Sunday Message - Pastor Jess Strickland (September 29, 2019) | Life Bible Church

to be invited here to speak. Sometimes you just

go here and this is a church, but no, this is

a great church. It has wonderful reputation.

Even my daughter said this morning, I just wish

I could be there with you because she loves the

experience of just being in this church. And

you want to hold that as a real treasure and

a prize to you. But of course, we love your pastors.

They have been incredibly honorable when they

have come to our church, not just in... Yes,

you should. They have not just been honorable

in how they treat us and how they treat our people,

but they are honorable with the presence of God.

They are honorable with his word. They're honorable

with the gifts that God has given to them. And

so we just, we love them. And you guys are great

pastors. And to consider you friends is wonderful.

And even just being here in this place, I'm a

little bit undone, to be honest with you. Because

I think what God is doing in this place is just

so choice and so wonderful. And you not only

should revere what God is doing, but you should

be a little bit in awe of it. And I'll kind of

open that up to you in a little bit. But I think

you're ending your 18th year. You're beginning

your 19th year. And I've got good news for you.

The 20th year can be the death of some organizations.

what happens is sometimes you just get going

and you don't revitalize. But you have pastors

that are listening to God and you can feel it

in this place. Next year is going to be a great

year because it's going to create a platform

of wonder that's going to happen for the next

20 years. It's going to be just amazing. And

it's going to be because you have a couple that

listen to God. You probably already have a set

of these. just to let you know, let both of you

have the ear of God, I thought I'd get you some

earbuds that I want to give you this morning.

So come on up here. And both of you just come

up here for a moment. And I don't care how you

use these. The guy stood there, I didn't even

know they had these. I use mine all the time.

They said, well, you can, I think he said you

can. charge them wirelessly I said these guys

are like whatever the the best is that's what

I want to get for you because in God that's who

you are and as I give this to you I just want

to say over you you have great days ahead of

you of listening and hearing God from open heavens

and because you've honored him with these 18

20 years of your life God is going to honor you

with the next 20 and even that song that was

sung about pioneers that was directly into your

heart and God has made you a pioneer and there's

yet roads to build and all that but you're also

laying road that people are going to come behind

and say yes also so be encouraged you're going

to hear more and more from God he is not going

to let you down prophetically you are going to

hear from him clearly in Jesus name amen love

you guys love you guys love you um I I have to

say this. You have a unique pastor because he

is prophetic and yet disciplined. He is prophetic

and yet has a good business mind about him. I

don't know if you know how wonderfully unique

that is. He hears from God and then he can do

things with his life. that enables God and your

pastor's wife to fulfill what God has done in

them. So you should just thank Jesus for the

pastors you have because they are wonderful,

and I'm sure the leaders around them are just

like them. If you don't mind me saying this,

as in the prayer room, wow, just great praying

going on in there this morning. And then we went

up to where the team was praying for the ministry

and the prayer coming out of them was so wonderful.

This is a praying house, love Jesus kind of house.

And I just, I want to commend you for it. If

you want to see what my son looks like, I believe

they have a picture of him. That's going to go

up on the screen now. He pastors in Tigard and

that's his family. We have five grandsons, ones

with Jesus. have four left, and these are two

of them, then you would know this family right

here, my daughter. you know, when they were helping

dad do something. So that's a little bit exciting.

I said, you guys can either send me the picture

you want me to show or I'll pick my own and it

won't be flattering. So this is the one that

Jerusha wanted you to see. This is the one that

she had sent for those of you who know her. And

I'm not liking this really because now I'm going

places and, oh yeah, you're Jerusha's dad. So

I'm going to have to live with that humility

as it goes. I want to read a verse to you. and

then we'll get going here. It says, and they

devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching

and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and

prayers, and awe came upon every soul. Many wonders

and signs were being done through the apostles,

and all who believed were together, had all things

in common. They're selling their possessions

and belongings and distributing. the proceeds

to all as any had need. Day by day, attending

the temple together, breaking bread in their

homes. They received their food with glad, generous

hearts, praising God, having favor with all people.

And the Lord... added to their number day by

day those who were being saved. I know as I read

that you would say, hmm, that passage gets preached

on a lot. And actually I'm not going to spend

a long time preaching on that passage, but I'm

going to end with it. I'm headed there. I want

to get that direction. To set up my preaching

style, it's not a style that, you know, I happen

to teach preachers at school. It's not a style

I encourage anyone to follow. Sometimes students

will end up in a church and we just want to listen

to how you do things. And I'll say, well, what

you hear this morning, do not do in class. You

will fail. So I don't follow my own instructions.

I'm going to get to this verse, but I'm going

to give you the history before we get there.

I'm going to tell it in story. I will spend usually

90 % of my time on the introduction. And then

once we get to the sermon, it will really hop

fast. So that's what we're going to do. I happen

to believe this. I happen to believe that the

story of the Bible is really, really important.

And so I've given my life to understanding that

story. I had to do something because I had a

friend that I got saved with. He fell away from

Christ. And in falling away from Christ, he started

not believing in many things the Bible said.

And so he would challenge me. He would challenge

me on certain areas of scripture that I really...

was frankly weak in. And so for two reasons,

I decided to do something. I decided to inspect,

and I literally have in some detail, I literally

decided to inspect the whole Bible to see if

God, because I think at least some pastors should

be able to say this, has God been absolutely

truthful to his word? here and happy to announce

to you, you may not be able to get to do what

I do because somebody may not pay your salary

so you can do it, but I'm happy to announce in

detail you could study the word of God and you

could declare he is faithful to his word. This

is not even a ground of faith that I stand on

anymore. This is just an absolute fact. If you

study him, if God said it, he will do it. You

can count on it. I'm not saying that because

I've heard it from other people. I'm saying it

because I've looked at it and investigated. myself.

And so I'm captured by the story of the Bible.

And I realize as I tell the story of the Bible,

it may seem a little bit different or awkward

to you. And I'm just kind of don't reject it

out of hand. Just kind of let me settle the story

in there the way that I settled the story in

there for you, because it will make sense of

the end of this and what I believe prophetically

God wants to do in your future. Simple little

title to the message this morning. It is just

fresh. Because I believe that you're coming upon

a 20 -year mark in this church, and what is going

to be heralded over the 20 -year mark in this

church is fresh. God is going to do fresh things.

There's yet thresholds to break through. There's

yet doors to open. There's yet things to do that

you have not done yet that are yet going to happen.

God is going to pour out a spirit of freshness

on you. You may say, well, our pastor is getting

older, but he will be like Paul, say, hey, maybe

my outer body, maybe it looks like it's getting

older. The inner self is not fading. Some guys,

they have to look forward to retirement because

the inside is fading with the outside. Some people

ask me, when are you going to retire? I don't

know. I'll let you know when it happens. How

are you planning for retirement? I can't think

that way. If I'm planning for retirement, I'll

start getting old. I don't know when it's going

to happen. It's not my business. I am just in

this thing to go and hoping that the road behind

me is so well that whoever's coming along behind,

as the song would go this morning, they'll take

it on. And I believe that will happen here. I

believe that your pastor and his wife wife are

going to go strong and strong and strong and

strong and laying things out for who is coming

and you have a fresh future in front of you,

not a bad one. Acts is kind of surrounded by

two little verses. It goes like this. Jesus,

he presented himself alive after his suffering

by many proofs, appearing to them for 40 days,

speaking about the kingdom of God. That's how

the book of Acts starts. The book of Acts ends

kind of interesting too. Paul now is facing,

getting ready to face his court case or his moment

before the emperor, and he says this. He lived

in Rome two whole years at his own expense and

welcomed all who came to him. proclaiming the

kingdom of God. You see the two bookends. Jesus

started proclaiming the kingdom of God. Paul

finishes the book proclaiming the kingdom of

God because there's supposed to be something

essential about the forward going movement of

the kingdom of God. And so on that day when Jesus

is gathering them back to the beginning of the

book, when they're all gathered together, they

have a question that they want to ask. They said,

so when they come together, they ask him, Lord,

will you now? Now restore the kingdom to Israel.

Everything you're doing is about the kingdom.

So is it going to happen now? Is Israel going

to be now the top of the nations? Is Israel going

to receive the glory that's prophesied about

in the Old Testament? Is it going to happen now?

We get the imagery here. There were 12 sons of

Jacob, and they were kind of goof -offs, and

they kind of messed up. But you have selected

12 apostles minus one, but we can get a guy to

replace him. So there's 12 of us. Are you at

this time going to give us government posts in

the kingdom? so that we can be set above all

nations. And then we can be like you said in

the Old Testament, Israel can then become a blessing

to all nations and all nations can get saved.

We jump in the car, we go to California every

year when our kids were little, driving the car

to California, jump in the car, getting ready

to make the long trip. We get to Bridgeport,

if you know where that's at, about 20 minutes

away. And one of the kids says, I gotta go to

the bathroom. bathroom. And so we stop at Bridgeport

and we get them all packed up in the car. And

then the kids, you know, you're five minutes

down the road. They're saying, are we there yet?

And then we approach Woodburn and then the other

kid says, I got to go to the bathroom. And so

you stop at Woodburn and they get them all back

in the car. And then they're saying, are we there

yet? And then in Salem, your wife's got to go

to the bathroom. And then, are we there yet?

No, this is a long journey. It's going to take

some time. And they're wondering on that day,

Jesus, are we there yet? Because they see the

Bible differently than we see it. The whole Old

Testament was about God doing something in Israel

that was going to save the world. And they just

weren't seeing it happen. And they're wondering,

is it gonna happen now? Because we know that

this thing is gonna happen with Israel because

we can read the kind of the prophetic things.

Listen, Jesus, when you were crucified, you dashed

our dreams. When that happened, we just said,

oh, there goes Israel down the tubes. So here's

what's going to happen. The world's gonna go

on the way it is. And the rich and the powerful

are gonna continue to brutally oppress the poor

and the needy. And our hopes were just dashed

when that happened, Jesus. But now your resurrection

has changed absolutely everything. And is it

going to happen now? Is it now going to be the

time you're going to do it? The most difficult

thing you and I will ever do in life is lose

our dream for an earthly kingdom. It's the hardest

thing. any of us will ever do. It was the most

difficult thing I ever did in my life. One of

the greatest disciplines that ever entered into

my life is when I realized that the dream I had

for the church was killing my gratitude for the

very thing that God was giving me right now.

My vision for the future of what could be oftentimes

was killing my very gratitude for what God was

putting in my hand right now. And then I was

envisioning a future that was much better than

the future I had now because I wanted a different

future from the future that I had right now because

I didn't like what God was putting in my hand.

And I realized I had to lose all that earthly

desire for an earthly kingdom. And I had to come

to say, I love what you have given me. Show me

more. of what you want to do that you've already

done. That's kind of a whole different kind of

vision for your future, but it was a very hard

thing to do because God isn't into the ordinary

power structures and the common subjugation of

people under certain hierarchies. That's not

what he does. He's into changing lives and hearts.

We have an earthly dream, but God, what does

he have? He just has a heavenly dream, and this

is prophetic. God has a new... heavenly assignment

for you. He has a kingdom assignment. No one

should be asking, are we there yet? You're way

more at the beginning than you are at the end.

And I do think in 20 -year cycles, and I realize,

and I just got such great news for you. You're

going to fly through your 20 -year cycle, and

it's even going to get better. You're going to

feel like you planted this church all over again

in certain ways because of what God is going

to give you and show you and how he's going to

prosper you. You've got good things ahead of

you, but he's got an assignment for you. What

is of most importance? is actually not what happens

in time and space, but what is really important

is what happens for eternity. We're not there

yet. You're not there yet. Our whole society,

and somebody did this in the prayer room this

morning, whoever you are, great job. Our whole

culture, church culture is built on a mission

to get people to heaven. God just weeps over

that because his mission is to bring heaven to

earth. That's your job. He wants you. to bring

heaven to earth. Well, what about someday going

to heaven? Really dream about it. If you want

to be some bare -butted angel with a bow and

arrow and a harp sitting on a cloud, if that

really is what you want in life, honestly, is

that it? How about if you read the prophets and

you dream a little bit about Jesus coming to

earth? and setting up his throne in his kingdom

here. And this world where we're living now,

it works and operates without sin and without

lust and without iniquity in pure love, awesome

justice. What about that for heaven? What about

God finishing on this planet what he wanted to

do all along? We have a mission, and it's not

to get there, but it's to usher our king in here.

You're not necessarily ever going to sense where

you are in the calendar. Like, where are we in

the calendar of you actually coming and appearing?

We may never know, but we have a mission. We're

in the in -between stage of what God started

and what he's going to fulfill. And what Jesus

was really saying that day, you can disagree

with this, but let me just carry it over. And

if you could just let it sit. I'm not sure about

that. Let me carry it over and let it just land

on some of you. Jesus said of Israel, this is

my firstborn, but when Yahweh said of Israel,

this is my firstborn, but when Jesus comes up

out of the water at baptism, God says something

very interesting to him, very significant. He

said, this is my son. Paul picks up on that.

That's why he uses so much the word in Christ,

in Christ, in Christ. What happens at that moment?

Well, let me just fast track it. Jesus becomes

at that moment Israel. And it says, here's what

I'm going to do. I'm going to take Israel into

me, and then I'm going to do something else wonderful.

I'm going to take the Gentile world into me,

and I am going to create an epic body, a new

nation, a true Israel, and every promise I ever

made about saving the world through Israel, I

am going to do it, and I'm going to begin with

the person Jesus Christ. We're so used to hearing,

but it's an epic story. Like, God, how did you

figure out to do that? I would have never thought

to do that. You guys, when you look at the Bible,

no human being could have ever figured out to

do what God did. It's amazing. And you and I

are a part of it. As soon as we came in Christ,

we became part of something eternal and epic

and glorious and wonderful. This is a historical

event. And it's incredible. And so he said, listen,

not for you to know the times and seasons, you

know, because the Father has those times and

seasons under his fixed authority. Well, Jesus

said, all authority has been given to me. Jesus

is that fixed authority. And all through Jesus

comes the fixed moments and the fixed authority.

And he's watching you. He has authority over

your season and over your time. 18, 19, the glorious

setup, 2020. And then 21, you're celebrating

your 20th year. And all of a sudden, the fixed

authority of God, Jesus, unleashes fresh power

on you to witness like you've not yet witnessed.

That's what I believe is coming. There is, he

said, look, what is a witness? Well, when a emperor

would die, they would send out a messenger. And

the messenger would say, so and so is dead, but

Claudius reigns. There's a new king on the throne.

And everybody knows this, bad government is better

than anarchy. And so a good news guy would go

out and bear witness. There's a new king on the

throne. There will not be anarchy. He will prevail.

And what is the witness of the church? We're

running everywhere we can and we're saying, there's

a new king on the throne. And all the anarchy

and all the rebellion, it will be overthrown.

His will will remain ultimate. And so we don't

know how long it's going to go, but we know that

the fixed authority, the times to do things are

in his hands and he empowers us. And I'm just

trying to say simply, he has more power coming

on you than you've ever experienced. It's like,

wow, we've done some good things and you have.

Rejoice. Thank God for it. But it becomes the

road. It becomes the foundation. for the next

things that God wants to do. And are you ever

going to love the next things that God is going

to do? Because more and more, you're going to

be taking anarchy down and you're going to be

helping people give their allegiance to Jesus

Christ. So what do we do in the middle time?

We're like, we wait and we witness, wait and

witness, wait and witness. What were you doing

this weekend? You're waiting this weekend. Because

your witness is going to grow. The whole world

thinks that we need saving from death. But we

don't need saving from death as much as we need

saving from anarchy. I need saving from my rebellion.

If God can get me saved from my rebellion, I'll

have a chance at being saved from my death. Okay,

so that's chapter 1 of Acts. We're getting to

this other point here. Got to get through Acts

2 first. Acts 2, it says this. When the day of

Pentecost arrived, they were all together in

one place. And suddenly, there came from heaven

a sound like mighty rushing wind, and it filled

the entire house where they were sitting. By

the way, when you look at how the Bible is written,

the New Testament is a rewrite of the Old Testament.

So you can see that the old covenant is being

replaced by a new covenant. And I could go kind

of through all the things that Jewish people

would be very aware of, but this is one of them

right here. They're picking up on it here. Luke

picked up on it right here. And this wind, and

it filled the whole entire house where they were

sitting. And divided tongues as a fire appeared

to them, resting on each one of them. And they

were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to

speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them

utterance. This thing, Pentecost. Let me just

show you just one thing so you have this imagery

in your head. Moses went up the mountain on the

day of Pentecost, 50 days after the Passover.

He went up the mountain into the storm and he

brought down the law. Jesus ascended up. into

heaven. And on the day of Pentecost, 10 days

later, he sent down the power of the Holy Spirit.

That's not missed on good Jewish people. They

would understand that writing. They would understand,

hold it. There is a new Passover. There's a new

Pentecost among us. Pentecost, what was that?

It was, you could say it was the feast of first

fruits. In other words, they would go out and

they would, you know, you guys would know this.

take out a bunch of wheat and they bring it to

God and they say we're not going to eat this

we want you to have this wheat because we're

telling you this we are so grateful for our fields

and we also want you to know something else we

believe that the harvest that is coming is going

to come because of what you're going to do for

us that belongs to you also so that that was

one of the things but the other thing that Pentecost

was really really really screaming is that God

took a people out of Egypt, he brought them to

a mountain and he said, here, here is the culture

we're going to build that if you will follow

me and listen to my voice, I will take you into

the promised land. And he's seeing this here.

So what's happening is the day of Pentecost,

Holy Spirit's coming down and the imagery is

quite obvious. Listen, as we begin to live under

the grace and the power of the Holy Spirit. Everything

that God wants to do in our life, every promise

that he gives us, everything he wants to fulfill,

they Pentecostal, they're realizing God is saying,

I'm going to fulfill it. Can I just give you

this little thing? We said, have you ever like

received the baptism of the Holy Spirit? And

so sometimes if you're Pentecostal, you're thinking

this way. Have you received the baptism of the

Holy Spirit in that? Have you been prayed for

and do you speak in tongues? And so when we use

the term baptism of the Holy Spirit, that's what

we mean. And there's nothing wrong with saying

that. But the Bible uses that term in a little

bit more literate way. When it's referring to

the baptism of the Holy Spirit, it's always pushing

you back to the day of Pentecost. And I don't

know if you realize this, but this is a wonderful

thing. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism.

There is one baptism in the Holy Spirit. When

you are filled with the Holy Spirit, You may

not realize this, but that's an immediate connection

back there with the day of Pentecost and a promise

that what God has started, he will finish. He's

going to take us into the promised land. So I'm

not diminishing the reality of the baptism. I'm

just saying that it's not just, hey, I'm speaking

in tongues today. God took you back 2 ,000 years

and he baptized you in that baptism where he's

saying, I am still watching over that. And what

I said I would do in the church, I'm going to

do. What I said I'm going to do in your life,

I'm going to do it. It may take a long time.

It may take a long time to get there. You may

get a little tired, but I'm going to get it there

for you. And so there should be something exciting

when you're speaking in tongues. I am connected

to a world and a people and a life that God's

very word is going to back up to fulfill someday.

That's Pentecost. So my wife says, Don't yell.

Some people will think you're mad. I'm not mad.

I'm overtly excited. But I yell for this reason,

because there are moments that I just think you

need to know that there are certain things that

God has said are emphatic. They will happen.

Devil gets his face up in your mug and say, they're

not either. You should politely say or yell,

go to hell. That's what you should say. Because

what God has said he will do, he will do. He's

going to do it. Okay. Disciples were no longer

an empty, lifeless follower who keeps their distance

from the presence of God, but believers who were

full of presence and power. You're full. You're

a church full of presence and power. I cannot

emphasize this more. This is a unique place.

I pastor a great church. We're full of presence

and power, but not like you, which makes me feel

sorry for you because you have greater responsibility

than I do. Our church can still get by being

a little bit of a doofus. You cannot, because

you guys are flying. Okay, here we go. The disciples,

the disciples were no longer souls waterlogged

with worldly lusts, but their hearts were set

on fire. They were lit up by the presence of

God and his full acceptance. No longer, no longer

from that moment on was the world left to its

own anarchy, but it was going to have to face

hearts that had been transformed. into the same

resurrection substance of Jesus. If you could

take a fingernail off of Jesus, you would realize

that it was full of resurrection substance. That

substance, when you receive Jesus, goes into

your heart. That's why he says, listen, the same

spirit that raised Jesus from the dead will quicken

your mortal body. I mean, the same resurrection

substance that was in Jesus is in me. I might

be dying on the outside, not on the inside. Why?

Because there's the same resurrection life that

was all over Jesus. I'm experiencing and you're

experiencing now. They have the heavenly wind

power and the fire force within them that was

in Jesus. And anarchy cannot tame our... own

rebellion against that rebellious enemy. Because

Jesus did, if you can get that all, because Jesus

came to start his own revolution against the

revolution. Because the revolution became the

standard, but it is still a revolution against

God. So God says, I will make my own revolution

against that revolution and I will overthrow

that revolution. Which his revolution is the

standard. Did that make sense to you? I, the

untamable force of a community of once confused

and fearful men and women, they became a heavenly

force and all the earth had to reckon with it.

And I'm telling you, there's earth and world

that has to reckon with this church. They lived

together, broadcasting the message and their

message was simple. There's a new king in town

and his will prevails at all times. They're up

there talking in the room. All of a sudden, they

stand up. Now, we know they weren't praying.

When the Holy Spirit came, they weren't praying.

Really? They're sitting down. Jewish people do

not pray sitting down. They were sitting down.

What were they talking about? I don't know, probably

fantasy football, have no idea what they were

talking about, but they were sitting down. I'm

sure they weren't doing that, but they were just

sitting down. And all of a sudden they rise and

they make a tear, the five, six, seven, eight

blocks, over to the temple. And all of a sudden

it says, people start saying, we hear them telling

in our own tongues the mighty works of God. They

begin to witness about King Jesus and his great

and his mighty works. And then someone said,

well, they're drunken. And Peter stands up and

he says, guys, they're not drunk. They're not

drunk. The prophet Joel said something. He said,

in the last days, the Holy Spirit will be poured

out on all flesh. That day is here now. He says,

oh, excuse me. David also said there would be

a day in which God. would send his son. Odd thing.

His son would also be the son of David. But David

would say unto him, Yahweh, you're my Lord. I'm

confused. Then he says, that day he was talking,

the day that Joel was talking about happened.

The day that David was talking about happened

in the person of Jesus Christ. And he says, We

are witnesses. We're telling you, there's a new

king in town and the world is in a heck of a

lot of trouble because he just poured out his

Holy Spirit on everyone. That makes everybody

potential candidates to receive him. And I have

some bad news for you guys. The fact that Jesus

was raised from the dead proves, uh -oh. He was

an innocent man, and you killed him. And the

fact that he was raised from the dead not only

does it prove he was an innocent man and God

vindicated him from you killing him, killing

an innocent man, he also, because he raised from

the dead, is declaring, this is my son. This

is the Messiah. We don't want to equivocate on

this point. We don't want to downplay this point.

Jesus' spirit did not come back to life. This

is not a ghost. Here's what we're going to do.

We're going to have the Roman government hang

us on crosses. We're going to have them pelt

our bodies with rocks. And here's the point we're

going to make. Jesus ain't no ghost. His body

resurrected. He has a body. He's alive. Now,

I know what you're thinking. Yeah, and he ascended

into the heavens, into the throne room of God.

I don't think so. Really? I think he's seated

at the right hand of God. Well, where is God's

right hand? Just inside the created world. If

he's left the created world, folks, Then he has

abdicated his throne. He's here. He's here. He

cannot be seen. That's why Paul says many times

when he not comes again, but when he reappears.

How should we be living before Jesus Christ?

He's here. He's in the universe. He is king.

He's around. He's pouring out his Holy Spirit.

I think the fact that his Holy Spirit here is

actually... evidence and proof. He's still in

the created material world, although he cannot

be seen. Now, I don't know if that excites you,

but it gets me real excited. He's with me. When

the Holy Spirit is with me, Jesus himself is

with me. The guy that has the fixed authority,

the guy that has everything, the guy that has

the word, Jesus who has it all, he is with me.

If Jesus is with me, God himself is with me.

and the Holy Spirit is all around me. Now, you

may not like seeing it that way, but I think

that's what they were saying. They were saying,

oops, if we could just venture a little thought

in here, we don't want to get anybody upset,

but let all the house of Israel therefore know.

For certain, this is a certainty, for certain,

that God has made Yahweh and Christo, Messiah.

This Jesus whom you crucified. Not wanting to

make you mad, but just saying. Now, you know

what I think they'd want to do? Let's kill him,

but they didn't. This is incredible. They said,

uh -oh, he is alive. They were cut to the heart.

Conviction rested upon them, the Bible says.

And they said, what should we do? And they said,

okay, you better get ready because this is winding

up fast now. They said, you need to repent and

be baptized. Do I have a young fellow that could

just come up here for me just for a minute? Would

you send somebody? I won't embarrass you much.

Come on up here. Great. I've got to show you

what repentance looks like. Come on up here if

you would. I'm just going to have you stand right

here if you would. Just stand right there if

you would. Here's what repentance looks like.

You can look at me because you're going to kind

of get in on my thing here. Here's what repentance

looks like. I'm living, and I'm living in this

world like this. The mirror represents culture,

which is God to me. And I look in the mirror

and I say, wow, wow. I don't know if you've noticed,

but... Some things have happened to me. I'm wondering

if anybody would venture a few hair plugs. I've

lost a little bit on top. Maybe I could be improved

with that a little bit. Maybe is there a doctor

in the house and somebody could tie my face behind

my neck to get rid of some of these wrinkles.

Maybe that would help somebody. I could use a

trainer, but then that's dieting. But I do like

this mirror because this mirror actually makes

me look a little bit thinner. So I'm taking this

one home with me. But all of a sudden, I begin

to evaluate me as culture sees me and as I see

myself. And I become evil because I want to look

good to culture. And then every once in a while,

now, they sent up the perfect specimen. Would

you go ahead? Just flex that a little bit. I'm

saying it. Oh, why didn't you send up somebody

else? But anyway, so all of a sudden, what's

your name? Jake, he's wanting to come in here

and he's wanting to get in on my mirror and see

himself. I'm saying, no, no, no. And so I'm constantly

saying, no, I want to be the center of my world.

But the whole thing, the world is constantly

trying to get me to look at like this guy and

say, like you could get in the gym more. They're

constantly trying to. And so what's happening

is my whole world is measuring myself against

culture and what culture thinks I should look

and how much money culture thinks I should make.

That becomes my whole world. And Peter says,

you've got to repent. Thank you very much for

your time. Peter says, thank you, this guy. Peter

says, you've got to repent. So when we think

of repentance, sometimes we think confess sin.

Confession is part of repentance, but that's

what repentance means. In the Greek world, when

they use repentance, I've got to change my whole

mind about this. But that was not how the Hebrews

thought in the Old Testament about repentance.

Here's what they thought. Peter says, you've

got to repent. Here's what they thought. You've

got to repent. You've got to turn completely

away from this. And you've got to turn to God.

You've got to move towards God because he has

two gifts for you. He has the gifts. A forgiveness

and the Holy Spirit. I need to turn away from

everything because I gotta say, accept me, love

me. I gotta do it so I'm fitting in. And then

I get a good religious sermon. You're a sinner.

I really am. You're forgiven, you're forgiven

because it's in the Bible. You're forgiven. You

know whether or not you're forgiven? If you have

turned, From God, okay? And now you're moving

towards allegiance to the Father. You get a gift.

You know what your gift is? Forgiveness. When

you receive the gift of forgiveness, you start

forgetting about whether you're forgiven or not.

That's not very important to you anymore. What

becomes important to you is making sure you're

giving forgiveness everywhere. There's a new

king in town and you are not going to believe

this. He forgives your sins. Smack, kit. He forgives

that too. Smack, kit. He forgives that too. Smack.

The gun my wife said I was going to go get, it

was a water pistol. She was off on that. I never

thought that at all. But do you see there in

that little moment right there? In that little

moment, it shows me how much I need Jesus. I'd

forgotten all about this. I better go get a gun.

That was my response. If someone's in the house,

I gotta go get a gun. My response was, Jesus,

I think I need to move into tongues, maybe a

little bit of forgiveness, and especially the

power of the Holy Spirit. Because there's a new

sheriff in town. He operates by different rules.

And I'm not saying you shouldn't go get your

gun. I'm not trying to get that at all. But I'm

saying, when you have the gift of the Holy Spirit

and forgiveness, your whole life changes. And

so everything in that message hinged on that.

It hinged not just on changing your mind, not

just on saying, God, forgive me. And all of that's

good. But it hinges on this. I am turning from

this being my God. I am turning from giving this

my allegiance. I am turning away from the world.

I'm going after God and I'm going to care about

what he has to say. God is wanting you now to

save. Because this is what it says next. It says,

and with many other words, he bore witness saying,

save yourselves from this crooked generation.

And what did they do to save themselves from

their crooked generation? They built a church.

This is going to go like that. Now I'm going

to prophesying and meddling. I had a whole other

beautiful message prepared for you. And I'm standing

innocently in church last Sunday morning. And

as I'm worshiping God, getting ready to preach

this message to my church, not really for your

church as much as it is for Harrisburg. My wife

will tell you, I hate preaching two messages

twice. I don't do it. But I, for the most part,

have had to do that here to get to this prophetic

moment. And I'll show you a little picture of

something that I did in a moment because God

is wanting to do these things in your church.

He is going to give you fresh devotion. To the

word of God, to fellowship, to prayer, to breaking

bread. It's going to happen this next year. You're

going to find a fresh devotion. It's going to

be more exciting than ever. Because I want to

tell you something. The nations are coming here.

This is your destiny. Every day of the week,

someone getting saved in the world because of

the impact this house is going to have. A fresh

devotion. Number two, a fresh awe. You're going

to be in awe. He said it this morning. You're

going to be in awe of the things that God is

doing among you. Wonders have to take place before

signs. You have to be in wonder of what your

pastors and others are doing. Because then the

signs, there's going to come, I got to tell you

this, a fresh generosity on this house. You are

going to be investing millions in training centers

and different things across the world. It's going

to be amazing. Somehow, Brad, money is going

to come to you because you will use it. You and

your wife will use it in honorable ways. Money

is coming to this place. I want to say fresh

community is coming to this place day by day.

tending the temple together. Can I just throw

a plug in for your marriage seminar? If you're

married and don't come to that, I know Skip,

I know what he'll do. everybody's going to be

talking about it. You're going to be wondering

what they were talking about because it's like

good for marriages, but it's a ball listening

to him speak. That's just there. But going on

from that community, day by day in the temple,

breaking bread in their homes, a fresh sense

of community is going to be coming upon you.

Number four, a fresh sense of worship. Now you

already, how could you get fresh worship in this

place? It's like about as fresh as it can get.

But you have to realize God is going to be upping

your level when it comes to outreach, when it

comes to... nations. Here's what I see. I see

a river coming in and a river going out. I see

people coming in here getting trained and people

going out of here and leaving from this place.

And it's not like people are coming here and

they're going to make their home here. It's almost

like at times I see you guys having people come

in for weeks or for a summer and they're learning

things and you're pumping them back out and you're

having this tremendous global effect. And part

of and significant to all that you do is going

to be worship. And lastly, You're going to have

growth because the Lord is going to add to your

number daily. I want to tell you, your reach

around the world over the next 20 years is going

to be absolutely amazing. And I say this, if

I could, what began at Hilliard is not forgotten.

It will find its fulfillment in this place and

among this people. A prophetic man and woman

of vision will establish again and again and

again. True followers will multiply around the

world daily because of this place. They will

come to you. They will be sent out by you. You

will touch nations. Great wealth will be delivered

to you so you can train others. God will pick

you up this morning and he will strap you to

his back and there is a finish line for you and

God is gonna carry you and I'd do it this morning

if I could. My wife would yell at me, I'd put

you on my back and I'd carry you somewhere because

God is gonna strap you to his back and he's gonna

carry you to your finish line and you're gonna

be amazed. When you think, I don't think we're

gonna get this thing done that God has in my

heart, I wanna tell you, he'll put you on his

back and he'll get you to that place. He is so

firm about this. You are about to have, and I've

met two of them already, you're about to be influxed

by young people. They're going to surround you.

They're going to be strong. They're going to

listen to you. They're going to be coached by

you. They are going to be great men and women.

They are going to bear fruit for you. They're

going to listen to you. This place would seem

to be a convenient place for people to come and

worship. But I want to tell you something. It's

going to be more than that. It's going to become

a convenient place to lavishly send out and train

other people. God, make sure I ask him this.

Can you put like a boat launch down here? You

can put a boat launch. No, no, no. Reasons, you

know, why you can't put. But this is what I felt

like the Lord said. You are a port city. You

are a port city. From here, God is going to take

in goods and deliver out goods. I say it again,

what began in and at Hilliard, you're going to

finish. Could you put up that last slide? if

you would for me, if you have that. It's my handwriting

note that I have up there. Do you see it up there?

So this is what happened to me. I'm sitting,

not looking at this text or anything, and I just

was sitting at my desk, and the Lord started

speaking to me about this church, and he said,

I'm bringing fresh devotion, awe, generosity,

community, worship, growth. I hadn't thought

about Acts 2 when I'd written that some time

ago. I hadn't thought about that verse at all,

and then when I flipped to it, I realized that

is Acts 2. All of that is fresh because the call

of God is going to be great in your lives. Can

I just ask this quick question? Everybody here

who would just say I've never actually taken

this step. Like I've received Jesus for the forgiveness

of my sins but I've not in an official and a

public way said I want to commit my allegiance

to Jesus Christ. Completely. I want him to have

it. Absolutely. I want him to have my all this

morning. I want him to have it. If you've never,

that's never happened in your life, I want to

tell you there's a wonderful anointing here this

morning to springboard you somewhere. A lot of

people in church, they've never been to church

before. Like I've never done that in our area.

That happens a lot. Sometimes people have been

to church a long time and all of a sudden they're

sitting under kind of the word of the Lord. They

don't care about anything else. All they care

about just right now is, you know something,

I've never done that. I've never said, Jesus,

I want to give you my full heart, my full allegiance

right now. I want to give you opportunity to

do that. It's a very simple thing to do. I don't

have people close their eyes. This is like a

wonderful thing. This is like a yay thing. This

is like a glad thing. If that has never happened

to you and right now you would like to do that,

would you just raise your hand and say, that's

me. I'd like to give Jesus my heart, my full

allegiance. I've never done it, but I'd like

to do it. Right now. Just raise your hand right

now if that's you. It can seem difficult in this

place, but if it's in your heart right now, you'll

see it'll be a very significant moment for you

if that's you. Okay. Okay. Come on up here, would

you? Yeah, come up here. Did you raise your hand?

Yeah, come on up here. I've got to do this. If

you raise your hand, come on up here. If you

don't mind. Just for a moment. I don't know you.

I ran into you in the prayer room. But I am just

here to say to you, you are far from over. There

is going to come a fresh anointing of joy and

a real humble spirit of gentleness on your life.

And there are people around you that don't so

much know Jesus or not connected to him in a

right way. And the Lord is going to use a fresh,

gentle touch. and word from your heart and your

life to turn all of that around. So he saw your

hand today. I don't know exactly why your hand

went up. You look pretty committed to Jesus today,

but you raised your hand, and I'm here to tell

you that the Lord sees your allegiance, and he's

going to take you in to a whole new level of

grace in Jesus' name. Receive. Would you all

just mind standing up here? Rick, can I just

say thank you for just... for your heart and

how you do worship and your care for the Word

of God. It was just a blessing. Let me just do

this last thing. You've got a great future in

store for you if you just raise your hands just

like this and say, Jesus, we're here as a people

surrendered to you. We're in a great church.

We serve a great God. We're following a great

Jesus. And so, Lord, we surrender our lives to

you and we're giving this part. We're giving

this part of this moment to your fixed authority,

Jesus, for you to rule and reign over us the

way you want to. May Jesus greatly bless you.

In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Before I close the

service, I'd like to have our healing team. Just

make their way up front, please, right away.

If you have an issue in your body, you need prayer.

We have people of faith that believe God. They're

coming right up here to my left, your right.

I also want to clarify when Pastor Jess said,

Hilliard, some of you going, does Harrisburg

have a Hilliard? And Hilliard Street was... The

first church location that Pastor Frank and Sharon,

they met in a motel, they met in the Masonic

Center, but Hilliard Street was where the church

was planted and established. And so that's what

he's referencing to, a spiritual lineage, a DNA.

So just to kind of reference that for those that

are kind of brand new. And that's a high honor

from the Lord. It's a high honor. Great word.

Thank you. So before I pray for you, just a reminder,

18 years. And Jess referenced something, and

I'd be amiss to honor them, but also joke with

them a little bit as well. We have a great team,

great elders, great staff. And one of our elders

has an ice cream anointing. That's Anthony Booker.

Everywhere I've gone, traveled with him, we find

ice cream even in the far deserts of India. So

in honor of 18 years and Anthony Booker, today

there is vanilla ice cream and fresh berries

to celebrate 18 years of fruitfulness. Let's

ask the Lord to bless us today. Jesus, thank

you so much for your goodness. Thank you for

your grace. Thank you for 18 years of favor.

And let fruit remain and be for your glory in

Jesus' name. And everybody said amen. Amen. Rick,

come on. If you are interested in hearing other

podcasts or contacting Life Bible Church, go

to www .lifebiblechurch .org or call us at 541

-995 -8282.