Sunday Service | 01.03.21 | The Pursuit

[Music] hey good morning church listen we're going to get started once you stand to your feet if you're able come on stand your feet want to welcome you if you're watching by way of internet welcome i want to invite you come down to the altar this morning come let's find your place of worship in the sanctuary come on let's put our hands together here we go here we go there's a table it's a table that you prepare for me and the presence of my enemies [Music] is your body and blood you share for me this is how i find my battles see that again there's a table it's a table that you prepare for me [Music] this is how i find my battles praise for you [Music] this is how i [Music] with praise and worship in the valley [Music] and mercy follow me [Music] thanksgiving this is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] is [Applause] [Music] is but i'm [Music] i'm surrounded [Music] [Music] [Music] listen i don't know what valley you're facing today but here's what i know we don't fight with weapons made with by the hands of man we fight in the spirit with weapons of praise [Applause] come on put those hands together [Music] [Music] it may look like i'm surrounded this is [Music] [Music] hallelujah oh i don't think we're done yet we're not done with that tune yet come on hey come on put those hands together [Music] [Music] oh aren't you thankful [Music] like i'm wow but i'm surrounded [Music] this is [Music] hallelujah [Music] song says my hallelujah belongs to you my hallelujah belongs to you [Music] my hallelujah belongs to you [Music] my hallelujah belongs to simple song says you deserve it you deserve it you deserve it you deserve it [Music] let's sing my hallelujah singing my [Music] hallelujah everything i had my hallelujah my hallelujah belongs to you cause you deserve it you deserve it yes you do you all the glory to sing all of the glory belongs to you sing all of the glory [Music] [Applause] is you deserve it you deserve it [Music] [Applause] [Music] all of my praises hallelujah [Music] [Music] you jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] you do miracles every day [Music] hallelujah you deserved [Music] you deserve it one more time [Music] my hallelujah belongs [Music] one more time tell him [Music] softly tell him you deserve it you deserve it come on lift those hands and worship him for all that you've done your greatness gone all the times that you set me free you deserve all the times you came [Music] you through [Music] worthy of every song we could ever see worthy of all the praise we could ever bring worthy of every breath we could ever breathe we live for you jesus the name jesus the name of every other name jesus the only one who could ever see worthy worthy [Music] there is no one like you there is none beside you open up my eyes and wander and show me who you are and fill me with your heart and lead me let's sing it again worthy of every song [Music] we live for you [Music] and jesus [Music] worthy there is [Music] who you are [Music] is [Music] [Music] it is a firm foundation i will put my trust and i will [Music] it is [Music] and i will [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] oh [Music] holy [Music] open up my eyes you are [Music] oh [Music] and be praise song how can i contain i cannot contain this love praise be my song how can i contain it i cannot contain this love praise be [Music] how can i contain it i cannot contain this love [Music] praise how can i contain it i cannot contain my [Music] will be my [Music] my [Music] will be [Music] [Music] this scripture says we draw dear unto the lord that he draws near unto us and fred the good news of the gospel is that jesus has come close that's the meaning behind the incarnation is that it is now god with us it's not just god above us it's not just god before us it is god with us and the high king of glory jesus he is with us this morning and on the first sunday of the month something that we celebrate is the lord's supper or communion and in communion we receive elements that symbolically represent the death of jesus in in the instruction of the church of corinth the apostle paul says it this way on the night that jesus was betrayed he took bread and he broke it and he gave it to his disciples and he said this is my body broken for you take this take eat and do this in remembrance of me and then like banner he took the wine and he gave it to his disciples and he said this is representative of my spilled blood and the new covenant is in my blood do this in remembrance of me declaring the lord's death until he returns and the reason why we declare the lord's death is because when he died we died and when he was raised a new life we were raised to new life and in the death of christ he swallowed up sin hell the grave and sickness and if those things can't hold jesus they can't hold you that's why sickness has no claim on your life that's why disease has no claim on your life that's why sin has no claim on your life that's why the handwriting of requirements has been wiped out against you because jesus conquered the grave he is swollen at death and that's why the scriptures say dead where is your sting dad where is your penalty our resurrected king is [Music] [Music] is [Music] how can i cannot contact this come on come on in just a moment i'll invite you to receive communion the communion is not approaching god and sackcloth and ashes hoping he won't strike you dead for the last sin you committed come on communion is not a depression woe is me i'm just a worm i don't deserve it how could god ever love somebody like me no it's a celebration that the blood and the body of jesus has spoken a better word about your life it's a celebration that you have left the covenant of death and are in the covenant of life it is a celebration that you've been translated out of darkness into light it is a celebration and a prophetic that what jesus did he is still doing his spirit is giving strength to my mortal body that's what communion celebrates it's not a mid-service snack it's a prophetic declaration jesus is alive [Music] come on make your way out of your seat come on let's receive communion come on let's celebrate let's declare come on let's declare today [Music] oh [Music] what all i need to know [Music] becomes [Music] when i'm [Music] me [Music] walk with me [Music] please [Music] i'll sing because i trust [Music] [Applause] [Music] my [Music] i will sing because i trust you [Music] oh [Music] us [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] come on we serve a good god who's in the business of giving good gifts to his children for the scripture says this he is the father of light in him there is no shadow of turning every good and perfect thing comes from the father above and fred if it's not good it's not done because god is working it out and so we're going to use our faith together this morning to believe that god is at work even in the background even in the shadows of my life come on let me pray for you today father you see every heart father you see every person attending online this morning and now we pray god for a stirring of a heart of courage and belief to declare in this place today my god is not done with my story and father we thank you that you're at work working all things together for the good of those who love you and so today we position ourselves under the mighty hand of the lord and we say god do your best work in us god do your best work in us and we give you all the praise and we give you all the glory we give you all the honor the one who was the one who wins and the one who is to come in jesus day come on august people said hey ben hey man come on would you take a minute say hi to a friend find your seat thanks so much for joining us [Music] [Music] happy new year pursuit family whether you're joining us here in person or online welcome to service here are your morning announcements tomorrow on january 4th is our first ever pursuit night we will be gathering here at the church at 6 pm for a time of worship development and deeper connection bring the whole family and we can't wait to see you there we are still looking for people to join the kids ministry team on sundays head to the connection center in the foyer after service for more information on how to get signed up to serve we are starting our vip events again this month this event is on january 17th after every service and it is a chance for you to meet the pastors and get connected whether you are new to the pursuit or you've been here for a while you're invited hey pursuit youth we are kicking off the new year this wednesday with group wars and costco pizza bring a friend and we'll see you there and that is all the announcements we have for you today stay connected with us throughout the week on all of our social media platforms facebook instagram and youtube at the pursuit nw and check us out online at thepursuitnw.com hey pursue family we want to say thank you again for joining us thank you so much for all of your financial support and prayers we cannot do church without you god has continually shown his faithfulness within our community and we want to extend an opportunity for you to partner in giving today if you're joining us in person in just a few moments you'll have the opportunity to come forward and give if you're joining us at the online campus and or you want to give digitally there are a couple of ways that you can do that today on the screen here you can text to give or give online through our website in a few moments the band will start to play and that will signify an opportunity for you to get out of your seat and come forward again again thank you guys so much for faithfully sowing into our church we will see you guys next weekend hey now's the time to come forward and give thank you so much for partnering with us and giving come on let's do that [Music] now [Music] [Music] well hey welcome to the first sunday of 2021. if you survived the last year you are basically indestructible so welcome to church we're glad to have you at the house of god uh i i stayed up i don't know about you but i stayed up on new year's eve not to see the fireworks because of course there was none this year but just to make sure 2020 left and it has in the new year has come and if you need a word from the lord it's this anything is better than last year saith the lord and so just receive that as a promise we're going ahead we're going forward and we're believing god for some uh new things as a people of faith as a people of christian community we have just determined ourselves to fix our eyes on jesus the author and the finisher of our faith and to put our hope in him scripture says it this way some trust in chariots others trust in horses we will trust in the name of the lord of course that scripture was written in a season in which chariots and horses were kind of the primary vehicles of of military might they really represented what it looked like to be strong and powerful i think in our world today it would look a little like this some put their trust in technology some put their faith in stimulus but we will put our hope in the name of the lord and i'm thankful for stimulus send it all to me i'm thankful but ultimately our trust our hope our faith is in the rock that is higher than i for we are planted on a rock that is unshakable it is unmovable the kingdom of god is advancing by force god is doing something incredible in the northwest if you are here you are here on purpose with purpose to see the kingdom of god expand in ways that you have never seen before we declare over this house and over your house exceedingly abundantly more than you could ever ask think or imagine that is what god will do that your new year is dripping in favor it is dripping in purpose your cup will overflow god is your shepherd you are not in need come on when you come into alignment with what scripture says about your life it produces confidence and courage for you not to be a victim of your story not to be an observer in the church but to be a participant in god's kingdom and so we're going to make some choices today to be everything that god says we are to be nothing that he says we're not and to walk in a way that honors the high call of god which is in christ jesus fred whether you ever stand behind a pulpit and preach there is a high call of god on your life there is something for you to do more importantly there is something for you to be whether you find yourself working in tech making coffee raising kids staying home homeschooling kids that you want to choke whatever it is there's a god who is working out something good in your life come on anybody say amen this morning you believe that for your life come on if you have a bible open to the gospel of luke chapter five luke chapter five hey this morning we're gonna spend some time in this gospel it's written by an outsider a gentile somebody who observes the life of christ and writes in a way that definitively proves his deity his lordship and his authority over all both foreign governments local governments and the government of the spiritual realm and so luke is proving this point that jesus is the highest name and the highest authority luke is a doctor he writes about jesus in a very prescriptive fashion he includes details in his book that other books skip out on because of the way that he's hardwired and he writes under the inspiration of the spirit of god friend 2021 would be a really good year for you to adopt a really high view of the word of god you know what i find is sometimes people read the word of god and it's only the things that encourage them that they believe are inspired everything else they just cut out copy and paste put it somewhere else no god certainly couldn't mean that i just want all of the blessings but none of the judgment i just want all the blessings but none of the righteousness i just want all the stuff that makes me feel good and affirms all of my life choices but nothing that separates bone and marrow nothing that calls me to a higher standard a different way of living and can i tell you every word of scripture is equally inspired not every word of scripture is equally applicable but every word of scripture is equally inspired in the beginning god is just as inspired as john 3 16. come on every scripture in this book is in there on purpose with purpose for your life i believe one of the threats that we face in our world today is not big government it's not big tech it's christians with a low view of scripture my life is founded on the word is founded on the word of god well i can receive revelation a lot of ways but if you want to hear the audible voice of god just go ahead read your bible out loud you'll hear it this is the voice of god for our lives today it doesn't mean god can't speak other ways but when we drift from the word friend you don't drift towards orthodoxy you drift away from it you don't drift towards righteousness you drift away from it and what i found today is people have deconstructed their view of god in light of culture instead of deconstructing culture in light of scripture if you go deconstruct something deconstruct your own culture but let the bible be true and every man be a liar every word is inspired or it'd be a good year to adopt a high view of scripture now watch what happened luke 5 starting at verse 1 and so it was as the multitude pressed about him jesus to hear the word of god that he stood by the lake of jenesseret now oftentimes in ancient literature what you will find is a lot of different names used for the same geographic location now the lake of jenesserat also goes by another name the sea of tiberias it also goes by another name that you're more familiar with the sea of galilee and jesus does most of his earthly ministry for three and a half years around the sea of galilee now i've been to the sea of galilee i've had the privilege of walking where jesus walked and we're going to take a church-wide trip as soon as some of the airlines clear up and as soon as everybody gets the mandatory back seat and the chip in their hand and all sorts of other things and once everything opens back up will you go back to israel i want to take you there with me because there's something that happens in your heart when you walk into holy land you recognize watch this is good you recognize that as holy as it is over there is to the same degree the amount of holy that we have here because god is no respecter of persons and the same jesus who walked in jerusalem walks in snohomish you'll get that later watch it on the replay you'll get it but it's good and watch what happens jesus is ministering around the sea of galilee and if you look around the sea of galilee and the trails and the roads that link all the different villages and cities the small fishing villages that surround that body of water what you'll find is that a vast majority of the public ministry of jesus involved a 30 mile circumference he didn't have a passport book with all the stamps of the different nations he'd been to a wall with all the conference invites he that he had been a part of all the lanyards from all the different christian events and all the green rooms that he had sat in he had a 30 mile ministry which tells me this it's not the scope of your influence it's the depth of your impact and some of us have traded depth for width and called it success and could this be a year of you and i growing deep in the sea of galilee could this be a year of you and i planting roots could this be a year of you and i honoring the house of god showing up getting fed developed sent out inspired encouraged could this be a year of us pastoring our families could this be a year of reaching our communities could this be a year where we reject the titled success of what culture tells us and instead adopt what it looks like to live a biblically centric life watch the kingdom of the world is upside down jesus says in order to live you must die in order to be rich you must be poor in order to lead you must serve in order to be great you must be small jesus is flipping the script on what the world says success looks like and i'll tell you what we ought to be careful not to allow the world's way of identifying success to become the metric for how we measure the effectiveness of the church the effectiveness of the church is not measured by its seating power but by its sending power it's not our width it's our depths let's grow deep let's plant roots deep so that when the cares of life come when the fears of life come when the tragedies of life come when the difficulties of life come what it finds is that we're planted on a rock unmoved and unshaken now watch what happened in verse two the bible says this in jesus he saw two boats standing by the lake but the fishermen had gone from them they were washing their nets because they were they were done working for the day and in verse three the bible says this and he got into one of the boats which was simon peters and he asked him to put out a little from the land and he sat down i love this and he sat down and he taught the multitudes from the boat let me show you what's happening this morning jesus would get on boats and and he would push out from the shore just a little bit 10 feet 15 feet 20 feet and it would create a natural amplification of his voice just to be able to speak loud enough for the crowds to hear sometimes jesus is speaking to dozens sometimes hundreds sometimes thousands sometimes just religious leaders sometimes just as disciples but jesus would push out on the water and it would create a natural microphone to amplify his voice so that regardless of where you were standing you could hear the master teach but something more important is happening in this verse and i want to draw your attention to it the bible says and he sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat one dissertation says it this way the rabbis always taught from a seated position in the vernacular of first century judaism a rabbi sitting down is the equivalent of a pastor stepping up to a pulpit the phrase he sat and taught appears commonly in rabbinical literature to refer to a rabbi teaching on the subject of the torah see that explains why his disciples gathered around him when they saw him sit down it was their job to learn as the master was ready to teach watch that's why jesus is seated at the right hand of the father it's a position of rest it's a position of authority and it's a position of scholarship meaning this the rabbi is still teaching and that's why the cry of the book of revelation is he who has an ear let him hear what the spirit is saying to the church and jesus ascends to heaven after his resurrection prior to pentecost the bible says he is seated at the right hand of the father receiving all glory all honor and all power see in our culture we read that and it doesn't necessarily make sense but in first century judaism when a rabbi would sit to teach all of a sudden a hush would come on the crowd why because somebody with authority somebody with rest and somebody with scholarship was about to release words that you could build your life upon and i've said this before but it bears repeating the great question in our world today is not is god still speaking it's are his people still listening and as the rabbi teaches as the rabbi shares as the great rabbi of heaven the great carpenter of heaven jesus the firstborn of all creation as he sits down to teach a river of life flows from his throne friend this is why we worship the way that we do watch scripture says that worship creates a throne or a seat for christ to sit upon that's what it means when scripture says he is enthroned another way that you could say that is he is seated on the praise of his people and a few years ago i had a man come up come up to me after service try to give me a compliment about my preaching you know how like when people try to give you compliments but it's not really a compliment you just say bless your heart and send them on their way it was one of those he said pastor the preaching was great it's phenomenal never heard anything like it i'm like now i know you're lying i know you're already lying he said but i've got some advice oh boy he said to worship not so much he said next time could we just skip the worship and just have you preached the whole time instead i said to him listen sir a thousand times i've skipped preaching just to worship but never once we'll all skip worship just to preach because when we worship it creates a throne for jesus to sit in our midst and when jesus sits in our midst the preacher can drop a bomb when jesus sits in our midst the preacher can say mary had a little lamb whose fleece was white as snow when jesus sits in our midst it matters not what i say because the king of glory is here and the holy spirit will translate my words to your heart and change your life oh i found that it's so interesting with preaching it's so interesting with preaching scripture says it's the foolishness of preaching it's the foolishness of public communication that draws people under god i found it time and time again i'll preach on love and somebody says pastor that was the greatest sermon on generosity i've ever heard i'll preach on generosity somebody who says the greatest message on friendship i've ever heard what i understand is the holy spirit is translating my words in this environment because the king of glory is here meaning this god is tailoring this message for what you need today god is tailoring these words not because i'm significant but because he's significant and when we create a throne of glory he sits right down in the midst of us and when the rabbi sits all of a sudden even the angels peer in with interest what's the rabbi going to say today listen friend i'm not the rabbi he is and when he sits on his throne that we create with our praise it creates a place of impartation and revelation now in verse four watch what he had stopped speaking he said to simon launch out into the deep and let down your gnats for a catch but simon answered and said to a master we toiled all night and we have caught nothing nevertheless at your word i will let down the net you know every once in a while when i'm preaching we will talk about the original languages that scripture is written in order to better understand what the text is trying to communicate the way that we call that in theological terms is the authorial intent what is the intent of the author what are they trying to communicate here and since the new testament is written in greek oftentimes we go back to the greek language to understand what these phrases are communicating and this phrase your word at your word i will let down my neck it translates to this greek word rhema r-h-e-m-a it means this a spoken word watch made by a living voice meaning this a word from god that when received by the hearer creates faith to see the impossible watch where it's also used luke 1 38 and mary said behold i'm a servant of the lord let it be to me according to your rhema and the angel departed from her how about romans 10 and verse 17 so then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the rhema or the word of god a few weeks ago i had the privilege of preaching in the church that i was raised in in seattle washington and after i got done preaching a lady came up to me afterwards she said pastor i have to tell you a story you preached your first sermon ever in life here 20 years ago when you were 13 and god used something you said that i have built my life around ever since she said do you remember what you pray shot i said absolutely not i can't remember what i ate yesterday i can't remember what i wore yesterday in fact sometimes that's the reason why i wear the same thing three four days in a row i just don't remember well go ahead judge somebody else i don't remember see he said you preach on worship i'll go okay she said you talked about how we owe our worship to god in every season of life regardless of the difficulty how worship washes our perspective to see god for who he truly is i go oh man that's that's incredible that you remember that it's awesome i i'm glad it encouraged you she said no you don't understand she said a few years ago when we were trying to have a baby finally got pregnant and then lost the baby it was that word that carried me through she said you don't understand what this word has done for me time and time again through difficult season i'll be throwing my hands up god what are you doing and god will bring your words back to my ears i can't get away from it it was a rhema word that was released and when it was released my faith grabbed a hold of it and said that's a word for me see that's what's happening here on sunday mornings it's not the eloquence of my speech it's not the profound nature of my theological discoveries it's not my immense revelation it's we have created an atmosphere of faith by which common words become supernatural weapons for your destiny that's what it means to get a rhema word it means to attach yourself by faith to something god is releasing in a moment you ever been in an atmosphere where your friend gets a prophetic word that you really wish you got you know what i do with those environments thank you god for that word i'm gonna claim that word for me too put it on a little over here may his come overflow just a little bit on me i'ma go ahead and receive that word from my house for this year as well because god is no respecter of persons he fills every hungry heart so let me just grab by faith a rhema word and apply it to my destiny you don't need a prophetic word calling out your driver's license number your social security number your birthday to place your favorite food in order to receive something from god you just got to use faith to hear what the spirit is saying to the church oh a spirit can speak to you anywhere in the car in the shower at work on the toilet but when you get in church all of a sudden the spirit speaks in a way that releases an incredible amount of faith and in doing so i believe builds transformational stages for your life watch simon peter's reaction master we have toiled all night and caught nothing nevertheless at your rhema i will let down the net watch peter's reaction i'm processing my past but i'm going to trust you with my present i've already done this before i already gone ahead and believed you for that miracle before i already believed you for restoration and reconcilia i already believed you for breakthrough i already believed you for blessing i already tried to show up at church and nobody talked to me i already tried to serve and nobody liked me i already tried to put myself out there and i just got embarrassed i already tried that and i got rejected but at your word i'm gonna try again why because when a rhema word is released it changes everything a rhema word takes trial and turns it to triumph a rhema word takes trial and turns it to testimony a rhema word takes brokenness and turns it to blessing a rhema word encourages you that if god were faithful in my past he's going to be faithful in my future and even if i don't see the fullness of it right now i'm gonna try try again master we toiled all night master we already washed our nets we already went in for the day i already thought it was over i already counted you faithless i already thought there's no blessing coming my way i already decided i'm gonna have a bad year i already decided i'm gonna get divorced i already decided i'm just gonna repeat the cycle i already decided i'm just gonna stay stuck in sin i already decided i'm just gonna kill myself i already decided i'm just going to be depressed but at your word let me get back in the boat go out to the water lower my net because there's some fish in the sea preacher today they'll watch they had already washed their nets they had already fished all night they had already come to shore they had already finished their shift but this time it was different this time they had a rhema a word that changed everything in the same boat it is the same net it's the same water it is same fish it's the same disciple it's the same day it's the same climate but when god's word is in your work everything changes see jesus could have worked this miracle any way he wanted but he had them operate as normal watch but this time under the power of his word god doesn't remove the ethic of work he adds the power of his spirit see remember grace isn't opposed to effort it's opposed to earning i think sometimes when we think about the way in which god works we want him to supernaturally intervene in our story without our cooperation without our participation without our engagement without our thankfulness fix all the mess that we've made and then take off so we can live life without him and yet jesus says this i no longer call you servants i call you friends why because friends know the master's business and do you know the express purpose of knowing the master's business so that you can participate in the business of the master and what is the business of the master lives healed families transformed dead raised sick healed lepers cleansed the kingdom of god at work advancing in and through your life in incredible ways your ongoing daily weekly monthly and yearly spiritual development by which you are transformed into his image and likeness that is the work of the master and it requires your participation and i know that we would love a god who would just come down and work out all of our spiritual muscles for us but he's interested in relationship and this god has invited you into transformation he could have given fish to peter any way that he wanted you ever see the amount of ways that god does miracles in the new testament coins appear in fish's mouth bread is multiplied lepers are cleansed he spits in mud people's eyes are open jesus does miracles all sorts of different ways he could have had supernaturally fish up here on the shore but he said peter go back out to your boat go back out to that lake get back out with your friends use that same old net but this time under the power of my word friend scripture teaches are you listening scripture teaches are you listening now watch what happens it's the same boat it's the same men it's the same water the thing that's different in this circumstance is that man's faith is catching up with god's timing and when you place a demand on what god provides even things that are out of time come into alignment think about the miracle at the wedding of cana mary is there with jesus and the friends of jesus mary approaches her son and says they've run out of wine and jesus says two things number one not my problem number two not my time and yet two verses later we see that it is his problem and that it is his time why because the faith of a mother and the faith of friends put a demand on god to do what was always in his heart to do do you know what is always in god's heart healing do you know what is always in god's heart deliverance do you know what is always in god's heart salvation the bible says that god is willing that none should perish and that all should inherit eternal life so what happens when somebody gets saved translated out of darkness into light somebody is using their faith to be a mouthpiece to be a witness pulling somebody into the timing of god it's in god's heart to do so if revival is in god's heart why haven't we had it he's waiting for people to gather with faith to put a demand to move his hands god says it's in my heart to do something in the northwest it's in my heart to do something in your family it's in my heart to do something in your sphere of influence and when you add your faith to his it creates a dynamic superhighway of agreement by which his kingdom comes to earth faith is what pulls the hand of god into alignment with the heart of god i know god's heart i know god's heart for this region it's what i've been asking for god give me your heart for this people give me your heart for this sin give me your heart for the northwest i hear his heartbeat i hear what he's saying i hear what he's speaking over the region and my job is to use my faith do everything as it is unto the lord to do my participatory faith to engage with the things that he desires to do and in doing so create an agreement for god to show up and to show off now watch i'm almost done the bible says this when they'd done this they caught a great number of fish and their net was breaking they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them and they came to fill both the boats that they began to sink and when simon peter saw it he fell down at the knees of jesus saying depart from me for i am a sinful man oh lord friend when it's done unto the lord it carries the necessary ingredients for supernatural results stephen feeding the windows a normal activity producing supernatural results craftsmen building the temple a normal activity producing supernatural results lay man washing in the river a normal activity producing supernatural results you giving in the offering a normal activity producing supernatural results you going into the waters of baptism a normal activity producing supernatural results you showing up at church a normal activity producing supernatural results that's what it looks like to operate under the mighty hand of the lord when you receive a word and faith in your heart comes alive and you say i'm going to live my life in accordance with the word that i've received supernatural results follow it's a normal activity but it's done under the word of a supernatural god let me in here do you know what the immediate aftermath of this story is four fishermen are called to be disciples it's simon peter it's andrew it's james and it's john jesus is just doing a relatively low key miracle and the immediate afterward is that four young men are conscripted into christ followership in such a way that will change not only their lives but the lives of everyone that they come in contact to i was thinking about luke 5 in the context of praying and seeking the lord and asking him what is your heart for this year for our church and here's what i heard the lord say is he directed me to luke five and i will release it over you this morning it is a season of suddenlies it is a season of suddenlies the disciples in the boat just dropping their nets in the water and as soon as the net hits the water so much fish are in the net that their boat is sinking and their net is breaking a season of suddenly immediately following the miracle four young men reject fishing to follow jesus a season of suddenlies acts 2 and verse 2 in the upper room and suddenly there was a sound acts 16 as paul and silas are worshiping in a philippian jail and suddenly there was a great shaking all over the old testament scripture says and suddenly god came to his temple friend it's a season of sunlight let me illustrate this for you in closing this morning i think sometimes in our lives when god's miracle catches up with our moment we feel like an overnight success can i tell you the suddenly of jesus was 30 years in the making the suddenly of creation was seven days in the making the suddenly of your story was nine months in a womb the suddenly of your life your fruitfulness the things god is doing in and through your story is directly related to generations who came before you who with a simple yes in a response to god's word became part of a chain reaction that resulted in a suddenly that you find yourself in today about 108 years ago there was a group of seven women who gathered in snohomish to pray that god would visit the region with revival and 108 years later a little church named pursuit shows up on the scene not because there's anything great with us but because there's everything great with jesus who in faith are coming into agreement with god's heart for revival and reformation in this region come on fred you're here today because you had an abraham you had an isaac you had a jacob you had a praying grandma a praying grandpa you had somebody who served and loved you when you was in youth ministry you had somebody who changed your diapers in kids ministry you had somebody who witnessed to you when you was a pagan you had somebody who loved you when you didn't love yourself you are here today as the result of a chain reaction of god's faithfulness that has resulted in a suddenly in your life and what i'm asking you to be in 2021 is a living stone a living pillar in god's house by which with simple obedience and simple faith we set off a chain reaction in the generations that does exceedingly abundantly more than we could ever ask think or imagine friend this is going to be a year of suddenly for the pursuit i'm going to make some announcements some new cities opening up some new campuses some new opportunities and you're going to think to yourself it's happening too quickly and i want you to remember this word it's a year of suddenlies the lord spoke to me going into the second service he said there's parents here today believing for their prodigal sons and daughters to come back home and i'm telling you it's going to be a year of abrupt sudden lease you'll get calls in the middle of the night you'll get texts in the middle of the night mom i'm coming home dad i'm coming home i've been far from god but i'm coming home it's going to be a year of sudden lease from god you know when you get a word from man it about do nothing in your life i've got all these words from man i got all these words from youtube and all these words from culture doesn't seem to be moving my bow when you get a word from man it's like blowing on a brick that not gonna move but when you get a rhema word from god like mary says in luke 1 let every one of your words be fulfilled in me none of god's words fall flat come on fred will you get a rhema word from god when his fresh breath comes upon your life's circumstances when his breath fills the nostrils of your life all of a sudden when he breathes on the dry bones of what you thought was dead and over a rhema word has a chain reaction watch [Music] suddenly [Applause] suddenly suddenly i believe this is a year of suddenlies for your life i believe this is a year of sudden lease for this church i believe that this is a year of abrupt shifts in the spirit by which god aligns according to his spoken word and i'm asking you today friend attach yourself to this rhema word attach yourself to this word by faith attach yourself to these scriptures by faith plant yourself in this house by faith and together let's see a suddenly of god that's been generations in the making come on you believe that this morning would you stand with me as we close i'm going to encourage you to be a bringer i'm going to encourage you to be an inviter i'm going to encourage you to let a friend a family member and in-law and outlaw somebody know about what god is doing in sohomish i'm going to encourage you to let him know we got 9 a.m we got 10 30 a.m we got 12 p.m i'm gonna encourage you if it's your new year's resolution to be in church friend being in church come on let's be faithfully planted in the house of god and let's see him do exceedingly abundantly more than we could ever ask think or imagine you and me together come on let's see god do incredible things let me pray for you father we love you come on god we honor you we say jesus do your best work in our lives

Channel: The Pursuit NW

Views: 675

Rating: 5 out of 5

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Id: dxa0DIQjvBk

Length: 69min 53sec (4193 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 03 2021