Transcription
[Laughter] All right. Wow, you could hear a pin drop. Good morning, all right. So, we're gonna do a few quick announcements and jump into some praise and worship. Okay, girls, boys? Okay, let me get through this and then you get the praise and worship all you want. Okay? All right.
So, tonight, worship and prayer, 7:00 o'clock. Wednesday, August 1st, 7 p.m. We're gonna continue our group Bible study of the Tabernacle of Moses, a heavenly pattern. And Tabernacle Moses and this insert, that's part of that. That's your job to do between now and Wednesday. Study the insert. And because what we want you to do is come up with some revelation on these scriptures and how it pertains to us today. Okay?
All right. Young adult Bible study, their new time is 7 p.m. It's August 2nd. And we have a men's meeting. Now, the next one is August 3rd at 7 p.m. And last one was, it was intro, kind of just to get to know you, but it was fun. Or enjoyed it. And so, if you can come out on Fridays at 7 and get to know some of the men in the fellowship, and we're gonna have good Bible studies and prayer and just whatever the Lord gives us to do. Okay?
Sunday, August 5th, Karen Dunham's in town. And if you don't know Karen, you'll get to know her next Sunday. She's a really excellent preacher of the gospel and an apostle to Israel in Kenya. Going some, we'll work there. All right. And then we're gonna, August 17th, Safety Harbor outreach. And August 25th is a women's meeting. And then we have another dinner on the grounds, August the 19th. Okay?
So, pretty much it for the announcements. And we always got something going on, something good. Just keep your bulletins, your calendars handy. And for those of you watching, you can always check the calendar at flowingriverchurch.com. It'll, it's always up-to-date and tells you what's happening. So, without further ado, Lord, we're just grateful to be here in Your presence, coming together to worship and fellowship and give You all the honor and glory. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Good morning, all you smiling faces. Good morning. Okay, are you ready to run into the throne room and just love on Jesus? I am. I am so ready. Woo hoo! I just, I think my encouragement for today is that God created us to be creative beings. He created us to experience like, new things all the time. Never, never to be bored and never to be like, status quo. And so today, I want to encourage you to, when you're in His presence, just allow His newness and His inspiration to infuse in you and inspire you to do the next thing or to, you know, do the next idea. You know what I mean? I feel like the Lord is gonna perhaps reveal some things to you today that will unlock your creativity. And so, when you're in His presence, that is possible. And you get downloads and things like that. So, here we go.
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Two hearts are open. [Music] You want and you want. Holy, worthy God. It's five. [Music] And let our praise be. Let us all be. [Music] You. [Music] We are here for. [Music] Let our breath and let our breath come from heaven. Fill our hearts always. You love. We are here for You. [Music] To You. Ha. [Music] And You. [Music] And let us shine. [Music] We are You. [Music] And let Your work. [Music] See what they were little. [Music] Were warned and You. [Music] If I fall down. Oh, I think he is. Enjoyed. Did you fall? [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] He's gonna let you fire. [Music] Did you fall for? [Music] [Music] I feel it in the wind. You're about riding. You said that you would avoid His spirit. I, you said that you would fall on sons, daughters. So God. [Music] Food in my bones. You're about. I feel it in the wind. You are proud to ride it. Said that you would boy a spirit. Are you said you would call on? [Music] Just low. [Music] [Music] See, see. [Music] [Music] And nothing. You know, liver. [Music] You said if we ask, whether I see. And so, whereas integrate right. [Music] See. [Music] Your present. See. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Do. [Music] Oh, spirit. [Applause] Oh, come where. [Applause] [Music] Oh. [Music] See. [Music] To see. [Music] Oh, goodness. See, you love. [Music] See. [Music] [Music] He's lived in the veil of your eyes. You're gonna see the view. There's no fear and no striving. [Music] Oh. [Music] For the turkey before the serve. [Music] [Music] Oh. [Music] [Music] [Music] To see. Transform this you. To see. [Music] You go before that you've even long. I'm doing. You come back with my. You come back and you car. [Music] You go before but you've even long. I'm doing. You come back with the head. [Music] [Applause] You come back to me. [Music] You go before the TV then love becomes MA. It needs me from the no. I did work. [Music] All I did was change. I did Stacy. [Music] Said. [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] You go before my heart concedes a fun. You're, you're Percy is the same. We store my face. Nola. I did was did. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] You know, you introduce me to Your love. You picked up all my pieces. Put me back together. You are my defender of my. [Music] You know, here. [Music] Me too. [Music] You. You picked up. [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Crooked astray. [Music] [Music] All I need to do is worship. But I will just. [Music] And now I'm just gonna stay still. [Music] You. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] The weight of His wind and mercy when. [Music] All was said. I'm gonna. Where are these affections converts to by road? I realized it's beautiful. You are in town. Great. Your affections are for me. [Music] Do. [Music] He soon. [Music] Do. [Music] So, so. [Music] [Music] So is Porsche. He is - tension by the always inside. If girls, Oshin. [Music] So hidden either that sloppy wickets. My heart turns violent into these grits. When I think about. [Music] Me is fortune and he is. You're on to redemption by the. It is with. [Music] Sloppy turns why. [Music] Arches these regrets. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] To. [Music] There's no. [Music] [Music] [Music] You. [Music] [Applause] Touches. [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] For me. There's no bird. [Music] For me. [Music] Oh. [Music] Hee hee. [Music] Oh. [Music] Take all of it. [Music] Here. [Music] Oh, He sees you through a different lens. How He sees you through His eyes. And no one else's. You're perfect and unique as you as you. [Music] [Music] I really feel like if you want Him to, the Lord wants to transform Him right now. If you want Him to, He will invade and transform you from the inside out right now. You're presented with a choice. He wants to give you a gift so freely. His love is so great for us. That word love goes so deep. We actually can't in our human brains understand how deep that love goes. But what we do understand is that it's more than enough. It's more than enough to change your perspective, to change your outlook. And God wants to have you see yourself through His lens. He's seeing you as He created you. He's seeing you in your dream. He's seeing you with the vision you have for your life, the desires that you have as a person. He sees you in that fullness and that greatness. And so, Lord, right now, we just present ourselves as an open sacrifice for You to come in, for You to do surgery on our hearts and to rip out the things that shouldn't be there. God, to lift the veils from our eyes so we can see clearly. Jesus, to be the creation that You want us to be, to be bold and to be strong and to be confident, Father, in who You made us. May we shine so bright, God, that they see us from a distance and they know why we are different. And they want, they don't know why, but we want to know why. Shine so bright, Jesus, in us right now. May we go for it from this moment, changed and different, conquering new levels, taking more authority, God, and declaring Your goodness in our lives and in other people's lives. May we think, walk, talk, and be like You, be Your very image on earth, Jesus. All right, you guys ready to make your praise explode? Whoo! Thank You, Jesus.
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Compare that love breaking out of our boxes. We found the way. Saying, "You see the profit." This is the place where the lost are found. Near the founder, free. This is the place where my heart is pure enough. Please. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Locked eyes with my love. Contain it. So I saw free. Crazy to dance in the way. Let's do this job. This is the place where the lost are found in the foundry. This is the place where my body is. [Music] Starbound in. [Music] This is the place where my heart is. You're in Duffy. You. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Eyes on You. I saw full of truth. It's all I'm gonna do. Crazy. I fix my. It's also full of truth. It's all I'm gonna do. You crazy. Ha ha. Oh. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] Athletes. My eyes on You. You're a so full of truth. You're gonna fix my eyes on You. You're at so full of truth. It's all your eyes to. [Music] Lost our body. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Oh, wow. I'm telling you. Whoo! All right, so I thank you guys so much. [Laughter] Whoo! You know, in the, in the old Tabernacle, they had that 24/7 praise and worship. This team would have got a prime spot in the 24-hour worship. I mean, wow. [Laughter] You know, one of the things that you might see here is that we give our, the children, a certain amount of freedom. The praise and worship always looks like a little, you know, mic being, hey, Josh, some kind of echo, fuzzy, anyway. If you, you know, but we believe it's important that the children are in the praise and worship. You know, we believe it's important. And Jesus said, you know, then people brought little children to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. Whoo! All right, give me 14. Somebody put 14 up there. Okay? Then Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." And, you know, I just want to say that, you know, we, we know that sometimes what you see is play, but we don't mind because down the road, that turns into worship and understanding and teaching. And so, we really, we really embrace the freedom to let the children worship with us. And, and, and I just will say, our children's church isn't a typical children's church in the sense that the, the lessons that Bell produces, she's in charge of that, and it's good Bible-based, you know, really good teaching. And usually, a lot of times, lines up with what we're hearing in the message. So, I just want to, I don't know, just wanted to say, you know, the, I love, I love the controlled chaos. So, it's just so sweet to see them up here moving and enjoying themselves in the worship and the praise. Oh, okay. So, hey Benjamin, where are you? You got your, okay, you getting hooked up? Okay, yeah. You want me to show you? Come on down here. All right. So, while we're, while we're getting Ben hooked up, he's going to be speaking today, by the way. Who! And so, Caleb, come here, man. Will you please? And let's see if we have two or three prophetic words. And Caleb will hold the mic for you. And while I get Benjamin hooked up, yeah, one of the things I saw during the worship when we were saying, we were singing that song, "He takes the head of our enemies." I saw Jesus on His horse, and He was holding the head of our enemy. So, and then I heard Him say, "Everyone, close your eyes and think about it and ask the Lord, what is the enemy you need to destroy in your life right now? The biggest enemy." And visualize Jesus carrying the head of that enemy on His horse, destroying your enemies, because that's what He was doing in the spirit today. I just felt Him impressing on us that He bore it all and He wanted to like, cover us and absorb all the pain, all the frustration, all the whatever's, because He bore all the injustices, everything, and set us free today. One touch from Him can change everything. That's my God. One touch from Him can change everything. So, that a prophetic word this morning. One more. And that Miriam spoke out, "One touch." Right? One touch. Were you receiving that for you? Were you feeling that? I mean, in that, where you want to be? Right, right. Hey, I get visions since I've been coming here once in a while. And when I was praying, all I could see was a circle surrounding nothing, and it was purple. And it got brighter and brighter purple. And I learned, and when I was with the healing, that that means that there's royalty in here. The royalty of God is in here. All right. So, okay. So, what we're gonna do is, I'm going to turn it over to Ben for prayer. As far as we're going to take prayer requests. And there's two, I don't want to speak out. Yeah, that's coming to that. I want to speak out. And Daniel Petrocelli, who is got gout, he's suffering from gout. And we want to, we're getting there, we're getting to the offering. Don't worry. And oh, okay. And Kia and Vivian, who you guys know. Gonna lift them up in prayer. And we want to pray for LaVerne's daughter, Twila Kirkpatrick. And she had stage two mouth cancer up in her roof of her mouth. And, and I hate that word. Hmm. It irritates me. It really does. Stirs my spirit. We got to cut that off and destroy it in the name of Jesus. So, we want to keep, we want to keep them in prayer. We're gonna pray for them. I guess we'll do that. If, let's just do that now. Let's just do that now. Ben, go ahead. Let's pray for them. For that man. Check, check, one, two. Hello. Yeah, we're praying for Twila. Put me on the spot. Where we just lift everyone up that we've stated. Father, Lord, seriously, like, you know, there, you know what's going on, Father. We come against cancer in Jesus' name. We command it to go right now, Father. We just lift these people up, Father. I just pray wherever they are, Lord, You just invade their room where they are right now, Father. I thank You that You're the answer to every problem, Father. You're the answer to every issue that's going on in anyone's body, Father. And we just, we just stand in faith, Father. You will complete the healing and work out these situations in Jesus' name. Okay, so what we're gonna do, if you have a prayer need right now, also go ahead and stand up. After and Caleb's gonna come around with the mic, and you can tell them what it is. And we're gonna, I'm gonna have one that I'll start with. Yeah, I have friends in Redding, California. There's like a fire that's been going through there. So, we'll lift them up. Everyone's okay, but a lot of houses have been burned down and properties and stuff. So, okay. So, who needs prayer this morning? They ended up asking my husband for help with this one. But we have a good friend who's been text messaging us about a young girl who's been given six months to live. And I'm trying to remember her name. Yeah, we come against that in Jesus Christ's name. And we say that she has a long life ahead of her. And we proclaim wholeness and health over her entire body. Any cancer has to go. Any unnatural growths have to go in Jesus Christ's name. She is, the enemy is not allowed to continue in this. And it is undone right now by the blood of Jesus Christ. Requesting prayer on behalf of Nigeria, my country, because the Christians have been under siege in various ways. When we conquered ISIS, we are now facing the Fulani jihadists. And then the Christians will be praying for the past one month. Today was declaration day of "enough is enough." And I stayed back to watch that service. And I want this church to agree with me and with us, as Nigerians, that we have had enough from the Muslims. I'm traveling next Friday to Nashville, my baby granddaughter's first birthday. And when I get back, I'm going to start my art lessons on Saturdays from 1:30 to 2:30. And so, I'm carrying out what God showed me during the healing school. Move the easel in. I've got the table ready. And I've got some students. So, thank You, Jesus. I want you guys to keep me in your prayers. I've been diagnosed and presumed um, and schizophrenia, manic depression, and back problems. And one megastore than the other. And my whole entire spine's messed up. And awesome, my nurse has been Birkins in the past. I broke my nose. And now I don't sound the same. Keep in your prayers. Thank you. I'd like to ask her prayer for one of Rod's foreign, LaWanda. She has, was given six months to live also with colon cancer. Me and Mike are [Laughter] wisdom on what to do at this point with it. Well, I just have basically a testimony before. And about Friday night men's meeting, I asked for prayer for prosperity. Who doesn't work? Because I'm going on a trip next week and I needed work. That was Friday. Sadly, I got an email from my best customer Monday. I'm going to work on my job. I need my kidneys to function much stronger than they're functioning right now. I'm just declaring that this body is off-limits. My feet are beautiful and they will not receive any more affliction. This is going in Jesus' name. All right. A good friend of mine named Rhonda, the lady I get a lot of my jewelry from, she wants to sell some. So, anybody's interested, let me know. But look, she's been having some, it's just real serious health issues. And now they wanted to cut off her right big toe on August 7th. That's the new treatment. I mean, she's just been pretty miserable. So, I say no more. Awesome. So, if whoever feels led, just, we're gonna start praying for them right now. So, whoever's standing, stay standing. And just go to them and start praying. We're just gonna pray over them and just seal it. Yeah. Well, we just thank You for all these things. Yeah, Lord, we just lift up all these people. We thank You for Your healing. And we're gonna throw Deborah Kerch, who's watching us on YouTube. She's having chest pains. We just declare those chest pains and no one void in Jesus' name. Yeah, Lord. So, we just see You all these things and Your name, in the name of Yeshua HaMashiach, been Jehovah Rapha. Offering time. Blessing time. Blessing time. Offering.
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I like this word for tithing because it's a promise. And He says, "Test Me in this. Bring all tithes, the whole tenth of your income, into the storehouse that there may be food in My house. And prove Me now by it," says the Lord of Hosts, "if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour out a blessing that there shall not be enough room to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer." Oh, Father, I just thank You for this time. And I thank You for the seed sown. And I thank You, Father, that their money works for them and not them working for their money. And I just bless them in Jesus' name. And just, just bless them with increase. We do have children's church. So, if you have children, you can release them. And without further ado, Benjamin Lee. I know you do. I sound am I good? It's kind of feedback in a bit, or anyways. Hello. How's it going, man? I love worship, man. I just wish that could go on forever. I think that Miriam was preaching a lot of my word, so thank you. Yeah, I just, I want to start out by honoring the leaders in this house. I'd like to do it every time I get the opportunity. I just want to thank Kathleen, Robert, and Marcy for all that they do. It's really amazing. And for giving me this opportunity. It's not something that I take for granted. It's never, it's never comfortable necessarily, but it's definitely a privilege to be able to. Because there's not many places that just let, I mean, I've been here my whole life, so it's not like I'm just someone off the street, but, um, but no, really, like, it's, this is like amazing that I, you know, we get to do this. And also, something that I don't get to do is thank you guys for how you worship. Whenever I'm leading up there, or and I listen in, I usually have one of my headphones out and like, everyone's singing, and it's just, it's amazing. Like, I've been a lot of places, and they're not all like that. And it's just, I'm definitely thankful for that. Yeah. Lord, I just thank You for today. I just prayed, use me, Father. I'm just willing and I'm open to what You would say this morning, Father. I just pray that You would touch people's hearts this morning, Father. Just use me however You want to use me, Father. I'm just a willing, I'm willing and I want to be obedient, Father, to what You have. And so, I just bless this time this morning. Jesus' name. So, this kind of all started. So, my message is, "Faith is Greater Than Feeling." And I will preface it by saying that feelings can be good. Feelings can be great, actually. And that God uses them. God can use our feelings, and that's awesome. Like when we feel His Holy Spirit, when we feel His pleasure, when we feel loved, that's all important. I don't, I'm not coming against that anyway. It's just the fleshly feelings that we have, the things that would keep us from from faith, things that would that we would let rule or guide our lives rather than faith. And so, that's kind of what I'm speaking to. And this all kind of, this message and all kind of started when I had this moment a few months back where I was, so I was on an underneath our apartment, there was like a little garage area or whatever. We've got tools and everything. And for whatever reason, I went down there. I was not in a good place. I was, you know, as far as like depression and feeling like I wasn't good enough, things like that, the feelings we have. And so, I went down there and I'm just like, I'm just gonna read scripture. Like, I'm just gonna. And it's funny because the enemy wants us to be silent. He wants us to, to literally be silent, like actually not say anything. When that's our greatest weapon is to not to actually speak out loud. And so, it was just, I felt like I needed to do it. So, the scripture I read, I'm gonna read that here real quick. It's a Passion Translation, which is amazing. So, Psalm 16:5-11 says, "Lord, I have chosen You alone as my inheritance; You are my prize, my pleasure, and my portion. I leave my destiny and its timing in Your hands. Your pleasant path leads me to pleasant places. I'm overwhelmed by the privileges that come with following You, for You have given me the best. The way You counsel and correct me makes me praise You more. For Your whispers in the night give me wisdom, showing me what to do next. Because You are close to me and always available, my confidence will never be shaken, for I experience Your wraparound presence every moment. My heart and soul explode with joy and full of glory. Even my body will rest confident and secure, for You will not abandon me to the realm of death, nor will You allow Your Holy One to experience corruption. For You bring me in, bring me a continual revelation of resurrection life, the path to the bliss that brings me face to face with You." And I'm just reading that out loud. I'm just like, and I'm just bawling. I'm just like crying. And because I was at this place where I'm like, distracted from everything that's important and everything that matters. And from Him. Like, I had gotten to this place where I was, you know, thinking the wrong things about my identity and who I am. And the scripture was just like, reading out loud just changed everything. And I'm like, the main thing I want to hit on is stirring up faith. Faith is an action. It's a good friend of mine, he says it like this, that you spell F-A-I-T-H, R-I-S-K. You know, you take, you do something, you take it. It's an action. Because I, I had a, you know, I've always, faith is like one of those like, Miriam talked about grace. There's faith, there's all these things that we use all the time, but we may not know exactly what they mean, or we need to be reminded of what they mean. And, and so, faith is, you know, what God has been speaking to me about. But I want to go to Hebrews 11:1-3. Just get a good definition. "Now faith brings our hopes into reality and becomes the foundation needed to acquire the things we longed for. It is all the evidence required to prove what is still unseen. This testimony of faith is what previous generations were commended for. Faith empowers us to see that the universe was created and beautifully coordinated by the power of God's words. He spoke in the invisible realm gave birth to all that is seen." I just love that. Um, I'm gonna go down to verse 6. "And without faith living within us, it would be impossible to please God. For we come to God in faith, knowing that He is real and that He rewards the faith of those who give all their passion and strength into seeking Him." So, it's impossible to please Him without faith. It's, it's impossible to please Him. And, and flesh, you know, and I just love how the Passion Translation speaks to that. Without faith living inside of us, it's got to be. And, and things that are living, you have to water. You know, it's, it's work. You know, it's, it's work that just kind of like, you're related to hard work in your life. You have to work for stuff. You, you do have to activate faith. You have to work for it. And as it says in Ephesians, Ephesians 6, "Put on the armor of God." It's another hint there. Put it on. It's an action. You have to put it on. "Take up the shield of faith." When you're, when you come across these times in your life where, you know, you're in feelings, your, whatever it may be, you have to pick it up. I'm gonna read, I'm gonna quote Bill Johnson a couple of things from Bill Johnson and Dan Mower, because I listen to them a lot. I would encourage you guys to just, amazing stuff. A lot of this, actually, I have to say, some of the revelation came from Dan Mower. I watch his videos and it just is like, I get revelation every time of what, what it really means to be a Christian, you know, what it really means to to follow Him. And I lose sight of it a lot. And you just have to keep reminding yourself. But in, in Bill Johnson's book, "God Is Good," it's on the 85th page, if you're interested. But it says, "Faith has two parts. The first is a conviction of His existence. The second part is what launches us into adventure and distinguishes us from the rest of all that exists, a confidence in His nature. He is a rewarder." In other words, what we believe about Him will, will have an effect on our lives in a measurable way, because He rewards those who have set their hearts on discovering Him. And when I read that, I think of transformation. And that's what Miriam was, you know, had said. And worship is his transformation and opening yourself up, being willing to be transformed. And that's the part of faith is, is, is letting Him do that, you know. And one of the, one of the keys to feelings or attitudes, things that can come against faith, that I felt God, when I was preparing this word, was giving it was indifference or spiritual apathy. He was telling me, Ben, don't be indifferent. And I think of that in a way of like, passion for Him. There's a lot of times where I could just choose to, you know, spiritually or whatever, I maybe just not be passionate about something. And I think that's a choice too. It's like, we're gonna, even though I don't feel like, maybe I don't feel inside of me, like His presence or or spirit, just trusting in truth. What does the truth say? And go after that. You, and indifference puts us in a place of like, middle ground. So, and I've been there. I've had a couple years where I've been there, you know, like, not doing anything, not making a choice. What am I going to do? God would rather us have, have us do something than nothing. He can work with something, you know. He can work with a step forward or a step to the wrong step in the wrong direction, like He can. But if you're standing and not doing anything, He can't. You have to let Him. You have to let Him by taking the first step, you know. And so, indifference is horrible. And it can, and it can keep you from doing anything. Let me go to Ephesians 4:18. And I'm reading this all in the Passion. It says, "Their corrupted logic has been clouded because their hearts are so far from God. They're blinded understanding and deep-seated moral darkness keeps them from the true knowledge of God. Because of spiritual apathy, they surrender their lives, their lives to lewdness and impurity and sexual obsession. But this is not the way of the life, but this is not the way of life that Christ has unfolded within you. If you have really experienced The Anointed One and heard His truth, it will be seen in your life. For we know that the ultimate reality is embodied in Jesus." And I'm just like, yes, like the spiritually apathetic, they, it leads to those things too. Not just those, but just, doubting, you know, like, "Did God say?" You know, I think Kathleen talks about that a lot. Like, you don't want to get to a point where you're questioning what God said, but you want to believe it, you know, and not question it. And it leads us to this place of knowing who we are, being strong in our identity, and just being confident in who we are. And I can say for, for me, that's been something I've grown in a lot. Is like, just being up here or speaking in front of people. Is like, I never, like, I think the first time that I spoke, it was an offering message, and my dad was holding the mic, and it was horrible. It was the absolute worst thing, like reading the scripture and then I'm like, "So, yeah, let's give." And but he, like, if you let Him, He'll use those areas in your life where you think you're the weakest, and He'll make you strong in those areas. And it's like, when you give in to, you know, "Did God say that I am strong? That He formed me before, you know, the world was? He knew me before I was in the mic?" When you question your identity, it, it's the confidence is taken away. And He, He wants you to be confident in who you are. And it is a journey. I mean, I'm still learning. And, and this is part of it, just being up here. So, another thing that can keep you from faith, an attitude, and our feeling, is fear or worry. Worry is something that I struggle with. And that, or I guess stress. I mean, there's things in your life that come at you, and it's like, you feel it. You know, it's not to take away that there isn't worry or there isn't fear. It's what you do with that. What do you do when you start stressing out or worrying? Do you, exactly right, worship? And that's why I think this is so perfect. Like, honestly, I don't have to be up here. I, I'm fine. Like, I love playing drums, I love playing guitar, but I worship during the week. Like, I have to, like, I just, because it changes your whole perspective. Your worry turns into joy. Your fear turns into love and peace. It's like, there's no other way that like, like worship. Another one that I'm going to hint to is thankfulness. But it's just like, it, it changes your perspective to what you don't have, to what you do, you know, and what you can rely on. I, there was, um, there's a couple speakers. I, I went to the, the reason I have, I have friends in Redding. I've been there. I went to YWAM, which is Youth With A Mission. And one of the speakers there, there's, we had lots of different speakers that came through. And I still have notes and recordings and things like that on that I still listen to. And one of them was Steve and Wendy Backlund, I think is their names. I don't know if anyone knows them, but they're all about the positive profession. You know, they even have like this clicker that they give out that you, like, you say something over your life that, like, a promise or good, and you click, and you keep doing it. It counts how many times. Like, you say, like, "The Lord has fearfully and wonderfully made me." Click. You know, like, "I am, I will be joyful in His joy." And, you know, click. And he just like, "Wow, I've done that a hundred times today." That was part of what they're saying is, you look at, you know, all the, and one of the things they, that I remember is, it is better to partner with hope than worry. A majority of the times that you worry, I think they said 70, 80% of the time that you worry, it doesn't come true. So, you might as well hope instead and have more fun on the way, you know what I mean? Like, what would happen if you turned, if you turned your worry into hope? You know, because it is a choice. It's like, if it's like an opportunity. You know, I, I know, like, of all these people that I've heard that are like visionaries in whatever field they're at, it's like, they took a situation where someone might worry and fear, and and they, they took, they took it as an opportunity to hope, to to have a vision for the future, you know, and like, it built them up. Now, how do we activate faith? So, we went over part of that, which is worship. That's a big one. Another one is prayer, or communion. I like to think of prayer now as like, communion with God. Growing up in the church, it's like, you're constantly on this path of, what does prayer look like? You know, what, how is, like, prayer supposed to look like? And you, me, growing up, I'd listen to other people and try to copy how they pray, you know, like, "That's awesome, I want to pray like that." And then I would go and I'd pray exactly like that, and it was like, okay. But I think that it's just talking with God, communing with God. It's not coming to God with problems, but thanking Him for the solution. I think what I have down here is, don't ask why. Don't ask why. Just turn your "whys" into "thank yous." Turn. And I've actually practiced that, and it works. Like, so I take, I have a journal. I have a journal that I write in, not every day, but a lot of times. And one time I was just having a hard time, whatever. And it is good to get it worked out in a journal. It's good to just write and do that. And I just had all these "whys." God, why am I not where I want to be? Why, you know, why this? And why that? And it was really pitiful. It was. And I thought that that would actually help, right? And maybe did, like, a tiny bit, I don't know. But in, like, later down the road, it's like, you know what? I'm going to write out the opposite of what I'm feeling, and what's the truth. So, the next time, like, or a couple weeks or a month later, I was like, "Yeah, you know what? I'm gonna do that." So, I was like, "Thank You, God, that You've placed me in this church." You know, like, "Thank You that I have a place to live. Thank You for my job, Father. I thank You that for the faith that You've instilled in me. Thank You that You've known me and that I've known You for my whole life." You know, "Thank You for Your love." It's like, and you're like, "Ah, you know, hey, wow, this is awesome." And, and it's like, we have to, we have to change how, like, we have to be so reliant on truth. I, I've struggled with this as well. But a lot of times, the enemy will come at you from the outside, and you think that it's something inside of you. And this is something I got from Dan Mower. You have this little whisper, like, "You're never gonna make it." You know, "You, you're not good enough. You're alone." You know. And, and we identify with sometimes. We identify with those lies and make them actually, give them power. And you have to realize, Jesus is in you. There's no darkness. Your, if we're walking in light, there's no darkness. And those things that are coming at you are actually from the outside. And they're not things that are, not a demon inside of you that you have to like, pray out or like, you know, command to come out. And in those moments, you have to thank Him. Part of the transformation is realizing that He is actually changing you already, you know. It's like, "Thank You, God, that doing this before, I didn't think twice about, but now it bothers me." You know? Right? Like, sin in our lives, things that bother us. I had to, you know, like, it was part of Dan Mower, and I think Kathleen has said this before too, it's like, when a sin or something in your life bothers you, thank Him because He's changing you. "Thank You, God, that this bothers me, and You're inside of me, and Your Holy Spirit is telling me that, you know, like, I don't want this anymore." Right? Like, it's just when you change your perspective on, instead of "I need prayer," it's "No, I need to believe God." It's, it's unbelief. We need to identify unbelief in our lives that is causing our, is changing our thinking to not how it should be. It's just when you, when you realize that, it's, it's amazing. And, and the thankfulness part is, it's so huge. Like, a lot of times, I never, I don't always feel like being thankful. Again, feeling. But you have to understand. And I was talking to Kim about this beforehand. It's like, love, thankfulness, whatever. It's not just a feeling. It's an action. If we, if we were so reliant on on love being a feeling, then our friendships would be horrible. Our family relationships, you know, like, it would be pretty bad, honestly. Like, but it's amazing when you rise. It's a choice to love someone. It, you can, you can feel love for someone there, obviously. But we're so thankful in a moment, but it's a choice. Just skipped over everything I had there. Let's go to 2 Corinthians 10:5. I love this scripture. And I love about the Passion, that it just changes how I used to read things, you know. I think a lot of reading the Bible is when you read it, you see it a different way, you know, or God will speak to you in a different way than He has before. And so, 10, so 2 Corinthians 10:5, it says, "We can demolish every deceptive fantasy that opposes God and break through every arrogant attitude that is raised up in defiance of the true knowledge of God. We capture like prisoners of war every thought and insist about and obedience to the Anointed One. Since we are armed with such dynamic weaponry, we stand ready to punish any trace of rebellion as soon as you choose complete obedience." And what I have here for "demolish every deceptive things," I have like, "blow up." I think of like dynamite or something like that. And when I think "blow up," I think praise. So, it's like, we, we praise over every fantasy that's not aligned with God. It's like, we align ourselves with God. However, however you do that. I think of just, it's just a growing process, you know. I don't have this all figured out, but I know that I want to be someone that chooses faith over feeling. And in that situation, you know. And a lot of times, I just encourage all of you to, like, in a loving way, we can call each other out, you know. I've had people in my life that do that for me, that call me out when I'm just distracted or blinded or. And I think that's really important. That this really is like, this being followers of Jesus and knowing Him, and it's about intimacy with Him, yes, but it's also about like, being together in this and like challenging each other, you know. I think that's why when we go out on, like, whether it be treasure hunts or out, you know, to the beach or to talk to people, and like, it's important to go in pairs, you know, to be with each other and encourage one another. And, yeah, it's really important. I'm gonna read another excerpt from Bill Johnson's book here that kind of sums. I'm pretty much done. I don't even know how long I went, but 15 minutes. What? Keep going. Yeah. Is this, is this good? Like, is this, like, and, and what I really want to do is like, just pray over us to, you know, that we'd get this, really get a hold of it. But "expecting to taste and see His goodness keeps us impervious to the mental and emotional breakdowns that violate who He designed us to be carriers of, or who He designed us to be carriers of hope and models of His goodness." I, I get to practice this a lot at work. And I mean, I have, I have a lot of awesome people that I work with that are positive and then great. But God really can use you where you are to be the opposite of where, of where you are, you know. And, and to bring hope. And a lot of times, I'm, I'm stressed out too. I mean, Kaylin, you know, it's stressful, right? We both work at the same place. But again, I want to reiterate that it's not the feelings that you have, it's what you do with them. We're all human. We have these feelings. We have things that come at us. But we need to be focused on what we do with that feeling. It's really important. Either it can lead us down a path we don't want to go, that's detrimental to our health, or it can lead us to Him. Like, one of the, one of the guys that inspires me the most is Francis Chan. And I've watched his testimony. He's like, both his parents died when he, at a young age. His, his foster parents, or whatever, they killed each other or something, something horrible like that. All those things, though, all the heartbreak and turmoil in his life, it led him to Jesus. Liked it, he went to God with it. And it's like, and now he's just on fire, you know. I look at Todd White. I look at those people. They had really bad stuff in their life. They had, they were, you know, far from God. But it's like, it brought, it turned it. They took it. They met Jesus and like, never look back, you know. And even though we don't all have drastic situations like this, we all have feelings that are rooted in the same, they're rooted the same, you know. We all have those same feelings. And so, it's like, God, let's take these and and just look to You. So, that's, I mean, I'm pretty much done. But I wanna, I want to pray for everyone. Yeah. Yes, this is perfect actually, because Dave came to me. And by the way, Ben, this is a studious group. You just got to look for the head nods. And now a guy, a gentleman has been here, preached. How do you say, Dhiraj? Come here, Dave. Anyway, they're under a lot of persecution. And, you know, I think this is perfectly prophetic. And now Dave's gonna pray for them. And then you can seal it with a prayer. Because what he needs right now is to not be in the emotion, but in the faith, you know. So, it's perfect. Yes. And his mother is also suffering. So, you know, the enemy always kind of looks you up. Father, we just thank You that You, You're right, Your hand has provided everything. All our brothers and sisters in India need, Dhiraj needs, and his church needs, and his mother needs, Father. Father, we just ask You to be so, You're so strong on their behalf. Let there be a distinction between the believer and the unbeliever and the pagans out there, Father. We just thank You, the God of all comfort. I ask You to release that comfort right now. I release comfort and the peace of God. Because the enemy is trying to steal your joy. Don't let them do it. Rejoice in the Lord always. Get yourself a clicker and start thanking God every time. Every tiny thing. He tries to do something bad against you. Think of something good God's done for you, or you want Him to do for you. Amen. Yeah, Father, we just, we thank You for today, Lord. I just pray that we would be practitioners of faith, Father. That we would not be those that would be overcome by feeling, Father, but that we will let You transform us, Father. That we would seek Your face, Jesus. That when things don't make sense in our lives, when we don't feel like we want to, when things aren't going how we want them to, Father, we would, we just look to You. Like that song says, "Just, it's better Your way, Jesus." Right now, we just submit ourselves to You, Father. Submit ourselves to what You would do in our lives, Father. And I pray that we would challenge one another, Father. That we would challenge each other to faith, Father. That we wouldn't look at what other people are doing or what each other are doing, but we look at what You're doing and what You want us to do. And we call each other up, Father. We'd call each other up to to live above the crowd, Father, and just be in Your presence, Jesus. I pray for an increased intimacy with You, Father. That You would give us an increased desire, just for intimacy, Father, just being with You. And then as we do that, Father, You would just transform our lives completely, Father. That we wouldn't focus on problems, but they would focus on the answer, Jesus. And that we would live our lives just answer-conscious, Father. In Jesus' name, I thank You for this morning, and I just bless everyone here in Jesus' name. Amen.
[Applause]
They may want personal prayer. Men will be up there if you want anything personal. He's happy to pray for you.