With the Help of a Preacher

Aren't you glad to be in church today? This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. What an honor it is to be back with you today. I give great honor to your pastor and his family, appreciate who they are, their friendship. I think it'd be alright if we put our hands together and let them know how much we appreciate them. Amen. I want to read today from the book of Ezra, chapter number five, verses one and two. Ezra the fifth chapter, the first two verses of Scripture. If you don't have a Bible, I think they're going to have it there on the screen, so. The Bible says, then the prophets, Hagi'i the prophet in Zachariah the son of Iddo prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah in Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel even unto them.

Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shiatiel and Jeshua the son of Josedek and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem and with them were the prophets of God helping them. I read these Scriptures several weeks ago and have kind of been arrested by them. I've spoke from this passage a few times over the last couple months and I want to talk to you today on this subject with the help of a preacher, I mean with the help of a preacher. Let's pray one more time. Jesus we love you, I thank you for the people of God that have gathered in this house on this Sunday, the Lord's day. I thank you Lord for your spirit that we have felt moving among us as we've lifted you up in worship and in song and I pray now as we turn to the Word of the Lord, I'm asking

Father that you would help me speak and that you would help us hear that the Word of God not return void but let it accomplish everything you've sent it to do today. We ask these things in the only name that has power to save. Now would you say that name with me, Jesus. We ask this in Jesus' name. We give you praise and glory, amen and amen. The Lord bless you, you can be seated today. I want to offer you a little context of the scriptures we read from this morning. Over the course of 20 years, King Nebuchadnezzar who ruled in Babylon had deported the Jewish people for different instances over a 20 year period. He heard of them like cattle and he sent them off to a foreign land and when they would leave he destroyed their cities and he burned their temple. It is not a pleasant story but the truth is it didn't have to be like this.

Prior to any destruction, prior to any form of captivity, God sent multiple prophets to Judah. He warned them. He spoke to them of the dangers of idolatry. He cautioned them that there was a cost, a price to unfaithfulness. Time and time again God spoke with the people. They listened but they did not obey. They heard the word but they did not heed the word and as a result God would use Babylon, that foreign empire and that corrupt kingdom as an instrument of his judgment on his own people. The Old Testament tells us that the Lord God of their father sent to them by his messengers. He sent them because he had compassion on them and on his dwelling place. Think of that now. God sent a preacher as an act of compassion and here is their response. Second Chronicles 36 is the record. They mocked the messengers of God.

They despised his words. They misused his prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people and there was no more remedy. When they rejected the mouthpiece of God, when they gave no credence to the messenger of the Lord, God got angry and there was no more remedy. But all of this was in fact God's compassion at work. This is what the scripture says. He did this because he had compassion on his people. God sent a preacher with a message because he had compassion on his people. But they did not hear. They did not listen. They did not obey. There was a cost. Ezra records the return of those Jewish exiles and the text that I read from today picks up in the middle of that story. These Jewish men and families who've been exiled out of Jerusalem and out of the promised land are now returning to the place of promise that God had assured them

would be theirs. It is exactly an account of their efforts to rebuild the temple that was burned. It is their effort to restore worship in that sacred city. The Bible tells us opposition arises. Those who surround them come and oppose the work of rebuilding and construction. They work to discourage the Jews. They went before political authorities and accuse them of vile things. The people of God in spite of this would not make an alliance with any adversary of Judah. Their subsequent conduct shows us that their offer to help was not really an expression of humble devotion because when the people of God rejected their offer to help, they immediately tried to stop the project. Safe to say that sometimes there's more than meets the eye. The people of God would eventually succeed. Pardon me, the enemy would eventually succeed in stopping the people of God from construction.

And the Bible tells us that work on that temple reconstruction halted for several years. Now the text I read today, Ezra 4 and 5, is the turning point of the story. So I offer the context today because the scripture from I read is not the beginning nor is it the end. It puts us right in the middle. There had been a prolonged period of inactivity and God started stirring in the heart of prophets named Haggai and Zachariah. And he sent them with a message and a divine mandate to preach to the people that it was time for change. Ezra 4 tells us how the enemy worked. The people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah. They troubled them in the building. They hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose. And this happened all the days of Cyrus, king of Persia,

even until the reign of Darius, the king of Persia. I want you to see this now. This is what the enemy did. He weakened their hands. He troubled them in the building and he hired counselors to frustrate their purpose. Each word gives us insight to how the enemy opposes us and God's church. To be weakened in the hands is simply to be disheartened. To sink down, to relax, to take a posture of relief, to be troubled is to be disturbed, to be alarmed, to be terrified, or to move about frantically and anxiously without calculation or purpose. And lastly, he frustrated their purpose. To make it of no effect their work was ineffectual. This is what the enemy caused the people of God to do. But you cannot read the writing of Ezra without also reading the Old Testament book of Haggai. They are two different prophets sent by the same God to speak to the same people in the same season.

And while Ezra writes to us of what we might call the external opposition, what was happening on the outside, Haggai writes to us about what's happening on the inside. He confronts an attitude of internal neglect that had settled into the hearts in the minds of God's people. This is what Haggai said in chapter one of his book. Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your sealed houses while the house of God lays in waste? The prophet looked at those people and said every man is running to his own house. In other words, here's the house of God. It lays in neglect. Nobody's done any work on it for a long time. It's like we've forgotten that God's house is our priority. But well, nobody's got time for God's house. The prophet said it looks like everybody's got time for their own house.

And so it is. They were busy. They were just busy with the wrong thing. So Ezra writes to us and Ezra speaks to the people and says, yes, the enemy is afflicting you. Yes, the enemy is discouraging you. And yes, the enemy is opposing you. And this should be no surprise because good things never come easy. But Haggai writes to those same people and does not speak to what the enemy is doing on the outside, but to the attitude that has grown on the inside. And this is what I've come to preach to us about today. If we are not careful, external resistance becomes an excuse for internal complacency. Things don't happen as quickly as we'd like or as easily as we would like. And it feels like there's opposition and there's obstacles and there's battles. And we're fighting at every turn. And if we're not careful, that external opposition creates an attitude of complacency in us.

And yeah, God did send one prophet to talk about what the enemy was doing, but he sent another prophet to talk about how the people were thinking. And I've come to preach to you today that opposition does not remove your responsibility to obey. God's word still stands and God's purpose is still intact. And it is incumbent upon us to recognize, yes, there are going to be obstacles. And yes, there's going to be some opposition, but I can't allow what's happening on the outside to get on the inside because I can't be complacent about God's church. That's what's going on. And our text read, then the prophets thank God for a preacher because the house of God would have laid in waste and the people would have died in their complacency. But then the prophets thank God for a preacher. The conclusion of our text in verse number two,

the Bible said with them, with the people of God, were the prophets of God helping them. I don't know if you realize this or not, but God sent a preacher into your life. And it was an act of his compassion towards you. So I don't know because sometimes the preacher gets up in my business and sometimes he's challenging me and sometimes he's saying things I don't like and sometimes he's stepping on my toes and sometimes he's pushing on areas I don't like him pushing. Yeah, I know, but that's the compassion of God in your life. I've come today to tell you we can do it, but the only way we're going to do it is with the help of a preacher in our life. There is not one of us and there is no church anywhere in this nation or anywhere in the world that's going to make it without the help of a preacher.

The people are going to do it. Oh yes they are. God is going to anoint them. God is going to help them. And one of the ways he's going to help them is with the help of a preacher. The work had stopped. There had been inactivity. Gradual decline had become normal. People had become complacent. They were idle. They just looked at where they were in contrast to the captivity they had been in and thought well at least this is better than that. But this is not as good as it can be. It settled into a state of paralysis. Progress was hindered. So God said I'm going to do what I've always done. I'm going to put my hand on a man and I'm going to send a man with a message. And there were a couple of prophets that showed up that said, hey why are you running to and fro?

Why are you doing all this? Why is your house pretty? Why is your house big? Why are you focusing on your life when the house of God lays in waste? And he called them back into a place where they prioritized the kingdom and the ministry and the work of God's house. But it never would have happened without the help of a preacher. As with chapter six and verse 14, the Bible said the elders of the Jews were building and they prospered through the prophesying of Hagi'i the prophet in Zechariah. They prospered through the prophesying. There was increase. There was progress. There was prosperity because God sent a preacher. I come today to tell you that if we want what God has for our lives, there is no other way. He has always chosen the method of a messenger. And so I've come to Harrison Hills on this Sunday morning to preach to you

that, yeah, we can see everything that God has promised us. You can see his word fulfilled in your life. You can see him do a work in your family. We can watch him bring revival to this county, but I got to tell you how he's going to do it. He's going to do it with the help of a preacher. But preachers not very fun when you do it by yourself. It's not very pleasant preaching to a people that don't want to hear. It's not very enjoyable preaching the buildings that are empty. Anybody remember 2020? What must happen is when there is a word and when there is a message, there's got to be something in the people that hear and respond. Now I'm not just preaching for a response in this moment, though I am. Your amen would be good. But if you just say amen now and you don't change anything tomorrow,

your amen on Sunday is meaningless if the preaching don't change your Monday. So yeah, I would like an amen every now and then when I preach, but I'd also like the word to get in your world and change your mind and change your vocabulary and change your decisions and change your family. I don't know what you think of me, but it's okay because I will be here next week. But I have come with a word today. I've come with a strong word, but in the compassion of God to let you know God can help you. God can help your family and God can help this church. And the way he's going to do it is with the help of a preacher. I've seen those kind of people before who decide they don't need a preacher in their life. Who decide they don't need accountability. Who decide they don't want to be faithful to the house of God.

I've watched them, they flounder and they spiral out of control. And I know it looks good. I know they're making more money, but they're going to make more money on their way to hell because you can't be saved without a preacher in your life. I've come today to tell you, hey, preacher is God's compassion reaching for you, calling for you, trying to prosper you. God spoke through Hagi, I the prophet, and this is what the Lord said. He said to them, you say it's not time yet to build God's house. But God said it is time. So my question, who gets to determine what time it is? Do we allow the paralysis of our life and the lack of prosperity? Do we allow seasons of decline and decay and chaos and confusion to dictate what God is and can do in our life? Or do we yield our opinion to the word of the Lord?

Because God said it is time, I do want to do it. The problem was they had found time to build their own house. They found time to prosper their own lives. The house of God laid in neglect. See the inactivity, the paralysis of progress was not really a result of all the opposition that Ezra had talked about. It was a result of misplaced priorities because opposition has a way of creating complacency in your heart. It didn't happen the way I wanted, or as easy as I wanted, or as quickly as I wanted, and I lost my fight. I surrendered my tenacity. I threw in the towel and gave up on my faith. I just got complacent until God sent a preacher, and that preacher said, hey, I need you to consider your ways. Think about what you're doing. Hear the word of the Lord. God said, it's time to build my house.

And so he told them, I want you to go up in the hills. I want you to start cutting some timber. I want you to get the wood ready. And within 23 days, work had resumed on the temple. I want you to hear me today. Not all moments are created equal. There are moments with God that have heightened spiritual activity. I call it prophetic opportunity. Would you think that the night the Virgin Mary was visited by an angel? Was equal to every other moment? Hardly, but there are moments of divine visitation. There are moments when God sends a message that can so radically reprioritize our life and change the trajectory of our future. And I've come today to tell you, God is giving you a moment. But I don't want you to misunderstand the moment. Prophecy is not permission to become passive. A promise from God is not entitling us to become complacent

and slack as if, well, God said he's going to do it. Doesn't matter what I do, he's just going to do it. Hardly. Prophecy is an invitation to prepare, to ready our minds and clean out our calendars and cultivate the right atmosphere in our lives that we might be in alignment with what God has spoken. Prophecy is that invitation to prepare an invitation to be involved. And I've come today to tell you, God has great plans for this church. God has great plans for your life, but you don't get that with complacency. You don't coast into prophecy. You don't stumble into spiritual maturity. God's declared intent is an invitation for you to ready your life. Make the necessary changes. Make the accommodations that you must make. Get into alignment with His Word because with the help of a preacher, you're going to see it come to pass.

I know it's not popular. Everything in our world screams against spiritual authority. In fact, if I wasn't a preacher, I'd be a lawyer, so I was been following a court case here in the state of Ohio. You've probably seen it in the news about murder recently committed with the man who was on staff of the church. And I got curious this week because all the major news networks were calling this man a pastor, a pastor. So I did a little digging. Man wasn't a pastor. Just sang on the worship team, picked songs. There's a big difference and I can't help but wonder why I have a title of spiritual influence and authority to someone who's not, who's committed a vile crime, except somehow you're seeking to minimize the necessity and the value of that spiritual voice and role in our world. I've come today to tell you,

God has plans and purpose for our lives and for His church, but the only way we get there is with the help of a preacher. Now I don't have time to give you a Bible study today. I trust you know my heart, my intent. The scripture says much to how we shepherd. We're not lords over God's heritage. I'm not preaching a dictatorship today. I'm talking about God's mouthpiece. I'm talking about God's messaging system. He has always moved on them to come with a message to move His people in the right direction. I'm not talking about a pastor meddling in all the personal affairs, being a lord over every decision of your life. That's not the pastor you have and you know that, but I am talking about God's order, His divine order. I'm talking about the way the church functions, the way the kingdom operates.

The Bible tells us any fusions for. He gave them gifts unto men, apostles and prophets and pastors and teachers and evangelists, preachers of the word. Because the only way we get into spiritual maturity is with the help of a preacher. And I'll confess to you, I may not always like the preacher. Sometimes I don't even like the preaching, but I need it. And even when the personality is not my flavor and the words kind of hit me in a way I don't like. Amen. Yeah, preach that pastor. And now that I'm a dad of three boys, almost 15, almost 12, and a seven-year-old, when I know my pastor is getting up in the pulpit, he's getting out in the weeds of real life and he's preaching the things that are trying to pull my kids out of the church and out of the truth,

you better believe that there's a father in the room that's going to stand up and say, yeah, say it. Say it again and say it loud. Because I know if my kids will be saved, if my family will be saved, if this church is going to grow, it's only going to be by the help of a preacher. The city of Jerusalem had revival, you know why? Because Peter stood up with the 11 and preached. In Acts chapter 8, God sent an evangelist named Philip to an Ethiopian man in the middle of a desert. He already had the scriptures, but he didn't understand what he was reading. You know why? He didn't have a preacher. But God said when there's a man with hunger and a word that he can't make sense of, I'll do what I've always done. I'll help him with a preacher. Acts chapter 10, Cornelius, he was a religious man, a praying man.

He was a giving man, but he had not heard the gospel and he did not know God's plan of salvation. But you know what happened? God did what he's always done. He sent a preacher and he preached to him the truth and the Bible said Cornelius and all of his household were saved. Cornelius and his household. Yes, sir, man, father, grandfather, yes, your decision can affect your family. Paul told Timothy, preach the word. He could have said a lot of things. And he touched on it in other areas. Yeah, there's got to be gifts of administration. There's got to be helps. All these things are necessary in the stewardship and the ministry of the church. You, Timothy, are a pastor. You have a mandate. Preach the word with the help of a preacher. Romans 10, Paul said, whosoever so called upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

But how shall they call on him and whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? How shall they hear without a preacher? I'm talking to you today about how God helps. Those who are willing to hear. It's with the help of a preacher. But he keeps going in verse 15. How shall they preach except they be sent? Paul's writing to the church at Rome. He is reminding them of their mandate. You have a commission. You must send out preachers. You must raise up ministers of the gospel. You must send forth the word in the mouth of God's messengers. But I want to ask you the inverse today, because God can send them, but we have to be willing to receive them. God can send a message and we can hear. But if we don't heed, we end up no different than those Jews

who walked into Babylonian captivity. And spent decades in a foreign land under a corrupt kingdom. Not in the place God said was theirs. He sent a preacher. He had compassion on them. He tried. More than one preacher. Different personalities. More than one message. Some spoke of his mercy and some warned of judgment. They had no excuse. They couldn't say I didn't like that preacher because then he'd give him a different one. They couldn't say I didn't like that message because then he gave him a different one. They heard, but they didn't heed. God sends, but sometimes people don't receive. I've preached a few places and let me just tell you, it's a frustrating place to be. When you walk into a church and there's people that are hungry for revival and there's a pastor that doesn't have vision for it. It's equally frustrating to preach for a pastor that's been on the mountain with God

and got a vision for revival. But there's people who are not in the right mind to hear and move with the vision. But oh, when you get in a place where there's a partnership between the pulpit and the pew, when there's a message in the mouth of God's man, when he's got a vision from the mountaintop, and he comes down to a people that are ready to hear and ready to obey. When you get that kind of partnership in a church, I'm telling you there is nothing that can stop the people of God. When pastor says this is what the Lord has said and the saints of God rise up and said, yeah, I can see it too. When pastor says this is what I feel from the Lord and the saints of God rise up and say, yeah, I can feel it in my heart.

I believe he's going to do it. I've come today to tell you it is with the help of a preacher. I'm not the shepherd that's going to be here every week. I'm just a preacher that came by on this Sunday to try to help you by prophecy, to help you by the proclamation of his word. And I've come today to remind you God has given you a shepherd. God has given you a pastor and it's with the help of that preacher. That prosperity is going to come to your life and come to this church. Stand together with me. What kind of preacher would we be if we didn't speak the truth? What kind of church would we be if we weren't honest with the scripture? If we are silent where the scripture speaks, we're hirelings, useless. Sometimes the preachers can try to shake your world a little bit.

And time is going to provoke you unto good works as the scripture said. He's going to challenge you. Knock on your door because this is what God chose. It pleased God, the writer said, by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. And I know preaching can come in many forms. You can preach the word of God sitting at a dining room table with the Bible study. You can teach the word of God sitting on a stool or you can stand in a pulpit like a man on fire like I did today. But preaching is not a passive act. It's not something we approach haphazardly or flippantly. It is the divine action chosen by God to save them that believe. How can they hear? He said, without a preacher, how can they preach except they'd be sent? But I've got to ask the question that was not written in the scripture,

but time and experience would tell me is so true. How will you receive the preacher that God sends you? What will you do with the word, with the message that the Lord brings you? Will you hear and not heed? Will you listen but not obey? Will you sit idle in complacency or the house of God lays in waste? Will you neglect the priority of the church and the kingdom? Or will you, with humility, receive God's help with the help of a preacher? Hegei, I would write in his Old Testament book, Speaking of the People of God. He said, they obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the words of Hegei. The prophet as the Lord their God had sent him. He didn't just claim, well, I'm just listening to the Lord. I'm just doing what God says. No, because God spoke through the mouth of a man.

Even Paul would write to the church at Thessalonica in the New Testament. And he said, you are blessed because you receive my words as the words of God. I'm telling you, it seems a foolish thing to think of perfect and holy, just and righteous God who was without fault and error, could speak through somebody with so many imperfections as me. This is him. It's his word. And I'm telling you today, if you will bring your life into alignment, if you will make the necessary accommodations to stop being slag, prioritize the house, prioritize the church. Don't let this kingdom lay in waste. Don't let the work of God lay in waste. Well, you just run about being busy with your own life. If you will obey the voice of God that's coming to the voice of the preacher, because God sent him. He didn't come on his own accord.

I didn't come to you today on my own accord. I'm sent by God. I'm a preacher sent by God. And I know it seems a foolish thing to the carnal mind. If you want to measure a divine action with carnal reasoning, it seems a silly thing. But he said God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. He chose, God chose the foolishness of preaching. It's just a verse later in Haggai's writing, the Bible says, they came, the people came and did the work. So yeah, I'm preaching for a response. I've been preaching for about 20 years now. You learn a few things. One elder said, I can't give you scripture and verse for all this, but I've been around the block a few times. Let me just tell you what time and experience taught me. So now let me pass the lesson on.

It's the people that sit back distracted, staring at the ceiling, wondering about lunch, hands in their pockets, here in their body, but a million miles away in their body. But the word never takes root in. The word is of no effect because though they heard, they didn't heed and listen, but they didn't obey. I've watched some other people know a lot about the Bible. They didn't have a church background, hungered for the word. And they responded to the word and when they felt that unction of God's spirit, when the anointing was so evident, when the preacher was preaching, when the teacher was teaching, when the word of God was being received, there was an attentiveness in them. Their head was nodding, their hands would clap and every now and then they would stand up on their feet and they would lift up their hands. And I know it seems a silly thing,

but I'm telling you today, there is something that God measures in our response. And when we respond, yes, in the moment, but not only in the moment, because the word's got to work on your Monday just like it does in your moment. So yes, I'm going to say amen when I hear the word, but then on Monday I'm going to make the accommodations in my life that the word challenged me and I close with this. Perhaps it was this, it was thousands of years of Jewish history. It was the ups and downs of the Old Testament of God sending prophets and the people not listening and God redeeming and then sending another prophet and the people not listening and God pulling them out. Perhaps it was that up and down, up and down over thousands of years that James would look back on. And he said in James one and 22, but be he doers of the word and not hearers only.

What are those people that just listens but doesn't obey because that'll let complacency grow inside you and you'll start deceiving yourself. You'll think you're good when you're not and you'll think God owes you things when he does not. I come today just kind of shake you a little bit, challenge you. I've come to advocate for God's chosen method, the preaching and a preacher in your life. We all need the help of a preacher. Would you just close your eyes right now? Would you lift up your hands to the Lord? God, that we humble our hearts before you. Lord, there's not one of us that is wise enough, educated enough. There's no measure of success or human strength that excuses us from the necessity of submission, spiritual service and a spiritual voice in our lives. I pray for your people today Lord. I pray for this house. I pray you would cultivate an atmosphere that loves the word,

that loves the preached word and the taught word, that hungers for the word, that receives the word with gladness, that amens the word with authority. Oh God, we want our lives to be in alignment with you. Lord, I come today with a word of challenge for your people. Because I believe there are moments, as I've said, that are not equal. And I believe Harrison Hills Church is being given a moment, a moment of your divine visitation, a moment of grace that changes lives and families, a moment of grace that reaches and transforms. Just as you moved on some prophets of old to come and challenge and prophesy and stir them up. I've come today to stir up your people. Our lives are full of so many things. We are so blessed. God, I'm asking that you would keep us from drowning in our own busyness and our own blessings.

We want to prioritize the house of God. Sundays matter. Tuesday nights matter. Prayer meetings and fellowships matter. And I'm praying Lord that you would bring prosperity to this house. Just as you prospered them in the rebuilding of that temple through the messages of prophets and preachers. I'm praying now, Father, that those who hear and do, those that obey the word, I'm praying a prosperity upon their life. I don't mean just money, but I mean that too. Prosperity, a prospering of their mind, their emotions and enrichment in their relationships, a joy in coming to church and understanding in their daily Bible reading, a fluency in their prayer life, an effectiveness in their witness. I'm praying Lord for the prosperity of growth for this congregation, more baptisms, more Holy Ghost in fillings, more miracles, more deliverance in the mighty name of Jesus. I'm going to invite you out of your seat. Why don't we gather

around this altar just for a few moments? As you come, here's what, here's what your coming means. It's your agreement. If you're coming to the altar today, you're coming to the altar in agreement. I'm going to receive all that God has with the help of a preacher. Pastor Spellman, I want you to preach to me. I want you preaching to my family. Preach to our church. Preach the word into my heart. Preach God's future into my mind. So I think different and I see different. Oh yeah, come on, lift up your voice now. Hallelujah. Yeah. Yeah, I receive it. I receive it. God can send, but I've got to receive. God can speak, but I've got to hear. God can give me instruction, but I've got to obey. I am a cahailo, but God sent a preacher. I would have never known about baptism in Jesus' name,

but, but he sent a preacher. I'd have never known I could receive the Holy Ghost and speaking tongues, but, but he sent a preacher and that preacher showed me the scripture. And when the word got in my world, it worked. It changed me. Come on, I've been doing this for 20 years. I'm telling you if people will just hear the word, it'll change them. I've seen addicts be delivered. I've seen families be restored. I've seen lives that were spiraling out of control, overtaken by chaos, confusion, no peace, no order, but they just started showing up on Sunday. They submitted to the sound of preaching. They came to Midweek Bible study so they could hear the teaching of God's word and receive his instruction for their lives. And the word works. Come on, it's time we shake free from the paralysis to be a people or a church

that gets stuck in halted progress. I come today with a word for you. God wants to bring progress to your life and to this house. And he's going to do it with the help of a preacher to speak some things into you and into this body. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. God, whatever you're going to say, whoever you're going to say it through, whatever man sent from God, whatever preacher that you're going to put your hand upon, our pastor, whatever minister our pastor puts in this pulpit, we're going to hear it. We're going to receive it. We're going to obey it. Come on, just one more minute, but I want you to lift up your voice and we're praying now, not for ourselves. We're praying for revival. We're praying for increase. We're praying for prospering and prosperity in Harrison Hills church. We're praying for an increase. We're praying for the conversion of lost souls. We're praying for broken lives, for healing

and deliverance. We're praying for restoration. Come on, lift up your voice. Just call out to God. Speak his name over your street, over your town, and over this county. We speak the name of Jesus. Set the captives free. I give you praise. I give you praise. We worship you, Jesus. We thank you, Father, for your word, for the ministry of your spirit in Jesus' name, in Jesus' name. It's with the help of a preacher. Amen. Come on, the Bible says, when you don't know what you pray, the spirit itself make a thinner session for you. You don't have to be screaming. You don't have to be loud, but there does have to be volume. It has to be more than meditation. You've got to open up your mouth and speak. That's prayer. Come on, God, send me here today and His compassion to challenge you

so you wouldn't get caught in the paralysis, so you wouldn't lose progress. His word will not return void if you'll take heed to it. His word will work in your life. It will accomplish what He's sent it to if you'll obey it. Yeah. Come on, I know I'm lingering here for a minute, but there's just such a sweet presence of the Lord. Come on, these are the moments we share in His presence together that help us learn how to break through when we're alone. These are the moments that we have together that shape the culture and the atmosphere of a church in the mighty name of Jesus, in the mighty name of Jesus. We give you praise. We give you praise. I just happened to be one of those preachers that God moved upon to send by to encourage you in the way. I believe God's hands upon you. God has great things in the future, in the near future

of this church, and He's going to do it through people who receive the help of a preacher. Amen.