The Big 3

Welcome to this week's message from the church at Chelsea Westover.

Our core values are vibrant worship, intimate fellowship, fulfilling service, and clear biblical truth.

We pray that this message changes your life.

Let's tune in to today's message and see what God has in store for you.

Let everything that have breath say, Praise ye the Lord.

I want to say that again.

Let everything that have breath say, Praise ye the Lord.

I want to stay, um, I want to stay right there where she's at.

Let's have a prayer first.

And our Father, oh God, we just enter your gates with Thanksgiving, God.

God, we here saying thank you, Lord God.

God, we give you the glory.

God, we know it had not been for you, God, we wouldn't be here today, God.

God, I ask that I decrease, Lord, and you increase, Lord God.

Speak to our hearts, Lord God.

God, we praying today, God, not for a logos word, God, but for a Rhema word, Lord God.

For your house, God.

God, we just thank you, Lord.

We praise you, Lord God.

We thank you for our shepherd, Lord God.

We thank you for Pastor Daniel, Lord God.

God, we thank you for his wife, Lord God.

For the vision they have for your people, God.

God, we just so thankful for this opportunity to speak before your people.

God, we just glorify you and magnify you.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Ah, thank you, Lord.

First of all, just I want to thank God for being here today.

It's truly a blessing to be in the house of God.

Before we sit down, I want you to go back.

Um, sorry about this.

I want to go back to that song she just sang.

The choir did a wonderful job.

But in Isaiah, uh about the 43rd chapter, he talks about man was made to glorify God.

And and and I know some of you might be telling me, but can we just stand up a little while for government?

I remember when we go to the football game, we don't mind standing them up.

We go to the consensus, we stand them up.

So can we stand up and just give him some glimmer, some mon glumer?

Can we just lift him some humble hands?

I want you to lift up humble hands.

We was made to glorify.

Lift them over the hands, just tell them thank you.

It's a blessing unit of the day.

It talks about even in psalms, even heaven and the earth, we supposed to glorify.

And then Jesus, when he was hanging on the cross, in John the 17th chapter, he said, I'm doing for your glory, God.

So lift this, lift your hands up.

Lift them home in hands and tell them thank you.

Thank you, Lord.

Tell him thank you.

Alright, you may have your seat.

Praise the Lord.

Thank you.

Now, my wife told me, now you know that's my number one critique.

My wife said I get too long of an introduction, so it's gonna be short today.

She said, You'll be going on and on and on.

So it's gonna be short.

We're going straight to the point.

We got three points, and you can take it to the house and eat.

It won't be long today, I can assure you.

All right, all right.

He's right.

Well, first of all, again, honored to God.

I mean, it's a truly a blessing to be here.

Uh, and everything I do and everything I have is because of God.

It's God the reason I can breathe.

It's God the reason I can walk.

It's because of God, the reason I can talk.

Now I had a trying week this week.

I gotta tell you about my week, first of all, and then we'll get into the word.

Probably about two weeks ago I went to the dentist.

And it was just a routine uh, no, actually about a month ago.

I went to the dentist, so it was just a routine checkup, so I thought.

He looked at one tooth, he said, Well, I foresee a problem in the future.

So it's to your benefit to get a crown.

So I did, probably about two weeks ago.

Anyway, when he started doing the crown, you know, there it's two phases.

So he performed the first phase, then when he performed the second phase, he said, Oh, we might have some problems here.

And it started hurting.

I mean, I was I was in pain.

And you, you know, men, we don't do pain well.

I mean, I was in pain.

I'm a big guy, but I do not like pain.

Well, anyway, I ended up going back to the dentist.

He said, Man, uh, it's nothing I can do.

I think you need a root canal.

So I had to go on Tuesday to get emergency root canal.

Well, also, for those you don't know, I was in the military.

I served 25 years and uh I have a bad knee.

And uh last year I got a physical, they told me I had arthritis in my knee.

So it's been painful.

So I actually got a physical dum with the VA probably about a month ago.

And uh actually I was having a conversation with Benji.

And one thing, for those of you who been in the military, you understand, they are direct, they have no tech.

He was talking about my knee and my back because they have arthritis.

He said, You just too fat.

I'm like, wow.

And what made it so bad?

He's a little slim guy like Joshua.

I'm like, you better be glad I'm thick-skinned.

But anyway, my knee kept on hurting.

So I end up getting a second opinion.

And when I got the second opinion, I found out I had to have my knee scope.

So it's something going on on the inside, so I find out tomorrow about my surgery.

So so I've been popping pills, I've been popping some pills.

I done took everything, I'm legal.

Now, I will tell you this, I did not take any medicine this morning, so it's okay.

So I'm not high.

I'm not high.

So I might be hurting a little, but I'm not high.

So let's proceed into the word.

Okay, probably about a month ago, a little longer than that, we had a famous athlete that died.

I mean, he was a self-promoter.

He was a self-promoter.

He came out of Louisville, Kentucky.

Some liked him and some hate him.

It went on in-between ground.

And for the baby boomers, you probably know who I'm talking about.

He proclaimed he is the greatest.

Self-proclaimed, he always said it.

And he said, I even said I was the greatest before I became the greatest.

Well, anyway, he went on to win three heavyweight championships.

He won Olympics and he just recently died.

But today, I'm gonna tell you about the greatest.

They call the GOT, the greatest of all time.

We're gonna start in Matthew, the sixth chapter.

Let's go to Matthew, the sixth chapter.

The first and uh we're gonna cover that whole chapter about the first 19 verse, but we're gonna talk about the greatest.

Let me let me give you a little background what's going on here.

Jesus been with the disciples.

You go back to like the fourth chapter, the fifth and the sixth chapter, really the Beatitudes.

But you go back to the fourth chapter, Jesus had been in Galilee and all over, just laying hands on people, healing all kinds of diseases.

And uh he ends up on this mountain.

Now I was trying to research, uh, I wasn't how many people he was speaking to, but evidently it was a lot.

Because people had heard about the miracles that he could perform, how he could lay hands on the sick and they recover.

He was raising the dead, so they was coming from the north, the south, the east, and the west.

They was coming from everywhere.

So they came and evidently, so I know some people say I'm loud, but today during my sermon, I'm gonna show you why I'm so loud.

And I'll show you for those of you that's quiet, why you so quiet.

And for those of you in the middle, I'm gonna show you today why you in the middle.

We had nothing to do with it, but I'm gonna explain that to you.

You had absolutely nothing to do with it, nothing.

But anyway, so they came from all those different directions to hear Jesus.

And the three topics we're gonna cover today is three uh three things that a Christian should do.

Three of our duties.

Now we have many more duties, and Jesus discussed a lot more uh in the fifth and the sixth chapter, but we're just gonna talk about three today.

They are giving arms, praying, and fasting.

Now, the the good thing about this, I'm reminded when you when you connect all three of them together, I'm reminded of what uh Solomon said in Ecclesiastes.

He talks about, and if one prevail against him, two should withstand him.

And if two should withstand him, and a three-fold cord is not easily broken.

So what I'm saying, all three of them together, as a Christian, you are unstoppable.

Now, some of you don't believe me.

My job today, my assignment to ensure you that you believe me.

It's about sowing seeds.

See, when I'm talking about sowing seeds, I'm just not talking about money.

Now I know that's what Mark was talking about in the Mark the fourth chapter, the eighth verse.

He talked about sowing seeds, but he said, if you do it one time, you get a 30-fold blessing, then you get a 60-fold blessing, then you get a hundred-fold blessing.

I believe if the church, not religious people now, not people that attend church, I'm talking about the people that have been bloodwashed.

Bloodwashed people, because there's plenty of people attending church today, but they don't know Jesus.

They are pretenders, they don't know Jesus.

And you can say you shouldn't judge.

All you gotta do is look at the fruit is in the book.

All you gotta do is look at the fruit.

But if the church will get in place to implement these three, we could change this world.

So the prince of the app, which is Satan, the Ablos, won't rule.

And let's go into the sixth chapter, what he said in Matthew 6, 1 through 4.

He said, Take heed that ye do not give your arms before men to be seen of them.

Otherwise, ye have no reward of your father which is in heaven.

In verse 2, he said, Therefore, when thy arms do not sound a trumpet before thee as a hypocrite, do in the synagogue and in the streets, that they may have glory of men.

Verily, I say unto you, they have their reward.

But when thy doest arms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth, that thy arms may be in secret.

Now that scripture there pretty, I mean, it's pretty much get to the point.

Let's talk about what arms is.

And that's one thing I love about the leadership we have in this church.

Pastor Danny, he's a man that loves all of God.

People, and we certainly as a church, we believe in giving arms.

But arms is it's when the Christian body or any anybody gives stuff back, give actually monetary goods back to the poor.

That's what it's about.

God loves the poor.

And being that we are of his we are his children, we should have the same attitude.

We have to love the poor.

Now, giving arms, I mean, it has a history, it goes back to the Old Testament.

You go back, you're looking like in Leviticus 19, chapters 9 through the 10.

They was taught to leave a corner of their fields for the poor.

You go to Exodus 23, 10, and 11.

On the seventh year, they were supposed to leave the entire field for the poor.

So this is nothing new.

But now giving it's all in how you give.

See, the first thing God wants you to do when it comes to giving, though, he says in verse, don't practice so you can be seen.

You gotta do it from your heart.

Don't practice you can be seen.

Some people, you know, I gave so-and-so$50.

Or you know I paid his light bill.

Now, who do you do that for?

Did you do it for his glory?

Or for the did you do it for your glory?

The only way you're really gonna be blessed is you had to do it for God's glory.

And God is straight up when he talks about this.

He gets straight in the word on this because you got to remember now.

When I first got saved, it's one thing I do remember before I went to Bible college.

You see what I'm preaching about today?

It's in the red.

Now I learned this before I went to Bible college.

That's one of the first things I learned right now.

It's in the red.

Now, I know we got some small people.

If it's in the red, what does that mean?

Oh, this is what Jesus.

Oh my goodness.

Jesus said it.

Sylvester ain't had nothing to do with it.

Jesus said it.

He talked about a hypocrite.

He said, you know, they were standing out, and see, you got to realize when Jesus was preaching during this time, the Pharisees was going, they were very relevant in that time.

And they walked around a fine robe.

They were very articulate, they had been well educated, they did everything right.

I mean, they had the outside fixed up.

And there's a lot of times, like a lot of people now, the outside look beautiful.

But if we could see the inside, Jesus, the outside looking good.

And actually in Luke the 11th, chapter 41 verse, he even called the Pharisees out.

He gave, but he didn't give with the right attitude.

So it's all about giving the right attitude.

And just like the scripture said, when you give, don't let your left hand know what your right hand do it.

Do it as unto the Lord.

Not that you get the glory, it's all about God.

And let's move into the next section here.

He talks about prayer in the sixth chapter, five through eight.

Let's read what he said on prayer.

Let's read the first four verses.

Matthew 6, 5 through 8.

And when thou hast prayers, thou shalt not be as hypocrites, for they love to pray in the synagogue and in the corners of the street, that they may be seen of men.

Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.

But thou when thou hast praised, enter into thy closet.

And when thou shut the door, pray to the Father, which is in secret.

And thy father, which is see it in secret, shall reward thee openly.

But when you pray, don't use vain repetitions as heathens do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

Be not ye therefore like unto them, for your father knoweth what things ye should need even before you ask.

Okay, then that's what Jesus had to say about prayer initially.

And let's talk about prayer.

First of all, what is the definition of prayer?

Prayer is no more than having a conversation.

A conversation with the creator or the universe.

Prayer is saying, I don't have all the answers.

Doesn't matter where I matriculated at in school, doesn't matter my culture, my background, I don't have all the answers.

I need a higher power that knows everything.

That's the Alpha and the Omega.

He's the beginning and the ending.

He knows everything.

Prayer shows that we're dependent on him.

A conversation with our creator.

You have his ear.

Now, being that I told you what prayer is, I have to tell you what prayer is not.

Every year we have Christmas around December.

Prayer is not a Santa Claus list.

God, I need this.

God, I need that.

No, that's not prayer.

And prayer goes both ways.

We gotta allow God to speak to us too.

We gotta allow Him to speak to us.

That is very important.

Now, what I want to talk about now, we're gonna go dive straight into it.

Give me, I'm gonna talk to you about three reasons why we'll we should pray.

Three reasons why we should pray.

First of all, we commanded to pray.

The word said, uh Philippians 4 and 6, be careful for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication and thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God.

That's how it said in Philippians.

Ephesians said, praying always, and praying, supplication, and in spirit, and watching there unto the perseverance and the supplication for all saints.

I like what Colossians 4 and 2 talks about.

It said, continue in prayer.

1 Thessalonians say, pray without ceasing.

And that's a lot of verses talking about praying.

Praying, praying, praying.

Today, more than ever, we those that have been bloodwashed from that claw, from that cross, we had to make prayer a priority.

It can't be now I lay me down and sleep.

I pray the Lord, my soul to keep.

You had to go, like you said in the old church, you got to get before God and tarry.

You have to dedicate some time for our Savior.

Now, everybody knows it's seven days in a week, 24 hours.

And God convicted on me on this.

Because it doesn't matter where you're at, it's always another dimension in God.

So if we really want to know God, to truly know Him, we're gonna have to commune with Him.

Now, Pastor Rick said something last week.

I forgot to say too, you did a wonderful job.

Wonderful job.

He said something last week, it's not logical.

This gospel we study.

You're right, it's not logical.

All believers, we said we serve a God that died on the cross three days, he went on a combat tour to hell.

He defeated sin and he defeated death.

Got back up, walked around, walked around earth for 40 days, and went back up in heaven and sitting on the right hand.

Have you seen that?

I haven't.

But that do you believe that?

We said we are believers, right?

What do we believe in?

The word.

That's what we said.

That's what a belief is.

I believe in the word, not what man's saying, not what the news is saying, because you got plenty of pronosticators, and we're gonna talk about that in the end.

You you need to get your ideology, you know, but you need to get it from the word.

Because everybody preaching.

I tell my kids all the time, everybody preaching.

It's just what they preaching.

What message are they delivering?

Is it what the word of God says, or is it their personal philosophy?

Yeah, everybody preaching.

But getting back to the 24 hours, and God convicted me.

He said, So, okay.

168 hours in a week.

How much do you pray?

How much time do you get?

Now we're not talking about when we come here with Pastor Danny.

We're not talking about uh on Sunday mornings we have prayer, we're not talking about that prayer.

We're not talking about on Wednesday night in your small group.

How much do you pray, Sylvester?

Because the word said, pray without ceasing.

Now I know what makes prayer difficult now.

You sitting in a room, because they talk about going to your secret closet.

I mean, it said that, right?

You sitting in a room and you said, Father God, in the name of Jesus, God bless me.

You don't see anything.

All our life we've been training our natural senses that to see, to taste, to touch, to hear.

You don't see anything.

But you know why you don't see anything?

The same thing God told me, you ain't in the word enough.

You gotta be sensitive to his spirit, you gotta commune with him.

Not no God give me this, and Lord, I need this, and I need that.

It's getting down on your knees.

Say, God, I'm here.

Poor out, I surrender all to you.

It's saying you powerless, but I need you.

I need you, Jesus.

See, we can see, like I can see Daryl here.

Daryl, but I can't see around the corner.

See, that's great, but guess who can see around the corner?

Ask Abraham, you don't believe me.

Ask Abraham if you could when you get to heaven, talk to Abraham.

Because when God told him you're gonna be father, men, and nation, he didn't have any kids.

Talking about father, men and I don't even have one child, God.

But God could see the future, just like guess what?

He can see our future, he can see your future, but we gotta pray, we gotta commune with him.

Let's go to point number two.

Tell you what prayer does for you.

Prayer gives you divine direction.

I gotta say that again.

I want to make sure you hear that.

Prayer gives you divine direction.

The Bible says, acknowledge me in all my ways.

And I will direct thy path.

Now that didn't say in some of thy ways, it said in all thy ways.

Acknowledge me.

So that's what we need to do.

Like I told you, he's the author and the finisher.

And Isaiah said he's a counselor.

A wonderful counselor.

He's just not a counselor, but a wonderful counselor.

So he's qualified to tell you.

He's qualified to tell you.

Now, let's talk about prayer.

You know, you go back, uh, it's in Matthew's actually with the Lord's Prayers.

And it's in the sixth chapter 2.

You go down further and say, after this matter, therefore we pray, our Father, which art in heaven.

Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come.

I want you to start right there.

Our Father.

This is Jesus teaching, they call it the Lord's Prayer.

This is Jesus teaching people how to pray, especially his disciple.

Our Father, which art in heaven.

Now, I'm gonna talk about heaven in a few minutes, but the reason we pray that that's the connection.

See what we want in heaven, everything is perfect.

There's no sickness in heaven, there's no death in heaven, there's no hate in heaven.

So we want what's on going on in heaven to come down here.

But then biblical card that connects us is prayer.

So you really can't change anything without prayer.

So God showed me if you're a Christian, now yeah, you have your salvation, but it's just like I told you I'm a combat veteran.

You go to combat, but you don't have any power.

Now you're still a soldier, but you're powerless.

Because it creates intimacy.

It creates intimacy.

Now you remember I told you I was gonna tell you why I'm so loud, and some of you quiet, and some of you in the middle.

Well, one of the things I try to do, I always try to feed myself spiritually.

I like to read.

And probably about uh, I want to say about six weeks ago, actually I heard David mention it too, uh, about a book by Robert Henderson, The Courts of Heaven.

But uh I gone, it's a gospel uh bookstore I go to all the time.

And uh I was going to actually buy something else, but it was on the front and it caught my attention.

It wasn't but the Holy Spirit said, Look, look, look, look, look.

Guide me over there like that.

Holy Spirit said, Yep, there it is, bye.

It was talking about prayer.

So I I God had already told me the next time my preacher was gonna talk about prayer.

So I got this book, I'm reading this book, Robert Henderson, The Course of Heaven.

Like, wait a minute now.

Okay.

And when I read some now, I'm like Pastor Danny.

I love my pastor.

He always show it to me in the word.

You don't need personal philosophy.

No, what does the word say about it?

And so I'm reading this book, and and you know, the gospel is a mystery.

I don't care who stands in this pulpit, none of us have all the answer.

We won't find out everything until we get on the other side and not glorify about it.

So there are mysteries that still exist.

So I remember I read a book probably about 15 years ago.

It kind of put me on the right track, but this this book was totally different.

The purpose-driven life.

So, anyway, when I got to reading this book, it started talking about some course in heaven.

And as a book in heaven written about me, I said, What?

A book about me?

So I don't know about that.

Now, you know, growing up in church, I had read about the book of life.

I'm sure most Christians heard about the book of life.

And even in uh Revelation, I had read about the book uh when God was sitting on the throne when John was caught up and he said no man was qualified to get it, but the lamb, the slain lamb laid out in the middle, he was the only one qualified, which was Jesus to get that scroll.

I had read about that, but I didn't know it was a book about me, too.

Now, this is the scripture I hear most people preach about.

You need to go to Psalms 139, 14th through the 16th verse.

Because I get I'm gonna say this made me excited here because I get carried away.

I want to make sure you understand this.

I I I cannot leave here today if you don't understand what I'm gonna share with you.

Here, Psalms 139, and it's 14, verse 14 through 16.

Now, most of you, just like me, I'm gonna go over, you heard the part about, in fact, I used to told my kids about this.

Uh, the one, I will praise thee, for I'm fearfully and wonderfully made, marvelous of thy work, and my soul know it right.

Now, most Christians heard of that scripture, yeah.

But what I didn't know, go down to verse 15 and 16 and say, My substance not hid from thee.

When I was made in secret, secret, and curiously wrought into the lowest parts of the earth, thy eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect, and in thy books all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned when yet there was none of them.

And what this scripture is saying, you can go look it up in the commentary.

This scripture is saying our substance was made before the beginning of time.

That's why when my brother wrote the purpose-driven life, if you you look at it, most people know you hear these words in the Bible like you predestined.

You you he foreknew you.

That's how you're predestined, and he forknew you because actually the books go on, but I'm not gonna get in that it talks about it's a council in heaven.

We're not gonna talk about that today, that's a whole different subject.

But he knew you, it's planned out from the beginning to the end.

It's a book about you.

Now, everybody wants to know the million-dollar question.

What is my purpose?

What is my purpose?

I'm talking about you get people been saved five years, you get paid people been saved 20 years.

Why did God create me?

Well, it's just like anything else.

If you want to know about the iPhone, what do you gotta do?

You got to read the manual, right?

You gotta commune with the manual.

The same thing.

You have to fellowship with God.

You have to really get down and pray, read his word and fellowship with it, and he'll reveal your purpose to you.

But it can't be a one-minute thing, and it can't be a Santa Claus prayer list.

He'll reveal it to you.

That's what God will do.

Now you go to Hebrews 10, 5, and 7, it talks about where that talk about wherefore when he coming into the world, he says, Sacrifice and offering thy wordest not, but a body has thou prepared for me in the burnt offering and sacrifices for sin that thou hast no pleasure.

Then I said, Lo, I come.

In the volume of the book it is written on me to do thy will of God.

Now in Hebrews, what they're talking about, that's the book was written by Jesus before Jesus came to earth.

It was already written out, and many of us heard that famous scripture say, And the word was made flesh.

That's in John chapter 14 verse.

John 14 · chapter mention

And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

Now think about that.

And the word.

What word?

The word that's in heaven.

That's the word.

That's the word they're talking about in that scripture.

But then it gets better than that.

Now let's talk about us.

You see, it's a book about Jesus.

Look what look what it says in Ephesians 2 and 10.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath been ordained that we should walk.

It was already playing out.

And everybody knows that scripture when Jeremiah say, God tell him, Before I form you in your belly, I knew you.

Guess what?

Before your mom and dad got together, he knew you too.

Now Jeremiah was a prophet.

He knew you too.

He knew your assignments.

Now, one of the clues God gives us is with your assignment and your purposes, something you naturally.

I mean, you just good at it.

I mean, you don't have to practice.

That's a hint of, and I'm talking about you enjoy doing it.

You enjoy doing it.

That's one indication of your purpose.

And you're good at it.

You don't have to go to school for it.

Now you can go to the school, you can go to school to the horn it, you know, take it to the next level, but you're natural.

Well, other people it might take them all day, just like some people intellectual.

That's a gift from God.

That's a gift from God.

Some people are mechanically inclined, some people are to talk, some people are very loud, some are quiet.

It's based off the mission God has for you.

But guess what?

Wherever your assignment is, it's connected to the kingdom.

You know, like now, some people you can tell they're musicians, and you read their biography, they uh they buy yours talk about when they was three years old, he just loved playing the guitar.

Uh, very gifted with music.

That's their gift, that's that's their assignment.

But whatever God gives you, it's for his glory.

You have to use it for his glory.

Now, you still, even though this you're predestined and your the script is written out on you, you still have choice.

It's like God desired for everyone to be saved.

You don't have to do what's written in your book.

That's on you.

But you have to develop relationship so you can find out what's written in your book.

That's very important.

One last scripture I'd like to read to you on this topic.

It says uh in 2 Timothy 1 through 9, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the world began.

Listen what it said, before the world began.

Your purpose and grace.

Same thing.

This is Paul talking to Timothy, but it's the same principle.

Your purpose, which is what God created you for, and grace is no more than empowerment to do what he created you to do.

Because whatever he created you to do, guess what?

With his grace, which will empower you, you'll qualify to do it.

Now, at the same token, you got Satan.

Satan is gonna tell you, no, that's not God.

But that's why you gotta do like Joshua said.

You gotta meditate in his word day and night.

Day and night.

You won't be so day and night.

Day and night.

The next point I want to make is great leaders in the Bible were me in the prayer.

Now, we start with Brother Moses here, Exodus 33 and 1.

Moses, I mean, he had a serious relationship with God.

He even called him friend.

I mean, one time God was getting ready to wipe the Israelites out.

And that's the kind of relationship Moses had with him.

And you know, when he went up on that mountain, he came down.

You know, every time I every time I talk about this, I think about Charleston Heston.

Most of you probably, especially the uh the baby boomers, you've seen uh the Ten Commandments.

When Charleston Helston walked down off that mountain and his hair standing on the top of his head, he's standing on top of it, he's just walking straight like a soldier.

But he's been in the presence of God.

But guess what, people?

Because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross over 2,000 years ago, we don't have to do like in the Old Testament.

It's not once a year just the high priest, but we're qualified to go boldly to the throne of grace.

You and I, you don't need me, you don't need Pastor Danny, you don't need Pastor Rick.

Every person here that's a believer, you're qualified to walk straight in to the throne of grace.

That's right.

I like what you said.

You gave me another uh another add-on to that.

And then another question God asked me.

Now we all done got that phone call at night, bad news, uh, texts, or you know, it's multiple ways of communication.

What do you do when you get the bad news?

Who do you call first?

Do you call your mom?

Do you call dad?

Do you call your spouse?

Do you call your friend?

Who do you call first?

I'll let go.

I was like guilty.

The Lord was showing me I should call him, but that's not always the case.

Most of the time, I can speak for me.

I don't know about you.

You guys probably all call Jesus up front.

But not me.

Sometimes I call a friend, I I call Pastor Dan.

I mean, I I call other people, but it's nothing wrong with getting counselor, but you should start with the creator.

That's who you should call first.

That's who you should call first.

Yes.

Now, if prayer was good enough for Moses, and then you know we can't talk about prayer and leave David out now.

David was a man after God of heart.

He said, now David had a good relationship.

Now we all know David had his flaws, just like Sylvester had plenty of flaws.

And you know, some of you have some flaws, but most of y'all are preferred.

But now I have plenty.

I can testify about me, I don't know about you.

I have plenty of flaws, but one thing David had he had an intimate love life with the creator.

Intimate.

He called them in the morning time, he called them in the noon time and at night.

Now this is what David did.

Now, this these are great men of God.

Now you go to any job, they tell you, well, look at who's successful.

Uh you need to pat them down.

I mean, it's simple.

So, we as Christians, if we want to go to the next dimension, now if Moses, which was a great leader, he prayed and had an intimate relationship.

Then we talk about David, and God said this, he's a man after my own heart.

But then lastly, I can't say I can't talk about prayer without talking about Jesus.

I told you he was the greatest of all time.

He prayed, he prayed before he made any decisions.

Jesus did, to include picking his disciples.

He prayed.

He prayed before he got on the cross.

When he got on the cross, that's what John 17 to 1 comes, one of the greatest priest of uh prayer has ever been done.

He prayed.

He was a man of constant prayer.

Man of constant prayer.

Therefore, we have to pray.

We have to pray.

Now we're gonna go move on to our last point.

Basically, here uh one more thing I'd like to say about prayer, though, before we move on.

So, first of all, we're gonna talk about arms.

That's number one, right?

Giving arms.

Number two is prayer, but I got this last point.

Jesus was serious about prayer.

I'm gonna tell you how serious he was.

You know, a lot of people say, you know, they think Jesus being passive, but he wasn't.

And I'm gonna tell you why I think he wasn't passive.

You read Matthew the 21st chapter, 12 through the 13th verse.

Let me set the scene.

He went into the temple, the synagogue, and they're selling stuff.

Jesus kicked the table over.

He said, My house, my house shall be called the house of prayer.

That's what Jesus said.

He didn't say, He didn't notice what it didn't say, okay.

Listen, guys, what you're doing is wrong.

This is God's house.

We got to police our father.

No, he kicked the table.

Kicked the table.

With his good leg.

With his good leg.

He kicked the table.

All right, okay, move to the last point.

Let's talk about fasting.

Okay, fasting.

Matthew seventeen.

I'm sorry, hold on one minute.

Yeah, six sixteen, so I can't read them my eyes, bad.

I love my glasses.

I have to look it up here.

Matthew six sixteen, let's read it.

Moreover, when ye fast, be not as hypocrites or a sad countenance.

For they disfigure their faces, and that they may appear unto men to fast.

Verily I say unto you that ye have your reward.

But when thou hast fast, anoint anoint thy head and wash thy face, that thou may appear unto men to fast.

But unto the father which is in secret, and thy father which see it in secret, shall reward thee openly.

Now, fasting is pretty much when you abstain from food.

But for one reason, not to lose weight, but to develop a close, intimate relationship with God.

Now, with fasting, let me tell you something.

You're not changing God's mind about anything.

He's not changing.

But what you're doing, the reason you fast, you develop a closer, intimate relationship with God.

Plus, when you fast in the spirit realm, guess what it'll show you?

It'll show you some of your weaknesses.

Not your brother, sister, wife, spouse, whoever.

You know, it's always like, you know, I'm married, it's Cali's fault.

No, no.

It shows me, no, what are you doing wrong?

It brings you closer to God.

Because God is close, He's gonna be, because He has His Holy Spirit dwelling on the inside of us.

He can't get any closer, he's on the inside.

So when we fast, we open ourselves up to that.

And it's really powerful.

Um, it's a story in the Matthew 17th chapter, about the 15th verse.

You had a it was a man, he had a son that was a lunatic.

Y'all know what a lunatic is.

Somebody act like me when I don't take my medication.

But he was a lunatic.

But he had heard about you know, Jesus doing all this healing and laying hands on people, and actually, if you go back and read earlier in Matthew, Jesus had gave his disciples, he told them the same thing.

You go and lay hands on people, heal them, raise them from the dead, just like he commissioned us.

That's a whole nother sermon.

Greater work shall we do, because he did some great works, but anyway, he had commissioned them, but they had laid hands on this young man.

But guess what?

It didn't happen, he said it.

They weren't powerful enough, but then I'll save you.

Jesus! Jesus just walked up to him, laid hands on him, he was here.

And you gotta remember now, Jesus was operated like some man when he was down here.

He prayed all the time.

He said, like in the morning time, he'll get away.

Everybody else will sleep, he'll get away to himself.

But then his disciples had a question.

They're like, Master, teach ya why we couldn't do it.

He said, These kinds only come out by prayer and fasting.

So, like I say, to all of us, and you want more power, we we we gotta mix it up.

There's more than them two hours on a Sunday and two hours on a Monday.

And uh God also says, check me, so how much news you watch?

How many hours of TV you watch?

So, no wonder you know more about what's going on in the world than you know what's going on in the book.

Why?

But you say, Lord, you're number one.

I can't live without you.

I can't breathe without you.

But you're not trying to get closer to me.

You're not trying to get closer to me.

Who are you fooling?

I made you intelligent.

But you have a choice.

You have a choice, Sylvester.

If you want to get closer, you got to be hungry.

The word said he that hunger and thirst for righteousness.

It didn't say might be filled.

It said shall be filled.

But you got to hunger for it.

Speaking of hunger, the number one reason to keep us from fasting, everybody, I want you to hold your hands up so you won't go to sleep.

Hold your hands up.

Now come straight down.

Come straight down.

Follow me.

Okay.

Is that stomach?

Now let me tell you how powerful food is.

Let me tell you how powerful food is.

Let's go back to the beginning.

Okay, Adam and Eve.

What happened?

Did she sin because of a uh she she wanted a new tool?

He told her he could eat from that.

What?

Could eat from that tree.

She ate.

Pleasant to die.

So we love to eat.

Jacob and Esau.

He sold his birthright.

Why?

Food.

And for those you don't know birthright, back in the Old Testament, the oldest son, basically, was like the one in charge of everything, and he got the blessing.

So I mean he sold it out for food.

Food.

And then let's go to Solomon Gomorrah.

Everybody thinks God destroyed Solomon Gomorrah simply because of uh the homosexuality.

But also read, read the fine print, read the whole story.

Gluttony.

They ate too much.

So that food is something else.

Now it's different types of fast.

After Jesus was uh filled with the Holy Spirit, he went out in the desert and fasted for 40 days.

I don't recommend nobody try that unless you make sure you get a word from the Lord.

If you try to start off with a 40-day fast, you make sure that's the Lord.

But you have three days' fast, one day fast.

Some people go without food, and for like some people on medication, you have to consult your physician.

You gotta take your medication now.

So that's different types of fast.

But we need to start doing it, even if it's just a day.

Now, most local churches, they um first of the year they start off fasting, but we gotta make it a lifestyle.

We have to make it a lifestyle.

We said we want more Jesus.

I want more of Jesus.

Does anybody else want more of Jesus?

I don't need more church.

It's people, and the thing about me, that's why I'm around the pastor then.

I love him.

I'm either all in or all out.

Now, if I'm gonna go to hell, I'm just gonna go out there and party.

I'm I'm not gonna be playing.

I know how to sing.

I was good at it when I was out there.

I used to party.

I mean, it was a short period of time, but from 18 to 22, oh I I party enough for 30 to 40 years because I did it every day.

And I'm serious, every day.

So let's be all in, all of us.

The kingdom needs us.

At SERPO, it's a sale when we like to say, I'm in sales, and one of the lines we have delivered to, I go out and I market to like insurance agents, like in, for example, they have a water loss.

If they call SERPRO first, we'll go out and give them a free estimate.

And the reason we do that, they won't have to make a claim.

If it's a claim word, it's based off their deductible.

But anyway, SERPRO, we like to say, we want as a representative, I tell the people I want to be their eyes and ears.

What God wants us to be his eyes and ears and feet.

That's what he wants from us.

He wants that from us, and he needs us.

Now, another example of fasting is with my brother called uh Jehoshaphat.

2 Chronicles 20 chapter 1 through 29.

I'm just gonna talk about it.

Uh you got King Jehoshaphat.

He was in charge of Israel and Judah, especially.

And he was just sitting on the throne, everything's going okay.

Everything's great.

All of a sudden, these people come in and say, King, it's two countries coming.

They're getting ready to attack, they're getting ready to attack now.

They are getting ready to attack.

Now the Bible says he feared.

I probably would have feared too, but Jehosaphat was a small man.

Guess what his next session was?

He said, Well, I'm scared.

I know I can't handle it.

I'm gonna call the Lord.

He called a fast for the whole country.

He said, everybody gonna fast.

If one verse I read, it said he had the children, everybody, Aunt T, Grandmama, they had canes, bad knees like me.

Everybody was standing for the Lord, looking for a word.

Now, now this was a credible army.

Now they were well trained.

So in the midst of that, one of the one of the brothers prophesied.

And they prophesied, which is to tell the future.

Don't worry about it, Jehosaphat.

God, I I got your battle.

You don't have to fear.

The battle is mine.

All you gotta do is just follow the instructions that I give you.

Because I'm gonna give you a strategy.

You follow my instruction.

Now, guess what the strategy was?

I told he's gone not against one army, but two armies.

Now he was in charge of the tribe of Judah, which was a tribe they believed in praise.

His instructions were now going to combat.

Now, picture this, combat, combat soldiers.

The instruction was, okay, don't fear.

I'm gonna win.

You send the preachers out first and they sing, Hallelujah, mercy.

That's what it did.

Look in the Bible.

He sent the preachers out, they praising God.

But guess what happened?

Because they was obedient to God.

It didn't sound logical, as my brother said.

He gave them supernatural instructions.

So guess what happened?

They killed themselves.

They killed themselves.

Now, does that make sense?

No, it does not.

But that's somebody had a relationship with God.

And Jehosaphat knew where to turn.

He prayed air fast.

He knows where to turn when the problem came.

And God is asking you today, do you know where to turn?

When the problem arise.

Let's go to Acts the 10th chapter.

And this chapter talk about Cornelius.

Say he was a devout man.

He was a gentile too.

I gotta make sure I say he was a gentile, which is non-Jew basically.

And all of us in here, unless you're Jewish, you're a Gentile too.

Okay.

So you got Peter.

So this is actually after he had got filled with the Holy Spirit.

This is not the cussing Peter now.

This is after he got filled with the Holy Spirit.

This is the Peter just walking around.

He was so anointed.

Let me tell you how anointed Peter was.

Peter walked around his shadow healing people.

But now, you know something?

I'm glad you said that, brother.

It really wasn't his shadow.

You know what it was?

He he had the Holy Ghost in, he was so powerful.

Because that's what I'm telling you.

If we pray and fast, he was he changed the atmosphere.

See, when we walk in the place, I don't care what they're doing, it all be a different feeling in the house.

But the only way that's gonna happen is you got to pray, you got to fast and to get those arms, just like he said.

When he walked up in there and changed that, can you imagine that?

Somebody getting here from your shadow?

You ain't said nothing to them.

Now, see, this is what baffles me now.

What I'm talking about is in Acts.

This is our model for the church.

This is the model for Christians.

I don't care if you're Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostal, this is the model.

But it's not happening, though.

We got too many distractions.

We're busy.

Busy.

Not always with sin either.

But just busy.

But Satan wants you to be busy.

He wants you to be busy.

He wants me to be busy.

He wants us to be powerless.

He don't want us to be in our designated place, just like written in our book.

It doesn't matter where you're at.

You are made to give God the glory.

You are made to testify.

You don't have to be a preacher to tell somebody about Jesus.

And you don't have to know all these scriptures.

All you gotta be is just like that blind man was.

I once was blind, but now I see.

Just tell the people what God delivered you from.

That's all you have to do.

Tell the people what God delivered you from.

Because we've all been delivered from something.

You don't have to know 15 scriptures, and it's great you do, but stall where you are, what I'm saying.

That's what he called us to do.

To be the light.

But getting back with Cornelius, Cornelis, like I said, was a devout man.

And actually he got caught up in a vision.

An angel talked to me, said he feared.

I probably would have feared too.

I've never seen an angel.

Has anybody here seen an angel?

No hands?

Okay.

I thought, I thought, you know, there are people that seen angels.

I haven't.

But anyway, what ended up happening is Cornelius ended up getting saved.

And guess who he got saved?

By the hands of Peter.

But what was confusing about it, during that time period, Jews wasn't supposed to have anything to do with a Gentile.

That was unlawful.

But not only did Cornelius have a dream, but Peter had a vision and they came together.

Cornelius sent for him, and he came, and not only did Cornelius get get saved, but his whole house got saved.

And God basically said what I call clean is clean.

Don't worry about what the law said.

And this was serious, because it was bringing division, because the Jews thought the gospel was just for them.

But the gospel is for everybody.

It is for everybody.

And it was bringing division.

Actually, uh Paul even called Peter out.

I think that's in Galatians, like the second chapter.

One time Peter was actually eating dinner with some Gentiles.

And when he saw some other apostles uh that came near, he actually stopped eating with them.

And Paul called him out for that because he's bringing division.

We are one.

Now, speaking of division, in our country now, we have a lot of division.

A lot of division.

Am I right?

Do you listen to the news?

Now I'm gonna tell you something about me.

I don't listen to the news anymore.

I don't.

I used to be a news junkie.

Now the thing about me when I used to watch the news, I used to watch all of them because I like to hear, I want to hear the conservative side, I want to hear the liberal side.

I want to hear everything.

I want to hear everybody's opinion.

Now I got addicted to that stuff.

And like I say, it was formulating my ideology based off of what these pronosticators are saying.

So I stopped.

So what I do now is basically my iPad, like I'll uh if it's I'll skim through my iPad on on Google or Yahoo and pick the story I want to read because for the most part, the news they report bad news.

Now, but with all the stuff that's been happening, remember one day I woke up, they said it was a shooting in Louisiana.

You heard about that?

One day I woke up, they said it's been a shooting in Minnesota.

The next day I woke up, they say in Dallas, five police officers have been gunned down.

One day I hear people marching, black lives matter.

One day I hear people marching, say all lives matter.

So people got their opinions.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

I'm not saying who's right or who's wrong.

I don't have anything to do with that.

But this is the world we live in, and that's the vision.

My main concern, I told you, I heard about this on one side and heard about that.

I also turned to the gospel station.

And the gospel station had my answer.

It wasn't on Fox, it wasn't on CNN, the Gospel Station had my answer.

The gospel station said it started with the church.

It started with us, with you and me.

You and I.

The gospel station say you go to John, the 12th chapter, the 32nd verse.

Say, if I be lifted up, if I be lifted up, I draw all men to me.

White, black, blue, yellow, green, purple.

If I be lifted up.

The gospel station said, look at it now.

What's going on?

Martin Luther King made a statement in the 60s.

He said, the most certainly gated time is when, church.

Sunday morning.

Sunday morning.

With who?

The church.

The church.

Not unbelievers.

Not unbelievers, but the church.

Like my pastor said, whom I love dearly.

That's why I connect with his spirit.

I love me some pastor Dan and Love it.

This is a man standing up the right way.

And I'm not following man by how to give him praise where it's due.

I'm gonna follow him as he followed Christ.

But he's lifting up what the word says.

Yes.

The church is still surrogated.

There's some churches I can walk in now, they look at me funny.

And vice versa.

White and black.

I'm not pointing fingers.

White and black.

That's the problem with that.

Because I read in the word now.

Everything about Jesus and God is what?

Love.

Love.

Love.

See now if we as Christians would give the alms, we pray, we fast, we can change the atmosphere.

We need to come together.

The church.

I'm not worried about the unbelievers.

To me, they're acting the way they're supposed to act.

Oh sinner! Why are you calling them a sinner?

He's supposed to lie, cheating, steal and kill.

But what about the believers?

What light we letting shine?

And we always talking.

And this will get me myself included.

Oh Lord, it's so bad.

It's bad.

But guess what?

God created you for this time.

It's no mistake.

Whatever age you are, 25, 30, 50, He appointed you for this time.

But to keep, what are you gonna do?

We not worry about what this politician is gonna do.

What that policy, what are you gonna do?

You can make a difference.

Because I read it in the word.

Once you get saved, the Holy Spirit comes on the inside of you to make you bold.

And he said it last week bold as a lion.

Don't worry about man, don't worry about man, because I read every knee gonna buy, every tongue gonna confess, not to man, but to him, our Savior.

That's what we need to focus on.

So we need to make a difference.

We do.

We need to come together and pray.

I want you to put uh uh my last scripture up there.

The last one I have.

I want you to read that together.

Stand stand to your feet, please.

And let's read it together.

Read.

Read it again, please.

Read it again, one more time.

Okay, now that's our instructions.

If my people that are called by my name, my people, not unbelievers, not those pronuscators on TV that don't know Jesus.

He told us an instruction to do.

This is the standard for believers.

So if we follow this book and do what that scripture says, He'll heal the land.

He'll heal the land.

He'll heal the land.

He'll heal the land.

He'll heal the land.

It starts with us, it starts with me.

So God has me at a place now where I don't care where I go, I got to be able to affect the atmosphere in a spiritual way, though.

And I'm not talking about being judgmental or nothing like that.

I'm talking about walking in love because God is love.

God is love, He loves us.

Now let's have prayer.

Heavenly Father, God, we just thank you, God.

God, we lift you up, God.

God, we thank you for your word today, Lord God.

God, we're just so thankful, God.

God, we thank you for our country, God.

God, your word said, You know what we need even before we ask, God.

But God, we asking, God.

God, we speak in peace over our nation now, God.

God, you said we have the authority, God.

You've in giving it to us, Lord God.

Whoever's in heaven, we can bring it to earth, God.

And we're speaking peace, God.

And God, we just not gonna pray, God.

But God, we know that you're a strategist.

And God, we're not asking prosticate us for a strategy to fix our country.

God, we're asking for you, God.

Give us the answer, God.

Reveal it to your men and women of God.

Reveal it, God.

God, we ask that we walk in love, Lord God.

God, we thank you for your precious Holy Spirit that's dwelling on the inside of us, God.

God, we just thank you, Lord.

And God, we thank you for the rhema word you gave today, God.

God, we just thank you, Lord.

We praise you.

God, we praying for the leadership in our country now, Lord God.

God, we praying for the families that were affected last week, Lord God.

The family in Louisiana that was affected, God.

The family in Minnesota, Lord God, that was affected.

The five fallen policemen, God.

God, we know somebody woke up today, Lord, they didn't have their dad, Lord God.

They didn't have their brother, God.

They didn't have their loved ones, God.

But God, you say you'll never leave us nor forsake us, God.

And God, we praise you, God.

God, thank you, Lord, for just helping us heal our nation, God.

Heal our nation, Lord.

As only you can do, God.

We don't have the answers, God.

We praise and magnify you.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Thanks again for tuning into this week's message.

We pray that your life has been changed.

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We hope you have a wonderful day and again, God bless you.