 It's time for God's kingdom to come and you are called to be part of it. We're so glad you're joining us on hope today and I'm so glad that we are all back together. Again, I'm here with Tom and Amanda and we just have an incredible guest that's coming up, Tom, tell us about him. Oh yes, Peter Diaruda from New York School of Urban Ministry is gonna be with us. Nice, it's called. And you know, I have to tell you, so many times you struggle to think, how can I make a difference in the world? How can I do something? How can I see my family safe? How can I see my church explode with new Christians coming in? And Peter's gonna talk about that. He's ministered in a tough city, tough but open to the gospel in New York and he's seen many people come to the Lord. He's gonna tell us about their ministry and about more than that, maybe you won't go to New York, but you might go across the street and share the gospel with your neighbor. Peter's gonna help you to do that. It's gonna be great. You know, I did have the opportunity to actually go to Niceum quite a few years ago, but it was a beautiful time to see how their ministry is impacting that city for the glory of God. And I just have to say one more thing, we went and visited our family, our son from the Air Force's home and this first thing my dad said when we got to their houses, hey, come up here and look at this. And he had to show me that Cornerstone Television is on Roku and we are up and running. You know, great audio, great videos, so kudos to whoever was working on that, but all of our Roku watchers are very happy. For those of you who maybe had seen us on Roku, including my wife, we were down for a while, like three weeks or more and praise God, thanks to Steve and Lee and Michael and everyone who got us back up and running. Yeah, we are so glad for our Roku family. So maybe you're watching us on Roku or wherever you're watching us from in Pittsburgh, Alabama, Florida, California, all around the world, we love that you are part of our Cornerstone family and you know, speaking of our Cornerstone family, yesterday, Tom and I and a bunch of us from Cornerstone had the opportunity to celebrate one of our own Pastor Jay Anthony Gilbert and his wife, Tiffany Gilbert. They have a pregnancy center that's here in the city section of East Liberty called Voices for the Unborn in East Liberty. So it was just a beautiful event of just people coming together and really rallying behind them. And you know, it was, Tom, it was just truly incredible. I think it's just a beautiful thing to see the body of Christ that come together. Amy and Pastor Brock, they were the emcees there. It was like a whole, it was a whole family reunion. I felt like that we were there. Just, Sydney, when they introduced that young woman with her baby that had been saved through the East Liberty, it's called East Liberty Women's Care Center. And they're one block down from Planned Parenthood and God is doing amazing things through them. I'm so glad that they're a partner with us. Yeah, and we're so glad that when you support Cornerstone, that a portion we take all the time, but 10% is that we give to local ministries here in Pittsburgh, like the Pittsburgh Dream Center, the Pregnancy Center and around the nation and the world. So your giving matters, your giving is changing lives. And you know, we are just so thankful for your partnership. All right, so now we need all of you to be praying for us because you know what time it is, time for something to host. Alrighty, Diddy, here's the first one. Which prophet saw a valley of bones come alive? Ezekiel. The knee bone connected to the thigh bone. Yes, Ezekiel, right? Ezekiel, Ezekiel, okay, all right. So that's Ezekiel 37.1 through 14. And guess what? I had just recently read that. So I was like, I know that one. All right, very good. All right, so here's the next one now. Come on, play along with us here. The author of which letter addresses the letter to the chosen lady and her children? The author of which letter? Which the author of which letter? Which letter addresses the letter to the chosen lady and her children? Definitely New Testament. Yeah, but I'm drawing a blank on it. Is it in her children? Oh, Jesus help us. On Amanda. Revelation. I don't know, when I think of a lady and her children, I think of Eunice Lois and then Timothy, but I think that's it. You wanna say Timothy? You wanna say first Timothy? We can try. That doesn't sound right to me. Timothy, right first Timothy. In fact, I'm just like, maybe it's Old Testament. I don't know what letter this is. All right, say something here. Shoot first. We're gonna say first Timothy. We're gonna go with Amanda's answer first, Timothy. No. Second John. Oh, well. Yikes. There's a lot of Johns in there. You don't know which one it is. Sorry. We need to get back and read second John. I'm like, wait a minute. Who's the chosen lady and her children? All right, here's a third question. Hopefully we can redeem ourselves somewhat. Okay, which book is this first found in? The Joy of the Lord is your strength. Oh, Kidoke, Psalms. I'm gonna go with Psalms. I think it is Psalms. It's like, it's a joy, but eight, 10. I think it's the joy of the Lord is your strength. Isn't it Zephaniah? Zechara. Eight, 10. I thought it's Psalms. I don't know. Okay, go ahead. Let's go with Psalms. Yeah, we are at the end. No, we got, it's a Psalms. I had the wrong book, but I had the wrong book, but I had the right chapter and right, it's a Psalms too. Wait a minute, can we do some background checking because I swear in Psalms it does say the joy of the Lord is your strength, and they probably quoted it from the book of Psalms. I'm serious. I wanna do some back checking. We'll take it up with the league office again. Okay, all right. Well, we're gonna take a quick break and recover here, and then we'll be back with Reverend Peter Deiruta from New York School of Urban Ministry. We'll be right back. No matter your age or circumstances, God wants you to move forward. Join bestselling author and teacher, Dr. David Jeremiah in a master class, revealing how to live fearlessly. You'll discover that it's never too late to find your purpose. Dr. David Jeremiah reveals powerful ways for people of any age to live a life that's meaningful. Inside forward, you'll uncover strong Bible teaching coupled with incredible real life stories and practical biblical insight. Learn how God wants to expand your dreams, give you divine direction, equip you with tools to overcome fear, and much more. Request your copy of this life changing book when you support Cornerstone Television. Call 888-665-4483 or give online at ctvn.org slash donate. Find air times for a turning point with Dr. David Jeremiah at ctvn.org. Donate and request his book forward. Thank you for your partnership with Cornerstone TV. Well, our next guest is an ordained minister in New York City where he has served as an urban missionary for the past 30 years with the New York School of Urban Ministry, NISM. You'll hear us refer to it as NISM. Reverend Peter Deiruta has been very instrumental in bringing vision and challenge to city churches and in mobilizing the body of Christ for urban ministry. He joins us now to share about his ministry and how he's witnessed lives transform and to share how you too can make a difference by getting involved in an outreach. Peter, welcome to Hope Today. Thank you, Tom. Good to be here. Thank you so much. Well, I just want to hear. I've spent a lot of time in your neighborhood back in another lifetime doing ministry, but tell us about the New York School of Urban Ministry. Well, again, thanks for allowing us to be here today. NISM, New York School of Urban Ministry was founded in 1984, about 40 years ago with the whole purpose of raising up a new generation of what we call compassion commandos to influence and invade the city. You know, we have different ideas about the city. It's the hood, it's drugs, it's concrete, it's crime, but Paul the Apostle said in Corinthians, ye are my joy. And that's where Jesus went to the city. In fact, it was so cosmopolitan where Jesus died, King of the Jews was written in three different languages. So he was born in a city, he lived in a city, he died in a city, and God's called us to invade the city and see people's lives transformed by the power of God. But it's scary. Come on now, it's scary. The first time I went to Brooklyn to do ministry, I was like, what am I doing here? You know, a little guy from Pennsylvania. But what I found out is people are open once you share that tough New Yorker exterior kind of opens, doesn't it? That's right, don't be a snowflake for Jesus, okay? You know, Paul said in Romans 10, 17, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. You don't have to have a PhD, you don't have to have a seminary degree Bible. God is just looking for someone to be available and open so that we can be used of God as a conduit of his anointing, of his power. There were people in New York City, I'm not from New York, I was born in Massachusetts. My wife and I came to the city 36 years ago, we heard God call. Actually, I was doing evangelistic work and I was in Times Square and I just felt the Lord stirring in our hearts. And so we went out with a nice team and I lifted up, opened my Bible and just began to preach and 50 pigeons dropped scud missiles on my body. That was the urban holy ghost telling me to come. But God gave me a verse from Isaiah 61. We know the spirit of God is upon me, but in verse four it says, and they shall repair the waste places, the desolations of many generations. And it's the anointing of God flowing through us to be the hands, the feet, the heart of Jesus that we can invade and reclaim the city for Jesus Christ. Yeah, absolutely. So I'm just curious a little bit about your testimony and your story of how God really like launched you and called you into this. Well, I was traveling and doing ministry and I was, God was using us, but I didn't wanna see the saved, saved and the blessed, blessed. How can God take my life, which I'm not saying I'm any better than anybody else. I mean, when I was a kid, my parents went to the principal because they were gonna keep me back from the third grade. And they said, well, he's got learning disorders. That's why some people still believe I have learning disorders, but I pray for them, pray for all sinners. And so they took me to Boston Children's Hospital. Bottom line, the clinical psychologist said, you've got a nice son, but he's gotta be nothing. He's got a good amount to nothing. He's zero, nothing. And we heard about a church in Massachusetts and our whole family went down and gave our lives to Jesus Christ. And then God touched my mind and my life and graduated with honors, went to college, went to Bible school, graduated from Eland Bible College, then Houghton College, now the president of this ministry that we're reaching and network with over a hundred different pastors and churches in the hood. I mean, these are pastors in the inner city. And we're just so humbled that God would just use us as an empty vessel. And I would just say to people that are watching right now, God is speaking to you today and you're wondering, well, how could God use my life? Well, look at all of us. We're sinners only saved by the grace of God. Amen. Talk to us about the importance of when we go to approach someone or minister to them. This is something that I remember when we visited up at NISOM. But talk to our viewing audience about the importance of that first interaction. The key is, thank you, Amanda. The key, and it was so great to have you at our campus. God blessed us with a 74,000 square foot hospital building. We're able to train somewhere between three and 4,000. People come through our ministry every year. We do block parties, street meetings, outreach. We have a food truck on the road now, commercial. It's all booked up and we minister in the city via the local church. We are committed to pastors and churches. For your question, just be real. Just be who God wired you and I to be. It's not a handout, it's a handout. Just talking to people, how are you today? God bless you. We had some ladies years ago come from Mobile, Alabama. 50 women, how about that, led by two men. God bless those men. And they came and they left on Thursday. They wanted to get to the city early, to do shopping, there's a shopping anointing. Did you know that? I didn't know that. And so they left at 5 a.m. in the morning and the next, they got stranded at Boston Logan Airport, Nor'easter, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, they got to our ministry at three o'clock the next morning. We picked them up from JFK. We got them up for breakfast, had a training session with myself and we sent them out to the Staten Island ferry. And these 50 year old women, they were out of their comfort zone, it snowed that night. So anybody south of the Mason-Dixon line, rigor mortis is gonna start coming in. And these ladies came running back into our campus and they said, pastor, you gotta hear what God did. I said what? Because their assignment was minister to just normal commuters on the Staten Island ferries from Battery Park back and forth to Staten Island. So they're on the back of the boat, they're listening to our training and they're just standing there and for 60 seconds, they just began to pray just silently. Holy Spirit, lead me to the person you want us to talk to. And 60 seconds later, the Holy Spirit downloads and says to these girls, go minister to this young lady. They look like just one of these young ladies here and these people from the south and they say, you know, honey, it's cold on the outside but it's warm on the inside. And this was at 1030 in the morning in January on the Staten Island ferry, snow, rain, sleet, everything freezing to death. And all of a sudden this woman says, you don't understand what I'm facing. And they said, honey, what seems to be the problem? I'm on this boat, I'm pregnant with my boyfriend's baby. I don't know what to do. He wants me to get an abortion. I'm in total torment. And I got on this boat because I'm gonna commit suicide. And after an hour and a half of just these ladies pouring in the love and the compassion of Jesus, she gave her life to Jesus. She says, I'm gonna keep my baby and I'm gonna get rid of that bum of a boyfriend. I mean, that's only Jesus. And so these are stories that are replicated over and over would love for you to come to New York. But if you can't come to New York, you can pray. You can be the hands and feet and heart of Jesus. You could just give a cup of cold. Jesus, didn't Jesus say give a cup of cold water in my name, acts of love and kindness. And even James says, he says, phase without works is that I will show you my faith by my works. Works can't save us, but when we give our lives to Jesus Christ, how can we not give back to God and let us demonstrate the love of Jesus to hurting people today. Thank you. This is a powerful what you're sharing, Peter, just like those moments and what's just been happening over and over again in your ministry. And one thing, can you just even speak to some of the complexities and some of the interesting things when it comes to inner city ministry, because I'm part of an urban ministry and it is different than some of the things that the realities that you're facing day to day that are really important and dire. Right, we just say getting a parking space in New York City is spiritual warfare. Yeah, yeah. Just getting out of a nice and parking lot, spiritual warfare. To answer that question, we had an invitation from a church in the Bronx about 10 years ago. And they said, why don't you come and be part. I said, send us the invitation. I get the invitation, open it up, come to our 10 year celebration. And they said, the theme is we are still here. And in this city, all the forces are against you. Property value is over a million dollars. The city of New York, God bless them. They're always dreaming up some of the code and this and that. You just have to understand God has called you and that's all that matters. You just leave the rest to Jesus and understand that in the city ministry, it's gotta take not days but years. And if you understand that at the get go, it takes the pressure off because we in the church, we want everything instantaneously now. It's gotta happen. And our ministry is turning 40 years next year. And we just say, we're just getting started. We're coming out of the wilderness, right? So I think that we have to, as urban leaders, as urban workers, you just need to know, I say there's two calls you need, one call to the city or to the nation, God has called you to. And another call is to keep you every day and that's personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Well, let me ask you about that. We've talked about some of the things that people struggle with, fear or the pressure feeling like it's all on them and it's not, it's the Holy Spirit. But for someone who's watching, how should they approach the Great Commission? We've all been called, how do they start? Where do they do? Obviously, they can come and do some training with a place like Nicem or go to Nicem. But what else can they do right now, today, to touch a life? Well, what does Ezekiel 2230 say? I sought for a man among them who would stand in the gap, who would build up the hedge that I would not destroy the land. And as we just began to ask the Lord, God, how can we reach the community, the city of New York? And we began to pray, there's so many needs and it's just beyond comprehension. But you have to focus on just one thing. David said, one thing have I desired. So maybe it's homeless people, maybe it's incarcerated people, maybe it's veterans that we're reaching out right now. Seven just got saved about a week ago. Now they wanna get baptized. We in the church, we say, we're the child of God, we're not the tail, we're the head, we're the apples of God's eye. We got the Holy Ghost and everything. We go out in the streets like, oh my God, we're intimidated. So I think what we need to do is the word says in Job, start out small and just begin to ask the Holy Spirit, what is God speaking to you, burdening you? We have people that just started out with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, maybe blankets, maybe a hygiene kit, maybe fine. We have people that the church doesn't even have any money. A person in the church in the city felt the burden of God. They got their station wagon, their minivan, they're making food in their house, putting some stuff together. Just go to a person on the street and say, God bless you, Jesus loves you. Maybe give him a gospel track. Give him information about your church and your ministry. Not that you're looking for members, but you wanna have that divine connection. Another thing I wanna get back to before we break and that is when you're in this city, it seems like you're all alone. And you need to partner with other ministries. It doesn't matter the denomination. Can I get an amen here? It matters that we're in the foxholes, we're in the trenches, we're brothers and sisters, black, white, Hispanic, all different denominations. And the focus is not on our brand, not on our ministry. Let the focus be on Jesus. He said, if I be lifted up, I'll get all the glory. And so that's our focus and that's what we do. And my wife and I served here in Pittsburgh for about two years and we were married. Tomorrow is our 42nd anniversary. We were married tomorrow in Pittsburgh. But we'd love to have, we have a lot of churches from the Pittsburgh area and also Pennsylvania come to our ministry for training. And our whole purpose at NISM is not just people coming and minister in New York. So they learn it at our school of ministry and they bring it back to their local church and their local community. That's tremendous. Give us your website. Okay, it's N-Y-S-U-M dot O-R-G, NISM dot org, we're happy to host you. And we'll have a link to NISM's website on our website. Peter, we're gonna keep you around for a little time of ministry here, but thank you so much for sharing that story. Wonderful, wonderful, thank you. Amen, we're gonna go to the word because we need the word and you know, the joy of the Lord is our strength and that comes from Nehemiah 810 in case you all didn't get that either. We were so close yet so far away, but we're gonna go to the book of Luke right now. We wanna look into chapter five. We're gonna start with verse four and just read through 11. We're gonna skip a few though. It says, he said to Simon, launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. But Simon answered and said to him, Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing. Nevertheless, at your word, I will let down the net. And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees saying, depart from me for I am a sinful man, oh Lord. And Jesus said to Simon, do not be afraid. From now on, you will catch men. So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed him. That is full and I want you to preach on it. We got just a little bit of time, but give it to us. Well, that's a favorite scripture of mine and passage. And I title that, I have a message that I even shared yesterday. Launch out, let go and let God. That's what it's all about. Launch out, let go and let God. And here is Peter, he's got a master's degree, a PhD in fishing, and the Lord comes to Peter. You know, I love about the Lord because in the early verses, it says that he saw that the fishermen were out of their boats. They were washing their nets. We need to be washed with the blood of Jesus, amen. Washed of preconceived ideas. We have God in a box. And so then the Lord steps into Simon Peter's boat and then he says, Peter, he says, could you thrust out a little? You know, God doesn't call us to do, you know, great things and giants. Remember, David, he didn't kill Goliath right away. He took down a lion and he took down a bear. It took, so God is in the way of processing, building our faith and God's a gentleman and he understands our frailty. So could you thrust out just a little bit? Would you just trust me? Maybe there's somebody here today wondering, what should I do? Just thrust out a little bit because it's not the focus is not your boat, the size of the boat. Well, brother Peter, you know, my boat is all jacked up. It's messed up. It's not like a cruise ship. Listen, cruise ships have parties, but boats catch fish. And that's what God's called us to do. The church is not supposed to be a carnival. It's supposed to be a fishing vessel. And so he says, okay, Simon, could you launch out into the deep? And God wants us to go deeper in him. Basically, he was saying, Simon, you're a little bit too shallow. You like the safe zone. I'm called you to the risk zone. And when you launch out into the deep, Jesus is in that boat. And I love Peter, he's so professional. You know, when the Lord says, launch out into the deep, well master, he doesn't say Jesus. He doesn't say Lord. He gets a little spiritual, well master. And that's how we get, we tried to sort of maybe negotiate this thing. And he says, but nevertheless, at your word, oh, at your word, we just need a fresh word. And this is a fresh word for you. God says, just let go, let God do it. He says, we've toiled all night. There is so many, that's the ploy of the enemy. For us, even in ministry to toil, to try and this and that, people come to our campus, some pastors, and they say, the 74,000 square foot, how did you get that? And they say the first thing some pastors say, what is your business plan? It's not even in the Bible, business plan. You know what, I get on my hands and knees, I say, it's called neology brother. It's just Jesus. And when he did what God said to do, look what happened, a Holy Ghost witness and multitudes came in and they brought others on board. And the last verse says, and they forsook all and followed Him. I don't know, I've just said a fresh today, Lord. I'm just forsaking what Peter Deeruda could do or Nicem could do. God, what do you want to do with my life? And that's where the miracle takes place. That was like, that was beautiful. I could listen to you all day, just speak. You're true kind. No, serious, I love it. Can you just say like the three things you said? Launch out. Launch out, let go and let God. Launch out, let go and let God. God, right. Wow, launch out. That's your call today to let go and to let God. And as we are coming to a close on hope today, we just pray that you would take these words to heart that you would surrender all today and give what's in your hand and give it to Jesus. Just give it to Jesus and watch how he's gonna multiply. Watch what he's gonna do because guess what? There is a whole broken world that is waiting on you to be a witness for Jesus. We love you. We hope you have a great day. We'll see you tomorrow. On tomorrow's hope today, uplifting others with songs about faith, hope and love. Cody Clark and Jared Moffitt of acclaimed acoustic pop duo After Grace discussed their latest single and how it's meant to encourage others dealing with grief and loss. That's tomorrow on hope today. Cornerstone Television wishes to thank all our faithful viewers whose consistent prayers and financial support have made this program possible.