The Ingredients To An Encounter | Michael El-Takrori

hey welcome to church lv online thank you so much for inviting us into your home really believe that god has a word for you today really quick if it's your first time here go ahead and grab your phone text church fam to the number 94 000. wherever you are you can get connected with us here at church lv really believe that god has a word for you today we believe here at church lv our mission is to lead people to encounter new life in jesus and wherever you're at god can bless you today let's grab a notebook let's get ready lean in because we're excited for what god wants to do in your life today god bless i'm gonna go to a passage in isaiah and it's chapter six i'm going to read eight verses in the context is the prophet isaiah is about to have his moment with god that changes his life forever see before this moment god was just a concept to isaiah but after this moment god becomes a reality and when we read this passage i want you to know what i see is is handles on what an encounter with god consists of this is a foil for other people in the bible like job and like peter and like john who the same honestly the same things that happened in this passage happened to them when they met with jesus so i want to read this together um it's eight verses and so if you're ready say i'm ready come on if you're hungry say i'm hungry i'm actually actually physically hungry too you know so i can't wait to go to cheesecake factory and go through that bible menu amen all right in the year that king uzziah died i saw the lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up and the train of his robe filled the temple and above him stood the seraphim these heavenly beings these glorious beings god's creation in heaven like like like any time an angel showed up in scripture it didn't show up with fuzzy wings and an arrow are you hearing me an angel shows up people are like ah they have to say don't be afraid so these seraphim are massive beings that isaiah is getting this vision this encounter with god and he said look each had six wings two he covered his face two he covered his feet and with two he flew and one called to another and said holy holy holy is the lord of hosts the whole earth is full of his glory it's powerful look what happens the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of him who called and the house was filled with smoke and i said look what he says woe is me i am lost for i am a man of unclean lips and i dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips for my eyes have seen the king the lord of hosts and then one of the seraphim flew to me having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with the tongs from the altar and he touched my mouth and he said behold this has touched your lips god's saying one thing this this this this whole day at church look your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for wow look at verse 8 and i heard the voice of the lord saying whom shall i send and who will go for us don't you love that about god he loves to partner with humanity to get the job done here on earth it's like who's going to go for us we're going to go for us and then isaiah goes here i am send me [Music] how does isaiah go from woe is me to send me an encounter with god so i want to encourage you if you're taking notes which i encourage you to do so because paper never forgets in your phone get saved in the cloud the title of today's message is the ingredients of an encounter the ingredients of an encounter let's pray in this atmosphere father we acknowledge you today and we thank you that you speak through your word god let your word not return void let it speak to us in a profound intimate way and let it produce a harvest in our life we love you we praise you we give you full authority to say what you want to say and do what you want to do we're hungry for you in the mighty name of jesus we pray all of god's people said amen amen the ingredients of an encounter hey show of hands all across church lv community raise your hands if you love to live in vegas come on you love living in las vegas all right cool half the crowd that is that is sad all right the rest of you you can move all right it's all good get out of here and i'm just chugging i i've grown to love las vegas like i've i've grown to love it i've been here since i was eight years old i'm 27 now and and i remember going and uh growing up in high school and like the talk was graduate high school and moved to california right like you know and all the californians they're just like yeah because we got the beach and the breeze and the palm trees and like oh my gosh it's amazing and that that was that was that was that was the call and then you kind of grow up in the city and you you i don't know about you you grow to love the city there's just something about las vegas like i get to travel here and there and preach in places and i just love flying back and seeing our city and going like yeah this is vegas like we vegas now now now listen i'm gonna preface me loving vegas by saying something obvious las vegas is very weird and lost vegans are very weird like we don't know who we are we're trying to be everybody else like we we don't have an identity like we have a pyramid but we're not egypt we have an eiffel tower we're not paris we got a wave pool at mandalay bay but we're not the beach we're not cali we got tacos el gordo but we're not mexico but tacos tacos el gordo does slap though that's live you know we we just don't know who we are like we're trying to be everybody you know las vegas is the only city that can build five stadiums before they fix eastern avenue come on church are you with me come on if you're not from vegas you don't understand but it's okay we've built five stadiums and eastern still under construction for the last three decades [Applause] it's a pathetic it's sad you know i was on a date with with gia at the aria this friday we had date night din tai fung phenomenal wontons and dumplings it's just jesus sent it to las vegas and you see we walked the vegas strip and you can see like there's just so many characters and superheroes just hanging out on the vegas strip they're retired just hanging out like after the marvel movie they come to vegas and chill on the sidewalks i saw spider-man with some dirty air force ones hanging out with spongebob smoking a cigarette i was confused this is vegas right this is vegas one of the greatest follows on instagram and i did not get paid to say this if you need a good follow on instagram and you follow vegas issues it's like the big it's the best it's like a meme page about how weird vegas is like one of the posts said something like like girls from summerlin they stop to get starbucks but they don't stop to get gas i'm like that's kind of it's kind of offensive might be true i don't know you know there was another post that said you know tell me you live in vegas without telling me you live in vegas and it was a picture of a chapstick melted [Applause] and then you swipe and it's a belt buckle mark burnt on somebody's arm you know that's accurate you know i was traveling uh from from dallas to vegas a couple of months ago and and and i got off the plane in terminal one i was walking off the plane and if you know this about the airport like before the restrooms hit there's like 10 slot machines right there like we don't we don't let people travel here and use the restroom before we try to take their money you know we're like no no no before you use the restroom i'm gonna take your money and so i came off the plane and i've never seen this before like you know the amount of time i've lived here and this girl she was freaking out it was like and she she was freaking out and like a a crowd gathered around her and i looked at the slot machine and she won 20 000 dollars in my head i'm like that's awesome but also in my head i'm like vegas got you you hook now you won 20 000 you're about to lose 30 000. thank you so you start to think about las vegas and here's what i love about the city all cultures and and cities and states and nations converge in this one place we're like a metropolitan pool of culture and i love that and i've this is off topic but i have a conviction that like if god can transform las vegas he can transform the world because i i have vision and we have vision for a day people are not going to come to vegas for the las vegas strip they're going to come to las vegas for a move of god for a holy spirit encounter that's that's what we believe and we're going to think about the market of vegas you begin to think about what what we give to this world what we offer as a city it's one thing vegas offers an escape that's what we offer people come here to get an escape from their temporary from their from their battles and trials they come to vegas to have an escape now now we know this because we live in this city but the reality is we all have an escape like we all have a las vegas in our life just kind of want to talk about that a little bit today because i feel like many people have been going to their escapes in this season of life with all that's happening in this world with the pressures and storms and wars and rumors of wars and politics and news stations and twitter rants and and and covet and delta and vaccine and no and max and all and all this stuff i i got a question for us i wonder if we've been running to our escapes to get a quick fix to get out of what is overwhelming our life i found myself here a couple weeks ago before vacation i was like putting my faith in hope in vacation i was like man once i go to vacation everything's gonna be okay now i love vacation i take a vacation over not having a vacation but i think i was learning something because i was trying to use a vacation to escape what was happening in vegas like what was overwhelming my life and i'm learning at 27 years old there's a difference between resting with jesus and resting from jesus like sometimes i could use vacation to rest from jesus and i spent a week out of the city and i come back to vegas more tired than i left i took 30 naps and i'm still tired what's your escape today what have you been running to we're all running to something i'm looking at a generation that we get to pastor and it's overwhelming that that they are consumed by their escapes i found myself on tick-tock trying to be a relevant youth pastor and i found myself on it for nine hours like i know i got some things to do in my life but this is just so entertaining like my wife is like babe what are you doing i'm like watching tic tocs she's like what are you watching i'm like i don't know like people cleaning carpets like it's just there's so many great it's just beautiful and i was just like scrolling like trying to numb out are you hearing me i'm seeing a generation escape and i'm well here's what i'm even seeing i'm seeing people tap into the wrong source to try to get a fix and they are going to sources that are dark dark and demonic in nature and i just have this conviction today that god has something better for us i have this conviction today that there is a better way because all of our escapes come on i don't care if it's the pill i don't care if it's the potion i don't care if it's a person like some of you you went on a date not because you like the person but because they're just an escape i don't know i don't care what it is the conclusion of all of our escapes is it's not working come on church they're not working if you have anything if there's anything you can get today at church i want you to write this principle down the world offers an escape but god offers an encounter the world offers an escape but god offers an encounter they're different like like what i'm not even saying is all escapes are bad there's some good ones golf you know what i'm saying is a solid one it becomes bad when i go to that escape and i come back home more mad than i left you know what i'm saying but there's like good hobbies and things that's not what i'm talking about i'm talking about the things we run to to get away from reality an escape listen it's a temporary high that you come down from but an encounter marks you forever it's god marking you and changing you an escape is avoiding reality are you hearing me church but an encounter is god meeting you and i in the middle of reality in the middle of a storm in the middle of a trial and giving us hope and strength and faith to believe again and so an encounter is far more powerful than an escape but we're going to choose one or the other we're going to choose the experience of an escape or the experience of an encounter and i just have conviction today at church that god wants to meet with his people and meet us in the middle of what we're facing and it's not going to cut it the escapes are not going to cut it for us we need a god encounter come on church we need a god encounter i believe every single human being needs a personal encounter with god i believe that that when the bible talks about knowing god it's not talking about head knowledge now theology is good and knowing facts about god is good but when god says i don't know you and you don't know me he's not talking about you don't know facts about me he's saying it's an experiential personal reality it's it's a it's an encounter it come on somebody it's i don't know you you don't know me i feel like we we t we could talk more about god than actually experience him we could spit facts about god but seldom are the people who talk about god like a friend confidant lover partner i want that experience the great a.w tozer he said we have substituted theological ideas for an arresting encounter and we are full of religious notions but our great weakness is that for our hearts there's no one there our hearts are snowing there he's saying people have relegated the relationship with god to facts and not encounter and that's not just your battle it's my battle that's our battle there are moments honestly i'm convicted i stand on a pulpit i get the great honor of preaching god's word but i'm gonna be honest like there's times i'm talking to you about jesus and i look back on my week and i go dang i didn't talk to jesus that's not fulfilling that's not fun i'm talking to the church about a source i'm not running to and god has just been working on me god has just been moving to me and saying michael i want this thing to be real i want you to know me meet me hear me spend time with me walk with me and talk with me are you hearing me church there's something about an encounter that's why paul said i pray that you would continually experience the great work of god within you paul was a knowledge guy but it wasn't until his encounter with god that everything changed and i want to like level the playing field for somebody who's like what does an encounter mean i just want you to know first and foremost your encounter does not have to look like the person sitting next to you no it doesn't i don't care what church background you're from an encounter for some of you is like lifting one finger up when the preacher is preaching really good for some of you is like running laps around the church relax you know for some of you it's goosebumps or shaking under the power and all that stuff is is beautiful but everybody has a different experience and i don't want you to feel condemnation because the person sitting next to you is crying during worship and you don't feel anything so we got to level the playing field because god is big and he can meet with you personally distinctly intimately and he can reach you in a way that you understand like god you're meeting with me god you're speaking to me so let's just level that out right off the bat there was a man who encountered god under a tree his name was elijah there was also a man who encountered god on top of a tree his name was zacchaeus there was a man who encountered god during a wrestling match his name was jacob and there was also a man that encountered god during a fishing catch i'm wrapping up here his name was peter there there was somebody in scripture who encountered god when she touched him there was a man with leprosy who got his encounter when jesus touched him for some when you encounter god you're gonna start crying but for others when you encounter god you're gonna stop crying some people encounter god they hit their knees because his glory is so so heavy and they just wow god you're here and for other people when you encounter god you're going to stand up to your feet because when god meets you he's saying i need you to get up off the ground because you've been on the ground for too long so let me meet with you personally you've been on the ground for too long it's time to get up it's time to walk again it's time to believe again it's time to trust again it's time to step again are you with me church everybody's encounter is different from mine it was at a bible study for pastor benny it was on a beach in southern california for a man named jeremiah in scripture he was an insecure man so when he met god god said stop trembling but isaiah was a pride man prideful man he was gifted and when he met god god said stop trembling or start trembling excuse me he says tremble because you're with me i want to look at isaiah's passage because isaiah gives us ingredients here's what's crazy isaiah goes to church and the last thing he expects happens god shows up ain't nothing funny we come to church and the last thing we expect is god to show up we're like god please don't show up i need i need to get to my reservation you know what i mean it's like the last thing people want honestly in moments of their life is like god please don't show up at church please please please don't let this be a long experience please please pastor minnie is not here pastor when he's not here i hope it's gonna be short nope i'm just joking like that's a whole nother message by the way that people even use church to hide from god people use church as an escape and we do churchy things to hide the very thing god wants to do in our life and we put christian words in front of our real struggle and we come to god and use god as a mask instead of encountering the god that wants to take off the mask but anyways that's a whole nother sermon but i don't know who that was for not for me i don't know the ingredients of an encounter what's the first thing number one i want you to write this down an awareness of god's glory an awareness of god's glory this happened with job this happened with john this happened with peter and it happens with isaiah the bible says that the seraphim we're singing holy holy holy is the lord god almighty the whole earth is full of his glory and the bible says the thresholds of the ground shook let me define a church word for us today because glory we sing about it hear about it talk about it what does it mean simply in scripture uh glory means one thing it literally means the weight of god it's talking about his reality it's talking about his permanence it's talking about his importance that god's glory is his weight that like when he shows up things move are you hearing me like like god is the most weighty thing in the world like god is weightier than any other thing so when he shows up in scriptures things shake because what is inferior gives way to that which is superior so when he set up on a mountain in the old testament the mountain shook there was an earthquake when he showed up in the upper room on the day of pentecost the room shook because his presence showed up because his glory was there because he's weightier and heavier than anything else in this world things give way to when god shows up come on his glory somebody say glory say it louder church say glory when the glory of god shows up things move like it's like you ever have a celebrity that you look up to and you see them in public or maybe they come into church and like you're like oh my goodness that's so-and-so like you can't act normal when somebody of of great status shows up right you see somebody you're not like oh that's that's okay cool no you're like oh my goodness it moves you it changes you it makes you get out of your comfort zone because they have a human glory we know they're accolades we know their accomplishments but what happens when jesus shows up in a room when jesus walks in a room i wonder if there's a church that would worship him like he deserves i wonder if jesus showed up in the room physically i wonder who would give him a praise that he rightfully deserves i got good news for somebody he is in the room he might not be here physically but his spirit is in the room is there anybody at church lv that says i want to give god a real worship because he's in the room i want his glory to move things shake things change things i want his glory to move me to worship because he's in the room i don't want to be familiar i don't want to go through the motions i want to give god a praise he deserves come on church he's in the room when his glory shows up it moves things it shakes things you see for isaiah god was just a concept but when he met with god he god became a reality i want you to hear this god is a concept is lighter than you it doesn't change you when god's just a concept it didn't change him it changed me when god's just a concept nothing moves we don't give way to a concept we invite the concept into our other concepts when god's a concept you don't change our beliefs he fits into our existing beliefs yeah and so you hear people that say things like you know i don't like that part of scripture it's offensive i don't agree with that that sounds outdated i thought okay you can have your opinion but all that's telling us is you have put more weight on cultural relevance than the very words of god that transcends culture because god is just a concept when god's a concept he doesn't change your schedule and agenda he fits into your existing agenda into my existing agenda we don't make room for god we fit him into the room that's left in our life and so people that come to god when they need him and god will provide because he's so good and the moment they get their fix they walk away because they didn't go to god for a relationship they they went to god for just a blessing and we treat god like a glorified vending machine to give us what we want when we want it but god is so much more than that god is a good good father and he doesn't just want to have a transactional relationship with us he wants to know our heart he wants to talk with us and walk with us he wants an intimate relationship with us and i don't know about you but i don't want god to be an extracurricular activity in my life i don't want god to fit into my agenda i want god to have my entire agenda i want him to be a real god in my life come on church when god is a concept that's lighter than you but when god is a reality it's heavier than you so it moves you it shakes you how do you know you've encountered god has he ever contradicted you has he ever disagreed with you nobody wants to amend that has he ever just been like no like there's times i say god i want you to speak to me and really what i'm saying is god i want you to agree with me and then god will send an answer in the form of a human being my wife and she'll look at me and she said you're wrong and i'm going like i'm wrong no you need to spend time with god you're wrong let me go somewhere else let me find what we do let me find somebody that's going to agree with what i want to agree with oh i feel this for somebody today maybe the answer you're looking for is not going to come from confirmation maybe the answer you're looking for is going to come through contradiction god here's my plans he says i know put that away i got new plans for you i know you want to do this but i'm going to take you another way because i got plans for you come on because god's way is higher than our ways and thoughts are higher than our thoughts so sometimes we resist the move of god because we're holding on to what we want but there comes a point where you say god i don't have it all figured out i don't understand everything but i trust you because you love me and you don't have to agree with me you can contradict me and i'm going to respond it might be difficult might be hard i might have to wrestle a little bit but not my will be done your will be done how do you know you've encountered god has he ever contradicted you i know he has with me and it's very frustrating no go i want to stay i know go i'm comfortable here i need you to move i want this job that's not the job for you this relationship ended i got something new for you god god is working god is moving and sometimes we are holding on to something and the reason we're not experiencing our encounter is because we are more loyal to what we want than what god wants oh how i've been here so the number one is the an awareness of god's glory are you with me church number two i want you to write this down second ingredient is number two an acknowledgement of my humanity an acknowledgment of my humanity the bible says that the seraphim were singing songs to each other and they were singing the song holy holy holy you see if you understand hebrew language in the old testament anytime a word is doubled it emphasizes the word it's like that word to the second power they double you'll see doubles all throughout scripture but nowhere in scripture besides here do we see a word tripled here in revelations talking about the same song in this passage it goes holy holy holy what does holy mean means other it means distinct it's the best english word we have to describe the otherness of god it's like when our vocabulary can't find how to describe how big god is it's holy but god is not just holy and he's not just holy holy he's holy holy holy he's on another category in and of itself he's just distinct he's and the angels are not worshiping god because he's useful they're worshiping god because he's beautiful they're like wow you're amazing and i want you to notice what happens to isaiah because this is what happens to us when we meet with god you got to notice that he didn't automatically worship when he stood in front of the presence of god his first reaction was to look inward he goes woe is me woe is me do you notice that holy holy holy and he goes woe is me peter did the same thing when jesus caught the fish in the new testament he was so amazed he's like away from me she's like get up i'll draw a scripture job i've seen the lord i'm not worthy god's like i make you worthy so like there's this like there's this initial moment where you're like woe is me you know what woe is me means in scripture it's a cuss word yeah is there anybody cussed at themselves that church lv oh just the just the preacher cool cool cool cool you ever look at yourself and go like what is wrong with you [Music] what in the blanket he blanket are you up to he's he's pronouncing a curse on himself because he's standing in front of perfection and when you're in the presence of perfection your impurities are revealed so you think you're great until you stand in front of holy greatness you think you're good until you stand in front of holy goodness you think you're right until you stand in front of holy righteousness and there's something about the presence of god that makes us aware of our humanity it makes us acknowledge who we are without god so so isaiah before he worships he looks inward and he goes woe is me i'm a man of unclean lips and when you stand in front of the presence of god everything artificial crumbles all the man-made things we put on our life to try to impress people to try to pretend it all crumbles in his presence he says you can't hide from me you can't pretend with me you can't you can't act with me come on church are you with me whoa is me what was me i feel this because what's permeating this world is something called self-righteousness you want to know if you've encountered god your self-righteousness is shattered what's self-righteousness a righteousness of yourself and it's permeating this world outside the church it's god i don't need you but inside the church it's god i need to help you i need to help you be good to me i need to help you love me i need a help you give to me if you were to ask me michael what's your greatest battle the last 10 years of following jesus is that right there there's something in my humanity that wants to perform that wants to get be accepted and i'm feeling like isaiah like you get in the presence of god and and that that that that fear of man gets crushed because you're standing in front of god if there's any battle in my life is trying to perform and and honestly one of the greatest things i i get to do is preach the gospel it's the thing people compliment me about the most it's really cool but it's like isaiah like he was a preacher and he says my lips are unclean like the best part of me is the worst part of me my best days are the worst day sometimes and sometimes preaching for me it's not just a blessing in my life sometimes it could be some of some of the greatest burdens in my life because there's moments where i'm trying to add to the work of god to make god do what he needs to do and i put this weight on my back to try to add to god's saving work and i try to do things a certain way and and people say great job pastor michael and i go home and i'm too focused on myself and god is teaching me throughout the years michael i have not anointed the way you say something i've anointed you i anointed the real you i don't know who that's for god just needs the real you god just needs you to be honest god just needs you to be available it's not self-righteousness that will do it no your self-righteousness must shatter in the presence of god you can't add to it you can't help god save you you can't help god be good to you you can't help god love you that's religion and there's so many christians bowed down by religion they are exhausted and we come to church and instead of leaving the burden in church we pick up a greater burden because we feel unworthy because we're trying to do this on our own strength and we actually don't believe the gospel because it's so hard to believe that god freely loves freely gives and we are saved not by works but by faith and faith alone come on church [Applause] self-righteousness shatters the problem of our days are self-righteousness all throughout the world you know what my heart is burdened by my heart is burdened by the amount of people all across our nation in churches leaving their church ignoring decades of their pastors faithfulness and fruitfulness because their pastor didn't talk about the current buzzword of the day and they are leaving churches in flocks because they put pastor on pedestal and they have a self-righteousness that says he has to perform at a level or she has to perform at a level that is good for me and so they don't like it so they leave churches and we have people more allegiant and more aligned with political stances than they are with the family of god what happened to the day where we give our pastors double honor what happened to the day where we pray for those that are hurting what happened to the day of unity where we don't have twitter rants online but we have conversations are you hearing me what happened to the day that jesus said your oneness will be my witness to this world but there's division permeating churches because of self-righteousness [Applause] come on what happened to being humble what happened to seeing what you what the log in your eye in my eye we we we don't believe god's presence when we don't get into god's presence and we have a righteousness of ourself you know what happens we start blaming everybody else it's always their fault always it's never my fault it's always their fault to the atheist it's the christian to the christian it's the atheist to the democrat it's the republican to the republican it's the democrat to the vegan it's the meat eater to the meat eater it's the vegan to the vax it's the unboxed to the masks it's the unmask it's just you're the problem no you're the problem to the gay it's the straight the straight to the gay it's your fault the elite to the poor poor to the elite your fault isaiah gets in god's presence he goes i'm the problem i got sin i got struggle that's the issue i'm the issue god fix me instead of me pointing out all the problems in this world fix me do a work in me i'm aware of my humanity i want you to notice something he looks inward but he doesn't stay there and maybe your christian journey has only been looking inward i want you to know that is not christianity what was me what was me what was me woes me no the encounter is incomplete if you end there some of you that's your that's your experience what was me you feel beat up it's like a good day in church as a pastor beat you up enough and i felt good i'm i'm terrible no no no you missed it because the next part is so strategic so important so necessary for an encounter the bible says when he looks inward i don't even know how fast this happened it could have happened in a millisecond i don't think he was sulking in himself that long i don't think he was stuck looking inward for that long come on the bible says an angel comes flying at him with a burning coal listen if an angel flies at you at 200 miles per hour with a burning coal you about crop your pants yeah that's scary and all throughout the old testament fire represented one thing judgment judgment so you can imagine isaiah what was me angel burning coal and then something beautiful happens the bible says that the angel touches his lips with the burning cold the place of his sin and he says something he says your guilt is taken away your sins are atoned for [Applause] all your sins you want to know how you if you've encountered god you stop looking at yourself because god is in the room and his goodness is weightier than your bad his forgiveness is weightier than your sin his forgiveness is weightier than your air and wrong he's in the room and that you don't have to expect judgment anymore you can anticipate mercy what is this a picture of of course jesus the bible says this is love not that we loved god but that he loved us and he gave his life as an atoning sacrifice for our sins he was the purchase he was the payment to bridge the gap for our sins that separate us from the presence of god jesus cleanses it all so that we can step into boldness pastor ivan articulated it earlier but like this is the law just said you have to go year after year to the mercy seat and the high priest had to go day in and day out and once a year one man once a year every year sacrificing the animals but jesus is now our high priest who's perfect and he's also the lamb of god who was sacrificed so that our sin can be forgiven so that we could be cleansed church are you hearing this the old testament is when somebody clean touches somebody unclean the clean becomes unclean but jesus steps on the scene in the new testament and when jesus the clean touches the unclean the unclean becomes clean because his cleanliness purity righteousness is heavier and weightier than our air wrong and sin i don't care what you've done i don't care how deep you're in it i don't care how long it's been i don't care how long the cycle is it is not too late for the grace of god to meet you right where you're at there is forgiveness extended to you and i today in his presence you don't have to look inward no you can get up again and step into all that god has for you oh there comes a moment where we got to get our eyes off of ourself and put our eyes back on jesus i love counseling i love talking about my emotions i love all that stuff my wife's getting her masters in it so she can counsel me but there comes a point where science ain't gonna do it though it helps counseling ain't gonna do it though god could use that comes a point where you gotta you gotta just receive what god has for you put on the righteousness of god put on the new self take the blessing for yourself i know you've been down but get up i know but i know you've been lost but because of the sacrifice of jesus you're found we got to look ourselves in the mirror and just be like i'm the righteousness of god in christ jesus i'm loved i'm chosen i'm a holy nation a royal priesthood god's very own possession we gotta go go back to black church i'm above and not beneath i'm the head and not the tail um hello you gotta start you gotta start preaching to yourself in the mirror this is who i am because jesus has atoned for my sins recognizing who you are without jesus and knowing who you are with jesus at the same time will give you a psychological stability to withstand any storm that comes your way too far this way you'll be too insecure to do anything for god woe is me too far this way you you'll you'll you'll you'll forget that your power comes from god so you get prideful but when you're in the middle and this is tension i know who i was without you but i know who i am with you i know i'm a sinner without you but i'm a saint with you i know where i would be if it had not been for the grace of god but since grace reached me where i'm at i can be all that god has called me to be i don't have to crumble in my insecurity i can step out onto the water and believe god come on church wow an atonement for my sins last but not least as i pray before i pray the last ingredient is an assignment for my life an assignment for my life who's going to go for us isaiah comes up to say here i am god send me send me woe is me to send me i can't do this to i can do this how do you know you've encountered god when god moves in your life so much that it moves you to reach out to somebody else when god sends you to be light in darkness encounters with god can't stay in the church church we are the church so the encounter goes with us in our workplace in our home in our school that's why we need to encounter god and i'm not just talking about coming to church we need a monday tuesday wednesday thursday friday hold on it's saturday we need to encounter god every day if you don't feel like reading your bible no condemnation go for a walk talk with jesus if you don't have worship in your heart that's okay put on some worship music if you miss your bible reading plan it's okay stop making it about that get up another day and read the word call a friend who loves jesus and hey remind me of who jesus is we gotta get creative today man if you don't feel like doing it whatever do something else god can speak through nature god could speak through his word god could speak through a friend god could speak to you when you're serving somebody else god could speak to you in silence god could speak to you when worship is playing in your car it can happen in your bathroom it can happen in your room it can happen at work in your cubicle it can happen at starbucks i don't care where it is because god's presence is everywhere you can encounter god anywhere everywhere any day in any circumstance are you hearing me church we need to encounter god your wife needs you to encounter god because you're nicer my wife needs me to encounter jesus cause i'm better because i'm better when i encounter god i'm better to her i give her more stuff take my money when she knows she knows when i don't spend time with jesus are you hearing me that waitress and waiter needs you to spend time with jesus because they need a touch from god and you might be the vessel god uses to bring heaven down to earth oh god are the days of sunday church gone are the days of sunday only christianity and here are the days of revival here are the days where we become the light god has called us to be here are the days where we are bold because we stay with god we're with god we encounter god so we walk out in a boldness not of our own it is courage that god gives to us when we encounter him if you believe that today won't you give god one last hand clap one last shout of praise come on did god speak to you today come on can we take a moment to worship jesus and to say jesus you deserve my praise you deserve my worship your glory is here we acknowledge you have your way god hallelujah what a great day in church today i want to give you a couple of ways to stay connected on our way out today if you're in need of prayer go ahead to go to churchlv.com prayer there a member of our team is ready and willing to pray with and for you if you're in need of community join a group go to churchlv.com groups to be a part of what god is doing through groups here at churchlv last way to stay connected of course follow us on instagram on instagram you're going to get encouraging content just amazing things to get you through the week as well as any information you need to know to stay connected with us here at church lv let me declare a few things over you on our way out today god you are in control we cast our anxieties and our cares on you because you care for us may the lord bless you may the lord keep you and may he make his face shine upon you god bless

Channel: ChurchLV

Views: 249

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: christian, church, Las Vegas, Benny Perez, Wendy Perez, christian church, Holy Spirit

Id: rUocbG5Sj1s

Length: 47min 16sec (2836 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 07 2021