"Your Place In The Story Of Faith" - Pastor Nathaniel Urshan

you [Music] already in the house of the lord why don't we put our hands together and continue to magnify the name of jesus lord we worship you with us lord we praise you in this and worship thank you jesus let's worship and magnify the name of the lord well how many came to worship the lord this morning how many know that we serve a good god today join in worship let's sing worship [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Music] god [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] no [Music] man [Music] [Music] is [Music] we [Music] pray [Music] we [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] we pray we pray [Music] [Music] [Music] oh somebody worship the king this morning we bow to no other for we know who is the king of kings and the lord of lords hallelujah if you know who the king of king is why don't you put your hands together hey just give him the highest praise right now lord we know who you are today jesus and we worship you accordingly god oh we praise you lord we magnify your name somebody shouted to the lord with the voice of triumph this morning did he woke you up this morning did he started you on your way hallelujah somebody praised him right now i've come to give him my highest praise have come to give him the worst of the he deserves oh hallelujah clap your hands up to jesus right now oh how many know this is the day that the lord has made hey we can be on the outside looking in but i'm glad i'm in the house of the lord this morning how many know that he's been good how many know no matter what's going on this is the day that the lord has made i came in this house to rejoice to lift my hands to praise the lord let's worship this is [Music] this is [Music] this is the day that the lord has been a good child [Music] this is [Music] [Music] is [Music] he is [Music] [Music] presence of the lord [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] the presence of the lord [Music] [Music] i'm thanking god [Music] the lord [Music] [Applause] [Music] celebrating the presence of the lord [Music] [Music] for he is [Music] [Applause] [Music] i know i know it's cloudy outside but hey it feels good in the house of the lord when i woke up this morning and i walked outside i see that the clouds were hanging low but you know what the sun still came up and it's still shining even though you may not be able to see it but it's still there and even though sometimes it may feel like that in church but the spirit of god is still moving the spirit of god is still within this place and if you know that this morning why don't you just throw your hands in the air and just begin to celebrate in the presence of the lord [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] returns rejoice in the lord always and i cannot say [Music] and i can't i said rejoice [Music] hallelujah weepy man do it through the night but joy comes in the morning hallelujah hallelujah somebody clap your hands unto the lord i came to celebrate jesus how many know that something happens when you call them the name of jesus it might be cloudy in your life but when you begin to call them the name of jesus there is no power in heaven you shine right through your darkest hour amen how many know that when you speak the name of jesus healing begins to happen how many know that when you speak the name of jesus deliverance began to happen that's what we came to do this morning we came to magnify the name of jesus so that our problems and our situations don't overtake us because when we know that's the people of god that's the child of the king that when you begin to speak the name of jesus oh i need somebody to believe that with me right now when you begin to speak the name of jesus there is not night that is too dark there's not a problem this too hard there's not an impossibility that god cannot solve [Music] because when you speak the name of jesus oh hallelujah we know that every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess they may not confess her right now but they will my my that's just the authority that comes with his name amen and this morning we're going to the lord in prayer right now if you have a need i want you to lift up your hands there is healing in the house there is authority in the house come on somebody take somebody somebody take authority dominion over that situation sometimes we think that the problems we face might just be physically but sometimes they they're probably just mentally you're probably just trained uh emotionally and you just need a special touch from god god is here in this place his power it's in this place of his dominion it's in this place that somebody just take it because somebody said somebody just believe that with me right now you're a child of the king come on you're a child of the king you're a child of the king he gave you dominion when he gave you when he filled you with his spirit come on somebody take dominion somebody take authority over that situation god in the name of jesus we release dominion god we release power we release authority lord in jesus name touch every need god in this house somebody lift up your voice with me right now i feel the holy ghost i feel his power moving in this place come on come on somebody praise him in advance somebody worship him in advance come on hallelujah whoa i'm clapping my hands now because i feel like it but i'm clapping my hands because i know he's gonna make a way come on i'm not lifting up my boys because i feel like it but just because i know that when i begin to speak the name of jesus whoa hallelujah somebody speak their name [Music] we worship you lord hallelujah let's worship the name of the lord today you may be seated in jesus name [Music] if you have the dark of night questioning what is is [Music] me is coming there's more to this [Music] [Music] he knows your [Music] is [Music] glory still great is his faithfulness [Music] perfect sovereign fortress greatness [Music] father [Music] [Applause] [Music] find your peace again trust in him [Music] glory his faithfulness in grief and in glory still the reign is his faithfulness [Music] [Music] is [Music] my [Music] god [Music] [Music] how great [Applause] [Music] [Music] are you glad that we serve a mighty god he's a faithful god he's a just god hallelujah we hallelujah hallelujah lord we thank you lord for your goodness for your mercy thank you just thank you jesus thank you jesus amen there's a beautiful presence of the lord in this place amen the lord's already moving here he's already moving in this kind of atmosphere i know it's a sunday morning i know you're tired but he's already moving in this place and you're here for a reason hallelujah hallelujah we're so thankful that each of you are in the house of the lord today turn to someone and greet them give them a big ol smile and thank them for being in god's house amen you may be seated as our ushers prepare to come if you need an envelope for tithes and offering you can slip your hand up and our usher will our ushers will bring you a tithing envelope if it's your first time today at first pentecostal church i want to say on behalf of all of us here at fpc we are so thankful that you have taken time to come and worship with us amen [Applause] i've heard pastor ershen say and i will have to agree with it that you only come once as a guest to fpc the second time your family amen so you are family those of you that are visiting back with us and those of you that are here for your first time we couldn't be more glad to have you with us if it's your first time today we have a gift for you if you have not already filled out an information card in the foyer there's a phone number that you can text and when you text that phone number we're going to get that gift to you you can text the word welcome to 919-364-5236 the number on the screen behind me and we want to give you a gift for joining with us today uh we want our church body to be aware of some things that are coming up first of all saturday march the 6th from 4 to 7 pm there is going to be a teenager's dinner it's going to be a delicious homemade meal and it's it's served in the family life center the cost is five dollars per person and you can register with the higginbothams do so before tonight and that's going to be a great time for all of our teenagers amen and we're looking forward to the main event you're in the house of god right here today amen and i'm looking forward to the preached word of god the lord is already moving in a mighty way and we're just going to see what god wants to do amen let's call on his name today lord we thank you we thank you for another opportunity to come into your house and lift up holy hands we thank you for your presence that is already with us and the way that you're moving through this room lord we ask that you touch us and minister to us from your words speak to us lord lord we need to hear from you we need your touch we ask your blessings upon each person in this service in jesus name we pray amen continue to worship in your giving today [Music] [Music] is [Music] upon you lord i grow stronger [Music] day [Music] every day [Applause] [Music] anybody [Music] every day [Music] every day [Music] every day [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] this morning [Music] every day [Music] i'm gonna [Music] today [Music] oh [Music] [Music] i'm [Applause] [Music] [Applause] every [Applause] [Music] oh let's lift our hands and glorify the lord this morning [Music] oh let's magnify his name in this place let's lift up the name of jesus hallelujah hallelujah did anybody come to wait on the lord this morning [Music] did anybody come to trust in him [Music] they that wait upon the lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up i came to mount up this morning i came to rise above my circumstance i came to rise up a little higher i came to get a little closer to him i'm going to die i came to toronto [Music] every day every day [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh every day [Music] every day [Music] [Music] every day [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh let's uh him this morning let's magnify the name of jesus right now [Music] praise god somebody give him praise this morning somebody come before his presence with singing know ye that the lord he is god it is he that hath made us and not we ourselves i came to remind somebody that we are his people and the sheep of his pasture don't you be afraid don't you feel like he doesn't know where you are don't you be intimidated we are his people [Music] praise god praise god why don't you shake hands with somebody say it's good to be in church this morning now in case the person on the other side doesn't know why don't you lean over to them and say it's good to see you in the house of god [Music] praise god praise god praise god praise god amen amen amen god bless you you can be seated in the presence of the lord my there's a wonderful atmosphere here right now the devil tried to convince somebody that sunday morning was for sleeping the devil tried to tell somebody sunday morning was for cruising just put it on cruise control and just kind of lean back and just ah but i've got a message for the devil this morning jesus is alive [Music] and as a matter of fact he rose from the dead in the morning i feel like i need to tell somebody that weeping endures for a night [Music] oh you know but joy cometh in the morning i came to have church in the morning i came to lift him up in the morning i came to sing the songs in the morning wow well [Music] hallelujah go ahead you can praise him on sunday morning that's all right that's all right don't let the devil lull you to sleep go ahead and brush the cobwebs out of your eyes and put a song in your heart and i feel like just dancing a little bit this morning hey hey he's been good to me [Music] ah god have mercy hallelujah hallelujah somebody say hallelujah sometimes you just gotta take your complaining nature your carnal nature your fleshly nature and you gotta say you sit down it's time to give god glory you got to replace your i don't know with a god is well able [Music] you got to replace your how am i going to do it with a hallelujah god's gonna do it [Music] so it's sunday morning and it's time to praise god weeping endures for a night amen and anybody that's ever been in the night you've been discouraged you know what i'm talking about anybody that felt like as the sun was going down maybe you felt like the sun was going down on you sun was going down on your light the sun was going down on your marriage the sun was going down on your children the sun was going down on your grandchildren there's a lot of people that have been sad in the night oh but when the morning comes the sun comes back up and you realize oh lord great is thy faithfulness my mercies are new every morning you realize god's not finished yet god's not done yet i'm gonna make it my marriage is gonna make it my walk with god is gonna make it [Music] hallelujah i don't have time to preach this but i just feel like saying it it's pointing to a day every night you go to sleep and you wake up it's pointing to another day what the old-timer's called that great and glorious day because one day you're going to fall asleep and they're going to put you in the ground but in that morning in that great glorious morning in the morning when the sun never sets again and he takes us to a city where the lamb is the light he's going to wipe away your tears he's going to wipe away your sorrow he's going to give you a new name he's gonna put a robe of white on you in that morning joy comes in that morning [Music] i'm not just talking about mourning i'm talking about the resurrection [Music] praise god i feel like having church right now hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah god bless you you can be seated man i feel like we need to have an altar call right now praise god i think you can get the holy ghost right now i i i just think the chains can fall off right now [Music] [Music] i just have enough faith to believe that like in the book of acts while peter yet spake the word the holy ghost fell on all them which heard the word [Music] pray praise praise him let's give the lord a hand clap of thanksgiving thank you jesus thank you jesus thank you jesus praise god praise god praise god amen amen amen you can find a seat in close what a wonderful presence of god is here right now i want my children raised in this kind of atmosphere there's some folks in religion they taught them that church is just waving incense and smoke around in a room in a old testament distortion pulled into a new testament living day is used to hold people down and give them a warped perspective on what church is all about we're not waving smoke around we're not blowing smoke man we came to really do this god doesn't want your incense you got from the potpourri store god wants your praise and your worship that's the smoke that goes up to heaven that's the new testament sacrifice of praise thank you lord thank you lord i'm glad we're having good church this morning amen if you are visiting with us this morning as was already stated we're glad you're here you are among friends and we want you to join in with us you don't have to sit there and observe but just jump on in this holy ghost is all right this prayer works amen amen and if you're visiting we're glad you're here if you're watching online and visiting with us welcome welcome to fpc this morning here in durham we're glad you can join us and visitors when you when you're new to something there's a feeling out process where you think let's just see what these people are all about i don't know what do you think of this i don't know what do you think of this and and and you can waste a lot of time trying to figure out whether you like it or not and trying to figure the person out when i go preach somewhere people always take a little time does this tie match does who is is it what's what's this guy all about and they take a long and you're 45 minutes into the message and you missed all the good stuff before you finally realize okay this is okay so i can eliminate all the mystery this morning i love jesus i love my wife i love my sons i love my church i love breakfast and that's about all there is to it there's a little bit more but that's about the most of it and and we like to clap our hands and we like to worship and we like to dance and we like to sing praises to god and we're baptized in jesus name and we're filled with the holy ghost and there's only one god [Applause] and we like to be separate from the world that right there that's an apostolic message and that's the kind of a people and a kind of a church that you're in this morning praise god some exciting things happening if you were able to go out on outreach saturday and the saturday previous men and women would you just take a minute and stand around the building i want to say i appreciate you very much god bless you let's give our outreach workers a handclap of appreciation brother and sister beckwith thank you for helping us put all of that together and thank you workers for working so hard we got new bible studies we had new people in church we have people excited about the things of god and there's going to be a lot more of that on the horizon so thank you thank you for helping us to spread the gospel of jesus christ and while we're doing that in evangelism we have new additions to the church we're excited that brother preston and sister michaela wood are proud parents of a beautiful baby girl piper emilia wood born thursday february 24th 25th amen we're excited for them and we know that this is a an amazing time of blessing and favor so god bless them and i got a text this morning and we'll see how things go but for the garrett and sister audrey there were labor pains and they took her in and we're just going to see what happens there so there's all kind of good church growth happening in the kingdom of god continue to remember uh the merritt family brother keith married his father passed away the funeral was held this last week we love brother merritt didn't he and sister wright and they do an amazing job singing this morning amen beautiful beautiful praise god continue to remember that family in your prayers and then i want you to also remember um our bible quizzers they went down to georgia this week and did a fantastic job amen thank you thank you to the leaders there by the ezzy and the leadership team we love and appreciate them and we'll hear a little bit more from them a little later on amen let's stand together in the presence of of god bishop goder we'd love to have you on the platform if you're able to join join me this morning love and appreciate you bishop praise god and before we open the bible i should say that i'm thankful that god let us have a wonderful wedding this past friday amen god kept his hand on joseph and cheyenne and some of you were able to make it down there thank you for all of the love and support that you have poured out to my family i'm excited about what the future holds i'm excited about what god's doing among his people praise god can we lift our hands in this house can we give thanks to the lord for all that he has done and all that he's going to do thank you jesus thank you jesus you have been so good to us dear god your mercy your loving kindness thank you for the blessing of god thank you for your favor glory to god glory to god glory to god [Music] amen amen amen god is so good i want you to take your bible i want you to open with me to the book of hebrews chapter 11 hebrews chapter 11. it was how many enjoyed the ministry of brother wesley jackson this last sunday [Applause] amen isn't god good hebrews chapter 11 i'm going to begin reading at verse 1. thankful for brother galindo preaching for us excited about the things happening in spanish ministry great things happening i can't wait to share some of the testimonies this is what the bible says now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen for by it the it there is faith for by it the elders obtained a good report now to hebrews chapter 12 and verse 2. looking unto jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of god and today i want to share with you a few thoughts that god breathed into my spirit this morning in prayer i want to talk to you for a few moments about your place in the story of faith your place in the story of faith and as i heard the merit and sister write sing and i heard those words the story's not over amen the story is not over amen amen god bless you you can be seated i want to take some time this morning because everybody is at a different place in their walk with god god is working on people here in this sanctuary today and god is working on people who are not in this sanctuary today there are people watching online right now some of you geography will not allow you to be here some for whatever reason the devil fights you about coming into this building let me say first to you the devil's a liar and secondly let me say that god is still working on you because everybody has a place in god's narrative and god's narrative is the only narrative that matters i want to be part of god's plan and when this story is over you didn't know it was a story it's a story it's the story god is the author of this story now there's some folks that know that on a superficial level and they believe that god can start it but they don't always believe god can finish it but my bible says not only is he the author but he's the finisher [Applause] he doesn't just start it but god finishes it he's not just the alpha but he's the omega he's not only the beginning you know he's the end that matters to the greek audience that was written to in that day john was highlighting the fact he used the greek alphabet alpha was their a and omega was their z and so god is supreme in the world that you are living in right now but then he used time-based elements because he's not just alpha and omega he's also beginning and end so he was there when the planet started rotating and he'll be there when it's all finished so he's the god of this earth he's the god of space and time he's all he's all powerful and has supremacy in every thing that we do god is in control and i want to be part [Applause] of that all truth is a narrative it is a narrative and the only narrative that counts is god's narrative you're living in a world right now where people are trying to redefine that narrative now when you redefine the narrative and you try to provide an alternate narrative alternate narrative is a nice word for lie it's what polite people call a lie i had one friend of mine try to nicely say that someone lied and they said you know brother urschen they seem to have a truth deficiency [Laughter] they are factually challenged [Laughter] god tells the truth you can depend on this bible right here you can depend on the word of god heaven and earth will pass away it's the one thing the word of god is the one thing that will never pass away my word he said my word my word will never pass away so that truth that narrative that he authors and he finishes is it's imperative that we build our life around it i want to hitch my wagon up to what jesus is doing i want to be i want to be called by by god and i want to be identified by god you read the account and i don't call it a story because it's not a story it's a true account of daniel and and and you know him as daniel notice that you don't know him as beltashasar now babylon called him belle to shazar but that's not what god called him and babylon called them shadrach meshach and abednego and people have popularized that but but god called them hananiah and azariah and mishael i want to be what god calls me i want to be defined as god has defined me jesus looked at at peter one day he talked to him and some called him cephas and some called him simon but jesus said i say unto thee who i want to be what heaven says i am thou art peter and upon this rock i will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it amen some somebody tried to say that peter that the church was built upon peter because he was they called him the first pope the first pope and and somehow they they tried to say that the church was built upon peter because the bible says whatever you bound on earth shall be bound in heaven whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven i'll give you the keys of the kingdom and so the church is built on peter and they misapply petros and petros peter means little rock and it even means grain of sand a tiny minuscule part of a greater whole of the petros the rock of ages i'm glad i know who the rock is and it's not peter bishop go there they tell me that charlie mahany was in in the in the vatican and they were having a tour we've all been blessed by the ministry of brother mahany brother mahani has passed away now over 10 years and we're still telling muhaini stories and he was walking through there with a group of preachers and saints in and the the priest was the guide of the tour and he was pointing out some fascinating historical things and and finally they got to a part where there was a big representation i believe there's a statue maybe of peter and he said he was the first pope and and everybody was watching and enjoying the historical narrative but we're apostolics and we know who jesus is and we know who peter was and we don't pray to peter we pray to jesus and oh back behind there brother mahani had his hands in his pockets kind of watching and he couldn't handle it anymore bishop he said now hold on a second have you ever heard by haley talk hold on a second hallelujah he said you say peter's the first pope he said yeah yeah he was he said well don't you say the pope can't get married he can't have a wife he's married to the bride of christ and his life is given to to the church so he doesn't get married he remains single and celibate his entire life but we read that peter had a mother-in-law so we know peter was married so how can he be the first pope and then as only mahani could say he said bub if you got a mother-in-law and didn't get a wife you got ripped off [Laughter] aren't you glad you know who the rock is this morning aren't you glad you know that upon that rock jesus christ oh yeah the government shall be upon his shoulder his name shall be called wonderful counselor mighty god everlasting father prince of peace that rock not upon peter but upon jesus hallelujah and he said i say unto thee thou art peter and he set in motion not some kind of a religious dogma but he set in motion a fiery apostolic pentecostal experience that would change the world that would set the world on fire he let pentecost loose into the world and what peter preached on the day of pentecost that was the binding and loosening and what he did with the samaritans that was the binding and loosening and what he did at acts 10 to the gentiles because peter was the man with the keys he opened the door for the jews he opened the doors to the samaritans and he opened the door to the gentiles and those keys ladies and gentlemen are repent of your sins be baptized in the name of jesus christ for the remission of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the holy ghost and for anybody that tries to stop you you tell them the promise is unto you and it's to your children and it's to all that are far off even as many as the lord our god shall call praise god that's heaven's story and the author is at work can i slow down a moment i want to take a little time because you are at a certain place in that story some of you are approaching the end of your story and if you have served god and love god then you know that god is faithful you know that there's no better life than living for god don't you let the those of you that are earlier in your narrative don't you let this world tell you that living for god is boring that's another narrative that's a lie that's not true don't you let the devil tell you that this is old-fashioned and it doesn't matter anymore it's a lie it's a false narrative it's a red herring [Applause] you gotta have a nose for truth brother newton that's where the idea of red herring comes from in the old days when the criminals were running away from the posse and they had the dogs on them the hounds would chase them they'd give them the scent of the wanted man he'd take off running he'd run through a stream to lose the scent then he'd take a an old smelly fish and he'd throw it off the other way and he'd take off the other way it was a red herring designed to get you chasing the wrong sin you gotta have a nose for the truth you gotta you gotta put your nose down to the to the ground and you got to say i believe this is where god's taken me every mo why do i pray when i wake up in the morning i'm finding the scent of the promises of god i'm pursuing something that is up ahead of me and i can't lose it and i can't miss the mark and i can't let and there's a devil that wants to knock you off track he wants to tell you this is outdated this is boring that you need some new doctrine some new way of living the devil is a liar he was a murderer from the beginning and the truth abode not in him there is a truth there is a godly account there is a true story who hath believed our report see there's more than one report and the question is whose report will you believe [Music] i can tell you about heaven's report the bible says to whom is the arm of the lord revealed heaven has a report when it begins to talk about the arm of the lord some people make a mistake they dive into hyper literalism in an american frame of mind and they think he's talking just about an arm but you need to know how the hebrews thought and you need to put your nose to the ground and search out the truth of the word of god because the arm is not a what the arm is a who when it talks about the right hand of god it's not talking about a location it's not talking about two thrones in heaven it's talking about the arm of the lord to whom is the arm of the lord revealed for he shall grow up before him as a root out of a dry crown there is no form nor comeliness in him no beauty that when we see him we should desire him he was despised and rejected of men a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and we hid as it were our faces from him the chastisement of our peace was upon him and your bible says that he was wounded for our transgressions and he was bruised for our iniquities i came to tell you today that the arm is jesus and you cannot allow another report to take you away from that truth so there is no such thing as my truth in your truth there's only the truth i don't care what that liberal professor says praise god there is the truth and you'll find it in the word of god now i want to say this because i really want to get this across the early stages of faith are characterized by mystery they are characterized by a lack of knowledge and you cannot see them clearly that's why it's faith the bible says that faith is the substance of things hoped for faith and hope are both hard things to let loose in your life it's hard to walk forward with something you can't see it's hard to hang on to something that's not there yet you have friends maybe you even think this way i'll believe it when i see it but you've got to learn what faith is all about because by it the elders obtained a good report there is a good report i had a lot of people tell me that serving god was a waste of my time they told me i didn't need to live in these rules and restrictions they told me that i was backwards they told me i was missing out i want every young adult young person in this room to hear me you are not missing out when you live for god you are living your best life while they're out friday night getting drunk and losing their mind and doing things that are going to destroy them you are not missing out on one thing don't you let hell talk you out of the promises of god there's a heavenly narrative there is a story being written and the end of it is what i'm aiming for i was 16 years old 17 years old and they said why don't you come with us to this party i had friends at my school that would say you don't have a television they laughed at me bishop they mocked me we had a computer programming class that was back in the days of basically probably three people in this room that know what basica is but you know that's like saying hieroglyphics now and and we sat down in front of a computer screen and a couple kids in the back said oh don't don't let nathan get caught he's looking at a screen everybody's a comedian they had a good time poking fun at me and they laughed and they chortled and all i knew was i had a faith in my heart all i knew was that the hope of the kingdom of god lay before me i had the preaching that came across the pulpit i i had the words of my patriarchs that carried me through and as the years passed our world has wisened up to the degree that now they know they're being being brainwashed they know that now that big tech has control of everything you better believe there's a narrative going forward and you better be able to tell the difference between a lie and the truth because they are calling things right that are wrong and they're calling things up that are down and they're calling things that used to be blasphemy they're calling them progress whose report are you gonna believe because 30 years later i'm here to tell you the word of god is true and the word of god is able it was true then and it's true now and i thank god that i walked by faith and not by sight and against hope i believed in hope and i staggered not at the promises but was strong in faith come on child of abraham that's your legacy that's your promise when they're mocking you you keep moving forward when they're trying to knock you off track you keep moving forward you keep speaking in tongues you keep glorifying god you know the difference between the holy and the profane [Applause] and i fought for heaven's narrative that's what preaching is it's why you come back on sunday morning is because you have to have the narrative refreshed and you come back on sunday night and god will refresh the narrative again and tuesday night god will refresh it again and thursday prayer meeting god will refresh it again and when you wake up in the morning you call on his name god will recalibrate you and he will re-emphasize and the way will become more clear [Applause] you might not see it up front but as you walk along and the pathway opens my god have mercy i feel the holy ghost i want to tell somebody the way has always been there you just couldn't see it did you know the path to egypt was always there the red sea was just in the way and god will bring you up to a place you can't see you don't know what to do and you're looking around what are we going to do how are we going to do this how are we going to get out of this god had a pathway from the foundation of the world and even if an ocean stands between you and god's narrative praise god oceans can't stop the purpose of god mountains can't stop the purpose of god that's what the scripture says if you have faith as a grain of a mustard seed you shall say to this mountain be thou removed that means the purpose of god supersedes everything in your life it transcends everything in our life now you don't know that at the front but at the end you're old you were young and now you're old and you've never seen the righteous forsaken and you've never seen him begging for bread and you tell your grandkids i was there and i saw the water part i was there and i saw the water come out of the rock i was there and i saw the bread come down from heaven everybody likes to tell the story at the end but nobody wants to try to hold on before it's obvious so where are you at in your story are you at the front are you at the back are you in the middle well i can feel the middle of the story right now i'm 44 years of age and i can feel prophetic wheels turning i can feel prophetic i can feel ancient hinges turning and opening i can feel doors bishop my when you got here and you had that little place that you were written down the way and had that little group of people could you have imagined what god was doing today you can see it in faith you can see it in hope but it's not here yet now 40 some years later here it is and you're on the other side and you're living that narrative and you're part of that story and god has done great things [Applause] i'm trying to hurry along there's something i really have to get across you can be seated when you're in it you don't realize how big it's going to be i told somebody one time and i've said this before i need to reiterate this it bears repeating it's worth repeating the will of god is the present kingdom job at hand if you're waiting on some big thing don't wait around find something that will help the kingdom and that is the will of god from from from the piece of paper that needs to be picked up to the leaves that need to be raked to the leaky roof that needs to be patched to the to the kind word to the new visitor to the humble bible study that's taught in a corner hallelujah to the child that you pick up and you bring to the house of god that everybody else forgot you don't know when you're gonna pick up an apostle oh i know i know that right now it doesn't look like a whole lot maybe they got grubby little fingers and maybe they got shabby little clothes but you don't know the next apostle that god has you don't know the next prophet that's gonna part the ocean you don't know this is a narrative this is a story and god's got things that are gonna blow your mind i can feel the holy ghost right now praise god second kings chapter four talks about a a woman the bible says that she saw the prophet elijah come by and he would come by the prophet had a circular route there's archaeological evidence that shows the routes the prophets took they would they would walk these routes and they would go by the villages and they would visit the people they would pray they led the people they would help the people teach the people and preserve the kingdom of israel during a time of great difficulty and elisha would walk by and the bible says she looked at her husband one day and said i perceive that this is a man of god one of the first things you've got to have is a perception i feel my help coming on me right now that was all my preliminary remarks i feel a little bit of preaching rising up in my backbone hey come not almost you're gonna find that whenever there's a great move of god there is a perception hallelujah i wish i had the time ladies and gentlemen because precept percept means pre-birth it means you see something before it's born it means you see something before it happens you're seeing something in the weeds you're seeing something on the rise you don't know exactly what it is it's like the woman at the well as jesus began to tell her things that could not be he she said i perceive that thou art a prophet close close but more than a prophet ma'am more than a prophet if you knew who i was if you knew she thought he was just a man anointed but she was talking to the el shaddai she was talking to elohim she was talking to jehovah she thought her relationship was going to get fixed but what he was doing was sowing the seeds of the samaritan revival acts 8 didn't start with philip acts 8 started with a little woman at a well that looked at jesus and said i perceive that was the beginning of the narrative ladies and gentlemen that was the beginning where are you at in this story are you the woman that's had five different relationships and the one you're in now isn't even legitimate is that where god's gonna start because god can start wherever you're at god can start in whatever circumstance you find yourself in some of you are perceiving that's what nicodemus said he said rabbi we know that thou art a and here it is it was close not quite didn't quite have it some of some of you and some watching they don't quite have it yet we know that you're a teacher come from god oh nicodemus oh yeah teacher's one thing but he's a lot more than that he's the wonderful counselor he's the mighty god and he's going to unleash something in this conversation [Applause] he's going to unleash something except a man is born again nicodemus he cannot enter the kingdom of god how can a man be born when he's old there's a lot of people that don't know that even right now in 2021 so let me clarify for you except a man is born of the water and of the spirit nicodemus he cannot enter into the kingdom of god and your perception has brought you right up next to the son of god she said i perceive this is a man of god some of you are taught you're caught and you're tossed in the valley of decision i preached it right before i left for jay as how long will you halt between two opinions halt doesn't mean hesitate halt means limp or to be crippled praise god don't you let the devil what god's doing in your life don't you let the devil rob your family because there's something that's going to explode out of this initial conversation i perceive this is a man of god and i'm beginning a narrative of faith i'm stepping into heaven's story there's a lot of places heaven could have shown its spotlight that day but it was on a little woman in the judean countryside and she the bible says that she would provide him bread after your perception it's a good idea to get some hunger one of the one of my favorite things in introducing people to god's narrative is bible study i want to sit down with them and i want to show them the things of god i'm not threatening them into heaven i'm not scaring them into heaven i'm not coercing them into heaven i'm not fellowshipping them into heaven now i believe in godly fear i believe in strong preaching i believe in fellowship but i believe that people hang on when they're hungry for the things of god i believe somebody's gotta want bread and oh do i have bread for you this morning i've got fresh bread his name is jesus and he knows how to satisfy every cigarette you ever smoked couldn't satisfy you every joint you ever toked couldn't satisfy you every the only thing that will satisfy you is the bread i'm trying to hurry because i know the hour is going late but the bible said that she fed him and then she told him let's build a little chamber for the man of god i'm convinced that the things you build now have a significance that you do not realize i think the stuff you're doing right now as humble as it looks as simple as it seems every peanut brittle sale every youth outing every prayer meeting every bible study every facility that we build on to i think it is all got a purpose far bigger than you could ever imagine you don't know the one event somebody's going to get the holy ghost you don't know what's going to take place in the future but there's another one who's writing this story and his opinion is powerful and his word is true and you might be on page five and he's got 300 pages to this story god will take you to the craziest places there's stuff in this story that that i love the stories of god's people i love the humble stories i love the simple stories i they they told me a story i didn't even know about the other day they told about great grandpa a.d urschen he was a pacifist he was a peaceful man he escaped militant radical islam one day when i have time i'll tell you how he talked about they would put blood in the bottles of the kurds to make the children bloodthirsty he wrote that in his diary i saw it in his own handwriting there was a man came to church one day and it was in new york city grandpa had a little church there i've been to the little church little shotgun style building and the man came in and was mad that his wife had got the holy ghost and she wouldn't live in sin and go drinking and and carousing with him anymore they used to bar hot but now she's full of the holy ghost wants to go to church and he's mad at that preacher he was a big man and he came in and he was abusive he would beat her when she would go home she would come in abused and she would keep coming to church anyway knowing she would be abused when she got home and he walked in that big man one day and walked to the front and in front of the entire church he backhanded his wife grandpa was a shepherd he jumped in front of that little woman he said don't hit her again and that man straightened his shoulders and grandpa was a little guy and this is a big guy and he said what are you going to do about it and grandpa looked at him and said in jesus name powell [Applause] and knocked the guy unconscious now i'm not trying to say that's the thing to do bishop but the bible did say whatsoever you do it word or d do it all of a name [Laughter] [Applause] just a little footnote in the narrative god will take you to places you can't imagine let's make a little room here for him and so now the man of god had a little bed and a little table a little chair when you make room for the kingdom of god heaven makes room for you when you invest yourself into the kingdom of god the spotlight of heaven moves on to you you step into the story you step into the narrative of heaven itself and it doesn't matter if babylon calls you daniel or shadrach or meshach and abednego what matters is what god calls you so it's not built to shazar in the lion's den it's daniel and the lion's den and the world can call you a statistic the world can call you a single mother the world can call you a drunk the world can call you a reject but god knows how to take you out of your circumstances and say no no no i've got plans for this one i've got a story that i'm writing you might have a bearing womb and not able to have a baby but god's got a big pen and the author the author begins to write the author begins to tell the story the ah [Applause] i know it's a little chamber i know it's not much i know i know but i could take you right now to the hill in la colonia roatan in spanish they'd call it to a 10 by 10 room with three little old ladies and that was our church service and me preaching with my head cocked to the side because the ceiling was six foot four inches you ever preached like that for an hour and i could take you today to the oceanside property that's there that's debt free three stories and right now right now there's an apostolic church of 150 people worshiping and praising and glorifying god and singing the songs of zion it starts with somebody saying let's build a little chamber listen that's that's when you you let the author loose in your life you you stop writing the story yourself and you allow god to take over the pen let my tongue be the pen of a ready writer i will speak of the things concerning the king my heart is indicting a good matter let my tongue be the pen of a ready writer i could take you to the first service november 15 1998 a little building on the second corner of 2nd street and woodford avenue where nobody came and me and my little wife and she's looking at me with these hopeful eyes like do you know what you're doing and my my 10 month old son and me thinking god's going to do a great work here that's faith it's not here yet you don't see it and if you fall apart when it's a little chamber if you fall apart in the perception stage if you fall apart in the embryonic stage of faith then you'll never see the finished product you'll never let the author get finished with what he wants to do but there's chapters to this there's there's going to be valleys in this there's going to be mountains there's going to be enemies david said if when you read the book of psalms david said things that let you know there were enemies that he said disappoint them oh god disappoint them ha you're going to have enemies listen they have plans for you they have malignant plans they want to see you fall they want to see you fail and david said disappoint them oh god i'm not fighting my own battle i'm fighting your battle the lord is my strength and my song he has become my salvation disappoint them author of heaven let their curses come to not let their threatenings come to not and let me look to zion let me look to jerusalem let me look to heaven's narrative i'm closing i've got to close i gotta hurry musicians can come but when you build for god god builds for you the prophet said what will i do for this woman and the servant said she doesn't have a baby he went to her what would you have they began to talk and he said at this time next year you'll have a son don't lie to me man of god please don't lie to me i've been let down before i've been betrayed before i've had disappointments there are some people in this place you've you face so many disappointments that you're afraid to even hope i tell you at this time you will have a son and it happened just like he said because when you get involved with god's business things open up you could never imagine now i could stop i could stop the narrative there but but god wasn't done yet i wish i could tell you it would all work i wish i could tell you everything turned out fine and that there were no problems but you've lived long enough and i've pastored long enough to know that not everybody gets healed and not everybody gets the miracle that they wanted and when that happens ladies and gentlemen you've got to trust the author i said you got to trust the author john baptist you're the greatest of prophets but god put a period on his life and he closed john's book sometimes he closes your book folks get bitter folks question god folks say how but john didn't john said he must increase and i must decrease the boy grew and there's a lot of life live there there's diapers changed did they have diapers in the old testament there's there's a lot of skin knees and a lot of banged shins and trips to the emergency room and birthdays and and front teeth missing and celebrations and one day in a field years have passed he falls he hits his head my head my head it's the sound no mother wants to hear they run to the boy and he dies sometimes there's chapters that are painful you've got to capture it all you can't let the fact that the verses don't extrapolate the whole narrative but you got to feel her pain you got to see the tears you got to see the dark thoughts that preacher lied to me and this the phrase who against hope believed in hope has to come to life in your in your story and she said go find the man of god she ran to him and as they came the prophet saw her coming the servant said here she comes and he said there's something troubling her but god hasn't showed it to me and when she came she caught him the servant went to thrust her away said leave her alone her anguish is real this is not fake ladies and gentlemen this narrative doesn't pull any punches and it doesn't sugarcoat anything it is the most real thing you could ever hope to be involved in she said i told you not to lie to me you said i'd have a baby and now this has happened he asked her is it well and right there there's a lot of things she could have said she could have said you forgot me you don't care about me this doesn't work i'm going back to what i used to be it's a lot of things she could have said but that woman looked at that prophet and said it is well because she's not dealing with the circumstance she's dealing with the author take me to the boy i hear here it is ladies and gentlemen here's where i've been taking these last few moments to get to the bible says that they took him to the little chamber and god raised that boy from the dead one of the most dramatic stories in the bible and i could preach about that i could talk about it but what i'm trying to show you is that while they built the chamber they had no idea they were building the birth of their miracle you don't know how the story's gonna wind up but he's the author and he is the finisher and what you're doing today has repercussions you cannot imagine there are things coming down the way from what you do today every bible study you teach every door you knock every little chamber you build every moment every outing every bible quizzing trip every little thing you do in this narrative later on has the potential to be the place where the dead are raised and the hungry are fed and life is restored and if you get lost in the beginning you'll never know the joy of the end stand with me this morning and lift your hands where are you at in your story where are you at in the narrative there's somebody in this place that needs to lift your hands and say it as well brother urshan there's some people that have gone through this and they can look back and say i have kept the faith i have finished my course there is henceforth laid up for me a crowd of righteousness hallelujah there are some people that are gathering materials for the little chamber right now but wherever you are in this narrative trust the author lift your hands as they sing as they worship let's love the lord i'm going to open up this altar right now i'm opening this altar i want somebody to come he said god i'm building a little chamber he goes before me what i'm building today could be the foundation for my backsled family what i'm building today can be the chamber to lay my dead dreams in later [Music] somebody trust the author somebody believe god somebody lift your hands to heaven say i don't see a god [Music] but it is well it is well with my soul i'll sing i won't i want [Music] ah that said lift your voice all over this building [Music] ah somebody left your voice [Music] somebody left your voice and your praise to heaven in the name of jesus i'm finding by placing the story pastor urshan i'm not there yet but god's not finished my story's not over hallelujah [Music] [Applause] [Music] yes [Music] oh somebody lift your voice to heaven somebody lift your voice [Music] [Applause] i am [Music] foreign [Music] he always [Music] his joy is refreshing [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] somebody help me glorify him today [Music] he always [Music] hallelujah [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] help somebody pray today in the name of jesus [Music] in the name of jesus [Music] christ [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] my [Music] [Applause] [Music] ah let's praise him this morning let's love him this morning let's give thanks unto him this morning [Music] he's my oh that's the holy ghost moving over you right now that's the holy ghost moving over you i can feel it somebody let god begin to write your story somebody let god tell the story somebody let god build the things in your life jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] i am [Music] let's lift our hands to heaven all over this building and let's give thanks until the lord let's love the lord in this house ah let's bless his name let's bless his name let's let's give thanks unto the lord today ah let's give thanks unto the lord today let's lift our hands let's lift our voices let's believe god let's trust in god let's give thanks to god hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah [Music] hallelujah ah what a beautiful presence of the lord is here right now what a beautiful presence of the lord is here right now let's give the lord a hand clap of praise for his great work thank you for your mercy thank you for not leaving me jesus thank you for writing me into the story heaven only knows the end of your story i was talking to a friend of mine and he told me i guess it would have been 25 years ago he walked into an apostolic church he worked at a tattoo parlor he specialized in piercing he was pierced all through his face all over his body tattooed he was a specialist and he walked into an apostolic church service in san jose california jimmy shoemakes and he had he was emotional as he said it he said there were two teenage boys preaching that night nathan and joel ershen and he said i looked up there i said if god can do it with them god can do it with me his name is ari prado in the moment you don't know when you're building the little chamber what's gonna come out of that little chamber later on you're just preaching you're just you're young you're you're at the beginning of the narrative but god's writing a story god's writing a story god's writing a story i want to be part of that story [Applause] amen amen amen brother ridge would you come dismiss us with a word of prayer service is tonight 6 30 prayers at six o'clock amen god bless you wow glory [Applause] oh we thank you lord for reaching down into this place once again in such a mighty way and reminding us lord of the things that you have shown us as we walk with you things we have faith in things we place hope in god you're ever mindful of us lord and though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death lord you're there beside us lord you walk with us you prepare a table before us in the presence of our enemies god you anoint our head with oil and eventually lord our cup runs over lord and we're able to bless others thank you lord that you're mindful of who we are where we are and what we're dealing with that you loved us enough to die on the cross for us thank you lord that you would bring this word to us today lord thank you lord for every blessing every answered prayer every need that you meet your hand of protection upon our lives lord thank you jesus god we ask that you would go with us as we go back out into that dark world lord help us the lord to shed your light abroad to those around us because there's a dying world out there that is miserable and looking for an answer that will change their lives lord and you are it go with us lord and keep us lord keep us we ask you lord to bring us back to this place lord where we will bring you praise and worship and glory once again in this house lord for you alone are worthy thank you again lord we praise you lord in jesus name god bless you you're dismissed in the name of the lord you you you you you

Channel: First Pentecostal Church of Durham

Views: 1,068

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: AZpAkwd2Qwc

Length: 141min 5sec (8465 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 28 2021