- Welcome to the audio podcast of The Father's House. We hope and pray you are both challenged and encouraged by this time in the word. - All right, let's go. Come on, God is good. Hey, stay on your feet. Can we welcome all the locations today? Every campus, the stream, all of our prison church network today. So glad to be with you. Couple of special shout outs. I just want you to show some love to pastor Andrew and Brittany in Calgary, Canada. Come on, Calgary TFH. And then this is the first day and we just opened our 14th live prison church network campus. Would you give it up for the prison in San Diego right here, come on. Love you. All right, pull up a chair. Are you hungry for the word today? I trust that you are. Thank you, band. We'll have you back up in a moment. We have been in a series called The Different Kingdom, Christ Followers in a Babylonian culture. An alternate title, Christians in California. All right, that's what we're talking about in this series. Because as we've looked at this, we found that the tide of culture is against us. And not that you're against anybody, it's simply this, that if you're standing upon the word of God as the absolutes for biblical morality, if you're trusting Jesus as your savior, then the spirit of the world is coming against you. Jesus said that he was not of this world and neither are you. He said that this world, the cosmos, the values, the systems of this planet hated him. And then he said, don't be surprised when they hate you. And you'd be thinking, well, Dave, I'm a nice guy. I'm a sweet lady. I love people. I smile at them all. I don't kick my dog. I love everybody. Why don't people love me? Well, let me tell you, it's not you. It's the spirit of Christ within you. See, John in his writings, he said this, that the spirit of Antichrist, plural, is already loosed upon the earth. And so the spirit of Antichrist is very aggressive to go after and annihilate, if possible, all those that have the spirit of Christ within them. So by nature of the spirit that you're carrying within you, there is a tide coming against you. And so we are learning how to live, especially in the time on the planet in the history of the earth that you're alive. Right now in American culture, which by the way, America, the studies have been done. We are officially a post-Christian nation, which means the majority of people growing up in our country right now will have no reference to the Bible. The parents will not take the kids to church, the greater portion of our nation, and it will be a memory, simply a memory of when we were a Christian nation. Now that is not to depress you and I'm a glass half full or more than half full kind of preacher. I'm just breaking out the facts right now that you've stepped into a culture now that has a Babylonian spirit. So we must learn how to live as lights in a dark place. Jesus looked at his disciples. He said, you are a city on a hill that cannot be hidden. You are the light of the world. And so we're gonna learn how to live like that. You know, the Babylonian culture, as we study the origin of the name, it comes from Genesis chapter 11, a city called Babel. And it's a three-fold meaning to Babel and Babylonia. And it's this, it's defiance against God, it's the exaltation of man, and it's the place of utter confusion. So defiance against God, kind of angry atheist, right? And then the exaltation of man, which has been humanism, secular humanism for quite some time now, and then the place of utter confusion. We'll jump right into the word here in James 3, look at this. Wherever there is contention and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder, confusion, and evil of every kind. Perhaps you might agree with me today that the current condition of our nation could be accurately described, as there's a lot of contention going on. Just look at the war in Israel in the Middle East right now and the contention around this political season and so many areas of contention. And we're marinating in it in so many ways. And you've grown up in an era of self-exaltation, like never before. My brand and my followers and my dream and my truth. It's the gospel of me, me, me in the culture. And there is disorder and confusion. And so God has called us to live differently, lean in. You're called to think different. You're called to speak different. You're called to vote different, love different, give different, do everything different. Why? 'Cause you're not from around here. You are from a heavenly kingdom. Help me preach. Come on at this last service today. (congregation applauding) I wanna read together our key verse for this series. It'll come on the screen, lift up your voice, read with some passion, here we go. But we are citizens of heaven where the Lord Jesus Christ lives and we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our savior. This is who we are. This is how we live. If you missed last week, Pastor Hilary did an amazing job. Could we just show her some love? (congregation applauding) And I wanna review one verse that she broke down. And it's around this idea that you need some even if faith. Even if faith in the middle of an only if culture. And here was the key verse from last week. Daniel 3, 17 and 18, this is the three Hebrew children, our heroes talking to the king. If we're thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, O king. But even if, could we say that together? But even if he doesn't, we wanna make it clear to you that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up. This is that even if God is able, but no matter what, we're not gonna bow to the idols. We're not gonna bow to culture. We're gonna live for one king. You see, cultural Christianity is more based on only if. And we've seen a lot of people come in and out of the house and if God answers my prayer, I'll keep serving him. If God gives me the man or the wife of my dreams, then I'll keep coming. If he fixes only if, if he heals me, and those kind of commitments, they fade away. God is looking for men and women that have ran into the Lord himself. They've made Jesus Christ the Lord of their life and they recognize he died on a cross, redeemed my life from hell. I'm gonna serve him the rest of my days, no matter what. And even if, is anybody with me today? (congregation applauds) So I gotta ask this question as we unpack today's content. How did these three Hebrew children come to this determination? I would submit that it wasn't in the heat of the moment. Let's think about it in a review of last week's message. There was a hundred foot tall idol in the image of King Nebuchadnezzar being erected on the outskirts of the city. And there would be a day where the entire kingdom was called out. They would have the band playing, refreshments being served, and everybody's gonna bow down at high noon and worship the statue of King Neb. Now, I don't think the three Hebrew children got a text around 10 a.m. And they said, "Hey, today there's something going on at noon. "They're calling us out to the prairie." No, this monument, this egotistical, narcissistic statue to his own honor had been being built for months and months, 110 stories, gold idol to be bowed to. Everybody knew it, there was a buzz in town. And I could see the three Hebrew children shadwrack me shadkin' to Bendigo havin' a huddle. And like, okay, guys, let's huddle up. Today's the big day. Hey, hey, shad, are you gonna bow? Are you kidding me? Not only bowdy, y'all wait, good answer. How 'bout you, Miesh? Ah, snowballs, chance, man. Good answer, all right. Our God reigns on three, ready? Oh, God, yeah. And they go out to the field and they don't bow. You know why? They made a determination before the dilemma. I wanna talk to you today about in the Babylonian culture of America and of California, there's some determinations you need to make in your life before you hit the dilemma. And here's the thesis that'll come up on the screen. When you make a determination before the dilemma, God shows up as your defender. Let me read it again. When you make a determination before the dilemma, God shows up as your defender. So we're gonna fast forward and Daniel finds himself in another dilemma. And King Nebuchadnezzar, who exalted himself, there's a principle in the word. When you exalt self, you're gonna be brought low. But when you humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, he will exalt you in due season. So King Nebuchadnezzar, he has this nightmare and it's a dream and he can't interpret it. He brings the astrologers and the fortune tellers in, none of them can interpret his dream. So he brings Daniel in and Daniel prophesies and he says, "Oh King, you will wander in the wilderness like a madman. "Your hair will grow out like a beast. "Your fingernails will grow long like an eagle." And he goes and saying he loses his mind. Well, during that time, another king takes the throne and that would be King Belshazzar. Another arrogant, had everybody worship him kind of king. He's the top of the food chain. There's a theme throughout the book of Daniel. And one day Belshazzar and his top boys, they're all partying in the palace. And they bring these sacred cups and glasses out and they're pouring the best of the wine, they're getting hammered, they're just having a party. And in the middle of the party, the hand of God begins to write up on the wall. God's hand shows up in the palace. Be like a big hand writing on this huge wall over here. And the king goes pale, he freezes up. There's panic, there's terror that strikes his heart. And the words that were written were, "Manneh, manneh, etekel, parsen." Which means, and no one couldn't interpret it none of his boys said they'd bring Daniel in. He says, "Oh, this says you have been weighed "in the balances and found wanting." Well, that king dies that night. And a third king rises up, King Darius. Now, King Darius was again self-serving, arrogant, egotistical, all the earmarks of a Babylonian king. But Daniel finds great favor with him. And so, he grows close to Daniel. He makes a place for him in the palace. But the other leaders, the politicians, the officials, they get jealous of Daniel. And so, that's where we're gonna pick it up. Daniel chapter six, here's our story, our text today. Then I'll give you some application points. Daniel six, let's read. Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs. But they couldn't find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy. So they concluded, our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the rules of his religion. So the administrators and high officers went to the king and said, "Long live, King Darius." We're all in agreement. We administrators, officials, high officers, advisors, governors, that the king should make a law that will be strictly enforced. Give orders that for the next 30 days, any person who prays to anyone divine or human, except to you, your majesty, will be thrown into a den of lions. And now your majesty. Issue and sign this law so it cannot be changed. An official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked. So King Darius signed the law. His very self-serving law and his pride and ego got the best of him in this moment. But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and looked at this. He knelt down as usual in his upstairs room with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day just as he had always done, giving thanks to God. Then the officials went together to Daniel's house and found him praying and asking for God's help. So they went straight to the king and reminded him about this law. Did you not sign a law that for the next 30 days, any person who prays to anyone divine or human, except to you, your majesty, will be thrown into a den of lions. Yes, the king replied, the decision stands. It's an official law of Medes and Persians. It cannot be revoked. Then they told the king, the man Daniel, one of the captives from Judah, he's ignoring you and your law. He still prays to his God three times a day. Hearing this, the king was deeply troubled. And he tried to think of a way to save Daniel. He spent the rest of the day looking for a way to get Daniel out of this predicament, out of this dilemma. In the evening, the men went together to the king and said, your majesty, you know that according to the law of Medes and Persians, no law that the king signs can be changed. So at last, the king gave orders for Daniel to be arrested and thrown into a den of lions. Check this out, the king said to him, the last words he thought he may ever speak to Daniel. May your God whom you serve so faithfully, rescue you. Daniel finds himself in the middle of a dilemma. Keep praying, face a death sentence, or renounce your faith, quit praying, and you get to live. All Daniel would have had to do in this moment, say, you know what, I think I'm gonna give up that prayer life thing, okay? Guys, I'm gonna quit going to the prayer meeting. And then he could have repented later on, said, Lord, I was under stress, and it was a tight spot, and please forgive me. But you know what he did? He made a determination before the dilemma. He already made a determination as was his custom to get on his knees, to open up the windows toward Jerusalem and to pray to Yahweh three times a day. So when the dilemma came, he didn't have to decide in that moment what he was gonna do. Let me tell you, if you wait to the heat of the moment to figure out what your moral bearings are, if you wait to the heat of the moment to make a decision, and you've got flesh and spirit and options and confusion, you can make some really dumb decisions in your life. But if you will pre-determined what you're gonna do in the middle of the storm, how you're gonna respond, and today I wanna give you a couple of these that you can add to your spiritual repertoire, and I believe they're gonna gonna serve you well. But let me just say this, that in the history of our nation, in my lifetime and on my watch, and as you study the history of America, we've never had the challenge of our faith costing us our lives. As you study church history and world history, the voice of the martyrs cries out in every generation. Whether it be the first century under the rule of King Nero, there was a decree made in AD 64 that anyone who worshiped the living God could be arrested and executed. And there was torture, and there was death, and Christians worshiped in the catacombs under the streets of Rome. But fast forward to the 19th century, all these thousands of years later. And here's what you find. You find in 1948, there was a mandate made in North Korea that if you worshiped God or read the Bible, you would be arrested, they practiced torture, they went to labor camps for standing for their faith. And then there's the Chinese underground church for the last 75 years. The Communist Party of China declared that no religion stands in China, except for the government endorsed religion. So if you have a Bible, if you worship Jesus, you can be in prison. Now, it's hard for us to wrap our minds around that in America. And I don't know what's coming in the future, but here's what I know by the word of God. There is coming a separation in the future from the casual observers, from the spectator Christians and people of true faith. It's all through the word. There will be the light getting brighter and the darkness getting darker. There will be those that say, "I'm gonna stand for Jesus no matter what," and those who will deny their faith. As Jesus said in his prophecy in Matthew chapter 24, "The love of many will grow cold." I'm challenging you today and calling you up to make some decisions before you get in the dilemma of what am I gonna do about my faith? This is how we live in these days. Now, as we're talking about God being your defender, God being your deliverer, it's juxtaposed against the martyrs that gave their life over the years and centuries, and you're like, "Well, where is God for them?" And this is a grasp, it's a reach. Our finite minds cannot wrap the thought into our understanding of how God could allow people who love him to let their life be taken at a young age. But think about it, John the Baptist was beheaded at 30. Jesus crucified at 33. Almost every one of the apostles, except for John, died at a relatively young age. And here's what God understands. It's more valuable. A life lived for him that's cut short by years. It's much more precious than living with longevity, with compromise, and unnoticed by the world, okay? And there's something that will be handed out. We don't understand the scope of it, but just lean in. In the book of Revelation, it talks about the crown of life or the martyr's crown given to those who've laid down their life. And so whether God delivers you by boom, I pulled you out of the fire, I didn't let the lions eat you, I brought the healing to the stage four, I saved the marriage, or if you face trauma, trial, and death in this life, here's what you need to know. As long as I'm fully surrendered to the king with what if faith, either way you win, either way you win. So let me give you three areas about making some determinations, okay? And you know, I'm not talking about Taylor Swift as far as idolatry, but maybe she fits into there because here's the first one. Determine you will stand not bow to the idols of culture. And yeah, culture's always worshiped pop stars and rock stars, and there's been various people that have fit the image of an idol, but I wanna talk to you about something else, and here's what it is. I wanna remind you of a fact we covered in the first week, and here's what the fact is. The Babylonian spirit re-educates the followers of God and teaches them a new language. Remember, they gave them a new name or identity, they taught them a new language, they changed their diet or their intake, and then they changed the object of their worship. So the Babylonian strategy remains the same. Now, in the study of etymology, etymology is the study or history of a word, and then how that word is changed and reshaped for culture as time rolls on. And I wanna submit to you that there's been some words that their meaning has changed radically, even in the last five years, especially in the last decade. And there's some idols now that are being named in our culture, and I'll just go through a list and then give one as an example. Because you would probably say, "Well, Dave, I love Jesus, man, "I'm a Bible reader, church goer, worship God, hands in the air, "God is able, more than able, woo, "God, all the songs, marepa, tawak, love and life, let's go." (congregation laughing) And if there was to be a hundred foot gold idol statue out here on the 505, you know, like big horns and a split tail and a pitchfork, you're like, "No, not bound down, I'm not bound with the boys on this, "not bounding down." But the idols in your culture are much more subtle, and they come with new names and branding, and I want you to wake up and understand, let me give you just a few, the etymology has changed. Words like tolerance, affirming, affirming churches, non-affirming churches, gender affirming care, women's reproductive rights, inclusion, and on and on they go. Now, the etymology of those words has changed radically, and your opinions on all those issues, they're your opinions, they're up to you. But here's what I would submit. Anytime an ideology or a belief system exalts itself against the word of God, and then presses on you for your allegiance, you're dealing with an idol, my friend, and you have to decide, will I bow to the idol of culture or am I clear on what the word of God says? See, the word says my people perish for a lack of knowledge, a lack of knowledge of the word. If you're being informed by culture as to your value system, you're already going downstream, right? But here's the good news. You can say, "God, show me in your word. "I wanna know you, I wanna know what the word of God says "about every issue so that I can stand." And Daniel chapter 10-32 says, "Those who know their God will be strong, "and they will resist the plan of the enemy." Do you know God today? That's not just a prayer, not just a church attendance. You know him through relationship. You know him through the word. You know him by understanding his character as revealed in scriptures. Now, let me just point out one of these, I went through a short list, but the idol of tolerance and affirmation. In my position, I've had people come and pressure brought to bear, "David, is there tolerance to the Father's house?" I'm like, "Yeah, I think so." But the name has changed. The meaning of tolerance has changed. And they ask, "Are you an affirming church?" I'm like, "Yeah, I affirm people all the time. "I affirm that you're a man of God. "I affirm that you're a woman of faith. "I affirm that God has a plan for you. "I wanna affirm your value and love and gifted, "but that's not what the word means anymore." But here's what I found about those pushing the agenda of tolerance. Through a lot of conversations at my desk in different places, here's what I found. They can be the most intolerant people I've ever sat down with. Here's what I mean. They're pushing tolerance, but they are completely intolerant of my biblical worldview. They're wanting me to bow down to the idol of tolerance and inclusion. At the same time, they're completely intolerant of me preaching and teaching what scriptures clearly say about sex and sexuality, right? Listen, and I'm not mean, and I love people. I love everybody. But when it's clear what the Bible says, "I ain't gonna bow, I don't want you to bow." Let me just wrap this up a little bit on this point. We love everybody in this house at all of our locations. Every prison watching me right now, no matter what you've done, no matter your past, no matter your sexual practices or preferences, you are loved and welcome and affirmed. Here's why. Let me give you a news brief. You're all broken people. We're all broken. We're all morally broken. We're broken by sin. We're born in sin, shaped in iniquity. We're all sexually broken in some way, whether that's heterosexual, bisexual, don't know which sexual, whatever, right? We're all just broken. And so we come to Jesus because we need a savior. And he saves us by his grace. He lifts us up out of a pit, sets our feet on a rock. And then you know what he does? He heals our life. He heals that generational curse. He heals that brokenness. And you become more and more into the image of Jesus. But here's what I'm saying. You gotta make some determinations right now. Who will I bow to? And when culture says you gotta bow down, you better know who you are. You better know what the word of God says. And bow to no idols. I serve Jesus alone. And his word is the embodiment of who he is. The word became flesh and dwelt among us. And the word is Christ himself. Come on, get the word in you. Let's go. Number two, determine you will honor God with the first and the best. This was a determination made by Daniel and every Hebrew follower and worshiper of Yahweh. Old and New Testament. And this idea that God deserves the first and the best, it's not just financial, although it is included. But the first and the best means your time, your talent, your treasure, your gifting, your passion. You reach your point in your life where you realize it all belongs to him. Now let's talk about how God is going to cover you in the future as you determine to give the first and the best. Right now, if you're paying attention at all, there's a lot of speculation, even unrest, regarding the financial horizons of America post-election. And there's different things out there and it can cause nervousness and fear. Leaning, here's what I want to encourage you. Do not let fear and panic seize you no matter what happens in the future. Remember the financial collapse of 2008. A lot of people lost a lot of money, billions of dollars, a lot of homes were lost, a lot of people lost their mind, but a lot of Christians defaulted to fear and panic and scrambling to survive. If you've got a few years on, you like myself, you remember what was called Black Monday back in 1987 when the stock market fell quicker than it ever had since the Great Depression. And those things can seize the hearts of men. But if you allow panic and fear to dictate your response to financial hardship, you do some crazy stuff. You just run out on a Wednesday and buy up all the toilet paper. (audience laughs) Gotcha. So what am I saying? I'm saying make a determination. Let me tell you a personal story. You know, my wife and I, we got married and we determined from that first day that we were gonna give God the first and the best. I'd already been a tither and for the last 42 years, and I'm talking about through a bankruptcy, through unemployment, through financial hard times. We've been through some seasons. As Paul said, I know what it means to be a great lack and I know what it means to have plenty, but God has been faithful. Now, for 42 years, we've continued to say God, the first and the best always belongs to you. And let me tell you, like David said, I was young and now I'm old and I've never seen the righteous forsaken or their seed out begging bread. Here's the thing I'm trying to eat you to get right now. Don't trust the economy and the stock market for your financial security in the future. Who are you trusting? Make a determination that I'm gonna trust God because you have sure promises in his word. He says, I'll rebuke the devourer for your sake. I'll open up the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing upon you. I will cause men to give unto you. I will give seed to the sower. All these irrevocable promises. So I'm gonna make a determination. I'm not trusting the stock market. Let me just tell you how personal that is. I have quite a bit of my future retirement invested in the market. So yeah, there's a little fear and trepidation. So if you wanna know how I'm praying for the stock market and the election and all that, I'm praying God, up and to the right, please. Up and to the right. Let the stock market go over to the right. Yeah, it's self-serving, but I'm praying that for you as well. But here's the back half of my prayer. Either way, either way. I'm not the one defending my financial future. There is a God in heaven, knows the hairs of my head, knows my needs before I ask. And he said, "Dave, I got you covered." Listen, I'd rather trust God in his promises than America's economy for the coming year and the coming decades. Is anybody with me? Make a determination. Final one today, and it's this. Determine that you're gonna pray until. It's one thing to pray. It's one thing to pray. Convenient prayers. One thing to pray, 911 prayers. And by the way, if you're in the middle of a crisis, let me give you a tip. The best thing you can do is cry out on the name of the Lord. If you're lost, found, broken, haven't been coming to church, man, when it all comes down, just lift your face to heaven and go, "Jesus, that's a great place to start." But the kind of prayer I'm talking about is the determination that you're gonna pray until the breakthrough comes. Now we're gonna read a verse out of Daniel 10 in just a moment, and here's what you need to know about Daniel. Every day on his knees, windows open, crying out to God, and he went on a fast for the deliverance of his people. Now in hindsight, we know that he fasted for 21 days. It's become kind of famous among church people, the 21 day Daniel fast. But do you know, Daniel didn't know how long he would be fasting. He was just gonna fast until. And on day 21, he has a visitation from God. Now there's speculation by theologians, but the description of this visitation is the exact description of Jesus in the book of Revelation. So it appears that Jesus showed up in the palace and revealed himself to Daniel on the 21st day of a fast and a prayer season. But here's the verse I want you to see. Look at this, Daniel 10, 12. Then he said that's the angel of the Lord, the pre-incarnate Christ. Don't be afraid, Daniel, since the first day you began to pray. Can you read the bowl with me? Since the first day you began to pray. What happened? You humble yourself before God. Your request has been heard in heaven, and I have come in answer to your prayer. Then he goes on to describe resistance in the heavenlies. Let me give you some homework. Study through Daniel chapter 10. Go on Bible gateway or blue letter Bible, get some commentaries or some theological conundrums to wrestle with, but here's what you're gonna see. With persistent prayer, there's resistance, but after you persist, there's breakthrough. See, you just can't kind of prayer, kind of like a slot machine. Come on, Jesus, give me sevens, you know, and then walk away. Jesus said men should always pray and never give up. Pray and keep praying. Ask and keep asking. Knock and keep knocking and the door will be open for you. This is the nature of prayer. So Daniel, his heart was to pray until. Let me just lean in. If you're praying for an unsaved love one, a spouse is far from God, pray until. If you're praying for sons and daughters that have walked away from the faith, don't stop. Pray they will come home, pray they get up out of that pig pen of sin, and they'll walk back down that road and find their place in the father's house. And said it is table, don't ever stop praying. Why? Because there's resistance in the heavenlies that would challenge your prayer life and lean in. For those who are gonna stand in the future, for those who are gonna stand in the culture that is shifting and God only knows what's coming on America, but it's not gonna look like Mayberry from the 1950s. I think we all know we've passed some demarcations and we're not going back. The people that are gonna stand strong will be people of prayer. It's one thing to come up and get prayer at the altar. We're gonna do that in about two minutes, but it's another thing for you to develop a prayer life where you're with God and you're before God. You're not gonna back off. You know him by name, he knows you by name. Now when I hit my knees, I got a special spot in my office with a special knee cushion and a little stand for my coffee 'cause coffee's in the book of Habakkuk somewhere. And when I hit my knees to pray, you know what I wanna hear heaven say? Hey, there's Dave again. Yeah, right where we found him yesterday. See, the familiarity of being in the place of prayer, the well-worn path to the presence of God is the place to break through. I want you to find that. In fact, we're putting together a special day for y'all. All right, bring this up on the screen. Right here. (audience applauding) October 19th, intercession one day, my buddy John Bevere, Alex and Henry Seeley from belonging code gonna be a powerful day, but here's the goal. We want your prayer life to increase. You gotta come to this day, click the QR code, do whatever you gotta do, show up for this day. It will change and transform your life. And by the way, if the word intercession seems a little above your spiritual pay grade, you know what intercession means? Pray for somebody who can't pray for themselves. Standing between the much needed grace of God and the needs of broken humanity, when you stand in that place, you are the intercessor. We all have someone like that in our life. So I wanna ask you to come and learn how to pray at a higher level, pray like never before. And then the final thing, I'll wrap this up. The band can come out. So Daniel's been thrown into a pit. Historians believe it wasn't a cave. It was a hole in the ground with hungry lions that had not been fed. There was a stone, a lid put over the hole and then the king's seal was placed upon it. That night, King Darius has some nightmares. And he's panicked, teary, just freaking out. He doesn't want his friend Daniel to die, but he knows slim odds. So he wakes up the next morning and he comes to see Daniel and he says, "Daniel, did your God save you?" Yelling over the top of the pit. Maybe for a moment, he doesn't hear anything. Daniel, did your God save you? And then Daniel shouts back, verse 22, "Long live the king." My God's in his angel to shut the lion's mouth so they would not hurt me. And not a scratch was found on him, but he entrusted in his God. Come on, the defender showed up, the deliverer showed up, conjecture. But I believe when they rolled back the stone, here's Daniel with his head leaning back on a big lion pillow. He's like, "Hey, King, peace, all is well." God is the defender. This is his nature. You gotta make a determination before the dilemma so that you can see him step in with delivering power. Give you one more verse, Deuteronomy 32. The Lord is your mighty defender. Your political party is not your defender. Your bank accounts not your defender. Your stock investments are not your defender. Your wit and talent and good looks and swag and whatever else you got in the bag. Not your defender. The Lord is my strength. The Lord is my shield. The Lord is my rock. The Lord is the one who fights my battles. How many want to live in that place, in that position? He's perfect and just in all his ways. Your God is faithful and your God is true. So when I ask you today, are you living in that space? Have you made some determinations? As for me in my house, we'll serve the Lord. As for me in my house, we will not bow to the idols of culture. As for me in my house, we'll give them the first and the best. And as for me in my house, we'll pray and we will never give up. Amen? We're gonna release the other locations to go into a ministry time. In this room, would you bow your head? Let's honor the Holy Spirit and help me out with no movement during these precious moments, 'cause God is here. Holy Spirit is here. And I'm gonna ask some people if they're ready to make a decision that will change not only their life, but their eternity. Heads bowed, believers praying. If you're in the room today and you say, "You know what, Pastor Dave?" I need to make a determination that I'm gonna serve Jesus. Right now I'm away from God. I know I got sinned in my life, got distanced in my relationship. Maybe you used to walk with God, you walked away. But today you're saying, "I'm coming home." And on that Sunday in October, 2024, I made a determination that Jesus, I'm gonna love and serve you for the rest of my days. If that's you, Romans 10, 9, and 10 says, "If you believe that in your heart and then you confess Him with your mouth, the salvation occurs." And so I'm gonna ask you to do something in a way of response and then we'll all pray together. But if God is speaking to your heart, would you just look up at me and wave at me and say, "Today, Pastor Dave is my day. I'm coming home right here. God bless you, hon." If that's you, just wave at me. Don't be shy. All over the room here and here. Thanks for waving over here. Looking up up here, way up high. Thank you, across the top. Lord sees you where you're at. If you're sitting up high, just wave a little bit over here behind the wall. God bless you guys. If you're in one of the, right here, if you're in one of the side rooms or still on the stream with us, you can respond as well. This is between you and Jesus. I'm simply agreeing with this powerful moment where he's saying, "Lord, I need you. I'm coming home." In just a minute, we'll all stand to our feet and there'll be people all across the front of this room that are gonna pray for everyone who needs prayer. If you need healing, if your marriage is in a mess, if you need something in finances, we're gonna lay hands on you. And then if you are making that decision today, let us know and we're gonna help you get started in this journey of faith. We're gonna have some of that walks with you and help get you what you need. But right now, before we stand, I want us all to make a declaration together. Every Christ follower in the room, along with all these that are making the decision today, repeat after me. Dear Lord Jesus, today is my day and I'm coming home. I say yes to your invitation. I ask you to be my savior. Forgive me of my sins and make me your disciple. And from this day forward, I will serve you. I will follow you. I will have no other gods before you. I wanna be yours. And you be mine till I see you face to face. In Jesus name, amen. Come on, let's give the Lord some praise today. (congregation applauding) And would you stand to your feet? Stand to your feet and everybody look at me before you bowl for the door. Everybody just look up here and then our leaders are gonna come forward. But let me speak this over you right here. Just look up here. I'm praying right now. May the Lord bless you. May the Lord keep you. May the Lord cause his face to shine on you, bro. May the Lord give you peace. May there be peace in your home. May his very countenance and his love and favor surround you and your family. And may he give you rest. In Jesus' great name, amen. Amen, I would love you guys. Have a good weekend. For more information on our church, log on to our website at TFH.org or check out the TFH app. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)
