 The topic and the message that I have for us this morning is called a vessel not a sister. The topic is if you're taking notes it's called vessel not a sister and you'll know what it is in a minute but I do want it to well first of all I really appreciate his name Jacob he was out here earlier promoting the youth ministry I appreciate you wearing your tie because I kind of looked around and except for a bow tie and a tie and I know you guys brothers right I was thinking of losing the tie because I'd be the only one with a tie but then Vlad said it's okay and then I saw them and I'm like okay I'm not gonna lose the tie so it's tie okay this is not throwing you guys off all right I don't want to be at a place and then I do want to mention that I really am blessed by before I go into the message just a couple things I really appreciate the intensity that I see in your ministry and in your in your church I wanted to say in your young people but it's not just the young people it's the church it's the moment and and I feel like the intensity that you have here is not just for the purpose of intensity right because God calls us and in the Bible quite often speaks of you know you have to be hungry for the Lord you gotta be thirsty for the Lord you gotta be hundred percent for the Lord and and it's all good and some people they try to do that because the word of God says so but you can only push yourself so much but then I feel like your intensity comes from being in the trenches of the spiritual war you know I really don't like to mention movies and in sermons because I'm not a big movie watcher but I don't know if any of you seen movie called American Sniper and okay and and you know and you know there is a difference between a regular American or whoever lives in America person walking around how he thinks about conflicts around the world and the sniper right once he's been to the conflict zone when he's seen the actual deaths and and and and and conflicts and and and you know and and I don't want to bring the graphic things from that movie but some of the things that people live when they come back they are no longer the same right they're no longer because you experience something you're no longer the same and so people might be walking around and you're going into same situation as you've been before but all of a sudden the worldview changes and I feel like the intensity in this place which should be in every church and in every place but I feel like the intensity is authentic because of being in the trenches and basically dealing with the with the casting out of demons and and confronting those demons standing against the demons standing against the the curses and the plans of the devil that he has for this country and for this generation and I'm so excited to see a generation and I believe in a generation that will give the push back and will overcome the stronghold of the demons and of the devil in Jesus name glory to God and I'm excited about that I was already I'm already blessed so much by that and by the testimonies and another thing and then I'll go into the message but I really really really appreciate the vision for the multitude glory to God you know there is there's basically two camps in every church or in our Christianity there's two camps there's a camp let's lock down the windows let's lower the shades I know you do it for the purpose of lighting but let's let's lock ourselves in and and hunker down and wait for the coming just to me you know just to get into the get into the heaven so so that's one camp and I'm I've never been a fan of that camp I like this camp I like the camp of it's I believe Daniel 235 it says and the rock that came from heaven it hit the earth it destroyed all the kingdoms or all the rulers and then it began to grow and then it filled the earth and that's the and then the rock that we're talking about is the rock of Jesus Christ and so I really agree with you in faith and believe for the multitude that we're not gonna be just a church or just a generation that is making you know some kind of a wave in their corner no we're gonna be the standard and we're gonna be dictating no longer taking the heat but dictating what it should be in our culture and if we believe in that when we believe for great things amen we will see great things why because our God is God of great things the moment he's involved things begin to happen the moment God is present miracles happen and that's actually gonna be a little part of my message but so thank you so much I'm already blessed and excited to be in a house of the Lord and with all of you vessel not a sister so we're gonna read two scriptures and then we'll talk we'll discuss some of the topics first scripture is gonna be John chapter 15 verse 4 and verse 5 very known scripture but if you're taking notes or if you have the Bible and you want to follow please follow and so John chapter 4 I'm sorry I'm sorry John chapter 15 verse 4 the word of God says Jesus himself it's actually letters in red abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine neither can you unless you abide in me I am divine and you are the branches he who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit for without me you can do nothing so that's scripture number one and then scripture number two and that's kind of the scripture that the title is derived out of so let's turn to Jeremiah prophet Jeremiah and it's gonna be verse I'm sorry chapter 2 verse 13 Jeremiah 2 13 I don't know do you guys put it on the on the board scripture no that's fine but this is this is very this is very key scripture and here the Lord says for my people have committed to evils they have forsaken me the fountain of living water and he and made themselves I have this weird word in here h e w n don't even know how to pronounce it so but another translation says they made themselves or created for themselves cisterns broken cisterns that can hold no water hence the message word cisterns so God my message for all of us this morning is that God has created us as a vessel and not a cistern and you know back in a day they really did not have you know like a faucet you know that you can turn on and turn off like we have faucets right now when we go to our restroom hopefully we have a faucet and we can turn it on and you know get ready for church as I was leaving the hotel this morning and and the lady at the front desk she goes oh you look very nice I was like well that's the opportunity I said I'm going to church with a big smile she's like oh okay yeah I'm going to church so that's a little seed planted but you know and so we use the faucet and and back then a equivalent of a faucet was a vessel you know you'd put a little bit of water in the vessel and then you would use it to pour it out and to attend to your needs and so basically what how God created us is he created us as vessels and not a big cisterns you know cisterns that cistern is more of a holding place of a lot of a lot of water you know and so but but God did not had it you know so camels for instance camels they can eat a lot and then they can use that energy because they have these humps one or two humps depending on what part of the world there are and and so they can use that energy they stored up and they can use it later and but not that's not how people made right people are not made that way we can no matter how much we eat today let's say we go after church and we go to a buffet let's say I don't recommend it but if we go to a buffet and you can eat all you can eat right do you guys have buffets here in because we have a lot in Seattle and so if you go to a buffet no matter how much you take in you can eat as much as you can I bet you tomorrow comes you're gonna be hungry I mean at most at most you can probably but by Tuesday for sure you will need to eat it's not like you can go to a buffet and take in for a week no that's the way we made we're not made as camels right we're made as people and I think in a spiritual world we are the same way we are made to be vessels and not so sisters God really intended us to depend on him for every day every day not just on Sunday you know or not a conference week so let's say Vlad was advertising or or promoting the conference week and this is like the buffet you know and sometimes that's how we come before the Lord that's how we act and we want to be like camels right and so conference time I dedicate my time I take everything in I fast I pray and then after the conference is over I'm gonna live on that provision and but that's not how we are created and so God here in the scripture Jeremiah chapter 2 he says this is the evil that the people are doing in front of my face that's that's the evil and so and so what are they doing so they're creating sisters they're creating these water holding type of devices that they want to store the water in them and and so they they want the Lord to fill it up and then they can dispense as they desire and that is just so human thing to do don't you think so we want to be in control we were I don't know how you but sometimes I have this control freak spirit come on me and I love to be in control even controlling what God can do and it be so nice to okay so I'm the sister so here comes Vasili I'm actually sharing same name as your as your pastor Vasili here actually on a side note it's so odd you know Vasili is probably one of the most common names in where I'm from from Ukraine or Russia Vasili and Ivan is probably the most common names and my name first name is Vasili and second name is Ivan Vasili Ivanovich you know and so it was like so easy back there you know what's your name Vasili okay Vasili sure no problem here it's like Vasili what you say can you spell that it's like oh Lord how did I go from the most common name to like so unrecognizable but anyhow don't feel bad for me I'll make it so so but that but that's the thing you know and so we want to okay so there's a there's a need for for a healing there is a problem there is a and so we'd love this we'd love this this ability to be like okay well I'm the man of God or I'm a woman of God well let me pray because I have I have in my sister I have reserves and I can give it to you but and and so we we might want that we might want that right but that's not how it works God created us as humans in real way that we need food and dependence on that food every day to sustain us so we need God in our life as a source of living water every day source of living water every single day and and it's so interesting because a lot of times Bible talks about Holy Spirit Holy Spirit as water and just like in real life with without food you can live a couple days well I can live longer but some of you can live you know seven days I think without food but without water no longer than what two days or something like that we need Holy Spirit three-day we need Holy Spirit every day touch of his of his love touch of his of his energy touch of his of him coming through us and and that's what God says he says me the fountain of living water now let's let's take a moment and talk about this fountain of living water you know I think a lot of times we as people we don't want to to trust or be dependent on the fountain because you know we always deal on this earth we always deal with scarcity I don't know if much of you go into economics but one of the laws of economics is that there's scarcity scarcity of time scarcity of resources and so because there's scarcity a lot of times we think well you know there's a source there's a bubbling source of water but who knows how much there is behind it and what if it ends so that's why we like to build the cistern right we just don't realize that in spiritual world there is no cistern without a crack every cistern or every holding place has a crack and it drains there is no way to keep it from yesterday but you know and so a lot of times we think well there is we don't know what about that source what if that source ends you know we all like to have little some set aside for for a dark day you know or the day the day you know for a difficult time some something set aside you know it's interesting because in spiritual world when the devil is like oh he's expecting a dark day or he's expecting a some to happen well let's send him some of my servants bring him he's expecting it let's give it to him you know so you know don't set it for a for a difficult day it just as you know if you want to do reserves do reserves for the glory of God for whatever happens don't put it on a on if there's an emergency you know oh you want emergency here comes emergency now so don't do that but we'd like to have reserves for emergencies but God's but so what I want to tell you here is that the source of living water being God himself he will never run dry amen God will never run dry and we need to receive that from God from from the scripture we need to receive it into our spirit as a revelation as a revelation that you can trust God he is not gonna be like Ukrainian water source or water supply company they used to have certain hours if you turn it on and certain hours of the day you will not have any water I don't know some things are changing now but I mean they're they're going back with the war and everything you know it's rations God does not go does not have rations God is full source why because he is the Creator he created universe he created everything and he has the power to give you answer or to give you help or to be there every time you need him every time every time you know the Bible says Jesus when he was departing he says I will not leave you nor forsake you God will not leave you I was just speaking Ukrainian for those I don't know it's not in tongues God will knock as I see there's a nice contact people that that speak that language so be interesting for them to hear I in Spanish I only know hablo espanol me gusta I like like what I like the Lord God will not leave us or forsake us so trust the Lord receive this and this and this really comes this really comes the understanding that the source of living water will never run dry it really comes from from faith in God you really have to believe and trust God and let go let go and so what I'm telling you here this morning is if you want a source of living God of living water God himself to be replenishing you or or using you as a vessel every day all the time any time you need you need to let go of a sister if you do not let go of the water holding facility that you've built if you do not let it go out of your life the source of living water will not happen because you cannot have two at the same time you cannot have doubt and you cannot have faith you can either trust God that when you call on him he will answer or you will have to depend on your broken sister that will not work let it go let go of your reserves let go of your spiritual reserves in Jesus what are what else is sister sisters sisters are things that they can be also religious traditions you know some things we do even new generation churches even young churches you know some things we do they start with revelation they start with a lot of blessing they start with God being there but what happens is we like it and we hold on to it and then time goes by and God wants to give you a new revelation but we're holding on to something that worked years ago and so what happens is we gotta make sure that we're not holding on to things but we're holding on to God I love good traditions our family we have a great tradition going to creation it's a it's a tradition we love out of the you know 15 or 17 years that creation has been doing West Coast we probably been to at least 10 or 11 I almost never missed it when I was at Gorge I love that place but it's a good tradition but you know what if it's time to let go it's time to let go I am not against but good traditions but traditions will not substitute the spirit and movement of God so because sometimes we're wondering well what is what is a sister well it could be these traditions it could be projects you know projects that were started by God you know it's a lot of times you can see ministries copying each other well one church had a revelation for it one ministry had a revelation and that's their thing to do and when the other church is trying to copy it it becomes a sister because they're copying something that is not a revelation for them and it could be also for our personal ministries as well and so I really wanted to touch on this and and and give us couple checkpoints couple checkpoints to figure out if if we're already built because I understand that we are all ministers right not just Vlad not just pastor of a silly but we are all ministers in in the body of Christ and so we as ministers we need to sometimes double check to make sure are we dealing with with a tradition are we moving in a tradition are we moving in the system are we moving in something that has that has is broken are we moving into the in the living water and so a couple checkpoints for us to think about is just to see if we're on the right path and that's one thing what I know is that when God blesses a project or a ministry or he creates a way then he gives the provision so I like this one saying pastor Wendell Smith I don't know if you've heard of him but he always used to say God's will God's bill have you heard that before God's will God's bill you know what and sometimes you hear this on the radio a ministry has been around for about 50 years and they go if you don't send us today this check for $10 we might have to close the doors and they almost sound desperate and you know and at that time sometimes I think well maybe it's a sign you know some you've been doing 50 years you started 50 years ago and you're still doing it the same way well maybe when the when the funds dry out maybe it's a sign maybe it's a sign to move on to some else well I'm not saying that it is I'm just thanking to myself but what I know what I know that I know that I know that I know that God is God of more than enough and when you are in God's will when you are doing God's work he will provide for that and he will provide in such a way we don't have to be beggars and so when you have a vision when you have a vision for multitudes and I'm not talking about 200 when you have I heard you praying in this place for thousands and may God bring ten thousands and hundreds of thousands it's gonna take provision and you know what God will give that provision amen what it's God's earth everything is his my friends yeah you know sometimes people come up there and say you know devil rules the world he is a ruler in his realm but the Word of God clearly says and shalom I believe 26 or 24 he says earth is the Lord amen and so we stand on the fact that earth is the Lord's and when it's God's will God gives provision okay second so so the takeaway from that is if God if there is no provision double check double check if you're operating in a cistern versus a vessel number two is that there will be a victory at the end so our life is not without a trial our life is not without a fight amen but what's guaranteed in the Lord and in this Bible what's absolutely guaranteed is a victory at the end glory to God God Word of God talks about Jesus and our God as a mighty warrior hallelujah our God is a mighty warrior and so when we fight and we battle the Lord's battle he says the battle is mine and and it's not gonna and I'm not saying that it's gonna be easy chilling on the couch I don't know if you heard that kind of language before but it's not relaxing on the couch yes it's gonna and you know what and Paul even says I have preached this one time about about blood fighting to blood you know we haven't even fought I don't know if you have but a lot of us in this country we haven't even fought to blood when Paul was alive and all around the world right now even today there's Christians that are fighting for spirit they're fighting spiritual blood battles to blood when they are losing their own blood and we have not even come to that yet maybe maybe you have I don't know because I don't know your church that much but there will be fight but the thing is at the end there will be victory my friends there will be victory it will never be a loss and I'm saying never based on the word of God and I love it and that's one of the reasons I became Christian because this is the only this is the only thing that is 100% and that's our Lord Jesus Christ I gotta speed up a little bit at point number three so check number three there will be miraculous signs special appointment divine doors opening when you are moving in the spring of living water as long as the Lord is present in the mission project or or purpose of your life as long as the Lord is there as long as he as long as you're walking in his will do not be surprised there will be miracles there will be signs there will be wonders and do not be surprised why some people are like oh my faith is strong and I'm so strong I don't need signs and wonders and miracles well that's okay for you I check you I check if you're living out a sister nor if you're living out of spring of living water because the God that I serve is a miraculous God so it's interesting because we ask God to do some or to touch some well you know what every time he touches something it's gonna be big and I'm not saying big like in the sense of this world but you know the smallest things that God does for us they're amazing and we want to tell people you know what I prayed for this and God gave me an answer and it's so awesome for me anything God does anything God touches it's amazing either it's big or small provision healing baptism with the Holy Spirit freeing from the evil spirits anything God does it's amazing why because our God is amazing you know it's like a pianist when a regular pianist plays great when when Yanni I don't know it's he's not Christian maybe I shouldn't mention him but if Yanni would play you'd be hit play same thing you'd be like wow why because he's great he's a great he's considered a great player well doesn't compare to our God God our God is greatest no matter what he does is amazing so signs wonders miracles and finally the vessel will not be destroyed but rather is polished and that's kind of like the fourth check I wanted to built into the sermon is if you feel like you're being destroyed by the ministry if it's too heavy you know sometimes when I see ministers that are like oh my god you know one more problem and I'm gonna collapse the weight of this ministry is so difficult I am gonna collapse sometimes I wonder you know cuz I mean like I said there will be conflicts but the thing is when the Spirit of God is moving through you he will bless you have you ever seen a pipe that is delivering water somewhere being dry no way God created us to be vessels to pour out Holy Spirit through us well let me tell you something he will not leave you dry in the meantime you will also be fed and blessed and anointed in Jesus name hallelujah not a vessel I'm sorry not a sister but a vessel God called us to be vessels there's other points but time has come and I think the message God has spoke what he wanted to speak and I just want to encourage you do not trust in your ways I know we know ourselves we're like I rather do it myself than let somebody else do it sometimes it works but in the greater picture of things trust in the Lord he says I am the source of living water for you and he will never cease do not build do not do evil in God's eyes by building a sister amen