Sunday Morning Service with Jennifer Toledo

[Applause] [Music] yes [Music] the king is here and lift your head and feel him sing that again and lift your eyes oh for the king is here and lift your head and feel him dear [Music] before [Music] [Music] [Music] is sing this praises [Applause] [Music] your [Music] there is free if you believe [Music] [Applause] [Music] a reason [Music] [Applause] [Music] all across as we declare his words is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is i believe that freedom i believe there's freedom who the sun sets free is free indeed and we declare that today so sing us with me say the generations will proclaim your goodness and your oh i feel it i feel it the generations will proclaim your goodness come on declare that over this nation say the [Music] let's celebrate it come [Applause] is [Music] generations [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Applause] is [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Applause] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] is [Music] is [Music] such a beautiful sound he loves to hear his children see [Applause] [Music] [Music] darkness your days are over approaching your time is up you are abolished love is over you are defeated [Music] our songs hallelujah darkness your days are over preparation your time is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] addiction [Music] away break the chains [Music] let our songs break the date [Music] so [Music] jesus within all the praise of your people jesus our victory lion of judah roaring within [Music] jesus [Applause] [Music] jesus [Music] to [Music] we are a community of people who have been called by god to impact los angeles and the world we are called as a community here at expression to put jesus on display that there would be a people in a lake who would love his presence we're community that seeks wholeheartedly after truth and we expression we are on a mission together to see jesus invade our city to see jesus invade industries of the world to see justice bring restoration [Music] the story is not over [Music] [Music] um [Music] [Music] easy [Music] the spirit of the lord is upon me i'm anointed to bring we're still watching it unfold there's good news for the captive of proclamation [Music] listen for the free [Music] listen up for the seasons changing he's rebuilding everything [Music] listen for the people shouting this is to believe [Music] the spirit of the lord is upon me i'm anointed to bring hope the promise fulfilled in a moment we're still watching it unfold good news for the captive a proclamation for every soul this liberty is for the broken an invitation to be made [Music] [Music] look out for the woman shouting his garment made me clean listen up for the seasons changing he's rebuilding everything listen for the people shouting this is [Music] and there is true joy in his freedom so open your heart and receive it there is a hope to believe in jesus there is true joy [Music] jesus there is true joy in his freedom [Music] jesus jesus there is true joy in his freedom [Music] [Music] look out for the woman shouting baby [Music] me [Music] can you hear it [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] look out for the woman shouting [Music] listen for the people shouting [Music] this is this is [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] this is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] this is [Music] can you hear me [Music] [Music] fallen is easy staying in love is hard to be honest be who we truly are without the excuse the facade but there's no pretend [Music] here in your love oh lord set me [Music] free oh lord set me free oh lord set me free lord set me free [Music] your love wasn't that [Music] [Music] me free yeah send me set me free [Music] here i am here you are [Music] here i am here you are here i am here you are [Music] here i am here you are [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh here i am [Music] here i am here you are [Music] here i am here you are [Music] [Music] [Music] here i am here you are here i am be fully me and fully free fully me and fully free [Music] to be fully free [Music] here i am here you are i let out the cells of my heart here i am here you are i'll let out the steps here i am here you are i am here you are [Music] you have [Music] me [Music] and we need you [Music] me now you have permission [Music] fully free [Music] fully free [Music] fully free [Music] cause i'm fully free to be fully me now fully free for me now i am free [Music] yes yes i'm free you have me [Music] me yes [Music] [Music] here i am here you are [Music] here i am here you are [Music] here i am here you are no shame no shame no shame [Music] you're beautiful no shade no shades you're beautiful [Music] [Music] me [Music] yes [Music] yeah i'm free beautiful here i am [Music] [Music] you're beautiful i yes here i am here you are i let out the sails of my heart here i am here [Music] here i am here you are here i am here you are [Music] here i am here you are [Music] we thank you thank you oh we just thank you thank you what no other man could do what no other one could do [Music] we thank you we thank you [Music] i know what they could do you did [Music] now i'm free yes [Music] we thank you we thank you thanks so much e58 worship team that was incredible and hey as we go into this time of giving i want to share just a few thoughts before i share those few thoughts i want to share the ways that you can give so first way you can give is text e58 to seven seven nine seven seven second way that you can give is to give online at www.expression58.org backslash giving three checks can be dropped in the baskets or fourth it can be through the e58 app and there's a thought there's a verse a favorite of mine i was going through one of those things you know where you read your bible and you're kind of just like finding some different highlighted things and i found a highlighted verse for me that i haven't read in a long time and i want to share it with you it's found in psalms 37 3 and i'm reading out of the passion translation it says this it says keep trusting in the lord and do what is right in his eyes fix your heart on the promises of god and you will dwell in the land feasting on his faithfulness and this passage to me is always so encouraging like when we think of that like it isn't just like god is faithful to us and there's a little bit like there's a little blessing for you but this is something that we actually get to like partake in and feast on like there is an abundance of the faithfulness and the goodness of god that he is faithful to finish what he started in us the work the process all these things that god is doing in our lives he is faithful to see it completely through so i want to do what i can to partner with that and that's why giving is so important is we are putting our trust in the lord we are putting ourselves in a place where we can rely on his promises and at the same time too we're in a place where we get to feast on his faithfulness and so i want to pray for you real quick lord as we've entered this time of giving god i just pray god that you would bless god bless these people god bless the things that they're putting their hands to and their time too and their mind to god that you would strengthen them god and i pray that this would literally be a season where people would be able to feast on your faithfulness and your goodness to us in jesus name amen and as you know we are back in person we are meeting in person at ywmla for the next eight weeks and those services are at 10 a.m on sundays as well as we are continuing to host our online services at 11 30 a.m and speaking of which we are in need of volunteers okay who can help us in this community host powerful safe experiences on a sunday morning and as we transition into a new season that's what we're in need of right now and so whether you are local or whether you're a part of our global community there's opportunities for you and these are some of the opportunities that we need the various areas that our church is needing volunteers in and that is in setup and tear down that is in hospitality that is in security that isn't greeters we need help with social media and tech so church community let's get all that we can on board and serving our community 8 15 a.m there is an e 58 volunteer huddle so for all the volunteers who are helping on sunday there is a time where we get to hear from the leaders of our church and share a word that is on their heart that god has placed there and it's a special time just to pray together and just hear and just be with each other at 9 30 is the e58 pregame so following the setup we spoke we host a another special time of opportunity over coffee some donuts other special treats our staff and leaders host this space simply to allow us to reacquaint ourselves as a church family it's been special and so with your support we hope to reinvigorate the community in a way that brings strength and engages hearts in this community so one of the easy ways that you can sign up is at expression58.org backslash links okay number two may is foster care awareness month and today we are excited to kick off foster care awareness month and our e58 sideline right it is our weekly post-service gathering that takes place exclusively on zoom which we are all very familiar with at this point we all know what zoom is we all have that account and so this is an awesome opportunity where we get to inform our community just about some of the amazing updates and the refined vision that we have for our foster care initiative here at expression um aubry blacker and laronda lofton will be joining us to provide dates um info on the incredible impact that we've been making in our city um and the effect that we're having on foster care in la the meeting will begin after both of the services wrapped they'll be approximately about an hour and 15 minutes also as well next sunday is a very special day hopefully you will be there and it is mother's day and we can't wait to celebrate with all of our mamas like figuratively spiritually and just all the mother maternal presence that we have in our lives it's gonna be exciting and so with that being said from our family to yours we want to welcome you to expression58 thank you for joining us today and i am so honored to introduce our pastor our fearless leader jen toledo we love you [Music] good morning expression it is so good to be with you today before we jump into the word we want to just let you know about something exciting that's happening in our community may is foster care awareness month and we are so incredibly proud of this community in ways we've been involved in in showing up in this area um as well as really excited about where we're headed in this season and so we actually have some really incredible things to invite you into this whole month of may you're going to be hearing um just different ways that you can get involved we're actually as a church partnering with a massive campaign that's happening all across southern california called love has no limits and we are passionately believing that together we're going to see thousands of families step up to the plate to foster children in our community as well as really to help kids that are stuck in our system find permanency and so there's a lot of exciting things um coming up but i i want to just start by celebrating for a moment um just some of the incredible victories we've had this year if you don't know we have a we have a program um here at expression where we um raise up volunteers to really serve families that are in the foster system and so this past year we've had 61 aunties and uncles volunteer and serve wrap around families help pour into the lives of kids and we've served eight different foster families 22 different foster kids all over la county it's incredible we've had so many cool testimonies just coming in from families talking about how blessed they've been by all of you who've been just supporting sending meals loving on them some of you went you some of our team went went grocery shopping in the pandemic when they couldn't find food and found food for families one of our volunteers um gave music lessons and helped one of uh the teens and in foster care helped her to to write and record her own song was so powerful i love what um one of the foster care agencies said about it they said i basically sob listening to it thinking of this beautiful girl being cared for by your church i love that some of our volunteers just put like beautiful welcome baskets together full of just cards from everybody on the team and gifts and and welcoming new kids who were recently placed in a family um some of our volunteers have have gone above and beyond and truly become like family to the families they're serving i know one of our incredible volunteers recently got to stay with the family while mom was in the hospital having a baby and she's truly become like auntie to that family and i'm so grateful for this community i'm so grateful for the way you guys have shown up and loved and been present in this not only have some of some of our own families two of our families recently rosen up to to take in foster kids that's amazing so many of you are volunteering but also as a church you guys our involvement at a county level is so special and so expression 58 you know sits on on various things we're part of the big you know county-wide faith collaborative around foster care um we've helped to you know we're founding members of l.a county faith alliance bringing all faiths together to really respond to this issue um we serve you know as as advisers on the love as no limits campaign that's happening across southern california this community has just continued to to rise up over and over in every area and we are so so grateful and so we wanted to take a moment and just let you see a little bit a glimpse into the impact we're having so turn your attentions to the screen [Music] please [Music] [Music] i am so proud of this community so exciting the way that together we've been able to really bring impact and so today we have something special we wanted to let you know about right after service um we're having a special online sideline at 1 15 and we're going to be just talking about how you can get involved in foster care and maybe whatever capacity you're out in your life maybe you're ready to you know you're somebody who's like i want to take in foster kids but maybe you're like i can't do that but i can serve somehow i encourage you to join at 115. you can go to our events page at expression58.org forward slash events you go to our events page and you'll see if you click on sidelong you'll see the link for that that we're having at 1 15 today also if you go to our website you know under how to get involved you'll see some information about how you can get involved but there's so many exciting things coming up this year um our aunties and uncles don't just serve families but there's a wide variety of opportunities to serve l.a county is saying please will you help us will you help us run camps for kids will you come into and mentor in group homes you know there's so much opportunity um for anybody in our community who's an auntie and uncle virtually anybody who's like hey count me in i want to i want to help impact kids um children at risk in our city and so um get more information join the sideline and we look forward to to having you join the team as we just bring impact together and so i'm very excited about that well we're going to jump into the word today and um if you haven't been with us the last couple weeks we are in a series called reset and we're taking the time this spring asking the holy spirit to reset us in every place of our life um last week we talked about resetting our vision and um if you're with us you know we were talking about really what does it look like to align our lives around both the great commandment and the great commission and that if you're really going to have vision for your for your life that vision has to be birthed in his voice it's birthed in intimacy right um because god is the one that's got this incredible blueprint for our lives and um you know we talked about the invitation to partner with god for vision for your life right by communicating it by running taking action steps right running with that vision and also by being patient in the delays and so if that if that's something you missed i would encourage you to go back and and listen to last week but today we're going to be talk asking god to reset our faith reset your faith so i don't know about you but i feel like there has been a full on war against faith the last couple years um i see the enemy working harder than than ever to quench people's faith and it's like almost like trying to get that that wild gleam out of people's eyes right trying to sow seeds of distrust in who god is in our life or convince people you know what what you're believing for is too crazy you should really downgrade that dream um i've watched people who used to believe for the impossible get weary and get heavy with disappointment or get tired with with the race um i've watched a lot what's felt like just a full-on assault against faith right where people even begin to reinterpret scripture however it feels fit for them or you know i just began to watch this and it's like what is going on and you know it really should make us stop and wonder when the enemy is working so intently and really think why is he so afraid of our faith why is the enemy targeting my faith why does the enemy not want me to have faith why is my faith such a threat to him first timothy 6 12 says fight the good fight for the true faith fight the good fight for the true faith hold tightly to the eternal life to which god has called you which you have declared so well before many witnesses hold tight right i love this i love that it says you know we're to fight the good fight it's a good fight fight the good fight for the true faith faith is something that we need to fight for your faith is is an area that will be contended in your life it's not just you know i got faith one night at a you know youth camp 20 years ago and it just stays with me forever no faith is like a muscle it has to be grown it has to be stretched it has to be developed faith can grow weak right faith can be strengthened um you know it's it's not this kind of one and done faith is a journey it's something we're constantly growing in nurturing in our life and the enemy is absolutely terrified terrified of your faith because your faith is your power line your faith is literally faith is the thing that separates you from just being a powerless normal person to being a spirit-filled supernatural partnering with you know with god to do the impossible person faith is the determining factor right faith is the thing that um separates you from all the promises of god you know i often tell this story to kids but um and some of you maybe have heard me share this when i was about um gosh maybe 21 or so i had an encounter with the lord while praying and just began to kind of have this vision and i was talking to god about my life story and began to tell me let me tell you your story from my perspective and in this experience with the lord i began to just um have this picture and i saw myself like a little child initially in this in this picture and i was like everything was in black and white i was like an orphan i knew it was the sense i had it was like i was an orphan i was poor i was a slave i was chained to all these people it was a really really sad depressing like picture and we were all walking towards our death just hopeless and sad and in this vision in this experience i i saw jesus come out of this castle it was this beautiful kingdom and it was all full of color and we were all in black and white and he he came and there was this ocean of people and in this experience my heart was beating like this little girl but my heart was beating like he just looks so kind and so wonderful i just want to be with him and i thought how will he ever see me i'm just in this ocean of people and in this experience this king just began to kind of go through the crowd go through the crowd and kind of got closer and closer to me and he locked eyes with me and my heart was just pounding and he got on his knees and he looked me right in the eyes and he said you i choose you he said i want to be your daddy will you be my little girl and i just in this experience of course it was just like yes you know and and it was the most life-altering thing he breaks the chains off of me and takes me into this beautiful palace and i i remember so distinctly in this experience that what i saw was so different than anything i'd ever seen everything was just smelled different looked different everything was different in this world of his than what i had known and there was all these hallways i saw in the kingdom there's all these hallways and these hallways were endless and each hallway had just doors on both sides that went on forever and all these you know and i was like what in the world this is so wild it never ends and there's some really cool things that happen in this experience and basically i get you know cleaned up and i get dressed beautifully and and as a little girl right and taken back in front of the king and and he gets in my face so sweetly and he says now we got to get one thing straight he said i'm really adopting you today i'm really adopting you and he said you're going to be a part of my family he says but from now on you can't think like a slave you can't talk like an orphan it's not who you are you're royalty and you know it was like hearing these words and he said stick out your hand and in this experience i stuck out my hand and he put a key in my hand and he says with this key you can open up every door because this is now your home and right away when you put that key in my hand it was like he didn't say it but it was like i just knew it instantly it was like it was the key of faith faith is the key that unlocks everything as children of god we have access because we've really been adopted to everything in the kingdom but it takes faith right behind each door you know one door has all the creativity you could ever need all the wisdom you could ever need all the healing like whatever it is there's there's joy there's peace god's kingdom does not lack anything and i understood in that moment but i have to use the key of faith it's by faith we access those things it's by faith you access all the promises in the bible right and so as i begin to just in this experience it so rocked me realizing oh my goodness like so many of us we have a bible full of promises that we don't walk in because we don't know how to use our key of faith faith is the determining factor right faith is what what literally unlocks everything i i like to explain it to kids like this faith is like a magnet the bigger the magnet you have the stronger the magnetic pull right faith is like a magnet that just pulls heaven to earth it pulls the blessings to earth it pulls the promises of god to earth the more faith you have the stronger the pull and so um you know in thinking about this we're told right to fight the good fight of the true faith the true faith the real faith the faith that jesus modeled and invited us into right the the filled with the holy spirit moving in power i don't i don't care what my eyes are seeing in the natural i know who my god is kind of faith and i don't know where your faith level is today as we jump into this i don't know i don't know how confident um in god you are in this season i don't know if your faith has been reduced to just theory and religious activity in your life um or if it's taken a bit of a hit in this past season i don't know where you're at today but today we're gonna ask god to reset our faith to reset our faith we're gonna get back in the good fight we're gonna get back in the ring and we're gonna we're gonna ask god to fully reset and refresh our faith and so even as we jump and i just wanna pray for us as we get started father i pray for every one of us i pray that our faith would expand today i pray lord that you would encounter every single person everybody that's watching today god i pray for an increase of faith anywhere lord our faith has been on the front lines where the enemy is gone after trying to diminish our faith i pray today for an awakening a reawakening of faith in every heart in jesus name you know i think when i think about faith i'm often reminded that our faith has to be in god not in outcomes and i've watched a lot of people make that mistake where all their faith is in a certain outcome and they walk away disappointed our faith is in god we know he's good no matter how it turns out we we put our faith in him we let him determine outcomes but our faith is in him it's all about him it's all about his glory it's all about his power he's at the center of it all right it's all for him it's all about him we don't need better ideas more money a prettier face more opportunities more creativity what we need is more of the presence of god in our life so many of us tire out thinking we need more of all these things over here and the reality is what we need is more of the anointing of god in our life we need his presence we need his nearness everything flows from that place the reality is the anointing trumps everything right faith is not just speaking to a mountain and moving it hear me faith is not just speaking to a mountain and moving it true faith is being so in love and so near the mountain mover that you don't even have pay any attention to the mountain you're not phased by the mountain because you're so in love and near the mountain mover right it's about presence you know moses was convinced that without god's presence in his life it was useless for him to attempt anything i wish we had that constant reminder how often we try to do things and drag god into it or not even invite god into it right moses understood we can do nothing without god it doesn't matter how how great or smart or powerful we think we are without god we have nothing and so when he spoke face to face with the lord he said in exodus 33 said verse 15 if you don't personally go with us don't make us leave this place how will anyone know that you look favorably on me on me and your people if you don't go with us for your presence among among us sets your people apart from other people on the earth the lord replied to moses i will indeed do what you've asked for i look favorably on you and i know you by name and moses responded then show me your glorious presence and the lord replied i will make all my goodness pass before you and i will call out my name yahweh before you i love this moses knew it was god's presence in israel that set them apart from everybody else right and the same is true for us the church of jesus what sets you and i apart what makes us different what makes us special what gives us favor what makes us have an advantage advantage what makes us different is that god is with us and we are with him moses didn't care how these other nations right were receiving their guidance or or getting their strategies or building their armies or running their governments he said we operate on one principle alone the only way for us to be guided like the only way for us to have success the only way for us to make it is we have to have the presence of god with us friend this should challenge us how much time we spend on trying to build our career look a certain way have a certain thing whatever how much time we spend doing that versus how much time we invest in making sure we're with god cultivating the presence of god in our lives i love moses's heart in this right he's like basically saying when the lord's presence is with us nobody can harm us without him we're helpless right we're reduced to nothing let everybody else do it how they want but for us we need the presence of god and i love god's response to moses in verse 14 he says my presence shall go with thee and i will give thee rest god says yes you're hungry for my presence i'm going to give you my presence i'll be with you and here's the reality so many of us are so anxious and tired because we're striving in our own strength when we do things with god when we do things from a place of faith when we do things from connection with god there's real rest that's the promise moses sought god for this you know continual manifestation of his presence but he didn't stop there in verse 18 he presses and asking god i want to see your glory i don't want to just see what you can do i want to see who you are i want to know who you are i love that he wanted a revelation of who god is and you know what god did show moses his glory and it didn't come in this big giant cloud or some big earthquake or some big thing right he expressed his glory by revealing his nature he gave moses a revelation of who he is right the lord the compassionate and gracious god slow to anger and abounding in love you see moses had seen the signs and wonders but it wasn't until he had a revelation truly of who god is that he was filled with faith once moses understood oh my gosh he's so kind he's so good he's so faithful he's so just once moses had that revelation moses was infused with faith to do the impossible he was able to lead the people of god into the promised land you see we need to have a revelation of who god is so that we also can be infused with faith to live the wild things god has ordained for us hear me faith isn't something you can artificially manufacture faith is the fruit of revelation faith isn't something you can make up faith is the fruit it's the outpouring of revelation of being with god of seeing who he is of understanding him faith is the natural byproduct right of being with christ romans 10 17 tells us so faith comes from hearing that is hearing the good news about christ i love it in the tran in the passion translation it says faith then is birthed in a heart that responds to god's anointed utterance of the anointed one faith is birthed in god's voice faith is birthed from friendship with him right it's when you see and hear and realize who he is you k the natural byproduct is to be like i am not worried about this mountain i know who my god is i've seen a lot of people you know maybe kind of name and claim or or kind of talk the talk of faith but you can tell in their life they don't really believe what they're saying right because there's no real power there's no real peace they're actually anxious saying it out on one side of the mouth but really freaking out out of the other the reality is when you truly see and know and hear who he is it fills you it's a faith is a natural byproduct we're going to have a hard time resetting or growing or refreshing our faith without proximity to god because faith is birthed in nearness it's birth and revelation and so it's so vital that we be a people who are in our bibles right that we are people who know the word of god not not information there's a lot of people with that know a lot of information and i know a lot of people who say well i don't really need to read the bible that much because i already know what's in there no you've missed it it's actually only an indicator that you don't even know truly know god right because the reality is it's not about the information it's not about the historical things the stories that's the information points you to a person right it's about relationship it's about revelation so every time you read the bible you have a deeper revelation of who he is i mean to this day i've read some of the same stories for over 40 years in my life and i literally every time i read them i have a new revelation of who he is so it's not about information it should point you to revelation right encounter of who he is and it grows faith in you the word of god is living and active always ready to point you to a deeper understanding of who he is and if you're somebody who says man i struggle to hear the voice of god i want to encourage you god has written an entire book full of his words for you right so none of us can say i can't hear god if your bible's closed right when you open up the word of god and you begin to read the inspired word of god it will lead you into encounter it will lead you into a greater understanding of who he is and it will awaken faith in you what is faith hebrews 11 we're going to if you have your bibles turn to hebrews 11. hebrews 11 1 says now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen i love that faith is substance it's not just theory it's substance okay it's believing that he is who he says he is it's trusting that the promises he tells us are true right in fact when you look at the greek word um used for faith here pistes usually that that word gets translated as faith but i think a better way to think about it is is trust maybe that's a better understanding right trustworthy right so if you say i trust my friend well that means two things one you believe your friend is real right you wouldn't trust your friend that was made up right so you one you believe your friend is real and two what that means is you believe she's gonna do what she said she's gonna do you believe that you know she's her heart is good that her intentions are good that she'll follow through um you trust her right and so when we think about this word pistes which gets translated as faith it's understanding knowing that god is real and knowing that he'll come through because you've got history with him you've got like you have history with that friend you have history with god you've read 1500 years of history in the bible and you've watched his character over and over and over that he's good even when people didn't understand even when it looked different then they thought you well man he's always better than they thought he always comes through he's always powerful he's always kind right and so what is faith faith is is truly trusting god um it's knowing that he's real and really trusting in his promises so in hebrews 11 you know it reminds us i love this this chapter but we're reminded that it's by faith uh that god created the world it's by faith that abel offered god a better sacrifice it's by faith that enoch was taken to heaven and never died right it said that his faith you know pleased god of course we know that faith is the only way to please god faith is what pleases god it's by faith that noah heard god's warning about things he couldn't see yet it's by faith that abraham obeyed god's call to go to another place and left his country having no idea where he was going it's by faith that abraham you know also was was made to become a father despite his very old age and was willing to offer his own son as a sacrifice it's by faith that isaac blessed the future of jacob and esau it's by faith that jacob as he was dying blessed each of joseph's sons it's by faith that joseph while dying spoke about the israelites leaving egypt and gave them instructions what to do with his body it's by faith that moses's parents hit him for three months it's by faith that moses left egypt it's by faith that the people cross the red seas it's by faith that the walls of jericho fell it's by faith that rahab the prostitute welcomed the spies and was not killed and on and on and on the whole bible is full of normal people who by faith saw wild things happen the whole bible normal people just like you and i who by faith by trusting god and his promises trusting him willing to align their lives behind that trust willing to put action behind that trust they changed history by faith hebrews 11 32 it goes on it says how much more do i need to say it would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of gideon barrack barrick sampson jephthah david and samuel and all the prophets by faith these people listen they overthrew kingdoms they ruled with justice you want to know what it looks like to to totally shift culture and establish justice these people did it by faith they received what god had promised they shut the mouths of lions they quenched the flames of fire and they escaped death by the edge of the sword their weakness was turned to strength they became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight women received their loved ones back from the dead but others were tortured refusing to turn from god in order to be set free they placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection some were jeered at and their backs were cut open with whips others were chained in prisons some died by stoning some were sawed in half and others were killed with a sword some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats destitute and oppressed and mistreated they were too good for this world wandering over deserts and mountains hiding in caves and holes in the ground all listen to verse 39 all these people earned a good reputation because of their faith wow i read this so many times and just weep when i read hebrews 11. first of all it totally inspires me but it also gives me perspective you hear this right people literally stepped into flames and didn't get burnt people literally saw the dead rays people literally saw the craziest wildest things you could ever imagine but also just as much people were tortured and people were killed and people were martyred so it's not about the outcome friends it's not about if you get the victory or not it's about the heart posture and it says here you know that all of these people earned a good reputation in heaven and on earth because of their faith they were known for their faith what is our reputation right every major story of the bible was written by the pen of faith and i want us to remember this faith isn't just blindly believing in something you want to be real faith is not just blindly believing what you want to be real that's wishing it's believing what is real it's believing in who who is real this is why we need a revelation of who god is right our job isn't to produce results we are not responsible for outcomes our job is to believe and to obey our job is to trust him right trust that he's writing a story that goes beyond my life trust that he is who he says he is despite what my circumstances say right now our stories cannot be written without faith real faith you and i we are called to do crazy things crazy stories didn't end with the bible right they're just a glimpse into the same god who is now still partnering with humans it's just a little snapshot of what's always been available for us you are made to do wild impossible things with god and we're not bound to the laws of that you know of the land you belong to a higher authority a higher kingdom i love this whole passage you know ends with this and all these people earned a good reputation because of their faith will you and i will we be remembered as people who claim to know god but never really did anything will anyone say i want to have faith like jen toledo fill in your own name will anybody ever say that of us what will our kids say of us our friends our co-workers or our neighbors are we the kind of people who live our lives safe and comfortable or are we the kind of people who are going to be known as man she lived out on a limb she did crazy things for god she shifted that whole thing she she had you know vision from god to shift this whole area and she did it she she saw our whole family get saved she saw the whole community transform she watched god do crazy things she was a woman of faith he was a man of faith you know i think about noah and i genuinely can't even get my my mind around how crazy what noah did is right he got up every day to build a boat and had never seen a a boat in his life and had never seen rain in his life it had never rained never even didn't even know what a boat was and he got up every day and the lord told him do this and he built something that he didn't know what he was building it for he didn't understand it was just obedience and faith right he didn't understand and imagine the ridicule imagine the noah the crazy guy down the street no this is so ridiculous what are you doing imagine all of that pressure he gave his best years when he could be building a business or thriving he gave his best years to doing this crazy thing with god and what what is crazy in one season later people realize oh that was faith right it gets counted as faith in the next season everything that seems crazy and god ordained to happen when you step out with that you need to understand that people are not going to be clapping for you people are not going to be co-signing your you know big god thing that god's called you to do um you cannot walk in faith and expect to be endorsed understood or celebrated by everyone hear me hear me when i tell you i say this from so much personal experience i've had to learn this the hard way when you step out in faith following what god has called you to do other believers are not going to there will be other believers who won't know how to support you celebrate you cheer you on because it will feel like madness even to them um and so if we're going to walk oh you know a life of faith we can't expect to be um to be liked to fit in to be cool to be popular or to be appreciated while on this planet some things i've learned um you know is that for some of us you know for for those of you living this this life of faith i look back through history so many people who had faith were not celebrated until they after their life it was the history books that celebrated because sometimes what you're building and what you're going for the you can't see it till later moses was crazy until the flood right and so going after things with god might make you look a little crazy until the thing happens and so we have to not be looking to the left or right wanting to get you know um affirmation from others we have to get our affirmation from heaven faith is a journey it's a legacy it's a marathon we're not doing this like flashy hundred yard dash it is it's long term right we're building long term and so we have to ask ourselves is my faith rooted in jesus and in the bible or is it just kind of rooted in cultural ideas religious works is it rooted in truth and hope or is my faith just really dragging around weights of disappointment from this past season of my life god wants to reset your faith today see being a person of faith isn't just about what you believe right we're told to fight the the good fight for real faith true faith and real faith always looks like action you can't say you believe something if you're not willing to line your life up around it if you're not willing to actually do something with it right and so you know we read this in james 2. if you have your bibles james 2 verse 14 says my dear brothers and sisters what good is it if somebody claims to have faith but demonstrates no good works to prove it how could this kind of faith save anyone for example if a brother or sister in the faith is poorly clothed and hungry and you leave them saying goodbye i hope you stay warm and have plenty to eat but you don't give them a coat or even a cup of soup what good is your faith so then faith that doesn't involve action is phony but someone might object and say well one person has faith and another person has works go ahead then and prove to me i love the writers of the bible just like out here out here telling people what's up go ahead then and prove to me that you have faith without works and i will show you faith by my works as proof that i believe you can believe all you want that there is one true god that's wonderful but even the demons i mean this this is he's getting he's james is up in here i love it you can believe all you want that there's one true god wonderful but even the demons know this and tremble with fear before him and yet they're unchanged they remain demons o feeble sons of adam do you need further evidence that faith divorced from good works is phony wasn't our ancestor abraham found righteous before god because of his works when he offered his son isaac on the altar can't you see how his action cooperated with his faith and by his action faith found its full expression so in this way the scripture was fulfilled because abraham believed god his faith was exchanged for god's righteousness so he became known as the lover of god so now it's clear that a person is seen as righteous in god's eyes not merely by faith alone but by his works now scripture tells us faith without works is phony it's dead it's not real faith but we want to be clear here following jesus leads to good works okay if you're in a real relationship with jesus it will lead you to doing good works but good works do not lead you to jesus listen just because you care for people and your compassion and your loving does not make you a believer it doesn't but when we're not saved by our works right we're saved by grace we're not saved by our works but when you are in real relationship with god when you are truly surrendered to god there is real fruit in your life right real faith looks like something real faith produces good works and i love this example that's given here the example that that's given is this idea of it engaging with the brokenness in the world around you if you are really a person of faith you will engage where there's pain right if you are really a person of faith you can't just say racism is bad i hope it goes away it'll get worked out too honest too real of an example right because according to this passage faith without works is phony right if you're not willing to engage in the brokenness and the hurt and the pain in the world around you then we have to question the fruit is this even real faith in our lives that's a hard pill to swallow but this is the challenge of scripture right a faith that does not engage with the brokenness in the world is powerless faith engages see the gospel produces rich fruit true faith real faith produces transformation in us and in the world around us it transforms lives it transforms communities right it's not just ideas it's actions that bring real transformation that bring fruit romans 1 16 i've been thinking so much about this lately about the gospel the undiluted gospel this true faith i've been thinking a lot about this and romans 1 16 says for i am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of god that brings salvation to everyone who believes i am not ashamed of the gospel of jesus because it's the power of god to bring transformation it's the power of god to save and heal and restore all my good ideas better policies don't change things permanently and eternally it's the gospel it's jesus it's who he is it's the kingdom that really brings holistic transformation it's the power of god i'm not ashamed to throw my faith behind the good news right because it's where the power is i'm not ashamed of the holy spirit i'm not ashamed of wild passion and hunger for god i'm not ashamed of crazy faith i'm not ashamed of the bible i'm not ashamed of god's ways i'm not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of god to heal it is the power of god to save us i've tasted what's in the world and i can tell you nothing nothing comes close to the richness of experiencing god in your life there is more freedom there is more peace there is more joy there is more creativity there is more happiness there is more community there is more of all the things in god i am not ashamed of the gospel i'm not ashamed of my god and i think what we're seeing in our culture is people who have grown ashamed of the american gospel and people who've grown ashamed of the church because it hasn't looked like jesus and people who've grown ashamed you know of the holy spirit because they've seen you know they've seen it um mistreated they've watched the holy spirit be used for something that the holy spirit is not was never intended to be used for and people have distanced themselves but friend this is an invitation not to to partner back to those things but to align our faith around the undiluted gospel i am not ashamed of jesus i am not ashamed of the bible the real gospel real faith true faith truth who he is it's running with passion back to jesus we need to come back to true faith you know faith like maybe your grandma had faith that looks like something faith that takes action faith that leans into the anointing faith that says i can't do this in my own i need to be in the presence of god i need to be anointed like the the kind of faith that that refuses to do life without god without his word the radical living on the limb praying in tongues believing for the impossible kind of faith god is resetting us and he's bringing us back to true faith the wild underground crazy kind of faith that the early church had oh they weren't popular but you know what they saw the dead raised and they walked in power and they had a peace and a joy that nobody could put their head around i'm talking about real faith god is resetting real faith in us church he's the god who can alter the weather remember that he can speak to the storm he's the god who can shift the natural environment remember he split the sea or makes water come out of rocks he's the god who can provide an impossible circumstances remember manna falling from heaven he's the god who can move literally move natural laws right a virgin birth or bringing the dead back to life he's the god who reveals secrets and strategies think of all the you know battle plans and and david you know stories in the bible or gideon or the prophets he's the god who frees and delivers the hardest cases remember the man demon possessed with a legion of demons who gets set free he's the god who can create a masterpiece out of literally absolutely nothing all of creation he's the god who turns the hearts of leaders he's the god who can multiply resources remember him multiplying fish and bread he's the god who heals the sick he's the god who forgives the worst of sin he's the god who turns the worst bad guys into the best best good guys he's the god who's conquered death in the grave when we remember and have a revelation of who our god is this should stir faith in you this should make you say if that's who he is then how can i not trust him to free me from this addiction how can i not trust him to restore my marriage how can i not have faith in him to bring my kids back how can i not have faith in him to do what he said he would do you guys god has a very very very good very good reputation historically accurate written by by historians and all for 1500 years you look at the bible how long it took to write it over and over and over god has never failed trust me he's not gonna decide to blow his entire you know reputation of thousands of years on you and i he's good he's faithful he's all powerful are we aware of this are we in his presence are we in the word are we being reminded of how powerful our god is listen there cannot be a divide in who you believe he is and you who you believe he will be for you like moses we need a revelation of his glory it's time to have our faith reset it's time to seek him church some of us maybe you know in in this good fight of faith maybe you've just been knocked out maybe you've just felt like your faith has gotten the snot beat out of it and i want to encourage you this the invitation at hand is to get back in your corner in the ring get back in your corner and remember who your god is in the season do not let the enemy win you terrified the enemy you standing in your god identity you being confident in who god is is terrifying to him this is a time to get back and have a fresh revelation of who god is so that it can produce in us wild faith because friends it is time to get in the ring and fight the good fight of faith it is time to get in the ring remember who we are instead the world is hungry los angeles is hungry to see real faith they've seen a whole lot of phony they're hungry to see real faith the world around you is desperate for what god has put inside of you it's time for us to step up we have to remind ourself who our god is getting in the word and taking in the truth of who he is until it becomes louder than our reality then we get up and we do something about it we take action right we step out in the anointing it's time for the wild ones to rise again i want to end with psalm 62 verses 11 and 12. god said to me once and for all all the strength and power you need flows from me and again i heard it clearly said all the love you need is found in me and it's true that you repay people for what they do listen to this over your life today all the strength and all the power you need flows from him all the love you need is found in him he is your source he is your well there is no better investment of your time and your life and your resources than getting in the presence of god of having a revelation of who he is because friend it's time for the wild ones to run it's time for the people who know their god to stand up to the to the injustice of our day to embrace the hurting and the cold of our day and to truly put the beauty of who our god is on display you have been born for such a time as this and so i am praying for every one of us i pray for you and your family right now i pray for wild faith to be stirred up in you i pray that god would reset your faith right now in jesus name that your faith would be awakened that your heart would be infused with passion again that for those of you who felt like you have just gotten thrown around in your faith in this season i pray right now for a strengthening i pray for encouragement an infusion of faith in your in jesus name amen expression we love you we pray blessings over you this week um hopefully you guys can join us at sidelawn here in just a little bit where we're going to be talking about foster care but we look forward to seeing you again next week thank you for joining us in expression 58 my name is brooke and i will be one of your hosts at e58 sideline which is our post service gathering we have a special time plan today it is foster care awareness month for the month of may and we will have a special guest with us aubrey blacker who heads our foster care initiative at e58 so she's going to be talking to us about the different ways our church community has impacted foster care and also providing us with some opportunities to continue to serve in this area we really hope that you can come today we meet in about 15 minutes and you can find us at expression58.org events and we will see you in 15 minutes i hope to see you there [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Expression 58

Views: 366

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: shawn bolz, bolz, cherie bolz, expression 58, expression58, e58, church, los angeles church, revival, jen toledo, jennifer toledo, jona toledo, bolz ministries

Id: LAy0_BIU6ks

Length: 108min 52sec (6532 seconds)

Published: Sun May 02 2021