Moving to a new level to leave new marks

Blessing so far in the course of this service. I would like to invite you to the book of Hebrews, Chapter 12, and if you allow me, I will have a word of prayer to fully enter the message.

Dear God, I thank you. Father, for this precious opportunity that you always grant me to be able to expose your word, Lord, and I do it humbly, Lord, and always with fear and trembling, Father, because I know that it is a very great responsibility. But God, as I always say, Lord Jesus, please that the meditation of my heart and the words of my mouth are your words, Lord, and that they can reach the depths of the hearts of my brothers and sisters for the transformation of their lives. , for the edification of each one of their hearts, their minds, their spirit Lord, and above all things that your purpose is fulfilled in each one of them, my God, that your word now becomes an x-ray of our hearts and May it serve as an input, may it serve as a stimulus, Lord, for us to move to achieve those things for which you have called us. I ask this in the name of your Son, Jesus. Amen and amen.

Hebrews 12, verse 1, says: "Therefore, having such a great cloud of witnesses around us, let us rid ourselves of all weight and of the sin that besieges us and run with patience the race that lies before us... .”

Let me emphasize that phrase there: “..let us run with patience the race ahead of us...”

Give it a pause there. I wanted to title this message for today, or I felt in my heart to title it in the following way. It says “....moving to a new level to set new records...” Think about it: Moving to a new level to set new records.

Moving to a new level can mean moving to a new stage in your life, it can mean moving to a new place of influence, it can mean moving to a new place where you are going to be used by the Lord, used by the Lord. Lord to bless others. The point is this: that we are moving to a new level to leave new records.

Now, if you know me well, some of you I think know me well here, and you know of at least one very important event that is happening around the world right now, or at least in one part of the world, you He's going to say that Omar is going to start talking about what, the Olympics. Wow, they know me very well.

Yes, my brothers, every time the Olympics come around for me it's like a time of dreams rises up inside me. How many of you have dreamed at some point, even when you were a child, of reaching the Olympics? There they raise their hands, yes. I at least know one here who did arrive but I'm not going to write it down because I don't want to put it in the spotlight, as they say, but I know someone who did arrive at the Barcelona Olympics, so I give glory to God For that person forever. Very inspiring for me.

But the issue is my brothers, since these Olympics began I have been listening to different stories from different athletes that really are so inspiring to me. In the United States team, for example, there is a person, an African who was a refugee in Sudan from this time of genocide that took place in Rwanda. He was a refugee in Sudan for ten years and now his dream of having participated in the Olympics is coming true. He is now one of the most illustrious in track and field and it is expected that the man can achieve, he has a good potential to achieve medals.

Another person that I also get to think about is a young man who also lost one of his legs in an accident and he now has a prosthetic leg and he had to do a whole case to get to the Olympics and participate, because They said that having that prosthetic leg could work more in his favor and could help him achieve better times and it was making it difficult for him to participate, so he had to take a test, he had to pass different tests with the Olympic committee to be able to go and participate and this boy is now one of those who are there looking for what are the two hundred and four hundred meters in track and field as well.

And another boy who is, I would say, the star child of the United States in swimming, his name is Michael Felps, who is said to be the man who is going to break the record in terms of swimming medals. gold that a person in the history of the Olympics can win. And this young man last night, I mean, I was watching last night, I was surprised in the competition that was the most difficult for him, he was the one who broke the Olympic record and the world record, he broke it last night, for an advantage, I would say , about three points. And three points swimming, believe me that's a lot. The thing was that when I saw all these things, my brothers, my level of inspiration started to rise once more and I said to myself, wow, look at these athletes who have this determination, a dog determination, a canine determination? No, no, that's not it, a focused determination, let me put it that way, a focused determination, a well-focused determination, my brothers, that's what they call that athlete's look that once you're on your starting block you can have a thousand cameras at your around press, and everything, but his gaze is on his goal. Fixed, there is no one, you can do it like this in front and you are not distracted, because you are focused. Michael Felps, it's funny to me because outside, when he's outside the block he smiles with everyone, he's a very charismatic boy, he has a smile that says, wow, that boy is cool. Now, all he does is stop at the starting block and the guy gets serious, there's no one to distract him and he focuses on what he has to do.

But they are people, my brothers, that when that moment arrives each one of them is thinking, this is the moment for me to be able to reach, as they say, my glory. This is the moment where I can achieve a medal, this is the moment where I can make a mark in history, this is the moment where I can break the record that was established perhaps years ago, this is my moment and I I'm going to look for it and I'm going to reach it. They are all thinking that way. Even if they don't win but they get there with that kind of mentality. I've come this far, I have an opportunity to achieve this.

And that is why, my brothers, then I start to think that many of us who are considered, who call ourselves children of God, we also have those opportunities day after day to move to a new level, to reach new goals, to reach a new record, to set a new mark, not only in our lives, but also in the lives of others around us.

Ask yourself, do you see your life and is it moving to another level? Ask the person next to you, are you moving to another level? Either you are stuck, or stuck where you are. Look, moving to another level can happen for various reasons, you choose the one that best applies to you. Moving can be caused by circumstances that are around us, circumstances that are around us that are perhaps a bit oppressive circumstances and force us to have to move. Many of us, perhaps, the story of some of you is that in your countries of origin where you were, you lived in a type of oppression, whatever it was, political, economic, social, religious, and you had no choice but to leave the place where you were. It was as if the system had pushed you out of there.

Others may be that they move to another level of their own free will, because they may say that they are already so and so tired of the reality that surrounds them, that they themselves decide to move. They say, oh, I can't take this anymore. Or they're doing well, maybe they're doing super well in their lives, but they say, like, geez, I kind of need to achieve something else. and they can have everything, they can have their houses, their car, their good bank account, they can have good friends, they can have a good church, but with everything and that inside their hearts they say, like, ah, I'm going to shoot the adventure and I will achieve something more.

And there are also people who are moved to another level by other types of circumstances that happen in their lives. It may be that a person has been attacked by some deadly, terminal illness and that causes a change to move, to move to another level, whatever level you understand that you have to move.

The loss of a loved one can force you to move to another level, a new phase that begins in your life. Perhaps your job was cut off, you don't have any more and that then forces you to move on to another stage, maybe get another job or change your career or go to study.

Due to different situations, having a son, having a daughter, that is a new stage that definitely moves us to another level. Different things can cause us to move. But there is one thing in particular that is when someone and that someone is with a capital letter, when someone calls us to move to another level. When someone continually calls us to move to another level.

I wonder, let me pause here, why do we move? Why do we respond to that action of moving? And if you consider yourself satisfied with what you have, if you can look at your life right now and say, oh, I'm fine just the way I am. Well, look, maybe this message does not apply so much to you, but and I place great emphasis on that but, but if you understand above all things the moves of God and you consider yourself as a son or daughter of God , then you must understand that these moves, that these changes are inevitable. And the reason why I say that is because God is not a boring God, God is a God of action. God throughout all of history has been in continuous motion. Your purposes and your intentions may be the same, but the form and methods you use to establish those purposes are always moving in different ways.

And I believe that in each of you, in each of your lives, God is at work. God is in some way bringing movement, bringing change in the midst of their lives. And this is something unavoidable. You know what? it can be said that in our lives change is something that has always been running.

It's funny to me because recently I heard the preaching of someone who was talking about the same thing, about changes, and he began to use the weather as an illustration. Gonzalo, you can tell winter, winter don't come because I don't love you. Iris, you can say to summer, summer, stay here so my skin stays tanned like this all the time. Or there are some who maybe prefer to tell spring to be spring all the time, and forget about the other three seasons of the year, especially autumn because nobody likes to pick leaves, right?

But the thing is, my brothers, we can't do that. Those things that are already established unless you live in the tropics, that it is summer almost all the time, but with everything and that there are almost always its changes. If the weather, look how interesting, because God has given us a body that adjusts to change. If the weather turns cold, what does the body do? It adjusts to the cold. If it's hot, the body adjusts to the heat.

You know what to these athletes to go there to Beijing in China many of them came like a week or two before the Olympics started, you know why? To conform, particularly to what? To the air of China because of so much pollution, pollution that is in the air. Pollution is a spanglish. Elizabeth, how are the English classes please, to give us around?

But that's right, the human body adjusts, my brothers, and each of us has the ability to adjust. God has given us the ability to adjust to these new changes that come into our lives. And that is why, my brothers, when we understand this, you know what? It encourages me because then I can understand that God has some actions, God has intentions for you and for me to want to do things in the midst of your life, to want to do things throughout your life. And they are things that some of them cannot be avoided. What's more, I can say that on the doors of some of your lives, change has been knocking for a long time and the most we can do is resist change. This is one of the categories of people that I have managed to identify with respect to what change is. There are three in particular that I want to mention. One is that. One is that of a person who resists change because they feel very comfortable where they are, they feel totally pleased with what they have achieved, and they are not interested in moving to another level or have even thought of it. It does not attract their attention, it may be that they have already suffered enough, that they have already lost enough, and that they have already achieved what they needed and they say, ok, that's it, I've come this far, no more. That's a type of person.

Sometimes I would say that another subcategory comes out of those types of people, which are the immobile, so to speak. Immobile because they are afraid of change, they are afraid of the new, of the unknown and so they do not dare to take that step, perhaps out of ignorance or perhaps because they have heard rumors or comments from third parties who say they have seen what It was at another level, but in reality they haven't understood the totality of it and so these people, since they hear that, well, I'm not going to go there, I'm not going there. Then there are those people, the immobile, the compliant.

There is a second category that I call, the abusers. I was trying another word but I couldn't find it, but this one contains what I'm looking for. Pushy because they're willing to go above and beyond to achieve these new things, but they want to achieve them for selfish gain, so to speak, just for the sake of saying, oh look at me, I've reached this, I've reached this, I've reached this level. , no one stopped me, I had the strength to do this. And you know what? On the one hand, I can say that this is a good quality because he is a decisive, focused person, who if he says, look, I am going to move and I am going to throw myself to achieve this and he does it, and he succeeds and is applauded. That is where I see, my brothers, for example, the attitude of many of these athletes that I see in the Olympics that there is a camaraderie that exists between them and look how interesting this is.

Knowing how things are in the world, I would say that many times the Olympics are like a system of peace, if you will. On Friday when the parade of the nations was taking place, this is part of the ceremony, that is, I am amazed to see, for example, when the group from the United States enters and everyone applauds, all these athletes with their parade and suddenly the group from Iraq enters and in the crowd you can hear some applause but you can also hear the booing. And after Iraq, Iran entered and there was a kind of silence in the stadium and suddenly they showed President Bush in the camera, they did a close up, and the man was so serious, looking at everything that was happening.

I'm like, wow, look how interesting. I say to myself, can you imagine that a fight suddenly breaks out within all those athletes and..... but no, it doesn't happen because these athletes have this mentality that hey, look, not everything is bad, not everything is strife, not all is war. And although there may be rivalry between the competitions that are taking place, but there is a sense of camaraderie. And that is something that I see within that group that there is a type of relationship, but it is a relationship where if I have to put you aside for a moment, I put you aside because I want to achieve this. Or if I have to go above you in order for me to achieve this, I will. It's what I want to do.

Now, but there is the third category of people, and this is the third category where I hope that all of us can identify ourselves and if you identify with any of the others, amen, glory to God, the Lord loves you, be it whatever and we are here to pray for you too.

The third category are people who move boldly to achieve the new and along the way help others to achieve it too because they know that God's promise is for everyone. God's promise is for everyone. And here, my brothers, is where I want to pause because there is a critical quality that distinguishes this group of people and that is that these people who move to this new dimension, to this new stage, to this new level, know that there is a cost to pay and they are willing to make the sacrifice, they are willing to do it.

Some of us have been willing, or have already paid a price but my question still for me remains are we still willing to continue paying the price of what God demands of us. Are we still willing to give up a little more to what we treasure and long for so that what God truly wants to be wrought in us can come true?

Look at this, in these Olympics a tragedy has already happened, a tragedy that nobody expected. In a random, random attack, in a random attack, a person, an individual, a civilian from over there in China, launched himself to attack two people and stabbed two people, a man and a woman, and after he did this, he threw himself off a building and committed suicide.

If you've been following more or less the history of these Olympics, there's been a lot of controversy about these Olympics being held there in China, so there's this relationship with Tibet as well. There have been many protests, there have been many protests where when the torch was flown from one city to another there were people who blocked the streets so that the torch would not pass. There was a woman who was in a wheelchair, who was a sportswoman from Japan if I'm not mistaken, with the torch and suddenly someone, a Tibetan, jumped on her to take the torch away and she somehow evaded him and this is a photo that was there marked for history.

But there's been contention, there's been controversy in all of this. And in that event that happened on Saturday, it happened that the people who attacked, one of them was the father-in-law of the United States volleyball coach, who died instantly, and his mother-in-law was badly injured in the hospital. That coach had his first game today, Sunday, and he had to suspend his participation and the assistant had to take care of the team so he could deal with this situation with his family. Maybe some would say, like wow, it's his father-in-law, maybe he gets rid of the in-laws, but no. I don't think so. I love in-laws too. But they are prices that must be paid, there is a cost to pay, there is always a level of sacrifice and although one expects it, although one does not want it, but there is always a sacrifice to pay.

And we, my brothers, God always keeps us in this process of being able to move, of us being able to go through those stages of change that he has for us, my brothers. God has put us in this race, if we see this passage that we read, let us run with patience the race that lies ahead of us. In other words, it is a race that has been put there for us, it is as if they had placed us in this new race and we have to walk and run and be patient and have the resistance to be able to reach and achieve those things that God has chosen for us. we.

You know, my brothers, I ask myself this question because I understand that there are times when God is asking something of us and we truly resist it. There are so many times that God has spoken to this church, and when he speaks to the church it is not necessarily the Lion of Judah congregation, but when he speaks to the church, he refers to each one of you who are sitting there. You are the ones who make the Lion of Judah congregation. And it has been heard from all this prophetic word that the Lord is going to bless this church, that he is going to move this church to a new level, that God is going to take this church to new levels of influence over the city, over the nation, words we hear like this. And I don't know if you have stopped at some point and started to think, are we really ready to move to that new level? Am I truly prepared to accept that call from God and be able to be a crucial part in the development of that call, in the implementation of that call on the life of this church? And if so, what are the things, what are the prices that I have to pay, so that I can then be a useful instrument for God so that his purposes and intentions are fulfilled in the midst of these times?

This is a key question, my brothers, that I want and hope that we reflect on in these moments, because it is a beautiful call, it is a precious call, it is a call that stimulates, that excites, every time we hear that word, God has great blessings for the Lion of Judah congregation and what do we do? We clap and say amen, right? I mean, you have done that as far as I know, I have been a witness, I have seen the church applaud and say amen.

But behind those applause and behind those amens, we understand what that is going to require of us, or are you thinking, ah, that call is for Pastor Roberto, for Pastor Greg, for Pastor Omar, they They are the ones who will have the greatest burden. I take it upon myself to continue coming here on Sundays, to offer, to tithe, and I receive what I have to receive and that's it. That will be my contribution to the development of that call. Wow.

My brother, my sister, if that is your thinking, if that is your feeling, we have oil here, to see if we have oil because we have to pray for you. I mean, what I just mentioned is an important part of course, don't get me wrong, but there is something more that the Lord asks of us, not only, my brothers, for things that can be done here through the church, but also for what God is asking for in your individual life. What God is seeking to do in your life, that is what is truly going to have an impact, that is what is truly going to bring a level of influence on people around you. You know what? Jesus himself was one who was telling his disciples, you are going to move to a new level, and you are going to leave new marks. Jesus himself was telling him, he even told him with these words, the things that I have done you are going to do and you are going to make them even greater.

Tell me, have any of you traded five loaves and two fish to feed five thousand people? Have any of you now given on some level for a dead man to rise from wherever he is? Have any of you at some point stood on a corner and you have shared a word where at least 20 people have approached you, and have said, look I want to accept Christ Jesus right now, as well as a spontaneous act?

Have you ever walked somewhere and the mere fact that your shadow brushed against someone that person can sum up an input from God, a touch of his good, a healing touch from him?

Brothers, if it is a word that Jesus himself has given, I wonder, wow, what am I missing for me to be able to see that. What am I missing for me to be able to reach that level to which he himself is calling me to arrive, to which he himself yearns and wishes that I could be? Jesus himself says, no disciple is greater than his teacher, but the time will come when those disciples will be teachers of others. They are new levels, new levels to which they are taking you.

My brothers and sisters, I don't want to bore you anymore so I put this question here in front of all of you with all sincerity. Do you understand that the Lord is calling you to a new level to leave a new mark? If you understand and acknowledge that the Lord is making that invitation over your life in whatever way it may manifest, you know your situation better than I do and God knows your situation too, perhaps moving from one level to another means that you stop suffering from the influence of some kind of addiction, and you can stop solid and say, no, enough is enough, I am going to move to another level, this is not going to be an influence on me. That you can get up and say, this depression is not going to drown me anymore, I am going to get up and I am going to move to another level. This little job that I have now for 5 pesos an hour, no more, I'm going to get up and prepare to get something better. This wife or this wife that I have, no more, no, don't think that you are going to get a better one. Make me repeat the words well, this wife or this wife that I no longer have, I anoint him with oil and he will be the type of man and woman that I long for and desire. This son or this daughter that gives me a headache, no more, I'm going to take my tylenols and continue working with him or her until God really takes them or squeezes them and does something new with them.

Brothers, God calls us to new levels. God calls us, God wants us to be able to reach something more. God's intentions are not for us to remain stagnant at the same level, God's intentions are not for us to be seeing ourselves under the shadow of another person, God that you can get up and see yourself under the shadow of him and his intentions for you. That is what God wants to do in the midst of your life. You know what? I want to end this: athletes in the Olympics bask in the glory of being able to climb on the podium, to be able to grab their gold medal, their bouquet of flowers, raise their hands and say, I did it, I did it. They point to the booths where their relatives are and say, wow, this is for you. And they go and have the press and all the things and they bask in their glory and they bask in the glory of hearing their national anthem, whatever it is, when that flag is raised, they bask in that. There is a pride, there is an ego that builds up, that grows inside and then when they arrive in their native countries, that then they have all the press there, and they become celebrities and then as professional athletes their salary increases, because they already has an olympic medal credential, all those things bask in that glory.

For you know what? It is a passing glory. It is a passing glory that the only way you can keep it is when 4 years later if you manage to keep your record, or break your record and win that medal, you can enjoy it again. But with everything and that, it is a passing glory. We, my brothers, in our career, our glory is an eternal glory. Our glory is the glory of being able to come up and stand in front of Dad and say, Dad I did it. I don't have a gold medal, I don't have a silver medal, I don't have a bronze medal but I have the seal of your Holy Spirit on my heart, I have your blood Jesus, which has covered me, which has healed me, which has restored. I have the purpose, I have the intention that you poured over my heart and I managed to reach x, y, z person for you and for your glory, that is my glory, that is my crown, and here I am with you and this is eternal, this it does not end. I don't need a press spotlight to illuminate me because I have the light of God's face that will be illuminating me forever and ever.

But this is only possible, my brothers, when we keep our eyes focused on the goal and that goal is Jesus. Put our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, of our faith.

Stand up my brothers. Let's get ready to run. We are going to keep running, those who are already running and those who are stuck, I hope this message encourages you to get up and run, even if it is to the altar. But you are not going to be able to enjoy that glory unless your eyes are fixed on Jesus. I want to take this moment, I want to take a parenthesis here, my brothers, to open an opportunity if there is someone here this morning who feels that they have lost their focus, feels that their eyes have diverted to other things, feels that their stamina it has been dominated by life circumstances that have dragged you down, that have put up with you, that have put you on your feet and you cannot move easily, with fluidity. I want to use this moment to open this altar and be able to say a prayer of reconciliation with the Lord and a prayer where you can give your life completely to the Lord once again, whether you are doing it for the first time or because you want to renew your vows with God, I want to open this opportunity for you.

This is the time where I am always very intentional because this is where you respond to God's call on your life. You are not responding to the invitation that Pastor Omar makes, you are responding to God's invitation to you, you are responding to the purpose and intention that God has for your life, you are responding to the possibilities, you are responding to the opportunities that God He himself provides you and they are opportunities that are not dependent on the person next to you, they are opportunities that are founded and based solely on the grace of God and his mercy for each of their lives. That is why I want to take a moment to pray.

If you want to move to that new level, if you want to reconcile your life once more with the Lord, if you understand that you need new strength, new encouragement to continue in this race and be able to run patiently, this opportunity is for you. you now. As you feel in your heart to respond to this call you can do it. That category of people which I was mentioning, that only the brave move to reach for the new and bring others along the way. Those are the brave ones that God calls, those are the brave ones who make a difference, those are the brave ones who enjoy and will enjoy a coming glory that will not be compared to any other. That is the call that God has for you today. And you say, Lord, I want to move to a new level, I want to enter a new stage to set a new record, to set a new mark in history, the story of my life, in someone else's story, I want to be that kind of person, I want to be that man, I want to be that woman, I want to be that young man, I want to be that child who leaves a mark in the life of another person.

I invite you, I want to pray for you, I want to pray for you because God wants to bless you, God wants to take you to that new level, God wants it, God longs for it, it is the desire of the heart of God, the heart of God right now it is throbbing and overflowing for its sons, for its daughters who want to move to a new level, that maybe you want to move but you don't know how to get there. God is there, God is calling you, God is the one who equips you, God is the one who provides you, supplies you with the tools you need, not only to work on your individual situation, but so that you can bring others and lift them up with you to that new dimension that God has for their lives and we can't think like, no maybe God doesn't want to do that with me. No. No, no, God wants to do that with you. God wants to do that with you in the way that God wants, God is going to do it, God is going to do it. It is inevitable, my brother, my sister, you can resist it, you can endure it, you can step aside, you can say, it is not with me, but the call of God is there, the call of God is there on you. He knows what he has put in you, he knows what he has put in your heart. Only he knows how he can heal you, restore you so that you can become the type of person who will reach that new level and bring others with him or her as well.

Dear God in the name of your son Jesus I offer this prayer right now for my brothers and sisters who have passed here to this altar, each one of them, each one of them, they understand, they have recognized this call to move to a new level, that you call them, that you invite them to move to a stage in their lives where they can experience you in new ways and in the same way that they can impart that same blessing on the lives of others and Lord It may be that there are some who have lost their focus, who have set their sights on other things and if we have to ask for forgiveness, Lord, we ask your forgiveness, forgive us for our faults, forgive us for our sins, Jesus, forgive us for straying from your attention, but here we are, Jesus, here we are taking this gesture, taking this action of putting ourselves, Lord, of positioning ourselves in a place where we can start once again with you, where we can refocus once more on your call on our lives so that we can meet over, Jesus, in order to continue that uphill walk, Lord, until we reach the top of that mountain to which you are calling us, Jesus, spirit of God right now imparts on each one of your sons and daughters, imparts on each one of them, Lord, a portion of your spirit, Lord, that serves as that second wind, my God, that elevates them to those new heights in which you want them to walk, Lord, spirit of God come, come and rebel, rebel in the midst of their hearts that they can get rid of, that we can get rid of everything that prevents and limits our career, our walk, our moving with you, Lord, and that we can put our eyes focused on you totally, Lord.

Receive new strength right now in the name of Jesus, whatever your need, whatever that stage you are moving to, receive strength right now in the name of Jesus, receive strength to face a new job, receive strength to face this disease that attacks you, receive strength to face this new stage in your life in which you will have to cope on your own, without the company of someone, receive new strength in the restoration of your marriage, receive new strength in the performance of your work in the new stages in which you will move, receive new strength in these changes of life, changes of location, receive new strength in the name of Jesus, I declare your blessing, Lord, on each one of your sons and daughters present here.

Father, that they can run like those who run to receive the prize, the prize of that eternal glory, the prize of being able to be illuminated by your light, for all eternity, we can keep running firm, Lord, looking towards you . Dad, all the glory is yours, Lord, for all the centuries in the church, Lord, the glory and honor is for you. Manifest yourself to each of your sons and daughters as only you know how to do it in the name of Jesus. Amen and amen.

Thank you Jesus, grace Lord. My brother, my sister, receive this word in the Lord with faith, you will move to new stages, to new dimensions and you will see the hand of God working in you. Leave here blessed and confident that God is the one who walks with you, that God is the one who is there in the midst of your lives. Thank you, and God's peace be with you. Go ahead my brothers.