Thank you for listening to this message from
Lifehouse Church. God's presence. Amen. Yeah,
awesome. Awesome. So good. I never want to take
that for granted. Please don't. When God moves
in a corporate setting like this, just jump in
because God, when he's stirring, when God stirs
the water, there's healing that takes place.
When God stirs the water. Things change, right?
The atmosphere changes. And he begins to do a
work. So anytime that's taking place, just jump
in, man. Begin to worship. Put your hands up.
Close your eyes because your neighbor might be
bothering you, right? Amen? Just put them off
to the side. Family, whatever. And just focus
on him because he'll move in your life truly.
I want to take a moment just to pray. And we
will pray over these balls typically every week,
not quite every week. But these balls, if you're
new with us, these green balls represent invitations.
And you might say, well, why do you pray over
those? Because we believe this. We believe if
you invite somebody. We want God's Spirit to
go out ahead and just prepare their hearts. Somebody
that might be far from God, we want to invite
them. We want them to be prepared and ready to
come in. And that happens by the Holy Spirit.
People come here to meet God, not me, not the
staff, the volunteers, all that. They really
come to meet God, and we want that to take place.
So if you invite somebody, put their name on
there and stick it in there because these get
prayed over, and God goes ahead and does all
those things. You do the work of the invitation.
The Holy Spirit does the work of bringing them.
Amen? So if you bow your heads. Father, thank
you for this day. God, thank you for the opportunity
to dive into your word. God, see what your word
does and speaks to us and God, how it can change
us. But Lord, as we pray over our ears and God,
our souls and our hearts, Lord, to receive. We
pray over these balls. And, God, we ask, Lord,
that, God, each invitation that has gone out,
Lord, that you would go ahead and reach out to
that person. Lord, that you would minister to
them, that you would speak to them. And, Lord,
that they would draw in to meet you. God, wherever
that is, if that's there, if it's here, or anywhere
in between, Lord, just meet them where they are,
and we just give you praise. We give you glory
and honor. In Jesus' name, everybody say it together.
Amen. Amen. If you invited somebody, fill this
tank up. I know there's a bunch of you out there
that invite somebody and you never put anything
in the tank. People are praying over these, all
right? Come on, let them join in with you. Truth,
truth. Amen? Good? All right, awesome. I got
three people on board with me with that. Well,
listen, in my son's senior year of high school,
he bought himself a truck. And he had a truck
previous to that, but he worked for a couple
years, and he bought himself a truck, and it
was jet black. They're going to put it up on
the screen here for you. Come on, guys. Yeah,
come on. It was very cool. It was lifted. Sorry,
little hillbilly roots coming out there. It was
lifted. You know, it had a V8 in it. It had aftermarket
tires on it. It had dual exhaust, stainless steel
exhaust. It had lightning, Ford lightning seats
installed in it. It was just cool. It was jacked
up. It ran quick. And it got noticed when you
drove by. And every once in a while, I would
sneak out and take it for a drive because I wanted
to make sure it was safe for my son to drive
it. Right? Go wheeling around town a little bit
and come back. It was awesome. It was great until
it wasn't. All right? Something can be awesome
until it isn't. Yeah, yeah. Long story short,
we started to have multiple mechanical issues
with this truck. It ended up being about a five
-month ordeal that cost a lot of money, a lot
of headache, a ridiculous amount of time going
back to a repair shop, right? And when we finally
got the truck back on the road, it still wasn't
right. So we kept driving it, and we took it
back about six more times to get fixed. A couple
of different places, if I remember right. And
we just couldn't get it right. And I remember
thinking to myself, because I like a challenge,
and I don't like losing. So I'm thinking, what
in the world do I do with this thing? Have you
ever got to that spot where you're like, what
in the world should I do? What to do, right?
And I'm kind of like, ugh. And I'm frustrated
and I'm aggravated. And I'm glad it was my son's
money and not mine. You know, he was half broke.
And we were both complaining to anybody that
would listen to the story that we were about
to tell. And finally, in a desperate attempt.
to fix this truck that was no longer so much
fun. I took a day off work and studied the problem
for a little bit, and I consulted one last expert
in a last -ditch attempt to fix this thing called
YouTube. How many of you ever gone to YouTube?
Yeah, all right. Found someone who had the exact
same issue as we did, and three hours later,
we had this truck running like a top. It was
fantastic. It was great. But way too often, we
drive ourselves down the road with a check engine
light on, with something spitting and sputtering
in our lives. We're not sure what to do, when
to do it, how to do it, right? Where to get it
done. And sometimes you just need to take the
day off and get with Jesus. Sometimes you got
to take the day because you're not sure what
to do in this thing called life. And I can assure
you that if you take the time, Jesus has the
what to do for your I don't know what to do.
Amen? Spitting and sputtering. So if you got
your Bibles this morning, I want you to go to
the book of Matthew. We're going to start at
chapter 7. We're going to slide on down to verse
7. That's easy enough to remember. Matthew chapter
7, verse 7. And it says this. Ask, and it will
be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock.
and it will be open to you. For everyone who
asks, receive. And he who seeks, finds. And to
him who knocks, it will be open. Or what man
is there among you who, if his son asks for bread,
will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish,
will he give him a serpent? If you then, being
evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your Father who is in heaven
give good things to those who ask him? Jesus
is preaching on the northwestern shore of the
Sea of Galilee, and hundreds, maybe thousands
of people are gathered on these grassy slopes.
And this is one of the things that Jesus preaches.
And I love it because this is one of my favorite
verses in Scripture. I've got multiple Scriptures
that I love, but this is one of my favorites
in all the Bible. It should be one of yours,
right? We all want to go to this verse and say,
yes. This is my verse, right? Yes, I name and
claim it, even though I don't do that, right?
I don't really name and claim things, but like
yes and amen to this verse. Ask and it'll be
given to you. Seek and you're going to find.
Knock, it'll be open to you. For everyone who
asks, receives. He who seeks, finds. To him it
knocks. What's not to like? It's an amazing scripture.
I will gladly lay claim to this one. I receive
it, right? In the name of Jesus. Bring it on.
Anybody with me in this? Come on, right? This
is a verse. This is a scripture. This is amazing.
It makes you want to start praying right now
for whatever it is you're looking for, right?
Whatever you're asking for. You just stop right
here and knock on the door. Like, Jesus, I need
this. I got some, I got a need in my life. Because
I know this, I know something about knocking
on door. I know who's on the other side of that
door. If I go knock it, Jesus is on the other
side of that door. The answer is right on the
other side of the door. The provision, the peace,
the promise, right? The resources, everything
that we need is on the other side of the door.
It's on the other side of the ask. It's right
on the other side of the seek with the King of
Kings and the Lord of Lords. I know this. I believe
it. It's awesome and it's good news for every
single one of us sitting here in the house. If
you're listening online this morning, but to
be perfectly honest, can I be perfectly honest
this morning? Come on, to be perfectly honest,
this scripture almost seems too good to be true,
doesn't it? It does. Can it really be that easy?
Can it be that simple that all I got to do is
ask? and I'll receive. All I got to do is seek
God out, and he'll provide, right? All I got
to do is knock, and God's going to open the door.
It's almost hard to believe. You know, as we
look at this and we read it, maybe we gloss past
it. Maybe we think Jesus is being dramatic while
he's out on his hillside preaching that day.
Maybe we think some way this is just literary
exaggeration, right, for the reason of bringing
a point across. Sometimes we'll think those kind
of things. But understand this, and you might
even be asking that in your own spirit, in your
own heart right now. Jesus gives us the right
to ask and to seek and to knock. He gives us
the right to. He gives us the right. He gives
us the permission. He gives us the instruction.
He gives us the directive. Do this, right? This
is what we should do when we don't know what
to do. If we need something or someone in a situation
for things to shift in our life, we need to ask.
We need to seek. We need to knock. Listen, if
you knock on Jesus' door, He's not going to throw
you off the porch, right? He's not going to duck
inside the house, pull down the shades, and hide
behind the curtains like you do when the Mormons
and Jehovah's Witnesses show up, right? He's
not going to do that. I was looking who's laughing
about all that, right? When the traveling salesman
comes, and one more time, this is my neighborhood,
they want to sell you solar panels. I'm like,
the last guy came, I felt like telling him, like,
hey, I don't want solar panels, and please tell
your friends I don't either, because they keep
coming. They keep coming, right? Jesus says,
go ahead, ask. Go ahead, seek. Go ahead and knock.
And he's not exaggerating. He's not being dramatic.
And we know this because if you read down into
the next scriptures, he clarifies what he says.
He doesn't make a passing statement and then
just keep on going in his message. He says in
verse nine, or what man of you there among you
who if his son asked for bread will give him
a stone? Or if he asked for fish, he will give
him a serpent. You then, being evil, know how
to give good gifts to your children. How much
more will your Father who is in heaven give good
things to those who ask them? Jesus is telling
the crowd that day. He's telling us, right, that
the heavenly Father actually enjoys giving us.
He actually enjoys it. The things that we're
looking for. Our Heavenly Father is not perched
up on a throne somewhere, you know, out there
in the cosmos with his arms crossed. He's not
looking down on us with a scowl on his face.
He's not the angry dad that you might have grown
up with, right? He's not ready to pounce or trounce
on you if you got some kind of request from him.
That's not him. He's not poised and positioned
just waiting for the opportunity to hit the reject
button. You know, the request comes in, denied,
boom. denied, boom, right? He loves his kids.
He really does. It's his good pleasure to give
to them when we call on him. He's looking for
us to call on him. Somebody needs to hear this
this morning. Somebody, you need to get this
in your spirit. I have three amazing adult children,
and they're married, and they have produced five
super amazing great children, grandchildren,
right? And any one of them, any one of them come,
my children, my grandchildren, my son -in -laws,
my daughter -in -law, if they come to Dixie and
I and they ask for help for something, they don't,
but if they would come and ask for help for something,
we would not sit there and think, you know, oh,
gee whiz, I don't know. You know, I know you
need this, but we don't sit around and go, I
don't know if I really want to do that. Right?
We'd have a smile on our face, like, yeah, how
can we help, right? And it's one of those smiles,
real smiles that you have when you give, not
one of those fake ones. You ever see one of those
fake ones when somebody wants to give something?
This happens at offerings sometimes. Here we
go, Jesus. How many of you talk through your
teeth when you don't really want to do something?
Here we go, Jesus. It reminds me a little bit
of my granddaughter. One of my kids told me this
story. One of our granddaughters, they were trying
to teach her about tithing and she had 10, I
think it was $10 bills. And they were trying
to teach her like, hey, you give God a 10th back,
right? That's God, you wanna give that back?
And they're trying to teach her. And she was
like, she was highly offended that she had to
give a dollar back to God. She really was. She
didn't want to give it in the offering, and they
had to pretty much pry George Washington out
of her hands when they got to church to teach
her about tithing and putting in the offering.
And she did it, and they really kind of worked
with her and taught her. And actually, next week
she came back, and I think she gave everything
to God, which is super cool. But our father is
not up there just looking down his nose and thinking,
I don't want to give to my children. He's not
doing that. He loves us. If you know him as Lord
and Savior, he's looking down. He knows that
you have need. He wants to meet you there. And
if I am evil in comparison, because that's what
the word of God says, right? And I am. My righteousness
is as filthy rags compared to God's. I don't
have any righteousness outside of Jesus Christ.
I really don't. There's no righteousness in me
outside of him. And if I know how to give good
gifts to my kids, how much more? Does the father
in heaven who is righteous, who has everything
at his disposal, want to give to his children?
Amen. It's true. And you might have grown up
with the most stingy, self -serving father on
the planet, right? Maybe even an evil father,
right? And he hasn't given you nothing but grief
and trauma or pain or maybe even bruises. That's
not your heavenly father. It really isn't. Don't
superimpose what's on this earth onto God himself
because it's not true. We have a father who loves
us, and he cares for us, and he wants to give
us. All we got to do is ask, seek, and knock.
It's your right. Jesus told us to do it. He said
it's his good pleasure to answer when his children
ask. Say it with me. Ask. Seek. Knock. I want
you to say it again. Ask. Seek. Knock. Tell somebody
beside you, you need to knock on the door. Tell
them right now. You got to knock on the door,
man. And I want you to say it to get in your
spirit, because I know some of you have doubts
about what I'm saying this morning. I know some
of you struggle with believing this. Can I take
a minute and just do something? I'm going to
read your mind this morning. Not because I have
any superpowers, not because I'm weird or flaky
or super spiritual in some kind of way. I'm just
human, right? I know what some of you are thinking.
You're thinking, Pastor, I've done this before.
In fact, Pastor, I've not only asked God, but
I've sought God, right? Pastor, I've come and
begged God for something. I knocked on the door.
Right? Till my knuckles bled. I stayed on my
knees over and over again asking him. Pastor,
I sought him. I looked into his word. I did all
the things. I've asked God. And nothing. Right?
Nothing. Can I just keep it real? Anyone know
what I'm talking about? Am I the only one who
ever experienced that? You thought to yourself,
well, maybe it's those other Christians, right?
I'm a Christian, and maybe just all those other
people get their prayers answered. Maybe God
just answers people. Maybe I got to say my prayer
just right. I've already thought that. You know,
maybe I got to just get it super right, and then
God automatically answers. Yeah, I've been there.
Got the t -shirt, right? You've done this. And
we think to ourselves, you know, what? What am
I doing wrong? What am I doing wrong? What Jesus
said, he meant. The Father means it. The Holy
Spirit means it. We just have to ask or understand
something about ourselves, about our humanity.
We all come asking God. We all come seeking God.
We all come knocking to God, if you're a follower
of Jesus. But sometimes we come looking for the
answer, and we all come with a preconceived idea
what that answer should be. Amen? Anybody with
me? You ever go to God in prayer? And honestly,
most of us, if not all of us, before we go to
God and we ask God for something, we already
have the preconceived idea, like this is the
right answer, God. Amen? You know what I'm talking
about? Jesus, I'm coming, but can I tell you
what the right answer is in all this? Right?
We come asking him for our will, and we got this
preconceived idea what the right answer is and
what it should look like and what our will is
and the whole thing. And all we're really going
to do is for God to match up with what we're
thinking. You know, like this is it, right? I
need this, God, and this is what it should look
like. God, could you hop onto my train right
now, right? Take the ride with me and go to where
I'm thinking. And I'm here to tell you this morning,
it may not always look like what my answer is
not always going to look like what the Heavenly
Father looks like, right? His answer is going
to look different from mine. I may not always
like my Heavenly Father's answer to my request.
I may not like it. He may not respond to the
request just the way I'm thinking. I might not
love what I end up with in the seek at first.
I might not love what the other side of the door
is going to look like initially, at first. Right?
I might not like the answer. Growing up, I was
fortunate. I really was. My earthly father, my
dad, who is still alive and with us, is a Christian.
And my dad almost never raised his voice. I never
hit a point in my life where I felt like my dad
didn't love me. I never felt threatened or belittled
in any kind of way. It was just never a thought
in my head. And I know I'm fortunate, but I can
assure you that my dad did not always say yes
to my request. As a matter of fact, he said more
no's than he did yes's to my request, I know.
I remember when I was 16 years old, And I got
my license, and that was the greatest, one of
the great highlights of my life was to get my
license. I thought freedom was, you know, before
me, the world was mine because I got my license.
And I remember finding this car, and I had worked
up until this point and saved it. And it was
an AMC Javelin. Anybody remember those? They
were only around a little while. Yeah, thank
you. Some of us are over 50. We remember it,
right? And it was awesome. And it looked awesome.
It sounded awesome. And I remember taking my
dad to see this car, and I wanted it so bad.
I tried every tactic a 16 -year -old can use
on their parents to convince them to do something,
right, to get in line with it. And my dad was
like, no. He's like, no. And I'm like, Dad, it's
perfect. I got the funds. This is amazing. Look
at the fine. Jesus lined us up, Dad, all right?
We are destined for one another, me and this
car. Right? And you know what I learned about
my dad? My dad was not Santa Claus. He loved
me way more than Santa Claus. He knew when to
say no to me. And I knew why he said no to me
because we took this car for a ride. It had crazy
horsepower. And I know what my dad was thinking.
He's thinking, I'm not giving my 16 -year -old
son this because he's going to kill himself in
this thing. Right? It has too much power. He's
not going to be able to handle it. He's not experienced
enough to drive it. And dad said, no. I know.
Can you believe it? Right? And I'll take it a
few steps further. My dad was okay with letting
me suffer at times. You know, now. He let me
suffer to learn some valuable skills. My parents
did not buy me everything at every little request.
As a matter of fact, if I wanted something, I
remember going to him with a list of things like
you do when you're a kid for something. And I
remember my dad saying, you know what my dad
did for me and all that? He found me a job. He
did. He worked with a guy who was a beef. cattle
farmer, and his name was Mr. Butler, and I remember
Mr. Butler used to drive around in a green truck,
and I remember Mr. Butler, because he always
had his rearview mirror tilted completely sideways.
I have no idea. I don't know if the man had vision
problems. I don't know what was going on, but
I remember him coming and picking me up in that
truck, and I'd go work for this guy, and I'd
bale hay with him. I remember painting his foundation.
He wanted his foundation painted. I did all these
things. You know how old I was? I was 12 when
my dad got me my first job. 12 years old. And
I received plenty of no's. And, you know, looking
back, I'm like, man, dad, this would have been
a lot easier if you just gave this to me, right?
This would be, my life would be much simpler.
You know, dad, if you just take care of this.
But my dad had some deep wisdom. My dad had a
work ethic and he wanted to teach me what a work
ethic was. And I thank him today for that very
thing. At times. At times, the Heavenly Father
is going to come with a no, he's going to come
with a yes, or he'll come with a wait. It's going
to be one of the three. He's going to tell you
yes to things, he's going to tell you no to something,
and at times he's going to tell you to wait.
How many of you like to wait? Yeah, me either,
right? No hands in the house, right? And it's
just that we've got to have faith in his answer,
that it's going to pan out in the long run. Sometimes
Jesus will leave me in the struggle. He will
give me a no because it is in my benefit for
the long run to ask, to seek, and to knock, and
to listen to what he has to say. Now, I got to
clarify something right here. As I was preparing
this message, I want to make a clarification.
It is never God's will that you are being abused.
Hear me in this, okay? God will leave you in
the struggle. but it is never our father's will
for you to be abused. My dad would never have
stood for somebody abusing me, ever. It's never
the Father's will for you to be damaged, hurt,
or injured. The enemy comes to steal, kill, and
destroy. God said that I come that you might
have life and you might have it abundantly. He'll
leave you in the struggle sometimes because it's
going to be good for you in the long run. But
if somebody's abusing you, that's not God, right?
If you're in the middle of being abused in some
kind of way, you need to tell someone that's
beside you. You need to let somebody know that
can make a difference to do something about that.
And so many people, you know, sometimes they
come to the question, well, Pastor, why does
God love you? allow that to happen? Why doesn't
God just physically stop them? I'm like, yeah,
I know, we just squash them, right? Boom. That's
what we're thinking sometimes. But here's the
thing, God gives each person, God never violates
his own word, his own will, his own purpose,
and God gives every single person in humanity
a universal gift of free will. I don't know if
you realize that. Not only on the earth, but
in heaven, even the angels have free will. It's
a universal law of God. He fully gives to each
one of us. So if somebody is using the gift of
God that God has given to all of us as a weapon
to hurt others, to willfully sin, right, to destroy
others, they're going to answer one day. They
will walk. If they don't repent and change their
ways, they're going to stand before God. But
in the meantime, If you're being abused, you
need to tell somebody. You need to get to an
authority. You need to let somebody know because
it's the body of Christ that surrounds you, right,
that is your protection in all this. I needed
to make this clarification. God will let you
in the struggle. He'll let you strain, but it's
only to lift you up. He'll tell you no for the
benefit of his glory and your benefit in the
long run. He'll do it, but he will not. He doesn't
want you in the abuse, right? He's a loving father.
And just like my dad, I got to have faith that
the Lord leads me in the struggle for a reason.
Faith, and when he says no. Faith that it's going
to be good for me. Faith when he says yes, and
I'm seeking him. Faith, right, when the door
doesn't open. Faith. When I'm seeking and I really
can't find what I'm looking for, faith in the
struggle, faith in the strain, building me stronger,
wiser. Too many times, right? How many know when
you come to God and you're looking for the answer
that you want God to line up that it's your answer?
We're always looking for the easy way out. Amen?
My answer is always the easy way out, at least
in my opinion, is what it is. Come and ask. Do
your best to come without a preconceived idea
of what the answer is supposed to be. You know,
what's easy and obvious. Let God get you. And
if he says no, just know he's getting ready to
strengthen you. He's getting ready to lift you
up. How many know strength is never birthed in
ease? Strength is never birthed in ease. Romans
8, 26 says this. Likewise, the spirit also helps
in our weakness. But we do not know what we should
pray as we ought. But the spirit himself makes
intercession for us with groanings which cannot
be uttered. Now, he who searches the heart knows
what the mind of the Spirit is, because he makes
intercession for the saints according to the
will of God. And we know that all things, say
all things. Come on, the yes, no, and the wait,
work together for God, for the good, to those
who love God, to those who are called according
to his purpose. The Father wants the best for
his children. Believe it. Hang on to it. Hang
on to that answer for dear life, right? In every
moment, in every time, ask, seek, and knock.
Ask, seek, and knock. Ask, seek, and knock. Amen?
And then have enough faith in the Father's answer
to respond and live out His answer. All right?
Have enough faith in the Father's answer to respond.
and to live out his answer. What do I mean by
that? Ask yourself this. If God says no to you,
what does faith look like in the no? What's that
walk out like in my life, right? If he says no,
I want you to picture, what would it look like?
If God tells me no, how should I respond? What's
this look like going forward in my life? What
do I got to step through and do? If God says
yes, he's calling you to do something. He's instructing
you to do something. Whatever that is, what's
this look like? If I never said another word,
would my actions say yes to God, right? Would
my actions say no, right? I'm not doing it. Would
my actions say I'm waiting on God? Ask yourself,
what does this look like? How do I respond? How
do I live this out? This is where we get God's
plan all jacked up in our lives. It really is.
We get weary, right, and impatient in the wait.
We get rebellious in the no, and we get disobedient
in the going forward, and then the yes is what
happens. So many times. So many times. How many
of you have ever wanted something from God? I
mean, really wanted something. And you got the
no, and you went ahead and did it anyway. How
many had buyer's remorse afterwards? Yeah. That
thing brought you nothing but grief. Back when
I was a youth pastor a long, long time ago, I
used to tell the girls that were looking to date
a boy, I gave them a couple pieces of advice.
I gave two girls this morning coming in, two
teenage girls, some advice, right? I told them,
actually, they were coming in the door. I said,
repeat this after me. Boys are vermin. And they
said it. I could tell in their eyes they had
no idea what vermin was. I said, go Google it.
You'll figure it out. All right. But first and
foremost, look for a boy who loves Jesus, not
for a boy that you hope will love Jesus one day.
Come on, I'm giving you some good advice here.
Tell your teenagers, look for a boy who loves
Jesus, and that one you're hoping, wishing, and
thinking might love Jesus someday, right? Then
secondly, look for a boy who's living out, and
there's evidence that he loves Jesus, right?
You see it in his actions and not just his words,
because how many of you know teenage boys will
say anything to get a date with a girl? Amen?
It's true. Then third, pray for confirmation.
for God to confirm that you should go out with
this boy. Look for what the Holy Spirit says.
And if you don't see two out of the three and
you don't hear from the Holy Spirit, take that
thing wherever you found it, drive it back to
the curb where you found it, throw it out of
the car and let it there. And drive away as fast
as you can. Now, come on, I used to tell teenage
girls that. That's good advice, by the way. Right?
It's true. And you can flip -flop it. You got
sons, it's the same thing. No matter how spiritual
that person looks, no matter how amazing they
seem, If the Father and the Son and the Spirit
are telling you no, don't go. What's it look
like to walk it out? What does faith in the no
look like? Because this, understand this, the
Father knows the future. You don't. He knows
what's ahead of you. Because the Father can see
all, and our vision is so very limited. Because
he knows the probability of where you're going
and more than likely knows that a decision you're
probably making in the moment is based on feelings
and not necessarily facts and certainly not by
all the facts that surround that you can't even
see. Have more faith in God's answer than you
will ever have in your own answer. Even when
it doesn't look reasonable. Even when it doesn't
make sense. Walk it out. There is always victory
on the other side of God's answer. It always
is. Worship team, if you'd come. Do you know
what's not on the other side of the door that
you knock on and God answers? There's never regret
on the other side of there. Never. Really isn't.
The only time you have regret is when you go
through the door that God didn't open. And regret's
on the other side of that. And as the worship
team makes its way to the stage, I want to take
you to a portion of scripture as we get ready
to close this out. And in Joshua 6, Joshua, who
was a leader of Israel, is seeking God about
how he should approach a city called Jericho.
And this city is a fortified city. As a matter
of fact, the walls are so thick around this city
that they believe that they raised chariots on
the top of it. It's enormous. And the Israelites...
led by Joshua, coming into the promised land.
And they're to take this city called Jericho.
And they know that they don't have the military
advantage. As a matter of fact, they know they're
very much the underdog, right? And in a hundred
different ways, they don't match up to what's
standing in front of them and the task at hand
of taking this city. And Joshua knows in his
heart and in his spirit, if he messes this up,
if God's not with him in this, a million plus
people will be wiped out. The people of God will
die, right? His friends, his relatives, relatives,
everybody he knows. So, he seeks God. He knocks.
He asks, right? He's beating on the door, and
God gives him the strangest answer ever to go
take a fortified city. He says this in Joshua
6 .1. It says, now Jericho was securely shut
up because of the children of Israel. None went
out. None came in. The walls, you're right, they
shut the gates, this fortified city. And the
Lord said to Joshua, see, I have given Jericho
into your hand. It's king and the mighty men
of valor. Then God begins to tell him what to
do. He said, you shall march around the city.
All you men of war, you shall go all around the
city once. This you shall do six days and seven
priests shall bear seven trumpets of ram's horns
before the ark. But the seventh day you shall
march around the city seven times and the priest
shall blow the trumpets and it shall come to
pass when they make a long blast with the ram's
horn. And when you hear the sound of the trumpet,
then all of the people shall shout with a great
shout. Then the wall of the city will fall down
flat and the people will go up to every man straight
before him. God gives Joshua the strangest military
strategy ever. He says, go march around this
fortified city one time for six days. Take the
Ark of the Covenant, get the priests in front
of you. Just go march around once and go back
to your tents. Right? Go stay in your tents.
Next day, go do the same thing. Six days in a
row, go do this. And then on the seventh day,
go around seven times. And when you go around
seven times, I want the trumpets to blast, and
I want people to shout, and I'm going to knock
the walls down. How many know that does not sound
like a good military strategy? How many of you
have ever shouted at a door and it flew open?
When's the last time you yelled at a wall and
it fell over? Never, right? Never seen it done.
And he's probably thinking, God, this can't be
you. This doesn't make any sense. This doesn't
look anything like the answer I was thinking
I was going to get from you. I can't picture
this, God. This isn't even reasonable. This goes
against the laws of nature. This can't be God.
This is stupid. Anybody ever think that, right?
For six days, march around once. Let them see
how many people we have. Let them see the weapons
we have. Let them get a handle on where we are
and what we're doing, right? They're going to
get a complete look at the competition. We're
not even going to have the element of surprise
in any kind of way. They're going to know what's
up. How many of you ever watch Family Feud? Raise
your hand right now if you watch Family Feud.
Do you ever see a family and they're going down
along, right, and they ask a question and they
go down along and they're all giving good answers
and they're clapping for each other and then
you get that one family member who gives the
stupidest answer ever? And they're like, ah,
good answer, good answer. Joshua's probably like,
okay, God, good answer. But Joshua knows something
about God. He knows that God has never failed
him. He knows that God has brought him through
every single time, every battle he's gone to.
Now, until this time, right, previous to this
time, he knows God's been with him. He's always
been right. Every single time, God's been right.
Every single time, God's power has shown up and
taken out the enemy. And I know this sounds strange,
and I don't get it, and it doesn't make any bit
of sense, what God's saying right now, but he
answers the Lord and says, I'll do it. I'll do
it. Faith, faith in the answer, in God's answer,
not yours. He may tell you to go out and march
around your house one time. You'll look ridiculous.
He might tell you to go wherever you're going
and march around seven times and blow a trumpet,
right, and shout at something. You're going to
feel ridiculous, but do it because God's in it.
I'm going to ask you to stand. By faith, Joshua
does everything to the T. God shows up on that
seventh day. They marched around seven times.
They began to blow the trumpets. They began to
shout, and the walls collapsed. Historians tell
us that they think they found Jericho, and they
said it looks like somebody took a gigantic hand
and pushed the walls in, which would have made
a ramp for everybody, for the Israelites to just
run up and jump right into the city and begin
to take it. It looks like a giant hand just came
down and crushed it and pushed it in. Ask, seek,
knock. Ask, seek, knock. And realize it may not
look, right, like you think it's going to look.
Your request might sound, God's not always going
to answer the way you think. And then just have
enough faith in the Father's answer to respond
and live out that answer, whatever it is. Do
it. We're going to get ready to take communion.
And I'm going to ask you to do this. I'm going
to just ask you to bow your heads right now.
I'm going to talk just a little more. Once you
get the communion elements, please hang on to
them. We're going to take communion together.
And I'm going to give you just a little more
of what God shows and speaks. Just do what he
says. But as we get ready for communion, the
word of God is very clear. We only take communion,
we take of the body, the bread which represents
Christ's body and the blood. We only do this
if we are followers of Jesus Christ, if we are
saved. And if you're in the house this morning
or if you're listening online and you're not
saved, you can be. The word of God declares very
clearly that if we believe on the Lord Jesus,
that he is the son of the living God. If we believe
that he died on a cross and rose from the grave
to pay for our sins because we couldn't pay for
him, we couldn't pay the penalty of death, only
Jesus could. If you believe that and you want
Christ as Lord and Savior of your life, you can
do that today. The Word of God says that you
just need to come in faith before Him. And you
can pray the simplest prayer just between you
and God. And say, Lord, forgive me of my sin.
Come into my life. I want to follow you. I make
the commitment today to follow you with my heart,
with all my soul, with all my mind, with all
my strength. Because I know you are the way,
the truth, and the life. Forgive me of my sins.
I turn. from the way I used to live. I turn from
the sin that I participated in, and I look to
you. Forgive me of those sins. Wash them clean.
I come into my life in Jesus' name, and amen.
If you pray that prayer, first of all, you're
in the kingdom of God, which is awesome. Secondly,
you qualify for communion. So I want you to come
and get the communion elements, and then I want
to share just a scripture. If you would make
your way to the center, you can go to the back.
There are elements in the back. There are elements
in the front. Your assistance there will help
you with the bread and the juice. Communion is
significant because Jesus instructed us to do
this. And he said, when you do this, do this
in remembrance of me. And we take communion so
we remember the cross of Christ. We remember
the sacrifice that Christ made on the cross.
But there's something, there's so many things
that are connected with what Jesus, the finished
work that Jesus did at the cross. With his crucifixion,
his burial, and the resurrection, so many things
took place. And I'm going to give you just one
this morning that relates to, A, remembering
Christ and what he did. But when Jesus died and
he breathed his last, something took place in
the temple at that time. There was a veil that
was up, and it was a very thick veil. It was
like a curtain, a very thick curtain, I think
several inches thick, if I remember correctly.
And the veil in the temple separated two rooms.
There was the Holy of Holies, which was a room
where the Ark of the Covenant dwelt. And God's
presence actually, the Shekinah glory, God's
presence dwelt in that place. And once a year,
only once a year, the priest would go in and
make atonement for the people, for the sins of
the people in this Holy of Holies. There was
a veil that would separate out to the holy place,
and the priest, again, would take care of things
out in the holy place on a regular basis. But
once a year, the priest would go into the Holy
of Holies. When Jesus breathed his last, the
Word of God says that the earth shook. Things
were moved. There was an earthquake that took
place, and that veil was torn from the top to
the bottom in two. This is symbolic. Because
only once a year could a priest go into the presence
of God to ask of God anything for atonement for
the people. When that veil tore, Jesus paid the
price so we can walk into the presence of God.
Not just the priest, but every one of us can
walk into the presence of God and we can ask
God. We can ask Him for forgiveness. We can ask
Him to meet our need. We can ask... God's Word,
Jesus said it, right? We can walk in and ask.
So when you take communion and you take the body
of Christ and the representation of the vine
as the blood of Christ in the new covenant, when
you take these, you need to remember, right?
We need to remember that because of Christ's
sacrifice, you can walk into the presence of
God and you can ask. You can seek. You can knock.
Because He let you in. Jesus paid for all that.
So I want you, as we're going to take communion,
maybe you've been asking God for something and
you felt like God's not heard you for years.
And you stopped asking. I want you to pick it
back up. I want you to ask Him. You need to keep
asking. You need to keep seeking. You keep knocking.
He hears you. Maybe you're not hearing the answer
He's given. Maybe it's a wait. Right now, he's
got you in a whole pattern. He's got reason for
that. He's doing something. Amen? It's true.
Sometimes people are praying for relatives. You've
got to remember they have free will. We talked
about that. God will go meet them where they
are, but they've got to make a decision at some
point. Maybe it's a thing that you're waiting
for. Maybe it's something brand new in your life
that you need to seek and ask. But as we remember
Christ, remember, he tore the veil. You can walk
in. You have the privilege. You have the right.
And it is a privilege. So why don't you take
the bread together? Lord Jesus, on the same night
that he was betrayed, he took the bread and he
gave thanks. Take the bread. He said, remember,
this is my body that was broken for you. And
in the same manner, he took the cup. which represents
his blood and the new covenant and the new testament.
And he said, take drink. So I want you to take
the drink. I want you to bow your heads. What
are you asking him for? What are you seeking
for? What are you knocking about? Maybe you've
even been afraid to ask him. Father, we come
just grateful and thankful. Lord, I thank you
for your word, God, that sets us free and shows
us the way. And Jesus, you said to do this, to
do this. God, so many requests are going up right
now in this congregation, Lord God online. And
Lord, I just ask, Lord, as we ask together, Lord,
there's going to be individual needs. There's
going to be different requests. Some of them
are brand new. Some of them have been for years.
And Lord, I just pray that they come back one
more time expecting, knowing that there's a good
father who wants to answer them. And Jesus, you
made the way. You tore the veil so we could go
in and ask. And Lord, we take this privilege.
We take this right that you've given to us. Nothing
we earned, Lord, but God, by your grace. And
Lord, we exercise it. Lord, we call on you for
your answer, for your will, and for your purpose.
And Lord, we just ask this in Jesus' name. And
amen. Visit our website at www .lifehousecog
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