21st Century Temples

Welcome to Gateway Church's podcast.

Wherever you're tuning in from, we hope you're encouraged by today's message.

Hey Gateway Church! I'm excited to be here.

Please, you may be seated.

Thank you so much.

You're way too kind.

I haven't said anything yet.

We are so excited to be here.

I'm I'm with my wife Maria.

Maria Honey, would you stand and greet the church?

Actually, next week we're celebrating our 36th anniversary.

Yeah, I'm the lucky one.

I married up.

I really did.

Before I say anything else, I just want to honor the father and the mother of the house.

Pastor Robert and Debbie, we love you so much.

We couldn't be more honored to partner with you.

And not only are you great people and great friends, but you have great hearts.

Hearts that reach the whole world, hearts that want to see the harvest, not only in your community or even nation, but all over the world.

We couldn't be more proud to know you as friends and partners for the name of the Jesus of Jesus to be lifted up all over the world.

Why don't we honor our leaders here today?

Love you so much.

Also, Pastor James and Bridget.

Hey guys, we love you.

We met uh last year in Italy and spent time.

Maria and I love you so much.

And we just want to congratulate you.

What an amazing uh new season, what an amazing future for you guys and for Gateway.

And and just count us in.

We'll be uh two Swedish cheerleaders for you guys, okay?

We'll we'll be waving our go, Pastor James, and Bridget flags and do the pom-pom.

No, we don't do, we won't do the pom-poms.

That'll be embarrassing.

But we love you guys so much, and we just know we have your back, and it's gonna be amazing the time that is coming your way.

So wonderful and beautiful to be here indeed.

Now, uh, my our good friend uh Craig uh Turnrup just picked us up and brought us to church today, and and I was reminded about a very special story.

Uh, a number of years ago, I was speaking at a pastor's conference in in Mexico City, and it was a great time.

We had like eight, nine hundred pastors.

It was a three-day event, and I was speaking every single day, and every day they sent a new guy to the hotel to pick me up and drive me to church.

So the third day, the last day, this new guy came and he picked me up, and he picked me up in a Volkswagen Beetle, like the original 1967.

Anyone old enough to remember?

Yeah, or you've seen pictures.

Um, so I folded myself up and got into this car, and he we headed out on the main like highway of Mexico City, and this guy was driving fast, the car was shaking, and I was just thinking, how blessed am I to experience this?

I mean, not many people honestly get to experience going in a Volkswagen Beetle 1967 on a Mexican highway.

That's only the chosen ones, really.

So, but again, this was a new guy, they always send new guys.

So I did small talk, asked his name, his family, his his whereabouts, his job, and and then I said, Okay, so what about you and Jesus?

How did that come about?

When did you accept Christ?

Tell me your testimony, and then he got all quiet at me, and then he said, To be perfectly honest, my life for Jesus is not where it should be.

And I said, Oh, oh, really?

What happened?

Tell me the story.

And he started telling me this heartbreaking story about when he was a child and once he was a young boy, he was on fire for Jesus, wanted to serve him with all of his heart for the rest of his life.

But then later on in the teenage years, this man had done some bad decisions, he ended up in immorality, and he was crying now as he retold the story.

How he was convinced that God hated him and God was so disappointed at him.

So I started sharing Jesus with him.

I said, You know what?

God doesn't hate you, God loves you, and there's forgiveness for you, there's a new chapter for you.

Jesus is right here, he's ready to forgive and restore you.

If any man is in Christ, he's a new creation, and the old things can be brought away, can be taken away right here and right now.

And he cried even harder.

The car was shaking even wilder.

I said, Man, stop the car.

So he pulled over to the side of the highway, and now here am I sharing Jesus with him, asking him, Do you want to pray with me now?

And you can recommit your life to Christ.

I said, Yeah! So we prayed, and it was beautiful.

He accepted Christ and the presence of God filled the entire car.

There wasn't much room, but still, and he was laughing and crying for joy now, and it was a beautiful moment, but still, I started checking my watch and realized we're already late.

So I told him that okay, I'm terribly sorry to break up this holy moment, but you really need to take me to church now because we're getting late.

And he looked at me and he said, We're we're going to the airport.

And I said, No, man, that's tomorrow.

I still have one day at the conference.

You need to bring me there right now.

And then he was, it was an awkward silence.

He just looked at me, and then he said something I'll probably never ever forget as long as I live.

He said, You are Mr.

Williams, aren't you?

And slowly it dawned on me, this is not my driver at all.

Turned out he was a random Uber driver who was sent to my hotel at the exact same time I was expecting my driver to pick up a Mr.

Williams and drive him to the airport.

And everything was fine until Mr.

Williams asked him, What about Jesus?

And I was just sitting there going, Wow, the amount of heavenly coordination that went into this, how many angels were involved, making sure my driver was late and Mr.

Williams did not show up in time.

Maybe Mr.

Williams ended up with my driver.

Maybe Mr.

Williams got saved.

I don't know.

But I'll tell you this: this goes to show how much God loves one single individual, what he's ready to do to get the gospel of Jesus across to one single sinner who needs it.

Amen.

Oh, praise God.

Okay, you're ready for the word of God?

Great.

I'm gonna share a message with you that I call 21st century temples.

21st century temples, and all over the church and the campuses and the gatherings, would you turn to your neighbor and just ask them, are you ready for the word of God?

And now you can turn to your other neighbor and ask them, and are you ready for some Swedish accent?

So 21st century temples, it is now for us to have an understanding about 21st century temples, we need to have a basic understanding of the original temple.

The house that was built by King Solomon 3,000 years ago in Jerusalem in Israel.

Now, when that house was built, it was by far the most revolutionary, amazing place ever built by human hands.

Not only because of its beauty and its exterior, but because of its purpose.

And the purpose of the temple is so important for us to understand because sometimes I think that we're not really understanding how blessed we are to live in the new covenant.

We can come to God anytime and anywhere.

You can call out the name of Jesus and He will be there.

And sometimes we take that for granted.

But back then, in the old covenant, in the Old Testament, it was different.

This was before Jesus, before the blood, before the cross, and before the open grave.

So sin was still a problem.

Sin still kept even the people of God away and separated from God.

Now, all throughout the Old Testament, we read about how God sometimes breaks breaks through this veil, and there's a burning bush over here, or there's a pillar of fire over here.

But the big problem was that you could never know when or where that would happen.

It was like if you were lucky, you were at the right place at the right time.

But most of the people of God actually had to come to terms with the fact that even though they believed in God and served God and loved God, they will probably never ever experience his presence even once in their life until God speaks to King David and he says, I want a house built.

Now David receives the vision, he raises the funds, he hands the project over to his son King Solomon, who builds the house and it's dedicated, but still there is quite little information to this point about the true purpose of this place.

But at the night of its dedication, God appears to Solomon and he reveals the master plan, the true purpose of the first temple.

This is in 2 Chronicles chapter 7 and verse 15.

2 Chronicles 7 · chapter mention

This is what God says.

I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my name may be there forever.

Can we all say forever?

My eyes and my heart will always, can we say always be there?

These two words, forever and always, became it was a revolution among the Jewish people because they understood that ah, for the first time in history, God was about to attach his presence physically to a physical place permanently.

The temple would not be his summer house, it would not be his Airbnb, it would be his permanent dwelling.

God was about to create a permanent connection between heaven and earth.

So when the Jewish people came to the temple, they didn't even have to hope.

They would know that the presence of God would be there, his heart would be there, his eyes would be there, his name would be permanently attached to this place.

For the first time in history, they had a place to which they could go and know that they know that they know that God was present at that place.

And you might say, Well, that's really interesting, Pastor Joachim, the Swedish pastor.

But this is 2023, and we're in Dallas, Texas.

Uh, and the temple has been demolished for quite some time now, so why are we talking about a place that is no more?

Well, I'm gonna tell you because you are right in the fact that the building, the temple building is no more, but you see, the temple principle is still around, for we are the temple of the living God.

That was great, guys.

That was so good, thank you.

You know, when I've heard this verse preached, it's basically been like this: Well, we are the temple of the living God, so exercise daily, eat broccoli, and don't smoke.

That has been the main content, but you see, and that's still good advice, but it's nowhere near the full revelation contained in this verse.

The old temple was a permanent place of connection between heaven and earth.

That connection is still there, but the temple comes in a different short uh face and a different shape, it comes in the shape of you.

God has still attached his permanent presence to a place, but that place is no longer a building in Jerusalem, it's you who are called to live in that presence and to take that presence into your world.

And you know, Hebrews says that the new covenant is a better covenant founded on better promises, so not only is the temple principle still around, it's also improved.

Because back then, in the old covenant, it used to be one temple, right?

But today, all over the world, there are millions of temples, millions of believers in Jesus Christ, and also in the old covenant, it used to be one temple fixed to a certain place, meaning that if you wanted to encounter God, you have to get yourself to Jerusalem, right?

But in the new covenant, every single 21st century temple has been equipped with two of these.

So we can go out in the whole world and bring the presence of God.

We can go out in the whole world and preach the gospel of Jesus, we can go out in the whole world and lift up the name of Jesus to this world.

We are the temple of the living God, we are the 21st century temples.

Now, if we are the temples of the living God, then what was true about the temple back then should be true about us today.

So, what was true about that temple should be true about us if it's true that we are the temples of the living God.

So let me just give you a few things that was true about the temple back then, and therefore should be true about this temple that is you and me today.

Amen.

Number one, the temple was visible.

The temple was visible.

You see, when God told King David and Solomon to build a house for his glory, he did not say, Okay, I want an underground bunker with a secret entrance, and then I want you to draw a treasure map, so that secret entrance can only be discovered by a chosen few.

That was not the instruction.

He said, I want a big place, I want a place that is seen, I want a place that is visible, proclaiming to everyone that if you want to come to God, please come here.

Just to give you guys a perspective, can we bring up a picture of modern-day Jerusalem?

That's it from the Mount from the Mount of Olives.

That's about how Jerusalem looks today.

Now, if we would take the dimensions mentioned in the Bible and and just kind of bring in them to give a basic understanding about the size of the temple, this is what it looks like.

That's a massive building covered with gold, reflected in the Middle Eastern sun, that would have been seen miles and miles and miles away.

What does that tell you and me today?

If the temple was visible back then, the temple should be visible here and now as well.

Amen.

Jesus told us that.

Matthew 5:14, you are the light of the world.

Matthew 5:14

A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven.

When the modern-day temple, the 21st century temple becomes visible, God starts to work.

Amen.

And I get to travel the world.

I'm so I'm so honored to have have that calling.

And you know what I see everywhere around the world?

I see Christian submarines coming to the surface.

You know, submarines, right?

They exist, but they're invisible.

They're just down there going, hmm.

Sunday morning the periscope comes up temporarily, checks stuff out, and then Monday morning, hmm.

So many times, the only times where we Christians are visible are in angry Facebook threads.

We need to come to the surface.

We need to meet a modern-day 21st century temple that is seen and heard.

So many Christians I hear say things like, Oh, people are not interested in God.

Especially my nation, Sweden, which is super secularized.

But let me tell you this: the fact that a nation is secularized does not mean that people are not interested in God.

The problem, the problem is not that people are not interested in God, the problem is they don't know where to go with their questions.

Because very few of them would sit thinking about God and then immediately Google churches in my area.

They won't do that.

So, what is the solution?

Temples, visible temples in every school, in every university, in every neighborhood, at every workplace, everywhere there are people that bring in visible temples that will eventually lead them into the house of the Lord.

Can we give some glory to God?

Amen.

There are a few things I love more than seeing visible temples come alive, Christian submarines coming to the surface.

One of the main things we do at Word of Life is uh our Bible school.

We have a one-year Bible school project aimed primarily for young people.

Uh, right now we have actually 15 of these Bible schools in different countries, and we have graduated over 55,000 young people from this Bible school concept.

And a few years ago, we had a graduation in our Word of Life Bible School in Kolkata in India.

And among the graduates were two 20-year-old guys from India.

Now, they just come out of Bible school, so they started talking about what do we do now?

You know, we we need to do something.

So they came up with this idea.

Let's bring all of our friends together in our apartment, let's give them food, because food always works.

It's a global language, and then let's preach Jesus to them and get them saved.

And in preparation for this project, they talked amongst themselves and said, Should we keep it down a little bit when we share Jesus?

Should we like whisper or something?

Because this is India and there's persecution going on, and if you're loud and outspoken about your faith, you can get in trouble.

But then they had heard that they were supposed to be visible temples, so they said, Nah, let's go for it.

So they invited all these friends, gave them food, and then preached the gospel to them loud and bold.

And they gave an altar call, hands went up, they started praying for people, leading people to Jesus.

But then all of a sudden, in the middle of this beautiful thing, there was a knock on the door.

And as they opened, there's a woman outside.

And this woman says, I live next door in the apartment near next to yours, and I couldn't help but hearing through the wall what you were saying because you guys are really loud.

And they just said, I have a son, he's 16 years old, and he's called Nanda.

And a few months ago, he was in a terrible accident at his workplace, a construction site.

A big container tipped over and landed on his legs, completely crushing both legs.

He was brought to the hospital.

The doctor said, There's nothing we can do, he will never ever walk again.

His mother was desperate and devastated.

So she went to the Hindu priest and asked him to come and do his thing.

So the Hindu priest came and did his thing and nothing happened.

Then he went to the Muslim mulah and asked him to come and do his thing, and he came and did his thing and nothing happened.

But then she said, I heard you through the wall speak.

About Jesus, and you said Jesus can save and heal.

Can you come and do your thing?

So the two 20-year-old guys looked at one another, nodded, and they went over to the apartment where Nanda is found in a bed.

They take the bed and they carry him and the bed over to their apartment.

I still don't know why.

I'm just trying to tell the story as it is.

Maybe the anointing was stronger over here.

I don't know.

And then they pray for 16-year-old Nanda in Jesus' name, and for the glory of God, Nanda was completely healed.

Completely healed.

Nanda gave his heart to Jesus, his whole family got saved, and this was a miracle that shook the entire neighborhood.

But let's never forget this would never have happened if God didn't have visible temples.

Loud and clear voices for the gospel.

Amen.

So let's make sure that we go back to our community from this church meeting and we are visible temples to make sure that whoever wants to come in touch with God will know where to go.

Can we say amen?

Okay, the second thing that was true about the temple back then, and therefore should be true about you and I today is that the temple was a house of prayer.

The temple was a house of prayer.

Now we need to remind ourselves constantly that God does not respond to us because we are of a certain age.

God does not respond to us because of our present-day Christian performance.

God does not respond to us according to the amount of Instagram followers we have.

There's only one invitation that he responds to, and that is the invitation of prayer.

That's the only He doesn't even respond to our needs automatically, but He responds to our prayers.

And the beautiful thing about this is that a five-year-old can pray, and a 105-year-old can pray.

And when the house becomes a house of prayer, then God's presence is poured out inside it.

Amen.

Jesus Himself says in Luke 19, verse 46 My house, referring to the temple, is a house of prayer.

Luke 19:46

And if the house the house was a house of prayer back then, the modern-day 21st century temple should be a house of prayer.

Amen.

I remember I spoke this message a few years ago, and one of the ones hearing it was a Swedish uh girl from back home in Sweden called Maddy Madeline.

She was 16 years old at the time, and she was really fired up, realizing, man, I can be a house of prayer.

I'm a modern-day temple, a 21st century temple.

I need to be a house of prayer.

Now Madeline was only 16.

She never really prayed apart from when she ended up in desperate trouble.

But she made up her mind that day.

I'm gonna I'm gonna commit to prayer like never before.

So she came up with a prayer pattern, and this was it.

She made a list of the 10 worst bullies of her school.

Okay?

The 10 guys that everybody was afraid of, that was mean, and that was just bullying other people.

She made a list of the 10 worst in order of how horrible they were.

And then she decided this I'm gonna pray for name number one, the worst bully in the school, and I'm gonna pray for him until he becomes a Christian.

And then when he becomes a Christian, I'm gonna start praying for name number two, and I'm gonna work my way down the list.

And the number one person on her list was a guy called Niels.

Now, Nils was a devout atheist who hated God and therefore hated Madeline because Madeline was the only Christian girl in this school, which is a situation she shares with a lot of Swedish young people.

So Niels had bullied Madeline with everything he had, but now every single morning, Madeline started by praying for Niels' salvation.

And she told me, Pastor Joachim, every single morning I'm pointing my prayer bazooka right at him.

I didn't even know there was such a thing as prayer in bazookas, but you learn a lot from teenagers.

So every single morning, she was that he didn't, he he doesn't have a clue, okay?

He has no idea what is going on in Madeline's house early in the morning.

But as the day goes by and that bazooka is firing every single morning, something starts to happen inside of Nils.

He starts thinking about God all the time.

Now he doesn't want to, but he finds himself thinking about God.

As soon as he thinks about nothing, he starts thinking about God.

In the evening when he goes to bed, he's like, Jesus, no.

When he wakes up in the morning, he's like, Oh Jesus, no, what's going on inside of my head?

After a few weeks, he's he's determined that he's going crazy.

He's thinking about God all the time without even wanting to think about God, and then eventually, all alone in his room, he decides to pray for the very first time to put God to the test.

And I'm gonna quote this prayer exactly, even though it was the stupidest prayer I've ever heard in my life.

This is word for word, heard from his mouth directly.

This is what he prayed.

Okay, God, if you're out there, show yourself show yourself to me by giving me a sign.

Make me vomit right now, and I'm just thinking, why, Niels?

Out of all the things in the world that you could have prayed for, why make me vomit right now?

How many know that God is a good God that hears and answers our prayers so that our joy may be fulfilled?

It took two seconds, and the answer of prayer arrived.

Nils had to run for his life to the closest available toilet seat, humbly get down on his knees in the presence of the Almighty, and everything inside of him came out.

Let's just put it that way.

And he told me later, Pastor Joachim, you know, when you're eaten something you shouldn't have eaten, you can have that strong reaction.

But normally, that you know, 20 minutes or 30 minutes or something, then it's gone.

He said, This went on for 12 hours.

And I thought to myself, he is more than enough, praise God.

He is Al Shaddai.

He is, he maketh our compass overfloweth, amen.

So after 12 hours of answered prayer, Nils finally realizes that maybe this thing has something to do with a prayer.

I just pray.

Well done, Nils, really well done.

He prays his second prayer in love.

God, if you're out there, make this stop now.

And he stops, and Neils crawls to bed, sleeps for a solid 12 hours, then wakes up, gives her his life to Jesus Christ, joins Madeline to start praying for number two on the list.

And only six months later, they were down praying for number eight on the list.

The seven hardest, toughest bullies had all given their hearts to Jesus Christ because of some kind of mysterious outpouring?

Not necessarily, because God found one house of prayer, a 21st century temple of prayer.

Amen.

Let's give the glory to God Almighty.

And God wants to find you in your neighborhood, in your school, in your university.

Okay, so we said that the temple back then was visible, therefore we should be.

We said that the temple back then was a house of prayer, therefore we should be.

Let me just finish with this.

The third thing that was true about the temple back then, therefore should be true about you and I today, is that the temple was a place of miracles.

The temple was a place of miracles.

And and we don't have time to study this in detail, but if you would read 2 Chronicles chapter 6, there is a long, long, long list there, repeatedly underlining that the temple was a place of miracles.

2 Chronicles 6 · chapter mention

It says if anyone is defeated and he comes to this house, he will be restored.

If anyone is broken and he comes to this house, he will be healed.

If anyone is lost and he comes to this house, he will be found.

The temple was a place of miracles of transformation.

And church, let me just remind you, there is no greater miracle than the miracle of salvation.

There is no greater purpose for you and I being 21st century temples than to take the miracle of salvation out to this world and to tell it that Jesus Christ loved you so much that he died on that cross so that you will no longer have to be separated from God again.

And I I just want to tell you one more testimony, and then we're gonna pray.

Can I tell you one more testimony?

Please say yes.

Because I'm gonna do it anyway, so it make me feel better.

Let me just introduce you to another one of the girls from back home in Sweden.

This is Johanna, and that's the most normal picture from her Facebook.

Johanna too is was 16 years old at this time, and and she heard me speak about 21st century temples, and she heard me speak about that the temple was a place of miracles, and and that she could be a place of miracles, and that she could minister uh uh the power of God to her community and especially salvation.

And she was so fired up about this.

She had two uh friends in her school that was Christians, and they decided to come together every week to pray for revival in the school.

And they were they dedicated their lives to also share the gospel of Jesus boldly with anyone who did not believe.

So one day, Johanna is on her way from school to meet with her two friends, and she walks on the pedestrian street of our city on her way, and she's really firing up now her heart.

She's gonna pray for revival, she's gonna again meditate on the fact that she's a temple, a modern-day temple, a place of miracles.

And and all of a sudden, she feels I can't wait to pray until I get there.

I need to pray right now.

So there on the pedestrian street, she kind of stops for a second and then she just whispers a quiet prayer, God, use me now.

And then she looks up and looks around to see what would happen.

And immediately as she opens her eyes, she spots this girl that is coming her way in the crowd of people.

Now, this girl stood out because she was Johanna's age, but Johanna didn't really know her.

But she the girl stood out because she was crying and she was speaking in her cell phone.

Now, I told you this before, Gateway.

Swedes don't express feelings publicly.

So crying in public is a very unusual thing to do.

If somebody laughs in public in Sweden, we assume they're from Norway.

And if somebody cries publicly in Sweden, we assume they're from Finland.

You know, the Swedes don't normally do that.

So Johanna spotted this girl immediately.

Now, Johanna's standing still, this girl's coming toward her, meaning this girl would pass her by in just seconds.

And everything inside of Johanna wanted to just kind of turn away and pretending that she she is not there.

Who is she to interfere and intervene?

But she remembered, I just prayed, God use me now.

And this girl is coming closer and closer.

What do I do?

What do I do?

What do I do?

No time to fast and pray.

So she did the only thing she could think of.

She threw her arms out like that.

And this girl, a complete stranger, walked straight into her arms.

And Johanna held her and thought to herself, What in the world do I do now?

I'm hugging a complete stranger on the pedestrian street.

I don't know why she's crying, I don't know who she's speaking with on her phone.

And the two girls just stood there for a while.

And then Johanna stopped sharing Jesus with her.

Said, I don't know what's going on with you, but I know that he can make all things right.

And she shared about hope, she shared about forgiveness, she shared about joy, everything that is found in faith in Jesus Christ.

And this girl listened, she didn't really say much, she didn't want to say what was going on or share anything about the reasons why she was crying.

But Johanna got to share the gospel with her and also gave her her contact details.

About 20 minutes later, the two girls parted ways, but one week later, this girl contacts Johanna and she tells her, I wanted you to know, Johanna, what really happened that day.

I was on my way home to my house to commit suicide.

I had come to the end of the line, I found no more reason to go on living.

And I've chosen that day, and everything went according to plan.

I was making my final phone call in life to my to my aunt to my aunt, who was the only one who was ever good to me.

And I was told her, okay, thank you so much, but in a few more minutes I won't be here anymore.

And with only a hundred yards left to her door, she's still on her phone with her aunt, and and and emotions overwhelm her.

She starts crying, but she's still determined to go through with this horrible decision.

But then she wrote in the message, but then I looked up and I saw you.

And I don't know why.

But I walked straight into your arms, and you told me about this Jesus, and I've never heard about it.

But I went home that day and said, This could not be a coincidence.

I'm gonna give life and this Jesus a new chance.

This girl accepted Jesus Christ, got a brand new life, and if you will meet her today, she's shining for joy and she's found a purpose.

But when I heard this story told by Johanna right after she received that message, I just had tears running down my face, and I said, Johanna, when you were standing there, you represented someone who threw his arms out 2,000 years ago, and here he is again, standing with his open arms out, ready to receive and embrace anyone who would come.

And I thank God that on that road, on that pedestrian street, there was a 21st century temple, a place of the miracle of salvation.

Amen.

And right as we come, as we come to the end of our time together, I feel the presence of the Holy Spirit, and I know that all throughout this church and in the campuses and in the gatherings, I know that there are many hearts right now who just want to reach out to God to say, God, I want to become a visible temple.

Maybe I've been too much of a submarine and I want to come up to the surface, I want to be bold.

I'm not gonna be ashamed of you anymore, Jesus.

Maybe you're here and you feel inspired to make a new decision to become a house of prayer, a 21st century house of prayer.

And maybe you just feel, God, I want to have a new understanding and expectation about the fact that you are looking at me as a house of miracles.

I want to minister that those miracles, especially the miracle of salvation, to my world.

I hear the Spirit of the Lord speak into my heart right now that he's ready to fill you up and send you out from this service with a brand new zeal, knowing that his glory is inside of you and he's put you on a mission to reach and see his miracles not only in churches, but in your community, in your school, in your university, in your neighborhood.

So, can we just stand to our feet all over this church in the campuses and the gatherings?

And I just want to pray a short prayer for you.

If that's you, would you stand with your eyes closed in the presence of the Holy Spirit?

And if you feel, yes, Lord, I want to be that visible temple.

Yes, Lord, I want to be that house of prayer.

Yes, Lord, I want to be that temple of miracles.

I just want to pray where you are, a prayer of blessing for the Spirit of God to fill you up and honor that decision that is made in your heart.

If that's you, would you just lift up your hands right now and I will include you in this prayer all over the campuses, all over the gatherings.

Father, thank you, Lord.

Thank you in Jesus' name that you do call us temples of the Holy Spirit.

And Father, today we acknowledge that.

We thank you, Lord, that you filled us up and you have made us the permanent place of connection between heaven and earth in the new covenant.

And Father, we acknowledge that, we accept that, and we rejoice in that.

And Father, here we are saying to you, yes, we will be visible temples, yes, we will be houses of prayer, yes, we will expect miracles wherever we go, especially the miracle of salvation to come and go through us to our community, to our school, to our university, to our neighborhood, to our workplaces and to our families.

And Father, I pray for everyone who makes that commitment today.

I pray you will honor it with your presence, with the power of the Holy Spirit.

This we pray in the holy, mighty, beautiful name of Jesus Christ.

And all the people said, Amen, Gateway, God bless you.

I love you.

Let's give it up for Jesus Christ today.

Thanks for joining us today.

If you'd like to connect with us, text Connect to 71010 or visit gatewaypeople.com.

We hope you have a great week.