The Consecrated Church
Pastor David T. Elms Preached on 4/19/2026
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44:17
Summary
Pastor Elms emphasizes that the church is a divinely recognized family called to represent truth and exercise spiritual authority in its city through authentic, consecrated living.
Key points
- •Biblical context (exegesis) is critical for accurately applying scripture to life rather than leveraging it to excuse personal choices.
- •Church is not about a specific cultural style or religious tradition but about authentic spiritual living and a personal relationship with God.
- •The Church is established as a spiritual family and a lighthouse of truth that exists to offer hope and freedom to a lost world.
- •Consecration involves being 'in the world but not of the world,' separating from sin while remaining present to reach humanity.
- •The church has spiritual authority over its territory, as demonstrated by the 24-hour prayer and praise event held to counter secular influences in South Florida.
Scripture
Community
Holiness
Spiritual Warfare
Life application
Commit this week to being an 'authentic' Christian rather than a 'stylized' one by bringing your true self and your specific life experiences into your worship and daily interactions.
Reflection questions
- How do you distinguish between religious 'style' or 'tradition' and authentic spiritual life in your own walk?
- In what ways are you living 'of the world' rather than just 'in the world,' and what needs to be separated?
- Do you view the church more as a social club or as a spiritual family that provides accountability and growth?
- How can you actively take back 'territory' for God in your own workplace or community?
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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