Dig into to this weeks sermon from V1 Miami campus pastor, Havey Feliciano for week 2 of the "I Love My Church" sermon series!
V1 Church
Purpose in the Desert | I Love My Church - Week 1 | Pastor Harvey Feliciano
(upbeat music) And so here's what I wanna do this morning, Church. I want to ask your permission to be transparent and vulnerable. Do I have your permission to be vulnerable? Now, I ask that you, in turn, be vulnerable today. If I'm gonna be vulnerable, I ask that you be vulnerable. Be vulnerable with yourselves, be vulnerable before the Lord. You might be sitting here thinking, I don't even know what I'm doing here. I'm just here 'cause someone invited me. But I'm here to tell you that you are meant to be exactly where you're at. At any one of our locations, wherever you're watching from online, you are meant to be where you're at. Amen? - Amen. - And so I wanna share a little bit of my testimony. I pretty much was born and raised in church. And I had Bible knowledge, but I had no relationship with Jesus. I know who Jesus was, but I had no intimacy with Him. And so I was just checking off the boxes. I had good morals, so I was good, right? I was doing what I knew I had to do. But my wife passed her just, on the other hand, she grew up in a home that believed, but I never had a local church, a home church. They visited different churches as she grew up. But we got married in 2008, so that's 16 years. I did the math before coming up here. I said that earlier, so I wouldn't get in trouble when I got down. And I wish I can tell you they were the absolute best 16 years in my life, the best years of marriage. Most of those years were definitely difficult and hard and rocky, and we got married at 18 and 20, very young. We were still learning how to learn ourselves, let alone learn each other. But, you know, I give such honor to my wife because if there's anyone here, any wife that's interceding for her husband, any husband praying for his wife, a parent for their kid, a kid for their parent, just continue to press in, continue to pray, even when you don't see him moving, he's moving, even when you don't feel it, he's moving. Never stop to push, never stop praying 'cause God will finish the good work that He started in them. Amen? And so, you know, she had developed this desire and this hunger to wanna go in deeper, to wanna know more of the Lord. And, you know, she wanted to bring me along on that journey and at this point in my life, I wanted nothing to do with it. I was good where I was at, you know. I would show up in church and didn't do anything bad or evil, so I was content. And so she would start to get deeper and she would get together with family and I'd be on a complete other side of the house just to like avoid it, not be around it, you know. And she had to learn how to just give up, like let go and let God, not give up, but like let go and let God. And that's when God really started to like move as she interceded and prayed for me 'cause I went from the other side of the house to being in the same vicinity, to sitting right there next to her and really just like developing this hunger, this desire, this intimacy with both my wife and with the Lord 'cause there can't be intimacy without intentionality. You have to have intentionality if you wanna see the fruits of intimacy. And so, you know, I share this because just a while ago, years ago, you know, I was at that place and you might be sitting here like, you know what, I'm fine, I'm a good person. Just might be you in a couple of years that God's gonna use up here and be a pastor preaching at some platform. So don't despise what God wants to do in your life, no matter where you're at right now, no matter what you're going through, no matter what you think no one knows, like there's no way I can do that, there's no way I can be there. Let's be vulnerable this morning. Let's be vulnerable, amen. All right, so if you have your Bibles, I'm gonna read from John chapter eight this morning. And I'll give you a sec to turn your pages or touch your screens to get there. And I think that as we go and look for that, we don't believe in coincidences, but divine appointments. And you might think that you're just here visiting, you never thought you'd sit in another church and you're just here because someone invited you or someone sent you the link and you're watching online. I believe that God ordained this moment. And I believe that there's a disruption for us today. And as we read in chapter eight, I'm not gonna get ahead, but we see a disruption. And I say us because I think this is for new guests as well as team members, leaders. I think there's a disruption today in what God wants to do in our lives. Amen? All right, so John chapter eight, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives early in the morning, he came again to the temple, all the people came to him and he sat down and taught them, the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery. And placing her in the midst, they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery." Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such woman. So what do you say? This they said to test him. Can somebody say it's a trap? Trap. That they might have some charge to bring against him. See, I believe that there's a disruption for us today. I think that this word is not for just one specific person, but for the body. And you're part of wherever you think you are in your life. I want you to keep this mentality of, I'm gonna be vulnerable myself. I'm gonna be vulnerable with the Lord. 'Cause there's no intimacy without intentionality. They said this to test him that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continue to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you "be the first to throw stone at her." And once more, he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with a woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? "Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you." So go and sin no more. See, if I have your permission to be vulnerable and to go there, I believe that there's key terms when the Bible says and she remains standing there, because there's gonna be times and seasons in your life that you go through, have gone through, or going to go through, that God wants to see will they remain standing in the midst of it? Will they remain standing no matter what comes their way? Can they withstand it? When the weight of the world is on their shoulders, when the world is accusing them of their past and what they've done, can they withstand it? You might be sitting here like, man, if they only knew what I did last month, last week, last night, they wouldn't even allow me to sit in this church. Can I submit to you? You are meant to be here this morning. And I'll be the first to share. There are churches that'll tell you, you gotta get cleaned up, you gotta get it together before you come here. But that's not what my Bible teaches me. I don't know that Bible. Because when I look at Matthew 9, Matthew 16, Romans 10, and over and over, Jesus is saying, in the midst of your mess, I am coming for you. In the midst of what you're going through, I am coming for you. And there's a mentality that I just need time to get myself together before I make that move, before I take that step, before I go into action, before I open up to this community of people that wanna go on this journey with me, but Jesus is saying, in the midst of your mess, I am coming for you. Take that in. Could we have this experience or we've gone through some things in our past that we've put this perception that it's me. I just gotta get this together. But God has sent you in the midst, he's coming. In the midst, he's got his arms wide open, but he died for the church. Jesus died for the church. A community that wants to go on this journey with you, to go with, like they have the testimonies of what you're going through right now, but you think that they're on a whole nother level that doesn't abide, I can't be in the company of those guys. Little do you know that their testimony was a divine appointment to speak to you? And your testimony is a divine appointment to speak to someone else. Jesus says, neither do I condemn you. Neither do I condemn you. The problem is that we think God disqualifies us, but God doesn't disqualify you. We disqualify ourselves. We pull back, we go into hiding. We wanna retract from relationship. We reject people before we give 'em the opportunity to reject me, 'cause I know it's just a matter of time. That's all they've done all my life. And so if I could just shut them out, I won't even give 'em the opportunity to be able to shut me out. But in the midst of your mess, he does not condemn you. He does not disqualify you. There's a testimony of a man in Miami. This is a gentleman who serves on our teams. He shows up, he does load in, and in Miami we used to show up at 5.45, 6 a.m. loading. And he would serve services, and then he'd be there for a loadout. And man, you know, one of these wild ones, Pastor X, I don't know if you have any wild ones like that, but I wanna clarify, because what I'm not saying is that in order to be seen, you have to serve from load-in, every service, load-out. That's not what we're saying. There's a discernment of a heart posture that we'll see. But this gentleman, even not being scheduled, will show up, and he's like, "Where can I serve? "Where do you need me, Pastor? "What can I do?" It's just a desire, it's a passion, it's a fire. And one particular Sunday, he was scheduled for load-in, but never showed up. He ended up showing up late, and, you know, he comes to me and he's like, "Pastor, I'm so sorry. "I'm so sorry, my alarm didn't go off, I'm, you know, "just," and I'm like, "Hey, listen. "You gotta listen to your body. "When God speaks to you, you gotta learn "how to implement rhythms of rest. "You gotta learn how to implement boundaries in your life. "You gotta learn how to implement, "like the discipline that it takes." He was like, "Oh, okay." And he went about, you know, the day, and he served, and he was in services. And then after service, he came looking for me, and he was like, "Pastor, I gotta share something with you. "I gotta tell you, 'cause I didn't even wanna walk "in here this morning, because where I come from, "they would've talked down to me. "They would've said that how irresponsible "that other team members had to step up in your place "because of what you've done. "They would've talked, like, in such a manner "that he was like, "It's not even worth me going. "I don't wanna hear that. "I don't wanna," and this is a man that's constantly sharing with Jess and I, like, "Man, I'm just so glad "that I found this, 'cause I've never experienced "community like this. "I've never experienced that worshiping God feels like this." And it's testimonies like that that'll speak into the nature, the foundation of what it actually means to serve God. And last week, we did a three for 10 at every campus where we spoke about the labor of love. When we serve, let me just share this, 'cause what we think is that we're serving the church and we have testimonies like another woman in Miami who came just looking for a place to worship and God received her worship, but he said, "Now I wanna work something in you." In the midst of her serving and saying yes, he pulled out characteristics, leadership qualities that she would be able to then develop. He built in her, blessed her, by her just saying yes to more. It can't just be a feeling, it's a call to action. Now, Jesus sends this woman with a call to action and says, "Does no one condemn you, neither do I. "Now go and sin no more." And I know what some of you can say, like, man, that's easier said than done. I get it, I've done it, I've meant it. I wasn't fake when I repented and I just can't seem to turn away from it. And I know because that was me. I was dead in my sin. Unfortunately, I was exposed to some things that are very young age and, you know, all my life pretty much, I would fall to this thing and I would be wholehearted when finally I got to an age and I was like, Lord, I know this is wrong. I will never do this thing again. I'm sorry. And then three days later, boom. And it wasn't that it was fake. You were sincere when you said it. And I was like, Lord, I don't know. I truly, I repent. I'm so sorry. I don't ever want to fall to that thing again. And a week will go by and you're feeling good. And boom, you fall again. It can't just be a feeling. There's actions and things you have to implement to say, if I'm ready to move to the next level, there are some things that I'm going to have to implement in my life, some accountabilities that if I'm serious about this thing, that I am going to join with a community that's going to take it to that next level. I want to read from Matthew 28, 18 to 20. And Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. How much authority? All authority. And then he says, go therefore, therefore meaning for that reason. So because he was given all authority, he says, now go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe. So it wasn't just go activate them, then move on to the next one. We see a process that has to take place, a teaching and an observing. Observing all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. Now when I was reading through this, here's what I see. I see a transfer of authority from the top down. I don't know if you saw that, but because he was given all authority, he said, now go multiply, multiply what? Multiply his authority as disciples. There's a transfer of authority from the top down. I'll put it this way. Last week, my dad was coming to my house, but he calls me. And he's like, Son, I need you. I prefer if you picked me up. And I knew why, and I'll share it. So I live in a gated community where there's one resident entry gate and one guest entry gate. And the guest one typically is always a long line. And I get it's a fairly new community a few years old. They're still trying to figure it out. But it's always backed up. And if you were given an access code, by the time you actually made it to the call box, the code wouldn't allow you entry. It would call the resident and they had to grant access. And so hopefully they had their phone around them 'cause if not, you're gonna have to go make that line all over and try again. But when he said, "Can you pick me up?" He knows that when he comes with me, they're gonna allow him access through the resident gate. But they're not gonna allow him access through the resident gate because of who he is. They're gonna allow him access because of who I am. Because I carry an authority in this community as a homeowner, that anyone that comes with me will be allowed access because of who I am. They can indulge in the amenities, not because of who they are, but because in this community there's an authority. We carry authority through Christ Jesus. But it's not enough to just know of him. We have to develop an intimacy, a relationship. We have to go in deeper to not just receive the teaching but observe, put it into practice. Anyone who's married when you first met your spouse or if you're in a relationship, the first time you met them, you were always talking to them, texting them. Like you had to know more of them. Like you were getting to know each other. And I might be aging myself, but I don't know if you guys remember, call me after nine. Call me after nine. There was a point in time where you were only allotted depending on what deal you got, a certain amount of minutes and text messages. Incoming and outgoing. After everything was calling me after nine 'cause then it's unlimited minutes. And even then, even then, I would fall asleep on the phone with just, you know, we went through that like, no, you hang out first. No, you hang out first. And fall asleep on the phone, texting all day. And it didn't matter how big your package was. At the end of that billing cycle, whether you owned the phone bill or your parents did, somebody was getting upset. 'Cause you definitely went over. Because you had a passion and a desire to want to get to know the person more. And no one told you that it was gonna take time, energy, you're gonna have to always be talking, like this is how you get to know them. But you had that desire. You can't have intimacy without intentionality. There's a gentleman in Miami that, when he first walked in, he would always come in after a service started, stood in the back and before, dismissal would leave out, very quiet, wouldn't talk, very reserved. And, you know, I spoke to this gentleman and I spoke into his life and I was like, man, God has so much more for you. And, you know, speaking to him, it's like, man, I can feel the leadership off of you. And he's like, it's crazy 'cause for his job, he leads groups of people, like multiple groups, he's like, he leads. And I was like, thank God for that confirmation. But he said yes to whatever God had for him, but he wasn't looking for it. And because he just said yes. You wanna know where this gentleman is today? This guy is like the life of our rallies, the life of the teams when we get together. He's the loudest one. He's leading teams on the dream team. He's in V1 college. Like, this is that guy that you would have never have assumed. But God said, I have something for you. And he just said yes to that process. Charles Spurgeon said, if Christ be anything, he must be everything. O rest not till love and faith in Jesus be the master passion of your soul. Can I submit to you that you didn't lose your passion? You left it. Sometimes in relationships when they don't go the way we think they are, it's like, man, they just lost their passion. Or when you were younger, you had a passion for something and it's like, nah, you know, I lost that passion. Or you traded that passion for a different passion 'cause you didn't like where you were living at that time and was like, I gotta switch it up. I gotta do something. Can I submit that you didn't lose your passion? You left it. 'Cause passion is a decision. It's not a sensation. Passion is a decision, not a sensation. Let me tell you something. When you see Nick on bass or Amy who's belting it out, they don't do that because people are watching. They don't do that because it's a profession. They do it because they had a passion in the gifting that God gave them that they practice and said, Lord, if this is from you, I'm gonna master this passion. Because passion pushes us to more, to action, to make that decision. So when Jess was warring for our souls, I thought I was good because I didn't feel warfare, you know? I was checking off the boxes. I wasn't a bad person and I was like, I'm good. What I didn't realize is the reason I was good is because I was sitting in the enemy's camp. He had me already because I was being transactional with church. I showed up, I'm doing the right thing. I'm doing the church thing. I'm showing up, I'm checking off boxes. He doesn't care if you're transactional, but when you become transformational, when you say I'm not just gonna show up, I'm actually going to move into action and what God has for me. Let's see where this thing goes. I don't know, I might be afraid, I can't see, but when I say Lord, whatever you wanna do in me, I will no longer be transactional but transformational. That's when you now start to see the warfare because now he's trying to fight for you and if you're not on a head on collision with the devil, it's 'cause you're going in the same direction. And I don't say that to scare you. I say that because I believe that at every location watching online, there are people that think they're fine because they're checking the boxes, they got good morals, but can I submit that God has so much more for you? God has a desire to see you thrive and I don't know what you walked in here with. I don't know what's that thing that you continue to fall through, fall too, even though it's like, man, I'm just tired of doing the same old routine. I am here to tell you that there is so much more for your life, so much more than the mess that you're in. Then, y'all ready for this one? 'Cause then you'll see Christians that are stuck in the desert satisfied with manna and praise God that he provided in a moment of need, but it wasn't for us to stay stuck there. He sends us to take the promised land. He sends us to take territory. And I don't know what campus you're watching from, what country you're watching from, what city, what state. We are meant to take territory. There are amazing churches all over the globe, but they are not enough compared to the souls that are lost in this world. I have family members that are even Christians and they'll say, man, this world is so corrupt, it's evil. We are meant to take territory, but we think this is it, this must be my life, my everyday, all right, and we're satisfied with that. You know, there's a V1 college lesson. And shout out to all the V1 college in Rolese that are here this season. (audience applauding) That says, you can't be spiritually fat, meaning, you can't just intake those calories without burning them off. You can't just receive, receive these sermons, go to concerts, go to, you know, all these conferences, receive, receive, and not step into action to burn what you're learning. You gotta burn what you're learning. And that's what I love about V1 college because they're not just gonna give you lessons. They're gonna put you into action to burn and put into everything that you're learning, you're gonna live that out. And that's why Breakers Conference, I'm so excited 'cause it's not even a conference for us to just all get together and receive. We are coming together collectively to go into action to run the heavens so that the gates of heaven can open and pour out in that place. We're meant to burn what we learned, to go into action. There's no transformation without application. You gotta be able to apply it. Oh, that was a good word. And then you go home. Monday hasn't even come yet. Sunday evening, you're already back at it again. There is no transformation without application. And obedience is key because there's so many that's like, Lord, I just, I need you to show me the path. I need you to give me a word. I need you to tell me what to do next. And so we start implementing more fasting, more praying. I need to hear, but we didn't even abide by the first word he gave us 'cause we ignored it because it wasn't what we wanted to hear. It didn't sound like, no, that can't be of God. That can't be the route he wants me to take. But we need a new word. Lord, give me a fresh word. Abide by that first word I gave you. Let's see what happens next. You can't jump to step two without abiding step one first. Try and build an Ikea shelf with skipping a few steps and see what happens. I was free, that wasn't even in my notes. But you might feel like you're here and you're in a wilderness season, desert season. And a lot of times when we feel like life is barren, we don't hear from God and things are just not going our way. Christians will say, I'm in the desert season or a dry season. When you read your Bible, and I won't go there, but if you read your Bible, God speaks in the desert. Abraham, Moses, the Israelites, Isaiah, onto Jesus. God speaks in the desert. In fact, the Hebrew word for desert is mid-bar, which in the original language also translates to the place of the word. If you feel like, man, I'm so far from God, I don't hear him, nothing's going my way. I don't know what it is, I don't know what I'm doing wrong. He is speaking to you, but are you hearing him? He is speaking to you and giving you direction. And it might be the original word, but are you choosing to ignore that word? There's another gentleman who walked in through the doors in Miami and he walked in by himself, very reserved. And I started speaking to this gentleman and very reserved, was holding back. And I was like, amen, all right. But then he came again with his spouse, with his wife, and he came a third time when his kids, I'm like, all right, something's happening. Lord, speak into him. And he calls like, oh, I need to speak with you in the service, that third time with his family. And I'm like, amen, let's talk, what's up? And he's like, I need to share with you that we as a family have been on such a journey. And we've gone through so much in our lives. And we were just seeking God, where is God? Where is God in Miami? Where is God in Long Island? Where is God in Indiana, New Jersey? Like wherever you're watching from, country, state, like your region, where is God? And so he says, we've visited like every big name church you can think of, we've visited many small churches and we've just been searching and searching and we're tired. And that's why you didn't even see in my family the first time, 'cause they're tired of visiting churches and they were like, you go. You just let us know what you see over there, what you feel over there. And they were all there to tell me like, man, we truly feel that God is in this place. And we've been interceding for this and he's going to take us into the next level and we just wanna share that. We have decided to make V1 church our home and I was like, praise God. These are the kinds of testimonies, the life-changing testimonies that God is using in the midst of people who are hurt, broken, searching and even not searching. There's no boundaries or limits, don't put a lid on God. Because God moved a certain way, way back when we think that's the only way he can move, remove the limitations and boundaries of what God can do, he can do anything. We're the ones that put limitations on God. When that woman was brought to that moment of disruption she could have never have imagined that Jesus was gonna send her off with a call to action. When just was warring for our souls and I thought I was good, I don't want no part of that. I had no idea that when I was going in deeper God was calling me into the local church and I would be here today sharing this message with you. There's cause of action in our life that God calls us to. I honestly believe that not just here, in this room but at every location, watching online, there are people that are saying, "Man, if I shouldn't even be in church right now, I don't even know why I'm here." But God is calling you to take a step of faith into action. Our problem is that we wanna see the whole journey to judge for ourselves and he says, "I'm illuminating one step." And the moment you actually take that step, I'll illuminate the next one. But we're not satisfied with that. Are we willing to say yes to God, whatever you wanna do? In the midst of my mess, you are there. When I had felt the furthest, you were there. In the midst of everything I would fall to. We can decide to give all the excuses of why we think it won't work, why we think it's impossible, or say yes to God to say, "I will use you to save thousands of souls." If you're the lost, you can give the excuse of, "I'm just not ready yet. Let me try and work on me first." And if you were to just say yes to the church that Jesus died for, of a community that's going to walk this thing out with you, you'll watch God move in your life in a way that you would have never imagined. When you look next year, you're gonna be at a place where you never would have imagined you could have been from today. 'Cause God promotes. God takes us from glory to glory. It's not self-promotion. But when we allow God to move, when you remove the limitations, you'll see his hand at work. "Church, you can stand up to your feet." Matthew 16, 24 says, "Then Jesus told his disciples if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself." "Deny himself." I don't know personally what each and every single one of you are going through, have gone through, the pains, the hurts. People just don't get, "I am the way I am because of what happened to me." God is calling us to more. He's not waiting for you to get it all together. In the midst of your mess, today come running, his hands are open. He doesn't see you broken. He doesn't see your addiction. He doesn't see that thing that you continue to fall to, that you know is not good. He doesn't see any of that. In the midst of your mess, God is calling you to more. Just the first step, yes, you're scared. You don't know what it looks like. You don't know what's gonna happen after, but if you take that first step that he's illuminating, he'll like the second step. If you just say, "Yes, Lord, wherever this takes me, I will abide by your word. I know I'm not enough, but you are enough." And I have a question for each and every single person at every location watching online. If you're tired of trying to do it on your own, if you're tired of falling back into the same mess, that you keep telling yourself, "I'm done," and you don't know why you keep falling right back into it. If you are done with the anxiety and the depression that's controlling your life, if you are ready to experience the fullness of what God has, not partial, not a feeling that you experienced years ago, but the fullness, the fullness of God in its entirety. If you've given church a chance and it failed you, I'm not asking, I'm telling you to give God, give Christ a chance. He is in this place and he is with you. I ask to be vulnerable and I'm reminding you that I asked you to be vulnerable today, with yourself and with God. If you're done with the old messes and you want to allow that God moves in your life, if you're ready to say, "I'm not enough," I believe that some of you came here because of the invitation, but God ordained you to be here 'cause he's about to take you into a whole nother level of your life. He's about to transform you and remove that mindset of being transactional and all things, but allowing God to make you transformational, that your life is gonna be such a light that those around you will not recognize you. They're gonna see you smiling in moments where they're like, you have nothing to smile about. But God, but God, but God, you don't know about that one Sunday. You don't know when God spoke to me and I just said yes to him. That's all it took. All of a sudden my life was turned around because I stopped trying to do me and I said, "God, I will allow that you move in my life." He's a gentleman, he's not just gonna, he's gonna wait for you to invite him in. He won't barge in, but he's standing next to you right now. Will we allow Christ to move in our lives? I don't know where each of you are in your spiritual walk. But I want you to be vulnerable and I want you to be bold. If you want to receive Christ, if you want your life to turn around, I'm gonna ask that you raise your hands. This is a moment of boldness and vulnerability. If you are ready to receive Christ today, raise your hands in boldness. I see them all one, another, another. Make the decision to say, "God, I am done with myself. "I am ready for you to move in my life. "God doesn't see your mess. "He doesn't see your addiction. "He doesn't see that toxic relationship "that you keep running to. "He doesn't see those things." In the midst, he's ready. 'Cause intimacy takes intentionality. And here's what I want you to do at every location online. I want you to write the word saved in the comments. Let them know that you are ready to take this step. And so if lift your hands one more time, step out in boldness. Amen, amen, amen. Church. Roman says if we confess with our mouth and believe in our hearts. And I want you to borrow these words. And church, I need your help. I want you to say this with them. And so if you can, raise your hands again, y'all. Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins and surrender my life. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That he died on the cross and rose on the third day. I believe in my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus is my Savior and Lord. Amen. Church, can we just celebrate this morning? Can we just celebrate this morning? 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