Sunday Morning Worship Service | Pastor Anthony

let's get into the word of God this morning the Book of Matthew chapter 21 verses number 12 and 13. and Jesus went into the temple of God and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple and overthrew the tables of the money changers and the seats of them that sold doves and said unto them it is written he was giving an illusion he was giving precedent from the Old Testament he stated my house shall be called a House of Prayer but ye have made it a den of Thieves I want to speak to you for a few moments this morning on the title A House of Prayer if we could just write where you said it if we could just bow our heads and close our eyes and let's lift up our voices to Heaven mighty God we thank you today for the work that you are doing father we live a life of faith in great expectation knowing when we call out on needs and call out on requests and call upon your name that you are there to answer them Father we need you to step in today in so many different situations and with Apostolic Authority we call on the name Jesus placing every need in your hand knowing and believing and living a life of faith that you're going to meet them we thank you and praise you in Jesus name we pray amen a house prayer there was no more place beloved to Jesus than the temple there was no more place he spent time you can even look over his life and when his parents were unable to find him he was in the temple revering it growing up and still in his adulthood as a holy and sacred place he came to the temple one day and there were money changers there and he did not for one second like the scene that he saw there was money being exchanged and there was just an overall complete disregard for the house of God some of the coinage that would even have been being used had idle Gods on it there was price gouging for sacrificial offerings and also the sacrifices were just being exchanged out of comfort and convenience if the price was right these practices may have perhaps started innocently enough to Aid pilgrims who lived in Far Away places by providing them their sacrifices they could more easily bring money with them than their beasts yet it quickly turned into a counterfeit scheme filled with worldly gain the chief priests were now admitting this Market into the temple for filthy glucram deals were being cut left and right for the sake of convenience for the sake of comfort and the priests were making a nice capital gain off of the cattle and sheep and the doves in the house of the Lord but we read that Jesus took out a whip and went in and he overturned the tables and he drove out the money changers and he said it's is written my house shall be called a House of Prayer but ye have made it a den of Thieves and robbers this imagery that Jesus provides he uses the term thieves and robbers because these are those who live in dens and live in caves and lurk in the shadows waiting to pounce on their next prey Jesus could have just identified it as a Marketplace which have still have been a serious rebuke but it still goes even further to call them a den of Bandits Judea at that time was much infested with them in their dens thieves devise and practice iniquity in these buyers and sellers imitated that and this is the imagery that Jesus provides to us they made the temple a place of gain as they cheated and defrauded and most of all cheated themselves and the whole nation out of what was most important and that was communic with the creator of the universe the author Michael fuson in his book and I used this excerpt at National youth convention in his book entitled will the real Church stand up states that evangelism in our modern day has become the event a sport in fact of just simply catching people it's more about the numbers attracted than the disciples truly made and many contemporary churches success is measured by only the number of people that the marketing machine has brought through the doors we measure our success by the number of people responding to our appeal it's a a grand business model knowing the right sermons to preach and knowing the right events to host and then posting the right pictures all for the right atmosphere and obviously I'm not for one second against pursuing excellence and using every tool available to us and you know that but the church's identity and Mission can be corrupted when it's members and its leaders are encouraged to view the church primarily through the lens of instrumental value Church marketers and others who operate with the same assumptions would re-fashion the church into a sophisticated market-sensitive institution whose primary agenda would be validating people's felt needs by attempting to meet them whichever the way Wind Blows whatever the popular Narrative of the day what whatever can attract the most Mass of people is what I will present in this slippery slope leaves churches nothing more than consumer driven retail agencies a Marketplace A din as Jesus referred to it in opposition to its true Mission no longer meeting the spiritual needs of members but rather rewarding fleshly Trends and ideas Pitfall of a leader and Saints attempting to function in this manner is it produces politicians rather than pastors they operate out of diplomacy instead of out of what thus say of the Lord and these misled pastors and Saints unaware in many instances confine themselves focusing on pleasing the influential members or making sure that the sermons are politically appropriate and don't afford to offend for one second and yes I believe the preachers sought acceptable words and yes I believe in the pursuit of Excellence but out of everything before any note is played before any song is song before a sermon Goes Forth before any of that the primary responsibility of this house is for it to be a house of Prayer and I speak to preacher leader pastor Saint alike that each and every time we enter into his house we must evaluate our motives we must identify the metrics for which we gauge success we must continue to collaborate calibrate our hearts and Minds through the spirit of what the purpose of this house is I go back to the dedication of this particular house and our previous house that's a holy and sacred house it's not a house of entertainment or Commerce it's not the Opry House the house of rock or a House of Blues it's not a House of Representatives where the truth of the day is subjective and Up For Debate or vote based on the vote of a majority it's a house before anything else before any specific Ministry before any specific office before any sermon or song It's a House of Prayer there and I call on us today each and every one of us to allow Jesus to come into this place and if there's a table that needs overturned let him do it if there's something that needs to drive me out of my comfort zone let me have it Jesus as we kick off this Prayer Revival we started today and we go Monday and Tuesday at 7 pm and have communion at 7 30 on Wednesday let us acknowledge that before anything else this is the place where we lift up our praise and lift up our voices and commune with the savior of this world I wonder if somebody could pray with me right now and pray that prayer that says Lord I acknowledge I want you to come in today if there's something in my life if I found myself in a place of complacency if I found myself in a place of comfort if I've found myself in a place of just going through the motions going through the mundane just making Sacrifice by by a place of convenience drive it out right now Lord we call on you right now in the name of Jesus would you give him a hand clap of Praise right now yes Jesus Jesus yes Jesus before anything else before Christian school before Kids Quest before Athletics but before choir before praised him before I get up here and preach a sermon house of prayer a House of Prayer Jesus Takes authority over the temple and we must allow him to have authority that's why sometimes in the context of our service you'll hear Pastor McCool say yes we planned out the songs we were going to sing yes we planned out uh what was going to take place at this particular portion of this service and God anoints preparation and I believe that and that's what I'm talking about sometimes he'll get up here and say that the Lord has just took over this service and people are running and rejoicing and shouting that's allowing Jesus to come into this house and sometimes in the midst of that he'll say hey make your way back to your seats the word of God is about to go forth both instances are appropriate sometimes on Wednesday night there might not be an altar call per se it's just as important each time is the proper time we must allow Jesus to have authority over every situation and he takes authority over the temple this incredibly bold move leaves no middle ground for the rulers who oppose him he is clearly acting with the authority of God over the most revered and sacred place in all Judaism tread on the temple would have been to provoke a speedy death but second Jesus actions are justified by scripture God's intent is revealed in his word and by his Living Word at the same time he talks about the word and then he then he proves himself to be the word that would dwell among them God wanted his Temple to be a place of prayer for all nations the commentator Barnes says number one they were over awed by his authority and struck with the conscientiousness that he had a right to command think this Prophet is correct we acknowledge that the prophet is correct today that number two their own Consciousness reproved them they knew they were guilty and they dared make no resistance the people generally were then on the side of Jesus believing him to be the Messiah and it had always been the belief of the Jews that a prophet had a right to change regulate and order the various Affairs relating to external worship they supposed Jesus to be such and they did not dare resist him that's the acknowledgment that we make today that's the foundation that we continually live upon today in 2023 refocusing recalibrating whatever word you want to use as you start off this new year or maybe you're facing a situation anything that you're going through today the appropriate action is to know that this is a place that you can come to and commune with almighty God and that you Revere this as a sacred place and that you bring him the sacrifice that he is worthy of and we ask you this morning Lord to come in and have your way yes this physical location here that we commune collectively together and lift up the name of Jesus and we refer to as a church and we can get into semantics and we know that the church is the people and we can get unto all of of those type things and yes this same church body could assemble out on the field behind the church and we could have church just the same I'm thankful today that there is shelter over our heads on this particular day due to the weather forecast but you know what I am saying but also your physical home should also be a house dedicated to prayer a house sacred for God to dwell in your physical home is a House of Prayer the place where God should dwell it's a refuge Against The Wiles of this world one of the greatest threats to the saint of God in this day is blessings that we we must continue to allow Jesus in our homes to turn some tables over to keep us reminded of what our house should look like we must use the blessings God has given us to advance his kingdom and not use the blessings he has given us as a vehicle to drive us back to Egypt back to the world that he delivered us from the Apostle Paul though in a little bit different context but still applicable he said if I rebuild what I tore down then I make myself a transgressor if you notice in the command of Joshua after they tore down and after God tore down the walls of Jericho through the Israelites obedience after the great victory was won in Jericho after the celebration over the destruction of the walls had taken place and you've seen after the Super Bowl or a bowl game the confetti just kind of raining down in their hair after the confetti had rained down after the destruction of Jericho Joshua gives out the most perhaps unusual command at the time he says cursed be before the Lord be the man who Rises up and rebuilds this city Jericho he says at the cost of his firstborn shall he lay its foundation and at the cost of his youngest son shall he set up its Gates whoever rebuilds this city that God tore down whoever rebuilds the structure that God delivered us from it's going to cost them their blessing their promise and a future generation God wanted that flesh appealing emotion-driven Pagan God worshiping City completely and utterly destroyed God didn't want a temple built there he didn't give a commission to erect a billboard advertising the great Victory it's utter destruction and absence of walls was what was to be the memorial but sadly we live in a generation today it seems where God has performed the miraculous and he's brought down Jericho's in a a previous generation and we have all of these resources available to us yet one can only look around and see many who are attempting and aspiring to re-build Jericho Generations have come before us and conquered Giants and destroyed Great Walls and created a pathway and an entryway into the land of Canaan here on this Earth but if we are not careful if if we are unsatisfied and ungrateful and and become desensitized to the great victories of the past just a few Generations later we can be friend the world and begin to lay a brick here and lay a block here and begin to erect what God Said stay torn down and in my our personal homes these blocks this structure of these building materials for Jericho can be the things that I set before my eyes the ideas the the language the lyrics that are Amplified from our entertainment centers the Hostile Communication in moments of frustration the lack of overall reverence it's not your house but it's God's house is still still oh where you prioritize your time the lack of investment of the home you could just listen to whatever genre of latest song where it's just the work week rest do it all over again blot out the the family when they come home and the wife gets on your nerves and the and the husband doesn't do anything and you can see all of these stereotypes played out and the kids are a burden and what does Bishop tell you don't ever refer to your kids as a Rugrats or all of these things but the home should be a sacred place the home should be a place of reverence where where where we build up one another the lack of sacredness and reverence for the home that's been just torn down in our popular culture and on the flip side we can well I don't allow any content such as that in my oh no but we can also become so self-righteous and you can have such a critical spirit in your conversations that they can be just equally disparaging and if they are those of constant critique and those of constant gossip and those of constantly attacking this person and and that person the irony exists that as you tear others down you're building up the walls of Jericho right in your home though you're going to need those particular people in your children's lives one's day or are people perfect no is the church perfect no but you must maintain a respect for elders maintain a respect for your leaders and your and your teachers because you can say stuff and and pop off and go off after this person and and bring up things that might even be true and you can just non-stop tear down tear down tear down where your children grow up and why in the world would I want to go there why in the world would I want to be under their leadership and we must treat the home the home is a House of Prayer the our homes are sacred places our our homes are dedicated to God they're sanctuaries and so too happened in Israel with King Ahab he married uh Queen Jezebel and allowed the world to integrate in and she allowed and talked him into rebuilding and Jericho and just a few Generations later it cost him his firstborn and his last cost him his promise cost him his Blessing God has given us uh amazing homes and amazing relationships and we have to treat them and protect them as the most sacred we can't build back up what a previous generation tore down don't allow your home to be a window into the world don't allow your home to be a place of infighting but it should be a place of sacredness a place of safety and most of all a House of Prayer oh the irony of an oppressed and enslaved people so obedient to the voice of God that they would take the blood of the lamb and place it on the doorpost to protect their first firstborn enslaved oppressed an unorthodox plan take the what in pain and where but out of such obedience to protect their family they would obey the leadership in their life and their firstborn their promise their blessing would be protected but then just a few Generations later when things became comfortable when things were all going good they neglected to remember where God had brought them from and they began to rebuild Jericho so irreverent to try to build up a structure that would cost them the firstborn in his future but I just believe I'm with a group of individuals today a group of Believers that are like modern day nehemiah's who will do everything they can to rebuild everything they can to refurbish and build upon the walls of Jerusalem build upon the resources God has given them make shame making sure there is a place where God's name is going to be lifted up for their family A House of Refuge a House of Hope House of Prayer oh your your home might not be a piece of prime real estate it's Market listing may never cause the Zillow notification just to ding across the banner on your phone but I know across this city and across these counties there are some sanctuaries in this region when there is a need that a prayer request can go out and there are some homes under the sound of my voice maybe it's a prayer closet or maybe it's a bench that they find themselves where Heaven Can absolutely be reached right there in their home give the Lord a great hand clap of praise your home has to be a House of Prayer your home has to be a sanctuary the Apostle Paul in his teaching after the resurrection of Jesus begin to to teach everywhere he went and one of his one of the most noted dispositions is when he went into Athens Greece and he was trying to explain to all of the philosophers and even those in the synagogue that we he now that God now dwells in a temple not made with man's hands but he dwells inside of us and we read that what know ye not that your body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you for ye have of God and ye are not your own this is not ours our house is not ours we are not our own for we have been bought with a price therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are gods The Book of Matthew chapter 22 15-22 I'll summarize and Obed Jesus was being pressed from all sides and the Pharisees went and plotted a method to entangle him and entrap him and they sent their disciples to him along with the herodian saying teacher we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully hey really buttering him up you know and you do not care about anyone's opinion my translation no free you are not swayed by appearances tell us what is it lawful to pay taxes Caesar or not imagine having God manifest in flesh imagine uh the creator of the universe right there in front of you imagine the one who can who can heal the the one who can speak to Nature the one who can defy the laws of gravity the the one that can provide from a mere boy's lunch and you're worried about should I pay my taxes taxes and should they be paid to Caesar or not but Jesus is aware of their mouths said why do you put me to the test you hypocrites and he asked them a question he says show me the coin for the texts and they brought him a Denarius and Jesus said to them whose likeness is on this coin this would have been a common question much like one of us like who's on the quarter who's on the penny maybe we don't know because we don't use change anymore but it would have been the same kind of question they said Caesars there and then he said unto them therefore Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars and unto God the things that are gods and when they heard this they marveled and they left him and went away and often we refer to this verse as a means and method that we should fulfill our civic duty and all those things and yes that's the proper interpretation but and also as you look at it a little further we there's a couple of different sects of Jews that are present at this Marketplace you have herodians you have Pharisees and you have zealots the herodians favored submitting to the herods and therefore to Rome for political expediency they were worried about the politics of the day they had zealots who were not subservient to the Roman Empire so some of them might have sought an opportunity to collaborate with Jesus and his followers because they were in protest to some of the things that were going on some Scholars thinks that the zealots would have been Advocates just because of his revolutionary teaching some agreed with his teaching some were opportunists there's a lot of different motives going on in the midst of this dialogue hence we read that Jesus was pressed from all sides many ulterior motives for the different listeners surrounding Jesus and he asked the Pharisees to pull out a coin and when they pulled out the Denarius he asked whose face is on that coin and they replied Caesar Augustus and on the front of that coin you had Octavian Augustus Caesar with the Latin phrase davinophilius which means son of the Divine and the back that would have been an inscription that reads DeVos evilius Divine Julius surrounded by a wreath in essence Jesus asks them appointed question while they were trying to ask him I gotcha question while they were trying to trick him and and trap him in his words Jesus asked them what foreign God is that you are carrying around in your pocket what foreign God is that you is that that you are carrying around the temple this would have been a severe problem an absolute blasphemy for someone who so strongly preached against idolatry they were carrying around many silver idol gods in their pocket with inscription proclaiming someone else to be God a Roman God and this would have been a problem for Jews to have a foreign God in their pocket who do not make graven images and don't carry around idols these same ones who wanted to Stone a woman to death for sexual impurity oh so a few moments ago the same ones who who wanted to bring Jesus upon charges for healing on the Sabbath for the very ones committing an act of idolatry right there in the popular culture right there in the midst of the day you can only look back at the ancestry and remember great men like Daniel and Shadrach Meshach and Abednego who would have rather been thrown in a lion's den or who would have rather been thrown in a fiery furnace than to bow down to a foreign God but now in a season of comfort a season of convenience just carrying around false gods in their pocket Julius the vine Julius the god the god of Rome on this expensive precious metal Silver our bodies like our homes and our church house or a house of prayer as well they are a temple as well let us not publicly condemn and blaspheme in private before I come up with a gotcha question about the proper action in the situation for an individual oh you're going to come down hard on them aren't you need to remember but you might be carrying around in in your pocket oh don't ever oh well my kids would never do that hold on a second let him get a little bit older I I can't believe they would let her or or him do this if I was their mom or if I was their dad whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa but what are you carrying around now I don't believe in and bringing up things and from the past but I do believe like the prophet Nathan who stepped into David and said Thou Art the man when he became so enraged about somebody robbing this poor man's lamb as he had killed Uriah for Espionage and taking his wife our repentance should produce Grace and mercy are our wrongdoings and the victories over our past should produce mercy and Grace and understanding I'm not talking about condoning I'm not talking about sweeping things under the rug if they bring about self-righteousness then you might want to rethink you know maybe this whole book and as we make this acknowledgment about being a House of Prayer this church building our church our homes ourselves let us not fall into the entrapment as one who look how much I pray or you're just not praying enough like I do you you're not fasting enough you're not doing this you're not well 30 years ago that it would get up at 4 00 a.m and pray well some of you are clocking into work at 3 A.M and some of you are getting off work at 5 a.m We have to focus on ourselves and remember what we're carrying around and can't look at anyone else if you want to be a leader in prayer Inspire someone to pray invite someone to pray don't shame don't condemn we're all in this together if your child has a need then I have a need if your relationship is struggling then my relationship is struggling we can't compartmentalize it and create different sects of people based on if if somebody's going through a situation then I'll just wipe my hands clean of it Heavens no we're all in this together and as we read all this it's a high task in 2023 in the church house and in our homes and in ourself we can find ourselves you know really feeling like and I'm I'm falling short in this area you know I I've made some mistakes you know I Proclaim to be a a Christian on fire for God but you know this situation took place that last week or or this event happened that's good the Apostle Paul said he had to die out daily and if he does so do we Bible says for a just man falleth seven times and riseth up again so when we fall and when we fail we fell forward we fall forward our church our home and us as an individual we have to every single day invite Jesus in to drive out those things contradictory to his word let us not seek as a church body to be a solely identified by wow what great music or what incredible preaching most of the time yes those people are friendly but but but the main thing the main thing that we need to be known for is that if somebody's hurting or if somebody needs a miracle they need to know that this is a place where there's some people that can get a hold of God this is a place where I'm welcome inside the church doors oh that's a group of people even if it's not Wednesday or Sunday I can call them up at their homes and they've got a place where they can reach up to heaven and God hears their prayers yes Jesus my desire or desire in 2023 it's for there never to be a stigma about coming to this altar if you've Fallen away for the Lord and there's some things that you want to improve on you need repentance whatever the situation this is the place but you need to come if you've got it all together which you're already lying this is the place that you need to come each and every time the doors are open every time the altar is open I've got to find my way down to it and pardon the cheesiness and I don't mean to make just a a cliche but sometimes we're so focused on our divine calling that in all reality we need a Divine falling and fall out on his feet fall down in his presence and then he will lead our past we can't be so focused on what am I supposed to be doing next what do you call me to do why am I not doing this now why are you not calling me to this now when really we need to first and foremost with every Avenue and every decision of our life fall down and his feet stand with me in the musicians can make their way we have to stay it says pray without ceasing we have to stay in a constant state of being able to call on his name at any time call upon him at any time Pastor Vickers told us last Sunday night that any single one of us can receive a text message before we exit this building that could absolutely turn our world over and we've got to have the relationship or we can just call on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and say I need you to step in right now if I've fallen short it's going to get up again does Improvement need to be made in our motives yes every single one of us starting right here do we need to really evaluate the metrics for Success yes starting right here every single day can we improve in our homes yes can I improve as an individual yes we have to identify the things in our life not playing gotcha questions about a situation or us focused on somebody else or or critiquing and tearing down someone else what do I need Improvement on I repeat the story from two Wednesday nights ago that Bishop read on a cool evening in the spring of 1909 two heavyweight boxers entered the ring in Paris France to fight for the World Heavyweight Championship on one side stood Joe Jeanette at 185 pounds across the ring was Sam McVeigh at 205 pounds Not only was the championship on the line but in that time in 1909 there was a purse of 175 thousand dollars such events in that era were often billed as a fight to the Finish in other words these were not just 10 or 12 or 15 rounds where they would eventually be a decision but it would be a TKO to decide that means Total Knockout there would be no judge's decision if both men were still standing no these two combatants would continue until one of them simply could not go on on that night in Paris this fight proved to be quite the contest of wills and stamina ultimately Jeanette won the fight when McVeigh refused to come from his corner for the 49th round beyond the sheer length of the match and the physical stamina required to endure it Spectators were amazed at the outcome because Jeanette had been knocked down 27 times prior to winning the victory we too are in conflict and it is a spiritual one one for the sacredness of his house one for the peace The Refuge that is our home and one for the Salvation for us as individuals we too are in a conflict still the parameters are the same it's not the one who gets knocked down the most it's the one who will continue and to answer the bell and endure to the end we will be knocked down by the blows that hell and life will bring that we we will be knocked down by mistakes that we've made even while after we've publicly professed Christ in our lives after we've taken on the name of Jesus [Music] when you take on that name of Jesus you're not automatically in heaven action Journey it's often compared to when the Israelites crossed the Red Sea they still had a journey to their promised land and likewise will make mistakes we'll suffer blows hell will bring them sometimes and sometimes the disease l i f e will strike us it's contagious but if we are willing to continue fighting the outcome is foreordained that we will win Jeanette had only his own willpower to rely on to rise each time he was leveled but we have the strength of the Lord to help us back up to our feet again God's spirit the Holy Ghost Inside of us will enable us to continue far beyond what we could do on our own and as we look around the church as we look around at different testimony we can see scores of people whose lives have been fiercely and mercilessly battered but they still populate the pews because they have gotten back up again and again and that's what his house of prayer is made out of because they acknowledged and kept the sacredness of his house so with every head bowed and every eye closed I want you to know that you can make it today don't feel as if you've made these new commitments that there's somebody that's so far out ahead of you and their spirituality oh no we're locked arm and arm going to the same promised land and I want you to know if you'll keep walking with Jesus keep fighting the good fight you're going to win you may have suffered a blow but you can get back up again and the best way to get back up is to fall down at his feet and I want to open this altar to every single person who wants to make a fresh acknowledgment in 2023 for this church house from my personal house and for myself that I am his my home is not my own my church is not my own based on my Comforts and my my my own desires but it's yours Lord and do what you would have have it do do as you would do no matter how long it takes no matter how bruises you may make I'm going to get back up Rejoice not against me oh my enemy when I fall I shall arise when I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a light unto me there's a Divine falling taking place right now there's a Divine falling taking place right now and we need to re-establish ourselves in the name of Jesus Christ [Music] [Applause] oh there's a sacredness right now [Music] it's a House of Miracles a House of Refuge a house a house of provision yes Jesus would you pray right now every single person pray right now and pray that focused prayer right now pray that focused [Music] you're chosen you're anointed you have the name of Jesus back [Applause] up everything together [Applause] [Music] God anything can happen [Music] [Applause] myself Hallelujah [Music] [Applause] I want to invite everyone under the sound of my voice with a hundred percent participation and no one looking around if each and every one of us could just live the bar Hands to Heaven and acknowledge that this is a House of Prayer oh almighty God you see your people right now God you see every need that is in this house you see the Miracles that need to take place today you see the provision that needs to take place today you see the permission that needs to take place on this day Mighty God this is a holy and separate people and father rude and all the team right now that you can perform the miraculous that you can step into a situation and things will be reversed that you can Astound the position that you can bring stability to a great level of uncertainty father we thank you Lord we praise you for it and with Apostolic Authority Under The Name of Jesus Christ we proactively praise you for what you're going to do if you believe that Jesus heard your prayer why don't you give him a shout of Praise why don't you praise him right now this is your house father start this is yours my home is yours I am yours