The God Who Speaks | Senior Pastor Kenneth Carpenter
by Kenneth Carpenter
First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Genesis 12:1-4, Romans 10:17, Genesis 12:6-8, Genesis 13:5-9, Genesis 13:10-13, Genesis 13:14-18, Proverbs 16:28, Proverbs 17:1, Proverbs 20:3, Proverbs 22:10, Proverbs 26:17, Proverbs 26:20, Galatians 5:20, Genesis 14:14-16, Jude 1:21-23

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/kenneth-carpenter--the-god-who-speaks-2
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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turn with me in your bibles to genesis chapter 12 verse number one through four genesis chapter 12 verse number one through four when you find that passage say i got it that's about 10 of us when we find it on the screen say i got it all right now the lord had said unto abram get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father's house unto a land that i will show thee i will make of thee a great nation i will bless thee and make thy name great and thou shalt be a blessing and i will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed so abram departed as the lord had spoken unto him lot went with him abram was 75 years old when he departed out of haran just for a few moments today and quickly rushing to the altar i want to minister to this congregation on the god who speaks the god who speaks father i love you this morning thank you thank you thank you lord thank you thank you lord for salvation thank you lord for the word today open our hearts god as we hear you speak to us this morning lord may we receive with meekness your engrafted word may we hear you speak to us this morning we'll give you praise and honor and glory in jesus name amen give him a hand to praise before you're seated i copied this this week i came over a little saying that goes something like this in reference to god wherever god leads follow whatever god promises believe whenever god trusts excuse me whenever god tests you trust him however god blesses you share it share it the god who speaks we serve a god who speaks our god speaks you see we are here today because of a little clause in the book of genesis that simply says and god said we're here because of that we are here today because god speaks he expresses himself we have salvation because in the beginning was the word the word was with god the word was god same was in the beginning here today because we serve a god who speaks he speaks i know that's elementary i just want to let it drizzle upon you today because i believe it's so profound because we are battling a culture today of interpreters they are interpreting what god speaks i don't want to be an interpreter i want to hear what god speaks what god speaks i'm currently i'm currently in a um a prayer over a verse of scripture several verses of scripture brother nolan in the in the book of acts that simply says this it said and the holy ghost said and i would like to know what that sounded like i would like to know what that sounded like and there's another verse and i've even committed to prayer but there's another verse of scripture that said and it seemed good to the holy ghost now these are passages in the book of acts that i'm intrigued with if the holy ghost said what did it sound like if it seemed good to the holy ghost what was the scenery there we serve a god who speaks our god speaks how god speaks do you know as the end of time approaches that satan tries to counterfeit every real thing that god has got he counterfeits every real thing that god has god has an amazing pure love satan counterfeits it with a lust satan counterfeits the truth sounds like the truth but it's not fully the truth not only is satan a counterfeit god can do real miracles satan can do things that appear to be a miracle he can do things that appear to be a miracle our god speaks is it any strange wonder that in the book of revelation that one of the last attempts of satan to gather all the people together he creates an image and causes the image to speak this world is looking for a god who speaks not a statue we're here today because god spoke to abraham god spoke to abraham now you realize that when you are in line and your ears are tuned to hear god's word and you don't discount it you receive it for what it is the word of god do you know when you hear the word of god something happens to you faith begins to erupt in your heart what you previously maybe didn't even think of or you previously thought was out of your reach but once you heard the word something began to build in you you can't explain it you you you you wasn't even thinking about this till you heard the word you wasn't even thinking it was possible till you begin to hear the word because that's the power of the god who speaks see today this is not a waste of our time it's only a waste of our time if you have tuned out what's going on right now it's only a waste of your time if when i introduced my scripture you didn't even crack your bible you didn't even look at the screen because hey i've heard this before blah blah blah so to you there is no motivation that happens but there possibly may be a prodigal here this morning or a hungry lamb here this morning that's looking for something for god to speak to them and in the midst of this preaching the word today what you didn't even think of before you got here now it's come to your mind what you really thought had you covered up now you're seeming to have some power to burst out with life because that is the word give the word of god a hand of praise right now romans 10 17 so then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of god god spoke to abram abraham get out of your country get out from your kindred come to a land that i will show you i will make you a blessing i will curse them that curse you and in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed i submit that abram had not had those thoughts before i submit to you that abraham with abram was just an everyday idol worshiper but guess what he is worshiping idols that you speak to but don't speak back to you but all of a sudden he meets the god who speaks and when the god who spoke to him and said this it naturally generated faith in the heart of abram how do you think abram went in and explained to sarah we're moving how do you think abram went to his father-in-law terra and said we're moving how do you explain that he goes around and starts packing up angels did not pack up his sleeping bag angels did not put his things in bags angels we will understand that abram came out he was a very wealthy man the angels didn't come down and get his cattle and his sheep all together abraham did it why faith without works is dead god gives us the word it produces faith but here's how we know it's real faith what are we doing about it see if god will speak to you today you've got to be willing to do something with what he says so abraham was willing to come out loaded up everything he had and you know what it didn't make any sense it didn't make any sense or say well brother carpenter you know this doesn't seem to make any sense to me it doesn't it did in abraham's day get a load of this conversation it's in the book of hebrews hey abram where are you going i don't know i don't know you don't know you you got a u-haul here you got all your things packed up and you're going out of town where you're going you see faith sometimes just tells you where you shouldn't be faith sometimes just tells you where you shouldn't be so he leaves he leaves because he has faith travel down with me to verse number six of the same chapter and abram passed through the land under the place of psychom under the plain of maury and the canaanite was then in the land so now he gets to the land and now he sees the lands populated it's not a vacant lot there's people there there's canaanites there there's armies there there's kings and governments there don't you think that that one little word that paralyzes all of us when it comes to god's promises didn't creep up fear anybody ever had fear any anybody ever had a fear of this or a fear of that or fear of your health or a fear of the economy or fear of a relationship a fear of a child not doing right come on now fear so no doubt when abram stepped out and he got to the land of canaan and he sees there's armies and people and buildings the bible says in verse 7 and the lord appeared unto abram and said unto and said unto thy seed will i give this land and there he built an altar unto the lord who appeared unto him he removed from fence into a mountain on the east of bethel pitched his tent having bethel on the west and haye on the east and there builted an altar unto the lord and called upon the name of the lord now stop right there let's just stop right there for a moment because i want to introduce you i want to introduce you to a thing called the routine of faith because if you'll study if you'll study the life of abraham and go through there and mark the times that god spoke to abraham see we just we just read these these uh bible characters and we just think that they had breakfast with god every morning and lunch with god every afternoon and and god took them in at night and gave them this no sometimes in this first in this first incident there is 10 years 10 years yes i said 10 10 years between the first time abram abrams god spoke to abram and the second time god spoke to abram 10 years what do you do in between the times god speaks it's called a routine it's called a routine it's called just doing what you know is right if if there's ever been a tool the devil uses is to try to convince us that nothing good is coming out of our routine or or or i'm not changing this is not this is not helping me to change so he comes into the land and he looks and he sees the canaanites and fear grips his heart and so when fear gripped his heart god said it's been 10 years it's time to speak to abram again and god spoke to him and god god reaffirmed the promise god reaffirmed his word we need that reaffirmation we need the re-effort listen if god made us a promise and he's made us many god has not changed his mind on the promises that he made there's not a new edition of the word of god that's come to from heaven that says oh i changed my mind i'm not going to be with you alway even to the end of the world there's not a new edition that says oh i've run out of the spirit and nobody's getting the spirit anymore or oh i've run out of healing since we've got all this modern technology you just depend upon the doctors can i tell you today if god said it 2 000 years ago 4 000 years ago 8 000 years ago if god said it it's just as fresh as he says it because i wish somebody helped me our god speaks would you say that with me our god speaks are you fearful our god speaks do you god do do you have a a lump on your body that you can't explain can i tell you in the midst of your fear our god speaks as something crazy turned upside down in your life hear me today what the enemy wants you to do when you see the canaanite in the land of your promise the enemy wants you to turn right back around and go back home where you came from but somebody's going to believe god in this faith journey that in the midst of what i can see there is a god that's giving me a reaffirmation that he is with me and will continue his word i'm with you abraham i'm with you abram now there needs to be now notice again please follow along closely god spoke abraham left right god spoke abraham left notice with me again god spoke abraham built an altar there there has to be something that when god speaks there has to be something you do i believe as spiritual jews today that that's one of the reason that a healthy normal pentecostal apostolic church at the conclusion of the word comes to the altar i said healthy a healthy apostolic pentecostal church and a healthy apostolic pentecostal believer after hearing the word of god it's like a magnet trying to pull you why because i just heard from god where you going abraham i don't know god spoke i'm leaving what you're building abram i tell you what i'm building i'm here in the midst of all these enemies and god has promised me the land and i am going to build an altar i'm going to build something how about you today there needs to be a response abram responded he built he built an altar to the lord he not only built an altar he also began to call he also began to call upon the lord now we all know that god is a relationship we have a relationship with god someone someone's asked me before would you tell me the sins that would you tell me the sins that will keep you out of heaven i'll tell you the one thing that's going to keep you out of heaven depart from me i never knew you you see it's not necessarily about an act you do it's about him that you have never developed a relationship with and you cannot have a relationship outside of the altar and so i'm going to tell you what will kill a relationship and abraham fell into it the enemy of any relationship is strife is strife strife is ripping apart the word stripe simply means to quarrel the word strife means to rip apart we have often heard that we hear about greed tell me this what's the first word that comes to your mind uh let me ask you everything let's say i'll ask pastoral team when i say greed what's the first word come to your mind money right but do you know that greed that money is not the only thing attached to greed do you know that people are greedy of control there are absolutely control freaks in our world they want to be in control and when they're not in control their little world falls apart when they're not in control they get angry or they pout or they quit or they go somewhere else to pretend to be worshipping all right strife strife it's amazing that one of the words i studied the the root words of strife is forensic it's something used in court as tangible evidence you know you you've got them given testimony but when you can present an object when you can present an object and say here here's an object here's the gun got his fingerprints here's the shirt here's this that's forensic forensic evidence there that's something you can get a hold of and it it intrigued me that the word strife is connected to that you know people get something that they hold on to they get something that is real in their life and they're always counting it i got the evidence on you i i've got this i've got this evidence on you can i tell you that strife is the cancer of your god relationship strife is the cancer of your marriage relationship and strife is the cancer when it gets in our family and brother is against sister and sister is against brother we cannot allow on our faith journey for strife to be in inside of our hearts so where does strife come in genesis 13 verse number five and lot also which went with abram had flocks and herds and tents and the land was not able to bear them that they might dwell together for their substance was great so that they could not dwell together there was a somebody say it with me there was a what strife between the herdman of abram's cattle and the herdman of lot's cattle and the canaanite and the parasite dwell then in the land and abram said unto lot let there be no strife i pray thee between me and thee and between my herdman and thy herdman for we be brethren can you hear abraham know about you but i want to be like abram they're fighting over water holes they're fighting over green pastures abram's got cattle lots got cattle the canaanites got cattle they're fighting over who gets to the whale first they're fighting over whose property this is and so when they should be enjoying a life of fruitfulness unto god they're out there fighting one another they're out there picking bickering with one another until somebody with faith steps up can i tell you that sometimes you've got to be willing to pay a price for peace you've got to be willing to pay a price for peace so abram steps up and abram says hey let's don't have this going on this this this is not god's will it's not god's will that we're fighting one another it's not god's will that we're bickering against each other it's not god's will that there's this animosity this hatred this growling at one another it's just not god's will and what did he say he he ended it by saying for we be brethren we're family there shouldn't be strife there shouldn't be that tearing that control of power can i tell you the only one that should be in control in this room is god the only one that should get his way is god doesn't that make you happy instead of me setting yourself i didn't get my way i didn't get my song i didn't get my way i i'm not there they've not recognized my talent let me tell you something why don't you just sit back and let god have his way and if god has his way no man can come against you if god has his way if god has something for you to do you're going to be ushered on the wings of faith to do what he has said for you to do abram can't you see him with me church can't you see abram going over and sin please men please stop this fighting please stop this fighting for we be brethren please stop this can't you see the holy ghost this morning trying to come the enemy it's the enemy's behind this the enemies behind every relationship that has stripe in it the the the the enemy is looking the enemy is looking for disagreements among husbands and wives and disagreement to the enemy is like dark damp basements are to mold he's just looking for disagreements oh he's just looking if he can get inside can get in there and cause strife and and the best thing that you could ever do in life is to identify that it's the enemy one of the first steps of getting a marriage healed up is if they can just hold hands and say babe i know that we're on opposite sides here i i know that i know where we're at right now but please in the name of jesus it's the enemy that's coming into our lives it's the enemy that's coming in i wonder how much atmosphere in homes could be turned around if we just didn't harp at our children all the time if we just didn't you know the only time we talk to them is when we tell them what they've done wrong or or when they're not showing spiritual progress i wonder what would happen if a dad just wrapped his arms around that daughter and said baby i love you now you're not dressing the way you should you're not doing like you should but i want you to know that dad loves you dad's got your best interest in mine somewhere another in the midst of strife there's got to be a faith believer that steps up in the middle of the fighting over the water hole in the middle of pushing and shoving to want to get your cattle fed first and your way may first god give us an abram that steps in and says wait a minute we're brethren here that's what i tell people when they so i just can't go to church with that person i'm thinking well you're gonna go to heaven all right he says please please let's look at verse 8. and abram said unto lot let there be no strife i pray thee between me and thee between my herdmen and thy heard men for we be brethren i wish we would say those words together for brethren is not the whole land before us separate thyself i pray thee from me if thou take the right left hand then i will go to the right if thou apart to the right-handed i will part to the left can i i just believe that there was probably some people around abraham abraham that was on abram's side he said what you you can't do that you're giving him the advantage you're letting him choose first can i tell you something when you pay a price for strife to end god takes note of it blessed are the peace makers for they shall be called the children of god well you see well brother carpenter if i do this then what's this going to look like i got to give up this and i wasn't the one that did the wrong and i didn't do this and i didn't do that can i tell you god has always looked down upon the one that would say i know one thing it's not god's will for us to be fighting over this waterhole and whatever it takes for us to have peace in our tribe we need to have peace in our tribe and i'll just tell you this lot you just look all around here if you go to the left hand then i will take the right if you go to the right hand i will give you the advantage i will pay the price if we can have some peace let's continue to read genesis 13 and 10. and lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of jordan that it was well watered everywhere before the lord destroyed sodom and gomorrah even as the garden of the lord like the land of egypt as thou comest unto zoar then lot chose him all the plain of jordan and lot journeyed east and they separated themselves themselves the one from the other abram dwelt in the land of canaan and lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent towards sodom but the men of sodom were wicked and sinners before the lord exceedingly i see somebody old boy and abram do you see what just happened do you see what he just he chose the well-watered plains of jordan you see what you see what just happened he he looked down at the luscious green fertile fields of jordan of sodom do you see what just happened now abraham would you look opposite eat west what do you see abram rocks desert all of that but you see when you're out to make peace when you're out to make peace god takes note of it follow along with me verse 14. and the lord said unto abram here's another place that god speaks and the lord said unto abram after that lot was separated from him stop right there there's sometimes god wants to speak to you but he won't speak to you while lot is there you know the the name lot means a veil it was never god's will for lot to come out god told abram to come out by himself but he partially obeyed but somewhere on your faith journey god is going to say lot has got to go lot has got to go if you're battling the same deal in your flesh that you battled five years ago lot has got to go you've got to identify a lot and lot has got to go if it's pride keep it on the altar till you kill it if it's jealousy keep it on the altar till you kill it if it's partial obedience you just haven't yet you just haven't yet stepped over the line and become fully obedient to whatever area god is requiring you to be obedient then i say to you get every verse of scripture that deals with that subject memorize it get it inside of your heart get over it because god has got a work for you to do but as long as you keep lot here you'll never see what god wants to do in your life it's time that we kill lot goodbye it's time that we say lot we've been fighting we've been fuming we've been fussing and i don't know when's the last time i felt the joy of the lord lord we've been bickering we've got the dirt on everybody we've got the download on anybody that messes up or perceives to mess up in this church but i don't know the last time i just talked in other tongues i don't know the last time i felt the joy of the lord i'll tell you why you got to let lot die lord has got to go he's got to get separated from your life i'm telling you our children don't want to buy into strife we won't have a strong generational apostolic church with strife in our midst our children don't want to buy into that that's too small a water hole to dedicate your life to but if we can say listen you just go that way i want the joy of the lord upon my life god is able to speak would you praise him would you love him right now all over this those of you that want god to speak to you would you love him right now if you don't want god to speak keep your hands in your lap you don't have to say a word but if you want god to speak to you would you lift up your hands right now and would you begin to pray lord has got to go lord strife has got to go i've been battling this i've been battling this temptation for years it's got to go i'm a soul winner i'm a woman of god i'm a man of god god's got a calling on my life lord has god to go lot has got to go and the lord said unto abram after that lot was separated from him follow this closely lift up now thine eyes i'm trying to tell you something anytime you've been low for peace there will come a day that god will say okay now i want you to lift up your eyes now lift up thine eyes and look from the place where thou art northward southward eastward westward wait a minute god for all the land which shall see us to thee will i give it and to thy seed forever hold up god there was one direction you told me to look and was mine that lot chose and god says you don't understand abram lot is going to go through a fire and when i get done with lot and i get done with sodom and gomorrah it now becomes your property it now becomes yours please understand that when you lose control for the sake of peace we serve a god that's able to come back and more than compensate you for what you gave up more than compensate you for what you gave up look toward the north the south the east and the west but the nolan preached it the other night arise and walk through the land the length of it and the breath of it for i will give it unto thee abraham verse 18. then abraham removed his tent came and dwelt in the plain of memory which is in hebron and built there an altar unto the lord why did he built that altar because god spoke to him god spoke to him can i tell you today this simple phrase time always tells the story time will always tell the story be the bigger person to bring peace be the bigger person to stick the olive branch out be the bigger person be bigger than hate anybody can hate be bigger than hate pray for your enemies pray for those that despitefully use you pray for them yes it seems like at times it seemed well i sure will pray for them i pray they get pneumonia no no no no no no no no pray for god to prosper them man that's tough you better believe it's tough but it's hard no no no no it's impossible to hate someone while praying for them amen you cannot be a hater and a prayer warrior at the same time but if you'll learn to get down and pray for them god i pray you bless them god i pray you make them happy god i pray that they prosper in all their ways in the back of your mind you'll find a little voice it'll say but they did me wrong you got to keep praying that prayer until that little voice is decreased decreased decreased decreased decrease and then one day doesn't happen overnight but one day one day your haters one day the people that hurt you somebody will remind you do you remember what so-and-so did to you and you'll scratch your head and say i don't recall that so help me god i don't recall that and then they'll be putting oh yeah yeah yeah yeah hey we buried that a long time ago we got healed of that a long time ago we went on our relationship is dear our relationship is sweet listen to me now time will tell the story lop made a horrible decision lot made a horrible decision lot should have looked at abram and said abram you're the spiritual leader you choose the direction i go in i'm not here today lot because i'm not here today abram because god spoke to me god didn't speak to me abram god spoke to you you tell me the direction but he was greedy self-control well the 14th chapter of genesis says that there was a war against sodom and gomorrah as a matter of fact it's the first recorded war in scripture there was a war and i just now looked down and saw that i i left out a bunch of scriptures a bunch of scriptures on strife buckle up for a minute please buckle up for a minute you've seen those at the end of those commercials it says i'm about to do that all right proverbs 16 28 a forward man so a strife a whisper separated chief friends proverbs 17 1 better is a dry morsel and quietness therewith than a house full of sacrifices with strife proverbs 20 and verse 3 it is an honor for a man to cease from strife but every fool will be meddling proverbs 22 and 10 cast out this corner and contention shall go out yea strife and reproach shall cease proverbs 26 17 listen closely to this he that passeth by and meddle it with strife belonging not to him is like one that taketh the dog by the ears i don't believe i have to expound on that proverbs 26 20 where no wood is the fire goeth out so where there is no tail bearer the strife ceases well that's all in the old testament brother carpenter oh it is isn't it well paul mentions in galatians 5 20 some horrible sins one is witchcraft the second is one is idolatry the second is witchcraft the third is hatred the fourth is variance the fifth is emulation the sixth is wrath and the seventh is strife not good company to be with witches witches now the war abe the war breaks out the war breaks out lots down there in the gates of sodom he pitched his tent towards sodom now he's living in sodom he's very prosperous he's got a booming business things are going great until the war broke out when the war broke out the five kings confederate kings come together surrounded sodom and gomorrah and took all of the citizens of sodom and gomorrah captive among which was lot now word filters back to abram and maybe just maybe i'm adding this part but maybe because there's always that person that wants to carry you the bad news about your enemy as if you will rejoice over it beware a young man came to david having saul's bracelets and ring and he thought that david would reward him when he told david i i ended his life but david that wasn't no reward to david david had that young man's life taken because he touched god's anointing but just maybe somebody came to abram and said abram abram i got something good to tell you i got something good to tell you your nephew has been taken captive they raided the city you made the right decision you made the right direction abram yay for abram you did it man he's somewhere held captive what does abram do what does abram do that's my brother in captivity that's my brother that's my brother that they've got what does he do now chapter 14 and when abram chapter 14 excuse me chapter 13 no i was correct chapter 14 and verse number 14. somebody said praise the lord and when abram heard that his brother was taken captive he armed his trained servants born in his own house 318 and pursued them unto dan he divided himself against them and he and he and his servants by night and smote them and pursued them unto hobot which is on the left of damascus and he brought back all the goods and also brought again his brother lot and his goods and the women and all also all the people look at this when we hear of our this is part of our faith part of our faith is just not believing for miracles job increases bonuses all that stuff but part of our faith is on our journey being able to end strife being able to heal and being able to care care do you have enough faith to care when abram heard that his brother was in captivity he cared he harmed 318 men and he went after them and went to war until he had brought back lot and all that he had can i tell you if you're here this morning and you're a prodigal if you're here this morning and you have wandered away you've wandered away from the faith you have wandered away from the ways of god you you are far away from what you had been you are in a church that doesn't want to talk about you we don't want to blast you we don't want to shame you you are our brother we want to arm the men and we want to come after you until we get you back in the foe we're willing to fight the confederation of hell we're willing to fight the demons of hell and pray over your soul i don't care how messed up your life is i don't care how messed up your life is listen listen please listen to me closely today i don't care how many times you've tried to get back up on your feet and you have got knocked down you came to church state a few weeks and went right back to the hog pen came to church state a few weeks went right back i don't care if it's a thousand any time a prodigal any time a brother stumbles himself back into the church i'm just thinking come on we've been fighting hell for you we've been fighting demonic spirits that want to tell you the church doesn't love you anymore the devil is a liar you hear me the devil is a liar we do love you we want you to come home if you're here today my heart's desire is that i'll preach enough faith that you'll come to the altar today and surrender your life if you're watching online today my if you're watching online sister come on home please come home we're waiting on you we're not talking about you we're not ridiculing you the church waits for you we miss you come home please please come home we miss you you're a part of our lives you're our brother today you're not just a part of us because you were here for years you're a part of us because we're a part of the kingdom of god come home heather heather double barrel if i didn't get your wednesday and i'll get you sunday morning but didn't we have some good fellowship around here yesterday we all know that years ago heather came to church and god gloriously changed heather and chad's life filled him with the holy ghost heather was a worker she's probably got more talent uh artistic talent that and and listen she's probably got it in in in one of her fingernails more than we probably all got it together artistic talented hair just about dragging the floor but the enemy threw her a curveball and she got to see listen nobody in their right mind leaves this you tell me who in the name of god would have your two daughters and your wife standing there and somebody looked down and say hey lot you choose that way your wife's gonna turn into a pillar of salt your son-in-laws won't have enough faith to believe god your daughters will get you drunk and sleep with you that's that's how low morality you'll get can i tell you something nobody leaves the church in their right mind they're all deceived when they leave they're all deceived when they leave and in the midst of deception we have to go overboard to battle the wave of deception because hell is telling them they don't care it's a phony church they don't care and when hell finally gets you out there and hell got her out there and hell took heather to the bottom of the gutter hale took her to the bottom of the gutter but she said yesterday when we was having dinner at the azusa street writers meeting she said in the midst of all of my issues i knew deep down inside the church was there the church was there the church was there heather tried god knows she tried she come in here and pray through but when a lot of people could just see her walking out and think well she won't be back somebody saw her coming in and said what brought her back something keeps bringing her back no the first time she came back she didn't stay and no the second time and the third time and the fourth time and the fifth time and the sixth time she didn't stay but god got a hold of her this last time i don't know how many months you've been here in the house of god heather god is renewing and god is restoring god oh god oh god he's renewing and god is restoring prodigal you know this is the right way you know where the answer is heather heather would you be my illustrated sermon for the rest of my sermon would you walk from one end to this altar to the next just praising god would you do that you'll be my you'll be my illustrated sermon that's my sister that's my sister she made a wrong decision but that's my sister she did some things we don't believe in but that's my sister i believe god wants to give us a revival of prodigals it's my sister that's my sister what are you doing a lot i tell you what i'm doing i'm going to get my brother that's what i'm doing that's my sister that's my sister that's what i'm doing and if there's any other prodigals here today i pray for you i rebuke the devil of you i rebuke voices of you come on home come on home come on home come on keep on praising keep standing with me if you would musicians come keep standing with me for a moment but won't you listen to me for a moment is my brother jeff rutherford here this morning jeff let me tell you this scripture this is my jeff rutherford scripture right here jude chapter 1 verse 21. this is my this is my jeff rutherford scripture keep yourselves in the love of god looking for the mercy of the lord jesus christ and eternal life that's the church he's saying to the church keep yourself in the love of god keep yourself around god keep yourself prayed up keep yourself humble keep yourself in a relationship with god why why keep yourself looking for the mercy of our lord jesus christ unto eternal life verse 22 and of some have compassion making a difference do you know why i've got to keep my life straight in chapter verse 21 is because there's a prodigal in verse 22 i gotta stay in love with god i'm gonna stay in love with him i gotta love him i've got to remember there's not one sin she did that i'm not capable of doing get off your high horse you better get off your high horse where god knocks you off your high horse there's not one thing this woman's done that i'm not capable of doing yeah but you've not done it that's right einstein and i've not done it because of the grace of the almighty god keep praying right now by jeff rutherford's story right here and of some have compassion verse 22 making a difference and others saved with fear pulling them out of the fire hating even the garments spotted by the flesh saying ramen's call pray for jeff pray for jeff pray for jeff but it got to be more than just prayers that family reached into jeff's life satan had a hold on jeff but you see jeff had been brought up on his mother's death bed she tells the family keep watch over jeff jeff promise me you'll see me in heaven it was a sister that got a hold of that she reached into the flames and got a hold of them some we can bring back to church by a prayer of compassion but there's others we're going to bring back to church because when that prodigal ends praying today somebody's going to get their cell phone number and tomorrow morning somebody's going to call them and say hey how we doing today hey wednesday's coming it's a prodigal but i want to close with this god is going to come down in our midst god's going to come down in our midst hear this now please give me give me your undivided attention for just two minutes and i'll quit but if i could just have everybody scoot up around right now we quote a verse of scripture we quote it out of context we quote it out of context the scripture goes like this where two or three are gathered together in my name i am there we know we say that scripture out of context sometimes we say it when we don't have a lot in attendance at church that's not the reason for that verse if you will read the scripture oh thank you for coming move as close in as you can today if you will read the scripture in this context brother nichols you will read the scripture jesus is teaching them on how to handle strife he's teaching them about strife he tells them if your brother offends you go to them if they hear you you've gained your brother if they hear you not if they hear you not take two or three with you that every word may be established then it says for where two or three are gathered together in my name i'll be in the midst thereof you'll completely read over it and i spent way too much time on my introduction to really give it any really good foundation but when abram is going after his fallen brother lot over yonder way is a prefigure of jesus christ a man called melchizedek that gets some bread in one hand and whine in the other somebody said where you going i tell you where i'm going i just had one of my children reach out and get another one of my children that's been prodigaled and anytime you reach out to get a prodigal melchizedek is coming to meet you he's coming to meet you for where two or three are gathered together to end strife jesus says i'm right there i'm right there in your midst can i tell you today part of this faith walk has some practical things i'd rather see a prodigal i'd rather see you get with a prodigal and win them back to god than to hear that you've got a 10 000 a month raise on your job i'd rather see you come in this parking lot with a car that's smoking and about to fall apart and you've got a prodigal in your front seat with you then to see you drive the most fanciest car that the car lots can give you today because when we reach out to the fallen have to get close to the fire jesus says i'm right there with you i'm right there with you could we bow our heads for just a moment could we just pray right now could we bow our heads and could we pray remo hallelujah oh god i love you today lord i love you today it's time for strife to end come on it's time for strife to end this morning it's it's time for the evidence that you hold on that person to you need to destroy that evidence right now you need to you need to tell that person i'll never bring that up again i'll never utter a word of it again i'm done talking about it i i'm doing hashing it over i'm done it just causes strife in my life i'm time to move on oh yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes oh yes come on singers come on right now come on right now come on out i'll tell you when to start singing though man i feel a ministering spirit right now strife needs to cease this morning come on stripe needs to decease this morning some of you are in strife with god today some of you are in stripe with god today you're kicking against the pricks you're fighting with god's word you're trying to interpret god's word come on surrender it to god today can i surrender it to god you have your way god i'm yours this morning god i'm yours this morning god oh yes i'm yours this morning i will not kick against the pricks i'm tired of fighting against you god i'm yours this morning come on pray that with me right now come on the holy ghost is moving right now we want to eat in stripe this morning we want to end stripe this morning the boy that's on drugs the girl that gave away her virginity we love you we love you you're our brother you're our sister church if i've ever asked you to help me if i've ever asked you to help me i ask you to help me right now be very mindful of people praying around you right now there's a power of touch there's a power of touch i'm tired of fighting with you god i surrender to you right now god oh i surrender to you right now god go ahead sir lift up your voice somebody lay their hand on somebody around you your touch will mean the world your touch will mean the world satan is telling them we don't care but your touch will mean the world god is dealing with somebody to go pray for somebody do it do it do it right now do it right now get out of my mind i do it right now hear the voice of god speak hear the voice of god speech oh god strife has got to end we can't go on living like this we can't go on living like this such drivers gotta end please cry out to him today please cry out to him today is is where my i trusted you i where my health comes from sickness can't stay any longer your perfect love is casting out fears and it is your will then my life is here sickness can stay safe love is come on one more time one more time one more time come on one more time please look around you look around you right now look around you right now is it somebody needs prayer is there somebody needs prayer today that somebody needs prayer needs love jesus christ oh thank you lord thank you lord thank you lord thank you lord thank you lord thank you lord thank you lord thank you lord foreign thank you lord thank you lord jesus thank you lord thank you lord don't you feel the good presence of the lord here feel the good presence of the lord we've been in been in some talks with our pastoral staff you know covet covet kind of knocked us off of our touch of our touch for a year or so we didn't even shake hands and uh we've been talking with the staff about having a part in our service on sunday morning where we take a few minutes and just get out in the aisles and fellowship and that's more than just for our new people that's more than just for our new people you don't realize it you will write yourself off i'm not important oh what's important people really really like it you pastor when you shake their hand not actually not actually not actually i remember one time somebody came to me somebody came to me and they named three or four people here in the church they're not in ministry they're not they're not in the ministry they're not preachers they're not preachers wives they're just good saints that attend here and they called they said sister so-and-so made me feel so good she came back and shook my hand and and it just absolutely just that one little handshake from that person that person i later went and told them they said you kidding i just went by and shook their hand that's the power of touch that's the power of compassion and can we today can we today as we end we'll be back tonight at 5 30 for prayer 6 o'clock for a great service but could we not dismiss but let this be part of the dismissal would you just find somebody we get in our groups this section that section that section it might mean that you have to walk plumb across the church all right would you do that for me today would you do that for me shake some hands that you don't normally shake today because some are saved with compassion and that touch could just be what it would take today god bless you thanks for hearing the word