1 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:05,440 Hello and welcome to the Arise Church Podcast. 2 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:08,520 We are so glad you're here and want to thank you for joining us 3 00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:11,520 today for the audio version of our Sunday morning message. 4 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:14,960 We want to invite you to join us in person at our Sunday morning 5 00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:17,360 celebration every Sunday at 10 AM. 6 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:21,040 We are located on Old Jenks Rd. in Apex, NC. 7 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:24,600 Amen. If you have your Bible, why 8 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:26,480 don't you grab it and go to Mark Chapter 11? 9 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:29,000 And I'm just going to warn you up front, this one's going to be 10 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,479 one that moves your cheese. It causes you to get fired up 11 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:34,640 and ready to do some things for God. 12 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:36,920 So Are you ready? If you don't want to do anything 13 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:40,400 for God, this is your chance to exit because by the time you 14 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:43,680 leave here, you are going to want to do some significant 15 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:45,840 things in this Kingdom and the Kingdom of God. 16 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:48,920 I'm going to start in Mark Chapter 11 and we're going to 17 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:53,360 find Jesus here and real interesting set of circumstances 18 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:59,560 and Jesus talk to a tree. Most of you if you talk to 19 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:02,080 yourself or see someone talking to yourself, you think they're a 20 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:03,840 little crazy. In fact, have you ever pulled up 21 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:07,360 like at an intersection and you're just singing and you're 22 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:10,240 just letting her RIP and you look over and the person next to 23 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:13,520 you is looking at you and you're like, or maybe you're that 24 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:16,120 person looking at your neighbor next door and you see, wow, 25 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:20,000 they're really going for it. And nowadays with the earbuds, 26 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:21,920 people are on the phone. You can't tell. 27 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:24,720 Are they talking to themselves or are they on the phone? 28 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:27,800 Well, here Jesus is talking to a tree. 29 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:29,720 Let's look at it. Mark, Chapter 11, verse 12. 30 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:33,400 He says now the next day when they had come out of Bethany, he 31 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:37,440 was hungry and seeing from afar A fig tree having leaves. 32 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:39,920 He went to see if perhaps he would find something on it. 33 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:43,840 And when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was 34 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:47,160 not the season for figs. In response, Jesus said to it, 35 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:51,200 notice he talked to this tree. He said to it, let no one eat 36 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:55,600 fruit from you ever again. If you skip down a few verses 37 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:58,840 into verse 20, we pick it back up by the same tree. 38 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:01,440 It says now in the morning as they pass by. 39 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:05,360 So this was the next day as they pass by, they saw the fig tree 40 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:10,160 dried up from the roots. And Peter, Peter was one of 41 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:13,760 Jesus disciples. He he was generally the 42 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:15,480 loudmouth. If you're a loudmouth in the 43 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:18,640 room, take comfort because Jesus, the loud disciples that 44 00:02:18,640 --> 00:02:21,160 followed him that were loudmouths, he said, Rabbi, 45 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:24,800 look, the fig tree which you cursed has withered away. 46 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:28,200 Peter was astonished. I think maybe he thought well 47 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:32,400 you know Jesus is just talking again, but the Peter was 48 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:34,640 astonished. Look that with the the tree that 49 00:02:34,640 --> 00:02:38,200 you cursed has withered away. But look at Jesus's response to 50 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:40,320 this verse 22. This is what I want to get to. 51 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:43,400 So Jesus answered and said to them, all the disciples that 52 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:48,480 were around have faith in God. For assuredly I say to you, 53 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:53,680 whoever says to this mountain be removed and be cast into the sea 54 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:57,600 and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things 55 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:01,720 he says will be done. He will have whatever he says. 56 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:06,720 Now I want as I'm reading this, remember this is the Lord Jesus 57 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:10,480 Christ teaching this. This is not a modern day 58 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:12,920 preacher. This is not a televangelist. 59 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:17,120 This is not even just me. This is the Lord Jesus Christ in 60 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:18,760 red letters. If you got one of those Bibles 61 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:23,880 as read the letters, he will have whatever he says. 62 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:27,520 Therefore, I say to you, whatever things you ask when you 63 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:31,960 pray, believe that you receive them and you what will have 64 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:36,160 them. Let's read it again, and let's 65 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:43,360 allow just some pregnant pauses to help us emphasize what Jesus 66 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:45,640 is trying to teach us. His disciples are coming and 67 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:50,000 they're asking Him basically, how come this tree withered up 68 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,080 when you talk to it, They were shocked. 69 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:56,400 They weren't expecting it. Have you ever prayed prayers 70 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:58,240 that you really didn't expect to get answered? 71 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:02,280 You don't want to say yes, but every single person in this room 72 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:05,840 has prayed a prayer where it was more of a wish, like a wishing 73 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:10,080 well at Disneyland, than it was a real prayer full of faith. 74 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:13,360 And sometimes it's just good to name it and say, you know what? 75 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:15,880 I think that was probably more of a wish than it was a prayer. 76 00:04:16,399 --> 00:04:19,959 But Jesus says no, when you pray, believe. 77 00:04:21,399 --> 00:04:25,680 So let's read it again. Jesus said have faith in God. 78 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:29,800 Listen, if I just stop right there, I could preach from that. 79 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:33,040 This whole message, every single one of us, that's what Jesus is 80 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:35,120 saying to you. Have faith in God. 81 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:38,560 Have faith in whom? In God. 82 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:43,760 I love our church. I love Arise Church, but don't 83 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:49,720 have faith in Arise Church. I love our leadership team. 84 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:52,440 I love our pastors but don't have faith in them. 85 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:59,440 Have faith in God, I hope you love me, but if you, even if you 86 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:02,920 don't love me or if you do love me, don't have faith in me. 87 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:05,520 Why? Because I'm not God. 88 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:12,080 Amen. Jesus said have faith in God. 89 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:17,800 And then he says for assuredly, assuredly, for sure, for sure. 90 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:21,920 In other words, do you think Jesus said, well, sometimes this 91 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:26,080 applies every once in a while this is true. 92 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:31,880 Of course, he wouldn't say this, but if the stars align just the 93 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:35,040 right way. By the way, I hear Christians 94 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:39,120 talk about stars sometimes I'm like, we don't believe that 95 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:44,040 certain people are like we don't. 96 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:48,600 No, we don't. Don't you get into astrology and 97 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:54,360 all that nonsense for assuredly I say to you, whoever says to 98 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:58,360 this mountain, are you breathing this morning? 99 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:03,520 Oh no, three people are. Are you breathing this morning? 100 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:08,200 You're whoever, praise the Lord, you count, you made it in. 101 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:11,960 You're in the whoever, whoever says to this mountain, it 102 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:14,760 doesn't say the pastors. If the pastors pray this prayer, 103 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:17,600 then it's going to happen. It doesn't say if you've been 104 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:20,640 through enough discipleship, this applies to you. 105 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:25,040 It doesn't say If you have your degree in bibliology and 106 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:28,520 hermeneutics and biblical studies, then this applies to 107 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:30,360 you. This applies to you if this is 108 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:32,720 your first time in church ever in your whole life. 109 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:39,760 It applies to every human being that has faith in who and God. 110 00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:47,360 Whoever says to this mountain be removed and be cast into the sea 111 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:52,440 and does not down in his heart does not doubt in his heart will 112 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:54,400 address doubt and unbelief in a second. 113 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:58,040 But Jesus basically uses to me what could be most one of the 114 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:02,960 most extreme versions of what it would look like to have faith in 115 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:04,800 God and he says this mountain right here. 116 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:06,800 If you talk to it, it said get in the mountain. 117 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:10,720 It would be just like the fig tree that I just cursed. 118 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:13,160 It will do whatever you told it to do. 119 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:20,320 Now, some of us that stretches us right there, think about 120 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:23,720 Black Mountain or Mount Mitchell or you know, any of the 121 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:26,160 mountains in North Carolina. I don't know. 122 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:30,440 You go over there and you say go into the sea. 1 You might make 123 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:32,320 some enemies if they got a house on that mountain. 124 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:39,600 But to Jesus is saying, listen, this is a faith issue. 125 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:45,040 This is a faith issue. We don't get any indication that 126 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:47,560 he was really telling his disciples to go around talking 127 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:50,480 to mountains to move. But how many of you may not have 128 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:53,880 a literal mountain in your life that needs to go, but you have 129 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:56,120 some real figurative mountains that need to go? 130 00:07:56,880 --> 00:07:58,440 That's what he's teaching us about. 131 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:01,360 He's teaching us have faith in God. 132 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:04,280 Whoever says to this mountain, he's, he's talking about a 133 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:06,840 literal mountain there. But how about we just apply it 134 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:09,680 to your life? If you have that faith in God, 135 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:13,280 when you start to talk to that mountain and you tell it what to 136 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:17,520 do and you do not doubt in your heart Jesus is teaching, it has 137 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:24,000 to do what you told it to do. And immediately I just know it. 138 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,280 Every time I read it, it has to confront unbelief in my own 139 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:29,680 heart. And you know where unbelief 140 00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:31,800 usually comes from? Disappointment. 141 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:38,640 I tried that once. It didn't work for me. 142 00:08:39,799 --> 00:08:42,400 I prayed before. My prayers aren't answered. 143 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:45,720 And so we have. Every person in this room has an 144 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:49,560 example of an unanswered prayer. And yet Jesus still taught it. 145 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:53,760 He still taught it. He still was preaching to his 146 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:57,320 disciples, saying whoever says to this mountain be removed and 147 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:00,440 be cast into the sea and does not doubt in his heart, but 148 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:03,120 believes that those things he says will be done. 149 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:06,960 He will have whatever he says. He will have whatever he says, 150 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:10,760 therefore I say to you, so he brings it back home to them and 151 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:14,360 he says, I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, 152 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:18,480 believe that you receive them and you will have them. 153 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:24,080 Everybody say we'll have them. Will is a very important word 154 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:32,360 because it didn't say you will have them right now, Amazon 155 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:37,160 Prime, two hours, they're going to deliver it between 4:00 AM 156 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:39,560 and 7:00 AM. It doesn't say that, but you 157 00:09:39,560 --> 00:09:43,920 will have them. Some of you are in the will part 158 00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:47,280 of your prayers, but if you're not careful, the fact that 159 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:51,080 there's that gap, unbelief will try to creep in and then you 160 00:09:51,640 --> 00:09:56,880 lose the faith to receive it. I really felt as, as I was 161 00:09:57,080 --> 00:10:00,040 praying about where to go in this first season of the year, 162 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:02,960 in this first few months of the year, I really felt like coming 163 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:05,800 out of teaching on hope for the month of December that it was 164 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:09,800 time to preach on faith and it's not time to preach on faith 165 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:12,560 because I got some grandiose thing that I want to rally you 166 00:10:12,560 --> 00:10:14,760 all around. I just know when I talk to 167 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:18,480 individuals both in our church, outside of our church, that most 168 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:21,120 people where their real fight is, is for faith. 169 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:26,840 You know what, when you become under discouragement, what 170 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:30,360 discouragement is really trying to steal is your faith. 171 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:36,280 Because if you let go of your faith or your belief, then you 172 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:40,200 won't receive. You won't receive. 173 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:42,600 And so your prayers are ineffective because you're, 174 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:46,080 you're double minded. You got 1 foot in and 1 foot 175 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:47,960 out. And none of us here want that. 176 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:50,520 If I went around to say, do you want your prayers to not be 177 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:52,360 answered? Of course you'd say, no, I want 178 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:55,760 my prayers to be answered. So everyone of us, we're on the 179 00:10:55,760 --> 00:10:58,160 same page that we want answered prayers. 180 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:00,280 We have big things we're believing God for. 181 00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:03,400 And then the more you get in this Kingdom, the less selfish 182 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:05,400 your prayers get. They get more actually about 183 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:09,160 other people than for you. So when I'm preaching this and 184 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:13,880 I'm meditating on this, I'm not thinking about selfish needs 185 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:18,840 that my wife and I have. I'm thinking about other people. 186 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:21,120 I'm thinking about the inheritance that our church has 187 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:23,160 and that you as individuals have. 188 00:11:23,560 --> 00:11:27,800 So for me, I'm not thinking about, oh, if I just, you know, 189 00:11:27,800 --> 00:11:30,040 name it and claim it, I'll have that airplane. 190 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:34,320 That's so foolish. Come on, say Amen to that. 191 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:41,360 And many people will discount this whole message because 192 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:44,960 people have abused it. Don't discount Jesus's teaching. 193 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:47,360 He taught it. So let's just get back to what 194 00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:49,560 he taught about it and let's stick to it. 195 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:53,360 Therefore, I say to you, whatever things you ask when you 196 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:57,640 pray, believe that you receive them and you what you will have 197 00:11:57,640 --> 00:11:59,840 them. So not only is will mean that 198 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:03,480 it's not necessarily immediate, though sometimes it is for Jesus 199 00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:06,320 when he cursed the fig tree, what his prayer was answered 200 00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:08,920 overnight. By the time he came back the 201 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:11,120 next morning, boom answered prayer. 202 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:16,640 But it's it's not only that, that, OK, it will be answered, 203 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:20,520 it will happen, but it is, it's an absolute word. 204 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:25,840 He did not say it might happen. He didn't say it may happen. 205 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:32,120 He said what it will happen. It will happen. 206 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:34,280 It will happen. What? 207 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:37,000 When you ask and when you believe it will happen. 208 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:42,960 When you ask and you believe it will happen, thank God for the 209 00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:46,120 word because most of us this is too good to be true. 210 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:51,160 And it sounds weird even when certain preachers preach it, 211 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:54,000 because it just sounds like I don't know about all that. 212 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:57,160 And then we, we, we will begin to think of every reason why 213 00:12:57,160 --> 00:13:02,000 Jesus was misinformed. He was confused. 214 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:05,800 Was he confused? I don't think he was. 215 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:08,760 And there are plenty of other teacher teachings. 216 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:11,400 And in the coming weeks we'll talk about praying the will of 217 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:15,280 God, getting the mind of the Lord, getting your desires from 218 00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:17,720 his desires. And as all that starts to 219 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:20,520 happen, you'll, you'll begin to see answered prayers like crazy 220 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:24,200 because you'll start to weed out just some of the nonsense. 221 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:28,600 And when you tap into his his will for your life and you start 222 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:31,760 praying will of prayers according to his will, man, 223 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:33,360 you're going to start seeing answered prayer. 224 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:36,880 So we'll get to that, but I just want to stick in what Jesus 225 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:40,080 taught his disciples who were wondering how in the world would 226 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:43,840 a fig tree listen to you? And what does a fig tree have to 227 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:47,160 do with anything? Well, it was the will of God 228 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:50,160 that that fig tree to dry up. Well, apparently it was that 229 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:51,400 day. But would you and I have 230 00:13:51,400 --> 00:13:54,000 discerned that that fig tree mattered at all? 231 00:13:54,600 --> 00:13:58,080 Not me. The Bible says the fig tree 232 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:00,920 shouldn't have had figs on it. It wasn't even the season. 233 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:04,440 But something got tweaked in Jesus and he was like, I wanted 234 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:07,680 a fig and you didn't produce figs so you're dead. 235 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:10,440 This. Is that how you read it? 236 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:14,320 That's how I read it. Well, if you just pick it apart 237 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:16,480 in the Greek, it means something different. 238 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:17,720 No it doesn't. I checked. 239 00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:23,920 No, I do my homework. I make it plain when I teach, 240 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:26,000 but I do my homework. I studied the word of God. 241 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:28,880 I studied the original text. I go in to make sure that I'm 242 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:32,040 not making up stuff that's convenient for me or for you or 243 00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:36,200 to tickle your ears. We got to go in and say, no, 244 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:39,840 this is really what it said. This is really what it meant. 245 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:44,000 And there was something about Jesus that was tweaked that 246 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:47,160 says, you know, the trees that I look on, they should be bearing 247 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:56,200 fruit all the time. So for him, he's thinking about 248 00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:59,600 Psalm, one that says you know that you'll produce fruit in 249 00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:02,840 your season whose leaf will not wither and whatever he does will 250 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:06,080 prosper. He's thinking about Ezekiel, 251 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:09,440 where it says in the that that it'll produce fruit in every 252 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:11,680 season. These trees will produce fruit 253 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:14,680 in every season and its leaves will be healing to the nation's. 254 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:18,520 So Jesus has given an example to his disciples who are following 255 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:21,200 him wondering, and they're like you and I, they're seeing 256 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:23,960 everything through the natural. They're interpreting just like I 257 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:26,800 do when I read it. And I'm like, Jesus, you're just 258 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:32,360 that hungry, you hangry Jesus. So the the fig tree wasn't 259 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:34,840 supposed to have fruit, but Jesus is like, no, my trees 260 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:42,320 should have fruit all the time. Glory to God. 261 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:46,280 So Jesus is communicating on multiple levels, but he's 262 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:48,000 teaching them a message of faith. 263 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:53,320 Have faith in God, have faith in God, have faith in God. 264 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:58,640 Speaking of reading into the Greek, this word, whatever means 265 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:01,840 this, so that whatever you ask when you pray, whatever you ask, 266 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:05,120 when you pray, whatever you ask when you pray, means this as 267 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:08,480 much as as great or to the degree. 268 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:15,480 So whatever you ask means as much as you ask for, as great as 269 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:21,280 you ask for to the degree that you ask for, when you pray, you 270 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:23,120 will receive and you will have that. 271 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:27,560 That's literally what the Greek means to the degree that you 272 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:30,000 ask. So that word whatever is not 273 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:32,120 like whatever. If you ask for a bowl of soup, 274 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:34,000 it means it's talking about quantity. 275 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:36,720 What whatever you ask for as much as you ask for. 276 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:40,480 When you pray and you believe, you'll have as much as what as 277 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:47,920 you asked for. So if you ask for pennies, then 278 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:50,080 guess how much you're going to get if you believe. 279 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:52,400 If you believe, guess how much you're going to get pennies. 280 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:58,280 Jesus is teaching and he's saying as much as or as great as 281 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:00,800 you asked for. When you pray and you believe, 282 00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:03,480 you will have as much as you asked for. 283 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:06,560 For some of us, that's good news. 284 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:11,079 For some of us, that means, oh, I've been praying small prayers 285 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:15,040 and I've been getting my small prayers answered and Jesus is 286 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:18,000 coming and saying you could ask for some more things. 287 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:23,880 He's using all the way to the example of if you, if you ask 288 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:27,440 for a mountain to be removed, it'll be removed. 289 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:32,160 For some of us, we see the mountain, we see it right in 290 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:35,920 front of us. You got a huge challenge in your 291 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:40,240 workplace or in your job. Maybe you've got something going 292 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:42,560 on in the your health or in your finances. 293 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:45,920 You, you name it, whatever it could be and you see it. 294 00:17:46,120 --> 00:17:50,400 But some of us have stopped asking for it to go anywhere. 295 00:17:50,400 --> 00:18:00,040 We've just worked around it. We play on it, we've enabled it. 296 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:02,960 Maybe we may have heaped it on so it gets bigger. 297 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:07,080 But Jesus says you don't have to tolerate it if you don't want to 298 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:13,320 as much as you asked for. That'll be answered in Jesus 299 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:17,440 name. Hebrews says this verse one of 300 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:20,680 Hebrews 11 look up on the screen if you don't have your your 301 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:22,280 Bible with you. It says this. 302 00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:25,720 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence 303 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:29,480 of things not seen for by it the elders obtained a good 304 00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:32,120 testimony. I love Hebrews 11. 305 00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:34,680 If you get a chance this week, just read Hebrews 11 because 306 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:37,200 it's by faith. This person did this by faith. 307 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:40,000 This person did that by faith, by faith, by faith, by faith. 308 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:44,480 Now the faith is the substance of things hoped for. 309 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:49,400 This is not, you know, many times when people in our culture 310 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:52,560 talk about faith, they're talking about an innocuous set 311 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:55,680 of beliefs that they hope don't offend anybody. 312 00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:58,840 But they're my personal beliefs. And so it's just, it's kind of 313 00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:01,440 like ineffective to anybody, including yourself. 314 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:03,920 That's not how the Bible talks about faith. 315 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:07,960 The Bible talks about faith, that faith is a substance. 316 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:13,160 Faith is a substance. And it goes on to say that 317 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:19,800 substance helped people subdue kingdoms, to see people raised 318 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:25,360 from dead to life. That faith called it to rain 319 00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:28,800 when it was in drought and called it to be a drought when 320 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:32,760 it had been rainy. I mean, it's by faith, by faith, 321 00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:36,080 by faith, by faith, by faith. And it was a substance. 322 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:39,280 It's not just some sort of ethereal like, yeah, I have 323 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:42,160 faith as our culture has made it to be. 324 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:46,160 We hear politicians who use faith as a bud buzzword so that 325 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:50,240 they'll get up to half the vote. But you have to hear through 326 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:53,240 that and say, all right, if you have faith, tell me what you 327 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:57,440 believe. Come on, say Amen to this. 328 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:02,080 Tell me what you believe. What's the substance of your 329 00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:05,160 faith? Let's do a faith check. 330 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:12,920 Because we ought not be foolish enough nor gullible enough to 331 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:15,880 just let somebody slide by to say, oh, yeah, I have faith. 332 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:24,080 Well, Satan has faith. He has a certain amount of 333 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:26,800 belief. But I want to check in and say, 334 00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:28,880 well, what's the substance of your faith? 335 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:31,080 What's the substance of your faith? 336 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:34,720 The Bible says that is by faith. We are saved through grace. 337 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:39,120 Your very salvation, if you've made Jesus Lord of your life, is 338 00:20:39,120 --> 00:20:42,320 by faith. If it wasn't for the power of 339 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:46,880 faith, you wouldn't be saved by faith. 340 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:50,360 We are made righteous. The Bible says that we are the 341 00:20:50,360 --> 00:20:54,360 righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, but that happens by 342 00:20:54,360 --> 00:20:56,120 faith. Because did you wake up this 343 00:20:56,120 --> 00:20:59,200 morning feeling like the righteousness of God in Christ 344 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:00,760 Jesus? I don't know about you, but I 345 00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:02,720 woke up this morning feeling like, what time is it? 346 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:07,480 What day is it? Where am I right? 347 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:11,400 But I wake up and I start moving by faith. 348 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:15,880 I start moving by faith, believing that though I don't 349 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:18,800 feel that righteous this morning, that holy, I don't feel 350 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:22,680 that pastoral this morning. You know, I don't wake up with 351 00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:25,400 the angels singing over me, at least that I've seen. 352 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:30,200 You know, some people wake up and they're like, good morning, 353 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:32,200 Lord. I wake up and I'm like, good 354 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:38,120 Lord, it's morning, right? So what do you do? 355 00:21:38,120 --> 00:21:40,640 You start moving. You get out of bed and you start 356 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:44,320 moving and you're by faith, I'm the righteousness of God by 357 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:48,600 Christ Jesus, by faith, I and we obtain the promises of God. 358 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:55,560 They don't just fall in my lap. They're not just, you know, the 359 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:58,360 sovereign will of God. He is sovereign and He 360 00:21:58,360 --> 00:22:02,360 sovereignly chose to make promises to you that He in fully 361 00:22:02,360 --> 00:22:05,400 intends to keep. But you receive them by faith 362 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:09,960 because life circumstances many times don't look like those 363 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:14,000 promises are going to happen. But something in you has to snap 364 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:18,800 in and have faith in God. And I've watched that people who 365 00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:23,040 have faith in God tend to see promises fulfilled in their life 366 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:27,000 from God. And I usually find that people 367 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:30,520 who are the Eors of the church don't see the promises 368 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:32,800 fulfilled. And it's not because God loves 369 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:34,600 them any less. What do I mean by Eors? 370 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:37,520 I don't know. Does God love us? 371 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:41,400 I think so. Are the promises of God real? 372 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:45,640 Maybe. It's kind of cloudy. 373 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:54,400 You know, it's and honestly, we all have those days, but that's 374 00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:56,480 why we need the anointed teaching of God's word. 375 00:22:56,480 --> 00:23:02,200 We need the Word of God to build our faith so that we can shake 376 00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:05,680 ourselves to remember, oh, he's real. 377 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:08,920 His promises are real. And by faith, I will obtain that 378 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:13,160 promise and I will operate in faith until I see it. 379 00:23:13,360 --> 00:23:16,800 Because the Bible says if you receive it, if you have it, then 380 00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:20,360 it's not faith anymore. So unless I receive it, I don't 381 00:23:20,360 --> 00:23:23,120 need the faith for that anymore. I move on to the next thing that 382 00:23:23,120 --> 00:23:25,960 I need faith for. Some of these things, by the 383 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:29,160 way, when I talk about promises, for some of you, these are very 384 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:30,840 personal. For some, you're believing that 385 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:35,360 your children be saved, your receipt. 386 00:23:35,360 --> 00:23:37,920 You're praying that your children come back to the Lord. 387 00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:41,640 For some it's your spouse, For some it's a brother or a sister. 388 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:44,280 We told you about my brother-in-law and his wife 389 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:47,720 who've got radically saved in the last two years, all to the 390 00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:49,960 way to the point now where they're pursuing their pastoral 391 00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:52,280 license. They're teaching us things. 392 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:57,560 I mean, they're radically saved, but that was 20 plus years of a 393 00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:04,280 family praying for him. So guess what? 394 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:06,960 We don't have to buy faith. Pray for that anymore. 395 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:11,520 It's already done, but for 20 plus years it was by faith 396 00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:15,240 because he was a mean old atheist. 397 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:19,640 He was. And he tell you that he was. 398 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:23,160 He was. He did not like our faith. 399 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:26,640 It was offensive to him. But by faith we obtained that 400 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:29,080 promise. By faith we are healed. 401 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:34,360 By faith we are healed. This is a very sensitive one 402 00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:38,680 because we all have stories of when someone wasn't healed, but 403 00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:41,760 we have to go back to faith, we have to go back to what God said 404 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:44,080 and we have to be OK. That sometimes you don't have 405 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:46,840 all the information to know what was going on with that person 406 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:49,760 and sometimes it doesn't mean that that person was bad, wrong 407 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:52,880 or did something wrong. Sometimes life just be happening 408 00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:56,600 and some things we won't know till we reach eternity. 409 00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:00,280 And when you reach eternity you won't care anymore. 410 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:04,040 So this is a good deal. Amen. 411 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:06,520 You won't. Everybody's like, I'm going to 412 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:08,560 ask the Lord, No, you're not. You'll be flat on your face 413 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:11,080 worshipping him. It will not matter to you once 414 00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:13,160 you reach there. You'll just be glad you made it 415 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:17,280 in praise the Lord. But on this earth, while we're 416 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:21,520 still here, it does matter. And so we we but by faith, we 417 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:23,880 are healed. By faith we are redeemed. 418 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:26,000 I talked about redemption about a month ago. 419 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:28,600 We are redeemed. We're bought back into the 420 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:31,080 family of God. By faith we move mountains. 421 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:37,160 By faith, we do the impossible. Our faith is so powerful that 422 00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:40,680 first John 54 says that it is our faith that overcomes the 423 00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:45,600 world. You can see it up on the screen. 424 00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:48,680 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is 425 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:51,480 the victory that has overcome the world. 426 00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:58,520 Our faith, our faith, our belief in God, what we believe in God, 427 00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:01,360 what we believe about what He said, what we believe about His 428 00:26:01,360 --> 00:26:04,200 promises. So when you start to feel just, 429 00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:06,640 if you would thank you so much for keeping that scripture up. 430 00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:12,520 When you feel overwhelmed, remember that your faith will 431 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:15,920 overcome. When you feel like it's 432 00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:18,240 impossible, it's not going to move. 433 00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:20,800 Everybody around you thinks you're crazy. 434 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:22,640 Sometimes you think you're crazy. 435 00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:25,080 You just lay hold of it. You stay hold of it. 436 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:27,520 You remind yourself that it's this faith. 437 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:30,320 It's this not belief in myself, not belief that I'm that good, 438 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:34,160 not belief that my degrees will get me there or my knowledge 439 00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:36,480 will get me there, or that my wisdom will get me there. 440 00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:41,040 No, but my faith in God will overcome the world because first 441 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:45,720 John chapter 5 says that. And so I lay hold of that and 442 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:48,920 I'm like today I feel crummy. Today I feel overwhelmed. 443 00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:53,080 Today I feel defeated. But all of those are not true. 444 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:57,480 What is true is that this is the victory that we have that 445 00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:02,240 overcomes the world, our faith. So when any person in this room, 446 00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:06,040 when you lay hold of faith in God, you are laying hold of 447 00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:10,000 victory. You're laying hold on victory in 448 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:11,120 your life. And guess what? 449 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:13,960 No one on this planet can take it from you. 450 00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:18,920 You can only give it away. No one can take you. 451 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:25,200 No politician, no government structure, no war, no law, no, 452 00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:28,400 no family member, no one can take your faith. 453 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:31,880 You can just give it. You can give up the ghost on 454 00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:34,320 that one. You can give it up, but once you 455 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:38,200 lay hold of it, keep it. That's why the Bible talks many, 456 00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:40,400 many times, and it's the apostle Paul who talks about it. 457 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:46,960 It's the great fight of faith. The number one thing Satan wants 458 00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:49,440 to steal from you is faith in God. 459 00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:53,480 So if you feel like everything and the kitchen sink is being 460 00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:55,680 thrown at you, there's a reason for it. 461 00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:59,800 He's after your faith, He's after your faith. 462 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:03,560 He's after your faith in God because if you give up, he wins. 463 00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:07,440 But as long as you stay in this fight and you say I will keep 464 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:12,360 believing God until my very last breath, I would rather die 465 00:28:12,360 --> 00:28:15,920 believing God then live a life of unbelief. 466 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:20,080 Did you hear me? I would rather die believing God 467 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:25,760 then live in unbelief. And you have to anchor into 468 00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:30,640 that. So the opposite of faith is 469 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:34,640 unbelief. Let's look at Mark chapter 6. 470 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:38,760 Are you with me this morning? I pray that if you have been 471 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:42,040 feeling like your faith has been sucked out of you, that today 472 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:44,000 you get back in the fight of faith. 473 00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:47,880 Get back in the fight of faith. What you were fighting for is 474 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:51,000 worth it. What God has spoken to you is 475 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:53,720 real. It wasn't your imagination, it 476 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:57,960 wasn't you just in some sort of mental ascension or being 477 00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:00,760 whipped in some to some sort of manipulated frenzy. 478 00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:03,840 God is real and he really is speaking to you and he really 479 00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:06,480 has spoken to you and his word really is true. 480 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:10,840 And so we're going to get back in the fight of faith in Jesus 481 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:13,000 name. Mark chapter 6, verse one says, 482 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:16,480 Then he Jesus went out from there and came to his own 483 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:18,600 country, and his disciples followed him. 484 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:21,560 And when the Sabbath had come, he began to teach in the 485 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:23,440 synagogue. And many hearing him, were 486 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:26,480 astonished, saying, Where did this man get these things? 487 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:31,600 And what wisdom is this which is given to him, that such great 488 00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:34,680 and mighty works are performed by his hands? 489 00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:37,840 Is this not the Carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of 490 00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:42,040 James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon? And are not his sisters here 491 00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:45,000 with us? So they were offended at him. 492 00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:50,040 They were offended at him. They didn't understand why. 493 00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:54,800 Why are you getting to do this? Who gave all this to you? 494 00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:57,320 Who are you? So they were offended at him. 495 00:29:57,320 --> 00:30:00,800 But verse 4 But Jesus said to them, a prophet is not without 496 00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:04,600 honor in his own country, among his own relatives and in his own 497 00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:06,680 house. Now he could do no mighty work 498 00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:08,320 there. This is the Lord Jesus Christ. 499 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:10,120 He could do no. He could do no. 500 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:14,640 He could do, no, He could not do any mighty work there, except he 501 00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:16,800 laid hands on a few sick people and healed them. 502 00:30:17,040 --> 00:30:19,080 That's fascinating to me. I'll read the next verse in a 503 00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:21,080 second. It's fascinating to me that 504 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:24,320 Jesus couldn't do a mighty work, but He could heal a few people. 505 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:29,240 Most of us in the church world today, we've not even seen a 506 00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:30,960 mighty work. We've just seen a few people 507 00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:35,880 healed and unfortunately it's so rare that a few people get 508 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:38,080 healed that we call that a mighty work. 509 00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:40,760 And in Jesus's ministry, that wasn't even a mighty work. 510 00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:45,040 That was he feel he healed a few people and I'm like, good Lord, 511 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:48,400 help me to not settle in the few good works. 512 00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:51,160 Lord, when you have a mighty work left to be done. 513 00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:54,080 Hello. Hello. 514 00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:58,120 Are you awake this morning? Yes, some of us, we've settled 515 00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:05,160 in the land of unbelief and we've been tantalized by a few 516 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:07,840 good things, few answered prayers. 517 00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:10,160 Praise the Lord. Yes, look at what God's doing 518 00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:13,480 and Jesus is like. There's a mighty work that I 519 00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:20,400 could do if I would find belief. He could do no mighty work 520 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:23,280 there, except that he laid hands on a few sick people and healed 521 00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:25,680 them. Verse 6 And he marvelled because 522 00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:29,560 of their unbelief and he went about the villages in a circuit 523 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:33,920 teaching. He marvelled because of their 524 00:31:33,920 --> 00:31:36,120 unbelief. He marvelled because of their 525 00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:38,200 unbelief. He couldn't do what was in his 526 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:40,480 heart to do. Not because it was the will, it 527 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:42,720 wasn't the will of God, it was the will of God. 528 00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:45,880 Not because he wasn't the Son of God, He was the Son of God. 529 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:48,520 He was anointed. He literally said the Spirit of 530 00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:51,720 the Lord is anointed or has anointed me, has come upon me 531 00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:55,600 for all of these things, and yet in an area of unbelief, it could 532 00:31:55,600 --> 00:31:58,720 not happen. Could it be that what's being 533 00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:04,760 held up in our own life is because of unbelief and Jesus's 534 00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:09,480 answer to unbelief was what teaching what we're doing today 535 00:32:09,480 --> 00:32:13,520 was Jesus's answer to unbelief? It wasn't, well, let me just 536 00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:15,960 keep praying and hopefully at some point something will 537 00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:18,640 happen. No, He had to teach them because 538 00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:21,440 it's through that anointed teaching of the Word of God, 539 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:23,320 which of course he is the word of God. 540 00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:27,960 That teaching built faith, and as their faith was built up, and 541 00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:31,360 as faith is built up, then you can receive promises because you 542 00:32:31,360 --> 00:32:35,240 receive them by faith. So if you don't have faith, 543 00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:37,080 you're not able to lay hold of it. 544 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:39,840 Instead, we're operating in unbelief. 545 00:32:39,840 --> 00:32:43,280 And I think many of us, we've tolerated unbelief for far too 546 00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:49,840 long in this church. We've tolerated unbelief for too 547 00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:52,360 long. And I'm not saying I, I'm not 548 00:32:52,360 --> 00:32:55,600 pointing my finger at anybody. I just know in my own life, 549 00:32:55,880 --> 00:32:58,920 anything that I've ever done great for God was by faith. 550 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:04,720 And every time I've been held up and delayed is because of 551 00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:09,800 unbelief. And so it's healthy to do a 552 00:33:09,800 --> 00:33:15,480 little introspection, a little, you know, map to say, you know, 553 00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:18,360 when you're going somewhere or do you ever gone to the mall or 554 00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:20,000 you're in an amusement park or whatever. 555 00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:23,200 The most important thing on the map is you are here. 556 00:33:25,640 --> 00:33:28,280 The second most important thing is where you're going. 557 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:32,360 But who cares where you're going if you don't know where you are? 558 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:36,480 And most people are avoidant. I don't want to know where I am. 559 00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:39,520 I just want to feel good, just want to enjoy the journey. 560 00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:42,320 I just want to enjoy, you know, if you ever gone to Disney 561 00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:46,840 World, have the best corn dogs. So you're just like, I'm just 562 00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:49,960 going to get a corn dog and just enjoy Main Street. 563 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:54,080 There's a whole other park beyond Main Street if you can 564 00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:56,960 get there. But you got to know you are 565 00:33:56,960 --> 00:33:59,240 here. So some of us it's, it's OK. 566 00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:03,760 Don't avoid the hard truth that I have been playing around with 567 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:07,760 unbelief. But if I can get back in the 568 00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:12,080 fight of faith, those prayers that have been delayed, those 569 00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:15,360 things that I haven't yet seen happen in my life yet, I will 570 00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:18,480 start seeing them happen because God has been faithful and will 571 00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:21,560 continue to be faithful even when I was faithless. 572 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:25,960 That's Bible. So when I step back into the 573 00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:28,679 fight of faith, prayers will start being answered again. 574 00:34:28,679 --> 00:34:32,679 I'll start to see the God move again and I'll move beyond this. 575 00:34:32,760 --> 00:34:34,679 Well, he healed a few sick people. 576 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:39,480 You know, I, I'm, I'm prayerful that in our own church, Lord, 577 00:34:39,480 --> 00:34:44,360 may this be a House of healing and not where it's just a few 578 00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:47,480 healings, though again, most of us would be like, man, that'd be 579 00:34:47,480 --> 00:34:49,040 awesome to see. Well, we have seen it. 580 00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:52,520 We've seen a few healings. Oh, but there are way more 581 00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:55,719 diseases and sicknesses that need to be healed. 582 00:34:55,719 --> 00:34:59,400 And it's the will of God to be healed, but he must find faith 583 00:34:59,400 --> 00:35:07,480 here. Matthew chapter 13 verse 58 says 584 00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:10,480 now he did not do many mighty works there because of their 585 00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:14,000 unbelief. It's the same example but just 586 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:16,880 written about by Matthew instead of Mark. 587 00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:22,520 That word unbelief is literally it has the same root Word of 588 00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:24,600 Faith, but it means now the opposite. 589 00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:27,440 It's the opposite of faith apistia. 590 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:31,080 It's a PISTIA. It's in the Greek and it means 591 00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:36,440 to not be a believer, to be a non Christian refusing to trust 592 00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:43,080 in doubt and treachery. So when it says he did not do 593 00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:48,400 many works there because of their unbelief, they were not 594 00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:53,360 believers. They refused to trust, they were 595 00:35:53,360 --> 00:35:59,320 in doubt all the way to the point where it's treasonous 596 00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:03,400 treachery. Unbelief will kill the 597 00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:07,320 miraculous in your life. It'll snuff it out. 598 00:36:08,720 --> 00:36:12,280 It'll snuff it out. When you are living in unbelief, 599 00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:15,640 everything you see is what you can do in your own strength. 600 00:36:15,640 --> 00:36:20,800 Let me say it again. When you're living in unbelief. 601 00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:23,720 In other words, I don't know. I don't know if God can do it. 602 00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:26,160 That's all Unbelief. That's the language of unbelief. 603 00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:27,840 I don't know. We'll see. 604 00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:30,800 I hope so. I'm not sure. 605 00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:33,760 Well, you know, it doesn't really mean this. 606 00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:35,200 That's all the language of unbelief. 607 00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:38,840 When you live in the land of unbelief, everything you see is 608 00:36:38,840 --> 00:36:40,240 what you can do in your own strength. 609 00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:44,400 So if you are burned out, you feel burned out, you feel tired, 610 00:36:44,400 --> 00:36:46,240 you feel worn out. Usually it's because you're 611 00:36:46,240 --> 00:36:48,840 doing things in your own strength, which usually comes 612 00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:51,960 from unbelief. Because unbelief says if I don't 613 00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:55,160 do it, it won't happen. Hello. 614 00:36:56,160 --> 00:37:00,640 Unbelief says that. Well, I got to have plan BCDE 615 00:37:00,640 --> 00:37:04,040 and F and I'm going to keep working on all these other plans 616 00:37:04,880 --> 00:37:06,560 and we'll see if God comes through. 617 00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:09,640 That's, that's, that's how unbelief operates. 618 00:37:10,040 --> 00:37:13,480 And the more you operate in unbelief, it's genuinely all 619 00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:15,760 you're seeing right now is what you can do in the natural. 620 00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:19,040 But did you know there's a whole supernatural way to live? 621 00:37:19,720 --> 00:37:22,280 And all you have to do is begin to step by faith. 622 00:37:22,280 --> 00:37:25,400 Go step by step, by faith, and you'll start to see things to 623 00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:29,400 happen in your life that you know for a fact you could never 624 00:37:29,400 --> 00:37:32,600 have done without God. Hello. 625 00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:37,880 You'll know for a fact. You'll know for a fact. 626 00:37:37,880 --> 00:37:42,440 I didn't get that meeting. I didn't get that client. 627 00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:47,200 I'm not smart enough to get that promotion. 628 00:37:47,960 --> 00:37:49,800 You'll know. Well the job, the job 629 00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:52,880 description for that promotion said that this person needed a 630 00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:57,880 doctorate and I have my GED, but for whatever reason they gave me 631 00:37:57,880 --> 00:38:00,080 the job. Well the for whatever reason is 632 00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:05,200 because I took it by faith and I said Lord, you said in your word 633 00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:07,880 that you put down 1 and you put up another. 634 00:38:08,240 --> 00:38:11,240 That's what Psalm says. It says promotion does not come 635 00:38:11,240 --> 00:38:13,720 from the east, West or South. But God is the judge. 636 00:38:13,720 --> 00:38:15,800 He puts up 1 and he puts down another. 637 00:38:16,720 --> 00:38:19,320 Glory to God. So you start operating like that 638 00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:23,520 in business and your Co worker, Co workers better get with it in 639 00:38:23,520 --> 00:38:26,520 faith because otherwise you're going to leapfrog them all day 640 00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:29,000 long. You say, well that's not fair. 641 00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:31,360 That's right, it's not fair. This is Bible. 642 00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:37,120 Hello. No, this is the language of the 643 00:38:37,120 --> 00:38:39,040 Bible. This is the language of faith. 644 00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:42,760 This is the language of what Jesus was trying to teach his 645 00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:45,040 people over and over and over and over and over. 646 00:38:45,040 --> 00:38:47,520 Have faith in God, have faith in God, have faith in God. 647 00:38:47,760 --> 00:38:50,280 They get into a boat. Jesus is he calms the winds in 648 00:38:50,280 --> 00:38:52,600 the wave. They say, Lord, even the waves 649 00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:55,200 in the winds obey you. He says you have little faith. 650 00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:58,320 What was he correcting? Their faith? 651 00:38:58,480 --> 00:39:01,120 You had a little faith. And if you had more faith, you 652 00:39:01,120 --> 00:39:03,360 could have calmed the winds in the the waves in the sea. 653 00:39:08,590 --> 00:39:14,320 Glory to God to to release the power of God, you must have 654 00:39:14,320 --> 00:39:17,240 faith. So how do we increase our faith 655 00:39:17,480 --> 00:39:21,040 and flesh out unbelief? Romans 10/17 says then faith 656 00:39:21,160 --> 00:39:23,720 comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. 657 00:39:24,120 --> 00:39:27,640 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes by the word of 658 00:39:27,640 --> 00:39:29,880 God. So then faith comes by hearing, 659 00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:32,760 faith comes by hearing, faith comes by hearing, faith comes by 660 00:39:32,760 --> 00:39:37,040 hearing God, and hearing God comes by the word of God. 661 00:39:39,880 --> 00:39:42,160 That's the way this read Hearing God. 662 00:39:42,240 --> 00:39:45,320 Faith comes by hearing God. When you get a word from God, 663 00:39:45,360 --> 00:39:49,320 game over. If you'll receive it by faith, 664 00:39:49,600 --> 00:39:53,760 and you let hold of it and you hang on to it, no one can take 665 00:39:53,760 --> 00:39:57,920 it from you. No demonic force, no demonic 666 00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:01,360 spirit, no demonic strategy could take it away. 667 00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:05,280 Faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the Word of 668 00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:07,040 God. So when you get into the Word of 669 00:40:07,040 --> 00:40:09,440 God, you get into your Bible. We talked about it a couple 670 00:40:09,440 --> 00:40:12,960 weeks ago that we're reading our Bible every day in 2026. 671 00:40:13,240 --> 00:40:15,640 Not because we're trying to be goody, goody 2 shoes, but 672 00:40:15,640 --> 00:40:19,560 because we are in a fight. And when I get off the Word of 673 00:40:19,560 --> 00:40:21,960 God, my faith drains very quickly. 674 00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:27,280 Have you noticed that for me, I release, I release faith all the 675 00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:30,120 time, whether it's through prayers with many of you, 676 00:40:30,240 --> 00:40:32,760 whether it's through life circumstances, whether it's 677 00:40:32,760 --> 00:40:34,440 through my own personal circumstances. 678 00:40:34,680 --> 00:40:38,840 I'm constantly dealing out faith, faith, faith, faith, 679 00:40:38,840 --> 00:40:40,760 faith. If I don't fill that up with the 680 00:40:40,760 --> 00:40:43,160 Word of God, I get empty real quick. 681 00:40:44,320 --> 00:40:47,800 And an empty tie is not fun to be around. 682 00:40:50,640 --> 00:40:53,200 You'll laugh too much at that, but it's true. 683 00:40:54,400 --> 00:41:00,280 And some of y'all, you've been unfun because your faith has 684 00:41:00,280 --> 00:41:02,960 drained. And the faith only comes from 685 00:41:02,960 --> 00:41:05,680 hearing God and hearing God only comes from the Word of God. 686 00:41:06,640 --> 00:41:10,240 It paves the way in your spirit to hear God. 687 00:41:10,280 --> 00:41:13,480 It's like the clouds open up and you're like, I can hear again. 688 00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:15,160 I can hear him, I can hear his voice. 689 00:41:15,160 --> 00:41:17,880 And when you hear him, faith rises up and you have 690 00:41:17,880 --> 00:41:20,160 confidence. Yes, what God said is true. 691 00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:22,400 So I'm going to take the next step and the next step and the 692 00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:24,400 next step. And you have to keep at that 693 00:41:25,280 --> 00:41:27,560 every single day. So how do you increase your 694 00:41:27,560 --> 00:41:31,520 faith? You get into the word of God and 695 00:41:31,520 --> 00:41:33,360 you stay consistent. And you say, well, it didn't 696 00:41:33,360 --> 00:41:34,920 mean anything to me today, that's fine. 697 00:41:35,040 --> 00:41:37,800 Tomorrow, pick it up again. Didn't mean anything today. 698 00:41:38,280 --> 00:41:41,240 OK, Pick it up again tomorrow. And at some point the clouds 699 00:41:41,240 --> 00:41:44,760 will clear and all the sudden it'll be like a breath of fresh 700 00:41:44,760 --> 00:41:52,000 air. I can hear him and you'll 701 00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:55,400 realize it was not that he was silent, it's that you couldn't 702 00:41:55,400 --> 00:41:58,920 hear. And you are doing everything 703 00:41:58,920 --> 00:42:02,880 else but here. And when you hear him, something 704 00:42:02,880 --> 00:42:07,680 inside of you get strengthened. It's like Superman going into 705 00:42:07,680 --> 00:42:11,080 the phone booth and you just like switch gears and you come 706 00:42:11,080 --> 00:42:16,520 out a different person. Some of us, we need to get into 707 00:42:16,520 --> 00:42:21,280 the phone book of faith or phone, phone booth, not phone 708 00:42:21,280 --> 00:42:23,120 book. That's not even a thing anymore. 709 00:42:23,120 --> 00:42:25,480 OK, Neither is the telephone booth. 710 00:42:25,480 --> 00:42:31,880 So if if you're under 50, you know, whatever, watch your 711 00:42:31,880 --> 00:42:33,280 cartoons. That's all I can say. 712 00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:38,480 You got to get in there and you got to allow yourself to be 713 00:42:38,480 --> 00:42:41,200 transformed. And when you come out, people 714 00:42:41,200 --> 00:42:42,560 are going to be like what happened to you? 715 00:42:43,640 --> 00:42:47,520 I heard him. I hurt him. 716 00:42:49,160 --> 00:42:55,440 I hurt him, I hurt him. I heard him. 717 00:42:55,440 --> 00:43:01,440 When was the last time you heard him like you heard him? 718 00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:06,400 He said your name, He gave you instruction, He told you what to 719 00:43:06,400 --> 00:43:07,720 do. He told you go right, don't go 720 00:43:07,720 --> 00:43:10,400 left. He said when you go to this 721 00:43:10,400 --> 00:43:15,600 meeting, be ready for this. He said for that child, don't be 722 00:43:15,600 --> 00:43:17,600 harsh with them. Extend love right now. 723 00:43:18,160 --> 00:43:20,240 When is the last time you heard him? 724 00:43:21,160 --> 00:43:23,840 Because when you hear him, you are altered. 725 00:43:24,880 --> 00:43:28,080 You are changed. You can function in a faith 726 00:43:28,080 --> 00:43:31,880 level that is unusual and uncommon and it is in that place 727 00:43:32,040 --> 00:43:37,440 that mountains move. It is in that place that 728 00:43:37,440 --> 00:43:40,280 mountains move. I remember several years ago, 729 00:43:41,320 --> 00:43:47,560 the church that we were a part of and I was on staff at, we had 730 00:43:47,560 --> 00:43:52,880 been doing 5 services that were all packed out on a weekend and 731 00:43:53,240 --> 00:43:56,160 and we knew we need more room. We need more room, we need more 732 00:43:56,160 --> 00:43:57,880 room. So the leadership of our church 733 00:43:57,880 --> 00:44:01,000 at that time had decided that a building just down the street 734 00:44:01,000 --> 00:44:06,160 from us needed to be converted from a warehouse into a couple 735 00:44:06,160 --> 00:44:10,600 thousand C auditorium. And so we're on a timeline and 736 00:44:10,600 --> 00:44:12,600 all of this stuff. And we had gotten the lease and 737 00:44:12,600 --> 00:44:15,520 even getting a lease in California for that amount of 738 00:44:15,520 --> 00:44:20,440 space was like miraculous. And so the owner didn't want to 739 00:44:20,440 --> 00:44:23,800 give it to us at one time. And I'm not kidding, Frankie, I, 740 00:44:23,880 --> 00:44:26,000 you probably were sitting outside the office. 741 00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:28,000 Frankie was our pastor's assistant at the time. 742 00:44:28,600 --> 00:44:31,680 Sitting outside the office. Our pastor is meeting with the 743 00:44:31,680 --> 00:44:34,640 man telling a basically, like, you'll be blessed if you let us 744 00:44:34,640 --> 00:44:37,120 lease this property from you. And I'm not joking. 745 00:44:37,120 --> 00:44:39,760 There was an earthquake that hit the building while they were 746 00:44:39,760 --> 00:44:42,760 meeting and the man said I got to go because he had to go check 747 00:44:42,760 --> 00:44:45,040 on all of his equipment and we got the lease. 748 00:44:49,520 --> 00:44:52,120 That's a whole other thing. But we were functioning by 749 00:44:52,120 --> 00:44:54,440 faith, by faith, by faith, by faith. 750 00:44:54,720 --> 00:44:58,200 And so pastor, our pastor, stood up one Sunday, he held up the 751 00:44:58,200 --> 00:45:00,680 lease, We got the lease. And then he announced on such 752 00:45:00,680 --> 00:45:04,320 and such date, I think it was March 29th, 22,009. 753 00:45:04,520 --> 00:45:06,680 We're going to have our first service in the sanctuary. 754 00:45:06,680 --> 00:45:09,080 Now, by that time, no construction had started. 755 00:45:09,080 --> 00:45:12,320 He said it in what was it, October, November. 756 00:45:12,320 --> 00:45:16,680 It was like late on Lily and I had gotten married that December 757 00:45:17,720 --> 00:45:20,520 so the first four months of our marriage was a building project. 758 00:45:20,760 --> 00:45:28,560 Praise the Lord. I do not recommend it but I 759 00:45:28,560 --> 00:45:33,240 remember being on staff as a young man and watching my pastor 760 00:45:33,240 --> 00:45:37,400 go by faith and the rest of us rallying around his faith and he 761 00:45:37,480 --> 00:45:42,720 he self-imposed the timeline. He said in Jesus name that 762 00:45:42,720 --> 00:45:48,400 mountain will be moved. What rose up in him? 763 00:45:48,400 --> 00:45:50,800 He he couldn't even tell. He said I just blurted it out. 764 00:45:50,800 --> 00:45:52,560 That's his words. I just blurted out on March 765 00:45:52,560 --> 00:45:54,960 29th, 2009, we'll have our first dedicate. 766 00:45:54,960 --> 00:45:57,200 We'll have our dedication service in the new sanctuary. 767 00:45:57,440 --> 00:45:59,520 Not one thing had happened in the building so far. 768 00:46:00,080 --> 00:46:02,520 So all of you construction people, yes that's like four or 769 00:46:02,520 --> 00:46:05,360 five months to convert a warehouse into a full 770 00:46:05,360 --> 00:46:08,880 functioning several seat 1000 auditorium in California. 771 00:46:10,560 --> 00:46:15,440 The most crazy permit rules and laws and you know, all the 772 00:46:15,440 --> 00:46:21,080 things it came to Saturday. Well, Friday the inspectors came 773 00:46:21,760 --> 00:46:23,640 couple days before the dedication. 774 00:46:23,640 --> 00:46:26,200 All the emails are going out. All those, all the, every, all 775 00:46:26,200 --> 00:46:28,680 the invitations are out there with no permit. 776 00:46:28,680 --> 00:46:31,040 We have no permit. We have no permit. 777 00:46:31,040 --> 00:46:34,160 Friday the, the people come and they're like, you're not ready, 778 00:46:34,400 --> 00:46:36,480 you're not ready. And, and, and then even the 779 00:46:36,480 --> 00:46:39,480 contractor looked at our pastor and said, can we all just agree? 780 00:46:40,440 --> 00:46:42,480 Can we all just agree that this is not happening? 781 00:46:43,920 --> 00:46:47,360 And thank God, in fact, he wasn't even with our pastors, 782 00:46:47,360 --> 00:46:49,480 with a couple other guys, including Frankie's brother. 783 00:46:49,680 --> 00:46:50,960 And they said, no, we don't agree. 784 00:46:52,080 --> 00:46:53,840 They didn't agree, they didn't agree. 785 00:46:54,040 --> 00:46:56,920 So after that they went down to the city and somehow they found, 786 00:46:57,120 --> 00:46:58,680 can somebody please come back tomorrow? 787 00:46:58,680 --> 00:47:00,760 We're going to work all night long, which we did. 788 00:47:00,760 --> 00:47:03,760 We were there till the next morning, early in the morning 789 00:47:03,880 --> 00:47:07,720 for several nights in a row. We worked all night by faith, by 790 00:47:07,720 --> 00:47:09,440 faith. The list, the punch list was way 791 00:47:09,440 --> 00:47:12,080 too long. But we were working, working, 792 00:47:12,080 --> 00:47:14,840 working, working, working. And I'm convinced angels helped 793 00:47:14,840 --> 00:47:16,760 us. I'm not joking. 794 00:47:16,760 --> 00:47:19,640 I'm convinced we had heavenly help to get us through that 795 00:47:19,640 --> 00:47:23,080 process. And somehow somebody convinced 796 00:47:23,880 --> 00:47:26,560 by the favor of God, the inspectors, to come back on a 797 00:47:26,560 --> 00:47:30,120 Saturday, they came back on a Saturday. 798 00:47:30,120 --> 00:47:33,360 And on a Saturday we got our temporary occupancy permit. 799 00:47:33,760 --> 00:47:37,440 And on that Sunday, we had our dedication service with a packed 800 00:47:37,440 --> 00:47:40,680 auditorium, several thousand people that we dedicated on that 801 00:47:40,680 --> 00:47:42,560 day. The only way that happened was 802 00:47:42,560 --> 00:47:46,800 by faith. Any movement off of that and we 803 00:47:46,800 --> 00:47:48,880 would have violated our faith and it would have never 804 00:47:48,880 --> 00:47:52,000 happened. It would never have happened. 805 00:47:52,000 --> 00:47:53,640 Why? Because it was by faith. 806 00:47:54,600 --> 00:47:58,440 It was supernatural and it is a testimony that's still being 807 00:47:58,440 --> 00:48:01,200 told there today and I'm telling it to you today. 808 00:48:02,520 --> 00:48:05,840 Everyone of you need to have your own story and testimonies 809 00:48:05,840 --> 00:48:07,880 of faith. Some of you have some. 810 00:48:08,120 --> 00:48:12,280 Some of you need new ones, some of you need first time ones, but 811 00:48:12,280 --> 00:48:15,680 wherever you're at, it's time to have some testimonies of by of 812 00:48:15,680 --> 00:48:20,240 faith, of faith. You know, when I was 18 years 813 00:48:20,240 --> 00:48:23,400 old, I moved cross country from here in North Carolina to go to 814 00:48:23,400 --> 00:48:25,240 school in California. That's how I ended up in 815 00:48:25,240 --> 00:48:26,760 California. I'm a native. 816 00:48:26,800 --> 00:48:30,000 I grew up an hour away from here in Greensboro, but the Lord 817 00:48:30,000 --> 00:48:33,840 called me when I was seven. I was really younger, but at 18 818 00:48:33,840 --> 00:48:38,000 years old drove across the country and I landed in LA 819 00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:40,600 County and I went to school there. 820 00:48:41,200 --> 00:48:43,600 You know that honestly didn't take that much faith. 821 00:48:43,600 --> 00:48:45,600 I was young and dumb. It was easy. 822 00:48:46,400 --> 00:48:48,560 I'm like California school, sign me up. 823 00:48:48,560 --> 00:48:50,240 Like I'm there. You know, that really didn't 824 00:48:50,240 --> 00:48:51,360 take. It took more faith for my 825 00:48:51,360 --> 00:48:53,080 parents, but it didn't take faith for me. 826 00:48:54,760 --> 00:48:57,920 But when God called us back in 2020 to move back across the 827 00:48:57,920 --> 00:49:02,440 country, that took faith because by that time, now I'm married, I 828 00:49:02,440 --> 00:49:05,280 have 3 kids. The job that was offered to me 829 00:49:05,280 --> 00:49:08,280 from our denomination was more than a 50% pay cut. 830 00:49:09,920 --> 00:49:12,080 And so by faith I had to say yes. 831 00:49:13,080 --> 00:49:15,280 This church wasn't on the table at that time. 832 00:49:15,560 --> 00:49:18,120 So I didn't know about y'all. I didn't know about being here. 833 00:49:18,360 --> 00:49:24,040 All I knew is God was saying go. In fact, the scripture he used 834 00:49:24,040 --> 00:49:28,600 with me on the day I was having an interview for the position I 835 00:49:28,600 --> 00:49:32,440 was in my daily reading, which all of you in Jesus name, many 836 00:49:32,440 --> 00:49:36,840 of you are using, many of you are using just this reading 837 00:49:36,840 --> 00:49:38,880 plan. Somebody else put it together, 838 00:49:38,880 --> 00:49:44,200 but the Lord and his grace caused it to be on that day. 839 00:49:44,520 --> 00:49:48,760 I'm reading in the New Testament and it is Peter who's in the 840 00:49:48,760 --> 00:49:51,960 boat and he sees Jesus out in the water and he says, Lord, if 841 00:49:51,960 --> 00:49:58,000 that's you, tell me to come. And as I'm reading it, I hear 842 00:49:58,000 --> 00:50:03,520 God. I hear him come, come. 843 00:50:03,920 --> 00:50:08,760 And in me, faith shot up through me and I never looked back. 844 00:50:10,360 --> 00:50:12,640 Didn't worry about the money, didn't worry about how it was 845 00:50:12,640 --> 00:50:14,760 all going to work out. Didn't have all the pieces put 846 00:50:14,760 --> 00:50:15,720 together. Didn't know. 847 00:50:15,720 --> 00:50:17,440 All I knew is we're moving, baby. 848 00:50:18,600 --> 00:50:21,080 I hadn't even had the interview yet. 849 00:50:22,320 --> 00:50:24,880 Hello. They hadn't even given me the 850 00:50:24,880 --> 00:50:28,320 offer letter. We're still vetting inside. 851 00:50:28,320 --> 00:50:31,960 I already knew it's happening. That's not arrogance. 852 00:50:31,960 --> 00:50:34,400 That's faith. Because I hurt him. 853 00:50:37,560 --> 00:50:40,560 This is our testimony. This is what Jesus has called us 854 00:50:40,560 --> 00:50:44,800 to. Glory to God, glory to God. 855 00:50:44,800 --> 00:50:51,600 I want to end with this passage out of Matthew Chapter 9, verse 856 00:50:51,600 --> 00:50:53,200 one, Matthew Chapter 9 and verse 1. 857 00:50:53,200 --> 00:50:55,960 So when he got into a boat again, Jesus crossed over and 858 00:50:55,960 --> 00:50:59,440 came to his own city. Then behold, they bought, 859 00:50:59,440 --> 00:51:01,640 brought to him a paralytic lying on a bed. 860 00:51:03,120 --> 00:51:07,320 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, Son, 861 00:51:07,320 --> 00:51:10,160 be of good cheer, your sons are forgiven you. 862 00:51:12,160 --> 00:51:14,800 And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, this man 863 00:51:14,800 --> 00:51:17,160 blasphemes, but Jesus knowing their thoughts says, why do you 864 00:51:17,160 --> 00:51:19,840 think evil in your hearts? For which is easier to say your 865 00:51:19,840 --> 00:51:23,760 sins are forgiven you, or to say, arise and walk, but that 866 00:51:23,760 --> 00:51:27,000 you may know the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins. 867 00:51:27,280 --> 00:51:31,000 Then he said to the paralytic, Arise, take up your bed and go 868 00:51:31,000 --> 00:51:34,080 to your house. And he arose and departed to his 869 00:51:34,080 --> 00:51:36,240 house. Now when the multitude saw it, 870 00:51:36,240 --> 00:51:40,880 they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men. 871 00:51:40,880 --> 00:51:44,520 I want you to notice that when his friends, they brought him 872 00:51:44,520 --> 00:51:47,120 this paralytic man, they, they brought him there. 873 00:51:47,120 --> 00:51:50,360 He could not walk. He had no ability to get up on 874 00:51:50,360 --> 00:51:52,440 his own. Jesus saw their faith. 875 00:51:53,440 --> 00:51:57,040 Something clicked into place when they had moved to the point 876 00:51:57,040 --> 00:52:00,960 of if we get him to Jesus, something is going to change 877 00:52:00,960 --> 00:52:04,360 about the situation and Jesus seeing their faith, he said 878 00:52:04,360 --> 00:52:06,560 arise and walk. And I just hear the Lord saying 879 00:52:06,560 --> 00:52:12,400 to literally arise, church, arise and walk and I have some 880 00:52:12,400 --> 00:52:15,880 things to declare over us as a church. 881 00:52:15,880 --> 00:52:18,120 In fact, if you would, let's stand to our feet today. 882 00:52:20,000 --> 00:52:24,440 I'm going to say some things, and then I want you to consider 883 00:52:24,440 --> 00:52:27,800 in your own life. But at Arise Church, we by faith 884 00:52:27,800 --> 00:52:31,200 will see hundreds and even thousands of people saved, 885 00:52:31,440 --> 00:52:35,840 discipled, healed, and set free. And every mountain, every 886 00:52:35,840 --> 00:52:39,800 obstacle, every delay will be moved in the name of Jesus 887 00:52:39,800 --> 00:52:42,720 Christ. At Arise Church by Faith, we 888 00:52:42,720 --> 00:52:46,240 will fulfill the ministry vision that God has given us. 889 00:52:46,640 --> 00:52:50,360 At Arise Church by Faith, we will have all the staff and 890 00:52:50,360 --> 00:52:52,600 leaders that we need for the ministry. 891 00:52:52,920 --> 00:52:56,160 At Arise Church by Faith, we will pay off the building 892 00:52:56,160 --> 00:52:59,720 mortgage and it will be accomplished by faith. 893 00:53:00,520 --> 00:53:04,800 And at Arise Church by Faith, we will see much, much more at the 894 00:53:04,800 --> 00:53:08,240 appointed time. Now here's my question to you. 895 00:53:08,240 --> 00:53:13,360 What will you do with your faith so close your eyes right where 896 00:53:13,360 --> 00:53:17,720 you're at. I just begin to consider what, 897 00:53:17,920 --> 00:53:21,440 what is God putting into your hand to do by faith? 898 00:53:23,080 --> 00:53:25,960 Some of you, He is calling you back into the fight. 899 00:53:25,960 --> 00:53:29,640 No more on the sidelines, no more in the cheap seats. 900 00:53:29,880 --> 00:53:34,200 He wants you back in this fight, the fight of faith, the Lord is 901 00:53:34,320 --> 00:53:37,120 opening your eyes. Some of you, you're hearing him 902 00:53:37,120 --> 00:53:41,040 again in Jesus name and as you're hearing Him, faith is 903 00:53:41,040 --> 00:53:45,720 arising, discouragement is draining, unbelief is draining 904 00:53:46,120 --> 00:53:49,880 and faith is coming back and saying that which I told you 905 00:53:49,880 --> 00:53:53,000 even years ago. Some of you dreams that you had, 906 00:53:53,000 --> 00:53:56,920 visions that you had aspirations that God gave you, they will 907 00:53:56,920 --> 00:54:01,280 come to pass, they will happen, they will happen, they will 908 00:54:01,280 --> 00:54:04,160 happen in Jesus name. Glory to God. 909 00:54:04,160 --> 00:54:07,840 Would you repeat this after me say, Father God, thank you for 910 00:54:07,840 --> 00:54:13,000 speaking to me. I open my ears to you to hear 911 00:54:13,000 --> 00:54:20,520 you so that my faith will take every promise that you have made 912 00:54:20,520 --> 00:54:25,480 to me, my family, and the generations to follow. 913 00:54:26,760 --> 00:54:34,240 By faith, I will step into everything you have for me in 914 00:54:34,240 --> 00:54:40,880 2026. I will not operate in unbelief 915 00:54:41,600 --> 00:54:47,880 any longer. As of today I am a true person 916 00:54:48,480 --> 00:54:52,240 of faith in Jesus name. If you agree what you say, Amen, 917 00:54:52,240 --> 00:54:56,080 let's clap our hands. Amen, Amen and Amen and Amen, 918 00:54:57,080 --> 00:55:02,200 glory to God. We want to thank you again for 919 00:55:02,200 --> 00:55:04,240 joining us for the Arise Church podcast. 920 00:55:04,480 --> 00:55:06,640 We hope you were encouraged by what you heard today. 921 00:55:06,960 --> 00:55:10,200 You can find us.online@arisechurchn-c.com and 922 00:55:10,200 --> 00:55:14,400 on Instagram at Arise Church NC. If you need prayer or support or 923 00:55:14,400 --> 00:55:17,480 are interested in learning more about Arise Church, we encourage 924 00:55:17,480 --> 00:55:20,880 you to connect with us online or in person at our Sunday morning 925 00:55:20,880 --> 00:55:22,960 service. Thank you and God bless.