Becoming People of Peace

Welcome to the Lookout Weekly Podcast.

Church of the Lookout is an older Colorado, and our vision is Jesus abiding in his presence, growing in his family, and living on his mission to transform the world with awe-inspiring love.

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Some of you don't know me because you're new to the church, but for many years, um I had the great honor and privilege of ministering here rather frequently.

And what is amazing is you know, when you have a friend and you haven't seen that friend in, I don't know, some like eight to ten years, and then you go out for coffee, and it's like you just instantly are like there.

Do you know what I mean?

Like there's not even like major catching up to do.

It's like you're just right there with that person.

That's what it has felt like being here.

It has felt very much like coming back to just really deep friendship and family.

And so I am loving being here.

Thank you so much for having me.

Um, so it was interesting because um you talked about hearing God's voice, and I actually had that talking about hearing God a little bit later in um what I was gonna speak this morning, but I actually want to start with that um because I'm gonna be talking about becoming a person of peace this morning.

And um, and you know, it's obvious we are living in challenging times, okay?

And that is just, it just is.

Um and it is the season that we're living in.

I'm not saying it isn't going to happen, but it is possible that even as challenging as things are, that it will possibly get even more challenging.

And it is easy in a season like this on the earth to get really focused on um on that and get disturbed and anxious and whatever.

But the scriptures say that in this season, that actually we, the church, all of us, not just look out, but the broader church, that we're actually the light of the world.

The city sat on the hill that cannot be hidden, the ones who bring light into darkness.

And in fact, the scripture says that the glory of the latter days is going to be even greater than the former.

And so, even though it can sometimes see like there's a lot of shaking going on and sometimes feel like that's hard to see, every single one of you in this room is called to be an image bearer of his light and his love.

And one of the ways that we do that is by, well, I think the most important way that we do that is by learning how to live a life following his spirit, listening to him.

Listening to him, knowing who we are in him, and then just resting in this embrace that we have of the Father, learning how to hear his voice, and letting his voice settle in us, peace, so that we can follow where he goes.

So that's where I'm headed today, but I want to tell a story first.

So I have had the privilege of um traveling for quite a number of years, and um I was raised Catholic, my whole family is um Catholic.

Some people are now in non-denominational churches, but by and large, our our larder family is Catholic.

My mom was raised in actually a Lebanese family, so I'm full-blooded Mexican, but she um was raised in a foster Lebanese family.

And so when I left the Catholic Church, it was hard for my whole family, and it was especially hard for my grandmothers because they were like very, very deep Catholic women.

And as you can imagine, you know, if you've been in the Catholic Church that long, so at this point she's 84 years old, and just think about her background really quickly.

Like she's, you know, has only ever believed that the priest can understand the scripture.

She's not ever seen a woman minister.

Um, she doesn't really know life of faith outside the Catholic Church.

That's who she is, right?

So imagine she's got this granddaughter who she loves, who's left the Catholic Church, and now not only has she left the Catholic Church, but apparently she's ordained.

I don't know about that, right?

And she's traveling and she tells me she goes to these churches and she speaks, and that's you know, she's got a kind of a different worldview, right?

So we're having this conversation.

Now I have to tell the story in her voice because it's the only way that I can tell it.

So I come to visit her, and um, and she literally, the almost always the first question she would ask me after Hi, I love you, and hug me, baby, you're not in the Catholic Church anymore.

No, Sitto, I'm not in the Catholic Church anymore.

How come?

And that of course would lead to a whole conversation.

You don't miss the Eucharist! Well, Sitto, we we have communion.

If it's not the same, if it is not blessed by the priest, it is not the same.

No arguing with that.

No, I'm not gonna try to argue with that.

Okay, and then she's like, okay, I don't understand, baby.

What do you do?

And I said, Well, I have like, you know, different churches where God takes me and I get to speak and I get to teach from the Bible.

What do you teach?

And I said, Well, I teach a lot of things, but kind of one of the things I'm I'm known for teaching is helping people learn how to hear God's voice.

And she's just looking at me like I've got, you know, antlers on my head.

Like, what are you talking about?

And so I'm trying to explain as best as I can, like how you hear God's voice, why you want to hear God's voice, the fact that God does still speak today, all these things.

And it's like nothing is landing, right?

But then all of a sudden, the more that I talk, it's like the Holy Spirit just entered the room, and all of a sudden I saw this look of realization come over her face.

And I was like, stop talking right now because she's about to say something really amazing.

And she looked at me and she goes, I've been talking to our dear Lord for 84 years, and I never ever thought about asking him to talk back to me.

And she was so mad.

She was so mad that she had been living 84 years and not thought of that.

And then the most precious thing came next, and this is what she said.

She said, Teach me, baby.

My 84-year-old grandmother, who's a Catholic still, who doesn't believe in female ministers, asks me to teach her how to hear God's voice.

And I share that story because if this church is like most churches where I speak, even though this is an amazing family that teaches about hearing God's voice, the concept is still new to some of you.

And even for those of you who have heard God's voice before, hearing Him on a regular basis, like actually having a life where that's normal for you, where you follow that voice, that still is yet to be.

And I just want to say this that is okay.

It's okay.

And at the same time that that's okay, there's more.

And you don't have to get to be 84 and be like, where the heck have I been in my life?

Like my grandmother.

So part of how we live in a place of peace is by following the voice of our shepherd, Jesus, who loves us, who promises to guide us into a right place of living with him and with the Father.

So I want to talk a little bit more about as we do that, the way that he brings us to this place of peace.

So there are many, many ways that I believe that God, in this hour and the time, the season that we are living in, that he has designed us to bring his light to the world.

One of them is being a person of peace.

So I'm not claiming this is like what we have to do to be light in the world.

This is one thing that we get to do as we follow the Lord.

Most people, even within church, think that peace is actually freedom from disturbance.

We think that life has to be okay in order to be at peace.

We think that there's abs if there were absent from strife, if things are not working, you know, or if things are working and things are kind of clicking along and we're happy and finances are going well, job is going well, family's going well, like that's when I get to be at peace.

But that's actually not the biblical concept of peace.

In the Old Testament, the word for peace is shalom.

And do you know what it means?

It we translate it horribly when we just say peace, because in our culture, technically, or I shouldn't say technically, a lot of people think that peace is what I just said.

And it's not.

Or we think peace is just the absence of war, but it's not.

The word shalom means this.

It's so beautiful.

It means to be whole, to be safe, to be sound, to be secure, to be complete, to prosper.

And the most literal meaning of shalom is this.

And if you remember nothing else of what I just said up to this point, remember this.

Shalom.

What you and I get to walk in because of Jesus means nothing missing, nothing broken.

Nothing missing, nothing broken.

And more than just salvation, which is amazing, that Jesus bought for us, is he bought the way for you and I to live in shalom.

It starts with salvation, but he bought the ability for us to live in peace.

He's the one who makes it that way.

Romans 5, verse 1.

Romans 5:1

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

It's because of what he has done that we actually get to have peace with God.

And this morning, in that imitation of salvation, that's what, that's where we start.

That's where we make peace with God is by accepting who Jesus is and what he did on the cross.

That makes us right with God, that brings us peace, but it doesn't end there.

And we know that this is important to God because he saw to it in the New Testament that nearly every single New Testament letter begins with something like this.

And I'm going to read Galatians 1, 3.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

So as you go to read the word, recognize that one of the things that God wants to impart to you as you read his word is his peace.

It's one of the purpose of the New Testament letters.

Grace to you and peace from the Lord our Jesus Christ.

And then awesomely, peace isn't something we have to work or strive for.

It's not something that we have to try to make happen because Jesus says to us in John 14, 27, peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.

Not as the world gives, do I give to you.

Let not your heart be troubled, let it not be afraid.

So I would say, generally speaking, in American culture, we have this idea that anything that we want, if we just can set our minds to it, we can have it.

And in one way, that's actually good because as a culture, we're blessed to have kind of a grit and determination that other cultures don't have.

It's beautiful in some ways.

But in other ways, it actually causes us to be a striving culture, thinking, I just have to be better.

And as long as I go for it and put as much effort as I possibly can, I will get to where I'm going.

Well, you know what?

Peace doesn't work that way.

Peace isn't a destination.

Peace isn't something that's sitting over there that you've got to run hard fast after.

Peace is actually something that you receive from Jesus.

And it comes from being with Jesus, spending time with him.

It comes from, yes, being in his word, but also praying, worshiping, having time with other believers, taking communion, all the things that we do that are kind of just part of our rhythm, right?

That we receive it from Jesus.

And in fact, in Galatians 5, what we hear is that peace is the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Well, what does that mean?

Fruit comes from a seed.

So as we're spending time with Jesus, we get these amazing seeds that come into our hearts.

And these seeds grow and they have life.

And then because of the time that we spend with Jesus in the fellowship of the Father and also the Spirit, what ends up happening is peace comes from us and it's a fruit of the time that we've actually spent with Jesus.

Now, I don't want you to get me wrong and think, oh gosh, Janine lives in Shalom all the time.

I wish.

I know that it's available.

I know that I can receive the peace of Jesus, and I do spend time with him.

And yes, I actually do have peace a lot of the time, but I don't always.

So I'm going to tell you a story, a very honest story.

My husband and I moved to Victor, Idaho, four years ago.

And um, and in the journey of following God to go there, it began with an invitation to have a job in Jackson, Wyoming.

And it was actually gonna be a very lucrative job, the most lucrative job that my husband would have ever had as a builder.

And um, for various reasons, that job kind of like it was a really amazing lucrative job.

It became an even more lucrative job, then everything was off the table, then it was back on the table, and it was like this year and a half of just emotional swings of what's going on.

While at the same time, we're applying for his green card, we're looking for housing, we're doing all the things because we believe that we're following God where we're supposed to go.

Now, in the middle of all of this, um, we before we accepted the job, we had another job in England that he was doing, and it also was gonna be a lucrative job, not as much as this one, but basically we let go of that one because for this other thing, right?

And so, because of that, like the nest egg that we kind of thought that we would have in order to sort of move forward and some of the other things that we had in life, that wasn't there.

So suffice it to say that when we finally actually moved, like when we're getting on the plane to go move to Victor, Idaho, there were two things that were going on.

We had roughly 500 pounds in cash in a bank account, and that was the only cash we had.

We knew that we had hopefully, we didn't know for sure, but um the HMRC is like the IRS, and we the we had this thing where um you have to pay tax as a construction company, and then you get that tax back from the IRS, but they have to, or the HMRC, but they have to approve it, and they don't necessarily always approve it.

So there was like a stash of about$24,000, somewhere around that, that we thought at some point, hopefully in the future, we'll get, but we're not sure.

So we get on the plane, we've got 500 pounds, we paid for one month's rent, and um we're like, well, here we go.

And Ian's like stuffing his tools in his bag, as many as he can, so that we can hopefully get a job, because oh, by the way, we don't have a job either.

He doesn't have a job.

He doesn't have a job.

So we get on the plane and we're at Gatwick, or sorry, Heathrow, and we're waiting, and um, you know, I'm not mindful necessarily of being in massive anxiety, but I also know I'm not like a hundred percent at peace.

I do know that, right?

So I get this call from the HMRC, which was the grace of God, because they never call you, they always email you, and you're kind of like in front of your email, not quite sure, like, I don't know if I want to open this and what's it's gonna say, blah, blah, blah.

But this lady calls me and she's super sweet and she's super nice, and she's like, I just want you to know we've approved all of your VAT expenses, and you should have the money in your account in about two or three days.

When I got the call, and when I told, I started bawling right away.

I couldn't, I was so un, I was so like heaving sobs, I couldn't even tell Ian what was going on.

And then finally I got up.

They approved all the all the funds that would be in our account in two days, and immediately he starts sobbing.

Now, is that an amazing testimony of God's faithfulness and provision in the moment?

Yes, am I so thankful that it happened and I'm so grateful that we landed in the United States, having that in our account and knowing it was like okay if he didn't get a job right away or whatever.

Yes, that's all awesome.

But here's what was sad to me about that day.

Peace returned to me in that moment because my circumstances changed.

Not because I had been with Jesus, received his peace, and realized, you know what?

No, I don't know what's gonna happen, God.

I don't know what's gonna go, what's gonna happen from here, but I trust you and I'm remaining in your peace and I'm receiving peace from you right now, regardless of the situation.

I know that you've called us to move there.

I know that you're a good God.

I don't know how you're gonna provide, but I trust you.

I wasn't in that place.

And the reality is you and I can be in that place.

But it's being with Jesus over these hard things where circumstances really aren't great, where we can be with him in it and we can receive provision.

And that provision isn't always money, that provision isn't always the change of job, that provision isn't always our our son or our daughter who's away from the Lord coming back.

Our provision isn't whatever it is that we want to change about our circumstances, that then is the absence of strife.

Provision is actually Jesus Himself, who is a Prince of Peace, who gives himself to us in that time of prayer where we receive Him.

And then what happens is this Colossians 3 verse 15.

Colossians 3:15

As we receive that, it's the peace of God that then rules in our hearts.

And you know what?

It makes no sense sometimes.

It makes no sense.

I remember many years ago, I had just gotten out of school of ministry.

I was going to Israel after school of ministry, it was around 2000.

Now, I will admit, I was not very um aware of like the intifada and all the implications and truly how dangerous it was.

But I did know that stuff was going on, right?

I did know that.

And I I um I I was going by myself, and if you can imagine, like my mom was just freaked out.

Like, what are you doing?

Why are you going?

Don't you know what is going on over there?

And I remember very calmly just telling her, Mom, I know that you're worried about me, but I also know that God wants me to go to Israel.

And I know that it's not very safe over there, and I don't know what's gonna happen.

And I remember saying this, but I also know, God forbid, if I go over there and if I die, I actually know that that will be in the will of the Lord because I'm called to go there right now.

That's a peace, right?

That doesn't make any sense.

It doesn't make that makes no sense whatsoever.

And when when we walk in that peace, it's a witness to other people.

When I went into a full-time ministry, I left a corporate job back in 2004.

I was making six figures at the time.

And um I I was telling my parents, or not my parents, because my father is gone, my mom and my family, I was telling them, you know, I really feel God's calling on my life, and I know that I'm supposed to go and I'm supposed to move to Los Angeles and work for this ministry.

And um they couldn't understand, right?

They couldn't understand like why I would be leaving the lucrative job that I had and actually go into full-time ministry.

They couldn't understand why I would leave what they consider to be stability, right?

What they consider to be what provides for us.

And all I know is that the same thing, it was like, it didn't make any sense.

It didn't make sense to leave my job.

It didn't make sense, by the way, that this ministry couldn't afford to pay me and that actually I had had to raise the first three months of my salary, and then I didn't know after being there whether or not they'd be able to pay me after those three months.

That was a situation that I went into.

But because of hearing Jesus, because of sitting with Jesus over it, because of being with him in it, then by the way, that process in that particular time, not being just Jesus and me, but having older, wiser people speak into it, having friends pray, having other people say, Yeah, we really feel like this is God, and having that family around me so that I could have the faith to go and do the things, you know, that I did, I was able to go in peace.

And you know what's crazy is that a couple months later, even when I didn't know if I was gonna have a salary in the fourth month, I remember saying to a friend of mine, do you know I knew, I knew that I was doing what I was made for.

I knew it.

I knew I was headed in the direction of what God eventually had for me to do.

And I knew that even though all those things were still uncertain, I remember saying, and I remember being feeling very honest in saying this, you could offer me a million dollars and I would not go back to Quest.

And I really honestly meant it.

I knew it because I knew that that was not better than being in the will of God.

And there are things that you guys are called to as a body, there are things that you're called to as individuals.

And the place where you get the fuel that you need to walk that out in peace is Jesus, the Prince of Peace Himself.

Now, we're obviously not always in that place, right?

And so meaning, yes, Jesus is available.

Yes, I know I can receive it from him.

But how do I do that?

Well God's really good in giving us instruction.

Really, really good.

And in Philippians 4 6 to 8, it gives us a path.

So I'm going to read that out.

Don't worry about anything.

Instead pray about everything.

Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.

I loved that song by the way that you guys played this morning.

Praise him in the doubt.

Praise him.

I don't even remember all the words but what an amazing song.

That's the these verses coming to life.

Then after you're thanking him for all he's done then you will experience God's peace which exceeds anything we can understand.

His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

And now dear brothers and sisters one final thing fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right and pure and lovely and admirable.

Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

And then as you go on actually when you read that last verse verse nine keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me and everything you heard from me and saw me doing and then there's a promise then the God of peace will be with you.

So when we're in those situations where things are not good, where things are seem impossible where we're colored with doubt where we're walking in fear where we don't know what's going to happen.

How do we get to the place where we're able to receive the peace that's in Jesus these are the verses that help us understand that help us walk in that so while peace is a gift from God for sure we're given instruction for those choices that we can make to posture ourselves to be in the receptivity the place of receptivity to receive the gift what do we do instead of worry we pray how many of you don't have to raise your hands but how many of you have a situation going on right now where at night it's keeping you up and when you wake up you're just thinking about it and thinking about it and thinking about it and thinking about it and worrying about it.

What if that time was turned just to prayer?

Because you know what we're not going to figure it out and in that time where we're praying about it what's amazing is solutions can come to us.

It's the voice of God.

We don't always know it.

But when we switch from worrying to praying all of a sudden now our spirits are engaged and our spirits are making a home to be able to receive the seed of God which can be the peace of God to help us in that situation.

We let him know what we need and we thank him for all that he has done.

My mom is an amazing woman of God and she's also Catholic and I know this might be a stretch for some of you and I get it but she's got statues around her house you know she's got pictures of Mary that's who she is that's a culture she grew up in.

But when my my mother has had a really really difficult life she's got several reasons she could have several reasons to not believe in God because of how hard her life has been but instead she has chosen to follow the Lord.

And I'll just give you one example.

When I was 12 years old my father took his life my mother found him do you know what the first thing was that she said to me when she came and my little sister she sat between us she put her arms around us this is the first thing that she said your father may have abandoned us but our father in heaven never will that was the first thing that she said and I could go on with a whole litany of the rest of her story.

But I will just say this my mom when she has a concern she writes it on a sticky note on a yellow sticky note because that she's her favorite color it's a color of hope for her.

She writes it on a yellow sticky note.

She goes and she puts that concern anything that she's afraid of or whatever she puts it under the feet of a statue of Jesus.

And because she knows what I believe she's like I know that's not Jesus okay it's not an idol.

It's just a representation of Jesus Janine but she puts it under the feet of Jesus because guess what happens?

This is what she said.

Anytime I'm tempted to worry about it, anytime I'm tempted to be afraid again, anytime I'm tempted to be anxious over something I have already given to him that I entrusted him with, I remember where that is it is under the feet of Jesus.

And then she does something amazing when God answers her prayer no matter how many years it is later she goes she grabs that sticky note she dates it and she writes on the back of it how God answers her prayer, answered her prayer and then she sticks it in a prayer called answered prayers.

And on the days when she needs to encourage herself because there is an impossible situation that she doesn't know how to face guess where she goes there's something about honoring the Lord.

You know several places in scripture the Israelites are told put a stone up here because you're going to tell your children and you're going to tell your children's children and they're going to tell their children and they're going to tell their children's children of all that God has done and that is what's going to enable them to walk in faith.

We want to remember the things that God has done that's part of putting Philippians 4 eight in practice focusing on what is lovely, what is true what is holy what is admirable what is pure the way that God moves in our lives because that when we're faced with an impossible situation that we do not know how God is going to get us out of, that we don't know how we're going to get past, we rest in what he's already done and we take the faith that we got from that place and we're like you know what I don't really know that I have faith for this but I know that you did this.

And so I'm going to I'm going to trust you I'm going to trust that somehow I'm going to see your hand, God.

And that helps us keep our thoughts stayed on him and guess what happens as we stay our minds on him and as we think about the things that he's already done and we think about his faithfulness and his provision we start living in Isaiah 26 3 and says this you will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you all whose thoughts are fixed on you.

It just takes resting in him and thinking about him and trusting him comes partly from remembering what he's done.

Of course it comes from knowing him in his word but it also comes from taking those things that we are completely concerned about and instead of worrying praying and remembering what he's already done.

Now this is what's called being spiritually minded instead of being influenced by the ways of the world and the last number of weeks I know that you've been in a series of sex, love and Jesus and I know that's been really challenging in a lot of ways and it's been heavy and it's been intense and I just want to say praise God that you as a church as a family are willing to talk about the very difficult things that we are faced with in our culture today because we need to go here not Netflix not Amazon Prime not YouTube not whatever it is that you watch to figure out these issues here.

This is where our answer is and I don't know what's going to happen.

I don't again I'm not I I don't know what what's coming but we're there's no doubt that we're in a time of shaking.

There's no doubt.

And years ago I was actually on an outreach we were interpreting dreams and there's a dream that I want to share because we're I believe in this season now there was a a guy there a man who had a four-year-old son and um he came marching into our tent and said I don't know what's going on but ever since my kid could talk he has told me these dreams and I have no idea what to do with them.

And he goes and I know they are profound and I know he needs to understand them and I need to understand them.

So this guy and his son sat with our team for a long time.

One of the dreams that this young boy shared four years old he has a recurring dream and he says this is my recurring dream.

It no he didn't say my recurring dream because he's four years old.

He said this is my dream.

In my dream I see two huge hands come out of the sky and shake the earth until nothing but love remains.

That's the dream.

Two huge hands coming out of the sky shaking the earth until nothing but love remains.

Part of how we remain in peace during the time that you and I are living in is recognizing nothing happens on this earth that God doesn't allow.

And because he is perfect and because he is good anything that he allows he allows to perfect us in his love he is allowing things so that nothing nothing nothing but love remains.

Nothing but love remains.

So we get to be that we get to think about him we get to honor him we get to praise him we get to extol him we get to remember the things that he's done and even in the midst of what seems like hopeless we get to live in the place of hope Romans 1513 now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit the pathway there isn't striving.

The pathway there isn't circumstances getting better.

The pathway there is friendship with Jesus that's the pathway friendship with Jesus receiving the Prince of peace allowing him to minister his peace what in whatever it is that you're struggling with.

And maybe you're struggling with the last five weeks of what was taught here.

Or maybe you're struggling with the fact that your kids are in a school where they're being taught something that isn't biblical and you're not really sure how to deal with it.

Or maybe you're struggling with the fact that you're you know really want to be married and you're not yet married or maybe you're struggling with the fact that you know you've got a job where it's really hard to honor your boss because he's a jerk.

I shouldn't say that from a pulpit I'm sorry but sometimes it's true right whatever it is those things don't have to change to have peace in the middle of it many years ago I was I used to go to Bridgeway um when it was Vineyard Denver Southeast and they're still absolutely my spiritual one of my spiritual homes I was ordained by Peter.

Some of you may know him and for many years there was just this visitation of the Holy Spirit in the manifestation of like prophetic songs and it was really really beautiful.

And there was one particular morning when it was obvious that there was a lot of anxiety in the room and um and Peter sensed it right away got up in the middle of you know kind of worship and just started speaking to it started basically kind of sharing the message that I just shared in a in a much shorter um much shorter way.

And all of a sudden the Lord um I need the microphone actually the second microphone if that's okay I'm going to turn this off thank you um and in the middle of that um the Lord gave me this song.

There was a woman her name was Deanna and she would I do I have to turn it on it's on?

Okay.

There was a woman named Deanna and um let me turn this off so there was a woman who was um named Deanna and for whatever reason whenever she would play she would just play kind of you know spontaneously and she would just sort of have almost like the um unction of the Holy Spirit for what to play and for what for whatever reason a lot of times when she did that I would start hearing songs.

And this song that I want to sing for you is comes from actually the that particular morning.

And I felt this morning as I was praying that there were people in the room who just needed to hear this.

Because even with as much as I'm encouraging you even exhorting you to receive the peace of Jesus I very much recognize as hopefully you heard from the story that I shared about moving to Victor it doesn't mean that I live in it all the time.

I have doubts at times I'm afraid at times I have anxiety at times I'm insecure at times.

We are not expected to be perfect people.

And one of the things I think we need to be careful about in church is having an expectation of one another to always be okay and to always just be able to say oh I just need to declare the word of the Lord over my life because the reality is that when we do that we can ignore the part of our person our soul that has a mind that has emotions that you know has a will that can sometimes experience things that are really difficult.

Okay?

And I believe that this song actually is a heart of the Lord when we're in that place.

He doesn't expect you to like fix it.

He doesn't expect you to just be able to declare the word he wants to minister to that place.

So for any of you who came in here particularly with doubt with fear with anxiety I believe that this song is for you I will walk with you even when I can't see my way through I will walk with you and declare that you are Lord Father touch my unbelievable touch my doubt and fear Father wipe away the tears of pain help me see your hand on me help me see your light before my feet help me know your ways that are higher than my way Father touch me now Father hold me now Father let me live in the strength of your love and gray of your love and gray wash away the doubt and fill me with your faith fill me with the power to declare your way when we don't have the faith we ask him for it if you came in here with anxiety if you came in here being afraid if you came in here with unbelief you're in good company with a man named King David who was called a man after God's own heart and if you read the Psalms you will see that there is plenty of room for lament there is plenty of room to say to God I do not understand.

There is plenty of room to even say how could you allow this to happen that's honesty before the Lord that is being honest and integrous about you how you feel and at the same time when you read the Psalms you see this lament and then you see him say something like but you oh God you oh God you are holy you are good you are righteous you are all those things so I want to encourage you when you are in that place where you don't have enough ask him for it.

And sometimes that's not going to be enough and guess what?

You're going to need to go to a friend and you're going to ask them to pray for you and you're going to need to be vulnerable and honest with how you're doing and you're going to need to let them pray for you.

And you're going to need to come to this church and be willing to not have it all and let this place be family to you.

Let them walk you through wherever it is that you are and for those of you who are in a great place with Jesus for those of you who are in a place of tremendous faith and being able to walk through really hard circumstances trusting the Lord I want to encourage you sit with people where they are don't preach don't try to make it better sit with people where they are and listen to the Holy Spirit for how to be his hands and his feet in that moment.

Yeah?

And I want to encourage you lastly when I heard about the the name change when I heard about Vine Life becoming the lookout I was praying for you guys and the Lord woke me up very very early in the morning and had you on my heart and I just sensed something for you guys that I believe is a prophetic word and I submitted it to the staff and I asked if I could release it this morning.

And as you can tell I like to speak extemporaneously yes I have notes but I have I the way that I speak is is usually more extemporaneously but I wrote this word um really believing this was the word and I and I don't want to deviate from it.

So if you don't mind I would just like to read it to you to encourage you and submit it to you.

And I believe that being a people of peace is going to help you to live this out which is why I feel like God wanted me to release this word this morning.

You will be a people on the lookout known as a prophetic people drawing on the rich heritage of what God birthed so many years ago in this church.

God will give some in your midst favor to speak into leaders regionally in the areas of business, finance and education.

Even more importantly in my estimation you will also be known for valuing the one the one person who comes in who needs to hear from God about their future the one person who is hurting and needs to know what God thinks about them.

The one person who does not yet know Jesus but is appointed to meet him in your midst God's design is for this to not just be the leaders of the church who are on the lookout for ones such as these but the whole church and my prayers are with you for that to be God will open your spiritual eyes to look out look out of the four walls of the church to see the needs of your community and he will give you spiritual eyes and ears to hear his strategies for seemingly Impossible projects that will bring heaven to earth, turn hearts to Jesus and glorify the Father.

I'm not one to focus on the enemy much, but I believe God will give you, as a leadership and also some in your midst, prophetic warnings of the enemy's strategies to come against God's people.

And as you lean into prayer and intimacy, he will show you how to overcome those strategies and remain in peace.

You will also be known as a family of believers who look out for one another.

He's going to give you understanding of his ways to truly be family to one another, looking out for one another's general welfare, emotional well-being, and spiritual growth.

As I wrote this word, I was tempted to write, I sense that before each paragraph, instead of writing in emphatic language.

But I felt the Lord telling me not to do that.

Declaration is not normally the way I prophesy, but I want to honor what I feel the Lord is asking me to do, so I will leave it as is.

And I speak that over you.

My beloved lookout.

His beloved lookout.

I pray that you will walk in shalom.

I pray that you will walk in the place of nothing missing, nothing broken.

I pray, Byron, you can go ahead and come on up here.

I pray that you will avail yourselves of what is available in the presence of Jesus.

And I pray, especially for those of you who find that difficult, if you want to open your hands right now, close your eyes so that people don't feel vulnerable if they're not ready to do this.

But if people would just close their eyes all across the room, and those of you who really feel like, gosh, I don't know how to do this, I want to speak a blessing over you.

Father, I thank you for these ones who are hungry for you.

I thank you for these ones who don't yet know what it means to be able to really sit with you and be with you and pray and receive your heart for them.

And I pray, um, first of all, to that any guilt or shame that may have come with that, I pray that that would be broken off in the name of Jesus.

I thank you that you're God of tender mercies and that your tender mercies are new every morning.

And I thank you that they can have a new day in you.

And I pray for freedom to come and creativity to come.

And I love, Father, that there's a place in the back where creative worship and prayer is already happening.

And I pray over that prayer room that's here too, where people get to go and soak in you and encounter you and avail themselves of just the prompts that are there.

I pray that that would filter from this place to each individual home here that's represented.

And that each home here would be saturated with the presence of God.

And that as they go to pray or read your word, that they just sense the presence of your spirit in a way that helps them to linger with you.

I break off of you any expectations of what it is quote unquote supposed to look like.

And I bless you with adventure.

I bless you with a friendship, same way that you like having a best friend.

I bless you with having Jesus as your best friend, whom you just get to hang out with and talk with and be with and laugh with and enjoy life with.

And I bless especially those of you who've had difficulty understanding the Word of God.

I bless your ears to hear it, to understand it.

I bless you to know that the Holy Spirit is the one who guides you and leads you and teaches you all things that Jesus spoke.

So I encourage you, with the blessing of the Lord Jesus, to invite Holy Spirit into that place when you go to pray, when you go to worship, when you go to read your word.

The Holy Spirit is the one who will make that time come alive.

I bless you in the name of Jesus to continue to receive peace from the one who is peace.

I bless you in the name of Jesus that no matter what is going on, no matter what you are concerned about, no matter what is happening, either in your own family or just the things that you're concerned about in the world, whatever it is, I bless you to receive shalom.

Nothing missing, nothing broken from our beloved Jesus.

Amen.