A couple of small orders of business or just a little
note to the family, we have a couple of changes coming up. I
know you're like, I think we've had enough anyway. But
this one, I think these are a couple of them that I feel are really
good. I shared with you all at some point, at least I think I did.
When my mom was passing and I was in the hospital with her that
week, she was giving me instructions, final
instructions. My mom and my dad pastored and I was
talking to my mom. I had crawled up in bed with her and I said,
mom, tell me, what do you want with your church? How do you wanna do
this? What do you wanna do? And she had two instructions. And those two
instructions were, number one, she said, do not tax the people. And
number two, don't make it harder than it has to be. And that has
just been awakened in my spirit recently. And there are a couple of things I
would like to do that I feel like for fall into those categories.
Number one, we are going to, on August 2nd, move our
gatherings back to. It's not gonna. Well, yeah, it will affect you guys.
You get out earlier anyway. 9 and 10 30,
the meetings will not be. The services will not be
identical. But what you might lose if you're in first gathering
is you might lose one song or something like that. But as far as
the teaching and the worship, we're going to go the same places, but It'll
be a one hour gathering and then we'll start the second
gathering 10:30. That means you get out at
noon. And I think that's helpful for people, especially if you got young kids
and it's nap time and it's your nap time. And anyway,
so you're. I just. That was something that was in my spirit. The other
thing was to move our services back to
Wednesday night. And the reason that I feel like that's important is
because I've had so many families who have
kids that are. Want to be in sports and your family is
involved in that. And that means that you have to make a choice between whether
your kids can be here in youth or whether you can
allow them to pursue things that they are gifted in and that they
enjoy. So the simple solution to that for me is
that we're gonna go back to Wednesday nights. You still get
cafe food from five to six, you still get fed, but it will
be on Wednesday nights from 6 to 7. And we're gonna begin that on
August 5th. So I hope, it would be my hope that that's a
blessing to you that that's something that makes life a little easier
for you and maybe takes away some of the difficulties. I
know because I've talked with some of you, and it's been a difficult choice
for you, and my hope is that you won't have to make that choice now.
So let your kids run. Let them
do what, you know, God gifted that little football player and that little
cheerleader. Let's let them do it and still come and be with their friends
and their family here on Wednesday nights. I guess that was about all I
really wanted to share with y'. All. Maybe not. This has been a
journey, guys. And I don't know if you remember when I first
two weeks ago, I said, I feel like, you know, all the Lord's given me
so far is three weeks. Well, this is week three. Y' all are in so
much trouble. This is week three. But fortunately,
because of the blessing of the Lord, we have other teachers in this house that
God has called. So next week, Pastor Justin will be bringing
a word on Saturday sacrificial worship. And he'll be talking to you about
Jesus and the price that he paid in his worship. And this one. This one
tickles me, guys, because what I gave Pastor Jonathan was
the title Even More Undignified than this.
He's so happy. Anyway, but about the worship
that David presented to the Lord. So the next two weeks, we have
powerful men of God bringing the Word according
to worship, and we are going to worship anyway, right? But I have
felt like these last three weeks have kind of been our own
Valley of Baca. Our scripture base for
this church is Psalm 84. It's why we're called
Springhouse. It says when they pass through the Valley of Tears,
they make it a place of springs. And the Lord has allowed
this over many years with this body, that when people
pass through the Valley of Tears, they find the springs.
They become the wells and the springs. And I'm excited
that he's given us the opportunity to walk through that valley.
But I also see in my spirit that we are just on the other
side of it. So I'm excited about that as well.
This week, I'm going to talk to you guys about
midnight songs. Midnight songs.
And I would imagine most of you who are biblically
literate and enjoy the Word, you know that I'm gonna talk to you about Paul
and Silas and their midnight songs. And I felt
like when the Lord was just kind of taking me through this, I felt like
that's kind of where we've been you know, that's kind of where we've been. Having
to find a midnight song, having to find the place of worship and
praise that's on the inside of us when our circumstances were not
necessarily what we would have chosen. And this isn't the first
time that any of us have been through a hard place. Right? And it
won't be the last time. So how wonder that
God would teach us how to birth a midnight song in
those places and give us the opportunity to not only learn it for ourselves,
but to teach it and model that for the generation behind
us. This is what you do when you walk through a hard place. This is
what it looks like, this is what it feels like. We're not denying it, but
we're also not gonna live in the valley of tears. We're just not going to.
We're not called to. Scripture says they passed through, they pass through.
So now when we go to Acts 16, if you have your
Bibles, I'm gonna encourage you, man.
Bring your Bible as often as you can. And if you need one,
let me know. We'll get you one, but we're gonna go.
Paul and Silas, let me set this up for you in chapter
16. Paul and Silas are ministering and there is this woman that
keeps following behind them and she is shouting and she's
bothering them and she's interrupting basically what they're doing. And she is
a fortune teller and she's actually a slave.
And she, because of her fortune telling abilities, she
is earning a lot of money for the people who own her. Well, so she's
following Paul and Silas and she's yelling and interrupting and yelling
and interrupting. And finally it says after several days, which tells you how
patient Paul must have been, you know. Cause most of us would have snapped back
like the first time, you know, he's like, you're gonna stop anyway. But
what he does is he turns around and after several days he turns around and
he rebukes the spirit that's in her and tells her to come out.
Come out. And it does. And of
course her owners are really upset because they lost their
source of income. And so they're furious and they go to the
magistrates and they have Paul and Silas. They convict
Paul and Silas. And it says in verse 22, the crowd
joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to
be stripped, beaten. After they had been
severely flogged, they were thrown into prison and the jailer
was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he
put them in the inner cell not the outer cell. There was
no daylight here. And fastened their feet in stocks.
And here's where we're going. About midnight,
Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns. Do you ever wonder what
hymn they were singing? Seriously,
don't think it was Amazing Grace, but what hymns?
See, it could have been a psalm of ascent, because we know
that David had songs of ascent and that the
children of Israel sang songs as they traveled. You don't know
what that is, but that's interesting. About midnight, Paul and
Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. And the other prisoners
were listening to them. Suddenly, there was such a violent earthquake that
the foundations of the prison were shaken. All. All at once, the prison
doors flew open and everybody's chains came loose.
Father, I thank you for your word. I thank you for the truth of your
word. It is where we stand, Lord. It is what
lights our path. It is what shows us which way to go
and which way to turn. So, Father, we thank you for your word and we
thank you for the Holy Spirit. That explains it to us. Over and
over again, I ask, Lord, that my stuff fall in your stand
in Jesus name. Amen. The cool thing
here is that the chains come off.
And when the jailer wakes up and sees that the chains are gone,
he grabs a knife and he's gonna kill himself because he just
assumes that all the prisoners have run out. But they didn't.
They didn't. They did not run out. And Paul tells
him, don't do that. Don't do that. We're all still here.
So here's the thing. Midnight worship is the worship that rises from
prison floors. Midnight worship is that place where you're
like, you know, Paul and Silas, let's see, beaten,
flogged, stripped, beaten with canes,
humiliated. You would think they might have had a reason,
sitting on that prison floor, to begin to complain and to
gripe. I'm probably. I think I would have been crying just a little bit.
I mean, like, did you see? I was just stitching me anyway. But that was
a Paul and Silas, they had a reason to
worship. And that's what came up. Because, see, to Paul and Silas, it was never
about Paul and Silas. It was about a message that they had to
carry. It was about a word of hope that was supposed to be released
to a people. And they had seen it with their own eyes. And they knew.
They knew that message needed to go, and so they just worshiped. They knew that
the situation did not matter. It says about midnight, Paul and
Silas were praying and singing hymns to God,
midnight worship is not a song of understanding, but a song of
anchored trust. Remember when we talked about anchored trust?
That allows us to sink that anchor into the place where we
just trust God, no matter what's happening here or
here or here or here or at home or at work or any
of those things to go. God, I trust you.
That's where your anchor is. Guys, everybody's not gonna like what you
do. Everybody's not gonna agree with what you do.
They're not going to be able to. You know what your assignment is?
Your assignment is to hear from the Holy Spirit and do
what he says to do, because everybody will have an
opinion about what you should or shouldn't do. You need to hear
from the Holy Spirit. If you will hear from the Holy Spirit,
he will direct your path. His word is
a lamp unto my feet. It is a light
unto my path. That's where I'll walk, and
that's where you need to walk every day of your life.
Every day of your life. I asked the Lord, I said, lord, give me examples
of this. And of course, you know which example he would give me. Job.
Job, listen. He had just lost his family.
He lost all of his kids. He lost everything.
The things he owned. He lost his cattle. He lost his stock. He lost
his servants. Everything was lost.
Everything was lost. And this is what he said when all of
the news came to him. When everything. When the last bit
of bad news came, he said, at this, Job got up,
he tore his robe and shaved his head.
Then he fell to the ground in worship and said, naked I came
from my mother's womb, and. And naked I will depart.
The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away.
May the name of the Lord be praised. In all this, Job did
not sin. By charging God with wrongdoing.
So often we begin to blame God for things that
God's goodness was in the middle of this.
He just couldn't see it yet. God's goodness
is in the middle of these painful places, if we
will just look for it. Here's what I know.
Job's darkest night gave voice to his deepest worship. His
midnight song. I came to this planet with nothing,
and I will leave this planet with nothing. But I will
praise the name of the Lord every single
day, regardless. Every day, regardless. God
is good and he is. Is faithful. And that's where I
will stand, the next one that he gives me. Of
course you're gonna get a quote from David because David was known for being the
radical worshiper, right? I will bless the
Lord at All times, his praise shall continually be
in my mouth. Do you know, when he wrote that
he was fleeing, he was pretending that he was a crazy
man because of King Asaph.
Saul was chasing him. He'd been hiding in caves. He'd had
to leave his home. He was running for his life. And he
says, as I will bless the Lord at all times,
his praise shall continually be in
my mouth. He was probably in one of his most
difficult seasons, and he chose the midnight
song of I will bless the Lord at all times.
Hmm. But here's the thing. The most powerful
prisons are not the ones around us. They're the ones within us.
Nobody else holds you captive.
It's the things that we grab onto in our spirits and convince ourselves that we're
captive because in Christ, it was for
freedom that he has set us free.
He has done that. One of the most powerful images I feel like he gave
me one time was there was this
bar or chain or fence, and there
was a handcuff clipped to that. And
then there was an open part of the handcuff down here, and it was
open, and it was just hanging there. Just hanging there, connected to metal,
Open wide. And I just kept walking back over and putting my arm in it.
I just kept walking back over and putting my arm in it. He's like, when
do you realize that you're free? Or are you so
used to the chain that it has become your most familiar place?
These things that bind us. See, I believe it's significant that they
put Paul and Silas in the innermost prison,
because I believe that's where we struggle is in the innermost prison,
where we have to find a way to praise way out
of it. Here's what I believe. God is looking for people who will trust him
enough to worship. Before the breakthrough, that's what Paul and Silas
were doing. They were trusting God before the breakthrough.
They weren't singing hymns and songs because God had delivered
him. They were singing hymns and songs because they knew the
God who could. They knew the God who
could.
Immediately, all the doors were opened and everyone in
chains were unfastened. What, not just
theirs. Not just theirs. You know,
everybody is affected when you get free,
because everybody's affected when you're bound. Do you really
think your bondage does not affect your family?
Do you really think those places that we carry are just limited
to us? They're not. There's nothing like watching
somebody get free. There's nothing like watching somebody get
free. Nothing watching. And it just sets everything
free. I
was thinking about the Fact that the earthquake could have just gone right there,
could have just gone there to Paul and Silas, could have just loosened
their chains, could have just opened their doors, but it didn't. It went to
everybody. Because it says that everyone was
listening. Everyone was listening. So the
testimony was not, we're gonna worship and we're gonna get free.
The testimony was, we're gonna worship and we're all gonna be free.
We're all gonna get free. I love that even the winds and
waves obey him. The earthquake was not random. It was heaven's
response to a midnight song. Let me explain this
now, guys. This is not Bible. Well, it is kind of, but it's my
interpretation of something. I believe worship affects the
elements. I believe it shifts the room. I believe
that it changes the atmosphere. And I believe that
the earth responds. Scripture tells us that if we don't
cry out, the rocks will cry out. Right? It says that the trees
in the field will clap their hands. We know that
the seas parted at a word. We know that at a command, the
Jordan was split. We know that fire was called
down from heaven. We know that at some point the sun stood
still in the sky. And we know that Jesus commanded the ocean
waves. Right?
Don't tell me worship doesn't shift something. If one word can part a
sea, what do you think a thousand people worshiping him does? What
do you think can happen in a space when everybody
finds a voice of midnight worship and begins to
call on the name of the Lord before the breakthrough and tell him how good
he is? God has stuff for this
house. I want you to know that God has
moves in this house that we have not experienced before.
And I believe that there is a contingency. There is a thing that's
gonna happen in our worship that is gonna shift an
atmosphere and change some things. And I'm good
with that. I want what he wants. I believe that
there's gonna be healing. I believe that there's gonna be deliverance. I
believe that there are gonna be chains that fall off of people's
lives. I believe there's gonna be generational blessing
released in this house. The Holy
Spirit does. Anybody else does.
All we want is him to do what he does best.
Amen. Amen. That's what I want. That's where we're going.
Oh, my goodness. The Word says, he has sent me to proclaim
liberty to the captives. Jesus did not just come to forgive
sinners. He came to free prisoners.
You're not supposed to walk bound. You're just
not. You know what's beautiful about this. This is all the
way back in Isaiah, this prophetic voice. In Luke 4,
you see Jesus stand and he reads this passage from
Isaiah. He reads this whole thing. I have set
people.
In the eye.
The power, that word
in your presence. That's the power. And
see, that has been released into this atmosphere,
the atmosphere that we live in today. That has
been released. That God.
That God. Oh, that's the one I want. The earthquake did
not stop at Paul's cell. And that's the power of personal
breakthrough. It becomes corporate freedom.
Personal breakthrough has the potential to
become corporate breakthrough because all of the other prisoners were listening.
All of the other prisoners were listening. And if we'll just
listen, God has breakthrough. Guys, I
meant this. I just believe,
you know, in my own spirit. I look, you know, it's felt a little bit
like crossing the Jordan. These last few weeks have
felt a little bit like that. But in all of it,
I just. I see the other side of the river.
I see the other side of the river. And it's good. It is good
if we will keep our eyes fixed and set on him.
See, here's the thing. We are in the middle of this. I believe every life
leaves a legacy. The only question is whether yours will be one of
bondage or freedom. Your
life will leave a legacy.
My father started out as a pastor. He wound up in
alcoholism. He wound up in different things. And it's like
these things that we leave behind. And I
don't want to leave anything behind that overshadows the
goodness of God in my life. My legacy. I pray.
And, guys, I have failed so many times,
but my prayer would be that my legacy for my children would be to
go. God is good and he is faithful, and you can trust
him. No matter what, no matter what you're facing,
find your midnight song. Because he is worthy of. Of
that song. Will your legacy be one of
grumbling and complaining and fighting and staying bound? Or
will your children see you get free?
If we live chained? Our children learn to survive in prisons. But when
we worship through darkness, they learn that prisons do not have
the final word and freedom is possible.
And here's the beautiful thing about this one, guys. Your freedom becomes someone
else's theology. Your freedom becomes someone
else's theology. What do I mean? When Israel finally
crossed the Red Sea, the generations forever would remember. Our God
delivers. Our God delivers. What are
you gonna take from this moment in time? God met
us. God met us. He supplied us.
He covered us. He cared for us. He never
left us. He never. He didn't offer sin, forsake us. He
was faithful. He was faithful because
we could get so focused on the earthquake and on
that particular miracle. But you know what the greatest miracle was? The greatest
miracle at that prison wasn't the earthquake. It was the guard's salvation.
It was the guard's salvation. Somebody who was on the brink
of suicide and desperation.
And because someone was faithful enough to sing a midnight
song and then stick around for a little while
to see what God would do.
The purpose of God's power is not merely to amaze people, but to
redeem them. It's to redeem them. God
does the most amazing things. But even parting the sea was
about saving the people.
That's who he is. That's the God. That's
the God. And he is
still out redeeming the people. See,
sometimes God leaves you in a difficult place because someone trapped there needs your song.
Guys, we ought to be singing
and then stay a little longer. I love
that. They could have got up and ran,
but it says they didn't. And because of that, the
jailer was saved. And then that jailer goes and he
washes the wounds of Paul and Silas.
He washes the wounds of Paul and Silas, and then
his whole family gets saved. And you know
what's also really cool in this is that
the next day, the magistrates come and they find out, oh,
wait, Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. And they're like, oh,
man, we could be in big trouble here.
And here's what they do, because this is what we like to do. We like
to just, like, just leave quietly.
You're released. Go ahead and go.
And Paul goes, I don't think so.
I'm a Roman citizen. What you did was illegal.
You can publicly apologize and you can come escort me, and then I will
leave the prison. And that's exactly what they
did. And so they escort him out and they're going, you can
go now. He's like, no, I think I'm going to go visit my friend
Lydia for a little while. And then after we've eaten and had a good
day, then I'll probably head out. But thank you anyway.
Deliverance looks like Deliverance looks. They
stayed. They stayed. And the Lord did what he
did. I love that. Here's the thing, guys. Midnight never
gets the final word. Midnight never gets the
final word. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy
comes in the morning. And you want to know something beautiful?
Look at this. God has never failed to send one
single sunrise. Not one time. Not
one time. And if joy comes in the morning and he's sending the
morning, we are in pretty good company, don't you think?
Joy comes in the morning. Paul and Silas did not
sing because they liked where they were, but because they knew who was
with them.
Never confuse the presence of pain with the absence of God.
Never confuse. Just cause it hurts doesn't mean it isn't God.
Just cause you don't like it doesn't mean it isn't God. Never
confuse the presence of pain with the absence of God. And
I just ask you this. What if God is waiting on your midnight song for
you to break free from whatever it is, whatever you're still carrying,
whatever you're still thinking, whatever's still holding you back? What
if all it will cost you is a song? What if I
reach down to center place where this
word or this hurt or this pain has bound you
and find that song? Here's what I believe
your midnight worship declares. These chains will not define me.
This prison will not hold me. This past no longer
owns me. This pain will not take my
voice. Because God has the final word.
God gets the final word. He does. And I'm so grateful
that he does. That's the word that I need.
That's the word that I need. And I was thinking about this. Let me. I
think if I'll grab this. Cause I wanted to read it to you. I was
thinking about when I was thinking about all the elements and how they
move and worship and respond. I
was thinking about these songs.
I was thinking about hard places and people who faced them.
And I thought, if stone walls could sing,
Jericho's song would be Sound the trumpets,
raise your voice like a mighty shout and worship till
the walls fall. Worship
till the walls fall.
If seas could sing, the Red Sea song would be.
All who are fearful, trust him. Your
captivity is behind you. The God
of the breakthrough is before you. Just move.
Just move.
If tombs could sing, there is one
that would cry out. He called my name. He called
my name. The grave clothes fell and I
can breathe again. The
song. And if prison
walls in Philippi could sing, their melody would be
O beaten, bound,
battered, chained and long held captive.
Sing your song at midnight.
Ah, Jesus. I know we are called
in all of it to worship anyway. To
worship anyway. And so that's what we're getting ready to do.
This is week three. And I believe in my spirit that
this is significant. So I'm gonna come down here with you guys
and I need as many of you that will come. We're getting
ready to sing I'm Free. I'm free.
Thank God. Thank God. We're gonna sing it. And as we
sing it, here's what I want you to imagine in your mind.
Any chains that have held you back, any
disappointment that has broken your heart, any
unforgiveness. You need to release anything
that has bound you, whether it's been for three weeks or three
years or three decades. We're gonna make a
declaration and we're gonna come together and we're gonna worship through. And
I know that it's a new song for you, but it's not a new song
for the ages. Because over and over and over,
people have been set free by this God that we love.
Serve
God. I am free. So, Father, I ask that you would
just meet us. We're going to worship for just a minute. We're going to
tell you it is because of the price that you paid. It is because
of everything that you have done, not because of anything that we have
earned, that we are free. And we are going to give you the glory
for it. Father, in Jesus name. Let's crank it up.
Jonathan.