Stay in position | Natalie Runion | Divine Conference

I am so excited to be with you tonight I have been counting down the days counting down the days for this moment to be with you divine conference I have been following you on social media for I think maybe the 10 years I'm not really sure but watching what God is doing through this conference and through this church and I am so honored to be here I told your pastors that my assistant called me this spring and said I think you're getting an invitation to go speak at the Divine conference and I said I think we're being punked I don't believe that's probably happening but go ahead and call and make sure that this is true and I was so delighted so delighted that it was true and it's an honor to be here I honor you pastors Pastor Charisse and Courtney thank you your whole family thank you for trusting me with this space I'm a pastor's kid so I understand the risk you take when you open up your platform to someone you might get an unauthorized tambourine you might have somebody with a CD in their pocket that said I'd like to do watch the lamb in the key of D you just don't know what you might get but I have been raised in the church my entire life I was a Pentecostal preacher's kid my dad was a pastor in the Church of God and when you grow up in the Pentecostal Church you're seeing some things you know some things like I know some of you in this room you have this spiritual gift of mac and cheese how do I know that because I lived in the church parsonage and there would be weddings and funerals and I couldn't wait because I knew if I went over there there would be a potluck and if I was lucky the lady who was gifted with the ministry of mac and cheese would actually be there and let me take some home with me but you know when you love the church as much as many of us do in the room it's easy to be hurt by the church and a few years ago when I was going through my own questioning my own hard Ministry season I was on a walk with the Lord and I told him you know what Lord I just want to quit if it's okay I'd like to be a Starbucks barista I feel like 40 years as a pastor's kid and in full-time Ministry I feel like 40 years is a good holy number to tap out so if it's okay I'd like to quit and it was on that walk in 2019 that the Lord began to break my heart for my peers for those I had been raised with in church who were no longer serving the church and had walked away from the church but not just that they had walked away from their relationship with Jesus and I thought you know if I want to quit no wonder people who didn't grow up in this want to quit church people can be the worst people and as the Lord broke my heart and he brought me to the end of myself that is where he began and he gave me this phrase on a walk and we're Pentecostal you know what I mean when I say he gave me a phrase I I didn't make it up it wasn't something that I was you know getting a marketing uh genius to come up with I just heard this phrase raise to stay and I ran home and I googled and there's nothing there's no blog there's no podcast there's no Instagram handle and I believed oh my goodness at the end of myself the Lord has given me something I must still be connected to the vine because he has trusted me with good fruit and I slowly started writing these black boxes on Instagram trying to convince myself not to quit and I thought maybe if I can convince myself not to quit through scripture through prayer through writing out the things God was giving me maybe it would help somebody else not want to quit and here we are four years later with over a hundred and twenty five thousand stairs and we're all saying no we want to remain in position we don't want to give up and yes it's going to be hard but we want to stay with Jesus we want to see the church be fulfilled to the prophetic thing that God has called it to be and so we're here tonight not because the church is good not because people deserve it not because we have earned it but because God is good and in his goodness to us he has saved us he has set us free he has healed us and my question for all of us tonight no matter how hurt we have been no matter how wounded we have been is do you want to be healed now it would be very easy for me to do any of my raise to stay talks it would have been easy but the Lord said no I have a Rhema word for women divine ((applause)) doing a raise to State talk would have been easy but it wouldn't have been obedient and it wouldn't have been brave and how many of us as women know God has called us to be obedient and to be brave so I said okay God if you're going to give me a Rhema word I'm going to need that now because I go in two weeks and so I just started getting into the word in the mornings and started reading different scriptures and as a Pentecostal I love the book of Acts it's kind of like our mantra and I had been in the book of Acts a while working on my next project and I didn't get very far when I came to this one scripture that has given me the word for tonight and I've included in the title tonight out of Acts the women included could we all stand together for the reading of God's word tonight we're in Acts chapter 1 verses 12-14 then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives a Sabbath day's walk from the city and when they arrived they went upstairs to the room where they were staying those present were Peter John James and Andrew Philip and Thomas Bartholomew and Matthew James son of alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas son of James they all joined together constantly in prayer along with the women and married the mother of Jesus and with his brothers let's pray together God I thank you for every person in this room I thank you for the sacrifice and the time and the treasure and the talent that it has taken to bring your daughters Under One Roof to make your name and your name alone known I pray that tonight you would do a healing work and that the gifts of the holy spirit would be activated and reactivated as we submit ourselves to you and it's in the name of Jesus we pray amen amen as your seated tell somebody hey the glory of God looks good on you come on laughs the book of Acts was written by Luke and he was a doctor and ended up joining the Apostle Paul on his missionary Journeys the book of Acts is a really important book because it tells us what happens with the disciples once Jesus ascends into heaven and gives them the command to go out into all of the Earth with this gospel the book of Acts it changes the language from the Testaments of always about being about Kingdom and the the gospels about Kingdom and takes us into a new conversation of the organization the church whenever I hear people say things like I just don't know what a healthy Church looks like I don't know what I should be looking for in a church I say you've got to go to the book of Acts the book of Acts is a beautiful blueprint of the church and this purpose and what it is actually for ACT serves to establish and encourage and edify the church it's following Christ's resurrection and it's taking this gospel now this hope this Living Hope into a world not just to the Jews but now to the Gentiles and to the very far ends of the world and Jesus has entrusted this to his disciples and to the apostles and to all who would begin to follow them throughout the Book of Acts in Acts 1 Jesus gives the disciples their final instructions with a promise of the Holy Spirit and then he ascends into the clouds right before their eyes they leave Mount olives and return to Jerusalem as instructed where they went to the upper room now here's where I got excited I had all of the translations out in front of me that day when I was studying and my dad who is my very first Pastor he lives with us my parents live with us and he was in the living room and he was drinking his coffee again I start squealing because I got to Eugene Peterson's translation in the message version of this very scripture acts 1 14.

Luke says that they agreed that they were in this for good completely together in prayer the women included also Jesus's mother Mary and his brothers in other words you guys these are the OG stairs they agreed together that they were going to be in this for good that they weren't going to quit that they weren't going to give up they had been given their assignment they had been given their mission and it was going to take both male and female to deliver this gospel that Jesus had left for them they couldn't be the church if it didn't involve both the males and the females it says in the scripture that the women were included when I get frustrated with church her and I get tired of watching my friends continue to go through hard Seasons I remember that the first church was unified this church of Acts was unified by two things they were unified by the promise of the Holy Spirit the disciples they are a lot like us as Jesus was sitting there before them they start asking questions in Acts 1 6-8 it says that then they gathered around him and asked him Lord are you at this time going to restore the Kingdom of Israel and he said to them it is not for you to know the time or the dates that the father has set by his own authority but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you growing up in the charismatic church we talked a lot about the rapture a lot in the 80s there was a book how Jesus is going to come back in the 80s it was all very scary at youth camp we would have Rapture practiced they would set a trumpet off in the middle of the day and we would all go and it was like it was the first conversation in therapy and then when I was babysitting and we had home phones and I called my mom and dad and nobody answered and then I called my grandparents and nobody answered and then I called my aunts and uncles who I thought were saved and they didn't answer I would have to call somebody I knew wasn't saved and then that would Panic me even more if they answered so as the church we're always wondering God when are you going to get us out of this it's hard it's hard being a Christian it's hard doing this don't send me to Africa don't make me do the hard things and he is saying look you don't get to know when it's going to be over okay that's on God's watch but what I will tell you is I will leave you my Holy Spirit and if you will stay in position if you will stay in position and remain with me and I will remain in you I will produce good fruit inside of you and when that good fruit begins to grow you will know that you are full of the holy spirit because you will be operating in the fruits of the spirit listen I don't care if you speak in tongues if you're mean in English ((applause)) how do we know we're filled with the Holy Spirit we're operating in peace and joy and self-control and kindness and and we don't operate in self-preservation because self-preservation is not a fruit of the spirit and so as we look at what a healthy Church looks like it looks like people remaining in position not getting offended because the pastor didn't hug their neck or they didn't get to sing Revelation song like they did last week Paul was Shipwrecked three times and we're quitting for a lot less they were motivated they were unified by the promise of this Holy Spirit and second of all they were unified by Mission Jesus continues as he's giving them their instructions and you will be my Witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the Earth how do we know what that mission is we just need to go to Matthew 28 16-20 the Great Commission to go and to make disciples not to run away every time it gets hard not to post our Instagram hot takes and call it scripture but to be so resolved in our spirits that we're going to be a unified church and we're going to fight for the Widow and the orphan and we're going to go to the far ends of the Earth but they don't know the Lord and we are going to be so Mission focused nothing can take us off mission like a tree planted by the water we will not be moved in that early church it was not moved they were unified by the promise of the Holy Spirit and they were Pro in that mission of the Great Commission from there we see that they go into the upper room and in other words this is the day of Pentecost in my opinion the day of Pentecost should be a holiday Pentecost Sunday I want cakes with flames I want cakes with I want cupcakes with flames I love Pentecost Sunday Luke tells us in Acts 2 1-4 that once they were all unified by the Holy Spirit and through this mission that when the day of Pentecost came that they were all together in one place and suddenly the sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting they saw what seemed to be tongues of fires that separated and came to rest on each of them male and female and all of them they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the spirit enabled them there's a lot happening in this chapter we see right here the arrival of the Holy Spirit we see then the 120 people's reaction to the Holy Spirit we see the explanation of the holy spirit's arrival and the effect of the holy spirit's arrival now I imagine that just like any church that out of the 120 there were a few that were like what's going on here there was a little bit of amazement and it says that there was also a little bit of mockery people believe that those in the room were drunk now it was really hard for me to bring my friends to church growing up there were a lot of Monday morning phone calls what happened my child came home and told me this and my mom would have to do what we see Peter do here in the second chapter of Acts it says that as those were mocking and saying these men are are drunk on wine and says that Peter stood up in the middle of the room with the backing of the other disciples have you ever gone to bat for something and everybody acts like they had no idea they sent you into the room come on a healthy church we stand by what we believe Peter he stands up with the backing of the other disciples and he says no no no this is exactly how it's supposed to be and he begins to quote the prophet Joel he says in the last day God says I will pour out my spirit on every kind of people your sons will prophesy and also your daughters it goes on to say that when the time comes I'll pour out my spirit on those who serve me men and women both and they'll prophesy what was happening in the upper room wasn't scary it wasn't chaotic it was a prophetic promise being fulfilled right there in the church my question is church are we willing to sit and wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit that is going to come and unify us as one as male and female as men and women as brothers and sisters and not be so worried about who's doing what and who's going where that we remain on Mission and not get distracted by the enemy who is out to kill steal and destroy the very church that he knows if it grows will outnumber the minions in hell it has been Satan's job since the garden to divorce the family of God and to take the prophetic voice of the woman and it says right here that women we will prophesy we will declare the works of the Lord because I want to remind you women that we have a reputation for telling good news I believe it was a woman who saw the tomb was empty and ran to deliver that information and some of us we are standing at an empty tomb but somebody said to us our voice doesn't matter somebody told us that we were too small or too big or we weren't smart enough or we weren't good enough and we're holding in all of this good news that we were called to release and I'm telling you ladies whether you whisper or whether you roar it God wants to use your voice to be a messenger of the Gospel of Jesus Christ I don't care if you sing it I don't care if you write it I don't care if you blog it I don't care if you speak it say it slam poetry and I'm saying you gotta do it ((applause)) because he gave you your voice and whatever happened in the garden happened in the garden but what's happening to me right now is a radical Remnant rising up to re-establish a church that Jesus Built and I will be that radical Remnant and you will be that radical Remnant but we must remain in position we must remain in position Jesus tells them very clearly where they're to go they're to go to Jerusalem their neighborhoods to Judea their cities and their states and to summary other country to go to the far ends of the Earth but I'm going to be honest with you guys we get into this comparison right what's my sister doing what's my friends doing what's that church doing and some of us are asking for the Nations but we don't even know the name of our next door neighbor and Jesus is like let's start with that but we get so caught up we get so off mission that our church has become celebrities in suits rather pastors behind pulpits and then we wonder why the Sheep are compromised how the wolves are getting in because we thought that a unified Church looked and sounded like something Hollywood produced when reality it was the last shall be first and the first shall be last it was remaining in position and making one name known and that's the name of Jesus Christ above all other names the enemy wants us off mission he wants us to look at our upper room and where we are and get so caught up in who's getting different gifts and who's getting different encounters that we forget that he's been working on us since the day that he created us and as Philippians 1 6 says that he who began a good work in US is faithful to complete it to the very end not when I'm best behaved not when I'm at my prettiest or my skinniest not when I'm a hundred percent on Mission not when I'm sinless but that he will always finish what he started in me and he wants to use my voice he wants to use your voice don't let the enemy lie to you you were created to prophesy as I look at this room of 120 I can't help but think of the women in the room I think it's really sweet that Mary Jesus's mom was in the room and this wasn't Mary was the organ player or the kids ministry leader Mary was part of a massive decision because they were trying to decide who was going to replace Judas it was the very first business meeting of the church and the men didn't say all right Marion ladies you guys go out this is men folk time we got to start voting the women had both a voice and a vote and I love how in scripture they're praying to the lord they're like Lord you know who should replace Judas tell us who it is give us wisdom you know the heart of every individual and in the next line it says and then they drew straws [laughter] I love how human that is how we're weeping before the Lord God send me I'll go and then we're throwing darts at a map like that looks good but Mary she was a vital part about what's happening in that early church but if we go through the book of Acts we will find so many women who were part of establishing a healthy early church and was it crazy yes you just have to ask Paul he says I've been beat by my friends I've been beat by my enemies I have been betrayed by my brothers I've been vlogged three times I mean he's not giving us a good case for going into Ministry by any means but we know that these people these men and they women they they remained in position throughout the Book of Acts going through we hear the house of Lydia's story we know about Paul and Silas and how they sang their chains off and when I go through all of these women here are a few that I think have just really inspired me who might inspire you we have Tabitha otherwise known as Dorcas it's unfortunate but that's what she was known as Tabitha was known for loving on the widows for making clothing I know there's some in you of you in here and you have a single mom Ministry or you work with your new moms or your widows and you do a lot of work and you wonder if God sees you and I want you to know God sees you he has never taken his eyes off of you and I know it's hidden work and I know that it's not Instagram worthy but what you are doing is establishing a safe church for those women to be able to come in and experience a Jesus that they have been desperate to know and I want to tell you sweet tabithas keep going keep serving keep creating keep showing up and making space for those that the world has rejected the church should be the safest place on the planet we have Mary the mother of John Mark and she didn't have a lot but what she did have was a house that could House part of the early church where they could meet and gather together and worship there are some of you and the Lord's been telling you to open your home to make it a place for Bible studies and small groups and you've been saying well it's not very big and I don't have all the newest coffee supplies and I don't really know how where everybody is going to park open your home open your home you have no idea who God has already in line to walk through your doors and they don't need a clean house they need a holy house they need a safe house they need a woman who can hug like no other and who will make them a hot cup of tea and will ask them about their lives for the first time somebody interested and invested in them we need you those with the gift of hospitality open your homes and in that people will know Jesus we meet Rhoda the servant girl who worked in Mary's household and she is known for her Joy she was a servant but she showed up and she smiled and she opened doors and when Peter was miraculously set free from prison he came to the house and she began to celebrate and squeal with authenticity so glad to see him we need the loud joyful servants in the house of God we need those who get a little Rowdy we need those who aren't afraid to show up and be who they are we need those who don't care that they're a little loud and guess what guys if people think you're a little loud those aren't your people God gave you a voice for a reason and guess what I was the Little Miss talks too much in class and look what I'm doing now Satan ((applause)) you got to use your voice we have Lydia she was basically a CEO of Fortune 500 linen cloth maker and some of you are boss babes in here and the enemy has been telling you that you shouldn't be doing Ministry and business together and I'm saying yes you should I don't care if you sell leggings nails hair I don't care what you do all I know is that if you make Jesus known he'll elevate it he'll bless it he'll see to it come on I got some lydias in this house don't you Hold Back and finally we have Priscilla of Priscilla and Aquila together her and her husband they ran a small business in Corinth making tents in modern terms Priscilla and Aquila were Artisans they were trades people and after meeting and working with Paul the duo became a valued member of the Apostles missionary team now when we see Aquila and Priscilla you'll often see Priscilla's name come before which might indicate that she had a larger role in the establishing of the church that doesn't make her more powerful or not submissive to her husband a lot of people ask me Natalie what is it like to be in Ministry and preach and have a husband who's not a pastor and I want to tell you right now that my husband may not hold the title pastor but he is the high priest of our household and when that man prays I know he's been with Jesus and I'll be honest with you I've not quit because of my husband and Jesus women just because you hold a title in Ministry and your husband doesn't doesn't mean that you are trying to assert Authority it means you've been given a jewel and you better hold on to that because there is nothing like a man who will be the pastor of the home and Pastor you and that is a gift in my life I have seen a lot of Miracles and I have believed for miracles for other people and I have used this prophetic voice that God has given me to contend for things when I was a little girl I can remember being up on the balcony and looking down and seeing a man I had known my short life who had been bound in a wheelchair get up and run you can't unsee it and maybe that's why I couldn't quit throughout all of my life wanting to give up on the church or maybe rethink my faith I would go back to these moments where I saw people activate the gifts I saw people wait on the Holy Spirit I saw people unified and motivated by Mission and a month before my wedding I was personal training in a friend of mine's basement and I get a phone call from my fiance at the time who says Natalie I think your dad's having a heart attack and he said we're going to call 9-1-1 but I think you should go ahead and come to the hospital and I remember being a little bit annoyed like I'm sure it's heartburn I mean he's 50. there's no way I'm getting married in a month it was like I went right into just that self-preservation all about me mode I went into bride mode but I thought in case it's not heartburn I should probably go so I got in the car and I drove to the hospital and the minute I walked into the emergency room I knew it was bad all of our family all of our church family everybody was in the waiting room and I could hear my mom wailing a sound that I never want to hear again my aunts were around her and the doctor comes out and he looks at me and he says I think you need to come back and say goodbye and I walked back into the triage room it was just a curtained off room I walked in I was by myself and I looked up at the Monitor and there was a straight line and I looked at my dad laying on the gurney jet black hair like he was sleeping and I stood over my dad and I thought this isn't happening I'm getting married in a month and this is my dad this is my pastor this this isn't real and I heard the enemy just this gross lie snarl over my shoulder the church killed your father too much stress he should have quit a long time ago this is going to happen to you too if you do ministry lie lie lie lie and then in this other side of my heart I could hear the Lord say Natalie if he dies am I good God you're always good I don't even know how to answer that but yes yes yes so I passed the test is that what you want to want me to say and he says no but if he lives I'm good I said yes of course if he lives I'm good and he says that I want you to remember who you are I want you to remember the authority that I have given you on Earth the authority to do the things I did but you're gonna do it because you're going to be filled with my Holy Spirit to do them so Natalie do you believe what you've read about me I do God he said then tell him to take up his bed and walk I laid over my dad and with every Authority I had I began to prophesy over his dead body take up your bed and walk take up your bed and walk you will not die but you will live and you will declare the works of the Lord I said you get up you get up in the name of Jesus it's through the name of Jesus that you will live again take up your bed and walk it is just as I'm hearing you right now I heard a single beep on the monitor the doctors they run in they throw me out they shock him for the third time and he sits up and he yells hey Our God he raises dead things back to life tell you something Divine women you have all Authority Under heaven so use your prophetic voice to speak life into a church the enemy says is dead but it is very much alive the church is alive the enemy does not win we will remain in position we will be unified by the power of the Holy Spirit unified by the power of mission and we will not stop we will not stop until he comes back or he calls us home let's stand together tonight as I was praying for us the Lord says tell the women to prophesy tell him to prophesy all prophecy is is speaking the word of God to encourage equip and comforts but if you're going to prophesy ladies you got to know the word of God to prophesy the word of God you want to do the things that Jesus did you better know the things that Jesus did because one day you might be standing in a hospital room and whether he chooses to heal on this Heaven Side of Heaven Or Not Your Voice will be a voice of comfort to someone a voice of power and authority to others but you got to know the word to activate the word and so tonight is a night of activation and if you're in the room and you're like I want to be activated by the power of the Holy Spirit to prophesy to speak life into dead places to speak life back into a church I want to be able to pray for my friends and intercede I want the gifts that fell on that room in the upper room and I want to tell you right now guys he's here with us just like he was then and he rests on top of every single one of us and he says stay in position I know they hurt you I know the church hurt you I know that leaders failed you but I am the god who does not change I do not shift like the Shadows remain in me and I will remain in you and if you remain in me then nothing can separate us and when you remain in me you will continue to produce good fruits and so if that's you tonight and you're like I want my faith reactivated I want that prophetic gift to speak the word of God I just want you to raise your hands all across this room we're going to open up these altars and feel free to come down or pray in your seats but tonight is a night of recommitting to our original Yes to Jesus people will fail us life will let us down but God is good and he is faithful and he's kind and he loves you so much and so if you want to start coming down the team is going to start singing a song and we're celebrating tonight we're celebrating together in the presence of God the holy spirit that is meeting with us now and changing lives and so we're going to sing and we're going to worship and we're going to contend for one another can we do that all right ladies begin to pray right now right where you are in the name of Jesus father we call on you and we Echo The Authority that you have given us God your words your promises your Holy Spirit God we want more of you we want more of your Holy Spirit we want more of your presence more of you in our homes and our lives in our schools in our churches God make us more like you God we activate now we fan the flame that is inside of all of us we blow life back into each other like the spiritual CPR got to begin to see that little flicker that was once a wildflame begin to take flight again God we ask for Renewal we ask for restoration we ask for healing in this place tonight God don't let any of us leave here the same way that we came in God we Echo tonight all of the things that you spoke in your word that are true of us today we speak them back now God let us prophesy in the name of Jesus let us speak your word in the name of Jesus to a world that is desperate for truth thank you Jesus thank you Jesus yes come on keep praying keep praying keep praying ladies come on pray for each other pray with each other ((music playing)) he's here tonight ((music playing)) in the name of Jesus ((music playing)) I speak Jesus I won't say the name ((music playing)) of Jesus ((music playing)) declaring there is hope and there is freedom I speak Jesus your name is healing and your name is ((music playing)) yes it is we're like ((music playing)) your name is ((music playing)) thank you and I just wanna speak the name of Jesus yes ((music playing)) foreign ((music playing)) ((music playing)) fire has given you a voice and just like in Acts chapter 1 when the spirit of God Came Upon you you now have that power of the Lord not by our power or our might but by the spirit of almighty God that when we say the name Jesus when we speak his name we are being witness to the authority that is given by God to his son Jesus that he is the ultimate Authority So when you say his name and you speak it in your circumstance you speak it over your family you speak for whatever you need in your life healing Deliverance you can say his name and there is power there is power so shout Jesus Jesus Christ ((music playing)) holy day foreign ((music playing)) ((music playing)) ((music playing)) ((music playing)) Jesus your name is ((music playing)) ((music playing)) ((music playing)) ((music playing)) so break every stronghold rejoice ((music playing)) Jesus ((music playing)) Jesus Christ ((music playing)) Jesus ((music playing)) ((music playing)) first your name is ((music playing)) and I just wanna speak the name of Jesus over every heart over every heart and every mind cause I know there is peace within your past I speak Jesus ((music playing)) I speak Jesus ((music playing)) I speak to you ((music playing)) one more time your name is my life is healing eyes ((music playing))