God Will
🗣️ Speaker: Pastor Derrel Strickland
God's promises and provisions are fulfilled through His power, not human effort, with Him adding to the church and granting peace, rest, and guidance. Believers are encouraged to follow Jesus, trust in God's promises, and embrace their role in His plan.
The core takeaway is that God's promises and provisions are fulfilled through His power, not human effort, and believers are called to follow Jesus, trust in His promises, and embrace their role in His divine plan.
Additional Info
The info below was generated by an AI from the audio recording of the sermon.
Understanding God's Promises and Our Role
In exploring God's promises, it's essential to recognize that His provisions are fulfilled through His power, not human effort. This understanding shifts the focus from our abilities to God's omnipotence. Acts 2:41 highlights that after Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit, those who received the word were baptized, and about 3,000 souls were added that day. This demonstrates that it was the Lord who added to their number, not Peter himself.
The Feeling of Inadequacy
Many of us struggle with feelings of inadequacy, thinking we can't measure up to the examples set in the Bible. Reflecting on the responsibilities of modern life, such as balancing work, family, and personal commitments, can often leave us feeling overwhelmed. However, the key takeaway is that it's not about how gifted or talented we are. It's God who gives the increase and builds His church.
Dual Citizenship: Earthly and Heavenly
As believers, we hold dual citizenship – one on earth and one in heaven. This concept is crucial as it reminds us that our true home and eternal destiny lie with God. While earthly citizenship can sometimes feel burdensome, our heavenly citizenship offers a promise that the devil cannot take away. The only way to lose it is to willingly turn it in.
God's Continuous Giving
Throughout the Bible, God consistently promises to give to His people. For instance, in Exodus 33:14, God assures Moses of His presence and rest. Similarly, in John 14:12-14, Jesus promises that those who believe in Him will do greater works and receive another Helper, the Holy Spirit. These promises emphasize that God is a giver of peace, rest, and the Holy Spirit.
The Call to Follow Jesus
Jesus' call to "follow me" is an invitation to become the best version of ourselves as we were created to be. This doesn't necessarily mean entering full-time ministry but excelling in whatever field we are called to. Following Jesus involves becoming more like Him and allowing His guidance to lead us in our personal and professional lives.
God's Assurance to Build His Church
God's promise to build His church is a cornerstone of faith. He equips the church with apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers to build up the body of Christ. This divine provision ensures that the church has everything it needs to grow and thrive. The emphasis is on God being the ultimate builder, with His followers playing a role in His grand design.
Embracing God's Healing and Wholeness
God's compassion and willingness to heal are evident in Mark 1, where Jesus heals a leper. This act of healing extends beyond physical cleanliness to encompass spiritual wholeness. God's healing power is a testament to His ongoing work and His desire to meet our needs, whatever they may be.
Trusting in God's Eternal "I Will"
The repeated phrase "I will" throughout the Bible signifies God's unwavering commitment to His promises. Whether it's giving peace, rest, the Holy Spirit, or building His church, God's declarations are a source of assurance for believers. Trusting in these promises encourages us to rely on His power and faithfulness.
Conclusion
Understanding that God's promises and provisions are fulfilled through His power allows believers to focus on following Jesus and embracing their role in His divine plan. This perspective shifts the burden from human effort to divine provision, offering peace, rest, and guidance in our spiritual journey.
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Use the questions listed below as a launching point to discuss the sermon points together as a family. These are great for dinner table discussions and small groups.
Reflection on Inadequacy: Have you ever felt inadequate in your faith journey? Can you share a specific time and how you dealt with it?
God Adds to the Church: In Acts 2:41, God added 3,000 souls to the church. How does this story inspire you to trust God more in your personal ministry?
Dual Citizenship: Discuss what it means to have dual citizenship in heaven and on earth. How does this perspective influence your daily life?
God’s Promises: Pastor Strickland mentioned several 'I will' promises of God. Which promise resonates the most with you right now and why?
Following Jesus: What does “follow me” mean to you personally? How can you actively follow Jesus in your current circumstances?
God’s Gifting: God equips us for His purpose. What gifts has God given you, and how are you using them to serve others?
Rest and Peace: How can we find rest and peace in God amidst our busy lives? Share practical ways you seek God’s peace daily.
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Connecting our kids to what we as adults are learning and hearing on Sundays is vital to passing on our faith to the next generation. Use the summary below as a great way to talk about the message we heard with your kids.
Hey kids, let me tell you a story that Pastor Strickland shared with us.
There once was a man named Peter who was a follower of Jesus. One amazing day, Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and started talking to a big crowd. As Peter spoke, something wonderful happened—3,000 people decided to follow Jesus in just one day! Can you imagine that?
Now, sometimes Peter felt like he wasn’t good enough to do such big things. Have you ever felt like you couldn’t do something? But you know what? Peter learned a very important lesson that day. It wasn’t about how great Peter was; it was about how great God is. God is the one who gives us the strength and helps us do amazing things. He builds His church and takes care of everything.
So remember, if you follow Jesus and trust Him, He will help you do great things too. Just like Peter, you can do amazing things because God is with you!
The end.
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The sermon heavily references scripture from Acts 2:41 and other New Testament passages. Here’s the historical backdrop:
Acts 2:41
The Book of Acts was written by Luke around 63-70 AD. Acts 2 recounts the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles, enabling them to speak in different tongues and proclaim the Gospel. Jerusalem was bustling as Jews from various regions came for the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost). Peter’s sermon was a significant moment because it marked the birth of the Christian Church in this multicultural, religiously diverse environment.
Exodus 33:14
In the Old Testament, God speaks to Moses promising His presence and rest. This was during the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt around the 13th century BC, a turbulent time as they wandered in the wilderness towards the Promised Land. God’s promise of rest and presence was a cornerstone of His covenant with Israel.
John 14
The Gospel of John was written circa 85-95 AD. In John 14, Jesus promises His disciples the Holy Spirit during the Last Supper, just before His crucifixion. The setting is tense and foreboding as Jesus prepares His disciples for His imminent departure. The promise of the Holy Spirit was to assure them of continuous divine presence and support.
Ephesians 4:11-12
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians was penned around AD 60-62 during his imprisonment in Rome. Ephesus was a bustling, diverse city, home to a mix of cultures and religious practices. Paul outlines the church's unity and maturity, emphasizing God’s gifts to the church to build a diverse yet unified body of believers.
Ezekiel 36:26
Ezekiel’s prophecy (written ~593-571 BC) comes during the Babylonian exile, a period when the Israelites were expelled from their homeland. The promise of a new heart and spirit symbolizes hope and restoration for a disheartened, displaced people.
These scriptures underscore God’s promises, His presence, and His transformative power in historical contexts marked by change, uncertainty, and new beginnings. They reflect God’s enduring faithfulness and sovereignty in guiding both individuals and communities.
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Thank you for being here. Those of you that are watching online, I believe God's given me a message that can really minister to us. A couple of weeks ago I was reading a very, very familiar story in the Bible and something hit me like a ton of bricks. Any of you reading the Bible? Sometimes you say, I didn't see that that way.
It wasn't that way the last time I saw it. And we see things and I was reading in the book of acts, acts, chapter two, and verse 41 says this, after Peter had been filled with the Holy Spirit, he said, so those who received the word were baptized. And there were added that day about 3000 souls. 3000 souls. Now some of you may think like, I just, man, I'd love to be, I'd love to be used like that, have 3000 souls saved in one day.
And I know that none of you ever have this problem, but sometimes I feel inadequate. I said, sometimes I feel inadequate. Do you ever feel that way? Man, I'm just, I can't live up to that standard. I can't be another Peter, you know, because 3000 people in one day.
I know that. I was thinking this morning with all these wonderful kids up here and thinking of the responsibility of the teachers and all those thoughts. And I remember in years gone by when you didn't take your own reading material to a doctor's office, you know, they had all those magazines and almost all of them were women's magazines. And, you know, when you read them, I always thought, Mandy, to do what they do, you have to be superwoman. You know, you work a 40 hours week, you raise kids, plus you're president of PTA Club and you go to the gym every day and all this other things.
Then you also look beautiful when your husband comes out and say, man, how do you live up to that standard? And we all sometimes feel inadequate. And I know that I'd say I'm not a Peter, but if you go down and continue reading and you read chapter two, the last few verses where it says this. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they receive their food with glad and generous hearts. Now let me just tell you that was the church of that day.
Now, it was brand new. It had only been planted a few days, but it was brand new. But they were having church. They were praising God and having favor with all the people. And here's the one that jumped out at me.
And the Lord added to their number day by day. Those who were being saved didn't say Peter added them. Peter was a great preacher. Peter had walked with Jesus. But it wasn't Peter that added the souls, it was the Lord.
See, it's not about how gifted or talented we are. It's God that gives the increase. It's God that gives the increase. And I've been thinking and praying about another message. It's going to be a good one.
Let's start a party, huh? Let's start a party. Now, you remember when Jesus shared about the 99 and one? He said when the one came in that there was more celebration over the one than there were the 99. Now think about it.
We have a couple hundred in here this morning, so it's better to have two people saved than the rest of you in the church. So anytime you have someone saved, you have a reason to start a party. So let's start some parties. You see, when we get saved, God gives us citizenship in heaven. We have a dual citizenship.
I said, we have a dual citizenship. We're citizens of this world. And sometimes I want to turn in my license, sometimes I want to turn in my worldly citizenship and say, y'all can just have it. That's like when the old saying goes, when it says, the meek shall inherit the earth, well, I got news for you. The meek don't want it.
You know, we need to understand that. And sometimes, but we have a dual citizenship. We have a citizenship in heaven. That the only way we will lose that citizenship, the devil can't take it from you. I said, the devil can't take you from you.
You can't lose it unless you turn it in willingly. That's the only way you can lose that citizenship. Say, I don't want to be a citizen of heaven anymore, and you turn it in. I'm glad that I have a citizenship in heaven. That's a lot more important than citizenship here on this earth.
But notice it says, the Lord added to their number. And whenever I read that, my mind immediately raced to the promise that Jesus gave to Peter and the other disciples, where he said, I will build my church. Kind of interesting that Peter was the one that he was primarily directing that to. The others were there, but he said, I will build my church. He didn't say, peter, you're going to build it.
He didn't say ephemerals of God, you're going to build it. He didn't say the Church of God or the Catholic or the Baptist. He said, I will build my church, and hell itself cannot prevail against it. And so I can say, thank God it's not you, it's not me. It's all about him.
He's the one that builds the church. And so as I was thinking about that, I thought of the phrase where he says, I will, I will. So I looked up that phrase, that two word phrase in the concordance. Now, I didn't read them all, I didn't count them all, but I just used the concordance. And over 2100 times the phrase I will.
Now, let's just say part of the time, half of them, it was with people saying, I will do this or I will do that. But the other half, just roughly. And again, I'm not saying this equal half, but it was God, many of them. God making a promise, saying, I will, I will build that church.
And when I speak today, when I say about God, I'm referring to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Because throughout the Bible, each one of those three sometimes are taken pray minutes. And they say, I say it, the Holy Spirit, God the Father, God the Son. But I got news for you. The Godhead is nothing jealous over the other one.
They love one. They're all three in one. And so when we say, I will build my church, we're speaking about God the father. See, it was God the father back early in the Bible when he's talking to Abraham. And he said, I will give you this land.
Now I know most of you are aware that there's a battle going on in Israel, and the battle is over the land that God gave Israel. Now, I can tell you this may offend some of you, but Israel's not doing everything right. I said, israel's not perfect, but God gave him the land. He said, I will give it to you. And it seems to me that the one that creates the land has the right to give it to who he wants to.
Now notice what else God gives. Go back with me all the way back to Exodus chapter 33. Exodus, chapter 33. Now you'll excuse me just a minute. I'm going to move this cord before me or it one gets broke.
Exodus chapter 33, verse 14.
This is God speaking. And he said, my presence will go with you and I will give you rest. And Moses said, if your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight? I and your people is it and not your going with us, so that we're distinct, and I and your people from every other people on the face of the earth?
And the Lord said to Moses, this very thing that you have spoken, I will do. What's this? Then he said, I will give you rest, and I will be with you. And he said this, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name. Now, I know this was God speaking to Israel.
Specifically, you're speaking to Moses. But I'm glad that God knows each one of us.
He even gives an illustration. He says, even the hair of your head are numbered. Now, some of you, that wasn't a hard job, but some of you, more difficult. But he knows you. Your God knows you.
He says, I will give you rest. See, that's what he told Jesus said through Matthew, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. I can tell you there's a lot of folks that need rest this morning. Now, I know there's some people that need rest physically, because some are caregivers and they're exhausted. Some have a lot of small children, or several small children.
So they need physical rest. Let me knows that we serve and live in a world that needs a ton of rest, that God can speak to us and say, would you just give you rest? And guess what? God says I will give you rest if you go to John, chapter 14. John, chapter 14.
I know some of you already. Your mind's going, you know what I'm about to say. But let's look at verse twelve. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do. And greater works than these will he do.
Because I am going to the father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do. That the father may be glorified in the son. Now remember, wasn't that part of the prayer that Moses did? That the father may be what?
Glorified? If you ask me anything in my name, then I will do it. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the father, and he will give you. Oh, he will give you.
He will give you another helper. And I won't tell you, this helper is better than hamburger helper. This helper is the Holy Spirit. This helper is a promise that he said, I will give him to you. And when we get saved, the Holy Spirit comes into us as he possesses us.
But now, as a pentecostal church, I need to encourage you to go a little bit deeper and let the Holy Spirit possess you after you've possessed him. But it says, I will give you another helper to be with you forever. Even the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. He said, I will give you the Holy Spirit.
Now, I don't know if you caught those, but how many things did he say? He's going to give us the Holy Spirit. He's going to give us peace. He's going to give us faith to pray, believing. And when he said, I give you the Holy Spirit, he said, I give you rest.
I will give you peace. And if we drop down to verse 25, notices what else? He says, these things have spoken to you while I'm still with you. But the helper, the little word there is the paracletus. That means the one called alongside the help.
Now I'm so glad that God does all the heavy lifting. He lets us participate. He says, but if you'll yoke with me, I'll carry most of the load. All you got to do is follow me and follow my direction and go where I want you to go. But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I've said to you.
Peace. There's another thing I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives, do I give it to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
How many thinks that the world needs a good dose of God's peace today?
How many in the United States? I can't speak worldwide, but how many in the United States? Oh, I can even speak through the United States. How many of you think in central Florida needs the peace of God, a peace that regardless of who's speaking on tv trying to get your vote, he says, I'm gonna give you peace anyway. I will give you peace, a peace that the world cannot take away?
I don't know if you have that. He said, I give you the Holy Spirit. I give you rest. I give you peace. A peace that the world cannot give you, and the world cannot take it away.
In Ezekiel, it says, I will give you a new heart. How many thinks we got a lot of folks that needs a new heart. He said, I'll give it to you. And the point I'm trying to make is our God is a giver. He said, I will build my church.
Now, if God's going to build it, where does that leave us? That's a good question. Where do we come in? Well, I know it's past tense, but, see, I read somewhere that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So there's no such thing as past tense.
It's all present tense. That God is the same yesterday, today and forever. And if you go to Ephesians chapter four, notice what it says in verse eleven. And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the son of Goddesse, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness or deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are able to grow up in every way unto him who is the head into Christ.
What does that mean? That we become more like Jesus. That we grow up in him from him whom the whole body, joined together by every joint, which is equipped with each part, is properly working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. How many knows that? Because God gives the church everything they need.
I said God gives it. God's a giver. And he gives some apostles, some teachers. And, you know, and as Paul was writing this, the church was fairly early, but I am glad that God still gives. He's still giving leadership.
He's still giving apostles and pastors and evangelists all these things. And he says he gave and he will give. How many are glad that he's still giving pastors, he's still giving teachers. Thank God, he's given children's workers. Thank God, he's given worship leaders.
Thank God, he's given the gifts that the church needs to build the body of believers. And God says, I will build my church. So what's that mean? That means that he gives the gifts to qualify us to be the people, to do that. Now, this is just my opinion.
You may disagree with it.
I struggle with man given titles. Well, I'm Prophet John. I never saw Paul call himself a prophet. He called himself a servant. You know, do we have prophets today?
Yes. Are you a prophet? No, I don't claim to be a prophet. The prophet has to be 100% right. And my wife knows that.
I made a mistake one time, so I'm not a prophet now. The point I'm making, thank God we still have apostles and prophets and teachers. But when you look in the Bible, the people gave those titles. The people is the one that gave Barnabas the name encourager Barnabas, not because he went around, hey, hey, I'm Mister Encourager.
I'm glad to meet you. I'm Mister Encourager. No, he said, I'm Joseph. And everybody ran and said, no, he's not. That's Uncle Barney.
He's the greatest encourager you'll ever have. I'm glad that God is still giving ministry. I said, I'm glad that God's still giving ministry.
But I love the statement that Jesus used when he called his disciples. He said, follow me. Follow me. Now, I know Jeannie remembers this when we went to Israel, that I was confused. I stay in the state of confusion quite a bit because there was all types of clothing.
Everybody dressed differently. I mean, I'm talking about even the jewish people. They dressed totally different. And finally I asked somebody, why are they all dressed different? Because you had some top hats about this tall, and then you had some different things.
And they said, they're all dressed like they're rabbi. Now, Rabbi was a leader. That's what he was. He was a leader, and he had his disciples, and his disciples looked like him, dressed like him. So when Jesus said, I want you to follow me, what was he saying?
I want you to be like me. I want you to be like me. Matter of fact, the word Christian, it was coined in a place called Antioch. And he said they were called christians first in Antioch, because Christian means followers of Christ. And so Jesus picked his disciples, and he said, follow me, and I will make you fishermen.
Now, we need to understand something. If you say you're a leader and nobody is following, you're just out for a walk, huh? You know, if you're leading and nobody's following, then you're just out for a walk. But I'm glad that the disciples followed him. And we say, well, he had twelve disciples.
No, he had a lot more than that. We know he had 70 at one time. When he left his orders, when he left up, go to heaven, there was 500. So we know that he had more followers than twelve, but there was that twelve, that unique group. And he said, follow me and I will make you fishermen.
And I believe we would all understand that he did a great job, because eleven of the 1211 of the twelve died doing ministry.
Ten of them were martyred. John the Revelator, they tried to martyr him, but he survived. But the others followed jesus all the way to their death. And they were fishers of men. They were prophets, they were evangelists, they were apostles.
Now, this is my thinking, but I believe that we can.
Again, this is just my take. I don't think we lose anything from this verse if we stop after the phrase, follow me and I will make you, because I believe that Jesus has called every one of us to follow him.
Well, what do you finish it with? Follow me and I'll make you the best that you can possibly be of what you were created to be. See, all of us weren't created and chosen to be full time ministers. I know we got some medical professionals in here. Jesus said, follow me and I'll make you the best medical professional you could be.
You say, why would you say that? Because that's what John does. He said, follow me and I will make you.
Many of you, or some of you watching the Olympics, some of you said, you're not. But I can tell you, you don't have to watch it but a few minutes that you know that every one of them had a little bit of natural ability.
Now, when I look at Simone, she has more than a little bit.
If I tried to do what she did, I'd break my full neck, and it wouldn't even be pretty doing it, Lou, it would be terrible. It'd be ugly. But she had natural ability. But Hammy knows she had to go beyond the natural ability. She had to be taught.
She had to be coached. That means she had to follow someone. She had to follow her coach.
And I know some of you say, well, pastor, I know what you're saying is true, but I've failed too many times.
I said, I've failed too many times.
Have any of you ever failed doing something ten times? How about 100?
How about a thousand?
Well, you know, Thomas Edison, when he worked on the light bulb, the further development. Now, he did not create it. He tried to make it better. He failed 10,000 times. Now, I've been thinking about that ever since I've read it.
Did he have a chalkboard? There's another one. There's another 110 thousand times. But you know what he said? I have not failed 10,000 times.
I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
When people ask me as a pastor, I can. They say, can I? You teach me something. I can tell you how not to do a lot of things. I can tell you how not to do things a lot more than I can tell you how to do things.
But then he also went on to say, our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is to always try just one more time. Now, I can imagine failing 10,000 times.
But some of us, we have to say I haven't accomplished all that God wanted me to be. And if you have, I applaud you. I give you accolades.
In high school, one of my teammates was told by my coach, now, my coach knew what he was talking about in 1948, since its Olympic time, I'll share this tidbit with you. In 1948, a guy by the name of Bob Matthews won the decathlon. Won the decathlon at that time, may still be he was the youngest person to ever win a gold medal in track and field. In 1948. He won it when he was 17 years old.
He won the gold again in 1952. They said, why do you bring that up? Because my coach competed against him, beat him four out of the ten events in the decathlon. So I had a lot of confidence that my coach knew what he was talking about. He was good.
And he told one of the classmates, he said, if you will do what I ask you to do, or let me put it this way, if you will follow me, if you will follow me, I'll make you one of the fastest men in the United States. And back then, the fastest man in the United States was usually the fastest man in the world. He said, I'll make you. I don't even think he graduated from high school because he wasn't willing to follow.
But Jesus is still asking people, follow me and I will make you.
I will give you. I will help you.
See, God, the creator that created mankind, has said, follow me and I will make you. Whether it be in the ministry, the medical field business, or whatever he will make you if you allow him to. Now, one of the greatest promises God given to us, way, way back, early in the bible, he says, I will be your God.
I will be your God.
There's a lot of things that I don't understand, a lot of things I don't know. But I do know that I need God. I need his guidance. I need his power. I need his peace.
I need his anointing. Early in my ministry, I knew a man, and I hesitate saying I knew him. I don't call him a friend. I knew him because I was just starting out in ministry, and this man was. He was the bomb.
His church was exploding. He was doing so, so much. His ministry was flourishing, but he had a moral failure.
And Brother Boyd Johnson told me, this is what he said. It's a terrible thing when we think we can do it with or without God, folks. We can't do it without goddess.
It's God that adds to the church daily. It's God that heals. It's God that sits at liberty. It's God that gives peace. It's God that gives guidance.
It's God that gives the Holy spirit. You say, well, what do we know? Well, see, early in his ministry, Jesus went through Galilee preaching. It's recorded in the first chapter of Mark. See, Mark started at his ministry.
Some people say that the reason Mark starts his ministry is because the theme of Mark is Jesus Christ, the servant of man. And that's the theme of Mark. And see, all of the others told about their lineage and where they came from and who they were. Mark never said, because guess what? A slave really doesn't have a background.
He says, jesus was a servant, whether that be the case or not. Notice what it says in Mark, chapter one. And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling, said to him, if you will, you can make me clean, if you will.
Verse 41 says, move with pity. Now, some of the translations, or many of them, says he was moved with compassion. Now, I don't want to be vulgar in any way, but the reality is that word moved with compassion speaks of what we would call a bowel movement from this very innermost being. Because in those days, they thought the man was from the innermost being. He was moved with compassion.
And he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, I will be clean. I will be clean.
And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. So when we get talking about the I wills of God, we have to include I will make you whole. Because that was more than he was made, more than just physically clean. He was made whole. And then he goes on and adds something else there.
And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once and said to him, see that you say nothing to anyone, but go show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded for a proof to them. That's kind of interesting. Why would he want to go show them as a proof? I believe it's because the Bible tells us that signs and wonders shall follow them, that God's still speaking, that God is still being moved with compassion, that God still is in the healing business. And some of them say, well, pastor, I have asked for healing and it hasn't happened yet, so I'm just going to quit.
Have you asked him 10,000 times yet?
Because God is still moving. God is still God. He will give you.
He will give you, he has given you and he will build his church, but he will is often dependent on I will, what are you willing? Are you willing to follow him? Are you willing to trust him? Are you willing to believe in him? Are you willing to serve him?
If you are, then guess what? Our God is still a God that will, that he will meet you where you are and touch your need, whatever it happens to be. Let's pray. Holy Father, we ask you to minister by your spirit and your touch. Today.
I'm so thankful that it's not about me. It's not even about the sins of God. It's about you. What will you do today? What will we have faith for?
What will we trust you for? What will we ask believing?
Are we willing to follow you? Are we willing to allow you to make us God? Speak to the young people today and let them realize that they're a work in progress, that if they will follow you, it's not so important that they know what their earthly destination is, is what profession, what to do. Because if they follow you, you will guide them and you will give them peace. You will give them rest, you will give them encouragement.
So, Father, we just ask you to minister by your power. Minister by your power, have your way. Now, if there are those here today, and if you're watching online, I know that I can't see you, but you can respond to our prayer line, we'll pray with you. But if there's something that you need, God, who is a giver to give you today, while we're singing this worship course, I'd like to just ask you to stand to your feet and allow us to pray with you and pray for you. And if you choose to come to the front, you're certainly welcome to do that.
But we want to pray with you. If you want to stand where you are, that's fine. But if you want to come, feel free to do that. But will you follow?
Because Jesus is saying, follow me. Follow me and I'll make you. I will. I will. So we're going to allow the Holy Spirit to minister as Jeff leads us in this worship course.
And again, if you need prayer, won't you stand to your feet? If you'd like to come to the front, feel free to do so. We'll pray with you as well.
