WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.640 Praise the Lord. It feels like a long time since 00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:08.539 I have shared on Sunday morning. And there's 00:00:08.539 --> 00:00:12.740 been so much happening. This week, we've had 00:00:12.740 --> 00:00:16.300 one thing after another. And this week, for a 00:00:16.300 --> 00:00:21.219 couple days, I just went, oh, thank you, Lord. 00:00:21.559 --> 00:00:27.699 You happy to be alive? Are you happy? To have 00:00:27.699 --> 00:00:34.280 the breath of God in your lungs. His air fueling 00:00:34.280 --> 00:00:41.020 you. Praise God. And so I am, because of that, 00:00:41.060 --> 00:00:43.259 I'm looking forward to sharing this word with 00:00:43.259 --> 00:00:47.439 you. I took two words and I combined them into 00:00:47.439 --> 00:00:49.960 one. So that means I get to preach twice as long. 00:00:50.740 --> 00:00:59.920 Is that right? Oh, oh, that was harsh. Who did 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:09.480 that? Brother Bill? Brother Bill? Wow. Yeah, 00:01:09.640 --> 00:01:16.760 now you're not getting out till 1230, Bill. You 00:01:16.760 --> 00:01:21.060 can all blame him. I told somebody this morning, 00:01:21.099 --> 00:01:24.500 I said, I feel ornery today. I don't know where 00:01:24.500 --> 00:01:30.879 that's going to take us. Thank you, Lord. But 00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:33.560 if you'll go with me in your Bible to Acts chapter 00:01:33.560 --> 00:01:40.340 12. Acts chapter 12. I want to talk a little 00:01:40.340 --> 00:01:45.459 bit to us this morning as your pastor. We have 00:01:45.459 --> 00:01:49.500 been through some things. And we're still going 00:01:49.500 --> 00:01:56.019 through some things. And I want to take the time 00:01:56.019 --> 00:02:01.079 to read an entire chapter. Is that okay if we 00:02:01.079 --> 00:02:05.200 honor God's word that way? I'm going to read 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:11.120 Acts chapter 12. Now about that time, Herod the 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:15.099 king stretched out his hand to harass some from 00:02:15.099 --> 00:02:21.830 the church. Then he killed James. the brother 00:02:21.830 --> 00:02:28.550 of John, with the sword. And because he saw that 00:02:28.550 --> 00:02:33.969 it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to 00:02:33.969 --> 00:02:37.650 seize Peter also. Now it was during the days 00:02:37.650 --> 00:02:40.069 of unleavened bread, so when he had arrested 00:02:40.069 --> 00:02:43.349 him, he put him in prison, delivered him to four 00:02:43.349 --> 00:02:47.770 squads of soldiers, that's 16 soldiers, to keep 00:02:47.770 --> 00:02:51.219 him. intending to bring him before the people 00:02:51.219 --> 00:02:54.419 after Passover. Peter was therefore kept in prison, 00:02:54.539 --> 00:02:58.840 but constant prayer was offered to God for him 00:02:58.840 --> 00:03:02.719 by the church. And when Herod was about to bring 00:03:02.719 --> 00:03:05.960 him out that night, Peter was sleeping, bound 00:03:05.960 --> 00:03:09.750 with two chains between two soldiers. And the 00:03:09.750 --> 00:03:12.389 guards before the door were keeping the prison. 00:03:12.710 --> 00:03:16.069 Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him 00:03:16.069 --> 00:03:18.310 and a light shone in the prison and he struck 00:03:18.310 --> 00:03:21.389 Peter on the side and raised him up saying, arise 00:03:21.389 --> 00:03:26.030 quickly. And his chains fell off his hands. Then 00:03:26.030 --> 00:03:28.969 the angel said to him, gird yourself and tie 00:03:28.969 --> 00:03:32.169 on your sandals. And so he did. And he said to 00:03:32.169 --> 00:03:36.590 him, put on your garment and follow me. So he 00:03:36.590 --> 00:03:40.250 went out and followed him and did not know that 00:03:40.250 --> 00:03:43.830 what was done by the angel was real, but thought 00:03:43.830 --> 00:03:47.069 he was seeing a vision. And when they were past 00:03:47.069 --> 00:03:49.810 the first and the second guard posts, they came 00:03:49.810 --> 00:03:52.590 to the iron gate that leads to the city, which 00:03:52.590 --> 00:03:57.289 opened to them of its own accord. And they went 00:03:57.289 --> 00:04:00.629 out and went down one street, and immediately 00:04:00.629 --> 00:04:05.330 the angel departed from him. And when Peter had 00:04:05.330 --> 00:04:09.500 come to himself, He said, now I know for certain 00:04:09.500 --> 00:04:12.620 that the Lord has sent his angel and has delivered 00:04:12.620 --> 00:04:16.019 me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation 00:04:16.019 --> 00:04:20.439 of the Jewish people. So when he had considered 00:04:20.439 --> 00:04:24.180 this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother 00:04:24.180 --> 00:04:29.399 of John, whose surname was Mark, where many were 00:04:29.399 --> 00:04:33.819 gathered praying. And as Peter knocked at the 00:04:33.819 --> 00:04:38.269 door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to 00:04:38.269 --> 00:04:41.990 answer. And when she recognized Peter's voice 00:04:41.990 --> 00:04:45.670 because of her gladness, she did not open the 00:04:45.670 --> 00:04:49.490 gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood 00:04:49.490 --> 00:04:53.569 before the gate. But they said to her, you are 00:04:53.569 --> 00:04:57.889 beside yourself. Yet she kept insisting that 00:04:57.889 --> 00:05:01.649 it was so, so they said, it's his angel. Now 00:05:01.649 --> 00:05:05.069 Peter continued knocking. And when they opened 00:05:05.069 --> 00:05:08.389 the door and saw him, they were astonished. But 00:05:08.389 --> 00:05:11.910 motioning to them with his hand to keep silent, 00:05:12.129 --> 00:05:14.490 he declared to them how the Lord had brought 00:05:14.490 --> 00:05:18.269 him out of the prison. And he said, go tell these 00:05:18.269 --> 00:05:22.870 things to James and the brethren. And he departed 00:05:22.870 --> 00:05:26.970 and went to another place. Then as soon as it 00:05:26.970 --> 00:05:31.050 was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers. 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:34.740 about what had become of Peter. But when Herod 00:05:34.740 --> 00:05:37.040 had searched for Peter and not found him, he 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:39.720 examined the guards and commanded that they should 00:05:39.720 --> 00:05:43.740 be put to death. And he went down from Judea 00:05:43.740 --> 00:05:47.360 to Caesarea and stayed there. Now Herod had been 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:50.139 very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, 00:05:50.199 --> 00:05:52.560 but they came to him with one accord, and having 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:55.500 made Blastus the king's personal aide their friend, 00:05:56.089 --> 00:05:58.410 They asked for peace because their country was 00:05:58.410 --> 00:06:02.290 supplied with food by the king's country. So 00:06:02.290 --> 00:06:09.029 on a set day, Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, 00:06:09.250 --> 00:06:14.209 sat on his throne and gave an oration to them. 00:06:14.410 --> 00:06:17.610 And the people kept shouting, the voice of a 00:06:17.610 --> 00:06:22.550 God and not of a man. And then immediately, an 00:06:22.550 --> 00:06:26.399 angel of the Lord struck him. Because he did 00:06:26.399 --> 00:06:31.399 not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms 00:06:31.399 --> 00:06:37.680 and died. But the word of God grew and multiplied. 00:06:37.879 --> 00:06:40.800 We'll stop right there. Father, I thank you for 00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:44.660 your word this morning. And I just ask that your 00:06:44.660 --> 00:06:48.240 anointing that is on your word would just flow 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:54.500 through my words this morning. And I just ask 00:06:54.500 --> 00:06:58.139 that you would penetrate our hearts. Penetrate 00:06:58.139 --> 00:07:04.259 our hearts in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, Stephen 00:07:04.259 --> 00:07:06.680 was the first martyr of the church. You can read 00:07:06.680 --> 00:07:10.879 about that in Acts chapter 7. But this situation 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:14.980 was a little bit different. Because this was 00:07:14.980 --> 00:07:22.709 the first of the twelve apostles. Judas was replaced 00:07:22.709 --> 00:07:27.230 by Matthias in Acts chapter 1. And of those 12, 00:07:27.769 --> 00:07:34.009 James was the first to be martyred. In time, 00:07:34.250 --> 00:07:37.990 11 of them would go on to be martyred. James' 00:07:38.269 --> 00:07:40.970 brother John, who wrote the book of Revelation 00:07:40.970 --> 00:07:45.110 late in life from the island of Patmos, would 00:07:45.110 --> 00:07:50.339 be the only one to die a natural death. You need 00:07:50.339 --> 00:07:56.959 to understand how James' death impacted the church. 00:07:58.339 --> 00:08:04.959 James was an apostle. Paul taught us in Ephesians 00:08:04.959 --> 00:08:10.639 chapter 2 that the household of God, verse 20, 00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:15.040 having been built... on the foundation of the 00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:19.420 apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being himself 00:08:19.420 --> 00:08:23.500 the chief cornerstone in whom the whole building 00:08:23.500 --> 00:08:27.259 being fitted together grows into a holy temple 00:08:27.259 --> 00:08:31.240 in the Lord. Paul taught us that apostles and 00:08:31.240 --> 00:08:36.700 prophets were the foundation of the church. And 00:08:36.700 --> 00:08:41.480 the twelve had been the foundation of the church. 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:46.000 Up until this time, the five -fold ministry is 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:48.700 also listed in Ephesians chapter 4, apostle, 00:08:48.820 --> 00:08:53.019 prophet, pastor, teacher, evangelist. And Paul 00:08:53.019 --> 00:08:57.059 said that the five -fold ministry is God's gift 00:08:57.059 --> 00:09:00.919 to you so that you can mature and grow in your 00:09:00.919 --> 00:09:04.899 faith in Christ. And so there are people that 00:09:04.899 --> 00:09:10.220 are called into the ministry that this, that... 00:09:10.620 --> 00:09:14.580 Paul is describing here that God uses to equip 00:09:14.580 --> 00:09:19.259 the rest of the church to reach the lost and 00:09:19.259 --> 00:09:26.840 grow the kingdom of God. So apostles were, especially 00:09:26.840 --> 00:09:31.919 in that time period, viewed as incredibly important. 00:09:32.059 --> 00:09:34.220 I believe that apostles are incredibly important 00:09:34.220 --> 00:09:37.360 in today's time period as well. But we're talking 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:43.100 here one of the twelve. And it impacted the church. 00:09:43.740 --> 00:09:53.440 Now, apostolic power was really important. In 00:09:53.440 --> 00:09:57.519 Acts chapter 7, when there was revival in Samaria, 00:09:57.620 --> 00:10:01.240 who did Philip call when they wanted to receive 00:10:01.240 --> 00:10:04.980 the baptism of the Holy Spirit? They called the 00:10:04.980 --> 00:10:08.279 apostles, and Peter and John came and laid hands 00:10:08.279 --> 00:10:11.139 on them, and they received the baptism of the 00:10:11.139 --> 00:10:15.129 Holy Spirit. We see in the next chapter, in chapter 00:10:15.129 --> 00:10:19.330 8 and verse 1, when the dispersion came. This 00:10:19.330 --> 00:10:21.929 is when they tried to kick all of the Christians 00:10:21.929 --> 00:10:25.870 out of Jerusalem. It says in verse 1, at that 00:10:25.870 --> 00:10:29.909 time a great persecution arose against the church, 00:10:30.090 --> 00:10:34.169 which was at Jerusalem, and they were all scattered 00:10:34.169 --> 00:10:37.889 through the regions of Judea and Samaria, except 00:10:37.889 --> 00:10:45.200 the apostles. The apostles had staying power 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:51.379 in the face of all of the government. And so 00:10:51.379 --> 00:10:54.740 you begin to understand their strength. In Acts 00:10:54.740 --> 00:10:57.600 chapter 2 and verse 42, it says, They continued 00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:02.399 steadfastly in the teaching of the apostles. 00:11:02.620 --> 00:11:05.820 apostles. They didn't have a New Testament. They 00:11:05.820 --> 00:11:09.059 didn't have a church full of teachers. They didn't 00:11:09.059 --> 00:11:12.120 have YouTube to go and listen to. They didn't 00:11:12.120 --> 00:11:15.039 have all of those things. The apostles teaching 00:11:15.039 --> 00:11:19.100 the foundational truths was what they had. And 00:11:19.100 --> 00:11:21.840 so they went from house to house. When problems 00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:25.940 arose in the church, they at one point came to 00:11:25.940 --> 00:11:29.080 the apostles and said, solve this problem for 00:11:29.080 --> 00:11:32.610 us. But listen to what the apostles said. Therefore, 00:11:32.690 --> 00:11:36.149 brethren, seek out from among you seven men of 00:11:36.149 --> 00:11:38.830 good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and 00:11:38.830 --> 00:11:42.149 wisdom, who we may appoint over this business, 00:11:42.350 --> 00:11:46.629 but we as apostles will give ourselves to prayer 00:11:46.629 --> 00:11:51.330 and to the ministry of the word. And so these 00:11:51.330 --> 00:11:58.789 were the apostles. And now James is arrested. 00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:02.919 Now his death came about more quickly because 00:12:02.919 --> 00:12:07.139 when Peter was arrested, the Passover came. But 00:12:07.139 --> 00:12:10.639 I want to ask you a question. Do you think when 00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:15.299 James, the apostle, was arrested by Herod that 00:12:15.299 --> 00:12:21.519 the church began to pray? I believe they did. 00:12:22.620 --> 00:12:25.440 I believe that the church began to call out on 00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:28.730 God. I don't believe that they just like Peter 00:12:28.730 --> 00:12:39.289 better than James. For Pete's sake. That came 00:12:39.289 --> 00:12:46.169 from the depths of my soul. They prayed for James 00:12:46.169 --> 00:12:54.529 to be released. They sought God. They sought 00:12:54.529 --> 00:13:00.860 the Lord. For his release. But what happened? 00:13:03.139 --> 00:13:09.639 James. The apostle. Was put to death. By the 00:13:09.639 --> 00:13:15.580 sword. These believers. You need to remember. 00:13:16.259 --> 00:13:19.799 Did you know that all the apostles had been in 00:13:19.799 --> 00:13:23.039 prison before? All of them. Let me read it to 00:13:23.039 --> 00:13:27.250 you. Acts 5 .17. Then the high priest rose up 00:13:27.250 --> 00:13:28.990 and all those who were with him, which is the 00:13:28.990 --> 00:13:31.429 sect of the Sadducees, they were filled with 00:13:31.429 --> 00:13:34.950 indignation and laid their hands on the apostles 00:13:34.950 --> 00:13:39.169 and put them in the common prison. This is all 00:13:39.169 --> 00:13:42.230 of them. But at night, an angel of the Lord opened 00:13:42.230 --> 00:13:46.610 the prison doors and brought them out and said, 00:13:46.649 --> 00:13:49.049 go stand in the temple and speak to the people 00:13:49.049 --> 00:13:51.789 all the words of this life. And the story goes 00:13:51.789 --> 00:13:56.340 on. James had been in prison before. Peter had 00:13:56.340 --> 00:13:59.460 been in prison before. The angel of the Lord 00:13:59.460 --> 00:14:03.340 had come and set them all free before. And so 00:14:03.340 --> 00:14:07.360 they knew that God could work an incredible miracle. 00:14:08.080 --> 00:14:12.639 And now James is arrested and the church is praying. 00:14:15.259 --> 00:14:20.519 But he's put to the sword. And I want to ask 00:14:20.519 --> 00:14:24.980 you a question this morning. What are you going 00:14:24.980 --> 00:14:32.679 to do in your relationship with God when he does 00:14:32.679 --> 00:14:52.000 not answer your prayer? What are you going to 00:14:52.000 --> 00:15:02.480 do? We could just try to move on from the situation 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:07.580 that has just happened. But how many of you were 00:15:07.580 --> 00:15:13.679 believing for Gary's healing? Yeah. Did you know 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:16.720 that even one of the Illinois basketball players 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:21.899 was praying for Gary's healing? In the final 00:15:21.899 --> 00:15:28.679 four. I thought, who in this, Church has reach 00:15:28.679 --> 00:15:38.279 like that. God didn't answer our prayer. And 00:15:38.279 --> 00:15:40.559 we find ourselves in the middle of Acts chapter 00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:50.620 12. What are we going to do when God colors outside 00:15:50.620 --> 00:15:53.879 the lines? Let me just share a few things here 00:15:53.879 --> 00:15:59.440 that are true. One, life. sometimes happens outside 00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:07.440 the lines of your theological box. People have 00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:19.000 asked me, was it God that took Gary? And I don't 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:29.220 have an answer. I don't have an answer. But I 00:16:29.220 --> 00:16:32.080 know this, that God sometimes colors outside 00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:38.659 of my box. Things happen in this life that don't 00:16:38.659 --> 00:16:44.299 fit neatly into the things that I believe. And 00:16:44.299 --> 00:16:50.500 they're challenging. And God is showing us in 00:16:50.500 --> 00:16:52.700 situations like this because you've all been 00:16:52.700 --> 00:16:54.500 there. In fact, you can think of other times 00:16:54.500 --> 00:16:59.740 in your life when you said, why God? did this 00:16:59.740 --> 00:17:06.059 happen? And the truth is that he is bigger than 00:17:06.059 --> 00:17:10.359 our understanding. The second thing is this, 00:17:10.359 --> 00:17:17.980 that God is God and we are not. And you have 00:17:17.980 --> 00:17:24.460 to be okay with that. I refer to the passage 00:17:24.460 --> 00:17:27.900 that says this, my thoughts are not your thoughts, 00:17:28.059 --> 00:17:31.220 nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For 00:17:31.220 --> 00:17:33.839 as the heavens are higher than the earth, so 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:37.819 are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts 00:17:37.819 --> 00:17:43.200 than your thoughts. And as much as God reveals 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:48.240 to us, he doesn't reveal everything to us. And 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:52.160 the passage in 1 Corinthians 13 that says this, 00:17:52.380 --> 00:18:00.160 for now we see in a mirror, And there are times 00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:04.359 in our lives where we feel like I am seeing clearly. 00:18:04.900 --> 00:18:09.140 Everything is being blessed. Everything is happening 00:18:09.140 --> 00:18:11.740 the way it's supposed to happen. I am seeing 00:18:11.740 --> 00:18:15.420 clearly. But then there are times that smack 00:18:15.420 --> 00:18:18.819 us in the face with the truth of this word that 00:18:18.819 --> 00:18:26.829 we see dimly as in a mirror. He goes on and he 00:18:26.829 --> 00:18:31.630 says, now I know in part, but then I shall know 00:18:31.630 --> 00:18:33.829 fully. And that's where Gary's at right now. 00:18:33.930 --> 00:18:36.970 He sees face to face and he doesn't speak in 00:18:36.970 --> 00:18:39.430 tongues anymore. For the first time in his life, 00:18:39.529 --> 00:18:41.430 he doesn't need to speak in tongues anymore. 00:18:41.950 --> 00:18:45.230 You know, tongues are for this side of eternity. 00:18:45.390 --> 00:18:49.230 They're not for that side of eternity. He sees 00:18:49.230 --> 00:18:57.440 face to face. And that's good news. We see as 00:18:57.440 --> 00:19:01.799 in the darkened glass, the King James says. And 00:19:01.799 --> 00:19:06.220 fourthly, there are mysteries in the faith that 00:19:06.220 --> 00:19:11.480 we cannot solve. When I was studying this passage 00:19:11.480 --> 00:19:17.259 in Acts chapter 12, the Fire Bible notes say 00:19:17.259 --> 00:19:22.039 this, quote, God allowed James, the brother of 00:19:22.039 --> 00:19:28.299 John, And one of Jesus' closest original disciples 00:19:28.299 --> 00:19:33.819 to die. Yet he sent an angel to rescue Peter. 00:19:34.839 --> 00:19:40.039 That James should die while Peter lived for further 00:19:40.039 --> 00:19:44.519 ministry is an example of the mysterious way 00:19:44.519 --> 00:19:51.039 of God with his people. James had the honor of 00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:53.660 being the first of Jesus' original disciples 00:19:53.660 --> 00:20:01.059 to be martyred in his faith in Christ. End of 00:20:01.059 --> 00:20:06.299 quote. It's a mystery why God answers this prayer 00:20:06.299 --> 00:20:09.660 and not that one. We sing a song here sometimes 00:20:09.660 --> 00:20:13.619 called Miracles. I believe in you. I believe 00:20:13.619 --> 00:20:19.759 in you. You're the God of miracles. The author 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:23.880 of that song wrote that song just after his child 00:20:23.880 --> 00:20:29.660 passed away. And yet he still stood before the 00:20:29.660 --> 00:20:34.279 church and said, I believe in you. You're the 00:20:34.279 --> 00:20:39.500 God of miracles. Do you think that father has 00:20:39.500 --> 00:20:43.019 an answer? And you're connecting with some of 00:20:43.019 --> 00:20:47.539 this because you have had questions in your life. 00:20:49.069 --> 00:20:53.009 And I just want to just draw off this passage 00:20:53.009 --> 00:20:57.470 and say, so what should I do? What should I do 00:20:57.470 --> 00:21:03.769 when I don't understand what God has done? And 00:21:03.769 --> 00:21:07.170 the first thing that I want to call you to church 00:21:07.170 --> 00:21:14.910 is this, to keep believing God. I want to say 00:21:14.910 --> 00:21:17.130 that again, and I want to hear somebody say amen 00:21:17.130 --> 00:21:21.470 when I say it. God wants us to keep believing 00:21:21.470 --> 00:21:26.069 him. Amen? He wants us to keep believing him. 00:21:26.369 --> 00:21:33.049 Our role is to believe God. Hallelujah. And in 00:21:33.049 --> 00:21:37.009 Hebrews chapter 11, it says this. These all died 00:21:37.009 --> 00:21:41.529 in faith, not having received the promises, but 00:21:41.529 --> 00:21:45.650 having seen them afar off, were assured of them, 00:21:45.849 --> 00:21:49.450 embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers 00:21:49.450 --> 00:21:53.309 and pilgrims on the earth. Did you catch that? 00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:56.880 God gave them promises and they said, Lord, I 00:21:56.880 --> 00:22:01.019 believe your promises. But they died having not 00:22:01.019 --> 00:22:05.519 received the fulfillment of the promise. And 00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:08.839 sometimes that's the way that it is. That we 00:22:08.839 --> 00:22:12.279 believe, we continue to believe God. Do you know 00:22:12.279 --> 00:22:15.339 what brings pleasure to God? Do you know what 00:22:15.339 --> 00:22:20.119 brings pleasure to Him? Faith. Without faith, 00:22:20.180 --> 00:22:24.299 it is impossible to please God. So what is it 00:22:24.299 --> 00:22:27.880 that pleases God? When a son, when a daughter 00:22:27.880 --> 00:22:34.180 stands and says, I believe you. Hallelujah. I 00:22:34.180 --> 00:22:38.660 believe God. I am standing in the place of faith. 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:41.039 You know what? You're bringing pleasure to the 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:45.490 Lord. And so I want to call you, and if you've 00:22:45.490 --> 00:22:47.750 had something happen that you don't understand, 00:22:47.849 --> 00:22:51.089 that God hasn't given you an answer on, or that 00:22:51.089 --> 00:22:54.170 He hasn't answered your prayer, or if heaven 00:22:54.170 --> 00:22:57.109 has been silent on something, I want to encourage 00:22:57.109 --> 00:23:01.529 you to dig your spiritual heels in and keep believing 00:23:01.529 --> 00:23:05.289 God anyway, church. Keep believing God anyway. 00:23:05.589 --> 00:23:10.930 Come on. Secondly, I want to call you. to keep 00:23:10.930 --> 00:23:17.450 giving yourself to prayer. God did not answer 00:23:17.450 --> 00:23:21.930 their prayer for James. And when Peter was arrested, 00:23:22.130 --> 00:23:25.549 did they throw up their hands and say, well, 00:23:25.630 --> 00:23:30.769 I guess it's going to happen to Peter too. That's 00:23:30.769 --> 00:23:36.410 not what they did. What did they do? They turned 00:23:36.410 --> 00:23:41.420 up. their prayer even higher. And they sought 00:23:41.420 --> 00:23:44.359 the Lord. You notice that phrase, it said, but 00:23:44.359 --> 00:23:49.940 constant prayer was offered to God. And we can 00:23:49.940 --> 00:23:54.240 infer that that prayer was on Peter's behalf. 00:23:56.160 --> 00:24:02.299 Let me ask you another question. Did these believers 00:24:02.299 --> 00:24:10.519 all have absolute, pure faith that Peter would 00:24:10.519 --> 00:24:19.339 be released? When Rhoda came with the news that 00:24:19.339 --> 00:24:29.680 Peter was free, they said, no. That can't be. 00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:33.279 The moral of the story is don't send someone 00:24:33.279 --> 00:24:38.930 named Rhoda to the door. Hopefully, is anybody 00:24:38.930 --> 00:24:50.009 here named Rhoda? It's a beautiful name. They 00:24:50.009 --> 00:24:53.529 didn't even believe, they didn't have full faith. 00:24:57.470 --> 00:25:04.569 Yet, what did they do? They prayed anyway. They 00:25:04.569 --> 00:25:08.660 prayed anyway. Can I encourage you to not allow 00:25:08.660 --> 00:25:14.339 your feelings to determine whether you're going 00:25:14.339 --> 00:25:18.839 to pray or not? What your mind is telling you 00:25:18.839 --> 00:25:23.200 is sometimes different than what you know to 00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:26.829 be the word of God. Can I encourage you to ignore 00:25:26.829 --> 00:25:29.650 what your mind is telling you? Can I encourage 00:25:29.650 --> 00:25:32.130 you all those feelings that are trying to bring 00:25:32.130 --> 00:25:34.589 you down? Well, it didn't happen last month. 00:25:34.710 --> 00:25:38.269 It didn't happen last week. I guess it's not 00:25:38.269 --> 00:25:40.410 going to happen this week. Can I encourage you 00:25:40.410 --> 00:25:44.690 to tune out those voices and to pray anyway? 00:25:46.009 --> 00:25:50.170 Hallelujah. When you don't have absolute faith, 00:25:50.269 --> 00:25:54.470 pray anyway. When you're discouraged and don't 00:25:54.470 --> 00:25:59.349 understand, pray anyway. These believers gathered 00:25:59.349 --> 00:26:04.210 to pray and they doubled down. And they said, 00:26:04.210 --> 00:26:08.750 we're still going to trust in our Savior. Hallelujah. 00:26:10.190 --> 00:26:15.869 Number three, when you don't understand. Guard 00:26:15.869 --> 00:26:25.859 yourself from getting bitter. Guard yourself 00:26:25.859 --> 00:26:33.160 from getting offended with the Lord. There was 00:26:33.160 --> 00:26:36.539 a prophet that Jesus said was the greatest of 00:26:36.539 --> 00:26:42.640 all the prophets. Anybody know his name? John 00:26:42.640 --> 00:26:48.119 the Baptist. John the Baptist. He was Jesus' 00:26:48.380 --> 00:26:57.420 cousin. Related by earthly blood. Arrested. And 00:26:57.420 --> 00:27:05.640 he's in prison. And he had baptized Jesus. He 00:27:05.640 --> 00:27:09.079 had prophesied over him. Behold the Lamb of God 00:27:09.079 --> 00:27:12.759 that takes away the sin of the world. He had 00:27:12.759 --> 00:27:16.119 baptized people alongside of Jesus' disciples 00:27:16.119 --> 00:27:25.430 later on. He had watched. Jesus' ministry increased, 00:27:25.609 --> 00:27:28.630 and what did he say? He must increase, I must 00:27:28.630 --> 00:27:34.630 decrease. He was an awesome man of God. And while 00:27:34.630 --> 00:27:39.589 he's in prison, and he sends some of his disciples, 00:27:39.950 --> 00:27:43.809 and he said, would you go and ask Jesus, are 00:27:43.809 --> 00:27:47.470 you the one or are we to wait for another? And 00:27:47.470 --> 00:27:50.349 after seeing everything that John the Baptist 00:27:50.349 --> 00:27:55.500 saw, you would think that by then he would know 00:27:55.500 --> 00:28:01.079 the answer. He had heard all of the reports. 00:28:02.680 --> 00:28:07.440 And so they came, and this is what Jesus said 00:28:07.440 --> 00:28:11.720 in Matthew 11 verse 4. Jesus answered and said 00:28:11.720 --> 00:28:14.559 to them, go and tell John the things you see 00:28:14.559 --> 00:28:19.099 and hear. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers 00:28:19.099 --> 00:28:21.480 are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, 00:28:21.559 --> 00:28:27.440 the poor have the gospel preached to them. Well, 00:28:27.460 --> 00:28:32.539 can I tell you something? John already knew all 00:28:32.539 --> 00:28:39.579 of that. John knew that there were miracles. 00:28:42.079 --> 00:28:47.269 John knew. That the blind saw and the dead were 00:28:47.269 --> 00:28:50.869 raised and the lame walked. John knew all of 00:28:50.869 --> 00:28:56.930 that. Do you know what Jesus is saying to John? 00:28:58.690 --> 00:29:02.869 He's saying this. John, I'm not going to tell 00:29:02.869 --> 00:29:12.750 you. I'm not going to answer your question. And 00:29:12.750 --> 00:29:18.609 then he said this. And blessed is he who is not 00:29:18.609 --> 00:29:30.029 offended because of me. Right now, the spirit 00:29:30.029 --> 00:29:36.029 of offense is raging through the church. We're 00:29:36.029 --> 00:29:41.049 offended with people for how they voted. We're 00:29:41.049 --> 00:29:48.420 offended with people for disagreeing in different 00:29:48.420 --> 00:29:53.779 ways. Did you know that we can get offended with 00:29:53.779 --> 00:29:59.740 God for things that happen in our lives? People 00:29:59.740 --> 00:30:04.140 live in bitterness toward the Lord for decades. 00:30:05.619 --> 00:30:09.099 Because of that time, God didn't answer my prayer. 00:30:13.609 --> 00:30:18.730 Blessed is he who is not offended with me. Blessed 00:30:18.730 --> 00:30:27.309 is he who, when they don't understand, hold fast. 00:30:29.089 --> 00:30:33.930 Jesus would later say to Thomas after he was 00:30:33.930 --> 00:30:38.680 raised from the dead, He, because Thomas said, 00:30:38.740 --> 00:30:41.700 unless I see, unless I see Jesus, unless I put 00:30:41.700 --> 00:30:45.099 my hands, my fingers in the holes in his hand 00:30:45.099 --> 00:30:48.579 and his side, I will not believe. And Jesus appeared 00:30:48.579 --> 00:30:51.019 to Thomas and said, Thomas, come here. Put your 00:30:51.019 --> 00:30:54.319 hands, put your fingers in my hands. Touch my 00:30:54.319 --> 00:30:58.200 side. Touch my side. Thomas, and Thomas said, 00:30:58.339 --> 00:31:02.440 Lord, I believe. And Jesus said something. He 00:31:02.440 --> 00:31:07.559 said, blessed are those who have not seen and 00:31:07.559 --> 00:31:12.059 yet believe. Now there are areas of your life 00:31:12.059 --> 00:31:16.420 where you see Jesus at work and you go, hallelujah, 00:31:16.579 --> 00:31:22.039 I believe. I see the miracle. I see God at work. 00:31:22.119 --> 00:31:26.160 It's powerful in my life. But what are you going 00:31:26.160 --> 00:31:32.500 to do when you don't see? Blessed are those who 00:31:32.500 --> 00:31:41.099 do not see and still believe. Hallelujah. You 00:31:41.099 --> 00:31:43.240 have things happen in your life that you don't 00:31:43.240 --> 00:31:45.420 understand, but you say, you know what, God? 00:31:45.859 --> 00:31:50.700 I am still going to believe you. Who out there 00:31:50.700 --> 00:31:53.140 will say that? I want to be like that. I want 00:31:53.140 --> 00:31:55.640 to be like that. I want to be somebody that believes 00:31:55.640 --> 00:31:59.990 no matter what. Oh, my God. Friend, lay down 00:31:59.990 --> 00:32:01.930 your bitterness and your offense. Do you know 00:32:01.930 --> 00:32:03.809 what you can do? You can just come to the Lord 00:32:03.809 --> 00:32:06.960 and you can say, God, I allowed... bitterness 00:32:06.960 --> 00:32:10.180 to come into my heart. Would you release me from 00:32:10.180 --> 00:32:12.960 this bitterness? Will you just release me from 00:32:12.960 --> 00:32:15.839 this offense? I've been offended with you, God, 00:32:15.900 --> 00:32:17.960 and so I've been holding you at arm's length. 00:32:18.140 --> 00:32:20.420 I don't want to do that anymore. Will you wash 00:32:20.420 --> 00:32:23.579 me in your blood? Will you forgive me, God? And 00:32:23.579 --> 00:32:27.460 will you help me be a person that is not offended 00:32:27.460 --> 00:32:30.000 with you, that is blessed? Because I believe 00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:32.279 no matter what. Do you know you can pray that 00:32:32.279 --> 00:32:34.900 prayer this morning, and you can believe for 00:32:34.900 --> 00:32:39.240 that to happen in you? your life. I've got one 00:32:39.240 --> 00:32:41.460 more thing I want to share here in just a moment, 00:32:41.559 --> 00:32:46.400 but I want to commend those of you who believed 00:32:46.400 --> 00:32:51.140 for Gary's healing right up until the final moment. 00:32:52.119 --> 00:32:55.220 I was there when several of you were praying 00:32:55.220 --> 00:32:59.799 over Gary, believing for healing. And I was there 00:32:59.799 --> 00:33:04.099 as Gary was declaring just a couple of days before 00:33:04.099 --> 00:33:07.240 he passed, I am healed in Jesus' name. He was 00:33:07.240 --> 00:33:11.559 declaring that. And I want to commend those of 00:33:11.559 --> 00:33:15.900 you that stood in faith till the final moment. 00:33:16.680 --> 00:33:22.920 That brings pleasure to God. And Gary was believing. 00:33:23.019 --> 00:33:25.519 Even the day before, I laid hands on him and 00:33:25.519 --> 00:33:28.559 I said, be healed in the name of Jesus. And he 00:33:28.559 --> 00:33:33.039 was receiving that prayer. Many of you were praying. 00:33:34.240 --> 00:33:36.559 And I want to commend those of you that have 00:33:36.559 --> 00:33:42.000 taken a hard look into your own life. More than 00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:45.059 one of you has come to me and said something 00:33:45.059 --> 00:33:51.109 to this effect. Pastor, I saw. That Gary's life 00:33:51.109 --> 00:33:57.529 counted for something. And I want my life to 00:33:57.529 --> 00:34:01.569 count for something. And some of you have taken 00:34:01.569 --> 00:34:05.730 an introspective look and said, what can I do 00:34:05.730 --> 00:34:11.050 to make my life count for something? And I want 00:34:11.050 --> 00:34:14.449 to commend you for that. And there are many across 00:34:14.449 --> 00:34:17.920 this city right now. That are saying that same 00:34:17.920 --> 00:34:21.179 thing. I want my life to count for something. 00:34:22.099 --> 00:34:28.280 Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. And although I don't 00:34:28.280 --> 00:34:31.960 understand it all. I know this. God is not going 00:34:31.960 --> 00:34:36.099 to waste the death of his servant. And any suffering. 00:34:36.139 --> 00:34:40.179 God does not waste suffering in the kingdom of 00:34:40.179 --> 00:34:44.800 God. He uses it for his glory. And he transforms 00:34:44.800 --> 00:34:49.489 many. Jesus said of his own life, he said, unless 00:34:49.489 --> 00:34:52.869 a seed dies and falls to the ground, it doesn't 00:34:52.869 --> 00:34:56.030 produce fruit. And I feel the same way for Gary, 00:34:56.110 --> 00:34:59.190 that a seed has fallen to the ground and it is 00:34:59.190 --> 00:35:02.650 going to produce fruit in people's lives across 00:35:02.650 --> 00:35:06.769 this entire region in the name of Jesus. Hallelujah. 00:35:09.969 --> 00:35:17.289 Church, you have done well. Keep. Believing God. 00:35:19.489 --> 00:35:27.010 Keep believing God. I want to conclude with the 00:35:27.010 --> 00:35:31.030 phrase that we see during Herod's tragic death. 00:35:33.610 --> 00:35:42.150 He set himself against God. In verse 21, it says 00:35:42.150 --> 00:36:04.820 this. A set day, Herod. A set day. On Tuesday, 00:36:05.019 --> 00:36:10.119 during my devotions, I normally read four chapters 00:36:10.119 --> 00:36:14.119 in my devotions. And on Tuesday, I read two verses. 00:36:16.969 --> 00:36:21.449 And I was reading in Genesis chapter 21, and 00:36:21.449 --> 00:36:24.429 it said this, for Sarah conceived and bore Abraham 00:36:24.429 --> 00:36:30.309 a son in his old age at the set time of which 00:36:30.309 --> 00:36:34.349 God had spoken to him. Everybody say set time. 00:36:35.429 --> 00:36:38.869 So in Herod's case, we have a set day. In Sarah's 00:36:38.869 --> 00:36:42.590 case, giving birth to Isaac, we have a set time. 00:36:44.079 --> 00:36:48.320 And that was actually foreshadowing another miracle 00:36:48.320 --> 00:36:51.420 birth that would take place thousands of years 00:36:51.420 --> 00:36:55.400 later whose name was Jesus. In Galatians chapter 00:36:55.400 --> 00:36:59.639 4, it says this, when the fullness of time had 00:36:59.639 --> 00:37:05.300 come, God sent forth his son to be born of a 00:37:05.300 --> 00:37:09.820 virgin whose name was Mary. And so we have a 00:37:09.820 --> 00:37:13.260 set time for Herod. We have a set time for Sarah. 00:37:13.400 --> 00:37:16.380 We have a set time for Mary giving birth to Jesus. 00:37:16.500 --> 00:37:21.280 These are all set times. I began to think of 00:37:21.280 --> 00:37:24.780 Daniel. Listen to this. In Daniel chapter 9 and 00:37:24.780 --> 00:37:28.159 verse 2, Daniel, who had been deported to Babylon 00:37:28.159 --> 00:37:33.480 as a teenager, is now in his 80s and later in 00:37:33.480 --> 00:37:36.500 his life. And in Daniel 9 -2, it says, in the 00:37:36.500 --> 00:37:39.340 first year, of the reign of the king, of the 00:37:39.340 --> 00:37:42.900 new king, I, Daniel, understood by the books 00:37:42.900 --> 00:37:47.340 the number of the years specified by the word 00:37:47.340 --> 00:37:50.320 of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet that 00:37:50.320 --> 00:37:53.980 he would accomplish 70 years in the desolation 00:37:53.980 --> 00:37:57.440 of Jerusalem. Let me translate that for you. 00:37:57.869 --> 00:38:02.690 Jeremiah said that the exile into Babylon would 00:38:02.690 --> 00:38:07.329 last for 70 years. And Daniel, now reading that, 00:38:07.510 --> 00:38:12.170 just did the math and said, 70 years are almost 00:38:12.170 --> 00:38:17.250 over. Do you know what Jeremiah was saying? There 00:38:17.250 --> 00:38:22.269 is a set time for deliverance, the deliverance 00:38:22.269 --> 00:38:28.820 of Israel. Hallelujah. And so we have a set day 00:38:28.820 --> 00:38:33.119 for Herod. We have a set time for Sarah and for 00:38:33.119 --> 00:38:38.519 Mary. And now we have a set day, a set year for 00:38:38.519 --> 00:38:43.460 deliverance from the exile into Babylon. These 00:38:43.460 --> 00:38:49.650 are moments in time that are fixed. Hebrews 9 00:38:49.650 --> 00:38:54.269 .27 applies to King Herod. It is appointed unto 00:38:54.269 --> 00:38:59.630 man once to die and then to face judgment. An 00:38:59.630 --> 00:39:07.269 appointed time. Wow. And I began to look through 00:39:07.269 --> 00:39:13.150 these scriptures. And I came across Psalm 102, 00:39:13.630 --> 00:39:21.050 verse 13. And I want to declare a set time over 00:39:21.050 --> 00:39:26.010 Faith Church this morning. I want to declare 00:39:26.010 --> 00:39:35.130 a set time of favor. Psalm 102 .13, when I read 00:39:35.130 --> 00:39:40.039 this on Tuesday morning, it went... And when 00:39:40.039 --> 00:39:42.460 we read this, I think Suzanne read this scripture 00:39:42.460 --> 00:39:45.639 at the seniors prayer meeting, which any seniors 00:39:45.639 --> 00:39:48.340 can come to. It's at one o 'clock on Wednesday 00:39:48.340 --> 00:39:50.900 afternoon. We can get you directions to be there. 00:39:50.940 --> 00:39:53.280 We had 10 people there last time. It was awesome. 00:39:54.219 --> 00:39:58.920 And when Suzanne read this scripture, the power 00:39:58.920 --> 00:40:02.380 of God was released into the room. And it was 00:40:02.380 --> 00:40:04.840 tangible. Those of you that, wave if you were 00:40:04.840 --> 00:40:12.019 there. Wasn't it tangible? It just went... And 00:40:12.019 --> 00:40:16.340 I just sat there kind of stunned at the power 00:40:16.340 --> 00:40:19.519 of the Word of God. And I want you to listen 00:40:19.519 --> 00:40:24.460 to this passage. Psalm 102 .13 You will arise 00:40:24.460 --> 00:40:31.079 and have mercy on Zion for the time to favor 00:40:31.079 --> 00:40:39.269 her. Yes, the set time has come. I want to read 00:40:39.269 --> 00:40:41.710 that again. Because I don't know if you picked 00:40:41.710 --> 00:40:44.369 up on that for you, for your family, for this 00:40:44.369 --> 00:40:47.869 house. I want to read it again. You will arise 00:40:47.869 --> 00:40:52.510 and you will have mercy on Zion for the time 00:40:52.510 --> 00:41:03.449 to favor her. Yes, the set time has come. There 00:41:03.449 --> 00:41:06.789 is a set time for Herod's death. There is a set 00:41:06.789 --> 00:41:09.949 time for Isaac's birth. There is a set time for 00:41:09.949 --> 00:41:12.949 the birth of the Messiah. There was a set time 00:41:12.949 --> 00:41:16.530 for the deliverance of the Israelites out of 00:41:16.530 --> 00:41:22.849 Babylon. And there is a set time for God to pour 00:41:22.849 --> 00:41:30.489 out favor on his people. Zion oftentimes represents 00:41:30.489 --> 00:41:36.619 the New Testament church. Friends, we are about 00:41:36.619 --> 00:41:42.960 to enter in to the days of favor. Will anybody 00:41:42.960 --> 00:41:45.679 say, I want that on my family. I want that for 00:41:45.679 --> 00:41:48.500 my life. I want the favor of God on my life. 00:41:51.199 --> 00:41:56.159 The favor of God. The favor of God is on this 00:41:56.159 --> 00:42:06.449 house. The favor of God is in this place. I believe 00:42:06.449 --> 00:42:08.969 that every person that attaches themselves to 00:42:08.969 --> 00:42:11.690 Faith Church will have the favor of God upon 00:42:11.690 --> 00:42:14.809 their family, upon their finances, upon every 00:42:14.809 --> 00:42:18.150 aspect of their life. The favor of God is going 00:42:18.150 --> 00:42:20.889 to come upon them. It's why healing happens. 00:42:21.070 --> 00:42:24.429 It's why restoration happens. It's why God gives 00:42:24.429 --> 00:42:29.050 back families in Jesus' name. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. 00:42:29.769 --> 00:42:33.860 Hallelujah. God is doing incredible works in 00:42:33.860 --> 00:42:38.860 families right now, putting families back together, 00:42:39.099 --> 00:42:43.659 drawing families by His Spirit, bringing prodigals 00:42:43.659 --> 00:42:46.980 home, doing incredible things because the favor 00:42:46.980 --> 00:42:51.519 of God is on this house. The favor of God is 00:42:51.519 --> 00:42:56.960 on your life. I want to receive the favor of 00:42:56.960 --> 00:43:01.639 God in everything that He is bringing into my 00:43:01.639 --> 00:43:07.000 life. So I preached both of my messages this 00:43:07.000 --> 00:43:11.960 morning. And I want to give you an opportunity 00:43:11.960 --> 00:43:18.260 to respond if Alexander would come and the team 00:43:18.260 --> 00:43:29.550 to play. Maybe you've been in a place where You 00:43:29.550 --> 00:43:36.849 know you can't stay there any longer. Place that 00:43:36.849 --> 00:43:40.610 God's calling you from. And you know that there's 00:43:40.610 --> 00:43:45.570 a place that he is calling you to. And this morning 00:43:45.570 --> 00:43:47.550 you want God to do that work. Do you know the 00:43:47.550 --> 00:43:53.969 greatest miracle of all is when we give our life 00:43:53.969 --> 00:44:01.269 to Jesus. Hallelujah. And just as a quick bunny 00:44:01.269 --> 00:44:06.210 trail, the most important part of the celebration 00:44:06.210 --> 00:44:11.170 of life was when Kathy stood up and said, when 00:44:11.170 --> 00:44:16.349 Gary gave his life to Jesus, that the first word 00:44:16.349 --> 00:44:19.449 that was ever spoken to him was this, study to 00:44:19.449 --> 00:44:23.019 show yourself approved unto God. and that every 00:44:23.019 --> 00:44:26.559 morning he had his Bible open, studying to show 00:44:26.559 --> 00:44:30.300 himself approved unto God. And if you want to 00:44:30.300 --> 00:44:34.420 be a person of significance, if you want to make 00:44:34.420 --> 00:44:37.139 a difference in your world, there's no shortcuts. 00:44:38.699 --> 00:44:41.400 You can't just come down to the altar and have 00:44:41.400 --> 00:44:44.099 the pastor pray over you and then the rest of 00:44:44.099 --> 00:44:46.300 your life will be great. It doesn't work that 00:44:46.300 --> 00:44:49.000 way. You've got to get up tomorrow and you've 00:44:49.000 --> 00:44:51.079 got to read the word. And you've got to get up 00:44:51.079 --> 00:44:52.840 the next day and you've got to read the word. 00:44:53.000 --> 00:44:55.019 And you've got to get up the next day and the 00:44:55.019 --> 00:44:57.360 next day and the next day. And you've got to 00:44:57.360 --> 00:45:01.219 get yourself in the word of God. There is no 00:45:01.219 --> 00:45:06.300 shortcut. But there are moments in time where 00:45:06.300 --> 00:45:12.599 we make a turn and we say, God, I want my life 00:45:12.599 --> 00:45:17.079 to count. Maybe I've been a bit disillusioned. 00:45:17.079 --> 00:45:22.960 Maybe God has not met my expectations. But I 00:45:22.960 --> 00:45:27.280 am still going to serve Him. And I'm going to 00:45:27.280 --> 00:45:31.039 turn this morning and I'm going to say, God, 00:45:31.159 --> 00:45:40.119 I believe. you. God I believe you. I'm not abandoning 00:45:40.119 --> 00:45:53.019 my faith. I believe you. I believe you. This 00:45:53.019 --> 00:46:13.360 is our God. What a God. So, Father, in this room 00:46:13.360 --> 00:46:16.920 right now, there are people that you are calling 00:46:16.920 --> 00:46:24.260 by your spirit, saying, son, daughter, come up 00:46:24.260 --> 00:46:33.300 here. Come up here to a higher place. And you 00:46:33.300 --> 00:46:39.780 this morning, you want to answer that call. And 00:46:39.780 --> 00:46:42.179 you want to say, God, I want to step into everything 00:46:42.179 --> 00:46:50.980 that you've got for me. I want to enter in to 00:46:50.980 --> 00:46:55.340 the promise of God for my life. If that's you 00:46:55.340 --> 00:46:58.280 on the count of three, I just want you to stand 00:46:58.280 --> 00:47:01.269 up and come down to the altar. In the name of 00:47:01.269 --> 00:47:03.829 Jesus, whether it's one or whether it's 35 or 00:47:03.829 --> 00:47:06.289 the whole group, it does not matter. You just 00:47:06.289 --> 00:47:09.429 respond to what the Lord is doing in your life. 00:47:09.489 --> 00:47:13.070 Something is going to shift in your life this 00:47:13.070 --> 00:47:20.829 morning. In Jesus' mighty name. One, two, three. 00:47:21.309 --> 00:47:23.710 Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on. 00:47:31.940 --> 00:47:36.239 Hallelujah. Hallelujah. No more status quo. No 00:47:36.239 --> 00:47:39.300 more sitting on the sidelines. Come on. No more. 00:47:39.320 --> 00:47:42.380 No more. No more. No more. You're saying yes. 00:47:42.619 --> 00:47:46.260 You're saying yes to God this morning. Hallelujah. 00:47:46.400 --> 00:47:48.880 Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.