August 20, 2024 • 52 mins
2024 Conference Ep. 016 Paul Stephens
The Wonder Of It All
2 Samuel 7:18-22
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PHSA Church (Potter's House Salmon Arm)
#201 231 Trans Canada Hwy.
Salmon Arm, BC, Canada
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello and welcome back to the PHSA podcast. My name is David Bigford. I'm the pastor
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here at Salmon Arm. This is a very special podcast series where I'm going to be sharing
with you messages from our most recent conference in Prescott, Arizona, the Beyond Limits Conference
with a theme of to preach the gospel in the regions beyond from 2 Corinthians 10-16. I'm
going to share all of the sermons from this conference series to include Greg Mitchell,
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our head pastor, Joe Campbell, Richard Ruby, Tom Payne, and many, many others during this
series. So I'll be sharing these with you over the next couple weeks. And I hope you
really enjoy these messages. If you'd like to see these messages in a video format, you can go
to PrescottPottersHouse.com where all of these will be available for you to view in a video format.
(01:03):
So without further ado, I'm going to pass, I'm going to go ahead and move on to the messages,
and I hope you enjoy them. God bless. This week, 2 Samuel 7, there have been a lot of iconic
achievements in history. Single individuals who did great and noteworthy things that involved a
(01:31):
lot of courage and bravery and extraordinary talent and ability and skill. Charles Lindberg in March,
I believe it was March of 1927, took off from Long Island 1927 and became the first man to fly
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an aircraft. It was a single engine plane as you see there across the Atlantic, across Ireland,
across the southern tip of England and into Paris, France. When he arrived, this was such a
worldwide phenomena. No one had ever done this before. There were 200,000 people waiting for
(02:19):
Charles Lindberg's aircraft to land at La Borgia airfield. He landed on a grass airstrip and
200,000 people broke through the barriers that were there and swarmed around the airplane and
carried him out. And he was so disoriented and delirious, he hardly knew what was happening to
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him. And then a few days later, they had a ticker tape parade in New York City. Four million
people showed up. This was the biggest event of the century up until that point. And isn't it
amazing that just 42 years later, the first man walked on the moon? Sir Edmund Hillary, another
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iconic figure, was the first to scale Mount Everest in May of 1953. Climbed to the top of a
29,000 and two foot mountain. Our Jewish difficult hard, no one had ever done that before. These two
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men were fetid. They were enriched by this one event in their lives by doing something that no
one had ever done before. But I want to present to you this morning that none of those achievements
or any other achievement, you can take that pick down if you would please, none of those
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achievements or any other achievement that any human being has ever accomplished is greater
than what Jesus Christ has done in your life. As I stand here this morning, I am more grateful and
more thankful and more appreciative than ever. The idea of disposing of all this and walking away
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from it is so abhorrent. I can't even comprehend being in such a position where I would want to.
The very honor of being a disciple of Pastor Harold Warner, Pastor Wayman Mitchell, Pastor Greg
Mitchell is a privilege that I value more than I ever have before. We all have unique features to
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our discipleship and to our post conversion life that should garner increasing gratitude. And I
want to take a moment for all of us to consider and to ponder the incredible privilege and the
incredible honor of our heritage that is priceless, it is invaluable, and it is also fragile. It can
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be lost, squandered, wasted, and I think much of what I want to say, this may be the real goal of
what I want to achieve this morning and what I think the Holy Spirit wants to achieve is I think
much of what I want to speak about today will assuage much of the hardship, trials, disappointments,
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and the sometimes trauma that we all experience in our lives and we may be going through right now
and those things may even now after the several days of conference that we've had thus far,
they may dominate the landscape of your mind even as we're sitting here. It's the problems and the
pressures and my prayer this morning is that God would elevate you and lift you above all of that
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and I want to minister a sermon that I've entitled the wonder of it all. This is the anatomy of
gratitude and what a grateful heart looks like and how gratitude pondering the wonder of all that
we're part of can break through the limits and the boundaries as our pastor chose that for our
(06:37):
conference theme. Second Samuel chapter 7 beginning in verse 18, then King David went in and sat
before the Lord and this is precisely what we're going to do at this altar this morning. King David
went in and sat before the Lord and he said, who am I Lord, oh Lord God, and what is my house that
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you have brought me this far? And yet this was a small thing in your sight, oh Lord God, you have
also spoken of your servant's house for a great while to come. Is this the manner of man, oh Lord
God? Now what more can David say to you for you Lord God, know your servant for your words sake
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and according to your own heart you have done all these great things to make your servant know them
therefore you are great, oh Lord God, for there is none like you, nor is there any God besides you
according to all that we have heard with our ears. Can we pray for a moment? Father help us today
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this morning, pour out your Holy Spirit as you've anointed these two previous messages, anoint this
one Lord and fill these altars Lord with people that are declaring and pondering and meditating
and being reminded about the wonder of it all. I want to talk first of all about the necessary
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recognition that we all too often fail to see and I think a brief history of when and where this
statement of David occurs will be helpful. There's a run up to this, David going into the house of
God and saying Lord who am I that you've brought me this far that I think is necessary to review
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you for a moment because you might think this came about when everything is just going so wonderful
oh Lord how great you are how wonderful you are how absolutely perfect everything is
all going smooth all good everything going my way no stress no trauma and trial free
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who am I Lord that you have brought me thus far not the case
that seems to be the atmosphere that most people are inclined to express such things
and to fail your trouble problems we're not so inclined to make the kind of statement that
David did perhaps and I want to ask you the question this morning what is it right now
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that is dominating the landscape of your mind and your thinking and your life right now
how intrusive are your problems upon the wonder of it all
a brief history second Samuel begins we're only in the seventh chapter of second Samuel when I
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read the text second Samuel begins with David being made king he then makes a conquest of Jerusalem
that was a tough fight the Jebusites dared him to come they had an intense battle and then shortly
after that twice the Philistines when they found out David was anointed king sought to find him
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trap him and kill him and he defeats them both times then we have the incident of the ark
where David very irreverently and carelessly brought the ark or started to bring the ark
back to Jerusalem but he threw it in the back of a pickup truck essentially put it on a cart
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with oxen carrying it they're defecating along the way here is the the ark of God the the with
the represents the presence of God and then we have the incident of uza where the cart began to
wobble and uza probably irritatingly put his hand on the ark to steady it and God killed him
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and then David gets mad at God leaves the ark there in the house of Obed Edom
and then later on he brings it after a few months brings it back into Jerusalem the proper way
but then we discover he has serious problems in his marriage he has a wife who despises him
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then our text right previous to this David wants to build the temple he's talented enough
he has the resources and the ability it was a good and a noble effort that he wanted to make
and so he makes the declaration to his prophet Nathan and Nathan says yes but as Nathan left
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God said no go back and tell him not so he experiences a resounding no so in David's life
at this time there are problems there are rejections there are God's knows there are marriage
problems a wife who hates you there are all kinds of things going on and they're all compressed
into David's life at this moment but the negatives are not what defines him he's able to go into
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the house of God and fixate on the marvel and the wonder of it all how far God has brought me
so what is it then that you're complaining about the dominates the landscape of your life and mind
what are the problems that are so intrusive they have to occupy your mind 24-7
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what defines you what is it that you're complaining about and there may be egregious
problems i'm not minimizing that there are painful experiences of life and David is going
through some of those here he was constantly under threat if David was so inclined
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he could fix that and all that was wrong i got a cruddy marriage you got a wife who hates me
i got philistines that are crawling all over israel trying to kill me
god is telling me no when all i want to do is something good
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there's regrets there's failures there's god's denial and he could very easily this isn't worth it
that's what happens to be your problems are no greater than anyone else's problems and they
shouldn't drive you to wanting to quit and give up and they didn't with David that isn't the focus of
his life and so that makes this quite an extraordinary occurrence because it is purposeful he's got a
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wife at home who hates him he's got philistines all around him who want to kill him he's got the
rejection of what he wanted to do to build the temple he's got failures in his background his
heart wasn't always right he tried to transport the cart irreverently but he's filtering through
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all that and he's going into the house of god and he knows exactly what he's going to do he has a
purpose in mind and he is deeply moved and then king david went sat and said king david went in
and sat before the lord and said who am i lord and what is my house that you have brought me this far
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that's what we're going to be saying at this altar this morning who am i lord we're gonna get past
whatever pressures whatever problems god knows about them and he will help you with them he has
an answer for every problem but you can't allow the problems to diminish the wonder of it all the
wonder of all that god has done in your life and i wonder if you have a sense of that this morning
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or is it lost in the face of the problems and the disappointments of life and unanticipated
outcomes you had dreams and aspirations that haven't been fulfilled in your life things that you
believe that god would do but they haven't happened you wanted a ministry you wanted fruitfulness
you wanted a marriage and children you wanted so many things that haven't yet been realized
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and there are some people who have lost their sense of the wonder of it all because of the presence
of disappointments you're allowing them to dominate the landscape of your mind
you have to maintain perspective in your life we get so easily swallowed and ensnared by all the
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frustrations they are there some of them are not going away and if they do go away there'll be
something coming along soon to replace it at this particular moment david has a little bit of
respite in one area the chapter begins in verse one second samuel seven one now it came to pass
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when the king was dwelling in his house and the lord had given him rest from all his enemies all
around but it didn't last very long because the beginning of chapter eight he's back at it with
the philistines again god gives you breaks every once in a while doesn't he but the philistines
are still there you see at this stage in david's life he knew how to put things in perspective
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all the problems all the pressures all the failures all the negatives all the disappointments
are overridden with gratitude i am going to the house of god and i'm sitting down and i'm gonna
say oh lord god how have you brought me this far who am i what what what kind of grace and mercy
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what kind of love and forgiveness has been produced to lift me from where i was to where i am now
how soon we forget
when we look at the landscape of our life right now all we see is what's going wrong
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and i suspect that some of you are there and what worries me so much is you're running the risk
of heritage being shattered how soon we forget and lose sight of who god is and what he has done
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who am i lord that you have brought me this far who are we that god has brought us and all of you
as far as he has brought you who in the heck are we unworthy undeserving why are we so honored and
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blessed as we are we are on our way to heaven have you forgotten that it was death to life
hell to heaven darkness to light whatever your current situation is your save you're born again
and all the problems are going to melt under the weight of being in heaven in glory with Jesus
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christ for all of eternity that's where we are headed and that day i believe is coming very
very soon when you're going to be crowned with glory wearing white robes of righteousness and it
is declared by no less than Jesus himself well done well done well done well done good and faithful
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servant you're going to hear those words as you maintain the wonder of it all here and now
who am i lord that you have brought me this far i was a nothing and nobody the least in my father's
house and the least among my brothers yet you brought me here where i can come into your presence
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and marvel at the incredible work of god in my life yeah there's all sorts of negatives and problems
and failures on his part and carelessness on his part this is such a significant event
in david's life and perhaps such an event should occur with us this morning and we'll have that
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opportunity momentarily i want you to see secondly the necessary acknowledgement that we too easily
forget and we so easily get this element wrong because our pride our ego self-centeredness selfishness
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selfishness that pastor ruby mentioned in his offering the other night gets in the way and we begin
to think it is me isn't it a little arrogant to say i'm doing something for god who in the
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heck do you think you are i paul stevens is no it is god doing something through us despite us
that's what it is david certainly has talent courage ability he's proven himself as a skillful
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warrior and an incredible and inspiring leader but he's there acknowledging this is not me i have
not done this when are you going to declare that would you do that at this altar this morning
the amplified translation says because of your word and your promises and in accordance with
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your own heart you have done all these great and astounding things to let your servant know
and understand see this is how we all must identify what god has done in your life it isn't me doing
great things for god folks it wasn't pastor michel senior doing great things for god it was god
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finding a man that he could use that would surrender to him and then do great things
and i know this is very very basic but we miss it we forget and it needs to be acknowledged
god has done great things i remember when i first got saved we were in a dilapidated
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building in the south end of tusan an old adobe mission three different colors of carpet poles
holding the ceiling up uh sheetrock tape hanging from the ceiling an ugly green curtain hanging
behind pastor warner i remember where we were and where we are now god has done this i was
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sitting in the tusan conference just a few weeks ago sitting toward the back there looking at this
building and listening to pastor warner preach on monday greeting my friends and colleagues in
the ministry and people that i know from that listen beloved god has done all of this not us
we've done nothing for god he has done it through us despite us
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as david is thinking about this he is considering where he's sitting and the events of his life
that have brought him to where he is in the face of all of his problems all the issues with michael
his wife or mccollis wife and all the problems with philistines and enemies and people trying to kill
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him and overthrow him yet he's able to make a declaration god you have done this god has done
great things do you remember what jesus said he said i am the vine and you are the branches
he who abides in me and i and him bears much fruit for without me you can do nothing
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thing who do you think you are to brag and to boast boast about how magnificent your
manner everywhere you go the debt are being raised and famines are coming to an end and
it's endless boasting and bragging not really giving glory to god god has done all of that
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that before you start thinking i'm a little bit smarter than the rest of the plebs around me
i'm a little more superior you better remember what jesus said without me you can do nothing
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i've seen men with gifting an incredible ability in preaching skills and leadership
all the gifting is there the anointing is there and then they make some bad decisions
and the gifting and the anointing is gonzo it isn't you whatever gifting you have whatever
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ability you have whatever talent or whatever skill you have it's been given to you by god
one of the disciples in my church one of the men in my church came to me
and he said you know i was talking to a brother in the church and he was telling me that they
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were talking about me these two guys in a good way but they were talking about me and and one
of them said you know if pastor stevens wasn't pastoring a church he'd probably be the CEO
of a major company no i'd be under a bridge right now if i would even be alive
i was a broken down 20 year old 19 20 year old alcoholic and drug addict are you kidding me
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anything good in my life is 100 Jesus and him alone
this requires in demands of you the right measure of humility within very easy for
day david is look at what i've done for god look at where i'm sitting i am king i am mighty i say
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to this man go and he goes into another come and he comes i can uh mustard and army together and go
fight battles i slayed a giant to i this i that me this me that you better be very careful how you
go about testifying about what god is not doing what you're not doing for god but what he's doing
through you roman's 12 3 says for by the grace of god given to me i say to every one of you
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you not to think of himself more highly than he ought and of his importance in ability but to
think so as to have sound judgment but as appointed to each a degree of faith and a purpose designed
for service what god has done beloved is way beyond what we deserve let's not even talk about what
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we actually deserve i like the version of this story in first chronicles as well first chronicles
17 uh is where you can find it you have regarded me david said you have regarded me according to
the rank of a man of high degree oh lord god but i'm not that that's what he's saying you're you're
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treating me like i've earned this like i'm you know in a business when someone shows up every day
uh shows up early leaves late does their job helps other people do their job that person is worthy of
a promotion and he's saying god that's how you've seen me but i'm not that i'm not worthy of anything
i'm not worthy of any promotion anything good in my life is because of what you have done
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and what you have accomplished let me talk also about the necessary declaration
that we too often fail to mention at this point i think despite the mistakes and the
blunders and the carelessness and other issues in his life his his heart is pretty right with god
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and he makes a necessary declaration and i wonder when the last time you made this declaration
that david makes in our text this is something that has to be said it has to be stated it has
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to be declared we just celebrated the fourth of july the day that the declaration of independence
was ratified it's a declaration it had to be written it had to be read it had to be communicated
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it had to be said it's not the assumption of declaration a declaration is a formal explicit
statement or announcement it had to be declared put in writing spread abroad and made known
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it isn't an assumption that god is great and jesus christ is lord it has to be stated and
declared do you love your wife
does she know you love her because you declare it or do you put her in a position where she has to
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just assume it i've had couples sitting in front of me as many pastors he never tells me he loves
me well she knows i do no it has to be declared you dummy so let's look at david's necessary
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declaration it's obvious nothing new here folks but it's so very necessary and sometimes we forget
and we're not saying it and we're not declaring it it can be obscured when the landscape is
covered with problems and pressures and anxieties and stresses when you're angry
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and you're mishandling offenses and you're dealing with disappointments verse 22 of our text
david makes the declaration therefore you are great oh lord there is none like you
nor is there any god besides you according to all that we have heard with our ears and in that
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declaration that david could have said well god you know i think you're great it doesn't have to
be said doesn't have to no he had to say it he had to declare it because what do you get when you
declare something when we declared independence what did we get we got independence when it was
declared when it was when it was spoken when it was communicated when it was rehearsed over and over
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again when the continental army knew they were fighting for freedom they were declaring it let's
continue let's move forward that's march ahead through all the disadvantages we are going to get
our independence it was declared they had to fight for it but because of their declaration
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it was established therefore you are great oh god that must be declared
again and again and again the word means to make great to be magnified to be large in magnitude
and extent do you not need the greatness of god in your life every day when you declare freedom you
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get freedom when you declare that god is great you get a great god manifesting his presence in your
life do you not need that every day then declare it every day
psalms 145 3 great is the lord and greatly to be praised deuteronomy 10 17 for the lord your god
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is the god of gods and the lord of lords the great and mighty and awesome god first chronicles 29 11
years oh lord is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty
psalms 150 verse 2 praise him for his mighty acts praise him according to his excellent
greatness we serve a great god and when we're not declaring that we're missing out perhaps
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on the greatness of god being manifest and maybe that's why so many problems dominate the landscape
you're not making that declaration that clears the landscape and makes room for god to move on
your behalf and here it is in psalm 66 3 say to god how awesome are your works you have to say it to
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him how awesome are your works and through the greatness of your power so where are we right
now then all the above is fragile and that's where some of you might be right now you're
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risking shattering your heritage because all of the above that I just stated is pre bathsheba
pre the incident of uriah bathsheba's husband who david had murdered
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what happened what happened to the man who went and sat and said oh lord god who am i that you
have brought me the what happened to him where is he all the above can be too easily shattered if
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you're not very careful in the immediate aftermath of this text in verse 8 david has more victories
he shows kindness to mephibosheth king sol's grandson and pulls him into his household and
sits him at the king's table he shows kindness to king hanan so good things are still emerging
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from david's heart he shows kindness to king hanan whose father neyhash had just died
and then after that the very next chapter begins very innocently doesn't it it happened in the
spring of year at the time when kings go out to battle that david sent joe abin david remained
at jerusalem then the walk on the roof no longer going to the house of god now the walk on the
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roof sees bathsheba lusts for her calls for her conceives a child through her sends for uriah
and forms a plot to have him killed where is the man that i just preached about and where are you
how bad he has it made a visit to the house of god for quite some time and said who am i lord
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that you brought me this far where is david the one who made the incredible and awesome declaration
just a few chapters previous what's happened and again more importantly what's happening with you
it's amazing and fearful how fragile
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some very sacred things can be god brought david very far sin neglect whatever other causes may
be at work brought david very low and very far
and that may be the direction that some of you may be headed
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all the above that i just mentioned david going into the house of god rehearsing the wonder of
it all and thanking god and declaring his greatness was forgotten as david plunged into a
season of neglect so what's the lesson here the lesson is that all the above is fragile
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and can be shattered under the weight of our neglect disobedience rebellion prayerlessness
allowing our minds and the landscape of our mind to be filled with nothing but problems
and pressures and god why and how come him this and me that you could avoid that tragedy
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by making your way to the altar and reinforcing all of the above do you not think that you're
beyond the need for this or do you think that you're beyond the need for this pastor pastor's wife
pastor's wives can unravel very quickly if you don't maintain the wonder of it all
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pastors pastors children teenage children you could avoid the tragedy of what david went through
by making your way to the altar steve win
in the multi-millionaire maybe billionaire hotelier he owns hotels in vegas and other places
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was moments away from finalizing a record-breaking 139 million dollar sale of peccos the dream
a painting he bought for 47 million dollars a few years earlier the room was filled with elite art
collectors and enthusiasts buzzed with anticipation as win animatedly described the painting's history
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he moved closer to the canvas too close turning to emphasize a point he inadvertently struck
the dream with his elbow the media called it the 40 million dollar elbow tearing a six inch hole
in its center the room fell silent as they all realized the painting is now virtually worthless
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valuable things can be broken very quickly he bruised to one says therefore we must give the
more earnest heed to the things we have heard lest we drift away can you imagine coming to a place
in your life where it's no longer the wonder of it all come to a place where you're willing to run
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quit discard vent your anger toward god dispose of and walk away from who am i lord i'm asking this
of myself who am i lord that you brought me this far i am a son in the faith to pastor herald warner
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who am i lord that you have brought me this far i got saved in pastor warner's living room on may
22nd 1975 49 years ago i was born again i was converted by august of that year i felt a call
to preach the gospel pastor began to disciple me i've had the privilege of pioneering churches
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being a missionary pastoring churches who am i lord that you have brought me this far
i thought of my friends i had a medical episode that some of you know about and i ended up in
the emergency room on wednesday and i'm sitting there with josh my grandson and i collapsed in
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starbucks keneth was there he helped me up and got me in the car and i just wanted to go back to
my room uh my grandson was taking me he'll do whatever i tell him and then pastor ruby called
me and said why you need to go to the hospital and he invoked his dad and fainting spells and it
could be something really serious so all right all right i'll go to the hospital and so i'm sitting
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in the hospital i just had a few tests and then pastor richard ruby walks into the office he
should have been at starbucks fellowshiping with the pastors he did walk in with his starbucks
though coffee he had that he waited around for he probably said hey uh can you hurry with that my
friend might be having a heart attack and i gotta get to the hospital and then a little while chris
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chris heart walked in who am i lord that you have brought me this far mark all since scott lamb
pastor greg michael pastor tom pain pastors that i have under me that are that that blow my mind
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their good heartedness their labor their effort they're willing to sacrifice i have missionaries
coming to me they just got to the nation where they're going and said to me this week pastor if
you want me to go somewhere else we'll go who am i lord that you brought me this far my wife rene
i'm gonna chime in we've been married for 50 years our last anniversary
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i have children and grandchildren and great grandchildren i know you're looking at me he's
too young that can't be possible children in the ministry very soon my daughter jenny and her husband
jerry are going to be going into albania to pioneer a church bobby and carry my daughter carry and her
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husband bobby and three of their sons are pioneering a church in bat yam outside of telladiv israel
and they are having revival in israel who am i lord that you have brought me this far
and it's not perfect my life is not problem free i don't have a wife who hates me though she loves me
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their setbacks are hardships there's disappointments there are ongoing problems that
aren't going to be resolved anytime soon there's a lot of pain along the way but my wife rene and i
do not allow those things to dominate the landscape it is always the wonder of it all i thought about
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pastor warner here he is sitting in a wheelchair leg amputated bouts with cancer never complains why
because it's the wonder of all that god has done and all that he's doing and all that he's going to do
how many times in pastor michael talk about the wonder of it all this is not me it's not my work
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pastor michael will say this is god god has done this he gave god the glory and that what
that's what enabled him to process all the rebellions and hardships and disappointments
and failures and setbacks throughout the years of ministry it was the wonder of it all that kept
them pushing forward to greater dimensions of god's will this is a picture of master sergeant
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rhoderick edmunds if you could put that up please handsome young 24 year old man he was captured
along with 1263 men that he was in command of during the battle of the bulge and they were
taken to a prisoner of war camp and the commander of the prisoner of war camp told rady edmunds
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that's his name rhoderick edmunds rady edmunds he said i want you to identify the jewish soldiers
among you and separate them from the other prisoners rady edmunds refused and rady edmunds the next
day ordered all 1263 pow to stand information outside the barracks he stood with his men he had
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two jewish men standing on either side of him john tanner and paul stern and when the commander saw
all the men standing information he shouted these cannot all be jews rady edmunds said we are
we are all jews the commander then pulled out his pistol put it to rady's head and said if you
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don't identify the jews among you and again there were 200 of them you're gonna die edmunds told the
commandant the germans would soon lose the war looked him square in the eye the germans will
soon lose the war and if you shoot me you'll have to shoot all of us and we know who you are
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and after the war you're gonna be tried for war crimes this shook up this commander he turned
around in a fury and left rady edmunds had saved the lives of 200 jewish soldiers after the war
he had a family and he had a son who became a pastor and then rady edmunds died in 1985
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and his son who is now a pastor was helping his daughter do a project on world war two
and he started delving into he never knew his father was like many world war two soldiers
they don't go around bragging about what they did they never talked about it he never mentioned
this story to anyone but he found out about it because he made contact with john tanner
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tanner the man who is standing next to his father in that prisoner of war camp the jewish one of
the jewish men that he saved of those 200 jewish soldiers over the ensuing years 13 000 descendants
proceeded and this son who was a pastor went to an event when where john tanner it was a it was a
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veteran world war two veterans event where john tanner was speaking the man who stood next to his
father and he said in his speech you can see how important raterich edmunds decision has been
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that's the biggest joy for me edmunds said to see the real people the lives that have been touched
and changed they're not talking about the horror of being in a prisoner of war camp they're talking
about the wonder of it all look what happened because of this young 24 what are you doing at 24
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how much courage do you have what kind of bravery could you exhibit in such a circumstance
it's the wonder of it all all of us have a glorious history to rehearse and marvel at
and we should do so at this altar it's the wonder of it all for all of us i want you to bow your
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heads every head bowed every eye closed nobody moving around for a moment we want to do some other
things but we want to obviously make opportunity for those who may be here tonight that are not
saved that do not know jesus christ as lord and savior have not yet been born again but you really
want to be you want to get your heart right with god and you want to know jesus as your savior
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you've heard enough you've seen enough and this isn't the first you've heard about jesus hearing
myself or these others preach you've been witness to others have told you about jesus that's why
you're here today and if you're here and you want to get your heart right with god i want to ask you
to do one simple thing while every head is bowed and every eye closed i want to ask you if you'll
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do one simple thing and that is slip your hand up pastor pray for me i want to get my heart right
with god i want to know jesus christ is my lord and savior my life is a mess my heart is filled
with problems and i'm dominated with all kinds of stress stresses and struggles and i want to be
free i want to be clean i want to be forgiven would you lift your hand right now and let me pray for
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you pastor i want to receive christ as my savior i want to know jesus as my lord maybe you're here
in your backslid maybe the very thing i ministered on your life began to be dominated by all the
disappointments and problems and all kinds of anger and unforgiveness and all kinds of pollution of
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emotion and you've lost the wonder of it all you need to recapture that right now you need to take
this seriously because as david demonstrates for us in this tragic episode of his life it's very fragile
and i want you to lift your hand up right now pastor i am not right with god but i want to get
right at this altar today in jesus name lift your hand right up and put it right back down all over
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this building pastor i want to repent i want to get my heart right with god god bless you god sees
that hand god sees that hand thank you very much god sees that hand many hands going up lift your
hand right up in the name of jesus i want to repent i want to get my heart right with god amen i see
another hand back there it's hard to see past the lights god bless you my brother god sees that hand
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anyone else we're talking about eternity we're talking about heaven we're talking about god
working in your life here and now the great god that we preached about working in your life here
and now invading the circumstances and situations in your life when you allow all that to dominate
it's a barrier against god moving on your behalf it's the wonder of it all that opens
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the floodgates for god to help you lift your hand right now amen hands going up i want all of you
that raise your hand to get up out of your seat right now and come forward to find a place to pray
my brother on my left some here in the middle sections and way in the back i want you to get
out of your seat and come forward and find a place to pray in jesus name in jesus name amen thank you
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very much god bless you guys anyone else you come right now as we're talking it's not too late to
get your heart right with god and now right now is the very best opportunity you'll ever have
thank you for listening to the phsa potters house salmon arm podcast be sure to follow us on instagram
(51:56):
at potters house underscore salmon arm to keep up to date on what we're doing join the conversation
and discover how jesus christ can revolutionize your life
Hello and welcome back to the PHSA podcast. My name is David Bigford. I'm the pastor
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here at Salmon Arm. This is a very special podcast series where I'm going to be sharing
with you messages from our most recent conference in Prescott, Arizona, the Beyond Limits Conference
with a theme of to preach the gospel in the regions beyond from 2 Corinthians 10-16. I'm
going to share all of the sermons from this conference series to include Greg Mitchell,
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our head pastor, Joe Campbell, Richard Ruby, Tom Payne, and many, many others during this
series. So I'll be sharing these with you over the next couple weeks. And I hope you
really enjoy these messages. If you'd like to see these messages in a video format, you can go
to PrescottPottersHouse.com where all of these will be available for you to view in a video format.
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So without further ado, I'm going to pass, I'm going to go ahead and move on to the messages,
and I hope you enjoy them. God bless. This week, 2 Samuel 7, there have been a lot of iconic
achievements in history. Single individuals who did great and noteworthy things that involved a
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lot of courage and bravery and extraordinary talent and ability and skill. Charles Lindberg in March,
I believe it was March of 1927, took off from Long Island 1927 and became the first man to fly
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an aircraft. It was a single engine plane as you see there across the Atlantic, across Ireland,
across the southern tip of England and into Paris, France. When he arrived, this was such a
worldwide phenomena. No one had ever done this before. There were 200,000 people waiting for
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Charles Lindberg's aircraft to land at La Borgia airfield. He landed on a grass airstrip and
200,000 people broke through the barriers that were there and swarmed around the airplane and
carried him out. And he was so disoriented and delirious, he hardly knew what was happening to
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him. And then a few days later, they had a ticker tape parade in New York City. Four million
people showed up. This was the biggest event of the century up until that point. And isn't it
amazing that just 42 years later, the first man walked on the moon? Sir Edmund Hillary, another
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iconic figure, was the first to scale Mount Everest in May of 1953. Climbed to the top of a
29,000 and two foot mountain. Our Jewish difficult hard, no one had ever done that before. These two
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men were fetid. They were enriched by this one event in their lives by doing something that no
one had ever done before. But I want to present to you this morning that none of those achievements
or any other achievement, you can take that pick down if you would please, none of those
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achievements or any other achievement that any human being has ever accomplished is greater
than what Jesus Christ has done in your life. As I stand here this morning, I am more grateful and
more thankful and more appreciative than ever. The idea of disposing of all this and walking away
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from it is so abhorrent. I can't even comprehend being in such a position where I would want to.
The very honor of being a disciple of Pastor Harold Warner, Pastor Wayman Mitchell, Pastor Greg
Mitchell is a privilege that I value more than I ever have before. We all have unique features to
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our discipleship and to our post conversion life that should garner increasing gratitude. And I
want to take a moment for all of us to consider and to ponder the incredible privilege and the
incredible honor of our heritage that is priceless, it is invaluable, and it is also fragile. It can
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be lost, squandered, wasted, and I think much of what I want to say, this may be the real goal of
what I want to achieve this morning and what I think the Holy Spirit wants to achieve is I think
much of what I want to speak about today will assuage much of the hardship, trials, disappointments,
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and the sometimes trauma that we all experience in our lives and we may be going through right now
and those things may even now after the several days of conference that we've had thus far,
they may dominate the landscape of your mind even as we're sitting here. It's the problems and the
pressures and my prayer this morning is that God would elevate you and lift you above all of that
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and I want to minister a sermon that I've entitled the wonder of it all. This is the anatomy of
gratitude and what a grateful heart looks like and how gratitude pondering the wonder of all that
we're part of can break through the limits and the boundaries as our pastor chose that for our
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conference theme. Second Samuel chapter 7 beginning in verse 18, then King David went in and sat
before the Lord and this is precisely what we're going to do at this altar this morning. King David
went in and sat before the Lord and he said, who am I Lord, oh Lord God, and what is my house that
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you have brought me this far? And yet this was a small thing in your sight, oh Lord God, you have
also spoken of your servant's house for a great while to come. Is this the manner of man, oh Lord
God? Now what more can David say to you for you Lord God, know your servant for your words sake
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and according to your own heart you have done all these great things to make your servant know them
therefore you are great, oh Lord God, for there is none like you, nor is there any God besides you
according to all that we have heard with our ears. Can we pray for a moment? Father help us today
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this morning, pour out your Holy Spirit as you've anointed these two previous messages, anoint this
one Lord and fill these altars Lord with people that are declaring and pondering and meditating
and being reminded about the wonder of it all. I want to talk first of all about the necessary
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recognition that we all too often fail to see and I think a brief history of when and where this
statement of David occurs will be helpful. There's a run up to this, David going into the house of
God and saying Lord who am I that you've brought me this far that I think is necessary to review
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you for a moment because you might think this came about when everything is just going so wonderful
oh Lord how great you are how wonderful you are how absolutely perfect everything is
all going smooth all good everything going my way no stress no trauma and trial free
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who am I Lord that you have brought me thus far not the case
that seems to be the atmosphere that most people are inclined to express such things
and to fail your trouble problems we're not so inclined to make the kind of statement that
David did perhaps and I want to ask you the question this morning what is it right now
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that is dominating the landscape of your mind and your thinking and your life right now
how intrusive are your problems upon the wonder of it all
a brief history second Samuel begins we're only in the seventh chapter of second Samuel when I
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read the text second Samuel begins with David being made king he then makes a conquest of Jerusalem
that was a tough fight the Jebusites dared him to come they had an intense battle and then shortly
after that twice the Philistines when they found out David was anointed king sought to find him
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trap him and kill him and he defeats them both times then we have the incident of the ark
where David very irreverently and carelessly brought the ark or started to bring the ark
back to Jerusalem but he threw it in the back of a pickup truck essentially put it on a cart
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with oxen carrying it they're defecating along the way here is the the ark of God the the with
the represents the presence of God and then we have the incident of uza where the cart began to
wobble and uza probably irritatingly put his hand on the ark to steady it and God killed him
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and then David gets mad at God leaves the ark there in the house of Obed Edom
and then later on he brings it after a few months brings it back into Jerusalem the proper way
but then we discover he has serious problems in his marriage he has a wife who despises him
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then our text right previous to this David wants to build the temple he's talented enough
he has the resources and the ability it was a good and a noble effort that he wanted to make
and so he makes the declaration to his prophet Nathan and Nathan says yes but as Nathan left
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God said no go back and tell him not so he experiences a resounding no so in David's life
at this time there are problems there are rejections there are God's knows there are marriage
problems a wife who hates you there are all kinds of things going on and they're all compressed
into David's life at this moment but the negatives are not what defines him he's able to go into
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the house of God and fixate on the marvel and the wonder of it all how far God has brought me
so what is it then that you're complaining about the dominates the landscape of your life and mind
what are the problems that are so intrusive they have to occupy your mind 24-7
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what defines you what is it that you're complaining about and there may be egregious
problems i'm not minimizing that there are painful experiences of life and David is going
through some of those here he was constantly under threat if David was so inclined
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he could fix that and all that was wrong i got a cruddy marriage you got a wife who hates me
i got philistines that are crawling all over israel trying to kill me
god is telling me no when all i want to do is something good
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there's regrets there's failures there's god's denial and he could very easily this isn't worth it
that's what happens to be your problems are no greater than anyone else's problems and they
shouldn't drive you to wanting to quit and give up and they didn't with David that isn't the focus of
his life and so that makes this quite an extraordinary occurrence because it is purposeful he's got a
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wife at home who hates him he's got philistines all around him who want to kill him he's got the
rejection of what he wanted to do to build the temple he's got failures in his background his
heart wasn't always right he tried to transport the cart irreverently but he's filtering through
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all that and he's going into the house of god and he knows exactly what he's going to do he has a
purpose in mind and he is deeply moved and then king david went sat and said king david went in
and sat before the lord and said who am i lord and what is my house that you have brought me this far
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that's what we're going to be saying at this altar this morning who am i lord we're gonna get past
whatever pressures whatever problems god knows about them and he will help you with them he has
an answer for every problem but you can't allow the problems to diminish the wonder of it all the
wonder of all that god has done in your life and i wonder if you have a sense of that this morning
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or is it lost in the face of the problems and the disappointments of life and unanticipated
outcomes you had dreams and aspirations that haven't been fulfilled in your life things that you
believe that god would do but they haven't happened you wanted a ministry you wanted fruitfulness
you wanted a marriage and children you wanted so many things that haven't yet been realized
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and there are some people who have lost their sense of the wonder of it all because of the presence
of disappointments you're allowing them to dominate the landscape of your mind
you have to maintain perspective in your life we get so easily swallowed and ensnared by all the
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frustrations they are there some of them are not going away and if they do go away there'll be
something coming along soon to replace it at this particular moment david has a little bit of
respite in one area the chapter begins in verse one second samuel seven one now it came to pass
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when the king was dwelling in his house and the lord had given him rest from all his enemies all
around but it didn't last very long because the beginning of chapter eight he's back at it with
the philistines again god gives you breaks every once in a while doesn't he but the philistines
are still there you see at this stage in david's life he knew how to put things in perspective
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all the problems all the pressures all the failures all the negatives all the disappointments
are overridden with gratitude i am going to the house of god and i'm sitting down and i'm gonna
say oh lord god how have you brought me this far who am i what what what kind of grace and mercy
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what kind of love and forgiveness has been produced to lift me from where i was to where i am now
how soon we forget
when we look at the landscape of our life right now all we see is what's going wrong
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and i suspect that some of you are there and what worries me so much is you're running the risk
of heritage being shattered how soon we forget and lose sight of who god is and what he has done
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who am i lord that you have brought me this far who are we that god has brought us and all of you
as far as he has brought you who in the heck are we unworthy undeserving why are we so honored and
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blessed as we are we are on our way to heaven have you forgotten that it was death to life
hell to heaven darkness to light whatever your current situation is your save you're born again
and all the problems are going to melt under the weight of being in heaven in glory with Jesus
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christ for all of eternity that's where we are headed and that day i believe is coming very
very soon when you're going to be crowned with glory wearing white robes of righteousness and it
is declared by no less than Jesus himself well done well done well done well done good and faithful
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servant you're going to hear those words as you maintain the wonder of it all here and now
who am i lord that you have brought me this far i was a nothing and nobody the least in my father's
house and the least among my brothers yet you brought me here where i can come into your presence
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and marvel at the incredible work of god in my life yeah there's all sorts of negatives and problems
and failures on his part and carelessness on his part this is such a significant event
in david's life and perhaps such an event should occur with us this morning and we'll have that
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opportunity momentarily i want you to see secondly the necessary acknowledgement that we too easily
forget and we so easily get this element wrong because our pride our ego self-centeredness selfishness
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selfishness that pastor ruby mentioned in his offering the other night gets in the way and we begin
to think it is me isn't it a little arrogant to say i'm doing something for god who in the
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heck do you think you are i paul stevens is no it is god doing something through us despite us
that's what it is david certainly has talent courage ability he's proven himself as a skillful
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warrior and an incredible and inspiring leader but he's there acknowledging this is not me i have
not done this when are you going to declare that would you do that at this altar this morning
the amplified translation says because of your word and your promises and in accordance with
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your own heart you have done all these great and astounding things to let your servant know
and understand see this is how we all must identify what god has done in your life it isn't me doing
great things for god folks it wasn't pastor michel senior doing great things for god it was god
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finding a man that he could use that would surrender to him and then do great things
and i know this is very very basic but we miss it we forget and it needs to be acknowledged
god has done great things i remember when i first got saved we were in a dilapidated
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building in the south end of tusan an old adobe mission three different colors of carpet poles
holding the ceiling up uh sheetrock tape hanging from the ceiling an ugly green curtain hanging
behind pastor warner i remember where we were and where we are now god has done this i was
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sitting in the tusan conference just a few weeks ago sitting toward the back there looking at this
building and listening to pastor warner preach on monday greeting my friends and colleagues in
the ministry and people that i know from that listen beloved god has done all of this not us
we've done nothing for god he has done it through us despite us
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as david is thinking about this he is considering where he's sitting and the events of his life
that have brought him to where he is in the face of all of his problems all the issues with michael
his wife or mccollis wife and all the problems with philistines and enemies and people trying to kill
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him and overthrow him yet he's able to make a declaration god you have done this god has done
great things do you remember what jesus said he said i am the vine and you are the branches
he who abides in me and i and him bears much fruit for without me you can do nothing
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thing who do you think you are to brag and to boast boast about how magnificent your
manner everywhere you go the debt are being raised and famines are coming to an end and
it's endless boasting and bragging not really giving glory to god god has done all of that
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that before you start thinking i'm a little bit smarter than the rest of the plebs around me
i'm a little more superior you better remember what jesus said without me you can do nothing
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i've seen men with gifting an incredible ability in preaching skills and leadership
all the gifting is there the anointing is there and then they make some bad decisions
and the gifting and the anointing is gonzo it isn't you whatever gifting you have whatever
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ability you have whatever talent or whatever skill you have it's been given to you by god
one of the disciples in my church one of the men in my church came to me
and he said you know i was talking to a brother in the church and he was telling me that they
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were talking about me these two guys in a good way but they were talking about me and and one
of them said you know if pastor stevens wasn't pastoring a church he'd probably be the CEO
of a major company no i'd be under a bridge right now if i would even be alive
i was a broken down 20 year old 19 20 year old alcoholic and drug addict are you kidding me
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anything good in my life is 100 Jesus and him alone
this requires in demands of you the right measure of humility within very easy for
day david is look at what i've done for god look at where i'm sitting i am king i am mighty i say
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to this man go and he goes into another come and he comes i can uh mustard and army together and go
fight battles i slayed a giant to i this i that me this me that you better be very careful how you
go about testifying about what god is not doing what you're not doing for god but what he's doing
through you roman's 12 3 says for by the grace of god given to me i say to every one of you
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you not to think of himself more highly than he ought and of his importance in ability but to
think so as to have sound judgment but as appointed to each a degree of faith and a purpose designed
for service what god has done beloved is way beyond what we deserve let's not even talk about what
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we actually deserve i like the version of this story in first chronicles as well first chronicles
17 uh is where you can find it you have regarded me david said you have regarded me according to
the rank of a man of high degree oh lord god but i'm not that that's what he's saying you're you're
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treating me like i've earned this like i'm you know in a business when someone shows up every day
uh shows up early leaves late does their job helps other people do their job that person is worthy of
a promotion and he's saying god that's how you've seen me but i'm not that i'm not worthy of anything
i'm not worthy of any promotion anything good in my life is because of what you have done
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and what you have accomplished let me talk also about the necessary declaration
that we too often fail to mention at this point i think despite the mistakes and the
blunders and the carelessness and other issues in his life his his heart is pretty right with god
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and he makes a necessary declaration and i wonder when the last time you made this declaration
that david makes in our text this is something that has to be said it has to be stated it has
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to be declared we just celebrated the fourth of july the day that the declaration of independence
was ratified it's a declaration it had to be written it had to be read it had to be communicated
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it had to be said it's not the assumption of declaration a declaration is a formal explicit
statement or announcement it had to be declared put in writing spread abroad and made known
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it isn't an assumption that god is great and jesus christ is lord it has to be stated and
declared do you love your wife
does she know you love her because you declare it or do you put her in a position where she has to
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just assume it i've had couples sitting in front of me as many pastors he never tells me he loves
me well she knows i do no it has to be declared you dummy so let's look at david's necessary
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declaration it's obvious nothing new here folks but it's so very necessary and sometimes we forget
and we're not saying it and we're not declaring it it can be obscured when the landscape is
covered with problems and pressures and anxieties and stresses when you're angry
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and you're mishandling offenses and you're dealing with disappointments verse 22 of our text
david makes the declaration therefore you are great oh lord there is none like you
nor is there any god besides you according to all that we have heard with our ears and in that
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declaration that david could have said well god you know i think you're great it doesn't have to
be said doesn't have to no he had to say it he had to declare it because what do you get when you
declare something when we declared independence what did we get we got independence when it was
declared when it was when it was spoken when it was communicated when it was rehearsed over and over
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again when the continental army knew they were fighting for freedom they were declaring it let's
continue let's move forward that's march ahead through all the disadvantages we are going to get
our independence it was declared they had to fight for it but because of their declaration
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it was established therefore you are great oh god that must be declared
again and again and again the word means to make great to be magnified to be large in magnitude
and extent do you not need the greatness of god in your life every day when you declare freedom you
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get freedom when you declare that god is great you get a great god manifesting his presence in your
life do you not need that every day then declare it every day
psalms 145 3 great is the lord and greatly to be praised deuteronomy 10 17 for the lord your god
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is the god of gods and the lord of lords the great and mighty and awesome god first chronicles 29 11
years oh lord is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty
psalms 150 verse 2 praise him for his mighty acts praise him according to his excellent
greatness we serve a great god and when we're not declaring that we're missing out perhaps
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on the greatness of god being manifest and maybe that's why so many problems dominate the landscape
you're not making that declaration that clears the landscape and makes room for god to move on
your behalf and here it is in psalm 66 3 say to god how awesome are your works you have to say it to
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him how awesome are your works and through the greatness of your power so where are we right
now then all the above is fragile and that's where some of you might be right now you're
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risking shattering your heritage because all of the above that I just stated is pre bathsheba
pre the incident of uriah bathsheba's husband who david had murdered
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what happened what happened to the man who went and sat and said oh lord god who am i that you
have brought me the what happened to him where is he all the above can be too easily shattered if
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you're not very careful in the immediate aftermath of this text in verse 8 david has more victories
he shows kindness to mephibosheth king sol's grandson and pulls him into his household and
sits him at the king's table he shows kindness to king hanan so good things are still emerging
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from david's heart he shows kindness to king hanan whose father neyhash had just died
and then after that the very next chapter begins very innocently doesn't it it happened in the
spring of year at the time when kings go out to battle that david sent joe abin david remained
at jerusalem then the walk on the roof no longer going to the house of god now the walk on the
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roof sees bathsheba lusts for her calls for her conceives a child through her sends for uriah
and forms a plot to have him killed where is the man that i just preached about and where are you
how bad he has it made a visit to the house of god for quite some time and said who am i lord
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that you brought me this far where is david the one who made the incredible and awesome declaration
just a few chapters previous what's happened and again more importantly what's happening with you
it's amazing and fearful how fragile
(36:15):
some very sacred things can be god brought david very far sin neglect whatever other causes may
be at work brought david very low and very far
and that may be the direction that some of you may be headed
(36:40):
all the above that i just mentioned david going into the house of god rehearsing the wonder of
it all and thanking god and declaring his greatness was forgotten as david plunged into a
season of neglect so what's the lesson here the lesson is that all the above is fragile
(37:02):
and can be shattered under the weight of our neglect disobedience rebellion prayerlessness
allowing our minds and the landscape of our mind to be filled with nothing but problems
and pressures and god why and how come him this and me that you could avoid that tragedy
(37:34):
by making your way to the altar and reinforcing all of the above do you not think that you're
beyond the need for this or do you think that you're beyond the need for this pastor pastor's wife
pastor's wives can unravel very quickly if you don't maintain the wonder of it all
(37:55):
pastors pastors children teenage children you could avoid the tragedy of what david went through
by making your way to the altar steve win
in the multi-millionaire maybe billionaire hotelier he owns hotels in vegas and other places
(38:18):
was moments away from finalizing a record-breaking 139 million dollar sale of peccos the dream
a painting he bought for 47 million dollars a few years earlier the room was filled with elite art
collectors and enthusiasts buzzed with anticipation as win animatedly described the painting's history
(38:41):
he moved closer to the canvas too close turning to emphasize a point he inadvertently struck
the dream with his elbow the media called it the 40 million dollar elbow tearing a six inch hole
in its center the room fell silent as they all realized the painting is now virtually worthless
(39:07):
valuable things can be broken very quickly he bruised to one says therefore we must give the
more earnest heed to the things we have heard lest we drift away can you imagine coming to a place
in your life where it's no longer the wonder of it all come to a place where you're willing to run
(39:33):
quit discard vent your anger toward god dispose of and walk away from who am i lord i'm asking this
of myself who am i lord that you brought me this far i am a son in the faith to pastor herald warner
(39:53):
who am i lord that you have brought me this far i got saved in pastor warner's living room on may
22nd 1975 49 years ago i was born again i was converted by august of that year i felt a call
to preach the gospel pastor began to disciple me i've had the privilege of pioneering churches
(40:17):
being a missionary pastoring churches who am i lord that you have brought me this far
i thought of my friends i had a medical episode that some of you know about and i ended up in
the emergency room on wednesday and i'm sitting there with josh my grandson and i collapsed in
(40:44):
starbucks keneth was there he helped me up and got me in the car and i just wanted to go back to
my room uh my grandson was taking me he'll do whatever i tell him and then pastor ruby called
me and said why you need to go to the hospital and he invoked his dad and fainting spells and it
could be something really serious so all right all right i'll go to the hospital and so i'm sitting
(41:08):
in the hospital i just had a few tests and then pastor richard ruby walks into the office he
should have been at starbucks fellowshiping with the pastors he did walk in with his starbucks
though coffee he had that he waited around for he probably said hey uh can you hurry with that my
friend might be having a heart attack and i gotta get to the hospital and then a little while chris
(41:31):
chris heart walked in who am i lord that you have brought me this far mark all since scott lamb
pastor greg michael pastor tom pain pastors that i have under me that are that that blow my mind
(41:51):
their good heartedness their labor their effort they're willing to sacrifice i have missionaries
coming to me they just got to the nation where they're going and said to me this week pastor if
you want me to go somewhere else we'll go who am i lord that you brought me this far my wife rene
i'm gonna chime in we've been married for 50 years our last anniversary
(42:18):
i have children and grandchildren and great grandchildren i know you're looking at me he's
too young that can't be possible children in the ministry very soon my daughter jenny and her husband
jerry are going to be going into albania to pioneer a church bobby and carry my daughter carry and her
(42:43):
husband bobby and three of their sons are pioneering a church in bat yam outside of telladiv israel
and they are having revival in israel who am i lord that you have brought me this far
and it's not perfect my life is not problem free i don't have a wife who hates me though she loves me
(43:11):
their setbacks are hardships there's disappointments there are ongoing problems that
aren't going to be resolved anytime soon there's a lot of pain along the way but my wife rene and i
do not allow those things to dominate the landscape it is always the wonder of it all i thought about
(43:32):
pastor warner here he is sitting in a wheelchair leg amputated bouts with cancer never complains why
because it's the wonder of all that god has done and all that he's doing and all that he's going to do
how many times in pastor michael talk about the wonder of it all this is not me it's not my work
(43:57):
pastor michael will say this is god god has done this he gave god the glory and that what
that's what enabled him to process all the rebellions and hardships and disappointments
and failures and setbacks throughout the years of ministry it was the wonder of it all that kept
them pushing forward to greater dimensions of god's will this is a picture of master sergeant
(44:24):
rhoderick edmunds if you could put that up please handsome young 24 year old man he was captured
along with 1263 men that he was in command of during the battle of the bulge and they were
taken to a prisoner of war camp and the commander of the prisoner of war camp told rady edmunds
(44:50):
that's his name rhoderick edmunds rady edmunds he said i want you to identify the jewish soldiers
among you and separate them from the other prisoners rady edmunds refused and rady edmunds the next
day ordered all 1263 pow to stand information outside the barracks he stood with his men he had
(45:13):
two jewish men standing on either side of him john tanner and paul stern and when the commander saw
all the men standing information he shouted these cannot all be jews rady edmunds said we are
we are all jews the commander then pulled out his pistol put it to rady's head and said if you
(45:38):
don't identify the jews among you and again there were 200 of them you're gonna die edmunds told the
commandant the germans would soon lose the war looked him square in the eye the germans will
soon lose the war and if you shoot me you'll have to shoot all of us and we know who you are
(45:59):
and after the war you're gonna be tried for war crimes this shook up this commander he turned
around in a fury and left rady edmunds had saved the lives of 200 jewish soldiers after the war
he had a family and he had a son who became a pastor and then rady edmunds died in 1985
(46:19):
and his son who is now a pastor was helping his daughter do a project on world war two
and he started delving into he never knew his father was like many world war two soldiers
they don't go around bragging about what they did they never talked about it he never mentioned
this story to anyone but he found out about it because he made contact with john tanner
(46:41):
tanner the man who is standing next to his father in that prisoner of war camp the jewish one of
the jewish men that he saved of those 200 jewish soldiers over the ensuing years 13 000 descendants
proceeded and this son who was a pastor went to an event when where john tanner it was a it was a
(47:11):
veteran world war two veterans event where john tanner was speaking the man who stood next to his
father and he said in his speech you can see how important raterich edmunds decision has been
(47:39):
that's the biggest joy for me edmunds said to see the real people the lives that have been touched
and changed they're not talking about the horror of being in a prisoner of war camp they're talking
about the wonder of it all look what happened because of this young 24 what are you doing at 24
(48:02):
how much courage do you have what kind of bravery could you exhibit in such a circumstance
it's the wonder of it all all of us have a glorious history to rehearse and marvel at
and we should do so at this altar it's the wonder of it all for all of us i want you to bow your
(48:24):
heads every head bowed every eye closed nobody moving around for a moment we want to do some other
things but we want to obviously make opportunity for those who may be here tonight that are not
saved that do not know jesus christ as lord and savior have not yet been born again but you really
want to be you want to get your heart right with god and you want to know jesus as your savior
(48:51):
you've heard enough you've seen enough and this isn't the first you've heard about jesus hearing
myself or these others preach you've been witness to others have told you about jesus that's why
you're here today and if you're here and you want to get your heart right with god i want to ask you
to do one simple thing while every head is bowed and every eye closed i want to ask you if you'll
(49:13):
do one simple thing and that is slip your hand up pastor pray for me i want to get my heart right
with god i want to know jesus christ is my lord and savior my life is a mess my heart is filled
with problems and i'm dominated with all kinds of stress stresses and struggles and i want to be
free i want to be clean i want to be forgiven would you lift your hand right now and let me pray for
(49:36):
you pastor i want to receive christ as my savior i want to know jesus as my lord maybe you're here
in your backslid maybe the very thing i ministered on your life began to be dominated by all the
disappointments and problems and all kinds of anger and unforgiveness and all kinds of pollution of
(49:59):
emotion and you've lost the wonder of it all you need to recapture that right now you need to take
this seriously because as david demonstrates for us in this tragic episode of his life it's very fragile
and i want you to lift your hand up right now pastor i am not right with god but i want to get
right at this altar today in jesus name lift your hand right up and put it right back down all over
(50:21):
this building pastor i want to repent i want to get my heart right with god god bless you god sees
that hand god sees that hand thank you very much god sees that hand many hands going up lift your
hand right up in the name of jesus i want to repent i want to get my heart right with god amen i see
another hand back there it's hard to see past the lights god bless you my brother god sees that hand
(50:44):
anyone else we're talking about eternity we're talking about heaven we're talking about god
working in your life here and now the great god that we preached about working in your life here
and now invading the circumstances and situations in your life when you allow all that to dominate
it's a barrier against god moving on your behalf it's the wonder of it all that opens
(51:09):
the floodgates for god to help you lift your hand right now amen hands going up i want all of you
that raise your hand to get up out of your seat right now and come forward to find a place to pray
my brother on my left some here in the middle sections and way in the back i want you to get
out of your seat and come forward and find a place to pray in jesus name in jesus name amen thank you
(51:34):
very much god bless you guys anyone else you come right now as we're talking it's not too late to
get your heart right with god and now right now is the very best opportunity you'll ever have
thank you for listening to the phsa potters house salmon arm podcast be sure to follow us on instagram
(51:56):
at potters house underscore salmon arm to keep up to date on what we're doing join the conversation
and discover how jesus christ can revolutionize your life
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