According to Your Word – Bill Johnson (Full Sermon) | Bethel Church

“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