Paul Daugherty - How to Have Bold Faith
Summary
Pastor Paul Daugherty challenges believers to embrace bold faith in times of national crisis, drawing from Jonathan’s courageous action in 1 Samuel 14 amid fear and uncertainty. He uses the scissor lift illustration to symbolize elevating Jesus above problems, recounting the church’s defiant rooftop services during 2020 restrictions. The core message: instead of cowering in fear or disengaging, the church must activate faith through humility, repentance, innovation, and action—trusting God to turn crises into opportunities for breakthrough and revival.
In God We Trust: Trusting God in Crisis
Come on, somebody say «In God We Trust.» For the next four or five weeks, we’re going to be teaching this series, really just looking at what it looks like to trust in God when the world is crazy, when the world is in crisis, and when our nation is in crisis. How do we navigate the times we’re living in with the spirit of faith, wisdom, grace, truth, love, and a moral compass from the Word of God?
And so, if you got a Bible, go to 2 Chronicles chapter 7. 2 Chronicles chapter 7, and this is the promise that God gives us: if my people—he’s talking to us, he’s talking to you—whether you cheer for OU Sooners, or whether you cheer for Texas Longhorns or the OSU Cowboys, or the Dallas Cowboys, whoever you are, if you call on the name of the Lord.
Anybody call on the name of the Lord in the room today? That includes all of us. And he says, «If my people, if the people of God who are called by my name…» You know, ultimately, our allegiance is not to a sports team or even to a political party; our allegiance ultimately is to heaven.
We are citizens of heaven before we are citizens of a nation. That doesn’t mean we disengage from our nation or from our responsibility to vote and to let our voices be heard and to be an influence on our nation. If godly people don’t get involved in the nation, the godless people will continue to lead the nation.
And so what he’s saying is if my people who are called… anybody called by the name of the Lord today? Anybody a son or a daughter of God? My identity is not in the RNC or the DNC, it’s in the Bible. That’s where I find who I am in Christ, and what I’m called to do, and who I’m called to be.
And we’ve got to remind ourselves, y’all, this is where we find not just our identity but our instructions for life. This is how we’re called to live. And God is speaking to His people. He says, «If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves.» Humility is a constant battle for all of us in this room, but I’m telling you, humility is our only path forward.
The only way that we’re going to see God exalt His name and His power and His presence in our nation is if the people of God will humble themselves and pray.
Prayer
So before I preach, I want us to pray, and I want us to pray from a place of humility. What does that mean? That means that we would turn to God. Before we ask God to heal America, we need God to heal our own hearts. Before we ask God to forgive America, we need God to forgive our own sins.
Because the truth is, God was speaking to His people, and He knew His people had their own issues to deal with. How many of y’all got some things you need God to work on in your own life? Some areas where you’re still a work in progress?
And so today, that we would turn to God, turn from our wicked ways, turn from anything that’s hindering our relationship with the Lord—whether it be worry or fear or sin or doubt or just any idols that we’ve allowed to creep in. You know, there are things that can creep into your life, things that can creep into the nation.
In fact, this last week, they caught a terrorist who has been hiding in Oklahoma City, planning a massive bomb attack on election day, and they said he was hiding in plain sight. They were able to stop it. I’m praying that there will be stopping of bombs and terrorist attacks before they happen. There’s going to be wisdom and discernment to catch things before they happen.
Come on, we can pray just like we prayed in the hurricane that was supposed to be a Category 5 which turned into a Category 2. I believe God moves through people’s prayers. Prayer is powerful, and when the church prays with a sense of humility and repentance and passion, God listens.
This is what He says: «If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face.» Whose face? His face. Last week we talked about «I’m with Him, ” capital H. There’s only one capital H Him out there. It’s not a president or a politician or a celebrity; it is the Lord. That is who we first stand with.
He says, „If my people will seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven.“ That word „turn“ means repent—not just saying I’m sorry, but truly saying, „God, turn my actions, turn my life, Lord. I want to change the direction of where I’m going, my allegiance, my loyalty, where I’m focused. I want to look to you.“
And he says, „If my people will turn from their wicked ways, I will forgive their sin.“ That’s a great promise that God will forgive us of our sins, that He will forgive our nation of their sins, and He will heal our land.
So let’s pray right now. Lord, I just pray in Jesus' name for the United States of America. I pray for the church, God, worldwide, not just the church in America, not just the church in Tulsa, not just Victory, but churches all over the world, God.
Churches that are meeting in homes and churches that are meeting in shopping malls and buildings, God, from China all the way to Russia, to Ukraine, down into Africa, Australia, and Central America, South America, North America. God, I pray, Lord, that you would just move through your church, God, that you would give us just a spirit of boldness.
God, I pray, Lord, that you would forgive us of our sins. God, we repent; we repent, Lord, for the sins we’ve committed. We ask, Lord, for your forgiveness. Turn our hearts, God, back to you.
Lord, I thank you for your promise that if we would turn from wicked ways and turn to you, that you would hear our prayer. God, today we humble ourselves. We pray for healing in America. We pray that you would comfort those who’ve lost loved ones from the hurricanes.
We pray for your peace, God, in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, all the states that have been affected these last few weeks from the hurricanes. We lift up the election that’s coming up here in the next 30 days. We pray in Jesus' name, your kingdom come, your will be done.
God, I pray, Lord, that the church would be awakened in this hour to be your hands and your feet, God, to be the voice that speaks truth and hope and grace and love, God, and wisdom. Lord, that you would give us wisdom, God, wherever we are, to be your salt, to be your light, God, in the darkness.
And I thank you, Lord Jesus, that you’re turning things around. You are the way maker, the miracle worker, the promise keeper, the light in the darkness. God, that is who you are. We put our hope and our trust, not in man, God, not in ourselves, but, Lord, in you.
God, it’s in you we live, in you we move, in you we have our being. In God we trust, Lord, we look to you. In Jesus' name, everybody said amen.
Because the truth is, God was speaking to His people, and He knew His people had their own issues to deal with. How many of y’all got some things you need God to work on in your own life? Some areas where you’re still a work in progress?
And so today, that we would turn to God, turn from our wicked ways, turn from anything that’s hindering our relationship with the Lord—whether it be worry or fear or sin or doubt or just any idols that we’ve allowed to creep in. You know, there are things that can creep into your life, things that can creep into the nation.
In fact, this last week, they caught a terrorist who has been hiding in Oklahoma City, planning a massive bomb attack on election day, and they said he was hiding in plain sight. They were able to stop it. I’m praying that there will be stopping of bombs and terrorist attacks before they happen. There’s going to be wisdom and discernment to catch things before they happen.
Come on, we can pray just like we prayed in the hurricane that was supposed to be a Category 5 which turned into a Category 2. I believe God moves through people’s prayers. Prayer is powerful, and when the church prays with a sense of humility and repentance and passion, God listens.
This is what He says: «If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face.» Whose face? His face. Last week we talked about «I’m with Him, ” capital H. There’s only one capital H Him out there. It’s not a president or a politician or a celebrity; it is the Lord. That is who we first stand with.
He says, „If my people will seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven.“ That word „turn“ means repent—not just saying I’m sorry, but truly saying, „God, turn my actions, turn my life, Lord. I want to change the direction of where I’m going, my allegiance, my loyalty, where I’m focused. I want to look to you.“
And he says, „If my people will turn from their wicked ways, I will forgive their sin.“ That’s a great promise that God will forgive us of our sins, that He will forgive our nation of their sins, and He will heal our land.
So let’s pray right now. Lord, I just pray in Jesus' name for the United States of America. I pray for the church, God, worldwide, not just the church in America, not just the church in Tulsa, not just Victory, but churches all over the world, God.
Churches that are meeting in homes and churches that are meeting in shopping malls and buildings, God, from China all the way to Russia, to Ukraine, down into Africa, Australia, and Central America, South America, North America. God, I pray, Lord, that you would just move through your church, God, that you would give us just a spirit of boldness.
God, I pray, Lord, that you would forgive us of our sins. God, we repent; we repent, Lord, for the sins we’ve committed. We ask, Lord, for your forgiveness. Turn our hearts, God, back to you.
Lord, I thank you for your promise that if we would turn from wicked ways and turn to you, that you would hear our prayer. God, today we humble ourselves. We pray for healing in America. We pray that you would comfort those who’ve lost loved ones from the hurricanes.
We pray for your peace, God, in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, all the states that have been affected these last few weeks from the hurricanes. We lift up the election that’s coming up here in the next 30 days. We pray in Jesus' name, your kingdom come, your will be done.
God, I pray, Lord, that the church would be awakened in this hour to be your hands and your feet, God, to be the voice that speaks truth and hope and grace and love, God, and wisdom. Lord, that you would give us wisdom, God, wherever we are, to be your salt, to be your light, God, in the darkness.
And I thank you, Lord Jesus, that you’re turning things around. You are the way maker, the miracle worker, the promise keeper, the light in the darkness. God, that is who you are. We put our hope and our trust, not in man, God, not in ourselves, but, Lord, in you.
God, it’s in you we live, in you we move, in you we have our being. In God we trust, Lord, we look to you. In Jesus' name, everybody said amen.
Bold Faith: Title and Introduction
I want you to go to 1 Samuel chapter 14. 1 Samuel 14. I want to talk to you today about bold faith. Bold faith. Everybody say „bold faith.“
Brian, I want you to go ahead and, wherever you are, I want you to pull that scissor lift around. Yeah, there it is. Pull around that scissor lift. Today I’m going to preach on a scissor lift. Y’all don’t know what a scissor lift is yet; some of you do.
But I remember when 2020 hit, and people were saying the church has to shut down, the church has to shut down; you know, it’s non-essential. And they started listing what the essential businesses were. They said the essential businesses are cannabis shops, liquor stores, Walmart and Walgreens, pharmacies, and gas stations—places where you need to get filled up.
And I was like, places you need to get filled up? The church is where you need to get filled up with the Holy Spirit, with power. And they were saying, you know, places where you can get your fix. You’ve got to go to the liquor store to get your fix, to get cannabis.
And I was thinking, if there’s any fix that’s going to solve this problem, it’s the Holy Spirit; it’s Jesus. Like, the virus that was released in 2020 was not going to be solved just by all these things they were saying. And I said, „No, no, the church is essential.“
And so we decided, yeah, y’all didn’t know we had transformers in the building today—Optimus Prime over here. Elon Musk released his inventions; this is our invention today. So I’m going to preach on this scissor lift because in 1 Samuel 14:1, there was a moment of crisis in the nation.
There was a moment where the people of God had to make a decision: would they cower back in fear, or would they rise up in faith? Everybody say fear or faith. We have an option every single day to live with fear or faith.
I’m going to put this chain over here because they say this is the law; you’ve got to have a chain over here so you don’t fall out of the scissor. 'Cause this chain is really going to save me.
All right, but here’s the point. We’re living in a time where people have elevated personalities and politicians; they have elevated problems and circumstances. But today, Brian, I want you to elevate me. Today, 'cause we’re going to elevate the name of Jesus and the cross above every other name.
Jesus said, „If I be lifted up…“ If I be lifted—come on. This is yikes. The front row is the splash zone like SeaWorld here; you never know what’s going to happen. I won’t drop the cross on you guys. Everybody say, „Lift Jesus higher!“
Hope in Jesus, Not Politics
Can I tell you guys our hope is not in Trump or Biden; our hope is in Jesus Christ. Our hope is not in an Independent. That doesn’t mean that we don’t vote; that doesn’t mean we don’t get involved. We need godly people to rise up.
Did you know 41 million Christians are planning not to vote in this upcoming election? In the last one, 30 million sat out and said, „I’m tapping out; I just can’t find someone that I’m excited about voting for, someone that lines up 100% with Jesus.“
Here’s the truth: we’re not voting for the top Christian or the top pastor; we’re just voting for someone that we think is going to lead our nation in the best place right now. And we only have a few options. But for us to sit out and say, „I’m not showing up to the fight. I’m not even going to show up to the game…“
See, I’m a dad with kids who play sports, and I like to see our kids out on the field and out on the basketball court. If they come to the game and say, „I don’t even want to play. I’m just tired. I don’t even like the way the coach is talking to me.“
As a dad, I’m not going to say, „Okay, all right. Well, we paid the money for you to play, but if you don’t feel like it…“ You know, as a dad, I’m like, „We paid for you to play; we put you on this earth; we put you in that jersey. You better get out on that field with an attitude!“
And I just hear God in heaven saying, „You are citizens of heaven, but do not disengage from your nation right now. Do not disengage just because you don’t like what’s going on. This is a time where the people of God have to stand for Jesus first and foremost.“
That doesn’t mean that we bow down to any political party. We listen; the only one we bow to is Jesus. The only place that we bow is at the foot of the cross. This is where we find our healing, our hope, and our salvation.
But I do believe that the devil wants more than ever for Christians to just tap out, to say, „Man, I’m just out. I’m just done. I just can’t stand what’s going on.“ There’s a spirit of division that’s crept into the church.
This last week we had a mouse creep into our house. We found this mouse at 3:00 in the morning. Our daughter Ellie comes in the room; she couldn’t sleep, so she was going to sleep in our room.
Ashley’s getting things organized, turns on the closet light, and all of a sudden we see a shadow run across the floor. We all looked at that shadow, and then it ran back, and then we saw the face of Ratatouille, the mouse. And we all screamed!
We’re a jumpy family; we’re jumping, we’re screaming, we’re climbing on top of the bed at 3 in the morning. For the next hour, we had broomsticks, baseball bats; we had whatever we could find to try to catch this mouse.
But I think there are some things that have crept into the church, and some of it is just a spirit of, „I’m just tapping out; I’m just done. I’m just going to sit back and watch what happens to the nation. I’m just going to sit back; there’s no one I’m excited about.“
But the church has to engage with bold faith. Everybody say bold faith. Bold faith says Jesus is my king. Bold faith says I’m not going to be defeated, and I’m not going to walk around defeated.
I’m going to get involved; I’m going to stop complaining about the nation, and I’m going to find answers to the problems in the nation. I’m going to let my voice be heard. I’m going to be an influence. I’m going to be salt and light.
Jonathan’s Bold Move
So in 1 Samuel 14:1, are you there? Let’s go back down. People are getting scared with me up here. I can look at you guys eye to eye up there in Section B and C. Come on, give it up for those that are in the back; give yourself a hand back there. Yeah, let’s go.
But this is what happened: it says in verse one, „Jonathan one day, Jonathan the son of Saul, said to his young armor-bearer, 'Come, let us go over to the Philistine outpost.'“ Brian, take me to the Philistine outpost. Yeah, forward that way. Hold this. There we go. Yeah, there we go.
We’ll get there. Next year we’re going to get there. This lift is in a crisis right now; it’s going to work. It’s going to work. Whatever we have to do. All right, there we go; it’s working. It’s like an Uber lift. We’re going to get there; just take me to the spot.
But here’s the point, here’s the point. Jonathan one day said, „Let’s go!“ Everybody say, „Let’s go!“ There are certain doors that will not open until you move in front of them. It’s called motion-activated doors.
We have sinks in our bathroom here at the church that the water will not be released until your hand moves in front of the sensor. There is favor God has for you that will not be released until you move by faith.
There are doors that will not open for you. I’m going to hop off this scissor lift, and Brian, I’ll let you go park this over there somewhere. Give Brian a big hand; doesn’t he look like Jesus with that long hair?
I’ll be back; we’ll get back on this scissor lift later. Wowzers, y’all! This is dangerous. Your pastor loves you; I love you so much. But I think about how Jonathan had to make a decision to move by faith.
He said, „Let’s go over to the Philistine outpost. Let’s go to the other side.“ And he did not tell his father. Why? Because in verse two, his father Saul was sleeping under a pomegranate tree in Migron.
Now, Saul was sleeping because he was exhausted from trying to figure out a way to fight against the Philistines. He was outnumbered. The Philistine army was bigger, they were stronger; they had more than him, and the issues were just too strong in his day.
And so he was at a place of just throwing in the towel. He was tapping out. He was like, „I just can’t do it anymore. I’m just going to let the next generation take this.“ I just, I’m going to sleep.
The Fog of Discouragement
The fog is too thick behind me. You see a picture of Washington, D.C. in the fog, and I remember going to a prayer and worship day in October of 2020. We went to meet with Jensen Franklin and Sean Foy, and we were out on this lawn in Washington, D.C.
Ashley and I flew there, and we were there to pray and worship. And so we were worshiping, we were praying, just believing for God to bring revival to America. How many of y’all think America needs revival?
We need some bold Christians that aren’t afraid to pray in front of the Capitol building. And I didn’t say storm the Capitol building; I said pray. This was in October of 2020, just so everyone has their dates and facts right here.
We were there; we were praying, we were worshiping. And there were people there that were going, „What are you guys doing here? Why are you praying?“ We said, „We’re just praying for revival in our nation. We’re praying for God to heal our nation. We’re repenting ourselves for our own sin. We’re asking God to heal our land.“
And you could just feel this sense of humility and a sense of unity. Now the devil hates it when the church is unified around the Word of God. The devil hates it when the church is like, „You know what? We stand with Jesus. We’re going to worship Jesus. We’re going to pray, and we’re going to get involved. We’re going to help change our community.“
I’m so thankful for what Victory has done in response to the hurricanes. Instead of waiting on FEMA to fix the problems, Victory’s on the front lines right now delivering supplies and goods in North Carolina. We were on the news last week as one of the first responders serving the people in North Carolina that were deeply impacted by the hurricanes.
This Tuesday, we’re sending a team of people. If you want to go, just email [email protected]; you can go on the trip. But we’re sending a team of people that are doing manual labor, helping pick up and clean up, serving and bringing groceries and the gospel, and bringing goods and all kinds of stuff that people have lost from the floods.
But the point is that we’re not waiting on the White House to fix the problems; God’s house is going to engage and fix the problems. And the devil hates it when God’s house is engaged and involved and participating.
And Jonathan was moving; his dad was sleeping in a fog. I had this picture in my mind that there are a lot of people in the church that are in a fog, that things have become so confusing.
A fog hides things; it stops you from being able to see what’s in front of you. A fog makes you question what you can trust. Can we trust this person? Did I see that? Did I hear that? I don’t know; who can we trust out there?
This is why the church we’ve got to remind ourselves we trust in God, our Savior. We trust in God first and foremost; He is our Savior. He will never let us down.
But we also need to be, as Jesus told His disciples, wise as serpents and innocent as doves. We must be in the world but not of the world; be strategic about where we walk and where we talk. If a city rejects you, shake the dust off your feet. Jesus had instructions on how to live in the world and not be of the world, but to engage in the world—to be salt and light.
So, Jonathan is watching as his dad is tapping out of the fight. Jonathan is watching the children of Israel, the people of God, as they totally fall asleep under this pomegranate tree. I’m groaning with a migraine headache, just caving into the fog, the uncertainty, the confusion, and the discouragement in 2020.
I remember calling pastors the week that our church decided we were going to go out on the rooftop. I said, „Hey, what are y’all doing right now?“ They said, „Oh, we’re just bunkering down, got to mask up, shut up, and stay put.“
I was like, „Well, what did Jesus do? What would Jesus do if He was alive during the virus? Would He mask up, shut up, and stay put, or would He walk towards the lepers? Would He heal the sick? Would He move into the crowd where people say you can’t touch those people, you can’t heal on the Sabbath?“
There were so many rules being made up and changed, and the very people making the rules were breaking the rules in 2020. I was watching and thinking, what are we supposed to do? There’s just so much confusion—who do we trust?
I felt the Lord say, „God favors the bold.“ God favors the bold.
Rooftop Revival and Bold Action
So, I told our team, „Hey, we’re going to go and we’re going to do a rooftop revival service. We’re doing another one this Wednesday night, October 2024. We haven’t done one in two years; we’re doing one again this Wednesday night. Don’t miss it! I have a special guest speaker coming with me. I’m going to preach a little bit, and I’m going to let him preach. You’ve never heard him before; it’s going to be powerful.“
I’m going to get on the scissor lift because this is what we did. We walked out of this room, and I remember showing up here on a Saturday night, and the room was empty because the mayor was saying no church should meet inside. „We don’t want to spread the virus inside the room.“
And so I thought, „If you’re going to gather, you got to gather at Walmart, you got to gather at the liquor store, the cannabis shop.“ I said, „Baloney! We’re going to gather in our parking lot.“
So we walked out the doors of this room, and the church gathered in the parking lot in 2020. Come on, give it up for the media team making this work right now! Don’t you walk out of the room, but I’m going to walk out of the room for a second because this is what happened.
We had a decision to make: fear or faith. We were at an intersection, a fork in the road. Do we cave into the pressure of what the government was saying? „We got to shut down, and we got to stay put, ” or do we move outside?
Jonathan said, „Let’s go to the Philistine camp; let’s move beyond our comfort zone.“ I’m walking out in this parking lot, and we started looking at this rooftop. We said, „This is where we’re going to do church. We’re going to do church on this rooftop.“
Show them what the rooftop looks like so they see what I’m talking about. Point up there, and then we got up there. We started worshiping, and we started blasting through an FM transmitter to our whole—I want you to point out to the whole city.
You see that City of Faith building over there in the background? You see that was made by people who believed that God was not finished with Tulsa, Oklahoma; that God was not finished with the dreams and the plans and the purpose that He had for America; that God would raise up students who would hear God’s voice and go into the dark and not cower back to the virus of fear or even the virus of COVID, but would stand strong.
So we stood on this roof in 2020, and we began to worship and preach the gospel. We began to call people; we said, „If you want to get saved, turn on your hazard lights.“ At nighttime, all of a sudden, hundreds of cars started flashing their hazard lights.
We started passing out groceries. We started standing with bold faith. Everybody say „bold faith.“ I can hear you in the room right now; shout „bold faith.“ Come on!
And the church made a decision to stand. Now, watch what happens back in 1 Samuel 14. Jonathan is making this decision; he’s going to fight, he’s going to stand for Israel, but all the other people are staying in that place of fear, in that place of slumber.
It’s time to wake the sleeping church! Wake up to boldness! Wake up to courage! Come on, I’m back in the room with you guys. Sometimes you have to get out of your comfort zone. Even walking out today made me afraid. I thought, „Man, what if this goes out? What if this goes bad? What if this doesn’t work?“
But I love what Jonathan says in 1 Samuel 14, verse 6. Jonathan says to his young armor-bearer, „Let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord…“ Everybody say „perhaps the Lord.“ That word „perhaps“ means „what if.“
See, „what if“ can be a scary thought. What if this doesn’t work? What if I fall off the scissor lift? What if the church doesn’t show up? What if everybody calls me a heretic for preaching during COVID out in the parking lot?
You know what happened? 4,000 people showed up that first night. There were so many people in the parking lot that I had to get in the scissor lift to go out to the praying hands between us and ORU.
I stood on that scissor lift, which I’m scared of heights. God will use the thing you’re afraid of as the thing to push you into. So, don’t tell God, „I’ll never do that, ” because God is going to make you do the thing you said you’d never do.
But I got on that scissor lift, and the wind was blowing. It was late March, early spring—perfect time for the twisters that flow through Oklahoma. We raised that scissor lift to 40 feet high, and I stood right in front of the Cross of our church, right above the praying hands across the street at ORU.
I just began to preach that sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures. Sometimes you go to a point in your life where you’re so desperate for a breakthrough, and I was desperate because I was thinking about our church, and I was thinking about people who needed hope and help—people being let go from work when there was no promise of a stimulus check or the government helping.
All we were hearing from Dr. Fauci was that we just need to shut down and bow down to the spirit of fear and the spirit of COVID-19. It was at that time that something was birthed.
See, desperation can actually be the breeding ground for innovation. Desperation can be the breeding ground for creativity and resourcefulness. You start finding things you had in the house that you didn’t know you had, that God’s going to use, or it can be the breeding ground for despair and hopelessness.
Just say, „Man, I’m tapping out; I’m bowing down.“ But today, I came to remind you that God called us to live with bold faith. That God called us—where’s my Bible? Oh, there it is right there! I was looking for my notes. Everybody say „bold faith!“
Perhaps the Lord Will Act
So, Jonathan says, „Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf.“ Perhaps the Lord—what if God will move if we move? What if God will show up if we show up? What if God would multiply our steps?
And the story goes that as Jonathan took a step—now he was walking on a cliff, a cliff on both sides. So, he’s literally in a dangerous place. Jesus came with a dangerous message; Jesus didn’t preach a politically correct message.
Jesus didn’t call the church to just be politically correct and play it safe all the time. Jesus called His church to be a light in the darkness, to storm the gates of hell, that the church would prevail and that the devil cannot bind it, that He’s given us the keys to heaven.
God wants us to move like John the Baptist, to stand like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, to pray like Daniel with the windows open. Even when the king says you cannot pray in this country, God never called the church just to bow down to a spirit of political correctness; God called the church to stand with bold faith.
The thing that I love is that the crisis happening in the nation—for Saul, it was a period. The crisis was the end of something. He goes to sleep in the crisis because, for him, it’s the end of his victory.
But for Jonathan, the crisis was a comma. Yes, the Philistines were bigger; yes, the Philistines were stronger; yes, the Philistines had the advantage. They were able to look down on the Israelites, but Jonathan said, „But perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf.“
For Jonathan, he put a comma in the middle of a crisis. This is what the church did. Instead of bowing down and saying, „Okay, we won’t gather, ” we said, „We’re going to pivot. We’re going to gather in the parking lot.“
Yes, there is a virus; yes, it is real—but our God is also real, and He is essential. The church is going to be the hands and feet of Jesus. God did not send His Son to die on the cross just to keep a church on YouTube; God sent His Son to die on the cross for the church to be an active, present force in their community, fully awake, fully alive, not just on the internet but fully engaged in helping the community.
I can tell I’m trying to convince about half the church today. Daniel 11:32 says that the people of God will know their God and will do great exploits.
This past week, my boys and I were watching this incredible—like not a fashion show, it was an invention show—with Elon Musk. He was unveiling his three latest inventions.
Now, Elon Musk used to be a janitor at a lumber mill. He used to be a janitor at a lumber mill, but he started dreaming of ways to send people to Mars. Some of y’all are thinking about some people you’d like to send to Mars too—like I’d like to send some of my friends to Mars—but not friends, maybe some politicians. I don’t know—whoever you want to send up there!
Elon started thinking of this as a janitor at a lumber mill; he started dreaming on a higher level. Then he invented this small little online company called PayPal, and PayPal took off. Then he sold it, and he invented another small little company back in the day called Tesla.
Then Tesla got so big, he started SpaceX. Now he’s inventing robots, and he was showing these robots walking down the street, these Robocop—Robo-van cars. My sons were like, „We should get one of those robots!“
I said, „I’ll buy that robot in Jesus' name; we’re not getting a robot in our house! I’ve seen iRobot with Will Smith; we’re not getting iRobots.“ But the point is, he’s innovating.
What if the church every year had an invention show, where we began to—what if the world was watching the church be the most creative, resourceful, innovative place? That out of the church, we were coming up with ways to eradicate poverty, to bring help and hope, to bring goods to people that are in the middle of a crisis, to be the first responders in the hurricane.
I got good news for you: Victory is on the front lines of being that church! We are that church, and it is a bold church. An afraid world needs a fearless church; a world that is caving to the spirit of fear— a world that is caving to whatever the politics say is trendy and okay—needs a church that will stand on the word of God.
What would you do if you knew God had your back no matter what? We live in a society that is plagued by the spirit of fear and constant paranoia of the what-ifs, potential negatives: What if the circumstances get worse? What if the economy gets worse?
Paul, I can’t afford to dream in this economy right now! We can’t afford to handle another crisis right now; the crises have crippled us. But what if the crisis were meant to be a comma for the church to pivot?
The Paralyzed Man and Friends' Faith
I love what happens in Luke 5. There were these four friends who heard Jesus was preaching in their town, and it was an opportunity for creativity. God’s going to give you some opportunities for creativity in the next few months, next few years.
One day, Jesus was teaching (Luke 5:17), and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. There’s always Pharisees sitting there, listening. They had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem, and the power of the Lord was with Jesus.
If Jesus is in the house, the power is in the house! Come on, that’s who we want every single week! We want Jesus in this house! Lord, show up and show out in this house with Your power to heal, to transform, to renew, to restore, to reconcile, to redeem, and God, to stir up boldness in Your church.
Paul told Timothy, „God has not given you a spirit of fear or intimidation, but of power.“ Everybody say „power!“ „Power, love, and a sound mind.“ Paul said, „Fan into flame, Timothy, the boldness inside you. Fan into flame the gifts that are inside you. You haven’t seen nothing yet, Timothy. There’s more inside you that God wants to release through you.“
Some of you have only lived half of what God wants to do through you, and I hear God saying there’s more. Turn to that person next to you and say, „There’s more inside you.“ There’s more inside you: more dreams, more creativity, more innovation, more wisdom—oh, there’s more impact, there’s more influence.
There’s more Kingdom work that God wants to do through you. God did not put you on Earth by accident to sit back and watch the nation go into moral depravity. God put you on Earth for a purpose because you have a purpose—to make an impact, to change this nation, and to change the world.
It starts with one day at a time, choosing small steps of boldness. So, Jonathan said, „Perhaps.“
While people were gathered to listen to Jesus preach, some men in verse 18 came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. Where’s that scissor lift at again? How many of y’all would like me to do an illustration where we lower someone down from the scissor lift from the very top? No, we’re not going to do it. We’re not going to do it.
I’m wild, but I’m not that wild. Trust me; we have all the insurance guys in the room saying, „Don’t do it! Don’t do it! It’s going to be a lawsuit waiting to happen!“ So just stop!
All right, here’s the point: These guys came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat because they believed Jesus could heal him. We need to bring our friends to Jesus. We need to believe that Jesus can heal the hardest of hearts, the coldest of people who have just completely walked away from God.
Not just the physically ill, but the mentally ill, the emotionally ill, the financially ill. So they brought their man; they brought him to Jesus, and they looked around the room, and it was packed. They couldn’t even get in; all the doors were packed.
In verse 19, when they could not find a way—here’s the problem being presented: Anyone can name the problems in America right now—the millions of abortions that have happened, the craziness that’s gone on, the dirtiness of the politics in Washington, D.C.—the corruption from so many!
Everyone can name the issues, the problems. But what God’s looking for is people that are going to find a solution to the problems. People that will look at the problems and say, „Okay, crisis—comma!“
When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, instead of placing a period right there saying, „We give up, we tap out, we’re done, we tried our best, it’s not going to work, ” instead, they found a way.
They went up on the roof. Everybody say, „Find a way.“ Bold faith finds a way! When everyone else says there’s no way, when they say it’s not going to work, we’re done, our finances—it’s not going to work.
They found a way; they went up on the roof and lowered their man, their friend, through the tiles into the middle of the crowd. This was crazy! Just imagine someone cutting a hole in the roof of our church and lowering someone down right in front of Jesus! Jesus is just watching; everyone’s watching!
If you ever saw the TV show „Chosen, ” it shows this moment. He’s being lowered down on the mat. When Jesus saw their faith, He said, „Friend, your sins are forgiven.“
Now, why did Jesus speak to his sins before He spoke to his sickness? Because the internal condition oftentimes messes with the external condition. Oftentimes, what’s going on on the outside is a reflection of what’s going on on the inside.
Jesus wanted this man to know that your inside is healed; your outside is going to follow. If you will get your heart and your mind renewed on God—if we would get our heart and mind renewed that God is still the Healer, that God is still good, that He’s the provider, He’s the protector.
See, God can do the external miracle, but the greater miracle is the internal—the miracle of the heart, the miracle of the mind. I’m so thankful that Jesus speaks to our sin problem because we all have sin problems.
We all need the forgiveness of God; we all need the freedom from shame and darkness. One of the biggest things that hinders people from living with bold faith is the fog of sin and the effects of sin.
One of the biggest hindrances that stops people from boldly approaching the throne room of grace, boldly living out what God’s called them to do—one of the biggest hindrances is sin. We’ve given in to sin, and sin causes shame.
Shame causes you to think, „I’m a coward! I can’t stand for anything! I can’t stand up because the devil has too much over my head; he’s got too much! I’ve got too much baggage in my life; I’ve messed up too many times for the Lord to use me.“
But I’m telling you today, Proverbs 28:1 says the righteous are as bold as a lion. My righteousness doesn’t come from what I’ve done; it comes from what Jesus has done on the cross.
We are not righteous because we’ve been good; we are righteous because He has been good! He died on the cross for our sins, and He rose from the grave. Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
When you confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and your Savior with your mouth and believe in your heart, you are saved. When you are saved, you are righteous. When God looks at you, He doesn’t say, „What a dirty woman, what a corrupt man! Look at your past!“
No! God looks at you and says, „That’s the righteousness of God in Christ! That is my son, my daughter.“ And when you know you’re a son or a daughter of God, the world is groaning, waiting to see the sons and daughters of God revealed.
When you know you’re a son or a daughter of God, you have bold faith because you go, „Man, without God, I’m toast! But with God, I’m as bold as a lion!“ It’s time to restore the roar of the church, to break free of the sin and the shame.
So Jesus says, „Son, your sins are forgiven.“ In other words, you’re about to start walking, and you’re about to start roaring, and you’re about to start moving with boldness. You’re going to have a test!
The same power that forgives you is the same power that saves you. See, Jesus wanted to ask His friends that were in the room, „What’s easier for me to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Get up and walk’?“
And the Pharisees were sitting there because Jesus knew their thoughts. He said, „I’m here to show you that I can do both. The same power that saves him is the same power that heals him. The same power that delivers you from sin and death is also the same power that can heal you of cancer, that can restore your marriage, that can reconcile relationships that look impossible.“
Elevate Your Faith
Paul said, „Set your minds on things above!“ In order to get bold faith, we got to get our minds out of the gutter of stinking thinking! We got to get our focus off of what’s wrong with America, what’s wrong with our politicians, what’s wrong with the church, and start focusing on Jesus.
Start setting our minds on things above; start thinking on Heavenly thoughts. Elevate your focus! Secondly, elevate your words. God asked Ezekiel, „What do you think about the nation of Israel?“
He brings him to a valley of dry bones. Ezekiel’s like, „It’s lost, it’s dead, it’s dry; the bones are over!“ God said, „I know what the bones look like right now, but what can these bones do?“
And Ezekiel’s like, „Only You know, God; only You know the future of our nation.“ God says, „No! I want you to elevate your words! I want you to start speaking life where you’ve been speaking death! I want you to start prophesying hope where all you’ve seen is hopelessness! I want you to start prophesying righteousness where all you’ve seen is wickedness!“
Instead of calling it like you see it, I want you to start calling it as I see it—that God’s got greater days for our nation!» How many of y’all believe the best days are still in front of us if we will look to the Lord, if we’ll call on the Lord?
Elevate your words! Begin to prophesy over your kids! My dad used to place his hand on my head, and he would say, «Peaceful Paul.» I wasn’t peaceful; I was rowdy! I was wild! But instead of calling me like he saw me, he was speaking prophetically over me— «Peaceful!»
Now, I’m peaceful, a real peaceful person! Thirdly, elevate your praise! Come on, we’re going to—I want the band to come out; let’s get ready to praise! Let’s get ready to worship! Stand on your feet all over this place!
Elevate your praise, church! We don’t praise when things are just going our way. Habakkuk said, «I will praise the Lord whether I have the cattle in the stalls or not! I will praise the Lord whether things are going my way or not! I will praise the Lord even on my worst day!»
Job said, «I will bless the Lord! I will give praise to the Lord! I will never stop worshiping the Lord!» David said, «I will see the goodness of the Lord, and this is the day the Lord has made! I will rejoice and be glad in it!»
Elevate your praise! Don’t let your praise be confined to your problems! Don’t let your praise be confined to how you feel! I don’t worship just because I feel good! I don’t go to church just because it feels good! I go because, listen, this is where I find life! This is where I find hope!
And when I’m around other people—did you notice that Jesus moved in response to other people’s faith? For somebody else, one of the biggest reasons to get in the room is not just because the miracle’s in the house; the miracle is in the house.
By the way, how many of y’all need a miracle in your life? A miracle in some area, a breakthrough? Can I just tell you—the miracle is in the house! It’s not in the casino! It’s not in the next president! It’s in something out there; it’s the miracles in the house! It’s in the Word of God!
These men knew if we can get in the house, we can get a miracle. But Jesus did a miracle for somebody else because of somebody else’s faith. One of the reasons why we come and gather in the house is that there’s a contagiousness to the faith of other people around us—that when you’re praying for me, I just want to say thank you for anyone that prays for me and Ashley. We feel your prayers!
Oftentimes, we are being touched by the presence of God because of your faith, and oftentimes, you’re being touched by the presence of God because of our faith. Oftentimes, someone else is being touched by the presence of God, healed by the presence of God because of someone else’s faith on the other side of the room.
Don’t underestimate being in the same house with people of faith because your faith affects their faith, and their faith—y’all know when you go to those sports games, and they start the wave on one side of the room, and the wave moves to the other side?
Just imagine a spiritual wave as these hands go up over here. Someone who does not have the faith to raise their hands over there is going to get touched by the wave of someone else’s faith on that side over to this side.
Elevate your—you never know who on your row needs to know that God is still on the throne. Elevate your attitude! Your attitude determines your altitude!
When you begin to just fix your thoughts, your focus, you say, «Lord, I am not going to carry this grumpy spirit, this anger. I’m not going to, Lord! I’m going to choose to believe that God’s best days are ahead, that God’s not finished with me yet, that God’s still on the throne!»
I’m here on purpose! My heart is open; it’s not closed. My mind is ready to receive! I’m not arrived; I’m not just living in a survival mindset! I’m going to elevate my attitude!
And then lastly, I’m going to elevate my vision! I’m going to believe that God has greater things. You see, in Numbers, Moses sent out 12 spies, and he said, «I want you to go look at the future.»
Ten came back and said, «It’s amazing! It’s incredible! But we’re not big enough! We can’t do it! We can’t handle it!» But there were two—Joshua and Caleb—that said, «We are well able! We are well able! We’ve seen the size of the people in that land; we’ve seen the walls of Jericho; we’ve seen the problems. But we also have seen the power of God, and our God is greater. And we are well able with God on our side!»
This is what David said: with God on our side. See, they knew the God that lived! Bold faith comes from knowing who God is on the inside—that God is greater than the cancer, He’s greater than the political division and strife, He’s greater than the problems that exist in your marriage and your family.
That God is greater than any situation you’re facing. God—my bold faith doesn’t come from what I can do or what I think I’m able, but it comes from knowing what God can do!
Altar Call and Worship
So Lord, I pray right now, God, just for Your bold faith to stir in our church! I pray for innovation; I pray for creativity, God. I pray for breakthroughs! I pray for miracles!
If you need a miracle today, I want you to just leave your seat and come and meet me at the altar. If you’re here today and you just say, «Man, I just need a miracle, ” I believe the power of God is here to heal just like it was there in the house to heal that man that day.
Being paralyzed—maybe you’re not paralyzed physically; maybe you feel paralyzed spiritually. You feel stuck; you feel like you can’t move. You feel like you’ve been in a fog lately; you feel like things are not clear. There’s confusion; there’s discouragement; there’s just a sense of defeat.
I hear the Lord saying, „It’s time to rise up! Lazarus, rise up! Church, I hear the Lord saying it’s time to raise your praise! It’s time to raise your perspective, raise your focus, raise your attitude, raise your spirit out of despair!“
You know, I saw something this last week. There was this man who was stranded in a hurricane. He was holding on to an ice chest, and he was lost out in the ocean. He literally survived 20 to 30-foot waves as he was holding, clinging to this ice chest!
All he had was the ice chest, a life jacket, a life preserver, and some small little device that helped people locate where he was. He was lost, hoping for someone to rescue him!
Show that picture because after a day and a half of people searching, these helicopters found him. Look at that! The helicopters found him and saved him! He survived the hurricane out in the middle of the ocean without a boat, literally just holding on to a life jacket and an ice chest.
But when you look at that picture, I want you to think: some of you are right there. I hear the Lord saying, „The waves are not going to take you out! You’re not going to go under in this!“ God’s going to rescue you.
We’re going to sing this song, „I sought the Lord, and He heard and He answered me.“ If you need a miracle today, if you need God to rescue you, or maybe you’re here today and you’re not right with Jesus! You just need to repent and get right with the Lord!
Come and join us at this altar! If you need to get saved, don’t harden your hearts today! Say, „Man, I’m getting right! I’m going down to that altar! I’m letting Jesus be Lord of my life! I’m repenting of my sins! I’m letting Jesus wash me today!“
Come and join us; we’re going to just worship for the next few minutes! Jeremiah, lead us into that song! Let’s just believe for breakthrough today! Miracles today! Healing today! Salvation today! Forgiveness today!
In Jesus' name, the Lord heard and He answered! I sought the Lord, and He heard and He answered! That’s why I trust Him! That’s why I trust Him! I sought the Lord, and He heard and He answered! I sought the Lord, and He heard and He answered! That’s why I trust Him!
God, He’s my Savior, the one who will never fail. He will never fail! Trusting God, He’s my Savior, the one who will never fail! He will never fail! He will never fail! You, Lord!
I pray, God, for breakthrough! I pray for healing today, God! I pray for restoration, Lord! I thank You! Just like You said to the man, „Your sins are forgiven; pick up your mat and walk!“ I thank You, Lord, that this is a „pick up your mat and walk“ day!
This is a day, God, where we’re walking out different than the way we came in! We’re walking out, God, not with a limp, but we’re walking out with a leap! We’re walking out, God, with the spirit of faith, Lord!
Where the enemy has robbed us by shame, fear, hopelessness, and despair, that today, God, we’re taking back what the enemy stole! We’re taking back our authority! We’re taking back that spirit of boldness! The confidence that comes from God, the confidence that comes from knowing who God is!
Christ is my firm foundation! The Rock on which I stand! When everything around is shaking, I’ve never been more glad! And I put my faith in Jesus, and He’s never let me down! He’s faithful through every generation! So, why would He fail now? He won’t! No, He won’t! He’s faithful; He won’t fail!
God is more than able! God is more than able! Yes, You are, God! He can still do it, church! He can still heal! He can still redeem! And God, more than—who am I to deny what the Lord can do? God is able! You are, Lord! Yes, You are! God is more than able! God is all that we need!
If you need healing today in a part of your body, I want you just to raise your hand; I want to pray for healing. Maybe you got a diagnosis from a doctor; maybe you’ve just been in extreme pain in a certain part of your body—just keep your hands raised!
Believers that are standing next to someone with their hand raised, would you just put your hand on their shoulder and pray for them? If the pain’s in their shoulder, maybe put it on their back! Just begin to pray, „Lord, we pray for healing right now! We bind sickness and disease from trying to destroy so many people in the church! We speak healing health! By the stripes of Jesus, you are healed! You are healed by the stripes of Jesus!“
We just speak to cancer to go, God! To be removed miraculously, God! We pray for someone who’s had extreme pain in their back, their neck, God, their shoulders, their hips, God—to be healed today in Jesus’ name!
We speak to someone’s ear, God! Someone who’s had just a lot of pain in their ear—whoever that is—we just speak healing in Jesus’ name! That You’re opening their ear, Lord! They’re able to fully hear in Jesus’ name!
Someone’s eyes that have been extremely—just getting worse and worse—God, I thank You that their eyesight is going to get better and better this week! They’re going to see a reverse in what’s been happening! Deterioration is stopping, and God, the healing is starting! The healing is starting in Jesus’ name!
Now, if you’re here today and you need a breakthrough in your finances—you’ve just been really messed with by the economy! The inflation this year has been hard; it’s been hard on all of us! But if you’re just in a place where financially you’re like, „Man, we need a breakthrough. I need a breakthrough!“
Lord, I just pray for every hand that’s raised. God, I thank You, Lord, that You are Jehovah Jireh! You are our provider! God, we do pray for miracles today! For businessmen and businesswomen, God! We pray for miracles for people that are working for companies that are being told they might be laid off!
We pray in Jesus’ name, God, for favor! Favor in the workplace! Favor, God! Favor, God! Favor, creative ideas, Lord! I pray in Jesus’ name for favor with the government! Favor, God! That things are going to shift, Lord, as they’re trusting You! As they’re hoping in You! As they’re looking to You, God— even today—as they’re surrendering to You at this altar and in this service, God, I thank You that You see their faith!
God, and just like Jonathan said, „Perhaps the Lord will move on our behalf!“ I thank You, God, that You would move on behalf of Your sons and daughters! God, we pray for breakthroughs!
Way maker, Miracle Worker, Promise Keeper, Light in the darkness! In Jesus’ name! And God, I pray for miracles in families, miracles in relationships, miracles, God! Turnarounds! Breakthroughs! And things that look—God—impossible!
Just pray this with me: „Say, Jesus, I surrender to You! Help me to live with bold faith! Help me, Lord, to trust in You! To not give up! To not lose hope! I will see Your goodness! I will see Your faithfulness in my future! I’m trusting in You! Help me to live with bold faith!
Thank you, Jesus, for Your forgiveness of my sins! I repent! I believe You died on the cross; You rose from the grave! I receive Your salvation! I receive Your healing power! I thank You, Lord, for the miracle that You’re doing in me, for me, for Your glory! In Jesus’ name, amen and amen!“