1 00:00:14,139 --> 00:00:17,359 Welcome to the Lansdale Life Church podcast. 2 00:00:18,379 --> 00:00:24,079 If you're seeking a closer relationship with Jesus Christ, this podcast is for you. 3 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:26,560 Thank you for joining us today. 4 00:00:34,979 --> 00:00:38,219 So yes, so back to Acts chapter nine. 5 00:00:40,839 --> 00:00:47,240 And I love the book of Acts, you know, it reminds us how it was done right from the very beginning. 6 00:00:48,460 --> 00:00:52,340 And today's message is preparing for God to move. 7 00:00:52,840 --> 00:01:02,200 And you know, God prepares us for a move and he prepares the place where we are going for the move. 8 00:01:02,619 --> 00:01:08,099 He wants us to be part of the process of that preparation for what he wants to do. Amen. 9 00:01:09,019 --> 00:01:14,420 And so let's pray and thank the Lord for talking to us through his word today. 10 00:01:14,859 --> 00:01:17,659 Father God, we ask you to really open up our hearts and minds 11 00:01:17,659 --> 00:01:25,840 that we can receive directly from you. We ask you to download the significant truth that you want us 12 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:31,840 to walk away with, Lord. And we thank you for these stories that we can read and just really 13 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:39,819 connect with and realize these resonate with us because we apply them to our own lives as well. 14 00:01:39,819 --> 00:01:47,180 So we thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. So preparation, you know, you could see throughout 15 00:01:47,180 --> 00:01:54,640 scripture that God has a pattern quite often. And he likes to prepare 16 00:01:56,019 --> 00:02:01,459 his people for what he's about to do. If you just look through the history of Israel, 17 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:07,019 you know, at Mount Sinai, could consecrate yourselves in three days, I'm going to come 18 00:02:07,019 --> 00:02:13,319 down on Mount Sinai and speak to you. When they were about to cross the Jordan River, 19 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:22,039 camp here for three days, pray, cleanse yourselves, get prepared to enter the Promised Land. 20 00:02:22,479 --> 00:02:29,000 He loves to prepare us for what he's about to do. If you can recall Elijah the prophet, 21 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:38,659 when after three and a half years of just famine and so forth and dryness, 22 00:02:38,819 --> 00:02:46,319 he was about to bring back the rain. And he prepared, the Lord told him to prepare the altar, 23 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:54,659 12 stones, dig a ditch around the stones, pour water over it 12 times, 12 pitchers to prepare 24 00:02:54,659 --> 00:03:01,419 for the fire that's going to come down from heaven and just lick up all the water and offering. 25 00:03:01,759 --> 00:03:08,919 You know, he just likes preparing. Remember when Elisha stayed with, was out there doing ministry 26 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:17,060 and some widow came up to him and said, I can't pay my debts and my creditor is about to take 27 00:03:17,060 --> 00:03:22,659 my two sons and make them slaves to work off my debt. And he said, what do you have in your 28 00:03:22,659 --> 00:03:30,219 house? I just had this can jar of oil. All right, go gather more jars of oil from all of your 29 00:03:30,219 --> 00:03:36,580 neighbors, okay, and bring them into your house. And the oil never stopped pouring. Sometimes 30 00:03:36,580 --> 00:03:43,020 he tells us to be part of his preparation. Someday I'm going to ask him why you don't need us. 31 00:03:43,199 --> 00:03:48,360 Why do you want us to be part of this preparation? But that's what he does again and again, 32 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:53,599 because he wants us to be part of this. There's so many examples in Scripture. One time Israel 33 00:03:53,599 --> 00:04:01,360 were completely thirsting to death. And the Lord said, dig ditches in the valley. And the next 34 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:05,520 morning they got up and they're all filled with water. He wants us to be prepared and continue 35 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:14,259 to prepare for what he's about to do. King Hezekiah, he said, cleanse the Levites and cleanse 36 00:04:14,259 --> 00:04:21,759 the temple, prepare because I am about to come in and move powerfully. So again, it's just a cycle. 37 00:04:21,819 --> 00:04:27,199 There's so many examples. I won't continue on, but there's examples. But there's also examples 38 00:04:27,199 --> 00:04:34,300 in the New Testament. In the New Testament, we read it again and again. In fact, when in Matthew 39 00:04:35,420 --> 00:04:42,699 33, when we read that God sent John the Baptist, if you have that JT, 40 00:04:44,379 --> 00:04:51,180 Matthew 33, when John the Baptist was sent to prepare, he says, for this is he who is spoken of 41 00:04:51,180 --> 00:04:57,580 by the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 40 verse 1, the voice of the one crying of the Lord is, 42 00:04:57,579 --> 00:05:06,779 prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. The Lord uses us, earthlings, 43 00:05:07,439 --> 00:05:15,040 to prepare his way, to be part of his preparation process. Do you remember when Jesus sent out the 44 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:21,500 70 to all the towns that he would go into? And we read about that in Luke chapter 10 verse 1. 45 00:05:22,660 --> 00:05:29,500 After these things, the Lord appointed 70 others also and sent them two by two before his face 46 00:05:29,500 --> 00:05:38,019 in every city and place where he himself was about to go. So the Lord likes preparing things, doesn't 47 00:05:38,019 --> 00:05:43,100 he? You know, well, I don't always love preparing things. You know, for some reason when I was 48 00:05:43,100 --> 00:05:48,339 thinking about this, I was thinking of painting. What's the worst thing about painting? The prep 49 00:05:48,339 --> 00:05:53,220 work. It just takes forever. That dumb blue tape, you're just taping up everywhere. And, you know, 50 00:05:53,459 --> 00:05:57,680 and then afterwards it's a mess anyway, and then you have to clean up, you know, but it's that 51 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:05,740 preparation work. But the Lord wants things prepared for him to come. Amen. And so we're 52 00:06:05,740 --> 00:06:14,120 part of that process. And so today we're going to read about how Peter was prepared. He was 53 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:21,160 prepared for the things he's about to do in this scripture. God was preparing in the midst of that, 54 00:06:21,180 --> 00:06:27,779 okay, for something he's going to do in the future. So he's preparing Peter from the things 55 00:06:27,779 --> 00:06:34,259 that he already learned. He's causing Peter to prepare the environment for what he's about 56 00:06:34,259 --> 00:06:39,860 to do. And then he prepares Peter for things he's going to do in the future. I think he does 57 00:06:39,860 --> 00:06:46,399 the same thing with us. He's always preparing us. You know, we can think things in the past were 58 00:06:46,399 --> 00:06:55,060 mistakes. I think they're preparation. So we can do the Lord's work in a more powerful way 59 00:06:55,060 --> 00:07:01,000 when we learn from those mistakes. Amen. And so that's what he wants to do. So we're focusing 60 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:08,379 today on the Apostle Peter. If you can recall, it all started on Pentecost and Peter gave that 61 00:07:08,379 --> 00:07:15,620 message and 3,000 got saved, right? So Peter was instrumental in the very beginning of the early 62 00:07:15,620 --> 00:07:23,019 church. And then it shifted for a brief time to Philip. Okay, if you can recall Philip, when he 63 00:07:23,019 --> 00:07:28,339 went to Samaria and people were getting saved and that was what, the Samaritans are coming to 64 00:07:28,339 --> 00:07:34,480 know the Lord. Wow. And then he spoke and preached to the Ethiopian eunuch. And then there 65 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:41,620 the gospel went off to Africa and then it shifted to Paul. And Paul, he got converted on his way to 66 00:07:41,620 --> 00:07:48,420 Damascus. In Damascus, I mean, he got converted and he became an evangelist. And then he became part 67 00:07:48,420 --> 00:07:55,120 of the early church. And then he met Barnabas. We talked about Barnabas last week. And then from 68 00:07:55,120 --> 00:08:00,560 there, Paul goes back home, if you can recall, to Tarsus. And now the Lord is going to put him 69 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:05,079 on his shelf for a little bit. He's going to say, okay, you stay there at home because I'm coming 70 00:08:05,079 --> 00:08:09,740 back to you later, but I've already prepared you for a lot of things you're going to be doing. 71 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:15,560 It wasn't over for Paul. It was really just beginning, but it was a resting period. He was 72 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:21,199 preparing Paul for the things he's going to do in the future. And now the focus is going back 73 00:08:21,199 --> 00:08:26,220 to Peter. Okay, so we're going to read about Peter because he's not just sitting around in 74 00:08:26,220 --> 00:08:31,100 Jerusalem. He's moving and shaking for the kingdom. He's out there sharing the gospel. 75 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:40,000 So let's look at Acts chapter nine, verse 32. And we're only going to stop once in this reading. 76 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:46,379 So verse 32, and now it came to pass as Peter went through all parts of the country, 77 00:08:47,180 --> 00:08:53,980 that he also came down to the saints who dwell in Lyda. And there he found a certain man 78 00:08:53,980 --> 00:09:03,059 named Aeneas who had been bedridden eight years and was paralyzed. And Peter said to him, Aeneas, 79 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:12,460 Jesus the Christ heals you, arise and make your bed. And then he arose immediately. And so all 80 00:09:12,460 --> 00:09:21,940 who dwelt in Lyda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord. So here, this man who is paralyzed 81 00:09:21,940 --> 00:09:29,139 only for eight years. And I say that for a reason because the Lord had already prepared Peter for 82 00:09:29,139 --> 00:09:35,539 what he was about to do through him. If you can recall back in Luke chapter nine, that he went out, 83 00:09:35,620 --> 00:09:41,460 the 12 went out and performed all kinds of miracles. And this was before he was glorified 84 00:09:41,460 --> 00:09:46,860 by the Holy Spirit. And then after that, if you can recall, we read in Acts chapter three, 85 00:09:46,860 --> 00:09:52,299 when he and John were walking through the gate called beautiful. And this guy is lame 86 00:09:52,299 --> 00:10:00,019 since his birth, 40 years, he's never walked. And he was begging. And Peter looked at him and say, 87 00:10:00,179 --> 00:10:06,759 you know, gold and silver, I do not have for you. But what I do have in the name of Jesus, 88 00:10:06,980 --> 00:10:13,840 walk, get up, and he helped them up. And he went leaping, jumping, and praising the Lord. 89 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:20,580 So Peter had already seen a thing or two. He knew God was going to work because he had already worked 90 00:10:20,580 --> 00:10:26,259 through Peter. He knew what to expect. Now, it doesn't always happen exactly the way we expect, 91 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:34,340 but he had already experienced God moving powerfully. And so have we. How many things 92 00:10:34,340 --> 00:10:41,059 has the Lord done through you? That's sometimes we forget. Like, oh yeah, like he did use me 93 00:10:41,059 --> 00:10:47,120 in the past. Like, if he used me in the past, he can use me again. Why not? Remember when King 94 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:52,740 David was at the battlefield and Goliath, a nine foot nine monster was out there, 95 00:10:53,220 --> 00:10:57,679 slandering the Lord and the Lord's army. And he's walking around boasting and everything. 96 00:10:58,220 --> 00:11:04,100 And David's sitting there like, why isn't anybody doing anything, right? And then all of a sudden, 97 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:08,580 Saul's talking to him saying, you're too young. You're a boy. He's been fighting since he's been 98 00:11:08,580 --> 00:11:14,919 a boy. You know, no, no, no, no, no. Look, I've killed a lion and I've killed a bear. He'll just 99 00:11:14,919 --> 00:11:21,379 be like one of them. Okay. It's like what faith that is, because he's already experienced it. 100 00:11:21,759 --> 00:11:27,580 Sometimes it doesn't look exactly the same. You know, lion, bear, a giant, 101 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:34,860 they look a little different. Okay. But it's the same God, right? It's the same victory 102 00:11:34,860 --> 00:11:43,080 that God wants to have through you. And so it might look different, but God operates the same way. 103 00:11:43,220 --> 00:11:48,960 He's still moving and shaking through you. And he still wants to do the work. Don't you believe 104 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:57,080 that? The circumstances might change, the people might change, the exact details might change, 105 00:11:57,080 --> 00:12:05,779 but it's the same God, the same God who wants to move powerfully through you. He wants to move 106 00:12:05,779 --> 00:12:12,139 through you. Think about that. You know, he chooses to move around this earth in earth and vessels, 107 00:12:12,379 --> 00:12:17,600 like tents. Mine's falling apart every year, a little more so, but it's just a tent. And yet 108 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:24,139 he's glorious inside that tent. He's powerful. That's the thing that boggles our mind. Like 109 00:12:24,139 --> 00:12:30,720 that's how he proves how powerful he is because he's in meager tents on earth. Yet he is powerful. 110 00:12:32,399 --> 00:12:38,500 He prepares us in advance. You know, even when I think about being a pastor, I never wanted to 111 00:12:38,500 --> 00:12:42,159 be a pastor. I really didn't. I just wanted to be a businessman. I wanted to make lots of money. 112 00:12:42,639 --> 00:12:48,120 That's what I wanted to do, right? Make lots of money and be a good family man and so forth. 113 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:53,720 But, you know, the Lord just kept reeling me in, you know, like a fish. He just kept pulling me in 114 00:12:53,720 --> 00:12:59,659 and, you know, first, fifth and sixth grade assistant, you know, and then suddenly I'm the 115 00:12:59,659 --> 00:13:04,820 teacher and I'm like, okay, you know, then I'm a teacher for junior high. Okay. Then I'm a teacher 116 00:13:04,820 --> 00:13:10,879 for senior high, but I never really went after any of those positions. They just, they just 117 00:13:10,879 --> 00:13:16,080 happened. I was like the only one around like, well, let's, let's choose him. Okay. You know, 118 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:20,539 but it's like, that's a lot of times God just recruits you and you don't even realize you're 119 00:13:20,539 --> 00:13:25,960 being recruited, right? You're like, but because he's preparing you, you know, with me, he has 120 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:31,639 to work slowly. You know, I'm surprised I didn't start nursery, you know, like let's start there. 121 00:13:31,639 --> 00:13:36,820 Okay. You can handle that. And I'm not putting any of that down. In fact, I love to talk to 122 00:13:36,820 --> 00:13:41,799 Danny Jackson about teaching children. I believe if you could teach children, you could teach 123 00:13:41,799 --> 00:13:46,620 anybody, you know, because the analogies are like, all right, let me go back. Let me go back 124 00:13:46,620 --> 00:13:51,419 50 years. What did they think about? What did they more than 50 years now? What did they care 125 00:13:51,419 --> 00:13:57,000 about? Like I picture a Tonka truck, you know, or something like that. But when you get older, 126 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:01,539 it's like, you know, I bounced a check. Oh, okay. I got that. I've been there, done that, 127 00:14:01,539 --> 00:14:05,299 you know, it's more we can relate. Well, who writes checks anymore anyway, but anyway, 128 00:14:05,299 --> 00:14:12,399 but you get the idea. It's like we can connect right on an easier level. But anyway, so that's 129 00:14:12,399 --> 00:14:18,519 what he does. He prepares us for the next thing. And sometimes he starts small. Remember what he 130 00:14:18,519 --> 00:14:23,720 said? Don't be grudge small beginnings, because a lot of times that's where he starts with us, 131 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:28,019 because that's all we can handle. That's all I could handle. He was just little bits, little 132 00:14:28,019 --> 00:14:34,420 steps at a time, you know. And that's what he's doing with Peter. He just keeps growing Peter's 133 00:14:35,340 --> 00:14:42,299 his sphere of influence. So let's read on from there from 36 to 43. 134 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:50,940 At Joppa, there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. I was reading 135 00:14:50,940 --> 00:14:56,220 that I'm thinking, I think I prefer Tabitha. I don't know about you. Dorcas is kind of harsh, 136 00:14:56,620 --> 00:15:01,899 you know, but anyway, whatever you prefer Tabitha, Dorcas, but there's a woman. Okay. 137 00:15:01,899 --> 00:15:08,919 And this woman was full of good works and charitable deeds, which she did. But it happened 138 00:15:08,919 --> 00:15:16,100 in those days that she became sick and died. And when they had washed her, they laid her 139 00:15:16,100 --> 00:15:25,200 in an upper room. And since Lida was near Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, 140 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:32,720 they went to, they went, they sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them. 141 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:40,679 And then Peter arose and went with them. And when he had come in, they brought him to the upper room. 142 00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:49,659 And all the widows stood by him, weeping, showing the tunics and garments, which Dorcas had made 143 00:15:49,659 --> 00:15:58,580 while she was with them. But Peter put them all out and knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body, 144 00:15:59,019 --> 00:16:06,799 he said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes. And when she saw Peter, she sat up. 145 00:16:07,740 --> 00:16:15,200 And then he gave her his hand and lifted her up. And when he had called the saints and widows, 146 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:23,440 he presented her alive. And it became known throughout all of Joppa. And many believed on the 147 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:32,419 Lord. And so it was that he stayed many days in Joppa with Simon, a tanner. So let's just show 148 00:16:32,419 --> 00:16:38,200 a little map. I like showing maps because it gives us, it could just kind of picture things, 149 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:45,820 how they were. Peter was still spending a lot of time in Jerusalem with James, the half-brother 150 00:16:45,820 --> 00:16:54,000 of Jesus. But now he's in Lyda. And then these people heard about it. Dorcas dies. Let's go get 151 00:16:54,000 --> 00:17:01,120 Peter. And so Peter goes there. And now this event just happened, just so you could picture 152 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:07,079 the landscape. And so he went in and there's these weeping widows, not weeping willows, 153 00:17:07,079 --> 00:17:14,640 weeping widows. And he goes in and they're showing him all the tapestry and the things that 154 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:23,160 she made while she was alive. And it's a touching setting. And then he chases them out. And I'm 155 00:17:23,160 --> 00:17:29,579 thinking, what is the significance of that? Well, first of all, widows, just by their name, 156 00:17:29,579 --> 00:17:37,619 what are they connected with? Death, right? Death of a significant other, meaning their husbands, 157 00:17:37,859 --> 00:17:43,900 I mean, their provider, their protector, the father of their children, if they have them. 158 00:17:44,279 --> 00:17:50,059 I mean, it's significant, right? And so that's why the Lord said, make sure you take care of 159 00:17:50,059 --> 00:17:58,380 those widows and orphans, right? Because a widow doesn't have that stable pillar in her life. 160 00:17:59,020 --> 00:18:04,339 And so they're there and they're well acquainted with death, right? And they're weeping. 161 00:18:05,279 --> 00:18:12,299 So they're, of course, connecting that death with Dorcas and saying, you know, it's so sad she's 162 00:18:12,299 --> 00:18:17,759 gone. And then they're bringing out the things she made. Like, remember when she made this? And 163 00:18:17,759 --> 00:18:22,900 I'm not making light of this, okay? But I'm trying to just picture this scene. Meanwhile, 164 00:18:22,900 --> 00:18:29,559 Peter's walking in like, no, I'm about raising her back to life. Like, go, go. Like, I can't be 165 00:18:29,559 --> 00:18:37,859 distracted with this death perspective. You know, I really believe that's the picture here. 166 00:18:38,339 --> 00:18:43,240 Because why else would he chase them out, you know? Because in a sense, sometimes we need to 167 00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:50,779 cast out doubt. If somebody has a perspective that it ain't going to happen, that looks impossible to 168 00:18:50,779 --> 00:19:01,700 me, you know? Well, right? Sometimes we have to create distance between impossible and possible. 169 00:19:02,279 --> 00:19:09,220 Because Jesus is always saying, no, I am possible. I can do this. So sometimes we need to kind of 170 00:19:09,220 --> 00:19:16,500 gentlet your area of faith, you know? We need to, can you just leave, you know? And that sounds 171 00:19:16,500 --> 00:19:22,619 harsh, but because we need to have the proper perspective. And I just think in a daily life, 172 00:19:22,799 --> 00:19:30,240 if we're surrounded with people that are always just naysayers, doomed secret, but no kidding aside, 173 00:19:32,339 --> 00:19:38,579 about six years, maybe five years ago, but I had heard a dear friend of ours from an old church 174 00:19:39,140 --> 00:19:45,480 had ALS, you know, Lou Gehrig's disease, you know? And I just heard it. He was such a fun, 175 00:19:47,119 --> 00:19:53,099 nice, charismatic guy and a teacher literally at a public school. And I heard about this and I'm like, 176 00:19:54,240 --> 00:20:01,900 no, no, no, no. And I thought I heard from the Lord, this thing will not happen. And so I went 177 00:20:01,900 --> 00:20:07,619 to their house because I don't want to be shameful about faith. I don't know about you, but you know 178 00:20:07,619 --> 00:20:13,339 what? I'm willing to go all in and be a fool for Christ. And I'm willing to just expect the 179 00:20:13,339 --> 00:20:19,559 greatest from God, expect the miracles. And you know what? If I'd heard him wrong, 180 00:20:19,559 --> 00:20:25,539 or it wasn't his will for that day, or whatever the other dynamics, I don't know any of that. But 181 00:20:25,539 --> 00:20:31,059 all I can do is act in faith and say, I'm going to lay hands on him and he's going to be healed. 182 00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:36,660 And that's what I told him. Well, he's home with the Lord right now, many years later, 183 00:20:37,300 --> 00:20:45,980 and it was slow. And that was a burden for me because I had so much hope and expectation. Can 184 00:20:45,980 --> 00:20:52,940 you feel me right now? Have you been there? What happened? I can do all things. 185 00:20:53,839 --> 00:21:00,400 Now, Paul wasn't talking about that. He was talking about being able to be rich or poor or whatever. 186 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:10,099 But really, it's sometimes we just want God to move so much, and we believe for it, 187 00:21:10,119 --> 00:21:13,460 and then it doesn't happen. Now, we're not going to talk all about that today. That's a whole 188 00:21:13,460 --> 00:21:20,619 different sermon. But the idea is that, you know, we can't let that not happening dictate 189 00:21:20,619 --> 00:21:27,160 what we do next because Jesus is saying, pray and ask, seek and knock and expect. Like, 190 00:21:27,860 --> 00:21:34,599 believe. People never have accomplished anything with unbelief. Let me just say that. And I think 191 00:21:34,599 --> 00:21:40,119 that's one of the reasons why Peter is saying, I'm sorry, we can't have weeping widows in this 192 00:21:40,119 --> 00:21:46,299 room right now showing me the things she made when she was alive. She's going to be alive. 193 00:21:47,900 --> 00:21:53,940 And so sometimes we need to cast out doubt. People in our lives say, look, I love you, 194 00:21:53,940 --> 00:22:01,720 but right now I need a fresh perspective. And we actually see this precedent in scripture 195 00:22:02,259 --> 00:22:09,900 kind of escorting out unbelievers. Do you remember when Elijah went to the widow in Zarephath, 196 00:22:10,059 --> 00:22:19,839 right? And he was staying with her and suddenly her son died and she went to him. She was holding 197 00:22:19,839 --> 00:22:28,859 her son and says, is this why you came here? Just to remind me of my sins. And so Elijah, you know, 198 00:22:29,380 --> 00:22:35,299 she's done so much for him, right? He takes, he takes the boy, brings him up to the upper room, 199 00:22:35,359 --> 00:22:41,480 lays him down, and he's having a word with God. Is this what, is this what you're going to do, 200 00:22:41,700 --> 00:22:45,599 God? I mean, like, you know, but the Lord is gracious. If you ever yell at God, remember, 201 00:22:45,599 --> 00:22:52,019 he is gracious. Okay. How could you do this, God? He's gracious. How many times did David yell at God 202 00:22:52,019 --> 00:22:56,839 when things didn't work out the way he thought they would? So Elijah's saying, are you now bringing 203 00:22:56,839 --> 00:23:03,059 death to this woman's son? Yeah. And so you know what he did? He just goes and he lays down on 204 00:23:03,059 --> 00:23:09,660 the boy three times and he comes back to life. But you know what he did with the mother? 205 00:23:10,339 --> 00:23:18,500 He said, you got to stay downstairs because this perspective, this spirit of anger, 206 00:23:19,039 --> 00:23:25,380 this spirit of judgment, this spirit of unbelief, it can't be in this room. 207 00:23:27,099 --> 00:23:32,779 He needed a fresh perspective from God saying, what am I supposed to do? Lay on him three times? 208 00:23:32,940 --> 00:23:38,380 Really? Okay. You know, sometimes God tells us to do weird things and that's what he did. 209 00:23:38,380 --> 00:23:45,599 And then the boy comes back to life and he brings him down to his mother, probably holding him this 210 00:23:45,599 --> 00:23:51,819 way now. He said, behold your son. And then she said, now I believe you are truly from God 211 00:23:51,819 --> 00:23:59,740 and speak the truth. It took that? Yes. But he needed to keep her out of the room. 212 00:24:00,140 --> 00:24:06,799 And actually his protege, Elisha did the same thing. When that woman he was staying with, 213 00:24:07,399 --> 00:24:15,599 he said, what can I do for you? And his assistant Gehazi said, well, she doesn't have any children. 214 00:24:16,700 --> 00:24:21,700 She comes to the door. A year from now, you're going to have a son. Don't lie to me. Please, 215 00:24:21,900 --> 00:24:27,740 really. I just don't say that. In other words, don't get my hopes up, please. 216 00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:32,799 They already knew it was impossible. Well, behold, she has a son. And behold, 217 00:24:32,799 --> 00:24:40,180 some time later, he dies. It doesn't explain why he hit his head or something. And he dies. 218 00:24:41,299 --> 00:24:48,700 And so the woman says, didn't I tell you not to deceive me? Like, could you imagine? Like, 219 00:24:48,799 --> 00:24:53,279 you give me a son. I'm paraphrasing a lot, but you can get the attitude. It's like, 220 00:24:53,480 --> 00:25:00,319 you promised me a son and now he's dead. And so Elisha, again, brings him up to his room, 221 00:25:00,319 --> 00:25:07,180 just like his mentor, lays him down and lays on the boy. And this time only two times. 222 00:25:07,599 --> 00:25:13,920 And the kid sneezes seven times, random. Okay. And behold, he popped up back alive, you know. 223 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:18,619 And then she brought the boy to the mother and said, here's your son back to life. 224 00:25:18,759 --> 00:25:21,880 But the point is, she wasn't allowed in the room either. 225 00:25:23,140 --> 00:25:29,220 Because you can't bring unbelief into an environment where you need to hear 226 00:25:29,220 --> 00:25:34,980 from God. Now, sometimes it's just the way it is. You know, you can't be alone and away from everybody 227 00:25:34,980 --> 00:25:43,000 all the time. But when you can, it's important to sort of be protective of the voices you're 228 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:51,079 listening to. Right? I mean, he had to block out those weeping widows so that he could focus on 229 00:25:51,079 --> 00:26:00,579 what God wanted to do. Right? With Tabitha or Dorkus, whatever you prefer. Right? And so that's 230 00:26:00,579 --> 00:26:05,279 the idea is that they had to cast up, but it doesn't stop there. Jesus himself did it. Remember 231 00:26:05,279 --> 00:26:12,259 when he was going to Jairus's house because Jairus came to him and pleaded, my daughter has 232 00:26:12,259 --> 00:26:18,380 died. Please come. And the girl was only 12 years old. He said, please come. She just died. 233 00:26:18,380 --> 00:26:23,299 So Jesus is like, okay. So he's going to the house. And you know, the story got interrupted 234 00:26:23,299 --> 00:26:28,279 with the woman who was bleeding for 12 years and she gets healed miraculously, you know, 235 00:26:28,579 --> 00:26:34,799 and he finally shows up and there's a bunch of people there crying, weeping. In fact, 236 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:38,519 they said back then, if there wasn't enough people sad, they would hire people. 237 00:26:39,319 --> 00:26:45,579 I need you to come in and really boo-hoo a lot to muster up the environment, the atmosphere of 238 00:26:45,579 --> 00:26:51,079 crying. You know, that's weird. But anyway, so he comes in and he sees this and we read this about 239 00:26:51,680 --> 00:27:01,019 in Matthew 9, 23 to 25. When Jesus came into the ruler's house and saw the flute players 240 00:27:01,019 --> 00:27:07,779 and the noisy crowd wailing, he said to them, make room for the girl is not dead, but sleeping. 241 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:15,140 And then they ridiculed him. But when the crowd was put outside, he went in and took 242 00:27:15,140 --> 00:27:21,299 her by the hand and the girl arose. You got to stay out. Like, you can't be mocking 243 00:27:21,299 --> 00:27:28,619 what I'm about to do here, you know? And I think that sends a message to all of us, really, to 244 00:27:29,380 --> 00:27:38,240 keep negativity, to not allow to seep into us, you know, that pessimism, the doomsday, 245 00:27:40,199 --> 00:27:45,599 the pet, you know, just that attitude of, well, I've seen this before, usually doesn't work out, 246 00:27:45,759 --> 00:27:50,119 you know, well, and it will this time. So I don't want to hear from you, you know? 247 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:58,039 And again, not nasty, but we need to be surrounded, not by yes, people, because, you know, sometimes 248 00:27:58,039 --> 00:28:03,559 it's good to have wise counselors around us like always, right? And if they're saying, you know, 249 00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:08,180 maybe this isn't the move of God, maybe this isn't what he wants to do. Well, maybe it is. Let's 250 00:28:08,180 --> 00:28:14,839 walk through it. But when it comes to needing God to come to the rescue, there's only one way. 251 00:28:15,519 --> 00:28:22,000 You know, Jesus says yes, not maybe. It's yes and amen, right? And that's what we're to believe 252 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:28,480 that he's going to do it. And if he doesn't, then we don't judge him. We move on to the next 253 00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:34,779 opportunity, because he's going to allow one to come, right? And so I can't, I can't end my 254 00:28:34,779 --> 00:28:43,259 laying hands on people, just because one guy went home with the Lord with Lou Gehrig's disease and 255 00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:49,859 suffered through it. You know, that was, you know, that was like really, you know, just 256 00:28:49,859 --> 00:28:55,420 dark for me to think that, wow, like I just was so sure of it. But you know, I can't let that 257 00:28:55,420 --> 00:29:03,279 dictate what I do next. And neither can you. We can't fall into a pessimistic, logical mindset. 258 00:29:03,279 --> 00:29:09,660 Oh, you know, this thing never works out. Yeah, this is, oh, this disease is so far gone. You know, 259 00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:15,740 it's, it's impossible. Well, Jerry, you're a testament five times, right? Being healed 260 00:29:15,740 --> 00:29:23,099 from cancer by the Lord, right? You know, never say never. God can do anything he wants to do. 261 00:29:23,420 --> 00:29:29,240 We need to cast out doubt. We need to cast out the weeping widows that are around us saying, 262 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:35,819 oh, you know, it can happen. You don't know that the Lord's in charge. He says it's over. 263 00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:43,880 When it's over, he's the one who says it's over. Right. So, so we see here that, you know, Peter 264 00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:52,640 needs to, he needs to prepare the room for him to move. Okay, for God to move. And God shows up 265 00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:59,759 and raises her back to life. But something else we might not catch with a quick read 266 00:29:59,759 --> 00:30:06,259 is the last verse we ended at. And so it was that he stayed many days in Joppa 267 00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:12,460 with Simon the Tanner. Now, what's a Tanner? You guys know what a Tanner is? 268 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:22,140 So a Tanner is one who works with skins, like pelts, you know, of animals. Okay. Now, 269 00:30:23,519 --> 00:30:30,740 to work with pelts, what do you need first? Dead animals. Thanks, Pen. You need dead animals, 270 00:30:30,859 --> 00:30:36,839 right? And so he has to work with dead animals. Well, in the Jewish faith, 271 00:30:36,839 --> 00:30:43,079 when you're around something dead, you're unclean. So there was certain ceremonial 272 00:30:43,079 --> 00:30:49,440 things they needed to do and to avoid, you know, contact and connection with ceremonial 273 00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:53,599 rituals and so forth, because they're unclean. That's why when they would see something 274 00:30:53,599 --> 00:30:56,339 dead, they're like, whoa, I'm staying away from, you know, they don't want to go near it. Right. 275 00:30:56,779 --> 00:31:03,319 Because it's unclean. Well, this guy works with unclean every day, all day. That's all he does 276 00:31:03,319 --> 00:31:12,079 is unclean. Okay. And, and here, Peter's living with him. And you're like, well, so what? Well, 277 00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:17,579 you know, the Tanner just to tell you a little bit about the Tanner, first of all, they had to 278 00:31:17,579 --> 00:31:25,039 operate their business in their house, but at least 75 feet outside the city limits because 279 00:31:25,039 --> 00:31:33,700 of the stink and because of the uncleanness of it all. Right. They wouldn't want other people 280 00:31:33,700 --> 00:31:39,400 getting defiled with the vapors and the, you know, the drift of the wind. Right. And so 281 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:47,720 it was a loathe career. And it was surprising if Simon was Jewish, he wasn't a religious one. Okay. 282 00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:54,940 He, you know, so, so this is what he did. You know, it's kind of like finding so off topic, never mind. 283 00:31:55,500 --> 00:32:04,980 But don't go down that trail. But it's so he wasn't a religious one if he was a Tanner. Okay. 284 00:32:05,619 --> 00:32:11,880 And so here, Peter, Peter, he was a religious Jew at one time. And here he is a born again 285 00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:17,160 Christian staying in the guy's house. Doesn't that tell us something? It says, you know what, 286 00:32:18,279 --> 00:32:25,700 he's the skin of religion. The skin of the law is just being peeled off of Peter, not to make it 287 00:32:25,700 --> 00:32:32,980 too much of an analogy. But really, he's new. And he's growing more and more in the freedom of Christ. 288 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:37,759 And he's saying, I don't have to worry about this uncleanness, because you know what, 289 00:32:37,940 --> 00:32:44,759 he's about to learn in chapter 10. Behold, I make all things clean. I mean, think about this. 290 00:32:44,759 --> 00:32:53,940 Peter is living in an unclean house. The end of the chapter before he's about to go into 291 00:32:54,519 --> 00:33:01,359 Cornelius's house, a Roman centurion. And he's going to lead a bunch of Romans to Jesus Christ. 292 00:33:02,180 --> 00:33:07,359 The whole thing's unclean. Right? If you're a respectable Jew, you're not going to go in and 293 00:33:07,359 --> 00:33:13,839 eat with Romans. I mean, that's absurd. What does he do in there? Well, he's getting them saved. 294 00:33:14,759 --> 00:33:21,859 He needed to be prepared in the Tanner's house so he can go into the Roman house, 295 00:33:22,200 --> 00:33:29,220 because God's always prepared us for the next thing. And so the Lord had to prepare Peter. 296 00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:35,220 You know, it's so important. You know, this stench when I was thinking about this, 297 00:33:35,319 --> 00:33:41,839 it reminded me of a documentary I once saw about Mumbai, India. Do you have a slide up there, JT? 298 00:33:41,839 --> 00:33:47,519 You're doing an amazing job, by the way. Let's give JT a round of applause. This is his first 299 00:33:47,519 --> 00:33:52,720 day doing PowerPoint, right? Oh, the second day. All right. Thank you. So anyway, I saw this 300 00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:58,059 documentary on this, like, shacky town. Did you ever hear about this? So, yeah, in Mumbai, 301 00:33:59,059 --> 00:34:03,819 like 12 million live in the center of the city. And that's the small city for India. There's a 302 00:34:03,819 --> 00:34:09,639 30 million city, right? But outside of that, there's like 20 million living around the edges. 303 00:34:09,639 --> 00:34:17,599 And so this is a neighborhood, Dharavi, near Mumbai. And all those shacks, they just go out. 304 00:34:18,099 --> 00:34:26,380 And in fact, I have my little laser pointer here. And right there is a road. Let's see those cars 305 00:34:26,380 --> 00:34:33,920 there. It just goes on and on for miles around this city are these shacks. And they're poor people. 306 00:34:33,920 --> 00:34:39,940 But you know what they do? They actually manufacture things in these shacks. They live there, 307 00:34:39,940 --> 00:34:47,179 but they also make things. And it's like a mini factory inside their home. And one time I'm 308 00:34:47,179 --> 00:34:53,360 watching, and this guy's a tanner. Okay. And he gets these pelts, and he hangs them up in his 309 00:34:53,360 --> 00:35:00,519 living room. And he paints them with like chemicals. And then it's just coming off, 310 00:35:00,519 --> 00:35:07,739 and it's smoking, and it's causing some kind of chemical reaction. And then he doesn't stop there. 311 00:35:08,119 --> 00:35:14,699 Then he takes it down after it dries out and so forth. And he cuts it into pocketbooks and 312 00:35:14,699 --> 00:35:19,980 purses and book bags and whatever else. And then he does that. And then he shrinks, 313 00:35:19,980 --> 00:35:26,019 wrap it in plastic, all in his living room. And then he sends it away for sale. And as I'm 314 00:35:26,019 --> 00:35:32,559 watching this film, I'm thinking, and then he goes to bed in the same room. But this 315 00:35:32,559 --> 00:35:38,500 tanner, it was the same thing. And Peter's living there with him. He's learning to make do with 316 00:35:38,500 --> 00:35:46,239 what he has. And he's all worth it. The gospel's always worth it. So he was being prepared for 317 00:35:46,239 --> 00:35:53,199 what God was going to do in chapter 10. And so in light of these things, I want to ask a few 318 00:35:53,199 --> 00:35:58,619 questions we can look at to ask ourselves, because it's always important to say, all right, so what 319 00:35:58,619 --> 00:36:05,760 does all this matter to me? Well, he's preparing. He's preparing you, isn't he? You know, he who 320 00:36:05,760 --> 00:36:12,099 began a good work on you will complete it, right? He will complete it. I love Ephesians 2.10, 321 00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:20,539 for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance 322 00:36:20,539 --> 00:36:26,940 for you to walk in. I mean, think about that. He's always known what he was going to have 323 00:36:26,940 --> 00:36:34,179 Jill do. Do we walk in all of those things? I'm sure we miss a lot. We've probably missed out on 324 00:36:34,179 --> 00:36:40,559 a lot of things that he had prepared for us to do. But if we could just walk in some of them, 325 00:36:40,739 --> 00:36:50,519 or a lot of them, that's a huge plus, isn't it? Because that's what we're doing. We're 326 00:36:50,519 --> 00:36:56,980 sake, right? And so the first question, as we think about that we are his workmanship 327 00:36:56,980 --> 00:37:04,179 created in Christ Jesus, the first question I want to ask is, what has God prepared you for 328 00:37:04,179 --> 00:37:10,940 that he is now giving you an opportunity, another opportunity to be part of his move? 329 00:37:11,960 --> 00:37:18,760 Like, what has he done in the past that he wants to do again? And you know, a lot of those things 330 00:37:18,760 --> 00:37:25,719 are failures. Remember we talked about John Mark, I think last week. Yeah, John Mark. So, you know, 331 00:37:26,340 --> 00:37:32,719 Mark tried to go with Barnabas and Paul, the first mission strip, and somewhere around 332 00:37:32,719 --> 00:37:42,679 Paphylia, he turned around and went home, right? Whatever reason, sick, scared, whatever. Barnabas 333 00:37:42,679 --> 00:37:48,280 says, let's give him another chance. Paul said no. But what happened with Mark? I mean, he went 334 00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:55,360 on to write a gospel. You have a gospel named after him because of all of what he gleaned from 335 00:37:55,360 --> 00:38:02,059 everyone in the early church. Not only that, but he became instrumental in Paul's ministry, 336 00:38:02,260 --> 00:38:08,199 the very man who said he's not worthy to come with us. Now he says, he's so valuable to me. 337 00:38:08,599 --> 00:38:15,980 I can't do without Mark. Make sure you send him, because I need him. He's very valuable. 338 00:38:15,980 --> 00:38:20,039 You know, we can learn so much from mistakes. I think we learn more 339 00:38:20,039 --> 00:38:24,579 from mistakes. Do you know that? Because when we do things, oh, that worked out. That was easy. 340 00:38:25,079 --> 00:38:29,440 I could do that again. Well, you have the wrong perspective. You think you're doing it. 341 00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:34,340 It's God who's doing it, right? But failures, you know, I think Peter, 342 00:38:35,500 --> 00:38:42,400 every time he heard a rooster call, right? Cock-a-doodle-doo! Right? 343 00:38:44,240 --> 00:38:51,940 Was he ashamed, or did he say, look how far I've come? Look what God has done with me. 344 00:38:52,300 --> 00:39:00,880 I would never deny Jesus Christ. He is my life. He is my very life. Remember what he said in 345 00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:08,159 2 Peter chapter 1? That he is now, I have his divine nature. Like, he's living through me. 346 00:39:08,159 --> 00:39:17,000 How can I deny who I am? I am in Christ, and he is in me. You know, you can learn so much 347 00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:21,500 from mistakes. If you're sitting here saying, I wish I had that shot again, pray for another one. 348 00:39:21,579 --> 00:39:25,960 He'll give it to you. Remember, I told you that one time the Lord said, go visit that woman. 349 00:39:26,179 --> 00:39:31,940 She's terminally ill. And I just kept hearing it. And here, I'm like, just stop it. Stop it. 350 00:39:32,059 --> 00:39:35,739 You know, I don't know her that well. And what if other people were there in the room too? 351 00:39:35,739 --> 00:39:44,960 You know, this was years ago, and I was a new believer. Didn't go. She died. I felt so remorseful. 352 00:39:45,559 --> 00:39:51,260 I said, Lord, if you give me another chance, I'll take it. Suddenly, boom, boom, boom. My mom's 353 00:39:52,239 --> 00:39:55,820 terminally ill. My dad's terminally ill. This one's terminally ill. I'm like, all right, Lord, 354 00:39:56,039 --> 00:39:59,760 well, you know, I got to schedule these things, right? You know, because suddenly, and I'm just 355 00:39:59,760 --> 00:40:05,320 like some business guy. Why is he sending me all these terminally ill people? Because I 356 00:40:05,320 --> 00:40:11,039 asked for it. Because I learned something from the mistake. And he said, no, I want you to do this. 357 00:40:11,539 --> 00:40:16,300 Like, you don't want to miss out on what he's calling you to do. You can learn so much from 358 00:40:16,300 --> 00:40:23,079 mistakes. I remember thinking like, I would rather be embarrassed in front of people in that room 359 00:40:23,640 --> 00:40:29,880 that I don't know. And I have to say that they need Jesus Christ than ever feel the way I felt 360 00:40:29,880 --> 00:40:35,760 after that woman died. It just isn't worth it. It's just, it's so much better to just say, yes, 361 00:40:36,360 --> 00:40:41,159 send me, Lord. If you're calling me to do it, I'm going to do it. We can learn so much 362 00:40:41,159 --> 00:40:47,539 from mistakes, but also from victories. You know, like Peter, hey, I raised a guy 363 00:40:48,059 --> 00:40:54,840 who was lame since birth. This guy, it's only eight years. No problem. God can do this, 364 00:40:54,840 --> 00:41:01,880 right? David, I killed a lion and a bear. The Lord can do this. I've already been here, done this. 365 00:41:02,960 --> 00:41:10,059 God will do it through you. You know, another question I have to ask you is, 366 00:41:10,980 --> 00:41:18,500 how is God preparing you now? What's he doing in the midst of this moment right now? 367 00:41:18,500 --> 00:41:34,099 You know, Peter was in the Tanner's house, the unclean, despised career path. He's in this house. 368 00:41:34,800 --> 00:41:39,039 It's smelly, dead animals everywhere. I don't know if they're everywhere, but there are a lot 369 00:41:39,039 --> 00:41:43,159 of places. Like, hey, can you move that dead animal with the cats? I need somewhere to sit. 370 00:41:43,159 --> 00:41:49,260 No, I'm not saying it was like that, but it was nasty, right? And it was spirit. It was 371 00:41:49,260 --> 00:41:55,360 ritually unclean. And yet God was saying, no, this is where I want you because you're learning 372 00:41:55,360 --> 00:42:01,900 something in this moment for where I'm sending you to. It's so important. What is he preparing 373 00:42:01,900 --> 00:42:09,420 you for right now? You know, a lot of times to grasp that, I think we really have to like 374 00:42:09,980 --> 00:42:15,400 cleanse ourselves of the idols, you know, because over and over again, the Lord said, 375 00:42:15,539 --> 00:42:20,019 rid yourself of the idols. And I was always shocked. You mean to tell me they still have idols? 376 00:42:21,019 --> 00:42:24,920 Like, they came out of Egypt years ago, and they're still carrying around idols. Like, 377 00:42:25,079 --> 00:42:30,579 really? Like, you haven't learned anything from a pillar of fire. You haven't learned anything 378 00:42:30,579 --> 00:42:36,099 from a parted red sea. You haven't learned anything from manna coming down from heaven, 379 00:42:36,099 --> 00:42:42,280 water coming out of a rock. Like, you haven't learned anything. You know, how can you still 380 00:42:42,280 --> 00:42:48,780 be carrying around those false Gods? But you know, we do the same thing. Sometimes we still carry 381 00:42:48,780 --> 00:42:55,559 around things that are distracting us. But the Lord is saying, you know, if you want to be 382 00:42:55,559 --> 00:43:03,199 prepared for the move I'm about to do, just turn the stop. I've been, I've cut down my YouTube 383 00:43:03,579 --> 00:43:07,840 quite a bit, by the way. It was so tempting. You know, you just suddenly get a little bing, 384 00:43:08,300 --> 00:43:13,860 you're like, oh, suddenly 25 minutes later, you're like, oh, wow, yeah, hit him, hit him. No, I mean, 385 00:43:14,300 --> 00:43:19,460 you know, but like, it can be so consuming. It's like, what is happening to me? And I just 386 00:43:19,460 --> 00:43:24,199 had to detox and say no more, no moss. I don't want any of that anymore. Because you know what? 387 00:43:24,679 --> 00:43:32,840 It's distracting us from being prepared for what he wants to do. We need to be alert. 388 00:43:32,840 --> 00:43:40,179 I love the scripture that says, you know, walk wisely, circumspectly in this world because the 389 00:43:40,179 --> 00:43:47,460 days are evil. We need to be wise and in tune with what he's preparing to do. One more question, 390 00:43:47,679 --> 00:43:53,699 okay? And if the worship team can start to come up, but let's look at the question real quick 391 00:43:53,699 --> 00:44:02,480 first, right? How does God want you to prepare for him to move? Like, what, you know, 392 00:44:02,800 --> 00:44:11,360 Peter had to escort the weeping widows out of the room. Like, we can't have you here. Jesus 393 00:44:11,360 --> 00:44:19,800 needed to escort the hired whalers out of the room. Like, you know, I can't have all this 394 00:44:19,800 --> 00:44:22,940 mockery. You're mocking me and I'm about to raise this girl 395 00:44:24,860 --> 00:44:33,360 to life. You know, we can't have the naysayers in the room with us in terms of what he's about to do. 396 00:44:35,639 --> 00:44:43,679 How does he want you to prepare for him to move? You know, preparation is just so important. We have 397 00:44:43,679 --> 00:44:51,119 an amazing events team here. I just want to give them, can we give them a little accolade here? 398 00:44:52,500 --> 00:44:57,400 And you're saying, who are they? Well, there's a few, I don't want to announce them all because 399 00:44:57,400 --> 00:45:04,320 I'll forget some, but I know generally speaking, it's Tammy, Debbie, Pastor Doug, McRoberts, and 400 00:45:04,320 --> 00:45:10,199 Roxanne, and some others, and so many. Again, I'm sorry if I didn't just mention you, but 401 00:45:10,199 --> 00:45:17,320 there's so many. And in fact, Candy, can you give a little wave, Candy? All right. We're going to have 402 00:45:17,320 --> 00:45:24,159 a potluck at the end of the month on the 30th. And if you want to bring something and sign up for it, 403 00:45:24,539 --> 00:45:29,980 see Candy because she'll sign you up and tell them what to bring or find out what they want 404 00:45:29,980 --> 00:45:39,679 to bring or anything, but whatever. But our events team is always preparing for times of fellowship. 405 00:45:40,199 --> 00:45:44,079 And you should see the texts that are going back and forth. They're just like firing off 406 00:45:44,079 --> 00:45:49,019 like so much. And you're thinking, wow, I can't keep track of all this. You know, it's like, 407 00:45:49,019 --> 00:45:54,559 there's so much preparation. We're going to be having a picnic sometime in October. We don't 408 00:45:54,559 --> 00:46:00,039 know where it exactly went yet, but all the preparation and finding the perfect environment, 409 00:46:00,500 --> 00:46:05,659 it's so important to prepare. And this is just for like a party. But you know what, 410 00:46:05,659 --> 00:46:11,079 what's going to happen at that party is significant. God is going to move powerfully. 411 00:46:11,840 --> 00:46:18,199 So we need to prepare. Like everything really requires preparation, but the most important 412 00:46:18,199 --> 00:46:27,340 thing that needs to be prepared is what? Us. We need to be prepared for God to move 413 00:46:28,019 --> 00:46:32,820 because otherwise we can do a lot of things. But if we're not prepared, 414 00:46:33,840 --> 00:46:37,780 you know, I remember I used to way, way back before a sermon, I used to sit there and 415 00:46:37,780 --> 00:46:42,159 be running through my notes and I got to make sure I remember that guy's name and 416 00:46:42,619 --> 00:46:48,219 like all this memorization and preparation. Preparation is awesome, but I should have 417 00:46:48,219 --> 00:46:56,000 done that hours ago, right? It should have already been done so that now I can be free 418 00:46:56,000 --> 00:47:03,059 to let the spirit move and not have to be captivated to all these notes and remembering 419 00:47:03,059 --> 00:47:07,039 things. So now I could just come on Sunday mornings and just praise God and just 420 00:47:07,039 --> 00:47:13,719 let go and relax and enjoy the Lord. You know, the more pre-preparation you do, 421 00:47:14,320 --> 00:47:25,980 the more the spirit can actually move. You realize that? Because you don't get 422 00:47:25,980 --> 00:47:31,860 regimented. He's always moving and a lot of times he's changing directions. But if we're hung up on 423 00:47:31,860 --> 00:47:38,900 the things that should just be automatic, that he can't really move us the way he wants to move us. 424 00:47:38,940 --> 00:47:45,000 Does that make sense? So let's all stand up and thank the Lord. And Lord God, we thank you that 425 00:47:45,000 --> 00:47:52,760 you are always on the move. And Lord, we want to be moving with you. And so Lord, thank you 426 00:47:53,320 --> 00:47:56,099 and praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. 427 00:48:00,500 --> 00:48:05,980 Thanks for joining us at Lansdale Life Church as we praise God and discuss His Word. 428 00:48:06,659 --> 00:48:12,139 Don't forget to join us for Worship Lives Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. Eastern on YouTube. 429 00:48:12,139 --> 00:48:15,239 Be blessed and have a great day!