AWAKEN TALK 3 : Rely on the Savior
DIDOY LUBATON: BANGON! Get up!
Let’s start. We are on our last day of our three-part series, Awaken.
The goal of this series is yes, for us to be awake. This is our spiritual life. Th is is our Spirit-led life.
And for the past few Sundays,
I hope that you do appreciate that we are getting to know more of the Holy Spirit ’s work in our li fe and how we can live to the fullest as God has called us to do. To live that Spirit -led full life.
Out third talk is titled
Novena to God’s Love
As we pray our favorite prayer in The Feast, let’s strip down our pride. Let go of anything else that is not relevant at this point in time. You’re already here. Make the most of it. Connect with God as much as you can. And surrender, and pray, and really strengthen your relationship with the Lord as we pray:
Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet.
And a light unto my path.
Let’s read Luke 12:49
Say it with me again: “I have come to set the world on fire. And I wish I were already burning.”
It was Jesus’ quote. Fire could mean destruction. Fire could mean terrible things. But if we look at fire, it is a purifying agent. It’s a change agent.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola would say, “Go forth and set the world aflame.”
And today, through the work of the Holy Spirit in our life, we are not just mere recipients of the Holy Spirit .
There is a reason, there is a why, there is a purpose.
A Spirit-led life is not a m ediocre life. God has a purpose for you. And that is to be a light in the world —in this dark, dark world. To be the change agent—that even through fire it purifies. And let’s go of the impurities. And that’s our prayer for today:
Dear Lord, I’m ready. Set me aflame. Do as You will.
Send Your Spirit and I receive the Spirit fully. Holy Spirit, I receive You.
Holy Spirit, I embrace You. Holy Spirit, set me on fire. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Three Action Steps
Talk 3: Rely on the Savior.
We need the Spirit. We need the Savior. How many of us need the Lord? All of us, definitely. I love it. We’re going to give you three action steps so that you can live a fully Spirit -led life. And we call them 3 Bs. Very creative.
Three steps. Let me proceed to the first immediately.
Number 1:
You are living a Spirit -led life if you are a Bringer of Hope – a bearer of hope. From Matthew 28:16-20 NLT:
16 Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted!
18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,[a] baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this:
I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
And the Gospel of Matthew ends with that .
What does it mean by being a bearer of hope? We are called to be bearers of hope, bringers of hope. Let’s reflect. When we’re going to meet people, when we’re going to the office, when we’re meeting our friends, relatives, and loved ones, how do they feel when they see us?
“Eto na si Boss. Andyan na si Ma’am, tayo na tayo.—The Boss is here. Let’s stand up!”
Are we bringers, bearers of hope? Yes, we are called bearers of hope. And it doesn’t have to be in church, in this PICC setting, inside the church alone.
Church is a dynamic living congregation. And you and I are the Church. It’s not a building. Yes, we are not just going to stay in the Upper Room (the room in Jerusalem where the apostles huddled after Jesus’ Crucifixion). We go out of the Upper Room. So, live that Spirit -led life as God has ca lled us to do.
He said, “Go! Go forth…!”
And what are we bringing? It’s not our message. The message says: “Go and make disciples of nations. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.”
We are bearers of good news. We are the bearers, witnesses of the Good News of God. That from death, He has bridged the gap to life. That we can live that fullness of life again . I need you to remember this: What is our hope?
Let me ask the question again: Who is our hope? Hope has a name. And His name is Jesus.
He said, “And I will be with you always even to the end of age.”
That’s very reassuring, isn’t it? That we’re going to get out of here. It’s just two and a half hours with The Feast, and after this, Go, make disciples. Be a bearer of the Good News.
Mission: Silvino Lobos
Bro. Bo was in Butuan. He said he was there to bring the good news of hope, of the Gospel. Of teaching about financial literacy. How about us all? Are we all called? Yes, we are all called—to be a bearer of hope.
I was called to be part of a field mission. Our company has a small foundation– we try to help the poorest of the poor, and we give educational scholarship to those in need. I volunteered to serve in the foundation, and I was sent to a field mission in Silvino L obos in Northern Samar.
It’s a far, far place. The flights going to that place is not the usual– only twice a week. So, we had to go via Tacloban. We took the 7:00 a.m. flight. Then after an hour and a half flight, we arrived in Tacloban. From there we had to travel by land, via a van towards the most inland place in Silvino Lubos. Yes, we started our trip at 7:00 a.m., and we arrived in Silvino Lobos at 6:00 p.m.
I kept asking, “Are we there yet?”—many times.
There’s a smaller, nearer airport which is in Catarman (the provincial capital of Northern Samar) but there wasn’t any flight at that time.
And we had to cross a river—just to go to the población (town) —just to go to the main area of Silvino Lobos. It was tough going there. There were dirt roads.
Beautiful, Poor Place
The poverty incidence in Silvino Lobos is 56%– more than half of the population doesn’t have enough basic food and other household needs.
We checked the schools. We were there to screen applicants for our scholarship grant for college education—conduct exams and interviews.
We went to more inland places, an hour away from the población. And we saw that it was a beautiful place —but reeks with poverty. It was heartbreaking to see that in this day and age there are still people going through that. I saw the kids trying to be in school uniform, and yet, some were walking barefoot.
One of the students I interviewed said, “I know we’re poor.” I said, “Tell me why do you think you’re poor?”
She said, “It is usual for us to eat at night via the moonlight – because we are so poor, we don’t have money to buy candles, gas lamps.
And (it gets so cold here) so we’re conserving the wood for heat rather than light.” (Silvino Lobos is hilly, so it has cold climate . Tourism promotions call it the Little Baguio, or summer capital of Northern Samar).
I said, “What happens when it’s raining, when there is no moon…?”
NOTE: In Silvino Lobos, rain falls throughout the year. The month with the most rain is December with an average rainfall of 14.6 inches.
(https://weatherspark.com/y/141033/Average-Weather-in-Silvino-Lobos-Philippines-Year-Round)
Bringer of Hope
I thought I was the bringer of hope to Silvino Lobos.
But I found hope there.
We honor the teachers in Silvino Lobos giving hope to their students.
One teacher travels from his home to this remote place for three hours.
I asked him, “How can you keep up…?”
And he said, “There’s hardly anyone left to teach. So, I still continue to teach. ”
I try not to be emotional. It’s a rule not to be emotional in front of them.
Don’t show your pity. Because they don’t need pity from us. But I was moved.
And I thought if I could share their story , maybe one of you, two of you, or many of you would be moved too, would get that message of hope.
What is the hope? That there is goodness in this world. That w e can be that good we can bring to the world. My reflection question for all of us is: What mission is God calling you to do?
When you have the Holy Spirit in you, you’re called for a purpose. And sometimes, purpose is wrapped in pain. But don’t be afraid of the pain.
Today, as we hear the story of Silvino Lobos, think: What is God calling you to do?
Maybe call up that one person that you have been dreading to call and talk to.
Maybe you’re a person who has been evading your dad for the longest time. Call him up.
Or maybe next week, you will decide, “I will not come here at The Feast on my own or, just with my family. I’ll bring another person to this Feast.”
Or maybe, “I will wake up tomorrow and say, “Thank God I have work, and I will do my work very well for the rest of the week. ”
Maybe tonight, you’re going to cook a wonderful dish for your family – do it with all your love, as much as you could.
It could be a big mission. Or it could be a small mission — but still, it is a mission. I believe that we are called for a mission. And what is that mission? To be a bearer of hope. To be a bringer of hope.
Number 2: Second B so that you know that you are living a Spirit -led life : Be a Bridge Builder .
I always say this to my team in The Feast Mall of Asia , and I’m going to say this to all of you: We leaders are not the only builders of this place. We – the leaders and our members– are all builders of this place. Everybody is building the place one week, one Sunday, one person at a time. And we’re called to be Bridge Builders.
What does it mean to be Bridge Builders? In 1 Corinthians 9: 19-23:
Paul, writing to the Corinthians, is saying, “Where I am called, I am there. I am being one with them. I am feeling them. ”
And yet, he did not break his integrity. He said, “I do not ignore the law of God.”
So, it doesn’t mean if you’re going to be with the corrupt people, you’re going to be corrupt too. Paul is saying, “I am one with them.”
And I think that’s an idea of what a Bridge Builder looks like.
Let’s continue…
Bridge Builder. Live in the common ground. Bridge Builders live in the middle. And it’s a messy middle. It’s not easy to be in the middle of people who are fighting. One side supports this, the other side supports this.
And you, you know you can support one. It’s all polarized now. But yet, we can choose to be in the middle – because it’s needed. Because if we are so polarized – one is on the other side, and the other is on the other side, what happens to us? We disconnect. And our main problem here now is we’re so disconnected– after trust had been broken, after being so polarized , set apart, or pulled apart.
Being in the middle is messy, being in the middle is not easy. It’s easier to choose a side rather than to choose the middle ground.
Common, practical, pragmatic: When you see one person fighting the other person, what is the human tendency? Bahala kayo dyan. Pinapanood mo lang sila, may popcorn ka pa. –You, even eating popcorn, just watch them.
But a Spirit-led life , its fruits –gentleness, kindness, yes? When there is a hole that needs to be filled up, when there is a gap, a Bridge Builder fills it up. And that’s what we are called today.
Bridge of Hope
At the time the I was in Silvino Lobos, a bridge was being built to connect the municipality which was disconnected from existing roads in Northern Samar.
And for me, it looked like it’s messy. The construction was taking a long, long time to be completed. The bridge didn’t look like it’s strong enough.
But when I asked one of the locals , the teacher, “What do you think about the bridge being built?”
The teacher said, “Blessing po ‘yan.”
The bridge represents hope to them. That soon—soon for them would be two-to-three years—they will be connected to the main road and eventually, progress will come, trade will come. That’s a community who doesn’t have cars. Only motorcycles– because only a motorcycle can travel beyond the river. The vehicle has to be a little higher because that river can go so high and deep that it will wash away anything on its path.
I crossed that bridge. It was muddy. It was icky. It was dirty. I didn’t like it. But I think it’s worthwhile to be a bridge. To be a Bridge Builder.
Because who will? If not us?
The Feast Is a Bridge
Dear Feasters, this, The Feast, is a bridge. You are safe here. We are building this bridge together. And we need you to make this as a space, a home, a family that bridges the gap between us and those disconnected from us. We can fight outside. We can have our own emotions. We can do everything . But can we make a decision? In this Church? In this family ? In this Community?
We are in a messy middle. And we need this to still remain connected to each other. That God has called us to be one—One Body of Christ. We are one.
Let us gather, build the messy middle that is our Church. If you know someone who has left The Feast or the Church because things got messy, call them up. Bring them back. Or at least connect with them.
Sometimes, it works to start apologizing —not because you’re wrong. But because you hurt each other. Is that okay? It’s not easy. It’s messy to build bridges. And sometimes it takes a long time. But God in the Spirit, He who began a good work in us, will be faithful to complete what has been planted in our heart. The Spirit is planted in our heart — and replanted in our life for us to be transformed — and then one day will spring up, eventually bearing good fruit.
And that is my wish for us all. Be living in the Spirit, living a Spirit -led life. Be a Bridge Builder. Be a Bearer of Hope
The 3rd ‘B’: Be a Jesus Carrier
AUDEE VILLARAZA: Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there. For all the dads who are afraid, who feel like you’re unqualified, you’re unsure. But in spite of all those, you continue to show up. We honor you for that.
Thank you, Thank you so much.
So, Didoy preached to you so well already—two of the three lessons we need to learn: First, you’re called to be a Bringer
of Hope. And then the second is you’re called to be a Bridge Builder. And here’s the last one:
You’re called to Be a Jesus Carrier.
What is the context of this?
We’ve been studying the book of Acts and it has been amazing. We’re talking about the time when the Holy Spirit j ust recently descended upon the apostles— in the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 3:12.
And then something happens. I’ll tell you the story in a moment. I’ll tell you the reaction first in Acts 3:12 :
What is the context of the story? Remember, this was the time when the Holy Spirit just emboldened the disciples and soon after, they were already preaching to the Gentiles, to the Jews. And then one day, Peter and John were going to the temple. At the temple, you would have beggars along the steps. Peter and John encountered this one lame beggar—somebody who, since birth was lame and so, he hadn’t walked a single day of his life.
So, the Bible says that this person asked for money from Peter and John and what did Peter say? “Silver or gold I don’t have but what I do have I give to you. And then he says this: “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk. ”
Immediately, the ankles of this lame beggar became strong and he started jumping up and down. He started praising God. He started celebrating— all because of that miracle.
And this is where we find ourselves in the story.
Two Lessons
Everybody saw what happened to the man. But here’s what I love so much about this story: The Bible says that every day, this guy was put there by– we don’t know— by friends, by family, by cousins, by his girlfriend , or by his parents, we don’t know. But somebody, every day, put him along those steps.
For what purpose? To beg for loose change. And what I love so much about that is that every day he would beg for change — but this day, that day, he wouldn’t receive change. Instead, he would be changed.
Two lessons that we can learn from this:
Put yourself always in the right path. The one reason this guy was healed was simply he put himself in the path of the miracle. I mean, every day, he went to church to beg for money, yes, but that was the place where God would give him the miracle.
If you are somebody who wants to be blessed– let’s say you want to learn something– put yourself in that path of that wisdom . Somebody who can teach you. Look for a mentor.
For instance, you want to go into weightlifting, look for Coach Julius. You look for a mentor. You want to learn how to invest in a business, look for someone who can teach you how to invest.
You put yourself in the path of the blessing. That’s the one reason this person was blessed.
Second lesson we learn from this:
Expect God to exceed your expectations.
Expect God to bless you abundantly.
Think about this for a moment: This guy would go to church every day. Why? Only because he needed to eat. He wanted food –plain and simple. He was there to beg for money for his meal. But what happened was instead of receiving money,.. Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have and yet what I have I’ll give it to you.”
And Peter adds: “In the name of Jesus Christ, get up and walk.” The beggar didn’t receive money. He received a miracle!
Not Just a Bit
Not Just a BitGod doesn’t want to bless you only with money. He wants to give you a miracle. He wants to change your life. God wants to bless you abundantly. God wants to exceed every expectation that you have. And when God exceeds your expectation, get this: He’s not just going to exceed it a little bit. He’s going to stretch that.
You’ll know when God exceeds your expectation because you’ll feel you are richly blessed—even if you don’t have the best of everything, you know that God is blessing you. Why? Because you’ve got joy. You’ve got peace. You’ve got love.
And I know I’m talking to two groups of people here. There are people here who are listening and saying, “Bro. Audee, you’re talking about abundance
and God exceeding my expectation. But it doesn’t feel like God is exceeding my expectation right now.”
Planting Season
There are two seasons in every person’s life. First group of people that I’m talking to are the people who are in the planting season.
The Coronavirus Disease (COVID) Pandemic happened and right now, you are continuously raising yourself up — you’re planting. Maybe you just started a business. Maybe you just started a new career. You’re in your planting season.
And get this: When you’re in your planting season, you feel like
God is blessing other people more than you. You’re putting in the work but the produce is not happening yet.
But I don’t want you to feel bad. Because this is the place where God is just growing you. Sometimes, we compare ourselves with other people and we say, “Why is God’s favor on them more than on me? Why does God love them more than me?”
Hey, you are in the planting season. This is the place where you’re learning.
Some of us, we come too often to God– just like that man. We come to God begging for scraps, begging for leftovers , thinking, you know, “I’m satisfied with what I have.”
We’re thinking, “This is it. Pwede na ito, Lord—This will suffice, Lord.”
If you’re single, some of you might be saying, “Lord, kahit sino na lang. Kung sino umupo sa aking tabi sa Feast ngayong umaga, siya na lang, Lord.—Lord, who ever sits next to me here at The Feast, he’ll make do.”
We beg God for scraps—thinking that that’s what we deserve. Or maybe God is punishing us for something that we did wrong.
Harvest Season
Remember that story of the Prodigal Son? That son got his inheritance, then walked away from his father’s house.
But what happens? He mismanaged the blessing.
And then after he wound up eating with pigs, he said, “I’m better off going back to my father’s house.”
But he knew, he expected, that things might not be the same. He had shame in his heart. And so, while he was going
back, he probably did not run because he wasn’t that excited to go back. He just wanted to enjoy having food in his stomach every day. But then what happene d? The Bible says when the father saw him, the father was the one who ran to him. He was expecting that the father would just make him one of the servants. Instead, the father threw a party for this guy.
I’m telling you, when God will bless you, He will bless you abundantly. But sometimes we’re just begging for scraps because we’re happy with just receiving this: Pwede na ito, Lord—not knowing that God is able to do immeasurably more than whatever you can imagine or ask for. God can do more. God wants to bless you but you’re in your planting season. So, it takes time.
But there’s another group of people – people who are in their harvest season.
But I want to give you an advice. If you are enjoying the rich blessings and abundance of the Lord, here’s one piece of advice, brothers and sisters: Don’t ever let God’s blessings get into your head. Because you might end up thinking, you know, “I’m so blessed. They’re not. Maybe it’s because God favors me more than them. Maybe it’s because God loves me more than them.”
Hey, God loves you all equally— everybody in this room. God sees everybody here equally. And so, don’t ever let the blessings of the Lord get into your head so that you become feeling so entitled with that blessing.
Because what happens is this: When you feel so entitled with a blessing, remember, the Bible says that God gives, but God can also remove it from you.
So, what do you do? You thank the Lord for the blessing.
But also get this: I want you to know that one of the reasons God blesses you abundantly is He wants to make you, you, you, you— all of you– as examples of His generosity and His goodness. You are but a mirror that God is good. So that when people see you, they’ll think, “God is blessing that person.”
So, it’s not about you. But it’s about what God is doing through you. Planting, Harvesting– these are the two seasons in one’s life.
Lesson in Humility
Let’s go back to the story.
How did the people respond to seeing this lame beggar all of a sudden celebrating, jumping up and down?
Acts 3: 12 says that the crowd were looking at Peter and John, thinking that the miracle came from the two apostles.
Peter saw this opportunity to address the crowd:
May I preach this a little bit to some of you? I got to get real with you.
We happen to live in a world right now — and I’m not excusing myself — where we like taking credit for the good deeds that we did not necessarily do. You agree with me? We like taking credit for them, like sometimes, you know, to get the praise, to get the compliment—even if sometimes we’re not the one who actually did the admirable stuff ?
Like, if you stretch it even further, we like putting our names on titles, on positions, on billboards, on trampolines– saying, you know, “This is from my project, I’ve constructed this.” We’re thinking that it’s all about us.
But what is Peter doing here? Peter is saying something so good here.
He says, “Why stare at us as though we had been the one to make this man walk by our own power of godliness?” But…he says in Verse 13:
What is Peter doing? Peter is saying, “I didn’t do it. John did not do it.
This is the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, and the God of Abraham responsible for all this.
Peter is teaching a lesson on humility.
The Solution
One of our servants at The Feast asked my advice very recently—just a couple of days ago. And she said, “You know, Bro. Audee, we have a lot of people asking for financial help from us. In social media, you know, we get messages from people asking for medical payments, for their bills, or tuition for their kids, or even for just regular food sustenance…”
And she adds, you know, Bro. Audee, most of the people who approach us nowadays, they’re actually no longer Feasters. Some of them are unchurched, some of them don’t even know
The Feast– they don’t know who you are, or who Bro. Bo is.”
Then, she asked me this question: “How can we inspire them—more than the one-time financial help that we give them? Because we also have to be good stewards about the help that we give—because our funds are not limitless .”
And so, I prayed about her concern. I discerned…you know what God put in my heart? I’ll share it with you:
I told our servant: Yes, you know, we continue to help—whether they’re Feasters or non-Feasters, whether they’re churched or unchurched, we help.
But here’s what I think is important: After we give them the practical help, I think it’s very, very vital, very important, that we have to pray with them.
We pray with them—we insert that spiritual factor of our help. Why? Because that’s the most important thing that we’re doing. More than the practical help of giving food, giving money, giving sustenance to th ese persons, I believe that our job is not necessarily to help them solve their problem. Our job is to introduce them to the solution. Who is the solution? He’s Jesus. Jesus is the solution.
You know, you come before God and you pray about your needs and God will send you somebody to help you with your needs. But if you don’t get that, you go only to people, thinking that it’s the people who will solve your problem.
So, we give them the solution. Our job is to actually point people to Jesus. We’re arrows that point people to Jesus—just like Peter saying, “Why are you staring at me as though I’m the one who created this miracle in the first place.
It’s not me– but it’s my God, it’s my Lord, it’s the God of Abraham, it’s the God of Isaac, it’s the God of Jacob.”
He’s the One who will bless you.
He’s the one who will exceed your expectations.
So, we give them the solution. Our job is to actually point people to Jesus. We’re arrows that point people to Jesus—just like Peter saying, “Why are you staring at me as though I’m the one who created this miracle in the first place.
It’s not me– but it’s my God, it’s my Lord, it’s the God of Abraham, it’s the God of Isaac, it’s the God of Jacob.”
He’s the One who will bless you.
He’s the one who will exceed your expectations.
What God Expects from Us
If this message has blessed you in any way, I pray that it will take root as we close.
You know, I’ve been asking myself this question for many, many years—and not just during this time when things are a bit emotional in our country. There are many unfortunate incidents happening not just in our country but all over the world. I mean, we’ve got wars going on, we’ve got hunger, we’ve got persecution, we’ve got abuses, people killing one another.
And yet my one question to the Lord has always been this…
Once upon a time, I asked the Lord,
“Lord, why in the world did you allow Jesus to come into our life, our planet, our world, and live here. And then You take Him back. I think we can, you know, all be blessed by His physical Presence righ t now.”
I mean, guys, wouldn’t it be great if you saw Jesus walking along the aisle?
I mean, the physical form of Jesus?
So, my question to the Lord was: “Why? Did You think, Lord, we were ready to be on our own? Because from what I see all over the world, it seems we’re not ready. I mean, there are countries fighting one another. There are people killing each other. Lord, are we truly ready? Because as I see it with my own eyes, we’re not ready.”
But you know, the truth is, I don’t think we’ll ever get ready. I don’t think that we will ever get to that position or that frame of mind where we will be fully ready.
It’s like we can never be ready for death. You don’t know if you’re going to take your last breath today. If you know if the gas prices are going to go up or down next month. You don’t know if you’re still going to be here next year. Because we don’t know what happens tomorrow.
So, the truth is we’re never going to be fully ready. And you know what, that’s fine. That’s okay. Even if you’re not fully ready, that’s okay. Why? Because God doesn’t expect us to be fully ready.
You know what God expects? God expects us to be fully ready to rely on Jesus. To be reliant on the Spirit that is in you.
You’re Never Alone
If you feel like you’re all alone– sometimes in your brokenness, in your loneliness– you’re never alone.
You’ve got an Advocate. You’ve got a Helper. I know that sometimes you feel like you’re all alone handling all the issues and you’re carrying all these baggages for your family.
Especially for the fathers , you know you have so many sacrifices that not everybody in your family knows.
But I want you to know you’re not alone.
There’s a Helper that you can tap into. John 14: 17-18 says:
Or maybe you’re somebody here, you’re carrying so many burdens and that only God knows what you’re carrying– because you’ve run away from people and you’ve rejected people, and you feel the same rejection by people. I want you to know that there is an Advocate that God has sent you: The Holy Spirit.
God doesn’t expect you to be fully ready for all the deeds He’s called you for.
But He wants you to be fully reliant on the Helper He’s given you.
To have this kind of desperation to say, “Lord, I need You. I can’t do it on my own. I need Your grace. I need Your strength. I need Your power to sustain me. ”
If you feel like somebody whom I’ve described just now, may I invite you to just pray with me. This is a Holy Ghost-moment. We believe that the Holy Spir it is upon us right now and we thank the Lord for this Helper, this gift, this magnificent grace that can be ours—if we want this grace today.
I want you to put your hand on your chest. I want you to bring forth unto the Lord your every issue, every struggle, every difficulty, every concern. It doesn’t always to be bad– but maybe you’ve got a prayer petition. Bring it in front of Him.
And if the magnitude of carrying all these things you don’t feel like you’re a weightlifter , I want you to say, “Lord, I can’t do this on my own. I can’t do it on my own—my strength is limited, my capacity to endure is limited . But with Your help, I can do this, God. I can do it together with You.”
Come, Holy Spirit! Come, Jesus, Come!
Father, let this place be filled with Your Presence that the Holy Spirit would be tangibly felt all around us. Whether this place or the other side of that screen, people are attending online, we believe that the Holy Spirit is flooding this place with anointing, with favor, with equipping, giving us the grace to understand that we’ve got a Helper.
And we can lean unto You, Lord, with full desperation knowing that we cannot do this alone.
And so, we receive this, Lord, with open arms. We receive the Holy Spirit right now. Work in us oh, God. Take Your place upon our life, as the seat of Your throne.
And then use us, oh, God, in a powerful way– that we can be a Bringer of Hope.
We can be a Bridge Builder.
And, most important, we can Be a Jesus Carrier, oh God. Touch our li fe today as we worship You in Spirit and in Truth .
This is our prayer — in the mighty name of Jesus we pray. And all of God’s people shout, Amen!
