How Shall He Come? by Dan MacLeod May 4, 2025 ยท Centerpointe Apostolic Church (Murfreesboro, TN) Kind: sermon Scripture: 2 Samuel 6:6-9, Numbers 3, Numbers 4, Numbers 7, 1 Chronicles 13:3, 1 Chronicles 13:4, 2 Samuel 6:13, 2 Samuel 6:15, 1 Chronicles 13:4, Hebrews 13:8, 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, Acts 2 Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/dan-macleod--how-shall-he-come Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page. Free to copy and share with attribution. ------------------------------------------------------------ 2 Samuel chapter 6 and verse number 6. The Bible says, "When they came to Nikon's threshing floor, Oza put forth his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen shook it." The anger of the Lord was kindled against Uza and smote him there for his error. And there he died by the ark of God. Verse eight, the Bible said David was displeased because the Lord had made a breach upon us and he called the name of the place Perez Uza to this day. In verse 9 is where we'll end. It says, "And David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, how shall the ark of the Lord come to me?" In drawing from that question, I want to talk to you today for a few minutes on this thought. How shall he come? How shall he come? Amen. I if I had to give you a subtitle today or a sentence to convey my assignment today, I feel like I'm contending a little bit for the culture of the church. And by the time we finish here today, I trust you'll understand what I mean. But I I'm contending for the preservation of apostolic culture. Amen. I want you to pray together with me that the Lord would speak to you, to your family, to this church body, and that God's spirit would help us here today. Jesus, I love you. I thank you. I thank you for the people of God that have gathered into this beautiful house on this Lord's day. As we turn our attention now to the word of the Lord, I pray our minds would be attentive and our hearts would be open. God, I need you to help me. I can't do this without the help of your spirit. So I pray Lord that you would help me speak and together you would help us hear and we ask these things in Jesus name. And everybody said amen. Amen. God bless you. You can be seated today. Saul is remembered as the first king of Israel and esteemed as a man of war. Perhaps though for our consideration today, what is most noteworthy are not his accomplishments. He's not defined by what he did or what he had. Rather, the story of Saul's life is defined by what he did not have. He had authority. He had prestige and power. He had the stories of great victories and valor that would accompany his military campaigns. But what King Saul did not have was the ark of the covenant. The ark was removed from Shiloh in the days of Eli the high priest. It was a costly failure in his leadership. He failed to maintain the integrity of the priesthood. ignoring the sins of his own sons when they would come in to the house of God in service. And as the story progresses, the Israelites find themselves in a battle in which they feel is too great for themselves. And without any consideration of God's divine instruction, they reach for the ark of the covenant that day and drag it onto the battlefield, believing, hoping that surely in our inability, the presence of the ark will guarantee our victory. Instead, it costs them. Thousands upon thousands of men die, including the two sons of Eli, Hoffni and Phineas. Word makes its way back to the house of Eli, that the Philistines have gained the victory in the battle this day. His sons have now died. His army is defeated. And then the word is spoken. The ark of God has been taken. The priest Eli falls over dead. Phineas, the wife, Phineas wife, pardon me, Eli's daughter-in-law is pregnant with child. And the grief in this moment is too much to bear. Her body cannot bear the weight of it. And labor pains come and a child is born. him. What should be a moment of great joy is anything but the grief has obscured the anticipated joy of this moment. And as the child is born, she says, "I'll call his name," meaning the glory has departed. as if the loss of her husband, though devastating, was not enough, that as dire as it would be, is overshadowed by the loss of God's glory. The ark now is in the possession of those Philistines. The Bible tells us they would take it from place to place to place. The first is to Ashdod. They stand or set that ark in the temple of Dagon next to their idol, their lifeless statue, and come again the next day. They find that statue fallen flat on its face. They stand it again only to come back. But this time, it's not just fallen, it is shattered. And they realized that the glory that God said would inhabit this ark, this mercy seat, whatever it is, and whoever it is, their God is no equal. They move it to Gath and to Echron. But in every place the Philistines would take the ark, plagues and disasters would occur and people are stricken with disease. The problems are too much to bear. The Philistines don't really know how to engage with this God. So, they decide, "We need to return this to the Israelites." They do what I would submit to you today is the logical thing to do. They find the most convenient and the most efficient method. They place it on a new cart. They fasten that cart to two cows, prepare a little offering, hoping to make peace with this deity, and send it back towards the Israelites. It's a miraculous story of God's sovereign power and direction. But that cart that carries the ark of God finds its way to Kerjath Girum where it would eventually sit in the house of Abinadab for 20 long years. But now with David assuming the throne and Jerusalem finally being the royal city, David is determined to bring the ark back to Jerusalem. You must understand today that the ark was not just an ordinary box. I know it was made of ordinary material. I know these were items drawn from the earth that any man could lay their hand to, but of this God said, "There I will meet with you and I will commune with you from above the mercy seat." This was the place God's glory would appear and God's voice would speak. This was not just another box. And the Israelites knew this. And David knew. I might be a king. I may have armies under my command. Money in my possession. Prestige follows my name. I am a man of power. But if I don't have God, I have nothing. And God told them because of what this ark was to be, he gave them in vivid detail through the prophet Moses instruction concerning how it was to be handled. The law of Moses mandated the care of these holy things. And he said in numbers three, I'm entrusting it to the Levitical sons of Kath. But even those caretakers according to Numbers 4 were not to touch the holy articles or so much as look upon them casually or irreverently. This is they were not free to interact with God outside of the boundary of God's word. The Kathites were instructed to carry the ark on their shoulders. And so it was when God gave the pattern to Moses. He said, "You'll put rings upon this ark, this box, that staves or long staffs may pass through that will allow the priests to kneel down and place those staves upon their shoulders." And this is how the ark can be moved without being touched. Number seven, he said, "You're not going to transport this on a car or any other vehicle. There is a way in which it will move and it must be on the shoulders of men. The parallel account of 2 Samuel chapter 6 is 1 Coronicles 13 verse number three. Speak to us the heart of David. He says, "Let us bring again the ark of our God to us, for we inquired not at it in the days of Saul." And I know much blame is seemingly laid at the feet of Saul for how he governed his kingdom in the absence of God's direction and glory. But David's words are a challenge for us today, and I present them to you for your consideration. When David assumes the throne, he does not point his finger back at Saul alone. But he says, "For we inquired not in the days of Saul. We did not inquire." Sure, some would like to fault Saul for this error, but David's use of the plural invites the burden of responsibility to rest on the shoulders of the collective body. What is it you're saying today, preacher? This is what I've come to say. If you want God, if Centerpoint Apostolic Church wants God, if Murphy'sboro is going to get God, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Pastor Kevin can't do it by himself. A few staff pastors and ministers and departmental leaders cannot do it by themsel. David recognized this has to be the collective cry of the entire body. There's got to be something that awakens in the people of God that says we want God. I wish I could do it by myself. I assure you pastors all across this nation wish they could, but they can't. The culture of the church is always set by the majority of its members. And so David recognizes this. If the ark will come back, I have to awaken the desire of the collective people to seek the return of God's glory. In verse four, 1 Coronicles 13 said, "And all the congregation said that they would do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people." Now, no doubt for 20 years while the ark sat in the house of Abinadabad, the traditions of Judaism were maintained. And while at the same time they fulfilled their religious customs, they failed to acknowledge the glory that was not among them. They've settled into routine with no revival form but no function. It looked godly but it had no glory. I know Paul hadn't yet written the scripture but the word is still true. It was a form of godliness that denied the power thereof. And our text of which I read to you this morning is the return of the ark. Perhaps it's a little bit troubling to us that a man would lose his life on such a journey. But us's action and the Lord's response while difficult to reconcile to the carnal mind have much for us to consider today. You say, "Well, was not the intention good?" Oh yes, the intention was good. But friend, God does not bless good intention. God blesses obedience. They wanted him, but they did not know how he must come. David awakens the desire in the heart of the people. And while the desire is good, the method was wrong. He aired in this fact. He used the same method of transportation that the Philistines had used. And really, why not? It's convenient. It's more efficient. It'll get it there quicker. It just makes sense. Except it doesn't. Because God does not bless efficiency absent of obedience. God does not bless convenience when it is pursued in the process of forsaking obedience. And here we find the Bible would tell us two men and ao. Their names mean strength and brotherly. These are the two that they have appointed to drive the ark of God that sits upon this card. And well, I know it's probably not deep theology today. I think perhaps it merits a little consideration that the men who are moving the car in the way in which God does not condone our name strength in familiarity. It conveys to me this subtle idea that I think we are all pray to in 2025 and it is this is that the advance of God's glory and the increase of God's kingdom and the power of God's spirit in our life may come and move by our strength our ability and sometimes our familiarity causes us to act in a manner that is absent of sacrifice. ice and absent of obedience. And we assume it is well because all looks well until those oxmen lift their foot to step over the threshing floor and that ark begins to rock upon the cart and Uza with his good intention to ensure that doesn't fall reaches out to touch the ark. And the Bible says the Lord took his life. He smoked him there for his air. What was the air? God said, "Don't touch it." And he did. I know it's not popular in America in 2025, but it has to be said today. God does not conform to our ideas and agendas. He is the creator and we are the creature. In fact, the word glory cavode in the Hebrew literally means weight or heavy. And to pursue something that relieve them from the burden of glory was to actually remove the glory itself from their lives. The directive had already been given. I really don't know how David did not know. I can't say for certain whether it was by ignorance or rebellion. But what I do know is King David let happen exactly what God said don't do. He put the ark on a new cart. And I know it may be easier. I know it would look like a revolutionary technology to the eyes of the people. But I rise to this pulpit today to tell you when we're talking about the kingdom, when we're talking about the glory of God in the ministry of the church, hear me, easier is not always better. The Philistines contribution was a new way, a cart and an ox. Yes, I know it was easier. It looked like breakthrough technology. And one could argue that yes, it was more efficient. But here is where the matter comes to rest. It is not the method that God chose. God said, "I put staves on the side of that ark because it was my intention that glory only be moved by the burden of men." There is no method more effective than obedience in the kingdom. So, I want us to pause now and consider for a minute our ideas of church and what all of this looks like in 2025. Because what their error was simply taking what the Philistines offered them without any consideration of whether or not God approved or what outcome it might produce. I've not come today to give you a long list of dos and don'ts, but I want to provoke your thinking a little bit because as I've traveled across this great nation in the last three years, I fear that our collective c church culture is buying into ideas and values and methods and systems that are given to us by a Philistine culture. And it makes it easier and it sure looks good. It even makes us feel good. that we must pause and consider. Are these things that God approves of? Are these methods that God condones? I fear that much of what the modern church is becoming are tools and avenues that actually relieve us of the burden that is necessary. I don't want to I don't want you to misunderstand me. I like this stuff. We we've got one bigger than this at home and we got a big new building, all kinds of technology, wireless cameras. I love it. I don't want to go back to the tent. I thank God for electricity and I'm glad we've got nice clean restrooms. I don't want to go back, but I do want us to consider if we take what the Philistines offer with no consideration of the effect our flesh is disposition as such. We will pursue the easier way, the convenient way, the comfortable way, the way that relieves us of the burden. I don't want to discourage you from pursuing God today. But there is no path toward righteousness that is absent of burden. There is no road to spiritual transformation and demonstration. There is no road to life change and restoration that is absence of burden. If you want glory, you must embrace burden. But have to ask God, why is it the Philistines put it on the ark with no consequence? But when puts his hand to it, there is consequence. Why is it the Philistines get away with something that the church cannot get away with? Because there is an expectation imposed upon his covenant people. parameters given to us by the word of the Lord that that governed our lives. And I wish it was all black and white, but it's not. Much of this lies in the gray area where we can't seek the do or do not, but we must seek for the principle of wisdom. Does not the scripture say, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who giveth liberally." And this was the error. Nobody stopped to consider, is this something that God approves? Offered by the Philistines, taken without any introspection or curiosity. And when Oza's lifeless body falls to the floor, David stops. Fear grips his heart. And now he asks the question that perhaps he should have asked at the beginning of the journey. How shall the ark of the Lord come to me? How shall he come? If I could modernize the question for you today, it is this. What kind of church will we be? How shall we have church? The ark is moved into the house of Obedum where it sits for 90 days, three months. Meanwhile, David returns back to the city of Jerusalem. Why? To search the scrolls. He's going to look through the word of God to find out why did this happen and what must change. And he comes back to those same priests and Levites. He assembles them together and he says, "This is what we need to do. Sanctify yourselves." You find it in 1 Coronicles 13. sanctify yourselves because this happened because you did not do it beforehand. You did not do this the way God told you to do it. And as such, there is a consequence before us. And while David is in Jerusalem searching the scripture, preparing the priests, the Bible says, "The Lord had blessed the house of Obedom and all that pertainth unto him because of the ark of God. That's what I want. I want the blessing of God in my life. I want God's blessing on my family and I want it on my church. And the Bible said, well, it's sitting those 90 days in the house of Obedum. It's blessing everything that pertainth unto him. And so David went and brought the ark of God from the house of Obedom into the city of David with gladness. Verse 13 of 2 Samuel 6. Notice the change. The Bible said it was so that when they bear the ark of the Lord had gone six paces. when they that bear the ark is no longer sitting upon a cart being pulled by oxen. No, rather the men have assumed their rightful duty. They the priests are carrying the ark. But the Bible says every six paces he would stop and sacrifice oxen and fatlings. David would dance before the Lord with all of his might. David and all the house of Israel verse 15 brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet. Principle today is simple. God moves where he wants to when he wants to. But if you want to bring him to you, you only get to do it how he wants to. And this is a burden the church must bear. How shall he come if it matters how we have church? I asked the question today, what kind of church will we be? How shall he come? How can I get them in my house? How can I get them in my family? How can I get them moving in my church? What kind of church will we be? See, David had the right desire, but this was the problem. Desire alone is insufficient. There had to be a collective agreement, an awakening of the corporate body that we agree on this singular thing and we assume responsibility for this shared pursuit. We are going to get the ark back. And so David calls for its return. The people agree. 1 Chronicles 13:4, all the congregation said they would do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of the people. The thing was right, but the way was wrong. Now, I don't want you to misunderstand me today. I'm going to qualify it. I'm not advocating that get rid of instruments and technology and send back the screen. I thank God for it. But there is an inherent danger when our collective church culture moves towards production and caters to our desire to be entertained. I didn't grow up when there were tens, but I've heard the stories. Ain't nobody going to a tent meeting to be entertained. Ain't nobody sitting under the summer heat swatting mosquitoes to be entertained. There was a desire, a hunger for God. But as our church culture has advanced and we have adopted things the Philistines have given us that do not misunderstand me are not inherently wrong, but do carry an inherent danger because it appeases our desire for convenience. It makes things more entertaining. All of these things can cater to a collective culture where we have a form of godliness that denies the power cuz we forsake our responsibility to assume the burdensome task of carrying glory. It looks like church and it feels like church. But I have to ask the question, why? Why don't we hear the stories? Now listen, I know God's doing great things, and I rejoice over every soul that's baptized and every life that's touched, but I have to be honest with you, we don't hear the collective stories of miracles and power and healing like we once did. Is it that God has changed? Oh no, no, no, no, no. He said through the prophet, for I am the Lord and I changed not. Hebrews said Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If God has not changed, if his word is still the same, we must ask what then has changed our methods. Is the method wrong? No, not inherently. But there is a subtle danger that we become more dependent on this. And we don't do this because the only way you can pick up an ark is to humble yourself, get down on your knees, and position your shoulder under that stave whereby you will lift that burdensome task. And you know what? It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how much Pastor Kevin wants to lift it. One man can't lift the ark by himself. And it doesn't matter if a preacher comes in on a Sunday here and there and says, "Let me get on the other corner." Two men cannot lift it by. David knew it takes a collective awakening. It has to be the singular desire of the corporate body. I want you to hear me. Pentecost has always been a presence centered movement. This has been our cry. It's been our defining characteristics. We are about the presence of God and we will do whatever we have to do and act however we have to act in order to get into his presence. Because it's his presence that changes us. I thank God for processes. You don't grow a church like this without processes. You don't grow a church like I'm privileged to be a part of at home without processes. But processes don't bring his presence. I thank God for systems and strategies. These things are necessary. In fact, I would submit to you that God actually gave them systems and processes, but they were not to move the glory. It was to move the people. Yes, we have programs and yes, we have processes and yes, we have systems, but this is not who we are. We are a presence centered people. And there was a day when we were the outcast in the Christian world because nobody lifted their hand but Pentecostal people. Nobody talked out loud but Pentecostal people. Friend, it's a different day. Everybody's lifting their hands in worship. My wife sang it and had an Anglican funeral a couple years ago and man, they were they were just I thought, "Wow, if I close my eyes, it almost sounds like Pentecost." Everybody does this kind of thing and I rejoice. It's a step in the right direction. But these things, while dear to us, are not just Pentecostal things. These are Bible things, kingdom things. I'll never forget being in the city of Jerusalem and walking through the security compound compound to get into the Western Wall on Friday night at the start of Shabbat. You could hear the roar of prayer before you could ever see the people. I thought, "Huh? I've been preaching all my life that this is what Pentecost is supposed to be like. Pentecost didn't create this. The Jews have had this kind of culture for a long time. And you get up there and you get your way to the front of the line at the Western Wall. They're in prayer. They're rocking back and forth. But you get a few hundred yards back where people are fellowshipping and joy fills the atmosphere and groups of men are together in circles and they're dancing around and I'm thinking, "My goodness, I thought this was just a Pentecostal thing." No, it's a Bible thing. And see, there was a day there was a day in which our collective church culture wasn't as pretty as it is now. Wasn't as performanceoriented as it is now. It was raw. It was authentic. It was passionate. Why? Cuz we wanted his presence. But now, now with the screen just right and the graphics looking good and the cameraman working, everything has to just be right because church has become a production. Paul warned that church in Corenth. He said, "There is a way in which you can preach by the wisdom of words." And he said, his words, not mine, that you will empty the cross of its power. I would submit to you today, there is an attitude that can grow among us that influences our behavior and collective culture whereby we perform the routine of our religious duties, but we rob ourselves of the power that we so desperately need. And so Paul would write to that church in 2 Corinthians and he said, "My speech and my preaching, it was not with the enticing words of man's wisdom. I didn't appeal to you on the basis of the cultural expectation or the norm for this highly educated Greek culture." But he said, "I came in the demonstration of the spirit and of power." Why? So that your faith would not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. In other words, I don't want you choosing a church because the marketing is good or the programs appeased you, because the online production entertained you. No, I want you to choose a church based upon a profound power that radically transforms your life where you know this thing's not built on systems and processes. Thank God for them. But there is a power that's at work. There is a presence that's among us. And so here is where I close today. In the midst of death and uncertainty, what did he do? He went back and searched the word to find out how to do this. He said, "I've got direction now. You can't move, glory, on the convenience of a cart. It takes sanctified men to submit themselves to the burden. What's this? This is prayer where you humble yourself where you do what Jesus did in the garden. Nevertheless, not my will. I wish there was an easier way. I know. I wish it was more convenient. But glory is never convenient. Revival is not convenient. You know, every now and then at home, pastor will get an idea. You know what? We're just we're going to call Sunday nights the next few weeks. Okay. And I'm sure it would be here like it is there. You start taking the attendance. Where is everybody? I know they're not on vacation because they were here this morning, but they didn't come back a pastor called Sunday night. Now listen, I've kind of learned I kind of enjoy this one service Sunday thing. I've learned how to nap. I enjoy those Sunday evenings with my family. But my friend, revival is not convenient. I don't have it all figured out. I don't know what method to use where and what to tweak and what I don't I don't have. All I know is that the prerequisite for the moving of glory is the submission of oursel to be willing to pray to assume the weight of the burden. There is no substitute for prayer. I'm talking I'm not talking about quiet contemplative prayer. I'm talking about lifting our voice in travail. I I'm talking about calling out to God. I'm talking about intercession. And I'm talking about a fervent cry. You know, that's where all this started. That's where this started in the early 1900s. It was prayer meetings when the Holy Ghost was poured out in Acts chapter 2. It was a 10-day prayer meeting when the Holy Ghost was poured out. I don't want you to misunderstand me. I love the production, but it cannot be a substitute for the burden of prayer. Oh God, help us. And I marvel because I think sometimes perhaps our unwillingness to embrace the burden is our misconception of what burden is like. Oh yeah, you've got a burden. Okay, you're just going to live heavy, cry all the time, be upset, have no joy. Oh no, no, no, no, no. The Bible said David brought the ark back with gladness. Joy was the attitude that permeated the atmosphere. And while there were six steps of burden, the Bible said every six paces they would stop. They would make a sacrifice to the Lord and David would start dancing. What are you saying? Oh, there is a burden. You have to pray. But there's also a joy when his glory is in your midst. So yes, you've got to pray, but you also have to praise. And I'm just offering you some considerations of a guy who's traveled all over the world, all around America. I've been in big cities and small towns, buildings like this and bigger and in storefronts with 15 and 20. I remember a day when our collective culture was so much more raw than it is now. I remember just being a kid, you know, when you're like eight or nine years old, Pastor Kevin, you kind of think, you know, people like this, what's wrong with the old guy at the back, but I can remember Sundays as a kid when the spirit of the Lord would start moving. This old guy named Royce who sat at the back of the church, he he'd get to feeling it, and you knew he was feeling glory because he'd kind of start like this. And all the kids who had not yet learned and all the adults who were still carnal would go like this. But Royce didn't care. Little did they know that that was just the engine getting started. Then he'd stand up and you know we didn't we didn't have no building like this. We got nice concrete floors, old wooden structure, shotgun style church, and he'd stand up and his foot would get going on that wooden floor. Then his hand would get the back of the pew in front of him. I know it's kind of funny, but I got a question for you. When's the last time you saw those kinds of things on a regular basis? I could talk about my early years after my con conversion when I received the Holy Ghost is 18. Null Phillips his wife has passed but the elder still alive sits just three or four rows back in the center here in Frederickton, New Brunswick where brother Woodward pastored for many years. God would get moving and it was just like Royy's in my childhood. may maybe with less warning though. he'd come right up out of his chair and he'd get into the aisle and he'd be now church has become a production and I fear that Pentecost is losing that raw authentic demonstration. I don't know how it happened, but I can't help but wonder if there has been a collective shift in our thinking when church became productionoriented and now we come to be entertained and not to entertain him. And David gets home and there's Michaelel, his wife, the daughter of Saul, one who had grown up in a system, in a culture that had no glory. What are you doing acting like that? You look silly. That's unnecessary. And David says, "Oh, you think that's bad? Well, I'm about to become even more undignified than this. I was preaching in Tucson, Arizona in December of 21, Brother Connor, and I preached on David and Saul. And I got back to the hotel room, and as preachers, I think often do, I'm laying in bed trying to go to sleep. I'm just thinking about the service and what did I say that I shouldn't have said and what didn't I say that I should have and what could have happened differently and what would have made this better and the Lord speaks to me and he said Saul was a product of the system and I began to think I jumped up out of bed and grabbed my Bible and began writing notes and Saul Saul. Saul did not campaign to be king. No doubt he liked the opportunity. Who wouldn't? But the people cried for a king because the culture of the church is always set by the majority of its members. And when the people determined, we want a king like all the other nations have, God said, "Wasn't my plan, but you can have it." And from that day until this Sunday morning, there is a war in the spirit between the cultures of David and Saul. Won't you stand with me? I'm done. How shall he come? You're going to have to get back in the word and figure out the method in which God sanctions. You're going to have to humble yourself. to get down under the burden of glory. You have to carry the ark. And I'm not I'm not trying to preach against millions being saved and worldwide revival. I pray for it. I believe it. We're looking for it. But I want you to hear me today. God's process of kingdom growth has always been slow and incremental. You say, "Well, what about the day of Pentecost?" Yep, there are moments. There are moments of visitation. We had a weekend last year where we baptized 94 people in three days. There are moments. But when he conveyed to you the concept of the kingdom, he spoke to you in terms of agriculture. Sewing and reaping, planting and waiting, watering and waiting, little by little here or there. You say, "Well, it's blowing up over there. They've got numbers there." Okay. But is it a method in which God sanctions because David had 30,000 people who agreed with him. But when God said that's not the method I sanction, Oza lost his life. And I rejoice over everything that is happening in the church collectively and I celebrate with you for everything that's happening here locally. But I feel like I'm on an assignment from God as I travel to preach in defense of a culture. We're losing a prayer culture, a praise culture, not not dictated by the beat of the drum or the rhythm, the melody. No, I'm talking about I'm talking about someone who is moved by the spirit. It's one thing. It's one thing to dance with the music and you should, but it's another thing when the wind of God moves upon your soul and the moment's not right and the production has not facilitated it, but the glory of the Lord, the spirit of God moves upon you and you rise up out of your seat and what are you doing? I'm bringing him back. Would you lift your hands with me? Oh God. Woo! Come on, somebody. Lift up your voice to the Lord. That's it. Lift up your voice. Come on. Let a cry from deep within your soul. I'll tell you what the North American church needs. We need delivered from our self. The enemy is not our greatest adversary. The culture is not our greatest obstacle. We are. It is the contentment with a culture that subdues our passion, silences our cry, stops our dance, and lets us progress in the absence of real glory. Come on. If you've stepped out and come to this altar today, I want you to just close your eyes and I want you to lift up your voice. You don't need to be looking around. Don't worry about anybody else. Come on. This is the call of God to awaken a collective desire. Come on. You're a good people. I know you love God. I know you want it. But I'm contending for a return to raw authenticity. Pentecost was meant to be powerful, not to be polished. Come on. That's it. Yeah. Yeah. Come on. From deep within your soul. Let the sound of your voice be heard. Woo! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Come on! This is who we are. How shall he come? I'll tell you how. We're going to pray. We're going to praise. We're going to sing. We're going to dance. Woo! Help us, Holy Ghost. Awaken us, oh God. Oh sh Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I want you to listen to me. As a 21-year-old young man, my wife and I and another couple left a church of 400 people to go to a city of a half a million to plant a church. And I remember when my first son was born, we had 10, 15 people. My wife would nurse him to get him milk drunk enough he'd sleep through the song service and his car seat on the front row so she could play the piano and sing. And I remember times I'd feel God move. And in my mind, I would remember what it was like in the big church, how people were demonstrative. And every now and then they'd run and they'd fill the altars and dance and they'd talk in tongues out loud. I'd feel the desire to do that, but I would wrestle because I knew the collective culture had not yet been set. I had 10 or 15 people who didn't know anything about Pentecost. And I would leave Sundays so torn knowing what a church should be like and what it should feel like and the liberty there should be that was not there. And I'd wonder, God, will my son know what it's like to be in the kind of church services I've been in? And it was like the Lord said, "Well, you're going to have to fight to create that culture and show him." And it wasn't easy. It was hard. Some people thought it was extreme. Some didn't stay. But oh, the stories of what God did. And five years into the journey, when God gave our little church of 30 or 40 people, a $ 1.5 million building with a 220 seat sanctuary that we didn't pay one penny for. Our first Sunday in that building in May of 2016, I got up in the altar call. I said, "I know there's some of you here today that are going to think this is crazy, but I remember being a kid back then. and I didn't understand it, but they did it. I really just want to do it today. You're all these young professionals and university students wondering what in the world is he going to ask us to do? I said, you know how in the story and Joshua, they walked around the walls of Jericho? I said, well, when I was a kid and God would get moving, the church was excited, they would do a Jericho. everybody get out of their seats and we'd start walking in a circle around the church of the old victory march and I really want us to do it. They're kind of like and all it took was one person to lead the way and another to step in behind them and another behind them. And all of a sudden, a collective majority was formed whereby everybody got in line. And I stood there on the platform and watched my son step out of his seat in the line of people, little four or fiveyear-old boy. I thought, God, you've done it. You've silenced my fear. We've solidified the culture. And I'm just preaching to you today as one man, one preacher who's a little bit concerned as I travel the apostolic movement across this great country. We are losing that. Now, this is a great church. God's doing great things. You have amazing leadership. This house is full of potential. You have skilled leaders there. There are systems and there are the you've got people on your team. You bring things to the table I could only dream to bring. You're blessed center point. I come to challenge you today in the Holy Ghost because the thing of which I preach to you, I submit, don't throw a tomato at me, but I submit is an area in which you must grow. You've already got systems and processes to move people and facilitate a measure of growth beyond where you are right now. Thank God for them. Don't get rid of them. You're going to need them. But what I'm saying is there is a work of God that does not come by these things. It only comes by a deep hunger, soul search and prayer. passionate worship. And so I just come today to challenge you in this area to try to push you over the edge because I really believe that there are things on the near horizon that God has promised you, that you have seen in part, but you will not get by a system. You'll only get it by the spirit. I'm done. They're going to sing, but I'm going to invite you one more time to lift up your hands. I'm calling today for the formation of a majority that are going to say, "I'm going to pray with more passion than I ever have. I'm going to praise God with more passion than I ever have. I'm not going to be more excited about my career than I am the kingdom. I will not celebrate sports more than I do my savior. Come on, center point. Let's form a majority in this house today. Come on. Let there be a formation of raw hunger, of authentic worship, of a passionate cry.