Vision

♪ And sings my soul ♪ ♪ My Savior God to thee ♪ ♪ How great thou art ♪ ♪ How great thou art ♪ ♪ Then sings my soul ♪ ♪ My Savior God to thee ♪ ♪ How great thou art ♪ ♪ How great thou art ♪ ♪ We sing again ♪ ♪ Then sings my soul ♪ ♪ My Savior God to thee ♪ ♪ How great thou art ♪ ♪ How great thou art ♪ ♪ We sing of His greatest days ♪ ♪ Oh, then sings my soul ♪ ♪ My Savior God to thee ♪ ♪ Oh, how great thou art ♪ ♪ We sing ♪ ♪ How great thou art ♪ ♪ And sings my soul ♪ ♪ Oh, then sings my soul ♪ ♪ My Savior God to thee ♪ ♪ We sing of His greatest days ♪ ♪ Oh, how great thou art ♪ ♪ Oh, how great thou art ♪ ♪ Oh, you are ♪ ♪ Oh, then sings my soul ♪ ♪ My Savior God to thee ♪ ♪ Oh, how great thou art ♪ ♪ How great thou art ♪

♪ Oh, then sings my soul ♪ ♪ My Savior God to thee ♪ ♪ Oh, how great thou art ♪ ♪ How great thou art ♪ ♪ Oh, how great thou art ♪ ♪ Oh, how great thou art ♪ ♪ Oh, how great thou art ♪ ♪ Oh, how great thou art ♪ ♪ Oh, how great thou art ♪ ♪ And how great is art ♪ ♪ Sing with me, how great is art ♪ ♪ And oh, we'll sing, how great ♪ ♪ How great is art God ♪ ♪ You're so great, God is ♪ ♪ And how great is art God ♪ ♪ Would you sing with me, how great is art God ♪ ♪ And oh, we'll sing, how great ♪ ♪ How great is art God ♪ Lord, you are so worthy of praise this morning. We have come to worship you and you alone. We've come to praise you and you alone. The Alpha, the Omega, the beginning, the end. The firstborn of the dead. We look to you today, Lord. We declare your greatness. Remember your goodness in our life, Lord. We praise you today. ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ Let the king of my heart be the mountain where I'll run. The fountain I dream from, oh, he is my soul. And let the king of my heart be the shadow where I hide. The ransom for my life, oh, he is my mountain today. There you are good, you're good, oh, you are good. You're good, oh, we sing again. Yeah, you are good, you're good. Oh, you are good, you're good. Oh, you are good, you're good. Oh, the king of my heart be the wind inside my sails. The anger and the waves, and oh, he is my soul. And let the king of my heart be the farting side of my veins. The echo of my day, oh, he is my host. Sing that again today. Oh, the king of my heart be the wind inside my sails. The anger and the waves, and oh, he is my soul. And let the king of my heart be the farting side of my veins. The echo of my day, oh, he is my soul. Oh, you are good, you're good, oh, you are good. ♪ You are good, you're good ♪ ♪ Oh, yes, you are good, good God, yes ♪ ♪ You're good, you're good ♪ ♪ Oh, you are good, you're good ♪ ♪ And oh ♪ ♪ You're good, you're good all the time ♪ ♪ There's never been a moment where you haven't been good ♪ ♪ Even in the difficult times Lord ♪ ♪ You've been good to us ♪ ♪ You've been good to us ♪

♪ Surely goodness and mercy will follow me on my days ♪ ♪ All my days, surely goodness and mercy will follow me ♪ ♪ All my days, all my days, surely goodness and mercy will follow me ♪ ♪ All my days, surely goodness and mercy will follow me ♪ ♪ All my days, surely goodness and mercy will follow me ♪ ♪ All my days, surely goodness and mercy will follow me ♪ ♪ All my days, you're never ♪ ♪ Oh, you're never gonna let you never gonna ♪ ♪ Come on, sing it like you believe it today ♪ ♪ Enjoy ♪ ♪ If you've seen it in your life, testify today ♪ ♪ Oh, you're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ Oh, you're never gonna let you never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ Oh, you're never gonna let you never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ Oh, you're never gonna let you never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ I'm the only true, yeah ♪ ♪ Who you're never gonna let ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ No, no, no, no ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ Who you're never gonna let ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ Who you're never gonna let ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let ♪

♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ Who you are gonna let ♪ ♪ You're gonna see me ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ Oh, you are gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're gonna let me down ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ You are gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down ♪

- You guys are celebrating seven years of being a church, which is incredible praise God. And I'm so thankful that me and my wife get to join in. We have been here for a week. (laughing) We get to join in with what you guys have been doing for seven years and we are so thankful for that. But I want to be honest. This has been really difficult for me and my wife. We have felt the call on our life to be here and it's been so evidently clear. But we've left family, we've left friends, we left a great church, we did. And I was sitting with my wife the other night. In tears, honestly in fear. Like, Lord, what are you doing? You've answered so many prayers and now that I'm seeing you answer them, I'm a little bit scared. (laughing) Thank you, but also, why? And I'm asking so many questions. And it might sound cliche, but the first place I knew where to go was, first of all, God's word. In Psalm 23. And I burst into tears reading this. I don't know read it over us today. The Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing. (muffled speaking)

He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in pass of righteousness for his namesake. And even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For you are with me. You're rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. And this verse punched me in the face. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me every single day of my life. And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. We don't just sing the words of the Psalm for no reason. You're never gonna let me down. 'Cause it's the truth of who God is. He's never going to let us down. And I shared last week he would never lead you somewhere to leave you. He loves you too much to do that. And so today, can we just follow his leadership wherever he wants to take us today? "Lord, I don't want to hold on to the things of my life anymore." Actually, I want to let go and I want you to have control. Is this better when you're in control? It's better when you're lead. You're the good shepherd. Lead, good shepherd.

Lead, good shepherd. So with this in mind today, can we just sing that part again? You're never going to let me down and sing that in faith today. Come on, let's sing it out. You're never going to let. And you're never going to let. You're never going to sing it like you believe it today. You're never going to let me down. And you're never going to let. You're never going to let me down. You're never going to let. Come on, let's pick it up a little bit. Yeah, you're never going to let. Yeah, you're never going to let. Surely, you're never going to let me down. You're never going to let. You're never going to let. Every day of my life, you're never going to let me down. Yeah, you're never going to let. Come on, church, we'll sing. You're never going to let. Yeah, you're never going to let. You're never going to let me down. And sing that in faith today. You're never going to let. You're never going to let. You're never going to let. You're never going to let me down. You're never going to let. You're never going to let.

You're never going to let. You're never going to let. You're never going to let. I know what you are. You're so very good. Oh, you're good. You're good. Oh, you are good. You're good. Oh, you are good. You're good. Oh, you are good. You're good. Oh, you are good. Oh, you are good. And all my life you have been faithful. And all my life you have been so, so good. With every breath that I am able. Oh, I will see other good names of God. And all my life you have been faithful. All my life you have been so, so good. With every breath that I am able. Oh, I will see other good names of God. Amen. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC]

[MUSIC] ♪ To see you ♪ [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

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[Music] [Music] When you're in the room, nothing else matters. You're in the room, yes. When you're in the room, Heaven can't happen. You're in the room. Come on, Church, press it. When you're in the room, Nothing else matters. You're in the room. When you're in the room, Heaven can't happen. You're in the room. When you're in the room, Nothing else matters. You're in the room, yes. When you're in the room, Heaven can't happen. You're in the room. When you're in the room, Nothing else matters. You're in the room. You're in the room. Heaven can't happen. You're in the room. You're in the room, Nothing else matters. You're in the room. When everybody shouts, Holy, Everybody cries well, hey. You're glory fills the room. You're glory fills the room. When everybody shouts, Holy, Everybody cries well, hey. You're glory fills the room.

You're glory fills the room. When everybody shouts, Holy, Everybody cries well, hey. You're glory fills the room. You're glory fills the room. Yeah, Holy, Everybody cries well, hey. You're glory fills the room. You're glory fills the room. When everybody says, You're glory fills the room. You're glory fills the room. You're glory fills the room. You're glory fills the room. You're glory fills the room. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, it's fair. Yeah. Oh, the spirit comes. And fill this room. Oh, the spirit comes. And fill this room. Yeah. Anything is possible in your room. Yeah. Anything is possible in your room. Oh.

Healing can happen. You're in the room. Body's healed. All your mind's healed. Yeah. You're in the room. Anything is possible in your room. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Um. I know this song is about the room that we're in. But I feel like it's more than that. I've been having a hard time. I've been having a hard time. I've been having a hard time. I've been having a hard time. I've been having a hard time. I've been having a hard time. I've been having a hard time. I've been having a hard time. I've been having a hard time. I've been having a hard time. I've been having a hard time. I've been having a hard time.

I've been having a hard time. I've been having a hard time. Because it's so easy, it's so easy to fill it up with just mindless stuff that doesn't matter and he's the only thing that matters. And when I'm sitting in that room at two in the morning or at ten in the morning or whatever time it is and I'm rocking my son, it's so easy to like distract myself from the struggles that I'm having and just sit on Instagram and feel like that's going to make a difference, but it really doesn't. It really doesn't. And I was encouraged to just sit with him every moment of the day because he's there with us every moment of the day. And this morning I'm changing his diaper and he's freaking out and my daughter's freaking out. And I just said, "Jesus." I said, "Jesus, I just need you. I need your help." Every moment of the day I need your help. I need you to fill the room and the gaps that I have tried to fill with other things that I need you to come in and fill that with your Holy Spirit to help me through the day, help me through the struggles. And so I just want to pray that over you guys right now. I feel like a lot of us are quick to fill that space with stuff that doesn't matter. And right now he's asking you to fill that space with him and him alone. So yeah, why I ask Lord that you would come in this room, God, come in this room, physically come in this room emotionally, Jesus, that you would just fill the gaps. Lord, that you would help us discover and learn and identify the things that we have replaced you with in our lives and toss it aside, Jesus. That we would put it to the side that we would let you take center stage, that we would let you fill in those gaps, Jesus. That the room in our heart, the room in our mind that we may not know, that we've been filling with pointless stuff, God, that you would show that to us right now, God, that we would lay it at your feet, that we would give it to you, that you would help us give it to you, Jesus. It's only by your strength and your might and your grace and your mercy that we can give it to you. It's all because of you, Jesus. We're only here for you, Lord. Flood this room with your spirit. Flood these hearts with your spirit, God. Let people be touched by your might and your peace. Fill the room, Jesus. Fill the room in your heart or hearts, God. You're the only thing that matters, Jesus. You're the only thing that matters, Lord. We thank you, Jesus. We thank you for your goodness and your mercy and your joy and your peace and your kindness that never runs out. It's an overflow, Jesus. It's an overflow, and we have access to it every minute of every day. Let us sit in that Lord and praise you because you are worthy, Jesus. We love you, Father. Your name. [Music] [Music] He is a Lord. He is a Lord and everybody shouts. Holy, everybody cries, worldly. Your glory fills the room. Your glory fills the room. Everybody shouts. Holy, everybody cries, worldly. Your glory fills the room, Your glory fills the room, Your glory fills the room, Your glory fills the room, Your glory fills the room. Your glory fills the room, Your glory fills the room, Your glory fills the room, Your glory fills the room, Your glory fills the room. Your glory fills the room, Your glory fills the room. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

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[Music] [Music] We need the blood, we plead the blood, receive the blood, the blood of Christ. Ooh, perfect man, and highest priest, poured out yourself for all to drink, we offer her and offer her, you took the path and so will we, we need the blood, we plead the blood, receive the blood, the blood. Come on, every voice in this church, let's sing that together. We need the blood, just confess it, we plead the blood, receive the blood, the blood of Christ. Ooh, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful blood, beautiful blood, man, what told the man, what conquered hell, what never meant, only the blood, what testifies, what prophesies, your death is life, only the blood, what tore the bell, what conquered hell, what never meant, only the blood, what testifies, what dropped the sight, your death is life, only the blood, only the blood, only the blood. O Jesus Christ, we plead the blood, we plead the blood, receive the blood, the blood of Christ. We need the blood so much, we plead the blood, receive the blood, the blood of Christ, what tore the bell, what conquered hell, what never meant, only the blood, what tore the bell, what never meant, only the blood, what never meant, only the blood, Christ, what prophesies, your death is life, only the blood, Oh, make the blood Oh, make the blood Oh, make the blood Oh, make the blood Oh, make the blood Oh, make the blood Oh, make the blood Oh, make the blood Oh, make the blood Oh, make the blood Oh, make the blood Oh, make the blood

Oh, make the blood Oh, make the blood Oh, make the blood Oh, make the blood Oh, make the blood Oh, make the blood I believe in the blood I believe in the blood I believe in the blood I believe in God the Father Creator of heaven and earth I believe in Jesus Christ That's only Son, our Lord He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary He suffered under Pontius Pilate He was crucified, he died He was buried, he descended to the dead and three days later he rose again He ascended to the Father and he seated at his right hand and he held a time to judge the living and the dead Oh, I believe in the Holy Spirit and the Holy Catholic Church the community of the saints the forgiveness of our sins the resurrection of the body life, life, life, life forever more life, life, life forever more I believe in life, life forever more life, life, life forever more

is the blood in the blood in the blood into life life, life forever more in the blood life forever more in the blood life forever more in the blood life, life forever more in the blood life, life forever more in the blood life forever more in the blood life forever more life forever more it's in the blood oh, it's in the blood do you believe? do you believe? do you know what you believe? do you believe? (crying) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music)

(soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) You know, there's something that the blood of Jesus did, that nothing else was ever capable to do. When we find in Romans 23, the, sorry, excuse me, speaking English not Spanish, we find in Romans chapter three, what that means. In Romans chapter three, it says this righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. Everybody say all. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile. That means it doesn't matter who comes to the throne, it is for all who believe. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely. Say freely. He justifies you freely through the blood of Jesus that we're just saying about. Says God presented Christ as a sacrifice of a toneman through the shedding of his blood. It's for all. If you're in this room to morning, if you're in this room this morning, if you hear my voice today, his blood paid away for the forgiveness of your sins. If I jump forward to Romans chapter 10, it says in verse nine, if you declare with your mouth,

Jesus is Lord. I'll say it again. If you declare with your mouth these three words, Jesus is Lord. Not Jesus is a nice guy, not Jesus is a prophet. There's a billion Muslims that believe Jesus is a prophet. It says if you declare with your mouth, Jesus is Lord. That means he's in charge. Means he calls the shots. That means he's your savior. And you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. You will be saved. Does anybody here need that today? You came in here this morning and you're like, I need to be saved. I'm gonna give an opportunity right now. We just cannot sing about the blood of Jesus and pretend and hope that everyone in the room knows this and pretend in the room that everyone has this 'cause this will change your life. The altar was created so that the whole earth will be full of his glory. And we wanna explain and we wanna expound that message to the nations and it starts here today. So right now across the room, close your eyes and if you need the blood, if you need to plead the blood, you need to say, Jesus is Lord.

I'm not gonna ask you to say anything else, right there where you have to say, Jesus is Lord. Making Lord of your life. Say, Jesus, wash me clean from my sins. Jesus, take the wheel. You be in charge. You write the story. You make the plans. I'm done doing it my way. Jesus, take control. It's yours. This body is yours. My work is yours. My thoughts are yours. Take over. Take over. Take over. And as you say, yes to him. And he takes over your thoughts and his spirit begins to dwell in you. All of a sudden you're gonna figure out that his way was always the best way. If you're near this morning, you're like, "Man, I messed up this week, Pastor David." It's been a rough week. I got good news for you. Jesus paid the price for your sin already. Your chosen before the foundations of the earth. You knew how many hairs you have on your head. You knew what situations you'd hit this week. And he said, "You are mine. You're mine."

The fridge is still available for you. Come and drink. There's a seat at the table. Come and sit. There's a place in this house for you today, in this presence. So right now just close your eyes. I think across this room we need to just ask the Father to renew our faith again. If you've made Jesus Lord of your life, just renew your faith in him this morning. When the sun sets free, it's free indeed. It's not as free maybe. It's not as free if we make it all the way down to the front this morning. When the sun sets free, it's free indeed. God is able. He's able to do more than we can ever ask, think, or imagine his plans for his kids are good. They're to prosper us, not to harm us. Not to harm us. If you've been harmed this week, I got good news for you. God didn't do it. John 10 10 says that the enemy comes to steal, to kill, and destroy. And Jesus said, "But I have come that you would have life and life in abundance." So right now receive abundance. Father, I ask you that you would release the abundance of Jesus on your children this morning. Come and give your abundance, Jesus. New life, new life. If you're thankful for Jesus, just say amen. Look out and say, "Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. We love you, Jesus." Amen. Well, wherever you are, if you can find a seat this morning, young people, if you're under 18, I'll ask. It doesn't look like we have room. You might just find a seat down here on the floor. Can we just thank our worship team? So good. I don't know if it's the incredible new stage design, but everything has just sounded amazing, all weekend. Guys, I want to give a special introduction. Some of you may have missed our special service last night for the anniversary weekend, but we had an amazing guest speaker. Our friend Pastor Chris Mathis was here. If you were here, give it up for him. Pastor Chris Mathis is an amazing man of God. Now, I want to say he's all the way from Canada, but my boy is pure blood American. He is pure blood American, and his wife is Canadian. Some of you may have heard her lead worship down here or follow them from the summit sounds up in Canada, but Pastor Chris Pastors, the summit church up there in Edmonton, Canada, and he is also on our board of directors. So he is a voice in this house. So would you guys please give it up for Pastor Chris as he comes to share something with us this morning. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Can we just celebrate the Lord for seven amazing years of God's goodness in this place? Come on, you can do better than that. Thank you, Lord. Lord, we love you. We honor you and we are so thankful for these last seven years, and we are so thankful and excited and anticipating the next seven years

of your goodness and glory. Listen, I'm not going to take too much time here. Pastor Matty is going to come and speak to us all this morning, but I want to take a minute and just take up an offering and receive the offering this morning in this house. If you can just track with me for a couple minutes, I want to just give a quick message on why we give. Has anybody ever asked the question, why do we give to the church? Why should we give out of our resources to God's house? Well, I'm so glad you asked that question this morning. I'm going to answer it for you. Number one, the father was a giver. For God so loved the world that he did what he gave. He didn't just give something. He gave his best, his only begotten son as a seed so that there would be a harvest, us, multiplied fruit. He gave his best. Number two, because when I give in faith, multiplication will be my harvest. Now, this is what theology calls the law of reprocity. And the law of reprocity says this. When you give, there is a return. When you sow, there is a harvest. I live in a province, a state where it's a big farming community, and I know a lot of farmers, I hunt on a lot of their property. And one thing that I know about farmers, when they sow seed in the ground, they don't pray over it. The seed zone does what it's supposed to do. And you can't have a harvest unless you sow. Come on, that's a good word now. Number three, this is my favorite. Every time I give, What does that mean? Giving is an act of spiritual warfare against money's attempt to become my master. My giving is a declaration that my paycheck is not my provider, and that my bank account is not my security, and my identity is never in my possessions. My offering is evidence that I am no longer owned by what I own. Come on, that's good, that's good stuff. Giving is how I remind my money that it has a place, and that place is not on the throne of my heart. What I give away proves that I refuse to be controlled by what I own. And generosity, listen to me church, alter fellowship, generosity is spiritual warfare against greed. Giving is how I dethrone what tries to constantly rule my heart. Amen? Amen.

Number three, I give because I'm thankful for what the Lord has done in my life. Come on, anybody thankful for what the Lord has done in your life this morning? I give to the Lord because I'm thankful, because Chris Mathis would not be standing right here this morning had it not been for God's goodness. So every time I give, I'm giving out of thanksgiving, Lord, thank you that you saved me. Thank you that you've delivered me. Thank you that you've given me health. Thank you that you've given me a beautiful family. Amen? I give because I'm thankful for what the Lord has done. Number four, I give because it's actually considered worship. What I give to the Lord is worship. I had a guy years ago, I was pastoring in Florida, and he gave our church a check for $250,000, and I was blown away. It was the largest offering we had ever received at the time by one individual family. And I called the guy after church to thank him. I said, "Hey, thank you so, so much for giving this offering. You have no idea what this is going to do." He says, "Why are you calling me?" He said, "Do you call everybody in the church that gives something?" I said, "No, sir." He said, "This is my worship, and I'm blessed, and I have a lot of money. But my $250,000 is no different than the grandma that just gave a hundred. Have you called her this morning?" I said, "No, sir." And it was a teaching moment for me that no matter what the amount is, it's worship. Whether it's $10, $100, $500, $1,000, $1,000, $1,000, it does not matter. It's all considered worship to the Lord. And guess what this pastor never did? Called and thanked anybody ever again for what they gave.

Number five, I give because it partners my finances with the Lord's purposes in the earth. I give because it partners my finances with the Lord's purposes in the earth. Amen? And how many of you believe here at the Alter Fellowship, there are some kingdom purposes that are going to be done in this next season. And you're giving partners with that, and watch this, you get the same reward. If you're not the one doing the ministry, but you're the one sowing and serving, you get the same reward as it is for the laborer that's doing the ministry. It's the same exact reward. Can we take a breakthrough offering for this house this morning? Can we believe for a miracle offering today that will set the trajectory for the next season of this ministry's future? I'm glad I got about three people that are partnering with me right now. Come on, can you get in faith with me this morning to believe God? Listen, I know Pastor Matty's going to talk a lot about this. I dropped this in his ear last night when we left the church. I said, man, I just feel like the first seven years was about establishing this house. But I just believe in my heart. I feel in my spirit that the next seven years is about multiplying this house. Come on. What would it look like if we had altar fellowships all over the southeast region of the US? Come on. What are the possibilities and your faith, your finances are partnering with that for kingdom advancement? Amen. Amen. Pastor David, how do you want to do this? Okay. So we're going to call them up.

Okay. Let's go up here with some of the team and you guys, feel free to make your checks out to the altar fellowship. There's a QR code if you want to give online. You can also give, I love this on the mobile app. If you've not downloaded that, please download that this morning so that you can stay in tune with all of the announcements and all the things that are going on around here. Also, there's an offering envelope right there in your seat pocket behind you. And thank you for your giving so much. Let's pray father. Bless these people and bless your offering. They're offering to you today. I pray, father, that you would multiply it, that it would reach not just this city, but this region, that it would reach nations of the earth, father. We thank you for what you're doing here. It is a big birthday today. The Altar Fellowship is turning seven Pastor Maddie and Mama Candace. Please come join me on the stage. Please stand up and honor them. All right, let's sing. Happy birthday to us. Happy birthday to us. Happy birthday to the Altar Fellowship. Hey, happy birthday to us. Pastor Maddie. Yes. Pastor Maddie and Miss Candace, this could have never been possible without the "yes" in your hearts. I remember when you called in 2018 and said, God's been speaking to us. I'm so glad that God spoke to us too to come and join you. This has been the best seven years of our lives, and I dream for many, many more. Please stay here. I will take the cake off so we don't drop it. Please stay here and I'd like to invite Mr. Kashif Khan to the stage, one of our elders. Good morning. Happy birthday, Altar Fellowship. Isn't God good? Come on. Amen. Well, this month of October is also Pastor's Appreciation Month. And so what I want to do is I want to take a time to honor all of those who serve faithfully in this house as pastors. You know, we obviously have Pastor Maddie and Candace here, and then we also have some of the other pastors. And so I want to invite all of the other pastors up here as well.

My wife, Anna, can I get Pastor David up here? And then also Pastor John. And I know this is a little bit of a new announcement, which I'll let Pastor Maddie make that announcement later. But also Cameron and Austin, if you could come up here as well. Come on. And so the Bible teaches us that we are to give honor, double honor to elders that serve in the house of God. And this is so important and honor can look like so many ways. It can look like your time. It can look like your finances. It can look like, you know, making meals, you know, all sorts of different things. There are many ways that we can show honor. But I believe one of the foundational aspects to the kingdom in honoring is holding up our leaders' hands and their arms when they are tired. When they need strength that they know that there's a body that is behind them, lifting them up in prayer, fasting for them, believing for them, and supporting them. And so real quick, can we just give honor to all the people who serve here on the stage? Thank you so much. Thank you to all of you for the time and effort that you put into this ministry. This ministry would not be the same had it not been for any of you. And all of you, each of you bring such a unique aspect to this church. And we just honor the voice that you put into this. We honor the tears, the sweat. Some of you, probably even the blood that has been put into this. Maybe even some other physical injuries, I'm not sure. Yeah, no, thank you so much. And we actually have some gifts for each and every single one of you. And so I want to call up those that are presenting gifts to come up. And as we're doing that, I would like to also invite all of the staff, all the staff and all of the elders. If you could also please join me on stage. What we're going to do is we're going to lay hands on all of the pastors here. And if you could continue standing and just stretch out your hands, we're just going to pray for everyone.

Where is Paul? There he is. Come on. So Father, we thank you so much for each and every single one of these men and women of God that stand up here. God, we thank you for the call of God on their life. I thank you that each and every single one of our lives that we've been blessed from the gifts and the talents that each person has brought and contributed to this house. Father, I ask that you would bless them, that you would keep them, that you would make your face to shine upon them and to be gracious to them. That you would lift up your countenance upon them and give them your shalom. Just for for bringing these people into our lives God. I thank you for what not only what they contribute to this house But God I thank you for what they contribute to this region to this city of Johnson City into the nations God I thank you that this the voices of each and every single person up here that it goes far beyond this house That it goes into all the corners of the world and so father. I ask that that that sound would continue to be heard for another Seven years for another seventy years for another seven hundred years if you should Terry We thank you for what you're doing in this house We thank you for what you're producing in this house And I think you God that you will defend this house that you protect this house that you rise up and you defend your people And so father I ask that you would defend the shepherds of this house that you are the good and the great shepherd And we ultimately submit to you and father. I ask that you would continue to teach every single one of these pastors How to be good shepherds how to be good leaders how to get into the secret place to dwell in your courts to be in your house And I think you that the promise of Psalm 23 is that they will live in the house of the Lord all the days of their life that Surely goodness and mercy follow you all the days of your life and you they will dwell in the house of the Lord forever and never Amen Yeah, can we give them another hand clap? We love you guys we bless you we hope that these gifts honor you and bless you in some ways shape for himself. Thank you Good morning, you can go ahead and be seated. It's good to see you. All right. We're getting there. I Love y'all happy anniversary guys. This is this this Listen for all of our you know, yeses and investments of time and energy and resources into this church man It would be very awkward if it was just me my wife and kids in here By ourselves and so I'm so great. I'm so grateful That each one of you has been hand chosen by God to be a part of this community

I'm so grateful that that your talents your energy your voice your unique expression the beauty and The revelation that God has given you that you bring those as a gift to this house So that we together can bring to the Lord our gifts Week after week and so thank you just for for being here. Thank you for giving your time Your resources your finances your your energy and your gifts your abilities to the Lord here as a part of this house because it You know, I always come back again and get into the to the wise men that came to Jesus with their gifts of gold and frankincense and mr And I think and that we get to join that company of people who have the revelation of the the worthiness of Jesus and who are able to bring our Riches our resources our gifts to to him for his honor And so thank you just for being a part of that here I just want to tell you guys y'all are amazing you guys bless us me and my family more than I'll ever be able to articulate we're so grateful for you and You know, I believe something that I've preached a lot through the years is that Isaiah I think meant it when he said that there will be no end to the increase of his kingdom in his peace And so that which we have experienced to this point we expect that what is to come will be even greater the the the miracles the lives and families that have been restored the people that have been the captives that have been set free the amazing and tremendous Miraculous moves of God or demonstrations of God's power and love we have experienced over these last seven years I think aren't even fit to be compared to the glory that is to come in the years ahead and so I am Excited today. I feel like we are, you know on the on the first taking the first step of a journey into Unprecedented glory and and I'm glad to have you along for the right so We feeling good All right, you know as we as we celebrate today seven amazing years of serving this community I'm blown away Over and over again by the faithfulness and kindness of God, you know over these last couple days Friday night and Saturday night we have Remember the things that God has done in the past some of the breakthroughs blessings miracles that he's done But today I want us to begin together to turn and look toward the future Proverbs 29 18 says this in the King James version. It says where there is no vision The people perish that's not right. We're there where there where there is no vision. It says The people perish and and this is a verse. Maybe you have heard I know I've quoted it in the past and

You know, it's funny when I think about this verse. I remember the the the very first time I was ever invited to travel somewhere as a guest preacher. It might have been actually to travel somewhere as a preacher. I went to Minneapolis. I met a man in Mexico who was a missionary down in Mexico, he was on a missions trip, and he said, "I'm a part of a church in Minnesota. "We'd love to have you." And I flew up there and I preached on this verse. And it's easy for me to preach on this verse because I am by nature a visionary. Vision comes easy for me. I'm never twiddling my thumbs thinking, "All right, Lord, what should we do next?" That's the easy part for me. It's like, how do we get from where we're at to where I'm dreaming about us being? Like that's the question or the stuff that I maybe wrestle with more. And so, you know, when Proverbs says in chapter 29, verse 18, where there is no vision that people perish, I think it can be for us, maybe a little bit confusing. The new King James, which is what I tend to preach out of, I think says it in a way that's a lot clearer. It doesn't say where there is no vision that people perish, it says it like this, where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint. And so, vision, it doesn't just mean physical sight. The word there is the Hebrew word kazon.

And it doesn't just mean like physical sight, it doesn't mean the ability to see vision, it doesn't even mean a plan or a strategy. Vision specifically means like a divine revelation, a sense of God's dream. And so, the Bible is telling us in that moment that what life requires, what freedom requires, what our connection to God requires is that we would have some sort of internal witness that God has a plan for our life. Just this morning, I was out to breakfast with a friend of ours and this young man, he said, you know, how are you able to worship God when you're still kind of confused or unsure about things? How can you worship God when you're in the middle of kind of the valley? And my answer was simple. I said, you wanna know how we're able to worship God when there are still unanswered questions? It's because we know that suffering and sorrow and death are temporary. We know that suffering as those who are covered in the blood of Jesus, we know the end of the story. And that vision that is spelled out in Revelation chapter 21, that he will be our God and we will be his people, the dwelling place of God will be with man and he will wipe away the tears from their eyes and there will be no more death or sorrow or suffering. Like that's the vision.

That's the internal sort of conviction that we have, the dream of heaven, the revelation that we have. And that vision is able to give us life where there is no vision, the people perish, Proverbs 29 says, but this is the way that the New King James puts it, where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint. Now the word that's translated in the King James version for parish is translated in the New King James as cast off restraint. That word is the word para, which means to loosen or uncover. In fact, one of the ways it's translated is naked in the Bible. And so it's not just about life or death, it's about our connection and our covering, our connection to God and our position as those who are covered by him. And so if we want to be secure, we've got to be covered by one that is able to keep us, by the one, I should say, that is able to keep us. And the way that we remain covered is that we stay in the vision. We stay connected to the vision. Like this has been my litmus test for, God have I lost it? Have I strayed? Have I made myself your enemy? Maybe you have never felt this way, but I come back again and again. Like today's really hard, God, are you judging me?

Like what's going, you know, have I blown it? Is there something that I missed along the way? And I have to come back and judge myself based on this question. I go, have I to the best of my ability, obeyed what I believed to be the will of God with the resources and information that were at my disposal? Have I done the right thing as far as I knew before God? Because if so, it's not to say that I'm always going to nail it, but it is to say that I can come before God boldly, knowing that I haven't held him at arm's length and said, no, I don't want your will. No, I don't want to obey your word. I want to do things my own way. And so if we stay connected to the vision, we can know that we will never be those who cast off restraint. That is to say, those who loosen our bond to God or who allow ourselves to be uncovered or exposed, where there is no vision, the people perish. who are constantly on a trajectory toward life, let's talk about vision today. Can we do that? So you all know me well enough to know that it's not often that I just move away from scriptures and talk about my own stuff. We're going to do that a little bit today. Please don't get mad at me. I love the Bible. I love the Bible. I'm going to expos it some more. I just did it for the last 10 minutes. But I'm going to do some more biblical exposition in the weeks ahead.

But I want to talk about our vision here as a family. So maybe the first and most obvious thing that I could talk about is this. What do you think about this state? So you all need to know the last couple of weeks Trevor Hager has done just an unbelievable job bringing together a team of people. And I think about Nate Crespo and Chris and Lisa Hardin and many others that have given their time and their energy and their skills. I saw Brady Reddick here a bunch of times to come and to make this happen. And I'll tell you kind of where this came from. So Trevor came to me, I don't know, a month or two ago and he said, hey, you know, my job is to be in charge of like media and production and he's on that camera right back there in the middle I think and he said, I've got to be honest with you, this church looks bad on camera. And he said, I'm trying to make the cameras look good and this building is not helping. And he said, so I want to change the stage. And so we got together, we began to put our heads together and I shared with him something that a mentor and leadership shared with me early on in ministry and he said, everything you do from big to small should serve the vision. And if it doesn't serve everything you do should serve the vision. And if it doesn't serve the vision, don't do it. Like ask yourself, how can every part of what you do contribute to and move forward the vision? And so I said, you know, Trevor, the temptation will be for us to make our church look like a concert hall and we don't want that because that's not the vision. In fact, one of the things that's interesting as I've studied church history is that, you know, you can see, especially in Europe, you can see that there was this sort of conviction that began in the Catholic church and, you know, has also moved into the Eastern Orthodox church and then was carried on into the church of England and the Anglican traditions that there's this sort of shared theology of who God is and how we relate to him as that he is the king, he's the monarch, he's the most high king.

And when we gather together to worship him, it's like gaining audience before the king. And so you, you know, you do it very low and you come in like, oh, you know, great king, please have mercy on me. Thank you for letting me come to you. And you can actually see that theology of worship in the buildings that they built. They built palaces to meet with God in, right, palaces where his presence and his glory would dwell, like that was their conviction. But then the Puritans, when the Puritans began to sort of gain influence, they had this conviction that he is the king, but he's not just the king, he's also our father. And so the Puritans didn't meet in cathedrals or even chapels. The Puritans started to build what they called meeting houses. And they started to build their churches to look not like palaces or castles, they began to build churches that looked like homes. And they said, because this is where children are going to come to jump into the lap of our father. And so, when Trevor and I talked, we said, let's do everything we can to make this feel not like a concert hall or a cathedral. Let's make this feel like Dad's house. And we're going to come together week after week and we're going to appreciate our father. And we're going to listen to the voice of our fathers. He gives us instruction and guidance and tells us stories. And we're going to enjoy the presence and the love and the embrace of our father when we gather together. That's our heritage and I want you to know that even our facilities are designed to preach the message that God, who is the great king, can relate to you not like a subject, but like a son. And that's the gospel and our effort here has been to make sure that our facilities preach to gospel. "When you pray, pray like this, our Father." I start from the revelation that you are beloved sons and daughters who have access to the presence of your heavenly Father. And so the

first thing is this, and I think Trevor and his team have done a tremendous job. I'm so, so excited about this, and it feels great, doesn't it? Yeah. Now, I also want to share, you know, we've been in this last, for this last year, we have not done a single like Friday night service. We have had Sunday mornings, and that's been it. And we did that as a sort of, as a year of rest, you know, we were planting and planting and planting and, you know, re-big and sowing for those first six years. And we felt like it was time to take a year where we maybe got acclimated to our pace. But I've got to tell you, it's been the hardest year for me because I am not a manager. I'm a builder. That's who God made me to be. And I understand, like, I should say to my staff, like, y'all buckle up, we're going, you know, it's, I love you guys. It's going to be good. Y'all make sure that you carve up, you know, because it's time to go. We have spent a year of just maintaining and glory to God today. It's over. It's time to build again. And so here's where we're going to start. How many of you have ever come to an altar fellowship revival night? Yeah, come on. Many of you came into the church because of these revival nights. We'd have guest speakers and worship leaders come in. We had some amazing nights. And I've got to tell you, man, I miss that. I think we have in many ways spent this last year. I should say, I have in many ways spent this last year kind of saying to you, get ready because God is inviting you to be a disciple maker. That if you have been looking to others to disciple you, and it's time that you begin to look at who you might be able to disciple, who you might be able to pour into and teach them all that the Lord has done in your life. And what an amazing opportunity. Because of that, we have kind of largely overlooked the community outside of this building. And I think that that is not a sustainable position to keep. We have got to be people that fling our doors wide open and say, if you want to come and drink from the river of the goodness of the Lord, come on in, right? From the highways and byways, you're welcome. And so this is what we're going to do. The first thing that we're going to do is we are going to relaunch our revival nights. We're going to do those every couple months. And let me introduce you to the person who is in charge of those Cameron, where are you at? Bring your, bring your luscious hair up here. All right. Y'all give it up to one of our new staff members, Cameron Payne, a mighty and anointed man of God, also one of our new worship pastors who is going to be in charge of, not just obviously leading worship on Sundays, but in charge of administrating these revival

nights and making sure that we have wild and unpredictable events. And actually, this is what we've talked about. It is about like making it a secret to where you never know who's going to show up or what's going to happen. We've got some, some things that are already in the works that are going to be things you don't want to miss. So I am really looking forward to those. I think that's going to be a lot of fun for it to just be a gift to the community every time for us to be able to come together on those evenings and really enjoy the presence of God. Cameron, will you, we've got a microphone somewhere. I think Pastor Chris, you may have it. You want to introduce yourself? Tell us about your beautiful wife and kids and. Yeah. Well, my name is Cameron. I grew up in Minnesota. We've been here and the Lord moved this year two years ago. And it's been so good. My beautiful wife and kids are down, downstairs anyways. So she's serving our kiddos, but we're so excited to be here to serve you guys. It's like the joy of our lives to be able to do so and into stepping, you know, what I carry as far as in worship and in open up to see just what the Lord does and be, you know, priests and ministers to hear first and for four months. Amen. We're so excited to be here with you. Amen. Let's go. So excited to have you buddy. Love you. If y'all see Cameron, love on him. He's going to be helping us dream and make these events as special and impactful as possible. Thank you so much, man. Let's go. So, uh, revival night. Those are gonna be happening again, get ready. Next, so part of what is just overwhelming to me here is that somehow in the middle of some city nobody'd ever heard of seven years ago, God has sent us some of the greatest musicians I've ever heard in my entire life. So just some, but we are so spoiled here. Y'all don't understand. Yeah, we are blessed. And so part of what we have had in our heart to do for some time is to help capture the voices that God has given us here, and also make this the kind of place that people who are,

you know, maybe need a rest from trying to climb the ladder and Nashville can come and reconnects with the presence of God. And remember what it's all about, right? And so we built a recording studio up there last year and it has mostly just been sitting around collecting dust. Until, I don't know, a month ago I called this guy, Austin Adams, and I said, hey man, you moved here to start a recording studio, didn't you? And he said, yeah, but it just didn't work out. And I said, well, let's fix that. You wanna come on as a worship pastor and also run this recording studio. Austin, come and introduce yourself and do this. (audience cheering) Tell him what to do and what you got in your heart. And where you came from. Austin is, for better or worse, maybe one of the most experienced ministers on our team. And he's been a worship pastor and a senior pastor of a church. And probably unsurprisingly was pretty convinced he was totally done with ministry. And God said, no, no, no, you got more in the tank. And so here we are. - Yeah, he won't leave me alone. I'll tell you what, he's persistent. My name is Austin Adams. I'm from another planet called Alaska. Moved here like two years ago.

It feels like a different country, but I just wanna start by saying, I've never been honored by a church. I've been honored here. And I've been, I've worked at several churches and have had highs and had lows. And it's a joy to be here. And thank you so much for the culture of honor you've created here for our team. So I just appreciate you and that. Yeah, I've moved down here. I've been in music for a long time. I've been a worship pastor. I've been a pastor. I feel their jobs in between. And I've always had a passion to not just sing songs on a Sunday, but to really create something compelling for the kingdom. To usher in the beauty of heaven. And to mine out the golden artists and creatives that I know I'm just waiting to be heard and be shared into the world. So we have a wealth of musicians here. We have so much talent in this room. I know has been untapped. And so for this house, we wanna record the sound of the altar. We want that to go out to the world. And I also think there's musicians beyond these walls that are waiting to be heard.

But our church can be a hub for that sound. The Tri-Cities and the world beyond. So that's the goal. I love it. I love it, man. So Austin and Cameron, they were telling me that their goal is to meet and build relationships with every single musician in the Tri-Cities. And I thought, I don't know why it's never crossed my mind before. We should go find the musician. Yeah, we selflessly won them all here. Yeah. And we're not gonna quit. Cameron and I are not gonna rest until it happens. Yeah, yeah. I'm excited, man. Well, welcome to the team, Austin. We've got high hopes and expectations for you, man. We're so glad to have you. Thank you so much. Thank you, Austin. Thank you. (audience applauding) So good. I have spent a lot of time around musicians and I know that it's a dangerous game you're playing. You know, they're like, they can be wild people. But, man, I think I got a grace on our team to help push them toward Jesus.

Amen. So, now, part of what, there's a, there's a quote that if you've been at the church for any amount of time, you have heard me use before. So, quote from Winston Churchill, who said that one of the signs of a great society is the diligence with which we pass culture from one generation to the next. And I want you, I'll bring you into my internal world. My processing is a leader. You know, I see all the kids, 300 kids a week on average come to our kids' ministry, ages one to 10. And what an amazing gift that is. But here's what I found out. I've raised now three boys, I guess my youngest is eight, but the other two are in high school and middle school. So, they're out of kids' ministry. And here's what I have realized about little kids is that they want to listen to anyone other than their parents. You know what I mean? Your kids all love me and hate you. That's like, that's how, and my kids, my kids love you all and hate me. Like, this is, this is just how it works sometimes. And so, there's this sort of gap where, you know, people in our 30s and 40s, like, we are, you know, looking at the kids and saying, all right, kids, don't you want to love the gospel? And don't you want to worship God?

And they're like, not if you're asking, old man. Like, you know. the moon. They're just the most incredible, awesome people. I want to be just, you're 21. I want to be just like you. And so I want to tell you something that the Lord has been speaking to us about recently is that we are going to be relaunching. And I think many of you weren't even here when we had that before. So maybe for you, it's that we're going to be launching a young adults' ministry here at the orchestra. And we're going to be doing this in an interesting way. Now, you guys have met Jacob Nelson. Jacob, you want to come up real quick, but you may not. So Jacob is, he is himself a young adult. Maybe you could tell. And also just an amazing worship leader. And so he is going to be a core part of this. But we have also brought on a young adult's pastor that you maybe haven't heard from before. This is now pastor Daniel Heeps. Daniel Reus. Welcome to the team. So we are Daniel and his wife, Alexis, have been here for several years and are just wonderful. And so would you, I don't know, introduce yourself, share a prophetic word, you know, do whatever you need to do, tell us what you're saying. Absolutely. It's been an awesome getting to know quite a few of you and not enough of you over the past four years that Lex and I have been here. I remember two years ago, I came up to this altar and I asked Pastor Matty, I was like, hey, I feel called to be a pastor. And then he gave me a bunch of advice and I read some books and then I was like, you know, never mind, no way. But over this past year, in this year of rest, I've done a lot of contemplating me and my wife. And we've realized that we have this passion and this calling and we notice this void here in, you know, the family and worship at the altar is we have a group of individuals, these young adults who feel like they don't belong. They feel like they don't have, they have a script written out from 0 to 18 and then it's out the door and figured out. And we have a millennial, mostly church here and there's a big gap between, you know, 18 years old and 28. But we are honored at the potential to open up our home to the young adults and give you guys a place to call home, come eat warm meals, get to know people who are in the next phase of life and help you transition into being a fruitful member of this church and knowing where you belong here at the altar. I was talking with a friend this week and he said, you know, just because you have sheep doesn't make you a shepherd. And he said, what makes a shepherd

is someone who tends those sheep, who cares for them, who guards them, who protects them. And so Lex and the staff that we're going to build around us really want to focus on bringing you young 18 to 24 year olds up into that next phase of life and that you can feel like you belong here and that you have family and community and then you can take the torch as when some of us pastors step down the next decade or two decades that we have passed on to good hands of faithful disciples who are apologetically, biblically literate and know what their purpose is in the kingdom. And I don't want you to think that I have like this great vision or amazing idea, you know, I'm nothing more than someone who's being a submissive vessel in this opportunity. And, you know, Psalm 127 1 says, unless the Lord builds his house, those who labor, labor and vain. And I don't want to labor and vain building this. It's going to be all the church. This whole community is going to be on board to build this. But I'm so excited. So those of you who are young adults, please, after service, come get my number, come get Lex's number, come get to know us. I'm so excited for the opportunity to build into your lives and pour into you. Yeah, amen. Thank you. So good. One more, one more time. Pass your day in the home. The church. Pass your day, we're so glad to have you all. This is going to be an exciting time. If you are between the ages of 18 and 24, will you raise your hand? Look at them. Look at them. Oh, my gosh. There's a lot of them. Let's go. All right. Well, get ready. Y'all, you guys are about to have some great times, make some great memories and be a part of something special. I think, you know, I think we are in error often because we convince people that ministry is reserved for later. And if you assume that posture, you'll find that later never comes. It's always one degree away. It's always, you know, once I get married, once I have kids, once we buy a house, once I can get settled into my career, and it just never really comes. And so my hope, and as Pastor Daniel and I have been talking, you know, our plan has been to see our 18 to 24-year-olds really begin to take the reins of this ministry in a beautiful way. They really begin to step into leadership positions as burden, barriers and things. from you and the gifts and anointings God has put on your life. All right? Are we having fun?

All right, next, I should tell you one of the more difficult things for me this last year has been realizing that I think that we have been a less healthy church because we haven't had Wednesday nights and I mean, you know, we have our Sunday morning service but at Sunday morning, there may be a hundred people in the room that have never been here before, you know, a hundred people in the room that are just checking it out or just passing through and and I think Wednesday, Wednesday nights for the years that we had Wednesday nights were an opportunity for me to sit down and just share my heart, handle family business, right? And to note without cameras, without a worry about a broadcast or anything like that, to really just get to sit and have heart to heart family discussions that were I think so profound and formative for the culture that the Lord has called us to build here. And so we are going to be in January relaunching Wednesday night services at the altar fellowship and we're looking forward to those who will have Q&As and pizza parties and you'll just never know what might happen when we get together on Wednesday nights. I think also this will give us an opportunity for more people to get involved in the work of the ministry. I've decided to have more people preaching and teaching, I've decided to have more people leading worship. I want more of you to be able to bring your gifts to the people of God here at the church and I think Wednesday nights will give us more opportunities, more chances for that to happen. So I'm really looking forward to that. Part of that is that we are on those Wednesday nights going to have some kids ministry. So you have heard us sort of asking you to volunteer, to minister to our kids, to be a part of the kids team. And because of that, because our kids ministry has grown so tremendously and because we're adding Wednesday nights back, we also needed to add somebody to our kids team that knew what they were doing. So we brought Miss Kirsten Turner onto the staff, Kirsten would you come up? So Kirsten, introduce yourself, tell us about your role, how people can get involved and

where you came from to get here. Well, my name is Kirsten Turner, my husband Josh and I are two girls, Eloise and Maddie, we've been here for a little over four years now. Josh knew Pastor Maddie back in Mobile and so we've been following along with what God was doing here and you know, the Lord gave us the call and so here we are and it's been just such a tremendous journey. Being here is such a joy and an honor. I've been serving for quite a while with them, the altar kids and running alongside Pastor Anna, helping with scheduling and some behind the scenes things. So just so excited to step into that role even further, to take on some more responsibilities behind the scenes, but it is such a joy to get to know all of our families and to serve our kids and to run alongside Pastor Anna and our entire staff in church, so thank you so much. Thank you. So good. Come on. All right, lastly, and I am going to wrap this up shortly, lastly, in Isaiah 56, God says, my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. And if we are a house that does worship really, really well, but doesn't know how to pray, we're in trouble. If we are a church that does outreach really, really well and young adults ministry really well and we've got the best preachers and prophetic voices in the nation, but we don't know how to pray, we are in serious trouble because the house that God is building is a house of prayer for all nations. And so just recently, mama Fred and I were talking and she said, y'all need to pray more. And I said, yeah, you're right. And if you know, if you know Ms. Fred at all, you know, she doesn't just talk to talk. She walks the walk. She will pray.

If you ask her to put you on her prayer list, she will pray for you, you know, and so we got to talk in and I talked with our newest elder, Mr. Michael Turley, about helping to pull this together. And so we not only are launching Wednesday night services, but prior to those on Wednesday late afternoon evening, I don't know what time they're going to be even yet, probably about five o'clock on Wednesdays, we are going to have an intercessory prayer gathering where anybody that wants to can come and join us. You'll get some instruction and training on what intercessory prayer even means and this church, leaders in the city, leaders in the nation to pray that God would hit particular topics to intercede for God to bring healing to marriages, to bring healing. You know, we got together men's prayer and we hit a couple things a few weeks ago that were specific points of prayer that we are going to lift up together and agree together on. And I just want to make sure that that's not something that only the men do and it's only every Sunday, that becomes a part of the DNA and the fabric of who we are as a people. And so, Michael, would you come up? I just want to make sure for those who don't know you, which can't be many people in here, would you come introduce yourself and share your heart. You know what brought me? Can you hear me there? So, about six years ago, what really began to connect me with Pastor Matty was I began to have a series of dreams about him and Pastor Ian. And through those series of dreams that brought my wife and I to the ultra fellowship. Now, one day I get a text message from Pastor Matty, he said, "Be at my office at noon tomorrow." Well, coming from the past of who I used to be, that really terrified me because I really thought something bad was going to happen. And he took me back into his office with four other women and put us on a conference call with Prophet Teresa Bowen down in Mobile, Alabama. And those other four people aren't in this house anymore. And it breaks my heart. But I knew in that moment that he gave me his permission to be like eyes and ears for him and for this house. And one of the greatest ways that he decipaled me over the past six years in that is he didn't respond to most of my messages. And I don't say that in disrespect. But what has happened in the past six years is you all they gave me a gift to dream. I've dreamed all of my life since walking in freedom. Those dreams have been activated. And 90% of all of my dreams are about people in this room.

Like, how many of y'all have come to me because I had a dream about you? I've come to you because I had a dream about you. Probably a lot. You know, there's something beautiful happens in the Word of God when the Lord will actually bring a prophet to work alongside him and apostle to establish something in the kingdom. But in that, there's like this fear, okay, Michael, like, what does that even mean for me? Well, the Lord says to equip the saints and to find the treasure in people. It's not hard to find dirt. We know what that looks like, right? And so I'm grateful that the Lord has given me a gift to dream and a gift to love. And really, it's only possible because in the beginning, we leased the church where we had to set up and break down kids church every single week. And that just created a space to be shoulder to shoulder alongside of people to actually do something and to create a relationship where we can love one another. And if we can get close enough to one another without being offended and just trying to wipe our hands with people, then the spirit of the Lord is going to whisper sweet secrets about one another that maybe I could go to my brother chill one day and be like, you know why there is more? And he's going to show you this week. Because that's the heart of the Father. Yes, sir. And in the new covenant, the gift of prophecy is to reveal the heart of the Father for his people. And so that's my desire for what I offer friendship for everybody in this place. Like, let's find the treasure in one another. Because if we can find the treasure, if we can hear the voice of God, if we can see what he's doing in the earth, everything changes. Yes, sir. That's right. That's awesome, Michael. Thank you so much, sir. Now, you know, some of you will remember months ago, I said that the ministry God will breathe on most powerfully here will not be what happens on this stage. It will be what happens around your tables and in your homes. And I added that the coming revival will not happen in stadiums or arenas, it will happen in living rooms and around dinner tables. And the revivalists God will use will not be known by titles like pastor or prophet or evangelist, will be known by titles like mom, dad, brother, friend, everything. better serve your ministry. Your ministry to your family, to your community and most importantly your ministry to God himself. And so over these last month or so I've been asking God what's the vision? What's the vision? And we've talked a lot about that today and I'm way over my time but I've been asking God what is the vision? And every

time I ask that question he would bring me back to a poem I read 20 years ago when I was early you know just fresh into the ministry and had no idea what I had signed up for. I read this poem and God brought this across my desk so to speak in a book that I was reading at the time and the poem starts with the same question what's the vision? I want to read this over us as a signpost, a stake in the ground of who we are as we begin to discover who we are becoming. Here's the poem. So this guy comes up to me and says what's the vision? What's the big idea? I open my mouth and words come out like this, the vision? The vision is Jesus, obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus. The vision is an army of young people. You see bones, I see an army and they are free from materialism. They laugh at nine to five little prisons. They could eat caviar on Monday and crusts on Tuesday. They wouldn't even notice. They know the meaning of the matrix the way the West was won. They are mobile like the wind. They belong to the nations. They need no passport. People write their addresses in pencil and wonder at their strange existence. They are free yet they are slaves of the herding and dirty and dying. What is the vision? The vision is holiness that hurts the eyes. It makes children laugh and adults angry. It gave up the game of minimum integrity long ago to reach for the stars. It scorns the good and strains for the best. It is dangerously pure. Light flickers from every secret motive, every private conversation. It loves people away from their suicide leaps, their Satan games. This is an army that will lay down its life for the cause. A million times a day, its soldiers choose to lose that they might one day win the great well done of faithful sons and daughters. Such heroes are as radical on Monday morning as they are on Sunday night. They don't need fame from names instead. They grin quietly upwards and hear the crowds chanting again and again. Come on. This is the sound of the underground, the whisper of history in the making, foundations shaking, revolutionaries dreaming once again. Mystery is scheming in whispers. Conspiracy is breathing. This is the sound of the underground. The army is discipled. Young people who beat their bodies into submission. Every soldier would take a bullet for his comrade at arms. The tattoo on their back boasts for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Sacrifice fuels the fire of victory in their upward eyes. Winners, martyrs, who can stop them? Can hormones hold them back? Can failure succeed? Can fear scare them or death kill them? In the generation praise like a dying man with groans beyond talking, with warrior cries, sulfuric tears

and with great barrow loads of laughter, waiting, watching 24/7/365. Whatever it takes they will give, breaking the rules, shaking mediocrity from its cozy little hide, laying down their rights and their precious little wrongs, laughing at labels, fasting essentials. The advertisers cannot mold them. Hollywood cannot hold them. Peer pressure is powerless to shake their resolve at late-night parties before the cockrel cries. They are incredibly cool, dangerously attractive inside. On the outside, they hardly care. They wear clothes like costumes to communicate and celebrate, but never to hide. Would they surrender their image or their popularity? They would lay down their very lives, swap seats with the man on death row, guilty as hell a throne for an electric chair. With blood and sweat and many tears, with sleepless nights and fruitless days, they pray as if it all depends on God and they live as if it all subconscious sings. They had a blood transfusion with Jesus. Their words make demons scream in shopping centers. Don't you hear them coming? Herald, the weirdos. Summon the losers and the freaks. Here come the frightened and forgotten with fire in their eyes. They walk tall in trees applaud. Skyscrapers bow. Mountains are dwarfed by these children of another dimension. Their prayers summon the hounds of heaven and invoke the ancient dream of Eden. And the vision will be. It will come to pass. It will come easily. It will come soon. How do I know? Because this is the longing of creation itself. The groaning of the Spirit, the very dream of God. My tomorrow is His today. My distant hope is His 3D. And my feeble whispered, faithless prayer invokes a thunderous, resounding, bone-shaking great. Amen. From countless angels, from heroes of the faith, from Christ Himself. And He is the original dreamer, the ultimate winner, guaranteed. What is the vision? It is Jesus. What is the vision? It is holiness that hurts the eyes. And may we never begin to believe that this thing is about just crossing church off of our weekly to-do list. The blood of Jesus has purchased for us so much more than just playing church. So congratulations on 7 years. And here's to the next 70. Thank you. God bless you. We love you guys. And we will see you right back here next week. [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music]

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