you just give a Life Bible welcome and just honor
Frank and Sharon Damasio and Pastor Frank as
he comes and brings a message. Morning. Thank
you, Brad, for that warm introduction and referring
to me as a grandpa. It's always great to be here
and great to be with the leaders yesterday and
last night with the staff and elders and today
with the church and then we head back up to Portland
and meander through life up there and out of
there and etc. I just noticed that my wife and
Jenny, where is Jen? She's coming from the back.
Okay. I wanted to show the church that they matched
this morning. You know, the look of importance.
The church here is an amazing church, really.
You're an oasis in a desert, and you have done
something very incredible to do what you do in
Harrisburg. around is a very significant achievement.
I just again honor Brad and Jen and the team
for their diligent leadership consistently. They
are a cut above. I always get just a little jealous
because Brad can preach. He can prophesy. He
can emcee. And then he can sing the announcements
if he wants. You know, he can. Me, I'm just stuck
teaching. You know, I can't sing. But sometimes
I do, but it's not appreciated. So I honor that
gift and the whole family. It's an amazing thing.
I always see coming here as part of family life.
I've known Brent and their family and the beginning
of this church forever. And so I'm a part of
it. I'm a part of you. I'm part of the family.
I am the father, I guess, for some. I'm the grandpa.
For Jessie Jo, I certainly am. I gave her one
of my bracelets. I do some bracelets I make called
Pick Up the Pieces after I went through cancer
and all the stuff I've been through. I'm five
years cancer -free, by the way. And so I give
these bracelets away. They're a leather bracelet
that says... pick up the pieces, because that's
what the doctor told me one of the last visits
I had with him, and I was griping about some
stuff. And she says, you're alive, and other
people that took your treatments are dead. You
should appreciate that you're alive. Do you appreciate
that you're alive, Frank? Yes, I appreciate I'm
alive. You know, aren't you grateful? Yes, I'm
grateful. Aren't you a pastor? No, I'm not a
pastor. She says, you know what I'm talking about,
attitude. And I said, I do, I do. And she had
told me that my nerve in my leg would never get
better. My hip is cracked even right now because
the bone's dead. And so getting around is a hassle.
And I was a very active cyclist and golfer and
always been into athletics my whole life. And
so to not do that was just horrible news that
she gave me. And she could tell. And, you know,
we kind of embraced it. And then she had been
through a lot with me. one of the four doctors
that was a part of my whole entire journey. And
she said something to me after I kind of was
emotional about the whole thing and this and
that. And she said to me, she says, Frank, you
need to pick up all the pieces you have left
and build something great with them. And that
was like a prophetic word to me. Pick up all
the pieces you have and build something with
them. Quit whining. And so she kind of put me
in my place. And she was right. She was right.
And so that's what the bracelet says. And I'll
pick up the pieces. I didn't have room to put
the rest on, you know, build something great.
I'll probably do another bracelet for that or
whatever. But anyway, I gave that bracelet to
Jessie Jo. So she's wearing that bracelet. She's
the only one in the church that has it. And she
showed it to me this morning. You know, she was
very... Very proud of that bracelet. And she
says, no one else has it. No one else has it.
You're the woman of God. All right? Because the
time's going to go and I need to kind of jump
in, I want to do something that would be my impartation
to the church today. What I feel, what I see,
what I want to say is in this message. When it
comes to the... The Word of the Lord comes to
us, and this church is familiar with the Word
of the Lord, as I am. I've had some significant
times in my life where the Word of the Lord came
to me, and that was a pivotal, what I call a
pivotal prophetic moment. The Word came, and
it was a pivot point. It was a turning point.
At certain times, it was closing doors, opening
doors, and clarifying things. And sometimes I
didn't even know what the prophetic word meant
until later. And that's the case a lot of times
with the prophetic word. And so I enjoy the prophetic
and believe in the prophetic, and I believe it's
part of the church and should be part of the
church. I'm going to give you today not the word
of the Lord to you individually, but the word
of the Lord to you as a church. And so I would
like you to get excited about hearing something
for your church. the same excitement you have
if they were going to lay hands on you individually.
If you were coming up before the prophets and
it would be an exciting time for you, they laid
hands on you and they gave you a word, you'd
be weeping, you'd be clapping, you'd be, you
know, sharing that word. It would be the great
day. You go out with your friends, you talk about
the prophecy. I'd like you to kind of lean into
my message this morning and say, I'm going to
really receive the word of the Lord for the church.
Not just for me personally, but I'm part of the
church and for the church. If you're a visitor
and however you got here, thank you for coming.
If you're new to the church, thank you for being
here. If you're new to everything that church
does with the worship and, you know, all the
stuff that happens, maybe that's all different
for you. Thank you for coming. Thank you for
trying it. And the prophetic is simply when God
speaks, God speaks through the Holy Spirit, through
the word and through other people. And the prophetic
is not something weird and mystical. It's very
real and it works. and it helps the church, and
Jesus gave apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor,
teachers. He didn't give four. He didn't give
three. He gave five, and the prophets are proud
of it. That's my presupposition on the prophets.
And so we need to have respect for the prophetic
word and respect for that prophetic presence
that comes upon a church. Now, in the Bible,
I'm not going to preach on these, but this is
my frame. In the Bible, in the book of Revelation,
you have John who wrote the book of Revelation,
the apostle John, the beloved apostle. that leaned
his head on Jesus' chest during that communion
service, that beloved apostle that wrote the
Gospel of John, which is the most unique of all
the Gospels, the Gospel of John. And he wrote
1 John, 2 John, 3 John. And then in his latter
years, last book to be written in the New Testament
was the book of Revelation. It was toward the
end of the century. And John was the last living
apostle. And John had already been stoned. He
had been boiled in oil. prison he had already
been through so many physical things before they
sent him to the Isle of Patmos which is an island
where the prisoners would go and never return
and so that was the island you would send the
prisoner and they would die there and it was
a it was a place for the hardcore prisoners that's
the Isle of Patmos that's where John wrote the
book of Revelation and so on the Isle of Patmos
the heavens opened and John began to write and
the Isle of Patmos is an island that faces the
coastline, which would now be Turkey, faces that
coastline right there, and it was just a little
ways off the coast, and the main cities that
he would be facing would be the cities that he
writes to in the book of Revelation. So the setting
is John is old, he's on an island, the heavens
open up, and God begins to speak to him, and
God speaks to him about these seven cities, and
they're all lined up on a... track one two three
four five six seven they were on the trade pathway
of that particular era and they were all central
cities and out from them many other suburbs and
things would happen so they were the central
cities and so he wrote to the city and to the
church of Ephesus so he he begins to sit down
and he writes this Through the Holy Spirit and
by the visitation of God, he writes to the church
of Ephesus and he gives Ephesus a message. And
then he writes to the church at Smyrna and he
gives that church a message. Each one of them
is a little different. There's only one thing
that all seven receive. In these messages, there's
only one repetition that is given. Every other
message for every church is different for every
one of them. There's a rebuke. There's a way
for them to repent. There's a way for them to
set things in order. There's only one church
that doesn't receive a rebuke. And so in these
letters to Ephesus and Smyrna and Pergamos and
Thyatira and Sardis and Philadelphia and Laodicea,
we would recognize Laodicea because we quoted
a lot, you know, the lukewarm church. But in
those seven cities, those seven churches, John
writes... his letters and this is what he says
over and over again he that hath an ear let him
hear what the Spirit is saying to the church
he that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit
is saying to the church he that hath an ear let
him hear what he is saying to the church come
on say it with me he that hath an ear let him
hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches
come on everybody he that hath an ear let him
hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches
and so What I'm doing this morning is very much
in sync with what happens in the Scripture. And
that is, by the Spirit, God speaks to churches.
God speaks to corporate communities. God speaks
to the people who are in that corporate community.
Ephesus is different than Laodicea. Laodicea
is different than Smyrna. All of them received
the word from the Lord, and they had to adjust
accordingly. Now, every church is different and
unique. No church receives all the same messages
because there's a uniqueness. to the anglios,
or the lead pastor, as referred to in Revelation
chapter 2, 1, and the seven stars, which were
the seven pastors of the seven churches that
were in the hand of the Lord. And so he speaks
to those seven stars, and he calls them anglios,
the messengers of God. And so every church has,
am I talking too fast? No, I just, I kind of
have a lot to say, and I want to get on with
it, because I haven't gotten to my message yet.
And so... And the Anglios or the messenger, what
we would call kind of a lead pastor or the overseer,
the bishop. that person who oversees the church,
they receive a word from God. So every church
has a different gifted leader that leads the
church. When I led the church up in Portland
and we planted church missionaries and we built
the culture of that church, I built it around
my particular gifting. Why? Because that's the
gifting I have. I have to build with the gifts
that I have. And so being a teaching pastor was
kind of my in -the -trench work that I did. And
then being apostolic, and prophetic was kind
of my out from the house that I did with other
churches, conferences, and nations. And so I
kind of wore four different hats during my time
being a pastor teacher and kind of prophetic
and apostle. And so being an apostle, I'm not
trying to use that word in a huge way. It just
means someone who has a father's heart and oversees
things and speaks the word of the Lord to people,
and if they don't obey, God kills them. That's
all. So the apostolic is needed in the churches,
prophetic is needed in the churches, etc. Now,
every church... needs to know what God is saying
to that church. Now, I'm going to talk with you
about this subject, the making of a church's
mantle, the making of a church's mantle, the
making of a church's mantle. There are four things
that are in the process of getting to this mantle.
Here they are. I'm not sure what you have on
the slides this morning, so I'm just going to
preach, and you put up what you want, and if
you don't find slides you want, just Google and
put something else up, okay? The four things
about churches that we would recognize and we
would try to obey is, number one, we know that
the church destiny is rooted in the church's
relationship to the Lord of the church. And so
there can be no destiny. of a church if the church
is not related to the head of the church, which
means the congregation has to have a relationship
to Jesus. Jesus has to be the core, the center,
not the perimeter of the church. Jesus has to
be the core and the center to the preaching,
to the worship, to the prayer, to everything
you do. Jesus is the center. We have a song about
Jesus being the center. So the church being different
than any other institution, we build an altar.
And when you come to the services, you encounter
God. You encounter the Holy Spirit. You encounter
Jesus. Why? Because we are a living organism.
We're the church. We build altars. We embrace
God. We talk about Jesus. We're not just another
kind of a, you know, place that you can come
and just go through a routine. We want you to
build an altar. We want you to hear from God.
We want your life to be transformed. We want
you to encounter God every time you come into
this building. We are a church that builds altars.
Second, We know that the supernatural empowering
of the church happens when the church is rooted
where? In the spirit. You can't have a church
without the Spirit, right? Because that's what
Jesus did in Acts chapter 2. When he built the
church, he poured out the Spirit. And so the
pouring out of the Holy Spirit, the day of Pentecost
in Acts chapter 2, was the foundation for the
rest of the book of Acts, which is the only church
book we have that we can see how Jesus built
churches. And so the Holy Spirit is an important
piece to building the church. The power of the
Spirit, the love for the Spirit, staying in the
Spirit, staying fresh in the Spirit. We need
to have more of the Holy Spirit. not less of
the Holy Spirit. We need to have more people
filled with the Holy Spirit, not less people
filled with the Holy Spirit. We need to have
people embrace the Holy Spirit, not be afraid
of the Holy Spirit. We are called to be Holy
Spirit churches. We're not called just to be
a structured, great institution that does everything
good and we're squeaky clean and we have a great
building, we have great carpet, we have great
lights and we go through the service and we do
it. We're not just here because we're squeaky
clean and we have a great organization. We're
here because... Jesus is the center and the Holy
Spirit is the power. And that Holy Spirit needs
to be in the life of every person in the church,
not just some of the people. Every person needs
to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And if you
get filled with the Holy Spirit, you need to
speak in tongues. Yes, I did say that. Speak
in tongues. My little funny thing I say, my wife
says, quit saying it, but I like it. It's if
you buy the shoes, the tongues come with it.
And so there's a... Why apologize for speaking
in tongues? It's in the Bible. It's a powerful
experience. It helps you pray better. It helps
you worship better. It's part of being filled
with the Holy Spirit. Don't try to make excuses
about it. Don't try to become a third waver and
say, be filled, but don't speak in tongues. Have
the Holy Spirit, but don't worry about glossolalia
because, you know, that's a Pentecostal thing.
By the way, it is not a Pentecostal thing. It's
a Jesus thing. It's a 12 apostle thing. And it's
a Bible thing. It's not a Pentecostal church
thing. It's just that that group of people happened
to believe it and did it, and they got named
because of Pentecost, the day of Pentecost, so
Pentecostals. And so everybody now, if you speak
in tongues, it simply means that you have a lot
of spirit and no brains. You have great power
and no doctrine. But that's not what we are.
We can have both. We have spirit and brain, and
we have power and doctrine. We're not settling
for one side. We want everything. We are little
pigs in the kingdom of God. We want it all. Third,
we know that the character of the church determines
the influence, longevity of the church. The church
has to have character. I've been around long
enough doing this to watch a lot of churches
flame out. A lot of churches used to have great
power and great presence and great influence,
and they don't even exist anymore. I used to
preach at their churches where they had thousands
of people. Now they have nothing. Now some are
totally gone. Some are dead. Some are split 20
times. What happened? They lost their character.
You can't have a good church if you don't have
people of character. You have to be people of
integrity. You have to have leaders of integrity.
We can't sweep under the carpet things that are
wrong in the kingdom of God. We can't excuse
things and just act like it doesn't exist. The
church has to be a clean place, a character place,
a Jesus place. place, an integrity place. We
have to do things right. We have to honor the
rules that the Bible puts out, and we have to
live by those, raise the church up, and if you
do that, you'll be a church that goes on 10,
20, 30, 40, 50. I handed our church over. Our
church is almost 70 years old. Can you believe
that? Our church is almost 70 years old up in
Portland. We've only ever had three pastors in
70 years. We've never had a fallen pastor. We've
never had a fallen elder. We've never had a church
split. We've never been a church that's been
known for any kind of weird doctrine or heresies.
We have gone on decade after decade. I'm just
here to prophesy with my eyes open. You can finish
this race with great character and you can be
a church of influence and you can do great things
for God and you will do great things for God.
Keep your character. Fourth, It's the one I'm
after. We know that each church has its own and
like Bible would have your own unique destiny.
You have a unique personality. Why? Because you
have unique leaders and the blending of gifts
and culture and legacy and Holy Spirit activity
and things happen. The personality of the church
begins to shape. That's what happens. You have
a dominant distinctive. That dominant distinctive
would be. Your attitude toward the Holy Spirit
and toward the Word of God. I mean, it's in your
culture. You have a heritage. And you have the
thing that I'm talking about this morning. You
have a unique mantle. And that unique mantle
is important for us to understand and important
for us to embrace. And so let's talk about mantles
for a moment. Now, if you're not a Bible person,
have not heard the word mantle, I'm going to
frame it in so you can just walk right through
it with me. The word mantle is a Bible word.
Now, we use it sometimes if you're around church.
A lot of people will say, well, that man really
has a mantle or that guy really has a mantle.
Wow, she leads worship. She has a mantle. for
worship we use the terminology sometime and most
people would have heard it how many of you would
have heard the word mantle sometime how many
of you would say i haven't i'm not very familiar
with the word mantle anybody we're going to send
you to a special class right now would you okay
but it's in the bible and and the mantle is a
significant powerful concept That is carried
through scripture. The mantle is made for people.
Individuals. Leaders. And it's also made for
congregations and churches. So mantles are made
for a person. And mantles can be made for a church.
When God puts the mantle on a person. He doesn't
always explain how much that mantle will cost
you. He doesn't tell you the sacrifice involved.
He doesn't tell you the journey to get the whole
piece on you. But he promises you the grace to
get through it. So the mantle of God comes upon
us. And that mantle, there's two easy ones if
you wanted to study it. One would be Joseph in
Genesis 37 where his father makes him a tunic
or a mantle of many colors. Many colors. And
that mantle of many colors, when he put it on
Joseph, all the other brothers went, wow, that's
a beautiful coat. We're jealous. Why did you
give Joseph that coat? But the coat was not just
a coat. It was not just a mantle because it's
the same word, the tunic. It was... many colors
and it was prophetic. And so Joseph was given
this mantle and he was going to live out the
colors of the mantle. He was going to live out
the blackness of the night. He was going to live
out the redness of the jealousy. He was going
to live out the gold of the supremacy that he
would inherit. He is going to actually live out
every single color that he's putting on. You
need to watch it if God says, and I'm going to
give you a mantle with many colors. Really? Yes.
And you're going to live every one of them. You
want to wear it? Oh, yeah, but you have no idea
that it means pits and prisons and stuff and
brothers that are jealous and all that's going
to happen. So you wear the mantle, but the mantle
costs. Now, when it comes to Elijah and Elijah,
Elijah had a mantle. And he was a prophet. He
did seven miracles. And God said to him, I want
you to take your mantle and I want you to give
it to another man. His name is Elisha. And I
want him to carry the mantle. And so he does
that. He goes down. And in 1 Kings 19, 19, it
says that Elijah finds Elisha plowing in a field.
And this man is not thinking about anything.
He's not in the school of the prophets. He's
not preparing for this. He's not thinking about
it. And it says that the older prophet with his
mantle. Now, remember, this mantle would have
had so much in it in just the aroma of the mantle.
His sweat, he had to walk 160 miles to get to
the guy to give him the mantle. He had been in
the cave. He had wore that mantle for years.
There was an aroma to it. There was a friendship.
There was something about Elijah's mantle that
was very, very, very special. And God says, I
want you to take it. I want you to throw it on
that man. And so as he came down plowing, he
throws the mantle on the younger man. And then
he just keeps walking. And the younger man says,
just a second. What have you done? Don't worry
about it. The prophet didn't even want him to
have it. Don't worry about it. I'm leaving. But
the young man got it. He knew what it was. He
just gave me his mantle. I got the mantle. I
got his mantle. What does that mean? I'm going
to go serve this man. And so he did for the next
number of years. Seven years he served that man.
And at the end of seven years, that mantle became
his. But he was a servant before he could get
the mantle. And so that's kind of the background
of the mantle. Now, the word mantle. is what
I want you to look at right here. The word mantle
is from that Hebrew word, well, you would know,
but the Hebrew word ador and ader, those two
words are used throughout the scripture, and
they're translated so many different ways. They're
translated excellent, famous, mighty. They're
translated noble, roomy. There's English words
that come into your Bible, but it's the same
Hebrew word over and over again when we talk
about the mantle. So what is the mantle? This
is what the mantle is. A mantle is the powerful
anointing and call that rests upon a church.
I'm talking to you, your church, to demonstrate.
Something that is majestic, because that's what
the word mantle means. Superior, magnificent,
glorious. It's the grace that God puts on a church.
grace lands on that church when that mantle lands
on that church when that mantle begins to work
itself into that church it begins to mold that
church for the destiny that it has and you can't
always see the breadth and the height and the
width and etc of the destiny because you don't
know all that the mantle means but as that mantle
begins to rest upon the church there's a calling
and there's a glory and there's a power and there's
okay now let's drop into it in the New Testament.
Acts 4 .33. Acts 4 .33. The word mantle, Hebrew.
The word grace, Greek. are close to the same
meaning because they have the same idea. Now,
I don't have time to totally frame in this Greek
word because this Greek word for grace has the
idea that there's personal grace for salvation.
You can't get saved unless the grace of God comes
into your heart. There's no doubt about that.
The scripture says that. By grace and faith.
You're saved. But there's also a grace that comes
on you for the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And
so there's a grace for salvation and there's
a grace for gifting. And in the church, there's
a grace for personality, power, and functionality.
And that's what I'm talking about. Listen to
it right here in Acts 4 .33. And with great power,
everyone say great power. The apostles gave witness
to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and...
Great grace, everyone say great grace, was upon
them all. What is this? This is what I call the
corporate grace mantle. The grace of God was
upon them all. They were already saved. We're
not talking salvation here. They haven't been
taught about gifts of the Holy Spirit yet. But
there was a mantle, a blanket, a canopy, a presence
of the grace of God upon this church. And because
of that, they had great power was working upon
them all. An abundance of this grace was upon
the church. All right? Now, grace levels. In
understanding grace, number one, there's grace
that comes on a person. Now, I'm not talking
salvation. I'm talking gifting hand. mantle so
grace comes on a person there's also number two
grace can come on a family both natural and supernatural
when you see it some families are prone to being
filled with teachers Mom's a teacher. Dad's a
principal. Kids grow up. They go to school. They
become teachers. You're a carpenter. Your son's
a carpenter. You're an electrician. He's an electrician.
You're a business guy. Your daughter becomes.
You're in medical. She becomes. He becomes. You
watch it in families all the time. There's a
grace even in the natural. that can rest on a
family, and there's a grace in the supernatural
that can rest on a family. My son is building
a church, our son right now in Portland. His
church is already almost 900 people, only 18
months old, and people are looking at that and
thinking, wow, this is an amazing church, and
it is an amazing church, and he's right in the
city. He's only 31 years old. He preaches the
Bible with power and with clarity and with clear
doctrine, with anointing. He moves in the gifts.
Where did he get all that? Fruit doesn't fall
far from the tree. And mantles don't fall far
from the person. And so he has my mantle. Now,
I don't rub it, and I don't even bring it up.
When I preach there, I don't ever say anything
like this. But in my heart, I know it. And it's
true. Not everyone starts out of the gate at
the same place. And legacy increases success.
That's why you should protect your legacy. You
protect. What you put down to the next generation.
You protect what you pass on. Because not everybody
starts at the same place. And we don't want the
next generation to start all over again. We want
them to stand on the shoulders of greatness.
On the shoulders of faith. On the shoulders of
grace. On the shoulders of miracles. On the shoulders
of believing God for great things. The leaders
coming up in this church should be standing on
the shoulders of Brad and Jen and the rest of
the elders and the team. And now they're in there.
Are you? You're 40. You're 43. And you're 63,
aren't you? No. You're 46. Oh, God. Shandai Rama.
He is 50. Let it be known. that on this particular
day in 2019, Pastor Frank said to the congregation,
yea, thus saith the Lord, Brad is old. All right,
he's 50, she's 43, and the elders of whatever
age, they've been serving God for many, many
years, and they have legacy in their families.
Their families were families of... in my church.
Both of their families were in my church in Eugene,
and they were Christian families who had Christian
faith, who had prayer, who had anointing, and
they pass it on to their kids. And I'm watching
Jessie Jo this morning, and she's standing right
in front of my wife, and she kept looking at
me. I know she wanted to sit on my lap, but I
didn't have her come over because I knew I could
never get rid of her again. And so I'm just joking.
I'm just joking. Don't you tell her that. And
so here she is. She's worshiping. Long hair,
long hair, dressed perfect, dressed perfect,
singing, moving. Who is she like? Hello. It runs
in the family. She's not like Brad, no. And number
one daughter, leading worship, prophesying, meandering
in the spirit. Naturally, does it any time she
wants. She could sing the song of the Lord at
a funeral. And she might. Okay, what am I saying?
Mantles come on people. Mantles come on families.
Don't criticize mantles on families. Natural,
supernatural. And mantles come on churches. And
churches are made up. of the multi -level gifting
of the leadership team. That's why you need all
five of the Ephesians 4, 11, and 12 leaders.
Jerusalem church. What was Jerusalem church like?
Preached only to the Jews. Let it be known, if
you don't know history, the first church... In
Acts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Only preached to
the Jews. And it took a sheet with a bunch of
funny looking animals coming down in the dream
for Peter. And God says, up, eat. Peter says,
I am not going to eat those animals. That's against
the law. And I am a... I am a pure Jew. No, I
will not. God says, no, it's not about eating.
Peter was always getting things wrong. So he's
reacting, I will never eat that stuff. God says,
geez, and you're the first pope. And so Peter,
that was a joke too. God was saying to him, go
outside, go outside, go outside what you're doing.
House of Cornelius. God fell. And Peter says,
I didn't do anything. I didn't do anything. I
was just there. And in the middle of the preaching,
Holy Spirit fell on some of these Gentiles. And
they got filled with the Holy Spirit. I heard
them speak in tongues. I didn't mean to do it.
I didn't try to do it. I didn't do anything about
it. Honestly, guys, I was preaching in the middle
of a sentence. God just interrupted me, overtook
them. And I was just there saying, wow, wow,
wow. Oh, what am I going to say to the church
in Jerusalem? They were a one. One generation,
one ethnic race focused people. Jerusalem. So
what does God do? Okay. How many are enjoying
this? How many feel you're getting something
out of it? Okay, good. It's good for you to raise
your hand. It makes me feel good. Okay. Corporate
grace on the church is this. This is corporate
grace. Next slide. Corporate grace. is a God
-given deposit in a local church. Now, this is
what you have in this church. And I'm doing this
because I'm begging you to guard it, acknowledge
it. understand it and it's not just some good
idea that happened here in Harrisburg or somehow
you know Brad was raised here so he came back
here there's a sovereign peace there's a linkage
here there's a God thing there's a plan there's
a destiny there's something going on and you
get to be a part of it and it's an awesome thing
to have a church that has a grace deposit in
it A local church that is empowered to serve
God together in a special way. And so the church,
your grace deposits your gift in whatever you
have, whatever you do, whatever you serve. You
deposit into the church, and the church actually
helps develop your grace. And your grace actually
helps develop the church. And so your life and
the church's life get interwoven. And so before
you know it, You are now blended. The mantle
the church carries is the mantle you start carrying.
So if you're a business person, you start doing
business with more faith. You start doing business
prophetically. You say, what are you doing? What
are you doing over there? I'm getting the word
of the Lord for this decision. What are you talking
about? It doesn't matter. Just wait. Okay, this
is what the Lord wants us to do. And they do
it, and it works. It's not weird. It's not funny.
It works. Next time they say, why don't you sit
over there and do that again? They don't even
know. Why? Because the church has a deposit of
faith and the prophetic and miracles and an acknowledgement
that the Holy Spirit speaks to you in every arena
of life. And so even... How you do business is
affected by the church you're in. How you raise
your children. How you pray. How you go through
a crisis. How you pray for miracles. Oh, you
have cancer? Geez, I'll be at your funeral. I
really feel bad for you. You're leaving so much
behind. You're so young. Man, I don't want that
person talking to me. At least I want them to
say, we're on it. We will pray. And we will believe.
And God could work in this situation. We're going
to believe that he can because miracles still
exist. I want someone to tell me God could. I
don't want them just to bury me prematurely.
Tell me that God can do a miracle. The church
you're in. begins to shape the way you pray,
the way you do money, the way you think about
business, the way you raise kids, the way you
do everything. There's a corporate mantle that
affects the individual. All right. Are we there?
Now, every mantle, and this is not on a slide,
so if you're taking notes, you just have to keep
writing if you want. If not, just listen. Every
mantle has what I call... On the church. We're
talking about the church mantle. Every mantle
has grace marks. Grace marks on it. Like what?
One, birthmarks. In the natural spiritual, there's
birthmarks. A visual mark on how the church was
started. Why it's so important to start churches
right. The struggle, whatever happens in those
early days, is what begins to birthmark that
church. If you start a church in unbelief, it
puts a mark on you. If you start a church with
a low level of integrity, you'll struggle maybe
for a long time. if you start every church has
a birthmark this church has a birthmark and the
birthmark in this church is that it had faith
it had vision it had prophetic it started with
a bang it started with people that knew how to
pray they had great vision there were marks on
this church from the very beginning that they
were going to believe God for great things not
little things and they were going to push through
In intercessory prayer and prayer walking, maybe
you, you know, today when Brad said that we're
going to meet at 8 o 'clock, 9 o 'clock, what
did you say, 10 o 'clock? 8 to 10, the first
shift, 10 to 12, the second shift. If you're
a visitor, you're thinking, what is he talking
about? Prayer walking, what's a prayer walk?
Should we go to the prayer walk? No, it's very
long, hon, 8 to 10. What do they do at the prayer
walk? I don't know, but it sounds like they do
something. Are they outside? Are they going after
the demons in Halloween? Oh my God, what's going
on in this church? If you don't understand it,
it might sound funny, but in a very real sense,
prayer walking is simply taking your prayer on
a walk. And it is... When we bought the property
in Eugene, way back, you know, I'm just a young
guy, I prayer walked that property every single
day before we ever bought it. I prayer walked
every inch of it, acres. And I would, step by
step, claim the property, bless the property,
see buildings on the property. See prosperity
on the property? See people coming? See the cars
driving in? I would close my eyes and I would
prophesy to myself, this place will be filled
with the presence of God. This place will be
filled with people coming to this building. This
place will be filled with the anointing and miracles.
As I prayer walked, there was nothing but a piece
of dirt out there. But in the visible realm,
you might see dirt. But in the invisible realm,
I was prophesying things that are not as though
they were. Speak in the word of the Lord even
over dirt and rocks. Why? Because that's what
we believe. That we're not just natural. We're
supernatural. We're people of the Spirit. Okay,
number two, there's unusual marks. Church miracles.
I could tell you a bunch that I had down there
and up there in Portland, but no need. Third
is a trademark. A trademark is some kind of a...
A stamp that goes on you that's distinguishing
something that God stamps onto the church. If
you had to say, if you've been around one year,
two, five, seven, whatever, and someone would
say, what do you think are the unusual marks
on Life Bible? What would you say? If someone
said to you, what's the distinguishing characteristic
of that church? Well, you know, they're a church
that, They're a happy church. And they love the
Holy Spirit. And they preach and they prophesy.
And it's just the place is alive. And I like
it. Can somebody shout hallelujah? There's a
trademark on it. Number four, there's a logo
in the spirit realm. identifying statement that
you begin to make your vision. Your vision is
usually the outworking of your faith and your
journey and your whole experience in God making
you in the church. And so what is the logo? What's
the statement that you make about this church?
Well, again, Brad talking about giving money
and you clap when he said we're going to give
money to the Palestinians. Did you say Palestinians?
And to the Jews. Messianic Jews, and we have
churches over there. And you start clapping.
You might not even understand everything that
that means, but it sounds right to you. It sounds
right that we're trying to reach some other people
and give first fruits away and money away. What
kind of a church do you have? We're liberal.
We're generous. We reach beyond our borders.
We give. We help. We build churches. We bless
pastors. We send missionaries. We're not just
about ourselves. We're about the kingdom of God.
Can you shout a big hallelujah out there? We're
not just about ourselves. Our tithe is not just
about keeping this building open. Our tithe is
to extend the kingdom of God. Our tithe is to
extend the mission program. Our tithe is to help
young people get trained and help everything
that's going on. You have a logo, a trademark,
and you have, number five, a brand. A brand that
begins to happen. A reputation. A following.
And people recognize the brand. When people say,
where do you go? I go to Life Bible. Oh, yeah.
Life Bible. I heard about it. Yeah. Life Bible.
That beautiful building down there looks like
a Sun River resort, right? Yeah. That's our building.
Well, why did you build it so nice? Because God
builds nice things. Well, why did you build it
so big? Because everyone is going to get saved,
including you. And there's room for you here.
We made room. Why would you build something like
that in the middle of Harrisburg when there's
only so many people outlining Harrisburg? Because
we don't look at the dirt and the fence and the
grass, although you look at the grass seed farmers
because they are great givers and we bless them
in the name of Jesus. We look at the potential.
And even though we can't see all the neighborhoods,
God says there's enough people to fill this place
five times. But if you have no vision, if you're
not brought into this brand, this logo, this
trademark through miracle and faith, you might
also be on the other side of the, what are we
doing? But after a while, you get it. Wow. A
lot of people here. So. Where did you drive from?
How many here from Elmira? How many from Junction
City? How many from Eugene? Ooh, Shandarama.
How many from Salem? How many from Stanton? I
met a woman yesterday who drives every service
from Stanton. That's on the other side of Salem.
I said, what's wrong with you? I said, don't
you know there's churches in Salem? She says,
I do, but not like this one. And God put me here,
and what is an hour drive? Well, some people
don't even drive 10 minutes. And I bet you she
drives an hour, and she's on time. Okay. Remember,
I'm family. I'm family. The sixth term is DNA.
Every biological human race people have this
thing called DNA. It's how we find things now.
It's greatly developed in all kinds of crime
fighting, but it's in our family. It's in our
peoples. It's a, what is it? It's a genetic code.
And even if you don't like the genetic code,
you can't change it. It's your code. It's your
DNA. Every church has a genetic code, a DNA.
Every church. Our church, I can remember as a
pastor in both. I only pastored Eugene in Portland
40 years worth. I can remember at times thinking,
I wish I could simplify the service. because
we would grow more, and we were a sizable church.
We would grow more, and I would have visitors
say, why do your people lift their hands? Well,
because it's a Bible. It bothers me. I don't
think you need to lift hands to worship. Well,
no. You might also say you don't need to breathe
to live. But it's not true. And I can remember
thinking, if I could clean this service up, not
have so many people doing funny things like coming
to the front or prophesying or lifting their
hands or dancing or clapping or carrying on.
I could clean it up. And we could reach more
people. But in my heart of hearts, we had a DNA
that said, we are Holy Spirit people. We are
worship people. We clap our hands. We lift our
hands. We dance. We come to the front. We lay
down sometimes at the altar. People weep. People
carry on. As soon as you try to domesticate the
Holy Spirit, you end up chewing him right out
the door. Our DNA is not to apologize for lifting
hands. Not to apologize for clapping, dancing,
singing loud. Not to apologize for people that
are at the altar. Not to say, well, you know,
I know that. Just say, that's the way it should
be. People are passionate. People love church.
People love God. And you need to tell people
when you invite them to the church, hey, our
church is different. I'm just going to warn you
before you come. What do you mean, how different
is it? Is it a cult? No, no, no, it's nothing
like that. But our church is really loud. Because
I had visitor after visitor, and we forget, they
would say, your church is so loud. Really? We
get used to it. And then my response would be,
well, if you're going to go to heaven, you better
get used to it, because heaven's loud. I try
to joke with them, but the fact is, Our churches
are loud. We turn the sound up. We have a bunch
of instruments. They're used to maybe something
really quiet and 30 minutes. And then they would
say, your services are really long. Really? 90
minutes is long? And I would say to them, when
was the last time you went to the theater? And
they would look at me kind of like the cow looking
at the fence post. What's that have to do with
it? With the movie more than two hours? Oh, yeah,
yeah. Then why would you be asking me about a
church that goes 90 minutes? It's because their
concept of church is it's dead. It's boring.
Get in and out as fast as you can. Keep your
hand on your wallet. Keep your hands in your
pockets. Don't let anything happen. Don't let
emotionalism take over anything. And just get
in there and get out of there because that's
what church... Not for us. Church is a place
to rip. It's a place to let go. It's a place
to enjoy God. It's a place to worship with passion
and pray with passion and sing with passion.
That's... our DNA. So you need to say to people,
we're loud. Well, I don't think I mind that.
We're emotional. I think that's fine. We cry.
Does every visitor have to cry? No. I'm just
telling you, we cry. And we do a couple of things.
We clap. We lift hands. You want to try it with
me right now? Let's do it. Let's just lift. I'm
not telling you to do it. You know, get them
into it. Just lift your hands. See, there's no
problem with it. Just lift your hands. Do it
one more time before we get to the service. Just
lift your hands. Okay, now you're ready. We have.
Church with marks on it. And what got you here
was those marks. Don't remove them to try to
go on further. A lot of churches get rid of the
very mark that got them where they are. And we
start pastoring and doing church from the people's
mindset. Well, the people don't want a long service.
We're going to have to cut it short. I would
say to our church, I don't really care what you
think. I said, because you're not the pastor
I am. And I said, your choice is to stay or leave.
I don't have a choice. I have to stay. And because
I have to stay, it's going to be like this. Because
you might not stay, make me change it, and then
leave. just going to build it the way I see it,
biblically, and live with it. Because I think
that the marks that God gives a church are distinctive,
dominant marks that you better pay attention
to. Okay. Are you all right? I want to read another
scripture. Are you ready? Acts 11 and 23. Acts
11 and 23. Now, Acts 11 is the most important
pivotal chapter in the book of Acts besides Acts
2. So the history of the church, the church we're
all trying to build, is in the book of Acts.
Everybody goes there because that's the history
of the church, and you can see the church. Acts
2, outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Jerusalem starts.
That was a pivotal beginning of church. Acts
11. actually belongs in Acts 8. I don't know
why Luke did this. But Acts 11, I'm going to
ask him when I get there. When Luke wrote this,
Acts 11 is a continuation of Acts 8, verse 4,
is a continuation of Acts 11, verse 19. So if
you put Acts 8, 4, read it. Stoning of Stephen
and the people were scattered to preach. Then
put Acts 11, 19. It starts right there. And they
were scattered, and they went to preach in all
the regions, and it starts going through the
history of it, and part of the regions is Syria,
and part of the regions in Syria is Antioch,
and then it starts going through the cities.
Acts 8 -4, Acts 11 -19 belong together historically.
That's the continuation there. And so what happens
in Acts 11 happens right after the first martyr.
It happens right after, again, one of the most
pivotal and the New Testament was what Stephen
did, what he preached, what happened. And remember,
who was at the stoning of Stephen? Paul. He was
a rascal. Paul held the coats while they threw
the rocks. That's what it says. So Paul was there.
Give me your coat so you can throw harder. Give
me your coat. Okay, I'll hold all the quotes.
Go ahead, kill the guy. He shouldn't be living.
He's preaching erroneous. Paul was there. What
happens in Acts 8, pivotal to Acts 11. And in
Acts 11 and verse 19, you get into the verse
and it starts talking about the people that went
to preach at all the different places. And some
people went to preach at Antioch, the city of
Antioch. Acts 11, 23. Barnabas goes there because
the apostles say, hey, there's something going
on in Antioch. I think we better check out. So
they send Barney. Why? Because he was such an
encourager, pure -hearted guy. They say, why
don't you go look at it? He goes, Acts 11, 23,
and he came. Barnabas. And he saw the grace of
God. Mantle. And he was glad and he encouraged
them all that with purpose of heart they should
continue with the Lord. So in Acts 11, Barnabas
runs into this new church. This new church. is
now going to equal Jerusalem church. It's going
to be Jerusalem and Antioch, the two centers.
Jerusalem is actually now going to be affected
by Antioch, but nobody knows what's going on
here. Barnabas goes, and he goes, I can't believe
it. I saw the grace of God, the mantle, the corporate
grace, stuff going on. People are being saved.
People are praying. They live with purpose. And
so he says, I have to go find Paul. Well, Paul
had gone home after the council meeting. He had
gone home back to Tarsus. It says Barnabas travels
to Tarsus. Paul's hometown, finds Paul, says,
you got to come with me. Paul says, sure enough,
I'll do it. They go back to Antioch. And Paul
goes, whoa, what is happening here? Barnabas
says, I told you. He says, and Paul, you have
to understand, they're preaching to the Gentiles.
And Gentiles are being saved by the hundreds.
And they're a multi -race church. They're a multicultural
church. They're a multi -everything church. They're
a melting pot. They're doing something no church
has ever done before. And so it says in your
Bible, Paul and Barnabas spent a year teaching
at Antioch. How many of you would like to be
in Paul's class at Antioch? Man, I would. I would
love to hear what he taught. for a year in Antioch.
Now, everyone say out loud, we receive the mantle
that God has for us. What would that mantle look
like? I'm going to tell you what I think it looks
like. I think you're called to be an Antioch
church. I think your purpose and your anointing
is in the Antioch category. And I think the mantle
that is on you is in Acts 11. And I think if
you would read Acts 11, you will find the points
I'm going to give you. I'm going to give you
a few right now. Are you ready? Here's the mantle
that we want to recognize and keep on this church.
Number one, supernatural empowering mantle. We
want the hand of the Lord to stay on this church.
And we want the supernatural power of God to
be released in this church. And it says in Acts
chapter 11, 21 about the Antioch church. And
the hand of the Lord was with them. And that
phrase, the hand of the Lord with them, is the
idea of favor and blessing and supernatural and
that the hand of the Lord being upon it. You
cannot buy the hand of the Lord. You cannot beg
the hand of the Lord. You cannot manipulate the
hand of the Lord. The hand of the Lord goes where
the hand of the Lord wants to go. And when the
hand of the Lord comes upon a church and blesses
that church, you need to be the people that stand
up and worship and praise God and say thank you
for the hand of the Lord upon this church. It
affects me and my family and my business. and
my future, and everything about me. Matter of
fact, I want everybody, I'm not done, so don't
you try to sneak out. If you do, God will judge
you accordingly. I want everybody in this room
to jump up on your feet right now. Jump up on
your feet. Are you there? Like toast out of a
toaster, jump up. Have your hands free. Are you
ready? Let's give the Lord a shout and a clap
this morning. Come on. Come on. Thank you, Lord.
For your hand, for your hand, for your hand,
for your hand, for the supernatural. Thank you,
Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. For invitation
and deposit. Blessing, favor, don't you. Take
it for granted. Don't you just say, well, we've
been in this church. This is a church raised
up by God. And the very thing that most churches
want, you have. The hand of the Lord is on your
church. Okay, be seated. Number two part of this
mantle. is Acts 11 21 a great number believed
and turned number two is the passion for the
lost mantle and a great number I want you to
say out loud great number now I'm going to say
some things and you can weigh it you can do whatever
you like with it this church is destined to grow
a lot more And you're going to add another service.
Have you told the church about the other service?
They might be adding another service. Why? You
want to make room for people. Why? Because a
great number will turn and believe. But even
God does the math. God knows how many chairs
you have, how many rooms you have for children's
ministry, how many parking spaces you have. God
is practical. He's no dummy. He understands exactly
where you can go, how much you can have, and
how many people he can send here. And if you
don't have the faith to make room for it, or
the faith for more parking spaces, or the faith
for more whatever, or even multiple services,
then you stay where you are like a lot of churches
do. Because they don't want to do the work of
adding another service, another campus, another
whatever. But I'm prophesying to you with my
eyes open this morning. When you add another
service, you will make room for people. New families
will come. New visitors will come. New miracles
will happen. Because you made room for it. Every
single time we started. multiple services on
every campus. We were up to 20 services a week,
weekend. And I would be nervous. Okay, we're
going to start Sunday 9. We had 11. Now we're
going to go to 9. But that's early. You know,
in the pulpit, we are mighty men of God. In prayer,
we beg the Lord. Is that right? That is exactly
right. Because you're out of the boat in front
of everybody. So you're saying, and God will,
and God can, and I'm believing. And you're thinking
to yourself, please, God, for the people's sake,
don't let me down. Starting every service, I
would think, oh, I hope some people come. Jesus,
it would be so bad. And sure enough, start filling
up, filling up, and I'm thinking. Then I would
get them to pull up and say, what were you thinking
this morning? I told you the people were on their
way. But I didn't know. When you make room for
the lost. For their families. For their cars
to park. For them to have a chair to sit in.
For them to be in a service where they can experience
what you've experienced all these years. Thank
God there's a church in the middle of Harrisburg,
in the middle of, I'd like to say nowhere, but
that's offensive to everybody that lives here.
You're somewhere. And it's an amazing place and
it's a beautiful place and people are scattered,
but they'll drive. I think people are going to
drive from many places to taste the presence
in this place. The woman from Stanton, an hour
drive. Why? When you find presence, you get addicted
to it. And the drive doesn't mean anything. Why?
Because you want that on your life. You want
it on your life. Of course, there's many churches,
and there's many great churches. But there's
only one of you. Only one of you. This unique
DNA. Number three, the powerful grace mantle,
which is verse 23. I've read it to you already.
And the grace mantle was upon them. And if you're
listening to me, just hear the wording, a grace
atmosphere. A quality of graciousness. I think
this church is very gracious. I think the people,
the cafe people, the people that park your car,
they park my car, they're probably not parking
your car. The people, yeah, people that park
cars, yeah, yeah, they're out there. You find
them. But there's graciousness in the door greeters
and the cafe people and the worship teams and
the pastors and the leaders. And people are smiling
and laughing and hugging and enjoying themselves.
And people are walking. Because there's a graciousness
on this church, which is an attractiveness, favor,
kindness. Number four, the unified purpose mantle.
There's something clear here that's going on.
There's a unity of purpose. There's an urging
you to press into that vision, press into that
purpose, and remain faithful to what the Lord
is doing in your midst as you build and as you're
a part of it. Who knows? what you will be doing
in this house and in other services. And who
knows if you start other campuses. And I don't
know that Brad is going to do that. I'm not telling
him to do that. I'm not prophesying him to do
that. I'm just saying sometimes you need to take
the service where the people are, not bring the
people where the service is. And sometimes there's
communities that could really blossom with a
service like this and a church like this and
a preacher like this and the worship like this
and the presence like this. And I'm just saying
there's a lot of areas around here that probably
could really use. a campus and a service, but
I'm not saying you should do that. No pressure.
Number five, a faith leadership mantle. It says
they found good leaders who were full of the
Holy Spirit, controlled by the Holy Spirit, enthusiastic
with the Holy Spirit, and they were men of great
faith. I thank God. I thank God for Brad and
Jennifer. I thank God that you have a pastor
and pastors that have faith. I'm glad they're
not saying, well, you know, we can't, you know,
we don't need to build anything else. You know,
I'm 50 years old. It's time for me to kind of
unwind a little bit. You know, it's time for
us to, we would probably just, you know, stay
with what we have and I'll get on my motorcycle
and do more writing. And so... No. Faith never
stops pressing. Right up until I had cancer,
I was starting another campus. Right after I
got out of the hospital, I was thinking of enlarging
our vision to do this and this and this and this.
And that's why I realized I'm not the guy to
do it because I can't pull that off. I need to
pull something else off and let someone else
do this. And so I think faith. never stops taking
ground. As a business, when you stop taking ground,
you stop taking money. As a church, when your
vision becomes only about this, why would God
give you miracles? Why would God provide more
money for you? Why would God give you things
you can't use? It's when you're out of the boat
that the water has to work. It doesn't work if
you're a boat person. If you're a boat person,
not a water walking person, it doesn't matter.
You don't need a miracle. You can sit in the
boat all day long and say, I want a miracle.
I need a miracle. Oh God, give me a miracle.
I'm in the boat. I want to walk on the boat.
I'm walking on the boat. What a miracle. I didn't
dump it out. I didn't tip it over. I'm walking
on the boat. And you go, man, I had a miracle.
That's not a miracle. It's just living life routinely.
It's being safe. It's staying in the boat. You
don't get the miracles until you get out of the
boat. That's where miracles have to happen. Bible
says, as they went, God worked with them. Faith.
Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible,
and receives the impossible. Faith. I used to
quote this to my staff and leaders all the time.
It's one of the fun things I did. Francis of
Assisi in the back third, fourth century, you
know, he is a monk and a writer and a great man
of God, actually. He established a lot of things
we're still doing. Francis of Assisi. Found a
monk who was cooking in one of the monasteries.
And he wanted to take the monk with him and go
start more monasteries where there weren't any.
And the monk said to him, I can't go. I'm cooking
for the other monks. Francis of Assisi said to
him, give up your small ambitions. Come save
the world with me. And I would say that to my
staff all the time when they would give me their
low -level excuses. I would say, give up your
small ambitions. Come save the world with me.
We all have small ambitions that we just get
so wrapped up in. But, you know, I want you to
understand, your life really matters. Fine, you
won't get what God is saying to you. I'm really,
I'm really naughty. I apologize for my humor.
No, I don't at all. All right, we want faith.
Number six, we want the apostolic equipping mantle
to stay on this church. The apostolic equipping
mantle. thinks about training leaders and pipeline
and doing everything for the next generation.
It's an apostolic mindset. The apostolic equipping
that goes on here already needs to be multiplied
many more times. Number seven, the prayer worship.
You can play, I don't mind. Just as long as the
organ's off. The prayer, worship, and counter
mantle, you have it. Chapter 13, verse 2, while
they were ministering to the Lord and worshiping,
the Lord said, the voice said, the prophetic
came. That's a unique thing. Not all churches
do that. Not very many churches do that at all.
The prayer, worship. Number eight, the prophetic
voice mantle. Where we believe in prophets and
prophetic and voice, Not just from the pulpit,
but in the people, for the people, around the
people. The prophetic mantle rests upon the church.
And prophecies that come. I kept all the prophecies
that came over our church in a journal. And I
would go back to them. Why? Because I believe
that God's going to talk. I might as well listen.
And so I would go back and read those. And the
ones that came to pass. I would check them off
and say, that's happened. That word of the Lord
was fulfilled. This one has not happened. Every
prophecy has a rhythm. The prophecies over the
church has a rhythm and a course that they fulfill.
In 1 Corinthians 13, it says, and where there
be prophecies, they shall cease. And the Baptists
have used that to say, we no longer need prophecy
because they have ceased. That's not what that
Greek word says at all. That Greek word is kataargo.
And where it says, and prophecies have ceased,
it simply means kataargo, to finish their course.
That's what the word means. Something that finishes
its course. And where there be prophecies, they
will finish their course. And when they finish
their course, you better get a new word to continue
for the next season because the word for the
last season doesn't work for the season you're
moving into. And so you need to get a catargo
for the church to make sure you're in the right
rhythm to move the church into the future. Can
I hear an amen? Number nine, a God -sized vision.
So we're never going to limit this thing. It's
going to be God -sized vision. It's going to
be the purpose and the mantle mixing together
to fulfill that vision. It says in the book of
Joshua, a scripture that I've used a lot, and
I'm going to put it on your church, Joshua 17,
14 through 17. I won't read the whole context,
but this scripture is about vision. And it's
one of the most, for me, one of the most shaping
scriptures that got me to think about vision.
Because Ephraim and Manasseh were people that
were born dreamers because of Joseph. They were
Joseph's children. So they had dreaming in their
spirit, in their genes. And it says they came
to Joshua and they said, why have you only given
us one lot? We are a great people and you have
limited us. And Joshua said to them, the mountain
country is not enough for you. Then what you
should do is go clear out the mountain country,
clear a place for you, take care of the parasite,
the giants. in the mountains of Ephraim where
they have the warriors that keep that. I want
you to go and take those. It's not that you don't
have enough country. It's you won't take the
hard country. I didn't give you one lot. I gave
you plenty of lots, but you won't clear the lot.
And Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph. This
is in your Bible. I'm not making this up. Ephraim
and Manasseh, dreamers, faith people. You are
great people, and you have great power, and you
should not only have one lot, but the mountain
country is still going to be yours. I'm not going
to give you the plains. You're going to have
to do the mountains. You're going to have to
clear it. And he gave them four phrases. He says,
I want you to go up. Everyone say, go up. Cut
down. Drive out. Take possession. Now that's
the word of the Lord to this church this morning.
Go up, cut down, drive out, and take possession.
Why? Because you have a great vision in front
of you. You've only just begun. The best is yet
to come. I don't care how many years it took
you to get to where you are. This is only first
base to actually round the bases. This is only
the beginning of something great. There's a new
season, and God wants you to go up, cut down,
drive out, take possession. Why? Because there's
a great mantle on this church. That's God. Now,
put your... Bibles and stuff down again. Stand
to your feet. Are you there? All right. Now,
let's give the Lord another shout and another
clap and say, we receive. We receive. We receive.
Bow your head. Close your eyes. And let me prophesy
to this church. For I have set before you an
open door and no one can shut it. For you have
sufficient strength because you honor my word
and will keep my word. I will give you my word.
Take notice. Mark it. I've set before you today
a brand new open door. and it shall continue
until you are able to enter it. And when you
enter it, sooner than you think, at that moment,
opportunity will spring forth, and there will
come a newness to your strength and a newness
to your vision. For I have put favor on this
house, and I have opened doors that you can't
even imagine. I will provide for you the people
you need, the leaders you need, the finances
you need. I need you to go up. I need you to
cut down. I need you to expand your vision because
there's coming new open doors, a new season for
this church and this congregation. I need you
to step up in faith and extend the vision and
let the kingdom of God move forward. This is
a time, this is a time where the Lord will put
a mantle upon this church that you will feel,
a mantle upon this church that you will own,
a mantle upon this church that will change you,
your family, and your future. God, is going to
do mighty things through this congregation. And
he's going to anoint you with that mighty mantle.
And this is a turning point day, a marking day,
an open door day. Come on, lift your hands, everybody
in the room. And just, I want you to imagine
that I was the Elijah walking by, and I threw
the mantle right onto you. I threw the mantle.
Right on to you. And you received it with the
great effectual work and door that God has for
your church and what he's going to do with you
in the name of Jesus. Now, I want you to look
at me. Put your hands down. Just look at me.
And I want you to say these words with me. We
agree together and ask for a double portion.
We pick up the mantle and we stand in our place.
with faith and expectancy. We declare, we believe,
that the mantle rests on us. And the mantle on
us will open the rivers that are in front of
us. We will seize the miracles, we will overcome
the challenges, and we will let this mantle Make
a new future. We will carry it. We will honor
it. We will keep it. For us, our children, and
our children's children, we wear this mantle.
In the mighty name of Jesus. Come on, now let's
give the Lord a real clapping shout. Call us
at 541 -995 -8282.