The Power of Yieldedness: Living in Step with the Holy Spirit
In this message, Pastor Stephen Wakefield challenges believers to look beyond Sunday morning services and live a life continuously responsive to the Holy Spirit. Emphasizing that everyday ministry isn't reserved solely for church leaders, he outlines how ordinary, daily obedience creates space for extraordinary divine encounters. True, fulfilling Christian living flows directly from a heart that is aligned with, sensitive to, and yielded to God’s presence in every moment.
Key Scripture Points & Takeaways
The Foundation of Love and Obedience
Scripture: John 14:15, Matthew 22:37–39
True obedience isn't about rigid legalism; it is a natural love response to God. Our primary purpose is to know Him, be loved by Him, and love Him in return—out of which all ministry flows.
Jesus as the Ultimate Model of Yieldedness
Scripture: Philippians 2:5–11, John 5:19
Even Jesus operated in complete submission to the Father, doing only what He saw the Father doing. His ultimate obedience—even unto death on a cross—led to His elevation, setting the standard for how believers should follow His lead.
4 Practical Ways to Yield to the Holy Spirit
Be Filled with the Spirit
Scripture: Acts 1:4–8
Beyond an initial baptism, staying continuously filled with the Holy Spirit is vital. We cannot guide others into the Kingdom without intimately knowing the King ourselves.
Be Filled with the Word
Scripture: Psalm 119:105
God’s Word trains our spiritual senses. Grounding ourselves in Scripture provides the divine filter necessary to discern God's voice and test spontaneous impressions against His character.
Stay Ready at All Times
Scripture: 1 Peter 3:15
Real-life ministry and miracles rarely happen on a planned schedule. Believers must cultivate a posture of constant readiness—whether in a church setting, at work, or during late-night errands.
Make Obedience in the Mundane a Habit
Scripture: Luke 16:10, Matthew 25:21
Faithfulness in the small, everyday moments (serving family, showing patience, acting on quick godly thoughts) trains us for larger assignments. Yieldedness in spontaneous, miraculous moments is deeply rooted in our daily obedience in the quiet ones.
"Thanks for listening! For more information, visit churchoftheharvest.com. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and YouTube @cothcleveland.

"Thanks for listening! For more information, visit churchoftheharvest.com. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and YouTube @cothcleveland.

Sermon Outline: "On My Father's Side"
Preacher: Pastor Lemuel Miller (Guest Speaker / Advisory Board Member)
Location: Church of the Harvest
I. Introduction: The Temple and the Root Causes of Sickness
The Caleb Spirit: At nearly 74 years old, Pastor Lemuel shares his experience winning a silver medal at the national arm wrestling championship, emphasizing that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). We must actively care for our physical templates so that the Holy Ghost is not "living in a garage or a shed."
Commanding Prayers vs. Begging: In his book Prayers for Healing, Pastor Lemuel explains that many believers stay in ignorance, begging God for things He has already accomplished. Spiritual maturity requires switching from begging prayers to authoritative, commanding prayers.
Uprooting Sickness: True physical restoration requires looking past the surface pain and identifying the structural root causes of diseases.
Migraine Headaches: Often rooted in trauma and bitterness.
Kidney Disease: Rooted in deep unforgiveness, bitterness, fear, and self-rejection.
Leukemia: Often linked to bitterness and paternal rejection.
Lupus: Can stem from deep-seated guilt, self-hatred, and low self-esteem.
II. Point 1: Understanding Jesus as a 100% Human Example
The Human Dependency: Reading from John 5:19, Jesus explicitly declares that the Son can do absolutely nothing of Himself except what He sees the Father do. Many Christians incorrectly attribute Jesus’ earthly miracles to His inherent divinity, forgetting that He stripped Himself of that privilege to come as a 100% vulnerable human baby.
The Earthly Blueprint: Jesus had to fully depend on human care and look directly to His Heavenly Father for supernatural strength. By doing this, He serves as a complete human blueprint for how we are meant to walk out authority on Earth.
III. Point 2: The Full Meaning of Salvation (Sozo)
Fire Insurance vs. Full Rights: Most modern believers view being "saved" purely as a post-death ticket to Heaven to avoid Hell.
The Greek Meaning: In Matthew 1:21, the term for save is the Greek word Sozo. When properly translated, it means you are actively rescued from:
Accidents, injuries, physical harm, and structural danger.
Destruction, risk, peril, loss, and premature/untimely death.
Sickness, chronic disease, physical infirmity, and generational curses.
The Transacted Benefits: True Sozo simultaneously grants the believer legal rights to divine prosperity, total deliverance from addictions, inner strength, structural healing, and operational wholeness.
IV. Point 3: The Conversation in the Temple (The Two Sides)
Using a vivid exploration of Luke 2:47, Pastor Lemuel illustrates the 12-year-old Jesus sitting among the elite rabbis and theologians, contrasting His dual lineage:
On My Mother's Side: Born into natural law, generational trauma, human limitations, fear, hunger, thirst, trouble, and the lingering curse of sin.
On My Father's Side: Formed in supernatural law, eternal life, and generational blessings.
The Supernatural Exchange: * Hungry/Thirsty: On His mother's side, He fasts; on His Father's side, He is the Bread of Life and a well that never runs dry.
Natural Law: His mother's side is bound to gravity; His Father sits upon the flood (Psalm 29:10)—and a Father who sits on the flood raises a Son who walks on water.
Surrounding Defense: On His Father's side, He is covered by feathers and wings (Psalm 91:4), meaning His truth functions as a structural shield, buckler, and surrounding defense against the snare of the fowler.
Age and Identity: On His mother's side, He is a 12-year-old from Nazareth; on His Father's side, He is the Ancient of Days, Alpha and Omega, the Architect of the Universe, and the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.
V. Point 4: Operating in Dunamis Power
The Age of Public Service: In Hebrew culture, a priest could not step into public high-priestly service until age 30. Accordingly, Jesus did not perform public miracles until reaching this baseline.
The Necessity of Anointing: Acts 10:38 states that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and power. If Jesus was operating strictly as God, He wouldn't require an anointing or a companion. He operated as an anointed human being.
Miraculous Power (Dunamis): When the Holy Ghost fills a believer, they receive Dunamis power—the explosive, dynamic, and supernatural capacity to perform miracles.
Rebuking the Root: When dealing with demonic possession (Acts 16), Peter's mother-in-law's fever (Luke 4), or the raging sea (Mark 4), Jesus always used sharp, severe, and authoritative rebukes (epitimao). In the storm, He did not rebuke the water; He rebuked the wind—the structural root cause of the problem.
VI. Conclusion: Activating Faith vs. Waiting
The Whip Post Transaction: Based on Isaiah 53:5 and 1 Paragraph 2:24, our healing is already completely provided in the past tense ("by whose stripes you were healed"). Healing was legally settled at the whipping post, not two years from now.
Faith is Practical Action: Believers fail to receive because they allow passive doubt to eat their seed of faith. Like the ten lepers in Luke 17, their structural healing manifested on the way because they actively moved in obedience to Jesus' command.
Healing vs. Wholeness: While nine lepers were cleansed (cured of the disease), the Samaritan leper who turned back to worship Jesus was made whole (Sozo). Healing cures the virus; wholeness creatively restores every limb, finger, or piece of flesh that was eaten away or missing.
Scripture Index
Here are the primary scriptures read, cited, or expounded upon during the service:
Deuteronomy 34:7 (Referenced) – The account of Moses being 120 years old with eyes undimmed and his natural force unabated.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (Referenced) – Knowing that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, bought with a price.
John 5:19 > "Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise."
Isaiah 7:14 > "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."
Isaiah 9:6 > "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."
Matthew 1:21 > "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save [sozo] his people from their sins."
Luke 2:8-14 (Paraphrased) – The angelic announcement to the shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night in the city of David.
Luke 2:47 > "And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers."
Romans 8:2 (Referenced) – The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus making us free from the law of sin and death.
Psalm 29:10 (Referenced) – The Lord sitting upon the flood; the Lord sitting King forever.
Psalm 91:1-16 (Completely Quoted) – The structural promises of protection, including abiding under the shadow of the Almighty, delivery from the snare of the fowler, protection from night terror, and angels bearing the believer up.
Psalm 8:4-8 (Referenced) – What is man that thou art mindful of him, creating him a little lower than the angels and putting all things under his feet.
Luke 10:19 > "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you."
Psalm 103:1-5 (Referenced) – Blessing the Lord and forgetting not His benefits, who forgives iniquities and heals all diseases.
Mark 11:23 > "For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart... he shall have whatsoever he saith."
Acts 10:38 > "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him."
Isaiah 53:5 > "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."
1 Peter 2:24 > "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."
Hebrews 1:14 > "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?"
2 Corinthians 5:21 > "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
Luke 17:11-19 (Referenced) – The healing of the ten lepers on their way to the priest, and the structural wholeness given to the one returning Samaritan.
"Thanks for listening! For more information, visit churchoftheharvest.com. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and YouTube @cothcleveland.

"Thanks for listening! For more information, visit churchoftheharvest.com. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and YouTube @cothcleveland.

"Thanks for listening! For more information, visit churchoftheharvest.com. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and YouTube @cothcleveland.

"Thanks for listening! For more information, visit churchoftheharvest.com. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and YouTube @cothcleveland.

Sonya Merkel testified to the Lord's goodness in her life.
"Thanks for listening! For more information, visit churchoftheharvest.com. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and YouTube @cothcleveland.

"Thanks for listening! For more information, visit churchoftheharvest.com. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and YouTube @cothcleveland.

"Thanks for listening! For more information, visit churchoftheharvest.com. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and YouTube @cothcleveland.

Podcast Summary: Resting in the Truth of Who You Are
In this powerful service at Church of the Harvest, Pastor Rhonda welcomes guest speakers Stacy and Melissa Hayes to share the incredible impact of their prison ministry. The episode centers on the transformative power of the Word of God to restore lives, even in the most "impossible" situations.
Key Highlights
Ministry in the "Waiting Room": The service opens with a moving prayer for those facing sickness, worry, and impossible circumstances, declaring victory in the name of Jesus over every situation.
The Mission of Restoration: Stacy and Melissa Hayes share testimonies from their work in Tennessee prisons (Bledsoe County and McMinn County). They read letters from inmates describing how they have shifted from a life of addiction and "religion" to a genuine relationship with Christ.
"No One is Impossible": Stacy emphasizes a unique approach: he never asks inmates what they are "in for." He believes that if God has forgiven and forgotten a person's past, we should too.
The Concept of "Rest": Drawing from Matthew 11:28-30, Stacy teaches that the "yoke" of Jesus is easy and light. He challenges the "evil report" of unbelief, encouraging listeners to rest in their identity as children of God rather than their past mistakes.
 
 
A Call to the "Sheep": Stacy reminds the congregation that while a pastor leads and feeds, it is the job of the "sheep" (the believers) to propagate the kingdom and reach the lost in their daily lives.
Core Message: Your Past is Not Your Identity
Stacy Hayes delivers a stirring message on the difference between "religion" and "relationship." He argues that many people are "church hurt" or feel unworthy because they've only been taught about their failures.
"Your past will be forever connected to you as long as you're speaking about it... If God has forgotten about it, you need to forget about it. That’s the key to stepping out of the life you’ve been living."
Scriptures Mentioned
Scripture
Theme
2 Corinthians 5:17
Being a "new creature" in Christ; the old has passed away.
Matthew 11:28-30
Finding rest for your soul; the yoke is easy and the burden is light.
2 Thessalonians 1:7
God providing rest for those who are troubled or persecuted.
Isaiah 52:12
The Lord going before you and being your rear guard.
Closing and Altar Call
The service concludes with a heartfelt invitation for those who feel "unwilling" to change. Pastor Rhonda encourages listeners to simply be "willing to be made willing," allowing God's power to bridge the gap. The congregation joins in a prayer of salvation and a special blessing for the Hayes family as they continue their mission to reach "every prodigal."
"Thanks for listening! For more information, visit churchoftheharvest.com. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and YouTube @cothcleveland.