Romans 15:14,24 -Pioneer Paul- Pastor Rick Beaudry 2023-12-03

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Romans 15 14 through 24 so don't be afraid just allow the Holy Spirit lead and guide you and enjoy the service and if you have to leave if your back hurts I'm fine with that and you come back in those doors I'm fine with that enjoy the service if you need to sleep yeah it's okay to sleep you know I don't mind you know to me you're in a peaceful place you know and my preaching does that to a lot of people all right Romans 15 14 through 24 if you ever see me fall asleep we're in trouble all right and I've done that before I've counseled somebody after church and in mid-sentence when I'm marital counseling them and then I hear Kathy go Rick you know they divorced soon after but that's all right all right verse 14 and I myself also am persuaded of you my brethren that ye also are full of goodness filled with all knowledge able also to admonish one another nevertheless brethren I have written the more boldly unto you and some sort is putting you in mind because of the grace that is given to me of God that I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles ministering the gospel of God that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable being sanctified by the Holy Ghost I have therefore aware of I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God for I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not wrought by me to make the Gentiles obedient by word and deed through mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God so that from Jerusalem and roundabout unto Lyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ yea so have I strived to preach the gospel not where Christ was named lest I should be built upon another man's foundation but as it is written to whom he was not spoken of they shall see and they that have not heard shall understand for which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you but now having no more place in these parts and having a great desire these many years to come unto you wherefore whensoever I take my journey into Spain I will come to you for I trust to see you in my journey and to be brought on my way thither word by you if first I be somewhat filled with your company father we thank you for your Holy Word we thank you for the example of the Apostle Paul and Peter and John and James and the Apostles and the early church and Philip and his daughters and just the whole early church their zeal to get the gospel out the glorious good news of your coming kingdom we thank you for those throughout church history and even in the present tense even presently the zeal of the people here to share at Bangor and Keyport and on the ships and at the shipyard and in the schools and just all all abounding and sowing the Word of God another coming along and watering and you bring in the increase and Lord the opportunity of missionaries being sent out and with the glorious good news and partnering with those that go and and some staying with the stuff and eventually sharing equally Lord in the reward being faithful to what you've called us all to do so this morning Lord and still within our hearts speak with us Lord speak to us give us ears to hear that we may Lord be a part of the Great Commission just as we see Paul's example here to go for it Lord in Jesus name we pray amen would you please be seated now Paul is in the city of Corinth and he's writing to the Church of Rome he didn't plant this church in Rome but he wants to visit at some point and he hasn't visited just yet Priscilla and Aquila they've have a home Bible study there and also Apollo's has been in the area of Romans and such and so there's a church there in Rome Paul's writing to the Church in Rome we've been looking at this letter this epistle that he's written and the theme of it being the gospel and Paul is a you know he's talking about how he's gone fourteen hundred miles in his missionary journey since he started and there's no planes trains or automobiles there's nothing there's no internet or anything in that regard it's like ships it's walking you know it's boroughs it's whatever else but very arduous very difficult over a long period of time and he's going to wind up in a Roman prison he wants to be there he wants to be in Rome at some point there's historically there's two visits that he has to Rome both times being in prison so the first time in prison he was released and and he spent a couple years in a home type prison you remember at the Antonio fortress when he tried to go to Jerusalem we'll see next week and to bring a gift that the Macedonian churches are wanting to bring to the mother church in Jerusalem and Paul is apprehended there there the whole riot breaks out and and so he's saved from being pulled apart by the centurion and then he appeals you know under under Caesar and so he's before King Agrippa and Festus and Felix and and then eventually all right to Caesar you appeal to Caesar you'll go we saw where the book of Acts and so he's going to be there in a house house arrest you know in Rome for a couple years and then he's released tradition says and then it's possibly when he's released that he went as far as Spain so Spain was the as we're seeing in our text is the outer reaches of the Empire he hadn't been there yet and possibly that some commentators say to the area of Great Britain so Paul is he's fully taken the Great Commission to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature and when some of them he said you Cretans you know or lazy beast gluttons and all that they're kind of the kind of the creatures he's talking about so go into all the world and preach the gospel every creature but at the end of his ministries he knows that as he's in Nero's prison if you look in Philippians 2 he says he's bound in Christ so he looks as as he's in Nero's prison in the prison there at the palace Caesar's Palace Philippians 2 he said his bonds his binding or being in prison he was in prison by Christ he was in Christ's will even in prison there so he's writing his prison epistles right able to get the Word of God out and so the blessing there but the second time around he knows that it's it's gonna he's gonna be executed by beheading and so he says I fought a good fight I finished my course what's his course his course as we see here was 1400 miles and I finished my course and I kept the faith and so that's very that's crucial that over the course of time that you and I are walking with the Lord we may start out well we may backslide a period of time we may go through a couple divorces we may go through the loss and heartache and all sorts of things that keep us you know that bog us down a bit or we may be the steady Freddy that never looks back but in any event at the end of your life you want to make sure if you're Henry Kissinger and you have a hundred years on this planet and you see that Rockefeller's dead and Zabrinsky's dead and your demonic exploits your demonic desires to depopulate the planet as such that now it's your turn you better make sure that you're right with Christ you better make sure you're right with Jesus because he's long-suffering he's long-suffering to give you Henry a hundred years to decide your eternal destiny if you don't think he's loving and kind and you can't exhaust his kindness you're mistaken you know so you and I it's a matter of being faithful we want to be faithful we're saved out of judgment we Jesus was judged in our place and so at the end of our life we want to know that we didn't waste time that we weren't time wasters that we did what God called us to do he's calls us you know to raise families to raise children to serve within the community to serve your country whatever it may be but you got to know your calling Paul saying I know my calling I didn't know it before I was raised at the feet of Gamaliel you know the Pharisee of Pharisees I wasted the church I was a you know a champion of a sinner you know the chiefest of sinners and the memories of all the different things he went through but then he realized that God had separated him from his mother's womb he's able to look back upon his life that all that instruction in the city in the college town of Tarsus where he's from and also the tutoring that received at the feet of Gamaliel and being a brilliant brilliant Jewish man of Pharisee of Pharisees and all and yet it was all as dung it was all as refuse he said for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ so it wasn't until Jesus invaded his comfort zone where Jesus on the road to Damascus said Saul Saul why are you persecuting me who art thou Lord I'm Jesus whom we're persecuting that Paul got on the right course and I don't care where you've been in the past make sure presently right now you're on the right course don't waste the time that we have left and take that time that you have remaining and use it for getting the gospel out getting the gospel to people that's the most important thing that we could do is make sure that we're fulfilling our course the Great Commission not the old mission not somebody else do it all of us have a sphere of influence of wherever we go and we can be used right here in Kitsap County why is it no missionaries want to come to Kitsap County why is it you and I are the missionaries we're the ones sitting here I feel like I'm a missionary here this isn't my home but I feel like this is a if you can be trained here when the Lord releases you man you can minister anywhere I mean you've been you've been with the natives in the jungle here you know so it so much rejection so incredible obstinance toward the things of the Lord it's Pastor Chuck used to say that hey when you go fishing you want to go fishing where the fish are biting fishing day after day with no bites I mean that can that can kind of kind of you know get to you know and so every once in a while somebody gets saved every once in a while somebody says you know I'm growing in the Lord and I'm learning the Bible and this sort of thing and and that's very rewarding for people that dedicated their lives to disciple people to make disciples and to share the good news and so we collectively corporately of the church have that responsibility so he says I fought a good fight it's a fight it's a battle I finished I finished my course the race he's running the race and it's a long-distance endurance race you may fall down but you get back up and the important thing is I kept the faith without faith we're nothing we may start out with faith but we may end with no faith we may end as a you know as a when the Son of Man comes will you find faith on the earth Peter's Peter Satan desires you that he may sift you as wheat but I'm praying for you Peter and what am I praying that your faith fail not don't lose your faith if you lose your faith you've lost everything you've lost it all everything you and I enjoy stems from faith the faith that gift of faith that God's given us and so we take that gift of faith and we begin to invest in the lives of others I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes to the Jew first and then to the Gentile for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith the faith as it is written the just shall live by faith and so Paul's planted churches throughout the entire known world he's in Nero's prison but as I said in Philippians 2 his bonds in Christ is the way he describes it and he he's looking at at in the past and he's talking about you know all the different places he's gone over the 1,400 miles but he yearns to be with the church in Rome at some point and to be with them and so we want to look at pioneer Paul and we want to see what is it that made him so prolific what is it made that we can incorporate this pattern of life this pattern of evangelism you may not have the gift of an evangelist but you can certainly do the work of an evangelist I don't consider myself to be an evangelist I'm a pastor teacher that's what God is who he's made me within the body there's different facets or different elements of that but as far as evangelism I don't have the gift as the office of an evangelist but as Paul exhorted Timothy do the work of an evangelist all of us have been called to share the good news the good news of Jesus Christ with people an evangelist he could come up here and he could say hey you need Jesus and a bunch of hands go up you know and it's just they have a gift you know I watch great glory 75 80 people every Monday night give their hearts and lives you know to the Lord and they talk about Lonnie Frisbee years ago in the Jesus movement he'd look at a crowd of people at the pier and say hey you know you guys need Jesus and all these kids that come to Jesus you know and then other people try that it not happen that way Rory's the same way a gift of evangelism and then also those guys you know pastor teachers in addition to that and so if you don't have the gift of an evangelist an evangelist a herald to herald the good news of the coming kingdom all of us are to herald the good news of his coming kingdom we leave the results up to him one man sows another waters God brings the increase so his methodology his way of getting the good news out is word of mouth and and not tell the tribulation period is he gonna send an angel overhead with the everlasting gospel presently it's us we the church we have the Great Commission we have the blessing of going in making disciples of sharing and preaching the gospel to the unbeliever and then sharing the good news the coming kingdom the doctrine that Jesus has given us this body of truth to make disciples disciples are learners so that's why Calvary Chapel we take people from Genesis to Revelation through the Bible verse by verse but we also you'll notice we also take time to preach to the unbelievers that you're inviting here to church that they might want to hear the gospel message so all through the teaching there's also preaching with the gospel so what made Paul so prolific so effective in serving God number one he was called by grace he wasn't called because he was qualified wasn't called because he was so brilliant he was called the same way you and I are called by grace by God's grace grace is unmerited favor you're gonna pinch yourself and say Lord why would you entrust the unsearchable riches of Christ with me why would you why would you give me such an awesome message such an incredible message to share with people who are hurting share with people who are headed to hell what makes me qualified to be entrusted with such riches it's God's grace it's his unmerited favor he's looked down he says hey you'll do verse 14 and I myself also am persecuted or persuaded of you my brethren that you also are full of goodness filled with all knowledge able also to admonish one another verse 15 nevertheless brethren I've written the more boldly unto you in some sort as putting you in mind because of the grace that is given to me of God so Paul's reminding them look at the grace that God's given to me I was a persecutor of the church wasting the church an enemy of the church the scores of people that I burst into their houses and drew away and put them in prison them and all because simply their crime was being a Christian six million Christians died in the first two centuries simply because they wouldn't pinch incense and say Caesar is Lord all they had to do all polycarp had to do is pinch some incense say Caesar is Lord right not gonna do it eighty and six years I've served Jesus he's been faithful I'm not gonna recant now I'm not gonna blaspheme him now not gonna give in now to these globalists no way we've come too far not gonna happen and it's by the grace of God has given to me of God so Paul compliments the Church of Rome for the goodness the knowledge and ability and instruct one another but wants to remind them again why why do we need to be reminded of the grace of God because the enemy comes along condemns us we fail each and every day we're failures we're losers so what qualifies me to be at this pulpit this morning every week I I have a sense of inadequacy every week I'm reminded of my failures so what keeps me going it's the grace of God pride would pride would well up in me and say well I can't do that or I can't this or that well of course you're not qualified Rick that's your pride well enough as you're evaluating your progress or whatever it's by grace man you've never deserved it you've never been good enough you rely upon me and we forget the how essential the grace of God is in our lives in our ministry and the motivation to do things for the Lord is simply because of the grace of God because he chose you because he told you to you'd obey him you're doing what he's called you to do he will enable you to do what he's called you to do he shows up each and every time that you desire to share the gospel you pray each morning Lord give me an open door that no man can shut give me an opportunity in the community to share the love of Jesus with people give me another opportunity at Christmas to share with a that relative or friend or loved one that you see once or twice a year give me another shot Lord give me another chance before they die before they go into eternity it's by the grace of God and Peter and 2nd Peter chapter 1 Peter says I'm gonna remind you of these things though you know them we have a history of forgetting and he says so I'm gonna remind you these things we've already taught you though you know them we need to constantly be reminded of the grace of God constantly be encouraging one another that were called by God's grace disqualification you've gone through a not disqualified you've gone through a heartbreaking incident with your children you're not disqualified it was never because you had such a great marriage it was never because you had such obedient children it was never because you know you tithe and give so much or serve so much it's always been by the grace of God by the grace of God that's what keeps us breathing that's what keeps us going it's God's unmerited favor towards us he could use angels heck these guys talk about getting rid of us you so cedars and making robots God can make robots God can make the killer robots you know the best robots they ever saw but you know what he breathes life into you and I he fashions us from the ground they can't do that they're not gonna live forever they're there they're you know they're delusional the Jared Kushner you know Jared Kushner is son-in-law president Trump and so he's a part of the and and so is his Ivanka you know or his wife whatever Trump's daughter they're all a part about these new these new world leaders you know that they go to school for it and all to be these new global leaders and they have the audacity I haven't hear much about Noah Yuval Harari lately but boy he's had some real dingers hasn't he him and Klaus Schwab and Jared Kushner and others three that I remember you know they're boasting that pretty soon we're gonna live forever well what do you mean what do you mean well we're gonna put a chip in a guy's head yeah really did you cut off Henry's head and freeze it so that he could get one later you know attach his head to a body later you know these guys are so incredibly boastful it's it's the boast within the garden where the devil told Adam and Eve you'll surely not die it's the boast and second Thessalonians 2 where when they reject the truth they're given over to the lie that God would give them over to a strong delusion that they would believe the lie what's the lie you're gonna live forever without Jesus Christ you can do it yourself you can develop utopia the third Reich the fourth Reich whatever age of Aquarius you know all lies all lies and they can't produce they cannot produce the only one that's raised himself from the dead is Jesus Christ only one we got the only guy the exclusivity of Jesus Christ right so everybody else on the planet has to operate by grace because all of us are failures all of us has sinned and come short of the glory of God and we can't do it in the arm of the flesh only by God's grace reliance upon him and we forget about this all the time we have a few victories and we think hey I got this figured out you know I don't I don't need the Lord's help anymore you know I'm a good guy I I do good deeds good things and boy that's why God uses me because I'm a good guy you know and no you're not you're you're you're on the verge of God disqualifying you when you get to that point you know the Pharisee prays thus with himself they thank you that I'm not as wretched as all these other guys you know I tithe that you know twice in the week and in all that and and Jesus said he's praying with himself and the publican wouldn't so much as lift his eyes up to heaven but smote his breasts and said God be merciful to me a sinner Jesus said that man went away justified just as if he never sinned the one that's humble God resists the proud he gives grace to the humble God's grace in our lives so Paul could see the potential in others because of the grace of God in his life so Paul saying him a pattern if God could save me if God could do what he's done in my life by his grace certainly he can do it in your guys lives because you're much better people than me is what Paul saying I was a chiefest of sinners I was a blasphemer I was an enemy of the cross of Christ and if God can save me and transform and change me certainly he can do it in your lives you know and that's that's the beauty of it's the beauty of being around a pastor like me because when I was around pastor Chuck I exalted him I exalted him so high and I thought I could never do that never ever ever do that and so I never thought of becoming a pastor or doing anything like that and later on I found out that he's got feet of clay too but for several years I saw him you know man I saw him in a different line so you see these big church pastors like whoa you know but then you go out to lunch with me on a Sunday and you sit there for half an hour and you're like gosh if God can use that guy he can certainly use me you know it was like the whole mysteries gone you know it's like whoo man it's gotta be by God's grace cuz he's a real loser you know Michelangelo he was working on a big huge rock of marble and somebody asked him what he was doing he said I was trying to release I'm trying to release the angel inside that that block of marble and God's wanting to release you he's wanting to release you and I God released the Apostle Paul and released him and sent him commissioned him sent him empowered him transformed and changed him and set him free from being a persecutor he set him free from his past life God has set you and I free from our past life all of that unbelief all that anger all that junk that kept us outside now we're on the inside we're in Christ Jesus and it's because of God's grace he chose us we didn't choose him and he's ordained that we bring forth fruit and that our fruit would remain it's always because of God's grace Paul never forgot his past in the sense of forgetting those things which are behind I don't want you to play the victim role and always in that place or mode of victimization like you can't move forward because hey I'm still hurt I'm in pain and I've been victimized no if any man be in crisis new creation the old things are passed away all things have become new forgetting those things are behind you're not the slave to those people or those things or those circumstances anymore God's forgiven you he's taken your sins he's casting the east to the west remember him no more you're free you got a fresh new start each and every morning his mercies are new every morning but don't ever forget who you are apart from Christ don't ever forget where he found you in that pig pen that place he found you because that's where the that's where the gratitude the thankfulness a well up inside of you Lord thank you for not leaving me there thank you for delivering me for saving me for not perpetuating the the way that I grew up Lord thank you for giving me a godly wife and and helping me all the all along Lord thank you for helping me because if you take your hand off me Lord I'll just by nature my natural inclination will be to go back to where I was but Lord you not only saved me but Lord you keep me and you keep me going you keep a garrison of your spirit around me to protect me from me Paul never forgot who he was in the past a blasphemy or persecutor he never forgot the face of Stephen when he was consenting to the death of Stephen when they stoned Stephen in Acts chapter 7 he never forgot the voice of Stephen saying you know father forgive them for they know not what they do Lord lay not this sin to their charge he never forgot the look on Stephen's face his face shining like that of a angel the kind of glory of God and Stephen looking up into heaven and saying he saw Jesus standing there and these guys are it's tormenting these guys and they're gaping upon him and and they take and they stoned him to silence him because of the conviction that was there and they laid their coats at the feet of one called Saul of Tarsus Paul never forgot that I believe he was haunted that we can use that word he was haunted he was tormented thereafter that's why when Jesus finally finally came there to take away that torment he said Saul Saul why are you persecuting me can you kick against the goats can you continue to kick against my love can you continue to try and sleep with the memory of Stephen and the love that I have for you the love that I have for Stephen I believe was haunting him I believe the hound of heaven is after you if you're here this morning as an unbeliever you resisting the Holy Spirit can you continue to kick against the goats of God's goading God's drawing you God's using pain to maybe get your attention but still his love it's the kindness of God that leads us to repentance and Paul never forgot these things and so he he emphasized that his life is a pattern an example an illustration of God's grace he says in Ephesians 3 8 unto me whom less than the least of all saints is this grace given that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ I mean I pinch myself all the time like me Lord I get to be saved you saved me it never gets old does it Lord you saved me I didn't come from a Christian home some people I think take him for granted they forget how special it is to be saved that we didn't choose him he chose you and if he didn't intervene where would we be if he didn't initiate and bring us to that place where we would respond and give us that measure of faith and all these circumstances all these things that he allowed in our life to bring us to that decision that place of surrender to Jesus where would we be Paul he never forgot God's grace he never forgot who he was in the past Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death I thank God through Jesus Christ he says in 1st Corinthians 15 10 by the grace of God I am what I am and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain but I labored more abundantly than they all yet not I but the grace of God which was with me so Paul didn't allow the grace that God bestowed upon him to lie dormant to be complacent or indifferent to be lukewarm Paul says that grace of God that God bestowed upon me it energized me it empowered me it caused me to want to live a life that's pleasing unto him to take that same effort to think of think of the zeal think of the the tenacity the drive that Bill Gates has to kill people to genocide to depopulate the planet I mean he's a driven man he could be enjoying his money and never look back right but he has a purpose in life and his purpose along with these other Henry Kissinger's and all these guys is to depopulate to destroy somehow it makes them feel like they're gods doesn't it that they can kill a billion people it must be intoxicating to be so demonic but think if one of those guys got saved and had that same tenacity that same drive that same unwillingness to quit to share the gospel to share the good news of Jesus Christ and yet we in many cases we are like the church of Laodicea we're indifferent lukewarm and we don't value we don't value the grace of God the unmerited favor so God like Bill Gates if God truly grabs hold of him he's gonna realize oh my gosh do you know who I was do you know what I did do you know how people are dead today because of what me and my wife did all over the continent of Africa through our foundation of Gavi and all the different ways that we use the monies that we have in the pharmaceuticals and such to kill babies to sterilize children all that like a Manasseh Manasseh was the most wicked King the nation of Judah ever had 55 years reigning the sins of Manasseh were so grievous so egregious he even sacrificed his own children unto Baal and God used the Assyrians to afflict Manasseh Manasseh came to know the Lord but still his his filth and his evil in leading the country in apostasy was so great that God said their goose is cooked I'm gonna judge I'm gonna judge Israel even though later Josiah after Manasseh came along still Josiah tried to bring reform but it was too late the nation was was in that mode of being ripened under judgment but God always has his trophies of grace he always throughout history will pick one or two or three or four I don't know how many but always those who were serving Satan serving the devil and God apprehends them and transforms and changes them and it's interesting though just how grateful they are how motivated they are because they know they weren't one of the good ones raising the Christian home you know so what made Paul so prolific so effective in serving God he was called by grace secondly he was consecrated to God this one thing this one thing it's one thing one thing one thing's needful one thing Martha one thing Mary verse 16 that I should be the minister that word minister in the Greek speaks of a liturgical priest so that I'm a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles ministering the gospel of God that the offering up the Gentiles might be acceptable being sanctified by the Holy Ghost so what's he offering up he's offering up the the saved Gentiles Lord I offer these people up to you I offer them to you as an offering unto you Lord so he sees themselves as a liturgical priest and his offering is Lord these people that are getting him saved Lord this is my offering to you you know and so he's consecrated to God to be that temple priest to consecrate the lives of these people consecrated to God dedicated to God for service ministering the gospel of God the Gentile converts are Paul's offering to God consecrated to God in worship so we see in Romans 12 verse 1 he describes it this way our response would be what is your response so you see the theme in Romans 1 16 and 17 the gospel right and then you go through and you see those who reject the truth in chapter 1 and they're given over they're given over to their own judgment with a men with men women with women and so you're you're inclined to say oh those guys are really bad but then he goes into chapter 2 and he shows the Jews and he shows the moralist the people you're still bad he comes over to Romans 323 all have sinned the gays the lesbians the straights the religious people all of them all have sinned all means all all have sinned and come short of the glory of God got to get everybody to be guilty so that God can be gracious then he shows the principle of faith in chapter 4 justification chapter 5 and chapter 6 he's gonna show the battle between the flesh and the spirit and if you're saved sin shall not have dominion over you same thing in chapter 7 the flesh against the spirit that battle that takes place and and then chapter 8 the life of the spirit and then a segue what about the nation of Israel did the church replace Israel no God forbid so in chapter 9 he shows Israel's past election chapter 10 Israel's present rejection of Jesus chapter 11 Israel's future restoration so he doesn't leave Israel out then he comes into chapter 12 and the grammar is such I beseech thee therefore pointing back to all that he's taught you the doctrinal part here's the application part 11 chapters of doctrine here's the application what's this mean I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God in light of his mercies he didn't give you what you deserve that your response would be that you would present once and for all that presentation once and for all that you would present your bodies as a living sacrifice what kind of sacrifice holy and acceptable unto him which is your reasonable service reasonable service is an act of worship that in an act of worship our response would be that we would consecrate ourselves unto God that we'd say Lord hear my Lord like like Isaiah in chapter 6 here my Lord use me who we gonna send who's gonna go with the gospel here my Lord use me that's all God wants that we'd respond in worship Lord I don't know how you can use me I don't know what my gifts are yet but Lord I'm yours to use the grace that you give me Lord the unmerited favor Lord I'm consecrated unto you the next chapter 20 verse 22 he says behold I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem not knowing the things that shall befall me there say that the Holy Ghost so the Holy Ghost has been bringing Agabus and other prophets to let him know that hey the guy that owns this belt he's gonna be bound if you go to Jerusalem Paul don't go to Jerusalem he says don't try to persuade me because of your tears I'm not I'm ready to go there to die you guys I'm not gonna try and save myself you don't move me in that way he says save that the Holy Ghost witnesses in every city saying that bonds and afflictions abide me we're not gonna go if we're afraid of being the bonds and the afflictions right but none of these things move me they can't deter me I've consecrated my life to Christ it's no longer up me living but Christ living through me neither count I my life dear unto myself the whole psychological thing of love yourself is dejected right here I don't count my life dear how did they overcome the Antichrist in Revelation chapter 12 blood of lamb the word of their testimony and they love not their lives unto death if you're in love with yourself any man seeks to save his life's gonna lose his life you're not gonna enter in spiritually what God has for you but if you lose your life if you're crucified with Christ if you if you follow Jesus as Jesus living through you now you're really starting to live the life of the Spirit that's what Paul saying it's no longer me living it's Christ living through me I've consecrated myself to God I've offered myself to God Lord here am I use me however you wish if it's bonds and imprisonments so be it Lord I believe you call me to Jerusalem I believe there's a message you put my heart God I'm gonna go and on my way there may be bonds and imprisonments and I may you know get put on a ship and the ship gets shipwrecked and 216 guys are gonna get saved off the island there where we where we crash and surfing guys on boards coming to shore and then I'm gonna head on into Rome and I'm gonna spend two years there in a in a in a home there in prison right the prison epistles and such Lord I'm on a journey I'm I'm not I don't know what the ten next steps are but you know in a general way the Holy Spirit's shown me over and over again that bonds and imprisonments await me as I move in this direction but you know what all I want to do is finish my course he says that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God I don't want to miss out on the fulfilling the course that he's given me I want to fulfill the course I want to fulfill the reason he apprehended me I don't want to wimp out because of threats from the devil the devil threatening me I don't want to isolate myself and quarantine and miss out on worship and church and all these things because you guys are lying to me greater is he that's in me than he that's in the world since God's for me who can be against me I'm gonna trust in Jesus there's a filter every circumstance of my life has to first go through God and he's promised me all things are working together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose not my purpose so Paul said I don't want anybody to trip me up from fulfilling my course fulfilling the calling that God has upon my life to testify the gospel of the grace of God Jesus said you're my witness a witness is at one that gives a testimony the word witness is a martyr you're gonna testify you're gonna go through a test you're gonna pass the test and you're gonna testify of God's faithfulness as you went through the test he's faithful so Paul's service was consecrated to God for the glory of God not his own glory he says verse 17 I have therefore aware of I'm a glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God so offer his glory everything is for his glory 1st Corinthians 1031 whether therefore you eat or drink or whatsoever you do do all to the glory of God whatsoever you do in Colossians do it heartily as unto the Lord and not unto men you can consecrate yourself unto God I don't I don't allow people that hate me and there's many of them but it's no it's no problem get in line people that reject me people whatever they don't determine my future they don't own me they're not going to deter me they're not going to stop me I'm gonna minister to those I minister to and if I'm afraid of and taking polls and wanting to be popular and be a politician then I shouldn't be a pastor pastors are not supposed to be politicians they're supposed to serve the Lord and our ministry is as unto the Lord and so we're always gonna have detractors we're always gonna have people that criticize we're always gonna have people that to buy in the sand ballots when Nehemiah knows he has a great work that he's doing to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and to buy and sell ballots they'll always come into your life there always be the core of Dathan and the Byrams that come against Moses you know they're always going to be those detractors that try and deter you distract you get you away from what God's called you to do and I like what Nehemiah says the work that I'm doing is too great to be distracted by you guys no I'm not gonna leave the work to go have lunch with you you know they basically are trying to get him to lure him away from the work to kill him and all but Nehemiah understood the importance of the work that he was doing so much so that when they elevated the threat level against Nehemiah he then began to have the people have a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other you know prayer you know spiritual armor on and keep doing the work don't stop doing the work and I've always found that no matter how rough my week is no matter what happens a certain family you love you know and something explodes and things get terrible you know I've always discovered that if you stay working you keep doing what you're doing keep teaching the Bible stay with it that the Lord gives you that release you're released as you do what you're supposed to do and then you sense that God's favor you sense you're still in his will you can't fix everything but you know that you're in God's will and you have enough faith enough of God's grace enough love from the Saints that do show up to continue another week you know and so Jesus teaches us in Matthew 6 take it day by day you know get through the week just get to Sunday man and then after Sunday's Monday you know and so keep doing what God's called you to do and don't let the detractors take you away your life's consecrated unto the Lord so what made Paul so prolific so effective in serving God he was number one called by grace number two he was consecrated to God and thirdly he was controlled by God who controls you what controls you what influence are you under he says verse 18 for I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not wrought by me to make the Gentiles obedient by word and deed verse 19 through mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God so that from Jerusalem and roundabout unto Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ so Paul's ministry was extremely powerful and far reaching 1,400 miles you know going by foot and by ship and such and covering that 1,400 miles from Jerusalem to Illyricum so as we said no cars no trains no phones no printing no no internet TV or radio he fully preached the gospel of Christ now I do believe in using media you know get the gospel out with the tools that God's given us to use but don't wimp out don't don't make excuses we have to go back to the old way word of mouth door-to-door you know you do it that way and he's not interested in mega churches you don't see mega churches little tiny small churches all over the place the Word of God spreading at the fastest church today fastest growing church today is in Iran but you didn't hear that in the mainstream media as they're demonizing Iran and wanting us to go to war with Iran you're not hearing about the Christians in Iran when President Obama when he unleashed ISIS which he created do you know what they did they went across the whole Mideast there their Arab Spring and they wiped out churches they wiped out ancient churches that Christians were still attending these churches throughout church history but Obama in his hatred of Christianity sent his ISIS now how stupid are American people to see these Toyotas and all these guys with white tennis shoes on you know somehow they came up with that idea you know they're funded and supported and given weapons to become ISIS you know and then you see these beautiful wonderful Egyptian Christians wearing orange jumpsuits I think there's 19 of them or 29 of them and they're going to be beheaded that day and you know their reaction was they considered it a privilege to die for Jesus it was a privilege they thanked their executioners for the privilege of dying for Jesus you can't stop that you can't stop that kind of love for the Lord and so you see the people in Iran the fastest-growing church how do you know that the Coptic priest that was out of out of Egypt that was sending over the media the satellite radio network scores of people were getting saved as a result of that media and you don't hear about this Coptic priest in Egypt there because again the Arab Spring wiped the guys out but presently in in Iran there's somebody that's providing this online Bible studies and all and discipling the folks so the Internet still working there and these people are coming to Christ 200 Muslims have come to Christ in the Gaza since October 7 200 Google it don't listen to me Google it 200 Muslims saved in the Gaza area and it's increasing how are they being saved they're having dreams they're having the Joel to acts to dreams and they're getting saved not hearing about that in the media area the gospel continues to go people being saved and Paul fully preached the gospel the whole way and so how did he do it what's the secret formula for church growth signs and wonders anointed worship team anointed preaching and teaching we've got all that here what is it what's the secret of success what's the secret of of this prolific this huge amount of fruit that the Apostle Paul is is bearing what's the secret of his power what's the secret of power allowing God to control you as you die as you yield to the Holy Spirit not in the arm of the flesh members Zechariah 4 it's not by might nor by power not natural power but by my spirit say the Lord of hosts God's gonna give you a job that's so big so huge such a huge enemy such a huge opposition that the only way you're gonna be able to wake up in the morning and continue is because of the power of his spirit you're gonna have mountaintops you're gonna have glorious victory but you're gonna have some really tough tough days to get through and it's because of the power of this Holy Spirit sustaining you empowering you enabling you to continue in the work that he's called you to do Paul reached a time we read last week in Corinth he despaired of life it gets so hard sometimes you despair of life he says I heaven's better Church of Philippi but you know it's it's better if I stay here for you for your sake I'll stay here but I'd rather be in heaven how many of you rather be in heaven right the reason we're here is because God wants us and privileged us and is using our lives and he's enabling us in the power of his spirit to continue to share the gospel to be a light to a world that's in darkness to be empowered by him allowing God to control you he must increase we must decrease his strength is perfected in weakness and so as the economy crashes as our way of life erodes here in America of all the different things that prop us up all the different methodologies and business plans and programs and all the different ways people hear the gospel and build churches or whatever we might have to go back to the old way of Peter and John coming up to a cripple and saying silver and gold have I none the name of Jesus Christ stand up and walk right it may not be money driven churches much longer it may be that we're gonna have to rely more and more on the Holy Spirit to empower the work of upon this rock I'll build my church and the gates of hell not prevail against it our faith our way of life everything is going to rely upon a reliance in the Holy Spirit a dependency upon the Holy Spirit to do the work through us not us thinking of ways and tricks and schemes and a lot of the pastors that are out presently have taken marketing classes in seminary they're taught to market their talk to their talk to advertise their taxes come up with bullet points and schemes and programs and stuff to get the people coming and how you gonna keep them there how you gonna get them to grow and and so we our program is acts 242 the early church was in the apostles doctrine breaking the bread and prayer and going from house to house so what makes the early church is the Word of God there in the apostles doctrine there's there's part of what we do as a church that's part of what defines a church part of what defines a pastor his job description is to feed the sheep what's the food the Word of God Peter do you love me feed my sheep that's the job description end of story not psychology not the wisdom of man the Word of God the substance what is it what's the content of that sermon this morning the Word of God he quoted the Word of God constantly the Word of God breaking of bread fellowship worship prayer ministering to people that's what churches that's how we define the church that's what a church is a living organism the body of Christ being controlled as John the Baptist said he must increase I must decrease his strength is perfected in weakness when Paul prayed that this messenger of Satan that was buffeting him would be removed the Lord said no no no my grace is sufficient for thee for my strengths perfected and weakness what that mean that meant that Paul would have to rely upon the Holy Spirit Paul would have to die to sell surrender to sell not able to use all that great intellect that he had a Saul of Tarsus but to surrender and to come with the simplicity of the gospel the simplicity of the message that Jesus had given Jesus Christ in him crucified for the remission of sins a very simple message and yet it's the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes that's the message we don't have to come up with a new message or a new methodology we simply do what the Lord's called us to do in the power of the Holy Spirit and God does the work by his spirit he does the work in and through us why did Samson lose his strength number one he forgot he was called by God's grace number two he neglected to consecrate himself to God number three he did not allow God to control him instead he yielded to the flesh Samson became as weak as any other man he didn't even know that the Holy Spirit had departed so what's the story of Samson Samson had a father named Manoah and Manoah and his wife she was barren she couldn't have children so God sent the angel of the Lord to speak to both of them and to say that you're gonna have a son and from your womb from your womb mother of Samson I never I never got her name she's she's mother but didn't say her name if you know her name you can tell me but but Noah's the husband and and she was told by the angel that he was not she was not to drink anything of the fruit of the vine no grapes no wine juice none of that nor was she to eat anything that was unclean unclean food and such and thirdly when the child's born you're not to cut his hair so I'm trying to become a Nazarite not to cut his hair and and so you know the story Samson's born and Samson is known for being really powerful really strong and so he at a certain point he's gonna wind up being a judge you can read about Samson and judges 13 14 15 on into 16 and he's gonna he's gonna be a judge a judge is a protector a leader for the nation of Israel against in this case against the Philistines for 20 years and so there came a point in time where Samson's a little older and he says go get me this woman she pleases me well the woman was a Philistine and the parents said can't you go with a you know a Jewish girl a good Jewish girl and and the parents didn't know that God had purposely put this into Samson's heart even though it's a wrong thing in a wrong way but it was a means of God using Samson to discipline the Philistines and so they went and they got this gal they had a seven seven day feast and celebration he had a hit a hit a best man a companion if you will 30 guys came to be his brothers to be his helpers and all and then they had a contest they made a contest of if you can discover this riddle then I'll get you guys 30 30 alphas 30 Armani suits if you guys can get the riddle but if you guys can't get the riddle then you get me 30 pairs of Levi's and and so they were they were not able to get the riddle and so the riddle was out of the eater came forth meat and out of the strong came forth sweetness and they couldn't get it they couldn't get it they couldn't get it so finally they plowed with his heifer as he described it you've been plowing with my heifer and so what that meant was is they went behind his back and threatened her that her whole house and family would be burned to the ground if they if she doesn't find out the riddle because they were going to lose their clothes and that whole thing and they run around naked or whatever and so she got Samson to tell her the riddle she told them the riddle and then he had to go out and get 30 articles of clothing so he went out and he killed 30 Philistines in different town came back with the clothing and all and then left there and then the best man the father wound up giving this bride to the best man so Samson's real angry he's getting angry at these Philistines and such and then from there he starts to mess around with harlots and so as in this messing around with harlots and also messing around with that that honey that he found it was found in the mouth of the eater is found in the mouth of a lion that he killed so that's causing him to be unclean because he wasn't to be around anything unclean he wasn't supposed to have the honey out of the carcass because that rendered him unclean as a Nazirite eating something that would corrupt him the interesting thing is even though it violated the Nazirite vow he still had his strength then he moves forward and he's able to hang around harlots and stuff so partying and drinking wine and stuff and he still has his strength and then after that he makes meets a gal named Delilah and you guys know Delilah and everybody's heard of Delilah the woman with the blue dress on and the devil with the devil with the blue dress on and and so he meets Delilah and this is later on and he the guys in the town want to know the secret of his strength what's the secret of your strength and so he says if you go and you grab some vines six seven different strands of vine you tie me up I'll be as weak as any other man so she did it and he fell asleep Samson the Philistines are upon you and he blew off the vines that were on him then he says well I misspoke new ropes if you bind me with new ropes I'll be as weak as any other man and Samson the Philistines are upon you and he blew off the ropes and then he she's crying she's crying she's crying and she's offered like 1,100 pieces of silver she can discover the secret of the strength and all and so he says well if you braid my hair careful Samson get a little close if you braid my hair into seven brands seven braids through this pin then I'll be as weak as any other man so Samson has already violated one of the things of being a Nazarite consecrated unto God in that he ate corrupted food out of the mouth of the eater secondly the the fruit of the vine and stuff the partying with the harlots and such and he still has the strength now it's coming down to his hair and he's toiling he's he's playing around with that he's got this long hair nobody knows why and the right of a Nazarite and so Samson the Philistines are upon you he able to subdue them and then finally day by day she's just not I mean his phone is going off you know just just you know and take this thing and shut it off man you know and so it's like a dripping faucet it's better to sleep on the roof than to be downstairs with a dripping faucet this won't stop so so it's just wears him out this big strong guy is worn out by her crying and whining and finally he tells her the secret of his strength if you shave my head I'll be as weak as any other man and then she binds him as the men come in and shave his head and then bind him and Samson thought that he could reach back in the tank just like he done all his whole life that this grace of God that was upon him to make him a Nazarite to make him a judge that he could reach back in the tank and his disobedience and not be consecrated unto God and play around with the wine play around with the mouth out of the eater and now his hair and a very tragic verse there in chapter 16 Samson the Philistines are upon you and Samson thought just as before he could do whatever he wanted that he could do it in the arm of the flesh and it says he realized not that the Holy Spirit had departed Samson underestimated he discounted he didn't value the empowering of the Holy Spirit in his life the gift of the Holy Spirit empowering him to have superhuman strength you and I are fighting against superhuman demons there's no way we can we can be prolific and do what God's called us to do without the Holy Spirit empowering us and so Samson was grabbed hold by these guys and they plucked out his eyes and then they bound him and then they put him in the temple to Ashdod and they had him grinding like a big ox he'd go around and round and round like a big ox grinding the grain and then they had a big party there and one of the festivals and all and he asked what the little boy to put him over near the two big pillars holding up the facility they're holding up the temple to daggone and and so we learn that when you neglect your relationship with God the secret of Samson's strength was not the long hair it was not the staying away from the food it was not the drinking of the wine staying away from the wine that wasn't the secret of the strength the secret of his strength was vertical it was his relationship with God once he disregarded that relationship and didn't value his relationship with God and relied upon the past or relied upon the flesh he found out that the sin in his life that sin blind you that sin will bind you and then sin will bring you to a place where it will grind you and so Samson was grinding but the hair of Samson began to grow back and he asked the boy send me over there to those pillars the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time God's gracious and so Samson cried out to God let me avenge myself and God allowed it and he pulled down the pillars and pulled down 3,000 people that were there of the Philistines he killed more people in his death than he did during his lifetime I left out where he had the jawbone of a donkey and killed a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey but prolific prolific judge he judged for 20 years but to be controlled by the Holy Spirit don't underestimate the significance the importance of being controlled by the Holy Spirit so when we talk about yielding to the Holy Spirit of being spirit filled or be being spirit filled Ephesians 518 be not drunk with wine wherein is the excess so the influence of the flesh but be being filled with the Holy Spirit a constant flow of the Holy Spirit in our life yield of the Holy Spirit allowed God to control us so what made Paul so prolific so effective in serving God he was called by grace consecrated to God controlled by God and fourthly and finally he was committed to God there was commitment there he says verse 20 yea so have I strived there's that commitment he strived there's a there's a will there Daniel willed that he wouldn't eat the king's food Shadrach Meshach and Abednego willed that they weren't they prepared ahead of time their heart ahead of time if this happens we're not going to do this we're committed to Jesus first we're committed to him we're not going to give in to nebbing we're not going to compromise compromises is the number one way to grow a big church is to compromise with the world you can have a big worldly church if you just compromise but if you're uncompromising get ready the roads going to be hard it's going to be a hard road because you're going against the world but it's going to be a glorious glorious spirit-filled walk with the Lord watching God do what only he can do yea so have I strived to preach the gospel not where Christ was named lest I should build upon another man's foundation so where's the need when I was in school of ministry Pastor Odin Fong who was in charge of Calvary Chapel Outreach Fellowship he told me don't confuse a need with a call there's needs everywhere so the tragedy is and in my case what I've learned is predominantly the Southern California pastors see the greatest need in Huntington Beach so they all stay in Huntington Beach let's have 10 churches in Huntington Beach I'm from Huntington Beach let's stay by the beach let's stay down here you can't get them to come up here and when they do they don't last it's hard here he told me don't confuse a need with a call well I feel called here God called me here God brought me here that's why I'm still here after 28 years and I I just think it's laughable now the way that you have Christian Disneyland with every ride and attraction down there and you just keep milking the same cow milking the same cow the same thing and when things get tough you look at the past your glory days of the past well what about the present what are you doing right now with COVID and all this Trump ain't gonna save you you're gonna lose your whole lifestyle Orange County you're gonna lose it he said to go in all the world let's have a party that's what it is they cracked me up man they cracked I didn't see it when I lived there but I knew in my heart I I didn't want to just slam another church and right next to another one that where the people are already taught the Word of God what do you need me here for and I was invited to do that it didn't make sense to me and so I come to this place and I didn't know I was coming this place but it's a place where there's a famine for the Word of God they call it a pastor's graveyard here it's a difficult place you don't see the major ministries emanating from the Pacific Northwest you don't see any major ministry founded here and when California falls apart they're all gonna move to Texas because they want to be around conservative people that can support their ministries they don't want to be around the liberals of Microsoft and Google and all them they want to be in conservative communities to be supported they want to they want to draw together and their holy huddle and stay there but you got to go you got to go to the blue states who's gonna go the blue states everybody wants to move away from the blue states you guys didn't save yourself come down from the cross you don't need to suffer Jay Inslee's threats move to Montana isolate yourself how's that working for you how many people are coming to Christ in your move people here are perishing nobody wants to do a crusade in Washington nobody wants to come here you know Franklin Graham or Greg Laurie or any of these evangelists that do crusades everywhere they doing crusades now Orange County and Texas conservative places where they know that people show up who is it that shows up the Christians and yeah they bring some unbelievers and people go forward and praise the Lord I love that too but I know why they won't come here go all the way this Sudan go all the way over Africa all over the world these relief agencies and ministries and such nobody wants to come the Pacific Northwest none of them are have their foundation here it's a difficult place so you better be committed to God you better be willing to have your whole world turned upside down everything that you thought you knew turned upside down and you're gonna come back to the basics of your Christianity walking by faith day by day you can't explain it it's inexplicable they won't understand it how many running couple hundred they won't even talk with you after that couple hundred how long you been there Oh 10 years you only got a couple hundred they just they don't have no comprehension where's the need Paul said I'm not gonna build on another man's foundation but as it is written to whom he has not spoken of they shall see and they that have not heard shall understand so he's quoting Isaiah 52 15 for which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you yeah what hindered me from coming to you I got stoned at Lystra I got shipwrecked three times I got imprisoned I got beaten but I never stopped never stopped I was only delayed never stop you might be delayed but you'll never quit verse 23 but now having no more place in these parts and having a great desire these many years to come unto you verse 24 wheresoever I take my journey into Spain that's the outer reaches that's the outer limits of where where he's at that of Spain I will come to you for I trust to see you in my journey and to be brought on my way thitherward by you if first I'd be somewhat filled with your company so pioneering Paul was looking forward to going to Rome toward the outer reaches of Spain and according tradition as I said earlier he made it to Great Britain and so he was committed to go going beyond the already settled 1400 miles expanse from Jerusalem to Lyricum was pioneer Paul's passion he couldn't stop he couldn't settle down and he wasn't going to retire nothing wrong with you retiring great you worked hard retire James and Sally are two of the most wonderful people I've ever met ever ever ever met they've been with us since the very beginning and James is gonna retire at the end of December and now he's got the greatest trial he's ever faced his beloved Sally's retiring too and now she's got cancer James and Sally have served the Lord the whole time whole time they've served the Lord all these years and I'm sure God's going to heal Sally but it's just very interesting to see that there's never a point in time where you can rest on your laurels there's always a new trial there's always a new wrinkle there's always a new thing that comes into our lives whether it be sickness or death or whatever it might be children grandparents parents something comes along job loss that makes us more dependent upon the Lord than at any other time in our life even though you walk with the Lord these 20 30 years now you're faced with a whole new season of trial that puts you to your knees you've been at your knees but this really brings you to your knees no amount of money from your retirement nothing can take it away it's it's just the Lord moving and working through the doctors the nurses and God bringing this healing upon your beloved wife that you guys would have your golden years to travel a bit to serve the Lord more to be Sally mentioned when she gets healed from this she wants to serve at the church more that's what she wants to do in her retirement he was committed to go to finish his course his mission he would later write 2nd Timothy 4 6 for I'm now ready to be offered in the time I my departure that were departures like the breaking down of a tent his body was temporary time of my departure his hand I fought a good fight I finished my course I kept the faith and there's now laid up for me a crown of righteousness and not only for me but for all those who love is appearing Paul says there's a crown of righteousness awaiting me as I finish my course there's a crown of life there's a crown of rejoicing a crown of glory because Jesus wore a crown of thorns God has a crown for each of us Paul made it to Spain and back to a Roman prison cell that's how he's gonna greet these guys yeah I'm gonna reach I'm gonna reach you guys I'm gonna get to you and you're thinking in your head yeah won't that be nice I'll take a tour of Rome the footsteps of Paul you know walk around but it's a prison cell that's how you're going to Rome that's where you're gonna stay you're gonna stay yeah I'm gonna come visit you guys when I come through there unbeknownst to you yeah it's gonna be a prison cell we're getting your prison cell ready he kept his appointment unto death departing the earth through martyrdom he finished his course the only place left for him to go was where home his citizenship was in heaven with all the pioneers that went before him and it'd be great when you meet Noah no what was it like I grew up in Kitsap County let me tell you man I was a preacher of Risis for 120 years Nephilim crazy giants everywhere ludicrous stuff going on and only my family got in the boat but the animals too you know what kind of conversation you have with Samson what are you gonna say to David what are you gonna say to Abraham and Sarah all Joseph all the heroes of faith that you admire Moses you know Miriam you know Moses sister that put him out there in the end of the Nile and raised the first 40 years of his life a son of Pharaoh's daughter I mean so many stories so many things to catch up on you know looking at these guys the Apostle Paul Peter Peter why'd you why'd you deny the Lord three times I'm sure he wants to keep hearing that into eternity right Peter what was it like walking on water Peter what was that like I could hear Peter well you know I did walk on water right I didn't always blow it what a homecoming that's gonna be are you committed to go Jesus said to go it's not the great omission it's the great commission going to all the world and preach the gospel to every creature go knowing you've been called by grace go knowing you're consecrated unto God go knowing that you must be controlled by God and go knowing that you must be committed unto God to finish your course to be a pioneer for God there's settlers people that move into a region where the hard work's already done and we appreciate settlers we understand but there's a certain kind certain kind of people that will venture out and do the hard hard work that may take a lifetime to establish a beachhead in a very hostile environment and then from that beachhead from that little outpost the settlers start to come starts to grow the first building they should put up is what not the bank it should better be a church right you want to come over to America in 1492 you better be right with God right you want to establish the spiritual principles first in the founding of that country right build it upon a Judeo-Christian ethic right don't forget Jesus father we thank you we thank you that Lord you've gone before us that Jesus has blazed a trail that he's the pioneer of all pioneers Lord leaving the splendor of heaven and coming to earth as a babe of Bethlehem and establishing a pattern a pattern for we as human beings in that he's the son of man he's the God man and Lord he sets an example for each of us that that Lord is a high bar it's a very high high bar of denying self and living for a higher purpose living for you he did he did always those things that pleased you heavenly father and for the joy that was set before him the joy of saving us Lord he and do it the cross despising the shame and he's seated now at your right hand and Lord we rejoice we worship you and we thank you Lord that you've accounted us worthy that you have chosen us Lord that you you have decided Lord to be gracious unto us to be merciful unto us to save us Lord to call us to serve you and God we pray that you would help us to consecrate ourselves you'd help us to yield to the Holy Spirit not grieve or quench but yield moment by moment to be controlled by your Spirit Lord in this love relationship to experience the power that you that Jesus said we shall receive power when the Holy Ghost comes upon us that we're going to be your witnesses in Jerusalem Judea Samaria Kitsap County in the uttermost in the power of the Holy Spirit Lord in these last days Lord allow the light to shine of the glorious gospel in and through us in Kitsap County wherever else you may send us Lord allow a great work like you do in Gazala with 200 people seeing dreams at night and getting saved let it happen here in Kitsap fastest growing church in the world in Iran let it let it happen here Lord never happened here before let it be genuine real conversion Lord we're 200,000 people living in this county Lord they claim it's the least church county in the state and the church is the least church state so Lord what a great opportunity a lot of unbelievers here great opportunity for for you to save Lord only you can save Lord only you can turn the tide only you can open their eyes turn them from darkness to light from the power of Satan unto God God we pray for each soul here in Kitsap County pray for each one Lord that this would be their Christmas season that they yield to the Holy Spirit use all the pressure use all the pain use all the goodness and the kindness and love whatever it is you got to use to bring them to the end of themselves that they cry out unto you Lord give them the measure of faith and save now Lord let us be a part of this work Lord in our Jerusalem our Judea our Samaria and the uttermost in Jesus name we pray amen