Living an Anointed Life

Good to see you in the house of the Lord. Are you thankful? Are you ready? Are you ready to receive today? Amen.

Amen. So glad you're here with us. If you're new with us today, we are. Can y'all give a hand clap for all the people that are new with us today? If you're, if you're, I'd love to meet you right after service outside.

Make sure you break through the people, the regulars. They can, you can just push them out of the way. They get to see me all the time, and I would love to get to meet you. And we do have a connect, what we call a connection card that we would love to minister to you in any way, whether you're new, whether you've been with us for a while. There's prayer requests there.

There's all kinds of things there to kind of get you connected here. And, and we, we haven't had a, a guest lunch in a while. Some of you are probably wondering. Some of you are, are new to the church and want to take next steps and things like that. And the reason we did, we, we, we put it on hold.

As many of you already know, we are merging with Fountain of Life, a church in, in Elizabeth City. We, one of, a mother church has been our, by our side for, for a few years now. And, and there's a lot going on with that, and we want to make sure we align, all of us align correctly. But here's what I would say. The responsibility of, of the church, or me at least, is to equip the saints for ministry.

Amen? Amen. It's not to do all the ministry, but to equip the saints for ministry. And, and the, the church, the local church is a great way to do that. And I did want to make a, a quick pitch that we do need, last week I think we had a huge influx of toddlers all of a sudden.

I don't know how that happened. It flips back and forth, but man, praise God. Yeah. They had a problem last week, but a good problem, because we got a lot of toddlers running around back there. And, and there is a need for more volunteers.

And, and that's one of our most important ministries. In fact, I would even say it's our most important ministry in the church, is, is to, is to equip those kids to share the gospel with kids. Because if you can get them at a young age, you've got them, right? It won't, it won't leave them. And so Michaela is looking for more volunteers.

In fact, all of our areas, we are looking for more volunteers. And you don't have to wait to go through a guest lunch and next steps to do that. If you feel like you're called and ready to, to be a part of what's getting ready to happen at Salt Church. Ready to step out and step in and, and, and not just be somebody on the sidelines. But being all engaged in what God's going to do here at Salt Church.

We would love for you to step in and step out. And the easiest way to do that is just let us know either on that blue card or connect with somebody in the next steps area and say, Hey, I'm ready. I'm ready to get involved. What's the next step to do that? And we'll get you, we'll get you along that.

And, and you know, it's an awesome opportunity to be a part of God doing something and being and moving in our church. Don't, don't miss out on what God has for you. You know, he has an anointing on your life. But you got to be willing to step into that anointing. You've got to, he's appointed you and he's anointed you.

And he wants to use you today for, for amazing things. Okay. Um, uh, so that's what I want to talk about today. I want to talk about anointing. I've got this little, uh, thing of oil up here.

And a lot of you may know about anointing with oil. You've seen people pray over others with anointing oil, or you've seen those who have been ordained in ministry by placing anointing over the heads of those. And for some of you, you're like, what in the world does that even mean? What, what does an anointing even mean? You know, what, what is that all about?

I mean, you, you're like, what's the oil and what's, what, what, what does that have to do with, with anything? Well, my hope is as we look at the Psalms, um, we're coming, we're coming close to the end of the summer, but we've been walking through some Psalms here over the last so many weeks, probably about 10 weeks now, just hitting different Psalms. And I've been kind of focused on my favorite Psalm, Psalm 23, and walking through that. And in Psalm 23, if you have your Bibles and you want to pull those out, or if you don't have your Bible, you have a note page there that you can follow along. You also have, um, uh, if you're on the Bible app, you can look up our church and go to the notes there and follow along for all of you electronic savvy people.

Um, I think everybody today pretty much is that, right? I mean, we don't have anybody. No, there's probably still some paper note takers. Amen. Do I have any paper note takers?

Oh, I think we do have a few of those. Those. I need to get a new iPad because this thing is so big here. Yeah. Yeah.

Um, last week, how many of you enjoyed, uh, Chase last week as he shared a message with us? He did an awesome job and, and I thought it was funny up here at the table. He kept doing this and moving the table around. I've gotten kind of used to it, you know, but he was like, he'd get, he'd get excited. And, and, uh, but anyway, um, let's, uh, let's look at this, uh, Psalm.

It's real simple passage here in Psalm five. It says you prepare a table before the presence of my enemies. We talked about that one week, but you also anoint my head with oil. You anoint my head with oil. God, we need a fresh anointing.

We sang that today, Lord Jesus, you anoint our heads with oil. God, I pray that your spirit would just bless us and just do amazing things in our hearts and lives today as we're equipped to do the ministry that you have called us to in your name. Amen. How many of you want an anointing? How many of you are like, what is an anointing?

All right, let's talk about that. Let me just say this first, that the significance of an anointing depends on the person who gives you that anointing. The, the, the significance of a person who even empowers you to do something or, or gives you the credentials to do something or gives you the title to do something or the piece of paper that says you are able to do this, whether you're an engineer, whether you're, you're a, uh, uh, a leader of some type or, or whatever that mantle is, uh, that business, maybe you're a business person, maybe you're an athlete. I don't know. Um, uh, it would, it wouldn't make sense for me.

And I'm glad Jerry's here today because I can use him. He's sitting right here in the front, my HVAC man that knows everything about HVAC. You, uh, maybe I'm putting his name out there too much. Y'all are going to be up connecting to him with him after church. Can you come to my house and help me?

Because it's that time of year where we have a lot of HVACs going out, but I, I can't walk up to Jerry based on who I am, who knows nothing about HVACs and say, Jerry, you are the greatest HVAC person in the world. Here's your certificate. Here's your, here, here it is. You have the authority. You know what he's going to say?

Who are you? What, what is this going to do for me? Right? How is this going to help me? How is, how is, how is that going to do anything for anybody?

Uh, I, I could walk up to any of you and say, you're, you're the greatest basketball player in the world. Well, or, or a baseball player. And I haven't played baseball since I was in little league when I was a kid. Right? So I don't have the authority to tell you that only based on what I'm empowered to be able to do, what I know that I've built, that I have some kind of track record, can my say or my empowerment do anything.

That's what anointing is. So there's, there's, there's a few different types of ways to anoint. What, what does it mean to be anointing? It, it doesn't mean anything if the person doesn't have some kind of significance. But God, first of all, there's an anointing by God.

And secondly, there's anointing by people. And these are both good things. The anointing by God is when God's Holy Spirit empowers you supernaturally with insight and ability and stamina, authority, protection, or a number of things throughout the Bible. It shows us that he does, that, that we normally couldn't do, that in the power of the Spirit, the Spirit working under an anointing, we are capable and able. That God's anointing is placed on us, giving us the ability to do what we otherwise wouldn't be able to do.

And that's an internal anointing that takes place, that God works in us and through us. And then there's an external anointing. That's the anointing by people. That's why you see oil. That's why you see the placing on the forehead or placing on the head when somebody is anointed for service, which is an outward expression of what God inwardly does through us and in us.

It's much like baptism or communion. There's nothing special about the wine or the grape juice, depending on your church background, but it's emblematic of what God is doing inside of us and through us. Baptism. There's nothing like supernatural necessarily about dipping somebody in water. It's just dipping somebody in water.

But something internally is happening. It's an outward expression of what God has internally done in somebody's life. So is it with an anointing. So when we take olive oil and place it on someone's head, and putting on my teacher hat today, that it means, it's symbolic in the Bible of many things. We see places in the Scripture where it's approval of something, or God's presence in something, or a blessing, or a comfort, or healing.

We see people laying hands on people for healing. We see joy, anointing of joy, where joy just comes through a group of people or a particular person, or there's favor, prosperity, or even most importantly, authority. Authority that God has given someone authority. And in the Old Testament, we see three different type of people that were anointed. We see the priests, and the prophets, and the kings.

In fact, today, we even see kings anointed for service. You know, in England, when the coronation of the king, we see that there is an anointing that takes place. That's still even practiced today. In fact, in the Old Testament, they weren't even allowed to keep olive oil or any type of anointing oil. It was so sacred, you couldn't keep it in your home.

But thank God, in the New Testament, Jesus' death and resurrection tore the veil. So you have access to the king of kings and lord of lords. You have the ability and the authority to work under an anointing and to anoint others. Did you know that? That God has given us the ability to...

And we no longer have to go... Some traditions say you need to go to a priest through mediation between God and you. But the point is, in Jesus Christ, you have full access to him and the kingdom of God. Amen? Praise God for that.

That we can go to Jesus anytime we need it. Anytime we need an anointing. Anytime we need to work and he enables us to do things that we can accomplish on our own. We call this the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. That is the priesthood of the saints.

Meaning that you are a believer. If you are a believer, you are a saint. If you are a believer, you are not just five-fold ministry. It's not just the work of the pastor who has the credentials of the ordination. Guess what?

You've been credentialed in Jesus Christ to do all the works that he has called you to do. That he has created you and made you to be and do. He's given you everything that you need to be able to do that which he's called you to do. Every member is a minister. And when we have people that are hurting and we're failing to touch people's lives in the church, guess what?

You're not practicing under your anointing. You're not working under your anointing. You're not working under your gifting. And we have that all the time in church. I mean, you know, I've been in church my entire life, son of a preacher man.

I'm now a preacher man. And one of the most common things from people that leave a church is, I don't feel like my needs are being met. I don't feel like my needs are being met. Pastor, I don't feel like you're doing it or somebody's doing it. You know why that happens?

It's because people aren't working under anointings. That people aren't operating in their anointing. Anointing can be anything. It doesn't mean that you're up here preaching. It doesn't mean you're teaching or you're prophesying or any of the five-fold ministries.

It doesn't mean that. A calling, it's about working in your calling. In fact, in the Latin and in the Greek, you know, it's to call out or to vocalize. It's a voice. That's what a calling is.

You are called. Everybody who is alive has a calling. Did you know that? And if you're a believer, you've got a special calling. So if you're a nurse, you have a calling on your life.

If you're an athlete, you have a calling on your life. If you're a politician, you have a calling on your life. If you're a banker, if you're an architect, whatever that looks like, you have a calling on your life. But the problem is a lot of people are not happy because they're ignoring the calling of God on their lives. That they're walking without the anointing.

And that's why they're so unhappy because God has created you. You won't be fulfilled unless you are doing that which God has called you to do and anointed you to do. It's not just people doing church stuff, okay? It's more than that. It's walking every day in the Spirit of God, working through you in the anointing.

And what He calls you to do, He wants to anoint you to do it. What He's called you to do, He wants you to be anointed to do that which He's placed you to do. Ephesians 2.10 says it like this in ESV. For we are His workmanship.

That means you are His masterpiece. You were created. Some of you, you don't think you qualify. Some of you are, you know, what can God do through me? He says you are His workmanship.

You are His masterpiece. You are His fine work of art. He sees an art in you. Did you know that? Other people may not see it, but God sees it.

God created you. You are a worksmanship created in Jesus Christ for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. What is that? We should walk in what He created us to be. So why are people so unhappy?

Because they're not walking in the way that God designed them to walk. They're not living out the purpose and in the power and the anointing of what God has given them to do. It's power beyond you to do what God has called you to do. That's really what anointing is. And some of you are like, well, I want some of that.

Guess what? I want some of that too. So we're going to talk about getting some of that today. Because we need to be, I want Salt Church to be a church that's full of anointing. That's full of power.

That's using their gifts in every way. But not just their natural gifts, but supernaturally that God is enabling them to do things way beyond what they're capable of doing. So I want to give you some facts about God's anointing today just to help you through this. First of all, when God appoints you, He anoints you. When God appoints you, He anoints you.

That's my inner Rick Warren there. My wife was picking on that earlier because he has so many little crazy little sayings. When God appoints you, He anoints you. God never gives you anything without giving you what you need to do it. Y'all hear me say that all the time.

He's going to give you everything you need to accomplish that which He's called you to do. He will do it. Anointing comes with appointing. Some of you feel unqualified. Good.

Some of you feel ill-equipped. Good. Some of you feel intimidated. Good. Because if we aren't, we aren't depending on God's anointing.

Because it's not about our qualifying. It's not about our equipping or whatever that is. He will give you the power. He will give you the ability to walk in that anointing. I was telling my team this morning when we were praying before service, I said, I said, you know what, people ask me all the time, after speaking for how many years, are you still nervous, somewhat nervous coming up speaking?

I said, absolutely. Absolutely. Every week there's little butterflies. You know, there's little butterflies. You know, there's little butterflies in there.

I mean, number one, you guys are smart people, so I want to make sure my message is good, and I'm communicating well, but the thing is, I know that I'm teaching the Word of God here, and this is something I don't take lightly, and I'm not qualified. When I look at my past, I'm not qualified. When I look at myself, my inward being, I'm not qualified to do that, but I know that by the anointing of God, when He anoints me, He gives me something, He speaks through me, He enables me to say and do things, and I say and do things that I don't even know what I'm saying and doing sometimes up here, because that's what God does. He anoints us. When He appoints us, He anoints.

When He calls us to preach, He anoints us. When He calls us to serve, He anoints us. When He calls us to speak to someone, maybe you have a conversation with someone, He anoints you to do that. The one who calls you, in 1 Thessalonians 5, 24, in the NIV, the one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. He will do it.

How many of you believe He will do it? I think we've got a lot of churches out here that don't believe He can do it. Don't believe He will do it. They pray like He'll do it, but then they shy away. God will give it to you.

Think about the 12 disciples, man. Y'all know the Great Commission. He goes to them, and He says, you know what? You're going to reach the entire world to the ends of the earth, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Man, there were no phones back then.

There were no FaceTime messages or anything like that. There were no cars. There were no planes. There were none of that stuff. And God and Jesus Christ is telling them that they're going to go to the ends of the earth to preach this gospel.

That's impossible. Especially us, the 12. We weren't qualified. We're not qualified. We're following you, Jesus.

You make us qualified. He says, well, I'm going to go away, and you're going to do it. But how are you going to do that? By the power, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. You will receive power and anointing when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

Amen? Amen? Jerry is anointed. Hallelujah. It was an impossible endeavor, but he would do it.

Which leads me to a second point. God's anointing makes you a better person. Praise God for that. Amen? He makes you so much better.

It transforms and changes you from the inside. Anointing transforms you from the inside. I love in Samuel 10 how he says when he anointed Saul, he says, then Samuel took oil and poured it on Saul's head and said, God has anointed you to be a leader of his people. How? How does he do that?

How does he do that? Well, the next part says that. God's Spirit will come on you in power. Can you all say that together? Father, power.

Dunamis, power. Power will come upon you. And you will speak like a prophet. Meaning, you're not going to speak like Saul. Because Saul can't do it.

But the Holy Spirit can speak through him like a prophet. And you'll be changed into a different person. And after this happens, do whatever you think is best. You know what? That's interesting right there.

Do whatever you think is best. Meaning, you know, just practically operate the way you always do. And guess what? I'm going to give you wisdom. I'm going to give you the ability.

You don't have to wait for an encounter with me every time you do that. Because your power is already operating in. Because you're anointed. You're anointed. To give you what you need to say.

To do whatever you think is best. Because God will be with you. He will be with you. He is walking with you. He is working in you.

He's doing things. And when God anoints your life, it changes you. You are going to be more confident. You are going to be more empowered. You're going to be more calm.

You're going to be more competent. And if you're worried, if you're walking around in worry all the time, then you're not working under an anointing. If you're concerned all the time, and I've been there, when you're worried, you are working out of your anointing. You're doing your own thing. And when you do your own thing, that's what keeps us so anxious and keeps us worried.

Because we're not operating in the anointing of God. But God also makes my tasks easier. He makes my tasks easier. Let me just say this. If you're tired all the time, if you're frustrated all the time, you're not working under an anointing.

If your schedule's always full all the time, and you never feel like you have any room, anything to do, or anywhere to go, guess what? You're working on your own power, in your own power. You're not working under the anointing of God. But the tasks are night and day different when you're working under God's anointing. In Ephesians 3.

16, it says, From His unlimited resources, God will give you mighty inner strength through His Holy Spirit. Unlimited. My resources are limited. My energy's limited. Trust me, I've tried to do it on my own.

My energy is so limited. My knowledge and my talents are limited. But God's isn't. God's is unlimited. It's available to us through His anointing.

So how do you know you don't have God's anointing? You're tired all the time. You're frustrated all the time. You can't do this anymore. Because you're not walking in your anointing and in your purpose.

You're living outside of your purpose. But as Paul said, I can do all things. I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need. I can do all these things. Let me give you some context there.

Paul was going through it. He went through it. He had lots and he had little. He had days where he could eat. There were days he was starving.

There were days he had all the strength in the world and there were other days he didn't have anything. But he says, I can do all these things under the anointing of God. Because God has everything I need and I can do the impossible through Him. He gives me the strength to do that. That's the difference between adrenaline and anointing.

If you're running on adrenaline all the time, you'll have the hype for a while. You can't run on hype. I had a mentor tell me that many years ago in ministry. You can't go on hype every week. You can do it for a little while and it might be great and you'll get things done.

But that hype will run out. You will be tired and you'll be fried and you'll be burnt out because you're working in your own strength. But God is unlimited and He has everything you need. The anointing is unlimited. Can you rely on somebody for the anointing?

Can you rely on resources for the anointing? No, you can't do that. If you put your trust and faith and hope in God to give you all your needs, you're going to come out dry. You're going to be empty every time. If you're looking in your marriage for your spouse to give you every spiritual and emotional and mental need, guess what?

It's not going to happen. If you're looking for a friend or a co-worker to give you all those needs that you need, if you're looking for family members to give you those needs that you've been serving, guess what? They're going to leave you empty because people are people. They will not fulfill you. They are limited with their energy and their time, and a lot of them aren't even working under their anointing.

You need to work under your anointing. You depend on God. Jesus Christ is the anointed one. Did you know that is what Christ means, right? Christ the anointed one.

In Hebrew, it's the Messiah. The Messiah, which is the anointed one. He has all of it and everything. He has all the five-fold offices. He can have everything available for you if you put your faith and hope in Him under His anointing.

Because God doesn't give you an anointing to do the things you want to do, okay? He gives you the anointing to do what He wants you to do. Some of you need to write that down. He doesn't give you an anointing to do whatever you want to do. He gives you the anointing to do what He wants you to do.

You need to walk in your calling while He's called you to do the plan that He has for your life. Not your own anointing. Not your own, you know, commission to get what you want, right? Which leads me to my next point. God's anointing makes the impossible possible.

Because in your own strength, lots of things are impossible. It seems impossible. In life you're going to go through insurmountable problems. We've all faced insurmountable problems in our marriages, in our business, in our health, that insurmountable things. But what did Jesus say?

Jesus said, what is impossible for man is possible for God. Amen? It's completely possible with God. In fact, Ephesians 3.20 says it like this, God's power at work within us, and I pray this all the time, and I love this version, is able to accomplish infinitely more than you could dare, ever dare, to ask or even imagine.

To Him who is able to do abundantly more than we can ask or think, according to the power that is within us. Amen? The power that is within us. You have some power within you. God has placed His Holy Spirit in you and given you the power and the ability to do impossible things.

Why? Because He makes the impossible possible. Because He's powerful. Power is in you, guys. As believers, we walk in power.

Many believers don't do that, don't believe that. Big dreamers, some of you are big dreamers in here maybe. He can bring about the biggest dreams in your life, aligned with His purpose and His plan. Some of you probably don't dream big enough because you don't believe God can do bigger. Big dreams.

How big are you thinking? How big are you dreaming? How big do you think your God is? Dare to ask. Dare to pray for your family.

Dare to pray for your business so that you can be a blessing, or your career, or your education, or those dreams that God has placed in your heart since you were really young, since you first came into the faith, and you believe that God had that on your heart. It's okay to dream. Amen? Man, it's okay to believe as long as you're aligned with God's anointing and God's vision for your life. Believe the impossible.

We tend to believe so little. And then, God anoints my life to bless others. That's my next point. God anoints your life to bless others. So, if we dream big, why are we dreaming big?

Because we want to be a blessing. We want to bless others. You know, when somebody anointed walks into the room, things change. When you walk into your calling, and you walk into a place, and you walk around others, guess what? You're affecting the people around you.

You don't need money. You don't need good looks. I've seen some of them. I won't say that. I won't say that.

I've seen some very, very unfortunate people that have the anointing all over them, and people are just attracted to them because it's the power of God inside of them. Amen? It doesn't take fame or even intelligence. Let's just think about that for a minute. You don't need intelligence.

You don't need fame. You don't need to be liked by everybody. You just need the anointing of God. And when you are a channel of God's power and blessing, everyone is blessed. That's what the church is here for.

We're to be a blessing. We're to be a blessing to this world. We're changing the world by our anointing and walking in our anointing. Grab on and hold on to your anointing and walk in that. Amen?

Don't walk in the devil's anointing. Don't walk in your own anointing. Walk in God's anointing. I mean, look at this. I love Isaiah 61, 1-3.

This is actually the first thing Jesus quotes in his sermon. He says, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Isaiah says that. And he anoints me, what? To bring good news to the suffering and afflicted.

To bring good news to the suffering and afflicted. He has sent me to comfort, what? The broken hearted. Those who are hurting. Those who are broken.

And to announce freedom for the captives. That you walk in freedom and you're bringing freedom to others just through your anointing and by your anointing. And he opens the eyes of the blind. He helps people see things that they don't see about themselves and see about others and see in their calling. And he has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of God's favor to them has come.

It has come. And to tell all who mourn. So many people around us are mourning. We have a world that's mourning. We have a world that's hurting.

A world that's lost. A world that is in darkness. But guess what? The church should be a light to the world. Salt to the earth, right?

We are salt. A little bit of salt goes a long way. Today, Jesus said it. That we are a light to the world. That we make a difference.

To tell all who mourn that God will give beauty for ashes. Hallelujah. Joy instead of mourning. And praise instead of heaviness. He will give praise instead of heaviness.

God has anointed you to help others in pain. And in turn it helps you. Did you know that? Because you're walking your calling. You're walking your anointing.

You're not living in sadness and mourning. You're not living a miserable Christian. Miserable Christians walk outside of anointing. You can walk into the joy and hope of God. And you can lack nothing.

You're empty when you're not walking in God. But when you're walking in His anointing, you are fulfilled and you are blessed. And that's why Jesus quoted that. And man, when they looked at Jesus when He said that, how blasphemous are you, right? Because He understood anointing.

He understood that He was the anointed one. I'm anointed to do this. When Acts 10, 38 says it like this in the ESV, God appointed Jesus of Nazareth, what? With the Holy Spirit and with power. Jesus couldn't even do it without the Holy Spirit and with power.

What makes you think you can do it without the Holy Spirit and with power? You need the Holy Spirit and you need power. Amen? He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. And God, what?

Was with Him. God was with Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the chosen one, the anointed one. Doing good, it makes the world a better place. You were a priest. You were appointed.

You were anointed. Do you believe that? Do you receive that today? Amen. And another point I want to make for every new challenge.

For every new challenge that we face, we need a fresh anointing. You can't live on yesterday's anointing. You can't live on that revival service that you had a year ago or a few months ago. You got all hyped and came out of that like, Whoa, let's take the world. And then two weeks later, you're dead.

You're not doing anything. You're tired again. You're burnt out because you're not praying for a fresh anointing every day. My daughter came back from camp. Whoo!

Hallelujah! Yay! I had an encounter with God. I said, well, you got to let that encounter with God last every day. Because there are days you're not going to be in a revival service.

You're not going to be in a camp meeting service. You're not going to be in a youth camp service. You're not going to be in a ministry service. You're not going to be on Sunday morning every day of every week. Right?

You're not, you know, you may not even be in service next week, you know, because something happens and things happen in life and you can't. And some people live from, I'll tell you, it's a wrong philosophy. I love it that you come here and you get energized and you get equipped and then you go out and then you have a great week and then you come back. And I know people use the term, and I'm going to pick on some of my friends here, that this is their medicine. Praise God.

This is your medicine. Amen. But this can't be your medicine, only medicine. You can't walk because you won't make it. You won't make it if just Sunday mornings.

If you're just living from Sunday morning to Sunday morning, you're not going to make it. You need an anointing every day. You need to pray for a fresh anointing every day. It's daily. You can lose anointing.

Anointing leaks. You need to grab that anointing and hold on to it and pray for it every morning. I've seen great people lose their anointing. I've seen people move in the spirit. I've seen healings.

I've seen power. I've seen salvations. And then over the years, what happens? They start letting it go. They start letting it leak.

They don't walk in it anymore. Pride, gossip, anger, all these things creep into their ministries. Not allowing. And God's anointing, and God's presence to flow through them. You cannot last on the days of the past.

We need anointing every day. Every day. Look what Hosea says in 10-12, and we'll begin to land a plane here. Sow new seeds of righteousness, and you'll reap a fruit of my love. Sow new seeds of righteousness.

You need to underline that. New seeds of righteousness. Guess what? That's prayer. How many of you pray?

Pray every day. Do you keep that prayer there? And you'll reap the fruit of my love. And then break up your old, hardened ground. That's humility and confession.

Saying, Lord, I've got to get myself out of me so that you can do something great in me. I've got to get this stuff out of me so you can work through me. Break up that hard ground. It's time to turn to me and seek the Lord. Turn back to God and seek Him once again.

People, stop turning from God. Turn to God. Run to God. Embrace God. Seek Him.

Pray to Him. Confess. And what does it say? And then you'll come and shower new blessings. That is anointing in some versions on you.

You will be showered with anointing. You will be showered with blessings. Sow new seed. It starts with sowing new seed. How do I get anointing?

Some of you are asking that. How do I get this? This sounds all great, Pastor, but how do I get this? Well, you ask for it. You ask for anointing.

You wake up every morning. You start even right now. We need to be praying to God. Just lift up your voices and say, God, I receive your anointing. Because you have not because you ask not.

You're not asking for it. God, how do I get your anointing? Well, have you asked me? I mean, He's waiting on you. He's already got it prepared.

He's waiting for you to align with it. I mean, God, well, haven't you anointed me? I've already got it right there. All you have to do is ask for it. All you have to do is grab it.

All you have to do is go for it. If you're a believer, it's available for you. When was the last time you prayed like it meant something? When was the last time you prayed for your family like it really meant something, like God was going to change? When was the last time you prayed for your business like it meant something?

Or did you worry about it yourself? When was the last time you prayed for your job? And you go, you know, oh, my job is just so hard. It's just this. And I don't know if it's going to be there tomorrow.

When was the last time you woke up and said, God, I want you to anoint me so that I can walk into this job and this place that you've given me and change people around me and not let it affect me? Because He provides, right? His anointing is provision. His anointing is prosperity. Did you know that?

He gives you everything that you need. He's waiting on us for revival. Revival is there. We're praying for revival. We're waiting for revival.

The revival is ready. It's ready, guys. Hallelujah. It's ready. He wants to bring revival to our hearts.

But we've just got to ask Him. We've got to align with Him. We've got to say, Lord, we take it. We will have it. We grab on to it.

Because He's an incredibly generous Lord. Did you know that? He's so unlimited with His resources. He says this in Psalm 84, The Lord generously gives us His favor and honor. No good thing will be withheld from those who live right.

No good thing will be withheld. God is the most generous person in the universe. You have not because you ask not. When you have the favor of God, you are God's favorite. Did you know that?

When you're walking and living under an anointing, you have God's favor on your life. You don't deserve it. I don't deserve it. As we land the plane, as we close, and music starts to play in the background, I want to ask you. I want to ask you.

What has limited you from God doing infinitely more than you can think or imagine in your own life? Are you just living day to day? God can do the impossible. God can, believe it or not, start revival right here in Virginia Beach. Did you know that?

Wow. We hear so many criticisms of how hard it is in this city. Oh, we'll never see revival here. It's just too hard. You have to...

Oh, the oceanfront. When I walked in this oceanfront to start Salt Church, Oh, that's the most terrible place to start a church. And y'all know it. Y'all that grew up here and grew up around here. Who on earth would start a church at the oceanfront?

But God is a God of the impossible. He makes the impossible possible. And we've seen souls saved. We've seen people rescued from addictions. We've seen people give their lives to Jesus right before cancer.

Taken from this world. We've seen marriages healed. We've seen families restored. And we might not be running a thousand in this place. But God is moving.

And God's ready for a new season, Salt Church. He's ready for even more than you can think or imagine. But you've got to believe in your heart that he can do more than you can think or imagine. That's what it takes. Do you believe that he can do more?

That's what Paul said. He prayed it over the church. And I'm praying it over this church right now. Do you believe that you can do more than he can think or you can think or imagine? But you don't deserve it.

God deserves it. God deserves the praise. God deserves the glory. You don't deserve his grace, but he gives you his grace. Amen.

Hallelujah. Are you ready, Salt? Are you ready? Let's just pray. Everybody pray together.

Let me hear the voices raised to God right now. Church, just pray with me. I don't want to be alone in the prayers, Lord. We pray, we pray, we pray for your spirit, Lord Jesus. We pray for anointing over our lives, Lord Jesus.

We pray for our hearts to awaken to that which you have planned for us, Lord. Here coming up in September, Lord, we know that we're going to believe that you are going to do amazing things in this new school year through our children. We know you're going to do big things through the families that you are bringing in and you have not brought in yet, God, to do amazing things in this city, Lord Jesus. We believe that the people who are walking in the door, who have not yet walked in the door, they're going to receive an anointing. And the people here right now that have committed to you, Lord, are going to walk in their anointing and believe for an anointing and hold on to that anointing and operate in that anointing.

And we will see things change. And we believe that in the name of Jesus. Why? Because you said it, God. Your word does not return void.

You do a great work through us, even us who are ill-equipped. Because our equipping isn't, our own efforts don't make it, Lord. Your efforts. Would you believe that with me, church? Just pray, God, just give me anointing, Lord, today.

Give me anointing, Lord, today. I want your anointing. Bless me, Lord. Bless me as I go out. Bless me as I go out today, Lord Jesus.

Bless me, heal me, Lord, in any part of me that I thought that wasn't healed. Forgive me for not believing that I can't be healed internally. Forgive me for believing that my marriage can't work, Lord. Forgive me for believing that my family can't work, Lord Jesus. That my parents and that divide I had between my parents.

Forgive me, Lord, today for even believing that or thinking that, Lord Jesus. Forgive me, Lord, because I believe that you can do more. Your anointing is so powerful, Lord, and you can use me to bridge those gaps. Some of you today, all the church praying, some of you, maybe you haven't given your life to Jesus. Maybe you haven't taken the first step.

Again, we're not deserving of an anointing. But our God is so good in his anointing. Just love is unbounding. It says my cup, the second part of 23 says my cup runneth over. That's how good Jesus's blessing is and his love is.

It just runs over, it just runs over, it's so good. And it doesn't matter who I am or what I've done or what my past is, he has available for you a new life today, amen? And you can give your life to him today by simply just confessing that as we read in Isaiah, you know, you just pray. Just pray to receive him, to turn from your ways, that broken hard ground, just take that past and I want you just to place it in Jesus's hands today. Place it in Jesus's hands today and say, Lord, forgive me of my sins.

Forgive me of the ways I've wronged you. Come into my life, Lord. Make me anew. Change me from the inside out. Anoint me with your spirit as you did with Saul, Lord.

Make me a new person. I believe in the cross of Jesus, the blood of the lamb that was shed. He sacrificed, brother and sister, he sacrificed for you. That's how good his grace is. He pours over you a new person, new grace.

Thank you, Jesus, you're saving my soul. Thank you, Jesus, for equipping me today. In Jesus's name we pray, amen. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

And as we walk out, see, we're not done. You prayed. You prayed for anointing. You prayed for salvation. Some of you here today, if you prayed for salvation, we'd love to connect with you and get you down the road working and finding your anointing and finding your calling.

That's the purpose of church is to equip you. But I want every one of you to walk out of here today with an expectation that God is walking with you and working in power through you. And you're going to come back next week. If you walk in that, you're going to come back next week. You're going to be so full of power.

You're going to be so excited. You're going to be walking up here on stage with a testimony Sunday to tell everybody how good. You're going to be walking here with five or six friends that are saved. You know, you're going to see things that are going to be happening in your life. But you need to do that every day.

It's a fresh anointing every day. And I know I'm talking a lot, but I just believe this so much, guys. I don't want you to walk out of here just saying this was a nice message that kind of hyped me up a little bit and it's a good idea. No, I want you to walk in it. You need to walk in it.

We all need to walk in it. This church needs to walk in it. Amen. Hallelujah. Let's stand.

Let's stand. Father, Father, you said it. As we say every week, you said it, Lord. We're the salt of the earth. We're the light of the world.

Why are we the salt of the earth, Lord? Because salt makes a difference. A little bit of salt goes a long way. So use us this week to change the world, Lord. And we ask this in your name.

Amen. All right. God bless you guys. Back next week with one more. All right.

I'll see you at the door. Bye. You