Genesis 41:28-35 ESV It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. (29) There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, (30) but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, (31) and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe. (32) And the doubling of Pharaoh’s dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about. (33) Now therefore let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. (34) Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plentiful years. (35) And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it.
- This morning is mission Sunday, but we are going to do things a little differently then I normally do.
- Normally I preach a mission centered message that talks about the importance of international missions.
- But instead of that, I want to speak to all of us prophetically.
- God has been speaking to me ever since the 10 year something very clearly out of Genesis 41… something that He is speaking over the whole church.
- God has been preparing me to share these prophetic words with you.
- Some of what I share will be things you have already heard, and some will be new… but I want you to listen to and consider all of these things, and ask yourself “Is God really speaking this, has God really spoken this”.
- And if the answer is yes “God has spoken this”, and by the way as your pastor I am telling you the answer is yes… but if the answer is yes… then I remind you to behold the word of the Lord and consider what it means for you, as a part of this church body.
- Today what I want to talk about is how we are establishing a mission minded church.
- Establishing a Mission Minded Church…
- But PASSSTORRR… Aren’t we already a mission minded church?
- Why yes, compared to other churches in our area we are very mission minded…
- But what about compared to God… do we have the same mind and vision and fervor for missions as God does?
- I don’t think so, but God says today that he is very shortly going to establish CLC as a mission minded church.
- It is not the only thing He is establishing here, but it is mission Sunday, and the word from the Lord today is that He is establishing CLC as a mission minded church, a church with God’s mind and fervor for missions.
- Now this prophetic word that the Lord has been giving me has three parts, and we are going to go over all three, and then we will take up mission faith pledges.
- Part One – The Doubling Mean’s it’s Fixed.
- Part Two – The Double Prophetic Words over CLC
- Part Three – Preparing For What God Will Shortly Bring About
- Let’s pray and then get into it.
- Ok, starting with the first part, a spiritual law we all need to under stand. The Doubling mean’s it’s fixed.
Part One – The Doubling Mean’s it’s Fixed
Genesis 41:32 NKJV And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
- Let me read this again in the ESV just because the language is a bit more applicable to what God has shown me:
Genesis 41:32 ESV And the doubling of Pharaoh’s dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about.
- The doubling of Pharoh’s dream means that the thing is fixed by God…
- The doubling means it’s fixed.
- The doubling means it’s fixed.
- Y’all repeat this after me “The doubling”… “Mean’s it’s fixed”… “The doubling… means it’s fixed”.
- You see what has happened here in Genesis, we will get there eventually as we preach through genesis, but what has happened is that Pharoh had two dreams that troubled him… the first dream was of a good harvest being eaten by an evil and withered harvest… and the second dream was of good cows being eaten by evil malnourished cows.
- Joseph says these dreams are from God… that they are prophetic… He interprets the dreams to mean there will be seven years of plenty and then seven years of famine… and then he says the line that God has been speaking to me for the past month… the doubling means it’s fixed.
- Turn to your neighbor and say the doubling means it’s fixed.
- You can pray, you can cry out, you can try to change it… but if God says it twice… well then… the doubling means it’s fixed.
- Biblically the number two is considered the number of witness.
- If a crime is committed, two witnesses are needed to testify.
- Jesus sent out His disciples two by two.
- In Revelation there are two witnesses, called the two lampstands and two olive trees.
- And Biblically speaking, when God says something twice we should listen!
- And so how much more with prophecy. If a man or women of God comes to you with a prophecy and then a few days latter another, unrelated man or woman of God prophecies the same thing… well, I believe in God more than I believe in coincidence… THE DOUBLING MEANS IT IS FIXED.
- Y’all with me? Prophecy is an incredibly powerful thing… how amazing it is when someone prophecies SPECIFICALLY into your life…
1 Corinthians 14:24-25 NKJV But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. (25) And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.
- have any of you ever experienced that, a specific prophecy that you KNEW was from God, something detailed and specific to you and your situation…
- Think about how in AWE you were in that moment… now imagine that prophecy being doubled… being spoken again by someone else… The doubling means it’s fixed…
- Now God is speaking to our church that He is establishing a missions minded church… and part one of this prophecy that we need to understand is “The doubling means it is fixed”, so the question must be… is this a prophecy that has been doubled? Let’s move on to part two of this prophetic word for the church this morning: The Double Prophetic Words Over CLC.
Part Two – The Double Prophetic Words over CLC
Genesis 41:28 NKJV This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.
- In the same way God showed Pharoh what He was about to do, God is showing us what He is about to do… and it has all been leading up to the next six months of breakthrough.
- I want to share with you three double prophetic words over CLC.
- Again, listen to this words, behold the word of God, and know that if these are truly prophetic words then these must be fixed. As God has been speaking to me the last month or so, The Doubling Means it is Fixed…
Early 2020 – The Double Word Over Japan
- In early 2020 we as a church had been at the Cedar Rapids library for just about a year… and it was such a hard time for us… WAY HARDER than two services…
- We had to set up and tear down every week… we had strict time constraints… and there were really bad security issues… like REALLY bad…
- It was so stressful and I was so tired…
- At the same time VFC Singapore, who planted us as a church, was really pushing us to go to Japan and plant a church…
- And frankly, I did not want to… I had no feeling of ANYTHING toward Japan… and I really just wanted to quit… I was planning on leaving VFC altogether and just flying solo… we had even quit doing mission Sundays at that point…
- But a friend of mine told me that I needed rest and that I shouldn’t make such decisions while tired… he suggested we spend a couple of days at the international house of prayer in Kansas city where they have a 24 hour praise and worship room, as well as places to be prophecied over.
- I agreed (this was well before the scandal relating to one guy at IHOP came out, and had nothing to do with that guy)… and we went down.
- I asked God as I went for a specific word of prophecy… not a general “Don’t give up” or “Jesus want’s you to know He sees you”… “Those are well and good God… but I am desperate, give me a specific, miraculous, only you could have shared it kind of prophecy!”.
- Well, as I am there worshiping, the day goes on and I need the restroom, in the restroom I meet a man from Malasia… Now, Malasia is a small southeast Asian nation that borders Singapore with just a small waterway in between.
- I informed him that I lived in Singapore, and he asked why. I said “church work” and he said “What church”…
- Now, I have never meet anyone at this point in the Midwest from Malaysia or Singapore, and I barely had met people who even knew where they were on a map! So when he asked about our church I thought “No way this guy knows my church” but I said none-the-less “Victory Family Centre”…
- At that moment the two of us entered into the spirit, it is the only way I can describe it, everything else went dark and still, and it was just me and this tall Malaysian man I had just meet… He put his hand on my shoulder and said “Your mission to Japan is very important”.
- Now friends, that is a SPECIFIC prophecy… here is a man I just happened to meet in the bathroom, and he not only knows my church but looks me in the eyes and tells me the very thing I am struggling with is “very important”… wow! MY SPIRIT WAS ON FIRE at this moment.
- The next day we were still at the International House of Prayer and I went to the bookstore there, and there was a woman from the South East Asian Nation Sri Lanka… I told here, and this is all I told her, “Oh I don’t know much about Sri Lanka, but when I lived in Singapore I had friends from there… a pastor’s kid and her husband”… she looks at me, with only that information, and goes “Where there names James and Roshi”… There are 22 Million people in Sri Lanka… AND SHE SAYS “JAMES AND ROSHI”?! WHAT?! “Yes” I said in shock… she says “Those are my pastors kids!!!!” then she looked me in the eyes, put her hand on my shoulder and says “Your mission to Japan is very important”…
- THE DOUBLING MEANS IT IS FIXED.
LATE 2021 – The Double Word of “Three Years”
- In Late 2021 Pastor Dick spoke a word over Christian Life Church, he declared “God sees how you have been laboring, and He says to you today “In three years time you will be established as a church in Cedar Rapids”.
- Now when I first received this word we had just bought this building… and a lot of thoughts went through my head….
- Will we have a full time staff in three years?
- Will we have our building paid off in three years?
- I wasn’t sure… then two weeks later, Deacon Aroea, who did not know about this private prophecy that Dick gave, prophesied over me and Amanda:
- “God says Three Year soil… Three Years and the harvest will come”.
- Now hold on, two prophetic words within two weeks of each other that booth say “Three years until the harvest, three years until we are established” what are the ODDS?!
- Like I said, I believe in God more than I believe in coincidence.
- The Doubling Means It is Fixed.
- Church we are about 5 months away from that 3 Year mark… The Doubling Means it is Fixed!
June 2024 – The Double Word from Isaiah 43
- On Saturday, June 8th, the fourth night of our 10 year celebration, Sister Dawn Wurzer came up to me and said “I have a word for you and the church that has been heavy on my heart… it kept me up all night… I didn’t want to bother you with it but it is SO strong the Lord really wants you to hear this”
- She then read from Isaiah 43
Isaiah 43:18-21 NKJV “Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. (19) Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert. (20) The beast of the field will honor Me, The jackals and the ostriches, Because I give waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My people, My chosen. (21) This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise.
- She followed up with “God want’s you to know that He is going to do a GREAT thing in this church and that He will do it so that people can declare His praise.
- Now, I have to admit, when she read the first part “Remember not the former things or the things of old” I thought “Does Dawn not like that we pray the Lord’s Prayer and the Aaronic blessing? Is God telling me to stop this things?”
- But I recorded the word, I received it, knowing that God WAS indeed going to do great things…
- Then on Sunday morning, Pastor Charisa Seaward from Singapore comes up… she says “I have a word for this church, it is from Isaiah 43” She then proceeds to read the EXACT SAME VERSES and says “The new great thing that God is about to do is going to be so great that you will forget the things of old in comparison. God is not telling you to forget tradition, but to be ready for such great and mighty things that the old seem like nothing in comparison”.
- NOW THAT IS A GREAT WORD, AND YOU KNOW THE BEST PART ABOUT THAT WORD? IT IS A DOUBLE WORD! THE DOUBLING MEANS IT IS FIXED.
- So here are the three double words : “We will be established in 3 years” which is about 5 months from now.
- Our mission to Japan is very important.
- And God is about to do something so great the old seems like nothing in comparison.
- Those three words are double words, they are fixed… God is preparing to Establish us as a mission minded church… and it starts with Japan… it HAS started with Japan.
- So our calling, our mission to Japan is not done, it has barely just begun… and it won’t stop at Japan, or Jamaica, or Sierra Leone, or India… God is ESTABLISHING A MIGHTY AND GREAT MISSION MINDED CHURCH.
- In fact since then I have had multiple people text me and slack me similar prophecies… Just on June 24th brother Mark left me a voicemail with a word form God… HAVE BIG VISSIONS… Don’t slow down… God IS GOING TO DO GREAT THINGS…
- Guy’s it has been prophesied too much to NOT BE TRUE…
- So what do we do about it? That is part three of this prophetic word… Preparing for What God will Shortly Bring About.
Part Three – Preparing For What God Will Shortly Bring About
Genesis 41:32-36 NKJV And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. (33) “Now therefore, let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. (34) Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years. (35) And let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming, and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. (36) Then that food shall be as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land may not perish during the famine.”
- So Pharoah has this dream… well two dreams in fact, because the doubling mean’s it is fixed… Pharoh has these dreams about a famine coming.
- Joseph hears from God that these dreams are prophetic, says they are fixed, and that they will happen very soon… and then he says that Pharoh needs to prepare… and he offers this plan “One fifth of everything should be saved for the vision”… as I read this the words “One fifth jumped out to me”…
- You see God is Establishing us as a missions minded church.
- We have these three double prophecies:
- Our mission to Japan is very important
- We will be Established in three years, which is 5 months from now.
- And God is about to do something so big that the old will seem like nothing in comparison.
- And then I read this section of Genesis that says “prepare” and the words “One Fifth” jump out… here is what God said to me “Of all the money that comes into CLC, one Fifth should be for missions… I am Establishing a Missions Minded church”.
- That means, if 100 dollars comes into the church, 20 of it should be for missions…
- But here is the thing, MOST churches do missions like this, the look at the tithes that came in for the month and they simply take 10 percent of it and give it to missions… A tithe of a tithe…
- We don’t do it like that… we expect the whole church to have a heart for missions, we believe in giving above and beyond the tithe for missions… In a moment we will take up mission faith pledges for that very purpose…
- But I believe that we need to be giving 20 percent to missions… not from the church as an organization, but from the church as a body of believers…
- Now I looked up the numbers and currently missions accounts for 10.13 percent of our total donations as a church…
- So the good news is… we are doing better than most other churches… BARELY…
- But this changes… This missions faith pledge we are preparing for the establishment of a Missions minded church.
- We are going to send more missionaries to Japan, in Jesus Name.
- We are going to send church planters to other countries, In Jesus Name.
- We might even plant a CLC Iowa City, Lord willing!
- We are going to do our part to go into all the earth to make disciples… GOD IS DOING SOMETHING BIG, and we need to prepare for it.
- So I am challenging you to step out in faith… as God gives you a number to write down on your mission faith pledge… and that number is bigger than it has been in the past… step out in faith… ask yourself “Will God bless me for giving this much to missions, or will He curse me?”
- Now I don’t want you to give more than God asks you to give… obedience is better than sacrifice… but I believe God may ask some of us to give more than normal… and we need to step out in faith and say “YES LORD!”
- Because God is Establishing us as a mission minded church… more than that, yes, we will talk more about it in the future… but being missions minded is a BIG part of who we are, amen?!
- WE ARE GOING TO TAKE THE NATIONS FOR JESUS! AMEN! Come on worship team, let’s conclude with the Gospel and MFP’s
Conclusion
- Now before I take up MFP’s, let’s talk about the Gospel…
- Because I believe the Gospel is for everyone… every person, every nation, every generation.
- And that means I believe the Gospel is for everyone here as well… not just the people in Japan, and Siera Leonne, and India… but for everyone… so we preach the Gospel every Sunday here…
- GOSPEL CALL.
Join us this Sunday at either 8:30AM or 10:30AM for worship followed by this message from the Word of God. Christian Life Church of Cedar Rapids. 2808 Schaeffer DR SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404. www.CedarRapidsChurch.com
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