Faith Moves | Eran Holt

Hey, so excited to be with you and let's take a moment and welcome all of our friends at God Behind Bars. We love you guys, you're amazing. We believe in you, we're glad that you're with us. Hey, if I don't know you, my name's Aaron and part of the team here at the church. Excited to share God's word with you this morning. Real quick, let me just give you a little personal health update because so many of you have been asking and telling us that you've been praying for me and our family over the last several weeks. And so, and then prayer for the one back in July, one of the weekends was praying for some testing that I had coming up. So we went through that testing and in my initial testing all the way back in March, they found what was diagnosed as a aortic aneurysm and then I did a second round of testing and the test results came back and said that everything was exactly the same as the first test. And so that wasn't exactly what we were praying for and but it was medically speaking still good news in the sense that nothing had grown or gotten any larger. And so when we met then after the test to consult with the surgeon, they said, hey, we would recommend surgery but waiting is also an option. And if you wanna wait, we could wait six months and then we could do another round of testing

just to kind of see where we're at at that point. And so we said, yeah, we wanna wait, let's just wait. And when you say that, they kind of read into that and they're like, we understand that the surgery is a big deal and a lot of people are really, really afraid of that. And so I just felt like it was a moment for me to make a faith move. Everyone say faith move. That's actually what I'm talking about today is making a faith move. And so I just felt like it was a moment for me to make a faith move. And so I said to the doctor, I said, well, I said, I'm not really afraid of the surgery if that has to happen, that'll happen. I said, I just wanna wait six months because I believe Jesus is gonna heal me and I can't wait to see what he does over the next six months. And so when I said that, they don't know how to write that in the notes. That's like, they're not sure what to do. There's no box to check for believing, for healing. And so they don't know how to spawn for that. But so that is the update at this point. So we'll do some more testing on six months, probably next year, early next year. And I just wanna say thank you so much for your prayers. I feel great, God's been so good to us.

And we have, my wife and I and our family have never felt such love and support from any home church we've ever been a part of than Allison Park Church during these last several months, especially. So thank you so much. Obviously, we find ourselves personally, and I would say even as a church, in what we could call a very unexpected season. Have you ever been in an unexpected season? Found yourself in a situation or circumstance or a moment where you're like, I wasn't planning on being here. This wasn't what I thought this year was gonna be for me. And we're gonna study this morning from Acts 27 and 28, the Apostle Paul, who also finds himself in what I would say is an unexpected, unplanned season of his life in ministry. This isn't where I was supposed to be. This isn't the way I thought it was going to work out, but he's here nonetheless. And Paul actually makes what I call some faith moves. Everyone say faith move. Look at your neighbor and say, what's your faith move? Okay, get used to this. You're gonna be talking to your neighbor a lot today. So I hope you brush your teeth, all right? And if you got stuck in the monsoon last night, you got showered and you're clean, you're good to go. Okay, so let's talk about this.

We're gonna talk about it from Acts chapter 27. We'll read here in just a moment. We'll be in Acts 27. Who's got their Bible with you today? You got your Bible. You got your real Bible, your old school leather-bound Bible. Come on, hold it up. Don't be, okay, cool. Not many of you, all of you cool kids got your iPhones. That's great. Some of you have an Android. That's embarrassing for you. Okay, we're gonna be in Acts 27. We're gonna pick up in verse 21. But before we get there, let me just set the context real quick because we're gonna start right in the middle of this narrative and you won't understand exactly what happened unless I give you a little bit of context. So at the beginning of Acts 27, Paul boards a ship that is headed towards Rome. Paul's very excited about this, the fact that he's headed towards Rome. Probably not excited about his status on the ship because he's boarding the ship as a prisoner. So the great Apostle Paul, the man who at this point has taken three different missionary journeys, has planted over a dozen churches.

He ultimately writes 2 3rds of the New Testament, the letters of the epistles that you and I read. Most of them have already been written at this point. He's already written Romans at this point, his most theologically dense letter. All of this has already happened. But now Paul's heading to Rome. He's a prisoner. The reason he's excited nonetheless is that in Acts chapter 20, if you were to scroll all the way back there, it's in this moment in the book of Acts where we learn that Paul was in prayer hearing from God that he needed to go to Rome because he needed to preach the gospel in Rome. Here's why this is important. Paul understood that in this moment in history, this moment in antiquity, Rome was the most influential city in all of the world. And so Paul had already written the church of Rome a letter, we know it as Romans, and now he wants to go there and he wants to personally encourage and build up that church, but he also wants to preach the gospel. He wants to establish the kingdom of God in Rome, recognizing that if Rome would be saved, then maybe all of the world would end up being saved because of its power and influence in that moment. So now you go back to 27, where we're getting ready to read from,

and Paul's on a boat and he's headed to Rome. And he's excited, even though he's a prisoner, because he's like, man, I'm going to Rome. This isn't how I thought I was gonna get there, but I'm still going to Rome. Earlier in the chapter, right before we start reading, they run into bad weather. And it's not just like a little bit of bad weather. I mean, this is the storm of all storms. The text actually says, earlier in 27, that they've gone for 14 days without being able to see the sun. So 14 days of darkness on the water, stormy waters, threatening winds. They have wrapped ropes around the boat to keep it together. They have thrown tackle overboard to lighten the load of the ship. They've thrown food and grain overboard. And at this point, all of the sailors are basically convinced we are doomed. At some point, this ship is gonna break apart and we don't have enough, whatever, life jackets or little arm swimmings for everybody. You know, like we're going down. There's 276, 276 men on this boat. Prisoners, Roman centurion guards, and the sailors themselves. Now, mind you, before we get to verse 21, Paul had already expressed to the captain of the ship,

this is the wrong time of year for us to be making this voyage to Rome. We should wait and go another time. And apparently, the captain of the ship said, hey, buddy, you're a preacher. I'm the captain of the ship. It's gonna be my way. And so they head off into what now becomes a huge storm. And now we're up to verse number 21. Everyone got it? Say, I got it. Okay, here we go. Follow along. After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them. So that's all 276, right? Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete. Then you would have spared yourself this damage and loss. Okay, let's just pause here for a second. I love this verse, actually. As great and as wonderful and spiritual as the apostle Paul is, apparently he's not so spiritual that he's unwilling to simply say, I told you so, right? There's some parents that are thinking like, okay, I'm allowed to say that to my kids then. Okay, okay. So Paul says it here, verse 22. But now I urge you to keep up your courage

because not one of you will be lost. Okay, that's a faith move right there. Everyone say faith move. I mean, Paul is speaking prophetically now to all 276 passengers on this boat saying, I know that reason and intellect says this ship is gonna go down, but I'm telling you every single one of us is gonna be saved. He even then adds, only the ship will be destroyed. So he's speaking both prophetically, the ship is going down, but all of us are gonna be okay. Then he goes on, last night, verse 23, an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me and said, do not be afraid, Paul, you must stand trial before Caesar. Okay, so this is Rome now, Caesar in Rome. So Paul is getting confirmation of what he already heard chapters earlier in chapter 20. He's getting confirmation, I'm going to Rome, I'm gonna preach the gospel. And then he says this to the men, he says, you must stand trial before Caesar and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you. Okay, this is basically Paul saying to all these guys, y'all should be glad I'm on this boat because this boat is going down, but because I'm on this boat, everyone's gonna be okay. Right, this is, this reminds me of a little practice

that I have when I travel. So as I am boarding any airplane that I get on, right, I've done this for years. I just got, as I'm boarding the plane, I kind of just reach over and I lay hands on the side of the plane. And I just, you can call me weird, I don't care. I pray, I just pray, Lord, bless this plane, bless the pilot, you know, keep all the crazy people, make them go to sleep, you know, whatever, you know. You watch enough of those videos online of the way people act on planes, I'm like, Lord, okay. So last year I was getting onto a Delta flight a week after Delta had a plane land upside down in Canada. Does anyone remember this story? Yeah, some of you do. And so a week after that, I'm getting on a Delta flight. And so I'm like, oh, Lord, bless this plane, keep it upright. And I probably prayed a little bit longer than what I normally do. And I think I annoyed the guy behind me, you know, he's like, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, sir. And I. wanted to be like Paul and just turn around and be like yo bro you should be glad I'm getting on this plane I'm just telling you like the call of God is on my life this plane ain't going down like try okay that's what Paul's doing here okay all right okay now now one more one more verse here but here's this is probably the most important part of this section of narrative we're reading we're in 27 we're gonna go to 28 in a moment verse 25 so keep up your courage man say

these words with me for I have faith in God try it again I have faith in okay put some volume behind it I have faith in God a little bit more volume I have faith in God okay he says keep up your courage man for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me nevertheless we must run aground on some island somewhere okay this is amazing this is a faith move everyone say faith move Paul makes a prophetic declaration that makes no sense what makes common sense or what is logical in this moment is we're in trouble we have 14 days no no no way when a storm we got no Sun this ship is going down I don't know how we're gonna be saved there's gonna be the loss of life here this is a doomsday scenario that's what makes sense but Paul makes a faith move here and Paul says I have faith in who come on faith in who I have faith in God and that it will happen just as he told me that it would okay here's here's the first faith move right there's three of them here's the first faith move faith write these down faith moves from reason to revelation faith moves from reason to revelation faith moves from my intellect my thinking my way of understanding my thoughts right my abilities like my control or or the perception of control that I that I have in my life faith moves me from a place of my limited reasoning and understanding to a revelation of not only who God is but also a revelation of the strength of my faith that's found in what God has said okay so let me let me let's break this down for a second right let's break down the word faith just just for a moment here because I want to make sure that you and I are all like working from the same playbook or the same definition here so let's let's answer this question what is faith what is faith let's let me start by saying what faith is not faith is not good feelings right now no now faith could produce good feelings but in and of itself it's not good feelings so my faith isn't based on my feelings good or bad at any given time faith is not good spiritual vibes right that's not faith like like faith might produce a spiritual feeling within me that I might even be able to feel physically like like like I feel maybe the presence of God or I feel like no goosebumps on my arm or something like that okay so faith could produce that but my faith is not in that

because that's actually not my faith everyone follow me so far okay so what does the Bible say about faith the Bible says that faith comes by hearing the what the Word of God so my faith then is in what God has said in his word right that's the revelation of who God is revealed to us in his word this is why it's so important if you're gonna be a follower of Christ that you also be a student of God's Word that you fall in love with God's Word because let me say it like this if you're weak in your faith it's probably because you're weak in the word right you can't convince me that you are a lover of Jesus if you're not a lover of God's Word that doesn't work right this this right here this is Jesus in written form that's what this is right here and so so it's it's impossible for you to be strong in faith if you're not strong in the word because faith comes by hearing the Word of God dr. dr. Tony Evans great preacher he said it like this once really regarding a definition of faith he said faith is when you and I act like everyone say act like everything in God's Word is true even if I don't understand it I act like it's true even if I have questions about it I act like it's true even if I have fear related to what God has said so what Paul is doing here in this faith move is he's saying to these men my faith is in God so Paul's teaching you and I that the strength of our faith is not found in our feelings the strength of our faith is not found in my intellect or my understanding the strength of my faith is found in the one in whom I have placed my faith and Paul said I have faith in who so faith moves me from reason to revelation now what does that mean if my faith is weak that means I have to get a fresh revelation of who God is I have to get a fresh revelation of who God is in my life and what God has said in my life, right? This is hard about faith. There's always this constant tension inside of us is like the way that I think versus the way that God's word says. And so there's this tension with faith

and that's why you have to learn like Paul did to make a faith move from reason to revelation. My dad, a pastor for years, and I remember, they're actually in the service, I see him out here, but one of the things my dad would often say when he was preaching about faith is he would say, faith is not logical, yet it's also not illogical, it's theological. So my faith is not found in my logic or faith is not found in just being illogical, my faith is found in the theology of who God is. It's a revelation of who God is in my life. Here's one of the funny ways I learned this, right? So when I was in middle school, we were growing up, my dad was pastoring, mom and dad were pastoring the church down on the north side Bethel Assembly and we had a youth pastor down there, his name was Rick and Rick loved to play basketball and I was a middle schooler and I love to play basketball. And so this one Sunday, Rick comes to me and he's like, hey Aaron, what are you doing tomorrow after school? I was like, I have nothing. He said, all right, I'm gonna pick you up after school, I'm gonna take you, we'll play some ball together, we'll just hang out a little bit. I'm like, yeah, let's go, it's great.

So I brought all my gear with me to school and so after school, I jump in Rick's car and we go play basketball. I'm a middle schooler, I completely forget to tell my parents what I'm actually going to do after school. And this is like 100 years ago, so there's no like phones back then, there's no text message, there's no Life 360, where is my son, there's none of that. So I go to school on the bus, but when the bus comes back, there's no Aaron, little Aaron getting off the bus. And so my parents are like, why isn't he home from school? Like what's going on? And so they call the bus company, they're like, we don't know, he didn't get on the bus. And so they call the school and they're like, well, he was at school today, but we don't know where he, we thought he got on the bus. I think they drove to the school and actually walked through the school building and seen if like, I was there, like, I don't know, sleeping on their desk. I don't know why they thought I might be, I don't know. And so as far as I know, they started holding a prayer vigil at the house, pray for little Aaron's where they're getting ready to like call missing persons, I don't know. A couple hours go by, I finally come home,

Rick brings me home. And my mom and dad are sitting there in the couch, we lived over on the North Hills, and they're sitting there and I walk in and I mean, they're just worried, worried. My mom, I don't know, she's probably crying or something, she's worried about me. And they're like, I just hear my dad, and when he starts to speak to me, he speaks in the lowest voice humanly possible. How many of you have your parent voice? You have a really good parent voice. I use mine on my dog all the time. He does not care at all. I just hear my dad, where were you? And so I didn't understand like the gravity of what they had been through for the last two hours or so. And I was a middle schooler, so very emotionally immature. And I'm like, I was playing ball with Rick and they're like, we were worried about you. And they started kind of like coming after me. And I don't know exactly what I said, something very middle school smart aleck type comment that I made. But when I made that comment, it triggered, let's call it a reaction in my father that to this day, I have never seen again. I've never seen that man move so fast from a seated position to charging after me in this moment. And what saved my life was a large round dining room table.

And he was on one side and I was on the other. And I'm just, like I was faster than him. I don't know how long this went on before my mom finally was like, John, just sit down. Just sit, it's like the spirit of Darth Vader came all over my father. And he was like, I am your father. You will not talk to me that way. But listen, this is what I'm praying for you when this faith move. I pray that you get a revelation of who your heavenly father is. I pray you get a revelation of the strength of your faith found in him. Not your ability, not your intellect, not your reasoning, not your thinking. When everything in your world goes sideways like it's done for Paul, that you be able to make a faith move like he did and say, I have faith in God that it will be done just as he said it will be done. That's a faith move. Everyone say faith move. Faith moves us from reasoning, our reasoning, from reason to revelation. A revelation of who he is and a revelation of what he said. Okay, now the story goes on. We're gonna jump forward here into chapter 28. So we didn't even read all of 27. We just read that one section, but here's what happens.

The boat falls apart. Paul said it was gonna fall apart. It falls apart. And they find themselves on like pieces of wood or planks or little, I don't know, maybe they had, maybe Paul had brought with them like some swimmies with his face on and he autographed them for all, I don't know. But they, but they all. I'll make it safely to shore. That's just what happens. Now we're in 28, so follow along with me again. Once safely on shore, verses one and two, we found out that the island was called Malta. Everyone say Malta. Malta. Okay, the island was called Malta, and the islanders showed us unusual kindness, and they built a fire, and they welcomed all of us because it was raining and it was cold. So they didn't even get good weather. They are waterlogged from however many hours they were in the water, hanging onto a piece of wood. They find themselves onto the island. Fortunately, the islanders apparently are nice to them, and they built a fire, and they welcomed us, raining and cold. But here's my question. Here's what I'm thinking right now. Where did Paul wanna go?

Rome. Okay, where is Paul now? Malta. Okay, these are two different places now. This is, like God just told Paul in Acts 20, and then again in 27, when the angel came to him, Paul, you're gonna stand trial before Caesar. And so Paul's like, all right, we're gonna get to Rome. But Paul's not in Rome. Paul's in Malta. Have you ever been to Malta? I'm not actually talking about the vacation touristy spot called Malta. I'm talking about Malta, the unexpected season in your life. You ever been to Malta? The circumstances in life that turned sideways on you, you didn't see that coming. You ever been to Malta? The diagnosis from the doctor. You ever been to Malta? Yeah, I've been living there for the last six months. The relationship that fell apart, the marriage that didn't make it through the tough season. Malta. The child that went wayward. Malta. The loved one that you lost unexpectedly. Malta. I would say we've all been to Malta, have we not?

Some of you are thinking to yourself, like, man, I think I got frequent flyer miles in Malta. Like, I just, I seem to be showing up there all the time. It's like I got status. My status only gets me to Malta though. I can't go anywhere. I get free Airbnbs in Malta, but nowhere else. Apparently this is like, this is my life. But this is real now. This is real now because Paul didn't wanna be in Malta. Paul wanted to be in Rome. And Paul finds himself in a place that he didn't expect to go to. And yet he makes another faith move. We're gonna talk about this next one here. Let's jump into this real quick. Let me just say this about Malta first. It's real easy to get miserable when you're in Malta. Is it not? It's like, this isn't what I wanted. This isn't where I was supposed to be. This is not the way it was supposed to work out. This career was supposed to take me here. This major at my school was supposed to get me to this. This relationship was supposed to, no, no, no. I'm in Malta, I'm stuck. I mean, I'm in perpetual Malta. Here I am. It's easy to get miserable in Malta. That's a, that almost sounds like a movie title.

Miserable in Malta. Sleepless in Seattle, you know? But here's what Paul does. Here's what Paul does, right? Go follow along with me, verses three and four. Paul gathered a pile of brushwood. And as he put it on the fire, a viper driven out by the heat fastened itself on his hand. Okay, so if things weren't bad, they've just gotten worse. So now Paul gets bit by a poisonous snake. And when the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, this man must be a murderer. For though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live. Okay, so the islanders now see what has just transpired through a very supernatural worldview. Because they believe in this false god called Justice. It was a Greek deity, a goddess that they believed in. And so when this reference is made that the goddess Justice has come after Paul, the islanders very supernaturally are looking at this and they're saying, okay, this man probably was a murderer and the sea was meant to actually take his life. But since he somehow managed to escape that judgment, now our goddess Justice has brought judgment to him because a viper bit him on the hand. Do you find, to me, it's like, it can't just be happenstance coincidental that of all of the 267 people that just got on the island, that it's only the apostle Paul,

the one who's established the kingdom of God throughout the entire region, the one who's already planted over a dozen churches, three missionary journeys, written half of his books that are gonna go into the New Testament at this point. It can't just be coincidental that a viper just happened to choose to bite him. Can it? Like, when I look at this text, the islanders see it as supernatural. The islanders are just like, oh, no, no, no, that's not a mistake there. That's not just like random right there that that snake bit him. This is a supernatural. Spiritual thing that's how the Islander see it That's what the text tells me and I'll Luke who wrote wrote all this and was with Paul during this journey Luke doesn't necessarily say this is a spiritual attack, but I can't help but read in between the lines and think to myself Huh? the Islanders thought The God of our island is bringing judgment to this man this man a murderer Washed up on our shore and now our God has brought justice to him But little did they know that they were being introduced to a different person a person who carried the presence and the Authority of God in them and with them in whatever situation They found themselves in and the Apostle Paul himself had stepped foot on an island I'm telling you this is a spiritual turf war that's taking place right here This is the enemy himself who tried to take Paul out in a shipwreck to keep him from ever getting to Rome But now that Paul has set foot on the island of Malta the false gods of that island are like, oh no No, no, no. No, we can't have that man here We can't have the kingdom of God now established here and Paul makes a faith move with a poisonous

Viper hanging off of his hand. Let's read about it versus versus five and six real quick five and six I'm gonna switch the translation real quick. Just just to give you a warning. We're been in the NIV I'm gonna switch to the TSV. Okay, you might not be familiar with that one the TSV That's the Taylor Swift version Come on just go back with me to 2014. Come on Haters gonna hate but I'm just gonna shake shake shake. Okay, okay Melissa, can you play that for me real quick? Just no, I'm just I'm just I'm just Yeah, I just want to say this real quick isn't she amazing I Melissa I just man what I would give would have given to be able to play piano like like it when I was your Age, like I couldn't I couldn't even play at your age like that. Wow. Just you're such a blessing to this house I just wanted to say that. Okay. Okay. Here's here's what actually the Bible actually says now But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and he suffered no ill effects and the people expected him to swell up or suddenly Fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happened to him. They changed their minds and said he was a god Okay, isn't this amazing? If this is this is people peopling at like a textbook level They they just got done saying he was a murderer and now he's deity and I can't help but look at what happens here a Serpent who Luke who's the writer of Acts who Luke himself in Luke 10? Go read the chapter actually compared serpents to the devil himself. What does Paul do with this serpent? He shakes off the serpent in what in the fire Did you not did you not hear that he shakes off the serpent in the fire Is that not exactly what the Bible says is gonna happen to the ultimate serpent one day? Right right to the fire He will go for all that like all of this is foreshadowing of what it looks like When you and I find ourselves in Malta yet, we choose to make a faith move everyone say faith move Okay, so so here's the second faith move right right faith number one It moves us from reason to revelation, but number two it moves us from misery to mission Cuz Paul could have been miserable Paul could have said why am I here? But look what happens next verses 7 and 8 and there was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius He was a chief official of the island he welcomed us into his home he showed us generous hospitality for three days

Okay, he must have been a very wealthy man. He's the most influential man That's what the text says because he's the chief official But he must have had a very large estate because 276 men he welcomes all of them for three days He feeds them. He probably closed them. He gives them food, right? They you know, they make some homemade chicken noodle soup and then in verse 8 it says this his father was sick in bed suffering from fever and Dysentery now that that doesn't sound incredibly serious to you and I today in American 20th century but in this moment in history, this is a death sentence for this man and So this is kind of how I see this whole moment playing out here This is just just in welcome to Aaron's mind here as I read this text. I just I think it's a long banquet table And all the all these men prisoners soldiers sailors They're all getting warm and and getting fed and they're finally like I'm starting to feel good again and that for three days it's a little bit of a of a like a feast here and then word begins to travel and spread among the group that Publis father is sick unto death and I just think that Paul in this moment when the news comes his way wherever he's sitting at The table, maybe maybe it maybe he just kind of like Pushes his chair back from the table and kind of leans back and folds his arms and looks up to heaven and he's like, oh Okay, God, I see what's going on here. All right right there's a mission here you have a mission for me you needed me to be in malta you you assigned me here in malta you stationed me here in malta i'm not stuck here i'm stationed here right there i'm not gonna be miserable here in malta because there's a mission for me and then this mission is going to lead to a miracle and and what happens next we go to the next verse and and in verse number eight uh it says paul went in to see him and after prayer he placed his hands on him and he healed him okay i i would love i i would because i'm in a malta season myself right now i would love to preach to you your malta season is coming to an end god spoke to me and and and your malta season draws nigh and god's given you a first-class upgrade off the island of malta with a guarantee that you'll never ever come back i would love to preach that to you i think what the holy spirit is actually telling me to say to you sounds more like this take another look at your malta friend take another look take a deep look at the malta season that you're currently in or the ones that

you've been in in the past is it possible that you allowed yourself to get so miserable in your malta that you missed the mission and you missed the miracle you know there are times i find myself in a malta season and the first thing i pray is god get me out of here come on be real with me how many of you like that's me that's how that's what i do is it possible that you're praying for god to pull you away from the very thing that he meant to give you such purpose and mission and miracle in your life don't pray too quickly to get off your malta friend take another look take another because here's what the apostle paul does the apostle paul not only goes in and heals this man but he begins to preach the gospel and when he begins to preach the gospel the text tells us let me let me read it again here we go verses 9 and 10 then this happened the rest of the sick on the island came and they were cured and they honored us in many ways and when we were ready to set sail they furnished us with the supplies we need you actually have to study a little bit deeper into the timeline here verses 9 and 10 lasts for three months so this isn't just a quick moment here so so paul understands that god has positioned him on malta to actually establish a church there he turns this is what he does he turns publius estate into a church plant and he holds a three-month revival service there and at the end of the three months all of the sick got healed that's paul going from misery to mission that's paul saying i'm not stuck here on this island you're stuck here listening to me preach for the next three months i'm stationed here every everywhere my footsteps is is ground that i'm taking for the kingdom of god be it malta be it rome wherever i go that's a faith move everyone say faith move this lasts for three months now here's what's remarkable fast forward to today if you were to travel to malta here's what you would discover malta the island of malta and the population on it is 80 percent christian 365 churches roughly speaking but they say 365 they say we have one church for every day of the week here on malta and listen to this this will blow your mind every single one of those churches says that their history goes all the way back to one man guess what his name is the apostle paul that's a faith move faith moves you from reason to revelation faith moves you from misery to mission and here's the last one is what we've just been talking about faith moves you from ruin to revival from ruin to revival from from from the ruin of what the enemy meant to take you out the ruin of what the enemy tried to use to destroy you the ruin of what the enemy intended to squelch or to suffocate god's purposes in and through your life but god says if you'll make a faith move i'll turn your misery into a mission and a miracle and i'll turn your ruin into a revival that throws

through you that's what happened for malta because the apostle paul said no no no i'm not just stuck here i'm stationed here let me let me let me break this down real quick right i'm done in like in two minutes and we're going to respond but let me just break down this word revival real quick i want to give you like some real good understanding what we're talking about here we're coming in next month for for revival week here right okay so make sure you understand this write this down write this down if you're taking notes we use the word revival in the church world today in america we kind of use the word revival as almost a universal term to describe the moving of god but it's it's far deeper and more specific than that i would actually break down the word revival with three separate words we can still just use revival as like a umbrella for all of them, but I would break it down as three separate words. So what is revival? First, it's renewal. Everyone say renewal. Okay, so what is renewal? Write this down. Renewal is God moving in me. Renewal is when God moves in me. So the Spirit of God is always attempting and endeavoring to do the work of renewal in your life and my life. He's trying to do it every single day. So every time you open up God's Word, every time you pray, every time you worship, every time you show up for a life group, every time red students show up on a Wednesday night, every time you're here at a church service, you know, on a weekend, that's a work of renewal. That's a work of the Holy Spirit renewing you and I. That's the work of renewal. Renewal, the move of God in me. Everyone say in me. Then you get to the word revival, and revival, I would define more specifically as the move of God through me. Everyone say through me. Okay, so we have renewal, what God's doing in me. Then revival, what God's doing through me, right? Why is that important? Because the Holy Spirit does a work of renewal never with the intention that it just stays within the four walls of a church, right? So when I'm renewed, I step forward into revival, what God's doing through me. So what God's doing through me in my family, through me in my relationships, through me in my school, through me in my workplace, right? So it's always about what God wants to do in me, renewal, through me, revival, and then we get to what I would call the last word, which is really what happens in Malta. Renewal, the move of God in me. Revival, the move of God through me. Reformation, everyone say reformation, the move of God around me. Okay, so how do you identify reformation? That's when entire communities begin to change. That's what happened in Malta. That's when your school begins to change, your university begins to change, your workplace begins to change. That's when your neighborhood begins to change because of renewal in you and through you. Now God begins to move around you.

That's when businesses in our community, some that are not God honoring, end up having to shut down and close their doors because there's no more customers for them because there's been so many lives that have been touched and changed. That's reformation. That's Malta right there. That's a faith move. Everyone say faith move. And that is when God takes us from ruin to revival. Okay, let me speak something boldly and prophetically over Allison Park Church right now. The enemy meant to ruin this church on February 7th, 2026 when we lost Pastor Jeff. But I believe God is not preparing us for ruin. If we make a faith move, he's leading us into revival. Why would I say that? I'm saying that prophetically because over the weekend, that's what I heard God speak. We were here, my wife and I were here on Friday night for the APC leaders gathering that happened right here in the auditorium. My wife and I were sitting right over here in the second row and during worship, I was overcome by the presence of God. And in that moment, I heard God clearly speak to me and say, Aaron, revival is coming to Allison Park Church. I said, Lord, what do you mean? What do you want me to do? And I heard God say, I want you to tell the church this weekend that revival is coming. And I said, when? When's it coming? And he said, tell the church it's coming next month in September during the three days of revival services that have already been set forward. I said, God, that's a really bold prophetic declaration that you want me to make. And the Holy Spirit said, I thought you were preaching about faith moves this weekend. I said, yes, sir. Yes, I am. Yes, I am. And as I begin to pray and wrestle with it on Friday night into Saturday morning, Saturday morning here at the church, we had the frontline leaders meeting. And in that meeting at the very end, Sister Barb Trubusic, many of you know her. She said, God's given me a word from Haggai 2 for the church. You can go read all of Haggai 2 if you want, but the word she specifically quoted was the verse where it says, the glory of the present will be greater than the latter. Or the glory of the latter will be greater than the former. I probably got the verbs wrong there, but you know what I'm trying to say. Like God was saying, like what's getting ready to happen will make what has already happened pale in comparison. And immediately my mind went to the history of Allison Park Church back in the late 90s, where there was a sustained revival that was happening here in this church. Some of you, a couple of you after the first service this morning came up to me and were like, I was here. I was here when it broke. I can't, I'm praying for it to happen again. Now, I wasn't here. But I was with my dad and mom down at Bethel Assembly on Northside,

and we had the exact same move of God happening down there. And I remember being on staff was my first— I was just getting started in ministry, and I remember just sitting there listening and talking about everything God was doing out at Allison Park Church, but He was also doing a lot of things right there in that moment right there. And so all of this has come to this point for me where I'm saying this to you very clearly, but as kindly and confidently and boldly as I can. You can't afford to miss the three days of revival service next month in September. I'm calling you to a faith move, church. And I'm saying for some of you that faith move is you clear your schedule, you figure out the childcare, you figure out the work scenario, you do whatever you have to do to say, I'm not going to miss one night, Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, because I'm going to be a part of what God is getting ready to break forth in revival here at this church. I told Pastor Josh last night, I said, hey, buddy, I think that you're going to have a massive crowd issue for those three nights. So you better get here early, I guess is what I'm saying, and figure out—or else you're going to be parking like a mile away. I don't know how we're going to do it. But I'm just telling you, don't you dare miss one night of what God's getting ready to do. That is a faith move on your part to show up. Everybody say faith move. See, for some of you, there's been some things you've been praying about in your Malta season, and God wants to bring conclusions and answers to them whenever you show up for revival service. For some of you, it's not only just showing up for those services, but it's committing to fasting and prayer, proceeding and coming into them. It's doing what our pastor just told us to do in the video before I came out. For some of you, it's even greater. For some of you, it's like, I need to do more prayer.

I need to be a part of the remnant. I need to do more fasting. You know who you are. God's already speaking to you. That's a faith move on your part. Everyone say faith move. Stand to your feet. Stand to your feet. Stand to your feet. We're going to respond now. We're going to respond. I want to ask our prayer team to come, and I want half our prayer team to be over on this side over here, and I want half our prayer team to be over on this side over here. And so the prayer team's going to make themselves available here in a moment. Bow your heads and close your eyes with me. Bow your heads and close your eyes with me. You're here this morning, and you would just simply say, Pastor Aaron, I am stuck in Malta. I'm just stuck. I've been there way too long. I don't know how to get out of it. I'm miserable in Malta. I want to find the mission. I want to see the miracle. I do. I do. I do. I do. But man, I just need, I need someone to stand with me right now and pray that God will open my eyes, my spiritual eyes. Pray that God will open my spiritual ears so that I can hear clearly what the mission is in Malta for me, what the miracle is that God has for me in Malta. You're just stuck. It's okay. We all get stuck. We all get miserable. But I believe that God wants to give you a word today, and you're going to have to make a faith move, and that's going to revolve you walking forward out of your seat and saying, I need someone to just pray with me and believe with me that God's going to bring me through this season. Your Malta might be a career-sabotage-type situation. Maybe that's prophetic for somebody here.

Your Malta might be a health diagnosis, and the doctors aren't able to give you any answers right now. Your Malta might be a prodigal son or daughter that you've been praying for them to come home for years and years and years. I don't know what your Malta is. The Holy Spirit does. You know. But today, you're going to make a faith move. I'm going to count to three, and you just simply say, I need God. I need God to give me faith to work through this Malta. I want you to come forward quickly and have one of our prayer team members pray with you on either side. One, two, three. Come on right now. Come on. Make a faith move. This is a faith. You walking forward right now is a faith move. Come on. I know there's a bunch of you. Just step right out. Step right out. You just say, that's me. That's me. Any age, any season. Come on. Keep coming. Yeah. Yeah. I see you. I see you. Come on. Keep coming. Keep coming. Keep coming. Keep coming. All right. As they're coming, the rest of you, would you just lift your hands to heaven right now? Yeah. Come on. Make this declaration in song. Sing it out, Jess. Yeah. Yeah. Hands lifted high. Come on. Lift your voice now. Declare it in faith. Yeah. One more time. Come on. Let's raise the volume here just a bit. Christ alone. All right, we'll just just lift your hands to heaven with me. Tilt your face toward heaven, look up at your Heavenly Father, right? And just for the next couple moments as the team is just playing quietly behind us, I want you to hear the voice of the Lord answering the question for you, what is your faith move? Because some of you, you might not be stuck on Malta, but there's a faith move that the Holy Spirit wants you to make on this night, on this morning. There's something the Holy Spirit is speaking to you right now. There's a step forward in faith, a faith move that God is saying, it's time, it's time. For some of you, you've been holding back, I don't know what it is, what exactly your struggle is, the Holy Spirit does, you know, but you've been holding back.

I just sense that in my spirit, you've been resistant to taking that step. Maybe he's speaking to you now saying, it's time, it's time for you to take that step. For some of you, it's a relationship that needs reconciled, it's bitterness that forgiveness needs to be applied to, right? For some of you, it's a step forward in a career or a step forward. For some of you, it might be a step forward into a calling into ministry that God has been wrestling with you about for maybe months or years of your life, but let's just listen to what the Holy Spirit is doing right now. So come on, lift your face toward heaven right now and just go ahead, once again, lift your hands back up, come on all across this place, right? And just talk to him. And I dare you in faith to begin to pray right now at least loud enough that your own ears can hear what your mouth is saying. So just for the next 60 seconds, you just pray. No singing right now, you just talking to God and letting God talk to you about your next faith move. Ready, set, go. Come on, lift your voice. Go ahead, lift your voice. Let him speak. Holy Spirit, speak right now. Holy Spirit, speak right now. Speak to every heart, every person who's asking, every person who's saying, God, what's my faith move? What's the next move? What do you want me to do? What's next for me? What's the next step? What's the next job? What's the next business?

God, what do you have for me? What's the calling you have on my life? Help me, God. Give me strength. Give me courage to take that step of faith. Help me, God. Help me to step through my fears, step through my doubts. Help me to step past my questions. I'm making a faith move. God, help me to step over my reason into a place of revelation, God. God, help me to step through my misery so I can see mission, so I can see miracles in my Malta. God, help me to step through the trap of ruin that the enemy had set for me, and God, help me to step into a season of renewal, you moving in me, revival, you moving through me, reformation, you moving around me. God, do it in the name of Jesus, I pray, in the name of Jesus, I pray. All right, bring it down just a quick. Okay. I think there's maybe about a hundred or so people in the room. This is what I'm just sensing in my spirit, that God has just spoken to you, and he's told you what your next faith move is. And so I want to see you activate that faith move right now by joining me right up here around the front. So you're just like, God's just spoke to me, I know what my next move is, and I want to pray over you. That's why I'm asking you to come around the front. So right now, you're just saying, God just spoke to me about a faith move. God's just spoken to me about my next step. I want you to activate that by walking forward right now. So come on up and join me right now, all across this room.

I think there's about a hundred or so of you. So come on, start moving right now. Come on, I just want you to join me right around the front. Come on. You can come right around the front up here. You can come right into the sides over here. Right? Yep. Come on, keep on coming. Keep on coming. Keep on coming. Keep on coming. Yeah. Come on. I know there's more. I know there's more. Come on. Even if you're in the front row and you're just taking one step forward, that's totally fine. But you're just saying, man, I'm stepping forward in faith right now. I just know God has something for me. Come on, keep on coming. Keep on coming. Yeah. Yeah. Come on up here. Come on. Okay. Now, now all of you that come, some of you are still coming. That's great.

You just keep on coming. Right? Okay. Now, there's a couple of things I want to pray over, not just those of you that came forward here, but over everybody in the house. And so, come on, would you agree with me in this moment in prayer? Like, don't be a spectator, but you lift up your voice and you begin to pray. So come on, lift your hands to heaven again. Right? This is a sign of surrender now saying, God, I surrender to the voice of God speaking to me in the direction that he's just given me. Right? So everybody in the house, come on, I know I keep asking you to do this, but this is, and I know for some of you, this is hard, but it's a faith move. It's a faith move. Right? And so I want you to lift up your voice now. And I want you to talk to God loud enough that your own ears can hear what your mouth is saying. Come on. In faith, begin to speak forth what God has now spoken to you, that which he just put into your heart, that which he just. has birthed the seed into your thinking right now, begin to speak that forth in this moment by faith. Let me pray some things over here. In the name of Jesus, for every person that is ready to move forward, I declare and release unto you the gift of faith, according to God's word, the gift of faith to believe in the revelation of who God is more than your own reasoning, your own intellect, your own ability, your own talent. I release unto you a revelation of your heavenly father, a revelation of the power of his word and what his word means in your life, the strength of your faith coming not from your ability but from God's strength and God's character. So I release unto you the gift of faith. I release unto you the gift of faith to

walk through the misery of the malta that you find yourself in now or that you might be in in the future. And I say God, declare mission, reveal mission, and allow miracles to flow through each and every person that's making a faith move. And now I'm going to declare something over Allison Park Church. So everybody raise your hands right now and receive this as a part of this church. God, I declare in the name of Jesus that what the enemy meant for ruin for this church in February of 2026 is only that which you will now use to usher Allison Park Church into the glory of your revival that you're going to bring to us next month. And God, I declare in your name every stronghold be broken in the name of Jesus. Everything bound be loosed in the name of Jesus. And that which needs to be bound be bound in the name of Jesus so that the spirit of the living God will bring renewal to this church, will bring revival to this church, and will bring reformation to the Pittsburgh area. In the name of Jesus, I declare it. Come on, would you lift your voice one more time? Lift your voice one more time. Yes, sing it. He is Lord, Lord of all. Christ alone. Christ alone. Lord of all. We've been strong. In the Savior's blood. Through the storm. He is Lord, Lord of all. Yeah, one more time, Christ alone. Christ alone. Lord of all. We've been strong. In the Savior's blood. Through the storm. He is Lord, Lord of all. Yeah, lift your hand. Let me bless you now. Let me pray over you. I bless you in the name of Jesus. May the Lord lift up his face upon you. May the Lord lift his countenance upon you. Give you rest. Give you peace. May the Lord go with you in the name of Jesus.

So this is our formal dismissal, but I want to encourage you to maybe as a part of making a faith move today, maybe you need to stay just two or three minutes or five minutes longer than you normally would just to be in God's presence as the team leads a little bit more worship. You can feel free to be dismissed if you need to be. But I also want to prepare you for what I believe God's getting ready to break forth in this church in weeks to come and next month during revival service. And so maybe just spend a couple extra minutes in worship before you go today. God bless you.