← Victory Church: Paul Daugherty
Loading summary
Transcript25 lines
- [00:01]
A
For about 20 years I was a youth pastor back when I had hair. Who remembers those days? I had a mullet back in the 80s when I was at high school. Conservative on top, party at the back. And I went next level and senior of high school, I got it permed and blonde streaks. But we won't speak about vanity. But I took a group of young people to India, probably 15 teenagers. And we'd seen miracles and healings and salvations and we'd been in big churches and small churches and some churches had incredible worship, some not so. And we'd been there 14 days and I was tired. I wanted to be with my own family. I wanted to give my teenagers back to their own parents. And it'd been like that. And so if you're a schoolteacher out there, you know what I'm talking about. And so sure enough, on the itinerary it said the last day was gonna be a rest day. We're just gonna chill out, go go to the shopping mall and then we're gonna fly home to Australia. 14 hours. And so I'm like, awesome. And then on the last, the second, last night we're having this meeting, revival strikes, people are getting healed, people getting saved. And this little Indian pastor comes up to me and says, pastor Paul, I have a church an hour away from here. Would you come tomorrow night? Are you free? And I'm thinking in my mind I am free to go the shopping mall. And he says, would you come to my house? And in my heart I was saying no, but out of my mouth I said, yes, we will come. So the next day I wasn't really in a place of faith, of encouragement, driving out in the minibus and with these 15 teenagers. And I want to send them back home to their parents. I love them, but the love's come to a limit. Okay, and so we're coming to this town and have you ever been to somebody's house or drove into a city and you feel a weight, oppressive atmosphere? Sometimes you go and you feel peace in a home or you can feel. It just felt heavy. This atmosphere drove into this little Indian village. A little Indian village is about 1.5 million people. And so we drove into this village and, and we came up towards the church and the church was just a concrete slab and some thatched roof and no walls. And I knew it was going to be an exciting service. When they sent a 10 year old child up the telegraph pole with alligator clips to plug under the power for the PA system, I knew it was going to be Exciting when the drummer went to a tree and chopped off two sticks and thought beautiful drumsticks. And the service started and all the women came and sat on one side in their beautiful saris. And all the men came and sit. But there was no joy in the service. No one was clapping, hardly anyone was singing. No one was raising their hands. There was no hallelujah. It was really heavy atmosphere. And what was worth is. I'm not sure what key those musicians were playing because they were all over that keyboard and all kinds of keys. And there was three different worship leaders singing in three different Indian dialects. It was mayhem. It was purgatory. The Holy Spirit went for a coffee. He was coming back after the service. And then I'm like, I've got to preach in this environment. I'm feeling this heaviness. I'm like, please help me Lord. And then the pastor gets up and says, we've got some friends from Australia. And I got all the teenagers up. We began to sing a song in tune, in key with a four string guitar there. And then the local musicians got so excited they got off the front row and started playing with us. And it was awful. And I'm like, lord, what am I going to do? And I had a word of wisdom. I said through the interpreter, come on, we're all going to sing a cappella. And the musician stopped and I could think. And I'm praying, I'm praying, Lord, what I'm gonna. This is the heaviest. This is the worst meeting I've ever been. This is so heavy. This is so dark and right there. And then the God gave me a word of knowledge and I stopped the band. I spoke through the interpreter, said, there's somebody here. You're not a follower of Christ. You're from another religion. Your husband's been injured in a work accident, you have four teenage sons and you're gonna get kicked out in the street cause you cannot pay your rent. And you went to the local mullah for help and he could not help you. And you said, no, maybe those followers of Jesus can help me. And at the risk of your own life, you've come into this church today to ask Jesus to help you at your point of need. Jesus has heard your cry. And if that's you, would you come to the front? Because I believe Jesus wants to minister to you here and now. Well, a little lady, about five foot nothing at the back, she came with her hijab on, she began to walk to the front and something began to break in the atmosphere. You see, I Didn't realize this church hadn't seen a salvation for five years. The pastors and the elders have been beaten many times by local religious leaders and even imprisoned for their faith. And here's this lady. She begins to walk to the front. People began to stamp their feet. They began to clap, began to wolf whistle. They began to shout hallelujah. And the atmosphere over that church changed. And when she came to the front altar, the presence of Jesus hit her so powerfully, she began to weep uncontrollably before the Lord as the local pastor led her to Jesus in his own dialect. The next week, she brought her husband and four teenage sons, and they all got saved. That woman, come on, let's give God glory. That woman had radical faith. At the risk of her life, she walked in the doors of her church, but God saw her faith and responded. You see, God doesn't respond to need. He'd live in Bangladesh or Somalia. He responds to faith and hunger from God. And my message this morning is called Faith Adventure. Can you say that with me? Faith Adventure. Oh, you're too quiet. Over here. Over this side. This is the more passionate people. Can you say faith Adventure? Awesome. We're on a faith adventure. The Christian life was not meant to be boring. We are partnering with God. I feel prophetically here at Victory today. God's gonna do some new things in a new season. He's calling us into expansion. He's calling Victory to embark on new, exciting adventures, new chapters in the life of this awesome church. 1 Corinthians 2, 8 says, but the rulers of this world have not understood it. If they had, they would not crucified our glorious Lord. The world's never going to understand. This is what the scriptures mean when they say, no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him. Raise your hand here, church, if you love God, this scripture's speaking to you. Your eyes haven't seen what God wants to do in America in the next season. Your ears haven't heard what Pastor Paul's gonna preach from this pulpit. They're gonna blow your mind with the revelation of God. Your mind can't conceive what God wants to do in your family or in this church that the best days we declared are yet to come. Can I have an Amen? Verse 10 goes on to say, but it was to us that God revealed these things by his spirit. For his spirit searches out everything and shows us God's deep secrets. I want to encourage you. The best days are Ahead when I was praying yesterday afternoon. Who's over 60 here? Give me a wave. Awesome. Your best days are ahead, not behind. Your best chapter is. I just feel that for anyone over 60 here, I'm telling you the best days ahead. Your best days of answered prayer, the best days of fruitfulness in the kingdom. There's some older people here. I feel God's calling you back to serving kids church. This next generation needs to know the best days are ahead because you can tell them the testimonies of the Lord in your life. But the best days are ahead. Can I have an amen this morning? It's time for a faith adventure. Can you say that after me? It's time for a faith adventure. The word faith is an amazing thing. It means this in a definition, confidence or trust in a personal thing, a belief in God, a belief in a code of ethics, standards of merit, a system of religious belief, an obligation of loyalty or fidelity or person, a promise or an engagement. We walk by faith in our God. Secondly, I love the word adventure. It means an exciting or unusual experience, participating in exciting undertakings or enterprises. That's what's going to happen to you if you become part of this church. To risk. That's another word for faith. To take a chance or to dare. God wants us to have a faith adventure for you as an individual, for you as a family, and for us as a local church. And going on a faith adventure quite often is exposing yourself to new things in your life. Quite often. Saying yes to the faith dimension says saying no to other things that may cloud your life or take your time. What is your faith adventure God's calling you to this morning? What is your step of faith that God needs you to take? Let's not walk by our feelings. Let's live by faith and our convictions in the Word of God. Let the promises of God guide our lives. A faith adventure in Christ is not a comfortable journey, but it's an exciting and rewarding journey. A life of faith is going beyond your comfort zone, living in the miracle zone, the faith zone of God. To follow Christ, to be a Christian is not easy, but it is awesome. And I don't want to live a boring life. I want to walk with Christ, be led by his spirit, guided by His Word. On the adventure called life. Our salvation was free. Christ paid for it on the cross at Calvary by shedding his blood. But every day we can pay for our destiny by picking up our cross and following him on the faith adventure. Victory this morning, as a church family and as Individuals we are on this faith adventure. Join in. Don't be a spectator. Don't be a critic. Be a participator in the vision of victory in this church. As Pastor Paul leads us into the future. It's time for a faith adventure. Can you say that? It's time for a faith adventure. I've got three simple points for you this morning if you're taking notes. Number one is this keys to the faith adventure. Number one is this is simply saying yes to God. Saying yes to God is the key to the faith adventure. I got a picture of my grandson up here. I look after him every Friday night. He's three years of age. His name is Luca and it's amazing. He's so cute. But no one. You know what his first word was? It wasn't mum or dad or papa. His first word was no. No, I don't want to have a bath. No, I don't want to eat my vegetables. No, I don't want to go to bed. Who's heard that one? And it's amazing. No one taught him. He didn't go to school or university or college to learn that it was innate in him to say the first word no. Everybody say no. No. Now say yes. It's a much more beautiful word. But quite often no is our default position. What presently are you saying no to God about? No God. I won't do that. No God. You're not allowed in this part of my life. No God. That's asking too much of me. Stop saying no to God. Start saying yes God. I'm listening. You know, maybe it's saying yes to serving in kids church or yes to giving to missions. Or yes to starting a business. Or yes to going back to study at school. Or maybe yes to another baby and family member. Or yes to a short term missions trip, buying a property, serving at the Dream Centre. Stop saying no to God. Start saying yes. Can you say yes? It's a beautiful word. There's power on the other side of your yes. John F. Kennedy said. He said we want to send a man to the moon. We choose to go to the moon not because it's easy, but because it is hard. Don't ask what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country. Sometimes I think God's up in heaven talking to the church saying don't ask God what he can do for you, but ask God what you can do for him. Stop saying no to God and start saying yes. This is a key to the faith adventure. Say yes to God today and say yes to God tomorrow. It's amazing. The breakthrough's always on the other side of your yes. Say yes to God in the small things. Say yes to God in the big things. What would have happened if Noah said, I will not build that boat? What would have happened if Joseph said, I will not serve Potiphar, I will not interpret Pharaoh's dreams, and I will not forgive my brothers? What would have happened if Moses said, the Israelites are not my responsibility. I will not go back to Egypt? What would have happened if Joshua said, I do not cross flooded rivers? Or what if Esther said, no, Mordecai, I will not enter that beauty competition? Or Nehemiah? No, I won't go back to my hometown, Jerusalem. I don't rebuild broken walls and cities. I only like greenfield sites. Or David. No, I don't like sheep and I don't fight giants. What about the apostle Paul? No, I don't write letters. I only preach. What would have happened if they said no? Stop saying no. Start saying, stop saying no. Start saying yes. Say yes to the faith adventure. The Bible is full of people, ordinary people connected to a supernatural God that did extraordinary things. The difference was some said yes, but some said no. Instead of Reinhard Bonnke, who, you know, I met many times and preached to millions of people. Probably saw 40 million people saved in his lifetime. One time he was in Nigeria, preached to a million people, and on the way home in the coast, said, thank you, Lord, for choosing me. And God said to him, you are my third choice. The other two said, no first. And you said, yes. Say yes to the faith adventure. Say yes. Sometimes you say, what am I saying? Just say yes to something. Do something with your life. Ecclesiastes says, whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. So when God says yes, make a decision. Take some action. Wanna start a business? Say yes to the faith adventure. How do I do that? Have a coffee with some business people. Enroll in a program, get yourself into college, whatever. Intern at a company. Just do something. Feel a call to ministry or missions. Some people say, oh, Paul, I wanna call to missions. And they're not. I said, well, can you serve in the kitchen? I haven't got time. I'm waiting for the call of God. Well, they're still sitting in the back row of my church. And I've sent 50 other missionaries out because they said yes to doing something local. Go to Bible college. Do something in your life. Move out of the comfort zone. Serve in the church. Run a small Group, join a prayer team, volunteer in kids church. Do something in a dream. Just do something and move forward in your life with God. See, the world is made for comfort, but God made you and I for action and adventure. Two thirds of God's name is actually go. Some of you a little bit slow this morning. Had a late night on the 4th of July. You know, we planted our church 21 years ago in my lounge room with 23 people. And it started growing and my wife and I were in tonal unity. But she only planted the church on one condition with me. She said, paul, I've been playing keyboards in Church for 20, you know, I don't want to play keyboards in our own church. So no worries, you can run kids church. And so we started the church and it started growing and two years in, we still didn't have a keyboard player. We had beautiful band, great singers and musicians, and no key. But every preacher knows the keyboard brings the anointing for the altar call. It's awesome. It makes you sound much better. God's moving. You can pray for people. And so one day I was having an argument with God. Who's ever argued with God? Raise your hand. The rest of you are liars. I'm saying, God, I need a keyboard player. Do something. And I felt God say, you do something. You do something. I need a keyboard player. You do something. This went for about three or four minutes. I said, well, what did I do? He says, go and buy a keyboard in faith. So, okay. So I rang a good friend of mine, Henry Seeley from the belonging case, said, get this keyboard, it's $14,000. I buy this keyboard, I come to church. We're a set down, pack up church in a high school auditorium. And I said to the production team, can you set up the keyboard? They said, pastor Paul, that's a waste of time. It's gonna take me 20 minutes. We got no keyboard players. It just said, set it up. Week one, we set it up. Empty keyboard. Week two, week three, week four, no one's playing keyboard. I'm shaking hands at the doors, people are leaving. And this gentleman, young guy comes up to me, goes, paul, Pastor Paul, I noticed you got a keyboard there. No keyboard player. He said, I'm studying in the conservatorium of music. Do you reckon you could play? I could play keyboards for the church, yes. And that Sunday I got four keyboard players volunteering for the church. Sometimes you just gotta do something. There's gotta be momentum and movement in your life. I'm so glad I Said yes to God. I said yes to the faith adventure. And as a teenager, I said yes to serving in kids church. I said yes in senior year of high school, going on that short term missions trip to the Philippines. That's where I got called to the ministry. I said yes to being a youth leader in my local church. That's where I met my wife. Saying yes is how Victory Church started. One day Pastor Sharon and Pastor Billy Joe were praying and God said, start a church. And they said one day they said, let's buy some land here in Tulsa. And I said some people took up an offering to build this building. And people said yes. Yes. There's miracles and breakthrough on the other side of your yes. Your yes will be uncomfortable, it'll be at the wrong time, it'll be challenging, it'll make you take a risk. But when you step out in the unknown, you step out in obedience. When you step out yes. That's how your marriage began. You said yes. Unless you kidnapped her. As like some cultures do. Start saying yes to the faith adventure. Can you say it one more time? Second key to the faith adventure is simply we've got to step out in obedience when God speaks. When he speaks, we've got to obey. I've noticed this as a Christian now, I've been a pastor 34 years. God's high on obedience and low on details. It's really annoying. Cause when God speaks to us, we say, God, I'll do that, but can you tell me about this, this, this, this, this, this. We love the details. If you tell me about these details, God, then I'll say yes. But God says no, no, forget about the details. I just want you to say yes. You know why I think he does that sometimes? Cause if he showed us the full plan of our lives, we'd be too scared, too fearful to step out. So he just shows us a little bit. Take the first step and be obedient. Take the second step. You know, I really get annoyed that sometimes that new Christians, because they always get their prayers answered straight away. Have you noticed that sometimes we get older in faith? Sometimes our prayers take a long time to get answered. Because God's old. God's the ancient of days. He's slow, but he's always on time. And I remember this one guy, his name was Muhammad. He got saved in our church. He was from Iran, from Tehran. He got saved doing his PhD in our city, in our church. Born again, spirit filled, amazing. And every week as a new Christian, you have a testimony. He'd say, Pastor Paul, Pastor Paul wouldn't believe it. I just got my visa to stay here permanently from the Australian government. God's so good. He answered my prayer. That's excellent, Mohammed. The next thing. Pastor Paul, Pastor Paul, you wouldn't believe it. God answered my prayer. I was asking for a job part time while I'm studying. And God gave me the perfect hours, not working on Sunday so I can be in church. Isn't God good? I said, that's fantastic, Muhammad. Next week, Pastor Paul, Pastor Paul, you wouldn't believe what God answered my prayer. I was asking God for a place to stay and I found three other Christian university students. And now we're renting a house together. God's so good. That's awesome, Muhammad. The next thing. Pastor Paul, Pastor Paul, Someone gave me a car. Some member in the church gave me their second hand forward. I'm so glad I was praying for a car. Isn't that great? That's fantastic, Muhammad. Then the next Pastor Paul. Pastor Paul, I'm praying for a wife now. Hang on, Muhammad. But delay is not denial in your prayer. We've gotta be obedient. Cause the miracle is, is always on the other side of your obedience. You know, when we're about the fourth or fifth year of our church, we were growing. We're in a university campus. Then 50,000 people on this university campus. And we got in trouble with the student union. They made a protest and took a vote and said we could not have water baptisms or take communion on the secular campus. And so it was after Easter and we had some water baptism. 15 people getting water baptized and. And I was like, where am I gonna have this? And so I was in my prayer time. I felt the Holy Spirit say, ring that church down the road from the university and see if you can use their building on Sunday night to do water baptisms. And I thought, okay, well what have I got to lose? I rang up the pastor and the lady who answered the desk said, no, pastor won't be interested. Cause we have a Sunday night service. We don't rent out our building. I was a bit confused. And so we just went down to the beach after church and water baptized people at the beach there in Australia. And then the next next year goes past a whole 12 months and it's just after Easter again. We've had a whole lot of salvations and we want to do a water baptism service. And I was praying again, Lord, I haven't got a venue. I can't do water baptism on the university campus. What can I do. And I felt God say to me, ring that pastor again. I said, lord, I rang him last year and they said, no, I'm not going to ring again. I'm going to look stupid. And every day I prayed for an answer. And every day God said, ring that pastor. Cause you know what? The miracle and the breakthrough is always on the other side of obedience. So finally I said, okay, Lord, I'll ring him. And I rang up and the pastor actually answered the phone himself. He said, oh, Paul, I've always wanted to have a cup of coffee with you. Would you come down to my office? So the next day I went down there and I said, look, I'd like to rent your building for one Sunday night to have a baptism service. He said, that's a great idea. He said, our service is. He was 73. He goes, Our service on Sunday night's really dying. We've got got about 30 people. He said, what about if you hide my building every Sunday night? My eyes pricked up cause I was a church planter. I said, what about Friday nights for youth and Wednesday night for music practice and Tuesday? He goes, why don't you put a proposition and I'll give it to our board? So two weeks goes by and I come back to see the senior pastor on the board. And the first words that came out of his mouth, he said, pastor Paul, we've decided not to hire you the building. And I'm like, oh, what a waste of time. He said, we've all been praying and fasting and God's told us to give you the building. And we're gonna become part of your church. There's a six and a half million dollar building right in the center of town. The miracle's on the other side of our obedience. God's high in obedience and low on details. He said to Abraham, go to a new land. And he didn't even know where he was going. God is high in obedience. He's low on details. He said to Gideon, go defeat the Midianites with trumpets and candles. He said, God's high and obedience and low indeed. He says to Moses, go tell Pharaoh of Egypt, let my people go. And Moses says, God, but I have a study. He said, who gave you that mouth? Pick up your staff. God's high in obedience and low in details. An angel comes to the teenager, Mary, just a teenage girl, and says, you will conceive the child and call him Jesus, and he will be the savior of the world. And she innocently says, but how can this be, God? I'm but a virgin. I have not been with a man. But the angel said, but the Holy Spirit will come upon you and you will conceive the Son of God. And she says, let it be as your word has said. God's high in obedience and low on details. See, on this faith adventure, you cannot take big steps of faith until you've taken small steps of faith. Small steps of faith lead to great steps of faith. David was a faithful shepherd over a few sheep for his earthly father before he became a shepherd of all of Israel for his heavenly father. David first took down the lion, then the bear, before he could take down Goliath. The Christian walk is an adventure, and it requires us to continually take steps of faith and obedience. Do you remember when you first were invited to church? That took a huge step of faith. A relative or a friend from school invited you to church, A workmate. And you said, I'm not going to that church. They're a victory. They're crazy. They clap, they shout, they do hallelujahs. They're crazy church down there. And by faith he got in a car, and by faith he came to this church. And by faith, some musicians led worship. And by faith, a pastor preached from this pulpit. And by faith, he gave an altar call. And by faith you put up your hand and by faith you walked to the front. And by faith you confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ was Lord and believe in your heart that he was risen from the dead. And by faith, you were born again. It always takes steps of obedience and faith. And then pastor goes, well, that's awesome. You've been born again. But have you been baptized in water by full immersion? And the next week at Victory, you were stressed like an angel in front of the church. You went down in the water and you came back up and you had a new experience of new life as you took a step of faith. And then someone said, that's great that you're born again. That's great, you're baptized in water, but have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues? And by faith you prayed that prayer. And by faith you received that gift of the Spirit. And by faith, you began to speak in tongues. And by faith, you. You went to a whole nother level in your worship. Do you remember when you first tithed? It took a huge step of faith, opened up your wallet, a moth came out. You had the hundred dollar bill in your hand, you were squeezing so tight that Benjamin Franklin had tears in his eyes and you dropped him into the bucket. But you took a step of faith, or maybe you came from a more conservative church denomination and you thought, I'm not into this praising and clapping, lifting of hands. That's. I'm a stoic person. I'm not sanguine outgoing. And I'm not like some cultural groups. They just really celebrate you in their worship. But I'm just conservative. And then you read the Bible. The Bible says, clap your hands, all you people. The Bible says, clap your hands, all ye people. The Bible says, shout unto God with a voice of triumph. The Bible says, lifting holy hands to him. And you realize it wasn't a personal conviction or a cultural background, it was a biblical principle. And she thought, well, I'm going to clap. I might even raise my hands. Everyone will be looking at me. No one's looking at you, stupid, looking at the screen. But you had a new experience as you stepped out in faith. This is my question to you. God's going to continually come and ask you in 2026 to be obedient and take new steps of faith. Hebrews 11:6 says, without faith it is impossible to please him, for he comes to God must believe that he is, and he's a reward of those who diligently seek him. God wants us to be people of faith and go on this adventure. Great faith and miracles come from small steps of obedience. Great faith and miracles come from seemingly insignificant opportunities. Great faith and miracles come from inconvenient openings in your life. Luke 17:5 and the apostles said to the Lord, increase our faith. So the Lord said, if you have a faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea, and it would obey you. Come on, church. Every one of us in this room has at least got a little bit of mustard seed faith. But mustard seed faith is very powerful. The apostle Paul tells us in the Book of Romans that he's already given each one of us a measure of faith, so we don't need to ask for more faith. We need to ask God. God's already given us a measure of faith. But Paul have only got small faith. I haven't got Reinhard Bonke big faith. Yeah, but small faith as small as a mustard seed is incredibly powerful. So we don't need to pray for more faith. We need to pray God give us the courage and boldness to step out in obedience in the measure of faith you've already given us. Firstly, in the faith fence, you've got to say yes. Secondly, you've got to be obedient. Thirdly, you gotta believe his word. The Bible is the instruction manual for the faith adventure. Your Christian walk, your faith adventure can turn into a boring lifestyle if you listen and prioritize the voices of this world over the voice of the Lord. Sometimes God's speaking but we can't hear him because we've got so many voices volume in our life. That's why it's good to come to church on a Sunday. That's why it's good to come on a Wednesday night, because you're putting out the voice. That's why it's good when we come into praise and worship because we're drowning out the voices of this world as we're speaking about the greatness of our God. And then our hearts are open to hear the Word preached in faith. We've got to believe his word, believe his promises, believe his declaration over our lives. Believe that he loves you. Believe that he's got a plan for your life. Well, I don't know if God's got a plan for my Life. Well, Jeremiah 29:11 says, For I know the plans I have for you. You may not know the plans, but God knows the plans and he has one for you. Plans to prosper you, plans not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future. Believe he can supply all our needs according to his riches in glory. Can I have an amen? Believe he's a healer. Believe he's a God of miracles, a God of salvation. A God that can do the impossible in our lives and believe that his light will always overcome the darkness of this world. We've got to believe, Believe, believe, believe. I have prophetic words that God's given me that still have not. Some have yet to be fulfilled. But I take out that prayer, I take out that promise from the word, that declaration. I sharpen it and I speak as when you speak the word of God into your future, it shapes your future. Your words have power to pull down and to build up. Your words can speak life and death, sarcasm, cynicism and and negativity will rob you of faith. But I'm telling you the promises of God will expand your world and your faith. When we're probably 10 years into our church we had a massive flood in our city. 70,000 homes got flooded and our building, we had 38 inches of rain in 48 hours and our roof collapsed on our three story church top floors and then six foot of water came through the bottom and it was a terrible time, it was 18 months. We fought the insurance assessors and to get a claim and we were just, we were refugee church, church on the road. We had 11 venues in 12 months. And it was this terrible time. And at the end of that season, God gave us a miracle. We got our insurance claim, we got a new building and we were just, my wife and I, just depleted of faith. We've been fighting a battle. So we went to a conference and God just filled us up with his spirit, filled us up with great preaching in the word. And my wife felt in the worship one day to get an exercise book, a paper book, and on Monday night devotions with our kids. She wanted the kids to write down their dreams and us to write down our dreams as a family. My eldest son, Josh was 10, my youngest son was 5, Sam. And Josh wrote down I want a new drum kit. And he gave the make, model and the price $5,000. I think I was the answer to that prayer. And praying for. His friend at school had cancer. Then my five year old son, he couldn't write very well so he drew a picture, I just want to put a picture up here. He drew a picture of the uk, England and France and a picture of Big Ben, the London Bridge and the Eiffel Tower in France. Now it might not look like that, but that's what it is, okay. And every Monday night we'd pray for the dreams that we wrote down the book. And my five year old son would say, thank you Lord, you gave me a dream, I'm going to Europe this year, I'm going to London, I'm going to Paris. My wife and I started getting worried. We were church planners, we weren't even, we're living by faith, we had no money. And I'm like, what are we going to do? He thinks he's going to the uk. And then he started telling his friends at school that mum and dad had taken me to the uk. He's telling his friends at children's church on Sunday, hey, we're going to Europe. I'm going to go to the Eiffel Tower. And I'm starting to freak out because I've got no faith and the five year old's got all faith. And then I started saying things like this, well, maybe when you're older, Sam, you could go by yourself when you've got the money and you work a job part time at McDonald's. And I had no faith. And his five year old, every week he'd say thank you Lord, because I'm going To Europe and I'm going to see the Big Ben, London Bridge and the Eiffel Tower. And then you know what? I was just getting so discouraged, like God, what's going to happen to this kid? I've got no money to take him to Europe. And then one day about six months later, a friend of mine, a pastor in Manchester uk rang me up and said, hey Paul, we were praying, we feel you should come and speak at our fifth anniversary service. But the board members said they love you, but they love your wife more. So they'd like to pay for all your family to come for the weekend and preach for us in Manchester. My 5 year old's got more faith than the 40 year old pastor. Okay, here's a picture. This is where we are. Here we are in London. There's the next one There we had a Premier League soccer match for Arsenal. There we are in Paris. Gotta believe. Gotta believe the word God gave you victory. What unfulfilled prophetic promises are over this church and we gotta declare they're gonna come to pass in our lifetime. What unfulfilled promises over your family and your friends and your kids. We gotta believe. Who's got unsaved kids? Prodigal sons and daughters. Give me a wave. They do not belong to the kingdom in this world.
- [33:18]
B
The kingdom.
- [33:19]
A
They belong to the kingdom of our God. We'll declare that promise together. Let's stir it up today for me and my house. We will serve the Lord. Maybe you've been praying so long you've got discouraged. Well, we're gonna join our faith together today. I'm gonna join my faith with your faith. We're gonna believe that your kids belong in the house of God. One day you'll be in victory. Your kids and your grandkids all worshiping you say do God be the glory, great things he has done. Would you stand your feet all over this place? We gotta believe it. My 5 year old had a word from God and he believed it. You know, we're all God's children in this place. You could be a child of God at 75, 15, 45. Would you believe the promises of the word of God? What do you need to believe God for? Don't use the voices of this world. Cynicism, negativity and stuff. You use the word of faith, the voice of faith which comes from his word and his spirit. Could you close your eyes for a moment? Cause we're gonna get the worship team to play in just a moment. I actually feel today we need to take action to what God's speaking to our heart. And I'm gonna open this altar, and then I'm gonna pray for all the people that come, because there's some people here just simply. You've just been saying no to God. I did that before God. Do I have to do that again? And I'm telling you, the miracles on the other side of you, yes, it could be small, it could be. Be large. But some of the greatest miracles happened in my life when I said this. Yes, the small things. Or maybe today, God's. You know what you need to do, but you've been fighting God over it. And you gotta say yes, and you gotta step out in obedience. And thirdly, I believe God. Right now, he's awakening and reminding you of promises that maybe he gave you a long time ago. Promises about kids, promises about finances, promises about buying property, promises about business, promise about mission. I don't know what it is, but I'm telling you, the Holy Spirit's bringing it alive in your spirit today. And I want to open this old. And so you just respond, say, yes, God, I want to be beaten. I believe again what you spoke to me. So if that's you this morning, I'm not gonna spend time asking you to raise your hand. I want you to get out of your seat and fill this old. And we're gonna pray in just a moment. The team's gonna quickly lead us in worship. Would you come? Would you come? Would you say yes? Would you be obedient? Would you believe the word? Thank you. Thank you. Lord
- [35:35]
B
Jesus, be the name. Jesus, be the.
- [35:39]
A
Come on. Why don't you come from the balcony? Why don't you come?
- [35:42]
B
Jesus be the name that gets all the glory.
- [35:48]
A
Come on.
- [35:50]
B
Jesus, be the name. Jesus, be the name. Jesus. Jesus be the name.
- [35:58]
A
Come on, I want you to cry me. There's other people coming behind you. Come forward. Take a step forward. Come on, let's declare it. Church. Why don't you worship him? Jesus be the name. Come on, there's others coming. Make room for him at the altar. Come on. God's saying, come on. It's time to say yes. It's time to be obedient. It's time to believe the word, the promises of God, which are yes and amen. Come on, there's people still coming.
- [36:26]
B
There is no other name. Jesus, you're worthy.
- [36:29]
A
Jesus, your word. Come on, come on.
- [36:32]
B
Come on. Jesus, be the name. Jesus, be the name.
- [36:40]
A
If you're the front, why don't you raise your hands and worship Jesus?
- [36:46]
B
Thank You Lord, there is no other name.
- [36:50]
A
There's still people coming. There is no other name.
- [36:55]
B
There is no other name. Jesus, you're worthy. Jesus, be the name. Jesus, be the name.
- [37:04]
A
Come on in the congregation, lift your hands and worship him. Jesus, be the name.
- [37:10]
B
Jesus be the name that gets all the glory. There is. There is no other name.
- [37:19]
A
There is no other name.
- [37:20]
B
There is no other name.
- [37:22]
A
Thank you Lord. There is no other name. Jesus, you're worthy. All the front, would you raise your hands towards the Lord and the crowd, would you raise, reach out your hands in faith to these wonderful people? Thank you for saying yes. I said yes as a 6 year old kid to Jesus. And you know what? The thing is, we've got to keep saying yes. Every now and again I get comfortable or I get discouraged and I start saying no to God. And then I surrender myself saying, you will be done. Your kingdom come. In my life, I say yes again to serving you, to leading in the house of God, to taking up responsibility, to giving, to missions, tithing. Each way I'm always just saying yes, yes, yes. Your will be done. Yes, Lord. Like Samuel. I'm listening. Your servant is listening. Lord, I pray right now for every person who's responded to this altar. I thank you for their tender heart towards you. I thank you for their love for you. But I pray let there be miracles on the other side of the yes. No, yes is insignificant. It could be a small yes or a big yes. But Lord, we thank you that you said yes to the cross for us and provided a way for us. So we say yes to you, Jesus. Yes to your will, yes to your purpose. Yes to your destiny. Yes to the vision of this church.
- [38:36]
B
Say yes. Yes.
- [38:37]
A
Yes. Yes. And I pray tonight that you would give us courage to step out in obedience to what you've spoken us to do. Small steps, large steps. We ask this. We say yes. We step out in faith and belief. And that's what I pray right now even in the congregation. Would you lift your hands towards the Lord? There's unfulfilled prophetic words, scriptures God's given you. I say yes and amen to the word of the Lord, to your life. I say yes to the unfulfilled. Prophetic words have yet to be fulfilled over victory church. Lord God, we say yes. We say yes. We believe. We believe your word. We believe your word. We declare it in the mighty name of Jesus. Here we are, Lord, open to you saying yes at the altar. God, we love you. We glorify you. Come on, let's Declare it one more time. Get all the glory.
- [39:25]
B
Come on, Jesus, Be the name Jesus. Be the name Jesus. Be the name Jesus. Be the name Jesus Be the name that gets all the glory. Glory. There is no other name. There is no other name. There is no other name. Jesus, you're worthy.
- [39:55]
A
Would you just give him thanks? Could you praise him right now? Lord, you hear our cry. It's a yes of victory. It's a yes of obedience. It's a yes. We believe. We believe. We believe. We believe your word and your promise. In the name of Jesus, Just stay where you are right now. You know, one time when I was in India, I was at a railway station and a businessman with a briefcase and a suit said, what are you doing here? I said, I'm on a Missions team. He goes, oh, wow. Do you believe in Jesus? I said, yes. It was the week before Christmas. He said, oh, I'm a bank manager. I'm a Hindu, but I like celebrating all gods. I've got a Christmas party. Would you like to come and speak at my Christmas party tomorrow night? I felt uncomfortable, but I said yes, because that's what you do. Don't you ever who know we say. And so next thing I find myself, it's very uncomfortable. He wasn't just a local branch manager. He was manager for the whole state of Andhra Pradesh. There was over 550 bank managers and their spouses at this Christmas party. It's the most beautiful Christmas tree I've ever seen. But was really scary because it was a skinny little Indian Father Christmas handing out presents. And now I started getting nervous because I'm like, I said yes, but now I don't know what I going to say and do. This is a very unusual environment. There's no praise and worship. There's no keyboard, there's nothing. And then just before I'm about to speak, the Indian bank manager gets up. I want to introduce a friend of mine. His name's Paul. He's been my friend for the last 24 hours. And he says, I'm a Hindu, but I like celebrating all religions. And today we're celebrating Christmas. And he said, pastor Paul's going to come and share. What's the difference between Christianity and every other religion on the earth? And when he said that, the Holy Spirit gave me the words and I had four or five minutes. I said, every religion in the world is man trying to reach out to God through behavior, through discipline, through diet, through clothing, through hairdos, all kinds of crazy things. But no matter how hard we try, we can never be acceptable. God by reaching out to God. But God the Father loved us so much. He knew that we could never be perfect to reach out to God. So God the Father sent his only begotten Son and he reached down to us through his Son Jesus, who was born of a virgin, who walked life on earth and felt pain and suffering and then died upon a cross and shed his blood so that we could have forgiveness and be reconciled with God in a five minute sermon. I said, if you'd like to know this Jesus, would you raise your hand? And probably half the crowd raised their hands. And in the middle of an Indian bank managers meeting with a little red Father Christmas running around giving presents, there was salvation in the house. Amen. So would you bow your head and close your eyes because maybe today in this place, you've never said yes to Jesus or you're a prodigal son that walked away from God, but you need to come back to him. Today's the day to say yes. You can never be good enough to reach out to God. But God knew that. So he sent his son, the Son of God, to become the Son of Man, to take our place and to make a way for us. So in this place today, if you'd like to give your life to Jesus Christ or you're a prodigal son or daughter, you're a million miles away from God. But God's knocking on the door of heart. Today's the time to surrender your life to Jesus. If that's you, I want to pray a prayer with you tonight today. Sorry. That you could receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. In fact, I flew 13,000 miles just to pray this prayer with. That's how important you are to God. So with every head bowed, every eye closed, just say, paul, would you pray a prayer with me today? I want to give my life to Christ or I'm a prodigal son and daughter. I want to give my life back to God today. If that's you, on the count of three, I'd like you to raise your hand so I know who I'm praying for today. 1, 2, 3. Just lift your hand wherever you are in this place. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. On the balcony. Thank you. On the front here. Thank you. Can we give these people a hand today before I hand back to Pastor Dan? I'd like to pray this prayer because this is what church is all about. This prayer. Would you repeat this after me? I'm going to get the whole congregation to pray this prayer with these wonderful people to raise their hand. Dear Jesus, I come to you today and I ask you to be my Lord, to be my Savior and to be my friend. Jesus, forgive me of all my sin. Take away my shame. Give me a new heart and a new start. I want to know you and follow you all the days of my life. Come on, let's give those people praise. Let's give Jesus praise.