Embracing Immanuel — God With Us, Part 2

(0:00 - 0:28) When you rebel, it seems like you're so far off where God wants you to be. But when you repent, you realize, like Jonah did, that fish was actually his underwater Uber ride to get him to where God wanted him all along anyway. So when he repented, he just ended up where he should have been all along. Amen. This is to somebody here. You think you're so far gone. You're not that big and that bad. I'm sorry to break it to you. Welcome to the CityLight Church podcast. (0:28 - 1:03) Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's Word and discover the hope and truth that He has for us. If you want to connect with CityLight Church, feel free to visit us at CityLightNYC.com. That's CityLightNYC.com. Pastor Boyan Jancic and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by His grace, and that He has a real hope and a future for you. (1:06 - 1:20) Welcome to those of you joining us online. Before I continue ministering, can I just ask a small favor? This is just a personal thing. I feel like Moses came and split the church. (1:21 - 2:03) And so, there's this canyon. You see it, right? Right in the middle. And if you're a flexible individual and you're not already married to the seat that you picked, maybe you're like, I didn't pick this seat. It picked me, and I will stay here. But if you're not married to your seat, I'd love it. Yeah. Some people could just fill up that center spot. Otherwise, I have to be like a chameleon that has the eyes on the sides of its head, and then all of you are on the sides. Thank you. Man, wow. Hallelujah. Let's keep drawing on the presence of God. (2:04 - 2:51) We're celebrating Christmas, so Merry Christmas, everybody. We're celebrating Emmanuel, God with us. We're celebrating the incarnation of God being made flesh, dwelling among us. One of Jesus' names is Emmanuel, God with us. And of course, Emmanuel, he provided a way for it to be Emmanuel all the time by going to the cross and dying in place of us, receiving in his body the punishment for sin. Well, that's a great deal. I should be punished for my own sin. Yet Jesus took my punishment on himself, and he did the same for you. And so because of that and his death, burial, and resurrection, the Holy Spirit came. (2:53 - 4:13) The Holy Spirit is available. And to every believer, the Holy Spirit's available all the time, so God is with you. So because of God becoming with us and giving his life for us, now it's Emmanuel all the time. So we're celebrating Christmas and really pursuing the presence of God, because the presence of God is the answer to every single problem that you have. Amen. Hallelujah. The presence of God is everything. The presence of God satisfies you. It causes a divine contentment to percolate out of your spirit. The presence of God delivers you. The presence of God heals you. The presence of God meets every need. How many of you have doubt that if Jesus came to your house, he'd meet every need that you have? Of course he would. He's come to your house. Amen. It's about tapping into his presence. It's important to be a church that doesn't just give lip service to the presence of God but actually hosts the presence of God, pursues the presence of God. I don't want Jesus to be outside the seven golden lampstands of CityLight, knocking, saying, Hey, will you let me in? He should be Emmanuel, God with us all the time. (4:18 - 5:33) That's number one. That is so important. That is why Satan makes it his assignment to attack churches so they put the presence of God on the back burner, because your breakthrough, your promotion, your life's contentment, satisfaction, you receiving your destiny from the Lord and walking in it, it's all contingent on the presence of God. So what does Satan do? He comes in and he makes churches void of the presence, and they get caught up in all the other stuff. Believe me, there's plenty of other stuff. You can just schedule the presence of God right out. There's no waiting in his presence. There's no lingering. God forbid somebody lift their hands. God forbid somebody get a breakthrough. Ushers come and quiet them down right away. You can't be a church and say you're actively pursuing the presence, but you haven't had any laying out of hands in the last six months. Why is laying out of hands so important? The Bible in Hebrews 6 actually says it's a principle doctrine. It's very important. You look at Jesus' ministry. He had a very touchy ministry. He laid hands everywhere he went. The Bible says Joshua was full of the spirit of wisdom because Moses laid hands on him. (5:33 - 5:52) Laying out of hands is a way of transferring the beautiful presence of Jesus. That's why Satan attacks that. That's why it's always so mocked in movies and culture. But the presence of the Lord comes through the laying of hands. One of the ways it comes is the laying out of hands. So every single service, we have a ministry team, there's laying out of hands. (5:53 - 6:04) Hallelujah. That's why we've taken these weeks, and we are going into an extended time of worship. When we come into that worship, we've got to come with our best. (6:05 - 9:36) Remember I taught a few weeks back on the first fruits, and I was talking about how in the book of Malachi… See? Every time. In the book of Malachi, Malachi chapter one, the prophet is rebuking the people because they were bringing their worst animals to give as an offering to the Lord, like they're going to fool God. They have 20 sheep, and they find the blind one with the wobbly ears, with the limp. They're like, I'm going to sacrifice this one to the Lord. What's the big deal? He's going to die anyway. God said, no, I want your best. Well, it's not just about the offering. It's about your worship as well. When you come into God's house, bring your best. You sleepy? Slap yourself. Go use one of our bathrooms. The water is always ice cold. There is no hot water. There's just some… You know, as contemporary of a city New York is, you always have all these buildings. Hot water? Maybe. Sometimes, if you're blessed, if you're most of the time, though, it's like Moldova. My wife has been all over the world. You'd never guess it, but when she was young, she went and spent six months in Moldova, six months in Argentina, six months in Italy. She said she's still traumatized in Moldova. Do any of you know that there is a country called Moldova? Okay. Yeah, right? She's like, I'm traumatized. They had no hot water ever. It was just ice water. Anyway, get that ice water on your face. Whatever you got to do to come passionately to the Lord and bring him your best, because that's how you're going to receive God's best. I'm after your breakthrough. I'm after you receiving all that Jesus has for you. If you come in and you're like, whatever, whatever. I mean, what are you waiting for? God to attack you? Because that's the attitude some people have. To me, if you're going to wake up and come all the way here, why then come with a que sera sera, whatever will be, will be attitude? Come aggressive. Give God your best. My family, they know. The kids. We actually never had to teach them, but you get them to pray. They're not going to pray weak, mamby-pamby prayers. They don't pray like they're bored. Dear Lord, we just want to thank you, because you're just so good. Just is the most often word used in boring prayers. They come to God with passion. There's something alive in them. That's how they're going to tap in. They learned that from me and my wife. I don't care if I'm blessing the broccoli at dinnertime. I'm going to be talking about it and thanking him like I'm, in fact, talking to the God. Amen. It's a release of faith. Why wake up and go through all that and then come in and just like, all right, I'm here. Get what you need to get. It starts in praise and worship. Give him your best. We make it so easy. Even if you don't know anything about anything, all you got to do is read the words. You say, do I have to know how to sing? No, you have me as an example. I have an anti-anointing when it comes to singing. (9:38 - 10:29) Just read the words. You say, well, I try that. It doesn't do anything. Try longer. Keep reading the words. Then as you're reading them, read them to Jesus. Then add your version of some melody and harmony to it. You'll realize, oh, by like the third song, oh, something's here. My heart is coming alive. I'm sensing something. The wind of God is coming. You see he's forming you and making you alive on the inside. All of a sudden, 20 minutes later, you're like, man, that crud that was hanging on me, it's like hooks, nasty, medieval, rusty hooks that were in my back got dislodged. I feel better. I feel stronger. I'm lighter. I'm alive with the Zoe life of God. Hallelujah. Oh, I didn't know what to do. I was worshiping. Boom. (10:29 - 10:39) All of a sudden, the answer crystallized. Where did that come from? I'm so glad you asked. The Holy Ghost. It happens in worship. Amen. But he's not going to attack you. (10:40 - 11:25) Some people are waiting for that. You know why? Because you're not that special. Hallelujah. I'm not that special. No, because people look at the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul got attacked when he was Saul, minding his own business. He actually wasn't minding his own business. He was on his way to kill some Christians, riding a donkey. God attacks him, blasts him off his beast of burden, reveals himself. Now you could argue Paul really was hungry. He said, I was zealous, but in ignorance, but he was very zealous for Yahweh God. And God attacked him with his presence, turned his whole life around. (11:25 - 11:38) In other words, when I say God attacked, God initiated. But you know why he did that? Because Paul's pretty special. But you look at all the other examples in the Bible. (11:39 - 13:36) You never see Jesus running after somebody and saying, please, let me bless you. Can I lay hands on you, please? Just come here for a second. Can I just pray for you real quick? No. They chased after him. In other words, God is a God that must be sought. You do the pursuing, your life will be a miracle, a series of miracles. Hallelujah. There's nothing like when you're living with one foot in the world, because you got it, you're alive, but one foot in heaven, one foot in the supernatural, and you're walking in beat with God's drum. And it's just like a portal of divine goodness is over you. That comes from his presence, but it comes when you pursue him. So when we come together, come early, give your best, open your mouth. That's always a good start, opening your mouth. Don't let the worship team do the worshiping for you. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. And then learn how to cultivate the presence of God. You learn that as you pursue him. He will teach you. One of the best ways, because there's lots of ways to get the anointing into place. You can give the anointing into the place. Sometimes when you give and you give sacrificially the anointing, you can obviously sing to the Lord and worship the anointing upon you. You can read the word of God and the anointing comes upon you. Lots of ways. But if you were to ask me, what's the best way to become susceptible to the Holy Ghost? To like open myself up so that I'm tapping into God's presence all the time. (13:37 - 14:20) I personally would say soaking in God's presence. Soaking, also known as waiting on the Lord. Also known as meditative prayer, aka contemplative prayer, aka sitting at his feet and hearing his word. You get what I'm saying? I'm using a lot of synonyms describing the same thing. You know how many blessings are promised to the person who'll wait on the Lord? And yet your typical Christian doesn't even know what wait means. Like how do you wait on the Lord? Somebody's like, I've been waiting for the Lord for six years. (14:21 - 14:49) When is he coming? It's not wait like you wait for the F train. Waiting on the Lord. One of the root words of that word wait is tassel. You see how Jews, they have those tassels coming up. They have tassels as a reminder. It means to intertwine like two cords. And it's hard to even put into words. That's why you have a tassel to remind you what it is. It's hard, but when you've experienced it, you know exactly what it means. (14:50 - 16:03) When you're just not speaking and you're waiting on the Lord and it's like your spirit is being intertwined in his, in his, in yours, and he's right there. And now you're waiting on the Lord. That is a powerful thing. That's why it's so uncomfortable because it's so powerful. It's excruciating at first, right? No, we just got people who wait on the Lord three, four hours a day, every day. God bless you. One day I'll be like you. But for me, I find it's painful when I haven't waited on the Lord. You know why it's painful? Because you're used to doing stuff. And when you wait on the Lord, you're doing nothing. You're not even speaking. You say, man, I want to talk. Shh, don't talk. Just wait. Just soak. Aaron's rod budded when he threw it down on the floor. And it just budded and produced life when it was doing nothing and laying still on the floor. The Bible says he gives his beloved gifts when they sleep, when they're in rest, when you see everything about you and me as humans, we want to do stuff. (16:03 - 16:26) We want to perform. We want to always be doing, doing, doing, and there's good doing, but sometimes you got to not do anything. So God can be God. And you can just be a human being and be, and stop with the doing. And that's actually very painful and excruciating for people always was. I find that's compounded and multiplied and amplified today because we have telephones. (16:27 - 18:06) So we're used to an injection of dopamine every 60 seconds of our life. So the thought of actually being still in God's presence longer than 60 seconds is excruciating, terrifying even, but that's where the breakthrough is because in that place of stillness, right? So many things happen. Satan tells you, you're a fool. You're like, my mind is wandering. Does God even appreciate this? I mean, I'm not even feeling anything. I know you're not, but just keep doing it. Keep doing it no matter what you feel. And your mind wanders. It's all right. Have it wander back. Take a mind, come here and bring it right back. And just think of Jesus and just worship Jesus. Don't even talk. Just like make your heart like a sponge and receive from him. In the beginning, you might not get anything. You say, how long should I do that for? I don't know. However long. Some of you have never done it. So 30 seconds is a marathon. Do it for 30 seconds. It's like a 500 pound person going, I'm going to get to the gym. How long should I work out for? Just get in the gym, clean up other people's weights they left behind. That's do a minute. It'll be a marathon for you. Then the next day do two. And you will see your spirit begin to open up and the presence of God will increase on you. And I believe God set this up because it's so counterintuitive. (18:07 - 18:34) It's like, what do I got to do to increase in the anointing, the precious anointing, the supernatural anointing? Surely I got to, how about a 40 day fast? How about I got to evangelize the subways three hours a day? I'm going to, I'm going to read 20 chapters of the Bible. All those things are great, but he set it up in this weird way where all you got to do is be. Remember when Martha was all busy doing, was she doing bad things? No, she was doing great things. (18:35 - 19:44) Cleaning up, fixing meals, nice Jewish meals. You know, good Jewish woman can't leave you hungry. Making that matzo ball soup. Excuse me, that was Martha. Mary, she's just sitting at Jesus' feet doing nothing. So much so that Martha's like, hey Jesus, are you going to rebuke my sister? The lazy bones. I'm not doing a thing. I'm here cooking up a storm. And Jesus actually rebukes the busy Martha. Says, Martha, Martha, you're just so worried about so many things. Mary has chosen the better part. The primary part. The first thing. To sit at my feet and what? Do a bunch of stuff? No. To receive. To sit at my feet and hear my word. And it really is counterintuitive. It comes against our human pride where we want to achieve and perform and do things for God. And he's saying, I'm teaching you that when you just be in me, just rest in me, I will do the work for you. Hallelujah. You should see my Sunday mornings. (19:45 - 20:41) I wake up early. This morning I woke up at three. What do you think I do? I mean, you think if you like snuck up on me, I'd be in my office going, ah, devil, and I bind you. Hey, I rebuke you. And I bless you. No, I'm actually, it looks so boring. I'm sitting in my chair in my home office. It's like that, but I'm getting full, getting fed. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. See, I pray God comes. I call it a can opener anointing where he comes and he, and he opens every person. And it's like when that lid pops and you're open to the presence of God. And he do that in your life. And that's what these meetings are about and have been about. (20:41 - 21:25) And that's what really CityLight is about. His presence. Of course, the baptism in the Holy Spirit helps tremendously. That's the doorway to the supernatural. I guess there's an assumption here, Tiffany. I'm assuming that people actually want the presence of God. That's just silly me. Of course that is most people, but what, and I wouldn't have it any other way. We're not an inbred church where it's the same people every single Sunday. Thank God we get guests. We get people searching and seeking. And so some people just don't even know what I'm talking about. (21:25 - 22:25) They think I'm about to give the announcements, wondering when the real pastor is going to come up. I don't know. You know, who's this guy? This guy's coming up like rainbow bright, talking about this, talking about that. When does the old guy come a real serious, like and point his index finger at me. I'm just assuming, you know, to value the presence of God. And the presence of God, good. It could buy the glory has departed bad. Thank you, Jesus. The baptism, the Holy Spirit, and because we have so many people and people get saved and people come and go, and there's still people who don't even know what it is, even though we talk about it pretty often. And I got books about it. It's the first thing you see at the hospitality table and they're free yet. Still, I'll ask people, Hey, have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit? I'll get all sorts of answers like, yeah, you baptized me last September. (22:26 - 22:42) No, that's baptism in water. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is you're not immersed in water. You're immersed in the Holy Spirit. You're filled with the Holy Spirit. And then there is this evidence, this manifestation. You start speaking a language you never were never, ever taught. (22:42 - 22:58) You never, ever heard. You mean like speaking in tongues? Exactly like speaking in tongues. Yeah, you'll speak in tongues. It's powerful. Life changing. Oh, I don't know about that. (22:58 - 24:46) Once you read some booklets, hallelujah. It'll change you and it'll open you up to the supernatural. Otherwise, you're just going to live in this natural world. And all you know is, is what you can touch, what you can see, and you won't be able to what God figure out what God is doing behind the scenes. When you're filled with the Holy Spirit, now the door opens wide. And that's when, you know, Jesus said, the Holy Spirit will tell you things to come. He will lead you around what he'll show you what's around the corner and the next bend, and he will lead and guide you through life. So if what I just said is brand new to you, and you're like, I mean, I kind of heard about that, but not really. You can get filled with the Holy Spirit anytime after service. We have a whole ministry team. Also, you can do it alone. But I recommend you start off with some people because they're going to help you. We say, what are they going to help me with? They're going to help you get past you and all the doubts that come up, and they'll just help you be filled with the Holy Spirit. Read the two booklets first. Remember the matrix? There's a blue pill and a red pill. One is a blue color. See, I was wondering, why did Neo take both pills? I would have taken both pills. Take the red booklet, the blue booklet. They're like a 15-minute read each. Read them both. Then read them again. Then don't just wait. Pursue the Lord and watch what he does. Hallelujah. God is so good. His presence is life to me. I was with a group of friends, and this question came up amongst a bunch of other random questions. (24:46 - 25:49) The question was, how many times have you been under general anesthesia? Most people were like, well, never. One guy was like, yeah, it was once. Someone else was like, yeah, once. Another guy, twice. Most never. I said, well, I've been under over 30 times. They thought I was confused. They said, well, no, that's local. I'm talking about general. I'm like, what do you think I'm talking about? When the dentist stuck me in the mouth? No, general. You're completely out. Each time you feel like you're dying, count backwards. Ten, nine, eight. Over 30 times. Then I told them my testimony. I said, I fell into a deep, deep catatonic depression twice. I used to not know what depression was. I thought it just meant someone is sad. They got a bad case of the Mondays, the blues. I'd say something stupid like, oh, go on your way. Rejoice by choice. (25:49 - 25:57) Huh? You can't rejoice by choice. Depression isn't you feel sad. Depression is you feel nothing. (25:59 - 26:22) I felt nothing other than paralyzing anxiety. You say, well, I must have been going through a rough time. No. Everything was awesome. My wife was awesome. Kids awesome. Church awesome. Life awesome. At the end of the day, we live in these jars of clay. (26:25 - 26:54) The Bible says we're earthen vessels, jars of clay. We're flesh and a whole lot of chemicals. One of those chemicals goes off and I'm in the corner in the fetal position going, ministry, ministry, ministry. I couldn't do anything. This might be TMI, but I would have to use the restroom. I'm like, oh, I got to walk from here to the bathroom. (26:59 - 28:03) Everything in my life is great. I'm praying. Of course, all my pastor friends, they want to rebuke the demons. Yes, I understand demons can cause that, but a lot of times it's not demonic. It's just what you're living in this world. You get a flu, you don't rebuke demons. How can you get a depression that's immediately demonic? Sure, they can come in afterwards and lean in on that. Anyway, I ended up in the mental hospital where they greeted me by taking away my shoelaces and my belt. My wife teased me. I had this whole new lingo. She was like, why do you got all this stubble? I was like, well, they have a no sharps policy. She's like, sharps? Yeah, no sharps. You got all this mental hospital lingo. I love sharing this story because whenever I do, I always get a bunch of testimonies like, oh, thank you. People I would never expect saying, I was going through something. Thanks for sharing that. But that's not the main reason I love sharing it. That's the secondary reason. (28:03 - 28:33) The primary reason I love sharing it is because it cleanses the church a little bit. Some people are like, I don't know. He was in the mental hospital twice. I don't think I can handle a pastor like that. I'm out of here. But there is an upside because if anybody tells you your pastor is crazy, you can say, no, he's not. He's got the paperwork to prove it. He's certified 100% mentally healthy now. He'll show you the bills. (28:34 - 29:18) How do you get great insurance and still owe 30 grand? But that's a whole other story. So I had to have ECT treatments. That's electroconvulsive therapy. Because I was in this catatonic state, I mean, I realized I wouldn't move. I was sleeping 15 hours a day. And this lasted for months. They had to pass an electric current multiple times, over 30 times through my brain, each time putting me under anesthesia to wake up parts of my brain that had fallen asleep. The first time that happened, it happened because I was overly medicated. You got to be careful with all the stuff you put in your body. (29:21 - 30:33) And then I got back home. It's wonderful. It woke up certain parts of my brain. You still feel all sorts of wonkiness, but it erases whole swaths of your life you can't remember. So I forgot how to drive to church. I'm not kidding. I had to put in Google Maps how to get back to church. I couldn't have done it on my own. A very vivid memory is stepping into my home shower for the first time and being absolutely confused by all the potions and lotions that are in the shower caddy in the corner. I was like mesmerized. What is all this? Why would anybody need all this stuff? Oh, yeah, I'm married. But really, I looked at the stuff and I'm like, I know I have a shower routine. Everybody have a shower routine or is it different each time? You got a routine, right? I forgot the routine. I think I'll start with the hair shampoo. Oh, my daughter's here hearing this story. Oh, I didn't expect to share this with you until you were about 15. But oh, well, now you know. You should be in City Kids and here you are. (30:33 - 32:54) Okay. Wait till you hear about daddy's exes that live in Texas. No. I wish you could see her. She's having the time of her life here. What's she eating? Popcorn. She's sitting crisscross applesauce, smiling like the Kool-Aid pitcher eating popcorn. I'm sharing this because I thought the kids would never have a dad again. I definitely thought I would never ever minister again. I've memorized hundreds of Scriptures throughout the decades. I forgot them all. The first time preaching, Pastor Mo was like a rock during that time. Like a rock. He would always encourage me, not overtly, but encourage. Then I would go to preach. I mean, sermon? It's all scrambled eggs upstairs. Forgot every Scripture. Yet I'd come in and the anointing would come. That's why many of you didn't even know it. And the presence of God changes everything. Hallelujah. And there is no pit too deep. I'm telling you. And that's why I actually don't mind. I know this could be potentially an embarrassing testimony. Somebody could take it from online. Just isolate that. Just isolate the clip. I was in a mental hospital. I was in a mental hospital. And then the voice goes, is this who you want to be your pastor? Look at the colors in his sweater. See the unstable things he is sharing. Not a healthy man. I don't care if it'll benefit one person. And the point is, it doesn't matter how low you fall. God is a restorer. He's a redeemer. And he really does pay you back. He pays you back. He gives you double for your trouble. Hallelujah. You need to know that, that you can temporarily even swerve off God's path. (32:54 - 33:58) You know he has a plan for you, right? He has a purpose. He has a destiny. Sometimes you swerve off that path. And it's nothing for God to bring you back. In fact, a lot of times people who swerved off the path don't want to come back to God because they think it'll be an agonizing and excruciating process to come back to the Lord. And over time, plug back in to the path that he set before you. It's actually as quick as you want it to be. You want proof? Jonah. Jonah was so... I want to be like this one day. He was so confident in the anointing on his life and his preaching that he didn't like these people in Nineveh. And God said, go preach to them. And Jonah actually said, no, because if I preach to them, they'll repent. And I don't like them. I don't want them to repent. That'd be amazing. I want to get to that level where if I don't like somebody, I'm like, don't come next Sunday. I'm preaching on prosperity and everybody who hears it, their whole financial life is going to change around. And I don't want you there. (33:58 - 34:07) I don't like you. First time guest, that's a joke. I actually like everyone here. (34:09 - 35:07) I'm actually very blessed to like the people that I pastor. Amen. Hallelujah. So listen to this. Jonah, he rebels against the plan of God as many of us have. And of course, judgment comes and he's swallowed by a great fish. He ends up in the belly of a whale, which I won't get into all that, but you know, on the surface, it sounds like a children's story. Like he was swallowed by a whale. The Bible says that it was a great fish. And it actually, the Hebrew word, you could look this up. In the English, it says, God caused a great fish to swallow Jonah. It actually means that God created a great fish. So people who speculate, oh, was it Shamu or was it a great white or what kind of a fish? You know, was it really crowded? God could have created a fish, the size of the Titanic. It was one singular fish. God caused the fish. And when his job was done, God said, come back to heaven. We got seas up here. Amen. (35:09 - 37:48) So he gets swallowed by this great fish and he has this great prayer. You should even pray over your life because he prays it as though it was already answered. Learn how to pray prayers that sound like they were already answered. In the prayer, while he's in the fish's belly, he said, I cried out to the Lord and he heard me. He didn't hear him yet, but he said it by faith. And he said, you know, he's lamenting, he's going, seaweed is wrapped around my head. I remember thinking that's what happens when you rebel against God. You're made into sushi. Seaweed wrapped around my head. And he cries out to God, repents. And the great fish spits him, spits him right out onto the beaches of Nineveh. Now, isn't that something? Didn't spit him out like 50 miles away. In other words, when you rebel, it seems like you're so far off where God wants you to be. But when you repent, you realize like Jonah did, fish was actually his underwater Uber ride to get him to where God wanted him all along anyway. So when he repented, he just, he just ended up where he should have been all along. Amen. This is to somebody here. You think you're so far gone. You think that you're so powerful, you messed up God's plans and purposes and destiny over your life. You're not that big and that bad. I'm sorry to break it to you. You're not that bad. You think you are, but you're not who's bad. Not you. You're not that bad. You're not badder than God. When you fall to your knees and repent, he brings you to where you need to be. Hallelujah. Let's read from the word Psalm 16. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Jesus move on your people. I want you to just, on the inside, expect the supernatural. Expect it. The interruptions of God, the surprises of God, you know what word is all peppered throughout the gospels and the book of Acts, the word suddenly, suddenly, suddenly, that's how God comes suddenly. He changes everything around. (37:49 - 38:58) If you haven't had a suddenly in a while, I venture to say it's because you're not expecting a suddenly. Satan loves to whisper to you, you know, you're just a dull person with a dull life and all you'll have is dullness. I've heard that voice many times. You reject that voice. Don't partner with that voice. You know, Lord, I trust you for your suddenly and then God will come with suddenly. Hallelujah. Psalm 16. Preserve me, O God, for in you I put my trust. Oh my soul. You see, David, he spoke to his soul. He spoke to it like it was outside of him. Your soul is your mind, your will, and your emotions, but it's not the real you. It's just a part of you. The real you is your spirit man. You know, he would command his soul. Bless the Lord. What are you doing whining and complaining? Soul? Stop being such a silly soul. Be a smart soul. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Here he's saying, O my soul, you have said to the Lord, you are my Lord. (38:58 - 39:42) My goodness is nothing apart from you. We all know that, don't we? We have no goodness of our own. All our righteousness is as a filthy rag. We have nothing, nothing good apart from Jesus. As for the saints who are on the earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight. That's the psalmist taking pleasure in the people of God. Amen. That's a good thing to do. I'm glad that I really, really like the people of CityLight. And thank you for being so easily likable. No, really, there's pastors. I've heard, this is a pastor joke. They're like, pastoring is great. If it weren't for the people. But that must stink to live like that. (39:43 - 41:11) In fact, when I wanted to get encouraged by older pastors about being a pastor, I'd ask them, so what it's like? And I would nine out of 10 times always hear the most sad, depressing stories. One of them was like, be careful of sheep because sheep bite. I'm 21 years old. Tell me something positive. Launch me into my future, man. Sheep bite. All right. I mean, they're not wolves. They're not lions. They bite. It's more gum than teeth. Some of them get confused. You're feeding them and they get a little of the thumb. It's all right. You guys make it easy. You're the kind of… Christians are awesome people when it's baked in the Holy Spirit. You guys are the kind of people that a few weeks back, we can take a spontaneous two-minute offering to help with an adoption. And how much came in? $18,000 comes in. That's who you are. Amen. You're the kind of Christians that when it's… I'm not going to call what happened a few weeks back a snowstorm, but when it's snowing, but most churches were shut down, you come in. Amen. Hallelujah. And you're very kind. Yeah. I'm always getting reports of kindnesses and ministering and looking out for one another. Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another God. (41:11 - 41:26) Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer nor take up their names on my lips. Oh Lord, you, you, the presence of God. Oh Lord, you are the portion of my inheritance and my cup. (41:27 - 42:12) You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. What does that mean? The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Yes, I have a good inheritance. That's actually a real estate land term. He's saying your allotment, the boundaries that you've drawn for me, I receive them, I accept them, and I'm thankful for them. He's saying my allotment is good. Do you know every single one of us has an allotment? Because you know, we're fond of saying things like, hey there Skip, you can be whatever you want to be if you'll just look to the stars. That's not really true. (42:16 - 43:18) You can't be whatever you want to be. You can be what the Lord promised you you'd be and put inside you to be. Amen. I understand the motivational aspect of it, but that's why there's a lot of miserable people still trying to be something that God never created them to be. Hallelujah. You know how many back in the day, would you believe that like 80%, I'm not exaggerating, back in 2007, 2006, 2000, because we only had a church in the East Village. So over 80% of CityLight Church was actors and actresses. And most of them terribly, terribly frustrated. Terribly because although they were actors and actresses, they were tired of waiting tables, 60 hours a week. And some, you know, one said, God showed me I'm going to get an Oscar. You know, what do you say when someone says that? Okay. Then she became a mother, never happier. (43:20 - 43:23) That's it. That's all I got to say. Lesson in there somewhere. (43:24 - 43:41) I was thinking of one example, but because somebody told her, you can be, you can do it. Shoot for the stars. And she was miserable. And when I say she, I'm actually thinking of like six different people rolled into one. This was over and over. One became a teacher, so happy. (43:42 - 45:16) Got married, became parents. It wasn't for them. And there's a contentment when they realize, oh, this is who I was made to be. Amen. And it's also wisdom to figure out why on earth you're here for. What has God created you for? Say, how do I do that? I'm so glad you asked. Let's rewind the sermon 30 minutes because your answer is there. Waiting on the Lord. You got to spend time in his presence so he can lead you and guide you. None of what I'm doing today was like a good idea that I had. God came to me. I was six. You remember that, mom? What was I raised to be all of my life? Every time I did it, every time I put the mic. Are you sure? Are you sure you're my mother? Okay. I know I'm turning 50 in a few weeks, but this wasn't that long ago. You and dad pumped me with that all the time. You were a classic immigrant. You doctor yet? Come back when you doctor. I know I did the accent. It's funny. Huh? No, nothing. I thought you, I thought you were saying something. And then I come to you, I become a Christian at that crazy church out in Brooklyn. And two weeks later, I'm telling you, I want to be a pastor. Did you like that? Of course you didn't. There wasn't a Christian mom and dad. They thought I'd lost my mind. (45:17 - 46:16) And guess what? There is no pathway to being a pastor. You don't go to pastor school. There's no one who's not going to give you the keys to a church. Oh, you got your degree here. Have a church. There's no, you know, Apostle Oprah. You get a church and you get a church and everybody gets a church. So I have the calling. It's in my spirit. How do I do this thing? How do I fulfill it? There's no track. There's no… And every pastor I shared it with, they would just go, awesome. Praise the Lord. And I'm like, that's it? See, I wanted a Mr. Miyagi to come along. I needed a mentor. I needed an Obi Wan to my Luke to show me. I'm lost. I'm 22 years old. I'm about to graduate college, totally secular. How do I become a pastor? Obi never came. Mr. Miyagi was too busy trimming the bonsais and catching the flies with the chopsticks. Never came. (46:17 - 47:10) Who came? The Holy Ghost came. He will teach you. You're at point A and God is showing you point B. The only problem is there's like a hundred little steps from A to B, right? Everybody knows what I'm talking about. How do you cross that great divide from A to B? Being in his presence, listening in your spirit, and doing whatever he puts in your spirit to do. And some of the stuff I was taught to do was crazy. When I say crazy, don't get too carried away. I just mean not conventional, illogical, weird and abnormal. Yet you learn how to depend on the Lord and he leads you and guides you. I can honestly say there's nothing I would change about my life. (47:11 - 48:51) Nothing. I'm so grateful, so blessed. Hallelujah. He will lead you and guide you. His presence will teach you and take you step by step. So why aren't so many people living in what the Bible calls their wealthy place? Kenneth Hagin wrote a whole book about it. Read it. You're frustrated where you are? Read Plans, Purposes and Pursuits by Kenneth Hagin. A true prophet of God. And the Lord appeared to him and he showed him. He said, I'm taking you into your fourth and final stage of ministry. And Kenneth Hagin said, there were three other phases? And the Lord showed him three previous distinct phases of his ministry and he's now entering into his fourth. And he said, many of my ministers never ever leave the first phase. And the whole theme of the book, he teaches in that book how to hear from God. He teaches how to be led by God. But he explains that many people never leave the first phase because they don't seek the Lord. See, right now I'm actually as content as I am. Thank God. God gave me enough wisdom to know I'm actually in a dangerous place because many pastors fall asleep in their fifties, especially when you're as happy as me. See, look, the reality is some pastors are incredibly, incredibly insecure. They don't know they're loved in the Lord. They really don't. You think that they would, but they don't know. And so they're always trying to achieve. (48:51 - 49:59) They're trying to win God's love, win God's approval. And they'll work 18 hours a day. They'll do so much, all hoping to get a pat on the head from the Lord, not knowing that he already gives his pat for free anytime they'll receive them. So I understand there's also a danger. I'm ministering to some people who are older and you're like, well, this, you know, I kind of missed it if I didn't do this in my twenties. It's never too late. I'm at a place now where I'm seeking the Lord, Lord. And now I'm at point D, how do I get to E? You know, E is us having our own building. E is us multiplying by about three, 400%. And how to do that and still have contented staff who can raise families, because my staff is blessed. Amen. Yeah. No, really that's important. You check the staff. You know how you know the health of a church? Check the employees, check the staff. Usually the pastor is great because he's got like six assistants. Somebody's massaging his feet in the back room, carrying his Bible for him. And the staff are like miserable. (49:59 - 50:30) They're totally pale, giant bags underneath their eyes. They're working 60 hours a week. Oh, you know, you got to work for Jesus. You got to do it for the Lord. And the burnout rate is so quick. No, I don't believe that's healthy. Amen. So I'm seeking the Lord afresh. Will you join me? I'm excited about the potential of 2026. Anything can happen. Hallelujah. I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel. (50:32 - 51:45) He's talking about the allotment that God has given him. He's talking about the presence of God, and he's linking it to the voice of God, the leading of the Holy Spirit. I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel. If you ever feel like saying, I don't know what the Lord wants, say this instead. Someone asks you, what are you going to do? Don't say, I don't know what I'm going to do. Say, I'll bless the Lord who's given me counsel. And then he goes even further, my heart. What does heart mean? Call it louder. Wait, you were in the first service. Louder. It's a good answer, but… Somebody in the back, what's your heart? Your organ? No, but these are important things, right? You can't just lump it all together, heart, soul. People do that all the time. They quote Jesus wrong. Jesus said, love the Lord your God with all that stuff, the heart, mind, soul, spirit. Throw in one other esoteric thing in there. They actually all mean something. Your heart is your spirit. How do you hear God in your spirit? He's saying, my heart instructs me in the night seasons. (51:45 - 52:40) That could mean literally when he's sleeping, also during the dark times when you don't know what to do. Where does instruction come from? Counsel is good. That's all fine and dandy, but God will instruct you in the night seasons. Hallelujah. He will lead you in the way that you should go. He will whisper to you what to do next. And that's why it's so important to start developing those spiritual senses quickly so that you don't try to develop them when you're already in a dark season. Amen. Learn how to hear God. If you're having a great time right now, you're not going through a tough time. Perfect. Learn now. Hallelujah. I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand. See the intimacy there? The Lord is at my right hand. (52:41 - 53:20) I shall not be moved. Don't say, I don't know if the Lord's with me. Say, the Lord is at my right hand. Oh, how are you so arrogant to say that? Well, I'm not. He said that. He said, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. Therefore, my heart is glad and my glory rejoices. Worship team, come on up. My flesh also will rest in hope for you will not leave my soul and shield, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. Now, just stay that one verse. This was obviously talking about Jesus as well, and it's quoted in Acts. But none of these prophetic verses have only one application. (53:20 - 54:34) They have a two-way application. One is this applies to the Messiah, to Jesus. God promised, I won't allow you, you know, because Jesus was in that sense, he became sin and he became a curse. The Bible says that Jesus became a curse on the cross so you could become blessed. But the promise was you won't leave his soul and shield, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. But the other application is for you, not just for the Messiah, for you, that God will protect you. He will preserve you. When I was going through it, my head was saying, you're cooked, you're done, you're toast, you're finished. There's no coming. Can anybody relate to me? I wish I could just make you feel what I felt. You just completely just stick a fork in me, I'm done. That's why when I get to heaven, he's going to say, well done, though good, because I'm well done. But he won't leave your soul in the place of the dead and he won't allow you to see corruption. Verse 11, you will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. (54:34 - 54:42) Shout this out loud. Lord, you will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. (54:45 - 55:53) At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Now shout a big hallelujah. Hallelujah. I pray you have a blessed, blessed Christmas, that it's sopping wet with the presence of God. I pray that you would become more and more open to his presence, that you would go on adventures in God. Yeah. And may 2026 be a tremendous year for you personally, for the whole church, and that we increase in the glory. Hallelujah. More testimonies, more miracles, more life transformations, more people getting blessed and promoted. And that's what pushes God's buttons. He's awesome. Hallelujah. Well, let's honor the Lord and worship him with our tithes and offerings. Amen. I want to just draw your attention to the First Fruits campaign. That's separate from our tithes and offerings. That's just a way for you to specifically give before it's even 2026. (55:53 - 58:34) You're giving the first, which is the best, and it's important. Our goal is 100,000. We just started this after Thanksgiving, right? Or right before Thanksgiving, we're already at 77%. So, this is what I ask, because it would be nice if we just got the whole 100% plus before January 1. So, just ask the Lord what he'd have you give. That's all I have to do. I don't have to play the games. I don't have to be like, there's a woman here and you forgot how you raised your child, but the Lord is telling you to give $100,000 right now. There's a woman here right now, you need to give $100,000. I can just ask you to ask the Lord, what does he want you to give? Amen. And then of course, the giving information. Hallelujah. You remember some of the churches I took you to? When we first got saved and I led my mom to the Lord, they had this meeting, the who's who in the charismatic zoo at the Javits. This is early nineties. You would know what kind of meetings if I said the names, but Christianity was wild back then. Everybody in a 17 piece suit, pompadours. And why did they insist on always having plants on the altars? It's like you weren't having church unless you had a jungle behind you. All plants decorating at the Javits. And then it would be like a 45 minute offering teaching, which I don't mind a two hour offering teaching when it's pure. I'll take a six hour. I love offering messages when they're from the word and there's no manipulation or hype or guilt. And it's amazing really, if you don't believe in God, you're silly because the fact that Christianity survived through all of that is a miracle. You have to believe in God. The fact that I can take my mom who was saved like five minutes and take her to one of those meetings and she'd have to sit through that and then still believe in the Lord and serve him is a miracle. Hallelujah. Yeah. So give with a glad heart. Heavenly father, pour out on your people. Thank you that nothing is too difficult for you. Thank you that you bless both the sower and the seed giver. You multiply back to them. (58:35 - 59:22) Thank you for Holy Ghost surprises, Lord, and just like provoke some people. Through Jesus, you told to Peter, you said to Peter, I prayed for you that your faith fail not. I pray for them, Lord, that their faith fail not. They'd be open to the surprises of God in Jesus name. Amen. Hallelujah. Ministry team, if you would go on to that Christmassy lit area. And if you want ministry by the laying out of hands, maybe you're intrigued by this baptism in the Holy Spirit thing I mentioned. I highly recommend it. Jesus, he went further than me. Of course, he commanded it. He didn't say, I really recommend you go to Jerusalem and wait. (59:22 - 1:00:24) He said, go to Jerusalem and wait until you're endued with power from on high. He told them wait because the Holy Spirit wasn't given yet. You don't even have to wait. He's waiting for you. Amen. And I encourage you to just stay with one more song. If you got to run, run, but let's sing one more song. And may the Holy Spirit increase upon your life. Merry Christmas, everybody. Be blessed. This is the CityLight Church podcast. If you've missed any part of today's message, or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Jancic and CityLight Church, visit us at citylightnyc.com. That's citylightnyc.com. Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime. We would love to connect with you. We pray that you have been encouraged today, that you have been reminded how much God loves you and that you are surrounded by grace. Thank you for listening. Make sure that you subscribe to CityLight Church podcast, wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide.