The Consecrated Church
Pastor David T. Elms 4/19/2026
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44:17
Summary
Pastor Elms challenges the congregation to move beyond religious styles and genres to become an authentic, consecrated church that reclaimed spiritual territory from darkness. Using the churches in Revelation as a backdrop, he emphasizes that the church is a chosen family assigned to shine as a light in South Florida and beyond.
Key points
- •The church is not defined by cultural style or liturgical tradition but by its authenticity as a group of people set free by God.
- •Authentic worship requires both spiritual passion and personal awareness, as believers are spirit, soul, and body rather than mere 'meat creatures.'
- •The church is a 'called out' family that must remain distinct from nationalistic or political identities to properly represent the Kingdom of God.
- •The church serves as the pillar and ground of truth, standing in opposition to spiritual darkness and the 'bad news' of eternity without God.
Scripture
Spiritual Warfare
Authentic Worship
Ecclesiology
Deliverance
Community
Life application
Commit to attending church not as a consumer of a specific 'style,' but as an active participant in a family, bringing your authentic self and spiritual energy to your worship and community interactions this week.
Reflection questions
- How does the distinction between 'style' and 'authenticity' change the way you view different expressions of worship?
- In what ways might our church culture accidentally look more like 'Americanism' than the 'Culture of the Cross'?
- Why is it important for the church to address 'bad news' before celebrating the 'good news' of the gospel?
- What 'territory' in your personal life or community do you feel called to reclaim for God's Kingdom through prayer and faithfulness?
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Full transcript
0:00with me. Not Dallas. I know they've got
0:00not Charlotte. Miami. Amen.
0:00uh you you may have been somewhat
0:03interested in the choice of our biblical
0:05text choices today. Uh context is very
0:08important to us when we read the Bible.
0:11And if you read the Bible and pull it
0:13out of context, that's when what they
0:16get is now known in the theological
0:18circles as is Jesus. which means you
0:21have improperly taken words from
0:24scripture and you have leveraged it to
0:27excuse your lifestyle or your choices.
0:31And uh exugesus is the proper
0:34interpretation of biblical knowledge and
0:37learning so that you accurately apply it
0:40to the practices of your life and it
0:42helps you become a better neighbor, a
0:44better husband, wife, friend, uh son,
0:47daughter. It changes the way you live
0:50your life. Uh and so I did not give you
0:53a lot of chance to use the context of
0:55each verse as sister Martinez read
0:58through these five uh different
1:01expressions of the Bible speaking unto
1:04the angel of the church at Smyrna, unto
1:07the angel of the church in Pergamus, the
1:09angel of the church in Thotyra, and the
1:11angel of the church in Sardis, unto the
1:14angel of the church in Philadelphia. The
1:16point of the church is that first of
1:19all, God has a church in the earth right
1:22now. What is the church is an important
1:27uh discovery because there are a
1:30thousand maybe a million different
1:32interpretations
1:34of what church should look like. You go
1:37to churches and you can experience a
1:41different flow of music choices,
1:44speaking styles. Uh lurggical churches
1:47are are more churches that there's a
1:49rhythm whether it be Greek Orthodox or
1:51Roman Catholic or uh maybe even
1:54sometimes Episcopalian. They have a
1:57rhythm and it is somewhat of what is
2:00called and response kind of church. In
2:03other words, uh the minister says
2:05something and you will have in your
2:06bulletin words or if you go enough, you
2:09know them by heart. Words you repeat
2:12after the sermon is spoken. The reason
2:15I'm talking about this is because we
2:16were recently featured by a great a good
2:19young man who's on this journey, a
2:20religious journey of discovering uh the
2:23different kind of religions and he
2:24featured us on his blog or podcast about
2:28how to be a Pentecostal. So he is
2:31immersing himself in various religions
2:33for 30 days and he is saying and making
2:37a part of his podcast which been very
2:39successful. It has uh he's making this a
2:42part of how to be a Pentecostal. And so
2:45a part of that journey he was here for
2:46Easter and he interviewed me and he went
2:49to many events. He came to a prayer
2:51meeting. He went to an outing with our
2:53hyphen group, a golfing outing, and just
2:56uh was what he was imagining was a
2:59Pentecostal for
3:02a month. And then he just sent for my
3:05perview uh uh his summation of being
3:08Pentecostal. But a part of that was on
3:11Easter Sunday when he was here. uh he
3:13went to five different churches to see
3:17what Easter looked like in these
3:20different shall I say genres of church
3:23or other people call them church
3:26traditions or when I was in seminary
3:28they called whatever kind of church you
3:30were a fishbowl and so I I was in the
3:34fishbowl of the Pentecostal style and my
3:38point is this uh styles are real and
3:42there in this world. But styles are not
3:46important when it comes to how one lives
3:48your life life. I don't want to learn
3:51how to love in a style. I want to learn
3:55how to love with authentic
3:59uh truth and integrity in my life. Uh
4:02because love looks the same everywhere.
4:04You don't have to you don't learn how to
4:07smile uh according to the nation you're
4:10in. Although I will tell you when I
4:13preached in Russia, they told me uh the
4:15thing about us Americans is we smile too
4:18much. Uh and in Russia, you don't need
4:21to smile so much. And because if you
4:24smile an awful lot, then you're probably
4:27kind of loose in the head. And so I must
4:31say, I suppressed many smiles when I was
4:34there in preaching in St. Petersburg. I
4:38looked around, I went,
4:42But in our culture, in our fishbowl, the
4:45western culture, smiling is an
4:48expression of of a welcome and kindness
4:51and thoughtfulness. And it is not
4:54necessarily a demonstration of loose um
4:58in the mind. Um but I do want to learn
5:01about that. But there is an authenticity
5:03because when you get with them and they
5:05are still with their family, a smile
5:07will still come. Even though culturally
5:10it's not the same. Uh you know uh if you
5:12know about a Native American culture, I
5:15am got enough Cherokee in me that when I
5:18was a kid, I actually well I won't tell
5:21you what I did, but I didn't want to
5:22lose any of my Cherokee blood. And so if
5:25I got a cut, I would take measures to
5:28try to keep my Cherokee blood because I
5:30didn't want to lose the Cherokee
5:33in me.
5:35And uh you know the thing about the
5:36Indian Native American cultures many
5:38times especially among the the men they
5:41were stoic uh they were non-expressive.
5:43They you could not tell and I I think I
5:46think they make good poker players. I
5:47don't know. I I I don't even know how to
5:49play poker but you know it's that
5:52showing of your face. What am I talking
5:54about? I I'm trying to get through to
5:57your understanding that when you do
5:59church here at the Cathedral of
6:01Pentecost, we're not trying to teach you
6:04a style. I'm not trying to turn you into
6:06a quote unquote
6:09Pentecostal or some people call it
6:11apostolic or it's a style of preaching.
6:14I I watched a pod a church um literally
6:18this past week that uh on the on YouTube
6:21and they are Pentecostals, a certain
6:23kind of Pentecostal uh but they're after
6:26the Branomite style and uh they they're
6:30based in Louisiana and I watched them
6:32for a while and they took off shouting
6:34and dancing and screaming and and the
6:36girls would take off screaming and
6:38dancing during her solo and I sat there
6:40and I looked at it as two things. First
6:42of all, I looked at it as a person on
6:45this earth that's not familiar with
6:47Pentecost and I thought this absolutely
6:50looks nuts.
6:52This is crazy. I mean, just in the
6:56middle, they go haul off and but I've
6:58been around that my entire life.
7:01>> So, I know how to interpret it
7:03>> and I know the place it's coming from.
7:06Okay? If you're a Dolphins fan, you know
7:08how to boo when the Jets come to town.
7:11You're not taught that. You get it by
7:15learning and being around other Dolphins
7:18fan. When other Jets TS Jets Jets Jets
7:22Jets fans show up, you learn this by
7:25being around. Am I making any sense
7:27right now?
7:29>> Do I have any Jets fans in the room?
7:32>> Oh my goodness. See there? See there?
7:36There you go. All right. that if I saw
7:40that on YouTube, I would say you're nuts
7:42and crazy all at the same time. But it
7:45isn't Isn't it interesting how people
7:48come to church and encounter something
7:50like that and they say you're crazy, but
7:52they go to a football game and they say,
7:54"Oh, that fits right there. I know who
7:56they are." They sit right beside me.
7:59>> Here's the point that I'm making. I'm
8:01not trying to make a Pentecostal church
8:05less worshipful or less responsive, but
8:08I am trying to do two things. I'm trying
8:11to say that the church is here for first
8:12of all to celebrate that they've been
8:15set free. They've been delivered and
8:17that it's authentic and it's real. And
8:20the reason we're joyful about it isn't
8:22because he just gave us a job. Not
8:25because he healed our body. Not just
8:27because we've gotten promotion in our
8:29family. Not just because he took our
8:31marriage that was on the rocks and he
8:33put it in a healthy place and we're
8:35still married and we're still happy. I
8:38mean, I'm married to my first wife. I
8:39still love her.
8:41>> You were never on the rock,
8:46>> baby. At that place in the the the
8:49shores of Britany where those dragons
8:52place, we were on the rocks right there.
9:00Is this okay?
9:02>> I want to make some sense when I'm
9:04preaching to you.
9:06>> But you've got to learn what should
9:08church look like. And so, do you just
9:10watch YouTube how church should look to
9:13say, "Well, I like that style, but I
9:15don't like that style." As I watched my
9:17my friend go from church to church, five
9:19churches on Easter. He went to the Greek
9:22Orthodox Church and discovered that they
9:24don't celebrate Easter until the week
9:26later because they're based on a
9:27different uh calendar, a lunar calendar
9:30as opposed to a solar calendar and it
9:32makes different Sundays. Well, are we
9:35trying to just educate us ourselves on
9:37the way of religion?
9:40>> Some people are. And if you're here
9:42doing that, we welcome you. We're glad
9:45that you're here. But at some point in
9:47your life, you're going to have to stop
9:49pursuing education and start pursuing
9:52life.
9:54>> You got to learn what is authentic
9:57>> to mankind. And when you come into the
10:00church of the living God, you've got to
10:02learn that God has determined he's going
10:05to have a church on the earth. What does
10:09his church look like? Whatever that is,
10:14that's what David Timothy Elms, not Mr.
10:16Preacher, not elected servant serving
10:19political positions in an organization
10:22based on this earth. Not uh uh No, I I'm
10:25Davy Gravy. Me, the guy that once run
10:28and played and climbed trees and acted
10:30like I was an astronaut. I would rope
10:32myself to branches and pretend like I
10:34was on the moon. that guy, this Davy
10:36gravy. I want to live real living with
10:41the way God wants me to live.
10:45>> What is it that I want to do? First of
10:47all, I've got to understand the church
10:48is built on good news. The gospel is a
10:51go is a biblical word that means good
10:54news. But before you know the good news,
10:56you need to know the bad news. Because
10:59you don't know how good the good news is
11:01until you know how bad
11:06how bad the bad news is.
11:10>> Now, yesterday the president approved
11:13the use of hallucinogenics.
11:17>> Psychedelics are now officially going to
11:20be a part to help people find freedom.
11:25And anything that medically can be uh
11:29helpful, if it's medical and it's
11:31scientific and it's pursuit, I'm not
11:33going to make a position statement on
11:35it.
11:37Boy, did you hear quiet that church was
11:39right there. Boy, I'm not afraid of
11:42y'all. Y'all can get quiet on me all day
11:44long.
11:46My point is this. I'm help I want to
11:49help people.
11:51I want to help people. And so we've
11:54we're trying to help people, but at the
11:57end of the day, there's only one. You
12:00want to know about the bad news?
12:03Have a bad drug trip. Some of y'all have
12:07I don't need to I don't need a show of
12:08hands. Have a bad drug trip. It'll mess
12:12you up. But the good drug trips are the
12:16reason people take drugs, so that they
12:18can have a good trip. Why? They're pro
12:21They're trying to find a place of peace,
12:26a place of, let me say it like this,
12:28numbness. There's so much trauma and uh
12:32shock in their world. They're just
12:34wanting to get numb. And so whether they
12:36choose alcohol to get there or a
12:38prescribed pain meds to get there or if
12:42they take uh some kind of psychedelics
12:44to get there, whatever it is, they're
12:46trying to find some kind of peace in
12:48their life. Well, the will of God is
12:52that you understand you are perfectly
12:55made as you are. That you don't have to
12:59lean on these additional add-ons to your
13:03life to have hope, to have joy, to have
13:07peace, to have pleasure, to have
13:10goodness, to be a good citizen on this
13:12earth.
13:16And anything that makes you unaware of
13:18the people around you is a bad thing.
13:23Even worship,
13:27I'm pastoring good for the video
13:29audience. It must not be for anyone in
13:30the house. I've seen Pentecostals get so
13:34lost up in their worship, they forget
13:35anybody's around them, and they fling
13:37their arms
13:42>> and they hit people.
13:45It's on accident. But my father told me,
13:49"Son, when you worship, you don't do it
13:52in a way that you are unaware of those
13:55around you." The first time I ran the
13:57aisles, I'll never forget it. It was in
14:00a church that was had an old structure
14:02in it. Had metal poles that come down in
14:04the middle aisle all the way down. And
14:06because I was too afraid to worship the
14:09Lord in a way that I was in my place, I
14:13closed my eyes and I ran from the back
14:16of the church to the front of the
14:18church. And voila, a miracle happened. I
14:22ran through every pole.
14:27Not
14:30God help me not run into a pole. I think
14:33what I happened what happened was I
14:35calibrated aside and I closed my eyes
14:39and ran down because I was ashamed to
14:43worship him knowing I was in my body. I
14:46just want to worship him and not anybody
14:48be around me. Well, my dad took me
14:51aside. He said, "David, it's okay to run
14:53the aisles as an expression of of
14:55worship. You know, it's something that's
14:57been done around Pentecost for many many
14:58years. If you've not been around
15:00Pentecost, it's something to get used
15:01to. You know, they run the aisles at the
15:03ball game, but you can't run the aisles
15:04at church because that's out. You know,
15:06somebody hits a home run, people hit
15:08that aisle and run at the stadium. Yeah,
15:11but boy, at church, that's destructive.
15:14>> Well, it is. It is. If you're not used
15:17to it,
15:18>> it's it's fair. But the point is is that
15:21my dad said, "Uh, son, open your eyes.
15:27If you don't, you're going to run into a
15:30pole.
15:32Well, when you worship, you got to be
15:33aware.
15:35And this is part of the church not
15:38misinterpreting
15:39what they define as spiritual, but being
15:43in a allegiance with the loyalty and the
15:47perfection of the word of God and yet
15:49doing it in a manner that reaches a lost
15:52and a dying world. Because the good news
15:55is worth shouting over. The good news is
15:58worth dancing over. The good news is
16:01worth singing over, but it's also
16:05worth praising God because you're not
16:08going to go to the bad news.
16:12The bad news is that if you die without
16:15God,
16:17you're not ready for what I'm about to
16:18say.
16:21It's not said very often in America.
16:25If you die without God, you're going to
16:27hell.
16:29And you will burn not for five minutes.
16:33You will be in torture, not for 30
16:35minutes,
16:38for eternity.
16:41It doesn't swallow very good in 2026.
16:45But that's what Jesus said.
16:48He said, "Whatever you got to do to be
16:51saved, you better do it."
16:54And being real with yourself is step
16:57number one to being saved. If you don't
17:00know how to pray,
17:03you must learn how to pray. If you care
17:08about your eternity,
17:10if you don't care about your eternity,
17:12then go home and touch the bottom of a
17:13hot iron and hold your finger on the end
17:17of it and be unemotional.
17:20If you don't care about your eternity,
17:22go put your hand over a candle and stand
17:25there and act like it's okay to live
17:27like that. If you don't care about your
17:30eternity, then just pretend that what
17:32I'm telling you is just make believe
17:35mythology. It's a cute story, but when
17:38you die, you become a butterfly or a
17:40bat, whatever you've earned or a tree or
17:44a bird. But the Bible tells us that your
17:49spirit is going to live forever
17:51somewhere. And every day he gives you
17:54breath to breathe. He gives you food to
17:56eat. He makes the sun shine on you with
17:59love and kindness. He said he makes the
18:02rain to fall upon the just and the
18:05unjust. Says he makes the sun to shine
18:08upon the just and the unjust. But the
18:10Bible says you are a person who's going
18:13to live forever somewhere. And the only
18:16way for you to learn how to exercise
18:18your spirit is by getting around the
18:22church of the living God, people who are
18:26in the church, and learn how to live
18:29like they live.
18:31I learned this past week, I've been
18:33highly educated this past week, and I
18:34discovered what a spinning class was.
18:37Oh, you guys know what spinning class
18:39is? I didn't know what a spinning class
18:41was. I was in spinning classes when I
18:43was a very young man. I didn't know
18:45that. I went I was in a bike gang. We
18:47rode around Wovia Bank and and we rode
18:50around BBC Bank and we could ride our
18:53bikes on a certain loop and we rode the
18:55Howie Circle bike gang. I was in that.
18:58It was a spinning class. I didn't know
19:00that. I thought spinning meant you do
19:02this. But I was educated this week and I
19:04found out that spinning means you're
19:06biking in place. I wish they would have
19:09properly labeled it. It's called biking
19:11in place. Spinning. There's no spinning
19:13going on. What is that wheel? That's
19:14turning. Okay. It's not spin is this.
19:17Turn is this. Uh but I I will I will
19:20grow in my education. I will grow in my
19:23learning and learn about spinning
19:25classes. But I I want you to know
19:27something. If you go to a spinning
19:29class, does the instructor does the
19:32instructor whisper? Do they whisper?
19:37Do they just logically say now we get
19:40the inertia of the wheel turning and now
19:44press with your right foot. Now right
19:46foot, left foot. Push, push, push. Right
19:50foot, left foot. Push, push, push. Now
19:53we have the right amount of inertia
19:55going forward. This works. Your quadrant
19:59of your uh quadricep and uh your bicep
20:02and what is this called?
20:06No, that's not a bicep. What is this
20:09>> quad? This works your quad now. Together
20:12now. And yet people want the preacher
20:15who's trying to lead your spiritual
20:18reality
20:19into a dimension of real living to stand
20:23up and speak calmly and carefully and
20:27logically at all times. If your weight I
20:31lifted weights at one time. I know I
20:32don't look like it now, but I deadlift
20:35550 pounds, so deal with that, baby. I
20:38did use straps, so I cheat a little bit,
20:40but I had straps and I lifted when I
20:43lifted that thing up and I saw that
20:45weight bend over like that.
20:48I was a bad boy.
20:52I put that thing down and all the girls
20:56in that house saw a man up in that PL.
20:59Boom.
21:01Unfortunately, my wife wasn't there to
21:03see it.
21:06She's not sure she believes it. She'll
21:09have to trust me on that. But but when I
21:12did that, I didn't stand up and say,
21:14"I'm now holding the power poundage 550
21:19pounds of weight." No, you know what I
21:21did?
21:25Why? Because you won't lift that kind of
21:27weight unless your spirit is in league
21:30with your body.
21:33>> Because you are more spirit than you are
21:36flesh.
21:39>> In fact, now with the advent of robots,
21:41they're referring to human beings as
21:44meat creatures.
21:46Some are trying to wonder if we should
21:48give personality to these robots. Some
21:52are even wondering if we should
21:54prosecute someone who kills a robot.
22:01What kind of world are we living in?
22:05I'm going to keep standing before all of
22:08you meat creatures and tell you, you are
22:12far more than a piece of meat.
22:19>> You are a spirit. You are a soul. You're
22:23going to live beyond the destruction of
22:26this flesh, though the outward man
22:28perisheth. The Bible says the inward man
22:31is renewed from strength to strength.
22:36>> So when I come to this house, I want the
22:38church to know how to be the church.
22:42That means when we come together, we
22:44will sing spiritual songs. And you can
22:47sing the words off the screen. And oh, I
22:49like that picture. All these people are
22:51on the way to church. But when they get
22:53to the house of God, they're not just
22:55going to walk in and stare. They're
22:57going to bring their spirits with them
22:59into the house of the Lord and they're
23:01going to begin to worship with
23:03thoughtful minds. It's not just repeat
23:06after me. That isn't living right. If
23:09you fell in love with somebody and they
23:11said, "All right, repeat after me."
23:13Didn't when you men ask your wife to
23:15marry you, did you t tell her repeat
23:18after me? When your kids start telling
23:21you they love you, is it because they
23:23repeat after you? Nobody in their right,
23:26logical, real, heartfeling mind would
23:29repeat after me. And when I approach the
23:32throne of the almighty God, I am not
23:34going to give you words to say. You got
23:37your own brain. You got your own spirit.
23:40You got your own experiences. You bring
23:43your brain into this house and bring
23:47your soul into this sanctuary.
23:53Bring your spell self into your worship
23:56and say, "Oh yes, Lord, from the bottom
24:00of my heart, from the depths of my soul,
24:03I'm worshiping you. I'm praising you."
24:07The church must be authentic. We are not
24:10a genre. We're not a tradition. We're
24:13not a nationalistic enterprise. This is
24:16not an expression of America. Some
24:18people groups come to church as the way
24:21to nationalize. Many times my brother
24:24pastored a group of Samoans. They came
24:26to his church. They didn't want to know
24:28about church. They didn't want to know
24:30about truth. They came to church to
24:32learn about America. And they wanted to
24:34learn the language. And they wanted to
24:36learn the ways. And so they all
24:38congregated and they grew up to almost a
24:40hundred Samoans. They came. It was
24:42amazing. My brother thought all that
24:44time, well, we're really reaching the
24:45people for the Lord. And we found out
24:47later they weren't there for church.
24:49They were there to learn how to be
24:50American. I've warned our church
24:52leaders. I want a a church for Haitians.
24:55I want a church for Latinos. I want a
24:57church for Russians. I want a church for
24:59every people group. But we are not
25:02trying to teach you how to be American.
25:04We are in this place trying to get
25:07people to learn how to be in the church
25:10of the living God. And it is not
25:12American. It is not African. It is not
25:15Chinese. It is not Japanese. It is not
25:19Russian. It is the church of the living
25:21God. He said, "Upon this rock I will
25:24build my church and the gates of hell
25:27will not prevail against it." When you
25:30hear in Iran right now today in Iran,
25:33there's been much persecution to the
25:35church. The Pentecostals, what I'm
25:37talking about, there's a Pentecostal
25:39group in Iran. And of course, it's
25:41dominated by a very different kind of
25:43religion. And the Pentecostals, they
25:45will get in a bus and fill it up with
25:48fuel and they start early on a Sunday
25:50morning and they leave town. The size of
25:52their church is however many can sit in
25:55that bus. And when they get out on the
25:57outside of the outskirts of town, they
25:59begin to worship and praise God and
26:02testify and sing his praises and pray
26:04for another. And halfway when they get
26:06to half a tank, they turn around and
26:08start heading back to the city because a
26:10church service lasts as long as a tank
26:12of gas because of the persecution in
26:15that nation. And they're doing it today
26:18while you and I sit here. But when an
26:20Iranian begins to sing in whatever seat
26:24they got on that bus, it's just as
26:27authentic as your praise. Sitting in
26:29this house right now, when you lift up
26:32holy hands and you say, "I love you,
26:34Jesus. I want to be a part of the church
26:38of the living God.
26:45Because you're that kind of good.
26:48because you're that kind of wonderful.
26:51My son went to China and he worshiped
26:53God with an underground church there in
26:57Beijing and they had carpet on the
26:59walls. It was a a highly educated group
27:02of people. I imagine that had somewhat
27:04to do with the fact that they were in
27:06Beijing. But he wanted to bring some
27:09people that he fell in love with that
27:11were there at the home he was teaching
27:13in. And so he had met the driver and the
27:16cook and several others wanted to go
27:18with him to church. He called the pastor
27:21of the church there in Beijing said, "I
27:23have some guests that I want to bring
27:25with me to church. Is that okay?" And
27:27the pastor said, "Absolutely not." And
27:30it shocked my son. It was like a jolt to
27:34his very spirit. He was raised in
27:36America. What we do is invite people to
27:39church. We've got some firsttime guests
27:41here today right now. I I hope we're not
27:44shocking you too much, but but they they
27:46won't allow that in China because
27:48they're the Communist Party of China,
27:52they do not allow house churches. In
27:55fact, if you've been following this uh
27:56news lately, they are having a brand new
27:59crackdown on all the house churches in
28:02China. Why? Because they want to control
28:04all the narratives in their country. And
28:07as long as a church will be
28:09nationalistic, that means based in the
28:10nation, it's not frightening to them
28:12because they can control it. But God's
28:14church will never become American or any
28:18nationality because God is in the
28:20business of reaching people. He's not in
28:23the business of propagating politics.
28:25He's here to save you in the middle of
28:27your trauma and your tragedies. And he
28:30comes to give you life. And if you have
28:33no tragedies and no trauma in your life,
28:36then I say hallelujah. But he's here to
28:39save you from a devil's hell. And if you
28:42have no other reason to praise him, you
28:45ought to praise him because you're not
28:47going to hell.
28:56>> To be in God's church, you got to be
28:58born of the water and the spirit. To be
29:00born in God's church, you got to repent
29:02of your sins. To be born in God's
29:04church, you got to be a worshipper. To
29:06be born in God's church, you got to be a
29:08Bible reader. To be born in God's
29:10church, you got to be a follower of
29:12Jesus Christ. And that's the reason this
29:14church is not built on promoting
29:16politics. It's not built on promoting
29:19Americanism. And I say, "Thank God for
29:21America." You know, I'm grateful for
29:23America. But we're not built on
29:25promoting Americanism. We're not built
29:27on promoting my way or your way. We
29:30appreciate and celebrate cultures, but
29:32when you get in this house, it's not
29:34about your culture and it's not about my
29:37culture. It's about what is the culture
29:39of the cross and the culture of Calvary
29:42and the culture of those that are born
29:45again.
29:49The church is not a social club for the
29:51comfortable. If you come to God's
29:52church, you're going to be reproved. If
29:54you come to God's church, you're going
29:56to be rebuked. If you come to God's
29:58church, the preacher might bump you in
29:59the spirit. And you think, "Wow, you're
30:01supposed to be sweeter than that. I'll
30:03be sweet as long as you're treating him
30:05the way he ought to be treated." But if
30:07you want to drag your sin up here and
30:09set it beside you and act like it's got
30:12a reserved seat, just like you do, I
30:14want to separate you from your sin and
30:16tell you your sin has no place in this
30:18house, but you do. And so come ye out
30:21from among them and be ye separate and
30:25touch not the unclean thing because the
30:28church is a called out people. I'm in
30:32the world but I'm not of the world. I'm
30:35not trying to talk like they talk. I'm
30:37not trying to drink like they drink. I'm
30:39not trying to act like they act. I'm not
30:42trying to dress like they dress. I'm not
30:44trying to be like they be.
30:49I want to find people who love God, who
30:52have honored their marriage, and they're
30:54they're honorable in their work ethic,
30:57and they're honorable in the ways of
30:59God, and and they've got life skills
31:01that are promised by the word of God as
31:03they grow in the knowledge of the Lord.
31:05They're dependable. They're faithful.
31:07The church is not a social club for the
31:09comfortable. Her weapons are not carnal,
31:11but mighty through God to the pulling
31:14down of strongholds. From the upper room
31:16to this day, she storms the gates of
31:18hell. She casts out devils. She
31:21proclaims liberty to the bruised. The
31:24devil hates the church. The devil wants
31:27to destroy the church. The devil mocks
31:30the church. The devil makes fun of the
31:32church. The devil hates the fact that
31:34you're here right now. The devil wonders
31:38h how in the world can he hurt her more?
31:41But the world is amazed at her. The
31:43world watches the church in wonderment.
31:45How do they sing like that? How do they
31:48pray like that? How do they have their
31:50home still together? How is their love
31:52still between parents and children and
31:55children respecting parents? How can
31:57they live in this world but not be
31:59branded by this world? I'll tell you
32:01how. Because it's onward Christian
32:04soldiers. There's a church is a city
32:06that's set on a hill that cannot be hid.
32:09The light of the world shines in the
32:12church of the living God. Sister Elms
32:15come. The Bible said it like this. She
32:18is the pillar and the ground of truth.
32:21She is the only thing that God placed
32:24between humanity and a holy heaven. If
32:27you want to get to heaven, you got to go
32:29through the church. He's never sent an
32:32angel to preach for him. He's only sent
32:35men. Oh, he's never sent anybody to an
32:38angel to learn how to be saved. Even
32:41when Paul was blinded by a light from
32:44heaven and Paul said, "Who art thou,
32:47Lord?" And the voice from the heaven
32:49said, "I am Jesus, whom thou
32:51persecutest." Uh Paul could have said,
32:54"Okay, Jesus, tell me what I got to do
32:57to be changed and saved." Huh? And the
33:00Lord did tell him what he had to do. go
33:03down to a street in the city where
33:05you're headed in Damascus and there will
33:07be a preacher and he will tell you what
33:10you got to do. Uh I know I'm not
33:12everybody's cup of tea, but wherever
33:15your cup of tea is, you need to find a
33:17preacher that will reach you where you
33:20are and tell you the truth of the living
33:23God so that you can make heaven your
33:27home. When the night is black, blackest,
33:31the church shines brightest. When the
33:34storms rage and the winds blow, the
33:37church still stands. Kingdoms will rise
33:40and every kingdom's going to fall that's
33:42built on sinking sand. But only the
33:45church of the living God forever will
33:49stand. God recognizes the church. And if
33:53you noticed in our text, I close. He
33:56mentions the church at places.
34:00There are geographic
34:02locations where God recognizes
34:06a specific church.
34:09All church. You can't say, "I'm in the
34:11church of South Florida." And hop from
34:14church to church. You're not a part of
34:16any church if you do that. Do you have
34:18family? Many of you have experienced so
34:21much loss and fracture in your family
34:24that it's hard for you to even have a
34:26family reunion. But that's not the will
34:28of God. If you have a family, then you
34:31ought to know who your family is. I know
34:33you have a crazy uncle
34:35>> and a gossiping aunt. I know you got
34:38that one cousin that won't keep their
34:41nose in their own business. I
34:43understand. But that's family.
34:47And the Lord says his church is likened
34:50to a family. You know, somebody says,
34:52"I've got friends." What kind of friends
34:54are are they? Facebook friends. You have
34:57no friends.
35:01I know you think you have friends.
35:05Let's see how many of them will show up
35:08on your birthday.
35:11All of y'all should You showed up for my
35:13wife's birthday. Isn't that special,
35:14baby?
35:15That's amazing.
35:22Every time the church is mentioned, it's
35:24a particular body.
35:27It's not the church of South Florida.
35:28There's a what? I don't know how many
35:30churches are in South Florida. No, it's
35:32a particular body where you're
35:34accountable one to another. Well, if you
35:38treat where if you treat people badly,
35:40there will be a process of corrections
35:42that will come your way. If you put your
35:44children in Sunday school and your
35:46children act out, we've got sheriffs.
35:49The sheriff of Noddingham Palace will
35:52come and talk with your child. If your
35:55child doesn't listen anymore, we have
35:57under instruction of me to tell them
36:00bring their children to their parents
36:02because the children have acted out.
36:05Why? Because they're out of our
36:06jurisdiction of correction. When it
36:09becomes our beyond our jurisdiction of
36:11correction, we're going to bring them
36:13back to you.
36:17That's family.
36:20And that's what the church is. It's a
36:22family. You entered into a family today.
36:26A family of love, of care, of reaching,
36:30of outreach, of watching out for one
36:32another. It's it's amazing how God
36:36recognizes these specific families.
36:40Now, I I look at South Florida as ours.
36:44I know there are other churches here,
36:45but I'm just talking about my
36:47jurisdiction. And
36:50if you were not here Friday, my wife
36:52talked about it for 24 hours. We punched
36:55a hole
36:56>> in the atmosphere
36:58>> and widened it. And I watched hour after
37:02hour after hour after hour. In North
37:04Carolina, we used to think we were
37:06special because they would have all
37:08night singings. Quartets would sing all
37:11night long at the Charlotte Coliseum. It
37:13was an event in the South. If you didn't
37:15grow up in the South, you you missed
37:16something. It was amazing. They would
37:19sing from 7 to 7 all night long. We
37:22didn't do 7 to 7 from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00
37:25a.m. We did from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
37:2824 hours somebody walked onto this
37:32platform or walked on the pews or
37:34between the pews, I should say. I didn't
37:35see anybody walking on the pews.
37:38But right here in this camera, I saw
37:42most of the people come and there's a
37:44microphone on that camera and I was able
37:47to listen to most of the people. I've
37:50got pictures. I took pictures and then
37:52me my wife and I I came from 2 to three
37:55and I I heard the Cro Martin family was
37:57brave enough to get up and come hear
38:00their pastor sing at 2:00 and uh but I
38:04was here alone and I'm such an
38:06intimidating force that they they said
38:10if he's there by himself we how we can't
38:13go in there and they went home with I
38:15had a special just for you guys uh for
38:19all of my promotion of two to Three,
38:21nobody came to hear me but my wife.
38:25>> See, that's the way it works. Okay, but
38:29honestly, ladies and gentlemen, I didn't
38:31want you to come. I didn't expect you to
38:33come. You are welcome to come, Dan. Next
38:35year, next time you're coming through
38:38the door. I'm telling you because I've
38:39got some songs for you. No, I'm joking.
38:42But I I just am impressed that y'all got
38:44up and came to do it. Thank you very
38:46much. I salute you in Jesus name. But
38:48here's the point. Why were we doing
38:51this? It wasn't to impress anybody. It
38:54was to know that between earth and
38:57heaven.
38:59There are atmospheres.
39:01Two weeks ago, March 29 through 31,
39:05Ultra Music Festival invaded our space.
39:09And the opening act of Ultra Music
39:12Festival, not as a side act, but on the
39:15main stage. Everybody that came to the
39:18party didn't like this. In fact, some
39:20bloggers and some posters said, "I can't
39:23believe we got to put up with this to
39:25start this party." But the opening act
39:28of the Ultra Music Festival, which has
39:31been going for 26 years in South
39:34Florida, over 150 people attended it two
39:38weeks ago. And during that time, there
39:41was over a hundred countries where
39:44people flew in. Ultra is a festival that
39:46is a brand that's around the globe. It's
39:50not just American, it's global, but
39:52their flagship
39:54event is the one here in Miami. And the
39:58opening act, the one that they sat down
40:02and planned and prepared for and said,
40:05"This is how we want to open the entire
40:09party of song and dance."
40:14was on the main stage.
40:16An artist by the name of Void, Voy D,
40:21dressed as a demono,
40:25a demon from antiquity.
40:28By purpose, he dressed as this demon.
40:30And this demon is noted throughout all
40:33of history as a flesh craving demon.
40:43So 150,000 from over a 100 countries was
40:47greeted with the celebration
40:51of a costume,
40:53a head of a bull with the horns of a
40:56goat,
40:57all the colors of doom. The opening act
41:00on the main stage was a declaration
41:04of a flesh craving demon
41:09that came to my territory.
41:15And so the Cathedral of Pentecost,
41:18a family of God
41:20decided when Diggo, we don't even know
41:23your name.
41:25You're so small time to us.
41:28We don't even waste our time to learn
41:30how to spell it.
41:33Because you, sir, are under our feet.
41:38But you cannot come to my city, my
41:43territory, and say, "I will plant my
41:47doom, my drug laced addiction, my
41:51destruction of adultery and flesh eating
41:56craze." in that place without the church
42:00standing up and singing for 24 hours.
42:06One by one, I watched families with kids
42:09come and spread them out blankets. And
42:11my son played all by himself on this
42:13piano and and Nikki and Johnny had to
42:16bring all their kids cuz their
42:17mother-in-law couldn't watch the babies
42:19that night. But no, they decided to
42:21bring their children. And their kids ran
42:23the aisles. All four run while John and
42:26Nikki's in the presence of the Lord. And
42:29on and on throughout 24 hours. It wasn't
42:32for anybody to see. We were just poking
42:34a hole where Wendigo thinks that he had
42:38a place. And so I walk into this pull
42:40pit. Shall we stand? And I say through
42:43the angel of the house of South Florida,
42:46the Lord has said this is his city. He
42:51has come to take over. He will win. He
42:55is going to take the victory. South
42:57Florida reception center. We go to it
43:00every Saturday. Why? Because it's the
43:03Lord's territory. We go to hospitals.
43:05Brother Garfield goes and visits and
43:07with his wife hospitals. Why? Because
43:10it's God's territory. We work all over
43:13these three counties because it's God's
43:15territory. Tonight, we're going to the
43:17pickle ball courts in Coral Springs or
43:20in Coconut Creek. Why? because it's
43:22God's territory. And unto the angel of
43:25the church at Fort Lauderdale, under the
43:28Cathedral of Pentecost, the Holy Ghost
43:31says, "I will build my church, and the
43:34gates of hell shall not prevail against
43:38it."
43:40Are you in the church? Are you in the
43:43church? Are you trying to get in the
43:45church? Are you trying to get closer to
43:47the church? Are you just an observer?
43:50Are you just somebody to look at it like
43:52a museum piece? Or do you want to be a
43:54child of God? Do you just want to come
43:56and learn what Pentecostals are like? Or
43:58do you want to be a authentic true child
44:03of God that's taken back territory? What
44:08the devil took from us, he cannot keep.
44:12It belongs to the king. Every head
44:15bowed, please. I have preached