Welcome to the Harvest Chapel PA podcast. We're so glad you've joined us. Each week
you'll hear powerful messages, testimonies, and conversations designed to help you grow
in your faith and encounter Jesus in a fresh way. Let's dive into today's episode.
So good. How's everybody doing this morning?
Before we start, before we get into the message, I woke up this morning just with
Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1 on my heart. And I know we all know that verse, even if you don't
think you know it, you know it. But it's now faith is the assurance of what we hope for
and the certainty of what we do not see. And I really feel strong on my heart this morning
that the Lord wanted me to come out here first and foremost and just encourage you in the room
that he is the giver of faith. And I really feel it strong in my spirit that there's a lot
of different situations in this room that require an increased amount of faith.
Because faith attaches with hope to pull what's in the unseen into the now.
So I'm going to believe that the Lord is going to restore faith in the room.
So I don't know if there's anyone in here that when I speak that out, your heart is resonating
with that. Maybe there's a situation going on and you've been praying and you've been praying
and you've been praying. And maybe you feel a little overwhelmed. How many of you know it's
okay to have feelings, but those feelings can't have us. So if you wake up and you feel
overwhelmed, you begin to pray and say, God, I thank you that I have your peace. The
past is all understanding. And I'm not going to partner with this feeling of hopelessness. God,
I thank you that you are the God of hope that fills me with all joy and all peace.
So God, I'm not in denial that I'm going through this circumstance, but I'm not going
to allow this circumstance to dictate how I pray and how I believe. So right now, God,
we just thank you for every family represented in this room right now. God, and I thank you
that you didn't put it on my heart by chance this morning that you wanted me to speak into
the room, faith. God, we thank you that faith is a gift, Lord. And right now we ask for an
increased measure of faith. I don't know if that's you, but if that's you, you better say, God,
give me more faith. God, increase my faith so that that faith would attach itself to hope
and pull what's in the unseen into the scene. So God, we thank you that your plans
are better than our plans. God, we thank you that your way is better than our way.
And right now we submit to you, God, we yield to you and you alone. God, we say have your way
within these situations, Lord. And God, I thank you that this isn't going to be a season
of depression. This isn't going to be a season of sickness.
How many know those beliefs try to creep into the church and we just say things like,
well, this is a season for cold and flu. Not for me in my house.
And I need you to claim that for you in your home and say, just because the world might be
experiencing sickness doesn't mean I have to experience sickness. So right now we speak life
in Jesus' name. I know there's a lot of heavy situations going on just within our own
church family right now. Let me tell you, cancer is not a bigger name than Jesus.
So God, right now we come against cancer, all cancers, in Jesus' name. And God, we say be
healed, be whole right now in Jesus' name. And God, we thank you for increasing our faith
and increasing our hope so that we can have joyful expectations of good things to come.
Amen. Amen. Come on. I believe God is doing stuff in the room this morning,
not just this morning, but every morning. So good. Man, I love, I love this week. Anybody
else love this week preparing for the holidays? Come on. I don't love this week just for the
food. Even though I know who's got stuff marinating already. I see those hands. Come on.
But this is a week where families, we slow down, don't we? We slow down. We gather around
tables. I hope we reflect on the goodness of God. How many? I don't want to just be thankful
the week of Thanksgiving. I truly want to live a life of thankfulness. I want my thankfulness
to convict the world around me. Not just in the month of November. I want to be thankful
in January. Come July, I still want to be thankful. It's thankfulness in itself is
actually a weapon. Thankfulness, it's also, it's a posture of our heart. You know, you
choose to wake up thankful. You choose to wake up and ask God, God, would you show
me all the things in my life that I have to be thankful for? Because we can get
caught up sometimes in what we want to see God do, that we forget about all the things
he's already done. And sometimes our prayer life looks like, God, would you do this
and God, would you do that? But what if we started off our prayer time with the
Lord with just thankfulness? And we begin to thank him for our health. We begin
to thank him for our spouse. We begin to thank him for our children. We begin
to thank him for the roof over our head, for the community that he's given us.
We all have so much to be thankful for. And even if the enemy is attacking you
right now and it seems like you're so distracted and you're like, God, where
are you? You can start off with, God, thank you for the gift of salvation.
Thank you, Lord, that I once was lost, but now I'm found. Let that never
become boring to us, Church. That always needs to be fresh. That always
needs to be right in front of our eyes. I believe that thankfulness,
it's also a mindset. And I truly believe that thankfulness at its core is
a part of a kingdom culture. And I don't know about you, but I don't want
culture to shift my culture. I want the kingdom culture that I'm a part of
to actually shift the culture around me. Amen? So if I had to give this
a message, a title, I would call it, thankfulness that changes atmospheres.
Because I want my thankfulness to be contagious. I want the people around
me to be inspired by, oh my goodness, that person is so thankful, even
though we all have things that are happening around us. We all have
things that are happening within our country, but we have so much to be
thankful for. The last time I checked, this is the land of the free.
The home of the brave. That hasn't changed. The enemy will try to get
your perspective to change. But you need to realize that no matter
what happens around us, no matter what happens in the world that we
live in, it's a true reality that you are seated in heavenly places,
in Christ Jesus, right here and right now. I don't know if you know this,
you may not even have a passport, but you have dual citizenship.
You are a citizen of heaven and also a citizen of this nation, but I
believe you having citizenship in heaven is more of a big deal than
this one. And because you, no passport needed, just a life
transformed, just a surrendered heart, a surrendered yes. And I want
us to realize that that is, that reality is more real than this
one. And as we wake up and the world tries to get us, give us this
negative stinking thinking, we have to flush stinking thinking. I
want to give us a goal of just flushing bad mindsets, bad
belief systems. And guys, let's not wait till January. Some of us around
this time, we get a little lackadaisical and we're like, well,
you know, I'll really start dealing with this stuff as the new year
approaches and I make my goal list and I do this and I do that. Why
don't we start today? Where we're like, I can't afford to have these
negative mindsets in November, in December, and definitely not in
January, going into a fresh new year. Maybe, maybe you feel like, man,
this year was a year. If you can identify with that, I'm not asking
you to say amen. But I do want to challenge you and say your new
year, you don't have to take what's happened in this year into the
new year. And you don't even need to take it into the
Thanksgiving week. I just refuse to give the enemy any day on my
calendar. I refuse it. And I know sometimes this year, guys, us as
Christians, us as believers, we also have to ask the Lord for a
supernatural heart of compassion. Because these weeks are difficult for
some. Because how many know some of us have lost loved ones that
won't be around that table this year. And that hurts. And that pain of
separation is very real. But how many know, in the middle of that, the
pain of separation, the Holy Spirit is there. And he is present with
you. And he's your comforter. And you don't have to not look
forward to Thanksgiving. You can just say, God, would you give me a
different perspective? God, I know that maybe I'm hurting a little bit
this year. Maybe I'm a little sad. But God, even those feelings don't get
to define who I am as a person. God, would you actually highlight
people to me this week to reach out to, to be loved to? Because
how many know, guys, the truth is someone has it harder than us.
Someone has something going on that's a little more challenging. And
we're not called to compare stories and say, well, I have it a
little harder than you have it. We're called to just be love. We're
called to be hope, be joy, be love. But we can't be any of those
things if we're not in those things. It's hard to be thankful
if you're not in Christ. I love that this place is full and
the church is full. But I'm more excited about you being filled
with Christ and you realizing that you are the church. Wherever you
choose to have your Thanksgiving meal, guess what? Church is
happening. Fellowship is happening. And we have to ask the Lord for
that heavenly perspective that only he can give us. We need that
upgrade. Amen. Say it. I want that upgrade. I want that
perspective. I do. I do. So go to Psalms chapter 100 verse four.
Well, my first point is thankfulness shifts the atmosphere of our
heart. So Psalms 100 verse four. We know this. Enter his gates
with Thanksgiving. Go into his courts with praise. Give thanks
to him and praise his name. Guys, this is huge. This is huge.
Don't let this just be scriptures that we quote in
church and it tickles our ear. Let these scriptures resonate
in our heart and let's become what we're reading. Because
it's awesome to memorize scripture. It's awesome to know
these verses, but I don't want to just know about the
verses you have memorized and can quote. I want to know
which ones you have become. Which ones have you spent time
with? And just like you reading them, they have read
you. And you can read that verse and go, I'm doing that,
but God, I want to even do it better. This is huge. The
Bible doesn't say enter his gates with answers. That's
right. It doesn't say enter his gates with everything
figured out. Anybody thankful that it doesn't say that?
Enter his gates when your life is perfect. It says enter
with Thanksgiving. Why? Because Thanksgiving is what
prepares your heart. I truly believe to encounter God. Our
little guy's walking right now, so gotta keep an eye on
him now. He's walking in. He's getting into the
communion. He's trying to have his fill. I like it.
Man, whole life changes now. He can walk. He can get
into everything and anything.
I truly believe that a thankful heart is a receptive
heart. A complaining heart I truly believe is a closed off
heart. A fearful heart I believe is a
distracted heart. And a bitter heart is a heart
that's guarded. And I want my heart to be wide open. I
want God to be able to use me whenever he wants to use
me. Jesus is our greatest example and we read that
Jesus only did what he saw the father do and he only
said what he heard the father saying. That means if
we want to be like Jesus, we have to have a real
intimate, close relationship with Jesus. To be able to
hear what the father is saying. To be able to see what
the father is doing. Watch this. A lot of believers, we
pray for God to change our circumstances, don't we? If
we're just really being honest. But God wants to
change your perspective. He doesn't just want to change
your circumstances. He wants to change your perspective
because circumstances should never be able to dictate
what we believe. Because if they do, then our
circumstances are our God. And we're actually serving our
circumstances, we're not serving the Lord. Because
there's times where your circumstances aren't changing,
but that doesn't mean that God isn't good and God isn't
worthy to be praised. God is worthy to be praised in
the valley, on the way up to the mountaintop, when
you're on the mountaintop, when you get blown off the
mountaintop. When you thought you're going left,
but you went right. When you thought you were going
straight, but really you weren't. He's worthy to be
praised, period. And there's so much blessing in that
relationship alone. Like, for us to be able to go
through circumstances with the peace that passes all
understanding is mind blowing. The fact that we
have supernatural hope in Christ is such a gift. A
fact that the love that God gives us is the only
kind of love that casts out all fear. So if you're
experiencing fear in your life, you need to put your
eyes on love. You need to put your eyes on God who
is love. He doesn't sometimes love and sometimes
he doesn't love. God is love. His love can't be
compared to anything. I look out and I see beautiful
marriages represented in this room, but even in the
really good, healthy, great, nothing going wrong in
marriage relationships, which we know that's not
reality. It doesn't even compare to the love that
we have in Christ. That's such a gift in itself.
Watch this. I believe sometimes the breakthrough
isn't around you, it's within you. The breakthrough
you're looking for on the outside, I truly is
found in the Christ within you, who is the
hope of glory. It's the Christ within you who's
the hope of glory for the world around you.
Why would we look for hope in a fallen world?
Why would we look to a broken, any kind of
political system to find our hope or our joy or
our love? We need to find all of those things
in Christ and then bring those things to the
table, allow it to change our hearts so that we
can begin to pray differently. You have a
choice to watch the news and be affected by
what you're hearing, or you have a choice to
watch the news and allow it to change the
way you pray, change the way that you believe.
I'm not giving up on this nation because I
don't believe God has. Last time I checked,
John 3, 16 says, for God so loved the
world that he sent his son to die for the
world. That means he sent his son to die for
people that think differently than you. He
died for people that vote differently than
you. He died for the world. And I want that
to change the way that I pray. I want that
to change the way that I believe, not just
for big things, but even for my family. I
want that to change what I think is possible.
I've seen so many situations where God has
taken a mess and he's made it into a
beautiful message, where you're sitting with
people and you're counseling and you're
just having a conversation and their
current situation, it's really not great,
but I've seen God move in the midst of
those situations and change things where
it's completely different. And now a
year later, two years later, you can't
even fathom that you once sat in a
room saying that things were once that
way. Some of you have got to get hope
that that is possible. Some of us,
sometimes we lose hope because we're so
focused on what things currently look
like that we forget that God has a
plan. We forget that God is truly
working all things together for our
good. Rick, the last time I checked,
all things meant all things. He
didn't forget about this thing or
this situation or this relationship. God
is a god of redemption. God is a god
that can turn all things around. God is
a god who can redeem any relationship,
can bring any lost son or daughter
home. How are we going to receive
those sons and daughters when they do
come home? I believe if you're praying
for a prodigal to come home, the
best thing you can do is fall on
your face and fall more madly in
love with Jesus because when they come
home, you are the representation of
Christ to them in that moment.
Are you going to be like the father
who ran to his lost son, who didn't
hold any of the charges against him,
who didn't start with, well, son,
you're going to get a piece of my
mind before you come back in this
house.
No, this father runs to his lost son
that just squandered his inheritance,
blew it all on sinful living, and the
father runs to him, embraces him,
gives him new clothes, new shoes on
his feet, gives him a ring that
signifies his identity as a son and
actually gives him authority.
He restores everything in a moment.
Why? Because God is that good.
I want to be like that. I don't want
to be like the other brother that is
a little jealous, like, when have you
slaughtered the fattened calf for me?
He's like, what are you talking about,
son? Like, we could have a party
whenever you want. Like, you want to
have a party? Let's party. That son
didn't even know what he had access
to. How many sons and daughters sit
in the church every Sunday and have
no real, no realization what they have
access to? I'm here to tell you the
bank account is full. We're not
making withdrawals.
God has what you need in him.
But a lot of times we go to stuff and
we don't go to him.
We just need to go to him and say,
God, first and foremost,
before you actually doing the thing
that I want you to do, that I need
you to do,
you are enough for me. God is enough
for your household. God is enough for
your children. God is enough for
you. If he doesn't do anything else
for you in the natural,
he's actually worthy of your praise
for the rest of your life.
Because he's already taken our place. He
already stood in the gap. He already
died on the cross for you,
at you. We've been co-crucified with
Christ. It's no longer I that lives,
but Christ that lives in and through
me. He hung on that tree. You
should have been on that tree.
He took our place. Like, that is
what we have access to.
And he's such a good father that he
doesn't even stop there. He loves to
lavish
his gifts on his children. But I don't
want to pursue the gifts. I want to
pursue
the giver of gifts. And if he chooses
to lavish those things upon me
on this lifetime, then that's fine. But
if he doesn't,
I'm so grateful for all that he's
already done.
All that he's already accomplished.
When Jesus declared, it is finished,
he really,
really meant it. It wasn't to be
continued. It wasn't, well, we got to
do this again. No, it's, it
is finished.
He's our beautiful, perfect example.
Man, I know that we've gone through
hard things, and people have heard us
from time to time, but
I'm pretty sure I can confidently look
out and go,
no one went through what Jesus Christ
went through.
And Jesus is our perfect example.
Jesus is the one hanging on that
tree,
taking the last bit of energy that
he has to say,
Father, forgive them. They know not
what they do.
How many know that's not just a Good
Friday message?
That has to be an everyday reality we
walk in.
When we're faced with situations where
we're being challenged to
be thankful, Lord, would you take us
back to the cross?
Lord, would we remember what you've
already accomplished for us?
I'll be honest with you, there have
been seasons
of my life where thankfulness
didn't come naturally. I had to
actually
choose thankfulness. I had to remind
myself,
God, you are faithful. I don't know who
needs to hear that this morning, but
someone in here needs to realize that
God
is faithful. You need to make a
history with God. You need to remember
the last time that God showed up when
no one else did.
You need to realize the last prayer that
God answered, because sometimes we
forget what God has already done, what
he's already accomplished.
So when we're going through a
challenging time, we're reminding
ourselves of all the times that God
has showed up,
and then we get to speak out loud
with our words, God, thank you that
you showed up.
Surely if you showed up then, you
will show up now.
I'm not going to let this situation
overwhelm me. I'm not going to let
this challenging
moment in time affect my life. You know
when we go through things,
the enemy likes us to think that it's
this
big of a deal, when really in the in
the big scheme of life,
it's like a speck that you have to
look through a microscope to see,
and a lot of the times the things
the enemy
gets us to worry about don't even
happen.
I don't want you to raise your hands,
but has anyone in here ever worried
about something
that never actually happened?
And you look at you can look back and
go, wow,
the enemy distracted me for a week, a
month, sometimes months,
because we chose to partner with
worry, we chose to partner with fear
when we could have just chose to
partner with Christ.
I want that. I need that.
We have to declare things on a
regular basis like,
God, you are working even when I
don't see it.
As some of you are praying and
contending,
you have to partner with what you're
praying for and say, God, just because
I'm not seeing it,
doesn't mean you're not doing things
behind the scenes.
God, I truly believe that you're
working all things together for my
good. This doesn't make sense to me,
God. This
this doesn't necessarily
the way I would go about it, but
like I said in the beginning,
God's way is better than your way,
and he knows what he's doing. You say
things like, God, you you never let me
go. You're always here.
God, even in hard things, you're still
good,
and every time we start thanking him,
not for a perfect situation, but for a
perfect Savior,
Jesus, thank you that you are perfect.
Peace comes.
The atmosphere around us and within us
shifts. Some of us just need a shift,
but it's not a shift in doing more.
It's not a shift in
in in in this happening or this
happening. It's a shift in realizing who
you are in Christ.
It's just it's a shift of you
realizing how close
God is to you right here and right
now. Some of you feel
far away from God, but I'm here to
tell you that he's closer to you
than the very skin on your bones,
and he knows what you're thinking. He
knows what you're processing. He knows
all of the things you're going through
because he's outside of time. He
already knows how this is going to
pan out. He knows what next week
looks like. He knows what next year
looks like,
and some of us just need to let go
and let God. God, I'm not going to
worry about it,
but some of us, we, you know it. You
need to preach this to yourself, and
you need to get it. This can't just be
head knowledge. You can't just know
the right things to say. You have to
partner with belief, and you have to
make it a reality. Come on. I don't
want to start pointing people out,
but I can feel it in the room. You're
like, man, Pastor Matt's talking to
me.
Pastor Matt, you must know what my
weeks look like. Now, I don't, I
just really feel like this is what the
Lord is saying,
corporately. For us to step into,
I want the atmosphere within me to
shift,
so that God can actually place me
wherever he wants to place me, and
the things around me don't get to
dictate my peace,
don't get to dictate my joy, don't
get to dictate my love,
because I know who I am in Christ.
I need, I need you to know who you are
in him.
You guys okay? Point two, thankfulness
shifts the atmosphere of our words.
Let's go to 1st Thessalonians chapter
five,
verse 16. These are verses that we
know, guys. These are verses that
we all can quote. A lot of us know
these verses in our minds, but I
want these verses to penetrate our
heart so deep
that we become what we're reading. And
it starts off real convicting. Always be
joyful.
That could be a whole sermon,
because always is always.
Always be joyful. Never stop praying.
Be thankful in all circumstances,
for this is God's will for you who
belong
to Christ Jesus. As a pastor, do you
know how many times I'm asked the
question, what do you think God's will
for me is? This.
I know, but what do you want, what does
God want me to do? This.
If we do this and we become this, it
doesn't matter what we do.
Because this becomes who we are.
Always be joyful. Never stop praying.
Be thankful in all circumstances, for
this is God's will
for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
Notice it says in all circumstances, not
for
all circumstances. You don't have to
thank
God for sickness, tragedy, and loss,
because hear me,
that doesn't come from God.
Here at Harvest Chapel, we need to
make that very clear that we don't
believe that sickness is a test.
That sounds like child abuse to me,
and that's not the father I serve.
But we thank God
in those circumstances, because he is
still present.
He's still faithful, and he's still
working,
but those circumstances don't get to
change that reality ever.
Thankfulness is something you speak
out loud. You can feel
gratitude, but unless you express it,
it doesn't shift the atmosphere.
You can feel grateful, that's great. I
want you to feel grateful,
but I want what you're feeling on the
inside to change what's coming out on
the outside. Out of the abundance of
the heart, the mouth speaks.
You want to know how your heart's
doing? What's coming out of your mouth?
Some of us, when we get a sick
heart, we need to go to the great
physician,
and go, Dr. God, there's some things
in my heart that got in there that
I shouldn't have,
and I need you to operate. You know
what that will cryers?
Surrender. That requires you as a son,
you as a daughter,
laying on the operating table and
saying, God, I trust you more than I
trust myself,
and I'm going to let you show me
things in my heart that need worked
out. God, I don't want to partner
with any bit of bitterness. God, I
don't want to partner with any bit of
hopelessness.
God, I don't want any bit of anxiety
in my life. God, I don't want fear
dictate decisions that I'm making.
I refuse to do that, but you have to go
to him.
Jesus died on the cross so that you
would have a one-way ticket to the
father.
You don't have to go through me to
get to him. You have
full access to the throne room. I
don't know if you know that.
Full access. He wants you in his
presence.
Maybe some of us grew up with
parents that didn't want us
in their presence. I'm here to tell
you, you have a heavenly father
that let his son die for you so that
you could be in his presence.
He wants you in his presence. You don't
have to tiptoe into his throne room.
He wants you there.
When your eyes are in my office, he
does whatever he wants to do.
He's getting in all kind of things.
He knows his father wants him near.
And I want you to have that
kind of relationship with your
heavenly father
that you don't feel like a burden. You
don't feel like a nag.
You don't feel like an annoyance.
God wants to spend time with you.
He's jealous for you.
He wants you to want to spend time
with him.
That's why he tells us, look if you
seek me, you'll find me.
If you knock, I'm going to answer the
door. I can't wait to answer the
door. I'm waiting for you to knock.
I'm waiting for you to let me in.
I'm waiting for you to let me come in
and do what only I could do.
Why do we try to clean ourselves up
before we go to him?
Last time I checked, if you fell down
your steps, you broke your ankle,
you're not going to try to perform
some surgery on yourself before you
go to the hospital.
Well, you know, I have a few things
in the basement. I got some duct tape.
Randy's got God knows what in his
basement.
Let me try to patch this thing up
real quick.
You don't want me trying to patch
nothing up.
I'm calling 9-1-1. I'm getting to that
hospital
for them to be able to do what they
can do.
So call 9-1-1
and let him do what only he can do.
Stop trying to fix yourself up so
you can look better. We try to edit
our prayers.
We try to throw filters on ourselves
to make ourselves look better before
God can see us and before he can
view us. He knows what you look like
without the filters.
He knows what you look like without
the editing, without the AI tools. He
knows.
He knows. And he's like, I love that
version of you
because it's a version that I can make
new.
But you're trying to make yourself
new.
And how's that working out for you?
It doesn't last. It's not long-lasting
fruit.
It's not fruit that's going to
transform.
I want him.
I want him. Do you want him? Yes. You
can have him.
He's yours to behold. But you have to
behold him.
You have to look at him. You have to
choose to make eye contact with him.
When it's awkward. When you don't
feel good enough.
When the enemy is speaking to
you in shame and guilt and
condemnation. Those things are
not from your heavenly father.
If shame is speaking, God's not.
If guilt is speaking, it's another
voice.
And spiritual warfare 101 is
taking every thought captive and
submitting it to the will of God.
God, that doesn't sound like you. I'm
not going to listen to that voice.
And if you do listen to that voice,
you take that thought captive, you
cast it out, but then you replace it
with truth.
And this is the only truth that's
going to set you free.
This is the only truth that can truly
set you free.
And all of us have access to it.
Oh, I don't have a Bible. We can get
you a Bible.
If you have a phone, you have lots of
Bibles.
I encourage you to get one of these
because we don't know what they can
do one day with apps and take things
out and
move it around and play the hokey
pokey to your win. I'm not
trying to do that.
I want the word. I want the truth. I
want all of it.
I don't want just the parts that
I'm comfortable with.
I need it all. This isn't a buffet.
We can't pick and choose what we want
and kind of stay away from that
pistachio fluff.
Who likes pistachio fluff? Because I'm
actually a fan of it.
Some of y'all, you're not tasting and
seeing that the Lord is good.
For some of you, the Lord's hiding
in things that you're not really
you're like, I don't know about that.
Yeah, I'm in that. I'm all about
that.
Cranberry sauce from the can. Old
school style.
You pour it out of the can. It still
looks like the can.
That's what I want. I like the fresh
stuff, but I still want the can.
I want a little bit of both. I want to
mix it up.
Look, watch this. The enemy loves
murmuring.
The enemy loves complaining. He loves
negativity because those things
darken the atmosphere around us.
But Thanksgiving pushes back the
darkness.
When you choose to be thankful, when
you choose to put your eyes on Jesus,
it truly changes what the world looks
like around you. We say this all the
time, but I'm going to switch it up
a little bit.
Gratitude is a thermostat.
When you speak it out, the
temperature changes.
It truly does. You can't just think
about it though. You got to say it.
You got to speak it out. Death and life
are held in the power of your tongue.
You choose to speak life or you
choose to speak death.
It doesn't say life and death and life
are held in your thoughts.
It's held in the power of your tongue.
God wants to use your tongue. He
wants to create life through you.
The enemy actually wants to hijack the
tongue of a believer. Why? Because it
has the power to create,
and if the enemy can manipulate you, he
can create death through you.
Because it's death and life are held
in the power of your tongue.
Why do you think the enemy works
overtime trying to get you to think
bad thoughts,
let those things fester in your heart,
get deep into your heart, and now all
of a sudden out of the abundance of
your heart, you're speaking it out
loud,
and it's creating those realities
around you.
Take every thought captive.
Go to Acts chapter 16, Paul and Silas.
Paul and Silas, it's a beautiful story.
We're not going to read the entirety
of the story, but I want to hone in
on one part
where it says, around midnight, Paul
and Silas were praying
and singing hymns to God.
Suddenly, we love suddenlies, don't we?
Last time I checked, they were in jail
though.
They were in jail, they were imprisoned.
The suddenly didn't get them out of
the environment,
the suddenly put God in the
environment.
I don't know if you caught that.
Suddenly, there was a massive
earthquake and the prison was shaken
to its foundations, but watch this,
they didn't sing once the doors
opened.
They didn't sing when the chains fell
off, they didn't sing when the
circumstances improved.
They sang while they were still in
shackles.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Bendigo were in
the fire, still bound.
It wasn't until they were thrown in
the fire that the fourth man showed
up,
who was Jesus, a Christophany,
making a little appearance in the Old
Testament before he even manifested in
the New.
And the only thing that burned was the
thing that bound their hands, they
didn't even smell like smoke.
Their clothes didn't even have any bit
of dirt on it,
coming out looking fresh, smelling
fresh.
The only thing that burnt was
binding their hands.
Some of us are praying ourselves out
of the fire, maybe that's right where
God wants to show up.
I'm going to show up right there, I'm
going to show up when no one thinks
I can show up.
And I want you to have faith that even
if you're walking to the furnace, I'm
going to show up.
You get close to that furnace and
you're like, man, it's getting hot.
When are you showing up? But it
doesn't change the way that you're
taking step by step, you're getting
closer to that fire and you're like,
man, God, okay, here we go.
I feel like some of you know, okay,
here we go, season.
And nothing the enemy is going to do
is going to have the power to take
you out.
You just need to be faithful.
You need to keep moving step by step.
I don't care if it's an inch forward
each day, it's better than retreating.
One inch forward is better than two
steps back.
God, I thank you that I have the
faith in me today to just move one
step.
God, I thank you. I celebrate this
step the next day. God, I thank you
that I have faith for one more step.
But all of a sudden pretty soon we're
taking territory.
It may seem like one inch at a
time, but we're getting somewhere.
We're going somewhere with him.
You okay? I ain't sweating for nothing
up here.
Their atmosphere changed before their
circumstance changed.
Thankfulness has that power.
And last time I checked, their
praise, didn't just affect them, it
affected the whole jail.
Your whole family's about to get
blessed because you're willing to
endure.
I refuse to give up. I refuse to not
praise them. I refuse to keep my
hands held high.
Last time I checked, you can't praise
God and worship him with your hands
held high. If you're carrying
everything you're not called to
carry.
You got bags of anxiety, you got bags
of depression, you got bags of
hopelessness, you got bags of this
and bags of that. You need to check
those bags, burn those bags, never
pick those bags back up.
Burn them. Get a new suitcase.
I'm serious. Don't you wait till
January.
That's such a temptation. The enemy
just, the enemy wants you to just
coast through the winter season.
I'm telling you right now, we need to
crush the belief set of seasonal
depression.
I'm right there with you though. Five
o'clock hits, I'm ready for bed.
You're ready to go to bed, he
ain't ready.
Nope, he ain't ready.
Get creative, go do something, get out.
Get in your car, go for a drive, pray.
Do something. Do you know that the
enemy loves isolation?
The enemy loves to isolate you.
And I'm all about spending time with
Jesus. I'm all about
having private time with the Lord.
But you know, sometimes we say we're
spending time with Jesus, but really
we're spending
self with me, myself, and I.
And we're not growing, we're not in
the word, we're binging. Netflix,
Hulu, Prime,
all the things. I'm all about you
spending time with Jesus, but you
better be looking like Jesus when
you're coming out of that secret place.
Some of us need to get out. Oh my
gosh, did you see what's happening in
Hanover? Did you see this? Did you
see that? Get out and pray.
Prayer wall, that actually does things.
We shift the atmosphere. I truly
believe that. I had one of the craziest
times in the hospital this past week.
I won't go into all the details. It
was a wild
hospital visit. I get to the hospital.
I check in. Hi, I'm Pastor Matt. I'm
here to see so-and-so. Okay, great.
They give me the sticker. They tell
me the room number. Okay, great,
great. I'm on my way to the room. I
get to the room.
I kind of peek in the room and I'm
like, okay, I don't think they're
ready for me to come in yet. So I
step back. I get out of the room. I
check in with the nurse and the nurse
is like, yeah, just give us a little bit
of time. We'll kind of get them ready
for a visitor. Okay, that's great. I'll
go wait in the lobby. I'll come back
in like 15 minutes. Yeah, sure. That's
great. Awesome. 15 minutes goes by.
Come back. Nurse sees me. Oh, I
forgot what I needed to do for you
to be able to come back. I'm going
to need 15 more minutes.
Okay, you know, 15 more minutes. We
got this. All right, great.
Go back. Sit down a little bit. Answer
some emails. Do some things.
Uh, third time's a charm. Go back. And
at this point, I just, I kind of just
go in the room, going in the room, peek
around the corner. Uh, not the person
I'm here to see.
I just waited 30 minutes for someone
I don't know. I don't know who you
are. You are not who I'm here to see.
Politely step out. Hey ma'am, um,
that's actually not the person I'm
here to see. Oh my gosh, you gotta
be kidding. Oh yeah, we moved him
from this room to this room. Okay,
you're gonna need to go up to the
room to see you. Okay, okay, great.
Can you help me? Cause this is like
a maze. This is a labyrinth. I need
to, I need some help. I'm gonna be
searching all day. Okay, someone
brings me up there. Oh, there's
actually a lot of people in that
room. So why don't you just go
into this waiting room and someone
will come get you and you can
come in. Okay, great, great, great.
Um, 30 minutes go by. No one come
get me. At this point, I'm in
the chapel. I just, I found the
chapel and I went to the chapel
and I just start praying. I start
praying for the person. I have to
help my mom in about 20 minutes.
Move my mom from, move my mom,
move my grandma from, from one
care facility to another care
facility. So I had somewhere to
go. So I'm like, unfortunately,
I gotta go. But how many know
God shifted something in that
chapel. I could have had a
negative perspective. I could
have been like, you know
what, what the world I've been
waiting for an hour here. What
is going on? No, no, no. I
just started praying wherever I
was. And I believe just, just
where you are, God can touch
the people around you. Just
because he is within you. The
Christ within you is the hope
of glory. He's within you, has
the power to shift atmospheres,
but you have to have a kingdom
perspective. You can't, you
can't partner with the enemy
in those moments. God, what
do you wanna do here? Who do
you want me to encourage?
Maybe I'm not here for that
individual. I thought I was.
Who else do you want me to
pray for? Who else do you
want me to encourage? We
can't get so wrapped up in
what we think things are gonna
look like. God has a
different plan sometimes. Point
number three, thankfulness
shifts the atmosphere of your
home. Parents, grandparents, I
need you to listen up.
Thankfulness has the power to
shift the atmosphere of your
home. The atmosphere of your
home is largely shaped by
what you celebrate or what you
complain about. I don't need
husbands nudging wives. I
don't need wives nudging
husbands. I don't need parents
looking at kids. We all need
to be accountable to
ourselves and say, what can I
do better? Because if your
home atmosphere feels tense,
if your workplace feels
tense, fearful, irritable,
heavy, chaotic, thankfulness
can break that. It's not
about all of those other
people doing what they need
to do. We can do what
we're called to do, and that
thankfulness shifts the
atmosphere. Philippians
chapter four, verse six.
Don't worry about anything.
Some of you need to say help.
Help. I need somebody to help.
Because some of us worry
about a lot. We do. We
worry, worry, worry, worry.
I want to trust, trust,
trust, trust, trust. I want
to trust him. I want to
trust in the Lord with all
my heart, not some of it.
Trust in the Lord with all
your heart. Lean not on
your own understandings. The
thing God asks you to do
ain't gonna make sense. The
things God's gonna ask you
to pray about aren't gonna
make sense. Things God's
gonna ask you to do are
not gonna make sense. Lean
not on your own
understanding. Seek his will,
and he will show you
which path to take. Do
you need that? Do you want
that? I want that. I need
that in my life. But
don't, let's go back to
Philippians chapter four.
Don't worry about anything.
Instead, pray about
everything. Tell God what
you need and thank him for
all he has done. Watch.
Then you will experience
God's peace. Then you
will experience God's
peace, which exceeds
anything we can understand.
The peace that passes all
understanding. That doesn't
just happen. How many of
us are willing to pray
about everything, tell God
what you need and thank
him for what he's already
done. Then he'll let you
experience the peace that
passes all understanding. We
want all of our
circumstances to shift
before we can be thankful.
You worshiping God then
is dictated upon him
doing things for you,
not for who he is.
Little man gets it.
He's getting it right now.
He's vibing with me.
God, I'm thankful. I'm
thankful. You're a God
that shows up time and
time again. And I'm not
going to let this
circumstance get me off
course. Peace in your
home often follows.
Thanksgiving from your
mouth. Thankfulness invites
the presence of God to
dwell in places you live
daily. When Anna and I
choose to speak
thankfulness over our
home, over Uriah, over
our family, you can
truly feel atmosphere
shift. You feel peace
coming into the room.
You can feel it shift.
And there's times where
Anna and I are laying
in bed and she can
feel what I feel.
Cause you know, this,
this is the one thing
I'll just be really
vulnerable. How many know
pastors can be
vulnerable? We can be
honest. We're, we're
actually not super
human. I don't know if
you know that I'm made
just like you. I have
feelings just like you.
I have emotions just
like you. I have choices
just like you. When I
was a 16 year old
teenager, I was riddled
with anxiety and
depression to the point
of medication. I had
suicidal thoughts every
other day. I didn't
want to live. I had
that much spiritual
attack on my life. Every
moment of the day I
had to, there was days
where I had to be like
greater see that's in
me that he's in the
world just to silence
the negative voices that
I was hearing. So if
I'm going through
something or if the
enemy comes at me with
anything, he's going
to try to bring
anxiety to me. He's
going to try to bring
depression to me. Here's
the thing. Those things
don't own me anymore.
When I was a
teenager, I was playing
games with God. I
wasn't in Christ. I
was around Christ. Now
I'm in Christ. So
depression knocks on
my door. My landlord
answers it. Oh, the
washing machine's broke.
I'm calling the
landlord. Not my
responsibility. I don't
own this place. Oh,
hopelessness is trying
to show up. Call on
the landlord. Hey,
hopelessness is here.
They're trying to
invade my space. I
noticed they're hanging
out in the kitchen. We
need to do something
about that. Oh yeah. I'll
be over in just a
moment. Oh, here I am.
Get out. You're
trespassing on
purchased property. I
own this one. Don't
mess with somebody that
I don't know. Because
before Jesus hanging
out with me, he's
hanging out. He's on
the living room couch
and then the
enemy's coming with
depression knocking on
the door. He's like,
you're going to get
that. You haven't
given me your life
yet. I can't answer
it. The moment you
give me your life,
the moment you
surrender your life to
me, son, I'll take
care of all that
anxiety. I'll take
care of all that
depression, but until
you're ready for
that, we're just
hanging out, man. Did
you order pizza? Yeah,
because I'm not going
to feed you either. I'll
do that too. Once you
fully give me your life.
I'm just hanging out
with Jesus. I'm trying
to incorporate him
into my life. I'm
trying to run to him
when I'm drowning.
No, I want to be with
him every moment of
my day. Is he the
Lord over your life?
He doesn't need to
just be your Savior.
He needs to be your
Lord and Savior. You
okay? Some of you
need to start a new
practice today. You
with me? Stay with
me just for a couple
more minutes. A new
practice before bed. I
want you to name three
things you're thankful
for. Before you let
your head hit the pillow
and you drift off to
sleep, you say every
night I'm going to list
off three things that
I'm thankful for. And
then you as a family,
and even if it's just
you at the time, you
just take ownership of
your home, of your
apartment, and you
speak gratitude out
loud. You take those
thankfulness out and
say, God, I just thank
you. I thank you for
this family member. I
thank you for this
friend that has become
family. God, thank
you. And declare God's
goodness over your home.
Can you do that before
you go to bed? Three
things you're
thankful for. Speak
those things out loud
and then declare God's
goodness over your
home. And I promise
you, you will watch
the atmosphere shift.
Thankfulness shifts
atmospheres and
thankfulness does shift
your circumstances.
Promise you.
Because thankfulness
agrees with the
atmosphere of heaven.
Heaven is full of
Thanksgiving, isn't it?
Angels are worshiping,
saints are praising,
gratitude to God,
gratitude fills the
environment of God's
presence. Every time
you give thanks on
earth, you pull
heaven into your
situation. And I
don't know about you,
but I want to pull
heaven into every
one of my situations.
Thankfulness aligns
us with the kingdom.
Where the kingdom of
God is, fear is
broken. Where the
kingdom of God is,
anxiety dissolves.
Where the kingdom of
God is, depression loses
ground. I'm sick and
tired of seeing the
enemy eat some of
y'all's lunch.
Hope returns when
the kingdom is present.
Peace increases,
faith grows and
miracles happen.
If I ask this
question, who wants
the revival?
I think we need to
get a little bit more
excited about that if
we're ever going to see
revival hit South Central
Pennsylvania. So, who
wants revival?
Better. That starts
with thankfulness.
You want healing.
Who wants healing?
Starts with thankfulness.
Who wants peace?
Starts with thankfulness.
Because thankfulness
changes atmospheres.
It all starts with
gratitude. So, I want
to ask you, what
atmosphere have you
been participating in
lately? And this isn't
something to be
embarrassed about. This
is just being real
with yourself. We're
a church family. Look
around. If you're in
this room, if you're
watching online, you
are part of a
church family. Whether
we know each other super
well or not, this is
a church family. We
are the body of
Christ. We need to
be able to be
vulnerable in these
moments. No one
wants you to
pretend like you
have it all together if
you don't have it
all together. We
want you to be real
and vulnerable so
God can come into
this room and do
what only he could
do. Set you free
so you leave this
place differently. But
have you been
partnering with
fear? Have you been
partnering with worry?
Have you been
partnering with
negativity, weariness,
stress, discouragement?
What do you want to
carry? If those are
the things you're
carrying, what do you
want to carry?
Because gratitude is
the bridge between
where you are and
where God is calling
you. The enemy is
trying to get you
so hyped up in
all of those things
so he can distract
you. So today, before
we even head into
Thanksgiving week
officially, I want us
to begin to shift
the atmosphere of our
personal lives so
that God can use us
to shift the
atmospheres of those
around us. But he
can't do that if
he doesn't shift your
heart first. So I
want to do something
simple but powerful.
You with me? We're
not thinking about
lunch this moment.
Simple, powerful.
If you're here today
and you're saying
pastor, I need the
atmosphere in my
heart, my home,
or my situation to
shift, I want you to
stand up right now.
Right now.
Because I love you.
Because God loves you.
I'm going to ask
again. If you're
dealing with anything
that I just listed
off, you can be
vulnerable. It's okay
to be a leader
in this environment
and respond.
I want you real.
I want raw.
I want vulnerable.
So that God can come
in and do what
only he can do.
Because we're in his
presence right now.
Just if you're standing,
just put your eyes
on him, whatever
that means to you.
If you need to have
your eyes closed
for that, close your
eyes. If you want to
look up into heaven,
look up into heaven.
But just put your
focus on him.
And I want us to just
say these things
unto the Lord.
And I truly believe
as we say them,
as we declare them,
we will see things shift.
We will experience
things shift around us.
So if you can say
this with me, but
God, thank you
for your faithfulness.
God, thank you
for your presence.
God, thank you
for your goodness.
God, thank you that you
are working even when
I don't see it.
God, thank you that
you are still on the throne.
Thank you that you are
for me and not against me.
God, I just,
I'm so thankful.
Lord, I just thank you
for everyone standing
right now.
Everyone that is
watching online
that may be responding
in their own way.
But God, I thank you
that you are present
with us here today.
God, I thank you
that hearts are shifting
towards you today.
God, I thank you
that you do not call us
to be in stress,
to be in anxiousness,
be in depression.
And if any of those things
are knocking on the door
of our hearts, God,
would we let you
answer the door?
I hear that so
clearly the Lord is saying,
would you let me answer it?
Stop trying to answer it
for me.
I'm really good at this.
The Bible tells us to cast
all of our anxiety on him
because he cares for us.
Some of you are carrying things
you're not called to carry.
And it's time to lay
those things at his feet.
So even in this moment
as we just put our attention
on him, I'm going to ask
that my prayer team
comes forward.
So if you're on our prayer team,
please just make yourself
available to pray
with individuals
because I feel the Lord
moving in the room,
but I also feel like
the Lord is asking us
to respond to him.
There's no pressure
in this moment.
You don't have to respond
in these moments,
but we get to.
We get to.
I can't take you
to one church service
that I've ever responded
for prayer
and I regretted it.
But I can take you
back into my mind
services that I sat
and the Lord was knocking
on my heart
and I chose to not respond.
I can take you back
to those moments
wishing I did.
Wishing I just brought
those things to his feet.
So don't let pride
don't let anything
hold you back
from responding
in a moment like this.
So if your heart
is beating out of your chest
and I know that
some of your hearts
are beating out of your chest,
I'm going to ask you to come.
Come.
Receive prayer.
Let a son or daughter
partner with you in prayer
and just say,
you know what?
We love you enough is enough.
Let's lay this down
at the feet of Jesus.
So God, I just thank you
for calling your sons
and daughters.
Lord, if there's anyone
in this room that
would like to receive prayer,
I ask that you would
woo them in this moment.
Praise God.
Thank you, Jesus.
Thank you, Lord,
for what you are doing
in this room.
I truly believe
that all of heaven celebrates
when one responds.
All of heaven
is so excited
for what is happening.
Thank you, Jesus.
Thank you, God,
for what you could do
and what you can only do.
Thank you, God.
Thank you, Jesus.
Man, if you're here
with somebody
and you know them well
and you know that
maybe they're going
through something,
I encourage you to
just check in
with them right now
and say, hey,
do you want to go up front?
Because if you want to go up front,
I'll go with you.
You don't have to go up alone.
I'm here with you.
I'll walk up there with you.
But today is the day
of laying things
down at his feet.
The altar is open over here.
If you just simply want to come to the altar
and you want to lay something
down at his feet,
please do that.
Jesus, we just thank you
for what you're doing in this room.
If you're in this room
and you just have a heart
to just shift atmospheres,
I ask that you would just begin
to just pray.
Just pray for what God is doing up here.
God, we just thank you
for what you are doing.
God, we thank you
that you are a God that moves.
God, we are thankful
that you're a God that heals.
You're a God that restores.
Thank you, Holy Spirit.
Thank you, Jesus.
Thank you, Holy Spirit.
Thank you, God.
I just have to be honest with you.
I just hear it in my spirit.
Linger a little longer.
I understand if you need to go,
if you have plans,
you can be dismissed.
But man, if you're here,
and you need prayer,
and you know you need prayer,
I ask that you respond.
Thank you, Jesus.
We're just going to continue to pray.
Thank you guys so much
for being with us.
I thank you.
I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving week.
I pray you have an amazing week
with your families.
But man, if you're here
and you need prayer,
we're going to keep praying.
We're going to keep contending.
We're going to keep going after it.
So Lord, we just thank you
for what you're doing.
We just say have your way.
Have your way.
Ms. Amanda's open for prayer over here
if you want to come to Ms. Amanda.
Yep.
So good.
Love you guys so much.
Thanks for listening
to the Harvest Chapel PA podcast.
We hope this message encouraged you
and drew you closer to Jesus.
To stay connected,
visit us at HarvestChapelPA.com
or follow us on social media
at Harvest Chapel PA.
We can't wait to be with you
again next week.