Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Well, if you're not already standing, would you join those who are standing? And I want you to turn in your bible to psalm 77.
[00:00:11] Psalm 77.
[00:00:16] Last week, pastor began a series, not a series. He preached two messages really dealing with that which we call the sacred mystery, the resetting of our heart around, really around. Communion is what we've looked at the last couple weeks.
[00:00:34] And we're gonna kind of dig a little deeper. I'm just now remembering. I have one more thing I need to make sure to our educators, make sure you get your gift before you take off. I peeked inside. It's a gift you want. I'll just tell you that. So you make sure you go to the table and you pick that up before you, before you leave today. Okay? Psalm 77, are you there? If not, it'll come up on the screen. This is what it says. I cried out to the Lord with my voice, to God with my voice. And he gave ear to me.
[00:01:10] In the day of my trouble, I sought the Lord. My hand stretched out in the night without ceasing. My soul refused to be comforted. I remembered goddesse. I was troubled.
[00:01:24] I remembered God. I was troubled. Have you ever felt that? I complained. My spirit was overwhelmed. You held my eyelids open. I am so troubled I cannot speak. I've considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. I call to remembrance my song in the night. I meditate within my heart. My spirit makes a diligent search. Will the Lord cast off forever?
[00:01:51] Will he be favorable no more?
[00:01:54] Has his mercy ceased forever? Has his promise failed forevermore? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his tender mercies?
[00:02:08] I said, this is my anguish.
[00:02:12] But I will remember.
[00:02:16] Everybody say remember.
[00:02:18] But I will remember the right hand of the most high. I will remember the works of the Lord. Surely. I will remember your wonders of old. I will meditate on all your work. I will talk of your deeds. Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary. Who is so great as our God? You are the God who does wonders. You have declared your strength among the peoples. You have with your arm redeemed your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Come on. How many believe that we serve an awesome God? He is a God who does wonders. He is a glorious king.
[00:03:02] Hallelujah. This, my dear friends, is God's word. And yes, and amen. You may be seated. Thank you, worship team.
[00:03:14] I'm excited about this word.
[00:03:17] It's been a powerful season and I really prayed like God. What would you have us like? How many of you have noticed that just over the last number of weeks, I feel like, man, maybe two revival services ago, something fresh just began to happen. And I feel like every week we gather together, there's a, there's an intensifying. Like, the glory of God is increasing in our. Anybody bear witness to that? Like, wow, God, you're just doing some awesome things. And I just really began to, as I prayed into this message, I'll be candid, I actually rewrote this message three different times because I just. I kind of wrestled over it, and I feel a responsibility, like, God, I just want to be in line with what you're speaking and what you're doing in this hour. And as I began to contemplate communion, there were all these things that began to come. Now, this is a special topic to me because in June of 2022, I actually had a dream. I don't have a lot of dreams, but when I do, it's significant. And most of the time recently, Pastor Jim is in my dreams. And I had this dream, and I called Pastor Jim on the phone, and I began to tell him, like, pastor, all these miracles have begun happening. We're experiencing deliverance and radical healings, and so many people are getting saved. And I began to share with them the reason it was happening was because we were receiving communion with expectancy.
[00:04:49] We were receiving communion with expectancy. And I remember in the dream, as I'm telling him this, he gets excited over the phone. He's like, you need to come and preach this in trinity right away. How soon can you get here? And I'm like, right away. And booked the ticket. And I was on my way. And so I called him the next day, and, pastor, I had this crazy dream. I had a dream that revival was breaking out through communion. And he wasn't as excited as he was in my dream. He didn't invite me, but I'm here now, praise God.
[00:05:23] And so. But what it did do was it started me on this journey. And as I began to receive communion, I began to really just hone in. I mean, we did this for a season in Kona, where every single Sunday, every single Wednesday, I would preach on it, we would teach about it, we'd pray into it, and we'd receive of the Lord's table together. And there were particular phrases that really began to jump out to me. Like when Jesus said, this is my body, this is my blood.
[00:06:00] Do this in remembrance of me. Now, I've been raised understanding the do this in remembrance.
[00:06:07] Bruce Binkley was reminding me between the services that there was a communion table, and the church he grew up with do this in remembrance of me. And we had that same table growing up. I think a lot of churches had that table growing up, and I remember the remembrance part of it. I reflect on Jesus and all that he had done, but I never approached the table of communion with any expectancy.
[00:06:30] And a couple years ago, I just really began to question this. Like, I mean, let me just ask, how many of you come into church and you have the like, I expect that I'm going to encounter God in worship. Right? You expect God to. I expect to feel goosebumps. I expect. I expect to be encouraged by the Lord. I expect to encounter God through the preaching of the word. Oh, it's a living word, and I'm gonna grab hold of it. It's gonna change me. I expect to receive from God when I receive prayer from somebody, wow, this is my moment to receive. Why do we have expectancy for all of these things? Yet when it comes to one of the very commandments that the Lord gave us, we're just like, it's only symbols and it's only remembrance.
[00:07:16] I believe that we should approach these things with expectancy. That Jesus, if you paid for this, I can receive this. In fact, I'll never forget. Man, you got to understand my story. I mean, I grew up in a baptist church. I was backslidden, I was dead, I was drug addicted. I get radically born again, and within three months, I'm a student at Christ for the name. You have any cf and I students today? All right. And so we had, like, none in the first service. So now I know you guys come to the second service, praise God, but I end up at Christ for the nations. And one of the first meetings we had was an all night prayer meeting. And I'll never forget, as we were, like, kind of getting ready, they wanted to begin the night with communion. And there was a boy that I'd met just before the service. He'd been playing basketball earlier that day, and when he was playing, he had gone up for a layup. He had come down, and he hit his chin on the head of another young man, and he ended up biting through his tongue. The reason I know this is he comes into the prayer meeting and just kind of being obnoxious. He's, like, wiggling around his half bitten off tongue. I mean, blood. And it was horrible. But I remember as we began to come into this time of. Of acknowledging the Lord and gathering around his table, there was an exhortation that God could do what he did in scripture. If he shed his blood, if by his stripes we were healed, he bore this in his body. And as we receive of the body and the blood, we can receive healing. Now, this was kind of new to me, but this young man took the communion cracker, ate the communion cracker, and within a few moments, on the other side of the room, I begin to hear people freaking out and just going crazy. And he's wiggling his tongue around once again, but this time, it's not bloody. Half bitten off his tongue eating. Communion had been made whole.
[00:09:13] I'm looking at this, and I'm like, whoa. Like, honestly, it's the first miracle I ever remember seeing in my life, in my walk with God. Later on that night, within an hour of that moment, we were taking of the cup of the Lord. And as we were receiving of the cup, there was a woman who came down in a wheelchair, and the pastor who was leading that gathering went down, took her by the hands. And I will never forget. You ever have things that are just, like, etched in your brain. Like, I will never forget that. Like, I remember. I remember when my daughter was born, my first born. I will never forget the first moment I laid eyes on her. I can close my eyes, and I can see the hospital room, and I can see her little brown body. I mean, I see it all.
[00:09:59] I could. I'll never forget. It's another moment seeing my bride, my wife, come down the aisle, approach. I mean, I can close my eyes, and I can see my wife come. By the way, I messed up the order on that. We did it the other way around. But these are things that, like, I will. I will never forget. And I will never forget watching this woman come out of a wheelchair, stand to her feet, watching her first couple feeble steps, but then watching her gain strength as she then walked around the preaching pulpit. And before I knew it, she was running laps around the entire. Through communion, through communion. And I'm listening to this. I'm like, watching this, and I'm like, are we allowed to believe this? Like, when I began teaching about communion and I began teaching about how we could encounter God through communion, I remember people coming to me. I had a pastor come to me and say, I heard what you preached about last Sunday, pastor, I need to check on you.
[00:11:02] Do you believe in transubstantiation? And you say, what does that mean? I didn't even know at the time. Right? But essentially, it means that the bread literally becomes the body of Jesus and that the cup literally becomes the blood of Jesus. This is typically what the Catholics believe in. Here's what I fear.
[00:11:24] I don't think we should ever form reactionary doctrines.
[00:11:30] I don't think this is where the whole Calvinism, Arminianism thing gets really messed up. John Calvin comes out with doctrines, and then there were reactionary doctrines, and I don't think either one of them really got it right.
[00:11:41] Reactionary doctrines. So the Catholics say it's transubstantiation, and then the Protestants say, oh, no, well, we can't believe that. So they go far to the other side. It's only remembrance. Now, friend, I'm just telling you we must approach the table with expectancy. I don't know if it's transubstantiation, but I know it's more than remembrance because I've seen the present power of God break out when we approach the table with faith. God, if you could purchase what you purchased back then, you can release in me right now. Oh, you know, baptism. Baptism is a similar doctrine. In fact, I've heard Pastor Jim preach for years about how it's not just an outward expression of our inward faith. I hate to mess with some of you, but you will not find it that phrase in the Bible, an outward expression of our inward faith. I believe it is that we're going public with our faith, but it's more pastor Jim talks about being pickled in God, how we are immersed in baptism and we literally become. We begin to absorb the very nature and the virtue and the power of Jesus. I had somebody come up to me after the first service and they said, pastor, I want to get baptized, but I still struggle with marijuana addiction. Can I get baptized? And my response, I don't know if this is wrong, pastor, you can correct me, but I told her, maybe the fact that you've not been baptized is why you still have that addiction.
[00:13:18] You're not going to fix yourself and then get washed. No, you got to get washed immersed in the body, and then you're going to find a victory and freedom that you never knew was available.
[00:13:28] I'm just telling you, if you've never been to a plunge party, if you've not been baptized, if you've not had faith to receive what Jesus has for you, you need to show up next Sunday. Maybe you need to get baptized. My wife and I were so moved when we first saw the way Trinity did baptisms that we got baptized all over again. And I'm so glad that we did.
[00:13:49] So here's my first point. Wow, I'm already 20 minutes in. What happened to the time? I'll just get excited talking to you guys. There is a present power in remembrance.
[00:14:06] There is present power in remembrance. This is the title of my message. It's also my first point. There is present power in remembrance. Everybody say remembrance. This is what we do when we gather around the table. This is what we do when we come together and we worship the Lord where we can remember. And even his pastor made mention of in his offering message. You'll notice if you've ever been to Israel. Everywhere you go, there's cities that are named after remembrance. Remember what God did here. You'll see stones that are stood up memorials and monuments that remember what God did here. Everywhere you go, you're seeing these. In fact, I'll never forget when I was in Israel, we went up on Mount Carmel, which is where Elijah had this showdown with the prophets of Baal. You might remember, all of Israel came together and there was this, you know, Elijah, he's awesome. He just, he makes this challenge. How long will you falter between two opinions or two gods? We need to choose today whether Jehovah God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We need to decide whether he's God or whether Baal, who most of you are given to, whether he's God. So we're going to have a showdown. We're going to offer a sacrifice. And the God that answers by fire, he is God. Do you know this story? It's awesome. And so he's making this challenge. And so the prophets of Baal, they lay their sacrifice on the altar and they begin to cry out to their God. They're cutting themselves, they're crying out. And then Elijah, oh man, this guy is so cool. He begins to heckle them.
[00:15:45] Maybe your God is on break. Maybe your God is asleep. If you look in the original language, he literally says, maybe your God is relieving himself. Maybe he has gone to the bathroom and he's about to come back and he's just giving them a hard time. And then, see, now, the way I've heard most people tell this story is then Elijah prayed and God answered by fire. But there's something important. If you read this account, there's something important that happens before the fire comes down.
[00:16:19] Elijah calls together all the children of Israel and they gather around and he begins to rebuild the altar, begins to place it back together, stone upon stone, as everyone is watching. Then he takes twelve stones, memorializing the twelve tribes of Israel. What is he doing? He's causing them to remember. I want you to remember the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I want you to remember the God who made covenant with you. I want you to remember how faithful he's been to deliver. I want you to remember your God. And as they remembered, then the fire of God came down upon the sacrifice. It consumed the sacrifice. It consumed the water that had been poured out. And God answered by fire. And then what happened? The children of Israel, all who were present, they hit their knees and they say, the Lord, he is God. The Lord, he is God, friend. There is present power in remembrance when we take time to remember through communion or baptism, when we take time to remember the faithfulness of God, when we share miracle testimonies, how many of you understand like you've shared, how many of you have ever shared a testimony? And as you begin to talk about what the Lord has done, the very same anointing that you felt when God touched you in that moment all of a sudden begins to come back in. Anybody know what I'm talking about? I mean I was listening to the membership and I mean we were going through the membership seminar, Pastor Jim and Becky sharing the same stories they have shared hundreds of times. And as Pastor Becky is sharing, she begins to cry. She's like, I don't know why I'm so emotional sharing this story. I know. And she knows. When we take time to remember the very same emotions, the very same presence, the very same breakthrough, we begin to lay hold. Why? Because there is present power in remembrance. In fact, you'll notice that what the psalmist does here, he begins to, he begins to. In the beginning of the psalm he's saying, I was in trouble. In verse two he says, my soul cannot be comforted. My spirit is overwhelmed. I can't speak, I can't sleep. And then he gets really heavy. In verse seven he says, will the Lord cast me off forever? Where is your favor? Where is your mercy, God? Where are your promises? Where is your grace? Are you angry with me?
[00:19:11] Have you ever felt some of those things? Have you ever asked God? I don't know if you dare to speak out loud like that, but I'll just be honest with you. I've had moments with God like that. Where are you, God? I have a word I'm standing on. Why aren't you answering me? And this psalmist, oh, he's being so transparent, so honest with God. You have cast me off. Where are you?
[00:19:35] But in verse ten he says, but I will remember.
[00:19:44] I will remember.
[00:19:48] I will remember his works, I will remember his wonders of old. I'll remember his deeds. I'll remember his faithful right hand that expressed authority in my situation. And before you know it, the psalmist is once again praising God and saying, I'm going to testify about his goodness. There's nobody like our God. I just want to encourage you church. Remember him in worship, remember him in prayer, remember him around the table of communion. And expect, expect that when we remember him, God is going to visit you. God is going to encounter you because there is present power in our remembrance.
[00:20:36] Secondly, there is present power in meditation.
[00:20:42] There is present power in meditation. Everybody say meditation.
[00:20:48] Now, don't get freaked out by that. That's not a new age word. That's not a buddhist word. That's God's word. He encouraged meditation long before any other movements did. We believe in meditation. In fact, you'll notice that there is a word that is repeated about 100 times throughout the psalms and in other poetic books. And it's this hebrew word that you might have seen there in psalm 77.
[00:21:12] Selah.
[00:21:14] Everybody say that. Selah.
[00:21:17] Okay, that wasn't everybody. Let's all try it again. Selah. There you go. It was actually a musical term that meant, stop talking, no lyrics. It was a time for instruments to come and play. Maybe a guitar solo, whatever. No words. But in poetic writings, there was also Selah. Moments where you were to just simply pause and think about it.
[00:21:45] Pause and meditate on what you just heard, meditate on what you just read. So you imagine what this is like for the psalmist. He's writing, he's complaining, he's grieving. God, where are you? And then he say, law, I'm going to think about what I think about. That's a good practice, by the way. You ought to take some time to think about what you think about. Do you ever do that? You need to think about the thoughts that come into your brain. He starts out, I remember God in verse three. And I'm troubled. I don't know if you've ever had those moments where it's like, God, I'm thinking about what you said, but everything in my life seems contrary to that. I'm thinking about the prophetic words that I've received, but everything that's happening seems opposite of that right now. God, I began to pray for healing, but now I'm more sick. I began to be a giver, but then I got hit with this everything. God, I'm thinking about you and you're kind of messing with me right now.
[00:22:51] He says, I was troubled.
[00:22:54] Friend, I just want to encourage you. It's okay to have these kinds of conversations with God.
[00:23:02] It's okay to be honest with God about your doubt or your fear or your unbelief God. I'm mad right now. And to be honest, kind of mad at you.
[00:23:13] It's okay. Here's the key, though. You can have those moments of unbelief. You just can't stay there.
[00:23:21] You just can't stay there. You know, we look at Peter and he denied Christ, but Jesus was gracious with him. Jesus restored him. He didn't condemn him. He didn't beat him down, harass him. He wasn't shrouded in shame. No, he restored him. Think about Thomas. Doubting Thomas. Like we call him doubting Thomas. The Bible doesn't call him doubting Thomas.
[00:23:45] This is one thing that I've discovered. I feel like religious people are far harder on unbelief and doubt than Jesus himself is.
[00:23:59] We still call him doubting Thomas.
[00:24:03] Jesus shows up and says, what do you need to believe?
[00:24:08] Here are my hands.
[00:24:10] Here's my scar.
[00:24:12] He offers him what he needed in order to believe, my friend. We need to begin to check the titles that have been declared over us.
[00:24:23] He's not doubting Thomas anymore. That's Thomas. That's Thomas, the one who said, jesus, I'm willing to go to Jerusalem and even to die with you. That's bold. Thomas. Thomas, who laid down his life as a martyr because he was unwilling to deny Christ. That's the story we ought to tell about Thomas.
[00:24:42] It's not a blind Bartimaeus any longer. Noah's Bartimaeus, who used to be blind and now is healed, right? It's not a rahab the harlot. I was reading that in Hebrews and I noticed that they stood calling her rahab the harlot. Like, dude, she's probably in heaven going like, man, that was like 4000 years ago. I'm not. I haven't done that for a long time.
[00:25:07] We need to stop putting like, oh, that's so and so. They're divorced.
[00:25:13] Oh, that's, that. That's so and so. They have a mental disorder.
[00:25:18] Oh, that's so and so. This is. This is their problem.
[00:25:22] Stop.
[00:25:25] What are we meditating? What labels, what names have we received over our lives? Because I'm just telling you, the Bible actually talks about how we can have freedom. In fact, let me just say it this way. Most of your victory or your failures will be found in what you remember.
[00:25:46] Your being overcome or being an overcomer is highly dependent on what you choose to remember? In fact, I would even say your miracle breakthrough or your remaining stuck in life hinges on. What do you meditate on?
[00:26:03] If your meditation is, I'm defeated. I'm broken. My father left me, this person said this. I've got this hurt. Then, friend, you're going to stay stuck. But if your declaration, no. I'm victorious and I'm overcome. This is that which overcomes the world by faith. Oh, I have the blood of Jesus. I have the working of the Holy Spirit. I have a family who loves me. Come on. I have breakthrough. I am victorious. I am overcoming. I have been washed and forgiven. What is your declaration?
[00:26:35] What are you meditating on? The Bible says in two corinthians ten four that we use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the demonic mindsets, the demonic lies of human reasoning, and we destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture rebellious thoughts and we teach them to obey Christ.
[00:27:07] This is a skill. I'm telling you guys, I love deliverance ministry. I love spiritual warfare. And this is the first lesson you should learn in spiritual warfare, think about what you think about.
[00:27:20] Check the source of the thought that just popped into your brain.
[00:27:25] See, the Bible actually gives us a list of things he says in Philippians four six. Don't worry about anything.
[00:27:32] Instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all that he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and your minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Now, most of us stop there, but it continues. Verse eight. Brothers and sisters, one final thing.
[00:27:57] Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right and pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. See, you need to learn to take thoughts captive.
[00:28:18] When you get some idea that pops in your brain, you should run it through this list.
[00:28:23] Is that true?
[00:28:25] Is that honorable? Well, did you hear about so and so? What's going on? That's not honorable. Is this right? Is it pure? Oh, did you see what they looked like today? Is it pure? Is it lovely? Is it admirable? Is it excellent? Is it praise worthy if it's not on the list? No. That is a rebellious thought, and I cast it down. You must obey Jesus.
[00:28:51] I'm just telling you, you gotta learn to check the list. Is it true? Like, we went to a restaurant last night. We show up at the restaurant and it was. I mean, it was jam packed. There was not a table that was available. But I go in there and I give them my name. I wasn't on the list, but then I said, what about Hennessy? And guess what? Becky Hennessy was on the list. So we got to go in. If not, I would have been bounced. Praise God. Anybody ever been bounced out of a club? You don't have to raise your hand. You ever been bounced out of a club? Why? Because I mean, if you show up and you looking lovely, come on in, right? That's the way clubs work. But if you're, if you look like a violent guy, if you look like you're going to cause trouble, they're going to bounce you. Why is it that bouncers have greater confidence in putting out the wrong people than we as the body of Christ do? When a demonic, when a temptation, when an unclean, defiling thought comes our way, we need to have confidence to say, you don't belong here, you're not on the list. Get out.
[00:29:58] What are you thinking about?
[00:30:00] What do you set your mind on?
[00:30:05] Last one. You guys still doing good? Doing all right. Okay.
[00:30:10] Number three, there is present power in imagination.
[00:30:17] There's present power in remembrance.
[00:30:20] There's present power in our meditation and there's present power in imagination. Everybody say imagination.
[00:30:28] This is a key to the supernatural. I'm just going to tell you in one corinthians 14 one, it says, pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy pursue love and desire.
[00:30:50] That word desire is one of my favorite greek words in the Bible. It's the greek word zeluo. You want to try and say it with me? Zelu o.
[00:30:58] Yeah, if you're taking notes, it's zelo and then o with that over it. I don't know what zalu o and it's used twelve times throughout the New Testament. But what's interesting is every time ze luo is used in the scripture, it's actually used to describe sin.
[00:31:18] Covet, evil, desiree, envy, lust, jealousy.
[00:31:26] So I want you to trek with me on this. All of those sins are sins of the imagination.
[00:31:35] Every one of those sins, if you think about it again, covetousness, evil, desire, envy, lust, jealousy are all sins of the mind.
[00:31:44] Wonder what my life would be like if I had that kind of money.
[00:31:48] I wonder what my life would be like if I was married to somebody like that. I want their wife, I want their spouse, I want their title, I want their job, I want their position. Envy, jealous imagination, unredeemed imagination using to entertain them. I wonder what a physical relationship with that person would be like lust, right?
[00:32:12] Envy, covetousness, evil desire. This person's irritating me. I wonder what my fist would feel like in their face right now. Evil desire.
[00:32:24] Now, listen, don't look at me. Go all cross eyed. You have thought these things. Every one of us have used unredeemed imagination to think on things, to meditate on things that we ought not. And I'm just here to tell you what the bible would encourage us to do. Redeem.
[00:32:42] See, religion will tell you, well, just kill those things. Destroy those desires. Don't even go. I'm telling you what God has done. You know, God gave me a good imagination, and I used to use my imagination to do a lot of wrong things, to ponder wrong things. But I'm so glad I learned this word early on in my christian walk. When the Bible says instead of lust and envy and godly evil desires, and on and on, don't destroy those desires, redeem them.
[00:33:18] This is repentance, by the way.
[00:33:21] My mind is being blown. I've been set on a certain way of thinking, but now, God, you're absolutely blowing my mind. And I'm using my imagination to, wow, what could you do, God?
[00:33:37] What would it be like if I prayed for that person who's been wheelchair bound for all those years and I imagine them actually coming out of that chair?
[00:33:52] You realize, like, when I'm praying earlier in the service for a doctor, Morocco, praying for Ashley Lutz, or I'm praying for. When I'm praying for you guys, I'm already engaging my Jesus.
[00:34:04] I want to dream with you.
[00:34:07] Show me what you desire to do here. I can see them being made whole. I can see them being made right. I can see that addiction falling off of their life. I can see their marriage being restored. I can see it before I pray it. And, friend, let me just tell you what you see with. With your faith. You will see with your eyes.
[00:34:32] So I can see my prodigal brother in that empty chair.
[00:34:42] I imagine with God as I approach the table of communion, Jesus, you can restore my broken body. Your body was broken so that mine doesn't have to be. So this leg that's given me problems, I receive now all that you, I imagine with God.
[00:35:05] We remember, we meditate, and we imagine. Worship team, if you'll come. I'm closing.
[00:35:14] I hope you see the practical application of this. I want to encourage you when we gather around the Lord's table, when we gather around the baptismal pool, when we come together to worship God or to open his word. Be intentional to remember.
[00:35:32] Be intentional. Be on guard. Do the warfare that is required around your meditations. Am I meditating on the promises of goddesse or have I believed a lie?
[00:35:44] And the last thing is we are going to expect the present power of God through what we can imagine with him.
[00:35:55] I'll never forget a couple years ago this church ministered very deeply to my family. And I, I was not only on staff here, led the Saturday night service, we that outreach and evangelism, but I had a traveling ministry. I did a lot of evangelism training and all of this. And in fact, Pastor Lewis here, he and his wife, you guys were the first ones who ever had me preach.
[00:36:21] And it was a youth meeting. I think I preached on hell and demons, praise God. And we were traveling. We were doing a lot of ministry. And remember it was January, a year or two after we'd started our traveling ministry. And I was getting a lot of invitations to come in as a healing evangelist. And people wanted me to come in and do a healing meeting now, like, I was a great soul winner at the time. I could spur people onto evangelism, but healing wasn't something that like, was really in my wheelhouse at the time.
[00:37:00] But I began to accept these invitations and I'll never forget we had booked in the month of January that year, 21 meetings just in the month of January, most of them healing meetings.
[00:37:12] January 6, I get a call while I'm in a board meeting that my stepfather, who's dabbed to me, I call him daddy, was in a near fatal motorcycle accident.
[00:37:28] Been flying down the interstate in north Dallas, and I don't even know what happened, but 70 miles an hour, he lost control of the bike.
[00:37:39] He was stopped by the curb on the side of the road by his head and thank God there was an ambulance right there. Like literally watch the accident happen. They immediately began to administer care. I got to the hospital the same time as my mom did and we entered into 21 days of a battle over his life.
[00:38:09] 21 days.
[00:38:11] Every day we'd go in. I mean, we lived there. Many of you came to visit us during that time. I remember Trinity. I mean, we had food and we had people visiting us. Doctor Hennessy was there almost every day.
[00:38:25] Pray over my dad.
[00:38:28] We're there, and every day was challenging. The doctor would come in and we're not seeing brain activity. I'm not sure if he's going to come, if he lives. He might be a vegetable.
[00:38:40] I remember one day the doctor comes in and he, he pulls open my dad's eyelids. I was in there. I was holding my mom.
[00:38:50] They take the flashlight to try and get, you know, if there's any movement in his eyes and his eyes don't dilate, his eyes don't move at all.
[00:38:59] And the doctor says, we're not getting a response from him. If he comes out of this, he might be blind.
[00:39:06] My mom works in ophthalmology, so that one struck a nerve. She immediately just. She crumbles in my arms. I mean, she was just grieving. And just like, if my husband even makes it, he's gonna be blind. And I remember holding my mom. Now, I was supposed to go and preach at a church that night, healing meeting.
[00:39:25] Do you know how crazy it is to be in the hospital and to contend for healing and to see nothing and then to show up in a church? And I'm the healing evangelist who's come to minister to everybody. Friend. It was the most challenging, confusing. See, I found myself praying psalm 77 almost every day. Where are you, God?
[00:39:50] Where is your mercy? Where is your grace? Where are your promises?
[00:39:55] I remember driving to the hospital, just crying out to God in frustration and showing up in meetings. And I remember I told my mom the day we got that news, and.
[00:40:07] And I held her and I said, mom, I know this pastor well. I've preached for him multiple times. If you want me to stay with you today, I'll just let the pastor know. I'm not.
[00:40:18] She looks at me and she says, jacob, you're going to go to that service and you're going to pray for sick people. And then you're going to call me and tell me about all the miracles that happened. There we go.
[00:40:35] I preach psalm 77.
[00:40:39] I'm preaching out of this text and sharing with the congregation my frustration. But how? I will remember the wonders of the Lord. I will remember his works. I will remember his faithful right hand.
[00:40:53] So we're going to pray.
[00:40:55] I remember. People begin to respond to the altar.
[00:41:01] There's a line. Nancy Molina, she told me that she was in this service. She remembers it.
[00:41:06] There's a line of people that were there.
[00:41:09] I go down to the first one and I said, what's going on with you? What do you believe in God to do?
[00:41:14] She says, I have cataracts in my eyes. I'm completely blind.
[00:41:19] Of course you are.
[00:41:22] I go to the next person. What's going on with you?
[00:41:27] I work in construction and a nail went crazy, went through my left eye, and I'm blind in my left eye.
[00:41:35] Right? Okay, next one elderly person. I'm just getting old. I'm losing my vision. But I'm believing God for you. Three people in a row believing for miracles, for their eyes.
[00:41:50] I used my redeemed imagination.
[00:41:54] What would it be like if I put my hands over these cataract eyes?
[00:42:00] Prayed the prayer of faith, took my hands away.
[00:42:03] I could picture it in my mind, that gray blue over their eyes. Washing away and seeing in Claire. Friend, what you see with your faith, you will see with your eyes. I laid hands on this woman and I took my hands away and I watched her eyes completely clear. As God removed the blindness off of her eyes. We went to the next one, this man who had the injury. Now we prayed for. I don't, you know, I'm not going to say anything that didn't happen. One of the people, nothing happened. The one person who had the eye injury was seeing clearly. Although there was no visible difference their eye. But two out of three of these blind situations got healed that night. I remember going out to the car and I was standing by my car, ready to go back to the hospital. And I see a call from my mom. And I pick up the phone and she doesn't even say hello. She says, tell me about the miracles.
[00:43:05] Tell me about the miracles. So I began to tell her, mom, I can't even believe it. But the first three people that responded, they came down for requests for their eyes and God was healing them.
[00:43:17] Friend, I can tell you today the Lord raised up my father from his deathbed after 21 days in the hospital. And so many. I've seen more miracles during that window. Oh, my goodness. I don't have time to tell you all of this because it's time to pray.
[00:43:40] The Bible says the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
[00:43:47] And God is no respecter of persons. If he could heal those eyes, he can heal yours eyes. If he could heal my stepfather, he can heal that person you're concerned about in their hospital room.
[00:43:58] I want you to stand right now.
[00:44:12] Hallelujah.
[00:44:18] Lord, we remember.
[00:44:22] We remember your sacrifice.
[00:44:25] We remember your works. We remember your wonders.
[00:44:33] Lord, I'm asking that all across this room, that false declarations, belief systems, that false identities would fall in the name of Jesus.
[00:44:47] And that, lord, you would begin to release new declarations over us. You are healed. You are whole. You are at peace. You are mine. You belong.
[00:44:58] You're not gonna die prematurely. Your family's going to live.
[00:45:03] That prodigal son, that prodigal daughter, they are coming home. That addiction will not grip you the rest of your life. Today is your day of freedom. You're not going to be lost.
[00:45:14] Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart and saying, I want to come in.
[00:45:19] I don't know what your situation is here today, but with every head bowed and everyone praying all across the room, if you're here and you say, pastor, I need to receive God's present power today. Maybe you're here. You need healing in your body. Maybe you're here today. You need God to touch your mind or your emotions. I believe there's a present power available to minister to you in your place of need. Maybe you're here and you say, I don't even know Jesus. Can he really wash away my guilt, my shame, my sin?
[00:45:51] Yes.
[00:45:53] Yes. We remember what he did.
[00:45:56] And I'm telling you, he's still working today.
[00:46:01] With every head bowed and everyone praying. You say, pastor, I want you to include me in your prayer.
[00:46:08] In fact, let's do it this way. If you're here today and you need a miracle, you need a healing in your body, would you just raise your hand so I know who I'm praying for? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. So many. So many need healing. Okay. Second of all, you're here and you say, I need God to do a work in my mind or my emotions. I need God to touch me. I need him to break this addiction. I need this. This cycle of thinking, this stronghold in my mind. I need some things in my mind to come down. How many of you say, that's me? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So many. So many. So many. Thirdly, you're here and you say, pastor, pastor, I don't even know if I'm right with God, but I want to be. I want to walk out of church today knowing my sins are forgiven and that I am right with God. Come on. If that's you, guilt, shame, you're believing that God could take that. Yes, yes, yes. I see. All the way in the very top. Yes. All across the room. This is what we're going to do right now. I mean, there's hundreds of hands that went up for various things, but I believe that even as I've remembered and I've shared testimony that there is a present power that is going to minister to you today.
