Accept the Call of God
Pastor Phil Derstine 3-27-22
Following the Fire by Dr. Gerald Derstine (Book excerpts)
· Story of 7-day Visitation of God after praying and fasting for Revival
· You are all part of the legacy of my Father and this ministry. We are all “following the fire.”
The Call of God – “You are going to be separated”
· Following the Fire (Introduction by Nelson Litwiller, Mennonite Bishop) – God was looking for a man.
· Exodus 3:2 (Moses) “And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.”
· Moses saw, with spiritual eyes, something supernatural, and recognized that it was God.
· Following the Fire (Pg. 2-3) “Gerald, you are going to be separated from the Mennonite church, but do not fear, for I shall give you a greater ministry.”
· John 15:16 “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, He may give it you.”
· I Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
· I Corinthians 1:26 “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: (27) But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise…”
The Promise of God – “There shall be Revival!”
· Following the Fire (Pg. 143) “There shall be revival taking place on this earth like man has never witnessed in the history of the world – even greater than what took place on the day of Pentecost!”
· Revival started in a 5-day Vacation Bible School of 73 youth – reminiscent of our Summer Camps
· (Pg. 93) Skip began to speak English, “Turn in your Bible to Acts 2:17 & 18 and you shall understand.”
· Acts 2:17-18 “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens, I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.”
The Family of God – You have an Inheritance!
· Acts 2:39 “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”
· We are all part of God’s Legacy… His children, heirs according to the Promise, joint heirs with Christ.
· Proverbs 10:22 “The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.”
· (NIV) “The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, without painful toil for it.”
· Following the Fire (Pg. 137-139) – Holes in the ceiling. (Pg. 166-167) – The ceiling repaired.
· The lighted cross in our sanctuary ceiling… May it remind us of the sovereign events that began this ministry AND what is yet promised.
· Joel 2:23 “Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.”
