 Good morning church Good morning, everyone. This is Ricard from Sweden talking to you today I'm so blessed and so privileged to be together with you in the spirit right now Wherever you are watching us from right now. We just want to welcome you to this wonderful library because we believe that Jesus Christ is gonna touch you today He will meet you at the point of your need Whatever you are going through right now in your life, whatever situation you may be facing Some may be facing the immediate threat of joblessness losing your job or sickness in the family or even you yourself due to corona or other Circumstances what I encourage you today Thank you for tuning in God Almighty will meet you at the point of any today. He's gonna touch your case He will transform your life today in Jesus name. I just want to take an opportunity and Ask each and every one of you that are watching right now to just share in the comments below Where you are watching us from for the glory of God the devil has tried to use Sickness pandemics and various circumstances to stop the people of God from meeting but for the glory of God Almighty We are now in every single home around the world Jesus Christ is being declared more than ever before and we are just so Excited about it Please share in the comments below where you're watching us from from Canada from Mexico from Europe from Asia I'm from Africa and from America, of course here in Europe right now. It's afternoon, of course in US for you It's just morning In Asia people are probably going to bed soon and and wherever you are watching us from we believe that distance is not a barrier For God Almighty to touch your case today. I want to take you quickly to the book of Matthew chapter 8 There's a wonderful scripture. I just want to read for you. I hope it will encourage you before we jump into the message today Matthew chapter 8 And it's when Jesus heals the centurion's servant the Bible says That the centurion in verse 8 Jesus said in verse 7 I will come and heal your servant Mine in verse 8 the centurion answered and said Lord I am not worthy that you should come under my roof But only speak a word and my servant will be healed the centurion here demonstrated an Absolute faith in the omnipresence of the Holy Spirit He believed that wherever his servant was Jesus Christ could heal him right where he was and Jesus in turn answered and said that he had not seen such faith Anywhere in Israel. I believe that today your faith in the omnipresence of God Almighty is gonna Heal you Jesus Christ is gonna see you and he will reward you for your faith in Jesus mighty name We believe the distance is not a barrier. So just being faith and be expecting Jesus Christ really touch your case today Something's gonna happen. You will not remain the same in Jesus mighty name Right now. Let us position ourselves for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Let us pray Holy Spirit We thank you For technology through technology. We are able to be gathered in your name today And your Bible says that when two or three gathering your name you are in their midst Lord. We pray that you will Do something special today Lord Heal those that need healing today Lord. We pray that you will break bondages for those who are sitting in oppression That are watching the screen right now Thank you Lord for your healing touch. There's gonna meet them today headaches are gonna go away Neck pains are gonna go away wherever you are sitting and watching us today I believe that Jesus Christ has made you to tune into this live stream for a purpose He's gonna meet you today in Jesus name wherever you are sitting right now in your living room your tears Jesus Christ sees your tear if you're lying in bed with your silent prayers Jesus Christ hears them and he is ready right now. He's only a moment away. He's telling you today. Just Keep praying just hold your faith. I'm only a moment away to meet you at the point of your need I want to encourage you today keep your faith high in Jesus mighty name Today I want to talk about something that I believe that we are all able to relate to to some degree Due to the circumstances that we are facing right now. Many of us are in quarantine We are not able to go out and we are not able to to do our Normal day-to-day life and we are continuing the sermon series today on on the wild in quarantine And some of us that are watching we may be able to to identify in different areas I mean corona and and the situation that we are facing is the most immediate one But many of us have other circumstances that they can also identify I want to encourage you today in Jesus mighty name Lord I pray that you will use my voice to speak to people today Lord I pray that just for that one or those two people that really need to hear this message May just touch them today Lord. Maybe it's more Lord even I pray that you will touch us today Lord In Jesus mighty name the title of my message today and I have to admit it's it's a little bit strange to be talking to the To the screen like this and not having any response from people, you know People use the clap hands when they're excited. So I I kind of just have to Imagine when you are excited and I hope that we are in one accord through the Holy Spirit today and The title of my message today is something interesting And I'm just gonna throw it out there and then I'm gonna share a quick story with you The title of my message today is called striking the colors Striking the colors some of us may have heard this term before Most of us probably haven't heard it and I'm gonna go through just in a few minutes What striking the colors mean but before them I want to share just a little bit on my personal experience I don't know if you know much about my story. I'm my name is Rick I'm married to Brittany in the church here and and About seven months ago something happened in our life that drastically changed What how we perceived our day-to-day life? I traveled to Canada to meet with an old friend and when I came back to USA I was denied entry back into the United States and they said that I have to go back to my country Sweden and wait For my green card to be ready. So here I am seven months later And it's been a really tough time for me and Brittany. We have only met we met twice She's traveled here twice in the past seven months So we met for a couple of weeks and and as a newly wed, it's not an easy situation I do not wish this upon anyone but through it all God Almighty has really been teaching us He's been strengthening us and we believe that what the devil meant for evil God Almighty will turn around for good It was really in the midst of this where I was I was kind of asking God pretty severely Some months back and I was asking God why? Why why did you let this happen to us of all people? Can't you see that we have already paid some degree of a price? Why is this happening to us and and God begin to tell me that? the only purpose that the devil Makes us go through things Whatever it may be it may be temptation sickness rejection isolation whatever attacks Conflictions or adversity that you may go through the purpose of it is for you To surrender your faith There is nothing more valuable. There's nothing more precious than your faith in Jesus Christ and as the devil plans for us to strike the colors Jesus Christ has a different purpose for us. So I realized some months back that wow I feel like this is really a big temptation or a big situation that The devil wanted me to strike the colors But glory be to God Almighty God Almighty has a plan for he had a plan for my situation He has a plan for your situation and he's gonna turn your Situation around there is a purpose for everything that we face It doesn't just happen because we're unlucky. It doesn't just happen because the devil is The ruler of this world. No, it happens because we are children of God The devil wants us to surrender our faith, but God Almighty has a better plan for it Striking the colors striking the colors and I'm reading from my notes here From the online dictionary It says that striking the colors is a military term which means to lower your flag in Surrender striking the colors meaning lowering the flag that's Signific that signifies our ships or garrisons allegiance is a personally recognized indication of surrender particularly for ships at sea so back in the days when Naval warfare was more common where you would have ships Representing this country and ships representing this country They would go to seas and they would have their cannons and they would shoot at each other the moment that a ship Lowers its its flag. It means that it has now Officially surrendered to the enemy that means that the enemy now has legal right and ownership over That ship That is the meaning of striking the colors Hallelujah and Striking the colors means that you lower your flag Lower your flag in surrender to the enemy, and I just want to tell you that as us as Christians when when I Say striking the colors lowering the flag our flag in this particular parable Is our faith in? Jesus Christ our flag is our faith in Jesus Christ It is by our faith that we are known by people People see your faith people hear your faith, and they know Okay, this person has sworn Allegiance to Jesus Christ, and that is why it is our faith that the devil wants to take Wants to destroy wants to bring up down in our lives The devil may be attacking us one way today and another way tomorrow But I want to let you know as long as you're receiving attack It's a sign that your faith is still making noise Let me tell you the moment that your the enemy stops attacking you that means that there's nothing He is afraid of in you So if you feel like you're being very attacked by the enemy if you feel like there's a lot of negative Circumstances and situations that is happening to you if you feel like you're being tempted beyond measure Let me tell you that attack is a sign that you have not surrendered the moment that a ship Surrenders the attacks would stop because now the enemy has legal rights over that ship so attacks is actually a sign that you are Still Disturbing the enemy the moment that you are not Experiencing attack you are not experiencing adversity. You are not experiencing enticement temptation and and issues that that seems to conflict with your faith That's when you should be worried if someone is living on a beautiful peaceful life There's no attacks. Everything is just good. You need to look at where your faith is Is it high up? Shining above anything else in your life, or is your faith being lowered gradually in your life? Attacks is the very sign that you have not surrendered So please be encouraged if you are facing difficult situations difficult circumstances God Almighty sees you and the devil sees you and he's trying to rub you of your faith Remember what I said it is only when you lower your flag That the enemy can enter your ship The devil can never board your ship Until you lower your flag as long as you're keeping your flag up as long as you are Declaring your faith in the name of Jesus as long as you are standing through the pain the difficulties the sickness God Almighty Has control over your situation and as long as you're doing that the devil can never board your ship I want to go through briefly here today. There are three different Situations and I want to go through this and the reason why I want to share this is I want to really expose Some of the things that the devil is Using to attack us as children of God so that when we see it We can know that all this is nothing else than the plots and the vices of the enemy And I do not need to worry. I do not need to feel afraid I don't need to be discouraged by the enemy because I know that I am Victorious as long as I keep my faith up in the name of Jesus So I want you to take some notes here if you're interested in this. There is three different areas in which the enemy Tries to get us to strike the colors to lower our flag to surrender our faith and Number one is I'm gonna read it right here He tries through Adversity number one. He tries through Adversity this can be sickness long-term sickness Short-term sickness. It can be that someone has passed away in your family It can be that you have lost your job. It can be divorce It can be rebellious children. It can be other financial situations difficulties hardship Adversity the devil tries Through adversity and the purpose of this is that he wants us to surrender our flag in submission to an overwhelming enemy He wants us to surrender our flag in submission to an overwhelming Enemy that is the first way that the devil tries to attack us The second area that the devil tries he tries through Enticement This can be moral compromise. It can be falling into sin. It involves your weaknesses your Temptations things that Conflict with your faith things that cause you to feel guilty Things that makes you to look at the world instead of God Almighty one example is in the book of Genesis 25 where Jacob offered a bowl of soup in Trade for isos birthright This is a perfect example where iso Chose to willingly hand over his flag in trade for temporary pleasure This is an area that many of us as Christians are struggling with Temptations to moral compromise and circumstances that cause us to simply trade it for temporary pleasure The third area in which the devil tries to attack us To strike us to get us to lower our flag is enmity number one adversity number two enticement number three enmity enmity is Basically when you are experiencing bitterness or anger towards God Where you feel like God has not done what he promised he would do to you Maybe you feel like it's taking too long for him to answer Maybe in fact, you're struggling to believe if he even exists. I Feel like this is an area That the devil is striking many when you go through the different areas Maybe you have faced a lot of adversity Maybe the adversity causes you to go into enticement and maybe as a result of enticement You gain enmity towards the enemy. The enemy has struck in every area to try to steal your faith from you So if you're feeling bitterness towards God Anger for how he could let certain things happen to you to your family To your friends Maybe you have a family member that have passed away. Maybe there are tragic Accident that happened in your family. Maybe there is someone who's chronically sick in you in your family Or maybe you are the one experiencing that and you feel that bitterness and anger towards God God if you exist, how could you allow this to happen to me? God, how could you allow such? Situations to happen to me God you better prove yourself or I'm turning away from you You have never done anything for me God. You have never done you have never blessed me You have never treated me in any special way God. I'm beginning to doubt if you even exist Let me tell you that this is one of the areas the strongest areas where the devil Tries to attack us to steal our faith and what he tries to do through enmity He tries to make us throw away our flag Believing that it can do nothing for us These are three main areas and I believe as you are watching today You know the area in which you may be struggling. Maybe it's adversity today Where the devil is trying to get you to surrender in? Submission to an overwhelming enemy Maybe it's enticement Where you feel like the devil is trying to get you to trade to willingly trade your flag for Temporary pleasure, maybe you feel like you already have in some areas of your life Or maybe it's enmity today where the enemy is trying to get you to throw away your faith Throw it away believing that your faith can do nothing for you I want to tell you the fact that you are facing attacks is a sign that there is still hope for you If you face no attacks Then it's dangerous But if you are facing hardships today, if you are facing adversity today If you are facing enticement today, I want to encourage you with the book of second Corinthians And we are getting towards the end of the message now 2nd Corinthians chapter 11. This is Apostle Paul from verse 22 2nd Corinthians 11 verse 22 Apostle Paul he says that he's speaking like a foolish man here. He says are they Hebrews so am I are they Israelites so am I are they the seed of Abraham so am I are they ministers of Christ I speak as a fool I am more in labors more abundant in stripes above measure in prisons more frequently in deaths often From the Jews five times are received 40 stripes minus one three times I was beaten with rods once I was stoned. Let me tell you stoning They don't throw pebbles at you Stoning is an execution method Surviving and execution is a miracle many people don't realize how miraculous a life the Apostle Paul was living Many people don't realize how miraculous a life you are living That you survive that situation that you wouldn't have survived that you got out alive That you are still alive and breathing even though the doctor says you shouldn't When you're still sticking together With your significant other even though it feels like the love is gone When you are going through horde ship doubts Feeling distant from God Almighty, and you think that that's just life God Almighty is Working miracles in your life, and I want to encourage you finally in the medieval times In the medieval times I'm looking where I can drop my Bible for a minute in the medieval times when people went out for war there was always a flag Bearer the flag bearer other people would ride on horses with their swords and their Lances and all kind of stuff There would be one flag bearer this flag bearer would have no weapon He would not be able to protect himself if someone attacked him on the battlefield, but he's so Responsibility was to keep the flag of their allegiance up high So that everyone who were fighting could see the flag up in the sky and they knew as long as the flag Was up in the sky it was something still worth fighting for it was still worth battling for Because that flag gave them hope. I want to tell you today Your flag is giving people hope your flag is the sign that Jesus Christ lives and he never said goodbye The devil will try to bring that flag down don't ever Surrender to that enemy Attacks are coming. You may even be facing it right now. It is the sign that your flag is still up high I want to tell you right now and encourage you keep your flag up in the name of Jesus Keep your flag up through the hardship Keep your flag up through the difficulties through that pain where it seems like you're alone in the battlefield Let me tell you as you're holding your flag up. You are encouraging the hosts of heaven They are coming your way to set you free to heal you to deliver you and to break that bondage I want to end with In in the Bible, there's a place in Acts Exeter 17. After this I promise you I'm gonna be done In Exeter 17 verse 11, I really hope you're getting something from this message brothers and sisters I'm as I'm preaching to you I'm preaching to myself because all what I'm talking about. I have experienced it the last few months I really felt so discouraged. I felt like I was in the battlefield alone and all I had was a flag No way to defend myself, but Jesus Christ has promised as you and I keep our flag up Even in the midst of adversity in the midst of temptation or even maybe enmity The sense of feeling distant or or being an enemy of Jesus Christ He's coming for you because he never Leaves a soldier in the battlefield. You may feel wounded today. You may feel like you're alone He's coming for you and I want to encourage you. Don't give up your faith Your faith is the only thing that connects you with Jesus Christ He doesn't care where you're coming from your name where you're born or your Circumstances, he only cares about your flag because that is what shows that shows that you belong to him In the book of Exeter 17 verse 11 The the Israelites were fighting against the Amalekites and Joshua went out to fight against the Amalekites But Moses got an instruction from God Almighty and I'm reading from verse 11. And so it was When Moses held up his hand that Israel prevailed and when he let down his hand Amalek prevailed and so it was But sorry verse 12, but Moses hands became heavy He was dropping his hands. He was holding them up and as long as he held them up The armies of Israel were winning the battle, but his arms got heavy He started dropping down his arms and it says So they took a stone and put him under it and put it under him and he sat on it and Aaron and her Supported his hand one on one side and the other on the other side and his hands were steady Until they're going down of the Sun So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword I want to tell you today You are Aaron to the people around you never you believe that you are called only to hold up your own flag as Christians we are called to go out there see your friends and family those that nobody else notices notice their faith Encourage their faith help them to hold their hands up because as Moses was holding his hands up physically He was holding his flag up in the spirit. I want to encourage you today Make sure that you are a flag bearer for Jesus make sure that you are lifting up the arms of people around you God bless you today God Almighty will meet you today In Jesus mighty name, Lord. I just pray for every single person under the influence of this video right now I pray that you will bless them right now where they are those that are feeling sickness Pain in their body. Maybe they have difficulties in breathing difficulties in getting up from the chair Lighting down in the bed. I pray for your healing power right now in the name of Jesus Christ If you are feeling like you're lonely Jesus Christ is with you right there right now and he's ready Just open your mouth and pray right now and ask him to come and help you He's only a moment away. All he needs to see is that flag. Oh, yes This one belongs to me. Oh God, I pray right now that you will break bondages right now People that are struggling from joblessness. I pray that you will give new opportunities in jobs God bless them right now Bless them with new ideas right now. I pray for your deliverance power right now Those that feel like they're under the yoke of affliction Those that feel that they are under the bondage of evil spirits I break it right now in the name of Jesus. I break it right now in the name of Jesus You demon I command you be broken in their lives in the name of Jesus Come out of the body in the name of Jesus in Jesus mighty name. We pray in Jesus mighty name. We pray in Jesus mighty name God bless you and see you soon in the presence of God. Thank you