Faithbase

Thank you for your son, Jesus Christ, that set us free. Lord, I ask you to just please be within this message, God, that you may speak in our hearts, that our minds may be open to hear, and our hearts may also be open to understand, Lord, your word and to understand your truth. We rebuke any type of distraction, or rebuke Satan himself out of any type of our thoughts or any type that try to distract us in the name of Jesus Christ. We give all of our attention to you right now, Jesus. May your name be lifted high, not no man, not no Churchill, but your name, God. And we thank you so much. And the people of God said. Amen. Amen. And as Mike was saying, I just became a daddy. Amen. Amen. Amen. That's right, that's right. And I wanted to show you guys a picture, of course. It's like, I feel like it's a customary thing. And Mia, if you could just put up a picture of my boy right there. That's my boy. His name is Israel. Let me tell you guys, please be praying for me. I'm on like three hours of sleep a night. I'm actually sleepwalking right now. I'll let you know when I woke up. But I thank God so much for him. I thank so much for my wife. I don't know if she's here tonight, or if she's on. I know that she might be on her way. But my wife has been an incredible support for me. And she's doing such a great job at being, we're new parents, we have no idea what we're doing, guys. If it looks like we're doing it right, man, that is just the grace of God, man. Because I have no idea what I'm doing. So, yeah. But I wanted to know, how many people here, and let's be honest, all right? We're in church, we're not gonna judge anybody or anything like that. But how many people here, you look, Peter's already raising his hand, man. You honest, bro, you an honest brother. How many people here have been in CSI? Peter, start taking the names down. These are the people that, I'm just kidding. So, I don't know about you guys, but I know obviously I'm a lot older than you guys. But I remember, you can put your hand down, I know how many times you've been to CSI. But I don't know about you guys, but I remember when I went to CSI, and I literally just went to CSI once, and it wasn't even my fault. You know, I mean, that's how the story goes. It's never our fault, really. It's never our fault, exactly, yeah. But like, I remember I was sick one day, and I realized that I was still recovering from the flu. And I was like, man, I have to go to school today, or else I'm gonna fail this class, because that exam is worth like 99% of the class. This is ridiculous. But then, so I had to make sure that I went to school to take that exam. Now, here's the funny thing. I lived literally a block away from my high school. Like, I could hear the bell ringing from where, like, it would wake me up. That's how close I was to the building of my high school. So, I got out of my house, I started walking down the street, and I could clearly see the building right there. And guess who comes up approaching behind me? Five-O. No, the CSI, no, the Five-O. You were paying attention, I get it. So, the police literally just come up blaring. I was like, hey, it is just one person. Why are you blaring and all? And he comes out and said, like, young man, where are you going? Like, well, I'm going to school. And obviously, he did not believe me. He probably thought that I was trying to skip school, and I was trying to say, no, I live right there. He's like, ha, yeah, right, okay. So, and then, he had the audacity to actually give me a referral, pull out that beautiful piece of pink paper, write my name down, take my ID, my ID, which I still remember all these years, five, eight, eight, 23, 54. But hey, guys, let me tell you, it's gonna be in your minds for the rest of your life. And you know why? Because it's associated with food. So, when you put down your numbers, the last four digits, and like, oh, because you remember, that's how you're gonna remember, just so you guys know. And so, he even told me that I had to ride in the back of the police car. I'm like, sir, the building is right there. Like, seriously? He's like, look, young man, don't get smart with me. Get in the back of the car, blah, blah, blah. I'm like, all right, fine. We'll respect authority, whatever. So, I get in the car, like literally a 10-second ride. You know, he pulls up, we get out of the car, and then immediately to the CSI room. And then, again, I tell my story again. Listen, I'm trying to take an exam. It's worth 99% of the class. If I don't take this exam, I'm gonna fail class, you know? And then, the guy's like, I don't wanna hear it. Just go, sit down, blah, blah, blah, blah. I'm like, whatever. So, I'm literally in CSI, and honestly, this was actually my first time in CSI. So, I was just looking around. There's people chewing the chair down. There's people wandering around the scene. It's a horrible place in CSI. And then, so I'm just thinking, how am I gonna get out of this? I need to get out right now, like ahora. So, then I'm thinking, okay, wait. I know the assistant principal, or at least one of them. So, we're buddy-buddies. We all know, you guys know, when you know the security guards, or you know the lunch lady, lunch lady will hook you up with an extra scoop of macaroni and cheese, you know, that's what's up. So, then I'm like, okay, I know the assistant principal. So, what I do, I go up to the CSI instructor. I'm like, hey, I gotta use the bathroom, bro. Bro, sit down. Like, dude, you want me to pee in my pants? I gotta use the bathroom. All right, fine. So, I go to the bathroom, but I will tell you, I didn't go to the bathroom. Obviously, I went straight to the assistant principal. I went like, hey, they got me locked up. You gotta get me out. She's like, calm down. Why are you yelling? I'm just kidding. I'm like, no, but like, for real, like, please, like, I need, I have to take an exam today. It's worth a large portion of the class, and if I don't take it, like, I was trying to go, I was trying to explain to her everything. Obviously, she believes me, because it was my first time in CSI. So, she said, all right, cool. I got you, Elias. Just go back into the CSI, and then, and I got you. All right, cool. And literally, I waited like 15 minutes. That's right, shh, back there, please, shh. Literally, 15 minutes later, I'm sitting down, and I'm waiting, looking at the clock, sitting down, waiting, looking at the clock, and then I see down the radio, like, oh, CSI instructor, do you got Elias Dahora Jr. in with you? I'm like, yeah, that's me, that's me, that's me, over here, that's me. Like, he's completely avoiding me. I'm like, it's me, it's me, it's me. And then, he's like, let me check. I'm like, no, I'm in here. You know I'm in here. Like, really? He's like, goes down the list, and then he sees, like, yes, I got Elias Dahora here. Like, yes, can you please send him to my office? He's being released from CSI, and of course, you guys know, I'm just like, bye. Like, he gave me the most stank face I've ever seen an adult give an underage child. Like, I swear, I think that guy was gonna kill me. Of course, by the time I get to the assistant principal's office, she threw away the referral, the paper, and I was able to get to my exam in time, whatever. Obviously, I passed high school, woo-hoo. But, the reason why I'm telling you guys this story is that it's always good to know somebody in the place of authority, right? It's always, like I said, it's always good to know somebody where it gives you the hookup, that extra scoop of macaroni and cheese, or that extra scoop of whatever, insert your favorite food here, pizza, you know, whatever it is, hashtag pizza. And the thing I wanna tell you guys today is it's nice to know the right people in the right places to get you things, or to get you out of a place, or to get you into places. And this reminds me of the story about Queen Esther, asking King Xerxes to change his mind from killing all the Jews. You're like, well, Liz, you went from talking about macaroni and cheese to killing all the Jews. Like, you're messing up my mind. All right, just track with me for a second, okay? Just give you guys a quick background. Before Queen Esther was actually queen, this is really cold. Before Queen Esther was actually queen, her name was Hadassah. Say it with me, Hadassah. You could ask and spit into it, Hadassah. And so she was raised by her older cousin, Mordecai. And then Mordecai told her, like, listen, Hadassah, you're gonna have to change your name. She's like, why? Why do I have to change my name? You're gonna have to change your name to Queen Esther because guess what, what? The Queen Vashti just got kicked out of the palace because she refused an order from the king. Like, she's like, what? Say what? Tell the person, no me digas. For you non-Spanish speaker, which I am myself including, he's like, what? Tell me about it. So basically, Mordecai tells Hadassah, who her name then changes to Esther, saying, listen, the king is looking for a new queen because Vashti, Queen Vashti totally screwed up. And what happened with Vashti is that the king had a large banquet and Vashti also had a large banquet for women and he had one for men. And then the king, you know, he wanted to show off his beautiful queen. So he's like, hey, yo, girl, come over here. I gotta show you off, you know, to some people. So she's like, uh-uh, I ain't do that. I ain't about that life. You know, so she basically like totally disobeyed a direct order, a direct, basically what the king says is law, guys. So by her disobeying the king, it was a total slap in the face to him and in front of everybody else too. Everybody was like, what are you gonna do? You gonna let her talk to you about like that, bro? Like, what are you gonna do? Like, catch me outside, do something, bro. Like, come on, man. Like, she's not coming. And then, so basically, they went, I don't want her anymore, kick her out, whatever. So Queen Vashi is gone, bye Felicia. And now, so now you got Queen Esther, who eventually does become queen. She went through the whole process and they don't even know that she was raised as a Jewish person. She's a Jew. This is a totally different type of culture. Now, fast forward some time, like we said, Hadassah finally became Queen Esther, and then we have our first problem. Tell the person next to you, we got a problem. One of the king's most trusted advisor who hated the Jews was able to convince the king to kill all of the Jews. And so then we have a bigger problem. Tell the person next to you, we got a bigger problem. Esther was a Jew and nobody knew this. Now, Esther knew that she was in a place that is really difficult to be in. She was elevated to a position. Now, check this out, you guys. Check this out. Hey, I see you. Ooh, why are you starting like to fight, bro? I don't know. He's grinding out. I'm not fighting over him. So Esther realized that she is in a very difficult position because she is a Jew herself. And so then Mordecai, her older cousin, and this is where we're gonna start reading, getting to the message of the word of God. And that's the chapter four. Mordecai and Esther are talking back with each other. Starting in verse nine, it says, Hathak came back and told Esther everything Mordecai had said. Esther talked it over with Hathak and then sent him back to Mordecai with this message. Everyone who works for the king here and even the people out in the provinces knows that there is a single fate for every man and every woman who approaches the king without even being invited, which was death. The one exception is if the king extends his gold scepter, then he or she may live. It's been 30 days now since I've been invited to come to see the king. When Hathak told Mordecai what Esther had said, Mordecai sent her this message, like Mordecai put her in her place. He said, don't think that just because you live in a king's house, you're the one Jew that will get out of this alive. If you persist staying silent at a time like this, help and deliverance will arrive from the Jews someplace else. But you and your family will be wiped out. Who knows, maybe you were made a queen for such a time as this. Esther then sent her answer back to Mordecai. Go and get all the Jews living in Susa together. Fast for me. Don't eat or drink for three days, either day or night. And I and my maids will fast with you. If you will do this, I will go to the king, even though it's forbidden. If I die, I die. Now, this is a very serious situation, you guys. Because one, you got one guy that literally wants to kill a whole, like he wants to commit genocide. He wants to kill a whole culture. He wants to kill all the Jews. But he doesn't even know that his own queen is a Jew herself. And it's very interesting how even Esther was elevated to the position of queen because God gave her the favor in order to be in that place in the right time. How many times have we been given the opportunity when we're in, it seems like, man, no, this is a coincidence, all this could be true, that we're in the right place at the right time. And it's actually God trying to communicate, listen, there's somebody next to you that needs to hear my word. There's somebody that needs to know that there's light in the darkness. Billy Graham, there's an amazing quote from him. It says, courage is contagious. When one voice speaks out, the other's backs are stiffened up. You know, and what that means is that, can you imagine if you're in your classroom, and man, whatever, they're bashing on Jesus Christ, or they're talking crap about church and how the church is this and the church is that. And yeah, you know what, guys, it's the truth. Some churches are whack, man. But thank God that we live in the city of Miami that has a beautiful church called Calvary, and we call this place home. And this place here, this place is a no-judgment-free zone. This place encourages people to walk with Christ in such a healthy and loving way. And let me tell you, I've been to other churches, you guys. I've been to three other churches. There is no church other than this type of church. Obviously, we're not perfect, and guess what? You're not perfect too, but it's okay. So that if you're in the classroom and somebody's talking crap and whatever, you could be that voice to actually tell that person, like, hey, no, not all churches are like that. Even if you do get rejected, even if you do get persecuted and everything like that, the Bible said, blessed are those who are persecuted for God's name anyway, so you are blessed even if you are persecuted, just so you know. In that moment, the other person that stayed quiet the whole time, they realized that there is another opinion to listen to. Let that sink in. Esther was that other opinion out there while the king was being filled with other information from his most trusted advisor that the Jews are this, that the Jews are that, the Jews are gonna take over. You need to kill them all now. Esther was put in a position to say, like, you know what? No, we're not all this. No, we're not all that. You know, in fact, I am a Jew. Look how I am. You know, and then I wanna show you guys that how many times, I'm sorry, I got lost for a second, but how many times have we been in a position where we speak up and stand for, and we don't stand for more integrity, for justice, or to even speak about Jesus Christ, but we don't. We have the opportunity and we don't. The worst that can happen to us here in Miami is that the people will unfriend us on Facebook. Really? Now, imagine living in a place like in China, guys, for a second, or in a place like in Pakistan, where if you even mention the name of Christ, people are literally physically persecuting you, bombing your house, making threats at your family, wanting to kill you. Here, you know, like, I thank God for this country. It may not be perfect, but we get to be able to have that freedom to speak about Christ to people. And as a young generation, guys, you guys need to realize that, that you guys have the freedom to speak about Christ, whether it be in school, whether it be at your jobs, or wherever you guys are. And then, because if we can't stand for something, we will fall for anything, you guys. Tell the person next to you, even bigger problem. Remember what happened to Queen Vashti? I know, it's a very long thing. She got kicked out for not appearing. This is 10 times, 100 times worse. Esther is going to get killed to appear before a king without invitation. How many of us are willing to actually put our lives down tonight? And like I said just right now, it's not like somebody's actually going to physically persecute you and try to kill you. Like here, the worst thing that really can happen is they're going to unfriend you or block you, or like, oh, I don't like these comments that you're posting, but get out. Nobody invited you anyways. You know, like there's in a country where we are most divided, we need to be thankful that we come to a house like this, that we are so united. Look at everybody who's around. Look how many people are in this room. And you mean to tell me that you go out to the schools and you can't find that one Christian? I bet you will find other Christians. What it is, you've got to stand out. You've got to make yourself known. Are you guys with me? Sorry, I got a little bit. Sorry. A little bit. A little bit. All right. God has called us to be a generation to be desperate, desperately to pursue him for such a time as this. I wanted to show you guys a visualization of how Esther went before the king. It's not obviously the perfect exact representation, exactly what it said in the Bible, but I'm a theater geek. I love movies. I love theater. I'm going to go see Logan later, because don't spoil for me, so shut up. But I love how we have the ability to be creative and make movies about the Bible. It's us using our different talents to try to show the world what Christ is about. And this movie is a really cool movie. I think it's called Queen Esther. I forgot the name of the title, but look it up. But just look at this minute, just one minute clip real quick. So maybe if you could shut up. Put up the sound. Put the sound up all the way up. Oh, my God. I told you it was an awesome video. Now, you guys got the picture, literally, of what the Bible tells us about Esther's life, how she approached a king, how she risked her life in order to save a generation. I'm going to encourage you guys here tonight. I want to let you guys know that you guys have the authority. For you guys to be bold in your faith, for you guys to not just be bold out here in the basketball court, not to be bold here. Oh, it's so easy to worship in here. It's so easy to pray out in the hallways. But what I want you guys to do is to actually step out of your comfort zone, just like how Esther stepped out of her comfort zone. Sometimes we need that type of person to call us out. Mordecai called her out, like, listen, you're living a comfortable life up there, but we're about to get killed. Like, you think you're going to be spared? Like, they're going to come after you, too, as soon as they find out. Like, guys, being a Christian is not something that should be a burden to us. Being Christian, it should be something that makes our lives at peace. I didn't say make our lives easier. I said make our lives at peace. Let me tell you, I'm 24 years old. I'm about to be 25. I'm a father. My boy is three weeks old right now. And you're probably thinking, like, yeah, you're a young guy. Yeah, I am. Everybody has different paces in their lives. But when I look into Israel's eyes, into my boy's eyes, I realize, like, man, like, I got to step up my game. Because the steps that I'm taking, he's going to follow it. I know the steps that my father never took, I wasn't able to take because he wasn't there for me. So I want to try to be a better father for him. That's just my relationship between my son and I. But what about with you? What about with your mom or your dad or your sisters? Like, brothers, if you're a brother here, own up to you being a brother. Like, help your sister out. Help a brother out, sisters. Like, lead your family, lead your friendships into a better place. Like, I know sometimes we want to just have fun and be cool and stuff like that. But let me tell you guys, you guys are probably around between the ages of like 12 and 18 right now. Well, guess what? Life is going to end at one point. All we've obtained is going to be given to another person. In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon wrote, like, everything that I've obtained is going to be given to someone else that hasn't worked hard for it. So put that in perspective. I'm not saying that we can't have nice things, but I'm saying that we need to have our heart checked and put in the right place. And if you're thinking, I can't be bold, Elias. I can't be as bold as Esther was. I don't have that type of personality. Oh, I'm just not who I am, but it's okay. I'm not calling y'all to be a person that you are not. Like, please do not be who you are not. Don't try to be someone else. Be who you are in Christ, because it's possible. You know, Jesus did the biggest overruling known to man. He took our past, our mistakes, our failings as his own. And just like when the king stopped the death penalty over Queen Esther, he stopped the death penalty over us. We have a clean slate. If sin is not an issue for us. Oh, but it is, but I'm still struggling with it. Sin is not an issue of us. Oh, but Elias, I keep falling again. Sin is not an issue to us. And I have to repeat that again and again, because you know what? I said that, I say it to myself too, you guys. If we fall, guess what? We have to get back up. It's a have to, guys. Especially now more than ever, I have a son. If I fall, I have to get up, because I have to make sure that he gets to know Christ the best ability that I can. And guess what? People around you, you have to let them know Christ the best ability that you can. It's a have to, guys. You know, Christ is gonna come back, and we don't know when. But until then, hey, let's party like it's 1995. Let's have fun, but also let us take people with us to heaven as well. And it's not about how close we can get to the fire, guys, but how far away we can get from it. Because a lot of us like to play with fire, and guys, let me tell you, it's not worth it. It's not worth giving your body to the wrong people. It's not worth it drinking the liquids that just try to drown out your sorrows. It's not worth it cutting yourself, guys, it's not. Because all of these things are temporary solutions. I mean, they're just solutions that you're gonna try over and over again, and it's never gonna satisfy the soul. I just love that Jesus, man, like, he provided in such a way when he died on the cross, you guys. I remember one time I was saying this to people, and it sinks in so well. The God of all creation came down. He didn't have to. He died on the cross, and literally, through all the pain that he took, he could've been like, I am broken. No, he didn't. He had every right to step off of the cross, but he didn't. I pray that this message sinks into your heart, not just for tonight, but for other moments that when you realize, like, this is the moment Elias was talking about, and it's gonna be that moment you're gonna realize, am I gonna let this moment pass by, or am I gonna be the make it or break it moment for this person? God has given us that authority. He's ultimately sovereign. He's ultimately God, but he has invited us to take this journey with him, and to invite others to also take the journey. I wanna do an invitation. You know, we do this here every Friday night, and it's for people who don't know Christ. It's for people who want to know God more on a deeper level. And if that's you, I want everybody to close your eyes in this moment. I don't want anybody to be going in and out of the doors. Just stay seated. Even after the altar call, stay seated. But if that's you, if you wanna accept Jesus Christ, the one who gave his life for us, the one who empowers people, the one that saves people, the one that says, like, listen, you gotta keep going. You gotta pick up your cross and follow me because eternity is ahead. And if that's you, on the count of three, I wanna pray with you. I wanna get to know you. We wanna get to know you. We wanna know how you are. We wanna talk to you, and we wanna make sure that you are walking by faith. And if that's you, one, God loves you. Two, God cares for you. And three, right where you are, just stand up where you are. If you wanna accept Jesus Christ, stand up to believe in him.