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The Promise
Jim Cymbala

Jim Cymbala (1943 - ). American pastor, author, and speaker born in Brooklyn, New York. Raised in a nominal Christian home, he excelled at basketball, captaining the University of Rhode Island team, then briefly attended the U.S. Naval Academy. After college, he worked in business and married Carol in 1966. With no theological training, he became pastor of the struggling Brooklyn Tabernacle in 1971, growing it from under 20 members to over 16,000 by 2012 in a renovated theater. He authored bestselling books like Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire (1997), stressing prayer and the Holy Spirit’s power. His Tuesday Night Prayer Meetings fueled the church’s revival. With Carol, who directs the Grammy-winning Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, they planted churches in Haiti, Israel, and the Philippines. They have three children and multiple grandchildren. His sermons focus on faith amid urban challenges, inspiring global audiences through conferences and media.
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Sermon Summary
In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of giving for the work of the Lord. He uses the example of the Philippians who helped Paul when he was in need, and assures them that God will supply all their needs. The speaker compares God's provision for his children to a parent ensuring their child has everything they need for school. He encourages the congregation to trust in God's promise to supply all their needs and shares testimonies of God's intervention in people's lives.
Sermon Transcription
I just want to give you one of the simple verse, you all know it. It's one of the great promises in the Bible. Philippians chapter four, verse 19. And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. Okay, let's say that together. Ready? And my God. And my God. Notice that Paul says my God, speaking of his heavenly father. The context I will explain in a second. He will meet or supply all your needs and the measurement that's used that he measures out the blessings to us according to what we need, not what we want, according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. That's a phrase we can't even comprehend. According to the riches, but not money riches, the spiritual riches of his glory, the outshining of his magnificence that he has in Christ Jesus. Now this church in Philippi, Paul is saying in this fourth chapter to them, when I was away doing mission work, you were the only church that supported me. Twice you sent offerings. And that meant a lot to me because I knew you were very poor. The Christians in Macedonia were very needy people. It seemed like a lot of poor people got saved. But out of their poverty, they rounded up their money and they sent it through a messenger to Paul because Paul was doing mission work, who would support him, how would it help him? He says in that portion of scripture, nobody else helped me except you and you did it more than once. And then he said, that offering that you sent to me is like a beautiful sacrifice to God, the fragrance of it. Whatever we put in that basket just now, it's like a fragrance before God because we're giving it to God. We could hold onto it, right? But when we give it for the work of the Lord, Paul's saying that giving is just very, very special. And then he says a sentence which first application has to do with money because they were poor. And he's saying, that's why he says, and my God. So he says, when I was in need, you helped me. But my God will supply all of your needs according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. So you help me, but I wanna tell you something. God was watching and now I want you to know, my God is gonna supply everything you need. So God loves to supply for the needs of his people. That makes sense. What father doesn't wanna help his children? What parent would see their children without special needs? I remember when school would begin and my kids were little, that first day in school, then you go to the supply store and you get the notebooks, you get the pencils, the pens. Why? You want your child to have everything they need in school. You don't want them to be laughed at, be short, they can't learn, don't have a book bag, don't have a ruler, don't have proper pencils. So what you do is out of your concern for your children, you're not going to school without what you need. If we, with our own children, wanna make sure that they have what they need, just think about our heavenly father wants us to have everything we need. So here's the promise, because I wanna take it way past the context there. My God will supply all of your needs. How many needs? Most? Every single one. My God will supply all of your needs. In the middle of the night, the Lord woke me up last night and this is the verse that was ringing in my heart. I hadn't read it yesterday, hadn't thought of this verse in a long time. And I lay awake for an hour just mulling over this verse. God is saying to us, whatever you need, oh, I hope we have faith for this. Do you have faith with me tonight? What God is saying, listen to me, ma'am, listen to me, sir. Whatever you need, I will supply it for you. I love you, you're my children. You've put your faith in my son, Jesus Christ. You're part of my family. What do you think, I'm a derelict parent? No, no, no, I will supply all your needs, not all your wants. God doesn't give us what we want, he gives us what we need. I was telling some pastors the other day about building programs. They asked me, they said, you've done so many building programs and seen God supply millions, dozens of millions of dollars. And what can you tell us about that as we move? Because I'm trying to believe God for $50,000. And when you tell me that he supplied 6 million in 10 minutes to your church, it's like, oh, it's such an encouragement. So what can you tell us, Pastor Jim? So I said, well, listen, guys, make sure you need it before you pray for it. Before you go into the building program, do you really need to do the building program? Because if it's part of an ego trip, if it's part of a monument to your name or your denomination, God has no promise for that. He said he will supply all of our needs, not our wants, our needs, our needs. Yeah, I'm driving that Volkswagen. Oh, would I love a Mercedes-Benz. Lord, here I am knocking at the door. I don't know about that one. How many are with me? Say amen. I'm not sure you need that. But everything you need, God says it's yours. Now, I close with this. Notice that it's not automatic that you get what you need. You combine that with the teaching of the Lord who said, ask and you shall receive. Seek and you'll find. Knock and it will be open to you. Just because there's a promise in the Bible doesn't mean it happens automatically. You have to pray the promise. You have to come to God tonight and say, God, pass a symbol, put up that verse, and I believe it and you know what I need. You know that I have a temper that is totally out of control. I need you to heal me on the inside and get me so connected with you that I overcome that temper. You know that bitterness I have toward that person, my spouse, my mother-in-law, whoever it might be. You know the bitterness I have. I need that out. This is not an option. I'm not asking for a nicer suit of clothes and foolishness like that. I need to be more like Jesus. Am I with anybody here tonight? I need, God, God, I need that. God, my son is so far from God and he's getting angrier by the month. I need for you to intervene. I'm not asking for money. I don't care if you never give me another dime, but I need for my son to be rescued from the people he's hanging around. I don't know how you're gonna do it. I've tried everything, but God, I need it. I'm gonna give a testimony tonight. I was called by a former employee of this church whose son just went off on a four-month, five-month, just, he went off, he just went off. Loves the Lord. Just went off, got depressed, wouldn't talk to anybody, wouldn't talk to his wife, the whole thing. So he called me and said, we can't get through. We don't know what to do. It's delicate. Would you reach out? So I tried to make a call, but when I made the call, I got sick and I was so sick that I really couldn't talk and counsel with anyone. God understands that. I was sick, sick. So all I could do was pray. And then I told him, listen, I can't reach him, but, and he won't possibly call me back, but I'm just telling you, this might be one of those, it's not gonna be done by saying something. It's gonna be done by prayer only, right? Because there's no verse we could say to this young man and he'll go, oh, I didn't know that was in the Bible. He knows all the verses. Have you ever prayed for someone? They know all the verses. They need a visitation from God. They need a wake-up call. They need a shaking. And he just called me before I came today because he knows how we've been praying. I left a message, but his son had gone overseas and now he just wanted me to know. Pastor, he came back, totally changed, totally changed. Come on, let's put our hands together. He's totally changed. He's back to being who he was and he sees it was an attack of the devil. And this former employee said to me, my wife and I said, what a reminder. You couldn't get to him, we couldn't get to him, but God got to him. Can we put our hands together one more time? God got to him. Our sister here, she needs a word from the Lord. She needs direction. She has a burden for Northern Iraq and the Kurdish people. But where, how, working with who? There's maybe some question marks there. Am I correct? She doesn't want, this is not, you could tell by her spirit, she sold out for Jesus. You could tell that, right? But she needs a word. She needs direction. And she has to stand on this promise and pray it. God, you said you would supply all my needs. So here I am and I ain't moving until you start to work and show me. I'm not gonna pray for one minute or five minutes. I'll pray as long as I can pray tonight. I'm gonna wait before you, but God, I'm asking you for something I need. I need more boldness. I'm so shy. I get ashamed of myself. Other people are flaunting their sinful lifestyle and I'm afraid to stand up for Jesus. God, it's not I want it. I need your boldness. How many believe God is interested in giving us boldness, power, patience, patience? God, I got a mouth that's out of control. My mouth, I speak things that hurt people. I need for you to put a guard on my mouth. This is not an accessory to my life. I need it. I need, and only you can do it. And God said, I will supply all of your needs. Close your eyes with me. Listen, God says, I will supply all of your needs. Not most. I will give you every need. If you just trust me and pray. Now, we've already taken communion, so I just trust there's nobody here that has some obstruction in your lifestyle, something you're practicing, carrying on, that would grieve God and cause your prayer to be hindered. Because all you have to do is confess it. Just confess it. God, I'm wrong. You're right. But God, I'm serious now. I'm coming to you. Here's the thing I need. Focus in on just one main thing you need. Some of you might say, I got five things I need. Tonight, I just want one main thing that you need. Praise God. I want everybody or anybody here who's starting with, you need a word from the Lord. You need direction. In fact, while she was saying, as Marsha was speaking, something got quickened in you, and you were like, oh, I want God to use me like that, but I don't know how, when, where. I need direction from the Lord. Get up out of your seat and come up here to the front. But now anyone who has a special need tonight, come out of your seat and come up and stand with me. You can kneel. We're not gonna race out of here. It's early. Just come up out of your seat and stand here and say, Pastor, I want to ask God and wait before him for that which I need. I need money. He knows the bills I have. I don't want to go to debtor's prison. I need his supply. I need that job. It's not that I want a job, but I really could live without it. I need it. I need it. My Father knows what I need. I want everyone here who wants to spend a little season in prayer. Don't rush out of God's presence. Take time. So everybody here, you can kneel. You can stand. You can stay in your seat. Those who are seated. But we're gonna bring our request. Now remember, my God shall supply all of your needs. If you're standing with someone, like you're agreeing together with your wife or a friend, just pray out loud, God, we're standing on your promise. Pastor Semble didn't make it up. He read it from your word. Philippians 419. You said you would supply. Here's what we need. Now move on our behalf, we pray.
The Promise
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Jim Cymbala (1943 - ). American pastor, author, and speaker born in Brooklyn, New York. Raised in a nominal Christian home, he excelled at basketball, captaining the University of Rhode Island team, then briefly attended the U.S. Naval Academy. After college, he worked in business and married Carol in 1966. With no theological training, he became pastor of the struggling Brooklyn Tabernacle in 1971, growing it from under 20 members to over 16,000 by 2012 in a renovated theater. He authored bestselling books like Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire (1997), stressing prayer and the Holy Spirit’s power. His Tuesday Night Prayer Meetings fueled the church’s revival. With Carol, who directs the Grammy-winning Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, they planted churches in Haiti, Israel, and the Philippines. They have three children and multiple grandchildren. His sermons focus on faith amid urban challenges, inspiring global audiences through conferences and media.