 God is good and all the time. Amen. There's no better place to be on Wednesday night than a hungry generation. The rumor has it that most of us, most people call us young generation. We'll take that as well. Amen. And even when we are age is gonna get older, we're still gonna be a hungry young generation. Can somebody say amen? We always welcome everybody here, even those of us who are older than the rest of us. The only requirement is you got to be young and hard. So if you're young and hard, you're welcome. Amen. And so is everybody else. We thank God for this wonderful day that we have in today and I'm so excited for next Wednesday. I'm so excited we're having usually a special once a month service on Wednesday night where we just invite a friend or 20 to the service and we just expect we have food afterwards, we have some videos, some little bit more exciting things like tonight also. But the most important is that we want to really kind of stretch our faith and do our part as believers to tell other people about Jesus. You must understand everything you're living for is gonna be gone. Do you have a car that your grandparents drove? You were like, they didn't have a car. A horse perhaps. Is their house still standing? Most of us here do not even have our great-grandparents picture. All of their possessions, all of their clothes, everything they worked for every morning till evening is nowhere to be found. This is only 50 years later. We're not talking about 200 years. 40 years later and everything you work for, your empire, you become maybe a billionaire and millionaire, maybe your name is gonna be on the news and everywhere, you're gone and it's gone. That is why we don't want to use the church to build our kingdom. We want to use our lives to build his kingdom which was here before we were here and will be here when we're gonna be gone. And the Bible says everything that can be shaken will be shaken so that the things that cannot be shaken will remain. And that which will remain, it's not your name. It's gonna be God's kingdom. And that is why when you look at maybe a lot of times young Christians and you see them pouring their life, witnessing events and saying, guys, you guys don't have a life? We do. We want to live for something Christ died for. If you're a Christian, you call yourself a Christian. It's a status you vote on your Facebook. Do you live for what Jesus died for? Or do you live for something that 40 years later we won't even find a cloth? A piece of garbage that belonged to you. Nothing. No car, no house. Everything's gonna be gone. What a waste of life. Now we have to be responsible. We have to go to school. We have to drive nice cars. We have to live in nice houses so we can host more people for homegrown. And then we have to have a nice car so we can drive people. We have to have all of these things are good but they're not the most important. The most important is that what Jesus died for. Our house is even marriage and I know the young people used to be busy with school. You're probably very busy with the dating life right now. You're very busy with this and that but I want to tell you something. Please come down and make your priority that which Jesus made his priority to come on this earth for. Amen. And only there only then we're gonna make a life that will last for eternity. I have nothing except my grandpa's picture from my grandpa in Ukraine but I have his faith. He was a pastor. He was a minister. You know and we went to visit him in Ukraine and you know that faith is what lives on. My great grandpa from my mother's side who was murdered for the cause of the gospel set in jail and then supposedly was dragged tied to the horse and dragged around the village. There's nothing left. I don't have his picture. I don't even know his name but I have his legacy. What will children yet unborn 50 years, 70 years speak about you? It's probably not gonna be your Lexus, Cadillac or Honda Civic. It's not gonna be your diploma award or accolades. Leave a legacy that will be worth celebrating. A legacy of a man and a woman living in integrity, living for God and using everything they can for the cause of the kingdom that will remain even after this earth is done. The kingdom over God. Can somebody say amen? Amen. Let's put our hands together for Jesus Christ. So with that I just want to challenge you guys. Please let's not live for ourselves. Let's live for something bigger and greater and God is gonna reward us. God is gonna help us. He's gonna encourage us and he is gonna make our life better than we could on our own in Jesus name. I will not just read the verse to us today from 1st Kings chapter 20 and verse 28. It says the following and the man of God came near and said to the king of Israel. Thus says the Lord because the Syrians have said the Lord is the God of the hills but he's not the God of the valleys. Therefore I will give all of this great multitude into your hand and you shall know that I am the Lord. Can somebody say amen? We're gonna have a little topic titled victory in the valley. We'll take the story from Matthew chapter 17 as our proof text to learn a few lessons that we can from the times that we may find ourselves in the valley. This verse that we've just read from 1st Kings chapter 20 chronicles a story in the history of Israel when King Ahab whom the Bible says was a really bad king. He had a wife named Jezebel and Jezebel was a pure witch and steroids. She was just a bad really bad woman. She did a lot of witchcraft. She did a lot of nasty things and Ahab was just being dominated by this woman whom even in the future we see that God used people who would do bad things under her name so she was just really bad bad person. And Ahab was not a godly king and this particular time Syrians came against the nation of Israel and a prophet a man of God comes to Ahab and the nation of Israel and he says God is gonna be with you guys and he will give you victory over Syrians but make sure you put the young guys in the front and then you will have victory. So Ahab obeyed God goes in and gets the victory. After the victory Syrians gather together and they have their little console of the Syrians defeated discouraged they're like the reason why we got defeated is because the nation of Israel has a God and their God is the God of the hills. He's the God of mountains. He said let's all repair all of our damage restore all of our soldiers let's get more army and let's fight them in the valley because our gods are the gods of the valley and we will surely defeat them. Before even this console happened God already warned the king Ahab that next year the enemy will come again get ready for them and this is the verse we read right before the battle a prophet of God comes to Ahab and says again he said God has heard that his enemies have said that he is only a God of the mountains and God wanted to make the record straight he is the God of the mountains but he's also God in the valley. Sometimes people refer to God as the God of the good times when you get a promotion a break a child is born you finally get that nice car that you wanted maybe you get saved the depression leaves and you you are on the mountain it's such a beautiful thing and you feel like God is there and it's truly he is there and you scream on the top of your lungs God is good but God wants you to know he is not only God of the mountains he's also God when you are in the valley he's not just the God of the good times he's also God in the bad times he's not just the God of the day he's also God in the night and if you ever wonder when you hit a valley does God even care does God even know my GPS does God even know my coordinates does God even know what's going on God wanted them to win a battle to prove a point I do and I'm not just a God on the top I'm also the God fully God not God mini not God second-class version three but God all of God in the valley my God is the God in the valley and when he is in the valley miracles can happen answers to prayer can happen when he is in the valley changes can happen amen Matthew chapter 17 records a story about Jesus being on the mountain when he was on the mountain with three of his disciples his face was changed he started to shine and this was not a Hollywood effect you know like we see in the movies where a person's face can quickly change this was a real deal where his face started to shine like a son his clothes immediately became really white and this wasn't photoshopped this was real deal he became changed and not only that but the Bible says a voice came from heaven and said this is my son and this also was not amps hidden in the bush this was God and not only that but Moses for Israel Moses is the guy he's the George Washington of Israel he's the founder of that niche he's the man if there was any man you would want to meet it is Moses and he shows up there and not only that but Elijah the prophet the guy who didn't even die he just took a chariot to heaven I mean talk about funeral there is no funeral for this man this man is like just God with God and these two guys appear and Jesus shining and three disciples are dead they're like this is awesome Peters like we're building house here three houses one for Moses one for Elijah and one for Jesus we're not leaving down I know there's nine more disciples down there we don't care about them I know I have a wife and the children there you know what it's okay Aga Moses Elijah and Jesus shining I need nothing else and the Bible says when he said that to build a house there the Bible inserts this little thing says and he did not know what he was saying have you ever had good times and you wanted them to last forever and you don't know what you're saying why no matter how good life gets on earth it will never be heaven the Bible says let kingdom of God come from heaven on earth we want more of Jesus on earth and there will be less hell on earth but still on this earth you will experience mount tops on the mountain tops Jesus will shine certain truth from the Bible will stand out but you must understand no matter how good times get on this earth this earth is not heaven the Bible says we will have tribulations we will have troubles and to expect this earth to be heaven is to go contrary against the Bible so what do we do when the mountain tops don't last what do we do when the good time in this area becomes the bad time in this area you're getting promotion at work but your sickness is increasing you finally getting healthy you're getting your the body always dreamed of working out in that gold zoom 45 minutes a day and you got laid off you finally got that job and that relationship that you were really hoping to go to another level it went to another level but not the level you wanted and you are once again reminded and you will say things like life sucks it does it then it kills you it's not heaven no matter how great it gets it will never be heaven there will be thorns thistles hardships and difficulties the question that I have for you and me what do you do when you come down from the mountain see on the mountain top Moses and Elijah on the bottom of the mountain demons luge people and complainers and this is what we're gonna talk about we're just gonna have three simple truths that I want you to keep in mind what do you do in the valley number one is that Jesus when Jesus's face does not shine he is still all powerful see when Jesus came down from the mountain he stopped shining no more shining face no more really white clothes the clothes became normal they had a little dirt on him they had a little smell on him Jesus's face had wrinkles no longer shining like a son and he became normal yet Jesus did not become weak this normal Jesus spoke to a dead man who was dead for days and the dead man came out of the grave this normal Jesus whose face wasn't shining stood on the waves and he walked on them and he didn't walk on them because he didn't know how to swim he walked in there because he had the power over them this Jesus whose face wasn't shining spoke to a man who had 6,000 demons sometimes you think you got few 6,000 is a lot and the Bible says in an instant they were gone and the man a mentally challenged man was completely restored this Jesus spoke to a man who had a skin infection call leprosy and he spoke a word and the skin infection just like chef dropped on the floor his face wasn't shining sometimes we feel like when Jesus is shining then he is powerful but if I go through the day and I don't feel his presence that means Jesus is weak you don't have to feel Jesus to know and experience a miracle in your life you don't have to feel goosebumps or feel a hallelujah chorus coming out of your lungs for you to be able to trust in the God who made the galaxies disciples realized something Jesus is not only powerful when his face is shining Jesus is also powerful when his garments collect the dust from the streets of Jerusalem Jesus is not only powerful when he is behind Moses and Elijah Jesus is powerful when he's all by himself in a storm he's still very powerful this truth is what I live by when I don't feel Jesus when I feel like hell is breaking loose all around me when things just not go my way and it feels like Jesus is just well not much difference and the moment I remind myself this Jesus heal the sick raise the dead cleanse the lepers cast out demons without his face shining I don't have to wait for goosebumps to experience a miracle from God I can trust in him today and he will meet me at the point of my need because somebody say amen the second truth I want you to keep in mind it's not only when Jesus his face is not shining but what is over your head is under his feet see there was an incident in the Bible when Peter was drowning and Jesus walked over the very sea Peter was being under and it's such a beautiful picture anytime you feel like life is getting over your head and you're losing your grip on reality at that very moment Jesus is not there sinking with you saying hey buddy hang in there I'm with you yes he's with you but on a completely different level Jesus is in you but on a completely different level the very things you might be sinking under he is walking over and because of that he can pull you out Jesus comes down from the mountain and the Bible says his disciples were trying to cast out a demon out of a little boy and they did everything they could put all of their faith to the test and nothing happened they ran out of their resources they came to the end of their abilities but Jesus haven't even started when you are at the end of your rope you're only at the beginning of his power when you run out of your abilities God only starts and his that's why it's so important when you come to the end to realize you have only become to a beginning to make room for supernatural to make room for God to make room for the Holy Spirit when you are weak to make room for God's strength disciples have realized in this story that we are limited we have weakness and knowing that you are weak is not bad sometimes not knowing that you are weak while you are weak is bad because when you know that you are weak it does something to you it opens you up for humility and humility opens you up for God's grace when you come to a point of your life that you recognize you have come to the best of your abilities and you still cannot do it you come to a place of weakness and many of us hate weakness that's why we work out that's why we get degrees that's why we get connections lawyers because we do not want to be vulnerable and weak we want that weakness to be gone but there are certain weakness you cannot remove out of your life a weakness of being a human a weakness of not being a God when you're facing with big challenges and when you come to the end of row when you come to the end of the wall and you realize I've done all I could I cannot do anything else in my strength I'm done at that moment Jesus is coming down from the mountain and he says I haven't done anything yet do I have the permission to get started your weakness can either lead you to sin or it can lead you to humility and humility will open the door for grace and that's exactly what happened their weakness led them to humility Jesus we can't do it Jesus comes in and he begins to show his grace he begins to show his power and he did the rest many times we think like our weakness disqualifies us from God's miracle not realizing our weakness qualifies us for humility and humility opens the door for the grace of God the grace of God and the mercy of God are two most precious components you could ever experience in your life a mercy of God is when God removes what you deserve a grace of God is when God gives you what you don't deserve let me illustrate that to you when you're driving and you are speeding and you get pulled over and the police officer pulls you over and says you were speeding 15 miles in a school zone with some of you know it's a really big fat ticket and the police officer says you know what I am not gonna give you a ticket that is a mercy but that's not grace grace is when the same police officer pulls out a check and gives you $500 check that is grace so mercy takes away what I deserve it cancels my ticket but the grace gives me what I don't deserve it gives me a check and see what God is saying is that when you are at the point of your and means you run out of everything you could do you are done you are weak God says I can come with my grace I can come with my mercy but let your weakness not drive you away from me let your weakness be a needle that pops the balloon of yourself confidence you deflate you become hungry you become God I need you God I thought I could do it by myself I thought that if I'll have a bachelor's in philosophy or counseling I'll be able to manage my life but the more I manage it the greater and faster it falls apart God I used to think you are like a spare tire for me I come to you when I have a problem but I'm beginning to realize I cannot live without you like a fish cannot live without water I cannot live without you like my body cannot live without breathing and in that weakness something begins to happen your heart begins to be open for the grace of God the Bible says God gives grace to the humble but resist the proud what does that mean that means that when you and I are underwater Jesus is walking over it and he's willing to stretch his hand but he doesn't pull every person who is struggling he only pulls those who are in humility asking Lord save me some people think God helps everyone who's struggling if that would be the case a lot of people who are struggling would have been helped a lot of us who are struggling we when we're drowning we are improving on our swimming skills instead of improving on our humility and say Jesus save me I'm perishing can somebody say amen when you are in the valley and Jesus his face doesn't shine he is still very powerful when you are in the valley and you came to the end of your rope remember Jesus is just starting do not give up hope do not throw down the towel just call on his name and sometimes it's little you're driving in a car and say Jesus please be with me Jesus guard and protect me I remember I had a very crazy incidents happened today was I was driving from Los and there was a person who was supposed to stop on a stop sign and they didn't and I didn't see him and I was driving about normal parking lot speed and next thing that I see this person is just literally driving straight into me without seeing and they came so close to my car and they should have hit the driver to me my heart started to beat so fast after that place they didn't hit my car and I left and I started to think that if it wouldn't be something that happened here in these next few feet from this car I could have ended up dead 30 minutes later I'm driving on a Sylvester Street and a nice Mercedes white pulls on a curve so I'm just passing it by and quickly turns to the left right into my car I was like what is this attraction today people just like to hit into my car or something and by the grace of God there was no accident I drove back and I was like oh my goodness I had twice two times had a chance of getting a wrecked car and could have been damaged myself it's the grace of God not because I'm a good driver and not because I'm just lucky it's because God's mercy and God's grace meets us at the point of our need can somebody say man so I want you to remember the third thing is that the valley is not an excuse to stop serving we see that disciples were in the valley but they didn't stop serving Jesus wasn't even with them but they were helping this father who had a sick boy and they did not see their valley as an excuse to stop serving people many times we love to help people when we have money we love to help people when we have time we love to help people when we have a good feeling like we feel really good we're like man I just want to go do something for someone and you cannot find nobody to do it for so you just go to Starbucks and pay for a person behind you and you feel so great you posted on your Facebook and you feel like you just got brownie points in heaven but when you get discouraged but when the day goes bad bad horrible and really bad and after that we turn off our phone after that we just like you know what I can't go to church today while I'm just a mess I just need to stay home just to have a me time I cannot serve today most of us feel like we should only help other people when it's convenient to us does Sun shine when the Sun feels good or does the Sun shine all the time what would happen if the Sun would say guys kind of tired it's been 6,000 years or if you're an evolutionist billions of years I need a break it doesn't do that when the well will stop giving water it starts getting stinky you're not a bottle we're supposed to contain things you're a channel that's supposed to share them many of us get stuck in our valleys for the reasons is that when we are in them we don't serve nobody we don't help nobody in that valley people think that when I get enough money only then I will help the poor we know a woman in the Bible who was a widow and had one more meal one meal left and then she said we are going to die she probably had a prepared a funeral a casket everything one meal left and then she's gonna die and the God comes to her and says give me that meal she's a God not a good time to do giving not a good time to do offering and God says oh yes it's exactly a good time to serve when you are in the valley because you are the one who needs to get out of the valley and God says and the way you're gonna get out is not just focusing on yourself but focusing on the outside of yourself on other people we see same thing in a lot of instances in the Bible when Abraham couldn't have children and then Abraham ends up praying for other women who couldn't have children and God gives them children and Abraham still doesn't have kids for some time Joseph has a dream he is in prison and other people have dreams and Joseph didn't go like well I used to have that too completely done with it no he helps them with the dream few years later the guy he helped with the dream helps him to get out of the jail we see same thing with Job he prays for his friends and then eventually God blesses him my biggest aspiration in this is our Savior Jesus he was the best evangelist we could ever meet in our world he evangelists to people on the river he evangelists to people on the street sometimes he actually went to somebody's office and somebody's work and preached to them so good that the guy left his job right there without 30-day notice this guy's name was Matthew some guys were willing to just they were fishing one day and then Jesus talked to them they got so saved not only they got baptized and joined the church this guy actually left their nets where they stood and just walked behind Jesus Jesus was the best evangelist but you may say well because Jesus was good Jesus had a good feelings Jesus had a great ministry oh no do you remember a time when they handcuffed him and one of the guys who was reaching to handcuff Jesus had a ear that was cut off an accident we believe by one of Jesus's zealous disciples and Jesus being handcuffed he didn't say hey you deserve that bro he didn't say hey just go to your family doctor he will stitch it up Jesus says hey could you handcuff me for a minute let me touch your ear that is the very guy who is gonna beat you tomorrow and Jesus takes time and heals his ear while being in the valley my Jesus such an inspiration not to use your pain to stop your purpose he's hanging on the cross leaders there are mocking missing if you're Elijah come down one of the criminals has the guts and the audacity to mock him as well and there's another guy he looks about kind of desperate and Jesus starts a conversation not in a coffee shop not at work not during drive-through on the cross with the guy and leads him to salvation in the cross Jesus teaches us a lesson don't ever use your valley as an excuse to evangelize don't ever use the fact that oh I'm struggling right now so I should never give to somebody who is struggling more oh I'm just feeling down so I should never help somebody else no no no no if Jesus could evangelize on the cross I'm sure you can evangelize being feeling down and it's been proven actually after you help somebody you're gonna stop feeling down you're gonna come out of that valley and experience a miracle can somebody say man when you're in a valley never stop serving when you are struggling never still start helping other people never start reaching out to other people because in that is your own key to coming out from the bad time that you're in we watched a testimony last Sunday of a woman who was diagnosed with MS if I'm not mistaken I think it was either 10 or 20 years that she was diagnosed with that disease and she always wanted to go on mission trip so when she would go through her typical procedure and she got a remission where the MS wouldn't affect her for some time she decided to take that time and just go on the mission trip so here's a woman who has MS you know confined to a wheelchair goes on the mission trip and there on the mission trip there comes a boy who has a broken fibia he has a broken legs he can walk properly he can stand and she reaches out and pray for this little boy to be healed and surprisingly the power of God comes over that little boy through this woman and heals that boy when that boy was healed she heard in her heart when the Lord said to her you are also healed she felt this heat go through her body and ever since then there's no trace of MS in her body you may say oh this is just some some a distant example no no no this is what happens to everyday people who put their problems behind and put God's kingdom first and God begins to take care of your problems and meet your needs at the point of his grace can somebody say amen