Moving Together With God | Nancy Dufresne | Campmeeting 2025 | Thursday PM

Summary

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Moving Together With God

Dufresne Ministries Podcast — Nancy Dufresne | Campmeeting 2025 | Thursday PM
Date: June 14, 2025

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Overview

In this deeply practical and heartfelt message, Pastor Nancy Dufresne explores the biblical and spiritual necessity of "moving together with God"—emphasizing the power, protection, and purpose found in fellowship with God, connection within the local church, and the essential role of corporate faith. Drawing on vivid personal experiences, scripture, and church anecdotes, Nancy calls believers to reject spiritual isolation ("Lone Ranger" Christianity) and walk in oneness with Christ and each other, especially in their local church community.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Biblical Foundation for "Togetherness"

(00:18–07:10)

• Nancy grounds her message in scriptures like Acts 17:28 ("In Him we live and move..."), 1 Corinthians 3:9 ("fellow workmen, joint promoters, laborers together with God"), and Ephesians 2:5–6 ("made us alive together with Christ...joint seating").
• Key Point: Every movement as a believer requires God’s involvement; “He never intended us to do any of this apart from him, but together with Him.”
• Vivid analogy: When believers are "seated together" with Christ, there's “no space in between you when you’re sharing a seat. There is no space, baby. No space, right?” (07:11)

2. Fellowship's Purpose and Spiritual Impartation

(07:10–15:05)

• True fellowship is for sharing life—"Moving together. Amen. Him doing the hard part and us just sticking close and getting rewarded for the hard part he accomplishes.” (10:50)
• Importance of impartation: “You can’t even reach your end without being together with someone who imparts to you.” (11:28)
  “It matters who you hook up with, because what’s moving in them will move in you—good or bad.” (11:45)
• Nancy recounts the story of angels assigned to her late husband’s healing ministry and how their impartation extended to those connected in fellowship.

3. The Church, Pastoral Oversight, and Serving in the Local Body

(15:07–24:38)

• God leads believers to their church and pastor—"You can’t just pick the church of your choice...God will lead you to the church, to the pastor, and everyone needs a shepherd." (15:07)
• "Pastors need someone to speak into their life. Traveling ministers...if you don’t have a pastor, period, you are out [of God’s will].” (15:10)
• Staff are required to serve beyond their paid positions: “Anybody serves when they’re paid. You are to serve the body like any other congregation member that comes in.” (16:24–16:27)
• "If we’re struggling with allowing our oneness with God to direct us every day, how much more will we struggle in our togetherness as a body?" (17:34)

4. The Necessity of Being "Planted" in the Local Church

(19:16–24:38)

• "None of us can fulfill what we’re to be in the body except through the local church." (20:37)
• Powerful illustration: "Those that are planted in the house of the Lord, not potted...What’s a pot? A limit. You can’t go beyond this. And if you’re not planted, the only other thing you are is potted." (21:58, 22:18)
• Being "planted" offers ongoing nourishment, stability, longevity; "That which is potted is subject to premature death." (21:56)

5. Pastoral Authority as Protection

(24:10–27:48)

• “If you don’t have a pastor, no one has oversight over you...Jesus can only have oversight over your soul through the office of a pastor.” (24:21)
• “There is such protection and help in the office of the pastor that no other office holds for you.” (26:20)
• "Don’t get in the outer fringes. Stick close together. Close, close, close together." (27:37)

6. Corporate Faith—Why We Need Each Other

(27:49–38:28)

• Miracles sometimes require more than just personal faith: “One day you’re going to need a miracle that only corporate faith can get you.” (27:49)
• Illustration—James vs. Peter (Acts 12): “No corporate prayer for James; he died. But for Peter, the church prayed corporately and he was delivered.” (29:26–31:41)
• Missionary story: Corporate faith and prayer in his home church protected him—39 people prayed, 39 angels appeared. (34:20)
• “The only part of the word that will work for us is the part we honor...what you dishonor, you are dismissed from.” (38:00)

7. The Dangers of Criticism and Disconnection

(38:29–49:23)

• “Never dishonor the place where your corporate faith is going to be drawn from...One day I’m going to need the miracle that comes through corporate faith.” (39:55, 63:55)
• Story of making a critical comment leading to immediate physical consequences, and the lesson of seeking mercy and restoring honor. (66:58–67:24)

8. Corporate Faith as Protection—and Its Double Edge

(49:23–56:29)

• Teaching from 1 Corinthians 5: At times, the corporate church must deliver a persistent sinner “to Satan for the destruction of the flesh”—a rare, but necessary, withdrawal of protection to preserve the body and the individual’s soul. (52:37–53:42)

9. Unity Over Individualism: The Call to Spiritual Maturity

(56:29–63:55)

• “God didn’t just send one person to the upper room...some things only happen together, in one accord.” (56:29)
• “The sign of someone spiritually young: It’s all about them. As we’re growing, it becomes all about the whole.” (58:57)
• Warning: “Potted plants—high maintenance. But something planted just draws like every other plant—grow and produce, grow and produce.” (59:00–59:52)

10. Sowing Into Others' Miracles and Health

(60:05–64:12)

• The law of sowing and reaping applies to corporate faith and health: “When you sow into the health of someone else, your health...it will show up in your own health...Pray one for another that you may be healed.” (61:59)
• “If we haven’t sown corporate faith, we will have nothing of it boomeranging back into our lives...” (62:34)

11. Staying In Your Place, Honoring Every Other Part

(66:45–67:34)

• "We are one...I have to know where I’m directly connected and stay directly connected...But you’re still a part in the body. So stay in your place, but honor the rest of the body..." (66:45–67:34)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

"He never intended us to do any of this apart from him, but together with Him."
—Nancy Dufresne (approx. 02:10)

"If you have to share a seat, sometimes it’s like you don’t know where one ends and the other begins. We are raised and seated so that we don’t know where one ends and the other begins."
—Nancy Dufresne (07:11)

“It matters who you hook up with, because what’s moving in them will move in you—good or bad?”
—Nancy Dufresne (11:45)

"None of us can fulfill what we’re to be in the body except through the local church."
—Nancy Dufresne (20:37)

"Those that are planted in the house of the Lord, not potted...That which is potted is subject to premature death."
—Nancy Dufresne (21:58)

"If you don’t have a pastor, no one has oversight over you...Jesus can only have oversight over your soul through the office of a pastor."
—Nancy Dufresne (24:21)

“One day you’re going to need a miracle that only corporate faith can get you.”
—Nancy Dufresne (27:49)

“The only part of the word that will work for us is the part we honor...what you dishonor, you are dismissed from.”
—Nancy Dufresne (38:00)

"The sign of someone spiritually young: it’s all about them. As we’re growing, it becomes all about the whole."
—Nancy Dufresne (58:57)

"We are one. We are one. We are one. I think that way, I move that way, I plan that way, I obey God that way."
—Nancy Dufresne (60:05)

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Key Timestamps

• 00:18–07:10 — Opening and scriptural foundation for "togetherness."
• 07:11–15:05 — "Joint seating" analogy; impartation through fellowship.
• 15:07–24:38 — The necessity of being "planted," and the role of the local church and pastor.
• 24:10–27:48 — Pastoral oversight as unique spiritual protection.
• 27:49–38:28 — Corporate faith: stories, biblical examples, and practical necessity.
• 38:29–49:23 — The danger of criticism; honor as the condition for receiving.
• 49:23–56:29 — Warning regarding persistent sin and the boundaries of corporate protection.
• 56:29–63:55 — Growing into unity, not individualism; “sowing” into corporate faith.
• 63:55–end — Lessons on honor, repentance, and mutual need in the body.

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Tone & Style

Nancy Dufresne speaks with warmth, humor, and unfiltered honesty—mixing passionate biblical teaching with down-to-earth illustrations and occasional Oklahoma colloquialism. Her tone is pastoral, exhortational, at times gently corrective, but always motivating towards love, unity, and spiritual maturity within the body of Christ.

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Takeaway

This message is a powerful call to reject spiritual isolation and to value deeply the roles of the local church, corporate prayer, and submission to God-appointed leadership. “Together matters”—for your spiritual growth, your protection, your miracles, and advancing God’s plan.

Transcript

[A]

Hi, I'm Nancy Dufresne. Welcome to our podcast channel. We know you'll be blessed by today's message. Hallelujah. We worship you, Father. We glorify. We magnify.

[B]

Hallelujah.

[A]

Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. We thank you. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Thank you, choir. Y' all can be seated. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Glory to God. Glory to God. Hallelujah. When Ms. Reba got up and she said, I'm glad David had her to get up, because I sit there and I go, I don't have the direction yet. And then he pulled Ms. Reba up, and she said the word together. I go, there it is. There it is. Acts 17:28. And I'll just read some of these verses to you, if you want. And Acts 17:28, you can just take note of the reference if you choose. For in him we live, and in him we move. And in him we have our being. Notice this. Every movement, every part of this. He didn't leave himself out of any of it. He joined himself to us in this. So what's that mean? To move like this requires him. It's not just recommended. Requires his involvement. What's that mean? He never intended us to do any of this apart from him, but together with Him. Right, then. First Corinthians 3, 9, the Amplified classic. Bring me back a little if you would, Andrew. Thank you. First Corinthians, chapter three, verse nine, the Amplified Classic. It says, for we are fellow workmen. Look at this. Joint, promoters, laborers, together with and for God. Second Corinthians, chapter six, and verse one, the Amplified Classic. Second Corinthians, chapter six, & verse one, the Amplified Classic. Laboring together as God's fellow workers with Him. Then we beg of you not to receive the grace of God in vain, that merciful kindness of God which exerts his holy influence on souls. That's why we don't leave him out, because his holy influence does more than what our pushing and shoving could ever accomplish. His holy influence on souls and turns them to Christ. Look at this. Keeping and strengthening them. Do not receive it to no purpose. So they're again together. Ephesians 2, verses 5 and 6. Ephesians 2, verses five and six. Even when we were dead and slain by our own shortcomings and trespasses, he made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ. And he gave us the very life of Christ himself, the same new life with which he quickened him or raised him up, made him alive. For it is by grace, his favor and mercy, which you did not deserve, that you are saved, delivered from judgment and made partakers, partakers of Christ's salvation. He raised us up together with him and made us, look at this, sit down together, giving us joint seating. What is joint seating together, baby, when you share a seat with your spouse, you know, one cheek on, one cheek off. You ever been in a place you're not enough room for both of yous? My dad, that wasn't very ladylike, but there you go. The Oklahoma came out. My dad came out with my whole family, came out in 2005 to visit, like a family reunion of our family. And they stayed at the house and so they drive, they just drive in a caravan from Oklahoma out here. And so mother and daddy showed up and they had behind them a two wheel trailer and it's called a yuppie. They pulled up, they had the van they were driving in and this yuppie behind him. And I wow, you got a trailer with you? Daddy said, Mother said, yep, Kenneth wanted to bring a trailer, so he went and got a trailer. And we're pulling a trailer all the way. But it's a little two wheeler. I mean, it's just nothing, you know, you could push it. And Daddy said, carolyn, because you have to understand how we traveled when we traveled. Mother was not going to spend the money on multiple hotel rooms. Everybody dogpiles into one. Bad idea. We did that for years. But they would all load their luggage, you know, in the van. And there was always more luggage than anything. And so it's at their feet. It's at next to the bench, on the seat, you know, the van bench. And daddy said, I'm not riding all the way to California with one cheek on and one cheek off. So we got a trace. So he threw all the luggage in the trailer.

[B]

That's where it came from.

[A]

And that's where it came from. And then they filled it up with all the kind of stuff they bought out here. So mother was quite pleased with. Daddy was quite pleased with the seat that accommodated everything. Because if you have to share a seat, sometimes it's like you don't know where one ends and the other begins. We are raised and seated so that we don't know where one ends and the other begins. Together. Together. No space in between you when you're sharing a seat. There is no space, baby. No space, right? It like, oh, let me push. All right, I'm in. Get it, get. Ever been that way? Same seat. We're not lined up With a bunch of little seats along next to Him. We are raised in the same. Same seat, Same seat. Why? That's how together he intended that we rule and reign together. No space. You don't know where one ends and the other begins. Amen. No space in between. Raised and seated together with him. And then first Thessalonians 5, 10 says, who died for us so that whether we are still alive or are dead at Christ's appearing, we might live together with him and share his life. First John, chapter one, verse six, the amplified classic translation. So if we say we are partakers together and enjoy fellowship with him, when we live and move and are walking about in darkness, we're both speaking falsely and do not live and practice the truth which the Gospel presents. So what are we to do? We're together for one reason. Fellowship. Moving together. Amen. Him doing the hard part and us just sticking close and getting rewarded for the hard part he accomplishes. Just because the virtue of what's on the head spills over on down on the body. Amen. We're the body, he's the head. Together. Your body did not walk in separate from your head tonight. If it did, we need to a miracle night. Right? You cannot separate the head from the body. That's how much God intended the oneness. The oneness. The oneness together. And if you ever hear account of people who went to hell and anyone who ever had an event of seeing that, one of the things that was stated by different ones is they're in solitary, alone in their torment. Alone in their torment. We're okay to be alone for a little bit, but brother, you gotta, ooh, you gotta see somebody after a while just in this, you know. And in heaven, never alone in the sense of we're not an entity by itself. God never intended the body be complete with missing parts. Together. Together. Together. Together. Now he intended to make us one with him so that when we come together, the effectiveness of our togetherness comes from because we're already together with Him. Amen. It's not just us together manufacturing something, but our togetherness with him, spilling over and affecting our togetherness with one another as the body. Now in that, look at this with Paul in Romans 1, verse 11, said, I long to see you what that I may impart to the end that you be established. Notice this. You can't even reach your end without being together with someone who imparts to you. So it matters who you hook up with, because what they're what's moving in them will move in you good or bad? Good or bad? Good or bad?

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

So when my husband went home to be with the Lord In October of 2013, I was finishing up a meeting in February of 2014, and God said to me, he said, there were those and those of you who may have heard me tell of it and maybe heard Ed talk about it, how in the 1980s, Ed was coming off of a commercial flight one day, going off the jet, Jetway, and God said to him, turn around. And when he turned around, he saw angels following him. And you know, when you're in the spirit, you just know things without having to calculate. And he said, there were a hundred angels walking behind him two rows, so 50 of two each on each row. And he said to God, what are those angels for? And he said, those angels have been dispatched to work with you in the healing ministry. Are they healers? They cooperate with healing power. Just like at the pool of Bethesda, an angel would come and deposit a measure of healing power into the water. And healing power is measured because there was only enough for one, whatever the condition. Whatever the condition didn't matter. So that angel cooperated by depositing into that water. So we know this, that angels are used in connection with healing, but Jesus is the healer. We understand that. And so In February of 2014, after Ed had gone home to be with the Lord, God said to me, you remember those angels that were dispatched to work with your husband in the healing ministry? I said, yes. He said, when he came back to heaven, they did not, because their ministry is not in heaven, it's in the earth.

[B]

That's right. Amen.

[A]

So he said, they stayed there in the earth. And he said, 50 stayed with you. He said the other 50 were dispatched to ministers that were connected with your husband, who themselves operate under a healing anointing. And he named a few of them, maybe about four different ones. Not saying that those were the only four, but he gave a sampling of that. What's that mean? It matters who you're sitting under together, because they received something without even really knowing it, just because together brought them impartation, brought them heaven's help. Another level of those ministering spirits that were assigned to them simply because they knew where they were to be joined.

[B]

That's right. Amen.

[A]

So you can't just pick the church of your choice.

[B]

Amen.

[A]

Come on, you can't just decide, I'm going to go to this church because it's convenient. God will lead you to the church, to the pastor, and everyone needs a shepherd. Pastors need someone to speak into their life. Traveling ministers, you're out of the will of God. If you don't have a pastor, period, you are out. And just because you may be preaching in a church most every Sunday, where's your family go? You need the oversight and the help of a pastor in your life. And can I say this? Let me help you. In our staff, just because they are here throughout the week, that does not equal them serving in their local church. That's exactly right. Because they're paid for that. Yeah, exactly. They're paid for those hours our staff has to serve in a ministry of health position somewhere apart from being on staff. Why? Because if you worked at a bank and you got paid for those hours, that's not serving in the local church. And just because you're here at the ministry all day does not mean you're serving in your local church. Anybody serves when they're paid.

[B]

Right? Come on now. Amen.

[A]

So you are to serve the body like any other congregation member that comes in. They are expected to serve. Meaning I don't pay you. Just because you're on staff during the work hours, that does not mean you have fulfilled your obligation to the local body. There you go. Amen. And just because you work around the ministry does not mean your mind is renewed. That's right. It does not mean your fellowship with God is hot. Does not mean that, well, I'm on step. That does not mean that. Amen. That means you better be hot because you work around the ministry. Praise the Lord. So if we're struggling with allowing our oneness with God to direct us every day, how much more we'll struggle in our togetherness as a body. If we falter in our togetherness with the head in fellowship, we're going to falter in the supply we bring to the body. Think of this. Paul said, praying exceedingly. Not day, praying exceedingly. That I might see your face and might perfect what's lacking in your faith. None of us can have perfected faith without somebody else's help. You can't sit at home alone and have full faith. Can't do it. You need together. You need together. Just like as a minister with an anointing upon his life, a call upon his life, somebody has to impart to him or didn't reach the end.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

And you can tell when there's impartations missing because a call does not make up for the lack of impartations.

[B]

That's right. Amen.

[A]

You have to have impartations And Paul said, I long to see you, that I may impart. It wasn't enough that they were reading his Revelations and receiving his letters. He said, I have to see you. And the wording is very critical in our day because people think if they can see the preacher, that's sufficient. But the preacher can't see you. And Paul said, I long to see you. Not I long you to see me. I long to see you. Because impartations don't happen because you saw the preacher. They happen because the preacher saw you helping us.

[B]

Come on.

[A]

Amen. And people dismiss themselves from the local church because they can still see the preacher online. But that's not together. That's not together because until you're part of a local church, you're not even serving the body fully as you ought. Every believer has two ministries, one in the church and one outside the church. What's your ministry outside the church? The ministry of reconciliation. You're to tell the unsaved you need a savior and you have one. Let me tell you about the one you have.

[B]

Amen. That's right.

[A]

That's our ministry outside the church. But we have a ministry in the church. Each joint supplieth each part. We're each bringing our part because we are fitly joined together. And you don't want to be out of joint. Amen. And you can confess all you want, but if you're out of joint, there's a supply that's not reaching your life. Amen. Now, the reason of togetherness is because you cannot. None of us can fulfill what we're to be in the body except through the local church. You can't do that following a traveling minister around. Can't do that following an apostle around, following a prophet around, following an evangelist around. You cannot. Because you have to be planted. Those that are planted. Psalm 92. Those that are planted in the house of the Lord. Not potted. Planted. Those that are planted. Not potted. Not visiting, not floating from church to church, week to week. What kind of student, what kind of education would a child get if they attended a different school every week? They'd fail. No, there's no way to reach skill when you're under a different one. Well, it's the same thing spiritually. Amen. That we have to know where we're to be planted. When I was in Paducah, Kentucky, we were there holding our miracle crusade. What, Two weeks ago or so, I had potted plants on my back patio. And when I came home, they were dead. Why? That which is potted is subject to premature death.

[B]

Amen.

[A]

Yes. Come on. That's right. Planted. I can leave long time. And they're drawing their moisture. They're drawing. They're drawing. They're drawing all the time. Regardless of who's there or who's not there. Those that are planted have a root system.

[B]

Hallelujah.

[A]

They're established. They are established. They're planted. Those that are planted by. By rivers of living abroad. Oh, baby. What's a pot? A limit. You can't go beyond this. And if you're not planted, the only other thing you are is potted. Because God likens us to trees. He likens us to branches that produce fruit. Right. So it matters what our root system is. Jesus is the vine. We are the branches. Amen. But how is your tree going to benefit only by being in a local church? You have to be together. Together. Together. Together. Yeah. Doesn't a vineyard produce far more than one lone tree sticking out in a field? Yeah. And so in the body of Christ, we each have a role. We each have a place. We are fitly joined together. You cannot be safe as a sheep without a shepherd. Won't happen. No sheep at the sheep market gets to vote on who their shepherd is. That's right. The shepherd chooses. I'll take that sheep. I'll take that sheep. I'll take that sheep. And Jesus is the chief shepherd, the head shepherd. And he directs and he puts us with under shepherds. Pastors anointed to have oversight of our soul.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

If you don't have a pastor, no one has oversight over you. You said Jesus. He. Jesus does. He can only have oversight over your soul. You through the office of a pastor.

[B]

Amen. That's right. Amen.

[A]

Amen. The head shepherd is going to shepherd through under shepherds. That's right.

[B]

Yes, ma'. Am. Praise God.

[A]

And if we don't have a pastor.

[B]

Come on.

[A]

Then God cannot care for us the way he wants to. He wants to take care of. Yeah. Amen. And people will say, Jesus is all I need. People will say that. You hear? Jesus is all I need. It's usually people who aren't part of a local church who say that they don't have a pastor who say that. Because you got to qualify that statement. Jesus is all you need for your salvation. But to have someone to watch over your soul, you need a pastor. To grow up spiritually, you need a pastor. He gave the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher. For the edifying, for the building up of the body, maturing of the body. You cannot grow up just because you're born again. You grow up because someone's in your face. Together, together, together. Not absent together. Amen. And aren't you glad you get to be together with one another in this togetherness under your pastor? I love what Pastor Edwin Anderson says. He said God will send you to places as a sheep to where people grind on you. You'll say, I wouldn't pick that because they grind on me. Uh huh. It's smoothing off those rough edges. Grinding. Amen. We're walking in love. Getting smoother. Not bumping into everybody. We're just rubbing up real nice and smooth. Smooth. Now there's such protection and help in the office of the pastor that no other office holds for you.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

Because the prophet is not assigned oversight of your soul. The teacher, the evangelist, they're not assigned oversight of your soul. Your pastor is. Your pastor is. So what is that? That's the safety net under you.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

Because while we're learning, while we're growing up spiritually, we could miss it. We don't have to miss it, but there are times that we can miss it. And if we miss it, we have the safety net of the shepherd. And what happens? You just bounce down and bounce back up. Amen. But you got no safety net. You'll. And there's no rebounds. Your finances hit bottom. Boom. No spring. No spring. There's such safety of this pastor. Amen. Under your life together, you need to stick close to your pastor. Don't get in the outer fringes. Stick close together. Close together. I'm not talking about being a buddy, I'm saying not being distant. Close, close, close together. How close does God want you to be to your pastor? How close is God to you? He's in you. Amen.

[B]

Amen.

[A]

Amen. God doesn't want space, he wants proximity. You are close to your pastor?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Why? One of the reasons. Can I tell you this? One of the reasons you need the togetherness of the local church. Because one day you're going to need a miracle that only corporate faith can get you. I said one day you're going to need a miracle that only corporate faith can get you. And if you're off living by yourself without a pastor, you don't have access to corporate faith. Faith. The same way as somebody who has a shepherd. You say you got scripture. Let's go there, baby. Let's go there. Acts, chapter 12. Acts, chapter 12, verse 1. About that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to afflict and oppress and torment some who belonged to the church. Now, I like the wording of the King James. It says that Herod stretched forth his hand to vex certain of the church. The devil's after certain. Why is he after certain? Because if he hits certain ones, everyone else is automatically affected with one stripe. So he hits certain. What do they tell you? Especially in time of war, we cut off the head, you take out. The commanding officers in the lower ranks don't know what to do next.

[B]

That's right. That's right.

[A]

Well, that's the way the devil strikes too. And so Herod vexed certain of the church. Now, which certain did he go after? Well, there were 12 disciples that Jesus personally trained. But three of them were intimately trained. James, Peter and John. So these three Jesus took in closer proximity. They had different experiences. They had further instruction and impartation being around Jesus. Why? Because they were the favorite? No, but because of the call on them. They would need a little bit more specific help and training to accomplish what they were called to. So, James, Peter and John. So Herod vexed certain of the church. And it says. And he stretched forth his hand, what killed James with the sword. So what's that? One of the three gone. One of the three gone. And verse three. And when he saw it that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further and arrested Peter also. So what's he after? Number two of the three. So the devil knew who the certains were to go after him. Right. And verse four. And when he had seized Peter, he put him in prison and delivered him to four squads of soldiers of four each to guard him. So there's what, 16 guards around one man? Yeah. Verse five. So Peter was kept in prison, but fervent prayer for him was persistently made to God by the church assembly. Now this is what we don't see recorded in connection with James. No corporate prayer. No corporate prayer. Would James have prayed? James would have prayed. Was James delivered? No. Why? Some situations require corporate involvement.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

And if you don't have a local church, who's your corporate? You don't have a pastor, who's your corporate? Where you gonna get your corporate faith? Amen. Praise the Lord.

[B]

Praise the Lord.

[A]

So we see this, but prayer was made for him. Verse 6. The very night before Herod was about to bring him forth, Peter was sleeping. Why was he sleeping? Could you sleep the day before your execution? I think your stomach might be rolling. Right. Because Jesus already said, peter, when you're old. When you're old. When you were young, you went where you wanted. But when you're old. So he's not old yet, so go to sleep. I'm going to get old, right? So he was sleeping between two soldiers fastened with two chains, and centuries before the door were guarding the prison. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared, standing beside him, and a light shone in the place where he was. And the angels gently smote Peter on. I don't know. Those two words don't go together. Gently smoke. But these translators know more than me from Oklahoma. We gently smoke, don't work on the side. And awakened him, saying, get up quickly. And the chains fell off his hands. Amen. So we see this. He goes and he finds the place where they're gathered and he's led out. And then he goes to the company of people praying. Now, they were praying, but they weren't fully believing because when they heard Peter's at the door and said, no, but at least they gave God something to work with. They gave him a little something to work with. What was that? Even these disciples who had walked with Jesus needed corporate faith. You're going to need corporate faith. I was listening to the testimony of a man that was a missionary in some very primitive region of the world. And he found himself at one point surrounded by a tribe that were going to kill him. And all of a sudden, when they surrounded him, intending to attack him, they just dropped their weapons and ran. So a year later, he was somewhere preaching, and one of the men got saved in a tribe that he was preaching to. And this man that got saved said, I was one of those surrounding you a year ago. And he said, yeah. He said, they were intending to kill me, and they just dropped their weapons and ran. And he said, when we were surrounding you, we saw 39 men wearing white armor surrounding you. So we. When we saw him, we took off running. It frightened us. And when he returned home, because he had a pastor in his native homeland, and when he got to return back home and his pastor and him got some time together, the pastor asked him, were you ever in a crisis at some point about a year ago? And he said, yes. Why do you ask? He said, because God told me. And he said, I called a prayer meeting for you. And there were congregation members that showed up to pray. There were 39 of us, praise God. So the number mattered. 39 angels representing each of the 39 that came and exercised corporate prayer and corporate faith. Yeah, Multiplied power with corporate faith. And you're going to need it. That's why together needs to matter to you because you don't ever know when you're going to need it. Amen. Never speak ill of the place where your corporate faith lives. Never criticize anyone in the church who's releasing corporate faith because one day you're going to need their corporate faith. And if you've criticized, that's going to affect your receiving of it.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

Now I remember when Rachel Tifa Tiller was telling the occasion, she was a woman who was just so effective in her prayer life. She just was so developed in that flow. And she said one day God opened her eyes. She was at home and two angels were in her room confessing, conversing with each other. And she heard their conversation. And one angel said to the other angel, we need. They were discussing the condition of the nation. And one said, do you think it's safe to involve her in this need? And the other angel said, yes, because she doesn't speak ill about the leaders of the nation. So if we criticize, we can't participate. That's a spiritual truth exercise there. What you dishonor will not work for you. That is so good. What, you, Honor. You participate in what you dishonor. You're dismissed from.

[B]

Come on.

[A]

The only part of the word that will work for us is the part we honor. We honor Jesus as healer, healing works. We honor him as our joy, our peace. We walk in it.

[B]

Amen. That's right.

[A]

Amen. But if we say we don't believe in healing, guess what we don't have. Because the only the part, you honor is the only part you participate in.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

This is why people lose blessings of God, because they quit honoring. No married couple ever went before a judge and said, judge, I'm so grateful for my spouse. They're both agreeing. I'm so grateful for one another. They lost honor for one another for whatever reason. And where there's dishonor, there's loss. Amen. So what am I saying that for? Never dishonor the place where your corporate faith is going to be drawn from. You got no criticism for one another. We got no criticism for our local church where God put us. Because we one day I'm going to need the miracle that comes through corporate faith. James didn't have it. Peter did. Why? Because the church wasn't watchful. I was talking to someone who had a near death experience recently and they said, I saw into that other realm and I saw the protection of God over believers, saw it around them. And they said, but right outside that wall of protection were demons. They weren't standing back from that wall. They were right on that wall. And I said. And they said they were watching and waiting for us to not be watching. That's why we're told, be vigilant, watchful. They were waiting for us to be careless. They're not standing back. They're right on the line of protection around you. There is a protection around your life simply by having a pastor. That pastoral anointing is a layer protection. He's anointed to protect your life and you better stay together. Amen. That's why we have no criticism in our mouth. Listen, don't look for perfection. You're not bringing it. Don't look for it. Don't look for it in your pastor. Don't look for it. I used to tell you congregation when I pastored here for 25 years, I'd say, you don't expect perfection out of me and I won't expect it out of you. How about that?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Praise be God, sounds good. Yeah. And I'd say just know this. You think you have to overlook a lot in me. There's more of you that I'm overlooking.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

I find no fault in you because I'm not here to find fault. I'm here together. We're feeding, we're going. We're moving together with the plan of God. Amen. And I'm here to help encourage and us move together. Now, together matters. If you're going to move forward because Caleb and Joshua were ready to go, they could go, right?

[B]

Right, right, right, right.

[A]

But God was not letting them go because he wants them to go together. Your pastor cannot go unless you go together. And a pastor who has the mindset, well, I'm going with or without you. No, he's not. No, he's not. God won't anoint that. God won't anoint that. And I've heard some say that I'm doing this with or without the congregation. No, no, no. God won't help you. He won't help you go separate. Amen. Because God's interested in the whole. The whole, whole. Amen. So that's why it needs to matter that you in your local church, you love one another, you pray for one another because how someone else is moving is going to affect you. And that's why you want to make sure you're moving right so you're not affecting someone else negatively. So the desire decisions you make don't just live with you, they affect others. Right? Isn't that true? Well, praise the Lord. Are you still with me? In the beginning was the word in the world. You want that, don't you? Here's the word that you were shouting about, dancing around the room about. Second Corinthians, chapter one. Two Corinthians, chapter one. You had to be here last night for that to even make sense to you. Second Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 8. Because some of you look bored that this is what you were shouting about last night. That's Amen. I hope you recognize what you were shouting about, because this stuff will either lengthen or shorten your life. I'm just telling you this stuff right here. Second Corinthians, chapter one, verse eight. Paul said, for we do not want you to be uninformed brethren about the affliction and oppressing distress which befell us. Paul, you not talking like you're in faith. It's not wrong to report what's opposing about the affliction and oppressing distress which befell us in the province of Asia. How we were so utterly and unbearably weighed down and crushed that we despaired even of life itself. Indeed, we felt within ourselves that we had received the very sentence of death. But that was to keep us from trusting in and depending on ourselves instead of on God, who raises the dead. In other words, they said, on our own, we're dead men, but with him, we're not dead men. Verse 10. For it is he who rescued and saved us from such a perilous death. And he will still rescue and save us, meaning in the times to come, we're still going to need that. And we know that just as he's rescued us in past, he'll rescue us in future, so and he will still rescue and save us. In and on him we have set our hope, our joyful and confident expectation that he will again deliver us from danger and destruction and draw us to Himself. Look at this. There is not a period there.

[B]

Right? Right, Right. Yes, ma'.

[A]

Am. Same sentence. While you also cooperate by your prayers for us, helping and laboring together with us. Thus the lips of what many persons turned toward God will eventually give thanks on our behalf. Why will they give thanks? Because the grace is going to show up. The grace of deliverance. It says, for the grace, the blessing of deliverance. Look at this. Granted us at the request of the many. You're going to need the request of the many sometime. If Paul needed the request of the many to be delivered, we're going to need the request of the many. What Is that corporate faith? Corporate faith. So you want to be in good standing with the many. Amen. Now, if there was anybody that could have stood alone in the face of that death, don't you think Paul would have been able to. But he said there was deliverance granted me because of many. You prayed. I partook of your prayers. That faith that God answered then. First Corinthians, chapter 5. Let's read it. First Corinthians 5:1. Paul is writing. He said, it is reported commonly that there is fornication among you. What's fornication? Well, some people don't know. I'm serious. I'm serious. I've had people say, what is it? Let me tell you what it is. If you're unmarried and you're having sex with somebody, you're a fornicator. If you're married and having sex, you're an adulterer. Okay? So this is sex outside of marriage. So just because you're not married doesn't mean you're free. That's right. Truth. Truth got explained. We could get more detail, but you had to come to our Bible school for that. When people say, well, I didn't actually have sex. Don't play word games. Don't you play word games. Don't you play word games? God's not buying that. No, and neither is the devil. He's laughing at you. It is reported commonly. Let's move along because that's not my message tonight. It is reported commonly. Look at that. It is reported commonly. Oh, my gosh, that's dirty. Everybody knows it. That's what he's saying. Everybody knows is reported because everybody knows it. That there is fornication among you. And such fornication as is not so much as named among the gentiles. Meaning there's degrees of disgust in this.

[B]

Right? Amen.

[A]

That even the Gentiles won't do this. People without God won't do this. There again, this is not my message. So don't get too revved up. A lot of people just woke up because the rest of you, some of your eyes are going like that. I'm just saying, talking about have a pastor, have a safety net serving the eyes go half mask, but all of a sudden you just got a caffeine hit and Uber Eats was not delivered to you. But this degree of sin was discussed in that one should have his father's wife. So the father is married to a woman, and it's the stepmother of this young man. And he's having. He's committing fornication on his part with his daddy's whatever. And it's commonly known. Everybody knows it. And when everybody knows it, then everybody has to be notified of the cleanup or people will think things are going on still. Verse two. Let's move along. And you are puffed up and have not rather mourned that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. Look at this. The preacher said he's to be taken away from among you. Not joining membership, not serving in some posts. He should be taken away. There are some people that should be taken away out of the local church. Why? Because. Well, we'll not go there. Yeah, I don't have to pastor everybody that walks through the door. I'm not their boat special. They can come here and get help, but they can't come here and choose not to have help and spread something. No, no, no, no. You're not messing up the place. I can't leave. Taken away from among you. Verse 3. For I verily as absent in body, but present in spirit, I have judged already as though I were present concerning him that hath done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. When you are gathered, what? Together. Together. See what happens in togetherness. And my spirit with the power. Meaning? There has to be the anointing present for this. You can't just be ticked off at somebody and start doing this. The anointing has to be present with the power of the Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh. Why does he have to be delivered to Satan for it? Because God's not destructing anything.

[B]

That's right. That's right. Amen.

[A]

Deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. So what's he saying here? There is such protection in the local church that you have to on purpose remove it. Why did he say remove it? Because if you don't deal with it, it'll spread. And if you don't deal with it, this young man will continue until he has lost his salvation and will end up in hell. And God so loves him that God doesn't want him to end up in hell. So he will allow his life to be shortened before he makes the choice of rejecting Christ altogether. That's the mercy and the goodness of God. Now, in human terms, that might not sound like goodness and mercy, but it's far better than hell.

[B]

Amen.

[A]

Amen.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Hallelujah. So that's what I want you to see, corporate faith is such a protection, even over someone entrenched in sin, that they had to get together and purposefully remove it. How do you remove it? With words. He said, when you are together, my spirit anointing you turned such a one over to Satan. So that means. Bubba, come here. I have a word from the Lord for you. Come up here. Now, Father, together with our spiritual father's anointing, his guidance, his counsel. We're not just miffed at this guy. We have higher authority, higher anointing apostles voice into this congregation. Father. We Bubba, we turn him over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh. And everybody who knew, because it was commonly known, they all went big eyed. Oh, I'm cleaning up my life today, Jesus. I repent Jesus. I love my wife. I love my husband, I love my pastor. I love my local church. Because in common they're seeing what happens without the protection of the local church. Your health is at jeopardy. Your future is at jeopardy. Well, praise the Lord. Well, this is corporate faith working that day. The negative side of it. Not negative in the sense they're still obeying God. That was at God's directive. But we want to partake of the corporate faith to help us advance, not release us. In 25 years of pastoring, there were five times God told me to release somebody. Amen. And a couple of them said, won't you give me a chance and receive me back? And I said, you had a chance. But once God says it's over, I can't open that door back up.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

But God's mercy is still great. He will give you another pastor. But I'm not it, right?

[B]

Amen. Amen.

[A]

Amen. Praise the Lord. But I said that to say this, there is such protection in corporate. Corporate family. Together, Together. Together. Together. Notice God didn't just send one person to the upper room. He had to. He sent those who were hungry enough to get in one accord. Why? Because some of what God has for the earth, no one man can do. Takes together. One accord. One accord. One accord. A church will advance faster if everybody will just quit thinking, opinionating and just hook into the vision and say, if that's what God told our man of God, that's what we're doing. Let's go. Come on. Let's go. Come on, let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. And you can advance faster. And if you'll do that, what you sow, you reap. That is a law. What you Sow you reap. If you sow into the corporate faith, what happens? You reap corporate faith. And you have a right when you're faced with a miracle to say, no, you don't, Devil, I've got a pastor. No, you don't. I've got a body that I bless. I'm talking about the local church body. I'm serving in my local church. And you cannot rob from me because I'm together with them. Together matters. I said together matters. And let me tell you, the sign of someone spiritually young. It's all about them. As we're growing, it becomes all about the whole. The whole. The whole. That's how we know how much we're advancing, by how interested are we in the whole. In the whole. Amen. Well, praise the Lord. God was so interested in the whole that he sent Jesus so we could be together. Thank you, Father. Amen. Cost heaven everything so we could be together. Together with the Father, together with the Godhead. Together with a body. God is about to together. He's not about Lone Ranger. And if you want to be the star of the show, get another dip.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

Because spirituality wants to blend. Spirituality doesn't want to be the soloist in the church. I'm not talking about music here. I'm talking about being seen being preferred, getting attention. Because potted plants, high maintenance. But something planted is just drawing like every other plant. They're drawing from the general nutrients in the soil. They're drawing from the water, the rainwater. They don't need specialized attention. They just grow and produce, grow and produce, grow and produce, grow and produce. That's what we. We want just to be planted so we can grow and produce and not be high maintenance in the body.

[B]

Amazing. Yeah, amazing, Amazing.

[A]

Because potted plants require extra. And sometimes I just don't want to give extra. So I'm just letting you die plant.

[B]

That's it.

[A]

You know, when those plants died, I thought, good, I don't have to get up every day and water. You were pretty for the first day till you required maintenance. Am I being unkind? I'm talking about we have to change our mentality. We have to think we are one. We are one. We are one. We are one. I think that way, I move that way, I plan that way, I obey God that way. Because I know that because I'm fitly joined. If I decide I have just now pulled the trajectory of those, I'm hooked to. To a lower flow. Absolutely. And they gotta jack me up and pull me up and Prop me up. Well, that's okay when you're a spiritual baby, but once you're not a spiritual baby anymore, it's time to. It's time. It's time to be corporate faith. Amen. So this sermon is Reba's fault. She got up with the one word together and the Holy Ghost liked that word. So there you go. Go get her after this. Hallelujah. Are you helped tonight? Together. Together. What's that mean? It matters. It matters how you treat the whole. It matters. I got no complaint about who I'm together, who I'm fitly. Oh, I love my pastor. I love my local church. I love the brethren. Why? Because one day I'm going to need their faith for my miracle. And if I have criticized the place of my corporate faith, it will affect my ability to receive of their faith when I need a miracle. Amen. You want to sow words and service. You know what God said to me? I hadn't even really thought about it in these terms, but several years ago, there was just kind of like a nuisance, an annoying symptom. Not anything, you know, threatening or anything, but just annoying. And God said to me, he said five things to me about that. And one of the things he said, he said, you have sown into the health of others. Why don't you receive the harvest on that? See, I was just thinking about what Jesus paid for, which is true. But there is also in your health, the law of sowing and reaping, that when you sow into the health of someone else your health, it will show up in your own health. Well, do we have word for that? Well, what about this? Pray one for another that you may be healed. It'll boomerang back into your own life. So it does matter that you bring your corporate faith. Because if we haven't sown corporate faith, we will have nothing of it boomeranging back into our lives. And you can receive healing just on what you've sown. Amen. Well, praise the Lord. So we want to be sowing good seed all the time. Good seed all the time into our church family. That means that the pastor says, everybody stand and release your faith for these people. You get you hook in your faith. Why? Because one day you're going to be up there needing your miracle. One day. One day. And that's good. That's good. Because we need to recognize, we need to recognize, recognize that it's never God's idea that we just be a lone ranger mentality. We're body minded. We're body minded and the person you get miffed with is the person God will send you to for your help.

[B]

Yeah, Amen. That's right. Yep.

[A]

I am just saying don't cop and add to it. Well, I just don't care for her. Well, your next miracle may be tied to her. You've been.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

Dad Hagin talked about when he married Mom Hagin and they were living with her parents for a short time after they were married. And when he, the day he basically moved in and he did not have his boxes unpacked in the bedroom yet. And they, the dad, they were, you know, her, she was raised in a Methodist. And the dad said, let's kneel here and pray together as a family before we, you know, go to bed tonight. And so they had knelt down and while he was there he said it just welled up on the inside of me. And he said, I took off speaking in tongues. And you've heard the whole testimony, there's a lot to that. But he said, God spoke to me and said, anoint your mother in law and I'll heal her. Because she had a goiter, he said that was the size of a man's fist on the outside. And they said it's twice as big on the inside. Inside she's choking to death and she has her bags packed. Tomorrow she's ready to go in and they're going to remove that goiter. Well, there's a risk tied to that, you see. And so God spoke to dad Hagin and said, if you'll anoint your mother in law with oil, he said, I'll heal her. So he said, well, God, I don't even know where my anointing oil is. You know, it's in a box somewhere. And he said, he just got up real quietly, went in there and there are boxes stacked and he just put his hand just down in the corner and that's the first thing he touched was his anointing oil box. So he pulled that out, he went back out and he anointed her with oil and said that goiter just popped like you just popped a balloon. And he said, went down right in front of their eyes. And he said the only thing is it was left about the size of a quarter. And then the word of the Lord came to him and says, tell your mother in law that I'll complete her healing down at the altar of the Full Gospel Church on Sunday. So he told her that and she went down, she went to the Full Gospel Church the next Sunday now, see, she's Methodist. And so she gets up, she goes down to the altar, and God completes that healing. Why did God send her to the altar of the Full Gospel Church? Because she made the statement, you'll never catch me at the altar of the Full Gospel Church. God heard that. He's getting rebellion out. If you want your healing, you got to get rebellion out. That's rebellion. Not only that, that's division in the body. You can't decide because they're not and they don't go to my church, that they don't matter and that I can say anything I want.

[B]

Come on. Amen. That's good.

[A]

We're one. We're together now. We know this. This wrist right here is not hooked up to my knee.

[B]

Right? Right.

[A]

It has to stay in its place.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

I stay in my place.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

But I honor the other parts. Even if I'm not directly connected to them, they are still the body.

[B]

Amen. Amen.

[A]

I have to know where I'm directly connected and stay directly connected because I don't just fit anywhere. Neither do you, but. But you're still a part in the body. So stay in your place, but honor the rest of the body because you can't get mad at some part of the body because that part's going to help carry your part.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

What if the wrist got ticked off at the knee? The wrist can't move without the knee.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

We need one another. I said we need one another. But you do have to where you're connected so that you can function properly. And that's not excluding others. It's knowing where I'm to be. Amen. Well, praise the Lord. Are you helped? Now, I'll tell you this. I'll tell off on myself. I'd like to tell off on you, but my goodness, it was. We were still on Enterprise and in Temecula, so this would have been in the 90s. And I was to do a certain event. And anyway, it was a big, big event. And we did a midweek service. And the next morning was this big event. There were going to be thousands of there and dignitaries there, political dignitaries, you know, mayors, all this. Governor, all this, dignitaries, police officers, everything. And so I'm preaching the midweek service. I have to do this event the next morning. I'm preaching the midweek service and I'm saying something. I don't remember exactly the course of it, but I said something that was negative about a particular denomination. And I was in the middle of that sentence, and the Holy Ghost grabbed me. That's the only way I know in the spirit, in my spirit grab. I'm halfway through the sentence. And I thought, well, I'm already halfway through. Just finish the sentence. And I finished the sentence, finished the sermon, walked out. As soon as I walk back to our green room, full blown flu symptoms, not gradual. Full blown. From one step, I didn't have it. And the next step, it's there, full blown. And I go, oh, goodness, I've got to do this event. And I am in no shape in a moment to do that event. So I got out of there as quick as I could because I felt that bad. And I drove home, and Ed was on the road. I went in, I sat down at the kitchen table, and I said, God, I cannot plead justice because I know where I missed it. Your spirit tried to stop me, but because I was already in that statement, I finished it and I said, I can't plead justice because I'm guilty. And I said, so I plead mercy. And I said, I have to do this event tomorrow. I missed it. I repent, I miss it, but I need mercy. Because I felt I'm talking terrible. And God spoke to me, said, all right, I give you mercy. But there was that tone, that parental tone. And he said, Sunday, you get up and you repent to that congregation. And if you don't, at the end of the service, every one of these symptoms will be back on you. And I said, you got a deal. You got a deal. And when I said that, every symptom left, just like that, every symptom gone. And next Sunday, I got up. Why? Because you can't train people that you're going to produce in multiplied form what's in you. I learned real quick that what we just thought, and it wasn't even a person I singled out, and I just said something general to me. I didn't think it was that harsh of a statement. But it's not what I thought, it's what he thinks. Amen. So just know this. Those that we are, we take a stance against are those we're going to have to go to one day for help. Praise the Lord. The one that Paul took a stance against helped him. He got born again and they helped him. But he had to have their help, the ones he opposed. Amen. To fulfill what he was born. Hallelujah. Together. Don't you love the body? Don't you love the body? Don't you love the body? Hallelujah. Turn to your neighbor and say, I'm so glad for your faith.

[B]

I'm so glad for your faith because.

[A]

One day I'm going to need it. And it could be today. Hallelujah. We trust you've enjoyed this message. Visit us at defrainministries.org to learn of our upcoming meetings, share your testimony, become a partner, or visit our online store. This program has been made possible by the friends and partners of dufresne Ministries.