WHEN GOD OPENS YOUR EYES

good morning church how's everybody doing you guys staying warm out there these heaters are working pretty good you stand too close to them you get too hot though well we have some announcements for you i'm pastor danny the family pastor we want to welcome you here want to welcome all the online people this is my awesome sidekick kiki hello everybody good morning who's excited for church amen ((applause)) pastor danny the fall festival yes festival yesterday wasn't it fun it was awesome there were so many games yeah i may be a little too i may be a little too competitive though yeah maybe i take the fun out of things just a little bit but the taco truck was amazing so can we please give a round of applause for the gv kids that hosted the yeah yesterday we hope you guys had fun at the fall festival too we do thank you guys so much for coming yesterday pastor denny why don't you kick us off with some announcements absolutely monday's 6 a.m at courtney's restaurant we have a bible study with pastor greg luck and you don't want to miss that guys if you're in town and then at 6 30 that evening we have iron man men's ministry meeting but we're meeting up here at the church tomorrow night we'll be meeting up at the two-story office building on the first floor global vision young adults if you are ages 18 to 25 and want to get plugged into a bible study just a big group of friends please see me or my husband on the front row we have our big event we're gonna have a friend's giving this saturday at 2 30. if you're interested in coming please come with a very empty stomach because there's going to be a lot of food lots of turkey lots of ham and my favorite we call them angel eggs not deviled eggs because we don't play with that but angeled eggs that cracks me up all right youth ministry as i said last week there is no youth ministry for the month of november jesse and brittany are prego and they're about to pop any second i thought they had had it by now but anyway still no baby as far as i know and so uh no youth for november miss ty's bible study called the secret place is a awesome women's ministry if you are a lady and would like to go to miss ties bible study it is tuesdays at 7 00 p.m in the kids chapel now but it will be in the building all right volunteers we need volunteers there's a volunteer table back there in the corner go meet up with them man we need volunteers for parking we need volunteers in production we need volunteers for nursery preschool kids the whole thing so i always have people coming to me say hey how can i serve i want to get plugged in we need your help as we grow bigger and bigger and bigger we need more volunteers so please please sign up back there in an area you feel led to volunteer in all right that's all the end that's it that's it just be here wednesday night services as well at 7 pm it's an awesome time it's my favorite time of the week yeah we'll also be here on wednesdays and that's all the announcements let's get ready for yep god bless good morning church would you stand to your feet ((music playing)) let's worship together ((music playing)) hear the sounds of the wind let the roar ((music playing)) ((music playing)) feel the fire ((music playing)) is ((music playing)) oh ((music playing)) is ((music playing)) ((music playing)) ((applause)) is ((music playing)) hey ((music playing)) ((music playing)) i can't contain feeling of joy being in your presence you can't help but dance ((music playing)) ((music playing)) is ((music playing)) is ((music playing)) ((music playing)) come on he's so good today ((music playing)) he's so precious i just want to encourage you to not waste time this morning to enter in to trust in ((music playing)) jesus his word just to rest upon his promise just to know the same the lord jesus jesus ((music playing)) jesus ((music playing)) jesus jesus hold for grace to trust him more all for grace to trust him ((music playing)) anybody need a touch of heaven this morning in this place my eyes above what it looks like my eyes above what it looks like i will only see all you promised me my eyes above what it looks like my eyes above what it looks like i want what you want i want kingdom come you want that this morning ((music playing)) ((music playing)) all you promised me my eyes above what it looks above what it looks like ((music playing)) to heaven ((music playing)) all the ((music playing)) beyond what it feels like right ((music playing)) before ((music playing)) ((applause)) ((music playing)) ((music playing)) ((music playing)) oh ((music playing)) ((applause)) something's changing in the spirit something's breaking i can feel it heaven come down ((music playing)) heaven come down ((music playing)) come down is ((music playing)) is ((music playing)) ((music playing)) oh ((music playing)) ((music playing)) in the is ((music playing)) ((music playing)) something's changing in the spirit something's breaking i can feel it heaven come down ((music playing)) ((music playing)) hello ((music playing)) ((applause)) ((music playing)) i want you to lift your hands some of you this morning are carrying weight some of you this morning are carrying burdens you're carrying depression you're carrying anxiety and i want you to just reach up and ask for heaven to fall on that jesus said my burden is easy my yoke is light let him carry that stuff let him carry that stuff sing this morning sing this one something's changing in the spirit something's breaking i can feel it heaven come down heaven come down something's changing in the spirit something's breaking i can speak heaven ((music playing)) ((music playing)) i can feel it is ((music playing)) calm down ((music playing)) oh ((music playing)) amen i don't think we're done praising the lord yet this morning in the house hallelujah we want the power of god to fall in this place amen yes you may be seated all over the tent thank you for being here and thank the lord for warming it up for us amen got up early this morning i wasn't too sure what it was going to feel like but uh we got some duck work going we got some heaters going but uh you get this many people in here get excited jumping around hollering for the lord it just kind of warms up amen so i'm glad you're here and i believe the lord's going to meet with us in a marvelous time i want you to prepare your hearts and your minds and your hands to be released in a spirit of generosity today as we go into our offering i i did a video update the other day so many of you have seen it both in-house and online and then also wednesday night i said something in our prayer and bible study time but for those of you that do not know as of yet we're always very open and upfront we told you this past weekend for our 15th anniversary that we didn't want to just have the biggest offering that we've ever had we wanted to give away the biggest offering that we've ever given and so both happened at the same time both in-house and online were by far the biggest single one-time offerings in 15 years and we wanted to give it all to the nation of israel and every check dollar and dime we did just that and to god be the glory last weekend we gave 300 000 to the nation of israel 300 000 to israel unbelievable unbelievable ((music playing)) so thank you for your giving and you know we really do give away what we say we give away i know there's a lot of churches like oh let's just let's sit on that absolutely not you'll be under the judgment of god you give away what god tells you to give away amen and so we do a lot of giving over and above that man we helped a lot of people this week we weren't going to let it slow our role at all and so we always like to be very upfront and people say well you know that that's just bragging no that's accountability because we have a lot of people even online that give and i want them to know that what they gave to that's what it went to amen because i believe that's that's good stewardship and if we'll be faithful with what god gives us he'll give us more he'll give us more he'll give us more and so let's be faithful in our in our giving today uh we have a a super expensive week coming up and just telling you that you notice all the trees that are coming down on that on that final acre of land we got to have 30 000 worth of gravel just to gravel that stuff just so we can keep you guys out of the mud and so there's a lot going on we got some speaker racks that we're changing out this week to go more with these on the sides here so we can actually have the entire radius of the tent field and uh so the neighbors can hear us farther away amen so it's going to be good ((applause)) so that stuff's not cheap you know and that's upgrades like that people think oh you just put a 10 up on a hill and man you you can have servers for 50 cents it doesn't work that way it just does it we believe in in first class for the lord amen no junk for jesus and uh so we want to have things that are nice and so get a lot of gravel to buy this week and you know we've rented equipment and all of that and we've had people literally working around the clock give our guys a hand man we got guys volunteers and even staff people man they just been working so hard knocking these trees down and burning stuff moving stuff and now this week just trying to get all the gravel in place move all these rocks out just trying to to make room for you amen make room for the crowds make room for what the lord is doing in this place and so let's be faithful today in our giving and i also want to say this just by way of announcement you know it's it's interesting the people that come through our church that we get to hear from uh you know god's raised up our platform in such a way that we get to talk to a lot of distinguished people a lot of very well-known people a lot of singers and performers and actors and things like that because of the circles that we we preach in and travel in and run in and so this next weekend we've never made a big deal about it because we don't have a crowd problem right because a lot of times back in the in the older days we'd be like oh my goodness we got to promote promote promote so somebody would show up look when god showed up you people just started showing up baby and so it's beautiful and so i know we'll have a great crowd but let's get as many people here as we can because uh this next weekend singing under the tent they're gonna do just a kind of an acapella deal for their little set time i'll have them get up during you know how like when we have roger or mark i'll give somebody 20 or 25 minutes we're going to do that this next weekend you're not going to miss it especially if you grew up watching the dukes of hazard john schneider is going to be with us under the 10th uh this next week i think he's even bringing the general lead for some picture offs amen so we'll have the general lead part right out here cancel culture don't cancel us and so we'll just drive the generally right out here we'll have us a good time and we'll do that instead of amen's this next weekend so john schneider is going to be with us and uh he's going to be singing a couple of songs for us it's going to be beautiful he's going to be giving his faith testimony and i'll tell you it's really beautiful my wife and i have been with him a number of times in various places and ministered with him i'm actually doing their christmas service he runs a cowboy church in louisiana and so i'm going to be there on december the 11th doing their christmas broadcast this year and so that's going to be beautiful so next week don't miss out and uh what a surreal moment for a guy gr who grew up wearing you know bow duke pajamas watching boss hogg on tv roscoe pico train and so uh we'll have one of the duke boy he's probably too old to slide over the hood of that car now but nonetheless we're gonna have john snyder with us to give his testimony and sing a little bit this next weekend so that's gonna be beautiful just wanted you to know that so let's be faithful in our giving today as we give to the work of the lord we've got a lot to do this week to prepare for all that the lord is doing so let's pray father thank you for the lord jesus christ for his spirit of generosity that has been upon this church lord this church has been baptized in boldness but it's been baptized in a spirit of generosity and for that i'm grateful lord both in-house and the many faithful people that are online watching even right now and that will watch later lord they give so so incredibly faithfully and i thank you for that so i pray that today you would just release us in a spirit of giving lord your word says if we would seek you first that you would provide everything that we need and lord the church has some needs we love to give money away but sometimes we have to take care of the house and take care of what's going on here on this campus because it's not about our campus it's about your kingdom but we want it to look nice we want to be decent for people coming in and out and so lord we pray that you provide for the gravel provide for the upgraded speaker systems and everything that we need lord just it's all the time something but lord every day you always provide for the multitude of needs that we know about and for the multitude of needs that we don't know anything about yet so go before us and lord we pray that like you did with the loaves and fish you would break it and bless it and use it to be distributed to the multitudes bless our worship lord bless our baptismal celebrations our invitation bless the word of god to our hearts in the course of the next few moments and father i pray that we'd be settled in and focused on your power and your glory today we get out of the way and we say holy spirit do what you want in this place and we're going to thank you for it in jesus name and all of god's people said god bless you as you give there's such a peaceful spirit in this tent today i loved the hymn that we sang my husband walked in the kitchen and told me that the lord said we need to sing that hymn and this next song talks about peace and ((music playing)) you can't have peace if you don't have trust in the lord i think it's so important to trust him to trust his spirit to trust his word to trust his promise if he's giving you a promise no matter what season of life you find yourself in no matter what storm you find yourself in the peace that passes all understanding it's a gift and it's available to you you just have to ask him for it you just have to trust him for it father what a gift it is to be in your house to let your spirit of peace rest upon us god for those of us who did not sleep well last night because we needed peace father i pray your peace will just fall in this place your spirit would just consume us god we trust you we take that little seed of faith and we plant it we plant it in you father we take you at your word we believe you will do what you said you would do in jesus holy name we pray amen come on let's stand and worship him today ((music playing)) i trust you ((music playing)) i don't wanna be ((music playing)) no i don't want to fear the story ((music playing)) upon ((music playing)) these waves are only ((music playing)) you are greater than it's a oh ((music playing)) ((applause)) ((music playing)) is ((music playing)) that speech ((music playing)) ((applause)) ((music playing)) oh ((music playing)) so let faith rise ((music playing)) rise up oh ((music playing)) rise up oh ((applause)) ((music playing)) ((applause)) ((music playing)) ((applause)) this is ((music playing)) ((applause)) ((music playing)) yes ((music playing)) ((applause)) ((music playing)) so let faith ((music playing)) rise up ((music playing)) ((music playing)) oh ((applause)) ((music playing)) ((applause)) ((music playing)) ((music playing)) is ((music playing)) is ((music playing)) ((music playing)) ((music playing)) oh ((music playing)) upon the sea ((music playing)) i will trust the voice that speaks peace you are here so it ((music playing)) the is peace ((music playing)) come on one last time ((music playing)) ((music playing)) hold your peers ((music playing)) hold ((music playing)) come on one last time hold your peace your peace ((music playing)) come on church he's in the building today let's give him a shot of praise let's thank him for his peace come on church ((music playing)) hallelujah hallelujah you may be seated this morning the peace of god that passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through christ jesus our lord you know even the apostle paul under holy spirit inspiration writing the bible called it the peace that passes all understanding even under holy spirit inspiration paul could not find the words to express the peace that only jesus christ can bring about in your life in the midst of turmoil and by the way that's when you need peace the most and i really believe like miss monica said a moment ago there's really a spirit of peace in this room today and if you don't know the prince of peace the lord jesus christ then you'd be bopped into the right place for the right service because i believe god's going to set somebody free this morning and if you just repent and believe the gospel you can you can get set free and you can get that peace that you've been longing for you can't get that piece in a bottle you ain't gonna get that peace in a relationship you won't get that peace because you get a lot of money you get that peace because it comes from jesus christ in him alone the old song it is well it is well with my soul it is well with my soul i want to invite you to the ninth chapter of the book of acts this morning if you turn there acts chapter number nine for some of you this will be a very familiar passage and story but i want to really begin in our text this morning at the ending of the story and then back our way into the narrative as we expositionally go down through the text but i believe this is what the lord would have for us today and so i trust that you'll get everything that you need from god not from greg amen and i i appreciate the people that come to hear us sing and hear me preach but more than that i appreciate the people that are here with a pure motive because they just want the spirit of god to do something in their life and i know many of you are from all over the country as a matter of fact i failed to do this during the offering let me do it right now just before we preach how many of you are not from the state of tennessee we'd love to uh show the lord and everybody our visitors stand to your feet if you're not from tennessee stand up all over this house just for a moment look at that wow every week it seems like more and more and more out of staters show up we're honored to have you thank you so very much for being in the house of the lord well if you believe god's going to speak to you would you shout amen acts chapter number nine let's all stand please out of reference for the reading of god's word i'm going to begin in verse number 13 unusually enough and then as i said we'll read down a few verses and then back up into the context here in just a moment acts chapter 9 and verse number 13. the bible says then ananias answered lord i have heard by many of this man how much evil he hath done to thy saints at jerusalem and here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name but the lord said unto him go thy way for he is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the gentiles and kings and the children of israel for i will show him how great things he must suffer for my namesake and ananias went his way and entered into the house and putting his hands on him said brother saul the lord even jesus that appeared unto thee and the way as thou camest hath sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight and be filled with the holy ghost and immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales and he received sight forth with and arose and was baptized thank you for standing you may be seated father i pray in jesus mighty name that you would work under this tent that you would move and you would motivate and you would convince and convict the hearts of men and women in a way that greg locke cannot my ability to communicate is limited but your power is unlimited so fill me to overflowing with who you are not who i am and so father i pray that as we look into the perfect word of the living god that you would like a great flood wash us clean today i pray for the thousands of people that are watching online that they would feel as if they were in the room with us right now and lord for those in this room captivate our hearts stir our imagination for what could be if we would simply sell out and surrender to the grace of the gospel of jesus christ remove distractions keep them to a minimal so that we can focus by faith on the reason you brought us into this tent so move today we pray in jesus name we ask these things and all of god's people said in the book of acts you have in chapter 9 the conversion of a man by the name of saul who we know later was renamed as the apostle paul it's very fitting that a man that had such a testimony of being wicked and vile and ungodly that was transformed by the power of the gospel would then say much later in his life in second corinthians 5 17 therefore if any man be in christ not in church not in denomination not in good works not in the waters of baptism not because of what country you live in you are either in christ and saved or you are out of christ and you are lost and you better figure out which side you're on this morning he said if you are in christ he or she is a new creature all things are passed away behold all things are become new the word new means new in quality jesus changes the quality of a person's life he does not just give you a little bit of heart surgery he takes out your old heart gives you a new start and the bible said you go from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh and how many of you can rejoice that jesus has transformed your life by the power of the gospel of jesus christ absolutely to god be the glory he changes us and so we see this man's conversion testimony do you realize that in the bible three times in the book of acts once in the book of galatians and once in the book of philippians the apostle paul goes back and recounts his life story he shares his testimony so when he says forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth under those things which are before yes there are some things that we need to forget but you never need to get over where god brought you from by the power of your spirit don't ever forget who you were without god and might i say this don't ever forget who you still would be if it were not for the power and the movement and the transferring of the spirit of god in your life you wouldn't be in church shouting for the lord i guarantee you sometimes we walk around with our nose up in the air and we think we're all that and then some and we're better than everybody else and we see somebody that doesn't dress like us and live like us and act like us or they choose a different lifestyle than us and if we're not careful we'll get that syndrome in which we'll look at them and we'll say well i never oh yes you would if it wasn't for the grace of god you'd be sleeping with it you'd be snorting it you'd be drinking it you'd be shooting it up if it wasn't for god i promise you you wouldn't be here this morning there's no doubt about that anything good in me god did every bit of it anything rotten in me greg did every bit of it and don't put your lip out cause you a mess too all have sinned and come short of the glory of god paul never got over where god brought him from he shared his testimony everywhere he went you know the bible says let the redeemed of the lord say so whom the lord hath redeemed out of the hand of the enemy and sometimes we we get to a place where we make excuses for why we don't share the gospel well a lot of us don't understand everything about the gospel it's real simple here's the gospel the death the burial the resurrection you tell people jesus died for you jesus was buried for you and jesus rose for you that's the gospel that's it nothing difficult about that nothing convoluted about that paul said to the galatians i fear unless some of you fall through the simplicity that is in christ stop making the bible difficult and so the gospel simple you say well you know i don't understand everything about john's highway or the romans road i can't quote all the ten commandments do you know what you're supposed to do tell people what he's done for you that's how you share the gospel you don't have to be a theological phd that knows everything about the old and new testament you don't have to know everything about prophecy open your mouth and say look what jesus has done for me it's that simple ((applause)) you say well i just don't have anything to tell anybody then you need to get born again i'm so sick of this man be pampered limp pristine culture that says well you know maybe i'm saved maybe i'm not one day i'm in one day if you're born again you'll know it you remember the day that you met the lord jesus christ well you know i was just born into a christian family i've just always been saved oh no you've always been lost but you ain't always been saved you get saved when you recognize your loss and you need jesus christ that's when you get saved so you ought to have a testimony if you don't have a testimony you don't have a conversion experience because there is no one in the new testament they couldn't remember when they met jesus you meet somebody biggest jesus he'll kind of change your life he'll kind of change your perspective you will not have to ask a name tag of identification it's kind of like nebuchadnezzar rose up in haste he looked down into the fiery furnace and the bible in the old testament daniel 3 said he saw the son of god somebody's like well brother lock let me dispensationally and theologically help you there is no way he knew him as the son of god because in the old testament the son of god had not yet been revealed and so it's a misquotation how did he know it was the son of god you ever get that close to jesus you won't have to ask i'll tell you that's how you'll know ((applause)) phooey on this crazy idea in christianity that we can walk an aisle sign a card pray a prayer raise a hand join a church and live any way we jolly well please when you get born again you'll be different you won't be perfect but when you repent you will live a life that proves you repented and you won't keep going back to all that nonsense god saved you out of and so at the end of the day we're going to see this radical dramatic conversion of saul to paul but notice please verse number one it's where we'll pick up our reading it says in saul yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the lord went under the high priest you know sometimes we can minimize the past that saul yea the apostle paul had the bible uses the word slaughter that's a big word that's not a good word it says while he was yet breathing out threatenings you know what the bible says in romans chapter 5 and verse number 8 that while we were yet sinners christ died for us he didn't save us because we were better than goody tissue individuals that had sunday school lapel pens all the way down our jacket he saved us because we were damned and doomed and depraved and disobedient but god who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in sin hath quickened us together with christ for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of god not of works lest any man should vote you ain't got nothing to brag on but jesus ((applause)) you know we sing that song i woke up with heaven on my mind oh no you did not you didn't wake up seeking god you woke up with god seeking you one day and luke 19 10 says the son of man came to seek and to say that which was lost you are saved because of jesus not because of who you were but because of who he is and while he was yet breathing out punishment persecution and threatenings while he was yet planning to destroy villages for preaching what we're preaching the bible says and slaughter against the disciples a man that became a disciple slaughtered people at one time in his life that were disciples so some of you need to drop this nonsense well i've just done so much god could never save me you've lost your mind some preacher told you that but god never did that didn't come from the spirit of god i'm telling you paul was a murderer he was a religious murderer killing people in the name of god thinking he was doing god a favor and he said while he was yet threatening while he was slaughtering christians he went under the high priest and watch what he does in verse number two and he desired of him the high priest letters to damascus and so he had to have a a certificate of authenticity if you will to go down there and burn the villages and take everybody to jail and kill folks so he devoured desired him letters of damascus to the synagogues that if he found any of this way out loud church say this way that is a phrase in the book of acts that's exclusively used to refer to the gospel because they didn't understand what the gospel was it was so new that the people that did not like it the people that were not proponents of it would say this way or that way right oh we don't believe that way we don't believe this way they didn't know what to call it they couldn't define it or describe it and so they used it in context in a way that would denote disdain it's not something they were happy about and so he said if i find anybody doing this way doing church like this whether they were men or women he might bring them bound unto jerusalem this cat was going to arrest people who were preaching jesus because jesus didn't fit their narrative and i'll tell you something jesus still does not fit their narrative you know you talk about god anywhere you go you go to your work tomorrow and you say something about god and you might get one or two eyebrows raised but nobody will say anything listen you get on an airline tomorrow and you start talking about god and they'll let it pass but you start talking about jesus you start throwing her out that name and you start saying jesus is the name above every name and jesus is the only way to heaven i'm telling you this way or that way will get you in a big way with crazy people jesus does not fit the american narrative these days he doesn't fit the narrative of politics he doesn't fit the narrative of the republicans he doesn't fit the narrative of the democrat he just don't fit the narrative and so therefore if he doesn't fit the narrative change the narrative and i tell you there's people out there that are doing their dead level diabolical bag of magic trick best to change the narrative and some of us have been called by god to expose the wicked evil nonsense of the narrative because some of you have been under the delusion of the narrative far too long so when the narrative doesn't fit they just change it they have to control the storyline the problem with jesus is he's bigger than the storyline and so they said look if they're doing it the way we don't like it let's bind these people up verse 3. and as he journeyed not days later no as he was going he was bloodthirsty he had murder on his mind this guy was going to kill people that's what his job was watch what happens he came near damascus and suddenly now let's just stop right there i love that word that's the best word in the whole bible as far as i'm suddenly kaboom kapow out of nowhere no prayer no preemptive no plan boom just there suddenly god just kind of dropped the mic right on him and every time you see that word in the book of acts you can know the holy spirit's about to show up show out and do something unbelievable and i'll tell you what kind of church i want to pastor a suddenly church a church where just spontaneously revival can break out and suddenly god can have his way we're not worried about trying to beat everybody down to the next restaurant we're not looking at our watch for 30 minutes when he gonna hush when he gonna shut up there's some big old doors on this tent you don't have to stay the whole time i've told you a hundred times i'll tell you a thousand more there's no seat belts in them chairs you can leave anytime you want you're free to come you're free to go i didn't come to church to see how quick i could get out i came to church to watch god work in my marriage watch god work in my family god watch god work in this place i want to see people set free by the power of the gospel you can't do that in a 30-minute message ((music playing)) we all come in in the american church like a bunch of robots we know when to stand we know when to sit we know when to give we know him to be greedy sometimes i want suddenly just to show up ((applause)) the invitation break out right during the song suddenly people get right with god get healed get all kind of things from god during the message suddenly and so god was about to give saul soon to be paul a sudden moment it says they're shine around about him a light from heaven and he fell to the earth and he heard a voice saying unto him saul saul notice god called him twice because men have a hard time listening the first time thank you ladies for shouting amen right there but i remind you he also said martha martha so he called her twice too you in the same heart-headed boat we are for you start shouting up at his house saul saul watch what the question is why persecutest thou me interesting jesus speaks in a very interesting person and the way he asks that question why are you persecuting me well because he was messing with his kids he said why are you messing with my children why are you messing with my church my new church at that why are you persecuting me and i'm sure saul thought to himself that that baptistic porky pig syndrome what do you mean what do you mean i'm persecuting you jesus said look when you touch my kids you touching me when you mess with my body you mess with me when you mess with my church you mess with me that's why by the way we're going to stay baptized in boldness we're going to stay biblical we're going to control the narrative biblically and stay right because i'll tell you what when they come against god's kids they've come against jesus greater is he that is in you that he that is in the world if god be for us who can be against us i didn't lose any sleep over haters and death threats last night you know why because you mess with one of god's kids you mess with jesus he'll take you to the woodshed and wear you out do not call thou unclean what god has called clean and when you mess with the family of god you better know you messing with god himself and jesus read letters out of his own mouth said why are you persecuting me when we know good and well what jesus meant why are you messing with my kids why are you messing with my children because we know what the bible says no weapon formed against you shall prosper and every lying tongue that comes against you in the name of god he said i'll snatch it out of their throat and throw it to the ground but what about all that criticism you get we're getting so discouraged over stupid passive-aggressive facebook posts you just rock on in the name of god you just go jam for the lamb and don't worry about what that crowd says they'll devour themselves eventually because when people come against the work of god they come against god himself that's what the bible says so don't fret because at the end of the day here's what a lot of you know that have moved here or been here a long time here's what you know a church family is stronger than your blood family many times it's the truth it's the truth and so he said why are you messing with my children verse 5 and he said who art thou lord i'm glad jesus knows who he is i wish some preachers would figure it out but i'm glad jesus knows who he is who art thou lord and the lord said i am jesus whom thou persecute us it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks that's interesting now he ain't using the word pricks like you thinking about pricks we kick against them jokers all the time say amen right there huh he's referring to the ox goads he's referring to conviction you know what was pricking his heart he held the clothes for the murderous people on a rampage to take the life of stephen the first gospel martyr in the church world and the bible says on a number of occasions they laid down their cloaks at a young man's feet whose name was saul he watched a man die for what he believed in and he couldn't get over that and jesus said you know why you're miserable because the holy ghost is thumbing around in your heart that's why you know why you're miserable because like a movie in a rewinded dvd scene you keep replaying over and over and over that guy that fell down and said lord lay not this sin to their charge and he simply fell asleep when they were literally rocking his world with boulders and man it tore him up he had basketball-sized ulcers he couldn't sleep at night he was sucking half a bottle and i could get three hours of sleep because the holy spirit kept on pressing him kept on he said it's hard to kick against them ox goats it's hard to kick against the pricks of the holy spirit by the way that's why some of you can't sleep by the way that's why some of you believers can't sleep because you're supposed to be doing something for god and the holy spirit keeps breaking your heart breaking your heart breaking your heart but you're letting everybody else talk you out of what the holy spirit's done talk you into and you know it you're like oh my goodness i can't believe i'm so miserable i can because can't nobody mess you up like god can mess you up well you can come to church fake it till you make it put on a jimmy carter smile make me think you're all that a bag of chips but at the end of the day when you go home the holy spirit's like you read the bible you don't even like reading the bible you know why because every time you read it it's like you like trying to sing in the shower you can't even sing in a shower you can't even enjoy a shower you get a shower like you're driving down the road you're like why do i feel so discouraged that's why because you're supposed to be obeying the holy spirit and you're not and he said it's hard it's laborious it takes work it is exhausting to live in disobedience you know that it's liberating to live in obedience to god but you will exhaust yourself burning the candle of life at both ends and blowing the smoke in god's face you will exhaust yourself and frustrate yourself when you live outside of your calling outside of your anointing outside of your giftedness and you're walking in the opposite direction that god's spirit told you to walk that's why some of you are miserable right now that's why some of you cannot sleep not just one night but multiple nights because every time you lay in your bed because god's trying to do something in your life and you're not allowing it to happen and it is a laborious job to kick against god you can turn me off all you want to but you can't turn god off spirit to go home with you he's going to the restaurant with you he's going he's getting in the bed sheets with you he's walking the dog with you he's going to the ball field he's going to the move at the end he's going everywhere you go and it's hard to fight against god's work it's hard but watch this verse 6 and he trembling and astonish said lord what will thou have me to do now i find it interesting that was his very first response once he found out who jesus was he's like okay whatever i'll do it sign me up where you lead me i will follow what you feed me i will swallow let's roll let's go right now god what will you have me to do that's a good question some of you need to be asking right now what do you want me to do god what do you want me to do god now here's the problem a lot of you are looking for something specific but you're not there yet because god will never reveal to you something specific until you just give a generalized surrender and a submission and say god i don't care what you tell me specifically i'll do anything you tell me no matter what it is i'll rake leaves i'll clean toilets i'll preach i'll sing i'll play i'll dance i'll do what you say i don't care what it is when you get there you're going somewhere people ask me all the time how can i know the specific will of god for my life be willing to do anything and god will get specific just be willing to surrender and god will get specific he wants to know that you will do whatever he asks no matter how difficult it is everybody wants to surrender when it makes some money everybody wants to surrender when their friends and their family are cool with it everybody wants to surrender when the path is less rocky and less elevated and it's clear everybody wants to surrender like that god wants to know if you'll surrender when things get bad and i'm not going to be a doomsday prophet but i'm here to tell you right now things are going to get a whole lot worse than they are right now and if you can't see the handwriting on the wall you have not been reading a bible you have not been reading the bible i repeat you have not been reading the bible it's going to get bad it's going to be a weird christmas if you think all this stuff we're watching right now in the news number one is real you're crazy but number two if you think this stuff is by accident you've lost your mind this is purposeful god is going to find out the level of dedication that his church really has i watched the video a couple of weeks ago pastor danny i even said a word about it but i watched the video where five years ago almost to the date five years ago i said let's give it five years and we'll find out in america who really loves god who really loves the local church and here we are here we are warning screaming rebuking traveling all over the planet and the nation telling people wake up pay attention read your bible turn off the news quit worrying about what twitter and facebook and zuckerberg says i'm telling you it's coming it's coming it's coming you gotta pay it we've been warning warning warning warning warning and now all of a sudden not only are we full now you give it a few months and this tent is going to fill up with all the people that said they told us so ((music playing)) they told us so and it's not about we told you so it's about god told you so you better pay attention you better put your boots on friends cause some crazy stuff's on the way some crazy stuff on the way if you think i'm crazy about saying that then you're just not paying attention and that's cool but i'm gonna just look crazy but i'm going to be surrendered to do whatever god wants me to do no matter what it is no matter how bad it gets no matter how hard it gets and it's going to get bad and you better make up your mind whose side you're on let me stop and see this i know a lot of people hate when people say that well you know why you got to choose sides because god said so he said you're forming or against me the line's been drawn on the sand religiously politically in every other way choose whose side you are on pick a side and stand there if you want to pick the side of evil then you pick the side of eagle dig your heels in and prepare just go right ahead but don't drag me into your wicked nonsense i'm going to choose the side of jesus i'm going to choose the side of righteousness i'm going to choose the side of holiness i'm going to choose the side of having to be persecuted i'm going to dig my heels in and i ain't going to move i shall not be i shall not be moved i ain't going to be moved no matter what you say it's been a crazy week in the news media that mega pastor that mega pastor has been everywhere they've used everything in the world against us this week they really loved that nonsense this past wednesday night when i called nancy pelosi a demon-possessed pedophile they thought that was amazing just for the record she's still a demon-possessed pedophile i just thought i'd share that with you but you better make up your mind whose side you're on you say what do you mean by that exactly what i said i don't side with baby killers do you hear me i don't side with that hollywood crowd i don't side with cancer culture you know why cancel culture don't scare me because i don't bow to the culture what are they going to do make you quit coming that's on you not me if you if you can still see what's happening and believe their nonsense then you probably don't need to be here know how you deluded you dangerous to yourself if you can't see the nefarious plan of what is happening right now to take over the minds of this generation and destroy our children you are deluded you are deluded anyhow i just thought i'd share a little bit of that because you better figure out whose side you're on so stop asking god to show you specifically if you're not willing to do whatever he wants you to do generally just be willing to do all of it every bit of it what would you have me to do and the lord said check this out arise go into the city and it shall be told thee what thou must do most of us would have hated that answer wasn't specific enough what do you want me to do lord get up dust yourself off and go on to town like you is going and when you get there we'll chat about it and people say i fly by the seat of my bridges apparently the holy spirit does too what do i do lord what do i do the same thing you know to do every day of your life get up go to work love your family read your bible pet your dog eat your lunch pray your prayers drive back home repeat course just do what you're supposed to do and god will show you what you're supposed to do everybody's looking for something spectacular when what they do is just simply say lord here i am el capitan i'll do it lord i'll sign up pick me pick me pick me and god says oh okay i will just keep doing what you're supposed to be doing everybody's like well you know i just need to know what god wants me to do in the next 20 years no you don't if you ain't serving god the next 20 minutes the next 20 years don't mind know how young people ask me this all time well you know what you reckon the lord wants me to do when i'm 25 i don't care do what you supposed to when you're 18. don't worry about when you're 25. but we had this idea well i'm going to graduate i'm going to get a car i'm going to get married i'm going to have 37 kids i'm going to get this good high paying job when i'm 25 28 32 42 one day i'll serve god that is tommy rot nonsense if you ain't serving god in 15 minutes you ain't gonna be serving god in 15 years it don't start later it starts now it don't start when you get more money it don't start when you get a driver's license it don't start when you get a better job it don't start just because you know things get better economically it starts now what do i do lord get up and go to town and when you get there we'll talk that's what god said most people don't like those answers but they're good answers so it helps me when i have no idea what you're supposed to do when you come to my office i'm like get up go home and we'll talk just keep showing up just keep showing up and on that note can i say this if you don't come on wednesdays you miss it around here i know everybody thinks these crowds are the bread and butter of what god's doing at global vision if you are missing wednesday night it is the cream of the crop of what is happening in this church now it's filling up about like this on wednesday night wednesday night is unbe stinkin believable is that the king james unbe stinkin believable we got communion every single wednesday night we see god show up and show out every single wednesday night so somebody's like well what am i supposed to do to serve the lord come to church more than once a week would be a good start how about the moonwalk up here so slick that got me stirred up verse 7 and the men which journeyed with him see he took a little posse with him had a little crew to go kill folks they stood speechless hearing a voice but seeing no man and saul arose from the earth that's what god told him to do and when his eyes were opened watch this he tries to open his eyes he saw no man so he opened the lids but the pupils were closed up so they led him by the hand and they brought him into damascus and i do want to say this because it's important to the context sometimes god will give you if you will partial blindness to what's going on around you because you don't have the capacity to handle what god wants to do inside of you some of you've been praying for a great big huge magnanimous work of god that you're not ready for yet so god's had to blind you a little bit to that magnanimous work so he could get you big enough and stretch you large enough so you can handle all that god wants to dump into you because if god opens your eyes too early it blinds you if god opens your heart too early some of the things you're praying for are progressive you'll get there but you got to grow into it you got to grow into it and so god had to blind him for a few moments and they led him by the hand they brought him to damascus and he was there for three days without sight neither did he eat or drink so he's fasting he's blind as a bat verse 10. and there was a certain disciple at damascus named ananias and to him said the lord in a vision by the way not the same ananias of chapter five that dropped dead because he lied to the holy spirit apparently weird names were like cool in the bible so and to him the lord said on a vision ananias and i love this and he said behold i am here lord you say well you know god just don't speak to me a whole lot it's because the way you answer him when he does holy spirit said ananias he's like yes sir i'm ready signing up what is it today lord see it wasn't specific it was general he called him and the reason god doesn't keep calling and keep speaking is because the last five times he did you ignored him well you know what would my spouse think they're probably praying that you would get right with god because you're making your life at home miserable because they know you've been running from the holy ghost and so you're a jerk all the time because of it right don't die on me now praise god i've got 20 more minutes left in me 35 or 40 if you keep that up but nonetheless right here in the context he said ananias he said yes sir what can i do remember how samuel got called oh young samuel was just a child he was sleeping in the in the extra chamber over in the temple and the high priest was up in there and he was in the bed and one night little samuel heard samuel and he got up he ran up in the preacher's room and he said hey how how can i serve you preacher man he's like i didn't call you go back to bed oh okay i'm crazy i ate too much peanut butter before i went to sleep granny says that'll give you bad dreams he went back laid back down samuel samuel whoa that's got to be eli so he runs back hey pastor eli what can i do i need to shine your shoes i need to help you you need some scrambled eggs what you need i didn't call you go back to bed but this time he's scratching his head and bewilderment thinking he's crazy goes back lays down but eli said hey if it happens again if it happens again and it will because you keep answering you just don't know what you're answering to it was all in the way he responded he was willing to do whatever no matter who was calling him he said if it happens again son and it will know this you just say uh hear my lord speak to me so it goes lays back down samuel samuel little dude jump plum i'm about to be in this pjs and said hear my lord what what you need lord god needed a prophet that's what he needed and god gave us first samuel and second samuel and a man that was willing to have a wrought iron backbone walked right into the golden throne room of king david stick his long bony evangelistic finger in his face and he told a man by the name of nathan you will be this prophet and samuel became the prophet that raised up all the other prophets in the old testament he became a mighty man of god but he started with just a little kid about 12 years old how can i help you god said oh i got the right one he's eager he's ready well and anaya has had that eagerness he said here in my lord send me what do you want i'll do whatever but now it's going to get dangerous verse 11. and the lord said unto him arise go into the street which is called straight and inquire in the house of judas for one called saul of tarsus for behold he prayeth now when he heard that i'm sure it sent his antennas off because this guy was not known for praying he was known for killing people that prayed and he had seen in a vision a man named ananias coming in notice how specific that was he said he's been there blind for three days fasting praying and i gave him a vision and told him a dude named ananias is going to come walking in that's pretty specific right there god amen and i is going to walk in put hands on him that he might receive his sight notice please the apprehension even of a godly man then ananias answered lord i have heard by many of this man how much evil he hath done to thy saints at jerusalem he said lord now wait a minute i know you've never made a mistake but maybe right now it's questionable because i've been reading the newspaper and i've been checking people's facebook status and this guy's been killing folk for a long time he has been making havoc of the church in jerusalem and i i just want to make sure we got the same guy here but make sure we got the same phone number in the contact information are you sure this is the one i've heard some crazy things verse 14. and here he has authority from the chief priest to bind all that call on thy name so he's like lord listen maybe this is a setup and you just didn't see it you know we think like that don't we you ain't got to put your lip out you think that way and so do i we're like well you know lord we know better than you you know you got the wrong one here god i mean come on i mean give me a break i mean this guy's been murdering people he he's got certificates in his pocket to take people to jail and so this is probably a setup and i can see it coming for you can and sometimes we think we're more spiritual than the holy spirit we think we got one over on god well you know i'm just so super mighty i'm so super duper supernatural i'm so super spiritual you can't teach me anything that is a very poor place to live your life i'm growing you're growing we're growing folks online or grow we should all be growing in the grace and knowledge of our lord and savior jesus christ second peter 3 18. if you know everything this is not the church for you this is not the tent for you this is not the campus for you i'm not the pastor for you if you know everything i can't help you god wants to but god won't help you either because he don't mess around with stubborn not heads god will let you try to figure it out after a while and after a while when you get egg all over your face and realize that the doormat of grace has been ripped out from under the front door of your house you'll figure out very quick that without him you are nothing and you can do nothing and you'll never accomplish anything and so he's like wait a minute lord i've heard some crazy stuff about this guy verse 15 but this is where we started a moment ago the lord said unto me go thy way for he is a chosen vessel unto me let me tell you something when god puts his hand on something how dare you put your hand on it when god puts his hand on someone i'm not gonna circumvent the power of god in their life i remember years ago when we first started this church matter of fact we were getting ready to start this church i went to my then pastor and i thought he would be like well you know greg it's all good you know you've been an evangelist for 10 years you're super successful and you know we've we've kind of helped create you in this whole you know baptist realm and all of this and so i thought he'd be like yeah let's let's pray about this let's fast let's let's kind of work through this you know i think this this will be good but let's have some long-range goals that's what i expected in the meeting i mean i poured out my heart for 35 45 minutes and i mean i said look it's what god wants me to do i know it's going to be a big risk and i i don't have no support i don't even have a name for the church at this point i'm going to walk away from successful evangelism i mean i was preaching all over america 50 weeks a year revival weeks i was booked three or four years in advance and we were doing fine and i remember i shared my heart i mean just bore my soul cried like a little baby and i remember as soon as i got done the first thing that happened he set up in his chair and he said you know i'm in a 4 million building program right now and i got time for problems like this and if the holy ghost didn't tell me that you're supposed to start a church i'm your spiritual authority and i'm telling you right now you are not supposed to start a church and so you just sit down and you speak when you're spoken to and you stand evangelism because that's what god's called you to do now let me tell you what that experience taught me number one how not to pastor people woe be unto me if i tell you something anti holy spirit that he's already told you who do i think i am that's a little bit too big for your boots and your britches who am i to put my hand against someone that god has placed his hand upon who am i to say oh that cannot be the work of god whereas for years i would say that oh people can't really be healed that ain't the work of god what do you mean that supernaturally happened in somebody's life oh that's in the new testament we still living in the new testament day the book of acts didn't have a ending and attitude be continued we're acts chapter 29 right now still watching these signs shall follow them that believe the bible says not them that preach who are we to raise our hand against what god has already blessed with his hand and so there was a moment here where god had to give some real clarity he said he's a chosen vessel for me why to bear my name before watch this three groups gentiles kings and the children of israel he's going to be an apostle to the gentiles to provoke the jealousy of the israelites and in the meantime i'm going to raise him up and i'm going to let him preach the gospel to kings and did he not even agrippa said whoa almost you've persuaded me to be a christian they didn't know what to do with this guy except just stand him up on a podium and let him talk and you give a guy that's filled with the power of the holy spirit and a love for the gospel a microphone to talk you better look out that joke is going to talk matter of fact the only way to stop him was to cut his head off now i can't prove this but i think his lips moved for 25 minutes once they did it amen i know mine would i quitting i ain't quitting so he said he's going to be apostle the gentiles the kings the children of israel for i will show him watch this i love how this is red letters in the bible i will show him god's going to show paul how great things say great things he must suffer for my namesake yeah there it is everybody thinks being called to great things excludes suffering you don't enter into the great things without suffering now i know this is a special understanding of what paul was receiving by way of direct inspiration and revelation from god himself i get it i understand what the spirit's saying i can read a bible like you can he said i'm going to let this man know how many great things he must suffer not for his own sake but for my sake and did you know that the church today is who she is because of the writings and the sufferings of the apostle paul he said i've been hungry i'm naked in peril lions have come after me the romans have come after me they tried to persecute me they tried to kill me they put me in jail do you realize he wrote 14 books of the bible and three-fourths of them were written from a jail cell not a hilton high-rise hotel this dude didn't know what a t-bone steak was man three hots and a cot for three-fourths of his ministry shipwrecked fed by barbarians bit by viper this guy went through some suffering some hardship some problems had bad eyes we see in the context of scripture history tells us he was a little old hunchback short guy you know we think of the apostle paul he looked like a an nfl football player he looked like a quarterback preaching the gospel no he even said when you see me i'm pretty base he's like when you look at me i'm just not a whole lot he didn't even have a real boisterous booming base field voice we would see paul walk on the platform and be like what who is this farmer backwoods redneck with bulging eyes and a bold back and here comes paul and he opened that bible and preached like a wild man didn't even use good contextual verbage i would say english but he wasn't speaking english i mean in his context he'd be using words like ain't he'd be using you know split infinitives whatever that is he'd say something about an adjective when he meant an adverb and everybody like this hillbilly who in the world does he think it doesn't matter who he thought he was god knew who he was he was chosen by god to suffer for the gospel and the falling out of his suffering became the betterment of the churches he said it three times in the bible because of my jail time you heard the gospel because of my beatings you have received the power of the holy spirit because of the falling out of my life it is further the context of jesus and some people especially in these days are going to be called the deeper levels of discouragement and suffering and that's why you better learn to encourage yourself in the lord because not everybody's going to be there for you when the boat starts sinking thank god for good people that'll roll with you but sometimes you've got to encourage yourself in the lord and some of you've been called to deeper levels of loneliness you know i read a book years ago and never understood his context until now it says it's lonely at the top and that's okay it's interesting that when you have a calling from god not just me you all of us right it's interesting that when you have a calling from god you can walk into a room like this that is filled to overflowing with people and feel like the loneliest person on the planet because it's not about all the crowds it's about the process that god works in your life to get the crowds there to begin with if you think people just showed up one day willy-nilly for no reason then you've not been watching long enough okay there's been many a service where this one little pie shaped section over here would have been a huge easter sunday service in that little wedding job am i telling the truth i mean there was a time that i thought if that many people came to church we ought to be on tv that's a mega church right just a little bitty old sliver a little handful of people and so people have to really be opening their eyes and paying attention to what god has done in the context of this ministry the times we thought nobody was coming or nobody was coming back the times that we would pull up in the parking lot and cry for 15 20 minutes slumped over the steering wheel thinking to ourselves is anybody ever going to show up mean if we baptized one person a month we were lickety-split thinking revival had broke out but at the end of the day what we found is that sometimes god will call you to deep levels of suffering and loneliness so that you will appreciate the crowds when they actually start showing up because if god gave some of you right now what you wanted right now the right now would destroy you because you've not gone through enough process to attain the power because if god gives you the power without the process it'll crush you not elevate you it'll crush you not elevate you and so notice finally once he tells him what needs to be done this is one of the most remarkable and moving verses matter of fact these are two of my favorite words in the whole bible right here i'll show them to you verse 17. and ananias went his way and entered into the house and putting his hands on him said watch this brother saul that was a release right there that was a divine moment of revelation from god right there he's like lord i don't know about this guy he said don't you worry about you knowing about him i know about him and i'm about to change the world with that man right there so you do what i tell you he walked in that room went over laid his hands on him and two words came out of his mouth that changed the trajectory of the whole bible brother saul you left in two words just marinate in your heart for a minute murderer pharisee of the pharisees hebrew they knew the bible and hated god sound familiar wicked burn down villages drag men women and children screaming off the prison kill people for the gospel think he was doing god a favor wicked deviant vow ungodly and this guy walks in lays hands on him and says brother saul brother saul in that one moment the rest of your bible is never the same because of one man's radical transition from death unto life from wickedness to righteousness from hating god to being hated for god brother saul never again i say this quickly we move on never again discount the phrase when somebody says brother or sister we are brothers and sisters in christ we're a family in the body of christ when i call you brother when i call you sister it's reverence we're in the same family brother saul and i'm sure that shook oh saw a little bit a disciple calling him brother and the lord even jesus that appeared unto thee verse 17 in the way that thou camest he hath sent me that thou might has received thy sight and be filled with the holy ghost and immediately not five months later not when he got on a payment program not when he went through a six-month discipleship course you know i have people say all time uh you know i i've been saved but i was wondering if we came to your church would you baptize us because my pastor says i gotta wait like six months to a year to prove myself you show me that in the bible and i'll quit preaching baptism is the proving of yourself that's why you do it that is the proving of your discipleship that's why you do it you publicly show what he's privately done and it don't stay private no more go through a discipleship program to get baptized that's dumber than a box of rocks immediately there fell scales from his eyes as it had been scales or fell from his eyes as it had been scaled and he received sight forth with arose and was baptized god opened his eyes at the right moment in the right time in history laid hands on him said brother saul this is why god sent me he brought his sight back he rose up and he went he got baptized to fulfill the scriptures and the prophecy that had already been spoken over this man's life and he got baptized got his sight back and he was filled with the holy ghost you know if there's ever a day that we needed god to open our eyes it's today some of you been resting long enough some of you had your eyes closed long enough we're being deceived people we're like sheep being led to the slaughter they're enjoying watching the demise and the destruction of this nation and ultimately because of this nation the entire world we could talk about this preach on this rant on this rail on this pray about this all day long into the night you know where i stand on all of the issues but it's time for god to open our eyes it's time for him to open our eyes so that we can see the host of angels that are protecting us this very second and the host of demons that want to destroy and come against our family and come against our home and come against this campus and come against this town and come against this nation i'm telling you if we could see it if we could cut into the heavenlies right now it would shock us to the core at the spiritual warfare all about us and i say god open our eyes we got to quit believing what the media says we got to quit believing what all the documentaries say we got to quit believing what hollywood said we got to quit believing what the singers are saying we got to quit believing what man's telling us even if it's me we better have our eyes open and hear what god's revealing to our hearts i'm still fully convinced that this is just the beginning not just here but around the world of what god wants to do with a revival but i do not believe we are through the tyranny i do not believe we are through the persecution i do not believe that we are through the dark deviant times it is going to get worse and worse and the strong delusion will be the very thing that wakes some people up whereby the revival is going to flow and god is going to bring people to this house and other places that are standing for truth because once your eyes are open you can never go back to the delusion you can never go back to the nonsense you can never go back to the lies you can never go back to the tyranny once you've been set free by the power of the gospel once you've seen the power of the local church once you've seen people saved and healed and baptized and set free once you've seen crack addicts get clean once you've seen god do things in people's lives you can't go back to who you used to be you can't go back to the way things were i'm not trying to go back to normal i'm trying to bring in supernatural by the power of god ladies and gentlemen and i believe with all of my heart this is just the beginning this is just the groundswell for how god is gonna pour out his spirit upon all flesh and i say today get on your feet church let's give jesus praise in this house let's give jesus glory in this house let's give jesus honor in this house let's give jesus reverence and respect in this house how many of you believe today that god is going to open our i shot amen in his house ((applause)) father lord we come to you right now and lord we thank you for the word that went forth in our lives today god would it be a seed planted within us that brings forth fruit in due season lord may we truly choose this day whom we will serve would we be with joshua and safe as for me in my house we will serve the lord god i think about in matthew 25 you give us the parable of the ten virgins and you said five were foolish and five were wise they were preparing for your coming but the foolish man receiveth not the things of god so they had no oil within their lamps but the wise they took oil in their vessel with their lamps and there was a great cry at midnight and the bridegroom came and the the five virgins which were foolish realized that they had no oil in their lamp so they asked of the five wise virgins if they could have their oil and they said there i don't have enough oil for you and for me i've been preparing for my bridegroom i've been laboring for my bridegroom i have surrendered my life to my bridegroom i have went forth and i have taught of my bridegroom i have been a watchman on the wall i have been as noah i have built the ark i have said get in the ark because the rain is coming the rain is coming the rain is coming and the foolish thought that i was crazy but i kept my oil in my lamp and the bridegroom came and the five that had oils in their lamp went into the marriage supper of the lamb and the door was shut as the other five foolish went out to go get oil lord may we realize in this time father that it is time to have oil in our vessels that our lamps would be full that we would pray for our family that we would labor in your ministry in your word god lord would we realize that your son is going to split the sky with fire in his eyes to come for his broad and lord may we be a broad that is ready and holy and blameless ready for her bridegroom to come for her god lord would you convict us and change us god lord would you put us in the refiner's fire your word says i counsel thee to buy of me gold tried by fire lord would you put the eyes out on our eyes that the scales would fall god that we would see things for how they are lord that we would not care who thinks we are crazy but god we would live a life in full surrender to you that we would truly say with the prophets of old here i am lord send me here i am lord send me in jesus name amen if you are here for our baptismal celebration just go ahead and make your way over to my left you're right miss billy and the crew volunteers is there we'll get you all signed up ready we'll get you a towel and uh if you're here today and i know several of you are just begin to head that way but here's what i want to do just for a moment i want you to buy your heads and close your eyes all over this auditorium and i want our folks to begin to come forward those that are who want to pray for folks and people on our prayer team if you want to pray over some people lay hands on people i want you to come right now look there's some of you right now you need god to open your eyes about some stuff you have a marital situation and you need god to open your eyes about how you can make a wise decision some of you have a financial instability facing some bankruptcy some problems you ought to come and get on your face before god or even let somebody pray with you and over you today and lay hands on you because you need your eyes open some of you spiritually need your eyes open in a situation some of you in regards to your job what are you going to do are you going to take the the forcible mandate or are you going to bow out are you going to be courageous are you going to you need god to open your eyes about some stuff some of you are convoluted look i love telegram but some of you stay on telegram until three o'clock in the morning and you drive yourself start raving mad and you're wondering when's this going to happen when's that going to happen i'm here to tell you right now it's going to happen when god said so and some of you need some clarity some of you need your eyes open you just need to come and get on your knees right now and say god i'm asking that you would do something in my life that no one else can do give me liberty give me wisdom give me power give me discernment give me unction to function as we preached on a few weeks ago you come many are coming right now you want somebody to pray with you come right over here my right your left and they'll pray with you if you're going to be ready for baptism go ahead and make your way over to the left but i want to say this right now how many of you in this room listen closely how many of you in this room would say pastor i'm going to be dead level honest with you right now i can hear the songs i can hear the prayers i can hear the preaching but i'm telling you my desperate need is jesus i've never been saved i've never been set free i've never repented and believed the gospel i didn't ask you do you go to church i didn't ask you are you wicked and i don't care if you're religious or denominational i ask you are you born again do you know that you know that you know that your sins are forgiven that heaven's your home that christ is your savior and the holy spirit has changed your life do you know that sir do you know that ma'am do you know that young person if you don't you can you can whether you've been here a hundred times or you just be bopped in here for the first time would there be one person two people ten people a hundred whoever would there be somebody right now you would slip up your hand quickly quietly silently but sincerely and by slipping up your hand you're signifying pastor i want you to pray for me i want you to pray with me i'm not sure that christ is my savior and my sins are forgiven i want to know that heaven's my home i want to know that my life's been transformed like brother saul to the apostle paul if that's you right now wherever you're at would you slip your hand up just high enough so i can see it i'm not going to embarrass you god bless you god bless you thank you god bless you others just all over i'm looking i'm looking all god bless you right here thank you god bless you god bless you are there others thank you there in the back god bless you god bless you just keep them up for a moment god bless you god bless you you may put your hands down right where you are sir right where you are ma'am the best you know how i'm gonna help you have a conversation with god not because my conversations are the best or the most blessed but because the only thing god wants to hear from a sinner is the cry of repentance and i want to help you right now speak to the lord if you're willing to repent and believe that jesus is the one and only way to the kingdom of god right where you are ma'am sir i want you to simply talk to the lord say something like this dear father i know i'm a sinner and i know for my sin i deserve hell but i believe that jesus died for me to forgive me of my sin and rebellion against god i believe he was buried and rose again from the dead to provide for me salvation and the best i know how lord jesus right now i receive you and you alone as my lord and my savior forgive me and cleanse me make me a new creature change my life and i trust you that you will take me to your kingdom when i leave this world now as we're about before the lord let me ask you this question how many of you all over this room wherever you're at whether you raised your hand a moment ago or not but how many of you would say pastor i prayed that i meant that i believe that i received that and the holy spirit met me right where i am today and i believe for the first time in my life i've had an encounter with jesus christ and today i believe that and i prayed to receive christ slip your hand up all over this room all over this room god bless your hands everywhere hands everywhere rejoice church welcome to the family brothers and sisters in the lord welcome to the family of god you go out and you live for the lord and you let the redeemed of the lord say so maybe today one of you that prayed that prayer and received the lord maybe you want to follow the lord in baptism right now you don't have to wait you can wait till wednesday you can wait till next sunday you can wait a month if you want to but you got to do it at some point we got enough towels we got enough people that can line up if you just pray to receive christ you want to follow in baptism come on just slip right over there right now you slip over that way i know we got people that are leaving you'll see the baptisms on the big screen if you want to get closer for pictures and all of that that'll be a beautiful thing give the lord a shout of glory for what he's doing in this place let's have some baptisms amen god bless you ((music playing)) i see ((music playing)) me ((music playing)) all right sister terry upon your public profession of faith in jesus and the power and glory of his gospel it gives me a great honor my sister and the lord before these witnesses to baptize you in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit buried in baptism raised to walk in newness of life ((music playing)) all right cara upon your public profession of faith in jesus the power and glory of his gospel before these witnesses it gives me a great honor to baptize you my sister in the lord in the name of the father son the holy spirit bear in baptism raise to walk in newness of life ((music playing)) tell me ((music playing)) hey your promise still stands ((music playing)) your faithfulness ((music playing)) you've never ((music playing)) is ((music playing)) yes praise the lord for this this is dedication right here church ((music playing)) all right my brother gm upon your public profession of faith in jesus and the power and glory of his gospel it gives me a great honor before these witnesses today my brother to baptize you in the name of the father the son the holy spirit buried in baptism raised to walk in newness alive ((applause)) ((music playing)) right church give the lord some praise for what he's doing in the house today man ((music playing)) we'll be over in the hospitality tent here in just a few moments you can line up down here to my right your left and we'll be glad to stick around and shake some hands hook some necks we love you guys be back on wednesday night for what the lord is doing if not we'll see you next week don't forget let your friends and neighbors know we'll have the duke boys in the house amen give it a testimony it's going to be a beautiful time we love you guys you are dismissed ((music playing)) all right i don't think we're done we got some more ((music playing)) just when we thought the lord was finished ((music playing)) yeah just go ahead and get them around here park the crowd there folks ((music playing)) all right praise the lord all right vincent my brother and the lord upon your public profession of faith in jesus and the power of his gospel gives me a great honor before these witnesses to baptize you sir in the name of the father son the holy spirit bear in baptism raised to walk in newness alive ((music playing)) okay micah did you get in the bathroom ((music playing)) okay uh you got it brother this is my brother david and he asked he drove 600 miles to be here and he asked for two things he wanted to make sure that uh i could anoint his head with oil and pray over and he want to make sure that i could baptize him and he asked me a question at the beginning and he said when i answered it he knew i was the guy that god sent him to amen and so praise the lord so i'm gonna anoint his head with oil right here father we come to you right now in jesus name we pray for our brother david that you would anoint him father that you would bless him lord that you would release something in his life that he's never experienced before we thank you for his dedication and his commitment to be here lord i know he's a student of your word he's a student of history and lord he is a student that wants to stand in your presence and do all that he can do all that he can lord to honor you to please you to serve you and so i pray father for a mighty blessing and anointing to be upon him and his family thank you lord that he's here today protect him use him father we pray that you'd heal him you would raise him up you would do mighty things in his life and what a privilege now to baptize him my brother david upon your public profession of faith in the lord jesus christ it gives me a great honor before these witnesses to baptize you sir in the name of the father the son of the holy ghost buried in baptism raised to walk in newness alive ((music playing)) well they just keep showing up hallelujah ((music playing)) yes ((music playing)) all right sister kerry upon your public profession of faith in jesus and the power of his gospel it gives me a great honor my sister in the lord before these witnesses to baptize in the name of the father son the holy spirit bear in baptism raise the walk and then it's alive ((music playing)) all right my brother vincent upon your public profession of faith in jesus and the power and glory of his gospel it gives me a great honor my brother the lord to baptize you before these witnesses in the name of the father son the holy spirit baptism raised to walk in new zealand ((music playing)) amen not every day you get to baptize i know amen brother noah upon your public profession to faith in jesus in the fire of his gospel it gives me a great honor my brother and the lord to baptize you before these witnesses today in the name of the father son the holy spirit buried baptism raised to walk and then it's alive ((music playing)) all right i think that's it this time we love you guys we will see you wednesday night at seven o'clock ((music playing))