Relate Community Church
Relate Community Church
Stretching Out || Week 4 || Bishop Dave Dolan
Bishop Dave Dolan from Sullivan, Illinois was here this week to continue celebrating Relate's 7th Birthday!
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All right, everybody, how many of you are excited to be in church today? Come on somebody. Amen, you guys look good, it feels good in here and I'm so. I want to say I'm proud of you because you weathered the storm outside, some of people calling in last night pastor, I can't get out in the rain, I can't get out in the storm. I'm proud of you for waking up and saying you know what? I'm going to church. That's a sign of maturity. It's a sign of growing up and getting strong and just needing to be in the house of the Lord, needing to be with God's people. So I'm excited that we're here today. It's the best part of my week to be in the house of the Lord with you all.
Speaker 1:And can we do one thing? There's a group of people that, with all that God has done, there's a group of people that have made it possible for us to be here, because they've given time, they've given their money, they've partnered with us in an incredible way, and I just want us to give it, because they've given time, they've given their money, they've partnered with us in an incredible way, and I just want us to give it up for the Dream Team. Where's the Dream Team at. A bunch of you guys are on the Dream Team and it means the world to me that there's. I know that there's no way we could have done this without this process over the last few years. I don't want to take too long, but I want you to know that when we first started, we were called by God and we knew we were supposed to start a church, but we were like I don't, how is this going to work? We felt like we were all alone because it was just Angela and I and obviously when our kids joined us, that's two more. We doubled the church that day and it was. We were excited. But when you guys started saying we want to be on the team, that gave us so much confidence and so much courage.
Speaker 1:And even today, every time someone joins the team, it's like I cannot believe. I think the average church in America is smaller than our serve team and just the amount of people who have just since before we ever had a church service you guys who wanted to join with us and serve and reach out into the community and love people and pray for people that truly it knocks our socks off. Every single week, every day, we see you guys posting online and loving on each other Every single week, every day. We see you guys posting online and loving on each other, and we've gotten to the point where now the dream team and you guys are. I turn around and I'm like who did that? Who did that? Who decided we were going to go help these people? I never even saw this was happening, and sometimes it's after the fact I see when did we do this? I have no idea. But it's you guys, it's the dream team, it's the family of believers that God is connecting us to, and so I'm so thankful that you're here. I also want to say a great big welcome to everyone who is watching online this morning. Let's give it up for those guys. You matter to us. It matters that you just clicked that link and joined us, whether it's on a Sunday morning or during the week, to stream on demand. We're thrilled that you went out of your way and it means a lot to us, so thank you for that. There's so many people in the house here to celebrate our anniversary with us today, and, pastor Susan, I'm glad Pastor John is with us, and it's a blessing that you made it here today, so thank you for being with us. We love you. We have prayed for you and your church and literally all the churches around us.
Speaker 1:I felt like one time someone asked us why do we need another church in spring? And I said the answer is the kingdom of God. The army of God needs more boots on the ground every day. That's the point. If we can keep putting people into action to do the work for the kingdom of God, then I would love to see this entire city transformed from the bottom up as we just keep doing the work of God and a very special group of couple today, all the way from Illinois, a cornfield in Illinois, you guys have been a blessing to us for many, many, many, I'd say decades, several decades at least. I've been trying to figure out how long have I known them? It's hard to know. Going back with Bishop Holly and just having.
Speaker 1:Every time we decide to do something for the Lord, including planting this church, you guys were just behind us and cheering us on from the sidelines and supporting that first year.
Speaker 1:We could not have done it without supporters like Pastor Bishop Dave and Deborah and your kids.
Speaker 1:I think we steal ideas from you guys. We see you all doing stuff and we're like we're doing that and I think it goes both ways, but it is a big, big blessing to us and from the bottom of my heart I want to say that we love you, angela, and I love you. You've been like part of our family and so, so, so excited for the family of Relate to hear your voice today and to introduce you to them and them to you, so that you can see firsthand the investment in the kingdom of God that you guys have made with prayer and with financial support and just with counseling and all the things that you guys have stood for in our lives, just being at the advice of parents, the advice of wisdom. Every time I have questions and some of the struggles that we've gone through, I don't know how we could have overcome them without the wisdom and experience of someone who's been doing it for a long, long time. So would you guys stand up on your feet and welcome with me Pastor Dave Dolan.
Speaker 2:Relay Church. God bless you. We send greetings to you from New Life Church and our serve team and our elders. What an amazing place and I want to honor Pastor Sean and Angela, because you are mature, beyond your years and I want to declare over their lives so that you know. I want to declare continued wisdom, strength, favor, blessing, influence, increase, prosperity, favor with unexpected elements of your city. May the church realize that the government of this city will look to you soon for answers, for equations of effectiveness to empower people, and I believe that Relate Church is Spring Texas' best-kept secret.
Speaker 2:I need to take Sean with me. I haven't had an introduction like that for a while. I need to take Sean with me. I haven't had an introduction like that for a while. He's very gracious, but we want to welcome you. We want to thank God for you. We've watched how God has blessed from the conception of vision and I want to take a moment this morning and take a spiritual syringe and extract from the Word of God what I believe are kingdom principles that will help you through this next season and inject them into your spirit so that when you leave today you're empowered, you're encouraged, you walk in a place of heavenly revelation that you realize you are seated in heavenly places with Jesus Christ and to your worship team. God bless you. Please pray that I don't put you on a plane tomorrow and take you with us.
Speaker 2:I walked into this house this morning and I've preached in many places around this nation and around the world that there is something very unique in the atmosphere. It is permeated with possibility, it is fertilized with favor. I believe that God has just set a platform to launch you from with increase and blessing and favor. Pastor Susan mentioned this morning Psalms 100 in verse four In the message Bible. It says this the password is thank you. The access, the code to get into the Father's house is thank you. We live in a culture today that is ungrateful, unthankful, unholy, but you are shifting the atmosphere over Spring Texas. There are things happening in the atmosphere because of your prayer, because of your faithfulness, because of your willingness to serve. I watch everything that happened this morning and Pastor Sean and Angela's fingerprints are everywhere and Christ's fingerprints are all over them.
Speaker 2:I want to take you quickly and I want to expedite the time that we have together to Proverbs 29 and verse 18. I'm sure that you are familiar. I'm sure that you are familiar. The Bible says without a vision, the people perish. Without a vision, without a dream, without a revelation, without insight, without a heavenly perspective, the people perish. What does that mean? Maybe God gave you a word this year. Maybe you are connected with the vision of this house and you don't have a specific word for this year.
Speaker 2:My word for this year is strategic. So every decision I make, everything that I do, every corner I look around, every engagement with business people, every element of meetings, from spiritual to business, to the city council, to the mayor, I want to be strategic and I want to be focused. The only reason for failure is focus. All of us love great victories. Maybe you're believing God for breakthrough in a particular area of your life, but victory never comes without a battle. Battles never come without confrontation. Confrontation never comes without conviction, and conviction is laid upon the altar of our hearts because of the power and the anointing on the word of God.
Speaker 2:Vision will do two things in your life. How many of you have a word for this year? There is something that God has written on the tablets of your heart Vision does two things. Vision creates spiritual disciplines. Say, pastor, why do you pray, why do you fast? Why do we go through the agony of sometimes seeking God? Why do you worship with such passion? Because I have vision, and vision creates spiritual disciplines in my life, so that I will become everything that God intends for me to become, so that I will arrive at the destiny that he has purposed. Vision also creates spiritual boundaries.
Speaker 2:Let me just speak into your life a moment. There's some movies I'm not going to go see. There's some music I'm not going to listen to. There's some books I'm not going to read because it's not conducive for the word of God in my life, for the direction of my life. And so vision is critical. A dream is critical. Where do you want to be in five years as an individual? What do you want to do in influence and impact with your family, with your neighbors, with those that are around you?
Speaker 2:We love the promises of God. In the house of God, we love to shout when we hear the promises of God, but then we have to walk right smack dab into the process. We don't always enjoy the process, but we do know that God will bring the fulfillment of his word. He will bring to pass everything that we need. Maybe you need a breakthrough in your life. I've spent the last three weeks at New Life talking about breakthrough and last Sunday we had an altar call that was from wall to wall people needing a touch of God in their life, needing a breakthrough physically, financially, relationally, emotionally, being overwhelmed. Maybe somebody received a doctor's report and you're struggling to battle that report in your mind against what the word of God says in your mind, against what the word of God says.
Speaker 2:Breakthrough, defined, is a sudden shift in your circumstances. There are many elements in the word of God where God moved suddenly. He moved suddenly with Hezekiah. He moved suddenly with Solomon. He moved suddenly in Acts 16 when Paul and Silas were in prison. He moved suddenly on the day of Pentecost, and there are ingredients that position us for breakthrough and for suddenlies in our life.
Speaker 2:Every miracle, every breakthrough is preceded by a crisis. Thank you for that rousing response. Crisis is not something that we want to embrace, but every miracle is remembered by its crisis the children of Israel leaving Egypt when they've come to the Jordan River. The Jordan was overwhelmed. The Red Sea and then, when Joshua came to the Jordan River, the Bible says in Joshua 3.15 that the Jordan overflow its banks all the time of harvest. If we're going to reach a harvest, it's going to be in the midst of adversity, in the midst of a crisis.
Speaker 2:In literature, the word crisis means a decisive moment, that moment that you make a decision. The Japanese language is very interesting because they don't have a word for crisis, only opportunity. Every crisis is an opportunity for you to see the creative power of God. Let me just speak this today, because your crisis can either be your womb or your tomb. It can be the womb of possibility, where God stretches you, he moves you beyond where you are, into that place that you've asked him for, into that place that you've thanked him for, into that place that you've prayed about, that you've asked him for, into that place that you've thanked him for, into that place that you've prayed about, that you fasted about, that every assignment from hell and every fleshly element would be broken, dismantled, dysfunctional, and so in that moment it can be the womb of possibility. Or it can be a tomb, where you write your epitaph and say I'm done, I'm gonna quit. Jacob faced that many times, but that's not.
Speaker 2:Every lady in this church that has ever had a child knows that when the contractions become more intense, you are closer to the birth of what you are looking forward to. We have seven children. I still remember clearly the pain. Some days it's overwhelming and then my wife smacks me back into reality. There's many challenges, many struggles. You will be tested, you will be challenged, but God has a plan, a purpose and a destiny for you. I don't know where you have come from, I don't know your history, but can I tell you today that, no matter what you faced, what you're up against today, what you've had to walk through in your home, in relationships, no matter where you have been, you have value today and to embrace the power of God's word and the reality that he has a plan for you, that you are a weapon in his hand and if you can take your pain and turn it into purpose, then something incredible can happen.
Speaker 2:Let me take you to the book of Genesis, chapter 39, and just examine Joseph's life and get a snapshot of what happened in his life. I'm in Genesis 39, verse 20 through 23. And Joseph's master took him and put him into prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound. And he was there in the prison, but the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison, and the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison. Can I just insert something?
Speaker 2:Wherever Joseph found himself, he always had the ability to rise to the top. Because of his dream, because of his vision, because of the power and the potency. Every time he remembered his dream, I believe something touched his heart. Every word that God gives you should have potency, it should be palatable understanding and it should release the promise of power and release an opportunity for you to say something good is going to happen in my life, something great is about to happen in my life.
Speaker 2:I've seen too many pastors. Why are 400 pastors a week bailing out of churches? Relate church. You have survived the onslaught of hell's fury because you have been able to sustain a move of the spirit of God, because of great leadership, because of great serve teams, because of a hunger and a willingness and purpose. And now you stand here today, seven years old, having accomplished the plots of God and surpassed the circumstances of the evil, one that he would have loved to take you out and made you a statistic. But the Lord was with Joseph. I want to read that again.
Speaker 2:God said Joseph, if you're going to be incarcerated, I'm going with you. Help me somebody. Whatever you're walking through, you are not isolated. You are not by yourself. God says I will be with you. Help me somebody. Whatever you're walking through, you are not isolated. You are not by yourself. God says I will be with you. What God doesn't deliver you from, he walks through with you. So you are never alone. You are never isolated. You are never struggling in that moment to wonder God, where are you?
Speaker 2:Verse 22, and the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand. Verse 22, and the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison and whatsoever they did there. He was the doer of it. The keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand, because the Lord was with him, and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper. Sometimes, when we think about destiny, we eliminate the reality of our choices and the fact that we have a part to play in what God wants to do in our life. We sometimes think that if God has a destiny for me, then he's going to play it out. It's just going to unfold and it has created a lethargy and a passivity in the church. What Joseph did? I thank God for worship, I thank God for prayer, but when we leave this building we have a work to do and we have a mantle that is anointed by God to have influence and to do something. Whatever Joseph did, god made it to prosper, so powerful the Lord was with Joseph.
Speaker 2:I don't see Joseph complaining. If he did, I don't read it in the passages of Scripture when he was betrayed by his brothers, sold into captivity to the Midianites, all of a sudden he finds himself in Potiphar's house and he's got his dream job serving. And all of a sudden Potiphar's thinks joseph's cute. Joseph walks in integrity but he eventually he finds himself fulfilling the reality of the dream. Can I just share this with you if the bible declares and it does that god inhabits the praises of his people, then who inhabits the praises of his people? Then who inhabits our complaints? Is there an enemy waiting to inhabit our complaints? I don't hang around complaining people. That's why I love your pastors. I don't hear them complain.
Speaker 2:Now, it's not because they may not have something to complain about, but they have learned that declaring the word of God and looking to Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, that he is worthy and he will carry us through this and like the three Hebrew children that went through the fire and nothing was burned except that which restricted them. If you're in the fire today, if you're walking through a crisis today, look to see what God is burning off your life. What's dropping off your life, what's that which hindered your life? The captivity, the change, the bondages are becoming dysfunctional and you're walking in greater strength. That which he did promotion will bring adversaries. David was aware of that. He said in Psalms 23, 5, the Lord prepares a table before me in the presence of mine. Enemies, if God be for us, who can be against us? No good thing will he withhold from those that walk uprightly before him. He is with you. You say, but my adversaries are encompassing me. You better shout for joy, because God is about to prepare a table before you in the presence of your enemies. There will never be a moment in our life where there is not opposition, where there is not challenges, where there is not somebody on Facebook demeaning you and thinking that you are less than what God has declared. You say but, pastor, they're shooting at me, but you're not shot, because no weapon formed against me will prosper.
Speaker 2:When we first went to Sullivan May the 1st 1979, we met in my parents' house. The neighborhood was complaining because people didn't have anywhere to park. Then there were people that approached me and said listen, you need to be aware there's a new group in town and they're armed and dangerous. I went that would be us, because we are armed with the full armor of God and we are dangerous to principalities and powers and wickedness in high places and we are determined that we are going to see breakthrough in the midst of any crisis, in the midst of any challenge, in the midst of any struggle. About three years ago, my daughter was in the office of any challenge, in the midst of any struggle. About three years ago, my daughter was in the office. She phoned me. She said dad, the mayor is here. He wants to talk to you. I said we'll send Richard down. I've known Richard for years, played ball with him in high school. I said Richard, what are you doing here? He said I need a favor from you. I said what do you need? He said in our, our community, we're not as thankful for the blessings of God as we ought to be. Can you put together a prayer walk around the courthouse just so that we can gather from every avenue of this community and be thankful? I said it's, it's done, we'll do it. Watch and see how God begins to cause other pastors that have been in this community for years to call you, because there is wisdom in this young couple and in this church and in this leadership that will cause people to be drawn to you.
Speaker 2:If you, have you ever been through a battle? Anybody been through a battle? Are you in the midst of one? Are you in a crisis? Are you in the midst of one? Are you in a crisis? Are you tired of hearing that preaching? Are you tired of seeing Facebook pop up with all these teachings on how to walk through the fire? Four points to walk through the fire and succeed Because you're still here is proof of two things. Your struggle is proof number one that you haven't been conquered and that you are closer to your goal than you were 24 hours ago.
Speaker 2:Dreams are fertilized in seasons of adversity. Joseph had a dream. He was the youngest of Jacob's children. Joseph was blessed, his dad had just bought him a new multicolored suit, and his brothers were intensely overwhelmed and aggravated. Isn't it amazing that people that go to church and have no dream, have no vision, they get upset with you because you know where you're headed, you know where you've been and you know that God has a plan for you and you will arrive at that place because God is for you. And if God be for you, who can be against you? Joseph's life is blessed. He is overwhelmed. His dream, though, is the beginning of challenges in his life. His brothers are outraged. They sell him into captivity with the Midianites.
Speaker 2:When you are all alone and your dream has been big and there is nobody around you, I wonder if Joseph stood there in that pit, isolated, wondering is this the end? Is my life over? Is this all that there is? But I had a dream. I had a word, and this day it's being challenged. I don't see him complaining. And this day it's being challenged. I don't see him complaining. If you have the ability and the fortitude and the dream in your life and the word of God in your life is strong enough, it will be tested in isolation. It will be tested in a place of reclusiveness. It will be tested in a moment when nobody is encouraging you, nobody is reaching out to you and God is simply saying do you believe what I put in your heart or do you need the affirmation of other human beings? If you can survive that test, you will be delivered from the pit and you'll move on to another challenge. Help me, somebody Right. There's a good place to take a praise break. I just challenge you, god. We thank you today. We honor, challenge. Help me, somebody Right. There is a good place to take a praise break. I just challenge you, god. We thank you today, we honor you, we bless your name. You are awesome and you're mighty.
Speaker 2:Joseph finds himself being sold by the Midianites to the Egyptians. He's in Potiphar's house, he's enjoying his time and Potiphar's wife continues to try to seduce him. And Joseph's family is not there. His church folk are not there. The worship leader is not down the hallway playing a musical instrument for Pharaoh. Joseph could have said nobody will know, but the Bible is very clear that when she grabbed a hold of his garment, he slipped away. There was integrity in his life because he passed the first test of isolation and the dream is getting bigger. The dream is moving. The dream is becoming large within him. Can you pass the test of the pit and can you walk in integrity when temptation comes and seducing spirits offer you opportunities that no one may ever know. But it gives you an advantage in the moment, and temptation is always about the moment, but God's dreams are always about favor and longevity. So he survived Potiphar's wife, but he finds himself in prison. It's interesting because the Bible said he was put in the king's prison. Why is that worthy of notation? Because, being in the king's prison, the king could wake up some morning and decide that you were not worthy to keep around and kill you.
Speaker 2:You ever felt like you've knocked up against death's door. You ever felt the overwhelming power of the enemy just trying to eradicate you. 12 years ago I had a heart attack just mowed my yard yesterday and I went through five bypass surgery not the diet of choice and my surgeon came and said you shouldn't be here. I said, doc, let me tell you something. Death came and knocked on my door and God put his hand down and said not today, because there is purpose and there is a destiny.
Speaker 2:Every word that you get from God, the vision of this house, whatever you feel like God is doing in your life, will be tested, will be challenged in every way, but in seasons of conflict and of crushing. Let me just define ministry for you today. Now, ministry is not allocated to those people just on the dream team, because when we leave this building we are all ministers of the gospel. The Bible says he makes his ministers a flame of fire. Ministers are literally defined, are the reality of other people being blessed by the oil that came from you, being crushed, being crushed. Do you remember the story of the Good Samaritan? And he had picked up this young man and this young man had been beaten. He took him to the hotel and what did he pour? In Oil and wine. When you say God, use me, you could be asking for him to crush you. And we have to understand the difference between life's problems weighing on us and the Lord allowing us to be crushed so that what's in us can be released. And Joseph is experiencing that in the prison.
Speaker 2:The oil and the anointing that comes out of you because of circumstances and crises in your life that you refuse to quit, refuse to retreat, refuse to give up. I will not. I will not allow this momentary situation to deter me from what God has in my life. I may have to struggle through it. I'll worship my way through life. I may have to struggle through it. I'll worship my way through it. I'll praise my way through it. I'll jump my way through it. I'll fast my way through it. I'll confess the word of God. I'm going to labor to enter into his rest. I never fight for victory. I fight from a place of victory because we are victorious because of the power of the cross and the blood of Jesus Christ, and we stand strong in that righteousness, no matter what you're facing today, the day came.
Speaker 2:Joseph is isolated in the prison. Can you keep your joy and your focus when you're surrounded by negative people? Can you keep your joy and your focus when other people around you that are incarcerated with life's problems and bound by the challenges of this life? He still utilized his gift because the baker and the butler approached him and he interpreted their dreams. Now, if that would have been me. There is something I have enough unsanctified carnality in my life to be dangerous. Have you ever said anything you wish you hadn't said? But for about one second you felt good that you could say it, and the second second you went oh goodness, that wasn't the right thing to say. Then you have to humble yourself and surrender and walk in humility and honor and go back and repent. And so if I would have been Joseph, I think maybe the thought would have gone across my mind that I'm in this prison, my life goes from bad to worse. But I had this dream. What do I do with this dream, god? I believe there were conversations between the Lord and Joseph. Joseph was unwilling to give up on his dream. He was willing to stand in integrity and stand strong.
Speaker 2:Listen we're in a culture today. Think about the millennium that we are in. We crossed into a new millennium in the year 2000. What was the first humongous event that took place? September, the 11th 2001,. 3,000 people were killed in the Twin Towers, 700 more than those that died at Pearl Harbor. And we're still dealing with domestic and foreign terrorism. And we deal with it everywhere we go, when we fly, when we drive, there is a suspicion and there is an inner frustration. And then we walk through COVID and we didn't get answers.
Speaker 2:And no matter what side of the political spectrum you're on, we are struggling with the rationality of everything that has happened and I'm hearing a silent frustration and a silent cry in the lives of people, but relate, church. You have walked through these things. You have survived these things and everything the enemy has tried to destroy, to demolish, to cause, to be dysfunctional. You stand here today as a witness in this earth that God is still alive, he's still powerful, that the cross still brings victory and the blood has not lost its power and the name of Jesus still holds true. Joseph interprets those dreams and he pleads with them please remember me.
Speaker 2:And they forgot him. You ever had somebody say I'll never forget you, I'll remember what you did. And they forget who you are, but God hasn't forgotten you. God hasn't forgotten your faithfulness. He hasn't forgotten your willingness to stand, your willingness to walk in integrity, your willingness to worship him. When tears are streaming down your cheeks and they feel like that is your meat, your sustenance, day and night, god looks and begins to shift things and move things, and he will bring you out with a mighty hand.
Speaker 2:If you can worship and believe when you're isolated, if you can worship and believe when you are placed in prison, then you're lied upon and surrounded by negative people. I promise you that you will soon reign and rule in the place of the promise that God has given you. Hallelujah In that moment. Let me share with you the promise that God has given you. Hallelujah In that moment. Let me share with you three things that God did for Joseph In verse 21,.
Speaker 2:The Bible said the Lord was with him. We just need to know that the Lord is with us, that the Lord is with us. There are moments we have to know. Lord, I thank you that you are with me. I thank God for his love for me, but I thank him for not leaving me. I think there are moments when I get up in the morning and the Lord looks down and goes angels, please get down there. He's up to something weird again. Please help him. The angels of the Lord encamp around us. God has circumstances ready for our benefit and for our challenge, and so maybe people have left your life, maybe you lost a job, maybe you're facing another surgery. Why don't you praise him for not leaving you? Because he said I will never leave you, I will never forsake you.
Speaker 2:The second thing is he showed Joseph mercy. Mercy looks good when justice is not. Justice was being fulfilled. Justice was being fulfilled by Potiphar, but God gave him mercy. Can you remember that moment in your life when you just sensed the mercy of God flood your soul and you said, lord, there's no God like you, there's no savior like you. I thank you that you're my strength and my fortress and my sure foundation. Thank you that you've planted me in Relate Church. Thank you for a community of believers, lord, that are for me and not against me. We have about 70 ex-Amish and Mennonite that have started coming to our church. We have one man, his name is Kenneth. He just came out of the old order Amish sect and a couple of weeks ago we challenged them and I said sect.
Speaker 2:And a couple of weeks ago. We challenged them and I said new life, are you open to whatever the Holy Spirit wants to do in your life, even if it challenges you? And this old order Amish man in his old order Amish suit is in the back of the church waving his hand going I am. I said God, what's happening? I believe the Lord is positioning us for signs, miracles and wonders. Why do you say that? Because the church is under great scrutiny right now and many things are running out of the woodwork that are displeasing and distasteful. And the backslider says I don't need to change and the lukewarm says why do I need to be any different? And the sinner goes you know, that's just the way they are. I've told you all along. And the saint of God is saying Lord, what is going on? Let me tell you, he is positioning your life as you've walked through challenges and difficulties and trauma and tribulation and trials and crisis. He's looking for a decisive decision from you that will say God, I will serve you, you are my hope in battle, you are my strength, you are my fortress, you are my sure foundation. It is that atmosphere that I believe God in his sovereignty is going to release signs, miracles and wonders in your life.
Speaker 2:This Amish man brought his wife to church. She came in her bonnet and in her bright pink dress. They wanted us to pray over a cloth for their grandchild that was in Barnes Hospital in St Louis. They weren't sure what was happening and we prayed over that cloth and I stood there in that altar in the presence of God. Sean and I felt and sensed this old order Amish couple. Everything that was happening was new to them, shaking under the presence of God. Four days later I get a phone call and they said Pastor, my grandson is being sent home. Today he's doing that much better and God is proving to them, because of their hunger, that he is still alive.
Speaker 2:God showed Joseph favor, showed him mercy. I love lamentations. Great is thy faithfulness, o God. Morning by morning, new mercies. I see. God doesn't serve day-old bread. God doesn't serve leftovers. His mercies are new every morning. And the third thing that God did was he gave him favor.
Speaker 2:Joseph was dedicated to his destiny. Can I ask you today, are you dedicated to your destiny? Are you dedicated to your destiny? Are you dedicated to your future? Are you dedicated and committed, with your roots going deep, that what God promised you he will perform, because our destiny is determined by what we're dedicated to. Martin Luther made this statement. He said truth, smashed to the ground, will rise again undaunted. Hallelujah. First Corinthians.
Speaker 2:Paul writes and says I have not seen an ear, have not heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man those things that God has prepared for them, that love him. God has things prepared for you today that you can't imagine. I want to take a moment. Would you stand with us? I want to invite your prayer team to come and Pastor Sean to come. We love you today. We thank God for you. We thank God for your worship, for your commitment.
Speaker 2:Hold fast, look at somebody and tell them come on, you have a destiny, stay dedicated to it. Stay committed to it. God, you're not. I said favor is upon you, favor is upon you. Maybe you're going through a crisis today. Maybe you got a bad report physically. Maybe you just need somebody to speak the word of God into you and to partner with you and agree with you today that you are going to make it.
Speaker 2:The word of God is true. It is settled in heaven. It will not return. Void. Jeremiah 1, 12 says he watches over his word to perform it. He watches over his word. Pastor, sean, I don't know where you are, but this young man right here, the spirit of the Lord is upon you and God spoke to me while you were playing today. And the joy of the Lord has been a mark on your life that has carried you through many struggles and challenges. And the Lord said this young man has been from crisis to crisis, from battle to battle. And God said you tell him. I remember that moment when you wanted to quit and you wanted to give up and you didn't think there was any hope. But today I've brought you here as a part of a great community and God is on you and for you, and joy is upon you. Hallelujah Come on.
Speaker 1:Amen. I want us to just take a minute and worship, and I believe that the message that was spoken today was not just a casual common message. I believe it was for a time, I believe it was for every person that's in the room today and those watching online, and I think we have to grab a hold of it and say God, I'm going to be dedicated to the dream and to the purpose and to the destiny that you have for me. We can't let this moment go by us without acknowledging that God's doing something in this church and in our lives and with us together. So the prayer team is here If you have something in your life that you need god to touch, that you don't want to go another day.
Speaker 1:We're finishing 21 days of prayer, but you don't want to go another day without letting god mark this moment, mark this problem, mark this issue, this obstacle, as an opportunity for god to move, for you to dedicate it to him for his purpose, that, as we worship, I just want you to come down, let our prayer team pray with you, and just say, god, this thing belongs to you. Open the opportunity, help me to see where I need to step out. Let's walk by faith. We're going to pray and dismiss after we sing for just a moment, but I want to give you an opportunity to come. Would you guys sing? Let's worship together.
Speaker 3:Let's worship together. My Savior, the one who will never fail. He will never fail. I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail. He will never fail. No, we'll never fail. We worship you, jesus, because you never fail. Hallelujah, we seek you in this place.
Speaker 3:I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. That's why I trust him. That's why I trust him. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I saw the Lord and he heard and he answered. I saw the Lord and he heard and he answered. That's why I trust him. That's why I trust him. I saw the Lord and he heard and he answered. I saw the Lord and he heard and he answered. I saw the Lord.
Speaker 3:Come on, we worship him in this place. We seek you, jesus, hallelujah, sing it again. I talk to the Lord and he heard and he answered. I talk to the Lord and he heard and he answered. I called the Lord and he heard and he answered. I called the Lord and he heard and he answered. I called the Lord. I trusted God, my Savior, the one who will never fail. We sing, sing our trust in God. You're the one who will never fail. We'll never fail. You'll never fail. Sing our gospel We'll never fail. We'll never fail. We'll never fail. We'll never fail. We'll never fail. We sing together. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. That's why I trusted, that's why I trusted God.
Speaker 1:Oh we worship you, father. We trust you, god, we trust you, god, come on worship in this place, amen, amen. Would you just open your hands in front of you right now and I want you to just say God, this year belongs to you, god, my heart belongs to you. My family belongs to you. My future belongs to you. My destiny, god, it belongs to you. My family belongs to you. My future belongs to you. My destiny, god, it belongs to you.
Speaker 1:We're walking into the rest of this year with surrender, knowing that, no matter what comes at us, no matter what devices the enemy would use, no matter what weapons are formed against us, it's not going to be enough to take us out. No matter what the economy throws at us and no matter what the news says or the doctor says or anybody else says, we're going to hang on to the promises of God. We're going to stand on the word of God. Let me pray for you with your hands open in surrender. God, we thank you, we are so thankful. We enter into your courts with thanksgiving, into your gates with praise. God, we ask you to unlock what comes next. We thank you, we trust you, for every answer, every provision, every supply, every provision, every supply, every, every situation ahead of us, god, that looks locked and trapped and broken. We trust that you'll bring us through it.
Speaker 1:For those who are struggling right now, god, those who feel like they're in a place where they can't move, they have no options, you are the God of miracles, signs and wonders and we trust you. We trust you to move. Lord, in Jesus' name, before we move from this moment, I want to give every person in this place and online an opportunity. If you've never begun a relationship with Jesus, you've never taken that first step of surrender where you say God, I want to give you my life, then I want us to say that prayer together as a first step of faith, starting a journey with God today. And we can do that, but I won't embarrass you or call you out, but I would just invite every person in the room would you just bow your head right where you are, and I'm going to invite every person to say this prayer of faith, this confession of faith, out loud, with me as we start a relationship with the loving father.
Speaker 1:Would you say these words out loud God, today, I give you my life, I surrender all of me to you in Jesus name. I believe you sent your son to die on a cross for my sin, and today I make him my Lord and my Savior. So forgive me of my sin, forgive me of my old way. My old life is gone and my new life has come, and from this day forward I'm going to follow you In Jesus' name. Amen, everybody, would you put your hands together, amen, amen, amen. Thank you guys for being with us today and celebrating. Tell somebody next to you happy birthday, relate. We will see you next Sunday. God bless you all. Have a great, great, great week.