Sunday Morning Worship Service| Pastor Anthony “The Secret Place”

would you commit yourself to just knowing one thing this morning you can't forecast what the economic climate may be might not be able to project what the global Affairs of this world that will take place tomorrow you can't even necessarily predict what results her report might be handed down or what text message you write received before this day is over but can we commit this morning one thing that no matter what circumstance may come our way no matter what situation we might find ourselves in I serve a God who is a liver would somebody Proclaim that this morning across this house the Apostle Paul repeatedly throughout his letters and his writings and his teachings to the church talked about as we pray yes to pray with Thanksgiving pray with supplication but also an intercession and I think it would be appropriate here this morning at the onset of this sermon that every single one of us have a need that is on our heart every single one of us can think of a person that needs Deliverance not tomorrow not next week but right this very moment and I just believe that we serve a god an omnipotent God an all-powerful God that we can stand in the gap for that situation and that he can turn it around this is an Apostolic Pentecostal church and if you've tuned in with us today we're Unapologetic about it and we believe that we serve a God who can still perform the miraculous so with their hands lifted High just for a moment I want you to pray a prayer on behalf of somebody else not able to be in service this morning somebody it might be a prodigal it might be somebody dealing with a health issue it might be somebody that you haven't heard from in a long time but God just laid them on your heart and let's pray a prayer of intercession right now Mighty God you see every individual who is standing in the Gap right now Lord you know all the details and all the specifics and father we ask for your hand of intervention we ask for your hand of healing we ask for your hand of conviction we ask for your hand to provision just to come down right now we know that the geography makes no difference but every single person that is assembled in this house as our prayers are ushered up into heaven we know that you're going to move across the city across the state across the country across the world no matter where that individual is at and Lord we ask you for a special touch right now on their behalf in the name that is above every name in the name of Jesus and if you believe God heard our prayer this morning why don't you give him a hand clap of praise [Music] yes Jesus almighty God we thank you this morning we thank you we thank you keep that same Spirit as you make your way back to your seats and again I repeat I uh don't ask a question this morning of well and what a spirit we feel in this house because we know the spirit that is in this house and it's not up for debate or question I want to say special welcome this morning to brother Martinez and brother James Anthony and their families let's give them a great big hand these are great mentors and men in my life that have poured into me and a great gentleman that I can look up to and I give you all great honor and it's a it's awesome to have you all in service with us I want to say Thursday is Pastor McCool's birthday yeah 51. [Applause] [Music] so I know this past month has been pastors appreciation month and his birthday falls right at the beginning of November so I think it would be appropriate for pastors appreciation to bring him a special offering next Sunday and we've we're so blessed this church it's like every day's pastor's appreciation and last month I got some awesome gifts but two I would make note of I got an entire jar of honey and uh it was absolutely uh absolutely amazing and I've I think I'm about three quarters of the way through that already only after two weeks it's absolutely unbelievable and I got some McDonald's gift cards amen amen and I've been making great use of those and I'm almost out so I hate that October is already over but uh uh those came in absolutely absolutely handy and I I think this church uh so so very much for everything you do and it's just the highest honor to serve with what I feel is the greatest congregation on the face of this Earth whatever the need is as different projects come up in the church there's always somebody who's a specialist in it or know somebody and Everyone is always so quick and I it's just a great honor to be a part of this great congregation I want to preach to you for a few moments today if you have your bibles if you would turn to the Book of Psalms and we're going to read in chapter 91 and I'm going to read verse 1 and then I'm going to go to Psalm 91 4 through 7. we have had just a great outpouring of his Spirit already this this morning I I I can't hardly continue without always giving great thanks to the praise team and the musicians and the choir who just I yes they're absolutely deserving of the hand clap because it doesn't just happen it's not extemporaneous though they could play unbelievably extemporaneously but they so many hours of practice and faithfulness and prayer and it's it's such a such a blessing Psalms 91 and 1 he that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the almighty and then if you would just kind of drop down to verse 4 he shall cover thee with his feathers and under his wings shout thou trust his trust shall be thy shield and Buckler [Music] prayed for the terror by night nor the arrow that flight by day nor the pestilence that walk Us in the darkness nor the destruction that waste at the noon day at the shall fall aside and take him at thy right hand but it shall not come nigh Thee I want to preach to you for a few moments this morning on a secret place a secret place I know we've already stood up and prayed a prayer of intercession but just right where you're seated at if we could pray just one more time over God's word mighty God we thank you this morning Father by by faith that we we Proclaim and are excited to worship about the testimonies that we're believing that took place that are going to take place from the prayers that were lifted up already today Lord we thank you for your spirit we Rejoice together to on this day because it's your day and we ask for your word just to sink deep down into our hearts let us acknowledge it let us understand it let us let it touch us intellectually and emotionally that that we that we understand that we have a place that we can run to in time of trouble father we thank you when we Praise You In Jesus name we pray amen and amen a secret a secret place as the imagery from the psalmist David gave us bird feathers are an amazing example of God's design feathers have a smooth part and a fluffy part and the smooth part of the feather still has barbs on it with tiny hooks that lock together similarly to how we have you call it biomimicry I guess like a zipper The Fluffy part keeps a bird warm and together both parts of the feather protect the bird from wind and rain and many baby birds are covered in a fluffy down and their feathers haven't fully developed so a mother bird has to cover them in the nest with her own feathers to protect them from the wind and the rain and you can see this video here and the image that comes to mind as we look into the book of Psalms we can just picture the strength and the comfort and the protection that is given by the mother bird as she covers her little one with her feathers and like a parents whose arms are a safe place to retreat from a storm or from hurt God's comforting presence provides safety and protection from life's emotional storms in the heart of God in the heart of our creator there has always been the desire for close intimate fellowship with his creation he from the onset as you look through and read through the Book of Genesis he came to commune with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden he asked Moses to build a tabernacle that he could dwell in the midst of his people still on Solomon built a temple of worship and we read that the glory of God just filled the entire house and today as we look at the Apostle Paul in so many different so many of his letters and particularly when he went to Athens and Grave his uh gave his great exposition to the philosophers there he he he wanted them to understand that God's presence with us God's dwelling is is not in temples made with man's hands but it's in the hearts of humanity and after God's spirit has come to dwell in our hearts we must have to make a concerted effort to walk in the spirit and we must continually do that to search out to find out to make sure that we're able to get to that secret place of refuge and that secret place of communion because each and every one of us will endure a Time multiple times every day in fact that we need to find ourselves in the shadow of our creator and under the wings of our savior we are genetically communal creatures there's something inherent in all of us which desires companionship people with the same interest gravitate toward each other we have what we call Summit groups which are are our interest groups and these are ways to split apart and everybody has their kind of their own thing that they like to do some of you get up before the sun comes up and and goes out and does one thing and then there's others who get together on an evening and go eat at this restaurant and you know people kind of separate based on their interests and because of these specific interests in general people have you know a given thing with one another or clubs or formed or people joined together and discuss a topic at hand and share information and you know how it is even if you're a fan of the University of Tennessee if you're if you're walking around town and you see somebody in Orange it's it's not that big of a deal it might be right now but if you're in another state or if you're in another country and you see somebody wearing orange you'll go track them down by go Vols you know and then you'll start talking about the game and then you'll start reminiscing about a game you are at and then you're crying before you know it and the Holy Ghost is being outpour now just no matter where you're at because there's there's this common Bond and then they tell you they're from this town in Tennessee and you're like oh yeah I drove through there when I was 13 and the next thing you know it's just like you're uh you're related and more than likely you probably are but it's just a special so there's a special interest if you look at the lobbyist political interest groups in the United States of America you can find some very I'll say Niche unless they're watching I don't want to get canceled by any of them and them you know get into our comments there is a balloon Council and this whole job of the balloon council is to educate consumers and Regulators Regulators about the wonders of foil in latex bonds and conserving helium they spent eighty thousand dollars on lobbying just a few years ago I I applaud you that's that is a special special interest there is an interest group called families conserving antiques these families who own great collections you know they they don't want to get taxed in a certain manner or they they want certain uh they weren't they want certain laws legislated that would protect their possessions as they're passed down from generation to generation it's a very special interest that again it's this thing that brings people together and then there's you know the the very same as what I would call them interest groups like the UFO Lobby you know that we can all that we can all identify with uh so there but the some of you all out there are like be careful what you say next but these things bring people together families are drawn together by invisible ties that are not broken by time or distance and as a pastor and seeing different situations and being a part of a family myself you know you can have a family that is in I'm trying to use the proper terminology maybe just a almost at a physical altercation maybe verbally screaming at one another you know but whatever the Dynamics are that family but if somebody from the outside tried to insert themselves in that conversation or that table discussion that whole family would be one unified Force immediately and uh we we get the saying you know blood is thicker than water so it's that invisible tie that's not broken down by time or or distance it's the desire for communion we're we're a communal creatures yearnings exist in the hearts of the Living For The deceased we we hurt and we we can't always reconcile the the loss that we experience in this life and we we know that we have an eternal hope and that's uh that's why we come together and and we mourn and we hurt over those we lose and it's a desire for communion that is extremely strong and also at times extremely delicate and deep within the heart of humanity as a desire to commune with God job stated oh that I might find him Cornelius Centurion gave alms to the people and prayed God and God recognized his hunger and sent Peter to preach a message of Salvation and through salvation God receives from us a physiological emotional and psychological response from his creation first I would talk about the physical response that he requires in us and that his presence and the things that he does in our lives should invoke from us there are physical responses to Any Given stimulus when the weather is hot or we run excessively we want a drink of water even breakfast is so named because we have theoretically been without food the entire night and we arise in the morning hungry and ready to break our Fast breakfast some of you are like what yeah we'll make a reel out of that later or have breakfast and eating is an oh so very natural response to hunger but we don't like eating alone do we you know some maybe some of us do I saw a meme that said November with no underlined and it said I think leave me alone but we don't like to to eat alone and nothing says gives us more imagery than the communion that is celebrated around the dinner table and even the return of Jesus is called the wedding feastful we're all gathered together at a restaurant a person can generally notice that there are a number of couples or a number of families and friends groups gathered together happily enjoying a meal I know and even in many cultures it's customary to set out food or drink before guests even arrive and if you're ever at my grandmother McCool's house you are not leaving until you eat something I'll go over there after I've already had dinner as soon as I walk in you look hungry no memo actually I just ate I'm good with let me make you this no I you don't understand I just ate I'm good I'm kind of in a hurry next thing you know there's biscuits and gravy there's sausage there's bacon and you're you're not leaving there until you eat and I apologize I know there's an hour time change and you know your body clock is getting a little bit hungry so I'll hurry but there's nothing more communal about that these observations reflect man's desire for fellowship or communion when Jesus after he was resurrected from the grave this glorified body and and no need of any physical sustenance of this world when he finds his disciples you know he was trying to prove to them first and foremost that you know this was the resurrected savior this was their leader Messiah resurrected from the grave and he's saying you know look at my scars you know and then they're still kind of like okay I'm feeling them but then they knew it was Jesus because he said do you have anything to eat and they're like oh well that must be Jesus because I mean you can look throughout the Bible of all the times Jesus is eating with people and I preached about it last a week one of the things he said was hey this isn't a time to fast it's a time to Feast so they're like hey we know this is Jesus and the glorified body of Jesus didn't need any food but it was a sign that he wanted to commune with his followers Anthony Bourdain a a great chef and writer of all things in the culinary arts if you will he said barbecue may not be the road to World Peace but it's a start and we know that nothing is gives us like I said more imagery about being together than around the dinner table you know we can all be affected and we we really this came to to light a few years ago with the pandemic about how loneliness and I being isolated for a period of time what it can do to our psyche and what it what it can do to our emotional health and what it can do to us is uh we we realized how thankful we are for Community how thankful we are for a place to come together to go to go out and eat at a restaurant to to go in a store and it made us all the more grateful and through salvation there is a physical response from his creation to our creator the regenerated man woman will change their lifestyle to accommodate this new fellowship with God Humanity worships God physically with praise and the way we live this is why when you come into a service you might see these sophisticated individuals these leaders in the business World these elected officials these great contractors and Architects and all of these different professions represented you you might see them running around giving praise to God or lifting their hands and lifting their voice or these real big masculine men you might see tears rolling down their eyes because there's a response that is invoked from his creation because we begin to understand what he has done for us and it requires us to respond physically he also you know and this has been one of the the pitfall not pitfalls but a uh a line of argument I will say that other people that aren't quite as uh expressive in their worship if you will will say the oh that's just an emotional response and I would tell them that's 100 correct we are creatures of emotion he he he created us to be this way animal lovers are quick to recognize the powerful response to love and correction shown in animals this is why throughout the word of God from Genesis all the way to Revelation that we see the imagery of the Lamb of God something so innocent that had to be sacrificed because it invokes in us an emotional response this is why we as humans are drawn to animals cats or dogs and this is why these animals when they they grow up in our homes and they grow up with our families and they they we build memories around them they're part of our family and it's it's a really difficult thing when they pass pass on and did you know it's normal and you should feel that because it is God God instilled that inside of you he uses the imagery of the sheep the the imagery of the Lamb throughout his word so that we could have something to picture something so innocent that invokes an emotional response in us that we question how how could something so innocent have to pay a price and we understand that it's our sin and our wickedness is what had to pay is is what caused that innocence to be killed we had a dog growing up his name was Murphy he was before he was there before I was even born before my sister was born and every memory I have growing up every VHS anybody remember Bishop with the camcorder we have all those still you see Murphy flying around and he wasn't the best I guess trained dog or he broke out of the vet a few times well what what kind of dog would you call him if a Tasmanian devil if Chihuahua Fox Terrier half Satan uh but he was he was our dog he was my dog and not one time I think he bit brother Jimmy debusk and I think he's back there he might have a scar but he never bit me he was he was my dog and every every memory growing up you know he's in the pictures he's in the the polaroid pictures he's in the he's in the video and I remember as he began to get older and Pastor would my dad would have talks with us on the way to school because she'd have to you know you'd have to leave him at the house and I remember the garage door would close and I remember some of those long days you're wondering when you got back home when you open that garage you see he's still going to come running out to you because he he had got so feeble and then one I remember one particular day we were it was just a a just a normal day but you knew he was being getting more and more feeble he had to lift him off the bed and lift him up onto the couch and you know parents would continue to have these talks that Murphy's not going to be with us forever but you know as a 10 year old that's I don't want to hear it let's not talk about that but I I remember one day he he he he he laid down on the ground and he wouldn't get back up and I I think uh I was trying to go get the phone book to to to call the police department or something and Ashley was trying to dial 9-1-1 and I was like well there's a non-emergency line because you know they learned how to we had that big old yellow phone book and we did even better than that we said somebody called Papaw and our grandfather was actually getting ready and packing he was going to preach it because of the times one of the you know big conferences well you know how Bishop is when you call him there's an emergency he was over there in less than two minutes and he was in half suit half pajamas but you know his 145 pound frame just as you've seen him walk into a hospital room with just those Thunders footsteps of comfort and he reached down and we had prayer for our dog and did you and he prayed he said Lord we know Murphy's up in age but if you could just give us a few more just to get used to the fact of him not being with us and would you know Murphy got up and I think he stole one of our meals that night and he he he he lived another week but from the age of 10 years old I knew that there was power and prayer now the the great sophisticated into individuals with their theological interpretation oh you're playing over an animal how foolish or you're you're you're you're You're All Dogs Go to Heaven huh you know but he uses that imagery and to show us that God cares what you care about and he gave us an image of a lamb so it would invoke emotion where we're creatures of of emotion you read about great King David the Giant Killer The Man Killer uh War General harpist poet Diplomat Chief politician King Royal garments anything he wanted right at the tip of his finger a conspirator an adulterer uh you know anything he wanted he could manipulate to get and what what he was started out as just a young innocent Shepherd God raised him up and opened door after door and he even asked after he became the king he he had to prove himself and continue to fight off those who wanted his seat his heart had become so hardened that there wasn't anything in this world that King David couldn't handle and while he's and while he's dealing with all the stress in life he's right in the Book of Psalms just anything he touched was like gold but he had become so hard hard he had become so separated from the things that got him to where he was at conspiring to kill a man so he could take his wife while he was off at War God sent a prophet to get David's attention and he didn't use the depiction of a neighboring neighboring Army coming in he he didn't use the depiction of this this Great Tribulation that's going to rain down on your kingdom David to get his attention because you can read the book of Psalms David's talk David's curse in the heavens and the stars and he wasn't scared of anything that the prophet came unto him and said David I was a rich man came to town and he stole a u lamb because he needed one from a poor man and that that you land from that poor man it was the only one he had he cared for it even treated it as a daughter and when David heard this it was a pin prick right through his heart and David fought with rage and he wanted to go absolutely wipe this man off the face of this Earth and we know the story The Prophet told David Thou Art the man but the point is God gives us this imagery God created in US emotions to feel hurt to feel pain can we all do we always know how to reconcile the the suffering that we endure or the the lost the unexpected loss absolutely not and I don't have I I can't give you an answer for that but I I can tell you today as the praise team sung that there is a place that you can go there there is a wing that you can find yourself under a wing of comfort a wing of protection God made us emotional creatures and this is Manifest in our excitement it's expressed in our feelings it has been said of some that they are not emotional this is simply not true do we have to learn to control our emotions at time yes but when we get into the presence of God we must show him a motion of Praise by lifting our hands by by lifting our voice by by leaping for Joy because he has done so much for us to give him a hand clap of praise this morning joy and happiness experienced together we must develop a a desire and longing to to come together and consistently get in that secret place there's too much scriptural precedent whether it be King David worshiping His Garment offer the outpouring of the on the day of Pentecostal or Paul and Silas in the depths of the prison they begin to sing out praise and rejoicing that is our aspiration and when we give that response when we call out on that name Jesus he is right there as we read for us to just get into his shadow into that secret place a psychological response and I tied this in with emotional response sometimes our emotional response is direct correlation from our psychological response and our intellectual understanding that when we begin to think over what God has done for us when we begin to recall the testimony that we have in our life when we begin to identify the so many different situations that he has protected and provided and saw me through then it invokes that emotion and the soul of a man and his more on emotional nature it's the immaterial essence and animating principle or actuating course of the individual life in the Book of Psalms portrays for us the depths of feelings of the total man his soul when David pinned the words deep calleth on to deep he cried out from the depths of his soul regarding his personal circumstances he said as necessary as water is for the Thirsty dear soul is the souls longing for the Living God David was caught up in a whirling emotional feelings which portrayed his strong moral concept of God on the one hand there was the taunting voice of the enemy saying where is thy God and that voice felt like a sword in his bones yet David also recognized the voices of joy and praise of the multitude it said the people that he was gathered around and he found his hope in the praise to God in the knowledge of him and the singing of others that were in his life as well it's the regenerated nature of man which causes the Christian to be repelled by sin it's the as the Apostle Paul called it the renewing of your mind the blessed man is one whose Delight is in the law of the Lord I I have a new aspiration I have a new interest I I have a new way that I live my life Paul recognized this psychological response within himself he wrote of the power of the flesh which is enmity against God in chapter 8 of Romans 8 7 he wrote of the benefits of the spirit when we allow ourselves to be quickened and led by the Spirit by going into that secret place every single day in the Apostle Paul who contributed one-third of the New Testament if you will said I have to die out every single day I've got to get under that Mother's Wing as we read about in The Book of Psalms every single day keep this right here in check to keep this right here in check because that leads me on the steps that I take and it leads what comes out of my mouth it's in that secret place that strengthens it's that that time that daily time that we must be still before him so where do we go to find this communion what what places do we establish in our life to get under this Wing to stay in this shadow well first off that secret place must be the most sacred place on Earth in your life it it could be a sanctuary and it should be a sanctuary it should also be a prayer closet and also a pavilion and I'll get to that in a moment the sanctuary we could all put our definitions beside it we know that it's the obviously the Gathering of God's people that makes the church we could have the same outpouring of his Spirit if we were back here on the on the field you know it's not the walls and all that we we understand that I don't have to I don't have to go into interpreting that but it's the place where we but I'm thankful when it starts raining that we're inside the place where people meet collectively to worship God it must be a sacred place in your life it's the dwelling in which we sing together and which we pray together it's when we see God minister to individuals and listen to the preaching the public proclamation of God's word Moses was commanded by God to build a sanctuary for him to dwell among the children of Israel yet the people could not come into the presence of God for God at this dispensation dwelled in the holy of holies behind the veil there was a time however when the veil in the temple was rent and Twain the Jewish temple was divided into three parts the outer Court opened to all the holy place to which the ministering priests had daily access to burn incense and trim the lamps and then there was the holy of holies the holy of holies were only the high priest was permitted to go and only was able to go there once a year with a sacrifice so there were sections within the temple that are more holy than others where access is more restricted than other places and the most holy place where only the high priest could go once a year was separated by this large Veil this large curtain this Veil would have been approximately 60 feet in height in the temple the priest would offer sacrifices in the Holy place but once a year he would bring his sacrifice beyond that thick curtain and he would take into the holy of holies and it would be offered up on the day of atonement as a sacrifice to all others it was death to go behind the veil to all others it wasn't even a possibility and even to the high priest had he gone in at another time had the high priest gone in without the blood of the sacrificed it would have resulted in death so for the other 364 days the holy of holies God's presence was separated from the holy place by the veil from the holy of holies God's presence was separated from the outer cord and the holy of holies God's presence was separated from man and Humanity by this thickville one day out of the year one day out of the year a high priest one day out of the year a high priest who was the son of Aaron one day out of the year a high priest who was the son of Aaron who also had to been cleansed for himself and also had to have a sacrifice would be able to go into God's presence separating us from our creator and the reason for this separation Isaiah tells us is because of our iniquities our sins is what separated us and every year that sin debt would just continually be pushed back and it would continue to accumulate all but separated from God's presence except for a man that had to be a priest a priest that had to be a high priest a priest that had to be from a certain lineage a certain lineage that could only end one out of the year with a sacrifice we just went through that all of this took place because of the separation of sin holy God with his holy people Unholy people separated this was God's way to protect his Holiness from the unholiness of Israel God was there but access was extremely Limited but I tell you on this Sunday morning the god that we serve that desires of us a physical response a emotional response an intellectual response that we serve a God who is not a distant God he's not a distant God that sits on a throne far removed from his creation he's not a distant God who sits on a throne far removed from the everyday suffering of humanity he is a God who is eager to save and redeem his people for he would stretch that Wing out and he would manifest himself in flesh and he would become as you and I he would be the representation he would be the symbol he would be the Messiah and he would be the Lamb of God who would come to this world to die for your sin for your sin for your sin and innocence would go to a cross and when he went to that cross and when he gave up the ghost that veil was torn into and now every single one of us no matter who your daddy is or no matter if you don't know who your daddy is has access to the presence of God no longer restricted no longer limited uh unlimited excess no diminishing return that any time you want to you can call out on that name Jesus and that wing that Wing will just extend and whatever trouble you find yourself in there's a Wing that you can run into a secret place when the storms of life begin to rain down it's a secret place that we can run into Hebrews tells us that we now have boldness to enter in I would say the most holy of places and that's under his wing this is a safe place this sanctuary must be a safe place this Sanctuary must be a place of Refuge this Sanctuary must be a place of Peace before I divide the baby over over a situation where where my emotions that we talked about just a second ago get the best of me or before I make some monuments out of moments I got to think that I've got to maintain the safety and the Peace of this house our church is a sanctuary of safety the Bible says Jerusalem the mother of us all the church the modern day of Jerusalem the mother of us all where we must be the hands and feet of Jesus extending our wings to our community our city and our region our places of worship our bastions of strength because of our knowledge of the name of Jesus we we know there's a refuge and we we know there's a strong tower that we can run into there's strength derived from assembling together in the sanctuary their strength of unity is seen in the fact that two shall put ten thousand of the enemy to flight for one reason or another there is even modern day theological interpretations that seem to not realize the importance of meeting together yes any congregation is flawed yes we are in perfect Unholy people at times but that's why we run into those wings and we acknowledge that but we do acknowledge that we serve a perfect God a God that each and every day that we have to understand that yes we die out to and that must be the humility and understanding in which we live our life because we encourage one another next the closet we know that God is omnipresent he's everywhere where every single day and every moment of every single day as we this church so mightily does in so many different areas works some of you before the sun comes up but you have to have a place every day that you find yourself in a prayer closet if you will and this doesn't speak of a place which is four feet by five feet at a particular address it's the place that you purposefully sit in your life regardless of location or size where you have intimate with communion with God every single day and I believe if every single one of us made that commitment to talk to God every single day so many times we'll set up these resolutions and we set the bars so high that you know we never reach it and we we fade out so fast but I'm talking just 10 minutes when you wake up in the morning five minutes when you wake up in the morning five minutes before you go to bed and just make a commitment to commune with God I believe that we could see unprecedented miracles in this house this is the time when God's people study his word and pray when we bear our heart of our triumphs and defeats this is our place of submission in our place of vulnerability it's where our flesh dies and the spirit takes Supreme in our life it's here where we are tutored privately by the god of Heaven both in the natural and in the spiritual where the Holy Spirit Advocates on our behalf at times for things that we don't even know that we needed to pray for it's the secret place lastly we have to find a Pavilion in our life we have our sanctuary we have our dedicated space but a pavilion a pavilion by definition is often a large and royally decorated tent it seems the Pavilion spoken in scripture refers to a place of Refuge a place of hiding it's a place where the king could set up wherever and whenever he wanted when King David gave thanks to God for his deliverance from the hand of Saul and his enemies he referred to The Pavilions as a canopy of protection and remember a few moments ago when I said it's our knowledge of the name of Jesus it's the knowledge that we serve a god and we know him by name and that wherever we are at in our life whatever storm that we find ourselves in whatever impossible circumstance that may come arise we serve a God who is a king who can put up a pavilion of protection no matter where we are at he has the ability to put a covering over us in the most of impossible circumstances it says a king can put up a pavilion wherever he wants to we serve a God today just At The Mention Of His Name there can be that Mother's Wing that Bird's Wing that Pavilion of protection no matter where I'm at even though the rain clouds are coming even though the water is falling everywhere else even though the flood is coming in there can be a pavilion right over my house right over my home right over me in the midst of trouble because I serve a God who I can call on to wherever I'm at I can just say Jesus I need you to show up right now Jesus I need your help right now Jesus I need protection right now and the King can step in and set a covering wherever he wants to give him a hand clap of praise praise team musicians come on he provides us with Assurance he provides us as the praise team saying Deliverance Psalms 91 reminds us throughout of 10 things we will not be afraid no evil shall befall us no plague shall come he will be placed in a high place God will answer us God will be with us God will deliver us God will honor us God will satisfy us God will allow us and to experience the joy of salvation and what what a comfort it is to know that we are not alone God has promised us to never leave us or forsake us this relationship is so close that it is impossible for the natural mind to comprehend the Holy Ghost God's abiding presence is Christ in us the hope of glory you can be in a crowd of ten thousand people and fill all alone and be alone in fact and you can also if you know whose name to call one and those times when you're not able to read just the benefits of this great music and this great singing and this great worship and these great prayer warriors you can also be in a crowd of ten thousand people and you know that you have a friend that sticketh closer than a brother who's there with you every step of the way because when you fulfill his commission when you go out into this world when you go to your college campus when you you go to work when you go sometimes with extended family who doesn't understand why you do all the things you do and yes we we witness in love but there there's going to be times when it's you and you're all by yourself if there's going to be times when the music isn't playing and the singers aren't going and those are the times where you've got to say Lord I need strength right now I need that Wing right now I'm not able to get to the sanctuary I'm not at my my normal place of communion where I can just get alone with you but I need that Pavilion of protection [Applause] and closing the law of Moses God instructed his people regarding the corners or fringes of the garments Jews were to make tassels on the corner of their garments throughout their Generations a cord of blue on the tassel of each Corner as a reminder that they were God's people called to keep his Commandments the corner of a person's garment represented his identity it was a symbol of who he was and what he stood for these tassels in the Hebrews it's called pronounced seat in the King James version of the Bible they're often translated as Fringe or fringes these fringes are attached to the borders and the corners of the of the Garment or the tally and we we see that the different words that describe this sometimes it's extremity sometimes it's Edge sometimes it's borner border and sometimes it's interpreted as wing and if you would put that picture on the screen if you have it it was required to be on the four corners of the clothing of every Jewish male in accordance to God's instruction and we we looked at our key text earlier in the Book of Psalms and in Ruth you can even read when she was seeking marriage to Boaz she asked him to spread the corner of His Garment over her if she she wanted two and was going to identify with his name Wings the word for wings can also mean the corner of a garment the Bible says the Lord recompense repay you for what you've done a full reward for you by the Lord the god of Israel under whose wings Thou Art come to trust and thou art take refuge that same Hebrew word for wings corner of the Garment when God spoke of making a covenant with Israel he pictured himself as spreading the corner of His Garment over her a symbol of identifying with her as his brother a symbol of placing his name upon her the corner of a Jewish man's garment in ancient Israel the Old Testament Clovis closes with The Prophecy of the Messiah in reference to the corners of this garment and if you would stand with me this morning Malachi 4 2 says you that fear not my name shall the son of righteousness arise with healing in his wings and ye shall go forth and grow up as cows of the stall for all look like well-fed cows and ye shall tread down the wicked for they shall be ashes Under The Souls of your feet in the day that I shall doeth saith the Lord of hosts he said there will be healing in his wings now you can have a different theological interpretation and I would preface my statement that it's not 100 percent confirmed though it's highly likely and regardless we serve a god with omnipotent power so His Garment could have just as well done it but many feel ERS believe as Bishop taught about this past Wednesday night the woman with an issue of blood for 12 years she had tried many Physicians she had tried everything and I know some people I've heard some people get up and say nobody could help maybe she was only alive because she was there was people that had been treating her you know she was trying everything she could like like we do but she was at the end of a road and she had heard about a Man From Galilee she heard about a man that could save probably so weak in body probably hadn't been out in public much first off she wouldn't have been allowed to but but but probably very limited on her Mobility Jesus says you often read and the four gospels was constantly crowded wherever he went but she she said in her mind you can read it it said she pressed through the crowd she had a determination in her mind that if I can just get to the Master's feet and many theologians believe that when she reached up and touched the Hem of His Garment that she was reaching up and touching this Fringe that is also interpreted as wing that expressed her faith that he was the Messiah that he was God manifest in flesh that when she got under that wing that she could receive healing and right in the midst of that crowd Jesus on his way to do something else Jesus in the hustle and bustle Jesus when his disciples were telling him come on get him out of here we got a place to be he stops what he's doing because he cares about you he cares about what you care about and he said who touched me it's as we pray this morning the presence of God is in this house the presence of God is available to every single person you don't get to a safe place you're not ushered into a safe place by shaking a preacher's hand you're not ushered into a safe place by making a large donation you're not ushered into a to a safe place by having the right last name or the or the right lineage of of this lineage with the perfect sacrifice you're not ushered into his presence because a committee got together and had a democratic election he said no that Veil is chore for you and he's wanting to know this morning he's wanting to know who touched him I want to invite you to this altar this morning if you need Shelter From The Storm if you need to run under his wing whatever the situation I would invite you to have a physical response this morning I want to invite you to have a have an emotional response this morning I want to invite you to have an intellectual response this morning and say God I'm in your Shadow I'm under your protection I know you're going to provide I know that you can hear me and fill me when I call out for you yes Jesus