WEBVTT 00:00:17.160 --> 00:00:19.679 Some of you that haven't been here for the Women's 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:22.739 Conference Saturday and even last night, we've 00:00:22.739 --> 00:00:26.000 had a great time so far in God with this precious 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:28.980 couple, Gordon and Rachel Hickson from Oxford, 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:31.559 England. I was asking Gordon last night, he's 00:00:31.559 --> 00:00:35.679 been in ministry 21 years. He was also the crusade 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:39.320 director and administrator for Reinhard Bonnke, 00:00:39.460 --> 00:00:42.399 one of the great evangelists of our time actually, 00:00:42.420 --> 00:00:46.380 has brought millions of people. saved in Africa. 00:00:46.619 --> 00:00:49.020 And what a great opportunity. We've had Rachel. 00:00:49.179 --> 00:00:51.600 This is our fourth year. And so they're just 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:53.219 going to come and greet the church. Would you 00:00:53.219 --> 00:00:55.640 just welcome Gordon and Rachel Hickson as they 00:00:55.640 --> 00:01:16.430 come this morning? Well, it's been... It's been 00:01:16.430 --> 00:01:18.209 a real blessing being with Rachel this time. 00:01:18.709 --> 00:01:20.629 She's part of the family, so I feel part of the 00:01:20.629 --> 00:01:23.290 family. And we've had a great time. For those 00:01:23.290 --> 00:01:24.849 of you who've been with us, we've really enjoyed 00:01:24.849 --> 00:01:27.629 it. But I'm not going to steal a lot of time. 00:01:27.769 --> 00:01:30.170 I just want us to reach our hands out to Rachel 00:01:30.170 --> 00:01:33.870 and just pray for the word of the Lord and for 00:01:33.870 --> 00:01:37.150 strength. And so, Father, we want to thank you 00:01:37.150 --> 00:01:39.349 for Rachel. Thank you, Lord, that she carries 00:01:39.349 --> 00:01:42.290 that mantle of your spirit, that mantle of anointing. 00:01:43.650 --> 00:01:46.799 We thank you. opens up this whole subject of 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:49.120 opening the gates. I thank you that we have a 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:52.120 promise. We have a clear promise that we will 00:01:52.120 --> 00:01:55.099 possess the gates of our enemies. That is your 00:01:55.099 --> 00:01:57.280 promise and we're believing you in impossible 00:01:57.280 --> 00:02:00.680 situations so that we will see the word of God 00:02:00.680 --> 00:02:03.519 released to open up these doors. So Father, we 00:02:03.519 --> 00:02:05.819 pray that for that anointing on the word of God. 00:02:05.879 --> 00:02:09.360 We pray it will be life to every one of us. In 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:15.259 Jesus' name. Amen. Well, it's great to be with 00:02:15.259 --> 00:02:19.580 you this morning. We pursued the presence of 00:02:19.580 --> 00:02:24.389 God at the Ladies' Conference. Those CDs are 00:02:24.389 --> 00:02:27.930 available. We started right at the first session. 00:02:28.150 --> 00:02:30.550 And if the men want to listen, you're welcome. 00:02:30.750 --> 00:02:34.009 It wasn't too pink and fluffy, so you won't be 00:02:34.009 --> 00:02:38.229 too embarrassed. We started the first night of 00:02:38.229 --> 00:02:41.389 really talking about the presence of God in the 00:02:41.389 --> 00:02:44.169 private place, in the public place. And how I 00:02:44.169 --> 00:02:46.169 believe that as we look at the life of Jesus, 00:02:46.169 --> 00:02:48.469 we see a man who was given to a private place, 00:02:48.710 --> 00:02:52.110 but then was able to release a presence. into 00:02:52.110 --> 00:02:54.629 the public place of signs, wonders, and miracles. 00:02:54.889 --> 00:02:57.449 And there's a pursuit for the presence of God, 00:02:57.509 --> 00:03:00.669 of not just a self -indulgent, I want God to 00:03:00.669 --> 00:03:03.789 make me feel good. But actually there in my heart 00:03:03.789 --> 00:03:07.490 is a heart cry. Oh God, put a power upon us that 00:03:07.490 --> 00:03:10.849 helps us answer the heart cry of so many needy 00:03:10.849 --> 00:03:13.789 in our community. And I believe God is opening 00:03:13.789 --> 00:03:17.639 that up. and then we looked at the story of the 00:03:17.639 --> 00:03:20.259 woman with the issue of blood and I called it 00:03:20.259 --> 00:03:23.099 I Want My Life Back and just identifying those 00:03:23.099 --> 00:03:25.960 areas where our life is bleeding away and how 00:03:25.960 --> 00:03:28.300 we need to touch Jesus in those circumstances 00:03:28.300 --> 00:03:32.340 and to regain our life again. Then there were 00:03:32.340 --> 00:03:35.639 amazing workshops. And then Gordon in the afternoon 00:03:35.639 --> 00:03:38.840 spoke on overcoming the strongholds of fear, 00:03:38.979 --> 00:03:42.379 intimidation, and the pressures of the enemy 00:03:42.379 --> 00:03:46.219 to bring fear into our life so we are imprisoned 00:03:46.219 --> 00:03:50.340 from the presence. Because God is love. And the 00:03:50.340 --> 00:03:53.060 perfect love of God casts out fear. But fear 00:03:53.060 --> 00:03:56.400 is a stronghold that almost encapsulates you 00:03:56.400 --> 00:03:59.300 and makes you incapable of really understanding 00:03:59.300 --> 00:04:02.199 what love is all about. And so we've got to address 00:04:02.199 --> 00:04:06.240 our fear issues to really overcome and know the 00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:10.300 God of love. And then in the last session, we 00:04:10.300 --> 00:04:14.199 looked at the pathways of the pursuit to the 00:04:14.199 --> 00:04:16.220 presence of God, the pathway of holiness, the 00:04:16.220 --> 00:04:19.199 pathway of intercession, the pathway of trial. 00:04:19.370 --> 00:04:21.490 that brings glory and the pathway of peace and 00:04:21.490 --> 00:04:24.850 joy and how God puts these pathways in our life 00:04:24.850 --> 00:04:27.069 and how we have to set our heart on a pilgrimage 00:04:27.069 --> 00:04:30.389 to break through. Then yesterday morning, Gordon 00:04:30.389 --> 00:04:33.910 took the lion's share of really sharing about 00:04:33.910 --> 00:04:36.949 marriage and looking at a passage in Ephesians 00:04:36.949 --> 00:04:41.620 5 of what does that... priestly role of the husband 00:04:41.620 --> 00:04:44.160 look like in the home, looking at the five pillars 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:47.100 of the intimate friends. Let's see if I was listening. 00:04:47.220 --> 00:04:50.800 The proclaiming prophet, the reconciling priest, 00:04:51.160 --> 00:04:53.800 the servant leader, and the defending warrior 00:04:53.800 --> 00:04:57.759 have done it. And just those different aspects 00:04:57.759 --> 00:05:01.040 of how in our upside down world, so much of our 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:04.839 viewpoint of who, what a man is. And even for 00:05:04.839 --> 00:05:07.459 some men, I know often when Gordon finishes, 00:05:07.540 --> 00:05:09.720 they wince and think, Gordon, you're not. nice 00:05:09.720 --> 00:05:13.879 to us, because it would be much easier to actually 00:05:13.879 --> 00:05:16.720 fit the mold of what we are allowed to be. And 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:20.079 then I talked to some of the women. And then 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:24.399 over last night and these two services, although 00:05:24.399 --> 00:05:26.920 I'm taking the same theme, we're going to be 00:05:26.920 --> 00:05:29.420 looking at it at different angles. And we want 00:05:29.420 --> 00:05:33.360 to talk about Open the Gates in 2008. Say with 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:38.970 me. And last night, and I wonder if you could 00:05:38.970 --> 00:05:42.029 just show some pictures, Gordon talked about 00:05:42.029 --> 00:05:45.689 opening the gate to the nations. And if there's 00:05:45.689 --> 00:05:47.629 one thing Gordon carries, it's an incredible 00:05:47.629 --> 00:05:51.189 heart. He was also the national director for 00:05:51.189 --> 00:05:56.779 Islamic missions to central... Asia, Middle East, 00:05:56.800 --> 00:05:59.300 and North Africa. And he carries in his heart 00:05:59.300 --> 00:06:01.959 a real passion for the Muslim world. And if you 00:06:01.959 --> 00:06:04.120 look here, here's a desert land just north of 00:06:04.120 --> 00:06:06.339 Cairo. Just keep clicking it through. You'll 00:06:06.339 --> 00:06:09.000 see in that corner there is something there. 00:06:09.939 --> 00:06:11.920 Next slide. Is it going to just click, click, 00:06:11.939 --> 00:06:15.839 click? There's the tent. And this was a huge 00:06:15.839 --> 00:06:18.920 tent which takes about 6 ,500 people. Next one. 00:06:20.109 --> 00:06:24.310 Inside, these are Arabic Christians at a prayer 00:06:24.310 --> 00:06:26.829 conference. And I'm standing at the front just 00:06:26.829 --> 00:06:28.970 looking to one half left -hand side. There's 00:06:28.970 --> 00:06:33.029 about 7 ,000 people in there from all over Egypt, 00:06:33.329 --> 00:06:38.230 Oman, Yemen, Kuwait, and Dubai. Just come together 00:06:38.230 --> 00:06:39.990 for a prayer and fasting conference for five 00:06:39.990 --> 00:06:43.769 days in the desert. Next one. Oh, that's me preaching. 00:06:43.870 --> 00:06:45.509 They gave me the privilege of preaching in the 00:06:45.509 --> 00:06:47.610 opening and closing session, even as a woman 00:06:47.610 --> 00:06:49.810 in an Islamic nation. That was an incredible 00:06:49.810 --> 00:06:53.759 honor. Next one. You can see all the flags, if 00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:57.379 you can see all the flags flying. And I explained 00:06:57.379 --> 00:06:59.920 to the women that to actually bring the Egyptian 00:06:59.920 --> 00:07:03.439 flag into the house of God is considered a blasphemous 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:06.439 and treasonable offense. Because you're making 00:07:06.439 --> 00:07:09.699 the statement the nation belongs to God. And 00:07:09.699 --> 00:07:12.740 so a pastor who began this went into jail maybe 00:07:12.740 --> 00:07:15.699 18 times. But now he broke something through 00:07:15.699 --> 00:07:18.199 and you can see the flags. And they watched the 00:07:18.199 --> 00:07:20.550 men worship with the flag of Egypt. The presence 00:07:20.550 --> 00:07:23.750 of God is really wonderful. Next one. Here's 00:07:23.750 --> 00:07:26.490 the men at prayer looking so much like the Islam 00:07:26.490 --> 00:07:29.569 thing, but they're there crying for their nation. 00:07:30.889 --> 00:07:35.300 And that was not... sort of picture there but 00:07:35.300 --> 00:07:37.399 it was actually streamed live on the internet 00:07:37.399 --> 00:07:39.959 and that's Arabic in the middle which says Egypt 00:07:39.959 --> 00:07:43.319 belongs to Christ and with their flag all the 00:07:43.319 --> 00:07:46.860 way around on top of their sort of commercial 00:07:46.860 --> 00:07:50.259 and governmental center of Cairo and to stream 00:07:50.259 --> 00:07:55.180 that live on internet right around the Arabic 00:07:55.180 --> 00:07:58.660 speaking world is incredibly courageous but something 00:07:58.660 --> 00:08:01.800 is raising up so thank you for that and last 00:08:01.800 --> 00:08:03.970 night if you're at all interested and seeing 00:08:03.970 --> 00:08:06.689 the gates open to the nations, changing your 00:08:06.689 --> 00:08:09.290 worldview. I don't know one that's much better 00:08:09.290 --> 00:08:11.129 than Gordon. I'm really preaching. How many of 00:08:11.129 --> 00:08:13.290 you have heard him speak last night? How many 00:08:13.290 --> 00:08:15.230 of you found it changed your worldview a little 00:08:15.230 --> 00:08:17.889 bit, really helped you? And I believe in these 00:08:17.889 --> 00:08:21.350 days that we are accelerating to opening the 00:08:21.350 --> 00:08:23.430 gates of the gospel. How many of you sense that? 00:08:23.569 --> 00:08:26.649 And it's a harvest season. And so God wants to 00:08:26.649 --> 00:08:30.529 put a passion in us for the nations. And now 00:08:30.529 --> 00:08:32.809 this morning, I want to look at three gates. 00:08:32.840 --> 00:08:35.620 maybe this service and another three gate second 00:08:35.620 --> 00:08:38.879 service so by the end of it you'll have a most 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:41.320 probably a cd pack open the gates with seven 00:08:41.320 --> 00:08:45.539 gates but um As I was just praying at the beginning 00:08:45.539 --> 00:08:48.379 of this year, God just began to speak to me about 00:08:48.379 --> 00:08:51.700 the gateways of opportunity and the gates that 00:08:51.700 --> 00:08:56.100 he wants to open for us in 2008. Many of you 00:08:56.100 --> 00:08:59.000 know that eight in the Jewish tradition is the 00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:01.600 number of new beginnings. And actually, if you 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:04.019 take the number eight and look at it, the het, 00:09:04.159 --> 00:09:07.320 it is actually in the shape of a gate. And so 00:09:07.320 --> 00:09:11.179 there's all these sort of... signs and symbols 00:09:11.179 --> 00:09:13.759 that there is something about a gateway year 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:16.679 this year. And even as you look at America, how 00:09:16.679 --> 00:09:18.919 many would agree with me? This is a gateway year. 00:09:19.159 --> 00:09:21.299 You know, your nation is in balance. You've got 00:09:21.299 --> 00:09:23.600 elections. You've got all sorts of things. And 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:26.899 it's going to be a gateway. For better, for worse, 00:09:26.899 --> 00:09:29.519 for richer, for poorer, in death, help us God, 00:09:29.720 --> 00:09:32.360 whatever. You know, there are gateways years. 00:09:32.580 --> 00:09:34.960 They're like those landing marks. And you just 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:37.340 have this sense that it's bigger than just you. 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:40.539 How many of you sense that? And so I feel that 00:09:40.539 --> 00:09:44.759 in this particular time, God is crying out, open 00:09:44.759 --> 00:09:49.480 the gates. Open the gates. And so the first gate 00:09:49.480 --> 00:09:53.539 I want to look at is the gate of hope. The gate. 00:09:54.039 --> 00:09:57.940 of hope. Because we need to learn to be those 00:09:57.940 --> 00:10:00.519 gatekeepers in the house of the Lord and the 00:10:00.519 --> 00:10:04.039 gatekeepers for the community. Even as Pastor 00:10:04.039 --> 00:10:06.840 Brad was sharing, you know, as we step out into 00:10:06.840 --> 00:10:09.360 the streets of Harrisburg and the surrounding 00:10:09.360 --> 00:10:12.480 sort of area, Coburg and these ones, and begin 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:14.820 to put a presence on the streets, we need to 00:10:14.820 --> 00:10:18.440 open gates of opportunity, open gates of hope 00:10:18.440 --> 00:10:21.059 for them. Because I do believe that we're called 00:10:21.059 --> 00:10:25.460 to be gatekeepers. And so if we turn to Hosea 00:10:25.460 --> 00:10:29.659 chapter 2, verse 14 and 15, we read this scripture. 00:10:30.779 --> 00:10:35.440 Therefore, I am now going to allure her, and 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:39.039 I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:42.279 to her. There I will give her back her vineyards 00:10:42.279 --> 00:10:45.320 and will make the valley of Achor, which if you 00:10:45.320 --> 00:10:49.179 study this, is the valley of trouble and difficulty, 00:10:49.840 --> 00:10:55.279 a door of hope. And there she will sing as in 00:10:55.279 --> 00:10:58.179 the days of her youth, as in the day she came 00:10:58.179 --> 00:11:03.509 up out of Egypt. Therefore. I always say when 00:11:03.509 --> 00:11:06.889 I speak, when you see a therefore, ask, what 00:11:06.889 --> 00:11:10.789 is the there therefore? It is a conclusion. It 00:11:10.789 --> 00:11:14.029 is like, okay, this is a summary moment. A whole 00:11:14.029 --> 00:11:17.970 lot of stuff has gone on before this. Now, as 00:11:17.970 --> 00:11:21.610 a conclusion, because of what's gone on, therefore, 00:11:21.830 --> 00:11:24.889 a transition moment, a changing moment, a new 00:11:24.889 --> 00:11:27.210 thought moment. You get what I'm saying? And 00:11:27.210 --> 00:11:31.049 so here, the prophet Hosea is saying, therefore, 00:11:31.250 --> 00:11:33.809 because. of what's going on in the nation because 00:11:33.809 --> 00:11:36.629 of the hearts of the people because of the state 00:11:36.629 --> 00:11:39.429 of the church God is putting a footprint down 00:11:39.429 --> 00:11:42.850 and saying therefore because of all these surrounding 00:11:42.850 --> 00:11:46.730 circumstances I'm stepping in and I'm going to 00:11:46.730 --> 00:11:51.070 allure her who is the her well obviously all 00:11:51.070 --> 00:11:53.629 the way through scripture you have the individual 00:11:53.629 --> 00:11:56.669 that God so loves me but I would like to suggest 00:11:56.669 --> 00:11:59.690 that the her is also the corporate bride of Christ 00:11:59.690 --> 00:12:03.500 it isn't just about me. Of course, God loves 00:12:03.500 --> 00:12:06.539 Rachel. God loves Gordon. God loves Brad, Ron, 00:12:06.539 --> 00:12:09.799 Rhonda, Elton. He loves us as individuals. But 00:12:09.799 --> 00:12:13.019 actually, there's a corporateness that God is 00:12:13.019 --> 00:12:15.299 looking for in these days, because it's that 00:12:15.299 --> 00:12:18.100 corporate bride. It's that people coming together 00:12:18.100 --> 00:12:20.980 in a place that actually is the true gatekeeper 00:12:20.980 --> 00:12:24.440 for communities, regions, and nations. And so, 00:12:24.440 --> 00:12:27.179 yes, there's the, I'm going to allure Jess. I'm 00:12:27.179 --> 00:12:30.019 going to call him. But actually, in calling each 00:12:30.220 --> 00:12:32.840 one individually. He's calling the us -ness of 00:12:32.840 --> 00:12:34.899 the bride of Christ to be rightly positioned 00:12:34.899 --> 00:12:38.700 for a season. So now I'm going to allure her 00:12:38.700 --> 00:12:42.080 and I'm going to lead her to the desert and speak 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:45.360 tenderly to her. And I believe many of us have 00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:48.759 been in a season where God has been wooing us 00:12:48.759 --> 00:12:51.600 individually and then corporately as a house 00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:54.059 and saying, come on, I love you dearly. I love 00:12:54.059 --> 00:12:56.399 you dearly. Now there's something about that 00:12:56.399 --> 00:13:00.289 word alluring. I've got a wonderful chocolate 00:13:00.289 --> 00:13:04.389 Labrador dog. Not really a puppy anymore. But 00:13:04.389 --> 00:13:08.330 if I've got a cookie in my hand, I could lead 00:13:08.330 --> 00:13:12.909 that dog anywhere. That dog focuses and you can 00:13:12.909 --> 00:13:16.750 allure the dog into all sorts of places. And 00:13:16.750 --> 00:13:19.330 often if I want to hook him up to let him have 00:13:19.330 --> 00:13:21.909 his bath, that's a very good way. Get one of 00:13:21.909 --> 00:13:24.529 his doggy treats, allure him. Before he knows 00:13:24.529 --> 00:13:27.149 what's happened, the collar's on him, he's outside. 00:13:27.720 --> 00:13:30.179 by that post. And then his tail goes down. He 00:13:30.179 --> 00:13:34.100 thinks, I've been had. I'm on that post. Out 00:13:34.100 --> 00:13:37.779 comes the hosepipe. And there's that sense here. 00:13:38.460 --> 00:13:40.980 You know, Jeremiah the prophet says, oh God, 00:13:41.220 --> 00:13:44.039 you deceived me and I was deceived. There are 00:13:44.039 --> 00:13:47.559 times when God allures us. He speaks tenderly. 00:13:47.559 --> 00:13:50.779 And it's like you feel that fixing eye of God 00:13:50.779 --> 00:13:54.120 saying, come on, come on, come on, come on, come 00:13:54.120 --> 00:13:58.230 on, come on. And then suddenly you wake up and 00:13:58.230 --> 00:14:01.289 you think, how did I get here, God? I'm in a 00:14:01.289 --> 00:14:04.250 desert. I was doing quite nice until I listened 00:14:04.250 --> 00:14:06.269 to you. How many of you have ever felt that? 00:14:08.029 --> 00:14:11.389 Therefore, I'm going to, I'm going to speak tenderly. 00:14:11.389 --> 00:14:14.809 I'm going to draw you with loving kindness into 00:14:14.809 --> 00:14:17.470 a desert. You think, thanks a lot, God. I really 00:14:17.470 --> 00:14:23.820 like deserts. place a transformation happens 00:14:23.820 --> 00:14:26.460 where I'm going to change a valley of trouble 00:14:26.460 --> 00:14:30.379 and open a door of hope and it's actually going 00:14:30.379 --> 00:14:32.720 to become a place of restoration where I'm going 00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:35.679 to give back vineyards in other words I'm going 00:14:35.679 --> 00:14:38.139 to give back fruitfulness right in that desert 00:14:38.139 --> 00:14:41.039 place and I'm going to break the bondages of 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:44.779 Egypt and let you go really free But it's actually 00:14:44.779 --> 00:14:48.139 in that very atmosphere of being allured by the 00:14:48.139 --> 00:14:50.840 presence of God that you come to a transformation 00:14:50.840 --> 00:14:53.840 place from the valley of trouble into a door 00:14:53.840 --> 00:14:57.320 of hope. And as we look into our communities 00:14:57.320 --> 00:15:01.200 at this time, I tell you, they need so many people 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:04.299 are so confused, overwhelmed, that the bride 00:15:04.299 --> 00:15:07.879 needs to be the alluring sound of the bridegroom 00:15:07.879 --> 00:15:09.320 of heaven. Do you understand what I'm saying? 00:15:09.460 --> 00:15:12.419 And that sound comes so that people begin to 00:15:12.419 --> 00:15:15.659 find, How did I get here? How many of you remember 00:15:15.659 --> 00:15:17.559 the day you got saved and think, I don't really 00:15:17.559 --> 00:15:21.840 know how I got there? How did that happen? But 00:15:21.840 --> 00:15:24.720 there was a luring cry that suddenly transformed 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:28.000 a valley of trouble into a door of hope. And 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:30.740 I believe this is a season where God wants to 00:15:30.740 --> 00:15:33.779 open doors of hope. Maybe you've just woken up 00:15:33.779 --> 00:15:37.679 and think, well, how did I end up here? But I 00:15:37.679 --> 00:15:43.019 tell you, God's got a door of hope for you. Out 00:15:43.019 --> 00:15:47.559 of the valley of trouble is a door of hope. There 00:15:47.559 --> 00:15:50.960 is a door of hope. And we've got to be gatekeepers 00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:55.899 to that door of hope and open it. As I read the 00:15:55.899 --> 00:15:58.000 statistics of what's happening in communities 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:01.799 all around us, hopelessness is on the increase. 00:16:03.199 --> 00:16:06.559 Suicide is on the increase. Suicide amongst men 00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:09.899 in the US is on the increase. As the financial 00:16:09.899 --> 00:16:12.440 credit crunch begins to hit, people who have 00:16:12.440 --> 00:16:14.899 just made themselves in a mess are deciding the 00:16:14.899 --> 00:16:18.539 only way to get out is to top themselves. And 00:16:18.539 --> 00:16:20.379 I don't know if you look at statistics, I do. 00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:23.440 We found in Britain, in an area of Wales, which 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:26.200 is a bit like this, a beautiful farming, green, 00:16:26.440 --> 00:16:29.500 rolling, perfect area, if you know what I mean. 00:16:29.539 --> 00:16:32.870 It looks absolutely fabulous. teenagers began 00:16:32.870 --> 00:16:36.470 to make suicide pacts. And to this year, 19 of 00:16:36.470 --> 00:16:39.250 them had committed suicide between the age of 00:16:39.250 --> 00:16:45.409 16 to 21. And they have become so horrified by 00:16:45.409 --> 00:16:47.990 the hopelessness in the teenagers in this community. 00:16:48.289 --> 00:16:50.610 Social workers, police, all sorts have gone in 00:16:50.610 --> 00:16:54.710 to try and uncover what in the world has robbed 00:16:54.710 --> 00:17:01.029 the hope of youth. But you see, the church, are 00:17:01.029 --> 00:17:04.430 the gatekeepers to the door of hope. And we've 00:17:04.430 --> 00:17:09.210 got to open up the gates in 2008. So what is 00:17:09.210 --> 00:17:12.170 hope? Let me give you a quick definition. What 00:17:12.170 --> 00:17:16.250 is hope? Well, this is a simple definition. Say 00:17:16.250 --> 00:17:21.410 it with me. Hope is the desire with an expectation 00:17:21.410 --> 00:17:26.529 of accomplishment. Let's say it once more. You 00:17:26.529 --> 00:17:30.519 still need coffee. Hope is the desire With an 00:17:30.519 --> 00:17:36.000 expectation of accomplishment. Let me make it 00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:39.640 a tiny bit more theological. Hope is the God 00:17:39.640 --> 00:17:43.160 -given desire with a faith -filled expectation 00:17:43.160 --> 00:17:49.099 of a promise accomplished. That is what hope 00:17:49.099 --> 00:17:54.980 is. Hope is triggered by a desire that God stirs. 00:17:55.950 --> 00:18:00.490 It then is incubated by faith with that expectation 00:18:00.490 --> 00:18:04.789 that says, I know it's going to happen. And finally, 00:18:04.809 --> 00:18:07.390 it's accomplished in a promise in your hand. 00:18:07.650 --> 00:18:10.369 And that's what the world needs. We need to open 00:18:10.369 --> 00:18:14.230 the door of hope. And I want to ask you today, 00:18:14.410 --> 00:18:16.710 you see, we can't go out on the streets on July 00:18:16.710 --> 00:18:19.970 the 4th and be gatekeepers to hope if we haven't 00:18:19.970 --> 00:18:23.289 got a hope sound resonating on the inside. We've 00:18:23.289 --> 00:18:26.890 got to get hold of our hope. Hope is the desire 00:18:26.890 --> 00:18:30.150 with an expectation of accomplishment. We've 00:18:30.150 --> 00:18:33.170 sung it today that God does what he says. Nothing 00:18:33.170 --> 00:18:36.630 is impossible with God. That actually the expectation 00:18:36.630 --> 00:18:40.589 that God's word stirs is not to make us foolish, 00:18:40.630 --> 00:18:43.730 but to make us satisfied. And so we've got to 00:18:43.730 --> 00:18:46.549 press through the valley of Achor, those times 00:18:46.549 --> 00:18:49.650 of trouble, the desert places, and knock on that 00:18:49.650 --> 00:18:52.309 door of hope and see it open to us. Because in 00:18:52.309 --> 00:18:56.589 2008 is the day and the year to open the gate. 00:18:56.849 --> 00:19:00.309 And we're going to open the gate of hope. And 00:19:00.309 --> 00:19:03.690 I believe that so often when we talk about hope, 00:19:03.849 --> 00:19:07.410 what is the scripture we think of? Hope deferred. 00:19:08.519 --> 00:19:11.720 And so we've got almost this negative viewpoint 00:19:11.720 --> 00:19:14.559 to the word hope. Oh, don't hope too much. You 00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:17.700 only get disappointed. Hope deferred makes the 00:19:17.700 --> 00:19:19.960 heart grow sick. But how does that verse finish? 00:19:22.380 --> 00:19:25.579 Yeah, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. 00:19:25.799 --> 00:19:28.619 And it's so fascinating. We all know the first 00:19:28.619 --> 00:19:33.440 bit. Well, hope delayed makes the heart grow 00:19:33.440 --> 00:19:37.599 sick. But actually hope. of the longing fulfilled, 00:19:38.019 --> 00:19:40.880 grows to be a tree of life. You see, hope goes 00:19:40.880 --> 00:19:45.079 two directions. But we all stay with, oh, hope 00:19:45.079 --> 00:19:46.940 deferred makes the heart grow sick. Don't hope 00:19:46.940 --> 00:19:50.599 too much, you just get disappointed. No. Hope 00:19:50.599 --> 00:19:55.539 is so essential. What does Hebrews say? Hebrews 00:19:55.539 --> 00:19:58.799 11 verse 1. Faith is the substance of things 00:19:58.799 --> 00:20:04.599 hoped for. So if the enemy pickpockets your hope, 00:20:05.319 --> 00:20:09.619 You lose your faith. Faith is the substance of 00:20:09.619 --> 00:20:13.200 things hopeful. What does Romans 5, 5 say? And 00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:16.779 this hope does not disappoint us. Why? Because 00:20:16.779 --> 00:20:19.539 his love has been shed abroad in our hearts by 00:20:19.539 --> 00:20:24.099 the Holy Spirit. And so, so many of us have got 00:20:24.099 --> 00:20:27.940 this slightly negative thing to hope. 1 Corinthians 00:20:27.940 --> 00:20:33.059 13, verse 13 says, and these three shall remain. 00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:39.240 Which three? Faith, hope, and love. So I've come 00:20:39.240 --> 00:20:41.680 to irritate you this morning. I want to ask you, 00:20:41.740 --> 00:20:45.400 how are your faith, hope, and love capacity tanks? 00:20:46.359 --> 00:20:50.339 If you look back a year, is your faith, hope, 00:20:50.460 --> 00:20:54.519 and love tanks greater or lesser? If you look 00:20:54.519 --> 00:20:59.759 back 10 years, is your hope greater or lesser? 00:21:00.440 --> 00:21:02.420 Because you see, in the kingdom of God, it says, 00:21:02.500 --> 00:21:07.980 these three shall remain. Which three? Faith, 00:21:08.200 --> 00:21:12.480 hope, and love. And you see, if it's depleting 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:14.819 in the church, and if we look in our own lives 00:21:14.819 --> 00:21:17.299 and think, yeah, if I'm real honest, my hope 00:21:17.299 --> 00:21:22.019 has got more cynical. Hope, as we step out there. 00:21:22.119 --> 00:21:25.960 Do you get what I'm saying? And this year, 2008, 00:21:26.440 --> 00:21:29.079 we've got to open the gate and hope has got to 00:21:29.079 --> 00:21:32.859 remain. And I believe that quite often we recognize 00:21:32.859 --> 00:21:37.359 more the doubt against faith than we do the battle 00:21:37.359 --> 00:21:39.839 against hope. Do you get what I'm saying? It's 00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:43.160 more subtle. And there's something that says, 00:21:43.240 --> 00:21:45.740 well, don't be too excited. Don't be too expecting. 00:21:45.880 --> 00:21:49.509 Don't be too hopeful. But actually, these three 00:21:49.509 --> 00:21:53.549 must remain. Faith, hope, and love. And the greatest 00:21:53.549 --> 00:21:57.869 of these is love. Well, my background is I'm 00:21:57.869 --> 00:22:00.849 a research scientist. And so I began, why is 00:22:00.849 --> 00:22:04.039 love the greatest? I would like to suggest to 00:22:04.039 --> 00:22:06.579 you that as I've prayed and really asked God, 00:22:06.619 --> 00:22:09.140 I believe that love is the greatest because it's 00:22:09.140 --> 00:22:12.579 the incubating atmosphere. It's like the greenhouse 00:22:12.579 --> 00:22:17.319 effect that allows faith and hope to grow. Without 00:22:17.319 --> 00:22:20.440 love, it is virtually impossible to see faith 00:22:20.440 --> 00:22:25.779 and hope really flourish. How many agree? Because 00:22:25.779 --> 00:22:28.440 you see, how many know if you're living in a 00:22:28.440 --> 00:22:32.440 real critical, cynical atmosphere that's critiquing 00:22:32.440 --> 00:22:36.359 your every move, your hope, dreams, faith is 00:22:36.359 --> 00:22:39.920 kept very contained. But as soon as you're in 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:45.420 a very loving, affirming environment, which should 00:22:45.420 --> 00:22:48.079 be the church, the church is the place of the 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:52.539 second chance. Hello, the church is a place we 00:22:52.539 --> 00:22:55.519 can make a mistake. You're kissed, stood up and 00:22:55.519 --> 00:22:57.980 given a second chance. That's grace. That's what 00:22:57.980 --> 00:23:00.500 Jesus has done for me. And that's what church 00:23:00.500 --> 00:23:03.160 should be. So church should allow us to have 00:23:03.160 --> 00:23:07.059 hopes, dreams, expectations and open the doors. 00:23:07.220 --> 00:23:10.160 So that's why again and again, come on church, 00:23:10.339 --> 00:23:13.059 love one another. This is the greatest command. 00:23:13.299 --> 00:23:16.619 This is the command. Just love one another. Give 00:23:16.619 --> 00:23:19.779 each other some movement grace. How many of you 00:23:19.779 --> 00:23:21.819 know if you work in a company environment that's 00:23:21.819 --> 00:23:24.440 very affirming, there's much more creativity 00:23:24.440 --> 00:23:28.319 and entrepreneurial? Come on, business. And that's 00:23:28.319 --> 00:23:32.200 true. Where it's a very contained, exact, you 00:23:32.200 --> 00:23:34.859 get it wrong, you're out of here type, people 00:23:34.859 --> 00:23:41.519 don't move. And so come on, say with me, open 00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:50.690 the gates. Open the door of hope. In 2008. Just 00:23:50.690 --> 00:23:53.089 take a moment. Just say, God, look at my heart. 00:23:55.910 --> 00:24:02.750 And see if love, faith and hope still remain. 00:24:05.849 --> 00:24:08.950 So we want to open that door of hope. Number 00:24:08.950 --> 00:24:15.009 two. They're all different gates. But I think 00:24:15.009 --> 00:24:17.740 it's so important. Last night, the gate of the 00:24:17.740 --> 00:24:21.839 nations, the gate of hope, the gate of heaven. 00:24:24.119 --> 00:24:27.140 Let's open the gate of heaven over your life. 00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:31.460 And for this one, let's turn to Genesis 25, verse 00:24:31.460 --> 00:24:36.420 16. Genesis 28, sorry. Genesis 28, verse 16. 00:24:37.380 --> 00:24:41.099 And when Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, 00:24:41.220 --> 00:24:46.829 surely the Lord is in this place. And I was not 00:24:46.829 --> 00:24:50.029 aware of it. And he was afraid and said, how 00:24:50.029 --> 00:24:53.609 awesome is this place. This is none other than 00:24:53.609 --> 00:24:57.230 the house of God. This is the gate of heaven. 00:24:58.789 --> 00:25:03.769 Genesis 28 verse 16. When Jacob awoke from his 00:25:03.769 --> 00:25:05.910 sleep. I'm just going to go through this a little 00:25:05.910 --> 00:25:10.589 bit, exegesis style. Jacob. Well, obviously we 00:25:10.589 --> 00:25:13.269 know Jacob. We've got Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, 00:25:13.309 --> 00:25:16.660 the third in the Pentateuch. grandfather father 00:25:16.660 --> 00:25:20.980 son that lineage of breakthrough for the nations 00:25:20.980 --> 00:25:24.720 to be born but as you're well aware in the bible 00:25:24.720 --> 00:25:28.799 names and faces and people are also representative 00:25:29.789 --> 00:25:34.690 And of sort of, they give an image, a symbol 00:25:34.690 --> 00:25:37.769 beyond just that name. And especially if then 00:25:37.769 --> 00:25:40.390 it's shown through scripture, you can then have 00:25:40.390 --> 00:25:43.210 a look and say, okay, it's not just about Jacob 00:25:43.210 --> 00:25:45.490 being the person who lived and died as a son. 00:25:46.130 --> 00:25:49.049 There's something of a Jacob nature. Do you understand 00:25:49.049 --> 00:25:52.289 what I'm saying? And so I want to show you that. 00:25:52.539 --> 00:25:54.980 Yes, here it is talking about the individual 00:25:54.980 --> 00:25:58.519 Jacob, but I believe it's representative of a 00:25:58.519 --> 00:26:02.140 Jacob nature. And the Jacob nature, I would like 00:26:02.140 --> 00:26:05.799 to suggest to you, is a seeker. Because all the 00:26:05.799 --> 00:26:08.960 way through scripture, you find this symbolism 00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:12.180 of the Jacob. It talks about a Jacob generation. 00:26:12.680 --> 00:26:14.940 If you go back home on your laptops and computers, 00:26:15.079 --> 00:26:17.420 I haven't got time because I'm trying to do too 00:26:17.420 --> 00:26:20.240 many gates. But you put it in and this phrase 00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:23.279 comes up, the house of Jacob, the generation 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:27.019 of Jacob, the people of Jacob. And now are they 00:26:27.019 --> 00:26:29.140 literally talking about blood relatives? No, 00:26:29.279 --> 00:26:32.720 they're talking about a typology, a type, an 00:26:32.720 --> 00:26:36.740 image of a Jacob. Cut. So what is it? Well, if 00:26:36.740 --> 00:26:40.420 you go to Psalm 24, verse 6, such is the generation 00:26:40.420 --> 00:26:44.799 that seek me, the Jacob generation that seek 00:26:44.799 --> 00:26:49.200 my face. That's the easiest one to prove my point. 00:26:49.299 --> 00:26:52.200 But if you just track it through, you find again 00:26:52.200 --> 00:26:55.440 and again, this Jacob generation, this house 00:26:55.440 --> 00:26:58.920 of Jacob, this Jacob people are a people who 00:26:58.920 --> 00:27:02.480 have a courageous stubbornness that say, I want 00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:05.210 God. And whatever the opposition, I've got to 00:27:05.210 --> 00:27:08.390 shake it through, make it through, push it through, 00:27:08.490 --> 00:27:10.609 because there's something in my heart that's 00:27:10.609 --> 00:27:15.589 a seeker. Amen. And seekers will be finders. 00:27:16.470 --> 00:27:18.809 God said that to me this year. He said, come 00:27:18.809 --> 00:27:24.150 on, Rachel, seekers will be finders. And so we 00:27:24.150 --> 00:27:27.430 see that displayed even by Jacob in his own life. 00:27:27.930 --> 00:27:30.329 How many know he was a wrestler for the presence 00:27:30.329 --> 00:27:33.509 of God? He didn't give up quickly. He sought 00:27:33.509 --> 00:27:36.309 God even when he knew he wasn't in a good place. 00:27:36.609 --> 00:27:41.089 So here we have Genesis 28 verse 16, when Jacob 00:27:41.089 --> 00:27:46.789 woke up from his sleep. And so I want us to look 00:27:46.789 --> 00:27:50.470 just beyond this person Jacob to the type of 00:27:50.470 --> 00:27:54.440 Jacob. And suggest to you, when the seeker generation, 00:27:54.720 --> 00:27:59.019 when Jacob the seeker woke up from his sleep. 00:27:59.359 --> 00:28:02.240 And God really spoke to me. He said, in 2008, 00:28:02.500 --> 00:28:06.380 I want to open the gate of heaven. But there 00:28:06.380 --> 00:28:11.099 is a seeker, Jacob generation, that needs to 00:28:11.099 --> 00:28:14.319 wake up. It's gone to sleep. I don't know about 00:28:14.319 --> 00:28:17.299 you, but there are moments when you really can 00:28:17.299 --> 00:28:21.059 anticipate and sense God's in the house. Something's 00:28:21.059 --> 00:28:22.920 going to break through. How many know what I'm 00:28:22.920 --> 00:28:25.059 talking about? You have a real heightened expectation, 00:28:25.519 --> 00:28:28.559 that hope expectation. Then delay comes in. It 00:28:28.559 --> 00:28:32.440 takes time. Life gets busy. Stuff happens. And 00:28:32.440 --> 00:28:34.859 it's not your back slidden, but that cutting 00:28:34.859 --> 00:28:38.200 edge of the hungry seeking is just dulled because 00:28:38.200 --> 00:28:41.980 you're distracted. And it goes to sleep. So you 00:28:41.980 --> 00:28:45.789 see, Jacob, went to sleep. Actually, he set out 00:28:45.789 --> 00:28:48.549 on a mission, absolutely focused because his 00:28:48.549 --> 00:28:51.569 life was about to go, but he actually fell to 00:28:51.569 --> 00:28:55.890 sleep. And when the seeker woke up from his sleep, 00:28:56.109 --> 00:29:01.529 he realized, oh, that aggressive seeking went 00:29:01.529 --> 00:29:05.170 to sleep and I lost perspective. And look at 00:29:05.170 --> 00:29:11.269 what he says. He says, surely God is in this 00:29:11.269 --> 00:29:16.819 place. But I was not aware of it. Isn't that 00:29:16.819 --> 00:29:20.160 fascinating? You see, when the seeker goes to 00:29:20.160 --> 00:29:23.440 sleep and suddenly it's stimulated and stirred 00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:27.400 up, God opens the gate of heaven to you and you 00:29:27.400 --> 00:29:29.859 have been crying out, oh God, break through. 00:29:30.019 --> 00:29:33.420 Oh God, come here. Oh God, I need you. Oh God, 00:29:33.519 --> 00:29:35.779 where's your healing? Oh God, where's your help? 00:29:35.880 --> 00:29:39.119 Oh God. But actually the seeker, Jacob, had gone 00:29:39.119 --> 00:29:43.180 to sleep and he had lost perspective. God hadn't 00:29:43.180 --> 00:29:47.309 moved. What had changed? His awareness of God 00:29:47.309 --> 00:29:54.009 in his life. Surely God is in this place. I had 00:29:54.009 --> 00:29:59.210 lost my awareness of it. Hello, I'm preaching 00:29:59.210 --> 00:30:02.329 to someone. There's many of you who've just said, 00:30:02.390 --> 00:30:05.029 well, where's God when I need him? He hasn't 00:30:05.029 --> 00:30:08.849 moved. But actually, your life got fairly self 00:30:08.849 --> 00:30:11.589 -sufficient. Your life got fairly together. The 00:30:11.589 --> 00:30:15.960 seeker in you. had just got on with life. It 00:30:15.960 --> 00:30:19.039 had gone to sleep. And so you lost your awareness 00:30:19.039 --> 00:30:21.420 of the presence of God in your life because the 00:30:21.420 --> 00:30:24.579 seeker was dull. And so you had to wake up from 00:30:24.579 --> 00:30:28.880 your sleep and suddenly realize, no, God is in 00:30:28.880 --> 00:30:32.279 the house. I lost my perspective and awareness 00:30:32.279 --> 00:30:36.289 of God in my world. It's just like coming into 00:30:36.289 --> 00:30:38.789 Harrisburg. I was so thrilled when we came in 00:30:38.789 --> 00:30:40.750 that it was really sunny and beautiful because 00:30:40.750 --> 00:30:42.809 then you can see all the mountains. You can get 00:30:42.809 --> 00:30:45.710 the perspective. Today, it's cloudy. And it would 00:30:45.710 --> 00:30:47.990 be very easy for Gordon if he'd travel with me, 00:30:48.009 --> 00:30:50.230 come in here. And I would say, yeah, but there's 00:30:50.230 --> 00:30:51.869 hills. There's all sorts of stuff. He'd say, 00:30:51.910 --> 00:30:56.750 well, where? Because all the mist and the cloud 00:30:56.750 --> 00:31:00.950 makes you unaware of what is actually there. 00:31:02.730 --> 00:31:06.069 And so many of us live our life like that. As 00:31:06.069 --> 00:31:09.990 the crises roll in, as conflict comes in, we 00:31:09.990 --> 00:31:12.829 lose the correct perspective of what is really 00:31:12.829 --> 00:31:19.430 in our world. And it gets misted over. But the 00:31:19.430 --> 00:31:23.230 seeker woke up and said, wow, surely God is in 00:31:23.230 --> 00:31:29.069 this place. I have lost my awareness of him. 00:31:30.319 --> 00:31:33.440 And then it goes on to say, and so Jacob was 00:31:33.440 --> 00:31:37.579 afraid. And I think that's a good afraid, not 00:31:37.579 --> 00:31:41.579 a bad afraid. It's like, oh, wow, I nearly lost 00:31:41.579 --> 00:31:45.619 it. I nearly missed it. Because it isn't about 00:31:45.619 --> 00:31:48.819 God abandoning me. I very nearly let the devil 00:31:48.819 --> 00:31:51.559 tell me a load of lies. It isn't that God's moved 00:31:51.559 --> 00:31:54.319 out. It isn't that God is against me. Actually, 00:31:54.359 --> 00:31:58.160 I have repositioned the hunger and the seeking 00:31:58.160 --> 00:32:01.579 in me. But blessed, Psalm 107, blessed are the 00:32:01.579 --> 00:32:05.059 hungry, for they shall be filled with good things. 00:32:07.599 --> 00:32:10.680 And that hungry, seeking spirit positions you 00:32:10.680 --> 00:32:14.569 to have an awareness of God in your life. And 00:32:14.569 --> 00:32:18.289 so it says, and so Jacob was afraid. And maybe 00:32:18.289 --> 00:32:20.250 for some of us, we just need to let some of the 00:32:20.250 --> 00:32:22.369 fear of the Lord say, you know what? I nearly 00:32:22.369 --> 00:32:25.430 got caught out there. That was quite scary. I 00:32:25.430 --> 00:32:27.950 began to get really pressured and stretched and 00:32:27.950 --> 00:32:30.430 pushing and beginning to think I need to make 00:32:30.430 --> 00:32:32.410 something happen. God isn't with me so much, 00:32:32.450 --> 00:32:36.170 but actually God is here. I just lost some of 00:32:36.170 --> 00:32:41.289 my perspective. And then the cry of Jacob, he 00:32:41.289 --> 00:32:44.099 says, oh, how awesome is this place? Which place? 00:32:44.259 --> 00:32:47.019 The place of revelation where he begins to discover 00:32:47.019 --> 00:32:49.799 that God hasn't abandoned him. God hasn't left 00:32:49.799 --> 00:32:52.619 him. God is still in the house. God is still 00:32:52.619 --> 00:32:55.299 aware of him and he can be aware of God. And 00:32:55.299 --> 00:33:00.160 he says, this is the house of God. This is the 00:33:00.160 --> 00:33:08.900 gateway to heaven. And for some of you this morning, 00:33:09.450 --> 00:33:12.089 God's opening a gateway of heaven. You've been 00:33:12.089 --> 00:33:13.730 through this season. You're just saying, where's 00:33:13.730 --> 00:33:17.150 God? It seems so confusing, etc. But you take 00:33:17.150 --> 00:33:20.170 some time to seek and you'll be a finder. And 00:33:20.170 --> 00:33:22.250 you'll find that gateway to heaven over your 00:33:22.250 --> 00:33:24.490 marriage. You'll find that gateway to heaven 00:33:24.490 --> 00:33:26.990 over your finances. You'll find that gateway 00:33:26.990 --> 00:33:29.390 to heaven over your destiny and the next steps 00:33:29.390 --> 00:33:32.930 of your future. You'll find your gateway to heaven. 00:33:35.250 --> 00:33:39.210 Because God is in the house. But just our awareness 00:33:39.210 --> 00:33:43.390 has changed. So Father, right now we open the 00:33:43.390 --> 00:33:49.589 gate to heaven. We open the gate to heaven in 00:33:49.589 --> 00:33:54.630 Jesus' name. And number three, the third gate 00:33:54.630 --> 00:33:59.190 I'm going to do today. He wants us to open the 00:33:59.190 --> 00:34:04.490 gate of glory for the land. Open the gate of 00:34:04.490 --> 00:34:08.099 hope to my heart. Open the gateway of heaven 00:34:08.099 --> 00:34:11.400 above my life. But then I'm going to open the 00:34:11.400 --> 00:34:14.800 gate to glory in the land. And if you turn to 00:34:14.800 --> 00:34:21.539 Ezekiel chapter 43 verses 1 and 2. Ezekiel chapter 00:34:21.539 --> 00:34:25.739 43 verses 1 and 2. And then the man brought me 00:34:25.739 --> 00:34:30.579 to the gate facing east. And I saw the glory 00:34:30.579 --> 00:34:35.789 of the Lord of Israel coming from the east. And 00:34:35.789 --> 00:34:40.110 his voice was like the roar of rushing waters. 00:34:41.150 --> 00:34:48.489 And then the land was radiant with his glory. 00:34:49.409 --> 00:34:52.489 Isn't that a wonderful place? See, once you've 00:34:52.489 --> 00:34:55.710 opened the gateway of heaven, you can open the 00:34:55.710 --> 00:35:01.030 east gate to the land. And then the man brought 00:35:01.030 --> 00:35:05.010 me to the gate facing east. And this is, of course, 00:35:05.030 --> 00:35:09.429 again, a picture of the person Jesus. The man 00:35:09.429 --> 00:35:13.210 of heaven. And he picks you up and he positions 00:35:13.210 --> 00:35:17.150 you at the gate. facing east. What is interesting 00:35:17.150 --> 00:35:20.010 about this east gate? Well again if you track 00:35:20.010 --> 00:35:22.730 the east gate through scripture you will find 00:35:22.730 --> 00:35:25.889 that the east gate is always the gate that opens 00:35:25.889 --> 00:35:29.570 between the church and the community or between 00:35:29.570 --> 00:35:33.829 the temple into the marketplace. If you go on 00:35:33.829 --> 00:35:37.250 a little bit further Ezekiel 47 again talks about 00:35:37.250 --> 00:35:42.210 how the waters of heaven are flowing from the 00:35:42.210 --> 00:35:46.210 throne under the east gate through the temple 00:35:46.210 --> 00:35:49.829 and into the land. And so the east gate is always 00:35:49.829 --> 00:35:52.670 representative of that barrier place between 00:35:52.670 --> 00:35:55.989 church stepping into community. You could track 00:35:55.989 --> 00:36:00.329 it all the way through. And so here it says, 00:36:00.429 --> 00:36:03.869 and the man came and he moved me. And I do believe 00:36:03.869 --> 00:36:06.050 that sometimes God needs to just move us. We 00:36:06.050 --> 00:36:09.150 get so caught up with the altar and that he has 00:36:09.150 --> 00:36:11.349 to then come and say, come on, it's now time 00:36:11.349 --> 00:36:15.289 to come to this east gate and look out. There 00:36:15.289 --> 00:36:19.590 is a time to look in. We see that again in Joel, 00:36:19.710 --> 00:36:22.070 you know, Joel chapter two, when it says, come 00:36:22.070 --> 00:36:24.650 on. I think it's about verse 15. It says, sound 00:36:24.650 --> 00:36:28.320 the trumpet. Gather all the different people 00:36:28.320 --> 00:36:32.159 and then it goes on. Why should they say amongst 00:36:32.159 --> 00:36:35.739 the peoples, where is your God? Let the priests 00:36:35.739 --> 00:36:41.539 weep and minister between the altar and the porch 00:36:41.539 --> 00:36:44.079 or the porch and the altar. Again, the picture 00:36:44.079 --> 00:36:48.420 of the intimate place of the altar and the external 00:36:48.420 --> 00:36:50.719 place of the porch. Where was the porch? Between 00:36:50.719 --> 00:36:54.690 the market. The temple entrance. Let the priests 00:36:54.690 --> 00:36:57.110 who minister before the altar, weep before the 00:36:57.110 --> 00:37:00.570 porch where you see the people and in the altar 00:37:00.570 --> 00:37:03.789 where you see God. And so you see, there's something 00:37:03.789 --> 00:37:08.050 in the heart of God that wants to move us to 00:37:08.050 --> 00:37:10.449 the East Gate. He says, come on, will you walk 00:37:10.449 --> 00:37:12.900 with me to the East Gate? Even as you step out 00:37:12.900 --> 00:37:15.380 on July the 4th, open those gates to your community. 00:37:15.500 --> 00:37:18.420 Stand at the east gate and know that you're being 00:37:18.420 --> 00:37:21.480 positioned by Jesus to take a look at the land. 00:37:23.239 --> 00:37:25.059 But he doesn't want you to do it on his own. 00:37:25.119 --> 00:37:28.480 He says, and let the roar of the waters wash 00:37:28.480 --> 00:37:32.710 through you. And it's so interesting. Every time, 00:37:32.730 --> 00:37:35.449 again, if you track the East Gate through, you'll 00:37:35.449 --> 00:37:39.409 find waters are always with it. And the waters 00:37:39.409 --> 00:37:41.829 flowed from under the throne. The waters flowed 00:37:41.829 --> 00:37:44.780 through the East Gate. What is the waters? Well, 00:37:44.800 --> 00:37:47.159 it says here, the waters of the roar of his voice, 00:37:47.219 --> 00:37:49.800 the word of the Lord. And I believe that more 00:37:49.800 --> 00:37:52.420 and more and more as we open our mouth, the water 00:37:52.420 --> 00:37:54.659 of the word of God is going to come out of our 00:37:54.659 --> 00:37:57.679 mouth. We see that picture again and again through 00:37:57.679 --> 00:38:00.000 scripture. You know, Ephesians 5, you'll be cleansed 00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:03.420 by the washing of the waters of the word. And 00:38:03.420 --> 00:38:06.099 there's, how many know our communities need some 00:38:06.099 --> 00:38:10.159 washing? You know, often as a church, we get 00:38:10.159 --> 00:38:13.059 accused of brainwashing. I put both hands up 00:38:13.059 --> 00:38:15.280 and say, yeah, go ahead. I'm into brainwashing. 00:38:16.320 --> 00:38:19.380 I'm not ashamed of it. I seriously believe we 00:38:19.380 --> 00:38:21.760 need brainwashing. How many others do? I mean, 00:38:21.840 --> 00:38:25.320 come on. The media's brainwashed us. And so we 00:38:25.320 --> 00:38:28.300 almost feel guilty about right and wrong and 00:38:28.300 --> 00:38:31.119 absolute truth. You're almost made to feel that 00:38:31.119 --> 00:38:34.719 you're really pernickety, horrible, stuck in 00:38:34.719 --> 00:38:37.239 the mud type person because you believe in right 00:38:37.239 --> 00:38:42.329 and wrong. And you look at stuff and so, you 00:38:42.329 --> 00:38:44.010 know, when there's some of the sexual stuff and 00:38:44.010 --> 00:38:45.730 you just think, well, that's a bit of the, oh, 00:38:45.829 --> 00:38:49.230 well, it's only a 14 or 15 or whatever your ratings 00:38:49.230 --> 00:38:50.889 are. Your ratings are a bit different to ours. 00:38:51.309 --> 00:38:53.630 You say, I don't care if it's rated for 15 year 00:38:53.630 --> 00:38:56.670 olds. For me, that is really out there sexually. 00:39:01.110 --> 00:39:04.289 And so you're made all the time to feel that 00:39:04.289 --> 00:39:07.289 you're different because the standards that God's 00:39:07.289 --> 00:39:11.369 put in us are different. We are counterculture. 00:39:11.489 --> 00:39:14.429 And we need the washing of the water of the word. 00:39:14.530 --> 00:39:17.190 And actually, it's the word that's going to release 00:39:17.190 --> 00:39:21.389 glory. It's the word that's going to release 00:39:21.389 --> 00:39:25.110 glory. You come to Romans chapter 10. And Romans 00:39:25.110 --> 00:39:27.869 is saying, come on, the word is near you. Where 00:39:27.869 --> 00:39:33.739 is it? In your mouth. Start speaking. And you 00:39:33.739 --> 00:39:36.800 will be amazed at the rushing of the water of 00:39:36.800 --> 00:39:38.739 God that's going to come from your mouth. How 00:39:38.739 --> 00:39:40.599 many times have you just found as you've opened 00:39:40.599 --> 00:39:42.719 your mouth to begin to speak, you've been amazed 00:39:42.719 --> 00:39:47.119 at the water that's come out? You see, the word 00:39:47.119 --> 00:39:49.260 is near you. It's near you. It's even in your 00:39:49.260 --> 00:39:51.440 mouth. And then the Bible challenges us again 00:39:51.440 --> 00:39:54.199 and again. Who can I send? Who will go for me? 00:39:54.679 --> 00:39:58.679 I need some preachers. I need what is a preacher. 00:39:58.679 --> 00:40:01.940 Literally, one who will show forth and flow forth. 00:40:03.559 --> 00:40:07.659 We need some water to flow. People need words 00:40:07.659 --> 00:40:12.900 of life in the midst of their hell hole. And 00:40:12.900 --> 00:40:15.460 with the roar of the sound of the rushing water, 00:40:15.679 --> 00:40:21.880 we opened the gate and the land was radiant with 00:40:21.880 --> 00:40:26.739 his glory. Isn't that amazing? And I believe 00:40:26.739 --> 00:40:29.659 that one of the strongest atmospheres that we 00:40:29.659 --> 00:40:33.780 all... hit against these days is intimidation. 00:40:34.440 --> 00:40:37.880 How many would agree with me? And so as soon 00:40:37.880 --> 00:40:40.099 as you step to that east gate and you open your 00:40:40.099 --> 00:40:42.400 mouth, everything begins to say, shut up you, 00:40:42.480 --> 00:40:44.860 what are you going to say? How many of you feel 00:40:44.860 --> 00:40:49.320 that? We've got to break the gateway of our mouth. 00:40:49.480 --> 00:40:52.760 We've got to open our mouth and let the water 00:40:52.760 --> 00:40:58.300 be released. And then the land will be radiant 00:40:58.300 --> 00:41:02.340 with its glory. Be radiant with his glory, because 00:41:02.340 --> 00:41:04.920 I believe God's put words in our mouth for this 00:41:04.920 --> 00:41:08.500 season. The church has got fresh bread in the 00:41:08.500 --> 00:41:13.079 house. We have got the answers. We are relevant. 00:41:14.119 --> 00:41:16.699 You know, the incredible thing, Sammy running 00:41:16.699 --> 00:41:20.420 up there, about this book is it is the best -selling 00:41:20.420 --> 00:41:23.900 book of the world. Did you know that? It should 00:41:23.900 --> 00:41:27.199 be the number one top -seller, New York Times, 00:41:27.400 --> 00:41:29.969 et cetera, today. But you know what? All the 00:41:29.969 --> 00:41:32.150 publishers never include the Bible on their sales 00:41:32.150 --> 00:41:34.389 list because it would be the top. It outsells 00:41:34.389 --> 00:41:37.309 Harry Potter every day. You see, we don't actually 00:41:37.309 --> 00:41:39.449 believe that because the statistics show us. 00:41:39.630 --> 00:41:43.429 We send millions, millions, millions. It is still 00:41:43.429 --> 00:41:47.190 the number one today. In 2008, across the world, 00:41:47.250 --> 00:41:50.710 the Bible is still the bestseller globally and 00:41:50.710 --> 00:41:53.070 strips every other book and makes it look stupid. 00:41:53.210 --> 00:41:56.269 But no publisher ever includes it on any bestseller 00:41:56.269 --> 00:42:03.019 list. Come on. We're not dying out. The word 00:42:03.019 --> 00:42:05.920 of God is living, active, powerful, being bought, 00:42:06.099 --> 00:42:11.980 read, absorbed. But the intimidation of the enemy 00:42:11.980 --> 00:42:14.380 has somehow made us feel we're on the way out. 00:42:14.480 --> 00:42:18.539 No, we're not. In fact, it's my next book I'm 00:42:18.539 --> 00:42:20.800 writing, Eat the Word, Speak the Word. And I've 00:42:20.800 --> 00:42:23.000 done a whole lot of research just literally into 00:42:23.000 --> 00:42:25.699 the physical Bible and what it is as a book. 00:42:25.800 --> 00:42:29.719 It is the most phenomenal book. phenomenal, not 00:42:29.719 --> 00:42:31.579 just because of the words of life, but just as 00:42:31.579 --> 00:42:35.639 a book, it is outstanding. I haven't got all 00:42:35.639 --> 00:42:37.699 the statistics, so I'm scared to go there, but 00:42:37.699 --> 00:42:41.840 I think it was something like 4 .8 million sold 00:42:41.840 --> 00:42:45.840 in a short amount of time. Helen did the research 00:42:45.840 --> 00:42:49.280 for me. As they just did a slight promotion of 00:42:49.280 --> 00:42:51.000 something, it outstripped Harry Potter, makes 00:42:51.000 --> 00:42:53.260 it look like nothing. And we all think, well, 00:42:53.280 --> 00:42:55.559 Harry Potter, the new Bond book or whatever, 00:42:55.719 --> 00:42:59.139 are the best. No, this Bible makes all the rest 00:42:59.139 --> 00:43:06.980 look like nothing. Today, in 2008, we hold the 00:43:06.980 --> 00:43:10.300 word of life. We've got nothing to apologize 00:43:10.300 --> 00:43:18.239 for. We've got to break every intimidation and 00:43:18.239 --> 00:43:22.449 open the gates. And the land will be radiant 00:43:22.449 --> 00:43:28.210 with glory in Jesus' name. Amen. Are we ready 00:43:28.210 --> 00:43:34.210 to come and pray? So let's open those gates. 00:43:36.269 --> 00:43:38.210 We'll just release some of the prophetic. We've 00:43:38.210 --> 00:43:41.530 got a bit of time. I was trying to make sure 00:43:41.530 --> 00:43:52.360 I left some. I want you to look at the gate of 00:43:52.360 --> 00:44:06.619 hope. Why don't you just stand with me? Come 00:44:06.619 --> 00:44:12.320 Holy Spirit. I feel this gateway of hope is so 00:44:12.320 --> 00:44:16.800 important. And the enemy loves to come in and 00:44:16.800 --> 00:44:23.860 just put hopelessness, despair. But Jesus is 00:44:23.860 --> 00:44:28.559 in the house today and he opens a gateway of 00:44:28.559 --> 00:44:33.000 hope to you. And the word of the Lord comes to 00:44:33.000 --> 00:44:37.059 you today and says, let these remain, love, faith 00:44:37.059 --> 00:44:46.480 and hope. Someone says to me, well, what is hope? 00:44:47.199 --> 00:44:49.719 And I said, well, there's four steps on that 00:44:49.719 --> 00:44:54.110 journey of hope. First of all, hope, the H, is 00:44:54.110 --> 00:44:57.510 let him stir again a heart cry of desire. H, 00:44:57.809 --> 00:45:02.429 heart cry of desire. O, let him open the new 00:45:02.429 --> 00:45:07.210 doors of opportunity. P, take courage and press 00:45:07.210 --> 00:45:12.269 through every delay. And E, let expectation be 00:45:12.269 --> 00:45:16.250 revived. That is hope. Heart cry of desire. Opening 00:45:16.250 --> 00:45:19.510 the door of opportunity. Pressing through the 00:45:19.510 --> 00:45:25.840 delay. And stirring expectation. And if as I 00:45:25.840 --> 00:45:28.119 preach today you just suddenly realise that the 00:45:28.119 --> 00:45:34.239 enemy has been stealing hope from you. And your 00:45:34.239 --> 00:45:40.639 hope, as it were, reservoir, has depleted instead 00:45:40.639 --> 00:45:46.079 of increased. Then Jesus is here for you. And 00:45:46.079 --> 00:45:48.719 we want to pray with you. We want to open that 00:45:48.719 --> 00:45:53.050 door of hope for you today. But the first door 00:45:53.050 --> 00:45:58.110 of hope you have to open is Jesus himself. Jesus 00:45:58.110 --> 00:46:00.989 stands here and he says, I am the hope for the 00:46:00.989 --> 00:46:06.849 nations. I am the anchor that is firm and secure. 00:46:07.690 --> 00:46:13.369 I am hope that is steadfast and certain. When 00:46:13.369 --> 00:46:16.309 everything else feels uncertain, you've got to 00:46:16.309 --> 00:46:20.130 build your life upon a rock and his name is Jesus. 00:46:21.360 --> 00:46:24.019 And you can build it upon reputation, even upon 00:46:24.019 --> 00:46:26.920 church, but that will feel like sand once the 00:46:26.920 --> 00:46:29.820 earth begins to move. You have to build upon 00:46:29.820 --> 00:46:34.539 the firm foundation. And his name is Jesus. And 00:46:34.539 --> 00:46:36.639 if you're here this morning and you just know 00:46:36.639 --> 00:46:42.179 that somehow you've lost your way, that the seeker 00:46:42.179 --> 00:46:45.130 isn't... Crying out for God in the same way. 00:46:45.289 --> 00:46:48.170 That you've lost God. You've lost hope. You've 00:46:48.170 --> 00:46:50.389 lost your perspective. And you've just felt overwhelmed. 00:46:50.849 --> 00:46:53.050 But there's a cry in you that just says, Oh God, 00:46:53.150 --> 00:46:56.170 I need you back in my life. I need the light 00:46:56.170 --> 00:46:58.889 of hope. I need the hope of the nation. I need 00:46:58.889 --> 00:47:01.590 the secure anchor. If that's you, wherever you 00:47:01.590 --> 00:47:03.949 are, I just would like to invite you. Turn to 00:47:03.949 --> 00:47:06.449 your friend. Just come down the front. We'd love 00:47:06.449 --> 00:47:08.989 to pray for you. Because I believe that Jesus 00:47:08.989 --> 00:47:13.920 turns the lights back on. The enemy loves to 00:47:13.920 --> 00:47:18.139 come and rob, steal, destroy, and put hopelessness 00:47:18.139 --> 00:47:22.900 on you. But Jesus is hope. And so wherever you 00:47:22.900 --> 00:47:25.300 are this morning, if that's you, just come down 00:47:25.300 --> 00:47:27.820 the front here. We want to pray for you. I know 00:47:27.820 --> 00:47:29.900 some of you came forward already for that impossible 00:47:29.900 --> 00:47:32.480 situation. But some of you just know you need 00:47:32.480 --> 00:47:35.400 to put Jesus in the midst of your life in a different 00:47:35.400 --> 00:47:38.840 way. And let hope come back in. If you're here 00:47:38.840 --> 00:47:40.920 this morning, you're in the middle, don't worry. 00:47:40.980 --> 00:47:45.769 Just come. This is your moment to say, I need 00:47:45.769 --> 00:47:49.309 Jesus to be in that foundation. If the prayer 00:47:49.309 --> 00:47:51.269 team can just come and pray with them as they 00:47:51.269 --> 00:47:55.849 come. You just come. Whether it's the very first 00:47:55.849 --> 00:47:58.550 time you do this, whether it's just, God, I want 00:47:58.550 --> 00:48:02.449 to open this door to you and I'm asking for hope 00:48:02.449 --> 00:48:07.590 to come in. And we're going to stand with you 00:48:07.590 --> 00:48:11.050 at this gate of hope. And we're going to pray 00:48:11.050 --> 00:48:14.050 for you right now. Just come wherever you are. 00:48:15.469 --> 00:48:17.789 And we're going to touch heaven for you this 00:48:17.789 --> 00:48:21.349 morning. Come on, hope comes to you. That's right. 00:48:21.389 --> 00:48:24.550 We're going to open doors of hope. Every feeling 00:48:24.550 --> 00:48:28.250 of depression, oppression, hopelessness gets 00:48:28.250 --> 00:48:31.809 off you. Every feeling of suicide, everything 00:48:31.809 --> 00:48:34.750 that just says, well, give up now. Nothing changes. 00:48:34.809 --> 00:48:39.889 We break the curse of hopelessness. And right 00:48:39.889 --> 00:48:46.409 now, in Jesus' name, we come to you. Just pray 00:48:46.409 --> 00:48:49.789 for these precious ones. We open that gateway 00:48:49.789 --> 00:48:56.530 of hope. Open that gateway of hope. Come right 00:48:56.530 --> 00:49:00.570 now. We break the power of all suicide. Everything 00:49:00.570 --> 00:49:03.590 that just says, give up. Nobody wants you. You 00:49:03.590 --> 00:49:07.750 don't matter. And we open the gate of hope right 00:49:07.750 --> 00:49:15.150 now. Right now, hope comes to you. Hope comes 00:49:15.150 --> 00:49:20.309 to you. Hope comes to you. Hope comes to you. 00:49:20.909 --> 00:49:23.110 For the rest of you that are just here, as we 00:49:23.110 --> 00:49:25.130 pray for these ones, why don't you just turn 00:49:25.130 --> 00:49:27.710 to each other and just pray for an increase of 00:49:27.710 --> 00:49:30.909 love, faith, hope. And open those doors in each 00:49:30.909 --> 00:49:33.090 other's life. Just pray for one another as we 00:49:33.090 --> 00:49:36.750 just spend some time soaking these ones. So Father, 00:49:36.969 --> 00:49:39.710 we want to be gatekeepers in the house of the 00:49:39.710 --> 00:49:43.329 Lord for hope. We want to open hope in Jesus' 00:49:43.469 --> 00:49:52.389 name. So we ask you, increase our capacity. Increase 00:49:52.389 --> 00:50:00.349 our capacity. Increase our capacity. Increase 00:50:00.349 --> 00:50:03.909 our capacity, Lord. And right now we break the 00:50:03.909 --> 00:50:16.260 power of hopelessness. Jesus name. If you are 00:50:16.260 --> 00:50:18.900 interested in hearing other podcasts or contacting 00:50:18.900 --> 00:50:22.679 Life Bible Church, go to www .lifebiblechurch 00:50:22.679 --> 00:50:27.480 .org or call us at 541 -995 -8282.