WEBVTT 00:00:02.250 --> 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. 00:00:12.929 --> 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 --> 00:00:27.530 enjoy this week's message. Well, I have a great 00:00:27.530 --> 00:00:31.539 privilege this morning. Every time I step into 00:00:31.539 --> 00:00:36.780 the pulpit, it is an absolute honor and privilege 00:00:36.780 --> 00:00:41.880 to open God's word and to teach his word. Today, 00:00:42.119 --> 00:00:45.799 it's going to be a combination of both teaching 00:00:45.799 --> 00:00:52.560 and exhorting and also giving some vision. My 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:55.520 team had asked me before we start the month of 00:00:55.520 --> 00:00:58.359 September, because we have an incredibly packed 00:00:58.359 --> 00:01:01.729 month, And so let me just say this to you. I 00:01:01.729 --> 00:01:05.090 know that fall has kind of become our time to 00:01:05.090 --> 00:01:09.530 celebrate our anniversary services. And I do 00:01:09.530 --> 00:01:13.349 this particularly trying to take the month of 00:01:13.349 --> 00:01:18.349 September and really... infuse, ask the Lord, 00:01:18.390 --> 00:01:20.890 Lord, who do we bring? What are you wanting to 00:01:20.890 --> 00:01:25.250 do? What can we put inside the body of Christ 00:01:25.250 --> 00:01:28.590 that they need in this moment that you're building 00:01:28.590 --> 00:01:31.810 the people? It's not building this infrastructure. 00:01:31.930 --> 00:01:34.969 He's building you. He's building out you, the 00:01:34.969 --> 00:01:37.870 infrastructure of God. In fact, that's literally 00:01:37.870 --> 00:01:41.129 what the prophetic actually does. The very word 00:01:41.129 --> 00:01:44.980 of God comes to encourage. to equip, it comes 00:01:44.980 --> 00:01:49.920 to build out. It means to beautify. And God is 00:01:49.920 --> 00:01:53.459 always interested in beautifying his people on 00:01:53.459 --> 00:01:56.799 the inside. Come on. In fact, as the outside, 00:01:56.939 --> 00:02:01.640 we know that you can go to a lot of places, you 00:02:01.640 --> 00:02:04.379 can lift things up and put things and tuck this 00:02:04.379 --> 00:02:08.360 and pull that. But the reality is, on the inside 00:02:08.360 --> 00:02:12.990 is what's eternal. And God wants to actually 00:02:12.990 --> 00:02:16.990 spend his time pouring inside of you what is 00:02:16.990 --> 00:02:21.250 eternal so that you look more like Christ. And 00:02:21.250 --> 00:02:26.629 so this coming September, even starting next 00:02:26.629 --> 00:02:29.689 weekend, and I'm kind of giving a little preamble 00:02:29.689 --> 00:02:32.949 here this week, but we've got Labor Day weekend. 00:02:32.990 --> 00:02:35.289 We'll have something wonderful. And then we have 00:02:35.289 --> 00:02:38.000 our... our barbecue that many of us are signed 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:43.240 up to work and to have a whole family barbecue. 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:48.659 That is put on just the only thing you have to 00:02:48.659 --> 00:02:53.180 bring. money for is not the food and not the 00:02:53.180 --> 00:02:55.960 service if you want to get some merchandise that 00:02:55.960 --> 00:02:59.099 may some new things that the team has put together 00:02:59.099 --> 00:03:01.639 if you want to do that and get some swag that's 00:03:01.639 --> 00:03:05.000 up to you but the reality is we're going to have 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:09.080 for our 25th you know food is a little bit of 00:03:09.080 --> 00:03:12.900 our love language here because we do believe 00:03:12.900 --> 00:03:16.400 in widening the body of christ and so in that 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:19.580 in that process in that process we are going 00:03:19.580 --> 00:03:23.759 to have barbecue chicken and tri -tip and hot 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:27.879 dogs and corn on the cob and all sorts of fun 00:03:27.879 --> 00:03:30.860 stuff. I know we've got King Whippy coming over 00:03:30.860 --> 00:03:33.340 there as well for dessert and ice cream as well. 00:03:33.340 --> 00:03:35.759 There'll be all sorts of great stuff to celebrate 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:40.180 25 years in outdoor service. And you can bring 00:03:40.180 --> 00:03:41.860 your lawn chairs. We'll have more on that in 00:03:41.860 --> 00:03:43.740 the next couple of weeks. But it's going to be 00:03:43.740 --> 00:03:45.699 a great time. And then after that, we have a 00:03:45.699 --> 00:03:49.780 special weekend with my friend Daryl Corbin and 00:03:49.780 --> 00:03:54.219 his wife, Michael, the pastor. really kind of 00:03:54.219 --> 00:03:57.500 the church that is kind of the grandfather church 00:03:57.500 --> 00:04:00.539 that we all kind of got connected to. Originally 00:04:00.539 --> 00:04:03.240 it was called Bible Temple, then it became City 00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:06.319 Bible, and now it's Manor House. Daryl is the 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:08.819 senior pastor at Manor House. Him and his wife 00:04:08.819 --> 00:04:10.039 are going to be coming down. They're going to 00:04:10.039 --> 00:04:12.699 be speaking to us just about the journey that 00:04:12.699 --> 00:04:16.819 they had taking a church with multiple campuses 00:04:16.819 --> 00:04:20.360 and having to deal with things inside of their 00:04:20.360 --> 00:04:25.000 own organization to clean some things out so 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:27.620 that the fire of God can come. How many know 00:04:27.620 --> 00:04:30.860 you can be a church for a long time? I think 00:04:30.860 --> 00:04:33.819 they're going on 80 years by the time that they've 00:04:33.819 --> 00:04:38.759 pioneered and moved forward. Sometimes God has 00:04:38.759 --> 00:04:42.220 to... breathe and clean things out to get people 00:04:42.220 --> 00:04:45.220 back to the place to have a fire to be in his 00:04:45.220 --> 00:04:47.579 presence and to pursue him. So we're looking 00:04:47.579 --> 00:04:49.879 forward to that. God's done an amazing work. 00:04:50.180 --> 00:04:54.779 Daryl is a great person. I knew him from Bible 00:04:54.779 --> 00:04:57.560 college days. He pioneered a church in Centralia, 00:04:57.560 --> 00:05:01.819 Washington and turned that church over to a good 00:05:01.819 --> 00:05:05.439 friend of ours and then came and took Manor House 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:08.779 over from Pastor Mark Estes who was the pastor 00:05:08.779 --> 00:05:10.839 that took it from Dr. Frank Damasio. So we've 00:05:10.839 --> 00:05:13.819 got a long, rich heritage, and we're looking 00:05:13.819 --> 00:05:16.279 to have them that weekend. And then the next 00:05:16.279 --> 00:05:19.959 weekend, week and weekend, starts on Thursday 00:05:19.959 --> 00:05:23.459 morning. We start with our Waypoint Conference, 00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:26.160 which is going to be September 24th through the 00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:30.019 27th. And we will have Jim Hockaday from Colorado. 00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:33.879 that we've had here before, this Last Life Conference. 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:37.019 Him and Aaron will be here, along with Jan Venter 00:05:37.019 --> 00:05:40.180 and his wife, Hanley. And we're gonna be doing, 00:05:40.220 --> 00:05:42.819 in the mornings, a healing school, and in the 00:05:42.819 --> 00:05:45.360 evenings, healing services. And that's gonna 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:48.560 start Thursday morning. We'll do Thursday morning, 00:05:48.699 --> 00:05:50.899 Friday morning, Saturday morning of healing school, 00:05:51.060 --> 00:05:56.509 and basically just education on how. how to operate 00:05:56.509 --> 00:05:59.430 in healing, what to do when there's hindrance 00:05:59.430 --> 00:06:01.430 to healing. There's going to be some wonderful 00:06:01.430 --> 00:06:04.170 resources that we're putting on so that you can 00:06:04.170 --> 00:06:08.790 receive that because we want this place through 00:06:08.790 --> 00:06:11.970 Christ Jesus to have a deposit of his healing 00:06:11.970 --> 00:06:16.360 grace and we want to release it. Amen? We've 00:06:16.360 --> 00:06:19.600 been praying for healing wells to be open and 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:22.060 we believe that we have that right in the scripture 00:06:22.060 --> 00:06:25.060 that God tells us that he wants to heal and deliver. 00:06:25.259 --> 00:06:28.250 And so we're gonna spend. our Waypoint Conference, 00:06:28.430 --> 00:06:32.509 just focusing in on the words of Christ and his 00:06:32.509 --> 00:06:35.370 healing power and his desire to heal people. 00:06:35.470 --> 00:06:37.709 And that will be every night, Thursday night, 00:06:37.829 --> 00:06:39.870 Friday night, Saturday night. They'll be with 00:06:39.870 --> 00:06:41.949 us on Sunday morning, and then we'll have a special 00:06:41.949 --> 00:06:45.910 final healing service Sunday night. So it's an 00:06:45.910 --> 00:06:48.870 extended time of just in the presence of God, 00:06:48.949 --> 00:06:52.610 just building on the virtue of Jesus, releasing 00:06:52.610 --> 00:06:56.009 it to his people. So that's a full month. It's 00:06:56.009 --> 00:06:58.810 a It's a big month. There's a lot of stuff going 00:06:58.810 --> 00:07:02.050 on. Our volunteers, our staff are drinking lots 00:07:02.050 --> 00:07:05.529 of Gatorade in advance because we're going to 00:07:05.529 --> 00:07:08.230 be working hard. We appreciate anyone that can 00:07:08.230 --> 00:07:11.470 help and come alongside. It's a big endeavor 00:07:11.470 --> 00:07:13.790 to not only take everything from the church to 00:07:13.790 --> 00:07:16.810 take to another location. to do a full picnic, 00:07:16.889 --> 00:07:19.170 but then to come back and within a couple of 00:07:19.170 --> 00:07:21.910 weeks and do a full conference as we do here 00:07:21.910 --> 00:07:24.389 and try to do it with excellence is a big deal. 00:07:24.470 --> 00:07:26.350 So I appreciate your prayers, appreciate your 00:07:26.350 --> 00:07:28.550 help in advance, and it's going to be a great 00:07:28.550 --> 00:07:33.889 time. I am warning you in advance, both Dr. Venter 00:07:33.889 --> 00:07:40.050 and Jim Hockaday are not sissies. And by that, 00:07:40.149 --> 00:07:45.209 I mean they are constantly living in this truth 00:07:45.209 --> 00:07:48.189 of healing. And so they're pretty straightforward 00:07:48.189 --> 00:07:53.810 with it. Don't set your teeth on edge by style. 00:07:54.730 --> 00:07:59.470 Listen to the word of the Lord. Don't listen. 00:07:59.629 --> 00:08:02.009 Remember what Jesus said about John the Baptist 00:08:02.009 --> 00:08:06.050 versus himself? Wisdom is personified by all 00:08:06.050 --> 00:08:11.209 her children. Listen, Elijah and Elisha were 00:08:11.209 --> 00:08:14.709 totally different dudes. And they would pastor 00:08:14.709 --> 00:08:17.050 totally different churches if they were pastoring. 00:08:17.550 --> 00:08:21.649 Come on. One has got camel hair and locusts out 00:08:21.649 --> 00:08:24.750 of his mouth and calling down fire. And the other 00:08:24.750 --> 00:08:28.250 is, bring me a minstrel and play for me while 00:08:28.250 --> 00:08:30.649 I give you the word of the Lord. There is a big 00:08:30.649 --> 00:08:34.019 variety in the body of Christ. Just because you 00:08:34.019 --> 00:08:38.679 like a certain style, I get it, okay? The fact 00:08:38.679 --> 00:08:45.379 that you're here is amazing. Okay, but the reality 00:08:45.379 --> 00:08:49.279 is some of these guys that walk in these giftings 00:08:49.279 --> 00:08:52.539 and graces have different personalities. Give 00:08:52.539 --> 00:08:56.019 them a little room with the personality and listen. 00:08:56.919 --> 00:08:59.559 To the gift and to the, not to the gift, but 00:08:59.559 --> 00:09:02.419 listen to the word and watch the gift function. 00:09:04.279 --> 00:09:07.700 That's what we're doing. Will you do that with 00:09:07.700 --> 00:09:11.019 me? And I think that will bless you. Because 00:09:11.019 --> 00:09:14.419 listen, God is no respecter of persons and he 00:09:14.419 --> 00:09:18.700 longs to touch his people. And so I'm, one of 00:09:18.700 --> 00:09:21.080 the reasons that I brought these two in, I thought, 00:09:21.080 --> 00:09:24.139 man, if I was ever going to offend people, it's 00:09:24.139 --> 00:09:32.590 this year. Okay, meaning that these guys, I have 00:09:32.590 --> 00:09:35.429 more messes sometimes when these guys come in 00:09:35.429 --> 00:09:40.330 than when I don't. Emails, remember, Pastor Scott 00:09:40.330 --> 00:09:45.070 at Life Bible Church. Anyway, just the way they 00:09:45.070 --> 00:09:47.669 say things, do things, you just have to remember, 00:09:47.870 --> 00:09:52.549 listen, we are pursuing. the things of God's 00:09:52.549 --> 00:09:55.009 kingdom and we're believing for breakthrough. 00:09:55.690 --> 00:10:01.450 And I'm okay with someone that is sold out knowing 00:10:01.450 --> 00:10:04.389 what their calling is and that they do it day 00:10:04.389 --> 00:10:07.450 in and day out and God shows the fruit of that. 00:10:07.529 --> 00:10:10.330 I'm okay if they come a little less pastoral 00:10:10.330 --> 00:10:13.990 and come a little more evangelist with a fiery 00:10:13.990 --> 00:10:17.830 message. And if you prepare your heart for that, 00:10:18.350 --> 00:10:21.529 then you won't be offended at sometimes kind 00:10:21.529 --> 00:10:24.269 of the rhetorical questions that have a little 00:10:24.269 --> 00:10:28.669 snap to the left jab, right? That's why we smile. 00:10:28.909 --> 00:10:35.330 Snap, hmm, okay? Allow the word of God to hit 00:10:35.330 --> 00:10:37.429 us a little bit. It'll be all right, it'll be 00:10:37.429 --> 00:10:41.210 all right. All right, I want to share with you, 00:10:41.289 --> 00:10:45.230 the team, as we were thinking about the 25th 00:10:45.230 --> 00:10:47.950 anniversary, knowing that I've got all of the 00:10:47.950 --> 00:10:49.789 guest speakers that are coming in and the things 00:10:49.789 --> 00:10:52.330 that we're going to do. They wanted me to share 00:10:52.330 --> 00:10:58.509 with you kind of a, I don't know, best way I 00:10:58.509 --> 00:11:01.230 could describe it is kind of an A to Z perspective 00:11:01.230 --> 00:11:06.009 of some of us old timers will have heard this 00:11:06.009 --> 00:11:08.830 before. Some of us that are new to Life Bible 00:11:08.830 --> 00:11:11.929 Church will have never heard it. And then in 00:11:11.929 --> 00:11:14.450 the midst of sharing kind of the vision of what 00:11:14.450 --> 00:11:17.190 our vision statement is, what God had given Jenny 00:11:17.190 --> 00:11:20.250 and I early on when we pioneered, we're also 00:11:20.250 --> 00:11:23.889 in the midst of what I want to open today is 00:11:23.889 --> 00:11:27.649 to show you some of the rebranding that the team 00:11:27.649 --> 00:11:30.389 has developed over the last year and a half and 00:11:30.389 --> 00:11:32.629 a project they've been working on. And in that 00:11:32.629 --> 00:11:36.029 process, kind of give you what God has been speaking 00:11:36.029 --> 00:11:39.529 to me in the last three years of where I believe 00:11:40.190 --> 00:11:43.190 he's positioning Life Bible Church. It's been 00:11:43.190 --> 00:11:46.610 about a three -year journey for me, just in this 00:11:46.610 --> 00:11:48.850 last three years of just saying, okay, Lord, 00:11:48.929 --> 00:11:53.929 what is the next season for me as senior pastor? 00:11:54.129 --> 00:11:57.950 And what, where are you? You had given me a 40 00:11:57.950 --> 00:12:01.309 -year vision when I started the ministry. Many 00:12:01.309 --> 00:12:03.350 of you have heard me tell this story, but I had 00:12:03.350 --> 00:12:05.809 an open vision our first year of pastoring here. 00:12:06.830 --> 00:12:10.700 And God actually, Literally, it's like everything 00:12:10.700 --> 00:12:17.299 shifted. And I was walking at the coast. Jenny 00:12:17.299 --> 00:12:20.399 and I got away just to hear God in the first, 00:12:20.620 --> 00:12:22.899 it was almost, I think it was the first eight 00:12:22.899 --> 00:12:25.639 months of our ministry here as senior pastors. 00:12:25.720 --> 00:12:30.980 We had went away and I'm walking in at the Oregon 00:12:30.980 --> 00:12:34.620 coast and all of a sudden, the atmosphere of 00:12:34.620 --> 00:12:38.889 the ocean and the beach and the city, was gone, 00:12:38.909 --> 00:12:47.309 and I was inside a whole different scenery. Now 00:12:47.309 --> 00:12:50.289 you have to remember, the year was 2001. It just 00:12:50.289 --> 00:12:54.389 had turned 2002 when this had happened. And in 00:12:54.389 --> 00:12:58.370 this incredible experience that the Lord gave 00:12:58.370 --> 00:13:02.090 me, I was very aware that I was walking. I was 00:13:02.090 --> 00:13:05.710 very aware that I was in the natural, and yet 00:13:05.710 --> 00:13:09.720 my vision was someplace else. I was actually 00:13:09.720 --> 00:13:15.639 walking on this property. Now, here's the problem. 00:13:16.100 --> 00:13:20.840 This property, the land existed, but nothing 00:13:20.840 --> 00:13:24.279 else existed that you see here. No RV sites, 00:13:24.519 --> 00:13:27.879 no buildings, no, certainly before the church 00:13:27.879 --> 00:13:30.200 bought it, no church buildings. This land was 00:13:30.200 --> 00:13:33.519 just owned originally by Morse Brothers and then 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:38.659 was part of the Knife River conglomeration kind 00:13:38.659 --> 00:13:43.419 of buying it up. And this land was only permitted 00:13:43.419 --> 00:13:48.779 for a building starting in 2005 and six. So in 00:13:48.779 --> 00:13:52.639 2002, there was just a little road and fields 00:13:52.639 --> 00:13:56.360 and nothing out here. And I didn't even know 00:13:56.360 --> 00:13:59.679 that this, I had never been down here. I didn't 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:01.980 even know that I knew this, the land existed, 00:14:02.120 --> 00:14:04.580 but I'd never been on it. I didn't even know 00:14:04.580 --> 00:14:09.299 what I was seeing in, in 2002, all I was seeing 00:14:09.299 --> 00:14:13.980 was I was, I was somewhere walking. I knew that 00:14:13.980 --> 00:14:19.019 I was walking North as I was naturally walking 00:14:19.019 --> 00:14:23.279 North. And as I was walking North, I was walking, 00:14:23.480 --> 00:14:28.500 but I was looking at things in the spirit and 00:14:28.500 --> 00:14:33.899 I saw buildings to my right. And I saw a swimming 00:14:33.899 --> 00:14:36.960 pool as I was walking up to my left. And I saw 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:40.179 a motel. And I looked back and I saw a cross 00:14:40.179 --> 00:14:43.580 on a building. And I saw a business center. And 00:14:43.580 --> 00:14:47.379 I saw a gymnasium. I saw a restaurant. I saw 00:14:47.379 --> 00:14:51.320 what looked like semis or buses. I couldn't tell. 00:14:51.639 --> 00:14:56.179 In a parking lot with long lines. And I walked 00:14:56.179 --> 00:14:58.360 through this thing and I walked out of it with 00:14:58.360 --> 00:15:01.860 this large parking lot. And I'm like. And then 00:15:01.860 --> 00:15:03.899 it ended. And then I was back on the beach and 00:15:03.899 --> 00:15:05.919 I was still walking and I didn't run into anything, 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:08.179 didn't trip into anything. It was like, this 00:15:08.179 --> 00:15:11.019 is like, this never happened to me. It's never 00:15:11.019 --> 00:15:15.460 happened again. It happened one time. And I went 00:15:15.460 --> 00:15:19.220 home and I went back and Jay said, what did God 00:15:19.220 --> 00:15:23.899 speak to you? I go, I, he spoke, but I don't 00:15:23.899 --> 00:15:27.580 know what he's saying. She goes, well, what does 00:15:27.580 --> 00:15:31.340 he say? I said, the only thing that I, felt at 00:15:31.340 --> 00:15:34.720 the end of what he showed me was, this is your 00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:41.019 40 year vision. Well, that's good. That tells 00:15:41.019 --> 00:15:42.860 me I'm going to be around at least for 40 years. 00:15:44.940 --> 00:15:47.679 Okay. I believe in that in Jesus name with all 00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:50.200 the stuff that has come at me. I just hang on 00:15:50.200 --> 00:15:51.919 to that word. Lord, you showed me 40. I'm at 00:15:51.919 --> 00:16:00.710 only 25. Come on. And in that process, I saw 00:16:00.710 --> 00:16:03.269 those things. I did not think about those things. 00:16:03.570 --> 00:16:06.070 Literally, I pondered them from time to time. 00:16:06.110 --> 00:16:09.970 But as the years went by, we went from starting 00:16:09.970 --> 00:16:14.610 in our church, our first little meeting in August 00:16:14.610 --> 00:16:16.929 in my parents' house for about two or three times. 00:16:17.029 --> 00:16:20.710 Then we went to Harris School that had just... 00:16:21.279 --> 00:16:25.120 and we met at Harris School for about six weeks, 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:28.220 and then we moved again to the Seventh -day Church 00:16:28.220 --> 00:16:30.519 of God and rented that building for about three 00:16:30.519 --> 00:16:33.419 and a half years, and then we moved to the Wyatt 00:16:33.419 --> 00:16:35.899 School building, and we called it the Wyatt Campus, 00:16:36.019 --> 00:16:38.519 and we moved there, and we were there for over 00:16:38.519 --> 00:16:42.539 almost 12 years until this property came available. 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:45.059 Now, in all of that journey, I had forgotten 00:16:45.059 --> 00:16:50.659 the open encounter. Fact is, we had had plans. 00:16:51.360 --> 00:16:54.519 We had been to several places during the Wyatt 00:16:54.519 --> 00:16:57.580 times. We had talked to some of the farmers around 00:16:57.580 --> 00:17:01.399 there. We had plans to lease, lease to buy 25 00:17:01.399 --> 00:17:03.779 additional acres. We thought, well, we'll just 00:17:03.779 --> 00:17:06.720 build onto the Wyatt campus and just make it 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:09.750 a... And then I was thinking the vision again. 00:17:09.809 --> 00:17:12.170 I thought, well, I never saw a school, but I 00:17:12.170 --> 00:17:13.910 know we're supposed to have a gym and I know 00:17:13.910 --> 00:17:15.730 we're supposed to have a church building and 00:17:15.730 --> 00:17:17.970 a swimming pool. And then we started getting 00:17:17.970 --> 00:17:20.849 into all the issues with county and state and 00:17:20.849 --> 00:17:24.069 all of the stuff. And when they told me that 00:17:24.069 --> 00:17:26.250 what we wanted to build, I would have to spend 00:17:26.250 --> 00:17:29.869 about a million and a half just to flush the 00:17:29.869 --> 00:17:32.609 toilets. I thought, Lord, surely you misspoke. 00:17:35.690 --> 00:17:39.769 I'm not gonna pay $2 million to create a pond 00:17:39.769 --> 00:17:43.990 so that people can flush the toilets. Surely 00:17:43.990 --> 00:17:46.549 that can't be right, not to mention what it's 00:17:46.549 --> 00:17:48.549 gonna cost to build out there. And so we were 00:17:48.549 --> 00:17:51.390 contemplating this. I've got some of the drawings 00:17:51.390 --> 00:17:55.450 in my upper room in the house of what we had 00:17:55.450 --> 00:17:59.069 just started contending for the vision of the 00:17:59.069 --> 00:18:02.410 original times we would just, okay, what are 00:18:02.410 --> 00:18:04.069 you showing us? What are we trying to piece together? 00:18:04.539 --> 00:18:08.180 And in the process of that, we had some prophets 00:18:08.180 --> 00:18:14.140 come and declare to us that the Lord was, we're 00:18:14.140 --> 00:18:17.039 supposed to throw the plans away and we were 00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:19.819 supposed to redesign what we were to build. In 00:18:19.819 --> 00:18:23.259 fact, as the word was, you're building too small 00:18:23.259 --> 00:18:27.920 and too insignificant. You must think extravagant. 00:18:30.420 --> 00:18:33.930 Extravagant. Now that is not a Mennonite word. 00:18:40.170 --> 00:18:46.130 Extravagant sounds expensive. And that's why 00:18:46.130 --> 00:18:48.890 I say it's not a Mennonite word. Because my whole 00:18:48.890 --> 00:18:51.269 point was we were just going to build a, try 00:18:51.269 --> 00:18:53.829 to build a sheep shed, literally with metal siding 00:18:53.829 --> 00:18:56.990 and a metal big barn. And I was used to tractors 00:18:56.990 --> 00:18:58.990 and combines and everything that would fit in 00:18:58.990 --> 00:19:00.859 there. We thought, well, we'll just. get a covering 00:19:00.859 --> 00:19:03.460 and it'll be relatively inexpensive. We'll just 00:19:03.460 --> 00:19:05.519 put up a bunch of sheds and then we'll figure 00:19:05.519 --> 00:19:09.579 it out. And literally we had decided this kind 00:19:09.579 --> 00:19:12.440 of in a thinking that that was the will of God. 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:15.759 And then we had our three prophets come in and 00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:17.160 all of a sudden they turned to me and they go, 00:19:17.240 --> 00:19:22.799 you've been planning something. Yeah. Throw it 00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:27.700 away. And build something God says extravagant 00:19:27.700 --> 00:19:29.960 with excellence that will have his glory and 00:19:29.960 --> 00:19:33.700 his radiance on it. And so in that process, there's 00:19:33.700 --> 00:19:35.619 been a journey. And you're gonna hear some of 00:19:35.619 --> 00:19:40.460 these words over the next few weeks as our team 00:19:40.460 --> 00:19:43.039 has gone back through. I think we have, they've 00:19:43.039 --> 00:19:45.960 circled through about 100 different prophetic 00:19:45.960 --> 00:19:48.680 words that have come over this house over the 00:19:48.680 --> 00:19:51.740 last few years that the Lord specifically spoke. 00:19:52.730 --> 00:19:55.329 To this house. And to the ministries. And to 00:19:55.329 --> 00:19:57.650 things. Some have been accomplished. Some are 00:19:57.650 --> 00:20:00.970 yet to be accomplished. And in that process. 00:20:02.250 --> 00:20:05.410 Then the Lord showed us this property. And in 00:20:05.410 --> 00:20:09.029 the showing of this property. I remember it was 00:20:09.029 --> 00:20:14.369 late in December. And I was praying. I think 00:20:14.369 --> 00:20:18.009 it was 2012. I had met with a businessman. And 00:20:18.009 --> 00:20:19.750 this businessman came to me. He said listen. 00:20:20.529 --> 00:20:23.880 And he didn't go to our church. But his wife 00:20:23.880 --> 00:20:28.200 did. And he goes, listen, my wife's been telling 00:20:28.200 --> 00:20:31.039 me about you guys are trying to lease 25 acres 00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:33.740 and build on that Wyatt campus. He goes, are 00:20:33.740 --> 00:20:39.019 you insane? Well, probably. He goes, you need 00:20:39.019 --> 00:20:42.039 to go look at that property that's for sale on 00:20:42.039 --> 00:20:45.000 the Harrisburg Riverbank. He goes, all of the, 00:20:45.099 --> 00:20:47.940 and he spoke exactly what I just, all of the 00:20:47.940 --> 00:20:50.319 infrastructure, all the sewer lines, all the 00:20:50.319 --> 00:20:54.299 power is already in. It's already done. You wouldn't 00:20:54.299 --> 00:20:58.039 even have to pay for it again. The word of the 00:20:58.039 --> 00:21:04.519 Lord. Hallelujah. And so I said, well, I've looked 00:21:04.519 --> 00:21:07.599 at it before. I just didn't sense anything on 00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:10.579 it. But I said, I'll tell you what, I will go 00:21:10.579 --> 00:21:13.950 look at it. And so that, It was December and 00:21:13.950 --> 00:21:16.230 I was praying and one night I couldn't sleep 00:21:16.230 --> 00:21:18.430 and it was about 1 .32 in the morning. I'm praying 00:21:18.430 --> 00:21:22.309 and Jenny and I have a little propane fireplace 00:21:22.309 --> 00:21:26.170 there and I had the fire on. I hear this little, 00:21:26.269 --> 00:21:29.170 sometimes God speaks to me. If you'll read the 00:21:29.170 --> 00:21:31.269 scriptures, he says sometimes he speaks in dark 00:21:31.269 --> 00:21:33.490 sayings and in riddles. Have you ever had the 00:21:33.490 --> 00:21:35.390 Lord kind of give you something that you had 00:21:35.390 --> 00:21:40.200 to search out before? I hear the Spirit of the 00:21:40.200 --> 00:21:42.920 Lord speak to me in this funny little way. He 00:21:42.920 --> 00:21:46.259 says, you'll go through a gate, it sleeps more 00:21:46.259 --> 00:21:52.259 than eight. What? At two in the morning, what 00:21:52.259 --> 00:21:55.839 does that mean? And he said it again. You'll 00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:58.960 go through a gate, it sleeps more than eight. 00:22:02.259 --> 00:22:05.799 So some of the time, I think that's half the... 00:22:06.170 --> 00:22:09.809 Why half of my hair is gone is because my family, 00:22:09.890 --> 00:22:12.150 the church and the Lord. Hallelujah. I mean, 00:22:12.190 --> 00:22:14.470 and I'm like, Lord, and just, you know, you kind 00:22:14.470 --> 00:22:17.609 of do this. Lord, what? Go through a gate. Sleeps 00:22:17.609 --> 00:22:19.829 more than eight. Go through a gate. So then I 00:22:19.829 --> 00:22:22.150 started to look up every scripture on the number 00:22:22.150 --> 00:22:24.910 eight. And then I'm looking up gates and I'm 00:22:24.910 --> 00:22:26.950 just trying, I'm thinking he's telling me to 00:22:26.950 --> 00:22:29.109 go to the scriptures and find something. And 00:22:29.109 --> 00:22:33.089 then at the end of my, the next morning after 00:22:33.089 --> 00:22:36.700 I kind of went back to bed and woke up, Oh yeah, 00:22:36.740 --> 00:22:38.420 I was supposed to go look at that property. I 00:22:38.420 --> 00:22:40.519 told that guy I would. And I didn't even think 00:22:40.519 --> 00:22:42.859 the two were connected. So we come down here. 00:22:42.940 --> 00:22:44.799 I called the elders at the time. I said, would 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:47.819 you just meet me down here? I promised this guy 00:22:47.819 --> 00:22:50.200 I would look at this thing. Let's honestly look 00:22:50.200 --> 00:22:52.039 at it again. And a few of them were able to make 00:22:52.039 --> 00:22:55.799 it. And we drove in through the property, kind 00:22:55.799 --> 00:22:58.440 of the gateway of the property. And as soon as 00:22:58.440 --> 00:23:02.240 I pulled on the property here, it felt different. 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:07.359 And I remember Bob Calhoun was with me and a 00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:10.640 few others. And I looked at Bob and I said, Bob, 00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:20.319 do you feel that? Yeah. And I said, well, let's 00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:22.940 just walk around the backside of this property. 00:23:23.079 --> 00:23:24.619 And so we were walking around. It didn't have 00:23:24.619 --> 00:23:28.019 any of the church sanctuary or the offices, the 00:23:28.019 --> 00:23:31.160 buildings, the gen chair, what we would call 00:23:31.160 --> 00:23:36.279 the gen church room. 125, 120, and a little kind 00:23:36.279 --> 00:23:40.420 of RV recreation room was on the end here, right 00:23:40.420 --> 00:23:43.500 where the sanctuary is here, just a little, every 00:23:43.500 --> 00:23:45.259 building was kind of knocked down. It was like 00:23:45.259 --> 00:23:49.700 a 15 by 20 foot structure that was connected, 00:23:49.740 --> 00:23:53.140 just kind of a lounge for the RVers. And as we 00:23:53.140 --> 00:23:58.359 walked around the corner and I looked, I saw 00:23:58.359 --> 00:24:05.980 the pool and I saw the motel. And I looked at 00:24:05.980 --> 00:24:10.299 the elder and I said, this is it. This is what 00:24:10.299 --> 00:24:18.740 I saw 11, 10 years ago. This is it. I didn't 00:24:18.740 --> 00:24:21.480 recognize it. It looks a little different. When 00:24:21.480 --> 00:24:23.440 I went out into the parking lots and I saw the 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:26.500 long stripes for the motorhomes, I said, I thought 00:24:26.500 --> 00:24:30.339 in the vision it was a truck stop, but it's for 00:24:30.339 --> 00:24:36.410 RVs. Because when you see things sometimes, this 00:24:36.410 --> 00:24:38.910 is part of the understanding, when you see something 00:24:38.910 --> 00:24:41.769 sometimes what God shows you, it doesn't look 00:24:41.769 --> 00:24:46.049 exactly like it is on the earth. That's why if 00:24:46.049 --> 00:24:49.349 you read any of the prophetic books of the Bible, 00:24:49.470 --> 00:24:53.829 they'll always say it was as, it looked like, 00:24:54.009 --> 00:24:57.950 it was as though it was. And I thought, this 00:24:57.950 --> 00:25:03.259 is that. And as soon as I said it, man, Something 00:25:03.259 --> 00:25:07.339 hit us and said, this is it. We walked around 00:25:07.339 --> 00:25:12.660 the property and literally we started then pursuing 00:25:12.660 --> 00:25:15.619 it. I actually, Velden, I'm glad you're here 00:25:15.619 --> 00:25:18.319 today. I actually called Velden because I realized 00:25:18.319 --> 00:25:24.079 it was a banker, a bank that he banked with that 00:25:24.079 --> 00:25:27.200 I didn't know. I said, you play golf with everybody 00:25:27.200 --> 00:25:29.099 important. Can you hook me up with this guy? 00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:32.960 And Velda says, yeah, I'll introduce you to him, 00:25:33.000 --> 00:25:35.160 but then that's up to you. And I said, yeah, 00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:39.519 okay. So he introduced us to this, the vice president 00:25:39.519 --> 00:25:41.720 and the president of the bank. And honestly, 00:25:41.980 --> 00:25:46.059 it was a miracle. God did an absolute miracle. 00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:49.079 We should have, by all means, we should have 00:25:49.079 --> 00:25:51.039 never been able to purchase this property, but 00:25:51.039 --> 00:25:56.220 we did. And we did it for, now. We have the river 00:25:56.220 --> 00:25:58.819 issue that if we would have probably known a 00:25:58.819 --> 00:26:01.119 little more than what we know, it might have 00:26:01.119 --> 00:26:03.960 stopped us from doing it. It stopped others. 00:26:04.079 --> 00:26:07.319 It didn't stop us. You look back and you go, 00:26:07.420 --> 00:26:11.599 well, the providence of God, but we knew God 00:26:11.599 --> 00:26:15.740 had spoken to us that once it had come to the 00:26:15.740 --> 00:26:18.180 bank, that this was what we were supposed to 00:26:18.180 --> 00:26:21.619 have. And so I'm sharing that because it's part 00:26:21.619 --> 00:26:24.650 of the whole vision. In the beginning, in that 00:26:24.650 --> 00:26:28.690 2001 timeframe, before the Lord gave me an open 00:26:28.690 --> 00:26:33.210 vision, he also gave me very specifically. He 00:26:33.210 --> 00:26:36.029 said, I'm giving you what your vision is for 00:26:36.029 --> 00:26:39.029 this house. Because I, honestly, when you go 00:26:39.029 --> 00:26:42.009 to church plant, there's so much more resources 00:26:42.009 --> 00:26:44.930 available today for church planting than there 00:26:44.930 --> 00:26:48.490 was back then. Fact is. They asked me one time 00:26:48.490 --> 00:26:52.329 in a seminar to kind of share all of the things 00:26:52.329 --> 00:26:55.430 that we had learned and what was our focus group 00:26:55.430 --> 00:27:00.470 and all of our mentoring in church planning. 00:27:01.430 --> 00:27:03.630 I said, I didn't have one. I didn't go to any. 00:27:04.349 --> 00:27:12.730 I just heard God and did what he told me. So 00:27:12.730 --> 00:27:14.309 here's what he told me. He said, here's your 00:27:14.309 --> 00:27:18.230 purpose. Here's what I want. from you. I want 00:27:18.230 --> 00:27:20.789 you to build me, if you can put this on the screen, 00:27:20.849 --> 00:27:24.150 our purpose, if it's there, yeah. I want you 00:27:24.150 --> 00:27:28.049 to build me a Christ -centered church where God 00:27:28.049 --> 00:27:32.930 is magnified and exalted, where each person finds 00:27:32.930 --> 00:27:36.329 Christ's love and direction for their life while 00:27:36.329 --> 00:27:39.789 being trained, equipped, and empowered to serve 00:27:39.789 --> 00:27:41.890 the family, the church, our communities, and 00:27:41.890 --> 00:27:46.289 the world. It was that quick. And then he began 00:27:46.289 --> 00:27:49.529 to just lay it out to me, to build a Christ -centered 00:27:49.529 --> 00:27:53.690 church. And what that means is this, a place 00:27:53.690 --> 00:27:57.809 where God's whole truth is released, where faith 00:27:57.809 --> 00:28:01.069 and truth in Jesus Christ becomes our anchor, 00:28:01.210 --> 00:28:05.250 his teaching, the modeling of genuine love, fellowship, 00:28:05.690 --> 00:28:10.490 and discipleship in all things that pertain to 00:28:10.490 --> 00:28:15.079 life and godliness happen. What else? Where God 00:28:15.079 --> 00:28:18.380 is magnified and exalted. And this is why, part 00:28:18.380 --> 00:28:21.680 of the reason why Life Bible Church pursues what 00:28:21.680 --> 00:28:24.819 we pursue is this very issue. He said, build 00:28:24.819 --> 00:28:27.200 me a Christ -centered church where I'm magnified 00:28:27.200 --> 00:28:29.900 and exalted. And the Lord spoke to me, I want 00:28:29.900 --> 00:28:32.480 you to build me a place that is devoted to worship 00:28:32.480 --> 00:28:36.359 and prayer and exalting Jesus Christ, the King 00:28:36.359 --> 00:28:40.559 of glory. That focuses on God's kingdom, his 00:28:40.559 --> 00:28:43.960 authority. his power, his love, and his grace 00:28:43.960 --> 00:28:48.799 displayed through devotion and allegiance and 00:28:48.799 --> 00:28:54.940 surrender to God's word, will, and way. This 00:28:54.940 --> 00:28:58.000 is done by presenting our whole selves to the 00:28:58.000 --> 00:29:01.000 Lord in a lifestyle of praise and prayer and 00:29:01.000 --> 00:29:03.440 worshiping God as we honor the Father, the Son, 00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:07.519 and the Holy Spirit. And then where each person 00:29:07.519 --> 00:29:11.259 finds Christ's love and direction for their life, 00:29:11.720 --> 00:29:13.559 How is this done? This is done through biblical 00:29:13.559 --> 00:29:16.400 instruction, through Holy Spirit -led worship, 00:29:16.460 --> 00:29:19.420 prophetic prayer times, atmospheres where the 00:29:19.420 --> 00:29:22.140 prophetic word of God and exhortation can flow 00:29:22.140 --> 00:29:24.980 through fellowship and practical service from 00:29:24.980 --> 00:29:27.799 house to house ministries, discipleship trainings, 00:29:28.039 --> 00:29:31.839 conferences, classes that deepen and reveal God's 00:29:31.839 --> 00:29:35.279 general will and his specific will for our lives. 00:29:36.480 --> 00:29:40.859 And then next, being trained. equipped and empowered 00:29:40.859 --> 00:29:43.440 to serve. How does that happen? From classrooms 00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:46.799 to the streets, from our jobs to communities, 00:29:47.000 --> 00:29:49.440 from small groups to our larger church settings, 00:29:49.599 --> 00:29:53.839 we're to model and live to release people to 00:29:53.839 --> 00:29:57.519 be anointed servants in the kingdom of God. This 00:29:57.519 --> 00:30:04.839 includes growth and maturity for everyone. Each 00:30:04.839 --> 00:30:08.670 person is to receive and display the love and 00:30:08.670 --> 00:30:12.470 power of the kingdom of God as it is to be working 00:30:12.470 --> 00:30:16.009 in and through their character, their words, 00:30:16.170 --> 00:30:19.450 their deeds, their gifts, their talents, and 00:30:19.450 --> 00:30:22.730 their sphere of influence. And then finally, 00:30:22.910 --> 00:30:27.369 to the family, the church, the communities, and 00:30:27.369 --> 00:30:30.690 the world. In our homes, in our church body, 00:30:30.930 --> 00:30:34.319 in our cities, Because we're not just a Harrisburg, 00:30:34.400 --> 00:30:37.180 we're a tri -county church. Our region of the 00:30:37.180 --> 00:30:40.380 tri -county area to our state, to other states, 00:30:40.460 --> 00:30:43.119 then to our nation, and then over the wall to 00:30:43.119 --> 00:30:46.799 the world. We who are born again are to be living 00:30:46.799 --> 00:30:49.980 as sons and daughters of the king. And as the 00:30:49.980 --> 00:30:53.940 family of God, we are called to share and extend 00:30:53.940 --> 00:30:57.799 God's love, his acceptance, his placement, and 00:30:57.799 --> 00:31:00.519 his identity with all who are called by his name. 00:31:01.680 --> 00:31:04.660 We are to be examples in godly love and life 00:31:04.660 --> 00:31:08.539 in all things so that all will see and be drawn 00:31:08.539 --> 00:31:12.839 to the Father through the Son and placed into 00:31:12.839 --> 00:31:16.420 the family of God by his Spirit. That was the 00:31:16.420 --> 00:31:19.119 vision. Now, the Lord expanded the understanding 00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:21.940 of it, but it was right. I mean, when Jenny and 00:31:21.940 --> 00:31:26.599 I were sent out in 2001, for the Lord to say 00:31:26.599 --> 00:31:29.940 that, it was so specific. It was something. that 00:31:29.940 --> 00:31:32.839 I needed to hear. And the verse that kept ringing 00:31:32.839 --> 00:31:37.019 in our heart 25 years ago was 2 Corinthians 5, 00:31:37.180 --> 00:31:41.460 17, and 18, which is, therefore, if anyone is 00:31:41.460 --> 00:31:44.839 in Christ Jesus, they are a new creation. The 00:31:44.839 --> 00:31:50.680 old is passed away. Behold, which means see it. 00:31:51.799 --> 00:31:56.140 See it and realize it. The new has come. And 00:31:56.140 --> 00:31:59.740 all of this is from God who, through Christ, 00:31:59.740 --> 00:32:04.180 reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry 00:32:04.180 --> 00:32:10.579 of reconciliation. That's our ministry. Not my 00:32:10.579 --> 00:32:16.720 ministry, our ministry. Now God, after 25 years, 00:32:16.859 --> 00:32:20.099 we've been operating in that the purpose is not 00:32:20.099 --> 00:32:24.920 changing. The theme... of 2 Corinthians 5, 17 00:32:24.920 --> 00:32:27.539 and 18 is not changing. However, the Lord has 00:32:27.539 --> 00:32:30.779 highlighted a couple of verses in this next season 00:32:30.779 --> 00:32:34.339 that is going to go with what I believe a fresh 00:32:34.339 --> 00:32:37.400 mission statement that encapsulates all that 00:32:37.400 --> 00:32:39.259 we've talked about and all that we're supposed 00:32:39.259 --> 00:32:43.099 to be is coming. And I'd like you to turn your 00:32:43.099 --> 00:32:49.519 attention to Hebrews 13, 21. It says this, may 00:32:49.519 --> 00:32:55.880 the Lord equip you. May the Lord equip you with 00:32:55.880 --> 00:33:01.900 all you need for doing his will. May he produce 00:33:01.900 --> 00:33:07.380 in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every 00:33:07.380 --> 00:33:13.160 good thing that is pleasing to him. Now that 00:33:13.160 --> 00:33:20.259 is pretty stinking wide. Not so wide that it 00:33:20.259 --> 00:33:22.970 encompasses everything, but everything. that 00:33:22.970 --> 00:33:27.309 is good in his will. He wants you to be equipped 00:33:27.309 --> 00:33:35.490 in everything that is good in Christ. Wow, that's 00:33:35.490 --> 00:33:39.970 pleasing to him. May all glory be given to him 00:33:39.970 --> 00:33:44.230 forever and ever. That's part of this next stage 00:33:44.230 --> 00:33:47.849 of our journey. And Ephesians 3 .18 goes with 00:33:47.849 --> 00:33:51.920 it. That you may know the power to understand 00:33:51.920 --> 00:33:57.680 with all of God's people how wide, how long, 00:33:57.740 --> 00:34:01.579 how high, how deep his love is. And that you 00:34:01.579 --> 00:34:04.880 may experience the love of Christ, though it 00:34:04.880 --> 00:34:08.639 is too great to fully understand. You'll notice 00:34:08.639 --> 00:34:14.500 the experience. But you'll know it, not from 00:34:14.500 --> 00:34:20.000 knowledge only, but from encountering it. That 00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:23.320 you will be made, what? Complete with all the 00:34:23.320 --> 00:34:26.159 fullness of life and the power that comes from 00:34:26.159 --> 00:34:29.820 God. Now all glory to God who is able through 00:34:29.820 --> 00:34:33.679 his mighty power to work within us to accomplish 00:34:33.679 --> 00:34:38.309 infinitely more than we ask or think. Glory to 00:34:38.309 --> 00:34:41.949 him and glory in the church and in Jesus Christ 00:34:41.949 --> 00:34:44.489 throughout all generations. This was a verse, 00:34:44.489 --> 00:34:47.010 if you listened to the last part of that verse, 00:34:47.070 --> 00:34:51.150 I preached on that verse for over 15 weeks. Why? 00:34:52.550 --> 00:34:56.250 He is able to do exceedingly abundantly more 00:34:56.250 --> 00:34:59.489 than we ask or think. That's part of what God 00:34:59.489 --> 00:35:04.889 is asking us in this next 25 years. So let me 00:35:04.889 --> 00:35:08.599 go on to the story. of how God began to speak 00:35:08.599 --> 00:35:10.380 to me for the last three and a half years of 00:35:10.380 --> 00:35:13.860 where we're going over the past several years 00:35:13.860 --> 00:35:17.360 as I've been in times of prayer and waiting on 00:35:17.360 --> 00:35:19.880 the Lord I've had several encounters while waiting 00:35:19.880 --> 00:35:22.099 on the presence of the Lord that I was given 00:35:22.099 --> 00:35:25.440 the ability to see something while waiting in 00:35:25.440 --> 00:35:28.619 his presence this has happened to me periodically 00:35:28.619 --> 00:35:31.760 throughout my journey with the Lord and I shared 00:35:31.760 --> 00:35:34.920 with you the first open vision that I had that 00:35:34.920 --> 00:35:38.360 was literally tangible where I was walking in 00:35:38.360 --> 00:35:42.480 that. But these other times came when the Lord 00:35:42.480 --> 00:35:44.980 would just open my eyes and as I would be waiting 00:35:44.980 --> 00:35:47.639 in the presence, I wouldn't be walking anywhere, 00:35:47.739 --> 00:35:51.199 but my eyes would be open. And it's happened 00:35:51.199 --> 00:35:54.900 as I've been worshiping here, sometimes on the 00:35:54.900 --> 00:36:00.480 platform, sometimes in prayer. I saw what those 00:36:00.480 --> 00:36:05.280 of us that would look at Ezekiel chapter one, 00:36:05.340 --> 00:36:07.019 and we're going to take a look at Ezekiel chapter 00:36:07.019 --> 00:36:11.860 one. What is often called by some people as the 00:36:11.860 --> 00:36:14.099 mobile throne of God. Now we know the throne 00:36:14.099 --> 00:36:17.019 of God is established in heaven, but Ezekiel 00:36:17.019 --> 00:36:20.500 1, when you read Ezekiel 1, you begin to see 00:36:20.500 --> 00:36:24.699 God coming to visit Ezekiel and there are a whole 00:36:24.699 --> 00:36:28.340 lot of things that are attached in that visitation. 00:36:28.360 --> 00:36:30.480 Not only is there the throne of the Lord that 00:36:30.480 --> 00:36:33.400 he sees one like the son of man sitting on that 00:36:33.400 --> 00:36:36.559 he has different descriptions of him, but he 00:36:36.559 --> 00:36:41.329 sees the cherubim or the wheels within the wheel 00:36:41.329 --> 00:36:45.250 and the living creatures and it moved he saw 00:36:45.250 --> 00:36:48.590 it move up down back forth everywhere it would 00:36:48.590 --> 00:36:51.250 go it would be lifted up or it would come to 00:36:51.250 --> 00:36:54.210 him and that was the beginning of Ezekiel's ministry 00:36:54.210 --> 00:36:58.369 was really in the midst of exile God came to 00:36:58.369 --> 00:37:00.989 him in the midst of his people and would bring 00:37:00.989 --> 00:37:06.059 this vision and this encounter of the holy awesome 00:37:06.059 --> 00:37:08.820 presence of God and everything that's attached 00:37:08.820 --> 00:37:13.119 to it as God establishes his throne or brings 00:37:13.119 --> 00:37:17.420 his presence near. And I happened to catch a 00:37:17.420 --> 00:37:21.719 glimpse of that from time to time. What I saw 00:37:21.719 --> 00:37:27.679 was similar to what I've read. And I witnessed 00:37:28.320 --> 00:37:31.039 what would represent the cloud of his glory and 00:37:31.039 --> 00:37:33.460 encountered what I knew was an atmosphere that 00:37:33.460 --> 00:37:37.320 was directly connected to the throne of God and 00:37:37.320 --> 00:37:41.539 its glory. And honestly, to describe it, as I 00:37:41.539 --> 00:37:44.059 put it in words here and just have gone over 00:37:44.059 --> 00:37:48.280 it, it's almost how Ezekiel described it is incredible. 00:37:48.639 --> 00:37:52.559 Having caught what I believe is several... the 00:37:52.559 --> 00:37:55.840 experiences of seeing that presence of the Lord 00:37:55.840 --> 00:38:00.460 and the atmosphere of what's around him. It's 00:38:00.460 --> 00:38:03.679 more than I can describe. It's incredibly awesome. 00:38:04.000 --> 00:38:07.139 And you are absolutely, when you see it, you're 00:38:07.139 --> 00:38:09.619 undone. What Isaiah said of the Lord, when he 00:38:09.619 --> 00:38:12.199 saw the Lord high and lifted up, he said, woe 00:38:12.199 --> 00:38:15.719 is me, I am undone. It moves you to a place of 00:38:15.719 --> 00:38:20.420 going, oh God, don't kill me, but you are so 00:38:20.420 --> 00:38:23.880 awesome. And I am so unworthy. You are so amazing. 00:38:25.079 --> 00:38:31.239 And after some of these encounters, I had questions 00:38:31.239 --> 00:38:36.639 because as we're pastoring this church and through 00:38:36.639 --> 00:38:41.139 seasons, I wish it all was just linear. But God 00:38:41.139 --> 00:38:44.639 doesn't do things always on a linear basis. He 00:38:44.639 --> 00:38:48.289 does things kind of in... If you've ever read 00:38:48.289 --> 00:38:51.889 the book, The Circle Maker, he does things in 00:38:51.889 --> 00:38:54.250 patterns and he brings things around. He always 00:38:54.250 --> 00:38:58.170 revisits things and resets to remind you that 00:38:58.170 --> 00:39:00.789 he is a God who's faithful and revisits covenant 00:39:00.789 --> 00:39:03.869 people. But he also seems like he likes amusement 00:39:03.869 --> 00:39:09.690 parks with ups and downs. And so everything about 00:39:09.690 --> 00:39:13.539 living your Christian life none of us, for the 00:39:13.539 --> 00:39:16.619 most part, just live a steady Christian life 00:39:16.619 --> 00:39:19.260 where it's just everything is the same and just 00:39:19.260 --> 00:39:21.360 a slight increase and you're just, you know, 00:39:21.360 --> 00:39:23.820 just like you could print it out on a chart, 00:39:23.860 --> 00:39:26.860 well, here's my 3 % increase every year in God. 00:39:27.539 --> 00:39:29.460 How many of you know that some of your biggest 00:39:29.460 --> 00:39:32.500 increases come through your most darkest times? 00:39:33.300 --> 00:39:36.239 And so in the process of the valleys and the 00:39:36.239 --> 00:39:40.260 hills, many of that, times it's in the midst 00:39:40.260 --> 00:39:42.320 of the valleys and the hills it's in the midst 00:39:42.320 --> 00:39:45.159 of circumstances and the testing of faith and 00:39:45.159 --> 00:39:48.679 the trials that God begins to deal with you and 00:39:48.679 --> 00:39:51.239 I begin to ask the question Lord you've told 00:39:51.239 --> 00:39:55.099 me to build to focus this team and the church 00:39:55.099 --> 00:39:58.360 and everything on an atmosphere of your presence 00:39:58.360 --> 00:40:01.699 and to connect in worship and to fervently pray 00:40:01.699 --> 00:40:05.219 and to believe you and yet there's times where 00:40:05.219 --> 00:40:08.630 you come in great power and And then there's 00:40:08.630 --> 00:40:11.130 other times when it doesn't seem like, I mean, 00:40:11.170 --> 00:40:13.130 I know you're there. The Bible says you're always 00:40:13.130 --> 00:40:15.530 there. There's times when we could, what we would 00:40:15.530 --> 00:40:18.670 call the manifest presence is so tangible. And 00:40:18.670 --> 00:40:20.690 then there's other times when we just by faith 00:40:20.690 --> 00:40:24.309 know your presence is there. Why is there this 00:40:24.309 --> 00:40:30.090 on the service? Where sometimes you feel breakthrough 00:40:30.090 --> 00:40:32.269 and other times you feel like, bing, you hit 00:40:32.269 --> 00:40:39.059 the lid. And so, I ask God these questions. Is 00:40:39.059 --> 00:40:47.119 it us? Is it you? Is it both? Why in the intensity 00:40:47.119 --> 00:40:52.800 sometimes, or in private, can it be so incredible? 00:40:53.639 --> 00:40:55.940 And other times it's still incredible because 00:40:55.940 --> 00:40:59.000 I have access to you, but I don't experience 00:40:59.000 --> 00:41:01.420 it at an incredible level. I have to take it 00:41:01.420 --> 00:41:05.360 by faith. And I was inquiring by the Lord of 00:41:05.360 --> 00:41:09.980 some of this over the journey of Life Bible Church, 00:41:10.059 --> 00:41:14.380 being told this was my mandate for this house. 00:41:15.920 --> 00:41:18.880 And as I was on this journey to ask the Lord 00:41:18.880 --> 00:41:23.320 about this, because I don't, I'm just telling 00:41:23.320 --> 00:41:25.719 you this, I don't like it when we don't experience 00:41:25.719 --> 00:41:30.260 breakthrough. The team sees it. I try to hide 00:41:30.260 --> 00:41:34.900 it. But I can't. If they see me turn around in 00:41:34.900 --> 00:41:36.659 the chair and start to pray, they go, uh -oh. 00:41:38.280 --> 00:41:40.519 I don't know what else to do. It's just like, 00:41:40.579 --> 00:41:43.119 Lord, God, I got a breakthrough. I will preach 00:41:43.119 --> 00:41:48.380 until you break through. As I was talking to 00:41:48.380 --> 00:41:49.920 the Lord about this one day, I heard the Lord 00:41:49.920 --> 00:41:58.400 say, reread Ezekiel 1 and Ezekiel 10. And I read 00:41:58.400 --> 00:42:02.159 both of these. chapters over and over. I read 00:42:02.159 --> 00:42:04.719 all of it from one to 10 back and forth. I kept 00:42:04.719 --> 00:42:06.719 reading it. Now I'm not going to read Ezekiel 00:42:06.719 --> 00:42:11.019 one, all of one and all of 10 today, but Ezekiel 00:42:11.019 --> 00:42:18.340 one, verse 12 was the verse that absolutely leaped 00:42:18.340 --> 00:42:20.179 off the page. And we'll get there in a second. 00:42:21.519 --> 00:42:25.820 Although my seeing of what I would see the presence 00:42:25.820 --> 00:42:29.230 of the Lord is not the same. In intensity or 00:42:29.230 --> 00:42:32.769 in the power of the scripture, I'm not in any 00:42:32.769 --> 00:42:35.789 way equating my visions to anything close to 00:42:35.789 --> 00:42:38.250 the power of scripture. I'm just saying I had 00:42:38.250 --> 00:42:42.150 something in scripture in which what I saw, I 00:42:42.150 --> 00:42:45.130 recognized that this was the Lord revealing his 00:42:45.130 --> 00:42:50.230 throne and his presence to me. And I began to 00:42:50.230 --> 00:42:54.230 comprehend as I read again multiple times and 00:42:54.230 --> 00:42:57.530 familiarized myself with it. that the measurable 00:42:57.530 --> 00:43:00.909 increase of God's presence when he visits and 00:43:00.909 --> 00:43:03.949 the difference between his high presence that 00:43:03.949 --> 00:43:08.269 is experienced and those that come through faith, 00:43:08.489 --> 00:43:17.269 that his atmosphere does bring something with 00:43:17.269 --> 00:43:22.510 it that is meant to change and move us forward. 00:43:23.070 --> 00:43:30.690 Meaning that We don't worship God for a feeling. 00:43:31.909 --> 00:43:34.789 Please hear me say that. We don't worship God 00:43:34.789 --> 00:43:38.030 for a feeling. We worship God because we're told 00:43:38.030 --> 00:43:41.869 to worship God and our spirit inside of us desires 00:43:41.869 --> 00:43:45.730 to worship the one who is creator and the lover 00:43:45.730 --> 00:43:50.110 of our soul. So whether the song service did 00:43:50.110 --> 00:43:53.320 it for you or not, The whole principle of worship 00:43:53.320 --> 00:43:57.019 is not on our gauge of what we like or don't 00:43:57.019 --> 00:43:59.659 like. The principle of worship is literally, 00:43:59.719 --> 00:44:06.860 it means we praise, honor, magnify his worth 00:44:06.860 --> 00:44:11.059 -ship. It's all about him receiving glory. Okay, 00:44:11.119 --> 00:44:16.579 you doing okay? So in that. As you begin to read, 00:44:16.659 --> 00:44:18.860 and I'm going to have to go quickly here. As 00:44:18.860 --> 00:44:22.780 you begin to read Ezekiel 1, verses 1 through 00:44:22.780 --> 00:44:26.659 14, you begin to see that the atmosphere of God's 00:44:26.659 --> 00:44:30.179 presence brings about the atmosphere, or if you 00:44:30.179 --> 00:44:32.659 will, the living creatures that represent the 00:44:32.659 --> 00:44:35.260 four, we call it the four faces of God, or the 00:44:35.260 --> 00:44:38.219 four atmospheres. You've got the lion, you've 00:44:38.219 --> 00:44:40.460 got the oxen, you've got the man, and you've 00:44:40.460 --> 00:44:42.840 got the eagle. All of those represent even a 00:44:42.840 --> 00:44:45.860 type of gospel. Mark, Luke, and John, they all 00:44:45.860 --> 00:44:49.639 represent a type of, the oxen represent the servant, 00:44:49.699 --> 00:44:52.739 the man representing the one who has been made 00:44:52.739 --> 00:44:55.300 in the image of God, the eagle representing the 00:44:55.300 --> 00:44:58.139 prophetic that sees high, and the lion representing 00:44:58.139 --> 00:45:01.360 what? That boldness that comes to advance the 00:45:01.360 --> 00:45:04.260 kingdom of God. All of those things are always 00:45:04.260 --> 00:45:07.940 in the presence of God's throne. And in the presence, 00:45:08.079 --> 00:45:10.380 they're always there. You read the scriptures 00:45:10.380 --> 00:45:13.199 in Revelation, those are always there. And then 00:45:13.199 --> 00:45:16.420 you see, the presence of light and fire in the 00:45:16.420 --> 00:45:19.019 midst of it and the cloud of his presence and 00:45:19.019 --> 00:45:23.300 the authority of it. And in that process, if 00:45:23.300 --> 00:45:26.000 you've noticed in a worship service, sometimes 00:45:26.000 --> 00:45:30.360 you'll get the lion's presence, but then sometimes 00:45:30.360 --> 00:45:34.519 you'll get a prophetic presence, the eagle. Sometimes 00:45:34.519 --> 00:45:38.139 you'll focus on just the man, the one who hung 00:45:38.139 --> 00:45:41.730 on the cross. There's a man on the throne. And 00:45:41.730 --> 00:45:45.369 sometimes you'll get the oxen, the call of what? 00:45:45.449 --> 00:45:48.530 Of service for the kingdom and God. Those are 00:45:48.530 --> 00:45:52.110 all the atmosphere that is around God of how 00:45:52.110 --> 00:45:58.230 he decides to move his people forward. And as 00:45:58.230 --> 00:46:02.730 you look at that, you begin to see that these 00:46:02.730 --> 00:46:05.980 living creatures have wings. Some wings cover 00:46:05.980 --> 00:46:08.900 themselves and some wings propel themselves. 00:46:09.179 --> 00:46:11.219 Now, I could go deeper into this, but I'm running 00:46:11.219 --> 00:46:14.159 out of time. So let's just keep going. Verse 00:46:14.159 --> 00:46:21.199 12 is this. And as they went, it says, and each 00:46:21.199 --> 00:46:26.420 went straight forward. Wherever the spirit would 00:46:26.420 --> 00:46:31.960 go, they went without turning as they went. Meaning, 00:46:32.139 --> 00:46:37.190 whatever direction, God and his spirit chose 00:46:37.190 --> 00:46:44.150 to go. That was forward. That was forward. That 00:46:44.150 --> 00:46:50.949 was forward. Every direction God chooses is forward. 00:46:56.269 --> 00:46:59.809 Now, I don't have time to tell you. It's not 00:46:59.809 --> 00:47:02.909 about. Really, the visitations that the Lord 00:47:02.909 --> 00:47:04.750 has given me are what he's allowed me to see. 00:47:04.809 --> 00:47:06.730 I'm trying to bring some of that in so you understand 00:47:06.730 --> 00:47:10.269 the context of why the vision came out as it 00:47:10.269 --> 00:47:16.510 has. But the Lord showed me something about moving 00:47:16.510 --> 00:47:21.610 with the presence of the throne of the Lord, 00:47:21.690 --> 00:47:25.489 which represents truth and the spirit. Listen 00:47:25.489 --> 00:47:28.909 to me. We're in a series right now where we're 00:47:28.909 --> 00:47:34.150 dealing with what? Spirit and truth. So God has 00:47:34.150 --> 00:47:37.289 brought us now to a place where you understand 00:47:37.289 --> 00:47:42.070 how do you move with spirit and truth? You have 00:47:42.070 --> 00:47:45.190 to be sensitive to what the spirit of God is 00:47:45.190 --> 00:47:49.889 highlighting in that day, in that moment. When 00:47:49.889 --> 00:47:52.190 we come together in this house, we don't just 00:47:52.190 --> 00:47:55.070 come together, pick a list, pick a song list, 00:47:55.190 --> 00:47:59.210 do a song service, get in a good word and that's 00:47:59.210 --> 00:48:02.329 it. No, no, no, no, no. He's teaching us to do 00:48:02.329 --> 00:48:07.369 what? Move by the authority of spirit and word. 00:48:08.809 --> 00:48:11.469 The authority of when he wants to come and allow 00:48:11.469 --> 00:48:14.570 the manifest presence of God to be released because 00:48:14.570 --> 00:48:18.989 when he comes in that way, he does what? He releases, 00:48:19.030 --> 00:48:24.610 the king releases the power of his kingdom. And 00:48:24.610 --> 00:48:26.469 so I was drawn to that statement and then the 00:48:26.469 --> 00:48:29.849 Lord took me to John 3 as Jesus was dealing with 00:48:29.849 --> 00:48:33.510 Nicodemus. As I was looking at Ezekiel, I felt 00:48:33.510 --> 00:48:36.360 compelled to go to John 3. He says, Unless one 00:48:36.360 --> 00:48:39.659 is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 00:48:40.099 --> 00:48:43.019 Jesus again answered Nicodemus, I say to you, 00:48:43.039 --> 00:48:46.119 unless you're born of water and the spirit, you 00:48:46.119 --> 00:48:48.320 cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is 00:48:48.320 --> 00:48:50.920 born of flesh is flesh. That which is born of 00:48:50.920 --> 00:48:54.019 spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I say to 00:48:54.019 --> 00:48:57.579 you, you must be born again. Verse eight is the 00:48:57.579 --> 00:49:02.480 clincher for today. The wind blows where it wishes. 00:49:03.719 --> 00:49:07.460 You hear its sound, but you do not know where 00:49:07.460 --> 00:49:12.059 it comes from or where it goes. That is a direct 00:49:12.059 --> 00:49:15.440 reference to Ezekiel chapter one and how the 00:49:15.440 --> 00:49:18.460 presence of God comes and goes. You know it's 00:49:18.460 --> 00:49:21.579 there. You know he's around you. He's beside 00:49:21.579 --> 00:49:24.199 you. He's with you. But sometimes the encounter, 00:49:24.400 --> 00:49:26.679 you don't know where he came from or where he's 00:49:26.679 --> 00:49:31.840 going to next. He just visits you. Now listen. 00:49:32.730 --> 00:49:40.969 So it is. What? So it is with everyone who is 00:49:40.969 --> 00:49:46.050 born of the spirit. Meaning what? If you've been 00:49:46.050 --> 00:49:49.949 born again, God wants to train your senses to 00:49:49.949 --> 00:49:56.030 know both truth and his spirit. Together with 00:49:56.030 --> 00:49:58.670 Ezekiel, I knew the Lord was highlighting something 00:49:58.670 --> 00:50:02.690 about being led by the spirit of God. Holy Spirit 00:50:02.690 --> 00:50:06.650 spoke to my heart and he said, any way I go is 00:50:06.650 --> 00:50:10.650 forward. It's forward in my will. Please understand 00:50:10.650 --> 00:50:13.730 that. It may not be forward to you, but it's 00:50:13.730 --> 00:50:18.869 forward in my will. Son, in following me, you 00:50:18.869 --> 00:50:21.989 must understand any way I move you is a forward 00:50:21.989 --> 00:50:26.039 direction. I, the Lord, do not retreat or backtrack. 00:50:26.059 --> 00:50:30.099 I always go forward. Remember, I desire those 00:50:30.099 --> 00:50:32.860 who worship me in spirit and truth, these that 00:50:32.860 --> 00:50:36.139 are moved by my spirit in any direction. Why? 00:50:36.320 --> 00:50:40.440 I move them always into my truth, for this is 00:50:40.440 --> 00:50:45.420 how I guide them. And that brings me to this 00:50:45.420 --> 00:50:48.059 next phase before we now begin to show you a 00:50:48.059 --> 00:50:52.480 couple things. As I was doing that, over the 00:50:52.480 --> 00:50:56.000 last three and a half years ago as I was waiting 00:50:56.000 --> 00:50:59.360 on the Lord and I just began, I sit in this back 00:50:59.360 --> 00:51:01.280 room back here and I was looking at the river. 00:51:01.599 --> 00:51:04.619 This was the beginning of us realizing that the 00:51:04.619 --> 00:51:07.960 river was taking way more ground that year than 00:51:07.960 --> 00:51:11.059 it had ever done before. Like it took 20 feet 00:51:11.059 --> 00:51:13.940 that year. And I'm looking at it and I'm panicking 00:51:13.940 --> 00:51:16.000 and I'm just staring out the window and all of 00:51:16.000 --> 00:51:19.480 a sudden as I was in the midst of this thinking 00:51:19.480 --> 00:51:22.829 about Spirit and Truth and Ezekiel and John, 00:51:23.070 --> 00:51:26.469 all of a sudden this hummingbird comes to the 00:51:26.469 --> 00:51:32.369 window. And I'm like, what? There is no flowers 00:51:32.369 --> 00:51:37.730 here. It's just a shrub bush that needed to be 00:51:37.730 --> 00:51:44.190 trimmed. And it's just, and I watch it. Up, down, 00:51:44.429 --> 00:51:50.480 back, forth. And I'm like. I was kind of just 00:51:50.480 --> 00:51:53.679 took my mind off the river for a second. I'm 00:51:53.679 --> 00:51:56.119 looking at this bird going, wow, it's amazing 00:51:56.119 --> 00:51:59.880 how this thing can move back and forth. Still 00:51:59.880 --> 00:52:05.719 sharp as a tack, not putting it together. So 00:52:05.719 --> 00:52:07.659 that was the first day. Second day, I come back 00:52:07.659 --> 00:52:09.260 to the prayer room. That was on a Tuesday. I'm 00:52:09.260 --> 00:52:12.860 now on a Wednesday and I am praying and I'm asking 00:52:12.860 --> 00:52:15.280 the Lord back on this Ezekiel thing and what 00:52:15.280 --> 00:52:17.659 I've been seeing. And all of a sudden, Hummingbird 00:52:17.659 --> 00:52:19.579 comes back. I go, you've got to be kidding me. 00:52:19.619 --> 00:52:25.179 There is no flowers here, buddy. There's no feeders. 00:52:26.280 --> 00:52:29.119 And then it just stands. I mean, literally stand. 00:52:29.260 --> 00:52:32.440 I mean, flies up. I'm standing looking at the 00:52:32.440 --> 00:52:36.239 river. It flies up and just and looks right at 00:52:36.239 --> 00:52:42.860 me. I go, oh no. I'm about to become one of those 00:52:42.860 --> 00:52:45.400 weird prophets that hears something from a bird. 00:52:53.519 --> 00:52:55.559 Thank God he saved me. I did not hear anything 00:52:55.559 --> 00:52:59.599 from a bird. But it just looked at me, did its 00:52:59.599 --> 00:53:03.760 back and forth, up, down, and buzzed away. Didn't 00:53:03.760 --> 00:53:07.500 put it together again. I now understand why Peter 00:53:07.500 --> 00:53:11.320 needed the vision three times. The third day, 00:53:11.400 --> 00:53:17.139 I am praying. And again, a hummingbird shows 00:53:17.139 --> 00:53:21.110 up, grabs my gauge. or my gaze. And this time, 00:53:21.110 --> 00:53:24.469 as it moves back, forth, up, down, I finally 00:53:24.469 --> 00:53:28.110 said, okay, I'm not getting it. This is the third 00:53:28.110 --> 00:53:30.429 day in a row. There's no flower. Lord, what are 00:53:30.429 --> 00:53:35.030 you saying to me? And all of a sudden, as soon 00:53:35.030 --> 00:53:37.590 as I asked that question, a fresh infusion of 00:53:37.590 --> 00:53:41.230 faith and courage hit me. And I began to stand 00:53:41.230 --> 00:53:44.610 over the riverbank and began to declare that 00:53:44.610 --> 00:53:49.769 it would not destroy The vision or the promise 00:53:49.769 --> 00:53:53.190 that God had given us. That only the Lord's will 00:53:53.190 --> 00:53:58.250 would prevail. And as I was saying that, I heard 00:53:58.250 --> 00:54:03.110 the Lord say to me, he goes, I want you now to 00:54:03.110 --> 00:54:08.829 look up what a hummingbird does. I thought, seriously, 00:54:08.989 --> 00:54:15.610 Lord? Look it up. So I went and I began to look 00:54:15.610 --> 00:54:17.980 up hummingbirds. And here's what I found out. 00:54:18.000 --> 00:54:19.780 I'm going to keep you just a little bit. Here's 00:54:19.780 --> 00:54:24.139 what I found out. Hummingbirds consume as much 00:54:24.139 --> 00:54:29.840 nectar as they possibly can. It's like they live 00:54:29.840 --> 00:54:33.980 for nectar. Hummingbirds remember every place 00:54:33.980 --> 00:54:37.820 where there was an abundance of flowers and they 00:54:37.820 --> 00:54:42.400 go back to places of sweetness. Hummingbirds 00:54:42.400 --> 00:54:45.300 move in all direction. They're the only one in 00:54:45.300 --> 00:54:48.420 God's creation that can do that. It's in direct 00:54:48.420 --> 00:54:51.699 proportion. They move the way they do to get 00:54:51.699 --> 00:54:55.320 the nectar. Hummingbirds have incredible vision 00:54:55.320 --> 00:54:58.559 to see color. They can see even infrared light. 00:54:58.699 --> 00:55:02.460 They see the spectrum of light. Hummingbirds 00:55:02.460 --> 00:55:05.519 are tiny in size, but I love this one. They are 00:55:05.519 --> 00:55:10.219 aggressive in spirit. They defend their nectar 00:55:10.219 --> 00:55:14.559 sources and their nests. Hummingbirds can sing, 00:55:14.659 --> 00:55:19.239 but some squawk and some chatter. That sounds 00:55:19.239 --> 00:55:25.480 like our worship service. Hummingbirds beat, 00:55:25.599 --> 00:55:29.739 heartbeat up to 1200 beats per minute, but their 00:55:29.739 --> 00:55:33.440 wings can flap in certain species over 80 flaps 00:55:33.440 --> 00:55:36.900 per second. And then finally, hummingbirds have 00:55:36.900 --> 00:55:41.719 the unique ability to hover midair, operating, 00:55:42.079 --> 00:55:45.280 this is incredible, operating their wings in 00:55:45.280 --> 00:55:49.639 a figure eight pattern that allows them to stay 00:55:49.639 --> 00:55:55.420 stationary while receiving the sweetness. God 00:55:55.420 --> 00:55:58.980 spoke to me as I finished it. He said, the hummingbird 00:55:58.980 --> 00:56:02.480 is a type and a shadow of what it looks like 00:56:02.480 --> 00:56:06.099 to live passionately. for the nectar of my presence. 00:56:08.920 --> 00:56:13.059 I told you I wanted this house to be a house 00:56:13.059 --> 00:56:18.219 that pursues where God is magnified and exalted. 00:56:18.260 --> 00:56:22.780 Jesus and his presence and the Holy Spirit is 00:56:22.780 --> 00:56:28.800 what you are to be and to pursue. Every time 00:56:28.800 --> 00:56:31.300 I want you to remember my goodness and recall 00:56:31.300 --> 00:56:34.820 the glory of my presence of each encounter. Like 00:56:34.820 --> 00:56:38.280 the hummingbird, you should be able to move by 00:56:38.280 --> 00:56:41.039 the Holy Spirit in every direction I come to 00:56:41.039 --> 00:56:44.699 lead you. Do not get stuck by formulas or rituals. 00:56:44.980 --> 00:56:49.139 You must be led by the Spirit and truth. And 00:56:49.139 --> 00:56:52.260 like the hummingbird, continue to be fervent 00:56:52.260 --> 00:56:56.139 in spirit of prayer and worship boldly and aggressively 00:56:56.139 --> 00:57:01.260 operate in faith and kingdom authority. And I 00:57:01.260 --> 00:57:07.000 said, oh God. Give us this heart. As the team 00:57:07.000 --> 00:57:09.739 was asking what they wanted to do for the 25th, 00:57:09.739 --> 00:57:11.280 what are we gonna do? What are we gonna do for 00:57:11.280 --> 00:57:13.739 the church? Is there anything we can do? I said, 00:57:13.760 --> 00:57:15.360 well, what do you think we need to do? I said, 00:57:15.360 --> 00:57:17.639 the last time I did something for the church, 00:57:17.719 --> 00:57:20.659 I built a fire pit and the river took it. They 00:57:20.659 --> 00:57:24.599 go, we want you to rebrand. We want you to come 00:57:24.599 --> 00:57:26.880 up with a new logo for the house. I said, I love 00:57:26.880 --> 00:57:29.500 that logo. It has the compass, has the direction. 00:57:29.559 --> 00:57:32.340 It has north. Tim Munson worked hard on that. 00:57:34.659 --> 00:57:37.880 I hope he's still forgiving me after all of the 00:57:37.880 --> 00:57:40.679 work on that. And they said, no, we love that, 00:57:40.719 --> 00:57:43.380 but we need something fresh for the next generation. 00:57:45.219 --> 00:57:49.599 And so we took time with the logo, the new logo, 00:57:49.639 --> 00:57:53.400 some fresh colors. some updated fonts and an 00:57:53.400 --> 00:57:56.679 updated mission statement. Now, I'm not a guy 00:57:56.679 --> 00:57:58.860 to change things for changing things. Just ask 00:57:58.860 --> 00:58:04.840 my wife. I don't like change unless I know that 00:58:04.840 --> 00:58:09.639 it's transformational change. So as I met with 00:58:09.639 --> 00:58:14.539 the team, they decided to bring in someone outside 00:58:14.539 --> 00:58:17.199 just to try to get something beyond what we've 00:58:17.199 --> 00:58:20.230 had. changed over the years in the 25 years. 00:58:20.510 --> 00:58:23.030 And they asked me, they said, and we can start 00:58:23.030 --> 00:58:25.369 putting some stuff up there. They said, what 00:58:25.369 --> 00:58:29.010 would, if you help us understand Life Bible Church, 00:58:29.130 --> 00:58:32.829 if you say, what is Life Bible Church like? I 00:58:32.829 --> 00:58:35.329 said, well, first of all, it needs to be specific 00:58:35.329 --> 00:58:39.869 Northwest colors. I said, we live in the Pacific 00:58:39.869 --> 00:58:42.510 Northwest, but I said, the best thing I can tell 00:58:42.510 --> 00:58:52.909 you is spiritually, we're like Tabasco. We are 00:58:52.909 --> 00:58:56.630 a little spicy and we're a little fervent and 00:58:56.630 --> 00:59:00.170 hot in the things and we add, we try to pursue 00:59:00.170 --> 00:59:04.090 to add flavor in our encounter with God. So I 00:59:04.090 --> 00:59:08.829 said, think spicy, think hot, think Pacific Northwest, 00:59:08.949 --> 00:59:14.789 and then, oh yes, think hummingbird. And they 00:59:14.789 --> 00:59:19.360 go, what? I said, but not a Tinkerbell hummingbird, 00:59:19.440 --> 00:59:23.179 something that's a fighting hummingbird. And 00:59:23.179 --> 00:59:25.840 so this is what we've come up with. Life representing 00:59:25.840 --> 00:59:28.219 growth, the background, the compass, and you 00:59:28.219 --> 00:59:30.699 can see the compass in the background kind of 00:59:30.699 --> 00:59:32.760 dimensions, and you can see the hummingbird that 00:59:32.760 --> 00:59:35.920 God spoke to us over the years. And so we are 00:59:35.920 --> 00:59:39.699 excited for the next 25 years to keep pursuing 00:59:39.699 --> 00:59:43.460 the presence of God. to see the next generation 00:59:43.460 --> 00:59:47.639 passed on, to be able to have a fresh logo. And 00:59:47.639 --> 00:59:50.599 here's our new mission statement. Very simple. 00:59:50.820 --> 00:59:53.599 I'm, as you know, long -winded as we're over 00:59:53.599 --> 00:59:57.260 time. Let's put up the simple, to do his will 00:59:57.260 --> 01:00:03.400 in his power for his glory. To do his will in 01:00:03.400 --> 01:00:06.179 his power for his glory. Can you say that with 01:00:06.179 --> 01:00:11.320 me? To do his will in his power for his glory. 01:00:11.949 --> 01:00:24.110 Would you stand with me this morning? Jenny, 01:00:24.210 --> 01:00:25.789 why don't you come stand with me here? Let's 01:00:25.789 --> 01:00:28.070 pray over the people as you get ready to give 01:00:28.070 --> 01:00:31.750 some announcements. Father, in Jesus' name, Lord, 01:00:31.889 --> 01:00:39.190 we honor your word and we honor Lord, you. We 01:00:39.190 --> 01:00:42.840 thank you for 25 years. God, we don't want to 01:00:42.840 --> 01:00:45.519 forget what was behind like we read this morning. 01:00:45.840 --> 01:00:49.280 We want to teach it to the next generation. The 01:00:49.280 --> 01:00:52.079 exploits of God, the preservation of God, the 01:00:52.079 --> 01:00:55.719 faith that came, the miraculous things that happened. 01:00:56.119 --> 01:01:00.079 But Lord, we have expectancy set upon the next 01:01:00.079 --> 01:01:03.539 season. Lord, about what you are doing, we will 01:01:03.539 --> 01:01:07.639 not turn our back in the day of battle. Lord, 01:01:07.780 --> 01:01:11.780 for victory. And promises and inheritance is 01:01:11.780 --> 01:01:15.780 about at the time of transition and in the time 01:01:15.780 --> 01:01:18.539 of birthing something new. Lord, we bless you. 01:01:18.619 --> 01:01:21.860 We bless your work. And we bless, most importantly, 01:01:22.079 --> 01:01:25.360 the ones that you love, your people. Now, Lord, 01:01:25.460 --> 01:01:29.860 we know that a logo and that is not much. But, 01:01:29.940 --> 01:01:33.260 Lord, we love the journey. And, Lord, we ask 01:01:33.260 --> 01:01:35.280 that you would put this mission in our heart. 01:01:35.840 --> 01:01:38.079 We know our purpose is to build you a Christ 01:01:38.079 --> 01:01:40.980 -centered church where you're exalted and magnified, 01:01:40.980 --> 01:01:43.420 where everybody finds their place and their identity 01:01:43.420 --> 01:01:47.219 to serve the family, the church, the communities, 01:01:47.219 --> 01:01:50.900 and the world. But let us be people trained and 01:01:50.900 --> 01:01:56.900 equipped to do His will in your power for your 01:01:56.900 --> 01:02:13.650 glory. In Jesus' holy name we pray. Amen. If 01:02:13.650 --> 01:02:16.309 you would like to give, click the link in the 01:02:16.309 --> 01:02:19.130 episode description below. You can also help 01:02:19.130 --> 01:02:21.510 us by subscribing to this podcast and sharing 01:02:21.510 --> 01:02:24.829 it with your friends and family. Lastly, if you 01:02:24.829 --> 01:02:27.050 are in need of prayer, send us a text message 01:02:27.050 --> 01:02:32.710 at 541 -625 -1365. We would love to pray with 01:02:32.710 --> 01:02:32.909 you.