amazing grace lyrics

[music] >> have you ever been ina situation where you should have been anxious or fearful,but had an overwhelming sense of the peace and presence of god?do you think it's possible to live with grace and favorin your life? i wonder who god can use tobring favor into your situation. i'm glad i have this opportunityto share with you today, and i pray the word will bringlife to you in your specific circumstance as i speak abouta god-given season

of grace and favor. >> my message is called,"god's season of grace and favor, a supernatural season."so no matter what's going on in your world right now,just picture the setting when ezra brings two beautiful versesof grace to god's people. firstly,nebuchadnezzar, the king of babylon,had overtaken jerusalem years before and not onlyhad taken the people captive, but he also destroyedthe temple and burned it

to the ground and then tookgod's people, after decimating them, to babylon, a foreign citywhere they were misplaced. and then ezra was speakingto people who, well, through failings and mistakesand through sins, things were pretty desperate.and ezra, if you can just grab a hold of the scene,was beside himself. so here in ezra chapter 9,if i were to read verse 5 first, it talks of ezra who says,"at the evening sacrifice i arose from my fasting;and having torn my garment

and my robe, i fell on my kneesand spread out my hands to the lord my god.and i said: 'o my god, i am too ashamed and humiliated to liftup my face to you, my god; for our iniquities, our sins, haverisen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown upto the heavens." can you see this picture of ezraon his knees with his hands spread out on the floor in frontof him, feeling humiliated? he uses that word--feelinghumiliated--too humiliated to lift up his face before godin this old testament setting.

and in the middle of that, hetalks about sins and iniquities that wereabove their head and guilt that reached up to the heavens.so he had every reason, on behalf of the people, to feelcondemnation and feel defeat and to have the mind-set,the persecuted mind-set, of a remnant becausethat's what they were, just a remnant of what once was.and in the middle of that setting comes these beautifulverses of grace that the lord put on my heartfor our church this year.

they're verses that talk aboutrelease, revive, repair and rebuild, and i've spoken aboutthis already in our church, but i want to just really speak lifeand encouragement and hope into people today from these verses.verse 8, ezra says, "and now for a little whilegrace has been shown from the lord our god,to leave a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg inhis holy place, that our god may enlighten our eyesand give us a measure of revival in our bondage.for we were slaves,"

i love that thought.he's talking about what they were.we all were something, but thank god for christwho transforms what we were into who we are in him."for we were slaves. yet our god did not forsake usin our bondage; but he extended mercy to us in the sightof the kings of persia, to revive us,to repair the house of our god, to rebuild its ruins,and to give us a wall in judah and jerusalem."i'm gonna give you seven

specific promises that i want toencourage you to take on board from these verses, whetheryou just see one or two of them applying to you or whether youwant to take all seven on board. but i'm gonna quickly go throughthem and the first is this; a season of grace and favor.those verses start, "and now for a little whilegrace has been shown us by the lord our god,"a season of grace and favor. and number two, the second thingthat i see and that i want to speak into you this morningis god's tangible presence

clearly evident, just this clearevidence of god's presence. and number three,a clear way forward. god to give you a fresh vision,to give you insight, to give you supernatural dreams,fresh vision, for god to brighten your eyes.and number four, for tremendous testimonies of miraclesalvations, the person you've given up on, the personyou've prayed for for years, they look as far from godas they ever looked. your friends, your neighbors,your colleagues, your family,

whoever it is, let's believefor a season of supernatural, miraculous salvations, amazingtestimonies to the grace of god. and number five, the fifththing, not only favor from heaven, but god to give youdivine favor with people. i'm gonna speak more aboutthat and i'm excited about it, how god can use a man,god can use a woman, to bring supernatural favorinto your life. and number six, the sixth thing,take it prophetically because that's how i want to preach ittoday.

speaking prophetically intothe lives of people and into the life of this church,hillsong church. number six, a commitment towholeness and personal revival. time to get whole,to get healed, become strong in the spirit on the inside.and it's a time for personal revival.in other words, not to be living mediocre in our faith,in our relationship with god, but really believe for god todo something to bring new life on the inside, new passion,new zeal, new fire, amen,

a revelation of jesusthat becomes so alive and fresh, it's brand-new, a freshrevelation and a beautiful, beautiful personal revival.and number seven, i'm gonna believe for god to give a freshpassion to see his house built in the name of jesus christ.a season of grace and favor. listen again, verse 8, it startslike this, "and now for a little whilegrace has been shown by the lord our god.a little while. do you know if you look at allof eternity and all time from

creation through to eternity,the new testament, the new covenant,this age, the age of the church is a little while,but it's a powerful little while to be alive becauseit's a little while of grace being shown us.won by christ on a cross, amen, applied to our life throughthe resurrection life of jesus, but it's a season of grace.after a season of sacrifice and law, we live in a season ofgrace before ultimately there's an eternal season which, ofcourse, runs all the way through

the timeline of god's word,but right now it is a season of grace.but inside of that, i believe in your life--you knowhow the seasons in life-- and we have some seasons.i know as a pastor and as a leader and as a speaker,as a preacher, there are some times when you just sensea season of grace. it's like god's giving yourevelation. it's like life is coming.it just flows. it's a season of grace.other times you know god's

with you, but it's just a biggerchallenge and you've gotta work harder at it and you've gottabelieve more and you're not always seeing with your eyeswhat you're believing for. well, we are in a season ofgrace and i'd encourage every one of our church not to treatit like they treated jesus, a prophet without honorin his own country, but let's for a moment, seewhat season we are really in. i speak that grace intoyour business and i speak it into your home,i speak it into your family and

i speak it into your children,i speak it into your personal life and your spiritual life.i believe for a season of grace and favor for the people of god.and why should we settle for anything less?you think, "whoa, that's not what i'm experiencing."well, why don't we believe that it's whatyou're about to experience? you say, "well,what if it doesn't happen?" and i say, "what if it does?"and you say, "what if it doesn't?"and i say, "what if it does?"

and you say,"what if it doesn't?" but ezra, he could have takenthe attitude of a remnant persecuted few defeated andat that point, he sat humiliated with guilt up to heavenson behalf of his people. but in the middle of it,he spoke a season of grace and favor in jesus' name.and so i want to declare a season of grace and favor.that's it, it's settled. we have declared itin the spirit. so let's claim it by faithin jesus' name and have

an expectation of god's graceand god's favor in our lives. psalm 65, verse 11, we spokethat into the life of our church last year."you crowned the year with your goodness, and your pathsdrip with abundance." and i believe for this to bea year of god-given grace and god-given favorand amazing turnarounds in impossible situations.so again, i speak breakthrough, i speak blessing and i speakopportunity into the lives of our people in the name ofthe lord jesus christ,

a season of grace and favor.i just had it on my heart to encourage you today.and the second thing is this divine sense of god's presence,not just in church during the worship, but in your life,in the marketplace, in the workplace.when--in a home maybe that's not a perfect home and you feel butbesieged and maybe the attitude of others is coming against you,but i'm just gonna believe for this overwhelming senseof god's presence. you see, ezra spoke abouta stake in god's holy place.

god's holy place was jerusalemand the promise was for jerusalem.but, you know, this promise for jerusalem in the holy placerepresents a stake into the presence of godbecause a holy place, whether it's talking ofa city or whether it's talking about the house of god orwhether it's talking about the old testament tabernaclewhere within the holy place was the holy of holiesand the holy of holies was the place where god's presencewas and only the, you know,

the priest once a yearcould go into the holy place and it was so fearsomethat he had to go in backwards. and i have to tell you thattoday, through jesus, we can enter boldly into the throneroom of grace and through the power of the holy spirit,god's presence is your portion. the holy spirit is not livingin a mansion in heaven. he's dwelling in the heartsof people like you and i. so the presence of godis our portion. and do you know the presence ofgod is most needed when you're

in a hostile circumstance ora hostile situation where maybe you feel like you'reunder attack, but isn't it an amazing thing, in the middleof whatever, when the presence of god is your portion,you just sense god's presence with you and you know that godpresent with you is just such a wonderful, wonderful,wonderful opportunity and honor? the presence of god,don't ever take it for granted. you ever been in a situationwhere everything about it says you should feel anxiousand you should feel fearful

and you should feel worriedand you should be panicking, but you have this overwhelmingsense of god's peace? that's calledthe presence of god. and whatever's going on inpeople's world, i pray this year will be a year where youjust sense god's presence. a long, long time ago wheni was a young person, my younger sister had a boyfriendwho had a horrific car accident, and he was in a coma in hospitaland the prognosis was bad. i was only youngand i can remember still

going up into the hills,or the mountains, across the road from where i lived inlower hut, new zealand and just praying and crying out to god.and i was young and i had this young faithand just crying out to god. and in the middle of all ofthis, getting this overwhelming sense of peace that everythingwas gonna be okay. you can call it a coincidence,you can call it what you like, but for me, it was a landmarkin learning to trust god and hold on to him.because while i'm up there

in the mountains after daysin a coma, my brother-in-law in the hospital wakes up,his rugby coach was visiting him and he sits up in bed and says,"when are we training, coach?" asked the coach when trainingwas going to be and was completely made whole, healed.well, the presence of god is just such a tremendous giftavailable to us through the holy spirit,and i want to encourage you this year don't even go one day,don't even go one moment without believing forthe holy spirit, his peace.

when god's still, small voice,you know, starts speaking to you, when god gives you,in a situation where you have no words for it, a word of wisdomand you go, "whoo, where did that come from?"and where it comes from is the presence of god in you.amen. god the holy spirit alivein you in jesus' name. i would encourage peopleto be people of the spirit. don't be afraid to speakin other tongues and be a person of the spirit and believe,just be edified, built up

by the power of the holy ghostand see what happens when-- you know, the holy spirit,the bible talks about the baptism of the holy spiritand uses a word "dunamis" which is the same root wordas for dynamite. it's like this dynamic poweron the inside of you that comes alive.well, why should you live with this sort of faith where you'realmost certain that god's there, but you're not sure and you'retrying to intellectualize it when you can just lay hold ofthe word of god and believe for

the power of the holy spirit tobe your portion and to live in our everyday life inthe presence of an almighty god! >> well, the idea of a season ofgod's grace and favor may seem a long way from where you're at.maybe in your life, circumstances are truly hemmingyou in and things are tough, but we can either expectthe worst or the best. and as i look at the waygod works, i've been speaking specifically about ezra and howhe brought a word of grace and life into a terrible situationwhere people's own failings had

them feeling like they were upto their head in guilt and that literally that their iniquitiesreached to the heavens. but in the middle of all ofthat, ezra was able to speak life and that's the power ofthe gospel of jesus christ. grace was never built onwhat we deserve. you see, ezra goes onand he talks about the fact that god gave them less than theydeserved in terms of punishment and brought deliverance thatthey could never have expected, and i believe that for you.i believe for a season

of grace and favorand just like in the midst of a terrible situation,ezra was able to speak about a peg in the presence of god.he was able to speak about divine favor coming from heavenand even god using people to bring blessing into his life.i love that about god. you never knowthe way he's gonna work. he can bring opportunity.he can bring blessing and he can bring breakthrough--i call it b.o.b.: blessing, opportunity, breakthrough--in so many areas of life and

it's a great adventure servinghim 'cause you never quite know what god is going to do.when you're up against the wall and life is the toughest,it's when god has the greatest opportunity to prove himselfreal and to be true to his word in your life.so never stop believing for great seasons of graceand favor, and i just know that the presence of godis available to you. god was never ever wantingto be distant from people. as a matter of fact,the bible says for his pleasure,

we were and we are created.he wants to spend time with you, and he wants you to spend timewith him. and to know the presence of godis with us is so encouraging, so rewarding, when maybethe circumstances are so against you, yet you havethis undeniable sense of god's beautiful presence that'savailable to anybody who's open to the power of the holy spirit.the holy spirit is not a force. he's a person, the personof god, the holy spirit. he doesn't live in a mansionin heaven, as i said, he lives

in the hearts of people.so his presence is a very real thingand you can know his favor, you can know his presence,you can know divine opportunity because of the god we serve. >> growing up, i had everythingthat i could want on paper. i had lots of friends, did wellin school, knew that i would be moving on to play collegeathletics, had loving parents, great family, but inside,i felt like there was something that was missing,that i was missing out on.

i went through a pretty longseason of darkness for years and was always asking,"why am i alive?" and i sort of--i began to seelife as a prison sentence that i was forced to endure, startedto get extremely depressed and to think aboutcommitting suicide as well. that was running around my headquite often. i had several friends who wereinvolved in church and i was always really curious becauseif there was a god, i really wanted to hear about it.i would even go stand next to

them when they were talkingabout it, hoping that they would invite me to go to church orgo to youth group with them. and years of my life went byand not one of them ever asked me if i wanted to go.eventually, i ended up going to a youth camp.it was the first time i'd ever heard someone speak abouta god who wasn't distant but who was near, a god who actuallywas involved in human history, who cared about our lives,who loved us. we didn't have to work to earnhis love, he gave it freely and

all we had to do was receive it.in the middle of this moment, i had this realization thatif there was a god who loved me, who wanted to do something withmy life, who wanted to create something beautiful from it,then i made a decision and said, "god, you can have my life.you can have my life 'cause i don't even want it."my entire life changed in an absolute second.i went from seeing life as a prison sentence thati was forced to walk through to a beautiful gift that i--that needed to be lived out.

moving into that season of gracewas the most mind-blowing concept that i could have everpossibly understood because nobody had ever toldme that before. i'd say this has been justan incredible season of breakthrough in my own lifewhere i'm studying the scriptures,i'm understanding my identity and who i am in jesus.for probably the first time, i enjoy life now.it's an incredible, incredible time of my life.

>>the skies lay lowwhere you are on the earthyou rest your feet yet the handsthat cradle the stars are the handsthat bled for me in that momentof glorious surrender you were brokenfor all the world to see lifted out of the ashesi am found in the aftermath a freedom foundin your scars in your gracemy life redeemed

for you choseto take the sinner's crown as you placed your crownon me was the momentyou broke the chains in me and in that momentyou opened up the heavens to the brokenthe beggar and the thieflifted out of the wreckage i find hope in the aftermath [music and praise] >> if you know it liftyour hands, lift your voice.

sing this with me.and i know you're with meand i know you're with me hereand i know your love will light the wayjesus, i know i knowyou're with me and i knowyou're with me here and i know your lovewill light the way all i havei count it all as loss but to know youand to carry the cross

knowing i'm found inthe light of the aftermath >> thanks so muchfor joining me. it means a lot to me, and i praythat you may know the blessing and promise of god for yourself.do you know the wonderful thing about jesus is he is wantingto reside through the power of the holy spirit in anyhuman being who is open to him. no one is too bad for god.no one is too good. everyone is inthe same condition before god. we are sinnerswho need the grace of jesus

to give us a new foundationfor life and living, where it's no longer built oneverything that's wrong with us, but we build our liveson the foundation of everything that is right about god.god bless you. have an awesome week.