WEBVTT 00:00:37.549 --> 00:00:39.149 That's good. You know, I come from a place where 00:00:39.149 --> 00:00:43.310 the sound system is talk loud. You know, so you 00:00:43.310 --> 00:00:47.030 got to do the best you can. We do have a short 00:00:47.030 --> 00:00:50.710 video. Are you ready to show that? Yeah? Great. 00:00:50.829 --> 00:00:53.130 Why don't you just show the video, and that will 00:00:53.130 --> 00:00:55.130 show you a little bit about what we're doing 00:00:55.130 --> 00:00:57.350 right now, a current project that we're doing. 00:00:58.670 --> 00:01:01.710 Ethiopia, one of the oldest nations in the world, 00:01:01.850 --> 00:01:05.090 a nation of over 90 million people, one of the 00:01:05.090 --> 00:01:07.930 fastest growing economies in the world. Ethiopia 00:01:07.930 --> 00:01:11.489 faces a severe crisis. A historic drought threatens 00:01:11.489 --> 00:01:14.370 the welfare and survival of many Ethiopian people. 00:01:14.549 --> 00:01:17.609 The worst famine in the nation in 50 years. This 00:01:17.609 --> 00:01:20.129 drought has killed up to 90 % of crops in some 00:01:20.129 --> 00:01:22.569 areas and at least 1 million cattle, while 75 00:01:22.569 --> 00:01:24.909 % of Ethiopians still depend on agriculture. 00:01:26.829 --> 00:01:30.590 The need is great. The time is now. The suffering 00:01:30.590 --> 00:01:33.349 of an entire people group cries out for a response. 00:01:33.549 --> 00:01:38.459 For help. Fire Over Africa has heard the cries 00:01:38.459 --> 00:01:40.700 of the Ethiopian people and is positioned to 00:01:40.700 --> 00:01:43.620 help in the most impoverished areas. For many 00:01:43.620 --> 00:01:46.200 years now, Fire Over Africa has dedicated itself 00:01:46.200 --> 00:01:48.780 to alleviate the unnecessary suffering of various 00:01:48.780 --> 00:01:51.120 Ethiopian people groups by offering medicine, 00:01:51.340 --> 00:01:53.659 orphanages, job empowerment, and other forms 00:01:53.659 --> 00:01:57.069 of humanitarian outreach. Based out of Awasa, 00:01:57.170 --> 00:01:59.530 Ethiopia, Fire Over Africa is helping the children 00:01:59.530 --> 00:02:01.430 that are especially affected by this drought. 00:02:01.689 --> 00:02:04.310 Together, we can provide food for 50 ,000 children 00:02:04.310 --> 00:02:07.150 daily until the next harvest. We need your help 00:02:07.150 --> 00:02:09.889 now. Please consider joining us in alleviating 00:02:09.889 --> 00:02:12.009 what international organizations have called 00:02:12.009 --> 00:02:14.469 one of the two greatest humanitarian crises in 00:02:14.469 --> 00:02:17.349 the world today. Your offering today will save 00:02:17.349 --> 00:02:20.509 the lives of children in Ethiopia. You can donate 00:02:20.509 --> 00:02:23.629 safely and securely on our website at fireoverafrica 00:02:23.629 --> 00:02:26.340 .org. you can be assured that the children will 00:02:26.340 --> 00:02:30.439 receive the food they desperately need. Amen. 00:02:30.500 --> 00:02:34.259 This is a project we're doing. We focus on the 00:02:34.259 --> 00:02:36.020 Bible College, but we have a number of projects. 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:39.159 This is one where we are feeding children in 00:02:39.159 --> 00:02:42.360 schools, which has a double effect. One, feeding 00:02:42.360 --> 00:02:46.099 the children, they need food. But secondly, that 00:02:46.099 --> 00:02:48.539 they are remaining in school. And we've had reports 00:02:48.539 --> 00:02:50.180 that many of the children are coming back to 00:02:50.180 --> 00:02:54.740 school or remaining in school. left school or 00:02:54.740 --> 00:02:59.400 that they're remaining. So the enrollment in 00:02:59.400 --> 00:03:01.379 the school is actually increasing because of 00:03:01.379 --> 00:03:03.439 the fact that they are receiving food. So right 00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:06.460 now we're feeding about 10 ,000 children every 00:03:06.460 --> 00:03:10.159 day and actually we're ready to increase that 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:13.860 by another 20 ,000 up to a total of 30 ,000 children 00:03:13.860 --> 00:03:16.539 that we're feeding right now. Our ultimate goal 00:03:16.539 --> 00:03:19.389 being 50 ,000 kids that need to... that we would 00:03:19.389 --> 00:03:22.250 like to be providing food for on a daily basis 00:03:22.250 --> 00:03:25.729 through their schools. So pray with us. Right 00:03:25.729 --> 00:03:27.710 now we have the food is present in Ethiopia. 00:03:27.789 --> 00:03:31.289 We're going to have a campaign in this month 00:03:31.289 --> 00:03:33.909 to raise the funds necessary to get the food 00:03:33.909 --> 00:03:37.090 to the children. and be able to add another 20 00:03:37.090 --> 00:03:39.610 ,000 children. So if you'd like to know more, 00:03:39.669 --> 00:03:44.050 just go to our website, www .fireoverafrica .org, 00:03:44.169 --> 00:03:46.129 and you can sign up for the newsletter. We'll 00:03:46.129 --> 00:03:49.870 let you know. $5, you can feed a child for six 00:03:49.870 --> 00:03:54.409 months. Amen. That's not bad, huh? You can feed 00:03:54.409 --> 00:03:56.469 a lot of children for not too much money. So 00:03:56.469 --> 00:04:01.289 it's an opportunity for us. Build community relationships. 00:04:01.330 --> 00:04:03.930 We're also able to go partner with the churches 00:04:03.930 --> 00:04:06.430 there. Many of the churches in those communities 00:04:06.430 --> 00:04:09.569 are pastored by our graduates, so we have a good 00:04:09.569 --> 00:04:11.870 relationship with them, and we can show the Jesus 00:04:11.870 --> 00:04:14.830 film and share the Word of God in those communities 00:04:14.830 --> 00:04:18.470 that are open to us because of just the love 00:04:18.470 --> 00:04:21.110 of God being poured out through you and through 00:04:21.110 --> 00:04:25.480 many who help and support us. All right, that's 00:04:25.480 --> 00:04:27.120 my commercial. Now I'm going to share with you 00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:29.879 the Word of God. And I want my wife to come and 00:04:29.879 --> 00:04:33.019 pray for us. My wife of 37 years, you should 00:04:33.019 --> 00:04:43.939 give her a hand. That by itself shows a tremendous 00:04:43.939 --> 00:04:46.500 amount of perseverance. What was that? Perseverance. 00:04:46.540 --> 00:04:51.970 Amen. All right. Greetings. Greetings in the 00:04:51.970 --> 00:04:54.089 name of the Lord. It's wonderful to be here. 00:04:54.810 --> 00:04:57.850 And it's been so easy being married to him 37 00:04:57.850 --> 00:05:02.129 years. Even when I was 50 -something and he said, 00:05:02.189 --> 00:05:06.529 we're moving to Africa. Even that was kind of 00:05:06.529 --> 00:05:10.790 easy. Amen, Father. We thank you for your presence. 00:05:11.089 --> 00:05:15.290 We thank you for the richness of our time with 00:05:15.290 --> 00:05:19.540 you, Lord. We pray even now, Lord, that You would 00:05:19.540 --> 00:05:23.800 give us ears to hear, Lord, and eyes to see, 00:05:23.879 --> 00:05:28.560 O God. And our daily bread, Lord, causes us to 00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:32.699 leave this place changed because your word is 00:05:32.699 --> 00:05:36.980 living and active and sharper than a two -edged 00:05:36.980 --> 00:05:42.720 sword. Transform us, O God. In your name we pray. 00:05:42.980 --> 00:05:48.970 Amen. I don't need that. Let me read a scripture 00:05:48.970 --> 00:05:55.670 and then we'll pray. You know, it's Christmas 00:05:55.670 --> 00:05:58.970 time and, you know, it's time when fathers, grandfathers, 00:05:59.189 --> 00:06:01.370 you know, grandmothers go and visit their family 00:06:01.370 --> 00:06:04.250 for Christmas. I heard about grandparents who 00:06:04.250 --> 00:06:07.389 went to visit their family Christmas time and 00:06:07.389 --> 00:06:10.189 the father asked his son, would you give me the 00:06:10.189 --> 00:06:13.170 password for the internet? Son said, sure, no 00:06:13.170 --> 00:06:16.209 problem, Dad. The password is on the bottom of 00:06:16.209 --> 00:06:19.800 the... modem. He said, great. Dad disappears 00:06:19.800 --> 00:06:22.180 for a while. Goes back after a while. He said, 00:06:22.259 --> 00:06:28.199 son, am I doing this right? On the bottom of 00:06:28.199 --> 00:06:32.980 the modem. Some of us are more technologically 00:06:32.980 --> 00:06:36.639 challenged than others. We're just doing the 00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:39.959 best we can, so just help us. It's okay. Anyway, 00:06:40.060 --> 00:06:43.680 I have the Scripture here on my phone. Let me 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:46.480 read it to you. This is from Galatians chapter 00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:50.120 4, verse 4 and 5. It says, But when the fullness 00:06:50.120 --> 00:06:54.240 of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born 00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:58.079 of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those 00:06:58.079 --> 00:07:01.779 who were under the law, that we might receive 00:07:01.779 --> 00:07:07.319 the adoption as sons. That we might receive the 00:07:07.319 --> 00:07:12.319 adoption as sons. Let's pray. Father, we thank 00:07:12.319 --> 00:07:15.740 you that today, You are here with us that we 00:07:15.740 --> 00:07:20.300 can open our hearts to you, that you will speak 00:07:20.300 --> 00:07:23.199 to us. But, Father God, we pray that this morning 00:07:23.199 --> 00:07:26.879 that we will hear your voice, that you will speak 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:29.879 into our hearts. And, Father God, we know that 00:07:29.879 --> 00:07:33.160 when you speak to us, it's a creative, life -changing 00:07:33.160 --> 00:07:36.319 word. So, Father, we want to hear from you today. 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:40.139 Speak to our hearts. Bring change and transformation 00:07:40.139 --> 00:07:48.000 in our spirit. In Jesus' name. Amen. You know, 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:54.459 Jesus did not need to come to the earth to become 00:07:54.459 --> 00:07:59.660 the Son of God. He was already the Son in heaven. 00:08:00.040 --> 00:08:06.000 Amen? So he did not suffer, die, and he was not 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:08.699 raised on the third day in order to become something. 00:08:08.759 --> 00:08:12.389 He was not already. He did do all that so we 00:08:12.389 --> 00:08:16.629 could become something we were not already. And 00:08:16.629 --> 00:08:21.069 what we are not already is we are not children 00:08:21.069 --> 00:08:24.069 of God. At least we're not functioning as children 00:08:24.069 --> 00:08:27.350 of God. You know, we have in the New Age movement, 00:08:27.430 --> 00:08:29.490 of course, everybody is a child of God. We're 00:08:29.490 --> 00:08:33.129 just all children of God. But, you know, in the 00:08:33.129 --> 00:08:36.009 Scripture, through faith in Christ, we become 00:08:36.009 --> 00:08:40.649 children of God. And as children of God, I found 00:08:40.649 --> 00:08:43.950 that many of us, it's like we really want to 00:08:43.950 --> 00:08:47.029 enter into that dimension of experience. What 00:08:47.029 --> 00:08:49.950 does it mean to really live my life as a child 00:08:49.950 --> 00:08:54.990 of God? But we find that we are not always functioning 00:08:54.990 --> 00:08:57.730 the way that we would want to. I mean, when we 00:08:57.730 --> 00:09:00.190 imagine what would it be like to really function 00:09:00.190 --> 00:09:02.330 as a child of God, we're not really experiencing 00:09:02.330 --> 00:09:04.889 that yet. We want to. It's in our heart. You 00:09:04.889 --> 00:09:07.269 know, we pray about it, but we're just not there 00:09:07.269 --> 00:09:10.759 yet. And I believe God wants to help us in this 00:09:10.759 --> 00:09:14.379 hour to come to a place of experiencing what 00:09:14.379 --> 00:09:18.500 he has already planned and prepared for us as 00:09:18.500 --> 00:09:22.340 living out our lives as children of the Most 00:09:22.340 --> 00:09:27.120 High God. You know, there's a difference in the 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:32.000 Scripture between Adam and Jesus. You know, it 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:34.580 talks about it, Romans chapter 5, 1 Corinthians 00:09:34.580 --> 00:09:41.460 chapter 15. or comparison between Jesus and Adam. 00:09:41.539 --> 00:09:46.259 Adam sinned, amen? He was disobedient to God, 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:49.720 and his sin was, in fact, disobedience. You know, 00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:53.500 I don't know about you, we just had a wonderful 00:09:53.500 --> 00:09:56.720 blessing from the church here, and I just want 00:09:56.720 --> 00:09:59.600 to thank all of you for this church's great hospitality 00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:03.240 and love. You know, since we started our journey 00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:07.419 this way, we've just been so blessed by the faithfulness 00:10:07.419 --> 00:10:09.919 and kindness of this church in every way and 00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:12.460 the excellence. Last time we were here, this 00:10:12.460 --> 00:10:15.480 building was not finished. We were just in the 00:10:15.480 --> 00:10:19.220 beginning stages. And it's just a tremendous 00:10:19.220 --> 00:10:22.899 amount of excellence. that we find here in this 00:10:22.899 --> 00:10:25.200 church is wonderful, and it's a reflection of 00:10:25.200 --> 00:10:27.700 who you are as a people, of your leaders, Pastor 00:10:27.700 --> 00:10:30.000 Brad and Jen, and all the elders and leaders 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:33.480 of this house, just that desire to be excellent 00:10:33.480 --> 00:10:35.779 in serving God, and we really appreciate that. 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:40.940 Anyway, we, you know, this morning in our basket 00:10:40.940 --> 00:10:44.460 of food that we received in our hotel room, there's 00:10:44.460 --> 00:10:48.120 an apple. Unlike some of the pictures, the fruit 00:10:48.120 --> 00:10:52.200 Adam ate was not an apple or Eve or whoever, 00:10:52.340 --> 00:10:57.059 but it was a piece of fruit. And I had some of 00:10:57.059 --> 00:11:00.860 that. It was not a sin for me to eat that fruit. 00:11:02.500 --> 00:11:06.000 So the problem with eating the fruit in the Garden 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:09.100 of Eden was not that it's a sin to eat fruit. 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:11.460 It's a sin to eat that fruit because God said, 00:11:11.620 --> 00:11:15.419 don't eat it, right? So the sin... Of Adam was 00:11:15.419 --> 00:11:18.639 the sin of disobedience. That was what he did. 00:11:18.700 --> 00:11:23.539 The problem there was he disobeyed God. Jesus, 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:26.379 on the other hand, according to John 8, 29, always 00:11:26.379 --> 00:11:29.580 did those things that pleased the Father. So 00:11:29.580 --> 00:11:34.000 he is the opposite. Jesus always obeyed the Father. 00:11:34.200 --> 00:11:37.919 And that's exactly the difference between Adam 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:43.769 and Jesus. Obedience versus disobedience. And 00:11:43.769 --> 00:11:45.809 so if we think about what does it mean to be 00:11:45.809 --> 00:11:48.809 a child of God, I want to talk to you today about 00:11:48.809 --> 00:11:53.570 radical obedience. Radical obedience. What it 00:11:53.570 --> 00:11:57.509 means to live a life of obedience as a child 00:11:57.509 --> 00:12:01.169 of God and what that will produce in our life 00:12:01.169 --> 00:12:05.830 as we enter into that truth. I want to read to 00:12:05.830 --> 00:12:11.950 you a scripture from Matthew chapter 5 and verse 00:12:11.950 --> 00:12:15.440 43. So if you have your Bible, I do like to bring 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:17.120 my Bible out because I don't want you to think 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:19.779 I'm preaching the gospel according to Apple. 00:12:22.179 --> 00:12:25.299 So I do try to read the Bible from time to time 00:12:25.299 --> 00:12:32.440 and turn to the Scripture. It's good. So this 00:12:32.440 --> 00:12:35.620 is in the Sermon on the Mount, chapter 5, verse 00:12:35.620 --> 00:12:41.059 43 of Matthew. He says, You have heard that it 00:12:41.059 --> 00:12:44.710 was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate 00:12:44.710 --> 00:12:47.870 your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies 00:12:47.870 --> 00:12:51.370 and pray for those who persecute you, so that 00:12:51.370 --> 00:12:55.710 you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. 00:12:55.809 --> 00:12:59.049 So this section of the Sermon on the Mount is 00:12:59.049 --> 00:13:01.409 connected to what it means to be children of 00:13:01.409 --> 00:13:04.870 God, to function as children of God. He says, 00:13:04.970 --> 00:13:08.850 love those who are your enemies, pray for those 00:13:08.850 --> 00:13:13.029 who persecute you, so that You may be sons of 00:13:13.029 --> 00:13:19.190 your Father in heaven. You know, we live in Ethiopia, 00:13:19.190 --> 00:13:23.190 and we have had a ministry to train leaders to 00:13:23.190 --> 00:13:26.129 reach out to Muslim areas. The Lord has allowed 00:13:26.129 --> 00:13:29.389 us to train more than 700 missionaries that have 00:13:29.389 --> 00:13:33.389 gone across Muslim parts of East Africa, and 00:13:33.389 --> 00:13:35.730 they've led more than 100 ,000 Muslims to Christ. 00:13:36.690 --> 00:13:45.559 And we praise God for that. One of those, actually 00:13:45.559 --> 00:13:47.820 he's a young man that we have kind of adopted 00:13:47.820 --> 00:13:50.159 for a time. He's taught some classes for us. 00:13:50.240 --> 00:13:51.980 He was not one of those students, but he has 00:13:51.980 --> 00:13:55.700 been one of our teachers. His name is Abdu. And 00:13:55.700 --> 00:13:59.120 I got to know Abdu, he was in the hospital, and 00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:02.700 he was recovering. And he didn't have money for 00:14:02.700 --> 00:14:05.539 his hospital bills, and so that's how we got 00:14:05.539 --> 00:14:08.669 to know him. Someone brought us to him. got to 00:14:08.669 --> 00:14:12.250 talk with him and share with him his story. And 00:14:12.250 --> 00:14:15.350 we ended up supporting him and helping him to 00:14:15.350 --> 00:14:20.309 complete the healing process that he needed to 00:14:20.309 --> 00:14:28.950 finish. And we talked to Abdu. Abdu was the editor 00:14:28.950 --> 00:14:33.889 of a newspaper in Ethiopia. It was a Muslim newspaper. 00:14:34.129 --> 00:14:37.070 It's called Hikmah, which means wisdom. And it 00:14:37.070 --> 00:14:41.169 was one of the major Islamic newspapers in Ethiopia, 00:14:41.370 --> 00:14:43.889 published, I don't know, at least every week, 00:14:43.889 --> 00:14:46.590 regularly. Very famous paper. He was the editor 00:14:46.590 --> 00:14:48.990 of this paper. So he was a knowledgeable guy 00:14:48.990 --> 00:14:52.549 about Islam. Very knowledgeable. And not only 00:14:52.549 --> 00:14:55.509 about the teaching of Islam, but about what is 00:14:55.509 --> 00:14:57.789 happening in the Islamic world at that time. 00:14:59.190 --> 00:15:02.870 Well, Abdu was walking down the street in Addis 00:15:02.870 --> 00:15:07.149 Ababa, capital of Ethiopia. And he wasn't too 00:15:07.149 --> 00:15:09.309 far. He was in the Muslim part of town, which 00:15:09.309 --> 00:15:11.269 is where he normally was. And he saw some people 00:15:11.269 --> 00:15:12.750 out in the street, and they were preaching the 00:15:12.750 --> 00:15:15.409 gospel. And that was a little unusual because 00:15:15.409 --> 00:15:16.929 there's not that many folks that come to that 00:15:16.929 --> 00:15:19.110 part of town, stand out in the street, and preach 00:15:19.110 --> 00:15:21.470 the gospel. But these guys were there, and they're 00:15:21.470 --> 00:15:23.169 preaching about Jesus, and they're passing out 00:15:23.169 --> 00:15:27.070 tracts. So he got a tract. It's in Amharic, the 00:15:27.070 --> 00:15:31.440 national language of Ethiopia. stands over on 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:33.299 the side, and he's reading this tract. And when 00:15:33.299 --> 00:15:34.580 he first got it, he's really thinking, well, 00:15:34.620 --> 00:15:37.919 how can I just, you know... discredit all this. 00:15:38.080 --> 00:15:39.559 And, you know, that's how he's thinking. But 00:15:39.559 --> 00:15:41.399 as he reads through this tract, he really, his 00:15:41.399 --> 00:15:43.759 heart is really touched. And he understood something 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:47.059 about Christ and some answers to some questions 00:15:47.059 --> 00:15:49.659 in his heart began to come. He goes over and 00:15:49.659 --> 00:15:51.720 he begins to talk to these people that are preaching. 00:15:51.980 --> 00:15:53.879 It's a little evangelistic group. And he says, 00:15:53.980 --> 00:15:56.179 you know, I read your tract. I, you know, I want 00:15:56.179 --> 00:15:57.480 to know more. They talked to him a little bit. 00:15:57.519 --> 00:15:59.120 He finally says, I really want to receive Christ 00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:02.889 as my Savior. I want to know Jesus. And they 00:16:02.889 --> 00:16:05.669 said, wow, well, let's just kind of go over here. 00:16:05.730 --> 00:16:07.450 We have a little place over here. We'll just 00:16:07.450 --> 00:16:09.190 go and pray. He said, well, why can't we pray 00:16:09.190 --> 00:16:11.309 right here? And they said, well, you know, we're 00:16:11.309 --> 00:16:13.149 like in the middle of the Muslim part of town. 00:16:13.210 --> 00:16:15.009 It may not be the best thing for us just to stand 00:16:15.009 --> 00:16:17.669 here in the street and pray. And he said, listen. 00:16:18.299 --> 00:16:20.259 you're telling me that God is greater, Jesus 00:16:20.259 --> 00:16:22.179 is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Why can't 00:16:22.179 --> 00:16:24.740 we stand out here? I mean, why would we not stand 00:16:24.740 --> 00:16:27.100 out here and pray in the street? I mean, it's 00:16:27.100 --> 00:16:30.679 really convicting these four. Okay, fine, we'll 00:16:30.679 --> 00:16:33.399 pray already. All right, all right. He shamed 00:16:33.399 --> 00:16:35.840 them into praying with him on the street. And 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:38.480 so they did, and they prayed. He became a Christian, 00:16:38.559 --> 00:16:42.919 gave his heart to the Lord. And he immediately 00:16:42.919 --> 00:16:46.399 began to serve the Lord. His wife was at that 00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:49.500 time in England. also a Muslim. When she heard 00:16:49.500 --> 00:16:52.740 he had become a Christian, she immediately divorced 00:16:52.740 --> 00:16:55.559 him, tried to get their children, which under 00:16:55.559 --> 00:16:58.039 Islamic law should be given to her, but fortunately 00:16:58.039 --> 00:17:00.419 they were in Addis Ababa, the capital, which 00:17:00.419 --> 00:17:02.899 is under the civil law of Ethiopia, so she was 00:17:02.899 --> 00:17:06.259 not able to get the children. He kept his kids, 00:17:06.380 --> 00:17:10.960 but she divorced him, and he's on his own, and 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:15.000 he begins to go and to preach the gospel in the 00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:19.920 most In the Somali region, eastern Ethiopia, 00:17:20.119 --> 00:17:24.339 there's Somali region next to Somalia and Afar. 00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:29.420 And these are like 99 .9 % Muslim areas. Like 00:17:29.420 --> 00:17:33.920 99%, or I don't know, really high percent. So 00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:36.779 he's from Somali region. He speaks the Somali 00:17:36.779 --> 00:17:39.660 language. So he goes there and he begins to preach. 00:17:40.140 --> 00:17:44.920 And as he's preaching the gospel in the Somali 00:17:44.920 --> 00:17:48.529 area, He began to kind of fall into this pattern 00:17:48.529 --> 00:17:51.589 of going to the mosque and having these discussions 00:17:51.589 --> 00:17:55.069 slash arguments with the imams and so forth, 00:17:55.130 --> 00:17:58.369 which is not a method we teach, by the way, in 00:17:58.369 --> 00:18:00.990 our Bible college. But nonetheless, that's the 00:18:00.990 --> 00:18:03.329 method that he did. And he was capable to do 00:18:03.329 --> 00:18:06.309 that because he was, you know, really an expert 00:18:06.309 --> 00:18:09.809 on Islam and the Quran and the Hadith and so 00:18:09.809 --> 00:18:13.269 forth. able to do that. And so he would go and 00:18:13.269 --> 00:18:15.569 he would argue with the leaders in the mosque, 00:18:15.890 --> 00:18:17.869 and that kind of fell into his pattern. Well, 00:18:17.910 --> 00:18:20.950 he did that in one place, and these three young 00:18:20.950 --> 00:18:23.150 men who were learning the Quran in the mosque, 00:18:23.250 --> 00:18:26.170 they began to discuss with him. They went three 00:18:26.170 --> 00:18:30.529 days back and forth discussing about between 00:18:30.529 --> 00:18:33.190 Christianity and Islam. At the end of the three 00:18:33.190 --> 00:18:36.609 days, their goal was to bring him back to Islam. 00:18:37.330 --> 00:18:39.789 His goal was to bring them to Christ, you know, 00:18:39.789 --> 00:18:42.390 so they're going back and forth. Eventually, 00:18:42.390 --> 00:18:44.910 they said, okay, we couldn't convince you to 00:18:44.910 --> 00:18:47.890 become a Muslim. Come tomorrow, we'll pray with 00:18:47.890 --> 00:18:50.410 you, and we'll receive Christ. So they set a 00:18:50.410 --> 00:18:52.910 time, they came the next day, but they really 00:18:52.910 --> 00:18:54.349 weren't telling the truth. They came, and they 00:18:54.349 --> 00:18:56.210 had this wire, it's called a garrot, where they 00:18:56.210 --> 00:18:58.750 put around his neck to try to strangle him and 00:18:58.750 --> 00:19:02.109 kill him, and almost did. He survived, but his 00:19:02.109 --> 00:19:04.630 throat was damaged, wasn't able to speak for 00:19:04.630 --> 00:19:07.819 about a year. And that was part of the treatment 00:19:07.819 --> 00:19:10.200 he had to get in the hospital. Anyway, they beat 00:19:10.200 --> 00:19:12.819 him so severely that he was about more than three 00:19:12.819 --> 00:19:17.160 years recovering from that experience. That's 00:19:17.160 --> 00:19:20.359 when I met him. He was in the hospital getting 00:19:20.359 --> 00:19:22.859 some treatment and trying to recover because 00:19:22.859 --> 00:19:25.400 he didn't have any money to get the treatment 00:19:25.400 --> 00:19:28.400 that he needed. And so we were some of those 00:19:28.400 --> 00:19:31.819 that were able to help him. After he finally 00:19:31.819 --> 00:19:34.880 recovered, it's probably four years after his 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:38.079 injury, the first thing that Abdu did was he 00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:41.019 went back to Somali region to begin to preach 00:19:41.019 --> 00:19:47.339 the gospel to the people of that place. And I 00:19:47.339 --> 00:19:53.460 had many conversations with Abdu over the years, 00:19:53.599 --> 00:20:00.250 and I realized that this is a person who has 00:20:00.250 --> 00:20:06.589 taken this idea to heart. Amen. Pray for those 00:20:06.589 --> 00:20:11.609 who hate you. Love those. Amen. Love them. Care 00:20:11.609 --> 00:20:14.250 for them. Preach for them. The fact that they 00:20:14.250 --> 00:20:17.970 hate you, they persecute you, does not deter 00:20:17.970 --> 00:20:22.410 us, amen, from fulfilling this command of God. 00:20:22.509 --> 00:20:26.690 And as we do, we enter into this dimension of 00:20:26.690 --> 00:20:29.500 God where we, we have an opportunity to become 00:20:29.500 --> 00:20:33.319 children of God in another way. Amen? See, it's 00:20:33.319 --> 00:20:34.960 one thing to say, oh, I'm a child of God, and 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:37.400 we have this very nebulous kind of idea what 00:20:37.400 --> 00:20:39.980 in the world that may mean. But this is a very 00:20:39.980 --> 00:20:43.079 practical kind of a thing right here. This is 00:20:43.079 --> 00:20:47.740 very practical. I love those who hate me. Okay. 00:20:48.420 --> 00:20:51.880 That's what it means to be a child of God. So, 00:20:51.900 --> 00:20:55.039 you know, I've been studying this issue for some 00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:57.220 time and praying about it and asking God to... 00:20:57.660 --> 00:21:00.980 Show me and help me to understand, really, what 00:21:00.980 --> 00:21:05.920 is he trying to do in our life as Christians? 00:21:06.119 --> 00:21:09.019 What are we, you know, is God saying something? 00:21:09.299 --> 00:21:12.500 You know, we talk about present truth in our 00:21:12.500 --> 00:21:15.539 movement. And, you know, we believe that God 00:21:15.539 --> 00:21:18.490 is speaking something now. Now, he has spoken, 00:21:18.710 --> 00:21:21.089 but he's taking some of those words off that 00:21:21.089 --> 00:21:23.710 page by the Holy Spirit, speaking them to our 00:21:23.710 --> 00:21:26.970 heart today. Amen? God didn't quit speaking at 00:21:26.970 --> 00:21:29.150 some point. He's still speaking. And if we have 00:21:29.150 --> 00:21:31.789 ears to hear, we can hear something of what he's 00:21:31.789 --> 00:21:34.190 saying. And so I say, Lord, what are you saying? 00:21:34.509 --> 00:21:37.750 Help me to have ears that are open to hear what 00:21:37.750 --> 00:21:40.289 you're saying at this moment and at this time. 00:21:46.809 --> 00:21:50.809 what he's doing in our generation. In Romans 00:21:50.809 --> 00:21:55.950 chapter 8, verse 4, Romans chapter 8, verse 4, 00:21:55.970 --> 00:21:59.269 it says, so that the requirement of the law might 00:21:59.269 --> 00:22:02.829 be fulfilled in us who do not walk according 00:22:02.829 --> 00:22:05.730 to the flesh. Let me start back in verse 3. I'm 00:22:05.730 --> 00:22:08.089 not good to start in the middle of a sentence. 00:22:08.529 --> 00:22:12.049 Verse 3, for what the law could not do, weak 00:22:12.049 --> 00:22:15.799 as it was through the flesh, God did sending 00:22:15.799 --> 00:22:21.000 his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:25.539 as an offering for sin. He condemned sin in the 00:22:25.539 --> 00:22:28.660 flesh so that the requirement of the law might 00:22:28.660 --> 00:22:30.960 be fulfilled in us who do not walk according 00:22:30.960 --> 00:22:35.500 to the flesh but according to the Spirit. So 00:22:35.500 --> 00:22:39.740 let's begin in verse 3. He says, what the law 00:22:39.740 --> 00:22:43.519 could not do. So the law could not make us holy. 00:22:43.930 --> 00:22:46.390 That was the purpose of the law, to make us holy. 00:22:46.670 --> 00:22:48.849 But it couldn't accomplish that because of our 00:22:48.849 --> 00:22:51.509 weakness. Paul makes it clear it's not the weakness 00:22:51.509 --> 00:22:53.589 of the law. The law is perfect. We're the problem. 00:22:54.289 --> 00:22:56.750 So the law couldn't make me holy because I couldn't 00:22:56.750 --> 00:22:59.809 keep the law. So that's the problem with the 00:22:59.809 --> 00:23:02.390 law making me holy. It could not because of my 00:23:02.390 --> 00:23:07.150 weakness. Now, the law was weak through the flesh, 00:23:07.349 --> 00:23:11.009 through my flesh. My flesh was weak, and that 00:23:11.009 --> 00:23:14.359 was the weakness of the law. Accomplish the goal 00:23:14.359 --> 00:23:17.880 of making me holy. God did accomplish his purpose 00:23:17.880 --> 00:23:22.799 by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:29.440 flesh. So Jesus looks like a regular human being. 00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:34.500 And he is human, but he's not the flesh. He is 00:23:34.500 --> 00:23:39.140 in humanity. He's not in flesh. In other words, 00:23:39.140 --> 00:23:44.970 he's not the selfish me. He's the human me, but 00:23:44.970 --> 00:23:48.829 he's not the selfish, self -centered me. So he 00:23:48.829 --> 00:23:51.289 came in the likeness. He looked like me, but 00:23:51.289 --> 00:23:54.529 there's a difference. The difference was the 00:23:54.529 --> 00:23:58.210 difference between Adam and Jesus. Adam disobeyed 00:23:58.210 --> 00:24:01.210 God. Jesus never disobeyed God. That would be 00:24:01.210 --> 00:24:04.329 the difference between Jesus and me. Amen. This 00:24:04.329 --> 00:24:10.150 is my problem. Okay. So he says, Weak as it was 00:24:10.150 --> 00:24:13.430 to the flesh, God did sending his own son in 00:24:13.430 --> 00:24:17.289 the likeness of sinful flesh as an offering for 00:24:17.289 --> 00:24:23.009 sin, or literally just for sin. He sent his son 00:24:23.009 --> 00:24:33.809 for sin. He condemned sin in the flesh. He sent 00:24:33.809 --> 00:24:39.799 his son for sin, and he condemned sin. In the 00:24:39.799 --> 00:24:46.019 flesh. He sent his son. Jesus is the atonement. 00:24:46.380 --> 00:24:51.059 Amen? He's the atonement for sin. You know, I 00:24:51.059 --> 00:24:54.000 know many of you have studied these things, so 00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:56.880 I'm going to give this to you in a short way. 00:24:57.539 --> 00:25:00.599 On the day of atonement, the high priest took 00:25:00.599 --> 00:25:03.619 the blood of the goat into the Holy of Holies 00:25:03.619 --> 00:25:07.339 and sprinkled it on the mercy seat. Amen? There 00:25:07.339 --> 00:25:09.759 were two goats. How many remember two goats? 00:25:10.460 --> 00:25:13.240 One goat, the blood went into the Holy of Holies. 00:25:13.339 --> 00:25:18.380 The other goat was released, right? So that atonement, 00:25:18.420 --> 00:25:21.160 Jesus is the atonement. He's both parts of the 00:25:21.160 --> 00:25:23.599 atonement. He's the part of the atonement where 00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:26.400 his blood brought about the forgiveness of sin. 00:25:26.660 --> 00:25:31.559 He's also the other goat that removed sin from 00:25:31.559 --> 00:25:34.460 Israel. See, the atonement is not just about 00:25:34.460 --> 00:25:37.279 forgiveness of sin. It's about the removing of 00:25:37.279 --> 00:25:42.400 sin. So if Jesus is our atonement, it means that 00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:44.380 he not only brought about the forgiveness of 00:25:44.380 --> 00:25:46.880 sin, but he also brought about the removing of 00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:50.059 sin. And so what I'm going to tell you is that 00:25:50.059 --> 00:25:52.019 it's time for the church to begin to believe 00:25:52.019 --> 00:25:54.960 God. Amen. It's time for it to say, you know 00:25:54.960 --> 00:25:58.140 what? This is actually true. Jesus didn't just 00:25:58.140 --> 00:26:00.500 bring about forgiveness. He brought about the 00:26:00.500 --> 00:26:03.720 removal of sin. You know, he goes on here in 00:26:03.720 --> 00:26:07.619 this verse. He says at the end that he condemned 00:26:07.619 --> 00:26:13.920 sin. In the flesh. He condemned sin in the flesh. 00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:20.779 He didn't just condemn sin in heaven. See, we 00:26:20.779 --> 00:26:22.980 got this theology. Everything's in the millennium 00:26:22.980 --> 00:26:26.640 or happening in heaven or whatever. Some miracle's 00:26:26.640 --> 00:26:29.420 going to happen as we're on our ascending trip 00:26:29.420 --> 00:26:31.740 into the great unknown. Something's going to 00:26:31.740 --> 00:26:33.960 happen. Sin's going to be removed. No, no. He 00:26:33.960 --> 00:26:37.420 condemned sin in the flesh. No flesh in heaven. 00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:40.380 Amen. So this is a work he's doing here now among 00:26:40.380 --> 00:26:43.319 us. He condemns sin. In other words, God hates 00:26:43.319 --> 00:26:47.180 sin. It's not okay for us to sin. It's not good 00:26:47.180 --> 00:26:49.019 with God. It's not, okay, well, I'll just kind 00:26:49.019 --> 00:26:50.880 of, you know, look the other way. No, God's not 00:26:50.880 --> 00:26:54.380 looking the other way. So what are we supposed 00:26:54.380 --> 00:26:56.420 to do? We're supposed to be children of God. 00:26:56.480 --> 00:26:59.740 You know, Jesus is the son of God, but we're 00:26:59.740 --> 00:27:03.039 called to be sons of God. Amen. And we always 00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:06.130 say. Some of God's best sons are daughters. But 00:27:06.130 --> 00:27:09.490 anyway, we're all called to be children of God. 00:27:09.549 --> 00:27:12.210 Amen? And as children of God, we're going to 00:27:12.210 --> 00:27:14.289 come to the fullness of the stature of Christ. 00:27:14.369 --> 00:27:17.970 Right? We teach this stuff. Amen? Ephesians chapter 00:27:17.970 --> 00:27:20.569 4. It's like, you know, our Bible within the 00:27:20.569 --> 00:27:24.970 Bible. Right? So, we're going to come to the 00:27:24.970 --> 00:27:27.410 fullness of the stature of Christ. Well, how 00:27:27.410 --> 00:27:30.750 much sin is there in Christ exactly? The answer 00:27:30.750 --> 00:27:33.269 would be zero, okay? That's how much, right? 00:27:33.329 --> 00:27:41.109 So that's the goal. That's the goal. Dallas Willard 00:27:41.109 --> 00:27:47.109 talks about sin management. The church has come 00:27:47.109 --> 00:27:50.750 to a place of sin management. We manage sin. 00:27:50.910 --> 00:27:54.309 We don't necessarily overcome sin. We're not 00:27:54.309 --> 00:27:56.829 called to manage sin. We're called to overcome 00:27:56.829 --> 00:27:59.859 sin. We're called to believe God that he didn't 00:27:59.859 --> 00:28:02.099 just bring about my forgiveness. He brought about 00:28:02.099 --> 00:28:05.940 my transformation. He brought about my change 00:28:05.940 --> 00:28:10.259 of life. Amen. He removes sin. And here's what 00:28:10.259 --> 00:28:12.710 I want you to understand. See, today. We're living 00:28:12.710 --> 00:28:16.069 in a time when people are so excited in the church, 00:28:16.150 --> 00:28:17.950 at least the Spirit -filled church, about we're 00:28:17.950 --> 00:28:19.990 going to come to this place of the miracle -working 00:28:19.990 --> 00:28:22.930 power of God. And we are. Amen. We want to experience 00:28:22.930 --> 00:28:25.029 the miracles of God. We want to do the miracles 00:28:25.029 --> 00:28:27.430 of God. We want to see folks healed and delivered 00:28:27.430 --> 00:28:29.809 and raised from the dead. Amen. We want to be 00:28:29.809 --> 00:28:32.109 that kind of witness. We want to have the power 00:28:32.109 --> 00:28:36.049 of God revealed in the church. And so we're praying 00:28:36.049 --> 00:28:38.210 about that. Lord, send your power. Amen. Send 00:28:38.210 --> 00:28:40.589 your glory. Send your power. First of all, the 00:28:40.589 --> 00:28:43.880 glory of God is... God. It's not something else, 00:28:44.059 --> 00:28:47.660 okay? The glory of God is God. When you get God, 00:28:47.759 --> 00:28:49.740 you get the glory. You know, if you can't get 00:28:49.740 --> 00:28:52.480 the glory without God, I mean, those are inseparable. 00:28:52.640 --> 00:28:56.299 God and the glory are inseparable. So, we want 00:28:56.299 --> 00:28:58.279 the glory of God. We want the power of God. We 00:28:58.279 --> 00:29:00.980 want the anointing of God. We want to see these 00:29:00.980 --> 00:29:03.240 things. We want to experience these things. Amen. 00:29:03.480 --> 00:29:10.650 We do. This verse in verse 4 says, requirement 00:29:10.650 --> 00:29:12.809 of the law should be filled within us who do 00:29:12.809 --> 00:29:16.230 not walk according to the flesh but according 00:29:16.230 --> 00:29:20.450 to the Spirit. So here's the key. They do not 00:29:20.450 --> 00:29:24.650 walk or live. Walk means live our life. They 00:29:24.650 --> 00:29:29.630 do not live their life according to the flesh 00:29:29.630 --> 00:29:35.269 but according to the Spirit. Now I want to share 00:29:35.269 --> 00:29:40.950 with you that this according to Means like consistent 00:29:40.950 --> 00:29:47.450 with. Amen? We want to live our life consistent 00:29:47.450 --> 00:29:51.970 with the Spirit rather than consistent with the 00:29:51.970 --> 00:29:54.509 flesh. In other words, I don't want the character 00:29:54.509 --> 00:29:56.769 that comes from the flesh. I want the character 00:29:56.769 --> 00:29:59.849 that comes from Jesus. See, when I live my life 00:29:59.849 --> 00:30:02.930 consistent with the Spirit, I'm living according 00:30:02.930 --> 00:30:06.509 to the character of Jesus. Because the character 00:30:06.509 --> 00:30:09.200 of Jesus is the fruit of the Spirit, right? Amen? 00:30:09.339 --> 00:30:11.440 So if one, what's the character of Jesus? It's 00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:13.960 the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5, 22, 23, 00:30:14.119 --> 00:30:17.920 right? So, if that's the fruit of the Spirit 00:30:17.920 --> 00:30:21.220 is the character of Christ, and I'm walking in 00:30:21.220 --> 00:30:24.079 the Spirit, it means I'm walking according to 00:30:24.079 --> 00:30:27.819 that principle of life. I'm walking in the Spirit. 00:30:27.859 --> 00:30:31.680 I'm living my life in the character of God. Now, 00:30:31.680 --> 00:30:35.339 when I do that, Something has to happen to enable 00:30:35.339 --> 00:30:37.779 or empower me to do that. And what I'm going 00:30:37.779 --> 00:30:40.319 to teach you this morning is that as we do that, 00:30:40.460 --> 00:30:46.160 we find the same dimension, the same way of experiencing 00:30:46.160 --> 00:30:49.180 life that leads to the release of his power in 00:30:49.180 --> 00:30:52.319 the church. That in fact... Walking in the Spirit 00:30:52.319 --> 00:30:55.859 is the key both to living in the Spirit in terms 00:30:55.859 --> 00:30:58.599 of the character of Christ and living in the 00:30:58.599 --> 00:31:01.140 Spirit in terms of the power of Christ. That 00:31:01.140 --> 00:31:03.759 those two things are meant by God to go together. 00:31:03.880 --> 00:31:07.339 And in fact, one is meant to lead us to the other. 00:31:07.769 --> 00:31:10.509 You see, when I learned how to release the power 00:31:10.509 --> 00:31:12.990 of the Holy Spirit in my life so that I can live 00:31:12.990 --> 00:31:16.690 my life, a holy life, empowered by God, sin, 00:31:16.789 --> 00:31:19.430 I'm overcoming sin in my life. When I allow the 00:31:19.430 --> 00:31:22.950 Holy Spirit to access my life that way and bring 00:31:22.950 --> 00:31:26.430 that personal change in my life, the transformation 00:31:26.430 --> 00:31:29.289 comes and I experience the power of the Holy 00:31:29.289 --> 00:31:33.390 Spirit and I am changed by his power and I experience 00:31:33.390 --> 00:31:36.890 that personally. It leads me to the ability to 00:31:36.890 --> 00:31:43.960 allow. How do I learn how to do miracles? Well, 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:48.500 I allow the Holy Spirit to transform me. It's 00:31:48.500 --> 00:31:52.440 the same process. It's the same grace. It's the 00:31:52.440 --> 00:31:55.660 same Holy Spirit. See, one of the problems that 00:31:55.660 --> 00:31:58.099 we've had over the 500 years of Protestant history 00:31:58.099 --> 00:32:02.259 is that we have, you know, we define grace as 00:32:02.259 --> 00:32:09.390 God's unmerited favor. And that's great. Grace, 00:32:09.430 --> 00:32:12.710 we don't deserve grace. Amen? We don't. Grace, 00:32:12.730 --> 00:32:15.789 we don't deserve God working in our life. Amen. 00:32:15.910 --> 00:32:19.170 It's a gift. We don't deserve it. We got it. 00:32:20.230 --> 00:32:24.549 In English, the word favor is almost like a synonym. 00:32:25.029 --> 00:32:28.730 It's not like when we say undeserved favor. For 00:32:28.730 --> 00:32:30.470 us, favor is really not something different. 00:32:30.569 --> 00:32:32.509 It's just another way of saying the same thing. 00:32:32.789 --> 00:32:36.170 It's also undeserved. If I do you a favor. I'm 00:32:36.170 --> 00:32:38.670 giving you something you don't deserve, right? 00:32:38.869 --> 00:32:44.250 So it's like undeserved, undeserved. You know, 00:32:44.269 --> 00:32:47.410 at Christmastime, we give gifts. I wish I had 00:32:47.410 --> 00:32:49.730 a present here. You know, we have grandkids, 00:32:49.849 --> 00:32:55.390 and little children love to have Christmas, and 00:32:55.390 --> 00:32:58.029 under the tree, there's all these presents, you 00:32:58.029 --> 00:33:01.700 know, and we wrap them up really nice. And, you 00:33:01.700 --> 00:33:03.640 know, I wish I had one of those presents here 00:33:03.640 --> 00:33:08.859 I could show you, you know, with the paper and 00:33:08.859 --> 00:33:12.039 the bow and, you know, and I could hand it to 00:33:12.039 --> 00:33:13.759 you and you could say, I don't deserve this. 00:33:14.579 --> 00:33:16.299 That's right, but I'm giving it to you anyway. 00:33:16.799 --> 00:33:19.799 No, I don't deserve it. Yeah, but I really want 00:33:19.799 --> 00:33:22.960 you to have it. No, I don't deserve it. Okay, 00:33:23.259 --> 00:33:25.519 you don't deserve it, but why don't you take 00:33:25.519 --> 00:33:29.740 it anyway? How are we going to find out what's 00:33:29.740 --> 00:33:33.720 inside the box? We've got to open the box. What's 00:33:33.720 --> 00:33:36.619 inside the box of grace that we don't deserve? 00:33:38.440 --> 00:33:41.140 That's the question we need to answer, you see. 00:33:41.259 --> 00:33:44.640 What's inside the box? The answer is God's ability 00:33:44.640 --> 00:33:48.359 to do what I can't do. That's what grace is. 00:33:48.579 --> 00:33:52.420 Grace is undeserved, but what it is is it's God's 00:33:52.420 --> 00:33:55.619 ability to do what I can't do. So when I receive 00:33:55.619 --> 00:34:00.140 grace, I am receiving the empowering presence 00:34:00.140 --> 00:34:03.380 of God in my life to do what I cannot do. So 00:34:03.380 --> 00:34:06.079 I'm saved by grace, right? Ephesians chapter 00:34:06.079 --> 00:34:08.440 2 verse 9, I'm saved by grace through faith and 00:34:08.440 --> 00:34:10.760 that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God. Amen. 00:34:11.800 --> 00:34:16.480 How am I saved? I'm saved by grace because I 00:34:16.480 --> 00:34:22.860 can't save myself. I need God to empower me. 00:34:22.670 --> 00:34:27.610 to empower me to be able to receive his gift. 00:34:28.329 --> 00:34:30.329 Because I don't even have that. You see, this 00:34:30.329 --> 00:34:35.369 salvation thing is 100 % God. It really is. I 00:34:35.369 --> 00:34:38.570 don't even have the faith to receive. God has 00:34:38.570 --> 00:34:42.190 to give me that. That's also a gift. Amen? So 00:34:42.190 --> 00:34:45.329 I come to this salvation thing with zip. Amen? 00:34:45.329 --> 00:34:49.849 I bring zero to that equation. My side of the 00:34:49.849 --> 00:34:54.579 equation is nothing, right? God brings his grace, 00:34:54.619 --> 00:34:57.760 his empowering. He puts the faith in my heart 00:34:57.760 --> 00:35:02.139 to receive his work. And I become, amen, I'm 00:35:02.139 --> 00:35:06.119 washed by his blood. My sins are forgiven. But 00:35:06.119 --> 00:35:09.199 when I understand that grace is the empowering 00:35:09.199 --> 00:35:13.360 presence of God for the purpose of transformation, 00:35:13.900 --> 00:35:16.719 now I begin to understand that his grace has 00:35:16.719 --> 00:35:18.960 application in many areas of my life, not just 00:35:18.960 --> 00:35:23.670 salvation. Every aspect of my life. So when he's 00:35:23.670 --> 00:35:26.130 here in chapter 8 of Romans, you know, is kind 00:35:26.130 --> 00:35:27.769 of the conclusion of what he's been talking about, 00:35:27.809 --> 00:35:30.190 chapter 6, 7, and 8, right? And the point of 00:35:30.190 --> 00:35:33.449 chapter 6 is we died to sin, and now we're alive 00:35:33.449 --> 00:35:36.369 to God. Amen? So God's not trying to hurt your 00:35:36.369 --> 00:35:45.849 feelings. He's trying to kill you, right? There's 00:35:45.849 --> 00:35:49.400 only one answer here. I can't fix. My flesh, 00:35:49.500 --> 00:35:53.500 my flesh is not fixable, okay? You can't, you 00:35:53.500 --> 00:35:55.840 know, New Year's resolutions. Okay, I'm going 00:35:55.840 --> 00:35:57.960 to try hard and do better. No, you can't. It's 00:35:57.960 --> 00:36:00.579 not going to work. He condemned sin in the flesh, 00:36:00.760 --> 00:36:04.159 all right? That's useless. You can't fix the 00:36:04.159 --> 00:36:08.780 flesh. What the flesh needs to do is die. And 00:36:08.780 --> 00:36:11.219 then we can experience the resurrection power 00:36:11.219 --> 00:36:16.329 of Jesus and live a new life in Christ. So that's 00:36:16.329 --> 00:36:18.489 the process. So he explained that in chapter 00:36:18.489 --> 00:36:22.210 6. Then in chapter 7, we're saying, oh, man, 00:36:22.289 --> 00:36:24.269 we can't do that. Look how much a failure we 00:36:24.269 --> 00:36:26.250 are. We try to do good. We're not doing good. 00:36:26.309 --> 00:36:28.730 We do bad. We're back and forth. This is our 00:36:28.730 --> 00:36:32.550 problem. There's a gap between the theology of 00:36:32.550 --> 00:36:36.690 chapter 6 and the reality of experiencing that 00:36:36.690 --> 00:36:39.369 theology. There's this gap. Chapter 7 is the 00:36:39.369 --> 00:36:44.059 gap. What do I do? How do I live this life? Chapter 00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:47.820 8 tells us the answer, walk in the Spirit and 00:36:47.820 --> 00:36:50.619 not in the flesh. The answer is the work of the 00:36:50.619 --> 00:36:53.820 Holy Spirit, which is another way to say grace. 00:36:56.800 --> 00:37:03.340 So God has called us to this place of living 00:37:03.340 --> 00:37:05.659 as children of God. He's called us to that place. 00:37:06.500 --> 00:37:08.760 And we say, well, what kind of life is that? 00:37:08.800 --> 00:37:12.119 Well, it's a holy life. Well, how do I live a 00:37:12.119 --> 00:37:17.469 holy life? Well, I'll work really hard. No. He 00:37:17.469 --> 00:37:19.789 condemns sin in the flesh. Your flesh is not 00:37:19.789 --> 00:37:21.449 going to get that. That's not going to work. 00:37:22.050 --> 00:37:26.670 We know that. So what do we do? We experience 00:37:26.670 --> 00:37:30.710 the grace of God. We experience the impartation 00:37:30.710 --> 00:37:35.769 of God, the impartation of his power to do what 00:37:35.769 --> 00:37:40.769 I cannot do myself. I can't be holy the way God 00:37:40.769 --> 00:37:43.900 wants me to be holy. Now, I could be holy according 00:37:43.900 --> 00:37:47.780 to a definition that I could write. I could come 00:37:47.780 --> 00:37:50.199 up with a definition of holy that I could manage. 00:37:50.440 --> 00:37:53.579 But God's holy, no. See, my definition of holy 00:37:53.579 --> 00:37:55.539 is something like, I'm a little better than the 00:37:55.539 --> 00:37:59.519 guy sitting down the row here. I can do that. 00:38:00.539 --> 00:38:02.820 That's not God's definition. God's definition 00:38:02.820 --> 00:38:10.199 of holy is Jesus. What is man, human beings, 00:38:10.320 --> 00:38:12.440 what is human beings in the fullness of the stature 00:38:12.440 --> 00:38:14.820 of Christ? What does that look like? It looks 00:38:14.820 --> 00:38:20.039 like Jesus. Amen? What is a human being in the 00:38:20.039 --> 00:38:25.619 image of God? Jesus. Jesus is what it looks like 00:38:25.619 --> 00:38:30.980 to be a human being in the image of God. So how 00:38:30.980 --> 00:38:32.920 do we get to that? How do we enter into that? 00:38:32.980 --> 00:38:38.059 We receive God's grace. We say, look, Lord, I'm 00:38:38.059 --> 00:38:44.340 willing to die. Amen? We were just reading a 00:38:44.340 --> 00:38:47.719 book by a guy named Nick Ripken. And he tells 00:38:47.719 --> 00:38:51.119 this story about a pastor. This is a missionary 00:38:51.119 --> 00:38:54.920 researcher. Talks about a Russian pastor back 00:38:54.920 --> 00:38:57.440 in the days of persecution in Russia. And the 00:38:57.440 --> 00:39:00.380 pastor was arrested. They put him in prison and 00:39:00.380 --> 00:39:05.380 they sent his wife and children to a... to Siberia. 00:39:05.539 --> 00:39:08.820 They lived in a little, whatever, a little cabin 00:39:08.820 --> 00:39:11.579 of some kind. And they're there by themselves. 00:39:11.699 --> 00:39:14.320 They have no food. It's cold. It's in the wintertime. 00:39:14.659 --> 00:39:17.320 They go to bed at night and they have their little 00:39:17.320 --> 00:39:20.320 bit of crust of bread they got left and a little 00:39:20.320 --> 00:39:21.980 bit of tea. And that's the last food they got 00:39:21.980 --> 00:39:24.320 in the house. They go to sleep. And the children 00:39:24.320 --> 00:39:28.510 are saying to the mother, You know, we need Papa 00:39:28.510 --> 00:39:31.010 to help us. And she said, well, Papa's not able 00:39:31.010 --> 00:39:33.010 to help us right now, but we have a Father in 00:39:33.010 --> 00:39:38.570 heaven that will help us. That same night, God 00:39:38.570 --> 00:39:41.690 speaks to a pastor that's not too far away and 00:39:41.690 --> 00:39:44.409 says to him, you need to gather all the food 00:39:44.409 --> 00:39:49.809 that your church has gathered together. Put it 00:39:49.809 --> 00:39:54.730 all in your sleigh. Take it to that woman outside 00:39:54.730 --> 00:39:58.800 the town. where her husband has been in prison 00:39:58.800 --> 00:40:00.840 for being a pastor. You take it to her and give 00:40:00.840 --> 00:40:04.079 it to her. This is at night. And the pastor says, 00:40:04.320 --> 00:40:07.780 well, you know, God, it's below zero out there. 00:40:07.820 --> 00:40:10.659 I'm probably going to freeze if I do that. And 00:40:10.659 --> 00:40:12.219 the Lord said, no, you have to go. You have to 00:40:12.219 --> 00:40:14.260 take the food. She's in trouble. You need to 00:40:14.260 --> 00:40:16.860 help her. And he says, well, you know, God, there's 00:40:16.860 --> 00:40:20.019 wolves out there. And they'll probably eat the 00:40:20.019 --> 00:40:21.679 horse, and they'll probably eat me after the 00:40:21.679 --> 00:40:24.659 horse, you know. And God said, no, you have to 00:40:24.659 --> 00:40:28.159 go. Help this woman. He said, well, you know, 00:40:28.159 --> 00:40:31.340 I probably won't get back. The Holy Spirit clearly 00:40:31.340 --> 00:40:33.800 said to the pastor, I told you to go. I didn't 00:40:33.800 --> 00:40:40.739 tell you you had to come back. See, there are 00:40:40.739 --> 00:40:44.639 different dimensions of serving God. Amen. We 00:40:44.639 --> 00:40:46.820 are not necessarily in that dimension here in 00:40:46.820 --> 00:40:49.360 America at the moment, thank God. But, you know, 00:40:49.380 --> 00:40:52.300 that day may be coming. There is a dimension 00:40:52.300 --> 00:40:55.420 of walking with God, amen, where we enter into 00:40:55.420 --> 00:40:57.699 that kind of thing. Well, you know what? I got 00:40:57.699 --> 00:41:01.230 to go. I may or may not come back. This is why 00:41:01.230 --> 00:41:03.690 I like missions. It challenges us to stuff that 00:41:03.690 --> 00:41:06.670 we don't always do. A dimension of Christianity 00:41:06.670 --> 00:41:08.670 we don't always run into. I mean, I thank God 00:41:08.670 --> 00:41:10.610 I've been to China and been to Russia and been 00:41:10.610 --> 00:41:12.929 to Africa. I thank God for that. I've run into 00:41:12.929 --> 00:41:14.869 Christians that live a whole other kind of Christian 00:41:14.869 --> 00:41:17.289 life that I would have never probably understood 00:41:17.289 --> 00:41:19.429 and known if I had never gone to those places. 00:41:19.550 --> 00:41:21.449 It's great. Please go on a missions trip. It'll 00:41:21.449 --> 00:41:28.619 bless you. What do we try to do here? In Romans 00:41:28.619 --> 00:41:32.500 chapter 8, verse 4. We're trying to understand 00:41:32.500 --> 00:41:38.420 that God's will, God's purpose, God's plan is 00:41:38.420 --> 00:41:41.400 that we should enter into this place of living 00:41:41.400 --> 00:41:46.099 where we are living by the grace of God. We are 00:41:46.099 --> 00:41:51.400 living by the grace of God. Galatians 2, verse 00:41:51.400 --> 00:41:54.119 20. You know, we love these scriptures. We just 00:41:54.119 --> 00:41:58.250 don't always. Think about what they actually 00:41:58.250 --> 00:42:04.570 may mean. Galatians 2 .20, I'm sure you are familiar 00:42:04.570 --> 00:42:10.730 with it. It says this, I have been crucified 00:42:10.730 --> 00:42:13.750 with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, 00:42:13.929 --> 00:42:17.809 but Christ lives in me. And the life which I 00:42:17.809 --> 00:42:22.389 now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the 00:42:22.389 --> 00:42:26.480 Son of God, who loved me and gave himself. For 00:42:26.480 --> 00:42:30.059 me. See, Paul is saying this is the normal Christian 00:42:30.059 --> 00:42:35.500 life. I'm living by faith. I'm living in the 00:42:35.500 --> 00:42:40.840 grace of God. I'm walking in the Spirit. And 00:42:40.840 --> 00:42:46.039 in order to do that, I have to release the Spirit 00:42:46.039 --> 00:42:50.159 of God to bring the grace of God into my life 00:42:50.159 --> 00:42:52.800 to empower me to do what I couldn't do otherwise. 00:42:53.769 --> 00:42:56.889 So I'm allowing the Spirit of God to flow into 00:42:56.889 --> 00:43:00.670 my life, which is producing verifiable change. 00:43:00.849 --> 00:43:03.269 I'm becoming a person I wasn't before. We call 00:43:03.269 --> 00:43:06.989 that transformation. Amen? I'm transformed. Part 00:43:06.989 --> 00:43:08.570 of that is by the renewing of the mind because 00:43:08.570 --> 00:43:10.710 I've got to think different. But I'm transformed. 00:43:10.949 --> 00:43:13.630 There's a transformational experience that God 00:43:13.630 --> 00:43:16.409 expects in my life. And the way I access that 00:43:16.409 --> 00:43:19.250 experience, the way I enter into that, I enter 00:43:19.250 --> 00:43:22.829 into that because God's Spirit comes through. 00:43:22.809 --> 00:43:27.429 And I receive that spiritual work of God to bring 00:43:27.429 --> 00:43:30.150 transformation in my life. I'm allowing his grace 00:43:30.150 --> 00:43:32.150 to come and do in me what I can't do myself. 00:43:34.090 --> 00:43:36.809 So now I want to enter into the power of God. 00:43:37.809 --> 00:43:40.949 Well, I got it. It's the same process, right? 00:43:41.090 --> 00:43:44.570 So entering into the power of God is simple now 00:43:44.570 --> 00:43:48.150 because I already understand how to release God's 00:43:48.150 --> 00:43:52.170 grace in my life. Now I can see God's grace released. 00:43:52.639 --> 00:43:55.920 Through my life. So when we come to the gifts 00:43:55.920 --> 00:43:59.199 of the Spirit, 1 Corinthians chapter 12, what 00:43:59.199 --> 00:44:01.079 are they called? They're called charis mata. 00:44:02.179 --> 00:44:07.679 Charis is grace. Mata is gift. Charis mata, gifts 00:44:07.679 --> 00:44:12.159 of grace. So how is that gift of healing, that 00:44:12.159 --> 00:44:14.320 gift of miracles, that gift of prophecy, that 00:44:14.320 --> 00:44:16.699 gift of word of knowledge, word of wisdom, how 00:44:16.699 --> 00:44:19.639 are those gifts? They're released the same way 00:44:19.639 --> 00:44:24.199 I need to access the grace of God. And when I 00:44:24.199 --> 00:44:26.900 access the grace of God, the grace of God flows 00:44:26.900 --> 00:44:30.039 through me to touch others' lives. And so suddenly 00:44:30.039 --> 00:44:32.079 somebody gets healed. Somebody gets touched by 00:44:32.079 --> 00:44:35.059 God. Somebody's life is changed. And it happens 00:44:35.059 --> 00:44:38.460 the same way I receive grace and I have the experience 00:44:38.460 --> 00:44:41.260 of receiving grace in my personal life. I have 00:44:41.260 --> 00:44:44.099 faith for that. I have experience in that. Because 00:44:44.099 --> 00:44:47.159 the grace of God has touched me personally and 00:44:47.159 --> 00:44:49.719 brought about transformation in my life. I know 00:44:49.719 --> 00:44:52.840 I'm different. See, I know that. I don't need 00:44:52.840 --> 00:44:55.599 somebody else to tell me about that. I got it. 00:44:55.900 --> 00:44:58.820 Amen? So as I allow the Holy Spirit to come, 00:44:59.019 --> 00:45:02.519 to bring, to remove the old, that selfish nature, 00:45:02.619 --> 00:45:06.539 that personal goal and whatever ambition I have, 00:45:06.579 --> 00:45:09.699 to remove all that and to put within me, amen, 00:45:09.780 --> 00:45:14.019 another spirit, the Spirit of God, the hope of 00:45:14.019 --> 00:45:16.380 the kingdom of God, the orientation of my life 00:45:16.380 --> 00:45:20.119 toward Jesus, the prioritization of my time toward 00:45:20.119 --> 00:45:23.099 Jesus. When I allow that to happen, I know it's 00:45:23.099 --> 00:45:26.539 the grace of God. I know God's grace has come. 00:45:26.659 --> 00:45:29.099 And I know that it's a process of the release 00:45:29.099 --> 00:45:31.480 of God's grace because I couldn't do that. So 00:45:31.480 --> 00:45:33.699 now when it comes to healing somebody, I also 00:45:33.699 --> 00:45:36.800 know I can't heal nobody. I don't have the power 00:45:36.800 --> 00:45:38.820 to heal anybody. So, oh, God, I want to heal 00:45:38.820 --> 00:45:42.039 somebody. How do I do that? I release the same 00:45:42.039 --> 00:45:44.940 grace that I've experienced in my life. I do 00:45:44.940 --> 00:45:47.800 the same thing. It's the same grace that flows 00:45:47.800 --> 00:45:50.880 now through my life into the body of that person. 00:45:50.960 --> 00:45:54.960 Healing comes. Now, why does God want it to do 00:45:54.960 --> 00:45:56.599 that way? Because you know what? We had a whole 00:45:56.599 --> 00:45:58.619 move of healing before. This is not the first 00:45:58.619 --> 00:46:05.960 rodeo for Jesus. This happened before. Back in 00:46:05.960 --> 00:46:08.659 the 50s, we had evangelists run around this country 00:46:08.659 --> 00:46:11.280 having a whole lot more unbelievable miracles 00:46:11.280 --> 00:46:14.880 than we've seen so far in this move. And half 00:46:14.880 --> 00:46:18.420 of them, many of them, several of them, by the 00:46:18.420 --> 00:46:23.289 end of their life were far from God. Great miracles, 00:46:23.389 --> 00:46:25.409 amazing miracles had happened in their life. 00:46:25.469 --> 00:46:27.809 But by the time they went to be with Jesus, they 00:46:27.809 --> 00:46:31.010 were not serving God anymore. Why? Because they 00:46:31.010 --> 00:46:33.809 had not gone through this process. They did not 00:46:33.809 --> 00:46:36.969 understand this is about not just the power of 00:46:36.969 --> 00:46:40.489 God, it's about the character of Christ. These 00:46:40.489 --> 00:46:43.650 things go together. They are intertwined. You 00:46:43.650 --> 00:46:46.449 can't remove one from the other and be successful. 00:46:47.670 --> 00:46:51.070 Because our access to the truth of the character 00:46:51.070 --> 00:46:53.650 of Christ is what brings us into the understanding 00:46:53.650 --> 00:46:57.550 of the release of the power of Christ. So God 00:46:57.550 --> 00:47:00.050 is calling us. He said, it's time. The world 00:47:00.050 --> 00:47:04.710 needs a witness of Jesus. Amen? He says in Acts 00:47:04.710 --> 00:47:07.429 chapter 1 verse 8, the Holy Spirit's going to 00:47:07.429 --> 00:47:09.630 come. You're going to be clothed with power from 00:47:09.630 --> 00:47:12.070 on high. And you're going to preach my gospel 00:47:12.070 --> 00:47:16.260 and share my word and become my witnesses. Become 00:47:16.260 --> 00:47:18.400 my witness. How can we be a witness for God? 00:47:18.599 --> 00:47:21.260 We become a witness for God when he does something 00:47:21.260 --> 00:47:25.559 through me I can't do myself. You see, if all 00:47:25.559 --> 00:47:28.320 I'm doing is teaching you a good lesson, I got 00:47:28.320 --> 00:47:30.679 two doctorates. Hey, I can teach you a lesson 00:47:30.679 --> 00:47:37.960 and I don't need Jesus. I can put together a 00:47:37.960 --> 00:47:40.980 curriculum. And so if all I'm doing is stuff 00:47:40.980 --> 00:47:44.159 I could do by my own ability, then I've not been 00:47:44.159 --> 00:47:46.320 a witness to Jesus yet. I've just witnessed to 00:47:46.320 --> 00:47:48.920 my education. I've witnessed to my own natural 00:47:48.920 --> 00:47:51.949 gifts. But I haven't witnessed to Jesus yet. 00:47:51.989 --> 00:47:54.610 But when somebody gets healed, when somebody's 00:47:54.610 --> 00:47:57.150 life is changed, when the power of God is released 00:47:57.150 --> 00:47:59.730 and the blind see the dead are raised, when those 00:47:59.730 --> 00:48:03.389 things begin to happen, now I become a witness 00:48:03.389 --> 00:48:07.190 for Jesus. See, something is released, amen, 00:48:07.289 --> 00:48:10.429 by the power of God. Lies are touched by the 00:48:10.429 --> 00:48:13.610 power of God. Now I become a witness for Jesus. 00:48:14.559 --> 00:48:17.119 How can I enter into that place? He said, how 00:48:17.119 --> 00:48:20.579 can I experience the power of God? I like hearing 00:48:20.579 --> 00:48:23.179 about it. I can tell you testimonies of people 00:48:23.179 --> 00:48:25.860 being raised from the dead. Listen, I have been 00:48:25.860 --> 00:48:28.139 all over the world. I got a lot of testimonies. 00:48:28.199 --> 00:48:30.519 But this morning, I want you to understand by 00:48:30.519 --> 00:48:33.679 the word of God, this is something God is trying 00:48:33.679 --> 00:48:36.539 to do right here, right now with us. It's not 00:48:36.539 --> 00:48:38.559 just about something that happened in China or 00:48:38.559 --> 00:48:40.699 Africa or Russia. It's about something that God 00:48:40.699 --> 00:48:43.300 wants to do right here, right now in my life. 00:48:44.079 --> 00:48:46.980 In order for God to do this in our life, we need 00:48:46.980 --> 00:48:50.559 to embrace the fact that he's not just this grace 00:48:50.559 --> 00:48:53.699 of God, this power of God is directly connected 00:48:53.699 --> 00:48:56.539 to our understanding of God's grace released 00:48:56.539 --> 00:48:59.579 in our life to bring about a holy character of 00:48:59.579 --> 00:49:02.599 Christ, that we come to the fullness of the stature 00:49:02.599 --> 00:49:05.760 of Christ. You see, we've been preaching that 00:49:05.760 --> 00:49:09.420 for years. This movement is built on that verse. 00:49:10.219 --> 00:49:13.500 That passage, I should say, of Ephesians chapter 00:49:13.500 --> 00:49:19.400 4, right, 7 through 16 or whatever. We have built 00:49:19.400 --> 00:49:23.659 a movement on that scripture. Coming to the fullness 00:49:23.659 --> 00:49:27.679 of the stature of Christ is the purpose of all 00:49:27.679 --> 00:49:30.460 of that. The purpose is that we come together, 00:49:30.659 --> 00:49:34.820 all of us, all of us, to the fullness of the 00:49:34.820 --> 00:49:39.440 stature of Christ. And that includes... Both 00:49:39.440 --> 00:49:43.739 character and power. See, we got folks preaching 00:49:43.739 --> 00:49:48.179 character and we got folks preaching power. We 00:49:48.179 --> 00:49:50.920 got to bring these things together. See, it's 00:49:50.920 --> 00:49:53.780 not about having power without character. It's 00:49:53.780 --> 00:49:55.840 not about having character without power. If 00:49:55.840 --> 00:49:57.639 you really got the character, you need to have 00:49:57.639 --> 00:50:00.699 the power too. Because if we truly have the character 00:50:00.699 --> 00:50:03.000 of Christ, then we know how to access the grace 00:50:03.000 --> 00:50:06.179 of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. And 00:50:06.179 --> 00:50:09.409 we know what it means to walk. In the spirit 00:50:09.409 --> 00:50:15.449 of God. Let's pray. Father thank you for. Your 00:50:15.449 --> 00:50:18.289 word oh God. Thank you for. Your presence here 00:50:18.289 --> 00:50:22.010 with us this morning. Lord I pray that somehow. 00:50:24.090 --> 00:50:27.550 Even though I. Not able to fully express. In 00:50:27.550 --> 00:50:30.429 words what you. I know have in your heart by 00:50:30.429 --> 00:50:33.170 your spirit. I pray that somehow. Communication 00:50:33.170 --> 00:50:36.570 will happen. Father God by your Holy Spirit. 00:50:37.209 --> 00:50:40.099 Amen. The burden of the Lord. The message that 00:50:40.099 --> 00:50:42.300 you have prepared for us today would somehow 00:50:42.300 --> 00:50:45.860 penetrate into our heart, into our spirit, into 00:50:45.860 --> 00:50:48.039 our mind. You'll give us understanding by your 00:50:48.039 --> 00:50:50.780 spirit. Lord, we'll know something that we didn't 00:50:50.780 --> 00:50:53.119 know before. We'll be changed by your word. We'll 00:50:53.119 --> 00:50:56.719 be transformed by your presence, oh God. We need 00:50:56.719 --> 00:50:59.920 to enter into a new place in you, Father God. 00:51:00.079 --> 00:51:02.380 And we are hungry for more. I heard it in the 00:51:02.380 --> 00:51:04.659 prayer room this morning. I heard it in the worship 00:51:04.659 --> 00:51:07.099 in this church. We're hungry for something. We're 00:51:07.099 --> 00:51:10.059 hungry for a greater moment. We're hungry, amen, 00:51:10.119 --> 00:51:12.059 and you want to give us a key. And I pray, Father 00:51:12.059 --> 00:51:13.960 God, that this morning, amen, you're going to 00:51:13.960 --> 00:51:16.360 take your key and you're going to place it right 00:51:16.360 --> 00:51:18.920 into the lock of our heart. Turn that key and 00:51:18.920 --> 00:51:21.760 release within us, amen, a dimension of God we 00:51:21.760 --> 00:51:24.099 have yet to, we're hungering for, but we haven't 00:51:24.099 --> 00:51:26.340 quite experienced yet. We know it's there, amen. 00:51:26.400 --> 00:51:28.179 It's like a hope that's been planted within our 00:51:28.179 --> 00:51:30.780 heart, but we just haven't quite reached all 00:51:30.780 --> 00:51:33.039 the way into the Holy of Holies to take a hold 00:51:33.039 --> 00:51:35.400 of it. But Father God, we pray this morning, 00:51:35.579 --> 00:51:38.320 amen, that you would release that power, that 00:51:38.320 --> 00:51:41.099 you would release us into a new place in you, 00:51:41.199 --> 00:51:43.380 that Father God, we would take a hold of the 00:51:43.380 --> 00:51:46.199 power, the anointing, the glory of God, and that 00:51:46.199 --> 00:51:49.639 we would receive, Amen. That experience of your 00:51:49.639 --> 00:51:52.239 presence. Father God, it's not enough to hear 00:51:52.239 --> 00:51:55.360 about it. Lord Jesus, we need it and the reality 00:51:55.360 --> 00:51:58.300 of it right here, right now. Father God, we don't 00:51:58.300 --> 00:52:00.760 want to walk in the flesh. We want to walk in 00:52:00.760 --> 00:52:03.679 the Spirit. We want to live our life in the Spirit. 00:52:04.019 --> 00:52:08.440 We want to know what it means, oh God, to experience 00:52:08.440 --> 00:52:15.639 daily that presence of God. that is leading us, 00:52:15.679 --> 00:52:19.179 guiding us, directing our steps. Father God, 00:52:19.280 --> 00:52:21.400 that you can move through our life in a new, 00:52:21.460 --> 00:52:25.360 fresh dimension. So Father God, this morning, 00:52:25.480 --> 00:52:28.380 I just pray that our hearts would be open again. 00:52:29.099 --> 00:52:33.079 Lord, speak again. Raise us up again. Let another 00:52:33.079 --> 00:52:36.500 dimension of your grace be released. Come again. 00:52:37.239 --> 00:52:41.079 Speak again. Release your power again. Father, 00:52:41.159 --> 00:52:45.320 we need you this morning. Come Holy Spirit. Come 00:52:45.320 --> 00:52:51.460 Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit. Hallelujah. If 00:52:51.460 --> 00:52:57.320 you're here this morning and you've never received 00:52:57.320 --> 00:53:00.860 Christ as your Savior, we want to pray with you. 00:53:01.539 --> 00:53:07.159 We don't want to leave this moment without every 00:53:07.159 --> 00:53:09.119 one of us having an opportunity. If you've never 00:53:09.119 --> 00:53:11.900 received Christ in your life, If you've been 00:53:11.900 --> 00:53:15.639 away from him and you know that you've gotten 00:53:15.639 --> 00:53:18.699 off from the desire and the purpose of God for 00:53:18.699 --> 00:53:20.760 your life, I want you to just raise your hand. 00:53:20.780 --> 00:53:25.840 I want to pray for you. Anybody else? I want 00:53:25.840 --> 00:53:27.840 to pray for you. God wants to do something special. 00:53:29.039 --> 00:53:31.579 Amen. God wants to do. I'm going to pray for 00:53:31.579 --> 00:53:33.199 you, but after the service, I want you to come 00:53:33.199 --> 00:53:36.039 and find one of these leaders. Amen. Let them 00:53:36.039 --> 00:53:39.070 minister to your life. If that's you and you 00:53:39.070 --> 00:53:41.090 didn't raise your hand, I just want you to pray 00:53:41.090 --> 00:53:45.849 with me right now. Amen. Father, Lord, I need 00:53:45.849 --> 00:53:49.050 you to forgive me and wash me again. Lord, I've 00:53:49.050 --> 00:53:51.590 gotten away from your will. I've done things 00:53:51.590 --> 00:53:53.809 I'm ashamed of, but Father God, I ask you to 00:53:53.809 --> 00:53:58.110 wash me by your blood. I turn back. I turn my 00:53:58.110 --> 00:54:01.610 life back to you. Lord Jesus, I wandered my own 00:54:01.610 --> 00:54:04.949 way, but now I turn my life back to you. Father 00:54:04.949 --> 00:54:09.050 God, I turn to you, Jesus. And I want to live 00:54:09.050 --> 00:54:11.449 my life for you. I ask you to wash me by your 00:54:11.449 --> 00:54:14.090 blood. And I want to ask you to bring me into 00:54:14.090 --> 00:54:17.690 the fullness of your perfect will. And Father 00:54:17.690 --> 00:54:21.010 God, I pray for each of these that, Lord, that 00:54:21.010 --> 00:54:22.949 are praying that prayer this morning, that know 00:54:22.949 --> 00:54:25.329 they've wandered away or they've never really 00:54:25.329 --> 00:54:27.289 given their heart to the Lord. I pray for them 00:54:27.289 --> 00:54:29.289 that, Father God, this morning would be the turning 00:54:29.289 --> 00:54:32.190 point. That, Father God, there would be such 00:54:32.190 --> 00:54:34.670 a touch of God, such a touch of your spirit that 00:54:34.670 --> 00:54:37.880 would come. to each of those that have just raised 00:54:37.880 --> 00:54:40.099 their hand, just offered themselves and opened 00:54:40.099 --> 00:54:42.260 their heart to you this morning, that, Father 00:54:42.260 --> 00:54:44.800 God, this would be a turning point, that, Lord, 00:54:44.880 --> 00:54:47.599 we would come into a new dimension of walking 00:54:47.599 --> 00:54:51.119 with you in the Spirit of God. God bless you. 00:54:51.699 --> 00:55:02.900 God bless you. Thank you so much. Amen. Dr. Bunsen, 00:55:02.940 --> 00:55:05.300 thank you for that powerful, powerful word. That 00:55:05.300 --> 00:55:07.820 was such a timely word. You know, church, as 00:55:07.820 --> 00:55:12.039 the calendar year is winding down, as even as 00:55:12.039 --> 00:55:16.380 our leaders have been away to prepare for next 00:55:16.380 --> 00:55:19.019 year and the next division for the next 15 years 00:55:19.019 --> 00:55:21.340 of this house, there is a call on this house. 00:55:21.960 --> 00:55:25.400 to receive that transforming grace of God for 00:55:25.400 --> 00:55:27.860 us to all come to the stature of the maturity 00:55:27.860 --> 00:55:30.119 of the body of Christ. So thank you for that 00:55:30.119 --> 00:55:32.900 very timely word. If you were new here for the 00:55:32.900 --> 00:55:35.199 first time, I want to just invite you to take 00:55:35.199 --> 00:55:37.380 that visitor's card and take it to the information 00:55:37.380 --> 00:55:39.320 counter where the welcome team will exchange 00:55:39.320 --> 00:55:41.500 that with the gift in your hand. For the rest 00:55:41.500 --> 00:55:44.059 of us, can we stand this morning? I want to also 00:55:44.059 --> 00:55:47.519 announce that... As we were praying leading up 00:55:47.519 --> 00:55:50.960 to the election, we felt a burden to continue 00:55:50.960 --> 00:55:54.840 that prophetic prayer time. So every Friday night 00:55:54.840 --> 00:55:58.159 from 6 .30 to 8 o 'clock, we're going to continue 00:55:58.159 --> 00:56:01.199 having prophetic prayer. with the theme of Rebuilding 00:56:01.199 --> 00:56:03.860 America Through Prayer and Worship. So that, 00:56:03.980 --> 00:56:06.199 until further notice, will be taking place every 00:56:06.199 --> 00:56:09.360 Friday night in our prayer room from 6 .30 to 00:56:09.360 --> 00:56:11.000 8 o 'clock. For those of you who participated 00:56:11.000 --> 00:56:13.539 in the Angel Tree, please, if you haven't done 00:56:13.539 --> 00:56:16.699 so already, turn your gifts into the information 00:56:16.699 --> 00:56:18.880 counter and we'll be happy to receive those. 00:56:18.940 --> 00:56:21.179 If you need prayer for anything in your body 00:56:21.179 --> 00:56:23.860 or just anything going on in your life, this 00:56:23.860 --> 00:56:25.679 morning. I want to invite you to come up to the 00:56:25.679 --> 00:56:28.280 altar to my left and to your right as the ministry 00:56:28.280 --> 00:56:32.619 team will come and receive prayer from the body 00:56:32.619 --> 00:56:35.119 of Christ. Amen? Could you just lift your hands 00:56:35.119 --> 00:56:37.539 towards heaven this morning? Father, thank you 00:56:37.539 --> 00:56:40.579 for that word. Thank you for, Lord, the spirit 00:56:40.579 --> 00:56:43.380 of adoption. Thank you for grace. Thank you for 00:56:43.380 --> 00:56:46.900 resurrection power. Thank you for removing the 00:56:46.900 --> 00:56:49.780 penalty of sin, the power of sin from our life. 00:56:49.900 --> 00:56:52.320 And God, we just receive afresh. Lord, you're 00:56:52.320 --> 00:56:55.579 transforming work that you are doing in us, that 00:56:55.579 --> 00:56:58.739 you desire to do more, that we could be ambassadors, 00:56:58.940 --> 00:57:02.360 that we could represent Christ on earth as it 00:57:02.360 --> 00:57:05.420 is in heaven. In Jesus' name. And everybody said, 00:57:05.659 --> 00:57:07.949 amen. Amen. God bless you as you go.