Saturday Message (Session 1) - Pastor Marc Cargill (September 28, 2013) | Life Bible Church

Tonight is a privilege to be able to have with

us Pastor Mark Cargill and This would be the

first time that life Bible Church has had him

here He pastored a church with his father in

Whidbey Island in Washington, and then you did

that for 18 years 17 years turned the church

over felt like God told him to Him and his wife

and his family to pioneer a church in the Phoenix,

Arizona area called Gilbert is a suburb of Phoenix,

Arizona And so they've been down there Pioneering

a work and we know what that's like and we we

salute those that pick up the pioneer mantle

and and do it after you've had a church and had

Some of the stuff already paid for and seen the

victories of God to do it again That's the grace

of God on your life. So would you give a life

Bible welcome? Would you stand and just welcome

pastor Mark Cargill as he comes to the platform

this morning? All right Well, good evening. It's

great to be here tonight and a real honor and

privilege For me and I've enjoyed Getting to

know your pastors and have been in different

ministry situations with them different places

around the mostly I think in the northwest and

it's been a delight to know them and just Connect

with them a little bit more personally while

I've been here And it's been great to hear a

little bit about your journey and about your

story Just about me, we, as Pastor Brad said,

I've pastored a church in Washington State for

17 years. I'd actually been in that church since

1975. My father pioneered that church in March

of 1975, and then through a really miraculous

chain of events, we became the pastors in 93,

and in 2010, 17 years later, We left that place

with about $2 .5 million worth of buildings and

property, about $150 ,000 left on a mortgage,

and six and a half acres of property, and just

a lot of cool stuff going on in our lives, and

God ruined our life. No, just kidding. He told

us to go to Arizona, so we actually picked up

everything, our family, and my wife and our kids.

Went to Arizona had one young man go with us

and then there was another Family that had also

was part of our leadership team that it went

with us but other than that it was just it was

just us and we went down there not knowing anyone

and not really having any friends or anything

and just jumped in the deep end of the pool and

but it's been an amazing journey as God has miraculously

miraculously done some cool stuff for us and

Watching as God's been building his church. It's

been a great great thrill for us and I'm excited

about what God is doing. I'm excited about what

God is doing here and all the things that The

Lord is has done, but how many know God's not

done yet? Right, he's not finished yet. He's

not finished with you. He's not finished with

the church He's not finished with his purpose

and plan for what he wants to accomplish here

in this region and in this community and You

have the privilege of being a part of it. You

know, God could do all this stuff without us.

Did you know that? He could have snapped His

fingers and poof, you know, He could have accomplished

what He wanted to do. He's that powerful, He's

that great, He's that amazing. And yet, He decided

to include you in the plan of what He wanted

to do. And He just decided, I'm not going to

do this without these people. And to me, that

just blows my mind every time I think about it.

To think that God chose me. to help in the amazing

purpose of seeing people saved and coming to

know the Lord and bringing the message of Christ

and salvation and the glorious church to this

generation of people on the earth is pretty cool.

And I'm just thrilled to be a part of it. And

you are blessed to be a part of what God's doing

right here in this part of the world. And as

I was praying about your... anniversary celebration

and 12 years going at it. That's pretty amazing.

Look what the Lord has done. Look what the Lord

continues and is doing even now. I just want

to tell you that as great as it's been up till

now, I really believe you haven't seen anything

yet. God is just getting started with what He

wants to do in your lives and in this church.

I've traveled all over the world and I've ministered

in a lot of different places and I minister prophetically

as your pastor does and Whenever I travel somewhere,

you know some people when they go they like to

pull out old messages that they preach in other

places and since they've been and it's a turn

a new place and they've never heard that message

before they use that message in a new place and

And I wouldn't say I've never done that, but

I would say that usually what I do is I really

pray and ask God for what does he want to say

to this church in this season at this time. And

as I was praying about my time with you this

weekend, God really spoke to me something really

strongly and really powerfully. And I just want

to share these things with you. This really,

I don't know if this has really ever happened

to me before, and I've preached a lot of messages

over the years. But the Lord gave me a word for

this church that's really three parts. And so

I'm going to preach part one tonight, part two

in the first service tomorrow morning, and part

three in the second service. So if you want the

full meal deal, you know where I'm going with

this, right? Feel free to double dip and triple

dip if you'd like, all right? Feel free to do

that. But I just want to speak to you on a subject

that I think is so incredibly powerful, and it's...

a three -part series of messages that I have

never preached before. This is the first time

I've ever done it. You're the church that I felt

like the Lord spoke to me about. And it's really

based on the concept that God teaches us out

of the book of Joshua. So still take your Bibles.

We're going to go to Joshua chapter 1. And this

Joshua 1 · chapter mention

three -part message to your church is called

Possessing the Promises. Possessing the promises.

How many of you have ever been given a promise

by God, and yet even now, maybe weeks, months,

or years later, you're still waiting for it to

be fulfilled? Wave your hand if that's you. One,

two, three. Oh, just making sure you're not nodding

off tonight. Joshua chapter one. This is an amazing

story of how God... calls a nation and a people

to follow him and to do what he has called them

to do and to be who he has called them to be

and in Joshua chapter 1 we know the story of

Joshua 1 · chapter mention

Joshua being called by God to lead this great

nation in to do what he's called them to do and

fulfill the purpose that God has for them and

in Joshua chapter 1 verse 1 through 7 and then

Joshua 1:1–7

also verse 9 is where I'll begin Joshua chapter

Joshua 1 · chapter mention

1 reading out the new living translation Joshua

Joshua 1:1

chapter 1 Verse 1 after the death of Moses the

Lord servant the Lord spoke to Joshua son of

none Moses assistant He said Moses my servant

is dead Therefore the time has come everybody

say the time has come For you to lead these people

the Israelites across the Jordan into the land

I am giving them I Promise you everybody say

promise I promise you what I promised Moses.

Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I

have given you from the Negev wilderness in the

south, to the Lebanon mountains in the north,

from the Euphrates River in the east, to the

Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all

the land of the Hittites. No one will be able

to stand against you as long as you live. For

I Will be with you as I was with Moses I want

you to listen this next statement. I will not

fail you or abandon you Then he goes on and he

says be strong and courageous For you are the

one who will lead these people to possess all

the land I swore to their ancestors I would give

them. Verse seven, be strong, again, and very

courageous. And then I want you to go down to

verse nine. This is my command. Be strong and

courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged.

For the Lord your God is with you wherever you

go And I want to take you to a scripture in the

New Testament Matthew chapter 16 verses 18 and

Matthew 16:18

19 very well known verse of scripture Jesus is

prophesying a word about his plans For his disciples

who later would be the leaders of his church

Matthew 16 verse 18 and 19 he says now I say

Matthew 16:18

that you are Peter which means rock and upon

this rock I will build my church and all the

powers of hell will not conquer it and I will

give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven Whatever

you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven.

Whatever you permit on earth will be permitted

in heaven So I want to speak to you today from

the subject strength for the journey on this

whole general topic of possessing the promises

I want to talk about strength for the journey

because all of us in this room Have been given

promises and then there have been different things

that have happened when those promises have been

given Maybe it's been obstacles. Maybe the promise

itself is so Mind -boggling that we even can't

hardly get our mind around it. Let alone believe

God for what He actually said He would do. And

we begin to just ask and question, Lord, how

can this be? And you begin to ask those questions.

And it's the words of Mary when the angel came

to her and said, even though you have never known

a man, you're going to be with child and so forth.

And she goes, how can these things be? Has God

ever given you a promise? And that's been your

response. How can these things be? Here in Joshua

Joshua 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1, God says I promise you what I promised

Moses. I'm giving you all of this land. I'm giving

you all of this inheritance I'm giving you all

of these things that I'm going to be able to

put into your hand and you are going to do My

will and my plan and my purpose with all these

things here It is you need to go in now and you

need to possess it and when it comes to these

Promises that you have been given by God. I think

that there's some things you we all need to understand

There's three dynamics of these promises that

I think we need to kind of get into our heart

if You're gonna see the promises of God fulfilled

in your life. You need to you do need to understand

these things You didn't do need to get these

things in your heart because if you don't get

it You're going to miss the fulfillment of the

promise in your life. I can't tell you how many

times I have seen believers and churches, Christians

who have been given promises by God, but because

they did not get these three dynamics, they didn't

understand the fulfillment. They never saw the

fulfillment of the word of the Lord to their

life. The first one is the giving of the promise.

It's the promise that's given. And this is really

all on God because, you know, you can't make

up promises for yourself. I promise myself. You

know, you can't do that. So God is the one that's

the promise giver, right? He's the one that says,

this is what you're going to do. And notice in

Joshua chapter 1, Joshua doesn't say, you know,

Joshua 1 · chapter mention

I think I would like the land, you know, like

from the River Euphrates maybe to the Mediterranean,

and I'll take, you know. Notice that wasn't going

on. God is the one that said, no, this is the

land. First of all, I'm gonna give you the land.

That's the first part of the problem. Next part,

this is what it's gonna be. It's gonna be from

Lebanon down to the Negev. It's gonna be from

the River Euphrates over to the Mediterranean.

And if you ever look at that on a map of the

Bible, you'll understand that is a massive piece

of property. It's huge. Interestingly enough,

I don't think that in all of the time of the

history of Israel, they ever fully possessed

that piece of real estate. They never got that

whole piece of land. If you look it on a map,

they didn't possess all of that. David got real

close, but not all the way to the river of Euphrates.

That's in modern -day Iraq. Didn't get all the

way that far. But God gave him a promise and

said, this is what it is. This is amazing. Can

I just tell you something? I'm gonna hit this

on the second service tomorrow morning. But the

promise of God is always bigger than you think

it is. It's always more expensive. It's always

richer. It's always greater. It's always more

fruitful. It's always more dynamic than you really

think it is. And so one of the things that we're

going to talk about at the second service tomorrow,

I won't jump ahead of myself, but just that,

do you see what God sees? But tonight I want

you to get an understanding that there's the

giving of the promise. This is on God. He does

it. Number two, the second dynamic of promises

is the possessing of the promise. And this is

when there's a promise that's been given, but

then there's the possessing of the promise, and

that is all on you. Yeah, God helps, and He opens

doors, and there's all of those dynamics, which

He does. which He's already committed to since

He gave you the promise. So the possessing of

the promise really is on you. You have to believe

the promise when it's given to you. Can I ask

you, do you still believe the promise even though

it's been a few years? Do you still believe the

word of the Lord to you even though it's been

a while? Do you really believe that God meant

what He said when He said it to you? Do you still

believe? Do you still have it burning in your

heart? Or has it died down a little bit? Or has

it gone down in fervor? Has it dimmed in its

brightness and vision? Has it really burning

brightly in your heart? You've got to believe

it. And another thing is you've got to take action

on it. You've got to, in possessing the promise,

you've got to act. You've actually got to cross

the Jordan River. You really actually got to

go to the city of Jericho. You actually have

to stand there and really begin to go, God, how

do we take this one? And you go to the next city.

How do we take? and how do we do this and how

do we do that? You actually have to do something.

And I'm shocked and amazed at how somebody can

actually receive a promise or I've laid hands

sometimes unfortunately on empty heads and I

have prophesied the word of the Lord and have

only watched as they have sat on that word and

it has gone nowhere because they have gone nowhere.

See the promises of God are not unconditional

to you. Salvation isn't unconditional. It has

a condition. You have to believe, and you have

to repent. If you believe with your heart and

confess with your mouth, then you shall be saved.

That's two conditions. Right? So even being saved

is not unconditional, and there are a lot of

promises that God gives us that are not unconditional.

We have to get off our behind and do something.

We have to actually start activating our faith

not just sitting in our seat and believing I

believe I believe I believe It's like saying

I believe I can fly Let's try it You believe

all you want man you you you've got to have some

other thing that you do about Really believing

that then just sitting there and believing and

yes, I love how we know this you got to also

this is all under possessing But you got to fight

for your Promise you got to fight for your promise.

I mean the devil doesn't want you to have the

promise fulfilled He heard the promise when it

was given how many know that the devil was there

when God was talking to Joshua He heard with

the God said as I was with Moses So I'm with

you and I'm gonna give you the land that I promised

and now you need to go arise and do it He heard

the promise and we're gonna have to fight for

the promise. Then there is number three, which

is really my message tonight, which is really

all about this, and that's number three, and

that's the process of the promise. This is a

part that all of us in this room, we wonder if

we signed up for this. We're like, man, did I

sign up for that? See, I thought the promise

was supposed to be easy. I thought the promise

was supposed to like, God gives the promise and

then we're just supposed to believe it and receive

it and ta -da! There it is. But the process of

the promise, this is both on God and on us because

it involves His timing. It involves His plan.

How many know that God doesn't have a watch strapped

to His wrist? I mean, He sometimes has a calendar

strapped to His wrist. You know, he doesn't keep

track of time. It's like more like in years.

His years tick by. It's like seconds to God.

To us, it's like forever. And he's got all of

these things that he's doing and all these things

that he's working on. He's all these things that

he's putting together in the process of bringing

the promise together. Listen, you would not have

been ready to have this property that you're

on right now 12 years ago. You wouldn't have

been ready for this. There was a process involved

in getting you to this place. And the next place

that God has for you, and the next step in the

journey, and the next thing in the process of

the promise is something different. And you have

to have the faith to get there. And you have

to have the willingness to pay the price there.

By the way, there's always a price involved with

the process. And I'm not talking money. Money's

the easy part for God, actually. Money is the

easy part. What it takes for us is for us to

really believe that He can open doors and He

can really cause favor to come into our life.

Man, I'm at this dead -end job. I have nothing

to give to the vision of the church. Well, do

you believe God for another opportunity, for

another open door? Because maybe that's His work

of faith in you and His promise. There's the

working of God. There's the patience that you

need to have in the process. The book of Hebrews

says that they inherited the promises by faith

and patience. Do we have the patience to wait

on the process of the promise? And then finally,

the process involves our strength and endurance.

Now this is the horse I want to ride right now

In the next couple of minutes I want to just

talk a little bit about strength for the journey

because I know that after a decade or and a couple

years of really going after and impressing hard

and going and I know enough about your pastor

to know that that he presses hard He runs hard.

He works hard. He prays hard It's everything

about him. It's just go, go, go, go, go. I get

tired just being around him. Now listen, this

is really important because you need to recognize

something. That's what it takes for a church

to do what God wants it to do. God sets the leader

in place that He wants so that that person can

lead that church to do what God wants to do.

So He chose the man and woman of God to put here

in this church, to start this church, to give

and gave them the vision to go where this church

and this place needs to go. And God, by the way,

knew a long time ago when some German and Swiss

immigrants moved into the valley that somewhere

down around their line, they would have a seed

that would raise up a church in this city and

in this area that would be for the glory of God

and for the impact of the kingdom of God in this

valley. And so there's a process there, even

in the 1800s. And so it's not an accident that

when God starts to minister and give instructions

to Joshua, he starts out with the two words,

be strong. Be strong. He doesn't say, and by

the way, here's the strategy. He could have started

with that. He could have said, all right, I'm

giving you all this land, cross the river. That

could have been his first instruction, but it

wasn't. There could have been a lot of things

that God could have said to Joshua in the first

moment when he said, okay, now this is what I

want you to do to take the land. And the first

thing he says, is be strong. Because the first

thing that you're gonna lose in possessing your

promise is your strength. So it's the first thing

God addresses when he tells them to go take the

land. Be strong. And I really believe I've been

sent to you by the Lord to tell you this right

out of the gate tonight, right as we start our

little short journey in the next couple days

together is this, be strong. Be strong in vision.

Be strong in faith. Be strong in your passion.

Be strong in your prayers. Be strong in your

commitment. Be strong in your pressing in to

the things of God. Be strong in it. You need

to have the strength of God burning down inside

your heart. You cannot afford to now grow weak.

You can't afford. to now, at this point, become

weary. You can't now, by now, at this point,

afford to become tired or distracted or unfocused

or disconnected. You can't afford to have a bad

attitude. You can't afford to not agree with

the things that are going on. You can't afford

to do that. You can't afford to not be to start

to draw back No, the Bible says my this is what

go the words of God. My soul has no pleasure

in him who draws back This isn't the time to

draw back It's the time to press in if there

was only ever a time for you to press in To the

things that God's wanting to accomplish and build

in this church is now Because I'm telling you

your best days are ahead of you the greatest

fruit is in front of you the greatest accomplishment

is before you and even though there are a lot

of Giants and the cities are tall and this in

the situations are tough and the obstacles are

strong You got to recognize this one thing you

have to be strong Now I got to land the plane

real soon, so I'm just gonna wrap up with these

these important thoughts as we end You have to

be strong for several reasons. Number one, you

gotta be strong because you will be overwhelmed

at the challenge of the promise. God's gonna

give you a promise and he has already, and I

know that the vision that it's burning in your

pastor's heart and the vision that God's given

this church is big enough that it's challenging

and it's sometimes overwhelming to our faith.

We're just like, I don't know, how do we do that?

How is that possible? How in the world can we

accomplish that? Well, you know, when you were

getting into your first building, you were asking

that question. Then you got into this building,

and you were asking that question. You should

be used to it by now. And it's like the disciples,

when they, you know, the 5 ,000 men are there,

along with their women and children, and they're

like, how are we gonna feed all these people?

Jesus says, you guys come up with something to

do. They're like, what? All we got is this. This

is it. This is all we got. We got a happy meal,

man. That's it. And we ain't so happy. And they

are really not happy. Well, just bring it to

me. And he blesses it and he takes what they

had and did a miracle with it. Let me tell you

something. You might be at this place and at

this time and in this season, and you might say,

this is all I got. Well, just give what you got.

This is all the time I can give what you got.

That's all the strength I got. Well, just give

what you got. That's all the money I have and

I don't know I said give what you can and Let

God take what you give and do a miracle with

it Because I'm gonna tell you this the promise

is always bigger than your ability to fulfill

it That's why it came from God because if you

came up with would come up with the promise It

would be something, you know, you could do And

if that was what it was like, it wouldn't take

faith. So it's always, a God -honoring vision

is always only possible with God's intervention.

And so for you, it has to be impossible. Here's

the thing. And this is the deal with number one

here. We get in a situation where we get the

promise and we go, big promise, little me. It's

this big promise, and it's this little old me.

I got news for you. God is a big God. He's the

promise giver. So you have a big promise, even

though it's little old you, you got a bigger

God. Because He's bigger than the promise He

gave you. He gave it to you. He created it, packaged

it. Sent it to you gave it to you and now presented

you with the grace to be able to do it But you've

got to do something man. You've got to believe

God is bigger than the thing you're facing And

you might say promise equals this Promise equal,

but you're also gonna add in the mathematical

equation there. It's the word impossible somewhere

I'm gonna tell you that's what Joshua was facing

Eddie's people standing at the River Jordan,

and they were already there 40 years earlier.

Joshua and Caleb are going, I remember when we

were here last time. It didn't go so well. We

were here last time, it didn't go so well. We

got to believe no big God and they didn't have

their faith diminished at all They were ready

to go they were strong They knew God was big

and even though the promise was big God was bigger

and he is able to do it The second thing I think

is important is that you need to be strong because

you will become weary in possessing your promise

You're gonna get tired of waiting. You're gonna

get tired of You're gonna get tired of working.

You're gonna get tired of pursuing. You're gonna

get tired of believing. You're gonna get tired

of all those things. You're gonna get tired of

fighting. You're gonna get tired of the guys

sitting next to you. You're gonna get tired of

all this stuff. You're gonna get tired of all

this day in, week in, week out. You're gonna

get tired. You're gonna get weary. It's going

to happen. There's a story in 2 Samuel 21, in

verse 15 and 16. It says, once again the Philistines

were at war with Israel. And when David and his

men were in the thick of battle, it says this,

David became weak and exhausted. It says this,

Isbi Banab was a descendant of the giants. and

his bronze spearhead weighed more than seven

pounds, and he was armed with a new sword, he

was ready to break it in. You know what guy better

to break it in on than the guy that killed our

champion Goliath? I'm gonna take care of some

business right now. Draws his new sword out,

he's gonna take David out. David's dead, he's

weak, he's absolutely exhausted. The Bible says

that he cornered David and was about to kill

him. When Abishai the son of Zariah came to David's

rescue and killed the Philistine So even David

the king got tired he's the leader of the whole

thing and he's tired He's exhausted and if it

wasn't for the intervention of one of his key

Warriors, he he could have died that day because

he was Weary he was exhausted. He was tired Be

strong God said because you're gonna get weary

you're gonna run out of gas You're gonna run

out of fuel, but you got to be strong in the

Lord Another third thing is that we need to be

strong because you're gonna face some doubt You

know when God gives you a promise at some point.

You're gonna wonder How it's gonna happen or

you're gonna wonder this Did I really hear? from

God on that I've thought that before I don't

know if you have Have you ever wondered, man,

do we really hear from God on that? I'm in the

middle of planting a church. I left a very successful

church and had two campuses and all, man, things

are going great. Commissioned 40 leaders in the

last year, it was awesome. Then God decides to

send me a word and tell me, arise and leave your

family, leave your country, and leave your father's

house. and go to a land that I will show you.

So then we get down there. We move down there.

We start doing all of the work. We get into it

and we get tired. And I gotta tell you, there's

been a few times when I've gone, man, did I really

hear from God? Or was that just because I had

the chili dog that night before and was down

at the beach praying with some kind of prophetic

indigestion? that turned out to be pathetic hearing.

And you wonder, man, did I hear, did I really,

did I get it? You know, Peter was invited by

Jesus to walk on the water. Remember the story?

I mean, he really, I mean, he's waving at Jesus,

can I play, can I play? And Jesus says, yeah,

come. And so what did he do? He comes out, he

steps out on the water. He kind of gets up, and

sure enough, it's holding him up, and he sticks

his other foot down, and it's holding him up,

and he lets go, and he starts walking toward

Jesus like, wow. Well, we all know the story.

You know, he starts falling, sinking down and

so forth, and then Jesus picks him up, walks

with him back to the boat. This is the thing

he says to Peter. Oh, you of little faith, why

did you doubt? Why did you doubt? We gotta be

strong because at times we're gonna face doubt.

Even though God told us to do it, Jesus did say

come. He did say come. And when Peter, I'm convinced

that when Peter stepped out of the boat that

day, he didn't walk on water, he walked on the

word come. He walked on the word. He was walking

on C -O -M -E. and he was walking on the word

all the way to Jesus, but then he got his eyes

and his focus and his faith off of the word and

he started looking at the wind and the waves,

the circumstances, and he began to go, oh my

God, did I really hear from Jesus? Glug, glug,

glug, glug. And down he went. Why did you doubt?

Be strong because you will doubt. So you've got

to strengthen your faith and you've got to strengthen

your resolve and you've got to strengthen that

Assurance down and deep down deep in your heart

that you know that you know that you know you

heard from God And that's one of the reasons

why and all these dark moments and difficult

times That every pastor faces in leading a church

That's one of the reasons why we don't quit because

we know we heard from God when he told us to

go do that We know, and that friend, that's the

same for you. That's exactly what you need to

do. The rule isn't different for a pastor. It's

the same for you. You just, you gotta know that

you know you heard from God. The fourth thing

we gotta do is we need to be strong because you

will face loneliness. You will face loneliness.

Because you'll feel times in your journey as

a church and your journey as a believer where

you think you're the only one fighting this fight.

You're the only one believing you're the only

one working when you're there and you're setting

up chairs or you're sweeping the floor You're

putting all the instruments back after a concert

And you're the only ones in the building You

can feel pretty lonely That was how many is the

umpteenth time we've done this over the years.

I've lost count. There's no way to keep count

is this How many times a week we do this every

weekend? Tomorrow morning at 8 o 'clock chairs

are gonna be set up piping drapes gonna go up

screens are gonna be thrown up They're gonna

be chairs laid out all this stuff and we've been

doing it for two years over two years two and

a half years And you'll felt you'll feel you'll

feel lonely at times man And you need to be strong

number five because you will face fear you will

face fear The enemy will try to cause you to

be afraid. He will try to bring things into your

path and into your heart and life that will try

to make you afraid. Friend, you cannot give into

fear. Because it's hard, you need the faith of

God to do it. You certainly cannot give into

fear because it will paralyze you in fulfilling

your promise. Well, I'm afraid we will make a

wrong decision I'm afraid how many people do

we know have been paralyzed by make by making

Paralyzed from making a decision because they're

afraid they'll make the wrong decision. So they

make no decision. I See people like that in the

drive -thru window all the time. I'm like my

god. Will you just choose a burger? I'll have

No, never mind, now I'll have, and they don't

say it, they do it, but they, out loud, they

change their mind. No, I've changed my mind.

I'll have a number four. No, no, I'll have, no,

I'll have a, and they do it again, and they do

it again. It's like, oh, phew. Jesus. And I call

the intercessors, please pray for the person

in front of me. They need deliverance. Spirit

of confusion is in that car. So to that, please,

God, make them change their mind. Sometimes I

wanna just bump them up a little bit and say,

I'll order for ya. I'll even pay for your meal,

just move it. But we won't do anything because

we're too afraid of making the wrong decision.

I don't wanna mess up. Or how about this, I'm

afraid to fail. Because if I get out there and

I do it, what if I fall on my face and it just

doesn't work? And I blow it. Some of you might

be wondering about getting into a different line

of work or taking another's risk, but you're

too afraid to fail. Maybe it's too late in the

game for you. That was one of the questions I

had when I went to Phoenix, was maybe I'm just

too old to do this. You can either stay where

you are or you'll live the rest of your life

going what if. What if I believed God? What if

I would have taken the risk? What if I would

have taken a step of faith? What if I would have

went out there and done, what if God would have

shown up? And you'll never know because you're

paralyzed by fear. And you let fear ruin the

day instead of faith. and instead of allowing

the strength of faith to help you press past

your fear, and you'll stay stuck in mediocrity,

you'll stay stuck in average, you'll stay stuck

at your plateau, and you won't go to the next

level that God has for you to go to, because

you are afraid. That's why God said, be strong.

first And I just want to say to you by the by

the word of the Lord tonight that this is not

a time for you To be tired. This is not a time

for you to grow weary This is not a time for

you to allow your heart to shrink back in fear

You want you need to rise up and say God I embrace

the call and the plan and the purpose of God

in a spirit of strength And I'm not going to

be weary, and I'm not going to allow myself to

be discouraged, and I'm not going to allow myself

to grow weak, I'm not going to allow myself to

be overwhelmed by the tiredness and fatigue of

always pursuing the vision, and the constant

press, and the constant going for it. You've

got to be able to say, God, give me the strength

that I need to do what you called me to do. Because

God knows you don't have the strength in yourself,

and that at some point you will become weak.

The apostle Paul knew this, and that's why he

boldly declared that in my weakness, his strength

is made what? Perfect. When I'm weak, then he

is strong. Paul believed. That's how he lived,

and that's how he could do what he could do.

Friend, in this church, and I wanna say this

to Life Bible Church tonight, you will do what

God called you to do because you are committed

to being strong. You're gonna live in the strength

of God. You're gonna follow in the strength of

God. You're gonna pursue in the strength of God.

You're gonna stand in faith, even though when

the battle's hot, even though when life is demanding,

even though when the burden is pressing, you

will be strong. In 2 Samuel 3, 39, when David

received the news of the death of Abner, this

is what he said. This is a quote of King David.

You think about David, how strong he was. This

is what he says. I am weak today, though I'm

anointed king. I'm weak today, though I'm anointed

king. I believe a fresh anointing of strength

is coming to this house so that you can do what

God's called you to do. And Jennifer and Brad,

would you just come here for a moment? Jennifer,

by the Spirit, already knew I was gonna call

on her, so she was heading up here. But I just

want to speak to you today by the Lord and just

encourage you today. I really believe in my spirit.

that you celebrate how God has brought you to

this place. But I believe there's been a demand

that has been upon you and the mantle has become

heavy at times. And I just believe that there

has been a... even though you're press and sometimes

you're just like this, you have the strength

of an ox in your emotion and spirit, but at the

same time, there's that sucking of strength out

of you by the vision and the ministry and everything.

But I just say by the word of the Lord, even

as David said, I am weak today, even though I'm

king. And I believe that you're in a season where

you would say to the Lord, I'm weak today, even

though I'm pastor. Even though I'm leading this

thing I'm weak But I just tell you the spirit

of the Lord is on me to say that you are gonna

come under a new anointing of strength Even tonight

I put my hand upon you says the Lord and you're

gonna rise out from this hour and you're gonna

rise out of this season with a new level of strength

and a new level of anointing and the power of

God is gonna come upon you and the Holy Spirit

of the Most High is gonna overshadow you and

then even in the night seasons you're gonna have

supernatural rest says the Lord and I'm gonna

bring upon you a time and a season where you're

gonna be refreshed under the presence of the

Lord and even the physical things that have been

attacking you the things that have been coming

against you physically things that have been

draining on you there's been some different issues

you haven't really shared some things with others

you've been keeping them to yourselves things

that we have to do with insomnia things that

have to do with with a certain physical issues

to kind of manifest themselves because of the

weariness and the weakness that has come upon

you. I'm going to touch your body says the Lord

and in the moment of my strength I'm going to

cause the strength of heaven to rest on you and

the two of you are going to rise up as though

you have a reversal of age. It's almost as though

you're going to be years younger because of the

refreshing and the renewing of strength that

God has put upon your heart and upon your life.

The times you thought to yourself, man, I don't

know, am I going to be able to run this thing

to its full course? And I tell you tonight, by

the Spirit of the Lord, that God is going to

renew you. Oh man, as you wait on the Lord, you

will renew your strength, and you will mount

up with wings as eagles, and you will run and

not grow weary, and you will walk and not faint.

I'm going to put a spirit of strength in you

and I'm going to energize you. You're going to

go beyond what people perceive in the natural

and the strength that you have will be a supernatural

level of strength that you will run under and

you will run in. I'm going to restore to you

the joy of the ministry. And I'm going to cause

a joy to come into you. There's been a thievery.

by the enemy to steal. As you have labored and

you've begun to then now labor out of a, I don't

say negativity, that's not the right word, but

there's almost this joy that has kind of left

you and God's gonna restore it back to you. I

see you humming and singing. The song of the

work of the Lord is gone. You've had the song

of praise, but not the song of work. It's that

thing where, It's like I have this vision of

the, you know, snow, the seven dwarfs, you know?

Whistle while we work. You know? And I kind of

see that upon you. It's just like you're... They're

going to sing while you work, and then the day

is going to go by, and bam. It's just like, wow,

what happened? And it's just the rejuvenation

is going to come unto your heart and to your

life. I believe by the Spirit of the Lord that

God is going to add to your numbers leaders,

and they're going to come, and they're going

to come alongside of you and take the burden

from you. They're here to give yourself to training

up captains of tens, and captains of fifties,

and captains of hundreds, and take what the Lord

has put in you in vision. Commitment to the things

of the kingdom and the things of church building

and pass it on to others Be a man who continues

to do that. You need to let go says the Lord

of things that are really They're like pencils

on the desk. They're things that you should not

be looking at or focused on. You should be thinking

about the bigger things of the ministry. Delegate,

says the Lord. Let your hands go and pass off

the pencil to the guy who can go sharpen it.

Why are you sharpening the pencil? I'm gonna

give you a mind that's gonna strategize for the

development of key layers of leadership in the

house and I'm gonna give you you already have

a pretty strategic mind, but you've been bogged

down and that mind has become somewhat limited

by the minutia of ministry and I'm gonna cause

that minutia to fall out of you as you raise

up leaders and you begin to delegate you're gonna

watch as God then causes you to have a mindset

that lives that thinks beyond the minutia of

the moment and into the the magnitude of the

future and the mission. You're gonna think about

the magnitude of the mission and not the minutiae

of the moment. You're gonna go beyond what is

really in your hand and you're gonna think about

what's in my heart. And you're gonna see with

eyes that I see the two of you are gonna stand

and you're gonna cast vision again with faith

and strength and you're gonna dream bigger again,

you're gonna dream again. Oh, I'm not done. I'm

not giving you dreams, I'm not done giving you

visions. I'm gonna increase in the days that

are ahead even opportunities for you to have

more of an apostolic anointing and you're gonna

have a voice not only here but in regions beyond

and nations beyond. But hear the word of the

Lord. You must be strong to do what I have called

you to do. And in this hour, I'm gonna set my

hand upon you and you will be restored in your

soul and body and you will run with a strength

and a pace that you have not known for 10 or

15 years. You're gonna know what it is to run

unencumbered. You're gonna know what it is to

walk and to go in the direction and the way that

you should go. I'm gonna give you a clarity of

mind, and I'm gonna help prioritize things in

your heart, and I'm gonna give the two of you

an ability to raise up other men and women in

an accelerated fashion. Now just speak to your

heart and your mind by the Spirit of the Lord

that you would begin to think on another level.

You would think like an equiper. You would think

on a whole other level. I loose the apostolic

anointing upon your heart and your mind that

you would be entering into a new season of authority

and a new season of multitasking, of doing more

with what you have. And I'm going to set upon

the people of this house and the leaders of this

house a new level of strength and a new level

of anointing. Today, I pop out the capacity of

your heart. I pop out the capacity of your soul.

I pop out the capacity of your spirit. And in

so doing, I go down through every level of leadership

in this house and I expand them in the name of

Jesus. If you're a leader in any way in this

room tonight, I want you to stand to your feet.

If you lead in any way, I don't care if you're

in charge of the broom closet. Please stand up.

You've got any kind of leadership on you at all.

Why don't you lift up your hands? How many are

ready to receive an expansion of capacity? Because

there's going to be a demand that must be placed

on you so that the demand on them can grow. The

demand on you, you need to step up. You need

to be able to handle more. And it all has to

be with a good spirit and a good attitude. And

you've got to be able to say with a spirit of

submission and teamwork, I'm going to do another

thing. I'm going to say yes to some more. I'm

going to ask God to strengthen me, give me the

capacity to do it. Father I pray for every person

in this room and I prophesy an expansion to them

and their personal and their spiritual capacity

now in Jesus name that they would begin to think

differently They'd begin to lead differently.

They'd begin to walk differently. They'd begin

to minister differently There'd be a new level

of grace a new level of authority a new level

of responsibility and a new capacity to do what

you are calling them to do as they step up into

other levels and other areas and and you begin

to help them. And I pray that strength be upon

them tonight in Jesus' name. Now can we all just

stand to our feet. If you're here tonight and

you would say, Mark, I need to be stronger. I

know that I'm in a moment and the promise of

God to me has been very clear. But I've allowed

my faith to grow weak. I've allowed maybe my

stamina to grow weak. I've allowed my patience

to be short. I've allowed whatever it is. You've

allowed. You need strength to come in to strengthen

yourself so you can seize the promise of God,

not only for this house, but for your life personally.

If that's you, and you need the strength of God,

and you know that in order to do it and to see

it, in this promise, you need that strength to

go to the next level. Raise your hand right now.

Father, I pray in the name of Jesus for every

person with their hand up. These are people that

are next level people. These are people that

are going to go to another level. They're going

to go to another realm. They're going to experience

another level of breakout. They're going to experience

another level of breakthrough. They're going

to experience another level of grace in their

life. They're going to see the next step toward

that promise being fulfilled happen because now

they are going to receive from you strength from

the Most High God. And I pray now would be upon

their life a strength and a rejuvenation like

they've never known before. I pray for an impartation

upon the people of this church. I pray for an

infusion into the vision and the heartbeat of

this church. That they would not grow weary and

well -doing, but they would be strong in the

Lord and in the power of His might. And tonight,

that upon this church, whether everybody's here

tonight or not, whether they're out in the woods

hunting or whether they're in this room tonight

with their hand up, I pray that your strength

would come upon them and you would energize this

church and it would go to another level and it

would go to another realm. and it would go to

another dimension and you would help us step

in to the destiny in the future that you have

for us to seize and to accomplish. We receive

by faith your strength tonight. We will be strong.

We will not be weary. We will not go silently

out of the promise. We will stand and contend

for our future in God and we will be strong in

the Lord and in the power of His might. Strengthen

me tonight in Jesus name come on everybody in

agreement with this said amen amen God bless

you Thank you so much I Mean that from the bottom

of my heart. Thank you. I know the Lord sent

you with that I might have to listen to that

several times just to grasp the fullness of it,

but what you don't know is that was the verse

that the Lord gave me. Joshua 1, 5 through 7,

when I first started this, he says, from the

great river all the way to Lebanon, as it says

in the New American Standard, to the great sea,

the river will be yours. in every place that

you put your foot. I'm gonna give you your father's

inheritance. And I didn't know, just found out,

you know, just in some of this stuff, even doing

this 12 years, I didn't know some of my own family

history of what they came in this nation or in

this valley to do 100 plus years ago. I had no

idea. And so for you to just pick that up by

the Spirit of the Lord and... To prophesy that,

have no knowledge of it. You know, those are

the kind of things that you know the Word of

the Lord comes and just pins a certain time and

a certain season in the life of a church and

the life of a leader. Thank you. Father, I ask

now. I ask, Lord, that we would just, that You

would seal these words in our heart. that strength

that comes from your throne, from the Lamb and

from the very center of our God would come to

our hearts. As Paul said about the armor and

about the very Spirit of the Lord, be strong

in the Lord and the power of His might. Let that

seal, Lord, just like a fresh rubber gasket.

Lord, there be a seeding action that would take

place in the capacity of our soul that it would

contain the strength of God. We speak that now

over your people. We thank you, Holy Spirit.

We bless your church, everyone. Bless Mark Cargill,

his family, the church plant in Gilbert, Arizona.

In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. God bless you. Have

a wonderful evening. Maybe we'll see some of

you back tomorrow in the morning for round two

and three. God bless you. We'll talk to you soon.