Who Would of Thought

Hi, this is Pastor Daniel Bracken. You're listening to Kings Alaska Podcast. I hope the Word encourages you and you get a touch from God that brings transformation and equips you to experience life with people, power and purpose. Thank you for joining us. Enjoy the Word.

Before you guys sit down, I'm going to read out of. I'm going to have you guys stand for the reading of the word out of First Timothy, chapter one, verse 12. God gave me this word this week. I preached. I preached it at Transformations.

I preached at the the Classics Lunch on Friday. And I'm going to preach pieces of it to you guys today because I think it's absolutely fitting if you guys were here this morning. Pastor preached a word on church leadership. That was great. And, and I think this fits right along with it.

And I've titled it who would have thought? It was my first message I wrote after being bestowed a pastor. I maybe could have come up with a better title, but that's just where I was at. Who would have thought? And this the verse, the Scriptures we're going to look at tonight is the Apostle Paul writing Timothy in the church of the church of Ephesus, encouraging him.

And it fits in verse 12. He says, this is the Apostle Paul writing Timothy. He says, I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who, who has given me strength, that he consider me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. Lord, I thank you Father, for your word. I thank you God, for the power it contains.

Help me to deliver this message the way you intended it to be delivered. Oh God. And we thank you, Father, for moving in power in this place tonight. In Jesus name. You guys can be seated.

So the Apostle Paul's writing Timothy who's overseeing the church in Ephesus. And I don't have a whole lot of time. I'm not going to get into too much background in this. I'm gonna skip over some of that that I shared on Tuesday and Friday. But Timothy's kind of got a hard job.

Paul planted the church in Ephesus several years earlier. He was there for three years. He was there longer really than any other place he planted a church. And he had an emotional leaving when he left. It was very emotional cause he loved the church and they loved him there.

And he appointed Timothy the overseer of the churches there. So Timothy's got a tough job. And when you read the books of first and second Timothy, it becomes apparent that Paul's writing to him for several different reasons. And those reasons become apparent as you're reading them. One of it One of those reasons was to correct some false teaching.

False teachers had crept in and were teaching a form of legalism, and they were just adding things to the gospel. And they wanted to be. Paul says they wanted to be teachers of the law, but they didn't even know what they were talking about. And so he's writing Timothy to correct those teachers. And we think of that because we see church maybe the way we see it here, as a large gathering of people with a pastor up front speaking.

And if you wanted to correct things, you could just grab the mic and go correct it. And that's not the case in Ephesus. In Acts, it says there was thousands of believers in Ephesus and there was possibly hundreds of small pocket churches throughout the city. And Timothy. Timothy's the overseer of the, of the.

The church in Ephesus. So to correct false teaching, he's got to deal with a lot of different people in a lot of different places. And he's a younger guy, and you get the. You get the feeling that he's beginning to doubt his abilities or even that maybe he was the right guy for the job when he was there. And the Apostle Paul writes to him not only to tell him what to do and give him instruction on church leadership, which he does.

And first and Second Timothy are great books if you want to. Want to see how a church should function with leadership. And I think Kings does a great job. You might be wondering why there's different pastors and ministers. Point read first and Second Timothy, because I think we follow that model.

But he's also telling them not just to how church leadership should work and act, but he's encouraging him. Because we get the impression through Paul's writing that Timothy is really starting to doubt himself. And he's really starting to question if he's the right guy and if he can get the job done. So Paul writes him to encourage him. And so he starts off by saying, I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy.

This is the Apostle Paul writing this, that he would consider me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. So he emphasizes, thanks to God that God would consider him the Apostle Paul, not Timothy. He's talking about himself trustworthy and that God would appoint him to service. And we're going to find out why within the next verse, why he was so thankful or even surprised that God would do that. And that's why I thought this text fit so much for what God was speaking to me on.

Who would have thought? Because Paul is really having a who would have thought Moment here while he's writing to Timothy, kind of reflecting about himself. And I want, want you to note how the Apostle Paul saw himself and how he saw his ministry and how he got there and where the power from that ministry came from. Paul believed he was in the position of ministry because he was called by Jesus, appointed by Jesus to serve Jesus. And the Bible's clear, as Pastor Daniel just said with authority, that we, that God has a plan and a purpose for all of our lives and ministry.

And a call into ministry and ministry can mean so many different things. Doesn't have to be up here speaking. It can be in the kitchen. It can be ministry means all different, all sorts of kind of things. But we're all called to serve in his kingdom.

And he's given us gifts and talents to help us walk out in that plan and purpose. My greatest goal in what we do in transformations, in the Dream center, the Lighthouse, the different ministries we're a part of, our greatest goal is to see people walk out in the plan and the purpose God has for their lives. A lot of times people can focus on sobriety. We do transformations, which is a ministry that's geared towards ministering towards those struggling with addiction. Sobriety is not our end goal.

Sobriety is our starting point. Get that stuff out of your life. Help people begin to understand that they've been cleansed through Christ for what he did with what he did for them on the cross. They've been cleansed, made perfectly holy. The Bible says that they cannot now house the Spirit of God and live the rest of their lives with the Spirit of God guiding them and empowering, empowering them to live free from those things.

And once you get people to understand that that's the baseline. And then you begin to walk out in the plan and the purpose God has for their lives. Because it's so much easier to stay clean and sober when you're living with purpose. It's where you'll find the most joy in life. We've been doing this long enough.

11 years. We've done transformations. And I was involved in recovery ministries even before that. I've been doing it long enough to know the people who last in their sobriety, who last in their program, and who last even in their Christianity are people that find purpose. When you get people walking out in the purpose, as in a part of something bigger than themselves, moving with God, using the gifts and talents that he's put on the inside of them for purpose, they want to get up in the morning.

They want to live life. They're excited about where they're going and they have real joy. It's a lot easier to stay clean and sober and alive in Christ when you're walking in purpose and have long term success. But one of the struggles we have, and maybe many in here have, is they think they've been disqualified from being called by God or used by God because of the life they've led. And that's what I love about this text.

Because Paul, to encourage Timothy and us, he uses his own life as a glaring example of what God can do with a broken, sinful life. I get to do that often. I've done it in here, I've shared my testimony in here. And when I do that, I want you guys to know that I'm not doing that thinking I'm something special. This place is full of testimonies.

Our pastors are glaring examples of that kind of testimony. So I'm not doing that thinking. Well, look at me, look at. I'm so those kind of testimonies are all over this place. I have the opportunity to do that, to share what God's done in my life and I'm thankful for it.

But God calls us into this life and strengthen us by the power of his Spirit to live free from the things he's called us from and to do the works he's called us to.

Paul fully understood it wasn't by his own knowledge. And Paul was a intelligent guy, a very smart guy. But you read the writings of Paul, he's very quick to say not by my own knowledge or, or by my own power did I come with a crafty speech and a slick tongue. He didn't do that. He came in the power of the Spirit and he gives all the credit to the Holy Spirit.

It's the Holy Spirit that empowered him to lay hands on the sick and see them recover, to speak prophetically over people, to pray deliverance into people's lives and experience the miraculous things of God. It was not by his own giftings that he achieved those things. And so he's trying to encourage young Timothy. He was young to him anyways. Paul was older when he wrote this letter towards the end of his life.

As a matter of fact, scholars believe second Timothy was the last letter he wrote before he was executed. And so he's writing to encourage the much younger Timothy, his son in his faith he calls him. And his point is. Listen, I know you want to bail Timothy. I know there's times you're going to doubt yourself in this walk.

I know you think you're probably not the right man for the job, and you're doubting even your own abilities, but I want you to know God called you to do that, and you're not disqualified. And I'm gonna tell you, I know that Apostle Paul is saying, because there was nobody worse than me when I started out, not my words, it's his. And I've titled this message. And we're gonna read that here as we. As we read on.

And I've titled this message. Who would have thought? Because there's moments. Listen, there's a calling, like I said, on all of your lives. And you're gonna get to a point in this walk if you.

If you go that far with him. And I pray that every one of you does that. You're gonna. You're gonna get to a point where it's gonna take some courage. It's gonna take some faith.

It's gonna be really, really uncomfortable to take the step that God's asking you to take. And there's gonna be moments like you're gonna feel like Timothy, and you're gonna doubt that you're the right man for the job or the right woman for the job, and that the calling that God placed on your life wasn't some sort of mistake, that he. He shouldn't have just picked somebody else. You're gonna have those moments where you're gonna feel very unqualified to do what he's asked you to do. And it's okay.

It's okay. You got to take the step. I've titled this message who would have thought? Because when I was bestowed as a pastor, that's the only thing I could think of is who would have thought? Eric Bloomquist became a pastor.

Very unlikely. Very unlikely that Daniel Bracken or Karen Bracken would become pastors also. It's just what he does. He loves to take the broken, the messed up and empower them by the power of his spirit to do things that there's no way I could do without him. I was diagnosed with severe social anxiety coming out of addiction and learning how to.

And team of doctors, they were trying to figure out if I was schizophrenic or if I had messed myself up on so much meth that I remember a doctor saying, think of your brain like a tuning fork. And it's going because you've hit it so hard with drugs. And he said, sometimes it levels out and stops, and sometimes it doesn't. That's comforting. And I Remember them asking me questions.

And there's. There was students over here taking notes, and they were trying to figure out if I was schizophrenic or if I had just damaged myself with. Anyways, I was diagnosed. They came out with a diagnosis of severe social anxiety. And I took medication for a while until I was healed.

Took about a year, and I was healed of that. And I was able to walk free. That was 20 years ago. And so. But I did live with crippling anxiety.

I was the kind of guy that if I walked into a room and there was 20 people in there and I, like. Like, accidentally bumped a chair and it made a noise and everybody looked. I would, like, turn purple. You know what I mean? And there'd be, like, a chemical reaction going on.

You shared of your struggles with that, and it impacted me. I want you to know it empowered me. And so I'm just. And I'm sharing that with you guys because I want you to know that there's least likely. Like, who would have thought?

Who would have thought? This is actually the fifth time I've preached this week. Fifth time I've stood up in front of people with a microphone and preached the gospel. Praise God. Only he can do that.

I was incapable of doing that for much of my life. So when he called me to do that, I didn't. I was. I was very reluctant. I was very uncomfortable.

I did it anyways because I knew he had a calling on my life. I tried for a while, when we started Transformations, to hide behind my wife. I'd say, well, you're a minister. And that worked for, like, I think, maybe the first week or two. And then she's like, no, no, the calling's on you.

Get out there. And so I would preach and I would. Every week I would come home and I would say, that was the worst thing that's ever been done in a church. Nobody listened. Nobody understood.

And she'd be like, it wasn't that bad. It wasn't that. It was. She. She put up with that.

God gave me a wife who does not tolerate weak faith. Praise the Lord. So. So she put up with that for a few weeks. And then after.

After a few weeks, I knew I couldn't even bring it to her. Cause she's not gonna listen. She's gonna tell me to quit speaking that over myself. But it was a struggle for the first few years. And I'll never forget, it was probably two.

Two years into this. Two and a half years, maybe. I don't know. I'm preaching, I get done. And I don't know if I did an altar call or what, but there was a line of people standing up there, and I had got done.

And already the voice is going, that was the worst thing that's ever been done in a church. You should. That was the dumbest thing. You made a complete fool out of yourself. And there was a short blonde lady standing there.

She got right up in my face, and she said, every time you speak, it's every time you preach, every time you share, it speaks to me, is exactly what she said. And that carried me through the next couple years, because every time that voice started, I said, no, no, I remember it spoke to her. And so we have those moments. And I'm sharing this with you, because when you have these moments that you're walking through and you're walking out, what God's asked you to do, you're gonna want to quit. Like Pastor said, dream big.

I don't know if you said that this morning or tonight. Dream big. Do things that you know you can't do on your own, and you're gonna have to rely on the power of God to get it done. And when you do that, there's going to be times you're going to want to bail, you're going to want to quit, you're going to want to turn and the enemy starts going and convincing you you're the wrong person for the job. You're making a fool out of yourself.

You got to get through those times. You have to push through those times. Because, yeah, that was the first time that somebody told me that when I shared, it impacted them. But as the years went on, as time went on, the more I did it, the more testimonies that came forward and the more miraculous works of God I got to experience that I never would have experienced if I would have listened to that voice and quit. When I was in there, when the first few years, when I really wanted to, and I was convinced that I was the wrong guy, years down the road, I'm at Transformations.

This was maybe a couple years ago, and I can't remember what I was. Oh, I think I was. Oh, I was on the prayer line. We were calling people up for prayer. This woman came forward.

She said, I want you to know about eight months ago, I came to service over at the other church here. She said, you were on the prayer line on a Wednesday night. I had a friend, a neighbor that brought me to church. I had stomach issues, crippling stomach issues for years. And I came and because I wanted healing.

And she said, you prayed for me. She said, you never asked me what I wanted prayer for. You just began to pray for my stomach. And I'm thinking, sometimes the music's really loud. And so I don't ask, what do you want prayer for?

Because I can't. And other times I feel the spirit moving, and I'll just go for it and pray. I don't know which time that was, because I don't even remember her at this point when she's telling me this, but she said, you prayed for my stomach, and you never asked me what I wanted prayer for. You pray for it. And I've been completely healed.

I just wanted you to know that. And I'm thinking, that's pretty cool. That's pretty cool to experience the power of God in that way. And if I would have quit when I wanted to quit, I never would have experienced the breakthrough. Another time.

This was maybe a year, year and a half ago. I'm in line getting. Picking my kids up at kids church, which I do often because I got a lot of them. And I was in line to get my kids. Check out my kids with the tags.

And I feel a tap on my shoulder and a voice from another little woman. She said, you changed my life Tuesday night. And I'm like, excuse me. And I turn around and she says, you were preaching on condom. And I recognize her as somebody I'd seen in the church for a long time.

Well, several years. And she said, you were preaching on condemnation. And I remember seeing her Tuesday night, and she said, it was broken off of me while you were preaching Tuesday night. And the alcoholism I have struggled with for years was completely broken off of me. And she lifts up her sleeve and she's got the date tattooed on her arm.

And I'm. And then she's like, I called your wife and said, is this real? Is this real? And I'm like, oh, it's real. And by the way, it wasn't me that changed your life.

It was the Holy Spirit. But praise God. And then I'm thinking, my wife didn't even tell me. I gotta have a conversation with her. That would've been a little bit encouraging to know that as I was preaching, condemnation was broken off.

She said, yes, I didn't have time to tell you yet. My point in telling you guys that is this. There was. I gotta push through. As Paul is urging Timothy to.

To push through and stick with it. You gotta stick with those times that you wanna quit and bail on the calling that God's placed on your life. I see miracles all over this place, miraculous things that God has done. And I know I've heard a lot of your testimonies. Cause many of you guys have come to transformations and shared your testimony.

I know the miraculous things he's done in your life. And I know the calling that he's placed on your life. And he can see the end. We see things in the Bible. Like we can see a.

When Moses was given all the excuses why he's the wrong guy, right? If you did discover track, Dr. David was. Was teaching the discover track this morning. And he's going through all the excuses mo Moses gave for not being the guy who, who should lead the. The nation of Israel out of Egypt, right?

And, and, and if he would have quit, like his last thing was just send somebody else, you know, and finally God's like, I'll give you Aaron. All right, now go. And I'm thinking, you know, if he would have sent somebody else, he would have missed out on being Moses. He would have missed out on seeing the Red Sea part. He would have missed out on all the miraculous things God's done.

If you don't take that step, even though it's uncomfortable, even though you're afraid do it, afraid you'll miss out on meeting God on another level and experience the miraculous things he wants to work in and through you in your life. So Paul's encouraging Timothy and he's saying, because listen, if Timothy don't bail, don't give up, and he does it. And he's having one of these moments, these who would have thought moments right now. And he tells us why in verse 13, he. Paul, the apostle Paul says in verse 13, even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.

Listen, he's saying he's grateful for what God's done in his life because of who he was before he had an encounter. And he's not exaggerating the kind of guy he was. The Apostle Paul was, was once Saul of Tarsus, and he was not a good dude. He had before he had his encounter with Jesus Christ. And we can read about it in Acts 9 on the road to Damascus.

He was a wicked man named Saul of Tarsus. And then he had an encounter with Jesus that transformed him into Paul the Apostle. There's, there's moments we have in encounters with Jesus that transform who we are, that empower us for the calling that he has on our lives. And so before, before he gets transformed, he's on his way to Damascus to kill more Christians. And he says, he describes himself in Acts 22:4.

He says, I persecuted the followers of this way to their death. He's talking about Christianity, Christians. The Apostle Paul, before he became the Apostle Paul, was Saul of Tarsus, who persecuted Christians to their death, arresting both, both men and women and throwing them into prison.

The guy God used to write most of the New Testament, who experienced some of the most miraculous things through the. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, hunted down, tore apart families, imprisoned and killed people because they believed in Jesus.

So I don't want to hear.

I know this is in your thoughts. Some of you I know because I've dealt with it enough times that I destroyed my family. I had an affair that destroyed my family. And because of that, I'm sure that I'm too dirty to be used by God. I had an abortion, 1, 2, 3 abortions before I knew Christ.

And I'm sure that disqualifies me. I'm just telling you to the Apostle Paul's apostle, laying his story out there and saying, listen, I hunted down and killed Christians. It's what I did and who I was before Jesus Christ got ahold of my heart. So don't give me your reason for the. For why you think you've been disqualified because his blood cleanses all.

You can't be disqualified.

And he continues on. In verse 14, he says, the grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying, verse 15. Here's a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners of who I'm the worst.

That's how Paul saw himself. But for that very reason I was shown mercy. So that in me the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus may display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the King, Eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honored and glorified forever and ever. Amen.

If you push through, if you can break through that. That those lies of Satan that tell you because of what you've done or even who you are, or maybe even your current struggle, that you've been disqualified for service or, or to be used or to be. Have God empower you to do great things. It's a lie. And Apostle Paul says, listen, you gotta.

I'm telling you this because. Because I want you guys to believe this. There's nobody worse than I was. I don't care what you've done. I hunted down, killed in prison, tore apart families and killed people because of their faith in Jesus Christ and because of his cleansing blood.

He's enabled me and empowered me to do great things for his kingdom. And that's the word for you tonight. I don't care what you've done and where you've been. I'm not, I'm not minimizing your pain or even the lies, maybe that, that the enemy speaking in into your mind. I get that.

I lived with those. But you have to. You have to come to a point where you're going to let the truth of his word and the power of the spirit flush that stuff out and replace it with truth that God has cleansed you. He's made you holy. He'll make it so his spirit can live on the inside of you and empower you to do and see and experience great things that you would even read about in the Bible or through or buy books from healing evangelists or whatever.

And you think that's for the them? It's not for them. It's for all of us. Because he has a plan and a purpose to use all of us. And there'll be moments in your life, I promise you, if you're able to push through that well, you.

Where you'll turn around and you look and, and you'll just say, who would have thought, who would have thought he would have taken a broken meth addict bound in every area of his life and turned him into a pastor?

One who would be used to heal and restore by the power of the Holy Spirit. There's going to be moments in your life where you're going to have to take that step. And I've been doing this. Every moment has been like this. Every encounter, every time he's used me in a way that was impactful or changed my life.

I've never felt equipped for any of them. I never felt comfortable. Now, that's me. I've been uncomfortable every step of the way, but every step I had to do this. Being uncomfortable, being afraid, feeling ill equipped to do it.

And then he showed up and there was. There was moments that marked me and changed me in this process. One of them was in 2017. We took a missions trip to Chile. Vicki and I felt called to sign up to go to Chile for a missions trip.

Pastor Alex Betsel was leading that missions trip and it was a team of seven of us. We signed up and we had no idea what we were going to be doing. It was Pastor Alex at the time. It was Minister Gill and Rosie, who now pastor our Anchorage extension. It was Minister Tammy, who's now Pastor Tammy.

It was Minister Vicki, who's now Pastor Vicki. And it was Dr. David and Eric, which, which was great every time we got introduced. So I started going by Bishop Eric while I was in South America. It was actually Chileans that gave me that nickname. I think they felt sorry for me, like Bishop Eric, thank you.

I'll take it. And so we, we sign up for this trip and we're. We don't know what we're doing at first. And then it gets known to us right before we're leaving. Actually what we're doing.

Shortly before, they were doing power conferences at our extensions in Chile, which is the prophetic conferences like we'll have here in February. And we were the prophetic team that was going to prophesy over the. Over the church extensions and praise God. I'm thinking, you know, when we signed up, God, I don't know what you're gonna have Eric do. I'm picturing I can maybe change light bulbs in the church or something.

I mean, you know, we see ourselves certain ways. And so we're on the plane right over there and I'm still thinking, God, I don't know what you're gonna have me do on this trip. But it's too late to back out now. So here we go. And then we get there and we.

The first, the first meeting we're at was at a woman's home. She was a member of the church in Santiago. We stayed at your parents house. You were much younger then, Isabella. And anyways, the first meeting was at this woman's house.

And they had a beautiful table set up for the prophetic team. And we got done eating and I'm gonna say There was maybe 40 or 50 people there. There was probably 12, but it seemed. I don't know, I'm remembering it as 40 to 50 people there. And we're.

So we're gonna prophesy over this, this woman whose house we were at. And so we go around and everybody gives a prophetic word and. Except for me. And we're walking out so close. And we're walking out of the house and Vicki said, you got, you had something, didn't you?

And I said, yeah. And Pastor Gill heard that and he says, Eric's got something. Eric's got something. So he calls everybody back in. Was that.

I'm like oh, no. What is happening here? What is happening here? And yeah, God we believe in God was showing me something, but I'm like, this is 10 times worse. It would have been so much easier if I would have just blended in with everybody else and gave it.

But leave it to Pastor Gilbert, who called everybody back in there. And so now the pressure's on, and I'm like, oh, And. And so I give this word that God gave me, and I don't remember all of it, but I remember it was a father giving his daughter a gift on the playground. Don't know what that meant. And.

And so I give this word. What is it? The. The woman's crying, and everything's in Spanish. I don't know what's going on ever, during the whole trip.

And so we go outside and I'm like. End up sitting in the car, and I'm just. I don't know what to feel. I just. I don't know what to feel.

Was that good? Was it bad? I think I was crying during. And I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to do that. And so I'm sitting there and Pastor Alex sticks his face in the car window.

He says, just so you know, that woman has a court hearing tomorrow over her father's estate. And that word you gave her spoke to her and was right. Right on with what she needed. And that was one of those life changing moments. In that moment, something happened to me, and I walked out the rest of that trip moving in a gifting that I didn't even know I had, and moving powerfully in it.

I remember there was one meeting we were at. I was teamed up with Pastor Gil. And again, everything's in Spanish. And he's prophesying in Spanish. He speaks Spanish, Spanish.

And then I'm prophesying. So he would prophesy over the person, then I would prophesy over the person. And there was reactions going on. I have no idea what's going on, but it's powerful. I can feel it.

And later I find out that he was preaching in Spanish, and I would. Or prophesying in Spanish, and I would prophesy the same thing in English. And then he was telling him he has no idea what I'm saying because he doesn't even speak the language. And moments like that, I got to share my testimony. Testimony at a rehab center in Santiago.

And the. Through an interpreter. It was Pastor Bruno's. Your dad was interpreting. And the power of God hit that place.

And I got to experience. Listen, my point in This I got to experience miraculous things and operating in giftings I never knew I had. Stepping out, afraid and unconfident every step of the way. And watching God show up and empower exactly when I needed him to show up, it's because what he does. And there are times we need to be a Paul and there's times we're a Timothy in this thing.

But I'm to the point now where I can encourage people through my testimonies, just as Paul did, saying, look at the worst of sinners. God empowered me. Who would have thought. Who would have thought if he can do it for me? And I know I'm not standing up here believing I'm something special with my testimony.

I know that there's testimonies like mine all throughout this place and even more powerful ones. I get that. But it's what I got to share with you. If he could do it through me, Severe anxiety and all, he can do it for anybody. And I'm telling you, it is so much fun.

Is it uncomfortable? Oh yeah, it's uncomfortable. Have I wanted to quit many times along the way? Oh yeah. Oh yeah.

But moments. It's only in moments when I'm listening to the enemy's voice and I need. I need the Apostle Paul's in my life to come say, I believe in you.

You are the right man for the job.

He's encouraging Timothy to remember the promises of God and even the prophetic words that were spoken over him. In verse 18, he says, Timothy, my son, I'm giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that recalling them, you may fight the battle. Well, we all need Paul's. Find a Paul. There's Paul's all around here.

They'll speak the truth over you. They'll encourage you when you want to quit.

And he encourages Timothy to hang with it. And he does. And, and so often we get to see the outcome in the word of God. And so often God's just above us saying, listen, keep going, keep going. Because he can see the outcome.

He knows that he's equipped us to do the things he's called us to do. He knows we're going to get the win in the end. And so don't quit, don't give up, don't turn back because I've called you to it. He's saying, I will empower you to get the job done. That's the word I have for you guys tonight to be empowered to not doubt.

God's equipped you to do what he's called you to do. You have to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior. It's the. It's the first step. Amen.

It's how we get cleansed. The Word is clear. The. There's nothing we've done to earn his grace. He'll accept us just where we're.

Just how we are. As broken as we are. The things that we're even currently struggling with, we can bring to him. We can bring him now. We don't have to clean ourselves up to come to Him.

As a matter of fact, it doesn't even work. He found me as broken and ugly and bound and perverted as anybody could be. And he accepted me just the way I was. And it was that night that I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart, that he empowered. Empowered me by his spirit to live free from those things.

It's what I want for every person in this place. If you're in a place in your life where you're bound by sin, you're bound by things that have kept you enslaved. Listen, I know there's a reason you walk through this door.

It was to encounter a loving Savior. And as the Apostle Paul said, you might think you're bad and what you've done is unforgivable. Have you hunted down Christians and killed them for being Christians? Well, if not, you're coming in cleaner than the Apostle Paul came in. And there's nothing God won't cleanse and turn around.

He'll do it. You have to. You have to trust on him. The Bible says that if you believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord, and you confess with your mouth that he was raised from the dead, that you would be saved. So I'm going to lead you guys in a prayer to do just that.

We preach messages to help you believe in your heart. I hope something that you heard tonight would encourage you to put your faith and hope in Jesus Christ. I don't care how lost and broken you are. He'll take you. He'll change you.

He'll. He'll turn you into somebody that can encounter him and experience him on levels where you can do the miraculous, where he'll heal people through your hands, even if you don't know it's happening, where he'll break things off while you're. While you're sharing. Break things off of people. Why you're sharing your faith, even if you don't know what's happening, because it's not you.

It's him working through you. He can use you and turn you into something like that. You just have to. You have to give your heart to him. So I'm going to lead you guys in a prayer.

Listen, if that's you, if you're lost, if. If you're. If you're bound, or even if you want to renew your faith tonight, you're like, yeah, Eric, I get that. And I've. I've even believed that.

But I've gotten to a place where I'm not walking in that power. I'm not experiencing that kind of life. Life. I'm going to encourage you to recommit your heart to Jesus Christ tonight. Tell him again.

You know what? I believe it's worth it. Lord, I believe your word that you can do that for me. I might not feel it. I might not see it in myself.

I might even not know. Not know how it's going to work. But I trust you when you say that it will. I'm going to ask you guys to. To raise your hand if you.

If. If that's you tonight, if you want to give your heart to Jesus Christ from the first time, or even if you want to recommit yourself to him tonight. I see the hand. Thank you. I see those hands.

I want to ask you guys to repeat this prayer after me. Say, lord, I thank you for sending your son, Jesus Christ to die for me. I repent of my sin and I turn to you and I thank you, God, that you've cleansed me and empowered me and filled me with your spirit. Use me mightily in Jesus name. Amen.

Well, I hope you were encouraged by God's word. Thank you again for listening to Kings Alaska podcast. God bless you. For more great content, go to kcalaska.com and may God's face shine upon you and give you peace.