CHRONICLES OF A KING: Praise From A Prison - Ps. Clay Baird

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.

Hey, what's up, Celebration Church Orlando family?

So glad to be with you today.

My name's Clay Baird.

I'm one of the staff pastors here at our Jacksonville location.

And super honored and privileged to be sharing God's word with you today.

Before we even jump into our Bibles, I just want to thank Pastor Keith and Megan for the opportunity, the gracious invitation to come and to be able to share with you guys.

I love Orlando.

Man, I was just there sharing with the Sub 30 family not too long ago.

And any chance I get to hang with you guys, I love the team there.

Your worship leaders, the, you know, Pastor Justin and Josh and everyone else that's doing their thing.

It's just a great team.

I can't wait till we're not in a quarantine season so I can get back and uh hang out again with you guys live, uh, maybe on a Sunday uh later this year, even.

And so um, if you have your Bible, let's go ahead and open it up.

But I do want to just say how much I enjoy sharing God's word.

And listen, even though we can't be in our buildings uh right now, uh, isn't it just awesome that the word of the Lord can still come to us uh just like it is right now?

Maybe you've got a phone in your hand or you're watching on an iPad, a tablet, uh maybe even in a living room on a television screen.

But um what an awesome season uh that we are living in.

Obviously, there's a lot of negative things going on, but isn't it great that we live in a generation where we can still receive God's word and teaching and great worship uh because of technology?

And so I'm honored to share with you today, like I said, if you got your Bible, we're gonna begin our reading uh today out of Luke chapter 17.

Luke 17 · chapter mention

So here we are, Luke chapter 17, we're gonna start in verse 11.

Luke 17 · chapter mention

Uh I'm reading out of the NIV, and it says this it says, Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus uh traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.

And as he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him.

They stood at a distance and they called out in a loud voice, Jesus, master, have pity on us.

And when he saw them, he said, Go show yourselves to the priest, and as they went, they were cleansed.

Then verse 15, one of them, when he saw that he was healed, he came back praising God in a loud voice.

He threw himself at Jesus' feet and he thanked him, and he was a Samaritan.

And Jesus asked, Were not all ten cleansed?

Like Jesus is a little confused right here.

He's like, I could have sworn there was ten of you, but now I only see, you know, one of you.

Where are the other nine?

Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?

Then he said to him, Rise and go, your faith has made you well.

If I could just read one more verse of scripture today, I'm actually gonna share from this story, and then I'm gonna close with a different story in scripture, but if I can just give you one more verse right here as we get started.

Philippians chapter 4 and verse 4 in the New King James, it says this.

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

It says, Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice.

So important for us to stand right there, understand.

Rejoice in the Lord always.

Always.

And again I say rejoice.

If you're taking some notes uh for the next few minutes, I just want to share uh on what I've entitled Praise from a Prison.

Praise from a Prison.

We're gonna talk about the power of praise in our daily lives right now.

And you know, in this season, uh, this global pandemic that we have been in the middle of, uh, there's a lot of negative things going on in the world, job loss, uh sickness and illness, even death uh in some parts of the world.

Everyone is being affected on some level.

Uh I just thought, man, it's so fitting that we need to be reminded of what praise actually accomplishes in our lives.

And let's not let praise be absent, but let's be sure to stir up praise right now because it's helping you even more than you even realize at times.

So we're gonna talk about praise today, but why don't we pray and then we're gonna get into the rest of it.

So, Father, in Jesus' name, we we just say that we love you.

Lord, we're so grateful for this opportunity to open up your word and be encouraged by it.

God, I pray that we leave better than we came today.

I pray that we would see things in Scripture that maybe we've never even seen before, that you would be gracious, Holy Spirit, in just giving us fresh revelation.

God, we lean into your word, and uh we pray as always, God, that we would not just be hearers only, let us be doers of your word in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Praise from a prison.

You know, it was a couple years ago I was in the Atlanta airport, and uh if you've ever traveled through Hartsfield, Jackson Airport, you know it's just it's madness, it's craziness all the time, probably the busiest airport in America.

And as I was sitting there waiting on uh one of my flights to depart, there was uh a couple individuals who went up to the gate agent, the ticket agent right there uh by the gate, and they were very unhappy about their their flights, I guess, so far, or the process of their travel that day.

Uh, they were giving this lady the business.

I mean, they're getting loud.

It was they're there they were so loud, they're complaining, they are angry, they're certainly causing a scene in the terminal.

Like, I'm surprised like security wasn't called.

They were so up in arms, absolutely going nuts.

And as I sat there in my seat, I'm just kind of watching all of this take place.

I can't help but have like compassion on this lady.

I'm thinking to myself, like, good lord, man, like she didn't book your ticket, you know, like she wasn't the one that picked your seat or did any of this.

And so it seemed a little unfair that she was getting the the brunt of all of this uh complaining.

Uh and I thought, you know, as I watched this, I thought, man, I've I've seen this play out in in many different places, not just the airport.

I I've seen a similar situation, you know, happen in a restaurant before.

Someone calls over the manager and just yells at the manager about, you know, the service not being up to the level they thought it should be.

I've seen things like this happen in retail stores before.

I've seen it happen in sporting events.

And I thought about this.

Isn't it interesting that people in our generation, they get very loud about their complaint, but oftentimes we don't get loud about our thanks.

That's probably, I mean, you probably noticed that to be true.

Very rarely, if ever, do we see anyone go up to the gate agent at the airport and just thank them for the great travel experience that you had that day.

Like we don't really often see that.

Very rarely does anyone invite the manager over to the table to just thank them for the great dining meal and experience that you had that night, you know, with a spouse or a friend or some loved ones.

Very rarely do we get loud about our thanks, but boy, do we get loud about our complaint.

Even right now, in all that's going on in our world, I mean, all you gotta do is watch a little bit of news or or scroll through some social media.

I mean, if you want to see some complaining, you don't have to look hard to find it because people get real loud about their complaints, but we don't often get loud about our thanks.

And now, if I can, let me spin it just for the sake of us talking about praise today.

I thought about this.

Isn't it interesting that a lot of people get loud about their petition, but they don't often raise the volume of their praise.

We get loud about our petition, but we don't raise the volume of our praise.

I know a lot of people that get real loud when they need something from God.

Like whenever we need something from him, boy, we get loud.

We get real loud.

But our praise sometimes doesn't have a very loud volume.

And I've just come to the place where I believe this.

I believe that our praise needs to be at a louder volume than our petitions, a louder volume than our our complaints and requests.

I mean, the Bible said there in verse uh 12 that we've been reading in Luke 17, the Bible says that there were these ten men who stood at a distance with their leprosy.

Now look what your Bible says right there in verse 12.

It says they called out in a loud voice.

They're loud.

They have a need.

They have a petition, they have a request, they got some issues, and they're loud about what they want Jesus to do for them.

Have you ever noticed how loud people get when they need something from God?

Like our prayers get longer, they don't they?

They get more frequent.

Uh like we have no problem staying focused during a prayer time when you really need something from Jesus.

Like, like, think about that.

When there's ever been moments in our life where it's like you need a miracle, like you have no problem.

You will pray for 30 minutes, you'll pray for an hour, no problem whenever you need a miracle to happen.

Or you're like, God, I need you to show up in my finances.

Lord, I need money.

I gotta pay tuition.

Lord, the mortgage is due.

Next month, God, I don't have it.

I need you to show up.

Like, like when there's a sickness, an illness, when a loved one has uh a report of cancer, boy, we are praying loud, we are praying hard, we are praying long.

You know, some of us like think about back when you were maybe single, or maybe you're still single and you were praying for your spouse.

Boy, come on.

You will pray a long, hard time when it comes to praying for who God is gonna send you to marry.

Some of us, you you've been shouting at God for years, trying to, you know, get that spouse that He has for you, right?

When it's something that we need, when it's a petition that we we have in our heart that we are serious about, boy, we will pray and we will shout and we will get loud about our petition.

But listen to me, listen to me today.

Here's the first thing you need to understand.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that.

You you go ahead and get loud about your petition.

Go ahead and do that.

In fact, the Bible tells us to do it.

Jesus actually reminds us in Philippians chapter 4 and 6.

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

He says, Don't be anxious about anything, but in everything, in every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Jesus says, get loud about your petitions.

I'm okay with it.

Get loud about your requests.

Like it's okay to get loud about your need.

It's okay to get loud about the thing that's in your heart that you really need God to accomplish.

All I'm simply uh submitting to all of us today is don't let your praise be lower than your petition.

I want to raise the volume of my praise to be even louder than the volume of my petition.

Because there's certainly gonna be moments in life when we need things from God.

God, I need you to show up and you go ahead and get loud about it.

He welcomes your cares, he welcomes your petitions, he wants you to bring those needs because they are real, serious concerns in all of our lives.

He says, Bring them to me.

I can handle them.

I want to receive and take care of all of them.

So you go ahead and get loud about that.

But here's the other thing he says is he says, I love your praise just as much.

And I want the people that follow me and those that submit their lives to me.

Jesus says, I want your praise to be loud.

So all I'm encouraging us today is even in a season like the one that we're in, where so much complaint is being lifted all over the world, so many petitions and needs and requests are being lifted all over the world right now, all simultaneously, we as believers need to be reminded that my praise needs to be even louder than that.

Because praise is able to do something even in moments like this that nothing else can.

And we're gonna look at that in just a second.

You know, in 14, almost 15 years of ministry for myself, vocational ministry, um, I've often encountered people who have said things like this, like, why should I praise God?

Like right now?

What why should I what's God done for me?

Why should I even praise God in this season?

And and I normally say two things.

So, first off, let's just like put all the spiritual stuff to the side, right?

So like Jesus, salvation, the cross, grace, mercy, let's put all that to the side, right?

What has God done for you?

Well, like, all of us are still breathing, aren't we?

Like, you know what I mean?

Like, like most of us, like, if not all of us, last night we slept with a roof over our head.

There's probably some food in our stomachs, you know, you you got some money in the bank.

It might not be all that you want, or maybe even all that you need, but some type of resource is at your disposal, like like the Bible says in Deuteronomy that even God, it's Him that gives us the ability to gain wealth and have wealth.

So for many of us, let me just help with our perspective right now.

What has God done for you?

Why should I praise him?

Listen, you sometimes you thought that the house, the car, the food, the clothes, you thought that was you.

None of that was you.

None of that was me.

The Bible would tell us it was all him to begin with.

He gave us the ability to achieve and receive and have all of those types of things.

So why should we praise him?

Well, I'm gonna praise him for all of that.

All of that is in and of itself a blessing in my life.

But here's the second thing, and maybe even the more powerful thing that I want to help you see as to why you can praise God right now, even in the midst of something that might be difficult that you're walking through, is this um you also didn't see what didn't happen to you last year.

I don't know if you if you you need to catch that.

You didn't see what didn't happen to you last year.

Let me let me share this.

There have undoubtedly been moments in all of our lives where the enemy has planned and strategized an attack on you and your spouse and your friends and your family and your children.

But come on, God in his great grace and love and mercy toward you, he stepped in, he put up a barrier, he fought off the enemy, he resisted that evil plan and attack, and you didn't even know that the enemy was trying to come against you because God stepped in and he wore them off and he pushed them off for your benefit.

You have reason to praise God today that you don't even know about.

Things that God has protected you from, in ways that he has provided for you, doors that he has opened for you, even doors that he has closed for you because he's protecting you.

Come on, all of that is a great reason to praise God.

Maybe you're on a couch right now, you just need to go ahead and clap your hands, stand up, and give God some praise because he's been far better to you than you even realize at times.

We all have something to praise God for.

And the last thing I want to do is I want to turn our attention to Acts chapter 16, with you know, uh the few minutes that we have left.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

I told you that we're gonna start with one story, we're gonna jump into this last story here, because in Acts chapter 16, if you grew up in church, maybe you've heard a lot of preaching, uh, this is a very familiar passage of scripture with two individuals named Paul and Silas, uh, and they find themselves in prison.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

It starts right here, Acts 16, verse 25.

Acts 16:25

It says, About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, right?

They're praising God.

Um, and other prisoners were listening to them.

So here they are, they're in prison right now.

Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake and the foundations of the prison were shaken.

At once all the prison doors flew open, everyone's chains came loose.

The jailer woke up.

When he saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword.

He was about to kill himself because he thought that the prisoners had escaped.

But Paul shouted, Do not harm yourself, we're all still here.

The jailer called for lights, rushed in, he fell trembling before Paul and Silas.

Then he brought them out and he said, Watch what he says, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

And they replied, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you'll be saved, you and your whole household.

And then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others that were in his house, and at that hour of the night the jailer took them, he washed their wounds.

That's amazing.

Then immediately he and his whole household were baptized.

That same night, the jailer that had them in prison, he is now being baptized.

The jailer brought them into his house, he set a meal before them, he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God, he and his entire house.

Let me give you real quick, I'm gonna run through these fast six thoughts about praise that you need to understand because praise is a powerful weapon in our life.

The first one is this listen, praise is a problem for your problem.

I don't know what your problem is right now.

A lot of us got different problems, a global pandemic.

We got we got money problems, you know, we got resource problems, maybe you got family problems, a lot of tension, medical problems, a lot of problems right now.

I want to encourage you with this.

If you have a problem in your life, here's what you need to do: create another problem for that problem.

And the problem you need to create is praise, because praise can be a problem for your problem.

I don't know what your problem is in the natural, but if you will just begin to praise God even in the midst of that, what's gonna happen is the praise that you lift up, the praise that you begin to cultivate, it's gonna be a problem for whatever it is in your life that is filled with lack or whatever's trying to come against you right now.

Praise is a problem for your problem.

Look what the Bible tells us as we go on to this second one.

Well, let me just read it to you right here.

I'll give you the second one.

Praise has nothing to do with your circumstances.

That's the second thing we need to realize.

Praise has nothing to do with our circumstances.

Here in Scripture, Philippians 4, verse 4, uh it says this rejoice in the Lord always, right?

Philippians 4:4

We read that at the beginning.

Rejoice in the Lord always.

I mean, here's Paul and Silas, they're praising God in jail.

Like, like praise has nothing to do with your circumstances.

They are in jail.

Listen to me.

Praise is not conditional.

Praise is not just for when you feel like you're having a great day and all my bills are paid and all my relationships are great.

So, God, I just want to thank you today because today's a great day.

Praise is for all times, right?

I I like to tell people this there's two times to praise God.

Really, there's two times.

Um, when you feel like it and when you don't feel like it.

Those are the two times to praise God.

You know, the other day I was taking a walk around my neighborhood, and um there's uh an older lady who lives uh lives several houses down, and she has several wind chimes on uh kind of her porch out there, and it's been windy here in Jacksonville the last few days, and so the chimes are are making all sorts of noise.

And, you know, I I caught this revelation.

Think about a wind chime.

You know, it doesn't matter which way the wind is blowing, the chime only has one response.

And I think that's a word for those of us as believers.

Sometimes the winds of life feel like they're with you, sometimes they feel like they're against you.

But truthfully, for the life of a believer, it doesn't matter if the wind is with me or against me.

There's only one response that should be coming out of my mouth, and that is a response of praise.

That is a response of thankfulness and gratitude and magnifying the Lord Jesus Christ because truthfully, it does not matter what condition or circumstance I am in, he is worthy to be praised at all times.

I will praise God always.

The third thing I want to remind you of is this praise rallies listeners.

The Bible tells us that Paul and Silas, as they sat in prison and they're praising God, the Bible says that every other person in prison just begins to listen.

They begin to watch, they begin to listen and hear these songs that are being lifted up in praise to Jesus.

Isn't that interesting?

Listen, when you start praising God in the bad times, people will watch you.

They'll watch you intently.

Something's different about a person like that.

I thought about Job.

We don't have time to read about Job in the Old Testament, but it was it was simply a man who had everything taken away from him, all of his livelihood, even his family, but even after everything was stripped away from him, out of his mouth he continues to say, Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

He he still praised God, he still worshipped the Lord.

Everyone watching a situation like that has got to say, dude, something is different about this guy.

Something is unique about this person.

And I wrote this down.

Listen, there is nothing that will increase and strengthen your personal personal testimony more than when you praise God in the midst of going through something difficult.

People will watch you.

It'll say more about your faith when you praise God even in the midst of a difficult circumstance, because praise rallies listeners.

The next thing you need to know is that praise sets people free.

It literally sets people free.

The Bible says Paul and Silas in Acts 16, they're praising God, but yet everyone's chains fell off in the prison that day.

Everyone got set free.

Isn't that an interesting thing?

That your worship, your praise can set other people free.

When you understand that, you begin to realize that my praise isn't even just about me.

I mean, I mean, think about that.

Your praise has enough power and heaven backing that it can literally affect someone in a positive way that had no intention of doing anything for themselves.

That's how powerful your praise is.

Maybe you're in a house right now and you're the only uh Christ follower in your house.

I want to encourage you, you go ahead and praise God because what's gonna happen is a spirit of praise, the atmosphere of God is gonna come on your home, and even though no other family member wanted to stir up some praise, but because you chose to praise right now, God's gonna still come in in the midst of that house.

Even when no one else wanted to do anything for themselves, well, you can still usher in a spirit of praise, usher in the Holy Spirit in your circumstance and situation.

Praise can set other people free.

It's not even just about us, praise can affect others.

The fifth thing I want to encourage you in is this is that praise is a catalyst for miracles.

It's a catalyst for miracles.

Now, I never want to put God in a box.

I never want to try to conjure up formulas that he has to abide by to do different things.

I believe he's much bigger than any box we could ever put him in.

But I do believe this.

I believe that that every powerful move of God is birthed in prayer and it's fostered with praise.

I believe that prayer and praise are key ingredients to seeing God move in miraculous ways.

I think when we look throughout scripture and we even look throughout history and we see powerful moves of God at different centuries, when he did unique things, I think if you look intently, you're always gonna find prayer somewhere, you're always gonna find praise somewhere.

Even in scripture in the Old Testament, we see that when when battles would be uh waged against uh you know nations, and and here's Israel and they're going into battle, the Bible would always tell us they would send the worshipers first.

They would send the praisers first.

Because maybe even back then they understood this concept that if we're gonna see a miracle happen, praise has got to be involved in this.

Praise has has not even just got to be involved, but perhaps praise needs to lead in this, right?

They would send the worshipers first, and that's how they knew they're gonna get a victory.

So I just want to encourage.

Right now.

If you are sitting on an uncertain time right now, many of us are.

If you're sitting on a difficult situation and circumstance, a bad report, maybe someone that you know and love has gotten a bad doctor's report.

Maybe you are looking at finances and resource and the numbers are just not adding up right now.

What can I do?

What do we do in this moment?

Listen, I I don't know when the miracle is coming, but I know that it's going to be better if you'll go ahead right now and lead with praise.

You'll go ahead and get praise in your recipe.

Get some prayer and some praise in your recipe because God can do something with the individuals who will commit themselves to prayer and praise.

It is so, so important.

Lead whatever battle you're in the middle of.

Lead it with praise because praise is a catalyst for miracles.

I thought back to you know the story of Joshua, right?

And they're marching around the walls of Jericho and they do it for six days and nothing seems to happen.

Imagine if they just would have been like, man, this isn't working.

This must not be doing anything.

Let's just call it quits.

Let's all go back home, you know.

Let's let's figure out a different way to you know break these walls down and take this city.

No, no, no.

They they kept at it, right?

They knew what the Lord had said, they knew that praise was gonna be a recipe, and so sure enough, they go back out on day seven and they begin to lift up a shout of praise, and what happens?

Walls come down, and a miracle takes place.

So, right now, even if you feel like, man, you've been at this thing for a while, you don't see any relief coming, uh, you don't see how it's gonna happen, you you don't see how A plus B is gonna equal C.

Listen, just keep at it with praise.

Keep at it with prayer because we know that those are great ingredients to see a recipe for a miracle take place in our lives.

And the last thing I want to share with you is this, number six, is that praise is a thank you in advance.

Now, listen, if you can understand this, you are gonna be so better for it.

Praise is a thank you in advance.

We need to learn not just to praise God after he does the miracle, uh, which far too many of us even forget that, but we gotta be a people that realize I'm gonna praise God at the beginning, even before the miracle takes place.

It's a thank you in advance.

I like to think of it like this: like, God, I'm gonna front you this praise, I'm gonna loan you this praise in advance because I know that you're good for it.

Like if there's anyone that we can loan praise to, we can loan it to Jesus Christ because he's good for it.

Like he's never delinquent in his goodness towards us.

He's always on time, he always comes through, he always makes a way, he is a way maker.

Come on, we sing songs about it.

You know, he is a miracle worker, we sing songs about it, right?

I can go ahead and give him this praise in advance because I know that he's good for it.

And mature believers understand, even in difficult seasons like the one that we're in right now, that I can give God praise ahead of time, even before I see the miracle, because he's a good, worthy God.

Right?

Paul and Silas, they didn't just praise God after they got out of prison, but we find them in Acts chapter 16, and they're praising God even before chains fall off.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

Even before prison doors begin to open up, even before the jailer invites him to the house to share a really good meal and baptize his whole family.

They're praising God in advance.

And I I want to give you this uh illustration because maybe this might help you right now.

Uh the other day I saw again uh a video clip of someone winning like a Powerball lottery in their state.

And uh, and so we've all maybe seen this kind of play out before where someone wins the, you know, they win the mega millions, they win the whatever, and so someone, a film crew, come to their house, and there's this big giant check that someone brings them and it has their name on it, you know, it has the lottery, and it has, you know, this mega dollar amount written on the check.

And here's this person or this family, and what are they doing, right?

It's always the same thing.

They're out in their yard, they're going nuts, they're crying, they're praising, right?

They're lifting up their voice, they're shouting, they're rejoicing, they're so excited, right?

It really is, it's a moment of praise, right?

It might not be to the Lord, but it is a moment of praise, thanksgiving, gratitude, excitement, right?

Here, and then they're going nuts, right?

But what's interesting, think about this.

As they sit there praising, as they sit there excited, holding this big giant check, watch this.

That actual big giant check is not worth anything.

Like you, like you can't take that to your local bank.

They ain't they ain't cashing that.

You know what I mean?

Can't just show up with some six-foot-long check.

Like it's actually that's worth nothing.

In fact, as they sit there praising and going outrageously excited, the money that is listed on that big giant check, it's not even in their account yet.

They don't even have it yet.

They can't even access it yet, they can't even pull that money out of the ATM yet.

But it doesn't stop them from praising and going insane, right?

But but watch this.

Here's the principle.

Even though it's not in their account yet, but even though this this big giant paper check with with ink on it, even though it's not worth it anything in this moment, but but what is it?

It's a promise of what is coming their way.

It's a promise of ultimately what will be deposited to them, right?

It's not there yet.

They don't have the funds yet.

It's not in their account yet, but they're holding the promise.

And I just want to encourage every single believer right now.

Maybe you you're not even following Jesus yet, you know, but but you're watching this, listen, look all of us, we hold scripture, we hold the Bible in our hands, and and right in the natural, this might just be ink and paper in our hand, but but truthfully, it is much more than that.

What is this?

This is a promise of what is available to us.

This is a promise of what is coming our way.

And because we're holding a promise, just like that big giant check, I can go ahead in advance and begin to praise God and thank him and get excited and go ahead and front him some praise, loan him some praise because I'm holding a promise and I know that he's good for it.

I know that he always follows through on his word.

I know that he always fulfills what he does.

The Bible said if he makes a promise, then it is still yes and amen in Jesus Christ.

And so I can always be reassured I'm holding a promise and a miracle is out there.

I don't know when it's gonna be deposited to me.

I don't know when it's gonna come to my account yet, but I know that I can praise in advance.

And so I just want to encourage you with that today.

I don't know, everyone watching this video right now, so many of us are at different places.

So many of us are struggling with different things.

We're we're petitioning God for different needs.

So I don't know where you're at specifically, but I know this.

If you need a miracle to happen in your life, you need to go ahead and begin to praise right now.

If there's anything our culture needs, if there's anything our nation needs and the world needs right now that is being saturated in negativity and governments feuding with one another, and political parties just at each other's throats and crisis and lack of resource and and and all that kind of people's retirement, you know, just going down, all sorts of mess, and it's causing a lot of negativity.

What do we do in the midst of that?

What do we do in the midst of uncertain times?

I submit to you today, just go ahead and praise.

Go ahead and lead with praise.

Give it to God in advance because he is worthy of it.

And then the last thing I'll say is this, and then we're done.

The problem that the enemy made in Acts chapter 16 is that he bound every part of Paul and Silas except the part that mattered.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

You look there, their hands were bound, their feet were bound, but the enemy forgot to bind and close up their mouth.

See, that's a word for us.

Maybe you feel like you are trapped and bound on every side right now, but listen to me.

As long as there is breath in your lungs and life in your body, if you can speak, you can praise.

And if you can praise, then mountains can move and miracles can happen.

The worst mistake the enemy made is he should have shut their mouth, but because they could still speak, they were still able to lift up praise even from a prison.

You might feel like you're in a prison right now, but you can still praise from a prison.

Come on, I hope this has blessed you today.

I hope that even right there in your living room, you're you're being encouraged.

Come on, maybe right now you just want to go ahead and lift up some praise, a shout of praise to God.

He's worthy of it today.

Come on, even right now, Lord, you are worthy of our praise.

God, we are thankful for all that you've done.

God, even in the midst of a season of lack and uncertainty, Lord, we know that you are still good.

We know that you are still faithful.

And so we go ahead from our own mouth.

Why don't you just say it right there wherever you're at?

From our own mouth right now, God, we praise you, Jesus.

We magnify you, we put you in your rightful place, which is high, and above all else, there is no one like you.

There is no one next to you, there is no one before you.

Jesus, you are the greatest, you are the highest, King of kings, Lord of Lords.

And Jesus, we go ahead and say, even in the midst of uncertainty, Lord, we praise you, we bless you.

God, the miracle is out there, and we're holding the promise of your word, and we trust that you are good in every season.

You are faithful in everything that we see, even in the midst of whatever we're currently looking at.

It does not change your faithfulness.

We love you and we praise you in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Come on, I love you guys.

Thank you so much for letting me share God's word with you today.

I hope you were encouraged.

And I personally really look forward to hopefully being with you in person uh maybe later this year, once we get out of these quarantine seasons.

God bless you.

Well, hey church, we hope that you enjoyed that message from Pastor Clay.

And something we do as a church is we never let a service go by, whether it's in a physical location or online, without giving someone the opportunity to either accept Jesus or recommit their life to Jesus.

You know, uh Pastor Clay's entire message was on praise.

The thing about praise is and how praise can change your life, is it starts first and foremost with a relationship with Jesus.

So maybe you're at your home right now, wherever you're at watching this, and man, Jesus is speaking to you.

Maybe you've never had a moment or a time or a place in your life where you have given your life and you've committed your heart to Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior.

Or maybe, man, you have at one point in your life, but you have been uh going through life, kind of doing things your own way and uh not even considering Jesus, but this morning you were ready to come back and get things right with Jesus.

Man, what I want to do is give you an opportunity to either commit or recommit your life to Jesus.

And if you would like to do that, man, I would love to lead you in a prayer of salvation and in a prayer of recommitment.

So if you would just bow your head and close your eyes and you can repeat this prayer out loud after me.

Jesus, I stand before you today, asking you to forgive me of all my sins and all my mistakes.

Today I choose to live for you.

I choose to make you my Lord and my Savior.

And from this point forward, I'm gonna live my life, the rest of my life, for you.

In Jesus' name, amen.

All right, church.

Well, hey, if you are at home and you just made a decision for Jesus, we want to celebrate with you.

We want to know about this.

So if you just committed or recommitted your life to Jesus, we want to ask that you text the word decide 25101, and what you're gonna get back is all the information that you need to take in your walk with Jesus from this point forward.

All right, church.

Well, now we are not quite done yet.

We are going to take communion together as a church family, and actually, Pastor Mike is gonna lead us in communion.

Awesome.

Hey, just gather around with everybody who's watching right now.

Maybe you're at home with family, gather everybody in the same room.

We're about to embark upon communion.

You know, the Bible is clear.

Um, we don't necessarily have set times for communion, but it does say this.

As often as you do, do this in remembrance of me.

What are we remembering?

We're remembering what Jesus did over 2,000 years ago on Calvary's cross.

What was that?

Well, he gave his whole life.

You know, we just did the prayer of salvation.

Coming out of that, we truly believe in this.

We believe that he gave his whole life, his whole being, not just for some, but for all, for you, for me.

And so as we take communion, we remember that.

As we take of the bread, we remember his body, which was broken for us.

It was broken for us.

Why?

So that we can be redeemed to the Father.

And so in this moment, you can take the bread or the wafer that you have before you, and you may now begin to eat that.

And now you can partake with the blood.

Now the blood represents what was shed on Calvary's cross.

It was it was the blood.

Without the blood, the shedding of blood, there is no remittance of sin.

And so, what that basically means is that bloodshed was necessary.

It is his blood that covers us, and it's his blood that truly keeps us.

And so, as we partake right now and take of the blood, we remember what was done on Calvary's cross by the way of Jesus.

Amen.

And now let's pray.

God, we love you and we praise you, God.

Thank you for sending your son to die for us, to stand in our place.

You know, when he was up on the cross, he wasn't just being a representation for us, but he he died as us.

And so, God, we thank you that he bore all of our sins upon him.

He took it upon him, he was completely perfect, he was he was sinless, but he wore it for our sakes, God.

He did that so that we might be reconciled with you, that there is no separation, that we can come boldly before the throne of grace.

So, God, we thank you for that.

We thank you that we are now one with you.

We thank you that we can come to you whenever we need to, whenever we want to, when we want to all the time, because you are our father.

You are a good, good father.

You are a friend who sticks closer than the brother, and we believe that.

So they thank you for it, and thank you for allowing us to participate in communion with you at your table.

Amen.

Well, hey, church, thank you guys so much for joining us for church at home today.

And just as a reminder, man, if you would like to connect with us as a church, if you have any questions or just want to know more about us and maybe become a part of our church family, just text the word connect to 25101.

And also if you have a need or would like to meet a need, you can text the word care to 25101.

And last but certainly not least, y'all, if you are a parent at home for sea kids or you are a youth at home or you are a parent of a youth, man, we know that we say that sea kids and youth goes live at 11, but it is available throughout the day, it is available throughout the week.

And to get that information, to get sea kids and youth at home info, just click the link below in the description and you can find it all there.

Well, church, we love you and we cannot wait to see you again.

Have a great week.orl.org.

We hope you join us next time.