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God's Witnesses in a Changing World: A Journey into Bold Faith and Divine Protection · Mrs. PIE

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Yum, yum, this walk is great.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Here comes a stuffed swan.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: All right, good morning.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: We have a lot of promo ads because we got a lot of stuff going on.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: Okay, all right, good morning.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: Y'all, it's another Thursday morning prayer.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: I hope everybody is doing.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: Okay, I'm Shelly.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: I'm here every Thursday at 7am across our platform.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: So good morning to everybody on Facebook, linkedin, twitter, youtube and also Paradec Live TV on the Faith Channel.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: I'm trying to adjust the music in the background, which is basically called soaking music.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: You can find it on.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: I use the soaking music I found on Amazon Music, but it just kind of helps you kind of settle into worship.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: Sometimes I can't do it with, like loud gospel music, except that's not what I need.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: I need a calm and present, so I play soaking music.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: All that said, again, I'm so excited to be here again this morning.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: We're going to be talking about God's Witness Protection Program.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: Y'all just go along with me.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: It's going to make a lot of sense.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: And then, if you could, please don't forget to like and share the videos so that other folks can get to see.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: You know, get to hear God's word and be inspired and be encouraged, and they'll kick us off YouTube, all right.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: So, before we go any further into the message, I'm just going to thank the Lord.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: Thank you, lord, for letting us see another Thursday, another week.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: Lord, thank you for giving us the opportunity and giving me the opportunity to serve in this way, to share your word, to share your message to anyone who has the ears to ear here and the eyes to see.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: And, lord, I just pray that you will now just glorify yourself through me and let your, let your word go out and touch the folks who are listening, whether it's the live or on the replay, letting them know that you are real.
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: Amen, amen.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: All right, so this is the message.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: When I was thinking about, like, how do you explain?
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: You know what it is, we're going to be talking about what I call God's Witness Protection Program, and I was thinking about, like, all the times when a lot of us believers just prefer to blend in or go on and get along, but truly believers were expected to stand out and share the message of Jesus Christ, what I call the transformative message of Jesus Christ, not the judgmental message.
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: Okay, the transformative message of Jesus Christ.
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: So I'm going to be looking at, kind of the biblical parallels between the safety that, you know, we're all kind of used to when we think about a witness protection program, the divine protection that God gives us and then how we can boldly proclaim our faith, knowing that, you know, it's still the Holy Spirit that is working with us, through us, alongside us.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: So when I think about the terms of witness protection program, usually we think about, you know, providing safety or anonymity to people who are like testifying in legal settings.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: Okay, you know, most of us have seen the movies, we've seen people going in and witness protection program and maybe some of you have experienced this yourself.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: But when you think about witnessing, the witnessing I'm talking about it's the fact that we're called to stand out and speak up and share the message of Christ with others.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: So, just pulling back to look at, I was thinking about, like, what does witness mean?
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: And as a noun, because I got to, you know, I got to go through the words as a noun it means one that gives evidence, one that's asked to be present as a transaction to be able to testify.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: It's taking place, somebody that has the person and knowledge of something right a witness and some something serving as evidence or proof.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: That's the noun.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: So you know, it's me giving evidence of personal knowledge of something serving as a proof and being able to testify that that thing happened, and as a verb, it's then being able to bear witness.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: The verb is being able to bear witness to your you know what we call religious convictions, etc.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: So, when we think about God's witness, I'm going to share some of the verses from the word that I thought was really helpful.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: So I'm going to start with, I'm going to break this down and this way good morning Enrique.
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: I'm going to start with and I'm going to drop some of these in the chat so y'all can see it.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: But if you don't, again, if you don't have your body, because they're too short for me to share my screen, y'all don't want me to keep doing that.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: So the first verse is and we're thinking about God's witness.
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: These are some of the expectations I saw a lot of times.
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: People ask me, like how can you go on social media and talk about Jesus, especially because I'm on LinkedIn, okay, which is a business platform?
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: How could you feel so bold?
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: Well, first of all, my cheat code is the Holy Spirit.
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: I'm not on here by myself.
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: I have a host of protection, okay.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: But the second thing is I understand what witnessing actually means and what it looks like.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: So, first, peter three, verse 15,.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: This is, I believe, this is ESV, and it says but in your hearts, honor Christ, the Lord, as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asked you for a reason, for the hope that's in you, yet doing it with gentleness and respect.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: So that's the first thing.
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: That's the first thing.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: It's in your heart.
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: So I always tell people you gotta, you gotta have a heart posture.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: It's not about judgment, but I'm always ready to give a fence for a defense for why I have hope.
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: So, so, so it's so interesting to me when, when I, when I talk to folks and they're talking about all of the things that are going on around, and even believers, even Christians, if you know, oh, the world is falling apart, and yet my perspective is oh, but I have hope.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: I have so much hope.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: And why do I have that hope?
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: I have the hope because I, you know, I serve a God who's able, all things are working together for my good.
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: But because I'm a witness to some of these things happening in my own life, then it's easier for me to to be able to speak to that and testify to that and witness to that.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: So if you're coming from a position where you have no hope, it's gonna you're gonna have a hard time trying to be a witness or otherwise you're just going through gas on the fly and that's not going to help anybody.
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: So again, the first thing is in your hearts honor Christ, the Lord, as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason, for the hope.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: Why are you so hopeful?
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: And you're doing it with gentleness and respect.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: You're not banging people over the head in a disrespectful way, saying you ought to know right, it's your heart posture, it's how you approach.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: So that's the first thing that I wanted to share about.
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: You know some of the characteristics that you think of as God's witness.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: So I'm going to do God's witness, I'm going to talk about God's protection, and then we're going to talk about getting with the program.
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: Okay, All right.
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: So the second verse that I want to share, this is going to come from Colossians 4, verse 6.
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: And so I'm going to drop it again in the chat so y'all can see it.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: Colossians 4, verse 6, this one gets a lot of people in trouble.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: It's let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: So when I think about seasoned with salt, you know salt brings flavor to it, so you're not just saying stuff that makes no sense.
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: Okay, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: Why is this important?
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: So when I think about witnessing the way that I speak, what I'm saying, there are trigger words that people have, like for me, if someone is telling me about their journey as a believer, or maybe they're testifying or sharing something amazing that just happened.
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: The moment that their speech changes where it becomes kind of darted or it feels hateful, or they start using the buzzwords on the internet to make you feel a strange other way, like the minute someone starts to say some things to me, like if you're in the middle of witnessing and telling me how amazing God is, and then you split that thing and then start talking about all of these woke people.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: You've lost me because now you've used the world language, so now you're no longer seasoning it with the salt of the word, this word, this Bible word, this word.
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: Right Now you've used the world's language and you just kind of you kind of lost me because you've corrupted your speech, because it's not coming from a paced place.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: Like I said before, gentleness and respect is just coming from a place of judgment, right?
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: So let your speech always be gracious.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: So y'all think about what you're saying.
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: Think about what you're saying and when it talks about, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: We're not a monolith, so each of us have our own experiences.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: But if you come to a believer, maybe that person looks like me and your assumption is to speak to me the same way.
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: You're all the same.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: So I'm going to speak to y'all the same way.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: You lost me.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: You're no longer an effective witness, you're judgmental.
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: So think about letting your speech be gracious, seasoned with salt, so you know how to answer each person.
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: All right, all right.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: So I got a couple more when it comes to God's witness that I want to share, and this next one is coming from Matthew 5.16.
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: Like I said, these are too short for me to show you the screen y'all, so I'm just going to keep dropping them in the chat and then I'll raise them up so you can see it.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: So Matthew 5, verse 16, says in the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: This is so important.
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: So we're in a culture now where people do good, but they do good on camera, or they do good and they take a picture so they can tell everybody about all the stuff that they've done, so that they can get credit for it.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: And in that case, you're not witnessing Jesus, you're witnessing yourself.
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: Right, it's a look at me.
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: We're in the look at me culture.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: So when you're witnessing, it's thinking about the works that you're doing.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: Are you giving glory to your Father or are you giving glory to yourself?
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: Where is that going?
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: So, letting your light shine before others so that they will see, they'll see your good works, but then are you giving glory to your Father or you're doing it for the likes and clicks, just saying Okay, all right, so I want to do one more under God's witness, and then this one is going to come from Romans 1, verse 16.
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: Romans 1, verse 16.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: Y'all, I'm teaching from love, promise, I'm teaching from love.
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: But this is something that I have to learn for myself, because I want to be an effective witness of God.
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: I don't want to just be on these streets just saying whatever and giving myself glory.
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: Okay, I don't.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: So Romans 1, verse 16 says for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and to the Greek.
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: So what does that mean?
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: I'm not ashamed.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: I'm not ashamed, meaning if I'm having, if I'm in a conversation with, even with what we call interfaith members like there are organizations that are interfaith, and so again, interfaith meaning you've got Christians, you've got Muslims, you've got a whole lot right, you've got a mix.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: But I'm not ashamed of the gospel.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: I'm not hiding that.
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: I'm a believer.
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: I'm not afraid to say that.
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: That is a part of my witness, right?
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, like I don't.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: I don't hide that at all, ever, because that is literally who I am and is, so is so important to me.
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: So for you, it's not being ashamed of the gospel, it's the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes right, to the Jew first and then, you know, to the Greek, to the Gentiles.
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: All right, so that covered God's witness.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: Now I'm going to talk about God's protection.
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: God's protection is this is very simple, and this is just more of a reminder for those of us as you're going out and you're witnessing and you're, you know you're talking to people about the Lord and all that.
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: And this is just a reminder.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: Psalm 91 is, it's just the, it's just a scripture that really sits with me all the time.
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: I pray Psalm 91 over my family, myself, anything, everyone.
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: That's just our role, psalm 91.
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: So Psalm 91, verses 1 through 2, whoever dwells in the shelter of the most high will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: Just think about that Resting in the shelter of the most high right, you rest in the shadow of the Almighty, I will say of the Lord.
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: So I am not afraid, I have zero fear about talking about how good God is in my life and it really doesn't matter to me whether I'm talking to a Christian or not.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: I have no fear because I'm dwelling in the shelter of the most high.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: I'm resting in the shadow, like I have the Lord's protection.
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: I travel with hosts of angels, y'all.
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: You know what I mean.
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: But when you start really, when you start really leaning into who you are, knowing that I am who I am because of who I am, you're the way that you witness changes.
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: And so it's not about going out and just saying things that are harsh and judgmental and using terms that are political.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: None of that.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: None of that, because you can witness just by showing up.
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: Sometimes it's just me showing up in the room.
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: I tell people listen, I know the glory that I carry.
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: So therefore I can, I can, I can change the environment that I walk into.
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: It has to, it has to change when I walk into it because of the glory that I carry.
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: Why?
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: Because the Holy Spirit is in me.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: That's a part of my witness.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: So I can show up some place and say nothing at all, but by my very presence, because the Holy Spirit is in me.
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: My environment has to change right.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: It has to change In this thing.
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: Again, I know that I'm protected, I know that the Lord is, I know all these things, and so I carry around that part of the protection for myself.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: Okay, now the last part I want to cover is program.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: Alright, program.
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: So.
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: So this is acts.
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna pull it from acts one.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: This is acts one, verse eight I'm gonna get I'm gonna drop it in a chat so y'all have it.
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: I'm just gonna read it out and it says but you will receive let me just pull up here so y'all can see it but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: Now, the thing about acts one that I want to call out here is that I told you before.
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: You know, when I come on, I'm not coming on by myself and, and, quite frankly, when I come on, I've been.
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: I've been on these streets now for more than a year talking about Jesus, but I was, you know, praying on my private Facebook page before I did all this, before he shifted and said go further.
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: Okay, but I'm not doing this on my own might, strength or power and I have zero courage.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: Okay, the fact that the Lord has Chosen this broken and ship vessel to come before his people and tell y'all about how amazing he is is Crazy to me.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: I am the least likely person to ever be what we call a witness on on these streets teaching and and Charing people on and encouraging you, and it was only because I received the power from the Holy Spirit to do this.
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: And it's only because of the Holy Spirit that I'm able to come before you, and it's only because of the Holy Spirit that I can, that can, witness to the ends of the earth, right, and so this is so important.
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: But when I talked about the program part back in the 90s y'all, there used to be a Saying that we used to say back in the 90s Don't, don't age me, I'll be 52 next, next month, okay.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: Back in the 90s we used to say you need to get with the program.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: Okay, you need to get with the program.
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: And I'm with the program.
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: And the program is very, very simple.
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: It's my life itself is a living testimony Of what the Lord has done for me.
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: It doesn't mean that, um, there aren't hard days.
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: I'll tell you something.
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: I slept probably about two or three hours last night.
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: I was really sick this morning, but nothing was going to stop me from coming on here and testifying about how good God is, even in this season.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: Even in this season, when there's health issues, when there's all kinds of you know trials and tribulations, when there's all kinds of stuff going on, nothing can stop me from talking to you about how amazing the Lord is, how wonderful the Holy Spirit is.
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: Nothing will stop me from inspiring and encouraging you to, you know, go a little bit deeper, build a relationship with the Lord, so you can, you can, um, you can experience him for yourself.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: Don't just listen to what I tell you.
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: You know, nothing can stop me from doing that.
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: It is, it is the power of the Holy Spirit that has come upon me and he runs the show and I love it.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: I love it.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: But that is also because I'm aligned to the program, and the program is very simple.
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: I want to tell as many people as possible about the Lord I serve.
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: Why?
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: Because I do believe in my whole heart that this transforms your life.
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: My life is so much better and again, it doesn't mean it's perfect, but it's so much better because of the relationship that I have with Jesus.
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: That's it, that's the program that I'm on.
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: So you got to get with the program.
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: The program is when as many souls as possible and tell people about Jesus, encourage and inspire you to do the same.
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: And I'm a witness.
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: I'm a witness of everything that I'm telling you.
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: I'm sharing it right.
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: I'm having these amazing testimonies and awesome encounters and I'm meeting incredible people and all these things.
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: We're growing and learning together.
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: But even in my witness, my speech is measured.
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: Why?
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: Because I don't want to turn you off.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: If I, if I came on and started judging you and calling you names and making things political, you'd bounce Right.
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: My heart posture is to serve.
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: It's not to condemn you.
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: That's not my job.
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: And if you are someone who is a believer and you're trying to figure out, well, how do I, how do I witness better?
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: Maybe just show up and serve others and others who don't look like you and others who don't speak like you and others who don't have the same you know language as you.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: Maybe you just show up and serve.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: That is the program.
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: That is the program Amen.
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: So that was God's witness protection program.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: I hope this was helpful to y'all.
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: You know the Great Commission in Matthew 28, 18 through 20.
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: And this talks about Jesus coming to them and saying all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I've commanded to you and ends with and surely I am with you always, to the very end of age, and so I can confidently speak about my life with Christ because I have a relationship.
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: Okay, I can confidently inspire you to do this because we're in it together.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: I hope this blesses y'all.
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: We're going to go into prayer, lord.
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: We'll just thank you again for another day, lord, I pray that this will help somebody today who is trying to figure out how they can show up better as a witness, how they can inspire and encourage the people who are around them.
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: Maybe it's on the job, maybe it's in the community, maybe it's in their family, maybe it's themselves.
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: Lord God, to be more bold in you, lord God, and to speak life into other people, not curse, not condemn, not judge, but to speak life into them.
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: Thank you, holy Spirit, as always, for running this call.
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: This is your show, and I'm just thankful for the demonstration of your power.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: Through my words, I pray for everyone who's listening, who's standing in need of something today, lord, god.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: Maybe they're in need of a job, maybe it's a health issue, maybe it's finances, lord, maybe they just need some encouragement for those who are really needing you, lord, god, that you will show up in a different way to them today and that your word will not fall and dry ground.
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: Amen, amen Y'all.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: I hope you love that.
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: Don't forget to like the video y'all so they don't kick us off the YouTube streets.
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: But honestly, I want to make sure that we're getting the information out and we're supporting as many people as we can and just blessing y'all.
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: Please have a good rest of your Thursday and I will be back next week.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: Bye, bye.