Speaker 1: The the power of God becomes operational when we become missional. Sometimes we say, well, I wish I could see the power of God, pastor. I wish I could see God do something. I challenge you this week. If you go to Walmart and you run into someone and they say, man, I'm having pain in my back.
You could say, well, I'm gonna go I'm going to church Sunday and we'll pray for you, sister. That's not what God would have you to do. What God would have you to do is right there by the green bean section is say, can we pray right now? No. I'm not saying make a scene, get locked up in jail.
I'm just saying you can pray quietly, and in the name of Jesus, I command healing to God. And guess what? I believe that Mark sixteen fifty will work today.
Speaker 2: Hello, friends. Welcome to the Life Tabernacle Church podcast. It's an honor to be with you today. This podcast serves as our church's weekly sermon archive. Tune in each week to hear what God is speaking in our community.
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Speaker 3: We're gonna get right into the word this morning. I'm not preaching because we got a powerhouse in the house this morning. You've never met Bishop Lawrence, which I think everybody here has, Bishop Lawrence, I don't know how to describe him other than he is a gentle giant. Not saying just because you're tall, Bonnet this week was telling us what was so compelling about Bishop Lawrence at SBC when she first saw him is that he was tall, dark, and handsome. And you're still tall, but you're light and handsome, am I right?
And so we just wanna thank God for his ministry, for his, coming this morning. And would you just give him a warm, light Tabernacle round of applause as he comes to bring the word this morning. Amen.
Speaker 1: Thank pastor Dallas. Give pastor a hand here, and we appreciate him. And amen. And we appreciate the the worship this morning was I tell you, sister Aaron Ryan, y'all hit it out of the park as we were singing, what a God, what a God. Man, I tell you, that got me going, reminded me of when I was growing up, my grandma used to sing, I know God is God and he don't never change.
He's God when the lightning flashes, he's God when the I thought of that, and then I thought the new song, what a God, what a God. What a what a mighty God we serve. Hallelujah. Jesus, he has no rival, has me glad. He has no equal.
He's exalted. He's majestic. Who is like unto our God, glorious in praises, doing wonders, and we serve a mighty God. We just enjoy the presence of the Lord. I tell you what, I've been blessed already this morning by the by the service, and it's so good to be with you here at Life Tabernacle today to to give share the word.
We just finished up our youth camps this week, and I was tallying up. It was my fortieth fortieth camp. That's that's forty years, know, that's testing. So I've been tested. Hey, now we got some great kids.
Mean, the last few years, I mean, back in the day it was testing, know, back in the day we had some wild ones. Most of them preachers and deacons kids. I hope they're they're serving the Lord, know some of them they're all out in ministry whatever, but we but these kids we've had the last several years have been awesome, no no problems out of them, just great. And we had we had record number this year, over a 140, almost 150 teens at the camp. I mean we had it maxed out, there was not even a bed left for the teenagers.
And they just just got in, we had a church come all the way, a Hispanic church all the way from Minnesota, drove all the way from Minnesota to be with us at the Mac Camp, and they were blessed. And so we're I mean, we're making connections with people. Our church is connected with this brother from I talked to him from Minnesota, and he has connections in Mexico. We do missions trips. We'll do another missions trip with them.
And so it's exciting when God brings together his church. How many us God's got some wonderful people? He's got a big big community of of believers. And we'll we'll be talking about that some today. But but we're so glad that you're here.
We've had a great week. We wanna thank Anna and Ryan and pastor Daniel and Emily for helping us out at camp. They were such a great help. They ran it. Amen.
Daniel and pastor Dallas ran all the activities. And Ryan, amen, he he did video and run went around with the microphone interviewing people and you just have to look at some of the fun stuff we did. But it was it was just a a great week. I wanna remind everyone if you haven't made plans to be with us for camp meeting, it'll be coming up August 7 through the ninth. So you will want to come down to Pulaski for camp meeting.
We have a great speaker, our new world missions director Carl and Jennifer Hartstrom. They will be our speakers. You'll love them. They've been all around the world, done missions for years, and so they will be in our camp speaking. And then on Saturday morning, they'll be teaching classes, and we'll have lunch and dinner together.
So make plans to come down Friday night 07:00, Saturday at 07:00 for our services and Saturday morning. Speaking of I wanted to give this certificate. Pastor Dallas, would you come up here for just a moment if you're still here? We wanted to present the church this certificate. I didn't have it when I came last time.
It's the twenty twenty five twenty five twenty twenty five missions giving certificate for Life Tabernacle Church. Second, placing the district $5,000 total missions giving for the year 2025. So give yourselves a hand for your giving to missions. You've always been a missions giving church. You've been a mission minded church, and we, know God honors that when you give to missions because we know the heart of the father is mission.
Jesus came for all the way from heaven on a mission to save the world, and now he's given us a commission to go and tell people what he did. This is what we're here for, and when we're out of this, then we go to heaven. So while we're here, we all have a commission to go tell people what God has done for them, and we're so glad to see each one of you here today. If you have your Bibles, if you'll turn to Matthew chapter 16, Matthew chapter 16, we're going to be reading from three three or four verses of scripture focusing in on just one particular thought from Matthew chapter 16. Chapter 16, begin reading with verse 13.
Good to have my wife with me. Sister Lawrence, stand and wave at us. She she forty years, she graduated, retired from from the kitchen this year, and she went up to becoming a camp counselor. So she was a teen counselor, and she was with the kids and just had a great week, we appreciate her so much. She had been with me for many years in ministry.
Appreciate her so much. Verse 13, Matthew chapter 16. When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples saying, whom do men say that I, the son of man, am? And they said, some say that you're John the Baptist, some say that you're Elijah, others say Jeremiah, one of the prophets. And he said unto them, but who do you say that I am?
And Simon Peter answered and said, you are the Christ. Everyone say the Christ. The The son Christ. Of the living God. What a God, what a God.
Jesus answered and said to him, Peter, blessed are you Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven. And I say unto you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church. I want you to say those five words with me together. I will build my church. One more time.
I will build my church. Who's saying this? The son of the living God. How many knows God is he's gonna build he's building his church. And he goes on to say, and I will give you talking to you this morning, the keys.
Everyone say the keys. The keys of the kingdom of heaven. How many know you say, well, pastor, I'd like to have the keys to a new car or the keys to a new house. That would be great. But how many knows you got something better?
You got something that money cannot buy? We were talking about the authority and the power of God has been given to you right now that you can use those keys to access heaven, open doors, and do the work of the kingdom. He's given you the keys. He said, I'll give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, whatever you lose on earth.
Then he commanded his disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ. Father, we thank you for your word. And now, father, as we break your word, as we break the bread of life, help us to rightly divide the word of truth. Father, they ask for your anointing of the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us and anoint our lips of clay. Father, that you would open our ears, Lord, to hear the word, to receive the word of God as we receive it, but not only to receive it, God, but to plan, Father God, just to be a doer of the word that we hear today, and we ask it in the precious, the holy, and the lovely name of Jesus.
And everyone said Amen. Amen and amen. I wanna speak to you this morning about the church that Christ is building. The church that Christ is building. How many are glad to be a part of the body of Christ, the church?
Aren't you glad that Jesus called your name? That you didn't join, you had to be born into this thing. You see, you can join a church and be a member of a church and not be a member of the family of God. But I know every one of you here this morning, you are a member of the universal church of the living God. Amen.
The church that Jesus is building, not only you're part of the universal church, but you're a part of this Life Tabernacle local. Someone say local. A local church. You're a part of probably 375,000 churches in America. Amen.
That that that that they're they're in every corner, and and there are churches that are that have been built, that have been established for the propagation of the gospel. All kinds of churches across America. All types of churches across America. We have big churches, we have country churches, we have mega churches, we have cowboy churches. If you want to be a cowboy, you can put your hat and your boots on and go to church.
If you want to, we have churches on in every corner. We have churches that that one church in particular, I was amazed, I'm gonna know, was up in Richmond, Virginia. It's called the it's called the White Tail Church. Actually, it's churches they go to they go to church in their birthday suit naked. It's an actual church in Richmond, Virginia.
It's called the White Tail Church. So the only thing I can figure out about the White Tail Church is you don't have any excuse. I mean, you don't have nothing to wear because you just come the way you are. You say, my God, how does God put up with some of this? I I could bore you all these crazy churches.
I'm not gonna do that. Basically, there are three kinds of churches. Someone say three kinds. And we wanna be a part of the kind of church that Jesus is building. But the three types of churches basically in America, first of all, is the memorial church.
The memorial church is the church that that that operates under the assumption that our best days are behind us. That's a memorial. And so we we celebrate what God has done. How many is glad for what God has done? We we celebrate that.
And I I know we have so many testimonies here at Life Tabernacle as well as Pulaski and across our district. We have a great legacy of what God has done. But how many knows we can't build a church on a legacy of the past. We have got to be with Jesus today. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Jesus never changes, but how many of those things around us change? Society changes, culture changes, people changes, word never changes, Jesus never changes, but we got to make sure that we can reach our generation and we can help Jesus build his church and we don't become a memory of what he did. Then this is what happened to John Wesley's church, the Methodist church. Listen to what John Wesley prophesied. This was his concern.
He said, I'm not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist in Europe or America, but I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having a form of religion without the power thereof. And this undoubtedly will be the case unless they hold fast the doctrine, the spirit, and the discipline with which they first set out. How many knows the Methodist was a great movement back in that, birthed out of a revival, but today the Methodist, many churches are a memorial. They're closing their churches because they they won't accept the homosexual lesbian ordaining of the bishops and and churches are closing. We had one close-up in they're up in Southern West Virginia.
I was at camp meeting last year preaching over West Virginia, and the one brother from our Pentecostal Church was so excited because he got a Methodist church closed up and they didn't have nowhere. They said, do you want this church? They got a church for $20,000, about a 3 or $400,000 church because they they couldn't have church because everybody had left. It was a memorial of what had been. So there's the memorial church, and then there's the maintenance church.
We don't wanna be a part of the maintenance church. It's simply the church that believes things are as good right now as they're ever gonna be. It's a church that just keeps the members happy, don't make any changes, maintain the status quo, comfortable with those things they are, don't rock the boat. Amen. We don't want to be a part of that church, but I want to tell you the church that Jesus is building.
Someone say the movement church. The movement church. The Bible says in him we live, we move, and we have our being. How many knows it doesn't matter how young you are or how old you are? If you're if you're a teenager here or if you're 95 years old, if you're breathing, you're moving, you're not dead, you're not done.
God has got an assignment for you on earth because he's still building his church, and it's a movement church. Someone say movement church. The movement church believes that the church's best days are yet to come. Reaching out. They're reaching out on mission, always looking for ways to become more missional.
A church that is moving because we know that Jesus was a man of movement. The Bible says acts one one who went about, he went about doing good. Amen. All that Jesus began to do and to teach until, someone say until, he was caught up. Jesus was caught up.
The Holy Ghost came down, and the church went out. We're part of that movement because the Holy Ghost puts things in action. We read the book of Acts and it was a movement church. It was a church that was moving with Jesus, and Jesus was building, and he was working with them. And how many knows?
And if we wanna see God work, guess what? We gotta work. We pray like we pray like everything depends upon us, and we work like everything depends upon God. And we get involved with what God is doing. Mark chapter 16 verse 18 says, as they went, that's like he said, go.
As they went, amen, God went with them with signs, wonders, fallen. So guess what? The the the power of God becomes operational when we become missional. Sometimes we say, well, I wish I could see the power of God, pastor. I wish I could see God do something.
I challenge you this week. If you go to Walmart and you run into someone and they say, man, I'm having pain in my back. You could say, well, I'm gonna go I'm going to church Sunday and we'll pray for you, sister. That's not what God would have you to do. What God would have you to do is right there by the green bean section is say, we pray right now?
No. I'm not saying make a scene, get locked up in jail. I'm just saying you can pray quietly, and in the name of Jesus, I command healing to God. And guess what? I believe that Mark sixteen fifty will work today, but we've got to work the word.
Amen. So we've got to obey the word. We've got to do what they did, and we'll have the results that they had because they had wonderful miracle results. Jesus said, I will build my church. It's a movement church.
It's a church on the move. Amen. So today, let's go back in time for 20 plus centuries. As the scripture we read here this morning, I'll build my church. Let's let's let's enter imaginary time tunnel and journey back for these 20 centuries.
And as we do, let's remember the place we find ourselves. There's no United States Of America. There's no modern civilizations of Europe, Australia, or Canada as well as other contemporary cultures. They do not exist. Even the nation of Israel looks completely different than it does today.
In the first century, there was no Christian traditions, and we certainly find no denominations or no churches. There was not a church until the fourth century. And so so what we find here is we're imagining ourselves standing, no one has ever heard the word church before, And the Jewish culture of the day existed in the context of a Roman pagan government that dominated the children. In fact, this is where Jesus made the declaration. He's gonna build his church.
He went up to Caesarea Philippi, which was where the the god Pan lived in a in a in a cave, in a rock cliff. We got to go there several years ago, and they took us up to Caesarea Philippi, and we looked into this dark cave, and this is where the demons were. This is where the god Pan was, and this is where Caesar had built a temple. And this is where Jesus decided to make the revelation that I'm gonna build my church, and the gates of hell is not gonna prevail again. He was doing an illustrated sermon for his 12 disciples.
He said, Peter, amen, who do they say that I, the son of man, am? And Peter said, some say you're Isaiah, some say you're Jeremiah, some say you're Elijah. But Peter, Jesus said, I need to know, boys, do you know who that I am? Peter said, I got it, Jesus. He said, I believe that you are the Christ, the anointed one.
The Messiah that Isaiah prophesied unto us, a son is born, unto us a child is given, and the governor will be upon his shoulders, and he will rule and reign, amen, over all the earth. They were looking for a Messiah. They were looking for a kingdom, and Peter got the revelation. You are the one. I believe that you are this Jesus Christ, the son of the living God.
And Jesus said to Peter, Peter, you didn't get that from yourself and because my father has revealed to you. And I wanna tell you something else, Peter, upon this revelation of who I am. We just was singing about what a God, what a God. Yeah. Well, who I am, a mighty God, the living God, I will build my church.
And he said, and the gates of hell will not prevail. And I believe when Jesus said that, he was looking right into that demonic cave and he shouted, the gates of hell will not prevail, will not stop the advancement of my church that I am building. Jesus said, I will build my church. Someone say amen. Amen.
So what does he say? First of all, Jesus said, I. I. So that simply says, jaw Jesus intended to be the architect to the eye. It was not the man building the church, not Peter.
It wasn't the Pope as the Catholics say building the church. No. Jesus said, I will build. I'm the originator. It's my idea.
It's my father's idea. It's not a man's idea. I birthed it. I lead it. I provide for it.
I direct it. I protect it. I'm the head of it. I'm the shepherd of it. I'm gonna die for it.
Amen. This is my church. It's I. I will build my church. Jesus said, I will.
Everyone say, will. When he said, I will, will is something that's looking under the future. Not I am or I might or I have built it or I am building it. He said, I will. When Jesus made this statement, the church had not been birthed yet.
It was still in the in the in the plan of God from the foundation of the world, but Jesus said this that he was promising a future church. The disciples didn't have an understanding of what it would look like or what it would be, but Jesus said, I'm going to build my church. Notice the third word. He said, I will build. Everyone say build.
When you look at the word build, understand that build means it's something not only has a beginning, but it also has an ongoing process. It's progressing upward and and outward. It's a church that is growing because Jesus is enlarging and breathing the holy spirit on it. And this church that Jesus had building builded and building, when it began, it's it began to grow. And now this church has touched all the the seven continents of the world.
And some say there's probably a 175,000 plus people coming into the kingdom of God every day in the seven continents of our world because Jesus has been preached and the church is being built from every tribe, nation, and every tongue. How many is glad you're in this church? Aren't you glad you're in this church? Hallelujah. Praise God.
He said, I will build. I like this here. He said, I will build my church. Someone say my church. No.
Everyone say now, get the pronoun my and say his church. Because how many knows it's not my church? Amen. How many has ever thought that it was your church or we've used those now? And I know we say this is my church and I understand we we really don't mean it.
Well, I've been in some churches where they did mean it because I've had to go go get the meeting ones out. I'm just kidding. They they really did mean it. This is my church. Bless God.
Don't you touch that don't you touch that chair there because my grandma bought that chair. You move that chair. That picture, I had someone call me. What do you do with that picture? I said, ma'am, don't know what you're talking about.
That picture you took off the wall. That that's my grandma's picture. But tell me as we can get so caught up in things that have no eternal value that we miss what it's all about. It's not about us. It's not about our church.
It's about Jesus that I will build my church. So he's talking about something that he's gonna build, and we can allow the enemy because the enemy don't like the church. He hates Jesus. He hates the church, and we can allow the enemy to divide us over preferences and what we want. The corporate's collar or the type of music we want.
And, you know, there's been music wars. They just didn't start in our generation, by the way. Music wars started to occur back in the day when the first organ come out. They took an axe to it. Drums were the devil.
They were casting demons out. I'm going, so we'll worship. And why do we have these things? Because the devil knows if he can get us divided over preferences and trivials and pursuing things that we see and feel and enjoy for our comfort and good, we forget what the Father wants. We forget what Jesus wants.
We forget what the Holy Spirit wants to do, and it stifles the hand of God. It grieves the Holy Spirit. It quenches the Holy Spirit. And so thank God we understand here at Life that this is his church. Someone started this church back in the day.
We've had great pastors pastoring this congregations and today Jesus is building his church. Amen. Jesus wants to be glorified in his church. It's all for the audience of one. Oh, I enjoyed worship today.
Now some of the songs I'm learning because I'm getting old. It's hard for me to comprehend some of the new songs because I'm yeah. I'm all the songs I have in my spirit is all older songs. I exalt thee majesty, majesty, this is the day where I could sing for you, I'll give them to you. But guess what?
I love the new worship songs. Those songs we sang today was all focused upon what a God, what a God. And you begin to think, wasn't he wonderful? There's none like our Lord. And when you begin to see, that's what worship's about.
Worship is for the audience of one. Worship is not for me. Worship is for him. Someone say amen. It's for him.
And when we worship him, he inhabits Psalm twenty two three. He inhabits the praises of his people. And sometimes I know sometimes it's you know, we we we we struggle, we're tired, whatever, but it's we got to we got to understand this is what the father wants. He said, will build my church. Someone say my church.
Now let's look at the word church there for a minute. When he says, will build my church, church, the church that Christ is building is not a building. He's not building a building. Now, you know, we build buildings, I think, you know, and buildings build us. When we build our church, it built me.
I built that's when I went gray headed and pulled some of hair out. And pastor Tino, he's losing some he probably he knows what I'm talking about. When you go into a building program, you got the vision, you got the blueprint, you got and do you think, God, you know, you told me to do this, but it's not it's never easy. I've read about them in the Bible. Nehemiah building the walls, the ruble building the temple.
Amen. All these and there always was challenges. Someone say amen. Always downtime. People things not coming in, money shortages.
But guess what? Amen. Jesus, when he's talking about, I will build my church. The word church there, it it the Greek word is ekklesia. It's not talking about a building.
He's talking about building a people. Someone say people. The word means called out ones. First Peter chapter two verse eight, for we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people called out. Someone say called out.
How many is glad you heard him call your name? You was in darkness. You was headed for hell. You was lost, And Jesus called your name, called you out of the darkness into. Someone say into.
He called you out into an assembly. The people, that's what it means. He called out into an assembly of the redeemed of the Lord, and that the redeemed of the Lord say, so we've been called out, we've been caught in, we've been brought in, cautions put it this way, we've been we've been delivered from the works of darkness, and we have been translated into the kingdom of his dear son. So how many knows you're a king? You're a royal priest.
Amen. You're a child of God. Hallelujah. That Jesus has called out to be a part of this glorious church that he's building. He said, I'm gonna build my church.
God doesn't dwell in buildings. He doesn't dwell in the tabernacle no more. That was for a time. He said, Build me a tabernacle, Moses, according to the pattern that I gave you on the mountain. And then he was told, Solomon, he said, Solomon, I want you to build me a house.
Amen. He said, but a house cannot contain your glory. Amen. God's house cannot be contained in a house. God had a better plan.
He said, I don't want a house. I don't want a building. I want a people. And so he said, you are the temples of the living God. Second Timothy or second Corinthians three, 18, I believe it is.
He said, you are the temple of the living God that dwells in you. First Corinthians chapter three verse nine says, you are his building. You are his building. God is building everyone each one of us. However long you've been in the church, if you're a new Christian, you've been here twenty four, thirty, forty years, it doesn't matter.
God is still working. We are his what? Workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works. We are a new creation in Christ called out of darkness, redeemed by the blood of the lamb, a part of the redeemed community of God called the church, and we are being built up together. The Bible said we are fitly framed together like a you're framed with a house.
God puts his church together and he connects us like redwood trees. He puts us together and he connects us together, and and we're fitly framed together, and we're built up as a spiritual house unto the Lord. Jesus said, I will build my church. It's not gonna be a building. It's gonna be a people.
Hallelujah. It's my workmanship, and I'm going to bring my glory. For Ephesians chapter three verse 20, unto him be glory in the church, in the people. He wants the glory of God that resided behind the holy of holies. He wants that glory, amen, to be in us, holy temples, amen, the Holy Ghost power, the anointing of God in us so that we can reflect his glory and his love and his power to a generation that we hear today say, God is building his church.
He said, I will build my church. Oh, aren't you glad to be a part of his church? When we think about a church being built, because we know it's a people, so what would be the if we were to say, what's the blueprint? What's God's what's the ingredients? Now today we live in a generation I've been through all kinds of I've been to every kind of church growth strategy school and seminar from Lynchburg to Texas to California.
Amen. I used to get excited and go and come back and think, this formula. I wanna do this. I wanna get me a bus like brother out in California. I wanna get us two buses.
We're gonna bring everyone in the county to Jesus. And my wife drove the van. We didn't have we did we had a bus. We got a bus and a van, and that worked worked pretty good. You had to work.
It was hard work, and we did it, and there's nothing wrong with that. But guess what? How many of those gods got a simple strategy to build the church? It's not complicated, not rocket science. It's it's found in the first two chapters of the Bible when the church was born, and the church was born with like Jesus said, I'm gonna build my church.
I'm going away, but I'm gonna send him. And and and the Bible said on the day of Pentecost when they was all in one mind, in one accord, in one place, and suddenly, Holy Ghost came, and the Bible said they were filled with the spirit. And Peter and they and they asked Peter, what do you want us to do? And Peter said, repent, be baptized every one of you, and you'll be filled with the Holy Spirit. And that day 3,000 people were saved.
So the church began with a bang. Everyone say a bang. That's pretty good for a day, is the 3,000 people in the first service. But what did they do after that? Jesus said, I'm gonna build my church, and I'm gonna build a people, and you are the people that I'm gonna use.
And he started with 12, and he started a 120. Now you had 3,120. So here in Acts chapter two, we read what the decide what they did. Look at Acts chapter two beginning with verse 41. Acts chapter two beginning with verse 41.
It said, then those who gladly received the word were baptized, and that day 3,000 were saved. Note, and they continued or devoted themselves to the apostles' doctrine, teaching, fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon everyone, and many signs and wonders were done through the apostles. Now all who believe were together. Everyone say together.
Together. So you had 3,000 that were all together. How about that's a miracle? You get more than two people in the room, it's kinda like tying two catch tales together and throwing them over a clothesline and saying you got unity. You don't got unity, you got a bunch of squealing cats.
Only God can produce unity. You and I get out of place, that's why he's and when the I gets out of place, the unity becomes untied. U N I T E D, U N I T Y. It becomes unity. But unity is something that the spirit of God and this is what happens, it's a supernatural birth, it was a supernatural work of God.
And it says, and they sold their possessions and they divided among themselves as everyone had a need in continuing daily with one accord, again, unity, and in the temple and in breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness simply of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to the church daily such as be should be saved. So what kind of church that was Jesus building? Let me give you the quick quick quick one. I'm just a real quick. First of all, it was a spirit filled church.
Spirit filled church. Number two, the church Jesus was building was a disciple making church. It was a teaching church. They taught the apostles doctrine. Jesus said, want you to authority has been given to me in heaven and earth, go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations.
Go into all the nations and make disciples Christ followers. So teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you along with y'all is even to the end of the earth. So our commission, every one of us here that have been born into the church of the living God, we have been given a commission to go and teach others, go and tell others. And once they receive Christ, then we're to we're to bring them into the full knowledge of God by teaching them the word of God. This is what the early church did.
It was a teaching, disciple making church. That's our mission. It was a fellowshipping church. They continued into fellowship. We're at Koinonia.
They were they were they were together. They they they were a community. They were tight knit. And and if one of them had a need, they all had a need. And this is the church.
This is the the the care that we have for one another. The church was a worshiping church. Check check verse 42 and verse 46. They worship together. Amen.
They come to the temple three times a day. They were still they were Christian, but they were still Jews, and they still observed the the the worship at the temple, and they they we had to work all that out, but but they were worshiping every day. They they were praying every day. It was a praying church. Someone say praying church.
Jesus said, my house shall be a house of prayer. And let me just stop right here. How many knows one of the greatest things we can do for our church, for our pastors is to pray for them? Someone say amen. Amen.
I wanna challenge every one of you. This is the greatest ministry you have. Prayer, amen. Jesus said, my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations. Prayer and worship for all the nations.
Prayer is so important because it's in prayer that we get the heart of God. It's in prayer that we get the mind of the spirit. It's in prayer where we get directions for the next day. We get directions for the next step. I pray every day, Lord, order my steps and order my stops because I don't wanna miss you, God.
And and the older I get, the more I pray that God keep me clean, keep me close to you, and keep me doing your will, living in the light of eternity. That's what I've been prophesying praying over this last year and teaching my people, let's live in the light of eternity. Let's live every day since our last day and take every opportunity to redeem the time and buy up every opportunity that God gives us to avail ourselves. Jesus gave them this church. He said, you'll be a praying church, an evangelistic church.
Hallelujah. And they were that kind of church. Now Satan hates unity. He hates when God's people are moving together, moving and grooving. If we get in a groove and begin to move, guess who's gonna show up?
The devil's gonna try to get in the details. He's gonna try to mess it. You gotta always be aware of that. Give no place to the devil. I mean, don't give that give any place to any gossip.
Don't give any place to anybody that has something negative. Can I tell you? Don't listen to it. I don't have time for that. I I only have time for what God Jesus is building his church.
I I don't have time for those things. We got to do because guess what? Life is filled with all kinds of distractions. I I wish I had time to tell you. Right when the church was born, right after it was born, guess who showed up?
The devil in Acts chapter six. Here the church was doing great. They were feeding the Grecian woman. The widows were being taken care of. The people were being fed.
And guess what happened? Someone got mad because they didn't get a bag lunch. And they complained to the pastor and said, pastor, amen, you're neglecting thus Grecian, you Jewish people, you're prejudiced. Amen. They started bringing diversions and prejudices into there.
And guess what? What was it? This was a diversion. Someone say diversion. This was a distraction which comes from the devil.
He comes to divide. He divided heaven with a third of the angels. He divided the garden of Eden. He divided Israel into ten and two, and he tries to divide the church. But don't give no place to the devil.
If he shows up at your house, in your home, in your church, they, devil, you're out of here. We don't have time for you. We don't have time for you, devil. We got work to do. And guess what happened?
They didn't. They were the the the apostles were wise. They said we need to pray about this, and Peter said, okay. We got it. We got the decision from the Lord.
Amen. We're gonna we're gonna we're gonna elect seven men full of the Holy Ghost, and we're gonna put them over this this this ministry, food ministry, food bank ministry because we have been called to to pray into the word. That we've been called and the bible says they gave themselves to prayer and the word and the lord kept adding to the church. But guess what? The devil didn't stop then.
He said, can't divert them, so I gotta kill them. I'm gonna kill them. Shut I'm gonna shut them up. I'm gonna cancel them. Peter, don't speak no more in the name of Jesus.
We're tired of your mouth going off talking about this Jesus. We killed him. We don't wanna hear about him, shut up, or you're going to prayer. And Peter said, we just can't help talking about Jesus, hallelujah. They tried to shut him up, they tried to silence him.
How many of us are doing the same thing today with cancel culture? Hey, all these things are happening in our generation. But guess what? We are God's people. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom the Lord has redeemed from the hand of the enemy.
You got something to say. Say it. Speak it. Shout it from the mountaintops. Amen.
That our God, there's no rival. He has no rival. He has no equal. We're serving him. That's what that early church did.
Jesus said, I've given you everything that you need. I've given you everything that you need. He said that Satan, the gates of hell will not prevail against you. No. That didn't mean that he wouldn't try to stop him because gates are defensive.
It's not attacking. Gates are to keep people out and keep people from going in. Jesus said, the king of heaven suffers violence and the violence is taken by force. We have got to understand, God's given us the authority and power over every demon, devil, or anything the devil would do. And Jesus in the next verse he said, I might this is Peter.
I'm giving you the keys of the kingdom. He said, I'm gonna give you everything you need. I'm gonna give you authority. In my name, you will cast out devils. In my name, you will pray for the sick.
In my name, you will speak. And then he goes on to say, amen, this is the authority that Jesus has given us. But how do we know that Jesus has it? Revelation one eighteen, after Jesus rose from the dead, he was three days dead. He was one day down in the pits of hell preaching and taking the keys from the devil.
How many of the devil doesn't even have the keys to his own house? Jesus took them from me and he said in Revelation one eighteen, I am he that what? That liveth and was dead and behold, I am alive forevermore and have the keys of death and of hell. Jesus has the keys. We don't have to fear death.
He already defeated death. She didn't know we still die, but we don't there's no stinging death for the believer. Amen. It's just go to sleep in Jesus. But but he has taken the keys and given us the authority that we need and the spirit power that we need to be able to do the work of the kingdom.
Jesus is building his kingdom. He's building his kingdom. Hallelujah. I wanna remind us today, I'm gonna have to land a plane. What time is it?
Let me see. I don't have my watch on, but I got my phone. Okay. Okay, gotta stop. I just wanna remind everyone today here at Life Tabernacle.
Life Tabernacle has an important place in these last days, this church that Jesus is building. Amen, you are a part of a great and glorious church universal and a great church local. You're a part of that beautiful body of Christ that God has planted here, placed here in Vinton, Virginia to be a part of the last days move of God. And and every member, he wants to be a part. I wanna remind every one of you here today that you're you are not here by accident.
You are not here. Amen. Just because, you know, you don't know you're here. Amen. Because God has called you here.
God has placed you here for such a time as this. You say, well, I wish so and so would be here with me. Guess what? God's about ready to fill the house. God God's moving everywhere.
Listen, God's up to some things. I wish I had time to tell you some of the wonderful things God is doing, and you wanna do right here. He wants you to it everywhere. If we'll just let go and let God, God will do the work. We can't build nothing.
We can't do nothing. We can't make people do nothing. It's the holy spirit of God. When God begins to smile, when God begins to bless, amen. And what God blesses, he blesses unity.
Amen. The Bible said, behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Listen to what he says to the last word. And there, someone say there. There, I will command the blessing.
God is just looking for places across the 350,000 churches across America. He's looking for places that his glory can just come down. He's looking for places that he can just show himself strong and mighty, and it doesn't take a a church full of people to do that. When we come together in one mind and one accord, there was only a 120 of them. But guess what?
By the time the day was over, there was 3,120. And the next day, there was 5,000 men got saved. There was 8,320. And then there was added David, and then God began to multiply. How many knows?
Little is much when God's in his hand. When you take it out of your hands, like one God told one pastor, give me my church back. Give me my church back. He had it in his hand. We gotta let God.
We gotta let the Holy Ghost. He's the hand of God. And when we do that, God is going to do great things here. He's already done great. He's gonna do great things.
Amen. Listen to what I believe. This word for Life Tabernacle. I was praying last night. I've been praying for you.
Praying all week and praying again last night. The Lord reminded me of this scripture. And I believe it's a prophetic scripture back in Job's day, but God's word is forever settled in heaven. Amen. And it's a word that works in every generation.
It's the word of God. And Bill Bill dad spoke this word over Job. Job was suffering. Job was being challenged. Just like we as individuals face challenges, just like churches face challenges.
We face seasons of discouragement. I've been there every every few weeks of discourage and the enemy trying to distract and all that. But listen to what the word says. Job eight seven. Though your beginnings was small, yet your latter end would increase abundantly.
Though your beginnings were small, yet your latter end someone say my latter end will increase. Someone say increase. So I heard the Lord's this word for you for everyone for individually, families, and the church. Increase. Someone say increase.
How many could how many wants to see God do some increase in your life? Enlarge the place of your tent. Increase your anointing. Increase your passion for God. Increase your vision for the lost.
God, increase your finances. You say, well, is God interested in finances? Guess what? God is the master financial planner. He created it all.
He owns it all. And unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we're able even to ask or think according to the power that works in us. We have to we gotta activate it by faith. We activate it. And that doesn't mean we're not gonna have challenges.
Job was facing a big challenge here, and God said, your ladder in, Job, gonna be guess what happened at his ladder in? He was doubly blessed. He had more at the end than he did at the beginning. He was doubly blessed by God. I'm believing for increase, for the supernatural provision of God for the vision.
I'm believing for that for your church and for for pastor Dallas and the and the board for the vision. God you have, God has the provision for this. That that that that you will be the church. Not he's not just building the church, but you are the church. We are the church.
We we're becoming the church that Christ has done. I am Christ's hands and his feet. I am his voice on mission for the Lord. Hallelujah. And let me let me just hear this.
I heard these words. We need everyone to get in alignment for his kingdom assignment. What's that mean, pastor? Let me tell you what it means. If I had a tuning fork here, I don't have one, but a tuning fork is is standard.
I could take this tuning fork to a piano, a 100 pianist, and I could tune those 100 pianists to this one tuning fork, and all the 100 pianists would be tuned to each other. This is what happened in the upper room. Ten days before they went into that upper room, guess what they were doing? Arguing about who would be the greatest? Peter.
I am taking a note. John said, I am. I lean my head on Jesus' breath. He loves me more than he loves you. They were just they were just like us.
They're human. Sometimes we make them spiritual hero. They were humans. They were struggling. They didn't understand what Jesus was saying.
I'm gonna build my church. They they were trying to find their way. We look back and we read the Bible. We have the revelation. They didn't.
But listen, when they went in that that room, Jesus said, go and tarry until they went in not knowing what to believe or expect. They were there for ten days. I believe because in acts in in chapter two verse one, it said when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were someone say all. All. They were all tuned to the father's heartbeat.
They was all in tune with each other because they got in tune with God. I prayed that this week for myself. God, keep get me in keep me in tune with you. Because guess what? We know when we get out of tune with God.
We're hey. We're not a good husband. We're not a good wife. We're not a good when we get out of tune, we get short, and and we don't let our light shine like we should. And we gotta keep it we gotta stay in tune like an instrument.
We used to sing a song, tune now your instrument. Your instrument of worship. I'll I'll lift lift up up my my hands hands unto unto you, you, Lord. Lord. To Tune be me, Lord.
Lord. Amen. Search me, God. Try me, Lord. See if there be any wicked way within me, Lord.
Search me, oh, God. And when we David, a man after God's own heart, he was in tune with God even though he wasn't a perfect man. So I'm praying, God, that that you will tune us, keep us in tune. And I I just I just just declare that any and every strategy that the enemy any assignment that he would try to bring against this church, any any discouragement, distraction, diversion, anything that he is trying to do that Jesus said it very clearly. He said to his disciples, the gates of hell will not prevail against my church.
Would you stand with us today and just lift up your hands and say thank God that you're a part of what God is doing in these last days. Hallelujah. Father, we thank you that we're in this church, this glorious church, father, Hey. Called the church of the living God. Thank you, Jesus, for giving your blood.
Father God, you shed your blood so that we could become a part of this church. You redeemed us by blood of by your blood. You've called us, father, to be, lord, a part of this beautiful fellowship, your family, god. And we thank you that we've been called to the kingdom for such a time as this. And so, lord, today, I thank you for what you're doing in each one of our hearts today, God.
I I pray, Father, if there'd be anything in us, Lord, untoward, anything in us, Father, that's displeasing to you right now that the Holy Spirit will show us as we look to you, God, and ask you to tune us, father, to tune us, to fine tune us, father. God, I pray that you take off the rough and, Lord, create us create in us a heart after God, create in us, father, the image of Christ so that when people see us or hear us or see us at Walmart or wherever, God, they'll not just see us, but they'll see somebody walking after you, and they'll wanna follow us as we follow you. Holy Spirit, do your work in every heart, in every home, in every marriage, father. Father, I pray for increase, father. The increase of your anointing increase, father.
I pray for supernatural provisions for this church, father. Financials, Lord. I pray for businessmen. I pray, father, for businessmen and businesses, God. People, father, in the in the in the business world will see their vision, God, and bring money, much money, God.
Send in money, resources, Lord, that they need, father, to do the work of the ministry, father. I pray that supernatural provision. You said you would supply our needs according to your riches in Christ Jesus, and we thank you for it. In Jesus' name, we give you praise. Hallelujah.
We give you praise, Lord, today. You said you would build your church, father. I thank you for what you're doing right now here, father, inventing, father. Thank you for the men and women you're bringing in. Father, you have brought back pastor Dallas, father, from Texas.
You brought back, Lord, him and sister Emily, Lord. You have placed him here, father. He is a son of this house. He is a son of this house, and you have brought him back into the household of faith. You brought him here, God, for such a time as this, father.
Not only him, but God, you brought, Lord, brought the Keaton, father. It's just Anna. She's a daughter. She's a daughter of this house. And God, he's, Anna and him and her made a move, father, just to serve here, father, to serve what you're doing here, god.
And then, father, I heard last week that you spoke to Lewis and Stephanie over in Joplin, God. And father, the the they were doing they were in a great house. Their brother Johnson's church doing great. But God, you asked them to come here because Lord, Isaiah said, who will go in? And and they said, yes, Lord.
And they made that sacrifice to come here, god, because of the direction of god. Father, I sense in my spirit, god, that you're up to some good things here, god. You're bringing together, father, a people, god. And together, god, together, we're gonna see the hand of god move and work and save and, lord, our families and reach this community for the glory of god. Bless this church, father.
Father, I thank you for pastor Tina and sister Brenda, lord, their labors. Father, they have done all the past, Lord, all those that have been a part of this church's body. But I thank you, Lord, that even our ladder's gonna be greater, father. Greater things than these shall we do because you went to the father, and we thank you, father, for what you're doing, what you're gonna do in Jesus' name, and we give you praise. If you need prayer