Sermon

The King is Here | Ps. Keith Pittman

Celebration Church Orlando

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  1. Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

  2. Thank you for joining us.

  3. To learn more about Celebration Orlando, a church devoted to reaching the lost, equipping the found, and helping the hurting, follow us on social media using the handle at celebrationorl or visit our website, celebrationorl.org.

  4. Let me let me get into this Bible before we turn up in here.

  5. I want you to stay exactly where you are, but if you have your Bibles, I would love for you to join me in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 21.

    Matthew 21 chapter mention

  6. The Gospel of Matthew, chapter 21.

    Matthew 21 chapter mention

  7. If you don't have your Bibles with you, it's perfectly okay.

  8. It's gonna come up on the screens in just a moment.

  9. But as Pastor Nate alluded to earlier, we are celebrating the kickoff of Holy Week.

  10. And it starts with Palm Sunday.

  11. And I recognize that there's many traditions and backgrounds and cultures that are in here.

  12. So maybe we're familiar with the concept of Palm Sunday.

  13. Maybe you came from a church tradition where there were literal palms waving.

  14. I know that's what I came from at that time.

  15. Um, but it's ultimately a moment that we celebrate the process of Jesus going to the cross so that we can sing the songs that we just got finished singing.

  16. But as a body of believers, we like to immerse ourselves in the reality of the stories of Christ and making sure that we can truly understand what it was like to be firsthand witnesses to it.

  17. So we get a chance to do that through his word.

  18. And so Matthew chapter 21 gives us a glimpse into what Palm Sunday looks like.

    Matthew 21 chapter mention

  19. Starting here at verse number one, it says this Now, when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphagia to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied in a cult with her.

  20. Untie them and bring them to me.

  21. And if anyone asks you, you shall say, The Lord needs them, and he will send them at once.

  22. This took place to fulfill which was spoken by the prophets, saying to the Lord, to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your king is coming to you humble and mounted on a donkey, on a cult, the foil of a beast of burden.

  23. The disciples went and did as Jesus directed them.

  24. If you do have a Bible, I definitely want you to highlight and underline that passage.

  25. The disciples went and did as Jesus directed them.

  26. And they brought the donkey and the cult and put their cloaks and he sat upon them.

  27. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and the others, the branches from the trees, and spread them across the road.

  28. And the crowds that went before him and followed him were shouting, Hosanna to the Son of David.

  29. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

  30. Hosanna and the highest.

  31. And when they entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, Who is this?

  32. And the crowd said, This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee.

  33. What I want to do now is skip over to the gospel of Luke, chapter 19.

    Luke 19 chapter mention

  34. And Luke and Matthew both give an account of this, but naturally, if you have two different people tell a story, some may focus a little bit more on certain details than others.

  35. But I love what Luke's account says.

  36. We're not going to read the passage in its entirety, but I do want to go back to Luke 19, verse number 37.

  37. And it says this, and as he was drawing near, already on his way down the Mount of Olives, a whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the works they had seen, saying, Blessed is he who is the king who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest.

  38. And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, Teacher, rebuke your disciples.

  39. And he answered, I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.

  40. I I want to talk to us for a couple of moments about Palm Sunday, but specifically, what do we do when Jesus enters the room?

  41. If you're taking notes, and I hope that you are, I want to enter us into a moment of prayer, but I've entitled today's message The King is here.

  42. Let's pray and let's see what it is that God wants to speak to us.

  43. Lord, we thank you so much for your faithfulness.

  44. We thank you for your grace.

  45. We thank you for your mercy.

  46. We thank you for your visitation.

  47. God, I ask over the next few moments that you give us open eyes to see you, open ears to hear you, and open hearts to receive everything that you have for us.

  48. God, I decrease and ask for you to increase, and I pray that you transform this entire space in Jesus' name.

  49. Amen.

  50. Amen.

  51. Amen.

  52. As you're taking your seats, turn to somebody and say the king is here.

  53. Turn to somebody else that you ignored and tell them that the king is here.

  54. The king is indeed here.

  55. You know, living in Orlando for the past several years, but also just visiting Orlando over the years, I recognize that we have the incredible privilege of sitting on the front row of many amazing experiences.

  56. My family and I, we are we are big fans of amusement parks.

  57. I remember when my kids were much younger, going to Universal Studios and going to Disney and watching people have these experiences for the first time has been absolutely incredible.

  58. Recently, my family and I we went to Disney and the parade was about to take place.

  59. And the thing that I found so fascinating about this parade as it was taking place is that it was a hot day, as you can imagine.

  60. It's Florida after all.

  61. And what I recognize almost in concert format is that people that were once miserable, people that were once uncomfortable with the heat, people who were doing their best to try to silence and and help their kids compose themselves, the moment that the parade started, the crowd collectively lost their minds.

  62. Because what you saw were people who had traveled here from all parts of the world to come just for this moment to get a glimpse of a character.

  63. And there was this one kid that was in front of us and he was so miserable and he was so unhappy.

  64. And I remember as we were watching this kid have this meltdown, my son Caleb looked at me and said, This is why I don't know if I want to have kids.

  65. Like it was one of those things where you like, yo, like if this is what we're signing up for, I'm not sure if I'm ready for this in the future.

  66. But then at the same time, the moment that that same kid who was losing his mind saw his favorite character, there was a major shift in his behavior.

  67. The moment that he linked eyes with this character, he lost his mind.

  68. The popcorn that he had in his hand, he threw it into the air.

  69. He began to yell out and scream his name over and over again.

  70. And when that character even looked in his direction, it was like back in the 80s when people saw Michael Jackson, he just fainted.

  71. Like it was like it was unreal to simply watch how his behavior shifted from one moment to the next because he got a glimpse of a fictional character.

  72. It was amazing to see how his attitude had shifted so drastically when he saw this character who, if I could be honest with you, doesn't even know his name.

  73. It makes me wonder how is it possible that sometimes those who were redeemed by God are often limiting their response to his presence and connecting it to their personality?

  74. My personality is one that I'm pretty much chill.

  75. But I can also recognize that many of us who have chill personalities know how to be expressive when it's something we're passionate about.

  76. I am very much a hands-in-a-bocket, chill type guy.

  77. That is definitely my personality, my temperament.

  78. But when the Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl, did I mention that the Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl?

  79. I gotta tell you, if you were in my house, I was running laps around my house.

  80. You couldn't contain me because of the excitement that I saw when Jalen Hurts and the team secured and brutally defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in such a way that they were demoralized and they probably shouldn't play anymore.

  81. I was so excited to witness this firsthand.

  82. And then God began to press upon my heart.

  83. If you can respond to a character that doesn't know your name, how much more should your response be to the one who knows every single hair that is on your head?

  84. How much more should you respond that when I went to the cross I had you in mind?

  85. How much more should you respond when you recognize that I am the one who orchestrated your life?

  86. My friends, I want us to recognize that worship is not based off a personality, it's based off a posture.

  87. And when you have a posture that understands the goodness of God, it compels us to have an adequate response to it.

  88. The Bible tells us that as Jesus was entering into Jerusalem, he was setting the stage for his entry and in preparation for him to go to the cross.

  89. And there was this moment when he is talking with his disciples and he says to them, Hey, listen, I want you guys to go ahead of me and I want you to grab a cult, a donkey, and bring it to me.

  90. And if anyone asks you anything about it, just simply say the Lord needs it and it's all gonna be okay.

  91. Let's let's pause here for a moment.

  92. Because Jesus basically just showed us the first instance of Uber.

  93. He says, I want to secure this donkey in the future, and I want you to bring it to me.

  94. And if anybody asks a question, just tell them, hey man, it's cool.

  95. Jesus said it was alright.

  96. Now, I don't know what the disciples' personalities and temperaments were, but when I do read scripture, I do like to put my personality into it.

  97. Not to change the narrative, but try to think about how I would respond if I was given those same instructions.

  98. Now, for me, I like to get as much information as possible.

  99. Hey, I want you to go and get this donkey.

  100. Let me put this in modern terms.

  101. Hey, we're going into Orlando, and I want you to go into this neighborhood, and you're gonna see this Mercedes-Benz in the front yard.

  102. The keys are already in it.

  103. Just go ahead and hop in there, and if anybody says anything, say that Jesus said it was okay.

  104. I am a faith-filled person, and I'm gonna say, Jesus, you're gonna have to come with me on this one.

  105. I I hear what you're saying, Lord, but you don't understand the context.

  106. We're in Florida.

  107. Everybody got guns.

  108. Like, I don't, I don't, I don't want to beat you to the cross.

  109. Like, so I'm trying to make sure.

  110. Can I be real in church for a minute?

  111. I need you to be resurrected before I die.

  112. Like, I need to make sure that my spot is secure.

  113. Um, that's what I need to make sure of, Lord.

  114. So, so Lord, can can you go with me?

  115. But what the Bible says is that the disciples went and did what Jesus said so.

  116. And when they went, the Bible tells us that it was exactly as Jesus said it would be.

  117. Let's put this together.

  118. The disciples went and did exactly what Jesus said, and when they went and did what Jesus said, they saw what Jesus said they would see.

  119. I wonder what we would see if we just did what Jesus said.

  120. I wonder the things that we could experience if when God gives us one of these instructions that sometimes feel uncomfortable, we stepped out and did it anyway.

  121. Let me let me step a little further into this pool.

  122. When God gives us instructions and said, Hey, I know that they did you wrong, but I want you to reach out to them and you apologize first.

  123. I I know that you don't have a lot of resources in your account, but I want you to sew into this particular experience.

  124. I wonder what would happen if we actually began to do the things that Jesus said we should do.

  125. I believe that many times that the reason why self-help is so popular is because it's trying to lead us to outcomes without necessarily having a life of surrender.

  126. But I believe that there's moments in scripture where God is compelling us that if you can just do what I'm telling you to do, it will change what you will see.

  127. In other words, let me stop expecting biblical results if I'm not gonna follow biblical instructions.

  128. The Bible tells us of a man called Naaman.

  129. And Naaman came into this community because he had leprosy and he heard that the prophet could heal him.

  130. But when he came into the community, the prophet said, Hey, you don't even need to see me.

  131. Just go and dip yourself in the water seven times and you're gonna be healed.

  132. Naaman was like, Bro, do you even know my status in life?

  133. What do you mean I need to go dip myself in the water seven times?

  134. I have cleaner water back in my neighborhood.

  135. Why can't you just come out here and do what I need you to do?

  136. In other words, I need this miracle from God to be on my terms.

  137. But his servant, who was full of wisdom, said, Hey, we've already come so far, what's the worst that could happen?

  138. And the Bible says that Naaman went and he dipped himself seven times in the water as he was instructed, and it was there that he got his breakthrough.

  139. I wonder if the thing that is hindering us from getting our breakthrough is our very own obedience.

  140. And every week we come to church saying, God, why haven't you done it yet?

  141. Why haven't you done it yet?

  142. And God's response is, Why haven't you done it yet?

  143. Why haven't you done the thing that I told you to do?

  144. Because your breakthrough may be on the other side of your obedience.

  145. The Bible tells us that the men went and they did what Jesus told them to do when they saw what Jesus said they would see.

  146. And when they came back with the donkey, scripture tells us that everybody was so excited.

  147. They were so excited that they took off their coats and laid them on the ground.

  148. This was symbolic of saying that we're putting ourselves under the submission of a king.

  149. They took those palm branches and began to wave them, which is a way that you would enter and worship and celebrate a king coming back from a conquering journey.

  150. It was all filled with all of the symbolism that was communicating that Jesus, we recognize you as Lord.

  151. And then they shouted out, Hosanna.

  152. Hosanna, Lord, save us, save now.

  153. This was a this was a cry of the heart, but also a plea.

  154. Likely pulled from Psalm 118 where it says, I called the Lord in my distress, and he answered.

  155. It was a cry of praise, but it was also a cry of recognizing that the same way that you liberated our ancestors is the same way we believe that you will liberate us.

  156. I believe, family, that the king is here with us right now.

  157. I believe that he is in our midst right now, and I believe that we can learn something from the ancient ones who came before us.

  158. And if we can have a biblical response, I believe we can begin to experience biblical results.

  159. I got two thoughts that I want you to write down, and we're gonna go back into uh a moment of worship.

  160. But the first thing I want you to write down is that when the king is in the room, is we need to recognize the king.

  161. We need to first recognize the king.

  162. Scripture says that when Jesus came into the community, that people began to ask, Who is this?

  163. Now, what you have to understand the context of that question was connected to that they were entering into the week of Passover, a very sacred time for the Jews.

  164. It's even sacred for us as Christians who are an extension and built upon the foundation of that.

  165. But what ultimately what was happening is that you had pilgrims literally from all over the world that were all coming back to Jerusalem to honor Passover.

  166. So there are a ton of people that were there that were completely unfamiliar with the ministry of Jesus because there was no such thing as going viral, there was no such thing as social media, so there was only people who were there and they didn't understand what all of this excitement was about.

  167. And I think the truth of the matter is, in spite of the technological advances and the things that we have access to today, there's many of us, even now, still say, Who's Jesus?

  168. What's the big deal about him?

  169. Why why do I really need to orient my life around him?

  170. Why do I need to come to church?

  171. What is that really all about?

  172. Who is Jesus?

  173. Who is he?

  174. What does it even matter?

  175. But I believe the response from the community should be our response as well.

  176. The text tells us that there was a couple of different responses from the community at that time, and I'll I'll break them down into three simple buckets.

  177. First, they were like, Oh man, this is a prophet.

  178. The ministry of a prophet is one of the things that Jesus has.

  179. That means that he speaks on behalf of God.

  180. Others were saying, Man, he he's a priest.

  181. Priests are the ones who are the facilitators of God's grace, but then there were others who said that he is king.

  182. When you look at the scholars, they often break the ministry down into three buckets prophet, priest, and king.

  183. He's the fulfillment of the Old Testament.

  184. So he speaks on behalf of God, he distributes grace, but he also sits on the throne.

  185. He is the king.

  186. And when we recognize that Jesus is king, it's not recognizing him like, oh, I recognize him, I know his facial structure, but it's more so like I recognize his authority in my life.

  187. I recognize that he has the final say.

  188. I recognize that when he says something, I need to come into alignment with it.

  189. Recognizing that he is the king means that I have to then have loyalty to that king.

  190. Because when Jesus is the king, that means that there's a kingdom, and that means there's subjects in that kingdom.

  191. That is us.

  192. And what we recognize is that every king has an expectation of loyalty from their subjects.

  193. That means that I don't recognize anyone else to be the king of my heart.

  194. I don't recognize anyone else to be the king of my life.

  195. I don't recognize anyone else to be the king of my home.

  196. I don't recognize anything else to be the king of the way that I function.

  197. I think many of us come to church on Sundays and say, Lord, you are the king of my Sundays, but you're not the king of my decisions on Monday.

  198. You you are the king of this area of my life, but but not necessarily this area of my life.

  199. But I've heard it said once by an old Baptist preacher, and I'm gonna stick with it.

  200. Either Jesus is Lord of all or he's not Lord of all at all.

  201. We have to make a decision as to whether or not we are going to recognize that Jesus is king.

  202. And recognizing Jesus as king means we have to recognize him on his terms.

  203. Because the reality of it is, as Jesus was coming into that community, people had expectations of the Messiah.

  204. They were expecting him to be a political figure, they were expecting him to overthrow Rome.

  205. But Jesus comes in on a donkey, he comes in in a posture of humility, he comes in at a pace that will invite other people to experience his love.

  206. Imagine that.

  207. That when Jesus shows up, he may show up in your life in a way that you're not expecting.

  208. He may show up in your life in a way that doesn't meet your expectations, but can you still recognize that he is king?

  209. The community said we recognize that he is king, and then from that recognition, there's only one other thing we can do, and that is we respond with worship.

  210. That's the only fitting response when a king enters into a room.

  211. The Bible says that as Jesus was entering into the space, that everybody was making a scene, that the place was stirred up as they were trying to consider who this man was.

  212. It says that the disciples were worshiping Jesus because of the things they had saw.

  213. Let me let me let me pause here for a minute.

  214. Just give me a minute here.

  215. This Bible says that they were worshiping Jesus because of the things they had seen.

  216. The disciples had seen many things in their times of walking alongside Jesus.

  217. They seen blind eyes open, they seen people get healed.

  218. But let's break it down within the past month of the things that the disciples had seen.

  219. The Bible tells us the story of when Jesus was making his way into Jerusalem, that he first made a pit stop in Jericho, which was the promised land that we hear about in the Old Testament.

  220. And as he was entering into Jericho, there was a man at the city gates.

  221. His name is Blind Bartimaeus.

  222. What you need to understand about blind Bartimaeus is that he was literally born blind.

  223. That means that from the time of birth, he's never been able to see.

  224. He was born blind.

  225. He was sitting in the promised land, but he was too blind to see it.

  226. It's possible to be sitting in the promises of God and were too blind to even recognize it.

  227. So blind Bartimaeus, when he heard that Jesus was in the vicinity, he began to lift up his voice and say, Son of David, have mercy on me.

  228. What he was ultimately saying is that I know that Jesus is here.

  229. This is a time of visitation, and even though I was born this way, I believe that Jesus is the solution that can transform my entire situation.

  230. But the scripture also says that the disciples said, You're being a distraction, you're being too loud, it don't take all of that.

  231. Have you ever been in a space where you're just trying to pursue the things of God and there are some things around you that's telling you that you need to pipe down?

  232. But blind Bartimaeus began to lift his voice even more.

  233. His entire life, he was known as blind Bartimaeus, begging for resources for people, that his affliction literally became his identity.

  234. Am I talking to anybody out here?

  235. That when your people know you for your brokenness, they know you for your flaws, they know you for your pain.

  236. But he had one encounter with Jesus and they can no longer call him blind Bartimaeus because I'm not blind anymore.

  237. I had an encounter with God and I am set free.

  238. I don't know who.

  239. I'm talking to right now, but maybe people know you for what you did or who you were.

  240. But when you have an encounter with God, that is no longer who you are, I am made new by the blood of Jesus, and I have been made born again.

  241. So the Bible tells us that they saw blind Barnabaius receive his sight, and that created some momentum.

  242. It also tells us that as Jesus was making his way there, that he made a pit stop in an area near Bethany, which is where Lazarus had just died.

  243. This is all within one month.

  244. And when the Bible says Jesus arrived there, that Lazarus had been stinking in the grave for four days.

  245. But he said, Remove the gravestones, and he called the dead man to come out.

  246. This was all the momentum that was going into it.

  247. I'm not sure if something in your life has been buried for days and weeks and years, and it seems that there's no chance of recovery.

  248. But when Jesus calls you by name and tells you to come out, there's a resurrection power that's made available to us.

  249. So the Bible says that Lazarus came out, and then from that moment forward the crowd grew bigger.

  250. So when Jesus enters into Jerusalem, that's the momentum that's coming there.

  251. And so when people are aware that blind eyes are open, they can't help but to praise.

  252. When they recognize that dead things come to life, they can't help but to praise.

  253. And it was not contained with a personality or a preference, it was a response to recognizing that the king of glory is here.

  254. But wouldn't you know it?

  255. Wouldn't you know it?

  256. The Pharisees were doing their job.

  257. What are you doing letting them worship you like that?

  258. Why are they so loud?

  259. Why they got their hands lifted up?

  260. What are they so excited about?

  261. I don't take all of that.

  262. Once again, they're trying to shut down praise, and Jesus brilliantly says, Let me tell you something.

  263. If they held their praise, the very rocks would give me glory.

  264. This was not Jesus speaking hyperbole, but this was him speaking facts.

  265. The Bible tells us in Psalm 118 that all of creation was made in the glory of God.

  266. The Bible tells us that heavens are the work of God's penmanship and that their very existence is a reflection of the glory of God.

  267. The Bible says in Isaiah 55 that the very structure of the mountains are like hands reaching out to the heavens, giving God praise.

  268. The Bible tells us that when we hear the sounds of the ocean, that is literally the waters giving God praise.

  269. What Jesus was saying is that all of creation gives me glory and honor and praise.

  270. And so if you don't do it, then these rocks will do it because even they recognize my omnipotent power.

  271. Jesus was simply saying, even when we look at the earth's condition, the very fact that it's fine-tuned in such a precise way that only allows for life to exist, that is the very evidence that there must be a God because there's not been another atmosphere that could be conducive to it.

  272. What God was simply saying is that creation itself, your very breath in your lungs is evidence of my goodness.

  273. So when you give me praise, you are simply giving me my breath back.

  274. When you give me praise, you're giving me the glory that I gave to you.

  275. What God is communicating to us is I want you to recognize that if you hold your silence, I have other things to give me glory.

  276. But because you are made in my image, you are the one entity that I give you the choice to give me praise.

  277. And what scripture says is that as Jesus is having this conversation with these men, he's saying to them that if all of creation is going to give me praise, then so should you.

  278. And I believe that that should be the cry of our hearts, family.

  279. That if mountains can give God praise, then so will I.

  280. That if oceans can give God praise, then so will I.

  281. If the stars shine, give God praise, then so will I.

  282. If even flowers are designed to grow in the direction of the sun to give him praise, then so will I.

  283. That if the dawn's chorus is united in worshiping God, then I'm gonna add my voice to that chorus.

  284. Whatever creation is doing, so will I, because I am competitive enough to say, I'm not gonna rock, outpraise me.

  285. I'm not gonna let any creation outpraise me.

  286. I recognize Jesus for what he's done, and there will always be a response to it.

  287. But even after Jesus does this, the scripture tells us that he goes in and he weeps.

  288. There's a moment where he cries.

  289. And when he cries, he says that even though there was such a tremendous outpouring of praise and worship, there were so many who didn't get it.

  290. They missed their time of visitation.

  291. It's possible for the very presence of God to be in our midst, and we can miss our time of visitation.

  292. It's possible for the very glory of God to be amongst us, and we can see people responding to it, and we don't experience it for ourselves because we missed our time of visitation.

  293. Family and friends, I don't know what obstacles you're facing, but I truly believe that God is in our midst, and when we recognize him as King and we begin to respond with worship, he inhabits our praise in such a way that it has the ability to transform everything.

  294. Worship is not a personality, it's a posture.

  295. And when we recognize the king is in the room, it is incumbent upon us to respond appropriately.

  296. I want us to go back into worship.

  297. I'm gonna ask the worship team to come and join us, but I want to I want to speak to something very specific before we do this.

  298. This past week, I would say even maybe the past two weeks, I've I've personally felt like man, like we are by we I mean collectively our community, but let me speak for myself.

  299. Like that I'm just in the midst of some spiritual warfare.

  300. I'm not sure if anybody can relate to that.

  301. And when I say spiritual warfare, I'm talking about just resistance.

  302. Like if we think about when you get into an ocean and they're talking about a current, this almost invisible power that seems to be pulling you in a different direction.

  303. That's often spiritual warfare.

  304. And the way it presents itself is by everyday practical things in our life.

  305. It could be a circumstance at home, it could be dynamics at your job, it could be just a series of things that on the surface just looks like this is just life, but we don't recognize that it's it's spiritual wickedness in high places trying to pull us away from the glory and the presence of God.

  306. And I've noticed, man, over the past probably two weeks, I mean, I feel it all the time, but over the past two weeks, I've I've felt it more.

  307. I've I've seen so many people in our church that are going through significant hardship, people that are going into the hospital, people on our staff going through difficult times, even me personally wrestling with some things.

  308. And I began to recognize that we wrestle not against flesh and blood.

  309. These are not things that need a practical, logical solution, but these are things that we need to respond in the same way that the enemy brings it in.

  310. That is spiritually.

  311. We need to have a moment of prayer, we need to have a moment of praise.

  312. And so I don't know if that's if that's you.

  313. If you've been feeling a sense of just resistance, just opposition, just attacks, and and maybe some of this language is a little off to you, but you just know that there's just been a drift or something that just seems to be resisting everything that you're trying to do to honor God.

  314. There seems to be resistance.

  315. Am I alone?

  316. Am I talking to anybody in here?

  317. Can anybody recognize that that you feel like you've been dealing with some spiritual warfare?

  318. If that's you, I want you to come down to this altar right now.

  319. We're gonna pray and believe God for a breakthrough.

  320. Just everyone stand on their feet, and everybody who raised their hand is dealing with some spiritual warfare.

  321. Come on, come on down.

  322. We're not gonna make this long and drawn out.

  323. There is no magic solution, but I think that we need to have a biblical response when we're dealing with spiritual opposition.

  324. Come on into this altar.

  325. Come on in, come on in, come on in, come on in.

  326. Church, can we give God some praise for us recognizing what he's doing?

  327. The first thing that I want us to recognize is that one, I forgot to shout y'all out, but my brothers from Fresh Start are in the building.

  328. The second thing that I want us to do is no matter where you are, you're not alone.

  329. I I know that right now it is so difficult.

  330. I I know that it seems insurmountable, but the song that we're about to sing just talks about the goodness of God, and I want you to know that God is so good.

  331. It may not be good, but God is good.

  332. And the Bible that I read says that he works all things together for the good.

  333. So as I'm encouraging you that are up here, maybe when you leave here, every burden will be lifted.

  334. But maybe when you leave here, you'll be facing the same thing.

  335. But I want to let you know that even in spite of it, God is good.

  336. He is working all things together for the good.

  337. And if you just keep doing what God tells you to do, you're going to see what God tells you to see.

  338. Those who are at this altar, I want you to lift your hands to heaven.

  339. This is not about personality, this is about posture.

  340. It's the universal sign of surrender.

  341. Lord, you see every hand that's lifted up.

  342. You know the burdens that we carry, you know the sicknesses, the challenges, the financial deficits, the struggles in our very bodies.

  343. But Lord, your word reminds us that who the Son sets free is free indeed.

  344. So, God, we bring ourselves into alignment and in agreement with the finished work of Christ on the cross.

  345. Holy Spirit, we pray that you do a transformational work in our lives that goes beyond our logic or our abilities.

  346. Father, I pray for everyone that is dealing with sickness in their body, and I say, be healed in the name of Jesus.

  347. I pray for everyone that is dealing with anxiety, and I say, peace be still.

  348. I pray in the name of Jesus that the precious blood of God will begin to pour out on us in such a way that we recognize that we are the righteousness of God.

  349. Father, I pray for every broken relationship that there's restoration and healing, God.

  350. I pray for those who are struggling with addiction, and I command for those chains to be broken in the name of Jesus.

  351. Father, we thank you for what you're doing, and we celebrate you, and we give you all the glory and the honor and the praise, and we're gonna touch the hem of your garment, and we will not let go until you bless us.

  352. Change our walk, change our focus, change our faith.

  353. But God, we will surrender to you because we recognize that you are our king.

  354. So, Lord, I pray that as we surrender and leave it at the foot of this altar, I pray for transformation, I pray for healing, I pray for breakthrough.

  355. And it's in Jesus' name that we pray.

  356. Amen.

  357. Let's worship together as a community one more time.

  358. Thank you for joining us to learn more about Celebration Orlando, a church devoted to reaching the lost, equipping the found, and helping the hurting.

  359. Follow us on social media using the handle at celebrationorl or visit our website, celebrationorl.org.