July 28, 2025 • 37 mins
In this powerful and prophetic installment of our Rooted series, guest preacher Prophet Jeremiah Johnson delivers a fiery message that calls the church to anchor their faith deeper than ever before. With raw vulnerability and bold authority, he unpacks the sobering truth: many of God’s greatest promises are only unlocked through pressing, persecution, and the fire of testing.
Drawing from Acts 1 and 8, the life of David, and his own personal trials—including his mother’s mental illness and his brother’s incarceration—Jeremiah exposes the myth of a pain-free gospel and calls believers to embrace the process that forges true discipleship.
This message will shake off apathy, strengthen weary hearts, and reignite holy fire in those who feel like their flame has dwindled. If you’ve ever asked why in the middle of the storm, this is the word that will bring clarity and courage.
🔑 Key Takeaways:
- You can’t fulfill the Great Commission without the power—and the power often comes through pain
- The anointing may come before the appointing—don't despise the process
- Persecution purifies, presses, and positions you for purpose
- Your faith must be rooted in Christ, not your circumstances
- Don’t curse what God has called you to steward—shine in the darkness
📖 Featured Scriptures: Matthew 28, Acts 1:8, Acts 8, 1 Peter 4:12, John 15, Luke 6:48
🔥 Whether you're in the fire or recovering from the fight, this is your invitation to dig deep, stay faithful, and declare: Nevertheless, I will follow.
🙌 Subscribe, rate, and share with someone who needs a breakthrough.
🌱 Support what God is doing through V1 Church at https://donate.overflow.co/v1
📍More info at www.v1church.com
Mentioned in this episode:
BREAKERS CONFERENCE
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Foreign.
As Jesus was walking with hisdisciples for a period of three years
upon the earth, he obviouslytaught him them about his kingdom.
He told them that he woulddie, that he would rise again.
(00:23):
And as Jesus rises again, hegives his disciples what we know
as the Great Commission.
Matthew, chapter 28.
The Great Commission.
Go out and make disciples,Baptizing them in the name of the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
How many of you are taking upthe Great Commission?
(00:44):
Amen.
It's something that he gave toall believers to make disciples.
But then in Acts 1:8, he tellsthem to wait in Jerusalem, to wait
in the upper room for thepromise of the Father.
And in Acts 1:8, he says, youwill receive.
Receive power when the HolySpirit comes upon you.
(01:06):
And you shall be my witnessesin both Jerusalem and Judea, Samaria
and the ends of the earth.
And so the way that I look atit is there's a Great Commission,
then there's a great baptism.
I really believe that Jesusknew they could not fulfill the Great
(01:27):
Commission without the Holy Spirit.
They needed a fresh baptism of power.
And so, as we read there inActs 18, there's this promise.
Power is coming.
There's this promise.
Great help is coming.
Maybe some of you havereceived a prophetic word before.
(01:48):
Words of destiny.
Words that God has a plan.
God has a future for you.
So let's see how God plans toactivate his promise to them in Acts
18 by reading Acts 8.
And Saul was in heartyagreement with putting him to death.
(02:08):
Him being Stephen.
Stephen has just been martyred.
And on that day, a greatpersecution arose against the church
in Jerusalem.
And they were all scatteredthroughout the regions of Judea and
Samaria, except the apostles.
And some devout men buriedStephen and made loud cries over
(02:29):
him.
But Saul began ravaging thechurch, entering house after house,
dragging off men and women toput them in prison.
So we're seeing here God'splan to bring forth his promise.
And so, if you're takingnotes, God's promise to the early
(02:50):
church was activated through persecution.
I don't know about you, but Iwould have passed.
Okay, again, I really want tomake sure you're tracking with me.
I want to talk to you todayabout persecution, deception and
the harvest and how it relatesto our life.
(03:12):
Okay?
Jesus gives them the GreatCommission in Matthew 28.
Go make disciples.
And Acts 1:8, he tells them,before you go and make disciples,
you need power.
Say power.
You need power.
You need Holy Ghost power tobe my witnesses in Judea and Samaria
(03:32):
and the ends of the earth.
They can't get to Judea,Samaria and the ends of the earth
unless there's persecution.
So I see a great commission.
I see a great baptism and Isee a great persecution.
We make some practical application.
(03:53):
There are some promises Godhas given some of us here this morning.
There are some prophecies thatwe have received.
There are some good thingsthat God wants to bring forth in
our life that can only comeforth during hard times.
(04:14):
Jesus, the anointed one wentto Gethsemane, which means oil press.
The anointed one went to theoil press in order for what God had
put inside of him.
In other words, what getssqueezed out of you in on hard times
(04:39):
is a revelation of who wereally are.
What gets squeezed out of usin hard times is a reality of where
our faith really is in Jesus.
And so the early church beginsto be persecuted.
(05:00):
And Acts chapter 8.
But the revelation here isthat Jesus promise to them in Acts
1:8 for power can only comeafter persecution.
And I want to speak to some people.
You're wrestling through hard times.
I want to speak to people.
You're in a valley, you're ina storm.
(05:22):
You're trying to make sense ofwhat's happening.
Why is someone sick?
Why can't I get a job?
I thought the prophet said,said imagine being David.
I would have probably Facebookrebuked Samuel.
Okay, Samuel goes to David andhe anoints David king over Israel.
(05:49):
But you have to listen to me today.
There's a difference betweenthe anointing and the appointing.
David anoints Samuel king overIsrael, but he's not appointed king
until 13 years later.
The only prophecy David has isyou're going to become king.
(06:13):
The reason why I joked aboutFacebook review rebuking Samuel is
I would just say, hey Sammy, Iappreciate the word about me being
anointed king, but you kind ofleft out the 13 year period of being
chased by a demonized leadernamed Saul, who I thought was a father.
(06:35):
Right, right, right, right.
Yeah.
God had given him a promise.
God had given him a prophecy.
You are anointed king.
But there was a process.
There was a pressing, therewas a persecution, there was a trial,
(06:58):
there was a tribulation.
There was something that hehad to go through in order to ref
define him as the man or foryou, the woman of God that God has
called you to be.
So I want to speak strength toyou today.
I want to speak encouragementyou today.
(07:19):
I want to exhort you, I wantto comfort you.
The Bible says, don't Besurprised at trials as, as if some
strange thing had happened to you.
Now just for a moment, thatthere's a false gospel being preached
in America.
(07:40):
The false gospel is come toJesus and you'll never have a problem
again.
You know how many people cometo Jesus thinking somehow he's delivered
them from all their problems?
Listen, if we didn't haveproblems, there'd be no need for
faith.
(08:03):
Jesus warned them.
Are you building your house onthe sand so that when the storms
of life come, your faith iswashed away?
Or are you building your faithon the rock solid foundation of Jesus
Christ?
So again in this rooted serieswhere V1 church is being welcomed,
(08:26):
being invited to let yourroots grow down deep.
I'm encouraging you andexhorting you that whether our roots
are down deep is oftentimesreally determined in seasons of shaking.
Really determined when things.
And again, scripturally,marriage is a covenant.
(08:52):
It's not a contract.
It's not something that I bailon my wife because things aren't
going my way.
I'm not, hey, I'm having ahard time at my job, so I quit.
Listen, we need a generationof no quitters.
We need a generation wholearns how to persevere, who learns
(09:16):
how to get a backbone, wholearns how to communicate, who learns
how to hit delete ondysfunctional marriage and family.
Come on, somebody, right?
So I want to be somebody thatwhen oppressing, that when a shaking,
that when a persecution breaks out.
(09:37):
Listen, the deeper you go inGod, the less you can take with you.
If you haven't been toldyou're part of a cult yet you're
not doing it right.
Verse 4.
(09:58):
Therefore, those who had beenscattered went about preaching the
word.
What was their response to persecution?
I'm just going to keep doingthe same thing I've always done because
persecution's not causing meto shake in my boots.
(10:18):
Persecution is causing me tolace up my boots.
Nice try, devil.
Some of you need to serve himnotice today.
Some of you need to take astand today.
Some of you need to look thedevil in the face and say, buddy,
(10:40):
it ain't working.
You little wimp.
You stirring up warfare.
You coming against me.
You, you sending this personat work, this little kid wiling out.
I mean this is like, listen, listen.
My faith is unshakable.
My faith is not in my circumstances.
My faith is in God.
(11:03):
I tell people I prayed forpeople who have been healed of cancer.
I prayed for people who havedied of cancer.
My faith is still unshakable.
Listen to me.
Because My faith is not in miracles.
My faith is in God.
I don't heal anyone.
(11:25):
I just pray in faith for thesick and leave the results to God.
So Philip is scattered and hejust keeps preaching.
He goes down to Samariaproclaiming Christ to them and multitudes.
It's so, so awesome.
I'll just kind of paraphrasefor you.
(11:46):
But as Philip is down inSamaria, he starts casting demons
out of people.
The sick become healed.
People start coming into thekingdom of God, all due to persecution.
The promise of Jesus in 1 Acts1:8, that they would receive power
(12:09):
in order to be his witnessescannot be accomplished unless persecution
breaks out against the church.
I'm telling you this morning,there are many promises and prophecies
that God has given you and Ithat cannot come to pass without
(12:29):
a process.
And many times the way Godprocesses us.
Many times what we go throughin life is God's way, not our way.
(12:50):
I've had a call on my lifesince I was a young boy.
I went down to college andpursued ministry.
Then I get a call one day frommy dad.
He's crying, says Jeremiah,something's happened to your mom.
I grew up a pastor's son.
My mom ends up being diagnosedbipolar, schizophrenic.
(13:12):
She ends up in a mental institution.
I'm pursuing the call of God.
I've got great promises, I'vegot great prophecies.
But now I'm wrestling with amom who grew up a pastor's wife who's
no longer mentally well.
(13:35):
You want to talk about faith shaken.
You want to talk about what inthe world is.
My dad steps down from ministry.
He becomes suicidal.
A man that I look to as my hero.
All of a sudden, his world hascome crashing down.
In the years that followed, Iwould have a brother who, because
(13:56):
of the crimes he committed,has been in a federal penitentiary
for the last 10 years.
Sometimes you stand up hereand preach and people think you're
perfect.
People think you're tellingthem to have faith.
Cause you've never had to have faith.
Listen, I could tell you aboutsome hell.
I'm sure there's some peoplehere that could tell me about some
(14:19):
of the hell that you have been through.
But I'm telling you, thesubstance of our faith is not just
measured.
And you can shout on Sundaywhen things are good.
The measure of real faith iscan you shout when the devil's waging
war?
Can you worship through your storm?
(14:40):
Can you confess that God isgood even though your family is crumbling?
I'm inspired by the early church.
I'm inspired by the saints of old.
The more the devil threw atthem, the more fired up they got.
(15:02):
The more they were threatenedwith immediate death, the more crazier
they got for the gospel.
And I just want to tell you myperception of V1 church.
I've heard you guys are thewild ones.
And to me, what.
(15:22):
What that means to me is theseare people.
You are people who haveuncommon faith.
You are people that.
Whether it's a storm, a trial,a tribulation, or everything's going
great in your life.
I believe I've been sent heretoday to call people back to the
reason why you signed up.
(15:45):
I sense at this service today,some of you once had a fire, and
that big flame has turned intoa flickering wick.
You remember when you caught fire.
You remember when you firstreceived deliverance.
You remember when so and so.
But now, after the months andweeks and days, you're starting to
(16:10):
try to.
Oh, man.
God.
God, where are you?
God, I can't feel you.
God, why did this happen to me?
The Holy Spirit is reachingout to many of you today, saying,
I want to mark your life.
I want to release a fresh fireto your life, brother.
Right here.
(16:30):
You're wearing a white polo.
You've got hair.
I would dream of longer hair.
Right here.
Chewing gum.
Would you stand real quick?
God is igniting a fire in your heart.
He's.
He's marking you afresh.
There are things that you havegone through in your life where the
(16:54):
enemy literally tried to chokethe very breath from you.
And God is reviving you today.
God is putting forth atestimony in you today.
I believe that God has called you.
God has called you as a fisherof men.
God has called you toinfluence people around you away
(17:16):
from drugs, away from alcohol,away from chasing women.
There's a firebrand anointingon your life.
But sometimes you've got to gothrough the trial.
You've got to go through the fire.
But I hear the Lord saying, Iwill be the fourth man in the fire.
Even as I was with Rad Shack,Meshach and Abednego.
(17:39):
I'm going to be with youthrough the fire.
You are a voice, not an echo.
God has put his spirit on theinside of you.
And you are mantled for family revival.
You are mantled to breakgenerational curses off of families.
Let's give Jesus a round of applause.
(19:16):
Now we're having fun.
I mean, I remember crying inmy bed, just like, what.
What is this?
Lord, I. I have theseprophecies I have these promises
I have.
And, like, what's happened tomy family was never prophesied to
(19:40):
me.
What's happened in it, it'slike, again, it's like Sammy.
Sammy gives David the prophecyabout the anointing and the king
over and just kind of leavesout the part of, like, the process.
And.
And sometimes God's promisestake way longer than we think.
We live in some microwavableprophecy generation where you get
(20:03):
a prophecy Sunday, and if itdoesn't happen on Monday, the guy's
a false prophet.
I'm just going to tell youreal words from the Lord that carry
weight.
It takes time because it's asmuch about our character transformation
as it is about stepping into destiny.
(20:24):
God cares more about what he'sdoing on the inside of us than what
he wants to do through us.
And so Philip just keepspreaching they're being persecuted.
Oh, good.
There's a closed door here.
I'm not going to become a victim.
I'm a victor.
Good.
You don't want to hear thegospel over here.
(20:45):
I'm just going to go findsomeone else that wants to hear it.
I really feel like some of youneed to hear.
You are not a victim.
You are not a victim.
You are a more than aconqueror in Christ Jesus.
I get that.
We've all been through, butyou've got.
I hear the Lord saying to someof you, stop throwing a pity party
(21:08):
this summer.
Stop calling, moaning, andcomplaining and whining.
Intercession.
God cannot bless what you keep cursing.
People are like, God.
God's not moving at my workbecause you keep cursing it.
(21:31):
I'm not saying you're.
You're dropping, you know,cuss words.
What I'm saying is you've gotto stop cursing.
Lord, I hate this place.
Lord, why did you send me tothis place?
Lord, this boss, this co worker.
You're cursing it.
God won't bless what you're cursing.
The reason why it's dark isbecause you've got the light.
(21:56):
Open up your mouth.
Some of us are going to gothrough trials.
Some of us are going to gothrough persecutions.
And again, there's adifference between questioning God
and asking God questions.
There's a difference betweenquestioning God and asking God questions.
(22:21):
When you're going through hardseasons, it's okay to ask God questions,
but to stick our finger in hisface and begin to rage about what
we can't control, it won'thelp you.
Why is an invalid questionthat makes invalids.
(22:45):
Why is an invalid questionthat makes you an invalid.
There is many times in life,we will never know why until we meet
him face to face.
So when I am met withcircumstances where I'm being persecuted,
where I am being slandered,when things happen in my family,
(23:08):
that's a trial or a tribulation.
I'm not going to question God.
I'm going to take a knee as ason to my father and say, father,
you know best.
I don't get it.
I don't get it why this person died.
I don't get it why my.
I don't get it why my.
(23:28):
And what do you do?
Right?
I've been paying my mom'sbills for years.
I travel and see all thesegreat meetings and all these prophecies
and all these miracles and allthese breakthroughs.
And I go back each and everyweek and love my mom.
I talk to somebody who's thelights are on and no one's home.
(23:54):
See, God moved powerfully inthe nation.
And then in my town where mymom lives and I'm paying her bills,
I'm met with the whispers ofthe devil.
Some of you this morning.
It's the whispers of the devil.
(24:18):
He whispers, you're a fraud.
He whispers, this isn't real.
He whispers, your worshipmeans nothing.
He whispers, they're nevergoing to be healed.
He whispers all these demoniclies, he spews all his venom.
And I personally have anopportunity each and every week to
(24:43):
tell the devil, shut up.
Because again, I. I might notsee breakthrough in front of me,
but I'm telling you, I am asteward of the breakthrough up here.
See, I've been given the mindof Christ.
(25:06):
I've been given the word of God.
Just because I'm not seeingsomeone I love healed and front of
me does not mean that God'snot a healer.
No, I'm going to preach to somebody.
Just because I'm not seeingthis person that I love delivered
(25:27):
from addiction does not meanGod can't break the power of addiction.
I'm not going to allow mycircumstances to dictate my level
of faith.
In fact, I'm gonna take everythought captive and make it obedient
(25:48):
to Jesus.
I'm gonna take every lie,every arrow that the devil flings
my way and I'm going tocommand it to fall in Jesus name.
I'm not going to let the liesof the enemy take root in my heart.
In fact, I'm going to make can pay.
(26:09):
See, I believe in somethingcalled double for your trouble.
I believe that even if Godhasn't healed My mom yet.
I'm going to see moms healed.
Across this nation, even witha brother locked up in a federal
penitentiary, we are preachingto prisoners.
We are calling captives to beset free.
(26:32):
Because I refuse to allow thedevil to have the last say.
I refuse to allow him to win.
I'm telling you, my God is Yahweh.
He's the Lord, strong and mighty.
I don't know what's in frontof me.
I don't know why it's happening.
But I profess faith in theLord Jesus Christ.
(26:55):
And I refuse to have shaky faith.
I refuse to have have flaky faith.
I refuse to be a fan of Jesus.
I'm a follower of Jesus.
Come on.
I'm a wild one.
You're a wild one.
We're the one church.
This is who we are.
(27:16):
When the enemy comes in like aflood, God will raise up a standard
against him.
Who's the standard?
You and I. I are the standard.
We march underneath the bannerof the Lord Jesus Christ.
He will fight our battles.
He's raising up an army in the earth.
(27:38):
We're not perfect people.
We have challenges.
We have struggles.
But we believe in Jesus, Kingof kings and Lord of Lords.
He will heal them in this lifeor he will heal them in the next
life.
He will deliver them in thislife or they will be delivered in
(27:58):
the next life.
Come on, give Jesus a shout.
Give Jesus.
Let's praise him in the storm.
Let's praise him on the mountain.
Let's praise them in the good times.
Let's praise him through thehard times.
Hallelujah.
(28:25):
Hallelujah.
(29:22):
This generation is tired ofpretending, tired of hypocrisy.
Tired of people who claimJesus on Sunday and deny him on Monday.
(29:44):
Lord, thank you forstrengthening our faith today.
Thank you for encouraging usin the midst of the storm.
Thank you for strengtheningour inner man.
Thank you for the gathering of believers.
The devil tries to isolate you.
The devil tries to get youaway from saints who have a kind
(30:05):
of boldness and courage thatcan break through atmospheres.
I'm telling you, it's okay toput your faith in God even when you
don't understand.
I've learned a few things inmy walk with God.
Like when I walk up to inchurch and I don't feel like praying.
(30:27):
Go find the old Pentecostallady who it seems all she does is
pray in tongues.
Stop hanging in the back.
Stand right next to her duringworship, and what's on her and in
her will get on you.
You don't feel like Worshiping today.
(30:48):
Stop standing there lookinglike a statue.
We're not at Frozen Chosenassembly with Pastor Frigidaire.
We are at V1 Church.
We are a group of the wildones, right?
We will become moreundignified than this.
We don't do statue worshiping.
(31:09):
We don't do apathy.
We don't do lethargy.
We don't do complacency.
If you come into the house ofGod and you don't feel like worshiping
today, come down to the frontand get around the Judah tribe, Get
around the praisers, getaround the worshipers, get around
(31:31):
the people that have died tothe opinions of men.
And the only thing.
Am I preaching to anybody?
I want to pray for you today.
I intended to preach the next20 verses, but God stepped in.
I want to pray for you today.
(31:52):
I want to pray for some of youtoday to go all in.
Some of you, if you're honest,your faith has literally just been
limited to your circumstances.
Jesus is nothing more than acrisis atm.
You run to him when yourthings are shaking.
You deny him when things are great.
(32:15):
God wants to encourage a generation.
Today.
I'm the God of the mountain.
And I'm the God of the valley.
I'm not the author of confusion.
God is not the author of cancer.
God was not the author of mymom's mental illness.
I refuse to believe that agood father finds enjoyment in making
(32:36):
his kids sick.
Some of you have been prayingfor prodigals.
Some of you have beenbelieving for breakthrough and it
just seems like you're stuck.
I want to invite you today tobelieve again.
I want to invite you today totrust again.
I want to invite you today tosay, Lord, I might not understand,
(32:58):
but God, I'm pressing through.
Would you bow your heads withme, Lord, thank you that no one is
here today by mistake or coincidence.
Thank you that you loved us somuch that you woke us up even this
(33:21):
morning.
I want to pray for two groupsthis morning.
Number one, I want to pray forthose of you.
If you died tonight, you arenot certain where you would spend
eternity.
You're living a lifestyle of sin.
You're constantly given overto a lifestyle of sin.
(33:44):
Maybe you hop into a churchservice every once in a while, but
God sees you and knows youeven when you're not here.
The love of God is calling outto you this morning saying, put your
trust in me.
Put your faith in me.
Let me take the weight, thepenalty of your sin.
(34:04):
Let me take the shame andguilt and condemnation.
Come to me that's you.
If you want to make a firsttime decision for Jesus, maybe you've
fallen away and you want torededicate your life to him.
Would you just slip up yourhand quickly?
(34:28):
Thank you, who else?
Thank you.
Who else, Lord?
Thank you, Holy Spirit, fordrawing hearts to yourself this morning.
Want to encourage in your ownwords, believe in your heart and
confess with your mouth thatJesus is.
(34:49):
Lord, turn away from your sins.
Jesus will take that burden,that bondage that you've been carrying
and he'll give you his life in exchange.
Thank you, Lord.
Thank you, Lord.
Thank you, Lord.
Finally, I want to pray for asecond group.
(35:11):
I want to pray for a group of people.
You're walking with Jesus,you're one of his followers.
But the Holy Spirit today hasconfirmed his word to you.
There is a process, there is atiming, there is things in life,
there are challenges, there is persecution.
(35:34):
But today you're saying, lord,I'm all in, though none go with me,
I will follow, Lord.
No matter the circumstances, Iwill follow.
If that's you, would you justraise your hand?
And I'm going to raise my handwith you because as I've shared this
morning, I'm in the fight.
I'm in the active faith route.
I'm daily trusting Jesus, I'mdaily pressing through.
(35:57):
Lord, we lift our hands todayin solidarity saying, Jesus, we love
you.
He gives and takes away.
He gives and takes away.
Still my heart will choose tosay, blessed is the name of the Lord.
(36:17):
Lord, we trust our lives toyou, our families, our marriages.
Lord, we will not let go of faith.
Lord, encourage our faithtoday, strengthen our faith today.
There is purpose, there is perks.
(36:39):
On the other side of hardtimes, Lord, we keep pressing, we
keep walking, we keep believing.
It's in the name of Jesus.
I pray.
Can we give Jesus a big, biground of applause?
I want to invite.
Foreign.
As Jesus was walking with hisdisciples for a period of three years
upon the earth, he obviouslytaught him them about his kingdom.
He told them that he woulddie, that he would rise again.
(00:23):
And as Jesus rises again, hegives his disciples what we know
as the Great Commission.
Matthew, chapter 28.
The Great Commission.
Go out and make disciples,Baptizing them in the name of the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
How many of you are taking upthe Great Commission?
(00:44):
Amen.
It's something that he gave toall believers to make disciples.
But then in Acts 1:8, he tellsthem to wait in Jerusalem, to wait
in the upper room for thepromise of the Father.
And in Acts 1:8, he says, youwill receive.
Receive power when the HolySpirit comes upon you.
(01:06):
And you shall be my witnessesin both Jerusalem and Judea, Samaria
and the ends of the earth.
And so the way that I look atit is there's a Great Commission,
then there's a great baptism.
I really believe that Jesusknew they could not fulfill the Great
(01:27):
Commission without the Holy Spirit.
They needed a fresh baptism of power.
And so, as we read there inActs 18, there's this promise.
Power is coming.
There's this promise.
Great help is coming.
Maybe some of you havereceived a prophetic word before.
(01:48):
Words of destiny.
Words that God has a plan.
God has a future for you.
So let's see how God plans toactivate his promise to them in Acts
18 by reading Acts 8.
And Saul was in heartyagreement with putting him to death.
(02:08):
Him being Stephen.
Stephen has just been martyred.
And on that day, a greatpersecution arose against the church
in Jerusalem.
And they were all scatteredthroughout the regions of Judea and
Samaria, except the apostles.
And some devout men buriedStephen and made loud cries over
(02:29):
him.
But Saul began ravaging thechurch, entering house after house,
dragging off men and women toput them in prison.
So we're seeing here God'splan to bring forth his promise.
And so, if you're takingnotes, God's promise to the early
(02:50):
church was activated through persecution.
I don't know about you, but Iwould have passed.
Okay, again, I really want tomake sure you're tracking with me.
I want to talk to you todayabout persecution, deception and
the harvest and how it relatesto our life.
(03:12):
Okay?
Jesus gives them the GreatCommission in Matthew 28.
Go make disciples.
And Acts 1:8, he tells them,before you go and make disciples,
you need power.
Say power.
You need power.
You need Holy Ghost power tobe my witnesses in Judea and Samaria
(03:32):
and the ends of the earth.
They can't get to Judea,Samaria and the ends of the earth
unless there's persecution.
So I see a great commission.
I see a great baptism and Isee a great persecution.
We make some practical application.
(03:53):
There are some promises Godhas given some of us here this morning.
There are some prophecies thatwe have received.
There are some good thingsthat God wants to bring forth in
our life that can only comeforth during hard times.
(04:14):
Jesus, the anointed one wentto Gethsemane, which means oil press.
The anointed one went to theoil press in order for what God had
put inside of him.
In other words, what getssqueezed out of you in on hard times
(04:39):
is a revelation of who wereally are.
What gets squeezed out of usin hard times is a reality of where
our faith really is in Jesus.
And so the early church beginsto be persecuted.
(05:00):
And Acts chapter 8.
But the revelation here isthat Jesus promise to them in Acts
1:8 for power can only comeafter persecution.
And I want to speak to some people.
You're wrestling through hard times.
I want to speak to people.
You're in a valley, you're ina storm.
(05:22):
You're trying to make sense ofwhat's happening.
Why is someone sick?
Why can't I get a job?
I thought the prophet said,said imagine being David.
I would have probably Facebookrebuked Samuel.
Okay, Samuel goes to David andhe anoints David king over Israel.
(05:49):
But you have to listen to me today.
There's a difference betweenthe anointing and the appointing.
David anoints Samuel king overIsrael, but he's not appointed king
until 13 years later.
The only prophecy David has isyou're going to become king.
(06:13):
The reason why I joked aboutFacebook review rebuking Samuel is
I would just say, hey Sammy, Iappreciate the word about me being
anointed king, but you kind ofleft out the 13 year period of being
chased by a demonized leadernamed Saul, who I thought was a father.
(06:35):
Right, right, right, right.
Yeah.
God had given him a promise.
God had given him a prophecy.
You are anointed king.
But there was a process.
There was a pressing, therewas a persecution, there was a trial,
(06:58):
there was a tribulation.
There was something that hehad to go through in order to ref
define him as the man or foryou, the woman of God that God has
called you to be.
So I want to speak strength toyou today.
I want to speak encouragementyou today.
(07:19):
I want to exhort you, I wantto comfort you.
The Bible says, don't Besurprised at trials as, as if some
strange thing had happened to you.
Now just for a moment, thatthere's a false gospel being preached
in America.
(07:40):
The false gospel is come toJesus and you'll never have a problem
again.
You know how many people cometo Jesus thinking somehow he's delivered
them from all their problems?
Listen, if we didn't haveproblems, there'd be no need for
faith.
(08:03):
Jesus warned them.
Are you building your house onthe sand so that when the storms
of life come, your faith iswashed away?
Or are you building your faithon the rock solid foundation of Jesus
Christ?
So again in this rooted serieswhere V1 church is being welcomed,
(08:26):
being invited to let yourroots grow down deep.
I'm encouraging you andexhorting you that whether our roots
are down deep is oftentimesreally determined in seasons of shaking.
Really determined when things.
And again, scripturally,marriage is a covenant.
(08:52):
It's not a contract.
It's not something that I bailon my wife because things aren't
going my way.
I'm not, hey, I'm having ahard time at my job, so I quit.
Listen, we need a generationof no quitters.
We need a generation wholearns how to persevere, who learns
(09:16):
how to get a backbone, wholearns how to communicate, who learns
how to hit delete ondysfunctional marriage and family.
Come on, somebody, right?
So I want to be somebody thatwhen oppressing, that when a shaking,
that when a persecution breaks out.
(09:37):
Listen, the deeper you go inGod, the less you can take with you.
If you haven't been toldyou're part of a cult yet you're
not doing it right.
Verse 4.
(09:58):
Therefore, those who had beenscattered went about preaching the
word.
What was their response to persecution?
I'm just going to keep doingthe same thing I've always done because
persecution's not causing meto shake in my boots.
(10:18):
Persecution is causing me tolace up my boots.
Nice try, devil.
Some of you need to serve himnotice today.
Some of you need to take astand today.
Some of you need to look thedevil in the face and say, buddy,
(10:40):
it ain't working.
You little wimp.
You stirring up warfare.
You coming against me.
You, you sending this personat work, this little kid wiling out.
I mean this is like, listen, listen.
My faith is unshakable.
My faith is not in my circumstances.
My faith is in God.
(11:03):
I tell people I prayed forpeople who have been healed of cancer.
I prayed for people who havedied of cancer.
My faith is still unshakable.
Listen to me.
Because My faith is not in miracles.
My faith is in God.
I don't heal anyone.
(11:25):
I just pray in faith for thesick and leave the results to God.
So Philip is scattered and hejust keeps preaching.
He goes down to Samariaproclaiming Christ to them and multitudes.
It's so, so awesome.
I'll just kind of paraphrasefor you.
(11:46):
But as Philip is down inSamaria, he starts casting demons
out of people.
The sick become healed.
People start coming into thekingdom of God, all due to persecution.
The promise of Jesus in 1 Acts1:8, that they would receive power
(12:09):
in order to be his witnessescannot be accomplished unless persecution
breaks out against the church.
I'm telling you this morning,there are many promises and prophecies
that God has given you and Ithat cannot come to pass without
(12:29):
a process.
And many times the way Godprocesses us.
Many times what we go throughin life is God's way, not our way.
(12:50):
I've had a call on my lifesince I was a young boy.
I went down to college andpursued ministry.
Then I get a call one day frommy dad.
He's crying, says Jeremiah,something's happened to your mom.
I grew up a pastor's son.
My mom ends up being diagnosedbipolar, schizophrenic.
(13:12):
She ends up in a mental institution.
I'm pursuing the call of God.
I've got great promises, I'vegot great prophecies.
But now I'm wrestling with amom who grew up a pastor's wife who's
no longer mentally well.
(13:35):
You want to talk about faith shaken.
You want to talk about what inthe world is.
My dad steps down from ministry.
He becomes suicidal.
A man that I look to as my hero.
All of a sudden, his world hascome crashing down.
In the years that followed, Iwould have a brother who, because
(13:56):
of the crimes he committed,has been in a federal penitentiary
for the last 10 years.
Sometimes you stand up hereand preach and people think you're
perfect.
People think you're tellingthem to have faith.
Cause you've never had to have faith.
Listen, I could tell you aboutsome hell.
I'm sure there's some peoplehere that could tell me about some
(14:19):
of the hell that you have been through.
But I'm telling you, thesubstance of our faith is not just
measured.
And you can shout on Sundaywhen things are good.
The measure of real faith iscan you shout when the devil's waging
war?
Can you worship through your storm?
(14:40):
Can you confess that God isgood even though your family is crumbling?
I'm inspired by the early church.
I'm inspired by the saints of old.
The more the devil threw atthem, the more fired up they got.
(15:02):
The more they were threatenedwith immediate death, the more crazier
they got for the gospel.
And I just want to tell you myperception of V1 church.
I've heard you guys are thewild ones.
And to me, what.
(15:22):
What that means to me is theseare people.
You are people who haveuncommon faith.
You are people that.
Whether it's a storm, a trial,a tribulation, or everything's going
great in your life.
I believe I've been sent heretoday to call people back to the
reason why you signed up.
(15:45):
I sense at this service today,some of you once had a fire, and
that big flame has turned intoa flickering wick.
You remember when you caught fire.
You remember when you firstreceived deliverance.
You remember when so and so.
But now, after the months andweeks and days, you're starting to
(16:10):
try to.
Oh, man.
God.
God, where are you?
God, I can't feel you.
God, why did this happen to me?
The Holy Spirit is reachingout to many of you today, saying,
I want to mark your life.
I want to release a fresh fireto your life, brother.
Right here.
(16:30):
You're wearing a white polo.
You've got hair.
I would dream of longer hair.
Right here.
Chewing gum.
Would you stand real quick?
God is igniting a fire in your heart.
He's.
He's marking you afresh.
There are things that you havegone through in your life where the
(16:54):
enemy literally tried to chokethe very breath from you.
And God is reviving you today.
God is putting forth atestimony in you today.
I believe that God has called you.
God has called you as a fisherof men.
God has called you toinfluence people around you away
(17:16):
from drugs, away from alcohol,away from chasing women.
There's a firebrand anointingon your life.
But sometimes you've got to gothrough the trial.
You've got to go through the fire.
But I hear the Lord saying, Iwill be the fourth man in the fire.
Even as I was with Rad Shack,Meshach and Abednego.
(17:39):
I'm going to be with youthrough the fire.
You are a voice, not an echo.
God has put his spirit on theinside of you.
And you are mantled for family revival.
You are mantled to breakgenerational curses off of families.
Let's give Jesus a round of applause.
(19:16):
Now we're having fun.
I mean, I remember crying inmy bed, just like, what.
What is this?
Lord, I. I have theseprophecies I have these promises
I have.
And, like, what's happened tomy family was never prophesied to
(19:40):
me.
What's happened in it, it'slike, again, it's like Sammy.
Sammy gives David the prophecyabout the anointing and the king
over and just kind of leavesout the part of, like, the process.
And.
And sometimes God's promisestake way longer than we think.
We live in some microwavableprophecy generation where you get
(20:03):
a prophecy Sunday, and if itdoesn't happen on Monday, the guy's
a false prophet.
I'm just going to tell youreal words from the Lord that carry
weight.
It takes time because it's asmuch about our character transformation
as it is about stepping into destiny.
(20:24):
God cares more about what he'sdoing on the inside of us than what
he wants to do through us.
And so Philip just keepspreaching they're being persecuted.
Oh, good.
There's a closed door here.
I'm not going to become a victim.
I'm a victor.
Good.
You don't want to hear thegospel over here.
(20:45):
I'm just going to go findsomeone else that wants to hear it.
I really feel like some of youneed to hear.
You are not a victim.
You are not a victim.
You are a more than aconqueror in Christ Jesus.
I get that.
We've all been through, butyou've got.
I hear the Lord saying to someof you, stop throwing a pity party
(21:08):
this summer.
Stop calling, moaning, andcomplaining and whining.
Intercession.
God cannot bless what you keep cursing.
People are like, God.
God's not moving at my workbecause you keep cursing it.
(21:31):
I'm not saying you're.
You're dropping, you know,cuss words.
What I'm saying is you've gotto stop cursing.
Lord, I hate this place.
Lord, why did you send me tothis place?
Lord, this boss, this co worker.
You're cursing it.
God won't bless what you're cursing.
The reason why it's dark isbecause you've got the light.
(21:56):
Open up your mouth.
Some of us are going to gothrough trials.
Some of us are going to gothrough persecutions.
And again, there's adifference between questioning God
and asking God questions.
There's a difference betweenquestioning God and asking God questions.
(22:21):
When you're going through hardseasons, it's okay to ask God questions,
but to stick our finger in hisface and begin to rage about what
we can't control, it won'thelp you.
Why is an invalid questionthat makes invalids.
(22:45):
Why is an invalid questionthat makes you an invalid.
There is many times in life,we will never know why until we meet
him face to face.
So when I am met withcircumstances where I'm being persecuted,
where I am being slandered,when things happen in my family,
(23:08):
that's a trial or a tribulation.
I'm not going to question God.
I'm going to take a knee as ason to my father and say, father,
you know best.
I don't get it.
I don't get it why this person died.
I don't get it why my.
I don't get it why my.
(23:28):
And what do you do?
Right?
I've been paying my mom'sbills for years.
I travel and see all thesegreat meetings and all these prophecies
and all these miracles and allthese breakthroughs.
And I go back each and everyweek and love my mom.
I talk to somebody who's thelights are on and no one's home.
(23:54):
See, God moved powerfully inthe nation.
And then in my town where mymom lives and I'm paying her bills,
I'm met with the whispers ofthe devil.
Some of you this morning.
It's the whispers of the devil.
(24:18):
He whispers, you're a fraud.
He whispers, this isn't real.
He whispers, your worshipmeans nothing.
He whispers, they're nevergoing to be healed.
He whispers all these demoniclies, he spews all his venom.
And I personally have anopportunity each and every week to
(24:43):
tell the devil, shut up.
Because again, I. I might notsee breakthrough in front of me,
but I'm telling you, I am asteward of the breakthrough up here.
See, I've been given the mindof Christ.
(25:06):
I've been given the word of God.
Just because I'm not seeingsomeone I love healed and front of
me does not mean that God'snot a healer.
No, I'm going to preach to somebody.
Just because I'm not seeingthis person that I love delivered
(25:27):
from addiction does not meanGod can't break the power of addiction.
I'm not going to allow mycircumstances to dictate my level
of faith.
In fact, I'm gonna take everythought captive and make it obedient
(25:48):
to Jesus.
I'm gonna take every lie,every arrow that the devil flings
my way and I'm going tocommand it to fall in Jesus name.
I'm not going to let the liesof the enemy take root in my heart.
In fact, I'm going to make can pay.
(26:09):
See, I believe in somethingcalled double for your trouble.
I believe that even if Godhasn't healed My mom yet.
I'm going to see moms healed.
Across this nation, even witha brother locked up in a federal
penitentiary, we are preachingto prisoners.
We are calling captives to beset free.
(26:32):
Because I refuse to allow thedevil to have the last say.
I refuse to allow him to win.
I'm telling you, my God is Yahweh.
He's the Lord, strong and mighty.
I don't know what's in frontof me.
I don't know why it's happening.
But I profess faith in theLord Jesus Christ.
(26:55):
And I refuse to have shaky faith.
I refuse to have have flaky faith.
I refuse to be a fan of Jesus.
I'm a follower of Jesus.
Come on.
I'm a wild one.
You're a wild one.
We're the one church.
This is who we are.
(27:16):
When the enemy comes in like aflood, God will raise up a standard
against him.
Who's the standard?
You and I. I are the standard.
We march underneath the bannerof the Lord Jesus Christ.
He will fight our battles.
He's raising up an army in the earth.
(27:38):
We're not perfect people.
We have challenges.
We have struggles.
But we believe in Jesus, Kingof kings and Lord of Lords.
He will heal them in this lifeor he will heal them in the next
life.
He will deliver them in thislife or they will be delivered in
(27:58):
the next life.
Come on, give Jesus a shout.
Give Jesus.
Let's praise him in the storm.
Let's praise him on the mountain.
Let's praise them in the good times.
Let's praise him through thehard times.
Hallelujah.
(28:25):
Hallelujah.
(29:22):
This generation is tired ofpretending, tired of hypocrisy.
Tired of people who claimJesus on Sunday and deny him on Monday.
(29:44):
Lord, thank you forstrengthening our faith today.
Thank you for encouraging usin the midst of the storm.
Thank you for strengtheningour inner man.
Thank you for the gathering of believers.
The devil tries to isolate you.
The devil tries to get youaway from saints who have a kind
(30:05):
of boldness and courage thatcan break through atmospheres.
I'm telling you, it's okay toput your faith in God even when you
don't understand.
I've learned a few things inmy walk with God.
Like when I walk up to inchurch and I don't feel like praying.
(30:27):
Go find the old Pentecostallady who it seems all she does is
pray in tongues.
Stop hanging in the back.
Stand right next to her duringworship, and what's on her and in
her will get on you.
You don't feel like Worshiping today.
(30:48):
Stop standing there lookinglike a statue.
We're not at Frozen Chosenassembly with Pastor Frigidaire.
We are at V1 Church.
We are a group of the wildones, right?
We will become moreundignified than this.
We don't do statue worshiping.
(31:09):
We don't do apathy.
We don't do lethargy.
We don't do complacency.
If you come into the house ofGod and you don't feel like worshiping
today, come down to the frontand get around the Judah tribe, Get
around the praisers, getaround the worshipers, get around
(31:31):
the people that have died tothe opinions of men.
And the only thing.
Am I preaching to anybody?
I want to pray for you today.
I intended to preach the next20 verses, but God stepped in.
I want to pray for you today.
(31:52):
I want to pray for some of youtoday to go all in.
Some of you, if you're honest,your faith has literally just been
limited to your circumstances.
Jesus is nothing more than acrisis atm.
You run to him when yourthings are shaking.
You deny him when things are great.
(32:15):
God wants to encourage a generation.
Today.
I'm the God of the mountain.
And I'm the God of the valley.
I'm not the author of confusion.
God is not the author of cancer.
God was not the author of mymom's mental illness.
I refuse to believe that agood father finds enjoyment in making
(32:36):
his kids sick.
Some of you have been prayingfor prodigals.
Some of you have beenbelieving for breakthrough and it
just seems like you're stuck.
I want to invite you today tobelieve again.
I want to invite you today totrust again.
I want to invite you today tosay, Lord, I might not understand,
(32:58):
but God, I'm pressing through.
Would you bow your heads withme, Lord, thank you that no one is
here today by mistake or coincidence.
Thank you that you loved us somuch that you woke us up even this
(33:21):
morning.
I want to pray for two groupsthis morning.
Number one, I want to pray forthose of you.
If you died tonight, you arenot certain where you would spend
eternity.
You're living a lifestyle of sin.
You're constantly given overto a lifestyle of sin.
(33:44):
Maybe you hop into a churchservice every once in a while, but
God sees you and knows youeven when you're not here.
The love of God is calling outto you this morning saying, put your
trust in me.
Put your faith in me.
Let me take the weight, thepenalty of your sin.
(34:04):
Let me take the shame andguilt and condemnation.
Come to me that's you.
If you want to make a firsttime decision for Jesus, maybe you've
fallen away and you want torededicate your life to him.
Would you just slip up yourhand quickly?
(34:28):
Thank you, who else?
Thank you.
Who else, Lord?
Thank you, Holy Spirit, fordrawing hearts to yourself this morning.
Want to encourage in your ownwords, believe in your heart and
confess with your mouth thatJesus is.
(34:49):
Lord, turn away from your sins.
Jesus will take that burden,that bondage that you've been carrying
and he'll give you his life in exchange.
Thank you, Lord.
Thank you, Lord.
Thank you, Lord.
Finally, I want to pray for asecond group.
(35:11):
I want to pray for a group of people.
You're walking with Jesus,you're one of his followers.
But the Holy Spirit today hasconfirmed his word to you.
There is a process, there is atiming, there is things in life,
there are challenges, there is persecution.
(35:34):
But today you're saying, lord,I'm all in, though none go with me,
I will follow, Lord.
No matter the circumstances, Iwill follow.
If that's you, would you justraise your hand?
And I'm going to raise my handwith you because as I've shared this
morning, I'm in the fight.
I'm in the active faith route.
I'm daily trusting Jesus, I'mdaily pressing through.
(35:57):
Lord, we lift our hands todayin solidarity saying, Jesus, we love
you.
He gives and takes away.
He gives and takes away.
Still my heart will choose tosay, blessed is the name of the Lord.
(36:17):
Lord, we trust our lives toyou, our families, our marriages.
Lord, we will not let go of faith.
Lord, encourage our faithtoday, strengthen our faith today.
There is purpose, there is perks.
(36:39):
On the other side of hardtimes, Lord, we keep pressing, we
keep walking, we keep believing.
It's in the name of Jesus.
I pray.
Can we give Jesus a big, biground of applause?
I want to invite.
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