welcome to our 2021 step over
message praise god we are departing the
year of 2020.
it's been a very difficult year for the
entire planet
and we're moving into the year 2021
of course i can't promise you that
difficulties and challenges will go away
many of those things will remain of
course in the earth
but we have god's promises we have god's
word
we have god's covenant and the lord is
well able to take care of his people
and i believe that 2021 you're going to
continue to move
upstream just like the salmon going
upstream
when the current of the world sweeps
downstream
the current of negativity of fear of
sickness
of disease and all of those yucky things
that are out there
financial difficulties etc nevertheless
you are going upstream and i believe
this is going to be the greatest year of
your life
yet whoo go glory to god and i want to
invite you to come with me tonight to
our key verse
which is found in the book of
isaiah chapter 54
and let's open up in prayer heavenly
father we thank you for your word
that we are closing out this old year of
2020
and we're stepping into the new year
and we know that you have blessing for
us you have provision
you have health you have wisdom you have
anointing
woo praise your lord and so father we
are excited
in our hearts about what you're doing
because it's the hour of
of the church it's our time to enjoy
your goodness and that even should the
world be in darkness
yet we have a place like the israelites
did called
goshen and we are in a place of
exemption from all the calamities that
are out there
because of our walk with you and the
covenant father we give you praise let
your word shine in our hearts
let your holy spirit illuminate these
scriptures tonight that we'll cover and
lord
let the prophetic word be sealed in our
hearts for victory
now father we give you praise we ask
these things in jesus name
around the world let's all agree and say
amen
praise god now many of you are familiar
with isaiah chapter 54
and of course verses 2 and 3
are power packed they're loaded with
many wonderful promises but in order to
get
to verses two and three we have to go
through verse one
and i think verse one can be one of
those verses we want to rush over
we we don't want to assign that verse to
ourselves
we want to skip it and maybe even if
it's obvious pretend that it doesn't
really pertain to
us yet sometimes in our secret place
with the lord
it seems like there is perhaps this
issue
floating around the room and let's talk
about it
i'm not saying it's an elephant in the
room that we're ignoring
but i am saying that for many christians
without question
it's a reality of something that is
persistent but
it's changing now verse 1
sing o'barren you
who have not borne break forth into
singing and cry aloud
you who have not labored with child
for more are the children of the
desolate than the children of the
married woman says the lord
so we're we're dealing with the
liberation of barrenness
this inability to produce despite
perhaps
a good prayer life despite perhaps the
time that
you're in the word and you believe the
word despite
maybe some pretty good efforts you still
step back and you think lord
it seems like there should be some more
productivity here
than what i'm seeing why why
uh why does it seem that maybe we have a
situation here of
barrenness just this inability to
produce
on the level that the gospels and the
epistles
confirm that we have the ability and the
authority to be walking in
lord what's going on praise god well
i'm here tonight to tell you that
these areas of barrenness in your life
are finished praise the lord and that
2021
is going to be a year are you hearing me
today
it's going to be a year of productivity
unlike anything you have ever seen
before
in your life so in light of that sing
oberyn you who have not born break forth
in the singing
and cry aloud so things are changing
right now as you're listening to this
prophetic
message the atmosphere the situation
and the circumstances are changing in
your life god is moving on your behalf
now verse two and three we love
but we have to go first through verse
one
verse two enlarge the place of your tent
and let them stretch out the curtains of
your dwellings do not spare
lengthen your cords and strengthen your
stakes what businessman or businesswoman
wouldn't like that
what ministry or minister would not be
excited about that promise
we all love the increase the blessing of
god verse 3
for you shall expand to the right
and to the left and your descendants
will inherit the nations
and make the desolate cities inhabited
so my friends 2021 is going to be
a year of enlargement it's going to be a
time of expansion
it's going to be a time of growth and
you're going to see it
break forth quickly in your life but but
first
we do need the cover verse 1 in a little
more
detail sing o bearing you
who have not born now we'll swing back
in just a little bit to verse 2 and 3
and we'll shout about it and we'll
rejoice in it
but let's work a little bit more through
verse 1.
this thing of barrenness can't produce
you might be sick and you know the
healing promises of god
and you're believing god for healing but
there just has not been that production
where you're seeing that manifestation
perhaps
you have a business you have a company
and you're like lord
i'm putting a lot into this more than
others maybe who are doing good
how come mine has not yet achieved that
lift
lord am i invisible why is it that i
seem to be passed by while others have
their turn
and they have their opportunity lord
when
is it my time to come
out of the shadows my friends i'm here
to tell you
that your time has come but i don't want
you to think
that an acknowledgement
of any barrenness in your life is
something that you should feel awkward
or
or ashamed or embarrassed about because
when we look in scriptures
we see that there were quite a few women
who god took them on this journey
of barrenness human impossibility
the frustration that would go along with
that to a point
of not only producing but
producing something that brought a lot
of glory to god
so let's look at a few of those examples
tonight as all
barrenness is leaving
your life right now all of it all of it
in jesus name praise the lord
let's start tonight in genesis chapter
11
genesis chapter 11 and we're going to go
directly to
verse 30. and it says
but sarah excuse me sarai
was barren she had no child
pastor stephen how come she didn't have
any children because she was barren and
she
she has this thing that she can't shake
she has a lot of other things going for
she's married a great man and we know
from scripture that
she has other blessings in her life that
says that she's very beautiful she's
very attractive
has a lot going for her except
she can't produce and maybe you know
that feeling you've got a lot of good
things going in your life
you could check a lot of good boxes
god's blessed me in this area god's
blessed me in this area but over here in
this area that means so much to me
nothing's going on nothing's moving well
sarah knew what that was like
now the name sarai
means princess she's going to get a name
change
now we see that in genesis chapter 17
genesis 17 verse 15
then god said to abraham as for sarai
your wife you shall not call her name
sarai
but sarah shall be her name
and i will bless her and also give you a
son
by her bye bye bear in this hallelujah
that i will bless her and she shall be a
mother of nations
kings of peoples shall be from her
sarai means princess
sarah means princess as well
but it denotes a different meaning it
literally means
not just a princess of your own life
not just a princess in your own world as
unto yourself
but it now means a princess over
nations it has more of a reality to it
than what it did before now in the
hebrew
server actually can be translated as my
princess this is fascinating
god now names her and calls her
my princess i think before that
she had the princess mentality but
as unto herself remember where they came
from her and her husband
they came out of the ur of the chaldees
and their ancestry was that of moon
worshipers
that is the area that's known as the
fertile crescent
and it's a great place to grow crops but
in that fertile crescent
there was a plethora of idolatry
with the moon being worshipped and you
still see today that crescent
moon as a symbol for
certain religious followers
that that are following the wrong thing
you certainly don't want to follow the
moon or worship the moon but that was
their background
and so they come out of that and god has
spoken to
abraham and a good thing is going on so
in that process
sarah remember let me say it like this
anytime there is strength
any time there is an anointing take
samson
for instance incredible anointing
manifest it through
superhuman acts of strength anytime
there's strength
like that or beauty like
sarah had any manifestation of strength
or beauty
satan will want to humiliate that
and you've got to be aware of that he's
going to want to twist it he's going to
want to get in there and mess it up and
mar it so it doesn't glorify god but it
now becomes something that's
sensual and perverted and deformed and
you can't even recognize god in it
samson had his journey
i believe sarah had hers also from being
this person that even
pharaoh pharaoh of egypt looked at her
and just like told his assistants i
don't know who that person is but
go get that lady i i've got a i've got
to have that lady
uh she's she's going to be my next my
next queen
and you know abraham wasn't quite sure
how to handle it had a
had a yellow streak in his spine i
didn't have enough uh
you know he thought he's going to get
killed if he didn't kind of play along
with this and said oh that's my sister
so you know of course the lord dealt
with pharaoh severely
before he ever touched sarah or anything
like that
but she had that strength and she knew
she had that
she was the princess but she reaches
this point where she's so frustrated
it means nothing what does it matter if
you're the princess but you can't have
what you really want you can't be
who god really wants you to be and so
name change
from being your own princess your own
glamour eyes looking on you
applauding you people taking your
picture everywhere putting your own
magazine covers because you're so pretty
but yet you're bearing the whole time it
doesn't mean anything
now she's god's princess my
princess praise the lord so there is
something to that barrenness
where god is working something because
he has a special purpose
amen and that purpose was accomplished
in
sarah praise the lord now let's go over
to
genesis chapter 25. genesis 25
praise the lord genesis 25 verse
21 and we're going to look now at
rebecca
who was the wife of isaac now isaac
pleaded
with the lord for his wife
notice that it doesn't say that
rebecca's doing all the pleading
lord deliver me lord deliver me from
this barrenness
i i don't know i'm sure she didn't like
it
i'm sure she was frustrated up to here
with this inability to produce
and all of these promises are riding
on this what god has promised abraham
and sarah well they've they've done
their part they had the miracle child
sarah got pregnant now they've got they
have isaac
but he's in the same dilemma now his
wife is barren
as well now isaac pleaded with the lord
for his wife
because she was barren and the lord
granted his plea
and rebecca his wife conceived
he pleaded with the lord he prayed
prayer is essential
in expressing your heart to the lord
lord
i cannot continue like this with this
area
of blatant barrenness in my life lord it
must change
and i believe the lord has heard your
prayers
just like you heard the prayer of isaac
and i'm sure
isaac had prayed before about it but he
got really serious and said lord
this has to end and it has to end now
and the lord responded notice it says
that he plead it
he pleaded with the lord now that is a
form of prayer
in the hebrew the word pleaded is the
hebrew word
athar and this is fascinating
it literally means in the hebrew to burn
incense
in worship wow so as we have seen
throughout scripture
even in the final book of the bible the
book of uh
the revelation of the lord jesus christ
you see a lot of
about incense burning in the temple
the incense was a symbol of
and particularly the smoke going up of
the prayers
of the saints going up to god and when
the incense is pure and holy
as it was designed to be and only the
priests were allowed to
be involved in the the incense offering
then when that goes up properly it's
pleasing to the lord in other words
the the prayer the incense the prayer
is in harmony with god's will
from a new testament perspective you
could say that the prayer it lines up
with scripture
it's it's in accordance with the will of
god and so that smoke
rising from the burning incense that
prayer
going up is heard from the lord the
easiest prayer
to get answered is a prayer
that is an agreement with the will of
god and
the word of god for your life and
the lord delivered rebecca
from the barrenness praise the lord
praise the lord god hears
and answers prayer and you've been
praying
you've been praying and god has heard
and your
your areas of barrenness are falling
completely
away from you tonight praise the lord
blessed be the lord genesis chapter 29
let's continue to look into
the power of god to deliver from
barrenness genesis chapter 29
verse 31 when the lord
saw that leah was unloved
he opened her womb but rachel
rachel was barren
abraham isaac jacob
of course jacob's name is going to be
changed to israel but these men
and their individual wife that they had
they were barren these women were barren
did you notice that the great
matriarchs of the bible they could not
produce they did not have the ability to
produce they needed god to step
in or else it wasn't going to it wasn't
going to happen and we see it again here
with rachel now god is going to do a
miracle
and he's going to answer her prayer
genesis chapter 30
verse 22. excuse me it says then god
remembered
rachel and god listened to her and
opened her room now i have my own
personal beliefs of why
it was difficult for rachel but not
not so much for leah um it does appear
that rachel in her life
she had some issues with idolatry i mean
she when her and her sister
left with their husband jacob because he
had two wives
and they were both sisters uh what a
mess
but as it were but you know he got
tricked into that he could you know
it was it was it was difficult but god
god was working in it
but the thing was is that when they left
laban
rachel took her father's little idols
she took she took them with her so
there was something in her heart that
had this area
of not being completely devoted to the
lord
and i believe in that case that was a
cause
for her barrenness not not all call not
all cases of barrenness can be
attributed
to something that that person is doing
wrong but from what i've seen
in the life of rachel there was a major
area in her life that she had to get
conquered
and that was this thing with these idols
then god remembered rachel and god
listened to her and opened her womb
and she conceived and bore a son and
said god
has taken away my reproach so she called
his name
joseph whoo praise god and aren't you
glad
that joseph came along he was special no
question about it he was something
special
and uh he was he was brilliant
and he was it said he was extremely
handsome
and he had a tremendous he had a
tremendous
shape and you put all of that together
um
uh he was quite a handful and uh it
appears that
all the ladies in egypt were aware of
that and he was holy
he was holy he was a holy man because he
he was
walking in the ways of the lord but you
know when he was in
that egyptian culture quite interesting
when you read the talmud
and you hear about some of the stories
uh
that talk about just how how incredibly
good-looking of a man
he actually was uh it actually says the
jewish rabbis actually say
that potiphar's wife
was literally just in in grief over
having to look at this guy
uh you know run the office so to speak
and to do the things around the house
and when her friends came over her
girlfriends came over
they would they would say to her how in
the world you keep yourself sane
when a man like this is walking around
the house because he was something else
well
he had a very very beautiful mother and
he also had a very handsome father you
put that together
and usually you're gonna have some
really good looking children praise the
lord and that was certainly the case
with
joseph the bible is a very colorful
book praise god so rachel
who was barren she got
yes she did she got her miracle praise
god and she
gave us joseph and of course between
uh those two and their handmaidens we
have
the twelve sons
of jacob who became the 12
patriarchs and who became the 12 tribes
of
israel praise the lord so thank god
that he is able the lord is able to
remove every vesture
of barrenness out of your life glory to
god
i see it leaving i see it completely
leaving praise the lord
sometimes when there is mockery or being
made fun of
or just not received or a sense maybe
even of rejection
that can be an element of barrenness
maybe you haven't been able to put your
finger on it
but you have been uh one who has felt
those uh elements of rejection
or certain words or just never being
able to fit in or whatever it might be
that could be because of a type of
barrenness that maybe somebody else sees
in you
and maybe there's a mocking now of
course back in the old testament days if
the woman was barren
that was one of the most humiliating
things that a woman could go through
culturally because you know everything
in those days
rode on the husband and the wife
producing an
heir preferably a son and when you
couldn't do that
it was culturally it was a very
difficult
thing for a woman to live with but
whatever that form of barrenness is
god is healing now and he's taking it
completely away
just like he did for these great women
of
the bible but my friends were not
through
yet let's go to the book of judges
and we need to look at another example
praise the lord
judges chapter 13
verse 2. now i'm talking about the
prophetic word of what the lord is going
to do for you in 2021
removing all barrenness out of your life
this inability to produce
this inability for uh momentum to be
generated for a breakthrough for things
to go in the direction that you know
that they should go but yet it's not
working
that is being broken off tonight
praise the lord and your productivity
your ability to produce
is coming online full power ahead praise
god
genesis excuse me judges chapter 13.
let's drop down to verse 2
and 3. now there was a certain man from
zorah of the family of the danites oh
so the deliverer is going to come out of
the tribe of dan yes he is
whose name was manoa and his wife was
barren
and had no children did you notice that
she's barren
had no children pastor stephen how come
she didn't have any children because
she's barren
what's her name what is her name it's
not mentioned is it
no it's not verse 3 and the angel of the
lord appeared to the woman and said to
her
indeed now you are barren yep she knows
that
and have borne no children yes she's
painfully aware of that
but but you shall conceive
and bear a son and when
the lord brings the word of
conception and the ability to now
produce
trust me it's bye-bye
to bareness those who once
laughed behind your back they're going
to see a change
and the next thing you know you're going
to have to learn how to deal with envy
and jealousy
praise the lord when they see what god
has done in your life by the way in
in the talmud it does give her name
the jews are very good with details and
writing things down
in their beauty beautiful lineage and
ancestry
and the talmud is a commentary on the
old testament scriptures
by the wisest rabbis and the sages
of their times praise the lord and they
say
that samson's mother her name was sidlel
ponet sid lelponnet well pastor stephen
if that's her name
why is it not in the bible remember
that when you read the inspired word of
god the infallible
eternal word of god that you're not
reading a history book oh yes you're
going to get a lot of history
there's a lot of history in here but
that's not the purpose
of the bible the purpose of the bible is
to
teach god's word god's laws
god's ways god's instructions it is a
book of teaching
praise the lord and the holy spirit
he re he recounts absolutely certain
names
stories sometimes very minute details
but when he's doing that he does that
and
makes sure that they are recorded in the
word
because if it's in there there's a
teaching
that can be extracted and derived from
that story
that's applicable to our lives
pastor stephen i want to know if paul
the apostle was married
well there are some verses that could
could maybe hint that he was what about
all the other apostles well
most likely they were but there's just a
lot of details
that are not included why it's not a
history book it's a teaching book
and what's there is there because
there's a story
in it that we need to be aware of praise
god
by the way samson's mother as we look a
little bit more on the historical side
her name being said leoponet is a name
that's common
uh not not super common but a name
that's pretty common in israel today and
you you run across
quite a few women who actually have this
name because in jewish culture
particularly if you live in israel
you're you're familiar with the the
lineage of the beautiful lineage of the
jewish people so there are quite a few
ladies today
in this world that actually have this
name and the the first part of that name
sid layla is actually in the hebrew a
reference to
a shadow and the jewish rabbis
taught that when the mother of samson
saw that angel
and that that form that figure it was
kind of like a shadowy type
angelic form and that's why uh she has
that name but in hebrew her name is
plural
why the angel appeared to her twice she
said hey
look my husband's not here you're gonna
have to come back so that he can see you
and really believe this happened so he
came back
twice that's why uh her name has that
plural
meaning of that angelic sight that she
saw
whoo praise god but my friends
just think that samson
this deliverer from the tribe of dan and
the tremendous
the tremendous anointing of the spirit
of god upon his life
came from a woman that was once barren
wow hallelujah look all barrenness
is being extracted out of your life
right now by the holy spirit
praise the lord and it's being replaced
by
anointing empowerment to do what god has
called you to do
and to be the person that god has called
you
to be praise the lord my friends we're
not quite done yet we need to dig just a
little bit deeper
our next stop would be in the book of
first samuel
many of you love this story for some of
you this would probably be
uh maybe for some of you your faith your
favorite
woman in the bible in the sense from the
old testament
and yes this is referring to hannah
first samuel chapter one verse one
now there was a certain man of ramatham
zephim
of the mountains of ephraim and his name
was akana
the son of jeremy the son of eliju the
son of tohu the son of zeuf
and ephraimite have all these wonderful
individuals from the different tribes
and he had two wives the name of one was
hannah
and the name of the other panina paninda
had children but
hannah had no children
now get ready for this next verse we
have to
we have to receive the word of god we
have to assimilate it
we have to meditate upon it digest it
and make it applicable
to our lives are you ready to take your
fork and stick it into this
piece of filet mignon here we go verse
5.
but to hannah that's the husband but to
hannah he the husband
would give a double portion for he loved
hannah
although the lord had closed her womb
whoo
that's a tough one that's a tough one
and here
she has everything preferential
treatment
double portion the husband really has
the eye for her
but no child but yet the other
the other wife um just over there you
know
able to produce things going along just
fine for her
but yet here's hannah really wants to
serve god has a heart for god
loves the lord loves to loves the you
know the tabernacle structure
uh loves to worship god but yeah here
she's the one that's barren doesn't seem
to make any sense
what's going on why in the world will
the lord close
her womb i'll tell you exactly why
and if you'll catch this
you'll begin to get a glimpse of why
there has been barrenness an inability
to produce
in your life and it's because that
concerning hannah and i believe
concerning you
there was a divine reason for
the closing of the womb a divine
reason for an inability to
produce well pastor stephen what in the
world
could that reason be
god wanted
a prophet that's why and if he's going
to get a prophet
somebody's going to have to give birth
to this new prophet that he wants to
bring
on the scene bring on the scene a
prophet
right in the midst of a bunch of total
corruption oh the priesthood
a lot of corruption a lot of corruption
going on there
and as it says in the book of judges
the people just did what they thought
was right
in their own eyes how many of you know
we can go in a million different
directions with that because everybody
outside of the lord has their own
opinion on what's right and wrong
and uh that can just go all over the
place and really i'll tell you where it
leads to
total insanity well i i've got my own
ideas on this pastor steven i think this
is right well i think that's right
before you know it you've got you've got
crazy people
thinking that what they think is right
and then where's it gonna go it's gonna
go downhill
and so there needs to be a prophet on
the scene and so god's got a he's got to
bring this prophet into the earth
and he needs somebody that's very
devoted that has a heart for god
so that that nature is also transferred
into the child
because this is a special child
um
verse 10 and she was in bitterness of
soul maybe some of you have been too
with your bareness
some bitterness and pray to the lord see
prayer is involved in the removing
of the the agony of barrenness
and the lord has heard your prayers that
she made a vow and said o lord of hosts
if you will indeed look on the
affliction
of your maidservant what was the
affliction herbalness
and remember me and not forget your
maidservant but will give your
maidservant a male
child then i will give him to the lord
all the days of his life and no razor
shall come up on his head
she probably never ever would have made
a vow like that
would have really gone full full all out
for the lord
if she had never been barren she if she
would if she could produce
she would have had a son and would have
been had some more children
and would have had a nice life with a
double portion and just live in your
tent
and be happy your husband loves you and
everything is
normal but it's not it's not when you
hit this area of barrenness
and it's very interesting when god is
involved in the barrenness
himself higher purpose going on here
a higher purpose than you just well this
doesn't make any sense
there's a higher purpose going on and
it's a divine purpose
praise the lord and this brings me to
the the individual that i want us to see
now that's where now we're going to move
to the gospel of luke
chapter one praise god
2021 you're going to make up for lost
time with so
so much productivity that
it's going to make it's got by the time
you're done people are going to think
you did more this year than you did in
10 years put together
praise the lord for some of you
there will be people that will look at
you and say you got more done this year
than you've done in the last seven years
pastor steven i've been doing good we
cannot make excuses
for barrenness i was around a minister
one time
and he was real arrogant
why he had just hired his fourth
employee and he thought
he thought that the whole realm of
christendom
should bow down and look up to him as
the example of what real productivity
was
and he had four employees and he was
he was ready the right he was ready to
ride out on a white stallion
i i didn't feel like telling him about
the pastor
the one particular pastor who has 29 000
employees on payroll
i i didn't i just didn't think i'd
mention it to him but probably he
probably couldn't even absorb something
like that
oh no no pastor stephen you mean he has
29 000 church members no no the
the church is in the hundreds of
thousands he has on staff
29 000 employees full-time
on staff that get checks every two weeks
so how does four stack up against 29
000. look some people think they've
arrived
and they're they're they're afraid to
identify
this is not working the way that it
should but when you see it
and you say i can't go on like this this
is not normal
now god can have different walks and
different callings and uh different
areas of assignment
um there's different vessels in the
church
you have you know different types of
callings some to a smaller area some to
a larger area
some to a global platform i can
understand that
but sometimes we act like something is
so grand
and i think the lord sits back and says
hey
i can take you a lot farther than that
if you'd like to go
if you would realize that this is not
full productivity
maybe this is not even like eight or
nine percent
let's go further praise god but let's
let's first identify
that we can't continue like this this is
not god's best
praise the lord
[Music]
praise the lord um thank you
jesus
i was having some of my clothes tailored
and i was in charlotte having uh these
were a couple of safari suits
and i was getting them done by a tailor
from hong kong
this taylor he travels around the world
the various locations
and he'll he'll set up in a hotel and
you go to the hotel
and he'll measure you and then he'll
create the safari suit
that will fit you perfect and i was in
charlotte
meeting with him and
he was taking my measurements and my
wife
my wife said to him
do you do any other suits for any other
ministers besides my husband
he said yes
there is one other minister
that we do have a we do have on our
books and we do his
we do his clothing and
i i knew what my wife was thinking i
said kelly
it would never be that minister
she said is it bishop so-and-so
he said well let me look and he went
through his
you know all of his listings of his
clients and he said
yes he's that minister he said he said
so i make
his suits and i make yours too i make
your safari suits and i make all of his
clothing that you see him wear
praise the lord same same pastor
that has 29 000 people on on payroll on
staff
mm-hmm praise the lord same the same
man's making his and my
safari suits praise the lord small world
kelly said i knew it she said i knew it
praise the lord well
it's true praise god thank you jesus
hallelujah glory to god the lord
is removing the garments
of barrenness off of your life
and he's going to put the garments on
you
custom designed tailored by the holy
spirit
that he wants you to walk in oh pastor
steven i can never walk in those places
you can when you get rid of barrenness
whoo praise the lord get ready to go
with the lord
get ready to go with the lord to some
very very
exciting places
we are now in the gospel of luke
we're in chapter one let's go to verse
five
praise god i see new anointings
new mantles falling upon you to walk
into these new areas
that god destined before you ever were
born to step into these places
and you're not walking in barren you're
walking in
latent with the power of god upon your
life
hallelujah these restraints are removed
now in the name of jesus praise god
you're moving forward
you're moving forward verse five there
was
in the days of herod well
this would be him herod well historians
call him herod the great let's go ahead
and give him that title
although he's probably not in a good
place right now i'm sure he
he's in hell he was a horrible man
this is herod the great yes the same one
that had all the
little innocent children murdered and
slaughtered
because he was afraid that the messiah
was going to be born and show up well
the lord's purposes and plans were
hidden and concealed
and herod never got jesus oh he was also
after
john the baptist never got him either
but he murdered
countless countless innocent
sweet young little children matter of
fact when
herod came to power he executed and had
killed the entire jewish sanhedrin
a very wicked man appointed by mark
antony
the ruler of the roman empire he
appointed herod to reign
over the area of israel it was a vast
area of course that he ruled over
but he was a monster he was a horrible
man now
we we have to admit he was a great
builder but you know what when you have
that kind of wealth
and you have that kind of power i mean
really who couldn't build something good
when you have that many architects to
back you up and that many designers to
help you
sure anybody could build something great
but he did build some pretty remarkable
structures he built masada
uh so when you go to masada and you see
his uh winter fortress you're like
yeah that that's pretty impressive and
uh his crowning achievement
was uh basically the second temple
you had solomon's temple but it was
destroyed
it was rebuilt by zerubbabel but later
when herod came along he
took that temple down to the foundation
and then he expanded
that mount moriah plateau
and he built outward by building a
massive retaining wall
that's called the western wall so he
built the western wall it's just a
retaining wall but it's monumental
and he laid those huge stones all the
way down to the bedrock and built it up
built it up
so that there's a much larger plateau
now
up on the temple mount and once that
retaining wall was
built then he just filled in that back
area with stone and dirt and rubble
packed it and then laid a phenomenal
stone pavement on top
and that's where the temple that the
lord jesus
walked into existed it was known as
herod's temple it's the jewish temple
god's temple but it was actually built
by
herod himself and it was at that time
the greatest wonder
in the world they said hey if you ever
want to see a structure
that tops any structure come look at
herod's temple
and he did that to please the jewish
people because he wanted a peaceful
reign
although the jews never liked him now
you do read about other herod's in the
bible you had his son
herod antipas who ruled over the area of
galilee that would
be the you know the foolish hero that
had john the baptist killed later but
that was like 30
32 years later and then you had herod
agrippa the grandson
but they were way down on the totem pole
they never had the
uh total kingship and complete dominion
like
herod the great had there was in the
days of herod the king of judea
a certain priest oh so he's a priest
he would be from the tribe of levi
and he's a priest so he's a kohanim now
the levites themselves were not priests
the levites did work and serve at the
temple
but they could not go into the holy
place and only the
high priest could go into the holy of
holies
but the priests they had those
very sacred ceremonial duties and the
levites
they did all of the maybe we could call
it the work they split the wood
they did many types of chores they were
also the temple guards
and they did other things uh many of
them were actually
very skilled musicians some of them were
extraordinary singers
but they're involved very very much in
the temple so we see here
that zacharias is a priest a certain
priest
named zacharias of the division of abaja
now abaja is one of the
priestly families david
he he had he had to divide the priest
the
the levites they had grown so much and
that tribe had gotten so large and of
course all the priests in that tribe
just got into the thousands really it
was actually over 20 000 priests
during the time of david
and they say even in jerusalem during
the time of jesus which is
uh you know getting close to this time
right here there were over 20 000
priests alone in jerusalem
so that's that's a lot but david divided
the priestly families
into 24 groups uh for fun if you want to
read about that that's first
chronicles chapter 24. uh it's very
fascinating because
these priestly families these priestly
groups
they served at the temple on a rotating
basis
it's pretty cool it's like maybe here's
an analogy
if you have the collegiate basketball
championship they call it march madness
and so
what's going to happen is you're going
to have a final group of teams that are
competing for the title
maybe you get eight of them together
it's down to the final eight
well it's all going to be held though at
one stadium now all the other you know
preliminary rounds were held at other
different stadiums around the country
but you get down to the final 16
the final eight they're all there at
that same place
and they've each got their own locker
room well the same thing with the
with these priestly families when they
would go up to
the temple particularly here uh herod's
temple
uh when you would go up you you had your
own area there in the temple that you
would go to according to
your priestly family it's like you had
your own locker room and you would go in
there and there would be the uh
the the white linen for the levites and
there would be the priestly robes that
the priests would wear
so it was very very well structured and
you would go
up as a priest on a rotating basis and
not all of the priests
lived in jerusalem zacharias did not
live there so he's going up and when
they
went up they would stay there for one
week one full week he and that whole
group
and you are there from sabbath to
sabbath praise the lord
[Music]
now after the babylonian
captivity uh when david you know he
established
these 24 priestly families and divided
them all up
uh but then later with solomon then the
solomon
kingdom ended and then there was the
split northern
part of israel southern part of israel
ten tribes up north
two tribes down south and
really when they go into babylonian
captivity
and they come back well the priests that
came back
only four tribes came back out of the
24.
now we do know eventually that the
others
there were those other tribes it's not
other tribes but other priestly families
that eventually left babylon
also finally made it back to jerusalem
and got the number back
up to 24 again and that's where we're at
right now
at this point with zacharias he's of the
division of abijah
that's the uh technically that would be
the eighth
priestly group out of the 24 so he's
in that eighth division his wife
was of the daughters of aaron oh that's
pretty cool and her name
was elizabeth now a priest or a levite
were not required to marry strictly
within
their tribe they could marry
you know anybody else in the 11 tribes
now it had to be an israelite of course
but you know they could have married
somebody from the tribe of judah or
benjamin or something like that but this
this
shows a great devotion to the work
of the lord and it's considered among
the rabbis as being
extremely honorable that you keep your
marriage within
the family of those who are going to be
at the temple so they were held in very
high honor
by the priest and by the levites because
she herself is a daughter of aaron
that's the priestly tribe now of course
she would back in those days she had to
be a man
to be a levi servant or a priest there
at the temple
but this is very special and her name
was elizabeth and they were both
righteous are you ready for verse six
here we go
they were both righteous before god
walking
in all the commandments and ordinances
of the lord blameless but they had no
child
because elizabeth was barren and they
were both well advanced in years
this is too good to move over quickly
we're going to we're going to look at
this a little closer in just a moment i
want to swing back to it
but let's go down to verse 8 just for a
moment
so it was that while he that would be
zacharias was
serving as priest before god
in the order of his division he's the
eighth order
out of the 24 of his division according
look at this look at verse 9 according
to the custom of the priesthood
his lot failed to burn incense
when he went into the temple of the lord
every day there at the temple two
offerings
the morning offering and the afternoon
evening type offering one in the morning
one in the late afternoon
this is a reference here to the morning
offering
in the morning at the temple every
morning four lots
are drawn the first lot that is drawn
among the priests is for those that are
going to go
to the altar of burnt offering
and they're going to take all of the
ashes away
from the fire that was burning overnight
any parts of animals
legs or hooves or whatever that were
left over that did not burn
completely from the fire from the night
before they're going to take those
pieces and they're going to kind of
regroup them together lay them out
and they're going to get that fire going
again and they're going to burn those
remaining parts of the sacrifice
that were not consumed that's what
they're doing they're getting that ready
second lot is drawn and by the way this
is this is high honor
this is high honor to be able to be
called to be able to do this
second lot is drawn that is for those
that are going to go into
the holy place two of them two priests
they're going to go in
they're going to check on the golden
lampstand
had to be done every morning they're
going to take the oil any oil that did
not burn
they're going to remove it it was olive
oil pure olive oil but
and it burns and there would be a wick
in each of the seven
uh it's one landstand but it's got the
seven branches
also called the menorah they're going to
go and they're going to replace
every single wick they're going to
change
out the oil they're going to put fresh
oil in
and get everything ready for the menorah
now it's got
seven of these wicks seven of these
little cups on top with the oil
technically they're only going to do the
five
they're gonna do the two later after the
incense is offered
but that's what the second lot involves
okay here's the big one lot number three
guess who got lot number three it's the
lot
any priest lives for
this one is so special
you only get now listen to this the only
you only get to do it
if you're drawn for it you only get to
do it
once in your life and if you've ever
done it
you are never allowed to draw for it
again
let me see if i can explain this
he is drawing the lot he has drawn the
lot to burn
incense according to the custom
of the priesthood at this time
historians tell us that just in
jerusalem alone
you have about 20 000
plus priests that doesn't include the
priests that are living in some of the
judean hill country these other places
where they decide to live remember they
don't always live in jerusalem
there's so many of them they live in
other places and they go up
they go up when it's time for their
cycle to rotate in
and spend their week there then they go
back to their homes
but you did have those that lived there
out of all of these priests 20 000
plus priests
for the lot to fall to you when there
are so many
other priests first of all the odds are
against you
but the thing is is that if you are
chosen
this is the thrill of a lifetime you're
going to be the one
that's going to go into the holy of
holies
now those that drew the second lot they
also have carried in
the coals from off of the altar they put
them in a golden pot that bezalel made
way back in the days of moses
and they take that into the holy of
holies and they set it
there next to the altar of instance they
don't touch it don't do anything with it
they just set it there
and you at the third lot you now go
and you're allowed to get the golden
incense
and you put it excuse me the incense had
that gold beautiful color
and you put it in a silver bowl and
you're going to carry it into the holy
of holies
because you have been selected you've
drawn that third lot you're going to be
the one that's going to ignite the
incense on the altar of incense
you are allowed to select two of your
closest priestly friends
that are there to go with you because
they're going to assist you and they're
going to age you
and now it has come time to offer up
the holy incense offering they've
already taken the burnt offering it's a
lamb
they've already they've already slain
the lamb they've already
sectioned it off cut it up in the pieces
the everything according to the
mosaic law is already burning it's
already burning
on the burnt offering now the time has
come
you go through
the beautiful curtains that take you
from the outer court into
the holy place you go through the
curtains that are blue
purple and crimson with cherubim screw
up
and and beautiful uh ribbon work
engrafted into this phenomenal curtain
you go through and now you're in the
holy place the only light
in the holy place is the menorah the
golden lampstand
there's nothing else producing light in
there if you didn't have that oil
burning
you couldn't see anything but there it
is the golden lamp stand to be the first
thing you saw there on the left
the priest has prepared his entire life
for this one moment that can only happen
once in your lifetime
he goes and he sees the golden lamp
stand
made out of solid gold representing
jesus the light of the world
representing the oil in
in the menorah representing the ministry
of the holy spirit
now if you're the term distinctly now to
your uh to your right over on the other
side
the table of showbread made of acacia
wood
and covered with pure gold
glistening beautiful gold thick gold
covering with a beautiful
crayon on top to keep anything from
rolling off or falling off
and there would be the twelve loaves
of showbread also called the bread of
his presence
because it sits before the presence of
the lord right on the other side of the
veil
twelve loaves in two stacks of six
each representing the twelve tribes
of israel the loaves were sprinkled
with frankincense representing faith
now the loaves all the
although they sat there each loaf
weighed 11 pounds
although they sat there for one full
week sabbath the sabbath at the end of
the sabbath they were eaten
by the high priest and the other priest
although they sat there in the open air
within the holy place
for one week they never the loaves never
ever had mold they never became stale
and they never became dry there was a
special jewish family that was
responsible
for making the showbread and nobody else
could make it like them nobody else knew
the
secret ingredient they put in there
others tried to replicate it they
couldn't do it
but you would see it sitting there the
table of showbread and the 12 loaves
6 and 6 representing
christ the broken bread mmm that feeds
the body of christ hallelujah praise god
for the eternal word of god
then looking straight ahead right in
front of the curtain
that separates the holy place from
the holy of holies there is the
beautiful
altar of incense also made of acacia
wood
acacia is a wood that is called the
eternal wood
it's like it lasts forever also wood
representing
humanity the gold overlaying it covering
it
representing the deity of god
representing
christ all man all
god pastor stephen i don't understand it
it's okay it's called the divine mystery
hallelujah but here now we have
this beautiful golden altar of incense
now
the assistants have done their part
they have brought in everything that's
needed
for the priest that is going to ignite
the incense
having now everything prepared the two
assistants
leave the holy place the only person
in there now is the priest who has drawn
that lot
he's the special person he's the one
running things now
this is not what the high priest does
now the high priest would do this at
from time to time
the high priest is mainly going to do
his thing once a year coming into the
holy of holies
but this is the high moment of any
priest's life to stand before
the altar of instance and to ignite the
incense why
the jewish rabbis have taught
that there was a special blessing
associated and
impart it into the priest that lights
that incense
and that the moment that he ignites the
incense that that blessing is released
into his life
i'm wondering if i should tell you what
it was or or maybe i should
maybe i should make us wait just a
little bit it's in my new book
i'm i'm i'm literally on the last
chapter trying to wrap this book up
and i reveal what that secret was woo
and
it's real and it's real and it can also
happen to the new testament saint as
well
but my friends let me say this when he
ignited that incense
hot coals the beautiful incense on top
of it
and the smoke starts to rise and by the
way
11 very beautiful
some of them extremely rare and exotic
spices
we have five that are mentioned in the
bible but the talmud and the jewish
commentators tell us that there were 11
total because it's it's in a sense a
secret recipe
but there was one spice that was put in
there
that was called the sp basically in the
hebrew
is the name of it is smoke riser and it
was
it was an ingredient that allowed the
smoke to go up perfectly and then spread
out at the
exact right way in the exact right spot
and there was only one priestly family
that knew how to make it that would be
the family of
abtinus but my friends as zecharias
stood there he's going to have
a visit from an angel
and baroness is about to be removed
from his wife
verse 11 then an angel of the lord
appeared to him
standing where on the right side
of the altar of incense and remember
he's the one offering the incense
glory to god this was a day he never
forgot
and this was the day for any priest
outside of the high priest this was the
day for any priest
this is your highest moment you'll never
be allowed to do it ever again
the angel of the lord standing on the
right side of the altar of instance and
when zechariah saw him
he was troubled and fear fell upon him
but the angel said to him
do not be afraid zacharias for your
prayer
is heard and your wife elizabeth will
bear you a son
and you shall call his name john
now this word your prayer
your prayer in the greek is the word
jesus and it means
urgent request you can
picture this old priest with his old
godly wife they're getting old
you can picture the urgency
in this man's heart god i'm so
old and my wife is so old and she's
still there and
lord we're running out of time
and some of you have thought lord we're
nearing the end
we're getting closer and closer to the
end lord when will you touch my life
when will you work through me
and display your glory through me god
how long must i wait
and deal with this barrenness when will
my time come
why am i barren
we have to ask this question
praise the lord what's going on
it's now time to go back to the back to
verse six
they were both righteous before god
walking in all the commandments and
ordinances of the lord
and blameless well they should be barren
barrenness
was a representation somebody had who
had disobeyed the lord
we see that very clearly in the book of
exodus is other scriptures referring to
it as well
but this would suffice exodus chapter 23
verse 26 no one
no one who's obedient to the law of god
and his commandments
no one shall suffer miscarriage or be
barren
in your land or be barren in
your land no one well if they're
obedient
and they're doing all that god required
of them they can't possibly do anything
more
that doesn't mean they haven't sinned or
made mistakes
but as far as a heart for god and quick
to repent and
follow all the commandments of the lord
they're blameless they're doing it
perfect
why why is she barren then when you see
something
like that and you see reflections of
that in your life
you have to understand then something
different is going on what pastor
stephen
a higher purpose what kind of purpose
a divine purpose something that god is
up to
well pastor stephen
what would that be what would that be
well let me say this first of all
it's something that highly
highly revolves around the element of
time
and if the time's not right
you can pray until you can't pray
anymore and you do need to pray
but until the time is right it's not
going to happen
but when the time is right it gets
released
praise the lord well time for what
pastor stephen
time for god's purpose which is to bring
forth
a prophet a prophet like they haven't
even seen before even in the old
testament
a prophet that jesus would later say
is greater than all that were under
the old testament system the old law
system
hold on hold on pastor stephen
greater than moses i mean pastor stephen
i read about john the baptist he didn't
really do any miracles that i know of
but yet moses he he worked with god
split the red sea in half
how in the world can john have a
ministry that stands on a higher level
than moses
well pastor stephen you've forgotten
about elijah i mean this is the man that
called down
fire from heaven i didn't see john do
that
but yet jesus attributes a greater
status
in the eyes of god towards john
then the status of elijah of david
of jeremiah of isaiah how could such
thing be
how can that be i can explain it to you
very simply
go with me to the gospel of john
john chapter 1
praise the lord all barrenness
is loosing you now in the name of the
lord it has to the anointing of the
spirit of god is upon your life praise
the lord
hallelujah you're ready to sing rejoice
hallelujah
[Music]
john chapter one why all the
in this what was all it about to bring
forth a prophet
named john oh pastor stephen he's just
another prophet no he's not
well how can he be greater than all
these other guys that
did phenomenal miracles i'll show you
why
in one verse john 1 verse 29
the next day john saw jesus coming
toward him
and said behold in other words look
there he is the lamb of god who takes
away
the sin of the world are you ready for
one more
verse 35 again the next day john stood
with two of his disciples and looking at
jesus
as he walked and said as he walked
he john said behold the lamb of god
in other words that's him right over
there hey fellas he's talking to his
disciples
you see that guy over there walking over
there yeah that
man right there is the lamb of
god that's the messiah right there now
show me any other prophet in the old
testament
who had that honor show me any other
prophet
who did that there is none all of the
others moses
elijah enoch all of these others they
prophesied of the one to come
but john had the distinct privilege of
saying
hey yeah he's coming but the day came
when john
was the one who said there he is and
that
that because he is the announcer of the
messiah himself
lifts him to a lofty status above any
other old testament prophet
because he was the one that actually
said that's him
right there praise the lord now we of
course thank the lord for our position
in christ
woo glory to god because we have a
better covenant
praise the lord my friends
this element of timing is very very
important
to the lord he has a purpose and when
the timing is
right he releases the ability
to produce he releases the ability
to step onto the scene and do
what he had planned for you to do before
you were ever born
praise god thank you jesus it reminds me
of galatians chapter 3
of the reference in the word of god what
takes place
when we reach the age of maturity
and we move into that realm of walking
with god
by faith as seen in galatians chapter 3
verse 24
therefore the law was our tutor
to bring us to christ that we might be
justified by faith but after faith has
come
we are no longer under a tutor
well pastor stephen how come it didn't
happen sooner
you weren't ready it wasn't time
others have had their times one of the
worst things
please hear me carefully one of the
worst things for a man or woman that can
ever happen to them
is to get through that door prematurely
and get out there
and start doing something that it's not
yet
time for even if it's on the books
even if they're picking up certain
elements but the fullness of that time
has not yet come
you can ruin the whole thing well the
door's not open pastor stephen i'm going
to break it down
yeah you you broke the door all right
now we have a real problem
because uh we don't really have a way to
fix it you you got out of the gate too
soon
so there's this element of barrenness
where on purpose it's like you're in a
golden cage
you're in a golden cage and you want to
get out and fly around and you can't
why you're you're bearing and you and
you can't
and that a part of that is god's love
as he waits until you're mature so that
you don't destroy yourself
so that you are established and your
walk with the lord
is rock solid we've had enough
shooting stars shoot up explode or
implode and then they're done
and it lasted for a few years and it's
over
that's not the way that god wants to do
it
and you can have others that'll rush you
out there and put you out there and uh
you know just
but they don't have your best interest
at heart but god does and so when you
submit to that
much more when god is almost in a sense
enforcing it
with the sense of barrenness that you
can't do anything about
then you just praise him and worship him
it doesn't mean though you don't
you you stop praying because even as
zacharias was like god
you're going to have to do it lord
he obviously knew hey something's going
to happen to happen soon because
we're at the stepping off point where i
mean
that you know your life is going to end
before too much longer
but god did the miracle god did the
miracle hallelujah
and he removed it from elizabeth all the
barrenness and she rejoiced
she rejoiced i believe
that 2021 is the time that you step
out into the fullness of what you have
dreamed about
of what you have envisioned of what you
have gotten glimpses of when you've
prayed
and this is the time that you move into
it with the empowerment
and blessing of the lord i speak over
your life
right now i rebuke every form
of barrenness in your life go in the
name of the lord jesus christ
i rebuke baroness in the name of jesus
and may you be fruitful
and may you multiply and may you taste
isaiah chapter 54
not not just
jumping through it but now that you've
made the journey
fully through verse 1 may you really
enjoy verses two and three enlarge the
place of your tent
why you're not buried anymore enlarge
the place of your tent
let them stretch out the curtains of
your dwellings do not spare
lengthen your cords and strengthen your
stakes i'm telling you god's with you
for you shall expand to the right and to
the left and your descendants will
inherit the nations and make the
desolate cities
inhabited praise god so there's a time
for singing why
the barrenness has been removed by the
mercy
grace and love of god praise the lord
the lord has heard your prayers and of
course
you keep your prayer life going you keep
your prayer life going
but i i mean i've gotten in my spirit
this message from the lord that for this
season
this time bareness is gone and you're
stepping in
praise the lord father i pray for your
people
that they take this word and chew on
your word
and that as they have gone through
isaiah chapter 54 verse 1
and the barrenness is now over through
prophetic decree and utterance
of the anointing by the spirit of the
lord now lord
may verse 2 and 3 be their
portion father may they have the double
portion
this year and may all that you
have intended to manifest in their
in their lives this year may come forth
quickly
smoothly with the flow within the
anointing
father we give you praise god's going to
show himself
mighty on your behalf now father we give
you praise in jesus name
say amen say i receive
praise the lord glory to god glory to
god
now if you're watching this message
and you have not yet made christ
your lord and savior my friends he's the
only way
he is the only way our heavenly father
is the only god that can answer prayer
and we pray to him in the name of jesus
hallelujah and he is able to bless you
but if you don't know christ you're
stuck
in a spiritual wasteland of spiritual
death receive him now and he'll give you
his
eternal life into your spirit and you
can be born again
if you would like to receive jesus as
your lord and savior pray
this prayer out loud right now
say lord jesus i'm a sinner
but you died on the cross
for sinners like me jesus
i give my heart to you
come into my life come into my heart
and take charge and take control
lord jesus write my name in your book of
life
wash away all of my sins
give me your eternal life i receive you
now
thank you jesus for saving me and
strengthen me
to walk with you and to live for you
every day in your name i pray
amen and amen praise god
and the lord has heard that prayer and
he has answered that prayer
and you now safely belong to him
praise the lord forever hallelujah now
we're going to take communion in just a
moment before we take communion
let's close out this year and let's step
into the new year
by honoring the lord with a special
offering
praise the lord we'd love to follow the
principles of god's word
it says in the book of genesis chapter 8
verse 22
that god established certain laws
seasons of hot and cold seasons of
summer and winter
and he also said seedtime and harvest
shall never end those principles will
never
stop so let's honor the lord right now
and sow
a financial seed into the soil of this
ministry
that we might reach further into the new
year
and see more souls one for the lord
i'll tell you what one of my favorite
things in the world is when
i receive the print out report
of those who have received christ from
listening to our programs whether it's
over the internet
whether it's over podcasts or whether
it's over television
when somebody says pastor stephen i
prayed that
sinner's prayer and i've given my heart
to christ i just want you to know that
it's the greatest joy in the world
praise god
and also to be able to teach and
minister the word
to the body of christ and build the body
of christ up strong in faith
to me is one of the greatest honors and
privileges
that i have in my life praise god so
you're giving
allows us to reach further and we have
beautiful plans for 2021 of extending
the eternal word further throughout the
nations
of the world and your giving helps us to
do that i would ask you to sow
a generous seed pray right now and ask
god what he would have you do
and husbands and wives be in agreement
with with each other
and sow that seed now i want you to sow
it in faith
and wrap expectancy around the seed that
you're sowing
whether you're going to mail it in or
whether you're going to bring it in
online through the internet
wrap a seed that's seed with expectancy
and believe that god's going to
multiply that seed back to you with a
beautiful harvest
that is the harvest that you need in
your life whoo glory to god god's very
best coming back to you
praise god now if you prefer to mail in
your your donation your
special offering please send it to
stephen brooks international
p.o box 717 moravian falls
north carolina our zip code is 28654
if you prefer to bring it in online you
can do so right now please visit the
ministry website
stevenbrooks.org there on the home page
is a link
called giving it's a red link with a
heart on it called giving you can click
on that
you can bring your final donation of the
year
into the house of god as well as
position yourself with your seed
for the new year you're ready to go
praise god what a joy to give
what a joy to honor the lord the tithe
belongs to him
and we sowed the special seeds as love
offerings to the lord
praise god the incense is going up right
now on the altar of worship
hallelujah glory to god our prayers
our giving our hearts our whole lives
going before the lord
as a fragrance that is pleasing to him
i want to pray over your special
offering your final year in offering
or if you're watching this a day or two
later the first
seed that you're sowing for the new year
let me pray for your seed right now
father bless that person
that's sowing that seed let the harvest
come back in the most
miraculous way let this be the year
father where
baroness is so stripped and removed
that their life is almost unidentifiable
in those areas because
you bring them forth with such grace and
beauty and it's their
time it's their time it's almost like
they're getting the name change
thank you father god so father all of
those years
john the baptist was in the wilderness
that came the point to come out
and father all of that preparation even
through a mother that was barren
but you remove her barrenness to bring
forth the special purpose
i thank you that you're bringing forth
an end time prophetic purpose
thank you father god let it rise in the
hearts of your people
and let it be released back into their
life the seed they're sowing
the very best the 100 fold
fathered the very best return into their
lives in jesus
mighty name i pray amen
and amen and thank you so much for your
giving on behalf of
myself and pastor kelly we love you so
much our entire ministry team and staff
here we love you
and appreciate you this 2021
is a year of tremendous growth and
expansion for you
because you passed through verse 1
of isaiah 54 and now you're going to
taste the fullness of verses 2
and 3. now as we're together
let's take holy communion together
please grab some unleavened bread
and some grape juice if you need to hit
pause just for a moment go grab it
and then hit play you're right back with
us praise the lord
and let's pray over these two elements
father thank you for this bread and this
grape juice
father we set this apart as holy through
this prayer
and we consecrate this bread and this
juice now
and we thank you father that while we
still see bread
and we still see grape juice we thank
you that this is now the body
and the blood of christ under the veiled
form of bread
and juice so father as we receive the
body of christ
we thank you for the removing of any
portion of barrenness within any
facet of our lives we thank you for the
removal of barrenness
and we thank you for beautiful fresh
productivity
thank you thank you thank you father for
your anointing
we receive your word and we thank you
that isaiah chapter 54 verse 2 and 3
enlargement is ours it's our time we
praise you
in jesus name amen let's receive
praise the lord glory to god father
thank you for the blood of jesus
father if we have committed any sins we
ask
corporately for ourselves for
forgiveness
and father we ask that you would lead us
away from temptation
and we ask that you would deliver us
from the evil one
and from evil for yours is the kingdom
and the power and the glory forever and
ever amen
father thank you for the blood of jesus
for forgiveness for right standing with
you
oh god we give you praise for
productivity that glorifies your name
and purpose and intent thank you father
god
thank you father god for energy and
strength coming forth by your holy
spirit into our lives
father we give you praise in jesus name
amen let's receive the blood of jesus
praise god praise the lord
praise the lord praise the lord
yes america is going to have its
struggles
and the world that's going to have its
challenges the problems aren't going
away
but my friends we have a covenant with
god
and we stand on the word and we're going
upstream
we're going deeper into the glory of god
hallelujah and the golden altar of
incense
a representation of the prayers of the
saints
a representation of your prayer life had
these golden circles two
on each side so that these wooden staves
that were overlaid with pure gold could
be slipped
through those rings and that it could be
picked up and transported in other words
it's your prayer life the altar of
instance representing
your prayer life it's your prayer life
that carries you
into what the presence of god
what's on the other side of the veil the
holy
of holies the ark of the covenant
and the mercy seat many people think
it's one piece of furniture it's
actually two
the temple system had seven pieces of
furniture
you had the brazen altar then the brazen
laver where you wash your hands feet so
forth that
then you come in to the holy place three
more pieces
lamp stand showbread
altar of incense now we have now we have
five and then two more
ark of the covenant and the mercy seat
that fit perfectly over at the top
giving us a completion of seven
holy pieces of furniture my friends move
into the holy of holies
spend time with the lord spend time with
the lord
see that's the purpose of prayer to
carry you into the very presence of god
in the holy of holies
glory to god glory to god and as you do
so
you're going to see the lord take you
into some of the most amazing journeys
you've ever had and some of the most
amazing experiences get ready
this is your year god's with you father
i bless your people
we give you all of the glory and all of
the praise
father god i thank you we seal this word
by your spirit the birds of the air will
not steal the seed
they will not steal the word that has
been stolen that has been
sold they are not going to steal the
word
thank you the holy spirit is protecting
this seed the seed of the word has gone
into your heart and will produce the 100
fold of faith
which in your life will produce these
beautiful things
father we give you glory we give you
glory
and praise glory and praise we're living
in a time where there is so much
theft there is so much corruption
but what belongs to you will never be
taken
because it's protected and sealed by the
blood of christ and by the spirit of god
hallelujah hallelujah you're stepping
into
what belongs to you this year get ready
my friends has been a great year
together
let's go into the new year praising the
lord
singing that all baroness is gone praise
us to the lord
for what he has done god bless you see
you back
next time bye bye