HEAVEN CAME DOWN l Part 1 l Three Attributes of Heaven on Earth

[music]

[music] Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey.

Heat. Heat.

[music]

>> [music]

>> Well, praise the Lord.

You guys feeling all right today?

You know, I want to uh I'm going to

preach the word to you today. Um before

I do, I want to share just a couple of

things. You know, the old church model

uh the old mentality was that uh the

pastor kind of did everything. You know,

it was a one-man show really uh that he

uh preached the word, did all the

organizational admin of the church. Uh

he was the counselor. Uh, a lot of them

were even the bookkeeper, you know, I

mean, like they did everything. And and

the mentality in the church was, you

know, I'm a lay person. I just attend

here and if you need spiritual help,

well, there's the pastor. Let me

introduce you to the pastor. And what we

learned is that that was a really uh

challenging way to do church, right? And

so thankful uh that uh you know, times

have changed and and our our mentality

has shifted because what we see in the

scripture is a completely different

model of church. The saying is this that

10% of the people do 90% of the work and

if you've been part of that 10% you feel

that right?

Uh do you know that we have over 65% of

this church serve in some capacity?

>> And so I'm sharing all this to say man

this is a team model. We talk about the

dream team and I have the opportunity to

coach. Man, we have lots of of of

coaches over uh different uh kind of

areas of ministry and and our heart is

to get everybody uh connected and man,

where where do I plug in? What what's my

part in this family of God? How can I

serve? I don't want to just be a

an observer

>> of Christian. I want to participate. I

want I want to put me in put me in,

coach. Right. And so, uh that also

through this uh Capitol campaign is uh

with all of our resources, man, we're

praying into this thing, seeing what

God's up to. And uh we talk about

legacy, but uh I want to share this. Uh

some of you, I'm sure, have seen it on

social media. Uh but this week, our

dear, precious uh Uncle Art at 104 years

old passed on to be with the Lord.

And uh what an amazing man of faith. And

uh Pastor Larry was uh stopped by his

house Tuesday. We've been trying to get

a hold of him to do lunch with him.

Whole staff, we're going to take him out

again.

and spent some time with him and unable

to get in contact with him. But Pastor

Larry stopped by Tuesday and uh found

him uh non-responsive. And so he went to

the hospital and and 24 hours later he

was in hospice and uh kind of spent the

week there and I was able to go and pray

with him and spend some time and and uh

still non-responsive of course. Uh but

Friday uh had a really really heavy on

my heart to get back down there and see

him and I had a meeting in that area

that was pretty long meeting. got done

with that and uh shot over there to see

him. And I was there less than 10

minutes and Uncle Art uh took his last

breath. And as I'm sitting there, right,

I mean, he he ran a good race. He

finished his course, right? As I'm

sitting there and he breathes last and

the nursing staff comes in and confirms

the time. The atmosphere shifted in the

room to know that he made it home.

>> I mean, that's all we could think about

talking about. He's up there with his

wife, Elie. He's up there with Jesus,

right? I mean, he he he passed through.

He made it he made it home to the other

side. And that's what it's all about.

But let me tell you a little bit about

legacy. And I never did confirm. And I

said in first service, I don't know if

I'm supposed to share this publicly and

I did anyways. Uh I'm just going to

share it. Uncle Art left his estate to

Grace Summit Church.

Tell me that's not legacy and amazing uh

to know that uh that his 104 years later

his legacy is going to live on in future

generations

here at this church. So uh service time

we'll be having a service here uh to

celebrate his life, celebrate his

homegoing. We'll keep you up to date

with those times. And uh Uncle Art

doesn't have family. Where is family?

Amen. And so, uh, when those times come

out, man, if you feel to clear your

schedule and and come celebrate a

homegoing

with us. Okay.

Now, I'm going to try to preach

that. Okay?

>> All right. Let's pray. Father, we thank

you, Lord, for your Holy Spirit. Father,

I thank you for life and for freedom and

for power. I thank you for this moment

in time, God, where all other things

stop and our spirit hears from heaven.

Father, I thank you, Lord, for the will

of heaven being performed in this

atmosphere. God, that you speak to

hearts and minds. Father, those that

walked in with hurts and bondages and

whatever it is, Father, I pray for

freedom

>> to reign in this atmosphere, God. the

Lord that when we leave this place,

we'll know that you have spoke to us and

touched us and changed us. And Father,

we celebrate your presence in this

moment in Jesus name. Amen.

We're kicking off a new series today

called Heaven Came Down. Uh if you're

new uh today, uh you picked a good

Sunday to come. Kicking off a new

Sunday. I want to say welcome to you and

uh our our culture at Grace Summit

Church is to interact a little bit

during worship and during the sermon. Um

this is not a a quiet atmosphere. Uh

this is an atmosphere to be family,

right? And so we're sitting in God's

living room and and kind of hanging out

listening uh to heaven together. And so

we're we're starting uh a new series and

we're going to spend the next few weeks

leading up to Christmas talking about

Jesus. One of my favorite topics, right?

and one of my favorite people. Uh we're

going to talk about Jesus and kind of

unpacking the reality of how scripture

uh displays Jesus Christ, how God opened

up the gates of heaven, how Jesus

stepped down into bodily form and and

was born in that little manger and lived

his life and and we all know the story

that he was crucified on the cross for

you and I and kind of uh un unpack what

that means for us. But today, I want you

to catch the reality of heaven.

>> Say reality.

Oh, by the way, did you guys enjoy

Thanksgiving?

>> Did anyone in here eat too much?

>> Okay, get up here to the altar and

repent.

Bunch of glutton in the room.

Man, it's hard not to overeat, isn't it?

It's like, man, that Chaz came over,

brought all these amazing desserts and I

like, man, take some more of that and

more of that and more of that and then

and then you sit for like 20 minutes and

it's like, maybe I will have a piece of

that pie.

That's not a bad idea after all. Sheesh,

hour later, I'm going back for fourths.

Uh, you know, it's the time of year that

we all get to kind of sit down. It's

weird because, uh, it's the time that we

sit down and and kind of think about

thankfulness, you know, uh, and we live

in a culture that's not usually at the

forefront of our minds. Uh, anyone in

here have the, uh, tradition where you

go around the table and say what you're

thankful for? Isn't that kind of fun?

Uh, you know, it's just kind of a a

season that we think about those things

and and uh it's kind of our tradition

here in America, uh, to focus on

gratitude. And, uh, the interesting

thing is that heaven has been thinking

about and talking about gratitude. The

Bible's been talking about gratitude

longer than we've had American

Thanksgiving, right? Longer than America

was even America. And so Thanksgiving

isn't just a holiday in the Bible. It's

a doorway. Say doorway.

>> My goodness. I'm about to preach today.

Today God wants to hand us the key

to the door.

The key to what you might ask?

The key to heaven on earth.

The key to heaven on earth. Today I want

to give you three attributes of heaven

on earth. uh how we see how the Bible

kind of explains uh heaven's

relationship to earth and how to open

the door to heaven on earth. Number one

in your notes is that heaven came down.

Heaven came down. We'll never experience

heaven on earth until we first have the

theological understanding or the

revelation that heaven came down to

earth.

John chapter 6 and verse 38 Jesus

John 6 · chapter mention

said,"For I have come down from where? I

have come down from heaven." And here's

the purpose. Not to do my own will, but

the will of him who sent me.

There's a purpose to heaven on earth. So

Jesus came down from heaven to do the

will of heaven. You can write that down.

Heaven is not some faroff concept.

Uh too often our Christian mindset and

it's been preached to us. I know why we

think the way that we think, but our

Christian mindset puts heaven simply as

a destination after death.

And it is. But there's more to heaven.

And we get fixated on the one thing of

getting to heaven.

Just want to get to heaven. And and it's

great and it's true and it's real. But

Jesus taught us to pray this way in

Matthew chapter 6 and verse 10. Listen

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

to this. This is your Jesus teaching us

to pray. He says, "Your kingdom come,

your will be done on earth

as it is in heaven." Wait a minute.

We're seeing a different relationship.

So heaven isn't just some faroff place

that when we die, we get to go sit up

there with uh little fat angels and

harps.

I don't think that's what heaven looks

like. I don't know what goof came up

with that idea.

Little cherubs, is that what they call

them? Why are they always little fat

things playing a harp? And I'm like,

that's not in the Bible.

Matter of fact, angels are scary. If you

read about what angels look like, I'm

like, whoa, how many eyeballs? Like,

whoa. You know, don't read Revelation

till you're ready for it, baby. You know

what I mean? But I'm just saying, man,

you know, we got this mindset of that

heaven is some distance place. Then

Jesus taught us to pray, "Your kingdom

come, your will be done right here on

earth just as it is in heaven."

>> Say, "Heaven on earth."

>> Heaven on earth.

>> He didn't say, "Help us endure earth

until we get to heaven."

Oh, I'm just a sinner saved by grace. I

can hardly wait to go home and be with

my

We have that in us. But can I tell you

there's more to the story? That through

the blood of Jesus Christ, let catch

this. He who the son sets free is free

indeed. That there is a power and a

freedom just like the establishment of

heaven that is available in us, through

us, and for us today.

He said, "Pray for heaven's reality to

be here on earth

in your home, in your health, in your

hands." Right? Heaven on earth. Here,

here's the big idea I want want you to

grab a hold of today. To live life on

earth as it is in heaven.

Y'all got quiet on me.

If you're taking notes, you can write

this down. Heaven's not only the

destination,

it's the directive.

Heaven's not only the destination,

it's the directive.

That means the culture of heaven should

be according to Jesus released into our

lives.

Our directive, our aspiration, our

desire is not my will be done but Lord

your will be done. Not my kingdom

but your kingdom come. Some people are

building their own kingdom. And we talk

about legacy there. That's all about

their own legacy.

You have legacy. Let me catch want you

to catch this. Your legacy comes through

him.

True legacy.

Amen.

Not my will, but your will be done.

Freedom starts when you abandon your

will for heaven's will.

I need you to get this. Heaven doesn't

just wait for us when we die.

In Christ, heaven comes down and is made

available to us. And I want you to hear

this. It's our gratitude, our

thankfulness that is the key that

unlocks the door. Number

one is heaven came down. Number two in

your notes is that heaven came out.

So man, it would be one thing if uh

heaven came down. In other words, if

Jesus just came down and stood there and

I'm sure there would have been crowds of

people just in awe that that God came

down and and stood there. Heaven came

down.

But really what we see through the life

and ministry of Jesus Christ is heaven

displayed for us to participate in.

The miracles were happening. The words

of heaven were coming forth. Amen.

And it was spreading across the land.

Then the apostles got a hold of that

heaven concept. Thy kingdom come, thy

will be done on earth as it is in

heaven. And they spread the message all

across the known world.

So much so that 2,000 years later, we're

standing in a distant country from where

it was ever preached.

loving God and hearing the gospel.

John 6:38 Jesus said, "For I have come

John 6:38

down from heaven, catch this, not to do

my own will, but the will of him who

sent me."

He didn't just come down from heaven. He

came down to give heaven.

We often talk about it here at Grace

Summit Church, a culture of generosity.

Man, I love somebody said in the movie

about raking leaves. It's just

generosity, right? And uh we Jenny was

joking uh about Uncle Art. She goes, "I

I knew that he would go after we did his

leaves

[laughter]

because he has a huge yard with lots of

trees, right?" And and it's fun to get

out there and do, you know, culture of

generosity. Let me say this. The reason

that we have a culture of generosity

here is because generosity is the

culture of heaven.

>> The reason that we have a culture of

servitude here is because servitude is

the culture of heaven.

Heaven came down but heaven came out.

I think about the generosity of God the

father sending Jesus

to earth. He sends his own son

down here to rescue us because he loves

us. You know, the Bible says that we

love him because he first

loved us.

How many of you know that he didn't have

to do it?

It was in his heart to do it.

God wanted to do it. that whosoever will

call upon the name of the Lord will be

saved. That's the heart of the father.

That generosity, that gratitude. I just

want to be with you. I want you to be

with me.

God is for us, not against us.

I got to say this. It starts with

gratitude. And gratitude produces

generosity.

You can write this down. Gratitude that

stays contained is not sustained.

In other words, if you keep it, you lose

it.

It's interesting. If you plan it, it

multiplies.

Say, "Give it away."

Sorry. First service, Carla was up front

and she started singing, "Give it away.

Give it away. Give it away. Give it

away." now.

And then Ethan's up here going, "Give it

away. Give it away. Give it away." Like,

"What are you guys doing to my brain?"

So now I can't preach my own notes and

say, "Give it away without hearing give

it away, give it away, give it away,

give it away." Now

sheesh,

we're dating ourselves. That song's

starting to get old, isn't it? That 80s

Red Hot Chili.

>> 90s Red Hot Chili. Thank you, brother

Bone. Lord's blessings upon you.

What other What other church in America

had a red hot chili peppers

>> plug?

Think we all need to get saved now.

Hallelujah.

>> What was I talking about?

Gave it away.

See, I can't even say that. I keep

hearing it. Give it away. Give it away.

Now, [snorts] gratitude is the door

swinging inward. Generosity is that same

door swinging outward,

releasing heaven's power into the world

around you. All right, I want to break

this down a little bit. Psalms 100 and

verse4 scripture a lot of us know.

Psalmist said this in verse four, he

said, "Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise. Give thanks

to him and praise his name. Man, that is

an awesome scripture. I've quoted it so

many times and man, I hear it thrown

around. We talk about it. Enter his

gates with thanksgiving into his courts

with praise. And it sounds uh sweet. It

sounds passive, doesn't it? That like

when I enter his his this holy place,

when I enter his courts, I I I man, I

just feel some kind of way. And so, I

start being thankful and and praising

God. And that is not the language of the

Hebrew scripture.

There's nothing passive about this

scripture. There's actually something

incredibly explosive in the text here

that that I want you to hear. The word

for thanksgiving is the Hebrew word toa.

Enter his gates with toa. Uh toada in

its original context was never given

after the victory,

but it was given before the battle.

The key that unlocks the door. And you

guys remember that cool uh scripture uh

where they're talking about Jericho

sung about it in Sunday school maybe

walls of Jericho coming down. Man, they

had this issue, right? The walls of the

city, they need to get in there, man.

How are we going to do this? And so God

gives them clear direction. They they

march around this thing and they praise

God and then they give a shout and the

walls come crumbling down.

My goodness, that was a tota given. It

was a shout of gratitude and praise that

changed the molecular structure of the

walls of Jericho.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with with praise.

It's a declaration of trust in what God

is about to do.

It's faith.

We

tend to use thanksgiving for what God

has done.

Oh, I got a big bonus in my check. I'm

so thankful. God, thank you.

So thankful. And we put that's that's

how we use praise and thanksgiving is

after something good happens, then we

get thankful. In biblical language, the

thankfulness comes on this side. Before

I even enter the battle,

>> God, I'm thanking you for the

breakthrough. Before we even face

Goliath, we we're already thanking God

for the victory.

Thankfulness is the key that unlocks the

door to your victory.

The word for gates means to split

open,

to rend open.

It would be like

a wall right here that has no door.

that would have been ripped open, split

open by God. It's the same word that was

used when the children of Israel crossed

the Red Sea. The waters split.

God ripped it open.

It doesn't make sense in the natural.

And I want you to hear this. Your

gratitude, your thankfulness, and your

praise will split the sea in your life.

Amen.

It will change the things that you look

at and you can say, "Man, there's no way

for me to get to the other side.

There's no way for me to get the

breakthrough. I'm I'm stuck." Begin to

praise God and have gratitude. Let it

turn into generosity. The psalmist

really gives us the master key to bring

heaven to earth

and to bring victory in the battle. We

enter his gates with thanksgiving. It's

just like me saying I enter my house

with my key,

right? Or I enter my truck with my key,

but I don't do this anymore. We do

>> we do this thing now.

>> Those are called a fob, right?

>> I say it's been a long time since I've

actually stuck a key in a door and

>> done that because we do. But but I but I

enter my house

with a key.

I enter his presence with thanksgiving.

Are you guys catching that? This is the

key

>> that unlocks the door.

Your praise doesn't just celebrate the

open door, it creates it.

Paul and Silas in Acts chapter 16.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

Interesting text. I've just been kind of

hanging out in Acts 16 lately and kind

of letting it resonate in my spirit. And

uh verse 25 uh picks up with Paul and

Silas. Give you a little context. these

guys uh journeyed up here to this place,

right? And Acts 16 is amazing. So, just

before we get to this scene, uh

powerful thing because they're

journeying along in the whole they're

supposed to they think they're going to

Asia Minor, preach the gospel, spread

the spread the good news. Then God says,

"Nope, don't go there. Keep moving up a

little bit." And they keep kind of

having this experience with God. They

start thinking in their own mind, "This

is where we're supposed to go. This is

what we're going to do." Then if you

want to make God laugh, tell him your

plans, right? And so the Holy Spirit

keeps stopping them and they finally

they end up in this place, man. Then

they start preaching the word. I got to

tell you, we're about to hear of a

testimony of Acts chapter 16 that

Acts 16 · chapter mention

changed the world. But can I tell you

that your world has probably changed

because of Acts chapter 16? Because in

Acts 16 · chapter mention

that journeying, in their sensitivity to

God,

of not going where they thought they

needed to go, not my will, but your will

be done. They ended up, and that's where

the spreading of the gospel across

Europe began.

Europe would have not heard the gospel

message if it wasn't for Paul being

obedient in Acts chapter 16. Many of us

Acts 16 · chapter mention

have European roots, right? looking

across. I see a lot of lot of white

folks out here. [laughter]

Y'all pale.

Oh, there there's more than European

descent here. But I just got to say

this, right? Then that traveled over to

America before the gospel spread across

because of obedience. All right, that's

Acts 16. That was a side note, right?

Acts 16 verse 25 uh builds us into this

Acts 16:25

scene. They get up there, man. They get

they get persecuted just doing the will

of God. They get beaten. They get thrown

in prison. All this stuff's going on,

right? Acts 16:25 says about midnight,

Acts 16:25

Paul and Silas were praying and singing

hymns to God. Wait a minute. These guys

got locked up. They just got beat by

by guards and they're thrown into the

jail cell. It says about midnight, man,

they just started getting gratitude.

They start Paul and Silas start praising

God, singing hymns to God and the

prisoners were listening to them

and suddenly say suddenly

>> 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 bonds were

unfassened.

At midnight they didn't complain.

God, we just came here to do your will.

We were going to go to Asia Minor. How

you brought us? Why are we in prison?

This is what I get. This is what I get

for serving you, God.

You're reading some of y'all's mail,

ain't I?

They didn't complain. They began to

praise God. They began to worship God

because they knew that praise and

worship is the key that unlocks the

door.

I want to hand you the key today to

freedom, to power.

Bible says, "Do all things without

murmuring or complaining."

There's a reason for that. It's not just

big boogie monster God saying, "Stop

complaining." It's God smiling down on

you saying, "I want you to have power

and freedom and victory." And every time

you complain, you're locking the door

and you're trapped on the wrong side.

But when you get a heart full of

gratitude,

that gratitude is the door swinging in.

Generosity is the door swinging out.

When you allow that gratitude to turn

into generosity and praise and worship

and listen, it's not only them that are

being affected by this. There's other

people listening.

And it changed the molecular structure

of a jail cell.

Your natural situation, it makes no

sense. There is no way. Can I tell you

that we have a God that makes a way

where there is no way?

almost started preaching.

I will

midnight. They didn't complain. They

began to pray and sing

and praise God. And suddenly,

suddenly,

they entered his gates with

thanksgiving.

and his courts with praise.

His gate is not a physical location here

on earth. His gate is a spiritual

location that's available to you.

They entered his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise. Your

gratitude, your praise

is the key that unlocks the door.

Charles Spurgeon said this. He said,

"Prayer is the rope that pulls God's

grace, but praise is the rope that pulls

God himself into our situation."

The Bible says that God inhabits

the praises of his people.

Inhabits.

It's like I inhabit my home. Dwell

there. I live there. God lives in the

praises of his people. He shows up when

you begin to praise him in spite of

circumstance. We're called to walk by

faith, not sight.

Doesn't matter what you see. Doesn't

matter what you feel. Doesn't matter

what you think. Praise him anyways and

watch the door open.

I was thinking about Isaiah. I think

it's 61. Put on the garment of praise.

Put on the garment of praise.

Put on the garment of praise. You got to

put it on.

got to put it on. I'm thankful this

morning that you guys put on clothes

before you came to church.

Yeah. I've never tried that thing where

they say if you're nervous, picture

people naked or whatever. You ever heard

that? I'm like, uh, yuck. No.

Go from nervous to really uncomfortable

up here. [laughter]

But man, every day we do this, we we

take initiative. I'm a little anal about

things. So, I get my Sunday clothes out

Saturday night. And I didn't have to

iron this. This just went in the dryer.

But a lot of times I'm ironing the night

before and I have all my stuff. That's

just the way my brain processes. I like

to wake up Sunday morning and it's all

ready to to rock and roll. I put energy

into this thing and then I put it on.

Put on the garment of praise.

God shows up,

opens the door. Look at your neighbor

and say, "Open the door."

The tongue has the power of life and

death.

The prayer says, "On earth

as it is in heaven."

as it is in heaven. I got to say this. I

think heaven is a loud place. I think

heaven is a place of praise, a place of

freedom. Jesus came to set the captive

free. You guys ever heard this saying,

"Give them hell."

>> Don't look at your neighbor and say

that.

You know what I say? Give them heaven.

>> Give him heaven. Give him heaven. Praise

God. Give him heaven. Can I say this?

Quiet faith is dead faith.

Bible says faith without works is dead.

I'll say this. Gratitude without

generosity is dead. Joy without praise

is dead. God doesn't bless you just to

bless you. God blesses you to use you.

Heaven comes down. Heaven comes out.

Number three in your notes is that

heaven comes through.

Heaven comes through.

Continuing

in Acts chapter 16 after they begin to

Acts 16 · chapter mention

praise God and

suddenly the earthquake falls down and

opens up the prison.

Verse 27 says,

"When the jailer woke and saw that the

prison doors were open, he drew his

sword,

was about to kill himself, supposing

that the prisoners had escaped.

But Paul cried out with a loud voice. He

says, "Don't harm yourself. We're all

here."

The jailer called for the lights and

rushed in. And trembling with fear, he

fell down before Paul and Silas.

Then he brought them out and said,

"Sers,

what must I do to be saved?"

They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus

and you will be saved, you and your

household."

And they spoke the word of the Lord to

him to all who were in his house.

He took them the same hour of the night

and washed their wounds.

And he was baptized at once, he and all

his family.

Then brought them up to his house and

set food before them.

And he rejoiced along with his entire

household

that he had believed in God.

Heaven comes through. I'll say this.

Heaven has an intended target.

It's the broken, the lost, the hurting.

God's power is not some parlor trick for

you to use.

God's grace and power has an intended

target. You once were that target and

you gave your life to Jesus Christ and

were saved. Now, God wants to use you to

reach other people that are hurting and

lost and broken. And can I say,

if you're praising God, it happens when

you least expect it.

They just began to praise God.

They get free. The shackles come off.

This jailer gets all upset,

ready to kill himself. The man becomes

suicidal.

Paul Trump says, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, no.

We're here. We're here. We're here. But

let me tell you about Jesus." Can I tell

you that when heaven shows up, the

people around you that are lost will run

just like this jailer did and say, "H

how do I get saved, sir? What must I do

to get saved?" And it will affect an

entire household. They got baptized,

man. And who was once holding them in

bondage now becomes their brother. now

begins to wash their wounds and set a

set some food before him and say, "Man,

this is I love you that you're my

brother.

Heaven came through.

I'm going to ask the worship team to

join me up here.

You got saved for a reason.

You got saved with purpose.

Heaven came down.

Heaven came out.

And heaven comes through. Say gratitude.

Gratitude is letting go of what holds

you to lay hold of what God has for you.

I I think of Paul and Silas. Man, they

weren't in sin, but they found

themselves in prison. Can I say you

might be in some type of prison today?

Just begin to praise God and watch the

doors open. And I'll I'll I'll tell you

this. Just like this scene, other people

that see you in a type of bondage or a

type of prison, when you begin to praise

God anyways, and the foundations of your

life get shook and you find freedom,

there will be people running to you

saying, "H, how in the world did you do

that? How how do I get that type of

faith? How do I get that type of peace?

How do I get saved?

Yeah, you're in prison. God says, "I

have something bigger than your prison."

There's purpose to your pain.

It's more than just knowing it. It's

owning it. TD Jake says this. He says,

"You can't walk into your future holding

on to your past.

Awtoer said, "True faith is not the

absence of struggle.

It's the presence of obedience."

Your obedience

becomes the pathway for heaven to come

through to its intended target.

And I'll say this with this capital

campaign, your obedient generosity is

fueling

is opening the door to be a witness to

other people to give their life to Jesus

[music] Christ

to reach its intended target. Hurting,

lost, broken people.

This is why we praise.

You know, we have a culture of

generosity here. You guys ever wonder

why we'd start church with praise and

worship?

Oh, I've been preaching about it for an

hour now.

And when we begin to praise God

together,

when we begin to worship and just have

that heart of gratitude, it it opens

something up. The atmosphere begins to

shift and and heaven starts to settle in

this place because God inhabits the

praises of his people.

We're not just coming to sing some

karaoke. We're not just coming to a

concert to watch a performance. We're

coming to worship the God that died for

us. We're coming to praise his name

because because there's nothing else

worth praising. Amen.

Let's stand to our feet all over this

house. [music]

Just a moment. We're going to praise him

once again before we leave this place.

But here's the question that I have for

you today.

Where does heaven need to come down into

your life?

Where does heaven need to come out?

Where does heaven need to come through

your life this week?

What's the area that

you need to [music] begin to praise God

again? What's the what's the prison that

you're in? Get your mind out. What's

that area that if I just start showing

gratitude

>> and being thankful that God will show up

in my life,

where is the Holy Spirit asking you to

turn gratitude into generosity?

Let me ask you this. Who's your jailer?

Who's the person that's just waiting for

you to begin to praise God and get the

breakthrough?

I I picture all of heaven just kind of

waiting for this moment for for for you

to step into that. And who's your jailer

that that when they see you get freedom,

they're going to give their life to

Christ.

Can I just say you're not going to win

them with intellectual arguments.

You're going to win them with heaven,

the reality of heaven. So, in just a

moment

as we pray, I want to challenge you to

ask the Holy Spirit to show you,

one gate

in your life that you need to open with

thanksgiving,

one gift that you need to release in

generosity,

and one person

that heaven wants to affect to save

through your life.

Now close with this statement. Don't

just count your blessings. Let your

blessings count.

Pray with me. Father, we thank you Lord

for freedom.

Lord, we know that you saved us with

purpose.

And Father, as we live in this world and

we experience what we experience, Lord,

it's too easy sometimes to begin to

complain and to lose our gratefulness.

But father I thank you for recalibrating

our spirit, our soul and our mind.

Father, today we praise you.

Lord, let us live

with a heart of gratitude

towards you.

Praise you in the storm.

Thank you, Jesus.

Saints, could you we just begin to thank

him right now? We have plenty to be

thankful for. Father, I thank you. Just

begin to speak that out. Father, I thank

you, Lord, for for my family. I thank

you, God, for my salvation.

God, I thank you, Lord, for the calling

that you've placed on my life, Lord. I

thank you for Grace Summit Church, for

having this people, God, to love me and

to to do life with me, God. I thank you,

God, for for for my future and where

you're taking me, Lord. Praise you,

Jesus. Hallelujah. You're worthy today,

God. You're worthy of our praise.

Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah.

Thank you Lord.

>> I love you father.

>> Thank you Jesus.

>> God

praise you God

in Jesus name.

Amen. We're going to have our prayer

team come up front and during this last

[music] time we're going to be praising

God together.

If you need prayer for anything want to

invite you to come during this closing

song. We'll pray with you. will trust

God for your miracle, whatever that is.

But can I challenge you in this moment

to have a moment with God?

Let God's Holy Spirit minister grace to

you. Let's worship the Lord together.

[music]

All right. [music]