Sermon

Securing Your Life for 2025: Batten Down the Hatches | Apostle Mike Signorelli

V1 Church

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  1. But go to first Timothy, and we're going to start at chapter one,

  2. and we're going to talk about that in a second.

  3. Let me just start by saying this.

  4. My good friend Rick Renner is a global, apostolic voice to the

  5. body of Christ, and he's extremely accurate in the realm of

  6. the prophetic.

  7. And he had released a word for this year that a storm was coming

  8. and that it was actually time to.

  9. To batten down the hatches.

  10. And so what I'm going to be doing is kind of like tag team ministering

  11. with him, and I'm gonna be extending off of the prophetic word

  12. that he released.

  13. And we're gonna look at what the hatches are that we need to close

  14. on the ship of our life.

  15. And so I just wanted to start by honoring Rick Renner.

  16. By the way, Rick Renner is going to be with V1 Church in February.

  17. And so I'm super excited to have him, and it's gonna be a good

  18. time together.

  19. But batten down the hatches.

  20. That's the message today.

  21. That's the sermon that I'm going to preach to you.

  22. And we're going to look at the hatches.

  23. But let me just start with first Timothy, chapter one, verse

  24. 18.

  25. Did you find it?

  26. Say amen if you found it.

  27. Come on.

  28. Where are my old school people at this charge I entrust to you?

  29. I'm going to start with 18.

  30. This charge I entrust you, Timothy, my child, in accordance

  31. with prophecies previously made about you, that by them you

  32. may wage the good warfare holding faith and a good conscience.

  33. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among

  34. whom are.

  35. And he names their name.

  36. Come on.

  37. And he says, I have handed over to Satan that they may learn

  38. not to blaspheme.

  39. Come on, let's just pray.

  40. Heavenly Father, I know that you've given us a very clear word,

  41. that it's time to batten down the hatches.

  42. And Father, as the storm approaches, your true bride will

  43. be ready because we're going to close every single gap.

  44. And Lord, the storm around us is not going to become the water

  45. inside.

  46. And Lord, we will survive to the other side.

  47. And I thank you for.

  48. For preserving us and keeping us through your wisdom and your word

  49. in the scriptures and everybody said across all locations,

  50. Amen.

  51. Amen.

  52. Amen.

  53. Amen.

  54. So this is very important.

  55. Let me break this down.

  56. Let's look at first Timothy together.

  57. And please take notes with me.

  58. Okay?

  59. He says, I charge you.

  60. I entrust to you, Timothy, my child.

  61. My child.

  62. Let me just start by saying this.

  63. God does give fathers in the faith.

  64. Now, a father in the faith is simply an extension of the heart

  65. of our Heavenly Father.

  66. Can I get an amen on that?

  67. But Paul uses the word when he talks to Timothy child.

  68. So I just want to say you're going to hear people say things like

  69. there's no such thing as spiritual fathers.

  70. Of course that can get distorted and abused.

  71. But we do see the Apostle Paul, the dynamic of relationship

  72. with the one that he was over Timothy calling him.

  73. And so I do believe that there is a basis for having a relationship

  74. with somebody in the faith.

  75. And it's not necessarily that they are your Father as much as it's

  76. they are an extension of the heart of the Father who is Jesus

  77. for you.

  78. Amen.

  79. So he uses the term child and it's just to show a term of endearment

  80. as he is helping to lead Timothy in his destiny, like his

  81. God given calling.

  82. And then what he says is in accordance with the prophecies previously

  83. made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare.

  84. Can I just tell you that prophecy is still for today?

  85. We believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are still active

  86. and in operation today.

  87. We believe that people speak in tongues, both the tongues of angels

  88. as well as the tongues of men, and that they also interpret those

  89. tongues.

  90. We believe in the gift of wisdom and knowledge.

  91. We believe in the gifts of the Spirit.

  92. Does anybody at this church believe that the gifts of the Spirit

  93. are for today?

  94. Okay, I'm just trying to establish a few things because what

  95. the Apostle Paul says is, Timothy, remember the prophecy that

  96. you receive.

  97. Because if you can remember that prophecy, it becomes good, a

  98. part of good warfare.

  99. This is so rich.

  100. Can I just tell you that if you're thinking like God, just give

  101. me a new word.

  102. Sometimes God will say, go back and remember the old word.

  103. See, sometimes the reason why God doesn't give you another word

  104. is because you haven't been faithful to the old word.

  105. Or sometimes it's not a faithfulness issue, it's an endurance

  106. issue.

  107. And God says the old word is getting ready to come to pass.

  108. So why don't you rest in what I already said?

  109. I'm not going to say it again because the first time I said it,

  110. it was done.

  111. And so coming into this storm, it's a global storm.

  112. In order to rage the good warfare, we gotta go back to the

  113. old word.

  114. And now can I also go another step further?

  115. And I say this in gentleness, there is a movement that's happening

  116. among the Spirit filled Pentecostal charismatic circles that

  117. are suggesting that we don't need to do spiritual warfare.

  118. As a matter of fact, they're starting to claim that things like,

  119. well, we just need to rest in Jesus and we just need to pray more

  120. and we just need to read our Bible more.

  121. We just need to listen to more worship songs.

  122. But can I tell you, we cannot delete the entire book of Ephesians.

  123. And we have been empowered by Jesus to make good warfare.

  124. And so if Paul's saying, remember the old prophecies over

  125. your life, Timothy, that you would make, that you would actually

  126. make good warfare.

  127. What that insinuates is that there's bad warfare.

  128. So bad warfare is not.

  129. Is what happens when you don't use the authority that Jesus Christ

  130. gave you.

  131. Matter of fact, Jesus isn't going to rebuke the demon because

  132. he gave you the authority to rebuke the demon.

  133. All y'all are too quiet.

  134. What happened?

  135. Did you lose your salvation over Christmas break?

  136. Do I got some Holy Ghost filled, fire filled, tongue talking,

  137. devil stomping Christians up in this church?

  138. So here's the thing, because there's this.

  139. We're just gonna abide in Jesus and abiding in Jesus is our

  140. warfare.

  141. No, you actually have to delete the New Testament scriptures

  142. where Jesus sent them out two by two and he said, you cast the

  143. demons out.

  144. Matter of fact, you will do everything I do and you will do greater.

  145. And so as a church, we have to believe that we have been empowered

  146. by Jes to do good warfare.

  147. And Jesus says, take heart, I have conquered.

  148. I have overcome the world.

  149. But we have to enforce what he overcame.

  150. That's the way to understand the paradigm of good spiritual warfare

  151. is that no, we are not fighting for victory, we are enforcing

  152. the victory that was already won.

  153. Does this make sense?

  154. So when somebody is like, I'm just going through depression and

  155. I just need to abide in the Lord, I just.

  156. No, we've got to fight good warfare.

  157. Depression is a deception of a false future.

  158. Remember the prophecy that was spoken.

  159. That's your future.

  160. That's what Jesus said.

  161. Now wage some good warfare right now.

  162. So no matter what this storm looks like, the storm doesn't dictate

  163. the future.

  164. The prophecy is the anchor through the storm of what my future

  165. future will be.

  166. I will be who he said I will be.

  167. I will do what he said I will do.

  168. And I'm gonna clap back on any other voice that's contrary to the

  169. voice of prophecy.

  170. That's good Warfare.

  171. If the Lord told me my spouse is gonna be saved, then I don't care

  172. what this storm looks like.

  173. The prophecy is certain.

  174. I'm gonna wage some good warfare in my prayer closet until

  175. my husband starts sounding like a priest and a prophet instead

  176. of a punk.

  177. I'm gonna raise some good warfare up in here.

  178. Cause I know what the prophecy said.

  179. I'm trying to wake you up.

  180. A storm is coming.

  181. Batten down the hatches.

  182. It's not the water around that sinks the boat.

  183. As a matter of fact, the boat is actually made for water, but it

  184. stays on top of the water.

  185. When you close the gaps.

  186. Come on, push your neighbor and say, close the gaps.

  187. Type it in the comments section right now.

  188. Close the gaps.

  189. See, if we were on a ship together and I was the captain, I

  190. would tell you, batten down the hatches.

  191. In other words, I'm looking up ahead, I see a storm coming.

  192. But let me just give you wisdom.

  193. If you don't batten down the hatches before the storm, battening

  194. down the hatches during the storm is too late.

  195. Because if you go on the top of this ship in the midst of a storm

  196. and try to close gaps, you're not gonna physically be able to do

  197. it.

  198. So batten down the hatches is an old phrase that was used by sailors,

  199. and what it meant was, a storm is coming.

  200. Let's close the gaps before the storm.

  201. And I believe that this message is prophetic.

  202. And I believe that God is giving you a message to close the

  203. gaps before the stor and you're gonna make it through.

  204. Oh, if I'm the captain.

  205. If you're the captain of your ship, we're gonna make it through.

  206. Somebody say, batten down the hatches.

  207. So there are seven hatches that we are going to batten down.

  208. And battening down basically means covering the openings with

  209. strips of wood that prevented water from entering the ship and

  210. sinking it.

  211. That's what it means.

  212. So we're gonna close the gaps.

  213. So now let's go to the seven spiritual hatches that we need to

  214. secure.

  215. Now, these are seven foundational disciplines for all

  216. believers.

  217. So what I'm teaching now are the fundamentals of the faith as

  218. prescribed by the scriptures.

  219. Now, pastor Mike, why seven?

  220. Because I said so.

  221. There could be 15, there could be three, there could be four, but

  222. we're gonna deal with seven.

  223. And these are just simply New Testament prescriptions for all believers

  224. that I think is good, regardless of your denomination or

  225. whatever.

  226. Like, this is just, like, 100% lock it in it's true.

  227. But what I will say is that as I tried to partner with the Holy

  228. Spirit to deliver this sermon, I tried to do this in a sequence

  229. where one thing connected to the next.

  230. And you could see that in succession.

  231. So number one of the seven spiritual hatches that we're gonna

  232. close before the storm is the hatch God's Word, the hatch of God's

  233. Word.

  234. We are going to close the gap and we're going to read God's word

  235. every single day.

  236. Read your Bible, pray every day.

  237. And you grow, you grow, you grow.

  238. Cha, cha cha.

  239. Read your Bible, pray every day.

  240. Some of y'all think you're too spiritual for this song, but you

  241. don't read your Bible every day, so you're not spiritual.

  242. Read your Bible, pray every day.

  243. And you grow, you grow, you grow.

  244. And how many of you have been doing your daily growth journal?

  245. Okay, okay.

  246. How many of you?

  247. I'm gonna confess.

  248. So I'm the person who commissioned the creation of the

  249. journal.

  250. Like you're looking at Willy Wonka right now.

  251. Like, I was the one who was like, we're doing a 365 day devotional.

  252. I don't care what it takes.

  253. Let's make it.

  254. And even in my own family, we have been doing it at 11:30 and we're

  255. finishing at 11:59.

  256. Am I the only one?

  257. Come on, let's confess our sins to one another.

  258. I mean, somehow or another we get.

  259. The whole day goes by and I'm like, get the girls out of the bed.

  260. Get downstairs right now.

  261. You know, and then we're all at the table and we're reading the

  262. Bible together.

  263. How many of you know it is very easy to leave that hatch open.

  264. Very easy to leave that hatch open.

  265. We must read the Bible.

  266. Can I just tell you the reason why there's so many false prophets

  267. in America?

  268. Is because we platform them through our biblical illiteracy.

  269. We would rather hear from them via video than hear from God via

  270. the Scriptures.

  271. Don't be mad at false prophets.

  272. Take the responsibility of saying God, I'm not reading your

  273. word.

  274. Okay?

  275. And so expose yourself.

  276. Let's become biblically illiterate, right?

  277. Let's become biblically literate, right?

  278. So we have to get to the Word.

  279. Matter of fact, when you read the Bible for yourself, you'll find

  280. it sort of reveals how many people haven't read the Bible.

  281. And so what I'm looking at, and this is Matthew, chapter 7, verse

    Matthew 7:24

  282. 24.

  283. So let's go there.

  284. Matthew, chapter 7, verse 24, Matthew chapter 7, verse 24.

    Matthew 7:24 Matthew 7:24

  285. And when you found it said amen.

  286. Some of you are fast.

  287. You're cheating.

  288. You're on the Bible app.

  289. Matthew Ch.

  290. It's all right.

  291. It's all right.

  292. I got Bible reading plans on the Bible app.

  293. As long as you're subscribed to them, it's okay to use that.

  294. Matthew, chapter 7, verse 24.

    Matthew 7:24

  295. It says everyone then who hears these words of mine and does

  296. them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

  297. So here's what I love.

  298. Say the word, everyone.

  299. Okay, that to me is pretty obvious.

  300. Everyone.

  301. That means it doesn't matter.

  302. You don't have to be in full time ministry.

  303. You don't have to be, have been saved a long time.

  304. It's just universally everyone who then hears these words of mine

  305. and does them.

  306. So let me just tell you, hearing the word is not enough.

  307. Saying the Word is not enough.

  308. Satan hears the Word, demons hear the Word.

  309. And by the way, Satan even basically preached a bad sermon,

  310. a demonic sermon to Jesus upon the mount.

  311. Am I right?

  312. Did Satan not use the Word?

  313. So even preaching the Word is not it.

  314. Oh, this is deep.

  315. It's obeying the word.

  316. Satan preaches a word, but that he doesn't obey.

  317. So beware.

  318. There's people who know the Bible, there's people who preach

  319. the Bible, but it says you must hear and obey.

  320. So it's obeying.

  321. Matter of fact, how many of you noticed in the daily growth Journal

  322. that it says one of the commitments that you sign was to

  323. immediately do whatever you read?

  324. Okay, that's biblical.

  325. Why?

  326. And it says you will be like the house that's built on the rock.

  327. So I really believe that as the storm comes, if we close the

  328. gap, if we batten down the hatch of daily discipline of reading

  329. the Word, we will survive it.

  330. And I'm now convinced that the biggest threat to Christianity is

  331. not Islam.

  332. The biggest threat to Christianity is not atheism.

  333. I am now convinced that the biggest threat to Christianity is

  334. Christians who do not act like Christ.

  335. Christians who don't love like Christ, Christians who don't obey

  336. like Christ.

  337. And I'm telling you because Satan himself came not with a pitchfork

  338. and horns, but as an angel of light.

  339. So it will not be light versus darkness in this era.

  340. It will be light versus false light.

  341. It'll be led versus flame.

  342. Some of you glow, but you don't burn.

  343. No, because I'm trying to discern this.

  344. I'm looking up ahead of the storm and it's Christians who are

  345. who are not like Christ.

  346. That is the threat that is.

  347. It's going to be the false light.

  348. It's going to be the.

  349. It's going to be people who are biblically illiterate, who don't

  350. know how to distinguish between those who glow and those

  351. who burn.

  352. I want to be a burning one.

  353. I want the fire of Espiritu Santo.

  354. I want that fuego.

  355. I want to be a burning one.

  356. I want to be one that comes.

  357. Oh, come on.

  358. That comes up out of the scripture with a fresh revelation.

  359. Who says?

  360. God.

  361. You're still speaking to me through the word.

  362. And by the way, you can learn the word.

  363. My 10 year old, the first day we started reading scripture together

  364. this year, she was like, dad, can you help me?

  365. Dad, can you help me?

  366. We're four days in and yesterday she was getting the revelation

  367. of the word.

  368. And in four days, and what I believe I'm watching is a supernatural

  369. increase in her understanding.

  370. The bi.

  371. Listen to me, young man.

  372. The Bible will take a simple minded person and make them wise.

  373. The Bible will take your understanding.

  374. It's not like school.

  375. Got to get that out in school.

  376. That's the natural realm.

  377. But this is the breath of God.

  378. This is spirit.

  379. And when you read the Bible, it will take somebody simple and

  380. make you wise.

  381. You will suddenly it will become real to you.

  382. And you will be transformed by the reading of the word if you obey

  383. it.

  384. Okay, can we go to the number two?

  385. The second hatch is the hatch of prayer.

  386. The hatch of prayer.

  387. Philippians chapter four.

  388. Let's go find it.

  389. Philippians chapter four.

  390. Some of you are saying he cheated.

  391. He has tabs in his Bible.

  392. Philippians chapter four.

  393. This is close the gap on prayer.

  394. Seven days without prayer equals one week.

  395. It makes one week.

  396. You cannot be weak.

  397. You must build up your spirit, man.

  398. Some of y'all never skip a meal, but you skip prayer.

  399. Come on.

  400. You never.

  401. Come on.

  402. Some of you, you wake up and the first thing you grab is your

  403. phone.

  404. But you need to grab the altar.

  405. In the spiritual realm, we gotta prioritize prayer.

  406. We have to be people of prayer.

  407. We have to pray without ceasing.

  408. But then we need to intentionally pray.

  409. We have to pray, pray, pray.

  410. I believe that prayer can be like we inhale and exhale.

  411. Prayer can be something that's a reflex.

  412. It could be automatic.

  413. And by the way, stop praying every single time there's an emergency.

  414. Pray so that you're prepared for the emergency.

  415. By the way, stop praying to ask for something.

  416. Pray and say that he realigns your desires.

  417. So you don't even ask for something you shouldn't have.

  418. Prayer is going to bring you into proper alignment.

  419. Close the batten, down the hatch.

  420. Close the gap on prayer.

  421. So you're ready.

  422. Because if you pray in an emergency, you're praying too late.

  423. If you're ready for the emergency, it's because you prayed

  424. before the emergency.

  425. Oh, come on.

  426. Can I read you Philippians, chapter four.

  427. Now, I'm gonna skip back up to verse two just so I can say some

  428. hard things.

  429. Cause I'm establishing the doctrine of our house.

  430. So let's go skip up a couple of verses.

  431. I entreat Idia and I entreat Cynthia.

  432. We're not sure how to say their names.

  433. E and S.

  434. I entreat.

  435. And he says to agree the Lord.

  436. So let me.

  437. What's the significance of this?

  438. The apostle in the first century had to tell a group of two

  439. people, I entreat you to actually agree with each other in

  440. the Lord.

  441. How many of you know that we need supernatural unity and we need

  442. agreement in a world full of disagreement?

  443. Okay, I'm just gonna start there because I believe that this

  444. reveals the heart of the Father.

  445. But then it says in verse three.

  446. Yes, I ask you also, true companion.

  447. Let me just stop there.

  448. We don't need congregants.

  449. We need true companions.

  450. Everybody has their church membership class.

  451. Oh, become a member of my church.

  452. I don't want to do that anymore.

  453. I don't want church members.

  454. I don't want congregants.

  455. I want to be true companions because the Bible says true companions.

  456. Oh, y'all are so quiet.

  457. Let me preach this hood.

  458. Cause you'll understand it.

  459. I need somebody that if I'm in a fight, they're not going to run.

  460. They're going to actually kick somebody's head in for me.

  461. I need somebody who's gonna brawl with me.

  462. You get my back.

  463. I can.

  464. Come on.

  465. Pull the hair all the way out.

  466. Come on.

  467. Push their face down into the.

  468. Come on.

  469. If we're gonna rock together, let's rock together.

  470. Come on.

  471. I'm trying to preach to you.

  472. Come on, Brooklyn, be my companion.

  473. If I get pushed, you swing first.

  474. Come on, be my companion.

  475. We've all had those friends that when something happened, they

  476. ran away.

  477. Not in this New York.

  478. Now.

  479. Everything I said was spiritual realm.

  480. I'm talking about pull demons, hairs, you know?

  481. Of course our battle's not against flesh and blood, but you

  482. get my point.

  483. Like, I need a true companion.

  484. I'm not talking about fighting people Even though you know it felt

  485. good to say it.

  486. But we need the kind of people that are real companions.

  487. And by the way, a true companion will tell you, close the

  488. gaps, batten down the hatches.

  489. A true companion will tell you, hey, you just complained to

  490. me for the last 20 minutes, and I think that made you feel better.

  491. But it's not gonna make your situation get better.

  492. And why don't you make your supplications known to the father

  493. instead of dumping it on me?

  494. Did my friend just knife me?

  495. No.

  496. It's called a scalpel.

  497. And you'll know the difference between a knife and a scalpel because

  498. of the results.

  499. A knife kills, but a scalpel heals.

  500. And a good friend will circumcise your heart for you and

  501. be like, hey, listen, our relationship is not let's call and

  502. complain to each other.

  503. It's if you wanna make a prayer call, let's take this to him.

  504. Cause he can do something about it.

  505. See, the problem with most of you is what you think a friendship

  506. is is free counseling.

  507. You need to learn how to go to the counselor.

  508. You need to learn how to go to him.

  509. Some of you, you know how to lean on your friend, but you don't

  510. know how to lean on him.

  511. The Bible says, lean not on your own understanding.

  512. So even your friend's not qualified to understand.

  513. But in all your ways, acknowledge him and he will direct

  514. your path.

  515. Some of you are putting a pressure on a friend that only God

  516. can bear.

  517. And that's why they don't call you first.

  518. You never call me because you're so negative.

  519. If they need negativity, they can go online.

  520. Why do they need to get on the phone?

  521. My friends never call me because they don't want to be around

  522. you.

  523. And you need to get a job.

  524. Your friends stop calling you because they're going broke trying

  525. to carry you through life.

  526. So, but.

  527. But here's what I'm saying.

  528. We need true companions.

  529. Am I right?

  530. Like, we need.

  531. This is the hatch of prayer.

  532. Now, look.

  533. Look at this.

  534. Okay, Can I keep going?

  535. It says, but.

  536. But help.

  537. Okay, I'm gonna say this real clear.

  538. Help these women who have labored side by side with me in the

  539. gospel.

  540. Not in the kitchen, not at the coffee section, not back there in

  541. the kids department.

  542. But they labored with me in the gospel.

  543. This church believes in women preachers.

  544. This church believes in women pastors.

  545. This.

  546. I'm not backing down.

  547. They labored with the apostle in the gospel.

  548. Not in the kitchen.

  549. Not in the kids department, in the gospel.

  550. So get on out of here with that junk.

  551. I know my Bible and I'm sick and tired.

  552. Women can't be preachers.

  553. Well, if you were drowned in a swimming pool, she can be a lifeguard.

  554. How much more?

  555. Saving your life through the gospel.

  556. Come on, somebody.

  557. If a paramedic showed up your house because you got a gunshot wound

  558. and she was a female paramedic, you wouldn't resist.

  559. Exist the life saving measure.

  560. And I say preach the gospel, women, and save lives.

  561. Save somebody from hell.

  562. Come on.

  563. I'm just putting a line in the sand.

  564. If you can't go to a church that believes in female preachers,

  565. then you go to one of those dry, stale, boring churches where

  566. all the men sit around and pontificate and operate in pride

  567. together.

  568. But this ain't it.

  569. You know how many people on Long island have walked out when

  570. my wife's gotten ready to preach a sermon?

  571. And you know what I say to them?

  572. I'll see you in heaven if you make it.

  573. Okay, so next verse.

  574. I read the Bible in 3D.

  575. Can I also counterbalance that with.

  576. We believe in strong male headship.

  577. So it's not women ruling over men.

  578. It's the original design that you see in creation through Adam.

  579. But see, but what the apostle was saying is I labored side by side

  580. with women in the gospel.

  581. It was because he was a strong man that he was not intimidated by

  582. a strong woman.

  583. See, this is the ingredient list.

  584. Like Julie is submitted to me as my wife.

  585. And that submission is liberation because I've created a

  586. context where her voice can go out through this church.

  587. And so it's not the absence of male leadership, it's the presence

  588. of strong male headship that releases women.

  589. And by the way, not every woman who has an opinion is a Jezebel.

  590. Huh?

  591. Yeah.

  592. And when you have a church like V1 Church, where we have at

  593. every single one of our locations, we have strong female

  594. preachers.

  595. And guess what?

  596. I'm okay with it.

  597. Because we're not intimidated by strong women.

  598. Matter of fact, when the men are leading, well, then we actually,

  599. I'm gonna go take a step further.

  600. Sometimes when we pray for wisdom, God gave it to our wife,

  601. and we would be wise to listen to her.

  602. Not all the time, but you see what I'm saying to you?

  603. Under strong male headship, you will see strong women thriving.

  604. And I'm okay with that.

  605. And you see that in the Bible.

  606. Okay, next, it says in the Gospel, together with Clement and

  607. the rest of the fellow workers whose names are in the book of life,

  608. verse 4.

  609. Rejoice in the Lord always.

  610. Again, I will say, rejoice.

  611. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.

  612. The Lord is at hand.

  613. Verse 6.

  614. And do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer

  615. and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be

  616. known to God.

  617. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will

  618. guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

  619. I'm gonna simply transition on this.

  620. I really believe that if you will become a person of prayer in

  621. this next season, your life will change and the peace of God

  622. will guard your heart.

  623. Here's what I want you to do.

  624. Make your request known before God.

  625. Because when you do, God will speak back to you.

  626. Sometimes he'll say, no, daughter, it's not time yet.

  627. It's the right thing in the wrong time.

  628. Oh, yeah, yeah, he's the right guy, but I'm not done developing

  629. him.

  630. Come on.

  631. Yeah, hey, good.

  632. Good discernment, daughter.

  633. You finally picked somebody who's not toxic.

  634. But he's still a little toxic.

  635. Let me work on him.

  636. See, sometimes it's the wrong.

  637. It's the right thing in the wrong time.

  638. Or then sometimes when you submit your request to God through

  639. prayer, then he will speak to you and say you're totally off base

  640. and that's the wrong thing.

  641. And by the way, you know it's wrong.

  642. You've been knowing it's wrong and stop after it.

  643. Like, you always go after it.

  644. Because your pattern is self destruction.

  645. Your pattern is self deception.

  646. Your pattern.

  647. Oh, come on.

  648. I'm just gonna turn this white while say it is.

  649. There's many of you that suffer from self sabotage because

  650. you do the thing that you know you shouldn't do.

  651. But when you submit it all to him in prayer and say, God, am I

  652. really supposed to move to North Carolina?

  653. And he's like, no, you just don't like Bushwick.

  654. That's a New York joke.

  655. Everybody at the other locations, what is that?

  656. Don't tell them, guys.

  657. Don't tell them.

  658. Don't tell them.

  659. The Lord might call them here.

  660. Don't bias them.

  661. But it's like, sometimes what happens is we let our preferences

  662. cancel his purposes.

  663. And when you bring your petitions before the Lord, let your

  664. petitions end up aligning with his purposes instead of your preferences

  665. canceling his purposes.

  666. And I'll tell you, that's what happened with Long Island.

  667. The original branding of this church said V1 Brooklyn.

  668. I didn't even want to go to Long Island.

  669. And that's not me being Mean, I just didn't have vision for it.

  670. And the Lord says, mike, but there's grace on Long Island.

  671. And I just yielded to that in prayer.

  672. I brought it before the Lord and said, lord, I thought I was going

  673. to be in Brooklyn.

  674. What's going on?

  675. And the Lord says, but I've given you a double portion, son.

  676. And now look, we've got a beautiful building on Long island,

  677. which, by the way, we had so many people respond financially with

  678. generosity that we're now able to fix the roof.

  679. Isn't that amazing?

  680. So God had truly answered that.

  681. But I could have said no to what God was saying yes to.

  682. Does that make sense?

  683. Okay.

  684. Uno, dos, tres, cuatron.

  685. Okay, that was a test.

  686. 3.

  687. The hatch of worship.

  688. Close the hatch.

  689. Now.

  690. Acts, chapter 16, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and then Acts.

    Acts 16 chapter mention

  691. So Acts, chapter 16, verse 25.

    Acts 16:25

  692. Say amen when you found it.

  693. So Acts, chapter 16, verse25.

    Acts 16 chapter mention

  694. Oh, this is such a.

  695. I'm gonna try to be good.

  696. I'm gonna try to be good.

  697. This could be a whole sermon, this one.

  698. We must close the gap of worship.

  699. There are people who pray every day.

  700. There are people who read the Bible every day, but they don't worship

  701. every day.

  702. So we have to bring these things together.

  703. And when you look at Scripture, there's a convergence

  704. of these things.

  705. Look at Acts, chapter 16, verse 25.

    Acts 16:25

  706. And about midnight.

  707. Come on.

  708. Well, Paul and Silas were praying and singing.

  709. See, if I was to preach this old school, I would say some of you

  710. are praying but not singing.

  711. And there's some of you who sing but don't pray.

  712. But the breakthrough happens when you pray and you sing.

  713. Oh, I'm talking to somebody.

  714. You need a song that comes out of you.

  715. And when that song.

  716. And I'm talking to some of the men.

  717. Oh, I can't sing on key.

  718. I'll tell you.

  719. If you're gonna lead your home as the priest and the prophet of

  720. your home, I dare you to sing loudly, out of key.

  721. Because as your voice comes out of your chest, let me tell you

  722. what happens, son.

  723. The atmosphere begins to change.

  724. See, you got dads who have yelled in their house but never sang

  725. in their house, and that's why their house is in chaos.

  726. Oh, I'm talking to somebody.

  727. If you would use your voice to do something other than yelling at

  728. your kids, why don't you yell towards heaven a song?

  729. Why don't you sing?

  730. Come on, break every chain.

  731. God, you see what I'm saying?

  732. It's okay to sing.

  733. And you got grown men that are too ashamed to sing in their own

  734. house.

  735. I rebuke that spirit of timidity.

  736. And I rebuke that spirit of fear.

  737. And I say to you, get a song.

  738. Get into your house and release a song.

  739. Come on.

  740. Now, this is what begins to happen.

  741. It says, and the prisoners were listening to them.

  742. Can I just tell you that your captivity always has an audience?

  743. You didn't hear me.

  744. Oh, God, why am I going through this, Lord?

  745. Because you have an audience.

  746. And you have to teach them how to get through it.

  747. What if the prison wasn't for Paul?

  748. It was for the prisoners.

  749. See, God will put you in a situation just to cause an audience

  750. to hear how a true believer deals with it.

  751. You need to sing on your job.

  752. You need to learn how to pray and sing on your job.

  753. Come on.

  754. If the Muslims pray five days or five times a day, you pray five

  755. times a day.

  756. If the smokers get a smoke break, homie, take a prayer break.

  757. Take a worship break.

  758. Take a praise break on the job.

  759. Come on.

  760. What if I told you it's not your boss that's a problem?

  761. It's your prayer life that's the problem.

  762. It's your worship life.

  763. Oh, these people get on my nerves.

  764. Yes, because your nerves haven't been crucified yet.

  765. But if you crucified your nerves, you can't get on nerves that

  766. are crucified.

  767. Come on, I'm trying to help you.

  768. We've got to learn how to sing and pray in prison because we got

  769. an audience.

  770. I want my kids to remember when dad was under pressure.

  771. Well, I got a song in me.

  772. Don't let the devil silence your song.

  773. Don't let the critics take your song.

  774. Sing when there's no music.

  775. Because a song comes from your spirit when it's worship.

  776. And I just.

  777. Man, I'll tell you, you have an audience.

  778. And let me tell you this.

  779. Your kids need to hear you sing.

  780. Your kids need to hear a song come out of you.

  781. And I believe that God's gonna give you a song.

  782. How many of you read yesterday's Daily Growth Journal?

  783. Yesterday's.

  784. Okay, let me give you a revelation out of that.

  785. Cause it's gonna help you.

  786. So we actually had Herod, who hated the wise men because they got

  787. a dream.

  788. And that dream actually caused them to go this completely other

  789. direction.

  790. And when he found out about that, he said, I'm going to kill

  791. all the firstborn.

  792. Y'all remember this from your reading yesterday?

  793. But let me just help you understand something.

  794. It said that when the Dream came to Joseph.

  795. He went to Nazareth, and he actually got to Nazareth because

  796. Herod hated him.

  797. If I could just break this down.

  798. Some of you want to get to the right destination without the hatred.

  799. You need a Herod, because Herod's hatred will actually cause

  800. you to get to your destination.

  801. It was actually Herod's hatred and his desire to kill all the firstborn

  802. boys that brought them to where Joseph and Jesus and Mary got

  803. to Nazareth.

  804. Was it not Pharaoh hardening his heart that caused the children

  805. of Israel to go out into the wilderness?

  806. See, God will use people who hate you to put you in a different

  807. position.

  808. Let me just explain to you.

  809. Paul and Silas were in the jail cell.

  810. And by God's infinite wisdom, it was people persecuting them that

  811. actually put them in the position to reveal God's power.

  812. Can I just tell you?

  813. Let them hate you.

  814. Let them persecute you.

  815. Let them talk about you, because their persecution is your

  816. promotion.

  817. Their persecution is your publicity.

  818. Oh, yeah, yeah.

  819. Let them do that, because they're going to send you to Nazareth.

  820. Oh, come on.

  821. God is in control.

  822. That's why we don't worry about it.

  823. We learn how to sing in every situation.

  824. Matter of fact, here's what happened.

  825. There was an earthquake, so that the foundation of the prison

  826. was shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened.

  827. I had this amazing moment with the Daily Growth Journal where all

  828. of a sudden, we were doing communion together as a family.

  829. And I, you know, the Holy Spirit dwells within your spirit,

  830. but there's also the manifest presence of God, which is the glory

  831. of God.

  832. And so there's his presence in you, indwelling through the Holy

  833. Spirit, but then there's his presence around you in a tangible,

  834. more manifest way.

  835. And Christians understand the paradox of his presence.

  836. Are y'all with me?

  837. The paradox of his presence is that God could both be dwelling inside

  838. of you and yet increasing your awareness of his presence and glory

  839. around you.

  840. Does this make sense?

  841. So when I was growing up, there was a moment where my mother

  842. and my brothers and sisters and I were learning these sacred

  843. ways of God, and we were learning worship and prayer and how

  844. it all goes together.

  845. And all of a sudden, here's how I pray.

  846. I pray like this.

  847. This is my physical motion.

  848. Anybody else?

  849. That's why we have to have hardwood floors, because I'll burn

  850. that carpet up.

  851. This is how I pray.

  852. So in this old house of ours, I went to go pray in the.

  853. In the hallway, because there was this small hallway that led to

  854. the living room.

  855. And we had this atmosphere of praise and worship and praying, and

  856. the whole house was just filling with the.

  857. With the sound of our worship.

  858. And it was my brothers and sisters, and we were younger, and

  859. it was my mother at the time, and she was in her early 40s, and

  860. we were just in the house, and we were learning all this.

  861. We didn't know this.

  862. We didn't know about all this.

  863. And all of a sudden, I went to go in the hallway to just walk the

  864. floor and intercede.

  865. And as soon as I took the first step into the hallway, I fell

  866. over under the weight of his glory.

  867. And I get to the ground, I'm laughing and I'm crying.

  868. And.

  869. Have you ever just been hysterical in the presence of God

  870. before?

  871. And I tell my mom, mom, come into the hallway.

  872. Jesus is in the hallway.

  873. And she's like, do little.

  874. Stop.

  875. You know, because we didn't know the glory.

  876. We didn't understand the glory.

  877. So she was like, oh, stop messing around.

  878. We're being serious.

  879. We're praying.

  880. I said, no, no, come and see.

  881. And my mom goes to walk in the hallway, and she falls over under

  882. the weight of the glory, and she's laughing and she's crying,

  883. and then here come my siblings, and we're all in this hallway.

  884. One of my favorite memories of my life was me and my single mom

  885. and all my siblings laughing hysterically and crying under the

  886. weight of God's glory in that little hallway.

  887. See, can I just tell you, some of you, your home is filled with

  888. technology, but not filled with the glory.

  889. Some of you, your home, it's filled with entertainment, but it's

  890. not filled with his presence.

  891. Because a couple nights ago, we were getting ready to do communion.

  892. And, you know, I believe that this is more than a symbol.

  893. I believe that communion, his very presence is in this communion

  894. spiritually.

  895. And as a family, we were taking communion together.

  896. And all of a sudden, it was like I closed my eyes and I was leading

  897. my family through prayer.

  898. And I could.

  899. It's like through my mind's eye, I guess is the best way I could

  900. say it.

  901. It's like I had a vision of Jesus standing in my kitchen.

  902. And so I was praying, and my daughters were there, my wife was

  903. there, and I just said, jesus, would you come closer?

  904. Now, of course, I know his spirit dwells within us, but I was

  905. talking about the glory.

  906. I was talking about his manifest presence.

  907. I said, jesus, can you come closer?

  908. And I feel like I had this experience where he just walked by

  909. and he came and sat down on this Bench at our kitchen table by

  910. Bella.

  911. And I didn't tell.

  912. I didn't say anything.

  913. Then when it was over, I asked my family.

  914. I said, tell me what was happening.

  915. What was it like?

  916. And all of a sudden, Bella said, dad, it was so weird because

  917. it was like Jesus.

  918. It's like he was in the kitchen.

  919. And then when you were praying, come closer.

  920. I felt like he walked around and just sat right here next to me.

  921. And she pointed to the exact spot that I saw the same thing.

  922. And I just was overwhelmed by the presence of God in that moment.

  923. Why do I say this?

  924. Because I'm trying to be like salt so that I create a craving inside

  925. of you for Jesus, that you want to go home.

  926. That for those of you watching online in your home right now, you're

  927. looking around saying, could this happen in our hallway?

  928. Could this happen in our kitchen?

  929. Are we having encounters with Jehovah?

  930. Are we having encounters with Jehovah?

  931. Rapha, Jehovah.

  932. Nisi.

  933. Come on.

  934. Jehovah.

  935. Jireh.

  936. Do we know him in all these ways?

  937. Is he walking in the bathroom?

  938. Is he walking down the hallway?

  939. Have we invited him?

  940. Have we spent more time inviting our friends than inviting

  941. our Savior?

  942. Have we set the table and said, jesus, I know you dwell inside

  943. of me through the Holy Spirit, but come sit down with me.

  944. Batten down the hatches.

  945. The only way you're gonna survive this storm is if Jesus is

  946. sleeping in your boat.

  947. Come on.

  948. Are you with me?

  949. The hatch of faith.

  950. Number four.

  951. Uno, dos reis, quatro.

  952. The hatch of faith.

  953. Somebody say faith in espanol?

  954. The hatch of Faith.

  955. Mark, chapter four, verse 39 and 40.

  956. Mark, chapter four.

  957. So go ahead and find it.

  958. Matthew.

  959. Mark, we're almost done.

  960. Mark, chapter four, verse 39.

  961. It says this.

  962. And when he had entered, he said to them, why are you making

  963. a commotion and weeping?

  964. Oh, no, no, no.

  965. Sorry.

  966. I was like, that is not it.

  967. Here it is.

  968. Mark, chapter 4, verse 38.

    Mark 4:38

  969. 38.

  970. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion.

  971. You all know Jesus gets the cushion if he's in the boat, right?

  972. And they woke him and said to him, teacher, do you not care that

  973. we are perishing?

  974. Let's just stop right there.

  975. Couple things to acknowledge.

  976. What did they call him?

  977. Teacher.

  978. Rabbi, let me just tell you what titles do.

  979. Titles determine how you receive.

  980. If you re.

  981. If you call him teacher, you receive him as a teacher.

  982. But titles also limit, because he's more than just a teacher.

  983. And he was getting ready to tell them, oh, yeah, yeah, you're

  984. calling me teacher, but I'm going to show you that I'm the alpha

  985. and the omega.

  986. I'm going to show you that even the winds and the waves actually

  987. acknowledge my voice.

  988. I am the Word.

  989. See, sometimes we limit God.

  990. There's some churches where God's allowed to be Rabbi, but he's

  991. not allowed to be deliverer from demons.

  992. There's.

  993. Oh, come on, I'm trying to help you.

  994. There's some churches you go into on a Sunday.

  995. And Jesus can be your healer, but he can't be your deliverer from

  996. demons.

  997. We limit Jesus and we give him one title.

  998. But I say, let's give him every title.

  999. He is our all in all.

  1000. Let's take the limitations off of Jesus and let's stop telling Jesus

  1001. what he can and can't do.

  1002. And say, God, you can do all things.

  1003. Somebody shout all things.

  1004. Yes, all things.

  1005. They said teacher.

  1006. But here's the other thing they're saying is, don't you care

  1007. that we're perishing?

  1008. How many of you have prayed that prayer?

  1009. God, I'm dying down here.

  1010. Don't you care that I can't go to this job one more day?

  1011. Don't you care that I'm fed up with this marriage?

  1012. Don't you care I'm dying?

  1013. Look at this picture of a storm.

  1014. This is the storm.

  1015. There's going to come moments in your life.

  1016. We're like, lord, don't you care that I'm going through this?

  1017. But this is what he says.

  1018. He awoke and he rebuked the wind and said to the sea, peace,

  1019. be still.

  1020. And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.

  1021. But this is what he said to his disciples.

  1022. Why are you so afraid?

  1023. Have you still no faith?

  1024. Let me just talk to some people who've been a Christian for

  1025. a while.

  1026. What he didn't say, oh, you don't have any faith.

  1027. If you look at the text, he says, why do you still not have faith?

  1028. I want to talk to some of you who've been in this thing for a while.

  1029. He healed your body before.

  1030. Why would he not heal it again?

  1031. He already worked in your finances before.

  1032. Why would he not do it again?

  1033. He already made a way where there seemed to be no way.

  1034. He already opened the door that no man can open before.

  1035. Why would he not do it again?

  1036. Why do we still not have faith?

  1037. I want to be that kind of person that finally believes.

  1038. Is there anybody with me that's saying, this time I'm going

  1039. to operate in faith?

  1040. Faith is the evidence of things hoped for.

  1041. Faith is the substance of things not seen.

  1042. God, I know based on your track record, if you did it before,

  1043. you're going to do it again.

  1044. I know based on your track record, you have never left me nor

  1045. forsaken me, so you're not going to forsake me again.

  1046. And it was almost like what Jesus was saying in the boat was,

  1047. guys, I'm here.

  1048. Have I not always caused it to work out?

  1049. Why are you still lacking faith?

  1050. So let's close the hatch and let's operate in faith.

  1051. Who's with me?

  1052. What if here's how you know that you're mature in your faith,

  1053. is when your first response to tragedy is to actually acknowledge

  1054. the joy that's been set before you and to say, God, you must know

  1055. something I don't know.

  1056. Oh, come on.

  1057. Did that hit different?

  1058. God, you must know something I don't know.

  1059. And you must see something I don't see.

  1060. So by faith, reveal it to me.

  1061. Because you know what's bad theology?

  1062. Bad theology is teaching people that as soon as they accept

  1063. Christ, they're not going to go through any storms.

  1064. That's bad theology.

  1065. But I thought you said Jesus is going to make my life better.

  1066. Oh, yeah, yeah.

  1067. He's going to use the storm to do it.

  1068. Oh, yeah, yeah.

  1069. You're.

  1070. He's.

  1071. He's got a mentorship and the mentors that he assigned you, one's

  1072. name is pain, and the other's name is suffering.

  1073. And as soon as you learn how to get an A in both of those classes,

  1074. you'll go to your next level.

  1075. Come on.

  1076. I'm helping y'all.

  1077. This is really what it comes down to is.

  1078. The difference is there were many boats that were in this storm

  1079. that we see in Matthew 24, but there is only Jesus in one boat.

  1080. See, right now, with what's coming into the earth, there's going

  1081. to be many, many lives that are affected by the storm.

  1082. But the question is, is Jesus abiding in that boat with you?

  1083. Y'all with me?

  1084. Hatch, number 5.

  1085. Relationships.

  1086. Relationships.

  1087. Everybody say relationships.

  1088. Galatians, chapter 6, verse 2.

    Galatians 6:2

  1089. Galatians, chapter 6th, verse 2.

  1090. Relationships.

  1091. Now, here's why this is important.

  1092. Galatians is a hard book of the Bible to find.

  1093. It's towards the back.

  1094. Galatians, chapter six, verse two, says, bear one another's burdens

  1095. and so fulfill the law of Christ.

  1096. But let me back up.

  1097. And can I read verse one?

  1098. If anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual

  1099. should restore him in A spirit of gentleness.

  1100. You know, I'm thankful for the word of God because if we would have

  1101. read that nowadays, it would say, if any one of you are caught

  1102. in transgression, you should cancel and expose them immediately.

  1103. What the Bible actually says is you should restore him in a spirit

  1104. of gentleness.

  1105. The next line, I think, is even more important because it doubles

  1106. down on it and it says, keep watch on yourself.

  1107. It's almost as if the problem was that we're looking at everybody

  1108. else but themselves.

  1109. What if I told you that God wants you to pay attention to yourself?

  1110. This year, I believe that one of the most powerful things that

  1111. you can do is say, God, show me me.

  1112. Because have you read that scripture that says you're pointing

  1113. out a beam or speck in somebody else's eye, but there's

  1114. a beam in your own?

  1115. You want to know why we do that?

  1116. Because it comforts us to know that somebody else is struggling.

  1117. It comforts us to know that somebody else has something wrong

  1118. with them, because then we can justify what's wrong with us.

  1119. But if we all look to ourselves this year, then what's

  1120. going to begin to happen is there's a healing that will occur

  1121. in our life.

  1122. And matter of fact, your stress will be reduced because God

  1123. has not given you the ministry of policing everybody else.

  1124. You know what that's called?

  1125. Control.

  1126. Did you know that witchcraft is control?

  1127. Hello.

  1128. Santeria is control.

  1129. Santeria is control.

  1130. Obia, come on, where's my Jamaricans at?

  1131. Y'all don't think I know it's control.

  1132. What?

  1133. Witchcraft is control.

  1134. And by that definition, many of you need to repent of witchcraft

  1135. because you stopped doing the sacrifices, but you're still doing

  1136. the conversations.

  1137. You stop lighting the candles, but now you're just lighting controversies.

  1138. You're still involved in witchcraft, but the witchcraft has

  1139. changed its form because Satan is not coming with pitchforks and

  1140. horns.

  1141. He's coming as an angel of light.

  1142. And it's going to be false righteousness.

  1143. It's going to be prideful, arrogant righteousness.

  1144. That is self righteousness.

  1145. That is demonic righteousness.

  1146. That is no righteousness at all.

  1147. That focuses on other people more than it focuses on yourself.

  1148. Man, I know this word is needed right now because we are stronger

  1149. together.

  1150. I need you, you need me.

  1151. We need each other, and we need to bear each other's burdens.

  1152. You know, I just want to hover on this because let me tell you what

  1153. a good church does.

  1154. A good church is a different expression of Jesus to each other

  1155. based on Their need.

  1156. So if Julie can't afford food, then the Holy Spirit, which is the

  1157. presence of Jesus in and through me, I feed Julie physical

  1158. food because that's.

  1159. Because that's the expression of Christ she needs.

  1160. Does that make sense?

  1161. If.

  1162. If we have somebody in this campus.

  1163. Come on, man of God that has devoted themselves to going into

  1164. the prison systems to preach the word of God.

  1165. So if you're a prisoner, what happens is the expression of Christ

  1166. is, I'm going to be Jesus that visits you in prison to give you

  1167. this word.

  1168. Does this make sense?

  1169. So it's like we bear each other's burdens.

  1170. Means that all of you have a ministry because the minister is

  1171. on the inside of you.

  1172. The minister is Jesus.

  1173. Okay, can I go a little bit deeper?

  1174. Look at the text.

  1175. Because the text says it all.

  1176. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he

  1177. deceives himself.

  1178. So even a prophet, if you're an accurate prophet, it is the spirit

  1179. of Jesus through the Holy Holy Spirit, that is prophesying to that

  1180. person.

  1181. So do you get credit for an accurate prophecy, or does Jesus

  1182. get credit for being the prophet?

  1183. Y'all feel me?

  1184. Or if you lay hands on somebody and you pray for them and

  1185. get healed, did you heal them with your power, or was it his power

  1186. through your hands?

  1187. So who's the healer?

  1188. Is that Mike Signorelli?

  1189. No, it's the Holy Spirit.

  1190. It's the presence of Jesus healing through our hands.

  1191. We just have to be a yielded vessel that says God, I decrease

  1192. so that you can increase.

  1193. I'll get out of the way so you can have greater he that is in me

  1194. than he that is in the world.

  1195. And therefore, we don't boast in anything at this church.

  1196. But we boast on the cross of Jesus Christ.

  1197. We boast on our Jesus.

  1198. Yeshua.

  1199. Come on, somebody shout Yeshua.

  1200. So this is what it says.

  1201. But we bear each other's burdens.

  1202. That means be for me what Jesus can be through you.

  1203. Y'all aren't even catching this.

  1204. Be for me what only Jesus can be through you.

  1205. If Jesus is prophesying through you, then prophesy to me.

  1206. Come on.

  1207. Prophesy to me.

  1208. If Jesus is interceding, then intercede for me.

  1209. That's how we bear each other's burdens.

  1210. Enough of this.

  1211. Cancel culture.

  1212. Let's have encouragement culture.

  1213. Let's have restoration culture.

  1214. Let's have reconciliation culture.

  1215. Let's have healing culture.

  1216. Let's have building up culture.

  1217. Let's have construction culture.

  1218. Come on, let's talk about this.

  1219. We need one.

  1220. One of one another.

  1221. Can't even talk.

  1222. I'm almost done.

  1223. Only what?

  1224. How many hatches?

  1225. Seventeen.

  1226. Number six.

  1227. The hatch of seed.

  1228. Luke, chapter six, verse 38.

  1229. Luke, chapter six, verse38.

  1230. And we're going to do communion here In a sec.

  1231. 6, verse 38.

  1232. Judge, can I go up to verse 37?

  1233. Because it goes with what I just said.

  1234. Judge not and you will not be judged.

  1235. Condemn not and you will not be condemned.

  1236. Forgive and you will be forgiven.

  1237. So the Bible doesn't say, don't judge.

  1238. You know how people say the Bible says that only God can judge

  1239. me?

  1240. No.

  1241. Your tattoo says that, but the Bible doesn't say that.

  1242. Because you or your tattoo artists both didn't read the Bible.

  1243. That's the problem.

  1244. So it doesn't say only God can judge me.

  1245. What it actually says is, judge not and you won't be judged.

  1246. And this is a principle about sowing and reaping.

  1247. It says, don't condemn other people and you won't be condemned.

  1248. Forgive and you will be forgiven.

  1249. Give and it will be given to you.

  1250. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over.

  1251. It'll be placed in your bosom or your lap.

  1252. What does that mean?

  1253. Well, Pastor Mike, I don't believe in the tithe.

  1254. We're not under the law.

  1255. Well, praise God, I agree with you.

  1256. But grace is sufficient to cause you to exceed the law, which

  1257. means that the.

  1258. That Christ did not die on the cross for us to do the minimums.

  1259. He empowered us to do more than we thought we could ever do.

  1260. And so, praise God, we're not under the law.

  1261. I completely agree with you.

  1262. But Jesus himself said, I did not come to actually abolish the

  1263. law, but to fulfill it.

  1264. In other words, when you would give financially under compulsion,

  1265. under the old covenant, you didn't want to give that, but now

  1266. you can give freely because I have freed you.

  1267. And you know what's funny?

  1268. Because when we say that, oh, whom the sun sets free is free indeed,

  1269. but we never mean our finances.

  1270. We never mean we're free to give.

  1271. It always means another form of freedom.

  1272. But here's one of the hatches that we're going to close is we're

  1273. going to close the hatch of seed.

  1274. That's what this one is, the hatch of seed.

  1275. What does that mean?

  1276. It means that you have to sow before the storm because then you

  1277. will reap during the storm.

  1278. What are you talking about, Pastor Mike?

  1279. It's an irrevocable principle.

  1280. See, the thing is, fear tells you to withhold fear tells you to

  1281. basically to shrink back.

  1282. But faith says give.

  1283. Why do I say that?

  1284. Because you're gonna see people that take bad theology and

  1285. get.

  1286. And make an excuse to not give financially.

  1287. But see, the secret is, it's right here in the text.

  1288. Give, and it will be given to you.

  1289. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over.

  1290. It'll be into your lap.

  1291. For with the measure you use it, it will be measured back to you.

  1292. I believe that generosity actually secures us against the fear.

  1293. And it's an identity issue.

  1294. Why do I say that?

  1295. Because if you can't see yourself as the person who's able

  1296. to give to other people, you will never become the person who

  1297. will give to other people.

  1298. And that's why, if you will begin to move in that direction before

  1299. the storm, God will cause you to make it through the storm.

  1300. Number seven is the last one.

  1301. And then we're gonna take communion.

  1302. It's the hatch of spiritual vision.

  1303. Close the gap on your eternal perspective.

  1304. The hatch of spiritual vision.

  1305. This is.

  1306. And this goes right along with that.

  1307. You guys can.

  1308. Now, can you see how I did them in order?

  1309. I did them all in order.

  1310. It's Hebrews, chapter 12, verse 2.

    Hebrews 12:2

  1311. Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who,

  1312. for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising

  1313. the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

  1314. There's an eternal vision.

  1315. The world sees terminal cancer, but I see a vision of Jesus

  1316. unveiled face to face.

  1317. The world sees economic turmoil, but I see a vision of Jesus

  1318. providing for all of my needs.

  1319. The world sees New York City, where violence is increasing in our

  1320. streets, and we perpetually and continually are making the news

  1321. for all the wrong reasons.

  1322. But I see a holy remnant rising from the ashes of destruction

  1323. that are moving in gentleness and meekness and kindness and long

  1324. suffering.

  1325. I see the bride of Christ in New York City making the news for

  1326. other reasons.

  1327. Where we're showing the world what revival looks like in a time

  1328. where a storm is raging.

  1329. We have an eternal perspective.

  1330. When you have an eternal perspective, it changes everything

  1331. about how you operate in the physical realm.

  1332. And there's many of you that you brush your teeth, there's many

  1333. of you.

  1334. You take a shower, there's many of you.

  1335. You buy new clothes, there's many of you.

  1336. You eat food.

  1337. And if you looked at your day, your day is a representation of almost

  1338. exclusively protecting the physical.

  1339. But if you have an eternal existence and an eternal vision,

  1340. your bank account is going to reflect eternity.

  1341. How you use your time and your schedule is going to reflect eternity.

  1342. And when the world looks at you, they're going to say, it doesn't

  1343. make sense the way they live their life.

  1344. And that is going to be a witness to them.

  1345. Why are you always stealing away to pray?

  1346. Because when I get in that prayer closet, I meet the one whom

  1347. I'm praying to.

  1348. Why does it seem like you keep getting a raise, by the way?

  1349. I heard four stories in the last two weeks of people who increase

  1350. their giving to V1 Church, and the very next day they got a raise

  1351. on their job.

  1352. But some of you think that he's gonna part the Red Sea and then

  1353. you walk through it.

  1354. But you gotta step up to the Red Sea like Moses did, and you make

  1355. the first move, and then God will make the next move.

  1356. Move.

  1357. You gotta operate in faith, but you can only do that with an

  1358. eternal perspective.

  1359. I often think about the moments before the Red Sea parted.

  1360. What was going through Moses mind?

  1361. I'll tell you.

  1362. He was saying, God, oh, come on.

  1363. I.

  1364. You were faithful when I was in the courts of Pharaoh and I threw

  1365. down my staff and it.

  1366. I, you know, people think, was he scared?

  1367. No.

  1368. I believe in the moments before, and there's no way I can

  1369. prove this biblically, but I believe in the moments before the

  1370. Red Sea parted, Moses was going back and thinking about the

  1371. faithfulness of God and all those different miracles.

  1372. And he was saying, God, you did it then, now do it again.

  1373. So as we get ready to close, we're gonna batten the hatches.

  1374. This is not the first time we've been through a storm, and it

  1375. won't be the last time we're going through a storm.

  1376. But I do believe that if you guys will put all of these Christian

  1377. disciplines at the forefront of your life and keep an eternal

  1378. perspective, that we're gonna make it through.

  1379. And this was confirmed by a friend of mine.

  1380. His name is Joseph Z.

  1381. He's a dear friend of mine.

  1382. He kept saying, july.

  1383. I see the month of July.

  1384. And I just want to prophesy over many of you that I believe if

  1385. you can batten down the hatches and you can actually seal

  1386. up the ship of your life, that you will make it through the storms.

  1387. And I believe that by July there will be rest and there will

  1388. be a significant transition in your life.

  1389. So write that down and mark it down.

  1390. How many of you are believing for that?

  1391. By July, you're going to get through the storm, and July is going

  1392. to represent an oasis outside of the storm.

  1393. Now, everybody stand to your feet across all locations and take

  1394. out communion.

  1395. And this communion cup, like I said, is very special.

  1396. He said, as often as you do this, do this in remembrance of me.

  1397. But it's more than a symbol.

  1398. I believe that the very presence of Jesus through the spirit

  1399. inhabits this moment of communion.

  1400. And so you can take out your cup and take out the wafer and just

  1401. get it ready.

  1402. And once you have it ready, hold the wafer in one hand and the

  1403. cup in the other.

  1404. And then we're going to talk.

  1405. So I'll give you a moment.

  1406. Come on.

  1407. Did this message help you today?

  1408. Praise God.

  1409. So just take the communion.

  1410. I just wanted to give you a message that I felt like represented

  1411. the heart of God.

  1412. To start the year, batten down the hatches, the seven hatches that

  1413. you're going to close, the seven gaps that you're going to close.

  1414. Okay.

  1415. If you have communion ready, I want to explain something to you.

  1416. The apostle said that if you take communion inappropriately, it

  1417. can become poison to you.

  1418. In other words, there is a right way and a wrong way to take

  1419. communion.

  1420. And the reason why this is important is because if it was just

  1421. purely symbolic, it's very unlikely that there would be a wrong

  1422. way to do it.

  1423. But I believe that it becomes poison to you when you cheapen grace

  1424. by continually and perpetually going back to sins.

  1425. Can I just tell you lovingly as your pastor, that as you increase

  1426. in sanctification, as you go longer on your journey in faith,

  1427. you should be sinning less?

  1428. I'm just telling you straight up, you should be sinning less.

  1429. And by the way, I want to prophesy this over you.

  1430. This is the year you stop blaming everything on the Devil.

  1431. You've already gotten deliverance seven times.

  1432. You've already vomited in every barf bag.

  1433. You've already done John Eckhart's books.

  1434. You've already done my book.

  1435. You've already done.

  1436. Stop blaming it on the devil.

  1437. This year, this is the year you come into maturity.

  1438. And this is the year you say, I'm gonna go through a process called

  1439. sanctification.

  1440. Now, if you need deliverance, we're gonna do deliverance.

  1441. But deliverance is easy.

  1442. Taking up your cross is hard.

  1443. People are like, oh, these demons, you don't know they're so

  1444. powerful.

  1445. No, they're not.

  1446. What?

  1447. You've empowered them.

  1448. You're giving them more power than they really have.

  1449. Deliverance is not that hard.

  1450. Crucifying your flesh is where you're going to see what you're really

  1451. made out of.

  1452. And so my reason in saying that to you is that this is the year

  1453. that you go on this journey of saying, God, I don't want to go back

  1454. to this vomit.

  1455. I don't want to go back to this sin.

  1456. But can I go even deeper, Lord, show me why I keep going back

  1457. to that false comfort instead of you.

  1458. Show me why I'm still stimulated by this thing.

  1459. Tell me, show me, what's the root, God?

  1460. Oh, it's trauma.

  1461. Oh, it's trauma from my past.

  1462. This is the year that you're going to deal with your childhood.

  1463. This is a deal.

  1464. This year we're going there while this storm is raging.

  1465. We're going to batten down the hatches and down below in the lowest

  1466. levels of that ship.

  1467. We're going to deal with some things that haven't been dealt with.

  1468. Oh, I feel a grace on that.

  1469. I feel grace on that.

  1470. And you will be free this year.

  1471. Some of you are going to sign up for Christian counseling, and

  1472. you're going to see a Christian therapist, and you're going

  1473. to deal with patterns of thinking because the demons are gone,

  1474. but you're going to dismantle the nest.

  1475. Some of you are going to go to the gym this year and you're going

  1476. to start working out because you believe the lie that your back

  1477. can never be healed.

  1478. But the doctor said degenerate, and the Lord says, regenerate.

  1479. And that trauma in your body from the sexual abuse, you're going

  1480. to get into the gym and you're going to start rebuilding the temple

  1481. of the Holy Ghost.

  1482. Because in it's not your body, it's his body.

  1483. And it's time to rebuild the temple.

  1484. Feel the anointing on that for somebody.

  1485. Come on, we're about to take communion.

  1486. But I'm not going to let this communion become poison to you because

  1487. you go through the motions and you go yada, yada.

  1488. Let me go eat a burrito.

  1489. No, we need this.

  1490. So don't.

  1491. Some of you are going to fast this year, and you're going to learn

  1492. how to starve the flesh and feed the spirit, and you're going

  1493. to learn how to push the play.

  1494. Oh, Pastor Mike, I can't go more than one day.

  1495. No, no, trust me, you can.

  1496. It's called Pastor Mike.

  1497. No, no, I'm medicated.

  1498. Well, then talk to your doctor about how you can pull it off this

  1499. year.

  1500. Matter of fact, there's many stories of people fasting and not

  1501. needing their medication when it's Over.

  1502. This is the year, and I want to take you on this journey, if you'll

  1503. stop fighting me.

  1504. Let's fight the devil together, not each other.

  1505. I almost wore my captain hat today.

  1506. Jules, was that gonna be weird, batting down the hatches?

  1507. Who wants to go on this journey with me?

  1508. I'm gonna say one more thing.

  1509. Then we're gonna pray, then we're gonna take communion, and then

  1510. we've only got two hours of service left after that.

  1511. This is the year that you are consistent.

  1512. Stop missing church.

  1513. Stop making excuses.

  1514. Stop lie.

  1515. You're.

  1516. You're deceiving yourself, and you're violating your own conscience.

  1517. Oh, Pastor Mike, you just care about numbers.

  1518. No, homie, this is not a gym.

  1519. You don't scan your barcode on the way.

  1520. I'm not talking about this for me.

  1521. Me and Julie never thought we were gonna have a church bigger than

  1522. 150 people.

  1523. Am I right?

  1524. So we don't.

  1525. We don't care at all in terms of trying to make ourselves feel

  1526. good.

  1527. We.

  1528. You.

  1529. You would move to Tulsa if you want to have a big church, not New

  1530. York City.

  1531. Am I right?

  1532. So this stupid fake narrative out there, it's like, go on with

  1533. yourself, lion, devil, and all your demonic propaganda.

  1534. But I will say, for your sake, you need to go to church every week,

  1535. because they don't preach this anymore.

  1536. Jules, we used to go to church three times a day.

  1537. Yeah, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday and Friday was yours.

  1538. Yeah, they were extra holy at her church.

  1539. But here's my point.

  1540. We don't have midweek service, but we do have a service once a week,

  1541. and I want to see you every week.

  1542. And that's not because I'm trying to make myself feel better,

  1543. because I don't.

  1544. I don't need that for my ego.

  1545. But I do believe that Jesus, through the Holy Spirit in you, is

  1546. gonna bear someone else's burden.

  1547. We need each other, and I feel like, how would your life be different

  1548. if you did?

  1549. So I want us to take this moment now that I said all that,

  1550. and I said it in love.

  1551. Did you feel the love?

  1552. Let's pray together.

  1553. And I'm gonna leave a little bit of room right now to where you

  1554. all can pray across every location.

  1555. Lord, forgive me, Lord.

  1556. Wash me with your blood, Lord.

  1557. Sanctify me.

  1558. Psalm, chapter 18.

    Psalms 18 chapter mention

  1559. I love you, O Lord, my strength.

  1560. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God,

  1561. my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of

  1562. my salvation and my stronghold.

  1563. I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised and I am

  1564. saved from my enemies.

  1565. The cords of death encompass me.

  1566. The torrents of destruction assailed me the cords of Sheol entangled

  1567. me the snares of death confronted me in my distress I called

  1568. upon the Lord so my God, I cried for help from his temple he

  1569. heard my voice and my cry to him reached his ears Then the earth

  1570. reeled and rocked the foundations also of the mountains

  1571. trembled and quaked because he was angry Smoke went up from his

  1572. nostrils and devouring fire from his mouth glowing coals flame

  1573. forth from him he bowed the heavens and came down Come on.

  1574. How many of you are thankful?

  1575. I called to the Lord he answered and he responded Jesus,

  1576. wash us with your blood.

  1577. Jesus, forgive us of all of our sins.

  1578. Jesus, blot out our iniquities Remove even the stain, even the stench

  1579. of sin from our lives.

  1580. God, renew a right spirit within us Renew our mind.

  1581. Come on.

  1582. Everybody said amen.