Thank you. Thank you, Renee. Wow. What an offering message. Never heard that stuff before. That is. I guess there's a water down here. That's amazing. That's good stuff. Okay, we can all go home now. That, you know, I've I've received an amazing revelation from God. You know, one thing about that offering that I heard, and I don't know if it's true for sure, but uh I think I read it in a commentary somewhere that um, you know, talking about the perfect lamb, uh, that that the swaddling clothes, that the cloths that Jesus was wrapped in as a baby were actually the same cloths that they would wrap that baby lamb in. They would wrap that baby lamb so he wouldn't get injured. I don't know if anybody ever heard that before, but uh, you know, I'd maybe we have to research that more. But I I read that and uh, you know, that could be true. So uh they because they didn't want that baby lamb to be be harmed. You know, I'm I'm I'm so blessed. This is an awesome church, you know, and here we are, you know, Jamie's speaking in tongues and worshiping in tongues, and uh, you know, a lot of places they they say, well, you know, don't speak in tongues in public. But you know, the Bible says I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God. And you know, I think you could flip that around. I'm not ashamed of the power of God because it is the gospel. Amen. We don't want to be ashamed of what God's done. Let let him have his way. You know, the early church was not ashamed of tongues. You know, they say we shouldn't speak tongues in front of unbelievers. Well, tell the tell the uh book of Acts that where when the Holy Spirit came down, you know, they were speaking in tongues. Everybody's saying, What is this? So that's awesome. I was so blessed uh Friday night from our Spanish, uh, our Spanish service. Well, how many were there? If you weren't there, if you weren't there, you missed off, missed out on a huge blessing, and it was so much fun. We were all singing in Spanish, you know. I'm glad I didn't, you know, nobody was recording me because I was reading the words and then blah blah blah blah, you know, it wasn't coming out right. But uh it was just a blast. And uh we had that amazing evangelist, um Ernesto Escobar, who preached a fantastic message. You know, if if I was going to become a famous singer or actor, I would uh pick Ernesto Escobar for my stage name. Amen. Isn't that an awesome name? I love his name. So it's it's it's so good. It's so good to be here. Um a Sunday school teacher asked a group of young children, why do we need to be quiet in church? A little girl pipes up and she says, because people are sleeping. Well, I'm glad that doesn't happen here, and I hope nobody falls asleep today. You know, it's good to be generous, right? So I met a woman outside a mall crying, and she'd lost $200. So I gave her $40 from the $200 I'd found. When God blesses you, you should bless others. And and and this this uh this actually happened uh in a uh a small engine repair place in Prince Albert. I saw a sign a while ago that said, notice we guarantee fast service no matter how long it takes. And so this may not be a fast message, we're gonna take as long as we need to take, amen. And I just want you to listen intently and be willing to grab a hold of what God has for you today, because God has something for you today. I'm gonna be talking on the power of persistence. And so I'm gonna start with uh John chapter 13, verse 36. Simon Peter says to Jesus, he says, Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered him, Where I'm going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow me afterwards. Peter said to him, Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay my life down for you, Jesus answered. Oh, I will lay my life down for you. Jesus answered, Will you lay your life down for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times. So I just want you to think about that for a minute. Peter denied Jesus three times. Imagine how that felt when he realized that. But I want to talk a bit about my journey. Um, so I've really been seeking, most of you know I've been seeking after healing, after the presence of God, after miracles, just see God use me. And not really, you know, I haven't been seeking to be a healing evangelist. I I really want to see the church equipped to move in healing. I want to see you move in healing. And so uh, but this journey started when I uh Pastor Brent and I went to Brampton first, and then we went to Guatemala. And uh Pastor Brent was really studying about healing at that time, and he preached just healing messages. And so we went to Brampton and you know, we got great some words of knowledge. I got an amazing word of knowledge, so clear and so precise. And uh uh, you know, that's very encouraging when God speaks to you and uses you. And we saw so many healings, and then we went to Guatemala, and and the same thing, we saw all these healings, and we we learned to get words of knowledge and and and do things like that. And and and and God, you know, I remember in Guatemala that the you know, this this young, beautiful girl coming up to Pastor Brent, and here she was the pastor's daughter, and she had been down below at the service. She'd been down below, apparently at a lower level, where they did all their media stuff, so you know, kind of like what our people do up top here. And she came up and she says, I was watching the service, and I've had a sinus condition where my sinus has been plugged and I can hardly breathe through my nose almost all my life. And she's about 20 years old. And she says, While I was watching the service, all of a sudden my my sinuses opened up and I was totally healed, and she was crying, and she was, you know, think of what the difference that would make in someone's life. And nobody prayed for her, she just grabbed hold of it. And so we can see these miracles and this power of God happening. And so when I when you see stuff like that, it changes you, it stirs a hunger in you, and you say, you know what? God wants this. And so I started studying, I started reading books, I started uh watching uh, you know, watching healing services, um, I started reading the word of God, everything I could get about healing. And I realized that healing is not peripheral to the gospel. Healing signs and wonders is not peripheral to the gospel. It's not something off to the side. It is the gospel, it's part of the gospel. Forgiveness of sins, you know, it says in Psalms, I will heal, I will forgive your sins and heal your diseases. It's all part uh and parcel of the gospel. Jesus went to the cross and he suffered and he bled and died. And it said he took it, you know, he took his the beatings for our pains and for our sicknesses, and by his stripes we are healed. It's part of the gospel. It was done on the cross, it was done. Peter said, by his stripes we were healed. It is part of the gospel, and we don't want to preach an incomplete gospel, amen. The power of the gospel is is amazing, and that's why Peter said, I, or Paul said, I don't want to um preach just words, but with a demonstration of power. Because a demonstration of power sets everyone's mind it straight that God is real, God is here, God is moving. This is not just knowledge in my head, this is something I can experience for today. Amen. This is something I can experience now. And so I looked in the, you know, it was all paid for. The salvation message includes forgiveness of sins, but also healing and signs and wonders and the power of God. And it was all paid by Jesus. Jesus said that the kingdom of God is at hand. Reach out and grab it by force. You know, it's something we need to take. You know, I I love to worship, um, but you know what, Gene and I, we don't we don't uh we don't yell a lot in our house. There's just the two of us. It's pretty quiet, pretty calm. You know, we have our coffee in the morning and read, read, and you know, we will talk quietly to one another. But then our grandkids come over and it's chaos and everything's flipped upside down, you know, and so you know, I don't talk a lot. So I'm I'm thinking, you know, I better not worship too hard because I need to save my voice. But you know what? I can't help it. I can't help it. I have to worship, I have to grab hold of this presence of God with all my strength. So I started to feel that uh we needed to restore healing in the church because it says the kingdom of God is at hand, that it's right there within reach. And you know, when the kingdom of God shows up, the devil's kingdom starts to fall. Sickness and darkness and depression and and uh possession leaves in the name of Jesus. When the kingdom of God comes, all chaos stops and everything upside, it turns is turned right side up in your life. Amen. So we need the kingdom of God. Yes, you're very quiet this morning. I'm trying my best. I don't know, maybe I'll find I'll find one side to preach to that's really enthusiastic. And then I'll start, I'll go over here. No, you try. Amen. So I felt we, I started feeling we need to restore healing in the church. And not that this church isn't isn't about healing, they are, but I felt not only this church, but we need to see healing everywhere. Amen. We need to see healing, we need to see see the power of God. And I wanted to equip teams that could move in healing. Every church should have a team that knows how to pray for healing because every church has sick people in it, which isn't right. That's not right. We are the body of Christ. How can the body of Christ be sick? It can't, it shouldn't, it's wrong. So we need to fight against that. And healing and miracles are supposed to be part of evangelism. It always was the book of Acts. I've reading the book of Acts and the explosion of the early church, and and you know, up to the time where of Paul's where you know, I'm I'm up to there in Acts right now, up to the time where Paul starts preaching. But up to that point, I'm highlighting in everywhere there's healing, every page, multiple times, healings, miracles. It's just all over. It's it was part of the explosion of growth in the church, and that that is what will cause explosion of growth in our church. That will that is what will change the lives of north of North Americans who don't believe in God. They see the power of God. You you know what, you know what, young people today they they have had the knowledge of God blocked from their knowledge. It's taken out of schools, it's taken out of every situation, it's taken off social media in many places. You're oppressed if you if you preach. They don't know anything. And so they're believing lots of lies, and there's lots of demonic oppression in young people nowadays. I believe we're about to see an explosion, and we need the power of God, an explosion of evangelism, explosion of young people coming to the Lord because they see something real, and they they want something real, they don't want just platitudes and and and and you know, nice sermons. They want to see the power of God, they want their lives to be changed and they're gonna need to be delivered. So Luke starts his his account of the church in early Acts, the Church of Acts with these words. Luke starts, he said, in my first book, O Theophilus, everyone say, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach. Everyone say, Do and teach, until the day he was taken up, after he was given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles who he had chosen. So Luke starts the account of what Jesus did and taught. And it's interesting that he puts it in that order. He talks about what Jesus did and what Jesus taught. So, what should our focus be when we preach in the church? Should it be just teaching or should it be doing the works of Christ? We need to do the works of Christ as well. So I believe that the church is hungry for more. And how many of you are are satisfied with just good teaching and not demonstrations of the power of God? How many of you want to see demonstrations of the power of God? You want to see God move in your life, in your family, in your own body? Amen. We need the power of God. Jesus told us to be careful how we hear. You know, the good seed that fell here and there. And I think it, I think Jesus now is now explaining to his disciples what it means. And the last uh, this verse in in verse 15 says, as for the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and do what? Bear fruit with patience. I don't know what patience means. I didn't study that. There's probably a really good meaning there, too. But bearing fruit is a result of having good soil in our hearts. Good soil in our hearts. We hear, we say, oh, well, I want to have good soil, I want to receive the word of God. But then you're supposed to go out and bear fruit, church. We're supposed to bear fruit with the word of God that that is implanted in our hearts. And I'm so thankful there's so many good ministries starting in our church. And I encourage you, get on board. You know, but but but there's so much that we can be doing. But let's continue with this scripture. This right after this scripture, Jesus says, take care then how you hear. For the one who uh the for the one who has, more will be given away. And for the one who has not, even what he thinks he has will be will be taken away. So even what we think we have, and what does that mean? Even what we think we have. And then he gives a clue as to what he's talking about, because his mother and brothers come to the door, and he's speaking in a in a in a house, and it's crowded, and there's a crowd outside, and his mother and brother are trying to get in, and and they can't reach him because of the crowd. And so he's told, your mother and brother are standing outside desiring to see you. And so he gives a clue now to what he's talking about. He says, My mother and brother are those who hear the word of God and do it. And that's what the whole parable of the sower is about. Hearing the word of God, having good soil in your heart, and then doing it. Amen. How many of you want to do the word of God? Okay, quite a few hands, quite a few. We're getting there. So Jesus is looking for fruit, and you can do the work, the works of Christ. We are all equipped. But instead of uh in North America, instead of churches being equipped to do the work of the ministry, the saints have become spectators, pew warmers, and head nodders. Amen. I nod my head a lot too in church. You know, we we nod our heads, we agree, but then we go out and you know, if we were asked sometimes two hours after we get out of church, what was the sermon about today? Uh, gee, I don't know. Um, we'd have to think because it doesn't impact us, it doesn't change us. We don't take it in and say and and relish every word and say, This is what I need, this is what I need for my life to become like Christ. We've just become accustomed to good teaching, and there's nothing wrong with good teaching. We need good teaching, but there's more. There's more. Say there's more. We're all capable of producing fruit because we all have the Holy Spirit. Amen. He's our helper. And and and uh Mike, Mike's amazing. I'm so proud of Mike. Mike Wilson preached last, was that last week? It was last week. You know, I when I first met Mike, he'd come to uh a church up in Prince Albert that we were building, and uh that church, you know, was going after revival, and and uh Mike shows up and he's a young guy and he's just got saved. And he's you know, he's just got this look in his eye, right? Like, what can I do? He was so tenacious for for God. And and we are working, and I was telling him about when we were in Kansas City in the revival, I said sometimes we would work all night, we would just keep going. And Mike, he got all excited, and you know, he he wanted to do that, he wanted to work all night. So we worked all night a couple nights, and and that, you know, and and that zeal hasn't changed in Mike. And look what he's becoming. You know, he's running after God, he's not looking back, he's going with all he's got. So I'm so proud of Mike. And but Mike used this scripture last week, and I'd already had my sermon mostly prepared, and I had also had this scripture. So God wants to highlight this scripture, and it says uh in Acts 13, 22, it says, After removing Saul, he made David their king, and God testified concerning him. I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my heart. And then it says this, he will do everything I want him to do. He will do everything I want him to do. What's it mean to be a man or a woman after God's own heart? It means you'll do ever he'll you'll do everything. Everyone say everything. Everything he wants you to do. So I had to ask myself, will I do everything that God wants me to do? That's what we're supposed to do, right? We're supposed to ask ourselves that question. That's what the word of God does. And even though I had a vision, I had a desire for God to use me, I knew I was seeking God for healing, I was seeking God for all this vision that God had given me. I was I was hungry. At least I thought I was. Going after God, and but this question kind of haunts me. Will I do everything that God wants me to do? But so as I'm seeking and thinking about this ministry that maybe God has that He could use me in, I realized I and I was studying quite a bit about impartation, and I realized a lot of great healing ministers and a lot of people who who move in healing or or other ministries, they receive. Even impartation. And one of the one of the main ways in the Bible impartations happen is through laying on of hands by elders. Or someone who has a gift can lay hands on and that will be transferred. It's an amazing thing. Or someone will have a powerful encounter in a service and and God will just impart something to them. You know, uh, so and sometimes they're they're they're hungry and they're passionate for it. Sometimes it just happens, but usually it's a person's hungry for for something. So last Christmas, this was amazing. I'm I'm you know trying to seek God for this healing ministry and and and an impartation. I said, well, where can I get an impartation? And Gene, Christmas time comes, Gene hands me an envelope for a gift. I look at it and I say, What's this? And here it's two tickets to Randy Clark Healing and Impartation Service and Airfare, which was going to happen in about two weeks from then. It was mid-January. So praise the Lord. I thought, you know, I cried. It was just so, it was like, wow, how did you do this? And she kept a secret. She it's pretty amazing. She kept it a secret. And uh it was it was so powerful, and so I was so excited. We're going down. I was shocked and delighted. Um, so we're going to see Randy Clark and Bill Johnson and many of these other guys who are really anointed in healing. And I was going to go down and receive an impartation. And so we went down, and I'm all excited with anticipation. The conference was awesome. And Randy Clark's preaching, Bill Johnson's preaching, they're having healing services, and you know, most nights, and then one night it's an impartation night. And and I'm thinking, this is it. This is the night. And but you know, there was something about the place. They had it in this conference center, and it was packed. There's like 2,000 people there. And there was about enough people at the front, the chairs were right up to the front, and there was enough people, uh, room for an altar for about one row of people. And of course, immediately the the rows just packed with people. So it was difficult to go and get prayer. And uh that had happened on other nights, but I wasn't going for a healing, so that was fine. But impartation night, this was it. But I'm standing there, and all of a sudden, you know, it's impartation. I need to get to the front, but man, the rows are packed to the back, the front's packed. How do I get out? And then all of a sudden, here's Randy Clark walking on chairs, three three rows in front of me, a couple young guys holding his hands. Randy Clark's 72 years old. I'm only 68. He's walking on chairs. And Gene says, Look, there's Randy Clark right there, expecting me to do something. But you know what? I I didn't do anything. I just stood there and I watched him go by. I thought, I hope he comes my way. But he didn't. He walked on by. That was a really hard moment. What was really hard was afterwards when I realized what I'd done. You know, we'd been to Kansas City, we'd been in from some pretty wild revivals. Jumping over chairs was nothing. I'd done lots of that. But something kept me from jumping over those chairs that that night. And I'd I had to think about what was it. Was I wanting to be too dignified? Like I said, you know, if you want to be dignified, you're you might miss out on something God has for you. It was heartbreaking, it was heart-wrenching that I'd come all the way down there and miss my opportunity for impartation. The rest of the conference was good. We went to Bethel, Bethel Church last morning, had a wonderful service, enjoyed those times, but I realized God was dealing with me. God was dealing with my heart. And he was telling me, you know, you want, you want to do something for me, but you're not hungry enough. You're not desperate enough. You want this on your terms. You like your comfortable life, and you just want to do this on your terms. That's a hard message. But it happened to me before once. You know, God has a way of showing you who you really are. That's why I started with this message in about Peter. Peter thought he was this brave guy, right? He'd do anything for the Lord. Jesus had to show him who he really was. This happened once before when I first got saved. This was before I got saved. I thought that I was a really great guy. I thought I was, you know, God's gift to Gene, right? Really, I mean, I was I was probably really arrogant when I was young before I got saved. Um and uh so here I am, where, you know, before we got saved, I'm I'm starting a business. I'm I'm just pursuing this business. It wasn't a business I'm in now, but I'm just excited about this business. I'm pouring all my time into this business. And and and I don't realize it, but Gene is raising three kids by herself. And she's feeling neglected and hurt. And so I didn't realize it, but our marriage was just about to crash. And I was so in my own world I did not even know. So I and then we got saved. We came to the Lord together as a family, which was so awesome because it saved our marriage. But shortly after that, I had an encounter with God, and God showed me my heart. And my goodness, it was the most devastating moment of my life when God showed me who I really was. Here I I had this image of myself as this wonderful person, this great husband, this fantastic uh this fantastic business person and this great family man. And God says, you are selfish and self-centered, and you've been neglecting your wife. And let me tell you, that was a moment that I was devastated as to who I was. And I was able to get down on my knees before my wife and ask her forgiveness and say, forgive me for who I've been and who how I've treated you and how I've neglected you. Because Jesus had shown me who I was. But you know, he just doesn't teach us this thing so we so we feel bad and so we're crushed. He teaches us that these things so he can restore us. And God restored our marriage. And it's I I want to say my marriage, it's been the most bless biggest blessing in my life to be married to to Gene. It's been, I I just thank God for her every day. And you know, just this month we've been married 45 years, and it would have ended after seven. You know, marriage means commitment. So does insanity, but so like Peter, I was not who I thought I was. But Peter got restored. God showed him what was really in his heart, and it says, Peter wept bitterly. Those tears were of inner pain. There were tears of cleansing, there were tears of healing, and through those tears, there was restoration. So after this going down to this conference, I got home and I got on my face before God, and I started, you know, I repented and I started really seeking God. I got a new hunger for God that I didn't have before. And I started, you know, I'd listened to a Bill Johnson sermon and he had said something like, if you want, if you want to hear God or if you want to be used by God, say yes before he asks. Have your yes ready before he asks. And so I started saying yes. Bailey, you're so awesome. You you and Hunter on Friday night singing in Spanish. You should have heard them singing all these Spanish songs. It's like, oh, they're Spanish. No, they're not. They're not Spanish. They I don't even think you speak Spanish, maybe a few words, but you would have never known. It was so awesome. That's kind of an aside from a kind of a serious moment here, but so I'm seeking the God and I realize seeking God, and I realized that God wanted my whole life, and I'd only offered him my casual service on my terms. But he he was working in my life, and I wasn't going to give up. I wasn't gonna give up. I wanted my final days to be my best for God's kingdom. So I decided I would say yes before God asked. Okay, so you make a statement like that, what's gonna happen? God's gonna test you. So I've been praying about El Salvador and the new church, and I'm thinking, you know what? We need to have a crusade and build that church. That would be so awesome. See the miracles, the power of God, and bring the community into the church. And I'm praying about this for, you know, I think a couple months. And then I thought, you know, maybe I should call Mike. Mike's the evangelist. Maybe he'd like to go and we could have this crusade, and then we can approach Pastor Adam and see if he he thinks it's a good idea. So I call Mike. Mike, I got this great idea. We're gonna, what about a crusade to build the church in El Salvador? And and uh, and I'm thinking, you know, we can go January, February, right? It's it's it's uh it's cold here and it's hot there. And and besides, I love bow hunting. And you know, many of you don't know anything about bow hunting or hunting. You know, a lot of rifle hunters they go out for two days and they'll they'll that's their hunt, right? Bow hunting involves the whole season. You have to do your pre-scouting, you have to prepare all your spots. And then comes November. November is the month when all of the bucks are on the move because the breeding season has started, and that's your chance to get the big buck. And so I always kind of keep November kind of clear, right? I try not to book anything in November. So I say to Mike, so, and Mike, and so Mike says to me, hey, we've already got it planned. We're going, we're having this crusade. I say, Wow, awesome! And he says, Yeah, it's in November. It's in two weeks in November, takes up half of November. So I'm in a little dilemma, and I say to Mike, well, uh, yeah, okay, well, I hope I can make it. I'll call you back. And I was praying when I called Mike. I was I was up in my man cave praying, and uh, so I go back to prayer. You know, it took me about 15 seconds to change, to let hunting go, to let November go. Because I'd already said yes. The yes was there, I was prepared and ready, and so it was easy, and I'm so thankful for that. You know, it says to take up your cross and die daily, right? And that sounds like such a drastic thing. You know, it's it's it's not really that drastic because all it is is saying yes to God every day. You say yes to God every day, and you're taking up your cross, and you're dying to yourself daily, every day. And so dying to self is really about who's gonna be in control. And I don't want to be in control. I don't want to stay in control, I want God to be in control. And you know what? Before we overcome the devil, we're gonna have to overcome our own flesh. We're gonna have to overcome, uh we're not gonna cast out demons if we're serving our own demons and serving our own desires. Amen. So if you want to walk in the power of God, we need, you know, like Adam said, you know, we don't want to be saying, Lord, Lord, in his sermon, Lord, Lord. That really spoke to me too. You know, I never knew you, he said to some. Why? Because they were trying to serve him on their terms for their own glory sometimes. So we often deceive ourselves, and we can be overconfident like Peter, thinking we're someone we're not. You know, you can also be underconfident, you can also have a low self-esteem and think God will never use me. And you can hide behind that. But God raised up some pretty insignificant characters to become really powerful in the kingdom of God. So don't count yourself out. And, you know, I don't want a casual relationship with Jesus. There's too much at stake. Whatever, whatever I have accomplished in my life, it's not enough. Whatever we've accomplished in our life is not enough. There's no sense of there's no retirement in the kingdom of God. There's more. God always, he's never done with us until our last breath. It's just reasonable service. Amen. Kim Wheeler is quite an inspiration. You know, I look at all he's done, and it can be intimidating, but I don't have to do what Kim did. I just need to have the heart and passion that Kim had. And God will do what he wants with me. And he's preparing me. And he'll prepare you as well if you're willing to pursue him. You know, we like to hear good sermons. We we we like to clap and we shout, Amen. But uh, and Peter preached a great sermon in Pentecost, chapter two, but no one shouted and no one clapped. It says that they were cut to the heart and they repented. And what did they say? They said, What should we do? What should we do? There needs to be a response when God speaks to you. A lot of people they like God to speak to them just to say, you know, I heard God say something to me. They want everyone to know that God speaks to them. What did He say? What did He ask you to do? What's God asking you to do? You know, I'm not giving up. That was a big disappointment. That was a crushing moment. But I know God restores, He He does these things for a reason. He does them to help us to see ourselves and to raise us up to become what He wants us to be, because He has a destiny for each of your lives. And maybe you've had disappointments, maybe you've had delays, maybe you've had discouragements. I have too, but those are things aren't going to deter me. I'm determined to pursue what God wants me to do. You know, some of you haven't started this journey yet, and some some some of you have, and you feel stalled. Well, God's speaking to you today. It's up to us. It's up to us. You know, there's a saying that says God keeps all of his promises, but he's not obligated to fulfill our potential. God keeps all of his promises, but he's not obligated to fulfill our potential. That takes our response. Amen? So I I'm I'm I spend a lot of time outside at our acreage there, and every once in a while I'll I'll see an ant carrying something. And it's fascinating. This little ant. It's like me carrying a half-ton truck into the into the church here and trying to get through the doors. It's like, well, it doesn't fit this way, it doesn't fit that way. Maybe I'll go up over the roof and try that way. These ants are relentless, carrying, you know. I saw one with a grasshopper leg, you know, three times as long as him. And he's just, he gets some a little patch of grass, and it's just up and over. He's he's gonna make it, right? He's not gonna give up. I saw one time I saw a blue bottle fly. You know what a blue bottle fly is? It's it's kind of the biggest house fly type fly we have. Pretty big fly. And and so it's running in circles and kind of running funny, and I'm looking at it and I have a close look, and it's only got one wing. I'm thinking, well, why is he running around so so long? And and and I look closer, and here's a tiny little ant has got a hold of his leg. And he's trying to shake this ant, and he's having trouble, and he's running around. And every time he stops, that little ant digs in and starts tugging. I'm taking you home. It was hilarious, it was so funny, but yet it was so profound. The tenacity and the persistence of that ant. And so, persistence is a demonstration of faith. We need to be persistent. Whether you're pursuing a calling, a healing, a career, whatever it is, you need to be persistent. Jesus often preached on a mountain, and people brought on mats their sick to Jesus. Now you put those two together and you say, Well, he's up at a mountain. That's pretty hard to get people up there. They were persistent. How about the Canaanite woman or the Syrophoenician woman? She comes to Jesus with a big problem. Jesus, I had my daughter is demon-possessed. That's a big problem. But she had a problem. She wasn't a Jew, she wasn't an Israelite. Jesus came, he said, to the Israelites. And that's where that scripture, you know, it's not right to give the children's bread to the dogs. So what does he do? First of all, he ignores her. And then, you know, she then she's like a protester, right? She gets in front of him and she's not going to, she's not going to let him get by. She's persistent. And then he calls her a dog. Well, you think that would send her home, right? She gets in his face. I have a problem. And he says, I can't help you because you're not from Israel. So you'd think that would be final. But she didn't take the clue. She was persistent. And what happened? Jesus finally said, not because she was wearing him out, but because she saw, he saw her faith. And persistence is a um demonstration of faith. So and she, you know what? You know what else? She did not wait for an invitation. We're so polite. We're gonna wait until God asks us or until someone asks us to come for prayer. And so, you know, when we're in revival, people ran to the altar and fell on their face. They were so desperate for God. And we're so polite and we become so refined and so dignified, me included. Believe me, I'm preaching to myself today. You know, have you ever hoped that God will sovereignly heal you without having to come for prayer? You know, it doesn't happen. It doesn't happen. It's not in the Bible. Everybody had to come, and according to their faith, it was done. Somebody needs faith. So Peter is restored. Peter, the denier. Peter, the maybe a little arrogant guy, a little bit arrogant. He thought he was something he was, you know, that he really wasn't. He was broken. He weeps bitterly, and then he gets restored. Jesus restores him. And so we look at Peter after he's restored. Peter starts running and he didn't stop. Because it was Peter that preached at Pentecost and 3,000 were saved. It was Peter that said to the crippled beggar, What I what I you know, I don't have silver or gold, but what I have, I give you, rise and walk. And then they were persecuted after that. And Peter uh said to the religious leaders, we must be obey God rather than men. And it was Peter that raised Tabbitha from the dead. It was Peter whose shadow healed the sick in the streets when they would bring them on their mats as he walked by. And it was Peter who first brought the gospel to the Gentiles. Peter, the denier. Peter, the one that failed. The Peter that failed became the Peter that changed history. You know, you may have had failures in your life. You may have had disappointments. But you know what? Failure is never final with God. What do you need from God? Don't give up. Don't give up. Maybe you've given up hope. That's all stand. Ask the band to come. Maybe you've had lost loved ones and you've given up hope for them. Maybe you have a family member that's sick. Maybe you're sick and you've had something a long time and you've given up hope. Maybe you have a dream. Maybe you had a dream that God could use you or a dream that you could be something, and yet you gave up hope. Because you ran into roadblock after roadblock. And you got discouraged and you got disappointed. But I think God gave us ants for a reason. I think he gave us ants so we could see what persistence looks like. Some of you today need a healing. We've got some words of knowledge. But I want you to come, if you've had dreams that have that have died, that you are pursuing God at one time, or and you know, if you've never, for those online as well, if you've if you've never given your life to the Lord, there is such a value. There's so much value in knowing Jesus. It is such a precious gift, what he gave for us, that he shed his blood, he died in our place, that we could have life. And you know, we can live our whole lives with struggles, depression, things going on, and we don't understand why. But you know, in a moment, God can pinpoint that thing and he can say, This is this is the reason, and he can remove that from your life and set you free forever. He did it for me, and he can do it for you. So I want us to all pray together. And if you have, if you don't, if you haven't asked Jesus into your life, this is the moment that your life can be changed forever. And you can go from a life of struggling and confusion to a life of blessing and purpose. So, Father, we thank you, Lord. Let's say it together. Thank you, Jesus, for giving your life for me. Thank you for dying on the cross. Thank you that you you died for my sins, and you rose from the grave to give me new life. And I know you want to give me new life today. So I receive you as my Lord and Savior. Take my life, give me purpose. I want to live for you for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name. Now, if you said that prayer, I want you to let someone know, let a believer know, and get hooked up in a good church and start hearing the word of God and find out what God wants you to do. And for some of you, you want, you want to do something for God, but you just don't know what to do. Or maybe you've been running after God and you want to do something and you're running into these roadblocks. I want you to come, we're gonna pray for you, and we're gonna, we're, I want you to demonstrate some persistence. Amen. Demonstrate some persistence to grab a hold of what God has for you. Because he doesn't always make it easy. He makes it hard for a reason sometimes. Because he's building our character, he's showing us who we are, and he's setting us free. He came to set the captives free. And he wants us to be free so that we can be powerful. Amen. Not bound up. So, Lord, I bless these people today. I just thank you for a hunger that you are stirring a hunger, that you are doing a mighty thing in our church, that you are raising up mighty warriors, that everyone has a calling, everyone has a purpose, and there's many hindrances. Sometimes it's sickness, sometimes it's our own thoughts, sometimes it's our own discouragement, sometimes it's the voices of the enemy chattering in your ear that are saying you're not able to do this. But God says all things are able for him who believes, nothing is impossible. And I want to say to you today, nothing is impossible in your life. If you need a physical healing, you tell the prayer warrior, I need I need a healing today. If you've been fighting with someone for some time, fighting with a disease or a something, a chronic illness for some time, come, don't give up. We've got a uh a few words of knowledge, and one of them was if you've been struggling with something for a long time, that I I heard God say that if you've been struggling with something for a long time, God wants to touch you today, no matter what it is, as you press in. If you have issues with your right ear, sometimes an inability to hear well, and pain in your eardrum or a noise or ringing, tinnitus or whatever it's called. If you have those things, you know you can you can come and God will touch you today. If you have back pain from a pinched nerve leading to sciatica, you come today, God wants to touch you. Anybody got back pain today? Anybody come for back pain? You two? Thank you, Lord. And for sinuses, if you have sinus issues, you know that woman, that young woman had sinus issues in Guatemala, and she was healed. Nobody even prayed for her. She just believed and God touched her. What did he say? He held on to that angel and he says, I'm not letting you go until you bless me. I'm not letting you go until you bless me. That doesn't offend God. That's faith. Elisha followed Elijah. And Elijah kept trying to discourage him from following him, and he said, No, I'm not leave you, master. And then he saw Elijah go up, he saw the chariots of fire, and he got saw Elijah go up, and he saw the mantle fall, and he went up and he picked up that mantle. And he walked up to the river of where where where Elijah had opened the waters, and he struck the ground and he said, Where's the power of Elijah? Where's the power of Elijah? He made a demand. Where's that power that I've heard about? I need that power in my life. I can't do this on my own. Peter could not do it on his own. He realized I need the power of God. I'm not strong enough myself. I need the power of God. So reach out and grab the power of God today. Let God touch you. Let God use you. Let God prepare you for something great. Let God heal you. He wants to. Thank you, Lord. Prayer warriors, you can come. Start praying.