“Let it be to me according to Your word.” Bill Johnson teaches from Luke chapter 1 on Mary’s response to the angel’s words to her, and how it is to be an example for us to follow as we trust and surrender to God’s word. We are called to face impossibilities with faith and confidence in the fact that Jesus has already settled everything on the Cross. There’s not one impossibility that we will ever face that Jesus did not already make provision for. Just like Mary, may our response to God’s word be “Let it be to me according to Your word.”
eric sent me something this last week
said 2018
was marked with a number of recalls all
of them vegetables
[Laughter]
take note that there were no bacon
recalls
hey man
to keep your kids safe feed them bacon
that’s really it’s really the conclusion
to that message
as funny and weaverville’s thinking
recalled something happened in
weaverville this morning
we for 11 years while i was there we met
for 11 years at the town theater
they continued to meet there a couple
more years till the building was built
but uh so we would put a little sandwich
sign out front that said mountain chapel
meets here today and then on the marquis
would be whatever whatever movie was
showing that week you know
and so the newspaper captured one that
you just can’t you can’t miss it was too
good
it said sandwich sign mountain chapel
meets here today on the marquis it said
gods must be crazy
which i thought was a perfect
combination i just i it witnessed to my
heart that it was good
all right a woman just returned to her
home from an evening of church services
when she was startled by an intruder
she caught the man in the act of robbing
her home and its valuables and she
yelled stop
acts 2 38
that verse says repent be baptized in
the name of jesus christ so that your
sins may be forgiven
the burglar stopped in his tracks
the woman calmly called the police
explained what she had done
as the officer cuffed the man to take
him in he asked the burglar why did you
just stand there all the old lady did
was yell a scripture to you
he replied scripture she said she had an
ax and 2 38.
[Applause]
okay let’s go to luke
let’s go to luke
we have
a real
special treat one of our heroes of the
faith uh
the healing revival of the 50s is jack
cohen his son jacko jr is here today and
grandson jared
are you able to wave at us or something
let everybody know where you are he said
jared jack junior’s grandson is here
we’re just uh wonderful friends we’re
honored that you’d be here
um
for two weeks the last two time i’ve
spoken to i’ve talked to you about
bitterness and jealousy which are just
wonderful christmas themes
and uh
i i had to interject throughout the
messages merry christmas just to keep
people from falling into deep depression
and
seriously if if
you weren’t able to be a part of those
days i would encourage you to review
that today i want to look at uh one part
of the christmas story that always
impacts me the only thing i don’t like
about christmas
is that we we tend to look at scriptures
or sing songs that we only do like one
time a year
and these are for the believer these
themes are continuous throughout the
year
and mary is one of the great heroes of
scripture
we’re going to talk a little bit about
her and i’m because i’ve been i’m
inspired by her
her um her example
the way she responded to an impossible
uh challenge in front of her so we’ll
look at that in a moment
the holy spirit came upon mary
natural spiritual holy spirit came upon
mary
and she revealed jesus
the holy spirit comes upon
the written word
and jesus is revealed
the holy spirit comes upon a surrendered
believer
and jesus is revealed
i don’t at all want to lessen the
significance of the role that mary plays
she’s called highly favored of the lord
so please don’t misunderstand that
however
the miracle of jesus being manifest in
and through you me you and me is the
same miracle
it’s the spirit of god coming upon the
natural to manifest the eternal
eternity is the cornerstone of all logic
and reason
anytime we lose sight of eternity we are
bound to come to temporary
and false conclusions
it’s seeing things from an eternal
perspective that changes everything for
example
mary is called highly favored of the
lord
if you lose sight of eternal perspective
you look at her circumstances joseph
wants to divorce her
not follow through with the wedding
herod wants to kill her
kid
her son
the the uh scandal of her being a mother
of an illegitimate child
looks like anything but favor
favor on your life
will reveal
issues in the people around you
and our ability to carry favor well
is key to the increase of favor
we never owe anyone an explanation nor
should you ever apologize for favor
apology of favor is an expression of
unbelief that basically says god made a
bad decision by giving me favor
you never want to dishonor god
with
with how unqualified you may feel with
foreign assignment
i hope everybody in the room feels
unqualified
if you feel qualified you haven’t seen
your assignment
if if you feel qualified you don’t see
it clearly because the only the only
possible response from seeing what god
expects from our life is the
overwhelming sense i could never pull
this off
and that’s the position that the lord
puts every one of us in so that he can
demonstrate who he is
good works
are a critical part of the christian
life
feeding uh the poor serving those with
out uh clothes or housing or whatever it
might be fill in the blanks the the
overall
gamut of meeting uh the demand of human
need is a huge part of the christian
life
but if we’re honest we’ll realize
that feeding the poor and all these
other amazing and wonderful things can
be done by people who don’t know the
lord
there has to be an aspect of our service
before the lord that only he can do in
and through us it has to cross the line
into the realm of impossibility or it
has not adequately given witness to the
resurrection of jesus
there is in every one of us an inbuilt
appetite for the impossible that it
would bend its knee to the name jesus
through our lips it’s critical it’s
vital that that is a regular part of our
life
if it is not we have to come back before
the lord and find out why not
introspection but to learn where do i
take risk where do i partner
the lord is looking for people who will
come into agreement with what he has
said there’s an alignment i
i almost hate to use the word alignment
because
cults use it but
we’re called a cult so maybe it’s all
right
there’s this agreement there’s this
alignment we make with the lord that god
declares a matter when people come into
proper alignment or agreement with what
he has said
there is the display of what god intends
on the earth
let’s take a look at these scriptures
and then what we’re going to do is we’re
going to take some time to talk through
it’s about 12 verses will take probably
20 minutes or so and then we’re going to
spend the rest of the time sharing and
communion together and
i uh it’s going to be two completely
separate parts
but they’ll both be good i hope all
right
let’s go to verse 26. did i tell you
where luke luke chapter 1.
did i not tell you where
oh well send you open your bible
anywhere it’s all good let’s just start
start reading out loud wherever you open
to and we’ll just
see how well this works all right
luke chapter 1 verse 26
now in the sixth month
we’re going to do about 12 verses for so
just uh follow heart
now in the sixth month the angel gabriel
was sent by god to a city of galilee
named nazareth to a virgin betrothed to
a man whose name was joseph of the house
of david
the virgin’s name was mary
and having come in the angel said to her
rejoice highly favored one the lord is
with you
blessed are you among women
but when she saw him she was troubled at
his saying and considered what manner of
greeting this was
then the angel said to her do not be
afraid mary for you have found favor
with god
and behold you will conceive in your
womb and bring forth a son and shall
call his name jesus
he will be great he will be called the
son of the highest
and the lord god will give him the
throne of his father david
and he will reign over the house of
jacob forever and of his kingdom
there will be no end
then mary said to the angel how can this
be since i do not know a man
and the angel answered and said the holy
spirit will come upon you
and the power of the highest will
overshadow you
therefore
also the holy one who is to be born will
be called the son of god
now indeed elizabeth your relative has
also conceived a son in her old age and
this is now the sixth month for her who
was called barren last two verses
for with god nothing will be impossible
then mary said behold the made servant
of the lord
let it be to me according to your word
and the angel departed from her
i love this story
a lot i actually will return this is one
of the places that i will sometimes
return to just to be refreshed in
reading something that’s out of my
sequence i i like to read books of the
bible and just
go through them but every once well i’ll
just go right to this and just plow read
through this because it’s it’s so
encouraging to me
mary has an angel show up and make this
announcement of god’s intention
and everything that god has intended to
do in and through you is absolutely
impossible as i’ve already stated
if you’re not overwhelmed by your
assignment you don’t see your assignment
what he intends to do is absolutely
impossible it’s to put us into the place
of absolute dependency so that he can
work in and through us to display
himself as the god of the impossible
that is his intention and he has
designed it so for every person who puts
their faith in christ it is not for a
select few it is the design of god for
every person
so the angel shows up to mary and he
says rejoice highly favored one
typically you rejoice after the baby is
born
she was commanded rejoice
it’s coming
there’s not one situation that anybody
in this room faces that you wouldn’t
like to have a miracle for that jesus
has not already settled the issue
paid the appropriate price so that that
miracle could be accomplished in his
name there’s not one situation
he did not pay for the car so you and i
would leave it on the lot
everything in our life has already been
settled the cross
that jesus suffered on was that complete
in its effect and in its work
there’s not one thing anybody in this
room could face that jesus would look at
and say uh
wish i would have thought of that before
i died i would have put that on the
cross too you know there’s there’s none
of those things every single issue of
life in fact not just in this life but
all throughout all of eternity has
already been settled
so when the angel of the lord comes to
mary and says rejoice highly favored one
it is because
this thing has already been settled in
heaven
if we knew how much was already settled
in heaven joy would be the natural
response
celebration beforehand
because the reality is eternity defines
every situation we face
i may be in the middle of a conflict
here but i’m also in the middle of a
breakthrough here
i may be in the middle i hope in the
middle of a challenge here because it’s
necessary for faith to grow but i’m also
experiencing great breakthrough here
every person in this room was designed
to invade this realm called
impossibility
and now the lord this angel of the lord
appears to mary and says rejoice highly
favored one
this favor
would cause her
to be valued and celebrated for all of
eternity everywhere the gospel is shared
there is celebration for this woman who
said yes and the miracle produced jesus
she is celebrated but she was also
opposed
and favor does that
to our surroundings
i i exhort strongly
do not make excuses for the favor of god
simply embrace it and give him the honor
and the credit for
i i’ve shared this even in recent weeks
but
you know the whole point is
is when somebody comes to you and they
celebrate you and they thank you and
they tell you did such a great job
please don’t say it wasn’t me it was
jesus
because you know
besides it being nauseating
for the rest of us
i i come to somebody and i says a
beautiful song you just signed they tell
me
it wasn’t me it was jesus i’m thinking
that it wasn’t that good it was
it was
it was good
it was good but let’s be honest if jesus
saying that universes would be created
you know
just his declared word would have just
changed everything so it wasn’t that it
was good but it was not good
someone comes to you with a compliment
receive it
if
if you don’t know how to receive honor
you’ll have no crown to throw at his
feet
you have to know how to receive honor
then when you get alone with the lord
you just say look what was given to me
that belongs to you
it’s a part of the process so back to
the story
mary is called this highly favored one
and she had both blessing and challenges
because of the favor and favor will do
that i uh
the subject of favor is not our subject
today so i’ve got to go quick on this
but
a favor is um
favor is the difference between some
people fulfilling why they’re alive
and others who don’t the issue of favor
people can have a call of god on their
life but never learned the need for
favor and so they never increase in
favor and thus never have the
appropriate open doors the support
whatever is needed to be able to
accomplish what god has called them to
do
favor is the issue
it says of jesus he increased in favor
with god and with man
that’s amazing
i understand why he needs to increase in
favor with man
because it’s going to be zacchaeus it
welcomes him into his home it’s going to
be
it’s going to be the pharisee that
invites him you know to his house to
where uh mary washes his feet it’s going
to be these people that give opportunity
for jesus to step in but how is it that
jesus the son of god who is absolutely
perfect in every possible way how is it
he has to increase in favor with god
and i don’t know i don’t have an answer
i just know if he did
[Music]
you and i might want to consider our
need for increased favor with god as
well
and
don’t think that what you have is enough
because part of what you need is what
you can obtain through faithfulness with
what you have
so we’ll leave that there
let’s move on down to this uh verse 32
it says in the last half of the verse
the lord god will give him the throne of
his father david
that’s strange because in
verse
35 it says he will be called the son of
god but in verse 32 he’s called the son
of david
these this is one of the things that has
has marked me is to see
god look at this man david
who god said
he has a heart after my heart
the lord looked at this man david
and said
i’m going to call my son
your son
forever
how do you obtain such a place of favor
with the almighty god
it tells me he’s impressionable it tells
me it’s possible to to leave a mark on
his heart he’s not this robotic
being
he’s
one who has invited us into this
relational journey
and we’ve got times in scripture where
someone would demonstrate faith the
centurion demonstrates faith a
syrophenician woman they demonstrate
this faith and jesus stops in the middle
of the miracle he says i’ve not seen
faith like this in all of israel
how is it that you have god stand up and
go
wow
look at that i’ve never seen anything
like that before
see there are certain responses that the
people of god can have to him
that’s not generic it’s not apathetic
it’s unique it’s honest it’s real it’s
absolute surrender and he stops and he
says you know what
i’m gonna call my son
your son
never have i seen such great faith in
all of his israel’s history
this is a relational journey
this is not a
christian routine where you jump through
hoops and
try to accomplish
a certain regiment
i’ve been invited to know god
and in my heart of hearts
knowing him is the reason
i’m alive it’s the reason i wake up in
the morning it’s the reason i go to bed
at night it’s the reason behind
everything is this invitation to
actually walk with the one who created
all things and to come to know him
and there’s something about this
privileged invitation that makes
everything else pale in comparison
i remember talking to some young people
years ago
i was in this group of about 20 or so
and i said
the claims of jesus are so absolutely
astronomical
so extreme
that if it is true
i owe him my entire life
to that which is true but if it is a lie
it has made such a mark on history that
i into i owe him
or owe my entire life to humanity to
disprove that this thing that he has
claimed is true in other words it is a
line in the sand that says
choose your side
it is that demanding it is not
gray it’s not a gray area it’s not an
apathetic era it’s not an area that we
stand back and simply applaud it’s like
the claims of this jesus to actually
atone for sin
to make it to where i can have peace
forever with god where his nature can
become my own nature that i am actually
change from the inside out that i find
out why i’m alive suddenly this becomes
crystal clear
and it becomes clear through the
redemptive work of jesus
and here in this moment he’s called the
son of god
but he’s also called the son of david
move down to verse 37
this is one of my favorite verses the
next two are two of my favorite verses
in the whole bible
verse 37 says for with god nothing will
be impossible
say that with me with god nothing will
be impossible say it again for with god
nothing will be impossible we’ve looked
at this oh goodness countless times
through the years and i realize for many
of you this will be repeat but i love
repeating it
with god nothing will be impossible
that phrase nothing will be impossible
as interesting makeup and it was jack
taylor who uh
helped me to understand this many years
ago
i actually heard him teach on this
passage before i ever met him he has
since become a personal friend and a
friend of our house and writes me
regularly just to encourage me such a an
amazing father in the faith
but he took this verse nothing is
impossible with god and he broke it down
and this is how it’s broken down the
word nothing is actually two different
words it’s the word no but then it’s the
word rhema
rhema is the there’s logos and rhema in
in the in the greek language to describe
god’s word
logos would be more used for the written
word rhema is that which is freshly
spoken it’s not absolute but those are
those are
the way that is predominantly used in
scripture so just think through this
with me
rhema no rhema no freshly spoken word of
god will be impossible
the word impossible actually means
without ability
and so this verse can be translated this
way
no freshly spoken word of god will ever
come to you that does not contain its
own ability to perform itself
[Applause]
wow
no freshly spoken word of god will ever
come to you that does not contain its
own ability to perform itself
see in james 1 it says in humility
receive the word implanted which is able
to save your soul
the power is not in my ability to
receive the power is in the word i
receive
in the same way
the the acorn produces the oak tree the
powers in the acorn
the surroundings the soil is my amen to
what god is saying
it is my surrender it is my yieldedness
to that which god has spoken i have a
role but i don’t make anything grow
i create the atmosphere of absolute
surrender so that his purposes can
actually be fully displayed in me into
any measure he intends
no freshly spoken word of god will ever
come to any one of us
that does not in itself contain its own
ability to make sure that what was
spoken actually happens
and that’s why the next verse is so
significant
verse 38 mary said behold the
maidservant of the lord
let it be to me
according to your word
let it be to me according to your word
we used to sing this song years ago
be it unto me according to your word
and it was this a wonderful song dick
joyce in fact taught us who is home with
the lord now but a wonderful prophet
friend that made such a huge difference
in our lives in weaverville and here at
bethel
but he taught us this song i’ll never
forget it be it unto me according to
your word we would just sing this song
where we are using scripture to sing
into this place of absolute surrender
god we want you to perform in and
through us all that you intend
now catch this thought
jesus almost walked in water
jesus
or air either one air or water same
thing same thing
jesus in the gospel of john
the predominant feature of the gospel of
john is that jesus came to reveal the
father yes
ten of you agree
anybody ever read the gospel of john
[Applause]
jesus came to reveal the father
you know if i keep at it by the end of
the day we should have everyone
okay jesus came to reveal the father
here’s the deal
the father is only revealed
through
his children
in other words he can be revealed but
not his father
he can be revealed as almighty god
he can be revealed as the great judge he
can be revealed as the creator he can be
revealed as a thousand different things
but if he’s revealed as the father it’s
in connection to the revelation of who
his kids are
the point i want to make is is that you
and i have this incredible privilege to
reveal the father
by us being
what he has designed us to be in other
words
if if
if i claim to be a good father then it
has to be measurable with how my
children are treated
yes
your relationship with god as your
father actually illustrates the quality
of his fathering
and jesus illustrated that very thing
perfectly by doing what he only said
what he heard his father say he only did
when he saw his father do he illustrated
perfectly
you go to a place in rome and
you throw a coin into the fountain
and you make a wish
your birthday cake is brought to you and
you blow out the candles
and you make a wish
in the child’s story you rub on a
lantern and a genie comes out
and you make
a wish
all through history people have created
stories
that try to answer to the cry of the
heart
for a fulfillment of why we’re alive
and acute children’s stories as fables
there’s all these things i’m fine with
all of them as stories
but they actually
are all attempts
to reveal what it is
to be in right relationship with the
father
because you were born
to demonstrate
unity between a son the daughter and the
father
and him
fulfilling what you were born for
and so she says
be it unto me
according to your word that’s the amen
i can’t make that impossibility happen
how many of you are aware you cannot
make what god wants out of your life you
can’t make it happen
but what i can do is i can say yes
what i can do is invite him to do what
only he can do so say this with me be it
unto me
according to your word
we’re going to share in communion
together
and i would like to ask for our ushers
and usherets and whoever’s helping
to uh
to hand out the supplies we’re going to
share in communion together
we’re not going to have you typically
our tradition is come to the front we
share in communion in groups we’re not
going to do that today because i want to
lead you through
specific
things i do want to ask a staff ministry
team come on up to the front if you
would because i want to have you ready
when we’re through with communion i want
to have you ready to pray for people
for those who are watching on bethel tv
we should announce ahead of time that
we’re doing communion so you can get
your own supplies ready and join with us
so
if that’s doable do it quickly
because we’d love to have you join i
want to take you through
a typical normal process
of communion for my wife for myself
by the way uh
benny and i mostly benny uh wrote a book
on communion it comes out in february
and so i’m real real excited uh for this
it can be a great
i think a great uh compliment to what
god’s doing in the earth
as a believer i don’t come
if you can pass the elements and and
give me attention
that’ll be a great miracle
as a believer i don’t come to this
table of the lord
as a tradition where i need to just get
another notch on my bible that i’ve
accomplished something that i’m supposed
to do
for me this is a living interaction
between me and the almighty god
it’s one of the most
history
influencing
activities of my life
it’s not done
out of routine
it’s done with faith it’s done with
obedience
i know as protestants we’re not supposed
to approach
the body this the blood and the bread
this way
but when i hold the bread in my hand
i remind myself jesus said this is my
body
i don’t have to understand anything
about it all i need to do is acknowledge
i hold in my hand the broken body of
jesus
the broken body represents something to
us that’s extremely significant
jesus was beat with
a whip if you can imagine a whip with
leather strands
and on the end would be pieces of shards
of glass and pieces of metal
and they beat him
with this whip until
history tells us internal organs were
displayed he was he was beyond
recognition
and according to isaiah 53
that payment that he made was not so
that we would feel bad for him looking
in the past but that we would realize he
purchased something in that moment
he actually bought
your right to healing
he made a payment by his stripes
i was healed is the scripture by his
stripes i was healed two thousand years
ago a payment was made
for our healing
and the only thing greater
than divine healing is divine health
and i believe that the lord’s going to
give us insight i i don’t have it right
now i just i just have the ache in my
heart
i can tell when god’s doing something
because my heart will usually ache for
it first
there’s this ache in my heart that tells
me there’s a reality i’ve not yet tasted
of that he has made available and i
don’t know how to get there except to
come before him repeatedly
in obedience and surrender making my
petitions known
and that issue is divine health
i believe that if israel in the
wilderness in rebellion against god
not even born again could experience
divine health then how much more
those who are under superior covenant
would actually taste of superior
blessings
what i don’t want us to do ever
is to create a theology for a problem we
face
only hold to the theology of the
solution
only hold to the theology that says this
is what jesus has accomplished that this
that i’m facing would yield and be
broken for the glory of god you hold in
your hands the testimony of her broken
body
i want you to stand i there may be some
in the back that don’t yet have the
bread but i want you to stand i want you
to hold your bread out in front of you
and there are several things that i do
that i’m going to ask you to do with me
to put everything else aside
all
all all other activities in this one
moment i want us to come before the lord
with the broken body of jesus and what i
like to do i did this morning i didn’t
realize we were having communion today
so i brought my own communion stuff to
the office i come down here early and
just pray to get ready for the day and i
was walking through the sanctuary i did
this again i held the bread the body
before the lord and began to pray and
make confession declaration
by the stripes of jesus mary is healed
cancer is never to return to her body
again by the stripes of jesus
parkinson’s is gone from kathy
parkinson’s has been defeated in allen
and just make these declarations
they’re not
ritual or routine
life and death is in the power of the
tongue and all i want is my tongue to
agree with what god has accomplished and
with what god is saying so i’m going to
ask you to do that i’m going to ask you
take just a moment hold the bread before
the lord and just declare the healing
grace of jesus over your own body
over your family over any family member
or person friend that you know that’s
battling a disease bring their name
before the lord and declare over them by
his stripes you were healed let’s do
that take just a moment for that do that
even at home those of you who are
watching
by the stripes of jesus
by the stripes of jesus
i was made whole
by the stripes of jesus
i was healed
by the stripes of jesus mark cooper was
healed
cancer is never to return to that body
by the stripes of jesus
even in this room
brain disorders are to be healed this is
spirit soul and body every area of life
healed there’s not one thing he left out
we declare that healing grace
now
hold that bread in front of you again
when you’re on your own obviously you
can pray for everybody you can think of
but we do have a time limit this morning
so hold that bread in front of me here’s
another thing that the broken body of
jesus did
in ephesians 2 it says jesus bore on his
body the dividing wall now think about
it between jew and gentile the greatest
divide ever to exist the blessed and the
cursed
jesus took on his own body the dividing
wall what does that mean it means that
this bread this brokenness that you hold
in your hand he became broken that we
might become whole he became empty that
we might become full
he became despised so that we could be
celebrated he was rejected so we could
be accepted
he became
this
so that we could live
in this this is what god intended for
you and me
any situation where you know there’s
division it could be between you and a
family member it could be between a
racial conflict in in your place of work
or or city or nation it doesn’t matter
what it is i want you to hold this
before the lord and i want you to make
the confession this is more than enough
to fix this divide
this is more than enough
the payment you made is more than
adequate to make it possible for unity
to exist between this church and that
church
this race and that race this family and
that family
lord god we give you thanks for the
power of healing
and the power of unity
all that was released
through the broken body of jesus receive
that now let’s partake together
now we give you thanks lord
we give you thanks
we give you thanks
hold the cup
before the lord
when i bring the cup before the lord
jesus said that this is his blood
there’s two confessions i like to make
proclamations i like to make
when i partake of communion
of the blood
the first is the blood of jesus sets me
free say that with me the blood of jesus
said to me say it again the blood of
jesus
one more time the blood of jesus sets me
free
the other thing i like to proclaim
is i pray for every fam member of my
family
every member
as i make this confession
as for me in my house
we will serve the lord
say it together as for me and my house
we will serve the lord
and then i pray for members of my family
do that now take just maybe 60 seconds
for that
just declare if you have loved ones that
aren’t walking with the lord just call
them in we just say every single one has
a place in christ we call them home in
jesus name
the blood of jesus sets free
the blood of jesus sets free
every single family member
the blood of jesus sets free
thank you thank you thank you god
i love praying for my family so much i
love
i just love what i do is i pray for my
kids my grandkids as i’ve done for
goodness 40.
eric’s 42 years old so i’ve done it for
42 in fact i did it before he’s born
i pray god jeremiah 24 god give them a
heart to know you
let them hear your voice
woo them with your voice
let them know your ways
god let them know your ways pray that
for your family
god give them a hurt to know you
let them know your ways god
draw them near to you
next to praying for my family
probably my most favorite part
is when i pray for those who have
for whatever reason have chosen to
oppose me or criticize me
uh their the work their work in the
gospel is to
somehow take away from whatever god is
doing here
and
the bible makes it clear you don’t ever
have the right to criticize a servant to
their master so i have i have no voice
before the lord
i don’t want to anyway but i have no
voice to criticize another servant of
god to god himself
what i have found joy in is praying for
god to abundantly bless them in every
possible way
i love to pray that god would prosper
them spirit soul and body that their
health would be good that he would they
would never need anything financially
that god would surround them with favor
that every opportunity for their gift
would be provided for them that they
would become all that god has meant for
them to become
i love to pray that when i’m holding the
cup of the blood because the blood is
what covers me and covers them it’s the
blood that wipes out the power of sin
and i love to pray uh my favorite thing
i guess maybe is is that i pray that god
would give
their children
and their grandchildren that they would
know the joy of having children
grandchildren and great-grandchildren
that serve god with a whole heart
absolute passion absolute purity of
heart that they would know the joy of
multiple generations serving jesus
some of you have you’re in conflict
right now you may be doing well but it’s
just the pain of conflict i want you to
pray blessing on that person if the
person you need to forgive is already
dead don’t pray for them
we don’t pray for the dead
but honestly pray for their family
members their descendants pray that the
lord would so richly touch that
household that family that remains from
that person who caused you such pain
be a redemptive person not just a
reactor be a redemptive person so let’s
hold this cup before the lord let’s pray
this one thing if you have anyone you
need to forgive obviously just do it
right now i just declare forgiveness for
that person mention their name
pray for the lord to just so prosper
these people
i think the problem the ones that i know
of are doing all that they know to do
with what they have
i can’t judge them by my experience
so i bless them i ask for a rich rich
reward of god on their lives
i release them from my judgment
the file of information i’ve collected
that proves me right and them wrong
i throw it on the fire right now and i
declare
the wonderful grace of jesus covers us
both
amen to that
let’s receive this together as a
testimony of our own forgiveness
thank you jesus
thank you thank you lord
wow
i think do we have
ushers and yeah yellow baggies pass the
cups to the aisle if you would
otherwise we’re going to have broken
shards of plastic all over the room
i need to do one more thing as we get
ready to go we’ve got ministry team down
here
is anybody else thankful that we’ve got
a
team of people just ready to pray
service
so thankful
okay we’ve got a lot of movement here
let it be just the ushers taking care of
stuff
the rest of you can just give me your
attention for a moment here
i should have done this before we took
communion i apologize it’s really out of
sequence
but let me just ask the question
if there’s anyone here that would say
bill i don’t want to leave the building
until i i know i am at peace with god
till i know i’ve been forgiven
until i know
that i’ve been born again
changed from the inside out
i want to follow jesus with all of my
heart if there’s anybody in that
position put a hand up right now just
say bill that’s me i don’t want to leave
the building until i know i’m right with
god one way back over here yep beautiful
anybody else but you end up high
there’s another one right over here
it’s wonderful
greatest miracle of all is this right
here yep
anyone else real quick
here’s what i’m going to ask who’s who’s
helping me out here you okay tom come on
up
here’s what i want to ask the two of you
that just raised your hand
if there’s more that i missed uh which
come on down i want you to come right
over here to my left i’ve got some
people over here friends that we know
and trust i want to ask them to talk
with you and just pray with you i want
to make sure that what happens in your
life
that what you raised your hand for
actually happens in your life so i’m
going to ask you come down to the front
over here and back over here come down
to the front these people with their
hands up they will talk with you and
pray with you those of you that need a
miracle in your body you can start to
make your way now and then tom’s just
going to wrap this up