Parkway Podcast

One of the greatest tests of character is how you handle opposition. Opposition is a part of God's will for your life; it prepares you for the opportunities ahead.

"There is a real opportunity here for great and worthwhile work, even though there are many opponents." (1 Corinthians 16:9 GNT)

The enemy is going to throw every kind of opponent at you to cause you to live your life in opposition. Even with MANY opponents there is a REAL opportunity.

1. Where are you pointed?

When you keep your eyes on God, you do not face opposition, you are given opportunity. Proverbs 4:25-27, Ezekiel 8:16, Colossians 3:2

2. Who are you surrounding yourself with?

The people we associate with will have a direct impact on the opposition and harm we face. Proverbs 13:20

3. How dedicated are you to finish the race?

God grow me in the season of opposition because you have an opportunity for us to mature and grow in Jesus. Ecclesiastes 7:8, Philippians 3:13-15

Open Heaven is the mandate that we are not merely servants but invited to be friends with God.

The War We Wage is 3-fold:

1. The War of the Spirit

2. The War of Sin (Flesh)

3. The War of Religion

Forerunners create the atmosphere of expectancy. The atmosphere of expectancy is the breeding ground for miracles. In Part 4 of the series on Open Heaven, Pastor Jay talks through five atmosphere killers.

1. Religious Judgement

2. Religious Form

3. Willing Ignorance

4. Shame and Condemnation

5. Silence

There are five qualifications of the forerunners of the early church as seen in Stephen (Acts 6:1-8):

- Good Reputation: Character and Integrity

- Full of the Holy Spirit: Fruit and Gifts

- Full of the Word of God: Grounded in Him

- Full of Faith: Action Flowing from Being

- Full of Power: the Signs Followed His Belief

In Acts 6-8, Stephen talks about God of the Open Heaven. If we are going to see God rule and reign in our lives, we need to be willing to destroy patterns that are controlling us. Patterns are demonic strongholds in your life that God says you don't have to live with anymore. Why do we get stuck in our patterns? Because they are comfortable.

Watch as Pastor Jay identifies patterns in our lives and identifies a way out of the cycle.

Pastor Jay talks about declaring a season of Open Heaven to come.

In Part 1, Pastor Jay lays a foundation for this series. In Acts 7:44-56, Stephen is telling the religious leaders of the day that they have known the God of the tent, they have seen the God of the house (that Solomon built), but he is declaring to them, that they are going to declare and know the God that is part of the Open Heaven.

What Stephen is saying is that before, they had to have a mediator, but now they are being invited to have a direct relationship because God is the God of the Open Heaven.

Sometimes we share space with people, but we don't know them. God is calling us to be intentional with our relationships. A Father's Day Message with Men's Ministry Leader, Mark Swanburg

Knocked Down Not Out

In Acts 14. Paul was stoned. But he didn't quit. He may have gotten knocked down, but he was not knocked out. Because what the enemy used as a setback, God is going to use as a comeback.

Acts 14:19-20

Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.

From Tragedy to Triumph, Dave Roever's story had us laughing and crying this weekend. Hear his story. Hear his word for the church today.

Psalm 119:71

It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.

Disagreement creates the crossroads for unity or destruction.

We speak often of unity, agreement, like mindedness, and togetherness. We rarely, if ever, spend any time speaking about the vehicle that creates the opportunity for unity. There is a power in disagreement, IF it leads to the TRUTH found in the Lord.