Attempting to Demystify Revelation: Week 3

Well again, welcome to Church of the Crossing. My name is Andrew,

and I'm glad that you're here today. Before we look at God's word and

the message today, I want to tell you that Church of the Crossing is

experiencing so much of God's favor and so much of his grace, and it's

not because we deserve it, but it's just His grace. For example,

our Latino ministry, Iglesia el Camino, has been in the pre launch gathering

forming stage for several months. Our pastors Jose and Patricia have been here since

last summer and for the past few months they've been meeting on Sunday mornings in

the gathering place for worship and teaching, and they're making disciples. And already

the Lord has gathered fifty people to be a part of that ministry and it

hasn't even launched publicly yet. So even in the private stage, in the

gathering stage, there's already fifty people that Church of the Crossing was not reaching

until we started this ministry, and now we are reaching them with the gospel.

And so I want to tell you that we are looking forward to the

official public launch of Iglecia el Camino at the end of this month. It'll

be on Sunday morning, June thirtieth. You're invited to visit and to celebrate

that coming up. But we're just blessed by what God's doing in our midst

today. Well as we get started today we are in this message series.

It's called attempting to demystify Revelation. We chose the word attempting intentionally because we're

going to give an honest attempt. But you might be a little bit more

confused than you were before we started this. But we're looking at the Book

of Revelation, and you know, Revelation has so many interpretations. Some people

have different opinions about when Jesus will return. There are those who say they

are pre millennial, or some are post millennial. There are some who are

a millennial. Personally, I am pan millennial. In the end, it

all pans out. Now, that was a super cheesy joke. Thank you

for letting me, you know, tolerate that dad joke today. But I

do want to wish Happy Father's Day to all of our dads and stepdads and

grandfathers. And I want to honor the men in my life, my grandfather,

my dad, my father in law, who have modeled manhood for me,

you know, being a new dad, I've been learning a lot.

And when our baby Shepherd was born, Lorna and I were a little bit

overwhelmed. We were exhausted, we were worn out, and honestly, we

needed help. We needed help getting through the days, getting through the nights.

We needed help in the home. And so I made a decision to

reach out for help, and I made a phone call. It was like

sending the bat signal out for batman. And I called my in laws and

asked for help. And so my mother in law put on her cape and

she flew to Indianapolis and she spent a few weeks with us, helping and

helping out. And then after that, my father in law drove out from

Pennsylvania and he spent a whole week with us. Now, my father in

law, Bob, is fortunate that he can work remotely, and so he

just brought work along and he set up in our kitchen counter with his computer

and his screens and his headset, and in between conference calls and video calls

and emails, he was changing diapers and feeding the bottle. And my father

in law is also a great chef, and so Lauren and I did not

have to worry about dinner. We didn't have to worry about what we were

eating because he took care of that all week long. He was a really,

really big help. I want to ask you, do you need help

in your life right now? I mean, do you need help? Not

help from another person, but do you need like a supernatural help in your

life? Do you need divine help? Like you're in a situation or you've

got a problem that you don't see a solution to. Do you need help?

Do you need God's help? You ever feel hopeless or worried that you're

not going to be able to see through to the other side, or maybe

you need help making a decision? Or do you need help in your marriage,

in your family or someone here might have a financial situation where you're trying

to make ends meet and you need help, you need a supernatural help?

Are you praying for a miracle in a health situation? Do you need help?

Well? Today I want to tell you that God can and God will

help you. God delights to help you. How do I know this because

of this one verse I want to share with you. Look at this verse

from Hebrews chapter four. I believe this verse can give all of us so

much encouragement. Hebrews four, verse sixteen. Let us then approach God's throne

of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to

what to help us in our time of need. The title of this message

today is called go to the Throne. Go to the Throne. This verse

says, in your time of need, go to the throne. When you

need more grace, when you need God's help, go to the throne.

God's throne is a reference to God's presence. Anytime you see God's throne in

scripture in the Bible, it references his presence. It's God's presence. Where

do you go when you need help? Where do you go when you need

grace, when you need mercy, Go to the throne. Go to God's

presence and receive help in your time of need. When you need, when

you've got worries, when you've got needs, when you've got problems, bring

them with you into God's presence and he will give you help. Palm onein

eighteen says the Lord is with me, He is my helper. You can

confidently go to the Lord for help. You can go to the throne and

God delights to help you. The Book of Revelation is a reminder that God

helps us. It's a reminder that God gives us hope even when our presence

suffering is almost unbearable. He gives us hope for the future. Because remember,

Revelation asks and answers a primary question. It asks the question how much

longer do we endure? And it answers just a little longer? How much

longer will we suffer? Just a little longer? How much longer must we

endure? Just a little longer. It makes me think about something as a

dad, as a parent that I've heard from other parents. When you have

a baby and we actually have a sign in shepherd's room that says the days

are long, but the years are short. You may have seen this phrase

before. I'd like to amend it, and I'd like to say the days

are long, the hours are long, the moments along the nights are long.

But Revelation asks how much longer must we endure? When John wrote Revelation

in the first century, the Christian were suffering the Christians. Many were arrested,

many were put in prison, some were killed. And they were asking

how much longer must we endure? And John Wright's revelation has an encouragement,

just a little longer. Revelation thirteen, verse ten says, if anyone is

to go into captivity, into captivity, they will go. If anyone is

to be killed with a sword, with a sword, they will be killed.

This cause for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God's people.

Those Christians were asking, how much longer do we endure? Just a little

longer? How much longer do we got to put up with rome and put

up with oppression? Just be faithful a little longer. How much longer do

we have to suffer? Just a little longer? When you're hurting, what

do you need when you're suffering? What do you need when you are desperate,

when you are feeling alone? What do you need? You need more

of God's presence. You need more of God's grace. You need more of

God's mercy in your life. Go to the Throne in your time of need,

and He will help you in your time of need. Go to His

presence. Today we're going to focus on Revelations Chapter four and chapter five,

because in these chapters we see that John has a vision of God's throne room

in heaven. So join with me as we look at Revelation chapter four.

Starting in verse two, John writes, at once I was in the spirit,

and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it,

and the one who sat there had the appearance of Jasper and ruby.

A rainbow that shone like an emerald circled the throne. Surrounding the throne were

twenty four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty four elders. They

were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the

throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. In front

of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of

God. Now remember God's throne represents God's presence. And notice here John does

not describe God in human form or in body form, because he's just overwhelmed

by the presence of God. When I think about what John saw, I

think about someone in our church I was just speaking to who returned from visiting

the Grand Canyon, and it was interesting to watch them try to describe it

to me, and they said it was just so magnificent, and it was

so large, and they said it felt like even though you were in the

Grand Canyon, you really weren't in it, because it just stretched on and

on for miles and then like looking down in some place, like a mile

down to the bottomness. Trying to describe something so magnificent. John is trying

to describe something almost indescribable that he sees in heaven, the presence of God.

And remember John is writing in symbolic language, so let me interpret or

translate some of the symbolic language. The stones of Jasper and Ruby represent God's

purity, his holiness, and his forgiveness. The seven spirits are God's perfect

spirit because the number seven in the Bible represents perfection or completeness, So it's

not seven different spirits. It's representative of God's one perfect spirit. The flashes

of lightning, the thunder, the fire, the rainbow, bright lights,

they all describe God's glory on his throne. But what else did John c

What else did John see? In his vision? He saw twenty four other

thrones on which were seated twenty four elders. Who are these twenty four elders?

What are they doing, what's their rule? Who are these people on

these two four thrones. Well, I'm gonna answer that, but before I

do, let me just remind us of some of our guidelines when we look

at the Book of Revelation. There's a few guidelines for reading Revelation. One,

we are united on the essentials. Two, it's okay to hold different

views on non essentials, but it's not okay to fight about non essentials.

See, we're united on the essentials. We believe the gospel that we are

sinners who need God's grace. Jesus died on the cross for our sins.

He rose from the dead to save us. We're united on the gospel.

Were united on the essentials of obedience to God, personal holiness, turning away

from sin. Those are the essentials that unite us. But there are some

interpretations and some non essentials that we may have different views on some of the

symbolisms, some of the meaning, and that's okay, but we don't fight

about those things. We don't argue or condemn because of those non essential differences.

You know, for example, the twenty four Elders. There are thirteen

interpretiations that scholars have found for who the twenty four elders are, and so

for the rest of our time today, we're going to walk through each one

of those thirteen and t I'm just kidding, We're not going to do that.

But who are the twenty four elders? You know? Scholars believe that

when John wrote Revelation, the emperor of Rome was Emperor Domitian, and Domitian

is known for establishing the Capitol Games, which were a lot like the Olympic

Games, but the Roman version and the Capital Games were used for like chariot

racing, athletic competition, other performances and contests, and there'd be winners and

victors. And one author that I was reading had something really interesting to say

about how these Capital Games started on the very first day of the event.

On the very first day of the Capitol Games, all the people were in

the arena. Domitian was sitting on his throne, and to start the contest,

twenty four Roman priests would into the arena and they would be chanting out

loud, great are you Lord, and God worthy are you to receive honor

and power to Emperor Domitian. And then they would lead the people in chance

and waving palm branches in honor of the emperor. Doesn't that sound a lot

like a worship service, and so it's likely that John's first century readers would

identify, Oh, these twenty four elders remind me of the twenty four priests

for the Roman emperor. And so there's a few interpretations of who these twenty

four elders are. They could be angelic beings, they might be non human

angels. They could also be twenty four divisions of Israelite priests. In First

Chronicles twenty four, we see that the tribe of Levi is marked as the

priesthood for the Israelites, and they're separated into twenty four divisions or departments with

different responsibilities for ceremonies and worship. Or the twenty four elders could be the

twelve leaders of the Tribes of Israel and the twelve Original Apostles disciples of Jesus.

Now, this interpretation is interesting because it combines the Old Testament leaders and

the New Testament leaders. And Jesus even told his disciples that they would sit

on thrones. In Matthew nineteen, Jesus said to them, truly, I

tell you, at the renewal of all things. When the Son of Man

sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on

twelve thrones. Now what's interesting here is if half of these elders are the

twelve disciples, I'm curious what about John, because because John's the one who's

seeing the vision, does he see himself on a throne? Or is there

an empty throne? Or is there somebody else on his throne. I'm just

curious. And so remember it's okay to hold different views on some of these

non essentials. And I'm still researching this myself and trying to come to conclusion.

But today, more than asking who are the elders today, I want

us to look at what do the elders do? What's their purpose? What's

their function in this vision? Let's keep reading in verse eight day and night,

they never stop saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord

God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. Whenever the living

creatures give glory, honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne and

who lives forever. The twenty four elders fall down before him who sits on

the throne, and they worship him. They lay their crowns before the throne,

and they say, you are worthy, our Lord and God to receive

glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your

will they were created and have their being. So what are the twenty four

elders do? They worship? They worship. They are at the throne of

God and the presence of God, and they worship God, falling down,

bowing and singing and worshiping him. The English word worship comes from the word

worth comes from the word worth. Worship is giving God what he's worth,

giving God what he's worthy to receive. And these elders worship God with their

whole being. They worship him with their bodies. They worship him with their

words. They worship with their crowns and their treasures. And they worship him

because He's worthy to be worshiped. Over the centuries, Christians have debated and

argued about what worship should be. Christians have even separated over disagreement about style

of music, or preference of songs, or what to wear in worship.

There was a time in history where Christians resisted installing pews in their worship services

because many believe that we should stand for all of worship. There are some

Christians who have resisted musical instruments. The college that I went to personally believe

that true worship is only singing the psalms without any instruments, without any music.

There's been all of these opinions about what worship is, all these preferences

about what worship is. And today I want us to look at God's word

as our God. What does God want in worship? What is worship according

to God's Word? In other words, what do the twenty four elders teach

us? Well? First we learn that worship brings you into God's presence.

Remember, the throne of God is the presence of God. And when you

need help, when you need mercy, when you need grace, where do

you go. You go to the throne. You go to His presence.

And worship is what brings us into this throne. It's worship that brings us

in when we are troubled, when we are in need, when we are

oppressed and feeling overwhelmed, we come into His presence in worship. What worship

is not about preference, it's not about performance. It's about the presence of

God, which changes our situation and changes who we are. Have you ever

encountered God in worship and been overwhelmed by His presence before? There have been

times where I've been in worship and I've been overwhelmed by his presence, whether

it's in a gathering like this or in the privacy of my home, or

in a small group environment where we've been worshiping and I experienced God's presence.

I can remember I like to worship over here and when we're together, and

I remember being over here on this side of the platform, worshiping, singing,

And it was in a time in my life where I was experiencing a

problem, a big problem in my life, and I was just carrying the

heavy spiritual burden. And as I was worshiping, I was overwhelmed by the

presence of God, by the love of God, and I could feel the

Spirit of God comforting me, reassuring me. And then I started to tear

up. I became emotional because of the presence of God, and the spirit

was so heavy. His presence was so real that I couldn't stand anymore,

and I just got down on my knees and sobbing and feeling the Lord say

to me, I see you, I hear you, I've got you.

It was overwhelmed by his presence, and I was just really thankful that our

worship leader sang one more song so I could collect myself before I had to

preach. But I was overwhelmed by his presence. Many of us worship God

in unique ways. Worshiping God is personal. Worshiping God brings you into his

presence. Some of us are more expressive, some of us are more quiet,

some of us are loud. Some of us are a little shy about

singing loud. But whatever it is, it's about a sincere heart that wants

to know the presence of God. Our staff team often gathers together throughout the

week to pray and to worship together, and many times when we are worshiping,

there are different people who express worship different Some are more reflective and might

close their eyes and bow their heads. Some are more expressive and raise their

hands. And if you know me, I'm not shy about movement in worship.

I like to sing out loud and off pitch. I actually I'm not

sure what pitch is, but that's me. And so we were once in

one of our staff worship gatherings, and Pastor James said to me, no,

I'm not standing next to you in worship. You're too loud for me.

Now. Even though I might be a little more loud and expressive and

James might be a little bit more reserved, our worship is both sincere because

we want the presence of God. Come into the presence of God. It's

okay to kneel in worship. It's okay to cry in worship, and it's

also okay to not have an emotional response. Worship does not always require an

emotional response, and I would encourage you to not to dismiss a physical expression

of worship as just emotionalism. There is something physical about worship. Even here

in our text, the elders, they fall down, their bodies are affected

in worship. That's why many times we might raise our hands, or we

might bow our head, or we might close our eyes, because worship is

embodied. It's giving God his worth, it's experiencing his presence. When we

go into the Throne room, we go to God's presence with our needs for

help, for hope, for reassurance. So then we can go back out

into this evil and wicked world confident that our God is with us, confident

that we've encountered the presence of God and that we are carrying His presence with

us, and that we are not alone. That's what worship does. What

else do the elders do in this text? Look at verse ten. They

lay their crowns before the throne, and they say you are worthy. They

lay their crowns. I recently watched a movie called Napoleon, and it's about

Napoleon Bonaparte, and I learned a lot about Napoleon's life. At the height

of Napoleon's power, he became the Emperor of France in eighteen oh four and

he sat down on his throne. Now, the ceremony that crown Napoleon as

emperor was held at Notre Dame Cathedral, a worship a house of worship for

God, and the Pope was the one conducting the ceremony. And normally,

when a new emperor is crowned, the pope would take the crown and put

it on the emperor's head. But history tells us that when when Napoleon was

crown and it was time for him him to receive the crown, he took

the crown out of the Pope's hand, and he put it on his own

head, saying, in a sense, no one crowns me, I crown

myself. This is happening in a house of worship. I mean that doesn't

That does not sound like a heart that's aligned with God's hearts. That sounds

like a prideful heart, a narcissistic heart. When we come to God in

worship, worship will bring your heart into alignment with God's heart. Worship realigns

your heart with God's heart, because sometimes what we really need is our hearts

to be connected to his. We may think we know what we need.

We may be in a situation where we think we know we need restitution,

we need justice, or I need a miracle, I need a breakthrough,

But what we need is our heart to be aligned with God's heart. Or

we may come into a worship gathering and think I need to hear my favorite

song or my preference, But what we really need is our heart to be

aligned with God's heart. I was in a worship service and we had sang,

we had read scripture. I think we even received communion. We had

worshiped, and I felt the Lord show me that there was a part of

my heart that was out of alignment with his. And the Lord revealed to

me that I was holding on to a wound about from when someone had treated

me in a certain way, and I was still holding onto this, And

in his kindness, in his presence, the Lord invited me to let that

go and to forgive. He invited me into healing in his presence. When

I came into worship that day, I didn't know that that's what I needed.

But in worship, in his presence, he showed me where my heart

needed healed. And then my heart was healed, and my joy return and

my peace return, because that's what I needed. Worship brings your heart into

alignment with God's heart. As John continues to watch this vision in heaven,

he continues to describe what he sees. In chapter five, he says,

then I saw in the right hand of him who sits on the throne,

a scroll with writing on both sides, and sealed with seven seals. And

I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, who is worthy to

break the seals and open the scroll? But no one in heaven, or

on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside.

I want to talk about the scroll for a moment. Interestingly, there's a

statue of Emperor Domician that depicts him holding a scroll. In Roman culture,

the scroll was a sign of power. It was a sign of authority and

influence, and often the scroll was used as a legal document. For example,

Roman in the first century reading John's words about the scroll with seven seals

might think to themselves, oh, that scroll. That sounds a lot like

what we read at cousin Eddie's funeral. Because a Roman would record their will

and their last testament and their inheritance on a scroll, and then that Roman

would recruit seven witnesses to review the will and the inheritance, and then the

witnesses would wrap seven strings around the scroll and put their seal in wax on

the scroll. And so then when that person died, the only person authorized

to open that scroll was the rightful heir, the legal heir, whose name

was often written on the outside of the scroll. Only the air could open

the scroll. And so the scroll that John sees is God's will and his

power. Some say it might be God's plan of salvation. It might be

lists of names of believers who have trusted in Jesus. But whatever the details

are, it is a sign of the gospel. It is a sign of

God's will for his people, his inheritance for all believers. And John seas

in heaven they're asking who is worthy to open the scroll? In verse four,

it says John says, I wept and I wept because no one was

found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. I wept and

I wept. Have you ever been so desperate that you have just wept and

wept? Have you ever been in such need that you just weep? I

remember visiting a family in the hospital because their loved one was in critical condition,

hooked up to all the machines and non responsive. And when I visited,

the one relative just put their face in their hands and started sobbing,

just weeping and saying over and over, we need a miracle, We need

a miracle, We need a miracle. I spoke with a young person who

came to me burdened with anxiety and fear, and they were crying because they

felt alone and far from God and afraid of what they were feeling. I

sat with two parents, a mother and a father, who are heartbroken about

their child who's living in brokenness and stuck in sin, and watching this mother

weep as she describes how her heart is breaking for his child. Have you

ever wept because you have so much need? Psalm fifty six says, record

my misery, List my tears on your scroll. God collects your tears.

God sees your pain, He sees your need, He hears your cries in

those in those sleepless nights. The Lord sees the weeping as you stand next

to the casket. He hears the gasp when when you get the news from

the doctor, and even when you have wept and cried alone and nobody else

knows he was there. He sees you. And so so where do we

go for help? What do we do with our tears? Where do we

carry our tears? We go to the throne. We go to the throne.

We go to his presence, because in his presence we find help in

our time of need. And so our text continues in verse five. Then

one of the elders said to me, do not weep. See the line

of the tribe of Judah. The root of David has triumphed. He is

able to open the scroll in its seven seals. And then I saw a

lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of

the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and elders. The lamb had

seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out

into all the earth. He went and took the scroll from the right hand

of him who sat on the throne. John is seeing a picture of Jesus.

This is Jesus, the Lamb of God that was slain for our sin,

for our salvation. And remember that John is he's using symbolic language.

And so the seven horns are the perfect strength of Jesus. Remember seven equals

perfect complete. The seven eyes are Jesus's perfect wisdom, and the seven spirits

are God's one perfect spirit. Jesus the Lamb of God. He is the

only one worthy to take the scroll. He's the only rightful heir to the

Father's will because he died and he rose from the dead. He has triumphed.

And then in verse eight, it says the twenty four elders fell down

before the lamb. Each one had a harp, and they were holding golden

bowles full of incense, which are the prayers of God's people. This verse

says that our prayers are like incense. In the Old Testament, God gave

very specific instructions about his worship, and one of those in structionctions was the

altar of incense, which stood outside the Holy of Holies where God's presence was.

And in the morning the high priests would light the incense, and in

the evening they would relight the incense. So day and night there was incense

as a sign of God's eternal presence with his people. Now today we don't

light incense, but we do pray like a spiritual incense, and I would

warn you, I would caution you to stay away from any New Age practices

that have to do with incense. But our prayers are like spiritual incense,

because worship brings your needs into God's presence. Worship carries your prayers, carries

your needs like incense, into the presence of God. When we pray,

it comes before Him into his presence. In Psalm one hundred and forty one,

we read, may my prayer be set before you like incense. Your

prayers, like spiritual incense, go into the throne room of God. They

go into the presence of God. Let me ask you, what are you

praying for. What have you been praying for for a long time? What

do you need? Those prayers go into His presence. When you're going from

treatment to treatment, he hears your prayers. The person who's living paycheck to

paycheck, he here's your prayers. He hears the prayers of the spouse who's

praying for their husband or their wife to come to the Lord. God knows

the prayers of the children whose parents are getting a divorce. God, here's

the prayers of the addict who's trying to get clean. God, here's the

prayers of the one who's grieving. He hears your prayers. He answers your

prayers. Your prayers carry your needs into God's presence. They come before him.

Draw near to the Throne of God, so that you may find help

in your time of need. Look back at verse five with me, it

says one of the elders, said to me, do not weep. The

lion of the tribe of Jude, to the root of David, has triumphed.

This word triumph in Greek means conquer, victory, overcome, prevail,

subdue. Jesus has triumphed. Jesus has conquered evil, Jesus has overcome the

grave. Jesus has defeated sin, and he has subdued the devil. All

of our hope, all of our victory, has found in Jesus because he

triumphed. And so when we pray, when we worship, we bring that

victory to earth. We bring that victory into our present situation. I put

it this way. Worship brings God's presence into your pain. When you worship,

you're inviting Heaven, the victory of Heaven, the lamb of God,

into your pain, into your trouble. Now, I've told portions of this

next story before. When I was living in Pennsylvania, the school district in

my community was in a lot of turmoil. There was an oppressive cloud of

spiritual darkness in our community. There was one school board meeting that went viral

in the new cycle because there were parents shouting, there were students angry.

Some people were calling for certain people to lose their jobs. What had happened

The administration had tried an anti bullying program that really backfired and resulted in more

uproar. And it was just a mess. And then we went on spring

break, and you know, we thought spring break we could kind of everybody

could calm down. But then during spring break, a middle school student died

by suicide, and the community erupted, blaming bullying, blaming the administration.

People were angry. Social media just blew up. And then two parents from

the church that I served called for an impromptu prayer gathering at the school building,

and I attended, not as a leader, but just as a worshiper,

as a community member, and hundreds of people showed up, hundreds of

teachers and parents and students. And this was not a rally, this was

not a protest, This was not a town hall meeting. It was a

prayer meeting. And those parents began by reading scripture, and then students sang

worship songs, and then as a community, we walked around the school building

praying, praying for God to intervene, praying for love to overcome hey,

praying for the power of Jesus to break down spiritual walls, praying for change

in our community, because worship brings God's presence into our pain. And after

that prayer meeting, the culture of the community changed, the culture in the

school changed. Our church was actually invited by the school to come into the

school and start a mentoring program for middle school students, and then we started

seeing teenagers come to faith in Jesus. Many of them were baptized. We

saw the love of God transform the power of God. When God's people worship

and they pray, his presence comes into our world. His presence brings change.

That's the power of the prayers. So today, do you need a

victory, do you need a breakthrough, do you need a healing, do

you need a transformation? Go to the throne of the Lamb, the one

who was slain and the one who rose from the dead. Go to his

presence for your victory. In the presence of Jesus, we find what we

need in our time of need. I want to close with just sharing this

about being a new dad. Early on after Shepherd was born, there was

one day that I was babysitting him and Loren was out running errands, and

I think both Shepherd and I were nervous, and Shepherd was crying and not

just whining, but you know that cry, that screaming agony cry, and

big alligator tears, and he was just so upset. He wanted his mom,

and nothing I could do to calm him down, nothing I could do

to keep him from is one of those where you feel like they're going to

stop breathing or crying so much. And I was a little bit panicked.

And now I know some of you parents are going to say, Andrew,

just wait till he's sixteen, and then you'll really know what panic feels like.

I know. And so then I turned on a worship song one that

we sing here, I Speak Jesus, and I played that song and then

I started to sing along with the song off pitch, of course, and

singing I speak Jesus over my family, speak Jesus over every heart, and

mind speak Jesus Jesus. And I started to pray for Shepherd and pray for

his body, pray for his future, pray for his heart. And then

Shepherd started to calm down and the tears stop, and then he fell asleep.

Now, I know that's a really simple story, and I know that

you've got way bigger problems than a crying baby. I know that you are

going through stuff that is way bigger, it's way more personal, and way

more challenging. But I think that that story is a picture of how the

heavenly Father cares about your troubles and your needs. The Father cares about your

tears. We read in Revelation seven, for the lamb at the center of

the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of living

water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eye. What do

you need? What help do you need today? What breakthrough do you need?

What situation do you need? A touch from the Lord? Go to

the throne, Go to His presence in your time of need. That's why

I think it's fitting that today we're going to have an opportunity for prayer and

anointing. I'm going to invite our prayer partners to get into place, and

in a moment, you're gonna be invited to come forward if you'd like to

receive more of God's presence and more of his grace, and we'd love to

anoint you and pray with you, because in the Bible we're told that if

anyone is sick or needs prayer, to anoint them and pray for them.

And that's what we're gonna do. And so first I want to extend this

invitation to the men in the room, fathers, dad's husbands, to men.

If you're a man and you want more of God's presence in your life.

If you want more of God's grace in your life, I want to

invite you to come forward and receive anointing and receive more of your Father's presence.

And I also want to invite everyone. Everyone's invited. If you're praying

for healing, if you're praying against a sickness, even if you want to

stand in proxy for somebody who's not here and they need prayer, you can

come forward and receive anointing. So let's go ahead and stand together, and

I'll pray for us to open our time. I'm a response, and if

you do want to receive annointing, I just encourage you to come down the

middle aisle and Cheryl will help direct you to a prayer partner. Father,

God, we thank you that you are sitting on the throne and there is

nothing that can move you off the throne. And so God, today we're

coming here because we want more of you. We need more of your presence,

we need more of your help. And so God, I know that

here in this room there are needs that only you can meet. God.

There are financial needs, there are marriage needs, and there are health needs.

There are so many needs, and so God, we're coming to you

asking for help because we know you're good. I pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen, you're invited to come and respond.