THE TURNING POINT FOR THE CHURCH | PAUL DAUGHERTY

Summary

Podcast Summary

Episode Overview

Podcast: Victory Church: Paul Daugherty
Episode: THE TURNING POINT FOR THE CHURCH
Date: September 14, 2025
Host: Pastor Paul Daugherty (with Ashley Daugherty)
Theme: Responding to a critical juncture in the church and nation, Pastor Paul calls on believers to awaken, repent, and become bold witnesses, drawing urgency from recent cultural tragedies and a prophetic sense that revival and deep personal transformation are necessary. The episode combines scriptural exposition, personal reflection, and direct challenge as both Paul and Ashley speak into grief, conviction, and calling.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Scriptural Call to Awakening

• Began with Ephesians 5:14: “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” (00:00)
• Paul Daugherty defines this as a turning point: a moment when one's inner worldview shifts due to an event or experience, leading to transformation, both personally and corporately for the church.
• Emphasized the parallel between historical moments (e.g., Pearl Harbor, 9/11) and the church’s current need to be "awakened" in dark and critical times.
  • Quote: "We're not just in a mental health crisis in America and in the world. We're in a spiritual health crisis." (02:41)

2. Current Events as Catalysts for Revival

• Referenced recent tragedies (including the assassination of Charlie Kirk) and how the response of believers should not be withdrawal or silence.
• Urged the church to not become numb or complacent, but to respond with revival and compassion.
  • Quote: “The greatest revenge for the church against darkness is revival.” (03:20)
• Related personal stories from 9/11 — “A revival is going to break out. And it happened. People got saved, people got on fire for Jesus.” (04:36)
• Challenged listeners to choose at the crossroads: faith or fear, love or hatred, prayer or paranoia.

3. Prophetic Voices and Public Testimonies

• Played the viral response by Charlie Kirk’s wife, noting its impact on the church and nation:
  • Charlie Kirk’s Wife: "You have no idea the fire that you have ignited within this wife. The cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry..." (09:49)
• Reflected on the global shock and the expectation for Christian leaders to stand firm and compassionate in public discourse.
  • “Where is the compassion? Where is the conviction? We're living in a nation that doesn't even know how to pause and go, can we have healthy debate?” (11:25)

4. Revival and Boldness Breaking Out

• Pastor Paul notes spontaneous university revivals, baptisms, and a hunger for truth across America, particularly among youth.
  • Quote: “From Ohio State to Oklahoma University to Oregon... universities are turning to Jesus. People are literally having spontaneous baptisms...” (18:46)
• Invoked Revelation 3:15 (“lukewarm church”) and personalizes it: calls for believers to move from lukewarmness to passionate faith.

5. Response to Persecution and Martyrdom

• Cites biblical and modern examples of speaking truth amidst great opposition (e.g., John the Baptist, New Testament disciples).
• Reiterates: The weapons of the church are spiritual—prayer, truth, love—not physical violence.
  • “Our weapon is a sword. It is a two edged sword. It is a sword that pierces both bone and marrow and speaks the truth.” (16:13)
• Reframes attacks as amplifying, not silencing, the prophetic voice.
  • Quote: “You did not silence the movement. You proved that our words have power. You didn't kill our voice, you amplified our voice.” (21:32)

6. Personal and Corporate Turning Points

• Outlined practical “turning points” for the church:
  • Cowardice → Courage
  • Complacency → Conviction
  • Spectator → Participant
  • Fear → Faith
  • Panic → Peace
  • Paranoia → Prayer
  • Isolation → Community
  • Lukewarmness → On-fire devotion (26:30–31:00)
• Used Theodore Roosevelt’s “In the Arena” speech to challenge believers to active participation regardless of criticism:
  • Quote: "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by the dust, the sweat and the blood, who strives valiantly, who errs." (27:56)

7. Ashley Daugherty: The Power of Weeping and Calling

• Ashley addresses the nation’s collective grief: validating tears, seeing them as softening hearts for compassion and revival.
  • “Could it be that there's healing in tears?...Could it be the weeping and the moisture of our own tears that softens the hardness and the staleness of our hearts?” (31:34)
• Encourages grief with hope and calls for personal response amidst national turning points.
• Exhorts listeners to recognize and use their unique gifts (natural and spiritual) as part of God’s wider movement.
  • Quote: “If you can take whatever gift that God has given you and... allow the purity of God's love to refine that gift, I’m telling you, you are an effective weapon against the gates of hell.” (41:23)
• Stresses the importance of personal over mere collective revival, and seizing this "riptide of revivals."

8. Communion as a Marker of Commitment

• Led the congregation in communion as both repentance and personal rededication.
  • “If you want to give your heart to Jesus today... raise your hand... come on, hands going up from the front to the back...” (45:45)
• Calls all listeners to “surrender” whatever holds them back and to move forward in bold faith and witness.

9. Exhortation to Action and Public Witness

• Final challenge: leave comfort zones, use influence in public spaces (school, workplace, media, etc.), start prayer groups, and be visible witnesses.
  • Quote: “This is a call right now for anyone who just feels like, man. I want to be a greater witness. I want to be more bold in my workplace. I want the Holy Spirit to help me have the courage on my university...” (48:23)
• Invited people to the altar for a public step into greater obedience and fire for God.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Wake up. It's a turning point. Somebody say, wake up.” — Pastor Paul (00:31)
• “We're not just in a mental health crisis. We are in a spiritual health crisis.” — Pastor Paul (02:41)
• “Our greatest revenge is love. Our greatest response to darkness is love and revival.” — Pastor Paul (14:01)
• “You have no idea what you just have unleashed across this entire country and this world. You have no idea.” — Charlie Kirk’s Wife (10:44)
• “You didn't kill our voice, you amplified our voice.” — Unattributed (possibly Paul referencing a quote from a campus leader) (21:32)
• “It is not the critic who counts... the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena...” — Theodore Roosevelt (read by Pastor Paul) (27:56)
• “A life, a fulfilled life, is not measured by a duration. It is measured by its donation.” — Jensen Franklin, as quoted by Ashley (36:55)
• “Let our imperfect voices, God, lift up the truth of our perfect Savior, Jesus.” — Ashley Daugherty (45:30)
• “I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back.” — Worship segment (52:56)
• “God, just what we heard today... let a personal revival start in us God to live for you. Just pray this with me: Jesus, use my life to bring you glory. I'm all yours in Jesus name, amen and amen.” — Pastor Paul (58:23)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:00 — Episode opens with Ephesians 5 and urgent call to awakening
• 02:41 — Addressing spiritual (not just mental) health crisis
• 09:49 — Clip: Charlie Kirk’s Wife’s response to his assassination
• 17:41 — Evidence of revival and spiritual hunger in universities
• 18:46 — Reports of baptisms and student revivals across the US
• 26:30–31:00 — Paul’s “turning points” for the church (key challenge section)
• 31:04 — Ashley Daugherty’s perspective: the role of grief and personal calling
• 41:23 — Ashley’s call to use gifts for God’s glory
• 45:45 — Communion: call to salvation, repentance, and surrender
• 48:23 — Altar call for greater boldness and fire
• 52:56-54:44 — Worship: “I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back”
• 58:23 — Final charge and commissioning prayer

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Conclusion: The Charge to Listeners

Pastor Paul and Ashley frame this cultural moment as a divine turning point—one demanding repentance, bold action, and wholehearted surrender in the face of growing darkness and instability. Through Scripture, current events, vulnerable testimony, and passionate exhortation, they call every listener to respond: move from apathy to action, from grief to compassionate revival, and above all, become public carriers of Jesus' hope, truth, and redemptive love.

This episode is a rallying cry to be “wide awake, fully alive” for Christ, wherever each listener is called—and to make this personal turning point a catalyst for national and global transformation.

Transcript

[Pastor Paul]

Ephesians 5, verse 14 says, for the light makes everything visible. Yeah. You could shout for the first scripture.

[Congregation Member / Worship Leader]

Whoo.

[Pastor Paul]

Come on, Jesus. For the light makes everything visible. When Jesus shows up in your life, he illuminates your heart. He brings hope. He brings joy. He brings life. He brings freedom. And then this is what Paul says next. He says, so therefore I say, awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead. God is waking up his church. He's waking up his church. I want to title the message today. The turning point for the church. The turning point. Look at the person next to you and say, we're at a turning point. It's a turning point for the church. Paul was saying, awake, awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead and Christ will give you light. In the 1940s, when Pearl harbor happened, there was a phrase that became a very popular phrase where they said, I fear that all we have done is awaken the sleeping giant. It was a moment where America was not involved at all in what was going on in the world. And after that, America got involved, and it was this waking up of a nation. But I started thinking about when God in his word, wanted to wake the church up. There was moments in the church where people had gotten sleepy, people had gotten lethargic, people had gotten tired, people had stopped contending for the faith. And this is one of those moments where Paul was saying, wake up. Time is running out. Church. It is time. It's a turning point. To move from sleepy church to wide awake. It's a turning point. Somebody say, wake up. Wake up. So then he says, from this awakening, be careful how you live. Be careful. Pay attention to your life. Don't live foolishly, but like those who are wise. Those who are wise, be careful. Make the Most in verse 16 of every opportunity in these evil days. These days are evil. We can see it. We see it on the news. We see it on social media. There's evil everywhere. But Paul says, we have a purpose in the midst of darkness. We're not called to shut down and shut up and be quiet and fade out into the darkness. But he says, be purposeful. Be intentional. Understand that the world and the days we live in are evil. So be careful with your life. And then he says this. Don't act thoughtlessly. In verse 17, we've been talking about, as a man thinketh, so is he, as a woman thinks, that our thoughts determine the direction of our life. If I think thoughts that aren't from God, I start living a lifestyle that is not from God. And this is why? Paul says, pay attention to what you're thinking. The world is filled with outrageous thoughts.

[Congregation Member / Worship Leader]

When you.

[Pastor Paul]

We're not just in a mental health crisis in America and in the world. We're in a spiritual health crisis. People have given their mind and their heart over to demonic forces. If you look at last week and go, well, maybe he was just mentally disturbed when he climbed on a roof with a rifle and shot an innocent man, that is demonic. We condemn every demonic murder, whether it's on the train in Charlotte, North Carolina, in a school in Colorado, or on top of a building in Utah on a university campus. We're not just in a mental health crisis. We are in a spiritual health crisis. And this is not an hour for the church to just keep doing things as usual. This is an hour, y', all, prophetically, where the church has to lead the way. People are searching for truth, and they came to church today. What do we do in the midst of what's going on? Here's what we're not gonna do. We're not gonna bury our heads in the sand and pretend like nothing happened. We're gonna wake up and go, God, you have an assignment for us. And violence doesn't cure violence. And darkness doesn't cure darkness. And hatred does not cure hatred. The greatest revenge for the church against darkness is revival. The greatest revenge is revival. So we're gonna win people to Jesus. We're gonna share the love of Jesus like never before. We're gonna make the devil pay for anything he's done in your family, in your life, or your friends. And so Paul says this. He says, don't live in thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do and do it. That's what he says in Ephesians 5, verse 17. Understand God's will and do it. In other words, we need to find out what God wants, not what we want, not what our friends want, not what, you know, social media says is the politically correct thing to say. We need to know, what does God want us to do in this hour? And let's do it. Lord, I pray you speak to us that we would leave today different than the way we came in, Lord, with a greater resolve to live with courage, to live for Jesus. God to Lord, surrender our hearts to you in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated. A turning point. A turning point. I want to define what this phrase means. It means a shift in worldview. A spiritual turning point comes from an event or an experience that fundamentally changes a person's inner landscape and perspective on the World, it leads to a transformation in your life. And when I think about turning points that happen in my life or even in the church or the world, I think about back when I was in high school and I was sitting in science class and on the intercom someone announced, a plane has just crashed into the World Trade center. It was September 11, over 24 years ago, and there I was, I was sitting in class and the intercom said, a second plane has just crashed into the World Trade Centers. And thank God for that moment that our school called a day of prayer and we went to the chapel and there was hundreds of us students and we got on our knees and we started praying for our nation. Because we heard another plane had just crashed in Pennsylvania and that there was more planes potentially that were headed towards the destinations, that this was a terrorist attack. And it woke the nation up in a way that next Sunday, I'll never forget going to church. My dad was the pastor and mom was leading worship. So thankful for my mom and dad. What great Pioneers of Victory Church. We're here today, standing on their shoulders. My mom's over here on the front row. I honor you, Mom. But I'll never forget going to church that weekend. And it was packed. And I said, dad, why are there so many more people in church? He said, because God is going to use what the enemy meant for evil for something good. A revival is going to break out. And it happened. People got saved, people got on fire for Jesus. People got more involved in serving in the church, helping out, raising, mentoring teenagers, getting involved in the Dream center, getting involved in children's church, finding out how to go on missions, trips, leading outreaches. There was just this surge of engagement in the mission of Jesus. There's turning points that happen in our life. Think about in your own personal life a moment where you were awakened and you were living one way and it was like, okay, it's time to change. I've got to choose here. This is what God told Jeremiah the prophet. In Jeremiah 6, verse 16. He says, Stop at the crossroads and look around. Stop at the crossroads and look around. Look to the right, look to the left. This thing could go north or south. What's about to happen next will determine the direction of the church and the direction of our nation. He says, look at the crossroads and choose which way you're gonna go. Ask for the old godly way and walk in it. Friends, the old way is the right way. So many people are trying to create a new gospel or a more condensed, watered down version. We need to get back to the old godly path. That's the only path. Jesus Christ, he's the way, the truth and the life. That's the only way we're going to find freedom and hope is not trying to recreate our own message, our own gospel. It's the gospel of Jesus. So he says, go back to the old way, the godly way. Stand at the crossroads and choose which way your life is going to go. It's a turning point. You could choose hatred, or you could choose love. You could choose fear, or you could choose faith. Even getting up on this stage this weekend, if I'm honest, there was some anxious thoughts stirring up in me this week, week, even bringing my kids to school. I mean, we live in a world that is. You just never know what's going to happen. There is evil everywhere. And woe to those who call evil good. Woe to those on social media who celebrate evil. We're living in a time where you just don't know what's going on. And you. You got to choose which way am I going to turn? Am I going to turn towards anxiety or am I going to turn towards faith? Am I going to turn towards fear or am I going to turn towards faith? Am I going to turn towards hatred or. Or am I gonna turn towards love? Am I gonna turn towards paranoia or am I gonna turn towards prayer? And this is an hour where the church has to choose. It is a turning point for the church. When I was watching everything unfold on Wednesday and I saw videos circulating of this assassination and then of things that happened in other places and the different. Just tragedies that have transpired, I was overwhelmed with grief. And I was, like, praying, and Ashley and I, we were, like, tearing up, praying, just thinking about what's going on. And then the next day or maybe two days later, we saw this video response from Charlie Kirk's wife that really shook us as we were listening to what she had to say. Did anyone watch what she said? It was very. I think what she said was very powerful because she was speaking. She actually spoke to Christians for a moment and to the church. And there was some things she said that I felt so. Just really connected with what I felt in my spirit, prophetically. And so I want you to hear just a piece of what she shared. Check this out.

[Charlie Kirk's Wife]

Two days ago, my husband Charlie went to see the face of his savior and his God. Charlie always said that when he was gone, he. He wanted to be remembered for his courage and for his faith in one of the final Conversations that he had on this earth, my husband witnessed for his Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. Now and for all eternity, he will stand at his savior's side wearing the glorious crown of a martyr. If you thought that my husband's mission was powerful before, you have no idea. You have no idea what you just have unleashed across this entire country and this world. You have no idea. You have no idea the fire that you have ignited within this wife. The cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry to everyone listening tonight across America, the movement my husband built will not die. It won't. I refuse to let that happen. It will not die.

[Pastor Paul]

When I saw this, yeah, I think what she shared had some strong power to what people are watching and asking what's going on globally. There is conversation around what happened. It is a shot that is heard around the world in our generation. And when you have people like Jimmy Kimmel making statements and then pastors not making statements, it kind of lights a fire inside of me. When you have people like former President Obama making a statement of compassion for his wife and his children, but then you won't have pastors or churches taking a stand, it kind of lights a fire inside of me. Where I'm looking at, I'm like, where is the compassion? Where is the compassion? Where's the conviction? We're living in a nation that doesn't even know how to pause and go, can we have healthy debate? I'm not saying Charlie was perfect. He was human, just like us. If we mic'd you up as many times as he was mic'd up, you'd probably regret saying some things too over the last 12 years of your life. I met someone that was close friends with them. They said, you know, when Charlie first started and he started these public debates in the public square and universities, he had a lot to say. And over time, he actually told people, I wish I wouldn't have said some of the things I said. He said, when I got married and had kids, I got more focused specifically on what I was really trying to say in the last four to five years. Those were his words. And he said, I started realizing I had a mission, that when I was on any university, I had to share the gospel, that I wasn't just there to argue politics, that I was there to talk about Jesus and call people to repentance friends. That's what I'm here to talk about today. I'm not here to talk about politics. I'm here to talk about Jesus. Our nation has to repent and let it start with me, let it start with us. Because our nation has become numb.

[Ashley]

Our world.

[Pastor Paul]

I think this is why something's stirring this past week. It's like, hold on, no, we can't just brush this off or allow people to celebrate this situation and not speak up in this moment. It's a turning point for the church. I am emboldened more than ever as a pastor with a stronger backbone to take a stand. Exodus 32, verse 26. Moses stood in the public assembly. He stood in front of a large group of people with no microphone. And he said, everyone who's on the.

[Congregation Member / Worship Leader]

Lord's side, come here and join me.

[Pastor Paul]

And the Levites gathered around him. It was a cry. It was saying, there's a line in the sand. You can choose your way or you can choose God's way. Choosing God's way is going to be a way filled with love, filled with truth, filled with self sacrifice, filled with surrender. When you look at the 12 disciples who followed Jesus, we have to remember that the call to follow Jesus is not a call to come and do whatever you want to do and live your greatest life doing whatever you want to do. It's a call to surrender. Pick up your cross and follow me. Each of those disciples ended up martyred for their faith, speaking in public squares, speaking up in their convictions about things in their towns and cities that they didn't agree with, that were calling people to repentance. The first assassination in the New Testament was the public political assassination of John the Baptist. You go, I don't know if it was political. It was literally a politician that killed him because he didn't like how John the Baptist was talking so harshly. He's just too harsh. He's just too harsh. He needs to tone down his rhetoric. He needs to calm down. He's calling out the Pharisees. He's calling. It's talking too much about our sexual sin here. John the Baptist was a Jesus freak. And his head, he lost his head, but he didn't lose his soul. Jesus said, beware of those who can, not those who can take your body, but that can take your soul. All of us are going to die. At some point in our life, we're all going to face death. The question is, will we be ready for what's after this life? Will we be ready to face Jesus? And Jesus is coming back soon and we don't know how much longer we've got. This is why it's time to wake up. It's time for us to get Right with God. Moses said, choose which side you're going to be on. Choose at this turning point which path you're going to go down. Jesus told his disciples, and by the way, at the end of this message, we're going to take communion. Because Jesus told his disciples, the greatest commandment I give you is to love one another. Friends, our greatest revenge is love. Our greatest response to darkness is love and revival. It's bringing the truth of God and the love of God to a world that is in chaos and confusion and darkness. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood. Ephesians 6, verse 12. Our battle is not against people. Our battle is against principalities and powers in this dark world and evil spirits in heavenly places. We are in a war right now. It is not a political war. It is not a, a physical war. It is a spiritual war. And that spiritual war requires a spiritual response. Our weapons are not carnal. This last Wednesday, their weapon was a rifle. Our weapon is a sword. It is a two edged sword. It is a sword that pierces both bone and marrow and speaks the truth. When I watched his wife's video and I started praying, I said, God, what do you want to do right now in our nation, in our world? And I started seeing things happen and it just, I was like on social media and people were sending me videos, they were like, look, dude, atheists are turning to Jesus right now. People that had wanted nothing to do with God and wanted nothing to do with a Christ like worldview that actually hated the ideas that were shared at times from some of these podcasters. They're actually turning, they're saying, man, I want Jesus. Like, I want to surrender my life. I want to stop living for myself. I want to start following the way of Jesus. And it started sparking. These last three or four days, college universities, I want you to just see a quick video of what started sparking in the last four days. Check this out.

[Jensen Franklin]

Only in America is it possible to say, you know what, I don't like the way the country is going and to do something about it. Take that risk, take that leap of faith, stay involved, trust God and act obediently. Romans 12:2, verse that God, God will use all things, all things for good, for those who love him. It's bigger than you. I want you to remember, it is bigger than you. It's bigger than me. You are here to make somebody else's life better. The pursuit of liberty and freedom. You know what gives me strength? The hundreds of thousands of you that say, Charlie, keep going. First Corinthians 5 and 1515. So that's all pretty amazing evidence, not just intra biblical evidence, but extra biblical evidence that Jesus Christ was a real person. He lived a perfect life. He was crucified, died and rose on the third day. And he is Lord and God.

[Pastor Paul]

Come on. From Ohio State to Oklahoma University to Oregon to all over our nation, universities are turning to Jesus. People are literally having spontaneous baptisms in the fountains of their university campuses. I think that's something to celebrate. People are turning to Jesus. It's a turning point. Revelation 3, verse 15. Jesus is speaking to the church and he says, I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were one or the other. But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, he says, I will spit you out of my mouth. Now that sounds harsh. Last night my son and I, we were sharing a meal together and I was eating. One of the parts of the meal was like a little chicken casserole. And he says, no, can I have a bite of that? I said, yeah. He takes a bite. He says, dad, it's not hot and it's not cold. It's lukewarm. And I go. So he goes, so I want to spit it out of my mouth. He said, I was listening to your sermon last night, dad. But he was right in the sense that the food wasn't hot and it wasn't cold. It was somewhere in between. And I think about how Jesus is saying, I want a church that's going to either be all in or all out. Like, don't say you're all in, but you're not. I want a church that's saying, man, I ready to stop living in this lukewarm state, in this state of like, I don't really want to stand for my faith. I don't want to pray for people at the workplace. I don't want to witness. I don't really want to read the Bible. But I do want the benefits. I do want, like, Jesus is calling his church to take up our cross and follow after him. And we're seeing university college kids that are like, I am tired of living in sin. I am tired of, of doing what I want to do and getting drunk, getting party and sleeping around. I'm ready to follow Jesus. They've seen the world and they recognize the world has nothing to offer that will fully satisfy the cravings of their soul. Because our soul craves something deeper that our flesh doesn't understand. Our soul craves deep calls to deep and there's this deep call. There were podcasters talking about how they were being asked by different people, are you going to cancel your college campus tour where you were going to set up and have public debates with people on college campuses and on the streets? And you know, there is that fear. What if one of these next people is assassinated? What if someone else is assassinated? What if another shooter climbs on top of a building and does what they did to Charlie, to someone else? And I loved what one of them said because it reminded me of, of the call for the church. He said, to those who seek to destroy the freedom of speech and the desire to publicly debate ideas. He says, I want you to know that you did not silence the movement. You proved that our words have power. You didn't kill our voice, you amplified our voice. You didn't end the movement, you grew the movement. His fight is our fight and we will never back down. We will pick up the blood stained microphone, we will pick up the bloody microphone in Utah and we will take it to every university, every campus, and we will speak with conviction and truth to a world that is lost in confusion, searching for answers. Pick up the bloody microphone. I love that. I love that. I think about how in the New Testament there was a call the disciples. Now, let me just move from what's happened in the last week and let me speak to the church from the word of God, which is what I've been doing. But I've been also focusing on this last week. But I think about how throughout the New Testament, when something bad happened to someone who was speaking truth or standing up for something, the church had a decision. Were they going to pick up the bloody microphone and keep going? Were they going to pick up the bloody pulpit and keep moving forward? Even after James was killed and then Peter was hung on a cross upside down because he didn't feel like he was worthy to hang on the cross the way Jesus hung on the cross, or when John on the island of Patmos was exiled and they tried to kill him multiple times for preaching the Gospel. The church had a decision, what are we going to do in response to this?

[Congregation Member / Worship Leader]

And.

[Pastor Paul]

And it was a turning point for the church. And I wrote this down. Here's where we're at. We are at a turning point for the church to move from cowardice to courage. We saw this in 2020 as a church. The government was telling churches, you're not essential. The cannabis shops are essential because people need to get high. And the liquor stores are essential because people need their hard drinks and Walmart is essential because people need groceries and this is essential. But the church is not essential. And I remember thinking in that moment, what are we gonna do? And I felt this conviction. The church is the most essential organization on the planet because it is the church that's gonna bring hope and healing and freedom and life and salvation. And listen, if you didn't like anything I said before that, it's fine, it's fine. I'm okay that you may not like everything I say, but here's what I know. The church had a decision in that moment to be stand. And we stood. This church opened up. We fed millions of people groceries and the gospel. We led thousands of people to Christ because the church made a decision. We will not bow down to a spirit of fear and cancel culture. We will rise up and we will share the hope and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Lace up your boots. Put on your backpack. It's time to ride church. It's time to ride. Where are the John the Baptist of the day? It's a turning point for the church to move from complacency to conviction. And I've been there before where I've just felt complacent, where I've just felt just tired, weary. And the Holy Spirit awakens me and says, paul, it's time to move into a greater level of conviction. It's time to live with purpose, wake up every day, live with purpose, live with conviction. It's time for the church to move from being spectators to being participants in the arena of faith. Now, there's a lot of people that will criticize anyone who gets up and says anything. In fact, if you don't want to be criticized, don't say anything, don't do anything, don't try anything, just disappear. But that's not the call. That's not the call. The call for Christians is to make a difference. So I rebuke even what I just said. Because our job is not to be people pleasers or win a popularity contest with society. Our job is to stand for Jesus, to be salt and light in the earth. And if people hate you, they hated Jesus before you. And if people persecute you, they persecuted the disciples before you. It comes with the territory. But you know what else comes with the territory? The authority of Jesus, the blood of Jesus Christ, the. The power of God, the joy of Jesus knowing that you're following what he's called you to do. And so it's time to move from being a spectator to being a participant in the arena of faith. That means Find out how God could use you in this hour. Serve somewhere in the church. Get involved. Get involved in the youth group, in the children's church. Get involved at the Dream Center. Go serve in the hospital. Ministry in your own workplace. Be a witness. Share the gospel with others at your university, at your high school, your middle school, with your neighborhood, that you would be someone that's not afraid when you're at the gym or the grocery store or the gas station, that you would get in the arena of not just surviving and eking your way through life, but being a witness. In fact, even coming up this weekend and preaching this message, there was this spirit of fear that was trying to mess with me. And Paul told Timothy, we've not been given a spirit of fear, but power, love, and a sound mind. But I had to take authority of the fear because I was like, man, what if people leave the church because they didn't like what I said? And what if people hate me? And, you know, last week, even in the middle of the message, someone walked up on the stage and tried to disrupt what God was doing. And then that fear of even just public speaking, it is a scary thing to speak in front of you. I don't always feel like I have great stuff to say. Sometimes I think they've heard everything I have to say. And then sometimes I think maybe they don't even like what I have to say. But I feel like in this hour, we need people to rise up with courage and boldness and faith. And I'm reminded of Theodore Roosevelt, who said, it is not the critic who counts. It's not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles. Well, Charlie should have said this differently. I didn't like his rhetoric. Or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. Well, they didn't do enough in the Dream center over there and that and over there. And victory didn't do this. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by the dust, the sweat and the blood, who strives valiantly, who errs. And my goodness, do we err sometimes. But they come up short and short again because there is no effort without error or shortcoming. There's nothing you try in life that you won't have a couple of shortcoming moments, but keep trying, keep getting back up. But the one who does actually strive to do the deeds and knows with great enthusiasm that the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause that's bigger than him, bigger than her, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place will never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. It's a turning point. It's a turning point for the church to move from shrinking back in fear to rising up in faith. It's a turning point for the church to move from people pleasing to God pleasing. Our job is not to please people. Our job is to please God. It's a turning point for the church to move from panic to peace that passes all understanding. Philippians 4, verse 6 says, if any of you are anxious or panicked or worried about anything, bring it to God in prayer and the peace that passes all understanding. The only way we have peace to show up to church to take our kids to school, the only way we have peace is not how many security guards are in the building or how many police officers are watching our children or whatever it is the government doing this or which principals or teachers are in charge. Listen, people are going to let us down. People are going to miss it. We're all going to miss it. The only way we have peace in a world that is filled with evil is when we turn to Jesus in our anxiety, in our panic and our fear and say, God, I don't know how to trust you right now with raising kids in this wild world that we're living in, but I know that you are capable of giving me peace and giving my kids peace and not a spirit of fear or panic or anxiety. This is an hour for the church to be move from panic to peace, from paranoia to prayer, from isolation to community. Get it. Get involved in groups this year, get involved in discipleship class. We need iron. Sharpening iron. From worrying about everything to worshiping through everything from lukewarm living to living on fire for God. This is a turning point from lukewarmness to an on fire for God moment. This is a turning point from sleepy, numb Christianity to wide awake, fully alive Christianity. We are here for such a time as this. Ashley, I want you to come up this week as we were praying together, she said, paul, I've really got a word on my heart too that I feel to share with the church with you when you minister. And so she's going to share a word on her heart and then we're going to go into communion. And I really feel like that communion moment out of her word is going to be a moment where, where God wants us to respond and that some of you Today God's calling you down to the altar not necessarily because you need to get saved, but because God is lighting a fire inside of you today to say, man, I need to pray more for my nation, for the church, and I need to engage more. And being a bold witness for what God's called me to do, go ahead.

[Ashley]

Might take me a second to get this out because I'll be going back and forth between my notes on my phone and the Bible on my phone. But one of the things that I wanted to speak to is the cries around the nation, the weeping around the nation. In light of all the tragedies this last month, there's a weeping as there should be. You know, this word might make people feel uncomfortable who don't like to get in their feels or shed a tear because they feel like tears are a sign of weakness. Or maybe because you grew up in a home where emotions weren't really understood. And because they weren't really understood and explained, it feels foreign to you. But I really believe in the Bible when it says that there's a time for weeping. We have many reasons to laugh and celebrate, but there's also reasons to cry and to weep. The story in the Bible when Lazarus died, a close friend of Jesus. The Bible says Jesus wept, but he knew that he would be raising Lazarus from the dead to live again. Then why did Jesus weep? Could it be because the tears opened compassion and empathy for Lazarus and his friends? Could it be that there's healing in tears? Could it be that the weeping around the nation and our response to evil, whether located globally or personal tragedies in our own life, could it be the weeping and the moisture of our own tears that softens the hardness and the staleness of our hearts? I really believe that a proper response to evil is tears. And as believers, we don't grieve as the world, we grieve with hope, but we still grieve. I might mess with some of your theologies, but I'm so thankful that I serve a God, that when I lost my mom, that I felt permission to hold hope that she is in heaven, but also to cry. Not because I'm weak of faith, but because it was tough and because it was hard. I remember a specific moment in my dad's house, in my parents house, during a really tough time suppressing tears. And I felt an invitation from heaven. I said, ashley, you can cry. I said, God, my tears is not a lack of faith. He said, I know your tears are not a lack of faith. Your tears is because it's tough and because you loved your mom. But I believe that in this season of weeping, in this season of tears, that he is birthing something on the inside of our hearts and he is softening our hearts and he is opening up our hearts to plant seeds of a revival of love, a revival of empathy, a revival of compassion. Not toxic empathy, but a revival of empathy and compassion that births and refines genuine faith and a conviction on the inside of us. A personal conviction. Not just because a pastor has conviction, not just because Charlie Kirk had a conviction to preach the gospel, but a personal conviction. I believe that he is using the tears to open up our hearts to birth something new and personal and genuine on the inside of us. Is the gospel of personal? Is it personal? There's a scripture in the Bible. In Ecclesiastes 7, it says, after all, everyone dies. So the living should take this to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us. A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool thinks only about having a good time. Why does a wise person think about death? Because they realize that this life is temporary. They realize that nobody is promised today or tomorrow, that there is eternity. They think about the life that they want to live. They get a vision in front of them. Do you see what God is doing? Church? Do you have ears to hear? As we watch those videos of football players around the earth proclaiming boldly that they belong to Jesus, I can't help but think about the Christian movies like Facing Giants that were scripted and produced. But we are watching something real. We are watching something that's not scripted or produced. Church. We are living in the days that we have been praying for. Do you have ears to hear? Do you have eyes to see what God is doing? We all have the ability to hear with our ears and we have the ability to see. But do you see with eyes your spirit? The Bible says in Matthew 13 that if my people, if our nation would have ears to hear and eyes to see, that they would turn and I would heal them. So I want to echo Paul's word that we are in a turning point as a church. But also I want to take it home to your personal heart. Where what is going on, God? What are you seeing with your eyes in the spirit, what are you hearing? Because we have. America is turning. But what about the personal turns on the inside of our hearts? Constantly, everywhere, consistently around the world, people are getting inundated in social media and Facebook and news channels are being flooded with Charlie Kirk's last words. Paul already spoke to his imperfections, but in his imperfections, he was, in his last words, boldly proclaiming the love of his perfect Savior. And if you want to criticize his method, win. Philip, last time that you used your influence and your position to boldly proclaim the love of Jesus. So let me tell you what's happening. God is using his last words, proclaiming the truth all around the world because people are being faced with a decision. They're being faced with a decision. Am I on the side of light or am I on the side of dark? Am I on the side of heaven or am I on the side of hell? Am I on the side of Jesus, or am I on the side of the devil? And I'm telling you, people are making a decision of where they are loyal. People who are choosing the light, they are going to burn brighter more than ever before. People who are choosing the darkness. And they will be darker than ever before. But I got news for you, church. The light wins. And greater is he that is in me than he that is in this world. If anything, if you call yourself, if we call ourselves God, children of light, children citizens of heaven, let's burn brighter. I recently watched Jensen Franklin's words shared at a service honoring Charlie Kirk. And he said, a life, a fulfilled life, is not measured by a duration. It is measured by its donation. And as imperfect as Charlie, as imperfect as he was, I definitely think he had an effective strategy against the lies that have been being proclaimed around the world. He surrendered his anger to the feet of Jesus and allowed himself to become more of a bold soldier for the kingdom of God. And I want my last few minutes to be about putting a demand on the gifts in the body of Christ. Not just our spiritual gifts, but also our natural gifts. Each and every one of us are gifted uniquely. And you might feel like it's little, but can I tell you, little is much in the hands of our Savior. Little is much is a lot surrendered at the feet of Jesus. I want to put a call on the communicators in this house. I want to put a call to the teachers, to the educators, to the content creators, to the researchers, to the researchers, to the coaches. I'm not talking about those who just have a platform. I'm talking about each and every one of you have an assignment from heaven. Each and every one of you are made in the image of God. And just as God gave Charlie an assignment to the public square, to the campuses, God has given me and you an assignment. He has given us a Space. He has given us a place to occupy, to boldly proclaim the truth of God's word and not just be apathetic about our natural gifts, but sharpen our gifts so that we can be effective. I heard a story that Charlie's first protest was him as a high school student. He grabbed a friend with him, and he was protesting the fact that the school lunches in the cafeteria were too costly. They were getting too expensive. And I think about how he had a gift to debate. And I think about how many people, especially in the church, can overlook that gift to debate. Call it argumentative and strifeful, as sometimes it is. But if you can take whatever gift that God has given you and you can allow the purity of God's love to refine that gift, I'm telling you, you are an effective weapon against the gates of hell. I'm telling you again, it's not just our supernatural gifts like prayer that we have got to use, but it is our natural gifts. And I know we've been talking about revival, but I want to present another thought to you about revival. I believe that God has been pouring out his spirit all across the earth. And it's not just so that we can soak in the presence of God. It's so that we could find freedom. Freedom from shame, freedom from addictions, freedom from bitterness, freedom from hate, freedom from insecurity, freedom. Why? Because there is a wave of revival. I love that last. The language that was up there. There's another wave of revival in California. We are in a season where there is wave after wave. And we are getting caught up in a riptide of revivals. And I'm telling you, if you want to be effective against the enemy and the demonic forces that not only is this world up against, but the demonic forces that are up against you and your family's life, I want to say, rise up. Don't just let it be a global movement. Let it say, start with me. And what movement are we talking about? We're not talking about a political movement. We're talking about a movement of the people of God. God rising up with the truth that is in their hearts and that is embedded in their souls. To boldly proclaim that Jesus is the one and the only way, that he died on the cross for you and for me. That he died on the cross for those prisoners. He chose us before we chose Him. That's the type of God that we serve. That's the type of God that we need to share about that. That's the type of God that's gonna save a hurting and broken world. Let our imperfect voices, God, lift up the truth of our perfect Savior, Jesus.

[Pastor Paul]

Let's stand to our feet all over this place. And if you would take your communion elements that you received when you came in, as we get ready to take communion together. The Bible says when you gather together and you remember what Jesus has done, done for you. The bread and the juice represent his body broken for us, his blood poured out for us. The Bible says to examine your hearts and if there's any offensive thing inside you that needs to be surrendered to Jesus, if there's any sin, any unrepentant sin, any area, maybe you're here today and you say, paul, I'm not even saved. I want to be saved. I want to give my heart to Jesus. Good, you're in the right place. If you want to give your heart to Jesus today. I want you to just lift your hand up, whatever hand you've got. Raise your hand if you want to surrender to Jesus today. Yeah, come on. Hands going up from the front to the back. You're saying, I'm ready. I'm ready to follow Jesus. I'm ready to live for Jesus, man. We celebrate every hand that was just raised. I see him all over the room. Secondly, here today, you say, paul, I'm saved, but I feel convicted to get right with God in so many areas. If that's you, I want you to raise your hand. Today's a great day to repent and receive his forgiveness. Come on, this is what it's all about. We're taking communion to receive his mercy, to remember what he did for us on the cross. If you raised your hand for either of those, and even those that didn't raise your hand, I want you to pray this with me. And let's close our eyes and pray this together. Say, Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I repent. I receive your forgiveness. I confess you as my Lord and Savior. I believe you rose from the dead and I will live my life for you in Jesus name. Amen. Let's take the bread and break it. And as we eat it, let's remember Jesus gave his life for us. When Jesus held up this cup with his disciples on the Passover supper night, he said, this is the covenant I'm making with you. Greater love. There is no greater love than this, that someone would lay their life down for their friends. Jesus laid his life down for us. This cup we're about to drink represents not just his sacrifice for Us, but his forgiveness of our sins, washing us, cleansing us, making us holy. Let's drink it today and remember what Jesus did. Come on, Jesus. Praise God. The ushers are going to pass little bags down the road. You can drop it in there. As they do that, our band is going to lead us in a worship song. And here's what my heart is feeling today. I want to call on people that in this service, you felt a conviction in some way that you would leave this service changed and marked by declaring, I surrender to Jesus. I surrender my gifts. I surrender my fear. I surrender my insecurity, my panic, whatever it is that the enemy has tried to mess with you in. Maybe you feel even just a burden to pray for our nation, to pray for people that are hurting. Maybe you feel feel a call towards repentance. I want you to leave your seat, come and find a place at this altar. I want to end today at the altar, and I'm going to be right here with you. This is not an altar for anyone who's just going, well, if I have to go, this is an altar for people. You go, man. I just want to go all in for Jesus. One girl came up to me at the altar in the last service. She said, hi, I'm Charlie. I said, what's your name? She said, well, it's not Charlie, but I'm ready to be a Charlie. I'm ready to be a witness. I'm ready to be bold. I'm ready to stand up on my high school and share the love of Jesus. I'm ready to stop living in fear and being a coward. I want the Holy Spirit to take over my life. I want to start being a witness. Pick up the microphone. This is a call right now for anyone who just feels like, man. I want to be a greater witness. I want to be more bold in my workplace. I want the Holy Spirit to help me have the courage on my university with my family and friends, to not be fearful of speaking the truth in love, to not be fearful to live for Jesus openly and publicly. I just feel a call even to those that you have a dream in your heart. You have a dream in your heart to do something for our nation, for the world. Like you have a dream for revival and you have some amazing ideas, strategies from the Holy Spirit, and you're just saying, I don't know what to do with them, but there's a stirring in me to do something. Maybe it has to do with business, maybe it has to do with speaking, maybe it has to do with church. Or ministry. Maybe it has to do with school education. Maybe it has something to do with the media world or sports world. But God's like stirring you up to be a bold witness. So we're just gonna take a moment here at this end of service. We're gonna pray and we're gonna worship together. Jeremiah, just lead us in that song and let's all find a place at this altar. If there's no room at the altar, then fill up the aisles.

[Congregation Member / Worship Leader]

I surrender all I surrender all.

[Pastor Paul]

And.

[Congregation Member / Worship Leader]

All to thee, my blessed Savior I surrender all and I surrender all and I surrender and all to thee, my blessed Savior I surrender I surrender O and all to thee, my blessed Savior and I surrender all.

[Pastor Paul]

I have decided.

[Congregation Member / Worship Leader]

To follow Jesus I have decided to follow Jesus I have decided to follow Jesus no turning back no turning back and I have decided to follow Jesus I had decided to follow Jesus I have decided to you follow Jesus and I have decided to follow Jesus I have decided to follow Jesus and I have decided to follow Jesus and no turning back no turning back.

[Pastor Paul]

No turning.

[Congregation Member / Worship Leader]

Back.

[Pastor Paul]

No turning back no turning turning.

[Congregation Member / Worship Leader]

Back.

[Pastor Paul]

No turning back.

[Congregation Member / Worship Leader]

No turning back no turning back.

[Pastor Paul]

Cuz the enemy has been defeated death couldn't hold you down gonna lift our voice and victory gonna make your praises loud cause the enemy's.

[Congregation Member / Worship Leader]

Been defeated and death couldn't hold you down we're gonna lift our voice in victory we're gonna make your praises out the enemy's been defeated it has come couldn't hold you down we're going to lift our voice in victory we're going to make your praises wow the enemy's been defeated in death turning on you down we're going to lift our s victory we're going to make your cuz the enemy's been defeated the death couldn't hold you down we're going to lift our voice in victory we're going to make your praise and loud Shout out to God with the voice of trial Shout out to God with the voice of praise Shout out to God with the voice of trial where is your favor? Where is your favor? Shout out to God with the voice of triumph Shout out to God with the voice of pray Shout out to God with the voice of triumph We l your name up we l your name up Jesus we lift your name higher we lift your name higher.

[Pastor Paul]

Been.

[Congregation Member / Worship Leader]

Defeated death couldn't hold you down we're going to lift our voice in victory we're going to make your brain lift up.

[Pastor Paul]

Victory.

[Congregation Member / Worship Leader]

Sa.

[Pastor Paul]

I was watching a video last night of a bunch of people who were gathered in Long Island, New York. They said there was maybe 50,000 people gathered outside. And the video that showed it, there was really. There was no keyboard, no sound system. There was nothing like that. It wasn't even a church that put it on. It was just a group of people. And spontaneously they broke out singing Amazing grace. Did anyone see this? They were singing Amazing grace. And when I was watching the video, I got a little teary eyed because you could tell a lot of them didn't know the words and didn't know the sound of how to sing it. But they were singing broken because they were feeling a conviction and a call to surrender to Jesus. And there was just a spontaneous, you know, moment where people were just calling on the name of Jesus. And I really feel like God wants to start more of that in our world where it just starts happening at like baseball games and football games and on university campuses and high schools. September is a great month to reach the unsaved people in our city. You know, I think about the. What's it called? See you at the pole that we used to do in high school. Do we still do that? That's in the month of September, isn't it? See you at the pole. Yeah. And I think my prayer is that we would start seeing more high schools, middle schools, elementary schools, universities, just having like prayer movements and worship, spontaneous worship movements, and it overflows. If you feel called to be more of a light in that public space or in the space that I'm describing, that Ashley was describing, I just want you to raise your hand if you have already some influence in those areas and some of you are already, you know, employed by some of these different organizations, organizations across the city or state where you could start using your voice already. But if you're not employed, but you just feel a calling to really just, you know, be a light in some of those public spaces, I want you to raise your hand. I just pray right now, God, that you would not only raise them up to speak boldly, but God, I pray, Lord, they would have favor. Favor God in administrations, favor God with mayor, favor Lord, with the governor, favor God with principles and superintendents, favor with their bosses. And I pray, God, that their voice would be amplified, Lord, to start prayer gatherings and Bible studies in their universities, middle schools, high schools, God, Lord, even in God in their businesses, God, that they would have marketplace ministry at their company, God, where they could pray for each other. And I pray in Jesus name, God, just what we heard today, just this message, God, that you would stir in us Lord, let a personal revival Bible start in us God to live for you. Just pray this with me. Say Jesus, use my life to bring you glory. I'm all yours in Jesus name, amen and amen. I love you, God loves you. Be blessed.