good morning my friends i'm pastor
stephen brooks
welcome today to our online internet
around the world church service
i'm so happy that you're here and i
invite you today
into the house of the lord and why don't
you take your bible and meet me today in
john chapter 12.
we're going to receive the tithes and
offerings and
we want to look at a verse that will
open up our hearts
to experience god's very best
for us in an area of our life that is
very important and that would be the
area of
finances praise the lord praise god
john 12 23 but jesus answered them
saying
the hour has come that the son of man
should be glorified
now watch verse 24 most assuredly
i say to you unless a grain of wheat
falls into the ground and dies
it remains alone but if it dies
it produces much grain
there's something amazing about seed
and the amazing thing about seed is that
it
it has to leave your hand and it has to
go into the ground
if you want to see a harvest come out of
that seed
now jesus understood
the law of seedtime and harvest
that's because he is god
he is the creator and he created
these various laws such as the law of
seedtime and harvest you'll see it
officially revealed in god's word
in the book of genesis chapter 8 verse
22
but jesus understood that
he was the seed that was being sown
so that god his father could have a
harvest
and that harvest would be a family see
god had one son
but god wanted a big family well how do
you get that
well you have to sow seed and he sowed
his best
seed not an angel that wouldn't work he
sowed his best seed
his son his only one one and only son
and because of that
because of the lord's willingness to be
that
that seed that went into the earth and
died
and then rose producing the harvest of
course
there's the resurrection the mighty
ascension and now
look at this here we are you and me and
so many others around the world
as being the harvest on that
seed praise god it's fascinating now let
me say this
god's financial plan for you is based
on a covenant a financial covenant
between you and god
is not enacted until the defined
terms and conditions of that covenant
are complied with whoo praise god
god's financial plan for you cannot
be accessed simply based upon
the approach well it's a promise and i
claim the promise i believe it
therefore it's going to happen no it
won't work like that
the covenant does not respond
to a promise because this is a covenant
this is not a promise there are two
different things now there are other
things
that are in the salvation covenant that
include promised blessings and if you'll
use your faith
you can access that but if you want to
come into the fullness of what god has
for you financially
you approach him on the platform
of a financial covenant and until
the terms and conditions of that
covenant are met
by you or by i god does not commit
but once we meet those terms then he
commits
then a covenant is enjoined praise the
lord
let me say this that this is going to
really
stun some of you particularly those of
you that maybe grew up in church
you loved god but you were never shared
these truths let me share this
the financial covenant that
god has available for his people if
they'll engage him in this covenant
that financial covenant does not
respond to prayer
wow let that soak in just for a moment
i'm going to prove it in just a minute
it does not respond to prayer i'm going
to go further
the financial covenant that god would
love for you to come into
with him you and him having a financial
covenant it does not
respond to fasting
and you if you don't believe it try it
try this
fast for 300 days out of the year but
there's 365 days
fast for 300 yes pastor stephen i'm
going to fast for 300 days
and after that time is completed i will
be a multi-millionaire
no it doesn't work like that
[Laughter]
so this covenant does not respond to
prayer
it does not respond the fasting although
there is the principles of fasting and
prayer
that are clearly outlined in scripture
but what some of god's people are trying
to do
is they're trying to take a screwdriver
and they're trying to get a job done
with the screwdriver
that requires a wrench you
you can't take prayer and fasting and
put it over here and try to make it work
on this
and you cannot drive a square peg
through a round hole
prayer and fasting are for spiritual
empowerment
spiritual empowerment the the
increasing of the anointing upon your
life
now let me prove this to you
through a very simple example i want to
prove that
this covenant you don't enter into it or
you don't try to get it working
just by fasting in prayer let's take
a farmer let's say you go over to visit
him
and you see his house and look there he
is
on the front porch sitting in his chair
and you go up the steps to the front
porch
there's another chair and you sit down
next to the farmer
let's say his name's farmer john and you
start talking to farmer john
and you look across the street from his
house
and there's a vast field and that field
belongs to farmer john
now what would you think if farmer john
said i tell you what
look at all that acreage i've got out
there i'm going to get a big
harvest and you said that's really good
what are you doing that's going to
produce such a big harvest
well i'm fasting and praying
do you know what thinking minds
would ask you would have to ask the
farmer although you're happy for him you
know he's in a good mood and stuff like
that he's fasting and praying for a
harvest out there in the field
you're going to have to eventually get
around and ask him the question um
well what kind of seed did you sow
because the seed that you sowed
determines the type of crop
harvest that you're going to have and
the quantity of the seed and the quality
of the seed that you sowed
it is going to determine the quantity
and the quality of the harvest
of what it is that you sowed now what if
the farmer said oh
well i haven't sold anything i'm just
praying and fasting
you would say to yourself i'm sitting on
the porch talking to an idiot
wow i mean that we we don't want to be
crude
and we would never want to call somebody
uh
something like that that might hurt
their feelings but you would have to
think
if a farmer thinks he's going to get a
harvest out there in that field
and he hasn't sowed anything into it
the only thing he's going to get is
weeds thorns
briars things that just birds fly over
drop these seeds the next thing you know
you got briars growing in a briar patch
or something like that he's not going to
get
any watermelons or alfalfa soybeans or
tomatoes or anything like that
you have to sow for that praise god
you don't come into a financial covenant
by god
through saying i just claim that as a
blessing i claim it
no you can't you can't do that the
farmer can't sit on the porch
and say i just claim a harvest i claim
it i take the promise
no you have no promise in that that's
covenant working stuff right there
you approach it differently um well how
do i get a harvest
how does the farmer get one you sow okay
so
the two primary
acts that bring you into a financial
covenant with god
where god obligates himself to be
to bless your finances is number one
seedtime and harvest no seed no harvest
you have to be a giver you have to have
a giving heart
and number two you need to be a tither
why well first of all it is outlined in
scripture
is it instructed in god's word that the
tithe belongs to the lord
but let me go further while the tithe
that does belong to the lord
it is the tithe that secures your
destiny and if you stop tithing
your destiny suddenly is going to hang
in the balance
and you will probably never complete
well i'm not going to say probably you
won't
i say it with absolute confidence you
won't complete what god has called you
to do
as a non-tither isn't that strong
but it's true and let me show that to
you in the scriptures let's go over to
the book of malachi
chapter 3 verse 10. bring all the tithes
into the storehouse the tithe is 10
of your increase 10
of all that you earn 10 of a gift
financial gift or whatever that might be
it's 10
of all of your increase and tithing is
the systematic
giving of that 10 not just every now and
then you tithe maybe when you feel like
it
no it's systematically doing it every
single time consistently
bring all the tithes into the storehouse
that there may be food in my house
and try me now on this says the lord of
hosts if i will not open for you the
windows of heaven and pour out for you
such blessing
that there will not be enough room to
receive it now when the windows
of heaven and the natural are opened
then rain comes down
it rains rain has always been
a type or a symbol in the old testament
of the holy spirit
and so when you tithe the holy spirit
rains
down divine godly ideas
that keep you moving forward towards the
fulfillment of your destiny
that god has mapped out for you and if
you stop tithing guess what the rain
stops falling
the rain stops falling and without that
anointing of the holy spirit
and without that mind of christ you
might not be
you will be stranded and you'll be dry
but as long as you're tithing and you
have a giving heart
i'm telling you what that rain will keep
coming down and you'll be fresh
you'll be loaded with good ideas you'll
be implementing godly ideas
you'll be implementing godly wisdom and
you'll be increasing
and your hand will never be dry your
your pocketbook
your wallet your purse will never be dry
you'll have more than enough you will be
living in the land of canaan the land of
milk and honey
the land of overflow can you shout and
say amen
glory to god thank you jesus amen
now i want to go just a little bit
further with this because we're right
here by it
and it's too good to pass up now watch
this
malachi 3 verse 7 yet from the days of
your fathers
you have gone away from my ordinances if
not and have not kept them
return to me and i will return to you
now for
a christian who drifts away from the
lord
maybe we could even say full-scale
backsliding into
you know sin and darkness and stuff like
that for a
christian to return or come back to the
lord that's kind of what we're dealing
with here
the people of god have gone away from
the lord and they've gone into sin
so returning would be what we would
use the expression today revival and
that is a biblical expression
revival those that formally walked with
god they're coming back
to god this is a revival they're
returning to the lord
so here in scripture the lord says
return to me and i
will return to you oh yes pastor steve
and i'm on the front lines of revival
pastor stephen i want to see all of the
lost
all of the children of god who've
drifted away i want to see him come back
return to me and i will return to you
says the lord of hosts
but you said it what should in what way
shall we return
well if you read through the book of
malachi of course
you know it's returning in the sense of
walking away from sin
getting away from all the idolatry all
of the uh the the
witchcraft and the filth that they had
gotten themselves involved in
and turning from that garbage and coming
back to god now remember coming back to
god
remains coming back to his instructions
and his commandments
coming back to the way god wants to do
things
[Music]
but you said in what way shall we return
verse 8
will a man rob god you have robbed me
but you say in what way have we robbed
you and tithes and offerings
pastor stephen i'm all for revival let
me give you a really good hint
when revival is happening in fullness in
the lives
of god's people who who have come back
to him with all of their heart
you know how you can judge it no not
just the abandonment of sin
although that that's big that's big
deliverance i'm all for it yes
hallelujah get filled with the spirit
yes amen
amen get plugged back into the things of
god absolutely
but what is a biblical indicator
of those who come back fully to the lord
they start tithing
and giving offerings they start tithing
and giving offerings
you cannot have fullness of revival
without there being biblical proofs of
revival
one of those being a person is now
tithing
and a person is now giving offerings
stop and ask yourself a very simple
question
how in the world could somebody's heart
be right with god
if they're not a giver to the things of
god
if they don't give god anything or just
give god a little
scrap or a little trinket how in the
world could somebody's heart be right
with god
how can somebody say i've had revival
when you're not a giver
when you don't you have no heart to open
your checkbook or your wallet to support
the great work of god
no no that's not revival no that that's
that's maybe a half measure
maybe a little 20 measure you want full
revival
yes turn from sin come serve god live
for god give your testimony
and also honor the lord with your
finances that
includes the tithe and offerings praise
the lord
amen and what way shall we return in
tithes
and offerings pastor stephen i want to
get my life right with god
well for many that's going to mean
getting your finances
right with the lord and don't act like
that's not a part of your life
well that's not important pastor stephen
well then why do you do it for 40 hours
every week
you better believe it's important
that money that you produce that is a
part of you
that is a part of your creativity your
talent your energies your
your your your output yes amen that's
important praise the lord
so that is also an expression of your
surrender to the lordship
of jesus the anointed one
praise god now having uh
shared this short encouragement
about honoring the lord with our tithes
and offerings let us now
obey the scriptures let us now watch
this
walk in revival anointing and let's
bring
the tithe into the storehouse of the
lord and let's also honor the lord
with offerings praise god praise the
lord
now for those of you that prefer to mail
in your tithe
or in your offering please send it to
stephen brooks international
p.o box 717
moravian falls north carolina the zip
code is 28654.
if you prefer to bring your tithes and
offerings in online you can do so
anytime
to your night anywhere in the world by
visiting the ministry website
stephenbrooks.org there's a link on the
home page that says giving it has a red
heart on it
you can click that and you'll see the
exact spot
where you can bring your tithe in and
also we have various
uh ministry outreaches various ministry
projects
and if you would like to sow an offering
into one of those it would be greatly
appreciated
and it helps the ministry to continue to
expand
beyond just our general operating
budget general operating assignment
praise god
now lift up your hands father i pray
over the finances of your people
blessing increase blessing blessing
blessing that the blessing of abraham is
on their lives because they are
in christ galatians 3 13.
the blessing that was on abraham is now
on your people because they
are in christ and i thank you that
abraham was very rich
very rich and i thank you father that
you are making your people rich
a full supply and overflow woo
glory to god i thank you father that
your people are tithers
walking in revival anointing standing at
the forefront of what you are doing in
the earth today
and i thank you that your people are
sowers of seed thank you father god
thank you for harvest thank you father
god that jesus
operated in the principles that he
created oh god we give you praise we
give you praise
we give you praise we thank you bless
your people in jesus name
amen praise the lord amen i see
i see heavenly anointing heavenly ideas
touching your mind
continually continually you will always
know what to do you will always know
what to do because you're a tither
praise god amen now
let's take our bibles today and go back
to the book of john chapter 12.
john chapter 12. we're going to be today
in verse 25 and i want to talk about the
subject of
you're having too much fun glory to god
i think
there are going to be many strange
accusations
made towards you where some people are
going to say you're having too much fun
you're just having too much fun
and it's going to be true you're having
the time of your life
because you're operating in kingdom
principles praise god we're going to
jump into this
we are in john chapter 12 verse 25 let's
pray
father as we jump into your word let
your words spring forth with
life and illumination through the
anointing of your holy spirit
let your holy spirit come right now and
illuminate the eyes of our understanding
and our ears so that we can hear
spiritually
now father we give you praise we thank
you that this word will not be stolen by
the enemy
that our seed the seed of this word the
seed of your word
will produce the one hundredfold return
harvest within the good soil of our
hearts
and we shall be blessed and we shall
we shall live at the very highest level
that you have called us to live
thank you lord jesus ruling and reigning
in life
thank you o god thank you for the kingly
anointing flowing today
the father we give you praise in jesus
name we agree and say
amen verse 25
he who loves his life
will lose it hmm we'll lose it
he who loves his life
will lose it and he who hates his life
in this world will keep it for
eternal life jesus goes on to say
if anyone serves me let him follow me
where i am there my servant will be also
if anyone serves me him my father
will honor now this thing about losing
your life
finding his life is actually mentioned
in all four gospels matthew mark luke
and of course here in
john so this is very very important
because it's in all four gospels
and what the lord requires us to do
is to lose our self
life that these things from a selfish
perspective
that would not be on the map that god
has for us
that we'd be willing to let it go with
the good heart
and realize there must be something
better that god knows that he has for us
let me give you an example
years back before i was even married
there was a certain preacher that i
would see on tv
that i really really enjoyed and i have
to admit
that it wasn't so much his messages
or his preaching or so-called deep
revelations
because he didn't really have deep
revelations
but i did like his style
i did like maybe i could say this the
the culture of the church
the ecosystem within his church it just
seemed like
that'd be a lot of fun to go to church
there that would be really cool
now i'm in one state as a young man
watching this this preacher on tv
thinking wow
wow i wish i could live close by him i
wish i could go to church there
thinking wow wow that would be the that
would be the ultimate
wow that would be so cool in in my way
of thinking
but as my life continued on
and i received the baptism in the holy
spirit
and spoke in other tongues and then
began to
understand the power of god miracles
signs and wonders and all of that
my theology of course went that
direction
and it wasn't until later that i
realized that
that was not part of his theology
and while he does have a maybe we could
say a fun church
and he has a healthy church and he is a
very good man
still ministering today that was never
god's plan for me to go to that
church or to be a part of that tribe
or to you know join up there god had
something different for me and i
couldn't see it
at that time but as i began to walk that
journey
the spiritual journey of faith it soon
dawned on me
that's not god's plan for my life so we
must be willing to lose
our life and sometimes you could think
oh that would just be the best
that would just be the best but it
is the best if it's what god
has for you but there is a
self-nature that we all have to deal
with
that can have at times some outrageous
pools
very strong inclinations towards certain
things
and if you don't check that with the
word of god and
with the spirit of god you will end up
in a place where you
camp halfway up the mountain and you'll
never reach
the top of the mountain which is mount
zion which is where god has called
us all to go to and i have to admit
there are some people that are
christians that are in some churches
and they're totally happy right where
they're at
even at their camp at a base camp at the
bottom of the mountain
and even if they know there's more they
and they don't want anything to do with
it they've camped there
and they know the cloud moved a long
time ago they know that the fire by
night
moved a long time ago doesn't matter
they're not moving
they're happy and content and their
little bubble of happiness
and that's okay god bless you see you in
heaven
but there is a journey where we must
continue on
to move into the fullness of the mature
image of christ
to move into the fullness of the sons of
god
manifesting in the earth woo glory to
god
and in order to get there there are
elements of the self-life
where you have to say flesh that's a fun
idea
that's nice but we're not going there
and you know what you'll discover
when you go along the path that god has
for you
while others may look back and look at
your life and think well
i wouldn't want to go that route you're
having the time
of your life and wouldn't you know it
that the church that the lord had for me
where i was going to be raised up in
ministry happened to be
in the same state and that one day i
would move to that state
and i would go to this other church that
was
spirit filled that the church was raised
up
by an apostle who came out of the jesus
movement who
actually was friends with the other
pastor in the other church but the other
pastor
did not want to get into the charismatic
move or anything like that so
he had a happy church but i got into the
happy church and the power church
and when i walked into that church
the very first time i walked in there
i walked in and i felt the presence of
the lord and i said out of my own
mouth i said in this church this is
where i will be raised up at in ministry
and it looked like it wasn't going to
happen but
but later it happened praise god my
friends
my friends you have to be willing to
lose your life
your well pastor steve i i'm going to
live in this state
and it doesn't matter what god or the
angels want i'm never leaving
well well if you have a visitation from
the lord or you have a very strong
witness of the holy spirit that you're
going to have to go somewhere else
you better get ready to pack because if
you don't you're going to miss
out on the time of your life
and if you stay and you're thinking
you're having fun well go ahead and
enjoy it because that's the maximum fun
you're going to have
but if you tie into this kingdom life
where you lose your life
then that's actually when you find out
what real living is
that's when you find the life that god
has for you
and and the lord had told jeremiah look
before you were ever born
i had already ordained you as a prophet
to the nations
so what do you do you tie in that path
that god
has for you and maybe
maybe you don't quite understand it when
you're younger in the lord and maybe you
think oh i'm going to do this
but you know what god smiles and just
says well
you think you're going to do that but
i've got a few uh fun curve balls for
you
and i'm going to move you over here and
you're going to like it more than you
ever even knew
praise god now that's what we're seeing
here
he who loves his life will lose it
and he who hates his life in this world
will
keep it for eternal
life wow there are so many examples
throughout scripture and i know in our
own lives where if we were to just
allow our fleshly impulses
to direct what we're going to do where
are we going to live
what kind of a job we're going to work
or who we're going to marry or all this
or all of that
i tell you what we would be in an
absolute mess
we have to allow jesus to be not only
savior
but lord over our
lives why he wants what's
best for us
thank you lord jesus hallelujah
you know why some people are unhappy and
i'm talking about christians why there
are some unhappy christians
is because they are endeavoring to live
their lives
not according to the kingdom principles
they're trying to follow the frank
sinatra principle
[Laughter]
which uh you know he was he was famous
for the song i think the song was
written like in 1975
called my way and he basically sang the
song that became
celebrate it amongst
unbelievers as being like a theme song
and you know the song goes like i did it
my way
and people celebrate and say oh that's
wonderful he did it his way
well what good is it when you do your
when you do it your way
and then you die in your sins and you go
to hell
i mean what what's what's so good about
that what is so good about it when you
do it your way
and you're working for the mafia what's
so good about it with the lord
where the world applauds oh yes yeah we
love you
now we celebrate you what does that
matter when you're completely
out of god's will no you can't you can't
truly know what real happiness is
happiness begins number one with
salvation in christ
and then you begin to understand god's
will
for your life praise the lord thank you
jesus
and i think there are some in the body
of christ
and let me let me paraphrase this
or put this in brackets there's probably
about
i think about 1.5 percent that
going this will apply to of whom i'm
speaking to
god actually wants you to uh prepare
yourself for the ministry and you're
like i don't want to do that
i don't want to do that i want to do
something else in life i don't want to
do that
but yet it's what god has for you and if
you
try to override that and do your own
thing
uh you're you're gonna be an unhappy
person it doesn't matter how much money
you have
it does it doesn't matter how well
put together your life appears to be and
people even say oh you got a beautiful
life
something will be off and there will be
a deep
sense of unfulfillment in your
life praise god
i've known a couple of people
that the lord called into the ministry
and they said no they said no
and they still had plenty of money they
still
had some things you know go well for
them
but their lives never went
to that high place that god had for them
i know one man personally
who was very close friends
with the world's leading prophet at that
at that time
that prophet was considered the leading
prophet on
the planet and this man is his friend
well i know the friend he's a very old
man now
and this man told me one time he told me
about 15 years ago
he said stephen he said that prophet
turned around one day
and looked at me and said you know what
you're supposed to be doing the exact
same thing that i'm doing
he goes oh oh i don't want to do that i
don't want to do that
mm-hmm
that man told me that he went to his
father
and his father was extremely wealthy had
a big business
and was planning on passing a business
on to his son with lots of money lots of
money
and uh this man went to his father and
said you know dad
there are those that that are saying
that i should be in the ministry and
he said you know i i think god has
something for me in this area and i'm
i'm thinking about it and the father
exploded in anger and said no you will
not go in the ministry
you will take over my business that's
what i want you to do you're going to
have a lot of money
i don't want you being some poor
preacher i don't want you you know
doing this crazy religious stuff i don't
want you doing that
and the father put financial pressure
basically saying you know if you if you
don't
come this route you know then then all
this wealth will not
be passed on to you and blah blah blah
and he was he was the clincher and he he
told me this
one-on-one he said he's trying to
balance all of this he's trying to
wade his way through all of this which
is basically what is he trying to do
he's trying to lose his life
but he's having a lot of people
encourage him oh no keep it keep it
keep the life that the world would say
oh aren't you a success
and so this this battle is going on
and jesus personally
came to him in a vision and stood before
him
and this is what jesus said to him
because he told me
he said jesus stood before him and said
i'm calling you into the ministry office
of the prophet
and i want you to come be my prophet
will you accept this gift
will you accept it
and you know what he said he said he put
his head down
and said no lord
and the lord said this he said so you're
saying that you do not want
my gift he said lord that is correct
and i asked him what what was the lord's
countenance when you said that
he said stephen he looked very
disappointed
i knew i let him down he looked very
disappointed and he turned around
walked away and the vision ended and he
never
that man never stepped into the office
of the prophet could have been
probably was destined to be one of the
top prophets
in the world had an anointing had a
gifting had a gifting that would just
just he tried to suppress it it would
just pop out sometimes
just pop out
[Laughter]
he told me that one time that he was
invited to go to a conference
and um uh to be a speaker
so he gets to the conference and there's
some there's like five speakers he's one
of them
and so the conference host gets all the
speakers together
and says men i brought you here because
you're all prophets
and he said he said i'm not a prophet
and the man said the host said well if
you're not a prophet what are you doing
here
and he said well i don't really know but
all i do know
is that the time you forced your wife to
ride on that back of the motorcycle when
she didn't want to she has never
forgiven you for that
and the host was like oh my lord
because he he had done that he had
forced his wife to get on the
motorcycle and terrified her and scared
her
and she never forgave him for uh you
know
doing that and so uh i mean i'm just
trying to say he had the anointing he
had
words of knowledge but he but what was
supposed to be something that would have
blessed
no telling how many people never
happened
it never happened through him never
happened through him
you know that kathryn kuhlman said that
the lord told her
that she was not his first
choice he had called the man to do it
and the man
disobeyed i i'm going to tell you a
little bit more
you know what the lord also told her
that she was not even
the second choice the lord had gone to
another man and he also said no
and so kathryn kuhlman said lord i may
be your third choice
but i'll basically make it as if i were
your first
how many of you know what she
accomplished wow
powerful powerful powerful praise god
amen you'll never ever be happy
in the hidden areas of your heart
if you're out of god's will doing your
own thing and you'll never know what
real life is
until you lay all that selfish stuff
down
and come into what god has
for you oh you'll have people that don't
understand they don't get it
and they'll say oh we can't believe he
walked away from all
of this for that but what they don't
understand is that
you walked into the glory you walked
into the blessing
and for the rest of eternity you will
be honored and
while all the others that are applauding
all the baloney of the world
that time will come when all of that
goes up literally in
smoke because that's all it is anyhow
smoke and mirrors just a
fake empty illusion
that has no eternal value
hallelujah our lives must glorify
the lord our lives must
glorify the lord there's room for you on
the cross
praise god amen hallelujah glory to god
get up on the cross hallelujah and die
to all the silly stuff and
step into the high calling that god has
for your life there's about
uh there's just a few people there's a
few people
god's called you into the ministry and
you've been running
you've been trying to bury that you've
been trying to hide that making all
kinds of excuses even moses said
lord lord i i don't know how to talk and
god said am i not the god
that formed the mouth of man and created
the tongue i know how to make people
talk
all right if you're going to give me a
hard time i'll let aaron do all the
talking you stand there
[Laughter]
whoa hallelujah
there again there's just a couple people
that you're watching me
and you have you've actually have been
involved
in ministry before and you have sensed
that anointing that comes upon a
five-fold ministry office whether it's a
apostle prophet evangelist pastor
teacher and you have gotten out of that
completely
you and i don't know what happened
something happened and you're not even
in
it anymore this is what i would say to
you
i would say to you what is mentioned in
the book of romans
the gifts and callings of god are
irrevocable
and when god gives a ministry office
gift
even if you have it and you walk away
from it that anointing that gifting is
still there i would highly suggest
that you get back into that anointing
because it's still there that office is
still there for you
praise god praise god
i believe that you're going to do what
god called you to do now of course not
everybody's called into the full-time
ministry
technically only about 15 percent is
called of the church is called into the
full-time ministry
so that 85 you know you're going to be
plugged into the career field that god
has for you but in that career field you
need to bring the lord glory
hallelujah and you need to go in the
direction
of what god has for you regardless of
where that is
and regardless of where that would be
god wants you to go with that flow
god wants you to go with that flow now i
will say this god wants you to be happy
god wants you to have the desires of
your heart but there is an element
sometimes where these rich things of the
lord
are hidden in obscure paths
that in some ways may not look like the
funnest thing that you would like to be
involved in
but all i can assure you concerning that
is this
if that it's if it's of god trust me
you're going to end up
having the time of your life whoo praise
the lord
hallelujah glory to god thank you jesus
let me just say i love preaching
preaching for me is not an inconvenience
ah you know like oh i've got to get
another message together
i hate doing this no hallelujah
i love preaching i love studying the
word
i love taking up my cross and following
the lord
and because of my particular cross my
particular
life however it is that god has planned
what he has he has for me
it it does require some extra praying it
does require
uh an extra effort and you know what
somebody might say oh pastor stephen the
burden is so great i don't know how you
do it patrick steven you should just go
on a vacation
here's what some don't understand
while yes there is a lot of
responsibility and yes i
am called into the prayer closet when
the sun's out and everybody else is
playing i
so often i'm in the prayer closet or so
often i'm studying but i
i have to let you know i'm having i'm
having the time of my life
i'm like god i get paid to do this
look i'm not envious of a professional
athlete you know the the baseball player
getting paid 100 million dollars to
throw a ball as fast and hard as he can
somebody might say wow he gets paid for
that look i'm not envious of anybody
i've got my own thing i'm like wow lord
i so love what i do i'm the happiest
person
on the face of the earth
praise the lord the cross may
look like a brutal means of crucifixion
it may look like a a an instrument of
agony in a sense it is
but i have to tell you i'm having the
best time of my life here on the cross
glory to god because one of the keys
really
of coming into you know the more unusual
glory
encounters is you just you have to put
your time in
if you look at somebody who's very
developed with their muscles
look look regardless of the method
regardless
of how they actually went through the
procedures
the bottom line is they put time in in
the weight room they're in the gym
they're in the strength training room
they were there they put the time in and
so obviously that's why they're looking
like that
but in your walk with the lord if you
put the time in
sooner or later if you're open to it and
you believe it because it's biblical and
your heart is open to it
sooner or later watch out you're going
to step into that
spiritual realm the glory realm you're
going to start having
very very special things happen praise
god
some of the greatest hidden blessings
that have ever
happened to ministers is that they were
thrown in jail
oh oh pastor steven that's awful well
that's awful well it yeah
it is it is miserable you know you get
junk food you know stale bread maybe a
little water or something like that you
get horrible treatment
bad lighting you know not enough hair
and all of that
but we have books in the word of god
because paul got put
in prison and so many of this was
written while he was in prison
wow he's having the time of his life
he's thinking wow this is awesome even
after i'm gone they're gonna be reading
this for a long time this is not me this
is god
god's flowing through me woo hallelujah
amen
do you see it do you see what i'm trying
to say
second highest selling book
of all time in the english language uh
which is probably also the greatest
selling book number two behind the bible
of all time in any language is pilgrim's
progress
by john bunyan written
written not when he's sitting in a
king's castle
it was written when he was in
prison praise the lord amen
amen i've got a couple of books i've got
one
two three books in my library
written by ministers who were put in
prison the books
are timeless one of the books in
solitary confinement with god
great book written while he was tortured
in
prison another book the heavenly man
written while the pastor was tortured in
a chinese
prison all of these things
coming out of the cross but you're
having the time of your life
it's a strange thing but it is the
reality
of being in the center of god's will and
there's
nothing better praise god genesis
chapter 13
genesis 13. let's go to verse
8. can you say praise the lord
genesis 13 verse 8
so abram said the lot please let there
be no strife between you and me
and between my herdsmen and your
herdsmen for we are brethren
it's not the whole land before you
please separate from me if you take the
left then i will go to the right
or if you go to the right then i will go
to the left
i have a prophet friend of mine he lives
in another country
and he told me one time he went he was
in prayer and he went into a vision
and envisioned in this vision he was
allowed
to see a scene replayed before him and
when he
he was actually in the scene and he
walked up and he heard two men talking
he didn't know who they were he didn't
know
where they were at he just knew that
they they appeared to be middle eastern
and this appeared to be some time a long
long time ago
and when he walked up he heard the
conversation
and the older man said lot
look we have a lot of possessions
there's no need for there to be strife
between us so you choose where you want
to go if you go to the left i'll go this
way and he
he overheard and actually watched and
saw
this conversation take place he said it
was an amazing experience praise the
lord
now it's not the whole land before you
please
separate from me if you take the left
and i will go to the right or if you go
to the right then i'll go to the left
and lot lifted his eyes
see the these things of our eyes
which are physical right we contact the
world through our five physical senses
but these things of the five physical
senses
which are an extension of our flesh
nature
while they can appreciate nice things
and they
we can tell the difference between you
know a nice subdivision or a nice house
or a nice
this or that or the the other still
don't let that be what
causes you to make your final decision
because these senses
can lead you in a wrong way and
when you're when you're being led by the
senses
be careful because that is the realm
where
satan operates on that turf that's his
turf and if he wants to work
against you he's limited in how we can
do that and those limitations they
extend
through the five physical senses such as
what you see
and he can bring alermans temptations
that perhaps
you see and you see oh wow that that
looks nice that looks like that would be
good
but still you want to weigh that against
the cross
and god's will god's plan for your life
does it mean that god wants you to be
unhappy that's not what god wants you to
be happy he wants you to have zoe life
but you're still going to have to
balance that with
also the life surrendered to
god's will and the cross experience
praise god
lot lifted his eyes and saw all the
plane of jordan that it was well watered
everywhere before the lord destroyed
solomon gomorrah like the garden of the
lord
like the land of egypt as you go toward
zoar
can you imagine that at that time lot
had no idea
that where he's going to go whoo the
bright city lights
abram i want the bright city lights i
want some shitty living
whoa they got the oil money going down
on the uh
in there in solomon gomorrah and uh
they're on the you know international
trade route i'm gonna hit on down there
he had no clue that that city
was being mapped for absolute
complete destruction and honestly
he wasn't interested in that he's just
ready for a good time
ready for a good time praise the lord
now
then lot chose for himself all the plain
of jordan lot journeyed east and they
separated from each other that was the
biggest mistake
lot ever made now technically it really
goes back to abram
because abram wasn't supposed to bring a
lot with him he was supposed to
leave the ur of the chaldees and get out
of there
and he brought his nephew and he wasn't
supposed to do that
so lot's tagging along but what lot
didn't realize is that his association
with a man that god has made covenant
with
that blessing that is on the covenant
man is extending over to him
because he's in relationship with
abraham and he has now
separated himself from the blessing
wow that was the first mistake he made
the second mistake he made was going to
a place
that was not god's choice
for him now
we see here in verse 13 but the men of
sodom this is where lot went
but the men of sodom were exceedingly
wicked
and sinful against the lord
and the lord said to abram after lot had
separated from him
lift your eyes now and look now once
lots out of the picture with his fleshly
self now yes we will acknowledge that he
was a righteous man
but he did not have this covenant thing
going on
with god like abraham did praise the
lord so once a lot
leaves now he's finally out of the
picture god reveals more of the fullness
of what he has
for abraham with the name change
and all the land that he has for him and
so forth but lot's about to go in the
hot water
and it's not good watch out for these
types of things
praise the lord he moved basically into
a den
of iniquity he moved into a real mess
well it looked good
what was i supposed to do well you're
supposed to
not just look for the fun thing although
god wants you to have fun
you're supposed to look for the god
thing and
that's a very dangerous place to be now
i will admit
sometimes the lord can send you to a
city
or an area maybe that has a lot of drugs
maybe has a lot of yucky stuff going on
but if god wants you to be there
you're going to be okay but if you go
there god didn't sense you
and you go there just because oh that's
where that's where it's at that's where
i'm going
you're probably going to have some very
very difficult
things to go through that god never
intentionally planned for you to
experience
so you'll have to go through this
experience of learning it
and then after you've learned it you
know you probably have to get bailed out
by god
and you know then pick up where you left
off and get moving
but when you're looking at people like
lot you're looking at people that are
not really trying to
you know serve the lord to the uttermost
they're in it for you know what they can
uh
what they can get out of it and uh you
know if that that somehow
is you know corresponding with god with
what god wants that that's okay but
they're mainly
they're mainly tracking you know
all things physical
this is this is dangerous watch out for
that watch out for that now
first samuel chapter 17
david is a man
that knew what god had for him he
embraced
god's plan although it had difficulties
many challenges
but he embraced it and he loved it and
because of that
he excelled in life he became famous and
he was a great blessing
and we're still talking about him today
and i would like for us to look at first
samuel chapter 17 verse 49. then david
put
his hand in his bag and took out a stone
and he slung it and struck the
philistine in his forehead
so that the stone sank into his forehead
and he fell on his face to the earth
what do you have here
you have a man in his calling
functioning in
the anointing you have a man that's
doing what god has called him to do
he's on task he's not just trying to run
around and
do whatever the most convenient thing no
he wants what god wants for him
regardless of what that cost is and he's
in it
and he's on his game praise the lord
and you know david just found out that
you know killing
killing giants is fun pastor steven i
would never want to do that that's so
dangerous oh pastor steven i mean you
could die
but somebody should have warned david
and told them to stay home well they did
they told him all of that he's like nah
i'm aware of all of that but you know
what this is what god has for me
and this is direction i go what if you
die well then i die
and you want to be concerned about me
anymore it'll all be over with
and you know i'll just go to be with the
lord but outside of that i'm not going
to die
i'm going to live and declare the
goodness and the glory of god
so david prevailed over the philistine
with a sling and a stone and struck the
philistine and killed him
but there was no sword in the hand of
david praise god
so you'll find out in life that you need
to
move towards what brings you joy
watch this joy in the lord and for david
that just so happened to be that on his
assignment
was killing giants and he liked it and
he was good at it
praise god and others that's probably
not their calling no
maybe go do something else make pottery
you know or you know
some something else that's nice and safe
but for david that
that's his thing and that's actually
where he's
safest at right in the midst of that
you know the the man that god used
to bring great revival to england
and also to america in the 1700s was a
man named
john wesley and john wesley while he had
many people that
that loved him and celebrated him as a
man of god
he had a lot of people that would like
to see him
disappear and because he's preaching
outside of a typical church structure
because the church of england said no no
no we don't we don't want you we don't
like the way you're
you're kind of like a little too free
for us don't like your style so they
gave him
the you know the boot threw him out of
the church so he starts preaching out
in what we would call public spaces and
out in the public
uh these public spaces you know people
can yell shout
throw bottles or stuff like that and so
in those type of environments
you have to be called by god and do what
you're supposed to do and if
and if it's dangerous if you're in the
lord's will he'll protect you
and don't forget john wesley was five
feet three inches tall and he weighed
120
pounds wow and there were men
that wanted to kill him they were big
bad tough guys that wanted to just beat
him up
and nobody could ever do it it just
there was some kind of like
invisible shield around him that
protected him
no yes he had men that stood with him
and would try to you know
watch his back but hey this this is an
area we're still you're out in the wide
open
there's no police officers if something
starts going out of control
this could get real ugly real quick but
yet
god protected him over and over and over
and he rode over 250 000 miles
on the back of a horse not the same one
he went through some different horses
preaching the gospel all over england
praise god even came to america preached
in america
as a matter of fact this church
sanctuary that i'm preaching this
message in
is an old methodist church built
literally in 1877 and we of course fixed
it up and things like that
uh so i'm a fan of john wesley and i
like john wesley
he said the world is my pulpit well i
thought wow that's good i'm going to
take that mandate too hallelujah
i'm not just going to preach to 20
people or 100 people
let's just take it to the world and look
as the at the world is being our pulpit
praise god so this used to be an old
methodist church built in 1877
formed by two churches that were both
uh originated from the 1830s and they
came together
in 1877 and formed a church that was a
methodist church
and i am in a long line of pastors
that have ministered from this pulpit
praise god now
they didn't have the same pulpit back
then they didn't have acrylic
[Laughter]
praise the lord but my friends you just
find your thing and you get in it
and there's safety there's safety
there's safety there's blessing
there's prosperity in that
john wesley was a very very wealthy
man now
as you continue on in
that calling in that anointing
having the time of your life
you do reach some points in your life
where
that you know it's like a storybook that
the chapter changes
maybe you have to judge uh adjust things
a little bit
and we know that with moses says he
lived to be 120 years old his
strength was not diminished his eyesight
was not diminished he was strong he was
ready to roll but at the same time he
had also said in the different scripture
that he can't go in and out the way that
he used to all right moses we'll give
you
we'll give you a little break we know
you you're not a spring chicken anymore
you're 100 and
whatever 14 or 112 whenever he began to
realize you know i don't quite have that
bounce like i used to
what you what do you do when perhaps
you're in a different season
in your life but you still want to stay
in the things of god
walk in the fullness of god walk in the
fun
hallelujah what do you do we see an
example
in ii samuel chapter 21 verse
15. when the philistines were at war
again with israel david now he's much
older now
david and his servants with him went
down and fought against the philistines
and david grew faint
well david thought well it's just
another day i've done this
hundreds and hundreds of times before
let me get my sword time to put a
whoopin on him again
[Laughter]
but he's got knowledge whoo praise the
lord
oh i know what he should do pastor
stephen he should just retire
he should retire and become a librarian
well now hold on just a moment
uh he's still the king he's still a
warrior
we just need to make a little uh
reevaluation of this
but we don't want to pull him out of his
gifting
now david grew faint
then ishbi banab who was one of the sons
of the giant
the weight of whose bronze spear was 300
shekels
he probably should have been on the
olympic javelin team who was burying the
new sword
thought he could kill david so this guy
is this giant son of goliath is catching
david when he's he's been fighting all
these guys and you know he's doing good
but he's getting real tired because he's
old
and this giant this you know he just
felt like this is my day he just got a
new sword
he's got a spear with him and that new
sword you know it's like
yeah i can feel it this is my day i'm
going to get him today
and he he even thought he could
and that has a lot to do you see you can
use that positive or negative
to do something good or bad if there's a
belief and there is a
determination uh it's very likely it
could happen
thank goodness it didn't he thought he
could kill david
but abhishe the son of zariah ooh time
for some new blood hallelujah
oh glory to god abhishai the son of
zariah came to his aid and struck the
philistine
right in the gullet well maybe not in
the gullet but nevertheless wherever it
was
killed him yeah bring in the new guys
whoa they've seen david do it they know
what to do praise god
then the man of david swore to him
saying
you shall go out no more with us to
battle lest you quench the lamp of
israel
david's in a different place now the
wisdom
the anointing the
uh the iconic status that he has
achieved
he's more valuable now just
as a representation of being the king
than he is out there doing
what others have now under his anointing
in his example
have now learned to do praise god now
let me say this
in the hebrew bible the what we know as
the old testament
anything that's in that hebrew language
whether it's expressed through words or
even through concepts
is considered to have come from the mind
of god if it's
not in the hebrew bible
if it doesn't exist if the concept is
not in the hebrew bible
all of the jewish rabbis sages
and torah scholars agree that it's not
something that we should do
now of course there are modern words
today
that we can't find in the ancient hebrew
you're not going to find the word
space shuttle you're not gonna find
you know some of these uh words like
internet
they're probably in there in what we
would call bible codes but we're just
talking about reading through the hebrew
there are certain words today you're not
gonna find there
but even if the word is not there
there still can be concepts that are in
the hebrew language the biblical
language that would verify
would give credence for why we do
certain things today because they would
be what we would also call biblical
principles
all right let me say this
be very very careful for those of you
that are working and working and working
and you can't wait to retire i want to
tell you
that that the concept of retirement
is found nowhere in the hebrew
bible pastor steven i'm ready to retire
just two more years i'm ready to retire
and do
and do what sit down shut down
rest up and lock up and become useless
and you have all of that wisdom and
you're just gonna sit on the couch and
watch gunsmoke
all day long i mean where is this coming
from
western culture it's not coming from the
bible
the concept that the west
celebrates of retirement
is a myth
and this is a time for david to make a
switch
and to realize you know what i've gotten
a little bit older but i'm not going to
retire
i'm not going to retire i know too much
to retire
i've killed giants and there's other
young men around here that don't know
how to do it yet
so i'm going to coach i'm going to
mentor i'm going to
impart i'm going to teach the next
generation
what has taken me 50 years to learn
see the western concept says oh now
you're old now you're useless
we don't need you anymore we need to get
some fresh blood in here
what if the fresh blood doesn't know
anything what if they haven't been
taught anything
why why are we going to force them to
have to relearn
and start all over again when we've
already done it we are we've already
learned it
so i would say that those of you that
are in your senior years
you are in the prime years of your life
it's not time for you to
shut down it's time for you to bless
it's time for you to teach it's time for
you to help
whoa praise the lord and you need to
reevaluate that just like david did
no need to swing the sword anymore we
know that you're not 25 years old
anymore
can't bench press 300 pounds anymore
that's okay we got we got the youngers
they can do all of that but what you
know
they don't have that um
and you went through a lot to attain
that knowledge you're like a walking
library
now
praise god and so you need to help you
need to help praise the lord
glory to god glory to god may you be
doing
what god has called you to do until you
take your last breath
may you be doing what god has called you
to do i have no problem one bit
should i live my life out fully should
the lord tarry and the catching of
the saints not take place i have no
problem with living my life out fully
and i die in the pulpit preaching the
gospel
pastor stephen that might scare somebody
maybe that would be good
scare somebody then that's not right
with god in the getting their life with
god
realizing that life is temporary you're
not going to live forever
you need to you need to make a choice
and serve god hallelujah glory to god
hallelujah
but until jesus comes back i plan on
living a long time
and the whole time i'm here even if i'm
not strong enough to stand up i'll
preach
sitting down and i'll keep on writing
and if i can't type because maybe i
don't have the coordination i'll dictate
it to somebody who can't
i'm never quitting i'm never shutting
down i'm never going away
and let that be your testimony either
you know too much to quit
hallelujah praise god and if you can't
do formally what you
previously were doing uh maybe they laid
you off and
they said here take this retirement
payout we'll buy you out now go
go retire don't yeah just don't go lay
on the beach
just go do in what god has called you to
do in that next chapter the next season
of your life
praise god thank you jesus
hallelujah find your ebechai and say
yeah that's the way yeah
you did it really good i taught you how
to i taught you that maneuver i told you
that would work
and by the way thank you for saving me
got me bailed me out just in time
praise god i could walk into any junior
high today
not as a minister i i could walk into
any junior high
and if you took me to the pe class where
the young
boys are at or where the young girls are
at and
you allowed me to look at them i could
pick
three from either group three of the
guys three of the girls
and i could say look if you want a full
scholarship
by the time you're a senior or even a
junior if you want the scholarships
rolling in by the time you're a junior
of college is inviting you of where to
go
if i could take them when they're in
eighth grade i
and if they were willing to train i
could tell them exactly what to do
in training in track and field that by
the time they are
in 11th grade or by 12th grade there's
full scholarships rights to almost any
division one school that they could
dream of going to
why i know how to get them there i know
i could tell them exactly what to do
this is how many miles you need to build
up by running a week this is the type of
speed intervals and speed workouts you
need to do
and if you do this guys by the time
you're a senior i'll have you running
under 415 for the mile
girls i'll have you breaking five
minutes for the mile you go anywhere you
want
in the college totally free praise the
lord full scholarship
praise god why i know that i know that
why years and years of doing it
and then also being around friends who
knew that i can do that and i can also
raise up ministers i can take
young men young women that want to go
into the ministry and they're like i
want
i feel the call i don't know what to do
i can say this is what you do
these are the steps these are the
processes do this do this do this
and you build on that you will have
a successful ministry i can tell them
exactly what to do it's not it's not a
secret why i've done it
i praise the lord i have no intentions
on retiring
i'm going to keep on doing what god has
called me to do
and and should the lord tarry should the
lord tarry
and i'm approaching 120 and i feel like
it's about time to
leave this world and fly to my heavenly
reward
just before i die i'm going to pass the
mantle
i'm going to pass the mantle we have a
lot of silly stuff today of
people thinking all these mantles are
passing
an impartation is not a mantle
the the release of a blessing that's not
the release
of a mantle most mantles that i see in
scripture
they are passed just before the person
died
just before they die they passed that
mantle
just before dr wade taylor died he was
80 years old he lived to be
85 just before he died he had passed
that mantle to me laid hands on me
passed it to me
praise the lord glory to god i was
ministering one time in new mexico when
the pastor told me
that there was an evangelist that had
ministered all through this area
and he came back to their church to
visit one more time
and just before he died laid hands on
the pastor and his wife and said i
released my mantle to you
and within two weeks he was dead praise
the lord
hallelujah mentals are
they're different from an impartation
they're different from a blessing
a mantle is something that you really
have to
uh allow god to see that you really
really want it
and your pain willing to pay any price
to get it because mantles are very very
difficult
remember the the prophet elijah said to
elisha you've asked a difficult thing
because he wanted the double portion a
mantle is very difficult to get
and to get a double portion is extremely
difficult to get
it's very difficult to do that but if
you want it enough
and you're willing to go through certain
steps and you're willing to embrace the
cross
you'll be having the time of your life
while you're going through
those difficulties woo glory to god one
more scripture
second corinthians chapter 11
ii corinthians chapter 11
verse 23 praise god
the apostle paul said are they ministers
of christ
he's talking about these other so-called
apostles and so forth
he said i speak as a fool i am more
in labors more abundant and stripes
above
measure imprisons more frequently
in deaths often the these constant
death threats the the experience is also
where it looks like he's going to die
where it looks like he's just about
going to die i have i had twice
in my life where i thought i was
certainly going to die
i faced death before through two
experiences where i just thought well
god if you don't do something within
like one second it's over with and it
happened
god delivered me because he he had a
ministry for me he had grace praise god
that's why i'm here and i've had other
times
where the enemy has just tried to kill
me and he can't why because i'm walking
with the god
doing what i'm supposed to be doing and
as much as he's raged
and tried he couldn't he couldn't get
through went right on through it
i am not a stranger i am not a stranger
to stories like jesus walking through
the crowd that wanted to throw him off
the brow of the cliff
and just walking through them and
walking away i am not a stranger to such
types of experiences praise the lord
thank you jesus from the jews five times
i received 40 stripes minus one can you
imagine what paul's back
must have looked like if you take a
shirt off look at his back all the scar
tissue all the damage
three times i was beaten with rods once
i was stoned
three times i was shipwrecked a night
and a day i have been in the deep
oh pastor stephen don't even read the
rest it's too much i can't stand it i
can't handle it
i would never wish such a thing upon
anybody i would never want i would never
it's okay it's paul's calling paul's
cross
and let me tell you a secret
while he's out there floating in the
middle of the mediterranean
sea shipwrecked having had all kinds of
great difficulties and
not not just the physical beatings but
the mental pressures of
his concern for the churches and so
forth let me tell you
he's having the time of his life
it is the highest joy it is the
most intense presence of the holy spirit
when you are on task and all of this
stuff is going around others may look at
it with horror and say
oh i don't want anything to do with that
but you're in it and because god's in it
with you and this is your thing
you find out that killing giants is fun
oh i wouldn't want to be out on the
field with that
oh he's still all down out there by
himself with that giant
what they don't realize is that you're
there with god and there is that element
where your flesh is going whoa
i sure hope this is you know i believe
i've heard from the lord
but as you go and god is with you and
you break through
man you're having the time of your life
and even in these difficult times
god's in it whether it's prison and
you're over there writing a book
that people are reading 2 000 years
later or
400 years later wow never would have
happened
without those difficulties but yet in
those difficulties you're rejoicing
you're you're having so much fun that
maybe people think you're not quite
all there it's okay
it's all right god's with you and you're
with the lord
so find that place be willing to pay
that price
for some of you god's trying to set you
up to receive a mantle
you really would you should yield to the
holy spirit and go that route
go that path because god knows where
it's leading something powerful
something sacred
something precious something that all
the money in the world
can't buy something that's so good
that yes god will bring honor to you in
this life you will be honored in this
life
but but it's so sacred and so good
that truly the fullness of the reward
can only be received when you cross over
to the other side
so get up and get going and have the
time of your life
living in the lord and for the lord
there's opportunities all around you for
the kingdom
pastor stephen i don't really know what
to do get plugged in get doing something
praise the lord lift your hands father i
pray for your people
as they're watching as they're
contemplating as they're meditating
i pray father that they lose their life
in order to find it
thank you to find the life that you have
for them
thank you thank you father god
i give you glory and praise
i thank you father god and father what
you have cannot be found in
solomon gomorrah cannot be found unless
you sent somebody there
as an evangelist but father you also
don't send somebody
to areas that are not receptive where
it's just
you already know it's there's not going
to be fruit there
oh father we praise you we praise you
but we thank you we thank you father god
show your people the path of the cross
the path of highest joy
in jesus name amen
saint francis of assisi who lived in the
11th
in the 1100s although of course he lived
in a
italy and traveled throughout italy a
lot of people don't know he actually
took a journey one time a special trip
and he went all the way
to the middle east and he won
a muslim prince to the lord
now the conversion took place in secret
and the the sultan said he said francis
if my people find out the commitment i
have made to jesus christ
then there's going to be bloodshed all
over the place
so i'm going to keep this in my heart
and i'm going to always serve the lord
jesus christ
and when possible i'll share it with
others but i'm not just going to go out
start talking about this or
my head will be off within minutes so
that was something special that came out
of that but
the lord spoke to francis while he was
there
in that part of the world and said
return and go back home
because your ministry will bear very
very little fruit here
and francis when he heard that from the
lord turned right around and came back
now there was some fruit
through that that that royal person that
was saved but he came back
but now that part of the world is ripe
for harvest
but not the wisest thing to go over
there physically because it would be
life-threatening
but we can certainly preach the gospel
over there through television
praise god amen praise the lord and
through the internet
praise god so we use wisdom we use
wisdom praise the lord glory to god
god's got that path for you yes it is
the path of the cross
but it's the path of highest joy i thank
you father that you are revealing it to
your people
right now we thank you
in jesus name amen
amen watch out for that sneaky flesh
watch out watch out go the way of the
spirit
you're going to find the real joy
praise the lord if you're watching
today's message and you don't know
christ
as your lord and savior well he died on
the cross
just for you and he rose from the dead
on the third day
and he's ascended into heaven and he's
seated right now at the right hand of
god
and if you would like to receive
forgiveness of sins
he has made that available for you
through his death upon the cross
so if you would like to come to christ
right now pray this prayer after me
say jesus i repent
of all of my sins
and i ask you to wash my sins completely
away
jesus i give my life to you
come into my heart right now i surrender
my life to you
write my name in your book of life
and i receive you now as my lord and
savior
from this day forward step in and take
control
thank you jesus
in your name i pray amen
amen somebody you have made
you've made your decision to receive
christ you've prayed that prayer you're
a drug dealer
and you're thinking i've given my life
to jesus what am i doing what do i do
now i'm
i'm tangled up in all of this stuff the
lord's going to help
walk you right out of it safely he'll
protect you he'll walk you right out of
it
to the life he's planned for you just
trust him he's going to walk you right
out of it he will show you what to do
as some of you would say it's
complicated pastor stephen
god specializes in untangling
messes that we can get ourselves into or
we're so tied up
the devil laughs and says you'll never
get out of this
god can get you out of anything when you
surrendered to him
and those of you that have surrendered
he's walking you out of it
right now say goodbye to trouble trouble
can't keep you trouble can't hold you
down
god's walking you out of it into the
beautiful path that he has for you
thank you father thank you father for
those of you
that give more credence to the opinions
of men
to the opinions of relatives that don't
serve god or maybe they do but they
don't really want to serve him
completely you need to make up your mind
who are you going to serve joshua said
as for me in my house
we're going to serve the lord we're not
we're not playing around we're going to
serve the lord no matter what
and he's basically saying as for me in
my house he's saying for me and my tribe
because he was the leader of the tribe
that he was over we're going to serve
the lord
i don't know about the rest of you we're
going to serve the lord and you need to
have that attitude
if you do that and you're and you're
willing to not compromise
you'll end up in the place of great
blessing that god has
for you keep moving forward father bless
your people
thank you let's take holy communion grab
some unleavened bread
these little wafers work just fine grab
some grape juice
let's pray father thank you for the
bread
the juice as we pray this prayer
we thank you that these items the bread
and the juice are consecrated
and they are now set apart as holy we
give you praise we give you glory
we thank you father this is now the
flesh this is now the blood of jesus
father as we receive the body
of jesus his holy flesh we thank you
that you have a phenomenal plan for each
and every one of us
individually as well as collectively as
a body of believers
we thank you father god we thank you
father god that we are press seen
to the high calling and father as we
receive the flesh of jesus we thank you
for no wasted time no lost time
we are busy about our father's
business we thank you father for the
example of jesus
in his name we pray amen
let's receive
praise god father thank you for the
blood of jesus
we ask that if we have committed any
sins
you would wash them all away and we
forgive anyone
who has sinned against us who has done
us wrong we forgive them completely
we bless them and we move on with you
now we thank you father
we're pressing on to the high calling
of christ of being conformed into his
image
of completing all that you've called us
to do
thank you father god and one day we can
rest one day we'll hear well done
good and faithful servant till then
may we be found living life to the
fullest by staying on task
doing what you call this to do whether
it's killing giants
or skinning fish doesn't matter whatever
the calling is let us be after it
and join it to the fullest
we thank you father god we thank you we
give you praise
we receive the blood of jesus in his
name we pray
amen let's partake together
praise the lord glory
glory glory glory to god
glory to god the lord is good the lord
is good now
revelation is coming down right now
anointing is flowing right now
and you're getting you're getting peaks
into your destiny
you're getting the curtain pulled back
some and you're seeing more
god's not going to show you everything
because the just shall live by faith
this is a faith walk
but he does show you enough to keep you
moving forward
with great excitement and joy and god's
showing you a little bit more
of what he has for you and you keep
moving in that direction
move towards the joy oh i don't want to
move towards the cross pastor steven
that that's all
no that's where the life's at move
towards the joy
wherever the joy is at the true joy
that true joy in the lord that's where
you want to go that's where you want to
go don't let the flesh deceive you and
pull you into a fleshly joy
move towards the joy of the lord and you
have the time of your life
you'll have the time of your life praise
the lord father bless your people
in jesus beautiful name
amen thank you for watching i'll see you
back
next time