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- [00:00]
Pastor Tim
What a great thing to remember. He loves us. Amen. What a joy to have all of you here today. We're so thankful that you're here. What a blessing because this is going to be an amazing four days. As we kick it off tonight, we want to just not only welcome you here, those that are watching online, around the country and around the world. We want to say thank you for joining with us and we want to encourage you to join us in for prayer and fasting. But let's welcome just those that are watching around the world. We want to say hello to South Africa and Kenya. We welcome Ethiopia, Nigeria, Indonesia. We say hello to India, Japan, South Korea. I'm going to speak to you towards the end. South Korea, stay with me. New Zealand, Australia. We say hello to our friends in Europe, the uk, Wales, Northern Ireland, Hungary, Netherlands, France, Germany, Norway, Poland, Romania, Denmark and Greece. What a blessing to always have with us. Canada in the Kanai Blackfoot reservation. We welcome Mexico, Panama, Jamaica, Barbados, the US Virgin Islands, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Bolivia, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. We welcome all those that are watching. Some 36 countries, 27 states. We also welcome, we are always, we're, we're inviting last, last service we had about six or seven universities that were with us joining with us. We also welcome Florida A and M University that's joining with us. Let's welcome all those that are with us. I have to tell you something really cool that happened and it could be happening now. It depends how fast they are. We just don't know. But we've gotten also some they've let people know online for those that are watching around the world. We know what's happening because it's hard to get here because there's a little thing here called the New York City Map Marathon. So we had some, some of the marathoners text our online and say please announce us. We'll be listening while we run the New York City Marathon. So we're so thankful. So depending on how fast you are, you still may be listening to it. We just don't know. And so we're so thankful that you're here. I do want to make one mention here. This is so important. I really want you to do your best to be here. November 14th on guard with Abdul Murray. You saw him talking to us from Dubai. You don't want to miss us. Abdu Murray came. He was in a sense he was a radical Muslim that ran into Jesus and he became a sold out born again believer. And so his story and testimony, I want to tell you on that Friday night, it's going to be an open mic and Abdou Murray goes to college campuses. He's probably doing this in Dubai right now. He goes all over the world, unafraid of any question. Bring your friends. So if you're from a university, bring your university friends. Abdou Murray is one of the best. A holy ghost, spirit filled man that so biblically based. And I'm telling you, I'm going to be. Every time I'm. Do you ever be around someone that every time you're around him you feel dumber? Anybody like that? I just, every time I'm around Abdoumir, I'm going like, man, I need to do something different. And he is amazing. Just, he is brilliant. But he is not the kind of guy that literally depends upon this. He's got a heart full of Jesus. And so that's why I want to encourage you. So. But it's in person only. We'll post it later on. But if you have to be here, so you can't say, I'll watch it live, you have to be here. We have to post it later. So November 14, you can QR code. You do have to register for it. You do have to register for it tonight. We're gonna encourage you. As soon as service is over, go eat the last supper and then come join us tonight as we start prayer and fasting. We're dealing. Our theme is an awakening. Awakening, awakening. Folks, with all that's happening today, we need an awakening in our nation. And we're gonna begin to talk about awakening in our country, awakening in the nations, awakening in our city, and an awakening in our colleges and universities. I'll explain what all that is about now. Let me just share with you. I want to give you some really good news today. And with all that's happening, there's wars happening, there's elections that people are afraid of in our city, there's government shutdowns, there is hurricanes. There's so much that is happening. We need some good news today. You know, and sometimes when I'm getting ready to preach, sometimes I try to think, okay, how do I sum up this message? How do I just kind of let you know what we're gonna speak about? And then I tell you, we pray and then we dismiss the choir. But the best way to do that today is there's an old song that, that old chorus that it's about 25 years old. And I just kept singing and I said, that's what I Wanna do? You're gonna know that some of you are gonna know this song. Elder Vicki. And as she leads us. Come on, sing it with us, Elder Vicky.
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Elder Vicki
He calls me his own he'll never leave me no matter where I.
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Pastor Tim
Come on. This is the part I want you to sing. You can lift your hands and sing this part. He knows My name. Sing it.
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Elder Vicki
He knows my name he knows my every thought he sees each tear that falls and he.
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Pastor Tim
Let's sing it one more time. Come on.
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Congregant/Church Member
He knows my name that's the kind of God we serve.
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Elder Vicki
He knows he knows my name he knows my name he knows my thought yes, he does he sees his tears that fall and he hears me when I call he's got the whole world in his hands he's got the whole world in his hands he's got the whole world in his hands he's got the whole world in his hands.
- [07:07]
Pastor Tim
So, Father, we're amazed. We're amazed that you can hold the whole world, but yet still call us by name. That is just amazing to me. That's the kind of God you are. You're the God who sees every person that suffered in Jamaica and Haiti and Cuba with this hurricane. You see them. You see every family that has cried out to you that lost a roof, a home, that lost a loved one. You see them, God, you see every. Every family that has been torn apart by that Ukrainian Russian war. You see, Lord God, all that is happening for those and government officials with the shutdown. Lord God, of people not even having a check for weeks and weeks and wondering, how am I going to provide. You know our name. You see it. Lord God, you're able today to give hope and encouragement. Help us today. I pray. I've been asking you to do this, God. Whisper Father, their names to them. Whisper to them today during this service. Whisper that you are there. That you are their father and they are your child. Come and do something special today in Jesus name. And everybody said amen. Now, before you're seated, this is the 1 o'. Clock. If you're new with us, you have to do this because we have to dismiss the choir. So before you sit down, would you turn around because you haven't fasted yet. Would you give someone a full stomach? Smile right around you before you fast. Say at least three people say, I'm so happy to see you today. And then you can be. Choir, you are dismissed. Thank you, everybody. Listening to those water baptism stories was just absolutely amazing. My heart has been stirred. And there's dozens and dozens and dozens of stories that you didn't get to hear because we just don't have the space to put it up there. Last week, we baptized all of those people. And my heart was thrilled when I was leaving the last water baptism, talking to these five young ladies from New York University, nyu, and some of them got baptized to hear their story that they're believing for an awakening on their campus that God would do something special for them. Folks, you didn't get a chance to see it, but there was a 93 year old man that got water baptized for the very first time. And it was so exciting to see. You just saw a picture of him, he was walking out on his walker. But to watch that man begin to say, I want to be water baptized. But one of the stories that caught my attention was Zach's story. Zach flew from Taiwan to be water baptized. This was his story. Zach was raised as a Taoist and a Buddhist in Taiwan, where he still lives with his wife and children. And 12 years ago in 2013, he made his first trip to New York with his wife. And right across the street, he came here for business and watched the musical Wicked. Twelve years ago, nine years later, Zach came back to New York City in the fall of 2022. And he had a dream when he was here. And he said he saw a light and a voice saying to him, a voice saying, I need you to do one thing for me. Zach said, I recognize this to be the one true God. He said, I was confused because I've been trying to go to church, but it just didn't seem that this, that I knew God. He didn't know this God that spoke to him. And after this encounter, he said, I started seeing places. This number 66. Then on June 9, 2024, almost 11 years to the day of going to Wicked, he came back to New York City in 2024 and instead of going left, he turned right and came into Times Square Church for the very first time. He said, I got a Bible, went home and started reading the Bible and realized the number 66 is the number of books in the Bible. And the Lord was calling me to read the word of God. He said, I started to read the Bible, became born again and decided to get water baptized. So he flew back here and he said, and I was standing outside of Times Square Church and I looked at both marquees that were part of my life. He said, I looked at Times Square Church and I looked at Wicked and I thank God I chose Jesus. What an amazing story. To hear what this man has done. God will do that. God will single people out. God will whisper to you. God will talk to you while you're sitting there today. God will speak to his people. But more importantly, God will speak to you like Zach and others, because he knows your name. He knows my name. And I started to see how important this was. I was reading for just my time in devotions, the book of Exodus. And I want to take you through three chapters that covers 80 years. It won't. It just. You'll understand why these are important, but it's what this is. This is the buildup to one of the greatest events ever in history when God is going to begin to set 3 million slaves free. He's gonna break the chains and set them free. But I learned a word this week that I didn't know. I didn't. I didn't know any. I didn't know the meaning of this or what it was called. Right before a massive earthquake comes, there comes something else. There comes what they call. This is the word I learned foreshocks. I learned that word this week. Foreshocks are little earthquakes, the shakings, the little shakings before the big earthquake. Foreshocks are the tremors, the grounds. I've been in certain countries, can I tell you, not only have it been in nations where I felt the foreshocks before something massive had happened, I've been in New York City and felt foreshocks. And so it's these little shakings that seems to come when you feel kind of those ground swells, those tremors. It tells us something huge is about to happen. A foreshock started happening in the book of Exodus, in Exodus 1, 2, and 3, that just before the chains were about to be broken, there was a group of people in chains and in pain that was crying out to God. And those cries, those groans were beginning to be the foreshock of what God was about to do. Listen to it. In Exodus, chapter 2, verse 24, God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And he looked down on the people of Israel. And I love this part. And knew it was time to act. I love that phrase, that these groanings. There happens to be a people that just cry out. This was the foreshock of God saying, it's time to act. This constant cry of a people. I have to tell you, that's why I always believe that when we come together right now, it's just quarterly, and pretty soon, I believe it will be monthly that we'll start to pray. And fast. I believe those are four shocks. It's what begins to shake the ground. It's what begins to do things. Not just here in New York City, but for those that are watching around the country and around the world. Prayer and fasting begins to shake things that seem to be unshakable. It begins to unearth and begins to break the chains. It's the four shocks. Think about it. This is a people. It doesn't even call it prayer. Folks, let me tell you what is happening here. The Bible doesn't even use the word they were praying. He uses the word groans. There's no words that they have anymore. It's four centuries of slavery. They've been through such pain and probably disappointment. When is it going to be free? When are we going to be free? When are we going to be free? When is this going to stop? And the Bible tells us that God heard their groanings. No more words. You've been there, you've had that where prayer. The words now are groans and sighs. There's no more words to say. You don't even know. It's just heavy breathing. But I have to tell you, we've got a God that knows our name and knows what those groans mean. That what you cannot articulate, he understands. Let me say that again. What you can't articulate with your words, he understands. And God hears that groan. He knows your name. And that's why I want to believe for this today. I want to believe that God is going to begin to whisper your name today. Listen to these words that the apostle Paul says. We'll end with these words later. But he says, for the Holy Spirit makes God's fatherhood real to us as he whispers into our innermost being. You are God's beloved childs. I'm believing for that whisper today. I'm believing that the foreshock of that whisper is going to come here. So get ready for that whisper as we talk today. Let me take you just on a three chapter journey. A three chapter four shock. That before that you're going to feel the little rumblings in Exodus 1, 2 and 3 before God begins to show up and do something amazing. And I think it has something to do with us today. Number one, I want to talk to you about Exodus chapter one. Always remember these words. It's more important to be known in eternity than in history. It's more important to be known in eternity. Exodus starts with Israel in slavery for over 400 years. The Pharaoh sees the Jews getting too powerful. So this paranoid man, this Insecure leader begins to say, then the only thing I can do is he wants to begin to start, in a sense, the beginnings of a genocide and starts to kill all the baby boys, the Jewish baby boys that would come out of the womb. Listen to the words. Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives. One of them was named Shiphrah and the other's name was Puah. And he said, when you were helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birth stool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death. But if it is a daughter, then you shall let her live. He was asking these women to be murderers. He was asking the Midwives. He says, it's this paranoid man, wouldn't even put it in the hands of an army or anything else. He says, you do it. You do it for us. I'm not sure you saw what happened here, but as I was reading this, it literally just popped. It started to pop off the page at me when I started to see it. It took me a bit to see it. Look at it again. Then Pharaoh, the king of Egypt gave the order to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah. Leave that on the screen for a second, folks. Do you see what just took place here? The most powerful man on the planet is not even given a name, but two midwives are. It was as if God goes, I'm writing this book and you who think you're a God, you're not even worth giving a name to. But I'm gonna take two little ladies that are willing not to bow to an edict of death. And I'm gonna mention them because they're gonna be known through all eternity.
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Congregant/Church Member
They may put you in a coffin.
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Pastor Tim
You may be mummified one day and they may even built a things to you or a pyramid. But those two women, Shiprah and Pua, they're going to be known throughout eternity that they would not bow to anything that was taking place.
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Congregant/Church Member
It's amazing to me that, that God.
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Pastor Tim
The writer of this book, that Pharaoh, this Pharaoh, the Bible says, who knew not Joseph.
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Congregant/Church Member
They said that maybe, just maybe, this.
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Pastor Tim
Was SETI S E T I who followed what we would call King Tut at this point, this Pharaoh and, and.
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Congregant/Church Member
God as he's writing this book through.
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Pastor Tim
Moses, says, ah, you don't even need to write his name down. He is inconsequential.
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Congregant/Church Member
He thinks he's God. He thinks he has a throne and.
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Pastor Tim
He thinks he's in power.
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Congregant/Church Member
But there's two little ladies that I Have put my hand upon you. Write their names down. You put their names because their names are will be talked about through eternity because they would not bow down. They are God's daughters worthy of names, unlike this little God King. I'm telling you, that brought joy to my heart to see those names there. He knows your name.
- [19:35]
Pastor Tim
When we got home just two weeks ago from Seoul, Korea, I remember stopping in my office. The lights were off, it was past office hours, and I saw a pile of mail on the desk. And I just happened to notice one of the letters because I recognized the name on the return list. And it was an old member of our Detroit church. He was a missionary from Mexico and was leaving the mission field and started to attend the church. It was such a great blessing. He was just an honorable and a godly man. And he wrote this to me. I want to read it to you. What he wrote. He said, Pastor Tim, a few years ago I discovered a co worker lived in the same apartment building as I do. He said it was just kind of we stumbled across each other and I always did my best to share the gospel with her without knowing her background. He said, as time moved on, I moved to Nashville, she moved back to India and worked remotely. And then when she moved back and I moved back for the job, we reconnected. But I need to tell you her story. Here's what he wrote. This is. I want you to read this. He said her and her friend decided to go to New York City. And while they're in New York City, her friend just says, let's go to church. So they Google a church in New York City and wouldn't you know, they end up here. A few months ago, March 23, 2025, during our 1 billion starts with one series. And he says that day on March 23, by just showing up at church, Erica got saved that Sunday morning, he said. Then at dinner, she mentioned that she got saved and went to a church in New York City called Times Square Church. And she mentioned your name. And I said, that was my pastor in Detroit. Erica could not believe it and started to cry. He said it was that morning. This is what he wrote, that God called Erica to be saved. She has forsaken 300 million Hindu deities and serves only Jesus Christ. Now that morning at tsc, she understood she can have a personal relationship with God. She has a smile now, is as wide as no one could ever imagine. That morning, Erica heard her name and responded. It. It's not only did it bless me, but you know what blessed me More is like those midwives with a name. Thank God for Erica's friend who said.
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Congregant/Church Member
Let'S go to church.
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Pastor Tim
Who?
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Congregant/Church Member
You're in New York City, you're lit, you're staying in Manhattan, you're staying in Times Square. And then you have this thought, let's go to church.
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Pastor Tim
That decision not only just changed Erica's life, it's changed her for eternity.
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Congregant/Church Member
You being here today is a miracle. You being here today, God knows your name. God sees every tear.
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Pastor Tim
You are here for a reason today. And you sang the song that happened to Erica when you sang the words, there's a new name where written down in glory. And that can happen today. Exodus 1 tells us that name in eternity that God would speak to the names that are not willing to bow down, but a name that's willing to say, God, you be in charge of my life. And that day, Erica was known in eternity. Number two in Exodus chapter two. Always remember these words. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. The apostle Paul in Romans 8 reminds us, there's not a force on this planet that can stop what God wants to do. And him showing love towards anyone in this place. Not even an edict of death by the most powerful person on the planet. Exodus 1 ends with a river. I'll explain this full of dead bodies. And Exodus 2 opens up with a floating basket, a wicker basket of deliverance. You have dead bodies in wicker baskets. This picture is epic. Listen to the end of Exodus 1. When Pharaoh realized, these midwives are going to obey God and not him, then Pharaoh commanded. Last verse of Exodus 1. Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, all his people, not even the midwives. All of his people, saying, every son who is born, you are to cast them into the Nile. He appealed to the whole Egyptian population. He says, don't let one of these Jewish boys be born. Throw them all into the river. Throw them all there. And while he is establishing an edict for all the people, all of the people, to throw children into a river and kill every newborn baby boy. Exodus 2 opens up this way. It goes from the death on a Nile into a home of a family. Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a daughter of Levi. And the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months. But when he could hide him no longer, she got him a wicker basket and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child into it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. The Message version says it like this. The woman became pregnant and had a son. And I love this phrase. She saw that there was something special about him. She looked at this boy who we know this to be Moses. There was something special about him that God had a plan for this young man's life. God knew his name. What is, I think sobering to me is I was looking at this and just digging a little bit deeper. There is a set of books that, that there are ancient commentaries on the first five books of the Old Testament written by rabbis. It's called the Jewish Midrash. And what they said was, when I was reading through Exodus chapter two, this is what they said. Listen to these numbers. They said when Pharaoh gave that edict that all the people, all the people are to kill these boys, they said they believe that up to 600,000 boys were killed. 600 folks. Think of the picture that you're seeing here. Babies floating bodies floating down a Nile, that the baby that would not be killed, but that baby that was floating in that wicker basket would live for 120 years. Moses was put in the Nile with thousands of bodies floating around a little basket. He would float into his destiny. While the thousands of other children would end up going immediately to heaven. God was getting ready to raise up a deliverer who would be first delivered himself from death. Moses needed a mother who saw something special even in a three month old baby. Moses needed a parent who was willing to lay their life on the line for the conviction of life over death. This parental conviction to hide and then release her son would be honored by God. And we are told that when she releases him, when she releases him in this wicker basket, it is like literally directed by God, like the current. So think about it for a second.
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Congregant/Church Member
This wicker basket is floating down the.
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Pastor Tim
Nile and, and it happens to float right to Pharaoh's palace.
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Congregant/Church Member
The man that said kill all the.
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Pastor Tim
Boys, that not only did a boy show up at his palace, a baby.
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Congregant/Church Member
Boy, but the deliverer was showing up at his palace. Folks, it gets even better. So when Pharaoh's daughter finds this baby.
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Pastor Tim
And says, oh my goodness, let's.
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Congregant/Church Member
I want to keep him. Now Pharaoh's grandson, Pharaoh's grandson is going to see 3 million slaves set free. He has no idea that the deliverer is being raised in his house. It gets even better. So while she gets the baby, she finds and sees, read Exodus 2. She sees Moses sister in the bulrushes over there.
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Pastor Tim
And she comes out and she says, oh Queen, would, would you. You think you Need a nurse. And. And she goes, yes.
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Congregant/Church Member
He goes, I'll call one of the Hebrew women to be the nurse. She goes, gets his mother, the mother that released him. So she not only gets. But here's what adds insult to injury that, you know, God is. And Pharaoh's daughter meets Moses mother and says, would you raise this boy?
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Elder Vicki
And.
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Congregant/Church Member
And I'll pay you. I'll pay you to raise your own son. God knows what he's doing. God knows what he's doing. I'm just telling you. Just when you thought that this thing was gonna go off the rails, God goes, I'm in charge of this thing. Nothing, not even an edict of God. Death can separate us from the love of Christ. God knew exactly what he was doing.
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Pastor Tim
Think about this, folks.
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Congregant/Church Member
I'm reading a book now.
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Pastor Tim
I didn't even know it existed until I kind of bumped into it on a bookshelf. The. Our founder that founded this church, our David Wilkerson, who not only started Times Square Church, started Teen Challenge, wrote the book the Cross of the Zisheb. I found a book on my shelf called by his brother, Don Wilkerson, called the Cross is Still Mightier than the Switchblade. So I was reading it. I was just amazed because it was telling the story of Nikki Cruz and Teen Challenge from his perspective. It was fascinating. And Don Wilkerson, as he's writing this, was talking about what happened that night in St. Nicholas arena on the Upper west side when all the gangs came together. The police wouldn't even come into the building. They thought it was just. It would be devastating. It was one of those nights that you would have thought could have literally been an edict of death, but God stepped in. That night was like a wicker basket amongst all these gangs that knew nothing but death. But David Wilkerson built this wicker basket called a crusade for the. For these gang members. As a side note, when Pastor Carter was just released from the hospital, he'd have to go back in a week after for his for to get checked up. As he went through open heart surgery, Pastor Carter was staying up there on the Upper west side. Someone graciously gave him their apartment that he could stay there, him and Pastor Teresa. So because riding in the car just was just too much for him physically. So he stayed there. So for seven days, recouping, and then he'd go back to the hospital to get his final checkup from the heart surgeon. I was sitting there with him, and we're sitting in the living room of this apartment, and we're talking and he said, tim, I have to tell you something. He says, you know what's across the street from here, across the street from the apartment that we're sitting in, praying together and talking about the scriptures? He said, across the street from us is. I said, yeah, it's like a studio, like a TV studio. He goes, no, no, no, no. That's the spot where St. Nicholas arena was, where Nikki Cruz got saved. We are across the street from where the story all started. Teen Challenge and Nikki Cruz crossing the switchblade. And Times Square Church right across the street. And I kept thinking about what happened here. And then I kept thinking was, was that the night that David Wilkerson said. That David Wilkerson said, we've gotta do something with all these dead bodies of young people that are dying from drug overdoses and dying from addictions. You saw on the video the last testimony, that precious young man that said he almost died with two overdoses. How God set him free. And I was going, when did this happen? And I read something that I never knew that Don Wilkerson wrote in this book. I wanna read to you on the starting of Teen Challenge. Cause the first official Teen challenge opened in 1960. The Brooklyn Teen Challenge. Let me read this to you, Don said. David Wilkerson turned to me and said, don, let's make a movie on the drug problem to show churches across the country. He said, Dave wanted to highlight the hopeless condition of drug addicts and list the prayers and Christian support for inner city ministry, especially in New York City. Since we don't know. Since we didn't know any better, no one would volunteer for the job to help us film this. So David had this great idea. We'll film it ourselves. Dave would be the cameraman and I would be in charge of the lights. Folks, listen, I love both of those men. This is a bad idea. I'm just telling you that right now. So can you imagine? Brother Dave is the cameraman and Don Wilkerson is in charge of the lights. So what he said was, then they asked these drug addicts. He said, we talked to the drug addicts and we said, can you show us here in Brooklyn where the shooting gallery is? And they brought him to the top of an apartment building in Brooklyn, New York. And at the top of this apartment building, drug addicts would go up there to shoot heroin. So then who comes up? These two skinny preachers from Pennsylvania. David Wilkerson, the cameraman, Don Wilkerson, the light man. And they're gonna do their own movie for the churches around the country. He said, so when we got up there and they started shooting up heroin, he said, they just started. And I glanced over and Dave, he said, he's sitting with the camera and started to faint. And Don writes, he goes, he said, just before he hit the ground, I grabbed the camera. So now I'm lights and camera at the same time.
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Congregant/Church Member
And he said, when finally Dave woke.
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Pastor Tim
Up, I started shaking his head. He said he woke up from this groggy state, from fainting at the sight of blood. And he said, don, we have to do something. We have to help these fellows. Let's pray right now on top of this apartment building and ask the Lord to help us reach out somehow, some way. And he led us in a brief prayer in the warm sunlight of the Brooklyn rooftop. Our less than professional movie was eventually completed. But much more than that was accomplished that day. A supernatural burden, a vision for a teen Challenge center to help drug addicts to was born in a shooting gallery on top of a Brooklyn apartment building. And this is what he said. It was that very moment, from my perspective, that the Chain Challenge ministry to drug addicts was birthed in my heart, and I'm positive it was birthed in Dave's heart. Not at the St. Nicholas arena, but at a shooting gallery on top of a Brooklyn apartment building.
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Congregant/Church Member
When they said, we see a vision, vast sea of death all around us. We've got to build a wicker basket.
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Pastor Tim
At 416 Clinton Ave, which is still.
- [35:15]
Congregant/Church Member
There today, 65 years later, because they realize we've got to rescue men and women from addiction and that they can begin to find Jesus Christ. That instead of them going and floating down a river with deaths, let's build something, something to get them to heaven and believe for a miracle. Thank God that wicker basket caught up Nikki Cruz. Thank God that wicker basket caught Sonny Arganzoni. Thank God that there are people sitting here today and listening around the world that went through the Teen Challenge program. That two men sitting on top of a Brooklyn apartment building said, let's build a wicker basket and let's save the dead. And let's begin to raise up deliverers, folks. That's what happens. That's what God does. There are people here today that you're going to float right out of the building. When God's given you a way to get saved, you're going to walk out. You don't even move. You're moving with death. You're moving with a group of people floating down a river. And I'm telling you, today God wants to rescue you. Today, God wants us to set you free. Today you are hanging out with people that are floating to their death. And you are here today and God is providing a wicker basket, floating babies on the Nile, and a wicker basket with a deliverer. And that's why I'm just telling you. Paul was right when he said, for I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor nor things present, things to come, height nor depth, any creative thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. I'm here to tell you, God is always, always speaking your name, saying, don't float down that river anymore and some of you will float right out of here. And I'm telling you, this is a moment to get things right, to be.
- [37:17]
Pastor Tim
What God's called you to be.
- [37:19]
Congregant/Church Member
I am convinced and feel strongly about this, but this is the moment. Don't just float out of here and go back to death. Go into life. Jesus loves you. Jesus knows your name.
- [37:37]
Pastor Tim
Final foreshock that takes place and we close. God is speaking. Are we listening? Exodus, chapter three. It's. Write this down. You're gonna see it on the screen. Until you hear God's voice, you will never become a voice. And until you act upon the voice of God, you will never get any testimony. Leave that up for a second. Pull your phones out. Finally post something good. So tired of seeing you with a latte. Look at this now. Until you hear God's voice, you will never become a voice. All you do is. You know what people do that don't hear God's voice? They just become an echo. They start saying what everybody else says. That's all they do. Until you hear God's voice, you'll never be a voice. Voice to your generation, a voice to your friend group, a voice to your university, a voice in the ministry. Listen to me. And until you begin to act upon that voice, you'll never get any testimony. God is always speaking. The question is, are we listening? He's always speaking. I saw this take place just a few weeks ago. I was walking by Columbus Circle a few weeks ago. I'm going to ask if the musicians would come. Come. It's a long closing, so don't get happy. I was walking by Columbus Circle a few weeks ago, and I'll just. I'll tell you how it all happened. I was walking by and I just looked in a window of a store and there was this beautiful sport coat. This Beautiful slice.
- [39:24]
Congregant/Church Member
I don't know why.
- [39:25]
Pastor Tim
I don't know. I just said, I'm just gonna go in and check to see. See if it's even possible. So I walked in, and I asked the salesman, I just go, hey, what does that sport coat cost? And he goes, it doesn't exist. I said, well, of course it does. It's right there. It's right there in the window. He goes, it doesn't exist. I said, well, tell me. He goes, it's a custom sport coat. And then when he started to tell me all this, I said, well, I'm not interested. And so we just. Then, as I'm telling him I'm not interested, someone comes out and goes, hallelujah.
- [40:02]
Congregant/Church Member
The pastor's in the store. I don't know what to do. And so.
- [40:14]
Pastor Tim
I'm just going. He goes, good to see you, Pastor Tim. And then all of a sudden, he goes, come over here. We need prayer. And then the manager of the store.
- [40:21]
Congregant/Church Member
Comes, oh, my goodness, we need prayer. I just need you to pray for us right now. Pray.
- [40:25]
Pastor Tim
Pray that God. And so she. And then they called another cell.
- [40:28]
Congregant/Church Member
They go, and you. You come over here right now. You need prayer, too. You need prayer. Come over here.
- [40:34]
Pastor Tim
And so I'm sitting there with these three. I'm going, I just wanted a sport coat that didn't exist. That's all I wanted to do. And I'm sitting there, and we're. And. And all of a sudden, we gathered there on the floor and we started to pray right there. And I started to realize that's why God was sending me there. They said, we want a whole row for our store to sit. To sit here. We want. We want to all come to church, and we all want to sit on the same row. So there. There is coming a Sunday. You're going to see them all occupy that row. Because. Because God has plans. I thought I was going in just to see about a coat that didn't exist, and God had other plans. God is speaking. Are we listening? This is the moment that God is about to call Moses to go back to Pharaoh in Exodus 3. He's about to commission him to say, let my people go. That will be your script. That will be the words you will use. Let my people go. Now, folks, think about this. Moses is 80 years old, and God is about to use him. Did you hear what I said? So while you're still trying to get your discount with your AARP card and trying to find a place in Florida and still going to get your dinner at 4 o' clock in the afternoon at the Early Bird special. God is calling, Moses. God is going, I have a plan for you. I know your name. I knew your address. You're 80 years old. I've been preparing you for this. Why do you think I delivered you? Folks, look at me for a second. He didn't deliver you to go to church. Only he knows your name. And he has a plan for your life.
- [42:17]
Congregant/Church Member
He has a plan for you.
- [42:21]
Pastor Tim
He didn't gift you in technology and music or gift you in computers or gift you with whatever that may be, gift you with acting or sports, gift you with parenting, gift you with raising children. For you just to sit there. There's a purpose for you.
- [42:38]
Congregant/Church Member
He knows your name. And so God interrupts Moses on the job. He wasn't even in church. He's a shepherd now. And God decides to interrupt him and speak to him like you're walking at Columbus Circle.
- [42:57]
Pastor Tim
And said, now I'm going to talk to you. And here's what's amazing. He gets blindsided at work. And that, Moses would be. Don't miss this. Now, Moses would be the answer to millions of people's groans. Let me say that again, because some of you missed this. He says, you're going to be the answer to millions of groans in Egypt, to a group of people that can't even speak anymore. They don't even have words anymore. They're in such pain, they can't even vocalize the words. And he goes, moses, you're going to be the answer to prayer to the groanings of 3 million people. So let me tell you what happened two weeks ago as Ricardo and Willie and I and our team went to Seoul, Korea. It was life changing. It was life changing. It's hard to put it into words, but it started on Friday night when we got there, because we went. I had to go speak at a prayer meeting. Ricardo was going to sing. Willie was going to play. And I didn't realize the emotion that would flood into my soul. As we're in Seoul, Korea. We went to the Friday night prayer meeting. Let me. Okay, just listen what I'm saying. Friday night prayer meeting, and there were 10,000 people praying. Don't tell me you can't show up tonight. Oh, but the Giants are playing in the Jets. They stink. You know, you could do better for them. Come to church and pray. And so we're sitting there, 10,000 people praying. And when they would say, let's pray, you'd hear. It was like a mighty rushing wind. You'd hear 10,000 people lift up their voice and start to pray. And after Ricardo finished singing, I think you sang what you sang here, Holy Forever. I think. I think that was. I think you sang Holy Forever. And it was emotional for me because 31 years ago, I sat in that balcony in that same church as a young pastor coming to Seoul, Korea, because I wanted to be in that church in that prayer meeting that was there. And to sit there and preach to the balcony that I sat in and saw the seat that I sat in was an emotional moment. As you're watching a nation that has a gift to pray, that has been chosen to be intercessors. I don't know of any other nation in the world that has the gift of intercession than the Koreans. I'm just telling you. It's just my opinion. And then we had to get up the next morning around 4, 4:30 to get to a 6am prayer meeting. So we just finished the Friday night prayer meeting. And then we have to get up at 4 or 4:30 to go to a 6am prayer meeting. Ready for this? Eight stories under the ground. They took us on. The car took us eight stories. I'm going like, where are they taking us? It was like going into the Lincoln Tunnel eight times. And you just keep going lower. We get there and it opens up into a sanctuary where there's 9,000 people praying on a Saturday morning. Well, that's our free day. That's the soccer day. That's. That's. They're there praying. And I have to tell you what they're praying for, because we experienced a little bit of it as we went the next day, then on Sunday to another church in which is right near the border of North Korea, a church that has 7,000 members. And Carter sang. Willie played. It was kind of like the same script for us every time. And then I did exactly what I do here. I gave an altar call for people to be born again. You couldn't do the ABCs. Cause it's a different language. But I used the same words. I said, if you need to be born again, I want you to lift your hands, folks. So many hands went up in the place that I felt like he mistranslated me. And I said, okay, you need to do it again, because they don't understand. There's too many hands up. Do it again. He did it again, and more hands went up. We watched. We watched. As soon as I said come, we watched the young man run full speed to get right with God. That it was so like it was so unnerving that our security guys would probably would have taken him out. And he was just coming to go, like, I want to get saved. And we were watching this, and it was. It was. It was overwhelming. And. And then right after that, we had the privilege of going right to the DMZ to see our soldiers, to have lunch with the lieutenant colonel and our soldiers that are protecting South Korea. We could see 2km away where the border was, 2km. As we sat there with our brave men and women and the lieutenant colonel, who happened to be from Long island, he told me the city he was from. I said, oh, we played you in baseball. We killed you. You had a horrible. You have a horrible high school baseball team, but thank you for your service. And we had a chance to pray with him. Folks, there was two things that I have to tell you. There was two things that was a common theme. The first one was this. The gratitude that they have for the United States was this. It was. It was overwhelming. They said, thank you. Thank you for liberating our country. 36,000 soldiers, 36,000American soldiers died to make sure they would be free folks. That's unheard of today. That kind of sacrifice. We would fight against that. If we lose three or four or half a dozen, we have protests. 36,000 gave their lives, and they go, thank you, thank you to your country. That would make us free. And folks, they've taken advantage of their freedom. They have seen a revival take place with some of the largest churches and prayer meetings in the world. But can I tell you the second thing that we heard? And Willie and Ricardo can verify that. Verify this as you can bring the singers and the musicians out. They can verify it. This is what we would hear all the time. We're praying, we're believing. Because we believe that in the next year to two years, the walls of communism will come down. And this is what they said. They said, we are preparing for revival in North Korea. We're preparing for revival in North Korea. They said, we stand, see it. We see it. In fact, they asked us. They go, when it happens, would you guys come back? I said, we're there. I said, we're coming. Pyongyang. We're coming.
- [50:07]
Congregant/Church Member
We're going.
- [50:08]
Pastor Tim
We're going to believe. How many want to go to North Korea for the breakthrough of the revival? Okay, get ready. Because they said, it's going to have. And this is what they're praying for. They said, we see it. We see it happening while the world is worried about nuclear war and Everything else, they said, we see revival. God has spoken to us.
- [50:24]
Congregant/Church Member
They said, God has spoken, spoken, and we are listening to what he's saying.
- [50:28]
Pastor Tim
And, folks, that North Korea revival will be an answer to millions of groans.
- [50:36]
Congregant/Church Member
That's what God is doing. Those prayer meetings, they're hearing the groan. They're the answer to the groans of people that are living under a regime of communism and they're ready.
- [50:48]
Pastor Tim
And God speaks to that man, Moses, and says, you're going to do the same thing. You're not going to North Korea. You're going to Egypt. Now, Moses was tending his flock of Jethro, his father in law, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness, came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him, the flame of fire from within a bush. You know this story. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire, it did not burn up. So Moses thought, I will go over and see this strange sight, why the bush doesn't burn up. When the Lord, Lord saw that he had gone over, God called him from the bush and said, moses, Moses. And he said, here I am. And now it's time to go.
- [51:28]
Congregant/Church Member
You listened.
- [51:29]
Pastor Tim
Now I'm sending you. You heard my voice. Now you will be a voice. I have to tell you, stand with me. Stand with me. Anybody here? Anybody here? Go through this. As in your. In your childhood, how many have. If your parents used your full name, middle name, you were in trouble. Anybody remember those days? If. When I. When I heard. When I heard Timothy, my middle name is Dean. When I heard Timothy, Dean, delete, I knew it's all over. Anybody else like that? Anybody else? Ricardo. You had that. What was your middle name?
- [52:12]
Congregant/Church Member
Can't even be normal.
- [52:16]
Pastor Tim
So. Ricardo Sanchez. And here's what's amazing. In the Bible, when God wanted to use the middle name, he would say your name twice. When God had something serious to say, he would just go, Moses, Moses. Seven times in the Bible, people heard their name called twice.
- [52:37]
Elder Vicki
Twice.
- [52:39]
Pastor Tim
Abraham. Abraham. In Genesis 22, when he. When he was going to sacrifice Isaac, Jacob, Jacob. When Jacob was afraid to go to Egypt. And he says, you go there because I'm going to deliver these people and you need to be in Egypt. Moses, Moses. That's what we just read. And then it goes on to say, Samuel, Samuel in 1st Samuel, chapter 3, when a young man was listening to the voice of God for the very first time. How about this one? In the New Testament, when a woman just thought it was all about preparing when he said, martha, Martha, you're worried and bothered about so many things, but only one thing is necessary. How about this one? When the man boasted that I'll never forsake you or leave you.
- [53:17]
Congregant/Church Member
Simon.
- [53:17]
Pastor Tim
Simon the enemy. Satan's desire to sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith would not fail. And how about the greatest Christian that was ever born? Again?
- [53:27]
Congregant/Church Member
Saul. Saul, why are you persecuting me?
- [53:30]
Pastor Tim
When God is serious, he'll say your name twice. Get ready. He knows your name. Here's. Here's the part that I think DL Moody sums it up best when he said these words. Listen to it. D.L. moody said this. He said, Moses spent 40 years in Pharaoh's palace thinking he was somebody. Then 40 years in the desert realizing that he's nobody. And then 40 years realizing that a nobody can be a somebody. Only with God. Only with God. All right, here it is. So the New York Post, just a week before Halloween, wrote this article. I have to just give you the. The. The article came out October 26th. It's called, Broadway's Most Haunted Theaters Revealed, including one rumored to house dozens of ghosts. This is in the New York Post. This is how crazy it is. So I have to. I have to tell you what the article said. Article said this. At the Amsterdam theater on West 42nd, home to the Lion King, workers greet a large port. Portrait of Olive Thomas, a chorus girl whose ghost is said to be one of the most active on Broadway. He said this is a factor in the theaters. Don't be surprised if you encounter unexplained circumstances in all the theaters on Broadway. He says it's an industry that coexists with ghosts, folks. This is only. Only in New York. He said it's part of working with the theaters that you get ghosts along with your job. He said. Dobbins said. He said we'll be missing props. There'll be flashing lights. Locking doors is commonplace here in these Big Apple theaters attributed to otherworldly phenomena. While the New Amsterdam is one of the most gregarious ghosts, Dobbins noted that the Palace Theater is recognized by many to have the most ghosts. Here, the 1910 Vaudeville House has a hundred ghosts. I don't even know how they got this number, but they have a hundred ghosts. And he said, I would say as.
- [55:49]
Congregant/Church Member
A whole, almost every theater has a ghost.
- [55:55]
Pastor Tim
Well, I got something to say. I want to respond. I want to respond. Okay, let me just tell you this because I was a little upset for this reason because they forgot we've Got a ghost.
- [56:15]
Congregant/Church Member
The Holy Ghost is in this place. So I want to say to every theater on Broadway. Oh, yeah, you want to. You want to come to the place with the Holy Ghost that can Change your life? 51st and Broadway. The Mark Hellinger Theater. That ghost will change everybody's life from the inside out. Why, he knows your name. Listen to it. Let me read it to you from.
- [56:48]
Pastor Tim
The paraphrase we know. This verse is the one that says that the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in us. It says it like this. I have to read it to you from the message.
- [56:58]
Congregant/Church Member
But if God himself has taken.
- [57:00]
Pastor Tim
Taken up residence in your life, you.
- [57:01]
Congregant/Church Member
Can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed.
- [57:07]
Pastor Tim
This invisible but clearly present God called the Spirit of Christ won't know what we're talking about.
- [57:12]
Congregant/Church Member
But for you who welcome him in.
- [57:15]
Pastor Tim
Whom he dwells, even though you still experience all the limitations of sin, you.
- [57:20]
Congregant/Church Member
Yourself will experience life on God's terms. It stands to reason, doesn't it, that if the alive and present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he'll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself. Hallelujah.
- [57:49]
Pastor Tim
He knows your name. The Holy Spirit is here today. You let me just look at me for a second. You came to the right theater. You came to the right theater. It's not about Wicked and Lion King. It's not about. It's not about Mamma Mia. God can change you today. The Holy Spirit. Would you just bow your head for just a second? Father, would you just whisper their name? Just whisper their name. You know their name. You care. God, don't let anybody float out of here in death. There are some that have. That have hooked up with other carnage if they're just existing. And today you're providing a wicker basket of life. It's a. It's a river that just sweeping a current, a current worldview, a current opinion, a current, a current thought that is taking them into death. But, oh, God, would you convict, change and let people know you know their name? You have a plan for their life. You've made a wicker just as you did it on 416 Clinton Avenue in Brooklyn, right here at 51st and Broadway. It's a wicker basket. Oh, don't leave here in death. Don't leave here floating out of this place, going right back to the current. But today be changed. The current of politics, the current that's trying to sweep you away. It's a current that will begin to say, I'm a Republican, I'm a Democrat, I'm an Independent. The current that would say, I've got this. It's money, it's death. God, bring life to this place. Bring life. Whisper their name today. Let them hear their name again. That you love them. You've not forgotten them. Would you just look at me? Just Balcony, main floor. If you're here today and say, pastor Tim, I need God in my life. Whether you've never received the power of God to come in that life changing experience, that when you say, God, I want to be born again. I want to be changed. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit comes and dwells inside of us. Jesus is in heaven praying for you. God, the Father is watching over you and the Holy Spirit is empowering you. And if you're here today, maybe you've never made that decision. Maybe you did and you've walked away. You got caught in a current. Let this be a day of change. Let this be a day that you would just go, I'm not floating out of this place. I'm getting in that wicker bat. I want life today. God has a plan for my life. If that's you and you say, pastor Tim, would you pray for me? I want to leave this place with life. I need God. Whether you're coming back to him or maybe coming for the first time, if that's you and you say, would you pray for me? Would you just raise your hand saying, that's me? I want. I need life. Hold your hand up high. I just want to see it. Keep them up. Keep them up. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Give me. Yes. Balcony. Keep them up. I want to make sure I see the. The hands. Keep them up. Keep them up. Yes, yes, yes. Okay, here's what I want you to do. We're going to sing that song. He Knows My Name. I know this is going to be the hard part, but I'm going to ask you to get in that wicker basket and float down here. I'm going to walk right down here. Just. Would you come down and meet me? Balcony, quickly. If that's you, get out of your seat. Just come down. We'll take five minutes and we'll be done. We'll be done. Just quickly come meet me here. I'm going to meet you. Come on, let's sing that. Elder Vic.
- [61:44]
Elder Vicki
He knows my name. He knows my name oh, yes, he knows my everything. He sees each year that. And he hears me when I call I Have a father. I have a father. He calls me his own. He calls me his own. He'll never leave you. Never leave me. No matter where I go. Cause he knows my name. Yes, he does. Yes, he does. He knows my every song. Yes, he, God. He sees each ch that falls every tear. And he hears me when I call. He knows your name. Yes, he does. He knows your every thought.
- [63:48]
Pastor Tim
Those at this altar. Would you just. Would you just look at me for a second? I'm just going to tell you, you made the greatest decision of your life. It's the greatest decision whether you've been here before. Anybody here for the. The testimony. You're the testimony. They've been set free. What a blessing. And to see all the faces you've made. The decision to say, God, come in and change me. God, come in. And here's the good news. He knows your name. He knows just. And some of you. It's prayer has turned into a groan. It's been this sigh. You just don't have words anymore. God, when is it going to change? When is it going to change? When is it going to change? And God in his mercy says, now, I'm going to do the work. Ezra, good to see you. I just saw you. You're one of the ones. God has worked a miracle for you. So this is. This is what we're going to do. God has rescued you. We're not getting back on a wicker basket and on a current to death. But this is it. This is the opportunity to say, God, you're rescuing me today. I'm so. I'm gonna say this today. I just. Listen, I know. I know it's late, and I think I'm willing. I think I'm willing to take the chance to say this. My heart, and probably our elders can verify this. When I got to that point, too, and started to talk about those that would float out, there was something on me and in me that wasn't on me in the first service, because there's something here. My heart was just broken for people that would sit here. And you're gonna get into a current and go back out with a group of people that was gonna lead you to death. And God is opening up a moment to be rescued. And you've responded, but I feel so strong to say this. It could be for one person that you're sitting here and you're sweating, your palms are sweaty because you won't respond. And I'm telling you, your heart is beating out of your chest right now. But I'm telling you, this is the moment. God will break those chains. This is a foreshock. This is the foreshock. And if you're sitting out there in the balcony or the main floor and you're saying, I was supposed to be there, I don't want you to miss it. I'm willing to wait one more second if you're supposed to.
- [66:07]
Elder Vicki
Get.
- [66:07]
Pastor Tim
Get out of your seat. Get out of here. Get out of your seat. I never do this. Just quickly get out of your seat. Is that you? Come on. Come on, my friend. Anybody else, quickly. I want to make sure that we don't miss it. Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else? Oh, wait, I see some moving in the balcony. Anybody else? That this is just the moment. I just feel so strongly that you sat there and. And. And the enemy was saying, he doesn't love you. God doesn't care. This is the moment. God's gonna do that today. God knows your name. Today he hears, he sees every tear. So this is what I want to do. I want us to pray together. I want us to pray that the Holy Spirit is going to begin to do something so powerful and do something so special inside of your life. I want to believe for that right now that God is going to come. Would you pray this out loud with me? Come on. Everybody in this place say, jesus, I thank you that you know my name. I thank you. You heard my cry and you saw my tears and you rescued me Today I'm not floating out of here with bodies, but I'm in a wicker basket today I'm going to be changed today by the power of the Holy Spirit. You love me enough that you died on the cross. You rose from the dead and I will give you my life. You can change me and I leave with life and I leave with my name written down in glory in Jesus name and everybody said amen. Amen.
- [67:58]
Podcast/Service Host
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