Good morning. Welcome to this prayer service
that we have the privilege of of joining in on.
My name is Pastor Steve, and I'm going to open this up with
prayer from Revelation 48. I've always wanted to be up here
and talk about the Book of Revelation, but I'll keep my
comments to the word of God because we all have our
opinions. But I do want to point out that
this whole platform and stage and all this ambiance was set up
so that we could envision a Star Wars type environment where they
go into the farthest reaches of the Galaxy.
Well, Lieutenant Sora, on the first day of this this vacation,
Bible school, WrestleMania. Thank you, Steve.
She stayed at that console and foolishly took us to the
furthest ends of the universe, put everybody at risk at Mach 10
or warped in, whatever that was, and then they had to fight their
way back. Well, that's an imagination.
This is real. The apostle John was transported
up into the heavens and God opened up the veil to let him
see what we will see in the future.
So let me read this revelation 4/8 through 11.
And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings are
are full of eyes all around. And within the day and night
they never cease to say, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God
Almighty, who was and is and is to come.
And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor
and thanks to Him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever
and ever, the 24 elders fall down before him who is seated on
the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever.
They cast their crowns before the throne saying worthy are you
our Lord, our Lord and God to receive glory and honor and
power for your created all. You created all things and by
your will they existed and were created.
And here's the interesting part. He created us and we are the
only ones he created in his image.
So if you would like, as I go through this prayer, you could
stand, you could worship. The whole goal is to bring you
to the throne where the elders were able to see, where John was
able to witness that we will someday witness.
So as I pray, feel free to call out to him.
Feel free to enjoin me in prayer as I pause.
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who, who was and is and
is to come. And Father, as we stand before
you in this sanctuary, yes, many times we call this an
auditorium. It's a skit place.
But today this is a sanctuary representing the fact that we
are before your throne as your people.
Oh Lord our God, we gather today not merely to ask, but first to
adore. You are the beginning, the
Alpha, Omega, and the beginning and the end.
You existed before time began, and you will reign when time is
no more. You are wholly beyond
comprehension, perfect in purity, unmatched in majesty.
As the living creatures and elders fall before you, before
your throne, so we bow our hearts before you.
We echo the song of heaven. Worthy are you, our Lord and
God, to receive glory and honour and power.
For you created all things, and by Your will they existed and
were created. Oh Holy Father, we just
recognize the fact that You are the Creator and we are the
created. Let Your creation honor you and
worship You, and not only that but enlighten you before others.
Lord, You are not only powerful, you are personal.
You know us, You see us, You search us and understand every
thought from afar. And in Psalms 139 you say, you
hem me in behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.
It is high, I cannot attain it. And again we are in awe of you,
Lord, for your Majesty, you are the Sovereign King who set the
stars in place, and yet you draw near to us in love and mercy.
You are great and greatly to be praised.
We exalt you today not for what you give, but for who You are.
Lord, it's hard for us to even imagine who You are and what
You've given us, but that we do exalt You in humble obedience.
We marvel at Your holiness. We stand in awe of Your power.
We are overwhelmed by your goodness.
Lord, let us let worship rise in this place like instance before
your throne. Let every heart here be caught
up in wonder and reverence and we and we.
And as we prepare for the harvest you're bringing today,
remind us you alone are the one who saves, and you are the
author of salvation, and you are the Lamb who was slain and the
lion who reigns. So we cast our crowns, our
pride, our plans, our preferences before you.
You are worthy of it. All.
Glory and honor and praise belong to you forever and ever.
In Jesus holy name we pray, Amen and Amen, Amen.
Isn't the Lord faithful man? I am just in awe of this week in
particular, Man, we we're broken, we're lost.
As a people, especially in this community, you get to see what
the schemes of the devil, what the temptations of the world
looks like in the lives of our community.
And if there is an example of the tangible grace of God, I see
it this week. I see so many kids, so many
parents, so many friends that come in here broken and lost in
the hope of the gospel is preached to their heart when
there's nothing left. Money won't do it.
Status won't do it. Even relationships won't do it.
Jesus enters that space and he says that place in your heart
that has kept you up at night, that thing that is missing is
me. And although we don't seek and
we're the rebel and we want nothing to do with him, He
pursues us. He's got long legs.
He is a faithful God. So we are going to have a prayer
of thankfulness to God's faithfulness today.
So if you would pray with me, Lord, our hearts are humbled
that we were so far off and that we were not seeking, we were not
desiring to find you. Yet you found us.
Heavenly Father, we thank you because you are faithful.
We praise your name for the mission and the work here at
Resurrection Church and that we get to labor with you.
Got our prayer this morning for our community, for our children,
for the children of this community.
And the parents would be that your spirit would be poured out
of fresh and that they would experience you.
We pray that you would be in every ministry, in every
gathering, in every soul who walks through these doors.
God, that Your word would go forth in power and would turn
hearts of stone to hearts of flesh and let lives be
transformed for your glory. God, we thank you for this local
community of Resurrection Church.
God, we pray that you would strengthen our pastors, our
leaders, our volunteers, our laypeople.
That you would give us wisdom, vision, endurance to shepherd
this community well. That you would unite us in one
body, That we would be rooted in love above all else.
That we would see you in everything that you're doing.
And this church would be a reflection of the light of
Christ to our neighborhood. Let this place where your name
is honored give you glory. Let your presence be known, your
purposes fulfilled. God, we trust in you and you
alone. We look forward with expectation
for greater things to come. God, we thank you for planting
this church specifically, sovereignly in this community
that we can love this community well.
God, we thank you that you have sustained this church for years,
and we thank you for every soul that has been brought through
these doors, every life that has been touched by your word, and
every act of love and goodness that has flowed through this
place. God, we praise you for Wrest
Mania, for every child that has walked through these doors.
That encountered hope for the first time in their life.
They've experienced peace and purpose for the first time in
their life. Every seed of truth that you
have planted, God, we thank you for every game, every craft,
every lesson that was taught and that we see you in all of it.
God, we praise you for the volunteers of WrestleMania, the
leaders, the families who gave their time, their energy, their
resources to serve you and your kingdom's purposes.
May you grow them abundantly. And God, we are especially
grateful for your faithfulness shown in the lives that were
changed. Those who have come to know
Jesus and will come to know Jesus here in a few hours.
Those who have felt seen and valued for the first time in
their life. Those who have found joy in your
presence. May those seeds planted continue
to grow and bear fruit for your Kingdom.
Let this just be the beginning of the great work that you are
doing in our community. And God, we lift up the gospel
that will be preached. What a burden it is to share the
gospel. What a heavyweight.
Yet you entrust us with this. And we know, God, that before we
ever speak a word, that you are already at work softening
hearts, opening minds to receive your truth.
And we pray that it would be received.
Lord, we praise you for the quiet ways that you have been
moving in conversations and circumstances, even in the pain
of this community, to draw people closer to yourself.
We praise You. Lord, we thank you for every
heart that is being made ready to receive.
And God, we thank you for the privilege of being a part of
your redemptive work. We acknowledge that salvation
belongs to you and you alone, and yet you graciously invite us
to join in on your mission. Father, lastly, may your Holy
Spirit continue to move powerfully in this church in
this moment, in the 11:00 service, when all of the
families and kids are here, may it move powerfully.
Let every word be spoken, be saturated with grace and truth.
Let hearts be stirred, eyes open, and life change forever,
not because of our efforts, but because of your glory and
goodness. And it's in Jesus name we pray.
Amen. How y'all doing?
We're making it. Yeah.
We're doing good. All right, a little, little
participation before we move on. Everyone look to your right and
tell the person sitting there, man, I'm glad you're here today.
Now turn to your left. Turn to your left and say no,
I'm glad you're here today. I get the opportunity to lead us
in prayer for other churches today for their ministry.
How many of you guys have been a part of at least one church?
1 local church. Just so you know, you're here.
So everyone's hand should be raised.
Just say more than more than two, More than three.
I've been a part of four. You can put your hands down.
I've been a part of four local churches and each one of those
churches in their unique way, discipled me into the person I
am today. The first church I was basically
born into my I was born and then my parents took me to church the
next day. I think I've been a part of a
local church my whole life, but what that church taught me to
the age of 5 was church is big and God is real.
So the the very first church I was a part of, that's what it
taught me. The second church was it taught
me God's word is truth and God works all things for the good
for those who love the Lord. That's what the second church
taught me. Third church taught me is God's
love is radical. And those fourth church has
taught me God is in control even when the world around us is
falling apart. Without those truths impacting
me, I don't know where I would be today.
And we thank God for all of the local churches and how they're
equipping and shaping God's people.
So join me in prayer as we lift up other churches around us.
And may the Lord make you increase, and it bound in love
for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that He may
establish your hearts blameless in holiness before God and
Father at the coming of the Lord Jesus with all his Saints.
And beloved, I pray that all may go well with you, and that you
may be in good health as it goes well with your soul.
For I rejoice greatly when the brothers came and testified to
your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth.
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are
walking in the truth. Father God, Lord, thank you for
your system. You know I love systems.
I love to understand how things work, God.
And the way that your body works is amazing.
God, all these churches that are not in competition but are in
unity, God, around your word, around your truth, around your,
your son, God, we just thank you for those.
God, we thank you for working together in unity with other
churches. God, we thank you for bodies of
believers coming together to making a bigger impact than we
could ever make by ourselves. God, or today I want to lift up
a church in Yuba City, God Adventure Church.
They recently had their largest kid camp ever with 400 kids that
came with over 100 that received Christ for the first time.
God, God, we thank you for that impact.
We thank you for that church and God.
Now they're on the missions field. 2 weeks ago they had a
kids camp and this week they're in a foreign country.
God, thank you for the impact that that church is making in
Yuba City and throughout the world.
God, God, thank you for Fellowship Baptist Church here
in Bakersfield. God, they recently had their
kids camp and they're reaching people that are so far from you
and they're so different from from who they are.
God, But because of your love and the love of Fellowship
Baptist Church God, people are meeting Christ for the first
time. People from the sick religion
God are meeting you for the first time, God, and we thank
you for that, Father God. Lord, I just ask you for your
blessings on the other churches here in Bakersfield, God for
Niles St. Southern First Southern Baptist
Church, God, I pray for them as they're struggling.
God, I pray for a fresh wind and a fresh fire, God, where they
can pursue you, they can go into their community that's so far
from you, God, and they can make an impact on Lord, I pray for
unity. God is pray for that.
All of our churches, all of your churches, God will preach the
gospel boldly. God in unity will preach the
truth. God in unity that we can be more
about what we're for and less about what we're against.
God, Lord, I pray for families here in Bakersfield, the lost,
the ones that are in the dark places.
God, I pray that a local church will reach out.
We'll love on them God, and we'll be able to show them the
gospel, teach them the gospel, and allow them to receive the
gospel. God, Lord, God, I pray that
because of the local churches here in Bakersfield, Bakersfield
will start to look different, will start to sound different,
will start to feel different. We'll start to love, we'll find
hope again, we'll find joy again because of local churches
preaching the truth, preaching the gospel, and preaching about
a good godfather. God, Lord, we thank you for all
of these things. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
OK guys, this is where I want everybody to stand up.
Anybody that can stand up, stand up, roll, roll your shoulders
back a little bit and shake out your arms like this, like this.
Last week I saw Pastor Daniel doing that.
I go, this guy's a psycho man. He's over here getting ready to
preach and he's doing this, He's getting all ready.
But he's it's like he's going into battle, right?
OK, you guys can have a seat. You can have a seat.
OK? He's going in about there's a
battle for souls, right? It happens all the time.
Satan wants them, God wants them.
But I just want to tell you. God loves you, the pastors and
the elders of Resurrection Church love you.
We're called to oversee, to shepherd, to equip Saints and a
hyper focus in the last couple years for us has been out of
Acts 6/4 is to be devoted to prayer and ministry of the word.
Everything that we do is driven by the great commandment, which
is to love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul mind to
love others and also the Great Commission to go ye there for
making disciples of all nations and baptizing them.
That's our goal. And we have an incredible
opportunity today with people coming into this House of
worship that might not normally come and they're going to hear
the gospel presented. Maybe it's for the first time.
And as Sean was saying, there's that void in their heart.
There's something missing. They don't know what it is and
they they'll hear today we pray that the Holy Spirit works in
their lives and lives are transformed.
And it's times like these. I wish I would have written
something down right, because I've been thinking about this
for a week. But I, I want to pray for broken
homes, for hurting families, want to get to that.
But it's, it's if you think about your sphere of influence,
you think about the people around you.
There's a lot of people that you know that are hurting.
There's a lot of people that you know, they're part of a broken
family. There's a lot of there's a lot
of families without dads. But we have a heavenly Father
who loves us and has a plan for our lives.
And we have the opportunity to to share that good news today.
So I want to pray. We're going to go to the
Scriptures in Psalm. Father of the fatherless and
protector of widows is God. In his holy habitation.
God settles the solitary in a home.
He leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious
dwell in a parched land. The thief comes to kill, steal
and destroy. Jesus came that we may have life
and have it more abundantly or to the full additional
scriptures we talked about Isaiah comfort for the broken
hearted as well as Psalms 147 talks about broken hearted.
Matthew 11/28/30. This is the verse for all of you
volunteers this week. Come to me all who are weary.
It's been a long week, but there's a payday coming.
It's a great day. I just, I think about the single
parents struggling to provide and guide for their families,
how difficult that is juggling a job, family and everything that
goes on in their lives. Think about children from broken
or unstable homes and just this sanctuary is truly a place of
sanctuary for them this week when they're here, they know
they're loved, they're taken care of.
Talk about families facing financial hardships.
It's, it's happening all around us, right?
3 generations in the same household.
It's a tough time we're in those dealing with addiction, abuse
and abandonment. So our fervent prayer, let's go
into prayer right now. Our fervent prayer is for you,
God, that you would use this day to bring hope and healing to a
broken and hurting world to families that are just feel like
I I don't know if I can even get through this week through this
day, through this hour. Dear Lord, I pray that you just
bring them peace, comfort, wisdom, everything they need to
have the joy and the peace that comes only from you, that they
know that they know that they know that they have peace, joy
and everlasting and there's no condemnation for them.
We lift this this service up to you later, dear Lord, that you'd
lead, guide and direct that you, the Holy Spirit, works in the
lives of your people for an incredible harvest.
We just love you and praise you and to you goes all the glory
for all that we do. We pray these things in Jesus
name and for his sake. Amen.
All right, if you are a dad in
the room, stand up. Come on.
Let me tell you what studies say in our culture right now, if the
Father in the home comes to Christ, there is a 91% chance
that those kids will follow Christ.
Amen. If the dad does not, only one in
50 children will follow Christ. You matter, gentlemen.
The way you pursue Christ matters.
The way you steward your home matters.
Your personal confession and repentance and pursuit of Christ
matters. In fact, there's not a single
factor that is a higher probability that your home will
follow Christ other than how you follow Christ.
It's not the school you put them in.
It's not the church you go to. It's not the youth ministry
they're part of. It's how you pursue Christ
authentically, both in the private places where you think
no one's watching. They are in the home and in the
public space. You matter Father God, will you
chase these men? Will you protect these men?
Will you inspire them? Will you convict them?
And will you encourage them and help them to lead while they
follow you in Jesus name, Amen. You may sit down in Matthew says
this about Jesus. When Jesus saw the crowds, he
had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless
like sheep without a shepherd. And then he said to his
disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are
few. Therefore pray earnestly to the
Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest.
By one statistic that I read recently, 92% of Kern County is
lost, 8% is saved. I'm not talking about who goes
to church, I'm talking about who knows Jesus.
Because there are people sitting in churches all over this county
that don't know Jesus. They know church, they know
religion, they know how to put on church clothes, but they
don't know Christ personally. 92% you no longer have to go to
Romania or Africa to find lost people.
Walk out your front door. They're all around us.
The harvest is plentiful. This is what Jesus came for.
He said this in Luke 19. He said for the Son of Man came
to seek and save the lost. Jesus came for people like you
and I people who are far from him, people who wanted nothing
to do with him, people that never thought of themselves as
Christian or maybe thought of themselves as good enough and
not needing Christ and he came for us anyways.
In fact the Bible says in second Peter the Lord is not slow to
fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but he is
patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish but that
all should reach repentance. I saw someone say recently why
doesn't God just remove all of the evil from the world and
someone else responded, well it's a good thing he didn't
because then he would remove you and I.
He is slow to anger. In Romans 1013 through 15 the
Bible says this for everyone who calls in the name of the Lord
will be saved. How then will they call on him
in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in
him whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without
someone preaching? And how are they to preach
unless they are sent as it is written?
How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news.
That's what we're going to do today.
I'm going to preach the good news.
I want you to pray with me today for the salvation of the people
that are coming in these doors. In a few moments, that God would
soften an open hearts to his message that the presentation of
the gospel be clear and articulate, and the Holy Spirit
would allow that message to sink in and take root.
And that those families would come back and allow themselves
to be discipled as part of the community of Christ.
Pray with me, Father God, we beg earnestly that you would move
mightily in this place today, that people who are far from you
would come, that they would hear the message, that they would
receive it, they would be implanted God, and that they
would return to allow discipleship to occur.
That they would join into a community of faith.
God that is following you, that is worshipping you.
God that is raised from death to life.
We desire men and women and kids to be saved, and we can't do it.
We are powerless. We are unqualified, we haven't
earned it, and we don't deserve it.
But God, being rich in mercy, you have lavished upon us every
heavenly gift, rich riches upon riches.
And Father God, we pray for those coming today that you
would save them. We pray to God that you would
change the trajectory of homes all over this neighborhood, the
dysfunctional home, the single parent home, the home in poverty
or in dysfunction or in disarray.
God that you would enter these homes and give them hope.
By this we know love that He laid down His life for us, and
we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
And if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in
need, he closes his heart against him.
How does God's love abide in him?
Little children, let us not love in Word or talk, but in deed and
in truth. Jesus name, Amen.
All right, will you stand with me?
We're going to do a, we're going to close with a little
responsive reading. You've got a part to play in
this, just like you have a part to play in an hour or so when
people start coming in these doors.
I'm going to read Psalm 118 and your job, it's very easy, is to
say his steadfast love endures forever.
Try it once. Go ahead.
It's almost like you knew. All right.
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
Let those who fear the Lord say Out of my distress I called on
the Lord, and the Lord answered me and set me free.
The Lord is on my side and I will not fear.
What can man do to me? The Lord is on my side as my
helper. I shall look in triumph on those
who hate me. It is better to take refuge in
the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in
the Lord than to trust in Princess.
Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter
through them and give thanks to the Lord.
Save us, we pray, O Lord, O Lord, we pray.
Give us success. You are my God and I will give
thanks to you. You are my God.
I will extol you. O give thanks to the Lord, for
he is good. Steadfast love endures forever.
If you're willing, will you extend your hands as we close in
prayer? Father God, I give you praise
and honour and glory that we ask for revival to start with us.
God, in a state known for wildfires, would you start a
different kind of fire? Would you start a revival fire?
When you start that in our hearts and in our lives, in our
private lives, in our prayer life, in the way we cling to our
Bible, in the way we desperately seek you, God, in the way we die
to ourselves daily to pick up our cross and follow you, God,
would you start that in US? God, would you give us a mind
and a heart and eyes for others to consider others more than we
consider ourselves? God, would you help us to have a
heart that serves other people? And God, will you use us and
what meager talents and gifts we have to spread the good news
now. We pray that you move in this
place today and God I pray for this people, your people whom
you have saved, that as they go out to the 11 O clock service
and to the barbecue and on Monday to work and on Tuesday as
they care for their families and their children and their
neighborhoods. God, I pray that you protect
them. God, you have commissioned them,
you have called them, you have gifted them, you have equipped
them, and Father God will you now encourage them, lift them up
and give them endurance. May you shine your face upon
them in Jesus name. And all God's people said Amen.
Amen. All right, we got one hour.
I'll see you at 11 and then I'll see you to eat some hot dogs.
We love you.