(Breath of Life Theme Music)
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Sermon #B714 - The Upper Room
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Dr. Byrd: Today, we have
entitled our message, The Upper
Room. And I invite you to take
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your Bibles and turn with me to
the Book of Acts, Acts chapter
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1. Acts chapter 1 and we often
read verses 1 through 11, but
today I want to focus on The
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Upper Room. And so in focusing
on the upper room, I call your
attention to verse 12, verse 13,
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and verse 14. Acts chapter 1
verses 12, 13, and 14, the word
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of God says- and I am reading
you are hearing from the King
James version- "Then returned
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they unto Jerusalem from the
mount called Olivet which is
from Jerusalem, a Sabbath Day's
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journey." Verse 13, "And when
they were come in they went up
into an upper room, where abode
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both Peter, and James, and John,
and Andrew, and Philip, and
Thomas, Bartholomew, and
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Matthew, James the son of
Alphaeus and Simon Zelotes the
Zealot, and Judas the brother of
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James," not to be confused with
Judas Iscariot. Verse 14, "These
all continued with one accord in
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prayer and supplication, with
the women, and Mary the mother
of Jesus, and with his
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brethren." Before we talk with
you about the upper room, let us
talk with the Lord Father in
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heaven today. We have sung,
prayed, and had children's time
- Sabbath school - but now we
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need a word from You. If we do
not hear from you Lord, what
will we do? So speak today to
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Your people. You had done it in
the past, You did it last time,
You did not stop before that,
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but Lord, we need a fresh
anointing of your spirit today.
Speak. And we promise we will
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listen. Now hide me behind Your
cross, forgive me of my sins,
and as we get to the end of this
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message today with the appeal, I
pray that Lord, men, women, boys
and girls would make their
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calling and election sure with
Thee. We thank you and we love
you. Open our hearts and minds
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and illuminate us to what You
have for us today. In Jesus'
name, we pray. Amen.
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The Upper Room. Jesus has been
crucified. Jesus has risen.
Jesus has ascended back to
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heaven. But just before Jesus
ascends and returns back to
heaven, He has a message for His
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disciples. He is getting them
ready for what is about to
happen. Jesus has spent much
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time preparing His disciples for
this day; leading His disciples,
guiding His disciples, teaching
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His disciples. They watched Him
turn water into wine. They
watched Him feed 5,000 with two
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fish and five loaves of bread.
They watched Him walk on water.
They watched Him healed the
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paralytic at Bethesda. They
watched Him raise Jarius'
daughter from the dead. They
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watched Him raised Lazarus from
the dead. But now Jesus tells
His disciples: it is your turn,
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it is your time. It is your turn
to go and share the gospel to
the ends of the Earth. But the
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good news about Jesus is He is
not asking them to do this on
their own, because Jesus never
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calls the equipped but He always
equips the calls. Are you
hearing what I am saying? Jesus
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tells His disciples that they
will receive power from the Holy
Ghost and they shall be His
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witnesses. He tells them that
even though He is gone, they
will not be alone but He will
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live with them, the comforter,
the Holy Spirit. In the text,
Jesus has returned to heaven.
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The disciples have just returned
to Jerusalem from the Mount of
Olives where Jesus ascended
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and now they have come to
Jerusalem. The Bible says that
it is not a long journey,
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but the Bible says it
is a Sabbath Day's journey.
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But do not let that confuse you.
The Mount of Olives is less than
a mile away from Jerusalem.
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A Sabbath Day's journey was the
distance that Jews were legally
permitted to travel from their
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home on Sabbath without breaking
Jewish law. So the fact that the
distance was a Sabbath Day's
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journey does not mean that the
Ascension occurred on the
Sabbath. And listen to me: a
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Sabbath Day's journey was simply
used to describe how far they
traveled. Now when they arrived
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in Jerusalem, the Bible says
that they gathered in what is
referred to as the upper room.
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Now some people think that this
upper room was the same room
where Jesus shared his last
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meal, the last supper with the
disciples. But the Bible does
not tell us that. Read the Bible
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closely. The Bible just says
they gathered in the upper room,
which reminds me today, let the
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Bible speaks for itself. Back to
the upper room. In the upper
room, the disciples are there.
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In the upper room, some women
are there. In the upper room,
Mary the mother of Jesus is
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there. In the upper room, there
were Jesus' brothers who were
there. In the upper room, there
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are more people there, because
the Bible says in verse 15 that
there were 120 people in the
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upper room, which lets us know
the upper room had to be a large
room. The upper room was not a
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bedroom. The upper room was not
a bathroom. The upper room was
not a living room. But the upper
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room was a prayer room because
verse 14 tells us that all the
120 people that were there were
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all there in one accord in
prayer and supplication. In
other words, they prayed with
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one mind and they prayed with
one purpose. They engaged in
corporate prayer rather than
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private prayer. Now you need to
understand today that there is a
time to pray all by yourself.
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Sometimes it is just you and
Jesus in your secret closet.
Even Jesus himself, the Bible
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teaches, had to go alone
sometimes and pray by Himself.
But you need to also understand
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there is a time for corporate
prayer or praying with other
people. And while everybody may
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not be comfortable praying
publicly or praying out loud,
everybody can join in the
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prayers of others in their
hearts. So whether it is silent
prayer or audible prayer,
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everybody ought to pray. You do
not have to have a degree in
Theology to pray. You do not
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have to quote the best cliches
to pray. You do not have to know
the original Hebrew or Greek
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language to pray. All you have
to have is a sincere heart, a
genuine need, an earnest plea, a
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belief in Jesus, and friends,
you can pray. Some people pray
these flowery, well-articulated
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prayers, and people think that
they are the biggest Saint or
the biggest Christian in the
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world. But let me tell you
something. They may say the
finest prayers but that does not
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make them the finest Christian
because the devil talks to the
Lord, too. Remember, it was in
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Job chapter 1 that the devil
talked to the Lord. There is a
difference between church
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members and Saints. We have got
a lot of church members today
but there is a major difference
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between church members and
Saints. Back in the day, you
could tell the Saints something
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and they would not gossip about
it, but they would pray about
it. The Saints would come
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together in agreement and they
would come together and pray for
you. I am used to Saints and I
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am getting weary because we got
a lot of church folk now and not
Saints. You see, some folk know
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that back in the day when you
were in trouble and the Saints
got ready to come over to your
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house, they would do the
cooking, they would do the
cleaning, they would do the
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washing, and they did not ask
for or want money. But today, if
folks make you a cookie, some of
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them are talking about, well,
flour is high, cookie mix is not
what it used to be. But I am
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used to Saints who loved you,
who cared for you, who prayed
for you, who ministered and did
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things out of their heart, out
of their spirit for you. When
you came into their presence,
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there was something that
emanated out of their Spirit.
They did not have to tell you
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they were praying but you can
look at them and you knew they
were praying. And then
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sometimes, they will come and
get you and they will tell you
to stand in a circle, and they
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will tell you to kneel down in
the circle, and then they would
surround you in a ring of
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prayer, and they would put their
hands on you and they would call
on the name of the Lord. They
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touched, they agreed, they
prayed and they were praying for
the same thing. And one of the
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reasons we do not see the power
of God manifested in our midst
today is because we have allowed
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petty differences to divide us.
But when the people of God come
together and they touch and
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agree, and the people of God are
on one accord, there will come a
sound like a mighty rushing wind
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from Heaven. The sick will be
healed, the dead will be raised,
the lame will walk, the dumb
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will talk, and souls will be one
for God's kingdom. Talking about
engaging in prayer and praying
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together, let me tell you about
praying together, what corporate
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prayer does. Number one, I have
learned that corporate prayer
takes out the individualistic
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assumption that Christianity is
only about me and my
relationship with God. Corporate
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prayer makes us aware of the
person who is sick, the person
who is unemployed, the person
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who is fighting cancer, the
person who is fighting the
Coronavirus, the person who is
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fighting bad habits and demonic
strongholds. Corporate prayer
helps us discover that our
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lives, as followers of Jesus
Christ, are tied up with one
another, that we are stronger
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together, that we have more
power together, that we have
more energy together. Even
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though we are in this
Coronavirus season and space,
and the enemy wants to stop us
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from being physically together,
I am so glad that the enemy
cannot stop us from praying
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together. He cannot stop the
prayer team. He cannot stop
prayer time. He cannot stop its
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intercessory prayer at church.
We are stronger together in
prayer. But number two, I have
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learned that corporate prayer
strengthens compassion for one
another as we hear the cries
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from others. You see, hearts are
stirred for one another. When we
hear prayer needs in times of
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sickness, times of suffering,
challenge, job challenge,
financial challenge, addictions,
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marital problems, grief, loss,
kids who are in rebellion,
friends who have wandered from
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the Lord, people who are lost
without Christ. But number
three, corporate prayer
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strengthens courage as we hear
other people praying for us. You
see, it is a good feeling when
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you hear somebody else praying
for you to be bold as a witness
for Christ, praying for a
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specific situation you are
dealing with, praying for you in
a new direction you are doing in
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your life. We are stronger
together in prayer. But the
number four, I have learned
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corporate prayer strengthens our
resolve against sin as we hold
each other accountable through
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praying together. Now, let me be
clear. Sometimes, we need a
Christian brother. Sometimes, we
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need a Christian sister to help
us, to hold us accountable, to
tell us yes, to tell us no.
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Sometimes, not even to tell us
anything but just to give us the
look. We are stronger together
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in prayer. But the number five,
corporate prayer strengthens
worship as we praise God
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together, exalting Him,
acknowledging who He is,
thanking Him for what He has
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done, asking Him to move in our
lives and on our behalf. We are
stronger together in prayer. The
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120 in Acts chapter 1, they were
in the upper room praying. But
what were they praying about?
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Again, let the Bible speak for
itself. The Bible does not
specifically tell us what they
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were praying for but I am sure
they were asking God for
protection from their enemies,
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provision for their needs,
straight for their path, and
direction for their future. The
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last thing Jesus told them was
that they were going to receive
power from the Holy Ghost. And
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once that power came, they were
going to be His witnesses in
Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria,
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and the other ends of the Earth.
But you know what? They are
praying and they do not know how
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long, or have an idea of how
long, they are going to have to
wait to receive the Holy Ghost.
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Were they going to have to wait
for a few hours? Were they going
to have to wait until tomorrow?
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Were they going to have to wait
for a few days? Let me remind
somebody today that God's timing
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is not your timing, that He may
not come when you want Him but
He is always right on time. You
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just have to be ready when it is
your time. So at this exact
moment, many of use do not know
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when our churches will reopen.
We do not know when we are going
to go and return back to full
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in-person Church. And during
this time, during this Upper
Room time for us, we are asking
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ourselves: How are we going to
minister in a post-COVID
environment? How are we going to
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be relevant? We are living in a
new normal. Church will not ever
be the same. Church cannot be
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the same. How are we going to do
it? There are so many things
changing right now in many areas
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of our lives and most of us hate
the word change, by the way. But
yet we are all being forced to
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deal with change in some major
way in our lives; kids not
physically being in school this
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year, some people not being able
to go to work this year, sports
venues at less than 1/4
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capacity, families cannot see
each other, people sick and
dying in hospital rooms across
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the country by themselves,
churches trying to figure out
how to keep reaching out to our
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communities and our world with
the gospel. When will we ever be
able to gather again together?
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And when we are able to gather,
will we be able to do it like we
did before COVID? Will we have
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to stay in small groups? Will we
have to wear face masks when we
have to socially distance in our
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seating? Will we have to have
temperature check stations? Will
we have to have multiple
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services. Will we be able to
shake hands? Will be able to
hug? And while we may not have
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the answers to all of these
questions, there is one thing
that it means for all of us who
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are Christ's disciples: that the
Church must pray. We are in our
upper room right now and we must
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pray. And the good news is Jesus
has promised us that when we
take the gospel, the Holy Ghost
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will be with us, but we must
pray. Yes, the gospel is going
to the entire world, but we must
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pray. Prayer is the first step
in revival. Prayer is the first
step in our relaunching. Prayer
00:17:43.46\00:17:48.80
is the first step in evangelism
and church growth. Prayer is
more important than money and
00:17:48.83\00:17:54.40
workers. Prayer is more
important than budgets and
strategies. Prayer is more
00:17:54.44\00:17:58.94
important than policies and
procedures. Prayer is the key.
And let me tell you this right
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now. Do not just pray for people
to come back to church. But pray
for the outpouring of God's Holy
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Spirit on the church. Pray for a
revival like never before. Pray
for courage for our leaders to
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do a new thing. Pray for us to
understand the need for
relevancy and not inertia. We
00:18:19.66\00:18:25.60
have got to pray. But then the
text tells us. After the prayer
meeting is over in the upper
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room, we need a business meeting
in the upper room. We pray, but
after we pray it is time to
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plan. The apostles, the women,
Mary, Jesus's brothers, and the
remaining 112 had a prayer
00:18:46.42\00:18:53.80
meeting. But then if you read
verse number 15, you will
discover that they then had a
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business meeting. The disciples
spent time first with an inward
focus, but it is followed now by
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an outward focus. They came
together for prayer, but now it
is time for planning. But let me
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be clear unless somebody try to
misquote me. Do not get it
twisted. I love prayer and we
00:19:14.65\00:19:23.99
need prayer. But after we
finished praying, we have got to
get up and do something. Faith
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without works is dead. Yes, we
need prayer revival. Yes, we
need prayer summit. Yes, we need
00:19:30.77\00:19:35.10
prayer workshops. Yes, we need
prayer conferences. Yes, we need
prayer calls. But after we pray,
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we have got to get up and we got
to go to work. Acts 1 teaches
that after they had a prayer
00:19:42.34\00:19:48.45
meeting, they went into a
business meeting. They had to
then discuss how they were going
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to take the gospel to the world.
They had to discuss how they
were going to execute revival.
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Peter gets up in verse 15 and he
calls the business meeting to
order, and the first order of
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business for the disciples was
they needed another disciple to
replace Judas. They cast lots
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and the lot fell on Matthias and
he replaced Judas. But after
they had done that, they then
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began to lay the groundwork for
the gospel to go forward. But
this time, things would be
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different. Jesus would not be
with them. Jesus would not be
physically walking beside they.
00:20:31.93\00:20:35.33
They had, yes, the Holy Ghost,
but they knew things were going
to have to change. And that is
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just like us. We are in an
upper-room experience right now.
For the past year, we have been
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praying and asking the Lord:
God, how are we going to take
the gospel? We know we have your
00:20:50.21\00:20:55.88
Holy Ghost, but how are we going
to take your gospel? How are we
going to do ministry after
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COVID? And the Lord has made it
very clear that we cannot do
ministry the same way we did
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ministry before COVID. We cannot
just go through the motions. We
have got a lot of motion but no
00:21:09.96\00:21:20.44
movement. We have got a lot of
talk but no action. We have got
to change. Ministry must go
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beyond the four walls of the
church. Ministry must continue
in the digital space. Ministry
00:21:30.32\00:21:40.10
can no longer be seen as local
but it has to be seen as global.
Ministry must go to the people
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and not simply the people coming
to us. Ministry must be relevant
and not antiquated. Let me be
00:21:49.90\00:21:55.01
clear. CDs are a thing of the
past. DVDs are a thing of the
past. If you are buying a DVD
00:21:55.04\00:22:05.62
duplicated for your church, save
your money. If you think you are
social media savvy solely with
00:22:05.65\00:22:16.23
Facebook and Pinterest, think
again. Instagram, TikTok,
Twitter, Zoom, StreamYard,
00:22:16.26\00:22:22.57
Ecamm, Restream, they are the
norms for the day. Online
ministry is not an option, it is
00:22:22.60\00:22:32.18
a necessity. It is a new day. We
are in the upper room, we
prayed. But now it is time to
00:22:32.21\00:22:40.52
plan so we can execute, and we
must execute in excellence.
Nobody wants a sloppy Church.
00:22:40.56\00:22:44.83
Nobody wants to be a part of a
sloppy Ministry. And if you
offer sloppy, ill-prepared,
00:22:44.86\00:22:50.27
irrelevant ministry, people are
not going to argue with you
anymore about change. They are
00:22:50.30\00:22:55.64
not going to come to upper-room
business meetings and advocate
their points. They are just
00:22:55.67\00:23:00.84
going to vote with their feet,
and they are going to vote with
the click of a mouse and find
00:23:00.88\00:23:08.92
another online or in-person
ministry that meets their needs.
Church, change is tough. But the
00:23:08.95\00:23:15.22
only alternative to change is
eventual obsolescence. We need
good in-person ministry, as well
00:23:15.26\00:23:20.26
as good online ministry. And I
am clear that if you do not
offer that, your ministry will
00:23:20.30\00:23:28.40
be left behind. We are in the
upper room. and the Holy Ghost
is in the room. We have moved
00:23:28.44\00:23:40.02
from a prayer meeting to a
business meeting. The disciples
understood this. The disciples
00:23:40.05\00:23:45.09
did as Jesus commanded. The
disciples understood that they
had to change. The disciples
00:23:45.12\00:23:49.96
understood that Ministry
modalities had changed. The
disciples understood Jesus had
00:23:49.99\00:23:55.40
ascended back to heaven but they
went for sharing the good news
in the power of the Holy Ghost,
00:23:55.43\00:23:58.30
sharing that what Christ had
done for them and what Christ
could do for others,
00:23:58.33\00:24:00.57
sharing that God so loved the
world so much that He gave His
only begotten son to give His
00:24:00.60\00:24:08.14
life so that
ours might be saved.
00:24:08.18\00:24:09.88
But this was not an easy task
for the disciples. Record says
they experienced violence.
00:24:09.91\00:24:16.85
They experienced mocking and
teasing. They were talked about.
It cost them their lives.
00:24:16.89\00:24:26.56
But because of their faithful
dedication, Christianity grew,
00:24:26.59\00:24:32.23
Christianity prospers. And
Christianity is now the most
populous religion in the world.
00:24:32.27\00:24:38.54
Followers of Christ are in every
corner of the world. Jesus never
00:24:38.57\00:24:47.45
wrote a book but yet all the
libraries in the world could not
hold the books that have been
00:24:47.48\00:24:52.09
written about Him. Jesus never
wrote a song but He is first the
theme of more songs than
00:24:52.12\00:24:58.76
songwriters combined. Jesus
never founded a college but all
schools together cannot boast of
00:24:58.79\00:25:05.03
how many students he has. Jesus
never practiced psychiatry but
He has healed more broken hearts
00:25:05.07\00:25:12.21
than doctors have healed broken
bodies anywhere. Jesus never
marshaled an army, never drafted
00:25:12.24\00:25:23.95
as a soldier, never fired a gun,
but no leader has made more
volunteers. No leader has made
00:25:23.99\00:25:31.73
more soldiers who have under his
orders made rebels stack arms to
surrender without a shot being
00:25:31.76\00:25:34.10
fired. The disciples did their
job. But today, are we going to
do our job? We have had time for
00:25:34.13\00:25:50.25
prayer but it is now time to
plan. And then after we plan, we
have got to execute.
00:25:50.28\00:25:58.09
Jesus is calling us to do the
work of sharing the gospel.
Jesus is calling us to be His
00:25:58.12\00:26:09.93
witnesses in the world. Jesus is
saying that it is our time to go
and tell others about the love
00:26:09.96\00:26:17.11
and forgiveness that He so
freely offers. Jesus is calling
us but we have got to do it in a
00:26:17.14\00:26:23.48
relevant Christ-centered,
excellent way. And the good news
is we do not have to do it by
00:26:23.51\00:26:31.99
ourselves. But we have got the
Holy Ghost. Will there be times
we meet opposition? Yes. Will
00:26:32.02\00:26:46.53
there be those who do not listen
to us? Yes. Will people brush us
off? Yes. But could you meet
00:26:46.57\00:27:02.65
somebody who needs to hear the
gospel? Yes Could you help
change somebody's life? Yes. And
00:27:02.68\00:27:19.03
that my friends are what God has
called me and you to do. Invite
someone to meet Christ. Invite
00:27:19.07\00:27:31.31
someone to follow Christ. Invite
someone to hear Christ. Invite
someone to surrender to Christ.
00:27:31.35\00:27:43.12
We are in the upper room, we
have been praying. But God has
given us the power of the Holy
00:27:43.16\00:27:53.84
Ghost and it is time for us to
plan. And then after we plan, we
have got to execute. That is
00:27:53.87\00:28:01.91
what Acts 2 is about; it is
about the execution. Acts 1 is
about the preparation, praying
00:28:01.94\00:28:03.91
as a preparation. But now after
that, we got to get to the
execution, because God wants to
00:28:03.95\00:28:16.56
use you. God wants to use me.
This is our Upper Room. So my
answer Lord is yes. Lord, yes.
00:28:16.59\00:28:28.64
[END]
00:28:28.67\00:28:43.69