How Do You Know When God Is Speaking? - JJ Vasquez

- What's up, Journey Online. Happy Sunday. - Hello, hello, hello, hello. - Happy Sunday. - So glad that you guys are here with us this morning. My name is Danielle and I get the honor and privilege being one of your online hosts here today. - And my name is Yolanda. I get the honor and privilege of serving for the first time as a host. - First time host at D.A. - Yay! - Welcome to our girl in the chat. - Welcome to the chat. Journey is on give you an acronym, baby. You get an acronym. Okay, everyone gets one. - Everybody's an acronym. - And we're just glad to be here, how about you? - Yes, I've still got to be here. Just so you guys know, this is a moment we've been wanting to happen for a really long time. At least I have. I met my girl through small group, Journey to Disney. Shout out to the Disney small group. - Yes. - And let me tell you what, I wouldn't be surprised if you spent your weekend at Disney. Is that what you did? - I did not. And I know for anybody that knows me, this is out of character.

- Okay, but I did not go to Disney. - Very rare. - Let God put something on my husband's heart. This makes him want to take me today because I need my Disney fix, just like I need the Lord. - You too. - But I need the Lord all the time. - Amen. - Okay. - So we want to know, put it in the chat. Are you a Disney person? Are you a universal person? - You are a Disney person because if you're not today, it's pray first Sunday and we will take you to prayer. We will. - No, listen, and if you're not, if you're a person, you're going number one on her prayer list this week. All right? - Well, you are, but I'm a pray for you and pray is good for everybody. Amen, and I know we have a culture of pray first. I know we'll tell you guys a little bit more about pray first Sunday after worship, but we're in a sermon series called Can You See It? And believe me, we are seeing it. Journey Church has been around for 10 years now. First of all, can you believe that? - Yes. - So beyond wild, but Jesus has done here in central Florida and we're casting vision, Pastor JJ Pastor Liz,

all the church staff's casting vision for the next 10 years. - I can see it. - Yeah. - But I wasn't here 10 years ago. - I can absolutely see it. Journey, it's like nothing else I've ever experienced. And I've lived all over the world. Been to all types of different places. This is what heaven is gonna look like. Everybody is here worshiping, okay? - Amen. - Everybody just looks like everybody. - Yeah. - Okay, and I love it. And our Pastor JJ isn't, I want to be biased. You go ahead and talk. (laughing) - We're not biased. We love everyone here at Journey Church. We love all of you guys in the chat. Let us know where you're watching from. I know Yolanda was telling me earlier about how she's lived in so many different places and her husband did in the military. And we know that the Journey Online fan, we know it is worldwide. We know you guys are watching from so many different places. And we're so thankful that you're here. - We didn't hear that. I want to know where we are from. - I know.

She'll find you in the chat too. She's gonna pull it up on YouTube. - All right. - And we saw someone from South Africa. I know one of the last services. - I hope you're still here. Watch again. - Okay, let's be, come back. Watch again. Watch again. That's Africa. - That's everywhere. He's reaching South Africa. The word is out. Share it with somebody else, okay? - Do you've got time? That's right. - You've got time. You do. - The message hasn't started. Share it. - Exactly. So go on our YouTube page. Go ahead, share that message. Also, while you're there, make sure to subscribe too, because we do also have the After Talk podcast, which is basically our sermons, kind of just like, you know, more notes that they couldn't share during those services, right? - Yes. - Like extended time, right? And so you don't want to miss the message.

We want to make sure that everyone gets a chance to see God's Word, to hear God's Word. So if you have someone on your heart, someone that you know needs prayer today for pray for Sunday, go ahead and drop a link to them. Go ahead and share this message with them, right? - And if you don't know that they're on your heart, it's my dad always head. If someone crosses your mind, reach out to them. And this is the perfect way to reach out to them. Reach out to them by sharing. We are about to go live for real, okay? - Yes, 'cause sharing the message is a ministry. - Is this a ministry? - It is. - We love you all. We're going. - Well, we are gonna go see our girl Gianna in auditorium. - We'll see you soon. - Hi Gianna. - Thank you so much, Danielle and Yolanda. What's up, Journey Church Online. Happy Sunday and happy pray for Sunday. If it haven't had the privilege and honor of meeting yet, my name is Gianna and it's truly my joy to serve here as the Journey College director and your online coordinator. As you can see, we are in our central firm part campus and this auditorium is filling up and we're expected. We're expected because pray for Sunday is an opportunity to lift up our family in prayer.

And so if there is a prayer request on your heart, I wanna encourage you to start submitting those requests in the chat because we're gonna be praying for them together as a community corporately. As we're praying, I wanna encourage us as we're going into this service, I wanna share with you Acts 12, 5. It says, "So when Peter was in prison, "the church was earnestly praying for him." And I love that word earnestly because sometimes when we're just desperate, we're in need of God to move. We need to have earnest hearts to go before him and everything that we have to give and just knowing. God, I know that you can do it. And so whatever is heavy on your heart, I know you can do it and if it's everything that I have, you can do it because you are faithful and you are good. And so I want to go ahead and encourage us to go into prayer in this moment right where you are. If you could join me, send your hands to the screen or receive your arms open. God, we come before you, God. We know that you are faithful. We know that you are good. We know, God, that you respond to the prayers of your people, God. So posture our hearts to be earnest before you, to be present, to be consistent and persistent, knowing and believing God that even if we haven't seen the evidence, you are at work, God, and we can trust your heart more than your hand. We love you and it's in Jesus' mighty name that we pray, amen, amen. Wherever you're watching from, get out of your seat, get ready, raise up the volume because we're about to step into a moment of worship and we are so happy you're here with us. Oh, welcome home, JD Church. Well, let's praise the King of Kings this morning. We lift you up today, Jesus. There is no one like you, God.

Oh, I sing revival. It's a love, a given hope and there is a pressure, and I can hear the sound. Something truly wonderful is I think, but it's a difference in the time of me. Oh, I've been feeling, oh, there's a prophecy, something really powerful is happening. Oh. The darkness brought us to the end, those days get all down my way, break it out of yesterday. I got a new thing coming. Tell this giant in my face, you're not great, you've been loving. Best believe me when I say, I got a new thing coming. I got a new thing coming, I got a new thing coming. There's an anointing to destroy the old, tell every stronghold. You've got to let me go, something really powerful is happening. If there's a freedom that I have never known, how much that owes. To the overflow, something really powerful is happening. There's nothing left, we sing darkness. The darkness brought us to the end, those days get all down my way, break it out of yesterday. I got a new thing coming. Tell this giant in my face, you're not great, you've been loving. Best believe me when I say, I got a new thing coming. I got a new thing coming, I got a new thing coming. I got a new thing coming, I got a new thing coming, I got a new thing coming. Oh, you think, you think, oh, you've got a new thing coming. This freedom will go away today, you think I can see, I can see a clock, heavy rain. And it looks like revival, it's heavy rain. Oh, I can see a clock, it's heavy rain. And it looks like salvation, it's heavy rain. Oh, I can hear a sound, the abundant suffering. And it sounds like freedom, it's headed our way. Oh, I can hear a sound, the abundant suffering. And it sounds like prohibition, it's headed our way. Oh, I'm glad you're here. Oh, I can hear a sound, the abundant suffering. Oh, I can hear a sound, the abundant suffering.

Oh, I can hear a sound, the abundant suffering. Oh, I can hear a sound, the abundant suffering. Oh, I can hear a sound, the abundant suffering. Oh, I can hear a sound, the abundant suffering. Oh, I can hear a sound, the abundant suffering. ♪ Go, hey, go, hey, go, hey, go, hey ♪ ♪ North is bound to the day ♪ ♪ Mountain's gal bound my way ♪ ♪ Break it out of yesterday ♪ ♪ I'm coming, coming ♪ ♪ Tell this giant in my face ♪ ♪ You're not greater ♪ ♪ Yes, believe me when ♪ ♪ I got a new thing coming ♪ ♪ A new thing coming ♪ ♪ I got a new thing coming ♪ ♪ I got a new thing coming ♪ ♪ I got a new thing ♪ ♪ Oh, I got a new one ♪ ♪ You are the rest of it ♪ ♪ Oh, I got a new one ♪ ♪ Power ♪ ♪ I got a new thing coming ♪ ♪ I got a new one ♪ ♪ You are the rest of it ♪ ♪ Oh, I got a new one ♪ ♪ Power ♪ ♪ I got a new thing ♪ ♪ Oh, I got the new heart, new heart, fresh ♪ ♪ I got the new heart, new heart, fresh ♪

♪ I got a new day, I got the new heart ♪ ♪ I got a new heart, new heart, fresh ♪ ♪ I got a new heart, new heart, fresh ♪ ♪ I got a new thing coming, I got a new thing coming ♪ ♪ I got a new thing coming ♪ ♪ I got a new thing coming, I got a new thing coming ♪ ♪ I got a new thing coming, I got a new thing coming ♪ ♪ I got a new thing coming ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ It looks like we're flying home ♪ ♪ It's a new heart, new heart, fresh ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ It looks like we're flying home ♪ ♪ It's a new heart, new heart, fresh ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ It's a new heart, new heart, fresh ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ Oh, I can hear it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ And it's a new heart, new brain ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪

♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ Oh, I can see it loud, I got a new brain ♪ ♪ Right here, come on, say ♪ ♪ Swole me in my heart, on my heart to you ♪ ♪ Make me aware of what you're getting down ♪ ♪ I know you're holding my future ♪ ♪ Every minute, every hour ♪ ♪ But I need your praise, it's now ♪ ♪ I never see it coming ♪ [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] It's now insane, or anything is possible. In human, we believe in it. Anything is possible. In human, when human.

Come on, Church, we declare this morning. Darkness has to run in high. With human. With human. Death is coming back. Death is coming back to life. With human. With human. Come on, Church. I may not see it, but I believe it. I keep on waiting. I keep on waiting here for you. I may not feel it, but I receive it. You're always working. You're always working for my place. I may not see it, but I believe it. I keep on waiting. I keep on waiting here for you. I may not feel it, but I receive it. You're always working. Anything is possible. With human. With human. Anything is possible. With human. You're always working for my place. You're always working for my place. You're always working for my place. You're always working for my place. You're always working for my place.

You're always working for my place. You're always working for my place. You're always working for my place. You're always working for my place. You're always working for my place. You're always working for my place. You're always working for my place. You're always working for my place. At each and every one of our campuses, but we will also have our girl Gianna down in the auditorium praying over all of the online chats. We just encourage you guys, go ahead and drop anything that you may feel like that's really big that you're just expecting God for in this season or even just the little things that are on your heart or on your mind today. We want to make sure that we welcome you guys in. My name is Dan Yell. I am so glad that you guys are here today and I'm so grateful to be one of your online hosts. My name is Yolanda. You guys do not know me because this is my first time hosting. FTH, first time hosts. Listen, they just give anybody a mic. Okay, honey, because I don't know about the camera. I am in front of it today and that's okay. That's for good reason though. I know we got some special people watching. It's not just us. I know we're friends.

We got some other friends watching too. We have joining us. The online community. Y'all are in here. Okay, because that's for you. Okay, the online community. Then we've got our first time guest. and also people that are serving and they are watching from the Panda app, hey y'all. - Yes, you guys are so loyal watching every week. And if you just wanna shout out all of you first time, guys, I know if it is your first time watching and attending service with us, go ahead and drop F-T-G in the chat. We're so glad that you guys are here with us today. Go ahead and scan that QR code below because we would love to get to know more about you. Speaking of, you're gonna talk about how you can get more involved. - Absolutely, so the way that you can get involved is by clicking the QR clicking. You don't click it, scan the QR code and go on next steps. Next steps is, that's your guidance into Journey, what we offer here, what you can, how you can serve. It allows you to get connected, it's the first step, okay? And to get in connected and connection is everything because I get to serve next to my friend because at next steps, okay? I'm serving here behind cameras because of next steps. So you can find everything that you can gain

from your church, okay, by going to next steps. And what about, you've got things coming up. - Yeah, I know, we had a lot of things coming up. Another way to get involved is we are launching our Alpha groups today. And Alpha groups are specifically for those of you who you may be new to following Jesus or maybe you've been in the faith for a little bit, but you just have some questions about Jesus or questions just about the Bible. And this is a group where there are no questions that are, you know, too crazy to ask. This is a community built for no judgment zone and just knowing the culture of who Journey is and what is in the Bible. And so if you guys are interested, I know we still have some groups available in person and online, so go ahead and scan that QR code below for all of the info. I know, you're gonna tell us-- - I'm gonna tell my friends about the culture, okay? Because we've got the culture conference coming up. And I'm telling you, my little old self can't go, but it is for middle schoolers, high schoolers, college students and young adults, okay? This is the place to be, okay? Culture conference, I have seen the lineup, there are going to be some phenomenal speakers, okay? They are going to sew into you, bring a friend, bring a friend to church, that's a big,

don't we still do that? I hope so, y'all, we still bring in friends to church. But you're going to wanna be here, you can scan the QR code to register for that, so make sure that you do that, because it's probably gonna fill up, especially when people get to find out who is coming. Let's do that, okay? Then what about you? You've got some things going on. - Yeah, I know, we actually have a generosity story of a girl who is going to be at culture conference. Her name is Krista Lee, and she actually grew up not knowing about Jesus. And so at the age of 14, she started smoking and drinking and just try and fill that hole that was in her heart. And there was actually one night where she was in her car just scrolling TikTok, and she ended up seeing a video from Journey Church. And then it was on her heart that her friend had actually invited her to go to service with her. And so she ended up getting in at Journey Church, watching service, finding Jesus. And now she is plugged in, she joined a women's small group, and she was able to find this amazing community of women that are on this walk with her, and that are praying with her. And then she also joined Journey College. So she is one of our Journey College students as well. And it just goes to show the power of your generosity and it's the power of how Jesus is working

through all of us in this church. And honestly, just the power of prayer too, right? - Listen, praying is everything. And we do that a lot here at Journey. And I can absolutely guarantee you that when we see we're gonna pray for you, we are going to pray for you. But things like culture conference, being able to watch online, all of those things are made possible by your generosity. And if you, it is put on your heart to be generous, you can scan the QR code and figure out what you wanna do, how you can get involved. - Exactly, figure out your ways to give. - Absolutely. - And then I know we are gonna be going to our girl, Gianna in the auditorium. So we just encourage you guys, if you haven't put any of your prayer requests in the chat yet, go ahead and fill those out. There is no prayer too big or too small to share. And we just encourage you guys. - And what was the song? - Yeah, he'll move, he will move. - Exactly, so we are gonna go ahead and transition to our girl, Gianna in auditorium. We'll see you guys after service. - Thank you so much, Danielle and Yolanda. That is right, you guys. It is pray first Sunday.

And I wanna thank you all for submitting your request in the chat. We love pray first Sunday because it's a reminder that God deserves every part of our lives. And one way that we do this is through our finances. The Bible talks about giving God the first 10% of our income. As a sign to surrender, as a sign to trust, as a sign of faithfulness, because God is always ready and available. and the ways that you can do that, like Yolanda said, is getting to the QR code, or going to our Journey Church app. But another way that we put God first in our lives is through prayer. Here at Journey Church, we say that prayer is our first response and not a last resort. And so because of that, I want to encourage you exactly where you're watching from, whether you're at home, in your car, at work, just step into a posture of prayer, whether that means extending your hand to the screen, opening them up in a posture of surrender. Let's go ahead and step into prayer as we read over some of these requests. But God, we are coming to you, God, and we are just asking God for protection over a delivery today, Lord Jesus. We're asking God that you would be with that mother as she is in the room waiting to give birth to her child. God, we ask that you would give her peace. We ask God that you would give her comfort. We ask God for this child that hasn't even been born yet, God, that his life would be dedicated onto you, God, that he would encounter you, that he would know you in a deep, intangible way, God. We ask Lord Jesus that you would give the father's strength to support his wife during this time, God, or just the family that's surrounding her strength, God. Let her know, God, that she is not alone, that you are with her, God, that your presence is there. We thank you, God, for the miracle of life. And we thank you, God, for what you're doing in every single one of our lives, God, even when we don't understand, Lord. And so we ask Lord Jesus if there's anyone, God, that is going through a hard season, God of just health or infertility, God. We know that your work says that you are close to those who are weary and broken hearted, God. And so I pray, God, that you would give them peace. I pray, God, that you

would give them comfort, Lord Jesus. God, we know that one of your names is Jehovah Jaira. It means that you are the God who provides God. You are provider. And so we're lifting up God. Every financial request you got, every need, God, whether that is food, whether that's shelter, whether that's a home, a bed, God, a transportation, God. You know the things that we're in need of, God, and to help us, God, to surrender that to you this morning. Help us, God, to release that into your hands, God, knowing that you are faithful, God, and knowing that you will supply every need that we could ever think or imagine, Lord Jesus. God, we lift up every family. Remember that we're asking for their salvation, God. We lift up God because we know, God, that you pursue your children, God. It doesn't matter how far we go. It doesn't matter how far we run, God. You will always leave the 99 for the one God. And so I just pray, God, that they would just have an encounter with you that changes their life forever, God. Whatever it is, is the thing, so that we are running to God. What are that, drugs, alcohol, sex, whatever it is, God. We release it to you, God. Help us, God, to stop feeding the things that we're asking you to help us to overcome, God. We present it to you, God, knowing God, that you can break any chain, that you can break any stronghold, that you can break any addiction, God. So we present it to you this morning, God. We pray, God, that our home would be an altar to you, that our car would be an altar to you, that our workplace would be an altar to you, God, that we would present you, God, with thanksgiving, God, but willing, God, to sacrifice something, the things that can't come with us, where you're trying to take us, God. Help us to have courage and boldness, God, knowing that we can trust you, knowing that you are sovereign, that you've seen all things, God, that you are transcendent, that you are omnipotent, God, we come to you and we ask God that you would heal the darkest places of our hearts, God, the things that we're struggling with, God, the things that we are having trouble to forgive, God, the things that are poison in us, God, whether that's anger, whether that's bitterness, Holy Spirit, I pray that you would come and invade us, God. Help us to let go of the trauma, help us to let go of the things that hurt us in our childhood, help us to forgive that parent, help us to forgive that friend, knowing God that you paid it all when you went on the cross for us, that there is nothing, God, that can hold us back but ourselves, God, so help us to get out of our own way and to hear what you are saying, God, help us to listen for you, God, and if we don't know, God, may we know that your word is alive and active, that if we want a word from you, all we have to do is open the word, the bread of life, God, the bread of heaven, scripture, God, and I pray, God,

that you would give us the spiritual eyes, the spiritual ears to hear and receive from you, Lord Jesus, but God, we also are just coming to you, God, with our future, God, with the things that we have, our in question, God, with the decisions that we need to make, God, give us wisdom, give us discernment, God, to know how you are leading us, Lord Jesus, and even if we can't see it, it's our hands, God, even if we can't see your hand in this season, God, help us to know that we can trust your heart, God, that your character is consistent, that you never change, Lord, and so I pray, Lord Jesus, that you would help us in the midst of all of it, God, you know, every prayer request that was submitted online and whether they were spoken through my mouth, God, you still see them, God, and I pray, God, that in this moment that they would begin to open their own mouths, God, and begin to ask you the things that they are wanting, prayer, and God, their family, their friends, their job, their finances, their household, all of the things, God, I pray, God, that they would have Because we have authority as your children, and nobody can take that away. We love you, Lord Jesus. We present this on your holy and heavenly name, Amen. As we continue to continue in prayer here, I want to encourage you as we're stepping back into one more song of worship to lean in. God answers the prayers of his children, and so whatever that looks like if you're at work and you need to go to the bathroom and if you're in the car and you need to pull over, I just encourage you to start opening your mouth and praying to God for the things that you're believing for, and we'll continue to pray alongside you here. God bless you, and we can't wait to have you guys received from Pastor J.J. In his word he says that his grace is sufficient for you, and it goes on to say that God's power is made perfect in our weakness. So if you came here today with any weakness, with any anxiety, with any depression, oh, how much more powerful does that make him? Come on, can you just declare God I surrender? Come on, we sing that out. ♪ Here I am ♪ ♪ Here I am ♪ ♪ You can have it all ♪ ♪ You can have it all ♪ ♪ Here I am ♪ ♪ Here I am ♪ ♪ You can have it all ♪ ♪ Come on, He doesn't want your perfection ♪ ♪ He needs your surrender ♪ ♪ Here I am ♪

♪ Come on, can you give it all of you this morning? ♪ ♪ Here I am ♪ ♪ Here I am ♪ ♪ You can have it all ♪ ♪ You can have it all ♪ ♪ You can have it all ♪ ♪ You can have it all, God ♪ Come on, can you sing sound? ♪ I surrender all ♪ ♪ I surrender all ♪ ♪ All to lead my place ♪ ♪ It's Savior ♪ ♪ I surrender all ♪ ♪ In one every location we sing ♪ ♪ I surrender all ♪ ♪ To give it all ♪ ♪ I surrender all ♪ ♪ 'Cause you paid the price ♪ ♪ All to lead my place ♪ ♪ It's Savior ♪ ♪ I surrender all ♪ Come on, would you give it up for Him? ♪ Come on ♪ Well, hey, as you take your seats, why don't you turn to your neighbor and say, "I surrender all." We take our hearts for the word as we take our seats. ♪ ♪ Ten years ago, we said yes to something we couldn't fully see. A church where Jesus would be accessible to anyone.

We didn't know what God would do with that, yes. But God knew he saw the families that would be restored, the poor cared for, the marriages saved, the missionary sent, and the thousands of baptisms and lives. It's obvious to see now that God's hand has been with us the whole time, but it's just the beginning. That's right. As our church steps into a decade of ministry, we're grateful for all who sacrificed 10 years ago to build what we're standing in now. And at the same time, we have to ask ourselves, what are we doing today that we'll be standing generations from now? What decisions are we making that will leave a lasting impact on Orlando and all who come after us? Ten years later, we're overwhelmed by God's goodness. Journey Church is now in three locations in an online campus and even in prisons. Church is happening in abandoned event centers and rental schools just like day one. But now is the time to establish roots, invest in permanent spaces, and reach more communities because of the last ten years we're about making Jesus accessible to anyone. The next ten will be about making Jesus accessible for generations. And the next 10 begins with the next story. For Orlando and for generations to come, and that's why we're on this spiritual journey together. Not to ask, "Have you seen what God has done?" But to ask, "Can you see what God will do?"

Because we can see more campuses opening across Orlando in neighborhoods still waiting to be loved. Not for our egos, for our influence, but for the sake of reaching more people at the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because in order to make a local church effective, it has to be local. I can see kids and youth spaces built as a home where the next generation is introduced to God. And I can see those same students being called in ministry becoming the pastor's worship leaders and missionaries of tomorrow on a journey college campus. And I can see a church that never loses touch with people's pain or God's presence. Church that 100 years from now, God willing, is still here, still bold, still making Jesus accessible to anyone in Orlando and me. This is our moment. This is our calling. The next 10 years will not like themselves, but be written by what we do to it. The sacrifices that we need to be the prayers that we pray that, yes, we say, right now in this world. We believe God has more for journey church, more campuses, more presence, more power, and more in Jesus. Raising up a generation that will carry this further than we ever could. So we're asking you to dream with us, pray with us, build with us. Because what God did in the last 10 years was never the same, it was the foundation. Journey Church, this is our time. This is our future. Can you see it? Give God a hand clap and pray. Amen. Amen. Well, if we haven't met yet, my name is JJ, and alongside my wife Liz, we have the honor and privilege of serving you. Journey Church is this lead pastors, and if you didn't know that, that probably means you are a first time guest. And I just wanted to let you know if you're looking for a home church, I think you found it look no further, not only because you're surrounded by the presence of God, but because you are surrounded by some of the most amazing, honest, open and transparent people in all of Central Florida. Journey Church, will you prove me right by putting your hands together and welcoming all of our first time guests? One more time. Amen. Keep it going for Journey Church Online. What's up, Journey Church Online? Keep it going for Journey East Orlando meeting at University High School.

What's up, guys? And keep it going for Journey Kissimmee meeting at Gateway High School. What up, y'all? And finally, help us welcome all those who are currently incarcerated watching in jails and prisons throughout the United States, who depend on what we're so glad that you're with us. Well, if you are a first time guest, you pick such a great time to be with us here at Journey Church. We are in a spiritual journey called Can You See It? Yeah, we've been talking about vision, dreaming, trying to see the things that God sees in our lives for us, and they're big. And it's a journey. It's a step-by-step thing that God reveals over our life. And I want to kind of get straight into the word because I have so much to cover today. I'm going to do a lot of teaching, I feel like. I think it's going to encourage you. And so if you have a Bible, you can open up to the book of John, John, Chapter 10. And if you are just joining for us, and this is like week one for you, and you're like, what is this series about? It's this one sentence that I've kind of been summarizing this series in. I would like to do that when we're in a series for six weeks, like this one, to kind of keep everybody coming back to the main point here. And this is it. What if we actually believed what God decreed and followed where God leads? I think we would see what God sees. Now, if you have a "Can You See It?" book, you can turn to page 56. It's where our meeting notes, yeah, meeting notes, places for you to take notes, not a meeting message. Message notes. I'm like, meeting feels wrong. It is wrong. Message notes. Message notes is where you can write down how God is speaking to you. If this is your first time here, and you didn't get one of these, you can speak to anybody against experience or go to the tent and they'll find you one. We have saved some for you if you have one and you lost it, you just can't get another one. All right?

Because they're expected to make. But if you go to the guest experience tent and you tell them you're new, then they will give you one. And we won't know, but Jesus will. Amen. Amen. So this is really cool. There's daily devotionals in it. It's a whole thing for six weeks. I think you'll enjoy it. All right. John chapter 10 verse 27. My sheep hear my voice. Somebody say follow me. All right, I'm gonna be able to tell a lot about you in just a second. I'm gonna be able to tell what your childhood was like. I'm gonna be able to tell where you grew up. I'm even gonna be able to tell whether or not you grew up around water by your response to what I am about to say. Here we go. Marco. I already know. Marco. Yeah, so if you're like the 10 people in here who like what the heck just happened. There is this game that children play in bodies of water. In my house back in New York, we had a pool and you would play this game in the pool. You had your eyes closed and when your eyes were closed,

you would say Marco and then there'd be other people in the water and then they would say polo. And then you would try to find them and try and catch them. And the only thing you had to go on was the voice. You couldn't see them, but their voice directed you. And I thought this was such a great image of what it's like to be led by the Lord because when the Lord leads you, it's not what he shows you that leads you. When he leads you, he is leading you with his voice. He speaks and you follow. He says something and you go in the direction of what he said. And I thought it's a really good analogy also because a lot of times you say Marco, the person says polo, you jump in the direction, you thought they were in and you bust your head. And you miss. Like I could have sworn he was right there and I thought that was a good analogy too 'cause I can't tell you how many times I have jumped out at the word of the Lord, thinking it was God and it wasn't. And I missed it. I thought it would help you in church today to hear a pastor say I have sometimes missed the voice of God. I have sometimes thought I was doing what God asked me to do only to find out that I had missed it. Now, and here's what I also really love about Marco Polo.

Listen to me, you can't really, if you haven't played this game, you can't really lose Marco Polo. It just takes a while. Eventually, you catch in polo. As long as polo keeps saying polo and you keep saying Marco, eventually you wanna get there and that's what I love about God. Listen, I've been wrong. I have missed the voice of the Lord but I haven't been wrong long because he keeps saying polo. God doesn't stop speaking and all he'll keep saying polo, hear me as long as you keep saying Marco. As long as you keep reaching now, he'll keep, and I might miss it at first, but eventually I will catch it. If you keep on calling out to the name of the Lord, eventually you will align with the voice of God. God wants to lead you. When God calls you a sheep, by the way, he's not dissing you. He's calling you a sheep to point out something about himself and that is that he is the shepherd. Now, a shepherd is very valuable to the life of a sheep because a shepherd guides the sheep. Guides the sheep to pasture. That's grass and food. Guides the sheep to water. Guides the sheep to shelter when the storms and the lightning striking it. And he guides the sheep to safety

'cause the shepherd knows where the wolves are, knows where the cliffs come to an end. And God wants to lead you to these places. God wants to be your shepherd, but when he leads you, he's going to be leading you, leaning in with his voice, with his voice. When I heard God call the sheep, I started to do a breakdown of the anatomy of a sheep because that's what you do when you're a pastor. Break stuff down. And I looked at the anatomy of a sheep and I compared it to the anatomy of a human at specifically the head. And you'll notice some things here in this picture about the sheep and the head. Yes, those pictures are from Chad GPT. That's obvious, let's get that out the way. All right. So if you notice, what are some things you noticed about the difference between the sheep head and the human head? Yeah, there's a couple of differences. The first difference is the placement of the eyes. A sheep has its eyes placed on the side of its head. The reason why a sheep has its eyes placed on the side of its head is because it understands that it is a prey animal. That is that other animals prey on it. And so its eyes on the side of its head because it has tremendous peripheral vision

so that it can see any predators that are coming alongside it. Which sounds like an advantage, but it's actually a disadvantage. Every time the sheep moves, it is moving out of distraction. Every time the sheep moves, it is moving out of comparison, because it sees the other sheep moving to the moves where the other sheep move. But the reason why I wanted to put that sheep head next to the human head is because I wanted to let you know that God didn't build you to focus on what's beside you. God built you to focus on what's ahead of you. God built you to move forward. God built you not to be distracted to the left or to the right, but to keep trudging forward. That's the eyes. But now, what about the ears? If you notice, the sheep ears are way bigger than the human ears, unless you got ears like mine. That's the last day in front of my ears this morning, this morning. See me when I was preaching about, I said, "That's confirmation." Also, I don't care. My mom loves me. Yeah, the sheep has huge ears because God is trying to teach us something. He's trying to teach us that while sheep are not great at moving forward, sheep are really good at hearing. And the way I'm going to guide you and lead you and direct you is not through what you see, but by through what you hear. I want you to write this down if you're taking notes. God inspires you with the vision, but leads you with a voice. God will often download pictures in your life of what your life can be. And we've all seen those pictures. They're hard to describe, but we've seen pictures of the family. God promised us. We've seen pictures of the children. We've seen pictures of the ministry in our heads. We've seen pictures of the business. We've seen pictures of the vacations. We've seen pictures of all of the businesses and all the amazing things that God has asked us to do. But that is a picture. When God wants to get you going from one place to that,

he stops with the pictures and he starts giving you directions. He leads with his voice. This is very biblical. He gave Abraham a vision. Look at the stars in the sky. That's how your descendants are going to be. But then right after that, he was like, "All right, now go here and I'll stop here and I'll do that and I'll say that." To Moses, he gave him a vision of a burning bush. And then while that bush was burning and he saw a vision of God's holiness, God told Moses, "Now go to Pharaoh and let my people go and go grab this stuff and go do that." To Saul Paul, who was on the road to Damascus, he got a vision, the author of two thirds of the Testament, got a vision of Jesus so bright that it knocked him off his horse that he went blind for a couple of days. And then in the midst of his blindness, God told me, he said, "All right, now go to a house on the corner of Straight Street and there's going to be a man. That man's going to go there. He's going to pray for you and that's how you're going to get your vision back." God gives vision, inspires through vision, but direction through voice. God speaks, and I can't tell you about all the everyday believers, the using the means who are constantly directed by God's voice every single day. The question isn't, y'all, in church, does God speak? The question is, and this is the title of my sermon, and I'm sorry, I took 10 minutes to get here, but this is the title of my sermon. The question isn't, does God speak? The question is, can you hear it? Can you hear it? I find it interesting that it is not weird to believe that God exists. Like even if you're in this room today and this is your first time at church ever, just the fact that you are even here, just the fact that you even let somebody invite you, tells me that at some level, you are open to the possibility that God is real. That would not bug you out to figure that out if someone said, "I believe God is real," but if someone said, "God told me," you would freak out. Because for some reason, it's not weird to think God is real. It's only weird to hear God speak. It's only weird to think God speaks, and it's like, "If you're going to be open to his reality, you've got to be open to his voice because they come hand in hand." But at the same time, I understand why you feel the way that you feel, and that is because the abuse and misuse of the phrase, "God told me." God told me, my mom, when she was younger in church, and she got pregnant with my sister, and the doctor told her that my sister would be having Down syndrome, and she was misalimmed. She went to her small group at church and said, "Can you pray for me? This is what the doctor said." And someone in her small group told her,

"The reason why your baby is coming out like that is because you're in sin. God told me." Now, that person obviously don't know my mom. My mom is the most sinless person that I've ever met. I'm sure she sins. I just haven't seen it in 40 years. Haven't seen it. Liz, when Liz was past Liz was going up in church, a pastor looked at her. She was at the altar for a ministry moment. The pastor looked at her, pointed at her, said, "You," and then pointed at a guy, and said, "This guy, you guys are going to get married. You You guys are meant to be the better God told me. This isn't one of those stories that's like and I was that guy, you know, I don't know where that guy is I don't know if he's serving the Lord. Oh, well, here's why I don't know. Hey last name's Vasquez. That's all I know And someone's whole destiny almost thwarted because of what God said so but here's what we can't just I know this abuse I know this misuse, but here's what we can do. We can't throw the baby out with the bathwater Because a couple of people have abused and misused it. We can't stop believing that God speaks There is a whole aspect of your relationship with God that you are missing out on If you not open up to the voice of the Lord So I want to teach you today. And it's a lot on my plate. I got 22 minutes. Here's what I want to teach you to do today It's gonna be class. So pull out your notebooks. Okay, it's gonna be class. I'm gonna try and teach you how to discern Recognize and expect God's voice Respect God's voice because I think we have to ask this first question when I say expect God's voice I think before I can tell you how to hear God's voice I think I think I got first asked the question that you at asking yourself, but can God speak to me? Because I think there's some people who don't think I can speak or I don't know what to do with you I'm gonna try and convince you today in the sermon. I'm gonna try but then there are people who do I really got can speak I just I just don't think God speaks to people like me Because I'm not a pastor or I'm not a monk or I'm not a nun or I'm not a priest that I was in the club last night I don't even know if God is real. I don't think God can speak to me and if that's you today. I want to Read a verse of scripture that has always encouraged me in those seasons Isaiah chapter 30 verse 21 Says this whether you turn to the right or to the left Your ears will hear a voice behind you someone say behind you Saying this is the way walking it a

Couple weeks ago. I took my son Zayn out on a rite of passage ceremony is what we do with my boys When they turn 13 Kind of his introduction into manhood and one of the things that we do is we do something really hard And so what we decided to do when he turned 13 was to climb a 14,000 foot mountain This is a picture of us halfway up. This is a picture of us halfway up Now I need you to know that what you see in the background. That's not a fog machine That's not fog We are that is literal cloud We are walking through clouds. I wish I could help you understand the Immensity of 14,000 feet above sea level, but to give you some picture right now you are at five feet If you're in the top row 30 feet Above sea level, but but this is it's we're up there and it was a fun trip most of the time There was some other parts of the trip that were not so much fun That's not a post picture. That's not a fake picture. That is a real picture Bro is passed out me too. We're Florida people Okay, the oxygen down here and the oxygen up there are totally different. It was super hard It was super difficult, but I want you to see is I'm gonna show you a video now of us climbing What I want you to see is where I am in relation to Zane Zane is in the middle right there He's walking up the mountain the person in front of him is the guide I'm behind Zane when I told Zane that we were getting ready to go for a hike I said buddy the guide is gonna go in front of you and you're gonna be in the middle and I'm gonna go behind you and I said there's a reason why I'm behind you remember the voice said I'm gonna be a voice behind you It's because I don't know where God is going to lead you God is going to be the one who leads you and there are some places where God leads you that I can't help you get to because I've never been there before but I just need you to know Zane that wherever God leads you if you just look over your shoulder I'll be there I'll be behind you a father Behind you whether you go to the left or whether you go to the right. I will be behind you It's interesting that God said you will when you go to the left or to the right

I want you will hear a voice behind you saying because the shepherd doesn't lead the sheep from behind the sheep He leads the sheep from in front of the sheep So when he says behind the sheep he has switched the metaphor from a sheep to a prodigal son or a prodigal daughter He's saying it doesn't matter how far you run It doesn't matter how far you go I just need you to know that whenever you look back there where I will be right behind you Whether you turn to the left or to the right. Listen, you could be in the club You could have been in the club last night dancing God will the voice of God will find you in the club You will be jamming and you will hear the voice of God. You should be in church This is the way Walking it I'm trying to help you out you could be you could be at the bar Just throwing down bought off the ball and after you're drinking and you're just trying you can hear the voice of God This is not the way Come to church and you drink more and more to try and drown out that voice. Let's be honest But that voice just gets louder and louder. This is the way who is not your spouse and the voice of God will be right with you when the sheets come off. Talking about this is not the way, this is the way. Walk in it, you cannot outrun the voice of God. (audience applauding) Can do it. I've tried. My whole life felt God calling me into my teenage years. I'm like, "Dack up, Jesus." I'm gonna do what I want and God let me go 'cause he's a good father. But the whole time when I was doing my whole thing, this is the way, this is the way. Walk in it, walk in it, walk in it. Can God speak to me?

Yes. But I turned left, he turned left with you. But I turned right, he turned right with you. And they need you to believe that you can hear it. 'Cause if I don't start there, then nothing I say will apply 'cause you're gonna apply to me. No, no, no, if you're in this room today, God is speaking to you, amen? All right, now we gotta go through the four ways God speaks and I gotta hit this fast. First way we hear God, we hear God through his word. The Bible. Now, I wanna start here because this is the foundation. Everything you hear from God needs to align with Scripture, everything. It always needs to be in the Bible. This is why we call it the word of God. Always in the Bible. Revelation chapter one, verse three, the apostle John is right into the seven churches in Asia. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words, someone say aloud. This is important of this prophecy. And blessed are those who hear, someone say hear, and take it to heart, someone say heart. What is ran in it because the time is near. I'm gonna say something that is very controversial. Like if social media wanted to make a slide out of this or like post this on Instagram,

they could cut me off halfway and we will have a million comments in the comments of the Instagram post. Well, I'm gonna just say it and then you gotta give me time to finish the sentence. Ready? Stop reading the Bible. And start listening to it. 'Cause there's a big difference between reading your Bible and listening to God. When the apostle John says, "Whoever reads these words aloud, "and whoever hears them will be blessed." The reason why he said that is because up until the 1400s, people didn't even read the Bible. What do you mean people didn't read the Bible? People didn't read the Bible, are you ready? 'Cause there wasn't many Bibles in print. Every Bible that was ever written was handwritten. So they were super expensive and there weren't a lot out there. In fact, if you went to the library, the Bible would have been chained to the table. So no one stole it and tried to sell it. There weren't a lot of Bibles out there because there wasn't a lot of books out there. Nobody really read, there was no need to read. So most people were illiterate. So whenever Paul wrote a letter to the church or John wrote a letter to the church,

there was maybe one or two people who knew how to read. And then they would take the scroll and they would read it aloud. And then everyone else would hear what the person was reading. It wasn't until the 1400s when a man named Gutenberg invented something called a printing press that books were mass produced. Once books became mass produced and they were inexpensive to get, then people learned how to read. But when that happened, a shift happened. 'Cause remember, before the 1400s, everybody is listening to the word. After the 1400s, everybody is reading the word and a shift happened between a relationship with a person and the reading of a page. Did you catch it? They're different. 'Cause when the person is speaking, I have to see the words as they are coming out of the mouth of a person. So I don't see a page, I see a person. But when I see a page, all I see in is words. So I don't have to lean in. So there's a difference, my wife is very clear. She has taught me over the years the difference between words and listening. Very clear. She told me the last Sunday, I was watching football and she wanted to have a deep conversation with me

in the middle of the football game, which is like, she knows that's not good. We've been there eight to a year, don't do that. But she had to talk to me about it. So I'm trying not to miss the game and I'm trying to listen. And so the game is on and I'm like, uh-huh, uh-huh. And she's like, look at me when I'm speaking to you. Pause that game and look at me when I'm speaking to you. And as much as I want to argue with her, that I can do both. After 18 years of marriage fellas, just give it up. We can't do both. It's not real. I have to lean in, I have to look, I have to listen. Here's what I learned in that exchange. That there is a difference between the exchanging of words and listening. When you read, you can read and not pay attention, but listening requires leaning in. That's what I say, stop reading, start listening. When you read, you can read a book and close it 'cause when you read a book, the reader's in charge. If somebody, but when you are in a conversation, you can't close the listener up, the listener's in charge. The speaker's in charge. The speaker is the one who's speaking. You can't walk away, the speaker is gonna follow you. As you walk away and keep talking to you and telling you, when you read, you can learn facts. But when you listen, you get to know a person.

When you read, you can read and nothing can get in. Somebody's saying, "Man, I've never done that before." Come on, you read this stuff. I read books all the time. Close it, ask me what I read. I don't know. (congregation laughing) You can read and nothing gets in, but you can listen without it getting. It's in the word. (congregation talking) Listen, listen. You can't do it, I'm gonna put a quick example of what this looks like of what, okay, that's great. So I gotta listen, but how do I do that practically? You see how you can do it? I want you to imagine that this water here is the Word of God. And there are a lot of people who study the Word of God and break it down into all of its pieces. And that's awesome. I make a living doing that, breaking down the Word of God and studying it and all that. But I don't live off of doing that. If people break down the water, they're like, oh, this is not just water, this is H2O. And it's hydrogen, and it's oxygen. Oh, and there's electrolytes. Oh, and there's minerals. Oh, and there's the phosphate levels

and the sulfur levels and the toxicity. This is evaporated water, this is what it is. They can do all that ready and die of dehydration. 'Cause they never let it. This is what people do. This word in the Greek, this word in the Hebrew. Actually, the historical, cultural context, and your dead. Because you did not let it in. Practically speaking, this is the Word of God. And every cup here is like your day. And every day is different because every day is shape different. And that's why I recump this shape different. And so some days you wake up and you're afraid. This is like, this is a scary vase to me. It's like a witch vase right here. And you got the Word of God, and you're afraid. And you're not just reading, you're listening. And what you're reading about, you're reading about a war or a battle. And you're like, and you're afraid. And you're like, what the heck does this battle have to do? Here's what listening means. It means God, what are you trying to tell me? So you read about that battle, you're afraid. And you go, oh, maybe, okay, I hear you, Lord. What you're saying is, I don't have to be afraid because you won the battle. And you're going to win the battle that I'm facing right now. I receive that, Lord God, I don't have to be afraid.

You let the Word in. Maybe this is a very ornate vase. This is a very busy vase. Maybe you wake up in the morning and you're super busy. And you barely got time to read your Bible. You just open up to the first page and you find yourself in Genesis. And you're like, boo, Genesis. I need action. I need something, God, busy. God, I need something to help me calm my soul. But you read Genesis anyway. And all of a sudden, the Word gets in. What do you mean the Word gets in? What are you reading? What are you reading that humans were made on the sixth day? And they came into a world that was already made. And as you're leaning and listening, you hear God tell you, I don't need you to keep the world spinning. I did it without you in the beginning. And I can do it without you now. Take a nap. Half piece. I got your back. Are you seeing how it fits the moment? You might wake up in the morning and feel empty. Feel basic, feel bored, feel sad. And you open up your Bible, the middle of your Bible. You go, the beginning doesn't work. I'm open up in the middle.

And you open up to the book of Psalms. By the way, if you wonder why you keep opening up your Bible, and it keeps going, it's 'cause you keep opening it up in the middle. (congregation laughing) You're probably gonna get the Psalms. And you're like, God, what are you trying to tell me? I'm sad. Why do I hear all this praise? Hallelujah. Worship the Lord. This is not helping me unless you listen. And you go, oh, I see what you're doing. You're telling me to praise because I'm sad about my emptiness. But my emptiness is actually just ignoring the fact that I have you and all the things that you've given me. That's right. Praise the Lord, my soul. Oh, so why are you downcast? Thank you for my breath. Thank you for my family. Thank you for these legs. Thank you for my passion. Thank you for this heart. Thank you for this ministry. Thank you for my children. Thank you for my life. Thank you for breath. Oh Lord, thank you for you. Thank you for Jesus.

Does it make sense? You gotta let it in. You gotta let it in. Here's the next one 'cause I got three more. I got eight minutes. And so we're gonna go fast. We hear God through His world. Through His world. We hear God through His world. Romans chapter one, verses 19 and 20. They know the truth about God because He has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and the sky. Look, and God is preaching through the world. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities, His eternal power and the divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Paul is answering the question, what about those people who didn't grow up in church? What about those people who didn't grow up in God? I'm a preach to them. I'm gonna speak to them. If I gotta speak to them through trees, I'll speak to them. God speaks through the world. I grew up in New York City, which pretty much means I can sleep through anything. Noises don't bother me. I grew up listening to ambulances,

and grew up listening to fireworks going off, and grew up listening to people staying up 'til three in the morning talking. The city doesn't sleep. So you're gonna have to learn how to sleep, and the city doesn't sleep. And so, I can sleep through anything. Until I got married. So Liz, who did not grow up in New York, and then we'd be in the middle of the night, she'd be like, "Do you hear that sound?" (audience laughing) Our first house was by a train track. Every time the train went up, "Do you hear the train?" And I'm like, "I do now." (audience laughing) I never heard the train ever, ever. I slept right through the train. Ever since she brought up the train, I can't stop hearing the train. We got into another house, and we had some squirrels in the walls. (mimicking sounds) Hey, hey, hey, yeah? Where's meal? Did you hear that sound? What sound? (mimicking sounds) I hear it now, can't go back to sleep. Now I hear it all the time.

Here's my question. Did the noise get louder? No, I heard it. Not because the noise got louder. I heard it because I became more aware. God doesn't need to speak louder. He's already speaking. You need to become more aware to the fact that God is speaking through all things. And you listen in, God can speak to you through nature. If you're on the beach, this is how God speaks to me. If I'm on the beach and you see your footprints on the sand, and the wave comes, and it washes away your footprints. I hear God in that moment go, this is exactly what I did with your sins. This is exactly what I've done with your bad choices. I wash it away when it's night, and I see the sunrise. I hear the Lord, I know it feels dark right now, but I am on the way, I am rising, and the way that you see my hope rise, and I'm gonna rise in your situation. It's not just nature, it's movies. God speaks to me through movies all the time. I waited 'til my kids were 12 years old, so they could watch Rocky together as a family. I didn't wanna waste it. So we put Rocky on together, and while Rocky is going on, God is speaking to me every 15 minutes at Rocky. I'm literally pausing the movie, talking to the kids, and be like, did you see that's like God?

How in the moment, and that's how, if you ever wonder what it's like, be my kid, it's like that. Movies get paused, and we have Bible studies. In the middle of the movie, being paused, that's why I just can't stop hearing God. I hear him everywhere, and I'm so glad it's gotten in them too. Zane, he bought this little toy, this little cube, and you press it, and then, but then, if you leave it, over enough time, it turns back to the original shape that it was, even though he squashed it. He was like, "Dad." I was like, "Yeah, he's like, "That's a preach." (congregation laughing) I said, "What do you mean, son?" He goes, "Just like that, 'cause the devil's gonna try "and squeeze you and crush you." But when God is on yourself, you're always gonna return back to the way that he got you. (congregation cheering) And what he didn't know is that that's a Bible verse. I was pressed hard on every side, but not crushed. I was persecuted, but not in despair. I was pressed down, but not destroyed. I made it through. God brought me through. He heard the voice of God. I wish you could hear the voice of God in everything. You can, you know, by the way. And a lot of people take this the wrong way.

They see the devil in everything. You ever have someone get stomach hurt at night and be like, "The devil?" (congregation laughing) I've rebuked the devil. We're like, "Bro, rebuke little Caesars." (congregation laughing) That's what you need to rebuke. You need to rebuke those two for five specials. That's what you need to rebuke the devil. Can I help you? This is, I hope this changes your mind. The devil's not in everything, but God is. (congregation cheering) God is, God is, even in suffering or specially in suffering. You can hear him. I think we hear him the clearest in suffering 'cause he has our attention. Even in poverty, especially in poverty. 'Cause we don't got the TV bill to distract us. He speaks. Next way we hear God speak. We hear God speak through his people. Through his people. Galatians chapter two, verses one through two. Then after 14 years, Paul is saying it. I went up to Jerusalem this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. I went in response to a revelation.

I'm gonna explain this in just a second. And meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders. Somebody say leaders. I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure that I was not running and had not been running my race in vain. For many years, Paul is in the desert. He's preaching, he's learning, he's studying his Bible. The Holy Spirit is ministering to him and he has this idea of what the gospel is. And then he takes this gospel and he goes to the leaders and Jerusalem. Those are the apostles. Those are the people that walked with Jesus 'cause Paul did not walk with Jesus in flesh. Like the rest of the disciples did. So he goes to the Matthews, the John, the Peters, the Simons and the Jews and he sits down. He goes, "Hey guys, I've been preaching this thing And that's Paul, because Paul knew that the heart is deceitfully wicked above all else. Paul knew that he could not be trusted to hear God in isolation. So he took what he thought God told him and he verified it with the Christian community. If Paul had to do that, how much more would you and I have to do that? If you get a vision, if you get a dream, if God speaks to you and tells you something,

you should bring it to the people of God. Bring it to your pastor, bring it to your team leader, bring it to your small group. You know, I'm not in a small group. Get in a small group, bring it to your small group, share it with them and see what God said. Do you know of all the New Testament books, only four are written individuals? First and second Timothy, Titus and Philemon. The rest of them are just to the community. You know what that tells me? That tells me this, you're not the only one God speaks to. You're not the one God speaks, I'm sorry. You don't have a direct light and the rest of us don't like no. And sometimes you might hear some things and it might not be God, it might be the enemy. So you need to bring that up. If you meet me in the lobby and you're like, hey pastor, God told me to be a missionary to Africa. I'm gonna respond, share, go, that might be God. Because God does some crazy wild things and he might be asking, let me help you. Here's the resources, here's the training. But if you come into the lobby and be like, hey pastor, God told me to be a missionary on OnlyFans. (congregation laughing) Yeah, he gave me the whole plan, pastor. I'm gonna take picture of my feet. Then the men are gonna DM me, then I'm gonna get them to subscribe.

But once I've subscribed, I got them hooked fast. 'Cause when they ask for the second pick, I'm gonna send a journey invitation. That might not be God. (congregation laughing) And you just need to get some people around you, you could be like, I don't know who you're talking to. (congregation laughing) But that's not the Lord. I've had people tell me, pastor, God told me to end my marriage. Was there adultery? No. Is there abuse? No. Have they left you? No, what happened? I fell in love with another woman and she makes me happy and I know God wants me to be happy. God doesn't want you to be happy. God wants you to be faithful. God wants you to keep the promises that you made and His presence in front of witnesses. God wants you to love even when you don't feel loved. Like He does with us. I didn't even get around some people. Here's the last thing, I gotta hit this quick. We hear God through prayer and His Spirit. Prayer and His Spirit. Now this is so, I left this at the end intentionally because when you think about a message about hearing God,

you would think prayer would be the first thing. But prayer is actually the second thing. What do you mean? Because the Spirit speaks first. See, the reason why I put the Spirit at the end in my presentation here, so it feels like I forgot to teach it right now, it's got a presentation of this, is because the word, the world and the community are all instruments of the Holy Spirit. This is what the Bible says, ready? Ephesians 6, 17, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. So who uses the word, who speaks to you through the word? The Holy Spirit, who is the Holy Spirit? Yes, God is the still small voice on the inside of each and every word of us. Genesis 1, 2, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. So nature, who's the one speaking to you through nature? The Holy Spirit. Look at Acts 15, 28, it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to who? Community. The Spirit will speak through community. Why do I bring this up? Because prayer is our response to what God has already said. God speaks with his Spirit, and prayer is what we respond to.

Look at Psalms 27, eight. My heart has heard you say, come and talk with me. And my heart, what responds? Lord, I'm gonna ask a quick question, it's not a hard one. Who initiated the conversation? My heart has heard you say, come speak with me. And I am responding, I'm coming. The Spirit speaks. I'm gonna flip it. Remember that whole game, Marco Polo, that we did in the beginning? Remember, here's the twist, ready? Here's the twist, you're not Marco. You're a Polo. From the day you entered into this Earth, Ashley, Timothy, Billy, they make it multicultural. Juan, Ray Ray, Alex, Devon, and God is light. Tim, Danny, Bobby, Richard, Liz. He's been calling you, he's been chasing you. Where's the polo? Where's the, here I am Lord? I'm coming. That's what prayer is. Prayer is not, I wanna say something to God. Let me speak, hopefully God responds. That's what you think prayer is. I'm about to flip, pray on his head for you. It's not that, here's what prayer is.

Prayer is, God has already said something to me. Let me listen, hopefully I respond. Every time I get into prayer now, it's shifted. I get into prayer, I ask a little Lord, what are you saying? What are you already saying that I missed throughout the week? What are you already saying? And my prayer now is a response to what he's asking, teaching, instructing, revealing, say it Lord. And when you pray like this, this is a game changer. Prayer becomes less about trying to get God to do what we want and more about God doing what he wants in us. (congregation applauding) When you start praying like that, you stop trying to get God to do your will and you start aligning your life with the will of God. And can I tell you something? He's been speaking. Christoph, Sandra, Charlie, where's the response? Hey, let's not waste one more minute. Let's respond right now. Every head, body, every eye closed, all over this room. There are things that God has been asking of you. What is gonna be your response? There's some relationships that are ungodly in the room today and you have been hearing the voice of the Lord through counsel, community, through scripture, through preaching, through the spirit, through nature, telling you it's time to let go of that relationship. It's not serving you and it's not serving the kingdom. What is gonna be your response?

Yes or no to God, that is your prayer. Some people, God has blessed you financially and there are people around you that are struggling and God is like it's time to be generous with what I've given you. It's time to be generous with the finances. I've blessed you with blessed others, help others. There's someone who's been holding on to a grudge in this room right now of somebody who has hurt them and abused them when they were a child and it didn't make it right, but you hear the voice of God. You know what the voice of God is saying? It's time to forgive them. It's time to let that person go. It's time to release the consequences. Let me be the judge. What are you gonna tell God? That is prayer, so our response to the voice of God. Respond, take a second, take a second. I'll give you a second right now. Talk to the Lord, respond. What is he asking you to do? Some of you, here's the voice of God he's saying, trust me, why won't you trust me? Why do you doubt me? Why are you afraid? Don't be afraid, I'm with you, I'm with you. What are you gonna respond? What's your response? Would you respond to the Lord today?

'Cause semi-campus, gateway-campus. Would you respond? University, would you respond? East Orlando, would you respond online? Respond to the Lord. Father's in the room, you are far from Jesus. Someone invited you to church today and it was your first time in a long time. It was not happenstance. You know why you said yes to that invitation? Because Jesus was calling me. Marco, today is your chance to raise your hand and go, "Polo, I'm right here, Jesus." Catch me, I'm ready to come home. It asks you on the count of three, whether you're in this room, if you're at our East Orlando or Kissimmee campus or you're watching online or you're in a prison cell right now. On the count of three, that's you and you're ready to respond to the voice of the Lord and come back to Jesus. Make him the Lord and save you alive for the first time or for the first time in a long time. Raise your right hand high if that's you. One, two, three, all over this room, all over our campuses. I see those hands go up right now. I see those hands, I see those hands, I see those hands, so many.

Praise God, wow, praise the Lord. Whether you raise your hand or not, I want the entire church to pray out loud. Father God, I hear you. I'm coming and I'm coming to all of my shame and all of my sin and all of my fear and all of my doubts and all of my wants. And I lay 'em all at your feet. And in return, I receive all of your love and all of your love and all of your hope and all of your strength and all of your faith and all of you. Jesus Christ, be the Lord and Savior of my life in your name we pray, amen. And amen, will you help me? Welcome to the family of God, all of those who made the decision to follow Jesus today. - Welcome back, guys. If you made the decision to follow Jesus today, just know that all of heaven is rejoicing along with us. We're so excited to take this next step with you. So we wanna get to learn more about you. We will have someone from our online team actually contact you. We wanna get to know more about you and just know how you found Jesus. Go ahead, scan the QR code below And what an amazing service. Like, could you imagine that was your first sermon that you heard?

And you chose to follow Jesus? Like, what a word. I was just talking about it. - I'm still in awe because I was just sharing with Danny before we came on that my husband and I leave a small group. And we, I prepare the lessons we meet by weekly and I prepare the lessons a week and a half, two weeks ahead, and the night before he woke me up the morning of and completely shifted. And it was, the lesson was, what or who are you listening to? - Ooh. - And then that sucks. - And Patrick JJ gets up and he's talking about, you know, what are we listening to? Are we, how are we hearing from God? - Yeah. - And I realized that we, we were talking about rainbows and just how we see God moving 'cause I had never connected hearing God, we say it, we do it, but just never really connected about the rainbows or just something that's happening. The sand washing over. - Yeah. - But God is everywhere and he's speaking. Are we listening? - 100% in all, just in those small moments, right? I think that's something that really stuck out to me too. And especially with his, the visual of the, the sheep and the man and just like how God created us.

So specifically for such a purpose and how amazing is that? - You know another thing too, being in your word because he speaks to us through his word. If you're in your word and the, and the world is doing what is doing, if you're in your word, you can hear, you can interpret what he's giving you through the world and all the other methods that he uses to speak to us. - Yeah. - You can interpret it because that word is just ingrained in your heart. - Yes. - Hey man, now we got Yolana preaching a sermon over here. We're inspired, but we wanna know what you guys got from the sermon, go ahead, drop your thoughts, your takeaways, anything in the chat that you'd like to share. And of course, if you guys want to get more involved, you wanna make sure that you can take the next step with us, go ahead and scan the QR code below so you can start step one. That way you get to learn more about us at Journey Church. And then we get to learn more about you as well. And then I know we got a whole bunch of surgeons. - I'm sorry, you gotta go to YouTube. My brain is still on the sermon. Forgive me guys, but, and I'm gonna go to YouTube to re-watch this sermon so I can gather my notes and get the last clip of it. - Yes. - And just really dive into it, so YouTube.

- Yeah, share it with whoever you may know, may need the message today too. Share that YouTube link, share the next, you know, the after talk podcast, that's another great thing. So there's a lot of good stuff on YouTube. Make sure to subscribe, share with your friends, share with family, whoever needs to see it today. - Subscribe so you don't miss it. - Exactly. - You won't miss it. - That part. - You won't miss it. - Well, I believe that is all that we have for you guys today, but we're so thankful that you're able to join us for service. We hope and pray that it blessed you today, and we will see you guys next week. - We love you guys. - We love you guys. See you next week. - Bye. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)