WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.800 It was hilarious like how secure I was how protected how he had me in his hand 2 00:00:04.800 --> 00:00:11.800 It was like funny just like how we allow so many worries and cares and things to come into our hearts when we had the 3 00:00:11.800 --> 00:00:16.800 Omnipotent Omniscient creator of the universe that says that you will never leave us or forsake us 4 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:21.000 It was like I was experiencing them like the reality of those statements 5 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:25.400 You you've got me. I'm your I'm your child. I'm your daughter. You care about me 6 00:00:26.400 --> 00:00:35.400 Welcome to the City Light Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's word and discover the hope and truth that he has for us. 7 00:00:35.400 --> 00:00:41.400 If you want to connect with City Light Church feel free to visit us at citylightnyc.com 8 00:00:41.400 --> 00:00:44.400 That's citylightnyc.com 9 00:00:44.400 --> 00:00:52.400 Pastor Boyan Jansik and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds 10 00:00:52.400 --> 00:00:59.400 As you listen to today's teaching remember that you are deeply loved by God that you are surrounded by his grace 11 00:00:59.400 --> 00:01:03.400 And that he has a real hope and a future for you 12 00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:10.400 I gotta stop doing these impromptu surveys 13 00:01:11.400 --> 00:01:15.400 Well 50% of the people don't participate at least 65% of the time 14 00:01:22.400 --> 00:01:28.400 But I just wanted to see who was here last week because I was talking about the anointing 15 00:01:29.400 --> 00:01:34.400 And the ministry of Jesus and how we can encounter the anointing 16 00:01:35.400 --> 00:01:38.400 Today and how we should encounter the anointing today 17 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:43.400 You know when you read the Bible you should pay attention to what the Bible emphasizes 18 00:01:43.400 --> 00:01:48.400 And that's the emphasis we should have in our modern day life 19 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:55.400 When you read the letters to the first century church that's actually God's heart for the first century church 20 00:01:55.400 --> 00:01:59.400 Through the Apostle Paul through John through Peter 21 00:01:59.400 --> 00:02:05.400 So if they're putting great emphasis on it that must mean it's very important and we should put great emphasis on it 22 00:02:05.400 --> 00:02:12.400 But I find that often we put a whole lot of emphasis on things that you notice the Apostles hardly even mention at all 23 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:17.400 Or we ignore a topic that they were very passionate about 24 00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:24.400 And the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is very passionate about the power and the presence of God and the anointing 25 00:02:25.400 --> 00:02:32.400 Jesus as his custom was the Bible says he went into the synagogue and he asked for the scroll of the prophet Isaiah 26 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:34.400 And he read from Isaiah 61 27 00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:42.400 And Isaiah 61 begins with the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because he has anointed me 28 00:02:42.400 --> 00:02:46.400 So Jesus's number one message was on the anointing 29 00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:52.400 Yet you can be a Christian for decades in America and never ever hear a sermon on the anointing 30 00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:58.400 When I first started out pastoring I would just talk about the anointing and people would come up to me after service and say 31 00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:00.400 What does the anointing what is the anointing? 32 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:06.400 I just took for granted I was young in an experience I just took for granted that everybody already knew 33 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:11.400 The anointing by the way is the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit 34 00:03:11.400 --> 00:03:13.400 It's the good stuff 35 00:03:13.400 --> 00:03:19.400 When Jesus ministered he ministered by the anointing and when that good stuff got on the people 36 00:03:19.400 --> 00:03:23.400 They became whole they got freed up 37 00:03:23.400 --> 00:03:26.400 They started to look more like Jesus 38 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:39.400 And so one of the things that you see that's emphasized in the New Testament particularly in the prayers that the Apostle Paul prayed known as the Pauline prayers 39 00:03:39.400 --> 00:03:42.400 You can find two great ones in Ephesians 40 00:03:43.400 --> 00:03:50.400 If you ever don't know what to pray go in Ephesians see what Paul prayed for the first century church and prayed in the first person over your own life 41 00:03:50.400 --> 00:04:00.400 And one of the things he prays for is for people to know the love of God that can't be known 42 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:10.400 You know for years I read that and I would just kind of skip over it because I just thought it was one of those things where the guy in the Bible is waxing poetic and being deep 43 00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:12.400 Because that sounds deep, doesn't it? 44 00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:14.400 Know the love of God that can't be known 45 00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:18.400 But okay, well I don't like deep if I can't apply it to my life 46 00:04:18.400 --> 00:04:20.400 So what does that mean? 47 00:04:20.400 --> 00:04:26.400 How do I know the love of God that can't be known if you can't be known I should just give up 48 00:04:26.400 --> 00:04:32.400 But when I dug into it and I saw that there were two different Greek words used there 49 00:04:32.400 --> 00:04:42.400 The second no is Nosty which means to know intellectually to know with your mind 50 00:04:42.400 --> 00:04:46.400 But the first one isn't that kind of no just bear with me here track with me 51 00:04:46.400 --> 00:04:50.400 The first one is experience 52 00:04:50.400 --> 00:05:00.400 So what Paul is praying he's saying I pray that you would experience the love of God which cannot be known with the mind 53 00:05:00.400 --> 00:05:10.400 You cannot know the love of God by reading about it, by being rational, by processing it mentally 54 00:05:10.400 --> 00:05:18.400 But something that must be experienced and a lot of things of the spirit are that way they're caught not taught 55 00:05:18.400 --> 00:05:29.400 And so to have an experience with the power and the presence of God with the Holy Spirit is something Paul prayed over the first century church 56 00:05:29.400 --> 00:05:39.400 It's something that I pray for you, it's something that's a major emphasis on this church because it's a major emphasis in the Bible 57 00:05:39.400 --> 00:05:47.400 Right off in Genesis we see that Abraham had an encounter with God and his life was forever changed 58 00:05:47.400 --> 00:05:53.400 Jacob he went to go Betty by put his head upon a rock 59 00:05:53.400 --> 00:06:01.400 A ladder came down from heaven he wrestled with God all night long he had an experience with God and he was forever changed after that 60 00:06:01.400 --> 00:06:07.400 You keep on reading you see Moses in the wilderness with the bush that burned but wasn't consumed 61 00:06:07.400 --> 00:06:16.400 He had an experience and an experience is important because a man with a theory a lot of theories out there 62 00:06:16.400 --> 00:06:20.400 But a man with a theory is never at the mercy of a man with an experience 63 00:06:20.400 --> 00:06:23.400 God is a God that can be known 64 00:06:23.400 --> 00:06:29.400 I wouldn't be a Christian still if I was just reading about him I want to know him 65 00:06:29.400 --> 00:06:31.400 You get to know him 66 00:06:31.400 --> 00:06:37.400 I definitely wouldn't be here today I wouldn't have even planted city like church all those years ago 67 00:06:37.400 --> 00:06:47.400 If I hadn't had multiple not just one multiple God encounters where I experienced him 68 00:06:47.400 --> 00:06:52.400 Hallelujah 69 00:06:52.400 --> 00:07:00.400 Elisha had an encounter Elisha had an encounter Jesus had an encounter and an experience 70 00:07:00.400 --> 00:07:03.400 That's why you don't read much about him 71 00:07:03.400 --> 00:07:15.400 Before his baptism little snippet there when he was 12 13 years old but it was at his baptism that the heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit came upon him and he had an encounter 72 00:07:15.400 --> 00:07:24.400 And Jesus is our example and Jesus everything you see Jesus experience the whisper to you is you can too 73 00:07:25.400 --> 00:07:33.400 He's your example he's your role model and his ministry began after an encounter and an experience 74 00:07:33.400 --> 00:07:43.400 And I so desperately want you to have multiple multiple God encounters 75 00:07:43.400 --> 00:07:54.400 Christians seem to well it's easy for them to fall into two camps one is just all frontal lobe and egg-head-y everything has to make sense 76 00:07:54.400 --> 00:08:02.400 Some people even wear it as a badge of honor you know well I'm very logical that's great that means you pay your bills on time 77 00:08:02.400 --> 00:08:09.400 You don't jaywalk definitely file your taxes every year be logical be responsible 78 00:08:09.400 --> 00:08:20.400 But don't think that your mind can now apply to an infinite God you're gonna pitch and hold him you're gonna try to put him in a box he's gonna blow your mind away 79 00:08:20.400 --> 00:08:29.400 So he's not the holy brain he's the Holy Spirit and you cannot understand the Holy Spirit with your holy brain 80 00:08:29.400 --> 00:08:35.400 Your spirit is gonna engage the Holy Spirit 81 00:08:36.400 --> 00:08:45.400 I want to show you something from Corinthians that's second Corinthians I believe yeah chapter 12 verses 2 through 4 82 00:08:47.400 --> 00:08:53.400 Paul is talking about himself let me let the cat out of the bag right away 83 00:08:54.400 --> 00:09:04.400 In the third person I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago whether in the body I do not know or whether out of the body I do not know 84 00:09:04.400 --> 00:09:14.400 Paul is talking about an encounter he had with the Lord here he says it was so intense that I didn't even know if I myself was in my own physical body or if I was taken out of my physical body 85 00:09:14.400 --> 00:09:23.400 He doesn't even seem like that's important what's important is that I met God but it was to such a degree where I don't even know if I 86 00:09:23.400 --> 00:09:29.400 I mean I've never had that I've had incredible encounters with the Lord but I still knew I was in this old temple 87 00:09:29.400 --> 00:09:34.400 That's something where you go you're looking around am I still in my physical form or not 88 00:09:35.400 --> 00:09:45.400 God knows such a one was caught up to the third heaven the Hebrews believed in three heavens one was the sky the heavens the clouds 89 00:09:45.400 --> 00:09:50.400 like in Genesis it says God created the heavens on the earth it's something about that atmosphere 90 00:09:50.400 --> 00:09:53.400 The second heavens is the spiritual realm 91 00:09:53.400 --> 00:10:00.400 The third heaven is the heaven that we normally think of when we say the word heaven the abode of God 92 00:10:01.400 --> 00:10:08.400 Where God dwells where his throne is he said I was caught up into the third heaven the very abode of God 93 00:10:10.400 --> 00:10:20.400 And I know such a man whether in the body or out of the body I do not know God knows how he was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible words 94 00:10:21.400 --> 00:10:31.400 Which it is not lawful for a man to utter can you imagine the Apostle Paul inside we don't know what he was singing he could have been praying maybe he was just walking 95 00:10:32.400 --> 00:10:36.400 And he had a God encounter where he didn't even know if it was in his own body or not 96 00:10:36.400 --> 00:10:40.400 It was caught up into heaven and he heard the language of heaven what did he see? 97 00:10:41.400 --> 00:10:48.400 He could be he got the whole gospel that way because he said he got the gospel by revelation the gospel of grace 98 00:10:49.400 --> 00:10:57.400 He heard the language he heard words which were beyond human comprehension but he spirit understood them 99 00:10:57.400 --> 00:11:01.400 Said but it's not even lawful it would be inappropriate even to even say them 100 00:11:01.400 --> 00:11:07.400 And I know a little bit what he's talking about because in one of the encounters with the Lord 101 00:11:07.400 --> 00:11:14.400 Probably top three most profound encounters I ever had was when I was 17 years old 102 00:11:15.400 --> 00:11:17.400 When I had this encounter I 103 00:11:18.400 --> 00:11:21.400 Wasn't allowed to even talk about it for 10 years you say how were you not allowed 104 00:11:21.400 --> 00:11:26.400 I went to tell a few friends in the moment even thought about telling my felt like the Lord just shh 105 00:11:27.400 --> 00:11:30.400 Don't don't talk about this 106 00:11:31.400 --> 00:11:33.400 This is between you and me 107 00:11:33.400 --> 00:11:35.400 This is special this is holy this is private 108 00:11:37.400 --> 00:11:39.400 After 10 years 109 00:11:39.400 --> 00:11:44.400 It was like he said now you can share for 10 years I kept that to myself not no other human you 110 00:11:49.400 --> 00:11:51.400 This makes all the difference in the world 111 00:11:52.400 --> 00:11:57.400 You want to have staying power with the Lord you want to experience abundant life you're going to need two things 112 00:11:57.400 --> 00:12:00.400 The word of God and the spirit of God 113 00:12:00.400 --> 00:12:06.400 And some people are just word Christians all word you dry up some people are just holy spirit Christians 114 00:12:06.400 --> 00:12:13.400 But if you don't have the word as your barometer of truth and as your foundation you become flaky and weird 115 00:12:15.400 --> 00:12:21.400 All word you dry up all spirit you blow up you put the two together you grow up 116 00:12:22.400 --> 00:12:24.400 Amen 117 00:12:24.400 --> 00:12:26.400 When the trumpet sounds you'll go up 118 00:12:27.400 --> 00:12:31.400 Church on Sunday you'll show up 119 00:12:32.400 --> 00:12:35.400 The QR code comes up you pay up hey 120 00:12:36.400 --> 00:12:38.400 Hallelujah 121 00:12:39.400 --> 00:12:41.400 Makes you solid 122 00:12:41.400 --> 00:12:52.400 Jesus he rebuked the Pharisees he said you know not the scriptures 123 00:12:53.400 --> 00:12:57.400 Nor the power of God you just caught up in your religion in your tradition 124 00:12:58.400 --> 00:13:07.400 What we're doing is raising up a people here who know both the scriptures and the power of God and the two go hand in hand 125 00:13:08.400 --> 00:13:16.400 He's just a bunch of bread which is the word you get crusty and dry if you only drink wine no bueno 126 00:13:17.400 --> 00:13:20.400 Eat some bread a little bit of wine 127 00:13:21.400 --> 00:13:25.400 So I've shared I've shared my encounters 128 00:13:26.400 --> 00:13:30.400 I believe it's important that you hear from people who've had encounters with the Lord 129 00:13:31.400 --> 00:13:35.400 Because that'll help open you up to receive from the Lord he wants to visit you 130 00:13:36.400 --> 00:13:38.400 Prayer is not supposed to be dry 131 00:13:42.400 --> 00:13:45.400 Prayer is not supposed to be one way it's supposed to be a two way street 132 00:13:47.400 --> 00:13:52.400 He wants to minister to you meet you in those times touch your spirit 133 00:13:54.400 --> 00:13:56.400 Show you what's to come 134 00:13:57.400 --> 00:13:59.400 Some of you have 135 00:14:00.400 --> 00:14:02.400 Questions that are circulating inside of your your souls 136 00:14:03.400 --> 00:14:08.400 You may be confused when he shows up all that is just cleaned right out it's wiped away 137 00:14:10.400 --> 00:14:15.400 And I feel this really in my spirit as we close out because we're now in September 138 00:14:16.400 --> 00:14:20.900 Got what one or two more days is it tomorrow September the first that's it 139 00:14:21.900 --> 00:14:29.900 Sometimes I wonder about those scriptures where it talks about the days getting faster and the Lord would need to lengthen the days and 140 00:14:30.900 --> 00:14:37.900 Because I know time goes faster as you get older but everybody's saying it my own son is like 2025 he's 11 he sounds like he's 65 141 00:14:38.900 --> 00:14:44.900 Dad how's it how's it September already but it really feels like we like everything is in fifth gear now 142 00:14:45.900 --> 00:14:47.900 Time is moving faster 143 00:14:48.900 --> 00:14:51.900 And now we're we're closing out 2025 in just a few months 144 00:14:53.900 --> 00:14:55.900 We need the Lord we need his presence 145 00:14:56.900 --> 00:15:02.900 So I want to ask a few people to just share an encounter they had with the Lord I'm going to ask my wife to come up first 146 00:15:03.900 --> 00:15:05.900 Just come on up and share 147 00:15:06.900 --> 00:15:08.900 Where's the mic oh he has a mic for you 148 00:15:09.900 --> 00:15:18.900 So I shared this in first service at just a Sunday about eight or nine months ago 149 00:15:19.900 --> 00:15:24.900 We were here worshiping and I guess it was just a season where I felt 150 00:15:25.900 --> 00:15:35.900 Distracted and worried and my mind was more full of those things than the reality of the Lord and I sort of just in my mind saw Jesus right in front of me here 151 00:15:35.900 --> 00:15:45.900 And with his hand out to me and I just felt him saying it's great to see you and I guess I 152 00:15:46.900 --> 00:15:48.900 What I took away from it was just 153 00:15:49.900 --> 00:15:51.900 Being overwhelmed by his nature 154 00:15:52.900 --> 00:15:59.900 I cried and cried that Sunday because it was I was coming in feeling guilty and there was things I hadn't done that I meant to do and 155 00:16:00.900 --> 00:16:07.900 But just overwhelmed by there was nothing else I needed to do but just that the Lord was happy to see me awesome 156 00:16:11.900 --> 00:16:13.900 Chris will you come up and share 157 00:16:14.900 --> 00:16:18.900 Now she cried and cried you said for several hours I 158 00:16:19.900 --> 00:16:25.900 Remember that Sunday I didn't you know I got to get my wife to test my to find out what's going on because I didn't hear any of this until the first service 159 00:16:25.900 --> 00:16:32.900 I didn't know I didn't know any of that we just got back home. She asked me what I wanted for lunch that was it 160 00:16:33.900 --> 00:16:40.900 But I remember you were like guns though for a couple of hours and that's all it takes sometimes to realign us 161 00:16:41.900 --> 00:16:47.900 That's why we you know the old time is saying those songs like just one glimpse of your glory just one touch of your hand 162 00:16:48.900 --> 00:16:57.900 And that moment you you're as you're pressing in and your expectors out and then you see a glimpse of his glory and you and then it's in those moments you realize how messed up you got 163 00:16:58.900 --> 00:17:06.900 Because you're thinking everybody things are kind of doing fine and then you see him and he quickly straightens you out and you go overwhelmed with his love and then you go whoa 164 00:17:06.900 --> 00:17:11.900 I was in a bad spot and all it took was one look from your eyes to get me in the right spot 165 00:17:12.900 --> 00:17:14.900 Hey man, I think it's on yes 166 00:17:15.900 --> 00:17:22.900 So I grew up obviously here in New York grew up in an imperfect family grew up going to a religious church 167 00:17:23.900 --> 00:17:28.900 So by the time I came to City Light I had a lot of stuff on me paying hurt religion 168 00:17:28.900 --> 00:17:33.900 I remember having one encounter at our Friday nights in Seven Street 169 00:17:33.900 --> 00:17:38.900 And I remember just being just experiencing the presence of the father experiencing his love 170 00:17:38.900 --> 00:17:43.900 That'll be feeling like fear and pain and hurt fall off of me and change being 171 00:17:43.900 --> 00:17:47.900 Was this during worship or during worship during worship during worship during worship 172 00:17:47.900 --> 00:17:53.900 Just literally feeling that the spirit just break stuff off of me feeling love and like for me 173 00:17:53.900 --> 00:17:59.900 I grew up hearing about God and I grew up hearing the God of the Bible and growing up in churches like that 174 00:17:59.900 --> 00:18:03.900 But to have a moment where I can actually experience his love and experience his presence 175 00:18:03.900 --> 00:18:09.900 And experience the love he had for me because I like in reality as you can always hear about somebody 176 00:18:09.900 --> 00:18:12.900 But you don't know what they're like until you actually experience them and encounter them 177 00:18:12.900 --> 00:18:18.900 And I was able to encounter him and then I understood his love for me because I literally could experience it for myself 178 00:18:18.900 --> 00:18:23.900 And like my testimonies are like I've been transformed by his love because all the religion left 179 00:18:23.900 --> 00:18:30.900 All the frontal lobe that you would say stuff left for me because like obviously I had all these thoughts or preconceived notions 180 00:18:30.900 --> 00:18:35.900 What I thought God was like but was like upon meeting him and actually encounter him 181 00:18:35.900 --> 00:18:40.900 I got to know who he really was and then he like showed me who he who I was too 182 00:18:40.900 --> 00:18:47.900 And a big part of our walk is because growing up in religious circles you can think life is all about service and ministry 183 00:18:47.900 --> 00:18:51.900 And even doing things for the Lord when really it's about knowing him 184 00:18:51.900 --> 00:18:57.900 And the Lord gave me this revelation that like like we can do all these things and not know him and miss it 185 00:18:57.900 --> 00:19:01.900 And the Lord has shown me how important it is to actually know him for myself 186 00:19:01.900 --> 00:19:07.900 So the thing I want to share with everybody here today is that God wants to know you and wants to encounter you 187 00:19:07.900 --> 00:19:12.900 And when I was praying for these encounters I had a hungry desire 188 00:19:12.900 --> 00:19:16.900 And I didn't know if the Lord was going to meet it but he did 189 00:19:16.900 --> 00:19:22.900 And like the Lord said this the Lord will meet people if you're hungry for it 190 00:19:22.900 --> 00:19:26.900 And his desire is to reveal himself deeper if that makes sense 191 00:19:26.900 --> 00:19:28.900 I think that's my testimony 192 00:19:28.900 --> 00:19:30.900 Awesome, thank you Chris 193 00:19:30.900 --> 00:19:34.900 Yari will you come on up and share? 194 00:19:34.900 --> 00:19:36.900 Here you go 195 00:19:36.900 --> 00:19:38.900 Hi city light 196 00:19:38.900 --> 00:19:44.900 So when Pastor Bo asked me to share about my encounters we got 197 00:19:44.900 --> 00:19:49.900 He brought me back to my first encounters with him 198 00:19:49.900 --> 00:19:53.900 I was raised in Puerto Rico and I was Catholic 199 00:19:53.900 --> 00:19:58.900 And interestingly even though my life was like a checklist 200 00:19:58.900 --> 00:20:03.900 I do all my sacraments, I did all my sacraments, went to church every Sunday 201 00:20:03.900 --> 00:20:06.900 My relationship with God was really distant 202 00:20:06.900 --> 00:20:09.900 I never had an encounter with him 203 00:20:09.900 --> 00:20:13.900 And when I came here in 2015 204 00:20:14.900 --> 00:20:21.900 And I came with my walls full of fear 205 00:20:21.900 --> 00:20:28.900 And really not understanding God's love because the relationship I had with him was a very distant one 206 00:20:28.900 --> 00:20:32.900 And my focus was more of me 207 00:20:32.900 --> 00:20:35.900 The focus was on me, what can I do? 208 00:20:35.900 --> 00:20:42.900 Instead of who God is and His love for me and how much he wants to give me 209 00:20:42.900 --> 00:20:45.900 The axis, all the axis that I have 210 00:20:45.900 --> 00:20:47.900 So I just want to make sure I'm understanding 211 00:20:47.900 --> 00:20:51.900 When you say your focus was on you and what I could do 212 00:20:51.900 --> 00:20:53.900 You mean from a religious perspective 213 00:20:53.900 --> 00:20:54.900 My works 214 00:20:54.900 --> 00:20:55.900 Your works 215 00:20:55.900 --> 00:20:58.900 Your focus, I think this is important 216 00:20:58.900 --> 00:21:01.900 Our focus was on what she needed to correct 217 00:21:01.900 --> 00:21:07.900 And what she needed to do to earn more of his favor 218 00:21:07.900 --> 00:21:15.900 And it resonates with me because one of my earliest encounters, the one that I wasn't allowed to talk about for 10 years 219 00:21:15.900 --> 00:21:19.900 I was in God's palm 220 00:21:19.900 --> 00:21:25.900 I mean I was 17 years old, I was in a hotel room with like 16 ages around me and a youth leader strumming a guitar 221 00:21:25.900 --> 00:21:29.900 But I went to the carpet closed my eyes, I was in his palm 222 00:21:29.900 --> 00:21:34.900 And it was a profound experience, I felt immediately his anointing started bawling 223 00:21:34.900 --> 00:21:41.900 And he was lifting me up towards his face and I braced for impact, I thought, here comes the rebuke 224 00:21:41.900 --> 00:21:44.900 He's going to now tell me everything that I'm doing wrong 225 00:21:44.900 --> 00:21:47.900 Because that's what was in my mind 226 00:21:47.900 --> 00:21:49.900 You know, we're very religious creatures 227 00:21:49.900 --> 00:21:54.900 Even though I came from an agnostic atheist family with zero religion 228 00:21:54.900 --> 00:21:57.900 But we always have a predisposition towards religion 229 00:21:57.900 --> 00:22:02.900 And towards trying to work on ourselves and do something for God 230 00:22:03.900 --> 00:22:08.900 So I'm thinking now I was going to come to the big correction, the big rebuke of everything I needed to do 231 00:22:08.900 --> 00:22:11.900 And instead, he just smiled at me 232 00:22:11.900 --> 00:22:16.900 And I never saw such love emanating from a face 233 00:22:16.900 --> 00:22:20.900 And then I was already crying like a little baby shaking like a leaf 234 00:22:20.900 --> 00:22:23.900 And then he smiles at me with pleasure 235 00:22:23.900 --> 00:22:25.900 And I'm like, ah! 236 00:22:25.900 --> 00:22:27.900 So what do you mean you don't want anything for me? 237 00:22:27.900 --> 00:22:29.900 You just want me? 238 00:22:29.900 --> 00:22:31.900 It was incredible, but go on 239 00:22:31.900 --> 00:22:35.900 Yeah, so I felt that I had to earn his love 240 00:22:35.900 --> 00:22:38.900 So it was very distant 241 00:22:38.900 --> 00:22:44.900 And yes, I remember when I started coming to city light and really understanding 242 00:22:44.900 --> 00:22:50.900 God's grace and his love for me and really grasping and understanding 243 00:22:50.900 --> 00:22:55.900 My identity in Christ, that I was a daughter of the most high god 244 00:22:55.900 --> 00:23:04.900 You know, Wall started to fall and I remember my experiences with God or a few of them were lily 245 00:23:04.900 --> 00:23:07.900 It was at home 246 00:23:07.900 --> 00:23:10.900 I was at home and I just got good news 247 00:23:10.900 --> 00:23:14.900 And I just started laughing 248 00:23:14.900 --> 00:23:19.900 The Holy Spirit took over and I was laughing and it was funny because my room was cat 249 00:23:19.900 --> 00:23:21.900 Was in my room at that moment 250 00:23:21.900 --> 00:23:25.900 And I was just laughing non-stop 251 00:23:25.900 --> 00:23:28.900 And my core was hurting 252 00:23:28.900 --> 00:23:31.900 And the cat really was looking at me like 253 00:23:31.900 --> 00:23:35.900 And it was so simple 254 00:23:35.900 --> 00:23:40.900 I felt that in that moment that God was just smiling at me 255 00:23:40.900 --> 00:23:43.900 Like what you said, he was just smiling at me 256 00:23:43.900 --> 00:23:45.900 And he was just letting me know 257 00:23:45.900 --> 00:23:48.900 I was just experiencing that joy and that peace 258 00:23:48.900 --> 00:23:51.900 Like I caught you, you know, I love you 259 00:23:51.900 --> 00:23:54.900 And there is more that I want to give you 260 00:23:54.900 --> 00:23:58.900 And it's always laughter 261 00:23:58.900 --> 00:24:00.900 I remember I know the time this is a short one 262 00:24:00.900 --> 00:24:03.900 I was in a lot of pain, physical pain 263 00:24:03.900 --> 00:24:06.900 And I just surrendered to him and I started sharing with him 264 00:24:06.900 --> 00:24:12.900 And again, I just like started feeling that joy 265 00:24:12.900 --> 00:24:15.900 And laugh that I couldn't contain 266 00:24:15.900 --> 00:24:18.900 So it's about experiencing the love of God 267 00:24:18.900 --> 00:24:23.900 And I think that's just a reminder of knowing who you are, who God is 268 00:24:23.900 --> 00:24:27.900 And he will just reveal to you his love 269 00:24:27.900 --> 00:24:30.900 That was awesome, thank you 270 00:24:30.900 --> 00:24:37.900 And some of you need to know that God will touch you to the point where you laugh 271 00:24:37.900 --> 00:24:40.900 I don't think all of you know that 272 00:24:40.900 --> 00:24:44.900 Some of you hear people laughing and you're thinking that's so rude 273 00:24:44.900 --> 00:24:47.900 They must be scrolling and so are funny tiktok 274 00:24:47.900 --> 00:24:49.900 And now they're laughing in church 275 00:24:49.900 --> 00:24:51.900 They got a funny text 276 00:24:51.900 --> 00:24:54.900 No 277 00:24:54.900 --> 00:24:57.900 Psalm 126, when the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion 278 00:24:57.900 --> 00:24:59.900 We were like men who dreamed 279 00:24:59.900 --> 00:25:02.900 Then our mouths were filled with laughter 280 00:25:02.900 --> 00:25:04.900 The scripture says 281 00:25:04.900 --> 00:25:08.900 Doesn't just say we laughed, our mouths were filled with laughter 282 00:25:08.900 --> 00:25:15.900 It seems to denote a higher level of laughing 283 00:25:15.900 --> 00:25:19.900 Imagine what could happen if you took the breaks off 284 00:25:19.900 --> 00:25:25.900 In your relationship with the Lord and quit playing it safe 285 00:25:25.900 --> 00:25:30.900 And you didn't view prayer as just coming in quickly and giving him your grocery list 286 00:25:30.900 --> 00:25:34.900 But you wanted to engage the Holy Spirit 287 00:25:34.900 --> 00:25:36.900 You'll be safe 288 00:25:36.900 --> 00:25:38.900 The Lord goes with you 289 00:25:38.900 --> 00:25:41.900 Some unholy spirit is going to come in instead of the Holy Spirit 290 00:25:41.900 --> 00:25:46.900 And that when you're calling on the name of Jesus 291 00:25:46.900 --> 00:25:51.900 And a God encounter will change you forever 292 00:25:51.900 --> 00:25:55.900 Mauricio, let's hear from you 293 00:25:55.900 --> 00:26:04.900 This started to feel like those old Pentecostal churches 294 00:26:04.900 --> 00:26:06.900 Because he was sitting all the way in the back 295 00:26:06.900 --> 00:26:08.900 So it's like his brother Mauricio here 296 00:26:08.900 --> 00:26:11.900 And he's like, I'm here and then a slow walk all the way 297 00:26:11.900 --> 00:26:14.900 People don't like the silence and they clap 298 00:26:14.900 --> 00:26:17.900 They're like, all right, brother Mauricio 299 00:26:17.900 --> 00:26:20.900 But you blessed the people with your testimony 300 00:26:20.900 --> 00:26:22.900 Oh my God 301 00:26:22.900 --> 00:26:24.900 Get the towel out 302 00:26:24.900 --> 00:26:29.900 Well, good morning city light 303 00:26:29.900 --> 00:26:33.900 My name is Mauricio, as you know 304 00:26:33.900 --> 00:26:36.900 I used to write a thoroughbreds for a living 305 00:26:36.900 --> 00:26:37.900 I used to be a jockey 306 00:26:37.900 --> 00:26:41.900 I used to write an aqueduct Belmont in Saratoga 307 00:26:41.900 --> 00:26:45.900 And I had my life set where I wanted it to go 308 00:26:45.900 --> 00:26:50.900 I was writing races, I had what the world wanted 309 00:26:50.900 --> 00:26:54.900 I was set, but yet inside my heart there was a hole 310 00:26:54.900 --> 00:26:56.900 But I didn't know it, I knew there was something missing 311 00:26:56.900 --> 00:26:58.900 But I really didn't know 312 00:26:58.900 --> 00:27:01.900 I had a background from Catholic background 313 00:27:01.900 --> 00:27:03.900 When I was a young in church 314 00:27:03.900 --> 00:27:07.900 The Catholic priest would go around shaking his hands 315 00:27:07.900 --> 00:27:10.900 Because me and my brother were left and he came and smacked me 316 00:27:10.900 --> 00:27:13.900 Because you're not supposed to laugh in church 317 00:27:13.900 --> 00:27:17.900 I said to myself, if that's God, I don't want anything to do with him 318 00:27:17.900 --> 00:27:20.900 So I was just done with religion 319 00:27:20.900 --> 00:27:24.900 Now that I've moved to Long Island, I can't tell you how many stories like this, I've heard 320 00:27:24.900 --> 00:27:27.900 Long Island, a lot of Italians, a lot of... 321 00:27:27.900 --> 00:27:31.900 But if you're younger and used to be Catholic, you're like, wow, that's weird 322 00:27:31.900 --> 00:27:34.900 I'm talking to anybody who's Catholic over 60 in Long Island 323 00:27:34.900 --> 00:27:36.900 They have a story of a priest hitting him 324 00:27:36.900 --> 00:27:38.900 It's just wild 325 00:27:38.900 --> 00:27:39.900 As a church 326 00:27:39.900 --> 00:27:44.900 I just like to say that for 23 years now, 23 and a half, I've never hit anyone of you 327 00:27:44.900 --> 00:27:47.900 Never struck anyone 328 00:27:47.900 --> 00:27:49.900 There's freedom here 329 00:27:51.900 --> 00:27:55.900 So my heart was like, I don't want nothing to do with that God 330 00:27:55.900 --> 00:27:56.900 Absolutely not 331 00:27:56.900 --> 00:27:58.900 So I wasn't my own lane 332 00:27:58.900 --> 00:28:00.900 Going doing what I wanted to do in my heart 333 00:28:00.900 --> 00:28:02.900 Riding races, having fun 334 00:28:02.900 --> 00:28:05.900 But yet, like I said, I had a hole in my heart 335 00:28:05.900 --> 00:28:07.900 And then I was going out with this girl 336 00:28:07.900 --> 00:28:10.900 And her brother kept inviting me to this Bible study 337 00:28:10.900 --> 00:28:13.900 And I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, one day I'll go 338 00:28:13.900 --> 00:28:18.900 And he kept inviting me like five, six times, all right, this six time, I was like, all right, I'll go 339 00:28:18.900 --> 00:28:24.900 So I walk into this basement place and they got guitars 340 00:28:24.900 --> 00:28:27.900 And it was all strange to me, I'm like, wow, what is this? 341 00:28:27.900 --> 00:28:32.900 I've never experienced anything like this because you got the bells in the Catholic church 342 00:28:32.900 --> 00:28:36.900 He got the incense, but this was like so weird 343 00:28:36.900 --> 00:28:38.900 I said, okay, I'll just chill, check it out 344 00:28:39.900 --> 00:28:44.900 And then I just felt this liquid love coming to my heart 345 00:28:44.900 --> 00:28:47.900 I was like, wow, and I just started sweating 346 00:28:47.900 --> 00:28:49.900 Like, what is going on? 347 00:28:49.900 --> 00:28:52.900 And I asked the pastor, what's happening? 348 00:28:52.900 --> 00:28:54.900 And he goes, this is Jesus 349 00:28:54.900 --> 00:28:57.900 And he goes, is he's real? 350 00:28:57.900 --> 00:29:02.900 And I was like, that was like the turning point of my life 351 00:29:02.900 --> 00:29:09.900 To understand that the love in God is waiting for us to be open to be love 352 00:29:09.900 --> 00:29:11.900 Because we're objects of his love 353 00:29:11.900 --> 00:29:16.900 And every single one of us here today, he wants to love on us 354 00:29:16.900 --> 00:29:23.900 Because he put this specific touch of his love that he only you can understand 355 00:29:23.900 --> 00:29:27.900 As you touch by the master, by the king, by his love 356 00:29:27.900 --> 00:29:30.900 That you can render your heart 357 00:29:30.900 --> 00:29:34.900 Because the religion, I gotta tell you religion sucks 358 00:29:34.900 --> 00:29:41.900 But what relationship with Jesus and the father and the Holy Spirit 359 00:29:41.900 --> 00:29:47.900 You can walk with them in such a manner that it makes you whole 360 00:29:47.900 --> 00:29:52.900 It makes you whole so that that was my testimony that changed my life 361 00:29:53.900 --> 00:29:55.900 Thank you 362 00:30:01.900 --> 00:30:04.900 I'm gonna be praying for you this week 363 00:30:04.900 --> 00:30:11.900 I'm gonna be trusting the Lord and asking Him to visit you while you're praying 364 00:30:11.900 --> 00:30:15.900 And it begins with you just expressing to the Lord that you want more 365 00:30:15.900 --> 00:30:20.900 You want more of Him, you want your relationship with Him to deepen 366 00:30:22.900 --> 00:30:26.900 Open your mouth and just whisper to Him, Lord, fill me with your Holy Spirit 367 00:30:26.900 --> 00:30:29.900 Fill me a fresh 368 00:30:29.900 --> 00:30:32.900 Lord, I want more of you 369 00:30:32.900 --> 00:30:34.900 And then get out of your head 370 00:30:34.900 --> 00:30:40.900 Don't get bound with the paralysis of analysis 371 00:30:40.900 --> 00:30:45.900 You cannot be a controlling person and experience God's presence 372 00:30:45.900 --> 00:30:50.900 You gotta relinquish control to Him 373 00:30:50.900 --> 00:30:56.900 Take the breaks off and just say, Lord, whatever you want to do, do in me 374 00:30:56.900 --> 00:30:59.900 This week, are you ready? How many of you were ready? 375 00:30:59.900 --> 00:31:01.900 I... 376 00:31:03.900 --> 00:31:09.900 Can you put another mic in the Amazon cart for next week? 377 00:31:13.900 --> 00:31:17.900 Kate, want you to come on up? We gotta broken mic for you 378 00:31:18.900 --> 00:31:21.900 Hi guys, I'm Kate 379 00:31:21.900 --> 00:31:26.900 I wanna talk to you guys about freedom and worship and how I first experienced it 380 00:31:26.900 --> 00:31:29.900 So growing up, grew up in a Presbyterian church 381 00:31:29.900 --> 00:31:35.900 So what I saw from the worship leaders was that the posture of worship is reverence to God 382 00:31:35.900 --> 00:31:37.900 And physically it looked like this 383 00:31:37.900 --> 00:31:44.900 And so growing up with just that idea that I couldn't really fully express or dance in front of the Lord 384 00:31:44.900 --> 00:31:46.900 Even though David did, but we don't do that anymore 385 00:31:46.900 --> 00:31:51.900 It was so confusing to me and I remember growing up hearing that, you know, if you had any hidden sin 386 00:31:51.900 --> 00:31:54.900 Then you couldn't take communion, children weren't allowed to take communion 387 00:31:54.900 --> 00:31:59.900 So I knew that God was holy, I knew that He was good, I knew that He was good 388 00:31:59.900 --> 00:32:01.900 What's hidden sin? 389 00:32:01.900 --> 00:32:02.900 I don't know, they didn't tell me 390 00:32:02.900 --> 00:32:04.900 I don't know either 391 00:32:04.900 --> 00:32:07.900 I've heard that too, if you have any hidden sin 392 00:32:07.900 --> 00:32:09.900 Like, don't we all hide our sin? 393 00:32:09.900 --> 00:32:10.900 Yes 394 00:32:10.900 --> 00:32:13.900 I don't broadcast mine 395 00:32:13.900 --> 00:32:17.900 I mean, I show it to the Lord, but they see you hear all these things 396 00:32:17.900 --> 00:32:19.900 If you have hidden sin in your life, don't take communion 397 00:32:19.900 --> 00:32:21.900 Well, it confuses everybody 398 00:32:21.900 --> 00:32:25.900 Then you got like half the church wondering if they should take communion and not less the lightning bolt hits them 399 00:32:25.900 --> 00:32:27.900 And communion is God's medicine 400 00:32:27.900 --> 00:32:29.900 Communion is how you get better 401 00:32:29.900 --> 00:32:33.900 And I'll have the people aren't taking God's medicine because they have court-unquote hidden sin 402 00:32:33.900 --> 00:32:35.900 Anyway, that was just my commercial break 403 00:32:35.900 --> 00:32:36.900 Kate 404 00:32:36.900 --> 00:32:37.900 Thank you 405 00:32:38.900 --> 00:32:42.900 Yeah, so, and what's so funny is that people would just flood up, I was like, oh, they don't got hidden sin 406 00:32:42.900 --> 00:32:45.900 But I have hidden sin? I was like, I didn't understand, anyway 407 00:32:45.900 --> 00:32:50.900 But the Lord plucked me out of the world at a really young age, I grew up Christian my whole life 408 00:32:50.900 --> 00:32:58.900 And then as quarantine hit, I lost all my friends from school and the Lord really just, I feel like He still is putting me in a season of hiddenness 409 00:32:58.900 --> 00:33:06.900 I came to City Light in 2021 when I was just turning 16 and the Lord just really spoke to me clearly about a calling and worship ministry I have 410 00:33:06.900 --> 00:33:15.900 And so I started leading worship here and it was amazing, but I just had all of these old ideas, these old mentalities about how I needed to approach worship 411 00:33:15.900 --> 00:33:20.900 And as a type A person, it got even worse because I was like, well, now I got to lead people well 412 00:33:20.900 --> 00:33:24.900 And now if God's not pleased with me, then how do I do it? I don't want to let down other people 413 00:33:24.900 --> 00:33:27.900 And there is just a constant dialogue of the fear of men 414 00:33:27.900 --> 00:33:30.900 And I remember in 2023, I went to a worship conference 415 00:33:30.900 --> 00:33:36.900 And I will never forget what the worship leader said, it was just a small group of us who came after service 416 00:33:36.900 --> 00:33:44.900 And he said, the presence of God is here, this is your home, lie down, cry, laugh, this is where you meet your father 417 00:33:44.900 --> 00:33:47.900 And you have permission to worship here 418 00:33:47.900 --> 00:33:54.900 And I remember that being such a new concept to me that I could, that I could worship God freely because I've heard it 419 00:33:54.900 --> 00:34:01.900 But I never experienced it before and I will never forget the guy next to me was full on doing the running man 420 00:34:01.900 --> 00:34:06.900 And me a couple years ago would have been like devil 421 00:34:06.900 --> 00:34:15.900 But it was just the most healing experience watching somebody do the running man in the presence of the Lord 422 00:34:15.900 --> 00:34:24.900 And it just broke something in me, it broke the mental walls that I had, it broke the hard hardness that I had 423 00:34:24.900 --> 00:34:29.900 And I realized that the father wants me to come as I am 424 00:34:29.900 --> 00:34:35.900 That even though he's placed an assignment on my life, all he wanted all this time was just me 425 00:34:35.900 --> 00:34:38.900 And that was the most freeing thing ever 426 00:34:38.900 --> 00:34:46.900 And I remember that as I also joined in the running man, that the words that I was saying started to actually mean something to me 427 00:34:46.900 --> 00:34:51.900 That I was actually becoming an object of worship unto the Lord 428 00:34:51.900 --> 00:34:57.900 And it broke down all those barriers that I had to perform, that I had to do good, that to earn his love 429 00:34:57.900 --> 00:35:02.900 Even though I knew that I didn't have to, it was just all had knowledge before 430 00:35:02.900 --> 00:35:09.900 And it finally sank into my spirit and all the shame left me and I realized that when you do have distractions in worship 431 00:35:09.900 --> 00:35:16.900 As I know we've all experienced those intrusive thoughts, the purpose of coming into the presence of the Lord reveals all the darkness that we've been hiding 432 00:35:16.900 --> 00:35:20.900 And so it's his mechanism of healing us, of restoring us 433 00:35:20.900 --> 00:35:27.900 And music has such a special way of uniting heart, mind, spirit, body, all to be a line in the presence of God 434 00:35:27.900 --> 00:35:31.900 So I experienced true freedom in so many ways that night 435 00:35:31.900 --> 00:35:41.900 And whenever I do have those thoughts of performance, I can think back to that moment and just thank the Lord that his freedom was given to me and that he's never going to take it back 436 00:35:41.900 --> 00:35:46.900 Amen, thank you Kate, awesome 437 00:35:46.900 --> 00:35:50.900 Natalie, won't you come on up? 438 00:35:50.900 --> 00:35:59.900 Is this blessing you? A plethora, an abundance, a cornucopia of different experiences 439 00:35:59.900 --> 00:36:05.900 I'm trying to find you, each person has a different story 440 00:36:05.900 --> 00:36:13.900 I want you to see that maybe you're not that unique in the struggles you may have 441 00:36:13.900 --> 00:36:17.900 In the obstacles you think are ahead of you 442 00:36:17.900 --> 00:36:23.900 Sometimes the way it's presented from the pulpit, you can believe the lie that God just visits a special few 443 00:36:23.900 --> 00:36:28.900 But he longs for all of his children 444 00:36:28.900 --> 00:36:31.900 Amen 445 00:36:32.900 --> 00:36:41.900 For me, one of the most powerful encounters that I had with the Lord was different how I'd always experienced him before 446 00:36:41.900 --> 00:36:44.900 I was very comfortable with crying in the presence of the Lord 447 00:36:44.900 --> 00:36:48.900 Weeping, I was like, okay, I got that that's comfortable to me 448 00:36:48.900 --> 00:36:53.900 And what Pastor Born was sharing really resonated because I didn't realize how much control that I had 449 00:36:53.900 --> 00:36:59.900 That I was like, okay Lord, you can touch me this way, you can touch me in these kind of confines in this kind of environment 450 00:36:59.900 --> 00:37:04.900 But I don't think I even realized I was saying not in these but really like my heart was 451 00:37:04.900 --> 00:37:10.900 And when people would especially laugh in the presence of the Lord, it would really bother me 452 00:37:10.900 --> 00:37:14.900 For those that know me, I know that that's funny 453 00:37:14.900 --> 00:37:19.900 But it really would, it would just like... 454 00:37:20.900 --> 00:37:26.900 And again, I don't think I ever said verbally, like don't do that to me Lord but I in my heart I was like, yeah, not like that 455 00:37:26.900 --> 00:37:29.900 That's ridiculous, they look ridiculous 456 00:37:29.900 --> 00:37:36.900 And it was in this, I went to this meeting and I remember sitting there before and I was really... 457 00:37:36.900 --> 00:37:40.900 The Lord had definitely brought me to a place where I was hungry and I wanted more 458 00:37:40.900 --> 00:37:46.900 It felt like there was just... I don't know, there was just so much more that he wanted to do in my heart 459 00:37:46.900 --> 00:37:49.900 Like just things that were going on in my life that I wanted freedom from 460 00:37:49.900 --> 00:37:52.900 And so I was very, like I was coming with an expectation 461 00:37:52.900 --> 00:37:57.900 But I remember like Holy Spirit led me to kind of say, you can touch me however you want to 462 00:37:57.900 --> 00:38:00.900 And I remember like even saying that I was like, oh, do I really like... 463 00:38:00.900 --> 00:38:02.900 Do I really mean that? Like you know, like... 464 00:38:02.900 --> 00:38:05.900 Because again when you're thinking like, I don't know where I got these ideas 465 00:38:05.900 --> 00:38:09.900 But like people would just like, swing off the shit, just doing these wild things 466 00:38:09.900 --> 00:38:14.900 And I'm very prim and proper and I was like, that just does not go online with my personality 467 00:38:14.900 --> 00:38:20.900 But anyway, long story short and even in that, like the Lord actually ended up calling me out through the minister 468 00:38:20.900 --> 00:38:24.900 And that was something that I was not comfortable with, I was like, oh gosh, no, I'm gonna be in front of everyone 469 00:38:24.900 --> 00:38:30.900 But I kind of just surrendered, I went up and he spoke over me, he said, no more sorrow, only joy 470 00:38:30.900 --> 00:38:33.900 And I fell out under the power of God 471 00:38:33.900 --> 00:38:43.900 And it changed my life and it was so amazing because I didn't know that joy could actually heal you 472 00:38:43.900 --> 00:38:47.900 But like as I was laughing, I'm just laughing, like these sounds are coming out of my mouth 473 00:38:47.900 --> 00:38:51.900 That I was like, are these human sounds? Like they were just ridiculous sounds 474 00:38:51.900 --> 00:38:54.900 And I'm laughing and laughing and laughing on the floor, like rolling around 475 00:38:54.900 --> 00:39:03.900 And I'm like, what is going on? But I literally just felt like I had experienced a lot of pain, a lot of grief, a lot of sorrow from different people in my life 476 00:39:03.900 --> 00:39:08.900 They're close to me passing away and just, you know, the hurts of life as we go on our journey 477 00:39:08.900 --> 00:39:12.900 And I literally felt like as I'm laughing, just like these things are being broken off of me 478 00:39:12.900 --> 00:39:17.900 I saw Jesus like removing shackles from my wrists and from my ankles 479 00:39:17.900 --> 00:39:24.900 And it was just so profound that I was like, I knew that like when I got up off that ground, I'm like, I'm not going to be the same anymore 480 00:39:24.900 --> 00:39:28.900 Like this was something that like marked me for life 481 00:39:28.900 --> 00:39:34.900 And one of the most beautiful things that Jesus did in that encounter as well as that 482 00:39:34.900 --> 00:39:41.900 I had lost my best friend and I had so much guilt because I didn't really share with her the love of God 483 00:39:41.900 --> 00:39:45.900 I didn't really talk about my relationship with him even though I wasn't following him that closely 484 00:39:45.900 --> 00:39:50.900 And I was just like, I just had these like dread this dread that she was in hell 485 00:39:50.900 --> 00:40:00.900 And then I'd never see her again and it tormented me and in that moment the Lord showed me that she was in heaven with him in it 486 00:40:00.900 --> 00:40:07.900 And it blessed my heart so much and I just feel like in that encounter it proved that like in that laughter, it wasn't just joy 487 00:40:07.900 --> 00:40:13.900 It was like this like sense of security that it was like hilarious how much she loved me, it was hilarious 488 00:40:13.900 --> 00:40:22.900 It was hilarious like how secure I was, how protected, how he had me in his hand 489 00:40:22.900 --> 00:40:28.900 It was like funny just like how we allow so many worries and cares and things to come into our hearts 490 00:40:28.900 --> 00:40:34.900 When we have the omnipotent, omniscient creator of the universe that says that he will never leave us or forsake us 491 00:40:34.900 --> 00:40:41.900 That we are in the palm of his hand and so it's like as those like those verses and those affirmations that all again like people say they were in my head 492 00:40:41.900 --> 00:40:48.900 It was like I was experiencing them like the reality of those statements by just the laughter of being like, oh my gosh, yeah 493 00:40:48.900 --> 00:40:56.900 You've got me, I'm your child, I'm your daughter, you care about me and even in the simple little thing like my friend, you're in that end 494 00:40:56.900 --> 00:40:59.900 It matters to you because it matters to me 495 00:41:01.900 --> 00:41:03.900 Thank you 496 00:41:06.900 --> 00:41:14.900 I'm getting a distinct impression in my spirit, there are some people here you really think you're on the mothership right now 497 00:41:14.900 --> 00:41:23.900 These testimonies are not making much sense to you and you might have even had the thought I've never heard of things like this 498 00:41:23.900 --> 00:41:33.900 Which is when people say it in the wrong spirit a really arrogant statement because what they're saying is I've heard of every way that God moves 499 00:41:33.900 --> 00:41:39.900 But not this way therefore it can't be real because I have never heard of anything like this 500 00:41:39.900 --> 00:41:46.900 I want to ask you a question, Acts chapter 2, it's when the Holy Spirit was first given to the church 501 00:41:46.900 --> 00:41:48.900 It's the day the church was birthed 502 00:41:48.900 --> 00:41:59.900 There was 120 people in the upper room, Mary, the mother of Jesus was one of those people, 11 of the disciples, Judas had gone away 503 00:42:00.900 --> 00:42:09.900 120 of them in an upper room, the Holy Spirit has poured out on them, they're filled with the Holy Spirit, the Bible says they speak in other tongues 504 00:42:09.900 --> 00:42:14.900 When they step out the people on the streets of Jerusalem think they're drunk 505 00:42:14.900 --> 00:42:18.900 Why did they think they were drunk? 506 00:42:19.900 --> 00:42:25.900 Some people might say well because they were all speaking in other languages 507 00:42:25.900 --> 00:42:30.900 But that's really weird because here we are in the story of Queens 508 00:42:30.900 --> 00:42:34.900 You go walk down Steinway, you'll hear a lot of different languages 509 00:42:34.900 --> 00:42:37.900 But you don't ever think look at that alcoholic 510 00:42:37.900 --> 00:42:39.900 Look at that drunkard 511 00:42:39.900 --> 00:42:48.900 Sunday, noon, sounds like they're speaking Lebanese but they're probably just a drunk, maybe they're high on crack 512 00:42:48.900 --> 00:42:52.900 No 513 00:42:52.900 --> 00:42:55.900 You never think that 514 00:42:55.900 --> 00:43:03.900 So there must be something else they were doing to warrant all the Jerusalem thinking they were drunk 515 00:43:03.900 --> 00:43:06.900 What could it be? 516 00:43:06.900 --> 00:43:10.900 Well how do drunk people act? 517 00:43:10.900 --> 00:43:21.900 They're free, they're not self-conscious, they laugh, some cry 518 00:43:21.900 --> 00:43:31.900 And the drunkenness that the Holy Spirit gives it gives life and not death which is what natural alcohol does 519 00:43:31.900 --> 00:43:38.900 Anika, I want you to share your testimony 520 00:43:38.900 --> 00:43:46.900 Hi everyone, so this encounter happened a few years ago, I was a sophomore in college fall semester 521 00:43:46.900 --> 00:43:53.900 And I just was having doors time ever, I was miserable, I was sad, I wasn't happy 522 00:43:53.900 --> 00:43:56.900 And I just didn't know what to do 523 00:43:56.900 --> 00:44:02.900 It felt like there was a big black hole in my heart and was getting bigger and bigger and taking over 524 00:44:02.900 --> 00:44:08.900 And I did everything that I knew I could, I was just falling the trends, I was going out with my friends, partying, whatever 525 00:44:08.900 --> 00:44:13.900 But it just kept getting bigger and blacker and was just taking over it 526 00:44:13.900 --> 00:44:15.900 And I just didn't know what to do 527 00:44:15.900 --> 00:44:21.900 At the time I was friends with some people, they were in Pentecostal and they would tell me about Jesus 528 00:44:21.900 --> 00:44:25.900 And they would say, God loves me and he wants to have a personal relationship with me 529 00:44:25.900 --> 00:44:30.900 Coming from the background of being Catholic, I was like, what? This is news to me 530 00:44:30.900 --> 00:44:33.900 And I just didn't know what to do with it, so just kind of put it away, tucked it away 531 00:44:33.900 --> 00:44:37.900 I was very curious but at the same time I didn't know how to tackle that 532 00:44:37.900 --> 00:44:42.900 Because of my background so I just, okay, interesting, alright, just keep moving 533 00:44:42.900 --> 00:44:51.900 And so that night, that particular night I was in my dorm, I was in a dorm room with four other people 534 00:44:51.900 --> 00:44:55.900 Well, I had my own room but the other three had their own rooms as well 535 00:44:55.900 --> 00:44:59.900 I was in my bedroom, the door was closed and there were people around like outside 536 00:44:59.900 --> 00:45:03.900 But I just felt that night it was just the worst, I don't know what happened 537 00:45:03.900 --> 00:45:09.900 I just felt, you know, just the whole blackness darkness was just all over me all around me 538 00:45:09.900 --> 00:45:13.900 And I just didn't know what to do, I didn't know how to get out of it 539 00:45:13.900 --> 00:45:17.900 So I was laying in my bed and I just started crying and weeping 540 00:45:17.900 --> 00:45:21.900 And I was just like, I felt like something was missing in my life and I didn't know what to do 541 00:45:21.900 --> 00:45:24.900 And I was just weeping and I put my head in my pillow because the walls were dead 542 00:45:24.900 --> 00:45:26.900 I didn't want people to hear me 543 00:45:26.900 --> 00:45:30.900 So I was just like weeping and crying, I'm like, oh my gosh, what am I doing? 544 00:45:30.900 --> 00:45:33.900 What should I do? I have no one to reach out to 545 00:45:33.900 --> 00:45:38.900 And then I remembered, in that moment I remembered what my friend said that God loves me 546 00:45:38.900 --> 00:45:43.900 And he, they told me a bunch of other things and in that moment I think that was the Lord kind of reminding me 547 00:45:43.900 --> 00:45:49.900 And I was like, well, God, if what they said it's real, if it's true, then I really need you right now 548 00:45:49.900 --> 00:45:52.900 Because I don't know what to do and I don't think I'm going to survive this 549 00:45:52.900 --> 00:45:58.900 And I was crying and weeping and then I said this and I cried a little bit more 550 00:45:58.900 --> 00:46:05.900 And then I felt like somebody was in the room with me and took this big, heavy blanket of comfort 551 00:46:05.900 --> 00:46:08.900 And put it and then just covered me with it 552 00:46:08.900 --> 00:46:12.900 And as soon as that fell over me, I just felt perfect peace 553 00:46:12.900 --> 00:46:19.900 And then immediately just like, I stopped crying, I stopped weeping and I felt so good 554 00:46:19.900 --> 00:46:21.900 And then I fell asleep right after 555 00:46:21.900 --> 00:46:25.900 And so the following morning I am waking up 556 00:46:25.900 --> 00:46:31.900 And I'm like, usually when I have those types of episodes, I know that I have to fight to get out of bed 557 00:46:31.900 --> 00:46:35.900 I can't stay in bed, I have to go out, I have to talk to people, I can't stay in the funk 558 00:46:35.900 --> 00:46:39.900 But as I'm waking up, I realize, oh, I don't feel heavy 559 00:46:39.900 --> 00:46:45.900 I don't feel that gross heavy thing upon me, I feel like I am happy right now, I feel so happy 560 00:46:45.900 --> 00:46:50.900 I felt light as a feather and I was like, whoa, this is crazy 561 00:46:50.900 --> 00:46:55.900 You know, I knew that something had happened, I just didn't know what I knew was the Lord 562 00:46:55.900 --> 00:47:00.900 But I didn't have the terminals where I wasn't walking with the Lord but I knew that God did something 563 00:47:00.900 --> 00:47:05.900 So I got up, went to have breakfast and started hanging out with my friends 564 00:47:05.900 --> 00:47:09.900 The ones who were talking about Jesus and then finally I decided to go to church with them 565 00:47:09.900 --> 00:47:11.900 Because I was capping, I was like, I'm not going to church, I'm capping 566 00:47:11.900 --> 00:47:15.900 So I finally decided to go and that's how I received the Lord 567 00:47:15.900 --> 00:47:20.900 But the Lord really, you know, when you hear the word of God when people share those words with you 568 00:47:20.900 --> 00:47:24.900 Even though you have not experienced it but if you bring it to Him, you're like, hey, they said this 569 00:47:24.900 --> 00:47:26.900 Confirm you what and He will and He did that night 570 00:47:26.900 --> 00:47:32.900 He really removed that darkness out of me, that funk and I've never felt it again since that night 571 00:47:32.900 --> 00:47:35.900 And I wasn't even saved yet, so thank you Lord 572 00:47:35.900 --> 00:47:38.900 So awesome, you can give it a try to come up 573 00:47:38.900 --> 00:47:40.900 Worship team, come on up 574 00:47:42.900 --> 00:47:44.900 Hallelujah 575 00:47:44.900 --> 00:47:47.900 Thank you all of you who shared 576 00:47:47.900 --> 00:47:50.900 I want to do this, I want to get services nowhere near over 577 00:47:50.900 --> 00:47:57.900 But just for administrative reasons right now, kind of in the middle, I want to receive our tides and offerings 578 00:47:57.900 --> 00:48:05.900 So be really silent and act depressed and we'll put the giving information on the screens to either side of me 579 00:48:05.900 --> 00:48:09.900 Give with a glad heart, give and faith 580 00:48:09.900 --> 00:48:15.900 Let's try that again, that felt a little not revivalry 581 00:48:15.900 --> 00:48:19.900 We're going to worship and honor the Lord with our tides and offerings 582 00:48:19.900 --> 00:48:21.900 Amen 583 00:48:27.900 --> 00:48:29.900 Do you want to say anything past your mode? 584 00:48:29.900 --> 00:48:32.900 When it comes at the end, I'm no good at it 585 00:48:32.900 --> 00:48:36.900 I got one thing on my mind right now, I want to see them touched 586 00:48:36.900 --> 00:48:38.900 Anything you want to do? 587 00:48:38.900 --> 00:48:40.900 Just know that we do have three different ways to give 588 00:48:40.900 --> 00:48:48.900 If you point your smartphone at the QR code, it'll take you to our safe and secure landing page where you can give by faith and trust the Lord, amen 589 00:48:51.900 --> 00:48:54.900 And the connection card too, do that 590 00:48:54.900 --> 00:48:57.900 Well that's a whole separate thing for you guys 591 00:48:58.900 --> 00:49:03.900 On your chair was a connection card and as the name implies, we do want to connect with you 592 00:49:03.900 --> 00:49:06.900 Not just to get a record of your visit, but here's the thing 593 00:49:06.900 --> 00:49:10.900 To honestly give you an opportunity to be a part of something 594 00:49:10.900 --> 00:49:16.900 City light church literally has something happening every day of the week because it's not just a Sunday morning gig 595 00:49:16.900 --> 00:49:21.900 Amen, being a Christian is not an individual Lord if you will 596 00:49:21.900 --> 00:49:26.900 But it's family, it's connection, it's accountability, it's friendship 597 00:49:26.900 --> 00:49:28.900 So we invite you fill out the connection card 598 00:49:28.900 --> 00:49:33.900 If you're a first-time guest, take that connection card to the VIP table in the front 599 00:49:33.900 --> 00:49:35.900 We actually have a gift for you 600 00:49:35.900 --> 00:49:39.900 Also too, if you're not a first-time guest, the connection card is still for you 601 00:49:39.900 --> 00:49:46.900 If you ever want to meet with a pastor, you ever want to get prayer, put in one of your petitions to have somebody pray with you 602 00:49:46.900 --> 00:49:49.900 Believe with you for something big that's happening in your life 603 00:49:49.900 --> 00:49:54.900 You want to sign up for a volunteer team, sign up for a coming life group in the fall 604 00:49:54.900 --> 00:49:56.900 The connection card is for you, Emma 605 00:49:56.900 --> 00:49:58.900 All right, stand to your feet 606 00:49:58.900 --> 00:50:01.900 This is the City light church podcast 607 00:50:01.900 --> 00:50:03.900 If you've missed any part of today's message 608 00:50:03.900 --> 00:50:07.900 or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Jansik in City light church 609 00:50:07.900 --> 00:50:10.900 visit us at citylightnyc.com 610 00:50:10.900 --> 00:50:13.900 That's citylightnyc.com 611 00:50:13.900 --> 00:50:17.900 Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime 612 00:50:17.900 --> 00:50:19.900 We would love to connect with you 613 00:50:19.900 --> 00:50:22.900 We pray that you have been encouraged today 614 00:50:22.900 --> 00:50:25.900 that you have been reminded how much God loves you 615 00:50:25.900 --> 00:50:28.900 and that you are surrounded by grace 616 00:50:28.900 --> 00:50:29.900 Thank you for listening 617 00:50:29.900 --> 00:50:32.900 Make sure that you subscribe to City light church podcast 618 00:50:32.900 --> 00:50:35.900 wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide