Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative, chaplain of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, and author of over 100 books, booklets & Bible studies. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on more than 1,300 US outlets daily and in more than 130 countries.

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appreciate it

it’s dark up here though

good morning hey everybody all right

it’s good it’s good to see you it’s good

to have the opportunity my

my dad hit me up last night at about

seven

and said my flight got delayed i said

okay

call you back he hung up the phone he

said

my flight out of bwi i got canceled

i said so i mean great what are you i

mean why are you calling me

uh he said but i found another flight

a little bit later at reagan because

tony evans going to try to figure it out

you know so he drove on over there

and he called me said son i’m on the

plane i think we’re good

great because this is nine o’clock

on saturday night that’s like the night

before

and and then he called me back again and

said they shut dfw down son

and i remember telling him when he told

us about my mom’s circumstance situation

in the hotel in california

i looked him right in the eyes and i

said i got you

anytime you need it i got you

and then you know he called me like

he took me up on it i was you mean like

tomorrow i got you i mean

you know when you tell somebody i got

you i’m with you and then they call you

oh

you mean today

but i do i do

and so i’m excited i’m excited to be

able to do that for him

and i’m excited to also see how god

works

because this morning my dad

wanted you to know that he’s uh he’s

taken to daddy to church

his dad so

he gets to spend extra time because

sometimes

god will put you on pause because he

needs to work some things out

and that’s just the way that it is so he

took two daddy to church and i know how

it’s

i know how it’s going two daddy took out

his key and unlocked the door

he opened the door they both walked in

tony evans sat down as the audience

because ain’t nobody else there

uh that’s just the way it is two daddy

will preach with nobody there

it don’t matter two daddy served the

communion

he stood in front of my dad and led

worship then he went behind the pulpit

and preached to tony evans

and so i’m glad to know that that my dad

is getting poured into as a son

because i know what that feels like

and so that’s what’s going on in in

baltimore right now

but i’m here and i’m excited to give you

a word and i was

up last night you know for a minute

trying to figure out what i’m talking

about and god said what you mean what

are you talking about what are you going

through

what is what is the family dealing with

i mean y’all are going through a battle

you know there’s many people in the

audience that are going through a battle

so why don’t you talk about that so i

found myself at exodus 17.

because at exodus 17 there’s a battle

and it gave me some encouragement

last night as i was just reading it

and so i want to give you some

encouragement

through the battle that you’re facing

exodus 17.

i’m gonna take you there once you get

there just say amen and we’ll roll

get this party started

let me start with the word of prayer

heavenly father we love you we honor you

we’ll give you the praise and glory

we’re not like entitled children

if you don’t do anything else we know

that you’ve already done enough but

we’re still coming asking because your

word allows for it

lord there are people in here who need

to be healed

there are people in here who need

situations to turn around

there’s people in here who have wayward

children that need to come back

there’s marriages in here that want to

survive not just survive but to

flourish lord but we need you

we’re facing battles left and right we

need you

lord let the words of my mouth and the

meditation of my heart be ultimately

acceptable to you and may we be

men and women not just hearers but doers

of the word so that we don’t delude

ourselves

with a lack of an experience with you

we honor you today in jesus name amen

exodus chapter 17 starting at verse

eight stand with me so we can read

and i’m gonna go to about 13 or 15 i

don’t know just flow with me

we’re just gonna make it happen okay

verse eight

then amalek came and fought against

israel at refidem

so moses said to joshua choose men for

us and go out

fight against amalek tomorrow i will

station myself on top

of the hill with the staff of god in my

hand

joshua did as moses told him and fought

against amalek and moses aaron and her

went up to the top of the hill so it

came about

when moses held his hand up that israel

prevailed

and when he let his hand down amalek

prevailed

but moses hands were heavy

then they took a stone and put it under

him and he sat on it

and aaron and her supported his hands

one on one side and one on the other

thus his hands were steady

until sunset so joshua overwhelmed

amalek and his people with the edge of

the sword then the lord said to moses

write this in a book as a memorial

and recite it to joshua that i may

utterly blot

out the memory of amalek from under the

earth

moses built an altar and named it the

lord is my banner

may be seated

today this encouraged me because

especially the way that it ended

jehovah nessie the lord is my banner

when it comes to my mom’s situation i

can’t wait till the testimony comes

because i’ma drive a stake into the

ground

and i’ma let the flag wave that the lord

is my banner he is my victor and that’s

where we get victory

i’m not worried because his word gives

me strength

his word gives me strength not to worry

but simply to depend on him

he’s teaching me here this is how we

fight battles that

that you’re going to have times where

you have all of these things going on in

your life

but if you go up to me while taking care

of your responsibilities down there i

will show up

and i can show up and show off i

remember sitting in the room when

my dad came and he um in california in

the hotel and he was telling us what was

going on

with my mom’s situation and you know how

it feels when you get news like that it

feels like somebody just rubbed icy hot

all over your body it’s hard to describe

the feeling but you just hot cold shiver

in the air everything changes

because of the news that you get and

then when your dad takes off to the

other side of the room in tears

because there’s nothing that his hands

can do about it tony evans likes to fix

things he likes to be able to make

things happen which is why i’m surprised

he’s not here right now

you have no friends you called

but when he told us that and he went to

the other side of the room and

and he was in tears like he he was last

week or the week before and he was just

crying because there was not much we

could do

other than go to god

and my mom said as she was sitting there

and she was looking at my dad and i

remember priscilla and anthony ran over

to

to console him as they were crying with

him and my mom

said well you all know that this fight

is not against flesh and blood

this fight is against the principalities

and powers and war forces of darkness

and heavenly places

so we need you to fight i understand

that you’re sad

about the news i understand that we’re

going through something as a family i

understand that it keeps happening over

and over and over right now we’re in the

season of

over and over and over that’s the season

that we’re in but

understand that it’s time to fight you

can’t

tuck tail and run when the enemy is

fighting

and what we have here in the bible is we

have a war where it was time for the

people of israel to fight

and i feel like we’ll have an

opportunity to identify with them

as it relates to the things that we are

currently going through not just in our

family’s life but in your life

many of you are dealing with health

issues you’re dealing with financial

issues

you’re dealing with relational issues

you’re dealing with career issues you’re

dealing with

addiction issues you’re dealing with

children issues the list can go on and

on if you could just stand up on the

stage and have a moment to tell your

story

but it’s a spiritual battle there are

things going on in heavenly places to

try to take you out

and the worst thing that we can do is

tuck tail and run when it’s our

opportunity to pull down the power of

heaven to overcome

what’s going on on earth

it starts out and he says then amalek

came to fight against israel at

referendum

the first word is then which is a

transitional word that means that

something happened before then that we

have to discuss before i talk about what

happened after

then it’s like seeing the word therefore

in the bible you got to go back and read

what it’s there for so that you can know

what it’s there for

and so i got to go back and look at what

happened i’ll give you a synopsis of

what happened at the beginning

of chapter 17 as i was familiarizing

myself with it

last night and i saw that the people of

israel were on their way to the promised

land

they were going in the direction that

god had called them to go and they came

to a place called rephadim in order to

camp

camp means that we want to be

revitalized we want to sit down and get

our mojo back because we got a long

journey so we’re trying to get

uh re-juiced if you will they had their

vitamixes out and they had their you

know juicers out and they were trying to

get things organized so

they can get their blood flowing in the

right direction so that they can keep

going

in the direction that god had called

them to that’s what camp is

i want to get ready for the next phase

the expectation

is that if we’re camping we’re getting

revitalized for where god is taking us

next

the problem is is that the place where

they camped was also the place where

they didn’t have any water

now if you can imagine going from africa

through the middle east on foot and you

ain’t got no water

that’s not like a small problem we’re

talking about life and death

we’re talking about a major problem and

not only is it a major problem

but it messes up your expectations we

stopped here in order to be revitalized

in the place where we stop to be

revitalized is the place that’s hurting

us the most

there are people in this room right now

that you look to something to be

revitalized

you thought that if you just got settled

now and slowed down in your marriage

you’d be revitalizing that thing just

sped up you thought that if you can get

that new job or that career that you

would be revitalized but your experience

what wasn’t it wasn’t what was on paper

you thought that you would be

revitalized with this

new opportunity these new things you

thought this would be a place where i

have an

opportunity to camp and get ready for

where god is taking me only to find out

that that’s the place where you have to

fight your biggest battles

and what messes you up is the

expectation

it’s the expectation that i thought that

we’re going in the direction that god

has called us to go

come on jesus now uncle beau passed away

on bev passed away winter passed away

two daddy’s struggling with food we get

a diagnosis on my mom i thought we were

going in the direction you called us too

this is the place where i thought that

we were going to be able to camp get

revitalized we’re just doing what you

asked us to do

and sometimes when you’re going through

one thing after another you’re thinking

to your come on jesus

can you give us a break you the one told

us to camp

if you look in verse 1 verse 2 and verse

3 of chapter 17

it was god who told them to camp and

then there ain’t going to be no water

we’re following jesus who calls himself

the living water in john chapter 4 and

why am i thirsty then

we’ve got people who are thirsty in

their finances thirsty in their marriage

the list goes on and on

you are dehydrated while following the

living what come on jesus

that’s just what we’re going through

that’s what you’re going through and

sometimes you have

that misunderstanding that doubt that

conflict

when you’re saying but i’m just doing

what you said

come on man

and he said that they had no water

they were thirsty the people begin to

grumble

and complain now i’m not saying i

condone complaining but when i read the

story i’m like well i kind of understand

i mean

you told them to camp and they ain’t got

no water

you told them that this would be a place

that they could have an expectation to

be revitalized

and then things went downhill and then

they started to look at the leader

they said they got so annoyed

at the circumstance that they were in

that they start picking up rocks

hey moe uh

we’re gonna have to do something about

this

because when you feel like something’s

going awry up there you start looking

out here

picking up stones trying to figure out

whose fault it is

that you’re going through what you’re

going through

but god had them there he said you got

to learn

in season and out of season how to trust

me

[Applause]

but these were people who chapter 14

we’re caught between a rock and a hard

place we got the red sea in front of us

we got pharaoh behind us

chapter 15 we didn’t have any water

chapter 16 we needed some manna chapter

17

we still don’t have any come on jesus

it’s one thing after another the reason

why

i went to this passage is because in our

personal life i’m thinking man come on

man

it’s one thing after and aren’t we just

doing what you asked us to do

that’s that’s confusing to me sometimes

so i’m not saying that i can

condone the complaining of the people of

israel i used to read the people of

israel and judge them like y’all

didn’t you see what he did for you

yesterday y’all complaining

you ain’t you you don’t remember it was

like a chapter ago

you know we don’t get a real time lapse

it was like last chapter you just

you

but then when you go through it you’re

like oh

now i understand

and i have to caution myself because

that come on jesus starts to become

a complaint like he just owes me

something

i start becoming entitled in my speech

because of what we’re doing and god is

like man this ain’t no business

transaction

i’m working to take you somewhere

[Applause]

and so i’m i’m feeling them people of

israel i’m like yeah i’m with you

because he told you to go there

and you dehydrated and he’s the living

water

so he says that’s how it feels

and then moses saw them tossing them

rocks

and he said come on jesus he did he said

god um

we’re not we’re not trying to die today

can you do something about this

the people are thirsty you told us to

camp here don’t make me look bad

we’re on our way to the promised land

that you promised

and god said okay people were at their

breaking point

they started asking the question is the

lord with us or not

i don’t know if you’d be real i don’t

know if you’ve ever asked that question

is

i mean i know he’s real but is he with

me or not

they asked that question and moses

got a word from the lord that said mosey

on up to mount horeb

and you go up there and make sure you

take the staff of god with you you know

what that represents right

represents the spiritual realm the power

drawing down heaven to your experience

on earth

and i need you to do that and i need you

to go strike that rock and when you do

water will come out of it so that the

nations will no longer thirst

i got you have you ever experienced god

coming through right at the breaking

point

he likes doing that doesn’t he i’d like

him to come

a little bit before that i mean

he likes doing it because he wants you

to know that right when you’re about to

give up he hadn’t given up on you

he throws you a bone so that you can

continue the journey

but he’s readying you for what where

he’s taking you

without faith it’s impossible to please

the lord he needs you to trust him

and some of you are in that phase where

it’s just

i’m thirsty and it doesn’t seem like

there’s any provision coming from

anywhere

those who wait on the lord will renew

their strength not those who don’t

so you got to wait and there’s going to

be times where you say to yourself come

on jesus

i’m just doing what you told me to do

you brought me out here

and then they said wouldn’t it be better

for us just to go back to egypt

they won’t they they’re going to keep

going

some of us in here said man it might be

better for me just to go back to my old

life

it might be better for me just to go

back to my old way of thinking old way

of operating

because i’m not getting no provision

over here

but don’t forget in 14

you were between a rock and a hard place

but the sea

opened

in 15 you needed water it was provided

in 16 you were hungry manna fell from

heaven

a little bit too much quail but at least

the mana was in good portion

so in 17 what are you complaining about

see the enemy is good at letting us

focus so hard at our problem

that we don’t remember how great and big

god has been in our past

[Applause]

so quick to forget and the water was

coming down after moses struck the rock

and the people looked up right when they

were about to give up

and you saw god water

you know that’s better than the water we

get that god water that came from that

rock that had to be the best stuff

i could see the people of israel now

they went to the you know the desert

walmart and got the party cups

this is some

watch this right as the provision came

then amalek came to fight against israel

at repudium

come on jesus

we can’t catch a break

i prayed just the other day give us a

break

i know you don’t owe me anything but

we’re trying to catch a break we’re

doing what you called us to do

and your word allows me to believe

i mean i’m praying your word back to you

that’s why i believe it’s because you

said go

many of you are feeling the people of

israel you’re like man it’s one thing

after another

and not only is it one thing after

another it’s one thing after another

in refidem it means the location

it’s the same location it’s that same

job and the same co-worker

it’s the same sickness

the same family strife have you ever

thought to yourself if i can just get

rid of this one thing

that’s what the people of israel were

facing

it’s it’s it’s downhill matter of fact

amalek’s name means man of the valley

because when you’re going through one

thing after another you just ain’t

feeling that mountain top talk

you feel like you’re in the middle of

the woods

and what makes matters worse is that the

people of israel were fighting

against amalek you know who that is

amalek is esau’s grandson

y’all is yo come on that is oak cliff

and bible y’all don’t know

amalek is esau’s grandson

jacob is esau’s brother jacob’s name got

changed to

israel these are the people that came

from jacob

so that means amalek is jacob’s great

nephew

mean to tell me we got this fight

against family

you mean to tell me the people that are

supposed to be pushing me forward are

the ones that are holding me back

this is terrible

one thing after another and you thought

you could get help from your own

bloodline

it’s bad for them you go from no water

to a provision to another

but again i don’t want us

and myself to forget

god’s grace where is god’s grace in this

story

god provided the water before amalek

showed up

see he knows what’s coming and he’ll

make those provisions so that you’re

ready to handle it

if you forget what he’s given you

for what you’re going through you’ll be

a complainer and not a survivor

everybody’s got something in this room

they can say and talk about or how

they’re going through

one thing after another they can’t catch

a break it’s not just us as y’all

but remember how great god is

because he’s preparing you for a great

promise and that promise sometimes

can get dark but if you don’t stop

walking

you can keep experiencing where he’s

taking you

just like my dad you know a long time

ago

we installed motion detector lighting

reason why we install motion detector

lighting is because

well people who don’t pay bills don’t

turn off lights so we were

trying to figure out a way to save on

our electric bill

in the church because it was high so a

long time ago they came in and explained

to us how it works it’s simple

you walk in the room and the power

detects movement the power comes on

if there’s no movement in the room power

goes off

so the experience of the power is only

contingent upon the experience of the

movement

if there’s no movement on the ground

there’s no power in the air it’s not

because there’s no power in the air it’s

just that there’s nothing on the ground

and so when you have the opportunity to

activate the power the power will be

activated because that’s what the power

does

it responds to movement there is a

battle that has to be fought there is a

victory that has to be won and some of

us

are waiting on god and god is saying i’m

waiting on you

and i got more time than you you gonna

run out first

he’s saying there’s a battle that has to

be fought you got to go be responsible

you can’t complain about it you got to

go fight against it and moses tells us

he said joshua in verse 9 you go down

and i will go up

he says you go down and take care of

that responsibility because we can’t

ignore the battle

but i’m not going to let you go down

there without me going up to handle the

spiritual war

because like my mom said this battle is

up there and

up there determines what happens down

here

some of us are so earthly bound that

we’re no heavenly good

and some of us just flying in the sky

just talking all the spiritual language

walking around looking all churchy

but you can’t be used on earth

he’s saying you gotta go up and grab the

spiritual perspective while taking care

of your responsibilities down here

[Applause]

that’s what my mom was telling us

so if you’re sad i understand

but the pity doesn’t help us we need

warriors

and why are we going to war

because we have the staff of god

that’s why we believe it can be done

my son camden uh

camden was two years old he was standing

at the top the top of the stairs in our

house

and i said camden give me your hand man

i got you got to hold my hand

because you don’t need to be trying to

go down these stairs your legs are too

short you’re going to get caught off

guard and you’re going to look like a

bowling ball just rolling down the

stairs

so i grabbed his hand and camden is my

strong-willed son

he wanted no help he’s determined and so

when i grabbed his hand he said

man i don’t know what he said but it was

rude

so after he pulled on me for a second

we got halfway down the stairs he was

adamant so

i let him go man

now for all of you social workers

first of all statues and limitations we

kind of uh

i fought him a little further before i

let him go

went down cleaned it up mom i went down

i went down and then we got to the last

step and then i let him go

because i want him to fall too far

so i said okay camden here’s your shot

he took the step first foot

didn’t touch the ground before his back

foot came off

boom hit his chest knocked the wind

it began it was a worship

service

hands lifted crying coming back to the

father

because he recognized that it’s just not

smart to try to take this journey down

here

without having a hold of my father up

there

that thing just don’t work out that well

i’ve tried it let me let you know that

thing don’t work out too well

when you try to take advantage of what’s

going on in your life without having a

hold of the father moses knew

joshua i’m going to send you down but

i’m not going to let you go i’m going to

go up

because we have to have a strong hold

even

two years later my son came then at four

years old i said okay you’re four now go

ahead and go on down the stairs he said

daddy hold my hand daddy

that’s what he said to him i said you

four man you can go down the stairs he

he knew better now

we ought to know better now moses is

letting you know better now

he’s saying you go down and take care of

that responsibility but you have to have

a firm grasp

because i have confidence in my father

even though i know i still have to take

the walk

that’s why

when they called us and told us about my

mom and we’re listening on speakerphone

and she’s going to all of these doctor’s

appointments

i sounded like camden doctor said

something i said

daddy

because i can hold somebody’s hand

that has more authority than you

[Applause]

now we still have to be responsible

we’re going to go to the doctor we’re

going to follow the protocol

but we’re going to believe his word and

we’re going to do both simultaneously

[Applause]

my mom is doing that right now it’s on a

strict diet

all the sugars have been removed because

sugar feeds cancer cells

and so she’s she’s doing what she’s

called to do and one of the doctors said

we have to remove the inflammation so

you got to be on a strict diet you’re

going to lose some weight but that’s

great

we’ve got to be remove the inflammation

because the cancer cells like to live

and tuck away in the inflammation

so if you remove the inflammation then

you put them out on front street we put

them out on front street and then we

blast them

that’s what we’re going to do the

problem is we got too many saints that

are living with too much inflammation

they up there talking to the heavenly

doctor but they won’t

do the prescription they won’t do and

execute they like coming to church but

they don’t like being the church

and so they’re living with inflammation

praying without an experience but it’s

because

those cells are living in there and you

haven’t put them on front street where

the word of god can blast them

joshua said moses rather said to joshua

go be responsible and fight hard and

that’s what we’re going to do

and i want to tell somebody out there go

be responsible and go fight hard

go fight hard but don’t you let go of

your father’s hand

because he determines the end result

he said joshua would you go down

while i go up with the staff of god in

my hands

and then it says moses aaron and her

went up to the top of the mountain with

a staff of god in their hand in his

hands

it was a simple observation that i saw

the great patriarch knew better than to

go up there by himself

he knew better because holding on to the

spiritual perspective

gets hard when you got a lot of battles

to fight

and to do it by yourself the enemy loves

that he loves to catch you

in isolation

but we love to handle things ourselves

that’s because pride comes right before

you fall

that’s why we have areas of connection

at the church that’s why we have small

groups if you feel like you’re alone you

get into a small group you say i don’t

know those people well that’s because

you ain’t met him yet

you just go introduce yourself

and you get to know some people who are

going the same direction who are using

the same playbook who have the same

goals

who can hold you up and who can give you

truth

we don’t like that part you’ve heard

that over and over again

iron sharpens irons when one man can

shove in there you got all of the

scriptures

but you still standing by yourself

we come to church then we leave and go

get something to eat

we say the message was good we’re like

game day analysts we come in here and we

watch pastor evans yep that was a good

one today

who’s preaching next week nope not

coming who’s preaching next week

not gonna do that who’s preaching that

he was all right

what are you doing

god is calling us to live and be the

church

not to be game day analyst we got wars

to fight

and battles to fight we got people who

are losing loved ones and

and who are sick and are losing way

we’re children and and we got marriages

that are falling apart we don’t look no

different from the world analyzing

somebody’s message

this is he’s given us a prescription

and that’s why we’re so thankful for you

guys

because we we’ve got such a great family

here at oak cliff bible fellowship we

know that we’re not going to the top of

the mountain by ourselves

and i want you to know from the evans

family that you’re not going to the top

by yourself

we’ve been spending our time praying for

you as well as our mom

because we know we’re not the only ones

who were fighting this battle it was a

nation of people

who had to enter the war

and because of this spiritual

perspective

in the middle of this battle moses arms

start hurting

they got heavy

and then the bible says verse 12

says that aaron and her took a stone and

put it under him and had him sit on it

you always know when you have the right

people around

because they gonna give you a rock to

sit on

know luke chapter six the man who built

his house on the sand man who built his

house on the

on the rock

people who you see holding up

aren’t you going through man i thought

you were

yeah but i’m sitting on this rock people

ask me how are you doing i say i’m doing

okay and i really i really

am i’m doing pretty good why

it’s a rock

my faith is in one thing

and it’s a rock

and i believe in it i have an

expectation because it’s a rock

even when i fall apart it doesn’t

it’s immutable it’s not going to change

it don’t matter what you feel it’s a

rock

that’s why in any time

you start losing your mind in the battle

number one that’s evidence that you just

stepped into god territory

and you ain’t god so you just start

losing your mind

number two god is trying to teach you to

return to the rock

sit down it’s getting hard

and you have to have people around you

that can give you the rock

i know you’re gonna get tired oh don’t

quote them scriptures don’t i don’t want

to hear that yes you do

you need that

because it’s true

his hands got heavy and his boys gave

him a stone to sit on

they held up his hands one on one side

and one on the other

and because of them not just moses

his hands were steady until sunset

thus we know what happened

joshua overwhelmed amalek with the edge

of his sword

i can’t wait to overwhelm amalek

i can’t wait to take that flag and shove

it into the ground

because we’re going to scream from the

mountaintop

the truths of the old church god is good

all the time and all the time god is

good

and we’re going to pray that if it’s not

his will that he would change his mind

like he did for moses

because we’re going to consult his word

and do it based on his word

joshua overwhelmed amalek with the edge

of his

what is the sword ephesians 6 word of

god

he took the spiritual perspective from

up there and

slayed his enemy down here

why is the word important well it’s

pretty much the only offensive weapon

you get

and many of us are just living defense

but his word says if you ask according

to my will

i hear you and you better know that i

hear you

and your petitions will be grabbed by

heaven that’s what it says in first john

5 14.

his word says in john 15 that if you

abide in me and my word abides in you

you can ask whatever you wish and it

will be done for you

that’s what your word says his word says

in mark 11

that if you pray believing you will be

receiving

that’s what his word says his word says

don’t be anxious for anything but

through prayer and supplication make

your request known

so since he says it we gonna do it and

we’re going to have an expectation

that jehovah neesee will give us victory

in our family

in your life in your family’s life

we’re looking for victory why because we

have a rock

and we can have an expectation that even

though we have battles god is only

preparing us for a great promise

so i want to know if the people at ocbf

have their flags ready

because we’re ready to march with our

flags with our jehovah nessie flags

he’s my banner with our jehovah rafa

flags

he is the healer with our jehovah gyra

flags he will provide

with our king of kings flags and lord of

lords flags

we’re ready for the battle is there

anybody at oak cliff bible fellowship

who’s ready for the battle

there’s no more time to tuck tail and

run

there’s no more time to only play

defense it’s time to play offense

because he said it so we’re going to do

it and when we do it

we expect the lights to come on

they may give you a bad diagnosis you

can say

[Applause]

hold my hand daddy because what he says

goes

no matter what you’re going through if

there’s anybody in here who’s going

through a battle come to me so i can

pray for you

say well my battle’s not that big yet

well you better get up here now

[Music]

because we have to fight as individuals

as families as churches

we got to fight life is full of fights

it’s full of battles

like my dad said a week or two ago

job 42 10 when job prayed for his

friends then he was restored

so this is definitely not about

you doing for us we’re looking forward

to do for you

so i’m going to pray for you but before

i pray for you

i want you to pray for one another

so i want you to not think about what

you’re going through for a second

but i just want you to go to god let him

hear your voice he wants to hear your

voice

and just pray for everyone else in the

room and what they’re going through

god knows what they’re going through and

that god would heal them bring their

children back

bless them expand their territory walk

with them indeed

because your blessing comes first from

giving

not from sitting and waiting to receive

let’s go to god in prayer for one

another

heavenly father we lift you up

praise your holy name for what you’re

going to do and the people

we need one another

[Music]

it’s the

[Music]

[Music]

if an unrighteous judge will do it how

much more will a righteous judge

do it for his people so lord we’re going

to bang on heaven’s door until we get an

answer father

[Music]

because we believe you’ll answer

heavenly father lord there are people in

this room that are dealing with so many

things

[Music]

we’ve got people who are dealing with

disease and sickness lord we pray that

you heal them father in the name of

jesus

we have people in here who have barren

wounds lord

you said be fruitful and multiply lord

we pray lord that you will open rooms in

the name of jesus

we pray lord for the way we’re child

lord and the parent can’t do anything

else about it

that you will use your sheepdogs grace

and mercy to go round them back up

and bring them back home we pray lord

for

financial struggle lord and career

struggle and loss of job

lord we pray lord that you would be the

great provider for someone in this room

that you will bring them a provision

that blows their mind as high as the

heavens are above the earth are your

ways from our ways and your thoughts

from our thoughts

we pray for them father we pray for the

ones who have lost loved ones father

that they would find comfort in your

spirit

and what you have called them to do and

the legacy you have called them to carry

we pray for them father we pray for the

man or woman who’s struggling with

addiction today

and they’re battling and they’re

battling and they’re battling we pray

lord for them right now lord that you

would

bind up that addiction lord and loose

your blessing

on earth as it is in heaven

pray lord for every circumstance and

situation lord

that you will bring a blessing and until

you do we will wait

because those who wait will renew their

strength

and we will wait by faith help us to be

responsible in the ground on the ground

but to hold daddy’s hand in the heavens

because we know that ultimately you are

the one that has the final word

we give you the glory we pray for all of

these people who have come

and even the ones who didn’t in jesus

name

amen

if you have come down and you want to

knock on heaven’s door some more

we have people who would love to pray

for you right over here

my buddy claude is standing over here

and he will pray for you

there’s nothing wrong with continuing to

knock on that door

as we close remember that we love you

and that we’re praying for you and i

already know that you love us and you’re

praying for us we’re a family

and i just want you to know that from up

here that we love you we’re thinking of

you and we’re praying for you

support uh my dad’s movie kingdom man

rising

we’re excited about it

we’re doing a special showing where we

bought out some theaters at

at the south lake town center you come

out there and make it a a day and

it’s a great place to hang out and then

we’re going to have a showing on april

30th for our members

and those who want to come but if you

aren’t able to make it it’s still

showing

on april 29th and 30th at any theater in

dallas pretty much

okay but we just wanted to do something

for the church those tickets will be for

sale for you

in the balcony okay so you have to go up

there and get your ticket if you want to

be a part of what we’re doing as a

church thank you for coming

thank you for blessing me and allowing

me to bless you

and we’ll have our benediction