#theEncounter Worship Experience

praise the lord everybody come on give god glory give him honor give god praise this is the day that the lord has made we will rejoice and we will be glad in it we're so glad that god can bring us to another sunday to another encounter worship experience here at bethany baptist church the transformation church of new jersey uh we're so privileged for you joining us uh this morning we ask you to please share and uh please comment and tag somebody get somebody on the encounter worship experience we're getting ready to go into worship we're getting ready to pray we're getting ready to bless god and hear the word of the lord as we came off a great holy week we just want to thank god for his saving grace we want to thank god for his hand being on us come on bless the lord right where you are give him worship and give him praise for our god is great and he is greatly to be praised let's pray father i thank you again for this moment we appreciate you for this time and we thank you that our faith is in you that even when we are off you are always on and we give you praise for that we thank you for still being god we appreciate you today for still being the lord of our lives thank you for your hand of patience and your hand of mercy that continues to be on us we appreciate you today we empty ourselves of ourselves so we can be filled up with you fill us up one more time this morning we pray lord that during the praise and the worship that you would begin to move on our hearts lord and prepare us to receive the word bless bishop lord give him the words to speak to us i pray lord that you let those words produce fruit in our lives give us good ground faith to hear and faith to understand save somebody today we pray that you reclaim a backslider and we thank you for what you're going to do and we pray this in jesus name amen god bless you all y'all get ready we're going into some worship it is a good day to be alive god for your goodness and for your mercy we honor you and we glorify you because you are just that good so we offer up a praise in this atmosphere hallelujah [Music] singers help me sing this right here it's the only butter goodie [Music] y'all remember it right come on [Music] [Music] we offer praise [Music] [Music] yes we do [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] say it again take it up come on [Applause] [Music] we offer you are worthy [Music] is [Music] [Music] say [Music] take it up one [Music] join time [Music] [Applause] come on [Music] [Music] take [Music] he's been real good he's been real tired [Applause] [Music] [Music] good your favorite [Applause] your kindness your mercies come on man [Music] [Music] and your mercy [Applause] good morning bethany families brother kevin here and sister desiree and we have some special announcements for you this morning so the church is looking to hire physicians for security guards as well as part time what are some requirements to get to me so you have to make sure that you have a valid new jersey jarvis license yes and also a minimum of two years working in security of some sort yes so yeah unfortunately i don't meet those requirements because i would you know definitely ma'am we're gonna protect moving on but if you would like more information you can contact the church contact carolyn bullock or you can email her at see bullock go to bethany.com so you know this is a church that never sleeps we are moving virtually and each week we always have something going on so yes let's let's run it down what do we have to start off with monday we have the maximized team with maximize maya and pastor nick yes at 1pm and maximize monday and then we will catch myself kev and the recap crew at 5 30 on that monday also and then tuesday what's going on and then tuesday we have the diamonds women's ministry meeting at 7 00 p.m that evening i'm so excited to just be in community with women of god you know i like that i like that and as you know you know we get fed on sunday so we also get fed on wednesday right with word impact so make sure that you join us 7 p.m for word impact as the dynamic duo come together and have a great conversation you know we want you guys to invite someone as well and let them know what we're doing you know yeah i always get fun and we're going to head over to sister maya so that we can see what's going on on thursday hey bethany family it's maya and i am here to personally invite you to the bpa small business panel myself and robin kelly will be on board to talk all about social media so if you are a business owner or just wanting to learn social media for yourself make sure to tune in with us thursday at seven ask your questions i know robert kelly and myself are excited to answer all of them so i'll see you then you know the church that never sleeps you always have something going on so we want to also mention to you that we have our own podcast yes we do oh so if you want more of that word you want to hear more of us you can visit us at our podcast so go ahead subscribe we have three different podcasts right so we have the encounter where you can listen to past sermons and sermons to come we have d gems where you can listen to bishop drop some just little nuggets as well as some you know things content that you wouldn't normally hear anywhere else and then we also have the onpoint radio podcast so we have our on-point radio every saturday morning but that podcast you can listen to you know older episodes episodes come up yeah you know have content all over the place it's running over you know so yes guys make sure also sunday coming back around for sunday what do we have you know our encounter services as well as our engaged live in between so make sure with all the content that's coming out this week that you guys are sharing liking and inviting someone okay bethany family want to get you right back into service but have a blessed sunday there is power in the name of jesus can y'all help me with this one go churchy on them [Applause] wherever i go [Music] say it again [Music] [Music] oh jesus healed a man with leprosy his name has the power to save and set us free so much [Music] [Music] he will guess what he'll do [Applause] [Music] can we talk about his power and if you need peace guess what if you need deliverance and he's got the power power living right [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus moving in his heart [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] do you believe it [Applause] [Music] do you believe it [Music] [Music] she's [Music] [Applause] pick you up [Music] y'all singing this pastor nick has asked me to pray specifically for you today and of course it is my honor and my pleasure to do so it's clear in my life that our ministry has a prophetic quality to it because i preach prophetic prophetically probably about 98 of the time i preach prophetically because the book i'm reading from is a prophetic book but my gift is prayer a primary gift of mine is prayer of course evangelism is my top uh pastoral gift soul winning is uh really the gas in the car the the air under the wings it's what drives everything that we do seeing people come to the lord but in doing so god has rested a tremendous gift for prayer upon my life and that is not just speaking but answered prayer [Music] so i want to pray for you right now i want to pray something specific this season that we're in for the last year i think it started sometime late february early march we've been in this season for almost a year about a year and now and if you are aware of things you'll realize that this season is is bringing some things out of some people that is uh not complementary you've seen some great maturity you've seen some some disturbances you've seen some people's selfishness and self-sentence self-centeredness increase you narcissism has almost gone through the roof with the help of social media so during the season uh it has not just produced some creativity in some people but there's been some some hindrances some hurdles that have been revealed both mentally spiritually and emotionally in the lives of many people during the pandemic and i want to pray right now for your maturity i want to pray for your steadfastness i want to pray that your faith not fail during this time i want to pray that your focus stay for the word of god in the word of god on god on christ i want to make sure that you are staying with you if you will standing on the solid rock come on let's pray god i bless your name once again for this awesome time that you're allowing us to spend together i thank you lord for your goodness and for your mercy i thank you for the kindness that you show us i thank you for how you've just allowed me god to speak to your people i thank you lord for being the god of your promises i bless your name that you cannot lie i thank you that anytime judgment is released mercy has already been put in place i thank you not for just the theory of grace but the actuality of grace working in my life i give you praise honor and glory because you've proven to be the god that you said you would be you've proven to be that very present help you've proven to be that shelter in the time of storm you've proven to be strength when i did not have any you've proven to be guidance when i could not see you bend that lamp and that light to my feet into my pathway you've been the one that have held me up in times when i felt like i wanted to give up you have absolutely done what you said you would do you blessed in the midst of a crisis over and over again and for that i give you thanks praise honor and glory i thank you right now for the privilege for the opportunity for the joy of being able to come to you said that i could come boldly to your throne of grace in the time of need but you also said that my house ought to be a house of prayer that we ought to be intercessors not gifted with intercession but understanding that you desire that we pray for one another that we put our own petitions on the back burner and put the needs and desires of others on the front burner and that because if we understand how this intercessory anointing works i pray for you to get what you need i receive what i desire and in both cases more than we plan for so god i come to you right now like jesus came to you on behalf of lazarus he had that conversation and then he turned his attention to the problem at hand i want to thank you right in advance because you're going to answer this prayer thank you that even though prophetically i function that my one of my chief gifts is answered prayer so i'm coming to you right now father in the name of jesus asking you for several things for your people everyone watching me or who will see this prayer everyone that who will experience this prayer the thousands who will play it repeatedly in times of distress i speak to the lord on your behalf right now i declare in the name of jesus [Music] that those rough places shall be smoothed out by his power i declare right now that in the hindrance that is being perpetuated by the enemy during this crisis season that that henry's is defeated now in the name of jesus [Music] i pray right now for the restoration of your strength the lifting of your head the opening of your eyes the renewal and the revival of your joy i pray right now that you'll be strengthened from your feet to your head that your thoughts straighten out that the sound mind that god has given you becomes the sound mind that you access in the name of jesus i declare right now that the word let will be a key word for you over the next few days let this mind be in you which was also in christ jesus i pray that you allow the spirit of god and the word of god that has been gestating inside you developing and waiting inside you to be released on the problems in your life changing radically those things that you think are hindrances in your life [Music] i pray right now for your health that every cell every organ and every function in your life would be completely healed completely revived [Music] i give god praise honor and glory in advance because i believe that the mountain in your life is moving right now not only do i have faith believing for this prayer i'm praying i'm believing in my faith i'm believing that god's going to do what we're asking him to do collectively two or three of us thousands of us gather together in his name i pray in the name of jesus for supernatural maturity [Music] supernatural discernment for decision making i pray for supernatural insight into the issues of your life i pray for the dynamic solutions of god given to you i pray that the word of god becomes so real to you that your answers would leap off the page and answer your questions and solve your problems now in the name of jesus i pray for the total restoration of your peace the total restoration of your hope the revival of your faith the the acquiring and the possessing of your promise i pray in jesus name you receive it now in the name of jesus and i believe it with you touching and agreeing in jesus name amen good morning this scripture reading comes from philippians 3 verse 8-14 yet doubtless and count all things but lost for the excellence of the knowledge of christ jesus my lord for whom i have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dug that i may win christ and be found in him not having my own righteousness which is of the law but that which is through the faith of christ the righteousness which is of god by faith that i may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering being made comfortable onto his death if by any means i might attain unto the resurrection of death not as though i had already attained either were already perfect but i follow after if that may apprehend that for which also i am apprehended of christ jesus brethren i count not myself that i ha to ha apprehend but this one thing i do forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth onto those things which are before i press i press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of god and jesus christ may be blessed by the [Music] i word you glory thank you jesus because of who you are i give you because of who we are i worship you because of who you are lord i worship you because of who you are come on if you know it's singing because of who you are i give you glory because of who you are i give you praise because of who you are i give you because of who you are because of who you are [Music] [Music] you because of who you are [Music] is [Music] and [Music] who you are [Music] is [Music] i worship you because of who you are [Music] my [Music] [Music] because of who you are lord i worship you [Music] because of who you are lord i worship you because of who you are every day every day lord i give you praise lord [Music] because of who you are [Applause] i'm so glad you've taken the time to join us once again for the encounter worship experience here bethany church the transformation church in lindenwald new jersey what an honor it is for me to have the chance the opportunity the season if you will to share the word of god with you in such a way that i believe will impact your life for the rest of your life strengthening your faith sharpening your focus on what it is god has created you to do understanding not just the journey but the perils and the challenges of the journey but also the victories and the battles won along the way i'm so glad to have this chance after we're coming out of this resurrection season to continue today in our series called chess not checkers as the lord favored us we did not realize it at the beginning of the series that it would kind of flow right into easter and palm sunday and now we're going to talk about after the resurrection but before we do that i want to challenge you today to make a decision many times you've heard me say the decisions dictate direction our choices point us in one direction or the other and those decisions kind of set a pathway for us all of us can look back over our lives and see the directions that the decisions and the choices in our lives not only pointed us to but caused us to travel and many times as we look back in retrospect as my grandmother used to say hindsight will always be 20 20 in other words you can see clearly when you look back what you should have done and what has always amazed me is the proximity that the right decision and the wrong decision have to one another in other words you can look back and see what you should have done years and years before and then if you have a problem wondering what you were thinking you simply need to remember what you were doing and what you will do or were doing will tell you what you were thinking at the time so it's important for us to understand that the experiences we have in life tend to shape our present decisions the experiences we have in life in the past tend to shape our present but also impact the future that we desire the one and also the one that god has created for us sometimes many times most times often times the decisions that we make often take us out of the will of god so therefore take us out of the free will that i can use this word the flow of god for our lives jesus comes along and says i come not just you might have life but that you would have it more abundantly i've always been very impacted by that particular scripture because there's a distinct difference between life and living and what the lord wants to do is cause you to live the life he has created for you now why do i just make that distinction when you and i were born we had life from that moment we had an opportunity called living and many times in life as we look back in retrospect we see that we have made decisions or made choices that have not afforded us the best living or the best life that we could have taken advantage of we could have enjoyed so jesus comes along says look i understand that you have life but i've got another one for you that you can live more abundantly that life requires a relationship with jesus himself i don't know how honest you are about yourself but i can see clearly the major directional decisions that i made in life whether they were good or bad and i often don't spend enough time thinking about the thought process of those old decisions as i do about the negative decisions about the ones that happen to be right at the moment this is the decision i'm asking you to make i'm asking you to afford yourself the opportunity to come into a full relationship with jesus christ full relationship with god a life being led by the holy spirit of god being guided by the wisdom of god's word a life that has been created for you that has been waiting for you to make this decision today that you want to give up the life you've lived the identity you may have created and live the life that god has created you to live a life of purpose a life of success yes there will be challenges but a life of victory so i want to pray for those of you who have never given your life to the lord i want to pray that this today when you're watching this no matter what time it is that you decide you know what i hear god asking me to trust him i hear god asking me to come into relationship with him i hear the lord distinctly i feel him calling my name and i need to make a decision today so my destiny can be the destiny that god has created me to live to come to know him in the power of his resurrection talking to those of you going to pray for those of you who know the lord but for some reason especially during this pandemic season you've gotten a little off track maybe your commitment has changed some challenges came along that you did not expect and that's how they come but perhaps looking back you can see that your reaction may have been an overreaction or an incorrect reaction which has caused you to be in the spiritual place that you haven't been in a long time i'm going to pray for you that you come back to the lord today and once again engage the life that he's created for you last but not least i'm going to pray for those of you who are already saved but you've been searching for a home place to connect to because connection is extremely important in the kingdom of god who you're connected to is who you're identified by i'm going to connect you to jesus christ but also connect you to his bride known as the church so i'm going to pray for those that have never been saved those who need to come back to the lord those that are already saved that all those categories never been saved coming back to the lord and committed to god will become a part of what we do and what god is doing here first the relationship with him then the earthly connection that god designed for you to discover your purpose and that is in his house with his people come on let's pray god i bless your name now for this great opportunity i asked lord that you would now by the power of your holy spirit begin to convict and convince that today is the day the decision needs to be made to come into relationship with you for the very first time i pray for those who know you but have walked away gotten distracted along the way may have even been deceived but today your spirit and your word will make an impact today like never before and they'll make a decision right now to come back to the lord and to his church i pray for those of you who love the lord who are strong in the lord committed but have been searching in the wilderness of ministries for the right place you must be in the right place with the right people for power of god to be released in your life they were in one place in one accord and then the holy spirit was poured out from heaven so i want to urge you today to say yes yes to salvation yes to reconnection and re-fellowshipping yes to uniting with god's house and god's ministry and i pray these blessings in jesus name amen now if you decided to make that decision write us on the site now so coming to the lord for the very first time coming back to the lord and it does not matter where you live hear me clearly if you live somewhere in the area you can get to the physical church when we open of course come but if you live outside the area states away but you want to be a part you can join our connections church that's the virtual church that we started during the pandemic which is growing by leaps and bounds you can be a part of that body which is a part of this body and connections church will continue once we begin to gather again we've got some great plans for all of you i thank god go to the site that you're watching us from drop us a note very quickly i made a decision to be saved made a decision to come back to the lord made a decision to unite with the ministry one of our workers will get back to you as soon as possible and tell you about the next steps what are the next steps embrace class which is our new members curriculum with either me pastor nick or reverend prescott mondays tuesdays and saturdays all of our lifestyle ministries and men women youth millennials couples singles all those ministries that will enrich your walk with god become a part of all of that and more so thank you for joining us today let's get to the word of god go to philippians chapter 4 chapter 3 i'm sorry philippians chapter 3 as hopefully this week we will conclude chestnut checkers but i'm not sure because i believe god wants me to have another conversation with you an in-depth account of something we're going to cover today and you'll see what it is philippians 3 and let's start reading at about verse 8 yea doubtless and i count all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of christ jesus my lord for whom i have suffered the loss of all things and do not count them but dung or waste that i may win christ and be found in him not having my own righteousness which is of the law but that which is through the faith of christ the righteousness which is of god by faith that i may know him and the power of his resurrection fellowship of his suffering made me conformable unto his death if by any means i might attain unto the resurrection of the dead not as though i had already attained either were already perfect but i follow after that i may apprehend that for which i also am apprehended of christ jesus brethren i count not myself to have apprehended but this one thing i do forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before i press towards a mark for the prize of the hive calling of god in christ jesus once again verse 10 says that i may know him and the power of his resurrection coming out of this resurrection sunday into the following sunday i want to talk to you about simply about resurrection power now there are a few things we need to lay foundationally so that we can really come to the revelation that i believe god has given me for you today i need you to pay close attention if you will i need you to inbox some of your friends why don't you tag four or five people tell them we're on right now so they can join us in this conversation i believe it was life-changing for me i believe it will be the same for you resurrection power so easter sunday we have had a conversation around the fact that jesus had already anticipated the difficulty the disciples would have with his death he counters their anxiety with the reality of his resurrection he knows they're having a problem with the fact that he's taught them repeatedly that he's going to die on the cross and he tries to counter that fear tries to give them faith in the process by teaching them about his resurrection the disciples doubt and the challenge is not about him being crucified they were used to seeing people crucified in that era romans were famous for it so they knew he could die the problem is was believing and it's a problem that people have today that he would be raised from the dead they did not believe in the miracle of his resurrection because this miracle was unprecedented as it related to how he said he would be resurrected and what it would accomplish now this doubt this problem this challenge is evidence in the fact that when jesus does come risen from the dead he has to go looking for them because they're in hiding jesus has to find them greet them speak peace to them because he realizes they miss the revelation and the power of the lesson they learned on the stormy sea let me say that again when jesus finds the disciples huddled together hiding out i believe because they were having a problem being identified with an unresurrected savior he finds them in hiding and then realizes they miss the lesson on the boat in the rocky sea in the storm they miss the revelation the miracle of the stormy sea was another opportunity for them to understand the power of the lord's words he fully understands their loss of faith he really gets it he understands the loss of faith in response to being promised the unseen let me say that again he fully understands our loss of faith at times with being promised the unseen go to mark chapter four let me show you what i'm talking about mark chapter 4 as we lay this foundation and then we will see what god is going to say start at verse 35. the bible says and the same day when the even was come he said unto them let us pass over unto the other side let us pass over unto the other side now this initial instructions pay close attention to this this initial instruction is inviting them to believe work towards a dimension in the unseen purely based upon the instruction of jesus i hope you're getting this verse 35 shows us that there is a dimension of fulfillment in the unseen that the disciples have to trust jesus word enough to head in that direction so his initial instruction in verse 35 is inviting the disciples to believe watch this and then work towards a dimension of the unseen simply based on the instruction of jesus do they trust him enough the other side has to do with believing on him more than believing in what you know what you experienced and what you've seen they've got to leave the scene if you will the sure they were on and trust him that he will meet them on the other side watch what happens our issue is usually fearing the unknown more than believing the words that jesus has spoken to us the crossing begins with jesus however they are stepping into an unseen dimension with jesus and the unseen can discourage us because the unseen requires watch the words i'm using the unseen requires a challenge you decide you've been inspired to start a business you do the preparation but there's still the unseen that has to be accomplished you know what you believe but the manifestation of that business the manifestation of that promotion that manifestation of the thing you desire is the thing that has to be worked towards even though the accomplished of the vision is not seen yet so true obedience requires a challenge but not just any challenge but a challenge to the instructions and the faith that you have true obedience will include a challenge to the instruction and a challenge to your faith it must be unannounced or it is no challenge i wasn't sure how to say that if the challenge is announced it will not require the faith needed to reach the next dimension in the spirit that is yet to be seen the unseen can't be reached without a challenge my god that was good so it must be unannounced or there is no challenge to faith because the promise of reality the unseen dimension would be canceled if the challenge was revealed i need to say that again it must be unannounced the challenge must be announced or there is no challenge to faith why because the promise of a reality in the unseen dimension would be cancelled if the challenge was revealed you would not need faith if the challenge is watch this to a next dimension breakthrough will reveal to you what are you saying pastor i'm saying those of you in business those of you that are working for other people those of you that are attempting to do something new the challenges itself often indicate that you are in the proper direction you're in the flow towards the unseen that you're believing i am cautious when the enemy is not providing some type of challenge the concern of jesus for their lives reveals another challenge to faith so he's asleep on the boat which means he's silent he's not talking apparently not paying attention his silence suggests to them that he does not really care for them how many times have you and i prayed and not gotten an answer that was so audible it would drown out the television uh an answer that would startle us you know some big booming voice how many times have you and i accused jesus of being asleep of not caring because he apparently watch this is not stressed like we are in our situation his silence suggests to them that he doesn't care it's in the text carries thou not that we perish not don't you care can't you tell that this thing is trying to take us under now he's still the savior even though he's asleep he's still jesus even though his sleep but they don't understand the significance of his humanity watch this now by becoming human jesus has made himself vulnerable to the faith the doubt the strength and the weaknesses of his own disciples he strips himself of his glory in order to become vulnerable in order to be touched by the feeling of our infirmities so their desires on that ship are now his concern man that was beautiful there was a reason they failed the storm test so horribly there is a reason that not only they but we failed the storm tests so horribly verse 39 let's take a look and see what it says well let's keep let's keep reading i want i want you to get the context and when 36 and when they had sent away the multitude they took him even as he was in the ship and there he was also with them other little ships so he was in the boat disciples were there and there were other boats following across and there arose a great storm of wind not just a my one but a great storm of red it arose that means suddenly the waves beat on the ship so that it was now full so now watch what's happening the lord is asleep the weather has changed suddenly the wind is blowing using the using the water to rock the boat water is now coming into the boat so that it was full but in those days they built the boats that even though they took on a lot of water they would not sink it took a hole in the boat to make it sink but water in the boat would not take it under watch what's happening so he was asleep uh-huh in the hindu part of the ship down in the lower part the tail under the ship on a pillow do you understand what we're watching here they believe they're about to drown and even the water has not awakened him how could he be moved by the very thing that he has made so everything in the storm including the water in the boat a part of his his if you will purpose to get them to the other side he is not hindered by the storm no by what the storm produces nor by the change in the circumstance not even enough to wake up they have to go and wake him watch what happens now stay close and he arose after they said master cares thou not that we perish don't you care about us don't you see that we're dying out here and here rose and rebuked the wind watch this and said unto the sea peace be still and the wind ceased and there was a great calm and he said unto them why are you so fearful watch the words how is it that ye have no faith why are you so fearful how is it you have no faith stay with me i'm setting you up for something so the bible says in 39 he rose he rebuked he spoke to the wind he arose to demonstrate reverence for his father he spoke to the wind expressing his authority the bible says he commanded it he didn't suggest to it he commanded it and there's a lesson in that for us um he did not say lord if it be your will stop the wind because his authority gave him authority to speak to the wind and not to doubt the faith of christ not to doubt that the wind would respond he rebuked the wind meaning he wasn't trying to get the win saved he rebuked the wind to stop its behavior so he commands the win so this is not what i call it a punk proclamation it is not a suggestion it's not a statement that that watch this that he doubt in it those statements like if it be your will that high doubt he spoke from a position of faith and power you may be giving your storms too much honor you may be giving your storm too much respect you may be giving your storm too much wiggle room when the bible teaches us in the old testament and deuteronomy that a blessing shall pursue you and overtake you it means the blessing has no choice but to come seeking you and find you god commanded it so a blessing shall pursue you and overtake you so when you pray as though the blessing has a choice you delay possession of that blessing so the next thing he does is demonstrate but what is he demonstrating he's demonstrating watch this now stay close his inner condition his inner condition has to be peace because how could he in the midst of their of their exclamations the noise they were making the sea the wind rocking the boat filling up with water how's it possible he stayed asleep on a pillow while the boat apparently is threatening to sing now the greater revelation is this if the disciples could not discern that this boat cannot sink it might sink because we're on here but it can't sink because he's on here if they miss jesus the the the integrity of his anointing at that time you can see why we miss it in our own storms so jesus says okay let me teach again let me demonstrate once again his my inner condition you cannot declare with results what you don't possess let me say it again you cannot declare with results what you do not possess the disciples expressed what was inside of them and that was fear because faith in that situation was not their internal condition but jesus christ spoke peace why because peace was in him that's why he could sleep through the storm you can't release with power and authority what you do not possess now watch how this works so in the anointing is everything we need but many times a believer has not accessed the depth of the anointing that's on our lives a peace that passes understanding is what he was demonstrating by staying asleep during the storm he spoke to the wind and what the wind was using to rock the boat the wind and the water he spoke he exhibited he he exhaled yeah that's it he exhaled and the holy ghost breathed immediately and caused the attack of the wind to cease the storm if you will had no choice the calm in jesus became the calm around him i wish i could help you with this there is an atmospheric ability that god gives you and i as believers through the power of the holy ghost if we would just watch this establish it by faith and through the word of god so that in times of storm we can release what we possess and he asked his disciples the one he had empowered how is it you have no faith that that blew my mind how is it that you have no faith he didn't say how is it that your faith has wavered a little bit in this city how is it and i see his frustration i'm right here with you and you're still believing we won't achieve what i promised you we would i'm on board i'm with you i'm i'm demonstrating the power of presence and those who i'm empowered fail the storm tests so he says how is it you have no faith in other words if you seek me you will have this if you recognize me you will have this faith the next question reveals an attainable goal what manner of man is this watch this now verse 41 and they feared exceedingly and said one to another what kind of dude is this that even the wind and the sea obey him a man who has faith that has made him comfortable in the face of the impossible that's the kind of man jesus is and he comes to demonstrate to us so that we can fulfill one of the great commissions which is thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven the same jesus told them he would live again this same jesus that showed him his authority his uniqueness his power the man jesus demonstrated that he had directly come from god to be with him a man empowered by the holy ghost a man with peace that passes understanding the same jesus told them he would live again this jesus whose life began in eternity matured as a man on the earth the journey beginning in the invisible type and shadow of the old testament him in the old testament by example that tree of the old testament bearing fruit called his life the way the truth go to zechariah chapter 12 i want to show you something i need you to see this really quickly i'm running out of time zechariah chapter 12. now watch there is a correlation between when the bible says lord i come in the volume of the book to do thy will of god there's a correlation between the events surrounding calvary and them being prophetically depicted or exemplified in the old testament so they would have a witness for the new testament events zechariah chapter 12 verse 10 watch what it says and i will pour upon the house of david upon the inhabitants of jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication that they shall look upon me whom they have pierced whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourner for his only son you see it and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for the firstborn this is amazing to me so zechariah 12 begins somewhat of a narration of his purpose in john 19 go to john 19 let me show you something john 19. this is going to really be good for you today john 19. i want you to go to verse 37. look at the look at the witness and again another scripture said they shall look on him whom they pierced the connection between zechariah chapter 12 and john chapter 19. both talk about how he has been pierced once again the swaddling clothes of his birth are also confirmed both old testament and new testament because the winding sheet of his of his death was the swaddling clothes of his birth wow look at john 19 40. watch how it works now he says then they took the body of jesus wound it in linen clothes with the spices as the manner of the jews is to bury so when jesus was born they put him in a manger they wrapped him in swaddling clothes you have to understand the schwatling clothes the journey that joseph and mary were taking there weren't a whole lot of things they carried along but the swaddling if you will was wrapped around the waist of every traveler just in case they fell sick and died on the journey whatever journey there was they would have burial clothes to be buried in if it was by the wayside so they carried them with them so when when jesus was born joseph or either either mary but probably joseph unwrapped his swaddling if you will unwrapped his linen and put it around the baby so he was born to die and he was dying to live again man this is good the garden in genesis where adam was slain to produce eve it's confirmation of the garden in john 19 41. look what it says now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden and then the garden of new sepulcher wherein was never a man laid it was never a man in the garden before adam got there there was never a man laid in the sepulchre where jesus is laid now the place where they crucified him there is a garden the womb of mary that covered him now covers him in a borrowed tomb he's covered by the womb of the tomb of joseph of adamathea mary magdalene and peter and john go to the tomb there's a folded up napkin symbolizing i'm finished here jewish custom when you're finished eating you fold the napkin men i'm finished i'm not coming back i won't be back adam had to leave the garden like jesus had to leave the tomb why all this confirmation because this is chess this ain't checkers it must be established by many witnesses go to john chapter 20 and go over to verse 31 let's see this thing john chapter 20 verse 31 but these are written that you might believe that jesus is the christ the son of the living god that believing ye might have life through the name verse 30 says and many of the signs truly did jesus in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book these are written to be a witness that those may believe these are written that you might know might believe that jesus is the christ son of god that believing you have life through his name that paul says in philippians i want to know him here it is in the power of his resurrection power over witchcraft i'm running out of time power over the demonic and power over curses give me five more minutes i want to take you here go to ephesians chapter 6. i want to show you something and you've seen this before and this is going to make perfect sense to you now ephesians chapter 6 go down to verse 12 very quickly i won't read a whole lot for you today ephesians chapter 6 go down to verse 12 and you've seen this before for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rules of darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness says wickedness in high places for we wrestle not against flesh and blood now just to introduce this part of the message to you witchcraft is the use of spiritual power being used for the wrong reasons and that power is not given by the holy ghost the context in which we now dwell as children of god we are no longer limited to just a natural platform but we are now people that dwell in a multi-dimensional spiritual platform we are not wrestled we don't wrestle against flesh and blood just against that flesh and blood is no longer the primary opponent of a saint flesh and blood is not not the primary opponent of a child of god flesh and blood manifest but are not the source of the power of evil that you and i have to contend with so the battle is manifested in the natural but won or lost in the spirit the battle is waged where you can see it but the real battle is won or lost at the source that is in the spirit you have been inducted into a spiritual dynamic called salvation you've been inducted into a military uh type of organization as well as an athletic context this athletic context in this military example they're understood by examples the things like the armor of god running a race wrestling fighting we are equipped to defeat witchcraft who come to deceive cause doubt and discourage your walk with god around that arena of witchcraft is the occult and all the occult is is something hidden in plain sight i need to stop right there in the next couple weeks we're going to talk about functioning in this multi-dimensional realm that you now dwell in you need to understand so you can believe this truth the devil is defeated is not just a slokan jesus has declared he is cast out now you've got to hear me now he says all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth every dimension he has authority took the keys away from death took all the authority from satan the resurrection has given you positioned you to live in victorious resurrection power over witchcraft gonna teach you so you don't worry about this stuff anymore over the demonic and over whatever curse you think you're dealing with resurrection power i'm so glad you joined me today such an honor for me to get the chance to share the word of god with you have these conversations with you so that you can live a stronger life of faith and right now it's time for us to tap into victoria's spiritual warfare did you know that the tithe according to malachi chapter 3 is directly related to the enemy being defeated in your life the bible says i will rebuke the devourer for your sakes i will jesus god talking i will rebuke the devil for your sake that my brother my sister is as a result of you honoring god enough being grateful to god enough to bring him back what he says what he commands belongs to him he tells us very clearly bring the tithe to him if you do that you'll trigger my response to fight the enemy on your behalf it's right there in your bible it's been there the whole time there's a realm of the spirit that is open to a child of god that is obedient here in this particular context of giving of bringing back to him that is unavailable to those that do not do it things will begin to open up the windows of heaven the portals of heaven the doorways of heaven will begin to open up and the blessings not provision because the good father provides the blessings of the relationship god says i'm allowed to release so we are restricting his hand we're holding back his hand in releasing the blessings that abraham has been promised for us that god has promised himself for us we're restricting the warfare the assistance of god when the enemy seeks to come and sift us like wheat he comes to kill steal and destroy and god's saying i need you to loose me on your adversary and you give me permission to do that because you show me that you trust me and that your heart is with me and that you have gratitude for what i've done for you by releasing that tithe i want you to go to the icon today as you always do and release that tithe and offering today the tithe is what he demands from us the offering comes from our sense of gratitude and love tithe is applied to obedience and spiritual warfare but the offering is something you're giving god to just a thank you why don't you go to the icon right now don't give god a left over don't give him something you don't want something you don't desire something that has no value but give him that which comes from your heart and he does know our hearts but watch this he says if you love me you will keep my commandments he says god says if you love me you'll keep my commandments so glad you joined me today write me let me know how this message is impacting your life and as always i want to remind you of this one thing faith acts like a thing is so even when it's not so that it might be so god bless you and we'll see you wednesday night don't forget your prayer requests we're going to be praying again over the hundreds of prayer requests that we're receiving from you god bless you

Channel: Bethany Baptist Church

Views: 1,011

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: QuwX2AM4oFs

Length: 76min 50sec (4610 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 11 2021