Sunday Morning Worship Service

you were down to absolutely nothing you were desperate you were all alone and the only chance you had was making a way when there was no way for him to just show up when it seemed as if you were abandoned by everyone else but he met you right where you were at it seemed to the hostile circumstances that surrounded you were insurmountable and they were surely going to take you out but his reckless love just penetrated through every obstacle his reckless love just broke down every wall his reckless love just broke every chain and he met you in that very spot and right there in that moment and in his presence you had communion with him and he poured his spirit out within you and from that moment on you went on to be a walking living breathing talking sermon a testimony that others would receive deliverance and would see the light shining you if he's ever done that for you why don't you give him a shout of praise it's the reckless love that we celebrate this morning in jesus name in jesus name let's keep that same spirit and that same presence as we make our way back to our seats and you can be seated across this house what a tremendous privilege it is for myself to speak before you this morning on this sunday morning to the greatest congregation on the face of this earth first apostolic church of knoxville all of you that are in person here today i welcome you all of you that are going to be joining with us on television i welcome you and all of you that are live with us online right now it's awesome to have you tuning in and i am sure this morning the presence of god no matter what your geographical location is is just permeating throughout this house and down the street and in the city of knoxville and wherever you are watching at this morning god can meet you in that very place and he can meet your need today i want to extend my welcome this morning as well to sister jamie ball and her daughter chloe these are heroes in my life this is pastor ball's wife who ministered so mightily to us at our tri-state district camp meeting i i will confess uh one of the nights pastor ball had a little bit of issue with his ipad and he couldn't get it to turn on for his sermon of course with him preaching you would you would never know but the next night he asked me and he said would you is there any way that you could print out my sermon for me just as a backup in case i have trouble again and i said will i so uh i tried to do that to the best of my ability had it bound for him and his ipad worked great that night and i got to keep all the notes so maybe one of the little time passes from camp meeting of course i could never do any type of justice to his preaching but what a wealth of knowledge and i can't underestimate or not do enough service to say these are absolute heroes in my life and have made such a tremendous impact on me and it's awesome to have you all here this morning i give great honor to our bishop our pastor all of our senior saints and elders in this great congregation if you have your bibles this morning turn to the book of genesis chapter 32 verse number 26 genesis 32 26 and we're going to read just one verse of scripture for the time being [Music] it states and he said let me go for the day breaketh and he said jacob talking to the angel i will not let thee go except thou bless me the angel said let me go for the daybreak if they were in a wrestling match and he said jacob talking i will not let thee go except until you bless me i want to speak to you for a few moments this morning on hold on through the night look to your neighbor to the left or the right and just say hold on through the night on september the 2nd 1987 a commuter flight for eastern express airlines left portland maine for boston massachusetts the pilot henry dempsey and the co-pilot paul belcher thought they heard a strange sound coming from the back of the plane a short time after takeoff they knew that whatever was making that noise it didn't sound familiar what was it and there it was again what on earth was that dempsey decided to investigate he had no idea the series of events that would then occur and forever changed the course of his life henry dempsey was about to experience terror beyond imagination as he reached the tail section the plane hit an air pocket dempsey was tossed against the rear door he quickly discovered the source of the mysterious noise the rear door had not been properly latched prior to takeoff and it suddenly flew open henry was instantly sucked out of the jet the co-pilot seeing the red light indicating an open door radio the nearest airport requesting permission to make an emergency landing he reported that the pilot had fallen out of the plane and he requested a helicopter search of that area of the ocean immediately after the plane landed ground crews discovered something utterly astonishing what they found was not only remarkable but it was also unbelievable it bordered on the miraculous they found henry dimpsing holding on to the outdoor ladder of the aircraft with everything he had somehow after being sucked out of the plane while falling to his death he had caught the ladder he held on for 10 minutes as the plane flew 200 miles an hour in altitude of 4 000 feet and then when the plane touched down while traveling close to 100 miles per hour pilot henry dempsey's head missed hitting the asphalt by six inches it took airport personnel several minutes to pry dempsey's fingers from the ladder as even after landing he was still holding just as tightly as he could he survived the ordeal with only a cut on the hand and after the event he is said to have just been asked to leave me alone concerning the event i was just grateful to see the sunrise henry was holding on with everything he had and probably with more conviction than he even realized he had he was desperate in his commitment to live and not die he believed if he hung onto that ladder with every ounce of strength he had he could make it through that tragic evening it was a conviction that said simply two options lie before me if i hold on i can live but if i let go or loosen my grip in any type of manner i will certainly perish henry dempsey said i might die another day but it's not going to be on this day it's not going to be today if i die sometime in the future it's not going to be because i loosened my grip and didn't try everything within me to hold on to that ladder just as tight as i could genesis 32 26 our key verse says and he said let me go the angel speaking to jacob the day breaketh the sun is about to come out and jacob said i will not let thee go except thou bless me in our scripture setting jacob really did not have anything to hold on to he no longer had a home or a family to be his focus he fled initially because of greatly deceiving his brother and his father he was identified by deceit and his name literally meant heel grabber it meant deceiver one that deceives another to get ahead he was guilty of immoral and unethical practices throughout his life whatever it took for him to garner an advantage he was going to do it and due to tricking his father he fled and feared the wrath of his brother every single night he was now simply alone an older jacob we find who wanted to make a change in his life but [Music] his life was continuing to catch up with him he had sent his friends and companions away from his presence he had walked away from a secure future at least twice in his life and now standing on the bank of the river jaybuck after sending away his family and what little security he had left he just wanted to pray and obviously prayer is always a good thing to do when we feel as if we have nothing left but the preconceived notion he had in his prayer was a little bit different than the outcome that took place jacob wanted and thought he was going to have a simple late night prayer meeting with god you know just to clarify and affirm the promises that had been bestowed upon him and he was coming into the presence of god saying god everyone has left me and it was still a little bit of my will versus thy will and i just want to have a late night communion with you just a little bit more than lay me down to sleep type prayer but he wanted to clarify and say god remember those promises you know i'm ready for you to pour those out on me now and then we'll call it a night but suddenly the door of his life flew open and he was sucked out into the open air of a spiritual fight for his life perhaps he initially thought it was esau had finally caught up with him to pay his vengeance maybe it was a total stranger who would come to rob and to kill him in the middle of the night regardless it was a fight like he had never been in before and the fight would last all night long rolling and tussling in the dirt sweat perspiration dirt fear and fatigue jacob struggled on through the long hours into the early morning he finally realized that this was more than a mere human struggle it was a wrestling match with god by means of his messenger and angel and i asked this congregation this morning i ask you that are tuning in online or that are watching on television have you ever wrestled with god over anything have you ever experienced sleepless nights the struggle and the wrestling over a situation that was an all-out assault on your mind you said god can you hear me in my distress i was just going to pray a prayer i was going to take a step forward in faith but as soon as i took that step forward it seems as if all hell broke loose and i'm all alone god but you promise to bless me and instead i feel as if i'm being beat up you promise to pour out blessings but instead i'm in a struggle and i'm in a fight and i'm scared lord and i'm tired lord and meals i was fasting were not necessarily because i made a commitment to deny my flesh but i was so sick over a situation that i couldn't even eat lord has anybody out there ever made unspoken prayer requests after request year after year and time at the elementary time until your promise finally came to pass you would proclaim to others and wipe a smile on your face and say sure god's going to meet my need but then you would lay your head on your pillow that night in agony and weariness not sure if god was going to deliver on his promises and you said god do you not see the distress i'm in and you had doubt and you had fear and you had weariness but you said god even though i don't understand it even though it doesn't make sense to my mind even though it doesn't make sense to my physical body to continue to endure this i have no other option just to hold on i'm by myself and i've made some decisions that have tainted my reputation no doubt but god i'm holding on lord i'm turning to you in the midst of chaos and i feel like that was i suppose supposed to do but as soon as i started praying the lord i feel like i'm ever more increasing wrestling with doubt i feel like even more i'm wrestling with fear as soon as i stepped up my prayer life it seems if the anxiety got even worse but god you know i'm here in your presence and i don't have anywhere else to turn and lord i know i've cursed the situation and i know people have quoted and i've quoted and i've shared the means that all things work together for good to those who are called but i don't feel like that right now god i don't understand what you're trying to do i thought i was making a step by faith to get closer to you and i feel like the struggle has got even worse but i'm going to hold on because you gave me a promise and i'm going to continue to hold on even when i don't understand it my mind and my feel like i'm six inches from the concrete going over a hundred miles per hour in my life it might seem as if all hell has broken lows but god i don't have any other choice right now i'm so desperate for a need in my life that i'm going to continue to trust and hold on to you god i hear your word and i'm trying to respond but i'm just going to keep holding on until you deliver on your promise i wonder if there is a witness in this house today where it wasn't a month it wasn't a year but you stayed faithful and you continued to show up to his house and you continue to believe i wonder if you would stand up on your feet and give a hand clap of praise or a shout of praise and say god worked a miracle in my life but it took a struggle it took some time i'll keep worshiping for a second keep worshiping for a second it took a little bit of time and if you're here this morning keep worshiping if you're here this morning and you're in the middle of the night and you don't know what to do let this be proof right here let this be testimonial evidence right here that god is going to deliver it's going to take a struggle it might take a fight it might take a couple weeks it might take a couple years but keep holding on and keep fighting with everything in you yes jesus he's going to fulfill what he's promised to you in jesus name in jesus name there are those under the sound of my voice with a great deal of faith who had addictions in their life and it wasn't easy to get over those addictions it wasn't an instantaneous miracle but they went and they sought professional help they went and sought spiritual help and week after week with self-discipline and prayer you look over a year's time and addictions have been beaten or you look over at two years time and there's been a great deal of improvement because they continue to hold on would the temptation come back at times sure would they be tempted by their peers at times sure but they continued to hold on and when you see them praising and worshiping and they continue to praise and worship through the entire process it wasn't something that happened overnight but they said i am going to fight if i have to go to counseling if i have to seek professional help if i have to witness and continue to pick up others and testify about what god's done for me and surround myself in that environment i'm going to continue to hold on until i beat and overcome that thing that has been an affliction on my life [Applause] there's a difference in faith and a felony i've heard pastors say this many different times god has endowed and god has given people in our lives and in our society great gifts and they've studied and they've researched and they've they've developed and created uh medicines and and and different things that we can seek counseling on and there's nothing wrong with those things you know if i've got a headache i'll go grab a tylenol if i break my arm i'm going to go to the doctor to fix it yes i believe that miracles can take place but god also gave you a mind to use the resources that are available to you and he gave some other people some talents and skills that he's blessed them to minister to you somewhere in the midst of the struggle the angel commanded jacob let me go for the day is breaking they had wrestled throughout the long night hours and the sun was beginning to appear on the horizon no doubt it had been a long grueling night for both and while we are not given a specific reason for the angel commanding jacob to let him go other than the day breaking it seemed as if the angel was giving jacob a chance to give up and to let go perhaps on hearing the words of the angel the thought went through jacob's mind to stop fighting and surrender the temptation to simply give up and let go but jacob held on and their weariness was telling him to let go but he continued to hold on the bruises and open wounds from the fight were screaming give up and just let go but he continued to hold on because somewhere deep inside his spirit he knew that he had to hold on to god and not let go and something in his spirit was telling him that if he let go now he would never receive everything god had intended for him from this encounter jacob declared i will not let you go except or until you bless me jacob had already received a touch from god but that wasn't going to be enough for jacob so many people are content and satisfied with just coming to the church house sparingly when they get in trouble and just receiving a touch from him and then they go about their daily lives without understanding and realize if they'll stay faithful to his house yeah the fight might get worse the struggle might get real but god has something so amazing to pour out on you if you'll continue to stay faithful to him he had already received a touch but he knew that he couldn't let go until he received all of his promises and was made whole if he let go now he would be defined by the touch and not by the blessing jacob knew that without holding on until the blessing came the entire wrestling match would have been for nothing and he had a strong conviction that said if i hold on then i'm going to live and transformation is going to take place but if i loosen my grip in this very moment this is a defining moment in my time yes i'm tired yes i'm beaten yes i'm bruised no i don't understand but i'm not letting go until i receive my blessing as anyone under the sound of my voice ever had a need so great that you prayed so earnestly and with such intensity and with such a passion that you said god i'm not leaving this prayer room i'm not leaving this spot i am not going to give up on your promise until you deliver on it in john 6 verse 63 jesus speaking it is the spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing the words that i speak unto you they are spirit and they are life and jesus was talking to his followers at this moment and he said but there are some of you that believe not for jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believe not and shouldn't betray him and there and he said therefore said i unto you that no man can come unto me except it were given unto him by the father from that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him and remember yes jesus was god wrapped in flesh but also man what would it have been like to tell all his followers that there are some of you that have just wanted a touch there are some of you that are not going to be able to make it when times get tough and you're not going to stand by me because you don't truly believe and then we see this very intimate moment with jesus and his disciples and i have no doubt that jesus had tears in his eyes as those followers of his just continue to walk away one by one is all of this even worth it i'm supposed to be god wrapped in flesh and i'm preaching to my followers that they don't believe like they should and then many of them walk away and then jesus said to the other 12 will you also go away then simon peter answered him lord to whom shall we go thou has the words of eternal life and we believe that thou art the christ the son of a living god we've got to have a mindset this morning that i'm going to continue to hold on when my mind doesn't understand it when it doesn't make any sense when i'm fatigued when i'm ill i'm going to keep holding on there's only two options i either die or i hold on and i say lord when you test me when i'm asked this question when i'm communing with you and this dialogue begins to take place lord where am i going to go i can't my feelings can't be hurt i can't suffer enough there's not going to be persecution that separates my grip from holding on to what you have for me we have to have the determination in our mind that whatever circumstances we face that we are committed to holding on regardless of the cost he says guys y'all going to turn away as well they said where are we going to go and that's the type of response we have to have in our life where are we going to go what are you going to do you're going to turn away from his word in the last day many have turned away those folks that turned away they're not going to make it in the last day they're not going to have my spirit poured out into them but you 12 stuck around did they always meet up to expectations no did they curse him yes sometimes but he said peter you're going to preach on the day of pentecost and i'm going to reveal my promise to all flesh if you'll stay patient we often preach about jacob holding on to god but honestly god was also holding on to jacob god could have ended the wrestling match at any time he wanted but he wanted to hold on as long as jacob was willing to hold on and i want you to know this morning if you're listening to me and you're facing some type of crazy circumstance that's unimaginable to me that's incomprehensible to me i'm just trying to deliver god's word there's no way that i could personally speak into your life but let god's word speak into your life jesus blesses those who want a change no matter what society or no matter what anyone tells them jesus blesses a woman who will fight through a crowd jesus blesses a man who will climb up into a tree jesus will bless a man who will get into his house by any means necessary even if he has to go through the roof because it's filled to capacity he blesses those who are willing to fight and will hang on regardless of what has taken place at times when we're struggling with god and feel like all we're doing is holding on sometimes we feel like we're not contributing anything sometimes we feel like we're just on a hamster wheel with our ministry life is out of order relationships are out of order my job situation's out of order and we hear the preach word of god and it goes forth and indeed we worship and we praise but we still have sleepless nights and we still have doubt and we're still weary and we're asking god when's it going to happen you just hold on he's wanting to see if we could hold on to the promise even through the struggles of life there are those under the sound of my voice that were praising so mightily earlier that held on through sickness there were those under the sound of my voice that held on to your kids when they strayed there are those there are marriages in this house today that marriages that they're now grandparents and god's continuing to bless that over a rocky time and their life they held on to that relationship when it didn't even make sense but now god has found rest god put restoration in their life and they're blessed in unimaginable ways some of you held on when you were hurt and you had every right to get up and walk out and leave this person or that person or this family but you stayed faithful and god sees you holding on and god is ready to pour out his blessings upon you because he sees you gripping just as tight as you can i know many in this last day will and have turned away but i know there's a great congregation in front of me and viewing online that have held on and there's somebody under the sound of my voice who was contemplating a crossroads in their life where you felt like i just think i'm going to loosen the grip a little bit please don't do it please continue to hold on just a while longer don't let go until god gives you his promise frederick buettner christian author characterizes jacob's divine encounter at the j buck river as the magnificent defeat of the human soul at the hands of god it's in jacob's story we can easily recognize our own elements of struggle our own elements of fears darkness loneliness vulnerabilities empty feelings of powerlessness exhaustion and relentless pain and as in many instances in scripture foreshadowing the name change that would take place when we take on in the name of jesus after his resurrection god renamed jacob and now called him israel and this was to reflect the transformation taking place in his life and after such a radical encounter with god he would truly never be the same and if you're here this morning or watching online and you have something in your life that you would like for god to just desperately change so bad i want to encourage you to just hold on you might be in a wrestling match you might have felt that you took a step forward by faith and things have gotten worse but god's getting ready to deliver on his promise jacob was blessed after the all-night fight genesis 32 31 says the sun rose above him and he was limping because of his hip that mark on jacob was life defining but it was evidence he had been thrown out of the plane if you will but he had held on it was his right to victory to be able to say i got the blessing it took some difficulty it took a little bit of struggling but i got the blessing at one point in the night i thought i was going to have to let go but i held on i'm bloodied and i'm bruised and i'm exhausted but every step he would take for the rest of his life was proof that god met him in that circumstance in that situation where he was at and every step he took and every limp that he made was proof that god was going to continue to pour out his promise upon him and it was due to the fact that he held on tight he said i wrestled all night long and i wanted to give up but i held on and i said i am not letting you go i'm not getting out of your presence until you give me my blessing upon refusing to let go jacob was questioned by the angel and the angel said jacob what is your name interesting he would phrase it in such a manner asking him already knowing the answer is it an interesting question after all had god forgotten who he was wrestling with in the midst of him through the angel there had to be a reason god was asking but jacob gave an honest answer and he said my name is jacob in doing so he was admitting to having been a hill grabber and a deceiver and he was having to own up to the actions of his past and before god could ever bless him jacob would have to be brutally honest with him and in that moment of honesty jacob opened the door to the blessing that he had been waiting for likewise we have to be transparent with god and we have to come into his presence and repent of our sins and then he says you know what go up there and you're going to have a name change and i'm going to place my name upon you and i'm going to pour my spirit within you and you're going to have all authority and dominion over everything in this world because you're now of a royal bloodline god will bless those who seek after him your name will no longer be jacob it will now be israel because as a prince you have power with god and with man you have prevailed jacob entered into his presence just wanting a formal prayer just hey god i want to clarify a few things with you i i'm struggling yes you know me i'm jacob and perhaps he tried to justify some of the events of the past after all i was uh i was being mistreated and it wasn't fair that my brother was going to receive that so it was owed unto me i had every right to do that and maybe he entered into his presence with that kind of spirit and you know things have not gone so well now and now his life had caught up to him and he was in his presence and said god i just want to clarify a few things i'm kind of needing you in this moment and god met him where he was at but it wasn't a miraculous and instantaneous thing that took place jacob had to go through a fight and go through a struggle and god saw his faithfulness because god is merciful and sees our possibilities instead of our past jacob would now have a new identity god honored jacob's willingness to preserve in the struggle and to hold on to god with everything he had and he bestowed a blessing in his life that would not have come any other way god will bless those who seek after him jeremiah 29 13 says and ye shall seek me and you will find me and when you search for me with all your heart god looks for those who will hold on to him and his promises even in the worst struggles of their life in closing this morning if the praise team and musicians would like to make their way up god will bless us god will bless you with amazing things in the future if you will continue to hold on to him and the promises he has for you the name change for jacob was merely the beginning of the greatest season he had ever had when you take on that name change it's the beginning of a faith walk to the heavenly promised land as we remain faithful to god to the struggles even when you want to give up god will open up unimaginable blessings to us understand that there are going to be some things that you don't understand life gives us each of us plenty of opportunities to mess up and oftentimes we do when we're baptized in the name of jesus you don't get out of that water and you're automatically in the heavenly promised land no it's a journey the apostle paul had to die out daily after we're baptized after we receive the holy ghost we're still going to make mistakes but he's right there holding on if we're seen holding on every step of the way sadly too many people get discouraged because of bad decisions they've made and they let go over the promises of god only being content or satisfied with a touch or they think that i can only ever get a touch now because of the mistake i made after my conversion that's a lie from the enemy and that's bad theology it would be entirely plausible to think that jacob wanted to give up many times the years of living with the stigma of a bad name no doubt took a toll on his physical and his spiritual life but in the depths of his soul he knew that god had a greater plan for his life he would just have to hold on even when he felt like letting go and struggles are going to come about for each one of us there's going to be times where we make mistakes but we have to know that god is holding on to us and we have to be transparent in front of him god i'm deceiver god i'm a hill grabber god i am a sinner and i have to die out to him every single day and do the very best i can to make decisions in the shadow of the cross an old viking proverb states never trust a man without scars a man without scars has not felt the hardship or pains of life be proud of your scars and let them tell your story we could easily edit the context of our scripture passage and say never trust a man without a limp that limp may be what proves he held on to the promises of god even though his flesh was telling him to give up but that limp tells the story our viking proverb says don't trust a man with scars our viking proverbs says don't trust a man without scars so let's flip that around and say we need to trust a man with scars juan only had to be here a few weeks ago as bishop began to preach so mightily on this sunday morning telling the genesis of when he and his wife came to the city of knoxville [Music] loneliness isolation peers telling him that you cannot start a church in knoxville transparency before us where he said he would pass by and do anything he could to avoid passing by this city he said god i i thought you called me to this place but i came here and i'm bankrupt i came here and i'm having to change in a gas station living in a mobile home park trying to rub nickels together to try to play the light bill god i thought you called me to knoxville i thought you showed me in a vision in little rock arkansas a church and a school but god it's failing and nothing is taking place i don't have anybody in my congregation and lord i just want to do everything i can to avoid passing by that city but he said where else am i going to go i was booked two years in advance for revivals across this nation earning a great living and now i'm putting everything that i have into this work but i'm just going i don't understand it people will call me on the phone and try to encourage me and preach to me but i kind of tune them out i try to pray to you lord and i i feel like the more bold i get and the more faith that i have that things just keep getting worse [Music] but i'm going to keep holding on i'm going to keep holding on and soon there would be this family that would come soon there would be this family that would come soon 123 west columbia would begin to fill up soon they would have to leave 123 west columbia and come onto pleasant ridge road and build a sanctuary there soon that sanctuary be filled and we'd move to this congregation and you look out over this place and you can assuredly say god has been faithful to his promise bishop you could have quit you could have loosened your grip and you would have been justified in doing so you would have had every right by our human understanding and logical reason for doing so but you continue to hold on and now you look across this congregation you look across this nation and then you even think about sister jamie ball whose husband is a great pastor and they're a great pastoral team at faith apostolic church in carmel and there are global missionary directors this gospel going out through the saints of god of this congregation going out not just in the city not just in the state not just in the nation but around the world because somebody decided to hold on you only had to be at men's fellowship breakfast this morning i get so encouraged and inspired when i'm around our senior saints they're not pulling up a chair out in the parking lot and just saying hey guys let's kick our feet up here and let's just kind of let let's just kind of enjoy what's taking place no they're still holding on and they're still fighting but the crabtree is doing everything he can to try to get us to get the plans together to install an elevator because they're saying keep building keep reaching god hasn't come back yet we've got to keep growing keep progressing we got to keep doing everything that we can to reach the lost stand with me but they say remember how you got here it's going to be a struggle if you want to progress it's going to be a struggle if you want to expand it's going to be a struggle but when i look over the testimony of our senior saints and some of the stuff they went through i think we can do it i i think i i think we can go a little further they're not trying to hold us back they're not trying to keep us and they're not even retiring they're saying i'm not retiring i'm refiring and we're going on together just to get this gospel out just as far as we can he told us about the scars trust a man with scars john 20 27 says then jesus talking saith he to thomas reach hither thy finger and behold my hands and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side and be not faithless but believe oh if you've studied the risen body of jesus there's just very few details as you cross reference them across the four synoptic gospels we're told that he could pass through doors and walls and in his natural body which died at calvary was raised and transformed into a spiritual body and we can succumb to the same temptation that the jews did of that time of thinking the messiah was going to come and be this great militaristic king who was going to unite the federation of israel and they were going to live in peace and in harmony for the rest of their lives but the details listed by the disciples are imperative to note because in our will and in our understanding in the way we see things it would be easy to assume that this resurrected glorified body of jesus this supernatural body of jesus would be absent of the scars that he bore on the cross oh certainly it would be absent of the suffering from this world but we read jesus purposely he didn't come down showing them a golden crown he purposely showed them the scars on his hands and the scars on his sides and said don't be faithless just believe i want to show you something right here this right here is proof that the grave has been conquered this right here is evidence to you that no weapon formed against you is going to prosper this right here this is what victory looks like oh peter you denied me you cursed me yeah i asked you all if you were going to turn away too and you stayed and we've been through some struggle you when they arrested me you tried to cut off the ear of the high priest and you've cursed me and you've denied me but you're still here peter oh i know it's been a struggle but peter you're going to preach on the day of pentecost and many souls are going to be added to the church because you kept holding on yeah you had some trouble in your life yeah you made some mistakes but you said i'm going to keep holding on with all heads bowed and every eye closed [Music] there's somebody this morning who's at a crossroads of a decision am i going to just loosen my grip and turn away [Music] or am i going to embrace the struggle and say hey i know things aren't thy will things aren't going as i planned but i'm going to keep holding on regardless of what the circumstances around me look like i'm going to keep holding on until you deliver on your promises would somebody have that same passion and intensity and same grip to come forward this morning and say i am determined god to hold on i'm not praying just a prayer of formality i am coming before you with complete transparency saying i am a heel grabber i've made some mistakes yeah some things have happened it seems like things are a struggle every time i take a step forward it seems like things are getting worse but god i'm gonna keep holding on i'm gonna keep holding on until you bless me i'm gonna keep holding on until that promise comes if you're battling sickness he's promised to be your healer if you're struggling to find peace of mind he's promised to be your prince of peace if you're having trouble balancing your budget just remember that he's promised to supply all of your needs according to his riches and his glory the promise is going to come but you've got to keep holding on and would you come forward this morning [Music] i wonder if i could test about your evidence you would find someone and encourage them and say hello [Music] if you'll make a commitment to