 Give it to her. Give it to her. Praise the Lord everybody. Are you glad to be here tonight? Let's stand together and have a word of prayer. Mr. Saleman, I want this microphone handy here in just a second. I want you to take your prayer sheet tonight and you can see the names of folks that are listed there who are needing the touch of God. I want you to remember all of those that are confined to their home. I've had a number of folks contacting just a few within the past hour that have been letting us know that they're watching from home online but they're needing a touch in their body and I believe God's able, amen? Amen. And so I want you to pray with me and let's believe God for miracle, signs, and wonders. Now, in addition to that, I want you... You got this microphone working right here for me? Good. Brother Ash, come over here and meet with me just a minute. I am not going to steal your thunder. You're a preacher. Those of you that don't know Brother Ash, Brother Sister Ash are a tremendous blessing in this church. They are retired ministers, but they didn't retire. They just refired and came to pace. And what I'm finding out is that there's a lot of folks running into somebody just today, I think, or yesterday that said the reason why we moved into town is because our grandkids are here. How many of you know that's a good reason to move to Florida? That's just one among many. Would you give your testimony of what happened this past Sunday? Give them a good mic here now. Sunday morning, of course, we know that there was quite a move of God this Sunday and sitting back here for, I don't know, several months, I've had lower back problems. It was a time I couldn't hardly walk. I'd be bent over and with pain. I've used a cane for probably what, a year. And Sunday morning, several prayed for me. So I don't know which one touched God, but somebody did. Because several prayed. I've not had to use the cane since Sunday. I'm able to stand up right. God is good. Amen. And we come to pace because we had looked at several churches with our children, and we just couldn't find any place. Finally, somebody said something about pace assembly. We come over and sit down in the first service. I looked to my wife. I said, this is it. Tell them what your doctor, your chiropractor said. Oh, the chiropractor, I've been going to him and he twisted my neck twice, you know, how they pop your neck. He said, that's all I got to do. And that was it. So no more of that, no more canes. I was working today, we were working around here, and there was a cane that was in the closet, stuck way back in the closet over there. I said, y'all, I literally stood up. There was a bunch of them working out there with me. I literally stood up, took that cane. I said, they're healed in the name of Jesus, and I threw the cane down. Little did I know that that must have been you at that moment. That's all right right there, isn't it? Praise God, give God glory for that, amen. So how many believe that God can do it for you? Because, you know, that's where it really matters, isn't it right? Have you got somebody on your heart tonight that you know that needs a touch from heaven? If you do, I want you to lift their name before the throne and let's go before God, and I want you to take the faith of what you've just heard right here and believe for the impossible, amen. Come on, let's stretch our hands to heaven and let's believe God. Father, we thank you tonight for the goodness of God. We praise you, Lord Jesus, because that you are, Lord, not only here, but your presence is here. And the Bible tells us that where your presence is, there's healing, there's deliverance, there's joy. All of the things, Lord Jesus, that you want to provide for us. Tonight we reach out by faith, not for ourselves, but for others who are needing the touch of God in their life. Some that are grieving the loss of loved ones, others that are at home sick in their body. I'm so glad that you're a God who has already provided healing for us through the stripes that you bore on your back. There's nothing that is too hard for you. So Lord, we send the Word right now from this house and into this house, and we believe from miracle signs and wonders. Thank you, God, for what you've done for Brother Ash. Lord, we know that the enemy would like to leave him stooped over like the woman in the Word of God, but is that not a son of Abraham? We give you praise that you've caused him to stand upright and be healed by the power of God. Flow through this place tonight in healing power, in delivering power, and we give you glory. We give you honor and praise for it. In Jesus' mighty and matchless name, everybody believes that God heard your prayer. Say a good amen. Would you get out, shake hands with somebody, introduce yourself to somebody you might not even know? Just introduce yourself. That'll give me a chance to be able to share a little bit with all of you that are watching online. Thank you for being a part of Pace Assembly Live tonight. We're glad that you've joined us from around the world. If you will, please take time to share this out on your social media platform there on Facebook, YouTube, whatever it may be. We would love to be able to glean more of folks that are wanting to be able to hear the Word of God be discipled. So if you'll do that right now, we'd appreciate that, and we want you also to get ready to be a giver. Thank you so much for being a faithful giver. So many of you give, and you're not even right here, but you're just as much a member of this church right there online. Thank you for being a part of it tonight. You can download the study or just open up that app, and you can be able to be a part of this service as well. And God bless you for that. Our rushers are in place tonight to be able to wait upon you for the opportunity for you to be able to give. And amen, give the Lord praise for that tonight. That's good. And so I just want to encourage you tonight to be that faithful giver. Thank you for being able to do that and to be willing to do that by faith in giving into the kingdom of God. I want you to know that your faithful giving is what makes the difference. This past weekend, your missions giving, all of that you have already done. I can promise you that it's going in the right places and getting into the hands of people that are needing it. I was contacted by a minister friend and he has preached here this place before, and we were talking together about the project he's got going on. And as far as an orphanage that they're raising up out of the ground, Bishop Ron Webb, you heard him before, the earlier part of the year. So we're going to be helping them be able to get that orphanage up out of the ground. How many of you know if we will do it under others, God will bring the orphans back into the house of God? Amen. You believe that tonight? So thank you for giving all of you that are online. Thank you for being a part of giving into the kingdom and what God is doing through Pace Assembly. Amen. Father, thank you now for the privilege we have to give. Ask that you would just multiply the blessing into the lives of people who respond tonight. Lord, we know that every good and every perfect gift comes down from the Father of Light. And so we're not anxious about inflation. We're not troubled about the day that we're living in. We know that it's troublesome times. But right in the middle of it, you're the God of all provision. You're the God who meets every need. And we trust in you. We trust in you. We don't just have faith in you. We trust you, Lord, and you will do the work when you get ready to get your glory. We praise you. Thank you for giving us this privilege now in Jesus' mighty name. Everybody say to get amen. Amen. God bless you tonight. You've got that study. You can turn over to the book of Luke, chapter 14 as a reference point for tonight's study. And while you're doing that, I need to mention to you a couple of things that you need to be aware of. This coming weekend, I know that school started today and suddenly you found out the school zone, didn't you? Hope nobody got a ticket. But I just want to caution you to be very aware of what's happening with kids going back to school, of course. And this coming weekend is our extreme Sunday. It's back to school. Anointing service. We want you to make plans to be here. All of the kids, bring your kids, your grandkids, all of the bus drivers, all of the teachers, all the faculty, staff, everybody, we're going to be laying hands on praying, anointing you, sending you out of here with prayer clause for this coming school year. And if we ever, you know what I'm talking about, if we ever needed to pray over our kids and over the faculty and staff, we need to do it now. And so this weekend, I've got a very important and special message to bring. So I want you to make sure that you're here and bring all of your family, let's agree together for an outpouring of His Spirit. There's no telling what God will do. After this past weekend, He had just opened up heaven above our head and you heard that. That's not the only miracle that we've heard about already this week. So you just keep on believing and be sure to be here this coming weekend, bring somebody with you. I want to mention to you also the in touch luncheon that was scheduled for the 16th. You might have seen the announcement this past weekend. It has been postponed. I want you to make sure all of you that are in in touch to make sure that you're watching for the announcement for the rescheduling of that and may God bless you for that. Let me also take time. There was a few things that I didn't get to do this past weekend because of the way the service went. And one of them was to inform you of what's taking place here on the campus in multiple ways. We've got a lot of things that are happening as far as construction and things like that that's going on. So you probably have already noticed out in the front on Highway 90 where there is a construction fence that's going up. And our wonderful general contractors, Phoenix Construction with George Atchison and all of his company and the subs that are going out there are actually started officially this past Monday. This coming Monday, if all things work well in between all of the rain showers, and I would ask you please, I'm going to tell you I don't ever like to say take the rain away, but I would like the Lord to just move it like the nighttime or something like that. So you pray with me that we can make that happen because starting next Monday, they're going to begin, if everything works out right, they're going to begin taking the roof off of the gymnasium from the east side to the west. And they're starting on, because the pitch of the roof is like this going down, all of the north side is going to come off first. And then they'll go to the south side and then they'll go over to the 6000 building, our Christian education building, of which we haven't been able to use the second floor now in two years. They're going to start on the west side and work toward the center. The center section where the gymnasium meets and the 6000 meets is the impacted location of the most damage from the downburst that happened. It wasn't a tornado, but the wind blew to such a degree and I think I've shown this to you on video. It jumped the road and went over and ripped the roof off of the building across the street. So we've been waiting and having to wait because of insurance and dealing with insurance companies. Now I'm grateful for insurance, but at this moment it's been quite a challenge. I've also found out that in years gone by we've had the understanding that the insurance was isolated to maybe one or two companies. But because of the magnitude of this insured property here, 22 some odd acres of property, we are the largest assembly of God insured in all of our west Florida district. We have the largest land mass and the largest number of buildings to be insured. So it's millions of dollars, as you can imagine. And for that reason there are multiple. In fact, we are about to re-up for our insurance for this year. And so there'll be another assessment of all the buildings and anything, the improvements, whatever that it may be. And with that in mind, we have somewhere close to 15 different insurance companies that are underwriting this entire facility. So for that reason, dealing with all of those insurance companies has been quite a challenge. I'm thankful for Phoenix Construction, for the George and our attorney and all that's taken place that has been handling that in a tremendous way. Unfortunately, there's been two things of combination. One is that the supply chain and getting supplies and things like that in here has been a challenge. We ordered the roof that you see out on the front lawn out there earlier part of the year. So we've been waiting for more than six months just to get the roof in here and the supplies necessary for that to take place. So it's all on the ground and we also have all of the purlings, which is the red iron that goes up to hold the building together. That is the most damaged area over in the building. Our initial assessment of that was somewhere around when we first took a look at it was $2.8 million worth of damage. Because of the inflation and because of supply chain and the cost of everything has gone up, within one year that cost has now gone to $3.8 million and counting. It very well could go beyond that. So our insurance company has some of them have already sent their payment to us that were small payments in the grand scheme of things and we've been able to receive a little over $200,000. That's not enough to even purchase the roof. But because we are working with Phoenix and because we are working with our general contractor Brother George who owns Phoenix and his company, we have sat down and had numerous meetings and there has been a thorough assessment. I will tell you at the expense of Phoenix, they have tremendously helped by being able to have electrical, mechanical, structural, architectural. All those engineers came in and looked at it and that's to the naked eye, most people go up there and say, well, you've had a little of this. Well, when we started peeling back the onion, so to speak, we discovered that there were numerous purlings up there that literally lifted the roof off, sat it back down, but bent a series of purlings that our structural engineer said, there's no way to fix it except take the roof off, replace those purlings and be able to do it the way it's supposed to be done, which drives cost up. So Phoenix in conversations with PACE assembly and us all working together on this has come to the conclusion that we are going to go ahead and proceed even though we've only gotten a portion of what it takes to even purchase the roof out there, much less be able to put it on. And so they are helping to be able to front what is necessary so that we can be able to proceed with getting our facilities back in order after two years of not being able to use that facility so we can go ahead, get that facility up and running, and then we are yet to go to the arbitration table with our insurance that they decided in the contract that we have with our insurance company requires that we go to arbitration, and that whole arbitration, the first step, is already taking place. There was no coming to the table with anything more than what's already been written out, a little over $200,000, so for that reason we've got to go to get the rest of the finances to finish the building. That's going to require me and Phoenix and our attorney and our arbitrator and all of those kind of things required to go to New York City of all places and we won't be able to have that meeting until February at this moment to negotiate even, and I can't even negotiate, not even our attorney can negotiate, it's required to get a third party in on that and you can see where the cost of everything is going straight up. So I need you to pray. What my prayer is is that we will have favor with all that's taking place so that they'll just go ahead and write the check that's necessary and we can proceed and we will have to go to New York City because I'm not into going to New York City. All right? And we need to get this thing done because we need to get it back operational again. I'm tired of not hearing the sounds of children and other activity going on in places that we need to have it. So I need you to put that on your prayer list and that is the long and short of all that's taking place. It is our goal, it is Phoenix's goal excluding weather and blaze of any kind, shipping, all those kind of things, hopefully for us to be able to have the building where we can occupy it again. The second floor is completely not able to be occupied. So we are hoping that by the end of the year or shortly after the first of the year to be able to go back in and occupy that space. I need you to pray that the rain will hold off where they're putting the roofs on because those roof panels are 27 to 30 foot long, they said. So they've got to take it off a panel at a time, put the insulation in there, shure it up the way it's supposed to be and then put the roof down before a raindrop gets inside of our building. That's a lot of doing. Incidents or accidents that takes place on our construction area. Now, with that in mind, this is all pertinent information for you, with that in mind, once they start construction out here and taking the roof literally off of the buildings, there are going to be certain areas where there is partitions or places that you cannot go beyond. We won't be able to put up a wall or fences or all that kind of stuff. There's just going to be some banners like our petitions or our little ribbon cords in the back, I forget whether they're called stanchions, that will be out there with signs that says do not go beyond this point. That is for your safety and for our children's safety and all the students that are out there as well. We are literally getting prepared to, we've already started moving the kids that are in the back back over to the daycare. And so for all of that reason we need everybody to be safe. So we don't need you in places that you don't need to be and if you see kids, critters or anything else crawling underneath that feel free to snatch them back. I mean, hold them back. Hey man, I know you've never snatched your own kids before but we don't want anybody to get hurt and that's going to interrupt a lot of things out there as we go along. So please be patient with the process, please be prayerful with the process, we need that to happen. With that I feel like there's some great news that's going on and I need to give you informed information about this. We've been waiting now for a year and a half to get a new generator back here. The generator we've had for since this building has been in place went belly up on us and so once we got the new panel and all that new electrical system back there and we thought we could hook it together and it would be a wonderful day in the neighborhood it decided I'm not going to work. So we put our order in for a generator and this is no small task about a hundred and fifty KW generator going in back there to handle the buildings that we have here so we can have church whether the weather is good, bad or ugly, if the power goes out we're going to keep running on being able to have church. That's about seventy some odd thousand dollars for that generator. We've been waiting a year and a half it's finally hit the ground guess when it's going to get going next week or the following week. So we're having to pour concrete out there and remove stuff and rebuild and all that kind of thing. On the heels of that the board voted several weeks ago so that we could be able to get the children that are over here at the classrooms for years that they've been over here and had to walk across to the day care which has been a very dangerous thing we've been waiting for the finances to be in place so we can be able to do that thankfully because of your giving and your faithfulness. We now have had the finances to be able to take a move on this so we've got two modular buildings that are coming over that are totally sprinkled, totally wind rated, all that kind of stuff that will go on the property of the day care week after next. So all of this is happening all at the same time so we need your prayers for safety and prayers for favor and that everybody can get along and all of that kind of stuff. So that's a lot of information for you most of it you may not even recognize or know what's taking place but I will tell you all of these things are absolutely necessary. I'm very excited about getting the buildings over at the day care and all that's happening and I'll tell you in just a few hopefully in a few weeks from now we'll be able to go out and dedicate the new, we haven't even named it yet so currently it's the pole barn concession stand. Alright that's what it is in all the years at Pace Assembly we've had a ball field out there we've always had to rent portlets well thankfully to David Phillips's company and and Sharon Phillips and our incredible staff here, maintenance staff they went out there and built a beautiful bathroom facility kitchen facility out there a place where we can go out there and fry fish and have a great time close to being able to get that all done we're going to go out there and dedicate it it's going to be a great day we're going to eat something and hey you know I need about 150 of you just to go to the bathroom so we can say we got that thing going on right Mark right okay so so thus is thus you understand what's taking place and that's a little bit about what's going on that's not all but it is a little bit about what's going on around here let me also say to you that if you happen to still be using the push pay app or anything other than subsplash app and PayPal and that's it PayPal and subsplash which you wouldn't notice but if you download our app it will go straight where it needs to go if you're using any other method of payment other than your check cash or you know or automatic debit or online on our website please stop okay we need you to switch over immediately and if you have any trouble with any of that feel free to call the accounting department they'll be glad to help you with all this going on alright that's a lot of news out there wouldn't you say alright I'm going to take a quick break and then I got one more thing that I need to tell you alright you ready breaks over so this is my statement to you because I know that probably some of you are waiting to find out has pastor got anything to say concerning the activities that have taken place and the FBI raid on a former president's home so I am not going to be silent in the hours that we're in as a matter of fact I want you to know that there are cards that are in the back for your helping you to get registered to vote so you can't have not registered yet you'll not be able to do the primary but you can the general election I want you to understand that voting is an important thing and there's information back there that can help you if you're not registered it's critically important we receive word here that many people that were expecting an absentee ballot to come mail to your home that is not being automatically mail there's a change in the law that's occurred and why we put those cards out there you must request that you must do that for yourself those of you that are new to our area we need you to make sure that you're involved and registered and ready to vote because this is some critical times that we're in it is unprecedented times we're in and I want you to know as a faith leader and as your pastor I am deeply disturbed and extremely concerned over the raid of a former pastor former president's home president trump former president trump and the statements that I'm about to make I have written them down and I will read them to you because I want to make it clear and I don't want to be misunderstood and I want somebody saying that I didn't said something that I didn't so the current administration has provoked a further divide in this country in any other country what you're seeing what you saw yesterday would be classified under a socialist communist or totalitarian Russian North Korea China Venezuela type of government that oppresses anybody who speaks out or stands for an opposing opinion those nations use government control departments to hammer their objectors someone who opposes them but what you have seen ladies and gentlemen and make no mistake about it and I don't know all the details and neither does anybody else because the FBI and the Department of Justice has now come to a place where they're not saying anything but this is my concern I don't know what's taking place and so I can't pass judgment on what may be in boxes and may not and what the warrant may be so that's not my concern my concern is the weaponization of the Department of Justice and the FBI and this is a reason the American people right now are not blind to what is being a political bias and injustice that they're witnessing in an unprecedented act that has never happened before in the history of our country so if the federal what I would call the abuse of power can happen to a former president and I was alive when Watergate was taking place and Nixon and other situations and none of them were ever intruded like this even when there was definite guilt and impeachments that took place so here's my concern if the federal abuse of power can happen to a former president just because of political ideologies or differing opinions or opposition or whatever policies whatever their values then the question becomes whose home whose business and whose church is sacred from any intrusion like that you follow what I'm saying this I see this is my opinion but I'm telling you as your pastor this is an attack on the Constitution of the United States and the citizens of the United States the idea with this and this is a reason why Christian people must respond appropriately because ladies and gentlemen I don't care if you're Republican or Democrat this is wrong no matter what I wouldn't care I wouldn't care who it is because if it can happen that simply there then there's nothing that can stop it from happening in your home and what about those of us who have platforms to speak to influence other people pastors are we going to be silenced what's that going to be we don't know that's the reason why that you must be careful and I don't want you to fall into the trap of what I see as a bait situation where we're going to be labeled as some kind of insurrectionist or people that you know jump on somebody's train I want you to understand as people of God there's three things that I want to say to you tonight of what you and I need to do as the people of God first and I wrote this down in this manner these are orders from heaven not from me number one I believe the Lord would have us to pray like we have never prayed before for our country for our leaders for those that would purport every kind of attack against the sovereignty of the United States of America because my friends you're enjoying tonight the privilege of coming into this building and the KGB or the Chinese government or anybody else are not running in here to stop you from being able to worship and the free exercise of religion that's afforded to you by the Constitution okay this is very important you ask anybody overseas in line right now in different countries where they don't have this freedom so the first thing we do is we need to pray and make sure that we pray for our leaders the Bible commands us to do that well I didn't vote for them I don't care if you voted for them or not and I really care less whether you're a Republican Democrat, independent or nothing the prayers of the righteous will avail much and I promise you this is not something that's going to be won by marching up and down the streets my personal opinion is is that we're right back in the same shape that this nation was when they threw the Tee overboard in Boston we're at a place where we have taxation without representation and this late latest bill that has come forth ladies and gentlemen that will probably be put into law by this coming Friday is going to affect everybody's life in this room and all of you watching so first we pray second we protect our minds through the Holy Spirit and through the Word of God so that we do not get caught up with arguments and things on Facebook or anything else that's going to drag the testimony of your life down but to keep your mind pure and clean and ask for wisdom on how and what to say and when to say it there will come a time if you're a believer you cannot keep your mouth shut in an argument the Bible says don't argue with a fool or you become one okay so you get your mind up underneath the Word and you keep your mind clear from all of the clutter of this world and let the Holy Spirit I'm telling you over the past several days I've been praying that same prayer Holy Spirit lead me give me wisdom on what to do and what to say the third thing I would say to you is prepare your family to take a stand for biblical principles in the time that we're in and that includes your children going to school and all that's taking place one individual was sharing with me that this woke gender identity policy and stuff like that has been going on and the right pronouns to use and there was a school I don't even remember where the state is in the classroom and started into the students concerning the pronoun usage and what she was going to say and calling them all they instead of boys and girls and all that kind of stuff so apparently as I understand it apparently the parents may have gotten together with their students with their children and when the teacher started asking the children their names I identify as a banana I want to be called banana the next child said I identify as an apple I want to be called apple and they went around that room naming themselves by all this different fruit and frustrated the teacher so much because she could not remember what everybody was supposed to be called that is the foolishness of a woke society that has lost its ever loving mind you teach your children who they are who's they are and what they're supposed to be I'll deal with that Sunday don't miss it so for all of that reason I want you to put it on the wall I want you to mark your calendars right now I'm going to have a prophecy files update on Freedom Sunday September the 11th in the PM service there will be promotion that will come out on Facebook so you can use that to get the word out but I'm going to deal and you know for those of you that have ever been a prophecy file update you know I don't pull back on the break I'm going to lay it out for you very plain what's taking place China is ramping up right now as we speak its social credit system and America is on the brink of that with one push of the button the cash you have in the bank in your hands could evaporate and we go to a digital dollar which means that if you are no longer this is the way the Chinese government is running now and has been for years if you don't reach a certain level of score that I've talked to you about before then your finances and whatever else in your life can be deleted with the push of a button we are one step away from the all mark of the beast and the antichrist system taking over this world now before that happens I want to let you know Jesus himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air pastor I don't believe it then occupy until he comes but when the first trumpet sounds look at your neighbor and tell them I'm gone I'm out of here I am history amen amen so if you like that kind of preaching from the Word of God that's the only kind I do I want you to make sure that you help us pass the word for prophecy file update on September the 11th at 6pm I am going to be working diligently to bring you the latest and what the Bible has to say let me just say this concluding this statement before I move into this lesson and it will be shorter the Bible is very very clear that in the last days lawlessness would literally take over society you are watching lawlessness happen and the term lawlessness is the spirit of antichrist iniquity lawlessness is all synonymous with the antichrist that's how I know we're getting closer to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ we are to be people who govern ourselves by the principles of God's Word and that's the reason why I'm teaching you tonight on discipleship in your Bible as we go there now in the book of Luke chapter 14 verse number 25 if you found that say a good amen and there went great multitudes with him and he turned what Jesus did and said unto them now watch this if any man come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters and his own life also he cannot be my disciple and whosoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple for which of you intending the power siteth not down first and counteth the cost whether he have sufficient to finish it lest happily after he hath laid the foundation he is not able to finish it all that behold it begin to mock him saying this man began to build and was not able to finish or what king going to make war against another king siteth not down first and consulteth whether he is able with 10,000 to meet him that cometh against him with 20,000 or else why I'm sorry I have to think right here if Jesus said that there was 20,000 that was coming as an enemy against this king and there's 87,000 IRS agents getting ready to be loosed it's just a thought I'm moving on or else wildly other is yet a great way off he senteth an ambassador or an ambassador and desired conditions of peace so likewise whosoever he be of you that forsakeeth not all now this is the crux of this not all that he hath he cannot this is the third time he said this cannot be my disciple it is neither fit for the land nor yet for the dung hill but men cast it out he that hath ears let him hear and this is important passive scripture for us to study tonight we're talking about discipleship we started last week in this series follow me here's a question for you do you think of discipleship as knowing facts about Jesus are following him in an obedient relationship okay so knowing facts about Jesus does not mean you're his disciple so church attendance does not constitute you being a disciple to be a follower or a disciple root word discipline a learner of Jesus is what causes you to be a disciple he does not ask you to be so full of knowledge of him that then you're able to follow he already anticipates even with the 12 that he had following him this is a progressive walk with the Lord where you glean as you go and learning of Jesus he said learn of me take my yoke upon you and learn of me so I want to open with this statement as we move quickly and here we go with this statement that you had last week salvation this is from Dietrich Bonhoeffer salvation is free but discipleship will cost you your life now my friends a few years ago we would have read that and said amen Dietrich Bonhoeffer he gave his life under Hitler for the cause of Christ but I just want you to know right now there are people around this world that are giving their life for the cause of Christ and you're looking at a united states right now where you may have to you might lose your job you might have all kinds of situations for the sake of Christ now this is where people are going to wind up getting off the train are you hearing me because when you have to identify with Jesus Christ as your savior you can look my dear friends let's not you know throw some facade on this let's make it clear here's the clear Peter was crucified upside down for his faith in Jesus Christ the disciples the followers of Jesus were martyred for the cause of Christ so that's the reason why he says to us be careful that you count the cost because don't say oh I love Jesus and I'm a Christian and then not get ready to make a stand for the cause of Christ even to death are you with me now so biblical discipleship is not a program many churches have programs and they call it our discipleship program and I understand what they're saying but I'm telling you I don't have to have a Bible study or a discipleship program to be in the process of becoming Christ like and seeing and helping others become Christ like that's what we do that's why I was saved I was saved to help others get in the kingdom not just to consume the blessings upon myself so Christian discipline is a life long journey would you say that out loud with me Christian discipline is a life long journey what is a journey of it's a journey of what obedience obedience to Christ that spiritually and practically it's forms of person's values and behavior if you're doing the same old things you used to be in claiming to be a Christian I doubt your salvation because the Bible clearly states when you come to Christ old things pass away and behold some things a quarter of things all things become brand new now that doesn't mean ladies and gentlemen that we're so perfect that we get it right because how many of you failed along your Christian wall now for everybody that's not raising their hand he will take care of your lying situation later for all of sin that comes short of the glory of God if you need a scripture I'm just telling you my dear friends discipleship is not an easy task it's not an easy calling don't think because I get saved that everything's going to be roses and yellow brick road all the way to heaven it's not anybody who told you that tells you that lie is lying to you Jesus said himself in this life you will suffer persecution for my name's sake that's the reason why many people don't want to say the name of Jesus now they'll talk about God but they won't talk about Jesus because the moment you say Jesus you've just separated yourself from every other God are you hearing me so it means a transformation and that's not just spiritual see the Pharisees boasted of their spirituality but Jesus said you're white washed sepulcher full of dead men's bones now that's a flowery King James version to tell you that Jesus told the Pharisees off right there and if you really want to get down you should read what Jesus said he said you be careful about the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of the Sadducees because they're hypocrites right now my dear friends if there were hypocrites in Jesus day y'all with me so why is this so important because we as disciples those of you that are born again you don't just get saved and then kick back in the chair and wait for something to happen and you don't know that you're a disciple until you're put into a place where you have to stand as 1 Peter says and give a defense to the people of Jesus Christ I've known people that have lost their jobs the moment they said hey I got saved and I'm living for Jesus Christ and I can't do that anymore I'll do something else but I can't do that well then you can't work here anymore you follow what I'm saying I discussed this one day with a guy who was working with Budweiser he got saved and suddenly his Christian walk became conflicted with what he was passing out to everybody to drink uh oh uh oh got a little tight here didn't yeah they call it Budweiser I remember a preacher in my past called it Bud Dumber because it don't make you wiser well now pastor blah blah blah blah let me just tell you something my dear friends Christian discipleship walking with the Lord is going to require and cost you and it will be a sacrifice especially now and please don't sell me this westernized Christianity when we have part of the body of Christ that last week were assassinated in Africa for the faith of Jesus Christ are y'all with me this is not something that's passive the gospels let me go on the gospels and the book of Acts include listen to this 260 references to the word disciple and it always refers to a relationship with Jesus so this is not on your paper you might want to write this down because this is the three stages of a Christian life number one is justification somebody shout justification justification what does that mean it means right standing with Christ when I come to the cross and I surrender and I repent before the Lord he justifies me just as the judges gavel goes down and says not guilty because of the blood of Jesus Christ on your life you put your faith there what did I have to do did I have to get water baptized and I have to did I have to rub some beads did I have to go to church 150 times no no no by faith you are saved it is the gift of God lest any man should boast he takes all of our boasting out of our salvation and he justifies us as we are clean before God when you get to heaven as a believer you will not stand before God and judge you for your sins he will see you through the prism and the person of Jesus Christ and declares you already not guilty you have been judged on this earth at the cross now I am going to tell you that is a big theological word but can I just tell you if you start thinking about how justification is if you have ever been to court before and you have been declared not guilty I am not going to ask you to raise your hand in here because I don't want to expose all the convicts in the room but I am just saying I have been there done that and I stood there as my dad was standing next to me after 15 restrictors driver's license suddenly became suspended and my dad said you say no lo contendre and the judge asked me what do you plead I said no lo contendre something how many of you know what that is six of you don't be laughing at me then don't even know what it is oh ha ha no lo contendre no that means I don't plead guilty and I don't plead not guilty I had some involvement in it but it is not all my fault you can't plead that before the throne of grace you are either guilty or you are not guilty and the only thing that separates you I am about to shout I am about to run the only thing that separates you from the guilty and the non guilty is the precious blood of Jesus Christ and he did it right now here is the second thing the second step is sanctification which is what we are talking about right now in discipleship sanctification what is sanctification sanctification says this microphone stand has been justified and now I am sanctified and it means I take it and I set it apart exclusively for the use of God almighty now this microphone won't be used by Dolly Parton and it won't be used by Madonna and it won't be used by whoever your favorite rock and roll person is this microphone in this stand exclusively belongs to this house of worship and everything that is going to be sung through it now before it got here it was sitting in somebody's warehouse waiting to be used and anybody could have bought it oh my God anybody could have bought it come on somebody anybody could have bought it but Pace assembly ministry has bought it for the exclusive use of preaching the gospel singing the gospel and declaring the gospel so it has been sanctified it has been set apart and that is two fold first I am justified second I am sanctified we believe in the Word of God speaks to us and teaches us about instantaneous sanctification that is once you come to Christ he immediately takes you out of the world and is set apart exclusively for him however the possibility of you getting in trouble and getting in sin and all that kind of stuff is still hanging around you because of that old sinful nature so he is sanctifying me instantaneously by setting me apart and he is sanctifying me progressively by my walk with the Lord now I want you to know I was over there I am about to preach right now I am trying to hold back I was over there when I got saved but now that I am a disciple and I am reading the Word and I have been filled with the Holy Ghost and I am on my way to heaven and I want to serve him and I want to know more about him now he is moving me progressively you all understand the doodads are running up and down my spine he is moving me away from where I was I get saved I get sanctified now that means you can't hang out with all the other microphones and microphone stands because they got all kind of stuff going on and drama and all that kind of stuff and there is microphone stands talking to other microphone stands on facebook running that microphone down and you know you ain't as good as me but don't get caught up in all that because it is not about them it is about you walking with the Lord and they don't know him like you do and they will look at you crazy and they will say well you think you are better than me just tell them straight on their faith I am sanctified that is all I am I am sanctified why do you give your tithe and offering because I am sanctified why do you go to church on Wednesday night because I have been sanctified I am getting sanctified I was sanctified but I am not where I was I am sanctified come on somebody I am just sanctified my money is sanctified my house is sanctified my mine is sanctified my car is sanctified come on somebody my life is sanctified my kids are sanctified my dog, my goldfish are all sanctified they are all sanctified they are set apart if anyone of them get out of trouble come on somebody we don't do what we used to do and you know the more you walk with the Lord the more that stuff falls off that is another lesson but it is this lesson sanctification it is the journey of becoming more like Christ question I don't care about COVID or anything like that I want to know how close are you now how close are you now to the Lord in your relationship that is for everybody to evaluate don't compare yourself Paul said don't compare yourself because we may not be on the same plane and most likely are not but if I take it upon myself to say you know what Lord sanctify me then he used to pray that over our meals every meal he blessed and sanctified anybody ever pray over your meal like that you know that is as good as especially in restaurants that is as good as saying I know you like your steak medium rare but I just want to let you know whatever is crawling around up in there that is still funky come on somebody sanctify that I tell you the truth he sanctified the the cornflakes do you better sanctify come on somebody and the third thing is glorify glorification that is when our life is over here that is when our completeness the perfection comes he glorifies us so Jesus defined discipleship in Luke 14 verses 25 through 35 that I read to you and here we go let's get this in our spirit here is what he says he said following the Lord first of all in verse 26 is rooted in relationship is rooted in relationship relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ what does he say here verse number 26 if any man come to me hate not his father and mother and his wife and children brother and sisters yea his own life also he cannot be my disciple that is quite a qualifier isn't it now you read that and you say hey I don't hate my mom and daddy that is not what he is talking about what he is saying is that you put in the order of priority me above everybody else including yourself if you don't do that you are going to choose you are going to choose this now we talk a little bit about this in the Monday night men's bible study if you men weren't there you need to get there and by the way tomorrow night is most excellent way so if you need somebody to get in most excellent way Ben will be teaching that class tomorrow night 7 o'clock over there at the firehouse you be there but let me tell you we talked a little bit about this when we look at Abraham and Isaac God required Isaac of Abraham so that he wouldn't make Isaac an idol some parents have made their children idols put them before God well I am going to do what I want to do when I want to do it and so are my kids you know we will be there when we get what you are doing is you are teaching that child to put other things ahead of God I am not going to name any man but that is alright I will go ahead and name any man myself I am just telling you well pastor I haven't been raising this I didn't know I got in this late so I didn't know to do that start now start now and it is a relationship with God that you have that is the beauty of it that is called grace ladies and gentlemen aren't you glad that God didn't kill us because we messed up the first time and we didn't get it right watch this right here I will pick up a few on the way aren't you glad that God didn't kill us the second time then how about the third time or the fourth time or the fifth time come on how many of you are working on some that you can't put the digits to right now how many of you know what I am talking about well that is all of us and that is grace because he wants a relationship more than we want a relationship so he is willing to oh God here we go he is willing to come down from glory and lay aside his royal diadem and to get a relationship with us so he didn't say come up here and get with me he said you can't make it here unless I come down y'all didn't hear what I said Jesus stepped down he stepped down he stepped down to where we are and if oh God if need be if need be now this is what I know about Jesus if need be he'll stoop down and ride in the sand y'all better preach this when you get out of here if need be he'll get oh my God if need be he'll lay down and let him put nails in his hands and in his feet come on now if need be he will go into a tomb and stay dead for three days be reminded here tonight his relationship with you is so important that he's not gonna stay dead and early on Sunday morning he came out and said I'm gonna take care of business now and we can get together come on now somebody ought to praise him growing in our relationship with Jesus is born from time spent together pastor I wish my marriage was better how much time y'all spend I wish my relationship with my kids are better how much time do you spend cause I'm gonna tell you it's not the stuff you buy ask your wife she don't want the diamond ring now she may put a fuss up come on somebody and if that's the case you do like I do with mine cause I took her right on down there in that cubic zirconium looks just like and we bought the biggest one in the store there it was hanging out there you get it out from underneath those lights it's not quite as shiny anymore she don't want that you know what she wants she wants my time and I want her time that's the most valued thing you know what Jesus said have you got time for me I got the answer to what you're struggling over have you got time to sit down and listen come on now you're confused and pulling your hair out you don't know what to do I can show you eyes have not seen and ears have not even heard neither has it entered into the heart of man comprehended you don't even understand what's hanging over your head is the answer to every issue if you just take a little time now I'm not talking about once every six months that's not spent how many of you recognize that's not faithful I'm gonna try this on again for all of you you didn't raise your hand because otherwise your husband he's gonna say hey I love you and the next time will be 40 years later well I bought you this house I bought you the car I got your clothes that's not faithful let me ask you if you went to your job every other day would you call that faithful come on we all know the answer come on just say it if you came to church every three months would you call that being faithful to the house of God I'm picking up a few but some of you got locked y'all there's so many things going through my head and I'm trying to arrest them because there's so many illustrations right here and I'm afraid that like every other one would probably offend somebody and I don't want to do that but I'm just telling you you can't know the Lord until you sit down and know the Lord but I promise you if you'll sit down I know myself exactly guess who does know you I got this message coming I'm coming to you with this from 2 Corinthians the Bible says I won't get to all this lesson tonight so that's just what it is that he has the Spirit has revealed to us on the inward parts secrets mysteries that we have no idea what the Spirit will reveal to us yeah now you can't get that at the second window church don't expect to drive by and order something up from God and then pick it up five minutes later and make sure it's hot and oh yeah value size that for me I don't want I want you to bless me overwhelming me bless me but I don't want to spend any time I just want to drive by and pick it up come on now there's so much conviction going on in this room but it's not for y'all it's all those people that are watching online that's all out there how many of you understand what I'm talking about how many of you understand that let's just get it straight how many of you understand I got my hand lifted up first how many of you understand that we all could spend more time with the Lord okay so with all those hands raised up this coming Sunday I'm going to call you to a time of fasting and prayer and I'm going to expect you to get engaged with that now you're not getting involved in prayer so that you could twist God's arm to get Him to you know you pull the lever and let Him drop out some stuff this is about us getting in line with Him and when we do isn't it amazing how the anointing is poured out on that and suddenly things start working in our life doesn't mean you're not going to go through struggles nobody goes through struggles okay everybody goes through struggles but a relationship with the Lord I'm sorry none of this in my notes I'm just I'm rolling right here a relationship with the Lord we say oh I got faith in you but you see faith is made up of two words believing and trusting now that only comes believing is an instantaneous deal and the demons believe and tremble the Bible says but trusting is a whole different level that's a that's a disciple that learns that that's a person who you have relationship with that learns to trust because they've been around you long enough you've been around somebody long enough to know them in such a way that if somebody comes to you and tells you something about that person suddenly there's a check in your spirit you go wait a minute I know them they would never and if they would I may not know the whole story but I'm just telling you what I know about them is this are y'all with me so now transfer that to Jesus in your discipleship relationship because this is a key y'all I hope you hear what Jesus said he said if you don't if you don't take up your cross and follow me and deny yourself and put everybody else secondary to me then you cannot be my disciple that's a hard thing it's one of the hard sayings of Jesus that's what caused that's what caused in John 666 that's what caused 3000 people to get up and leave Jesus in one day because he said today we're not gonna have any more mullet and fries today you're gonna follow me for who I am and not for what I give you now you're talking about spiritual maturity and discipleship when you got saved listen if you want your prayers answered get around a brand new convert because I'm telling you I don't know what it is and I'll find out when we get to heaven but whatever's going on right here here's what happened you get around new convert they're brand new they're trying to learn the Lord and every prayer they pray boom boom boom boom boom you've been serving the Lord for 40 years and it's like praying through brass Lord have you forgotten me no that's a discipleship relationship take it to your children you got a brand new baby brand new baby brand new baby baby's hungry baby don't have a sign that says feed me I'm hungry what do they do I love the sound effects I love the sound effects you know I'm talking about you know I'm talking about you're afraid to say it but you know what I'm talking about so you just sit there and cry now the baby don't get up and go in the kitchen and fix anything ooh I'm preaching right now baby don't go in there and fix anything the baby don't say hey I'd like to place my order I'd like a ribeye medium well the baby don't do anything all the baby does is sit there and cry because the baby feels hunger but don't know how to satisfy the child the parent the patah as it's called in Hebrew the progenitor the provider the caretaker who is God who is the parent has to distinguish between cries that's the reason why when we got home with Taylor the first night we were going to be super parents and we got home and we put him in the little bassinet that all fixed up right there beside the bed and we didn't sleep a wink because that child cried all night long all night long all night long and we were worn out and when we got got up and about ourselves the next day I said call your mother bless your heart we didn't know what to do with this kid it's crying well feed them well we did well it's still crying well change the diaper right you know if the Lord would have sent him here with like three distinguishable cries you'd know hungry diaper and I'm mad right but it's all the same cry and there's no manual now I'm talking about discipleship here y'all see what happened is when you got saved and some of you are still in that state you've been walking with the Lord for a long time but all you need to do now the good thing about God is he knows what you need but the rest of us don't so when you whine and cry or whatever it is that you do we're going get over it why because you've been walking with the Lord for a while now and why you still got this kind of toot going on right you're supposed to be able to take up your cross and follow the Lord but you've copped an attitude now you're mad same cry here's some food here's a free hamburger come on out this is the way the church does today boy I'm telling you I'm right down the road right here I'm plowing deep this is the way the church thinks that discipleship works today if we hand you a bottle of water come on over to our fish fry and our hamburger and hot dog deal that's going to lock you into a relationship with the Lord as if we're going to trick somebody into getting in the kingdom I came to tell you it's the cross and from there you follow the Lord come on somebody what well I didn't get my free hamburger why right what if you never get another miracle you just heard one right over here but you never get a miracle what if you have to walk with the Lord for the rest of your life with a limp like Jacob you know what I'm going to serve you Lord because of what you've done in my life nobody else could do and they couldn't pry me away grow me up Lord mature me in this relationship right because I don't want to be a cry baby all of my life I want to be able to feed myself I told you last week it would be a strange thing for you to go out there and Shannon out there in the nursery and you see a grown 40 year old man standing up with a full on beard with a bottle in his mouth standing in one of them crabs out there in the nursery you'd be calling security get that Joker out of that nursery you don't belong in there spiritually speaking ladies and gentlemen we cannot here's one of the fan I'm going to end right here here's one I know I got the one didn't I right here's the facts for us here tonight here's the truth apply this spiritually into your life okay yeah this child that's crying all this kind of stuff grown man standing in the crib get out of there you know the one thing you can't stop we noticed it today with our own grandchild Adalyn start school we looked at her and now her legs are that long she's dropped some of that baby fat now she's growing up, lost two front teeth around she can't eat corn now you can put a pot on her head and you can put a book on her head but them kids keep on growing don't they now please don't be offended by this and I see that there's one child in here so you can grow up and mature up and be smart or you can grow up and have a driver's license and an AARP card and be stupid it's up to you but you're not going to stop the growth pattern did you hear what I said you're going to grow you're physically going to grow but if your mind doesn't grow with it and you still act like a child where are my men from that Bible study Paul said at one point I thought I spake I understood but Paul said but when I became a man what did he say he said I put it away now he didn't say the Lord deliver me from being a child he didn't say the Lord did on because this is a natural growth pattern that you're going to grow God set you on that course so that's not going to stop so the best thing I can do is get with the program because the last thing I need to be is 60 and don't know how to brush my teeth come on and I'm two years away from that I want you to know I know how to brush my own teeth into the blessing come on somebody I said into the blessing to lift your own hand and brush your own teeth I got six people but it'll be alright in the morning yeah I looked at that child today and I told Taylor and Lauren I said that baby is growing they said yeah have you seen really Henry really Henry lately yeah I mean I walked over there the day care he was trying to be the pastor's kid and pulling everybody off all the toys over there the day care little girls and snuffs matching them down and stuff I just had to leave I just had to leave and leave it up to the he'll learn just like all of us did in it right yeah you pulled him off that thing one time and the next time you did you found out little girl knew how to punch you right in the eye how many of you know you grew up right then you just grew right on up you just learned well I guess I better let her keep on swinging until it's my time saying to you my dear friends tonight this is a process that you have to engage the Bible says that I spoke as a child I understood as a child I thought as a child we analyzed that Monday night in that Bible class it was great the point is is that Paul said when I became a man and there was a point at which I stepped over the line that I can't use as an excuse anymore you know I just didn't know or you know I've never learned or all that kind of stuff there was a point at which I had to step across the line and become a man Paul said and when I did it was up to me to take the stuff that was causing me to think act and speak like a child and put it away put it away from me now is it going to try to come back? absolutely but the more I know about Jesus the more he'll give me strength to put it away here it come put it away here it come put it away that's growing that's maturing that's discipling amen you might learn anything out of point one I got like 12 more y'all going to come all right yeah six of you thank you all right so let's pray because tonight's a school night and I know I need to get them kids home because they have never been now to bed before midnight now and you need to get them into bed and all that I understand all that plus my wife said you better stop early now I'm telling you you better stop early when I pull my ears home so she done pulled her ear now and it's way down here she going to get one of them little things in her ear hey can I just tell you something I got the greatest congregation on planet earth right here we do this is a great church I love you know what some of you heard some of my stuff before and you've heard it six times and you still laugh I just want to thank you for that that helps my feelings I'm just telling you some of you heard it over and over again I've heard that one okay look at these they're burying their heads over here yes yes this is this is the amen corner over here yeah thank you that's the first one he gave out all night long I'm going to earn it didn't I alright so we're going to conclude right here I want you to know that Rita and I have already been praying for your kids and your grandkids going back to school I know they've already started I want you to make sure you're here this coming weekend we're going to anoint them with oil we're going to pray over them I got an important message that I want to be able to bring this coming weekend for your kids and for the adults in this room because this is going to be a year like it's never been before in their life they're going to be dealing with things that you and I most of all of us in this room have never had to deal with and I'm going to help them and try to equip them with a few things that they can carry with them to school and before some of you say well my kids in Christian school listen I've had leaders of Christian schools that have called me up and said hey we need some prayer over here because you know what's happening the parents that have got the rebellious kids are dumping them into Christian school getting contaminated come on somebody because they're hoping that Christian school is going to straighten them all out I don't care where your home school all that kind of stuff be here Sunday I want to be able to pray over your kids and give you this word that I believe God's going to going to help them to be able to step on that campus and be effective for the cause of Christ and help you as a parent and a grandparent to insulate and sanctify your house from the attacks that are coming from outside for your children I'll never forget and I'm going to pray right here and close I'll never forget several years ago California there was a whole group of homosexual people that were beating on the door the front door of the church and I thought man this is unbelievable and they kept saying this and this chant has been coming back recently I've heard it we're coming for your children well let me tell you something my friends as for me in my house we're going to serve the Lord and I can promise you right now I'm going to insulate them and they're going to have the mind of Christ and the anointing of God every day that they go to that school and angels are going to be around their life and protect them and keep them in all of their ways be here Sunday Father I thank you tonight for your word thank you God for what you're doing right now inside this church something is shifting and happening in this place and in the hearts and lives of your people that's drawing us like a magnet towards you I pray that Lord as we prepare our hearts even for the time of fasting and prayer that you would set the hearts of this church and the minds of this church toward you this is not about Lord us trying to become something so super great on our own this is about a relationship with you Lord where we take it not only serious but we dig in and dive deep into the things of God and make you the priority of our life and then all these things can be added to us according to you we give you praise for that right now bless your people those here and those that are watching online we give you glory for it in Jesus mighty name everybody believes it say good amen rise up and be healed shake hands and be friends and I'll look to see if the Lord comes between now and then I'll see you in heaven if not I'll see you Sunday morning right here