Sunday, September 12, 2nd Service

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] good morning everybody let's stand to our feet and worship the lord how many are excited to get to bless his name this morning in jesus name here we go [Music] [Music] and his praises shall continually be in my mouth no matter what i see or how i feel as long as i'm breathing oh yes i'm breathing i'll bless the lord as long as i'm breathing oh yes i'm breathing i'll bless the lord [Music] sing i will bless i will bless the lord at all and his praises shall continually be in my mouth no matter what i see or how i feel as long as i'm breathing oh yes i'm breathing i'll bless the lord as long as i'm breathing as long as i'm free oh magnify the lord with me let us exalt his name together let's lay down our all right let's do it together [Music] sing i will bless as long as i'm breathing as long as i'm breathing oh yes i'm free as long as i'm breathing [Music] is [Music] let's do it together yeah let's do it together [Music] hallelujah [Music] let's do it together let's go let's do it together let's do it together see let's do it together let's do it together if he's ever been good to you let's praise him together if you're happy or free let's do it together [Music] no matter what comes my way you've been better than good better than even when i feel defeated no matter what happens he's better than god see the devil tried to kill [Music] to me [Applause] he's and i'll tell you what i [Applause] this world has hit me [Music] one more time [Applause] [Applause] hallelujah hallelujah [Music] hallelujah somebody raise your hands and say hallelujah thank you jesus hallelujah [Music] hallelujah [Applause] the devil tried to kill us all we should have been i should have dead dead [Music] [Music] hallelujah thank god for the anointing here thank god for the anointing that's here [Music] hallelujah man god's presence had been here that anointing is here this morning and this worship team are they unbelievable kevin we're glad you're home man the presence and the power of god anointing has been here [Music] been faced with a lot of death in this church but the bible says i mentioned this morning that when david's baby died they had prayed and they had fasted but when the baby died the bible said he rose up and he worshipped the lord so what i have come to do this morning is with all the deaths we've had in our church i have come here to worship the lord today like i said last sunday i've come to give the devil a bad day [Music] oh man let's clap our hands with a shout it's just wonderful in here [Applause] it's just wonderful in here we're going to go the lord in prayer and for those of you that have not heard i'm going to read a statement to this church and it's it's a statement that pastor was not wanting to read but i was believing for miracles but god's too good to do wrong and he's too wise to make a mistake in a season of so many goodbyes it pains me to bring you yet again the news of another great loss at poa with our broken heart i confirmed this morning at 12 29 a.m our sweet pam know what to be with jesus even though just a few short days ago we realized that without a miracle we could lose her nick and i and our family along with the amazing poa staff are still in shock with the suddenness of her illness and passing if ever the words good and faithful servant could be used to articulate or describe someone it would be now in sweet pam pam was a selfless servant and all i've ever known her to do is serve in the kingdom of god because of the times messiah seven and just the everyday here at poa will never be the same without pam please keep her family and also sister tinny in your prayers her homegoing service will be this coming service in the afternoon or evening they have not settled on that here at the church at poa that she loved so deeply don't we love pam no [Applause] and i want the devil to hear me though it's going to be challenging without pam we're not stopping anything in this church [Music] messiah i told mickey last night it was about 2 30 or three mick and i didn't sleep the rest of the morning but i told mickey i said we're gonna dedicate messiah to pam and it's going to be the best messiah that we've ever had pray an anointing on troy i pray anointing on troy and he does it better than he's ever done it pray anointing on him because he'll be learning far more lines than messiah than above all so we'll be praying for you troy we're not stopping anything in this church if anything we're gonna make it bigger than better than it's ever been amen [Applause] so let's remember that and i bring you pages of names this morning that we're going to pray that you filled out we're going to continue to pray for them i want you to pray for pastor i will be preaching four funerals this week tuesday night brother monk wednesday jeff bennett thursday will be pam's and friday will be tammy austin so please pray that god will anoint me and give me physical and emotional strength but don't feel sorry for me just pray for me because it's an honor to be a part of these great people's lives [Applause] we're going to pray for israel and the peace of jerusalem we're going to pray for america we're going to pray for central louisiana and our jobs and our economy let's continue to pray for cohen doyle and lucille mcgraw and our families with loss let's remember of course pam's family let's remember the monk family that's brother rodney monk's father passed away and i'll be helping in that funeral tuesday night in oakdale let's remember the family of jeff bennett that's the rain bennett's son that will of course be wednesday and then tammy austin that will be friday you have an unspoken request could we signify that with a raised hand and i just pray that pastor gentry can preach like he did in the nine o'clock service i want to tell you it was a great outpouring of god's spirit pastor gentry praying for god to anoint you and give you strength now if it's your family i know what you're doing because people still aren't comfortable in this spiking covey that we're in but if you're comfortable grabbing the person's hand beside you would you do that and lifting that to heaven and last asking god to pour out his spirit and to hear the prayers of all those that we're praying for and all these unspoken requests let's lift our voices and our hands to god right now in the name of jesus in the name of our great god and our king and our lord and our savior and our redeemer bringing our request to you jesus those of you that's in the room that would like to be prayed for you can step out and walk down by faith you have a need we're not gonna uh we're not gonna touch you this morning or night but you have a need an act of faith you'd like to walk down we're going to pray over you right now i'll teach you have a need come to the front right now stand here come on by faith that's it you have a need we're going to pray with you i just felt led to do this that's it come on down the aisle in the name of jesus we speak healing now to this great church our ministry team leaders those of you that can move and feel comfortable do it could you hold your hands towards the front come on george y'all come on down here cindy we're speaking in the name of jesus this is an act of faith now come on church lift your voice in the name of jesus let's claim healing by faith in the name of our great god and our king thy redeemer touch your holy ghost i said minister to just move through there quickly and lay a hand on them foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] you have been so [Music] of the goodness of god [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] is [Music] this is [Music] lift your hands now let's give great praise to god for the things [Music] hallelujah hallelujah could you clap your hands with a shout to god i've been wanting to praise him this morning [Music] now as we prayed only if you have been with them don't do it with anyone you hadn't been with but would you turn and greet somebody and tell them you're glad to be in church with them this morning would you do that let them know you're glad to have them here and god bless you you may be seated well welcome to the 11 o'clock worship service and hadn't we already felt the presence of god in this place this morning i know i've already mentioned it but the anointing of god's been resting on this team this morning they took us to the holy of holies in the first service and they have already taken us there today and when we get through with our worship said it's no telling what god's going to do in this place today thank god for it so welcome we're glad you're here our ushers are coming at this time and we're going to receive our sunday morning tithes and offerings how many considered a privilege to give to god don't you those of you that are watching online you will view on the bottom of the screen and those of you in the congregation on the bottom of the screen there is now where you can give three different ways of giving you can text to give you can online give or you can mail it in to those of you that are watching this church and the propagation of the gospel that we do out of this church is done by your tithes and free will offering and to those of you that may never attend our church but you consider yourself a part of our church any offering that you could give it would bless us and it would help us propagate the gospel this church and you hear it every time but i want to keep saying it this church supports every missionary in the united pentecostal church and i think that's phenomenal i think that is just phenomenal so our giving today i want to do it out of the abundance of my heart so text in there it is those of you online it's on the bottom of your screen gift today and the lord will bless you god thank you for blessing us thank you for what you've done in this church thank you for the way your hand has rested upon us bless these great people bless their businesses god bless our families and our finances we speak it in jesus name amen ushers you may receive the offering and i'm going to make the announcements i do want to say that in our leadership meeting thursday night pastor gentry made the announcement we're going to start streamlining our announcements aren't you happy about that aren't you happy about that we're not going to stand up here for 20 minutes make an announcement so you will be handed something at the door in the near future we don't know when we're making that change but our announcement will be on that card and we will not be standing up here but i do have some announcements today that are very important if you're new to the poa and would like to take the next step in connecting there's a great introductory class called discover poa you can pick up a brochure at either welcome center and inside that brochure you will find a guest information form for you to complete it can be placed in the offering or brought to the welcome center how many has never been through if you've been here 30 years 50 years mother whoever you may be how many's never been through discovering my p.o.a would you raise your hand you want to do that that is a that's a great ministry of this church you can go there and not only find out about it but those of you that's been here with us for 70 years you can find out what's going on and how this church is operating it'll be a great blessing to you and i think that is something that you would enjoy our all-nation sunday is going to be with brother dean and i'm looking forward to that it's september the 26th and that is when let me tell you why you want to be prepared to give that sunday that is when we take all of our offerings at our church you will find you don't hear us taking cheese for christ or christmas for christ or mother's memorial we do all those offerings on one offering and it is on our mission sunday so whatever you older timers used to give to shoes for christ or christmas for christ combined all of that we'll put in that offering and i know that god is going to bless us we want to make sure all of our missionaries continue to be blessed isn't that the truth and brother jerry dean will be preaching for us and and i'm excited about that so all the other announcements can be found this is a very important announcement that i'm going to turn the worship team loose in pastor gentry but this is a very very important announcement if kovit allows i have been inundated through the months from this church and from the first service i found out from the cloud that this church would love to have sunday school on sunday school well there it goes so in an apostolic church it's hard to have sunday school and two services because we linger in the altar and if somebody's in the nine o'clock service and we had a move of god it would be hard for them to run to their sunday school class and get there and do 10 to 10 45 and then it just it just didn't work unless you can figure out a way for work so beginning at the first of the year we got two or three months to work on this and perfected if we can stay with two servants perfected one sir what have we got to do but right now what we're leaning towards is we will go back at the first a year to sunday school on sunday and then we will have worship service at ten o'clock like we know we'll do sunday school from nine to nine forty five then we'll do worship service at ten and you should be out of here around 11 30. how many likes that idea [Applause] i try to be very considerate as a shepherd of you great sheep that i have the privilege to lead and i would not want to do that right now the only time we will come together will be of course on october the 31st when i move to bishop which i consider an extreme honor and i hope all of you can be here that day and that's the day that we will install gentry as senior pastor and uh brother mike williams is going to be here preaching for us and that's going to be an exciting time [Music] and you know enough i got to say it from pastor gentry but i am going nowhere as i told you when i made the announcement pastor is still going to be very involved i'm going to be pastoring pastor gentry i'm going to be helping him pastor you and we're all in this together nobody's going nowhere i'm not backing up in fact i may go a little harder i'm in this church this is my life this has been my life and i'm going to pour myself into this church and we're going to see great things done so if the lord be willing everybody said the lord be willing january first sunday in january we're going to try to have sunday school and worship all together if covet has slowed down if it hadn't we will continue as we are and keep doing what we've been doing and got to keep blessing and we'll see god do great things amen let's get on our feet and give a shout to god right now [Applause] [Music] come on get on your feet and give a shout to god [Music] i'm gonna tell you what y'all fabulous but i'm having trouble sitting down this morning i got the spirit of gab on me and i'm just wanting to gab i'm telling you i feel anointing in this place and i have felt it [Music] i thank god for it i love you people you're great people be here wednesday night we'll be doing wednesday night as we normally done wednesday night our classes are happening i thank the lord for people we've been running right at 7 50 right at 800 on our wednesday night that's what we had in sunday school i mean god's so good to us let's praise and magnify the name of the lord lord you are good you've been so good lord you are good you've been better than good i can't praise you enough i owe you're my life i can't praise you enough [Music] even if i try you've been so good can somebody join me and testify to that today you've been so good you've been why don't you just stay with me so good one more time say you've been so good [Music] to me [Music] lord you are good [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] me [Music] yes [Music] oh is this your testimony today so many doors you open so many ways so many times you've been better than good to [Music] [Applause] many me [Music] you've been better than good to me [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] the word says that i'm confident and i'm assured that i will see the goodness of god in the land of the living while i stand and breathe i will declare that you are good somebody just lift your voice and say it like that say you are good one more time everybody say it again you are good it's our declaration today lord despite everything around us despite everything we see and we feel we just get down deep in our soul today and just declare it this is what we say [Music] yes you've been so good [Music] stay with us again [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] come on this morning if that's your testimony how about let a loud thunderous craze just escape your lips today how about your hands clapping and your voice lifted to jesus and just declare god you've been good to me every day of my life and your goodness is running after me it's chasing after me and it's here today in this place so we invite you god in all of your goodness in all of your faithfulness in all of your strength and power to come take this place this morning have your way here this morning heal this morning deliver save restore strengthen come and have your way today jesus come and move in this place come and move in our hearts we turn this moment to you completely god come here and move in this house as only you can god we love you we love you hallelujah thank you jesus right where you are why don't you just rejoice for a moment this morning he's been so good to us [Music] [Music] us you are all you say you are [Music] nothing can stop your kingdom faith will arise right here fall down you do what you wanna do [Music] lord it's impossible right is today [Music] you are you are all the same [Music] do what you wanna do what you want to do oh hello [Music] [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Applause] this morning [Music] [Applause] just you [Music] is [Music] nobody we're trusting you [Music] [Applause] oh [Applause] oh i think today it would be great if each one of us just opened our heart to god one last time before we hear the word today and say god stir in me why don't you just join with me and make that your prayer right now say god stir in me i need revival i need stirring i need you god so this is my personal invitation lord come right here and move come right here and stir me come right here and shake me come right here lord we need you we need you we need you sail like this come come here today huh [Music] [Music] is we need you today [Music] so [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh holy spirit [Music] your foreign breathe [Music] your goodness [Music] [Music] reveal yourself to us today lord reveal yourself to us today lord show yourself song show yourself mighty let the supernatural sweep through this house today reveal your glory reveal your power we've created an atmosphere where god can move so anything's possible at this moment anything is possible so whatever you've come here today with physical emotional spiritual financial whatever the need he's here he's here and he's revealing his power thank you to our tremendous worship team they have led us to the throne room in both services today they work hard they sacrifice and thank you so very much tremendous day today i'm thankful we had seven baptized yesterday to god be the glory heaven rejoices over one who repents we had seven repent and get baptized in the name so i rejoice with all of heaven this morning and i give god glory honor and praise it is grandparents day so happy grandparents day to all of you grandparents plain i told you in the first service i'm telling you again happy grandparents day i'm glad you're still around i hope you all live all of us and i know all of you feel the same way about your grandparents as well i feel like the lord has directed me this morning and i pray uh he can help me once again to deliver and give me the strength to deliver and anoint me in jesus name but you can be seated this morning [Music] thank you for coming to church thank you for being here today in the midst of everything that's going on thank you for showing your love for the house of the lord amen and for joining together amen and we of course pastor mentioned the the difficult news that we're dealing with with sister pam and we found that out this morning but that doesn't change the fact that this is the day that the lord hath made and i will rejoice and be glad in him another saint has gone home no more suffering pain any longer we rejoice all throughout the day this weekend we remember the tragedy that took place 20 years ago when our nation was struck by terror the world trade centers the pentagon flight 93 that crashed in that pennsylvania field we remember those that lost their lives and we pray for their families even today and lift their families up in prayer we honor all that died and especially those first responders who gave their lives trying to rescue and save others give honor to all of those men and women it's one of those days september the 11th 2001 that will be forever etched in our memories and i see a lot of young people here today and you do not have memories of that day but to those of us that do i can pretty much guarantee you 100 i would feel confident saying 100 of us that have memories formed of that day can tell us where you were you remember the exact moment you first heard the news of what was taking place on that day i was a 15 year old sophomore at menard high school in history class and i remember a young man running down the hall opening the door and said turn on the tv we're under attack i remember as we turned on the tv and saw those towers burning i remember watching those towers collapse who could ever forget those days in that moment where the twin towers fell on that day and became known as ground zero it is a term that became synonymous with september the 11th in fact it was so used that mayor bloomberg in 2011 made a plea with new york and the country to quit calling the site of the world trade center's ground zero he was asking that people would once again call it the world trade center or the september 11th national memorial but that plea didn't help very much we still refer to it as ground zero we still have those pictures etched in our minds even today those towers that moment that they collapsed and i remember watching that being ground zero and though i remember the pictures of the pentagon and i do remember the the pictures of flight 93 that went down in that pennsylvania field if somebody asked you about september the 11th 2001 i'm pretty sure all of us our minds immediately go to those towers burning in those towers collapsing because that was ground zero that's where it all began that was the culmination of the day if you will and that's what we remember most is those twin towers and them going down ground zero it was a traumatic day a painful day a bloody day a day full of sweat tears and yes too much death and i'm certainly not standing up here trying to diminish september the 11th we give honor to that day but the fact is there is ground zeroes that happen all over the world every single day no they are not always on the same scale as a terror attack that demoralizes a country but there is pain there is hurt and there is tragedy every single day someone crosses the yellow line and a family member is taken ground zero someone you thought would be here forever succumbs to a virus that has spread across the world ground zero a marriage gives way to divorce ground zero houses are broken into people are murdered lives are shattered every single day every day people abruptly without warning must face an uncertain future every day tragedy touches somebody's life somewhere therefore any place can be called to ground zero in luke 13 there is such a story that we don't talk about very often but it was a ground zero experience for a few luke 13 1-5 they were present at that season some that told him speaking of talking to jesus of the galileans whose blood pilate had mingled with their sacrifices in other words pilate went on a killing spree and jesus answering said unto them suppose ye that these galileans were sinners above all other galileans because they suffered these things i tell you no but except you repent you shall likewise perish or those 18 upon whom the tower of siloam fell and slew them think ye that they were sinners above all the men that dwelt in jerusalem i tell you no but except ye repent you shall likewise perish we often make the mistake of thinking all of us are guilty of this that just because we are saved just because we do our very best to live holy and godly and acceptable before god we think that bad things can't happen to us but that's not how god operates look at what we just read in luke chapter 13. look at what was just said people who were sacrificing people who were at a worship service people who were at the house of the lord people who were going about doing good tragedy strikes they are murdered by pilate at a worship service as they are trying to sacrifice we've seen even over the last few years churches where men have gone in with guns and shot people while they're worshiping the lord killed people while they're worshiping the lord and we oftentimes would say i can't believe that god would allow something like that to happen but that's not the first time that's been happening for millennia people worshiping god sacrificing and pilate murders them tragedy strikes even when they're doing good and jesus asks is it because they were bad people is it because they were the worst sinners in galilee jesus says no these are good people yet tragedy shows up evil shows up he continued on what about the 18 people in jerusalem who the tower fell on them and slew them were they the chiefest among sinners in jerusalem were they bad people no but sometimes bad things happen to good people jesus jesus asking are these people sinners no they're good people this story brings about two very glaring facts that we don't want to talk about very often number one bad things do happen to good people and number two life is uncertain we never know anything can happen at any time at any place anywhere twin towers can fall stock markets can crash criminals can attack children can rebel bodies can be broken relationships can falter health can decline we're confronted with acts of violence we are impacted by global pandemics these types of ground zeroes bring us to places where we see just how little we're in control when we feel the trauma of an ice storm when we feel floods and tornadoes and hurricanes we feel just how little we are in control we have absolutely no idea the curveballs that this life may throw at us none of us none of us with any certainty can truly say where i'll be in 10 years how healthy will i be in 15 years what will my life look like in 20 years we do not know will i be a good man will i be a good woman will i be well liked or will i be despised will i be prosperous or poor honored despised well i have a lot of friends will i just be able to find one who's my friend even the world faces uncertain days as it always has which makes it no surprise that most of this scripture was written in times of crisis in the face of adversity because whether we like it or not life is uncertain it's always been uncertain and it always will be uncertain but it didn't keep this book from getting written so why is there uncertainty why do bad things happen to good people it's one of the most talked about and most difficult questions to answer in all of theology and philosophy how can a loving god allow his most beloved to go through so much pain and hurt through turmoil and chaos and live with such uncertainty i believe the simplest answer is this and many people have their own philosophy but mine is this god is sovereign which means he either allows or let me be very clear was directly involved in most of my blessings and in also my distress here's the bottom line if he's sovereign if he's all-knowing he knows what's best for me and he knows what's best for you even if it means that best is full of pain and full of hurt he's the one who knows if turmoil and chaos and confusion in your life is what's best for you right now we're human and we're in this humanly form i'm not eternal i'm not infinite and i'm not omniscient one day this is going back to dust and we cannot expect to fully understand god's purposes and his ways i just have to have faith and trust that my god is in complete control [Applause] i didn't mention this in the first service i didn't have time because we have this second service we have to get to but this question of evil and this question of god if there wasn't any evil in the world would we truly know how good god is if there wasn't pain and hurt and turmoil then why would i ever say god is good i wouldn't know what he'd be delivering me from i wouldn't know what he would be bringing me out of why is there evil or why does god allow evil my personal philosophy you may have a different one is because he gets to show himself strong and he gets to show himself and he gets to prove what goodness really is without evil what is good and without good what is evil god just gets to prove how awesome he is by allowing difficult things to take place he is with us [Applause] the book of job deals with this whole scenario this whole issue of god allowing difficult things in people's life verse 1 of chapter 1 says that job was a righteous man says that he was an upright man says that he was a perfect man yet look at the turmoil and chaos that was allowed in his life bad things happened to good people god allowed satan to do everything he wanted to job except to kill him he allowed satan to do whatever he wanted except to kill job and believe you me if you've read job satan did his worst satan did everything that he could to separate job from god i'm not trying to scare anybody here today but evil is real the devil wants to attack you and i just as he attacked job when we look back at luke chapter 13 and that verse the cause of the bloodshed was pilate somebody who allowed evil motives in his life and he murdered people there's evil in this world the aftermath of hurricane ida recently and laura last year were devastating and i can't point to those storms and say those storms are evil they're just storms but the reason those storms exist is because of sin and because of evil in the world a disease like cancer that enters someone's body i can't point to those rogue cells and say those rogue cells are evil i can't do that but what i can say is the existence of that disease in somebody's body is the result of evilness which is sin we have tragedies like 9 11 due to people's choices that brought pain to so many it's the evil of sin heinous acts like that which we witnessed just three weeks ago in afghanistan against our marines is a reminder of the reality of evil all of us feel the effect of sin in one way or the other sometimes it's our own personal sin that causes tragedy in our life other times it's others sin we live in a fallen world and because we live in a fallen world we experience the effects of that fall we experience the effects of evil and one of those effects is that we have to deal with injustices and seemingly senseless suffering for all people even godly people satan is daily doing everything he can to use that evil that we see each and every day just as he did in job circumstance he's doing everything he can to use evil to separate us from god and to cause us to doubt god and to cause us to question god he's using every tool at his disposal whether it's a virus whether it's a sickness or a disease whether it's a situation whether it's governments whatever it may be the devil is using every tool he can to attack our mind to get us to try to doubt that almighty god is in complete control and people may say well i don't know that the devil has that type of power well don't go tell job that he's doing everything he can to get us to doubt inflict us emotionally physically financially spiritually anything he can do he's using evil all around the world chaos and turmoil and confusion for one reason to get people like you and i to curse god and say where are you i thought you were in control i thought you had my best interest at heart but i'm here on this sunday morning to remind us just as job said though he slay me yet will i trust him [Applause] the lord gives and the lord taketh away blessed be the name of the lord blessed be the name of the lord [Applause] just like job didn't understand what he was going through just like he didn't understand why he was having to face certain things we too have questions and understand things we don't understand but like job we need to understand that god is good and therefore we must continue to trust him in the midst of all the ground zeroes that are taking place around the world [Applause] paul writes to the church in rome in 12 21 be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good so i'm told to overcome evil with good well what is good matthew 19 17 and he said unto him why call us thou me good there is none good but one and that is god luke 18 and 19 says the exact same thing in a little different way jesus said unto him why call us thou me good none is good save one that is god the only thing that is good is god so if i'm called to overcome evil with good then i better be realizing that if i'm to overcome this evil i've got to rely on the goodness which is god he's what's going to see me through he's what's going to answer my prayers he's what's going to strengthen me to help me to deal with my ground zero experience the only way i can combat evil is good and what is good god is good god's gonna see me through god's going to help me to overcome [Applause] we're called to overcome evil with that which is good and that is god almighty by putting our faith and trust in him through every trial and circumstance if i'm going to overcome these ground zero situations i'm going to have to do it with goodness and that is god psalms 46 1-7 declares if we're going to get through if we're going to overcome this evil if we're going to get through this uncertain life and difficult time we're going to have to depend on that which is good and that's god well who's that i'll tell you who it is psalms 46 1-7 god that goodness that the one who's full of goodness god is our refuge and our strength uh we in the first service read it together so why don't you read it with me that way i can say my voice a little bit god is our refuge and strength we will not fear though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried in the midst of the sea though the waters they're of roar and they're troubled though there's chaos in the world waters are troubled mountains are moving and shaking there's trouble that's going on the earth is being removed things are happening all over the world though that's taking place i'm gonna put my faith and my trust in the god who is good and he's my refuge he's my strength he's my very present help in time of trouble [Applause] though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof there is a river the streams whereof shall make glad the city of god the holy place of the tabernacles of the most high god is in the midst of her she shall not be moved when everything else is going crazy when there's ground zeroes all over the world my god will not be moved shall not be moved god shall help her in that right early the heathen rage the kingdoms were moved he uttered his voice and the earth melted the lord of hosts is with us the god of jacob is our refuge that's the good god we serve though there's chaos though there's turmoil though the mountains are groaning though the waters are flooding though the earth is being removed and there's chaos going on everywhere god is my refuge and my strength i'm going to put my faith and trust in the one who is good and that goodness is going to help me to overcome the evil of this world i know we don't understand everything we all have questions i have them you have them the church at corinth had them and paul wrote speaking of a perfect time that is to come in first corinthians chapter 13. speaking of when all things are brought together perfectly by god for now we see through a glass darkly in verse 12 but then face to face now i know in part but then shall i know even as also i am known i like the way the new living translation spells it out for us in english a little bit better we see things imperfectly like puzzling reflections in a mirror but then we will see everything with perfect clarity all that i know now is partial and incomplete but then i will know everything completely just as god now knows me completely i know we want answers now i know we want understanding now but that's not what's best for us there's coming a day when everything is perfect when we're on the other side where god will sit down with us as first corinthians 13 and 12 mention he'll sit down with us and he can explain these glass darkly moments that we don't understand now there's coming a day where he'll be able to say you know that situation you went through you needed that you know that turmoil and that chaos that was in your life you needed that at that time you were relying on the world at that point in your life you were relying on the world system you were doing this or you were doing that and i needed you to see me i needed you to put your trust in me i needed to grow you a little bit i needed to shape you and mold you just a little bit so you're looking through things now in a glass darkly there's things we don't understand now but he's going to explain them one day we'll understand things a little more clearly we just need to understand that everything that we are facing and going through went through the hands of almighty god first there's an old song we used to sing one day we'll understand it better by and by don't understand it all right now one day we will one day he'll explain it but right now i just have to trust him right now i just have to put my faith in his goodness and it's his goodness that's going to see me through all of these ground zero moments where evil is trying to separate me from him he doesn't offer a whole lot of understanding in this world he certainly doesn't give us any answers or at least the answers we think we need but he does give us something even greater than understanding and answers he offers us hope paul wrote to the church in rome who were doing their very best to build a work and they were facing some tremendous situations they were dealing with tremendous persecution in rome while they're trying to do the lord's work while they're trying to build a church tremendous persecution the church in rome was facing in the midst of doing goodness evil had showed up and in romans 8 24 paul writes to them and he says for we are saved by hope but hope that is seen is not hope for what a man seeth why doth he yet hope for i know what makes it difficult sometimes is that we can see the evil the evil around us is tangible sicknesses and viruses attacks of enemies and terror attacks that's the evil that we can all see it hits us right smack dab in our face can't hide from it can't hide from the evil that's going on in this world we can see pain we can see hurt we can see tragedy and if we're honest here today it's very hard for us to see what god is doing in the midst of all of that it's hard for us to understand that even when we don't see it he's still working even when we don't feel it he's still working we see the diseases we feel the diseases we see the chaos and the turmoil we feel the chaos and the turmoil so it's very easy for us to gravitate towards that and to be in fear of those things and to be held down by those things and to allow those things to control our life because that's what we can see that's what we can feel that's what we can touch or hear or smell which really boils down to that's what we can control the chaos and the fear and the turmoil that's going around going on all around us the reason we gravitate to it so much is because it's real for us and we feel like we can have control over that which we see and feel and hear and touch and smell and the enemy uses all of those tricks uses our overconfidence in our own abilities to control things to help separate us from god or to help force doubt in our mind that god is still in control it's hard for us to understand that god's doing something behind the scenes because it's not something that we can smell or teach or smell or touch hear taste but i encourage you this morning keep your hope alive that's why paul wrote about hope keep your hope alive even in the midst of building a work and even in the midst of the chaos that was taking place in rome and the persecution that was taking place in rome keep your hope alive i know it it's hard to see right now and i know it's hard to feel right now and i know you're being persecuted in rome and i i know you're looking at the catacombs and you're looking at going to jail and you're looking at being beaten and you're looking at being beheaded i i know all of those things and that's what you can see and feel and touch and hear and smell but keep hope alive because when hope is alive god is in control i encourage all of us this morning to keep our hope alive because that's where our salvation lies it's our hope that unlocks our faith and it's our faith that unlocks the supernatural power of almighty god on our behalf because faith is the substance of things hoped for so if i want my faith to grow is the key to unlocking the supernatural power in my life that i better keep hope alive you see when you keep hope alive faith is increased and you find yourself seven verses later past 8 and 24 where paul has said keep your hope alive you eventually get to romans 8 and 31 where he gets boldness and confidence and he writes to them and say if your hope is alive what shall we then say to these things that if god before us who can be against us if you keep your hope alive it ignites your faith and when your faith ignites you're able to look at all the ground zero situations that we are facing and say i've got faith that my god is in complete control i'm sorry for everything that we have gone through i don't have an answer for why we're facing what we are facing i see faces in this audience right now who have lost loved ones to diseases into viruses this year and i don't have good answers i don't understand it all but let me tell you what the enemy would like to try to do with you he would try to like to get you questioning trying to get you doubting god he would like to get you to a place where you're relying on what you can see feel hear touch and smell that's what he's trying to do is separate you from god and i'm here this morning to remind all of us those of us that have been impacted over the last couple of years by ground zero situations keep hope alive because if your hope is alive then your faith will ignite and when your faith begins to ignite the supernatural power of god will manifest itself on your behalf and god's goodness will see us through this evil ground zero situation god is for you today don't let the enemy tell you otherwise god is for you you didn't lose your loved one because god didn't care that's a lie from the enemy god is in control you didn't deal with a financial turmoil because god doesn't love you god is in control god is for you today your friends maybe have forgotten you your family has maybe forgotten you the enemy may seem like they have the upper hand but i'm telling you today god is for you [Applause] and because that good god is for us we should ignite our hope we better have hope today because it's going to make all the difference if we will keep our hope alive our faith will be increased and we will see that god is for us even though the world is against us even though evil is against us god is for us let's all stand together we have hope and when we have hope no weapon formed against you shall prosper when you have hope the scripture as my days are so shall my strength be will ring true when you have hope you may be tried in the fire but you're going to come out pure as gold when you have hope he will never leave you nor forsake you when you have hope if you ascend into heaven he's there if you make your bed in hell he's there when you have hope you can't escape the goodness of god i've got hope today i've got hope in this life that he's going to see me through and i've got hope of life eternal this world is not my home i'm just a passing through so let not your hearts be troubled you believe in god believe also in me in my father's house are many mansions if it were not so i would have told you so i go to prepare a place for you and if i go to prepare a place for you i will come again and receive you unto myself that where i am there you may be also we have home [Music] paul wrote to titus about the blessed hope paul said i'm looking for the glorious appearing of our great god and our savior jesus christ our god is coming back soon and very soon and i've got hope [Applause] [Music] so trust god today keep hope alive today i know there's some ground zero situations in the house i don't understand them and i don't have any answers for you but here's what i do have god is in control and just like god spoke to joshua be strong be of good courage be not afraid neither be thou dismayed for the lord that god is with you whither so ever thou goest wherever you go god is with you whatever comes against you god is with you [Music] in 1936 two friends were serving at a sunday school conference together they sat down together for lunch and to share some good things that god had done had done in their life one was a missionary to brazil who was home on furlough the other was a music leader the missionary to brazil sat down and was confiding in his friend and said i just found out that i have a terminal health issue and i will not be able to go back to brazil and continue the work that i was doing for god the place that i love the place that i was working so hard to build something for the kingdom of god there in brazil [Music] the music leader looked back and said well what are you going to do the missionary r.s jones looked at that music leader by the name of b.b mckinney and r.s jones said wherever he leads i will follow b.b mckinney went on to write this famous hymn which has touched so many people wherever he leads i'm gonna follow if he leads me through ground zero situations i'm just gonna keep on following yeah if i'm attacked by a deadly disease i'm just going to keep on following if i have financial turmoil if my family is in chaos and i need help i'm just going to keep on following have been very easy for bb mckin or for rs jones to say i can't believe god would do this to me i've been working in his kingdom i've been building a work for him in brazil that's not what he did wherever he leads i will follow through any situation through any turmoil through any chaos god is in control so keep hope alive we had a word of the lord that went forth in our first service from sister man thus saith the lord i am that i am and the i am is with you today i am the incarnate resurrected glorified lord christ i am with you i will never forsake you i will supply all of your needs according to my riches in glory i will order your steps no evil shall come upon you or either your household believe me trust me hope in me i am that i am that i am the word of the lord this morning so whatever you may need today whatever your ground zero situation may be today keep hope alive i'd ask you to come forward and receive hope if you're not comfortable coming all the way to the front come to that second aisle those of you in the balcony that need hope come to that railing there's hope that's here today keep hope alive because if your hope is alive your faith is going to ignite and it's going to release the supernatural of god on your behalf keep hope alive keep hope alive you want to repent of your sins you want to be baptized in his name you want to be filled with his spirit come down here today and experience hope like you've never experienced hope in your entire life hope is here hope is here and we're going to overcome our ground zero situations by the goodness of god [Music] because [Music] or your living room wherever you may be and whatever you may be facing this is a message of hope this is a message to remind us that he is our refuge god is our strength and he is in control he is there with us he's here with us wherever you may be i trust that this service that this message was strength to you that it will be an anchor for your day-to-day we love our online [Music] audience we're so thankful that you joined us today i look forward to meeting you in the same place same time on wednesday god bless you [Music] you

Channel: The Pentecostals of Alexandria

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Id: HNRy_gQMKPU

Length: 95min 22sec (5722 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021