This sermon from Acts chapter 10 focuses on the remarkable day for people without hope, highlighting the story of Cornelius, a devout man who prayed and gave generously to the poor. The message emphasizes the need for believers to step outside of self-focused religion, open their hearts to human need, and be vessels of God's compassion and love to impact those without hope. The call is to love our neighbors as ourselves, reach out to those in need, and trust God to bring about remarkable days of transformation and salvation.

If you'll turn to Acts chapter 10, please, in the New Testament, I'd like to speak to you about a remarkable day for people without hope, a remarkable day for people without hope. Acts chapter 10, beginning at verse 1. There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian Band, or that was a regiment. He was a commander of a regiment called the Italian Regiment of Soldiers. A devout man and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms, and it technically means, if you check other translations, he gave generously to the poor. He gave much alms to the people and prayed to God always. He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming into him and saying to him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms, or your prayers and your generous deeds are come up for a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter. He lodges with one Simon the Tanner, whose house is by the seaside, and he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do. A remarkable day for people without hope. Now, you and I are about to study today, it's an incredible story of the release of God's redemption and life changing power upon a group of people that would have been considered up to that time without hope. Now, keep in mind the gospel at a certain point, I mean, the Old Testament form of it was only for the Jews, was not for you and I, unless you're a Jew here today. It was the rest of the world was really locked out. Ephesians 2 verses 11 and 12. Here's what Paul says. Wherefore, remember that being in time past Gentiles in the flesh or are called uncircumcision, or that really means unset apart for God by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands. That at that time you were without Christ being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. What an incredible tragedy that was. You know, and you and I could say today that Satan had breached the wall of God's protection that was in Eden. And except for that interval for the Jewish nation, he was allowed virtually unfettered access to destroy men and women who were created in the image of God. Seemingly, he could do it at will. And so the question we ask ourselves today is what kind of a person will God use to bring about hope in a hopeless situation? And it's significant to you and I because we're living in a time that apart from the working of God, it appears to be hopeless. Some here today, your family situation, unless there's an intervention, a divine intervention of God looks hopeless. Your neighborhood looks hopeless. You look out the window of your living room and you see the young people in the streets. You hear the conversation, the godlessness that seems to be almost like a tsunami trying to roll itself over our whole society. And and honestly, apart from the kingdom of God, it really does have an appearance of hopelessness about it. And so there's a there's a question we must ask. What kind of a person will God use to break this log jam? What kind of a church will God use? What kind of a people or called by the name of God will he use? Now, in Luke chapter 10 verses 25 and onward, the scripture tells us that a certain lawyer stood up and tested Christ and said, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Now, keep in mind, his question is about is a future question. What shall I do, in other words, to go to heaven? What shall I do to know that when I die that I'm going to live with God forever? And he said to him, what is written in the law? How how do you read it? I'm paraphrasing it from the King James. But what do you read? With all your study, Mr. Interpreter of truth. What have you found in the in the in the whole of the Old Testament that he would have had access to? What is it? What is the heart of it? What do you think you have to do to have eternal life? And he answered and said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength and with all thy mind and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him, this is Jesus responding, Thou hast answered right. This do and thou shalt live. Now, it's it's it's an interesting point here, because he asks a question in the future tense. What do I have to do to inherit eternal life? You know, his concept is that this is a question that's when I die, how can I know that I'm going to have eternal life? And when Jesus answers him, when he gives the answer, in a sense, love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and and your neighbor. So let that love for God be translated in a sense into your relationship with your neighbor. And he said, do this and you will live. And it's amazing because his answer is in the present tense as well as the future tense. It really means you because to live, do this and you will be caused by God to live, not just eternally, but you will be caused to live now. There's something of God's life that will come into you. This is why the lawyer wanting to justify himself, because he knew he knew the answer, but he wasn't doing it. And he said, I'm willing to justify himself. He asked a question, who is my neighbor? Now, he must have thought that was a really tricky question. Now, Jesus answers him and gives him an illustration of types of religion. The claim intimacy and access to God, but neither finds life for itself nor opens to others the life which God longs to give to all people. And he gives him the illustration of the certain type of the first kind of a person that passes by and doesn't really want to see human need, could could rightly claim a love for God. This is a type of person who goes to church and basically says, I love God. And there's a measure of truth in it. I love God. I love his word. I love his presence. I love his promises. I love God. And that's a very real. But seeing somebody wounded and bleeding on the side of the road just simply passed by. This is that person who didn't want to see human need, wants to see God, but does not want to see the work of God, does not want to really be anything that represents God in the earth. I just want to go to church and leave me alone. Thank you very much. If God wants to save the world, he can save the world. He's God. He's already saved me. So I'm just going to go to church and I don't, I'm just gonna put my horse blinders on on Sunday morning and I don't want to see human need. I don't want to see it during the week. If I happen to have a television and I flip on the channel and it's about a starving people somewhere else, I'll just flip it to something else because I don't want to see it. Don't put it before me. I'm not interested in it. I've got enough problems of my own. And that's the type of the Pharisee or who passed by a priest, it says, and he was on his way to worship. And he just, he just, he just immediately passed by the other side. He talks about a Levite came to the same place where a man was wounded and bruised and left for dead on the side of the road. And it says he came by and he looked on him and passed by on the other side. In other words, this is the type of a person who considers it like you and I, we hear these words today and we're not exactly completely opposed to it, but we're not really hot to the idea either. And considers human need, considers for a moment, stops and says he looked on him, thought about it, maybe knew what could be done, but it would be so time consuming and it would require so much and it would, it would take away from what he really wanted to do. And after looking for a moment, I guess he just passed by as well on the other side. And then Jesus shows us how the selfish and self-seeking religion, it offers no hope to a suffering generation. It cannot in itself create a remarkable day for anyone. It is, it is strictly just, it's more or less halfway to where God would have us to be as a people. And now Jesus goes on to give us a picture of a man who's completely outside of the religious climate of the day. In other words, there's a, the society in our time is, is largely focused on itself in the house of God. I know that's not just my opinion. I've been around long enough. I've, I've seen enough. I've heard enough to know that we, we adopted a theological focus in the house of God that was more or less self-centered. And we sit back and wonder, say, God, why do we fast and you don't hear us? Why do we do all this religious service? And, and we're not making that much of an impact in our generation. But God looks to a man who's, who's walking outside of that religious temperature, may I call it that, that self-seeking religion that's filling churches in this country right now. But really it's just a self-seeking filling. It's not the type of relationship with God that can really affect change in our society. But this man actually is doing something that puts him in a place where he's open to the life, which God offers in Christ, both for himself and for others. And he's a Samaritan, which means in this parable, he's outside of the religious system. And you and I, there's, there's a, there's a point where we just have to get to by God's grace, where we walk outside of a whole self-seeking system, whether it's in the society that we're living in or in the church or in our own heart, there comes a point where it's like, God, help me to get outside of the selfishness of this hour that we're living at. The selfishness is ruining this generation. It's, it's robbed us of statesmen. It's robbed us of true leadership. It's, it's robbed us in the house of God, of his living word. And it's robbed the people of our generation of a remarkable day that God wants to give them those that are without hope. And this is what happens through the life of a Gentile man called Cornelius. He was a man who was outside of the system, but the scripture tells us that he was a man who was praying, praying to know God. It had to be to know God because he didn't, obviously he was without hope himself. At this point, and he was giving generously to the poor. And this is the kind of a man, you know, when, when we read this chapter, Acts 10, we always focus on Peter, don't we? We always focus on Peter going to Simon's house, going up on the roof, a sheep comes down. That, that's our whole focus. And then he goes to Peter again, we focus on, goes to a Gentile's house called Cornelius. And as Peter preaches, the Holy Spirit comes. It's almost like the Gentiles are just more or less props in a play. We don't really realize that Peter is not the central figure in this story in Acts chapter 10. Cornelius is the central figure in the story. It's this man who lives outside of a whole system of self-focused and exclusive religion. Up to that point, that's what it was. It was, it was only contained within a small demographic of society. But now God wants to broaden it. He wants to open eternal life to millions and millions and more millions around the world. So what kind of a man, what kind of a person is he going to look for? Now, Cornelius is a man of prayer and technically through his life, the way of eternal life through faith in Christ was open to the entire non-Jewish world. You and me, we owe a lot to Cornelius. I'll tell you right now, we hardly ever think about his name, but this is a man who's seeking God. It says he prayed to God always and he was, he was giving to the poor generously. And technically speaking, it was fulfilling the two commandments that a man who purported to know God was not willing to fulfill. Here's a man completely outside of the system was actually fulfilling the two most important commandments of the Old Testament up to that time. And dare I say the New Testament as well today. He was a devout man in Acts 10 too, who feared God with all his house and gave much alms to the people and prayed to God always. Verse four, and when he looked on him, he was afraid and said, what is it, Lord? And he said unto him, your prayers and your alms, your prayers and your generous deeds to the poor are come up for a memorial before God. Verse 30, and Cornelius tells Peter four days ago, I was fasting until this hour and at the ninth hour, I prayed in my house and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing. Remember in Isaiah 58, it says, if you don't hide from human need, if you and I don't hide, then when we say, Lord, we call out, he says, here I am. It's amazing. Here's a man who's praying. He's really outside the kingdom of God in the sense of of true faith in Christ. And suddenly a messenger of the Lord stands before him and he said, verse 31, Cornelius, your prayers heard and your charitable deeds are had in remembrance in the sight of God. Now, listen to me. I'm not be careful. I'm not speaking about works for salvation. You cannot work your way through to the kingdom of God. But what I am speaking about is a type of people who choose to live in such a way that it opens their hearts to an understanding of God and it opens the hearts of others to the life and power, which is freely offered in Jesus Christ. Cornelius, it tells us he gathered together his friends and his near kinsmen. And when Peter came to the house in verse 25, it says near verse 25, it says when he talked with them in verse 27, he went in and found that many were come together. Many people Gentiles outside the kingdom of God brought together by a man of prayer and a man who was at a heart of tenderness and compassion. For people who were in need, folks, if we want to make a difference, I want to suggest to you that this is exactly what God is looking for in our generation, not looking for more religion is not looking for more praise as wonderful as all of that is. He's got all of heaven to praise him right at this very moment. Now, he's looking for men and women who are willing to pray and they're not praying just for themselves. There had to be something in this man that caused his friends and family to gather around. I can see the whole house being filled and it's filled with people who are without hope. This is what makes this story so significant. It's it's God found a man through whom he could, in a sense, release forgiveness to millions of people throughout the world. I feel in my heart that the Lord saying I'm looking for a church. I'm looking for a people. I'm looking for an agreement among my own people in this generation that if you will not hide from human need when you pray, I'll come. I'll come in power, but I'm not just going to come because you fast. I'm not just going to come because you put on a display of devotion, which is, which, which is what a lot of religion has become. It's a display, but it simply passes by human need. It ignores human need. It considers it for a moment, but carries on in its journey. No, God says, I'm looking for somebody who's willing to live outside of a system of selfishness. And self-seeking, this is a self-seeking generation, this is a self-seeking church age, especially in the Western world, America in particular. And the Lord says, I want to do a work in your generation that's far beyond anything you've ever imagined. How could Cornelius have imagined that as Peter began to speak about Jesus Christ, that the Holy Spirit, they didn't even know what the Holy Spirit was. And as Peter was simply speaking about redemption and Jesus Christ, it shocked him as much as it did Cornelius in his whole house as he was speaking, the Holy Spirit fell. Folks, I feel this is the gospel that's going to have to be preached in this generation. That as we speak, the Holy Spirit falls, as we speak, God comes to the hungry hearts that he will gather around. And who is the person that he will use to gather these? Isaiah 58, I'm going to read it to you again, I'm going to read it to you a thousand times before I die or before I leave this church. You're going to hear this until you know it backwards. Is it not to do your bread to the hungry, bring the poor that are cast out to your house where you see the naked, that you cover him and that you do not hide yourself from your own flesh. And that means from humankind, you do not hide from human need. You're open. Your heart is open. Your prayers are open. We're not praying for ourselves. There's a there's a measure of that necessary. I understand that. But there's there's a substantial portion of our prayer is not about ourselves. It's about others. It's about it's about the children that need to know there's a heavenly father that loves them. It's about people around us that can't feed their children. There's not enough money at the end of the month. We simply as a church age can't close our eyes to human need anymore and expect the glory of God to be in our midst. And many people tried this. And that's why the Pentecostal churches in particular turned to such foolishness in the last 15 years, because it was all self-focused in the house. And all it did is lead to delusion. Power without purpose leads to delusion, folks. That's the very essence. That's the core of delusion. But this man was not a deluded man. He actually in himself fulfilled the great commission of God in the Old Testament to love God with all his heart and to love his neighbors himself. And because of it, God was able to gather people around him if he only knew what God was going to do through his life. If you only knew today, if you open your heart and compassion to human need, what God will do through your life. You had no way of knowing the whole Gentile world was about to have the gospel released to them. They were going to be brought out of hopelessness and into the hope of God through Jesus Christ, through this man Cornelius. It was only while I was studying this week that I saw this, the great debt we owe this man, a Gentile man who is not a believer in Christ. But he actually fulfilled what believers in Christ are called to do. And God said, I've heard your prayers and your charitable deeds have come before me as a memorial. Now, I'm not even going to get into the theology of that. I just know that God heard this man because the scripture says so. He heard his cry. I want to know you, God. I want to know who you are. I want to walk with you. I want to see human suffering. I want to see people know you all around me. And it was through this man that people gathered. Wouldn't it be wonderful in the coming days that you could gather people in your living room who are without hope right now? And just simply because you've chosen to reach out to them in their need, because you've not turned a blind eye, because your religion is not self-focused. You open your mouth and begin to speak about Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost comes and fills them. Why not? Give me one reason why not. Surely, Jesus Christ is the same today as he was yesterday and will be forever. These things are not given to us in scripture just to tease us as some kind of an unattainable event in the past. Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no. I believe with all my heart that Christ doesn't change. We change. He doesn't change. He is still the same. The way he did things, he will still do it again in our generation. Is it not to deal your bread to the hungry? Bring the poor that are cast out to your house. When you see the naked, cover him and don't hide from your own flesh. Then shall your light break forth into the morning. Your health shall spring forth speedily. Your righteousness will go before you and the glory of the Lord will be your rearward. That means the weightiness of God, the full power of God will come behind you and gather you and strengthen you. When we refuse to turn a blind eye to human need, then you will call and the Lord will answer. You will cry and he will say, here I am. And let's remember Cornelius, he cried and an angel came to him. If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the putting forth of the finger or empty talk, speaking vanity. If you draw out your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall thy light rise in obscurity and your darkness will be as the noon day. In other words, I'll give you a testimony. You will be a candlestick on a hill. You'll not be hidden in this time of darkness. Glory to God. Glory to God. If ever there was a time to get the bushel off the candle, it's now. If ever there was a time to be a city set on upon a hill, it's now. If ever there was a moment to stand up for the testimony of Jesus Christ, it's now. If ever there was a moment to believe God for the miraculous, it's now. If ever there was a moment to pray and say, Lord Jesus Christ, glorify your name in this generation. Glorify your name, God. Bring people to you, Lord, that are without hope. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your soul in drought and make fat your bones. And you will be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of these shall build the old waste places. You will raise up the foundations of many generations and thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in. And surely that's what Cornelius became. He was a repairer of the breach. He was a man who literally shut the hole in the wall that allowed the devil to come in and literally rob thousands upon multiples of thousands of lives at will. And destroy homes and destroy families and destroy futures and bring people into a place where they were without God and without hope. And he became the one through whom God opened a path for countless millions of Gentiles to come back to God. A simple man who prayed and gave as he saw the need and he gave generously to people as he saw the need. God began to speak this to my heart. And I believe we're so close to being the kind of people you and I that the Lord needs for this hour in which we're living. That's why it's so significant what this church is doing with Feed New York in New York City. Giving the ability to churches in the inner city who already have prayer meetings to feed those that are hungry. Because it brings our brothers and sisters in Christ into a place where God will answer their prayer. Where they're not hiding as it is anymore from human need. But they're reaching out in the strength that God has given them. And this is the seed of an awakening in New York City. I'm convinced of it with all my heart. It is the most important venture we've ever undertaken as a church. It's worth everything. It's worth every moment of sacrifice. It's worth everything that God has called us to do. To become a strength to our brothers and sisters who want to do these things throughout the city. Who are already crying out to God. Believing that the Lord is going to fill these churches and fill those who come with his Holy Spirit. God Almighty my prayer is help me to care. Help me to care. Help me to care. Help me Lord to not just pass by and consider and think that's good enough. Help me Lord. And I'm not talking about giving something extra in an offering. That's not what this is about. I'm talking about you and I giving to people directly. It's a kid across the hall that has no lunch. It's this generous giving of ourselves where the need is genuine. Where it's honest. Where it's clear. Where it's clean. Now keep in mind when I preach a message like this. There are frauds even sitting in this church that will rub their hands together. Say oh what a great opportunity to milk some people here out of their savings. You need discernment. You have to know. I'm talking about the kid across the hall folks that just has nobody there. That's going to school and is lucky to have a bag of Doritos for the whole day. That's what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the single mother that can't feed her kids at the end of the month. I'm talking about an opportunity in this season of hardship economically. To reach out as the extended hand of God and watch what God will begin to do. Watch the numbers of hurting people that we encounter throughout the day. And make it a remarkable day for them. This message was called a remarkable day for people without hope. It should be a season whenever we encounter people without hope. It should be a remarkable day for them. If we are the true church of Jesus Christ. No encounter should be casual. There should be something of God that moves with us. That walks with us. That flows through us. Little did these people know when Cornelius invited them to his house. To hear the words of a stranger. That they were about to be filled with the literal presence of God. Up to this point from the day of Eden to this point. It was an unthinkable, unreachable, untouchable thing. That God would come down and touch these people. And he did it. And he did it through a man who prayed and didn't close his heart to human need. Hallelujah. Lord help me to care. Is the cry of my heart. Help us as a people to reach out. To obey you. To not close our hearts. Or as the scripture says our bowels of compassion. To not get so swamped by the magnitude of human need. Cornelius could have had that. He could have looked around at the Gentile world. Which was so godless. Even in its apparent seeking of God. He could have been so overwhelmed and discouraged. But little did he know. In his just a little piece of obedience that he had. Where he lived. And the little bit of light that he had. In obeying what he had. He was going to open the door. To the entire Gentile world. To the gospel of Jesus Christ. We owe an incredible debt to this man. And I pray with all my heart that. That could be our testimony. We sang it today when. When we get to heaven what will we do? I hope that it's not. Size of if only oh God if only. I see now your benevolence. I see your grace. I see your willingness to work with power. If only God. I had just made that extra step and done it your way. If only I'd stepped outside of my own struggles. My own needs. My own concerns. And become aware to the point of doing something. To help somebody. That God what you could have done. You could have made a remarkable day. There could have been many remarkable days through. Out my life for people that were without hope. If I would have just heard you and moved with it. By God's grace as a church. We're going to continue to feed people. We're going to continue to help. Our brothers and sisters in Christ. I'm praying and the elders are praying with me. And the pastors for a much larger vision than we have today. Already. God help us. So that you can answer prayer in your house. So the prayer meetings are not just people gathering. And bouncing words off the ceiling. But God that it moves your heart. And people start to come into the house of the Lord. By the hundreds of thousands. And find Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We're so close to an understanding of what is required of us. For many it just takes one more step. One more step into benevolence. One more step into saying I'm going to keep my eyes open. And when I see need. And we're not talking about need that's always. Yes it starts in the body of Christ. Thank God for that. But I'm talking about outside of the church. When I see need. When I see somebody that's. Not talking about the household of faith even. Somebody who just has need. That I'm not going to shut my heart of compassion. I'm going to do what I can do. And the Lord says if you do that. When you call I'll answer you. You'll have an impact. Because you're going to bring people to me. That will build the waste places. And raise up the foundations. Of other generations that have lost touch with God. And you will be called the repairer of the breach. And the restorer of paths to dwell in. The cry of my heart this week. Has been Lord through my life. Make it a remarkable day for people without hope. Oh Jesus. Oh Jesus. As much as I love you Lord. If I don't love my neighbor. I've missed everything. Just help me. And that really should be our prayer today. God help me. Because only you can give me that largeness of heart. Only you can give me the discernment. To know what to do and when. You you're the only one that can move upon me. To do these things. But we have 8,000 people in this church. Probably a little more than that. But that seems to be the number we've settled on over the years. And can you imagine the great good that can be done through this church. If we lay hold of this. And believe not just to give a sandwich to somebody. But to see them filled with the Holy Spirit of God. As we as we begin to tell them about Jesus Christ. I believe that God wants to work in the miraculous again. We're right on the threshold. Of something really profound in our time. I encourage you. Get into the battle. Now Father I thank you. Lord. You've given me this word. And you're the one who'll give me the strength to obey it. I can't preach to others and then ignore it myself. You're going to have to give me the strength. And the eyes and the heart. I don't want to be a man who just saunters off to church every week. And is completely unaware of human need. God Almighty. Deliver me from that. I pray for this church Lord that. Give us the eyes to see what you put into our hands. Help us to understand Lord. What you are speaking. Give us the grace to walk in this. Teach us and guide us Lord. In our communities our homes. Our neighborhoods. Our workplace. Give us eyes to see. And hearts to be kind. Lord break us out of all self. Focused religion. Father I thank you for this. In Jesus name. We're going to worship just for a moment. All the call is very simple. Very very simple. Lord. Help me to love my neighbor as myself. I know most of you love God. Let's just let's just take it the next step. And learn to love our neighbors ourselves. Believing that God will answer our prayer. And make a remarkable day for somebody without hope. Let's stand together please. And if this is you just come and we'll pray together in just a moment. You know as we were worshiping. I was just thinking about the drama that's happening on Friday nights. The cross and the switchblade. And the incredible impact that story is still having. It happened in 1958. And it's it's still having an impact. Such as we're seeing young people right into the lobby. In one case coming to Christ. And it started with a man who came to New York City. Seeking God. And gave away his shoes to a homeless man. And it opened the door to countless hundreds of thousands. If not millions of drug addicts. And people who are hopeless. Considered hopeless in society. All over the world. And this is what I feel that the Lord's been trying to get me to get across today. That we have an incredible heritage. But we can't sit on that heritage. We have an opportunity now to follow in the same footsteps. And maybe those footsteps will be shoeless for a moment for a few of us. But we'll have that that opportunity. To see that testimony of incredible grace. Operate through this church in particular. And our lives as well individually. Thank God for that. Lord Jesus Christ. We can't even get the fullness of what you're trying to speak to us. But God we have a heart to obey it. We have a heart Lord that says I don't want to just. Walk by and have a self-focused religion. I don't want to just stop and consider this message today. But then go my way. And pass the other side. I want to stop and make a difference. And so Lord you will put that need in front of us. Each of us Lord. You will show us somebody we can help. Somebody that has no helper. Somebody that can't get up if nobody stops to help them. And whatever that means for each of us Lord. Give us the grace. And then you tell us that if you don't hide from human need. Then you cry. And I will say here I am. And Father we thank you Lord. Make this a remarkable day this week. For somebody we meet that has no hope. Make it a day that is supernatural. It's sovereign. A day when God's spirit comes down. And claims another heart for his kingdom. And Father we thank you for this Lord. Jesus Christ help us to care. Help us Lord. Put your compassion inside of our hearts. There's no way we can work this up in the flesh. It doesn't work. It won't last. It has to be birthed of you inside of us. And so Lord we come to this altar. And we open our hearts. And say Lord give us compassion for our neighbor. Help us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Lord you said if you do these things. You told that man if you do this you will be caused to live. And so Lord you will cause us to live. You'll cause us to bear life. You'll cause us to be the bearers of life. You'll cause life to flow through us. Not just eternally but through time. And Father we thank you for this Lord. God almighty we ask you for an awakening in our generation. We ask you Lord for a move of your Holy Spirit. Such as we've only read about or dreamt about. God we ask you to do in Jesus name. What only you can do. Through a people who are willing to be vessels in your hand. Vessels of your kindness to this generation. Break us out of the box of selfish religion. And Lord bring us into that which truly represents the heart and the hand of God. And Father we thank you for this Lord. God almighty give us wisdom and discernment in this Lord. And guide us into the future. I thank you for the multiples of hundreds and thousands in this church. Already given to reaching out to people. Lord increase that oh God in every one of our hearts. Increase it in this body. Increase it in your church throughout the city. Increase it in the storefront churches Lord. God in all of our boroughs Lord. Let there be something birthed in the heart. That takes us so far beyond everywhere we've been. And Father we thank you Lord God with all our hearts. That you will draw people to your house. And fill them with your Holy Spirit. You'll do it sovereignly as you did it in the day of Cornelius. Peter didn't lay hands on anybody he had no time to. He was more surprised than Cornelius was. But as he declared Christ to this man. You came Lord. You came. You long to occupy this man. You long to reveal your salvation to the Gentiles gathered in his house. Lord this shows us something of your heart. It shows us something Lord that we want to lay hold of in this generation. We want to just put aside the formulas. And put aside the strategies. And put aside the plans. And embrace the heart of God. And embrace the compassion of Christ. And the faith Lord that you're willing to give us for the future. And Father I thank you for this. We thank you for it today God. We thank you Lord that this is a day when we are changed. We are changed Lord by the word that we hear. We are changed. We're not going to leave the way we came in. We are changed Lord God. Give us the eyes of the Holy Spirit. Give us the eyes to see those that are crying as they walk by us. In the streets for somebody. Somebody just to reach out and give them a helping hand. Give us the compassion Lord to look beyond our own needs. God Almighty I thank you for this. You've shown us over and again in scripture the kind of a person you're looking for. To display your power in any generation Lord. And in particular this one. Oh God Almighty we are not willing to settle for some kind of a powerless religion. Lord Jesus Christ deliver us from these things. Deliver us God from settling in and glorying in the past. Deliver us God from worshiping our worship. Deliver us God from hearing words and not obeying them. Deliver us oh God from all of this Lord that you pointed to as a bad example. With all of its scripture under its arm. And all of its resources. And all of its finery. You used it as a bad example. And you took an ordinary man who lived outside of the box of all of this. And used him oh God as an example of the kind of a person through whom you can give life. Father I thank you for this with all my heart. Help us Lord to do our deeds in secret and not boast of them. God that you may reward us openly. I thank you for this oh God. We ask for no greater reward than the souls of men. The souls of women. The souls of children God. The souls of our children in our streets. The souls of those in our schools that don't know there is a God. This is our reward Lord. This is what we work for. This is why we're on the earth. This is what we long for. God almighty lead us Lord. Lead us Holy Spirit of the living God. Put power in our worship. Put power in our speech. Put power in our words Lord. As we reach out to human need. Fill with the Holy Spirit people who are willing to listen to what we have to say to them. God almighty I ask you this in the mighty name of Jesus. Lord there's no time for any more man-made bundle up religion. Those days are over. We need a touch of God. We need a move of the Holy Spirit in our time. Hallelujah. Thank you Lord that you're willing to do it through the simplest of us. My God. My God to the simplest of us Lord. Give us faith. Give us vision. Give us power in our speech. Do something so profound that nobody can touch the glory. Nobody could touch it because we've known it's come from God. Cornelius couldn't touch it. Peter couldn't touch it. The disciples couldn't touch it because it sovereignly came about by the hand of God. My God we ask you to work like that in this time that we're living in Lord. We thank you for it and praise you. I bless you for these men and women of God. Gathered in this house at this altar those that are listening online. I bless you God. Lord Jesus Christ before you come one more time. One more time pour out your spirit. One more time Lord Jesus Christ. Let your glory and your fire be in your house. One more time Lord. One more time. Set us out into the streets Lord as a city that cannot be hidden. One more time Lord for your glory. One more time. Let the fire of God come into our homes and our prayer meetings Lord. One more time Lord. Raise up evangelists, pastors, preachers, teachers, missionaries, godly men and women. One more time. One more time as you did in the upper room. Fill us oh God with your Holy Spirit. Give us the strength to stand in this generation. One more time we ask you for words that would come out of our mouths. My God that would shake hell itself. That would see prison doors open. Blinded eyes would be given sight. Bruce's heart should be healed. The poor would have the treasure of Christ open to them. One more time oh spirit of the living God. Father for Jesus name's sake send your Holy Spirit to us again. My God in great power and great measure. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. Do what only you can do Lord. Move in the way that only you can move. Hallelujah. Father I thank you. We thank you for this with all our hearts. We thank you Lord that we're standing at your throne today. And we're not asking for something that's out of reach. We're not asking for something you're not willing to give. You long to release your power in your people and in your house. Oh Jesus thank you. Fill us with your spirit oh God. Fill us Lord. Fill every church in this city where there's only a spark oh God. Fan it into flame. Breathe on it oh God. Breathe on it Lord Jesus Christ. And let your name be brought to reputation again through your people. In your house in this city oh God. Father we thank you. And we praise you. And we bless you. We Lord are on good ground. We're on solid ground. We're on praying ground. We're on holy ground. We're on the ground of power. We're in the place of victory. And God we thank you in Jesus mighty name. Thank you Lord. Thank you mighty God. Just thank him. Take a moment to thank him for what he's about to do. Thank you Lord.