WEBVTT 00:00:02.290 --> 00:00:05.250 Welcome to the Life Bible Church podcast. We 00:00:05.250 --> 00:00:07.669 want to thank you for joining us today, and we 00:00:07.669 --> 00:00:10.169 hope you find today's sermon impacting as you 00:00:10.169 --> 00:00:12.689 listen to it wherever you are in your daily walk. 00:00:12.990 --> 00:00:15.929 To find service times and watch messages online, 00:00:16.210 --> 00:00:20.109 see our website at lifebiblechurch .org. Now, 00:00:20.129 --> 00:00:24.949 enjoy this week's message. Trent asked me last 00:00:24.949 --> 00:00:27.030 night as we were talking a little bit, he says, 00:00:27.030 --> 00:00:29.670 what are you going to preach on this morning? 00:00:30.600 --> 00:00:33.420 I said, well, I'm going to preach on what we've 00:00:33.420 --> 00:00:36.500 been preaching on. He goes, Pentecost? I said, 00:00:36.520 --> 00:00:42.820 no, no, no, no. The journey to Pentecost. It's 00:00:42.820 --> 00:00:44.740 going to take me all summer to probably get to 00:00:44.740 --> 00:00:49.020 Pentecost. But the reality is there is much in 00:00:49.020 --> 00:00:54.240 this understanding of how important Pentecost 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:59.380 is and how Jesus laid. the foundations and the 00:00:59.380 --> 00:01:03.000 truth of it. So Father, I ask this morning as 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:11.099 we open the word, God, help us understand the 00:01:11.099 --> 00:01:19.459 genius of Jesus. Lord, the absolute mind of our 00:01:19.459 --> 00:01:24.819 Father and of the Son in preparing his people. 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:29.040 to have an encounter with the third part of the 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:32.760 Trinity, the Holy Spirit, that all of them, Father, 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:37.099 Son, and Holy Spirit, would come alive in our 00:01:37.099 --> 00:01:41.579 life. And Lord, that we would be able to walk, 00:01:41.659 --> 00:01:49.040 speak, release all that you have for us. We ask 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:52.439 that now. Help me deliver this in Jesus Christ's 00:01:52.439 --> 00:01:59.370 holy name. Amen. Well, we've been talking about 00:01:59.370 --> 00:02:03.769 the truths in the journey from Passover to Pentecost, 00:02:03.769 --> 00:02:07.439 and I've kind of been... laying down some foundational 00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:10.740 things but Trent kind of gave us a big wide overview 00:02:10.740 --> 00:02:13.860 of Pentecost about a month month and a half ago 00:02:13.860 --> 00:02:17.500 and now I've kind of gone backwards as is usual 00:02:17.500 --> 00:02:21.879 and I'm trying to just fill in some stair steps 00:02:21.879 --> 00:02:25.080 so that we understand or maybe some paving stones 00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:29.060 of how critical this is probably the thing that 00:02:29.060 --> 00:02:33.000 I deal with the most and probably have the biggest 00:02:34.219 --> 00:02:40.000 challenge in the life of our church or in this 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:46.270 area is really several things. Number one is 00:02:46.270 --> 00:02:48.610 dealing with my own self and dealing, make sure 00:02:48.610 --> 00:02:51.210 my flesh and all of that is under the cross. 00:02:51.330 --> 00:02:53.289 That's the biggest challenge, right? Come on, 00:02:53.310 --> 00:02:55.949 getting ourselves in line and making sure we're 00:02:55.949 --> 00:02:59.469 a partaker of, I'm the first fruits of the partaker 00:02:59.469 --> 00:03:02.090 of actually receiving the word of God, making 00:03:02.090 --> 00:03:04.610 sure it's flowing out of my life. But the second 00:03:04.610 --> 00:03:09.990 thing is to try to traverse this area of understanding 00:03:09.990 --> 00:03:16.650 the Holy Spirit in a biblical framework because 00:03:16.650 --> 00:03:20.789 of the region and the area that we're in. Probably 00:03:20.789 --> 00:03:25.229 the thing that is the most... limiting in this 00:03:25.229 --> 00:03:27.770 area because I was born and raised here five 00:03:27.770 --> 00:03:31.889 generations from this area is some of the mindsets 00:03:31.889 --> 00:03:34.930 that have come in to the body of Christ that 00:03:34.930 --> 00:03:38.349 have now been rigid for over a hundred years 00:03:38.349 --> 00:03:43.289 plus in lockdown understanding of the scriptures 00:03:43.289 --> 00:03:48.500 without explaining or navigating the fullness 00:03:48.500 --> 00:03:52.219 that's really in the scriptures. So we hit head 00:03:52.219 --> 00:03:56.900 on tradition and religion that has locked people 00:03:56.900 --> 00:04:00.800 down into a, what I would call a linear form 00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:04.000 of Christianity, a mental form of Christianity, 00:04:04.039 --> 00:04:09.020 not having any depth of spiritual understanding. 00:04:09.740 --> 00:04:13.810 Now you fight that part. But then you also fight 00:04:13.810 --> 00:04:18.189 the extreme part of what it looks like when somebody 00:04:18.189 --> 00:04:20.870 turns a charismatic Pentecostal light on, all 00:04:20.870 --> 00:04:25.129 the bugs come out. And so you have every form 00:04:25.129 --> 00:04:31.050 of the false side of things and the extreme side 00:04:31.050 --> 00:04:34.750 of things with no anchor really to sound doctrine. 00:04:35.550 --> 00:04:39.050 And somewhere in the middle between it just locked 00:04:39.050 --> 00:04:43.009 down, buttoned down, and just Father, Son, and 00:04:43.009 --> 00:04:51.250 the Holy Bible, and Father, Jesus, and all Holy 00:04:51.250 --> 00:04:55.250 Spirit, and no Bible, somewhere in the middle 00:04:55.250 --> 00:05:00.009 is the actual reality of having a real encounter 00:05:00.009 --> 00:05:03.290 from everything that's written in here, and the 00:05:03.740 --> 00:05:08.040 progress of moving people from an Old Testament 00:05:08.040 --> 00:05:13.000 experience and understanding to a New Testament 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:18.000 doctrinal understanding and New Testament experiences, 00:05:18.220 --> 00:05:23.060 graces, and gifts. That should be what is on 00:05:23.060 --> 00:05:26.879 our heart to pursue. Because anything, and I 00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:30.459 want to say this carefully, Anything that Jesus, 00:05:30.600 --> 00:05:33.199 the Father, and the Holy Spirit are involved 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:39.740 in that is of him is perfect. It's perfect. To 00:05:39.740 --> 00:05:44.120 take away from it is a sin. To add to it is a 00:05:44.120 --> 00:05:48.939 sin. That's the balance that we're working with 00:05:48.939 --> 00:05:54.870 here. What is revealed, what has been told, This 00:05:54.870 --> 00:05:57.569 idea, so just please understand that through 00:05:57.569 --> 00:06:04.009 the summer, at least right now as I see it, through 00:06:04.009 --> 00:06:06.610 the summer we're going to be drilling down on 00:06:06.610 --> 00:06:11.430 the understanding of Jesus' ministry to get us 00:06:11.430 --> 00:06:14.810 to the Holy Spirit and the understanding of Pentecost 00:06:14.810 --> 00:06:18.290 and the reality that we're still to be living 00:06:18.290 --> 00:06:21.529 in that with the Holy Spirit. So that's what 00:06:21.529 --> 00:06:23.189 we're gonna deal with this summer. That's what 00:06:23.189 --> 00:06:26.509 I felt from the Lord to deal with because as 00:06:26.509 --> 00:06:29.129 we move into fall and we move into our celebration, 00:06:29.449 --> 00:06:34.670 25 years and lots of things going on, various 00:06:34.670 --> 00:06:37.149 speakers coming in from various parts of the 00:06:37.149 --> 00:06:42.810 world, I felt pressed of the Lord to say, they 00:06:42.810 --> 00:06:47.089 need to have this in their heart of why and what 00:06:47.089 --> 00:06:50.189 I'm wanting to do in this area. And so when Jenny, 00:06:50.509 --> 00:06:53.610 released that word this morning and some of the 00:06:53.610 --> 00:06:55.689 things that have been happening in the last couple 00:06:55.689 --> 00:07:02.149 of services, there is a genuine force of the 00:07:02.149 --> 00:07:05.709 Holy Spirit, not as in it overpowers us, but 00:07:05.709 --> 00:07:08.889 the Spirit of God coming to us and saying, I'm 00:07:08.889 --> 00:07:12.250 trying to get you to move into the fullness of 00:07:12.250 --> 00:07:17.829 what I want. And boy, there should be nothing 00:07:17.829 --> 00:07:26.670 else in our heart Beside wanting that. Now. Okay. 00:07:28.629 --> 00:07:34.310 The genius. I put that in there because as I 00:07:34.310 --> 00:07:36.629 was thinking about Jesus as the master teacher. 00:07:36.850 --> 00:07:39.269 We've talked a little bit about he was the master 00:07:39.269 --> 00:07:44.050 teacher. He was the master preacher. He did everything 00:07:44.050 --> 00:07:49.500 perfect. And the genius of how he wove. natural 00:07:49.500 --> 00:07:54.959 things into spiritual things the timing that 00:07:54.959 --> 00:07:57.879 he worked with with the father of heaven's timing 00:07:57.879 --> 00:08:02.600 of how he laid it out is is incredible and jesus 00:08:02.600 --> 00:08:05.920 reveals the heart of the father and in order 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:10.509 to get this framework of what he He put in seed 00:08:10.509 --> 00:08:15.089 form in Passover and began to move this process 00:08:15.089 --> 00:08:19.069 of what he alone could do, but that he then called 00:08:19.069 --> 00:08:22.310 us to partner with and him together in a kingdom 00:08:22.310 --> 00:08:25.990 experience. All of those things were laid out 00:08:25.990 --> 00:08:31.329 in, if you will, in blueprint form for an old... 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:34.299 covenant type or an Old Testament type believer. 00:08:34.519 --> 00:08:39.440 In the beginning of our journey of Israel, knowing 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:43.440 how to work with God, there was always a partnership. 00:08:43.779 --> 00:08:47.519 And how much more is there to be a partnership 00:08:47.519 --> 00:08:50.659 in the New Testament? Because the Bible tells 00:08:50.659 --> 00:08:53.360 us, he said, listen, if the old covenant was 00:08:53.360 --> 00:08:56.519 important, how much more is the new covenant? 00:08:57.200 --> 00:09:00.309 That wasn't just That wasn't just ratified and 00:09:00.309 --> 00:09:03.490 declared by angels, but now is ratified and declared 00:09:03.490 --> 00:09:06.990 by the life ministry and blood of Jesus Christ. 00:09:07.029 --> 00:09:10.970 How much more should you know the fullness of 00:09:10.970 --> 00:09:15.750 your covenant? If you know more about the Old 00:09:15.750 --> 00:09:18.710 Testament covenant than you do about the New 00:09:18.710 --> 00:09:20.929 Testament covenant, you're missing something. 00:09:22.090 --> 00:09:24.950 And you're actually going to have a default to 00:09:24.950 --> 00:09:28.429 a religious mindset and to a form of limitation. 00:09:28.470 --> 00:09:31.850 Why? Because if you live in an Old Testament 00:09:31.850 --> 00:09:36.509 understanding, you by nature are limited. Because 00:09:36.509 --> 00:09:40.009 it's a limited covenant. Can I, just a little 00:09:40.009 --> 00:09:44.450 bit better amen than that. The Old Testament 00:09:44.450 --> 00:09:50.169 covenant is limited. That means any type of thinking 00:09:51.019 --> 00:09:54.320 That's connected to Old Testament thinking only. 00:09:54.539 --> 00:09:58.320 Without New Testament revelation. Is limited. 00:09:59.159 --> 00:10:03.080 Which means you can't do. What God has asked 00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:07.399 you to do. In fullness of the Holy Spirit. Without 00:10:07.399 --> 00:10:11.480 releasing what is bound you. In order to have 00:10:11.480 --> 00:10:13.799 understanding of what God is actually wanting 00:10:13.799 --> 00:10:21.370 to do. Now listen. I love my upbringing. I do 00:10:21.370 --> 00:10:24.710 sometimes, you know, I have good fun with it 00:10:24.710 --> 00:10:28.110 because it's, somebody asked me the other day, 00:10:28.110 --> 00:10:31.190 or I was actually talking with a gentleman and 00:10:31.190 --> 00:10:35.429 I had never met before. It was a great conversation. 00:10:35.649 --> 00:10:37.870 We were talking about it. He says, man, it seems 00:10:37.870 --> 00:10:40.990 like things have changed in the valley. We've 00:10:40.990 --> 00:10:43.929 been here for so many years and people just stop 00:10:43.929 --> 00:10:48.600 waving. I said, well, That didn't just happen. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:53.799 I said, I remember as a kid, everybody used to 00:10:53.799 --> 00:10:58.559 wave, except for my conservative Mennonite cousins. 00:11:00.360 --> 00:11:03.059 I could barely get them to lift one finger on 00:11:03.059 --> 00:11:08.960 the steering wheel. I mean, I'd wave at them. 00:11:12.179 --> 00:11:15.820 So I said, we're not going, this isn't going. 00:11:16.379 --> 00:11:18.460 I mean, yeah, I get people are less friendly, 00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:20.620 but trust me, I've lived with this for a long 00:11:20.620 --> 00:11:25.059 time. The reality is sometimes we have to break 00:11:25.059 --> 00:11:28.679 out of things in order to actually break into 00:11:28.679 --> 00:11:33.659 new things. Now we need new grids of perspective 00:11:33.659 --> 00:11:36.659 processing and the motivation from the heart 00:11:36.659 --> 00:11:39.879 to see the father's love and to watch it flow 00:11:39.879 --> 00:11:43.450 from within us. It's easy. As we have seen over 00:11:43.450 --> 00:11:48.330 the past few weeks to gravitate in time as we 00:11:48.330 --> 00:11:52.470 move from platforms of love, grace, and truth, 00:11:52.590 --> 00:11:56.409 which we should be operating in, it's also easy 00:11:56.409 --> 00:11:58.429 that even though we're supposed to be operating 00:11:58.429 --> 00:12:03.250 in love, grace, truth, that when we don't stay 00:12:03.250 --> 00:12:09.210 in that relationship of communicating with God 00:12:09.210 --> 00:12:12.409 in the fullness of what he's done, we begin to 00:12:12.409 --> 00:12:18.450 what? You begin to atrophy. If God has given 00:12:18.450 --> 00:12:22.009 you grace gifts and you're not operating in them, 00:12:22.090 --> 00:12:24.370 it doesn't mean that the gift is totally gone, 00:12:24.470 --> 00:12:26.870 but it means that you don't have the strength 00:12:26.870 --> 00:12:30.950 or the discernment, or do you have the articulateness 00:12:30.950 --> 00:12:35.129 of that gift if you're not operating in it? Just 00:12:35.129 --> 00:12:39.549 like with any form of weights. If you stop lifting 00:12:39.549 --> 00:12:43.750 weights, it doesn't take very long and your body 00:12:43.750 --> 00:12:47.830 goes back to an atrophied state or worse. Hello? 00:12:49.470 --> 00:12:55.889 Come on. The reality is, you have to, the Holy 00:12:55.889 --> 00:12:58.909 Spirit says in Hebrews, and I believe the Apostle 00:12:58.909 --> 00:13:00.970 Paul most likely wrote it, but if he didn't, 00:13:00.970 --> 00:13:02.690 that's fine too. It's a great book of the Bible. 00:13:02.750 --> 00:13:06.899 It says, Those who are mature have discerned 00:13:06.899 --> 00:13:11.159 and grown in their gift by reason of use. You 00:13:11.159 --> 00:13:15.639 cannot grow and you cannot move in areas and 00:13:15.639 --> 00:13:19.179 stay sharp without what? Using what God gave 00:13:19.179 --> 00:13:24.399 you. So when I find out that people have been 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:27.379 given spiritual graces and gifts, especially 00:13:27.379 --> 00:13:30.500 in the gifts of personal prayer language and 00:13:30.500 --> 00:13:36.080 the gifts of some discernment and prophecy and 00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:39.419 word of knowledge and healing gifts that are 00:13:39.419 --> 00:13:41.659 all listed in the scripture and they haven't 00:13:41.659 --> 00:13:47.019 operated in them for months or even years. My 00:13:47.019 --> 00:13:53.700 question is, how did you move from a place of 00:13:53.700 --> 00:13:57.019 fellowship and partnership now to a place of 00:13:57.019 --> 00:14:03.090 just Like an empty, or excuse me, an abandoned 00:14:03.090 --> 00:14:08.730 aircraft hangar. Planes parked that have never 00:14:08.730 --> 00:14:14.850 been flown in a long time. Well, let's look at 00:14:14.850 --> 00:14:18.250 the platform a little bit. And I'm going to bring 00:14:18.250 --> 00:14:20.789 us in, maybe I'm going to, for some of you that 00:14:20.789 --> 00:14:23.289 came on fire on the altar on Saturday night, 00:14:23.389 --> 00:14:27.059 this may be a little bit of a repeat. but for 00:14:27.059 --> 00:14:29.679 the first part, but I want to get this in to 00:14:29.679 --> 00:14:32.580 the foundation of the whole church because it 00:14:32.580 --> 00:14:36.860 really is the genius of Jesus or the genius of 00:14:36.860 --> 00:14:41.899 God to have an understanding. If we believe that 00:14:41.899 --> 00:14:46.320 God is perfect, how many believe that God is 00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:49.539 perfect? Okay, I'm just looking for those that 00:14:49.539 --> 00:14:53.340 didn't raise their hand. Okay, if you believe 00:14:53.340 --> 00:14:56.259 that he's perfect, If you believe that he's eternal, 00:14:56.580 --> 00:15:00.220 if you believe that every part of the Godhead, 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:03.779 even though he's one in heart and mind, he is 00:15:03.779 --> 00:15:07.519 three individual persons, meaning there's a plurality, 00:15:07.539 --> 00:15:10.820 Father, Son, Holy Spirit. It means that you can't 00:15:10.820 --> 00:15:17.480 have Father, Son, and Junior. There is no Junior. 00:15:18.580 --> 00:15:24.240 Holy Spirit. It's Father, Son, And Holy Spirit. 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:28.860 Therefore, if your understanding is God, Holy 00:15:28.860 --> 00:15:33.480 Spirit always has been. Holy Spirit has always 00:15:33.480 --> 00:15:36.100 been with the Father. We see him in Genesis chapter 00:15:36.100 --> 00:15:39.700 1 verse 2. And the Spirit of God was. hovering 00:15:39.700 --> 00:15:43.860 over the face of the, he was involved in creation 00:15:43.860 --> 00:15:47.419 as the word, which was, which was who Jesus was 00:15:47.419 --> 00:15:51.460 prior to being manifested and born of flesh. 00:15:51.500 --> 00:15:55.139 The word spoke, the father willed it, the word 00:15:55.139 --> 00:15:59.059 spoken and the Holy spirit came and made it take 00:15:59.059 --> 00:16:01.440 place with the formation of the will and the 00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:05.860 word. Hello with the will and the word, the Holy 00:16:05.860 --> 00:16:11.779 spirit works. So the minute we begin to say things 00:16:11.779 --> 00:16:18.200 that are of God, we question them that are clearly 00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:23.559 biblical. We've already said to God, I don't 00:16:23.559 --> 00:16:28.580 trust you. Now this was, I'm just gonna just 00:16:28.580 --> 00:16:32.139 talk about my heritage a little bit. This is 00:16:32.139 --> 00:16:38.519 the greatest thing. That was probably instilled 00:16:38.519 --> 00:16:43.200 in me. And I don't mean it as a good thing. The 00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:46.220 greatest principle that was instilled in me as 00:16:46.220 --> 00:16:51.240 a child. Growing up in a conservative denomination. 00:16:52.419 --> 00:17:00.000 Was fear. Fear of being deceived. Fear of being 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.000 taken advantage of. Fear of operating in something 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:09.299 that is not of God. So everything that was said, 00:17:09.359 --> 00:17:15.940 everything went through that lens. It wasn't, 00:17:15.940 --> 00:17:20.119 it made, you thought, okay, the Bible says test 00:17:20.119 --> 00:17:22.799 everything to see whether it's from God. Absolutely, 00:17:22.880 --> 00:17:26.509 yes, test everything. Test everything. What you're 00:17:26.509 --> 00:17:29.089 hearing me preach against the word of God, against 00:17:29.089 --> 00:17:33.150 the scriptures. But what it does is it maligns 00:17:33.150 --> 00:17:37.029 that. It means that it sets up a fear of failure, 00:17:37.130 --> 00:17:40.349 a fear of being wrong, a fear of looking foolish, 00:17:40.470 --> 00:17:44.430 a fear of actually moving out in something that 00:17:44.430 --> 00:17:46.849 would actually be sponsored by faith. And it 00:17:46.849 --> 00:17:50.470 cuts off your feet before you ever take a step. 00:17:51.829 --> 00:17:56.910 And so every aspect, my life. When I look back 00:17:56.910 --> 00:18:05.210 at the first 18 years of what my greatest barrier 00:18:05.210 --> 00:18:10.150 inside of me was fear of doing something wrong, 00:18:10.369 --> 00:18:15.089 fear of offending God, fear of being deceived, 00:18:15.309 --> 00:18:19.250 and fear of receiving anything that I had not 00:18:19.250 --> 00:18:23.130 seen, had not heard, and I had not watched somebody 00:18:23.130 --> 00:18:28.359 else do. Now you understand this, that the disciples 00:18:28.359 --> 00:18:33.079 had to face all of those fears. Why? Because 00:18:33.079 --> 00:18:39.380 how they were raised in Judaism, they hadn't 00:18:39.380 --> 00:18:43.420 seen a lot of things that Jesus was doing. And 00:18:43.420 --> 00:18:46.519 Jesus revealed to them things that they saw personally. 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:50.769 But when Jesus left and said it's... More to 00:18:50.769 --> 00:18:53.349 your advantage that I go that I could send the 00:18:53.349 --> 00:18:55.589 promise of the Father. Who, by the way, the promise 00:18:55.589 --> 00:18:58.289 of the Father was the Holy Spirit. Who is co 00:18:58.289 --> 00:19:01.990 -equal. Everything that the co -equal with Jesus 00:19:01.990 --> 00:19:04.970 and with the Father would do would be a representative 00:19:04.970 --> 00:19:07.710 that all he would do was bring something that 00:19:07.710 --> 00:19:10.869 is from God, that is initiated from God, and 00:19:10.869 --> 00:19:13.509 that is meant to help people. And the first thing 00:19:13.509 --> 00:19:18.210 they would have to confront is fear of making 00:19:18.210 --> 00:19:24.259 a mistake. Fear of failure. Fear of being deceived. 00:19:24.559 --> 00:19:30.359 They'd have to crush it. They wouldn't have to 00:19:30.359 --> 00:19:33.140 eliminate. Of course you have checks and valves, 00:19:33.460 --> 00:19:36.460 but it has to be the check and the valve of the 00:19:36.460 --> 00:19:39.519 scripture, not what's in your own soul because 00:19:39.519 --> 00:19:44.619 you're intimidated. Now listen to me. By a group 00:19:44.619 --> 00:19:48.339 of people that didn't want to move past anything. 00:19:50.279 --> 00:19:54.160 Isn't that what the Jewish people were? A group 00:19:54.160 --> 00:19:57.779 of people that did not want the revelation that 00:19:57.779 --> 00:20:01.539 Jesus was the Messiah, nor the revelation that 00:20:01.539 --> 00:20:04.440 the Messiah had sent something that they were 00:20:04.440 --> 00:20:09.880 to operate in as you knew him. And so one of 00:20:09.880 --> 00:20:12.279 the things we have to deal with in this area 00:20:12.279 --> 00:20:19.440 is Moving past the barriers of fear and the mindsets 00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:22.420 that somehow what God has put in the scriptures 00:20:22.420 --> 00:20:35.339 can be taken or left. What this idea that pastors 00:20:35.339 --> 00:20:40.359 in this region would offer Christians. The understanding, 00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:43.640 well, we don't have to, as long as we agree that 00:20:43.640 --> 00:20:45.400 you're going to heaven, that's the only thing 00:20:45.400 --> 00:20:48.359 we have to agree on. I'm sorry, that's not Bible. 00:20:50.240 --> 00:20:53.160 That's not Bible. Yes, we should agree on that, 00:20:53.240 --> 00:20:56.019 that the blood of Jesus, the cross, the resurrection, 00:20:56.319 --> 00:20:59.460 that should be the, that's the first step. One, 00:20:59.660 --> 00:21:07.779 but I don't just go through life like this. That's 00:21:07.779 --> 00:21:10.299 what a Christian life looks like when you don't 00:21:10.299 --> 00:21:14.400 accept the other part of the walk with the Holy 00:21:14.400 --> 00:21:16.460 Spirit. You don't walk. You just kind of leap 00:21:16.460 --> 00:21:19.980 only through life in this area. Why? Because 00:21:19.980 --> 00:21:22.059 you only have one step that you can actually 00:21:22.059 --> 00:21:26.240 say, that's all my growth is. The whole point 00:21:26.240 --> 00:21:29.420 was, this is my first step. This is my second 00:21:29.420 --> 00:21:34.059 step. And in that process of doctrine and my 00:21:34.059 --> 00:21:38.039 relationship with Jesus, and then He doesn't 00:21:38.039 --> 00:21:41.839 make our experience supersede any of that, but 00:21:41.839 --> 00:21:45.200 he gives us experience in the midst of his truth, 00:21:45.380 --> 00:21:50.680 his doctrine, his word, and his fellowship. My 00:21:50.680 --> 00:21:55.420 biggest fear of a kid, as a kid, was looking 00:21:55.420 --> 00:22:03.240 foolish and making a mistake. Now I know this 00:22:03.240 --> 00:22:07.319 is, I'm telling on myself this morning. But I 00:22:07.319 --> 00:22:12.759 remember talking to my girls and Jesse's now 00:22:12.759 --> 00:22:18.259 working for Michael Krupp and driving a combine. 00:22:18.500 --> 00:22:23.240 Thank you, God bless you, sir. And in that process, 00:22:23.799 --> 00:22:27.099 she's just fearful of everything. And I went 00:22:27.099 --> 00:22:29.900 out on the first day that she was supposed to 00:22:29.900 --> 00:22:31.380 start and I said, you know, Michael, maybe I 00:22:31.380 --> 00:22:34.200 better ride around in the combine with her and 00:22:34.200 --> 00:22:37.160 maybe just... It's the first time she's really, 00:22:37.259 --> 00:22:40.539 she hasn't drove a big machine and that machine's 00:22:40.539 --> 00:22:44.920 worth more than 10 years of my salary. So let 00:22:44.920 --> 00:22:47.700 me just, let me just ride around in this thing. 00:22:47.859 --> 00:22:51.980 And as I rode around in the thing, I texted Jenny 00:22:51.980 --> 00:22:54.539 several times to have the defibrillator on standby. 00:22:57.180 --> 00:22:59.920 Just teaching her how to line up with the truck 00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:02.619 and the auger and the, no, no, no, no, no, no, 00:23:02.619 --> 00:23:10.009 no, no, stop. And that process, and I could see 00:23:10.009 --> 00:23:13.150 fear was beginning to, okay, Jesse, you gotta 00:23:13.150 --> 00:23:15.049 help me. You're not in trouble here. Okay, we 00:23:15.049 --> 00:23:17.589 gotta break that. But you gotta remember, you 00:23:17.589 --> 00:23:20.269 can't just keep your wheels turned and expect 00:23:20.269 --> 00:23:23.349 you have to line up with the truck and stay straight 00:23:23.349 --> 00:23:26.970 with the truck. Help your dad. I've lost my hair. 00:23:27.049 --> 00:23:31.109 I don't wanna lose anything else. But you're 00:23:31.109 --> 00:23:44.569 doing great. And why am I saying that? Because 00:23:44.569 --> 00:23:48.269 all of a sudden she's like, dad, this is so hard 00:23:48.269 --> 00:23:51.589 with you in here. I said, well, if you just lined 00:23:51.589 --> 00:23:57.210 up once, I'll get out of here. Just, just, I 00:23:57.210 --> 00:23:59.930 said, she goes, I know there's a sermon coming, 00:24:00.009 --> 00:24:03.829 right? Yes, there is. There is. If you'll just 00:24:03.829 --> 00:24:09.880 stay aligned, it will flow. Hallelujah. So she 00:24:09.880 --> 00:24:12.039 texts mom. As soon as I left the combine, got 00:24:12.039 --> 00:24:15.200 in the car, she goes, I did it perfectly once 00:24:15.200 --> 00:24:21.940 dad left. Anyway, the point being fear can cripple 00:24:21.940 --> 00:24:25.740 you from operating in the plans and purposes 00:24:25.740 --> 00:24:29.740 of God. And for me, I know this sounds strange 00:24:29.740 --> 00:24:32.920 and it wasn't that, that my parents raised me 00:24:32.920 --> 00:24:36.720 like this, but Stuff can come up in you that 00:24:36.720 --> 00:24:40.160 you don't want to be embarrassed or humiliated. 00:24:40.940 --> 00:24:46.839 You know probably the biggest hurdle for people 00:24:46.839 --> 00:24:51.440 to embrace truly that partnership with the Holy 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:55.220 Spirit is their fear of what somebody else is 00:24:55.220 --> 00:24:59.900 going to think. This was so on me that when I 00:24:59.900 --> 00:25:04.799 work for people, after I left the farm from about 00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:08.779 18 to 22, right in there, and I worked at different 00:25:08.779 --> 00:25:12.900 places. I worked at Wildish. I worked at other 00:25:12.900 --> 00:25:15.980 places. I don't even want to name them all. And 00:25:15.980 --> 00:25:19.200 I got incredible experiences. I was putting myself 00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:21.359 through college and business school and then 00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:24.380 Bible college. But one of the things that even 00:25:24.380 --> 00:25:27.750 when I went to work full time in the ministry, 00:25:27.910 --> 00:25:32.410 is I had a fear that I wouldn't do things right. 00:25:33.650 --> 00:25:37.730 So much so that I didn't know that I was afraid 00:25:37.730 --> 00:25:42.369 to use the bathroom on work time. Because everything 00:25:42.369 --> 00:25:48.690 I knew was in my heart, and it wasn't because 00:25:48.690 --> 00:25:52.109 my dad and mom put this in me, it was I... I 00:25:52.109 --> 00:25:54.650 was listening and partnering with a lot that 00:25:54.650 --> 00:25:58.490 in order to be a good employee, I could never 00:25:58.490 --> 00:26:01.089 take a break. I couldn't even use the bathroom. 00:26:01.109 --> 00:26:04.269 If I needed to use the bathroom, that was a, 00:26:04.450 --> 00:26:07.890 in my mind, that was an exception to the rule 00:26:07.890 --> 00:26:09.890 and I better not do it next time. You better 00:26:09.890 --> 00:26:12.950 go for the whole day and like a good German, 00:26:12.950 --> 00:26:15.190 get on the pot and off the pot in the morning. 00:26:17.509 --> 00:26:21.980 And that dominated me. It dominated my time. 00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:24.720 It dominated my thinking. It dominated how much 00:26:24.720 --> 00:26:29.220 work and productivity I would get done. And everything 00:26:29.220 --> 00:26:33.680 I looked at became an issue of measuring myself 00:26:33.680 --> 00:26:38.859 by what others thought and not by having just 00:26:38.859 --> 00:26:41.859 a relationship of saying, there are things that 00:26:41.859 --> 00:26:44.539 are acceptable. You shouldn't fear using the 00:26:44.539 --> 00:26:49.299 restroom. And that's a crazy thing, but I'm giving 00:26:49.299 --> 00:26:53.059 you an insight into my life. That spirit of fear, 00:26:53.279 --> 00:26:55.759 that fear of failure, that fear of humiliation, 00:26:55.940 --> 00:26:58.839 that fear of getting in trouble, that fear of 00:26:58.839 --> 00:27:02.279 doing something wrong. So I would focus on the 00:27:02.279 --> 00:27:06.079 things that I could do right. And I would stay 00:27:06.079 --> 00:27:09.700 in those things rather than moving forward and 00:27:09.700 --> 00:27:12.019 growing in some areas. And that was one of the 00:27:12.019 --> 00:27:15.269 very first things. That God had to teach me. 00:27:15.890 --> 00:27:18.829 The fact is even in the pioneering of this church 00:27:18.829 --> 00:27:23.990 25 years ago. I'll never forget. My first encounter 00:27:23.990 --> 00:27:27.910 with a spirit of fear. Where I realized it was 00:27:27.910 --> 00:27:33.250 fear. Was in a church parking lot. God had spoken 00:27:33.250 --> 00:27:35.950 to me about. And he literally said it. He said 00:27:35.950 --> 00:27:38.849 I'm going to cause you. I was praying about where 00:27:38.849 --> 00:27:41.349 we were to go to plant a church. Because God 00:27:41.349 --> 00:27:43.789 had been speaking to both Jenny and I. And I 00:27:43.789 --> 00:27:48.049 had a bunch of states and cities that I wanted 00:27:48.049 --> 00:27:50.569 to go to. And first of all, I wanted to go to 00:27:50.569 --> 00:27:53.390 South Dakota, to be honest with you. I liked 00:27:53.390 --> 00:27:55.430 the Black Hills. They had great deer hunting. 00:27:56.049 --> 00:28:00.809 It had gold in them still. I liked pheasant hunting. 00:28:01.210 --> 00:28:04.670 And I realized there was no real charismatic... 00:28:06.109 --> 00:28:08.190 Pentecostal expressions. Everything was Lutheran, 00:28:08.190 --> 00:28:10.869 Methodist, pretty locked down. And so there was 00:28:10.869 --> 00:28:13.289 Air Force bases and I'm ready to go to Sioux 00:28:13.289 --> 00:28:16.849 Falls or Rapid City. And I'm ready to do this. 00:28:16.910 --> 00:28:19.329 I'd been there multiple times. My dad and I had 00:28:19.329 --> 00:28:20.890 been pheasant hunting over there, bought some 00:28:20.890 --> 00:28:23.049 machinery over there when we were on the farm 00:28:23.049 --> 00:28:25.849 and young. And I just fell in love with the area. 00:28:26.730 --> 00:28:28.710 And I heard the Lord say, I'm going to send you 00:28:28.710 --> 00:28:31.430 to a place that you'll inherit the prayers of 00:28:31.430 --> 00:28:37.589 your forefathers. I knew exactly where that was. 00:28:37.730 --> 00:28:41.210 And I was on the other side of the McKenzie River, 00:28:41.450 --> 00:28:44.289 Eugene Christian Fellowship at the time. It's 00:28:44.289 --> 00:28:48.190 now Joy Church. And I remember he says, from 00:28:48.190 --> 00:28:51.809 this great river to Lebanon, all the way to the 00:28:51.809 --> 00:28:54.549 sea shall be your territory. And he spoke that 00:28:54.549 --> 00:28:57.210 to me. And I knew that was, Lord, I know Lebanon. 00:28:57.250 --> 00:28:59.569 I know Albany. That's where I was raised. And 00:28:59.569 --> 00:29:01.029 he goes, yep, and that's where you're going. 00:29:03.900 --> 00:29:06.579 Can you pick somewhere else? What about Bend? 00:29:09.259 --> 00:29:14.619 No. Okay. And so as I'm listening to this word 00:29:14.619 --> 00:29:16.579 and I knew it was from the Lord, it did absolutely 00:29:16.579 --> 00:29:20.559 undid me on the inside. I began to think about 00:29:20.559 --> 00:29:25.839 coming back to this area. And I had only, Jenny 00:29:25.839 --> 00:29:28.640 and I had only just moved up the road 20 miles. 00:29:29.230 --> 00:29:31.750 you know, 20, 23 miles, I think from where I 00:29:31.750 --> 00:29:33.809 was born and raised. And we had a little house 00:29:33.809 --> 00:29:35.930 in Springfield and we were on staff there for 00:29:35.930 --> 00:29:39.769 about almost eight years. And I remember coming 00:29:39.769 --> 00:29:42.150 back, thinking about coming back to this area 00:29:42.150 --> 00:29:47.970 and I got, I got terrified. I said, Lord, I don't 00:29:47.970 --> 00:29:50.670 want to go back to that area. I know the looks 00:29:50.670 --> 00:29:59.930 of the people. I get the one finger wave. I know 00:29:59.930 --> 00:30:03.529 what they think about the Holy Spirit. I know 00:30:03.529 --> 00:30:06.190 what they think about the things that I have 00:30:06.190 --> 00:30:09.029 learned of you and grown in you and walk with 00:30:09.029 --> 00:30:14.150 you in. And I don't want to go there. Send me 00:30:14.150 --> 00:30:16.329 to a people. Isn't this a great selfish prayer? 00:30:16.470 --> 00:30:23.880 Send me to a people that like me. Send me to 00:30:23.880 --> 00:30:26.980 a people that want what you've done by the spirit 00:30:26.980 --> 00:30:31.859 of God and that actually have open hearts. I 00:30:31.859 --> 00:30:36.859 told you where I'm sending you. You did. Is there 00:30:36.859 --> 00:30:42.720 any room for negotiation? And so in that process, 00:30:43.079 --> 00:30:46.019 when the Lord said, I'm going to cause you to 00:30:46.019 --> 00:30:48.359 inherit the prayers. That's the first time I 00:30:48.359 --> 00:30:53.089 had heard the Lord speak to me about. prayers. 00:30:53.269 --> 00:30:56.069 And I didn't put the concept together that prayers 00:30:56.069 --> 00:31:01.269 stay eternal until he answers them. It was the 00:31:01.269 --> 00:31:02.789 first time he spoke to me. He says, I'm going 00:31:02.789 --> 00:31:07.369 to cause you to inherit the prayers of your forefathers. 00:31:08.710 --> 00:31:12.029 And I realized that there were things that our 00:31:12.029 --> 00:31:16.430 forefathers prayed. And my forefathers were Mennonite 00:31:16.430 --> 00:31:20.779 forefathers. I had a great, great grandfather 00:31:20.779 --> 00:31:23.099 that was the bishop of the Harrisburg Mennonite 00:31:23.099 --> 00:31:26.180 Church, and my great, great grandfather, Peter 00:31:26.180 --> 00:31:28.440 Neuschwander, was the first deacon of the Mennonite 00:31:28.440 --> 00:31:30.839 Church. So I knew what God was saying. There 00:31:30.839 --> 00:31:34.200 were prayers prayed from sincere men and women 00:31:34.200 --> 00:31:37.759 that in their generation had not been answered. 00:31:39.279 --> 00:31:42.359 You can think what you want about that, but the 00:31:42.359 --> 00:31:44.920 reality is God knows prayers, and if prayers 00:31:44.920 --> 00:31:47.519 are prayed according to his will and according 00:31:47.519 --> 00:31:50.039 to his purposes if they're not done in that generation 00:31:50.039 --> 00:31:53.299 for whatever reason those prayers stay before 00:31:53.299 --> 00:31:58.299 the throne so that he can answer them and in 00:31:58.299 --> 00:32:01.380 that process God began to deal with me on fear 00:32:01.380 --> 00:32:05.519 and I began to say Lord I am coming against fear 00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:08.440 and I've never felt it like this. And I said, 00:32:08.440 --> 00:32:12.180 in Jesus' name, God, forgive me of fear. I've 00:32:12.180 --> 00:32:16.759 gone back to an old lens that I thought was broken. 00:32:16.859 --> 00:32:19.740 And as soon as I said, Father, forgive me for 00:32:19.740 --> 00:32:22.839 fear, all of a sudden I just began throwing up. 00:32:24.079 --> 00:32:26.559 And I began to throw up. As soon as I threw up 00:32:26.559 --> 00:32:30.259 the first time on the flower beds, I thought, 00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:38.549 fear. you're there. Come out. I mean, I am barfing 00:32:38.549 --> 00:32:42.890 up. I didn't even know what on flower beds. And 00:32:42.890 --> 00:32:44.630 I left it there for the church just to bless 00:32:44.630 --> 00:32:49.970 them. No, I was barfing up for about five minutes 00:32:49.970 --> 00:32:53.710 in that process of breaking a spirit of fear 00:32:53.710 --> 00:32:57.109 that I realized had its root system from all 00:32:57.109 --> 00:33:03.309 the way down to a little boy. And it had hindered 00:33:03.309 --> 00:33:07.609 me. It had hindered me at every part of knowing 00:33:07.609 --> 00:33:10.769 the Holy Spirit. Every form, time I got prayed 00:33:10.769 --> 00:33:12.750 for to get filled with the Holy Spirit. Every 00:33:12.750 --> 00:33:15.589 time I'd asked for gifts. Every time I was in 00:33:15.589 --> 00:33:17.990 an atmosphere where I knew the Spirit of God 00:33:17.990 --> 00:33:21.029 was there. That thing would come up in my mind 00:33:21.029 --> 00:33:26.130 and my heart. And it would question. Is this 00:33:26.130 --> 00:33:30.890 right? Is this really for me? I'll look foolish. 00:33:31.980 --> 00:33:41.559 I don't know this. I've never seen it. And there 00:33:41.559 --> 00:33:45.660 had to be something of an impartation of the 00:33:45.660 --> 00:33:47.720 Holy Spirit to strengthen my inner man to say, 00:33:47.799 --> 00:33:52.240 you don't need to have someone show it to you. 00:33:52.279 --> 00:33:55.559 I've told you what it is and I'm giving it to 00:33:55.559 --> 00:34:00.299 you because it's connected to me. You see, that's 00:34:00.299 --> 00:34:03.519 the beginning. Of learning to walk with the Holy 00:34:03.519 --> 00:34:07.460 Spirit. Is that you have to begin to believe. 00:34:08.260 --> 00:34:12.639 That he's co -equal with the Father. You have 00:34:12.639 --> 00:34:16.159 to believe that he's perfect. You have to believe. 00:34:16.760 --> 00:34:21.159 That if it's from him. That he can't give you 00:34:21.159 --> 00:34:27.239 anything. That's not perfect. And not holy. Are 00:34:27.239 --> 00:34:31.389 you there? You see, now I can say those words, 00:34:31.429 --> 00:34:34.929 but I can tell you if you've been taught against 00:34:34.929 --> 00:34:39.590 things that are of the Holy Spirit, it is a struggle. 00:34:40.650 --> 00:34:46.170 It took me three and a half years to finally 00:34:46.170 --> 00:34:50.849 embrace the gift of the Holy Spirit as being 00:34:50.849 --> 00:34:54.710 filled and receiving my prayer language of speaking 00:34:54.710 --> 00:34:58.110 in the Holy Spirit. And you know where it came? 00:34:58.619 --> 00:35:01.760 I went to altar call after altar call. I mean, 00:35:01.840 --> 00:35:05.039 I'm gonna come down here. I mean, every time 00:35:05.039 --> 00:35:07.860 they had some prophets in, every time they had 00:35:07.860 --> 00:35:11.099 somebody that gave an altar call for three years. 00:35:11.179 --> 00:35:14.199 And I can tell you a minimum of 10, maybe 12 00:35:14.199 --> 00:35:17.440 altar calls. Finally, I got to the point where 00:35:17.440 --> 00:35:19.039 they would pray and they would say, listen, it's 00:35:19.039 --> 00:35:22.599 all over you, just partner. And if I heard that 00:35:22.599 --> 00:35:25.420 one more time, I was gonna partner in flesh and 00:35:25.420 --> 00:35:31.610 punch a guy out. I'm like, I was ready. I changed 00:35:31.610 --> 00:35:34.309 doctrinal position. I was open to receiving, 00:35:34.449 --> 00:35:37.869 but after 10 or 12 altar calls of trying to get 00:35:37.869 --> 00:35:40.030 filled with the spirit and nothing happening, 00:35:40.269 --> 00:35:43.369 I became frustrated. And so I changed the channel. 00:35:43.429 --> 00:35:46.550 I changed the channel on radio stations. I changed 00:35:46.550 --> 00:35:48.469 when the charismatic or Pentecostal preacher 00:35:48.469 --> 00:35:58.750 came on. Nope. Calvary. Nope. Give me something 00:35:58.750 --> 00:36:03.070 more conservative. I'll buy the doctrine that 00:36:03.070 --> 00:36:05.650 God gives gifts, but he doesn't give it to everybody. 00:36:06.789 --> 00:36:10.610 And that's where I settled. And I settled in 00:36:10.610 --> 00:36:13.809 the land of God has chosen not to give me that 00:36:13.809 --> 00:36:19.329 gift. And then God decided to reveal himself 00:36:19.329 --> 00:36:26.409 on a John Deere tractor on a 200 acre field with 00:36:26.409 --> 00:36:29.849 a five bottom plow. And I had to use the restroom. 00:36:31.670 --> 00:36:33.809 And I remember shutting the tractor down. I was 00:36:33.809 --> 00:36:36.250 listening. I turned the radio station back. I 00:36:36.250 --> 00:36:38.250 should have never, no, I'm glad I did. I turned 00:36:38.250 --> 00:36:40.489 the radio station back and Pastor Frank, who 00:36:40.489 --> 00:36:43.409 I was going to church there at the time, Pastor 00:36:43.409 --> 00:36:46.070 Frank DiMaggio, he was on the radio and he's 00:36:46.070 --> 00:36:50.489 talking about this very subject. And I'm arguing 00:36:50.489 --> 00:36:53.449 with him the whole time because I couldn't argue 00:36:53.449 --> 00:36:56.590 in church. But in the tractor cab, you can argue 00:36:56.590 --> 00:37:04.199 with the radio. And he said something about just 00:37:04.199 --> 00:37:07.139 trusting the Holy Spirit and you have to partner 00:37:07.139 --> 00:37:11.219 with what is unknown to you, but it's known to 00:37:11.219 --> 00:37:16.699 God. He said that statement and the Spirit of 00:37:16.699 --> 00:37:21.059 God convicted me. And I was ticked. I turned 00:37:21.059 --> 00:37:25.159 the tractor, idled it down, sat with my hands 00:37:25.159 --> 00:37:28.920 crossed and said, Lord, I have done this 12 times. 00:37:29.800 --> 00:37:32.719 And then I heard the Spirit of the Lord question 00:37:32.719 --> 00:37:37.000 me. He says, how many times did the prophet tell 00:37:37.000 --> 00:37:42.119 Naaman to dip in the Jordan? Oh, every time you 00:37:42.119 --> 00:37:45.659 have the right answer. Have you noticed that? 00:37:46.119 --> 00:37:52.239 God's never wrong. That even when you try to 00:37:52.239 --> 00:37:54.940 argue with him, he comes up with a great Bible 00:37:54.940 --> 00:38:01.769 verse that you hadn't thought of. shoot. Okay. 00:38:02.250 --> 00:38:06.610 All right. I 12 times. I said, Lord, I've got 00:38:06.610 --> 00:38:08.809 to use the restroom. But when I come back into 00:38:08.809 --> 00:38:12.090 this cab, you have to help me. I'm going to give 00:38:12.090 --> 00:38:15.590 it one more time. So I did my thing, got rid 00:38:15.590 --> 00:38:18.889 of some coffee, came back up into the tractor 00:38:18.889 --> 00:38:22.239 cab. stayed under the air conditioner for a bit. 00:38:22.280 --> 00:38:24.099 I was hoping my employer wasn't coming down the 00:38:24.099 --> 00:38:25.719 road. I was looking just to make sure. I was 00:38:25.719 --> 00:38:27.900 like, what is he doing out in the middle of the 00:38:27.900 --> 00:38:29.900 field? Anyways, anyways, but I'm just thinking 00:38:29.900 --> 00:38:34.440 all this. And the Lord said to me, he goes, now 00:38:34.440 --> 00:38:39.500 when I tell you, I want you to worship me. And 00:38:39.500 --> 00:38:45.000 as you worship me, I want you to sing and say 00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:51.289 what comes out of your heart. I go, well, that 00:38:51.289 --> 00:38:55.210 doesn't make any sense. He says, it's not supposed 00:38:55.210 --> 00:39:00.190 to. You're filtering everything through your 00:39:00.190 --> 00:39:04.510 mind of what you think makes sense. Has anything 00:39:04.510 --> 00:39:07.989 I've done with you made sense? Well, you got 00:39:07.989 --> 00:39:11.170 a point there, no. There's a lot of things you've 00:39:11.170 --> 00:39:13.110 done with me that doesn't make sense. Most people 00:39:13.110 --> 00:39:17.170 would have said, nope, nope, nope, not him. He 00:39:17.170 --> 00:39:19.150 goes, so you're going to have to do what I tell 00:39:19.150 --> 00:39:21.710 you to do without anybody showing you. Now, what 00:39:21.710 --> 00:39:23.269 I didn't realize, I'm going to pick on my folks 00:39:23.269 --> 00:39:26.610 here for a bit. What I didn't realize is that 00:39:26.610 --> 00:39:31.929 my parents had the Holy Spirit, not just with 00:39:31.929 --> 00:39:35.769 salvation, but they both were tongue talking 00:39:35.769 --> 00:39:40.900 people. I did not know that. I did not know that 00:39:40.900 --> 00:39:43.079 I was 19 years old when I got filled with the 00:39:43.079 --> 00:39:46.000 spirit. I had never heard that. I'm not trying 00:39:46.000 --> 00:39:47.780 to embarrass you, but let it happen if it needs 00:39:47.780 --> 00:39:54.880 to. Okay. I had never, I had never, I had never 00:39:54.880 --> 00:39:59.679 heard them speak in tongues ever. The church 00:39:59.679 --> 00:40:03.159 we went to didn't do it. Fact is it was taught 00:40:03.159 --> 00:40:06.530 against. And I didn't know that they had had 00:40:06.530 --> 00:40:09.530 experience prior where they both had been filled 00:40:09.530 --> 00:40:12.150 and fluently worshiped God in the spirit. Never 00:40:12.150 --> 00:40:18.889 once in my home had I heard that gift. Now, my 00:40:18.889 --> 00:40:23.050 dad modeled reading the word of God. My mom read 00:40:23.050 --> 00:40:24.610 sometimes. No, I'm just messing with you. They 00:40:24.610 --> 00:40:27.070 both read the word of God. They both loved Jesus. 00:40:27.230 --> 00:40:30.769 But I never, you have to understand, in my conservative 00:40:30.769 --> 00:40:38.369 home, you didn't, The fear, the fear of living 00:40:38.369 --> 00:40:42.949 worship openly dominated over what the scripture 00:40:42.949 --> 00:40:46.409 said to love God and to live it openly. Singing 00:40:46.409 --> 00:40:49.070 in songs, hymns, and spiritual songs. Spiritual 00:40:49.070 --> 00:40:53.050 songs being what? Originated in Holy Spirit language. 00:40:54.469 --> 00:40:58.650 Fear dominated that. So you see me on stage, 00:40:58.730 --> 00:41:01.369 you see me worship, you see, you know, years 00:41:01.369 --> 00:41:04.869 later. But growing up, I had none of that framework. 00:41:05.949 --> 00:41:10.170 Fear limited everything when it came to spiritual 00:41:10.170 --> 00:41:14.630 things. Didn't do it. Did we talk about Jesus? 00:41:14.829 --> 00:41:18.190 Yes. My dad probably talked about the rapture 00:41:18.190 --> 00:41:23.750 more than anybody I know. So much so that every 00:41:23.750 --> 00:41:27.909 time my sister and I They would just make a decision. 00:41:28.010 --> 00:41:29.989 Hey, we need to go move the windrowers. How the 00:41:29.989 --> 00:41:31.869 kids are playing, just let them play. They would 00:41:31.869 --> 00:41:33.550 leave. All of a sudden, something would come 00:41:33.550 --> 00:41:36.210 over me and my sister. We'd search the grounds 00:41:36.210 --> 00:41:41.329 for mom and dad, and they were gone. And I remember 00:41:41.329 --> 00:41:43.750 coming back with my sister, holding hands, praying 00:41:43.750 --> 00:41:51.230 in the living room, God, send it again. So did 00:41:51.230 --> 00:41:54.230 we talk about... The Lord, yes, we talked about 00:41:54.230 --> 00:41:58.449 it often. We talked about the coming of the Lord. 00:41:58.550 --> 00:42:01.469 I mean, he had a slim line, little New Testaments 00:42:01.469 --> 00:42:04.869 in case the Russians came. I mean, we had everything 00:42:04.869 --> 00:42:07.909 ready to go with the word of God. But hearing 00:42:07.909 --> 00:42:11.250 the Holy Spirit and the language of the Holy 00:42:11.250 --> 00:42:14.090 Spirit and the expression of the Holy Spirit 00:42:14.090 --> 00:42:17.409 and the giftings of the Holy Spirit were unknown 00:42:17.409 --> 00:42:24.219 to me. Until I entered into people that took 00:42:24.219 --> 00:42:27.000 the Bible literally. And I remember the first 00:42:27.000 --> 00:42:30.559 service, 17 years old, the first service I went 00:42:30.559 --> 00:42:33.380 into that really had a Holy Spirit expression. 00:42:33.460 --> 00:42:38.139 I looked around and I thought, these are crazy 00:42:38.139 --> 00:42:46.949 people. We're in a cult. At 17. And that song 00:42:46.949 --> 00:42:49.070 of Ray Stevens, that country song, and I listened 00:42:49.070 --> 00:42:51.269 to a lot of country music as a kid, that song 00:42:51.269 --> 00:42:54.929 came on. That day the squirrel went berserk in 00:42:54.929 --> 00:42:56.929 the first self -righteous church. I mean, literally, 00:42:56.969 --> 00:43:00.610 I thought somebody had had a squirrel in their 00:43:00.610 --> 00:43:05.489 coveralls. I thought, this is what he did. He 00:43:05.489 --> 00:43:10.389 came to this church to write this song. It was 00:43:10.389 --> 00:43:14.500 so foreign to me. That's why Jenny and I, we 00:43:14.500 --> 00:43:19.380 laugh. Why God chose me to actually shepherd 00:43:19.380 --> 00:43:23.659 and lead a full, if you want to call it, full 00:43:23.659 --> 00:43:27.539 gospel expression of a church is the craziest 00:43:27.539 --> 00:43:30.320 thing because what I came out of, I didn't believe 00:43:30.320 --> 00:43:34.599 it. I resisted it. I fought it at every angle. 00:43:36.019 --> 00:43:38.960 And finally, when the Lord found me in the John 00:43:38.960 --> 00:43:45.420 Deere 4440 tractor, He said, you're just going 00:43:45.420 --> 00:43:48.980 to have to say out of you because I've given 00:43:48.980 --> 00:43:53.179 you the gift. I've given you faith. Bypass what 00:43:53.179 --> 00:43:55.559 you think it sounds like. And I remember saying, 00:43:55.679 --> 00:43:59.239 okay, oh God, I started a little bit and I just 00:43:59.239 --> 00:44:04.079 like, oh, that is this. Stop it. I literally 00:44:04.079 --> 00:44:09.699 heard the Lord say, stop it. Try again. Well, 00:44:09.800 --> 00:44:12.659 then. It sounded a little bit. It hadn't messed 00:44:12.659 --> 00:44:14.800 with me. Because I had a singing background. 00:44:15.159 --> 00:44:17.940 And I thought. Are you telling me that tongues 00:44:17.940 --> 00:44:26.719 is just jazz scatting? You know. So I'm like. 00:44:28.440 --> 00:44:33.000 Are they speaking in tongues? On the jazz records? 00:44:35.699 --> 00:44:46.500 No. try again, which was what? Remove your mindset. 00:44:46.519 --> 00:44:49.639 See what happens is every time it got caught 00:44:49.639 --> 00:44:56.159 in my natural filters, every time, every time 00:44:56.159 --> 00:44:58.380 it got caught in my natural filters. Finally, 00:44:58.380 --> 00:45:03.780 he had to say, I telling you, do not stop it. 00:45:04.260 --> 00:45:10.780 And as soon as I obeyed him, I said, Lord, this 00:45:10.780 --> 00:45:15.500 has been here all along. Exactly. You mean that's 00:45:15.500 --> 00:45:18.380 all there is to it? Is just trusting you and 00:45:18.380 --> 00:45:23.960 let it out from the inside? Yes. I'm so sorry. 00:45:26.000 --> 00:45:30.980 I've been an idiot. Yes. Not that the Holy Spirit 00:45:30.980 --> 00:45:33.719 called me an idiot, but in my own heart, I realized 00:45:33.719 --> 00:45:40.260 it was still fear. It was still afraid. of humiliation, 00:45:40.420 --> 00:45:43.679 afraid of the unknown, and afraid of trusting 00:45:43.679 --> 00:45:51.539 God that kept me from receiving who he is. Now, 00:45:51.619 --> 00:45:54.840 I took you on a long journey this morning of 00:45:54.840 --> 00:45:57.300 some of my personal stuff I don't share often. 00:45:58.719 --> 00:46:04.380 But if you understand that the Bible says that 00:46:04.380 --> 00:46:13.769 God is a giver, His nature is to give. You know 00:46:13.769 --> 00:46:17.849 what the hardest thing, the hardest thing for 00:46:17.849 --> 00:46:22.289 me, because I too love to give gifts and I'm 00:46:22.289 --> 00:46:24.889 certainly not like God, but that part of our 00:46:24.889 --> 00:46:27.550 nature, that those that have that grace, you 00:46:27.550 --> 00:46:30.730 understand that nature of it. The worst thing 00:46:30.730 --> 00:46:34.110 of a gift giver from a human perspective is when 00:46:34.110 --> 00:46:37.750 somebody won't even receive the gift. That you've 00:46:37.750 --> 00:46:43.110 given. When somebody doesn't receive the gift. 00:46:43.510 --> 00:46:46.849 That you've spent time. Picking out. Thinking 00:46:46.849 --> 00:46:48.929 about. If you're a gift giver. Now some people 00:46:48.929 --> 00:46:51.170 aren't gift givers. And when they give gifts. 00:46:51.210 --> 00:46:52.710 It's still a wonderful gift. But they're not 00:46:52.710 --> 00:46:55.429 giving of themselves. They would rather give 00:46:55.429 --> 00:46:58.849 words. Like my wife. She's a wonderful gift giver. 00:46:58.969 --> 00:47:01.429 But that's not her main thing. Her main thing 00:47:01.429 --> 00:47:04.190 is words. So when I get a card. It is filled 00:47:04.190 --> 00:47:07.710 with words. That doesn't really do it for me 00:47:07.710 --> 00:47:11.030 because I do words all the time. I love that 00:47:11.030 --> 00:47:14.010 she wrote it and I keep the cards. But if I only 00:47:14.010 --> 00:47:16.369 write, you're the best wife, love you, Brad, 00:47:16.690 --> 00:47:20.650 that's not a good gift to her. And it doesn't 00:47:20.650 --> 00:47:22.429 matter if there's diamonds in the box or not. 00:47:23.769 --> 00:47:28.170 Words on a full card mean as much as, let's say, 00:47:28.230 --> 00:47:33.780 the anniversary band. But for a gift giver, The 00:47:33.780 --> 00:47:36.360 most important thing of the gift giver is because 00:47:36.360 --> 00:47:43.400 it comes from you to that person. Your personality 00:47:43.400 --> 00:47:51.219 of gift giving is expressed in the sharing of 00:47:51.219 --> 00:47:53.739 your love for that person. And when a person 00:47:53.739 --> 00:47:57.510 says, no, thank you, I don't want that. That 00:47:57.510 --> 00:48:00.110 is a rejection. They may think they're just rejecting 00:48:00.110 --> 00:48:03.289 the gift, but it's actually rejecting the person 00:48:03.289 --> 00:48:07.630 that is giving the gift. And that's one of the 00:48:07.630 --> 00:48:11.349 things that I had to learn. One of the things 00:48:11.349 --> 00:48:16.210 that I had to honestly repent of, had to repent 00:48:16.210 --> 00:48:19.590 of it multiple times to get it out of me, is 00:48:19.590 --> 00:48:24.829 that I cannot say to God, who's given the gifts 00:48:24.829 --> 00:48:28.880 and lists the gifts, I don't need that. I don't 00:48:28.880 --> 00:48:35.000 want that. For me to say that is rejecting God 00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:38.800 at a level that says, I know better than you 00:48:38.800 --> 00:48:43.679 do. I want what I want and I don't want what 00:48:43.679 --> 00:48:47.079 you want for me. Now that doesn't mean I'm denying 00:48:47.079 --> 00:48:51.780 God. It doesn't mean that I'm losing my salvation. 00:48:52.039 --> 00:48:56.659 It means what? I've put a barrier. I've put a 00:48:56.659 --> 00:48:59.980 limitation and I've said to the Lord, that area 00:48:59.980 --> 00:49:04.019 of your life and that area of your will, I am 00:49:04.019 --> 00:49:07.500 choosing to redefine according to my own understanding, 00:49:07.780 --> 00:49:10.340 whether it's my own doctrinal interpretation 00:49:10.340 --> 00:49:13.260 or whether it's my own uncomfortability, you 00:49:13.260 --> 00:49:17.800 will not give me anything of that nature. I'll 00:49:17.800 --> 00:49:21.699 only receive this of you. And then we wonder 00:49:21.699 --> 00:49:26.610 why we can't progress with the Lord. I think 00:49:26.610 --> 00:49:29.369 that's what the Lord's wanting to do with us 00:49:29.369 --> 00:49:35.309 is he's wanting to actually reveal areas where 00:49:35.309 --> 00:49:37.690 you've actually had an Old Testament mindset 00:49:37.690 --> 00:49:42.110 instead of actually allowed yourself to partner. 00:49:42.750 --> 00:49:47.369 I'm not saying leave doctrine. In fact, you'll 00:49:47.369 --> 00:49:50.309 actually have to have enhanced understanding 00:49:50.309 --> 00:49:53.710 of the doctrines of the Bible to partner with 00:49:53.710 --> 00:49:56.530 him because they're all there. They're there. 00:49:57.369 --> 00:50:00.289 Not asking for anything extra biblical. God would 00:50:00.289 --> 00:50:03.010 never do that. He's asking you just to receive 00:50:03.010 --> 00:50:06.409 what he's actually given and revealing in his 00:50:06.409 --> 00:50:10.750 word. And that's my heart for you because I know 00:50:10.750 --> 00:50:19.630 that that's God's heart for all of us. If we 00:50:19.630 --> 00:50:24.889 understand that the father's nature and his character 00:50:25.610 --> 00:50:29.409 is that he's a giver. It means that he's a supplier. 00:50:29.909 --> 00:50:33.510 He's a protector. He's a forgiver. He's a leader 00:50:33.510 --> 00:50:38.030 and he's a deliverer. I must now believe that 00:50:38.030 --> 00:50:42.210 everything that's connected to him is only good, 00:50:42.389 --> 00:50:49.650 only yields good, and only produces what is God 00:50:49.650 --> 00:50:53.150 produced through me. Why? Because I'm on a journey. 00:50:53.769 --> 00:50:57.510 Of learning to partner. With him. In his kingdom. 00:50:58.090 --> 00:51:06.210 Amen. Can we pray. Heavenly father this morning. 00:51:09.150 --> 00:51:13.150 Lord I hadn't planned on. Giving as much of a 00:51:13.150 --> 00:51:16.650 testimony of. As I did and I asked that you would 00:51:16.650 --> 00:51:22.449 take it today. Lord you would. Cause it to begin 00:51:22.449 --> 00:51:27.039 to. Lord find places on the inside of your people 00:51:27.039 --> 00:51:31.460 where they're limited. And Lord by your Holy 00:51:31.460 --> 00:51:34.119 Spirit that the light of your word would come 00:51:34.119 --> 00:51:38.440 and the very conviction of your spirit who is 00:51:38.440 --> 00:51:41.280 evident the very first thing of our salvation 00:51:41.280 --> 00:51:45.659 is the conviction of sin. That the Holy Spirit 00:51:45.659 --> 00:51:48.840 was at work right. From the beginning when we 00:51:48.840 --> 00:51:51.679 heard the message. And we believed the message. 00:51:51.699 --> 00:51:54.239 You gave us the faith. You gave us the ability 00:51:54.239 --> 00:51:57.139 to receive it. And the Holy Spirit brought the 00:51:57.139 --> 00:52:00.000 conviction from the Father and the Son. As the 00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:03.800 agent that brings God to us. I'm asking now that 00:52:03.800 --> 00:52:06.159 you would begin to release that now over this 00:52:06.159 --> 00:52:09.250 room. Lord, there would be a heart for this summer. 00:52:09.449 --> 00:52:12.269 Lord, this wouldn't be a summer of just neglect. 00:52:12.389 --> 00:52:14.690 This would not be a summer of, ah, I'm going 00:52:14.690 --> 00:52:16.510 to have my summer. I'm not going to press into 00:52:16.510 --> 00:52:18.730 the things of God. No, Lord, this would be a 00:52:18.730 --> 00:52:22.530 summer that we would long to engage and further 00:52:22.530 --> 00:52:25.190 know the relationship and the development of 00:52:25.190 --> 00:52:28.030 your Holy Spirit that you might open the door 00:52:28.030 --> 00:52:30.630 over this house and over every single person 00:52:30.630 --> 00:52:34.550 that they would walk in a fuller measure of understanding 00:52:34.550 --> 00:52:38.750 in truth and in spirit than never before. Lord, 00:52:38.829 --> 00:52:42.070 they would become like your disciples, people 00:52:42.070 --> 00:52:47.289 who are witnesses and absolutely bold to share 00:52:47.289 --> 00:52:50.809 it and live it. Confronting and staring down 00:52:50.809 --> 00:52:55.130 fear and watching love, love of the Father, Son, 00:52:55.269 --> 00:52:58.050 and the Holy Spirit destroy a spirit of fear 00:52:58.050 --> 00:53:01.010 to live in the power of your kingdom. I now bless 00:53:01.010 --> 00:53:07.539 them. I bless them now in Jesus' holy name. Amen. 00:53:30.219 --> 00:53:33.000 Lastly, if you are in need of prayer send us 00:53:33.000 --> 00:53:38.780 a text message at 541 -625 -1365. We would love 00:53:38.780 --> 00:53:39.519 to pray with you.