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Praise God. Hallelujah. I have to tell you what happened. Kareem ran off the stage because he was afraid I was gonna say one more time, I saw you run off. Like, he wouldn't even look at me. And he just ran right off the stage. God bless you, Kareem. God bless you, choir. What a tremendous job. What a tremendous job. Just for a moment, as we're all standing, I want to welcome our nations and pray. What a blessing to have all of you here. Not only a 51st and Broadway, those in our annex and those watching from our Jersey campus. What a blessing to see all of you. Thank you for being out here today. But one of the things that we love to do is welcome those that are watching from around the country and around the world and all the universities. Don't forget to put in your universities with just such great joy. And we get to welcome live with us, Kenya and Cameroon. We say hello to South Africa. Ghana, Eswatini, Nigeria, Namibia. We say hello to Rwanda, Seychelles. Oh, I got Seychelles. Malawi, Zimbabwe, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, the Philippines. We welcome Japan and India. Turkey, Armenia, Corporation, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand and Australia. We say hello to our friends in Europe. We say hello to the UK and Wales and Scotland. Welcome to Finland, Poland, Germany, Norway, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Romania, Netherlands, Ireland, Bulgaria. We say hello to France, Belgium and Portugal. We also welcome Russia. And once again we pray in Jesus name for that war to stop. In Jesus name. We say hello to Hungary, Greece, Austria, Spain and Switzerland, our northern neighbors. We say hello to Canada. It's always a joy to welcome First Nation, the Navajo Nation and the Lumby Nation from North Carolina. These are First Nation Indians. And so we welcome them. We welcome Mexico, Barbados, Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Guatemala, Cayman Islands, Panama, Costa Rica. We say hello to Jamaica, French Guyana, Dominica, Cuba, Honduras, Jamaica, Bermuda, Suriname, Brazil, Paraguay. We welcome also Uruguay, Argentina, Ecuador, Venezuela, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. We say hello to all of you. Some 69 countries, three we can't mention, three are on really being persecuted for their faith in Christ. So we welcome those. We can't mention your name. If you've logged in, we won't mention you to really provide for your security. 49 different states. There's one state that we are just praying for you, Iowa. Anybody here from Iowa? Keep your hands down. And this is one of my greatest joys to welcome all the universities. Can I just say hello to Penn State? We welcome Greek Bible College from Athens. We welcome the University of Pittsburgh, University of Delaware, Eastern Wyoming College, Columbia, McGill, Grand Canyon, Johnson and Wales University. Would you welcome all those from the universities that are watching. The 1828 Webster Dictionary came out. Noah Webster had a word in there that I've been praying for. And you'll see the definition. I don't think they put it in as today, the very first definition for this word enthusiasm. Some of you come in and go, there's a lot of enthusiasm. Noah Webster described that word and said this was the definition. To be God possessed. That's what it said in Theos. In Theos. To be in God, to have God in you. So when you see somebody enthusiastic, you're God possessed. And I'm telling you that's what we want. We want to see God just possess this place and do something special today. Anybody with me? Amen. Let's believe it. Father, in these next few moments, we're just asking that your Holy Spirit would just bring a spirit of enthusiasm. God possess people that cannot be quiet, that have to shout, that have to lift up their voice, their hands, that God are just so thankful. God, we want to be, we want to be those God possessed people. God in our lives. How could we not be changed? How could we not be excited? How could we not begin to just praise you? Lord, I thank you that when the choir began to sing today, that he turned my mourning into dancing. How could we not begin to say, yes, that was me. You took sadness and you brought joy to my life. I pray for those that have not experienced that today. Do something special and we thank you for it. In Jesus name and everybody said amen. You may be seated. God bless you. Thank you choir. Thank you musicians. What a blessing. The very first week in January, we're starting something, we're starting a podcast. It's a four year journey that I'm going to ask you to fill. Those that are watching around the world, university campuses and around the United States. I'm going to ask you to join with us on a podcast that we start in January, first week of January. It's called chapter by chapter starts January 20, 26. Seven minutes a day, seven days a week. We will take 1189 chapters of the Bible and we will go and give a devotion. I've been working on it and we're going to believe that we want you to begin to get to get excited about the word of God. And so as we start that, it'll be a devotional on every chapter of the Bible. As I was writing this week for the book of Exodus, I strongly felt as I was writing just and finishing up the different devotionals for the podcast. I felt strongly, I don't even know why, I don't even know why it was directed there, but felt strongly I needed to go through and read the book of Colossians. So. So I went from the Old Testament and we're into the New Testament. Just four chapters. Just seemed a little bit odd to me until I came to Colossians chapter two and then continue to read and finally in Colossians chapter four and saw something that I want to share with you today. It's a challenge for us. It's a challenge for those that want to be Goshen, those that want to be bright. I want to talk to you about what I saw there. I want to talk to you about losing a 30 year fight because no one answered the door. Losing a 30 year fight. And you're gonna see it very clearly. I stopped and I just kept looking at this. I want to talk to you about a 30 year fight that took place because no one would answer a door. The Apostle Paul was in a fight for a church. For a church to have that enthusiasm to be God possessed. The church would be in what we would see as modern day Turkey. Paul was fighting for the life of a church. You'll know this name if you grew up in the modern day church. You'll know the name that I'll bring up because it's mentioned four and five times in this book of Colossians. And Paul is fighting for a church called. How many remember this name? Laodicea. He's fighting for a church called Laodicea. Let me start in Revelation chapter 3 because this is a place that was very. It's a church that lost that enthusiasm. It is tempered down. When you'd sing a song like this, everybody would stay seated, nobody would move. When songs would be sung or prayers would be prayed, everyone just sat there and God began to say, it's a church that made. I can just give you to what it says that made him sick. To know that all he's done and to have no response from it. And I want to read to you what it says. This is Revelation. It's the final church in the book of Revelation that God speaks to. And he says these words. Write this letter to the leader of the church in Laodicea. This message is from one who stands firm. The faithful and true witness of all that is and was evermore shall be the primeval source of God's creation. He says, I know you well. You're neither hot nor cold. I wish you were one or the Other. But since you are merely lukewarm, I'll spit you out of my mouth. You say, I'm rich with everything I want. I don't need a thing. And you don't realize that spiritually you're wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. My advice to you is that you buy pure gold from me, gold purified by fire. Only then will you truly be rich. To purchase from me white garments, clean and pure, so you won't be naked and ashamed. And to get medicine from me to heal your eyes and give you back your sight. He's speaking spiritually to them, and he says, I continually discipline and punish everyone I love. So I must punish you. Unless you turn from your indifference and become. What's the word? Enthusiastic. God possessed. God possessed. About the things of God. Look. And then it says these words that many of you could even be familiar with. We've known the part that'll spit us out of the mouth. But look at this last part. I've been standing at the door and I'm constantly knocking. If anyone hears me calling and opens the door, I will come in and fellowship with him and he with me. It was a church that was lukewarm. They said, I'm rich. I don't have. I have everything I want. And God said, no, no, no, you're miserable. You're poor and blind. Can two opinions be so far off? Can two assessments of self be so far apart? Here's my question. I kept asking, why did it become lukewarm? And here's what I came up with. Because no one answered the knock on the door for 30 years. And I'll explain why I put 30 years in there. God was knocking on a church that was lukewarm. He was pleading with the church. God was trying. Think about it. God was trying to come to church in Laodicea. He was trying to show up. God says, I was knocking on the door, waiting for someone to open this door. It was a knocking on a lukewarm church. It was a church that was operating. Think about this. This is when you read the Bible. There's some Bibles that have the words of Jesus in red. And that means Jesus was talking. When you read revelation, especially Revelation 2 and 3, it's all in red letters. It's Jesus speaking. And when Jesus says, I was knocking at the door, Jesus was telling them it was knocking on the outside, trying to get in. Can anything be more horrible, having church without the main person there? Can anything be more horrible than all you get is me and not Jesus? Well, Help us, God. If all you get are musicians or singers and there's no Christ in the place, how dangerous is that? And I believe today you're gonna hear some knocking. There was a time a few years ago I was hearing some similar stories, sad stories that didn't make sense to me. I had some friends in ministry and friends that I've known for some years at different parts of the country that went in for a doctor's checkup. And when they went in for their physical, yearly physical, or for them, it was just something they figured they'd been neglecting and they would go in to get the physical. The doctor found something and said, we need to do further investigation. It became a little bit of a pattern for about a year, year and a half in my life with friends seeing this. And they came back to me and they said, tim, pray for me. I have stage four cancer. And, folks, I have to tell you something. I told them, I said, wow, stage four cancer. Out of nowhere. Out of nowhere. So I went to a doctor friend of mine who was a graduate of Stanford University, and I asked them this question. I said, tell me in your medical opinion. When my friends went in for a normal checkup and then got the report of stage four colon cancer, I said, a number of them. How many of them would you say had signs and symptoms before it was discovered in a physical? And this is what was her answer? She said, at least 85%. She said they saw something, they felt something, and they said they didn't respond to it. She said, that's just my opinion, that they would see continual signs and did nothing about it. It was ignored. That's exactly what happened to the church of Laodicea. The sickness that you read about in Revelation chapter three wasn't something that just showed up. It wasn't stage four. Automatically, something was going on. People were praying and God was knocking. And I believe God was knocking because people were praying. This battle to stop this lukewarmness took place way before this incident in Revelation 3, because it happened. It happened all the way back in the book of Colossians. The Apostle Paul saw something 30 years before it happened and was addressed. See, Colossians was written to Laodicea and the church in 62 AD. These are important dates. Revelation was written 30 years later, 33 years later, this. So when you're reading the book of Colossians and then you read the book of Revelation, you're reading almost three decades later. But I want you to see something that just. That made me stand in my Tracks and go. They saw the symptoms. They saw something that they. They didn't address, that they ignored. Listen to what the Apostle Paul says. He says in Colossians 2, I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not met me personally. My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart, united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures and wisdom and knowledge. And I tell you this so no one may deceive you by fine sounding arguments. He says this. He says in verse one he says, I'm contending for you and for those in Laodicea. Then read again. In Colossians 4 he says, Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ, sends his greetings. He is always another word that deals with. It's a fighting word. He. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and those at. Where does it say again? Laodicea and Aeropolis. Then he goes down to verse 15. Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters. Here it is again in Laodicea and to Nympha and the church in her house. And this letter has been read to you see that it is also read in the church of where the Laodiceans, and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea. He is constantly. He says here. It's so important because why do I call this a fight? Because Paul uses two words, contending and wrestling in prayer for this church in Colossians. And he sees something. He sees symptoms. He sees something that he's going 30 years prior to Revelation 3. He goes, 30. Listen, this is important for you to understand. I see something there. Read this letter. And as I started reading Colossians, if you read the book of Colossians in the New Testament, it's all about Christ. It's all about the greatness of Christ, the preeminence of Christ. He says, do not let the name of Jesus, the person of Jesus and the work of Jesus be crowded out by a whole bunch of other things, but keep him in full force. And Paul says, I'm fighting for this in prayer, contending for you. And can I just tell you, sometimes prayer is a fight. You're fighting for people's souls and people's future. When we are praying up here for children, and we'll do it again in the next service. We're fighting for their destiny. We're fighting for their future. When you pray for your children, for your marriage, you're contending, you're wrestling. This is the hardest time to be a parent. It is the hardest time to go to a university. And for all those universities that are watching, we're praying, we're contending, believing, wrestling, that you do not fall prey to fine arguments and lose Jesus. In the midst of all this, I've been going down once a week. I told you about last week, about Fulton street and William street, where the Second Great Awakening took place in this nation. I've been going down there each week to pray, going from corner to corner and just going, God, do it again, do it again in our city. God, if there's ever a time that our city needs a revival, it's now. We need. And folks, I have to tell you, it's a very busy corner at Fulton and William street and people are moving all over the place. There's on one corner, it's a subway stop, Another, another corner, it's a tarot card. And in probably the corner where the prayer meeting started, you'll see palm reading. Another corner is a coffee shop. And the other corner is very busy, it's Chipotle. And so I'm sitting there, I stood behind a mailbox there, and I felt I was fighting. I was fighting not just for people in prayer. And I was just sitting there behind a mailbox, the only spot where I wouldn't be overrun by the people that were there. And at one point at that prayer meeting down at Fulton and William street, they said every day at 12 o', clock, they said up to at some point four and five months later, 10,000 people would show up to believe that God would do something in their city. Now, as I was praying behind that mailbox and saw people, there was a fight that I felt that was happening, that even this fight was coming to me, trying to discourage me and said, this is just a pipe dream. Nothing's gonna happen in this. And I had to fight through that. As you're looking at people, as you're looking at people that are just looking for answers, that in order to go into this next season, we have to go in full of God, full of the presence of God and realizing that we're gonna have to wrestle and fight through the doubts. But I wanna be ablaze, ablaze with God himself. On right after I got back, I think it was when I Got back that very day, I got a call from our general overseer, Pastor Carter, who is. Let me just say this. Thank you for praying for him. He is recovering, he is doing amazing, and by God's grace, will be back in the pulpit in January. And so that's going to be a very special Sunday. But he called me and said, I feel strongly to pray for you. And the timing couldn't have been perfect, more perfect. And he says, I'm called to pray for you. I'm called to pray that God would strengthen you, that God would help you in the fight. And I'm just telling you, he was praying with such fervency, with such fire, as in, it was with such enthusiasm, because he was God possessed. And he was praying for me that Cindy was. Was not in our bed, was. It was in the kitchen and I was in the bedroom. She goes, why were you crying on the phone? Because it was as if the fire of God came down as he prayed for me. And I told him, I said, pastor Carter, I said, the biggest fight that comes to me happens every Sunday morning at 6am every Sunday morning at 6am is the biggest fight that I fight throughout the entire week. I face a lot of things, but 6am on Sundays. Why is it 6am on Sundays? Because it is there if I hear hell the loudest. And hell will say, what you are about to preach from that pulpit is so dumb. It's so stupid. No one will listen. People are gonna leave the church. They're gonna think, you need to quit and let somebody else fill that pulpit. Every Sunday, I battle this every Sunday. It is a fight and I have to go. God, fill me with the Holy Spirit. God cover my mind. And when Pastor Carter was right, he says, tim, I've got to pray for you, pray for you in the battle. Laodicea, think about this. Laodicea read the letter of Colossians. Knew people were fighting in prayer, heard the knocking of Jesus, and no one answered the door. Listen to that. Laodicea, read that letter from Colossians, the four chapters that I read. Laodicea read it. They knew people because Paul said it. Paphras and myself were wrestling and fighting for you. And Jesus said, I'm knocking at the door. I'm knocking so you would open it up so I could come into church. I can be part of this. And at that moment, no one answered it. So Laodicea continues on knowing that it has symptoms, but continues on with church services. Think of this. They continue on with church services without Jesus for 30 years. My goodness. I couldn't go 30 minutes. As soon as something is wrong here, I'm going fix this thing. Shut it down. We need the presence of God. We, We. It is just so important. What. What is? When he says, let me just help you. What is. When he. When. What is this position? What is this posture? What is this attitude of lukewarmness? I'm gonna give it to you. I want you to get this down. What is lukewarmness? Here it is. Is. I still believe in God, but I'm not just that excited about him. Get that down. That's the danger of lukewarmness. Oh, there's a God. But am I excited about him? Am I. Am I thanking him? From turning my mourning to dancing. You know, there's this interesting verse in the book of Ecclesiastes. It's Solomon writes, and he says, two are better than one. And this is what he says. If one falls down, another can pick him up. But 4:11, get this down. Ecclesiastes 4:11 says this. It says, if one is cold, another one can heat him up. Let me just tell you something. If you were upset that someone stood up during the choir song and you couldn't see the choir because they were standing in front of you, I have to tell you, they're probably hot and you're probably cold, and you're next to the right person. Because some of you going like, this church is mean. Listen to me. Because what that is, is we need that at times. I came in here this morning, someone said to me, said, how you doing? I said, I'm just tired today. I said, I realized I've been working hard for 42 years in the ministry, but I needed to hang out with some hot people. I needed to hang out with people. I didn't. When I go to someone, hey, I'm tired. I don't want them going like, yeah, me too. How many are with me on that? I'm here not because you can enter into what I'm going through. I'm here because I need you to be the one standing up, going, come on, let's do this for God. That's what Pastor Carter was. Pastor Carter. In the middle of a fight, Pastor Carter's the one who's going like, hey, we're going to get on fire for God. That's what happens. It's when we feel the enthusiasm, excitement waning like it did in Laodicea, God goes, I've been telling you, I told you 30 years ago. And not only that, I've knocked for 30 years to open the door. 30 years. I've been. I've always used that verse. I've always listen and I've been the first to use it. I've always used that verse for evangelism. He stands at the door and knocks. That's not for. For a person that's not saved. That's for the church. That's lukewarm. He said, I've been waiting to get in for all pastors and leaders. He's knocking on your church door right now. Around the country and around the world, if we're sitting there in a place that we've lost the presence of God, open the door and get the Holy Spirit back in the church. A lukewarm believer is a songless singer, an ineffective church attender, an irritated member during the choir song, a possessor of a dusty Bible, a dabbler in little sins, a loss of burden for loss and prioritizing their comforts over what God's priorities. The answer to lukewarmness is being a living sacrifice. Listen to what the apostle Paul says. And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you, give your bodies, your lives to God because of all he has done for you. Has he done something for you today? This is what he says. Then let those lives be a living and a holy sacrifice, the kind he will find acceptable. Why? Because this is truly the way to worship him. This is how we worship him. The apostle Paul grabs an Old Testament word, sacrifice, and brings it into the New Testament life. We learn in the Old Testament that whenever a sacrifice was offered, fire came from heaven. Let me say that again. Whenever a sacrifice was offered, fire came down. The fire came upon the sacrifice in Leviticus 9:24 first kings 18:38 with Elijah, judges 13:20 with Manoah 17, second chronicles 7:1, when the temple was being built by Solomon. It's a challenge and a responsibility we give ourselves. So God's fire, that enthusiasm, the God filled life can come. A living sacrifice is for the fire of God to fall. Why? Because fire illuminates, fire consumes, fire ignites us. For what's ahead for us as a church, we need to be on fire for God. One of my favorite things to read is a is an old Scottish preacher. Listen to these words by Samuel Chadwick. These are awesome. He says men ablaze are invincible. Hell trembles when men kindle the strongholds of Satan is proof against everything but fire. The church is powerless without the flame of the Holy Ghost. Destitute of fire, nothing else really counts. Possess the fire. Nothing else really matters. The one vital need is fire. Without the flame and further of the fervor of the Holy Ghost, the church will never accomplish its mission. May God emblaze this place again. Oh God, may we hear the knocking on the door of our heart today. 30 years, not 30 seconds. I want to live without the fire of God in my life. How do we stay on fire for God? I've been praying for these four things. Let me give them to you really quick and then we'll close today. That it's a long closing. Listen to this. Some of you are so smart, you're going, that means nothing. How do we stay on fire for God? I wrote down these four words. Sacrifice, faith, conviction and eternity. Those are the things. Those are like coals on an ember. Those are. Those are the. Where there's just a spark or a pilot like. These are the things that emblaze us. These are the things that keep me God possessed. That keep me focused on God. Let me give them to you. Sacrifice number one. And I want to ask you a question after each of these that I kept asking upon myself. So sacrifice. Here's the first thing. When was the last time you did something sacrificially? When was the last time you did something sacrificially? When did you sacrificially give, go or even serve? I'm speaking to myself. When was the last time you gave up a Friday night to be at the unguard? To give up a Tuesday like Stan was talking about to come early and pray. Whether to give towards a vision fund or give vacation time to go on a missions trip, we will give until it affects our comfort and our schedule and our agenda. That's not sacrifice. I have missed. I want you to listen to me now. I have missed moments of sacrifice that I regret to this day where God has asked me to do something and I paused. Cause I knew it would affect our comfort. I knew it would affect our bank account. I knew it would affect because of what God was asking us to do. Moments that would have made me uncomfortable. But I chose comfort over sacrifice. I chose me over what God was asking me to do. And that is always the fight. Choosing comfort over sacrifice. It's always the fight. What God does in sacrifice is greater than what anything you or I can give up this Tuesday. Please don't miss the service here. It'll be a sacrifice for some to be here. Oh, but there's traffic. Oh, I'm tired after work. I get it. Some of you have already said it listen, this Tuesday night, Nikki Cruz is speaking. For those that don't know, Nikki Cruz is the gang member from the book that our founder David Wilkerson wrote, the Cross on the Switchblade. Can I just tell you, we're here, we're here today because of that miracle connection. I'm looking down and seeing Brooklyn Teen Challenge. They're there. Brooklyn Teen Challenge is here because of that conversion. So this Tuesday night, as I look and see Paul Burke, the director of Teen Challenge, who we pray for him and his wife each night. Cindy and I constantly pray for them because it's our roots, it's our legacy. But this Tuesday night, to have an opportunity. Nikki Cruz is 87 years old. 87 years old. Don't sit there and regret, oh, I can't come tonight because it's gonna be. I have a tough day. Welcome to life. Every day is tough. Every day is tough. So here's the challenge. The challenge is gonna be this, that Nikki will be here. He's 87, but when you hear him speak, bring somebody with you. I'm telling you, I say this to Nikki all the time. I said, Nikki, you're 87 years old and you speak like you just got out of the gangs last week. He's got such an attitude, like he's going like God is gonna do. What are you, you're gonna see it. You're gonna see him come here and you're gonna hear his story and his testimony. And at 87, you're gonna be afraid of him. I'm telling you, you're gonna be afraid of this. I look at him, he's this five foot nothing Puerto Rican who can beat me up, totally afraid of him. And he'll just gonna tell you what God did in his life and how God has used him. I met a woman this year who set the stage for Nikki to be saved. Talk about sacrifice. I met a woman who was booed off the stage the night Nikki would come to Christ. A few months ago, well, about seven, eight months ago, I attended the funeral of Sonny Arganzoni. Sonny was the ex drug addict and gang member from New York. He was the first addict to come to the Lord and go through the Teen Challenge program in Brooklyn that was run by David and Don Wilkerson and even Nikki at some time. I just couldn't even imagine Nikki running a Teen Challenge program. It was there at that funeral that had an unexpected meeting with an 80 year old woman named Mary. In the movie the Cross on the Switchblade, Mary is a real Life character in the story. Her role is not only pivotal, her role is amazing. Talk about a sacrifice. As all the gangs are gathering at the St. Nicholas arena on the Upper west side that is no longer there around 67th in Columbus. The arena was used for boxing, but now there is all the gangs of New York there. The first night the gangs came in, Mary said that she heard David Wilkerson on the side stage saying, take over Holy Spirit. I've done all I can do. Take over Holy Spirit. And on that night he looked at Mary and said, Mary, go sing, go sing, go sing on the stage. And this little teenage girl at that time, she was 14 years old, 14 years old. And that little 14 year old girl sang an old chorus. No one ever cared for me like Jesus. And she's singing to gangs that have filled this arena in New York City. And she said, here I am singing. She said it was rowdy, they were disrespectful. When I sang, they kept calling me out, they kept whistling at me, they're asking me to dance. And she said, finally I ran off that stage in tears. But God would use that young 14 year old girl to set the stage for David Wilkerson to come up and preach and see gang members weep and come to Jesus in that very night. It was a miracle. She said, I saw Nicky coming down the aisle. The man that's whistling at me, the man that's cursing at me, crying like a baby, throwing himself on the altar, putting his cigarettes out and everything, he had drug paraphernalia on the stage crying to God to change him. He. He was asking the Lord to be the Lord of his life. And she said she heard him say, if you're real, change my life. A 14 year old girl. Don't ever tell me that you're too young to sacrifice, that you're too young or too old to be used by God. I'm telling you, when you sacrifice, when you take a step of faith and do what is going to begin to, to challenge you, to challenge your agenda, to challenge that comfortability. I'm telling you, God shows up and the fire comes down. Hallelujah. It's the knock. It's the knock that comes. Number two. Jot this down. The word conviction. This is gonna be a tough one. This is the one. Just stay put. Just let me finish before you walk out on me. When was the last time that God said no to you? Cause I don't think you could be ablaze with God. I don't think you could be on fire I think lukewarm. People hate the word no. They don't want to hear no. When was the last time God said no? Don't go to that place? When was the last time you heard God say no? Don't say that to your wife. Don't date that person. Don't buy that item. When was the last time? When was the last time you even asked God that? See, when God is knocking and you open up the door, when he comes in, he'll say no. Anybody ever experienced that? When God just comes in and you're going, God, I can't. And you hear, no, I don't want you to do that. I heard it. There was something that happened about three or four weeks ago. I was getting ready, I saw something and it was like on this major sale. And I was just going, oh, this is awesome. For some reason I felt like, I don't want you to buy that. And I'm going, God, it's on sale. And then someone's gonna come in and get it. When was the last time you've read the Bible and said, I'm not doing that because it's written there. God says no. God says no to that. Okay, here it comes. Let's get this out of the way. I saw a minister speak on something. It was just a short little thing. It was so profound. He was dealing with same sex attraction. And I want you to listen to me. Just listen for a moment before you get upset and before you go and go and I'm not going to give a star to this church. And I'm going to unfollow them. You can do whatever you want. Just listen. When it comes to same sex attraction, it's one of those things that God has said no. He has said no. Now listen to me. This minister said something so profound, and I want you to listen to it. He related it to him being a father in a relationship with his children. He said, let's just take this for example. He said, if my children said, can we spend the night at this person's house? And you had just a misgiving about it. He said, and I've done this before. I said no. And then they'll come back. He'll say to them, I know that you want to, but you can't. The answer is no. But that I really wanted. The answer is no. You don't understand. This is a really good friend. The answer is no. We're gonna be good. We're not good. The parents will be home. The answer is no. And then he poses this question that I want to give to you, I want you to get this down. You won't see it on the screen, but I want you to write this down. I'll say it two times. He says, what is keeping you from letting me tell you no? What is keeping you from letting me tell you no? Which is a great question because what it comes down to is this one of the reasons why we have a hard time when God tells us no. Here it comes. We're not convinced that God refusing or God saying no that he will be enough for me than the thing that I want to do. Let me say that again. We don't have the faith to believe that when he says no to what I want, that God will be enough, enough to take the place of that emptiness inside of me. And I have to tell you this, he is enough. He is enough. When God says no and that conviction comes, we think at times we forget that faith is believing that even when God tells me no that he's more than enough than the thing that he has said no to. We think at times we can negotiate and deal with the one that has laid down his life, that has given everything for us. Lukewarmness hates being told no. Jim Elliot, who has laid down his life as a modern day martyr, said these words, just listen to it hit my soul. He said this. Remember, we are bargaining with him who bore a cross. You're bargaining with God who took a cross for us and we're going, we know better. God goes, I've laid down my life for you. I've given everything for you. I think God in his omnipotence, omniscience, all knowing and all power, all wisdom, knows what's best for us. It's a conviction that comes, that's what keeps us ablaze. The one that turns into a lukewarm church or a lukewarm preacher or a lukewarm Christian are the ones that are negotiating with God when you know what he has said. I know that's heavy, but this is so. Because here's the thing I want for some of you, you're gonna hear the knocking going, let me in on this decision. Let me in on this decision. Let me in on what? I want to speak to you here. Look at me folks, this is huge. Don't walk into a future, a college, a degree, a destiny without asking God, what do you want from my life? Open the door, hear the knock. Today, let God speak to you today. You know what the coals are for? The fire that keeps me ablaze One, sacrifice, two, conviction. Number three. It's faith. Faith. When was the last time you stepped out of your comfort zone? When was the last time you just stepped out of that comfort zone? You know what? It could be as simple as I remember Ricardo, during worship, he just said this. He goes, for some of you, it's gonna be odd for you. And he said, this here's a comfort zone moment you ready for? You had it today. And he said this. For some of you, you've never lifted your hands before. And some of you had the. Some of you listened. Some of you took the step of faith. Some of you, that counts. It counts. And then there's crazy people in here. I get that. I get it. But I'm okay, because for some of you, just to do this, that's comfort zone stuff. And you're not used to that. You're going, like, I don't know what this means. And Ricardo told us, it means I surrender. It just means, God, you're in charge. It means, I need you. It could be. It's. When was the last time you broke free that there was a faith step? Maybe walked down an aisle to an altar call? When you're seeing these people come and you're going, oh, that's just way too much. Maybe it's witnessing to someone about Jesus. Maybe it's inviting someone. Even this Tuesday night, there are people all over the world that are understanding that to trust God, I've got to live by faith. I was reading just a report that has come in. Do you understand that there are 380 million Christians that are suffering at high levels of persecution today? Three of the countries are joining with us online that we can't even mention the country because we could put them at risk if we mention them. I just found out in Mozambique, militant groups are beheading Christians by the dozens over the last two weeks. These are people that have said, I want to live for God and willing to pay the price. Most Christians are being persecuted around the world more than ever in history. Christianity is the world's most persecuted religious group yet why are millions coming to Christ every single year? Because God is doing something in people's lives by faith. There has to be something. If people are willing to die for this Jesus, that has died for them and it has given them new life. We're counting the cost. We're counting what God wants to do. And there are moments that you're gonna have to take a step of faith. And it could start with just lifting a hand. It could start with walking Down. It could start with coming to Nikki Cruz or inviting someone to come. It could start with any of those things. I got an email from our online host who said, I wanna talk to you about. The newest prayer team member sent me a story. And it started about four or five years ago. And then what just happened last weekend? And she writes, she says, In September 2021, I laid down for a nap. And she said, I felt God spoke to me and said, go to this sports store and buy a set of dumbbells to work out with. That's some of you going, like, this is weird. Okay, just stay with me, she said. I laid there still trying to nap, but I obeyed. I told my husband, take me to the store. And on the way there, we saw a homeless couple taking a bath with a hose out outside of a bank. It was one of the hottest days. And I told my husband to stop so we could pray for them and give him the only cash that I had, which was $20. He said, no, let's go to the sports store and let's circle back to them. I wasn't happy, but I said, okay. We went into the store, and no lie. There was none. No dumbbells for me. And this was a sporting goods store. So we walked out, drove down the road and found the couple. We see them at the gas station, sitting at a table, filling a water jug. We get out and tell them my name and about my faith and how the Lord led me to them. Folks, this is total faith. Listen to this. She said, I said I wanted to take a nap, that the Lord said, no, buy some dumbbells. And the woman looked at me as if she saw a ghost. This is what she said. She said, a man about an hour ago, before you came up and came over to us and gave us a set of dumbbells. Listen to this. No lie. I was floored. I could not make this up. Neither could they. Wow. The hottest day of the year and clearly homeless people. You'd give them water, food, cash. You wouldn't give them dumbbells. I gave her the only cash I had on me, prayed for her and her boyfriend. And the Lord said, no, do one better. Take them to a hotel down the road, get them one night and stay. Okay. We obeyed. We took them down the road as she said, I walked him in. I was crying. I told her, I promise that this is Jesus, not me. I'm just a vessel. And then I heard the Lord say, no, do even more. Pay for a week stay. I said, okay, Lord, this is A dumbbell trip. Once she got the key to the room, we walked outside. She kept crying, crying. She said, first of all, I tried to commit suicide the other day and the Lord saved me. She said, I prayed and told him that if he is truly real, he needed to send some help. She had a bandage on her arm. She said they have slept outside for such a long time and didn't have much food, water and shelter. They were also addicts, stolen out of garbage dumpsters. She said people would drive by and yell at them, but no one stopped. She said, I think you're an angel. I said, no, I promise. I'm just a vessel. I heard your prayer. I heard the Lord tell me, and this is what she said. She told me that she was from Michigan, left there because of her own mom, slept with her husband at the time. So she left her kids and family behind. She chatted a bit more and then me and my husband prayed over them and left. For years I wondered about them, lifted them up in prayer. She messaged me one day during the hotel stay and said that this was the best shower and sleep she ever had in years. We lost touch and had her seen her since. But then she writes, but God, here it comes. Here's faith. She's in a nap. Go buy dumbbells at the sporting goods store. Who's out of dumbbells but in a city with homeless people? Then she writes this. This past weekend, I went to the grocery store to grab a few things. We discussed where to go for dinner. I gave the option of Mexican or barbecue. My husband chose barbecue, picked one place, felt led to go to another barbecue place. But we went in because got our food, started eating. When this couple walks by us with their food and it was the couple that we helped, I told my husband, make sure it's them. So it was the man we prayed for. I knew it. Except she looked different. She looked amazing. She looked clean. We threw our plates away, walked up to their table and said, hey, a couple years ago, a couple pray for you. They looked at us, jumped up, all started crying. This was the couple. They now have a house, jobs, have been clean and sober for two years. Not only that, they serve in a homeless community in our local area and help the addicts they're now giving back to the community. Only God can do that. When people listen, by faith, hallelujah. All right, that's coal on a fire. When you step out in faith, break the comfort zone. You hear dumbbells and you're going, am I the dumbbell? This is where God is speaking to you going, do it, do it. Don't stop. Pray with them. Talk to them. Invite them. I can promise you, if you hear between now and Tuesday and you're going, man, I feel this thing like I'm supposed to invite them. This must be the devil. I can promise you the devil is not saying invite them to church. It is God telling you to do that. Step out in faith. Step out in faith. You know what faith is? Faith starts to set me ablaze. You know what conviction does? Every time I've said yes to God and no to me, it has literally been like coals on the fire. Every single time I've said yes to God. And even with sacrifice, God has done something. Let me close with this. Musicians, come, let's finish the fourth coal. That fourth thing that gets the fire going is eternity. Eternity. This is the one I have to remind myself with. When was the last time you thought of heaven standing before God on Judgment Day, maybe even the Rapture? When was the last time that that may have helped your decisions? I was reading the story of Billy Graham. He was telling the story of a young lady with cancer. This is what she told Billy Graham. She said, I'm in a win, win final game. She said, I'm dying of cancer and I'm 30 years old. But it's win, win for me. If he heals me, I win. If it's heaven, I win. It's. She could see eternity. We have spent time. Listen to me. Listen to me. We have spent time. We have paid for financial counselors. We have paid money. We have done all this stuff, put our investments in and everything to try to secure our last 20 years of life. And after, after we begin to retire. But not investing in the next life, not investing in what is forever. We lose urgency to please God and give our life to God. Because we think about Monday, where we think about senior years. And not forever, forever. Even. When I told God today, I said, God, I've been doing this for 42 years. I'm tired. I said, I feel like I just need to touch some fire people. I don't want to hang out with. I don't want to hang out with lukewarm Laodiceans. I want some fire people in my life. That's what I want. I said, God. And I literally. I told God this morning, I said, maybe three more years. That would make me 65 years old. And God goes, yeah, according to your schedule. That's your schedule. He said, with me, you hang out with the right People, he said, I will set you ablaze. When you feel cold, they'll warm you up. When you fall, they'll pick you up. They'll be there. It's thinking of eternity. Golly. I read this story and I said, oh, God, keep me. Keep me thinking of eternity. I forgot these names from school. Musicians. You can all come. You can all come. Anybody remember this name? And there's a reason for this. This is a little bit. Don't get nervous. It's a quick history lesson. How many remember the name Genghis Khan? Anybody remember that name? Okay, okay. Don't get nervous, because many of you have failed history. In the 13th century, his son Kublai Khan inherited his father's. His whole father's empire. They said this empire was larger than anything of Alexander the Great, anything of Rome. No one has matched the size of the Khan empire, which included China, Korea, the Middle east, parts of Eastern Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Hungary. It was massive. Massive. And since he had this huge, huge empire. Listen to these words. With his mother being a Christian and with the possible influence from others, Kublai Khan expressed interest in Christianity. And the story says that he requested 100 missionaries to be sent to him to tell them about Christianity. Tell us about Jesus. Send us 100 missionaries. But you know what the problem was? The Church was in a schism and a fight. And you know what the Church did? The Church didn't send a hundred. The Church sent one. Ready for this 28 years later, 28 years later. Because we're fighting over nonsense, fighting over crazy. Instead of thinking eternity, can you imagine what could have happened to that entire empire if the Church wasn't fighting amongst themselves, worrying about today, seeing now instead of seeing then, instead of seeing eternity? And my heart just dropped. I said, God, enough. Enough with what I want to do. Enough with just simple divisions and schisms. I didn't get to do this. They didn't ask me to do this. I can't. I'm. That's my seat. And that person just showed up and sat in my seat to day. I can't believe it. Don't they know they see me every week? Come on. Seriously. It's all. It happens. And we have people. There are people that are going to get saved today. And we're worried about. We didn't get our seat. I hate the aisle. I don't like. I don't. I like sitting on the aisle. Now I got to sit in the middle. Who cares? Who cares? I was with my daughter yesterday, and I'm so Grateful for her. We were talking to her about her and her teammates. I said to her, I said, baby, this is what we're gonna do. I said, I want you to invite your teammates down, and we're gonna take them out to dinner. If they come to church. I said, we're gonna bribe them. Some of you go, I don't know if. Yeah, of course. That's good. Some of you going, like, I don't know. That may be, like, manipulate. Call it whatever you want. I want these kids saved. Call it whatever you want. These are college kids that need a dinner. So I'm going like, come down. We'll get them steak dinners, and we're gonna do this. Listen, you're going like, that's a lot of money. I'll go into debt. See them get saved 100%. This is what she told me. This is what she said to me, dad, you're not even gonna believe this. She said, one of them just came to me and just said, hey. I started reading the Bible, and I started realizing these are, like, good stories. And so I told her. I said, hey, let me. Let's read it together. And then the other roommate goes, I want to do it, too. I said, those are all steak dinner people. You're going to bring them all over, and we're going to see God do something in their lives. You know what that girl was doing? She was thinking of eternity. Eternity. I want these. I want my teammates to be saved, my roommates to be saved. Instead of just worrying, let's see forever. See what God wants to do. I want you to stand with me as we close. I have to read this to you. We're gonna. We'll sing that, Willie. That's great. I surrender all. Here it is. There is. This man was anything but lukewarm. Anything but lukewarm. He was a young pastor in Zimbabwe. He was killed for his faith. And before he was killed for his faith, he sent like Paul did to Laodicea. He sent a letter to his church, and he wrote a letter that. I'm praying that they heard the knock on the door. He sent a letter. Like Paul would say, I see the symptoms. I see something that's happening. And this young Zimbabwe pastor, who would eventually become a martyr for his faith, was given a copy of the note found written that this young pastor in Zimbabwe wrote to his church. And who would have known? Let me read to you what he said. I'm part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit's power. The die has Been cast. I've stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I'm a disciple of his. I won't look back, I won't let up. I won't slow down, back away or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense and. And my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living sight walking, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap, giving and dwarfed goals. I no longer need preeminence, property, position, promotions, plaudits or popularity. I don't have to be right. First tops recognize, praise regarded or rewarded. I now live by faith, Lean in his presence, walk by patience and lifted by prayer and labor with power. Listen to this. My face is set, my gate is fast. My goal is heaven. My road is narrow, my way rough, my companions are few, my God reliable. My mission is clear. He's not done. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, diluted or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of what? Sacrifice. Hesitate in the presence of my enemy, pander at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won't give up, shut up, let up until I. I've stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up and preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till he comes, give till I drop, preach till I know and work till he stops me. And when he comes for his own, he will have no problem recognizing me. My banner will be clear in the words of this generation. That's fire. My daughter's shaking her head right now in total embarrassment. That's fire. I present my body as a living sacrifice. Sacrifice. Where God wins over my selfishness. Conviction, veto. Anything you want. Faith keep me trusting. You know what I kept thinking about, Willie? Is this. I think about faith. Spirit, lead me where my trust is without borders. Let me walk on the waters whenever you would call me. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander. And my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my spirit. Eternity. Challenge me to see now and then, but don't let me get caught up right now. Can I just be honest? Let's just ask this. Keep your heads up. Keep your eyes open. This is important. He is knocking. He's knocking for you that are watching from Peru, from Venezuela. For you that are watching from Finland, for you that are watching from Poland, for you that are watching from Korea and Japan. He is disturbing lukewarmness. And he is knocking harder than ever. He's knocking and saying don't give in to Luke, folks. We can't make it unless we're aflame for God. And here it is. Here it is. I just want us to sing this song. And if you're here today. I know it's 12 o'. Clock. I know we gotta stop. I understand. But if you're here today and say, pastor Tim, I need him to set me ablaze again. If that's you, just lift both hands right now. Just say, I need him to set me ablaze. To set me ablaze again. Come on, lift both those hands. Just say, God, set me on fire again. Set me on fire again. Come on. Every time we sing, Every time we obey God. Come on, ask him. Say, God, I want to sacrifice. Tell him right now, say, God, make me a living sacrifice. Come on, lift those hands and say, God, I want to obey. Conviction of the Holy Ghost. Come on, ask him right now and say, God, I want a life of faith. Even if it makes me step out of my comfort zone. And for some of you, lifting your hands. Hands is out of your comfort zone. Come on, ask right now. Say, God, I want eternity. I want to see. Not just now. I want to see then. I want to see forever with my eyes. Hallelujah. Ricardo, just sing this. Come on, sing that. Please, sing that. Come on, church. Lift your hands and sing this. Am you and call me. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wonder and my faith be made strong. Let's sing that one more time. Same verse. Same verse. Come on. Lead us. Lead us. Sing it again, Church. Spirit, lead. Walk upon the waters where you would call me Take me deeper than my feet could ever wonder and my faith. One more time. Come on, sing it, church. Sing it loud. Come on. Let it be the song of the redeem. Sing it. How does the chorus go? I forgot. I will call upon the Lord and I will. I will call upon your name Keep my eyes. Keep my eyes upon the waves when oceans arise My soul will rest in your embrace For I am your hallelujah alive. Hallelujah. Come on, ask him to set you on fire. Just for a moment. I'm gonna. We're gonna close in a second. Just ask him to set you on fire. God set us on fire today. God, would you disturb lukewarmness today? And would you allow us, not just here at 51st and Broadway, but for those that are watching around the United States, at the university campuses, and those that are watching from around the world. Knock hard on the door. Let the doors be open today. God. Knock hard on our doors. As I look down at Brooklyn Teen Challenge, knock on every Teen Challenge around the nation and around the world that is Navy found themselves languishing. Knock hard on every director. Knock hard on denominations. Knock hard on our church. May we never have church without Jesus. May we never have church without God. Oh, Lord, help us, God, we need you today. Hallelujah. Folks, I'm going to tell you what I just feel a sense we're going to do. We're going to. We're going to close. Just keep playing that, Willie. If you guys want to sing it, you can sing it. We're going to end the service. Our teams are going to be up here to pray. If you feel just to stay in worship. If you feel you got to go, you can go. We'll move into the next service, but in about 45 minutes, we're going to pray. I don't know what God's going to lead you to do. Sacrifice, faith, conviction, eternity. Sacrifice, faith, conviction and eternity. Let him guide you today. Let him guide you today. God bless you. You're dismissed. Thanks so much for listening. We hope you've enjoyed this message and be sure to subscribe so you can receive new messages each week. Visit Team TSC NYC for all the latest info on how you can stay connected. Also, don't forget that you can follow us on social media on all major platforms at Times Square Church. Thanks for tuning in today. Have a great week.