of age and older i want you to stand up see some of you haven't been honest about your age and now you're getting called out [Laughter] this thursday september 30th we are gonna do something very spiritual very spiritual and i have scripture for you proverbs 17 22 says laughter and a merry heart works like a medicine now some of you are carrying a lot of burdens you're heavy laden you're under a lot of stress and you need a trip to god's pharmacy no comment from the men [Laughter] so i am inviting you to come out and join us this thursday from six o'clock there we go to eight o'clock we are gonna have a ladies night out [Music] we haven't done this in a long time we need this we need the fellowship we need to come together and just connect so come join us stockton sports complex 15 covers your meal and your skate rental but even if you don't skate come on out and let's go have fun at the felt with the fellowship you can be seated thank you we are also about one month away from ladies advance 2021. [Music] it is going to be a powerful time in the spirit i have felt this for the last five or six months you have one week left to register and still get your 50 discount so next sunday will be your last sunday and registration goes up to 70 that's 20 bucks right there now we already have a pretty high number of registrants people are excited about this because yes monterey is a beautiful place to go and yes we are staying at a very gorgeous hotel and yes we do need a break amen ladies we do need a break but the main reason the main priority is that women are feeling a shift that is taking place in the realm of the spirit as god is preparing his people for a new season let's be honest things just have not been the same since the pandemic hit has anybody felt that things are just not normal the way that they used to be but god is going to speak to us as women he is going to give us some new direction for the new season that we have entered during ladies advance this year whatever you have to do i am reaching to you bring your daughters bring your mothers bring your friends whatever you have to do to get there make it happen and it will be worth it in jesus name thank you [Applause] amen let's all stand together we're going to take our sunday morning tithing offering amen amen say why do we do it that way because the lord loves a cheerful giver amen put a smile on your face then hallelujah praise god amen let's pray lord jesus thank you for your blessings to us lord it's amazing how i've watched even through this pandemic that you've blessed your people with better paying jobs higher paying jobs even when it seemed like they were going to lose their job they got something better i've watched you bless your people lord i pray for your people today lord no matter what they do and how they give it that they you do love a cheerful giver but they would give it in faith because you know god and we know that you're going to take care of us lord you said you would rebuke the devourer and open up the windows of heaven for their faithfulness god bless them today bless your people and bless this offering here today in jesus name and everybody said amen god bless you as you give this morning [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] praise the lord i'm so thankful that you're here and that jesus is here that makes a church service amen but today i want to talk from matthew and we're going to look at a few verses of scripture we're going to start in matthew chapter 11 and story of uh john that is in prison and it starts with verse one in matthew 11 and it came to pass when jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities now when john had heard in the prison the works of christ he sent two of his disciples and said unto him art thou he that should come or do we look for another jesus answered and said unto him go and show john again these things which you do hear and see the blind receive their sight the lame walk the lepers are cleansed the deaf hear the dead are raised and the poor have the gospel preached to them and blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me and i'd like to read also another verse of scripture in mark chapter 6 verse 1 it says and he went out from thence and came into his own country and his disciples followed him and when the sabbath day was come he began to teach in the synagogue and many hearing him were astonished saying from whence hath this man these things and what wisdom is this which he giveth unto him that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands is not this the carpenter the son of mary the brother of james and jose and of judah and of simon and are not his sisters here with us and they were offended at him and then i'd like to read another passage in john chapter 6 and it says in verse 60 of john 6 it says many therefore of his disciples when they had heard this said this is a hard saying who can hear it when jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it he said unto them doth this offend you verse 66 and from that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him from that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him and i want to talk to you today a little bit uh about the way that jesus operates in the way that we respond and i believe that it is relevant today in our studies here and so the first uh person that we talked about was the uh john the baptist john the baptist is a very powerful figure in the scripture he's a man that is been mightily used of god and even in our lord's own words said of the dispensation of the law the dispensation of the old testament there was not a greater prophet that lived than john the baptist that would mean in the eyes of jesus that john the baptist was greater than moses and that john the baptist was greater than elijah or elisha or that he was greater than king david who was both a king and a prophet and yet jesus takes these great men of character who had done such great things by faith and wrought such great works of god and had such a commitment to the lord through their lives and he says this man john the baptist is greater than those men now that is probably one of the highest compliments and honors that could be given to any of us is that jesus christ would call you by name and say of you of all the people in the church age that's the greatest man or that's the greatest woman that has ever been that would be the equivalent of what jesus said at john the baptist he was saying all the people of that dispensation john is the greatest of them now what he meant exactly by the greatest of them has been debated but i think if we just take it at face value he's putting john the baptist up here in a place that hardly anyone else would ever attain to and so john is a great great man john the baptist is also a man that had prophecy that rode upon him i shared this in our theology class the other day but in isaiah 40 the bible prophesies of a voice that would be heard in the wilderness and that voice in the wilderness would cry that the way of the lord and in that passage of scripture the lord is the tetragrammaton which means it is not just the lord as a donai but it is the lord yahweh it's the god that created heaven and earth it's the god of the old testament and here a mortal man was going to be the one that would herald or would make the announcement and prepare the way for god to come in flesh which we know to be jesus christ what what what a great man no other prophet in the old testament ever got to live that close and see the testament maker as john did all the other prophets were dead when john came on the scene and john sees the lamb of god that's going to be used to make the new covenant and he prepares the way for the lamb of god he prepares the way for god to come in flesh isaiah got close when he was writing and said unto us a child is born unto us a son is given but the problem was he was 700 years too early and we find some of the minor prophets as we call them minor simply by the size of their book not by the value of the book some of the minor prophets and their prophetic visions got very close to messiah jesus christ also but none of them had the privilege to actually touch him to speak to him to know him like john and yet he was from a different dispensation and would never be able to cross over into the new dispensation and his job was primarily to preach repentance to a world that was in array and that was the world of the jews but it was so powerful that it extended beyond the household of faith into the non-believer the gentile kingdom that soldiers themselves would come and ask of john would you baptize me would you tell me what i should do that pharisees would look at john and would respect him and ask would you tell me what i should do to make myself a better person and so he was reaching all levels of society to the lowest to the highest and everything in between and then shows up jesus christ and he has this great privilege of baptizing him and when he baptizes jesus there is a voice that speaks from heaven and says this is my beloved son in whom i am well pleased imagine being the man that's baptizing the son of god having your hands on him standing in the water with him i don't know if there uh there would be any greater privilege up to that point in time than to be that close and performing that ceremony and doing that service unto the almighty who has just robbed himself in flesh so that he could move forward now there is a reason why jesus was baptized not because he was a sinner but he was the lamb that would cut the new covenant and all the animals in the old testament had to be washed before they could be sacrificed not only did they have to be washed before they could be sacrificed but it took a priest that could wash those animals and john's dad was a priest we find that serving one of the courses of service in the temple when the angel appeared unto him and prophesied that john would come so that means that john was a priest he was a priest that was out of the box and he was moved apart from the daily services because he became a fiery evangelist in the wilderness but nonetheless he was born a priest he was from a priestly lineage and he had the lamb of god and he washed him in the water a type of the old testament lambs being washed before they would be sacrificed before atonement and so there was a type iology that took place there it wasn't so much that he needed it wasn't at all rather that he needed the forgiveness of sins it was that the type was being followed very closely as we get prepared for the last lamb to ever be slain to take away the sins of the world and john had that privilege and that opportunity and so john was very powerful he had audiences where people came to him he didn't have to go to them but he just stood on the street corner and the crowds gathered he went in the wilderness they followed him to the wilderness he went to the mountains they followed him to the mountains he was a man that even the kings were a little bit leery of and he would speak to them the leaders of society were cautious around him not just because of his anointing and his power but the people they feared and they revered him as a prophet and if john were to lead a revolution the people would have risen up and joined him and overthrow through the government and and so they were cautious what they did with this man but finally the time came where the very words that john himself had prophesied were to take place he must increase i must decrease what a prophecy i'm at the height of the pinnacle of my world doing what i have been prophesied of the prophets of old to do fulfilling the will of god and now it is my turn to prophesy also i've prophesied the lamb of god that taketh away the sins of the world and now i'm going to extend another prophecy even beyond that that this lamb must increase he must become greater he must become well known his ministry must go beyond anything i've ever experienced and not only will he pass me but i've got to start decreasing i've got to start losing my crowds i've got to start losing my disciples my life no longer can sustain at this level but i'm going to be pulled back so he can be in the spotlight and john makes his prophecy and his proclamation and he begins to notice that his meetings are a little bit smaller than they used to be he begins to know that some of his disciples no longer are his disciples but they've changed and become the disciples of christ and he's all right with that he can handle that he he can believe in that because he understands that messiah is going to set up a kingdom and in that kingdom he would gladly be second to the messiah the christ but then something happens that he did not see in the prophecy something happens that he did not see in the scripture something happens that he did not have a word of god in his life for and he doesn't understand why and that is that he is arrested and the arrestment has placed him in a prison cell and in the prison cell it seems to be the end of his life and not only seemed to be but eventually we would know through scripture it was the very end and he is truly decreasing but not in the way he thought and so what we have going on here is we have a man that believes in the bible but has somehow not fully seen what the scripture and the prophecies actually meant it was easy to decrease and let his crowd get smaller in hopes that jesus would become more powerful than he had ever become not only is that so but he was actually the cousin of jesus so he was related to jesus and and it was of his own tribe that was going forward and and so that there was something special about that and he could see this happening in jesus and and it was all right because it didn't totally affect him or destroy him it didn't end his life it didn't push him aside it didn't forget him but now he's in a jail cell and into this jail cell hope begins to take wings and fly away the future begins to lose its allurement light and the darkness begins to replace it the crowds and the visitations are not there anymore his disciples have become few and many of them are afraid of government and what might happen and so the visits are not as often and he is having downtime and alone time and his mind begins to do what every human mind does it begins to think it begins to have thoughts and things begin to enter the mind because of his place and his condition and he begins to contemplate he begins to think on these things and he begins to toy with them and and and he begins to question rather the word of god and the prophecies of god were accurate and right and rather this man was truly the fulfillment of those things based on his condition now that is so typical of you and i where when everything is good we see god as something so mighty and powerful and great perfect in all of his ways invincible but when things begin to unravel in our little world when things begin to go south instead of north when goodness seems to be absent and evil seems to be present dreams die prophecies and scriptures seem to be unapplicable and it seems like our world begins to be crushed by the world around us and the people around us and it seems that everything we have hoped for and everything we have believed in begins to be taken and stripped from us there's a tendency at that point to have a war in our mind and that war will consist of our belief in what we have believed in being tested as authentic from god and so john is now [Music] not talking as a preacher not talking as a prophet not talking as this great man that heralded in the coming of messiah but he is talking as just a man that is discouraged and in prison he's talking as a man who has begun to reason and begin to think and thoughts have got into his mind and strongholds have been built up paul will later tell us casting down every evil imagination or every imagination that wars against or speaks out or fights against the word of god and the thoughts of god but john didn't have that word then but that's what was happening satan was putting thoughts in his mind his own flesh had risen up in discouragement and was grasping at things and john is on a downhill spiral of self-pity hopelessness darkness and he gets a couple of his disciples and he says i need you to run an errand for me you remember that man named jesus that i baptized my cousin yeah the one that i said the lamb of god that taketh away the sins of the world the one that's healing the sick and doing all kinds of america i want you to ask him one question just one because i am so discouraged in this prison i feel like all my hope is gone i don't feel i have any future i feel like everything i did has been wasted and ending in this surely there's got to be something better for that kind of commitment that i gave to god that kind of ostracization that took place because i wouldn't walk in the line of the priest like my father but i chose to follow god and become a preacher and an evangelist and a prophet i proclaimed jesus i did things others wouldn't do i stood against the grain i was criticized by the priesthood i was looked down on by many my family tried to pressure me to feel the shoes of my father but instead i chose to do what god called me to do and now this is the reward of my obedience to god surely there's been some mistake maybe not what i did but who i chose to do it for or what i chose to do it for and i got to know from his own lips are you really the christ this ain't no time to play games with me jesus this ain't no time to put on a facade and pretend to be somebody you're not i'm in trouble i'm sitting in prison my life is pending my my my ministry is over and and my health is deteriorating and and the people that used to care for me no longer come around and i'm all alone and i need to know just tell me the truth are you really the fulfillment of the bible and the passages and the prophecies because right now from where i'm sitting it doesn't look like you're one fulfillment at all it looks like you're an imposter and i'm very discouraged are you him or should i be looking for someone else and they came to jesus and they spoke to him and said your cousin that prophet the one that baptized you he asked us to ask you a question are you [Music] the messiah are you the fulfillment of the prophecies of isaiah are you really or should john start trying to find someone else to put his hope in john wants to know if there's if you're an imposter i need to know and jesus i imagined that he was greatly offended or hurt not necessarily offended but he felt that arrow hit him in the heart there's nothing that hurts worse than when someone that has believed in you forever begins to undermine and question you because of the things that you're doing and you know that you're doing the right thing but they can't see the big picture like you can and so they begin to lose confidence in you if you live long enough people that are important to you from time to time will lose confidence in you if you live long enough things in the world will go different than what you expected if you walk in faith long enough there will be times where it seems like god has forgotten about you and john was at that point and he said i need to know and and the lord responded and said go and show john again those things which you do hear and see we often forget one little word in that verse again show him again show him again show him again we're a people that have to see it over and over and over again we forget what it was like when we were in the world we forget what it was like when our lives were totally a disaster you know there's been a lot of time or a lot of water or a lot of situations that have have come and gone and and and i forgot what it was like when i was in chains of worldly bondage and i came to that altar and i poured my heart out to god and i saw the supernatural power of god break those chains and i felt the power of god move into my heart and begin to heal me and and i felt the deliverance and the freedom like i had never felt and i felt the guilt and the shame and the load began to lift off of me and and i had a testimony to tell everybody for a while but time and life has happened and so now i know that was real but it seems almost like a dream or a hazy past because it's been a while and what i'm in today is so real and engulfing and it's just settled down upon me i need to hear i need to see it again because i have a tendency to get offended in the way god does business when he doesn't do it according to my plan i have a tendency to be offended in the way god conducts himself when i can't pull the strings and i can't control and i can't make it happen i know some of you sitting there you you got that pious look on your face like you never get there but the rest of us human beings we we felt like that a time or two because we're humans and there's that tendency in us [Applause] and when i'm left out in the cold and he's turned to someone else and someone else is getting their deliverance and someone else is getting their healing and someone else is getting their prayer answered and i'm sitting in prison i have a real tendency to struggle with a fence at god as long as he's healing me as long as smoke's coming out my chimney as long as it's my family's blessing as long as it's my friends he's touched as long as it's the move of god and i get a little splash over i'm all right but when i'm picked up and removed and locked up and cut out from the moves of god and i can't join the people and rejoice in the miracles and i can't hear the people praying and see their answers come something in me starts getting a little bit depressed inside and i start wondering and that's where your faith comes in that's where you have to have an anchor that is sure and a pillar that is deep and piled into the ground and built upon a foundation that life cannot take you away from and john's in prison and everything he has had has been stripped from him and life seems to be over and jesus says i want you to tell him again the blind receive their sight now remember john had seen some of these miracles before he had been arrested it wasn't that john hadn't seen and heard about the blind having their sight given back to him he had seen that before he had been arrested it says that the lame were walking he knew that people were being healed and the leper a disease that was dreaded because there was no cure and you got put out and you couldn't be around people and god in flesh through christ jesus was beginning to heal these lepers and they were being reunited with their family and they were getting a new lease on life and he knew this he had seen these people he had heard the stories israel is not so big if you've ever been there that you wouldn't cross paths quite often especially if you're both sharing the same wilderness in the same river and they both did and they were cousins on top of that and and no doubt even though the bible doesn't give us much history on john's life after turning toward christ he no doubt was close to him and had conversation with him it was in some of those crowds when the masses would be there and and and so he saw the death here and he's he heard or maybe he was present i don't know but at least he heard and believed that the dead had been raised and he knew that the poor had the gospel that wasn't just poor in monies and poor of life but the poor in spirit the people that were searching for more than tradition the people that were searching for fulfillment rather than just something that was a a maze and and a false front but something that had reality in it and these people that said god we we're looking for for more of you and jesus brought that and then jesus says blessed is he whosoever is not or shall not be offended in me telling us that john's not the only one that is struggling with offenses and if you're not careful living in life things are going to come your way that are going to test your trust in jesus christ and that test if failed will begin to build an offense in you so so that's one person we've talked about let's go to another place here and talk about these offenses in the book of john actually let's go to the one we read the second one in mark 6 and let me read that to you mark 6 and it says and he went in from thence and came into his own country and his disciples followed him so we'll start right there so we've talked about john which is his cousin now we want to talk about his town his home uh place where he grew up at and when he went there he went into the synagogue he had done this many times the bible tells us he had done this many times says in one place says as he did a four time or he had done many other times he went in he would get and he would have his turn to read and that was the way different ones would be chosen to read he went on the sabbath day and he began to teach them and when he began to teach them they came to a place where they were offended in him as the bible tells us a few verses later and they begin to reason and their reasoning was this we know this person we know where he's from we know who his mother is we knew his father we know his brothers and his sisters we saw him raised up we saw him working in the carpenter and he's trying to talk to us like a prophet he's trying to speak to us like some great representation of god he's trying to give to us words of encouragement and we know who he is they really didn't know who he was because they were only looking at jesus with their natural eyes not with their spiritual eyes and the bible says that they were offended at him so whatever he did he offended people and so jesus makes a little spoken word about that now he john he said tell john they see and they hear and they're healed here he says uh he makes a little comment he says a prophet's not without honor but in his own country in other words a man of god prophet is going to have be respected but when he's at home people are going to have more trouble respecting him because they know his humanity they know his frailties they know his weaknesses his strengths they they they can't look past the human and see the anointing and the office that he operates in all they can see is my clay feet and that's basically what jesus say in there and so he says that and then we're going to get to john and we want to go to chapter 6. and then i want to bring these three together for us today john chapter 6 and jesus has been talking to them about being the bread of life and coming down from heaven and he uses the words that i am and he is in such a way that they understand that he is claiming to be the god of israel the old testament not just a mortal man and they were they they were already struggling with his claim to be more than just a human that represented god but that he was the i am and that was really struggling with him but then he begins to talk about uh the blood that they were to drink and the bread or the body that they were to eat and they got extremely offended in that doctrine of cannibalism as far as they understood because they didn't see the deeper spiritual teaching that was there and they thought that he meant that when they would have to eat of his flesh and take that flesh and and so forth and and so they they they had trouble with that and then he went on and he began to teach other things and we're not given what else he taught about but it was an expansion no doubt on this core message that he was preaching and it says in verse 60 it says many therefore of his disciples when they had heard this said this is a hard saying who can hear it now many of those disciples that are now having a hard time with him were john's disciples and then when john lost power they jumped over to jesus and then when jesus starts talking like he's out of his head like maybe he's got a fever and he's not thinking straight like eat my flesh and drink my blood and to a jew that was just absolutely unheard of they thought you know he's got a devil in him he's got possessed and so instead of being this great healer and this great teacher now they look at jesus christ like he's a demon-possessed man and what he's doing is by the power of satan and the teachings that he's given is by the power of satan of course not all of them had that mentality some just thought it was crazy but many of them thought that a devil had begin to influence him and they left him and they said who can hear it or who can accept this kind of teaching and then verse 66 reiterates it with a little more uh understanding it says from that time many of his disciples went back that's called backsliding in case you didn't know that that's why we use a term backsliding and i don't really know what people think in their mind but when i think of backsliding one thing i always had as a kid is trying to climb the muddy banks of the creek and get out and we just keep sliding back down we get almost to the top and we just slide back down and in the water and and when you backslide you're you're almost there with the lord you just slide back into the world and you climb back up and you slide back into the world you never really get out of the trough that you're in you never really get out of the box that you're in but you stay down in that old muddy river and then and somewhere you got to get out of there and get on the bank so you're not laying just up there in a slippery position where eventually you're going to slide back down you got to climb completely out and get your feet on a solid place where you can stand and you don't backslide well these disciples whoever they were they were backsliding and they went back they they came back wherever they had started following the lord whatever part of life that they said you know we're going to follow jesus they decided we're going back to that place before we met jesus before we made the commitment to follow him much like people today they get offended in the church they get offended with the preacher they get offended with the music they get offended with the operation they get offended with god they get offended with just pretty soon you can they don't even need a reason to be offended they just find a way to get a bad attitude about everything and they just walk away and justify themselves for leaving because they're looking for an excuse and these disciples said who can who can live by those teachings there there's things that i i teach in here and and preaching here that people just say the same thing who can live by that i can't live by what pastor uh preaches or teaches i i can't do those kinds of things and and it's just it just is a fact and there's never been a pastor that could teach or preach anything in the bible that somebody in life through the last 2000 years of christianity that there wasn't going to be people in every church in every generation every time that wasn't going to be offended and when this was taught over the pulpit and some things i'll have to tell you they are hard they're not easy anybody tells you that you know there's nothing hard they got it wrong there's some things even for me as a pastor it's tough sometimes to read that and make sense of it and try and live it in obedience that surprised you it shouldn't that's humanity but christianity in humanity says i'm going to do it through the power of god for i can do all things through christ with strengthen of me and by him living in me i can live according to those principles that are in that book even if they're hard for my flesh to do i can do it and so you begin a journey and sometimes you fall down but you get back up because the power of god is working in you to sustain you to help you to be victorious and to be an overcomer and so these people they they got offended in the lord and the lord makes a comment for these people he says then said jesus unto them will ye also leave me will you go also think about it every time somebody got offended the lord spoke to those that were around him and made a comment on it i wonder what the lord you get to thinking about this if jesus is the same yesterday today and forever and we haven't yet went into eternity but we're still dealing with time and eternity that will disappear after the great white throne judgment where only eternity exists and time will be no more but right now we have time i wonder what happens when you offend god what kind of comment he makes to those saints on the other side i wonder what he says to the angels about us just the way i think i don't want him having to make some comment because i did something stupid because i didn't understand or didn't accept his ways but i want to be one of those that's still standing there that he's making the comment to i want to be one of those that he says will you leave me also absolutely not lord i'm in this for the long haul will you be offended at the way i do my business absolutely not i don't understand what's going on it doesn't make sense to me and everything in me wants to just pick up and go home but i'm not going anywhere i'm here i'm here to walk with you and maybe i'll understand it better by and by but if i never quite fully understand it by and by i trust that what you're doing will make sense in eternity someday when you pull back in my the scales on my eyes and you let me see why it happened this way at this time in this life i'm going to trust god and trust in god is something that every child of god has to do on their own you cannot trust god for someone else you cannot have faith for god to god for someone else but you have to have your own faith you have to have your own trust in god you have to believe in god yourself in each one of these incidents the men or the people the women that were in these groups they made decisions to let their trust in their faith go in god and in each one of those groups there was somebody there that made another decision that was opposite of the decision of the one that was being offended and that was i'm going to keep believing in jesus and so who will you be in life will you be the believer or the offended will you be the one that trusts in him or the one that walks away from him will you be the one that believes in him or the one that questions everything he does what will you be in the story of history when the narration is read of this year in this life that we're living and your name comes into the story or the group that you run with comes in the door what will the narration say about you they were the offended ones that walked away they were the offended ones that found fault in the way that i was teaching they were the offended ones that found fault in my doctrine they were the offended ones that found fault because i didn't do for them what i did for someone else and so they found a reason to be offended in me and and there's always going to be somebody because offended people offenses are easy for the human nature to embrace it's easy to be offended i could in just a few minutes here if i got real ugly could offend just about everybody in here and if i give each one of you the mic and give you a few minutes and you just wanted to try and offend we would have the most offended hurt feeling service that has ever been recorded in human history because we are good at offending each other with our words and not only are we good with offending people other words but we who hear those words are good at getting offended i mean there's people say things they don't mean a thing by it and you get offended they're not even they're not even thinking the way you're thinking and it's just the way it comes out and you immediately blow up like a toad frog and you're all been out of shape over something they said and they can't even figure out why you've been out of shape and so what happens you start walking on eggshells around those kind of people because you know that you anything and all of something you just want to get away from because you're so tied up and tents around them you don't want to hang out with them anymore i don't like to be around people like that that always i'm always having to look over my shoulder and watch what i say and i can't just be myself why because they're going to find something to be offended in what i'm doing [Applause] and i imagine jesus has had to put up with that for two thousand years he's had people that always get offended no matter what he does as long as he's pulling rabbits out of the hat and he's causing illusions to take place and magic to happen and lights and he's putting money in their pocket and giving them good jobs and everything's going well and health is in their house and sickness is in the neighbors instead of theirs and and everything's going good then we're not offended in you you're the greatest thing in the world but when the cupboards start getting bare and the body's not feeling so good and the world closes in on us and somebody says something that i don't like and i want to find and take it and it hurts me then immediately god's not as good as god should be and jesus has failed me and let me down and and it begins a spiral effect in our mentality in our life and i'm telling you it is a dangerous road to be offended in jesus how are some of the ways we get offended well one of the ways we get offended is when we pray a prayer and we're very passionate about it we pray and we pray over something and we we feel that we're praying what we should be praying about and it doesn't happen and all of a sudden doubts come to our mind and we've heard about what god did for someone else and how god answered this prayer for them and how this miracle transpired and and we're trying to believe god for us and it doesn't happen that way and so there's a battle that enrages because there's a devil many people will never meet satan head on you may think you've met the devil you probably never have really met satan himself i think he's too busy for most of us maybe comes against a church if they have a real deep season of prayer and begin to affect the overall but he doesn't just show up and mess with us because we don't really want that kind of attention he's got plenty of fallen angels and demons that work with him that will make you think it's the devil himself believe me and he's got people that'll make you think it's the devil in flesh i mean he has ways of getting under your skin and coming after you but you will meet satan at least in his system in your mind and you'll meet him often there and in your mind will be thoughts and in your mind will be words and in your mind will be feelings and in your mind will be uh directions and it all come together and converge and all be satanic it all be of hell and then with carnal flesh joining the forces of hell together hell and carnality begin to work out an attack against the spirituality and the word of god that's in your heart and your mind because ultimately satan wants people to be offended in god and these offenses are brutal now have you ever considered that not only has humans been offended people been offended but also jesus christ has struggled with offenses at times he has uh had times in his life when he was extremely offended in the way things were happening the bible tells us that he got offended when his cousin was killed his cousin was offended in him and then he was offended when they cut his cousin's head off the bible tells us that they came to jesus and they told him they said jesus uh your cousin just got his head cut off and put on a platter and served to this harlot and the bible says when jesus heard that when jesus heard about his cousin and what had happened the bible says that jesus immediately went to the mountains and the humanity of god we always we think sometimes that because he was god in flesh that he was invincible to these feelings but he wasn't invincible that's what makes him what he is is that he could struggle and feel what you and i have felt he could understand what you and i have went through and as a man it bothered him what john had happened to him in fact when jesus was arrested he spoke to everybody except the man that killed his cousin they poked him they beat him they tried to get out and he would not speak to the king that ordered the head of his cousin he talked to pilate pilate was a gentile a wicked man he talked to the soldiers he talked to the pharisees he talked to he talked to a lot of people even the ones that were wanting his death he talked to him but when he stood before the king heard he said i'm not going to speak to you and he cut him off and we learned something there when you kill the voice of god in your life it has long-term repercussions you may not like what god is saying at times and you may not like the servant of god that delivers what god is saying but be careful that you don't destroy that voice because jesus showed the king that i will never speak to you again and that man died lost and went to hell he killed the voice of the man of god in his life he healed killed the voice of god's word in his life but jesus when they told him he just turned and walked away it must have been like a kick of a mule in the gut he he just felt i mean he was just overwhelmed with with with a gray sky a depression i mean he just my cousin's dead they actually did it now he knew it was coming but there's something about when it actually happens and he just walked away and and he went to the mountains he just had to get away he needed some time alone he it was heavy upon him but what happened will forever give us a way of escape from discouragement and being offended in the way god operates and this has been something so wonderfully powerful in my own life the bible says we don't know the amount of time but in time the crowds begin to look for jesus and eventually the crowds found him when he was trying to hide away because of the discouragement and what he was going through by what had been told him of his cousin of the man that had kicked his ministry off really the man that was older than him that the elder the preacher the prophet the one that baptized him the one that told the world the lamb that taketh away the sins of the world the one that prophesied and was so glad to see him and and the man john was now dead and and jesus hears it and the bible says he just turns and he just walks to the mountains he doesn't say anything to anybody there's no conversation there's no comment there much he just turns and walks away you see that's the humanity of god that's the humanity and and a lot of us we're we would we do that we we get hit we need a little time alone we got to get away we got to breathe we got to think this thing through we got to lick our wounds we got to have a little healing time there's nothing wrong with that jesus tells us that is normal human that is normal humanity is when all hell breaks loose and bad things happen sometimes you need a little space you can't have people crawling and breathing down your neck all the time sometimes you need just to have a little down time and pray and think it through and just kind of get a get get a new grip on life but where we fail sometimes is we stay in that position too long and when you stay in that position too long you become vulnerable and it turns into offenses against and the bible says when the crowd came jesus had to make a decision would he go back and look at the needs of the living or would he live in the depression of the deceased and there was a battle but after that happened the ministry of jesus when you begin to read the miracles that begin to take place and you begin to read the momentous numbers of people that joined in the crowds that begin to follow him after that time the ministry of jesus became more powerful than it had ever been based on him making the right decision in a very dark place in life i remember years ago when i first got this uh teaching and that's what i'm doing today is just kind of teaching principles not so much doctrine today but principles and i remember i got this and and i was reading through this and then i kept reading and i looked and tried to find the sequence of when the death of john happened and when the ministry of the lord happened and and tried to put it in perspective and john's death came early on in the ministry of christ but he had already begun his ministry and was doing great things but after the death of john the ministry of christ takes wings and begins to become incredibly powerful more so than just the beginning and things begin to be noted in detail and that's where we get the stories of individual miracles and how they happened and the people that were involved and what they were and the record of that begins to take place on a more precise record than prior to the death of john and jesus is as a human as god in flesh is a man the bible says in acts chapter 10 it says that jesus christ was a man anointed of god who went about doing good healing all that were sick and oppressed of the devil the bible clearly tells us about his humanity and we have to keep in mind when we're trying to find the pilot car that is going to lead us through the the journey of life that we have to follow the man christ jesus we have to see the humanity of jesus to understand how to maneuver through life's obstacle field that we have before us the bible tells us that he made that decision that the ministry that the call that the prophecies that the will of god was more important than the sucking of his own thumb and he turned and he said yes i heard that my cousin has been killed i am depressed and i feel that i it is wrong what happened and i and i'm upset about it and i just would like to run because god didn't say anything about cutting his head off he just said he wouldn't have as powerful of his ministry as me this is the man christ jesus god didn't say anything about this kind of a death there's nowhere in scripture says and john will have his head chopped off or the man that opens the gates for jesus christ to come in the flesh uh there will be god that the world can see would diet a death like that in a place forgotten by the public almost and yet god reserved the right to close the ministry of john the way he wanted to and jesus as a man had to submit to that jesus had several times to submit to the will of god that was not his own desire i think the greatest knowledge of that is when we see him in the garden and there's a cross that's just a few hours away and there's a disciple that he's had in his bosom that's like a serpent that's going to betray him and there's a priesthood and he had been offered early on in his ministry the kingdoms of this world and he could have bypassed the cross and never went to calvary but if he had done that he had been like any other man and his kingdom would have passed away with time but the way he acquired the kingdoms of god is a that they will be his for eternity and he laid on that rock in that garden and he cried out to god he said not my will what was he saying as a man i don't want the cross as a human being i don't want to go through this as a man i don't want to face that kind of agony and pain and rejection i've been at the top of the pinnacle with crowds of thousands i've seen miracles that no other prophets ever seen and multiple miracles that no of the prophets ever had and i could resurrect this jewish remnant and we could storm this gate and we could establish this kingdom and take down rome with this kind of power and everything within me wants to do it this way you see i want to bypass the cross i want to bypass this immediate and i want to get to the coronation i want to get to the crown that sits on my head i want to get to the regal throne where i rule the world i don't want to die ain't much of us any of us in here much unless we're really depressed that want to die most of us have something that no matter how bad life gets we want to live and we have a little hope that it'll get better and when we're living that's why we want to live is because we think possibly it could get a little better in the future even though it may not and i'm talking to some people today that have been living in depression and whether you know it or not you have got bitter at god and you have been offended in the way god has done his business i'm talking to hearts today and you are blinded and cannot see that you've got offended at god and you're upset with god and it has affected your spiritual life because of your feelings that you've allowed and it's not just people that are in this building but people that are listening into these cameras and in their homes and in in in the casting of this service and some of you can't even come back to church you can't even pray anymore because you don't know how to pray there's something in you that you can't even ask god because you you're so offended in the way god's been operating in the way you think it should go and your faith has come down and you've pulled away from god and you're going through the motions and you look good and you act good and you pretend and you do it but inside there's a hollow sound when they hit the drum there's a way to overcome this you've got to lay it on the altar you've got to understand that there is a battle of wheels and that this is not the end but this is a journey and god has to have his way for you eventually to be restored to the things that you're reaching for and so you've got to say father not my will but thy will be done i submit to you i refuse to allow these emotions and these setbacks and these things that have not went so good life to overcome and become a monster that controls me and chains that bind me in a prison that holds me but i refuse to allow that in my life and so jesus turns around and he says there's one way to beat this if i can't see the power of god deliver john i'll see the power of god deliver these that have come and he begins to lay hands on the sick he begins to raise the dead he begins to heal the blinded eyes he begins to open the deaf ears and he begins to preach the gospel and as he preaches the gospel the good news there comes hope and faith in a man that was in prison that lost his hope now a multitude has got hope and he realizes that the forces of hell are being driven back by one decision that i'm not going to succumb to my feelings but i'm going to succumb to the prophecy and the word of god and do what god called me to do and by doing what god has called me to do i will come and do more than satan was ever able to do against my cousin john and he raises up and he walks into the multitude and he begins to teach the word of god he begins to teach the parables of the kingdom he begins to teach the message of god's kingdom come into mankind and as he begins to teach the power of god begins to lose and the ministry of god in christ begins to manifest in this world are you him or should we look for another if john had been able to live a little bit longer he would have seen an escalation of the power of god manifest but you see john wasn't the only one that struggled with this after jesus was crucified we find the disciples and some of the women locked in a home not just in a home but locked in a home with fear what are you afraid of are champions gone that the man we put all of our faith in is gone he died i i i'm in shock i i just thought somehow he would come off the cross i just thought somehow he'd speak and they'd all fall down and die and and i just believed in and his body's in the tomb and a couple of them got so depressed when they finally got the nerve to go outside the house they said you know what let's just let's go back to our old lives and start fishing and try and make a little money and just lose ourself in life get busy so we don't and let's just kind of try and forget about it and escape from what really happened and not talk about it anymore this is this is life preaching teaching today and jesus lets him feel like that for a while he gives him a little time but then he shows up so why don't you put the net on the other side of the boat i think i heard something like that you see and it doesn't matter what generation you're from it doesn't matter what group of disciples you're in there's going to be times where you have to make a decision you have to make a decision is this the end or is this the beginning is this over or is this an open door to another room that's greater than anything i've ever seen in the past i may have to leave some things behind some hurts some people i may have lost some things that were precious to me but life has taken them from me and and but i'm gonna walk through this door anyway without them i'm gonna leave the past behind even though it hurts and even though i love and even though i care i can't carry that with me and do this so i'm going to bury this and and i'm going to pay my respects but i'm getting up and i'm walking through the open door i'm walking in the place of ministry i'm walking to the place of the anointing i'm walking into the place of prayer i'm gonna get back into intercessory prayer i'm gonna get back into the things of god i i'm gonna get back to where god is moving and god is doing i'm going to get back to claiming and calling on the name of god to do great mighty things that we believed he was going to do before but even greater here in the future i'm coming back lord don't count me out yes there was a little offense and there was a discouragement and it was but am i back on track today [Applause] i recently had a conversation with a person that was right where this is message is at today in their heart and mind god had failed them now they they didn't say it quite like that but that's what they meant i was compassionate because i have felt that in 40 years of having a relationship with god 45 years i felt that a few times myself but i've never had the nerve to speak it or to say it just some things i don't want the devil to hear me thinking out loud i'll just pray it through and and and get my spirit and get my faith up and then that goes away and the healing bomb of the lord comes in and makes all that right and i don't have to carry that around but you you live long but boy they were they was having a tough time and i i i asked him a question here's a real simple question who's the god in this situation and who's the mortal who's planner whose will are we living and why do you do it and i think when you're honest and you answer those questions it puts it all back in perspective god's not a puppet i'm not the puppeteer i didn't write the story or the narration i just been asked to be a character in it and the reason that i do this is because of such a reward that no other story has at the end i shall see him i shall be like him i shall live eternally with him church offenses have come offenses will continue to come and i don't know what tomorrow holds now some of you you you've had the last few minutes this is all about the elections with governor newton i haven't thought of that a minute i'm thinking about life itself not governmental ups and downs and if you don't get that out of your mind because if that offends you something that small there probably isn't any hope for you because of his government there shall be no end that's all you got to rest in that's all you got arrested but we're not talking about california elections right now and being offended because you prayed and god didn't knock newsome out and all that stuff or keep him in some of you got your prayer answered maybe i don't know but we're talking about life itself it's in your home life itself that's in your body life itself that's in your marriage life itself that's in your emotions life itself that's in your own personal prayers in your own personal time the desires that you have and the hope that you have and what you want that's what i'm talking about today and church if we are going to make it and we're going to be the victorous people that god has designed us to be then we are going to have to get ourselves busy i have spent a year and nine months 10 months seems like that long maybe there's a few months we could distract from take away from that preaching faith hope to this church if you ain't got it now you probably it's like a doctor once told a friend of mine he said i can't help you anymore you need to get a new doctor this preacher can't help you anymore this church can't help you anymore and there ain't another church but you need to go see if you can find one because maybe you'll find someone help you you've had the word you've had the anointing you've had sin and not every service has been the greatest service in the world but every service has had worship jesus and the word and you ought to be able to take something or at least sustain what you got from the service before some of you are on empty by tuesday and you've had enough scripture where you should be fooled till next year this time i mean there's countries in the world i told brother meeks this earlier today we were talking i told him i said brother meeks i said there are countries that get less than what we get in one service and they manage an entire year in countries where they can't have any services or worship or word like we have they have to do it on their own and we can't make it to wednesday or sunday i'm not saying all of us that's not but as a general rule the american people are so frail and weak and yet we have so much inside our cabinets our pantry is full of the food of god our jugs are full of the liquid of the spirit and if we are going to face what is it our doorstep and we are going to be what we can see in this book we are going to have to take our thumbs out of our mouth put our feelings deep deep inside that cannot be offended and get the skin of a rhinoceros and we are going to have to get back into what this thing is all about go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved he that believeth not shall be damned and these signs shall follow them that believe in my name shall they cast out devils they shall take up serpents and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them and they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover this is a mandate of the almighty christ that has given us a call to stay focused in what god has called us to do now the world for some of us is not going to another continent it's right here in stockton world represents your surroundings you don't wait for some door to open but somewhere we got to start walking in places and ministering to people and as we begin to do that something flows through us and when it flows through us it begins to touch those around us and what's touching them you can feel it as it flows through you you ever minister to someone really minister to someone you walk away you feel like you're on cloud nine if you help someone in the spirits flowing through you the problem is some of us haven't ministered to anybody for a while we've just been ministered to be ministered to me minister to me minister to me some of you need to start ministering to someone else helping someone else praying with someone else giving word to someone else giving ministry to someone else god didn't call you to just be a receiver but he called you to be a giver he called you to pour it out and to give it to other people church we've got to get up and we have got to move forward and we have got to start ministering the works of christ the word of christ the person of christ to a lost in a dying world that is the hope for depression and that is the hope for defense offenses that is the hope is to give out of ourselves amen so this week we have a homework assignment i want you to find somebody this week and talk to them about the gospel of jesus christ i'm going to give you several things here now i'm not talking about inviting them to church i'm talking about actually you doing the one talking to them about what you want them to hear when they get to church so we need to do that this week now some of you are going to come back like the 100 or the 70 rejoice and said even the devils are subject to us you'll be so excited the results that are going to happen and it's going to lift your chin off of the gutter and you get you put some sparkle back in your eye a little balance in your foot because god's going to use you this week and you're going to be excited i want you to find five people this week outside of your immediate what i mean you're immediate you know your your husband or your wife or your children or or a close friend you pray for them too they need it and you need it but outside of that i want you to find five people outside of yours and i want you to try and pray for them that'd be one a day minus two days for a seven day week and so every day you get 24 hours to try and find someone and say could i pray with you now you don't have to pray that god will heal them from cancer or god would heal them from diabetes or god would heal them from or make their legs it doesn't have to be physical miracles it can be miracles of the heart it can be miracles of relationship listen to what people are telling you sometimes people are telling you things i'm really going through this somebody at work shows up and they start telling you about how tough life is that is really giving you an open door why don't you stop right there and say hey would you let me pray with you about that situation you don't even have to open the door this week you're going to run into people they're going to tell you how life's really messed up for them it happens almost every week to me and i'm not in the public like some of you people are going to tell you things and they're not going to be they're not going to realize that what they're doing is that they're opening the door for you god's really opening the door for you and we haven't been taking advantage of that i want you when you hear someone start to tell you and god's going to bring people to you this week i'm telling you that need prayer and they're not always going to come would you pray for me i know you go to church i know you believe in jesus i know you're a great person of prayer some of you may get that luxury but most of us will not but listen for the creaking of the hinges the twisting of the knob the opening of the door and when someone says there's something they're going through or this problem or that problem stop right there and see if the door is open enough to walk through and then i want you to journal what happened after you prayed for them so that's the second thing i want you to do i want you to pray for five people the third thing i want you to do is i want some of you to pray every day i don't care if you don't feel like praying if it's just hallelujah you write down prayers and read it to god even if your heart's not in it now i want a commitment on this one how many would commit even though you may not feel like you will go home today and you'll write down some things that need to be prayed maybe you start with verse number one and say i love you jesus too i worship you jesus three i still believe in you jesus four i need you to give me a revival in my heart and revive me five and just start with some simple things and then i need you to let your kingdom come in our life and set your thrown up in our heart and rule our lives my life my wife's lives my children's life my parents live whatever the demographics are and just simple things if you'll make that kind of effort god will build the bridge and do what you can't do but if you won't even start it's pretty hard god gets you moving and so i want people this week that will say pastor i will pray every day i will write a prayer down so i'm not just going around hallelujah hallelujah touch them bless them hallelujah not a prayer that you actually are focused even if it's simplicity how many would agree to write a prayer this week and hopefully it'll expand throughout the week but you'll write a prayer where it's a few minutes at least now some of you are praying hours every day i appreciate that but i'm reaching for everybody to say a prayer this week that is in the building and that is on the uh uh broadcast listening every one of you i don't know how many that is but there's a lot of us if every one of us will pray every day imagine what that would look like in the spirit realm and imagine what god would give back to us and how the revitalization of christians everywhere would begin to take place if you're at home and you're watching this i want you to lift your hand and say i will commit to pray every day this week and write a prayer down this afternoon good i see you not really but god does so don't lie to god now if you didn't lift your hand the first time lift it again and say not not you in here them on there and if they look at you you're on the road just kind of wave at them but really you're telling the lord yes lord i want you to make that promise do you understand it's important now let's do that in here how many will write a prayer this afternoon now some of you don't need a prayer but if you don't need a prayer and you will pray every day do it but if you need to write something down because you're just hitting a wall in your prayer i want you to write a prayer let's lift our hands and say pastor this week this week you know that's not a hundred percent but that's a good percentage of people that are going to pray that's a good percentage of people come on lift it up if you will now someone else that why wouldn't you want to pray every day this week even if it's a short prayer why wouldn't you want to pray thank you you can put your hands down this is going to look wonderful we are redrawing a face we're redrawing a plan we're redrawing a map that needs a little attention and we're coming back we're making a decision today to do something that's productive there's one more thing i want to do and then we'll close it's 11 44 on the clock up here and i think that's about right so one more thing i want to do how many will make a confession i refuse to be offended in the way he conducts his business and i accept the will of god how many will make that would you lift your hand i refuse now it can be variant of what i'm saying it but it's the point that you're saying i'm not going to be offended in god and i'm going to let god's will unfold my life and i'm going to worship him for it i'm going to love him for it i'm going to accept it and say god i belong to you you're in charge of my life i'm rather excited this week i'm rather excited to get up tomorrow morning because tomorrow morning something's going to happen in the spirit realm something's going to happen in the body of christ something good is about to take place because we are taking steps of initiative to do what god has wanted us to do instead of letting depression and sorrow rule our lives as believers oh hallelujah praise god let's stand if we would this morning praise god i want to tell the church i appreciate you so much all you do your faithfulness god's people is a wonderful wonderful institution and body family and the devil so badly wants to us and destroy us but we ought to pray for one another it should be part of our prayers i've been praying for some of you i know you have been going through it and i've been lifting you up to god and i promise you you're gonna make it you'll do the simple little things we're talking about and make a conscious decision you know discouragement is a decision too the older i get the more i realize that more things are not emotions they're the byproduct of decisions love's not an emotion it's a decision and emotions becomes a byproduct of a decision to love and discouragement is a decision that you embrace and say i'm going to be discouraged you're going to allow that it's not that it won't hit you but when it sets resident up it's because you embraced it you made a decision to allow to have residence some of you are going to have to fight this every day because when you throw it out of your house this mind it's going to come back knocking not just the next day but about 10 minutes later and you just said i'm sorry the motel is full there's no room for you in here i got a word of god here i read a new scripture i put here i'm thinking some good thoughts i listened to a good music i talked to a friend and we had a good laugh and i'm filling the house up with something that's beneficial i'm not gonna allow that and he'll knock again you just say no and then someone will come and offer you something to really give you an emotion with it to twist it and get it in just say no the mind's not a garbage can so it doesn't have room for those kinds of things it's a delicate beautiful creation of god amen and we are going to have victory in the lord today amen would you lift your hands and love god for a moment would you lift your hands and just worship the lord today hallelujah jesus we worship you and we thank you god because your word is so wonderful and there is so much health and vitality in your spirit through your word and we find hope where there is no hope except in the word of god and we appreciate god that you have spoken to us today and we appreciate god that we have a future in the name of jesus we love you lord today and we confess your words we breathe your words we speak your words we meditate on your words we think about your words and we're so grateful that we have the word of the lord to sustain us and to build our houses upon and to build our lives upon today we bless the name of jesus hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah we love you god thank the lord for using you this week thank you jesus for using christian life center using us in prayer using us to witness to people using us to do the will of god in this generation that we live thank you jesus thank you jesus thank you jesus hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah i'd like somebody to pray in the holy ghost for a few moments we're in closing but let's pray in the spirit today okay jesus today touch us and anoint us and empower us as a church today god lift us up lift us up and use us god in a mighty way put a put a hedge of protection around us uh loose the bands of wickedness undo the heavy burdens cause the light of god to shine in the face of god to smile upon us at christian life center today in jesus name in jesus name in jesus name praise the lord praise the lord praise the lord praise the lord hallelujah amen god bless you you are dismissed today i want you to have a great afternoon and rest in the lord for a great week this day that we're living in amen god bless you [Applause] you

Channel: Christian Life Center

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Id: -P-3uWZD9Bg

Length: 140min 39sec (8439 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 26 2021