The Praise Factor | Part 3 | Jon Colyer | Gateway Christian Centre

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome to Gateways Weekly Service. We are so glad that you are here. We pray that this message inspires you, it encourages you, and that God speaks to you in new ways. Now, on with the message.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

What a wonder you are. What a wonder you are. Lord, we worship you. I bless your name. Lord, forever and ever and ever, I bless your name.

SPEAKER_02 0:41

Forever and ever. So Jesus, be magnified, be glorified. In this place, in my heart.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Be lifted high. Let our king be lifted high. Let our king be lifted high.

SPEAKER_03 1:40

I will bless your day.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

Lord, let this place be a place of praise.

SPEAKER_02 1:56

God, I thank you for the grace that rests on this church to be a gateway. But Lord, I'm asking you, please help us to grow in this grace. Take us further. Take us further than we've gone before. Lord, let this gate open wider. That we will be able to serve the purposes of God in this region and in our generation by changing this spiritual climate. And Lord, we know that doesn't happen because we pray. It only happens because you answer. It doesn't happen because we sing, it happens because you inhabit the praises.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

So God, we welcome you. With everything in us, we welcome you. With everything we are, we welcome you. Lord, you are welcome in this place. And Lord, we will be a praising generation. We will be a worshiping generation.

SPEAKER_02 2:52

You know, the Bible speaks of a generation that will ascend the hill of the Lord, stand in a holy place, and seek his face. And there is a beautiful shift that's going on in the body of Christ right now, away from seeking his hand and back to seeking his face. There's a purity coming back. And I love what I'm seeing. I love what's going on in my own heart, in my own life. I love what I'm seeing corporately. And I want to make sure that you and I we're right in the middle of that river of what God is doing. Amen. In a minute, we're gonna transition to the word, but can you make me a promise? You promise me you'll stay standing on the inside. Okay, alright, let's stay connected. And and we're gonna dig into the word. Worship team, thank you. You only learned that song just moments ago, really. So awesome. Okay, we're talking about praise. Everyone say I came to praise. That is the song. Did you sing it? Yeah. Give her a microphone, sign her up. Okay, I came to praise. We started talking first week. We talked about the fact that that praise is access. Praise gives us access to the presence of God. It gives God access in our circumstances and situations. And many times we're standing at doors which seem closed, or gates which seem firmly locked, walls that seem impossible to get through. And if we would just start praising, it's amazing how quickly we will transition from the natural into the supernatural, from the flesh into the spirit. And that's where things happen. And in fact, I think we talked about week one, about maybe here in Liverpool, I don't remember, but about how the natural realm, really, the physical realm, is a mirror. It's a reflection of what's going on in the spirit realm. The Bible's pretty clear that the spirit realm came first. And so if you're looking in the mirror and you see that there's a hair out of place, you don't reach into the mirror to adjust it. You you reach to yourself and the mirror obeys. And so we're trying to work really hard to change things in the natural and make things get better or different or expand or grow or change or whatever might be in the natural. But the Bible's really clear our battle's not against flesh and blood. There's a spiritual element and a spiritual dynamic to this. And we learned last week about the weapon of praise. It brings down walls, it opens prison doors, or in Jehoshaphat's case, it confounded the enemy. And so Jehoshaphat was told the battle belongs to the Lord, but you have to go position yourself. And we were talking last week about the fact that you gotta show up. Everyone say show up. You gotta show up in your battle. You can't just abdicate responsibility, even though the Lord is the one that will do the fighting. We don't abdicate our role or our responsibility, burying our head in the sand, wishing someone else would make it better, or somehow make it go away, or if I can just get enough other people to pray for me, then everything will be fine. You gotta show up. So the Bible says the battle belongs to the Lord, but Joshua had to, or Jehoshaphat had to show up and start praising. So we talked about that last week. We've talked about praise's access, we've talked about how praise brings down walls and uh opens prison doors and confounds the enemy. I hope that some of you like me have been doing a lot more praising this week. I have a feeling you have because of how this service started. So wave at me if you've been doing some crazy praise this week. Okay, awesome. So if we experience this level of praise with a percentage of us doing crazy praise, my friend, get ready. Get ready, because there's more of us jump in this river. It's incredible what the power of a corporate anointing does, which segues me neatly into today's message, which is the power of the corporate atmosphere. So here's something we gotta understand. This is almost a point before my point today. Praise is not a feeling, praise is a choice, it's a decision. Praise has nothing to do with how you're feeling. Praise is not about you. Worship has a lot more to do. Worship is more how I feel about God. This is how you make me feel, Lord. This is my feelings towards you. Thanksgiving is this what you've done for me, Lord. Praise is just who He is. You can praise on your sinful days, you can praise on your mountaintop days, you can praise on your valley days, because it's not about you. Everyone say, I came to praise. Praise is a choice, it's a decision, it is disconnected from whatever you're feeling because feelings don't change my praise, but praise changes my feelings. And when you put on the garment of praise, you'll start to warm up in the same way you do when you put on your coat. And here's the thing: there are dimensions of God that you will experience and encounter in private, and there are moments in your walk where God will meet you in the secret place, no doubt about it. And there are certain encounters that are reserved for the prayer closet, and there are revelations that will only come when you're with him alone. There are things that God does in solitude, there are whispers you hear in the silence, and I thank God for those personal encounters. But can I say there's also a public encounter? There are things that God does, there are dimensions of God and manifestations of his power, there are realms of his glory that are not unlocked individually. I've got to stand up for this message. I'm trying to sit down and be all like, whatever, but I've got to stand. I can everything we just sang, I can sing that at home. Every note I played. I've even got like an identical keyboard at home. But when you're not with me, it's not the same. With the best will in the world, I love my secret place, but you're not there. That's what makes it the secret place. But there's a coming together, there's a corporate atmosphere, there's a corporate praise which is incredibly powerful. It wasn't just Joshua that had to shout for the walls to come down, it was everyone. There are things that are not unlocked individually, they are unlocked collectively. There are things that heaven responds to when one person lifts their voice, but there are greater things that happen when a congregation lifts their voice. When we gather together in one heart, one sound, one focus, and one agenda to exalt the name of Jesus, there's something that happens because corporate praise is not simply private praise made louder. It's not private praise with a sound system. It's different, it's a different, it's a different thing altogether. It's hard, hard to explain it. It's like a horse isn't just a big dog. There's elements of similarity, but a horse is its own thing. Corporate praise isn't just big private praise, it's a different thing. And there are some people that love corporate praise and never show up in the secret place. And there are some people that are all over it in the secret place and drop every weapon of praise when it comes to the corporate. We need to be people of both. We need to be people that know how to meet God in secret and exalt God in the public. Corporate praise is private devotion multiplied by agreement. An agreement in the spirit creates power. We're living in a generation where church can very easily become spectator-based. In fact, it's one of the biggest challenges we have in church right now. We come to consume rather than to contribute. We are an audience, not an army. And COVID magnified that 10 times over. I remember when we first started meeting after COVID, I thought to myself, the only thing this is missing is the popcorn. Because we're we're here, but we might as well be at home because people came to spectate and watch. And I felt like I was Cedric the Entertainer up here. Is that a person? Did I just make that up or is that a is that a guy? Okay. I hope he's clean. I don't know if he's not. Scratch that. But I'm just saying, I didn't come to, I didn't come to perform, but I felt like I was. It was excruciating. And then we had those dividers between all of us, and the and it's like that's gone, but something didn't go with it. We've we've we are getting back. Let me just say it, it's changed. We're getting back that corporate praise and that corporate worship. It's it's not a big dog, it's a horse, it's something different. And so when we come to consume rather than contribute, where attendance has replaced participation. Well, I was there. Did you go to church? We say yes. The answer is kind of. Kind of. I went to the building, I was in the service, I was present, but that's not the same as coming to church. Everyone says, I came to praise. When praise has become a performance instead of a priesthood, something needs to change. But I believe that God is calling the church back to something ancient and something powerful, an undignified praise focused on one person and one person only, standing beside someone who is equally undignified, focusing on one person and one person only, up the road from someone else who doesn't care who's watching them because they're focusing on one person and one person only. And with one accord, we lift up our voice and heaven cracks. It cracks at midnight. Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God, and the prisoners heard them. And God is calling us back to an understanding that we are not merely attendees in the room, we are builders of an atmosphere. Come on, I'm preaching better than you're amening today. But the truth is this you don't you don't merely walk into an atmosphere, you create it. You create it. Have you ever? We'll just talk to husbands for a minute. Husbands, have you ever done something wrong, said something out of place? Dean hasn't. For the rest of us, well done. And that that feeling, like if you're a Star Wars character, there's like a disturbance in the force. You just kind of know, Angela, she's preaching Liverpool today, so I can dig in this a little bit further. But this time she's sitting over there, she doesn't have to say a word. Just the speed at which she taps her foot. You think I'm not a man under authority? Oh, I am. And I I do have the last word in my house. It's just it's yes, dear. But you know that that an atmosphere can be created. You carry an atmosphere with you, and then of course, you can carry a lovely, delightful atmosphere like my honey bun always brings with her. But the atmosphere we create determines the manifestation we receive. There's no doubt about it. And what we build together determines what heaven is able to release among us, because if we don't want it, he won't give it. The Bible says he will come down like rain on thirsty ground. Jesus said, Open your mouth wide and I will fill it. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. And one of the ways that we demonstrate our hunger is that our mouths are open in praise. It's not a routine. Praise is not the warm-up at the start of the service. Get your heart rate going. It's not the filler before the preaching. Praise is not a feeling, it's a choice. It is essential because praise creates environments, and environments determine encounters. You will not have rain if there are no clouds. And when we praise, the clouds began to gather. Oh, this is exciting. Say it again. I came to praise. Acts chapter 4, verse 24. I want to use this as our kind of launching point theme verse today. Verse 24 through 33. Um, Paul and Silas, I think it was Paul and Silas. No, Peter and John had just gone to pray, and that miracle happened. The man that had never walked at the beautiful gate of the temple, and up he went, walking, leaping, and praising God. And the priests got in and asked him all these questions, and then they went and they arrested Peter and John, and they began to first question them and then threaten them. And then that's the context in which they said, Um, these are unlearned and ignorant men, but we can tell they've been with Jesus. So it's funny how you can give a compliment and a diss at the same time. That's what they were doing. Like they're idiots, but they've been with Jesus. You know what? Sometimes people might look at us and say, uh they're crazy. But you know this as well as I do. You deep dive, do a deep dive into the fruit of the spirit. Dignity is not one of them, it's not in there. Joy is. And we've been too dignified and too polished. The church has been working so hard to be relevant, we've become irrelevant. Remember, years ago, I've shared this with you before. Um, the Lord spoke this into my heart, and I'm gonna use words me, mine, and I, only because it communicates quickly, not because in any way I view an anointing or a service as mine or I. But this is the way the Holy Spirit dropped it in my heart one day. If a blind man walks into my service and walks out seeing, I've just become the most relevant man on the planet to that blind man. And if a family walks in and their teenager is one poor decision away from throwing away the next 10 years of their life, and they walk out of that service, their heart is tendered toward God and tended toward their family. We are the most relevant place on the planet. But if that same blind man comes to our service and we meet him at the door by well-trained, polished, well-dressed greeters, and then we show them into our perfectly posturopedic seats. We've got our new line of race sound system. We can download the app for them. The lights are set just perfect. The sermon isn't too long, isn't too short, not too challenging, not too simple, perfectly crafted to be just the right length. At the end of the service, we take him through to our hospitality area where we proudly serve Costa Coffee, and then we call him an Uber and send him home as blind as he came. We are irrelevant to that man's needs. He doesn't care how fancy our building is, he wants to know when I go there, will I find God? And that same man will travel halfway across the world, get a bus as far as the bus goes, get a motorbike as far as the motorbike goes, walk the rest of the way on potholes joined together by the odd rock to go to a building that has no sound system, no walls, no roof, no air conditioning. If God is there and he can walk out seeing, my friends, we are so busy being relevant, we become irrelevant. Let's go back to the ancient ways where we came to praise. So when they heard that, the threatenings, verse 24, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said, Lord, they're being mean. Lord, we were preaching. Where were you when we needed you? God, why didn't you come through for us? Why were we arrested? Lord, it's not fair. I thought when we started preaching, we'd get famous. Lord, I thought when we started preaching in your name, our following will grow. Our Instagram was gonna just take off. Lord, I had visions of grand. I thought I was supposed to be blessed. Lord, I've seen the preachers on TV. I thought I was gonna be one of them. No, it doesn't say it. They were complaining and moaning. It says they began to glorify God. They lifted their voice to God and said, Lord, you are God who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, who by the mouth of your servant David has said, Why did the nation rage and the people imagine vain things? And the kings of the earth took their stand, the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ. They began to magnify God, who he is, what he done, for truly against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. Both Herod and Pontius Pilate were the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined to be done. What are they saying? They're saying Herod didn't kill Jesus, Pontius Pilate didn't kill Jesus. It was your plan, your will was done, your kingdom came, your glory was seen, your redemption was poured out, your salvation was manifest. What are they doing? They're magnifying God. By the time you've done that, you look back at the people that were just arresting you and think, and who are you again? Magnifying God doesn't make him bigger, it just makes him bigger through your eyes. Stop talking about your problem. Jesus didn't say speak about the mountain, he says speak to it. Now, verse 29, now they get to their prayer. Lord, look on their threats and grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word by stretching out your hand to heal, that signs and wonders may be done by the name of your holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken. Why? I believe because they came with praise. They came with praise. Praise gives you access to God, it gives God access to you. Everyone say, I came to praise. And they spoke the word, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the word of God with boldness. So I want to talk about three simple things. Number one, corporate praise multiplies spiritual authority. It multiplies it. The Bible says in Matthew chapter 18, verse 20, for where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them. Where two or three are gathered together. Corporate praise multiplies spiritual authority. Can I be honest with you? I am way more impressive when you're in the room with me than when I'm by myself. I mean it. I've got way more authority. My preaching is much, much better when you're here. I go with myself everywhere I go. I know what I'm like elsewhere. But when you're in the room, I'm telling you, it's something different. There's a corporate authority. There's a corporate power. I know what I can do in my own strength. Maybe I could put a thousand to flight, but the Bible says two of us, ten thousand. It multiplies spiritual authority. Agreement multiplies power. It's a principle in the kingdom. That's why one person praising is powerful. But when a group of people come together in unity, there's a multiplication of spiritual authority. That's why Jesus didn't say when individuals believe, he said, when they gathered in my name, gathered in his name. And there's something about unified hearts, aligned voices, and shared focus that creates a legal ground for heaven to move. See, one voice can fill a room, but many voices can shift a region. That's why your participation matters. It can't just be the worship team or the platform. Every voice contributes to the atmosphere. Can I be honest with you? The people that are on the platform, we're not the praisers. We're on the platform not because we're praisers, we're on the platform because we're musical. There's all the difference in the world between being musical and being a praiser. And the fact that you're not on the platform doesn't mean you're not a praiser, it just means maybe you're not musical. Not everybody can sing. Certainly shouldn't record. But so you may not be on the platform. It doesn't mean you gotta wait till the praise team. If it I don't even like the term the praise team, we are we are the praise team. The guys behind the desk, even behind that wall over there, the people in the children's ministry, every single one of us, those of you hiding in the back, we are st we are the praise team. And you are either facilitating or frustrating what God is wanting to do that day. In fact, the music coming from the platform, the only purpose is to facilitate the congregation's worship. It's not entertainment, it's not performance, it's simply giving music to praise because it's nicer. Let's be honest, it's nicer when there's some music to it, when there's some drums and there's some things going on. It's easier to praise, a little bit like it's easier to swim in water. Just is so when a church understands this, praise stops being something we watch and becomes something we build together. Which is why let me just throw this in here and then I'll back out very quickly. You'll hear the beeping any second now. That's why it's really helpful when you come on time because we came to praise and we're not warming up till you get here, we're not holding down the fort till you arrive. No, no, no, no, no. Walk in this room and hit it. Amen. Moving swiftly on. Number two. Ooh, I love this one. Corporate praise creates a dwelling place for God. Psalm 133. We'll read the whole Psalm, it's only three verses. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It's like the precious oil upon the head running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It's like the dew of Hermon descending on the mountains of Zion, for there the Lord commanded the blessing, life forevermore. Notice that word there. There, there is a location saying, That's where I command a blessing. Not over there, but over there. Well, why don't you just do it everywhere? God's everywhere. Because over there was unity, and over there wasn't. Do you know what I'm saying? It says, in the place of unity, God commands the blessing. So does it matter if we're united in this? Yes. Why? No unity, no blessing. Little bit of unity, little bit of blessing. Great unity, great blessing. The church, and this is why persecution is so incredibly powerful for the move of God. Not because God feels sorry for us because we're persecuted, not because it touches his sympathies, but because it unifies us. Those that are being persecuted unite together. Suddenly, the clothes they wear in doesn't matter. Suddenly the issues out there don't matter. We've smuggled in here. We're meeting underground. If we found out we'll be in trouble, man, this becomes so precious to us. And that's why every time you see persecution rise up against the body of Christ, the church explodes. It's not because God unveils more promises or or gives a more concentrated version of his blood or nothing changes from heaven but unity. That's why persecution is so powerful. Don't be afraid of it. It's not enjoyable, but it's powerful. And it falls into the category of our light infliction, affliction, which lasts for a moment that we count all joy, because from the perspective of eternity, we will look back and say, God, thank you that you allowed persecution to bring us together so you could change our nation. Amen. The word there, there is a location, it's a spiritual environment where unity exists and God releases a blessing. Now, if we connect that with praise, when we come together in unity and lift up the name of Jesus, we're not just having a moment, we are creating a dwelling place. See, there's a big difference between a visitation and a habitation. A visitation is where God comes and goes, a habitation is where he chooses to remain. And what makes a difference in that? The difference is a people who honor him, lift him, and welcome him together. There's something about God said, If my people, which are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray, seek my face, turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin and heal their land. Now my eyes shall be opened and my ear attentive to the prayer that is made in this place, and I will bless that place. Doesn't say, if my person, says if my people. There are many, many things that you and I can do alone. Everything that Christ has provided for me through his atonement is mine, regardless of anyone, anywhere else in the world. But there are many things I cannot do alone. There are doors in the spirit and there are and there are gates in the spirit. Individually, I can open a door, but corporately we have to open a gate. My life, my home, has a door to it, but our city has a gate. Or certainly in the olden days, cities have gates. So I can open a door to the blessing of God in my home with my own praise. But to open a gate to the move of God in a city, we have to do that together. And this is why God has churches, not just the church, churches. Because he will entrust an assignment, a vision, a purpose, a piece of his heart. He will give a measure of revelation to a congregation, a body of people, which is slightly different to what he's doing in the church up the road. That doesn't make one church better than the other. It just means we do exactly what he said. Every joint supplies, and the whole, all the different members make up the body. So let's not criticize the church up the road because they have a revelation and an assignment. The foot has a different role to the knee. They need each other, but they do different things. Some parts of the body never touch. If you ever see my heels touching my shoulders, call an ambulance. Just don't ask any questions, just go right in the phone. Because they should not be touching. And there are certain parts that don't, but all together we make up the body. And so we need to find our place. So what will the devil always do? He'll come and bring disunity. Satan is not, he's not new, he's not um innovative, he's incredibly effective, he's very powerful, he's very wily, he's he's um he's good at what he does, he's very good at being very bad. But what he isn't is new. That's why the Bible says um don't be ignorant of the devil's devices. It's that word means the road. The devil has a road, and we've talked about this many times before. There is a road that the devil will traize down in your life every single time. You just begin to rise up a little bit, you just begin to get some momentum, move forward in life in the spirit, and boom, do down here comes this road. Someone will cut you off in the car if that's if anger's your thing. Uh an image will flash before you, uh, a billboard or something if if lust is your thing. An opportunity to kind of fiddle a little bit on a price over there if if stealing is your thing. He there's a road that you'll go down again and again and again. He'll take you down it, he'll take you down it. That's why Paul said, don't be ignorant, unaware of Satan's devices. And in the church, there is a road he walks down every single time. Every single time. It's not the road of sickness and disease, although there is sickness and disease. It's not, it's not bereavement, it's not it's not financial problems. Those things happen in life. Don't misunderstand me, but the road he walks down every single time is strife and division, disunity, every single time. There's barely a church in this city that wouldn't have thousands of people in it if it wasn't just people were plucked out, one by one, plucked out, plucked out, plucked out. What's he after? He's not after a size of our congregation or any other congregation, he's after our unity. Because if I'm sitting over here and I can't even look at that sister over there, I'm not, I can't even look at her. Why do they even let him come to this church? If they knew. That's why the Bible says, when you come to worship the Lord, if you discover your brother has aught against you or you against your brother, leave your gift, go be reconciled, then come offer your gift. Why? Unity for there, God commands a blessing. So God is looking for a place of unity, and one of the things that unites us is praise. He's looking not just for moments to visit, he's looking for places to rest. And a praising unified church becomes a place that God says, I want to stay here. I want to stay here. And this is why culture matters, because what we consistently do becomes what we consistently host. Let me say it again. There's a big difference between a visitation and a habitation. A visitation is when God comes, a habitation is where he stays, visitation is occasional, habitation is sustained. A visitation touches a moment, a habitation transforms a culture. So what determines the difference? People that know how to honor him. And God is honored by praise. He's not looking for pomp and ceremony. If King Charles was here, there'd be pomp and ceremony. If the prime minister was here, there'd be pomp and ceremony. Jesus' arrival on this earth made it very clear pomp and ceremony matter little to God. But what was going on? The angels were saying, Glory to God in the highest. There was a host of heaven praising him. Jesus came riding in on a donkey. Pomp and ceremony matter little to the Lord. How nice your clothes are, what you're wearing or not wearing, matters little to the Lord. Whether your shoes are new or old, doesn't matter to him. What matters to him is your heart. Did you come to praise? We learn how to honor him, to lift him, to welcome him together, because God is looking for places to rest. And then number three, corporate praise shifts atmospheres and releases power. In Acts chapter 4, verse 31, paraphrase, and when they had prayed, the place was shaken. Everyone say when they prayed, the place was shaken. If you read it specifically, you'll find they did two things. They praised and they prayed. The Bible says, Um, let all prayer and supplication be accompanied with thanksgiving. Our prayer should always have thanksgiving. This was not an isolated believer that was praying that day. This was not private devotion in Acts chapter 4, verse 29. Peter and John went back to the company of believers. In fact, the Bible says they went to their own company and reported all that they went, they went to church, is basically the way you put it. They went to church. There was a gathered people. And when Peter and John shared what was going on, they all began to lift their voice to God. And the environment responded. The environment around them responded. The atmosphere began to be charged with the supernatural, manifested in two ways. Number one, a physical shaking of the building. And it didn't shake because of volume, it shook because of power. This wasn't like the opening scene in Back to the Future where Michael J. Fox cranks up his instruments and blows himself out the back of the it wasn't a volume thing. This is not operacing or shattering glass. This was the power of God. The environment responded. And here's the revelation: corporate praise doesn't only affect people, it affects places. Atmospheres respond to spiritual activity. Fear can lift, faith can rise, oppression can break, peace can descend, boldness can be imparted, healing begins to manifest, chains start to fall. And notice then what followed, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness. Praise prepared the environment for the Spirit of God to move freely. If we want to see salvations and healings and deliverance and miracles and freedom and transformation, it's not only about the quality of the preaching, it's about the quality of the atmosphere. I can work on my preaching. I can brush up a little bit, I can practice a bit more and try and do a better job next week. And I might move the needle one degree. But I'm telling you, my friends, if we all come ready to praise, we will blow this thing out of the water. I can't do this by myself any more than you can do it by myself. Because heaven responds to environments that are faith-filled, unity-filled, expectation-filled, praise-filled. And gateway, this is who we're called to be. Everyone say, I came to praise. We are here to open a gate for the move of God. I don't want us to be a silent church or a passive church. I don't want us to be a disengaged church, but to be a church that understands how to lift the name of Jesus with power and a church that knows how to create an atmosphere for miracles. So, let me bring this series home. Today's the last day. I've got a new one. We're starting next week. I can't wait. Talking about being transformed. Everyone say transformed. I see, wait till next week. I'll talk about it. It's gonna be goody. But corporate praise, let me say it again. It's not the warm-up before the service gets going. It's not just a routine, do three fast songs, three slow songs. It's not about that. It's it's not a transition from kind of walking around in the world to getting ready for the sermon. It is a multiplication of authority. It is access, it is a weapon in the spirit realm. Let the high praises of God be in our mouth and a two-edged sword in our hand. You will never have that sword in your hand without praise in your mouth. It's a shifting of the atmosphere. So, church, every time we gather, we have a choice to spectate or to participate, to observe or to build. Because we don't just experience the atmosphere of this house, we create it. We help to create it. And if we gateway, grow, because we we do okay, but there's always room to grow. If we grow as a people who prays with unity, with faith, with expectation, this will not just be a place that people attend, it will be a place that people encounter God. And I want that above everything else. We all love the services where there's no sermon. I don't think because you don't enjoy my sermons, it's because that moment where I hope it's not anyway. If it is, just look ahead, smile. It's when God walks in the room. I remember years ago, I think we were still in the school, so long time ago. And it was in that season, it wasn't during the service, and I was imagining a future event. And in my imagining, I saw this family that they'd come up from London, mom and dad, and two teenagers, boy and a girl. And they'd heard about Gateway or maybe seen us on TBN or whatever was going on at the time. And they thought, we want to go to Gateway. And so they came up and they're in the service, and the service gets going, and and the teenager kind of digs the dad in the ribs and says, huh? I thought, I thought their praise and worship be better. I thought their music could be better, you know, a decent sized church. I I was expecting a bit more. But by the end of the service, they are, I mean, shaking under the power of God. They're trying to get back to the train station. They can hardly walk there because the power of God is resting on them. I would love for our church to be underwhelming naturally and overwhelming supernaturally. I'd love it to be a church where we decrease and he increases. Less of us and more of him. Let God arise, the Bible says, Let his enemies be scattered, that we would be able to say, The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty, and he rejoices over us with singing. The Bible says in Psalm 150, verse 1 through 6, Praise the Lord, praise God in his sanctuary, praise him in his mighty firmament, praise him for his mighty acts, praise him according to his excellent greatness, praise him with the sound of the trumpet, praise him with the lute and the harp, praise him with the timbral. I never understood people that are funny about instruments in church. I don't get it. Anyways, praise him with the trumpet, praise him with the lute and with the heart, praise him with the timbrel and the dance, praise him with stringed instruments and flutes, praise him with loud cymbals, praise him with clashing cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Whenever I hear praise the Lord, I just hear a Jamaican accent saying it. Anyone Jamaican, can you say it from a Jamaican? Thank you. That's just how you just want to pray. It just that's how it comes out. Let's stand up on our feet. Say it again. I came to praise. Come on, I came to praise. Did you really? We've got like two minutes left. Can we can we just end this service with some crazy praise? Can we just go? We don't need the instruments right now. We're just gonna lift our voices to God for a moment and not about how you feel, not even about what he's done, just about for you, but about who he is, about his exploits, about his wonders. So let's just begin to raise our voice and come on, church. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. God, I praise you because you're mighty, I praise you because you're powerful, I praise you because you're bigger than any mountain I've ever faced or ever will face. I praise you because you bring down walls, I praise you because you kill giants, I praise you because you stop the mouths of lions and make fire to be cool. I praise you because you part the water and bring people through on dry land. I praise you because you open the eyes of ones born blind. I praise you because you raised the dead. I praise you because before the world began you were, and after the world ends, you are. I praise you because you're the ancient of days, you are the great I am, you are Jehovah Jirah, Jehovah Rafa. I praise you because you supply all my need according to your riches and glory by Christ Jesus. I praise you because everything I ever need, I find in you. I can look toward heaven and say, You are, you are, he is, I am God. You are mighty. You are come on. I'm doing this louder than you. I know you got a mic, got a mic, but drown me out. Come on, begin to praise him for his greatness and his excellence. Praise him because he's a miracle worker. The miracle you need is not hard for him. Even your miracle, even your situation, he's more than able to turn it around. We serve a God that is able to save to the uttermost. So praise him. Come on, praise him, Lord. Your power, your greatness, your splendor, your majesty. It doesn't have to rhyme to be praised, it doesn't have to be musical to be praised, you don't need a beat behind it to be praised, you don't need a bridge and an addendum for it to be praised. It just has got to be magnifying God and glorifying God. It doesn't have to be pretty to be praised. The Bible says he'll perfect it for you, he'll take what you offer him and turn it into something wonderful. Come on, 30 seconds more. God, we bless you. Anyone watching at home, pray, praise the Lord. We bless you, we magnify you, we lift our voice to you, God. We're not waiting, we are engaging, Lord. We magnify you, we glorify you, we exalt you, for the Lord is good, and his mercy endures forever. For the Lord is good, and his mercy endures forever. You know, that was the battle cry of the Old Testament. So say this after me: say, for the Lord is good. When I said say, I meant shout, for the Lord is good, and his mercy endures forever. I mean, this was the battle cry over and over again. God likes this line, he likes this one. For the Lord is good, and his mercy endures forever. Come on, like him in it. For the Lord is good, and his mercy endures forever. If you need a miracle right now, you know what you need to say, for the Lord is good, and his mercy endures forever. If you're going through a battle right now, let's say it together. For the Lord is good, and his mercy endures forever. If there's trouble in your home, shout this out with me. For the Lord is good, and his mercy endures forever. He's gooder than whatever's bad in your life, he's better than whatever's wrong, he's bigger than whatever's big in your life. I'm telling you, for the Lord is, and his mercy endures. Does that mean now? Are we still in forever, or do we step out of time? We're still in forever. For the Lord is he is he is he good? Has he been good to you? Come on, for the Lord is, and his mercy endures. Hallelujah. I came to praise. I came to praise. My friend, if there is ever a message that we need to not just listen but do, James said, don't just be a hearer of the word, be a doer, you'll be blessed in the work. Praise is work, but pain is more work. It's more work. I came to praise. Amen. Oh, Alter Teen, go ahead and come if you would please. Father, thank you so much for your word and your spirit and the freedom. Lord, your word says, and it's so true, where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. And I thank you for the liberty that we have in this place. God, we love you. We know it's all because of Jesus. Lord, we are so grateful. Your cross, your blood, your resurrection changed everything for us. And I'm so glad I heard the gospel and believed it in my heart, and I'm saved. God, thank you. I'll thank you forever. Lord, for what you're doing in our church. We don't take it lightly. We are very, very, very grateful. My friend, if you're in here and you are not right with the Lord, and you know what I mean by that, to look him in the eye, you would have to look away. You would feel awkward. You'd like, oh God, please don't look at that. You know what righteousness means? It's a very Christian word, but it means this the right to stand in the presence of God without guilt, shame, or condemnation. The Bible says God made him, Jesus, who knew no sin, to be made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ. The right to stand before God without guilt, shame, or condemnation, righteousness is not earned, it's not bought, it's received as a gift. God gives it to us. If there's anyone in here and you say, John, I do not have that. I I don't know how you could even begin to think about standing before God without guilt, shame, or condemnation. Then I want one of these folks to pray with you today because God is gonna do something incredibly powerful in your life. Jesus called it being born again. It's phenomenal. And then maybe there's some prodigals in here today. And you say, John, I used to walk with the Lord, but I'm not walking with him now. But you're sitting here thinking, man, I gotta come home. I've got to come home. You know the account of the prodigal son in the Bible? He came to himself, thought, What on earth am I doing? It'd be better to be a servant in my dad's house than this. It would. We all have had those moments in our lives where we come to and we think, What on earth am I doing? But that account tells us this we're welcome home. We are welcome home. Amen. So there's people here ready to stand with you and pray with you. I'm not gonna protract this out, but I am gonna say the moment this service ends, come straight to the front. Let one of these folks pray with you. I know them, I know the anointing they carry, I know what God does in this altar, week after week after week. Don't walk out of here without something phenomenal happening in your life. Church, I love you. God bless you. Thank you for not just showing up, but coming to praise today. Have a wonderful, wonderful rest of the day, rest of the week. Walk out of here praising. I love you, and I'll see you next Sunday. Thanks, everybody.

SPEAKER_00 47:47

Thank you so much for joining us for this week's message at Gateway. We were so glad to be able to share it with you. If you would like to find out more about what is going on at Gateway or when our weekly services are, you can visit our website at www.igateway.org.uk. Thank you so much for joining us.