Hallelujah, yes the blood of Jesus is the reason why we are here today people of our can we just give him thanks right now I'm praying your own in your own voice right now if it's by the spirit of God speaking in tongues Just worship him for another moment. He paid the price on the cross of Calvary and by his blood today We can walk in freedom because he paid the price and shed his blood We can walk in freedom today, we can walk in perfect health today and more than anything because of his stripes We have eternal life here today Lord She appeared today Spirit of God is here and he's moving already We worship you Lord. We thank you Lord for everything that you've done in our lives Lord Everything you're doing and everything that you will do in our lives Lord. We worship you Lord We thank you for your presence right now Lord The Bible says that those of you with heavy burdens come and lay them at the cross today For my burden is light says the Lord and my yoke is easy to bear Maybe you have come today with struggles. Maybe you have come with problems Maybe you have a sickness or something the Lord wants you to lay it down today So that you can walk out a different person Lord, we thank you for this moment right now Holy Spirit.  It's not about what you eat or drink It's about them the attitude of your heart as you do it join us right now as we're about to take the Communion elements right now as we are doing this. We are doing it in Remembrance of what Christ paid the price the ultimate sacrifice the heat did for us and because of that We can walk in liberty today Hallelujah if you're watching us online You can grab your communion elements grab the wafer right now Let us pray if you're in the church Lord Jesus. We thank you for your flesh We thank you Lord for the price that you paid on the cross of Calvary that your flesh Receive the stripes for our sin Your flesh receive the stripes for our sickness for our bondage so that we could walk in freedom today We thank you Lord for the ultimate sacrifice and the price that you paid We pray that this be nourishment and and healing to our bodies Lord in Jesus mighty name Thank you also for the blood Lord The blood that you shed on the cross of Calvary By this blood we claim our healings by this blood we claim our deliverance By this blood that you paid Lord we know we have eternal life We are forever grateful in Jesus mighty name. I want to read just one Bible verse for you We're gonna pray for healing right now Maybe you're here in the church today and and you are struggling with pain in your body You have a sickness in your body or you're watching us online if you're online right now Write down what you need prayer for right now in the chat. Don't wait Write down your prayer request of healing right now. I want to read a scripture for you from Isaiah 53 verse 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions He was bruised for our iniquities and the chastisement for our peace was upon him and by his stripes We are for you today. You can be healed Healing is for you today right now if you are here in in this place right now And you have a sickness in your body. You have pain in your body I want you to just lift up both hands right now both hands lift them up right now as a Sign of surrender and faith that Jesus Christ can heal your body People of God look around you if you see someone this is the body of Christ This is your brother if one part of the body hurts it hurts us all I want you to buy faith and lay your hands right now on someone who is raising up their hands Be a good neighbor right now. Make sure that every person is having a hand laid on them There are people in the back right now. They need sickness that need healing from their sickness whatever it is right now People online as well We're gonna say a prayer right now in the name of Jesus if you're watching us online or in this building believe by faith today It's your healing the blood of Jesus was shed for your healing in Jesus mighty name We pray Lord. We thank you right now. We pray that the power in the name of Jesus Will heal the sick bodies right now every sickness and disease We rebuke you in the name of Jesus every pain in the body Of Jesus we speak someone's watching online and you're having extreme back pain There's mighty name. There's mighty name. Someone has blurry vision right now Places wants to heal you it's right now in Jesus mighty name So we come against every sickness continue praying we come against every heart problem We come against every problem in the bones every problems in the muscles and the nervous systems in the name of Jesus Christ Who rebuke every sickness every disease every infirmities father We stay on the promise that you said by his stripes We are healed now Lord that you take in every sickness upon yourself that we don't have to suffer Lord You sent forth your word and you heal them all Lord. We declare healing right now in Jesus mighty name Those of you that watching us online right now receive your healing be healed in Jesus mighty name every sickness Every disease we rebuke you in the name of Jesus Christ arthritis.  We declare healing and all of God's blessings in your life in Jesus mighty name Gonna pray just for another minute right now people that are watching us online Catherine purity crystal every single one of you right now. I come at healing in the name of Jesus Christ I speak healing into your body right now in Jesus mighty name Low blood pressure be restored in Jesus mighty name IBS and problems in the bowels be healed in the name of Jesus Someone is watching right now. You have extreme waist pain Be healed in Jesus mighty name in the name of Jesus that pain go in the name of Jesus Receive your healing today in Jesus mighty name. We pray. Thank you Jesus test your body right now Check yourself. Where is that pain? Where did it used to be check yourself? And as you receive from God Almighty, let us know share your testimony Hungry gen.com slash testimony if you're in the church here today.  We pray and the people of God said You're all very welcome to Hungry gen here today people online greet someone as you're having your seats. Tell them they look beautiful They look handsome if you have your wife next to you make sure you tell her nobody else or your husband as We look on the screen right now for a video Welcome to Hungry gen. My name is lad and this is your first time. I want to welcome you your guest in our house Now as a church, we believe in prayer and every day we have church open for prayer about Wednesday from six to seven It's like this hour of power where we come together and pray and if this church is your church We want to invite you if you're not working or if you're not too far from town to come and pray with us In two weeks from now or week and a half from now, we're gonna have our youth conference It's our annual student conference and it's gonna start on Wednesday Go all the way through Friday And so we want to welcome you guys to bring your children your high schoolers and middle schoolers to this conference It's gonna be a phenomenal time and those of you who don't have students make sure that you be praying and you can Be watching the conference online now if during the summer if you guys realize we actually have not had water baptisms It's because we've been saving to having a water baptism in August on Wednesday on August 24th in the park I know a lot of you guys want to get baptisms in the park like Jesus styled And so Columbia River is gonna be that place where you can get baptize now What do you do if you want to get baptize you go to hungry gen.com forward slash baptism? And then you will be encouraged to take a few classes like brief understanding of what water baptism is And then we're gonna get ready to baptize you on our family service in the park if you're watching us online We will do water baptism most likely on online church service where you can get baptize on zoom as well Now the last thing that I want to mention and guys I want you to just listen up very carefully If you're already on your phone on Instagram stop scrolling Give me your undivided attention as hungry gen. We have a lot of students that come to our church because of intership In fact why a few of them end up being married part of our leadership team and and they are very important part of our church People's lives have been changed through intership. We have about 40 students already Coming for the fall so within about a month or so month or more and we have 100 waiting to be Accepted but the reason we can't take them in is because we don't have housing We don't want to rent more houses right now because We're in the process of acquiring Foreplexes and some other stuff and plus full intership doesn't mean that we're gonna have exactly same thing in the spring So I want to appeal to you as a pastor and ask if there is somebody in our church and you're part of this church And you have a room two three four five rooms and they're a furnish and you're willing to host Ministry students. These are not just discipleship students that are ministry students. I want you to let us know If you can we will be able to bring in more students for this fall intership All you have to do is pull out your phone right now and go to hungry gen.com forward slash housing and Sign up. We will also give you a stipend. We will financially compensate you for that But if your heart is in this and you feel like I want to help with this, please Respond and we will go through all of the applications and other students can have the opportunity to come and Receive from this program. Thank you so much for listening and please help me to welcome the next person Come on church Touch your neighbor on your left and your right. Say I'm glad to be sitting by you this morning Come on. Come on. Hallelujah. It's a good day to be in the house of God and Today is a good day to be refreshed by his word and strengthened by his spirit. Amen. I Just want to once again pass a lot a mention that I just want to reiterate is that we have a School of ministry students coming in this fall and we are at capacity at 40 because we only have two houses of 40 students Before we used to have house and this is how we used to have internship students come summer interns Discipleship with summer interns were crazy because these are teenagers and so I think this is where most people are like This is it. I'm done. I'm not hosting any students And I'm not hosting as like I have three of my own kids and then I get three of somebody else's kids But these are different type of students. There are Most of them already established in not most of them we screening them. They are established in the Lord They are already somewhere in the ministry. So you're not getting a teenager in your house So they're already in the ministry somewhere and they're coming here for 12 Not just a little bit more than two weeks slightly under three months Here to be trained and equipped and be sent out back to their churches or back to starting ministry So if you want to be a part of that for those, I don't know. I think it's Three months, let's just say you want to be a part of it help somebody help to raise a minister or at least Hope to host them you'll be compensated for their for the living expense as well And and to host them so that we can have more students this fall It starts from mid-September and finishes it like I think right by Thanksgiving time or around there before Christmas for sure And so if you want to be a part of it Let us know go to honkogen.com slash housing and we would really we would really like to host at least 60 to 70 students This a year like Pastor Rod said we already we've reached our limit of 40 And we still have a hundred on the list that really really wanted to come and be trained this fall Okay church, we're making impact not just locally but globally a man Then you can be a part of it by providing a room a bed to sleep in and you know a comfort house in a man Anyways, honkogen.com slash housing Okay, we have come to the time of offering and I want to bring a story from judges chapter 6 Versus 6 the Bible says that the Israelites were greatly Impoverished because of media nights and the whole story goes like this is that Israelized they sinned before the Lord they allowed sin in their life They started meddling with the cursed things and idols and God gave them Bible says God gave them to the enemy pretty much.  So sin and a curse things they open Impoverishment verse judges 6 6 says they were greatly Impoverished so sometimes things in our life The that that impoverished us they come due to our own negligence and lack of taking responsibility discipline but oftentimes it's a spiritual issue and Spiritual issues they must be dealt on the spiritual things and quickly I want to share with you What Gideon began to do to bring back the nation of Israel and therefore bring back the victory and Prosperity into the life into the nation of Israel first thing we see Gideon he comes out and Bible says when he meets with the Lord he brings a small goat as a sacrifice He brings a small goat as a sacrifice He initiated it He understood that if the Lord meets you if you encounter the Lord that you don't come before the Lord empty-handed does that make sense? He by sacrifice he begin to Take steps toward breaking the curse of impoverishment of poverty over Himself and the nation of Israel. Let me remind you. He wasn't bringing the sacrifice because He was so well off Bible says they were hiding in the caves and they were greatly impoverished meaning the food was scarce Media nights they would take all their harvest Whatever they could get on an outskirts of things and hide in the caves That's all so it's not that he gave out of his abundance. He gave out of his poverty, but he honored the Lord with his he honored the Lord with his finances with his What do you call that? His goods his His possession that's the word I was looking for so That brings me to a New Testament second Corinthians chapter 9 verses 8 Bible says that we must That we should give to the Lord without Reluctancy and without pressure, but as we determine on paraphrasing in our own hearts, okay As we determine our hearts we see that in judges six We see that in judges Gideon he did that the Lord did not command him the Lord did not prompt and the Lord did not do him He understood that if I want to get out of this impoverishment of this poverty I must begin to give unto the Lord. I must begin to sacrifice unto the Lord a man the second thing What begins to happen is later in the verse I believe verses In in 20 is somewhere 620 I think 622 or something like that where God asks Gideon to bring a sacrifice he prompts Gideon first Gideon brings it on his own Which we see in second Corinthians chapter 9 verses 8, you know to determine in his heart but Then the Lord asks him for a bull not a goat but a bull It's a bigger sacrifice and Gideon makes that sacrifice and the Lord gives him a strategy How to defeat poverty how to defeat his enemy that's empowering him and gives him a very unique Strategy and he goes and implements the strategy and he brings a victory to the entire nation of Israel as well as himself What do we learn from this story? This is like a message summarized in five minutes What we learn from the story is our sacrifice paves a way for a breakthrough and You might be in one care you go today said like well the Lord does not lead in me to give It's fine. He doesn't have to lead you to give you have the heart of God Which is a heart of a giver Okay, and according to second Corinthians verses 9 chapter 9 verses 8 we give we purpose We means we determine we make a decision in our heart to give But there are moments in time when the Lord leads us to give and it's usually not a small goat It's a bull. Okay. It's something thicker bigger and costly here That's what the word sacrifice means. Okay. It costs you something, right?  He's like wait a second, you know The eggs for you are is an offering Bake to give me a bacon to the owner is a sacrifice. Okay, and that's the difference It costs you something and so but I want I want you to understand and keep that in mind That if you feel stuck in life if you feel like you go nowhere in life If you feel like many vita plateau, or maybe you sense that there is that spirit that That is attacking your life and in powering in power shing you and bringing poverty and just bringing stagnation Bible gives us a blueprint to get out of it. It's consistent predetermined Giving and when the Lord calls for a sacrifice That we follow through with it and I know I don't have time to share my personal stories But in those moments where I know the Lord led me to do a Sacrificial giving it always followed with some sort of breakthrough or strategy That led to the breakthrough. Sometimes it wasn't the same day even the same week But if I track in my life some most of the time it was immediate But sometimes it took time a week to month to the Lord would give me a strategy business idea but would give me a connection and Breakthrough will come a next season will come into my life So I just want to encourage you today that as we're gonna get ready to give. Let's let's not give reluctantly Let's not give because I'm telling you to give or I'm asking you to give but let's give because we love the Lord We love his church. We love his kingdom We want to be a part of what God is doing and we want to be consistent and we want to do it from the heart Cheerful Boba says and the second of all a second thing is let's keep in mind that our sacrificial Giving paves a breakthrough for a strategy from the Lord from idea from the Lord that opens a new level in our life In our family in Jesus name amen Did you receive something this morning? Amen? Okay? Grab your offerings and let's pray father God I thank you for opportunity today this morning to give into your kingdom Father right now Lord as as Lord we're sitting here Lord. I thank you God that We are not giving gradually another pressure God But we are using this opportunity to honor you in our midst and to give you God We give it with a good heart and a cheerful heart. I pray that you bless every person God I pray that you bless every businessman every business woman God every person that is studying God every person There's pursuing career every worker God I pray those that are looking for jobs But I can't find right now father for a miracle over the life even this we got that when they apply They will receive that phone call in Jesus name.  There's multiple ways of giving a cash or check so you could drop it in a basket Texting eight four three two one those of you watching us online and here you can go to hunger gen comm slash give As well as if you have a planning center app The easiest way to give and track your giving and and have access to all of that stuff So anyways with that being said, please help me. Welcome Morgan. Good morning church I think we were supposed to play a video, but that's okay So we've come to the time of testimonies and we're gonna watch a short video to glorify God We have a young woman who was here a couple weeks ago who received freedom And we want to show her process of deliverance for God's glory so that you can all see Can you guys hear me? Okay. Good. We're good So we want to show this to show God's glory. This isn't to glorify the demonic This isn't to have a show on Sunday But this is to truly show how God can change you in a moment can impact you in a moment So if you're believing for your healing your breakthrough your deliverance watch this video and be encouraged if you could please focus your eyes on the screen In Jesus name come on begin to command the demon out What have you done to destroy her life speak out anger what else?  Have you done? Which craft what else Incest what up name them one by one now Addiction what else and how did you enter her life? What about her stepdad? He took her Through sex Through abuse who's the strong man in this body? And is that your is that you're causing?  I feel joy that I haven't felt since I was a child It's a feeling undescribable that you can't not deny once you feel his Come on come on come on God is good If you guys could help me welcome our live testimony to the stage if you could please state your name and where you're from My name is Sarah Thompson, and I'm from Kennewick Come on come on. Can we get a round of applause for Sarah? So Sarah that was a powerful video. That was a powerful you have a powerful testimony And we want to share that with everyone here So can you tell me and tell everyone watching online and here in person kind of what you were going through leading up to that? Deliverance and your walk with Christ and kind of what you were going through well As you can see I Unfortunate circumstances and I was a child molestation ran in my family So that was that anger inserted in me I believe that way and you know I was raised in the church But like a lot of people Christian light can't live with darkness So there's no way you can be you know have any demonic spirits and you know I as a child I was always forced to forgive and you know I just thought you know you get prayed for that's it you say I'm for I forgive this person you're done But as years went on and you know I started dabbling in some witchcraft Thinking oh, it's just for fun. You know not really thinking that stuff can really be inserted in you that way You know so you know I started doing that and just years and years of just Being hurt by men and you know the way I thought it to love a man was to be with a man And so that resentment started there on why won't they just love me? You know and I was just so easily giving myself away You know at the same time so I knew I was just hurting myself But as I got older, you know wearing this mask for so long You know I thought it was normal to not feel happiness or no peace or just walk around with a fake smile But it got to the point where even at work, you know people would notice that I couldn't hide it anymore They would see you know I was always the one going in with you know the smile and people would gravitate towards me But I couldn't understand why because I couldn't feel the connection with people I would so easily go into somebody's life and then just so easily just disappear because I thought oh, they don't care Nobody cares about me.  I couldn't pray out loud. I couldn't sing his praises And so it was at the same moment. I was praying desperately Lord.  Okay, Jesus You know as as humans were not very bright. We keep wanting him to prove himself over and over again But he's such a good God that he will he'll come and prove himself to you. So when I was at that revival He already knew what I wanted so I went straight to the altar and I said I want my prayer language Like if it's for real, he really met me there. Okay So again, he put his hand on me and I was fighting it My jaw was clenched again and he's like open just let it go girl. Let it go, you know, I'm like, I don't know What I'm doing. I don't know how you know, so he I remember he bent down and whispered something in my ear I still to the state. I don't know what he whispered and I just shot back and And Shouting out in tongues. So I knew like, okay, this is my first step like, okay And then I saw Mike Signorelli was gonna come here and I was already following him on the domino revival So I already knew he was gonna be making that altar car at some point. So I'd already put it in my heart Okay, you know what? I'm just gonna beat him to the punch take it, you know So I already knew what I wanted to do and you know, you saw a lot that a couple weeks ago And I just fell to my knees as soon as he started stomping on those like I felt the Holy Spirit right then and there So and then I knew that, you know, okay deliverance is what I was really thinking, you know That was just the first couple steps that God was leading me into So I was desperate. Okay when I was back there. I was praying in anger. Okay, I was like, no You got to come out. You got to manifest you got to show yourself and I knew I had anger But I didn't know it was that I thank you so much for grabbing my wrist and keeping me under control because I Wanted a fight.  I'm thinking oh my god. Oh my god. What's going on? What's happening to me? You know, like this is this is crazy. So I remember, you know, as I'm kneeling there and I'm Speaking in tongues aggressively and thank God for that. But then I started to get angry.  Is this everything is it is it done? But I got reminded that you know the devil works instantly to make you feel confused like that wasn't real But you know today, I'm praying that every step that I take is in his name. I follow him You know every breath that I take I thank him for breathing new life into me for allowing me to be the light in my Family and to be a testimony for somebody else because I begged him for years I knew I wasn't ready.   How is how are you able to now operate in that? Well now I literally can't watch any TV unless it's about deliverance or something about Jesus like I can't I can't you know I can't listen to anything unless it's worship music I I don't I want to even have conversation unless it's about him and Unfortunately, that's just not how it is right now in my home, but I'm believing that he's gonna use me You know because at first, you know, you're you raised to think oh the man's the leader, you know You know, so I was dumbing myself down waiting to for my husband to get to that But I was missing out. I was I was going more and more into a darker place So I was like, you know what if I have to be the spiritual leader in my house right now, Lord I'll do it, you know, so that's that's how it is, you know I'm I was able to go and anoint my whole house and I was never really able to just speak out For my house for my peace in my house anybody that comes into my house to feel the joy of the Lord I wasn't able to do that before now. I do it with confidence, you know any demonic spirits got to go And any any any spirit of fear can't live here, you know Inviting the angels and him to dwell within my home is my is what I'm doing right now Come on. Come on. Come on. Can we get around to applause for Jesus? So the last thing that I want you to share is a word of advice or encouragements Maybe those people watching online who are going through what you went through or maybe even what you're going through now in your journey It but really to encourage people that you know, it doesn't matter what they're facing But what what do you recommend that they do if they're facing what you faced? You definitely got to find a good church a good support group You know, especially probably one with deliverance And if you can't you can always come here So that's that's the first step is finding like-minded people to worship him, you know, and that's what I was yearning I was there's nothing like hearing the crowd Worship him together. There's that's the most beautiful sound in the world, you know, so Find a home church Find people that you know are willing to to guide you and care for you because it doesn't like I said I'm 42 years old and I'm barely now getting my you know like my life together But it doesn't matter how old you are we're still it were his children no matter how old we are So, yeah, so no matter what? He can use you he can use The biggest wretches out there, you know and turn you into a powerful testimony for somebody else And I thank God for allowing me this moment in time to be able to actually give my testimony With the actual freedom and not thinking I was free but knowing that I'm free Amen. Amen. Thank you so much there over your testimony. Thank you for sharing Can we get a round of applause for Jesus? God is good So if you could all help me welcome to the stage pastor Brittany for the ward Hallelujah I'm fired up. What a great testimony Amen, you know, it's because of testimonies like that that we do what we do We show up and we come here to serve God Almighty Because people's lives are being changed. Amen God is still on the move. The age of miracles has not passed He is still doing mighty miracles today and he can do it in your life. Amen Amen, I hope you guys were so Encouraged by that testimony. I was fired up just listening It's amazing especially when you can follow people on their journey like what a powerful testimony from two weeks ago to last week to today You can see the radical transformation that has taken place So we just thank God Almighty we give him the glory and the honor and the praise for all that he's done and what he's doing So you guys I'm I'm like I said, I'm fired up. It's been a great time What a great time in worship you guys that was my dad who was leading worship. I'm I feel so blessed I felt like we were back in the days when we were kids We used to have these Bible studies in the home and my dad would just strum on his guitar So when when my dad was saying oh, maybe only all of you elderly people will understand these songs I was like, hey not me. I know all those songs Because of my dad what a privilege it is to be raised up by such a man of God So thank you Jesus and I want to take a moment to honor the pastors of our house pastor Vasili and Luba I want to honor pastor Vlad and pastor Lana who are out of town right now, but they are I know I saw them on the YouTube there. So they're here with us in spirit. I want to honor them because without them I would not be here today I gave my life to Jesus over 16 years ago right here at this altar So I too am a testimony of what Jesus Christ can do in a person's life The way that God can take us from glory to glory and it's through those 16 years of experience with God that I can stand before you here today and share what he's done So I with that being said I want to just remind you guys We have raised to deliver that's coming up in November. I Cannot be more excited you guys like let's put our hands together for Jesus When you hear testimonies like that it gets you so fired up like okay Let's go ahead and and just transform this community And I believe that people from all around the nation and different parts of the world are gonna be there at our race to deliver Conference and God is gonna touch them mightily and if you're here and you live in tri-cities God can do the same for you. We have our monthly prayer line.  We need more Holy Spirit. Amen Amen You guys the word that I have to share with you today It's a different sort of a word for me, okay about two weeks ago I woke up in the middle of the night 233 o'clock in the morning and suddenly this message just Downloads into my heart and I'm hearing Holy Spirit just speaking very clearly to me a week later Same thing happens and God just keeps downloading these scriptures into my heart And so I believe that the word that I have to share with you today though. It's different for me I believe that it's timely and in season because God wants to nourish us. He wants to feed our souls I believe what I have for you today is spiritual food You know pastor Rickard when he preached a couple of weeks ago or maybe it was last week. He said that God wants to take us from the milk You know feeding us with milk to feeding us with real spiritual food These are the things that are gonna help us walk with the Lord daily when the challenges of life come What is going to sustain you? Amen? So the word that I want to share with you today, I believe that this word is gonna make you strong in the Lord hallelujah So the title of my message today is the suffering of the saints I want to share with you the different types of suffering so that if and when you Experience these kinds of suffering in your life. You will know how to handle each one So I have for you four types of suffering I'm gonna list through them and then I'm gonna talk about them a little bit more in-depth So the first type of suffering that we experience in life is called a test So a test is a life situation provided by God to evaluate man's individual moral character and obedience to his laws Proverbs chapter 17 verse 3 says this fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but the Lord tests the heart Psalms 139 23 says search me. Oh God and know my heart Test me and know my anxious thoughts and Job 2310 says but he knows where I am going and when he tests me I will come out as pure gold So the first type of suffering that we go through is testing The second type of suffering that we might go through is called a trial a Trial is often a type of testing that lasts over a period of time Psalms 26 verse 2 says put me on trial Lord and cross-examine me Test my motives and my heart. So when you're on in a trial, Holy Spirit is cross-examining your heart The third type of suffering that we may experience is called tribulation Tribulation is a state of great trouble or suffering Often an extended time of sorrow All you need to do is read the book of Job and you will understand what I mean by tribulation Amen for those of you who have read the book of Job you will understand that he went through an Extended time of sorrow it was testing that went on and on and on it felt like it was never going to end But there was an end in sight Amen that he had to keep his focus on Jesus Christ in order to be able to endure to the end We're gonna come back to that in a moment But I want to share with you the fourth type of testing and there are some of us in this room We know this one all too well The fourth type of suffering is tragedy Tragedy is an event causing great suffering often ending in loss You see the thing about tragedies is that they are often unexplainable They are hard to understand and very difficult to accept Now I'm not saying that this is a comprehensive list of the different kinds of Suffering that we may experience because many of these words are used interchangeably throughout the Bible So this is not a comprehensive list, but the point of this list is not to teach you terminology But to help you understand your different experiences in life. Amen Because every single one of us will experience suffering in our lives So what am I saying?  Well on one hand. Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying As a Christian you will suffer But on the other hand, I'm also saying that as a Christian you will experience joy unspeakable and grace upon grace and you will see the mercy and favor of the Lord operating in your life life is a balance every single one of us Experiences the vicissitudes of life the highs and lows the ups and downs But what's important is how you handle the difficult times in life As a child of God your suffering will never ever be in vain. Amen There is a purpose for everything that we go through and if I can say one thing My experience in life have taught me this that nothing happens for nothing Nothing in your life that you experience if you trust in God will ever go to waste. Amen And there are purposes to the things we suffer in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 It says to everything there is a purpose and a time or to everything There's a season and a time for every purpose under heaven you will go through stuff But there's a reason and a season for the things that you go through So I want to explain to you some of the reasons and the purposes of our suffering so number one We go through testing to learn obedience mmm Let that one sting just a little bit. Okay To learn obedience Hebrews chapter 5 verse 8 says this that even though Jesus was God's son He learned obedience from the things he suffered even Jesus himself was taught Obedience through the difficult things that he had to go through Through his own times of testing Through the times that he was in the garden where the enemy came and tested him at the garden of Gethsemane He Jesus learned obedience through that time of suffering Have you ever been out somewhere and you felt this nudge like Maybe you should pay for the person's food that you you went out or you felt a nudge to Pay the grocery bill for the person in front of you at the store But knowing that if you were to do that that it would be the last money in your bank to cover their bill Have any of you experienced that or maybe you've gone to yeah, I see some hands. Mmm. Yes Or maybe you were out with your friends and this might be some of the young people But hey, you know and this is also for for all of us older people as well and myself included You have you ever been out going to the movies and suddenly you hear a soft voice tell you don't go. Oh You don't know why you're like this is gonna be a good time But you feel very clearly in your heart not to go These things they may feel minor But oftentimes in the moment they really hurt because it's something that you don't want to do I don't want to give the last money in my bank to help this person in front of me because Then I will have nothing or I'm trying to be out with with my friends and I'm not doing anything wrong It's a PG movie, but why can't I go? Why do I feel that in my heart? You know these things seem minor, but they hurt in the moment And it's a little tiny bit of suffering, but it's through these tests that we learn obedience to God hallelujah for example, how can God trust us with the spirit of Prophecy or any other spiritual gift for that matter if we are not under the check and Conduct of the Holy Spirit Hallelujah, it's through those times of testings that we learn to hear the voice of God and obey him at his word if You want to be used by God which many of us we pray that use me Lord use me I want to be used by you God You have to be yielded to the Holy Spirit Are you trustworthy before God Almighty? Can God trust you with his spiritual gifts with his wisdom with his word with his knowledge? Are you trustworthy? Through testing you will learn obedience number two We go through trials to learn to trust only God Amen In 1st Peter verse 1 6 through 7 it says this So be truly glad There is wonderful joy ahead Even though you must endure many trials for a little while These trials will show that your faith is genuine It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold Though your faith is far more precious than mere gold So when your faith remains strong through many trials It will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world Hallelujah Through many trials that we go through those extended times of testing that we go through our faith is purified Our genuine faith is tested and when we stand before God God will see the genuineness of our faith It's through these extended times of testings through trials that we learn to put our trust in only God And not in the things of this world because this world can never satisfy you This world does not have the answers to life's questions, but God Almighty certainly does Hallelujah Hallelujah It's funny because we sing songs like purify my heart God Make me as gold and precious silver You've got that new song out by Stephanie Gretzinger. How does it go?  Here's my life or here's the classic. I Surrender all But do we really know the meaning of those words? We are inviting God to put us on trial We're inviting God to cross-examine our hearts when we sing those songs. I implore you Sing those songs when you're ready because when you invite Holy Spirit to do that. Oh, he's certainly well You say purify my heart and he says let's do it sister. Let's do it brother I'll put you to the test But it's because God cares about your faith Because faith is the only thing that pleases God The Bible says that we need to come to him and believe that he is he's the one who exists and That he is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him. Amen So when we sing these songs, why are we surprised when hard times come? I Don't know about you, but I've never come across a trial or a test that was easy Trials and tests are no walk in the park But man do they change us? They change us and mold us into who we are supposed to be in Christ That we are becoming more like Christ through these times being molded and purified So that God can use us To no longer trust in the things of these world I'm I am reminded of even when Sarah laid down all of her vaping tools Because the world can only offer temporary pleasure Temporary solutions to your problems But when you learn to put your trust in only God, you don't need those things anymore You don't need those things to satisfy your heart or your cravings because your heart is Satisfied by Holy Spirit the one who already gave everything for you Hallelujah trust only God So my husband often says this in times of trials and troubles You will not rise to the occasion But you will fall to the level of your training Many of us we think okay well when I put on put to test I will rise to the occasion I will do really good when when the fire comes I'll stand But it doesn't work like that. You will always fall to the level of your training. So how are you preparing your heart? As a child of God your journey with Christ matters It matters what you do daily. Do you make God's word the standard for your life? Do you dwell in the secret place of the most high God and find rest in the shadow of the Almighty Psalm 91 1 Do you find your secret place here? Because when you do when the trials of life come and when testing comes You will be ready to stand as it says in Ephesians chapter 6 when the battles come and the warfare comes And you've done all that you can then stand You can only do that if this is the word on your lips if this is the meditation of your heart Only this is pleasing and acceptable to the Lord. Amen. Are you feeding yourself with truth? What you prepare for in your good season will carry you through your hard season You will find yourself in God's word in every story and every single verse So take it all in Learn about what he's done for other people Within his word watch testimonies see the way that God is still moving and your trust in him will grow It will not be the world that will bring you comfort Only Jesus can do that hallelujah Don't lean on the things of this world because they will fail you every single time Okay, and that's about that number three We go through tribulations to develop endurance Tribulation is often found in a prolonged challenge that we face this type of suffering is usually experienced Maybe once twice three times in our life When God wants to take you to the next level At this point you've likely learned some obedience to God You're learning to trust only in him.  There is the children of God. I see you now Okay, maybe the people on zoom here are a little more engaged Then you might experience this tribulation that I'm talking about I'm gonna give you an example of apostle Paul When he was in prison and in chains for many many years and he was being used by God He suffered great sorrow for a prolonged period of time, but he endured to the very end Philippians chapter 1 verse 28 through 30 says this don't be Intimidated in any way by your enemies This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed But you are going to be saved even by God himself For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ But also the privilege of suffering for him We are in this struggle together. You have seen my struggle in the past And you know that I am still in the midst of it Apostle Paul gave us some of the greatest epistles that we read in the New Testament What a great example of endurance of living the life with faith truly running that race With endurance hallelujah in Romans chapter 5 verse 3 Apostle Paul says and not only that But we also glory in tribulations knowing that tribulation produces Perseverance Another translation that says tribulation produces endurance You need endurance Why times because oftentimes in Tribulation You have very little power to control your circumstances The only thing that you can control is your reaction How do you handle your times of sorrow? prolonged suffering Your reaction matters Let me give you an example Many of you probably know this already as our church family and those who have heard our story online But three years ago my husband was essentially deported from the United States of America One year into marriage and suddenly our world came crumbling down We tried everything to expedite this process. We tried pulling every string We called all of our legislators. We called our congressman. We were about ready to write a letter to the president I mean like we were desperate God fix this fix it now Nothing we did changed the situation We had to take every moment step by step Everything that happened to us for three years people of God We had to trust in God Yeah, we were beat up a little bit.  There were some things that we were just confused like Lord What happened? Why is this happening to us like Job God? Why me of all this trouble? What did I do? But oftentimes when we go through tribulations, it's not because we did anything bad In fact, it usually means you're on the right track It usually means that God is trying to take you to the next level Why do you need endurance? Because this world Will not last We are engaged in a warfare every single day You may not feel it. You may not see it But every day there is spiritual warfare that is happening here on this earth and the moment that you get plugged in and you Get engaged to what God is doing. You're gonna see the battle that's happening here on earth And you need endurance because when you're fighting in a battle, you have to fight to win. Amen Hallelujah, how many of you are gonna fight to win? Amen Let me share the scripture with you Hebrews chapter 12 verse 1 through 3. This is gonna encourage you today. I know Therefore since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses To the life of faith Let us strip off every weight that slows us down Especially the sin that so easily trips us up and let us run with endurance The race God has set before us We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus the champion who initiates and Perfects our faith Because of the joy awaiting him. He endured the cross Disregarding its shame now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne Think of all the hostility. He endured from simple people Then you won't become weary and give up When you understand what Jesus Christ has already done But he's already paved the way and that that same Jesus Christ the spirit of the living God is the one living in you You will understand that greater is he that is in me than the one who is in the world Get you in a one-two punch He will try to get you by wearing you down How much can you take Ask Job and he will tell you it's not easy How much can you take but when you keep your eyes on the Lord and you endure? You will see the goodness of God in the land of the living. Amen. You will rise again You will rejoice and be glad again So let me ask you how are you preparing your heart for this journey of life? because the truth is Suffering in life is not a matter of if but when So you choose Will I spend my time with the Lord? And allow him to prepare and change my heart so that I may be ready for whatever comes my way I say this not to scare you but to strengthen you Because Jesus has already told us this in his word that these things will come He didn't hold back or try to protect us from this knowledge. He flat-out said in this life You will have trouble but take heart because I have already overcome the world John 16 33 Look it up carry that scripture in your pocket because Jesus has already overcome the world He was clear. He was clear But he was also clear in his message when he said I will be with you Amen number four We experience tragedies To remind us that this world is not our home People of god We are just passing through In john chapter 17 verse 14 Jesus refers to his disciples when he says The world hates them Because they do not belong here The world hates them They do not belong here just as I do not belong to this world This world is not your home You're just passing through As a child of god you have another home. You have another hope to look forward to amen This world is just a temporary dwelling place It's not where you belong and tragedy and grief and loss. These are all reminders that we don't belong here So when you go through times of deep sorrow and anguish your vantage point matters Isaiah chapter 40 verse 31 says But those who trust in the lord will find new strength They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and knock row weary They will walk and they will not faint If you're experiencing a tragedy in your life A loss or you're grieving right now I want to ask you from which vantage point are you seeing your situation? Are you down on the bottom face to face with everything that's happening to you?  And wrap you in the shadow of his wings like it says in Psalm 91 verse 1 Philippians chapter 3 verse 10 through 11 says this I want to know christ And experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead I want to suffer with him Sharing in his death so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead hallelujah as a christian Your suffering is different than the suffering of this world Because your suffering has a time limit amen When you live for christ you can be sure of one thing You will never suffer longer than your time here on earth Oh Because suffering only exists on this side of heaven hallelujah We're reminded in romans 8 28 That what the enemy meant for evil in our life that god can take it and turn it around for our good That even when we suffer god can still use your pain and turn it into something beautiful God can still use your mess and turn it into a message amen And he does this every single time Every single time and when you fully understand that there is nothing in this world to cling to That's when you can fully enjoy the beauty of god's creation When you know that this world is only a foretaste of heaven That's when your perspective begins to shift That's when death loses its Sting Sorrow is turned into joy and your morning is turned into dancing So change your perspective today When you experience tragedy in your life remember i don't belong here anyways This world is not my home so i can still rejoice I can still be glad in the faithful promises of god because i have hope of tomorrow I have the hope of heaven i have hope of resurrection in my life And that one way or the other i will experience the resurrection from the dead Forgotten When we reach our home When we make it to the end Like it says in hebru's chapter chapter 12 when we run this race with endurance set before us Because our hope is in one thing In the finished works of jesus christ our lord and savior But people of god There is a suffering far greater than you and i could ever even imagine or fathom And that sorrow comes from separation from god Do you know jesus christ as your personal lord and savior? Have you made him the lord of your life? Because all of this that i'm talking about When i refer to the different kind of suffering that we face as children of god Suffering is not limited to christians Yes, we experience suffering like everyone else Suffering happens to everyone Regardless of whether jesus is your lord and savior or not, but the question is how will you suffer? Will you suffer alone and without help? Without hope of tomorrow Without the hope of the world Walking with you every single day Or will you allow the things that you suffer to go in vain? And you're suffering to to not end here on earth But continue to an even greater suffering that you can never imagine Our suffering as christians bring us closer to jesus and strengthens our confident hope In our salvation But without god Your suffering will only lead you to more sorrow I want to take this opportunity because i i know that god is moving I can feel the presence of god here today And i believe that there are people in this room that you hear this message And you are connecting to every word that is being spoken But the difference for you Is that you don't have that hope that i'm talking about That joy unspeakable That grace upon grace and you're saying in your heart I want to receive that today I want to know that there is hope for tomorrow I want to know that i can walk through the hard times of life and not be alone That god will be with me there is an eternal god Who loves you with all of his heart who is beckoning you into his home His arms are wide open and saying come on in i'm ready for you. He already paid the price hallelujah Let him take your sorrows and turn them into joy So i want to open open up the invitation today if everyone can bow your heads and close your eyes This is a holy moment It's a holy moment If that's you today And you're saying i want to make jesus christ My lord and savior Could you just slip up your hand nobody's watching thank you i see your hand See your hand there too.  Thank you brother god bless you We see you coming down. Let's give them a round of applause There is nothing to be ashamed of Every single one of us here We have been in this moment And it's this moment that we are connected with god almighty and that beautiful story of our life begins So can you please repeat after me everybody in the crowd please repeat after me We're just gonna thank god for this wonderful souls here today I'm gonna lead you in the salvation prayer so repeat after me lord jesus I come before you today And i give you my heart Be the lord and savior of my life Forgive me of my sins Today I receive your holy spirit Help me walk out my days with you In jesus name Amen amen hallelujah If you have prayed that prayer those of you who are with us here today or if you're online and you prayed that prayer for the first time I want to welcome you into the family of god We have some people that want to talk with you so if you guys can just come over here We're gonna mingle with you just a little bit more Let's give our lord and savior a round of applause amen hallelujah, hallelujah The mission and vision of our church today is to see lives being changed to populate heaven and to plunder hell But I want to take this a little step further Because I know there's people in this room and you are going through some suffering right now Maybe you're in a time of your life of testing And you know that god is is is touching your heart or you're in a trial right now Maybe you're in a prolonged time of tribulation Or maybe you've recently experienced a tragedy and loss.  We want to bless you We want to to minister holy spirit to you Please come forward. We want to pray with you. There's nothing to be ashamed about Every single one of us we go through our time. Come on come forward come forward Yes, lord. Thank you. Jesus Holy spirit is here at this altar right now He's ready to meet you at the point of your need if we could have our leaders just come and lay hands On these precious children of god right now Let's come and pray for them I'm gonna lift them up in prayer. Could you guys all stretch your hands forward, please?  I want to invite pastor rickard To finish us up here Praise god, how many are blessed by today's message? How many received something from god today? hallelujah So we're gonna round up the service here today. Remember that we have morning prayer every morning 5 a.m The gates of the church open 6 a.m on wednesday. We have corporate prayer come out join us Pray for your city pray for your family and pray for your own future in jesus mighty name with that being said Better is not good enough. The best is always yet to come. God bless you. Greet someone hug someone Tell them you love them jesus loves them more and have a wonderful sunday in his presence