WEBVTT 00:00:24.539 --> 00:00:26.859 Hey, good afternoon, new life. 00:00:27.099 --> 00:00:28.379 How are you doing? 00:00:30.299 --> 00:00:33.659 It's such an honor for me to be uh to be here today. 00:00:33.820 --> 00:00:39.659 I don't know if you're aware of it, but you are in the middle of a miracle. 00:00:39.899 --> 00:00:47.500 I heard that in the few weeks, like in October, it's gonna be one year of full, full year of service every week. 00:00:47.659 --> 00:00:48.459 Is that right? 00:00:49.340 --> 00:00:55.340 So it's incredible to see everything that God has done in less than a full year of service. 00:00:55.500 --> 00:01:01.260 Can we just uh say thank to God and giving glory to him this uh this afternoon? 00:01:01.739 --> 00:01:07.900 And I'm sure that the the best is yet to come for new life. 00:01:08.219 --> 00:01:15.340 And just before I uh I dive in the message this afternoon, I just want to take a minute to uh to honor your pastor. 00:01:15.980 --> 00:01:26.939 Uh and I'm glad you're you're now in the front row, uh Pastor Selvin, because I don't know your life if you're aware of it, but you are blessed to have Pastor Selvin as your pastor. 00:01:28.299 --> 00:01:29.739 You're very blessed. 00:01:31.259 --> 00:01:43.979 You know, you're blessed to have a pastor who loves God, loves God's people, and is you know filled with so much passion uh for Jesus and seeing Jesus alive in the life of people. 00:01:44.060 --> 00:01:46.060 So today I honor you, Pastor. 00:01:46.140 --> 00:01:51.579 I love you very much, and I know that God will continue to use you in a mighty way in the future. 00:01:51.819 --> 00:01:52.619 So receive it. 00:01:52.699 --> 00:02:01.819 I love you very much, and uh, maybe as yeah maybe as you have noticed, I speak French, I have an accent, you know. 00:02:01.899 --> 00:02:08.140 I come from a small town near Quebec City, and uh preaching in English is always a challenge for me. 00:02:08.219 --> 00:02:11.740 I'm doing it like maybe like three to five times a year, top. 00:02:11.900 --> 00:02:13.900 So it's always a challenge. 00:02:14.060 --> 00:02:18.140 So this afternoon I'm asking for your grace and mercy. 00:02:19.340 --> 00:02:27.740 And if I'm saying something that you don't understand this afternoon, I just trust the Holy Spirit to translate it in your heart. 00:02:27.979 --> 00:02:33.259 Alright, so I will just preach with my heart and the Holy Ghost will do the rest. 00:02:33.419 --> 00:02:34.139 All right, amen. 00:02:34.780 --> 00:02:35.099 Amen. 00:02:35.419 --> 00:02:35.979 Alright. 00:02:36.219 --> 00:02:43.579 So uh this afternoon we uh we uh pursue, we continue uh together the uh the series on the book of Psalms. 00:02:43.740 --> 00:02:48.620 So if you have a Bible, turn with me in Psalm 18. 00:02:49.099 --> 00:02:55.019 If you don't have a Bible, uh there's no stress, all the scriptures will show up on the screen in front of you. 00:02:55.180 --> 00:02:59.340 Uh, but turn with me in Psalm 18 if you have if you have a Bible. 00:02:59.579 --> 00:03:19.900 And you know, during the series we discovered a lot of different psalms, and you know the Psalms sometimes we don't know the background, we don't know the backstory of the Psalms that we are reading, but in Psalm 18, in this uh uh chapter, we know who wrote it, and we know the backstory of this psalm. 00:03:20.219 --> 00:03:23.259 Psalm 18 was uh written by uh King David. 00:03:23.419 --> 00:03:54.460 King David was the the greatest king uh of uh God's people histories, the greatest king, King David, he wrote a lot of different psalms, and David was Saul's successor, and we know that David wrote that psalm at the end of a very difficult season, at the end of uh many years of of struggle and battles with Saul, because when David was uh was ready to take the throne, it it was God's calling on his life to take Saul's place. 00:03:55.019 --> 00:04:04.219 But after a few years, not a few days, a few years of struggle because of Saul's uh anger and jealousy. 00:04:04.460 --> 00:04:10.539 Uh David will finally take the throne, but just before that, he will wrote Psalm 18. 00:04:10.780 --> 00:04:13.740 And that's the backstory of this chapter. 00:04:13.979 --> 00:04:19.420 When we are reading it in a few seconds, you have to put yourself in in David's shoes. 00:04:19.660 --> 00:04:22.780 He's at the end of a very difficult season with Saul's. 00:04:22.860 --> 00:04:26.699 Uh Saul's, you know, attacking him and wanted really to just kill him. 00:04:27.100 --> 00:04:31.500 And David is reflecting on God's faithfulness during that season. 00:04:31.660 --> 00:04:36.460 So if you have a Bible, we will read together verse 1 through 9. 00:04:36.620 --> 00:04:37.500 Are you ready? 00:04:38.300 --> 00:04:40.860 All right, Psalm 18, verse 1. 00:04:41.579 --> 00:04:59.659 To the choir master, a psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. 00:05:00.139 --> 00:05:04.779 He said, I love you, O Lord, my strength. 00:05:05.019 --> 00:05:14.540 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge. 00:05:14.860 --> 00:05:21.420 My shield in the horn of my and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 00:05:21.579 --> 00:05:24.379 You can say amen, whenever you want, it's still good. 00:05:25.740 --> 00:05:34.379 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. 00:05:35.259 --> 00:05:41.579 The cores of death encompassed me, and the torrents of destruction assailed me. 00:05:41.819 --> 00:05:48.540 The cores of the grave entangled me, and the snares of death confronted me. 00:05:49.019 --> 00:05:52.699 In my distress, I called upon the Lord. 00:05:52.939 --> 00:06:03.740 To my God I cried for help, and from his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. 00:06:03.980 --> 00:06:07.899 And just right there, that's a word for somebody this afternoon. 00:06:08.060 --> 00:06:16.459 Because maybe there's someone that's under the sound of my voice, and you're asking yourself, uh, is God really like does he care about what I'm going through? 00:06:16.699 --> 00:06:18.219 Does he hear what I'm praying? 00:06:18.300 --> 00:06:20.459 And that's a word for you right there. 00:06:20.779 --> 00:06:26.139 When you pray, when you cry to the Lord, he hears every single time. 00:06:26.459 --> 00:06:29.339 Somebody should say, Amen to that. 00:06:29.579 --> 00:06:32.139 Then the herd reeled and rocked. 00:06:32.379 --> 00:06:39.100 The foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked because he was angry. 00:06:39.500 --> 00:06:44.540 Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth. 00:06:44.699 --> 00:06:47.980 Glowing coals flamed forth from him. 00:06:48.219 --> 00:06:54.379 And that's verse number nine, one of the most beautiful verse I read in a long time. 00:06:55.019 --> 00:06:59.659 He bowed the heavens and came down. 00:07:02.219 --> 00:07:08.300 The title of my message today is The Battle I Didn't Choose. 00:07:09.259 --> 00:07:10.860 The battle I didn't choose. 00:07:11.259 --> 00:07:46.699 And you know, now at uh 36 years old, I have a little bit of life experience, and I know that's you know, so some some someone is laughing at that right now at 36 years old, but you know, after I have two children, that they are now eight and eleven, and after pastoring for a few years now, I I you know I love to say to myself that okay, I have a little bit of experience now, and I have just enough experience in life to know that everybody under the sound of my voice right now will face sooner or later a battle that you didn't choose. 00:07:46.939 --> 00:07:59.019 Everybody, I don't care about your uh annual revenue, I don't care how much zeros you have in your uh uh investments, I don't care how many letters you have in front of your name because of all of your diplomas and all that. 00:07:59.339 --> 00:08:07.259 Everybody, under the sound of my voice voice, will face one day a battle that you didn't choose. 00:08:08.459 --> 00:08:09.980 We will all face that. 00:08:10.219 --> 00:08:13.339 And if we're honest, that's just the truth. 00:08:13.659 --> 00:08:19.019 If we're also honest, there's some battles in our lives that could be avoided. 00:08:23.420 --> 00:08:31.579 There's some battles in our lives that are not just spiritual attacks, there are some battles in our lives that could be avoided. 00:08:31.819 --> 00:08:37.659 Uh, for example, if if somebody comes to me after the service and say, Pastor JP, can you please pray for me? 00:08:37.820 --> 00:08:41.740 I I have I need prayers in my finances, and I'm real attacked in my finances. 00:08:41.980 --> 00:08:43.019 I need prayer in my finances. 00:08:43.259 --> 00:08:45.659 Okay, yeah, I will gladly pray for you, my brother. 00:08:45.820 --> 00:08:47.420 Can you just explain to me what's going on? 00:08:47.580 --> 00:08:57.019 Like, I can't pay rent this month because you know, last month I I subscribed to an online course, uh, you know, because I really I pray I'm praying for a breakthrough in my finances. 00:08:57.179 --> 00:09:01.259 Okay, what's the name of the online course you subscribed to last month? 00:09:01.419 --> 00:09:05.419 Yeah, the name of the course was uh how to become a millionaire in 30 days. 00:09:06.700 --> 00:09:15.419 You know, I will I will pray for you, my brother, but you don't need deliverance, you need just to develop the wisdom God is calling you to develop in your life. 00:09:15.500 --> 00:09:17.019 Okay, somebody should say amen. 00:09:17.500 --> 00:09:20.620 That's a battle that could be avoided. 00:09:21.179 --> 00:09:21.740 All right. 00:09:21.980 --> 00:09:35.100 Uh, if I I just can open my heart to you uh this afternoon in Quebec City, uh, we just moved from a new in a new facility this summer, but we are still in a setup and tear down uh kind of church. 00:09:35.179 --> 00:09:48.379 So every Sunday morning we have to set up everything uh and just welcome people, serve the people of God, and after three services, every Sunday we have to tear down everything, uh, and it's a it's a it's a school actually where we are. 00:09:48.539 --> 00:09:53.740 So on Sunday it's a church, uh during the week it's a school, so we're doing it every week. 00:09:53.899 --> 00:09:58.379 Uh and all our most of our teams they they come at 6 30 a.m. 00:09:58.779 --> 00:10:00.139 on Sunday mornings. 00:10:00.379 --> 00:10:18.299 It's pretty soon, it's pretty early, it's pretty early in the day, and I cannot count how many times I I heard people say to me during those five years uh in the church in Quebec that oh Pastor JP, I would love to serve in the church, but you know, 6 30 in the morning is it's too early for me. 00:10:18.460 --> 00:10:19.580 I just can't do it. 00:10:19.740 --> 00:10:24.299 I just I just I'm I'm not able to get up on time and be there 6 30. 00:10:24.379 --> 00:10:25.340 It's too early. 00:10:25.500 --> 00:10:37.259 And when you you dig up a little bit, you discover that all those people are the kind of people that just you know they're watching like seven episodes of their favorite uh TV shows on Saturday nights, and they go to bed like at 2 a.m. 00:10:37.740 --> 00:10:41.820 And after that they come and say, Pastor JP, 6 30 is it's too early. 00:10:41.899 --> 00:10:42.779 It's just pray for me. 00:10:42.860 --> 00:10:45.179 I need I need the Lord to renew my strength. 00:10:45.419 --> 00:10:58.860 No, you need to to to grow up in your discernment and just learn to go to bed earlier and be able to uh go up in the morning uh at five 5 30 or 6 and be ready to serve the Lord. 00:10:59.340 --> 00:11:05.980 And uh yeah, it's just just for me, it's it just very it feels good just to share that with you, you know. 00:11:06.059 --> 00:11:08.620 But there's some battles that can be avoided. 00:11:08.779 --> 00:11:11.500 Every every battle is not a spiritual attack. 00:11:11.980 --> 00:11:19.340 But if we're honest, there are some battles that will enter our lives and they come without any invitation. 00:11:19.980 --> 00:11:24.939 And there's some battles that are not, we can we just can't avoid them. 00:11:25.179 --> 00:11:35.100 Even if you come to new life, even if you order salads instead of French fries in the restaurant, even if you learn by heart, you can recite by heart Psalm 23. 00:11:35.340 --> 00:11:40.299 There are some battles that will come into your life, and you cannot do anything about it. 00:11:40.460 --> 00:11:46.059 For some people, under the sound of my voice this afternoon, maybe it's a battle like uh a medical report. 00:11:46.299 --> 00:11:52.460 Uh and I have some people really close to me right now in this season that just received a very bad medical report. 00:11:52.539 --> 00:11:55.899 And you know, it's just a battle that they could not they could not avoid it. 00:11:56.059 --> 00:12:03.980 It's just like it's just a battle that comes to you, and now you're in the middle of a fight, you're middle in a battle that you didn't choose for someone else. 00:12:04.059 --> 00:12:08.539 Uh this afternoon, it can be the loss of a person or a broken relationship. 00:12:08.779 --> 00:12:35.659 And you don't you don't need a lot of experiences in life and in relationships to understand it, to learn that sometimes, even if you're doing your best to restore a relationship or or to save a relationship, sometimes there's there's there's just the reality that the other person would just, you know, their decision has been made and they left or they don't want to be reconciled, or and you can do anything you want, but you can't restore the relationship on your own. 00:12:35.980 --> 00:12:38.460 And you are in a battle that you didn't choose. 00:12:38.620 --> 00:12:50.700 Uh, maybe it can it can be an uh unexpected event at work, you can be in the middle of a crisis if you're a leader and if you are a parent this afternoon, you are a leader in your home. 00:12:50.860 --> 00:13:03.019 Uh, if you're a leader in the ministry or in the in your workplace, you will learn soon soon enough that sometimes crisis will come to you, and you did nothing to deserve that crisis. 00:13:03.179 --> 00:13:07.100 As a parent, do I have some parents that understand what I'm saying right now? 00:13:07.659 --> 00:13:09.740 You can be at work in the ministry. 00:13:09.820 --> 00:13:21.340 Uh, in a ministry, you can you can try to serve Jesus the best you can, you you try to love the people of God the best you can, and you will learn sooner and later that sometimes you just have a crisis on your hand. 00:13:21.419 --> 00:13:25.580 You have to deal with something very difficult, and you never asked for it. 00:13:25.820 --> 00:13:29.179 You are in a battle, battle that you didn't choose. 00:13:29.340 --> 00:13:37.659 You, those are the battles that you were not prepared for, battles that you're not asking for, and you were not planning for it. 00:13:38.139 --> 00:13:41.500 And that's the context of Psalm 18. 00:13:42.460 --> 00:13:46.939 David is describing a battle against Saul. 00:13:47.419 --> 00:13:55.340 And from everything we can learn in the Bible, since they won, David did all the right things. 00:13:55.820 --> 00:14:04.620 You know, at the beginning, beginning of the story, if you knew a little bit of David's life, he was tending sheep in his dad's uh field. 00:14:04.700 --> 00:14:15.259 Uh so it was a family business, and from everything we can know in the Bible, David was just a good boy, you know, a good son, just serving his father, serving the family business. 00:14:15.500 --> 00:14:25.899 And one day, God decided to make a change that Saul's times one was up, and God decided it was time to change Saul, and God chose David. 00:14:26.379 --> 00:14:31.899 So God called his prophet Samuel and just said, You will go see that guy, David. 00:14:32.059 --> 00:14:35.740 And when he found David in the field, he anointed him. 00:14:36.059 --> 00:14:40.220 That was the sign that God was really chose David to be the next king. 00:14:40.379 --> 00:14:47.820 But you know, David was just doing, you know, it was his his his day job, just serving his father, serving the family business. 00:14:48.059 --> 00:14:54.139 But on that day, with the oil on his head, his future changed. 00:14:54.379 --> 00:14:56.460 The trajectory, is that the right word? 00:14:56.620 --> 00:14:59.019 All right, changed that day. 00:14:59.659 --> 00:15:06.059 And David, from everything we can know in the Bible, he never tried to go, I will take Saul's place. 00:15:06.139 --> 00:15:11.740 It was not his ambition, not his idea, it was just God's calling on his life. 00:15:12.059 --> 00:15:16.939 And since that day, David did everything right. 00:15:17.259 --> 00:15:21.980 He served Saul, he served Saul, he honored Saul. 00:15:22.139 --> 00:15:25.820 Even in times that Saul, you know, was not doing the right things. 00:15:26.139 --> 00:15:29.419 David chose, he chose to honor Saul. 00:15:29.980 --> 00:15:35.259 David fought for Saul, he went on the battlefield for Saul. 00:15:35.500 --> 00:15:41.419 There's even uh even some verse in the Bible that said that David played music for Saul. 00:15:41.580 --> 00:15:49.340 When Saul was so under such anxiety and stress, David played music to help Saul. 00:15:49.659 --> 00:16:02.059 David did everything right, and even if David did all that, this could not keep jealousy to fill Saul's heart. 00:16:02.460 --> 00:16:22.220 And when Saul, you know, saw David and that the people of God started to love David, and that God was raising David up, you know, jealousy was filling uh Saul's heart, and anger was in his heart, and Saul decided that he wanted to kill David, but David David never did anything to deserve that. 00:16:22.379 --> 00:16:31.419 And David was stuck in a battle that he didn't choose, and that's the reality, that's the context of Psalm 18. 00:16:31.659 --> 00:16:39.500 So David, for years, you know, sometimes if you know a story, sometimes we we we think that it's what like oh yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:16:39.580 --> 00:16:46.220 A few days I think that David uh ran from from Saul, a few weeks, maybe it was years. 00:16:47.179 --> 00:16:55.980 So for years, David was hiding, David was running for for his life because Saul and his soldiers wanted to kill him. 00:16:56.139 --> 00:17:04.140 So David was in the David was in the middle of a fight or of a battle that he never asked for and never did anything to deserve it. 00:17:04.380 --> 00:17:18.620 And in Psalm 18, David is giving us wisdom and principle, kingdom principle for us, for you and me in 2026, because you and I we will face battles that we didn't choose and we never asked for. 00:17:18.779 --> 00:17:21.660 And what do we do when we are in the middle of those battles? 00:17:22.059 --> 00:17:24.539 And that's what Psalm 18 is about. 00:17:24.700 --> 00:17:37.980 And if you're taking taking notes, the first thing that we see in Psalm 18 is that the battle we didn't choose can become places or seasons of great revelation from the Lord. 00:17:38.220 --> 00:17:41.900 So if you're taking notes, you can't just write the word revelation. 00:17:42.940 --> 00:17:52.860 The battles we did not choose are often the place where God reveals Himself the most, and that's just the truth. 00:17:52.940 --> 00:17:54.780 That that was the the truth for David. 00:17:54.940 --> 00:17:56.860 You know, the seasons of battle will lead you. 00:17:57.180 --> 00:17:59.980 Did you did you just uh saw that in your life? 00:18:00.300 --> 00:18:09.660 That when you are in the middle of your of a battle, you will run, you will run to the house of God. 00:18:10.380 --> 00:18:14.620 You will you will want to say, Oh Lord, you will pray like never before. 00:18:15.660 --> 00:18:17.100 Did you saw that in your life? 00:18:17.420 --> 00:18:19.260 Because that that's my testimony, you know. 00:18:19.340 --> 00:18:22.940 When everything's going, you know, good, everything's fine, everything's good, you know. 00:18:23.100 --> 00:18:26.540 I I will go to to new life uh if I have the time. 00:18:26.700 --> 00:18:28.140 Ah this Sunday. 00:18:28.300 --> 00:18:35.820 I'll go when everything's going well, uh, you know, this football season, so we see if the cowboys are playing, definitely I'll be in new life. 00:18:36.060 --> 00:18:38.380 There's no way I'm watching that game. 00:18:43.180 --> 00:18:50.860 But when everything's going fine, you know, we're going to the we're going to church if if if we have time. 00:18:51.020 --> 00:18:58.140 When when we pray, it's like we pray for meals, we pray with our children, like we pray for a good night of sleep and all that. 00:18:58.380 --> 00:18:59.660 All those cute prayers. 00:18:59.820 --> 00:19:10.140 But you know, I discovered in my life that but the when I'm in the battle, my prayers change a little bit, and my church attendance change a little bit. 00:19:10.380 --> 00:19:14.780 Like I want to be in God's house because I need a word. 00:19:15.980 --> 00:19:20.140 And that's kind of the reality when we are in the middle of some battles. 00:19:20.460 --> 00:19:38.140 Seasons of battles will lead us to grow closer to God, and God will reveal Himself to us in those seasons, and that's the testimony of David, because I'm sure that David, you know, he knew a lot of things about God before entering that season of battle with Saul. 00:19:38.460 --> 00:19:51.180 David knew a lot of things about God, but this season of battles with Saul really God reveals himself, revealed himself to David on a personal level. 00:19:51.500 --> 00:19:57.260 So it's not just that I know things about God, I know him personally. 00:19:57.900 --> 00:20:04.060 When I'm in the middle of a battle, that's that's where God will reveal himself to me. 00:20:04.380 --> 00:20:06.460 You can, you know, you can know things about God. 00:20:06.540 --> 00:20:10.380 You can come to church here every Sunday afternoon, and you can know things about God. 00:20:10.460 --> 00:20:21.820 You can't, we we can, that's what really we're we're trying to do uh every Sunday, uh every weekend, where we're trying to teach God's word and how to apply it in 2026. 00:20:22.060 --> 00:20:51.900 But you can you can be here, you can listen to podcasts, and you can you can learn you know things about God, but when you are in a season of battle, you don't need just knowledge, you need to know God personally, and that's where things change for David because it's not just that he knew some things about God, but during those years of battle, he he discovered God as a savior, but personally, and that's what we will uh discover. 00:20:52.060 --> 00:21:01.660 You know, it's the difference between an explanation and an experience, and what when you are in a battle, I don't just need an explanation who about who God is. 00:21:01.900 --> 00:21:07.820 I I have to I need to know him personally, I need him to reveal himself to me. 00:21:09.100 --> 00:21:12.460 And that happened to me a lot of times in the past years, you know. 00:21:12.540 --> 00:21:15.980 For for many years, I knew that God, you know, could provide. 00:21:16.060 --> 00:21:28.540 I know that God can provide for me, you know, because I know the verse, I'm a pastor, I know the verse, the verse is about that, I know the scriptures about that, and I I suck God, you know, the Lord provided in so many ways in the life of people around me. 00:21:28.620 --> 00:21:41.420 Uh but when we were at two services some some years ago and and at our church in Quebec City, we uh we we had two services at the time, and the two services were packed. 00:21:41.900 --> 00:21:45.660 And we needed to add a third service. 00:21:45.900 --> 00:22:06.140 But at the time we we did not have uh a budget for it because you know we the the where we were uh renting, it was uh it was a school, and if we were adding a third service, it means like they will, you know, uh the rent will be higher, and uh so many expenses because of the all the security team from the school are there, we have to pay them and all that. 00:22:06.220 --> 00:22:13.180 Yeah, at the time we we didn't have the money just to to have the third service and more time uh on Sunday for uh to have the third third service. 00:22:13.260 --> 00:22:17.580 So for many, many weeks, our team, we were in the middle of a battle that we didn't choose. 00:22:17.740 --> 00:22:19.900 Like God, we're trying to serve you. 00:22:20.060 --> 00:22:24.140 You are sending a lot of people to your your house, you're in the church, but we don't. 00:22:24.780 --> 00:22:29.420 Have space now, and we don't have the money to do anything about it. 00:22:29.580 --> 00:22:31.820 That's kind of a one of the struggles of ministry. 00:22:31.900 --> 00:22:35.900 You know, God is sending people, but we don't have the resources to serve them well. 00:22:36.060 --> 00:22:42.540 So that's kind of uh after five years, I'm learning that that's kind of a tension I think that I will be in for the next 30 years. 00:22:42.780 --> 00:22:48.300 That we have a lot of people to serve and not enough resources to do everything we think we have to do. 00:22:48.700 --> 00:22:56.460 And I knew that God can provide, you know, it's something that I knew, but I needed to live it, I needed to be real in my life. 00:22:56.540 --> 00:23:00.220 So we needed to God to reveal Himself to us in that season. 00:23:00.460 --> 00:23:03.420 So we were praying, just just Lord, provide. 00:23:03.660 --> 00:23:07.340 We need you to provide, and you know, anyway, we need you to provide. 00:23:07.420 --> 00:23:16.060 And I will always remember after the second service, one one Sunday, there's a man coming up near the stage after the second service. 00:23:16.140 --> 00:23:19.740 When he wanted to talk to me, and I barely knew the guy. 00:23:19.820 --> 00:23:27.660 You know, I I saw I saw him a few times in church, was not you know involved in the team, so I I I barely knew him, just knew his name. 00:23:27.820 --> 00:23:29.260 I knew he was a businessman. 00:23:29.340 --> 00:23:32.940 And he came close to me, said Pastor GP, can I talk to you for for a minute? 00:23:33.180 --> 00:23:34.460 And I said, Yeah, sure. 00:23:34.620 --> 00:23:36.860 Uh he he said, Okay, come close. 00:23:37.020 --> 00:23:41.420 And he just he gave me keys, you know, like car keys. 00:23:42.140 --> 00:23:47.500 And at that moment, you know, everything went very fast in my mind. 00:23:47.820 --> 00:23:54.060 And if you're like me, I I'm I'm kind of the worst case scenario type of guy. 00:23:54.300 --> 00:24:04.220 You know, when I'm not sure it might and my mind is running, you know, most of the time I I'm usually like uh going where you know everything could go wrong and all that. 00:24:04.380 --> 00:24:18.460 So I was thinking like those keys, uh, are those keys like an apartment keys, and there's someone dead in the apartment, and he he wants to confess something, or I don't know, like what is going on there? 00:24:18.780 --> 00:24:20.780 Why are you giving me those keys? 00:24:21.260 --> 00:24:41.420 And and and and the the businessman just said, No, no, I just I just wanted to know that this morning the Spirit of God convicted me, and this is my car keys, and I want to give my car to the church, and that could be a blessing, yeah, that's true, but it depends, you know. 00:24:42.700 --> 00:24:43.820 What's your car? 00:24:45.740 --> 00:24:48.780 Because that could be a blessing, and that could be a burden, you know. 00:24:48.860 --> 00:24:53.740 Just to you know, I want to give my car to church and then say, Can I can I show you my car? 00:24:54.140 --> 00:24:54.620 Yeah, sure. 00:24:54.700 --> 00:25:08.540 So after after service, we went outside, and when I saw his car, like my hands almost went up automatically, saying, Thank you, Lord, and didn't do that, but almost in my heart I did it. 00:25:08.700 --> 00:25:11.100 And you know, it was it was a very nice car. 00:25:11.340 --> 00:25:14.700 I won't you know tell you the brand of the car, but it was a very, very nice car. 00:25:14.780 --> 00:25:21.100 And and the businessman, you know, in a few days after that, he sold the car and write you know a check to the church. 00:25:21.420 --> 00:25:26.780 And on that Sunday, God revealed Himself to me. 00:25:27.020 --> 00:25:28.780 I knew He could provide. 00:25:29.100 --> 00:25:32.060 I never thought He could use a businessman. 00:25:32.140 --> 00:25:36.460 I barely know that after the service he will bring me car keys. 00:25:36.620 --> 00:25:38.460 You know, see what is that? 00:25:38.700 --> 00:26:15.100 And the guy who said just just like that, what not even a sermon on generosity or anything, just like the spirit of God convicted him that that morning that hey, you will give your car to the church, and he he didn't knew he didn't know that we were praying because we needed the finances to add a third service, and because of that man, we were able to add a third service a few weeks after that, and because of that, a lot of new people have space and seats, and but we were in a battle that we didn't choose, but God will reveal Himself in those battles. 00:26:15.580 --> 00:26:34.700 Just a few weeks ago, we moved into a new facility, a new building in Quebec City, and I don't know if you're aware of it, but when you are renting a place in a public school in the province of Quebec, there are some challenges challenges that come with that. 00:26:35.020 --> 00:26:49.740 Because uh, you know, last fall, I don't know if you saw the news, but there was a lot of uh uh discussion around the fact that the people and our authorities don't want churches to be in in public buildings and public schools, and guess what? 00:26:49.900 --> 00:27:00.460 We are in a public school, and we were disclosed last summer just to uh to be kicked out of the school we were in, and we were praying every single day. 00:27:00.700 --> 00:27:04.220 You know when I said that when you are in a battle, your prayer life will change. 00:27:04.380 --> 00:27:05.740 I can testify to that. 00:27:05.820 --> 00:27:21.900 You know, I was praying like my life was depending on it in the past few months, and we needed a building, but it's kind of difficult, you know, finding a building for a church like ours because you know a church like like ours is uh we need a big, big auditorium for people. 00:27:22.460 --> 00:27:28.620 We need like space like a like a school for uh you know, Nouvelle V kids junior. 00:27:28.700 --> 00:27:38.060 We need like a big auditorium, we need rooms like a school around the auditorium to serve our kids, and we need like a Costco parking outside. 00:27:38.300 --> 00:27:45.980 So that's the three needs we have, and it's very difficult to find a building, find find a facility that can that can accommodate that all of that. 00:27:46.380 --> 00:27:58.540 And in the past few months, God open opened uh you know a door, it was really a miracle, in a in a private school that needed you know the money, and we needed the place. 00:27:59.260 --> 00:28:01.420 So, right now we are in a new building. 00:28:01.500 --> 00:28:12.140 So I think it's uh eight weeks now that we are in a new building that it's much larger and cheaper than where we were at the beginning. 00:28:12.460 --> 00:28:19.740 So, for me and and for our team in Quebec, for months we've been praying. 00:28:19.900 --> 00:28:21.660 We were in a battle that we didn't choose. 00:28:21.740 --> 00:28:27.180 We're just trying to build Jesus' church in a province where it's difficult to do that. 00:28:27.340 --> 00:28:37.340 So we are in a in a battle we didn't choose, but God will reveal Himself in those battles, and He will provide, and that's what I'm praying for you this afternoon. 00:28:37.500 --> 00:28:41.340 That in a few minutes when we will go back into worship and prayer. 00:28:41.500 --> 00:28:45.340 I I'm just praying for you to pray that prayer, Lord. 00:28:45.580 --> 00:28:47.180 Reveal yourself to me. 00:28:47.340 --> 00:28:58.940 I'm in a battle that I ate I didn't choose, but I believe you're not just the God who provides for everybody else, you can provide for me, you're not healing just everybody else, you can heal me. 00:28:59.580 --> 00:29:07.180 You're not just giving directions to other people, you can direct my steps, and that's my prayer for you tonight. 00:29:07.260 --> 00:29:20.300 That's the testimony of David in Psalm 18, and I know that that's his testimony because look at the language, look at the words that David is using in Psalm 18, verse 1. 00:29:20.540 --> 00:29:26.460 He said, I love you, O Lord, my strength. 00:29:27.500 --> 00:29:35.980 The Lord is my rock, not just a rock, not the rock. 00:29:36.140 --> 00:29:39.740 You know, slap your neighbors, say God is not Dwayne Johnson. 00:29:40.540 --> 00:29:43.900 If you didn't understand, it's okay, just just bear with me. 00:29:44.460 --> 00:30:06.860 God is not just a rock, he is my rock, he is not a fortress, he is my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 00:30:07.180 --> 00:30:19.100 So that's where I realized that for David, that season of battle was not just a wasted season, because that's the season where God revealed Himself to David personally. 00:30:19.420 --> 00:30:23.100 So David is not just saying, Oh, yeah, praise the Lord, the rock. 00:30:23.180 --> 00:30:26.620 No, praise the Lord, my rock. 00:30:26.860 --> 00:30:34.380 The Lord is not just a fortress, he is my fortress, and that's my prayer for you today. 00:30:34.540 --> 00:30:49.180 Yeah, you can go out this building, come out this building tonight tonight and say, The Lord is not just a fortress, he is my fortress, my rock, my shield, not just a shield, but my shield. 00:30:49.740 --> 00:30:58.780 And if we have time this afternoon, one of the David's, you know, most beautiful revelation in that psalm is in the verse, the verse 9. 00:30:58.860 --> 00:31:02.540 But I will read verse uh four through six and verse nine. 00:31:02.940 --> 00:31:15.180 And just you know, it just really touched my heart when I was studying the text because the language of David, I just like I just can feel his pain, you know, when you're reading Psalm 18. 00:31:15.340 --> 00:31:24.460 You know, I just can relate to David when he's saying, like the cords of death encompassed me, the torrents of destruction assailed me. 00:31:24.700 --> 00:31:39.900 It's like you and I, when we are in the middle of battles that we didn't choose, it's like sometimes we feel like we're kind of trapped, you know, we've caught by surprise by some things, and the torrents of destructions assailed me like like waves that we didn't see coming. 00:31:40.300 --> 00:31:46.540 The cords of the grave entangled me, and the snares of death confronted me. 00:31:46.780 --> 00:31:53.340 Yeah, just I just relate to the language that sometimes we're just caught by surprise and we feel like stuck in those battles. 00:31:53.500 --> 00:32:02.060 And David will say, In my distress, I called upon the Lord, and maybe that's just what you need to do this afternoon. 00:32:02.300 --> 00:32:03.900 As simple as that. 00:32:04.300 --> 00:32:05.900 Call upon the Lord. 00:32:06.140 --> 00:32:15.980 To my God, I cried for help, and from his temple, he heard my voice, and my cry to him reach his ears. 00:32:16.220 --> 00:32:25.180 In one of the beautiful verses I I read in a few in a few weeks and months, and he bowed the heavens and came down. 00:32:28.780 --> 00:32:34.700 God not just heard, he did not just hear, you know, David's prayer. 00:32:35.020 --> 00:32:35.820 He bowed. 00:32:35.980 --> 00:32:38.380 Look at the look at the language, it's very beautiful. 00:32:38.620 --> 00:32:46.300 It's like he bowed the heavens, he bent the heavens like and he came down to rescue David. 00:32:46.540 --> 00:32:49.340 Wow, that's so beautiful. 00:32:49.660 --> 00:32:55.900 You know, David, when you're reading this, you understand that you know David was caught by surprise by the by this battle. 00:32:56.140 --> 00:33:01.020 He felt like he was trapped in this situation, was afraid. 00:33:01.420 --> 00:33:05.820 Like you and I, sometimes when when we are in a battle, we're afraid. 00:33:06.060 --> 00:33:08.300 You know, what's gonna be the future? 00:33:08.700 --> 00:33:10.300 Where am I going? 00:33:10.700 --> 00:33:11.900 What's gonna happen? 00:33:12.140 --> 00:33:13.260 We're afraid. 00:33:13.580 --> 00:33:20.140 And David could not get out of the battle by himself, so he called on God. 00:33:21.420 --> 00:33:25.340 And you you know, if if we're on us this afternoon, can we be honest? 00:33:26.140 --> 00:33:30.780 You know, after that, I'm just going back to Quebec City, so I will say what I want to say. 00:33:31.660 --> 00:33:33.740 My wife is waiting for me. 00:33:33.980 --> 00:33:38.780 You know, I will say what I need to say and go back to my wife in Quebec City. 00:33:39.020 --> 00:33:50.060 But if we're honest together this afternoon, sometimes when we are in the middle of battles, we we call on so many things before we call on God. 00:33:50.940 --> 00:34:16.139 And we go to so many things, so many different sometimes some people, you know, sometimes it's it's easier to uh to be distracted by by you know the next the next good movie on Netflix because we don't want to see the battle, so it's easier just to just binge on a TV show or or just you know watch a movie. 00:34:16.219 --> 00:34:21.500 So sometimes we go on on that kind of stuff to distract us of the battle. 00:34:21.659 --> 00:34:25.179 So sometimes we we can just numb the pain. 00:34:25.260 --> 00:34:29.500 You know that you just read the Psalm 18 and you you can you can just feel the pain of David. 00:34:29.820 --> 00:34:34.940 He's afraid of it, and sometimes we we can just numb the pain or numb because we're scared. 00:34:35.180 --> 00:34:37.019 We can just numb it, numb it. 00:34:37.180 --> 00:34:38.140 Is that is that okay? 00:34:38.300 --> 00:34:40.140 Uh you understand what I'm trying to say? 00:34:40.300 --> 00:34:56.300 You can just numb it with some, you know, just just just another drink or just just another something else, and and we we just can go to so many different things to to call it just to find comfort and in trying to forget about the battle. 00:34:56.619 --> 00:35:04.539 But David is is is teaching us to call on the Lord, and that's right there. 00:35:04.619 --> 00:35:19.180 That may be just a word for somebody this afternoon that you called on so many things, and maybe you're you're you're trying to distract yourself in so many things, doing so many different kinds of stuff, but maybe God bring you here this afternoon just to hear that. 00:35:19.579 --> 00:35:34.700 Call on him, try God because the Bible says that when you call on him, not only he hears, but he will bow the heavens and come down to be with you and to protect you and to rescue you. 00:35:34.860 --> 00:35:36.460 Somebody should say amen on that. 00:35:37.500 --> 00:35:58.140 You know, like I just when I read that, it just came to my mind when you know when when a parent when I'm a dad, and I can remember when my my my daughter Emma, she's 11 right now, but but when when she was a little baby, when when you you just go to daycare and you you let your your kids to daycare, and and when you come back, you know it's it's always chaos. 00:35:58.860 --> 00:36:02.059 All the babies are crying and and all that. 00:36:02.380 --> 00:36:22.059 But as a parent, you can recognize when your child is crying, you know, when you're not the parent, you you can't you can't tell the difference you know between all the the different sounds, and and but when you are the dad, when you are the mom, you recognize your children's cry. 00:36:22.380 --> 00:36:26.460 And that's exactly what David is describing in Psalm 18. 00:36:26.619 --> 00:36:38.539 When you cry to him, when you pray and say, Lord, you don't need to you don't need to have a perfect, you know, theological prayer with all the great words of the Bible and all that, you just can say, Lord, I need you, Lord. 00:36:38.619 --> 00:36:40.140 I don't know what to do. 00:36:40.380 --> 00:36:42.059 Do you see where I am, God? 00:36:42.220 --> 00:36:43.099 I need your help. 00:36:43.180 --> 00:36:44.220 Please help me. 00:36:44.460 --> 00:36:52.860 If you say that, the Lord will hear and the Lord will bow the heavens and come down. 00:36:53.180 --> 00:37:02.860 And if I I just can take a few minutes, that verse, verse 9, right there, is one of the most beautiful pictures of the gospel. 00:37:03.900 --> 00:37:15.500 Because in all the Bible, you will read scripture that God hears God's people cry. 00:37:15.900 --> 00:37:21.019 He hears the cry of his people from Exodus to to other books of the Bible. 00:37:21.099 --> 00:37:23.900 You will you will read that that God will always hear. 00:37:23.980 --> 00:37:30.380 When his people are uh is crying for help, God always hears uh the cry. 00:37:30.700 --> 00:37:39.500 And it's a beautiful picture when when David is writing this this psalm, he said that God not only heard, but he bowed the heavens and came down. 00:37:39.660 --> 00:37:43.260 That's a picture of what Jesus did for us. 00:37:44.140 --> 00:37:50.220 Because when you and I we we could not just go and reach God by ourselves. 00:37:50.380 --> 00:37:55.820 I cannot do enough good things in life to to to be able to say, Well, look, God, I I did all that. 00:37:55.900 --> 00:38:00.700 I serve, I serve the poor, I helped this this lady go go across the street and all that. 00:38:00.780 --> 00:38:05.500 I I can't I cannot do anything to to to be able to reach God by myself. 00:38:05.740 --> 00:38:11.260 So God heard our cry and he bent and he bowed the heavens and he came down. 00:38:11.420 --> 00:38:23.340 That's why Jesus came down, and Jesus went down and lived the life that you and I we will never be able to live a perfect life, a sinless life. 00:38:23.579 --> 00:38:32.619 And he went to the cross to uh to put my sin on himself, to pay my death on the cross. 00:38:32.940 --> 00:38:35.340 My sins, past, present, and future. 00:38:35.500 --> 00:38:58.460 That's the same thing for you, and that's where God bent the heavens and came down with his son that paid a price for me on the cross, and three days later came back to life to to be able to be uh to uh you know, just give me the opportunity to be reconciled with God, and that's the a picture of the gospel, that you can be safe. 00:38:58.539 --> 00:39:03.980 That's the great revelation right there, and that's David's testimony. 00:39:04.220 --> 00:39:06.300 And in the battle, we didn't choose. 00:39:06.619 --> 00:39:15.500 David is telling us too that those places, those seasons, can become seasons of great like formation or training. 00:39:15.660 --> 00:39:38.380 So if you're taking notes, you can can word that can write that word to formation or or training, and that will be probably a very uh uh quiet part of my sermon, but that's okay because I learned from uh from David himself in another scripture that I can you know encourage myself in the Lord, so you can be quiet in your seat and just receive the word. 00:39:38.860 --> 00:39:43.099 But the season of battles we didn't choose can become season of training. 00:39:43.260 --> 00:39:47.500 Because look at what what David is saying in verse 31. 00:39:49.500 --> 00:39:52.700 For who is God but the Lord? 00:39:53.180 --> 00:39:55.500 And who is a rock except our God? 00:39:55.900 --> 00:40:03.260 The God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless. 00:40:03.740 --> 00:40:11.500 He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. 00:40:11.820 --> 00:40:20.059 He trains my hands for war, so that my heart, my arms, can bend a bow of bronze. 00:40:20.700 --> 00:40:24.460 You know what David is describing describing there? 00:40:25.019 --> 00:40:30.140 You have to remember that David is writing this psalm at the end of the season against Saul. 00:40:30.300 --> 00:40:33.500 So it's been many years of battle. 00:40:34.059 --> 00:40:52.380 But David is able to look back at that season and see that even if you know he never chose that season, God used that season to train him, to prepare him for the next season of his life. 00:40:53.099 --> 00:41:00.539 Because you and I, like David, we will go through seasons of battles that we didn't choose. 00:41:00.780 --> 00:41:05.420 But it's not because we didn't choose it that God cannot use it. 00:41:06.539 --> 00:41:18.140 And God used that season in David's life to strengthen him and train him for the next season. 00:41:18.380 --> 00:41:26.380 You know, sometimes when we pray, I really believe that God will sometimes he will remove the weight on our on our shoulders. 00:41:26.619 --> 00:41:29.099 God can do that, and sometimes he will. 00:41:29.900 --> 00:41:50.380 But after a few years of walking with God now and being a pastor, I know that sometimes God will let the weight on your shoulders, but he will help you walk with that weight, and that's David's testimony. 00:41:50.539 --> 00:42:13.099 Sometimes we pray that the weight will go away, but sometimes God wants to train us to walk with the weight, and God can use our battles, and I don't want to say that lightly this this afternoon because I know that you're feeling pain in some areas of my life. 00:42:13.180 --> 00:42:15.180 I have battles that are painful too. 00:42:15.420 --> 00:42:18.220 So I don't want to talk lightly about that. 00:42:18.539 --> 00:42:30.220 But if God is not removing that battle right now, I'm pretty sure that God wants to use that battle in your life to train you for the next season of your life. 00:42:30.860 --> 00:42:38.700 The season that David was in was a great season of preparation for the next season of his life. 00:42:39.019 --> 00:42:45.420 I'm pretty sure that David had no idea what was coming for him in the next season. 00:42:45.660 --> 00:42:57.260 You have to remember, he was just a little guy, little you know, teenager serving in the field, and one day, you know, a prophet come and say, Hey, uh, you will be the next king of God's people. 00:42:57.420 --> 00:43:00.220 So it's just like saying yes to God. 00:43:00.380 --> 00:43:02.780 So, okay, yeah, that's God's calling on my life. 00:43:02.860 --> 00:43:04.220 I'm just okay, I'll go. 00:43:04.380 --> 00:43:12.380 He had no idea the weight that will be on his shoulder to be, you know, the king of God's people, but God knew it. 00:43:12.619 --> 00:43:27.980 And I really believe when you study the story that God used that that season on his life to train them because during that season, David learned to serve, serve without being recognized. 00:43:28.460 --> 00:43:35.820 He was always in the shadows, you know, but he learned to serve without being recognized. 00:43:36.140 --> 00:43:44.780 He learned to be patient without you know manipulating people or things around him. 00:43:45.099 --> 00:43:49.980 He learned just to be patient and say, Okay, Lord, this is your battle, not mine. 00:43:50.700 --> 00:43:59.980 If you know the story a little bit, maybe you know that multiple times, at least two times, David had the opportunity to kill Saul. 00:44:00.619 --> 00:44:02.539 He had the opportunity to do it. 00:44:02.700 --> 00:44:15.099 And if you put yourself in David's shoes, you know, you know, I I cannot say I won't I would, you know, not kill Saul when I had a chance. 00:44:15.340 --> 00:44:16.380 You can imagine that. 00:44:16.619 --> 00:44:23.900 For years David is running for his life, hiding in in caves and going, you know, the cities to cities just to just to try to stay alive. 00:44:24.539 --> 00:44:28.940 In two times at least he had the opportunity to kill soul, but he didn't do it. 00:44:29.420 --> 00:44:35.579 God was training David to honor God even when nobody was seeing it. 00:44:37.740 --> 00:44:46.539 David is looking back when he's writing Psalm 18, he's looking back and realized, okay, God trained me. 00:44:47.019 --> 00:44:49.660 God prepared me during that season. 00:44:49.900 --> 00:44:56.780 And I'm pretty sure that if David was with us tonight, probably David would say, if you're asking me, yeah. 00:44:57.019 --> 00:45:01.820 I was praying that Saul would just go away after two days of running. 00:45:02.700 --> 00:45:08.539 But I realized that after many years of running, God used those years to prepare me for the next season. 00:45:08.780 --> 00:45:11.260 And I really believe that's the word for somebody today. 00:45:11.579 --> 00:45:17.340 Maybe you are in the middle of a battle and it's tough and you want it to go away. 00:45:17.740 --> 00:45:24.700 But if God doesn't make it disappear, I'm sure that God wants to use it in your life right now. 00:45:25.660 --> 00:45:29.980 And that's why David is saying, God gave me strength. 00:45:30.780 --> 00:45:40.059 And really, when when you're you're reading that verse, it really in the sense that he gave David the strength to walk with a weight on his shoulder. 00:45:40.539 --> 00:45:47.740 And after that, you can read the verse, but David is saying, like God, he made his feet like the feet of a deer. 00:45:47.980 --> 00:45:54.940 He was running for his life in in many years, and he learned during that season to be led by God. 00:45:55.500 --> 00:46:00.059 If God said, Okay, you go there, you know, his feet were was able to move quickly. 00:46:00.460 --> 00:46:09.740 And after that, David is saying, like, God trained my hands, my hands to to be able to uh to bend a bow of bronze. 00:46:10.380 --> 00:46:18.460 Because during those years, God was training David's abilities in leadership in all different kinds of stuff. 00:46:19.340 --> 00:46:22.380 Those kind of seasons are never wasted. 00:46:23.740 --> 00:46:25.820 And that's a word for somebody tonight. 00:46:26.940 --> 00:46:29.019 I'm closing shortly. 00:46:30.700 --> 00:46:32.860 It's the same problem in English. 00:46:33.099 --> 00:46:35.660 In all the languages. 00:46:36.780 --> 00:46:46.300 When we went in our church in Quebec City, my my family and I, my wife Valerie and I we moved and we knew nobody in Quebec City. 00:46:46.780 --> 00:46:53.180 And when we moved, there's something called, you know, the pandemic. 00:46:53.579 --> 00:46:55.500 I don't know if it rings the bell. 00:46:56.460 --> 00:47:01.820 But when we moved, you know, it wasn't in the same timing of the pandemic. 00:47:02.619 --> 00:47:15.579