 Today, church, I want to preach on the subject of one life. Now, as I begin to pray for this sermon, as I begin to ask God, God, what do you want me to pray? One day, while I was at work, this phrase began to go through my mind, one life, one life, one God, one spirit, one chance, one test, one God, one opportunity. And as I began to think about it, I was like, oh, maybe. I wanted to preach about something that'll go viral in some of my breakthrough, draws and tribulations, something that all the popular preachers are talking about now. I wanted to preach something on that because, you know, everyone can relate to it, everyone hears that, and I wanted to go viral, not gonna lie. But God wanted to preach something, it is not what's on my heart, I believe it is what's on God's heart. As I was praying that night, if God really wanted me to preach that sermon, I began to pray that night. I usually pray in the back where the soundboard is, and I pray back and forth. I never pray upfront, but I began to, you know, go up to the front. And as I was walking, I was walking over there and I saw a Bible. I was not looking at the Bible, I was looking at the stage. And when I was looking at the stage, I saw a Bible lit up right next to me, and I looked at that Bible and it said Ephesians chapter four. Didn't think much of it at the time. I went on the stage, I prayed for it. Pray for the sermon. God, this is what you really want me to do, I'll do it. And then I went back and prayed some more in the back. And Ephesians chapter four, Ephesians chapter four, I was like, man, what does that say? So I looked at Ephesians chapter four and that phrase over and over, one life, one life, one God. And Ephesians chapter four verse four through six, for there is one body and one spirit just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all in all and living through you all. And if that doesn't want to make you shout, then I don't know what we'll, if God's some glory. She got that, but they shake it. Now, one Wednesday service, after Wednesday service, I began to talk to brother Larry. And I'm sure many of you know who he is. I don't know if he's here today, but I began to talk to brother Larry. And by the way, Wednesday services are so, so, I can't even describe how God is moving in our Wednesday services. If you would have told me three years ago that I would be seeing, that we're seeing healings that I would be seeing deliverances that I would be seeing God manifest his power that I would see the evidence of the greatness of God. I would have told you, joking, you must be crazy. You're lying to me, but we are truly seeing the power of God being manifested. Somebody give God some praise. Sorry, I'm making you praise God so much, my bad. And I was talking to brother Larry and we began to talk and you know, Jacob, all these kids, you know, are on this phone addicted to the phone and on that tic-tac or tic-tac or whatever the heck it's called in. And he began to say, all these kids are, you know, on the phones, you know, even in the churches. But he told me, you guys are so blessed to have a church like Hungry Generation. You are so blessed to be raised by the leadership here. And I'm so thankful. And I truly believe that I am so, so, so blessed because of my pastors who poured into me, who gave me wisdom and guidance. Pastor Martin, Pastor Vasili, Pastor Ilya, and Pastor Vlad and newly ordained pastor Zach, come on somebody. And I am so, so grateful of this church. That wasn't a point of the story, but I'm getting to it. And he began to say to me, you know what, Jacob, if I could live my life one more time, if I could push a restart button and I would start at birth, I would live my life for Jesus. He said, no, Brother Larry, I think he's 72, 73 years old. And he said, if I could live my life one more time, I would do it for Jesus. Now, if you don't know Brother Larry, if you don't know his story, at the age of 17, he started drinking, he started smoking, and he started sleeping around, he started partying. And for 11 years, somebody say 11 years, he was a captive to addiction. He was a captive to sin. He was a captive to the devil. But in 1983, the power of God transformed his life. The power of God encountered him. And he was forever changed. He was free from every addiction. And since 1983, Brother Larry has been serving the Lord with all his heart. Thankful for Brother Larry. If you're watching this, Brother Larry, if you're here, oh, I think he's right there. Thank you, Brother Larry. And I began to realize that Brother Larry had tasted the two sides. Brother Larry has tasted sin, and he has also tasted God. Brother Larry has lived in darkness, and he has also lived in light. Brother Larry has seen and heard the things that the devil can offer. For 11 years, for a full decade and some change, for 11 years, Brother Larry was a captive, was a slave in a jail cell. For no hope, no future. But God encountered him, and he tasted both sides. He knew what the devil could give him, and he knew what God can give him. But I want to tell you today that he's tasted both sides. And he said, it tastes better to serve Jesus. It tastes better to live for God. It tastes better to serve the great God Almighty. The devil's not going to give me what I desire. Jesus is going to give me what I desire. The devil's not going to give me an eternal life. Jesus is going to give me an eternal life. I want to tell you today, church, you only have one life. You only have one God. And you only have one opportunity to live for Jesus. Life is like a test. Once it's over, pencils down. The tests are in the teacher's hands. You're not going to say, hey, teacher, hold on, one more time. I know I messed up on question number two, and I need to fix that real quick. The teacher said, no, you had your time. You had the opportunity to answer that question. You had your opportunity to study. And the teacher will say, I'm going to grade your test based on your answers now. There's no time for changing answers. There's no more time to switch the answers, to fill in the other bubble instead of putting A, you put B. God's going to grade your test. And depending on how we live our life here on earth, God's going to grade our test. God's going to, when we go on judgment day, we will either hear one of two things, good and faithful servant you make to the kingdom of heaven, or which I believe and I hope that none of us here will hear this from the words, from the mouth of God. Depart from me, I never knew you. And we will have what is made for us, which is the second death, which is the lake of fire. Now, a lot of people say that, how could God do that to me? I had a broken family, I had addictions, and how could God reject me? Hell is not a place where God rejected you. Hell is a place where you rejected God. Hell is a place where, you know what, I decided to live by my own precepts. I decided to live by my own rules and regulations. And because of that, hell is your portion. But I want to tell you today, church, here is the good news. John 3.16 says, for who God gave his only begotten son, for whoever believes in him, shall have eternal everlasting life. That is the good news that we have as a body of Christ. That is the good news that we have as believers, that whoever believes in him, shall have everlasting life. If we deny God here on earth, in front of man, the Bible says that he will deny us in front of his heavenly father. Denying Jesus is not all the time gonna be like Peter, where they ask him, hey, are you with them? Are you with Jesus? Are you a disciple? He said, no, three times. Many times it's not gonna be like that. Many times it's gonna be hidden. Many times the sin we commit is denying Jesus. It's not always gonna be, are you a Christian? You're like, oh no, I'm not a Christian. No, but it's always something. Devil will not do that. That's not how a devil works nowadays. Devil will work as, hey, you wanna go smoke some weed. We're denying Jesus. Hey, you wanna go look at this website. No, you're denying Jesus. You wanna go sin? You wanna go hang out with that girl, that guy? You wanna go smoke some drugs and drink alcohol? That is denying Jesus. Living by the flesh is denying Jesus. Now, Jacob, you've made all this point of why we should serve God. You made all this things, if I'm gonna go to heaven or hell. But how do we live a life? I'll tell you right now, sir, we can, we are equipped with things that we must do every single day as a believer, as a Christian. The Bible says whoever wants to save his life must lose it. How do we lose our life? Point number one, live out of your connection to God. Someone can help me with this power cord over here. Everybody just start praying in tongues, just kidding. Because of the cross, I wanna tell you something. There's a verse in Galatians 2.20. It says, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith. Somebody say faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. So Jesus, because of the cross, it is nothing that we can do to access the power. It is nothing that we can do to access forgiveness. It is nothing that we've done. The Bible says we were once enemies of Jesus. But because of the cross, because he shed his blood for us, we may now have his full power. We may now have this full healing. Like Danny said, he does not wanna just heal one portion of your body. He wants to heal you completely inside and out. Now I believe that Christ lives in us. Christ lives in me, Christ lives in you. Those people in the back and you on the front. Christ lives in us. But if we do not pray, if we do not read the Bible, those powers, those gifts, those miracle signs and wonders will not manifest. It is a gift, it is our portion, but it will not manifest unless we pray. And prayer is like the nervous system. Prayer to the Christian is like the nervous system to the body, what the nervous system does. I have my arm right here. I don't expect my arm to move on its own. I don't expect my arm to lift weights on its own. I don't expect my arm to play piano on its own. I don't expect my arm to lift things up, to pull things down, to build things, to destroy things. My brain will send signals on my decision. My brain will send signals to the muscle so that I can move, so that I can twist it around, so that I can do it up and down, so that I can play piano, so I can play football. The signals is what helps the arm move. The nervous system, I'm allowed to jump, I'm allowed to dance, I'm allowed to scream and shout because signals, I'm allowed to speak right now because signals are sending all throughout my body to the muscles, to the bones. The nervous system is sending signals. My brain is sending signals. The prayer is your signal sent to the situation. You will not have circumstances, trials and tribulations, storms turn around if you do not pray. Your prayer is a signal, hey, I command you in the name of Jesus, every sickness come out of my body. I command you in the name of Jesus, every Satan, every depression, every suicide. In the name of Jesus, I cast you out. The prayer language is a signal sent to situations, to trials, to storms, to certain circumstances where it is contrary to what heaven has. It is contrary to what the word of God says. Now prayer connects. Oh, hopefully it turns on, praise Jesus. Come on, sorry cameras if that's too bright. I don't know. Prayer is what allows the power to flow. Come on somebody, prayer is what sends signals. Prayer is what allows the power to flow. Jesus is connected to God. Jesus is connected to us. But if we do not pray, we will not receive the manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit Church. I wanna tell you today, there is power in your prayer. The Bible says life and death is held between the mouth of the believer. It's gonna ruin my analogy if I just keep it on. Prayer is powerful. John Wesley said, man cannot without God and God will not without man. Let me say that one more time. Man cannot without God and God will not without man. It's not that God is unable to be connected to you. It's not that we are connected. It's not that God is unable to work miracle signs and wonders, but the question is, are you able to pray? The, I think John Wesley said again, that God will do nothing on this earth unless man prays. God will do nothing. God will transform nothing. God will never turn anything around. Unless the believer prays, the devil cannot stop God's power from operating in your life. The devil cannot destroy. The devil cannot malfunction. The devil cannot manipulate God's power in your life. The devil cannot turn around, cannot block the God's power in your life. But the devil will try everything that is in him from stopping you from prayer. The devil will try everything, every planet, every scheme, every weapon that is trying to form against you. He is trying to stop you from praying. He is trying to stop me. Why do you think you have thoughts like, I'm too tired, I'm too busy? The devil is saying, I don't want you to pray because demons will be cast out. I don't want you to pray because sicknesses will leave. I don't want you to pray because the loss will be saved. I don't want you to pray because God's power will reign in your life. That's why we need to pray. We need to pray because we will see the manifestation of God. You see, Elijah, he was a man. The Bible says he was like me and you. He was a flesh and blood. He was not special. He did not have diamonds, he did not levitate anywhere. He walked as a human being. But the Bible says that he saw the supernatural. He saw miracle signs and wonders. He saw the evidence of the greatness of God. Why? Because the Bible said he fervently prayed a normal human being, a normal Christian that if you pray, you will see the supernatural working in your life. You will see the power of God working in your life. And there's a quote that I found. It's a Christian who does not pray. It's like the prince in beggars clothes who stands inches from his father's throne but does not ask. I want to tell you, church, if we do not pray, we are involuntarily subject to a life of a beggar. We will go always from deliverance to deliverance instead of walking in dominion. We will always go from sickness to sickness instead of walking in healing. If you pray, 1st John 5, 14 through 15, now this is the good news. Now this is a confidence that we have in him. I want to tell you that you can have confidence in God of heaven. You can have confidence in Jehovah Jireh. The Bible says, now this is a confidence that we have in him. That if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we ask of him. You will have the petitions that you ask of God according to his will, but what is his will? How do we find out the will? How do we know Jesus? How can we please Jesus? How can we pray to Jesus? Well, I want to tell you, the only way you can know Jesus is through the word of God. The word of God was not meant to be only memorized. You see, it was meant to be memorized as well. The Bible says that I have hidden your word in my heart that I may not sin. We are meant to memorize, but not only memorize. The Bible says that you will deceive yourselves if you only hear and not do the word of God. Now, we will know the word of God by reading the word of God. Some of you say, how can I be a good Christian? How can I be a good businessman? You go to the word of God. How can I be a good husband? You go to the word of God. Well, how can I be a good father? You go to the greatest father who gave you instructions in this book, the Bible will direct you. The Bible will guide you. It is not something to be as a check mark. It is something to live upon. The Bible says the wise men build their life upon the foundation of the rock, but the foolish men build their life on the sand that when storms, that when tribulations come, that when problems come your way, that when come on somebody, lockdown comes your way. You will sin firmer on the rock of God. You will sin firmer on the rock of God. The Bible says that everything that I touch will prosper. We must read the word of God. Let the word of God be the foundation of your life. And there's this quote that I heard. What is more important? Praying or reading the Bible? Well, I want to tell you what is more important? Breathing in or breathing out? What is more important? Breathing in or breathing out? They are equally both so, so important. See, the Bible is not only something because the Pharisees memorized the Bible. You could put a nail through the Bible and they could know which words that the nail punctured, but they still failed to see who God was. They were still failed to see who God truly was. He was a son of God, but they called him a teacher. The Bible says there was a woman who came to Jesus with the alabaster oil anointed him and did all these things. But the Pharisees said, if only he knew who that woman was, but if only they knew who Jesus was, they did not even know who God was. Though they memorized all the scripture, they did not know who God was. Here's an example. Say, God forbid a man kills another man. And in the court of law, he's guilty. And the judge says, how do you plead? What's your defense? He says, well, I memorized that I shouldn't kill anybody. I talked to some of my friends that it's not right to kill anybody, but you still killed someone. That is not living. Just memorizing the word of God is not enough. We have to live and build our life on the word of God. Now I want to tell you some good news. Jeremiah 17.5, it says, thus saith the Lord curses. Well, good news starting off with curses, Lord, but I'll get to the good news right now. Jeremiah 17.5, it says, thus saith the Lord. Curse is a man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord. Jeremiah 17.7 through 8 says, bless is a man who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is in the Lord, for he shall be like a tree planted by the waters which spreads out its roots by the river and will not fear when heat comes. But its leaf will be green and will not anxious in the year of drought nor will cease from yielding fruit. Now in this time of lockdown, you will not cease from yielding fruit. Why? Because you build your life on the word of God. You trust in what God says. Your leaves will not turn greener. You will not go dry it. You will not live in poverty. Why? Because the word of God says he is our provider. He is Jehovah Jireh. He's the God of Abraham. Isaac and Jacob. Somebody shout out hallelujah in this place. Point number two, turn on the switch. Truly, truly in John 12, 24 says, truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. The best thing that you can do for your life is to die to yourself. It's kind of like an oxymoron, like jumbo shrimp. It's the best thing you can do for your life. The best thing you can do for your life. The best way to save your life is to lose it, the Bible says. And to deny yourself is not to deny, many people think, I can't have any more fun. No more friends. I can't hang out with people anymore. Spent all my time with God. Can't be rich. I can't have the dreams that I want. No, you're not rejecting fun. You're not rejecting, you're not rejecting a good time. With God is the best time. Let me tell you somebody, during worship, I had the best time that I ever had in my 18 years of life. With God is the best thing you can do for your life. Surrendering, denying yourself is the best thing. Now if you die, you will produce much fruit. The Bible says denying yourself is denying sin. Denying yourself is denying depression. Denying yourself is denying addiction. Denying yourself is denying what the world has to offer. You see, many people think, I can't really deny myself. It's so easy for you because you're on the pulpit. And no, the Bible says the grace of God does not empower us to sin more. God forgives by his grace and his mercy. Yes, it is true. God has mercy. Yes, it is true. He has grace upon our life. But that grace, that mercy, that forgiveness was not meant for you to sin more. It was meant for you to be empowered to not sin, to reject the devil, to say, you know what? I'm not gonna do this today. I'm gonna be in the Word of God. I'm not gonna smoke weed anymore. I'm gonna live a holy and pure life. That is denying yourself. First John 4-4, it says, little children, you are from God. You have overcome them. For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. I wanna tell you, church, the person, the greatest example that we can see is self-denial is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. He came here for 30 plus years. The Bible says, as a ransom to pay for your sins. He got whipped on his back, numerous whips. He got beat until he was unrecognizable. He was rejected by his own disciples. God came on this earth to pay for your sin, to overcome the world. And because he overcome the world, we can overcome sin. We can overcome addiction. We can overcome hell. We can overcome the devil. We can overcome the Bible says that I can trample on snakes and scorpions. I can trample on every demon. I can trample on every power of darkness that tries to come against me. No weapons may be formed against you. They will not prosper. Somebody say with me, they will not prosper. One more time, they will not prosper in the name of Jesus Christ. You are not struggling. This is what set me free personally from sin. You do not struggle with sin. Sin is not your portion. Addiction is not your portion. I wanna declare over every single person in this room, sin is not your portion. You do not struggle with sin. You do not struggle with addiction. You do not struggle with alcohol and drugs. You do not struggle with women. You do not struggle with manner. You do not struggle with things of the world because greater is he that lives in you. Not who is dead in you, who lives inside of you. That's how we can overcome Jesus. That who we... I was about to say that's how we can overcome Jesus. Lord, have mercy on my soul. That's turning on the switch. Saying, is it dark? Yeah, it is dark. So saying no to darkness, saying yes to light. Sorry for those in the front row. And point number three is shine. Now, doesn't being connected in prayer and Bible reading denying yourself, isn't that the will of God? Yes, but the Bible also says, to go into the nations, making disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God did not call us. I wanna tell you church, I want you to hear this clearly. God did not call you just to go into your houses and isolate yourself. God called you to go into the nations. Go to your family and preach the gospel. Go to your school and preach the gospel. Go to your friends and preach the gospel. Unashamedly and boldly, the Bible says, my miracles will accompany your words. As you preach the word of God, miracles will begin to flow. The power of God will begin to flow out of you. And God called us to shine. The Bible says that we are the salt of the earth. We are the light, a city upon the hill. You may be the only Jesus that a person can hear. You may be the only Jesus that a person can see. You may be the only Jesus that a person has. You may be the only person that a Jesus can experience. You may be the only Jesus a person can experience. Come on somebody. Chippin' all my words over here. Now, there's a man named Mordecai. And he was telling Esther, he sacrificed her life. There's a king out there who is trying to, wait a second, who is trying to kill all the Jews, trying to kill your people. Now, Mordecai was telling Esther, you need to do something about this. You need to sacrifice your life for the good of the people. Now, our life was not meant to be just based on our own precepts, based on our own wills, based on our own emotions. The Bible says, the passions and desires is crucified with cross on the cross. Yes, it is good to pray. Yes, it is good to read the Bible. But we have all this information. We have all this wisdom inside of us. But if we do not share it, it may cost some lives. And if you do not share it, God will use another light bulb. God will replace you. The Bible says, if you do not do it, salvation will come from another camp. Mordecai was telling Esther, salvation will come from another camp. I will raise someone else to do it if you do not want to do it. If you do not answer the call, if you do not preach the gospel, the Bible calls us to preach the gospel, to make disciples, not just to preach it once, but to make disciples. Doing the will of God is not just, hey, God loves you, and then run away from there. You get the number, you get plugged in with them, you stay connected with them, you have a home group with them, you grow together, you learn together, you do life together. That is making a disciple. Now, I turn on the switch. The power is connected, but if you're not plugged in to the purpose of God, you will not shine. If you do not preach the gospel, the gospel will not be preached. I wonder how many lives will still be in church? How many people would still pray? How many people would still read the Bible if our senior pastor, Pastor Vasili, did not answer the call upon his life? Now I think about that often. Well, would I still be here if a man said, no, Jesus, I'm too comfortable where I am? He came all the way from another country to establish a ministry here in America. God called him here. Though he was struggling, though he did not have a building yet, he still said yes to the call of God. And look what's around you. Look at this building. Look at the lights. Look at the people around you to the left and your right. They are here because a man said, yes, God, I will do your will. I will say yes to the call. I will be a light upon the earth. I will be the salt of the earth. And we cannot shine if we're not plugged in. We cannot shine if we live a selfish life. Bible says for us to be the salt of the earth. The earth is flavorless, but we're meant to be the salt. Salt preserves. Salt saves the flavor. We are meant to be lambs. We are meant to be shining upon this world. I heard this one quote that we are meant to be mirrors reflecting Jesus. Every single way that we walk, every single way that we talk, every single way that we do things, we are meant to reflect Jesus. The way we love, the way we are husbands, the way we are fathers, the way we are friends, the way we are brothers and sisters. We are meant to shine upon the earth, reflecting Jesus. I heard another quote, you are meant to be a painting so that when people see you, they see Jesus. When people see you, they experience the love of God. When people see you, and when you pray, miracles start to happen. Elijah was just a normal man, but because he prayed, because he self-denied, because he did all these things, he began to see the supernatural. And I wanna end with this. In John eight through 12, eight and 12, again, Jesus spoke to them saying, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me, will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. I wanna tell you church, following Jesus was the best decision that I can make, and it's the best decision you can ever make. Following Jesus, giving your life completely surrendered to God, is the best decision you can do for your life. Well, hold on. You may say, you know, the Bible says that though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, but there's a difference between these two words. One says I will walk through the valley, and one will says I will walk in light. You will walk, you may sometimes, here's an example, here's just two rooms, pretend there's two rooms, and both of them are lit up, but there's a dark hallway. And you have to walk through that hallway. You're not walking in darkness. You're walking through darkness from light to light. Following Jesus is not gonna be the easiest thing in the world. Following Jesus is gonna take some cutting off of people. Following Jesus is gonna hurt sometimes, but in the end, you're gonna walk from glory to glory. The Bible says that he will delete you and guide you into victory. He will prosper you. He will prosper your marriage. He will prosper your kids. He will prosper your businesses. He will prosper your health. He will prosper your life. You will be walking from victory to victory. You will be walking in the light of the world. You will walking and you will shine upon the earth because you follow Jesus. Everybody standing me, the worship team come up real quick. I want to encourage you guys, follow Jesus. No matter what happens, follow Jesus. No matter what you're going through, follow Jesus. The Bible says that there was a Samaritan village that rejected Jesus. Now I pray and I hope that none of us will be like this village. And the disciple says, hey, should we cast fire upon them? Jesus said, no, I came not to destroy but to save. Jesus did not come to destroy your life. Jesus does not want to make anything fail. The Bible says he called us to have a life and life more abundantly. God of heaven does not want to see you fail. He loves blessing you. He loves talking with you. He loves being there with you every second of the day. He loves you. He cares for you. But the Samaritan village rejected Jesus and they were not able to experience Jesus because they rejected him, because they didn't want him in their land. They were not able to because in that time when Jesus was on earth, as he was walking around, he was performing miracle signs and wonders. Let me tell you church, the lepers were cleanser. The blind could see the dead were raised to life. The deaf could hear the poor had the gospel preached to them because people accepted him.