Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022 / Elul 29, 5782
Pastor Troy Brewer, OpenDoor Church, Burleson, TX
It’s important to recognize certain dates and celebrate them
1. ANNIVERSARIES ARE ABOUT CELEBRATING WHAT WE HAVE BEFORE GOD
Psalm 68:3 – But let the righteous be glad; let them exult before God; Yes, let them rejoice with gladness.
Psalm 145:7 – They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.
Jeremiah 30:19 – ‘From them will proceed thanksgiving And the voice of those who celebrate; And I will multiply them and they will not be diminished; I will also honor them and they will not be insignificant
We have a lot to celebrate.
Relationships. Revelation. A spirit of serving and giving a gift of hospitality and mercy. Forward motion of vision. Accomplishing impossible things with little more than a green light from God and a yes in our spirit.
We are a common people with something extraordinary. God is with us, among us, for us and seen through us. The goodness of the Lord is is made manifest among us and through us. On this day, we celebrate what God has given us in this tribe of misfits and crazy people. Let’s give the Lord a great big praise for the good thing he has trusted us with.
WE ARE STILL HERE. WE’VE NEVER REALLY KNOWN WHAT WE WERE DOING AND GOD HAS HONORED US AND PROSPERED US.
27 YEARS AGO
Things unveiled and revealed in God’s presence
Like the number 22 when the light comes on, God says, “Tada!” I think He likes to stamp the number twenty-seven on those things. Except for specifically when He is
27 – THE HEART OF THE FATHER
It’s not a very prolific number in the Bible, having only been in there six times, but the term “the candlestick” appears twenty- seven times, and I think it has to do with how “the light comes on” when the presence of God is made manifest.
Abraham is revealed through twenty-seven books in the Bible.
Twenty-seven is the number of generations from David to Christ according to the Gospel of Matthew. (Matthew 1:1- 17). That is when Jesus showed up and went, “Tada!” I AM HERE TO SHOW YOU WHAT THE FATHER LOOKS LIKE
There are twenty-seven books in the New Testament
27 IN HEBREW
Twenty-Seven (kaph-zayin): Ministry of Salvation
The last book of the New Testament, the twenty-seventh book, is the Revelation of Jesus Christ to John and His feast is celebrated on December 27.
And what is twenty-seven? Three to the third power (3 x 3 x 3). It is the revelation of all things Jesus. His candlestick burns bright and He will not remove it because we will not leave our first love.
So, certainly progressive revelation and then light of truth are connected with the number twenty-seven.
BUT AGAIN, I THINK SPECIFICALLY WITH HOW JESUS REVEALS THE HEART OF THE FATHER
THESE ARE THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK:
IS THIS WHAT WE SEE THE FATHER DO?
IS THIS WHO THE FATHER IS TO US?
2. ANNIVERSARIES ARE ABOUT HONORING GOD FOR WHAT HE’S DONE.
How God has moved among and through us:
The Top 10 miracles God has done….
The miracle of this building
The miracles of people getting saved we never would have imagined
The miracle is not that we have given away over 100 million pounds of food to hurting people. The miracle is that we had it to give away.
3. ANNIVERSARIES ARE ABOUT TELLING OTHERS ABOUT GOD
GOD WILL TAKE YOUR LITTLE BIT AND DO GREAT BIG THINGS WITH IT
GOD VALUES RELATIONSHIP OVER FUNCTION AND RESTORATION OVER PUNISHMENT
GOD LOVES THE ORPHAN, THE WIDOW AND THE VOICELESS AND HE WILL BLESS THOSE WHO INCLUDE THEM IN THE ANSWER
THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS 5783 – Rosh Hashanah
10:32 a.m. CST is sundown Jerusalem time
Just as trumpets were sounded to call God’s people together, the trumpets sounded at the end times are a call for God’s people to remember. They are calling for all people to repent of their sins. They are the sound of anticipation for the return of our Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 – For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
1 Corinthians 15:51 – Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed–52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”55 “O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory?”
“The sun comes up. The pendulum swings and each new frightening morning brings
The children’s cries the cannon roar more loudly than the day before
The wax of time is drippin’ down from both ends of that candle brightly burning
A mighty shout a trumpet blast when the last is first and the first is last
The world is hushed and time stands still and the final chapter is fulfilled
The sky will part each knee will bow to greet the awesome hour of his returning”
Charlie Daniels – PAYBACK TIME