WHEN GOD INTERRUPTS YOUR PLANS - Tim Dilena

- Now, I wanna say this, and then we're gonna pray, and we'll dismiss the choir, as I was so thankful for what the Lord is doing. I know Geo mentioned, because we were talking about chapter by chapter, as I was reading and preparing for chapter by chapter. We're presently in second Kings, I'm sorry, second Samuel, and we're getting ready to go into Kings, and I was reading through and just getting ready to get my mindset on this new passing of the baton from Solomon to David, from David to Solomon, and as I was reading First Kings, my heart was arrested by a certain chapter that was there. And as I was reading through this, I realized how important it was that I just, I slowed down in reading this. I'm so excited, thank God for what the Lord is doing, Bible app and all those things is wonderful. Our goal is, my heart is so excited when it's spreading out, touching the world. We just found out that it was in, it's in so far, we have 71 nations that have joining chapter by chapter and going on this journey with us. Next year we do, by God's grace, we're gonna get it in all of the 16 language channels that we'll be able to. It becomes a discipleship too, that's the main reason. We felt God's hand was upon this, following God's will, listening to God's voice, and we wanna make sure that God's presence is over this,

and I'll explain why that's important. So as I was preparing First Kings, I was reading through a chapter fast, and God interrupted my reading and said, "You're missing something, you're missing something, "you're missing something." In fact, it was a section of scripture that I was reading that in my mind, and many times in all of our minds, as you were reading about a building project, it's so easy to just to try to get through that. In fact, what God did in this building project is what he did to me. God interrupts this massive building project because he had something to say, and I was just reading through it, and God interrupted me because he wanted to speak to me, and here's what I wanna say to you. When God interrupts your plans, you better stop what you're doing. When God is interrupting your plans and what you're doing, stop what you're doing, and listen to what he's saying. That's what I had to do, and that's what this building project had to do. I wanna step, prepare our hearts, 'cause I really believe God wants to speak to us today. Father, I thank you for your Holy Spirit. We've sensed them all throughout the worship, all throughout the choir songs,

even as we're listening to what you're doing in Ecuador on the screen for the offering. What a blessing for what you're doing. And I believe there's something you're gonna do today. You're gonna interrupt paths and lives today, and you're gonna begin to speak life. So God, I'm asking you today to speak life in this place, not just in person, but for those watching around the world. Would you move in nations, into the States here? Would you move on First Nation people, and in university campuses? May your Holy Spirit come and speak to us today. We bless you, and we praise you in Jesus' name. And everybody said, amen. Now, before you sit down, this is the one o'clock service. I have to dismiss the choir, and I have to bring a screen down. Would you greet about three or four people and just say, "Hi, my name is, "and thank you for coming to church today." God bless you. - Thanks, guys. [audience laughing] - This was God's most elaborate building project, and he did it with the wisest king as he was embarking upon a building project that probably could be the most expensive building project in human history. It was called Solomon's Temple. It needed 200,000 workers, as you'll see

in the Book of Kings as we come to that. It needed also seven years to complete this project. Building Solomon's Temple at today's prices for precious metals is estimated to cost close to 500 billion dollars. That's how massive this project is, but you're gonna see the reason why. There was things that were happening with precious metals that Solomon began to make ornate through this. That's almost five times the price of the most expensive building in the world, which is the great mosque of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. First Kings is the beginning of this project. Then something happens in the middle of a $500 billion project. God is going to interrupt him. I remember reading Dr. James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, Counselor, telling a story in his book, Coming Home, about forgetting our original purposes. And that we could find ourselves going on journeys for 10, 20 years and forgetting why. And he told the story about the greatest tomb that was ever built in the world that still stands today and people still visit today. It's called the Taj Mahal in India. It's one of the most beautiful and costly tombs. It was a tomb for the Shah's wife. But there's something fascinating about this when it all started in 1629. When the wife of the Indian ruler, the Shah Jahan died, he ordered a magnificent tomb, a memorial,

to be built in behalf of his wife. The Shah placed his wife's casket in the middle of the parcel of land and ordered construction to happen all around it as a constant reminder of what they were doing. And so for several years, it would take 22 years to build this. And over a number of years, the Shah's grief gave way to the passion for the project. Keep that in mind. He wasn't no longer, he was no longer grieving, but he wanted to get this thing built. And one day while he was serving the site, he reportedly stumbled over a wooden box and he had some workers throw it out. It was the casket. He threw out his wife in the middle of building her tomb, 22 years in building and you throw out the reason why you built it. That now you are so passionate about a structure, you forget the reason why. That the original purpose for the memorial became lost in the details of the construction. This, this is first Kings chapter six. It's making sure that God has not lost in this project. In fact, God interrupts Solomon's building project so he doesn't trip over the casket. For the Shah, the casket with his wife's remains for this elaborate tomb. Now the casket was in the way.

Now the casket was an obstacle of the project instead of the reminder of the project. I wanna read to you first Kings chapter six. Now you gotta bear with me. I'm gonna read a number of scriptures, but it's gonna sound like I'm reading kind of a job site description from a general contractor. You're gonna have to bear with me, but there's a reason behind this. As you're gonna see both intricacies and the ornate, then you're gonna see the interruption. But it's important that we see, because I read this so fast and missed. It was almost as if God interrupted me as he did Solomon for a lesser reason, but it was important. But I want you to see this with me. This is how first Kings six starts. Now it came about in the 480th year after the sons of Israel came out of the land of Egypt in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel in the month of Ziv, which is the second month that he began to build the house of the Lord. And as for the house, which King Solomon built for the Lord, it's lent with 60 qubits, it's with 20 qubits, it's heights 30 qubits. The porch in front of the nave of the house was 20 qubits in left, corresponding to the width of the house and its depth along the front of the house was 10 qubits. Also for the house, he made windows with artistic frames against the wall of the house.

He built stories encompassing the walls of the house around both the nave and the inner sanctuary. That's he made side chambers all around. The lowest story was five qubits wide. The middle was six qubits wide. The third was seven qubits wide. From the outside, the made offsets in the wall of the house all around in order that the beams would not be inserted in the walls of the house. Some of you are just really enjoying this reading here wondering this is what they do in this church. Okay, just stay with me. The house while it was being built was built of stone prepared at the quarry and there was neither hammer nor axe nor any iron tool heard in the house while it was being built. The doorway for the lowest side chamber was on the right side of the house. They would go up the winding stairs so to the middle story and from the middle to the third so he built the house and finished it. And he covered the house with beams and planks of cedar. He also built the stories against the whole house each five qubits high and they were fast into the house with timbers of cedar. I was reading all of this and getting through it. And then I find out there's more to this. But I wanna read to you just a little bit more You're gonna see things that Solomon literally covered with gold.

You'll see the words overlaid with gold come time after time of why this project was so much. Let me read it to you, verse 21. So Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold. He drew chains of gold across the front of the inner sanctuary. He overlaid it with gold. He overlaid the whole house with gold. Until all the house was finished. Also the whole altar, which was by the inner sanctuary. He overlaid that with gold. Also in the inner sanctuary, he made two cherubims of olive wood, each 10 cubits high. Five cubits was the one wing of the cherub. Five cubits, the other wing of the cherub. From the end of one wing to the end of the other were 10 cubits. The other cherub was 10 cubits, both the cherubim were of the same measure and of the same form. The height of the one cherub was 10 cubits, and so was the other cherub. He placed the cherubim in the midst of the inner house, and the wings of the cherubim were spread out so that the wing of one was touching the one wall, and the wing of the other was touching the other wall. So their wings were touching each other in the center of the house. He also overlaid the cherubims with gold, just a few more verses, bear with me. So he made two doors of olive wood. He carved them on the carvings of cherubims, palm trees, open flowers, overlaid them with gold,

and he spread the gold on the cherubim, and on the palm trees, verse 38, the final verse, and so he was seven years in building it. I don't know if you felt like me, but if I read the word cubit, one more time, something was gonna go awfully wrong here. And I'm reading through this, and when I got to verse 38, I was thinking thank God, this is done, we know about this project. And in the middle of 38 verses got into up Solomon. In the middle of all these projects, in the middle of all that's happening, as they're overlaying everything with gold, 500 billion dollar project with today's metal prices, precious metal prices. It's unbelievable, as you're watching this, and God had something to say. In the middle of building a temple, a Solomon's temple, a sanctuary, a place for the cherubim, the Ark of the Covenant, this is what God said to Solomon, verse 11. Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon saying, "Concerning this house which you're building, "if you will walk in my statutes, "execute my ordinances, "keep all my commandments by walking in them, "then I will carry out my word, "which I spoke to David your father. "I will dwell, it's the presence of God, "amongst the sons of Israel,

"and will not forsake my people Israel, Hallelujah." To understand what just happened here, this is so important because God begins to speak. God begins to interrupt a building project, a massive building project, and says, "I have some things I wanna say. "I want you to make sure that you're not tripping "over a casket." And three words, three phrases came to my mind that I wanna just discuss with you for a few moments. I wanna do what I feel like I'm supposed to say to you. I wanna talk about, because I kept seeing one, that this was God's will, God's will to build this. But can you imagine doing what we are supposed to do but forgetting why we're doing it? To forget that there was a reason behind it, to throw out the casket, to get so entrenched in building, whether it's a Taj Mahal or Solomon's temple, that you've lost the reason why. Then there's God's voice. Thank God for God's voice. God's interruption is God's protection. When God interrupts, he's trying to protect it from going off course and off track, and then there's God's presence. The awful thought of getting everything you want without God. I can't think of a more horrible thought. I can't think of a more horrible thing

than to get the spouse, the family, the church, the position, to get the money, to get the bonus that you want, and God's not part of it. I can't think of anything worse than that. And this is where Solomon needed to be interrupted. It was God's will, God's voice, and God's presence that I want to talk to you about, just for these next few moments. And maybe there's an interruption that needs to happen in this place, both online and in person. First, God's will. God wanted this temple built by Solomon and not David. When David wanted to build it, God said it's not for you to build. You're a man of blood, and I'm gonna let your son build it. This wasn't disobedience to build this, but it was obedience that was being distracted. It was being distracted by doing the project. It seems the project was getting bigger than the God who told you to do it, that you were more entrenched in the, Let's be clear that if you have a job today, God gave it to you. If you have a family today, God gave it to you. If you have children today, God gave them to you. If you have a ministry, God gave it to you. If you're in college today, God opened up that door. If you are here today, and you have direction

of what's next and for your future, God gave you that direction. It's the mercy of God. It's the incredible blessing of God. But don't lose the reason why he did it. Don't find yourself so, so given over to what he gave you that you forgot who gave it to you. That's the why that's here. It could happen in anything. I've watched it happen in the church today, especially in the church in the West. We have forgotten, especially if you just take the stage from a pulpit to microphones. We have forgotten who we're doing this for at times. All of a sudden, everybody's now has a concert on the stage. We turn the lights down, and everybody watches them on the microphone as if the worship service is a concert. We have preachers that will stand behind here and forget we're supposed to be preachers and not ashamed of the gospel. We're not celebrities that go on to her. Oh, listen, I'm gonna go for everything today. I'm just telling you. It's not, it's not to wear from place to place so we can sell tickets. We're to proclaim this gospel. It's a gospel to be proclaimed. And we are finding ourselves beginning to lose the purpose. We have everybody tripping over the casket and forgetting

we are here for one reason and it is for God and God alone. (congregation applauding) It can happen to anyone, it can happen to me. When man gets in the way, God will interrupt. Puritan writer, don't miss this, get this down. Puritan writer Thomas Watson said, the stars vanish when the sun appears. The stars vanish when the sun appears. When Jesus the sun is not at the forefront, then stars stay out too long. This is not about stars, this is about the sun, the sun of God. It's about him and him alone. Then everything we sing, everything we preach, everything we say has to be about the sun. It's not about your church, it's not about your denomination, it's not about you gotta hear my pastor. Listen, it's not about any of that. You gotta see my choir, it's about you have to meet Jesus because when the stars, when the stars are out too long, it means the sun has never showed up. That's why this is so important. Then you start doing everything for the stars and not for the sun. This is what this makes this so important. That's why I tell you this now, if you're watching or listening throughout the week and you're in the middle of a building project, like they were here in first Kings chapter six,

this chapter is a challenge to every board, to every trustee, to all pastors, to building committees, to make sure God's project is not becoming man's kingdom. We have to make sure. Sometimes we may need a pause and say, God, do we losing purpose? Is this for souls or is this to show off? We got so busy doing what we're doing, we forgot why we're doing it. I don't know if this is true. I couldn't, if it is, it's huge. I know there's sometimes there's stories that go along with the sinking of the Titanic and I was reading something and it said this, one account of the Titanic tragedy, when that ship on its way to New York City says that a ship, before it hit, the iceberg says that the ship close by, a ship close by warned them six times that they were headed for danger, an iceberg and it would sink them. On the sixth time, the captain of the Titanic signaled back and said, shut up, I'm busy. If that's true, this is horrific. That we can find ourselves so busy that we don't even realize we're on our way to a train wreck, we're on our way to catastrophe. That's why it was Dr. Dobson who said these words when he said, if Satan can't make you sin, he'll make you busy.

And that's just about the same thing. You'll find yourself going off course, off target. And that's why busy women, busy men trip over caskets. They forget the purpose, whether it's in a service or whatever it may be. And that's why this is so important. to put in, and you're finding yourself that because we have lost what the reason why we're here today. Why did you come to church today? Is it to worship Jesus? Is it to glorify Him? I've got to remember this. That this is so important to me. I'm reading this, and I'm wondering if Solomon was tripping. I was tripping over the casket because I'm concerned about something that happens here, and I'll explain to you why. It's my thought about that why are they putting windows in the temple? That's verse four, listen to it. And also for the house, he made windows with artistic frames. He's taking windows and he's kind of making them ornate. I was wondering, did anyone ask, why are we putting these here? What? And the reason why I'm asking this question is, how did we go from this mobile tabernacle that was in the wilderness?

It was windowless, the tabernacle. This is going to replace their place of worship. They are settled in Jerusalem. They're not a wandering people. That's why this chapter starts off with reminding us and them that we just, we've come out of Egypt. We're four centuries into this journey. Now we are no longer worshiping at a mobile tent, but he does something here that I'm wondering if there was a reason why God interrupted. Just the thought. And that is to all of a sudden saying, let's put not just windows, but ornate windows. The tabernacle, listen to me. The tabernacle did not need windows because God's glory was the light that was in the place. When God showed up, the place was bright with his presence. They called it in the Old Testament, the Shekinah glory of God, that when God was there, you didn't need to turn spotlights up or lights up, you knew God was in the house. And I'm just wondering, was this their fire escape? Did the windows seem to speak to us that if God doesn't show up, at least we have some light that we have some man-made light? God help us if we come up with artificial ways to pretend that God is with us. God help us if we're making up things like putting windows in. I wonder if that's why God interrupted. I wonder if that's why God said,

what are you putting windows in? If my presence is here, you don't even need lights. Now when I show up, my light, oh, my light will come with such intensity, it will expose the motives of men's heart, it will speak to you, you'll see my presence. That's why in the tabernacle, they would stand outside and they said they would see the glory of God coming upon that tabernacle. Why would you put windows inside there? I am so thankful for our general overseer, Pastor Cardin, he said something to me one time and it was very adamant. I didn't understand it, I understand it completely. I understand what he was saying. I know this will get us in trouble, but let me just say it anyway, and it's this. He says, Tim, I'm gonna ask you one thing. He said, you are the pastor, you're my pastor. He said, but can I ask you one thing that you'd make a commitment to me? Folks, you would think it could be a thousand things and he asked me for one thing, and this is what he said. Promise me that when you start, when services start after the pandemic, there would be no smoke machines on this stage. Listen, listen, he said, I have been preaching at places and it was almost like people are trying to manufacture something with this smoke, like it was Solomon's temple. Remember just the chapter of two chapters over?

When God showed up, the Bible says that the cloud filled the house of the Lord and the priest couldn't even stand to minister because the cloud and the glory of the Lord filled that house is what it says. And he said, be careful, be careful, because man today, the church in America wants to put smoke machines almost to imitate that we have the presence and the glory of God as you're trying to look through a mist to see what is going on up there. And he says, it becomes this plagiarism of the presence of God, let God just show up. Let God just show up in a place. And that's why Pastor Carter has been this voice in my life. He has been an interrupting voice occasionally in the midst of moving forward. He will remind me, Tim, Tim, Tim. Let God feed you through this word. Let God speak to you. Don't read this going. Oh, that'll be a good sermon. He said, let God talk to you. Let God fill you. I need those voices. We don't need, we don't need somebody finding AI giving sermons or somebody copy. We need God to speak again. Folks, all of us are in this place. I'm so grateful for those that building an eruption

in 1 Kings 6, that convicting voice of the Holy Spirit. When you don't hear the interruption, you trip over the casket and end up throwing it out, you end up with a tourist attraction. And everyone is in awe of your temple, but it's void of God's presence. That's why if we trip over, if we forget why God has brought us here, you better put a lot of windows inside this place because we're going to have to manufacture something. But if God is here, that's all that matters. We need His presence. That's number two, God's presence. Let me say this to you, who cares how big, who's there, or how much, if there's no presence of God. Sometimes we have chosen to be impressive instead of just standing in awe of God's presence. We've tried to impress. I just want to stand in awe every Saturday when I come to this place and pray. I look at the letters on the armrest, on the aisle side. And the letters give me my prayer direction. I've just been using that for the last five, six years. And I've been taking those. Each letter stands for something for me. But every week, I pray when I get to letters O and P. When I get to O and P, I pray for something. I said, God, let the overwhelming presence of God be in this place. I pray that every Saturday in this place, when men and women walk into this place,

may they be overwhelmed with saying, God is here. I want people to walk in going, why am I crying? What do I feel here? Why do I feel something inside of me? I don't want you to be looking up and going, wow, this is gourd. I want you to go, something is different in this place. Folks, it was David Wilkerson, our founder who said something. And I'm going to put it on the screen. He said this about Times Square Church. He said, if his presence is not here, he said, shut the doors and sell the building. Shut the doors. And so the last thing New York City needs is just another church. We need the presence of God in this city. We need the presence of God. Pastor Carter Conlon, our general overseer, calls it, he always calls it, the abiding presence of God, this church is known, the abiding presence of God, that when you'd walk in, you'd sense his presence. That's why folks, I'm telling you, listen to me, listen to me. That's why from this stage and down, when men try to put their fingerprints upon something, it is so, it's not just exposed, it's seeing to be out of place. I've done that before. It's just out of place, because God will share his glory with no one. No one. I don't care who you are, he won't share his glory.

He'll move out of the way and let you take front and center stage. It's when you say something or do something or put yourself in the front, we experience Pastor Carter reminds me, he says, we experience each service with some places, never experience in a lifetime. God protect us. Protect us, oh God. Protect your presence in this place. Protect your presence from us. The giving video today was moving for me, because the giving video, this missionary couple that we support from Spain, who minister among the indigenous communities in Ecuador's Amazon region. The reason why this was so emotional to watch this, because I was told, as we were talking about it yesterday, the area that you saw there in Ecuador, that's the area where Jim Elliot gave his life to Christ, gave his life for the sake of Christ. He became a martyr, Jim Elliot, who's the book called, Through Gates of Splendor, written by Elizabeth Elliot. What you saw from seeing the airstrips, the Amazon jungle, that was it, Jim Elliot and five others were killed, 70 years ago, and what's amazing is we're still talking about Jim Elliot today, 70 years ago, because of this sacrifice of this man. Jim's sacrifice opened up the door of all these warring tribes to come to Jesus. That wasn't just kids that were just painting and people that were helping others,

Folks, that was opened up 70 years ago by a man laying down his life, and five of them killed by Indians with spears. And I was just moved to watch this going that the sacrifice of Jamelian opened that up. Jamelian has been someone that I have read his commitment to Christ, is all in with Christ. I have a book about this thick with his journal, of his journals, of the things that he's written, the things that has been so changed that when his life was changed by God, he would drop them in a journal. He had so many powerful things. Let me read just a few of the things that Jim would write. The first one, Jamelian said was this, the saint who advances on his knees never retreats. We fight, we fight in prayer. We fight on our knees. Listen to this one. He says, God, forgive me for being so ordinary while claiming to know so when it is such an extraordinary God. That if I'm in your presence, it should be changing every part of me. Listen to this one. Father, make of me a crisis man. Bring those eye contact to decision. Let me not be a mile post on a single road. Make me a fork that men must turn one way or another facing Christ in me. And then the one that, man, this one is challenging.

He says this, if we are sheep of his pastor, remember that sheep are headed for the altar. He'll bring them to a place of sacrifice. He'll bring them to a place. But the one that I wrote down that was rather emotional to me is Jim was writing about this man who died for his faith, the man on that screen, the man whose presence, he felt God's presence to go into Ecuador where he would lose his life. Jim was writing about his reading in Genesis 39 and he was writing about Joseph in Egypt. And Joseph in Egypt, he said, it says this three times and then he writes this thought behind it. It says these words, "The Lord was with Joseph." And then he says this and all those around him sought. And then he wrote these words, "I fear my life is so barren of thee so many times that you gain little glory from being with me." Keep that on the screen for a second because I had to digest it as I was reading this. I'm going, God, I want your presence everywhere I go, but oh God, but you not gain little glory by being inside of me, but my people see you in me and give you all the glory, oh God. May God do so of me, your presence be so strong inside of me. I dare say that you gain little glory from being with me because I always want to get in the way of that. This hit me hard as God's presence prevalent in me. Do we have church services and he's not seen?

Do we sing with great emotion? And Christ is nowhere to be found. Do we hear sermons without with excitement? But yet, there's no presence. And I said, God, please let your presence begin to bring you glory in all that we do. God interrupts Solomon and says, don't get distracted. God interrupts Solomon and says, don't forget to be obedient to me. God interrupts Solomon and says, don't think that this stuff replaces my presence. You need, you need my presence. You need to be in my will. And he says, you need to hear my voice. And this is what I want to close with today because I feel like this is where I'm supposed to be done. God's voice. I don't know how the word of the Lord sounded to Solomon. He wasn't unfamiliar with it. God spoke to him in a dream in regards to giving him wisdom, whether it was audible, a whisper, or just a holy inclination. God was protecting him from tripping over the casket. I want to talk to God's voice for just a second. I'm going to ask Willie and the band to get ready to come. God's interruption, always remember this. God's interruption is God's protection. When God interrupts our plans, when God steps into a place that we think we're just moving normally, God may interrupt it.

In the middle of all this building, in the middle of right in the middle of 200,000 workers, fastening cedar timbers to the structure, let's just say a whisper from God comes. It's as a word from the Lord came. In the middle of 200,000 people, it's almost like, it's almost like I think about this. but there's a verse in Luke chapter five. When Jesus is speaking to the masses in Luke five three, and it says that he entered into one of the ships which was Simon's, he prayed him that he would thrust out a little further from the land and he sat down and taught the people out of the ship. And then it says this, and when he had left speaking, he said to Simon, you launch into the deep and let down your nets for a drought. What does that mean, Pastor Tim? It means in the middle of a place like this, God may be speaking to everyone here, and then all of a sudden God goes, I'm gonna speak to you personally. He's speaking to the masses from Peter's boat. And then all of a sudden, as he's speaking to the masses, he turns to Peter and says, now you, you're gonna launch out the deep. I have a word for you. I have a word I'm gonna speak to you. I have to believe that in the middle of 200,000 workers, God says to Solomon, whether he is the foreman or the general contractor, he looks at Solomon and says,

now don't forget my ordinance is my word and my statutes. Don't forget my presence. Don't forget that Solomon. Don't get off track trippic over a casket that you're building your kingdom here. This is not about you. This is a place where my presence wants to dwell. I wanna be here and hear God speak to this man. And maybe God is speaking to you today. Maybe that whisper, then in the midst of all the stuff, sometimes it's harder for those. Listen, sometimes it's harder for those in ministry to hear him. Sometimes it's hard for those that work at a church and work for a ministry organization. Don't miss this. Listen to these words. Activity, activity is not intimacy. Just because we're doing stuff doesn't mean God is prevalent and present. You can be scurrying around your church and even getting paid for it. But if your soul shrivels up, then your ministry is short-lived. It's without the presence of God. Don't belittle God when you are building your temple and you're building a kingdom and God, all of a sudden comes and says, you're building something for you. Let me come talk to you. Obedient starts with taking the whisper seriously.

Seriously. How could we continue on when all of a sudden God goes? We have water baptism in a week and there's some of you been saved for years and you just won't do it. It's an inconvenience to your Sunday. It's an inconvenience. I'm not going in that water. And let me just tell you without a shadow of a doubt because some of you making up all the excuses. So I just want to tell you, water baptism is something else because you cannot be cool going and getting water back. Your hair is going to get messed up. You're going to be literally, you thought you looked a good way till you get baptized. And here's the good news, at least that you need to know, it's out of obedience. That's not magic water in there. That's not water we get from Jerusalem and we put it in there from the Jordan River. That's good old New York water. That's why you better pray and be a Christian before you go in that water and when you come out, let me just tell you this. Listen to me very carefully. It's not about the water and it's not about how good you look. If you go in with makeup,

you're not coming out with makeup. And if you go in with a hairdo, it's coming out and matted down because it's not about you. It's about being obedient to Jesus Christ is what it's about. Can I tell you, some of you have made up all the excuses in the world and I wanted to say there is no substitute for obedience. There is no substitute. Busy for God doesn't mean you have a relationship with God. Do you hear the interrupting voice? Do you hear God interrupting? Do you hear God saying something to you now in the middle of your teen years, in the middle of your high school years? Everybody else is saying this or else going, "Man, you're young, do this." But yet there's a voice of God. Do you hear it college student? Do you hear his voice? Do you hear his voice for that man or woman that's making money on Wall Street? Do you hear his voice? Those that work at the UN, do you hear his voice Broadway? Do you hear his voice? Why you've signed your contract for sports? Do you hear his voice? An interrupting voice that won't allow us to get out of the way, that won't allow us to find us a veering off track,

but that voice puts us right back into place. We're supposed to, thank God he interrupts our lives. Thank God he doesn't leave us to ourselves. My goodness, I couldn't imagine standing here. I wouldn't be here today if God didn't interrupt my life. None of these people would be up here. If God didn't come and interrupt me, to your feet. I want to say this to God's presence, God's presence, God's presence is so important. It's a treasure. It's a treasure. It's right before us. Don't, don't dumb him down by saying I've come to church when there's so much more he wants to do. Don't dumb him down that just says I've given him, I've given him the weekend. I've given him the weekend. I was, I was literally, I was, I was thinking to myself as I was standing right over there and I was praying yesterday. I kept thinking there's some that come here on the weekends and just think, and you've missed the treasure of his presence. You've missed his presence in your life. I just started to pray. You know what I started to pray for? People that are dating Jesus. What does that mean pastor Tim? That you show up on the weekends to see Jesus, but you also cancel a lot of dates because you have other things to do. This isn't a dating Jesus relationship. He is, He is the groom. We are the bride. He wants every day. He doesn't want your weekends to date him. He wants every part of your life. You know what? I don't want Jesus in a sanctuary. I want Jesus in my apartment. I want Jesus. I need, come on. I need Jesus to walk these streets. I need Jesus in every meeting. I need Jesus on those subways. I need Jesus in every single aspect of my life. Not just on Sundays. You can't date him. If you can only sing with the microphone then you're dating him. You've got to praise him when you're at home. You've got to praise him wherever you're at. You've got to clap wherever you are and say, "Jesus, I will worship you in every place." Anything else, everything else is a weekend relationship with Jesus. And I have to tell you, that won't work in New York City. It may work somewhere else. It doesn't work here. It has to be all in with God. Oh God, I need your will. I need your voice and I need your presence. Please, I beg you today. Give him all. Give it all to him. The treasure of his presence is here. Don't just come in and go, "We did our time. Get

the keys." And leave. You've got to come in and say, "I want it all. I want everything that God has for my life." If it's baptism of the Holy Ghost, give it to me. If it's God calling me to do something for him, then God, let me hear your calling. Here I am. Use me, O God. I couldn't believe I was reading this. A national treasure was discovered just a few years ago. It was a painting that they lost in France during the war. It was painted in the 13th century by a Florentine artist. It was been hanging at this woman's apartment just making ends meet. She doesn't even have a stove. She has a hot plate in this studio apartment and she had a picture, a religious picture of Christ and the picture was above her hot plate without even knowing this. The picture was worth $26 million. It was a national treasure that they couldn't find. They thought that the Germans, the Nazis, destroyed it with all the other artwork. She was selling her apartment. She asked the appraiser to come in and when he saw the painting, this is what she saw every single day. She's making beans on her hot plate, not even realizing, and the appraiser goes, "Do you know what you have there?" And somehow he knew. Isn't it amazing? The name of the picture was called the mocking of Christ. The mocking of Christ. And I kept thinking to myself, to go on about business making beans when your life can be changed. Folks, I don't want to come to church and make beans. We can get comfortable by just looking at a picture. Solomon was being worn. Don't have a building without my presence. We're being worn. Don't have a ministry without his presence. Don't have a church without his presence. Don't have a life without his presence. I can't help thinking of that picture showing up. Thinking of that picture every day the woman would look at it. And then showing up a church with a treasure right there for us. And we have to-- we rush away. Here it is. God told Moses, after the debacle of his own brother

building a golden calf, Moses receiving the Ten Commandments. And God is so infuriated. This is what he tells Moses. This is Exodus 33. And Exodus 32 is the golden calf. And Exodus 33, this is how God starts. He goes, I'm going to give you an angel. I'm going to give you victory. I'm even going to give the land that I've asked you to take. And he says this to him, but I'm not going with you. I'm like, you're going to have to go without me. And here's what's amazing. This is what Moses says in Exodus 33, 15. And Moses said to God, if your presence doesn't go with us, don't send us up from here. If you don't go, I'm not going. I'd rather come short of the promised land. You can keep your victories. You can keep your buildings. You can keep your angels. You can keep it all. I need the presence of God's. I need His presence. Keep it all. Keep your degrees. Keep your denominational ordination. Keep your church, keep it all. If God's presence isn't there, someone has to wake up. Someone has to go, God's not here. And here it is.

Stop. If God is interrupting, then we better stop. What is God saying to us? Just for a moment, close your eyes. Just sing that old song. Join with me, Ricardo, as we begin to sing this Elder Vicki. You know this song. Sing it with me. Oh, the glory. Come on, lift the hand and sing this. Oh, be your presence. Hallelujah. Oh, be your grateful. Give you reverence. So arrive from your breath, and we rest by our day. Come on, let's sing it again. Oh, the glory. Oh, the glory. Come on, balcony, main floor. Those watching. Let's lift our hands and just say we want your presence. Oh, the glory of your presence. Oh, be your presence. Give me, oh, be your presence. So arrive from your breath, and be blessed by our way. Hallelujah. As your presence now fills this place, as your prayer, we're going to sing it one more time. Come on, church. Lift those hands.

Come on, we're going to go out. Oh, the glory. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] >> Thank God he interrupts us. Thank God he'll stop and interrupt us and say, this is going to take you off track. This is going to move you in a wrong direction, because everything we have is a gift from God, isn't it? But it's so, it's so easy to find ourselves in the will of God like Solomon was. And then all of a sudden we're so entrenched in it that we need the interrupting voice of God to say, don't get off track here. I'm telling you, God is speaking to some here, I don't know how many, I just watched a number of people come this morning, I'm going to ask you to do this today. We're going to sing this one more time, one more time. If God is saying to you, I'm interrupting something, I'm stopping something from taking place, I'm stopping from you getting off track here. In this relationship, I'm stopping you from going off track here, I'm stopping you from making this deal that was going to bring compromise. I'm going to stop you from going this direction, I'm going to stop you from going on your route to start this thing and do this, whatever it may be, I don't know what God's interrupting. God interrupted me, He started to speak to me about some things in my own heart, my own mind and says enough, stop that, stop that. This is not going to take you to the right place, your mind, your mind, your eyes are reserved for me. Those imaginations, I want every vain imagination and I want you to begin to get the pray for the mind of Christ, they men, the mind of Christ. He says, take that seriously, take that seriously and it was as an interruption in saying that in the middle of doing ministry, in the middle of leading and preaching and doing all this stuff, God paused me and said, let's get some things on track here. I don't want you to get down to verse 38, build something that's void of me. I'm just telling you, I don't know about you, I know I'm saying this kind of tongue in cheek, but this is true, I need to go forward with God's presence, I need God's presence. So if, if, listen to me, plans are being made right now, something is happening and God is going, I'm interrupting you because I want to make sure that you know you need my voice, you need my will and you need my presence to go forward here. As we sing this, I, balcony, maybe we'll get out of your seat now, we're going to make this that altar, we're going to make this that moment that we're surrendering to God right now. Come on, let's sing, you get out of your seat, we're going to pray right now, balcony, name floor, you get down here as fast as you can and you say, God right now, you can interrupt, you can interrupt, your presence, hallelujah, hallelujah. This is the mercy of God, this is God beginning, just to stop us for a moment, for a moment to get things back on track, you come. Hallelujah, hallelujah, so arise! Hallelujah, hallelujah, let's sing it one more time, one more time, hallelujah. Now, feel to this place, sing it again. Hallelujah. (singing in foreign language)

♪ And be blessed ♪ ♪ I am free ♪ ♪ As we go ♪ ♪ In your way ♪ ♪ I am free ♪ ♪ As you breathe ♪ ♪ How we stay ♪ - As we started to sing, I want you just to listen for a second. Just look up here for a moment. There's two things they need to say, and then we're gonna pray. I just felt, as we were here, I just, these words just kept coming to my heart. You're trying to build a career without God. You're trying to build a ministry without God. You're trying to bring this thing forward, and you're going, "Why, why, why is all?" And I'm just telling you, it has to stop tonight. This is God's mercy, just saying, "Stop, stop, stop." I'm trying to build something. God goes, "No, no, no, it's not gonna happen." If I don't interrupt you in this place, I'm building my music career. Stop. It's the mercy of God that He's stopping us to sit there and say to us, "I wanna get you back on track for this thing. "I want you back on track "because I wanna bring you in the right direction."

Can I just tell you, God's interruptions is God's protections. He's protecting you. (gentle piano music) And you're moving, some are moving here. And in your life, you're trying to do this without God. And God is interrupting you now. He's using this service. Hi, listen, I know there was a heaviness to this, but this is a protection word. It's a protection for us, protection for me that I don't get off track. I don't wanna get off track. My goodness, to stand here without God's presence, God help me. I couldn't even imagine that. Here's what I would tell you. I just, if you're here today and you're saying, "I'm living life without God in it." I need God in my life. I'm living, I'm trying to build, I'm trying to do all this stuff. I need God in my life. I need God in my life. I don't need a religious building. I don't need a denomination. I need God in my life. Can I be just that clear? Can I just ask you this? If you're here today and you just go, "Pesser Tim."

And I've been trying to live life without God today. I need God in my life. That's you, when you hold up your hand, just say, "I need God in my life." Yes, yes. God's gonna do something. What's your name, Oliver? Is this your first time here? How did you end up here today? I just don't know where he's gone. Did someone invite you or do you just... I just don't know where he's gone. (laughs) Oliver goes, "I saw Oliver here and I saw the tears." And it's first time here and I said, "How did you get here?" He said, "I walked." It was God told me to go to church today and I need God in my life today. (audience applauds) Elder David, Elder David O. Thompson, come move here. I want you to stand next to Oliver here. Who needs God in your life? Did you just go, "I've been away from all those hands up high." My goodness. Hold him up high, hold him up high. Did you say, "I've been trying to do life, "I've been trying to do life without him." Balcony, main floor. Hold it, those hands up high, along with Oliver.

Lift both those hands right now. And this is what I want you to say. I want you to say, "God, I need you. "I've been doing this without you. "Thank you for interrupting my life, "for interrupting my projects, "for interrupting my building. "You love me so much. "You would stop me today "to come into my life. "I need your presence. "I need Jesus. "I need God. "I need the Holy Spirit. "I welcome you into my life. "Change me from the inside out. "Thank you, God, in Jesus' name. "Hallelujah." Come on, let's just thank him right now. (applause) Father, we pray for Oliver right now. Thank you that God, this man heard that interrupting voice. It says, get to church today. Father, no one invited it. He heard the voice of God today. And that brought him here. God, you're gonna do that more and more. They're gonna be people, Lord God. They're gonna hear your voice. May we have the presence of God, not a show on Broadway.

Let the other 40 theaters do a show. We need your presence today. Touch Oliver. You understand something? Look at me, folks. Look at me. Listen, listen. If you call this your home today, let the other 40 theaters have a show. We need, we want Oliver's to be changed. We want Oliver's to be changed. A show, my goodness. We need his presence. You need his presence. I need his presence today. I don't need a show, my goodness. It's a protection for all of us to say, God, help us. That when people walk into this place, let them sense Jesus. Let them sense your presence. Hallelujah. Would you take a moment? We're gonna sing, and we'll sing a rejoicing song. Whatever rejoicing song is on your heart. For real, for real. Ricardo and I were talking about something. We're laughing. But I need your help for a second. Would you just lift your hand and say,

God protect this house? Come on. And would you just say, God, send your presence here. Send your presence. We need your presence. Come on. You ask and say, God protect everything that we do from the worship, to the Word, the pulpit, how we serve you, the children, the youth. Everything we do, God, how we pray, Lord, we need you to protect this house. The last thing Times Square needs is another show. The last thing this city needs is another show. We need God to come again. Wherever there is the presence of God is liberty. There's liberty. There's liberty. Oh, Hallelujah. We're the spirit of the Lord is. There is liberty. There is liberty. So come presence of God. Oh, I thank you. I thank you for every hand. I thank you for these honest people that joined with me to say, God, interrupt my life. We're not dating Jesus here, amen? He's not a weak and fling for us. Jesus is our life. He is the groom.

We are his bride. He can speak on Mondays. He can speak on Tuesdays. We're not giving him weekends. We're giving him every day. Hallelujah. All right. Let's leave with joy. Whatever joy song is on you, whatever. Can we leave with joy today? Come on, let's have his presence come.