Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Jacob, thank you. Wow, that was a great introduction. Get those sparklers back up. If I'm preaching a good point, you guys set them off as good.
I'm excited about what God's doing in the house. Anybody thankful to be a part of a church that's alive and doing some stuff?
I guess not. Okay.
What a great season we're in right now. I'm excited for the vision. By the way, Tim's story. If you guys have not been a part of his ministry, you ought to make it a priority to get out here next week. The morning will be great. Revival night will really, you know, just whatever holy spirit wants to do. But even my wife, we were. I mean, this is probably how many years ago, leah?
Eight years ago maybe. She was sitting up around where you guys are up there and just. The glory of the Lord came in so powerfully. I mean, she was just a puddle on the floor, just under the power of God. I had to drag her out that night, but it was in a ten story meeting. And I mean, really, one of the most powerful encounters my wife has ever had with the Lord happened in one of those meetings. And so come full of faith and expectancy. It's going to be a great time, but you ready to get in the word? I want you to stand. We honor the reading of God's word. I want you to turn with me to Ephesians, chapter three. This is our theme verse for this series.
And then we'll look at another text in the Gospel of Luke. Ephesians, chapter three and verse 14. It's on the screen. You can follow along if you don't have your bible with you. For this reason, I bow my knees to the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's praying, from whom the whole heaven, in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might through his spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height, to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all we ask or think or even imagine according to the power that works in us, to him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. I want you to look with me at Luke, chapter five.
Luke, chapter five in verse one.
This is a powerful passage. It's got meaning to me personally that I'll explain in a moment.
Luke, chapter five and verse one. So it was as the multitude pressed about Jesus to hear the word of God. Everybody say word of God.
They pressed to hear the word of God. He stood by the lake of Janassaret.
He saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen had gone from them. They were washing their nets. Then he got in one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little from the land.
He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. When he had stopped speaking, he said to Simon, launch into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. Simon answered him and said, master, we've toiled all night and we have caught nothing. Nevertheless, at your word. At your word, I will let down the net. When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and the net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and to help them. They came. They filled both boats. So they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus knee, saying, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. He and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken. So also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee who were partners with Simon. Jesus said to Simon, do not be afraid. From now on, you will catch men.
So when they had brought their boats to the land, they forsook all. They forsook all and followed Jesus. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is God's word, and I believe it to be true. You may be seated.
I want to bring to us an encouragement last week. I'm hoping that you're celebrating with us that miracle offering. And really, as we approach 50 years as a ministry, 50 years of God's faithfulness, it is a time to celebrate what God has done. How many understand, like, there's a lot of reasons that our church should not exist? I mean, if you know the history you've gone through, membership, you know the stories. I mean, there have been betrayals and there have been breaking of trust and scandals. There have been splits and offended people, and there have been visitations from God and miracles and testimony and harvest coming in, and miracle offers and great breakthrough and powerful miracles happening right in these altars. And what pastor mentioned earlier in the service, we're discovering as we look at 50 years of ministry, the Church of Jesus Christ is resilient. How many of you can bear witness? You can testify the church of Jesus is resilient and God is faithful, isn't he? God is so faithful. And so we are. Yes, we're looking back at what God has done, and we're going to have a lot of opportunities to celebrate. And, yeah, January, February, we're going to burn another mortgage. I personally believe that we're going to meet those goals and we're going to break those barriers a lot sooner than 24 months. That's just where my faith is and that's what I'm praying for. But we're going to have moments of celebration. But part of what I want to encourage us today is how are we going to stay engaged in this vision 15 months from now?
Like, we gave a big offering last week and we had a victory. We had breakthrough. It was a miracle. Almost $400,000 came in last week. That's huge, you guys. But when month 13 comes along and you're reminding your spouse, hey, remember the commitment that we made a year and a half ago? Are we still gonna be excited about what God's doing? Are we still going to be excited? Are we still gonna be imagining with God what he can do? Now, what I love about this text is it ministers to me personally. But there were some things that I think we can pull from this that helped the disciples stay engaged with the vision that Jesus presented to them. I mean, these guys didn't know what they were signing up for when Jesus invited them. Listen, I want you to lay down your nets and I want you to come and follow me. I don't think they had any idea that they were joining, I mean, the greatest movement in human history. I don't think they had any ideas that God had hand selected them to be foundational apostles in what we're still walking and experiencing today.
They could not have imagined what Jesus had in store for their lives. But we can learn some things from their examples. So if you're taking notes, I want you to write this down and all. I'll give you the references as we move through here. But number one, how are we going to stay connected with the vision that God has given us? Number one, we need to keep the word before our eyes.
You must keep the word before your eyes.
Now, you may not know this. I always thought it was kind of interesting that Jesus is walking by the sea of Galilee and he sees some guys fishing and he says, hey, come and follow me. I remember as a young person thinking it was strange, like if I just saw a random person walking down the road and says, hey, you, come follow me, I was taught you're not supposed to do that. Right. But I look and Peter, these guys, like, he gives an invite and they leave their family business. They leave everything that they know to go and follow Jesus. But one of the things that I want you to understand, and you can read this in the Gospel of John, in John chapter one, he's actually explaining the ministry of John the Baptist. And John is baptizing, he's preaching a message of repentance. He's preaching the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And he is addressing a people that, I mean, the Bible says that everyone came out to hear John and he said something along these lines. I think John 316 is very important, but Luke 316 is very important as well. Luke 316 says, I indeed baptize with water, but there's one who's coming after me who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire his sandal strap, I am not even worthy to loose. And he began to point people who were following him, he began to direct them to Jesus. And one day soon Jesus comes on the scene and he says, behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And he actually highlights that Andrew and Peter and a number of the disciples were present at that declaration. So you just imagine, I mean, you imagine for six months you're hearing a prophet declare Jesus is about to come. And then all of a sudden Jesus shows up at your boat and he steps into Peter's boat and says, peter, I want you to let me preach from your boat. I'm going to declare the word from your boat. Now this is kind of a practical thing. My family and I, we lived for seven years right next to the ocean. We were in Hawaii and, and it's fascinating, I mean, truly fascinating. You should do this. If you're ever near a beach, go stand like a mile away from the ocean. If you can find a location where you can kind of go up a mountain. It's incredible. You can hear the waves crashing from miles away or there would be cruise boats that would come in or yachts that would be out on the water. I mean, hundreds of yards, even up to a mile out on the water. And yet you could hear the music that was going on the boat even from the shore. So there's a science behind what Jesus is asking. But I love the fact that Peter made room for Jesus.
He made room, hear me on this. Peter made room for the word of God. I, and this is something that we all must be intentional to do. Listen, if you're waiting for like, profound revelation attached, like the secret knowledge. Pastor Jacob's gonna bring us some mystical thing that's gonna help us fulfill the vision. I'm not, guys, I have discovered after years of walking with the Lord, it's not complicated.
Be faithful to read your Bible and pray and serve and give, and it'll help if you don't sleep around with people you're not married to or steal money or beat people up, that that stuff will help you a lot. But I'm just telling you, my wife and I, we have been elevated, and we've been elevated and we've been trusted with more because we have been faithful with the instruction that God has given us. And it's not complicated. I remember talking to a pastor friend who really has still today a very notable ministry and asking him, like, how did you arrive? And he's like, I never exploded into success. He's like, I would hear the word of the Lord and I would obey. I would hear the word of the Lord and I would obey. He was faithful in what God had trusted to him. And I watched how God had elevated him. So I'm just telling you, be faithful to the word of God. Peter made room for the word of God to be released. Even last week, pastor talked about Elijah. He saw the man. These guys saw Elijah, man of God, walking down the road carrying the word of the Lord. And a woman turns to her husband and says, can we make room for the man of God? Can we make room for the word of the Lord? And you guys know we heard the testimony last week, how they received a miracle child. They saw the first in the Bible, resurrection from the dead, because they made room for the word of the Lord. So keep the word a priority. Read your Bible every day. Make church a priority. I know I'm preaching to the choir. You guys came to church today. Be faithful to the house of God, where the word of God is being preached. This is how we're going to keep the vision in front of us, guys.
It's easy to get overwhelmed by the world. It's easy to get distracted. It's easy to fall prey to unbelief or weariness. But it's amazing how you come together with people of like, faith and you hear the word of God and say, yeah, God is on my side and God's got a vision for my life and somebody's praying for me. And other people have gone through what I'm going through and they come through it. And God was faithful. How many know it's encouraging. We must keep it a priority to gather together around the word of God. But one of the things I love, you want to know why we do prophetic rooms?
You wanna know why we have personal prophetic ministry on prayer services and even here in the altars, is because I believe the Lord is still speaking today.
And I believe there's moments where the Lord will drop a vision in our heart. And it may not be the authoritative scripture, but we believe that it is a word from God for us for this season. We're in one of those seasons right now where we're believing the Lord has spoken to us that by Jubilee we're going to experience Jubilee, that the 50th year of this church, God is going to lift the burden of debt off of this house. And for those who would participate and come under the anointing of what God is doing and believe the word that has been declared over this house, we believe that you also will have the burden of debt lifted off of you, that there will be no poor among us according to scripture. And so we're contending together over a directive word that God has given us. And you'll notice that Jesus spoke to Peter this way. He preached the word, Peter made room for it, and then he gave Peter a personal directive word. Listen, I want you to paddle out a little further and I want you to cast your nets into the deep. This is why, my friend, you ought to pray for God to speak to you. You ought to pray for dreams and encounters with God. You ought to show up to prophetic rooms and receive the word of the Lord. You need to. To call on other people, like, just pray for me. I had somebody message me earlier this week. They're praying about what their next assignment is. It's just, hey, would you pray with us about this? My wife and I feel like there's a change coming in our life. Would you pray, friend? It's important. I pray over my family every single night.
I pray for you guys. I pray for our staff. I pray for our intercessors and those who are close to us. But my wife stopped me the other night. I was praying, and I can be long winded when I pray and she's ready for bed, but I just feel like we got to pray. But I have that. I was praying and I'm like, God, bless my family. Cover us spiritually, financially, emotionally, in every way. And then I pray over like, God, would you just fill our home with your glory, let your light be in this place and expel darkness. No nightmares, no fear. Bless my kids, bless my family. And then I prayed this, I prayed this way every day for as long as I've been married. And I prayed, Lord, tonight, give us good rest. And may my family, may my wife and Gabriel and Moriah, let us have dreams, let us have encounters with you in the midnight hour. Speak to us, minister to us, even while we sleep tonight, Lord. And my wife stopped me as I was praying. She's like, Jake, I have dreams almost every single night. The Lord speaks to me, speaks to our children. But she said, you have been praying that over us every day for as long as we've been married. And God answers why we have prioritized God, I value your word and I value. When you speak to me, when you give us a dream or you drop a vision in a heart or there's a word that comes corporately to our house, I take it seriously because I believe this is what God desires to do. So here's what I would encourage. If you need fill in the blank. I need healing. I am going to turn to the word of God and find out what he has to say about healing. If I need financial breakthrough, I'm going to find out what does the Bible have to say about this? If I'm believing for deliverance or someone to get saved or I'm praying over the political atmosphere, I'm praying that the church of Jesus Christ would grow. Fill in the blank. What are you believing for? Listen, before I pray, I go to the word.
This is coming from the pastor that leads prayer. By the way, before I pray, I want to know the legal basis that I can stand on. What is the foundation? What is the promise that I can stand on, that I can say, God, this isn't just my idea. This isn't just what I heard somebody else saying. That sounds kind of neat. No, Lord, your word says, and this is a word to me. See, my, let me talk about finances for a minute because we gave a miracle offering. And listen, before you get all clenched up, and I like, I know the minute I talk about money, you watch the entire room, like rise six inches because everybody clinches. He's going to receive. I'm not receiving an offering. Unclench, relax. Is going to be fine. The reason I'm going to share what I'm about to share is because some of you, maybe for the first time, gave a faith offering. Maybe you're new to the church and you're just beginning God to trust God with your tithe. Or maybe you saw the devastation of the hurricanes and you gave in that special offering that we sowed into convoy of hope. Maybe you've begun to take some faith steps financially. And I just want to encourage you. When you give, you should expect for God to give back into you.
I grew in this over the last four years. My.
We planted a church in Kona. And many of you know that testimony. We started this at the height of COVID and we were praying, God, we need a building. And we know one lady in Kona. But we watched how God absolutely blessed that we came out and we were prophesying every time in a little Bible study. We'd prophesy over every single person sitting in the room. It's how we started our church. Next thing you know, 30 people are showing up. Next thing you know, we've outgrown the space that we're in. And we're like, God, we need a building. And so my wife, she has a dream. We take dreams seriously. She saw a shopping center, and we found that shopping center cost $6 million. I don't have $6 million. And so we began to pray like God. We need to see a miracle here if we're gonna see this church. And. And many of you know, we saw so many people get saved. We were baptizing hundreds in the ocean. We saw in 2023, six documented cancer healings. I'm talking brain tumors, terminal cancer. We'd pray God healed.
But some of the greatest miracles that we saw were in the realm of finances. Because, friend, when you're going after a vision that's bigger than you, you have to believe God for resources that are beyond your ability.
And so God began to stretch our faith. And I'm like, I'm looking at this and I'm like, God, I've got cars that I'm making payments on, and I'm sick of it. I'm paying somebody else's mortgage because I'm renting their house. And I'm sick of it. I'm watching credit cards go higher and higher, and I'm sick of it. And I mean, nobody was getting pay raises through Covid. And so I'm just like, lord, I need you to help me in this. And then I had a pastor friend and he began, I watched this guy, he'd come do little outreaches in Hana, and, you know, just a small town. And I mean, he had 30 people that would show up. I mean, he'd share testimony like, I don't have money to pay for my car registration.
But then I watched, over the course of COVID I watched this guy receive increase and increase and increase. He starts preaching about money, talking about money, and I'm just watching because I'm like, I'm cautious, man, and I'm not just going to take somebody's word for it. I want to see the fruit of it. And I watched as his church exploded. I watched as God began to give him resources, I mean, people giving him vehicles. He showed up to Oru and, like, paid off the entire graduating class's tuition. I mean, this guy, his church exploded so much that. That literally he didn't have a building to contain what was happening. And so somebody gave him a soccer arena for their church to meet in. And I'm watching this, like, dude, you have gone from broke, can't pay $30 for your registration, to now having arenas handed to you. What did you do?
And so I began to pray and I began to dig into this. Listen, I know, I know people get weird when you start talking about money and prosperity. Prosperity. Because some of us have been raised to think that poverty. I mean, some of us have been taught that poverty is a virtue, but the Bible says that poverty is a curse.
It's not a virtue. We were watching this million women deal in DC, and one of my friends, Yuri park, her and her husband, they're from South Korea, they now are the campus directors at Ywam in Kona. And she was thanking America for sending missionaries to South Korea. She was talking about how she is, she and her husband are first generation christians because America had sent missionaries into her nation. And she was thanking them and praying that we would continue to be a strong missionary sending nation.
But she shared something that caught my attention. She's like, the gospel came to our nation and God took us from third world poverty status as a nation into a place where they are one of the strongest economies, top ten on the planet. Like, what in the world is that? Like, you're looking in front, there's people like, you watch these guys write these books about anti prosperity. That's the doctrine of demonstration. And that book becomes a bestseller. And all of a sudden, they got millions of dollars coming their way and God's blessing them. What do you do with that? I guess they got to give it all away. I don't know now. I.
I just began to go through scripture like, lord, if this is a reality for me, I need you to show me. And so this is how I would pray. I began to go through the Bible and I began to highlight every verse that had anything to do with money. I'd highlight it green. I also went through. I highlighted everything that had to do with healing or encounters with the Holy Ghost, I did. I'd highlight them blue. And what's amazing is how many blue verses are connected to green verses. You ought to do it sometime. It's amazing how generosity is connected with encounters with God. And so I began to do this. I began to go through, and I began, if there was a verse that would really speak to me, I would save it. I'd write it on a card. I'd put it in front of me. I mean, even all of my phone backgrounds are scriptures and declarations. Every time I turn on my phone, a different declaration, a different promise that I'm saying, I'm keeping the word in front of me.
And so I begin to pray. And this is can you guys let me pray for a minute? This is how I pray. This is what prayer meetings with Pastor Jacob look like. God, your word says, you are Jehovah Jireh, you are the Lord that will provide. Lord, you told Abraham, you are el Shaddai. You are the all sufficient one. You told him in Genesis 17 one, I am el Shaddai, and I make a covenant with you and your descendants. Lord, you said in Galatians 329 that I belong to Jesus, and so I am an heir of Abraham. And the promises you made to Abraham is a promise to me. Lord, you told Joshua in Joshua one eight that if I keep your word in front of me and obey it, you would make my way prosperous, and I would have success. So bless my businesses and bless everything I set my hands to God. Lord, you told the children of Israel you would give them houses and cities and businesses that they did not build. In Joshua 20 413, you said in one Timothy four eight that godliness is profitable in all things. Make me profitable in all things. Lord, you said that you would open the windows of heaven, and the blessings of God would run me down and overtake me in Deuteronomy 28. And that you have given me the power to gain wealth. Verse twelve, you said that you would supply all my need according to your riches in glory, Christ Jesus. Philippians 419, you said that you would rebuke the devourer for my sake. You would open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings, more than I can even contain. In Malachi 310, you said in Romans eight two, if you didn't spare your own son, but you gave him, how much more won't you give me? All things. Lord, you said in two corinthians nine eight that God is able to make grace abound to me so that I will have all sufficiency in all things and in abundance for every good work. Second, Peter one three. Your divine power has given me all things that pertain to life and godliness. The Bible says, Hebrews eleven six, that you are a rewarder of those who diligently seek you. Isaiah 40 817. I am the Lord, Lord your God, who teaches you to profit. You lead me in the way I should go. Proverbs 1022 says, the blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and he adds no sorrow to it. The Bible says that the Lord is your son and shield, and the Lord will give grace and glory, and no good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man. Blessed is the man. Blessed is the man who trusts in you. Psalm 80 411.
That's the word.
That's the word.
I keep that in front of me. That's why when people come to me and they're like, pray that I'll sell my house.
Pray that we will have increase in our businesses, friend, there's not even a doubt in my mind. This is what the Bible says. I mean, I was praying over our staff this last Tuesday. We had a staff meeting. I'm just. Let me just pray for the breaking of poverty. And next thing you know, I know I got carried away because I started doing this and it just. It just begins to flow out of me. It's come into my heart, friend. And this is not just in the realm of giving. You come to me, pastor. Pray for my healing. I've done the very same thing in the realm of healing, so there's not a doubt in my mind. Yeah, well, you know, you're probably sick because you did something wrong, and this is God's punishment to you. That doesn't even enter my heart. Well, we'll pray if it's God's will. I will not pray weak prayers over you. You come to me. And this is how we train our altar workers to pray. I'm not praying that. Well, God, just comfort them until you take them home. No, it's like the leper who came to Jesus. Rabbi, if it's your will, would you make me clean? And his response, I am willing. I. It is God's will to heal. It's the devil who comes to steal, kill and destroy. But Jesus has come that we might have life and life more abundantly. It's a good life. He wants to bless you. He wants to heal you. He wants to pour out his good goodness and glory. If you keep his word in front of you and obey it.
[00:29:50] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:29:51] Speaker A: By the way, I didn't even share in the first service. You know, God would give me ideas because you're like, I share that and, like, do you still got all this credit card debt? Do you still got the cars and that? Guys, God gave us a miracle home. God gave us a miracle home. I had an idea. Like, God would just. He dropped this thing in my heart, like, put your car on Turo, rent it out. And so I put the car on Turo, and I took everything that came in that, and I gave it. I didn't even keep it. I gave it, you know. Within a year, we paid off two vehicles. $20,000 in credit card debt, no pay raise. But God just began to flow resources. As we began to give, resources began to come into our life. He opened the door. It's about a $60,000 miracle. I did not have the income or the finances to live in the house that we live in, but God flowed resources into us. And if he did it for me, listen, this isn't secret sauce. Well, that's because you're anointed pastor Jacob. So are you. So are you. And so you give in this offering. We preach about healing. We preach about deliverance. Guess what? You can receive it. All right, well, I know you're with me. I'm getting way too excited. I need to. The evangelist is coming out. Okay, number two.
That's right. Number 227 minutes in. Here we go.
Expect experiences and encounters with God.
You want to remain positioned to fulfill the vision. We're going to celebrate 50 years, and we're going to look forward to what God's going to do. You must expect experiences and encounters with.
In verse five of our Luke text, Simon answered and said to Jesus, master, we toiled all night. We've caught nothing. Nevertheless, at your word, I'll let down the net. When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish. Their net was breaking, so they signaled to their partners any other boat to come and to help them. They came. They filled both boats. So they began to sink. When Simon saw it, he fell on his knees and said, depart from me. I am a sinful man. Guys. That's an interesting reaction, if you think about it. Like, Jesus didn't rebuke him, didn't even mention sin. But there was something that happened with this encounter. Jesus works a miracle, and all of a sudden, Peter has this revelation of who he is in light of the glory of Goddesse. This is why I love the fact that our church has centered around a core value of substance, that we're going to be a people that prioritize the testimony of Jesus and the glory of God, the activity of the Holy Spirit. We value it. We hunger for it. This is that canopy that we've been talking about the last few weeks. You realize you're coming into an atmosphere of faith that for 50 years, people have prayed and interceded and they have contended, and they have gone after the glory of God. And so when we experience his manifest presence, every time we worship, every time we pray, every time the word is released, every time our kids and our youth gather together, every time we fellowship over a Bible study, how come God visits us? Because people have contended for it. People have prayed for it, people have believed for it. And so you come in, and we begin to receive. And this is why, guys, my spiritual father was Steve Hill. He was a hellfire brimstone preacher. And I'm all about preaching against sin, but I believe. Listen, I grew up with people constantly telling me music is bad and sex is bad and money is bad and, no, that's bad. And I spent my life looking at what I should not do and what's bad and what commandments can I. I got to make sure I don't violate that one, or I'm going to die. I'm going to go to hell. God's going to judge me. And I spend my life looking at that. But the problem is, where you look, you will go.
If you spend your entire life looking at, I can't sin. Can't sin. Can't sin. Next thing you know, you're gonna find yourself sinning.
I wish that somebody would have invited me to. Imagine, like, Jacob, imagine what your life would look like if you accepted the call that God has on you. Imagine what your life would look. Nobody ever told me to dream with God. Nobody ever told me that that music gift that I had wasn't so that I could be a self promoted rock star. No, God gave me a gift so I could do something that would glorify him. Like if somebody just told me, like, hey, you can invite and look at what happens. Peter receives the word. He responds to a word. He has an encounter. And guess what? Without one condemning word about sin, he has a revelation of who he is in light of Jesus.
A very famous pastor told me in between services that if Jesus could look into the water and see all of the fish, imagine Peter saying, wow, what does he see in me?
The way that was our pastor, by the way, another pastor Leonard Ravenhill said that when we stand in the glory of God, all of our fig leaves fall off.
See, I.
I want to see people come to Jesus. I want to see people living and walking right. But I believe the greatest way we're going to do that is by hosting the glory of God. I believe it's putting a vision in front of them. Like, listen, you could be a miracle worker, too. God could use you. God could use your mouth to prophesy. God could use you to start a multimillion dollar business to plant churches and send ministries, and God could do that. God could use you to be a blessing and not a burden to people. God could set you free. Come on. That addictive nature that you've got. Come on. Let's gear that towards a hunger for God and imagine what he would do in your life. You guys hear me? Today?
The Bible says in Hebrews two four that God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose. In mark 1120, it says, they went out and they preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word. Confirming the word how? Through accompanying signs. Amen, friend. This is why, yes, we preach and we believe and we will devour the word God. What are your promises? What are your promises? And I expect encounters with God. This is why we have prayer moments like, I'm going to preach about healing, and some of you are getting excited about it today. And then let's see the Lord confirm his word. Let's see the Lord do. This is why the reason I'm sharing this this week and I'm not even receiving an offering. Look at the blessings of God. Some of you gave last week. Some of you gave this morning. You need to expect God's gonna work miracles. God's gonna do for me what I'm believing. He's gonna do for the church. What God did for Pastor Jacob, he's gonna do in my life.
Amen. Number three, this is very important. This is gonna be the hard one. You guys still with me? I think we're doing okay. Number three. Hold everything with open hands.
Hold everything with open hands.
Jesus says to Peter, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. And in verse eleven of Luke five, it says that they forsook all and they followed him. They forsook all and they followed him. And I need you to understand, when Peter laid down his nets, when James and John laid down their nets, I mean, their dad was in the boat.
This was not just like, hey, I know, you got a fishing trip planned for next week. Would you, would you mind skipping that and travel with me? Because I'm preaching over in another city this next week. No. He's like, I want you to lay down your family business.
I want you to give up legacy.
I want you to lay down your source of income and everything that's important to you. I want you to be willing to give it all.
Would you lay down your nets and would you follow me? And the Bible says that they forsook all and followed him.
They spent the next years following Jesus, hearing his word, preaching his words, being discipled and making disciples, receiving and releasing what God trusted to them.
And then Jesus is crucified and the disciples are scattered. Peter denies Christ.
And then Jesus is raised. And Peter, John and others, you can find it in John, chapter 21. They go back to fishing.
They fish all night and they catch nothing.
And a man shows up on shore. They don't know who it is.
And he says, hey, boys, why don't you cast your net on the other side of the boat?
And so they do. They throw the net over the side, and all of a sudden a miracle catch of fish is being brought into the boat.
John looks up on the shore and he says, it's the Lord.
And Peter rips off his garment and he jumps into the water and he swims to Jesus, who's there, resurrected Jesus. And he finds him on the beach around a campfire making breakfast.
And he asks Peter a question. You know this story.
Peter, do you love me?
Yeah, I love you.
Do you love me? I love you.
Peter, do you really love me?
Yes.
And Jesus says, drop your nets again and follow me.
Take care of my sheep.
You see, I knew when I was coming off of drugs that there were relationships I needed to let go of, lifestyles that I needed to walk away from. When my life was horrible, broken, mess, I knew that there were some things that I needed to lay down.
But I'm here to tell you today, friend, that there will be moments, even after you've been walking with the Lord for ten and 20 and 50 years, where the Lord again says, would you lay that down for me?
Worship team, if you come. I close with this story.
The reason this text means so much to me is about a year ago. In fact, right around this time, I was preparing a sermon to come preach at Trinity in November. We were living in Kona. We're pastoring this great church that God blessed and just exploded. And we've had some people ask, like, was the church failing is that why you guys came back? No, actually, quite the opposite. The church, I mean, we watched God increase that thing in attendance and giving. And even today, it's still. I think it's stronger than it was when we were there. I had kind of selfishly hoped that they would decline a little bit because the people miss me a lot. But it didn't. The church is resilient. Praise God. And it's there. It's strong. The pastor called me, and he shared with me a vision that God had given him for a mighty revival.
And he saw that my wife and I, my family, were a part of that revival.
And he invited us to come and be a part of what he believed God was going to do.
Imagining my immediate response to him was, pastor, I've got a building program. Our church is exploding. I told him I need to steward the revival that God is bringing in Kona.
And I began to pray, and prophets start calling me. The word of the Lord starts coming. All of these different things. My wife is having dreams. Like, all this stuff starts coming to us, and we're like, man, maybe God does want us to go back.
But I needed something from the Lord.
I'll never forget it, you guys. My wife and I were training for a triathlon. It was right around this time last year.
I was sitting on an exercise bike. Third one from the wall. I could take you to the very spot. And I was listening to Luke, chapter five, as I was pedaling for miles on that bike.
And I felt the Lord speak to me as I was hearing this text.
Jacob, lay down your nets.
Lay down your nets.
I knew what that meant when I was in sin.
But carrying something that was blessed and glorious and precious to the Lord. God, you want me to lay that down? But it's good, friend. I hold everything with open hands.
This is why I believe giving is so important.
God, there's nothing that you have trusted to me that I won't give back to you.
God, my marriage. I'm so thankful for a wife that I love. It's been awesome.
I'm not gonna steward that mess, that marriage, just in my own strength. No, I. I give her to you every day.
My kids. Oh, I want to do it in my own strength, and I'm going to do my best. But, God, I trust you with my kids.
God, this church you've blessed me with, oh, it's been amazing. The miracles. I can't believe you do this through my hands. You use me.
But I hold it with open hands. And I am willing to lay it down for you.
Is there anything that you're holding on to?
The Lord says, I want that.
I want that, that prodigal. I know you're trying, trying, trying, but just give it to me.
I know you're trying to get healed.
Would you just give me your sickness?
Would you just give me your disease? I'll take it. I'll take it.
That ministry, I know it's so important to you, and it's good. It's good.
Would you give it to me?
Doesn't mean that you got to give it up. You understand?
But my heart posture is always, Lord, everything I have, I hold with open hands.
And if you ask for it, I'll give it to you.
Would you stand as we close?
I know some of you are looking inwardly, even right now.
You're like, oh, wow, I don't want to let that go, guys.
As I was putting together this message, I was just reflecting on our journey with the Lord.
First church that we took, I was 21 years old and went into a church of about 60.
It grew to 20 in less than a month. Praise God.
But I have watched how in every season, when the Lord says, now it's time to lay that down.
I mean, I was going over the numbers with Leah. I'm like, God, leah, you realize that God, every time we've been willing to do that, he's multiplied our influence times ten.
Times ten.
It's not an exaggerated. I could walk you literally through, financially, numerically, on every level, every time we've released. He's trusted us with so much more.
I got a Bible verse for that one, too.
Jesus was addressing a rich young ruler.
What do I lack, Jesus?
And he says, only one thing.
You don't have possessions. Possessions have you.
Are you willing to drop that if you know the story? He was unwilling.
And then he turns to his disciples, and his disciples are confused. They're like Jesus. If he can't make it in, how can any of us make it in?
And this is what Jesus said.
Mark 1029. Assuredly, I say, there is no one who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, wife, children, lands for my sake and the gospels, who will not receive a hundredfold. Now, in this time, you don't have to wait until you die and go to heaven to receive the blessing of the Lord. Now, in this time, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, lands with persecutions. You're gonna be willing to go through some stuff. I know there's people. I have people lining up after the service. Can you give me those declarations, those scriptures? People get excited about it. But I also know there's people that will despise the message about finance persecutions. I understand that.
But, friend, I'm living, walking proof.
If you lay it down for the Lord, if you lay it down for whatever he's asking you, he will return it to you. Multiplied.
Multiplied in this life and in eternity.
Now with every head bowed and everyone praying, I really only have two responses that I'd like today. Number one, maybe you're here and God is speaking to you. Hey, I want you to lay down. I want you to lay down that addiction. I want you to lay down. I want you to lay down weariness.
I want you to lay down compromise.
I want you to lay down. Maybe God is exposing, just like Peter, he's showing you I'm a sinful man. And maybe you recognize that today. Listen, God didn't condemn Peter. He says, no, I still want you to follow me.
And he's not condemning you today either. This is an opportunity to say, yes, Lord, I'll follow you. If he's speaking to you about something you need to lay down, then this, his prayers for you. How many of you would say, pastor, I need you to include me in your prayer. I've got some things that I need to lay down that I need to give to the Lord. Yes. By show of hands. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. So many. So many. So many. Yes. Come on. Today's a day of freedom. God's gonna do it. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Second call is this. Maybe you're here. You say, pastor, you know, I'm like you. It's not even a sin issue. But I feel like God is saying, will you trust me with your business? Will you trust me with your marriage, with your family? Will you trust me with your finances? Will you trust me with that ministry? Maybe there's something. It's not bad.
But you realize you've been stewarding it in your own strength. You've been stewarding it in your own power. And today you feel like the Lord is putting it upon you. Hey, I want you to give that to me too.
I want you to lay down your nets.
Who here today? You say, yeah, I feel like the Lord is asking me to lay something down. Might be something good. Yes, I see you. I see you. Yes, yes, yes, yes. This is what we're gonna do. We've got a few minutes left in the service.
I believe the Lord is going to confirm his word with accompanying signs and wonders.
So if you're here today, in fact, I'll extend this even just a little further. You can look this way.
Maybe you're here and you say, you know what? I've been carrying sickness.
I've been carrying. It's not even sin, but I've got, and I got something that I need the Lord to take off of my life. I don't want to be depressed anymore. I don't want to be broken anymore. I want to give that to the Lord.
I want to pray with you and I want to believe that if God declared it in his word, we have the legal authority to say, that's for you.
That's for you. So if you raise your hand for either one of those or God's impressing on you and you'd like personal prayer, I just want you to begin to come out from your seat right now. Come and join me at the front. And we're gonna pray. We're gonna believe for God to meet you in your area of need, for God to take, and he's gonna use your life. Come on. We're gonna imagine with God. We're gonna imagine with God. Yeah, come on. You can come even all the way up in the seats. Yeah. People are making their way down. I want you to come. We've got our prayer partners who are coming right now and I want you to come and join your faith with them. They're going to pray. They're not going to pray wimpy prayers on your behalf. They're going to pray believing for God to move on your behalf. So come on down. Come on down. We're going to worship for just a few moments. Please don't leave. Come down and respond if you'd like. Personal prayer. And in a few moments, I'm going to pray a blessing over us. But for the next few moments, come respond prayer. Let's go before the Lord in worship. Come on, you guys. If you just lead us.
[00:52:33] Speaker B: But prove to us the Father, love Jesus Christ, we live it up. Holy, holy.
One who was a beginning to come, see it on the throne above. Holy, holy. Right. Just one shame to us. The father Jesus got us be lifted up. Holy.
Holy.
Holy. Holy.
Shit. Holy, holy. Holy.
Right.
Jesus Christ.
Who else is worthy?
Who else is worthy?
No one.
Only Jesus.
Who else is worthy?
Who else is worthy?
There is no one.
Only you, Jesus.
Who else is worthy?
Who else is what?
There is no one.
Only Jesus.
Who else is worthy?
Who else is worthy?
There is no one.
Only Jesus.
Sadeena, for you.
[00:56:03] Speaker A: That's right.
[00:56:04] Speaker B: To you deserve the glory.
[00:56:12] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:56:14] Speaker B: You worthy of it all.
You swerved in all.
[00:56:42] Speaker A: Yeah, I hear this prayer going on.
I'm just imagining with God.
Church. Can you imagine the day where every sick person, Jesus had meetings, where everyone who showed up got healed, everyone who showed up got delivered?
Could you imagine God doing that here?
Like God just did it? We call for healing next week. There's like two people. Because everyone got healed last week.
Lord, I'm asking that you would do exceedingly, abundantly, above all we can ask or think or even imagine.
Lord, I'm asking that as we keep your word in front of us, your promises in front of us, we will see mighty miracles.
You're going to touch us emotionally, financially, spiritually, physically. You're going to minister to, to us in every realm. In the mighty name of Jesus, let this be a place where your glory dwells, where your presence abides. Let heaven come to earth. If it's not seen in heaven, we don't receive it here. No sorrow, no sickness, no brokenness, no disease, no lack.
You're the God of more than enough.
Lord, I pray for those who are watching online in need of a miracle.
There are people in sick beds and hospitals.
Lord, I ask that by the power of your holy spirit, by the power of your shed blood, that you would move and minister your healing virtue over those who need it. They're watching at homes, they're in sick beds, they're in hospitals. And I ask you to minister to them right now. Come on. That person, you didn't come to church today because you're so depressed. But there's a. There's a little bit of faith and you're just like, maybe if I just turn on the stream that God will touch you right now. There's freedom, there's liberty, there's healing that is coming into your home. Lift off burdens in the mighty name of Jesus. Release your healing touch, o Lord.
Yes.
Yes, yes.
Oh, we thank you, Jesus.
You are worthy and we will give you all the glory.
We will give you all the glory. Come on. Can we just thank the Lord, even now, for what he's doing and what he's about to do?
Wow.
Wow. It's a good season. You guys expect miracles? I'm going to speak a blessing over you. Would you just lift your hands? Today I speak the blessing of God over you in the name of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. As Abraham was blessed in every way, may God bless you in every detail of your life. As God bless Jacob changing his name to Israel. May your name, Christian, cause you to be fruitful and multiply in all you set your hands to do. When you're tempted and tried. May you come forth victoriously, just as job resulting in twice as much as you had before. As you raise your children in the admonition of the Lord, may they in turn grow up godly, bringing honor to your family name. When you honor God with your tithe, may financial and material blessing run you down and overtake you in every area. May the devourer be rebuked and annihilated while others rise up and call you blessed. As you wait upon the Lord, obey his word and seek him above all else. May the blessing of strength, courage, protection and favor be your reward. May the Lord watch over and guard your going out and you're coming in. Trinity Church. May the Lord bless you. May the Lord keep you. May he shine his light upon you, be gracious to you and give you peace. I bless you in the name of the Father, in the name of Jesus and the Holy Ghost, amen. And amen. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
God bless you, church. Have a wonderful, wonderful Sunday.
