Acts 2

Um, always kind of knew that like I was to be used by God and I had a relationship with God, but at the same time I was very compromised. I mean, like, I'd be out clubbing till 4 o'clock in the morning and then at church on the next day teaching these kids about Joseph. But it's okay, the Lord kept me. Uh, I would say like November or October 2023, 3, however, I went to my godmother's church and the same thing that would always happen happened again, where the apostle who was preaching, it was like he kept staring at me the whole time and I'm like, he about to say something to me. And he literally gave me like a 10-minute— he stopped his sermon, walked up to me, gave me a 10-minute prophetic word that changed my life. And every single thing that he said after that literally happened. It was like a ripple effect just took place, and his first words were like, God is about to transform you from the inside out. It was basically like, time is up, like, it's now. And so, um, since then I've been very serious about my relationship with God. Similar to you, I feel like I have a call to teach, um, and so I've been cultivating that in a season where I'm in a wilderness of of some sort where the Lord is still forming me and putting me in community. Like, I literally posted on Threads today, like, I thank God I'm in Godly community because I would lose my mind. It would feel so lonely and so isolating, um, because when you have the mind of Christ, you tend to have unpopular, you know, opinions and things of that sort. And so, um, I'm here to, to be in community but also to serve. So I just want to say that I'm open to meeting everyone, and if there's a way that I can serve you or just be a sounding board or someone to pray for you, I'm here. Thank you.

Taylor, before we go to you, for our internet people, if you could just drop in the chat who you are, where you're from, what season in life are you in right now, you can participate in these introductions.

So, hi everyone, I'm Taylor. Um, I did not grow up in the church. I had a very supernatural encounter with the Lord in July of 2024. Um, I was into a whole bunch just like me. And I always felt spiritually connected to something, but I didn't know the truth. And I struggled with my faith because I've been through a lot in life. And so, um, always been real spiritually sensitive and just knew that it was something bigger out here to discover and to learn.

Yeah.

And, um, like I said, I got into a lot of stuff But the Lord saved me in my house. He put me on a 7-day fast with no food, just water. And I went through a self-deliverance process, and I met God in my room. And so he literally stripped me of everything, and it was like an instant change, instant repentance, instant hunger for the Lord. And I've been walking with God ever since. I thank the Lord because I finally found the truth and I finally discovered what I was created to do and who— why I am the way that I am. So I thank God for that.

Amen.

I'm at a place right now where since that has happened, I felt like I've given my whole life to the Lord. You know, I haven't worked. Full-time for 2 years. Everything that I identified with back then is no longer— like, I'm a completely new person. And it's very hard continuing this journey and walking out the faith walk not really knowing where you're going. And so I've let go of myself completely, and it's a lot more that has to be let go of. But I thank the Lord because I just love being in his presence. And so I'm struggling with walking deeper in faith, but I'm also learning his perfect will. So yeah, glory.

Hey everybody, my name is Jonathan. Um, I grew up in the church. My dad worked for the church, so I was there all the time. And a lot of times growing up, I would hear people sharing testimonies of what the Lord had brought them out of, the trials that they had made it through. And I always felt like my relationship with God wasn't like that because he had never pulled me out of some dark place. I was just always talking to him and praying and reading the Word. When I started college and moved out, living in the dorms, I came across a lot of stuff that I hadn't seen before, but I was still connected to my church, and I'm grateful to God for that. I also joined a campus ministry, and it was there through that campus ministry that I really felt like I started to recognize what God's voice sounded like. I was taught to pray and listen instead of just pray and talk and everything. And I remember one of the first times I heard from the Lord clearly, it was him introducing me to the concept of his peace. And I had— it's still my favorite scripture to this day, just talking about the peace of God that passes all understanding, keeping your heart and mind. And I realized during that first year of college that storms in life further magnify what it what it feels like to be in God's peace and just being able to have a place to rest, have a place to call home, have a place to feel kept in my heart and mind. And since then, I've been very passionate about making sure people are familiar with what God's peace can be. Yeah, because so many people go through storms, and I just I feel like part of my witness is just so passionate because I know that better is possible, that storms won't stop coming, but in the middle of them you can experience something far greater than whatever you're struggling with. My present burden is inspiring worship in the lives of young people. Leading, I'm one of the leaders for our youth choir at my church, and I just feel a desperation whenever I'm in the church building and I'm seeing some of the young people not growing up with the worship, with the drive to worship that I felt growing up. And I just, I know what it means to press towards the presence of God and to commune with him in worship. And I'm very passionate about inspiring them, showing them what it looks like to worship and why it matters, and not just their faith life, but in their life, period. So I'm very big on encouraging worship participation and seeking the Lord and how to do that. Amen. Amen. God bless you.

You would do this right when Tony about to go up. It's okay, bro, you can whisper, man.

I'm Christine's brother. My wife is Kayla. I didn't grow up in like a— we didn't go to church growing up. We weren't really raised on any religion. So the past year my wife has been trying to get me to be into like Christianity and all that, and tell me about Jesus and God. I'm still a little hard-headed. I have committed myself. I'm a really good surrender to Jesus. Yeah, maybe I'm just waiting for like a sign to fully commit, but right now I don't feel fully committed at all.

Well, showing up is the first step. You could have stayed home, so continuously—

you could have stayed home, so we, we thank God for I think it's okay, this is off topic, but I feel like it's important because this kind of leads into mine, is that I feel like we all look for like a supernatural, like, oh, the Lord met me on this day at 3 o'clock. And like, for some people, I think it's normal, like, yes, the Lord is like amazing and so powerful, but he does meet us is in the ordinary moments.

Yeah.

And I feel like the last— I'm Caleb, by the way. But I feel like in the last couple years, the Lord has met me in the ordinary moments. I've just been trying to get closer to him. I've randomly felt the urge, like, I need to get in the word and read the Bible. I grew up lukewarm most of my life. So yeah, the last couple years has just been just getting in the word and getting to know him, having a relationship with him. Um, currently I guess my struggle is trying to find the balance of like what the Lord— I guess what my gifts are and how the Lord wants to use me. Um, having a family and raising kids, like obviously that's a ministry in itself, but I Well, I could help with that.

Come on, Addie, let's go.

Like, you're— you can't be surprised, you're number 16.

I grew up in this church, but I felt like I didn't really have a personal relationship with God on my own. It only was because it was something that was a daily routine for me, like getting up, going to church on Sunday, and going home. I feel like I didn't really get serious until I was really like at a low point in my life. Like I was in a really dark place and I started to try to find God on my own, like trying to build that relationship on my own. And I did get in this situation where the church that I did try to go to just ended up being— it just wasn't— it just ended up not being what it portrayed to be until, um, somebody invited me to go to BCOR. And then that's when everything changed. Like, I started committing. Like, my love started growing for God. Like, I started seeking him. Like, church was a safe place for me. Like, even being around Theo and Christine became a safe place for me. Like, I found a community where I can be myself. Like, I didn't have to be afraid to be a Christian. I didn't have to feel embarrassed to be a Christian. So now I think I'm just working on just resting and just slowing down and trusting God's timing and just trusting the process just knowing that God is always on my side.

Amen.

For folks that just came in, we're just doing some brief intros, who we are and where we're at with God, basically.

Hello, my name is Sharon. Um, forgot what I need to say. Okay, my name is Sharon. I also grew up in the church. And I've been going to church basically my whole life. If anyone here knows my mom, she's— she's a powerhouse. She's something for real. So I always knew of God. I believed in God my whole life. And kind of like Addie, I feel like going to college was the point where I started— like, it was my choice. Like, it wasn't like I had to go to church, because my mom's saying it's time to go to church. But I was like, okay, I'm here. If I did nothing, no one would know. Not that I plan on doing that, but it was an active choice to like go and try to look for a church or go and try to look for like a Bible study group too or something. So that was the point where I was able to find what it looked like to be a Christian, like of your own religion, I guess. And I really, really thank God for my roommate freshman year because she was also a Christian. And I'm glad because that was like a random assignment, but through her, like, we ended up going to the same church and just having like a community of friends that also go to church. And like, we would get together on like Friday nights for like home meetings and like we would start off just like singing worship songs, and I was just like, this is great and all, but like, what are we gonna eat, you know? So just like random things like that, and just always being in the presence of other people that at least believe in God, that you know, okay, if I need to pray or I'm missing out on something, like someone's gonna reach out to me, and like they're doing it from the love of God. Like, that perspective really, really helped me. And then whenever I would come home, I was just a little bit more serious about it, um, about listening in church, about trying to figure out how I'm going to tie things in sermons to my life. But I feel like after 2023, I— so I graduated in 2023, and then my brother passed like a few weeks after that. And I feel like that was like, I was like, wake up! Um, obviously very traumatic time, but It definitely jump-started me to be serious. Not in a— not to make this dark, but like, you really don't know when the end is. And I feel like being faced with that reality so harshly, like, for those first few months, I'd be like, okay, treat this as if Jesus is literally gonna walk up to your door like today. Like, today is the last day. So I'd be like, okay, And then I think Tia also said something a long time ago, like, whenever you get a feeling to pray, just pray. Don't be like, oh, I'll pray like when I get in the car, like I'll pray when I get home. And I feel like just little things like that help me. I'm by no means perfect. It's not easy for me to just be like laying in bed, grab a book and draw, read the Bible, you know. But I definitely am more serious and try to do my thing that I'm doing in today. And over the— since 2023, the community that we have has grown so much. And there's examples of very different people around us. You kind of like see a sampling of it here, but people in different industries or different walks of life or different backgrounds, but we're all like bonded in Christ, and we can pray, we can worship, we can fellowship, and then we can like go out to eat. So it's not just being in church doing church things, it's being around the people that make the church the church. And I feel like even that alone helps me then evangelize in my own way to like my friends. So it's not crazy for them to like call me and I'm like, hey, I'm about and like, that's normal. And I can show that I'm still living a life, but most of the time you might find me doing something related to church and God. So just trying to be that example. Um, yeah, that's, that's where I am currently. I feel like I'm doing a lot but also not much. Very confusing time. Time in my life, but I'm praying about it. God is using me in ways that I don't really understand, but it's going, it's going. So that's where I am. Amen.

I'll go to Christine, and then we'll wrap all the way around, finish at Tony, and then we'll be on off to the races.

Like my brother mentioned, we did not grow up in church.

We—

my parents are Buddhist, but we really never practiced Buddhism in any way, really. So we grew up with no, you know, like guidance or guardrails. But ever since I was younger, I always prayed. And I think that is very interesting because I— one of my earliest memories was like my parents fighting one day, and I think my dad packed me up and moving. And I remember praying to God that like he would come back. And fast forward to my young adult years, um, there was a time where I was in a terrible relationship and I had been trying to get out of that relationship for years. In that last time, I prayed to God, like, please take care of this situation. And he took care of the situation. And I think that kind of planted a seed in me, um, but I never really took it serious. So a couple months later, I was at that point again in my life. I was a senior in college, um, a party school, you know. We were— I remember after homecoming feeling terrible, um, like I lost my car key, my apartment key. I met someone, I'm at my friend's apartment, and I'm just out there, um, and I just remember praying to God that morning like, I can't do this, you know. I can't live like this. This can't be my life, you know. I was a senior, I was about to graduate. I had no clue what was next, and I'm out here just like doing whatever. So I prayed that morning, and little did I know that I met my husband that weekend. And the next week, you know, he had me in church at like 8:30. So I would say that's like one of our first dates. Um, but yeah, so we were in church and, um, I think the way it might have unraveled, it was kind of like God has always known that I was one of his. My name is Christine and my parents didn't name me. They actually had like a family friend because they didn't know any English names. They had like a random family friend name me and I Googled it like 2-3 years ago and My name means 'follow Christ.' I was like, you know, so just full circle moments of I was always meant to be here, you know. I was always meant to— like, I'm exactly where I should be. And my journey right now is, um, knowing God by his word and not just how I feel, because I always feel like, okay, God is telling me this, God is telling me that, God is is directing me here, feeling secure in his presence. You know, I feel God, and I'm very— that's just who I am. So I'm in a season where I want to know him by his word. I'm learning a lot of, you know, childhood things, also church things, cultural things. I feel like I've finally exited this season of what is cultural, what is biblical, asking myself those things, you know. And I feel like I'm finally at that maturity of, okay, I know what is biblical and I know what is— I can find out what is biblical and I know what is cultural. So I'm in this season of like really knowing his word, being able to meditate on it, being able to memorize it so that my thoughts are it, you know, what I say is that.

Um, so yeah, I, I think that that sums up All right, so for everybody that missed the beginning, you have Jasmine, Jonathan, Ade, Brittany, Taylor, Jonathan, Tony, Addie, Sean, Christine, Kayla, and Janice.

This is my son Mason.

Just who you are, where are you with Christ?

I grew up in the church. I had a very praying grandma and a praying mom. But it's different when you find Christ like when you're older versus like little dress-up church when you're little. Um, I would say maybe like 2 or 3 years ago I had friend actually like plant the seed. Like, we were sitting in the car, they were talking about God, and I was like, wow, like, I really want to be like that. And, um, so I started like reading my Bible, I got baptized, and then I fell off like so, so bad. So like right now I'm just like trying to come back and just like learn about like from myself and, you know, for him and stuff like Hello, my name is Mercedes. Um, where am I at right now? I feel like— excuse me— I'm the light for my family. I grew up in church. My parents are Jamaican, so I grew up in church. Oh, we went to church on Saturdays as I could remember. Um, went to college, I was like, yeah, I need, I need Jesus. I, I had a moment where I was just like, so many blessings, blessings tend to land in my lap, in my way, and I'm like, there's just no one that— there's no one else but, there's no one else but God. And so right now I think I'm in the season of being obedient and having 100% faith in God, like nothing else, going to him first for any, anything, just the first point of contact and just continuing to and trying to live a Christ-like life so my family, my sisters and my mom, so they can really just know that this is the only way, um, the only true way is, um, accepting that fully, 100%.

So yeah. Awesome.

Let's go back behind you. Ain't no food in the other study today.

Hello everyone, I'm Kevin. Um, not from here, I'm actually from Houston. My whole family's from down south Louisiana, so, uh, I feel like it kind of leads the story about my journey to where I am now. Grew up in church, went to a private school all the way up to my junior year. In high school, of course. So kind of had the roots planted, honestly. But once I got to college, I feel like the roots— I just didn't stay on the right path. I would go to church, but I really wasn't doing as I probably should have been. So I realized that, especially once I graduated from college, came up here, and then I went back to homecoming and I had a traumatic accident in the hospital. I was in there for 2 weeks, so it was almost like a wake-up call. So after that, definitely was life-changing. Started to pray more, started to actually get right in my scripture and try to get a deeper connection with God. So of course I feel like he brought me here And I'm grateful for the community of the tent and everything that has grown to be and still is continuing to grow. And of course, also my church home as well, but also just the community that I have in Chicago and also my family, because I probably wouldn't be here without my quote-unquote prayer warriors. Yeah, my family and my friends that really like helped me through that. 5 years, um, so yeah. Awesome.

We're gonna go to Destiny, then Tony, then Gabe, then we'll bring this thing home.

Bounce around. Like, people would take me, like, I was just like, yeah, my grandma, like, randomly— well, not randomly, she was Mormon her whole life, but she never went to church until, like, I was in high school. And so I lived with my grandma, so I had to, like, go out with her. And I remember the missionaries would, like, come to my house, and I thought it was whack. I was like, I don't know about all this, like, I'm not really believing. And then because of that, then they started coming every day to my house. They were like, oh, actually, like, maybe we just need to come more. And I was like, I don't know, I feel like you just keep telling me the same thing. Yeah, to me it's not, it's not clicking. I don't know. And I remember one day they were like, oh, like, would you ever consider getting baptized? And I was like, I could consider it. And they were like, okay, how about like next week? Week. And I was like, no, I don't think so. They're like, okay, how about you say a prayer right now and then we'll see if you change your mind. And I remember I sat there and I prayed and I was like, no, like, I don't think this is— like, I don't think this is like the right choice, which I think is like— was good for me. Like, I think I didn't feel anything like on my hands, but I don't think that that was like the right action for me.

Yeah.

But after that, I actually just was like, I actually don't think I believe in God at all. And so all my family was like, heathen girl, what is wrong with her? And I was like, I don't know, maybe I think I just like never like received like the right like teachings so that like something— this just doesn't make sense.

Yeah.

Um, until I was like in college and And then I think I was also going through like a really bad relationship, and also like my family members, like, like my relationship with my family was like really poor. And I felt like it's something that came up often, like in the Bible it says this, you need to be doing this, you're not doing this. I was like, I don't feel like, like there's no way this book says that, like you're acting so ugly towards me. Like, I don't like—

oh wow, yeah.

I decided to read it. At first, like, I was like, I'm going to read it and I'm going to tell you that it doesn't save them. And it didn't, but it was so beautiful. Like, I felt so much peace and I like started to pray again. And I, I just felt like, I think I want to go to church. And randomly, my cousin— I had like a graduation party and I hadn't seen my cousin in like 5 years. And I had seen her that day, and she was like, oh, do you want to come to church tomorrow? And I was like, you know what, sure, like, I'll, like, I'll go with you. And it was so beautiful. I was like, actually, I need to come back, like, I need to come back every week, actually, I think. Um, but that was like 2 years ago now, and I think since then I've just been like kind of figuring it out because some days I like still like really confused. Like, I feel like I— I mean, I feel like I try to make everything like so logical, and obviously it's something that's like out of this world.

Yeah, like a virgin birth, you know, for me to understand.

So sometimes I still struggle that way, but I really have just been like trying to study more. I'm definitely I don't know, it makes me feel so happy, so I feel like I need to spread it, but I don't want to like tell people to rock with me. Oh, myself to be the voice. Yeah, it's too much.

Hey man, I'm Tony, and, um, I guess the best way to describe my life is First-generation American, both my parents are from Mexico, and kind of the black sheep of the family, always the black sheep of the family in the sense that just operating on my own, kind of doing my own thing all the time, and man, I was very hyper, and so everything I did was very extreme. I was always in the extremes of I mean, everything. I went hard at everything I did, and even to the extent of, you know, joining the Marines and just kind of leaving behind everything and living that life. And I was raised Catholic, so my relationship with God was never one of truly understanding. And it wasn't until after I had gotten out of the Marines— and I was a terrible student always, but again, just operating kind of on my own and using whatever gifts God gave me for just dumb reasons, right? To prove that I was— it was insecurity all the time. And so as I got out of the Marines, what I started to question was the realities that were presented. It was more from a science perspective of just questioning everything. And as I did that and started to examine it and just thinking like, you know, this religion stuff isn't real, that These things in science, they seem to make more sense, but they don't provide answers. And that's when my life essentially just started falling apart and losing— I lost everything. But instead of it seeing it the way I think I wanted, I was very angry with God and had began that relationship with him, but it was as if, you know, it was being possessed in the sense of the spirit had possessed me to where, looking back, I could have never made those choices, those decisions, those steps towards relationship with Him on my own. And so even in that, I can't ever say looking back that it was something that, you know, I did or something that I can say was a point in my life. It was like, if it had been up to me, I would have quit a long time ago. But I think it's also looking back at this, what didn't make sense in my life, doing everything and creating a mess everywhere, if you will, that I can look back and now say, wow, God always had a plan. And now those things that may not have had a purpose then all of a sudden now have a big purpose.

Yeah.

And I look at it like we are now— and this is, if you've ever read like Enoch, right? But I had this thought and God took me to this particular verse and then beginning, which is that those who will be there at the end are the most blessed. That we get to experience something that no other prophet, no other anybody got to experience, which is to be in the fullness of every story that's been lived out, and we get the benefit of the wisdom of all this. And so I think it was beautiful, and the place that I'm in now is one of just being in his presence and whatever he has us doing. Yeah. But that's also a beautiful thing because it's an adventure that we get to be on with our Father, that he's also providing everything we need. And so yeah, it's this— you have to go through that valley of trusting him, even to the point where you're like, I don't know when my next meal is going to come. But then once you're out of that, I couldn't imagine a more beautiful romantic story than the one that God laid out, that he reveals to you. I don't know other side of the things that you thought you wanted. And just like I heard some people say here, that ultimately, yeah, they're finding out that the thing that you wanted was always just him, right? Once you look back now, all the things that you thought you wanted will be there, but you're like, eh, I don't even want them anymore. Like, it's crazy, right? But yeah, so it's more of that, just being at that, at this place in time where he's revealing those things, and it's like, what do you do with it? It's overwhelming, but it's just amazing. Be in the presence of his children and to be able to share in that, in the ways he's touched us all. So appreciate you guys. Amen.

Bless you. Last but not least, the question is, when are you going to lead worship? I mean, the question is, who are you and where are you with God?

My name is Gabriel. Um, my journey with God started young, pretty young. I grew up in the church, but like a lot of people probably who grew up in the church, which you don't really have a relationship with God. I don't think you understand. I think for me, um, what helped me out a lot was joining the choir. I joined the choir when I was 10 years old because I could kind of sort of sing just a little bit. Um, and I was— the choir was full of adults, so I was constantly exposed to adults and you pray and learn and read, so I was constantly Hey, I'll celebrate each other now.

Now, why was that so important to do? Um, when you read 2 Corinthians, I believe And about, thank you. And about the third chapter or the second chapter, scripture teaches us that we are living epistles and that Jesus has written these epistles in our hearts. So when you hear the story of each other like that, it's not just learning about the story, you're learning about things that God has written in their lives. And then inside each and every one of us is an epistle. Is something that God has carved into our process, our walk. There are testimonies, there are stories, there's lessons, there's pain, there's breakthrough. And as much as we read the text here, I believe a lot of what happened in the early churches is they sat around like this. And they were just like, Peter, what's your walk with God? And then somebody that heard it just decided to document it. And we benefit from it. But the spirit that inspired that is still inspiring each and every one of us. So as you are speaking your story, you are sharing an epistle, one that encourages and sometimes rebukes. So as we're listening to each other, as I'm listening to each other, I'm learning that like, hey, My walk is different from your walk, yet we're walking in the same direction, and that's powerful. I want to, I want to, I want to pray a little bit. I want to worship a little bit, and then we're gonna— we're not gonna study all the Acts 2 because it's, it's a lot going on there. So I'm going to teach for like 10 minutes, and then we're going to study Acts 36 to the end. Because I think there's some meat there. I do want to say if you're here, odds are you're called to ministry. I know that's— surprise! I know some of y'all like, oh, y'all ready to walk out right now. Y'all ready to leave. Don't leave yet. Don't leave yet. Let me tell you why. Let me tell you why. One, you don't have to believe me. Just come back and thank me 5 years from now that I ain't wasted time. Why am I so confident in saying that? Well, I know my ministry is to equip people for ministry. Right? That's what the Bible teaches us. God has given me this gift to share with you for the equipping of ministry. So I am fully confident that if you are here, you are called to ministry, whether you like it or not. And our goal over the next several weeks is to walk out what that means from the context of the Acts of the Apostles, because they showed how you live this thing out. So we did Acts 1 last week. There's notes available, very robust notes. We're in Acts 2 today, Acts 3 next week, so on and so forth. By April, we're not going to study, we're going to walk it out. So the goal is that you have 4 Tuesdays in April, I think 4 4, maybe 5, for you to do your own Bible study, to live it out. And then by the time we come back in May, we want to hear about what you did with your one month off. Because I believe we could keep coming to these Bible studies, but if you don't go do the thing— So I want to worship, I want to pray, then we're going to get into the word. We got some, some worshipers in here. Some young people that have said they are called to worship. And I'm not going to name any names, but I'm going to just close my eyes and wait for a song. So we all good. So I got a couple of people in mind, but I'm just— I'm going to just close my eyes and hear what the Lord wants to minister to us. One or two songs. Let's do it.

For all you have done in our lives, we are so blessed. Our souls have found rest. Oh Lord, we give you thanks. If you know it, help me sing it. Thanks, thanks, we give you thanks for all you have done in our lives.

We are so blessed, our souls have found rest.

Oh Lord, we give you thanks.

We give you glory, Lord, as we honor you. We give you glory, Lord, as we honor you, for you are one Wonderful, you are worthy to show love. You are wonderful, you are worthy of glory. You are wonder— you are worthy, oh Lord!

You are one Wonderful, you are worthy, oh Lord!

You are wonderful, you are worthy, oh Lord!

You are wonder— you are worthy, holy one! You are wond— Merkurius, you are worthy of love! You are wonderful! Worthy of love! You are magnificent! You are worthy of— what? You are one... You are worthy of more. You are one man. You are worthy of more. You are one man.

Says yes to you, my soul says yes!

My soul says yes— Says yes... Say yes? Yes?! My soul said "yes" (to me).

Said yes to you, oh Lord, and my soul says yes.

My soul says yes— Says yes! Says yes, my soul says yes, says yes to your will. My soul says yes, my soul says yes, says yes to your will. You have rescued my life, you have rescued my life and I'm never going back! You have rescued—

you have rescued my love, you have rescued my heart, you have rescued You have rescued my life.

You have rescued my life. You have rescued my life. And no man could go away now.

You have rescued my life.

You have rescued my life.

You have rescued my life.

In the name of the Holy Word. My response is— my response is— Hallelujah! Hallelujah! You're my Redeemer. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. My response is Hallelujah. You're my Redeemer. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

My hallelujah belongs to you. My hallelujah belongs to you. My hallelujah belongs to you.

My hallelujah, my hallelujah belongs to you.

You deserve it, you deserve it, you deserve it, you deserve it, you deserve Oh God, you deserve it. You deserve it. You deserve it. You deserve it. Can you just begin to bless God with your own voice right now? Can you just begin to pray out loud? Can you pray? Can you express your gratitude, your appreciation, your thanks? Has he been good to you? Has he been faithful? Has he kept his word? Has he kept his promises? Did he give you your daily bread all the days of your life? I have a reason to praise the Lord. Lord, We say thank you. Are you filled with the Holy Ghost? You have a reason to thank him. Oh Lord, I say thank you. Thank you. Can you begin to thank Jesus? Just keep thanking him. Just keep thanking him. How he love me. Just keep thanking him. When I think about the Lord, when I think about the Lord, when I think about the Lord, how he saved me, how he healed me, how he filled me with the Holy Ghost, how he healed me to the uttermost. When I think about the Lord, it makes me want to shout. Hallelujah! Thank you, Jesus. Lord, you're worthy of all the glory and all the honor and all the praise. It makes me wanna shout. Hallelujah! Thank you, Jesus. Lord, you're worthy of all the glory and all the honor and all the praise. Oh, thank you, Jesus. Say, Makata with the Holy Ghost. When I think— oh, thank you, Jesus. Turn me around. How he set my feet, he makes me want to shout. Lord, you're worthy of all the glory and all the honor and all the praise. Hallelujah! Thank you, Jesus. Lord, you're worthy of all the glory and all the honor and all the praise. Lord God, we say thank you. Thank you, Holy Spirit. We feel your presence. We yield to you completely. For in Jesus' name we pray. John, can you pray us in?

We just thank you, Father God, that you are who you are. We thank you that you are our Father. We thank you that you are Abba. You said that you were the first. You said that you would be the last. You said that you are Alpha, you said that you are Omega. We glorify you, Lord, that you have redeemed us, that you have saved us, that you have sanctified us, Lord. It was no small act that you became human flesh, God, that you lived a perfect life. You showed us the way to God, and then you died on the cross and you rose again. We thank you, God, that though we all have different paths, that we are all in different places, that we all have different different experiences. You are making us new wineskins.

Thank you, Jesus.

You said that all the old man is washed away, and behold, there is a new creature. God, Jesus. So I thank you that there is an anointing on each and every person here, Lord. We just ask that you would make us more aware of your presence, that you would help us to endure, that you would give us perseverance, and that the power that you said that you would give us, Lord, that we'll be able to execute in that, God, so we can change the world around us. Lord, I just ask that you would make us more aware of you, God. Help us to be more sensitive when you speak. Help us to listen to you, God, and help us to have a proper response when you call us, Lord. Thank you that you are washing us clean, that this is a process that is constantly renewing us, God. And we thank you that you are transforming us through the renewing of our mind, Lord. Let your word being imparted, that when we face the adversities of life, that we can call forth those things which you have placed in us.

Thank you, Father.

Thank you for a hedge of protection around each and every man and woman here, Lord, every child here. We thank you for the children in this room, God, that the things that they are hearing, that they will not depart from it when they get older, but they will be also world shakers when they grow up.

Amen.

We thank you for the children that are in each and every person's life, God, their their womb, their future, not only the physical children but the things that you are birthing through them, Lord. Use this time for unity to be developed, to be built, that we will fellowship and love one another, and that this love would then also pour out into wherever we go in our workplaces, our homes. Father God, we just thank you.

Thank you, Jesus.

May this be a time when we worship you, where we bend down and just worship at your feet, Father God. Let us lay down our anxiety, our fear. We just give it all to you, Father God. We thank you that you are Father and that you give us this opportunity to come before you.

Thank you, Father.

In your son Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. Amen. So any seat here is available. Feel free to come up. Um, like I said, I'm going to do a little bit of teaching, um, And then, and then we're going to read Acts chapter 2:36 to the end together. And then we're going to, we're just going to share what the Lord has put on our hearts on this scripture. Again, I know it felt like we just did a lot to start studying. But man, there's one thing that I learned about God is you never really want to rush in or out of his presence. Um, you, you, you wanna—

amen.

I said what I said. So, you know, sometimes you start to explain yourself and like, I don't need to explain myself. Y'all get it, y'all get it. And if you don't, forget about it. So, um, there's a— and I'm slow to use this word, but there's a revelation that I want to share and I can almost guarantee that for some of you, this may be the first time you ever hear something like this. Starts to read the end of Luke. Jesus, Luke, end of Luke, beginning of Acts, same thing, right? Jesus now opened up the understanding of those that he was with, that they may comprehend scripture. And in their comprehension of scripture, they began to anticipate certain things. And the anticipation came as a result of them understanding Old Testament scripture. So when you read particularly the Acts of the Apostles, the primary lens you read it is from your understanding of scripture. I want to be careful with this. When you're reading Acts, the thing that needs to be in your brain the most is the Old Testament, and you're looking for Jesus there. Because Acts is literally the apostles pulling Jesus out of the Old Testament, presenting them in the light of the New Covenant, and now trying to get people to understand the New Covenant, both Jew and Gentile, so that they can be partakers of salvation. That is what's happening in Acts. And in order to help people believe more, they use power. Because I can come to you with the excellency of speech, But he's talking to a Gentile people that had philosophers like Plato. They were already good with words. These guys, they were geniuses. They invented math. So you come with them trying to talk all well, they're like, do you know somebody named Aristotle? You think you smart? So what God added to their intellect was Power. Let Plato come raise the dead. Let Aristotle come, come, come speak in a language that he never learned. So you begin to see the power that came with the gospel. So by the time you read Acts 1, like we did last week, and you get to Acts chapter 2, they were in this in-between period. Some of you might be in an in-between period right now. A promise was made, but it hasn't came yet. A prophecy was given, but it hasn't been manifested yet. So what do you do? You sit, you wait, but you don't wait alone. You see, when a woman is pregnant, the worst thing she can be is alone. A woman is anticipating the day that what was promised to her now is birth. She has evidence of it, is moving, is kicking, but she can't really hold it yet. So it was a very sensitive time. A seed is there, a promise is given, but it has not yet been made manifest. So she surrounds herself with the ability of people that can bring what's inside of her out. That's what we do in a place of prayer. Prayer is God bringing what's inside of you outside. This is why Jesus said, if you enter into your, your secret place and speak to me in private, what happens in private will now come outside. You know, these kids that we see is a reflection of what they did with, with the doors closed. And they're evidence that a promise was made. You can't doubt it. You can't look at these children, look at our children, and for one second think that they didn't have a promise. So the upper room was that place where God says, I know I put something inside of you, but soon not only you will see, but the world will see. Now, why I'm giving you all of this background is because there's going to be a promise for all of us, and you know who's Who's going to testify of it first?

You.

It happened in the upper room and then it went outside. So you have to be the first witness of what's God doing in your life. Many times we want the prophets to come and tell us what you should already know. So we get to this upper room and this is, this is the revelation. Acts 2 is Genesis. Acts 2 is the genesis of the church. And let's, let me, let me, I'm gonna give you a few reasons why. Acts chapter 2, verse 1, when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven. You know what else is a sound from heaven? Words. 'Let there be.' Genesis. Something happened there. The Bible says there was wind. You know what happened in Genesis? Breath. So now we have a situation where we have a sound from heaven. And then we have a body of Christ now becoming a living soul through this breath. You want to know what else happened? Verse 2, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the house where they were sitting. And then there appeared to them divided tongues. You want to know where else you find this in Genesis? The Tower of Babel. The Tower of Babel was when all of these people all spoke, the Bible says, one language. And they wanted to build a tower for themselves to reach heaven. Amen. And God said, you know what? I'm going to scatter your tongues so that you won't be able to do this because you're doing it for yourself and not for me. So remember, that tongue was the ability for them to be in one accord. What was they in the upper room? One accord. So God said, okay, now you understand this unity thing. I'm going to take those tongues I scattered and I'm going to bring them back and give it to you. So if you could use that tongue to build a tower to heaven before. Amen, somebody. Their oneness now gives them the ability to build something that can finally reach heaven, the kingdom. I told you Acts 2 is Genesis. Is it starting to make sense now? We'll go a few more and then we'll go to 36. Verse 5, and there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. You know what else happened in Genesis? Promise to Abraham, through you shall all the nations of the world be blessed. That promise in Genesis is being made manifest right now. Scripture reads in verse 6, and when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and were confused, because everyone had heard them speak in his own language. The Bible says, Every nation under heaven was represented here. So when God says, through you shall all the nations of the world be blessed, it happened in a single instance. Genesis. This is the birthing of the church, the beginning of the church. And the way that we're able to understand this New Testament scripture is how much we understand the Old Testament. If you've never read Genesis, you will not read this with this understanding. You know another way you find something like this? In John chapter 1. If you read Genesis 1 and John 1 right next to each other, you're like, hmm, in the beginning, in the beginning, God made, there was the Word, and you go all the way down and you're just like, Because every time God wants to start with you, he's going to— every time God wants to start with you, he's going to bring you where he started. He's the master planner.

So, you—

this is why when I teach people how to find their purpose, I'm always telling them, what were you doing as a child? Because God is not going to start fresh with you. If he wants to do something, he's already started it. He's not waiting on you to begin. He is the beginning. So when you find out— I tell people, what were you doing as a child that you love doing, but then bills made you stop doing? Your calling is probably where you were 6 years ago. You over here looking for your calling, your calling like, come back to where we was. All right, let's go. I feel God. My point in all of this, and I almost— I really— okay, I'll go there. I want to talk about tongues for 5 minutes. For 5 minutes. There is so much bad teaching around it, and I don't want to contribute to it. I really don't. I tend to not talk about it because I'm just like, I'm tired of talking about it. Let's just show it. Amen. When they started speaking with tongues, how did they understand what they were doing? This is the very first time, right? We can go to 1 Corinthians 14, we can go to so many different scriptures to talk about it, but this is the genesis. Why were they not confused about what was happening? Remember what happens next. Peter starts to preach from Joel. But he preaches with a different understanding now. Jesus went to them and he opened up their understanding. So that means Jesus already made mention of what they should expect. The reason why they was able to leave the upper room is because now they figured out the promise is here. Now we can go. If they didn't have that conviction, even with speaking in tongues, they would have just stayed up there. Because how do you know this is the promise? You go to Joel and he said you would dream dreams, you will have visions, you will have all sorts of things. The reason why this has to be an introduction to the church right now is because— and this is something that me and John was talking about a couple days ago— God wants to reconcile the world back to him. And the first thing that he wants to remove as a distraction, as an excuse, is your inability to communicate the same way he dealt with Moses. Moses was supposed to save the nation, right? What was his excuse? I can't speak. So, the power of tongues is not necessarily for you to showboat or to be— it's a gift for you to edify yourself, download the prophecy, and then communicate the prophecy in the form of the church's edification. I'm saying that tongues is you being able to hear prophecy, and then now you have the ability to speak it out. Prophecy is just tongues spoken out loud. So when you begin to edify yourself in this way, Now, here's where I am a little careful. There's a difference between me speaking personally, right? People's scripture says do not forbid speaking in tongues, right? Scripture says do not forbid speaking in tongues. The reason why is because there's a misunderstanding in you being able to speak at people. Remember, I believe the Corinthian church was wildin'. Paul's letters is to fix things that were broken. So, one of the reasons why he's teaching the church these things is there was an abuse of it. Now, think about it. If you had this gift, wouldn't you be using it all type of ways too? It just happened. You got this, you have this ability. You was a part of the upper room, you spoke and everybody heard in your language. You know what you'll be doing when you walk into church? Repetite, shaman. You, you— Paul's just like, that's not what it's for. You're not edifying anybody. You're selfish. You have no regard for the people around you. You're showing off. And unfortunately, it still happens. The point of it is to be able to download a word and then use that. If speaking in tongues only benefits you, you're not doing it right. The end of it should be edification for yourself and the church. That's the point. I'm gonna read one more thing and we'll go to 36. Peter preached this sermon, powerful sermon. I recommend everybody keep reading it over and over and over. This is the first sermon that the church ever heard, and he preached from Joel. The Bible said they were cut to the heart. Um, when you get to the Verse 11, Acts 2:11. This is the point. This is the point of tongues. Verse 11, Cretans and Arabs, we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God. The reason why we pray is to just find a way to communicate what God is doing. The Bible says they were in awe. Like, when was the last time you was in awe about something that happened in the church? Or is it all so normal? The point of all of this is to let us know God's birthing of this church. He said, I'm done playing. When I'm done with y'all in this upper room, y'all going to walk outside and people are going to know something changed. Language is not going to be a barrier. Sickness is not going to be a barrier. I already dealt with your understanding of scripture. And not only is he doing this, he's doing this in a room full of people. So now imagine what happens when you unleash 120 people who just dealt with God in this way. They go outside. And everybody's just like, "No, they got to be drunk. This don't make no sense." It's just like you guys don't know Yoruba and I start speaking in Yoruba and you understand everything that I'm saying. Wouldn't you be like, "What happened up there?" And then they ask something towards the end. They say, what should we do? Oh man, when you see power, you gonna— I've seen some things where I would just like, bro, how? Like, how? I'm trying to, by the end of this Acts series, I want to generate something inside inside of us that your friends will be saying, where did you get this? People are not following you to church because they don't see power. You know, and please, I'm not trying to bring attention to myself. The reason why people listen is because they saw how I used to live and they're just like, bro, what happened? I've had people asking me that. They're like, bro, come on, let's be real with ourselves. Come on, we both went to U of I, we know what happened there. What happened? Power. Something subdued you. Think about how powerful it is. Something made you drive from wherever you were and walk up them flights of steps, which took power. Hey, whatever got you up them steps is power. It sat you down, open up the Bible, you're not on your phone, it's keeping you off of Instagram. It can only be power. And that power was the promise, and all of you have it. So then what did they do with this power? Acts chapter 2. Verse 36, can we read this? They just got endowed with the supernatural. I mean, like, they all just became superheroes overnight. So what do you think they do next? They like, oh man, I'm about to go show these powers off. Like, I hate to bring this up, but y'all remember when Spider-Man first got his powers? It was wild. He was— he didn't even know how to use it. He was like, I'm about to just do everything. The first thing the disciples did was just sit down and have fellowship. A pastor friend of mine, Pastor Delapo, he says the most powerful thing Jesus did was not use power. That's what they did. They sat down. Acts 36, let's read it together, 1 to the end. 1, 2, 3, go. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said to them, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, for for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call. And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, be saved from this perverse generation. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about 3,000 were added to them, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together and all things in common— had all things in common— and sold their possessions and goods and divided them among all as as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. May the Lord bless the reading of His Holy Word. So when something good happens, you should just keep doing whatever brought that good. If you find yourself in a situation of breakthrough, you need to figure out what you did to get there. A lot of people just stumble upon testimonies. You can't recreate it. They just gave us the blueprint. They just showed everybody what just happened in that upper room, and it's 4 things. What are the 4 things? Number 1, they continue steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. This doctrine was them just teaching people their new understanding of scripture. They wanted to make sure everybody knew that, hey, what we just taught y'all in Joel, hey, we about to live it out. They was teaching them. That's the epistles, the letters that you are reading from Paul. That is their explanation of their new understanding of scripture. They was like, we need— because people didn't know these things. This was— this is a whole new covenant. In fact, once you get to, I believe it's Acts 16, they asked, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you were baptized. They say, we don't even know that there's a Holy Spirit. People were living this whole thing out without this new understanding that all that you read in scripture points to Jesus. Amen. The second thing that they did, fellowship. That's why we took the time to introduce each and every one of us. I wish we treated fellowship with the understanding that it's as powerful as speaking in tongues. As powerful. I think one of the things that gave them that power— so the day of Pentecost was 50 days after Passover. Jesus showed himself to the disciples for 40 days. So that means they was in that upper room for 10 days. Y'all don't get it. You stay in the same place with somebody for 10 days, people that you didn't know before, with no social media.

No social media.

Y'all remember what happened during COVID People were finally in the house with their spouses. They said, I know you was this nasty. Hey, you being in the room with 119 other people for 10 days, only the power of God can save you at that point. Fellowship. What else they do? Breaking bread. That's one of the last things Jesus did before he went. I, I really want— and this is, I'm gonna be honest with y'all, my theology around communion has been changing. I used to treat communion more like it was symbolic. That was just like, I did it so passively, like so casually. I'm just like, yeah, man, give me the cup, give me the cracker.

Like, I'm just—

but like, when you understand that that communion was literally the center of their gatherings, they used to hold meetings just to have communion. Like, imagine if you're gonna have a whole Sunday service and all you're gonna do there is pass out bread and wine. I think it was a lot more powerful than we treat it today. I think when they— hmm, this is making me a little emotional. I think because they actually saw what happened to Jesus. When they broke that bread, they were like— when they drink that cup, they was like— they were literally seeing his blood. But because time has created so much distance between us and the crucifixion, how many people drink the communion and don't even think about the blood? They literally— come on, like, it's been 50 days since his crucifixion. That trauma is still in your brain. You just watched your man die. And he told you before he died, do this in my remembrance. Come on. The communion was a gravesite. It was a grave. God forbid we have people pass. What do you do to honor them in remembrance? You go up to their grave and you take some time and you be solemn and you say, man, I wish you were here. So, our communing, our taking of this is to be like, Jesus, I really wish you were here. And then you remember he is. Oh, he is.

He is.

He is. Because he didn't stay in his grave. So now we remember he died, yes, but then he got up. He came inside of us. And every time you take that communion, you're like, And he really did that for me. So they broke the bread. What else did they do?

Pray.

Y'all know me. That prayer, that prayer, man, that prayer gym. How many of y'all in the prayer gym? We're going to get y'all in the prayer gym. That prayer, man, it's like— and I don't want to offend anybody. In fact, I'm going to offend you. I'm going to offend you. You can really tell who love God by how often people talk to him. I don't care how much you tweeted. I don't care how much you wear it on your clothes. If you don't talk to the man, you don't really love him. You don't. They were like, we can talk to God wherever we want now? Remember, it used to be We can only talk to him on the mountains? We can only talk to him in the temples? Jesus said the time has come and is now when the true worshipers will worship in spirit and the truth. The disciples didn't understand what he was saying because God was still right next to them. But when God left and he sent the promise and they felt the presence, they prayed. They saw what their life looked like when they walked with Jesus. And you know, they couldn't even walk with him 24/7. There was some time Jesus said, y'all stay right here, I'm going up. They couldn't be with him, so they were just like, man, if Jesus— I'm just going to sleep by the mountain. For the first time in their life, what they were enjoying with Jesus walking with them was now a permanent things sealed by the Holy Spirit. I bet you they prayed. I feel like sometimes we lack an awareness that God is literally inside of us. So when you choose to complain, you are rejecting the power inside of you. You are basically saying, I'm complaining because I am— I lack awareness that the solution to my problem is inside of my prayer. Can we exchange our complaints with prayer? I feel like it'd be a lot more productive. They prayed. That means they had a constant awareness of God. And I want to get back to that place where we are so aware of God. When you have that awareness, the fear of God is easy. You won't just be out here doing anything. Can I say something? I promise I'm gonna sit down. I wasn't supposed to stand this long. If people were conscious of the presence of God, they will realize that while you're fornicating, you're fornicating with Jesus.

Oh, crazy.

I think Jesus just stay out the door and let you do your thing. And folks be having like— they be wearing crosses around their neck and still lack the consciousness of the presence. If you really acted like— if you really believed God was inside of you, you will live different.

Brand.

People live like this because they don't believe. Oh Jesus, they feel like they can hide from God. What David said, what can I hide from you? If I even go to hell, you're there. If you can't hide from God in hell, what, where, where can you hide from him in? So you think you can hide from God in your sin? He right there, man. He right there. And that's not here to condemn anybody. It should just move you closer to repentance. That means the one that can forgive you is also right there. The one that can forgive you is also right there. So from Acts 36 all the way to the end, we find some vital rhythms in the church. And what I want to ask us now and to have a conversation about for like I mean, whenever y'all wanna leave, y'all could just start getting up. I've made up my mind that like, I'm gonna let God do his thing. I'm not gonna be the one to tell God, "Can we wrap this thing up?" But I'm still respectful of time, so just slip right on out and then we'll send you the meeting notes so you can catch up. I want to ask a question. They were doing this and people were in awe. And I want to, I want to, I want you guys to just meditate and then hopefully at least one person ask, what needs to happen in church to bring that awe back? Like, not just for the unbeliever. I feel like that bar is too low. But for the believer, what will happen in your church this Sunday? And you're going to be like, oh wow, God is awesome. Stemming from what we just saw, people saw what was going on and they were like, what do we do? They gave up everything they had. They was out here like God, hey, that real estate business that you're trying to start, we're selling it. We're giving it to the church. Like, what did they see? What occurred? Like, 3,000 people. 3,000 people. What needs to happen in Chicago? Man, it's 2.5 million people. We're asking for what needs to happen for 0.1% of them to be like, oh man, these Christians are for real. Talk to me.

I think the first thing is revival and a manifestation of miracle signs wonders. I think the body of Christ as a whole has lost faith because they haven't seen God move the way that we read in the Bible. You want me to repeat myself?

Uh, just a little bit.

Okay, I said revival and a manifestation of miracles, signs, and wonders. The Bible talks about these signs follow those who believe, and I believe I believe that the body of Christ has been in a waiting period of not seeing the full glory of God being manifested on the earth as we read in the Bible. And what basically needs to happen is for us not only to see it but to believe it. I think in the church there's so many walls that we have up in our heart that doesn't allow God to move freely. And revival cause for repentance and tearing down those walls. And I do believe God is in a season of turning us back to purity, but in order for him to do that, we must surrender, we must have faith, and do his work. It needs to be a purification.

Yeah.

Who else? I also think what needs to happen is like A lot of people in the body of Christ are very insecure. They're insecure about a lot, which doesn't align with actually how they were created and what they were created with. There are people who are insecure about praying. They don't know if they're doing it right. There are people who are insecure about, can I hear the voice of God? And so what ends up A lot of people outsource their faith. They outsource the works, they outsource the belief. And you have a church full of people who are depending on the leaders of that church to be the ones who are praying and prophesying and healing, if the church even does that, and not realizing that they too can stand up and they can activate the gifts that God has given them, that they can also pray well. They can also, more importantly, like, learn how to do the things that they may be insecure about. And I think that with the miracle signs and wonders that should be demonstrated, the church will also have to do a really good job of, like, edifying and equipping. I think we need to give people equipment so that when you're confident about something, if you're learning a new subject, the more you know and you can comprehend it, you can then, uh, you can act it out, or more importantly, you could teach another person and you know what you're talking about. I think too many of us don't know what we're talking about. I think too many of us are outsource in our faith, and I think too many of us are, uh, depending on culture and other things to actually raise us up. And in that, somewhere we forgot that like everything that we need, God created us with it. We just need to activate it. Like, I'll say one more thing. There was a sermon I watched and the pastor was talking about how scientifically we have DNA within us that is dormant. We were born with it. But when the time is right or when it should be activated, that DNA then shows up. So for example, I mean, we weren't all born, you know, 5 foot whatever, 6 foot whatever, but that DNA to be that height was in there from the beginning. The color of what our hair would be like or how you would one day have facial hair and so forth and whatever else comes with DNA, it already existed when we were born. I think that we are unaware of just how much we have, and if we don't develop and equip each other and listen to the teachings of the apostles, you don't know what's in you because you don't know who created you well enough. So I think like, honestly, smarter Christians, more confident Christians will, will, will be a part of that revival that you Yeah, before, um, before Eric go, I, I wanna—

it might have to be a separate series, but like, how many of you guys here know what your ministry gift is? I want to get that to like 100%, and I'm gonna table it.

But yeah, yeah, that's—

I'll keep, I'll keep that one to myself for now.

Um, all right, Pastor Eric, please read a line. James 4 says, what causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire what you do not have, so you kill and covet what you cannot get, which you want to quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God, and when you ask, you do not receive because you ask with bad motives, that you may spend what you get Um, I think it's very fitting what needs to happen in the church, right? It's very fitting that you're talking about the Genesis of the church, and, uh, also Jesus was giving them the Great Commission. He said, you will receive power to do what? Witness. Yeah. What we've done from Babylonian, Babylonian system, Church has reached America, it's created empires of men. So if I can get all the people in the building, yeah, get the tithes up, right, then I'm able to sustain the building, but I'm also able to build a brand. And if I build a brand alongside of it, right, then I'm competing against this person. If somebody leaves my church and goes to that church, we're at odds with each other as if the church is a building.

Yeah.

Dwell in the tabernacle built by hand, but he will dwell in his vessels, right? So the ecclesia is the called out ones. So if we, as we're studying the book of Acts, what we're seeing is unity, we're seeing prayer, and we're seeing 3,000 added to the church. It wasn't added to the building, they were added to the body. So in order to see that in Chicago, we got to destroy the empire that man has built.

What I'm not saying is run up in that Sunday— we ready.

What I am saying is the blueprint is here. The only reason they were in the synagogues is because it was preaching to the Jews. It's what it just works. So they was witnessing to Jews who haven't seen Christ yet. But everywhere else, all the miracles happened in the marketplace, the miracles happened in the prisons, the miracles happened in the houses. Yeah, as they were witnesses. So miracle signs and wonders— not saying they weren't happen inside of the church. But I'm saying, walk with me. That's good. And we witnessing. If I'm witnessing to him, he's a believer.

I'm not witnessing—

we got the same Father.

We're witnessing to the lost.

So how do we add to the body? How do we unify? We got to use the power of what we depend on. That's the Yeah, we do.

I really— yeah, we do.

Um, I'm really glad you shared. It reminds me of something you've shared this weekend, talking about how when we think about power, is there anything really that impressive about seeing— is there anything that really impressed about seeing God move in a mighty way in a church versus seeing God move in a mighty way outside of the church. Yeah, like, I feel like if I went to a magic show— sorry to make this parallel— like, seeing the magician do all these tricks on stage, I'm thinking they probably got their setup here, they got their lights, this is where they're at, so it's fine. But imagine if I then see that same magician pull up to my house and start pulling rabbits out of— I'm thinking like, wow, that's power.

Oh wait, so what?

So I don't know God.

Oh man, you just did something.

And I'm in my house, but this stranger who I'm not familiar with shows up with power. And I know it's not because they're in their comfort place, but they came where I was and showed a mighty work, whatever that may be, whether it be peace, whether it be healing, or Whatever. Acceptance, love, whatever. But God's hand is not short that he cannot reach, and he is not confined to the church. But that's so often the place where we feel our faith is supercharged and we're making our big prayer requests and we're seeing God move. But dang, but how we're trying to reach the lost, those who don't trust, those who don't believe, unity can be in us as we are sent. And you said you're in a science position. I am too. And what would it look like if the place where God is often fought against, if he starts moving there?

Yeah.

And confounding the logic of people who are already firmly in their belief. I just think that that's how people's attention perks up because I didn't— I, I've heard about miracles there, but now you're here, that same God, and now my attention—

yeah, I think he just— you just, man, like, man, I'm trying to be so careful right now. Um, bro, if you ever preach that on the pulpit, just, just have, have an armor bearer, have some protocol. Because let me, let me tell you what you just said. Can I tell you what you just said? I know what you just said, but I want to tell you anyway. You just said that like these pastors can't move without their worship teams. They can't, they can't move without the Bible verses being presented on the screens because it's not in here. I mean, you just said they can't move without their armor bearer bringing their Bibles up to the pulpit. You just said they can't come outside. You said a lot, and I'm just wrestling with it like, he talking to me? But I'm here. I think there's a— I think there's a lot of power with what you just said, and we need to find a way to amplify that.

If God is who we say he is, if he is who he says he is, we should have enough faith to believe he's able to do much more anywhere. Yeah, anytime. I don't need the minister if he's in me.

Yep.

I don't need the study Bible if it's in me.

Nah, I mean, we, we keep him dormant. Yeah, we're gonna double back on that. Just stay right there, Tony. Yeah, come sit right here. I got a seat.

I'm Tony, everyone. But, um, you know, I'm just— I'm so blessed to be here, and God is so good. And from the beginning, you know, that I got here and apologize for being late, but I just want to say how lucky we are to have a man.

Oh, nice.

You know, it is truly a blessing because I think You know, and the reason I wanted to come up here and share this and look you guys in the eyes as I say this is that the question is, right, what is it going to take to bring revival into the city? And you guys are all saying all the right answers. I mean, I agree 100%, but I'm just going to answer the question, and it's you. It's this room. It's the people in this room that I'm looking at that brings revival. And what— it's so confusing and confusing And as I'm hearing this, right, and you look in Acts of how Genesis is mirrored, and what you're looking at is the architecture of heaven, right? Heaven has an architecture and there's order to heaven. And when you understand that order and you understand what power looks like, is that when the lamb was being taken to slaughter, he was silent, right? There's that power that's contained pain within. I think for us, being from Chicago, being cultural, right, so many cultures in here, but like myself, I feel like we're fighters, right? We fight and we're called to run the good race and fight the good fight. But that's that surrender. And I think the power that comes from the Holy Spirit, and I mentioned this last week too, but it's the awareness of what the cost is. And as Jesus is walking, He always presents that as you don't want to look like a fool because if you start something and you start to build but you didn't weigh the cost and it doesn't get finished, you don't look good in the eyes of man or the eyes of God, right? But it's also that when you think about Genesis and you think about the architecture of heaven is that, you know, people talk about a triune God, but really Yahweh is 7 spirits as mentioned in the Bible, in scripture. And it's a process. So as you approach the throne, right, you go through these steps. And so the steps are, first you have that breath, which is the Spirit of Yahweh. But then follow up, and you look at when you're born, you're born crying, right? And what's the second thing is you're born with the spirit of fear of Yahweh. And so fear has to be placed somewhere. And so now when you start to look at the times that we're in, Israel. We're Israel, and we're surrounded now by an enemy that wants to devour us. I mean, there is no coexisting with the religions of the world, right? Yeah. And so now what you're gonna have to do in this moment is weigh the cost, because the fear is going to be very, very real. It's no longer going to be you're going and you're being a light and you're sharing light. Darkness is going to look a lot different. It will be like the times of Noah. And when you start reading about the times of Noah, Horrific. Yeah, right. And so it's now you have to ask yourself, is the, is the fear of what a man, a human can do to me greater than what he who can cast me into an eternal lake of fire? Right. But then as you become aware of this, you start approaching this throne of— now all of a sudden you're given the spirit of knowledge, you're given the spirit of understanding. Then you're given the spirit of wisdom. And as you have these things that we all are possessing, and the Holy Spirit is being made manifest here, then comes the spirit of counsel, which is that Elohim, right? Which is again that structure of heaven here. But then the last thing that comes is that spirit of might. And that is when the power becomes manifest in the world. But it's only as you get closer to that throne Nothing unholy can remain in the presence of holiness.

Yeah.

So if you allow sin into your life, now this is where it becomes how we are shaped in the image of God, is because the difference between God and everybody else is that God had a choice. He had a choice to make us or not to make us. And now we have a choice to be with him or not to be with him. And so as you go through your day, every single moment, every single choice you have, just like in the garden when You walk in the garden as Adam and Eve, every choice was allowed except for one, because only one choice led to death. But now in the death, every choice leads to death and only one leads to life, which is death. So now you have to be at this place of what does it cost? And you will now have to look back at your life and see a corpse. And there has to be a mourning period where not only you, but everybody around you is like, that person's gone.

Yeah.

They don't— they're not here anymore. They're dead. So what you see is not the old, but you see Christ made manifest. Amen. And when you start to say that, I'm not there yet, I'm not ready yet, right? No, no, that's where God becomes manifest in your weakness. So take pride in, or boast about rather, how weak you are, because that's when God's glory will become manifest. So just, just as a— as, as you approach these things, always keep that in mind, that wisdom, all those things precede the power, right? But it comes when you are finally dead to yourself and can be presented because you are now fully covered by the blood of the Lamb. And now you will walk in that power. But it starts here. And I believe it.

I see it.

I've been hearing it. And there is a revival, but I don't think it's out there. I think it's in here.

100%.

We are that spark that God is choosing And he's choosing us, right? This isn't— he doesn't need us. He desires us. So, but thank you.

Yeah, destiny. Okay, okay, that's perfectly fine. That's why I gotta be here.

there.

And I didn't mean to be, like, I meant to end up here. When I got there, I'm really shy, I'm really scared, and I felt really embarrassed, you know. But I was sitting there, and first when I heard the name, I, I don't want to hate on them because I think, like, you know, they're trying, like, they're trying to do something good. It's called the Bible Buddies. And, like, to me, that's, like, you're reverent. Like, it's like, I don't know, felt like kind of substandard. Like, I was like, I don't know, like, if this is where I want to be. And I could hear the worship music from over here. It felt like calm. I was going, I think I need to go over there. I was so scared, but I got up and I left. I was like, I'm sorry, like, I didn't need to be here. And I think it speaks to, like, I guess how Oh, it's time to pray.

I mean, I think Bible study's over. I'm so serious. Um, we're about to pray because, um, I really believe in revelation. I really, really, really, really, really, really believe in revelation. And there are some things that God has— I've never been to seminary. You know, there's some things that God has just revealed to me in scripture. When I read my Bible, it's like a movie. It's like a movie playing. Like, things begin to move, and I just begin to like be like— you'd be like, is everybody seeing this? It's like— and if not, then that means you have the teaching gift, and you have to go communicate that. And the reason why I started this study saying that everybody in here is a minister. Everybody's here is called to ministry is because I said this before and I kind of reneged, but I'm about to say it again. I don't really think we need more churches. I think we need more believers walking in a purpose. And when that begins to happen, we're gonna let the unbelievers that become believers start the new churches to reach their people, right? That's what we need to do. We need to just, we need to create edifices that allow them to be like, hey, I was in this part of darkness, whatever, right? Like this person just came from the occult. I'm not about to go start a church to reach the occult, but you can. You definitely can. Please do. We will back you. We will pray with you. We should support you. What we're not going to do is compete with you.

So we—

give me 30 seconds, I need to pray this out. Oh God of heaven, please have mercy, have mercy. Father, give us the utterance to communicate your will part-time. That words not be words of flesh, that not be selfish ambition flow from my lips. Let us reverence you. In your holiness. Let us fear the God that hears what we say. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, I'm about to say something real. Can we cut the stream?