Be encourage with biblical encouragement and inspiration from Pastor Kevin Berry. Receive leadership tips to succeed in your work or daily life, follow along with daily devotionals, and receive practical steps to walk out your Christian life.
The Lord has spoken the word TRANSFORMATION over Mount Hope Church this year. We learned earlier this year that one of the most significant transformational moments of your life is when you become filled with the power of the Holy Spirit!
Over these last several months, we have also learned that we are meant to be together. When we live out the best of days or go through the worst, we must be joined together as family. There are times of testing, trouble, and persecution ahead, yet there are times of wonderful joy as well! We are being prepared for an awakening like nothing we have experienced before. As we eagerly anticipate all that God is going to do, I cannot think of anything better than to give our entire church family the opportunity to be filled and refilled with the Holy Spirit.
You will want to be here on Sunday, August 29 with Pastor Dave Williams at 8:30 & 10:30am and a special 6:00pm service as he leads us into our next series, FILLED. You can’t miss the transformation of Jesus’ disciples before they were filled with the Holy Spirit and after they were filled with the Holy Spirit. They went from cowering in fear to being bold and full of faith. Beyond obvious boldness, prophetic speech, and gifts of the Spirit at work, the disciples were filled with the love of God. Love made the difference between them and the rest of the world.
In this series, you will discover:
Following our powerful services with Pastor Dave, Life Groups will kick off on Sunday, September 5th as we dive even deeper into all the Holy Spirit offers us as believers. We know that we cannot succeed spiritually alone; we are meant to do this life together. As we grow personally and help others grow, would you join me in being part of a Life Group this fall?
We believe you have what it takes to host a Life Group right in your home! Sign up to host this 9-session series starting September 5. Each week, I’ll provide a video teaching with others pastors, questions to ask the group, and a week-by-week discussion guide.
I love America and thank God that while He could have put me anywhere on the planet, He chose America as my temporary earthly home. However, as I look across our nation and take note of the deception, division, violence, and sexual immorality, I’ve come to one conclusion. We desperately need another spiritual awakening in this nation! What the Scriptures call moral rot has filled this land. We need more than better policies and laws. It’s time for some unusual prayer. It’s time to become more intentional in leading people to salvation through Jesus. For the sake of people headed for the dungeons of the damned, an eternity in hell, we need revival. We, the Church, stand at a crossroads. What will we do? It’s easy to sit on the sidelines and criticize our elected officials, the Church, and each other, but it will accomplish nothing.
This is what the Lord says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’ – Jer. 6:16
The greatest danger for America is not a virus, climate change, cyberattacks, or the terrorists on the outside, but the moral rot and wickedness within the country—
pornography, adultery, violence, sexual perversion, greed, deception, prayerlessness, and hypocrisy. At the heart of every sin is a rejection of God’s authority.
When there is moral rot within a nation, its government topples easily. But wise and knowledgeable leaders bring stability. -Proverbs 28:2
The Church is the only one that has the cure to America’s most profound problems. Who else can set people free from years of bondage? Who else can offer eternal life? Who else can transform hearts and lives? As followers of Christ, this is our time to rise to the occasion. The hope for America starts with these words taken from 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people…” (that’s you and me)! It’s our time to pray and to represent the Kingdom of God on the earth every day!
Will you join me in prayer on Wednesdays at 7:00pm? Together, let’s write a new future through our prayers for our lives, this region, and our nation.
Heavenly Father, we come before you in the name of Jesus Christ, your Son. We pray for our leaders in America—our local, state, national leaders, judicial, legislative, and executive leaders. We plead the blood of Jesus over them and their families. We ask you to direct the hearts and minds of our leaders according to Proverbs 21:1 that says the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord, and you direct it like a stream of water. May they make decisions based on your will and your plans for this country. Surround our leaders with godly counselors that will agree with your Word. Lord, we ask you to remove from positions of authority those who stubbornly oppose righteousness. Replace them with men and women who will follow your plans for our schools, cities, states, and our nation. Your kingdom come, and your will be done!
I love you, and thank God that we are in this together!
– Your Friend and Pastor, Kevin Berry
And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” – Mark 11:22-24
When Jesus said, “whoever says to this mountain…,” He was teaching us something crucial. If you change what you say, you can change your life. What do you say to the “mountains” in your life? It might be time to change what you are saying. There have been times when I have blown it and said all the wrong things, but eventually I would come back to the truth of what God has spoken.
Have fun making your own list of declarations from the Word of God over your life and family!
Dear friend, I found this prayer that the Apostle Peter prayed for believers who were facing difficult times, and I’m praying this prayer for you!
“May God give you more and more grace and peace.” – 1 Peter 1:2b
In a world that was becoming increasingly hostile toward Christians, Peter knew that believers would need grace and peace. They would soon feel the hatred and rejection of an unbelieving world. Their faith was about to be tested in a way that they had never experienced before. Yet, at the same time, they were jumping for joy because of Jesus. They had an inward joy that could not be touched by this world.
I know this last year has been a difficult season for many. Yet, because of Jesus, we have every reason to jump for joy. The days before the return of Christ will be filled with both difficult times and times of massive spiritual awakening! On Sundays, we are going through Peter’s letter to believers. He tells us how to live with inward joy while in a world that becomes increasingly hostile to Christians. His counsel for you might not be what you want to hear, but it’s what you need to hear. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, he will give you counsel that will refresh, inspire, and sustain you!
“More and more grace and peace…” I speak these words over you as a declaration of God’s favor over your life! I’m telling you, more and more of God’s grace and peace is chasing after you! Say it out loud, “Right now, God is giving me more grace and peace!” Worry has tried to chase you down. Fear has tried to take hold of you. But, Beloved, even right now, God’s grace and peace are settling down over you like a blanket. I hear the Lord whispering to your heart:
From before you were born, I’ve had my eye on you. I have always loved you. There has not been one day of your life that I have not had my eye on you. Yes, even in the times when you thought you were forgotten, rejected, I have had my eye on you. Yes, I have guided and guarded you all the days of your life.
I know the path I’ve called you to is not easy. I knew there would be moments of great joy and moments of heartache. I know all about the moments of celebration with friends, and I know the bitter sting of rejection. There will be moments of trials and troubles that you must endure. Here is what you must know, I AM with you! As I was with Moses, I AM with you. As I was with Gideon, I AM with you. I am not with you any less than I was with them, and that is all you need; I AM all you need!
“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.”
– 1 Peter 1:6“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.”
– Romans 5:3-4
Endurance means to stay under; to have staying power; to remain under what feels uncomfortable. It’s your staying power in trouble today that develops you for the trouble and victory in tomorrow.
I sense a stirring from the Holy Spirit. I’m praying that as the world comes out of the season marked by COVID, we enter a season of spiritual awakening like we have never seen before. Renee and I love you, thank God for you, and are keeping you covered in prayer!
The word “church” comes from two Greek words: Called and Out. The Strong’s Concordance reads this way: “called out from their homes to gather together.” We know the Church is not a building, and the Church is not just believers in Christ. The Church is believers called out—yes, called out of darkness and into the light of Jesus, and also called out of our homes to gather together.
Over the last year, many believers have become accustomed to watching the Church instead of gathering with the Church. Please hear my heart, I understand some are unable to gather right now. One of my concerns about this season is that believers may settle into a routine of being apart from the family—the local Church—and that’s a dangerous place to be. When we become born again, God adopts us into His family. He puts us into a local church that gathers together to worship.
The bottom line is that we were never called just to watch. Out of all the things we watch in life, the Church is not supposed to be one of them. The believers gathered—that’s the Church—something we participate in. We all play our part to help somebody else grow. We encourage one another, pray for one another, bear one another’s burdens… and mostly, we love one another. We gather to be equipped for the going. I love you and want the best for you.
I could not be more excited about the moments we are living in. Something from Heaven that will go global is about to be birthed out of this family called Mount Hope Church. I feel it in my bones. I’m so glad that the Lord has added you to The Hope, and I am so looking forward to seeing you soon!
Pray right now, asking the Lord to wake up your sleepy heart. If receiving holy communion doesn’t move you emotionally, you’re in a rut. If your heart no longer erupts with joy as you sing about the grace of God and the blood of Jesus, you’re in a rut. If that is you, take heart. The Lord loves you so much He comes to you, He comes to wake up His sleepy Bride. The Apostle Paul spoke to sleeping Christians in one of the greatest churches of the day, Ephesus, and said: “Awake, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light” (Ephesians 5:14). Now stir up the gift of God that is in you. Get around some people that are passionate about God, let the embers of their life light up something fresh from the Spirit in you.
Samson fell into the trap of getting older, but not any holier. He had the call—he was God’s man of the hour—but he thought that his conduct didn’t have to line up with his God. His self-deception led him to eventually lose his eyes and then his life. If you take a glance at your life for a minute, are you getting holier? Do your conversations sound more like the way Jesus talks? Are the fruits of the Holy Spirit evident in your life? (See Galatians 5:22-23.) The Scriptures say, “Wake up to righteousness, and stop sinning” (1 Corinthians 15:34). I encourage you to read the book, “The Beauty of Holiness” by Pastor Dave Williams. As he mentions right on the cover, it is an exciting pursuit!
I’ve noticed something while making campfires. If I want to get a fizzling fire to start bursting into flames, I just push the burning embers together. If I want to get a fire to go out, I just spread the embers out, and eventually, the fire dies. In these last days before the return of Christ, you can expect that persecution will increase as sin will run rampant everywhere. At the same time, there will be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit like this world has never seen before. We are told that many in the last days will depart from the faith as the tension between this world’s kingdom and God’s kingdom increases. The Apostle Paul said, “Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts” (2 Timothy 2:22). Your alliances are critical in this season.
We were made by God out of dust, and if we are not careful, we will act just like dust and settle. When COVID came on the scene last year, I remember telling our church family, “When the world goes back to normal, don’t go with them.” But I think we did, at least to a degree. In some ways, we slowly settled back into our regular routine. No more! I felt strongly a few weeks ago that we must break out of the rut. We simply cannot experience the transformation God has for us this year as long as we keep doing the same thing. The word of the Lord to Moses speaks to us today:
When we were at Mount Sinai, the Lord God said to us, “You have stayed at this mountain long enough. It’s time to break camp and
move on.” – Deuteronomy 1:6-7
The Lord was telling Israel there was a promised land for them, flowing with milk and honey. He was saying, “Look! I’m giving it to you, now go in and occupy it!” Where the Lord has taken us as a church family is good, but we have not arrived. I hear the Lord saying to Mount Hope, “Come up higher! There is more than what you have been walking in. I’ve given it to you. Wake up, my Bride… wake up, my Beauty!” If you’ve found yourself in a spiritual rut, how do you get out?
Dear friend, I love you, thank God for you, and am praying for you. The last several months have been filled with both immense challenges and tremendous opportunities. I see God at work, positioning us for another Great Awakening. I hear the sound of a transformation coming! Look what happens when the sounds of Heaven hit the earth:
The sound from Heaven filled the house where they were sitting. Then everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages (Acts 2:2-4). A new sound came out of the believers that day. First, there was a sound from Heaven, then a sound from the Church, and so it is today.
I hear a new sound coming out of the church today. It’s the sound of hunger, thirst, repentance, and uncontrollable joy! Years ago, I woke up prophesying loudly in my sleep, “The hungry are coming! The hungry are coming!” Now I see them—I see among us the hungry and thirsty, the very people God promises to fill (Isaiah 44:3). I hear the shouts of joy! Joy comes, and it’s on the way! Joy is coming! As the Scriptures say, “Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalms 30:5).
Tension… have you felt it lately?
The Apostle John, and the Christians in the churches he is writing to, stand between two worlds… and there is great tension. In this world, Satan has his throne surrounded with sexual immorality, compromise, mixture, and mass deception. John, in the midst of this world, was “canceled,” rejected, and put on an island full of prisoners. The cancel culture of his day sought to cancel his voice and his faith… and eventually cancel his life.
At the same time, John was part of another world. As a child of God through faith in Christ, he was part of a heavenly family. So there he was worshiping the Lord, becoming more aware of God’s kingdom and God’s throne when he suddenly heard the Lord’s voice and saw a glimpse of the Master. His feet were on the earth, but his heart and mind and emotions were in Heaven. Then it happened…
“Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me like a trumpet blast. The voice said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.’” – Revelation 4:1
I hear the Lord saying to us… “Come up here. I want you to come up higher.”
“When we were at Mount Sinai, the Lord our God said to us, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. It is time to break camp and move on.’” – Deuteronomy 1:6-7
The greatest threat to the Church is not the liveliness of sin around us, but the deadness in us. It is the Church settling for life stuck in a rut. In becoming so much like the world, if we don’t feel any tension, we will make no impact. Remember that the Church is made of believers called out to gather—the gathering of the saints. It is not any more or less than the individuals that make up the gathering; you cannot change the Church without changing the individuals. So, the Lord is personally calling you higher!
John saw a door standing open in Heaven—a door that shows us the unlocked access. For some, Heaven seems distant to everyday reality on Earth, yet it is close at hand and saturates all that takes place on Earth. This opened the Apostle John’s senses as he took the journey higher. He would see and hear things he never experienced before:
“I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell.” – 2 Corinthians 12:4
“And instantly I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it. The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones—like jasper and carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circled his throne like a rainbow.” – Revelation 4:2-3
Jesus said we get to come boldly before the throne! We have been seated with Christ in heavenly places. While we are all too aware of what’s available in this earthly realm, we do not want to miss what’s in Heaven that we can bring to Earth.
The occupied throne is the focus of all John sees in his visit to Heaven. It is significant to point out that the throne is a powerful declaration of God’s presence and sovereign, rightful reign; His responsibility to guide, care for and judge His creation. We won’t think rightly about anything in life until we settle in our minds that there is an occupied throne in Heaven, and from that throne, God actively rules over the affairs of the earth right now.
The atheist says, “There is no throne, no seat of authority or power that the entire universe must answer to, no God who gives us life or guidelines for living.” The humanist says, “There is a throne and I sit on it; I make the rules for living as I see fit.”
As a Christ-follower, if you see God on the throne, you won’t keep trying to get on it. When you see that the throne is not empty, you get some peace that God knows what He is doing… He has the proper time. Your prayer has been heard; now trust in God’s proper time for the answer.
An angel told Zechariah: “For my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time.” – Luke 1:20
What does John see happening around God’s occupied throne?
Twenty-four thrones surrounded him, and twenty-four elders sat on them. They were all clothed in white and had gold crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder. And in front of the throne were seven torches with burning flames. This is the sevenfold Spirit of God. In front of the throne was a shiny sea of glass, sparkling like crystal. In the center and around the throne were four living beings, each covered with eyes, front and back. The first of these living beings was like a lion; the second was like an ox; the third had a human face; and the fourth was like an eagle in flight. Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty— the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.” Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever), the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and say, “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.” – Revelation 4:4-11
We live with the tension of being between two worlds. The question is: How do we live in such a way where we become more aware of the Kingdom of Heaven than this earthly kingdom? How do we awaken our spiritual senses?
The transformation of our life starts right here. REPENT. This means an absolute and ultimate surrender to God and decision to turn from our sins. In the letters to the churches we’ve been studying in Revelation, Jesus called them to repent five times!
“Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first.” – Revelation 2:5
“Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again.” – Revelation 3:3
What is it you heard and believed at first? Hold firmly to it.
The word repent is for the church, not just those who don’t know Christ. Repentance is a growing, Kingdom lifestyle, not just a one-time thing. The Lord, in His amazing grace, has been taking us through a season of repentance… and it’s making our spiritual senses come alive!
Want your spiritual senses to come alive? Look what John did:
“It was the Lord’s Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit. Suddenly, I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet blast. When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands.” – Revelation 1:10, 12
While John still had the smell of the prison in his nose, when he could hear the prisoners, when he could still feel the sting of being canceled, rejected… he worshiped!
Worship is foundational to your life as a right view of God! Knowing God’s hand is on everything in your life will banish fear. Knowing angels worship God nonstop, shouldn’t that prompt our worship also? As we worship, we begin to see all of life from Heaven’s perspective. This means we rise above the hysteria, hype, and deceptions in this world. A life of worship is to live above the temptations to conform.
Worship also paints a powerful picture of unity. In Revelation 4, we see the unity of the elders and the four living beings. The elders represent the people of God—the Church—all the faithful, different people of different times, worshiping together in unity! Church, the family that should be worshiping together has been fighting. Satan has tried to divide God’s family. How foolish to allow the issues of this passing world to divide people from another world. Let’s be reminded that the things that unite us are bigger than the things that could divide us.
Remember how Jesus told us to pray… as it is in Heaven let it be on the earth. This is what we do when we live in with the tension of a world filled with sin, with evil all around us.
In Acts 2, they prayed down rain. They were promised power from Heaven. They prayed, they waited, then sounds from Heaven filled the room and tongues of fire settled on each person. Then, “when they heard the loud noise, everyone came running” (Acts 2:6).
Rain doesn’t fall; it is pulled down by gravity. Read further into Revelation 5 and see the prayers of God’s people being stored up til they get to a tipping point. Then like gravity, the rain is pulled down to the earth. Yes, we are to pray… and then obey! Don’t try and only pray down something that the Lord is telling you to do. Be encouraged—the Lord will be right with you.
What happens when some of Heaven comes to the earth? We get to be part of what God is doing as He sends us out to: heal the sick, cast out demons, be His witnesses, tell our story, care for the poor, orphans, and widows… and overcome evil with goodness. With God, we have the power of prayer, the joy of obedience, and the sweet wonder of His presence!
The Lord is calling you to come up higher!
Awaken your senses. Take a few moments to meditate on these thoughts:
Repent.
The word repent is for the Church, not just those who don’t know Christ. We would only have to repent once if we only ever sinned once. It’s part of growing… daily. As the Lord takes us through this season of repentance, take time this week to discover those things you see in yourself alongside what the Word of God calls us to. Here are some great passages to start:
As you read and listen to the Holy Spirit, write it down. For example, if you are not a patient person, but God’s Word tells us that love is patient, simply write, “I am patient.” Pour out your heart to God and see what He does! This is a simple but powerful exercise.
Worship. Get Heaven’s perspective.
Bring some of Heaven to Earth.