Sharing good news of great joy to all people.
Elation Church. This is week number 11 in our
series that we have entitled, Hello, My Name
is God. This is week number 11. And what are
names all about? Can you remember the three things
that names are about? First of all, names are
about identity. Everybody say identity. It's
how we identify each other. Now, most of you
probably already know this. I'm not sure. But
when I was born, when we left the hospital, my
parents had not named me yet. So when I went
to play junior high football, I could not play
football without a South Carolina birth certificate.
So when that came in, it said, no name Forrest.
And I still couldn't play football. until I got
my name changed. And to this day, my South Carolina
birth certificate has an asterisk on it showing
that my name has been changed from No Name Forrest
to the name that I've went by my whole life is
Jeffrey Dean Forrest. Most people just call me
Dean. That's my identity. There's another identity
that I have, and it's not just something that
I practice. It's who I am. I am a Christian.
And that's my identity. So names signify identity.
Names also signify relationship. Relationship.
So, what are some of my relationship names? My
mom always called me baby because I'm the youngest
of four. Even when I'm in my 50s and she's introducing
me to people, she says, this is my baby. Sometimes
she would tell them, Dean. Sometimes she would
just say, this is my baby. She called me baby.
My whole life. My dad didn't call me baby. My
dad called me son. And when I got married, I
became a husband. That's a relationship name.
But Ganna doesn't call me husband. She calls
me honey most of the time. Unless I've messed
up or said something wrong or something was misinterpreted.
When Jeffrey was born, I became a father, but
he never called me father. He started out calling
me daddy, but then he changed it to dad as he
grew up. So I'm a dad. So names signify relationship.
I'm also a cousin, an uncle, a nephew, all those
things. And as you learn my names, you may find
out something about me that you didn't know.
Remember that. When you learn my names, you learn
more about me. You know now that I've got brothers
and sisters and they have children. You know
I'm married. You know, you see, you can figure
out some things. Names also signify activity.
Everybody say activity. Activity, what a person
does. I've done a lot. I was a student and I
am a student. That's still going on to this day.
I wish. I could get finished. If anybody wants
to help write papers, well, that would be cheating,
I guess. Got a lot of papers to write still.
I was a cook, believe it or not. My junior year
of high school, I started out washing dishes,
and I very quickly became the head cook at times
at Quincy's Family Steakhouse. running two grills,
tickets on both grills, keeping it all going,
spinning plates. The strange thing is the classmate,
it was his idea to go work at Quincy's Family
Steakhouse. Guess what he was doing at the end
of the summer? Still washing dishes. But anyway,
I was a cook at Quincy's. They're closed now,
but it wasn't my fault. Been a salesman at Moore's
Lumberyard, at Custom Recording and Sound, at
Forrest Nissan, my uncle's dealership, at Mark
5 Sandcastle Recording Studio. I was selling
recording sessions. So I've been a salesman,
been a sound man, actually been paid to run sound.
Been a custodian. I was a custodian at Epcot
for a while, and I was a trainer and a coordinator,
relief coordinator. I was a janitor. Gina and
I, you know, couldn't make enough in our two
40 -hour -a -week jobs, so we started cleaning
offices at night. So I was a janitor cleaning
offices three nights a week. I bought my own
screen printing equipment and started screen
printing T -shirts. I was an A &R director for
Mark V Sandcastle Records. I was vice president
of Heartlet Records. I've been a music director
of state and national organizations, an event
planner. I figured it up yesterday. I've planned
events in like convention centers and hotels
in 10 different states. So I know all the ins
and outs of that. I've been a crusade director
for about three events, and then Jeanette and
John were the directors for the other 29 crusades.
that we were a part of working together. I've
been the president of state and national organizations
and non -profit corporations. I've been a worship
leader at times when just me and my family led
worship. I've been a conference director, an
evangelist, a chaplain, a preacher, a pastor.
There's a lot of names. There's a lot of names.
But I'm just one person. And now you may know...
a little bit more about me than you did before
you found out those names. That's important because
today's message isn't about Dean's names. It's
about, hello, my name is God. I shared with you
at least 29, maybe 31 or 32 names that I have
gone by. I'm only one person. Names signify identity,
relationship, and activity. And that's what God's
names do. God's names, signify His identity,
who He is. They signify what kind of relationship
He wants to be in with you and me. They signify
His activity, what He does, what He wants to
do in your life and in my life. And the Bible
tells us this in Psalm 9 -10, it says, and those
who know your name, talking about God's name,
will put their trust in you. So when we know
God's name, we can put our confidence in Him.
We can put our trust in Him. We can put our faith
in Him. That He's going to be who He said He
was going to be. He's going to do what He said
He's going to do based on His name. And I tell
you, Our problem, I'm going to put myself in
there with it. Our problem is our lack of confidence.
That's our biggest problem. Is our lack of trust
and confidence in God. Now you might say, well,
I trust God. I have confidence in God. But when
trouble hits, Do you stand in confidence? Or
do you let your mind start pouring on the trouble?
Your mind, your feelings, your emotions, all
of a sudden they start attaching to the trouble
and they turn away from the confidence. And I
want to tell you today that if we can stand in
trust, and confidence when trouble comes our
way or when challenges come our way then the
trouble and the challenge won't last as long
as it will if we lose our confidence hello because
if we never have faith and never have confidence
will we ever rise above the challenge or rise
above the trouble It's possible because people
that don't know God rise above challenges, right?
They rise above trouble. But we have somebody
on our side. I have somebody on my side. And
when I know Him, when I know who He is and what
He does, then I can trust Him. And you know what?
He can lift me up even when I'm right in the
middle of the trouble. He can lift me up when
I'm right in the middle of the challenge. I can
have joy. I can have peace right in the middle.
Now, if you don't know God, you're not going
to have joy and peace in the middle of your challenge
or the middle of your trouble. But with God,
You can. I guarantee it. You can. It's available.
Look to the person beside you and say, it's available.
It's available. When we know His name, we can
put our trust in Him. And here's why we can put
our trust in Him. Because He has not forsaken
those who seek Him. And when we seek Him, We
can know, we can be confident that He's not going
to turn His back on us. See, I don't care what
you feel. Because I've had some pretty negative
feelings in my day that God's turned His back
on me. I don't care what you feel. We have to
be established in what the Word says. Y 'all
got quiet on me. I'm trying to help you. And
I'm trying to help me. Our biggest problem is
a lack of confidence in who God is. Today we're
looking at a familiar name. Been a lot of songs.
Has anyone ever sang a song that had Jireh in
it? Jehovah Jireh? Today we're looking at Yahweh
Jireh. And normally it's translated. My provider.
Everybody say, my provider. But today we're going
to look at the literal translation from the Hebrew
words, which is not my provider. I mean, it means
that, but the literal translation from the Hebrew
word is this. I am. Everybody say, I am. I am.
We'll see to it. We'll see to it. I am. We'll
see to it. So what are you facing today? Is anybody
facing a challenge today? Listen. I want you
to know that I am. We'll see to it. We need to
leave here today saying, you know what? I am
is going to see to it. Because that's who he
is. That's who he is. That's what the Bible says.
That's who he is. Let's look at a story. Sometimes
people get shocked at this story because why
would God ask? someone to do something that he
asked Abraham to do. But in Genesis 22, starting
in verse 1, it says, Now it came to pass after
these things that God tested Abraham and said
to him, Abraham. And he said, Here I am. Now
I want you to think about a test. What are tests
for? What are tests for? Why do we have tests?
It's like the end of the school year. Do you
guys take some tests? Why did you take a test?
Did you take a test because your mom's mean?
She's trying to hurt you? I know you go to some
classes away from mom, but did you take some
tests there? Took some tests there? Did they
give you those tests just to torture you? No.
Why do we have tests? See what you know. That's
a good answer. Teachers don't give tests to punish
or fail students. There's no such thing as a
teacher that makes a test with the intention
of failing every student in their class. Right?
The object of the test is not to cause someone
to fail. Tests are given to determine the progress.
Everybody say progress. Tests are given to determine
the progress, to see what you know. Because we've
got to figure out what you know before you can
advance to the next level. Because if you don't
know what you're supposed to know, then you've
just got to keep taking the same thing until
you know it. I'm looking at you. I'm looking
at you. It's good to write. If the test says
that you don't know it, then you've got to keep
taking the same thing until you get it. Now that's
not fun. Let me just go ahead and throw this
out there. If you don't pass the test when trouble
or challenge comes your way, if you don't pass
the test of having confidence and trust in God
and faith in Him and His promises, guess what?
You might just keep... staying in that level
until you progress enough spiritually to pass
that test. Let's continue. Verse 2, Then he said,
God said to Abraham, Take now your son, your
only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the
land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt
offering. on one of the mountains of which I
shall tell you. That's a big test. Now Abraham
had had quite a few tests, and he had passed
quite a few tests to get to this point. So Abraham,
guess what he did? He rose early in the morning,
saddled his donkey, took two of his young men
with him, and Isaac his son, and he split the
wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went
to the place of which God had told him. Everybody
say, no hesitation. Why? Because he trusted.
Because he had confidence. He had confidence.
Then on the third day, Abraham lifted his eyes
and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said
to his young men, Stay here with the donkey.
The lad and I will go yonder and worship, and
we will come back to you. So Abraham took the
wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac
his son, and he took the fire in his hand and
a knife, and the two of them went together. But
Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, My
father. He said, Here I am, my son. Then he said,
Look, a fire? The wood? But where's the lamb
for the burnt offering? We got fire, we got wood.
Where's the lamb? And Abraham said, everybody
say confidence. My son, God will provide for
himself the lamb for the burnt offering. So the
two of them went together. Then they came to
the place of which God had told him, and Abraham
built an altar there, placed the wood in order.
He bound Isaac, his son, and laid him on the
altar upon the wood. Isaac wasn't a baby. I mean,
I think he's probably older than you, Riley,
at this time. Abraham stretched out his hand,
took the knife to slay his son. But the angel
of the Lord called to him from heaven and said,
Abraham, Abraham. So he said, here I am. And
he said, don't lay your hand on the lad or do
anything to him. For now I know that you fear
God. Since you have not withheld your son, your
only son from me. Then Abraham lifted his eyes
and looked. And there behind him was a ram caught
in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and
took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering
instead of his son. And then what happened? And
Abraham called the name of the place, Yahweh
Jireh. The Lord will provide. As it is said to
this day, in the mount of the Lord, it shall
be provided. I could probably preach a whole
series on just this text. And we could look at
it from a lot of different angles. And, you know,
the word of God is multifaceted at times. And
you can look at it from this side, look at it
from this side, look at it from over here. The
Holy Spirit just keeps causing it to come alive.
And like I said, I could preach a lot of sermons,
but today we're focusing in on who God is and
what God does. This is where we find the name
Yahweh Jireh. Now in Genesis, you know, we've
even done a study. Through Abraham. I forgot
how many weeks that was. We went through the
highlight moments of Abraham's life. In a few
weeks, we looked at some low -light moments of
Abraham's life when he made some bad decisions
and when he tried to do something on his own
instead of following God. But we see the stages
of his development in his faith. Everybody say,
from faith to faith. That's the way Abraham lived,
and that's the way we live, from faith to faith.
And we could even put it like this, even, from
test or challenge to test or challenge. And you
might say, well, I don't like tests and challenges.
Well, just stay where you're at. Don't grow.
And pray to God that you can make it to heaven
by the skin of your teeth. Right? Don't plan
to grow in your relationship with Him. Test to
test, challenge to challenge. God sees how much
confidence we have in Him. How much trust we
have in Him. Now, He doesn't send the bad stuff.
But we live in a fallen world, and guess what?
Because we live in a fallen world, bad stuff's
going to come our way. Has anybody ever dealt
with some bad stuff? Well, you can look at it
like, woe is me. Or you can look at it like,
I have victory in Christ. He causes me to triumph.
I have the peace of the Lord. I have the joy
of the Holy Spirit. Right in the middle of this,
I'm going to stay with God and have confidence
and trust in Him. Then you can grow in your faith.
God doesn't send all the terrible things that
this fallen world brings our way. But that doesn't
mean He's not concerned. That doesn't mean that
He doesn't want to see you through. That doesn't
mean that... He's not going to see to it. But
here's the deal. You've got to know who He is
to put your trust in Him, to put your confidence
in Him, to receive what He does. Just because
that's who He is doesn't mean that you're going
to receive it. That's the hard part for us. Because
we're like, oh, well, yeah, God is my peace,
and God is there. and God is my good shepherd,
just because I have a head knowledge of those
things, then that's going to happen in my life.
The Bible says a just shall live by faith. We
walk by faith and not by sight. See, if we don't
know who He is, then we can't believe. that who
He is, that we're going to experience who He
is. We have nowhere to stand if we don't know
that that's who He is. How many times did Jesus
say to people, well, you know what? What just
happened to you was because of your faith. How
many times did He say that? He doesn't say, because
I'm God and I just did it. When Jesus was walking
on the earth, He would routinely say, you know,
this happened because of your faith. In who I
am. In my goodness. In my faithfulness. That's
why you received it. Let's bring it back down
to salvation. How many of you know it takes more
than just having a head and all, is it? God...
that Jesus brought salvation and forgiveness,
how many of you know you've got to receive it
by faith? It doesn't just happen. Jesus is Savior
and Lord. But in order for Him to be your Savior
and your Lord, you have to receive that by faith.
Hello? Are you with me? It works the same all
through Scripture. It doesn't change after salvation.
It still works the same. See, God promised Abraham
that he would have a son. God changed his name.
Jeffrey preached a message where God identified
who he was that God told him, I am El Shaddai.
Right? That's the way he approached Abraham when
he changed his name from Abram to Abraham, from
exalted father to the father of a multitude before
Isaac was even born. How many of you know that
Abraham had to have confidence that he was El
Shaddai? He's the God who is more than enough
before a hundred -year -old man can have a son
and a ninety -year -old wife. How many of you
know you've got to believe? and have confidence.
So that's when God told him that his name was
El Shaddai. The one who is mighty to completely
nourish, to completely satisfy, to completely
supply. That's who God is. I said that's who
God is. He's the one. who is mighty to completely
nourish, satisfy, and supply. So, Isaac is born.
Isaac grows up, most likely 16, 17 years old
at this time. And then now God asks Abraham.
At this point, Isaac is still his only son. Everybody
say, only son. He asks Abraham to sacrifice his
son. I want to point out some things to you.
In verse 8 that we read, when Isaac said, I see
the wood, see the fire, see the knife, where's
the sacrifice? Well, in our English Bibles, it
says, Abraham said, My son, God will provide
for himself the lamb for a burnt offering. But
in Hebrew, which is what this part of the Old
Testament is written in, Abraham said, get this,
My son, Elohim Jireh. That just flew all over
me. Before the fact, he's going up the hill with
Isaac. God told him to sacrifice his son. His
son gets a little nervous, I would think. And
all of a sudden, Abraham said, son, Elohim Jireh.
God's going to see to it. See, here's the deal.
Come on. Stay with me. It's easy to say Yahweh
Jireh after the ram is in the bush. That's easy.
Huh? We need to learn something. Look to the
person beside you and say, I need to learn something.
We've got to start putting our words in agreement
with who God is before we see it. And if you'll
do that, you'll see it a lot quicker. He said,
Isaac, Elohim, Jireh. Elohim, Jireh. Let's look
at some New Testament verses. Romans 4, verse
20 and 21. Listen. Abraham never wavered. Wow.
Wow. Abraham never wavered. Did he ever waver?
This isn't saying like his whole life he never
had a wavering moment. Alright? Because he's
not perfect. But when it came down to it in the
stories, in the parts of the stories that we
see where he faced and where he was victorious
in his struggle, he never wavered. He didn't
waver. He didn't waver in believing God's promise.
Here's my question. How often do you waver in
believing God's promise? I don't mean to step
on your toes. I mean at your heart. Abraham never
wavered in believing God's promise. In fact,
his faith grew stronger. And in this, By not
wavering, we bring glory to God. He brought glory
to God by not wavering. And if we can get to
the point where we have confidence, complete
confidence, complete trust in God, our faith
is going to grow stronger and we're going to
bring glory to God. Because people are going
to see what we're going through and they're going
to say, how in the world could you have the peace
that you have right now when you've just gone
through what you've gone through? I know what
you're going through. I would be falling apart
right now if it was me. And what's up with you?
Are you cold -hearted? No. I just know that God's
going to see to it. Abraham never wavered in
believing God's promise. In fact, his faith grew
stronger. And in this, he brought glory to God.
Fully convinced that God is able to do whatever
He promised. Fully convinced. I would love for
somebody to say that about me sometimes. You
know, that means just fully convinced that God
is able to do whatever He promised. I don't ever
see Him in worry. I don't ever see Him in fear.
Because he's fully convinced. Does anybody in
the room want somebody to say that about you?
Here's some more good verses. Hebrews 11, 17.
It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as
a burnt sacrifice, or as a sacrifice, when God
was testing him. Abraham, listen, who had received
God's promises, was ready to sacrifice his only
son Isaac. He was going to do, hey, he's come
so far, he's going to do whatever God tells him
to do. Even if he don't understand it, even if
it makes him feel strange, he's going to do what
God told him to do. And he's going to do what
God told him to do, even though God had already
told him, Isaac is the son through whom your
descendants will be counted. How many kids does
he have? How many Isaacs are there? Right? I
mean, he had a son with Hagar, but God didn't
recognize that son as a covenant son. He said,
take now your son, your only son. That's what
God said. That was his own plan when he messed
up. Even though God had told Abraham, Isaac is
the son through whom your descendants will be
counted, it says, even though God had told him
that, he was ready to sacrifice his only son.
Listen to what the Holy Spirit tells us in verse
19 after the fact. Abraham reasoned that if Isaac
died, God was able to bring him back to life
again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his
son back from the dead. That's how much confidence
he had. God, I'm going to do what you tell me
to do, and I know you're going to keep your promise.
I don't know how. This don't make sense to me.
So I guess if I offer him as a sacrifice, you're
going to raise him up. In my brain, you have
to. Listen. Abraham knew that God would have
to raise him up. God will have to. I want you
to think about that. He was so confident in God's
promise that he knew that God was going to have
to do something. Listen, don't be distracted.
God's going to have to keep his word. God's going
to have to keep his promises. It's okay. For
you to have faith and confidence and trust in
God, where you say, God's going to have to keep
His promises. Because I'm doing what He told
me to do. Now you might say, well, He's God.
How could you ever have the gall to tell God
that He's going to have to do something? Some
of you are smiling, some of you are looking at
me mad. How could you have to go out and say
that God's going to have to do something? Because
if God said He was going to do something, and
He doesn't do it, then God's going to be a liar,
and I'm here to tell you today, God's not a liar.
He's not a liar. Listen, because Abraham was
fully convinced, That God would keep His promises.
Before the fact, Abraham could boldly say, Elohim
Jireh. He could look at his son and say, God's
going to see to it. This is an amazing statement
of faith. God's going to see to it. God's going
to see to it. The next challenge you face, don't
get all twisted up and knotted up. Just start
saying, you know what? God's going to see to
it. Because that's who He is. I mean, do you
really believe that that's who God is? Is that
His name? And when you know His name, you can
put your trust, you can put your confidence in
Him. God will see to it. Because Abraham's...
Bold statement of faith before the fact. And
then after God provided, Abraham named the place,
the Lord will provide. Yahweh, Jireh, which means
I am, will see to it. And sometimes we look at
this and we say, well, this is just the name
of the place. See, this is God's Word. God wants
us to know who He is and what He does. He is
Yahweh Jireh. He will see to it. I Am has seen
to it. I Am has seen to it. Back in 1992, I was
just working my regular job at the recording
studio. I went to a revival service. Does anybody
know what a revival service is? Back in the day,
we would have meetings like it would start on
Sunday morning, then we would have Sunday night,
then we would have Monday night, we would have
Tuesday night, we would have Wednesday night.
Now during the day that I was on the road, that
was a normal pattern. How many of you would say,
wow, that'd be crazy for the preacher to expect
me to go to church on Sunday morning, Sunday
night, Monday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday
night? Well, there were some that had it Thursday,
Friday, Saturday, and ended it up the next Sunday.
And then dig on this. I preached a revival just
outside of Nashville, Tennessee. It went for
two weeks. Every day for two weeks. I went to
a revival. I was there Sunday morning. I was
there Sunday night. I was there Monday night.
But it happened on Tuesday night. And I found
out later on that the big, powerful moves normally
started happening on Tuesday night. Didn't normally
happen on Sunday morning, Sunday night, or Monday
night. It started really getting good on Tuesday
night. And I was sitting in the back row on this
side because that's where I sat. That was my
assigned seat. My dad was a preacher. I didn't
sit in the front. I hate to go to Bible conferences
and they recognize me in the back and they say,
Hey, Dean, we've got a seat for you up here on
the front row. Well, I like to hide, even now.
I like to be back there in the back. Anyway,
I always sat. That was my assigned seat at the
church that we were going to. And this guy from
Ohio, believe it or not, originally from Ohio,
he's there preaching. Boy, he can preach. He
can talk fast. He can talk faster than I can
listen. And all of a sudden, he stopped after
preaching about 15 minutes without taking a breath.
He stopped to breathe. And he said something
that was God speaking to me. I went into work
the next day. I quit my job. That don't make
no sense. It doesn't make any sense at all to
go in and quit my job. I mean, Gayna was out.
I mean, this was October of 92. Jeffrey was born
in January of 92. December of 91, we moved into
a brand new house that we designed and built.
You know, now you can find a lot of houses like
this. In the 90s, you couldn't. It had one bedroom
on one side, two bedrooms on the other side.
We always wanted a house like that. We designed
this house. We moved in. Gayna never went back
to work after having Jeffrey. I was the only
one working, and I'd go in the next day and quit
my job because God spoke to me and told me that
he was calling me to be an evangelist. So I just
quit my job. I've shared that story before, but
it's fine. Can't you see I've got five stories
I'm going to tell? This is the abbreviated version.
I've shared that other story before. Anyway,
quit my job. We had two concerts booked. Dana
and I were singing in churches, but we had two
concerts booked. The week that I quit my job,
one of them canceled. Before we even got to that
first concert, another record company, Horizon
Music Group called me and asked me to come be
their A &R director. Offering me a car, a lot
more money, company credit card, take people
out to eat, never buy a drop of gas. I couldn't
do it. Because I had to do what God told me to
do. And I want to tell you something. It wasn't
easy. To be on the road for 20 years. There were
challenges. There were challenges. Listen. But
God saw to it. 20 years on the road. 1995. God
wanted us to. Sell that brand new house. Move
into a motor home because we couldn't keep it
all up and going. Needed to travel farther and
stay longer. But it was our house. We designed
it. It's what we wanted. As soon as Gannon and
I got together and said, it's time. Listen, within
one week, everybody say one week. Within one
week, we closed selling our house. Tell me it's
not possible. It never went on the market. We
mentioned it to a pastor friend of ours. He went
and got the money. Lawyers did it. We closed.
Well, guess what? We didn't have anywhere to
live. In that same amount of time, We went to
an RV dealership and bought a brand new Holiday
Rambler. Now listen, none of that makes sense.
I'm not smart enough or wealthy enough to be
able to make all that happen. You know who made
it happen? God saw to it. God saw to it. In 1998,
I've shared this story recently. He spoke to
us, and he wanted us to start the Big God Conference.
And I told you about the challenges that we faced
and the things that we went through. But you
know what? Over that 21 -year run, over 5 ,000,
oh, I'm sorry, 3 ,000 students and chaperones,
more than that, that's a conservative number,
3 ,000 students and chaperones came to Christ
in that 21 -year run. I'm telling you. We didn't
have anything. But we knew God told us to do
it. It's not like we were just sitting there
with enough money to do it. You've heard the
story, maybe. We didn't have anything. God told
us to do it. So how did it keep going for 21
years? God saw to it. Look. Look at me. I couldn't
do it. Still couldn't do it. I can't make it
happen. God saw to it. 2012. In 2011, people
at Lakewood Camping Resort, they talked to me
and they said, what would it take for you to
stay here all the time? Because we've been ministering
there. five or six weeks out of the year for
over 20 years. They wanted us every week during
the summer that we were off. And they're like,
what would it take for you to stay here? And
then we felt like God was telling us to go there.
So all year during 2011, all year we were telling
people, because when we were at their church,
they would say, won't you come back next year?
Let's go ahead and have a date. I'm like, won't
be able to do it. So all year. Because our ministry
got to the point where all we did was answer
the phone and go. We didn't ask anybody to go
anywhere. People were just calling us. Every
time somebody called, I'm sorry, we won't be
able to do it. We can't do it. The people who
are booking us, the people who are there, they
want us to come back next year. I'm sorry, we
won't be able to come back next year. Just turning
it all down and all the way. I don't know if
I've ever shared this part of the testimony.
But after we turn down all of our scheduling,
and we are ready, and it's Easter, and we're
going to Lakewood Camping Resort, we are met
with severe opposition. It's like... Now, don't
get me wrong. The people who were over the ministry,
they still wanted us. But a lot of other people
are like, we don't want a new chapel. So there
was a fight. We had bought furniture. There was
a fight. Hello? What am I going to do? I've just
turned down everybody all year. I'd have had
a full schedule if I wouldn't have said I would
come because we were invited to come. Now I've
done giving it all away. I've done turning it
all down. I've got nothing. You know what happened?
God saw to it. God saw to it. We were there for
nine years. Over 5 ,000 people came to Christ
in nine years. As the history of the campground,
I'm the second longest tenured chaplain at the
campground. They kept calling us, wanting us
to come back after 2021. They kept saying, please
come back, please come back, please come back.
But you know what? In 2021, we moved here. We
only knew one adult that lived here. And she
doesn't come here anymore. How many of you know
there might be some challenges in that? Leaving
security again for the umpteenth time at this
point. Leaving a paycheck. leaving a nice, bigger
house than the one that we sold that, you know,
had two golf carts. I could ride one to the beach.
Gannon could ride the other one to the beach.
It was less than a quarter of a mile to the Atlantic
Ocean. Bunch of people coming to Christ. But
God wanted us to come to Four Corners. Between
192 and I -4. And look at you. You're here. How
do we keep going? A whole year we had... We thought
we were doing awesome if we had 12 people every
Sunday. Year and a half. Is that even possible?
When the gym costs, for the first part, $430
a week. Not a month, a week. Got 12 people. How
are we still here? Look to the person beside
you and say, God sees to it. God saw to it. He
saw to it. I'm telling you. I could preach a
whole series on the miracles that I've seen God
do in my life. Miracle after miracle after miracle
after miracle. And I'm not giving you a concept
today. This is not just a little spiritual exercise
to tell you that God is Yahweh Jireh. If you
will have confidence in Him, if you will have
trust in Him, if you will do what He asks you
to do, He's going to see to it. He's going to
see to it. He has for me. He has for me. Daniel
11, 32, this applies to you. Listen, the people
who know their God, who knows God? The people
who know their God shall be strong. Everybody
say, I'm strong. The people who know their God
shall be strong. And what are the strong people
that know their God going to do? They're going
to carry out great exploits. God wants to do
some great things through you. Here's my question.
Do you believe that God wants to do some great
things through you? Do you believe He does? Do
you really believe He wants to do some great
things? Do you believe He wants to do some great
things through Relation Church? When we talk
about 100 ,000 people and we talk about every
community, do you believe God wants to do some
great things? We have to be strong. We have to
know God. And we have to do it. We all have a
part to play. All of us. It's not just, you know,
I'm just going to ride everybody else's coattails.
No, we all have a part. He is Yahweh Jireh. And
He will see to it. Look, when you step out in
faith to believe God's promises, this applies
to God's personal promises to you, as well as
His promises to our church. When you step out
in faith to believe God, to believe His promises,
stepping out in faith and doing is... That faith
act, it's when you trust that God will be who
He said He would be and do what He said He would
do. Again, those who know your name will put
their trust in you. For you, Lord, have not forsaken
those who seek you. I want you to stand up and
say this with me. We're going to put our words
in agreement with who God is. Is that okay? I'm
glad two of you want to. Let's say it together.
One, two, three. My God is Yahweh Jireh. He is
my provider. I have faith in His faithfulness.
I have confidence in His promises. My God...
Always cease to it. Do you believe it? Take a
picture of it on your phone or something. I mean,
is one thing to say it right now? While we're
here at church, with everybody with their church
halos on, you know, it's like, ooh, I'm at church.
Right. But when a challenge hits, maybe this
week, when a struggle hits, when trouble comes
your way, maybe this week, you need to rise up.
Look to the person beside you and tell them to
rise up. You need to rise up and you need to
say, my God is Yahweh Jireh. He's my provider.
I have faith in His faithfulness. No matter what
I see, no matter what I think, no matter what
I feel, I have faith in God's faithfulness. I
have confidence in His promises. He's made me
some promises and He's going to keep them. You
know why? Because my God always sees to it. He
doesn't see to it sometimes and not other times.
But when I put my faith and confidence in Him,
He's going to see to it every time. I might not
see it in three seconds, but I'm not going to
waver. I'm not going to waver if it takes a day.
I'm not going to waver if it takes two days.
I'm not going to waver if it takes a week. I'm
not going to waver if it takes a month. I'm here
to tell you, I'm not going to waver even if it
takes more than five years. I'm not wavering.
We're going to have a place of our own. It's
coming. You know why? Because God's going to
see to it. I don't know how. I was asked today,
where are you going to put it? I don't know.
I'm believing for the land and the building.
The land's probably going to cost more than the
building. But God's going to see to it. God's
going to see to it. Because that's who he is.
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