Pastor Greg Mitchell | Monday Night | Prescott July Conference 2025

Hello and welcome back to the Potter's House

Seminar Podcast. This is a special series from

our Prescott Conference that just recently occurred.

The theme of the conference was Into the Unknown

and the scripture for the theme was Romans 15,

20 -21. I have made it my aim to preach the gospel

to whom he was not announced. So this is a powerful

series of... sermons from leaders in our fellowship

to include Greg Mitchell, Joe Campbell, Richard

Ruby, Sergey Golubev, and others along with that.

So please enjoy and listen along these powerful

sermons from leaders in our fellowship. Thank

God. God bless you. God bless you. Amen. Turn

in your Bibles. Let's go to the Word of God.

Turn in your Bibles right now to the book of

Genesis chapter 12. science, there have been

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

men, they had theories they believed that could

help people, but the problem was it was dangerous

because it hadn't been tested. So there have

been men that first tested their theories on

themselves. Have a man, they're going to put

up a photo, this man, Wernher Forsman, he performed

the first heart catheterization. What that meant,

Werner Forsman, he believed that you could access

the heart through the vein in your arm, but no

one had ever done that. And so he personally

inserted a catheter in his arm, threaded it up

until he believed it was in the right atrium

of his heart, got up. climbed two flights of

stairs, went to the x -ray department, had an

x -ray taken of his chest to prove that he had

reached the heart. He proved that you could reach

the heart through the veins. That was in 1929.

Absolutely unheard of. He wasn't even a surgeon

yet. Just out of curiosity, how many of you here,

you have had stents put into your heart? You

have. Okay. Some of you are alive today because

Werner Forsman went into the unknown. That is

what we're going to read in our text. God shows

us a pattern of having relationship with him.

That always involves going into the unknown.

And I want to preach a sermon called Into the

Unknown, Genesis 12. One through four. Now the

Lord had said to Abram, get out of your country,

from your family, from your father's house to

a land that I will show you. I will make you

a great nation. I'll bless you and make your

name great. You shall be a blessing. I will bless

those that bless you. I'll curse him who curses

you. And in you, all the families of the earth

shall be blessed. So Abram departed as the Lord

had spoken to him. And Lot went with him. Abram

was 75 years old when he departed from Haran

into the unknown. I want to talk about the voice

of God. Our story here, Abram's story, begins

with the voice of God. Verse 1, Now the Lord

had said to Abram, I want you to know this. Listen

to me clearly. God can speak. God will speak.

220 times in the Bible it says the Lord said.

46 times God said. 144 times the Lord spoke.

13 times God spoke. 424 times in the Bible tells

us about God speaking. And in our text, God speaks

as a pattern. When God speaks, he reveals his

will for our lives. Now, he may do that in many

different ways. Sermons, prayer, need, gifts

of the spirit. He may speak through a pastor,

opportunities, offerings. I believe that God

just spoke through Pastor Campbell in the offering.

But however it is, absolutely all through the

Bible, God speaks. And everything changes when

we hear from God. Abram heard from God. It began

his relationship with God. He became the father

of the faith when he heard from God. A man named

Saul was saved when he heard from God. Every

person here who is born again, you are saved

because you heard the voice of God. whether that

was witnessing, preaching, or an altar call.

Peter, his ministry to the Gentiles began when

he heard from God through a vision. Martin Luther

was a Catholic priest and he heard God speak,

the just shall live by faith. And that triggered

the Protestant revolution that affects us today.

We are Protestants. protest the doctrines of

the Catholic Church, but that happened by a miracle.

He heard God speak. In our text, God is revealing

Abram's destiny, God's plans for him to make

impact in the earth. Verse 2, I will make you

a great nation. I will bless you and make your

name great and you shall be a blessing. In verse

3, in you all the families of the earth shall

be blessed. His future was triggered when he

heard from God. Mark 1 17, Jesus said to them,

follow me and I will make you become fishers

of men. I am here preaching tonight. That is

a miracle because I never wanted to be a preacher.

I had no plans of being a preacher. But in a

discipleship class in Perth, West Australia,

my father was doing, he was teaching how to put

together sermons. And God spoke to me and said,

that's what I want you to do. Alter the future

of my entire life. We have a fellowship today.

A church exists in Prescott because my father

was called to preach. God spoke, called to come

to Prescott, called to go to Australia. Now there

are Christians, whether they're Calvinists or

some of them, they call themselves cessationists,

which means to stop. They do not believe that

God can speak today. In fact, They say God does

not speak. The only way that God speaks is the

Bible. He will never say anything outside the

Bible. Those are cessationists. One of these

cessationist pastors was talking to a Pentecostal

pastor. He was arguing and he said, we have the

Bible. God does not speak today except for the

Bible and that wise. Pentecostal pastor said,

then tell me how was it that you were called

to preach? Abraham is called the father of the

faith. His life forms a pattern for us to follow.

Everything in serving God and doing the will

of God depends on us. hearing from God. We must

contend for a dimension where God can speak.

The Old Testament, there was a tent, a fancy

tent called the tabernacle. It housed the presence

of God that was contained in the Ark of the Covenant,

but the tabernacle was called the tent of meeting.

You could go there and meet with God. That is

what must happen in our churches. This is why

we have prayer meetings before church. Because

we want... God to speak to us. We want God to

speak to others. No doubt there are pastors here.

You have experienced where a dimension of God

was there. Someone comes to you afterwards and

they say, that sermon was just for me. And the

next person in line, that sermon was just for

me. How can it be for you if it was? Because

God was speaking a dimension of God. That is

why I need you to pray tomorrow morning. I need

you to pray before the services because God must

speak. This is what conference is all about.

It is not just getting to meet up and have meals

with friends. It is not just about getting to

dress up on a Thursday night. We are here to

hear from God. How many of you came? To hear

from God. I'm curious, how many of you, you were

called to preach in a conference? Lift up your

hand. In a conference you heard from God. Thank

God. Yes. January of 2021, a number of Marines,

they were coming to a conference from 29 Palms.

One of their fellow Marines, he asked, what are

you doing? They said, we're going to Prescott

for a conference. And a young man named Brady

Raina wasn't even saved. He said, can I go? And

so they, I don't want you to do this, but they

snuck Brady into their room. Didn't tell the

check -in ladies. Brady, who was unsaved, came

on a Monday night. He heard from God, got saved

on Monday night. The next night he got filled

with the Holy Spirit. Later in the week, a call

was made for those who are called to preach.

And Brady came up to Pastor Jake Snyder and said,

I want to go. Will you send me? He heard from

God and thank God later on. Now Brady and Alicia,

they're pastoring in Lake Havasu City because

he heard from God. Thank God. How many of you

were called? to be missionaries in conference.

Lift up your hand. Amen. Thank God. That's what

happened to Lisa and I. We were teenagers in

a conference watching a conference video that

almost exclusively dealt with the Philippines.

All the footage was from the Philippines. And

in that conference video, God spoke to both of

us and said, I want you to go to Africa. We heard

from God. It changed the course of our lives.

pastors here do not miss this first Peter 4 11

says if anyone speaks let him speak as the oracles

of God what that literally means is that when

you preach God is speaking through you a preacher

comes from a word a herald one who declares the

message from the king that is the miracle when

you are faithful to the word of God and you declare

the message From the king. Then I have people

who come. I had no idea what was going on in

their life. And they say that is exactly. What

I'm going through. Exactly what I needed to hear.

Because preacher. You speak for God. God speaks

through you. That is why. Don't take this lightly.

We must cry out to God. To give us revelation.

In his words. In his will. That is why when I

pray and read my Bible, I am attracted to a word

or a verse. I know like Moses being attracted

to the burning bush, God has a message for me

in there. And then if I will obey God and...

mind the truth so that I can hear from God. Like

it says, Proverbs 2, verse 4 and 5, if you seek

Proverbs 2:4

her as silver, search for her as hidden treasures,

then you will understand the fear of the Lord

and find the knowledge of God. Listen to me,

pastor. Do not get your sermons off the internet.

Do not simply step into the pulpit with something

you got off sermoncentral .com. Don't just borrow

someone else's sermons. And God forbid I have

heard pastors be excited about AI. Did you know

AI? You just say, I want a Bible study on righteousness.

It'll do it for you. Shame on you. You need to

hear from God so the people can hear from God.

Listen, our future, your people's future. The

church's future depends on us hearing from God.

Do you know that hearing from God is a measuring

stick? Because hearing from God must be a current

condition. Hearing from God must be up to date.

God forbid if the only time God spoke to you

was back 30 years ago. I ever tell you about

that time God, I'm glad, but this is 2025. In

our text, Abram is hearing from God, but then

if you follow his life, there is a progressive

revelation. God's speaking again and again and

again. Hearing from God is a measuring stick.

Don't rest on past voices. Don't assume because

you heard from God one time in the past, you're

set for life. We're here in conference. What

does God have to say to you this week? That is

what is crucial. What attitudes does God want

to deal with? Habits, approaches in ministry,

giving. What does God want to say to you this

week? You came to conference. Does God want you

to do something different in ministry? Or some

of you, you're going through problems. You do

anything different. Does God want you to stay

and fight it out? You need to hear from God.

How long has it been since God spoke to you?

First Samuel 3 .1. Now the boy Samuel ministered

to the Lord before Eli and the word of the Lord

was rare in those days. There was no widespread

revelation. You know what happens to people who

are not doing well spiritually? They stop hearing

from God. Now they will try to put it on the

pastor and the church. I'm not being fed. You

used to be fed. Same church, same pastor. That's

not a good sign. You're in danger. If we stop

hearing from God, our churches are in danger.

Our ministries are in danger. I declare to you,

we live or die by hearing the voice of God. Photo

they can put up, you know, earlier this year

in February, a Black Hawk helicopter. into a

passenger jet in Washington, D .C. One factor

in why these aircraft collided, the tower was

speaking, giving a warning of the approaching

jet, but they had their thumb on the button speaking,

and so they missed a crucial part of the message.

And because of that, 67 people died. Because

they didn't hear what they're supposed to hear.

Let's talk secondly into the unknown. When God

speaks to Abram, he's living in a city called

Haran. Haran was a city in the area called Mesopotamia.

This city was absolutely filled with idolatry.

The worship of idols and just... of minor interest,

one major God was the moon God called sin. Idolatry.

One mark of idolatry is the desire for control.

Literally, this is what idol worshipers do. You

choose a God to worship based on what you feel

that you need. What do you need? I need money,

then I worship. A money God. I need power. Then

you worship the God of power. You need children.

Then you worship the fertility God. On and on.

The sex God. Whatever it is that you feel. But

you're the one who decides. And you're the one

who picks. The God. And so worshiping idols.

If you fulfilled. Some element. Of worshiping

the idol. then the idea is that God will give

me what I think is best. So you're worshiping

a God, but you retain control. That is what was

going on in Haran. The problem is that is how

many people approach Almighty God. They approach

God the same way. I will worship God because

I want him to give me what I want and what I

think best. And I want to retain control. Manoah

and Jacob both met the angel, the Lord, literally

God in visible form. And they asked God the question,

what is your name? Because this was an ancient

belief. If you knew the name of the God, then

you could make that God give you what you wanted.

You could control that God. And there's something

in the human heart that we crave security, free

from danger, free from threat. Some people hate

the feeling of not being in control. They hate

feeling out of control. Maybe that was their

past. Maybe you suffered abuse, abandonment,

poverty, relationship breakdown. A point in time

when your world was in chaos and there was nothing

you could do. So there are people, they hate

not having security or control. In a photo in

France, They had huge protests. Actually, this

has happened a number of times because they will

try to pass a law saying if you're under 26,

we can fire you in the first two years of your

contract if you're not working well. Millions

of Frenchmen protested in the streets holding

signs that said against precariousness. That

sign said kill. precariousness, killed job insecurity.

But this is how people are. I want to serve God,

but I want to kill insecurity. I want to make

sure that I stay in control. We want God to operate

on our desires. We want God. All right, God,

if you want me to do something, I want you to

clearly spell out what's going to happen. Every

step of the way, God, you have to get pre -approval

from me. Our idea of blessing. God, use your

power to give me what I think is best, what I

want, what I'm comfortable with. As a matter

of fact, people get offended with God when he

doesn't do things the way that they think. is

best. Some people come to church and they are

angry at God because God, I had it all worked

out. I told you what you should do and you didn't

run the universe the way that I thought best.

John 6 verse 66, after Jesus said this, many

John 6:66

of his followers left him and they stopped following

him. So back to our text, God called Abram to

leave Haran, the city of idolatry or controlling

the gods. Listen, built into having relationship

with God is this element of the unknown. Genesis

12, one. Now the Lord had said to Abram, Get

out of your country, from your family, your father's

house, to a land that I will show you. I wish

I had a video of this conversation with his wife.

Honey, God spoke to me today. Oh, what did he

say? He wants us to move. Move where? He said

he'd tell us later. Do you think that she just,

wow, don't she smell his breath? Like, what have

you been drinking? Like, you want to move without

knowing where we're going? Listen, there are

things in life, if you're going to serve God,

they're not meant to be in your control. God

wants us to do things, and he doesn't tell us

every detail. He's telling us to leave. Abram,

leave what is familiar. What will it be like

if I do the will of God? And God says, I'll tell

you later. Leave what is comfortable. What are

the conditions like there? And God says, I'll

tell you later. Because built into serving God,

we are called to risk. That's a risk. He leaves

family and friends. everything that is comfortable

and familiar. We don't even know where we're

going. That is risky. Psalm 107, 23 and 24, those

who go down to the sea and ships, who do business

on great waters, they see the works of the Lord

and his wonders in the deep or in deep water.

1 Samuel 14, 6, Jonathan said to his armor bearer,

let's go to the camp of the uncircumcised. Maybe

the Lord will help us. That is powerful. There's

no guarantee. Maybe we might win. We might not.

But we're going to risk. So really, what our

text is actually saying then, serving God is

all about surrender. Surrender means to give

up or to hand over control. to another, which

means we hand over control to God. Abraham and

Sarah, they were surrendering their lives and

their futures to God. God, we will go where you

lead, wherever you decide. We'll do what you

say. I pray that tonight in the offering, you

said, God, I'll give what you want me to give.

Moses and Joshua, they were told. Take off your

shoes. But God, if we do that, we'll be vulnerable.

God is saying, leave the future with me. Philip

was carried away by the spirit. It was beyond

his control. You know, the old story, a man was

just stirred and he wanted to show God how much

he loved him. So he wrote on top of a piece of

paper, he wrote, things I'll do for God. He started

listing prayer and getting involved. He made

quite a list at the bottom. He signed it. He

was feeling pretty good. He started praying,

kind of showing that to God. He felt God speak

to him, tear that up, get out another piece of

paper and write things I'll do for God, leave

it blank and sign it. And God said, I'll fill

it out for you. That's called surrender. To a

land I will show you. That is the issue we have

to face on the first night. Will you go? Will

you pioneer? Will you go overseas? Will you stay

if that's what God wants? Will you send? Will

you release? Will you give? Because to surrender

is trust that involves faith. Hebrews 11, 8,

by faith, Abraham obeyed God's call to go to

another place. God promised to give him. He left

his own country, not knowing where he was to

go. To surrender means you have to have the faith

that God loves you. Listen, God has your best

interest at heart. He is not dreaming up ways

to make you miserable. You got to trust his love.

You have to trust that God is wiser. I know you've

told God again and again how to run the universe.

Why don't you let him run your life? Because

he is wiser. He knows what will be best. Next

photo. James Calvert and his wife Mary, they

went as missionaries to the cannibals of the

Fiji Islands. On the way there, the ship captain

tried to turn him back saying, you will lose

your life and the life of those with you if you

go among such savages. James Calvert said to

the ship captain, we died before we came here.

That's surrender. We died before we came. We

already settled that issue. They spent 17 years

and James Calvert and his wife who were surrendered,

the most powerful chief in the islands was converted,

changed the course of Fiji because they were

willing to go into the unknown by surrender.

Let's look finally at leaving Haran. Our text

says the Lord had said, you understand that God

apparently had spoken before they started the

journey and they stopped at this place called

Haran. Haran means crossroads. Scholars say it

was located at the crossroads of different trading

routes of Mesopotamia. Haran was a good place

to secure your financial future. Crossroads cities

on trading routes. That's a good place to make

money. But Haran was a crossroads city. There

were roads going in many optional directions.

You could go in many directions from Haran. But

the Bible says, Abram left Haran. Verse four,

he was 75 years old when he departed from Haran.

He left, which means he obeyed God. Verse four,

Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him.

I am praying and I'm believing that God is gonna

speak tonight and God is gonna speak this week.

But if God speaks and we don't do what he says,

It does no good. But he acted on what God said.

He did what God told him to do. Some of us this

week, it has to be a week of obedience. God,

I'm going to do what you're telling me to do.

The Bible says he left, which removed his options.

Verse four, he departed from Haran. He departed

from the crossroads. You know what that means?

He chose. One road. That means he left other

possible roads. Let me ask you a question. Is

the will of God just one possibility for your

life out of many other options? Are you keeping

your options open? Just in case the will of God

doesn't work out. Abram left Haran. He chose

one. That is what releases destiny. What happens

when you leave Haran and obey God? The first

thing is that the will of God will unfold for

you. Some of us, we would love to have all the

details. One year from now, you'll go and you'll

turn left on it. There is so much that God did

not tell Abram on the day he said, leave Haran.

Later, God would tell him the dimensions of the

land. Later on, he would learn of the nature

of God, the God of the ages, God of fruitfulness,

God our provider. But God's will is only revealed

by Matthew 25, 29, to everyone who has, more

will be given and he will have abundance. That

word has. It's talking about using or acting

on what you have right now. You will never have

more of God than you will obey. But if you will

obey, God will unfold his will for you. Second

thing is you become the friend of God when you

leave Haran. You know, God is pleased when people

obey him enough to obey, believe him enough to

obey. James 2 .23, Abraham believed God and it

was accounted to him for righteousness and he

was called the friend of God. You know, there

are people... Here tonight, you're watching online.

You are not seeing all that you want to see,

but you are obeying. You have left Haran. Can

I tell you something? You are the friend of God.

God is pleased. Please don't think that the pleasure

of God is related to numbers, noise, and nickels.

Yes, that may come in time, but there's something.

God is pleased with their people. You are battling

it out. But you're doing it in obedience to God.

You are the friend of God. Third thing is you

release the blessing of God. The Bible is an

honest book. He speaks here about curses. People

who curse you. You do the will of God. It's not

going to be smooth sailing. There are going to

be problems. But at the same time that God is

honest about problems. He gives four words, four

promises. He says, I will show, I will make,

I will bless, I will curse. Verse two and three,

two times God says, I will bless you. It's a

picture of prayer. It is adding something supernatural

to your life. We see a good picture of it when

Jesus broke the bread and the fish and he blessed

it. He added something supernatural and suddenly

it was more than enough. God is saying, if you

will obey, if you're willing to leave Haran,

God said, I will supply whatever is necessary

to help. It was Hudson Taylor's that all God's

giants have been weak men who did great things

for God because they reckoned on his being with

them. What happens when you leave Haran, the

fourth thing, it has to do with what you can

become. And I am speaking about the significance

of your life. Abram's life, if he stayed in Haran,

his entire life likely would have revolved around

caring for animals. Like a shepherd. That would

have been the sum total of his life is animals

that are not going to live forever. Earning money

that will not last. But if he stayed in Haran,

he and Sarah would have no wider impact. Scholars

say very likely Haran was only 20 ,000 people

max. It was probably a few thousand up to 20

,000. If they stayed in Haran, they would have

lived, made money. died and have been forgotten.

But when you obey, you connect your life to the

purposes of God, eternal purposes in heaven.

Verse 3, in you all the families of the earth

shall be blessed. When you obey, you connect

your life to what Almighty God is doing in the

entire earth. Think about this, Abram and Sarah,

he's 75. His wife wasn't a spring chicken as

they leave here. When people saw this older couple

traveling by, they probably were not impressed.

They're just an older couple traveling through,

but what they didn't know Abraham and Sarah,

that was the most significant couple in the entire

world. They didn't realize that couple would

determine history. Some of you saw news today

that is playing out because of the lives of Abraham

and Sarah. Their lives became significant. There

are people here, I don't know what you do for

a job. I don't know what you plan on doing in

life. But there are people, it may be that God

is going to call you. He's going to tell you

his plans. And if you obey that call and cooperate,

it may be that people in other cities, in other

nations. their lives will be transformed. They

will be saved from hell forever. And then you

could make disciples that would impact the world

simply by leaving Haran and obeying God. And

every single person, not every person here is

called to preach. But every single person here

and watching online, if you are born again, when

you got saved, God saved you in a local church.

And please, I want you to understand something.

You became part of changing the world. Listen.

I want them to put a photo up. I want you to

see this photo. This photo was taken last year.

This is not everyone who happened to be there

on a Wednesday night, but these people were in

the church saved in 1978 in Prescott, and they

are still in the church today. Amen. Okay. It's

wonderful longevity. You can stay safe. That's

great. But let me tell you why that is powerful.

Because by the time this photo was taken in 1978,

we had already from Prescott planted a church

into Mexico, into Holland. And in 1978, we planted

a church in Perth, West Australia. Many of the

people in that photo, they gave in offerings.

They tied. They were faithful. They prayed. Just

those three churches. Let me tell you the impact.

Mexico now has 436 churches in 16 nations. Holland

has 124 churches in 21 nations. From Australia,

there have come 432 churches in 34 nations. that

group of people, their lives are as of tonight,

there are 992 churches in 71 nations. Amen. Thank

God. Next photo. Here is 1985 and now you see

more people. God has saved them, added them to

the church. And the reason why I'm showing this

is by, 1985, in addition to all the churches

planted in the three that I just said, we planted

churches in the Philippines. And the reason why

that is important is as of tonight, there are

now 927 churches in 10 nations from the Philippines.

Thank God. When you commit yourself to a local

church, that is reaching the world. I can be

a Christian in another church. Yeah, you could.

And do what? Help with a soup kitchen? Knit blankets

for homeless people? That's fine. I'm not against

it. God bless. I want the homeless to be warm.

But I want to reach the world. Be back. That's

what it takes. That's why it's powerful. And

every local church, every local church comes

under assault. Every local church has ups and

downs, but thank God there are people who say,

God saved me. I'm leaving Haran. I'm leaving

the options. God called me. I'm going to commit

myself to the will of God. And then there are

people, God has called me and I'm going to fulfill

the call of God. I will leave Haran. And I want

to be a part of reaching the world. How many

of you, that's what you want to do in the will

of God? Let's bow our heads. Thank God all across

this place.