Let the Celebration Begin - Steve Henry

1 (2s): Good morning. Welcome to harvest. Why don't we all stand together? Let's worship, Lord. We hear this morning with two or more gathered. Dedicated this time. 2 (8m 21s): he? he . He was 3 (8m 55s): Where's your heart to pray. 5 (10m 53s): Lord, help us remember to being passionate and especially passionate to our families. 4 (11m 7s): Or thank you for all these loving waivers or your 6 (18m 7s): Lord, thank you. That we rest in that promise that you will not feel 7 (18m 27s): Well, good morning. And welcome back to harvest church. You may be wondering two things real quick. Why is Curtis already back in why's he more handsome than he was before? Well, it's because I'm not Curtis. I am I'm burger Wade, and this is Jeremy. He is our student ministries leader 6 (18m 49s): And a few other things, 7 (18m 51s): A few other things, 6 (18m 53s): But yeah. Well, welcome here. So this is family Sunday and we just, yeah, we value that our church is multi-generational. We, I love looking out and seeing the young young kids, as well as older folks and just everyone in between it it's we really value that our church has this kind of broad spectrum. So family Sunday, we celebrate petty. The fourth, Sunday we have each month, we celebrate that by donuts. We've got donuts out there, but we also asked if the kids remain in service first grade enough. So if, if you're, if you're a little kid, a little loud, it's okay. I have great memories of bothering their parents in church as well, being a nuisance. But you know, those are fond memories that I hold on to, of getting to worship with my parents and seeing them worship. 6 (19m 38s): So it's yeah, it's, it's a great thing. So we celebrate that today for, with family Sunday and there is donuts out there as well as coffee, not for kids. It's probably shouldn't have the cost. You're gonna have donuts, right? 7 (19m 50s): Yeah. They can have the donuts. So we also have life groups starting up. So we've got our men's women's home groups, couples, and we also have a college group just in case you want to see more of me and you're in college, does anybody? So 6 (20m 10s): I do 7 (20m 11s): Thank you. But we've got all that information on our wonderful info center. You can pick up any flyers, you can sign up for life groups back there. It's just a really great resource to have. 6 (20m 21s): Yeah. And then lastly, as far as announcements go, we, we encourage the men in our church to every month go to . That's our men's monthly gathering at a thousand Hills ranch this year, this month, September, the month of September is gonna be a little different. It's actually MW six. And that is because the men are supposed to bring their wives. And it's also, it's a, it's a fundraising events for M six as well as 17 strong. So that's going to be September 12th out at the ranch and that's from six to seven 30 and it's a fundraiser. So it's $150 a couple, but it's a great time of worship testimony and just great delicious food. I mean, if, if the food for the men is good, I'm just, I think it's going to be the next level. 6 (21m 5s): So there's that. And finally, this is, we want to take this day, we're partnering with mothers in prayer and we, this is bless our school Sunday. So we want to emphasize that there's this amazing international ministry that, that, that happens at our church as well. It's called mothers in prayer and that's partnering women together, mothers who pray over their kids, pray over the schools. There's lots of different ways to do that. So Shannon Kessler has been leading that for almost 14 years now. And she's back at the info center would love to give you more details on mothers and prayer, but also we just want to bless our school. So what I want to do now, before we go into our meet and greet time is if you are a school teacher, if you are work at school, you're part of the admin staff, any anything having to do, and also students and graduates once you they'll stand up. 6 (21m 55s): So we can pray for you this morning. Can you do that now? And that is homeschool parents as well. So please stand up also students. Yeah. Let me some students breakers already standing. Yeah. So let me pray. Let me pray over you right now. Heavenly father, we thank you Lord, for what these, what does, what does, what the, the people that are standing in Lord this morning signifying that they're, they're part of the education system of educating the next generation. Lord God, whether they're part of the educators or being educated themselves. So are we, we know that the schools can be difficult Lord. 6 (22m 37s): And so we just pray your blessing over the teachers as they lean on you, as they lead and guide these children and just their light into, into those classrooms, Lord and pray for the homeschool parents as well, or is it difficult? Job, Lord. And so we just blessed those moms and dads who are, who partaken in that Lord. And we thank you for the students that are being missionaries out in your schools, whether it's on the college campuses or in the high schools or elementary schools, Lord, we just pray that they would be a light to their students and a light to the teachers that are there. Lord. So we thank you, Lord. We play you just your, your blessing over this schools and our school district. Lord, God bless them in Jesus name. We pray. Amen. 6 (23m 18s): All right. So why don't you take us a minute to meet and greet somebody around you? It's a good time to kind of find some empty chairs and squeeze in. God bless you guys. 9 (25m 9s): My soul is cold gray. saw the glory as it broke God of mercy in light. 9 (25m 56s): Brilliant sales. You globe awakens my soul. 10 (26m 2s): Hey, good morning. All right. Good morning. Welcome. Am I on? I shouldn't be on think I'm on A real quick, real quick. How many understand the purpose of meet and greet? How many understand the purpose of meet and greet? All right, I'm gonna, I'm gonna bust some of y'all. So I'm walking around and I'm noticing some of you are glued to your chairs. You're like, I'm not getting up. 10 (26m 43s): I'm not crossing the aisle. I'm not meeting nobody today and that's not what meet and greets all about. So we're doing it again. It's a do over. So the rule you got to peel the glue off your backside, stand up and go meet somebody that you have never ever met before. I mean, you got to get out of your eye or your row, one side of the building to the other go That is a meet and greet right there. 10 (28m 34s): The obvious answer to this question is how many who met somebody that they've never ever met before? Mary nice. There we go. That's the meet and greet. There we go. So that's the standard by which all future meet and greets will be judged. So welcome. Welcome. Welcome. It's good to be back. Appreciate all the love and just the support, the prayers a couple of weeks ago, during first service I preached during second service, I went to the ER and anyway, just stuff was going on. So I'll give you kind of an update and it's really all kind of dumb and mysterious. 10 (29m 16s): Like, you know, nobody's got real good answers, which is always frustrating. I saw Levi appear with a bro or Jack with a broken arm. And you're like, you can explain that you've got a broken arm, right? Like I got a cast. That's obvious that what's going on. I, these things that happened to me are just weird, strange and UN describable. So, so after like, I don't know, we spent the night in the hospital and next morning, like six doctors come in and just start talking to me about stuff. And, and finally a guy said, we think there's something going on with your vagus nerve and vagus nerve, like controls all of your vital organs and look it up. 10 (30m 1s): It's interesting. I had never, never heard of a vagus nerve until they told me mines ain't working. So then I checked it out and I need to go to Vegas. Yeah. That's not the first time I've heard that joke. Yeah. I hear that all the time. So then I go to my general doctor, doctor what's his name's Fellini. Thank you very much that my doctor for 20 years, probably, I don't know. Anyway, Dr. Sweeney said, Hey, I'm not sure it's your vagus nerve. So I'm thinking, I'm thinking, thanks doc. I had an answer and now I have no answer. So anyway, Dr. Sweeney is going to be doing some more work. I'm going to be meeting with him in a couple of weeks again, and we'll just see what happens. 10 (30m 42s): I don't know. So what happens basically is I, blood blood pressure drops. My heart rate drops. I feel tingling in my extremities. Don't Google all this stuff. Cause you'll, you'll just get run on, you know, I'll get all these emails. Well, you think it's have you tried. And I appreciate all that, but it's, it's it's we got good people working on it and we'll see what happens. So anyway, you just kind of feel lightheaded. My, my heart rate drops into the thirties and then goes way high. And it's just kind of weird stuff. So I don't know what's going on. I just know that when I'm feeling it coming on, I just have to rest, hydrate and take care of myself. 10 (31m 22s): And so that's what I'm going to do. I don't know how often it'll come around, but in the meantime, I'm just going to, we've all got stuff, right? We're all dealing with something in our physical bodies. These all tents get a little tattered over a lifetime and we just need to patch them up from time to time and just wait for the new tent. That's common, this new, new body, that boy, oh boy, the older you get, the more you're looking forward. You're like bringing a Jesus. Yeah. So anyway, it's, it's common. So that's my help health update. Continue to just pray that the doctors get some clarity about things and maybe there's medication. Maybe there's a lifestyle change. 10 (32m 2s): I don't know, but there's something going on my heart. My desire is just to keep doing what I'm doing for until death do us part. I mean, that's my heart and my desire just to be here, loving people, serving Jesus, teaching the word what's going on with my mic, pull it away from it. Other. So at some point, your beard gets a little long. So you wake up and you don't just have bedhead, but you got beard ahead as well. Beard. Yeah, bed, a bed, beer. That's what it is, bed beard. So anyway, so now they're whatever I, it, so I'm gonna let my beard gear along. I saw a buddy of mine. We were at a wedding last night. 10 (32m 43s): This is all part of the message by the way. And it was like old home week. We were at a wedding with friends that we have known for decades. And I, I was thinking about it this morning. I think he's going to be like heaven. Cause you gather for a celebration and you get to see people that you haven't seen for so long and you get to love on people and just enjoy conversation getting caught up. And there was this couple there, Jack in the water Hurley. He who have been so good to me my whole life and Jack was officiating his granddaughter's wedding and we were there and I got to just love on them and just tell them how much I appreciate them and how much I just honor them for their influence in my life, their grace, just the blessing. 10 (33m 29s): And, and, and it was just really sweet. I think, I think Kevin's going to be a lot of that. We're going to have reunion where we're just able to just speak and love on each other. And it was quite a celebration which heaven will be quite a celebration. So that was last night. The week, last week we were doing my son's wedding. Curtis got married and Clark got married and it's a man and a woman Curtis in Clark. You gotta be clear about these things in this 21st century, there was Curtis married to a woman named Clark. And so we had that amazing celebration. We have the married out at our property and where we married our other, our oldest daughter 10 years ago. 10 (34m 13s): And the six months ago, these two got hits. And so it's been a wedding season, a wedding celebration, and it's just been really, really fun and good. And so before we get to the title of the message that ties into all of that, do you guys want to hear a joke it's family Sunday after also, you want to hear a joke about a piece of paper now you really don't. It's terrible. It's terrible. T E a R a bull tear. It's a terrible joke about paper. It's terrible. When you got to explain it, what did the clock do when it was hungry? 10 (34m 57s): It went back for seconds. Four clock, four seconds. Clock was hungry. Went back four seconds. Is that working? Sounds good. We titled the message today. Let the celebration begin. Let the celebration begin. We're in first Peter chapter one and it's just going to be really good. So in light of all of the celebrating that we've been doing around in our family, and we just sent off family that were here from back east, just Georgia and South Carolina, North Carolina, and my wife and I argue about this. We think our net, I think my nephew's from New Mexico. 10 (35m 38s): She thinks he's from South Carolina. Now he's in the air force and I'm right. I'm not Leslie. You agree, Stevie, where does Jake live right now? South Carolina. Hmm. He is so polite. Jake. My nephew is captain in the air force, by the way. I'm very proud of that little guy, little guy. He's a captain in the air force and he's a little guy to me, but I'm talking about his home in New Mexico and he never corrects me. He's been out of New Mexico for a year. My wife tells me so anyway, so lots of celebration and you know, we know how to celebrate people and events. 10 (36m 18s): We know how to celebrate big things that are happening in our lives and in the world. We're, we're, we're a culture that loves to celebrate. So weddings, we're eating great food. We're laughing, we're dancing, we're doing all kinds of things that allow that celebration to really take shape. And so, as we think about the word of God and what God is teaching us in first, Peter, we've got lots and lots to celebrate. We've got lots to celebrate. So we're going to be taking a look at that today. First Peter chapter one verses 19 through or verses nine through 25, it says the reward for trusting him. Who are we talking about? 10 (36m 58s): Jesus, the reward for trusting Jesus will be the salvation of your souls, salvage. I mean, you think about the other end of that. And you're, you can get pretty excited about the salvation of your souls. Verse 10, this salvation was something even the prophets, even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this. Grace gracious salvation prepared for you. So the prophets of old that wrote about this great salvation, they wrote hundreds of years ahead of time. God gives them a revelation about the salvation of God made available to the people in the earth. 10 (37m 39s): And they were, they were curious about, they wanted to know more about it. They wonder verse 11, what time or a situation the spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ's suffering and his great glory afterwards. So God, because he is good and faithful, he revealed to the prophets hundreds of years ahead of time, his plan of salvation for humanity to prepare us to prepare humanity, God speaks and he communicates, Hey, this is what's coming. The profits were intrigued and interested. Maybe even, probably even perplexed about how and when these events would unfold, the messages of salvation through Christ, the Lord reminds us. 10 (38m 28s): It reminds us that the old Testament is tied directly to the new Testament. In fact, the new is the fulfillment of the old Testament. So as you're reading the old Testament, you'll begin to see the connection. You'll be begin to see how it is tied together, how the new Testament fulfills, what God wrote in the old Testament. The old Testament is speaking about and describing the same God and plan. Some would say all the old Testament, God is different than the new Testament. God, that's not true. We just need to understand who God is in their perplexity of who he is. And they just grand this. If who we is, the old Testament is speaking about the same God, the same plan of salvation that is being discussed in the new Testament. 10 (39m 17s): In fact, there are at least 855 times in the new Testament where the writer is quoting or eluding to the old Testament, at least 855 times as many as 900 times, there's only four books in the old Testament that aren't quoted or alluded to in the new Testament. So Obadiah, how many have read Obadiah lately? Good, wonderful Nahum Zephaniah and asked her. So those are the four old Testament books that aren't quoted or alluded to in the new Testament. 10 (40m 1s): How many old Testament books are there? There's 39, 39 old Testament books. So that means 35 of the old Testament books at a 39 were quoted or alluded to in the new Testament. So the new Testament is filled with information and revelation and connecting, connecting truth. That makes the word of God old and new Testament. The 66 books of the Bible. It begin to make it very, very clear to verse 12 day. The prophets were told that their message is we're not for themselves, but, but for you. And now this good news has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the holy spirit sent from heaven. 10 (40m 45s): It's also, so it's also a wonderful that even the angels. So we talked about the prophets, intrigued, interested, perplexed about what is going on and when things go to unfold. But now the angels are being called in into the text here and I'll just read it again. They, the prophets were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this good news has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the holy spirit from heaven sent from heaven. It's also so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen. Isn't that interesting? The angels, these powerful servants of God, these powerful ministers, these ministering angels are curious. 10 (41m 32s): They're looking on their watching. I mean, this is such good news, such soup. We're talking about the salvation of God, such good news, supernatural news, profoundly important news that God's angels are eagerly watching these things happen. So some of these, these things that we sometimes are just kind of haphazard, kind of half-hearted about, ah, it's kind of old news I've been saved for so many years that angels of God are eagerly watching the profits of old Isaiah, Jeremiah, these prophets of old, they were writing about this time in this place that we're enjoying and experiencing now. 10 (42m 14s): And they were intrigued and perplexed and curious about what God was going to do. Now we get to live in that and the angels get to watch as God's plan unfolds in the universe, let the celebration begin. Amen. We've got some stuff to celebrate, man. If we, if we can't read what God is doing, reading what God has read about what God is doing in the Bible and think about what God is doing in our lives and in this crazy culture that we live in. Boy, there's something wrong. We need to ask the Lord to stir us up again. We need to renew our vigor for the Lord. 10 (42m 54s): Find a new joy in Jesus and begin to walk that out. How do we celebrate? Number one, we rejoice over the things that heaven rejoices over this isn't important. We need to rejoice over the things that heaven rejoices over. Do you remember that parable of the lost coin in Luke 15 verses eight through 10, it says this, or suppose a woman has 10 silver coins and loses one. Won't. She light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it. And then when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin in the same way. 10 (43m 42s): There is joy in the presence of God and the presence of God's angels. When one sinner repents, isn't that sweet. So when you repented the heavens rejoiced, there's a celebration when even one center sinner, repents, there's a celebration rejoicing by the angels of God, because they've been waiting, they've been watching, they've been, they've been paying attention to what's going on in the earth. And they, so they erupt with celebration. There's joy in the presence of God angels when even one sinner repents. I, this is why when we do baptisms and we are at the beach or in some body of water and people get baptized. 10 (44m 25s): When they come out, we are, we just erupt with celebration because it's an indication that a life has been changed. It's a death to the old life and resurrection of the new, it's a powerful thing. There's something within us as believers that just wants to celebrate that. Even when we watch videos of what unfolds at these baptisms, we just can't help. But celebrate. We rejoice. We rejoice over the things that heaven rejoices over. I'm going to be teaching through revelation here in a few more months. People keep bugging me about it. We're going to get there. There's a process to teaching through the new Testament and you got to do one book after the other, but I'll give you a little taste in revelation, chapter four and parts of five revelation. 10 (45m 14s): One, it's this introduction, John, the apostle he's exiled to the island of Patmos. Maybe he's feeling like maybe God's done with me, but God's never done with us. As long as we've got a pulse, my pulse is banging right now. You got to pull, spill it. Go ahead. Wow. My doctor told me to get one of those apple watches. Cause it tells me my heart rate and that sort of thing. But so I told my wife, I got to get any watch doctor's orders. Doctor's orders. He just, she puts up with me. 10 (45m 56s): Thank you, Lord. This is what revelation says in verse chapter one, verse three, God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church. So I'm going to get a blessing for reading the words of this prophecy to you. I'll take it. Also. He blesses all who listen to its message and obey. What it says for the time is near. So you get a blessing when you listen and obey and pay attention for the time is near the time of the end, the time of the second coming of the Lord, Jesus Christ. It's coming. So as you get past chapters, two and three, and the messages to the seven churches, you get into chapter four and we get a vision of heaven. 10 (46m 38s): So if we're going to rejoice over what heaven rejoices over, what's happening there. So John gets a vision. He gets that a picture. God is so good to give John a vision and God tells him to write it down so that we can read and understand what God is up to in the earth. This is what he wrote. Chapter four. Then I, as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me like a trumpet blast. The voice said, come up here and I will show you what must happen after this. And instantly I was in the spirits and I saw a throne in heaven and someone's sitting on it. 10 (47m 22s): The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones, like a Jasper and carnelian and the, of an Emerald circled his thrown like a rainbow, Hey, Genesis to revelation. God owns the rainbow. Maybe God owns the rainbow. Let's take it back. Right? My 24, the throne surrounded him and 24 elders sat on them. They were all closed in whites and had gold crowns on their heads from the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder. And in front of the throne where seven torches with burning flames. This is the sevenfold spirit of God in front of the throne was a shiny sea of glass. 10 (48m 4s): Sparkling like crystal in the center and around the throne were four living beings, each covered with eyes front and back there. The first of these living beings was like a lion. The second was like an ox. The third biker had a human face and the fourth was like an Eagle in flight. Each of these living beings had six wings and the wings were covered all over with eyes inside and out and day after day and night after night, they keep on saying, holy holy, holy is the Lord. The God, the Lord, God, the almighty, the one who always was, who is and who is still the calm. 10 (48m 50s): This is what's happening in heaven. Whenever the living beings give glory and honor, and thanks to the one sitting on the throne, the one who lives forever and ever the 24 elders fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne, the one who lives forever and ever, and they lay their crowns before the throne and say, you are worthy. You are worthy, oh Lord our God to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and they exist because you created what you pleased. I'm not going to read all of chapter five, but I just want to jump to a point here. 10 (49m 35s): Verse nine, chapter five. And they sang a new song. With these words, you are worthy to take the scroll. We'll unpack all of that. At a latter time, you are worthy to take the scroll and break it seals and open it for you are slaughtered. And your blood has ransomed people for God, from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have caused them to become a kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth. Then I looked again and I heard the voices of get this thousands and millions of angels. How many is that? More than you can count thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders. 10 (50m 24s): And they sang in a mighty chorus. Can you that noise, but it's not going to hurt our ears. It's not going to be unsettling in our hearts and minds and souls. It's going to be soothing and powerful and life changing worthy is the lamb who was slaughtered to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor, and glory and blessings. And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, they sing blessing, blessing, and honor, and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne to the lamb forever and ever. 10 (51m 14s): And the four living beings said amen. And the 24 elders fell down and worshiped the lamb. Now, listen, this is just a warm up for the things to come when we worship on Sunday morning or singing or that time of pause this morning. Wasn't that just the sweetest thing. I thought, man, this could go on the rest of the service and we'd be okay. We, we, we would have had shirts, right? It was just a sweet Salem moment. So often we don't get those moments in our day, our week or month or a year. We just don't slow down and allow the spirit of God to minister to us. I tell you what, if you slow down, if we will slow down, let the spirit of God minister to us, we will have greater strength, greater clarity, greater capacity, greater ability to do, to do the supernatural and wonderful things that God has called us to do to live the way that God has called us to live. 10 (52m 11s): But we got to take a moment, a sale, a moment where we're just sitting before the king and we're just acknowledging his Lordship, his goodness, we're rejoicing over the things that the heavens are rejoicing. It's, it's a, it's a celebration. You can have your own personal revival. When you're doing that. You will have a revival that just doesn't just impact you, but will impact your friends and your family. And people would be like, what is going on with you? You've got joy and peace and you just got this fullness about you. That's just beautiful. 10 (52m 53s): That comes from those moments of just intimacy with the creator of heaven and earth, where we just stop and wait praise and thank applauding his goodness in our lives. We can get our minds in all kinds of the negative stuff. Don't let yourself go there. Just in the midst of the storm, say thank you, Lord Lord, for whatever you're doing for whatever you're going to teach me. Thank you. As I was talking to my friends, Jack in the water Hurley, he, we had a rough patch 20 years ago and they said, you know, almost always been a blessing to you, but there was that. 10 (53m 37s): And I knew what they were alluding to. I said, you know what? It was like a dip in the road. It's not important, but we can make those dips in the road. They get, we can allow them to derail us for all the days of our lives. Instead by God's grace, we can let it go be free in Jesus name from all of that baggage, all of the stuff that we're holding on to you just let it go. And boy, so we hugged and loved on each other for like dang 20 years. It's been just a little bit uncertain how we feel about each other. 10 (54m 18s): But when I got a chance to grab a hold of them and love on them and just tell them how good and what a blessing they've been to me, Lawanna said, man, that really, that really touches my heart. And I'm like me too. And God wants to do wonderful things within our lives, within the body of Christ things that will unite us, bring us back together. But we got to let God do what God wants to do. We can say all kinds of stuff, but we can say, but God, but God is capable. He's gracious to give me the strength to do so that we can celebrate what God is doing. 10 (54m 59s): It's hard to celebrate what God is doing. If we're bound up with all kinds of unforgiveness and resentment or sin or anything like that, it's hard to celebrate because we're distracted and hindered and double-minded. And do you want other stuff that just kind of mess with us the celebration? You're not always celebrate rejoiced over the things that haven't rejoices over. If you're having a hard time doing that, I get in the word and ask the Lord. I need help rejoicing over the things that you rejoice over that heaven, rejoice over. And then number two, be ready to spring into action for God. And this, these things go hand in hand. When you reach choice over the things that God rejoices over and they haven't rejoices over, you're ready. 10 (55m 40s): It's like, you're primed you. You want to do what God has called you to do. And you're just, you just got this hunger and this thirst and this desire to please the Lord and to honor the Lord. And so they go hand in hand. You really can't have one without the other. You say I'm kind of ready, but I'm not sure it was a call to holy living in verses that follow in the verses that follow you follow verse 13 says to prepare your minds for action. James said, faith without works is dead. Faith without works is dead. So we got faith. What does God want us to do with that? Get busy springing in two action. So prepare your minds for action and exercise. 10 (56m 21s): Self-control put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you. When Jesus Christ is revealed to the world, the expositors Bible commentary says this about preparing your mind for action. This is what it says. It presents the figure of a man gathering the folds of his long garments and tucking it into his belt so that he can run, move freely and quickly doing what God has called them to do. We're in we're encumbered by too many things. So when God tells us to spring adaption, we got to get unencumbered. We got to grab up our garments and tucked him in our belt and be ready to go. 10 (57m 2s): What's encumbering you. What's keeping you from springing into action. There's probably things that are encumbering you and keeping you from springing into action. God wants to set you free from that mid part of that is just letting you know, kind of bringing awareness to your life. This thing is hindering you, you can't spring into action. As long as this thing is attached to your life, got to get rid of it. Remember in first Kings 1846, then the Lord gave special strength to Elijah. We've read this right? The Lord gave, we need to hear that the Lord gave special strength to Elijah. So when God calls us to spring into action, it is not in our own ability and strength. 10 (57m 44s): God gives us special strength. He talked to his cloak, get the same picture, right? He tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of a Habs chariot all the way to the entrance of Jezreel. So he grabs his clothes and tucks them in and he runs supernaturally. So, and this is part of God's plan in his desire. We see the same thing in Jeremiah, one 17, where it says the Lord told Jeremiah, get up, get up, prepare for action. We serve the same God in the new Testament we did in the old Testament. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever. He's a turtle. This his it's his message. 10 (58m 24s): Get saved. Get sanctified, get filled with God and go get up and prepare for action. Go out and tell them everything I tell you to say, do not be afraid of them, or I will make you look foolish. I loved the next few verses. Love the next few verses. I love that verse. I love all the verses first 18 foresee today. I have made you strong, like a fortified city that cannot be captured. So we, we look at ourselves, take a personal inventory and you say, I can't spring into action. And he's got nothing to offer. Good. Got nothing to offer. 10 (59m 5s): You're right. Yeah, nothing offered, but God, but God, he's got plenty to do. Plenty to offer plenty to offer. But God, part of the backstory with Jacqueline Lawana is just the transition out of my old church into this church. And they had watched me grow up, you know, since I'm, you know, just 14 years old watching me grow up. Yeah. A lot of you have watched me grow up, right. Coleen was working at our wedding and putting things together. We went, we honeymooned at your cabin up in Tahoe. 10 (59m 45s): Right. Remember that? Yeah. And so when you see somebody grow up, you just, you're not sure about what God wants to do with their lives, right? And so there were some of that. And so we talked last time and they said, look, what got us down right? In their lives, in our lives. It was a TIFF difficult season. But what the enemy intended for evil God intended for good. So don't let your many, many flaws hold you back because we all have many, many flaws. But, but God for see today I have made you strong, like a fortified city that cannot be captured like an iron pillar or a bronze wall. 10 (1h 0m 30s): You will stand against the whole land. The Kings officials, priests, and people of Judah. They will fight you, but they will fail. Not because you're good, but because God is good now because you're strong in your own strength. But because God is strong on your behalf, wait, God is calling us to spring into action. They will fight you, but they will fail for, I am with you and I will take care of you. Okay? Let's get that internalized a little bit. 10 (1h 1m 11s): I'm with you. And I will take care of you. God says spring into action. Spring high, the Lord I've spoken. Let the celebration begin. How do we celebrate? We need to rejoice over the things that heaven rejoices over and then be ready to spring into action for God. And then number three, we need to live. Like we belong to God. We are according to John, three, three, born again, born again, creates new creation, a new creature in Christ Jesus. 10 (1h 1m 52s): So we need to begin to live as born again. Spirit filled believers in the Lord, Jesus Christ in watch. Watch what he will do. We need to live. Like we belong to God. What does that look like? Well, I I'm so grateful for the word because it always helps us with information that we need in revelation. So you must live verse 14 as God's obedient children, that don't S don't back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn't know any better than like in your BC days. You didn't know any better. 10 (1h 2m 32s): And so you lived like a child of the devil, but now, now who do you belong to? You? You belong to the king, that king of all Kings. I'm a father, the God of creation. That's who you belong to. So now verse 15. Now you must be holy and everything. You do everything you do. How do you do anything that God asked you to do to deal with the spirit of God powered by the word of God? The clarity that comes from the word and the spirit and the strength that comes from, from what God provides for us, allows us. 10 (1h 3m 16s): I'm going to reading and Leviticus Leviticus in there over and over again. God is telling the people of Israel. You must be holy because I, the Lord, your God am holy, holy above reproach. We will never be perfect in our own ability, but our goal, Lord, I want to, in every word thought, indeed, I want to live above reproach. So we laid hands on Joe. A few weeks ago. I challenged him, Joe, cause we, we gave him, we, we licensed and we recognized his role as a leader in the community and as a leader in the church. And we said, man, you have to by God's grace live differently, but that's not just true for Joe. 10 (1h 4m 2s): And for guys like me, it's true for every one of us, the people of God got us said, be holy because the Lord, your God is holy. Be holy in everything. Justice. God who chose you as holy for this scripture say, you must be holy because I am holy. So the writer is for smoke-free speaking about what is written in Leviticus and other parts of the old Testament. So an example of a writer in the new Testament, Peter referencing quoting, alluding to truth. In the old Testament, they go hand in hand. They're incomplete on their own. 10 (1h 4m 44s): You must be holy because I am holy. And remember that heavenly father, to whom you pray, he has no favorites. He will judge or rewards you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent. Fear of him during your time here as the temporary citizens, second Corinthians five 10 says for, we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. This is not a judgment on this, about salvation. 10 (1h 5m 27s): This is a judgment of your lives as believers and followers of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Your life will be judged and you will receive rewards or not based on the way you live. Your life. Faith without works is dead. I don't think you can have faith without works, because if you've got faith without works, it means that your faith is dead probably as well. Because out of the abundance of what God is doing in your life, you must step up. You must live differently. You must point people to Jesus. It's not optional. It's your permanent calling and vocation to point people to Jesus. 10 (1h 6m 13s): Couple Sundays ago, I was before when I had to go to the hospital, did I already say this? I don't think I did, but I had my, I love Jesus talks on Mike and Linda Herbert gave me those socks and I told them I was wearing them. And we were in a prayer meeting. And before the service start and Mike was in there and I showed him, I love Jesus socks. I said, Mike, I don't like to wear these on Sunday morning because we, I, you don't need to see my, I love Jesus' socks. I want to wear my, I love Jesus socks in the marketplace so that people, but for whatever reason, I put on my, I love Jesus socks for Sunday morning. So I get to the hospital and what do I have on? They take my shoes off. And I got my red and black. I love Jesus socks sticking out of my pant legs. 10 (1h 6m 55s): And so I'm thinking, this is why 14 (1h 6m 59s): I've got my, I love 10 (1h 6m 60s): Jesus socks on because somebody needs to know about Jesus. And so, so many people commented about my, I love Jesus socks. They're like, 14 (1h 7m 9s): Like we had a room full of 10 (1h 7m 10s): Doctors and they all come that day. Nice socks. 14 (1h 7m 12s): We liked your socks. 10 (1h 7m 18s): I got to share with them how much I love Jesus. This is what we're here to 14 (1h 7m 24s): Do. This is why I don't wear my, I love Jesus 10 (1h 7m 26s): Oxen church because I don't. I know, you know, I love Jesus. And with people at the coffee shop to know the people at Marion, ER, to know, I love Jesus. He's my king. He's my savior. He's my Redeemer. He's the one that has radically wrecked me and changed my life forever and ever. Amen. Verse 18 for you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ. 10 (1h 8m 7s): The sinless spotless lamb of God, did you catch it? It's not paid with mere gold and silver, which lose their value. He knows we're in like a little bit of a dip, a little bit of a recession, maybe a big recession coming. You're a gold and silver. They're going to lose their value. Anything that you're holding on to you in this life is losing value. By the moment don't make that stuff. Your God, you will be very sad that you did not do not make the stuff that you got. Your God made Jesus, your God. He never loses value. I've been 53 years of, you know, market swings and all kinds of things in my life. 10 (1h 8m 53s): And Jesus is the same yesterday, today. And for ever, he was the precious blood of Christ. The sinless spotless lamb of God. God chose him as your ransom. My ransom long before the world began began. But now in these last days, he has been revealed for your sake. God has a plan for your life. Do you believe that? Do you believe that If you sins tells us in chapter one verses four through eight, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 10 (1h 9m 41s): God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family. By bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do. And it gave him great pleasure. So Jesus didn't come reluctantly. He didn't give his life reluctantly. He said for the joy set before me, I will endure the cross for the joy set before me. I will endure the cross. This is what he wanted to do. And it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace. He has poured out on us who belong to his dear son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his son and forgave our sins. 10 (1h 10m 21s): He has showered us, his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and under standing, wrapping up first, Peter, 1 21 through Christ. You have come to trust in God and you place your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory. You were, you were cleansed from your sins when you obey the true. So now you must show sincere love to each other. As brothers and sisters love each other deeply with all your hearts. Part of loving people deeply is just giving them Jesus, given them the truth of the gospel. 10 (1h 11m 2s): Because without Jesus, they, they die and they suffer judgment. They go to hell. They go to hell the w it's not popular to talk about hell, but that's, it's not popular. The enemy doesn't want to talk about hell, but that's the result. We get a choice in Christ while we welcome his grace. So we've got to live. Like we belong to God. I think we're confused and perplexed. Sometimes we like to live like we're living. Like we belong to the world and the world system. We don't belong to the world, to the world system. We belong to God. And so we need to let the word of God and the spirit of God frame our lives and our decisions and point us in the right direction. 10 (1h 11m 49s): The world won't get you that. So you live like you belong to God. This is what we've read. So far. Show sincere love to each other. This is what it means to live. Like you belong to God. Show sincere, love to each other. As brothers and sisters love each other deeply with all your heart. You can't do this stuff in your own strength and your own strength that you want to slap your neighbor. Right? I am my own strength. I want to slap my neighbor. Sometimes I turn your music down, right? I guess I'm alone. 10 (1h 12m 31s): Live as God's obedient children. Don't slip back. This is what we've read so far. Don't slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You must be holy in everything you do just as God who chose you is holy. Why? Why live like this verse 23 for you've been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal living word of God is the scripture. Say people are like grass. They're beauty is like a flower in the field, the grass Withers and the flowers fade, but the word of the Lord remains forever. 10 (1h 13m 19s): And that word is the good news that was preached to you. So let the celebration begin. Seriously. We need to rejoice in the things that haven't rejoices over. We need to be ready to spring into action and live like people who belong to God with that, I would like to invite the worship team up and we're going to sing and we're going to celebrate and we're going to give God every part of us in Jesus name. So Lord, we thank you. As we stand up, go ahead and stand up. Holy holy holy is the Lord Donald mighty. 10 (1h 13m 58s): Holy holy, holy Lord. We love you. We bless you. We praise you. We thank you Lord for who you are and for what you're going to do. God, thank you for your word. Thank you. That it wrecks us in the best possible way. We love you. Let's worship now in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. 16 (1h 16m 52s): Thank you, father. That we can cry. Holy, holy holy. Thank you for your holiness. Thank you for your presence. You never leave us. You do not forsake us. So this morning we give you our worship. We give you our praise, have your way in our lives. Jesus name. Amen.