Podcasts about you jesus

What if the entire foundation of your life was based on a lie? What if everything you've invested—your time, your energy, your heart, your money—was poured into a broken promise? The Apostle Paul said it straight: if Jesus hasn't been raised from the grave, we are of all people most to be pitied. If the resurrection isn't real, we made the worst investment of our lives. We might as well just eat, drink, and live it up today, because tomorrow we die and that's it. But what if He DID rise? In this sermon, we dive straight into John chapter 20 to look at the undeniable reality of the empty tomb. From Mary Magdalene's grief-stricken morning to Peter and John's frantic footrace (and yes, John makes sure we know for all of eternity that he won that race!), we see a story that is completely upside down and ripe for a conspiracy. These weren't religious kooks looking to start a movement; they were terrified, skeptical, and hiding behind locked doors. Key Highlights From the Message: The Messy Grave Robbery Theory: If you're rushing to steal a body under the noses of Roman soldiers, are you really going to take the time to unwrap a bloodied corpse and fold the face cloth up nice and neat? God is a God of order. This was no chaotic heist; it was a supernatural resurrection. Belonging Before Believing: Look at Thomas. He doubted. He wanted to see the nails and touch the side. But notice where he was a week later—he was still hanging out with the disciples. Sometimes, people need to belong with God's people before they fully believe. The Blessing on YOU: Jesus looked at Thomas and said, "Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." None of us were there 2,000 years ago. But if you trust Him today, you are receiving a blessing that even the eyewitnesses didn't get. John wrote his entire Gospel for one specific reason: "that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." (John 20:31) There is no mountain with many paths. There is no being "good enough." There is no relying on good vibes or church attendance. The only way to have your sins forgiven and your eternity secure is through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The most important question you will ever answer is this: "Do you believe that Jesus is Alive? Have you trusted Him for your salvation?" If you have, then you've been given a mission: Go and tell. We need to preach the gospel to ourselves daily, encourage one another, and share this hope with a world that desperately needs it. If heaven and hell are real, and Jesus is the only Savior, sharing His name should be the natural overflow of our lives. Watch the full sermon to discover the peace that surpasses all understanding and the power of our risen King! If this message challenged or encouraged you, please like, subscribe, and share it with someone who needs to hear the good news today.

In this message from the "Truth Bombs" series, we explore the powerful moment death meets Jesus at the gates of a town called Nain. A funeral procession for the only son of a widow was moving out of the city, representing a trail of death that usually never stops. In that culture, this woman wasn't just losing her child; she was losing her protector, her social standing, and her economic security.When these two large crowds collided—one following the Lord of Life and the other following a coffin—the entire trajectory of the story changed. This encounter reveals three life-changing truths about our Savior:* He Sees You: Amidst the noise of the massive crowds, Jesus specifically noticed the brokenhearted widow. He sees your unique pain and brokenness today, too.* He Feels for You: Jesus was moved with "splanchna"—a deep, gut-wrenching compassion. He doesn't just offer empty words; He truly feels what you feel and is moved to act on your behalf.* He Acts with Authority: By touching the funeral bier, Jesus did the unthinkable: He wasn't made "unclean" by death; instead, His life "infected" the dead. With a simple command—"Young man, I say to you, get up"—Jesus proved that He is the one who talks to the dead, and they listen.Unlike the prophets of old who had to beg God for miracles, Jesus spoke with His own divine authority over the grave. This miracle serves as a "preview" of the greatest promise we have: a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out. Because Jesus conquered death on the cross, we can live with the absolute assurance that no matter how final death may seem, it is not the last word.

Have you ever reached a point where you were just done—out of options, out of ideas, and at the end of your rope? Whether it is the grief of losing a loved one, the pain of a broken marriage, the stress of a job loss, or the weight of an addiction, we all face moments where hope feels gone and we feel completely stuck.In this message from our "Truth Bombs" series, we look at the explosive words and works of Jesus in Luke 7:11-17. We follow the story of a widow in the town of Nain who had hit absolute rock bottom. Having already lost her husband, she was now walking out of the city gates to bury her only son—her last source of security, social standing, and hope for the future.But in a powerful "clash of death and life," she encounters Jesus. Through this miracle, we discover what God does when we have already given up:* He Sees You: Before the widow said a word or asked for help, Jesus saw her in her hopeless condition. He sees you in your struggle right now, too.* He Feels for You: Jesus isn't a stern or indifferent judge; His "heart went out to her," a term that describes deep, gut-wrenching compassion. He feels your grief, loneliness, and fear.* He Acts for You: Jesus didn't just offer kind words; He moved. By touching the funeral bier, He "contaminated" death with life, commanding the young man to rise and restoring what was broken.Ultimately, this story is a "mini-Easter" that points to the greatest hope we have. Just as Jesus stepped into that funeral procession, He stepped into our hopeless situation of sin and death. On the cross, He didn't just touch death; He absorbed it so that we could be restored to God.If you feel like you are facing a brick wall today, remember: God does the impossible. He has come to help His people, and because He lives, your story doesn't end at rock bottom.

Send us your feedback — we're listeningPsalm 91:1 — Jesus, Draw Me Into Your Midnight Shelter and Quiet Every Fear That Tries to Rise in the Dark Welcome to Daily Prayer with Reverend Ben Cooper, live from London — reaching Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Spain. Psalm 91:1 (NIV): “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” Salmo 91:1 — “Aquele que habita no abrigo do Altíssimo descansará à sombra do Todo-Poderoso.” “The Lord is my Shepherd; I lack nothing.” / “O Senhor é o meu Pastor; nada me faltará.” James 4:8 (NIV): “Come near to God and He will come near to you.” Tiago 4:8 — “Aproximem-se de Deus, e Ele se aproximará de vocês.” Jesus, as this new cycle opens in the quiet doorway of midnight, I come to You with every thought that has followed me through the day and every shadow that tries to rise as the world grows still. You are the shelter I run to, the resting place of my wandering mind, the safe covering over my heart when the night feels long. In Your presence, even silence becomes gentle. In Your shadow, fear loses its grip. In Your nearness, midnight becomes a place of peace instead of pressure. Jesus, draw me into Your abrigo, into Your sombra, into the deep covering of Your love. Let my heart settle beneath Your wings. Let every fear soften. Let every anxious breath slow. Let every hidden worry fall into Your hands. You are my Shepherd, meu Pastor, mi Pastor. You lead me into rest, not turmoil. You call me into quietness, not confusion. You calm the storms that rise in the dark. Tonight I choose to come close to You, Jesus — to trust that Your presence is enough to steady my thoughts and carry my soul. Fold me into Your peace. Hold my mind in Your strength. Surround my spirit with the assurance that You are here, that You are faithful, that You are the One who watches over me as the night unfolds. Jesus, let this midnight become holy. Let this hour become an altar. Let this beginning of Cycle 21 rise with hope, with tenderness, with the certainty that You—Jesus, Jesús, Jesus—are my refuge now and always. In the quiet shadow of Your presence, I rest. Amém. Amén. Amém.Support the showDaily Prayer with Reverend Ben Cooper now reaches 185 countries and 3,012 cities worldwide through the Global Blend Radio network.This is a listener-funded global ministry. If these daily prayers strengthen your faith or help you through difficult seasons, would you consider becoming a monthly prayer partner for just £3 per month?Your support enables us to continue recording, hosting, and broadcasting daily biblical encouragement across the nations — keeping this ministry free and accessible to everyone who needs it.You can support today at GlobalBlendRadio.comTogether, we can keep prayer moving across the world.To submit a prayer request or connect with our global prayer community, visit DailyPrayer.ukBuy me a Coffee 

Send us your feedback — we're listeningRecorded Live from London, England Brazil • Mexico • Chile • Spain • Cuba Psalm 91:1 — Jesus, Cover My Midnight Hours Under Your Shadow and Break Every Fear Rising in the Dark Psalm 91:1 (NIV): “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” Salmo 91:1: “Aquele que habita no abrigo do Altíssimo descansa à sombra do Todo-Poderoso.” Psalm 23 Anchor (EN/PT-BR): “The Lord is my Shepherd; I lack nothing.” “O Senhor é o meu Pastor; nada me faltará.” Luke 10:19 (NIV): “I have given you authority… to overcome all the power of the enemy.” Lucas 10:19: “Eu lhes dei autoridade… para vencer todo o poder do inimigo.” protective shadow • courage rising • midnight rest sombra protetora • coragem crescente • descanso da madrugada In this midnight hour, as the world around us quiets and fears try to rise, we turn to You, Jesus. Across London, across Brazil, México, Chile, España, Cuba, across every home listening in the stillness — we speak Your name. Jesus, Jesús, Jesus — You are the One who covers us with peace. You stand between us and every shadow that tries to whisper worry into the night. Under Your wings we rest. Under Your shadow we breathe again. Lord, Your Word says that whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Tonight we choose that shelter. We choose that shadow. We step out of fear and step into Your refuge. Jesus, break every rising anxiety. Quiet every racing thought. Push back the darkness that tries to creep in when the world is silent. Let Your peace settle like soft grace over the heart. “The Lord is my Shepherd; I lack nothing.” “O Senhor é o meu Pastor; nada me faltará.” Jesús, Tú eres mi Pastor. Jesus, You are my Shepherd in the night. Strengthen the one who feels overwhelmed. Calm the one who cannot sleep. Steady the one who fears tomorrow. Remind every heart listening right now that You — Jesus, Jesús, Jesus — have given authority to overcome every work of the enemy. No fear can stand. No threat can linger. No darkness can remain where Your presence rests. Jesus, cover this midnight hour. Fill this room, this heart, this mind with Your shadow of protection. Let rest come. Let courage rise. Let Your peace rule. And let the night be carried by Your faithful love. Psalm 91 prayer, oração Salmo 91 proteção, midnight prayer Jesus, Luke 10 authority prayer, Psalm 23 Shepherd prayer, oração da madrugada, Jesus proteção noite, dailyprayer.uk Reverend Ben Cooper, oração para dormir, Jesus calma meu coração Psalm 91 shelter • sombra protetora oração • midnight Jesus prayer • Luke 10 authority • Psalm 23 Shepherd • proteção noite Brasil • Jesus Jesús prayer bilingual • London England devotional • dailyprayer.ukSupport the showDaily Prayer with Reverend Ben Cooper now reaches 184 countries and 2,968 cities worldwide through the Global Blend Radio network. This is a listener-funded global ministry. If these daily prayers strengthen your faith or help you through difficult seasons, would you consider becoming a monthly prayer partner for just £3 per month? Your support enables us to continue recording, hosting, and broadcasting daily biblical encouragement across the nations — keeping this ministry free and accessible to everyone who needs it. You can support today at GlobalBlendRadio.com. Together, we can keep prayer moving across the world. To submit a prayer request or connect with our global prayer community, visit DailyPrayer.uk. Buy me a Coffee

In a season of Stillness, but I'm still here. ❤️‍

The story of Mephibosheth is one of the clearest pictures of the gospel of grace — a man broken, hiding in shame, suddenly called by the King… not to be punished, but to be restored. Grace is not earned — it's received. It finds you where you are, restores what was lost, and gives you a seat at the King's table. Like Mephibosheth, you may have been dropped, forgotten, or living in a "Lo-debar" season of life — but God hasn't forgotten you. His covenant kindness is still reaching out. In this message, Pastor Lester reveals: Grace Reaches Out to You — Jesus comes looking for you even when you hide. Grace Restores What Was Lost — Everything sin and shame stole, grace can restore in one moment. Grace Gives You a Seat at the Table — You are no longer a servant, but a son. Covered by His covenant, you belong in the palace. Come out of hiding. Leave Lo-debar behind. Take your seat at the King's table — where grace covers your condition and reveals your position. "Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness... and you shall eat bread at my table continually." — 2 Samuel 9:7 (NKJV)

Romans 5:1–2 says this.... “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Wow... Faith... Peace... Grace... Hope... thank You Jesus for Your salvation!

Your Daily Prayer

Your Daily Prayer

Your Daily Prayer

In a season of Stillness, but I'm still here. ❤️‍

Your Daily Prayer

In a season of Stillness, but I'm still here. ❤️‍

“We believe in You Jesus” by Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Wood. Released: 13. Genre: Sermon. The post We believe in You Jesus appeared first on New Providence Missionary Baptist Church.

In a season of Stillness—but I'm still here. ❤️‍

Passage: 1 And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 2 “Let the people of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time. 3 On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and all its rules you shall keep it.” 4 So Moses told the people of Israel that they should keep the Passover. 5 And they kept the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the people of Israel did. (Numbers 9:1-5) Song: Thank You, Jesus by Chris Davenport, Ethan Hulse, and Josh Baldwin Lyrics: Thank You Jesus for finding me Like a good shepherd Your mercy leads Back to Your arms where I'm meant to be So I thank You Jesus for finding me Thank You Jesus for saving me You took my place on that cursed tree Died for sinners but rose as a King So I thank You Jesus for saving me Oh it's only because of all You've done That I can be called a friend of God Oh beautiful Savior what else can I do But lift up my voice and say thank You Thank You Jesus for loving me Shame lost its hold when You set me free Every fear has to bow at Your feet So I thank You Jesus for loving me I enter the gates of the Lord with thanksgiving I enter the courts of the Lord with praise Oh thank You Oh thank You Prayer: O God, who hast commanded us to be holy as thou art holy, we draw near to thee with awe and reverence. We confess how far short we fall of thy glory; cleanse us from all our sins, restore us through thy pardoning grace, and make us ready to serve thee with joy. Help us to remember all thy mercies, to rest in thy promises, and to walk in the light of thy presence, all our days. Amen. —John Calvin

My hope is in You Jesus!

Tuesday, 25 March 2025   And suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” Matthew 8:29   “And, you behold! They croaked, saying, ‘What – us and You – Jesus, Son of God. You came here to us before torment time?'” (CG).   In the previous verse, Jesus had arrived on the opposite shore of the Sea of Galilee. Upon arrival, it mentioned that He had met two men possessed by demons who were very fierce. This was so much the case that nobody could pass by their way. However, Jesus is now near them, and the demons recognize Him. This begins to be seen in Matthew's next words, which say, “And, you behold! They croaked.”   This is a new word, krazó. It is an onomatopoetic term for the raven's cry. There are various sounds a raven is noted for, such as a kraaa, a croak, short repeated shrills, knocking sounds, squeaking, and swooshing of their wings. The easiest way to describe them is a croak. As for what they croaked out, they were “saying, ‘What – us and You – Jesus, Son of God.'”   It is a Hebrew form of speaking that is found in the Old Testament, such as in David's words to some of his men –   “And says, the king, ‘What to me and to you, sons Zeruiah? If he will make light, and for Yehovah said to him, “Make light of David,” and who says, “Why done thus?”'” 1 Samuel 16:10 (CG).   The demons, therefore, are croaking out a desire to know why Jesus has come and what business He has with them. They seem surprised, but they also note that Jesus is the Son of God, thus acknowledging His deity and that He has every right to be wherever He wants at whatever time He desires.   So far in Matthew, Jesus has only been directly called the Son of God by the Traducer in Matthew 4:3 and 4:6. This is now the first time He is called this in front of others. However, chronologically, He was called this earlier, as recorded in John 1 by John the Baptist (John 1:34) and Nathanael (John 1:49).   In this same account, as recorded by Luke, Legion calls Him “Son of the Most High God” (Luke 8:28). As is clear, they understood Him to be God incarnate, not just a man who is called a son of God as occurs elsewhere in both testaments. This is all the more certain based on their next words which call out, “You came here to us before torment time?”   They use a new word, kairos, which signifies a particular time. Another common word for time in Greek is chronos, which is time that continues to move forward (think of a chronometer), whereas kairos speaks of a particular time such as a season, a set time, an opportune moment, etc.   The demons acknowledge that there is a torment time coming when the demons will be punished, and more, they understand that Jesus is the One who will mete out the punishment. This is not something a regular man will be in charge of. The words leave no doubt about their knowledge that Jesus is the incarnate Lord God.   Life application: Hebrews 2 says that God has not put the world to come in subjection to angels. Instead, He has given that authority to the Son. If Jesus were an angel (meaning a created being) then it would not be referring to Him. The same logic applies to evaluating this verse in Matthew.   God has given authority to the Son to punish both the fallen angels and the humans who fail to come to God through Him. This is seen in Matthew 25:41 –   “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'”   The demons (fallen angels) in Matthew 8 have a place prepared for them, along with the devil. As the judgment of all beings is not granted to angels (meaning created beings), then it logically follows that Jesus is not an angel. However, this is the doctrine of the Jehovah's Witnesses. They claim that Jesus is the archangel Michael.   It is true that the same word in both Hebrew and Greek, which is translated as “angel,” can simply mean a messenger, and this is what both John the Baptist and Jesus are called in Malachi 3:1. But context determines the meaning and the context is that the Messenger of Malachi 3:1 is the Lord, Yehovah.   Care needs to be taken when evaluating Scripture. Be certain to take all things you are taught with a grain of salt until you have verified them yourself. The deity of Jesus Christ is key to a right relationship with God. Any gospel message that is presented, and which denies this fundamental precept, it is a false gospel. Jesus is the Lord God.   Glorious God, thank You for sending Jesus to redeem us from sin. We know that You united with humanity in the Person of Jesus, and we hail You for what You have done. May we never deny the truth that Jesus is our Lord God! Amen.  

You: "Jesus, you take care of it... take care of everything."Jesus: "Say those words again, but this time like you're speaking them to someone in the room.I don't want dead words. Vain repetitions--meaning words without Love,words that feel like they're going into an abyss.You are My heart,and hearts feel,hearts Love.And that is My Will for you--to keep Me warm with (y)our Love, to keep Me company, and to recognize that I Am your only company.Keep trusting and saying, "Jesus, you take care of it." And know that I have. "I Love you,nik nikki@curlynikki.comPlease support the show: ▶▶https://www.patreon.com/goodmornings▶▶ Cash App $NikWalton __________________________________________"...Lead a life worthy of your calling for you have been called by God." - Ephesians 4:1"You put your plans ahead of God's plans for you that's why you have anxiety." -St. Paisios"I go on carrying my Cross for love of you, and you follow me for love of me. You hesitate to carry the cross because your nature seeks joy But how can you have joy if you don't carry the cross? Many souls would like to choose their own crosses and to make them light. When they do this by themselves, their crosses become much heavier instead, causing great distress and discouragement. Unite yourself to the Divine Will and bear your daily crosses with patience, courage, and submission. Trust in me, for I am your Simon of Cyrene. I will help you. What good are impatience and rebellion? Why must you seek your will in everything, when this can only cause you problems? Live with patience, and you shall live in peace. I give you my blessing." - Father Ruotolo Dolindo, Meditations on the Rosary "If God seems quiet right now, remember that no one shouts when they're right next to you." - @David_ford_I can find peace in the middle of a storm and walk on what is trying to drown me." - @kingofsolomon

John 1:35-51,35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” Can you recall the first time that you really saw Jesus? The first time you truly began to understand who he is? The first time when all his goodness, all his glory, all his worth began to really sink in and you saw him? You saw him. And, in a moment, your entire life recentered around him? For some in this room, that moment may have happened a long time ago. Perhaps when you were very young. For others, it may have happened fairly recently. For still others, you may not recall a specific moment, but perhaps a season, where it just steadily grew more and more apparent to you, “Jesus is King, Jesus is everything.” For some here, you may have no idea what I am talking about right now. You've never seen Jesus this way. Perhaps you want to. Perhaps you're open to it. If that's you, be assured, you are in the right place, because this morning our text is really about two things: Seeing Jesus (in the ways just described), and sharing Jesus.People will see Jesus, really see him. Then, they'll go and share Jesus with someone else. As a result, that someone else will also see Jesus. On and on and onIt is the heartbeat of this text — Jesus seen, Jesus shared, Jesus seen, Jesus shared.It is also the heartbeat of the church. At least, it ought to be. For if we truly are seeers of Jesus, then it only makes sense for us to be sharers of Jesus as well. Toward that end then, we're going to trace this story of Jesus seen and Jesus shared with an eye toward two encouragements for sharing Jesus with others. So, Jesus seen, Jesus shared, and, along the way, two encouragements for sharing Jesus with others.Let's pray and ask God for his help…Alright, so Jesus seen, Jesus shared. And that first one, Jesus seen, has already shown up in John.In John 1:14, John the Apostle writes,“And the Word [Jesus] became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”In John 1:32, John the Baptist says of Jesus, “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.”And in verse 34, John the Baptist says again,“I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”So Jesus has been seen. And now, beginning in verse 35, Jesus is going to be seen by more and more. Look with me at John 1:35.Jesus Seen: Andrew and the Other Disciple“The next day again John [that is, John the Baptist] was standing with two of his disciples…”Two of his followers. Men who, as followers of John, would've already been interested in spiritual matters and expecting John's invitation to go forth as Jesus followers. It's no surprise then that, in verse 36, these two disciples do exactly that. Upon hearing John proclaim, “Behold the Lamb of God!” they immediately turn and go after Jesus… And just imagine the smile upon John's face when they did! “At last, they've found him!”Well, Jesus sees these two former disciples of John now following him and asks, verse 38: “What are you seeking?” “What is it that you want?” What are you following me for? Are they in search of entertainment? Wanting to see impressive miracles and hear captivating speeches?Are they in search comfort? Hoping Jesus will solve all their problems and make their lives easier?Are they hoping for wealth and prosperity, and thinking Jesus is the way to get it? Are they looking for a supplement to an otherwise fairly good life?There's more than one reason to go after Jesus, right?So Jesus asks,“What are you seeking?”Their answer, still verse 38,“‘Rabbi' (which means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?'”It is a good response. Better, in fact, than they perhaps knew. For the truth of the matter is what these two men most needed in that moment — more than they needed anything else in all the world — was to simply be near to Jesus. Their souls, whether they knew it or not, were dying for nothing less than him. And, indeed, so are ours. Amazingly, Jesus doesn't respond by saying, “Get away from me.” Or, “Show me your credentials.” Neither does he merely give them his address, which alone would've been a kindness to them. Instead, he invites them in. He invites them near. Verse 39,“Come and you will see.”See what? At one level, they were going to see Jesus — a man who looked just like them. Two eyes, ten fingers, ten toes. And they were going to see him in a home — one that looked just like theirs. Small, simple, nothing to write home about.But at a whole other level, while in that home, while listening to Jesus, they were going to see that this was no ordinary man. This, Jesus, was indeed the long-awaited Messiah. The long-awaited Christ. The promised descendant of David, who would defeat God's enemies, build a house for God's name, and sit upon a throne of glory forever and ever.Hence, Andrew's words to his brother following this event: Verse 41,“‘We have found the Messiah' (which means Christ).”That's what Andrew saw in Jesus. And his first thought afterwards was, “I want my brother to see it too.”Verse 40,“One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah' (which means Christ).” You catch the flow of the story so far?John the Baptist sees Jesus. He then shares Jesus with his disciples, “Behold [it means look! See!] the Lamb of God.”Those disciples go and see Jesus.At least one of them, Andrew, then goes and shares Jesus with his brother. Jesus Seen: PeterSo, verse 42, Andrew brings his brother, Simon Peter, to Jesus. And Jesus says of him, verse 42,“‘You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas' (which means Peter).”Now, in that moment, did Peter see in the face of Jesus the same Christ, the same Messiah, that his brother Andrew saw? We don't know. The text doesn't tells us. But what we do know, from the rest of the New Testament, is that Peter did eventually see it. In Matthew 16, Jesus asks Peter, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter's answer was remarkably similar to his brother's. Matthew 16:16, “You [Jesus] are the Christ [Messiah], the Son of the living God.”So Jesus seen, Jesus shared, Jesus seen, Jesus shared. But one thing I want to note amidst this continued rhythm is what appears to be just the slightest degree of variance. And the variance is regarding who the particular persons are who are doing the seeing and sharing.For example, the whole thing begins with what we might call the spiritual A-team of that time. John the Baptist sharing Jesus with his disciples. But then it moves to one of those disciples (Andrew) sharing Jesus with Peter (who, unlike his brother, is not labeled a disciple).John the Baptist → one of his disciples → someone who was not a disciple.Now, if we're meant to detect that slight shift, and I believe we are, then it seems we're also meant to detect an even greater shift in what comes next. Namely, the sharing of Jesus by someone who had not been a disciple of John, with someone who, at least initially, puts up some resistance. See it with me in verse 43. Jesus Seen: PhilipVerse 43,“The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip…”Again, nothing here about Philip being a disciple of John (like Andrew), nor a sibling of a disciple of John (like Peter). Nevertheless, Jesus finds him anyways, and says,“Follow me.”It's a call much like that of Andrew's in verse 39,“Come and you will see.”And the effect is likewise similar. Just as Andrew, after seeing Jesus, went and shared Jesus with Peter, so Philip, having now seen Jesus, goes and finds Nathanael. Look with me at verse 45:“Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote...”That's basically long-hand for we have found the Messiah. The Christ. The one foretold by Moses and the prophets. But then comes a wrinkle. Still verse 45: “‘We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.'” Not Wanting to See Jesus?Now, pause here for a moment. Do you know why those two disciples of John, back in verse 37, went after Jesus in the first place? I know we're moving backward here a little, but stay with me. Do you know what it was that allowed those two disciples of John, as well as Peter, as well as Philip, to see Jesus? To have interest in Jesus? To come to the point of understanding Jesus for who he truly was? Was it the fact that they were living in a time when people commonly thought about and talked about spiritual things? That they had grown up in a context, ancient Judaism, where people commonly anticipated the coming of the Messiah? Do you understand their spiritual interest and spiritual sight to be a direct result of them being pre-conditioned and predisposed towards it?If you do, then you likely already put these men of John 1 into a category far different than all the unbelievers currently around you. Your co-workers, after all, don't seem to ever think about spiritual things. Your neighbors aren't on the lookout for a coming Messiah. And since they're not, then we'd certainly not expect them to, if they were to have Jesus shared with them, actually go after him the way Andrew, Philip, and Peter did, right?Brothers and sisters, could I remind us of something this morning? God is the one who draws the human heart, not worldviews. God is the one who woos people to himself, not cultural contexts.To be sure, God often uses God-conscious worldviews and God-focused contexts to draw people to himself. Hence, the many people in this room who grew up in a Christian home and are now Christians themselves. But remember what God tells us in the Word about the human heart. It is a thing far too dead in sin and far too set on following the course of this world for any mere context — no matter how God-conscious, God-focused it may be — to draw them to Jesus.Do you know why Andrew left John to go after Jesus? Do you know why Philip saw Jesus as Messiah? Do you know why you and I are worshipers of Jesus today?It is because God worked a miracle! Had he not, not one of us — neither you, nor me, nor Andrew, nor Philip — would've ever gone after Jesus, at least not in a way that'd be of any spiritual profit. The truth is that in order for anyone to ever truly see Jesus, God has to work a miracle. God has to draw them in to see. And, that's exactly the work that God has been doing for the last 2,000 years.First TraitAnd so, the first encouragement for sharing Jesus with others: God draws people in to see. People who are far from him, who are initially disinterested in him. People who claim to be dead set against him. God draws people in to see. Because he can, and because he wants to. So, we put in our effort. We still extend the invitation. Andrew got his brother. Philip pursued Nathanael. But God is the one who ultimately draws people in to see. He did so with each one of us who are believers in this room this morning. He did it, and he can do it again. God draws people in to see.Now, back to our wrinkle: Philip talking to Nathanael. Jesus Seen: Nathanael (part one)Verse 45,“We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”Now look right there. Nathanael was not expecting, let alone looking for, a Messiah from the Podunk city of Nazareth. He'd not been pre-conditioned for that. His worldview couldn't seem to put those two details together which is why he responded the way he did in verse 46,“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”Philip does not take that as a sign he should give up. “Whoa, okay man, sorry I brought it up. I guess I'll cross you off my list of potential converts.” No, he doesn't do that. Instead, he just says,“Come and see.”And Nathanael does! Amazing. Second TraitNow, here is a second encouragement for sharing Jesus with others.First encouragement: God draws people in to see.Second encouragement: Jesus is a sight worth seeing.Here's what I mean…Philip did not try and lure Nathanael in with treats and trinkets and balloons, though those things in and of themselves are not bad.Philip did not launch into a philosophical argument or verbal challenge of how Nathanael's worldview was wrong and his own was right, though there may be a place for that. And Philip certainly did not waiver, thinking, “Perhaps Nathanael's right. Perhaps a Messiah from Nazareth really is a bit far-fetched. Unimpressive. Unlikely.” Philip did not do any of those things, and you know why he didn't? Because Philip had seen Jesus! He had seen his glory, seen his goodness, seen his power, seen his beauty. He had seen, in Jesus, the greatest thing he had ever beheld in his entire life.Therefore, his one and only aim in that moment was to just get Nathanael in front of Jesus. Just get him to lift his eyes up to Jesus and see him too! I mean, Jesus can take it from there. His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth, is more than sufficient to captivate any unbeliever no matter how seemingly far from him. Jesus is a sight worth seeing.Do we know this? Do we believe this? Are we convinced that if our unbelieving neighbor, our unbelieving co-worker, could just see Jesus, that that'd be enough? Brothers and sisters, Jesus is not a semi-impressive individual. He walks on water. He gives sight to the blind. He heals the paralyzed. He never lies. Never sins. Never disappoints. His love is deep beyond measure. He is God in the flesh! He is a sight worth seeing. So, first encouragement: God draws people in to see.Second encouragement: Jesus is a sight worth seeing.Now, back to Nathanael.Jesus Seen: Nathanael (part two)Philip and Nathanael go to see Jesus. Turns out, Jesus is way ahead of them. Verse 47,“Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!' Nathanael said to him, ‘How do you know me?' Jesus answered him, ‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.'”Nathanael's jaw drops. His eyes widen. He then answers,“‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!'”Nathanael saw Jesus.Now note: when we see that phrase, “Son of God!”, it sounds like Nathanael is calling Jesus God — calling Jesus divine. And while Jesus is God, fully divine, it's far more likely that what Nathanael meant by “Son of God” in this text was Jesus is Messiah. Jesus is the King of Israel, just as he says next. And the reason for that is because the Messiah, the long-awaited king-figure of the Old Testament is also called a son of God. Psalm 2:7,“I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you.'”2 Samuel 7:14, God says,“I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.”So it seems Nathanael, Andrew, and Philip are all essentially saying the same thing in slightly different ways in this text — Jesus is the Messiah.And Jesus receives all the variations of that title that they give him. It's interesting. Remember earlier when John the Baptist had rejected all his supposed titles… “Are you the Christ? No. Are you Elijah? No. Are you the Prophet? No.” Here, Jesus receives all his titles: Lamb of God, Messiah, One who Moses and the prophets wrote, Son of God, King of Israel. “Yes”, says Jesus, “I am Messiah. And now, watch as I blow the lid off your understanding of who the Messiah really is.” Jesus Seen As GreaterVerse 50,“Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”Greater than the Messiah? Really?Verse 51,“And he said to him ‘Truly, truly, I say to you [and the “you” here is plural, so he's referring to more than just Nathanael], you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” That's incredible. What Jesus just did is take two major Old Testament references, smush them together, and say they're all about him.Let's take that first one, “…you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending…” It's a reference to Jacob's vision in Genesis 28. When Jacob, in his sleep, saw a ladder connecting heaven and earth, with angels going up and down on it. And it's his interpretation of the event that is truly breathtaking. Listen for the emphasis, Genesis 28:16,“Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.' And he was afraid and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.'”The gate. The doorway. The point of entry between earth and heaven. Jesus, taking ahold of that story, is now saying here, “I am that gate. I am that point of entry between heaven and earth. The angels are going to ascend and descend upon me.” “And who am I? Well, I am the Son of Man.” This is a reference to Daniel 7. And I'm going to read it, and what I want you to mainly focus in on is where this scene from Daniel 7 is taking place. Daniel 7:13-14,I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days [that's God the Father] and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.Where is this vision taking place? It's taking place in heaven. The Son of Man is King, in other words, not just of Israel, but all of heaven. And Jesus is saying “that's me.” Jesus can be the gate between earth and heaven because he's come from heaven down, for his people, with the invitation, “I'm going back up to reign as King, and if you receive me, then I will take you back with me to be where I am. Andrew, Philip, Nathanael, you see that I am the Messiah. You will soon see that I am a Messiah far greater than anything you ever expected.”Welcome Others to See Him TooFriends, have you seen Jesus? Has God drawn you in to see Jesus? Has he been revealed to you through God's Word and in God's church? Has the sight of Jesus changed your life? Changed your eternity?Be encouraged, share Jesus with others. Share Jesus with others. Invite your neighbor, though he may not care two cents about Christianity, to come and read the Bible with you. Invite your co-worker, though she thinks little if ever upon spiritual matters, to listen to a sermon on the gospel. Invite your family member, though they may be dead set against all forms of organized religion, to hear what you so love about Jesus.And invite people here. Invite them to see Jesus in the book of John. I know there aren't often a lot of empty seats left, but look, I've been around this church enough to know that if you come even just 15 minutes early you'll have plenty of seats to choose from. Invite people to see Jesus. They will not be disappointed. Jesus is a sight worth seeing, and God can draw them in to see him.The TableNow, what brings us to the table this morning is the fact that Jesus, Messiah, King of Heaven came down to earth, ultimately, to die for the sins of the world. He shed his blood, had his body broken, so that forgiveness of sins could be made possible for those who receive him — so that forgiven people could rise with him into heaven for all eternity.

Passage: 1 When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” 2 Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” 3 Then she said, “Here is my servant Bilhah; go in to her, so that she may give birth on my behalf, that even I may have children through her.” 4 So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. 5 And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6 Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan. 7 Rachel's servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8 Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali. 9 When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 Then Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11 And Leah said, “Good fortune has come!” So she called his name Gad. 12 Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13 And Leah said, “Happy am I! For women have called me happy.” So she called his name Asher. 14 In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son's mandrakes.” 15 But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes.” 16 When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son's mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. (Genesis 30:1-16 ESV) Song: Thank You, Jesus (https://open.spotify.com/track/4cpZ1FTm1SjwTGbA7R4WH1?si=e164c7ce69184551) by Chris Davenport, Ethan Hulse, Josh Baldwin Lyrics: Thank You Jesus for finding me Like a good shepherd Your mercy leads Back to Your arms where I'm meant to be So I thank You Jesus for finding me Thank You Jesus for saving me You took my place on that cursed tree Died for sinners but rose as a King So I thank You Jesus for saving me Oh it's only because of all You've done That I can be called a friend of God Oh beautiful Savior what else can I do But lift up my voice and say thank You Thank You Jesus for loving me Shame lost its hold when You set me free Every fear has to bow at Your feet So I thank You Jesus for loving me I enter the gates of the Lord with thanksgiving I enter the courts of the Lord with praise Oh thank You Oh thank You Prayer: O you plenteous source of every good and perfect gift, shed abroad the cheering light of your sevenfold grace over our hearts. Yes, Spirit of love and gentleness, we most humbly implore your assistance. You know our faults, our failings, our necessities, the dullness of our understanding, the waywardness of our affections, the perverseness of our will. When, therefore, we neglect to practice what we know, visit us, we ask you, with your grace; enlighten our minds, rectify our desires, correct our wanderings, and pardon our omissions, so that by your guidance we may be preserved from making shipwreck of faith, and keep a good conscience, and may at length be landed safe in the haven of eternal rest; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. -Anselm

Your Daily Prayer

November 24, 2024 Preparation for Worship Time for Gathering Opening Hymn “Come Ye Thankful People Come” Come ye thankful people come raise the song of harvest-home All is safely gathered in ere the winter storms begin God our Maker doth provide for our wants to be supplied Come to God's own temple come raise the song of harvest-home All the world is God's own field fruit unto His praise to yield Wheat and tares together sown unto joy or sorrow grown First the blade and then the ear then the full corn shall appear Lord of harvest grant that we wholesome grain and pure may be For the Lord our God shall come and shall take His harvest home From His field shall in that day all offenses purge away Give His angels charge at last in the fire the tares to cast But the fruitful ears to store in His garner evermore Even so Lord quickly come to Thy final harvest-home Gather Thou Thy people in free from sorrow free from sin There forever purified in Thy presence to abide Come with all Thine angels come raise the glorious harvest-home Amen! Prayer of Praise Song of Worship Prayers of the Church and Prayer of our Lord Offering and Hymn “We Gather Together” We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing He chastens and hastens His will to make known The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing Sing praises to His name He forgets not His own Beside us to guide us our God with us joining ordaining maintaining His kingdom divine So from the beginning the fight we were winning thou Lord was at our side all glory be Thine We all do extol Thee thou Leader triumphant and pray that Thou still our Defender will be Let Thy congregation escape tribulation Thy Name be ever praised O Lord make us free Scripture Lesson 1 Thessalonians 5 :14-22 Sermon Happiness Doubled by Wonder Closing Hymn “Thank You Jesus for the Blood” I was a wretch I remember who I was I was lost I was blind I was running out of time Sin separated the breach was far too wide but from the far side of the chasm You had me in Your sight So You made a way across the great divide left behind Heaven's throne to build it here inside There at the cross You paid the debt I owed broke my chains freed my soul For the first time I had hope Chorus Thank You Jesus for the blood applied thank You Jesus it has washed me white Thank You Jesus You have saved my life brought me from the darkness into glorious light You took my place laid inside my tomb of sin You were buried for three days But then You walked right out again and now death has no sting and life has no end For I have been transformed by the blood of the Lamb [Chorus] There is nothing stronger than (Oh) the wonder working power Of the blood the blood That calls us sons and daughters we are ransomed by our Father Through the blood the blood(2x's)[Chorus] Glory to His name glory to His Name There to my heart was the blood applied glory to His name Benediction BIRTHDAYS Join us tonight at 5PM for a heartwarming concert with Mike Kinnebrew! • Sunday Morning Study: Great Moments in Church History | 9 AM in the Sunshine Room • Sunday Prayer | 9:30 AM in the Sunshine Room • Monday Bible Study | 12 & 6 PM in the Sanctuary and via Zoom • Wednesday Issues Hour | 11 AM in the Fellowship Area and via Zoom • F3 Christmas Trolley: Thursday, December 5th | Trolley leaves the church at 5PM, $10/person to Kathy or Nancy. • The chancel flowers were given today by Mary Elizabeth and Robert Porter Lynch.

Key ScriptureRevelation 4, Revelation 5PrayerHoly, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.You Jesus, are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.Holy Spirit, open the eyes of my heart!In Jesus Name! Amen

Your Daily Prayer

Your Daily Prayer

Your Daily Prayer

You: "Jesus, you take care of it... take care of everything." Jesus: "Say those words again, but this time like you're speaking them to someone in the room. I don't want dead words.  Vain repetitions-- meaning words without Love, words that feel like they're going into an abyss. You are My heart, and hearts feel, hearts Love. And that is My Will for you-- to keep Me warm with (y)our Love,  to keep Me company,  and to recognize that I Am your only company. Keep trusting and saying, "Jesus, you take care of it."  And know that I have. "   I Love you, nik  nikki@curlynikki.com Our Next 9-Day Surrender Challenge will begin on Monday, August 19th! Follow along here and on Instagram. @CurlyNikki  Please support the show: ▶▶https://www.patreon.com/goodmornings ▶▶ Cash App $NikWalton  __________________________________________ "...Lead a life worthy of your calling for you have been called by God." - Ephesians 4:1 "You put your plans ahead of God's plans for you that's why you have anxiety." -St. Paisios "I go on carrying my Cross for love of you, and you follow me for love of me. You hesitate to carry the cross because your nature seeks joy But how can you have joy if you don't carry the cross? Many souls would like to choose their own crosses and to make them light. When they do this by themselves, their crosses become much heavier instead, causing great distress and discouragement. Unite yourself to the Divine Will and bear your daily crosses with patience, courage, and submission. Trust in me, for I am your Simon of Cyrene. I will help you. What good are impatience and rebellion? Why must you seek your will in everything, when this can only cause you problems? Live with patience, and you shall live in peace. I give you my blessing." - Father Ruotolo Dolindo, Meditations on the Rosary  "If God seems quiet right now, remember that no one shouts when they're right next to you."  - @David_ford_ I can find peace in the middle of a storm and walk on what is trying to drown me." - @kingofsolomon 

August 4, 2024 Preparation for Worship Time for Gathering Opening Hymn “Rejoice the Lord is King” Rejoice the Lord is King your Lord and King adore Rejoice give thanks and sing and triumph evermore Lift up your heart lift up your voice rejoice again I say rejoice Our Savior Jesus reigns the God of truth and love When He had purged our stains He took His seat above Lift up your heart lift up your voice rejoice again I say rejoice His kingdom cannot fail He rules o'er earth and heaven The keys of death and hell are to our Jesus given Lift up your heart lift up your voice rejoice again I say rejoice Rejoice in glorious hope for Christ the Judge shall come And take His servants up to their eternal home Lift up your heart lift up your voice rejoice again I say rejoice Amen! Prayer of Praise Song of Worship Prayers of the Church Offering and Doxology Scripture Lesson Revelation 5:1-10 Sermon The Lion is The Lamb The Lords Supper (The bread is gluten-free and the cup is alcohol free) Prayers of Thanksgiving and the Lord's Prayer Closing Hymn “Thank You Jesus for the Blood” I was a wretch I remember who I was I was lost I was blind I was running out of time Sin separated the breach was far too wide but from the far side of the chasm You had me in Your sight So You made a way across the great divide left behind Heaven's throne to build it here inside There at the cross You paid the debt I owed broke my chains freed my soul For the first time I had hope Chorus Thank You Jesus for the blood applied thank You Jesus it has washed me white Thank You Jesus You have saved my life brought me from the darkness into glorious light You took my place laid inside my tomb of sin You were buried for three days But then You walked right out again and now death has no sting and life has no end For I have been transformed by the blood of the Lamb [Chorus] There is nothing stronger than (Oh) the wonder working power Of the blood the blood That calls us sons and daughters we are ransomed by our Father Through the blood the blood(2x's)[Chorus] Glory to His name glory to His Name There to my heart was the blood applied glory to His name Benediction Fellowship • Sunday Morning Study: The Life and Times of Joseph | 9 AM in the Sunshine Room • Sunday Prayer | 9:30 AM in the Sunshine Room • Monday Bible Study | 12 & 6 PM in the Sanctuary and via Zoom • Wednesday Issues Hour | 11 AM in the Fellowship Area and via Zoom • All Church Brunch: Sunday, August 11th | 12PM at Ridgway. Individual checks, please sign up. • F3 Ladies Luncheon: Wednesday, August 14th | 12 PM at The French on 5th Ave. Please sign up.

Jesus comes back. That fact alone is amazing. He's coming to finish what was started at the crucifixion and resurrection. He's coming back to MAKE WAR.We are waiting for You Jesus. And, we are waiting for you IN THIS WAY. He's coming in judgment. He's coming to strike down the rebellious nations. He's coming to rule with a rod of iron. He's coming to tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God.This is exactly how we are waiting for you. We welcome you IN THIS WAY. bewithme.us bewithme.us@gmail Spotify

Today's Passage: Matthew 25:34-36, 40Today's Prayer: Father, you are so close to the poor.  You even identify yourself with them.  You are concerned with their needs; you fight for those that are oppressed and you have called us to follow in your steps.  We ask that you would break our hearts for what breaks yours.  We ask that you would slow us down, open our eyes, and attune our hearts to the plight of those on the margins. Lead us into meaningful relationships with those in poverty.   I pray that we would be a people marked by compassion that leads to action, that we would take seriously the call to take care of the poor, that we would be openhanded with our lives and our resources, to literally feed those who are hungry, to clothes those who are naked, to shelter those who are alienated and alone.  May our hearts be obedient to our new mission, willing to be uncomfortable, to risk, to sacrifice for those suffering from poverty, for You Jesus.  Destroy the stereotypes, the negative thoughts, and the busyness in our hearts and lives that keep us from being close to You and those in need. May we truly, truly love our neighbors as ourselves.   For thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever…AMEN.NOTES & LINKS:21 Days of Prayer and Fasting WebsitePDF Guide to Prayer & FastingAs part of the 21 days, we're committing to 21 days of 24/7 prayer. Sign up here.Reach out to the Adult Ministries Team 

Day 243 Today's Reading: Revelation 5 When I travel overseas, the first thing I have to look for in that new country is a currency exchange counter. I need to turn US dollars into the currency of that country. My currency doesn't work on their foreign soil. I can't use dollars when they only accept pesos or euros. In today's reading, we are introduced to a currency that is required to live on eternal soil and a transaction that benefits the planet. The return or rate on the currency is unlike anyone has ever seen or heard. Listen to these words that John hears being sung in heaven: “They sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation'” (Revelation 5:9). Did you see the transaction? “You [Jesus] purchased for God”—the transaction “With Your blood”—the currency “Men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation”—the product purchased, all humanity The blood of Jesus was the currency that heaven accepted to purchase our redemption. The blood of Jesus is the only acceptable currency that allows me to go to heaven. If the value of an article is determined by the price paid for it, and Jesus died for you, then you can believe you are very valuable to God because God is not a foolish investor. Your worth to Him is the price of His precious Son's life. “The temptation of our times is to look good without being good.” In other words, we try to use bogus currency that heaven, that foreign land, will not accept. We spend money and time trying to fix the outside, thinking it will fix the inside. “We suck and tuck and are still stuck and out of luck” (Brennan Manning). The inside issue is the issue, and the issue is a sin issue. The cross has revealed to good men that their goodness has not been good enough. Men have tried for ages to get by on bogus currency. Let's see why this currency called the blood of Jesus is so important to understand. Jesus was punished for my sin because sin had to be punished. His shed blood was the result of my sin and its payment for my sin. If my sin was not transferred to Jesus, then someone else has to pay for it. Why? Because it is a crime against God, and all crimes must be paid for. You and I would not be here if we had to pay for that crime against God. Someone had to die for committing crime against God—and it was Jesus who died in our place. But with one caveat: the One who died for me rose again! Jesus' death is the acceptable payment, the currency for all of humanity. Why is sacrifice necessary for the atonement of sin? Because Justice demands it. A crime cannot be forgiven without a payment or just an “I'm sorry.” We live in a time in which people try to pay the crime with the wrong currency and have never done the currency exchange. Let me give you three currencies that God won't accept: Currency #1: Sincerity. Some think that because they mean well that this is enough. But we have to exchange for the blood of Christ. Currency #2: Service. Some think that God owes them something because of their basic decency. That good people go to heaven, and goodness is measured on a scale against their bad things, and if the scale tips in the good favor, then they're in. Doing good or being good is their currency. But we have to exchange for the blood of Christ. Currency #3. Feeling sorry. Some think that if they feel bad for their sin and they cry, God knows their heart. The problem is that He does know our hearts, and the only remedy is a currency exchange, the blood of Jesus. Romans 5:10 says, “we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son,” not by men's currency of sincerity, service, or apology. We can't leave Jesus out of the equation. Recently I read the best mathematical equation ever: 1 Cross + 3 Nails = 4 Given. That's the currency we need. Consider this: who was the greatest sinner in human history? Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Bin Laden? Some say the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. Some list serial killers Ted Bundy or Jeffrey Dahmer. Some say, the men who planned and acted out the events of September 11, 2001. But the greatest sinner in human history was Jesus. He took all of their sins and ours at the same time to the cross. At some point between noon and 3 p.m. on that Friday two thousand years ago, God charged Jesus as “the” sinner of the planet, with every human sin on Him: “For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God's goodness into us!” (2 Corinthians 5:21, TLB). Why did He die? So you and I would not have to. That's why the most precious metal is not gold, silver, or platinum. It was four rusty nails. Toward the end of the Civil War, when it was clear the North was going to win, Southerners had Confederate money that they realized was soon going to be worthless. Their currency wasn't going to be accepted, so they needed to figure out how to get US currency. Right now, we Christians are living in the south (this world), and when Jesus comes, He is going to take us North (heaven). The only currency that works up there is what has been transmuted into heavenly currency, the blood of Jesus. We need a currency exchange to live on that foreign soil. Calvary shows how far men will go in sin and how far God will go for man's salvation. God always goes further, a lot further. If you need to find a currency exchange counter for heaven, it's as close as asking Jesus to change you. And your currency gets exchanged when you choose to be born again.

Join Revival Cry Podcast host Eric Miller as he shares a message called “I Want More”. Recorded live in Fountain of Life Church, Kingston, New York, United States of America   Voglio di Più" ("I Want More") Written by Gioele Manciavillano Click here to listen to the featured track in this episode!  VERSE 1 Ho bramato la presenza Tua [I have longed for Your presence] Ora sono qui a versare il mio olio ai piedi Tuoi [Now I am here to pour my oil at Your feet] la fragranza della mia lode salga ora a Te [Let the fragrance of my praise rise now to You] VERSE 2 Voglio stare qui alla Tua presenza [I want to stay here in Your presence] Voglio conoscere il Tuo cuore E contemplare il volto Tuo [I want to know Your heart and behold Your face] Avvicinami a te Gesù, io voglio di più [Get me close to You Jesus, I want more] CHORUS Ooh ooh, Voglio di più [Ooh ooh, I want more] lo voglio andare in profondità [I want to go deep] BRIDGE Quando sono qui davanti a Te  [When I am here before You] Voglio solo darti gloria oh Re [All I want is to give you glory oh King] Qui contemplo la Tua maestà  [Here I behold Your majesty] Sono avvolto dalla tua bontà [I am wrapped by your goodness]   Click here to go to the official Revival Cry YouTube channel. To see the Revival Cry podcast on another streaming service, click here.   Listen to Revival Cry on Mango Radio every:  ⏵ Thursday evenings | 6:30pm — 7:00pm PHT ⏵ Saturday mornings | 6:30am — 7:00am PHT available at: ⏵ 102.7 FM (Davao)  ⏵ 91.5 FM (Zamboanga)  ⏵ or listen online via TuneIn   To support Revival Cry or find out more information, go to revivalcry.org Email us at info@revivalcry.org  Follow @RevivalCryInternational on Facebook and Instagram.   Purchase Eric's 30-Day Devotional Books:  ⏵ “How to Become a Burning Bush”, available in English and Italian ⏵ “Hearing God through His Creation”, available in English, Italian, Spanish, and Japanese

Well hey, hello and happy giveaway winner announcement day! Yeah, that's not an official federal day to celebrate I guess, but I'm going to announce the winners of the Celebrate 150 Episodes Giveaway. And we are on to the next book in the Bible, Leviticus, in this series where we are really just working our way through every single one of the 66 books of the Bible to deep dive into a promise from each book. Here we are in book number 3, Leviticus. This is a good one, really powerful faith-building stuff in today's promise. I'm ready if you are! Let's go…   Free Basic Pass to 2023 Homeschool Super Heroes Summit hosted by Kerry Beck You're listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing in the Edifi app. Today's episode is sponsored by Kerry Beck's Homeschool Super Heroes Summit, an online summit for homeschool families that will bless, equip, and encourage those who have chosen the home education lifestyle. Grab your free ticket at the link in the show notes (and fun fact: I'm blessed to be the prayer coordinator for this event and I will be hosting a live prayer room each day of the summit at 12 noon Central time - and I'd love to be able to connect with you there and pray for you in real time, so feel free to sign up and share this with anyone you know who might be interested.) Big thanks to Kerry for hosting this event year after year. Now, on with the show! This is episode number 153.   Leviticus chapter 26 is a promise chapter. In the NLT, it is entitled “God's Promises for Those Who Keep His Laws”. So God's promises play pretty predominantly in Leviticus 26. Now, disclaimer: we are under the New Covenant, thank You Jesus, and I surely do mean that, thank You Jesus, so we aren't like the religious leaders or legalists who are all about the law. We live by faith, we have a living hope, and we are under grace, recipients of tremendous mercy, not sinning wildly, not grace abusers, not bratty children of the Most High God, not at all. Just not legalists. I'm gonna let you in on something, and so many of you likely already know this…the devil is a legalist. If he can find a way to gain some sort of legal access, like he's got permission, has been given access, to invade some part of your life, he will take full advantage (and it is an invasion…he won't stay politely in the guest suite. Invaders just invade, and they aren't usually super polite about it.)  Anywhere he can start to build a stronghold, he's gonna do it. He's a destroyer, for sure, but he is a legalist so he wants a legal reason to get all up into your business. So, what does that actually look like for us? Well, if satan can get you to be a legalist, to be religious more than having a relationship with the Lord, that's a good start for the devil. He would like for all of God's children to have our own set of adaptations and additions to God's Word…like the Pharisees and Sadducees had in Jesus' day. The ten commandments grew into more than 600 rules and regulations. If satan can't keep you out of the Kingdom, he'll put some serious effort into turning you into a legalist. And then, as Jesus said, what happens is we end judging others, inside and outside of the Church, and some things in our own life we let slide, we leave wiggle room, because we're really doing pretty good at following the rules, now the rules may be based on the Bible, but the grace dissipates and do's versus don'ts spring up in the place where grace ought to be. And then it becomes really easy to judge judge judge everybody else by that set of rules. But it's a sliding scale, isn't it? We so easily see the little tiny splinter in someone else's eye and we can't see clearly because we have a two by four jutting out of our skull. Is it time to yell, “Timber!” regarding that hunk of wood obstructing our view, cut it down, rip it out, ask the Holy Spirit for grace in place of legalism, and kick the enemy out by revoking his legal access to our life? If he can get at you legally, he will. He is, after, the accuser of the brethren (that's you and me, my friend) who stands accusing us before the Father day and night. But when you live and walk and exist by grace and stand by grace alone, knowing and even saying out loud at times that you are clean by because the blood of the Lamb has made you clean, you are telling the devil he has overstayed his welcome, time to go. Bye bye.   I hope that is encouraging to somebody listening today. Your freedom in Christ is a big deal. Don't trade it in for legalism.    Leviticus 26:3-11 NLT 3 “This is what I will do if you will live by my laws and carefully obey my commands: 4 “I will give you rain at the right time. The land will produce its crops, and the trees in the field will produce their fruit. 5 Threshing [a] time will last until grape gathering, and grape gathering will last until planting. You will eat all you want and live securely in your land. 6 “I will bring peace to your land. You will lie down with no one to scare you. I will remove dangerous animals, and there will be no war in your land. 7 You will chase your enemies, and you will defeat them. 8 Five of you will chase a hundred of them, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand of them. You will defeat your enemies, 9 and I will be pleased with you. Your families will be large, and I will keep my promise [b] to you. 10 You will clear out old food supplies to make room for new ones. 11 “I will put my tent among you, and I will never look at you with disgust. 12 So I will live among you and be your God, and you will be my people. 13 I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of Egypt so that you are no longer slaves of the Egyptians. I have broken their power over you and made you live as a free people. Yeah, this is awesome. And we can apply this to our lives as disciples of Jesus. Because the Old Testament, if we look and pay attention, it is always pointing toward Jesus. What can we learn about God's promises for us under the New Covenant from this passage? First, we see that God loves us enough to warn us of the evil that is after us. And He is so kind, He tells us about the opposite, too. He promises provision, and uses the words “at the right time” which should alleviate our stress. He is a good, faithful provider. Do you need to trust Him more and believe Him better in the area of provision? If so, you are for sure not alone.  God goes on here to promise peace and protection. He mentions wild and dangerous animals, and He mentions war in their land, they will chase their enemies and defeat them. Hey, let's look at that spiritually. We know based on what Paul told us about who we fight, and who don't fight - principalities and dark forces in the spiritual realm, that's who we are really warring with. Can we believe, based on Leviticus 26, that God will allow us to defeat our enemies? The answer is a bold, strong YES! Can we believe that we won't have war in our land? Well, that comes with a nationwide obedience to the Lord, and we don't have that happening here in the USA…and as I've said before, it is so helpful to remember we are Christians above all else, I just happen to have been born in America but I'm not one to say I am an American Christian because I am a citizen of heaven, as it says in the New Testament. My love of Jesus is far above and beyond the place I live. In this current age, I don't know that God is breaking a promise if war were to come to our nation, ya know what I mean? We don't fulfill the criteria, we have so much heartbreaking vile sin in the US, maybe our baseline prayer for our country should be for revival, that millions upon millions would have Christ revealed to them. And that would be so beautiful, wouldn't it?    Here we also find a promised blessing on the family unit. You know it's a good thing to believe God for His very best for your family, and when your kiddos are younger and still at home, pray boldly and live Biblically, parent Biblically. Expect God to keep His promises, and there are promises about the family in the Bible. A lot of encouragement for us in God's word, so if you are raising young children, ask boldly for all God's promises for the family to prove true for you. That's a big prayer, but man, God is so good at keeping His promises, let's be so good at believing Him for that.   In verse 10, we sort of touch on provision again, but it's like combined with the family blessing promise. If God gives you a large family, He is telling You He will provide. You're gonna have to clear out the old food supply, you won't even be able to use it all, and the new supply will be at your doorstep and you'll have to put that in your storehouse. I think you could pray this in a variety of ways for your own life. “Lord, we need some more coming in provision wise for our family. You blessed us with these children, and You have entrusted them to us for a time. Help us to teach them Your Word, to speak of Your miracles as it says in Psalm 78, and to lean fully on the power of Your Spirit in our parenting. Give us all the provision we need, financially, with food and with healthcare and with our home and our cars and clothing and celebrating special days like birthdays and give us amply all that we need to raise them to know You and to love You and to be set apart to live fully for You, even once they leave our home.” That is how I would pray Leviticus 26 verse 10 if my children were still young and living at home. Pray like God is hearing you, and pray like He is answering you. Pray and trust, two really solid spiritual disciplines for Christian living in times when the economy is rough and society is pushy pushy pushy with things that are the exact opposite of what God wants for the people He created. Pray and trust today, and do it again tomorrow.   Verse 11 - “I will put My tent among you, and I will never look at you with disgust.” He really is God with us. He is Emmanuel. He sees us through the righteousness of Christ, our filthiness becomes wooly white. God does not have to put His tent among us. We have the Holy Spirit indwelling us. This is a gift of magnitude we cannot fully comprehend. We ought to be the most grateful, thankful, joyful people on this planet because God has put His tent among us. This is a big, big deal! How blessed are we? Boy, we are crazy blessed. It's so much blessing we'd prolly fall over and faint if we caught even a glimpse of what it looks like in the spiritual realm to have the Lord right here…has God not made great promises and then kept them all to His people?    Verse 12 - “So I will live among you and be your God, and you will be My people.” Do you know that you are a child of God? Like, know that you know? And has that knowing changed your thinking and changed your living? Children of God should live knowing how loved they are. They should love others well because they are secure in who they are, due to the love of their Father. Are you numbered among His people? If so, you are so very loved and God's love poured out on you is going to keep on pouring out on you, in never-ending measure. Live loved. I think if we could do that we could change the world around us, ya know?   Let's skip down to verse 40 -   40 “But if they confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors—the treacherous things they did to oppose me— 41 I will oppose them and bring them into the lands of their enemies. Then, if they humble their uncircumcised hearts and accept their guilt, 42 I will remember my promise to Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham. I will also remember the land. 43 The land, abandoned by them, will enjoy its time to honor the Lord while it lies deserted without them. They must accept their guilt because they rejected my rules and looked at my laws with disgust. 44 Even when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or look at them with disgust. I will not reject or cancel my promise to them, because I am the Lord their God. 45 But for their sake, I will remember the promise to their ancestors. I brought them out of Egypt to be their God while nations looked on. I am the Lord.”   Now when we sin, He is faithful and just to cleanse us from all our sin and unrighteousness when we confess it, it says in 1 John 1:9. Be quick to confess when you need to. That saying, keep short accounts with God, that's good counsel. As quickly as you can, confess. Repentance isn't a shameful thing; the devil wants us to feel like it's shameful, but it's not. It's a gift. It keeps us clean. Take a shower when you need to, and repent when you need to. And then get the promised blessing! God will not reject or cancel His promise to His people. Because He is the Lord our God.  For our sake, oh man how He loves us, for our sake He will remember the promises He's made. He brought them out of Egypt, the nation of Israel. And has He not brought you out of something? Some place that was bondage? Where you felt beat down, low, lost, forgotten, weary…has He not brought you out? He is good at that, and He does it for each and every person who will turn to Him and receive Him as Savior.    He is your God today, and He has heaped up these promises in the Bible, piled them up high as can be, and they are but a drop in the bucket compared to His love for you. I hope today you can rest in that love, be at peace in His love, pray boldly with newfound faith because of God's love, and go to sleep tonight with ease and wake up refreshed and renewed due to the love God has for you.   Thank you so much for listening today, and remember the link for the homeschool summit and also it's time to announce the giveaway winners…here are the names (not sharing too much like don't want to be unsafe or anything, but check your DM's on Instagram or Messenger on Facebook if you hear your like first name). Okay, had several prizes and several winners so hang on with me while I go through them now.    (Names removed from show notes...) Please check your DMs and that will be on it's way to you soon!  Thank you so much for the support with the new podcast and the milestone of 150 episodes of this podcast. It was a good time to pause and reflect and thank God for allowing me to even do this at all, so thank for listening and being part of getting the promises of God into the people of God. I'm truly grateful!   Now, don't you forget that God's promises for you are true today, tomorrow, and always! I'll see ya back here next time as we take a look at a promise from Numbers. Bye for now!

Welcome to the Month of May's Walk through the Book of Matthew!  Matthew 3:13-15 Then Jesus came tfrom Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. 14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” 15 But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. Journal Prompts for You: Jesus, how does it impact your heart when we are able to do the great mission together with me? Jesus, this is how it affects my heart when you say, "us...."   (Adapted from Questions with Jesus by Tony Stolzfus) 

Frustrated because it seems you're attracting people who aren't serious, aren't ready to invest OR are tire-kickers?   It's a common problem.   In this episode, I reveal exactly WHY this is happening. (Once you learn what it is, you'll be like: 'how did I miss that...it's so obvious')   Listen as I then break down what to do differently to create a different result: that is, get YOUR people (ie, your best clients) reaching out to you to learn more about working with you.   I also share 3 do-able strategies for upleveling your copy and your messaging, so it grabs the attention of the very people you want to serve.   Take action on these strategies and you may see dramatically different results...and sooner than you think!   >> Grab my Ultimate Scaling Guide (4 Proven Steps to Acclerated Revenue Growth): judyweber.co   We are globally-ranked as a Top Christian Podcast by Feedspot: https://blog.feedspot.com/christian_business_podcasts/ (praise You Jesus...all glory is yours) __________________ Ready to SCALE toward 7 Figures this year? Joyful Mastermind could be your next best step: https://judyweber.co/mastermind Working to make your first $100K? Joyful 6 Figures Accelerator will get you there: https://judyweber.co/accelerator

Pastor Andy Davis expounds on three themes woven together in Mark 9:14-32: the vicious demon, the various degrees of people's unbelief, and the glory of Christ. - SERMON TRANSCRIPT - Turn in your Bibles to Mark chapter 9. I know some of you can scarcely believe we're going to do 14 through 32 today. You're like, I thought we were the church that spent whole sermons on one verse. But not today. We're going to move faster. But it's a marvelous narrative and account we're going to move through. One of the most remarkable pictures of Jesus in the Bible is in Revelation 1, where the beloved and aged apostle John saw the glorified resurrected Christ with eyes of blazing fire and feet of burn bronze, and it says, "with a sharp, double-edged sword coming out of His mouth." Now that phrase double-edged sword should bring to our mind another text, Hebrews 4:12 which says, "The word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword." It divides, it penetrates, it divides soul and spirit, joints and marrow judges the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts. We have this concept of a double-edged sword coming out of Jesus' mouth. Swords are designed to sever, to separate. It's what they do. This double-edged sword comes out and in our text today, we're going to see Jesus wielding the double-edged sword of rebuke. He rebukes the demon clearly in verse 25, the text says, “He rebuked the demon and he left.” So in that way, the double-edged sword comes out of Jesus' mouth, severing the connection between the demon and the young man. But the text does not speak of the other rebuke that He gives so very powerfully to His disciples. The text doesn't call it a rebuke, but that's what it is. In Matthew’s account, "Oh, unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?" It’s very heavy what He speaks to His apostles. We're told in 2 Timothy 2, the word of God is God-breathed. All scriptures God-breathed and useful. Useful for what? For teaching. What's next? Rebuking? Correcting, training and righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good word. So the conception I have of that double-edged sword coming out of Jesus' mouth is a sword to destroy His enemies as He is the king of the kingdom of heaven. He is the mighty ruling conquering king of Revelation 19 who comes back, and the sword comes out of His mouth and He kills people. He just destroys His enemies and destroys demonic power. The sword coming out of His mouth is like a weapon against His enemies. But Jesus is also portrayed and again and again, we see this in His healings, as a great physician. In that sense, the sword comes out of His mouth as a scalpel to heal His people of the tumors that are besetting their souls, or we could say severing the invisible chains that are wrapped around our souls. All of you came in here, I came in here today, with invisible bonds wrapped around our souls that Satan has in his deceptiveness, woven around our souls and manifesting themselves in our lives, and those need to be severed. We need to be set free from indwelling sin and Jesus, the great physician can do it, but it's not a painless process. Sometimes He has to hurt us in order to heal us. The image I have today is all of us just need to lay on the operating table under His sharp double-edged scalpel and be rebuked by Him. Rebuked from what? Fundamentally in the text, it's going to be unbelief, our unbelief, which in Matthew’s Gospel He calls perverse. I never thought of myself as a perverse person, but there is something fundamentally perverse about not believing in Jesus. We're going to find in our text, Jesus does not coddle or isn't comfortable with unbelief ever. He's never nice to it. He doesn't speak gently to unbelief. He always rebukes it. He deals with it very forcefully and directly. But in the middle of that, we have this father, one of the most pitiable characters in the Bible along with his son, his oppressed son, saying on behalf of all of us, thank God for it, "Lord, I do believe, help my unbelief." How many of you feel you could say that to him today? I feel all of us could. I think it's a prayer we could pray all the time to Jesus. So that's the text that's in front of us today. “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.” I. One Main Goal, Three Themes, and a Perfect Narrative In this text today, this account, we have one main goal. We're going to see one main goal that should not be a surprise to us. There'll be three themes serving that one main goal. And to that end, those three themes woven together in a perfect narrative that I want to honor. I want to honor the narrative. I want to walk through the narrative, but then I want to unravel the themes to achieve that one main goal. This is not just another exorcism, it's not just another healing account. First of all, how could there be just another exorcism? How are the exorcisms you saw this week? Were they amazing? I mean this is not... There is no such thing as just another exorcism. This is a miracle, a mighty miracle. But even in the four Gospels, this has unique elements and it's worthy of our careful study. Now in this account, Jesus is going to be confronting two basic enemies, a demon who is revealed as uniquely vicious, and then varying levels of unbelief on the part of different people in the account. He's against the demon, He's going to fight the demon, and He is against the unbelief in the various people He's addressing. The one main goal is the same in all four Gospels, is indeed the same every week as I get up to preach, there is one main overarching goal of the four gospels, I would argue of the entire Bible, 66 books of the Bible, but specifically the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. For us specifically in the Gospel of Mark, that account, it is to bring us to a living faith in Jesus for the salvation of our souls from sin. That's the point of the Bible. That's the point of all four Gospels. The theme of Mark's Gospel is asserted right from the very first verse, Mark 1:1, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God,” that you would come to the faith that Jesus is the son of God and you would have a greater, more detailed, more majestic understanding of what that means. Then at the end of the Gospel of Mark, as Jesus has just died, and the centurion speaks in a summary sort of way for all of us, "Truly this man was the son of God." That brackets the entire 15 chapters up to that point in the Gospel of Mark or as Peter confessed as recorded in Matthew's gospel, "You are the Christ, the son of the living God,” that we would be able to make that confession from our hearts." You Jesus are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And again, the purpose statement in John's gospel, John 20:31, "These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God and that by believing may have life in His name." That's the point of the whole Bible, I think. So every account in every Gospel is written to serve this one main goal to produce faith in Jesus Christ. How does it do that? It does it by giving us Jesus' credentials for such a lofty claim. His mighty words, His mighty works, His perfect character. Every statement serves that end, it's going to give us His credentials, His power, His nature, His compassion, His love, His unique identity as the incarnate God man, credentials, as the basis of our faith in Jesus. Second, it's also going to address the readers. It's going to reach out to us as the readers where we're at and address our condition and seek to win us from varying levels of unbelief into belief in Christ. The gospels then frequently exemplify unbelief. They put unbelief on display so we can see ourselves in it, so that the word of God becomes a mirror. This is what unbelief looks like. Just to tell you where we're going, we're going to see unbelief in this account expressed in prayerlessness. If I were to ask any of you to say how many of you could be convicted on that count, that you show self-reliance through prayerlessness. That's a form of perverse unbelief. You're like, wait a minute, I didn't know it was perverse. It is. Jesus thinks it is. For you to be self-reliant and therefore think, I got this, I got this and don't need to pray about it. Is that you, it's me. We need to be weened off of that and learn to pray without ceasing, to not think that anything is too little to bring the God in prayer. That's where this sermon is going. Does that make sense? "The gospels then frequently exemplify unbelief. They put unbelief on display so we can see ourselves in it, so that the word of God becomes a mirror." That's what the apostles did. The demon possessed young man came and they thought, “We got this”, and they relied on themselves and their technique and their experience. I believe, and I'm going to argue this, that God the Father threw them under the bus for their own good. He knew what they wanted. He knew what they were trying to do. He would not do it. Jesus was not there. He is up on the Mount of Transfiguration and God the Father let them twist in the breeze. Why? Because we needed the help. They needed it. That what is going on. The idea here is that we would be won to a greater, more mature, more developed faith in Christ, and faith is the eyesight of the soul. We're going to see Jesus as He really is. That's what's going to happen in this narrative. The three themes are the demon, the faith of the people and the glory of Christ, His attributes, how He behaves here, what He shows about himself here. Those are the three themes. So first theme, number one, is the demon; it’s vicious nature and it's chronic reign of terror over this young man and his loving father. That's theme number one. Theme number two is the faith of the people surrounding this case. Actually their unbelief, their varying levels of unbelief. There is no person in this account whose faith is exemplary. No one displays exemplary faith here. Rather, there are varying levels of unbelief. First the crowd, we have the crowd, they come in at the beginning. It's the group of people who are not defined or described here at all. They're just there. They're always there, the crowd. They are the ones from whom Jesus is trying to win His elect sheep. Out of that crowd, people who will cross over from death to light. They're at the level of unbelief. Some of them may be already believers, but that's the crowd. Their spiritual condition is not described, but they're mentioned. They're mentioned at the beginning of the account, and then they come flooding in right before the miracle. When Jesus sees them coming, He does the miracle. Second, you've got Jesus' enemies, teachers of the laws, one translation “of the scribes”. We already know what they think. They've told us what they think. They think that Jesus does exorcisms by Beelzebub above the prince of demons. That's their official judgment. Remember how Jesus warn them about blasphemy against the Spirit that would never be forgiven, not in this age or in the age to come. They've already decided that Jesus does miracles by the power of Satan. In John 9, they've already decided that anyone who said that Jesus is the Messiah will be thrown out of the synagogue. They're the enemies. Third, you got Jesus' nine apostles that were down below while the three apostles, Peter, James, and John were up on the Mount of Transfiguration, the nine apostles. Jesus is utterly exasperated with them and rebukes them as we'll see in this account. Then you've got the father of this young man who has enough faith to be there for the healing, but his faith has taken a major hit because of the apostle's failure. He's at the point now where he doesn't know what to think about Jesus. Those are the individuals we're going to look at. Then theme number three, the great theme is the glory, the glories of Christ, His character, His words, His actions, His response to unbelief, rebuking it to heal it, His compassion on the father and the young man, His infinite power, especially in His openly claiming omnipotence, all things are possible for him who believes. It’s an incredible claim. A small display of that power effortlessly driving out this demon instantly and effortlessly. Dealing also with the wisdom of Christ and dealing with His apostles' unbelief as they come to Him privately later and say, what happened? How did we fail? Then dealing with them. Then at the end, the extra paragraph that I added on, the Christ glory, which He's getting them ready again and again for, His death on the cross and His resurrection. He's getting them ready for what they are not ready for, how Peter keeps pushing against it. That's the whole account. Now, these themes, the demon, the people's unbelief and the glories of Christ are woven together through this account. They're woven together like a tapestry. What I want to do is I want to honor the account as the Holy Spirit has given it to us and just walk from A to Z , first making comments along the way. Secondly, I'm going to pull out these themes and talk about them and then apply it. So that's what we're doing in the sermon. The account starts. They're coming down off the perfect mountaintop experience, the Mount of Transfiguration. Wouldn't you love to have been there? A foresight of Jesus' heavenly glory, the radiance, the brilliant light, all of that, but now it's time to get back to work. He's got to come down off that mountaintop. “No Peter, we're not building three shelters, we're not staying up there. We have work to do.” He has to come down off that mountain and He comes down into this big argument going on. Jesus come down off that Mountain of Transfiguration to continue His journey to the cross. That's where He's going. He sees the nine apostles that He left behind arguing with the teachers of the law while the crowds listening to the argument. The crowd sees Jesus and are said to be overwhelmed with wonder. It's a very strong expression. They're stunned to see him. We don't know why, it doesn't say, but it's likely they have been desperately searching for Jesus and He's not around. They're wondering where He is. Here are the nine apostles. Where's Jesus? Now they see Him, and they run to Him. Jesus begins by asking the apostles that He left behind, “What were you arguing with them about?” They're arguing with these scribes, the teachers of the law, and the father speaks up and we get the first part of this tragic story ,and it is really tragic. Verse 17, “Teacher, ‘I brought you my son who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech." Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, mashes his teeth and becomes rigid.” It's like he has epileptic seizures or something like that. But you can see the physical effects of this. "I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not." The father gives this narrative in verse 17 and 18. The demons overpowering viciousness is first opened up here. More on that in a moment. Jesus doesn't focus on that enemy, the demon, but He zeroes in on a far more significant enemy and that is the unbelief on the part of His apostles. That's the greater danger here. Why is that? Why is unbelief such a great concern for him? Because everything that Jesus does is to produce faith in the hearts of His people so that they can be saved from their sins.“For it is by grace, you have been saved, through faith and this not of yourselves, it's the gift of God.” He wants to give us salvation from our sins through our faith in Jesus and no other way. Unbelief is the enemy. Jesus reacts with a powerful rebuke concerning His apostles who failed to drive out the demon, and thus severely wound the faith of this man and almost certainly many in the onlooking crowd. Verse 19, "Oh, unbelieving generation." Jesus replied, "How long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?" I think this is definitely the sharpest rebuke Jesus ever gave to the twelve. As I think about Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, I think this is the sharpest rebuke. He's generally very gentle with them, dealing with them, but this is... It's very strong, this rebuke. Then Jesus ordered, “bring the boy here to me.” Behind that you get absolute certainty that Jesus will be able to handle this situation. Don't you? Absolute certainty. “Bring him here.” There is no problem with the demon at all. He'll handle that. They brought the demon-possessed boy to Jesus, and immediately the demon threw the boy down in the ground in a convulsion. He is dominating this tragic young man and his helplessly grieving father. The young man rolls around on the ground, foaming at the mouth. Then Jesus does something unusual. He asks for the medical history of this young man. How long has he been like this? It's fascinating because Jesus doesn't usually do that. He just heals people. He didn't ask the leper, how long has he been leprous? He just heals them. He doesn't need that information. He doesn't need... He knows everything, everything He needs to know and He knows all things and so He doesn't need that. So why does He ask? I think He asks so that we might have a sense of the greatness of the tragedy that's been going on, the magnitude of the emotion that Jesus is stepping into, and also therefore the greatness of the miracle He's about to do. We're not very naturally compassionate. We don't generally care. We're like the priest and Levi in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, walking right by people, bleeding by the side of the road. We generally don't care, but the Holy Spirit wants us to care and He brings us into the situation. Do you understand what this has been like? So He asked for the history. The father answers, "From childhood." Now you have to walk into that and try to understand what that answer means, from childhood. It means that this young man's not a boy anymore. He's not a child anymore, he’s a young man. That means this has been going on for years, for years and years. I can scarcely imagine. Then He asks if the demon has often thrown the boy into the fire or the water to kill him. Often. So we're going to walk back through this to understand the viciousness of the demon, but I'm just going through the account right now. Then the father exposes his own level of unbelief. “But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” Have compassion and help us. See how this poor man's faith has been wounded by the failure of the apostles. It's not a minor deal when we mess up. He had come there expecting Jesus could help. Now he's not so sure. Jesus then uses, I think, a gentler rebuke on the Father. He's just a great physician. He knows what each person needs. So He repeats it, “If you can?” I think that's the right way to read it. "If you can? Everything is possible for him who believes." Do you realize the significance of that statement? It's incredible and we're going to dive into that in due time. But it's amazing. Then the father gives what I've already said is a timeless answer. You want to hold onto it for the future, like tomorrow's quiet time or maybe later today. "Lord, I do believe, help my unbelief." Jesus then sees the crowd coming together, running to the scene. There's already a crowd. Now there's lots more people coming because Jesus is back from the Mount of Transfiguration, and they're running there. From that crowd Jesus is going to seek to gather His sheep through faith. It is for their sake and for the countless millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions crowding around this scene through the scripture in the centuries that would follow. It's for our benefit that Jesus does this miracle. When He sees the crowd, verse 25, He rebuked the evil spirit. That's the one use of the word “rebuke” in the account. "He rebuked the evil spirit, ‘You deaf and mute spirit.’" Now we understand it's not just mute, but he's made this young man deaf. "You deaf and mute spirit." He said, ‘I command you come out of him and never enter him again.'" The latter part of that command I find to be unique. There's no other restraint like it in the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I'm going to talk more about that in a minute or so. But that particular demon is forbidden from ever tormenting this young man in that manner again, as though that young man and his father and that family have suffered enough from this. It's enough. That part of the account ends with the disciples asking Jesus privately why they had failed. You can understand why they did it privately. They didn't want to do it in front of the crowd. They go to him later, like in the house or something like that. Say, what happened? Why couldn't we drive it out? Keep in mind that Jesus specifically earlier had given the twelve apostles this power over demons. That's key to understanding the rebuke. Mark 3:14-15, “He appointed twelve, designating them apostles that they might be with him and that He might send them out to preach and have authority to drive out demons.” There it is. He gave them that authority and they did. They went out and did it. Mark 6:13, “They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.” So Jesus answers their query, why couldn't we drive it out? In Mark's Gospel, it says, "This kind can only come out by prayer." What does that tell you? It means they didn't pray. Is that significant? Oh, yes, it is. God found it significant. What was going on there as they tried to do the exorcism? They were relying on themselves. This is the “We got this” thing. “All right, I got this. I know what to do.” They were relying on their own experience, their own knowledge, their own strength, their own expertise. Could I say their own technique, and the demon refused to come out. God, the Father did not do anything on their behalf. Then the final section of today's sermon is that paragraph that I've added in which Jesus warns them again, what's about to happen and tells them not to tell anyone. He warns them because He's training them, specifically the apostles, getting them ready for the cross. He's going to be betrayed, He's going to suffer, He's going to die and He's going to rise again. But they didn't understand. II. Jesus Rebukes A Vicious Demon Now we have honored the account as the Holy Spirit gave us in Mark's Gospel. Let's walk through it. I want to pull out the themes. Let's talk first about this demon. Jesus rebukes this vicious demon who is stunningly vicious. They all are, but this is a vicious demon. This demon's oppression of this young man gives us an insight into the coldness and evil of Satan's heart toward the human race. Jesus said in John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy." You see that with the demon. The demon was constantly seeking to kill this young man, but it also stole from him. It stole from his hearing and his speech. Jesus called him a deaf and mute spirit. The father said it robbed him of his speech. But later we learn of hearing and later in the text we get insight into the idea of types of demons. "This kind of demon can only come out by prayer", He says. So there are different levels, I guess, of demons. There are different categories of demons and other scriptures give us indications that this is true. And positively, the holy angels are at least divided into two categories: arc-angels and angels. An arc-angel in the Greek is just a ruler angel. Ruler angels have authority over other angels, but that gives us a glimpse into the whole way that angels are organized into levels of power and authority and responsibility. Paul says in Ephesians 6, "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers." Plural. "Against the authorities." Plural. "Against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." It's layer upon layer of authority, and they're evil. We have a glimpse with the phrase, “this kind”, et cetera. This demon focused in a kind of specialty sort of way on two functions in the young man beyond the epileptic-like seizure that he produced on him. Jesus calls him a deaf and mute spirit. We know the spirit isn't deaf, the spirit isn't mute. That's not the issue. That's the effect he’s having on the young man. It may well be that demons are responsible for specific physiological effects on people, and we openly have it said in the Book of Job how Satan afflicted Job with sores from the head of his top of his head to the bottom of his feet. He is able to do that kind of affliction, physical affliction on human bodies. We'll find out in heaven how responsible they may or may not have been for pandemics, for AIDS, for tumors, for any of the above, but it's Biblical at least to think that these physiological effects can be demon- produced. It is not something our medical scientific world thinks about much, but we Christians ought to. The demons didn't go out of business when Jesus ascended to heaven. Quite the opposite. I want you to think about what life must have been like for this young man and his father. The demon had often it says, sought to kill him by throwing him into the fire of the water. If you were this young man's father, what would your life be like? The word often implies periodic attacks, right? Periodic. You don't know when the next one's going to come. So how can you live your life and think of these specific attacks on this young man's life thrown into the fire. What do you have to do? Grab him out of the fire, roll him on the ground, put a carpet on him, beat the flames out of his clothing. Into the water, you dive in and rescue him. Is he catatonic? Is he stiff? Is he fighting you, beating you up as you're pulling him to shore? And when's the next attack going to happen? Is it middle of the night? Is it three weeks from now? Is it at a family gathering? Is it at the synagogue? Is it on the Sabbath? Do you think the demon cares about what's best for you? It's been going on since he was a boy from childhood. That's years of this abuse. Years. I'm telling you, as a father of five children, I can scarcely go over these details without tears sitting in my eyes. It's true. I'm like, what would it have been like? The demon is vastly more powerful than this young man or his father or any of the scribes that were standing there or the nine apostles that tried to drive him out. This demon is a tyrant. He is a bully. He is vicious. No compassion. Picture a powerful warrior kicking a little boy around physically on the ground like on a playground. I mean just rage would rise up inside you at that kind of bullying. But that's what's going on here. By contrast, let's see Jesus. Jesus' glory, light versus darkness. Light versus darkness. In verse 22, the father said, "If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." The father has gone to the fountain of compassion. The source, the most compassionate man there has ever been is Jesus. He's compassion incarnate. No one cared like Jesus, and He's also omnipotence incarnate. He doesn't understand the level of power that Jesus has. “If you can do anything, please have compassion on us and help us, if you can.” Everything is possible for him who believes. Jesus is infinitely above the demon in power. You notice again and again, we don't get any reaction of the demon to Jesus here. I guess in one sense you do, but in other accounts it's pretty obvious the demons are afraid of Jesus. Remember the legion of demons, they're terrified of Jesus and there's an army of them inside a man, so they're afraid. Jesus is infinitely above the demons, totally different than the demon. The demon has absolutely no mercy, no pity, no compassion. But Jesus' heart is deeply moved and tender toward this boy and his father. So then He rebukes the demon, verse 25, “'You deaf and mute spirit,’” He said, “'I command you to come out of him and never enter him again.’" That rebuke is the foretaste of a final sentence that He's going to give, a final sentence to the devil, and his angels, “Depart from me.” He says this to people, but we get a sense of what He's going to do to Satan and the demons. "Depart from me, you who are cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” That's what hell is all about, punishment for Satan and for the demons. The demon makes the boy thrash around one more time, foaming at the mouth. When Jesus drives him out, He leaves the boy completely still as if he's dead. Verse 26, 27, “The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looks so much like a corpse that many said he's dead, but Jesus took him by the hand, lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.” This is the demon's last temper tantrum. He has no desire to come out of this young man, but he's overpowered by Jesus. It reminds me of Revelation 12:12 where it says of Satan, "he is filled with fury because he knows his time is short." He's up against infinitely greater power and that power, power is now brought to bear upon his kingdom and he can't do anything to stop it, but he's angry about it. So let's celebrate Jesus's effortless power over demons again. And note again, this unique element, the demon is forbidden from ever entering this young man. Again, I don't find any other such prohibition in the Bible. It's unique. Why is it unique and why is it important? Because Jesus actually said this is exactly contrary to demonic behavior. In Matthew chapter 12:43-45 Jesus says this, "When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and doesn't find it. Then it says, I'll return to the house I left. When it comes back, it finds a house unoccupied,” that's a keyword, "swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits, more evil or more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there and the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how I'll be with this generation." It's a complex statement, but basically it’s saying the demons are roaming around, restless, looking for a place to occupy, to inhabit. Jesus talks about a man, a house, a generation. So basically, you know, put your fists in the water and pull them out and there's no hole left. Why? Because the water rushes in to fill it. That's what the demons do. They're coming back. That's what they do. But in this case, He will not let this demon come back on this family again. Jesus doesn't throw away words. Do you think He's serious about this? Jesus is always serious about everything He says. How's He going to do it? Two things - constant vigilance and omnipotence. God the Father, will He honor His Son's judgment? Of course He will. He's entrusted all judgment to the Son, and so He will watch this demon. Think of it like restraining order, like a demonic restraining order or one of those ankle bracelets that's put on somebody that's on parole or something like that. It's like I'm watching and he cannot come back in. I'm not saying that this family never suffered anything again, didn't have any other diseases. I'm not saying that. Just that this cannot happen again. By the way, it's also a picture of the thing Satan complained about in the Book of Job saying you have put a hedge around him and everything he has, called often the “hedge of protection.” Demons are constantly bumping into restraints that God puts up. Then He lets open a door and the demon flood in a certain direction. He shuts it down again. He's doing this every day, but this is a glimpse into that. III. Jesus Rebukes Various Levels of Unbelief Then Jesus addresses unbelief. Having dealt with the vicious demon, He now addresses unbelief. As I said, no one has exemplary faith in this account. Sometimes, in some accounts, He will comment on the exemplary faith of a person like the Syrophoenician woman. “Woman, you have great faith. Your request is granted, the demon's gone.” Or the Roman centurion who said, “Lord, I don't deserve to have you come under my roof. Just say the word.” Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, I've not found anyone in Israel with such great faith." So, occasional comment. Here, no one. No one's faith is exemplary here. Everyone needs some help. The crowd, they're the harvest field. He is reaching out to them that some may cross over from death to life watching this miracle. Then you have the Scribes, they are the enemies that Jesus has fought against who may have already or are committing the blasphemy against the Spirit ascribing to Satan the works of the Holy Spirit. They were arguing with the apostles at the beginning, almost certainly making much of their failure saying, "Aha, Jesus is a fraud. The very thing we've been saying.” But the real issue here are the apostles, the nine apostles. They are the focus. Jesus says in verse 19, "Oh, unbelieving generation." He says, more sharply in Matthew 17:17, "Oh, unbelieving and perverse generation." We need to lay under that word and hear it. It is perverse for us to not believe in Jesus. It's twisted. There's a sickness to it, and we can see it, like with the Jews when they had seen the ten plagues in Egypt, the Red Sea crossing, the manna, the water from the rock, all of that, Sinai, and they get to the border of the promised land and they don't believe God is strong enough to take on the Amalekites and the Anakites and all that. It's like, how could you possibly come to that conclusion? That's perverse. It's even more the case with Jesus. How many miracles does he need to do? How many amazing teachings like the Sermon of the Mount, does he have to give for you to be persuaded? What are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? It's perverse not to believe in Jesus. It's twisted, it's sick. He uses that word. In Luke's account of the storm on the sea, the disciples cried out in fear, “Master, master, we're going to drown." In Luke 8, "He got up and rebuked the wind and the waves and the raging waters and the storm subsided. Then He turns to His disciples, saying, ‘where is your faith?’" Their unbelief is specifically in that Jesus had given them power over demons and they had driven out demons, but they failed to pray, so they're displaying faithless self-reliance. Verse 28, 29 in our account, "After Jesus had gone indoors His disciples, asked him privately, ‘Why couldn't we drive it out?’” Verse 29, “He replied, ‘This kind can only come out by prayer.’" "Their unbelief is specifically in that Jesus had given them power over demons and they had driven out demons, but they failed to pray, so they're displaying faithless self-reliance" Some of you may have a King James version or some other that adds an extra phrase, "and fasting." Huh? Where'd that come from? I don't know. I don't think it's original. We have to bump into text issues from time to time. We don't have the original Gospel of Mark. We just have copies. The science of text criticism is to look at all those copies and figure out as best we can what the original was that Mark wrote. I think some overzealous monk copying Mark's gospel centuries ago thought the account needed a little help and kind of juiced it in with a major element of their monastic life, fasting. Think, “Oh, I get it. Can't just be prayer. It's got to be prayer and fasting.” But all right, first of all, it's not in all the oldest manuscripts and best manuscripts. It seems to be pretty obviously a later edition. It also seems to be obvious why they would do it. It just seems like this kind of healing can only come out by prayers. A strange answer. What? The disciples didn't pray. Surely they must have prayed. No, they didn't. But they thought, I'm having a practical problem with it. How does it work practically? The father brings the demon possessed young man, and they're like, we need to fast. How long is a fast? A minute? I'm fasting right now. All of you are too. And you're like, when is this sermon going to end? So you're already thinking about your stomach. I wouldn't call that fasting. Fasting is a length of time. It's like, “Bring him back tomorrow. We got to get fasted up.” It doesn't work. So it's added in. No, no, no. It's much more powerful if it just says this kind can only come out by prayer. Let me ask you a question. “What kind of demon can come out any other way? Oh, like this kind. You don't need to pray. You can do that one on your own.” There's no such thing. He is definitely rebuking. They're self-reliant, faithlessness, and that's the essence of our unbelief. We got this. We can save ourselves. We can solve our own problems. We got this financial problem or this medical problem. Medical science has it. Those are all idols. If they're not focused on God, I'm not saying we don't go to hospitals or get treatments and all that, but trust God in it, that God can use it. Make it God-centered and anything you rely on, that God is an idol. And the number one idol we rely on is ourselves. Jesus made it plain in John 15, "I am the vine. You're the branches. Apart from me, you can do nothing." Don’t you think it would be good to tell him, “Lord, I can't do anything apart from your help. I need you. Be with me in this situation. Help me through this.” So you're saying, “What pastor? Like when I get behind the wheel,” maybe especially then. It's like, No, no, no. I got the driving thing. I'm good at driving. Any area where you think you don't need God's help, ask him for it. The boy’s father had enough faith to bring the boy, the young man, to Jesus initially. That's why he was there. But by this time, he's not certain. And He says, "If you can do anything, take pity and help us." "If you can?” said Jesus, "Everything is possible for him who believes.” As Job said to God in Job 40:22, "I know that you can do all things. No plan of yours can be thwarted." This is the doctrine of omnipotence. Anything that can be done by power, God can do. Faith is tapping into that and saying, “I know God, you can do anything in this situation. All things are possible.” But Jesus adds, “for him who believes.” He makes His power available for believers. It's not a faith promise kind of thing, not at all. Our faith doesn't create the will of God. Our faith fits into and yields to the will of God, but it's by faith that these works are done. Then the boy’s father gives this timeless statement, which I've already highlighted, "I do believe, help my unbelief." So I would just commend that to you for the rest of your lives. Say,” Lord, I'm a believer. I believe in you. I believe you're the son of God, that you died for my sins, that you rose again. But I have pockets of unbelief, especially manifested in self-reliance. Help me with my unbelief.” IV. Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection Jesus again predicted His death and resurrection. Verse 30-32, “They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were because He was teaching the disciples. He said to them, ‘The son of man is going to be betrayed and the hands of man, they will kill him, and after three days he'll arise.’ But they did not understand what He meant, and they were afraid to ask him about it.” We're going to have a chance again in Mark 10 to circle back on this, so I didn't want to preach a whole sermon on it, but I'm bringing it in now just to say, look, get ready. The disciples needed to get ready because they weren't understand the necessity of the death of Jesus. V. Lessons Timeless lessons as we close. First, above all, as I've been pleading with you throughout the whole sermon, trust in Jesus, come to Jesus, trust in him. Let the evidence in Mark's Gospel, and the Gospels of Matthew, Luke, John, let the evidence be enough for you. Read it. You could read this afternoon, enough accounts to give you enough to believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. Trust in him. And if you are a Christian, lay under Jesus's sharp scalpel. Let him expose your unbelief. Where there's smoke, there's fire. Look for prayerlessness in your life and trace that down, you're going to find self-reliance at the heart of it generally. So if your prayer life needs to grow and develop, let it grow and develop. Pray about more things, more categories of things than you've ever prayed for before. Ask the Lord through the Holy Spirit to show you areas of self-reliance and prayerlessness. Then meditate on Jesus's stunning words, "Everything is possible for him who believes." God can do exceedingly abundantly beyond anything you could ask or imagine, think, and then finally, pray this man's prayer, “ I do believe, help my unbelief.” Allow him to show you your unbelief and to heal you from it. Close with me in prayer. Father, we thank you for the time we've had to walk through this powerful account. We thank you for the things that we have learned as we have done so. Lord, I pray that you would be speaking to our souls, the words of the Gospel, speak to our souls and help us to believe in Jesus in ways and in dimensions, and in a breadth and depth and height in ways that we've never seen before. In Jesus' name, Amen.

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.  Ephesians 6:17,18Finishing out the Armor Of God series, we are ending with 2 main elements we readily attribute to the armor:  the helmet and the sword.  We also add prayer as a final component, which covers the armor.  The helmet of salvation is a defensive piece; by it we are defended against lies.  When we put it on, we affirm that our salvation is secure and our minds and washed and renewed by God's word.  The sword of the Spirit is God's word.  We must be trained and skilled to use His word to defend and advance against the enemy.  Finally, prayer covers the armor and is our life-line to our Lord.  It is essential to have because without it, we are cut off from hearing the battle strategy.  The following prayer is shared in this episode:  Dear Lord,I thank You for the full armor of God, these pieces that are available to me as I go into the battle each day.  I know I am in a battle and that the fight is a spiritual one.  It is not physical and the means you have given me to fight are not physical.In order to stand today, I put on the armor of God.I put on the belt of truth.  The truth of your Word is what everything else hinges upon.  May my belt be fastened and secure in the knowledge of Your truth.  I put on the breastplate of righteous.  In you, I have the righteousness of Christ.  May my heart be guarded and protected from evil.On my feet, I wear shoes fitted with the gospel of peace.  I carry Your Good News with me as I go forth into battle.  I am always ready to share my faith and the hope I have in You.I take up the shield of faith.  May the arrows flung at me by the enemy be extinguished and have no ability to deter me from my belief and hope in You.  May my faith be unwavering despite the unknowns of this life.  On my head, I adorn the helmet of salvation.  In You Jesus, I am saved.  I know You have redeemed my life.  May my thoughts be ever fixed on You and may every thought be taken captive.  Allow Your Word to renew my mind each day.I take up the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.  In order to use this weapon, I must be in Your word daily.  I must allow Your truth to get in me.  May I know Your word to refute lies just as You Jesus, used the word to refute Satan when You were tempted.  Your word is powerful.  Finally, I cover all of these pieces of armor in prayer.  As oil would flow down as an anointing in days of old, may prayer be an anointing that comes over this suit of armor; allowing it to move (defensively and offensively).  Prayer is my life-line to You.  May I never abandon it.  I thank You for the understanding of Your word in Ephesians 6 and the ability to apply it.  May I put on the full armor of God each day so I can do just as Paul says “To be strong in the Lord” and “Stand firm.”  Amen.  

22 The Lord said to Moses, 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: 24 “‘“The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”' 27 “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” Numbers 6:22-27 My dear Lord Jesus Christ, I come to You today to be restored in You and renewed in You. I now consecrate this year of life to You and You alone! You are my Lord in 2023! I consecrate every aspect of my life and all of my living this year totally and completely to You. I yield my spirit, soul, body, my heart, mind and will to the life and leading of Your Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit, fill me afresh every day this new year. I want to follow Your lead. Jesus I receive all the work and triumph your life, death, resurrection ,ascension and current reign over my life. I am not my own. I have been bought with a price. Thank you for giving me my salvation identity. I pray "Hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come and Your will be done" over my life, over my family and over my church in 2023. Jesus, I consecrate all of me to you and invite You to reign over every dimension of my life every day of this new year. I consecrate to you: • my time and abilities • my possessions, money, and influence • my personality, sexuality and imagination • my work, plans and ambitions, • my friends, family and church • my hopes and dreams • my loves, losses and worries • and my brokenness, imperfections, disappointments and failures My all day, every-day life is set apart and consecrated to You Jesus – flood my life with Your creative and renewing presence. Thank you for setting me apart as Yours. I now bring the authority, rule and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ over all aspects of my life; and over all my arenas of influence this New Year. I come in Jesus name against Satan and His kingdom binding and banishing him and all forces of evil from my life, my family and my church this year in the powerful and victorious name of Jesus! Amen

1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, 2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. 3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers. 4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. 6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction. Psalm 1:1-6 My dear Lord Jesus Christ, I come to You today to be restored in You and renewed in You. I now consecrate this year of life to You and You alone! You are my Lord in 2023! I consecrate every aspect of my life and all of my living this year totally and completely to You. I yield my spirit, soul, body, my heart, mind and will to the life and leading of Your Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit, fill me afresh every day this new year. I want to follow Your lead. Jesus I receive all the work and triumph your life, death, resurrection ,ascension and current reign over my life. I am not my own. I have been bought with a price. Thank you for giving me my salvation identity. I pray "Hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come and Your will be done" over my life, over my family and over my church in 2023. Jesus, I consecrate all of me to you and invite You to reign over every dimension of my life every day of this new year. I consecrate to you: • my time and abilities • my possessions, money, and influence • my personality, sexuality and imagination • my work, plans and ambitions, • my friends, family and church • my hopes and dreams • my loves, losses and worries • and my brokenness, imperfections, disappointments and failures My all day, every-day life is set apart and consecrated to You Jesus – flood my life with Your creative and renewing presence. Thank you for setting me apart as Yours. I now bring the authority, rule and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ over all aspects of my life; and over all my arenas of influence this New Year. I come in Jesus name against Satan and His kingdom binding and banishing him and all forces of evil from my life, my family and my church this year in the powerful and victorious name of Jesus! Amen

4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, _“Abba_, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God's child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. Galatians 4:4-7 My dear Lord Jesus Christ, I come to You today to be restored in You and renewed in You. I now consecrate this year of life to You and You alone! You are my Lord in 2023! I consecrate every aspect of my life and all of my living this year totally and completely to You. I yield my spirit, soul, body, my heart, mind and will to the life and leading of Your Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit, fill me afresh every day this new year. I want to follow Your lead. Jesus I receive all the work and triumph your life, death, resurrection ,ascension and current reign over my life. I am not my own. I have been bought with a price. Thank you for giving me my salvation identity. I pray "Hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come and Your will be done" over my life, over my family and over my church in 2023. Jesus, I consecrate all of me to you and invite You to reign over every dimension of my life every day of this new year. I consecrate to you: • my time and abilities • my possessions, money, and influence • my personality, sexuality and imagination • my work, plans and ambitions, • my friends, family and church • my hopes and dreams • my loves, losses and worries • and my brokenness, imperfections, disappointments and failures My all day, every-day life is set apart and consecrated to You Jesus – flood my life with Your creative and renewing presence. Thank you for setting me apart as Yours. I now bring the authority, rule and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ over all aspects of my life; and over all my arenas of influence this New Year. I come in Jesus name against Satan and His kingdom binding and banishing him and all forces of evil from my life, my family and my church this year in the powerful and victorious name of Jesus! Amen

21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived. 22 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” Luke 2:21-24 My dear Lord Jesus Christ, I come to You today to be restored in You and renewed in You. I now consecrate this year of life to You and You alone! You are my Lord in 2023! I consecrate every aspect of my life and all of my living this year totally and completely to You. I yield my spirit, soul, body, my heart, mind and will to the life and leading of Your Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit, fill me afresh every day this new year. I want to follow Your lead. Jesus I receive all the work and triumph your life, death, resurrection ,ascension and current reign over my life. I am not my own. I have been bought with a price. Thank you for giving me my salvation identity. I pray "Hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come and Your will be done" over my life, over my family and over my church in 2023. Jesus, I consecrate all of me to you and invite You to reign over every dimension of my life every day of this new year. I consecrate to you: • my time and abilities • my possessions, money, and influence • my personality, sexuality and imagination • my work, plans and ambitions, • my friends, family and church • my hopes and dreams • my loves, losses and worries • and my brokenness, imperfections, disappointments and failures My all day, every-day life is set apart and consecrated to You Jesus – flood my life with Your creative and renewing presence. Thank you for setting me apart as Yours. I now bring the authority, rule and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ over all aspects of my life; and over all my arenas of influence this New Year. I come in Jesus name against Satan and His kingdom binding and banishing him and all forces of evil from my life, my family and my church this year in the powerful and victorious name of Jesus! Amen

Today's devotion is adapted from the book "Restoration Year" by John Eldredge. A great daily devotional book. Click here if you would like to purchase your own copy. So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. Romans 12:1-2 (MSG) My dear Lord Jesus Christ, I come to You today to be restored in You and renewed in You. I now consecrate this year of life to You and You alone! You are my Lord in 2023! I consecrate every aspect of my life and all of my living this year totally and completely to You. I yield my spirit, soul, body, my heart, mind and will to the life and leading of Your Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit, fill me afresh every day this new year. I want to follow Your lead. Jesus I receive all the work and triumph your life, death, resurrection ,ascension and current reign over my life. I am not my own. I have been bought with a price. Thank you for giving me my salvation identity. I pray "Hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come and Your will be done" over my life, over my family and over my church in 2023. Jesus, I consecrate all of me to you and invite You to reign over every dimension of my life every day of this new year. I consecrate to you: • my time and abilities • my possessions, money, and influence • my personality, sexuality and imagination • my work, plans and ambitions, • my friends, family and church • my hopes and dreams • my loves, losses and worries • and my brokenness, imperfections, disappointments and failures My all day, every-day life is set apart and consecrated to You Jesus – flood my life with Your creative and renewing presence. Thank you for setting me apart as Yours. I now bring the authority, rule and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ over all aspects of my life; and over all my arenas of influence this New Year. I come in Jesus name against Satan and His kingdom binding and banishing him and all forces of evil from my life, my family and my church this year in the powerful and victorious name of Jesus! Amen

In this message we will learn how to live in the fear of rejection through the life of Moses. Moses started as a somebody in Egypt. God took him to a nobody. Then he realized God could use anybody. It's time that we said, God, I'm not somebody, I'm a nobody before You, I receive You Jesus, because You can use anybody.

We can all use some happiness in our lives and a happy heart comes from inner joy.   Faith-based comedian, actress, and writer, DeAnn Alaine shares of her struggle along with a "Joyful Remedy" which has led her to a strong desire to serve Jesus. As a comedian, she helps others through their tough times in a cheerful way for God's Kingdom glory.    ***** Kimberly Hobbs   Welcome to empowering lives with purpose. And I'm your host, Kimberly Hobbs. I'm the founder of Women World Leaders. And we are so grateful to have you with us today. And I would like to welcome our guest today, Miss DeAnn Alaine, welcome, DeAnn. DeAnn Alaine   Woo-hoo! Thank you baby. I'm so glad to be here! Kimberly Hobbs   She is a bundle of joy. And we are so excited about what is going to be shared today. So be prepared ladies, this this woman is such a woman of God. And I am just so grateful to call her friend. And she is actually one of our leaders and women are leaders. So we are happy to do this broadcast today, this podcast. So ladies, it is our hope that through what you listen to today will inspire you and encourage you and just bring you closer to your walk with Jesus. And Ephesians 2:10 says that we are God's masterpiece we are created anew in Christ Jesus to do the very good things that he planned for us long ago. And we believe that each of us have a purpose on this planet. And that is to walk and glorify God in everything that we do. And our hope is that by listening today that you might be empowered to walk in your purpose, and serve God wherever it is that you are. The Bible also says that every believer has received grace gifts, so use them to serve one another as faithful stewards of the many colored cat tapestries of God's grace. That's First Peter 410 So today we're gonna share some of the gifting that this amazing woman of God has. And she is a comedian and I just again just love Deanne. So let me share a little bit about who she is. Deanna Elaine met the Lord as a child. She knew him as her healer before she knew him as her Savior. born with a rare disease that affected her mental and physical development, and made her unique from day one. She was called into the ministry as a young person, she eventually went to Bible college because the expectation of those around her was to be the pastor's wife and to play piano. That was going to be her testimony. Did the Colin her life change? No. Did the method of ministry Yes, not only is Deanna comedian, but she is also an award winning TV show host of Maude wash moments with Dan Elaine, and is the creator and director for fade away coming to TV and cell phones soon. So we are so again happy to have you and today we're going to hear about Dan's story a little bit of joyful remedy brought to you with a happy face from a happy heart. The Bible says you will show me the way of life granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasure of living with you forever that Psalm 1611. I love talking about joy. It just makes me happy. But first let's glance into Dan's younger years. Dan, you said that you were called at a young age and both parents instilled in you that the church should be the most joyful group of people on the planet, right? Your mom was a silly fun strong and and she had many enhance talents. So can you talk about your childhood with us a little bit and share a little bit about you growing up? DeAnn Alaine   Sure. Well, what a woman my mother, just a phenomenal chick. I remember before she met my dad and they got married, she would sew puppets called whosits. I mean, she was a single mom with three girls. And so we would go to different places and try and sell these puppets. She worked with a friend named Jackie like why do I remember that out of all these years and so even from a young age when you don't have money you get really creative and and she as it as it as a young person herself, really wanted to go into acting and she's just a beautiful charming human being it came to the Lord late in her 20s And so now that part of that excitement and and fun through hard work being a single mom until I was nine I got to see firsthand what joy looks like through great trial through great challenge and my older sisters they didn't quite get the picture of of her as a mom that I did because I was the youngest but then we had someone Just when she was teaching Sunday school and set up like this missions airplane and pretended fly us in different places, and we tried to recruit from different places, and, and then she met and married my dad, and what a guy and he's, he's the one that said the church should be the most joyful people on the planet like, and he's so right. And this is coming from a guy who, who became a husband and a dad all all at once. And we had never experienced the kind of life that he brought into the house. Like he would do try and taste what is in this. And he made eggs one time that looked like gray brain. Because he made him like licorice, like licorice flavored pancakes, it looks so awful. But we would gains and it would bring joy around the table with something that used to be a lot more common than it is today sitting at the table and enjoying each other having fellowship around food. I mean, my parents worked, my dad was in the Air Force. And my mom worked even after I married my dad work, work, work, work, work. And so to have two parents who love the Lord, who have that joy foundation really led me into into that season and finding joy around people who also loved Jesus. And when I was born, I was born with a terminal illness. And doctors would tell my mother, she's not going to live past this, this time. And this time, and this time, it happened several times. I was like, on this wing back then in the 70s. They didn't have this. They didn't have a decorum that they have today. I'm not PC, I'm a comic I'm not PC, but they didn't have decorum. And so they have this wing, they call the the, the the point of no return. And it was for terminally ill kids. And I was I was there a few different times in the state of Oregon, their university, and university Med Center. So all throughout that here's the enemy trying to take me out and having a mother who is now a believer praying, having elders of the church come over and pray. But still to have that joy like infused in into our life, we lived in a single wide trailer until I was nine. So I mean, we had frozen pipes. And I remember my mom getting my sister's like crawl under the trailer trying to fall pipes and stuff like that. It was like crazy. But then we'd come in and she would draw characters that she created on our lunch bags, because we didn't have like the 10 are really cool plastic lunchbox. So she would start drawing characters. And last year, she became a published author with her characters in a in a precious book. And so she's still living out what she started with me when I was little little. And she's still living that joyful testimony out. Kimberly Hobbs   Oh, that is so beautiful. So wow, that gives me a little bit of insight to and to your childhood with a mom that was creative and did things to just bring smiles to faces of her children. That's beautiful. So Dan, part of your joy you told me is to fix a problem. And the joy of the Lord was your strength, especially while school was extremely difficult for you. You also said church was the only place that you felt loved and accepted. So can you talk about school and why it was so difficult for you. DeAnn Alaine   So what I was mentioning with having this illness, the problem was my organs were growing, but my bones weren't. And like that's just there's nothing normal about that. And so what it lent itself to was developmental delays, physical delays and so academics I was six years academically behind my peers and oh my goodness, did that make it a struggle and I have this condition called seek amnesia. And what it means is mirrored image so all the muscles in my right from my shoulders all the way through my arms move exactly in mirrored image. So if I needed to write a paper, my right hand would right and my left hand and all the muscles in my left arm would move in the same exact Wow method but opposite. So everything with writing with school I academics was such a challenge I did terrible in school like, terrible. It's like, so going to church was like the place where I was accepted. I was surrounded by so many wonderful elderly people like the church, we went to Hood River Assembly of God in Hood River, Oregon. And I'm surrounded by a lot of elderly people that love to me would love holding me. And so from from being itty bitty, like I knew that my safe place was, was there because I didn't even expect to go to college. And the Lord delivered me from having feeling stupid, and having to overcome great challenges. Even through college. No one expected me to go to college. And so the fact that God really saw me through, and I have a degree in science and a degree in Biblical Studies and a degree it like, like, Who would have thought this, this, this stupid kid, like, would do this. And so, and the Lord, he saw me through, he saw me through and having that, again, that testimony from my mother really aided me in saying you can do this, you can do this. Through Christ, all things are possible. Kimberly Hobbs   Amen, amen. You are such a joy. And wow, I had no idea even some of these challenges you were saying that you went through Deann. And, and even knowing how you are and the beauty of your your soul that radiates the joy of Jesus, you can tell it's your strength, because I would never have guessed any of you know, the difficulties that you went through. So Deanne, Utah talked about when we were talking previously about a piece of chocolate. Hmm, you know, like, what, what about this piece of chocolate? You married your first husband, and you found yourself in harm's way you were talking about that too? Mental and physical? Abuse. And you called on the Lord in 2007, and started talking about a piece of chocolate. So can you share a little bit about this? This piece of chocolate? DeAnn Alaine   Oh, gosh, yeah, I listen, if you want to, if you want to find out who not to marry, or who to marry, have haven't listened, be willing to listen to the Lord. I didn't do that. I marry this sweet guy. He was a Christian going to church. And, and wow, after 18 months of marriage, things really started to take a turn for the worst and and so in the midst of that very challenging time. The Lord did speak to my heart, and He knows that I love chocolate. Like I know it's not for every chick, or for every person, but but for me, like chocolate scratches an itch. And he's like, What about a piece of chocolate? Like, what piece of like, where I started looking for wrappers? Like where's where he's like, no, no. Write, write about some of the joyful times you have when you were a kid. And growing up in these pieces of chocolate and, and like, oh my gosh, so I started writing blogging, like way back in 2007. And it started to grow and it started to change and more women started to like, come in, because our stories are funny. And even even through that very dark time. Here's the Lord saying, I am keeping you but I'm keeping you my way. I'm not keeping you away. I'm keeping you my way and a piece of chocolate kept, kept going and kept growing. Until until the Lord said, okay, that season is done. And then I was done. Like when he says done, I'm done. Yeah, wow. Kimberly Hobbs   So that definitely satisfied for a time you were blogging, and it all came from a piece of chocolate and God gave you that creative mind again to take from that piece of chocolate and bloom something there that was able to get you through a period of time and others to because others read your blogs and so Dan, you needed your joy restored. The Bible says the commandments of the Lord, I write bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for the living. Psalm 19 verse eight. Sadly, your marriage didn't last and it took strength to get through that time and the strength to do the right thing something right you needed the right source of strength and that's today what we want to pour in to these women that are listening, we all need our strength from the Lord at different times. And we may be all battling different things as you battled a lot of emotional difficulty in your life, you battled physical difficulty, and let loose Deanne. And let's talk to these ladies that are listening in about where your joy comes from, and how they can just harness that joy, the way that you did and the way that you do now in your life. DeAnn Alaine   Oh, This is my wheelhouse, like, I'm so happy to share this because I, okay, here's the thing. The Bible says that the joy of the Lord and I want to slow this down, the joy of the Lord is our strength. Amen. But listen, joy, or like any muscle that needs to be strengthened has to be worked out. It's, it's not like, oh, the joy of the Lord is my strength. And then you're grasping for straws, like desperately trying to like Where? Where is it? Where's the joy? Where's the joy? You we have to allow Jesus to, to, we need to give him space in our lives to strengthen us. So joy is a strength that has to be developed. So you may not have you may not go through, like everyone's lives gets touched with dramatic situations and horrible situations. So So can Jesus keep you during that time? Yes, if you will let Jesus keep you. Right, the Bible says that Jesus can keep your mind in perfect peace, your heart and perfect peace. So if you'll give him room to bring that peace factor in the midst of that those storms. And in the midst of what seems like drowning, like sometimes it's not just as nice as a storm. Sometimes it's a hurricane. And sometimes you you're under the water and debris is flowing past you. And it's it's it's there's nothing pretty like life is hard. However, if you if we can give Jesus the space, to keep our minds to get in the Word, to keep our minds as we are in Christ Jesus, then that will give him a chance to develop joy as a strength. Because joy has to be developed. It has to be a choice. It has to be a choice. Like I was looking in Psalm, chapter 100, verse two, which is serve the Lord with gladness, come before him with joyful songs. Now, I don't know about you, but sometimes the only song that I can get out of my mouth is like like, that's the all these song I have is it it doesn't even sound like a song. Like sometimes I just, I need to have like a song that sounds like a meltdown just to release that hot the harboring mental challenges and thought bonds that the enemy tries to throw my way. And sometimes I have to fake it. Because here's the thing, okay. I was also a nurse for a season, and I was an LPN. And I learned that even by saying, My joy is complete, well change the hormones that are released into your bloodstream and change the effect of how you actually feel a change to affect God knows how he made us he he's so he knows it all. He knows the hormones that he put in us crazy women like he knows. He's there with us in the story he understands. But in but in that, do you know that just smiling even when you're like, angry, if you'll smile, it releases a chemical in your bloodstream, that changes the effect of the hormones in your in your body it Amen to that change your mind. So but it has to be chosen. This way that I have, it didn't start today. It has been brewing and growing and strengthening for a long time. But the best test of where you know that your joy is getting strong is always in the Valley. It's never on the mountaintop. It's always in those challenges. So I also want to read from Psalm 51 Psalms 51 Verse 12, and that verse is Is restore the joy of your salvation to me and sustain me by giving me a willing spirit. That willingness to say, I'd rather wig out, I'd rather get my flesh. It's all way I'd rather do that. I want my own remedy. Rather than a joyful remedy. I want to, I want to tell my husband what I think of him. I want to tell it like, ah, you know, it's okay to scream. It's okay. Like, it's okay. Seriously, if you're listening to this right now and you feel like you're gonna first go into your closet, shut the door, if you don't have that golf suck, okay? Even if you like, whatever you need to do to scream, get, get that, that stress out of your body, and just start singing, just sing a song. joy of the Lord is my strength. Right? I learned that Sunday School is a little thing that today, like I could be having a meltdown and crying. And I sing, the joy of the Lord is my strength. But it changes my brain it changes I feel my body. But it has to be a decision much like how we choose Jesus. Right? He calls us by name he calling out to us. But we're the ones that take that step by faith. You know, to say, I believe you. I believe what you say is true. If you're if right, Jesus was the Word made flesh. So if he came to Earth, look what he endured. But look how he was so victorious, like Jesus is the remedy is the remedy of joy. Right? If Jesus wasn't in heaven, it wouldn't be heaven. Thing about right. So if Jesus wasn't in my life, and an active part and an active decision that I make every day, my joy would not be complete. Because he's the remedy. He's worse. He's the only one that I can say, Jesus, I got myself into this. But I need you to get me out of this what it looks like. And guess what he does. Every time I give him room and space. To my own conclusions is sort of jumping to my like, I just want to, like, I don't want to kill my husband. He is an amazing man of God, but the wife, I just want to go. Unknown Speaker   I have a 16 year old son. I don't have daughters. DeAnn Alaine   And so I think about that, I have to choose to give Jesus room to say, Okay, you beat you in this and then just trust that he's got me covered. Kimberly Hobbs   He does. He does. have you covered DeAnn. He has all of us covered. And I still wanted to jump in with a scripture but I'll read it now. If you weren't talking as you were talking, because it's just this is so good. Those who look to him for help. Ladies, when we look to Jesus for help, he doesn't leave us floundering around and flapping in our tears and crying about those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy. Just as Dan shared about the joy of the Lord is our strength it is and in the Bible says no shadow of shame will darken their faces Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh the joys of those who take refuge in Him. Psalm 34, five and eight, Psalm 34, five and eight ladies. So take refuge right, Dan? Like you just gave your life to taking refuge in him under the shadow of his wings. And you have been in complete joy. In fact, Deanna has made a career out of that and just bringing joy to the hearts of women now and men and women. She has been a faith based comedian and just shares just the joy that exudes out of her soul because she does have Jesus residing there every single day, every single moment share about how and what you do for a living Diem because it's so fun. It's so interesting. And you get to be happy every day and what you do DeAnn Alaine   I think you overstated that a little bit. She's like, joy in every moment, every second. I'm like Oh, okay. You You can't see it if you're listening to the broadcast, but I have a cookie monster bubble machine that like my husband and I like we love SeaWorld. We live in the Orlando area and so like, so sometimes I need this guy to just like help me out. He blinks and he blows bubbles outside of his lid. And I'm like, what? I rather blow bubbles out of my lid or for heart like of course now he's not blowing bubbles right now, but he's cute. I is any cue? Of course, you know, cooking chocolate and all that good stuff. I do. I did not call myself into comedy. Like I really thought I was going to be a crazy worshiper. I mean, I am but like, as a leader, and write music and sing in church and stuff. And then it was only like two and a half years ago, the Lord's like, hey, silly. I want you to bring joy to the world. I want you to do comedy. I'm like, what? Oh my gosh, this sounds like so much fun. And so through 2020 I learned the skill of comedy. So I oh my gosh, he's blowing. He's blowing his bubbles like here. Here we are, ladies and gentlemen Kimberly Hobbs   See the bubbles going around. Most everybody's listening to podcasts, but those who are watching on YouTube. DeAnn Alaine   And check this out. You guys.. Kimberly Hobbs   see the bubbles all over?  DeAnn Alaine   Isn't it so much fun. I'm such a kid.  Kimberly Hobbs   Bubbles make you happy. Unknown Speaker   They do. That's why I have a comedy carwash show on Roku TV. Yes. We go through a carwash I have guests and we play games and and we sing songs and and it's just bananas. It's on creative motion network. So if you ever pay TV or the Roku stick, or you can go to the their site online and watch mouthwash moments with the analyte. And and we have the most fun going through a carwash and sometimes we'll go through two times and and sometimes we'll go through three times just because we're having so much fun. And the Lord is bringing that to the surface on like a carwash. Like this is so much fun.  Kimberly Hobbs   I know. Who would ever think about going through a carwash and making a comedy show out of it. But God gave you that vision to do it. And also Dan, talk about fade away as you are getting ready to film and share a little bit about that too. DeAnn Alaine   Well, Fade Away is a sitcom based off of the best third rate funeral in Polk County, which is the county where I live in Florida. And we start filming on August 5, so be praying for us in that. And then we finish the rest of the filming on September 3 and fourth, we've got our camera guys in place our actors in place and I'm like Jesus, what are you doing? He's like, it's still comedy, but I want you to do television. I'm calling you into a bigger a bigger place, I need more. I have had to I learned joy and and you know, everyone's life is touched with death, everyone. And so here's the Lord saying I need I need people to have permission to be able to laugh and have joy about some of the biggest heart aches they've experienced. And so it's really like his hand is on this and that it's all come together. It's a miracle because I've never done anything like this before. But the when the Lord says do this, I'm hits so I'm gonna say yes. So yes, adventure. Kimberly Hobbs   Yes, yes, you are on a huge adventure. And we are just so blessed Dan to be able to come alongside of you. And now that she is in women, world leaders, God is using her and amazing ways here as well. And she has spoke at our last event at Kaiser University and just brought joy to the audience of women that laughed and laughed and laughed and and you can tell again, the joy of the Lord is your strength and nobody would know what was happening in your life growing up and how God would use all of those situations to bring you to where you are today and how you're able to serve Him with that joy. So ladies, we just really we know all of us like Dan sided go through struggles day to day but we need to just look to the Lord for our strength. As Dan said, shout out loud you know, turn your screams into songs of praise to the Lord and just be joyful with a joyful heart and the joy of the Lord will be your strength. You can visit DeAnn at WWW dot DeAnn Alaine - Alaine is a l a i n e.com If you'd like to hear her speak or perform comedy at your next event And and the name of her show mod wash moments with Deanna lien can be seen on Roku TV. Just add creative motion network to your streaming channels and find comedy presentations. And you can like and follow fadeaway on the Facebook page and find Deanne on Instagram at Dianna lean three to seven. She is also ladies and this month voice of truth magazine through women world leaders where she shares some joy in the magazine and look for her in the future with some really exciting future things that she's going to be writing. And we are just so grateful to have her on our leadership team. And in just in future things with women, we're leaders, we're working on some fun things to bring joy into the ministry. And Deann Can you leave the ladies with a just a word to that they could carry with them through the day just maybe that shot in the arm? That would just give them some joy? DeAnn Alaine   Yeah, absolutely. The shot in the arm is just confess with your mouth, Jesus, I will give you room today to work. I will give you room. Because if you if you give him room to work things out instead of you work trying to work them out yourself. He will do such a better job I promise you. So just say I promise to give you room today. Kimberly Hobbs   Wow, that's powerful, powerful. Give him room. So Jesus, we give you room to work in our life today. And for everybody listening, let's just pray that together. Daniel, you just cover the the women in prayer, just a short prayer to cover them. DeAnn Alaine   In the name of Jesus become before you indeed whether struggling or, or with buckets of joy, we just come at your feet and we declare that you are Lord, we thank You Jesus that you truly are the source. You are the remedy. Yes, joy, like you are the remedy for a joyful lifestyle. And, and for any of the ladies for all of the ladies listening, I just speak joy in abundance. In that moment. Today. I speak joy, even just a tiny bit, just meet them where they're at with, with the joy that they are they can receive in this moment. Jesus, you know that some are listening and their kids are driving them bananas or or they make they you might be single, and you're a single rose, but just know that Jesus has you covered and give him room like Jesus, thank you for these beautiful women. Thank you that they'll say today what I give you room to to, to work. Instead of me trying to fix this. Your joy will be manifested by me watching what you do. So Laurie, thank you for giving the women courage to say I won't settle for my flesh. I just I just want Jesus and to sit back and give him room to do what you love to do. I honor these ladies and bless them in the name of Jesus. Amen. Kimberly Hobbs   Amen. And remember ladies, Jesus is the joy of our salvation. His banner over us is love. And that was a song that we used to sing growing up in Sunday school so we just know Jesus is the joy of our salvation carry him with you ladies give him room. Thank you Deanna lane, we love you so much. And ladies, please remember join us each Monday, Wednesday and Friday. As we bring you these podcasts and each and every week. Ladies, we have to close but from his heart to yours. We are women world leaders all content is copyrighted and cannot be used without expressed written consent. God bless you and have a beautiful fantastic day the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Canary Cry News Talk #495 - 06.10.2022 INSURRECTION RITUALS Rioters Rioting, NASA Dark Energy, Days of Noah LINKTREE: CanaryCry.Party SHOW NOTES: CanaryCryNewsTalk.com CLIP CHANNEL: CanaryCry.Tube SUPPLY DROP: CanaryCrySupplyDrop.com SUPPORT: CanaryCryRadio.com/Support MEET UPS: CanaryCryMeetUps.com Basil's other podcast: ravel Gonz' New Youtube: Facelikethesun Resurrection Gonz' Video Archive: Facelikethesun.Live App Made by Canary Cry Producer: Truther Dating App   LEAD/JAN 6 5:23 V / 3:01 P Clip: Takeaways from Day 1 of Jan 6 Hearings (CNN) → Report by Pamela Brown, CNN Anchor/Sr. Washington Correspondent   Trump and allies having meltdown on Truth Social (Daily Beast) Republican Kelley arrested for Jan 6 connection (Forbes)   INTRO (M-W-F) 33:42 V / 31:10 P B&G Update, V4V/Exec./Asso./Support   FLIPPY 38:22 V / 36:00 P Nuclear waste sorting Robot Arm (PEI)   [Party Pitch/Ravel/CCClips/text alerts] 46:59 V / 44:37 P   GUN CONTROL 49:15 V / 46:53 P → Multiple victims reported in Mass Shooting, Maryland (The Hill) Protecting our Kids Act passes, here's what's in it (MSN/KTLA) → Bill HR 7910 (Gov Info)   BEAST SYSTEM 1:03:52 V / 1:01:30 P Apple just killed the password for good (Wired)   [TREASURE/SPEAKPIPE/BYE YOUTUBE] 1:18:24 V / 1:16:02 P   COVID/WACCINE 1:44:45 V / 1:42:23 P ABC News Analysis; Breakthrough Covid, deaths, rise amidst push for boosters (ABC) → Biden officials ending test requirements for International travel (The Hill) → WHO experts agree lab leak theory needs more investigation (CBC) (Response to Judicial Watch?)   PANDEMIC SPECIAL/TICK JINGLE 2:15:49 V /  Heartland virus, a new tick-borne disease spreading through the Mid/South US (Insider)  → Graphene, alternative to chemicals to repel mosquito bites (2019, NIH)   MONKEYPOX 2:14:38 V / 2:12:16 P Monkeypox symptoms can mimic STDs and be misdiagnosed (UPI.com) Some monkeypox patients also have sexually transmitted diseases, CDC says (cnbc.com)   [TALENT] 2:32:57 V / 2:30:35 P   SPACE/SCIENCE IS TRUTH 2:55:14 V / 2:52:52 P NASA's UAP team to provide scientific research (J-Post) [Not Alien…helps Jewish/Alien thesis] NASA boss: ‘I believe ET is real' (Telegraph/MSN) -“Nazi UFOs” Wikipedia -David Spergel homepage, “Dark Energy” (Princeton.edu)   NEPHILIM UPDATE 3:17:24 V / 3:15:02 P Footage, Texas zoo show mysterious Unidentified Amarillo Object (CHRON)   [TIME/OUTRO] 3:21:47 V / 3:19:25 P   EPISODE 495 WAS PRODUCED BY… Executive Producers Teresa Y**   Producers Dame Sarah of the Shadows, Dame Lady Knight Little Wing, Dustin B, Runksmash, Steven D, Arnold W, MORV, James M, Sandra K, Sir JC Knight of the Technosquatch, LX Protocol V2, James M, Amanda M, JonathanF, Michael M, Darrin S, Gail M, Veronica D, Sir Scott Knight of Truth, Sir Casey the Shield Knight, Sir James Knight and Servant of the Lion of Judah   AUDIO PRODUCTION (Jingles, Iso, Music): JonathanF    ART PRODUCTION (Drawing, Painting, Graphics): Dame Allie of the Skillet Nation, Sir Dove Knight of Rusbeltia   CONTENT PRODUCTION (Microfiction etc.): Runksmash: Abby Synth sits on Rooster's back, observing the farm and the animals. She sees a tall bipedal animal standing by the big box and a strange turtle with round legs approaching him, alarmingly out of it climbs a shorter biped and then several others.   Akyalynn: There's a longing in my Heart, I want so much more. I pray to my Master, Lord please open the door. Show me the light through this world of sin, lead the way & and I will follow You in. You are the Way, the Truth & the Life. The only One who carried my strife. I love You Jesus!    CLIP PRODUCER Emsworth, FaeLivrin, Epsilon   Timestamps: Mondays: Jackie U Wednesdays: Jade Bouncerson Fridays: Christine C   ADDITIONAL STORIES: …more Jan 6/polyticks… → US Cap riot hearing shows Trump allies, daughter rejected fraud claims (Reuters) → Trump throws Ivanka under the bus after her response (DailyMail) → Rep. Jim Jordan claims FBI is 'purging' employees with conservative viewpoints (DailyMail)  → How Jared Kushner Washed His Hands of Donald Trump Before Jan. 6 (Dnyuz) → Brazil's Bolsonaro casts doubt on Biden's 2020 election win ahead of meeting him (Reuters)  → Ginny Thomas emails show, 29 lawmakers contacted to attempt overturn elections (Wapo) World Bank warns 1970's style stagflation (Wapo) Putin terrifying war games Amphibious Soldiers firing underwater (Mirror UK) NASA to form scientific team to study UAP (Reuters) UK's Prince Williams spotted selling homeless magazine on the streets of London (Reuters) AI reveals a never-before described 3D structure in rotavirus spike protein (PhysOrg)  Putin Calls Himself A Modern "Peter The Great" Amid Ukraine War (NDTV)  → Peter The Great (Britannica) Obama-Biden advisor suggests surrendering US sovereignty to a world government (Life Site) $800 for this Raspberry pi controlled Robot Arm Humanoid robot soldiers that come alive, used to train paratroopers (DailyMail)

Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when dreams come true, there is life and joy. When I was gathering songs to lead worship for my church, I saw the title, "The Heart of Worship." I had never played this song, so I found a key that worked, sat down, and sang it. Something happened inside. All my wandering and wondering thoughts came together in one place as I sang the words, "It's all about You, It's all about You Jesus." My hope was reset to where it belongs. I will read to you from: Hebrews 4:14-16 Luke 10:38-42 Matthew 22:36-40 I will sing, "The Heart of Worship" by Matt Redman. If you would like to support this podcast with a monthly or one-time donation, thank you! I am dreaming up extra goodies for those of you who are able to help out. Take a look. http://www.sherriyoungward.com/donate To find out about upcoming gatherings and new projects, please join my email list at www.sherriyoungward.com

Have you ever run out of time when you were in the middle of something that wasn't complete? Maybe a house project, something for work, or an important relationship? As we continue our series on the book of Ecclesiastes, JP teaches through Ecclesiastes 3, showing us how God works in time.KEY TAKEAWAYS-If what you have is not good, God is not done.-Every human being experiences both the ups and downs of life. There are no exceptions.-We experience life in time and chronological order. God sits above and outside of time and sees everything.-There is a time for everything.-It's bad theology to believe you won't experience sickness, pain, hurt, poverty, or other bad things on this side of death.-God has put eternity in our hearts and nothing but Him will satisfy our cravings and desires.-God is in charge of everything.-The fear of the Lord means to fully stand in both fear and awe of the Lord at the same time.-We can know and understand a lot about God through His creation and His Word, but make no mistake, He won't fully fit into our finite understanding.-When things aren't going how you hoped or planned, ask yourself, “What is God up to right now? What does He want me to do or learn?”-Everyone wants God to take care of evil, but they want Him to start just past themselves.-God makes everything beautiful in its time.-God took the worst day in human history and turned it into the best day in human history.-Asking God, “How can you do this to me?” is the wrong question. The right question is, “How could you do that to You (Jesus) for me?”-God makes everything beautiful in its time.-For those who have trusted in Christ, one day we will see clearly and understand how the hardest thing we've ever been through was worth it.MENTIONED OR RECOMMENDED RESOURCES-Suggested Scripture Study: Ecclesiastes 3; John 10:10; Romans 8:28; 1 Thessalonians 5:16; Philippians 4:11-13-Sermon: The Search Begins-Sermon: The Search Continues