TGP // Sunday Morning // September 5th, 2021 10:45AM

[Music] [Music] [Music] so so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so foreign [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] me so [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] well good morning gather place how is everybody awesome good to see you it's good to be with you today we're going to start this service off like we always do we're going to read out of god's word coming out of psalms 84. psalms 84 verse 10 better is one day in your courts than a thousands elsewhere i would rather be a door keeper in the house of my god than dwell in tents of the wicked better is one day in your court i love that verse that's one of my favorite verses in the bible and when you when you read it many scholars believe that this this scripture is being written after they've come out of babylon after the israelites have actually come and come out of babylon what did babylon represent the world it represented the things of the world it represented the lust of the flesh the desire of wealth greed pride of life fill in the blame it sounds kind of familiar for today if you ask me but i love this because in the bible when it talks about better as one day in your course it actually talks about a physical a physical place the temple of god but in the new covenant we are the temple of god jesus christ died so that we can have holy spirit he dwells within us so it can be said this way now lord [Music] better is one day in your presence father better is one moment that i get to see your face lord better is one day with the joy that you possess in my heart better is one day of your love being poured out through me than anything that this world has to offer me better as one day in your course so this morning i want us to think along those lines when we go into worship and just understand the joy that we have before us to get to dwell in the presence of god and experience all he has for us if you would if you feel comfortable if you open your hands i want to pray over you i'm just going to ask the lord to move in power this morning holy spirit precious lord [Music] better is one moment in your presence better as one second to experience who you are more god than anything this world has to offer holy spirit i ask you [Music] to touch your children today to touch every single person today that would say to you right now lord i need a touch holy spirit have your way in this place [Music] holy spirit mark us and change us forever send jesus name we pray amen amen church family if you want to worship down front please come down front worship in front of the altar let's go after the lord [Music] high [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] easy [Music] [Applause] me [Music] every teacher finds itself [Music] [Applause] your eyes [Music] let his praise arise [Music] [Applause] [Music] yes [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] me [Music] is [Music] trust me [Music] [Music] [Applause] so [Music] [Music] you say to us seek your face our hearts free from your face we see come teach us [Music] the greatest [Music] here [Music] [Applause] your beauty [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] feel this place [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] glory [Music] today [Music] is [Music] [Music] me [Music] yes [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] ah [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Music] hallelujah [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] god [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] jesus we welcome you here jesus come be the focus of god [Music] [Music] [Applause] i'm not missing [Music] jesus we honor you jesus [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Music] as well [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus you are [Music] you jesus [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Applause] [Music] yes yes [Music] i'm desperate because [Music] this is what he does [Music] you make our hearts come alive [Music] come around come on time again [Music] [Music] [Music] come on [Music] yes [Music] christ [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] amen amen praise god i love that song really do it's a picture of what i think god wants to happen every time we gather and that is for there to be a recalibration of heart you know i think it's so important that jesus be at the center of your heart do you agree with that say yes it's easy to agree with that because scripture say that the proper writer says above all else guard your heart because from your heart blows everything every decision that you make comes from your heart it's not that blood pumping organ it's just the center of your spirit it's the center of your soul it's a place where jesus wants to sit and i think every sunday every gathering offers us the opportunity just to make certain that he's there in that place in the center [Music] actually i think it's jesus intent that it not be every sunday that it be every day but every day we awaken and center ourselves upon him his truth there's so many things contending for your heart right now so many voices voices of fear that want your heart there's political voices that want your heart [Music] there's other people that want your heart but your heart was meant for one and one alone and his name is jesus christ you know i can look back at the span of my life and i can see seasons where he was the center in seasons where he was not i can look back on my life and you have those five years there he definitely was not the center career was the center of my heart in that season education was the center of my heart in that season the pursuit of another individual was the heart the center of my heart in that season [Music] and in those seasons where he wasn't the sinner there were symptoms of that whether it be anxiety or grief lack of joy anger just an unsettled heart there's always symptoms when he's not the center but those seasons where he is the center i can i can honestly say that there was joy there's passion waking up every morning despite what was going on in the world filled with anticipation and joy knowing that christ is alive the christ is on the throne and christ has got something for me on this day [Music] i don't think there's ever been a more important season to make sure that we're centered there's tons of ways to do that i think morning devotion morning prayer just waking up first thing and acknowledging him that's so important but on days like this we have unique opportunities to center ourselves one of the ways that jesus said you need to center yourself is through the practice of holy communion so we're going to do that real quick grab the elements that you were given when you walked into the room this is just a practical way for us to center ourselves remind ourselves of this victory remind ourselves of his sacrifice remind ourselves of who we are if you don't have little communion elements looks like a k-cup just raise your hand one of our ushers will bring one to you just lift it up high we'll bring it to you want everybody to participate don't have to be a member of the church just lift up your hand if you don't have one we'll bring one to you okay unless you're moving around you can go ahead and peel back the first top the clear part and grab that was supposed to be bread convinced that it's plastic but for on for us on this day it's going to be bread and we will pray that god will force it to go through our digestive tract this morning on the night that jesus gave himself up for the world he met with his disciples and i want you to understand that when he met with them it was a chaotic world listen to what i'm saying rome was ruling the earth as we know it in such a way that none of us would have been happy nobody was happy with the government especially the jews rome had robbed them of all of their freedom a foreign government had come in and make them subjective to their laws rome was crucifying jewish citizens on the interstates what would have been the interstates there was great injustice in the land but yet the topic of discussion that night at the last supper was not politics jesus said i came to bring victory over everything that you see but we're going to do it in a very unique way not the way that you think and so he lifted the bread and he said this is my body broken for you broken for you now whenever we eat of the bread we must understand that we do remember the broken body of jesus his body that was beaten cut whipped whipped to the point where he was unrecognizable whipped to the point where the flesh was pulled off of his body his body went through utter hell so that you don't have to go to hell so we must remember that his body was indeed broken but the prophet isaiah said that this won't be just for any eternal blessing but for a physical blessing isaiah said this by his stripes we're healed we're healed there's healing in his broken body god wants us to claim salvation this morning and i'm praying and hoping that everybody in this room and everybody watching has made the decision to trust in jesus but he also wants to go after the benefits of the cross and one of the benefits of the cross is healing of the body so we're about to eat of this this bread and we're going to claim healing one of the faith declarations i like to make is is this by his stripes i am healed i want you to repeat after me and i want you to say that by his stripes i am healed say it one more time in faith by his stripes i am healed if you need healing this morning of the body won't you just lift one hand just lift one hand [Music] and just acknowledge to god that the stripes of jesus are sufficient for your healing god loves to heal in so many different ways but i believe with all of my heart that he can heal you right here right now in this moment as we take holy communion so we're gonna say one more time together we're gonna eat and i believe that god's gonna heal some people right now in this moment so stay with me one more time by his stripes i am healed taken in we receive your healing of god peel back the second part to the cup to the juice after the bread was broken and passed jesus picked up a glass of wine on the table there would have been four at the passover celebration he picked up the glass of praise the cup of praise and he said on this day i initiate a new covenant unto you into anyone who would drink of this glass the cup of the new covenant my blood which is poured out for you and this is the cup of freedom this cup through his blood freedom in christ is offered what does that mean free to go to heaven you're absolutely free to go to heaven but it's more than that you are free to not be bound you're free not to be bound by sin bound by your past your past is no longer defines you you are defined through a new identity of one who is in christ consecrated unto him made holy and righteous because of his blood so i'm no longer bound by sin i'm no longer bound by addiction i'm no longer bound to religion i'm no longer bound to ritualistic routines that have no presence and no relationship i am now free because of the blood of jesus to live a righteous life to live a holy life but more so to live a life that's in a relationship with him this blood was spilled not so that you could come to church this blood was spilled so that you could come to him anything less is empty anything less is false anything less is fake and it will not fulfill you you will find yourself sitting here week after week going through routines that do not fulfill you fulfillment comes in a person and his name is jesus so all who would drink of this cup are free and i hope you find that freedom if you haven't found it yet free to come to him so i want you to claim freedom not only for yourself but always like to make this declaration i like to make the declaration of freedom over a person who is not i believe that in communion we can intercede and so i want you to i want you to say this in your prayers i'm going to give you 10 seconds and i want you to say god i claim freedom for and i want you to say the name of a person who's not free who doesn't know jesus so go ahead and let's do that god i claim freedom we claim freedom for these individuals for these loved ones for these relatives for these neighbors for these bosses people we know at the ballpark we claim freedom over them right now in the name of jesus we bind the spirit that blinds their mind and we claim freedom for them right now in jesus name by your blood jesus we fully expect for them to drink of freedom freedom freedom we thank you for our freedom we don't take it lightly take a drink open your hands let me pray a blessing over you father we receive these elements today not just as bread and juice but we receive them as the body and the blood of jesus christ the body that was broken the blood that was shed for our salvation for our healing for our deliverance for our freedom for our fulfillment no matter what happens outside of this place we know we can find peace and joy and strength in you so we choose in this moment and choose on this day to place you at the center of our heart we thank you for this moment where we could calibrate we thank you so much jesus for your sacrifice we honor you we honor you and we honor your spirit your holy spirit that you have sent so holy spirit we say come now open our eyes open our hearts open our minds to the revelation of your word holy spirit make this word applicable for our time in space as a church but also our time and space as individuals speak to us our ears are open it's in jesus name we pray everybody say the good amen let's give jesus praise one more time let's lift him up come on you can do better than that we're not gonna do that come on let's give jesus praise this morning amen what's good to see our family it's good to see some guests in the house church family give our guests a warm welcome so glad to have you [Applause] all right we're going to dive into the word before we do greet three or four people give them a high five a hug tell them you're happy to see them [Music] [Music] all right who's happy to be in church see me good good me too glad to see those that are here at our park avenue campus those joining online those watching later in the week holiday weekend we got a lot of people out of town so drive safely look forward to seeing you back next week a couple of announcements as you're opening your bible to matthew 24. a couple of announcements we um got a few different processes that we got going on around here as far as the way that we welcome guests and the way that we welcome new believers into the faith um if you're here this morning you're a guest we'd love to just greet you formally uh we just kind of welcomed you as a crowd but we'd like to greet you formally at our info booth so so go there take that connection guard if you'll take the connection card uh it's just our way of just meeting you and we do have some gifts for you at the info booth it's not our way of bribing by any means we just want to say thanks and so t-shirt we want to buy you lunch there's a gift card in there for lunch if you want to go get lunch afterwards on us we'd love to bless you with that so go see our info booth and all they're going to give you is a little bit more information that you can pursue if you want if not that's completely understandable but we just want to say thanks for being here if you accept christ we do have some um some gift resources as well new bible if you don't have a bible and some next steps a book that talks specifically about next steps you can make as a christian now as a new believer in jesus christ and and also against some resources that help you follow jesus in the life of the church and so we will get those to you today if you want to take those next steps so next step for those that have taken those steps would be groups begin this week um a week from today we start small groups and it's essential in our minds at least uh and and in the minds of scripture that you be in a small group this is this is encouraging this is good that we come together weekly but true growth according to scripture does not take place in this context true growth happens in the context of relationships and groups and proverbs says it this way as iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another and you can't be sharpened by anybody else in this room there's really no accountability it's possible to come to this room every week and not take one step toward jesus i said it's possible for you to come in this room every week and not take one step toward jesus a lot of people do it um so we want you to be in a context where you can grow and do ministry very biblical first church modeled that for us they come together in the temple courts they do ministry house to house so we want you to be in some house to house ministry go online get you in a group i don't think that there's ever been a more critical season for us to get back to the basics of faith it's really critical and we'll talk a little bit about that today so small groups start next week uh also know that um encounter is friday night the focus of encounter will be healing we are going to have a good old-fashioned healing service we're just going to go after healing um so i encourage you if you know anybody who is sick whether of the soul or the body get them get to get them here do whatever it takes bribe them give them money tell them you're taking them out to dinner and and pull in here say dinner afterwards praise god do whatever it takes we've seen some incredible miracles may we not forget the over 300 verified miracles that we've seen may we not forget the guy that was healed of parkinson's disease may we not forget the lady in the wheelchair that walks up some fights of chairs to work every day praise god may we not forget the ears that have been opened the eyes that have been opened the shoulders have been healed the bones have been healed the anxiety is gone the the the addictions that are gone the guy that got healed of nicotine and adderall in one night may we not forget the clinically depressed that are no longer clinically depressed and i could go on and on and on the barren wounds that have been open the babies that are now crying come on everybody may we not forget all of these things and one way for us not to forget is to continue to testify to the things that he's done and um and also create opportunities for him to do more and we know that ultimately our healing is um in him and in when we get to eternity we'll all be fully and finally healed but as we just took communion and claimed benefits of the broken body for ourselves we want to claim those for others as well and so we're going to create an environment this friday night where we sing a little bit i preach just for a second and then most of the night will be dedicated and devoted to healing okay and so get some folks in the room last announcement is that monday morning prayer we transitioned to monday morning prayer last week we had about 60 folks show up monday morning at 6 00 a.m 60. there was more there on the 22nd day of praying and fasting than the other ones it's crazy i was blown away i didn't have enough chairs out you made a fool of me it was great so we had to put out chairs and we're going to continue that i know tomorrow's labor day get up and pray at 6 00 am then go barbecue whatever you're barbecuing amen come pray with us you won't you won't be disappointed it was a good time had a lot of prophetic words spoken a lot of things we wrote down and believing god for and we'd love for you to join us all right matthew 24 did you find it first book of the new testament if you're new to church open it up about halfway and the news the section in the back is called the new testament so open that up matthew chapter 24. here we have jesus talking here's the the question has been asked how will we know when we're close to the end raise your hand if you've asked that recently or thought it are we close to the end jesus gives us some specific things to look for and he also gives us two warnings of two opportunities and he doesn't want us to fall victim to one opportunity and he doesn't want us to miss the other opportunity talking to believers he says you're gonna have two opportunities one of them that will be tragic for you if you fall victim to it the other you will hate that you missed out on if you don't see it and so we see them in this text i'm going to read to the text and then we'll talk about the the uh the two opportunities as jesus was sitting on the mount of olives the disciples came to him privately tell us they said when will all of this happen what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age jesus answered watch out that no one deceives you and here's what i interpret with that make sure that nobody that you listen to somebody who says um the rapture is going to happen on this day jesus says no one knows the time no one knows the day but we do know the season he gives us advice about the season so if anybody has told you hey the last day is going to be on august the 20th of 2020 here's my book buy it don't buy the book because nobody knows the time of the day all right but here's some signs of the season watch out that no one deceives you for many will come claiming i'm the messiah and not necessarily would that look like hey i am the the christ messiah is the one with solutions i have all the solutions if anybody ever says i have all of the solutions you shouldn't listen to them either i am the messiah they will deceive you you will hear of wars and rumors of wars besiege to it that you're not alarmed such things must happen but the end is still to come nation will rise against nation kingdom against the kingdom there'll be famines earthquakes in various places all of these are the beginning of birth pains then you'll be handed over to be persecuted and put to death and you will be hated by all nations because of me all right we'll stop there for a second so we've got nation rising against nation wars famines pandemics earthquakes various kinds he says um you'll be handed over persecuted and put to death you'll see christians being put to death and this will be done in such a way where the world sees it says when you see these things it's the beginning of birth pains are we seeing these things yes or no all right so what's birth pains the beginning of birth pains i've never had a baby men can't have babies it's weird that we have to say that out loud i've never had one my wife has had five i was present and um one of the things that i've learned about birth pains contractions he's talking about contractions contractions start small um sometimes they're so small it's just an uncomfortable nagging like that may have been contraction but they increase in frequency and in pain so they increase in intensity and frequency so what happens with contractions is they get closer together and they get more intense so jesus said these things listen to me are going to begin to happen more frequently and they're going to get more intense there's a lot of people preaching right now and saying right now well everything's going to get back to normal soon we just need to get through this now jesus said you need to expect if you're a christian you need to expect them to be more frequent and more intense as we approach the end well that's pessimistic no it's just the bible they're going to get more frequent pandemic after pandemic after pandemic war after war after war um conflict social and governmental and racial it's going to increase in frequency and intensity why in the world would he tell us this so you'll be ready for these two things look aren't you glad you came to church today at that time many say many many will turn from the faith why because of these things that are increasing in intensity and frequency they're going to get distracted they're going to get pulled away they're going to get pulled out of position and they'll be disqualified because they can't handle this stuff so many will be pulled from the faith they will betray and hate each other because of the oven that's heating up all around us the spiritual oven people are going to turn on each other are you seeing this and they're going to fall from faith that's opportunity number one we talked about it last week but here's the second opportunity but the one who stands strong the one who stands firm to the end will be saved and they will be used by god for verse 14. this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations and the indian will come two opportunities opportunity one many christians falling away the danger of many christians falling away in this season opportunity two is for many non-christians to come to christ and they're both going to happen simultaneously there will be a mass exodus of people from christianity and there will be a mass entrance of unsafe people into the kingdom there's already been a mass exodus europe australia canada there's been many mass exodus of christians from faith in those nations and now we're becoming one of them mass exit it didn't happen with covet it happened far before kofit just because there were people sitting in buildings singing songs that doesn't make him a christian all kova did was just reveal what was already in people's hearts the reason that i would even preach this because this is not a seeker friendly message this is not a tickle my ears so that i have something to talk about at the crunkle barrel this is a warning that comes from our messiah and it hits home because we currently this church i speak of this church we currently are a church that is 50 smaller than we were two years ago whenever i talk to my pastor friends it's the same story a lot of them have hope i think they're watching online they ain't watching online they're gone they're gone they have found hope they have found comfort they have found peace in other places i don't know if they have peace so that is taking place so what does that mean for us what does it mean for those that are still in this pastor tell preach to me for a second well this is what this is what i would encourage you with i would encourage you with the message that we gave last week which was strengthen yourself in the lord like we all need to be people listen to me who know how to strengthen ourselves in the lord and in his mighty power i should not be dependent upon a pastor or on a sermon or on a book or a podcast i should be able to strengthen myself in the lord when i wake up and when i pray and when i dive into the scriptures now should i take advantage of the corporate gatherings yes as long as they last as long as they last you should take advantage of every gathering in public and in homes but i need to be an individual that knows how to be strong in god before i not fall away what about once saved always safe go listen to last week's message is a doctrine from the pit of hell you are once saved always saved as long as you are pursuing jesus it is the pursuit of jesus that saves you not the prayer that you said paul says i am being saved i am pursuing the one who saved me it is in this pursuit that i find my salvation but i can stop pursuing at any point jesus said there will be many on that day who say lord lord did we not prophesy did we not cast out devils did we not perform miracles in your name those are big things he'll say depart from me i never knew you you weren't pursuing me you were pursuing religious things in my name and i didn't know you heavy that's heavy do you feel the weight of that i do but i but but i don't hold it back because i'm trying to build a church with 50 000 people i release that because i love you very much and i don't want any of us to be on that position i don't want you looking over at me on the day of judgment disappointed that i didn't say something nor do i want any of my family and friends looking over at me saying why didn't you tell me we've got to be people who strengthen ourselves in the lord and as we're strengthening ourselves we've got to be people who go after others who aggressively go after others i've heard others and i may myself have said that in this in this season i've said something like this lord jesus just come back anybody said that just come back fix it just come back but with that prayer i want you to understand that if he came back today billions would die and go to hell it's kind of a selfish prayer unless i have done all that i can to reach the nations and i don't think the church has done all that she can to reach the nations yet so let's do our part and do all that we can to reach the nations and he says if you'll do your part i'll do my part i'll split the sky and come back when this gospel of the kingdom has been preached to all if i say all all nations all right so how can we do that how can we be a part of it well it starts at home i want to preach on evangelism for the last couple of minutes let's look at luke chapter 20 uh let's see luke chapter 10 jesus identifies an issue he says the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few ask the lord of the harvest therefore to send out workers into the harvest field go i'm sending you all right so this is what jesus says he says the problem in the earth listen to me the problem in the earth is not all the unsaved people the harvest is not the problem isis is not the problem the taliban is not the problem biden is not the problem trump is not the problem we'll be fair your neighbor's not the problem your spouse is not the problem your boss is not the problem that's not the problem well what's the problem the people with the solution withholding it well that kind of puts the blame on us it's unfortunate isn't it we're the only ones that have the solution yet the solution stays listen to me it stays trapped in rooms like this the solution stays contained to me to my temple or to temples like this well but we we're open to anybody coming in you open those doors real quick go prop those doors open and those other double doors let's put a sign out in the front that says all are welcome nine o'clock and 10 45. all people all races all political affiliations come one come on if we did that do you think that this community would flood this room next week no so the problem is not according to jesus within the harvest the problem is within the harvesters he said i can't get enough listen i can't get enough harvesters those who have received grace those who have received salvation those who have received healing i can't get them to go out and witness i can't get them to go out and share i can't deploy them they're not deployable they have rooted themselves to a chair they've rooted themselves to a pew they've rooted themselves inside of their homes and they refuse to go out and share the good news of the kingdom they talk they have passion they witness you are a witness of something the question is what are you bearing witness to will you be found guilty on the day of judgment of bearing witness to christ or would he say you know what you were a pretty good witness for alabama football you were a great fan you knew so much about recruiting championships you yelled so loud for your team but yet you remain silent for jesus you bear witness to your political agendas you wear witness to what you were passionate you bear witness to fishing you beard witness to hunting you are so passionate you put deer urine on yourself you made animal noises in the woods you scraped trees with a fake antler oh you were so passionate i wish that passion would have been used to lead people to christ oh you were so passionate about your career you devoted 10 years to your undergraduate degree another 10 to your master's degree you climbed the corporate ladder oh you did good but here you stand alone you didn't bring one person with you ever okay should we not talk about this so the problem it's found in second corinthians chapter four and and listen before we go point people at lost people we have to understand the condition that they're in according to scripture they're blind this is what scripture says the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel they can't they can't they're blind to jesus they're blind to his joy they're blind to his love they're blind to his mercy they're blind to his grace and because they cannot see him they pursue everything else and here we are people who can see saying what's wrong with them why can't they just get their life together can't they see they're living a life to discretion no they can't see anything it's like pointing your finger at a blind person saying why can't you just walk in a straight line what's wrong with you why can't you just open the door why can't you how cruel would it be to point your finger at a physically blind person and say those things yeah we say those things about unbelievers all the time we're expecting unbelievers to act like jesus a jesus that they've never met a jesus they've never seen why because christians are withholding here's the solution acts chapter 26 i'm sending you everybody say me i'm sending you to them to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light from the dominion of satan to god i'm sending you i'm sending you out how are we going to reach i'm sending you out well what about you i'm sending you out until what is spoken of in here and experienced in here starts happening out there many blind people will go to hell some of them very close to us what happens in here must be received in here converted into something practical and then taken out there what do you mean by convert it into something practical because what happens in here doesn't translate out there you laughing in the floor does not translate at waffle house but the deliverance that you experience on the floor while laughing does you falling on the floor you speaking in tongues you being touched by god does not translate out there but whatever you received in those moments was given to you not for in here alone but for out there see a lot of times we get to the point i'm telling preaching to somebody right now it may just be one person but a lot of times we get to the point where we are spiritually constipated we have received so much but have given out nothing so a lot of times when you're in the faith and you feel i just feel bluh i feel bloated i just oh there's got to be more god's like yeah there is there is i just need another counter now you've had one too many encounters you don't need another encounter and i'm going to give you another encounter till you go give away something that you've encountered i've seen another encounter service now you need to go talk to your neighbor you need to go love on your mama who's dying and going to hell you need to witness to your ex-wife you need to witness to your egg don't even say it loves them too jesus called the church okay jesus called the church the ecclesia he said on this rock i will build my ekklesia is the greek that was used and we use that word as church you might know what an ecclesia is it's a form of government ecclesias were formed by the greeks they were groups of hired civilians that would go into cities and speak on behalf of the government in an effort to persuade the civilians to trust the government so greeks would hire greek citizens to go into cities specifically cities where there were issues and these greek citizens would speak on behalf of the government and say you can trust our government our government's here to help you so they were ambassadors for the government the romans took ecclesias when they took over and they used them to propagate their agendas they they mishandled the ecclesiastes they used the ecclesias to go into to cities and villages and nations where rome was about to come to convince that the coming rome was a good thing for them so that when rome got there they wouldn't put up resistance but they used civilians to do that do you know that so jesus said get this on this truth i will build my ekklesia my ecclesia and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it so the picture is jesus says i'm going to build group of people i'm going to build groups of people that go into cities they go into states and go into nations and they demonstrate the kingdom of god he can be trusted he is for you he died for you and on the coattails of the ecclesia come the kingdom when jesus says i will build my church i don't think what he had in mind were buildings where christians would come and gather talk about his name read his scriptures sing songs and then be deployed into cities states and nations camouflaged unbelievers i don't think that strategy is working his strategy will work if we'll do it if we'll do it agents of the gospel being deployed going into cities going into places of employment going into our family settings proclaiming the king but also demonstrating the kingdom demonstration of the kingdom so there's two strategies to use as we go so let's talk about going i'll hit them real quick overt strategy and a covert strategy overt and covert there are times when god is going to want you to be overt what is that done openly plainly clear sight apparent not secret not hidden this there's no secret agenda i'm here to talk to you right now in this moment about jesus god has sent me to this lunch to this meeting to these bleachers he sent me to you i've had you on my heart this is what i feel like i need to say there's going to be moments where you need to be bold for there may not be moments that come after and boldness is what he's looking for in a lot of us he's looking for us to be bold enough to say can i at least just tell you what he's done for me can i just tell you about how i was delivered can i tell you about how i was healed can i tell you about how he saved me can i tell you about the joy that i have can i just tell you my story and then boldly invite the person to accept christ and i think you'll be shocked and amazed at how many people you can lead to jesus if you'll be bold enough to do so so there's gonna be moments where he asks you to be bold and and here's the thing about boldness is that boldness often attracts the power of god god is attracted to boldness in acts chapter 4 peter and john have just been um they they've been arrested for being bold they were bold they were preaching with boldness they were arrested beaten and threatened and said do not do that again they get released supernaturally by an angel they go back to the church gathering in someone's home they praise god and then they pray this prayer and now oh lord hear their threats those who persecute us and give us your servants great boldness in preaching your word stretch out your hand with healing power may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant jesus and after they prayed the meeting place was shaken and they were filled with the holy spirit and they preached the word of god with even more boldness why would they pray for the thing that got them arrested because they knew something about boldness that we don't know it's that in boldness god often comes i think it's often that we wait for his power in order to be bold like i need a sign i need you to heat up my hands or i need to pass out on the ground i need a sign before i pray for this person anybody can be bold if that happens that's not boldness that bush just talked to me yeah you better be bold god i was in india one time this only story i have on there you've heard it before but i like uh but proclaim the gospel and in a village in a home and this death man they brought this death band to me and they said pray for him he's deaf i said well you want me to pray i always ask that question because sometimes it's not for what you think i want to hear all right that's what i thought just want to confirm so i lay hands on this guy and his ears open and he's shocked he can hear he didn't even say thank you just ran out so now i know how jesus felt yeah ungrateful what does he do he comes back three minutes later with another deaf person he did what christians should do after receiving a miracle went to get someone else who needed a miracle you've all received a miracle of salvation how many people you dragging in this place so he runs out he goes and gets another deaf person pray for him pray for him boom his ears open they go you know do you think that i had to muster up boldness at this point i'm like ninja come on who else what's up hatta i understood benny hinn in that moment i didn't have to work up any boldness why because the power of god was made evident in that room it had nothing to do with me how do you know that because the next day i prayed for 62 people and nothing happened it's not about me i didn't have to work up any boldness in the moment when people were getting healed boldness is a sweet according to scriptures boldness is a sweet aroma that goes up into heaven that god's power is often drawn to oh you stepped out look at you you stepped out i know you're scared to death this is not your nature and you're talking to her about jesus you're making a complete fool of yourself because none of your words are making sense but i am about to back you up with power the person starts crying you're like what in the world i would i don't even know if i'm saved after listening to this they start crying they start we you're right we're in such a bad place we do that jesus help me just give him a chance just open your mouth he'll back you up he'll back you up so there's moments we need to be bold there's moments where we don't need to be over we need to be covert there's some people it's going to take time patience it's going to be long lasting longevity is going to be in place but god needs us to be covert too he needs us to go in knowing that the only reason that i am in this place of employment the only reason that i am in this place is because i am the only light i talk to christians all the time you know i gotta get out of this job it's such a it's a pit of hell nobody here saved pagans they just talk about sleeping around all the time they talk about they they talk about the garbage that they listen to the garbage that they watch and they just they're just they're just there's a bunch of unsafe pagans praise god you're in a place that's right to see the kingdom and he's just looking for one person that'll agree with him praise god you got all these pagans around you praise god you've got simple people around you because if you pull yourself out of the equation all that's left is darkness i'm just not going to friend them anymore tired of seeing their garbage oh they just lost their mind they're blind quit trying to convince blind people to see what you see without experiencing what you've experienced hope be light don't fall victim to all of the chaos that is swinging like a wrecking ball all around you news media trying to take you out political upheaval trying to take you out financial disaster trying to take you out trying to pull you out of position trying to distract you trying to get you to fall from faith they're going to happen more frequently and more intense but you've got to be a person that says in the midst of all of this chaos i refuse to focus on the wrecking ball i'm going to focus on him and in the midst of this chaos in the midst of this chaos i'm going to lead a bunch of people to jesus wrecking ball's not going to take me out today i'm not jumping on that now i'm not going to hate today i'm not going to be offended today i'm not going to get all scared and upset no no no i'm focusing on him and i'm looking for people that need to know him so i'm going to the ballpark today i'm going to dodge that wrecking ball of a fence and i'm going to dodge that crazy person right there tell her about jesus at some point not today but i've got my sights set on the kingdom where's the kingdom at work today where's the kingdom at work today somebody walks up to you have you been vaccinated yet here's the kingdom right here oh hey how are you have you been vaccinated yet oh why are you asking well there's just so many that haven't and i feel strongly okay has that something has something happened in your family well yeah actually my mom and my dad have died from this and it's because all of these unvaccinated people it's because nobody cares about anybody because nobody's wearing a mask oh your mom and your dad passed yeah can i pray for you can i pray for you well yeah you can have it no i want to pray for you right now that must i can't imagine what you're possibly going through and no i don't have answers as far as vaccine i don't have any i don't have any answers i mean my goodness that's a confusing thing i know it's a really confusing thing and people are really confused and people are really scared i know everybody's got differing opinions but but this this is what i know despite all of our differing we can all have peace so can i pray for that peace that i have right now can i pray for the for that peace to come and visit you well actually i have not gotten vaccinated and here's why i have not gotten vaccinated science actually says wrecking ball just took you out and you're of no help to anybody all you have is propagated your agenda and the kingdom's agenda has been left silent stand up there's a kingdom advancing and he's invited you to play a significant role in these end times there's lots of questions being asked right now by people lots of questions being asked and listen behind all of these questions are wounded fearful oppressed blind individuals looking for hope and we're the people that have hope where's blake let come play i'll tell you the questions that they're not asking here's the questions they're not asking are you ready how can i get to heaven you know how many times somebody's walked up to me and asked that question zero but that's the question we want them to ask how can i get to heaven they're not asking that how can i be saved they're not asking that how can i know more about this god that you know not asking that how can i join a church become a faithful member and give all of my money not asking that how can i find a community of faith where i can sacrificially give of my time my resources my prayers not asking that how can i understand my bible that's been sitting in my room for 31 years unopened not asking that but yet we're trying to answer questions they're not asking well they need to know the answer to that question and maybe one day we'll get to those questions but let's first answer the questions they are asking like how can i get my kid off drugs how can i get my marriage back together how can i make more money how can i get rid of depression how can i get a better job how can i help my kids see what's really going on in their life these are the questions they're asking therefore these are the questions that we lean into without an agenda other than helping the person and showing them what jesus would do ministry team come forward ushers come forward telling you there's a grace of god that is being released and is about to be released on a people who will make his lost sheep a priority there is a power that he's going to release there is a presence he's going to release there is a piece that he's going to release to anyone who will say here i am send me i want to be a part of the game i want to be a part of the end not only do i not want to be disqualified but i want to be used by god to reach thousands to jesus come on somebody let's get excited about this season let's not get all depressed let's not get all worried let's not get all panicked is it ugly out there yes it is but people of hope need to get out and go bless some people come on this is the fourth quarter it's go time if you're waiting for an opportune moment this is it open your hands i just want to bless you you can respond in many ways you can come to this altar this morning just commit yourself that might be a good thing to do just come to this altar by yourself and just just say god commissioned me as a missionary as an ambassador of your ecclesia to go out commission me empower me some of our hearts need to shift let's just be honest some of our hearts are hardened toward people and thus toward god if your heart is hardened toward a person it is also hardened toward god that's his child some of our hearts need to get right before we leave this place today some of us are prisoners ourselves to fear to anxiety to addiction to hidden secret things we need to get healed we need to receive deliverance and healing today in jesus name oh and then god's going to use that testimony to go and heal deliver so many other people let him do it let him do it some of you need to get saved today there are people in the room there are people watching online that have not yet said yes to jesus and i'm not speaking of a prayer that you once said i'm speaking of a lifestyle that you have adopted and you need to say yes to him today come forward for any of these things especially that last one if you're ready to accept christ come to the one of these individuals it needs to be sealed by public confession and it can be done with one of these individuals just tell them i'm ready to accept jesus they'll pray for you they'll take you by the hand they'll give you some resources they'll start you on this journey that's absolutely essential that needs to happen so let's ask the holy spirit to come and do these things we'll sing a song together you'll be dismissed the ushers are going to collect after this as we sing the song like connection cards for your prayer requests we won't put those in the altar in the morning and also your gifts father we ask that you come now by your spirit come holy spirit magnify jesus glorify jesus glorify all that jesus has done glorify him through salvation glorify him through healing glorify him through deliverance glorify him by empowering your people to be great ambassadors evangelists ministers of your ecclesia your body on earth empower us and i pray god that you send us from this place with eyes wide open for all of those who need to taste and see that you are good it's in your name that we pray amen listening [Music] my [Music] so glad you could join us this morning please have a great week hope to see you next time [Music]

Channel: The Gathering Place Church

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Id: hQTNESFom1M

Length: 96min 10sec (5770 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 05 2021