Church of the Word Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Pastor Syd read through the book of Zephaniah and Haggai. The book of Zephaniah is about the day of the Lord, a call to repentance, judgment on the nations that do not wholeheartedly worship the Lord God, and the faithful remnant. Haggai is also about the shaking of the earth and the glory of God's house. Zephaniah got a word from the Lord. The day of the Lord is about the destruction and gloom against the nations that worship false gods. It will be a day of great shaking. Hebrews 12:25-29 warns us to not refuse God and Jesus, and that there will be a shaking. What cannot be shaken will remain. What cannot be shaken? It is God's kingdom. We are to have grace, so that we may serve God with godly fear. God is a consuming fire. Other Scriptures referring to the shaking and day of the Lord are found in: Isaiah 13:13; Haggai 2:6, 7; Matthew 24:35; 2 Peter 3:10-13. The believer will not be caught unaware (1 Thessalonians 5:2-5). We are to earnestly desire the coming day of the Lord. We wait for the new heaven and earth. Therefore, we are to be in peace, bring salvation to the lost, be on your guard, and grow in grace and the knowledge of God. The day of eternity begins on the great day of the Lord. The books of Revelation and Isaiah are books of prophecy, but the events are not written in chronological order. To better understand this period of prophecy, read what Jesus taught about end times, because His teaching is more in chronological order, and then go to the other books of Isaiah and Revelation. The earth will burn and melt away. There is a call to repentance. Bend yourselves together. Yield to the Lord. We still have time at this moment. Seek the Lord, righteousness, and humility. Perhaps you will be concealed on the day of the Lord. Seek God. Ask God what He wants you to do each day. Seek righteousness. Seek to help people to be right with the Lord. Repent for yourself, your church, the universal church, and the nation. Pride and arrogance bring woe to the cities. Think carefully about your ways. God said His house was in ruins, while the people were living in finished houses. The temple was not being rebuilt. We need to honor God with our finances. They should be for God's purposes. Check yourself. Think about your ways. Am I honoring Him with my time and things? The people obeyed God's instructions and feared Him. We must hear and do the Word. We cannot walk in our own ways and expect God to bless us. Be strong. Work. Do not quit now. Do not be afraid. God will shake the nations. The gold belongs to Him. In Habakkuk 3:16-19, Habakkuk expresses his confidence in God. Yet will I praise and triumph in the Lord even in the worst of times. I will rejoice in the promises of God. He enables me. Set your mind of things above.

Offering sermon: Pastor Syd shared the testimony of giving his firstfruit and reaping a blessing for a new vehicle, and his children sowing a hamster and being given a puppy. God will do what He said He would do. God wants to be the central theme of your day. (There was a word given about coming back to the true and living God, seeking Him, praying for Donald Trump, repentance, revival, and a move of God.) Sermon: Schools in America were started to teach people how to read the Bible, and then the Bible was used to teach other subjects. We have let drop the responsibility for education and government. We must bring change from the inside. Pastor Syd read the Declaration of Independence. Many of the fifty-six signers were Christians. Now the agenda is to remove the how and why of whom we are. We have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, according to the Declaration of Independence, but that right is falling away. What rights does the baby in the womb have against abortion? Although the main concern was taxation without representation, there were other abuses that the signers had concerns with, such as religion. For them to stand up and to think they would win against England was like Hawaii taking on a war against all of the U. S. government. How did the colonists do it? There was no way other than by divine help! They were willing to fight for something they believed in. Be thankful for the freedoms we have. Our nation was founded on the rock, but it is now in the sand. We need to pray for and act on what we have been entrusted with. Talk to your representatives and Senators and encourage them. Pastor Syd shared about swimming in the Green River in Utah where there was quicksand in the bottom. If he would have stayed in the quicksand, he would have sunk into death. Our nation is now in quicksand. The time and season we are in is one of praying and acting. Be a person of prayer. Ask God what we are to do, and be willing to obey. Focus and desire God above everything else. Make God the central part of your day. Be the church outside these walls. Meditate on Colossians 3:1-4, setting your mind on things above, on those things that have eternal impact. Set your mind of His thoughts. Be moldable to His desires, and then He will give you the desires of your heart. Ask God what is important to Him.

Text: Proverbs 4:1-13. Proverbs four tells us to not forget the Father's words, which means to meditate on them. Wisdom is the principal thing. Get wisdom and in getting wisdom, get understanding. Receive wisdom and live long. Wisdom and knowledge are the stability. Satan tries to distract Christians. Do not let him distract you from what is important. What is the most important thing? The wisdom of God is the most important thing. It is our responsibility to get wisdom. Wisdom is not intelligence. We are not limited if we are not intelligent. Spirituality by wisdom is attainable. In all your wisdom, get understanding. When you do something in obedience you do not understand, understanding will come. Apostle Dale told of an older mentor who went through five beach-heads in World War II. As a new recruit, he was desperate and thought it was wisdom to watch and do what the man did who had already gone through a beach-head before. The man said, "Somebody's gonna make it, and it's gonna be me!" He went to the front of the boat and carried his knife when they hit the beach. Then he used the knife to cut off the backpack. Walk by God's wisdom, not your own intelligence. Find wisdom from somebody who has been there. Build on the rock foundation (Matthew 7:24-29). Be like a wise man and follow what a wise man is doing. Following the Word of God, works. Hear and implement the Word, because that is wisdom. Act on God's Word, and understanding will come. Pride of being right is pride in making others wrong. You can be right but not be wise. Wisdom is how you apply knowledge and make it effective. Whatever the cost- time, money, or whatever- get wisdom. There is a cost to wisdom. Wisdom is hard work. It is not intellectualism. Before wisdom comes desire (Proverbs 2:1). Wisdom is available to you if you desire it. Pray for wisdom. Copy Jesus.

Our fathers are symbolic of God, the Father. God is the example of a father. Be an example of the Father's heart. The mark of ministry is working with God (2 Corinthians 6:1, 2). We are not to receive God's grace in vain. Look, now is the acceptable time. Now is the season. Are you working together with Him? Are you on the job? We do not receive the ministry in vain when we work with Him. We are God's co-workers (1 Corinthians 3:9). If you do not show up, it slows down what needs to be done, and it affects others. Be faithful. Faithfulness to God is huge to Him. Do as unto the Lord, and value what the Lord values. Work with the Lord. Concerning the gifts of the Spirit, we speak under the inspiration of God. There are different gifts, different administrations, and different activities. Desire the gifts of the Spirit. It is how we work with Him. The Spirit gives the gifts. Jesus administrates them. God brings about the results. God works it. Some Biblical examples of men working with God: Elijah had to go to the brook to be where he would be fed and get water (1 Kings 17). Philip worked with the Lord by obeying to go over to the Ethiopian eunuch's chariot (Acts 8:26). We work together with God by being obedient. If you need a miracle, there is an act of obedience that goes with it. We have to be listening and acting when He prompts us. Let God bring the result. Cornelius and Peter worked with God to bring about salvation and the baptism in the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:1-48). We must work with the Lord. Mark 16 tells us to go, preach, teach, and baptize. That is working with the Lord.

Text: Proverbs 3:4-10. When you give, let people know it is from God. Honor the Lord with what you have, not just with your salary. It does not matter how poor or rich you are. Tithe on what you have. Apostle Dale told about a pastor who tithed to Armada. Someone gave the pastor a check to pay off the church building. The Lord told Dale that the pastor was not going to tithe on the increase he had received. We are to tithe on all the increase. We are to trust in the Lord with all our heart (Proverbs 3:5). The problem is in any area where we are holding back and not letting go and letting God take it. We need to diagnose ourselves and our lives. Where am I holding back? First, we should get rid of the plank in our own eyes. Do not lean on your own understanding. Do not put any faith in your own perspectives. Find out how to get rid of things. Stop the "whys." In everything you do, acknowledge God (Proverbs 3:6). Keep the connection of divine guidance. If you do not boldly tell the truth, you are denying the truth. (Dale told about a meeting with an important person. He did not care what the man thought of him, so he told him about the Lord, and the man shared that he understood because he had experienced God's protection in an international connection.) God will direct your path when you acknowledge Him in all your ways. God has you on His path. (Dale told of an unusual experience on an elevator in Washington, D. C.) Get alone with God and say, "I quit." Write down all the roles you have, and tell God that you will only pick up the ones He tells you to pick up. Write down what God has done in your life. Count your blessings. Name them. You will see how God has been working and how He gets us to the path we are on now. DO NOT BE WISE IN YOUR OWN EYES. Pride is worse than the devil. The more I acknowledge God, the freer I become. Jacob went to Laban and labored fourteen years for the wife he wanted. When he left with his posterity and prosperity, Jacob talked to Laban about his past, how he worked for all he had. He ended by saying to Laban, "and the Lord prospered me." Whatever you do, acknowledge the Lord in it. Look for the Lord in everything you do. Fear the Lord in your business, relationships, and just walking down the street. (Dale shared how he asked the Lord to remove the people from in front of the monuments he wanted to photograph in Washington.) Acknowledge the Lord.

We should value and apply truth and let go of what is not truth. What we believe must come from the Word of God. You have to answer for yourself. Am I grounded in the Word of God? There will be deceptive signs and wonders (2 Thessalonians 2:10-13). People will perish because they do not receive the truth and are sold over to deception. How do we guard our hearts? God gives more grace (James 4:6). The more I put the Word in my mind, the more I have God's pictures and thoughts. That is the natural way to renew our minds. However, it is by faith that the things that were not possible before, become possible. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). We are in pride when we exalt ourselves above God's truth. Go to the Word to get your belief. How can you keep yourself from being deceived? Be humble. Be willing to change. Be willing to repent. People who reject God's truth should weep and mourn in repentance. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord. Psalm 51 is David's showing his heart of humility and repentance, allowing God to move through him. The Lord can use anyone. Pastor Syd, Jon Fike, and Herb Baughman shared testimonies of God's goodness in financial blessings.

Pray for those who are affected by their loved ones who gave their lives for our freedom. In 1 Samuel 2:30, God says that He will honor those who honor Him. We can know what we honor by what we spend our time and money on. If you honor the Lord, you will honor His Word. If you honor His Word, you honor truth. The Word is the Book of Life. There are 1500 verses about civil government. Public schools were started so people could read the Bible. Children were taught from the Bible. The Word tells us how to handle things. We should go to the Bible to get truth rather than trying to prove that what we believe is truth. The Word of the Lord was rare because the people did not honor the truth (1 Samuel 3:1). We should honor and look favorably on the Word (Isaiah 66:2; Psalm 119:161, 162).  We should not compromise the truth (Proverbs 23:23). What truth are you willing to die for? Truth will cost you something. You are compromising when you do not believe the whole truth of God's Word. Other Scriptures that show the Word is to be valued are: Matthew 13:44; 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12. We are warned of a time when people will not look for truth but only for what they desire (1 Timothy 4:3). A Christian should not be a conspiracy theorist. Be wiser than children of darkness and do not be gullible. Think of truth. If people turn away from truth, they turn to myths. John 8:31, 32 tell us that the truth that we know shall make us free. What does the Word say? You must put the Word in you. Luke 8:4-8, 11-15 is the Parable of the Sower and the Seed. The seed is the truth. You may hear it and immediately reject it. You may get excited about it but then backslide. The seed may sprout but other things grow up and choke it out. Or the seed may fall on a good, honest heart which holds on to the truth and bears fruit. The one who endures bears fruit (1 John 2:3-6). Those who abide in Him ought to walk as Jesus did. He loved truth, and He gave His life for truth.

Apostle Bruce is an adventurer. He rescues children and adults from slavery. He is currently working on his own TV series and a documentary. Dead people and dead churches need revival in America. Charles Finney said that revival is a new beginning of obedience. He encouraged us to be like his one daughter who is instantly obedient. One act of obedience can change lives and nations. He shared about his obedience to give over his network to God. In seven days it took off like it had not before. He went to Liberia to help a tribe get out of poverty. He discovered that their land has gold and diamonds, which can be used to help them and to advance the kingdom of God. How often do we say "no" to God? He rescues kids in Kenya. It is all about obedience. Go to your neighbors. Give money to someone in need. Disobedience puts us behind where we should be. We need preachers who speak truth. One act of obedience can take you on a journey. Apostle Dale and Bruce went to Ukraine years ago when they did not know the language well, so they prayed for direction, because the only map they had was a prophecy map from Jack van Impe. As a result of that trip, Bruce became Gloria Copeland's personal protection. Do not be afraid to be obedient. Bruce's life was changed by a slave boy at a crusade where there were twenty-five thousand people coming to the Lord a day. Because he rescued that boy, he is today rescuing and helping hundreds of others, and Bruce stopped doing crusade and went into rescuing slaves. In 2 Corinthians, we read that we have treasures to be released and revealed. We need to embrace  the discomfort zone. God wants to speak through us. The act of obedience is to get the treasure out of us. God wants to use the treasure in you. Obey means to listen attentively and submit, to yield. Yield to God and listen attentively to Him. Do not substitute praying for obedience. The Bible is full of ways to obey, such as love your enemies, do good to those who use you, and bless those who curse you. Revival is renewed conviction of sin and repentance followed by an intense desire to live for God. We repeated a confession of faith.

Desire and expect the truth of God's Word. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, that is worth selling everything else for (Matthew 13:44; Isaiah 55:1). Do not let go until you are satisfied. We want to be delivered. Bruce gave a word about CWI being like a fire truck slowly going up a hill. The fire truck represents a vehicle of rescue, which accelerates once it gets to the flat area. He saw CWI as having a ministry of rescue for this region. It is about salvation, demonstration, and orchestration. Throughout the service, Bruce operated in the prophetic and had words of encouragement and words of knowledge for people needing healing. God wants to demonstrate Himself.

We are living in Acts 29, the chapter that is still being written. Be obedient and listen. Do what He tells you to do. Take it out of the church [walls]. Ephesians 4 says that the five-fold ministry is to equip the saints to do the work and ministry. Everyone has a God-cause. The only way to do that is to be obedient. Grace and favor reign through righteousness (Romans 5:21). Stay in a place of God's presence. Go treasure-hunting. Find people and release what God has for them. The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word with boldness (Acts 4:29). Have the courage to step forth. A small group can do the work of ministry. All of us are joined and knit together, each one fulfilling his or her God-cause with humility, dying to self, and speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:11-16). God has a mission for you. He has miracles in your mouth and in your hands. Why don't people operate in the supernatural and miraculous? Because they don't! We are to go and lay hands on the sick. Get out beyond the comfort zone of the church. All things are possible to those who believe. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is in you. Bruce told of a time he was ministering in Pakistan to twenty-five thousand people, and the prime minister's brother was there. He spoke in boldness anyway and released God's power. God can do miracles through you. Learn the Word. Faith begins where the will of God is known. What stops us? 1) Doubt and unbelief. 2) Tradition. 3) Hardness of heart. 4) Believing that the gifts and the Holy Spirit stopped working with the death of the last apostle (cessationism). 5) Lack of understanding of Biblical truth about healing and prosperity. 6) Undeveloped faith, little faith. 7) Experience or lack of experience. Do not build your belief by experience, but by the Word. The pathway to greater words and the miraculous is to believe in Him and the works that He did (John 14:12). The greatest issue is fear. If you have fear, you do not have love, because perfect love casts out fear. We have power, love, and a sound mind. It is lifestyle and power evangelism. Bruce shared his testimony of becoming angry and weary in ministry to a place where he was thinking carnally instead of blessing his enemies. In Matthew 14:13 the word "ask" means to put a demand on or to command. It is taking authority over the enemy. Religion is wimpy. Jesus gave us the keys and authority. We should be the most joyful people in the world. In His presence there is fullness of joy. We are examples of Jesus Christ. When we get words of knowledge, it is God talking to us. We have all the tools. The devil is under our feet (Ephesians 1:19-22). We are more than conquerors. That means that Jesus fought for us, and we get the prize. You will not be afraid if you are in the will of God. Find God's will through prayer and the Word of God. There must be a rising up of end-time warriors, who will walk in God's grace, mercy, and ability. What stops us is unforgiveness (Mark 11:25), the root of bitterness, compromise, and anger.

The church should communicate truth and be salt. Find out what your school's policies are. Communicate with your representatives. Fight against unrighteousness. It took eighty years of preachers' (The Black Regiment) preaching truth in the early colonies before it was put into effect when the Constitution was written. We need to apply the truth to our lives. God's principles work even for the unsaved. We must live by His principles. Eli, the priest, displeased God by honoring his sons more than he did God (1 Samuel 2:29). Eli knew his sons were sinning against God and His temple, but he did not stop them. God said that He will honor those who honor Him. If you want to be honored, you must honor truth. Honor means "weighty, of value, of great importance." How do we honor God? We honor Him by honoring what He honors. God cannot lie. There is power in His Word. God made everything. In Isaiah 66:1, 2 God said that He will look favorably on one who is humble and submissive and who trembles at His Word, a person who hurries to keep God's commands (Psalm 119:57-60). God's Word is truth. We can rejoice at His Word like one who has found a treasure (Psalm 119:162). The entrance of His Word gives light to those who are humble and open-minded (Psalm 119:130). Buy truth, and do not sell it (Proverbs 23:23). Do not let money pull you away from what is truth.  Bribes prevent justice. Do not allow money to buy and pervert justice and truth. How valuable is truth? Are you willing to stand alone for truth? As a church, we must be established on the truth. Truth will cost you something. You may have to choose between truth and family and your friends. How do we know if we have the truth? It is in the Word. If you find a verse, read the context of that verse and search for more than one witness in the rest of the Word. Make sure that what is being said is right in the Scriptures. Be a student of the Word. The deceived ones do not have the love of the truth in them.