April 6, 2025 • 40 mins
The deafening silence of God can be one of the most challenging aspects of faith. When prayers seem to hit the ceiling and heaven appears shut, what are we to make of these quiet seasons? Drawing from the profound 400-year silence between the Old and New Testaments, this episode uncovers the hidden purpose behind God's periods of apparent absence.
Throughout scripture, even the most faithful servants experienced divine silence. From the Psalmist's cry of "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" to Job's lament "I cry to you, O God, but you don't answer," these moments aren't signs of God's inactivity but rather His behind-the-scenes work. Just as those 400 silent years were actually preparing the world for its greatest miracle—the birth of Jesus—our seasons of waiting serve divine purposes we often can't yet see.
Before assuming God has gone quiet because He's distant or uncaring, we're challenged to first examine our own hearts. Isaiah reminds us that sometimes "it's your sins that have cut you off from God." The path back to hearing His voice begins with honest self-reflection and making space for His presence by removing the distractions that crowd our spiritual senses.
This powerful exploration of divine silence offers a refreshing perspective for anyone navigating a desert season in their spiritual journey. By understanding that God often works most powerfully in quiet moments, we can embrace these periods not as punishment but as preparation for what lies ahead. Have you experienced a season of God's silence? What did you learn during that time that you couldn't have discovered any other way?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
seated.
We'll let the kids class go.
Holly, I'm going to put you onthe spot.
I got a microphone prepared foryou.
I'm going to need you to comeup here and join me for a few
minutes.
I didn't prep you for any ofthis, it just happened, okay.
Yeah, go ahead and sit, makeyourself comfortable.
Has nothing to do with today'smessage, but it's something that
(00:21):
while I was standing praying,worshiping, two things happened
to my wife and I yesterday whilewe were in Medina and I want to
share those with you.
But I also we're going to talkprophetic.
You good with that.
I think you can live in that.
Right, that's your wheelhouse,okay?
So yesterday, when we werepraying for the members of our
(00:41):
teams in our areas, pastor SusanBosch, who is my area
supervisor, she prayed over mywife and I that we were going to
make crooked paths straight,just as I said this morning.
And when she said it I chuckledbecause I was like I know
exactly what she's talking about, like I've seen all of the
things, I've heard all of thethings.
I get it.
(01:02):
Okay, I'm here for it.
Lord, here I am.
I've heard all of the things.
I get it.
Okay, I'm here for it.
Lord, here I am.
Use me.
Right, amen.
So that prophetic word wasbased in the word of God, right?
So that's a good word, and Iknow that God's word will not
return, void, amen.
So then later there was a couplewho's actually being installed
today.
Let's just stop and pray forthem, father.
I pray for the WorcesterFoursquare Church in the mighty
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name of Jesus.
Lord, this new pastor couplethat's going to be installed
this morning.
Lord, I pray that you just givethem strong leadership, strong
guidance, father, god, becauseit's never easy walking into a
building that's already beenestablished.
Lord, I thank you for yourfavor in their lives, for your
favor in that building.
Lord, just continue to leadthem, guide them and direct them
(01:49):
, give them an understandingthat they've never had before in
their lives.
Lord, and I thank you for thatin the mighty name of Jesus.
Amen.
And that pastor couple they weresitting in front of us.
We didn't really get to talk tothem a whole lot and they
started introducing people whowere being installed in the
upcoming weeks, months, peoplewho had been freshly installed.
And when they said theWorcester Forest Church I drive
by it pretty regularly becauseit's not too far from my work
and, honestly, it's the closestplace to go to get anything of
(02:11):
substance.
So I leaned up to him and I putmy arm on his shoulder and I
said, hey, we've got a lot totalk about.
Like I'm pretty close to you.
And he's like, oh my gosh, yes,please.
So we sat there for a while, wedid all these other things, and
all of a sudden he turns aroundand he says can I pray for you?
Certainly.
So he comes and he grabs mywife and I and he starts to pray
for us and he says that we aregoing to get favor that we have
(02:32):
never had before.
So he starts saying thesethings he has no idea the stuff
that we are seeing, the stuffthat we are living, the stuff
that we are doing.
He doesn't know about thecrooked way straight.
He doesn't know about any ofthis and he just keeps talking.
And he just keeps talking.
And I say, god, whatever it isthat you're doing right now, you
need to do it quick Cause, likeI don't like to be emotional,
like it's not who I am, and soit's just not, and so he's, he's
(02:57):
really doing work in thatmoment and I'm like, okay, you
know, I hear you, god, all right, you're doing something big
today.
But I sat through a lot of thatmeeting and I'm going to be
honest with you guys cynical,right, because aren't we all
that way?
Sometimes we meet people wedon't necessarily trust and we
become cynical, right, okay?
So I want to just ask you aquestion Are there times when
(03:20):
prophecy is given that is notgood prophecy?
Okay, can you tell me about it?
He's fixing it.
Go ahead and talk.
Oh wait, we've got to turn iton, not yours, not yours.
(03:40):
Back there, back there.
I chose not to use your othermicrophone because it cuts out.
Yeah, there you go.
Yes, okay, that's what I wantedto know.
(04:35):
So, as I was experiencing thatyesterday, my heart was like,
okay, god is all over this and Iknew that he was.
But then I started thinkingback to some of the other times
when I've allowed people tospeak into my life and I
realized that I was gettingmyself psyched up for something
that maybe God wasn't actuallysaying, for that exact reason
that they had intel orinformation where I had shared
(04:55):
something and they were tryingto give me peace that wasn't
really the peace of God.
So I wanted to share, and Ihave never witnessed you do this
, so I want to be very clearabout that while we're sitting
here.
I want to be very clear thatwhen you are being spoken over,
when the prophetic is happeningin your life, it had better not
(05:18):
contradict the word of God,because that's when it gets
dangerous, and I'm going to tellyou it happens, okay.
So be prepared, prepare yourheart, and I don't know why I'm
sharing this with you in thismoment, but God said to me today
that I had to, and so I am.
But, marcus, I also know thisand I promise you this isn't
from anything that I know youneed to make a change in your
(05:39):
life, and it's an easy change.
Before you leave work everymorning, before you leave the
house for work every morning,you need to pray over your wife.
I don't know why, but you needto, okay, every morning I don't
mean every other morning, Idon't mean once in a while or
when I think about it Everymorning, before you walk out
(06:00):
that door, you need to pray overyour wife.
If she's asleep, that's okay.
Pray over her.
If she's awake, great, hold herhands and pray with her.
But you need to pray with yourwife every morning.
That's all I've got.
Share all you want Amen, andthat means that they have to be
(06:31):
able to operate in the prophetic, the apostolic, like they can't
just be in the prophetic allthe time.
Okay, okay, yes, yes, amen,thank you, thank you, thank you.
(06:57):
It's all sweaty now.
I made her nervous.
So I'm blessed because I havePastor Holly, pastor Roger, I
have a team around me that I canask those questions and we can
have those conversations.
Sometimes they're hard,sometimes they're uncomfortable,
but we can have thoseconversations.
It has nothing to do with mymessage today.
Okay, there you go, write yournotes, keep that up here.
(07:17):
Someday that's going to beinformation for somebody sitting
in this room.
Amen, thank you, jesus.
All right, I need to rewindeverybody for a quick second to
a movie that I really like.
You know how I always start mymessages with something weird.
You guys are like super seriousright now.
So we got to change gears.
Okay, all right, everybodyneeds to shift gears real quick
because we're going to go.
We're going to go hard.
(07:37):
All right, I only got 20minutes.
We got to do this.
There's a movie that most of youare going to remember that had
a little something to do withtime travel.
Anybody know what movie I'mtalking about.
Back to the good.
You guys are quick.
You guys are quick, all right.
That movie was set in 1985, andDoc and Marty end up going back
to 1995.
That movie brought a ton ofattention to the DeLorean, right
(07:59):
?
How many of you have everwanted to own a DeLorean?
Strictly because they are ugly,but strictly because of that
movie?
Right, there was somethingabout it that made it cool.
That car ain't cool, like it'snot cool, but there was
something about that movie thatmade it cool, right?
Okay, if some of you wereeagle-eyed, you may have noticed
subtle changes between the timethat they were in in between
(08:21):
the time travels, like the TwinPines Mall becoming the Lone
Pines Mall after Marty hit theone pine tree.
Anybody ever caught that Littlesubtle things, all right.
And then the fact that the realHuey Lewis tells Marty that his
music is just too darn loud,right, so there's some humor in
that movie.
But that movie portrayedsomething that many of us miss,
(08:42):
and it's the importance of whatbrings together those two times,
right?
So from 1985 back to 1955, theygo back.
They don't really know what'shappened in between those times.
Now, doc lived through thosetimes, but he's about to mess it
all up, right, Okay, so I wantto talk today about time travel,
all right, okay, all right, notquite like that, all right, so
(09:05):
bear with me for just a second.
Okay, it's a fun topic ofdiscussion, because many of us
believe that it's not real andmany of us believe that it's
very real.
Right, elvis is still alivebecause he's just traveled into
time.
Right, he's going to come back.
No, okay, All right, I've lostyou guys for a second.
Okay, I want you to open yourBibles, if you would please, to
(09:26):
Psalm, chapter 22.
And we're going to be in verse1 and 2.
It's Psalm 22.
It'll take you a minute to gettoday's topic.
Some of you already know, butit'll take you a minute to get
there.
But Psalm 22, verse 1 and 2, itsays my God, my God, why have
(09:51):
you abandoned me?
Why are you so far away when Igroan for help?
Every day, I call to you, myGod, but you do not answer.
Every night, I lift my voice,but I find no relief.
That is the psalm that Jesusquoted when he was hanging on
(10:15):
the cross my God, my God, whyhave you abandoned me?
Why have you forsaken me?
All right, we're going to jumpto Job, chapter 30, verse 20.
We got a speed run now, is thatright?
Job 30, 20.
It says I cry to you, o God,but you don't answer.
(10:37):
I stand before you, but youdon't even look.
I cry to you, o God, but youdon't answer.
I stand before you, but youdon't even look.
Lamentations 3.8,.
(10:57):
It says and though I cry andshout, he has shut out my
prayers.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
What do all three of thosepassages of scripture have in
common?
The silence of God, the silence.
(11:19):
How many of you are living inthe silence of God right now?
Lord, I am praying that youspeak to me today, lord, I am
praying that you give meunderstanding for what you are
doing.
Lord, I just need you to behere with me and nothing happens
and nothing changes.
(11:39):
God, in his infinite wisdom,knows when to remain silent.
Now we're going to time travel.
Ready, this group?
(11:59):
We're going to time traveltogether.
Okay, all right, open yourBible to Malachi.
We're going to go to chapter 4,verse five.
Malachi 4.5.
Hey, something was said to meyesterday and I want to
encourage you guys to do thisStart taking your Bibles with
you when you go places.
Okay, I don't mean your phone,I mean your Bible.
If you don't have a Bible andyou need a hard copy, let me
(12:21):
know I'll get you one, but starttaking your Bible with you.
Why, man, I was going to say doyou know how easy it is to
crack this bad boy open when I'mstruggling with something?
Do you know, if I?
What's the first thing I dowhen I grab my phone?
I'm going to open my Bible appon my phone and go look for a
passage of scripture.
What's the first thing I do?
Facebook, facebook, startplaying a game, check my email
(12:44):
and I get distracted from whatreally matters.
Amen, start carrying your Biblewith you, something physical,
something tangible, somethingyou can see, hold and know.
Right there, ain't no Facebookin here.
Ain't no Facebook in there.
All right, are we in Malachi?
Are we all there?
Okay, chapter four, verse five.
(13:04):
It says look, I am sending youthe prophet Elijah.
Before the great and dreadfulday of, before the great and
dreadful day of the Lord arrives, his preaching will turn the
hearts of their fathers to theirchildren and the hearts of
their children to their fathers.
Otherwise, I will come andstrike the land with a curse.
(13:26):
That's a pointless passage ofscripture for the message that
I'm preaching today, ain't it?
Everybody, hold your Bible oryour phone, whatever.
Flip the page.
Flip the page.
You've just traveled 400 years.
400 years, it's true.
(13:52):
There is a 400 year gap that isnot reported in the Bible from
the Old Testament to the NewTestament.
Why it is 400 years of nothing.
God is silent for 400 years, issilent for 400 years.
Can you imagine, day in and dayout, walking with the Lord hand
in hand, hearing his voice andknowing what he wants in your
(14:12):
life, and then nothing for 400?
Now remember, these peoplelived a lot longer too, right?
These people lived a lot longerthan we live.
No-transcript Nothing.
Now I notice that not a lot ofpeople raised their hand when
they said they aren't living ina time of silence.
I want to tell you somethingMany of us are living in a time
of silence.
We don't like to admit the timeof silence because we feel like
(14:36):
we're inadequate if God is notspeaking to us.
Right?
If God's not talking to me, Imust be doing something.
I'm not good enough.
Never mistake God's silence forinactivity.
400 years of nothing, and what'sthe story of Matthew?
(14:56):
What's the book of Matthew, thesynoptic life of Jesus Christ
400 years in the making, and theMessiah is born 400 years, and
you can't go two days.
400 years and you can't go aweek.
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I think we need to figure outwhy God is not speaking.
Are we praying every day, notfor our will, but his will?
Listen, I want a lot of thingsin life.
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I want God to be good to me,but more than that, I want to be
good to God.
I want to hear what it is thathe would have me do, and I want
to do it with perfection, withexcellence.
That spirit of excellence issomething that lives inside of
me, and every one of you whoknow me intimately, who know me
closely, you know that about me,right?
I don't like for things to notbe done the right way, and so
sometimes I see you doingsomething.
(16:02):
I'm going to say just let me dothat myself right Now.
Listen, that is not because Idon't trust you, it is not
because I don't like you, it'snot because I hate you.
It is because I know that Godhas called me to excellence, and
if I allow you to operateoutside of excellence and just
say it's okay, what good am I tomy father?
What good am I to God if I amnot willing to operate in
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excellence?
Can I tell you something?
You can't understand excellenceunless it's demonstrated for
you, right?
What is excellence?
Nobody knows what excellencetruly is.
I'll tell you, I try to live mylife more like Jesus every day.
That's the best that I can do.
It is the best that I can do.
But I'm going to tell you thatexcellence sometimes comes at a
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cost.
Holly laughs, she gets it,she's been there.
Sometimes excellence comes atbeing disliked.
Sometimes excellence comes atthe cost of uncomfortable
conversations.
Sometimes excellence comes andyou got nothing left when you're
done, because everybody thatsees you doing it, they have an
(17:14):
opinion about why you'reoperating that way.
I'm telling you, I'm not tryingto be better than anybody.
I am trying to bring themovement of Christ, the body of
Christ, into excellence.
Thank you Jesus.
Thank you Jesus.
Thank you, jesus.
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Listen, weak leaders breed weakfollowers.
I am not going to grow weakdisciples because your feelings
get hurt when I operate in aspirit of excellence.
Let me tell you something Goddoes not want weak disciples.
He wants strong disciples,disciples that can look at the
word and go oh yeah, I can speakto that.
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Right, listen, if we can'tmemorize scripture?
Hey, I'm not gonna beat you upfor it, but what's etched upon
your heart if it's not the wordof God?
What is etched upon your heart?
The world is etched upon yourheart, amen.
And so what happens is you havethe world etched upon your
heart and you're walking aroundtrying to figure out why God's
being silent.
Let me tell you God's beingsilent because you can't live in
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relationship with him.
God is being silent because youcan't live in relationship with
him.
Listen, I haven't figured itout, I haven't made it to heaven
yet, but I'm going to tell youthis every time.
Listen, we got to stop actinglike savages, right?
Am I being truthful?
Listen, when we do, whensomebody does something we don't
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like, we want to attack them.
Right?
We want to make them look bad,feel bad, seem like a terrible
person.
Let me tell you that is notwhat a disciple does.
That is not what a discipledoes.
A disciple comes alongside ofyou lovingly.
Listen, I might need to loveyou at an arm's length for a
minute, because what hashappened has hurt my feelings,
(19:04):
it's wounded my flesh and I needtime for my spirit to heal.
And then, when it does, I'mgonna come alongside you in love
.
I don't need to condemn you forwhat it is that you've done or
you've said, and I don't need tocondemn you for the actions
that you've taken.
All I need you to do is knowthat I am not angry at you,
because God is not angry at me,and I don't want to hold on to
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something that God won't hold onto of mine.
If he has forgiven me, theleast that I can do is forgive
you.
The least that I can do isforgive you.
Listen, there are so many otherthings.
Listen, you guys ain't evengetting excited.
That's okay.
I'm excited for myself rightnow.
Like, listen, I know what Jesusis doing right now.
(19:47):
It might not be in you, butit's in me and if I walk out of
here changed and different, I'mhappy, right?
I'm excited that I didn't comein here looking all raggedy and
beat up and then I'm going towalk out of here looking all
raggedy and beat up.
I'm going to walk out of herelooking raggedy and beat up
because God's done something.
Come and mess me up.
Come and mess me up, god, Iwant you to walk into this place
(20:09):
today and I want you to justtear me down to the ground and
build me back up.
I'll walk out of here allsweaty and stinky and I think
you know what, god.
You did something today.
Thank you Jesus.
Thank you, jesus.
Okay, lord, have mercy.
You guys might think that I'm alittle bit crazy.
(20:34):
I know it's hard to believe, butunderstanding that 400 years
between the Old Testament andthe New Testament is important
to our faith.
It's not just a gap that goesunaccounted.
It is God working in ways thatwe don't even understand 400
(20:55):
years, generations of familymembers to get to Mary.
400 years of generations to getto Joseph, all so that we might
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have Jesus.
400 years, god worked so thatwe might be saved.
And you can't wait two hours tohave lunch, right, see?
The problem is is we havebecome so selfish that we aren't
worried about what God is doingin our lives.
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We want this expedited.
I'm the same way.
Hurry up, lord.
If you're going to mess me up,do it now, because I don't want
you to do it in front of people.
Right, lord?
If you're going to shake me up,do it now, because I don't want
you to do it in front of people.
Right, lord?
If you're going to shake me up,shake me up right now so that
nobody else is going to see it.
It don't work that way.
He gets you when you leastexpect it in the place that you
(21:59):
don't want to be.
Any of you who ever encounteredFlorence in a grocery store,
listen, wonderful woman lovedher to death.
But if you told her that youwere going through something in
the middle of Walmart, you aregetting prayed for in the middle
of Walmart.
She ain't going to tell you.
Tyler says been there, wendy'sdrive-thru, right, she wasn't
(22:23):
going to wait until Wednesdaynight at church.
She wasn't going to wait untilSunday morning at church.
She was going to lay hands onyou and pray for you right there
.
If she puts you out in thespirit in the middle of Walmart,
sorry about it.
It just it was who she was.
But she believed that prayingfor people first was the first
line of line of combat at alltimes.
Right, amen.
And she wasn't afraid to walkin what God had called her to
(22:46):
walk in.
She wasn't going to wait foryou to decide.
She was going to let God makethat decision.
Listen, sometimes his silence istelling you something.
We talk about waiting all thetime.
Right, you can be in waitingand still hear from God, but
(23:09):
wait until you have that seasonof waiting and silence.
Sometimes you just have to siton the floor and talk to him.
Lord, I don't know where youare, I don't know what it is
that you're doing, but I knowthat you are doing something
good.
I know that you are changing mylife in ways that I can't even
(23:33):
see, that I can't even feel.
Lord, I know that you are goingto wreck me from the inside out
and I am thankful for yoursilence today.
Lord, can you sit in silencewith him?
Has anybody ever tried that?
To just sit in silence with theLord?
It's hard, isn't it?
Because you think you've beenthere a half hour.
It's really been three minutes,like you.
(23:54):
Just nothing.
Just there's this void andyou're waiting for something and
nothing happens, and it is hardto live in that.
But I'm gonna tell you, thereis honor in that waiting, there
is honor in that silence.
Now, most of us who have beenaround small children or have
small children, we knowsomething about silence, right,
(24:15):
it usually equals trouble.
There's peanut butter spread onthe wall, or they're running
around without clothes on, orthey've put crayons in the dryer
.
Right, listen, my kids, getquiet.
Why'd you raise your hand?
Did you put crayons in thedryer?
Right, listen, my kids getquiet.
Why'd you raise your hand?
Did you put crayons in thedryer?
Yeah, silence is bad, you know.
When it gets quiet, something'sgoing down right.
(24:38):
But as parents sometimes wejust need that 10 minutes and
I'll deal with it after the fact.
Right, my kids get quiet in thebasement for any given time and
I'm like you know what.
I'll deal with it after thefact.
Right, my kids get quiet in thebasement for any given time and
I'm like you know what.
I'll deal with it later.
I'm just going to take thequiet for now.
But we have conditionedourselves to believe that
silence means something bad ishappening.
(24:58):
That is not what God is doing.
If you believe that, I have toask do you really know who God
is?
Because he's not doing anythingbad.
The enemy has allowed you tobelieve that God will only do
good things when he's loud andwhen he's silent.
The good always comes from theFather.
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Okay, don't mistake in God'ssilence for inaction.
Don't mistake in God's silencefor inaction.
Don't mistake in God's silencefor hate or anger.
Look at that silence as anopportunity.
Isaiah 59.2.
Isaiah 59.2,.
(25:44):
It says it's your sin that havecut you off from God.
Because of your sins.
He has turned away and will notlisten anymore.
Quiet in here, quiet in here.
(26:06):
You know why it's quiet in here?
Because remember when I wastalking about that intentional
separation from the will of God,remember that it's your sin
that has cut you off from God.
Because of your sins.
He has turned away and will notlisten anymore.
(26:28):
1 Samuel 28.6.
He asked the Lord what heshould do, but the Lord refused
to answer him, either by dreamsor by sacred lots or by prophets
.
After a long pattern ofdisobedience, king Saul is
(26:55):
experiencing silence from God.
He's no longer leading him, butthis is after a long period of
disobedience.
See, we want to blame God forthe silence.
But this is after a long periodof disobedience.
See, we want to blame God forthe silence.
We don't want to look inwardwhen I'm not hearing something,
(27:19):
when I'm not experiencing a moveof God.
The first question that I askhim is Lord, what is it that I
need to prune?
Explore my heart, god, andwhatever it is, I need you to
take it away.
This morning, before I came tothe pulpit, I was standing in
the aisle and I was praying thathe would soften my heart.
(27:39):
Because you guys don'tunderstand.
I run through the ringer weekafter week after week after week
, and sometimes I just getcalloused.
I stop caring.
I'm like you know what I wishyou would.
Whatever it is that you said Iwish you would, you know why?
Because I like to fight tooright.
(28:02):
I don't want to be that.
I don't want my heart to bethat way, lord, I need you to
soften me so that I can show you, so that I can experience the
love that you have for thepeople, not just for me, but for
you.
If I come into this pulpit witha hard heart, guess what You're
going to get?
A hard hearted message.
That is not my intention ever.
(28:23):
I want God to be able to workfreely through me, Amen.
I want God to be able to workfreely through me.
Amen.
And listen, that silence happensto me.
My first line of defense is tofigure out is it something that
I have done, lord?
Is it something that I havedone to offend you?
Is it something that I havedone to stop your move in my
(28:44):
life?
And if it is, lord, take itfrom me.
It is better to gouge out youreye than to lose the whole head.
Listen, there ain't a whole lotgoing on up here anyway, but
I'd rather lose the eye, right?
(29:05):
I know that God wants listen.
I don't know who I'm talking to,but God wants you to do
something today that makes achange in your life.
Because you're sitting theregoing.
I'm not hearing what God'ssaying to me today.
I don't know what it is.
God wants you to explore yourheart.
He wants you to come to him insubmission Not easy to do.
(29:27):
Don't argue with him when hetells you, when he says it's
time to give up, it's time tostop, it's time to do X.
You need to do it and you needto do it fast.
This isn't a game.
Listen, if Jesus returnstomorrow, lord please do, I
(29:47):
don't want to go to worktomorrow.
I'm kidding, kidding.
If Jesus were tomorrow, lordplease do, I don't want to go to
work tomorrow.
I'm kidding, kidding.
If Jesus were to returntomorrow, how many of us are
going to make it Right?
Why?
Because what else can we askhim to do but help us?
Because we can't help but actlike savages.
(30:07):
We can't help but hate and totalk poorly and to try to treat
people a certain way.
Listen, disciples, don't do that.
We have got to shift ourmindset from world to spirit.
We have got to stop thinkingabout all of the things that the
world is trying to tell us todo and make us act.
Listen, you ain't gonna win.
Is trying to tell us to do andmake us act.
(30:27):
Listen, you ain't going to win.
The world doesn't win.
No-transcript.
Jesus is going to have victory.
We already know that.
Why are you living in the world?
All right, I'm done yelling.
Can you lay down your sword andpick up his praise?
(30:53):
Can you stop being maliciousand learn to be kind?
Can you learn to forgive oneanother?
Can you learn to let go of theburdens that you are carrying?
If there's one of us in thisroom not carrying a burden today
, I would be surprised.
I would be surprised.
A silent God is not an inactive.
(31:15):
God.
A silent God is a loving God.
A silent God is a patient God,and we need to learn to be more
loving, more patient andsometimes silent, because when
we're acting like savages andnot like disciples, didn't you
(31:37):
learn anything from Bambi?
If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all.
Right.
Can we not learn that Like thisfeels like it's grade school
level stuff, but we can't seemto do it.
We can't seem to do it becausewe have allowed the world to
tell us that we don't have to.
Before Jesus walked the earth,god was on the throne.
When Jesus walked the earth,god was on the throne.
(32:01):
When Jesus ascended to heaven,god was on the throne.
When Jesus walked the earth,god was on the throne.
When Jesus ascended to heaven,god was on the throne.
When the Holy Spirit came uponus, god was on the throne.
Guess who's on the throne today, god?
Guess who's going to be on thethrone tomorrow?
Guess who's going to be on thethrone when Jesus returns, god,
can I tell you something?
The world doesn't win.
(32:21):
We are not going to havevictory living in the flesh.
Amen.
Stop and listen to the silence.
When God stops speaking, ask isit something that I have done,
lord.
Examine my heart.
For some of us, it's Lord.
Look through our Facebook page.
(32:43):
For some of us, it's Lord.
Look through our text messages,lord.
Look through our Instagram,lord.
Look through our browsinghistory, whatever it may be, but
we need him to reveal thethings that are not of his glory
, amen.
And if we pretend like we don'thave problems and we don't ever
look for that, when the silencecomes, we won't know how to
(33:04):
combat it.
Amen, let's pray together.
Father, as I stand here today, Ithank you for an anointed word.
Lord.
I stand here embracing whateversilence you bring to my life
Because, lord, that silence isan opportunity to meet you where
you want me.
Lord, I know that you're goingto come to me, you're going to
(33:24):
drag me whatever place you wantme to be, but, lord, I want to
go willingly.
I want to go with anunderstanding of what it is that
you would have me do and, lord,I will examine my own heart
today.
Lord, if there is somethingthat's in here that is not
(33:44):
fruitful to your ministry,reveal it to me and allow me to
remove it.
Lord, I lay it all down at thefoot of the cross today the
burden, the worry, the hurt,lord, all of the things I lay it
at your feet the burden, theworry, the hurt.
Lord, all of the things I layit at your feet.
(34:07):
Father, I thank you for leadingyour people, for lifting us up,
for blessing us daily.
Lord, I pray that, as we leavethis place, that your glory will
show through each and every oneof us.
Allow us to pray first, allowus to ask all of the questions,
(34:30):
father God, just to be inharmony with you.
Lord, I thank you, I praise you, give you all the honor and
glory in the mighty name ofJesus, and the church says amen.
We love you, guys.
We will see you Wednesday nightat the Lenten service.
Oh, I'm sorry, we were going togo home, okay.
(34:51):
Now we really got a speed run.
I forgot.
Pastor Roger, you want to comehelp me?
Okay, my apologies, guys, sorry, sorry, yeah, all right.
Well, do like we normally do.
What I want to say is that, aswe go to take communion, please
(35:12):
just examine your heart.
Make sure you're in goodstanding with God.
It is important to me that youunderstand that it is worse for
you to take communion in badstanding with Christ than it is
for you to simply sit.
I promise you, if you don'tmove forward and you don't take
communion, no one's going tojudge you.
Nobody in this building isgoing to judge you.
So I want you to justunderstand the importance.
But let's just stand, come andcollect our elements and then
(35:34):
no-transcript.
(39:29):
Father, as we stand here todayprepared to take your communion,
I just thank you for the bloodthat you shed on the cross,
Father, that you would dosomething so significant to give
us everlasting life.
Father, whosoever should callupon your name shall be saved.
Today I am a whosoever, Father.
I am calling upon the mightyname of Jesus.
seated.
We'll let the kids class go.
Holly, I'm going to put you onthe spot.
I got a microphone prepared foryou.
I'm going to need you to comeup here and join me for a few
minutes.
I didn't prep you for any ofthis, it just happened, okay.
Yeah, go ahead and sit, makeyourself comfortable.
Has nothing to do with today'smessage, but it's something that
(00:21):
while I was standing praying,worshiping, two things happened
to my wife and I yesterday whilewe were in Medina and I want to
share those with you.
But I also we're going to talkprophetic.
You good with that.
I think you can live in that.
Right, that's your wheelhouse,okay?
So yesterday, when we werepraying for the members of our
(00:41):
teams in our areas, pastor SusanBosch, who is my area
supervisor, she prayed over mywife and I that we were going to
make crooked paths straight,just as I said this morning.
And when she said it I chuckledbecause I was like I know
exactly what she's talking about, like I've seen all of the
things, I've heard all of thethings.
I get it.
(01:02):
Okay, I'm here for it.
Lord, here I am.
I've heard all of the things.
I get it.
Okay, I'm here for it.
Lord, here I am.
Use me.
Right, amen.
So that prophetic word wasbased in the word of God, right?
So that's a good word, and Iknow that God's word will not
return, void, amen.
So then later there was a couplewho's actually being installed
today.
Let's just stop and pray forthem, father.
I pray for the WorcesterFoursquare Church in the mighty
(01:24):
name of Jesus.
Lord, this new pastor couplethat's going to be installed
this morning.
Lord, I pray that you just givethem strong leadership, strong
guidance, father, god, becauseit's never easy walking into a
building that's already beenestablished.
Lord, I thank you for yourfavor in their lives, for your
favor in that building.
Lord, just continue to leadthem, guide them and direct them
(01:49):
, give them an understandingthat they've never had before in
their lives.
Lord, and I thank you for thatin the mighty name of Jesus.
Amen.
And that pastor couple they weresitting in front of us.
We didn't really get to talk tothem a whole lot and they
started introducing people whowere being installed in the
upcoming weeks, months, peoplewho had been freshly installed.
And when they said theWorcester Forest Church I drive
by it pretty regularly becauseit's not too far from my work
and, honestly, it's the closestplace to go to get anything of
(02:11):
substance.
So I leaned up to him and I putmy arm on his shoulder and I
said, hey, we've got a lot totalk about.
Like I'm pretty close to you.
And he's like, oh my gosh, yes,please.
So we sat there for a while, wedid all these other things, and
all of a sudden he turns aroundand he says can I pray for you?
Certainly.
So he comes and he grabs mywife and I and he starts to pray
for us and he says that we aregoing to get favor that we have
(02:32):
never had before.
So he starts saying thesethings he has no idea the stuff
that we are seeing, the stuffthat we are living, the stuff
that we are doing.
He doesn't know about thecrooked way straight.
He doesn't know about any ofthis and he just keeps talking.
And he just keeps talking.
And I say, god, whatever it isthat you're doing right now, you
need to do it quick Cause, likeI don't like to be emotional,
like it's not who I am, and soit's just not, and so he's, he's
(02:57):
really doing work in thatmoment and I'm like, okay, you
know, I hear you, god, all right, you're doing something big
today.
But I sat through a lot of thatmeeting and I'm going to be
honest with you guys cynical,right, because aren't we all
that way?
Sometimes we meet people wedon't necessarily trust and we
become cynical, right, okay?
So I want to just ask you aquestion Are there times when
(03:20):
prophecy is given that is notgood prophecy?
Okay, can you tell me about it?
He's fixing it.
Go ahead and talk.
Oh wait, we've got to turn iton, not yours, not yours.
(03:40):
Back there, back there.
I chose not to use your othermicrophone because it cuts out.
Yeah, there you go.
Yes, okay, that's what I wantedto know.
(04:35):
So, as I was experiencing thatyesterday, my heart was like,
okay, god is all over this and Iknew that he was.
But then I started thinkingback to some of the other times
when I've allowed people tospeak into my life and I
realized that I was gettingmyself psyched up for something
that maybe God wasn't actuallysaying, for that exact reason
that they had intel orinformation where I had shared
(04:55):
something and they were tryingto give me peace that wasn't
really the peace of God.
So I wanted to share, and Ihave never witnessed you do this
, so I want to be very clearabout that while we're sitting
here.
I want to be very clear thatwhen you are being spoken over,
when the prophetic is happeningin your life, it had better not
(05:18):
contradict the word of God,because that's when it gets
dangerous, and I'm going to tellyou it happens, okay.
So be prepared, prepare yourheart, and I don't know why I'm
sharing this with you in thismoment, but God said to me today
that I had to, and so I am.
But, marcus, I also know thisand I promise you this isn't
from anything that I know youneed to make a change in your
(05:39):
life, and it's an easy change.
Before you leave work everymorning, before you leave the
house for work every morning,you need to pray over your wife.
I don't know why, but you needto, okay, every morning I don't
mean every other morning, Idon't mean once in a while or
when I think about it Everymorning, before you walk out
(06:00):
that door, you need to pray overyour wife.
If she's asleep, that's okay.
Pray over her.
If she's awake, great, hold herhands and pray with her.
But you need to pray with yourwife every morning.
That's all I've got.
Share all you want Amen, andthat means that they have to be
(06:31):
able to operate in the prophetic, the apostolic, like they can't
just be in the prophetic allthe time.
Okay, okay, yes, yes, amen,thank you, thank you, thank you.
(06:57):
It's all sweaty now.
I made her nervous.
So I'm blessed because I havePastor Holly, pastor Roger, I
have a team around me that I canask those questions and we can
have those conversations.
Sometimes they're hard,sometimes they're uncomfortable,
but we can have thoseconversations.
It has nothing to do with mymessage today.
Okay, there you go, write yournotes, keep that up here.
(07:17):
Someday that's going to beinformation for somebody sitting
in this room.
Amen, thank you, jesus.
All right, I need to rewindeverybody for a quick second to
a movie that I really like.
You know how I always start mymessages with something weird.
You guys are like super seriousright now.
So we got to change gears.
Okay, all right, everybodyneeds to shift gears real quick
because we're going to go.
We're going to go hard.
(07:37):
All right, I only got 20minutes.
We got to do this.
There's a movie that most of youare going to remember that had
a little something to do withtime travel.
Anybody know what movie I'mtalking about.
Back to the good.
You guys are quick.
You guys are quick, all right.
That movie was set in 1985, andDoc and Marty end up going back
to 1995.
That movie brought a ton ofattention to the DeLorean, right
(07:59):
?
How many of you have everwanted to own a DeLorean?
Strictly because they are ugly,but strictly because of that
movie?
Right, there was somethingabout it that made it cool.
That car ain't cool, like it'snot cool, but there was
something about that movie thatmade it cool, right?
Okay, if some of you wereeagle-eyed, you may have noticed
subtle changes between the timethat they were in in between
(08:21):
the time travels, like the TwinPines Mall becoming the Lone
Pines Mall after Marty hit theone pine tree.
Anybody ever caught that Littlesubtle things, all right.
And then the fact that the realHuey Lewis tells Marty that his
music is just too darn loud,right, so there's some humor in
that movie.
But that movie portrayedsomething that many of us miss,
(08:42):
and it's the importance of whatbrings together those two times,
right?
So from 1985 back to 1955, theygo back.
They don't really know what'shappened in between those times.
Now, doc lived through thosetimes, but he's about to mess it
all up, right, Okay, so I wantto talk today about time travel,
all right, okay, all right, notquite like that, all right, so
(09:05):
bear with me for just a second.
Okay, it's a fun topic ofdiscussion, because many of us
believe that it's not real andmany of us believe that it's
very real.
Right, elvis is still alivebecause he's just traveled into
time.
Right, he's going to come back.
No, okay, All right, I've lostyou guys for a second.
Okay, I want you to open yourBibles, if you would please, to
(09:26):
Psalm, chapter 22.
And we're going to be in verse1 and 2.
It's Psalm 22.
It'll take you a minute to gettoday's topic.
Some of you already know, butit'll take you a minute to get
there.
But Psalm 22, verse 1 and 2, itsays my God, my God, why have
(09:51):
you abandoned me?
Why are you so far away when Igroan for help?
Every day, I call to you, myGod, but you do not answer.
Every night, I lift my voice,but I find no relief.
That is the psalm that Jesusquoted when he was hanging on
(10:15):
the cross my God, my God, whyhave you abandoned me?
Why have you forsaken me?
All right, we're going to jumpto Job, chapter 30, verse 20.
We got a speed run now, is thatright?
Job 30, 20.
It says I cry to you, o God,but you don't answer.
(10:37):
I stand before you, but youdon't even look.
I cry to you, o God, but youdon't answer.
I stand before you, but youdon't even look.
Lamentations 3.8,.
(10:57):
It says and though I cry andshout, he has shut out my
prayers.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
What do all three of thosepassages of scripture have in
common?
The silence of God, the silence.
(11:19):
How many of you are living inthe silence of God right now?
Lord, I am praying that youspeak to me today, lord, I am
praying that you give meunderstanding for what you are
doing.
Lord, I just need you to behere with me and nothing happens
and nothing changes.
(11:39):
God, in his infinite wisdom,knows when to remain silent.
Now we're going to time travel.
Ready, this group?
(11:59):
We're going to time traveltogether.
Okay, all right, open yourBible to Malachi.
We're going to go to chapter 4,verse five.
Malachi 4.5.
Hey, something was said to meyesterday and I want to
encourage you guys to do thisStart taking your Bibles with
you when you go places.
Okay, I don't mean your phone,I mean your Bible.
If you don't have a Bible andyou need a hard copy, let me
(12:21):
know I'll get you one, but starttaking your Bible with you.
Why, man, I was going to say doyou know how easy it is to
crack this bad boy open when I'mstruggling with something?
Do you know, if I?
What's the first thing I dowhen I grab my phone?
I'm going to open my Bible appon my phone and go look for a
passage of scripture.
What's the first thing I do?
Facebook, facebook, startplaying a game, check my email
(12:44):
and I get distracted from whatreally matters.
Amen, start carrying your Biblewith you, something physical,
something tangible, somethingyou can see, hold and know.
Right there, ain't no Facebookin here.
Ain't no Facebook in there.
All right, are we in Malachi?
Are we all there?
Okay, chapter four, verse five.
(13:04):
It says look, I am sending youthe prophet Elijah.
Before the great and dreadfulday of, before the great and
dreadful day of the Lord arrives, his preaching will turn the
hearts of their fathers to theirchildren and the hearts of
their children to their fathers.
Otherwise, I will come andstrike the land with a curse.
(13:26):
That's a pointless passage ofscripture for the message that
I'm preaching today, ain't it?
Everybody, hold your Bible oryour phone, whatever.
Flip the page.
Flip the page.
You've just traveled 400 years.
400 years, it's true.
(13:52):
There is a 400 year gap that isnot reported in the Bible from
the Old Testament to the NewTestament.
Why it is 400 years of nothing.
God is silent for 400 years, issilent for 400 years.
Can you imagine, day in and dayout, walking with the Lord hand
in hand, hearing his voice andknowing what he wants in your
(14:12):
life, and then nothing for 400?
Now remember, these peoplelived a lot longer too, right?
These people lived a lot longerthan we live.
No-transcript Nothing.
Now I notice that not a lot ofpeople raised their hand when
they said they aren't living ina time of silence.
I want to tell you somethingMany of us are living in a time
of silence.
We don't like to admit the timeof silence because we feel like
(14:36):
we're inadequate if God is notspeaking to us.
Right?
If God's not talking to me, Imust be doing something.
I'm not good enough.
Never mistake God's silence forinactivity.
400 years of nothing, and what'sthe story of Matthew?
(14:56):
What's the book of Matthew, thesynoptic life of Jesus Christ
400 years in the making, and theMessiah is born 400 years, and
you can't go two days.
400 years and you can't go aweek.
(15:17):
I think we need to figure outwhy God is not speaking.
Are we praying every day, notfor our will, but his will?
Listen, I want a lot of thingsin life.
(15:41):
I want God to be good to me,but more than that, I want to be
good to God.
I want to hear what it is thathe would have me do, and I want
to do it with perfection, withexcellence.
That spirit of excellence issomething that lives inside of
me, and every one of you whoknow me intimately, who know me
closely, you know that about me,right?
I don't like for things to notbe done the right way, and so
sometimes I see you doingsomething.
(16:02):
I'm going to say just let me dothat myself right Now.
Listen, that is not because Idon't trust you, it is not
because I don't like you, it'snot because I hate you.
It is because I know that Godhas called me to excellence, and
if I allow you to operateoutside of excellence and just
say it's okay, what good am I tomy father?
What good am I to God if I amnot willing to operate in
(16:25):
excellence?
Can I tell you something?
You can't understand excellenceunless it's demonstrated for
you, right?
What is excellence?
Nobody knows what excellencetruly is.
I'll tell you, I try to live mylife more like Jesus every day.
That's the best that I can do.
It is the best that I can do.
But I'm going to tell you thatexcellence sometimes comes at a
(16:53):
cost.
Holly laughs, she gets it,she's been there.
Sometimes excellence comes atbeing disliked.
Sometimes excellence comes atthe cost of uncomfortable
conversations.
Sometimes excellence comes andyou got nothing left when you're
done, because everybody thatsees you doing it, they have an
(17:14):
opinion about why you'reoperating that way.
I'm telling you, I'm not tryingto be better than anybody.
I am trying to bring themovement of Christ, the body of
Christ, into excellence.
Thank you Jesus.
Thank you Jesus.
Thank you, jesus.
(17:34):
Listen, weak leaders breed weakfollowers.
I am not going to grow weakdisciples because your feelings
get hurt when I operate in aspirit of excellence.
Let me tell you something Goddoes not want weak disciples.
He wants strong disciples,disciples that can look at the
word and go oh yeah, I can speakto that.
(17:55):
Right, listen, if we can'tmemorize scripture?
Hey, I'm not gonna beat you upfor it, but what's etched upon
your heart if it's not the wordof God?
What is etched upon your heart?
The world is etched upon yourheart, amen.
And so what happens is you havethe world etched upon your
heart and you're walking aroundtrying to figure out why God's
being silent.
Let me tell you God's beingsilent because you can't live in
(18:18):
relationship with him.
God is being silent because youcan't live in relationship with
him.
Listen, I haven't figured itout, I haven't made it to heaven
yet, but I'm going to tell youthis every time.
Listen, we got to stop actinglike savages, right?
Am I being truthful?
Listen, when we do, whensomebody does something we don't
(18:40):
like, we want to attack them.
Right?
We want to make them look bad,feel bad, seem like a terrible
person.
Let me tell you that is notwhat a disciple does.
That is not what a discipledoes.
A disciple comes alongside ofyou lovingly.
Listen, I might need to loveyou at an arm's length for a
minute, because what hashappened has hurt my feelings,
(19:04):
it's wounded my flesh and I needtime for my spirit to heal.
And then, when it does, I'mgonna come alongside you in love
.
I don't need to condemn you forwhat it is that you've done or
you've said, and I don't need tocondemn you for the actions
that you've taken.
All I need you to do is knowthat I am not angry at you,
because God is not angry at me,and I don't want to hold on to
(19:27):
something that God won't hold onto of mine.
If he has forgiven me, theleast that I can do is forgive
you.
The least that I can do isforgive you.
Listen, there are so many otherthings.
Listen, you guys ain't evengetting excited.
That's okay.
I'm excited for myself rightnow.
Like, listen, I know what Jesusis doing right now.
(19:47):
It might not be in you, butit's in me and if I walk out of
here changed and different, I'mhappy, right?
I'm excited that I didn't comein here looking all raggedy and
beat up and then I'm going towalk out of here looking all
raggedy and beat up.
I'm going to walk out of herelooking raggedy and beat up
because God's done something.
Come and mess me up.
Come and mess me up, god, Iwant you to walk into this place
(20:09):
today and I want you to justtear me down to the ground and
build me back up.
I'll walk out of here allsweaty and stinky and I think
you know what, god.
You did something today.
Thank you Jesus.
Thank you, jesus.
Okay, lord, have mercy.
You guys might think that I'm alittle bit crazy.
(20:34):
I know it's hard to believe, butunderstanding that 400 years
between the Old Testament andthe New Testament is important
to our faith.
It's not just a gap that goesunaccounted.
It is God working in ways thatwe don't even understand 400
(20:55):
years, generations of familymembers to get to Mary.
400 years of generations to getto Joseph, all so that we might
(21:17):
have Jesus.
400 years, god worked so thatwe might be saved.
And you can't wait two hours tohave lunch, right, see?
The problem is is we havebecome so selfish that we aren't
worried about what God is doingin our lives.
(21:39):
We want this expedited.
I'm the same way.
Hurry up, lord.
If you're going to mess me up,do it now, because I don't want
you to do it in front of people.
Right, lord?
If you're going to shake me up,do it now, because I don't want
you to do it in front of people.
Right, lord?
If you're going to shake me up,shake me up right now so that
nobody else is going to see it.
It don't work that way.
He gets you when you leastexpect it in the place that you
(21:59):
don't want to be.
Any of you who ever encounteredFlorence in a grocery store,
listen, wonderful woman lovedher to death.
But if you told her that youwere going through something in
the middle of Walmart, you aregetting prayed for in the middle
of Walmart.
She ain't going to tell you.
Tyler says been there, wendy'sdrive-thru, right, she wasn't
(22:23):
going to wait until Wednesdaynight at church.
She wasn't going to wait untilSunday morning at church.
She was going to lay hands onyou and pray for you right there
.
If she puts you out in thespirit in the middle of Walmart,
sorry about it.
It just it was who she was.
But she believed that prayingfor people first was the first
line of line of combat at alltimes.
Right, amen.
And she wasn't afraid to walkin what God had called her to
(22:46):
walk in.
She wasn't going to wait foryou to decide.
She was going to let God makethat decision.
Listen, sometimes his silence istelling you something.
We talk about waiting all thetime.
Right, you can be in waitingand still hear from God, but
(23:09):
wait until you have that seasonof waiting and silence.
Sometimes you just have to siton the floor and talk to him.
Lord, I don't know where youare, I don't know what it is
that you're doing, but I knowthat you are doing something
good.
I know that you are changing mylife in ways that I can't even
(23:33):
see, that I can't even feel.
Lord, I know that you are goingto wreck me from the inside out
and I am thankful for yoursilence today.
Lord, can you sit in silencewith him?
Has anybody ever tried that?
To just sit in silence with theLord?
It's hard, isn't it?
Because you think you've beenthere a half hour.
It's really been three minutes,like you.
(23:54):
Just nothing.
Just there's this void andyou're waiting for something and
nothing happens, and it is hardto live in that.
But I'm gonna tell you, thereis honor in that waiting, there
is honor in that silence.
Now, most of us who have beenaround small children or have
small children, we knowsomething about silence, right,
(24:15):
it usually equals trouble.
There's peanut butter spread onthe wall, or they're running
around without clothes on, orthey've put crayons in the dryer
.
Right, listen, my kids, getquiet.
Why'd you raise your hand?
Did you put crayons in thedryer?
Right, listen, my kids getquiet.
Why'd you raise your hand?
Did you put crayons in thedryer?
Yeah, silence is bad, you know.
When it gets quiet, something'sgoing down right.
(24:38):
But as parents sometimes wejust need that 10 minutes and
I'll deal with it after the fact.
Right, my kids get quiet in thebasement for any given time and
I'm like you know what.
I'll deal with it after thefact.
Right, my kids get quiet in thebasement for any given time and
I'm like you know what.
I'll deal with it later.
I'm just going to take thequiet for now.
But we have conditionedourselves to believe that
silence means something bad ishappening.
(24:58):
That is not what God is doing.
If you believe that, I have toask do you really know who God
is?
Because he's not doing anythingbad.
The enemy has allowed you tobelieve that God will only do
good things when he's loud andwhen he's silent.
The good always comes from theFather.
(25:22):
Okay, don't mistake in God'ssilence for inaction.
Don't mistake in God's silencefor inaction.
Don't mistake in God's silencefor hate or anger.
Look at that silence as anopportunity.
Isaiah 59.2.
Isaiah 59.2,.
(25:44):
It says it's your sin that havecut you off from God.
Because of your sins.
He has turned away and will notlisten anymore.
Quiet in here, quiet in here.
(26:06):
You know why it's quiet in here?
Because remember when I wastalking about that intentional
separation from the will of God,remember that it's your sin
that has cut you off from God.
Because of your sins.
He has turned away and will notlisten anymore.
(26:28):
1 Samuel 28.6.
He asked the Lord what heshould do, but the Lord refused
to answer him, either by dreamsor by sacred lots or by prophets
.
After a long pattern ofdisobedience, king Saul is
(26:55):
experiencing silence from God.
He's no longer leading him, butthis is after a long period of
disobedience.
See, we want to blame God forthe silence.
But this is after a long periodof disobedience.
See, we want to blame God forthe silence.
We don't want to look inwardwhen I'm not hearing something,
(27:19):
when I'm not experiencing a moveof God.
The first question that I askhim is Lord, what is it that I
need to prune?
Explore my heart, god, andwhatever it is, I need you to
take it away.
This morning, before I came tothe pulpit, I was standing in
the aisle and I was praying thathe would soften my heart.
(27:39):
Because you guys don'tunderstand.
I run through the ringer weekafter week after week after week
, and sometimes I just getcalloused.
I stop caring.
I'm like you know what I wishyou would.
Whatever it is that you said Iwish you would, you know why?
Because I like to fight tooright.
(28:02):
I don't want to be that.
I don't want my heart to bethat way, lord, I need you to
soften me so that I can show you, so that I can experience the
love that you have for thepeople, not just for me, but for
you.
If I come into this pulpit witha hard heart, guess what You're
going to get?
A hard hearted message.
That is not my intention ever.
(28:23):
I want God to be able to workfreely through me, Amen.
I want God to be able to workfreely through me.
Amen.
And listen, that silence happensto me.
My first line of defense is tofigure out is it something that
I have done, lord?
Is it something that I havedone to offend you?
Is it something that I havedone to stop your move in my
(28:44):
life?
And if it is, lord, take itfrom me.
It is better to gouge out youreye than to lose the whole head.
Listen, there ain't a whole lotgoing on up here anyway, but
I'd rather lose the eye, right?
(29:05):
I know that God wants listen.
I don't know who I'm talking to,but God wants you to do
something today that makes achange in your life.
Because you're sitting theregoing.
I'm not hearing what God'ssaying to me today.
I don't know what it is.
God wants you to explore yourheart.
He wants you to come to him insubmission Not easy to do.
(29:27):
Don't argue with him when hetells you, when he says it's
time to give up, it's time tostop, it's time to do X.
You need to do it and you needto do it fast.
This isn't a game.
Listen, if Jesus returnstomorrow, lord please do, I
(29:47):
don't want to go to worktomorrow.
I'm kidding, kidding.
If Jesus were tomorrow, lordplease do, I don't want to go to
work tomorrow.
I'm kidding, kidding.
If Jesus were to returntomorrow, how many of us are
going to make it Right?
Why?
Because what else can we askhim to do but help us?
Because we can't help but actlike savages.
(30:07):
We can't help but hate and totalk poorly and to try to treat
people a certain way.
Listen, disciples, don't do that.
We have got to shift ourmindset from world to spirit.
We have got to stop thinkingabout all of the things that the
world is trying to tell us todo and make us act.
Listen, you ain't gonna win.
Is trying to tell us to do andmake us act.
(30:27):
Listen, you ain't going to win.
The world doesn't win.
No-transcript.
Jesus is going to have victory.
We already know that.
Why are you living in the world?
All right, I'm done yelling.
Can you lay down your sword andpick up his praise?
(30:53):
Can you stop being maliciousand learn to be kind?
Can you learn to forgive oneanother?
Can you learn to let go of theburdens that you are carrying?
If there's one of us in thisroom not carrying a burden today
, I would be surprised.
I would be surprised.
A silent God is not an inactive.
(31:15):
God.
A silent God is a loving God.
A silent God is a patient God,and we need to learn to be more
loving, more patient andsometimes silent, because when
we're acting like savages andnot like disciples, didn't you
(31:37):
learn anything from Bambi?
If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all.
Right.
Can we not learn that Like thisfeels like it's grade school
level stuff, but we can't seemto do it.
We can't seem to do it becausewe have allowed the world to
tell us that we don't have to.
Before Jesus walked the earth,god was on the throne.
When Jesus walked the earth,god was on the throne.
(32:01):
When Jesus ascended to heaven,god was on the throne.
When Jesus walked the earth,god was on the throne.
When Jesus ascended to heaven,god was on the throne.
When the Holy Spirit came uponus, god was on the throne.
Guess who's on the throne today, god?
Guess who's going to be on thethrone tomorrow?
Guess who's going to be on thethrone when Jesus returns, god,
can I tell you something?
The world doesn't win.
(32:21):
We are not going to havevictory living in the flesh.
Amen.
Stop and listen to the silence.
When God stops speaking, ask isit something that I have done,
lord.
Examine my heart.
For some of us, it's Lord.
Look through our Facebook page.
(32:43):
For some of us, it's Lord.
Look through our text messages,lord.
Look through our Instagram,lord.
Look through our browsinghistory, whatever it may be, but
we need him to reveal thethings that are not of his glory
, amen.
And if we pretend like we don'thave problems and we don't ever
look for that, when the silencecomes, we won't know how to
(33:04):
combat it.
Amen, let's pray together.
Father, as I stand here today, Ithank you for an anointed word.
Lord.
I stand here embracing whateversilence you bring to my life
Because, lord, that silence isan opportunity to meet you where
you want me.
Lord, I know that you're goingto come to me, you're going to
(33:24):
drag me whatever place you wantme to be, but, lord, I want to
go willingly.
I want to go with anunderstanding of what it is that
you would have me do and, lord,I will examine my own heart
today.
Lord, if there is somethingthat's in here that is not
(33:44):
fruitful to your ministry,reveal it to me and allow me to
remove it.
Lord, I lay it all down at thefoot of the cross today the
burden, the worry, the hurt,lord, all of the things I lay it
at your feet the burden, theworry, the hurt.
Lord, all of the things I layit at your feet.
(34:07):
Father, I thank you for leadingyour people, for lifting us up,
for blessing us daily.
Lord, I pray that, as we leavethis place, that your glory will
show through each and every oneof us.
Allow us to pray first, allowus to ask all of the questions,
(34:30):
father God, just to be inharmony with you.
Lord, I thank you, I praise you, give you all the honor and
glory in the mighty name ofJesus, and the church says amen.
We love you, guys.
We will see you Wednesday nightat the Lenten service.
Oh, I'm sorry, we were going togo home, okay.
(34:51):
Now we really got a speed run.
I forgot.
Pastor Roger, you want to comehelp me?
Okay, my apologies, guys, sorry, sorry, yeah, all right.
Well, do like we normally do.
What I want to say is that, aswe go to take communion, please
(35:12):
just examine your heart.
Make sure you're in goodstanding with God.
It is important to me that youunderstand that it is worse for
you to take communion in badstanding with Christ than it is
for you to simply sit.
I promise you, if you don'tmove forward and you don't take
communion, no one's going tojudge you.
Nobody in this building isgoing to judge you.
So I want you to justunderstand the importance.
But let's just stand, come andcollect our elements and then
(35:34):
no-transcript.
(39:29):
Father, as we stand here todayprepared to take your communion,
I just thank you for the bloodthat you shed on the cross,
Father, that you would dosomething so significant to give
us everlasting life.
Father, whosoever should callupon your name shall be saved.
Today I am a whosoever, Father.
I am calling upon the mightyname of Jesus.
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