Sunday Message - Pastor Jerushah Tanner (May 9, 2021) | Life Bible Church

breakfast in bed. Am I talking to anybody here

today? Wow, one of you. What a great day for

you. And for the rest of us, they got us covered

when we leave. Amen. Isn't that, some of you

husbands are like, thank God for church, right?

Forget like God being here. They also take care

of our ladies. So it is. Such an honor to be

here this weekend with you. Had the best time

with the ladies on Friday night. Sorry, guys.

It was amazing. And you missed out just in the

food department. It was incredible. It was a

feast. Women know how to throw down. I'm just

saying. Yes. So hopefully they're gonna help

you out with lunch today, right? Or there's restaurants,

there's takeout. So right now, quick, get out

your phones, make those reservations because

it's also probably really hard to get reservations

if you don't already have them. But it was amazing.

And I love this house and I love your pastors.

They are, in my opinion, they are some of the

greatest pastors in the world. Not just Oregon,

the world. And every time I come into this building,

I'm overwhelmed, actually, by the attention to

detail, the intentionality with which everything

has been done. And I always think to myself,

people who take care of a building like this

take care of hearts even better. So you are in

a great... house and you have great pastors.

I recently heard this, and please don't fact

check me because I heard it from a pastor, so

I can repeat it, right? If a pastor said it,

I can repeat it. But I recently heard in a sermon

that 70 ,000 churches have closed this last season

of church life. I also heard this same pastor

say that 30 ,000 churches were in the process

of closing. In our area, I live in the metro

Portland area. You can pray for us. I mean, like

a lot of people are moving to places like Texas

and Arizona. I feel like I'm not sending any

more people. I'm not planting any more people

into those great states. Can I get an amen? Come

on, we need you to stay here and help us out.

But there's been so... many pastors in their

early forties who they're like, I'm out and they're

going to go start nonprofits or I don't even

know what they're going to do. There's been so

many churches in our area that have closed. And

I believe God would come to his church in this

season and he would come to his church today

and he would speak to us even as he did the exiles

who were in Babylon and who were living under

a political regime that wasn't what they thought

God wanted. for them. It wasn't God's best. And

they thought, will there be an end to the moment?

Will there be an end to the season? And God actually

sends an Isaiah type like figure. The first half

of Isaiah, it's judgment, it's gloom. It's not

looking good, right? Kind of like the moment

we're living in. But then the second Isaiah comes

and he begins to prophesy that there is indeed

a new day. And that new season is powerful. season

is full of hope. That new season is in fact inviting

the people of God to hope again. And I believe

the second half of Isaiah, it's for us right

now. And I believe God would come to his church

in this hour and he would speak the words of

Isaiah 40 over us. He would say this, comfort,

comfort. My people, says your God. Speak tenderly

to Jerusalem and cry to her. You're like, why

is she talking so passionately? Because I think

God wants to get into our spirits that it. is

a new day and it is a new season. And there is

comfort for weary hearts. There's comfort for

sad hearts. There's comfort for people who look

at that 70 ,000 statistic and think, what? Has

God left us? Has God abandoned us? No. Your warfare

is ended and your iniquity is pardoned. And then

I believe he would say this to his church. He

would say this, a voice cries in the wilderness,

prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight a

desert highway. Can I tell you, I... believe

that today is the today of God. And I believe

that God is coming to his church in this hour

and he's speaking comfort out over us because

he's making us into a voice that prepares the

way for God to enter into communities, for God

to enter into states, for God to enter into hearts.

He's been making his church into a voice and

actually the very word of God in cities like

Harrisburg and in churches like this one and

in churches like ours, you know what's happening?

As we let God make us into a voice that prepares

the way for him, that word of God is actually

making a highway. You know what highways are

for? Going from one place to another. They're

actually not for sitting still. They're for moving.

They're for mobilizing. And I believe God is

coming to his church today and he's saying, hey,

it's time to get on that highway because we're

going somewhere. Would you open with me to Isaiah

Isaiah 40 · chapter mention

chapter 40? If you're here on Friday night at

F41, we're working backwards because in God,

it's past, present, future. You can go whatever

direction you want. You're going to always end

up at him. Amen. Open with me to Isaiah 40, 27.

And today I want to talk about it's fresh. Don't

you love that word fresh? Anybody in here like

you're old enough that you know who DC Talk is?

Oh, I'm with my people. So the other day, my

mom brings me a box of old stuff that I don't

know why. She's like, you're going to love this.

So I started going through my box. Guess what

I found? I wrote a letter to DC Talk back in

the day. And DC Talk wrote me back. My husband's

like, they didn't write you back. They have like

a secretary who wrote you back. I'm like, no,

Toby Mac. He wrote me back. I'm framing this.

And you know what it said? It was like, yo, yo,

Jerusha, word to the fresh. And I was like, oh

yeah. Can I tell you, yo, yo, church, word to

the fresh. What God is doing is a fresh thing

and God is moving in a fresh way. And he doesn't

want us pulling out yesterday's strength for

today's journey. Like I talked about Friday night,

my husband and I this year, we had all of our

stuff burn. Every Bible, every sermon journal

I had written, every study book, gone. You know,

I felt like God said to me, Jerusha, yesterday's

revelation isn't going to get you through today's

season. I want to give you a fresh revelation.

I believe God wants to give his church a fresh

outpouring. We sang about it, didn't we? Strengthen

what remains. Revelation comes to the church

in chapter three and the spirit says, wake up

and strengthen what remains. Can I put it in

today's language? Yo, yo, yo, church. It's fresh.

Wake up. I'm going to stop. My husband, if he

was here, he'd be like, babe, you're not a rapper.

And you're certainly not DC Talk from the 1990s.

Move on. But it's just so fun. I remember when

I was 18, I actually got to rap at church and

it was the best thing ever. They never asked

me again though. So, you know, I should take

that as some sort of indicator. Okay, here we

go. God has fresh strength for us today. Anybody

need some fresh strength? Anybody in here, even

when I said the word comfort, you're like, come

on now. I need a weighted blanket. I need a cup

of tea or a cup of coffee. I need my cozy chair

and my cozy slippers. I need a spiritual comfort

from God today. I need a strengthening from God

today. I need an energizing from God today because

this season has been relentless. It's been hitting

us around. It's been hitting the church around.

And I believe God would come to us today and

he would say, it stops here and now. And it is

a new season. And I have fresh strength. I have

fresh grace for you. And I want you to put it

on because we're going somewhere. We're not just

sitting still. We're moving somewhere. And God

is about to do something. And I believe God is

about to do something in Oregon. So specific.

It's not by accident you didn't move to Texas.

Somebody. You can vacation there. Okay, here

we go. Verse 27. Why do you say, O Jacob, and

speak, O Israel? My way is hidden from the Lord,

and my right hand is disregarded by God. Now,

whenever the Bible puts Israel and Jacob together,

you know what our brains should clue in? God

is talking to the people of God. Past, present,

future. That means us, the church. And it's interesting

here because instead of lamenting and pouring

out their heart to God, you know what they're

doing? They're pouring out their heart in a complaint

and they're talking about God instead of to him.

Man, how much this year. Has the church, big

C, not you guys, because you're amazing. I mean,

seriously, you're amazing. Check out your worship.

Check out your response. Amazing. How much have

we talked about God instead of to him? Have you

not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the

everlasting God. He is the creator of the ends

of the earth. He doesn't grow faint. He doesn't

grow weary. His understanding is unsearchable.

There's something that happens even when I read

this passage. Don't you feel it? Like your heart,

it's filling with the vastness of who God is.

You know what? I get the world being weary. I

get the world being tired. But you know what?

Why in the world would I be weary and why in

the world would I be tired when the everlasting

God, the one who's outside of time, the one who

created all of this. loves me and is for me and

he loves his church and he is for his church.

And I believe he wants to come and he wants to

fill our hearts. I almost see your heart just

expanding and filling with just the knowledge

that God is the everlasting creator of the universe

and he's in charge. He knows what's going on

and his understanding is unsearchable. We can't

even begin. to fathom what he's doing, but this

we know. He's making a highway for his word to

travel on. He's making a highway for his glory

to travel on. He's making a highway for his name

to be exalted and lifted up in this hour. And

it may not make sense and I may not understand

how it looks, but this is what I know. He's the

everlasting creator. He's got this. He gives

power to the faint. And to him who has no might,

he increases strength. Anybody in here feeling

tired? Anybody in here feeling faint? Can I tell

you today, he has fresh strength for us. And

you know what we're gonna call it today? We're

gonna call it switch. Strength. His strength

for our weakness. Wow. His strength for our tiredness.

Anybody said to your spouse or your friends this

year, I don't know if I can keep doing this.

I don't know if I can keep reading this. I don't

know if I can keep going through this season.

You're right, you can't, but he can. And today

he's making a switch for us. And I'm exchanging

what I can't do in my own power, in my own strength.

And I'm taking on the everlasting one's strength.

I'm taking on the creator of the universe, his

strength. And you know what? Even the strongest

thing in the world, young men, they're gonna

get tired. They're going to get faint. But guess

what? My God, that's not for him. He never gets

tired. He never gets faint. And he puts that

strength on me, on you, on his church. Because

we got a highway we got to move on. And that

highway, it's a long highway. It's going to take

some people who've switched strength. It goes

on and it says this. But they who wait for the

Lord shall renew their strength. Now, I know

you're sitting here and you're like, gosh, she's

preaching that passage that they pray and prophesy

over old people. Right? Like every time, you

know, not in this house because like your pastor's

prophesied, but you know when you're at the prophetic

assembly and the older couple goes up and you're

like, you know, I know they're getting Isaiah

40. That's what's coming their way. Can I tell

you? This verse is not for old people. Although

they should grab onto it and say, I'm living

to be 120 like Moses. I pray that. I pray that

every day. Is that crazy? No, I don't think so.

It's in the Bible. No, this verse is for a people,

the people of God who've been so beaten down,

their hope is gone. They don't think that all

the promises of God are possible. And he's coming

to those people and he's saying, hey, I have

fresh strength for you. I have. my strength for

your strength. Let's make that exchange. But

more than that, he says, I have stay strength

for you. They that wait on the Lord. Do you know

that word wait in the Hebrew? It's like a frayed

rope or an unbraided rope. And as that rope waits

in the presence of the rope mender, the rope

maker, guess what happens? It begins to get rebraided.

It begins to get put back together. And what

was once unusable, all of a sudden becomes usable.

There was this guy in 1859 who was a tightrope

walker. And he actually decided he was going

to show off his skills tightrope walking across

the Niagara Falls. That's not for me. He was

so confident in his ability to do this. Do you

know he asked for a volunteer to get on his shoulders

and nobody would? You know, like, I don't even

know if there was a rope that went from here

to, I wouldn't do that. No, I can barely put

my feet in front of the other one, right? Like,

but could you imagine if he's getting ready to

cross the Niagara on a frayed rope? How much

do you want to bet before he stepped out on that

cable? He was checking to make sure it was a

strong cable. It was able to hold. his life and

his future. My boys and I, we love to go for

nature walks on my in -laws property. And there's

this area of their property that runs. by a creek,

and there's these little baby cliffs that go

down to the creek. And I have an almost nine

-year -old, almost 12 -year -old. My nine -year

-old especially is like, I want to do brave things.

So we get to the cliff, which of course we've

named because we're those kind of people. We

also have names we give ourselves when we go

for these nature walks. And yes, my husband's

is Raging River because, you know, firefighter.

Okay, thank you for five of you for getting it.

We thought we were really clever and funny. So

we're there and my son sees a rope that's been

there since my father -in -law built their house,

their home, their property 41 years ago. And

it's all frayed. It looks rotten. And he's like,

hey mom, can I tie this rope around myself and

climb down there? I'm like, no, are you crazy?

No. So then he looks around and he finds. a new

rope that grandpa had put in for this very purpose.

And he's like, what about with this one, mom?

Can I do this one? And I'm like, okay, let me,

yes, that one is secure enough. That one is firm

enough that I trust your future to that rope.

Man, so many Christians in this hour are trusting

their future. They're trusting their family to

a rope that's frayed, that's old, that's rotten.

And can I tell you, God wants to give his church

stay strength in this hour. And yes, part of

that is being here in his presence, worshiping

God together. But can I tell you, if the only

place you're waiting on the Lord is in this room,

your rope is frayed. See, we have to be people

who are staying in his presence when we wake

up in the morning. We're starting the day with

Jesus. We're saying, come on, Holy Spirit, fill

me up. As we go throughout the day, things hit

our lives and we're like, okay, God, whoa, that

thing that happened at work. That thing that

happened with my family, that thing that I have

no control of. Whoa, my rope, it's getting unbraided.

Come on, Holy Spirit. I'm staying in your presence.

I'm waiting on you. I'm letting you re -braid

my rope. Because there's a place we're going

and we can't make that walk on a frayed rope.

A friend of mine had a family heirloom. It was

a prayer bench. The little padding for the knees.

She's like, hey, do you want this? She's like,

you're the only person I know who would use this.

I was like, yes, I want that. I want that. So

it's now in my library where I study. And I've

always, for the last couple of years, started

my day on my knees, just praying the Our Father,

asking for God's kingdom to come, asking for

the bread he has for me here today. And it's

amazing because when you have a padded bench

for your knees to be on, you can stay on your

knees a lot longer. And I read a book earlier

this year by Corey Russell, and in it he talks

about just five more minutes. If we would just

stay in God's presence five more minutes, what

might happen? What might God speak? What might

God do? Man, how many revivals have started with

little old ladies on their knees somewhere, not

even in a church building, who take on that attitude,

I'm just going to stay five more minutes. So

I've started adopting that habit. When I'm done,

you know, my knees are like, meh. I'm like, just

five more minutes. So I go five more minutes

in his presence. And then it's amazing. I get

to the end of that five minutes and I'm like,

just five more minutes. Can I tell you, God has

done more in me and spoken more to me in those

just five more minutes. And this year. I mean,

just what has happened to my family alone. I

mean, we've had extended family members whose

marriages are in crisis. We've lived through

a fire. We've had church crisis. We've had thing

after thing. My rope was daily getting frayed.

But my rope was daily getting rebraided because

I let God give me his stay strength. And I believe

he is looking for a church with some stay strength.

And imagine all of us at home, just five more

minutes. Then we come into this room. We lift

our voices and we start singing. We need a fresh

wind. Fragrance of heaven. Pour your spirit out.

Pour your spirit out. Just five minutes. What

might he do? How might he visit us? He's got

stay strength for you. Not just the leaders.

Not just the prayer types. Not just the intercessors.

For our kids. He has stay strength. I've watched

my boys. this year. I mean, the first thing they

do when they get out of bed is they do their

devotions. That's not from me. That's because

they're learning to wait on the Lord. They're

learning to stay in his presence. That's how

we change. That's how we change the world. Just

five more minutes. Goes on and it says this,

they shall mount up. with wings like eagles.

This is so interesting because they're starting

out in the passage and we're talking about walking,

getting tired, getting weary. And all of a sudden

we've switched metaphors here. We're no longer

walking. You'd think we'd be running, but we're

not even running. What are we doing? We're soaring.

We're flying. Can I tell you, God has fresh strength

for us. He has sore strength for us. And do you

know what he's doing? He's not just making us

better. We're not just coming out of this last

year plus better. Can I tell you what? We're

coming out of this last year completely different,

totally transformed people who used to walk around

getting tired, but we don't even have to use

our legs anymore because we've grown something

we didn't have prior to this season. And it's

called wings. And so there's a highway. We don't

even walk on the highway. We don't even run.

on the highway. We're flying down that highway.

We're soaring down that highway. And we're going

with the son of righteousness who has healing

in his wings. And he's moving out into our world

with that healing. And he's inviting us to soar

with him. He has sore strength for us. I am a

city girl. Like I didn't even grow up camping

or anything. My mom was like, if there's not

a pool, we don't vacation there. And I married

a country boy who's, you know, they say fishing

and hunting. And I'm like, that's incorrect grammar.

And he's like, no, it's fishing and hunting.

You get it wrong if you say fishing and hunting.

And I'm like, boys, we put that G on the end

of those words. And my husband is like, no, no,

we don't. You know, like, no, we ain't doing

that. You know, I'm like, OK. So here I am, a

city girl now living in the country. And again,

I'm out for a walk with my boys who are. They're

countrified. They were born countrified. And

I see these two hawks and they're circling one

another and they're not flapping their wings

at all. And I'm kind of in awe of them. I'm like,

wow, what is that? And my boys are like, mom,

that's called updraft. And I'm like, huh? What's

updraft? They're like, yeah, raptors. They catch.

The updraft. And when they catch the updraft,

they don't have to work. They don't have to exert

effort. They just go with the updraft. Whoa.

Enemy thought he was taking the church out. He

thought those 70 ,000 churches closed and were

the end of the story, but he underestimated what

God has been doing in this season and the fresh

strength he's been given his church. He's underestimated

the fact that there's a whole group of people

across the nation who've been switching, making

the exchange, his strength for their strength.

He underestimated that there's some people who've

been staying in his presence for just five more

minutes. And he underestimated that the things

he thought were going to take us out actually

grew something in us that we didn't previously

have. And they're called wings. And what's happening

is we're people who now soar. And we don't do

it in our own strength. We're not flapping our

wings really hard. You know what we're doing?

We're catching his updraft. We're catching his

spirit and we're floating and we're flying and

we're soaring where he's calling us to float

and soar and go. And you know, some of us, we're

gonna float and soar our way into the lady at

Trader Joe's line who's having a hard day. And

we're hearing her story. And we're like. I'm

gonna invite you to church. Or we're gonna find

that we're gonna float and soar like my husband

and I did to a duplex with 800 square feet by

a couple of really amazing people who ended up

actually coming to our church and getting saved.

And without the fire, we wouldn't have grown

what we needed. Come on, somebody, to float and

soar our way to that duplex. where God put us

just for them. See, you grew something that you

didn't know you had in this last season. The

church grew something she didn't know that she

had and it's time for the church to soar. Awake.

Awake, north wind. Come and blow your updraft

on the church's garden. Come on, dry bones. Hear

the word of the Lord. You thought you were out.

for the count you thought it was the end of the

story but the winds are blowing the spirit is

moving and he is blowing across the bones of

a church that thought she was out for the count

and he would say to that church in this hour

it's time to strengthen what remains because

I am doing a fresh thing I'm doing a thing that

you do not know that you have not seen that you

have not heard and he comes today and he blows

on the bones and there is a rattle in the spirit

And there is a rattle in his beautiful bride,

the church across the country. And we say, let

it rattle. Let it rattle. Let the winds blow.

Let the church grow what she's never had before.

Oh, let skin begin to grow on the church. Let

muscle begin to grow on the church and let that

rattle begin to turn into a roar, a roar of people.

Not just marching down the highway, they're flying,

they're soaring down the highway. Let it blow.

Let it blow. Let the winds blow. Let the winds

blow in the state of Oregon. Oh, across the hearts

of discouraged pastors, across the hearts of

a discouraged church, let it blow. Let it blow.

Let it blow. Let it blow. You know, the verse

I'm just looking up on the screen, they shall

mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run

and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40, 31. And let that scripture just plant

deep, deep, deep. We shall run and not worry.

We shall mount up with wings. What a prophetic

impartation this morning. I'd like to invite

the elders and the staff to come up to the altar.

We wanna take just in this atmosphere as faith.

When we heard it, switch strength, stay strength,

soar strength. In this moment where God is releasing

a deposit of faith, let's activate it. And we're

in this season right now, these few weeks of...

working and learning about first fruits. And

if you brought your commitment with you, we wanna

pray for you. If not, there's a card in the seat

back. I encourage you church, every one of us,

let's not just hear the word and walk out of

the room. Let's activate the word of God. Let's

activate the word of God. God is in the season

of blessing you with an extravagant portion.

So if that's on your heart, I just want to encourage

you just to begin to assure yourself. Those of

you online or watching, if you're not able to

make it in, please call the church office. We

want to pray for you. We want to also partner

with you in this time as part of our church,

as we give into the first fruits and we sow into

what God is doing in our church. We just want

to remind you, if you need healing in your body,

please see us in the prayer room right here to

my right, your left. We have a team of people

ready to pray over you this morning. Also, moms,

just a reminder that we have a gift for you.

And every woman of the house, like was said earlier,

God put in every woman's heart a mother's heart.

So every lady, if you're a lady in this house,

Whether you have a child or not, we have a gift

for you. All right, Lord bless you. Why don't

you stand to your feet? Let me just pray. God,

I speak that blessing over this church and that

your anointing would surround and take this prophetic

word awake. The wind of your presence blowing

and igniting our faith. God, in Jesus' name,

bless the mothers and bless the families in your

precious name. Amen.