Convinced

i believe this church is convinced of that that he is worthy he's worthy of that praise we've experienced him we know him and we're convinced he's worthy and i love how well that transitions for me this morning i'm going to read one passage of scripture and i'll have you be seated but paul's writing in first timothy he says he's talking about the stuff that's going on in his life he's been going through some suffering some hard times some difficulties he says this is why i'm suffering yet this is no cause for shame this suffering that we're going through it's no cost for shame because i know paul says i know whom i have believed i

know who i have trusted i know who i put my faith in i know who holds my life i know him it goes on and he says and i am convinced i'm convinced that he is able to guard everything that i've entrusted to him everything i've given to him all of the sacrifices all of the commitments i i'm convinced that he's able to keep those until that day meaning the very end of time when when christ comes back paul believes he's convinced that god knows everything that he's gone through and he trusts in the character of god if we read some of paul's history he went through some crazy stuff he dealt with some persecution

i mean he got stoned a couple times meaning he got large rocks thrown at him he was whipped he was shipwrecked he had all these things happen to him but even in the midst of all of that he still was able to say i am convinced about who my god is and the only way paul could say i am convinced about who my god is even despite all of the situation he has been going through is because he had an experience with that god that god showed up in his life invaded his reality invaded his personal space and that god proved himself to paul and only then could a man going through what he went through say yeah things are crazy

but i'm convinced i know who my god is and i'm not worried i'm not ashamed he said there's no cause for shame because i know who he is i'm convinced of him i'm convinced of his character and i want to preach just for the next few moments just the next few moments on that idea about being convinced about being convinced will you with me here at the beginning pray to god lord i pray that you'd help us this morning i pray that you you want to convince some people of your goodness you want to convince some people of your power you want to convince some people maybe that you're a healer this morning or you could deliver them or you could save them

and redeem their life lord you want to convince some people in this room you want to convince some people that are watching live or maybe they're watching later when this is posted as a recording but you want to convince some people so that in their life right here right now they can say yeah i'm going through some things i'm having some hard times but i am convinced of who my god is lord that is my prayer that is our prayer i pray that you would visit with us this morning convince us lord in jesus name and everybody said amen you can go ahead and be seated what i'm trying to get at this morning is is that there really is a difference between hearing about something

and uh knowing something there is a difference and for the sake of this sermon there is a difference between hearing about god maybe hearing a preacher yell at you for the next few moments about god maybe there's a difference between when you're reading scripture for yourself and you hear these things you read these things about who god is and you can say yeah i have that knowledge i know that the bible says god is a healer or deliverer savior or whatever number of things you might find in the bible but i still believe that there's a difference between reading those things and knowing things about god and having god show up in our lives and

prove those things to us there's a difference between understanding by reading or understanding by somebody telling you god is a healer and we would say amen to that we believe that god is a healer but there's a difference between hearing that and experiencing god as a healer there's something that happens when god goes beyond just the knowledge we have by reading he goes beyond the knowledge that we have just by hearing and he invades our life and he shows up and maybe he heals that sickness or maybe he delivers you from that addiction or that depression or maybe he redeems you he saves you fills you with the holy ghost there's a difference between hearing about those things

and actually experiencing them for yourself there's a story of a a teacher some of you may know him i believe the first one to do this story i've heard it many times at this point everybody's just copying everybody but i think the original story was louis giglio i'm not sure but he said he he went to uh mount saint helen i think and he said he read a lot about that mountain he read some books he looked at some pictures those are good he looked at some pictures in a book he went on google he's looking at pictures and he said yeah it sounds great sounds great but then he went and he visited this mountain

and this is this is funny i haven't had this experience but i'm sure there's probably something in life that would make me react this way but he shows up and they're going to go camping he's at the base of the mountain he looks up in the mountain and he said all of a sudden he just bursts into tears and he's like with his buddy and he's like are you crying he's like no i'm not crying just the mountain you know something about the grandeur of that mountain who's ever seen a mountain at the base of it you just stand at the basement mountain you look up i've never i've driven through like the smokies my wife tells me those are just big hills i was like i think it's a mountain range

but whatever you know it could be a hill that's fine but i've never stay i've never stood at a base of a mountain and looked up and just started weeping or anything like that but what louis giglio's point was is he said there was a great difference between reading about this mountain and seeing pictures about this mountain and maybe hearing people explain what this mountain was like and actually standing at the foot of this mountain looking up at all of the gigantic peaks of this mountain he said something happened to him he was overwhelmed with the experience of seeing this mountain and i tried to come up with a personal story this was funny my wife

and i were having a conversation last night and she's like can you not think of a personal story with this has happened and i was like not as cool what i could come up with was cheesecake who loves cheesecake it's my favorite dessert if anyone's curious if you want to give me dessert cheesecake and not i don't need any of the fancy stuff on it i don't need no chocolate drizzle no no strawberry puree i don't need any chocolate chips i don't need any of that okay i just need a good old-fashioned new york style cheesecake i heard a lot of people tell me about cheesecake whenever i was a kid i read some description about cheesecake

and i was like yeah that sounds alright and then i ate cheesecake it's like this is probably god incarnate right here this is who jesus is this is the cheesecake that's what cheesecake was delicious there was a difference between what i had heard about cheesecake where i was like yeah that's all right and then whenever i actually had a bite of cheesecake and i was like this is fantastic this is amazing i'll never eat any other cake ever again in fact for our wedding that you got a groom's cake i was like praise god i didn't know about any of these you know wedding uh traditions i was like i like that one whatever it is you know

and guess what i asked for cheesecake guess what i got i got a cheesecake because i love cheesecake and all joking aside what i'm trying to say this morning is that you can hear a lot of things about god and you can have the same reaction that i had about she said yeah that sounds alright you could hear that god is a healer you could hear that god could deliver you from addiction from depression exact whatever it is you can hear those things you can even hear that god is a savior someone who can take your life and whatever mess he would find it in and he could transform it and turn it around and

set your feet on solid ground he could do that he could he could rid you of all the shame of all the guilt of your past you could hear that and you'd say that sounds alright but then god will step into a life and he will heal you and he will deliver you from those things and he will redeem your life and he will erase remove all that shame and all of that guilt that is associated with your past life he'll do those things and you'll go from just saying yeah that's all right you'll go to saying thank you jesus i don't know what i was waiting for i i heard a lot about you

i heard people talk about you i heard preachers yell about you for a few moments i i heard all of that but i really didn't understand what it meant to have an encounter with jesus until i did it is one thing to say god is a healer and just to say that it's another thing to say that i am convinced i know that god is a healer and is one thing to say i i've heard that god is a deliverer it's another thing to say i am convinced and i know that god is a deliverer i know it's one thing to hear and to say god is a savior but please hear me today i know

and i am convinced that god is a savior and i want us to all be convinced of this this morning too and i believe that this church is convinced this church is a convinced church you all taught me how to be convinced y'all led me to this thing y'all let me to jesus i believe that but sometimes we just need a reminder in our spirits to not just walk around and say we believe things not just walk around and say yeah i know what the bible says but we should walk around as paul did no matter what's going on in our world no matter what's going on in our life and saying i'm convinced i

know who god is i've seen him do it i've experienced it in my own life this church has experienced we are convinced of god's goodness and the bible really the bible says a whole lot about who god is and what he can do if you've ever read it it's kind of about him psalm 147 i'm going to list some things talking about god as a healer psalm 147 3 says he heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds that's really cool to hear that's amazing to hear that that's the kind of god that the bible professes a god that heals the broken heart and binds up the wounds psalm 32 says lord my god i called to you for help

and you healed me you showed up you invaded my reality and you healed me we find a story in acts 3 of a lame man sitting by the gate of the temple and and some apostles wandered in and they see this man and he's begging for money he wants money and basically peter says i don't have any of that i don't have any money and he's a little let down at that and then it says what i have i'm going to give you in acts 3 7-8 says peter took him by the right hand and helped him up and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong he jumped to his feet began to walk

then he went with them into the temple courts walking and jumping and praising god and all of this was a result of peter saying in the name of jesus your infirmities are going to be healed right now this is the sort of story that we hear about jesus well that's a nice story to hear about imagine being the lame man sitting in that moment in that story and peter reaching down and saying in the name of jesus rise up and walk and someone who had not walked had not walked in many years starts to stand up and he doesn't just hobble around it says his feet and ankle bones were strengthened and he began to leap

and he began to jump not only was there a miracle done that he got up and walked but all of the things all the problems that happened with someone who has not walked in a while even all of those problems were taken care of and right now we're just hearing the story i get it it's different to experience that in john 5 8 through 9 jesus is his uh well he's healing people he's talking to a lame man who hadn't been able to get into this this pool that the story goes the pool and angel would come and stir the water and if you could get in the water you'd be healed and this man said nobody's here to carry me to that water

and jesus responds he said jesus said to him get up pick up your mat and walk verse 9 it says and at once that man was cured he picked up his mat and he walked god is a healer even in james he doesn't just tell the stories of jesus about him being a healer he doesn't just say all that in james 5 he says put it to the test he says is anyone among you sick and have you got a problem let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the lord and the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well the lord will raise them up

and if they have sinned they will be forgiven right there james tells us don't just hear about it don't just hear that god's a healer put god on the line put him to the test say god i've heard you're a healer we've got some sickness in this church today and i'm asking lord will you show that will you convince us of that today that you are a healer if you need healing god is a healer if you need deliverance good news is the bible talks a whole lot about god being a deliverer psalm 32 7 it says you are my hiding place you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance

if anybody's ever needed to be delivered of of certain things maybe it's an addiction maybe it's that depression anxiety that is so rampant in our society it can feel like you're closed in by those things it can feel like you're trapped it can feel like you're viewing the world through a very small hole you can't really see everything that's going on and here in the psalm it says god will surround you with songs of deliverance you will no longer be surrounded by all that trouble no longer be surrounded by all those things that are plaguing you in your life but instead you'll be surrounded by songs of deliverance psalm 34 psalmist writes i sought the lord

and he answered me he delivered me from all of my fears those who look to him are radiant and their faces are never covered with shame this poor man called and the lord heard him he saved him out of all his troubles the angel of the lord camps around those who fear him and he delivers them doesn't this god sound amazing this morning this is the god who who david is speaking about in second samuel 22 where he says the lord is my rock he is my fortress and he is my deliverer that's a man who had not only heard about the deliverance of god but had experienced the deliverance of god in his life

and in romans 6 i love what paul says here he says if you've been bound and you've been burdened with maybe sin or things that are oppressing you says in romans 6 but thanks be to god that though you used to be slaves to sin you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness there is a transformation on offer from christ this morning it's a transformation that will take you from that life of sin that may have you bound in all sorts of addictions or ailments he will take you from that moment he'll set you free

and will place you in his service there is a transformation that the lord can bring abroad because he is a deliverer or maybe you need salvation maybe you've lived a life and you've been all about yourself and you've heard an awful lot about this jesus you've heard an awful lot about this salvation or maybe you want to hear more about it and the good news is the bible has a lot to say about god as a savior ephesians 2 4-5 but because of his great love for us god who is rich in mercy made us alive with christ even when we were dead in transgressions it's by grace you have been saved romans 6 11 in the same way count yourselves dead to sin

but to god but alive to god in christ jesus i love second corinthians 5 17 where it says therefore if anyone is in christ they're a new creation all of that past life all of that past sin all that past stuff that may plague you maybe even the shame and the guilt that's associated with it the bible says god can take that and say that's old news that's not even something that i'm paying attention to anymore that's not even something that has effect in your life anymore because all things are new in your life micah 7 18-19 i love how beautiful this is listen to this imagery if you're wanting salvation today maybe you want

that forgiveness or maybe you want to be redeemed from that guilt or shame micah 7 18-19 tells us of a god it says who is a god like you who pardons sin and forgives the trans transgression of the remnant of his inheritance you do not stay angry forever but you delight to show mercy you will again have compassion on us listen to this he will tread our sins under foot and you'll hurl all of our iniquities to the depths of the sea i've heard it said that we know more about our relative space outside our planet than we do our own oceans they probably knew less during these bible times and god says you know

what i'm going to do with all of that sin all that iniquity all those things that might cause you shame or guilt i'm going to throw those in a place where no one will ever find them sometimes with our past we're afraid that somebody's going to dig something up we're afraid that oh man did i say something when i when i was younger did i did i speak out of turn did i get angry you know what i'm saying or maybe you're trying to live right for god and you walk into a church and you're like i hope these people don't know who i am or i don't have facebook or something god says don't worry about it i'm going to take all that sin all that stuff that you're

so worried about and i'm going to put it in a place where no one will ever find it in fact god even says i'm not even going to think about it i'm not going to remember it any more do you need salvation today the bible tells of a god who has it on offer he has it on offer what else i love is that god is not content for us to read scripture or for us to hear me yell scripture at you for a few minutes god's not content with that he's not even content with you to say amen i believe what you're saying he doesn't want us to stop there he doesn't want this

message to be left here yeah that's good i heard a lot of good things about god that i believe that i'm good with psalm 34 8 says taste and see that the lord is good blessed is the one who takes refuge in him god is not content with us to just hearing about him he's not content with us just knowing some scriptures about him if it never affects our experience if he never invades our life if he never gets to prove it to us that what is written in this book is actually true and can actually be experienced in your life today he's not content with us just reading this and saying amen but he wants us to go further he wants us to taste

and see that the lord is good and i can tell you in my life i have tasted and i have seen that the lord is good my dad ex-drug addict my mom and dad their marriage almost fell apart but god got involved delivered my dad from drugs saved my parents marriage and i'm here today because of it i love this story and sorry dad if i'm not getting all of these details right but he had some drugs he was doing some drugs he said but when he got saved he didn't crave him anymore and i know that sometimes god has to work with a process and we we heard that this morning about the continual goodness of god through our life

but maybe just maybe my dad's story can be our story where god moved and instantly instantly something changed in his life and he no longer desired those drugs but rather he desired to live a life in accordance with the will of god my brother brandon was in a car wreck whenever i was i was a baby i don't know i don't know i was well i'm not very tall so i don't want to you know i was shorter my brother brandon was in a car wreck and we got the word we got a call from my mom we were home with my sister hannah she was the babysitter at that point she was still at home

so that's how long ago this is sorry hannah she was still at home she's babysitting us and we get the call and my mom says they can't get brandon to breathe he had been t-boned we can't get brandon to breathe he won't breathe he's suffocating we don't know what's happening we're not sure what's going on and hannah says okay she hangs up the phone and you know hannah you know hannah she gets a little wild believing in this jesus sometimes so she gathers up all these little children i'm like five she's like we're gonna pray i'm like what's prayer you know i knew what it was by then mom and dad taught me but she said do you believe that

when we're done praying i'm gonna call mom back and brandon's gonna be breathing and i'm four or five i'm like yeah you know i don't know i'm a kid i'm like i hope so but we all agreed we said yeah yeah we believe that and so me i'm the oldest besides hannah so he got three younger than me and we got a sister full of faith and we start praying say god i pray you'd heal my brother brandon lord i pray he would start breathing lord i pray the doctors would get involved and a miracle would happen and something would go to work in his life and he would be okay we get done praying hannah calls my mom back

and as soon as my mom answers the phone she says oh man brandon just started breathing he's okay he's fine the doctors have everything under control he's going to be all right i just want to say i've heard that god is a healer before but i've experienced god as a healer and i am convinced i am persuaded i'm not dissuaded that god is a healer i know that he is a healer and you can know that he's a healer today if you would like to in this church there are examples of god being involved god has healed cancer in this church god has cured cancer in this church god has delivered drug addicts in this

church god has rescued individuals from suicidal thoughts in this church god has rescued people from depression oppression and anxiety in this church god has provided for people that didn't have enough money to buy groceries didn't have enough money to pay their bills didn't have enough money to continue on but god has provided for them in this church even this church building even this church property is a product of god getting involved in the lives of the people who have heard about him but have now experienced him and i know that this is an exciting message and i'm full of faith right now i feel the spirit of hannah i'm about to shake somebody's head off

don't come up here if you don't want it just kidding all the guests are like what kind of church i just believe in my god i'm convinced of who he is but i know that there are still problems remaining brad those apartments they still need to be reached and we've heard that god can reach people we've heard about them we've also experienced them you and i have taught bible studies together where people were surrounded by the presence of god and they look up and they're like what was that we've experienced that and god can show us in those apartments right across the street from your house that he is a redeemer and deliver a savior

there are families in this church that are experiencing some level of brokenness maybe there's still addiction around her other sin or problems i know that there are children in this church that need the hand of god in their life mom and dad moms and dads out there maybe you have unsafe children i know maybe there's some seated in this pew or listening online that are suffering with depression right now anxiety right now at this moment as i'm talking i know that there are people in this church their families maybe people listening online that have yet to really experience the salvation of god the way that god would want them to they're still bound by their

past sins maybe they're still bound by that shame or guilt i know that's a present problem i know it is yeah maybe there's addictions still all of that but all i've come to say is that you don't have to settle for hearing that god can remedy those things you don't have to settle for just listening about a god who is capable of working in those instances but god can convince you this morning he can move into your life and you can go beyond hearing into the realm of experiencing him i know that we can caveat god to death and and i don't mean that negatively because sometimes god does choose a process we heard that this morning a little bit god can walk us through our life

and we can see his goodness continually and i can make all sorts of caveats why god couldn't move this morning well maybe he wants to teach you some things or maybe he wants to lead you further down the road whatever it is but what if we ask the more at times frightening question what if he does do it this morning what if he would do it right here right now what if he would choose to work a miracle at this moment in your life what if he would choose to invade your reality this morning what if he would choose to work in your family to heal sickness to deliver from addiction depression or anxiety what

if god would choose to fill you with his spirit this morning save you redeem you from a past life of sin what if god would fill you with that spirit and give you a new lease on life full of peace grace and a clear and new conscience what if he would remove that shame from your mind and grant you peace about your past what if god would provide for that need in that moment in this moment these sorts of questions i'm sure require an immense level of faith and possibly put us in a position to be let down we're praying god do it immediately and he's like well i want to do a process i i get all that i get what i'm talking about i get what i'm asking

but but what if but what if what if god chose today what if god asked you today what have god led you today to not only hear about him but to experience him he's capable he's willing and i believe that's what he's asking for this morning someone under the side of my voice you've heard an awful lot about god even in this message you've heard what he can do you've heard what the bible says about him but this morning he's calling for you to give him an opportunity to experience him he's calling you this morning for you to give him an opportunity for him to prove himself he's asking for an opportunity to show you that he is real

and that he's willing to work in your life whatever that need may be he's asking this morning will you respond will you go beyond hearing and move into the realm of experience that's what he's asking for this morning and you're surrounded by a church that believes that he can i know covet has done some things to the church experience it has i know sometimes we don't really know how to respond to god anymore we're like do i just sit here and try not to breathe on anybody or pray quiet or that way you're not spewing you're like jesus i know it's made it it's made it sort of weird okay and we've got a plan

we we've done our best we've got social distancing we've got little cool stickers on the on the floor here we've got some walls that you could hide away in you could stay in your pew you could do whatever you like really but what i what i believe needs to happen this morning let me just say this way is a good old-fashioned altar call one where god shows up one where people are staying in the carpets with tears and snot and everyone's like it's fine you know just stay away from it you know don't don't touch it i think that's what god wants this morning and i think he wants it not not for the sake of people crying not not for the sake of people just coming up here

and making a big deal and making a scene but because i believe that he wants to move in some people's lives i believe that he wants to heal some people of sickness this morning do we still believe that as apostolics as pentecostals and not only conceptually i mean do we still believe it right now in this moment right now i'm convinced right now i'll put god on the line if you want to come up here and you have sickness in your body god can heal you let me just say it like this god will heal you god will heal you god will deliver you from that sickness he'll deliver you from that ailment i just

believe in him i'm just convinced of him are you dealing with something that you need deliverance from do you have addiction in your life you have depression in your life anxiety in your life if you want to come up here have people pray with you and your pew whatever it is god deliver you from that god will heal you from that i don't have to make any caveats this morning i know what god is telling me to say he's here this morning and he wants to deliver you from those things in your life do you need salvation have you heard about god but you've never truly experienced him you've never been filled with the spirit you've never repented of your past life you've never been baptized in jesus name we have water

and god is here to hear your repentance and he will fill you with the holy ghost i believe that i believe that's what's going to happen this morning because i'm convinced of my god now i'm convinced are you i'm convinced i'm ready to pray i'm ready to see miracles i'm ready to see people filled with the holy ghost i'm ready to see people delivered i'm ready to pray for people's family members and get a phone call later today saying hey i don't know what happened but the spirit of god moved in the place where i was and god has healed me of some things god has delivered me of some things i'm ready for that level of god's involvement in our lives this morning

but are you are you let me give you some instruction god has set it up throughout the bible so that the way that we encounter him is through his name jesus that's just how it's set up when we read the bible we we call in that name of jesus and when we call on that name we have access to the fullness of god we have access to all of god's power all of his glory all of his might we have access to healing to deliverance to salvation because when we call in that name jesus when we cry out jesus we invoke the name that binds heaven and earth in relationship and it makes available the

riches of god's power let me say that again the name of jesus makes available the riches of god's power you don't need to pray a fancy prayer this morning you don't need to know all the right words you just got to know one jesus he knows what you need before you ask he knows what you're going through maybe even better than you do all you got to do is allow him to invade your life say jesus i need you to move there's a song that has come out recently that really spoke to me and i felt to read some of the lyrics here at the end because i think it captures what we're going for

this morning the title of the song is believed for it it's by a cece wine i think is her name i'm not sure how to pronounce her name the verses say they say that this mountain cannot be moved they say that these chains they'll never break but they don't know you like we do there is power in your name we've heard that there is no way through we've heard that the tide will never change but they haven't seen what you can do because there is power in your name so much power in your name then it goes into the course that i love she just sings move the immovable god break the unbreakable god we

believe it god we believe for it from the impossible we will see a miracle god we believe it god we believe for it so i stand in this place i know i'm getting emotional i know for some this might seem odd for a preacher to behave like but the presence of god is in this room and i know what people have told you about whatever you need help with i i know maybe even what the doctor's report has said i i understand all that i've experienced those hopeless moments in my life and in the life of my family but i believe and i'm convinced that he is going to move i wonder if that course

of that song would be our prayer god move the immovable in my life today god break the unbreakable in my life today lord from this impossible situation bring out a miracle in my life today i believe it i believe for it here's what we're gonna do if you need healing today i invite you you can come forward you need healing today you could simply raise your hand and your pew you could find a wall somewhere but god is going to prove himself to be a healer he's going to he's going to prove himself to be a healer maybe you know somebody that needs healing in their life pray for them god will prove himself to

be a healer you need deliverance in your life today maybe there's an addiction in your life maybe there's an addiction in your family maybe you know somebody who's dealing with an addiction i invite you to come forward pray in your pew praying a wall somewhere whatever you have to do that's fine but god is going to prove himself today that he is a deliverer that he is somebody who can conquer addiction that he is somebody who can defeat depression that he is somebody that can remove oppression and anxiety from a life he's going to prove that this morning do you need salvation today maybe you've never responded to god as of yet you've heard a

lot about them you'd like to get your life right with god do you need that is that what we're going for this morning well i invite you come forward find somewhere in the wall pray in your pew whatever you have to do this morning all i know is that god is going to show himself to be a savior this morning he can fill you with his holy ghost he can fill you with his spirit you can repent today be forgiven of your sins you can be baptized in the name of jesus maybe you know somebody that needs to experience the salvation of god pray for them and i promise you god will show up in their life wherever they are

and he will prove himself to be a savior whatever you need this morning whatever it is that you need to cry out to god for this morning he'll prove himself it's not on us it's not on me it's on god and of god his power his character i am convinced let's cry out to him this morning let's pray to him this morning