Sunday Evening Worship Service | Pastor McCool “Staying Stirred Up”

I want to take you to the word of the Lord. uh In fact, tonight I want to read from a passage of scripture that I would guess that uh most in here have heard of this passage of scripture preached from many times. Um we sometimes as a um introductory statement we want to read from a very familiar passage of scripture. And I hope that most passages are familiar to you, but again, this is a a passage I preached from before. In fact, part or some of the title I've I've used before, but I hope to maybe approach it in a a bit of a different way tonight. Calling your attention to the book of second Timothy the first chapter. Second Timothy 1 and we'll begin reading at verse number six. Second Timothy 1 beginning reading at verse number six. Wherefore I am put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord nor of me his prisoner but be thou partakers of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God who hath saved us and called us with a holy calling not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. But is now made manifest by the appearing of our savior Jesus Christ who hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. For a few moments tonight I would use part of this statement in verse number six. Stir up the gift. Stir up the gift. Let's pray. Savior, I love you. I'm grateful and thankful for the privilege that we have of being in your house. I thank you for every individual who has returned to your sanctuary. Now, Lord, I pray that we would speak your word as you would have it to be spoken. I'm nothing. I can say nothing. I can do nothing. But Lord, through your power and through the authority and the anointing of your word Lord, let us minister to the lost. Let us encourage the discouraged. Let us bring all to salvation. For all this we're grateful and thankful in the name of Jesus we pray. Stir up the gift. I hope you can understand before I finish exactly what the picture that I asked for our media team to put up for me was. I I want to give some folks some travel advice tonight if you don't already have this travel advice. I would like to give with apologies to anybody that lives or has lived north of Kentucky, I want to give some advice to all the southerners. A little travel advice if you're planning on going up I-75 and getting north of Kentucky. If you go into a restaurant and decide to order tea you will not get normally the same answer from the waitress there that you get here because here you always hear sweet or unsweet. Can I get a witness in the house? McDonald's sweet tea withstanding many times if you go north of Kentucky if you ask for sweet tea, you'll receive a glass of ice and tea and a container of sugar and a spoon. And with all due respect that's just not sweet tea. Several years ago sister Jamie and I had the privilege of traveling to uh Ireland and we were to be with brother and sister Potter our missionaries at that time who were in Waterford, Ireland. And uh sister Potter, they were from the south and they were doing missions work there in in Ireland. So, they wanted to take us to a restaurant with several of the saints in the other parties that were in the missions trip. So, we got there and we when we went in it was apparent that brother and sister Potter had frequented this eating establishment many times. For as soon as they walked in they sent sister Potter or actually they called her mother Potter we'll have your hot water ready in just a minute. And so we sat down at the table and I really didn't know what that was about because I knew a little bit about the traditions of of Ireland and the influence of of England and Great Britain that rather than coffee being the hot drink of choice, it was usually hot tea. But in just a few moments they brought sister Potter a PITCHER OF HOT WATER. AND SISTER POTTER REACHED IN THIS massive purse that she had with her and she started bringing out sugar and tea bags. And I watched her so carefully put the tea bags in that pitcher and then start pouring what at that point to me seemed like a an inordinate amount of sugar in that warm to hot water. And in just a few minutes as the tea bags begin to filter through and the the color begin to turn that beautiful don't anybody go get anything to drink right now. It started turning that beautiful golden light brown Sister Potter grabbed a spoon and she started stirring. And even though we were as they say across the pond, I suddenly felt at home because when she poured it over the ice, I suddenly had real sweet tea in Ireland. I tell you all that to say this, there are some things for it to be as good as it should be, it it needs to be stirred up. There needs to be a stirring take place. And I hope you will overlook my earthy example to find some spiritual application. I'm not talking about sweet TEA, ITALIAN DRESSING, COFFEE WITH CREAM AND SUGAR, OR HOMEMADE ICE CREAM, BUT THE SCRIPTURE SAID, "STIR UP THE GIFT OF GOD WHICH IS IN THEE." NOW, IT IS APPARENT to me that if you have THE GIFT OF GOD in you, and it sometimes needs to be stirred UP, IF IT'S NOT STIRRED UP, THE VERY GIFT OF GOD CAN BECOME DORMANT and ineffective in your life. You see, there are many likes to stir up a lot of things. But too many when it comes to the gift of God, they want to be satisfied with the status quo. Paul said to Timothy, "I want to remind you and stir up THE GIFT OF GOD THAT'S ALREADY IN YOU. I KNOW IT'S THERE BECAUSE I LAID HANDS ON YOU AND THE GIFT of God was given you." You see, I submit that if we want to be used mightily of God, the gift of the Holy Ghost Ghost must be stirred and even sometimes shaken within us so that we can maximize everything that God would want us to do and we would have the power that we need to have. You know, this passage of scripture names three things that could have been a temptation to affect Timothy at this point in his ministry not being stirred. I don't know, Timothy must have been going through a season that Paul realized, "I need to remind you just what you've got living down inside you. I need to remind you of your lineage, of your grandmother and your mother. I need to remind you that I laid hands on you and you need to re-stir what was in you." BECAUSE HE SAID, "BE NOT thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of the Lord." You see, sometimes we can find the Holy Ghost starting to lie dormant in our lives. If we feel the pressures of a secular and lost world that we're the odd duck, if you will, that's spirit-filled and we want to just say, "I I want to feel in I want to fit in with everybody else." He said, "DON'T YOU THEREFORE BE ASHAMED OF THE TESTIMONY OF THE LORD. TIMOTHY, DON'T BE ASHAMED OF YOUR HERITAGE. DON'T BE ASHAMED OF WHERE YOU CAME FROM. DON'T BE ASHAMED THAT YOUR HOLY GHOST FILLED." I TELL EVERYBODY IN THE HOUSE, DON'T YOU BE ASHAMED OF WHAT GOD HAS BLESSED you with. DON'T YOU BE ASHAMED OF HAVING THE REVELATION OF THE JESUS NAME APOSTOLIC MESSAGE. GOD HAS BLESSED YOU WITH IT. DON'T LET IT LAY DOWN AND GET DORMANT INSIDE YOU. KEEP IT STIRRED UP. HE SAID, "NOR of me his prisoner." For you see, it would have been easy at this point. Paul being one who was incarcerated because of the message, it would have been easy for Timothy to be a bit intimidated by civil law or to be intimidated by the pressures of the religious elite that had led to Paul's incarceration. He said, "Don't be afraid of me and don't be ashamed of me. Don't be ashamed of the gospel and don't be ashamed of me. Let me tell you, we're not always going to fit in with the flow. IF YOU'VE GOT THE REVELATION AND THE HOLY GHOST INSIDE YOU, sometimes it's not going to be the status quo and comfortable everywhere. I'm not having A PITY PARTY, BUT LET ME TELL YOU, NO MATTER WHAT COMES LOOK, CHURCH, LET ME TELL YOU. Let me let you in on a secret. We have not been through any real tribulation yet. But it's coming. We've suffered maybe a few inconveniences every once in a while. And let me say this without being political. You as American citizens have the right and the responsibility to vote. There's voting coming up in our community very soon. I'm not telling you how to vote, but if we don't start voting our conscience, you're going to lose your right to freedom of religion right here in our own nation, in our own community. Now, THAT THAT DIDN'T COST ANYTHING EXTRA, BUT YOU BETTER FIND OUT WHO MOST CLOSELY IS RELATED TO WHAT YOU believe and what you think AND THE FREEDOMS THAT WE SO ENJOY OR WE'RE GOING TO LOSE IT. I might have done a little stirring then, I don't know. He said, "Also, BE BUT BE THOU A PARTAKER of the afflictions of the gospel." Oh, Brother Mark, I WANT YOU TO TELL ME how great it is always serving God and it's the best life THERE IS. THERE'S SO MANY BENEFITS. It's so wonderful. BUT SOMETIMES THERE WILL BE AFFLICTIONS THAT GO WITH the gospel. I don't know what had been affecting Timothy, but Paul saw that it was important at this time TO REMIND HIM, "YOU NEED TO STIR UP the gift OF GOD IN YOU. FORGET ABOUT AFFLICTIONS OF THE GOSPEL. FORGET ABOUT MY INCARCERATION. FORGET ABOUT ALL OF THOSE THINGS. DON'T YOU BE ASHAMED TO HAVE A TESTIMONY." His testimony is being tried. His mentor appears a criminal. There's an unpopular feeling of having a testimony. The noted Bible commentator Adam Clark said the gift which Timothy had received was the Holy Ghost. And through him a particular power to preach and defend the truth. That's what Adam Clark said. You want to know WHAT THAT GIFT WAS? THAT WAS the gift of the Holy Ghost in him. You see, THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST maximized in us is essential to stay stirred and shaken in us. We must ask ourselves, do I have the gift? I would quote it again that you can all help me. Then Peter said it to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the NAME OF JESUS CHRIST FOR THE REMISSION of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Let me tell you, IF YOU'RE IN THIS HOUSE TONIGHT and you have not yet received the gift of the Holy Ghost, it's for you for Jesus TO LIVE DOWN INSIDE YOU. YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TONIGHT TO REPENT OF YOUR SINS, TO BE BAPTIZED IN THE PRECIOUS NAME OF JESUS AND TO BE FILLED WITH THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST. YOU SEE, >> >> YOU CAN'T STIR SOMETHING THAT AIN'T THERE. THE ENGLISH IS WRONG, BUT THE MESSAGE is right on. I can hand you a glass of unsweet tea and you can take a spoon and stir it all day long. If there's not an additive in there, it's not going to sweeten up. Acts 10:44. While Peter yet spake these words, THE HOLY GHOST FELL ON ALL THEM WHICH HEARD THE WORD. And they OF THE CIRCUMCISION, THE JEWS THAT WERE AROUND, WHICH BELIEVED WERE ASTONISHED AS MANY AS CAME WITH PETER BECAUSE ON THE GENTILES ALSO WAS POURED OUT THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST. HOW THEY KNOW THEY GOT THE HOLY GHOST? FOR THEY HEARD THEM SPEAK WITH TONGUES AND MAGNIFY GOD. THEN PETER ANSWERED Then answered Peter, rather, "Can any man forbid water that these SHOULD NOT BE BAPTIZED WHICH HAVE RECEIVED the Holy Ghost as well AS WE?" THAT'S WHY OUR PAST SEVERAL SERVICES, THAT'S WHY THESE FOLKS GOT BAPTIZED IN JESUS NAME. OVER THE PAST 3 WEEKS, WE'VE BAPTIZED nine precious souls IN THE NAME OF JESUS. You see, I want THE HOLY GHOST IN ME. I WANT TO TAKE ON CHRIST. YOU CAN'T STIR UP SOMETHING that's not there. Yeah. I'd give this earthy example. You can take a bag of charcoal and stir it and shake it all you want to. All you're going to get is dust. But if you find some charcoal that's been burning for a while, it may look like it's out. You start stirring it a little bit. You start mixing it up. Little little wind blow on it. Suddenly, you'll start seeing some embers start to light back up. Let me tell you, if you're in this house tonight and maybe you have you've had the Holy Ghost moving in you, but you FEEL LIKE YOU'VE GOTTEN A LITTLE BIT DORMANT. TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT TO STIR SOMETHING BACK UP INSIDE YOU AND LET THE POWER OF THE HOLY GHOST SHAKE YOU, QUAKE YOU, AND USE YOU IN A GREATER WAY THAN YOU'VE EVER BEEN USED BEFORE. The reason some can't get stirred is they've never had fire in the first place. Mhm. Oh, they've been to church. They've been around the fire. They've heard about the fire. They've even seen the fire. But they've never had the Holy Ghost burning inside them. I heard one preacher, meaning well, tried to coin a new phrase. He said this, "Some of you folks need to get renewed in the Holy Ghost." He thought about it a minute. He said, "Some of you get need to get newed in the Holy No, that's not the way you say that. N E W E D is what he was trying to say. Some of us need that first time experience. Let me tell you, you've been around it. I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW GOOD it is. Words can't DESCRIBE IT. IN FACT, SCRIPTURE SAID IT'S JOY UNSPEAKABLE AND FULL OF GLORY. BUT LET ME TELL YOU, IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE HOLY GHOST, THIS IS THE PLACE TO GET IT. WHEN YOU GO TO AN ALTAR OF REPENTANCE, YOU CAN LIFT YOUR HANDS UNASHAMED AND SAY, "GOD, FILL ME WITH YOUR SPIRIT. LET THE HOLY GHOST FALL ON ME." YOU SEE, WE'RE BAPTIZED IN FOLKS THAT I WANT TO SEE THE HOLY GHOST FALL. I WANT TO SEE FOLKS EXPERIENCE THE DAY OF PENTECOST. IT'S NOT JUST SOMETHING WE READ ABOUT, NOT JUST SOMETHING WE TELL ABOUT. IT'S FOR YOU. IT'S FOR YOU. IT'S FOR EVERYBODY IN THE HOUSE. I WANT YOU TO BE STIRRED. MHM. You see, Acts 19:13 gives an example of folks that knew about the power of God being in them, but didn't really have it. Acts 19:13 said, "Then certain of the vagabond Jews, EXORCISTS, TOOK UPON THEM to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus saying, 'WE ADJURE YOU BY JESUS WHOM PAUL PREACHED.'" THEY KNEW WHO HE WAS, but they didn't have him. They were trying to use the proxy of Jesus through Paul. And the evil spirit answered and said, "JESUS I KNOW, PAUL I KNOW, BUT WHO ARE YE?" LET ME tell you, you can't get by on mama and grandmamma's experience. You need to experience the power of the Holy Ghost for yourself. You may have a great family lineage. You may be a fifth or sixth generation apostolic, but you still need the power OF THE HOLY GHOST JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE that received it on the day OF PENTECOST. IT'S FOR YOU TODAY. IT'S FOR YOU TONIGHT. EVIL SPIRIT SAID, "WE know Jesus, we know Paul, but we don't know you. Who are you?" It said in the man who the evil spirit was leaped on them and overcame them and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. You don't try to take the authority of Jesus when you don't have him living inside you. You see, the name of Jesus is not a byword. The name of Jesus is not a swear word. But the name of Jesus, when invoked by those filled with his spirit, becomes the most powerful name that has ever been. The name of Jesus brings healing. The name of Jesus brings deliverance. The name of Jesus brings calm to troubled soul. The name of Jesus, MOST OF ALL, BRINGS SALVATION. Zephaniah 1:12 says in it, "It shall come to pass at that time that I will search Jerusalem with candles and punish the men that are settled on their lees that say in their heart, 'The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil.'" Isaiah 51:17 said, "Awake, awake, stand up, Jerusalem, which has drunk at the hand of the Lord's Lord, the cup of his fury. Thou has drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling and wrung them out. Thus saith the the Lord the the the Lord the Lord and thy God that pleadeth the cause of HIS PEOPLE. BEHOLD, I'VE TAKEN out of thy hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury. Thou shalt no more drink it again." Understand the context of these terms that are used, the dregs, the lees. Jeremiah, the writer of this of the passage in Jeremiah that refers to this, also had a statement about this same thing. Jeremiah 48:11 said, "Moab has been at ease from his youth and has settled on his lees and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither has he gone into captivity. Therefore, his taste remaineth in him and his scent is not changed." Dregs, for those who might not know, simply defined as the sediment in a liquid from the crushing, most usually of the grape. It's the leaves and the sediment of the crushed grape. Lees refers to the sediment dregs that settles at the bottom of a wine jar during fermentation. There was a time that the importance of the dregs and the lees to add flavor to the fermenting wine of that day had to be in the wine bottles. But in the fermenting process, there also came a time of pouring the wine carefully out into new bottles and leaving the sediment and the dregs and the lees in the old bottle. For if this pouring out didn't take place, if the wine sat in the bottles too long with the dregs and the lees, it would eventually turn to vinegar and be useless. It would become bitter. Jeremiah said, "Moab has been at ease from his youth youth and he has settled on his lees." You see, there is a time of crushing. There is a time when we repent of our sins, when we're baptized in his name, we're filled with his spirit. There is a season that the old man is put to death symbolically. There's a crushing of that sinful man and there's a in-filling of the Holy Ghost that comes in, but we're never intended to say, "Well, I got the Holy Ghost, so I'm going to sit down and enjoy life." If you sit on your lees too long, you can become bitter. If you're not pouring yourself out. Oh, I hope you can see the analogy. If we're not pouring into others. He never intended TO GIVE US THE HOLY GHOST SO we could just sit down and say, "Mhm, I've made it. Come on, JESUS. IT'S OUR IT'S OUR TIME ONCE WE'VE BEEN FILLED WITH HIS SPIRIT THAT WE POUR OURSELVES INTO OTHERS AS WITNESSES, MINISTERING TO OUR FAMILY, MINISTERING TO THE LOST, MINISTERING TO OUR ASSOCIATES AND THOSE we most closely relate to. I'm thankful here at First Apostolic Church that statement said, "Moab's been at ease from his youth and settled on his lees." I'm thankful to have generation after generation the not trying to get to church early so they can get a back seat. Now, that's not figuratively where anyone is sitting. Don't get me wrong. But those that Sadly, I've seen too many youth groups that never want to do anything above the minimum. If I can just do enough to get to heaven. Instead, Pastor Anthony told it, we've got young men already feeling a call of God on their life as high school students, unashamed and unafraid to stand before their peers and preach mighty gospel. We've got young men and young ladies who aren't ashamed to witness, to work, to to Can Can I get involved in outreach? Can I be involved in in in the Sunday school? Can I Can I be in involved in in in all of the events? Why? Because they're not willing to settle on their lees. They're wanting to pour out. They're wanting to pour out what the Holy Ghost has put in them. You see, it's an overflowing spring and we need to be ABLE TO POUR OUT OF OURSELVES. The metaphor here is taken from the mode of preserving wines. They let them rest on their lees for a considerable time, but as because it improved strength and flavor. Now, you think I'm changing horses, but this is the same team. The challenge that sometimes you have in pastoral leadership is those with the most zeal are those who have not yet been flavored enough. They're needing more teaching. They're needing to hear the word of the Lord taught. And we find those many times with more zeal than those who know what they ought to be doing and who are sitting on their lees. And as I said, the problem when undisturbed too long, you become bitter vinegar, unsuitable for consumption. If this pastor could do anything, I want to keep us stirred up. I want to keep the Holy Ghost stirring and going. We're not going to sit down and quit. We're going to keep on going. We're going to keep ministering to our community. We're going to look for every opportunity that we have. It's not for us to say, "Hey, we've got our four and no more. We're satisfied with where we're at." I want to see this place full and running over. I want to see THE HOUSE OF GOD FULL OF SINNERS NEEDING TO BE SAVED AND MINISTERED TO. WE GOT TO KEEP POURING OUT. WE GOT TO KEEP REACHING. WE GOT TO EXPAND OURSELVES. LET ME HASTEN. Sometimes the cause of the problem is folks want to get stirred by the wrong things rather than right things. Make sure you're stirring up the right thing. You know, there's some things you don't need to stir up. You don't need to stir up a hornet's nest. I've learned from camping it's not a good idea to just try to stir up camp coffee that's got all those grounds in the bottom of it. You see, Stephen, he stirred up the Pharisees of the day so much with his testimony that those Pharisees stirred up It said they suborned men. They They hired liars to tell falsehood on Stephen to the point that Stephen would be stoned by the falsehoods against him. The Bible in Acts 6:12 said, "Suborned men stirred the people with lies." There's another passage of scripture that we need to understand about stirring in our own personal life. Proverbs 15:1 says, "A soft answer turneth away wrath." But grievous words stir up anger. You know, we as children of God need to check our tone zone frequently. We don't need to go around hateful, belligerent. We're blessed. We're Holy Ghost filled. We should have the language of peace and love. We should have soft answers, answers that turn away wrath. Proverbs 10:12 said, "Hatred stirreth up strife, but love covereth all sins." Proverbs 15:18 said, "A wrathful man stirreth up strife, but he that is slow to anger appeases strife." So, where would we go from here? You see, the greatest move of God we can have is when we as one body all have the power of the Holy Ghost stirring in us. How do I stir it up? Well, Sister Potter had a great big spoon. He mentioned the the spoon. I'll call it the spoon of remembrance. Peter did in 2 Peter 1:13 it said, "Yea, I think it meet, as long as I'm in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance." Pastor Anthony reminded us tonight where we've come from about the steps of faith that brought us to being where we are. There's some things we need to be reminded of and remember. In 2 Peter 3:1 he said, "This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you, in both which I stir up your pure mind by the way of remembrance." You see, that spoon of remembering is the thing that sometimes stirs us into activating the Holy Ghost like it should be. BUT YOU GOT TO BE CAREFUL WHEN you remembered when you remember lest you have a skewed memory of sin. Numbers 11 gives a an example of this. Numbers 11:4 says, "And the mixed multitude that were among them fell a lusting." And the children of Israel also wept again and said, "Who shall give us flesh to eat?" Now, uh setting the scene, they've been delivered from Egypt's hand, but they're not yet to the promised land. God's people, but there were also mixed breeds with them, those that left who were not truly God's people, but they left in the excitement of the deliverance. And those folks begin the Bible says they fell a lusting. Now, here's what they fell a lusting for. They said, "We remember the fish that we did eat freely in Egypt. The cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, AND THE GARLIC." A LITTLE BIT OF ADVERSITY IN THE WILDERNESS, and suddenly all they could remember was what the cuisine was like in Egypt. Conveniently, they didn't remember taskmasters' whips. They had forgotten hard labor. THEY HAD FORGOTTEN THEIR CHILDREN BEING murdered and the bondage that they were in. All they could remember was the fish and the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions. See, a little adversity in this world can cause those who are not stirred to have a skewed view of what sin used to be like when they were in sin. You can find your soul drying up and your old bondage looking appealing while understanding they were being fed every day with manna, literally angel FOOD. I MEAN, THEY didn't even have to go to Kroger's FOR IT. ALL THEY HAD TO DO WAS OPEN THE TENT FLAT, PICK UP ENOUGH FOR THEM, AND THERE WAS THERE WAS FOOD FOR THEM EVERY DAY. THEY SAID IN VERSE 6, "But our soul is dried away. THERE IS NOTHING AT ALL BESIDE THIS manna before just beside angel food." Beside miraculous provision, don't ever allow sin to get in your memory and you have a skewed view that you were doing so good when you were in sin. Never mistake when you were living a life of sin, any successes you had were temporary and you were still bound for a devil's hell. Never mistake some of the THINGS IN FACT, DON'T ROMANTICIZE sin in front of another generation. OH, SON, IF I HADN'T HAVE GOTTEN TO CHURCH, I WOULD have been THIS AND I WOULD have been so successful at that, but I gave all that up to serve Jesus. What did you really give up? You gave up a life of disappointment, a life of dread, a life of a sinful nature taking control of your life, and the ultimate a life of death and hell everlasting. But let me tell you about memory cuz we sing it sometimes. We sing, "Oh, when I think of the goodness of Jesus and all he has done for me, why I don't know what floods through your mind, but when we sing a song like that, my soul cries out, Hallelujah. Thank God for saving me." When I think of what he's done for me, ah, when I think of all of his goodness, WHAT I I PRAISE TEAM, WHEN YOU GET UP HERE AND START SINGING like you did tonight about THE GOODNESS OF GOD AND WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR YOU, IT IT TAKES ME BACK. THAT THAT SPOON OF REMEMBRANCE STARTS STIRRING ME UP AGAIN. WHEN Y'ALL START SINGING THOSE SONGS THAT THAT REMIND ME OF WHERE I'VE COME FROM AND WHAT I'VE GOT, I SAY, "STIR IT UP INSIDE ME AGAIN. SING IT AGAIN. LET'S PRAISE AGAIN. IT'S TOO EXCITING. STIR THE HOLY GHOST UP INSIDE ME." >> >> HALLELUJAH. IF YOU'RE HERE TONIGHT, let me ask you, are there any traditions that you're stuck in that are keeping you from stirring the power of the Holy Ghost in you? What in your life is more important than being stirred in the Holy Ghost? What care of life is keeping you from being stirred. You see, if you're not using the stir stirring spoon of remembrance, then maybe you need the stirring stew the stirring spoon of prayer. I would quickly just to remind you, praise team and musicians, start getting ready. We're going to head home in just a minute. In the book of Acts, the 12th chapter, I'll paraphrase rather than reading. Herod had to appease the Jews of the day that were the religious leaders. He had taken James and put him to death. And he saw that this pleased the hierarchy of the religious elite. So, he put Peter in prison. And he said, "Just as soon as Easter's passed, I'm going to do the same thing. We don't want to take his life during Easter, but as soon as Easter's over, we're going to put Peter to death." So, he put him in prison. And the Bible says that the saints got together, and the way the Bible words it, it says, "And prayer was made." You need to make prayer sometime, not just let prayer happen. That means a concerted effort. They had one goal in mind. They got together, and they started having prayer meeting for the deliverance of Peter. And again, I paraphrase the story, for scripture tells us that by night, Peter was chained in the inner part of the prison with a soldier sleeping to his left and to his right. I mean, it was high security for Peter. But when prayer was made, it stirred, and the Lord sent an angel down, and he the angel stepped into the prison. And he released Peter's chains. And the first stirring that angel had to do had to stir Peter. He had to wake up, get up. And the Bible, if you read it, that entire passage in Acts 12, we we see that Peter began walking out of prison, so the doors begin to open for him. And Peter didn't really realize what was happening. Peter thought he was having a vision. He didn't think this was really going on. And then all of a sudden, Peter finds himself he's out on the street, free from the prison. And he I GUESS HE CAME to himself and said, "You know, this must be the real deal." He was stirred. So, he made his way to where the prayer meeting was going on. You know the story, but let me, if you would indulge me to tell you one more time what happened. So, Peter goes to the door, and he knocks on the door. And they're all in there praying, "Oh God, deliver Peter." "Oh God, deliver Peter." And Peter knocks on the door. They said, "Damsel, young lady, there go go see who's at the door. WE'RE PRAYING, 'OH GOD, DELIVER PETER.'" SHE GOES TO THE DOOR. "Who's there? PETER." SHE GOES BACK IN. SHE SAYS, "PETER'S AT the door." They said, "NO, PETER'S IN PRISON. WE'RE PRAYING FOR PETER TO BE RELEASED. >> >> OH GOD, DELIVER PETER." I dramatize a bit, but if you read IT FOR YOURSELF, HE HAD TO KEEP KNOCKING AND KEEP KNOCKING BEFORE THE FOLKS WHO WERE PRAYING FOR HIM WOULD EVEN REALIZE THAT THE MIRACLE HAD ALREADY TAKEN PLACE. PETER HAD MORE TROUBLE GETTING IN THE PRAYER MEETING THAN GETTING OUT OF PRISON. LET ME TELL YOU, SOMETIMES, IF YOU'LL PRAY, GOD WILL ANSWER YOUR PRAYER, THEN ACCEPT HIS ANSWER, AND HAVE CELEBRATION. LET YOUR PRAYER LIFE OH, SOMEBODY HEAR ME. THERE'S SOMETHING YOU'VE BEEN PRAYING ABOUT. YOU NEED TO TAKE THE ANSWER FROM GOD AND SAY, "GOD, I'M TRUSTING IN YOU. I'M BELIEVING YOU. STAND WITH ME." ACCOUNT AND ACCOUNT. Acts 12:18 said, "Now, as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers what was become of Peter." He stirred the whole community up when he was released by the power of God. Paul and Silas sang praises when they were in jail. They stirred things up. They prayed and sang praises, the Bible says. The prisoners heard them. Let me pause here. I know everyone is not as boisterous as I am. But you know, there are times you need to at least pray where you can hear yourself. I I I I I understand silent prayers. I I understand reverent prayers. There're times you need to open your mouth and pray loud enough that you can hear yourself, cuz I know God hears it, and the devil needs to hear it, too. Devil can't read your mind, BUT HE KNOWS WHEN SOMEBODY'S CRYING out saying, "Lord Jesus, I NEED A TOUCH TONIGHT. LORD JESUS, I NEED YOUR POWER." I'M HERE TO TELL YOU IN THIS HOUSE, IF YOU'LL CRY OUT, IT SAID THAT PETER THAT PAUL AND SILAS, WHEN THEY PRAYED AND SANG PRAISES, THE PRISONERS HEARD THEM. They started stirring things up. When you stir things up, a whole lot of shaking's coming. It says, "AND SUDDENLY, THERE WAS A GREAT EARTHQUAKE, SO THAT THE FOUNDATION OF THE PRISON WAS SHAKEN." AND IMMEDIATELY, all the doors were opened. Time and time again, God had to shake things up and stir things up. So, I finally take us to this passage. If we don't get stirred or shaken by God, if you can't get stirred up, you may get burned up. Hebrews 12:23 says, "To the general assembly and the church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling in the that speaketh better things than that of Abel. See that you refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who's who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven. IF WE CAN'T BE SHAKEN, WHOSE VOICE THEN SHOOK THE EARTH. But now he has promised saying, 'YET ONCE MORE I SHAKE NOT the earth only, but also heaven.' And this word, 'yet once more,' signified the removing of the things that are shaken, as of the things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remaineth. Wherefore, we receive as receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, where my whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire." I want the Holy Ghost to be shaken in my life tonight. How about you? If you're in this house, and you want the stirring and the shaking of the Holy Ghost to be maintained in your life, I want to open this altar for everybody in the house. I'd like for us to come around for a season of prayer, and say, "Oh God, would you stir me again? Would you shake me? Would you quake me? Lord, that I can pour myself out to a lost world. God, fill me with your spirit that I may have the power of the Holy Ghost stirring inside of me." Would you come as the praise team leads us in song. Hallelujah. >> >> Holy Ghost power. Holy Ghost power Hallelujah. >> >> Now, would you lift your hands and thank the Lord for the power of his word. Thank him for keeping the power of the Holy Ghost stirred and alive in our lives. Lord, I thank you. I'm grateful, savior, for all you have done for us. I thank you for the power of the Holy Ghost in this house. Yeah, hallelujah. I challenge everybody in this place to go from this service tonight unafraid to pour out what the Lord has given you that we can stay fresh and stirred in his kingdom. Would you greet all of our guests? If there's someone you don't know, make your way to them and welcome them. Be here Wednesday night for Wednesday night worship in the word. You are dismissed in Jesus' name. Shake hands and be friendly.