Bill Johnson - Saved, Healed, Delivered; How the Gospel Meets Every Need (02/05/2026)
Bill Johnson calls people with lingering accident effects, cancer, blood diseases, tormenting headaches, and head trauma to stand for healing prayer. The church prays boldly, rebuking trauma, infirmity, cancer, and affliction—many report significant healing (80%+ better), including sciatica, migraines, nerve damage, ear opening, and old injuries. He emphasizes Jesus' unchanging will to heal, the mandate for miracles, and the gospel as power for forgiveness, deliverance, and healing.
Calling for Healing – Standing for Breakthrough
Wow. Beautiful. Nice to see you. Glad you're here. How many of you have ever been in an accident of any kind and you still have lingering effects from that accident? Stand up. Is there anyone here that has cancer? Please stand. If you're physically able to, please stand.
I believe the Lord is healing blood disease. Blood disease. Anyone who has any kind of blood disease, please stand. There's someone here that just struggles with ongoing tormenting headaches. And I believe that that is to end tonight. If that's you, stand up. Yeah.
There's somebody here who, maybe you're already standing, but there was some sort of an accident or something and you've just suffered with headaches ever since that accident or that injury. Who is that? Because I want to make sure. Is that down over here? Okay. All right. Cool.
Jesus Christ is the same today in this room as he was when he walked the earth. His heart, his commitment, his love for people is the same. He hasn't changed at all. His power is the same. His purpose, his will is the same. He never turned anyone away. He never gave an explanation.
Religion Seeks Explanations – Kingdom Brings Solutions
When the disciples tried to figure out why a man was blind, was it his sins or his father's sins? Jesus just healed him. Religion looks for explanations. Kingdom brings solutions.
So we've got an opportunity here to serve some people that Jesus is mad about. Mad, that's probably not the best word. He's not mad at you. But he sure does love you. And so here's what we're going to do. All of you that are standing, put a hand up if you would. I want you to keep it there until somebody comes to you.
Church family, you know what to do. If you're a guest with us, you're welcome to join. If you are a believer in Jesus, go to somebody who has their hand up, find out what the condition is. If you're watching online, just do this at home. If you have any of the conditions mentioned, just join with us.
We will pray for a spirit of breakthrough upon households. Eric shared a series of testimonies things again today on autism, Asperger's, a number of those kinds of problems that Jesus has been healing. Dyspraxia, I think is the name of one of them. So we just declared that as the testimony of the Lord. He heals the same today as he did then.
Corporate Prayer – Rebuking Trauma and Infirmity
Now, those of you that are praying for anyone with head trauma, I want you to literally rebuke the spirit of trauma. Just literally just break off that, that infirmity. We just declare it ends tonight in Jesus' name.
Cancer, no more. We speak to you in the name of Jesus. Be gone from people's bodies now. God, restore what was stolen. Restore what was stolen, Lord. Some injuries were very, very simple, and they've just kind of been tolerated. But we don't tolerate simple injuries any longer. We just say this ends tonight in Jesus' name.
I rebuke pain and torment at the root, the cause of this disorder, this pain. In Jesus' name. In Jesus' mighty name.
All right, go ahead and end your prayer, but stay with the person. Don't leave them. Go ahead and end your prayer, but stay with the person. Everyone who just received prayer, as best you know how, right now, I want you to examine your own body. Try to move in a way you couldn't move.
If there was an issue with the head, with sudden movements, do something. Don't injure yourself, but please examine yourself by kind of pushing the envelope, so to speak. Just check yourself out. Don't wait to feel anything.
Testing for Healing – Waves of Celebration
Now, anyone who is at least 80% better already, I want you to wave both hands over your head like this. Yeah, we bless the Lord for that. Come on, all around the room here. It's beautiful. Yeah, thank you, Lord.
All right, turn and pray again. Turn and pray again, unless they're 100%. Then you might mess them up, so leave them alone. Honestly, just turn and pray again. Use your authority to command this to be gone. Use the authority that Jesus gave you.
Okay, don't let your faith sit down. Thank you, Lord. Let there be increase of a spirit of breakthrough in this room right now for the glory of the name Jesus. The glory of the name Jesus.
Now, every one of you that are praying for an accident victim, I want you just to rebuke affliction. Command it gone from their body. We rebuke the spirit of affliction in Jesus' name. Thank you, Lord.
We ask as well for creative miracles that you would restore damaged, destroyed parts of the body, the vertebra, the nerve damage down that right side. There's somebody with nerve damage down the right shoulder and down the right back part of the hip. Here, the Lord is bringing healing to that right now. Jesus' name.
The nerve damage is being healed. He's restoring what's been stolen. In Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. There's somebody who had a blow to the head. It's affected your eyesight. We just speak wholeness to vision, to your sight. Jesus' name.
It's affected hearing. Someone specifically, the right ear. We just command that to be open, to be healed now in the name of the Lord Jesus. Yes.
There's a number of people that the Lord is healing the sciatica. Put your hand on it and your own body. If that's you, make sure you're standing. Stand. Put your hand right on that sciatica, that part of your lower back there. We just declare absolute relief now in Jesus' name. Absolute relief now in Jesus' name.
Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord.
More Prayer – Creative Miracles and Authority
All right. You did wonderful. Now, stay with the person again. Everyone that received prayer, do something. Do something. Please do not wait to feel something. Only half the people we see healed actually feel it. So move in a way, even if it seems silly to move, just do it anyway.
And in some way, examine yourself to see what the Lord has done. Everyone who's at least 80% better, wave your hands over your head like this. And look around the room, everyone. Just give thanks to the Lord. Yeah, we give you thanks, Lord. Thank you, Lord God. We bless you for that. Yeah.
I want you just to confess blessing over them. The Lord has given you authority to release blessing. So just tell them, I bless you in the name of the Lord. I declare over you that he will complete what he started. He will finish what he started in you. In Jesus' wonderful name. Amen. Amen.
Why don't you hug him real good and be seated.
How many of you just got healed? Just stand up. I just want to see who you are. Just stand up. Isn't that amazing? Wow. Come on. Keep standing. Just keep standing.
What did you get healed from? What did you get healed from? What's that? Sprained ankle. Thank you, Jesus. The sciatica thing? Yep, yep. The headache thing? The migraine stuff? Yeah. Back pain? Excellent. Torn muscle in the shoulder? Torn muscle in the shoulder? Yep, yep, yep.
A headache due to accidents? Yep, yep. Knee pain? Yep. Thank you, Lord. So, head injury from an accident and your ear just opened up? Yep. Thank you, Lord. So beautiful. Yep. Back injury? How long ago? Seven years. Seven years ago. Wow. Seven years and three pregnancies. Yeah, that's all. Yeah. Bless you. Wow. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Yep. Foot pain. Beautiful. Thank you, Lord. Knee pain. Trauma. Gone. Come on. Trauma. How long? Lifetime. Depression and trauma. A lifetime. Come on. Thank you, Lord.
Yeah. Chronic migraines for three years. Gone. Bless the Lord. Yep, yep. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Neck trauma from car accident and your knees. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Beautiful.
Right here. Neck. How many of you were healed from an accident of some sort? An old injury? Come on. Let's give a shout of thanks and praise for that. Bless the Lord. Bless the Lord. Go ahead and be seated.
That's amazing. Thank you, Lord. That's amazing. Amen. Amen.
Lessons from Healing Accident Injuries
You know, I stopped counting about accident injuries that were healed probably at least 12 years ago and maybe 15. And at that time it was like 2,800 people that we had seen healed from accidents. And one of the things that I learned in that process, and we see them healed just like almost every week. Sometimes just piles of them.
One of the things that I learned is that sometimes when you have an injury, your body was designed to heal itself. I mean, God created us that way. And sometimes you just learn to live with pain and learn to live with restriction, restraint, various things.
And sometimes, unintentionally, we actually give place to a spirit of infirmity that sustains the effects of that accident past its normal course of healing. And when you realize sometimes, not always, but sometimes that's at the root, then it kind of makes you angry.
And it says, no, wait a minute. I've been stolen from for three years. And it's not necessary. And somebody came through years ago and gave us this phrase, what you tolerate will dominate. And so we're just saying together, we will not tolerate. We will not tolerate any longer.
And so I look forward to hearing some more stories of God's healing grace. Amen. Amen.
Light-Hearted Jokes and Transition to Scripture
Every time I say no, my kid's here. Ask again. She didn't quite understand the question. I was in South Africa and somebody left me a gift. And they wrote a little note on it. All I can figure is this phrase must mean something different there than it does here. It says, Bill, small appreciation for breaking the wind in the spirit for us.
I didn't do it. I'm just telling you. If you ever hear me order decaf coffee, I've been kidnapped and I'm trying to signal you. I just burned 2,000 calories. That's the last time I leave brownies in the oven while I take a nap.
People are more violently opposed to fur than leather because it's easier to harass rich women than motorcycle gang members. I just saw some idiot at the gym put a water bottle in the Pringles holder on the treadmill.
One more. Going to bed early, not leaving my house, not going to a party. My childhood punishments have become my adult goals.
All right. You guys have your Bibles? Get your Bibles out. I'm going to have you look at a number of scriptures with me. And let's see. We'll start in Matthew chapter 10. We are going to look probably at a half a dozen verses, I suppose. So just be ready to kind of move through the Bible with me.
My wife is in Spain. And I head off to Australia tomorrow. So we're going to be in the opposite sides of the globe. And we will meet up in a couple weeks. She's having some treatments there. But she posted this verse out of Romans 15 that is just so good.
She posted it on her Instagram page out of the Passion Translation. So let me just read it for you. And then we'll end up in Romans 15 in a few minutes.
Now may God, the inspiration and fountain of hope, fill you to overflowing with uncontainable joy and perfect peace as you trust in Him. And may the power of the Holy Spirit continually surround your life with His superabundance until you radiate with hope.
That was better... This verse is better than your response. So let me read it again. Because I think some of you are daydreaming. You're trying to wipe the smoke out of your eyes. I'm just trying to help you here.
Now may God, the inspiration and fountain of hope, fill you with overflowing... to overflowing with uncontainable joy and perfect peace as you trust in Him. And may the power of the Holy Spirit continually surround your life with His superabundance until you radiate with hope.
Thank you for that spontaneous response.
Scriptural Mandate – Power and Authority Given
Matthew chapter 10. Did I tell you where to start in? Matthew 10? Okay. Matthew chapter 10, verse 1. When He had called His 12 disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits to cast them out, to heal all kinds of sickness, all kinds of disease.
In the sister passage to this one, in Luke chapter 9, it says He gave them power and authority. It's the combination of the two. Sometimes you have to move in power. Power is where we discern what God is doing and move with Him. Authority is when we act out of who He's made us to be. It's never independent of Him, but sometimes it's initiated by our courage out of our identity.
So here's the verse again, verse 1 of chapter 10. When He called His 12 disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.
Jump to verse 7. Now, as you go, preach, saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
Go to Matthew 28. Verse 18. And Jesus came and He spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. So if Jesus has all authority, there's someone out there who talks a lot who has no authority.
All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, the implication is, I now have the authority to commission you to do what I would do. Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe the things I have commanded you.
Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. One preacher was afraid of flying. This is the verse he'd quote. Lo, lo, I am with you always.
Verse 20 says, Jesus commissions the 11 remaining disciples, make disciples of nations, listen carefully, teach them what I taught you. What did he teach them? In chapter 10, to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers.
There are some who have come to believe that healing ended with the last apostle. But Jesus told these 11 to train their disciples to do it and in turn have their disciples do the same and in turn have their disciples do the same. The standard was never to be changed.
The Original Standard – Not Measuring to Generations
I've shared an example, an illustration with you a number of times through the years, but I'll do it again just to give a context. Years ago, I heard a story from a pastor, not a close friend, but an acquaintance, a man that I admired greatly. He was a great pastor, an amazing Bible teacher and they were building a new sanctuary and they hired all the contractors and did everything, but he knew the contractors and he wanted to help.
He didn't have any building skills, but he wanted to do something just to be involved as he was excited with this new building that they were building. And so he came to the contractor over and over and over again. Finally, the contractor said, all right, I'll tell you what you do.
When we leave tonight, I need to have, and I forget the numbers now, so forgive me, I don't have the exact here, but he said something to the effect, I need 100 2x4s cut to 8 foot in length. Will you do that for me?
And so he was excited and finally had something to do. So he took a tape measure on the first 2x4, measured 8 feet and he cut that board. But instead of using the tape measure for the next board, he used the board he just cut. And he put it on top of the second board and he drew a line with his pencil and then he cut that second board.
Instead of using the first board as the standard, he used the second board that he cut as the measurement for the third one. And he measured and then he cut. And then he in turn used the third board for the fourth and the fourth for the fifth.
As you can imagine, every time you use that preceding board, your line is actually about an eighth of an inch longer than the previous board, which isn't a problem if you're cutting three or four boards. But when you're cutting a hundred, you actually end up with some boards at the end of the cut that are nine feet long or longer instead of the eight-foot standard.
And for 2,000 years, we've been measuring ourselves to the previous generation instead of to the original standard that was given to us. The standard is very exact, very precise. No excuses. Seek God until there's breakthrough where we display what Jesus said we were supposed to display.
Signs Confirm the Word – Bold Preaching
Mark chapter 16. Keep reading. We're just going to keep on reading, so don't get tired. Mark 16, verse 20. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, confirming the word through the accompanying sign.
Confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Miracles through your hands are not to confirm, are not to affirm your identity. They are to confirm the gospel. The gospel must be preached.
Romans chapter 1 says, The gospel, the good news of the kingdom of God, is the power of God unto salvation. Salvation, back in the Reformation days, we give great honor to what took place in the Reformation. But one of the mistakes that was made is that the gospel of the kingdom was reduced to the gospel of salvation, specifically to the gospel of forgiveness of sin.
The word salvation includes in its meaning deliverance and healing, as well as forgiveness. So, the gospel of the kingdom, the gospel of salvation, is the power of God. The gospel of the kingdom is the power of God for deliverance, for healing, and for forgiveness of sin. It was never meant to be separated.
In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus said, Pray this prayer, deliver us from evil. The word evil, of course, refers to sinful activities. But it comes from a word that is the word poor, which comes from a word that means pain. So, it's interesting. There's three levels of this one word evil. Evil, sin. Pain, sickness. Poor, poverty.
The redemptive brushstroke of Jesus was to wipe out the power of all three realms, all three areas. The kingdom of God is not meat or drink, but it is what? Righteousness, peace, and joy. Righteousness deals with a sin issue. Peace deals with what? The torment issue. Joy, there's laughter, there's good medicine, deals with the healing issue.
The kingdom of God is about this triune gospel to impact the whole person, spirit, soul, and body. It was never intended that we just got forgiven so we could go to heaven. It was supposed to be that we become transformed people that can model, illustrate, and demonstrate the same gospel that Jesus walked the earth with and preached.
So here in Matthew, in Mark 16, he says, they went out, they preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, confirming the word through the accompanying signs. The bolder the sermon, the stronger the signs. A cowardly message brings timid breakthroughs. It is the power of God unto salvation.
It's all right. You're making me work, but I don't mind. I had the morning off, so I just listened to Eric today, and it was wonderful.
Boldness and Signs – Acts 4 and Hebrews 2
Acts chapter 4. Acts chapter 4. Still have your Bibles open, yes? How many of you have Bibles? Let me see your Bibles. All right. How many of you have electronic? Yeah, I can see them. The screens are shining at me. It's all right. I have many in here. All right.
Acts chapter 4. Look at verse 29. I like it best in the New American Standard. Acts chapter 4, verse 29. And now, Lord, take note of their threats and Grant that your bondservants can speak your word with all boldness while you extend your hand to heal and signs and wonders take place through the name of your holy servant, Jesus.
Think through this verse now. God, take note of their threats. They were just in prison. They just got released. And so they are now praying. They were threatened and told to never preach this gospel. Again, to never pray for the sick again, to never do any of that stuff.
So they go right from jail to a prayer meeting. And they pray. God, take note of their threats. And Grant that your bondservants can speak your word with all boldness. They were already credited last chapter with preaching with boldness. But they're saying, God, you know that boldness that got us into trouble? Give us all boldness.
Take us above the snake line. Take us up above where there's no snakes. Give us all boldness because the enemy runs out of energy and strength. But the kingdom of God never runs out of energy or strength. The devil has limitation. Jesus has no limitation.
Give us all boldness to proclaim your word. Listen, while he extends his hand to heal and signs and wonders take place through the name of your holy servant, Jesus.
So again, in this passage, we have God confirming the bold word that was preached, that was confessed, that was proclaimed.
Go with me to Hebrews chapter 2, verse 4. God... Oh, it's on page 1,873. No? Okay. Verse 4 of Hebrews chapter 2. What do we have here again? All I'm doing is hitting line upon line, layer after layer after layer, of God saying he confirms his word, he confirms the preaching of the gospel with miracles, with signs, with wonders, with demonstrations of the Spirit and of power. Amen.
Romans 15 – Word and Deed, Signs and Wonders
Romans chapter 15. I'm giving you a chance to learn where the books of the Bible are. You're welcome. At different times in my life, I've tried to memorize the books of the Bible. I found it's just a lot easier to become so familiar with it that you know what follows what.
Romans 15, verse 13. Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Verse 18. For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me in word and in deed. Please notice, word and deed.
We don't have time to establish it here, but action is always supposed to illustrate word. The gospel was never meant to be in word only. Jesus would teach either to explain what he just did or to set up what he was about to do.
Acts chapter 1, verse 1 says, I'll just quote it to you. This is an account, O Theophilus, Luke writes this. He says, this is an account, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began to do and teach.
When Jesus exhorted Nicodemus about being born again, Nicodemus had just come to him and said, we know that you, Jesus, are a teacher that came from God because no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.
We know that you are a teacher, word, because no one can do. The teaching gift from God's perspective was always supposed to be a word gift that's set up for works, for actions, for miracles. It was never meant to be reduced to what it's reduced to in Western culture.
Western culture, the teacher is a source of information. No one's faulted for that. It's just a culture we grew up in. But the Lord's restoring us to the original eight-foot, two-by-four. The original standard, the teacher taught and followed with demonstration. Or would demonstrate and would follow with teaching. But they always went together.
This is an account, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began to do and teach. So, Paul says, I will not speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me in word and deed.
So, what is he talking about? To make the Gentiles obedient. Stop right there for a minute. You won't discover the strength of the Lord until you minister where you are weak.
We tend to think ministry is defined by our gifts. And it's just simply only part of the story. If you and I were to sit down and plan this thing, and we've got 11 remaining disciples, and we have a Saul of Tarsus about to be saved who was a genius among geniuses.
He was the most highly skilled and highly trained priest, if you will, a disciple of Gamaliel, the intellect of the day, training in the Jewish religion. If we were to write out a script of how this thing should be played out, I doubt there's a person in the room that would give Peter the assignment to minister to the educated Jews and send Paul to the Gentiles.
Right? I mean, I don't know about you, I'm sending Paul to the Jews because he can debate his way into anything. He can absolutely lay it on the line and let these guys know from the scripture where they're coming from. And he would minister to Jews, but he was sent to the Gentile.
And Peter, this rough fisherman, was sent to the Jew. What does that tell us? It just tells us there are times where the resurrection power of Jesus can only be seen when you minister out of your weakness. Where you minister not where you have great strength, but out of raw obedience, you've done what he's called you to do.
Anyone can do what they do well and call it ministry. It doesn't mean you shouldn't. It just means learn how to obey. Well, I'm not good at that. Then you're qualified. Then when it works, nobody will give you the praise. That was really a good point. That was excellent.
I just want to encourage you. That was good.
Look at verse 18 again. For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me in word and deed to make the Gentiles obedient. How? In mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God so that from Jerusalem and round about to Elicrium I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
in mighty signs and wonders I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. In mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God. I have fully preached the gospel.
Acts 10:38 – The Model for Normal Christian Life
Let me read one more verse and I'll talk for a few minutes. We'll wrap it up. Acts 10.38. For the last 10 or 15 years, any time I see 10.38 on the clock, I stop and acknowledge this verse.
If I'm in the middle of a conversation with somebody, I just have a reflective pause in my heart. If I'm driving down the street, if Benny and I are driving together, or I'm driving by myself, I will begin to quote the passage and declare this verse.
Acts 10.38. God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, went about doing good, healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
Let's read it backwards. Because God was with him, he healed all. When God is with you, certain things are expected to happen. When God is with you, a cooperation is necessary so that he does what is in his nature to do.
He healed all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. You say, well, Jesus was God. That's absolutely right. Eternally God. But this passage emphasizes his humanity as dependent upon the Holy Spirit, given to him by the Father.
And this picture is the model for the normal Christian life. The temptation of the day is to let the culture around us redefine the gospel. The gospel is to redefine the culture.
The temptation of the day is to allow personal disappointment or personal experiences to change the gospel. The gospel is to change our experience. The gospel must be maintained for what it is. It is the power of God unto salvation.
I do not need an explanation. I just need the courage to obey. Eric talked this morning. It was a great message. And he had one part. He said, there's always the what about people. Yeah, but what about it's the Sabbath? Or what about the pigs? That was somebody's economy. That was their employment. Or what about the people around the pool that weren't healed?
Don't be a what about. Don't be a yeah, but. Just don't be a but. You can take that any way you want.
Jesus walks up to a man at a pool. History tells us there could be as many as a thousand people around that pool. The Pool of Bethesda. John chapter 5. The place that rocks me most when I'm in Israel is the Pool of Bethesda.
Not very many people go there. It's just a little pool at the bottom of a hill. There's a nice little cathedral there. It's not a famous tourist site. By any means. But when I go there, I just am rocked. I'm rocked.
I make sure the one place that I've got to go to when I go to Israel is I've got to go there. Not because I need to see the stirring of the water. He's already stirred. The Spirit of God is stirring the water of my soul. And that's enough.
But I need the exposure to the historic site where as many as a thousand people could be gathered around Solomon's porch, this area. And they would wait for the angel to stir the water. The first person in would be healed.
Jesus walks past 900 and some people up to a man and starts dialogue with him. Guy says, I've been here 38 years. I have nobody to put me in. Jesus heals him.
I know we've reviewed this so many times that it gives me a context for an exhorting word. If that miracle were to happen today, pastors, theologians, newspaper writers, TV interviewers would be talking to the 900 plus people that Jesus walked past.
And ask them the question, how did it feel to have Jesus walk past you? Theologians would come to the conclusion, this only goes to prove it's not always God's will to heal.
The Bible talks about what Jesus did, not about what he didn't do. He did what he did. He healed all that the Father sent him to and all who came to him. He did not heal all on the planet. What he did is the standard. What he didn't do, you have no business trying to figure out.
If you care about the 900 people left around the pool, then get anointed by God and go find them. Because he set a standard. He set a standard.
Boldly proclaim. Boldly confess. This gospel of salvation is for the healing of torment. It's for the deliverance of torment. It's for the healing of disease. It is for the saving of the soul. It is for the forgiveness of sin with an absolute new nature.
It's not just a cute prayer that I pray to ease my conscience. It is the entrance into eternal life now.
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Those aren't two separate things. He's adding emphasis to one of the expressions of the Holy Spirit.
Do you remember in the scripture where he says, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness? He didn't add righteousness to the subject of the kingdom. He was emphasizing. Because the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy.
So here he says, God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power who went about doing good, healing all who were oppressed by the devil for God was with him.
those are my happy verses.
Closing Exhortation – Courage and Boldness
Let's stand. I haven't talked about this for a while and every once in a while I don't know if you need it but I know I need to talk about it every once in a while. I just need to look at the scriptures again. I do it on my own but I like to do it in front of you and say, here it is.
Here's the plumb line. Here's the standard. Here's the two by four. This is what all of us have been called to do in some measure. All of us. Every single one. We have the privilege to be bold and courageous and watch him back up our declared word with miracles, signs, wonders. It's the privilege. Privilege of the believer.
I want you to put a hand on the shoulder of the person next to you and I want you to pray for them that God would give them so much courage that it would scare them. More courage than they have ever, ever had before. Let it surprise them.
Courage. Courage. Courage. Boldness. Boldness. Boldness. Boldness.
Now, pray for open doors. Open doors. Open doors. Open doors. Open doors. There's to be a harvest of souls in Reading this week. This week. A harvest of souls. People delivered from torment that they've carried for years.
Run into the battle. Run into the fight. Not from it. Great courage. Great boldness. Great favor. Open doors. Open doors. Open doors.
God, I pray that you'd stir up the hunger of our city to ask questions of believers all over this city from various churches just to ask the questions.
Put your hand on your own heart. Just pray my favorite prayer. Help me, Jesus. Help me, Jesus. Help me, Jesus. Help me, Jesus. Help me to represent you well. Help me to represent you well.
Probably the most terrifying thought to me is to not have represented him well. Oh, it just gives me the shivers to not represent him well.
And so what I exhort you in tonight is not to bring any kind of guilt or awareness or lack. It's to create hunger for the more, the breakthrough. He's already predetermined breakthrough to be in your future, breakthrough.
I know there's always a chance when there's this many people here that there could be someone here who's never been what the Bible calls born again. You've never surrendered your own personal life to Jesus. Jesus, the only one who has the absolute right to rule our life. He's the merciful God, a wonderful, everlasting Father.
And if there's anybody in the room that would just say, Bill, I don't want to leave till I know I'm at peace with God, till I know I've been forgiven, till I know that I've been brought into his family, then I want you to just put a hand up right where you are, and I want us to pray for you.
Just put it up real, real quick, real courageously, real fast. Wave your hand at me if I... Oh, right down here? Yeah, wonderful. Beautiful. Beautiful. Yep. Good job.
Was there another one in the back? I thought I saw... Maybe it was just somebody worshiping. I saw one here. All right. Is there anyone else? Just wave it at me. Okay.
All right. Where's my... It's my team. You can help me here. Go right... Just go right back. I want the... The gentleman who raised your hand. Put your hand up again. There you are. Right there. Yeah. Go right back there. I want you to pray with him, minister to him.
Why don't you come out in the aisle? And... Just come in the aisle. Let you bless him. Yeah. Yeah. Just bring... Bring him on down. Just bring him on down. Angelo, just bring him on down. Bless him.
Yes. Go ahead. Pray with him. Yep. All right. I know. I just took Angelo's job away, but... He likes leading people to Jesus anyway, so... He'd pay me for that chance, so...
Oh, come on. Let's lead people to Jesus this morning. Let's lead people to Jesus. People are the most open to the gospel when they have faced things for which there's no answer. Our city has been shaken. Shaken.
You don't need an explanation. You just need good news.
I'm going to pray. Let's pray into this again. Father, we pray for a rich harvest of souls this week out of our city. Transform lives. Transform families. In Jesus' wonderful name. Thank you, Lord God. Amen.