Over this past year, you’ve been rocked by one thing after another with people putting you on a pedestal, misunderstanding your message, or throwing off your focus. But every time you’ve been knocked down, God has given you the courage to leap back up. Take heart: Your best days are ahead of you because God is incubating a power in you that is controversial and cannot be defeated by any weapon your enemies will throw at you. Gather your people, get up, and go back into the city — because God’s mission is bigger than others’ malice!
[Music]
this sunday morning i would like to draw
your prayerful consideration to the book
of acts chapter number 14
verse 7 through 20
where we will find a very interesting
moment in the life
of the apostle paul
as we discover it we do it to the intent
that we might first of all become
biblically literate
because we are living in the most
biblically illiterate
generation of the history of this nation
not that we don’t have a lot of
religious people
they just don’t know what they’re
religious about
it’s not that we don’t have a lot of
believers they just don’t know what they
believe
come on talk to me somebody it used to
be you could pick
anybody at random and they could explain
their faith in great detail
anybody in this sanctuary could lead you
to jesus
but now more and more we have people who
just
like to be in the atmosphere
of jesus stuff but do not want to apply
themselves
to knowing jesus personhood do you hear
what i’m saying to you
but i have labored over the past 45
years of my life to preach the gospel
in a way that i might convince you not
to fall in love with me but to fall in
love with your bible
to fall in love with the word of god you
have no more of god than you do of his
word
do you hear what i’m saying to you and
so as we go into the word of god today
we do it to the purpose that you might
be biblically literate
that you might see the text in the
context for which it is extrapolated
understanding how hard it was to be a
christian
we hope that it will humble you down
from complaining about
silly things like parking spaces and
rain
when you see what the early church had
to endure
to name the name of christ we hope you
will grow up some and not
be petty enough to say roll your eyes at
your sister in christ and say
she thinks she’s something when you see
what the early church had to endure
it’d change your definition of pain
and ultimately you will redefine what it
costs
to be a christian and you will recognize
that god has favored you
even in the midst of your problems the
fact that you’re breathing good
the fact that nobody’s coming to your
house that assaulted you
for being a christian you’re privileged
the early church would have passed out
to have the kind of favor you ignore
but to that ends we preach today and i
believe with all of our
heart that something is going to happen
i wouldn’t have got out the bed this
morning if i didn’t think
that something was going to happen are
you ready
again acts chapter 14 verse 7 through 20
and it reads thusly and there they
preached
the gospel and there sat
a certain man and lystra impotent
in his feet being a
from his mother’s womb who never
had walked the same
heard paul speak who’s steadfastly
beholding him
and perceiving that he had faith to be
healed
said with a loud voice stand up right on
thy
feet and he leaped
and walked and when the people saw what
paul had done
they lifted up their voice saying speech
lyconia the gods are come down
to us in the likeness of men
and they call barnabas jupiter
and paul mercurius because he was the
chief
speaker then the priest of jupiter
which was before their city brought oxen
and garland unto the gates
and would have been sacrificed with the
people
which when the apostles barnabas and
paul
heard of they rent their clothes
and ran in among the people crying out
and saying sirs why
do you these things
we also are men of like passions
with you and preach unto you
that ye should turn from these vanities
unto the living god which made heaven
and earth
and the sea and all the things that are
therein
who in times past suffered all nations
to walk
in their own ways nevertheless
he left not himself without a witness
and that he did
good and gave us rain from heaven and
fruitful seasons
filling our hearts with food and going
hold it right there
i just got to stop a minute and praise
god for being good to us
when we were ignorant of him
paul’s point is that god took care of
people who were
ignorant of him who served other gods
and did other things
and god still clothed them and let it
rain down on them
and overshadow them and that’s shouting
stuff
because you know that god was good to
you when you weren’t
thinking about him
oh my god i would read again
nevertheless he left not himself
without a witness and that he did good
and gave
us rain from heaven and fruitful
seasons filling our hearts with food and
gladness
and with these sayings scarce restrained
they the people
that they had not done sacrificed unto
them
they still wanted to do it and there
came the other
certain jews oh this is a new
development
there came that there are certain jews
from antioch
and iconium who persuaded the people
and having stoned paul
drew him out of the city
supposing he had been dead
how being as the disciples stood round
about him
he rose up and
came into the city and the next day he
departed with barnabas
to derby i want to talk to you
about left for dead
let’s pray spirit of the living god
thou who causes the rain to descend
on the just and the unjust
thou who lavishly gives air to breathe
even to atheists and heathens
thou who has regulated the beating of
our hearts
even when we were busy doing wrong
now that we come to our senses
we recognize that you didn’t wait for us
to be good
to be good to us over the next few
moments i
ask you to honor my time with you
as i have my time with him that you
might use me as a conduit through which
you might flow through
to touch the hearts of your people
i believe you for excellence
i believe you for excellence i believe
you for excellence
define it in this room in the name of
jesus we pray
somebody who really loves him
shout amen you may be seated in the
presence of the lord
[Music]
now we know and understand that in the
early aspects of jesus ministry that he
had set aside
12 men that had the distinction of being
categorized
as apostles we are quite clear that he
found them during different aspects of
labor
some were fishermen some were tax
collectors
some were physicians but he gathered
them all and coalesced him together into
becoming
a team around him a fortress
a bulwark a board
an executive board a mentorship
board and through the auspices of their
connection with jesus
they began to do exploits in the land
the criteria for them being an apostle
included them being an
eyewitness to the resurrection of christ
from the dead
and so after he was crucified he made it
his business to show himself
alive to all that remain seeing as judas
had now
hung himself and his mouths had spilled
out
in the potter’s field he shows up to the
eleven
that remain so that they can be an
eyewitness
he wanted to leave an irrevocable
mark on their lives that was strong
enough
to cause him to withstand the
persecution
that inevitably would occur for naming
the name of the lord
i took the young man the other day i
said when you associate with me
you gained my friends but you also
gained my enemies
you can’t gain one’s friends without
gaining their
enemies they all go
together and when you accept the name of
jesus
you gain his friends but you also gain
his enemies and the 11 were locked up
and you know
how they did and how jesus appeared in
the room
to make them an eyewitness and settled
all doubts by letting them touch
the nail prints in his hands and where
they pierced him in the side
be not faithless and believe because he
wanted them to know
that he was lord over death because if
he could be lord over death he could be
lord over
anything death was the greatest enemy
but he took the sting out of death
and the victory out of the grave and
rose up and taunted them
and said oh death where is i sting o
grave where is thy victory we read in
the book of acts how they cast lots
to replace judas with matthias
by the casting of lots they appointed
matthias to stand up
in judah’s place there’s a great deal of
controversy
as to whether matthias is then
legitimately
an apostle or whether this was something
they did in a human
effort to fill a divine void
what we are sure of is that god
called a very unlikely individual
named saul saul
was a christian killer
he was a christian killer not because he
was an evil person
he was a christian killer because he was
a religious person
his religion informed him that what
christianity represented was a cult
being an orthodox jew all of his life
for christianity to now come and
threaten
judaism he thought he did god’s service
to kill out the christians because he
is a pharisee he was devoutly jewish
because he was of the tribe of benjamin
he comes from royalty
because he was part of the sanhedrin
court he had
influence and affluence because he had
been educated at the feet of camille
he was articulate and multilingual
and he was a christian killer until god
stopped him on the road to damascus and
arrested him
and knocked him down off of his beast
and left him impaired and partially
blind
initially totally blind most historians
say
he continued to be partially blind most
of his life
and those who do describe him often
describe him
as being short and humpback and there
was nothing
amazing about him and yet god did
amazing things through him
suck it only to jesus in the new
testament
paul contributes more to our
understanding
of god than any of the other apostles
even though he never had the last supper
with him he wasn’t
there when he turned water into wine he
wasn’t there when he healed the woman
with issue of blood
he wasn’t there when he lays lazarus
from the dead
he never got the benefit of growing up
in the pedigree
of christianity he is an outsider
brought
in sometimes you can do more with an
outsider than you can and inside
[Music]
because when you’re an insider you have
a tendency to take for granted
the experience but when you come from
the outside there’s a greater level of
appreciation
for the illumination of the word of god
and paul
was brought into a place where first he
would go to his own
and his own would receive him not like
jesus
he was steeped in jewish tradition but
they rejected him
they laughed him to scorn and ultimately
he became the apostle
to the gentiles what a humbling
experience
for a pharisee who wouldn’t eat with the
gentile
to now be called to serve the gentiles
i’m just saying that in context you see
to serve the gentiles
would be like asking you to go feed the
swine
the gentiles were called swine sometimes
dogs you will remember jesus said it is
not meat to give the children’s bread
to the dogs and now the apostle paul
with all of his intellect and all of his
language
and all of his religious pedigree is now
sent
to feed the dogs
when we step into this text we step into
this text at a time
that paul is with barnabas and it is not
just that paul is mentoring
barnabas barnabas is also mentoring paul
while paul knew how to articulate and
argue the faith
once he was converted with jews he was
unaccustomed
with communicating with gentiles in my
book i wrote recently
and i’m gonna make a shameless plug
don’t drop the mic
uh if you haven’t read it you ought to
get it one of the things i talk about
is being able to communicate with
diverse groups of people
because when you can only talk to people
who look like you dress like you vote
like you
think like you you limit the breadth of
where you can go
you have to be broad enough to
understand how to be diverse
and often you have to do that
intentionally
that does not happen accidentally
i say that because some of the places
god’s getting ready to take you
is away from the familiar it’s off of
your territory
you have to be mentored and you have to
be groomed to find out how to work
in that atmosphere this was strange
but not to bother me see barnabas was
used
to winning gentiles when paul says i’m
not ashamed of the gospel of jesus
christ
it is the power of god unto salvation
unto the jew first and then to the
gentile
so there was a boomerang of faith it
started amongst the jews
but little by little by little by little
throughout church history
it moved toward the gentiles it started
in jerusalem it ended up in rome
because the gentiles being heathens
were more open to christianity than the
jews were
being religious they thought it was
sacrilege
for jesus to say he was god
it is into this atmosphere that paul
steps now with barnabas
and they come to lystra which is a greek
country
a greek country being not a jewish
country
paul is learning how to deal with him
and in the midst of this atmosphere he
begins
to minister paul
is often considered the most important
person after christ
in history his epistles his letters
have influenced every aspect of what we
call christian theology
without the apostle paul we would know
little about the resurrection from the
dead
we would know little about the catching
away of the saints without paul we
wouldn’t understand the mystery
of godliness for paul teaches us
greatness a mystery
of godliness for god was manifest in the
flesh
justified in the spirit scene of angels
preached unto the gentiles
and believe on in the world and received
up in the glory
without paul we would not know that if
this earthly house or tabernacle
shall be dissolved we have another
building eternally in the heaven
without paul we would not understand
what the fruits of the spirit were
love joy peace meekness temperance we
would we would not understand
without paul we wouldn’t understand what
the gifts of the spirit were
we wouldn’t understand the unknown
tongue the interpretation
of times of discernment of different
kinds of spirit without paul we would
not understand
therefore being justified by faith we
have peace with god
without paul we wouldn’t understand i
can do all things through christ
which strengthens me without paul we
would not understand
the apostles the prophets the pastor the
teachers the evangelists we would never
understand without paul we would not
understand that
having made known unto us a mystery of
his will
without paul we would not understand the
providence of god
the prudence of god the manifold wisdom
of god
without power we would not understand
those sorts of things about god without
paul
we would not understand the glorious
grace
wherein we stand without paul we would
not understand shall we continue in sin
that grace may for abound grace for
god forbid he that is dead is freed from
sin
without paul we would not understand
that as many of us have been baptized
have been baptized
into jesus christ’s death that if we are
buried together with him
in the likeness of his death we shall be
also like him
in the likeness of his resurrection
without paul we would not understand
that the same spirit that quickened
jesus body
and raised it from the dead shall also
quicken your mortal body
we would not understand that without
paul we would not
understand the foundations and the
fundamentals of the faith
he teaches us our relationship with god
the father and jesus
and on the mystical human relationship
with the divine he teaches us the power
of prayer
he teaches us uh the contribution of
understanding that we can come boldly to
god in prayer
that god hears us when we pray he
teaches us
having peace with that therefore being
justified
we have peace with god he teaches us
about peace
he teaches us about power he teaches us
about majesty
he gives us all of these contributions
but he also had his controversies
he was not one of them and
anytime you’re not one
of them didn’t come from among them
there’s a certain invisible wall you
have to contend with
anybody know what i’m talking about you
can move into a city
and there’s a certain invisible wall
that exists because you didn’t grow up
in that city
you’re not considered one of them you
can join a particular board
and because you’re an outsider and you
come in you’re not considered one of
them
paul was not one of them he was an
outsider
they didn’t like him they didn’t
appreciate him they didn’t particularly
want him
they didn’t trust him they didn’t
believe him they had reason not to trust
him
he used to be a christian killer they
doubted his conversion
they doubted the authenticity of his
faith they did not see
him and jesus interact with each other
he was controversial
you cannot be the kind of person
that makes great contribution and not
have to endure
great controversy
oh can i come on with it
jesus made great contribution but he
also had to contend with great
controversy
some of you are saying lord i want to
make great contribution
but i don’t want any great controversy
you cannot have one without the other
they are siamese twins they are
connected together
and if you are a person with a lot to
contribute
then you got to be strong enough to deal
with a lot of controversy
there’s always somebody trying to knock
you off your position
there’s always somebody laughing at what
you do there’s always somebody trying to
discredit
the authenticity of your work the legit
the legitimacy
of your apostasy there’s always somebody
who’s always trying to put you down
and you have to be strong enough and
tough enough
to withstand the controversy is there
anybody in here
that can stand to be blessed
and of all things he describes himself
as the chiefess of sinners
and in god’s response to that god gives
him a call
to go to the gentiles to go
feed the swine
in our text today we find him
feeding the swan he has gone to lystra
to minister he is preaching the gospel
of jesus christ
just merely preaching the gospel
he has touched no one he has laid hands
on no one
he has not spoken in tongues he has not
cast out a devil
his shadow has not fallen on anyone just
preaching the gospel was strong enough
to create a disruption the gospel all by
itself the gospel that needs crutches it
doesn’t need help
it doesn’t need tricks or gimmicks or
scams and a standoff by itself
when it is preached right somebody will
grab a hold to the gospel
and the bible said while he preached the
gospel
something began to happen something
began to happen
something amazing began to happen
somebody in the crowd
got healed
oh you you you got to see the beauty of
this
i said somebody in the crowd got healed
[Music]
the beauty of the text is paul himself
is called the of tarsus
and though he is called the of
tarsus no doubt
because he could barely see and
hunchback no doubt because he prayed to
have his thorn
removed out of his flesh and it had not
been removed he was crippled and yet
healing the sick
y’all didn’t hear that i’m gonna say
that again he was crippled
and yet healing the sick all of you
think
everything in your life has to be
perfect before you can serve anybody
else
but god has a way of using ordinary
people
broken people wounded people hurting
people bleeding people
suffering people the of tarsus
is preaching the gospel so that a
can be healed
good god almighty i wish i had me at
church the of
tarsus is preaching the gospel and
there’s a lame man
in the crowd and the bible said that the
lame man was laying
in both his feet he was lame in both
his feet he was lame in both his feet
he had been crippled from his mother’s
womb
that means not only was he lame he never
knew what it was like to walk
he had never walked and yet he was
fastened on paul
and paul noticed him while he was
preaching
discerned that he was fasting on it see
when you preach the gospel
it don’t hit everybody
you have to know that in a room like
this you don’t hit everybody
everybody on the zoom you’re not going
to hit everybody but there are
some people who become fascinated to the
message
they become attached to the message they
focus on the message there are other
people that can’t focus they’re thinking
about what they’re going to cook for
dinner
did i leave the stove on i hope i
unplugged the iron
i don’t know what i’m gonna wear to work
monday you can’t get no healing
because you can’t get no healing if you
don’t have no focus
you have to have a focus if you want to
get healed
somebody say focus focus focus
focus focus focus focus focus focus
i can’t afford not to focus i got a lot
to think about
i got a lot to do next week but i can’t
afford not to focus
cause i got a devil to fight
i got a devil to fight i got a devil to
fight
i got a devil to fight and i’m listening
at the word listening
for clues how i can fight this devil
that wants to come against my life
and my mind and my heart and my spirit
is there anybody in this place
that’s got to focus focus focus focus is
there anybody watching me online who has
to focus
focus focus is there anybody in here
the bible said that the man had been
laying
from his mother’s womb he was a heathen
he was not used to christianity he
wasn’t even used to judaism
but when he heard the gospel oh
wait when he heard oh wait when he heard
the gospel
i gotta stop him in it and thank god
that
god didn’t let everything break down at
the same time
both his feet were lame but both his
ears was good
look at somebody say i could hear it i
could hear it i
may be broke but i can hear it i may be
divorced but i can hear it
i may be heartbroken but i can hear i
may be under attack but i can hear
when he had the gospel
i feel like preaching this world
faith coming by hearing and hearing by
the word of god
if you can hear it you can get out of it
if you can hear it
you can get a release if you can hear it
you can get a break too
if you can hear it things can change if
you can hear me
sitting on that couch if you can hear me
sitting on the side of the bed
if you can hear me sitting in your
living room if you can hear it
a yoke can be broken a yoke can be
destroyed
a yoke can be released in your life
how did somebody say can you hear me now
can you hear me now see the devil don’t
want you to hear
he’ll do anything to distract you he’ll
get you playing on your phone
anything to distract you from hearing
the word of god because the devil knows
faith
coming by hearing and hearing by the
word of god
and if you mess around and hear
something you can be healed from
something
and the bible said that paul fastened
his eyes on the man
and he yelled out at him and when he
yelled out at him
and told him to get up and walk
he asked him to do something
for which he had no point of reference
it’s one thing to ask a man who to walk
who has walked before
but to ask a man to walk who has never
walked before
i don’t even know what that would be
like i don’t even have the coordination
i don’t even have the muscular dexterity
i’m not sure my nerve endings are
connected in my feet
my ankles have never worked together
with my feet in a coordinated method
in order to be able to walk i have never
walked
since my mother’s womb i was born broken
i was born broken that me can i take
time oh god
i that that means broken is my normal
i’m gonna keep going until again that
means anger is my
normal that means alcoholism is my
normal
that means malice is my normal and
you’re asking me
to leap out of my normal
paul challenged him to go beyond his
experience
and do something he’d never done before
to leap out of his normal the lord sent
me here
to tell somebody i don’t know who it is
that he’s calling you to do something
you’ve never done before
and in order to do it you can’t
gradually do it
you can’t do it one toy at a time you
can’t stick one
foot in and see if it’ll hold you up god
says you’re gonna have to leap
out of your door somebody just leap just
sleep
that’s how you’re gonna come out of it
that’s how you’re gonna come out of it
that’s how you’re gonna come out you’re
just gonna leap out of your door
you’re just gonna leap out your friend’s
not gonna understand it
your family is not gonna understand it
your neighbors are not gonna endorse it
but what god is gonna do in your life is
so quick
it’s so sudden it’s so massive it’s so
comprehensive
it’s so complete it’s so
all-encompassing
that you get ready to leave look at
somebody tell them give me some room i
gotta leave
[Applause]
give me some room i gotta leave give me
some room i gotta leave
if i don’t leave now i won’t get out of
this if i don’t leave now i won’t get a
breakthrough
if i don’t leave now i won’t start the
business if i don’t leave now i’ll be
where i always were
if i don’t bleed now i’m not like my
mama die
if i don’t leave now i’m getting ready
to leave give me some room
give me some room give me some room
give me some room i’m getting ready to
leave
[Applause]
there is a leaping anointing
in this place right now i don’t know who
i’m preaching to
i don’t know who i’m preaching for but
you’re getting ready to leap out of it
you thought you were gonna eek out of it
you must go
gradually get out of maybe in the next
five years
god said no leap out
god is gonna make you leap
[Applause]
[Music]
god is gonna make you leap and it’s not
because you’re lame
he’s going to make you leap as a witness
to all those people who doubted that he
was
who he said he was god said i meant for
you to be lame
because i chose such a time as this to
prove who i am
by making you leap oh somebody’s gonna
get a miracle
somebody’s gonna get a miracle
somebody’s gonna get a miracle
and god’s gonna use your life
all on the line type leap out leap out
leap out leap out
all in the room say leap out leap out
leap out leap out leap out
leap out leap out leap out leap out of
that bitterness
leap out of that anger leap out of that
hostility
leap out of that poverty leap out of
that neighborhood
leap out of that situation leap out of
that dead end job
god is going to make you leave he’s
going to let you leap out
it ain’t going to be gradual you’re just
going to leap out you’re gonna leap out
and the bible said when he leave he
started walking
he didn’t even you’re getting ready to
do something
that you’ve never done before who am i
preaching to
make some noise in this place
yeah yeah yeah
yeah yeah look at somebody say i’m a
leaper
i’m a leaper you you might not you maybe
you are not sitting next to me
because i’m a leaver i might make you
uncomfortable because i’m a leaper
i might get thrown out of the click
because i’m a leaper
i might not be in the club because i’m a
leaper god is going to make me leap out
of my situation
god is going to make me leap out of my
circumstance i wish
i knew who it was but you’re gonna have
to leave
you’ve been looking at it you’ve been
thinking about it you’ve been hearing
the gospel
your faith has been stirred this is
about god said leave
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
sit down i’m gonna go deeper
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
i’m getting warmed up sister i’m getting
warmed up
i’m getting ready to leave i’m getting
ready to leave
i’m getting ready to leave anybody
getting ready to leave
i
i never did before i’m gonna go
someplace i never went before
i’m gonna walk like i’ve never walked
before i’m gonna move like i never
pulled before
i’m gonna talk like i’ve never talked
before i’m getting ready to leave
i’m leaving i’m leaving from charleston
to dallas
i’m leaking i’m leaping from a
storefront to a mega church
i’m just going to
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
now we’re going to set that to the side
that’s so appetizing
that’s what get him here
[Applause]
you know you got to have some courage to
leave
most folks are scared to leave you got
to have some courage
to leave lord
is there any courage over here
any courage over here is there any
any uh courage anybody got some courage
you don’t think it’s too late you don’t
think your time has passed you by
you think you got one more leap left in
you come on come on
you you and anybody got some courage
over here
everybody got some curry anybody
watching me online
have you got some courage have you got
some courage
have you got some courage this is a
moment you’re gonna have to leap into
glory to god when they
saw him leap
bear in mind they’re not jews
[Applause]
they’re not familiar with jehovah
they’re amazed they
experienced god
they experienced paul’s ministry
but it is through the lens of their
theology
so god has done it through paul
but those who behold it don’t know how
to understand
it
a lot of you have an experience with god
and you go home and you try to explain
it to people
and they don’t understand what you’re
talking about
because they’re experiencing it through
their theology
their theology was built around
jupiter who was the king
of the gods of a polytheistic society
in roman mythology jupiter
he’s the same thing as the greeks were
called zeus
so they figured well
maybe barnabas is jupiter
and then they figured paul must be
mercurius
another one of their gods what i’m
trying to get you to see
is that we behold the same thing
but from different perspectives
[Applause]
and how we interpret what happened
depends
on how we think
so they think that they’re mercurius
and jupiter and the priest
who prepares sacrifice for jupiter
gets an ox and gets ready to prepare
a sacrifice to the apostles
and the apostles heard about it right
now here i am
trying to bring you to jesus
and jesus has performed a miracle
and you’re ready to praise somebody who
didn’t do it
do you know how many people praise other
people
for stuff god did
do you know how many people call grace
luck
their mentalities are in such a way
that they they can’t really
embrace the splendiferous
grace of jesus
the magnanimous ability
of god to do exceedingly abundantly
above
all that we may ask or think
we bring him down to mercurius
and jupiter and fall back into our
routines
of worshiping gods we made
and paul and barnabas
rend their garments said our whole
purpose
in coming here is to get you delivered
from vanities
[Applause]
[Music]
are there any vanities in your
are there areas in your life where you
worship things that don’t matter
are you in a place right now
that you got a little bit of jesus and a
little bit of jupiter
one of the problems in the early church
that led to the niacin creed
was they started calling everything
christian
it became difficult to distinguish the
theology
of christianity the new testament has
not yet been written
so anything you did you could call it
christian
like praying for somebody else’s husband
[Applause]
i’m just i’m just
[Applause]
i’m just giving examples i’m just giving
examples
i’m just i’m just giving examples
[Applause]
i’m just getting exactly like like
trying to
curse somebody because you don’t like
them
so you a witch and an alto in the choir
i i i’m just asking questions
so they got the jupiter and the jesus
and the mercurius
and the paul and the barnabas all mixed
up
and paul rins his garment
he does not want them to make
him a god
let me tell you why
when people make you a god
they later kill you for not being what
they made you
for everybody to think you’re amazing
and admire you might look like it’s
wonderful
but out of that everybody there’s always
somebody
who lifts you up and denies you of your
humanity
and they turn you into a deity
only to destroy you for not being
what you never said you were in the
first place
oh that’s so good i’m gonna shout myself
i’m gonna shout myself
i’m a child myself i’m shocked i’m a
child myself
[Applause]
[Music]
[Music]
[Applause]
don’t let nobody make you
a god player you don’t have to solve
every problem
you don’t have to fix every situation
you don’t have to have
all wisdom you don’t have to have all
the answers
you don’t have to get up at 3 o’clock in
the morning because you are not
god and they will make you a god
player and generally the same
the same
the same people who make you a god
player
[Applause]
they kill you for being
like them
paul told them don’t worship me
we are men of like passions
and they killed him
they stoned him
for being too much like them
[Music]
and that’s what happens in the church
today
we kill people who get caught
acting like us
[Applause]
oh y’all ain’t shout now
cause when you kill somebody for having
like passions
it throws the heat off for you
because if you can kill them nobody
would suspect you
but they had a little help i’m almost
finished they had a little help
because the jews came down
and talked to the men of lystra
into killing paul
now bear in mind
they didn’t like paul anyway
but it’s funny how when folks hate you
they won’t like kill you themselves
you don’t hear me they won’t kill you
this hell
they’ll turn a posse
is there any witnesses in here have you
ever had
a strange posse rise up to take you out
and you didn’t know where it came from
only to find out that it was one of your
[Applause]
own
so they said if they men are like
passions
you ought to kill them
and they took rocks
and they stoned paul
with rocks big rocks
hitting him in his head lacerating his
skin
knocking him down to the ground they
stoned him which was a custom
amongst their people like they were
going to stone
the woman caught in adultery they had
experience they knew how to kill you
with rocks i want to talk to some haters
you’re good at what you do you know how
to
kill with rocks you throw your rocks you
hide your hands
and you keep throwing rocks and you’ve
had experience
at being a rock thrower
and the bible said they threw rocks
and supposed him to be dead
this is where it gets good to me
they supposed him to be dead
now i realize maybe 50 of the church
won’t know what i’m talking about
so i got to preach to the other 50
have you ever had anybody do anything to
you
to take you out
and they supposed you was dead and they
suppose you’d never be back
and they suppose you’d never get up and
they suppose you’d never be nothing
have you ever had anybody tell you you
can’t beat nothing without me
and they supposed you to be dead and
they left you in trouble
and they left you in debt and they left
you with the kids
and they left you with the bills and
they laughed and they went on to the
strip club
and they suppose you to be dead have you
ever had somebody leave you
and think you can’t cook you can’t clean
you can’t iron you can’t wash
you can’t make it without me i’m going
to expose what a bum you
are and they suppose you to be dead
they supposed paul to be dead
and they left him for death
everybody who’s ever been left for dead
give me
60 seconds of praise
[Applause]
well this is a resurrection
service we are about to have a
resurrection
service we’re about to give you some
tips that are going to prepare
you for what god is going to do next
sometimes you got to lay there and let
them think they won
oh i’m going to give you a pathway
sometimes you got to stop fighting and
stop kicking and stop fussing
and stop cussing and stop calling and
stop yelling
and stop texting and stop writing and
just play
real steel and
act like you got me i just lay there
with blood running down your forehead
and act like i’m harmless i ain’t got no
more power
i don’t have no more message i can’t get
up
so that they can go on somewhere else
cause as soon as you shut up
they gonna leave you alone your mouth is
fueling the fight
if you be still and know that god is god
god will fight your battles for you
you don’t have to defend yourself oh god
this is so good i’m gonna get my own
cd you don’t have to defend yourself
because the battle belongs to god if you
just be
still and lay there they will leave you
for dead
but just because they left you for dead
does not mean that you
are dead i feel a resurrection
spirit in this place right now
look at somebody saying ain’t over
i may be broke but it ain’t over i may
be sick
but it ain’t over i may be down but it
ain’t over
my business might close but it ain’t
over
as soon as y’all get out of my way
i’m getting back up again
so this is what you’re gonna do you’re
gonna form your committee
[Applause]
you’ll get a few people to surround you
who believe in you and the bible said
the apostle
surrounded himself with a few people
that believed in him and they made a
circle
around what they thought was dead
this is nature’s way
of incubation whenever
nature gets ready to incubate anything
it will always put it in an egg
it will wrap it in a shell and you’ve
been out there by yourself
but god said for this second half of
your life
you need to surround yourself
with a few people who know it ain’t over
a few people who are wishing you well
a few people who can get a prayer
through
a few people who are expecting a return
a few people who got the same mind
and the same spirit paul was laying
there
bleeding laid up looked dead
changing colors getting cold but because
he surrounded himself
[Applause]
get you a handful of people
that can come into agreement and come
both shy
[Applause]
this is your year
i know it don’t look like it because
your head is bleeding
and i know it don’t look like it because
they’ve been rocking you ever since
january
but the devil is alive can you
hear me on the internet the devil is
alive this is your
year don’t let the stones fool you
they rocked you they stole you
they scandalized you they laughed at you
they left you but now that they’re gone
[Applause]
it doesn’t say they bandaged him
it doesn’t say they poured wine in his
wounds
it doesn’t say that they set him on the
beast
he just stood up
and i said my god he ain’t doing number
reaping what he saw
[Applause]
god said what you make happen
for other people god will make happen
for you and because you raised up
the lame man god said i’m getting ready
to raise you up who am i preaching to
god said i have not forgotten
your kindness to other people
and in your day of vulnerability
because you had the courage to make a
lame man leap
i’m gonna leap you up out of this thing
he leaped up on his feet
and he started walking
and passing by this is what got me
i would have walked away from lystra
but he went right back into lystra
just to let them know no
weapon formed against me
chad pastor
against me shall
prosper
can i get a witness
it won’t work
god will do what he said he would do
he said he will stand by his word
he will come through i know god will
do
he will stand by his word
he will come through
against me shall prosper
oh hold it right there don’t let it go
just hold it right
there i want you to take a minute and
think about the weapons
that have been thrown at you this year
[Applause]
over the last 12 months
everybody’s taking some blows
[Applause]
some hits
some scrapes
wanted you dead
left you for dead
wanted to drive you over the edge
[Applause]
wanted to wear you completely down
[Music]
but the lord sent me here
to tell you that what they threw at you
[Music]
it won’t work
think about it
[Applause]
it hurt but it won’t work
[Music]
this and that and the other and this and
that
and the other and i’ve been sitting up
at night on the side of the bed
and my sleep’s been mad and my mind’s
been upset
and my body’s been in turmoil and i’ve
been walking the floor at three o’clock
in the morning
but the lord sent me to church this
morning to tell you
it won’t work
[Music]
nothing they did nothing they said
nothing they’re trying to do
nothing that you’ve been worried about
the holy spirit
just spoke in my belly and said i don’t
care how many rocks they through
[Applause]
you hear me real good i don’t care how
many rocks
they threw and i don’t care how dead you
look
and i don’t care how broke you look
and i don’t care how depressed you’ve
been
and i don’t care how upset you’ve been
and i don’t care how lonely you’ve been
and i can see you laying in the bed
crying at night
i can see you crying on your pillow
in the middle of the night thinking that
you can’t get up
and that you’re tired and you had too
many battles
and you can’t make it out of this one
but the devil is alive
the devil is alive the devil is alive
the devil’s the devil is alive
[Applause]
god’s got you surrounded yes sir he got
to surround
the angels of the lord and camp
about them that fear him
yeah no weapon
that they sit against you it’s going to
work and i want you right now to be
renewed
because you have made other people leap
all your life
you have made other people leave all
your life
but you are coming into a season that
you are not just gonna make
other people leave you will get ready to
leap into your destiny
you gonna leap so far in your destiny
that you can confront your haters
and smile at them because you know it
didn’t work
and i want you to lift your hands and
open your mouth and fill this room with
praise
as the holy ghost comes in this room
here he comes
here he comes here he comes here he
comes
god
[Applause]
god
[Music]
foreign
[Applause]
foreign
[Music]
just
[Music]
thank you
oh
[Music]
[Music]
the anointing of god is in this place
the spirit of god is right in your house
right in your living room
sitting there with you and you got a
whole list of things
you’ve been stoned one thing after
another after another after another
after another there just ain’t one
[Music]
but it’s not gonna work
and i want you to step into an attitude
of gratitude
[Music]
he goes back into listener and then he
moves on the derby and he keeps on
moving
and he keeps on going can i tell you
something
god is not through with you yet
he goes to iconium brother he goes to
antioch he keeps on moving
your future is waiting on you
your future is waiting on you
your future’s waiting on you your future
is waiting on
your future’s waiting on me do you
receive it
lift your hands up and receive it
[Music]
i believe our best days
[Music]
are ahead of us honey would you come
here and stand with me for a minute
[Music]
i know
i know we might not we could
have another 39 years
[Applause]
[Music]
but whether it’s 39 or 29
or 109
i believe our best days are in front of
us
you believe that do you believe that
about you
[Music]
shake off every other spirit that would
tell you
every other thing cause those are stones
get rid of your stones
and make up in your mind
my best day is coming
my latter day she’ll be greater than my
foreigner
i told her i said we’re going to live
our latter days differently than we did
our early days
yeah we’re coming into our own
yeah i know we’re getting great but
we’re coming into our own
yeah we’re getting to the good part
yeah how many of you believe you’re
getting to the good part
i want to i want to sow a little seed on
our anniversary
for the future just just a small seed
just a hundred dollar seed but i want to
sow it into our future
that we’re gonna make it 100.
yeah we’re gonna make it
if you got the courage it takes courage
to believe that you can get older and
get better
[Applause]
in a culture that glorifies you
it is easy to get to 40 and think your
life is
over but that’s a lie
i want to challenge you to join us and
sow a hundred dollar seed
everybody listening at me everywhere in
the world
and i want you to make it 100.
i want you to leap up out of where you
are right now
and start walking into your antioch in
your iconium
and start moving around in your future
and start moving around in your destiny
because your future is waiting on you
let’s make it 100.
[Music]
that means you got to let some people
call and not answer the phone
and you may even have to get radical and
change your number
[Applause]
but we’re going to make it 100. look at
somebody say let’s make it 100.
i want everybody online streaming
zooming looking in
to make a commitment and i’m going to
pray that we make it
100.
[Music]
i know we’ve been stoned i know we’ve
been scarred
i know we’ve had the wind knocked out of
us and i know they have left us for dead
either physically emotionally attitudely
in some area of our lives we have shed
some blood
but in that same spot
[Music]
we’re gonna make it 100.
and take advantage of this moment to
covenant with yourself
i i’m gonna stop murmuring i’m gonna
stop complaining
i’m gonna stop trying to fix the pass
it’s over i can’t do nothing about it
it doesn’t matter who was right it
doesn’t matter who was wrong
it’s over i pronounce benediction on my
past
and i open up the door to my future
and i’m gonna make it 100. i’m gonna
find
something to laugh at every day every
day
even if it’s the last thing i do before
i go to bed
even if i have to turn on a comedy show
even if i have to get in the mirror and
laugh at myself
i am going to laugh myself to sleep i
will not
cry myself to sleep another night
i’m going to make my life 100 and i will
get better
and i will get richer and i will get
stronger
and i will get tougher anybody with me
anybody shout out with you bishop
lord i now realize why the shepherd left
the 99
left the 99 unattended and went out
looking for one sheep
he was trying to make it 100.
whatever’s been missing in your life
[Music]
pull it back in
and let’s make it 100. we’re not gonna
argue with people in the parking lot
we’re not gonna get upset with nobody at
the drive-through window
we’re not gonna argue about dinner being
late we’re not going to do anything that
breaks the peace
that we have right now we’re going to
make it 100.
let me do one more check before i close
if there’s a person in this room that
doesn’t know jesus
i hope i inspired you but inspiration is
limited
what i really want to do is convert you
converting you doesn’t mean i’m going to
start going to that church i want you to
come
i’d love for you to come i’d be happy to
have you
but that’s not conversion conversion is
when you
change the way you live and you say lord
i’m ready
to walk with you i may not be perfect
i may get it wrong i may need to be
corrected
but i’m ready to walk with you i haven’t
been walking with you
but i’m ready to walk with you hold your
hand up real hard i just want to pray
for you
thank you somebody else thank you thank
you leave it up
leave it up thank you leave it up while
i pray for you
leave it up anybody i see you in the
balcony
i see you i see you i see you
i see you father god in the name of
jesus
every hand that’s been raised up is
raised up in submission to you
asking you lord to take over residents
in their heart
in their life repenting of their sins
confessing you as lord and savior they
invite you into their heart
i pray they’d never be the same again i
pray they’d never be the same again
that a new joy and a new peace and a new
fullness
will come into their heart and soul and
that they walk in that peace
and that power and that they’d never be
the same again and lord finally
no weapon formed against him
shall be able to prosper in the name of
jesus
again 60 seconds of praise and we’re and
we’re going
shout out for us
[Music]
just before i dismiss you give me just
five minutes just three minutes
just before i dismiss you if you can
if there’s somebody here who would like
to make this your church
we’re prepared to open up the doors of
the church
we’ve got everything prepared for you in
a very safe and sanitized way
to give you the right hand to fellowship
welcome you into the church
if you come to my left the doors of this
church are open for membership
whosoever will let them come
we’re getting back to normal y’all
[Applause]
[Music]
come on down
[Music]
so glad to have you so glad to have you
so glad to have you so glad to have you
so glad to have you
[Applause]
so glad that yeah
somebody clapped while they come
somebody climb up
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
i don’t care where you come from
i don’t care where you come from i don’t
care what you got on
i don’t care what your culture is i
don’t care about your ethnicity
if the lord is nudging at your heart
don’t let the devil teach you
come on come on again
come on in come on in
this is the father’s house
[Music]
you’re welcome you’re welcome you’re
welcome
you’re welcome so glad to have you
[Music]
somebody get bishop steal a mike
and i want bishop steele to come and
greet the church
and pray the closing prayer on us as we
prepare
to go all the way from arizona clap your
hands and make him welcome as he comes
such an honor to be here how many were
blessed by the word on this morning
my god in heaven my life will be forever
changed
left for dead my god in heaven everyone
lift one hand to heaven father we thank
you we honor you for this
powerful word on today and we thank you
for even the 39
years of bishop and first ladies
anniversary god continue to extend years
on this earth oh god continue to use
them continue to anoint them
now god give us peace as we leave on
today now god as we even leave
traveling mercies over your people in
jesus name we pray and everybody said
god bless you
you