Amen | Ps. Keith Pittman

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

Thank you so much for listening today.

We hope it encourages you and inspires you.

Here's today's message.

All right, all right.

Church family, how you guys doing?

Everybody doing good?

That's uh I'm gonna be honest with you guys.

1030 is a little bit stronger than y'all when it comes to the energy level.

So let's try this again.

Are you guys doing good?

Alright, there we go, there we go.

I I told them that it's gonna be a little bit of a competition to determine.

It's like having your children fight for your love.

Um the the 1030, um, they're they're they're coming on your heels.

This is still like my favorite service, so I want y'all to stay put, but I just want y'all to know y'all gotta y'all gotta work with me here.

Um, but I'm I'm excited for for everything that Pastor Nate shared and everything that we have coming up um as a church.

Before I I jump into today's message, though, if you give me a second to get situated here, um I I do want to take a moment to enter into a quick moment uh uh of prayer.

Um you know, as we as we shared, you know, we're we're in a season of fasting and and praying and being sensitive um before the Lord and just making sure that we we let our petitions go before him and prayer night's been amazing.

In fact, just the entire momentum of this fasting season has really allowed us to kind of just really dial in that frequency, which is what we wanted to do.

Um but there are times when when circumstances present themselves that that cause us to ask, what is our response in in these moments?

And and so since the last time we've gathered, um, we've had like two mass shootings in in the country, and and then we just had the releasing of the footage of the young man who who lost his life, which is naturally causing a lot of unrest across uh across our country.

And so I think in moments like this, we have to ask ourselves, what is the the church's response in moments like this?

How how do we respond in these moments of of crisis and pain?

Well, you know, the Bible tells us in 2 Chronicles that if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and then watch this, I will heal the land.

This is a declaration of on earth as it is in heaven.

And and as we look around in the world right now, our earth doesn't look anything like heaven.

And if it's any you're anything like me, I know that if I could be quite transparent with you, it seems like there's no shortage of bad news.

There's there's no shortage of crisis, there's no shortage of drama, there's no shortage of division.

And and what can happen in these moments when we're just bombarded with it so much, we could become numb to it.

It's called empathy fatigue.

Where we we care about it, but we can't carry it, and we just slowly begin to get numb to it.

And then things that used to shock us just become things that we just issue out.

Hey, I'm praying for you.

My thoughts are with you.

But but these are things that should really compel the church to pause and say, Man, can we invite God into this?

Can we really begin to process and ask ourselves, what does God want us to do?

What is the what is the kingdom response in moments where we just see such a deep loss of life?

If if I could be honest with you, last night as I was thinking about this message and and I couldn't move past what I'm sharing with you right now, I began to find myself thinking about this idea of lament.

This is the biblical expression that God would expect from kingdom-minded people.

What lament means is it's personal wholeness but public grief.

I'm I'm whole as an individual.

I recognize that I'm in a good place with God, but I recognize that there's a place for me to grieve publicly because Paul says we celebrate with those who celebrate, but we grieve with those who grieve.

And when I when I think about moments where there's such a loss of life and so many things, I think about what the new year means for every single one of us.

Every one of us turned the page of the new year with an expectation that we have dreams and plans and looking at our calendars and looking forward to vacations, and every single person that has lost their life, they start off the new year the same way that we did.

But now their families are planning for funerals and making adjustments that they will probably never recover from.

But what I believe that we're called to do in these moments is not to become numb, is not to become indifferent, but to literally just be the church and have a moment of lament.

That means that I am whole, I am in relationship with Jesus, I'm gonna be okay, but God, we need you.

So for the next few moments, can can we just sit still in the presence of God and let me lead us in a prayer that invites God to give us his wisdom on how we can not only navigate these things, that we don't become numb to these things, but he gives us the courage to do whatever is necessary so that we can be kingdom-minded people that are unified with one another, but we can be also be people that are being supported by a God of justice.

He's a God of justice.

Can you pray with me?

Lord, we we thank you.

We we thank you for moments where we can come into your presence with joy and expectations, with with the wisdom that tells us that no matter what we are facing, that you are still good, because you are so so good.

So, Father, we declare your goodness over every area of our lives and we acknowledge it.

But Father, your word also tells us that we can cast our cares on you because you care for us.

Father, we are we are grieving right now as a community.

And Lord, the thing that I pray for us more than anything else is that we don't become numb to it, that we don't become indifferent to it, God, that that these things don't become so regular to us that we stop inviting you into it.

Father, I pray that you give us wisdom on what calls to action and partnership looks like.

Father, there are there are lives being lost, Father.

Help us.

God, there are people that are feeling oppressed.

Lord, help us.

God, we we pray, Father, in the name of Jesus, God, we say that your word declares that you are near the brokenhearted, that you are the lifter of the head of the discouraged, Father.

There are communities of people whose heads are held low right now.

And Father, we just invite your presence into this situation.

God, I pray that we don't find ourselves falling into the the the dimensions of political responses to things such as this, God.

We need a kingdom response.

So, Father, I'm asking for us to get the mind of Christ around these things, Father.

Not to find ourselves looking at the wrong sources and beginning to explain things away, but let's begin to invite the presence of God into this.

God, we are heartbroken.

We are crushing over the mothers that are grieving, the fathers that are grieving, Father, the grandparents that have been that are that are gone now, God, for the family members that are trying to adjust to loss of life, God.

We're we're praying for this land, God, so we're we're repenting, Father.

We're repenting for any part that we play, God.

And I pray, Father, that the church can rise up and truly be the kingdom implement in this world, Father, so we can begin to see on earth as it is in heaven, that we can unify, Father, and begin to really declare the name of Jesus these promises that we speak, these things that we read about, Father.

Allow us to be the demonstrators of it, Father, so it can have a ripple effect, Father, so we can truly begin to walk in victory in every area, Father.

Lord, we're heartbroken, but we know that you're with us.

We invite you into this, God, because with man it's impossible.

With man it's impossible, but with God, nothing is impossible.

Heal your people, comfort your people, be with your people in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen and amen.

We put our hands together for the goodness of God and in moments like this.

I I'm I'm excited for today's message, and I and I appreciate you guys giving me the uh this the space to share that.

I love that our community has uh a heart for for all people and we create space in moments like this.

If you have your Bibles, uh, I want to invite you to join me in the Gospel of John uh chapter 11.

The Gospel of John chapter 11.

John 11 · chapter mention

Um and and we've been in this theme in this series called the way, and and it's connected to John 14, um, 6, where it says, Jesus is, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

And we've been really kind of just honing in on this idea that if we want the life, we have to adapt the lifestyle.

That we are called to be apprentices of Christ.

That means that we have to not only just add Jesus to our life, but we have to adapt a whole new way of life.

And and we've been really building this powerful momentum that I think has been a strong encouragement to us.

If you've missed any of the previous weeks, I want to encourage you to go back and check it out.

I do think there's some momentum there.

Um, but for the text that we're getting into today, let me give you some some brief context.

And for those that that are familiar with the things of of God, you're probably familiar with this passage of scripture.

I've shared it many times, but I wanted to approach it from a different angle today.

Um, but what this context of this passage is is that is that Jesus' ministry is is in full swing at this point.

Um He's having massive impact, and and he's at this point he's being attacked for the way that he's influencing culture, and and and a lot of people aren't, he's not fitting into their box.

So he's not only very popular, but he's also dealing with a lot of resistance.

Um but now he's at a point where he's a he's a little bit of a distance away from from one of his his home bases that he will often frequent, um where Mary, Martha, and Lazarus would be.

And and and so he finds out that Lazarus, a good friend of his, um, is sick.

And so Jesus stays where he is, he he doesn't go and engage it right away.

He makes this enigmatic statement where he says, like, this sickness will not end in death.

Um, this is a statement that Jesus says at the very beginning hey, we have nothing to worry about, it's not going to end in death.

You get a few verses down in that same passage, and then he declares, Lazarus is dead.

It's a little confusing when you think about it.

It's not going to end in death.

Now Lazarus is now dead.

And so now Jesus goes into the location where Lazarus is, and you can understand that that this family that is close friends with Jesus, they've hosted Jesus, they spent time with him, they're they're understandably frustrated at his absence in their greatest moment of need.

So he's confronted by one of the sisters, and she says, Lord, if you just would have been here, things would have been different.

To which Jesus responds and says this, starting at verse number 23, Jesus told her, Your brother will rise again.

Yes, Martha said, He will rise when everyone else rises at the last day.

Jesus told her, I am the resurrection and the life.

Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.

Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never, ever die.

You believe this, Martha?

Yes, Lord, she told him.

It's a very, very powerful statement.

Today I want to talk to us about the practicality, the power, the complexity, and our response to the promises of God.

If you're taking notes, I've entitled today's message Amen.

Let's pray and let's get into it.

Lord, we we thank you for the opportunity for us to gather together in community.

Um, we are grateful for for moments like this where we can declare your name over every area of our lives.

We can have fellowship and community, Lord, but but more importantly, we can have an encounter with you.

So, Father, I pray 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.

We create this space and give it to you and ask that you occupy it in Jesus' name.

Amen.

And amen.

You know, um I I would consider myself a a little bit of a uh of a creature of of habit.

Meaning when when I find something that that I like, I'll doll in, I'll lock in, even if there's inconveniences that are a little bit connected to it.

When when Megan and I, when we lived in DC, we lived within a five-mile radius of like two or three different incredible movie theaters.

But we would go to the movie theater that's 30 minutes away because that one was better.

It was it was a little bit inconvenience.

We had to fight through traffic, but it was a far better experience because I'm a firm believer that you know if the benefits outweigh the inconvenience, it's worth it.

I believe that convenience should never be one of those deals.

But I also learned that as you continue to frequent certain things, there's a lot of perks and things that go along with it.

And I learned the valuable lessons about what it means to frequent certain organizations or certain things.

I learned that lesson from my my beloved wife.

So so when the when the Chick-fil-A app opened up and said, like, hey, if you sign up, then you're gonna get all these rewards and all these perks.

She was a first, she was an early adopter in that regard.

And and I didn't understand it.

And so there would be times where we would go and get something.

Am I talking about Chick-fil-A during the fast?

I'm sorry, guys.

We'll get there.

We got one week to go.

We're gonna get there.

Um, but but I remember we would go and she would get food, and then it would almost be like a badge of honor when we would come out of the um, we would come out of the uh the drive-thru and she'd be like, guess how much we paid for this?

I'm like, what?

She'd be like, 28 cents.

And I'm like, what how?

She's like, because we had so many points.

She would say, like, we're gold members now.

Like we we we took that with a with a badge of honor.

Like, man, give give them our money so they can give us these points.

At the end of the day, we're still paying for it.

But it's you know, don't overthink it.

But but I remember um when I logged into her account one time and and I was getting some food and I just saw the accumulations and it was showing us the frequency and all the things that we had purchased and the rewards that came with it.

And so all we had to do is whenever you're placing an order, you had to apply it to it.

And then something clicked.

I'm like, do you know how many places that I have gone to, that I shop at, that I'm a part of their rewards club, and I've never gotten any free food.

I've never gotten any free stuff.

So it sent me down this rabbit trail of looking at all those emails that I get and logging into those accounts to see am I leaving money on the table?

Am I leaving stuff out there that I was completely unaware of?

I was flabbergasted when I began to see those emails that we all ignore, those varying things that we get.

Those things were filled with so many incredible opportunities, and I was paying full price for things that were already paid for.

The biggest one that hit me the most was Best Buy.

I'm gonna go ahead and say it.

I've been a Best Buy faithful shopper for over 20 years.

For over 20 years.

TVs, Xboxes, PlayStations, TVs, Xboxes, PlayStations, TVs, Xboxes, PlayStations.

I mean, I think I've gone through like four iterations of all of them all this time.

I'm being a faithful customer, and I never realized what I was accumulating.

When I logged into the system, I had$1,500 just sitting there.

1 5 0 0 just sitting there.

Do you know how much times I've I've spent money out of my pocket when I had something sitting in the account and I couldn't have gotten it for free?

But the problem was I didn't log in and I didn't apply it to my account, so I was still paying full price.

It's interesting that we can have access to all of these amazing perks.

We can have access to so many different things, but it's up to us to take those rewards and apply them in order for us to actually see the benefit of being connected to it.

You see, you see what happens when we become followers of Christ, we become citizens of the kingdom of God.

The promises of God become available to us, and we have an opportunity to live a life that we just got finished singing about.

We have an opportunity to read scriptures and see ourselves in them and begin to walk those things out.

But the challenge is, is we actually have to activate and apply it.

At some point, if we want to see the promises of God in our lives, we're gonna have to apply God's word to our lives.

It's in these moments that we can feel a little bit conflicted when I'm saying I feel like I'm a part of a community, I feel like I'm a part of a church.

I show up, I know that there's a lot of benefits and perks, but if we can be honest, we'll walk out of these doors and we don't feel the transformation.

If we're honest with ourselves, there are moments where we'll walk out feeling a little bit inspired, but it doesn't take that long for that motivation to find itself going somewhere else.

But but I'm a firm believer that where there is application, there is transformation.

That when we truly begin to apply what we see God saying, when we apply what we see and we sing about, that's when we begin to experience transformation.

Because God's word is filled with promises, but we have to do our part.

Promises such as Jeremiah 29, 11, where it says, I know the plans that I have for you, says the Lord.

These are plans for your good and not for your disasters, a plan to give you a future and a hope.

Watch this.

We say that, but God's plan means I need to follow God's plan in order to be the recipient of the things that he wants to do in his plans.

We we have promises such as Deuteronomy 31 and 6.

He says, So be strong and courageous, and do not be afraid and don't panic before them, for the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you.

He will never fail you and he will never abandon you.

That means that God is saying, I'm gonna fight on your behalf.

That God says, I'm gonna go before you.

But when he says, I'm going to go before you, that means that I must follow him.

If God goes before me and he's fighting on my behalf and I'm not following him, I'm not gonna benefit from what he is fighting for.

I I went to the grocery store just yesterday, and while I was there, I saw a mother and she was looking around a little bit panicking, calling out to her son.

And as she called out for him, he says, I'm over here.

She said, Well, where are you?

He said, I lost you in a crowd.

She said, I told you to stay close behind me.

He said, But the crowd got in the way and I lost you in a crowd.

This young man knew that his mom was a place of safety, but somehow he got distracted, the crowd got in the way, and he began to go in a completely different direction.

This this is why when God and Adam are in the Garden of Eden and Adam enters into his sin state, God says, Adam, where are you?

He wasn't asking where Adam's at because he lost his geographical location.

God knows everything.

What he was saying is, How did you get so far off track?

I told you that there's opportunities and blessings in life, and where I'm looking behind me on the place that I told you to be, you're not there.

Where are you?

How'd you drift away so far?

He said you have an opportunity, but you have a responsibility to benefit from these promises that I have for your life.

Promises such as goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, all the days of my life.

But it also says, But I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

So as long as I'm dwelling in the house of the Lord, then goodness and mercy is gonna follow me all the days of my life.

The problem is we don't want to do our part, but we're wondering why God's not doing his.

I'm doing my part.

I'm I'm I'm gonna do my part, but I'm wondering if you're gonna come to the place where you can benefit from it.

If God says it, he's gonna do it.

And we're in a place right now where we're sometimes when we don't see it, we get frustrated and we begin to doubt God.

But we know that God is a man of his word.

Numbers 23.19 says this that God is not a man that he may lie, or the son of man that he might change his mind.

Does he speak and not act, or does God not fulfill his promises?

God is going to do exactly what he says he's going to do.

God doesn't make empty promises.

Isaiah 55, 11 says it this way.

He said, It is the same with my word.

I send it out and it always produces fruit.

It will accomplish all that I want it, it will prosper everywhere that I send it.

That means that when God's word is being spoken over our lives, when we're engaging God's word and our personal time, when we're coming to church together as a community, when we're talking about God's word in the context of our groups, when God's word is being spoken over our lives, he said, I am watching over it and I'm making sure that it's going to accomplish everything that I said it's going to do, but you have a part to play.

He says that my word will not return to me void.

That's that's language that speaks of a transaction.

That's almost language of a covenant where God is saying, like, hey, the same way that you have promissory notes when a check is written to you, that's what my word is to you.

It's promissory notes.

They're promises that I'm writing to you.

And you can take these things to the bank.

You never gotta worry about there not being enough money.

You don't gotta worry about overdraft withdrawals, you don't gotta worry about me saying, hey, can you hold on that until Friday?

Because I gotta move some money around.

You don't gotta worry about none of that with God.

God is saying, if I said it, I will absolutely do it because I watch over my word to make sure that it accomplishes everything that I said it's going to do.

But you gotta do your part.

You you gotta you gotta make sure that you're applying it to your life.

Jeremiah 112 says, You have heard correctly, for I watch over my word to make sure that it accomplishes what I said it's going to do.

But we have to be people who apply it.

See, where there's application, there's transformation.

Where there's no application, it's just information.

Here's the thing I want us to understand the difference between knowledge and wisdom is application.

We all can have knowledge, but when you have wisdom is when you begin to apply what you know.

And what and what God wants for us is to be people that not only come to church and that can highlight and do scripture memorization, but we're applying it to our lives so we can actually begin to experience the transformation that He has for us.

Don't live as an information-based Christian, live as a revelation Christian who has been transformed because of the word of God.

But we have to make sure that we have to apply it.

See, so now let's get into this text.

When we get into this text, we have this moment where the reality of death has now just come across Mary and Martha.

Jesus shows up and so they declare to him, Lord, if you just would have been here.

Let's be honest, we all have made that statement before.

Let me let me give it to us in our paraphrased version.

Lord, if you just would have moved on my timeline.

Lord, if you just would have done things my way, if God would have just shown up, if God would have just not allowed, if God, we all have those moments and it's completely understandable.

However, she didn't recognize her time of visitation.

She was talking to the solution about her problem instead of acknowledging that the solution was the answer to everything that she was struggling with.

It's possible that we could be so blinded by our disappointment that we completely miss our deliverer, that we are so focused on what we don't have that we completely lose sight of what we do have.

Jesus then says to her, He says, Listen, your brother is going to rise again.

Like I'm I'm here now.

Your brother is going to rise again, but but watch how she responds.

She says this, I know.

He's gonna rise in the last days with everyone else.

Watch this church.

Mary and Martha had strong theology, but they had weak faith.

They understood.

Yeah, like yeah, every like, yeah, they're gonna rise up in the last days like everyone else, but there's not anything.

Special for me.

That means that you can have a person that I believe God for the future, but I lose faith in the now.

I believe that I'll get healed on the other side.

I believe and what can happen is we stop praying bold, audacious prayers because we're trying to comfort ourselves and don't want to deal with disappointments.

We we get to a point where we have safe faith.

Can I be honest with you guys?

As a person who's been walking with God for many decades now, I remember going to church services and you're telling people to come down to the altar.

Let's lay hands, let's pray.

We're gonna declare God's promises over your life.

That's it.

There was no escape plan to it.

Here's what modern church in practical context looks like when you're training people to pray.

When you pray for them, don't give them false hope.

When you pray for them, say God can heal you, but even if He doesn't, it's gonna be okay.

We end up having a faith that doesn't expect miracles anymore.

We end up having a faith that's looking for an escape plan so we can be okay with our disappointment.

We have to have the theology that be able to recognize that God can do it.

We have to have the faith that says I expect him to do it, and we have the maturity to say I trust him if he doesn't do it.

My theology says God can do it.

My faith says that he will do it, but I have the maturity that says that even if he doesn't, I'm still gonna bless him.

Shadrap, Meshach, and Abendigo, when they were about to go into the fiery furnace, they absolutely had a right now faith.

Then they said, But even if God doesn't move, we're still not gonna bow.

But on the front end, they had every expectation that God was gonna deliver them out of it.

I wonder what would happen if we began to read God's word and really believe that the miracles that we've seen then are for us today.

And we stopped looking for an escape plan so we won't have to deal with our disappointment.

I don't care if God never does another miracle.

No, but his Bible says that these are the signs that shall follow those who believe in my name.

They shall cast out demons, they shall heal the sick.

I want to be the type of church that recognizes that God's promises don't have an expiration date on them.

But we got to be mature enough to handle the way that he responds to it.

We gotta make sure that we're people that know how to apply it.

I'm not sure if you knew this or not, church family, but um I'm a Philadelphia Eagles fan.

Um and they're playing today um at three o'clock, and I certainly would appreciate your thoughts and prayers at this time.

But but watch this, watch this.

I've been an Eagles fan my entire life.

I've gone to the games.

I it's a it's a part, it's a part of my lifestyle.

I have an Eagles mug up here, and there's nothing even in here, but I just want to do it as a flex.

Like I'm I'm committed, I'm committed to this lifestyle, y'all.

I want y'all to know that.

But but watch this.

They don't win a Super Bowl every year, but every year I have an expectation they're gonna win.

And if they don't, and when they don't, I'm still a fan the next year.

I'm a fan of the Eagles, I'm an apprentice of God.

I believe unfortunately, we become more fans of God and we ride the bandwagon, and when things don't work out, we jump off that bandwagon, we critique and we get upset.

But what God wants is for us to be apprentices.

If you can be loyal to your favorite sports team, how much more should we be loyal to our living God?

How much more anticipation should we have that God's gonna move and that this is the year that I'm gonna see that breakthrough?

I'm talking to my Buccaneers fans who always believe that they're gonna win and they never are, but they stand true, don't they, Nate?

So, so so so we have to be people who apply it.

So, how do we practically apply God's promises to our lives?

It's it's two things it's agreement and alignment.

Agreement and alignment.

These are two concepts that seem related, but they have distinct meanings.

Agreement, let me break this down for us.

Agreement means to be at harmony, it means to be on accord.

The synonyms include to have a consensus, to accept, to come at oneness with me.

It's it's a vital aspect in order to move forward with any valuable relationship that you have.

You have to have a measure of agreement.

When Megan and I do premarital guidance with couples that are looking to get married, we go through uh uh several weeks of just looking at their varying perspectives, and then we ultimately are trying to come to an understanding or an agreement on how the couple is going to move forward or how they're gonna be one.

It's a process.

Okay, you say this, she says this, she thinks about it this way, you think about it that way.

Can we come to some level of an agreement so that when you guys are married, we can move forward with health and stability?

Because what Amos 3.3 tells us is how can two walk together if there's no agreement?

If we're not in agreement, how can we actually believe that we're gonna make it to a destination that we never agreed that we're going on?

See, Jesus, when he's talking to Mary and Martha, he says to her, I am the resurrection and I am the life.

But he asks a very valuable question to her.

Are we in agreement?

The thing that I just said, me being the resurrection, me being the life, your brother being raised up, do you believe it?

What Jesus was prompting her was that you before you see it, I need you to say it.

I need you to come into agreement with me.

I need you to declare it over your life, I need you to have an expectation that I really am going to do this.

I don't want this to be a theory, I don't want this to be a concept, but he asked the questions and says, Do you believe it?

If so, I need to hear you say it.

I need us to come into an agreement on it.

I need you to declare it and decree it.

Jesus was speaking the language of faith.

See, we build our faith when we engage God's word, and as we as we read God's word and as we're around the people of God, we recognize that God is not a respecter of persons.

In other words, he doesn't have favorites.

And as I begin to read the Bible, I say, What God did for them, that means that it's the same God that's available to me now.

And so I'm gonna begin to say, God, you did it for Abraham, I want you to do it for me.

You did it for Moses, I want you to do it for me.

You did it for Paul, I want you to do it for me.

You begin to see the promises of God, and then you become into agreement with what God's word says, and you begin to expect that God is going to move.

What agreement says is, Yes, God, I believe that what you say is for me, is for me.

This is why we see in Matthew 18, 19, where Jesus says this that if any two of you touch and agree on any one thing, I will do it.

There's power in our ability to agree with heaven if we expect to see it in earth.

There's this power of agreement.

So application starts with making sure that we come into agreement with what God says, but there's the other part, and that's alignment.

We we gotta do our part and come into alignment.

Agreement refers to us being on accord or unity or acceptance, but alignment refers to us getting in position.

Agreement is conviction, but alignment is position.

Alignment means we're getting things in order.

We're gonna put ourselves in a position to receive alignment, is how we participate.

The agreement is what I believe, the alignment is what I do.

Now that Jesus has had this conversation with Martha and he says, Do you believe that I am who I say I am?

Do you believe that I'm gonna do what I say I'm gonna do?

Yes, Lord, I believe it.

I'm in the I'm in agreement with you.

I bear witness here, I have an expectation that what you've just declared, I'm gonna see it in my life.

Then he responds with the alignment moment.

Where have you laid him?

Let's let's go for a walk so we can begin to walk this thing out.

Where have you laid him?

You see, I believe that the power in that comes because in order for us to see it, we have to go where we buried it.

Like she could have said, I just want to stay at home, but but Jesus said, I just declare that he's gonna be raised up, but we need to go and visit the place that you've buried it.

How often are we missing out on what God wants to do in our lives because we don't want to go to the place where the deliverance must take place?

The deliverance is an avoidance.

There are times that I believe that we have to be in position to receive the miracle that God wants to provide in our lives.

Mary went to the tomb of Jesus and she experienced a miracle because she was there to experience it.

I wonder what are the places that God doesn't, that God wants to do a new thing in our life, but we just haven't brought ourselves into alignment that we haven't begun to walk it out.

Megan and I, when we went on our cruise during our sabbatical, um, the first day we got there, we were just enamored with the cruise.

We wanted to walk around, we wanted to take it all in.

But but there is this moment where they said, hey, we're we're offering um free cruises, but you have to be there in order to receive it.

So I'm thinking, like, man, like, can y'all just send me a text message?

Can y'all not just bring it to my room?

We're gonna sign up, but they said, no, you have to be there if you want to receive it.

And so even though there was a lot of different places we could be, there's a lot of different places we could go, but we made it a priority that the only way that we could get this thing is if we actually show up and we're in the room and we're ready to receive it if our name gets called.

It didn't.

But but you see my point.

We we didn't we didn't win, but but but God is still good.

But we have to put ourselves in position to receive it.

I think so often we see God's word, we hear God's word, we we want to believe God's word, we even come into agreement with God's word, but then when it comes time to come into alignment with it, that is the place where we fall short.

He says, Where have you laid them?

I need you to walk me to the thing that you gave up on and see me resurrected and do a new thing through it.

The next thing that he says is that I want you to remove the stone.

I need you to remove the stone.

Jesus stands outside of the tomb where they put the bodies in, and there's a tomb that covers it up.

But but Jesus makes this statement I want you to remove the stone.

This is where they interject.

No, listen, he's been dead for four days.

He's he's decomposing at this point.

It's uncomfortable, the smell is gonna make all of us feel terrible, like we we don't have to go through all of that.

But a moment ago, you just declared that he was going to rise again.

You just declared that Jesus was the resurrection.

How is it that you can declare it, you can believe it, but when it comes time to implement it, you are still wrestling with doubt.

Jesus was saying, But if you want to see me do this new thing, you're gonna have to remove the stone.

I believe the one thing that keeps us from experiencing the miracles in our lives are the stones that are muffling out the voice of God.

The things that God wants to speak all over our lives, but we haven't removed the stones.

That the things that God wants to do, but we haven't yet removed the stones.

Removing the stone is how we bring ourselves in alignment with what God is about to speak.

Jesus was about to speak a powerful word, but he said, First, I need you to come into alignment with it, and it's going to require you to do your part.

I need you to walk it out, and I also need you to remove the barrier so that you can be in a position to receive what it is that I'm about to do.

Where there's application, there's transformation.

When they removed the stone, when they went to the grave, that's when God spoke and they were able to experience the miracle that he has spoken about earlier.

What are the things in our lives that we've heard God speak about, that we've heard God say that he's going to do, but we still haven't taken him to it, and we haven't removed the stones that are keeping us from seeing it.

See, when there's application, there's transformation.

God's promises are for us, but we have to apply it to our lives.

Second Corinthians chapter 1, verse 20.

2 Corinthians 1:20

For every one of God's promises in him are yes, and therefore in him say amen to the glory of God.

All of God's promises are yes and amen.

Amen means so be it.

It means so it is.

It means to be firm or to be sure.

Amen has such more significance than merely being the words that we say at the end of a prayer.

From a scriptural standpoint, amen meant affirmation.

Amen a commitment to what was just said.

Or if I could put it simple, when we say amen, we are saying I'm in agreement and I'm in alignment.

So when we declare amen over something that was just said, we're saying, I'm in agreement and I'm in alignment.

Man, God is for you.

I'm in agreement and I'm gonna align myself to receive it.

So when we begin to recognize that when church tradition was beginning to grow, that the idea of saying amen began to move and have influence, we don't see it a whole lot in scripture, but what would happen is as the preachers were speaking, the people would hear something that would resonate with them and they would say, Amen.

I'm in agreement and I'm aligning myself to it.

When you would hear a word that you knew that had the ability to change your life, you would say, Amen.

I'm in agreement and I'm aligning myself up to it.

When you would hear a promise that maybe you're not experiencing right now, but people would say, Amen, that was their way of saying, I'm in agreement with that word that was just spoken, and I'm gonna align it and I'm gonna make sure that I see it in my life.

That amen is so much more than something that we say at the end of a prayer.

It's not even just words that we sing, but it's a declaration from our soul and saying, God, I agree with what you say about me and my family, and I'm gonna position myself to receive everything that you have for me.

So in the church, they would call it call and response.

As the preacher would say it, the people will respond to it.

This is why we clap our hands, this is why we lift our hands, this is why we say amen.

This is why we stand on our feet.

It's our physical way of saying I'm in agreement and I'm gonna align myself to it.

I want to see if you guys are in agreement with what God's word says about you.

When the word of God says, Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

When we say amen to that, I'm in agreement that God's gonna give me rest and I'm gonna align myself as long as I come to them.

When the word of God tells us that those who wait on the Lord, he will renew their strength, and they will wound up wings like an eagle, and they will grow not weary, and they will walk and they'll not faint.

That is when we say amen, I'm in agreement that I am not weary and I am not gonna faint.

When the Bible tells us that my God will supply all of my needs, when I say amen, I am declaring I'm in agreement and I'm gonna align myself to it.

I know that God is gonna give me every single thing that I need.

In 2 Chronicles, when Jehosaphat was completely surrounded, but he says, Do not be afraid of them or be discouraged because their vast number the battle is God's and not yours.

Amen.

I'm in agreement and I'm gonna bring myself into an alignment that I am not fighting this battle on my own.

When the Bible says that we are more than conquerors, amen, that means that I'm in agreement that I am more than a conqueror.

I may not feel it right now, I may not see it right now, I may be looking at some opposition right now, but God's word promises me that I am more than a conqueror, I will be victorious.

So when I say amen, Lord, I agree with you, and I'm gonna bring myself in alignment with what you just said.

I am grieving right now, but your word tells me that joy comes in the morning, that this grief that I have right now, I'm not gonna stay there.

So I say amen.

I acknowledge my pain, I acknowledge my suffering, but I say amen, Lord.

I know that joy is coming, I know that peace is coming, I know that my breakthrough is coming.

Even when it says that all things work together for the good of those who love him and it were called according to his purpose.

Amen.

God, you're gonna work all this mess out, all these pieces, all this craziness.

Lord, you're gonna work it out, and I'm gonna see it in my life.

When I declare amen over my family, I expect to see it.

When I declare amen over my finances, I expect to see it.

When I declare amen over my resources, I expect to see it.

It's when we get to the place where we recognize that there's no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus.

Yes, I may fall short, yes, I may make mistakes, but I declare amen because I know that I'm in agreement and I'm gonna align myself to it.

This is what it means when we say amen.

This is what it means when we stand on our feet.

I'm in agreement with God's promises, and I'm gonna align myself so that I can see it.

This is who we are as a church, and this is what it means.

Heavenly Father, I pray in the name of Jesus over every single one of these precious souls that Lord that we can live our lives of agreement and alignment, that we can live lives where we declare amen and we mean it from the depths of our soul.

We agree with your word and we come into alignment with it, and we know that we can expect to see it.

Another promise that God issues is the promise of salvation, and what he says in John 3:16 that he sent his son to die as us and for us, and if we believe it, we will be transformed by it.

John 3:16

Romans 10 tells us if we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts, we shall be saved.

These are promises from God, but we gotta agree.

Yes, I recognize that Jesus came and died, but I also would come into alignment where I confess it and I believe it.

As we prepare to close, I want to ask this question.

Maybe you're in here, and the next thing you need to do is to come into agreement and alignment to say amen over your soul.

So with every head bowed and every eye closed, I want you to stay right where you are.

If you know that your next step is to simply say yes to Jesus, to say amen to this opportunity to be in a right relationship with him, unbroken fellowship.

On account of three, I want you to boldly lift your hands up so we can include you in a prayer.

One, two, three.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

I see that hand in the back.

Church, can we put our hands together for everyone that said yes to Jesus?

Let's really celebrate with those people that said yes to Jesus, people that's going from death to life.

We celebrate with those who are online as well.

I want to lead us in a prayer, and then we're gonna continue our service out in the courtyard as we prepare to connect with groups and take whatever our next step is.

But I want us to do this together as a family.

We haven't done this in a while, but I want to lead us in a prayer, and I simply want you all to repeat after me, helping along those who may not have prayed this prayer ever before.

Say this with me, Lord Jesus.

I acknowledge that you died on the cross and rose from the dead.

I repent of my sins and I make you the Lord of my life.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Church, let's put our hands together for the goodness of God and salvation that has just been birthed in this room.

We are people that declare amen.

Well, what I want to do now is maybe your next step is to get connected to community.

Your next step may to get connected to somebody else.

I don't want you to leave here without beginning to put yourself in alignment.

The beautiful thing about this story with Lazarus is when he was in the tomb, Jesus said, Remove the stone.

Jesus said, Remove the grave clothes.

If you notice, Lazarus couldn't do either of those things on his own.

There was a community of people around that removed the stones for Lazarus.

There was a community of people around that removed the grave clothes off of Lazarus.

What that means is we all need somebody in our life that can remove the barriers that are keeping us from experiencing God's best and the things that are keeping us from walking in the pace that God wants us to walk in.

That is the power of being connected to a kingdom community.

So as I pray a blessing over you guys, my prayer is that you will go out and find a community that might be a good fit for you that's going to help you to walk out the amen of your life, agreement and alignment.

Let me pray a blessing over you.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

May He make His face to shine upon you and give you supernatural peace.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

God bless you guys.

We love you.

We'll see you this Wednesday for vision night, and we'll see you out in the courtyard.

Thanks again for listening.

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