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A Day of Increase - Pastor Caleb Adams - March 22, 2020 — Transcript

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0:00Hide me from the rain.
0:02My God is
0:04My God is awesome.
0:07Heals me when I'm broken.
0:10You're my strength
0:14forever.
0:16Lord, you reign.
0:21Yes, he is.
0:25Oh,
0:29I mess
0:36[Music]
0:37when I'm
0:40straight where I will be
0:43and forever
0:45will
0:47rain. Lord,
0:48my God is awesome. If you know he's
0:51awesome. Why don't you say right now?
0:54You're awesome. It's awesome.
0:59Oh, you're awesome.
1:02My God.
1:03My God isome.
1:06Yes, he is.
1:09Declare that you are Lord.
1:18My God is awesome.
1:20You're the savior of the whole world.
1:25Giver of salvation.
1:27By your stripes, Lord.
1:29I am.
1:30I am here.
1:32My God is awesome.
1:35Today I am.
1:37Oh, thank you Jesus.
1:39Praise by your grace, Lord.
1:45And we will praise you, Lord. God is
1:50if you know he is, why don't you sing
1:52right now?
1:54God, you are awesome, Jesus.
1:57Yes, he is.
2:00Yes, he is.
2:05Oh, you're awesome, Jesome.
2:13Yes, he is
2:15awesome.
2:16My God. My God is awesome.
2:20Savior.
2:21If you know he is, why don't you lift
2:23your hands wherever you are right now?
2:26Come on. Invite the presence of the Lord
2:29into your home, into your car right now.
2:32God, we worship.
2:35God, we magnify you,
2:38God. You're Lord.
2:40You're awesome, Lord. Yes, you're
2:43awesome, Lord.
2:45Yes, you are.
2:53Jesus, you are
3:00my God.
3:01My God is awesome.
3:06You're awesome.
3:07I feel your presence, Lord.
3:10God, come down in this place right now.
3:15Yes. You're might
3:20[Music]
3:22Yes, he is.
3:23He's awesome.
3:26Yes, he is.
3:30Say, he's holy.
3:32He's holy.
3:33He's holy.
3:34He's holy.
3:35He's holy. He's holy.
3:37He's holy.
3:39God, you're awesome.
3:41Yes, he is.
3:45Lord, you are great.
3:47He's great.
3:48He's great.
3:49He's great.
3:50He's great.
3:52He's
3:54great.
4:00You're my deliverer. Jesus.
4:02Deliver. Deliverer. Deliver.
4:11Yes, he is.
4:14Today you're my provider.
4:20[Music]
4:21You're my provider. Jesus.
4:26Oh,
4:29you're my protector.
4:33Protect my protect my protector.
4:44My God is awesome.
4:48He can
4:52keep me.
4:54[Music]
4:57Why don't you just lift your hands and
4:59sing right now? God, you're awesome.
5:03Oh, you're my protector. Jesus. You're
5:06my provider. Jesus.
5:09God, if I've ever had a need, God, you
5:11provided.
5:13Oh, Lord, you're able. Lord, we worship
5:17you, Jesus.
5:19Yes, we worship you, Jesus.
5:24[Music]
5:26God, you're bigger, Lord. God, you're
5:29bigger than any circumstance. God,
5:35this is where you are this morning. Just
5:38enter into a place of worship. That
5:41means lifting your hands. Even if it
5:43means kneeling down to pray, whatever
5:45that means right now,
5:48just enter into a place of worship in
5:50your spirit and align with God.
5:54Hallelujah, Jesus.
5:58Take me to the place where your peace
6:02and your love overflow.
6:08My heart is set free from all shame and
6:12guilt. Chains are on.
6:18Take
6:20me there.
6:23Take me there.
6:26Oh,
6:28take
6:30me there.
6:33Take me there.
6:38Cuz I want to know what it feels like
6:42when heaven touches earth and I'm
6:46in between.
6:48I want to know what it feels like. The
6:53glory of the Lord to fall
6:57all on me. So take
7:01me there.
7:04Take me there.
7:07Oh,
7:09take
7:11me there.
7:14Oh Lord, take me there.
7:20So take me to the place where your
7:23angels never cease to cry. Holy,
7:30where the elders bow down and cast all
7:34of their crowns down at your feet.
7:40Take
7:42me there.
7:44There. Take me there.
7:50Take
7:52me there.
7:56Take me there.
8:00Cuz I want to know what it feels like.
8:05Heaven touches earth and I'm
8:09in between.
8:11I want to know what it feels like. Glory
8:16of the Lord.
8:19Follow me.
8:21I want to know what it feels like.
8:25It feels like
8:32I want to know what it feels like. Glory
8:36of the Lord.
8:38Follow me.
8:40Take me.
8:56[Music]
9:03So take me to the place where your
9:06angels never cease to cry.
9:13where the elves bow down and cast all of
9:17their crowns down at your knees.
9:23Take
9:25me there.
9:28Take me there.
9:34Take me there.
9:37Take me there.
9:39[Music]
9:41I want to know.
9:43I want to know what it feels like.
9:48Heaven touches earth and
9:52in between.
9:54I want to know what is it.
9:58Glory of the Lord.
10:02Hold on me. I want to know what it feels
10:07like. Heaven touches earth.
10:13[Music]
10:14I want to know what it feels like. Glory
10:19of the Lord.
10:22Hold on. Bring me back.
10:29Take me there.
10:31[Music]
10:34Me.
10:39Take me. Take me.
10:46Then you come
10:48like a rushing wind. I can't speak or
10:52stand. Just cry holy.
10:56Then you come
10:58like a rushing wind. I can't speak or
11:02stand. Just cry holy
11:06when you come
11:09like a rushing wind. I can see
11:14my
11:20[Music]
11:22Yes,
11:25my
11:27you
11:40[Music]
11:45just My
11:48you
11:51might
11:53take me with your glory.
11:58You are
12:00like a mighty
12:04mess
12:10[Music]
12:26with your
12:28There.
12:34Take me there.
12:49I want to know what it is like. Heaven
12:53touches earth.
12:59I want to know what it feels like.
13:07Fall on me. I want to know what it feels
13:12like. Heaven touches earth and I'm
13:22feel like glory of God.
13:39Take
13:40[Music]
13:42me there.
13:46Take me there.
13:49[Music]
13:53Lord, take me there, Jesus.
13:55I don't want to
13:58know your praise.
14:07[Music]
14:11I want to know what it feels like.
14:15Heaven touches earth and unc.
14:22I want to know what it feels like. Glory
14:27of the Lord to fall
14:30for me.
14:37[Music]
14:44We have joined in this service all over
14:46this city. Our living rooms, our cars,
14:50our brothers at Hope Ministries, our
14:52brothers at Safe Harbor,
14:55people all over this country are present
14:57right now. I'd like to invite you right
14:59now to lift your hands to the Lord.
15:02Let's worship him. Let's thank God for
15:05his provision in this difficult time.
15:08God, we love you. We trust you. We are
15:12so glad that we can reach a heaven, hand
15:15up to heaven, and feel your presence.
15:17Lord, I'm so glad that your presence is
15:21just as close as the mention of your
15:23name. God, we pray that right now that
15:26your spirit would move across our entire
15:29congregation. Everybody that's being
15:31touched by this service, we ask you to
15:34move to anoint to bless. In the name of
15:37Jesus, we pray. Amen. And everybody
15:41said, "Amen."
15:42I want to take a moment to say a great
15:44big welcome to everyone that has tuned
15:47in today. Uh this is different for us.
15:51This is the first time that we have had
15:54a live stream only service.
15:58Uh we have our praise team and musician
16:01and production crew here to uh put this
16:05together and we thank them for their
16:07hard work. Uh but today I will be
16:09preaching to an empty building
16:14but fortunately we've got full living
16:15rooms.
16:17We've got people in their cars right now
16:19and wherever you've tuned in we're just
16:22going to have church.
16:25We have believed it for years that God's
16:28church is not confined to the four walls
16:32of this building and this current crisis
16:36is bringing that home today and it's
16:39becoming a reality and I'm so glad that
16:43I'm part of the church and this is time
16:46for us to be the church. And part of
16:49what we're doing
16:51in the uh kingdom of God is is we give.
16:55We've got a lot going on. And even
16:57though this current COVID crisis has
17:02um necessitated that we close the doors
17:05of the church for public service for
17:08um few days and possibly even a few
17:10weeks. Uh we still want to continue to
17:14uh further the kingdom of God through
17:16our finances and meet the needs and
17:19obligations of our church. And you're
17:21able to give through the uh CLT app or
17:25you can give online at cltmemphis.org.
17:29[Music]
17:31I'm going to read a passage of scripture
17:35found in 1 Thessalonians chapter 3
17:40vers 11 and 12. The Apostle Paul wrote
17:44these verses.
17:46And I want to note that when Paul wrote
17:50to the church of Thessalonica,
17:54he was writing to a group of people that
17:56were struggling. This was often the case
17:59in the New Testament era. People did not
18:02have life easy. Uh many times Paul would
18:06write to people that were under
18:08tremendous amount of duress and such was
18:12the case in Thessalonica. The saints
18:15there were in need of comfort. And one
18:19of the primary uh reasons for the
18:21writing of first Thessalonians was to
18:23comfort people and encourage them that
18:26the Lord was soon to come. And and
18:30against that backdrop, we read this
18:32text. Paul said, "Now God himself and
18:35our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
18:39direct our way unto you, and the Lord
18:43make you to increase
18:46and abound in love one toward another
18:50and toward all men, even as we do toward
18:55you."
18:57And I want you to note there in verse 12
19:00that Paul said, "The Lord make you to
19:04increase."
19:06I'm going to preach for just a few
19:08moments this morning on a day of
19:13increase. A day of increase.
19:17As we all know, our world is
19:19experiencing a time of great loss right
19:22now.
19:24I am 42 years old and I've looked over
19:28my lifetime
19:30and I'm trying to put in context the
19:33current situation in our country and in
19:37our world and I have no context to uh
19:41place what we're going through in right
19:43now. Uh it's just a very awkward uh uh
19:47feeling to go to the grocery store and
19:50lines out the building and then get in
19:53the building and shelves are bare,
19:56bottled water in some cases are being
19:59rationed and certain items in the
20:02grocery store are being rationed. It's a
20:04very awkward uh sensation. People all
20:07over Memphis right now are being laid
20:10off. They are losing their jobs. And
20:13it's not just here in our area, but it's
20:15it's across the nation and around the
20:18world. And this is a time of tremendous
20:21uncertainty.
20:23And to add to the uncertainty, we don't
20:25know how long we're going to be in this
20:26situation. It would be one thing if uh
20:30the powers that be could give us a
20:32definitive answer that in two weeks or 3
20:34weeks that all of this uh current crisis
20:38will be over and we can get life back to
20:41normal. But where we stand today is we
20:44don't know. We don't know how severe it
20:48will become or how long it will last.
20:51And and and it just goes without saying
20:54that life is not normal right now. And
20:58it likely won't be normal for a while.
21:02And so with all of this uh crisis and
21:06all of the negativity in the world, I
21:10think that all of us have probably asked
21:13the question or heard someone ask it. Is
21:16the COVID 19 virus God's judgment
21:21against a wicked world? That is a very
21:24fair question and it's one that I don't
21:26have the answer to. I cannot say
21:29definitively
21:30that it is. But I can tell you in the
21:34Bible there were many times that God
21:37would use pestilence to get people's
21:41attention. The word pestilence in the
21:44Bible simply means a disease. And there
21:47were various places in the scripture
21:49where God said, "I will send the
21:52pestilence." And in most of those cases
21:55when God would do that, he would do it
21:58to awaken a society
22:02to their need for repentance. Whether or
22:05not that is what is happening right now,
22:08I guess it's not up for me to say, but I
22:11will simply say this. This is a good
22:13time to get serious about seeking God.
22:17And this is a good time to be serious
22:19about being right with God. But whether
22:22it is the judgment of God or not, that's
22:25not for us to say. But I do know this.
22:28I'm not going to point fingers at
22:29anybody. And it's not time for us to be
22:34condescending to anyone who is suffering
22:37in this time. But this is the time for
22:40the church to minister to a hurting
22:43society, to people that are alone, who
22:46are afraid, and who are in need. And I
22:51want to stress that the people of God
22:54are not exempt from this crisis that is
22:59on the world today. I wish I could stand
23:02here and preach to you that if you had
23:04enough faith that your faith would give
23:08you a get out of jail free card or give
23:10you an exemption from having to go
23:13through the suffering that is in the
23:16world. But that's not what the Bible
23:17teaches. The Bible tells us in one place
23:20that when it rains, it rains upon the
23:24just and on the unjust alike. And so
23:28that means that God's people will have
23:31to go through these things along with
23:34everybody else. But in a time like this,
23:38I think it's important for us to go
23:41through the Bible
23:43and try to search the scripture to see
23:46how God has worked
23:49in the biblical area for when people
23:52were in times of hardship and societies
23:56were in distress. We're going to do that
23:59for a few minutes this morning. And I
24:01want to propose to you that out of this
24:04calamity
24:06will come some very good things. It has
24:09been the way of God since the beginning
24:12of time to bring good out of the bad.
24:17God brings light out of the darkness and
24:20God brings hope out of sorrow. And God
24:24often times does his greatest works
24:28against the backdrop of darkness and
24:32hopelessness and stress. And this
24:35difficult day, I believe, will be a day
24:40of increase for the people of God. This
24:44is not a day when the kingdom of God
24:46will go backwards, but it is a day when
24:49we will all move forward by the help and
24:52the grace of God. I want to take your
24:55attention to two scriptural models this
24:57morning to show that times of hardship
25:02bring increase to God's people. First of
25:06all, we're going to go to the Old
25:07Testament and look at Israel in Egypt.
25:12As we know, Israel had been captives in
25:16Egypt for over 400 years. They were
25:19slaves there. The Egyptians had uh
25:22forced these people into labor. Uh the
25:25pyramids that still stand in Egypt, uh
25:29they were built for the most part by the
25:31slave labor of the Hebrews all the way
25:35back in the time of Moses. And so these
25:38were people that were destitute. uh they
25:41were in extreme hardship. But there came
25:44a time when God said, "I'm going to
25:48bring my people out of Egypt." And we
25:51all that are familiar with our Bibles,
25:53we understand the story how that God
25:55used a series of 10 plagues to convince
26:00Pharaoh that it was time to let the
26:04people go to the promised land. And we
26:07start reading about the plagues of Egypt
26:10in Genesis or Exodus rather chapters 6
26:13and 7. And the first three plagues
26:18were plagues that affected everybody.
26:21The first one is the river Nile was
26:24turned into blood. Now everybody
26:28in Egypt, both God's people and the
26:32Egyptians were impacted by that plague.
26:36The plague did not exempt the people of
26:40God. I think it's important for us to
26:43note that the second flag plague was was
26:47God caused frogs to come up out of the
26:50river and the entire country was covered
26:54with frogs. If you can imagine that the
26:58scripture said they had frogs in their
27:00bed. What would it be like to be laying
27:03in bed tonight and about a dozen squishy
27:08cold toads start crawling under your
27:12feet beneath the covers?
27:14What a creepy experience that would be.
27:17The Bible said that the frogs got in
27:19their kneading troughs or where they
27:21made the bread. So, as they were
27:23kneading dough and fixing to put it in
27:26the oven, uh, a few frogs would hop in
27:29that dough and and then they would bake
27:31the bread, oblivious to the fact there
27:33were frogs in the bed. It was the first
27:36version of frog legs and and just
27:39imagine going to slice a loaf of bread
27:43if you were one of those Hebrews. And
27:45and as the slice of bread fell away from
27:48the loaf, there was a green frog cooked
27:52head, skin, and all having a couple of
27:56froggy eyeballs staring out of the loaf
28:00of bread. It would have been a creepy
28:02experience. But the scripture lets us
28:05know that the frogs covered the whole
28:07land. Both the Israelites and the
28:12Egyptians were impacted by this plague.
28:16The third uh plague was lice. Lice came
28:21over the land and covered everybody.
28:24Some of you are already feeling your
28:26head start to itch right where you're
28:29sitting right now just thinking about
28:31lice. But the lice got on everybody.
28:34Everybody was scratching their heads
28:36during this plague. both the Egyptians
28:39and the Israelites.
28:42But what brings me hope as I read
28:45through this series of plagues, the
28:48Bible lets us know that as things
28:52continued to worsen in Egypt, and as God
28:55was working through all of these plagues
28:58that were being sent to Egypt, God began
29:03to make a difference
29:06between the Hebrew and the Egyptian.
29:10There was a line of demarcation
29:13between the believer
29:16and the non-believer.
29:18I want you to notice what the scripture
29:20said during the fourth flag plague which
29:24was flies. Flies blanketed the entire
29:28land of Egypt. But here's what the Lord
29:30said in chapter 8 and verse 22 of
29:32Exodus. He said, "I will sever in that
29:35day or I will set apart the land of
29:38Gan." The land of Gan was the uh area
29:42where the Israelites lived. He said that
29:45no swarms of flies shall be there to the
29:50end that thou mayest know that I am the
29:54Lord in the midst of the earth. So the
29:57flies that covered Egypt did not extend
30:02to the land of Gan.
30:04All of a sudden, people could look
30:06around and note that there was something
30:09different about God's people. All of the
30:13calamities that were hitting the rest of
30:16society, even though they had touched
30:19the people of God, all of a sudden,
30:22God's people are fairing just a little
30:25bit better than those around them. Then
30:29we read the fifth plague in Exodus
30:31chapter 9. The Bible talks about a
30:34disease that came to affect the cattle
30:36across Egypt. The scripture said, "The
30:39Lord shall sever between the cattle of
30:42Israel and the cattle of Egypt. There
30:44shall nothing die of all that is the
30:49childrens of Israel." Now, we see it
30:53really pays to honor God. It really pays
30:57to be a covenant man or a covenant woman
31:02because the death of the cattle in Egypt
31:06does not extend to the cattle of the
31:08Hebrews. Then we read of the seventh
31:11plague, the hail. The hail fell all
31:16across Egypt and flattened the fields
31:19and the produce. It was a time of
31:22tremendous economic devastation much
31:25like we're in right now. But the Bible
31:28says in chapter 9 and verse 26 that only
31:32in the land of Gan where the children of
31:35Israel were there was no hail.
31:39Then the ninth plague was the plague of
31:42darkness. God caused the uh land of
31:46Egypt to go dark for three days. The
31:49Bible said the darkness in chapter 10
31:5222, it was a thick darkness and it was
31:56so thick that they saw not one another,
32:00neither rose any from his place for
32:03three days. Can you imagine living in
32:06such a dark place that literally the
32:10darkness was tangible? You could reach
32:13your hand out and you could feel it. It
32:16was that thick. You could not light a
32:19candle to pierce the darkness that God
32:22sent to Egypt in this particular plague.
32:26So much so that everybody in Egypt was
32:29on total lockdown. But I love what the
32:32last line of this verse says. It says,
32:35"But all the children of Israel had
32:39light in their dwellings." The lights
32:43were out in Egypt, but they were still
32:47on in the land of Gan. In a time of
32:51national calamity, it pays to be a
32:54covenant man or a covenant woman. And
32:58then we all are familiar with the 10th
33:00plague. It was the 10th angel that would
33:03go across the country to kill the
33:05firstborn of every household. that God
33:08told them, if you take the blood and you
33:11put it on the doorpost and you put it on
33:14the lentil or the header above the door,
33:17when the angel goes through the land and
33:20he sees the blood on that household,
33:25that angel will pass over that
33:28household. That's where we get the term
33:30Passover from. Thank God for the blood.
33:34There are some things that cannot go
33:36past the bloodline. We've got blood on
33:39the doorpost. The doorposts are anchored
33:42to the ground and that is a type and
33:46shadow. We have blood in three places
33:48here. Either doorpost and on the lentil.
33:51On the ground, the one side that's
33:53repentance. That's something that we do.
33:56The other side there's water baptism in
33:58Jesus' name. That's something that we
34:00do. And then we've got the blood above.
34:03That's the crowning touch of the Holy
34:05Ghost. And I want to tell you, when
34:07you've repented of your sins and you've
34:10been baptized in Jesus' name and you are
34:13filled with the Holy Ghost, you are a
34:15covenant person. And that means you have
34:19some rights and privileges that come
34:22that are exclusive to being a covenant
34:25person. I'm glad I'm in the church
34:27today. Aren't you?
34:30Amen. And so here comes the uh death
34:33angel and God's people were spared
34:35because of the blood that was there. And
34:38so I want to summarize all of this from
34:41this story. We see that there was
34:44tremendous hardship in Egypt. And this
34:47in their case it was definitely the
34:49judgment of God for the way they had
34:51treated the Hebrews. But the Bible tells
34:55us that God was starting to make a
34:58difference in the people of God. And
35:01there's one other portion of scripture
35:04that I think that we need to note in
35:07this time and that is Exodus 12 35-36.
35:14The Bible said that as the children of
35:16Israel were leaving the land of Egypt
35:18that they did according to the word of
35:20Moses and they borrowed of the Egyptians
35:23jewels of silver and jewels of gold and
35:27reignment. And the Lord gave the people
35:30favor in the sight of the Egyptians so
35:33that they lent unto them such things as
35:36they required and they spoiled the
35:40Egyptians. The good news that I get from
35:44this passage is that God takes care of
35:48his people in times of national
35:52distress. Times when the world is
35:55rocking and reeling under the siege of a
35:59pestilence. I think that we're going to
36:01start seeing God make a difference
36:04between the believer and the unbeliever.
36:08Will we all be affected? Yes. Will we
36:11all suffer? Yes. But will we suffer to
36:15the same degree? Absolutely not. Be are
36:18we are covenant people. And I believe
36:21when it's all said and done, we're going
36:24to look back at this time that we're in
36:27and say that it really was not a day of
36:30loss, but it was a day of increase. But
36:33God did some things in this season that
36:37we didn't see coming. And God used what
36:40the enemy meant for bad and turned it in
36:43for the good. I believe that. Why don't
36:46you clap your hands right where you're
36:47at right now? Let's worship the Lord and
36:49let's receive that word.
36:52So the example of Israel and Egypt shows
36:56us that God takes care of his people.
37:00God uses what is a setback for everybody
37:04else and turns it into a setup for his
37:09people to go to another place and to
37:12receive the promises from the Lord.
37:14Could this be our experience during this
37:16COVID 19 crisis? I believe that it will
37:19be. The second example that I want to
37:22touch on is the example of the early
37:25church. Those of us that are familiar
37:28with the book of Acts, we understand
37:30that the book of Acts was uh there to
37:35record the first 30 years or so of
37:38church history, starting with the birth
37:41of the church in Acts chapter 2. Uh the
37:44Holy Spirit fell and they all spake with
37:46tongues. And that's still for us today.
37:50In fact, I believe that if you'll
37:53respond to this preaching here in just a
37:55few minutes and with a time of seeking
37:57God, you can get the Holy Ghost wherever
37:59you're at right now. The spirit of the
38:01Lord was given in Acts chapter 2 and it
38:04continues to be poured out. And Acts
38:06chapter 2 records the birth of the
38:09church and and many people were saved
38:13that first day. Peter preached the first
38:16gospel message. Most likely he was
38:19standing there on the southern steps of
38:21the Temple Mount when he did so and
38:24there were 3,000 people that were
38:27converted. A couple of chapters later,
38:30we read about 5,000 people being
38:33converted. And so the first season of
38:37the early church was a good season. It
38:41was a time when there was a lot of
38:42people in Jerusalem getting saved. There
38:47was a lot of good things happening in
38:50the kingdom of God in Jerusalem. But for
38:54the first six chapters of Acts,
38:58everything that happened happened in the
39:02city of Jerusalem. But it's important
39:05for us to note that God told his people
39:09that I'm going to give you power when
39:11you get the Holy Ghost, but I want you
39:14to be witnesses for me to the uttermost
39:18part of the earth. God never intended
39:22for his church to be limited to the city
39:26of Jerusalem. that God wanted what was
39:29started at Jerusalem to spread across
39:33the communities surrounding and
39:35eventually reach the ends of the earth
39:38from right there. But from what we can
39:41tell, it seems like that the church
39:44started getting comfortable with their
39:47state of uh living there in Jerusalem.
39:51But in Acts chapter 6, we find the first
39:56uh spot of trouble for the people of
39:59God. The first trouble that the church
40:02dealt with was inner trouble. The proper
40:05word is interying. Uh that's when the
40:08word interine means when churches have
40:11squables within themselves. And the
40:14first bit of trouble that the church had
40:15was the uh widows of the Grecians uh
40:20thought that they were being neglected
40:21when the food was being given out of the
40:24church food pantry and they started
40:26murmuring and complaining and all of a
40:28sudden we have trouble in the church.
40:31This is the same church that has had
40:34many conversions and good things are
40:36happen. This is the church that we try
40:38to model our church after. But now we
40:41have traces of racism. We have
40:46segregation. We have we have inequality.
40:50Things going on in the body that should
40:53not have been going on. Everyone say
40:57trouble. The church was in trouble. And
41:00so Acts chapter 6 tells us what the
41:04apostles did. They did not call a prayer
41:08meeting. There are some things we don't
41:10need a prayer meeting for. Some things
41:12we just need an administrative change to
41:15fix. And so they appointed seven deacons
41:19to wait on the tables and be sure that
41:22everybody was tended to fairly. But I
41:25want you to notice what the end result
41:29of the first church trouble was. It was
41:33in Acts 6 verse number 7. The Bible said
41:37that the word of God increased and the
41:41number of disciples
41:43multiplied in Jerusalem greatly. So this
41:48trouble
41:50that could have disrupted the church,
41:53this trouble that could have resulted in
41:57the church losing members and going into
42:00a state of attrition had the opposite
42:03effect. By confronting the problem
42:07headon and by stretching their
42:10operation,
42:11the church's reach actually grew and
42:16increase. I believe that's what's going
42:18to happen with our church in this
42:21season. If you would have told me a
42:23month ago that I would be standing in
42:27the pull pit in front of a nearly empty
42:30auditorium preaching a Sunday morning
42:33sermon to a camera for members sitting
42:36in their living room. I would have said
42:38no way over my dead body. That will
42:40never happen in our church. But here we
42:44have hit a spot of trouble. We have hit
42:47a time when we none of us saw this
42:50coming. But you know what we're going to
42:51do? We're going to rally together in a
42:53spirit of unity. And I think that right
42:56now, the church's borders are literally
42:59being stretched beyond the walls of our
43:03new facility here. And I believe this is
43:06going to be a catalyst of the gospel
43:09going in the homes and in the places in
43:12our community that it never would have
43:15went before. This is not a day for the
43:18church to lose and to decrease, but this
43:22is our day of increase. God is going to
43:26use trouble to launch the gospel
43:29forward. Another example of the trouble
43:32was in Acts chapter 8. The Bible talks
43:35about a tremendous persecution that came
43:38against the people of God in Acts
43:40chapter 8. Now, I want to just be real
43:42clear here. We are not under religious
43:45persecution in America. Our government
43:47officials have uh requested that
43:49churches suspend their uh public worship
43:52services and the interest of public
43:54health and due to the pandemic. This is
43:57not persecution. I don't like this. This
44:00wasn't what I chose. But we're going to
44:03cooperate with the government. Now, if
44:05the government was allowing the bars to
44:08stay open and the ball fields to stay
44:10open, we would come here and worship uh
44:13if we were being singled out to shut
44:15church down. But that's not the case
44:17here. Uh so, we're not under
44:19persecution. But I do think the
44:21scripture that I'm going to read has
44:24implications to where we are. This
44:27church in the book of Acts was under
44:29persecution. Some of them were losing
44:32their lives and being ran out of their
44:35homes. But look at what the Bible said
44:37in Acts chapter 8 and verse number four.
44:40The Bible said, "Therefore they that
44:42were scattered abroad went everywhere
44:47preaching the word." So here we have a
44:51church of a few thousand members
44:54cloistered together in the comfortable
44:57and beautiful city of Jerusalem. But now
45:01persecution erupts and people have to
45:04run for their lives. All of their way of
45:07doing things was disrupted, turned
45:10upside down, somewhat like what we're in
45:13right now. And the Bible said as they
45:16scattered abroad, they went everywhere
45:19preaching the word. And this disruption
45:23instead of defeating the church only
45:26made it increase. This persecution that
45:30the devil meant for bad, God was using
45:34it for the good and it was the catalyst
45:37for the gospel spreading into brand new
45:40areas. I am here to tell us that this is
45:44our day. This is a day of increase. This
45:48is a day for the kingdom of God to grow
45:52stronger. If you believe that, say amen.
45:54Amen.
45:55So, I want to propose to us this morning
45:58that the current crisis that we're in
46:01here in America and that we are dealing
46:05with local in our church is going to be
46:08a day of increase. And I believe we're
46:10going to see increase in three areas.
46:13Number one, we are going to see increase
46:17because conversions
46:19will increase as a result of people
46:23realizing their hopeless condition
46:27without God. Face it. When we are busy
46:31making money, when we are busy with
46:33life, and when we are comfortable, it's
46:36easy to get into a place where we don't
46:39feel like we need God. Or it's easy to
46:43allow the petty uh feelings and offenses
46:47that we have accumulated to put a
46:50barrier between us and God. But right
46:54now, we're in a time when all of the
46:56things that people lean on, all the
46:59crutches that we that we use to lean on
47:02are being kicked out from beneath us. We
47:05are understanding that we cannot put our
47:08trust in the medical community. We
47:11cannot trust in government to prevent
47:13the problem. We can't trust in the
47:16economic system. We're at a point that
47:19the only one that we can truly trust in
47:23is Jesus Christ. And I want to preach to
47:26somebody right now that is listening and
47:30under the sound of my voice. God knows
47:34where you are. God sees where you are
47:39and God loves you just as you are. your
47:44sin, your failure, your backsliding
47:47condition, your complacency, none of
47:50that is preventing the presence of God
47:54from reaching into your life. I want to
47:56tell you that with all of the bad that's
48:00happening in this crisis, one good thing
48:03that's going to come out of it is God is
48:06using this to stir you up, to get you
48:09ready to convert and to repent and to
48:12get your heart right when nothing else
48:15would work. I want to encourage someone.
48:17If you're not right with God, make it
48:20right. In the next few minutes, find
48:22yourself a place to repent. Ask God to
48:25forgive you. Get a hold of this church.
48:28We'll get you baptized in Jesus name.
48:31And I believe that God will fill you
48:33with the Holy Ghost. So the church is in
48:36a day of increase because conversions
48:39will increase in this time of crisis.
48:43The second point of increase is I
48:45believe that the church body is going to
48:49increase as old routines are disrupted
48:53and complacent saints awaken to their
48:57mission to reach the lost. Let me be
49:00honest with you. All of us have been in
49:04somewhat of a state of complacency. This
49:07church tries to do a lot of outreach and
49:09we do a lot of things to touch the lost
49:12and we are busy and an active church.
49:15But let's face it, most of us are pretty
49:18comfortable. Most of us have been so
49:21comfortable that it's easy to get busy
49:23and not have time to pray. And when we
49:26do pray, many times we pray without a
49:30sense of urgency. But one thing that
49:33this virus crisis is doing, it's waking
49:37the people of God up. We are praying
49:41like we have never prayed before. And
49:43the last few days, people been coming by
49:46this church praying just about all day
49:48long. And as the church gets stirred up
49:52to pray and we come out of complacency
49:55and we start realizing that all of us
49:58are under a mandate to be the church
50:01wherever we are. I think there is going
50:04to be a tremendous awakening
50:07around this city like we have never seen
50:10before. I would present to you that
50:13there is more unity in our church now
50:16than there has ever been. There is a
50:18greater vision and a greater resolve to
50:21live for God and to see the kingdom come
50:24in our congregation than there has ever
50:27been before. If the enemy thought this
50:30crisis was going to defeat Christian
50:33life, he's got another thing coming. The
50:36devil is a liar and the church is
50:39victorious. We are not in a state of
50:41attrition, but we are in a state of
50:44growth. And when we all come back
50:46together here in a few days or a few
50:49weeks, we're going to be stronger and
50:52bigger than we've ever been before.
50:55I believe that with all of my heart. And
50:58the last area of growth of increase that
51:02we're going to see is our personal faith
51:05in the Lord is going to increase.
51:08Faith
51:11grows the most when it's put to the
51:13test.
51:14The Bible speaks about the trying of our
51:18faith.
51:19That's where faith is purified.
51:23We preach about the miraculous. We
51:25believe in the miraculous.
51:27We believe that God
51:29provides.
51:31But face it, the kind of faith that we
51:33proclaim
51:35when we're comfortable. When you are
51:38employed and you've got a good paycheck
51:40waiting on you Friday,
51:42it's
51:44It's one kind of faith to believe God to
51:46provide when all the indications are
51:49there that you're going to have
51:50provision. It's one kind of faith to say
51:54that you trust God when you and I are in
51:56a state of security. But now we are
52:00facing a time of insecurity,
52:04a time of unrest, and we're in a time
52:07when provision is not guaranteed
52:12as far as the natural man sees.
52:15But I would suggest that it is in this
52:18time
52:20that we're going to see the greatest
52:22miracles. Cuz often times the miracle
52:27aspect of faith is not activated until
52:31you reach the end of your rope. It's
52:33when we get to the point where we have
52:35to depend on God. That's when we see God
52:39come through. And I just believe as I
52:43pray over this and through the last few
52:45days and I feel it even now while I'm
52:48preaching. We are going to see the
52:50greatest miracles in our congregation in
52:55this season than we have ever seen
52:56before. We are going to see God as a
53:00provider. The next time we sing about
53:03Jehovah Gyra being our provider, we are
53:06going to be able to sing that song as a
53:09personal testimony because we have
53:12learned through the fire and through the
53:16difficult times that we can trust in God
53:19and that as we trust in God, he is going
53:23to come through for us. This is a time
53:26to dig our roots deep. It's a time to
53:29dig out our own prayer life. Maybe we've
53:32been one of these people that just kind
53:34of coast along in the church and we we
53:38we depend on the atmosphere of a good
53:41Sunday service to juice up our faith and
53:44maybe we're hanging on someone else's
53:47spiritual coattails and depending on
53:49them to get through. But we're at a time
53:51right now we can't ride anybody's
53:54coattails. It's got to be our faith that
53:56increases. We've got to get a hold of
53:59God for oursel. We've got to get a hold
54:01of something. And as we do this, as we
54:04dig out a prayer life and as we learn to
54:06exercise personal faith on our own, God
54:10is not going to let us down. We are
54:12going to see the Lord come through.
54:16[Applause]
54:18At this time, I think we need to have a
54:20time of prayer and responding to the
54:23presence of the Lord. If we were here in
54:26person at church, we would all gather to
54:28the front and pray. But we don't have
54:30that luxury today. But I would like to
54:33ask that wherever you are right now, if
54:35you're together with somebody, maybe you
54:38could join together with them. If you're
54:40in a place where you can get on your
54:42knees, let's get on our knees and let's
54:44talk to the Lord right now. And let's
54:47just pray that God would let us see the
54:51increase that is promised in the word.
54:54Let us pray that God would move and
54:57intervene in every home and every life
55:00that is connected to this congregation.
55:03I want to pray with you right now. Lord
55:08Jesus, we thank you for the precious
55:10promises that we have in your word.
55:14Lord, I want to pray
55:17over every person that is watching this
55:20service right now. And I'm asking you to
55:24let your word come alive.
55:27God, I pray that the spark of faith that
55:30you have put in the heart of every
55:32individual, let it come alive right now.
55:35I pray that hope from another world
55:39would break through all the negative
55:41news cycle
55:43and get a hold of our thoughts. God, I
55:46rebuke the thoughts of discouragement
55:50and depression.
55:52I rebuke the heaviness. I pray that the
55:56spirit of God would give us a
55:59perspective that is in alignment with
56:02your word. God, I pray that the Holy
56:05Ghost would move. I'm asking you, God,
56:07to provide for your people, provide for
56:10our basic needs. Provide for our
56:13necessities, God. I pray for those that
56:16have lost their jobs, that are at risk
56:19of losing their jobs. Let us see you
56:21provide in a miraculous way. I pray that
56:24the power of the Holy Ghost would be
56:26poured out on unsaved people right now.
56:29Lord Jesus, I'm asking you to let faith
56:33begin to grow. Let the goodness of your
56:36spirit begin to grow.
56:39Let's take a few moments as the praise
56:43team sings and let's reach out to the
56:45Lord. Let's worship God in the
56:47conclusion of our service this morning.
56:55I will follow
57:06everyone.
57:24Heat. Heat.
57:35Still I
57:37will trust you.
57:41Still I
57:43will follow.
57:47Till I
57:50listen
57:52to your
57:56calling
58:01praise
58:04and I can't find my way.
58:23Still
58:27you
58:28still
58:32follow
58:34[Applause]
58:35in life
58:38is
58:44falling
58:49raises on
58:52I can't find my way
58:59still
59:04Yeah. Heat.
59:08[Music]

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