Sunday Message (1st service) - Pastor Brad Neuschwander (March 22, 2026) | Life Bible Church

Welcome to the Life Bible Church podcast. We

want to thank you for joining us today, and we

hope you find today's sermon impacting as you

listen to it wherever you are in your daily walk.

To find service times and watch messages online,

see our website at lifebiblechurch .org. Now,

enjoy this week's message. I want to talk to

you this morning about Jesus' life and what his

ministry was about. We've been in a long series,

and it's been a good series. Literally, we're

about halfway through what the Lord has given

me on this thing, but there's been various kind

of themes that I feel like the Lord is highlighting

on this theme of the Something More Church. And

one of the keys to the Something More Church,

for us to be a people that God, he loves all

of his children. But he loves when people want

more of him. And actually not just want more

of him for a selfish purpose. There is that.

pulling and that desiring, those who hunger and

thirst shall be filled and shall be satisfied.

There is that reality that Jesus says in the

gospels, especially in the beatitudes of what

he's saying. If you hunger, you'll be filled.

If you thirst, you'll be satisfied. There is

that. But the primary weight of scripture, as

you begin to look at the whole capacity of what

God wrote, especially in, of course, we have

it from Genesis to Revelation, but especially

in the New Testament from Matthew to the book

of Revelation, is this idea that God is trying

to get inside of us is that in our pursuit of

him, in our in our hunger for him, in our searching

for him and our desire. He said, those who ask,

it shall be, what? It'll be given. Those who

seek shall find. Those who knock, the door will

be opened. And the reality is not just to bless

you alone, but the blessing is meant to actually

transfer. You receive part of it, but the blessing

is also then giving it away. When we're talking

about Easter being, and we celebrate it, here

it's going to be on April 5th, that Easter's

two weeks from now. It seems like we just had

Christmas, but here we are at Easter. The whole

pinnacle of the cross and the resurrection and

the commissioning of Jesus to the disciples was

what? To serve. To give life away, not just only

to die and to give blood as the ultimate sacrifice,

God's blood, only his blood could take away the

sin of the world. That was done for us. Yes,

the resurrection was done for us. Why? So we

could have fellowship with a risen king. But

the Holy Spirit was given to us, what? To teach

us in all things and that we would now be a,

if I could say this carefully, we would be now

a channel receiving from the Lord and giving

away his life continually. It is the essence

of Christianity. If we miss that, we've missed

the very... biggest theme of all that Christ

is trying to build in his church. He wants Christians

who pursue him, love him, fellowship with him,

receive from him, not just to become just fluffy,

but to actually receive and to give it away.

And the essence of that is We can call it, but

it's this idea of being stewards of service.

Servants. Greatest title of the scripture. Servant

of the Lord. But there's a stewardship of being

a servant. And Jesus understood what real ministry

was. So much so that some of these major tests

in his life, even in the three and a half years,

the tests that came to Christ, Jesus was constantly

reminding his team. Again, John 4, 34 says it

this way. My food is to do the will of him who

sent me and to finish his work. The primary and

first heart of Jesus, who was our model of a

perfect servant, was to find out what God's will

was. He knew what it was. Us is to learn the

will of God, like Jesus modeled how he lived

the will of God, and then to do it. That's the

key, right? So if we understand that the primary

purpose of the will of God is that we would receive

God. fellowship with God, love God, pursue him,

grow in him, mature in him, not just until we

get to a point then we say, okay, now we're ready.

No, along the way we are releasing that which

has come to us from the very source of life.

He'll release that source as we grow. Fact is,

it is the releasing that is fertilizer to your

growth. Because if you just try to wait until

you have enough, you'll actually stunt your growth.

Jesus did this, and we can put this on the slide.

Jesus never passed the little day -to -day things

for the big cross experience. As we're living

here and we're barreling down in our calendar

on... the cross and upon Easter and the resurrection.

Notice that Jesus did not train the disciples

to only focus on the cross. Fact is, if I take

the gospel side, now this is a great problem

in the body of Christ that people want to divide

the gospels and the New Testament church and

separate them. You cannot do that because the

Holy Spirit was sent as the, if I could say it

carefully, that's what the scriptures call it,

the parakletos in the Greek, the one who is the

other, the exact likeness of Christ, just another.

That's why God sent the another. to build what

the son could do in three and a half years with

his blood being made in the image of man, the

Holy Spirit would now take the very same power,

authority that the son did and now build the

work that the king had paid for. So to separate

the two is to actually say that the Holy Spirit

is less than Jesus. The reason I'm preaching

this this morning is because there is a great

divide in the body of Christ that wants to highlight,

well, we only do what Jesus is. No, you only

do what the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have

actually decided is the whole gospel. You don't

just divide out a Jesus only. That leaves you

cutting out half of the purpose of what the Father

intended through the Holy Spirit. You are actually

living. You are living in an era that God is

still working and building and doing. And shame

on us for trying to get back to something that

had only a shelf life of three and a half years

when the Holy Spirit would actually build something

for over 2 ,000 plus years that was waiting for

the return of Christ. So I said all that and

that's my introduction. So here we go. To understand

this though, Jesus would not let the disciples

focus on the cross. You think about that. They

focused on the cross after the fact. They did

not focus on the cross in the three and a half

years. Why? Because they couldn't even understand

it. How many times did Jesus say, and the Son

of Man shall be given into hands and shall be

betrayed and shall be killed and they will spit

on. Literally, just over and over and over, they

missed it. Why? Because their thinking, now please,

this is where I'm going this morning. Their thinking

kept them. From receiving fresh revelation. The

program of their mind. And their expectation

of what God would do for them. Kept them from

embracing the now presence of Jesus. And what

he was trying to bring as revelation. And can

I just say this carefully. It is like this with

us. Why? Because we can focus so much on what

we want to do, where we want to go, what we're

building, what the vision for the future is,

that you miss right in front of you what God

is trying to actually change and do in you. This

morning, as I was in and out of sleep and got

up to do the... and went back to bed. It was

about, I looked at the scriptures. I didn't look

at them. I looked at the clock. It was 2 .41.

I laid down again. My alarm was set for 4 .40

to get up. And somewhere between 2 .40 and 4

.40, I had where the Lord began to speak to me.

And this morning, he began to show me I was in

this I don't even think it was a dream really

it was part dream and part I was there I was

I was in real time not just thinking about other

people or seeing other situations but the Lord

reminds us I want you to focus on your feet I

want you to focus on your feet and I remember

saying in the The encounter that I had this morning.

God, your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light

unto my path. I began to quote some scriptures.

How blessed are the feet of those that bring

the good news. And immediately when the Lord

shows me something, my first response is, what

are the scriptures I know about that? What have

I hid in my heart? Before I go look anything

up, I didn't come out of that sleep. I just,

I was quoting it. I could feel it inside of me

quoting it. And I began to think about feet.

No, my feet, you've given me. David said, you've

given me hinds feet that I can navigate the terrain.

And as I began to quote some of those scriptures,

I felt like the Lord said, yes, but your feet

are right where your next steps are. Focus on

your next steps. And I knew what I was, I had

prepared preaching. for this weekend and it goes

right with, obviously the Lord knows he's the

greatest teacher of all. Many times we can be

so focused on what's out there that we don't

actually look for what's right in front of us.

Now what's right in front of us can be traps.

What's right in front of us, that's where snares

are. So when you don't look in front of you and

you don't see tripwires, you don't see, or things

that you can twist or fall or fall into. You

don't see camouflaged things. Why? Because I'm

not looking down. Now, I'm not saying we focus

down, but you have to do both. You have to be

able to look down and clearly and also out clearly.

And sometimes as people, when we get into...

or we get into hardship and we look at things,

we spend so much time focusing on when it changes

and what will happen when that happens. And that's

good. But we're not maybe sometimes focused on,

Lord, what are you wanting me to get now? What

is this season trying to do now? How does it

implement and affect my walk now? Where are my

feet standing now? How close to the edge am I?

Am I on solid ground? Are my feet planted securely?

Am I walking in a path that's pleasing you? Are

my feet... girded with the gospel of peace with

a message and with the stability to walk in any

terrain all of those things speak to the now

moment when that's what Jesus was trying to help

the disciples do he knew he would give them the

message That they would carry after his death

and resurrection. In fact, it's so much so that

he would say that you wait until you're endued

with power. Because I'm not going to let you

carry this message without the partnership of

the Holy Spirit in your next level. But I'm trying

to teach you something, disciples. What is the

Lord transforming and changing your now? Sometimes

we've got to dive into that and say, okay, Lord.

Where am I standing? How am I walking? Are my

feet secure? And do I see what's right before

me? And not just what's right before me in the

natural, but am I asking the question, what are

you doing in me now? Don't let me bypass what

you're doing now. That was the classic case of

the religious. The religious in Jesus' day, constantly

took the words of Jesus and filtered them into

their thoughts of how God should do things. They

could not allow Jesus' words to penetrate them

in the now. That's on us. You see, every one

of us has a grid. Every one of us has a framework.

Every one of us has a perspective. We have a

collective in our own lives of experiences of

awesomeness and also the hurts of failure and

sufferings. And many times we can develop a grid

that actually isn't fully biblical. It's partial

biblical. And the goal of the Holy Spirit is

to actually make you a well -rounded person.

To actually that you would be formed in the,

if I could say this like the gospel, Ephesians

says that the multifaceted grace of God would

come to you. Multifaceted meaning what? It means

the many colored spectrum of that grace. So when

you break, when you break. light apart, you're

going to have what? The multicolored facets of

why we see that rainbow. You begin to see those

different hues of color. But yet it all comes

from one light. The whole point of the color

is to bring the multifaceted of what's in that

purity so that your eyes can see the covenantal

promise of all that God had promised. same principle

is true in your thinking and in your processing

of what God is doing in your life from giving

you vision and giving you prophetic words of

what to call in and what to believe for you have

to have that multifaceted but you can't leave

what's right in front of you either And you've

got to bring and allow the Spirit of God to bring

all of that truth in his word, truth in the fellowship

of the Holy Spirit. Bring that in and allow God

to form you in your now. So that's why we can

say Jesus never bypassed the little day -to -day

things for the big cross experience. He was training

the disciples to what? To embrace each day. Each

day, I mean, we know the scripture. Remember

what he says on the Sermon on the Mount? Don't

borrow trouble. Tomorrow, don't even think about

tomorrow. Today has enough trouble for itself.

How many have found that Jesus is true on that

one? Right? I mean, don't borrow in anxiousness

what trouble is gonna look like out there. Deal

with the grace of God, your attitude, your mindset,

the truth of his word forming you and how you're

responding right now. In fact, Carrie is writing

notes for Troy right now. This is a scripture

for my husband. Hallelujah. No, I'm just messing

with you. True, see? Come on. The reality is

we have to recognize, God, what are you wanting

to take away and what are you wanting to add

in my now? Jesus' perspective of being a servant

embraced all ranges of sacrifice because Jesus

embraced the will of the Father as primary because

pleasing the Father Was more important. Please

hear me say this. Pleasing the father was more

important. Than individual sacrifices. Often

times. We can. Make the mistake. Depending on

our level of giving. Or depending on something.

That we've sacrificed with our time. Or even

when we had to give love. Where it was really

tough to give love. we can focus on that sacrifice

and make that the pinnacle, okay, we gave that

to you, Lord, instead of, was that pleasing to

you, Father? That mindset of living with the

filter in our hearts of I want to please him.

Yes, I'm going to live with the other side of

the thing saying, I do, he loves me. He loves

me so much that he's given grace to cover me

and I don't need to think that I could ever be

out of his will or ever be out of his power to

love me. I have to embrace that at the same time

as I also have a mindset that says, but I also

wanna be pleasing to you. I know that you love

me. I'm believing that you love me. I choose

to believe that I've been adopted and I'm in

Christ. That is a truth, but so is the other

side. Just like. Believing and calling those

things that I'm promises and I believe for is

a truth. So dealing with my now is a truth. That's

the beauty of a balanced Christian life. It is

understanding who I am in Christ, believing what

God has done for me, the power of his forgiveness,

the power of a new creation, and then also now

walking in partnership where he's given me also

responsibility. And if I'm going to grow in Christ

and become, instead of just a child in God, but

a actual son or daughter in God, I've got to

allow this choice process of following him to

deepen. Because we all, once we get saved, become

children. The development happens between child

in Christ and daughter or son mature in Christ.

And this is the great divide. Because churches

are usually built, and I say this carefully,

on one or two of those, one or the other position.

You'll find it. They'll either focus all toward

just... Everybody's just gotta know that Papa

loves them and Daddy loves them and they're in

and they adopt it. And they focus on that and

that's only where they stay. Or they focus on

the other and it's only maturity and your choice

and that. And there is a balance of the two.

Because why? It's in the scriptures. The balance

is in the scriptures. We preach the balance of

it, okay? And so Jesus said, my food is to do

the will of. of him who sent me and to finish

his work. And yet Jesus never bypassed the little

things for the big cross experience. Because

why? Pleasing the father was more important to

him than the individual sacrifice. Listen to

what Hebrews 10, five through seven says. He

quotes this. Jesus is quoting this from the Old

Testament. The book of Hebrews picks it up. Sacrifice

and offerings you have not desired. but a body

you have prepared for me. So that verse is talking

specifically about Jesus. Now we can get truth

out of it, but he fulfilled it. A body God prepared

for him. And then I said, as the prophet was

prophesying and declaring it of the one who would

have that. who the body was prepared for. Behold,

I have come to do your will, O God. What is the

scripture highlighting? He's highlighting that

the fact that God had determined to send Jesus

would be born of a virgin, that the word of God,

as it says in the gospel of John, the word who

was God, who was with God, would now find himself.

In as word being wrapped in flesh and blood for

the purpose of what? Not just for the offering

and the sacrifice that he was born to do, but

to what? To do your will. So that's why Jesus

didn't live only with the big cross experience.

He balanced it knowing he came to the earth to

die. But he balanced it with what? I live to

please the Father. And if the Son of Man, who

was on purpose, was sent to be the only begotten

Son and the only sacrifice, knowing that his

whole purpose was to die, could take those 33

and a half years and focus not just on the cross,

it was always on his mind, but to live every

moment pleasing to the Father, that ought to

tell us something. Hmm. How about 1 Peter 4,

7? Through, I don't know, 10. Peter writes it

this way. And the end of all things is at hand.

You'd have thought he was watching the news right

now. Right? The end of all things is at hand.

And you ready? Here's what he says when the end

is near. Be self -controlled. and sober -minded

for the sake of your prayers. I wasn't gonna

go here this morning, but in prayer, the Lord

started speaking to me in pre -service prayer

about this. He said, I want you to teach them

about the connection. Notice he said, be self

-controlled and sober -minded for the sake of

your prayers. Can I just meddle a little bit

this way? I'm going to, thank you. Being sober

-minded and self -controlled for the sake of

your prayers. Do you understand what he's saying

here? That you can actually, if you're not self

-controlled, meaning being able to Have rain

on your emotions and sober -minded being what?

Being able to think using godly wisdom and scriptures,

your prayers can go off the rails when end -time

things begin to happen. Let me say that again.

In the last days, what? The end time is at hand.

The last days are all the end. Peter says it

even better. He doesn't say last days are end

time. He says the end of all things. He just

kind of gets right to it and says, I am calling

the very end of it. This is snip. This is done.

Now, because of that, be self -controlled and

sober -minded for the sake of your prayers. Do

you realize that you can pray amiss? You can

be fervent. You can be passionate. And you can

absolutely, because of not being sober -minded,

pray and it actually not reach or touch anything

in heaven that would release a response. Why?

Because your mind was not anchored in the scriptures

and in wisdom of what God has already written,

you allowed the circumstance of the day to overwhelm

you and you began to pray. Now, listen, I love,

I picked on Troy, I'm gonna just bless him right

now. I love Troy's praying. Why? Because I know

where he came from. And I know what God has done.

And I love the passion that God has put because

he's seen God answer prayers. So we're not talking

about adjusting Troy here. I'm not talking about

you. What I'm talking about is when you allow

outside things to shape your prayers. We could

look at this scenario right now. The Strait of

Hormuz and with U .S. and Iran and the Middle

East and China and Russia, North Korea, and those

who give themselves to news all the time, I'm

telling you right now, you have a double thing

to fight through. Why? Because the bombardment

of the information actually begins to work against

you in your prayers. Now I'm not saying, are

you saying that we're just to be like mushrooms?

Is the church just a room of mushrooms, you know,

in the dark and fed some type of manure? No.

No, that is not the nature of the church. Should

you be informed? Yes. But the question is, if

you're spending more time in being informed than

you are of having fellowship with the Holy Spirit

and allowing him to dictate and set where your

heart is, you're actually fighting a double warfare

because you did it to yourself. Are you doing

okay? Sober minded. What does sober mind mean?

It means, why does all the New Testament constantly

talk about be awake, be sober, be alert? Why?

Because he tells us that at a night season, people

get drunk in the night season. Now, you are a

complete alcoholic if you're drinking during

the day and the night. Because that's what alcoholics

do, right? But he was saying something in a spiritual

understanding about a night season. A night season

doesn't just mean that it's dark outside in the

natural. It means when darkness begins to encroach

on the face of the earth, you are to be what?

Awake and sober. Why? Because darkness has an

intoxicating power to it. Darkness always has,

now that doesn't mean darkness as in things are

coming to you to get you to be weird and devilish

and demonic. Right? That's not what he's saying,

Chloe. He's not saying the enemy comes and says,

come follow me. For I have powers that you do

not know. That's not what he's saying. He's saying

that when darkness has its day, And the Bible

says that it will grow worse and worse until

the day of the Lord. That in each segment of

when darkness grows worse, it has an intoxicating

effect. elixir that comes with it. What is the

intoxicating elixir? To consume your mind and

your emotion to begin to live under the mindset

of how you survive and how you take care of self,

which leads you to what? The elixir of now grabbing

something that he will present eventually called

the mark. Why? Because you've been drinking the

elixir that you won't be prepared, that you won't

have enough. You've been listening to the mindset

of what's happening over the world, and it's

drawing you to a place of saying, I can't live

without this. Surely God will forgive me. You

see, we're not connecting it. We're not being

spiritual people. Understanding when Jesus was

talking about dark, he's always talking about

a season of power and encroachment on the light.

And so why does he say be sober? Be alert. Why?

Because sobriety means you've fought correctly.

Just like in the natural, when you're sober,

you drive correctly. Well, most of you do. What

do you mean drive correctly? It means what? You

recognize signals and signs. You see things in

advance before they happen. You become, in essence,

can I say this carefully? You become prophetically

reactionary. Because you're seeing where that

line of sight and trajectory will take that person

and you respond to steer out of it or slow down

or move to the side. That's what Jesus was getting

to spiritually. That when you're taking wisdom

from the dark, it begins to remove your reaction

times. When darkness comes, your prayers now.

aren't actually garnering strength. Why? Because

you're not praying in faith. You pray in anxiety.

You pray in fear. You pray from a place of, God,

I don't know if he can do it. And those prayers

never move to the atmosphere of breakthrough.

Are they heard? Yes. But he can't respond to

those. He tells us he can't. Would you like me

to travel some more? You see, the point being,

when he says, be self -controlled and sober -minded,

it's never about your passion. The fact is, he

wants you to roar. Who you are, let your faith

and your response to him roar. However that looks

like. Okay? For the sake of your prayers. knowing

that he actually has you. Please hear me say

this. He actually has you here so that you would

grow in Christ. You've been born in such a time

as this, in this generation, to actually pray

the will of the Father, the partnership of the

Holy Spirit, that the will of God would be done

on the earth through your faith. prayers, every

single one of us. When you read the context of

this, he says, for we've all been given a measure

of grace, meaning he's connecting it to the fact

that not one of us is outside of this God -given

commission. So we have to be sober minded. We

have to think clearly. We have to think what

is the truth. We have to actually use a filter

for our now instead of allowing our now to override

us and just start praying things out there that

sometimes need to be prayed right now. Okay?

And I'm going to be careful here. Kind of. Some

of us need to be praying for protection, for

salvations, for America, for Iranian citizens

now. We don't just pick up and pray only, oh

God, save Israel and come quickly. That is not

being sober minded. It's not. You should be doing

both. But to put, and I have heard this, there's

nothing worse probably than me having hours of

travel and listening to some of the El Caca on

the Christian internet. It is poison. The mind,

the stuff that half over, I'm just being generous.

are conservative with half. Some of the so -called

fake prophecies, fake revelations, fake everything

that moves you to something that doesn't make

a hill of beads of difference to nothing that's

mobilizing you to your now. Sober minded. Self

-controlled. You understand that when you give

yourself, I'm going to say this carefully again

too. When you give yourself to all the things

that are only out there, that's what you attract.

And you have no filters to actually rein it in.

And you get deceived by thinking you're giving

revelation and all you're giving is opinion.

God dealt with that in the Old Testament with

the prophets. I have a dream, I have a dream,

I have a dream. He said there's gonna come a

time when nobody's gonna have a dream and anybody

that says it will get absolutely executed. Why?

Because they prophesy out of their own soul.

If you're gonna prophesy and you're gonna give

what God has given, it better actually build

the church. And it better actually be connected

to something that's bringing salvation to people.

What God is doing now. And then I'll enter this

because I'm getting fired up. And above all,

keep loving one another earnestly. See, he knew

I was going to preach it this way. Before you

get so fired up on this, understand that in this

process of living soberly and self -controlled,

it does not allow you to put off the main yoke

of following Christ, which is what? Love. Above

all. Can we say that? Almost everybody. And one

more time. And? Above all. Meaning all the admonition,

all the warning, all the instruction, all the

truth. Keep loving one another earnestly. Now

that word. That word earnestly. is used in the

ESV. The word in the New King Jimmy is the word

fervently. Now, let me read all of verse eight.

It says, above all, keep loving one another earnestly.

New King James, keep loving one another fervently

since love covers a multitude of sin. I'm gonna

stop there before verse nine. Earnestly and fervently.

are used, that word in the Greek, are used in

three major scriptures. I'm gonna give you a

couple of them this morning because of time.

Acts 12, verse five. These are not on your notes,

but if you wanna find it, you can. Acts 12, verse

five. Listen to how it's said. So Peter was kept

in prison. But earnest prayer or fervent prayer

was made for him to God by the church. Same word

that Peter uses in 1 Peter 4, 8, that love one

another should be fervently or earnestly for

all people above all. That word is used with

Peter in prison. Now in order to understand the

context of this was what happened. Herod had

reached out just prior to Acts 12 and had killed

James, the Lord's brother, right? The apostle

James. Killed him. We don't hear anything about

in the scriptures about the church interceding.

It was almost like when you read it, now this

is my filter, so I'm at least saying that caveat.

My filter is there is no building up. There's

no commentary afterwards. The only commentary

afterwards is when Peter, because it's... It

says that Herod saw that it pleased the Jews.

He put Peter in prison also planning to execute

him. All of a sudden, the Holy Spirit writes

in Acts that the church made earnest prayer for

him. So what happened? Now we could spend a lot

of time on this because this, go ahead and put

it up there. Because this verse is so pivotal.

For the atmosphere. Why? Because after the gospel

had come and they had broke through the barriers

of race. Not only from the gospel being to Jews,

but now Cornelius had happened in Acts chapter

Acts 10 · chapter mention

10. And we'd had the gospel going to Samaria

in Acts chapter 8. So you've got Jerusalem, Judea,

Acts 8 · chapter mention

Samaria. And now the uttermost parts of the earth

representing Cornelius, an Italian military person

getting visited by the angel of God. And Peter

comes. And shares the gospel. And before he even

closes. The Holy Spirit falls. And they all get

filled with the Spirit. And the word that the

scripture uses. They receive what we did. Meaning

there was no difference. Between what they got.

At Acts chapter 2. Than what they got there.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 10. And now we are two chapters

Acts 10 · chapter mention

past the gospel going into the Gentiles, into

the known world. And all what? Nations, kindreds,

tongues, tribes are being affected. And what

happens? Herod, through the prompting of the

enemy. began to reach out and persecute, not

just persecution, because persecution had been

happening where they were fleeing to other places.

Now persecution coming with real execution to

take out the leadership and the government of

the church of the apostolic team. The church

was not prepared for that. They weren't prepared.

And I don't want to spend a bunch of time on

that, but they weren't. It was only when the

second one, had actually been arrested, that

it says this root word, that you let love be

earnestly for all people, as Peter's saying.

Why? Because Peter was a, why this is so important?

Peter was the direct recipient of that word,

earnest. As he's writing to the church. churches

that he oversees in Galatia and Pontia and some

of those places. He says in 1 Peter 4, 8, and

above all, let love be earnestly made for all

people. That same earnest prayer he experienced

by the church that was made up of all people

at that point. It wasn't just his family. It

wasn't just his Jewish cousins. It was now made

up of every person. We know in Acts chapter two,

they came from 17 different districts that they

came to celebrate on the day of Pentecost. But

by the time we get to Cornelius, the gospel had

gone to every, it was going to every known part

of the world. It was starting to reach in. And

that earnest prayer is what he focused on. That

word earnestly and fervently, they prayed for

Peter. And in the earnest part of it, God did

what? Sent supernatural help where no person,

hear me say this, no person could get in to rescue,

God rescued. where he's chained on all, think

of it, chained on all four sides by four soldiers

in a cell, guards outside the cell as well, and

gates to the city. Talks about three or four

different layers of captivity that Peter was

in, that death was certain for Peter, except

earnest, that word, fervent prayer. Now, Peter

takes that same fervency in prayer and he puts

it now down to the reality of church. And he

says now, earnestly love. Yikes! Above all. Above

your eschatology. Above what your filters are.

Above what you think. Above your preferences.

Above what your gifting is. Above all. What is

that word earnest? Well, the root word of earnestly

is a Greek word that Jesus used often in his

healing ministry. The word ektenio. Ek means

out. Tenio means what? To stretch out. It's what

Jesus spoke in Matthew and Mark. To the leper

that came to him. Lord, I know that if you're

willing, you can heal me. What did Jesus say?

Tenio. Ectenio your hand. And he stretched it

out and he was made whole. It was not just partially

try to do something. It was not just do your

best, child. There were times Jesus went. And

he did it all. There were other times, and there

is a lot of scriptures that use this. He required

what? The stretching out of something in order

to release heaven. It's the same word. I'm gonna

pick up another one. It's the same word that

is used in the Garden of Gethsemane. And Jesus

kneeled and prayed earnestly. And his brow opened

and drops of blood like sweat fell to the ground.

It was only on what? The earnestness of the prayer.

What was the earnestness meaning? It meant there

was no more place in which effort, participation.

Could not be measured. It was all in. It was

all in. When Jesus stretched out his faith and

his heart in Gethsemane, there was no place for

any reservation. He was earnestly in prayer asking

the father to take it. He had stretched out.

Now listen, they would stretch him out for the

whip. and for the cross. But before he ever got

stretched there, and that's why this is so important,

before he was ever stretched there, he was stretched

spiritually in his prayer. He went to the mat

earnestly stretched out. And when Peter uses

this word, it's the same word, and I could give

you a couple more, but Luke 24, 44, that was

the issue. And being in agony, Jesus prayed more.

The fact that the scriptures tells us there is

a level to his earnesty gives us an understanding

that there was no more room to stretch out spiritually.

Stretch out. Put forth. Jesus stretched out his

hand and healed the man's leprosy. Jesus said

to the man, stretch out your hand and it was

restored. Why am I spending so much time and

we're gonna end right here? Because I think it's

important that we stop here and we just take

a moment. The apostle Paul was getting ready

after being, now listen, after being storm tossed.

14 days without food or night, where the Bible

records in the book of Acts that all the men

had lost their hope of surviving. Remember, that's

what it says, on their way to try to get to Rome

because they didn't listen to him. They listened

to the ship's owner. They were being driven by

a wind they had not seen. Now listen, to be driven

and not seen by land or sky for 14 days, Paul

has what? An angel of the Lord. That was his

testimony to the men. Folks, I love how the apostle

says this. It gives me great hope. You should

have listened to me. That's his first words.

That's his first words. You should have listened

to me. But the angel of the Lord, of the God

I serve, stood beside me this night. He says

that all of our lives, he's granted me, notice,

he's granted me all of our lives. How many? 276.

What did earnest prayer do? It granted in a now

season, Paul being, oh my goodness, Paul being

sober minded. Paul, not allowing despair that

was on every other atmosphere of 275 other people,

recognizing that they were going to die and were

declaring they were going to die, earnest prayer

was made. And in the midst of being stretched

out in prayer, God sends an angel. And that angel

says, Paul, the Lord has heard your prayer. 276

will be granted to you and there will be no loss

of. life. Why? Because Paul had to stretch down

even though he knew going to Rome was a dense

sentence for himself. He refused to go out and

think about what his tomorrows were. He began

to intercede for what was right in front of him

there. And it was to love what God loved. Because

275 people would have gone to hell had he not

been willing to be stretched out and look at

his feet of where he was on the deck of a ship

that was storm -tossed. The atmosphere was horrific.

They hadn't eaten or drank and they had called

out to every god. The Bible says they'd called

out to their gods and that was beyond hope. Paul

stayed what? Sober -minded. And self -controlled.

In prayer. And in his love for what God loved.

People. To serve them. To love them above all.

Would you just take a moment. Allow the spirit

of God. Maybe just close your eyes. Just not

looking around. Maybe not moving. We got a little

time. Lord, am I living sober -minded? Am I living

self -controlled? That doesn't mean not having

fun. That doesn't mean not being in joy. It means

I'm living the fruit of the Spirit. Self -control

is the fruit of the Spirit. I'm not allowing

fear. panic, anxiety, worry, terror to dominate

my prayers. I'm not holding the elixir of current

events and constantly consuming them that moves

my prayer from being sober -minded, awake and

alert to actually under the influence of something

that's trying to Draft on my Christianity and

try to pull me off target. And I'm asking this

morning, Holy Spirit, as you are doing. What

only you can do. You know the thoughts. You know

the motives. You know the intent of every heart

and every mind. Lord, I'm only a preacher, a

messenger of what you put in my mouth. But God,

it is you who holds the hearts. It is you who

knows the thoughts and the minds. And I'm asking

now, Holy Spirit, you would begin to reveal that

to them. Lord, uncover any place where there's

been, Lord, a darkness. Lord, that elixir of

drunkenness. Lord, of spirit. Lord, where I've

been intoxicated by the world, its pull, its

fear, its scare tactics. Lord, speak to me and

allow my mind to get sober now. Allow my spirit

to receive a sobering now according to the beautiful,

truth, and the brilliance of your power, holiness,

righteousness, and love. You're better than any

pot of coffee. You're better than any form of

awakening. You are the one who awakens my heart.

You are the one who awakens me to truth and understanding.

And I'm asking now in the name of Jesus, Holy

Spirit, you'll begin to deal a work in us and

in this church. Lord, that we would become sober

-minded and we become self -controlled people

in the midst of the last day generation or generations.

And that above all, at being sober and being

self -controlled, praying prayers, Lord, that

are in concordance with your will. And Lord,

Above all, being people who will love without

keeping records of wrong. Who will love humanity.

Who will see how God loves. Send the truth and

send grace. And above all, honoring, loving,

and doing everything we need to do to not be

out of joint with one another. but living a life

of love from the Father running through us, to

us and through us and to people and back to you.

If you're here this morning, Holy Spirit is working

even in our midst. If you've not surrendered

your life to Jesus Christ, You've not made him

the only king of your heart. Savior. That term

means he paid a price. What we're going to be

talking about, we talk about it hopefully every

Sunday, is the power of his cross and his resurrected

life. He's alive, but he had to die because of

your and I's sin. And he welcomes you. He didn't

die. to punish you. He actually died to liberate

you. He died so that he could have fellowship

and loving fellowship with you and grow you and

strengthen you. You would become a full grown

member of the body of Christ. Having bypassed

now, as the scripture says, though we die, yet

shall we live. Living and ruling and reigning

with Jesus Christ. If you don't know him, The

cross is still open. The way Jesus said of himself

in John 14, I am the way, the truth, and the

life. No person comes to the Father but by me.

That way is still open. And he's inviting whosoever

will. That's what the scripture says. Whosoever

believes in him shall not. perish, but have everlasting

life. If that's you this morning, and you would

welcome Christ into your heart, you'd actually

say, I choose to have Jesus Christ not only save

me, but come and fill me that I might live for

him. Would you just lift your hand just right

where you're at? I'm going to have somebody come

pray with you. Just right where you are. Say,

Pastor, that's me. I don't know him, but I want

to know him, and I want to give my life to Christ.

Just all over the building. Yes, right here.

Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Thank you.

Thank you. We're coming to meet you. Thank you.

All right. Pastor Scott is going to pray with

you. God bless you, buddy. Proud of you. If you're

here this morning, you say, you know what? I

needed this word. God is. admonishing me, not

just, I need to love above all else, but I need

to live soberly. I need to not be carried away

with the elixir of the world that it comes to

bring panic and fear. How many would say, this

is right where I was at today and I need Jesus

to help me. Anybody? All right, just me and you.

All right, a few of us, a few of us. All right.

Would you just, if that's you, would you just

lift your hand? I'm gonna pray for us. Yeah.

Father, I thank you now. Lord, you see every

hand, every heart. I'm asking now that you would

bring courage and strength from heaven. Lord,

in that earnestness and in that fervency would

be released a strength to hold on to who you

are. in the scriptures. Hold on to who you are

in our fellowship and walk with you, that we

would not be carried away by fear or anxiousness,

Lord, or any report. Jesus, you said it in Matthew

24, there will be rumors of wars and there will

be wars from tribes and kingdoms and nations,

but the end is not yet. Lord, you're asking for

us to partner in sobriety, and in self -controlled,

fervent prayers that you would have a harvest

that belongs only to you. The reaping of souls,

the building of church for your glory and your

namesake. In Jesus' name, amen. If you are in

need of prayer, send us a text message at 541

-625 -1365. We would love to pray with you.