Renewing of the Mind
(This Weekly Prayer Summary was written by Esmi Lukman, from the CBC English Prayer Ministry Core Team, and edited by Brigitta Tedja)
Watch full sermon here
We were blessed to be ministered by Pastors Jim and Jessica Kilmartin who came together with four of their six children. It is a rare opportunity when a speaker comes with their family. They are the lead pastors of Center City Church in Altoona, Pennsylvania and Pastor Jim’s spiritual father is Bishop Bart Pierce, making him and Pastor Paul brothers, and the rest of us are “cousins”.
Before Pastor Jim started his sermon, Pastor Jess gave her gratitude for welcoming them as a family and was thankful to our Pastors Paul and Joyce Tan for their words of wisdom. She stated that God is building a family “from sea to shining sea.” Pastor Jess encouraged and prayed for us to be “willing” no matter if it is convenient or not, whether we felt equipped or not, and just say, “God, if You said it, then I will do it because I am willing.”
Pastor Jim also opened his sermon by honoring Pastors Paul and Joyce for a job well done. Pastor Jim sees the joy in the congregation’s faces and the depth in people. He also passed greetings from his Church in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The city of Altoona is Native American (Cherokee) in its origin, meaning “the highlands of great worth.” There is always a prophetic destiny and purpose over a region and area. We need to align ourselves with what God said. God has put his church in the center of the city of Altoona.
How to Be Steady in Transition
COVID-19 shocked the world. We are now constantly in a place of shaking and transition, but God does not call us to be shaken, we are to be the people who are steady in the middle of the shaking. Pastor Jim shared about the renewing of the mind and taking thoughts captive. So many battles are won and lost in the mind.
He shared the story of the Los Angeles Rams football team who won the Super Bowl last year. He shared about Cooper Kupp and how he was taken into a vision with God speaking to him that his team would win the Super Bowl and that he would catch the winning touchdown. After winning the Super Bowl, he was interviewed and stated, “I played from a place of victory, rather than for victory” because God already told him from the vision that his team would win the Super Bowl.
The Bible says that we win and we walk victoriously. Jesus on the cross said that, “It is finished.” Often times we live a life where we are afraid of whether we are going to make it through the battle. We need to live from the place of victory because we already know that what God said is going to come to pass. We need to get to that point when we know and we know and we know it.
There are two meanings for the word “know” in the Greek:
Oida means a general and superficial knowledge of God
Ginosko means the intimate knowledge of God (you know that you know)
Romans 8:28 NIV “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Do you know that you know that God will work out all things for the good of those who love Him? Do you know God intimately? Do you know that you know, and that you know that He will turn all challenges for your good?
The problem is that many people argue, make excuses, wrestles, and say that God is not going to show up. You need to come to the point that you know, and you know that God is going to turn all of those challenges for your good because you love God and that you are called according to His purpose and plan. We just need to say that we are playing from the place of victory, I am living from the place of victory. I already know that God is going to give me life and life abundantly. I might not be seeing it yet, but the victory is coming. Abraham is called the father of faith because he called the thing that was not as if it was. Even though Abraham was not quite there yet, Abraham was already there. Cooper Kupp, was not at the victory when he received that vision, but he was already there because he already knew it.
Pastor Jim stated that he wanted to see God come into this place and bringing transformation. He wants to see our nation shift, but the transformation has to start from our hearts and it has to start from the renewing of our minds, and that we believe that what God said is going to happen.
Whose Words Do We Listen To?
Too often we hear the words of the prophets and we get disillusioned and discouraged when it does not come to fruition quickly enough, causing us to be disunified with the heart of God. Communion will get us reunited into a common place of unity and being unified with the heart of God because we remember who He is.
The whispers of the devil say, “You can’t do that!” Whose testimony and words will you listen to? When the snake whispered to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the snake whispered to Eve, “Did God really say that?” Battles are won and lost in the mind. When Eve listened to the snake’s whispers, who did she unify with? Who did she come to an agreement with?
Pastor Jim asked the congregation to agree with the Word and promises of God. He shared about the story of Joshua and Caleb and how they came into agreement and aligned with the promises of God, unlike the other ten. The ten aligned with the whispers of the devil, Joshua and Caleb aligned with the Word of God. When we agree with God’s promise and say, “Amen,” it means “So shall it be” and that “It is finished”.
When we come into agreement with the world, there are always excuses and anxiety. When transition and difficulties come, we can never be steady when we agree with the world because the world is always changing, but our God never changes! God never changes, He is our Jehovah Jireh, the Provider. He is Jehovah Rapha, our Healer, and He still heals today.
The Church is not called to be subcultural. The Church is called to be counter-cultural because the Church is not aligned with the ways of the world but is aligned with our citizenship in Heaven.
Romans 12:1-2 NKJV “I beseech you, therefore, Brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy (clean), and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable acts of service. And do not be conformed to this world (world system that is void of God), but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
The word “beseech” means “urge”. It means the Apostle Paul urged God’s people to live holy and not live in the world’s system. Matthew 6:33 NKJV states, “But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” When we do it right in front of God, then all the other things will be taken care of.
The people with whom we spend the most time with are the ones who are going to disciple our way of thinking. The more we spend time renewing our minds by reading the Word of God, the more we can begin to recognize the voice of God. If we say that we have not heard the voice of God lately, it is because we are filling our minds with the world system that has clouded our minds and caused us to not be able to hear His voice.
Pastor Jim shared about his trip to Almolongo, Guatemala. The pastors of the city came together and the city was turned upside down. He saw the blessings of God come in abundance for the city. Heaven came to earth because the people’s minds, hearts, and lives were changed and transformed.
2 Corinthians 10:1-6 NKJV “Now, I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ – who in presence am lowly among you but being absent am bold toward you. But I beg you that when I am present, I may not be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.”
Pastor Jim taught us that when we are faced with thoughts that are not aligned with the Word of God, we need to take every thought captive, bring them into obedience, and cast those thoughts down. We are to never entertain those thoughts. Sins do not occur immediately; it happens with the whispers of the devil. We do not let the door of compromise open.
When we come to a place a transition, there is always a threshold—a transition strip. The word “threshold” is the same word as python. When we are in the point of transition, that is often when we lose our voice and our breath because we stand at the edge and become fearful. A python constricts and takes your breath away. If you stay in transition too long, fear and anxiety override you because you have not taken your thoughts captive. In transition, all you have to do is take one step after another. Get pass the transition and go to the next season. Do not hold on. Do not take the old into the new season. All you have to do is jump—a leap of faith. You cannot stay in the shores of safety. God shows up in the transition—you will see miracles during your moments of transition.
Joshua 1:8 NKJV “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
Reading the Word of God daily will renew your mind. Meditate and observe to do according to all that is written. You will never see transformation unless you become a doer of the Word. If you are just a receiver of the Word, you will never see inner transformation. If you are not transformed, then you will never see your family, your neighbors, your city be transformed.
The Shema is a Jewish prayer from the book of Deuteronomy 6:4 and they would recite it in the morning and at night. They washed and renewed their minds by singing the Shema daily. The prophetic word is also key in renewing our minds. If God said it, it is His promise, I believe it, and He will do it. We are to listen to it, read over them, recite them, and pray over them.
Lastly, Pastor Jim emphasized to continually renew our minds through prayer, worship, having a spiritual father, submitting to authority, and who we choose to align with. We are to stay steady in transition by setting our minds and hearts on God and Christ alone. Battles are won or lost and in our minds. We need to ask God to transform us first.
Pastor Paul closed the service with a simple vision of an exclamation mark, “!”. The Holy Spirit is saying that this is very important for us and that God has put an emphasis on what we need to do. Pastor Jess began with an invitation for us to say, “I am willing.” God is speaking to us now. This exclamation point states for us to pay attention, take heed, listen, be careful, caution. This is very important. This is the next step. Transition will happen whether you like it or not. Transition is happening so you better take steps, you better obey, you better listen, exclamation mark, and what you need to do is to always say, “I am willing.”
Prayer Points:
Pray for the willingness to obey God
Pray for knowing God intimately, not only to know God with a general knowledge
Pray for the words and impartations to flourish and multiply in our hearts, minds, family, and community
Pray for the willingness to be used by God
Pray for continually renewing our minds with the Word of God and worship
Pray to put our minds and thoughts captive into the obedience of Christ
Pray to have a spiritual mentor/parent
Pray to learn submission to our authority
Pray over your prophecies to help renew our minds
Pray to take a leap of faith during transitions, that is when miracles occur