Making a difference in your generation

Good morning, let's pray. Well, how they spread It's time,

It's time, come now, thank you. Okay. The theme this

month is making a difference. The title of today's message

is making a difference in your generation. There was a

song written I'm going they guess about thirty odd years ago.

So looking at the room here, there won't be made

people who know that song. I think it went something like,

I want to serve the purpose of God. Julia knows it.

They go in my generation forty years ago. There, I

want to serve the purpose of God in my generation.

And the Lord wants to speak to us today about

serving his purpose in our generation. Looking around the room here,

there's different generations here today. Yeah, and God wants to

talk about serving the purpose his purposes in our generations. Yeah.

Remember God has a purpose and a plan for each

of our lives. Yeah, okay, feedback, God has a purpose

and plan for each of our lives. All right. That's

not just a platitude. That's a fact, right, that's a fact.

The key thing is for as to understand what our

purpose is and follow the plan of God in our lives.

If we understand where we're going, and we listen to

the Holy Spirit. We fulfill our plan and our purpose.

So when this is all said and done, when we

go to heaven, he will say, well done, my good

and faithful servant. Yeah, doesn't matter whether you're eighteen or

whether you're eighty plus, doesn't matter whatsoever. I'm going to note.

So I'm just listening, okay. John four thirty five says

Jesus speaking, do not say there are still four months

and then comes the harvest. Behold, I say to you,

lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for

they are already white for harvest. Jesus gets excited about

this verse because it talks about the harvest. We're all

here today because somebody either prayed for us, spoke to us,

gave Yeah, somebody did something to impact our lives. That's

just a fact. It might have been a family member said,

we didn't even know where Jesus heart is is souls.

That's important to him. That's his driver. That's why we're here.

Otherwise would be out, wouldn't we But it's the life

of Jesus in you and in me which people will

see and change what they think, what they believe. I

once read the Book of Colossians thirty times, as in

a meeting in America a number of years ago, and

the guy was speaking, a guy called Paul Trellane, who

probably know here, and they said, read the Book of

Colossians thirty times. He was probably in his ages at

that time. So I read it thirty times, which was

interesting to do. Allowed to losing your focus when you

read something thirty times. At the end of it, Jesus

said to me, I'll put you on like a glove.

I put you on like a glove. The glove is you,

the hand is me, he said. It's my it's your body,

but it's my life. It's your body, but it's my life.

You're dead without me, Simon. When my life flows into you,

people see me through you. That's why it's so important

to spend time with God. Because we spent time with him,

there's less of us remaining, and there's more of him

my body, but it's his life that's always stuck with me.

So I'm just gonna set a bit of a foundation

here this morning, sharing about what some men and women

of God have done in the past. The Bible says

that we are surrounded by a greater cloud of witnesses. Yeah,

so I'm just going to give some a bit of

potted history. We'll see how long we go with this

about some people who recognized it was my body but

his life. So the guy called David Brainard, who was

born in Connecticut, which of the US, in seventeen eighteen.

And what I remember about Dave Brainard h is, if

you like, if you mentioned his name, what was the

key thing that comes up if you google it online?

What comes up? He was a man passionate for prayer,

and it spent many days praying to get a breakthrough,

many days praying. And one thing that I remember specifically

was he pray in the snow. He kneel in the snow,

and when if in his praying all around him there

was no snow, the heat of his body, the power

of God just cleared the area from around him. Such

was his passion for lost souls. He saw what say,

revival in the Native American I think it's Delaware Nation nowadays,

got to be careful what you say and get the

people's but I think it's Nathan Bacon Delaware Nation. They

saw a passion in him which they could not understand.

So that's Dave Brainad Charles Finney was born in seventeen

ninety two. He who trained as a lawyer in New York.

He saw revival being birthed in prayer. The often partner

with a guy called John Hyde. They call John Hyde

pray and hide, and John Hyde would pray, lock himself

in a room in a town and pray and fast

for weeks before Charles Finny turned up. Then when Charles

Finny turned up, the power of God hit that town.

People cry, keep Finny away from me. Because of the

power of God. People fall in the street in tears,

because of the power of prayer. So I recall reading

an account in the book by a guy called Jewel.

It's about revival. I can't remember the first name. I'm

sure you as you can help you with that. Go

to Canaan bum Boom. But I think sometimes somewhere in

New York, in the cotton mill, and as Finney walked

into the mill, the power of God fell in the

mill and people had to stop work because the power

of God was so manifest, so evident, and the factor

and the stopped work as hundreds of employees came to faith. Whoops.

George Jeffries was born in maysteg which is South Wales

just about bridge end of the M four. In eighteen

ninety eight, he was a product of the Wells Survival.

With his brother Stephen, the Jeffrey brothers established the Healing

pentecons even Pentecostal movement. Their meetings were known for divine healings,

the Deaf scene, the Deaf Hearing, the blinds, the blind,

the Deaf, the Deaf Hearing, the Bliind scene. Their ministures

underscored with prayer. In nineteen oh five in northern India,

the Mukti Girls prayer bands were operational and they prayed

for revival in their nation and revival hit through their nation.

The Hebridean Revival, which is nineteen forty nine two nineteen

fifty four was started by two elder sisters. I think

one was blind and one couldn't get out of bed.

They were eighty two and eighty four and they prayed

for revival. There's also a group of seven young men

who prayed in the barn at the same time. Other

part of the island Hebrides that's a that's Lewis and

Harris on the northwest coast of Scotland. If you don't

know geography, they prayed for revival and then invite to

the guy called Duncan Campbell because I could speak Gaelic,

and he came to the island and revival spread. One

man per it this way. I haven't been to church,

but there's revival in the air. I cannot get away

from the spirit. Oh. What I'm underpinned these revivals was prayer,

persistent prayer, persistent prayer and fasting. Okay, and what was

done in the past is going to be done again

in this nation. This is going to happen again very soon.

Okayans two Chronicles seven point fourteen puts it this way.

If my people, who are called by my name will

humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from

their wicked ways, then I'll hear from heaven and I'll

forgive their sin and heal their land. That's two Chronicles

seven poteen. If my people, that's you and me, we'll

humble themselves, pray and seek my face, turn from the

wicked ways. Oh forgive. If from heaven I forgive their

sins and heal their land. That is God what God

wants to do in this nation. Okay. God is moving.

God is moving, and Prayer changes things. Yes, prayer changes things.

So God wants to sort of talk to us this morning.

It just gave a bit for flavor of the say revivalists.

This is this is fact. It's not a story. You

can google it yourself or have a you look whatever,

whatever search engines use. These people existed, and these people

are the witnesses that are watching us. It's now our watch,

it's now our responsibility to fulfill our purpose in the

Kingdom of God. I mean, there's a lot of youngsters

in here today. Yeah, I'm olding you a lot. There's

a lot of a lot of youngsters in here today.

I sat where you sat, you know. But age is

not a problem. Age is not a problem. It's just

a number. And God speaks to us and has to

do something. Has to pray, ask to share our faith something.

That's what we need to do. Acts sixteen twenty five

to thirty four. So Paul and Silas are in Phillippie. Honestly,

the pause other cast out a spirit of a divination

from a young young slave girl, and that's upset her

owners because they can't get any money for that service anymore.

So they drag him into the corn. They stripped them.

They beat them with rods, and then they lock them

in the deepest part of the of the the prison

and put them in the stocks. So not only the

blood ey not they're sitting on the floor. Gunstar was

on the floor in there, because don't think there's any

sanitation in the prism. And we pick up the account

verse twenty five of Acts sixteen. But at midnight, Paul

and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God or

worshiping God. If you look at the translation and the

prisoners were listening to them, you know what you do,

what you say counts. People are listening and watching you.

You know, if you haven't made a profession of faith

to the people who you know, they watch you. They

watch how you deal in a circumstance or a situation.

They watch your life. They study your life. They might

not say so, but they do because they want to

see how you react, how you deal with situations about

says Jeremah thirty two twenty seven. Behold, I'm the Lord,

the God of all flesh. Is there anything to heart

for me? So when we go through a circumstance of situation,

it's not time to get out our list, which just

drops to the floor, and we go, here's my list God,

and he says, no, nothing is too difficult for me.

We need to get rid of our list and believe

what the word of God says. It's easy to say,

but what we should be saying is, but God, I

can do all things through Christ or the Anointed, which

strengthens me. I'm ready for anything and equal to anything

through the Anointed, which infusing the strength into me, which

is a derivation of the amplified. Suddenly there was a

great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken.

And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's chains

were loosed. People were two boys or two men were

praying and worshiping God in stocks with bloody backs, probably

thinking I'd rather be somewhere else right now. And God

sent an earthquake, opened the doors and let one's chains go.

And the keeper of the prison, awakening from sleep and

seeing the prison doors opened, supposing the prisoners had fled,

drew his sworders, about to kill himself, but Paul called

in a loud voice, saying, do not harm yourself, for

we are all here. Then he called for a light

ran in and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.

And he brought them out and said, sirs, what must

I do to be saved? So they said, believe on

the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you

and your household. Then they spoke the word of the

Lord to him and to a were in his house.

And he took them the same hour of the night

and washed their stripes or washed their wounds, and immediately

he and his family were baptized. Now they hand brought

them into the house. He sat, he set food before them,

and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all this household.

That's one example of the power of prayer from the Bible.

I'm sure if I went around the room so people

give me some examples of what God has done in

their life, in their sex life. We're not going to

do that for time. Julie wouldn't welcome that right now.

Prayer changes things, okay, don't believe that prayer doesn't change things.

Prayer changes things. That's why certain things will happen. So

we don't we're not encouraged to spend some time praying.

Things will get in the way. In inverted commas. So

we need to make sure we prioritize prayer in our life.

It's not supposed to be, oh God, to go and

do this. It's a communication with the Father, with Jesus. Yeah,

so the way it's not supposed to be difficult, but

sometimes we do make it difficult. James five, verse sixteen says,

the effectual or the effective fervent prayer of a righteous

man avails much dynamic, and it's working. With the translation says,

the effective fervent prayer of a righteous amount of avails

much dynamic and it's working. You could say, well, this

came to mys was preparing this word, just wrote, I

wrote this down, this bit down any way. It's like

the fervent or the red hot fervent prayer, referring to

the intensity of prayer with like a physical heat. Remember

Dave brainad praying in the snow, and literally there was

no snow around him when it finished. When the blacksmith

heats metal, if you're doing a horse or something like that,

he'll plunge the metal into the forge or the fire

and they heat it up until it glows red and

then it's like an orange yellowy color and then it

goes white and then sort of like a yellow orange

color again, and that's when it's reached that sort of temperature.

He brings it out, gets his hammer and the anvelo

starts whacking it to shape it into the shape he

wants to be. Yeah, as the intensity of our prayers increase,

they shape the outcome of what we are believing for.

All right, As the intensity of our prayers increase, they

shape the outcome of what we're believing for. Sometimes we

pray and God answers immediately. Sometimes the time where we

have to pray and travail and our prayers become quite

hot and be shaping the answer. Yeah, depends what you're

dealing with, Okay, But in terms of revival, that's a

sort of prayer. John six sixteen to nineteen. This is

just a half. Jesus fed the five thousand, and he

sent his disciples away in a boat across the galiley.

It's dark. Jesus goes up onto the hillside to pray,

and you can see the boys in the boat. Must

have been a clear night, that's all I can say. Anyway,

I can see the boys in the boat, and the

wind's getting stronger, and the sea's getting shoppier. Send Jesus side.

I'm going to walk on the water. She's led by

the Holy spit. He walks on the water to the boat.

Then the sea arose because a great woman's blowing. Jesus

walking on the sea and drawing near the boat. It's

time to walk on water. It's time to walk on water.

What do I mean by that? It's time to do

the impossible in terms of physics. You know we have

the law of gravity, don way, so you know Jesus

broke the power of natural law when he walked on water.

It's time for us to walk on water, to see

into the invisible, and to do the impossible by faith

with the Holy Spirit, not by ourselves, because by ourselves

we can do nothing. We're just people. Yeah, when we're

born again, the spirit of God comes into our lives

and we are new creation. Since out the door, we

have a new life. We're a new person and we

live with the Holy Spirit. It's only with the Holy

Spirit we can do all things. Don't try it by yourself.

It doesn't work. Believe me, I've done that. Don't do it.

Don't waste your time. God wants us to pray bold

and expectant prayers led by the Holy Spirit. Okay, remember

one word from God through us can change someday's life

in prayer and face to face. Hebrews twelve and verse

one says this, Therefore we also, since we are surrounded

by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay hold,

or lay aside, sorry, every weight and the sin which

so eagerly ensnares us, and let us run with endurance

the race that is set before us. So we're surrounded

by a great cloud of witnesses. Might be your ancestors,

might be your granny. I don't know who it is,

but we're surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. Paul says,

let's lay aside the weight and the sin which easily

ensnares us, and let's run with endurance. I've got my

running shoes on today. Not by any particular reason, but

I've got some running shoes on today. Kah. Yeah, it's

time for us to run our race. Yeah sounds good,

But obviously running is not too easy. First couple of

miles is quite easy. Sometimes the first five miles quite easy.

And then when you when when you get tired, things

start kicking your leg start ache, and it can get

a bit get the way, so you know, we need

to run God's way. H m hm. For some of us,

it's time to put on their running shoes. Julia answer,

run our race. Someone's already running for someone's We need

to put our shoes start running the race. It's like

someone who has started with good intentions but stopped due

to an injury. God what somebody said about circumstances. Others

are running techniques not quite right, and we're not too efficient,

and God wants to refine that. Those others don't think

they can run, and they've got shoes in the box

sitting there. It's time to put our shoes on. You know,

we can do all things through the annoint of which

strengthen us. Flippings four point thirty. We can do all things.

So it'll be a lot saying it's time to have

a reset. Yeah, it's time to put our shoes on.

For for example, they should running shoes on. It's time to

run our race. It's time to make a difference in

our generation. Yeah. For me, that's my generation. For Shane

that's his generation. You know, Sama, that's her generation. It's

time to put our shoes and starting to run. So

what the low wants to do is he wants to

speak to those people want to respond to this this message.

So he wants to do it is if you stand up,

I'll pray, but the Holy Spirit's going to minister to

you personally. I's that you want to peep out of

the front and said no, no, no, no no, don't

want to do that. I just want they want to

be people want to respond to me, stand up, and

the Holy Spirit will minister to those people who stand

up personally. Okay, that's what God wants to do, goes

it differently every time, so you got to ask so

you don't do the wrong thing. It's not about a word.

It's about the Lord ministering to each and every one

of us in this room and listening online. There is

no difference or distance in the spirit. So if you're online,

stand up when I say I believe God will minister

to you personally, because that's what he does. God is

a spirit and God has met with each one of

us in this room. If you know, Jesus has met

with you when you came to faith. We're on the bus,

in your bedroom in a church. He met with you,

and he made himself real to you. God is alive

and God is here today. I know because I brought

him with me. He lives in here. It's my body,

but it's his life. Yeah, so it's time to stand up.

You wait, if you're interested in God doing some stuff

for you today, stand up. I'll pray. Then let him

do what he wants to do. When his finish, you

sit down. Okay, I'll spare over to you. I've done

what you asked. I have said what you asked me

to say. Now Lord, do what you said. Minister to

these people who are standing in this room where they're

out lording Jesus name, so they can run their race.

They can finish the course, and you can say, well done,

my good and faithful servant. There's not about a man.

It's about the Holy Spirit. So don't look around. Close

your eyes and let the Holy Spirit minister to you. Please. Okay,

And when when he's finished, you sit down. There's no

hurry here. Take Let God take his time with you. Please,

let him minister to you. Okay. It's not a formula here.

It's just about God ministering Holy Spirit. Do what you

want to do, please, I welcome you, please do what

you want to do. Thank you of the first