How do you know if you are walking in the Spirit? Bill Johnson unpacks Romans chapter 8 for us, revealing the nature of a life in partnership with the Holy Spirit. As sons and daughters of God, it is our nature to be led by the Spirit, familiar with His voice. The more we learn to yield ourselves, the more walking in the Spirit is normal and natural.
[Applause]
a man and his wife
and his mother-in-law went on vacation
to the holy land
while they were there the mother-in-law
passed away
the undertaker told them you can have
her shipped home for five thousand
dollars
or you can bury her here in the holy
land for a hundred and fifty dollars
the man thought about it told him he’d
just have her shipped home
the undertaker asked why would you spend
five thousand dollars to ship your
mother-in-law home
when it would be wonderful to have her
buried here and spend only 150 dollars
the man replied
a man died here two thousand years ago
he was buried here three days later he
rose from the dead
i just can’t take that chance
uh
[Applause]
hmm
i’m just waiting for them to
finish seems to be a little delay here
um
i want us to pray for uh we just prayed
for impossible financial situations
i’d like for us to pray for another one
uh before we get into the the word
um anyone who’s facing what seems to be
an impossible medical health situation
i’d like for you to stand if you would
you already did that
you did that too
no no you you covered it all right i
wasn’t here i was at the other campus
we we get translated actually it’s a car
that drives us slowly safely
all right let me try one more see if you
covered this one
i mean yeah you you’ve already covered
everything i wanted to did you cover my
message too did we just go home now or
yeah
you opened yeah you opened with yeah
that’s awesome all right good night
[Applause]
no no no if you if you covered it that’s
it would you say amen to it uh but the
last thing i wanted to pray for
corporately if it hasn’t already been
taken care of today
those who are facing any kind of
family and or relational
impossibility seems impossible i want
you to stand we’re going to pray for you
those who are watching by bethel tv we
bless you and ask you to join your faith
with us as well for your own
breakthroughs and for the breakthroughs
represented in this room
all right
well you guys know what to do
you have people standing around you that
need you to join your faith with theirs
and pray for that
relational miracle
uh for some it’s uh
family members who have turned from the
lord they need to be restored for others
they’ve never come to faith for others
it’s just
this confusion this dividing wall that’s
come against people whatever the case
might be
just pray for these folks pray for them
out loud
right now
pray for that spirit of breakthrough
to come upon them right now
that god would restore families
family members relational
issues that there would be healing there
in jesus name
thank you lord
yeah we just pray for the same for those
who are watching
at home
over bethel tv we just pray that the
spirit of reconciliation will come upon
your household that there’d be great
healing there’d be great restoration of
god who restores everything would
restore every single household uh
represented here we declare that
the god of all peace when establishing
peace over family lions we’ll pray in
jesus name
jesus name all right you guys did good
bless them good hug them or give them a
high five or something
beautiful
all right you did well he did well open
if you would
open your bibles to romans chapter 8.
romans chapter eight before
we we uh opened this
um i want to give you just a a a brief
word and report eric and candace are
in austin they send their love eric
textman this morning to make sure i
gave you his love
and um
they
helped to open uh bethel austin the
austin texas
bethel
and i i just guess it went so well
they had a thousand seats that were
spoken for a long time ago so that’s a
good way for a church to start with a
thousand people so that’s pretty amazing
so um that uh that is up and running
and uh i guess they just did really good
i had great reports lauren valden is
there
to help with the grand opening and
she sent me a text she said eric and
candace did so amazing
candace just dropped the holy ghost bomb
on the place and
stepped in her element it was just so
beautiful so
just let you know that um the family the
family outside of here is doing well
and uh it’s very very fun
to hear the constant reports
um you know we for those of you who may
not know we’ve never taken it on as a
primary goal to create other bethels
around the world our joy is actually
serving the existing church
but occasionally uh it becomes very
obvious that we’re to plant one and so
we do that but it’s the exception not
the rule but but uh but we also take
great pleasure in the bethel atlanta
austin
[Music]
ohio cleveland
wherever else they are they’re there
bless them jesus amen all right
and then we have another
uh spiritual son i was just up in
portland this week
yeah i head to indonesia tomorrow but uh
in portland uh this week with
with uh chris oh
chris overstreet and uh it was it’s just
amazing they got this auditorium that
seats 9 500 people i think it is
and they had 7 000
seats sold and they were leaving 2504
people to come in from the community to
receive christ
and
i i spoke uh friday morning i got there
thursday
afternoon
uh
with the tv interviews and
stuff of that nature
and then that night todd white spoke
and jake hamilton led worship so that’s
nitro and glycerin
it was it was so fun at the end of the
evening todd gives this altar call and
they literally ran
to he wouldn’t let him walk he took run
run they ran down to the front to
to meet jesus and oh goodness gracious
so so
i’m still
buzzing a little bit from that if i talk
about it kind of gets reactive it was
very very powerful very fun
and uh to be in a room with with our
spiritual sons and daughters
um
most of them have my age or less
in this room in a prayer room before the
meeting starts
and to watch these these guys just step
up to the plate and deliver just so
amazing
um the people that chris oh got for this
event my goodness marilyn hickey was
there
lisa bevere was there
um todd white i forget all who was there
robbie dawkins is my fans you were there
and so many wonderful wonderful
people there uh speaking and
and it was just it was great it was just
great to see chris oh pull that off
and he’s he’s had this heart if you if
you’ve been around christopher street
he may have a greater heart for people
to know jesus than anybody i’ve ever met
i mean it’s convicting to be with him
you feel like you’re not doing anything
if you’ve not led anyone to jesus today
he doesn’t make you feel that way it’s
just he just bubbles up with his passion
for souls and
and he’s talked to us for years he’s
been on our team here for goodness i
don’t know 16 years or something like
that and he’s talked to us for years
about we need to do crusades we need to
do stadium events you know we need i
want to get a tent and take it around
the country and i mean he’s constantly
talking to us about it and so we finally
just
said go
go
and he’s and he’s doing it i mean it’s
just oh it’s just mind-boggling i wish
i wish there’s some way to capture some
of this put it on film just to let you
see because because everybody in this
room is part of this family
in some way you have an investment
into
this that is happening up in portland i
was i was floored
by the hunger in the room
i did not expect it
i did not expect that level of hunger
and passion i was i was it was
overwhelming it’s wonderful
so it is
jesus’s time for the pacific northwest
so
i was very very impressed
i i love you know the portland and on up
seattle that whole area i love that part
of the country and i’ve been there many
times and ministered always enjoyed it
but this time
this was
holy ghost steroids were in use it was
it was a little extra oomph so all right
romans 8 are you there
yes
yep all right if you’re not there get
there
because you’re going to want to be there
romans chapter 8.
romans 8 could probably be a book
a book of the bible by itself
maybe you could say that for every
chapter but some chapters are very
dependent on what on what precedes it
what follows
romans 8 is just this
i don’t know it’s just a complete
package
romans 4
is this
paul unveils
abraham as the father of faith and how
his faith in his hope set a standard for
every believer that follows he actually
set the stage he’s set the high water
mark that everybody inherits in christ
this beautiful chapter five is
is this
incredible chapter on our justification
that by faith in christ we actually
appear before god as though we had never
sinned it’s the most astonishing thing
chapter six is where we we find that we
are actually buried with christ
and
the cool thing if you can picture water
baptism it says if you’re buried with
christ then you’re also raised with
christ and so here’s this whole legal
basis for not even considering yourself
a sinner
he he actually says it he actually says
in verse 11 to 13 and forget which but
he he says
don’t even consider
you have to consider yourself dead to
sin you have to think of yourself in
this way i am dead to that it’s not mind
over matter it’s the reality of the
cross it’s the reality of the
crucifixion of christ in which we were
con included when we put our faith in
christ we were actually included in that
act and experienced death to an old
nature and nature of sin
chapter seven is a mysterious chapter
that has confused many people through
the years
because there are because in chapter
seven paul says what i try to do i don’t
do and what i don’t try to do i do wrong
and he just gives this whole scene he’s
describing his life before christ
and many people have used that chapter
as a definition of the christian life
and it’s just not consistent with
everything else paul wrote so we have
chapter six you’re dead in christ you’re
raised in christ chapter seven is before
we knew jesus even when we tried to do
the right thing it just didn’t always
work out right etc and then we come to
chapter 8.
chapter 8 to me is the crown jewel of
these
five chapters
it’s the crown jewel because
the highlight the emphasis in
in this chapter is our relationship with
the holy spirit
the holy spirit is the central person
the central theme
in this chapter it’s not abraham it’s
not
it’s not the crucifixion it’s not it’s
the holy spirit who has been given to us
in in this in this chapter
it’s important for this reason
everyone in this room that is born again
you are born again because he spoke you
listened and responded
none of us found god
he found us
yeah yeah
it’s like it’s like running from god
through this forest and you trip over a
rock and you look up and he’s looking at
you
and you say i’m so glad i found you
that’s basically how all of us got saved
we
we ended up with seeing that there was
only one reasonable option and it was to
give ourselves to him and so anyway all
of us are alive because we heard him
speak
and we responded
the holy spirit is the central person in
our life and every triumph every victory
every enablement
every bit of grace everything that we
experience in this life in following
jesus is there and it’s active because
the holy spirit is in our life the holy
spirit is god on earth
everything about our life either
succeeds or fails because of a
relationship with him
i’m not referring to
an emotion
although emotions are included
i’m not talking talking about
feelings although feelings are included
it is a relationship with a person
this christian life is a relational
journey
and it is a relationship with god on
earth who is the holy spirit
who perfectly represents jesus who
completely and perfectly manifest the
will of the father
so when we start in in this chapter what
we’re going to do today is we’re just
going to read a bunch of verses
and and i’ll just stop
and just talk about a verse or two and a
concept
what i’m looking for
is i have one basic target
um i i’ve been fighting for no last this
is the third service now
i’ve been fighting for an
adequate illustration and i’ve not yet
come up with one
maybe i will by next week when i won’t
need it but uh but right now
have you ever you know just going
through life and somebody says oh what a
beautiful song you didn’t even know a
song was playing but as soon as they
mentioned that song you could hear it
right i mean it wasn’t it wasn’t made up
in your mind you could actually hear it
but you weren’t aware of it you became
your awareness became heightened
to that
sound when somebody mentioned it
maybe you’re just going through life not
thinking of anything and somebody says
how do you smell that and then you
weren’t smelling it before but as soon
as they mentioned you go yeah
meat
or or other things but but me primarily
yeah barbecue thank you jesus all right
and you and somebody mention all of a
sudden yes yes i do smell that you
become you have a heightened awareness
what i’m looking for
is for us to have a heightened awareness
of the presence of god
i’ve had certain things happen
to me through the years where i became
unusually aware of of him
and it’s terrifying and wonderful all at
the same time
and i don’t want to live any other way
heightened awareness it’s not imaginary
it’s not
it’s not that it’s
oh
it’s like jacob said in when he woke up
from that dream he said
god is here and i didn’t even know it
sudden heightened awareness to a reality
that existed before he was aware
the holy spirit lives in you
he’s also called pericles the one called
alongside to help
so the whole point is
i would like today to just
help with a heightened awareness
of god on earth
that i have actually received
as a down payment
of an inheritance
now i don’t understand that if there’s
ever
a mind-boggling thought it’s the fact
that god gave us himself as our
inheritance and the initial payment is
the holy spirit himself the down payment
he’s called down payment ephesians the
down payment of our inheritance
larry randolph
made a comment years ago he said
if god is as big as he says he is he
shouldn’t be that hard to find
with someone that large in my life
should not be that hard to discern
and if he is i must have my heart and
mind anchored in things that are very
inferior that have deadened what he has
created in me
as a capacity to recognize him
all right
amen bill good point all right
uh he uh hebrews hebrews ephesians let’s
just go through the books of the bible
romans
romans chapter eight i was i meant it
the first time romans 8 uh we’re just
i’m going to kind of bounce around the
chapter so we’re not going to read the
whole thing i actually this morning as i
was reading over this i thought oh my
goodness we easily could do three or
four weeks in this chapter because it is
so pregnant
but we’ll just skim over maybe uh seven
eight nine verses something that nature
all right verse one
of chapter eight there is therefore now
no condemnation
to those who are in christ jesus
who do not walk according to the flesh
but according to the spirit
verse 14
as many as are led by the spirit of god
these are the sons of god now go back to
verse 1
there’s therefore now no condemnation to
those who are in christ
who do not walk according to the flesh
but according to the spirit
those who are in christ walk according
to the spirit
that is the testimony of scripture those
who are in christ the evidence
of my conversion
is that i don’t live
according
to carnal values
uh fleshly uh carnal expressions and
values but instead by the holy spirit
himself my life with christ is
illustrated because of a partnership
with god on earth the holy spirit it’s
illustrated it is measurable
and he goes on to say that those who
are led by the spirit these are the sons
of god
um
i the reason i want to hit on this for
just a moment we’re actually going to
spend more time later in the chapter but
the reason i wanted to hit on this for
just a moment
is some there are certain subjects
in in
in the gospel
that sometimes it feels to me like
they have been elevated so high
that they are they are unreachable
and being led by the spirit is one of
those
and it is not it’s your nature
to be led by the spirit have you ever
have you ever just
thought of somebody you wanted to call
or maybe swing by and visit it wasn’t no
thundering voice from god it’s just you
know you just oh i should call them and
you call them and you find out it was a
it was a it was a miracle moment that
god actually directed you
see jesus made a statement he said my
sheep know my voice
what does he mean by that
there’s a familiarity
to the voice of god to the life of a
believer
so much so
that there are times where
i would have thought it was simply my
desire and i find out afterwards it was
actually the voice of god there’s such
similarity
living immersed in christ puts us in a
place where we constantly are hearing
that familiar voice
i don’t mean
overly familiar in a wrong sense but
that familiar voice it’s not the
thundering voice from the outside it’s
that cry from the inside and the
beautiful part about this is the more we
learn to yield ourselves to this work of
the holy spirit the more walking in the
spirit so to speak is normal and natural
it’s it’s the normal reaction to a given
situation
one of the
conversations i’ve had with people of
late
has been to re how do you know how do
you know what to do in a given situation
because sometimes there’s a biblical
principle that you let’s just say uh
there’s a need sometimes there’s a
biblical principle of generosity and
sometimes the biblical principle of
helping them
to earn what what they have there’s
there’s biblical basis for both how do
you know what to do
you you the only way you can know is is
recognize the mood of the holy spirit
it’s his voice it’s his mood it’s his
how is compassion leading you
how how is he directing you to express
life and it’s this it’s this relational
journey
where it is our nature to illustrate
faith it is our nature to illustrate
this life with christ faith is another
one of those exalted subjects where
people just don’t think they can live by
faith when it’s actually your nature to
do so
it’s our nature in christ
so we move on to verse um 20 let’s see
26.
it says likewise the spirit also helps
us in our weakness
we don’t know i mean you know you got
weakness anybody aware of those yeah
but we probably wouldn’t have listed the
one he listed
for we do not know what we should pray
for as we ought but the spirit himself
makes intercession for us with groanings
that cannot be uttered
so he considers it a weakness for us not
to know what to pray for
verse 27 he who searches the hearts
knows what the mind of the spirit is
because he makes intercession for the
saints according to the will of god
now i don’t know how you look at this
this is how i look at it
god
i want a million dollars
and then i pray in tongues and the holy
spirit says man don’t give him a million
dollars
to do not listen to that last request
because we’re trying to make him like
jesus and that’ll only mess things up
he always prays exactly according to the
heart into the will of god he knows
exactly the tools the elements the
issues that will take us to where we are
all headed
we are all we’ve all been predestined
according to scripture predestined to be
conformed into the image of jesus
so everything that he does in us he
works in us to that end that the end
result was we would adequately
uh adequately represent jesus well now
look at verse 28
this is a verse that’s quoted very often
out of this chapter we know that all
things work together for good
to those who love god to those who are
called
according to his purpose look at it
again we know that all things
work together for good
to those who love god to those who are
called
according to his purpose
i’m not a cook
my job is to buy cookbooks
because i married a cook
it’s my job to inspire her
and
thankfully she’s easily inspired
i did a fast some years ago maybe
heard me confess my sins
i did a long fast and during that fast i
bought 29 cookbooks
i even bought a deep fryer and we don’t
eat fried foods but i was dreaming of
sweet potato fries i figured that’s the
will of god for my life
so i bought a deep fryer and i love
amazon.com the one click thing you know
you buy a book on there and with just
one click boom it’s mine it’s in the
and then it says those who bought that
cookbook also bought these
and i look at them and i think and i see
why click that one’s mine too that one’s
mine
so i’m i’m not a i suppose like my wife
is encouraging me to learn
with her
so we could cook together so who knows
it could happen
but let’s just say we were going to make
some cookies today
you need some sort of flour
you need butter or it’s just a cracker
there’s no butters
something else it’s not a cookie
butter you need some sort of sugar i
like coconut sugar
it’s healthier and i like the flavor
so we got butter we got flour we got
sugar i don’t know you may want oatmeal
i like oatmeal
chocolate chips
no no raisins
no raisins
can’t make it as a grape we don’t want
you in our cookie yes
so
i’m sorry if you like raisins but
i just would rather avoid them it’s so
i like them in their pre-spoiled form a
raisin a grape but grape anyway
and then maybe you add some vanilla
extract you ever taste vanilla extract
nasty
nasty nasty
but somehow that nasty thing
enhances
this entire recipe
and most everyone in this room has some
nasty ingredient in your life
that when it gets worked into the entire
recipe
that testifies of god’s grace suddenly
that which you didn’t like
takes on meaning
it illustrates the redemptive work of
christ it models
illustrates grace
and a lot of the things that we would
remove
while he didn’t cause
he has decided
i’m going to demonstrate all things
work together for good i’m going to use
every part of the recipe and the end
result will be
you’ll be like jesus
that’s his ambition that’s his vision
for us
verse 31
if god is for us who can be against us
i love that verse so much i don’t know
why i i guess this
how many you know people can be against
you
demons can be against you the devil can
be against you he’s not saying nobody
can be against you because god is for
you he’s just saying if god is for you
no one else gets to vote
no one else gets a say in the outcome
they can have their opinion but the
council is comprised of god
if god is for you nobody can be against
you that counts
here’s the verse that would probably do
us well
to prayerfully meditate on for about 20
years
verse 32 he who did not spare his own
son
but delivered him up for us all how
shall he not
with him
also freely give us all things look at
it again he who did not spare his own
son
but delivered him up for us all
how she shall he not
with him
also freely give us all things stunning
verse stunning verse
biblical meditation seems to be almost a
lost art at least in many circles
eastern meditation as you empty the mind
biblical meditations you fill the mind
it’s completely different
uh eastern meditation actually opens you
up to a spirit
world realm
where you can easily come into the
influence of an evil spirit biblical
meditation is joining your mind with the
mind of christ and considering actually
probably the best illustration of
meditation biblical meditation is a cow
chewing its cud
it brings it up to chew over and over
and over again that’s what meditation is
is you take a thought a verse and you
review it you pray over it you think
about it maybe you quote it you write it
on paper put it on the dashboard of your
car it’s just something you review over
and over again because you can tell
there is something here for me and i
don’t want to glance over it quickly i
want to make sure that the full impact
of this verse hits me this is one of
them
how
can this father
who freely gave us his son
to suffer in ways that are unimaginable
how would he do something so extreme
and not also include everything else
that is short of that extreme
if he did this do you think your car
payment doesn’t matter to him
do you think it’s possible for a father
that is that good
to go to this extreme
to not care about what you care about
we make him this
religious feature that cares about
spiritual things and nothing else and
it’s just not consistent with the
testimony of scripture it’s not
consistent with the lifestyle the model
that jesus himself gave for us
and so here’s this statement
a statement that could stand by itself
for eternity
how shall he who gave us his son
to not only die a most gruesome death
but to carry upon his flesh the weight
of every sin of every human being in all
of time
the most gruesome death ever experienced
because of that
how could there be anything that would
come up in our life that wouldn’t matter
to him
this chapter is to endear us
to the spirit of god
who models and illustrates this kind of
father who models and illustrates this
kind of compassion this kind of deep
deep deep concern
jump down to verse
excuse me verse 34
who is he who condemns it is christ who
died
and furthermore is risen
who is even at the right hand of god
who also
makes intercession for us
here’s the interesting thing verse 26
and 7 says the holy spirit makes
intercession for us
28 says all things work together for
good
twin 34 says jesus makes intercession
for us
i wonder why everything works out
what does intercession mean it means to
stand in the shoes of another
it’s sometimes we pray for people
forgive me but i’ve seen this for years
people will pray for
affect him at the back tournaments the
lady
that was visiting met me at the back
door and said i want you to agree with
me to curse the city of san francisco
i said no i said i’m not going to be
doing that so she tried to cast a demon
out of me that was interesting
she said come out of him you foul spirit
yeah yeah
just
just go
sometimes we pray at a situation
intercession stands in the shoes of and
prays on behalf of as though
it was our own issue you pray for your
neighbor it’s not just praying at them
but we pray as though their struggles
are ours
and this is incredible
jesus and the holy spirit both take put
on our shoes
and pray for us
as though our issues were theirs
and they’re approaching the father not
because he has chosen evil and they’re
trying to talk him out of it there’s
been that concept for years that
couldn’t be any more wrong
it’s the holy spirit in jesus that are
coming before the father because prayer
is his assignment
it is his will this is how the economy
of heaven functions
there is a partnership and there are
requests and in this request the
partnership of god and man or the father
son of the holy spirit is illustrated
through perfect unity
perfect camaraderie
and here they pray for you and for me
and sandwiched in between the testimony
of god praying for us
is the covenant promise it will all work
and all work for good
verse 37 yet in all these things we are
more than conquerors say this with me
i’m more than a conqueror
i don’t just win
i really really win
more than what is more than a conqueror
i don’t know it’s like
victory on steroids it’s it’s like out
there i am more than a conqueror through
him
who loved us verse 38 i am persuaded
that neither death nor life nor angels
nor principalities nor powers nor things
present nor things to come nor height
nor depth nor any created thing
shall be able to separate us from the
love of god
which is in christ jesus our lord i
remember early in my walk with the lord
i remember finding this verse in the
gospel of john that i just i put to
memory
for my sake
that
where jesus said and no one can remove
you from my father’s hand
there’s this picture of the father
it’s in my hand
no one can remove you from my hands
and so here it describes all of creation
the good the bad the ugly says there’s
not one part of it
that has the ability to create a wedge
and to separate you from the love of god
that means that you and i live in
continuous connection to the expression
of god’s love
it is good news
there’s a strange
connection
those of you who like to study which i
would hope would be everybody
there’s a unusual connection between
romans 8 and 1st corinthians 2.
read them they complement each other
beautifully
nothing can separate you
from the love of god
there is this seamless connection
between you and the heart of god and
nothing can separate that
my problem is
i can live aware of inferior things
and lose the god-given sensitivities to
his heart for me
it doesn’t mean his love is changed it
just means i don’t live conscious of it
remember at the beginning i talked about
heightened awareness this this is it
in first corinthians 2 he talks about
that
that you can’t hear
the promises the richness of god’s word
you can’t hear through carnal means you
can only hear through the spirit
so right now in this room there are fm
signals am signals tv signals
shortwave there’s all these different
things that are actually right in the
room if you have a receiver you can pick
them up
and it’s the spirit of a man
that becomes aware of
god and his voice suddenly i start
hearing things that i didn’t hear before
only because i had my dial turned
to receiving from what god is saying and
doing
but it doesn’t mean it wasn’t there
before
interestingly in this passage he says
at the end of verse 38 he says
neither things present nor things to
come
first corinthians 3
is a description of our inheritance and
he mentions things present and things to
come
what’s missing
things present things to come what’s
missing
the past
why
because he bought it
he bought it it’s not yours
your past is not yours
the moment is yours the future is yours
the past is not
it’s not yours
and the issue the issue of life is if we
if we revisit the events of our past
apart separate from our awareness of the
blood of jesus
then we actually visit something that no
longer exists
we visit a lie when you when you empower
a lie you empower the liar
so twice paul says things present things
to come things present things to come
the past has been purchased
i have no legal access to it apart from
the redemptive touch of jesus
if there’s an issue i haven’t dealt with
he brings it up always with redemptive
purpose
never to lead me into shame
because the past under the blood of
jesus is no reason for shame it is a
reason for triumph and victory it is a
reason for celebration
if i could pray for something out of
this
conversation today it would be the
heightened awareness of the presence of
the spirit of god and the redemptive
work of jesus that continues to set us
free
those two things
stir up such a courage and such a vision
for the impossible
that there’s there’s no more mediocrity
there is no more embracing the inferior
suddenly people become enraged in the
right sense for the things that god has
purposed to do in the earth there’s this
there’s this thing that takes place in
the heart of a believer that says wait a
minute i was born for more than this
as i’ve said so many times through the
years jesus didn’t go through what he
went through so we could do church
we i love i i don’t think the corporate
gathering is emphasized enough i think
he has greater intent than what we
realize so i believe in it a lot
but it’s to set us up
to bring transformation to bring the
life of christ the presence of god into
this environment around us
and this chapter right here starts off
with just the pronouncement there’s no
condemnation and it ends with
the past is not yours you own the moment
you own the future let’s go for it
this partnership with the spirit of god
this that the holy spirit and jesus are
praying for i may pray inaccurately but
he adjusts my prayers so that it’s
perfect
i may have a wrong idea of what happened
but he corrects it
and in the relational journey i get my
values my thoughts my memory of my own
history becomes recalibrated to what he
says is true
there’s always a chance when we have
a crowd this size that there are people
here who have never made that confession
of faith
in jesus christ
i just don’t want to gather any more
without giving opportunity
for people to come to know jesus it’s
the most important part of the day and
if there’s anyone in the room that would
just say bill i don’t want to leave the
building till i know i’ve been forgiven
until i know what it is to be what the
bible calls born again that’s where the
spirit of god changes you from the
inside because there’s been a surrender
to him
we’re not trying jesus he doesn’t come
in trial sizes
he only comes as god
but he’s a perfect and wonderful father
and if there’s anybody in the room that
would just say bill that’s me i don’t
want to leave till i know i’m
at peace with god until i’ve been
forgiven i want you to put a hand up
just where you are and i want to take
just just a moment for this
make sure like all right here yes
wonderful bless you
beautiful
anyone else
real quick
i see this one here is there anyone else
wave your hand at me if i missed you
all right beautiful let’s go and stand
and that’s what i’m going to ask to this
gentleman anybody else who
who uh
i didn’t see or or have had a change of
heart
what i want to ask you to do is right
over here to my left
we have some trusted friends
please don’t move around just yet please
hold on just a moment
trusted friends
that that
i want to talk with you and pray for you
so i’m going to ask this i’d like for
the ministry team to come to the front
and this gentleman here if you would
come right up here and come to my left
we’ve got a group of people that are
ready
to talk with you ministry team come on
down
yeah god bless you
thank you
all right go right over here
thank you beautiful come on somebody get
happy give thanks for the love
all right let’s let’s have the ministry
team please we need you up here quickly
i want to pray over you because i want
to pray for this
oh goodness i i’ve never heard of an
impartation of heightened awareness but
i’m going to go for it anyway
how many of you have ever had like a
skin condition where just the slightest
touch you could it’s a radiated pain and
it was just that’s what i want but in a
good sense
no pain just gain all right let’s pray
father i do ask for the in the wonderful
name of jesus that you would give a gift
of grace
of heightened awareness of your heart
especially your presence
given to us as a gift i pray for this in
jesus name
amen amen all right hold your places
please
help us with this and i’ll get to the
back door
well that was so powerful so beautiful
i think i’ll be chewing on that one
for the rest of my life honestly
and so um if you’re here with us today
and you need a miracle in your body and
you’d like to get prayer or something
like that we have our wonderful and
amazing ministry team down here at the
front um one thing i will say is if you
are going to come and get prayer from
the ministry team please remember to
bring your stuff with you and the
ministry team is going to have their
hands in the air so if when you come to
the front you see someone with their
hands in the air that means that they
are ready and available to pray for you
right here and now but otherwise bless
you all and have an amazing sunday amen
you