The Stories We Tell: Next Gen - Pastor Michel Espinoza
- design97004
- Mar 23
- 5 min read
The NexGen service: Pastor Franklin led the worship; the worship team included several young people; young children praised the Lord on stage; two young adults made the announcements; and Pastor Michel preached. Thank you, Lord, for the younger generations and their passion for Yahweh!
Pastor Michel based his sermon “The Stories We Tell” on Revelation 12:11. “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” He discussed the three parts of the verse.
The first section is about the “the blood of the Lamb” Revelation 12:11 It is the Crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The first story we tell is the Gospel. Then he explained what the Gospel is.
*Jesus is God. “…but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Matthew 3:11 John declared Jesus’ identity and credentials.
*God puts on humanity. John felt he was unworthy to baptize Jesus “But Jesus answered him, ’Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’” Matthew 3:15
Jesus became a man and fulfilled all the requirements God had for Him.
*You become a child of God. “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17 We are also the Lord’s beloved as we surrender our lives to Him.
When we are struggling, we can tell the Gospel story to ourselves because reminding ourselves of Jesus’ faithful history with us strengthens us to continue. John the Baptist, who baptized people “with the water of repentance,” baptized Jesus the spotless Lamb. Matthew 3:11 Jesus did not need to repent, for He was perfect, but He was baptized to model for us the importance of baptism and surrender.
“And when Jesus was baptized, immediately He went up
from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him,
and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and
coming to rest on Him; and a voice from heaven said,
‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’”
Matthew 3:16-17
The Spirit of God declared the identity of Jesus to the whole world after Jesus’ submersion.
As a side note Pastor Michel explained one area in which he struggled and that was about original sin. He clarified that because of Adam’s actions we experience the consequence of his decision. That is like when someone close to reveals your personal confidences. You are affected because you did not want any of your secrets told. Now we could get cocky and say, “I would not have eaten the forbidden fruit,” but we would have done something else.
The second section of Revelation 12:11 is “by the word of their testimony.” The second story we tell is our testimony. One example is the man born blind that Jesus healed. The Pharisees grilled the healed man. “He answered, ’Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.’” John 9:25 Though the Pharisees tried to dissuade the healed man, they could not discount the fact that he was blind and could see after encountering Jesus.
People can not argue with your testimony. When we are transformed from one encounter with the Lord Jesus, that is our testimony. That is one reason why at the Legacy Builders’ potlucks we have people share how the Lord Almighty intervened in their lives.Their experiences encourage us when we have challenges.
In Acts 26, Paul defended himself before King Agrippa through the retelling of his miraculous encounter with Jesus as he traveled to Damascus to persecute Jesus followers. “Then Agrippa said to Paul,’Can you persuade me in such a short time to become a Christian?’
‘Short time or long,’ replied Paul, ‘I wish to God that not only you but all who hear me this day may become what I am, except for these chains.” Acts 26:28-29
Then Pastor Michel called up three boys, and as Pastor Michel narrated his life’s story, the boys acted it out. Pastor Michel as a boy went to church, but even as young as seven, he felt burdened. At school he would fall asleep. At church he felt something but could not identify it. His nana and tata invited Pastor Michel to FC. In the Youth Center, he asked the Lord to come into his life. God took away his depression, his sadness, and his negative feelings about himself. He knows that he is the son of the King, and he is His beloved. Pastor Michel declared, “God has never abandoned me.” The Lord meets him at home, in the services, in his office. “No one can take your testimony,” he emphasized.
The third part of the verse in Revelation 12:11 is “They loved not their lives even unto death.” Just looking at the lives of the eleven original disciples gives us a picture of the truth of the gospel. After Jesus’ crucifixion, the eleven hid so as not to be found and persecuted. However, after the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the infilling of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, the eleven disciples were empowered and dedicated to share the Gospel wherever He led them. For example, Peter and John were arrested for preaching Christ crucified and resurrected and for healing a man. The leaders instructed Peter and John to not talk about Jesus again. “But Peter and John replied, ’Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.” Acts 4:19-20
Also from the book, More Than a Carpenter, by Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell, he stated
“I can trust the apostles’ testimonies because eleven of those
men died martyrs’ deaths because they stood solid for two truths:
Christ’s deity and his resurrection. These men were tortured and
flogged, and most finally suffered death by some of the cruelest
methods then known….” p. 90
They endured in the face of trials.
Why do we go through trials? Sometimes we are being tested; sometimes we are being refined. Jesus said that life would be filled with trials, but He has overcome the world. John 16:33 We can trust Him with our whole lives. “The storm is not the end. The storms strengthen you!” declared Pastor Michel. “Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.”
1 John 4:4
May we tell the Gospel to others and ourselves, share our testimonies, and endure in the face of trials so that we can be salt and light in these troubled times.
Calendar:
3/27-Men of God meeting 6:00
3/27-Women of God meeting 6:00
4/17 LB potluck, worship, speaker Bo Quillar 6:00 in the Activity Center
Blessings,
Larry and Annette
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