2819 Church - GOD OF MIRACLES | Touch and Restore | Matthew 9:18-26 | Philip Anthony Mitchell

Episode Date: January 4, 2025

Welcome to the official Youtube channel for 2819 Church. This channel features powerful and life-impacting messages from Philip Anthony Mitchell and guest communicators. As you listen to these sound biblical messages you can expect to be challenged, stirred, matured and inspired in your faith and walk with God. For more information about us visit 2819Church.org.

On behalf of my wife and my children who are homesick and we sick we want to shout out We got a special guest in the room a whole tribe called the sexless tribe Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

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Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! BSD! I also want to I'm just finding out about the TST tribe

the sexless tribe this is from what I understand correct me if I'm wrong a group of brothers and sisters that's growing around the country have made a commitment to honor God with their body So, uh... So, uh...

Brothers and sisters from our church and servant leaders are sitting right now in an overflow room to make space for some 200-plus of them who are visiting us today. They chose to be with us so we want to honor them and celebrate them for being here. Come on, give them a 2819 welcome. Shakia. And to their leader, Shakia.

Shakia. We honor you, woman of God, for the movement of honor that you have started. A lot of people will say that what you guys are doing, whole one know for me, is antiquated. But it's really honor unto God. And I feel like it's needed in our generation and so we welcome you to 2819 Church and if you're a first-time guest or a non-believer we welcome you to 2819 Church if you're a guest sitting in the overflow we welcome you to 2819 Church Church. Everybody watching me live right now in pockets across the city, around the country,

in a few places around the globe, we welcome you to 2819 Church. Our family, we're on the back end, the last two messages in a series called God of Miracles, where we have been studying through Matthew chapter 8 and 9. Our church right now is walking through the book of Matthew. We are in no rush to get out of that book. This is what the Spirit has given us to do. We might be there for a year and a half. We really don't care. And nobody's not going to rush me either.

And we are a house of presence and proclamation and and one of the things that I'm trying to teach my church if you are guests that there are no celebrities in our house except the Lord Jesus Christ and that and that and and hear my heart when I say this. I feel like a great tragedy I see in the American church and our generation is that we worship the words of men. And we almost give it more credence than the word of God and you be so impressed with the eloquence of people's speech and and the beautiful sentences they can string together when we so uneducated we don't even realize what they're saying is not even founded in the word of God and I can't speak for any place else I can only speak for our house That I don't want people to be impressed with my oratory.

I really, in the core of my being, I really want you to be in awe of these holy scriptures. I really want you to be in awe of the word of God. I want you to be, I want you to read them and be in awe. I want you to hear them and be in awe. I want them to come to bear the weight on your soul. I want us to open up this bread with the oil on it and you be in awe of just the word of God. I want you to feel like you don't have to

be entertained on Sunday but just even if I stood up here and just read to you the word of God, you would feel that in your spirit. I'm so serious about this that I'm coming. I'm going to come in here one Sunday and open the scriptures and just read to you, close it and go home.

And the reason I feel this way, look at at me because anytime you've been around something for a long time you start to treat it as familiar or common and anything you treat as familiar or common it leaks value out of you so now it's just a book it's just an ornament on a desk in my house it's not the living breathing alive record promises historical accounts of the word of god like these aren't real people that lived and died and you make you worship them like like we're not they're not flesh and blood like you like david is not like you or paul is not like you or elijah's not like you the only difference between some of them and some of you is the theophany that Isaiah had where he saw the Lord high and lifted up we don't see

the Lord like that so he's a sucker he's common he's ordinary we're too familiar with him he's just my homeboy Nah, I sit at my desk and I read the word of God and I study and I push away from my table in tears. I fall down on the floor and I be overwhelmed by the words of Christ. so these are our last two messages in this series and for all my note takers today we're going to be studying we're going to do Matthew chapter 9 verses 18 through 26

and I want to tag a title Verses 18 through 26. And I want to tag a title to this test that is going to seem boring when it comes up on the screen. But the longer you walk with God, you're going to find out you're going to end up praying this. It's going to be like things are going to happen in your life and then this word is going to mean something to you. Things are going to rock your life and then the title of this message is going to mean something to you. So let's not get fancy or cute,

but let's take this corpus of scripture and give it one title. We just call it touch and restore. Because sometimes things are lost and we need to get it back. Joy could be lost and we got to get it back. Peace could be lost and we got to get it back. Stability in your home could be lost and you got to get it back and you live long enough this is going to be your cry one day lord restore this back to me

i know what it is to make mistakes and be far away from god and say lord restore back to me the joy of your salvation just i feel ashamed but restore that back to me. I feel guilty, but restore that back to me. Anybody that's ever lost anything and has cried out to the Lord, restore that back to me. No? Just keep living. You're not going to rush me, right?

Take my time? Restore my preaching clock. Thank y'all. Eternal garden of a wise father. eternal God and ever wise Father spirit of the living God we sense and feel your presence in this room in that overflow across this camera Lord we want to marvel at your word that overflow across this camera. Lord, we want to marvel at your word.

We want to marvel at your life and your words and the things that you've done. We want to marvel. Father, would you remove familiarity from this room? Would you restore value and honor to the word in this room would you restore a sense of awe in the hearts of your sons and daughters as we open up your word in this room father I pray for the miracle of open eyes I pray for the miracle of open eyes. I pray for the miracle of good ground. Father, I acknowledge I am weak.

I am tired. I'm sick in my body, but your grace and transparency, I ask for help. Minister to us, the people now, in Christ's name we pray. If you agree with everything I prayed, would you just shout amen? Thank y'all so much. Amen is not a churchy word, it just means so let it be.

Somebody say amen. Touch and restore. My brothers and sisters, I want to start this message by talking to you about something very important, very serious, in which no one under the sound of my voice right now is immune to. And that is the agitations, the frustrations, and the hardship that come into our life as a result of this one word that we don't like, and it's called trouble. Trouble. The longer you live, the longer you realize that trouble is inevitable.

It is unavoidable. Money cannot insulate you against trouble. Status cannot insulate you against trouble. Connections cannot insulate you against trouble. And I'm gonna go just a little bit deeper and even saying almost walking perfectly with God, which does not exist, but even having, man, a tenacious walk with God

cannot insulate you against trouble because even when you feel like you're doing everything right, the Lord can allow trouble to come into your life. And I was young and now I'm a little bit older and I can tell everybody who's younger than me, you're not gonna get out of this life without dealing with some trouble. Anybody who's lived life for five minutes

will look over their shoulder and be able to testify, trouble has come into your life. At different points, at different seasons, everyone in this room, everyone in Overflow, everyone watching me right now across YouTube, we all have dealt with the agitations, the frustrations that comes with trouble. Now, if you just do a survey of your life and you look over your shoulder, you will quickly recognize that trouble enters into our life through one of three channels.

Let's talk about them. First, trouble often enters our life through what I call self-inflicted trouble. Mistakes that you make, stupid things that you do, things that you're supposed to do and don't do that as a result of either bad decision making or no decision making or aggressive decision making or being passive in your decision making, your own personal actions invites trouble into your life. Do I got a witness from anybody? Look at all y'all liars without your hands up.

You know where liars are going, right? Has anybody ever made a mistake that invited trouble into your life? Yes. Yes. A second pathway that trouble enters our life is what I call trouble that's inflicted by other people. Somebody else inflicted trouble upon our lives, right? An abuse, rape, a molestation, a parent that abandoned us, who's left in a group home dealing with rejection, betrayal from a friend. Somebody walked out of your life.

Somebody gave you divorce papers when you was fighting for a marriage. Somebody you trusted that betrayed you, whatever the case may be. Somebody you put your confidence in, you left your child with a babysitter that you wasn't supposed to. Some of us know what it is to deal with the pain that comes from the trouble that others inflict upon our lives. Can anybody agree with that? And oftentimes when we think about the first form of trouble and the second form of trouble, I mean, we can pretty much reconcile that in our mind.

I made a mistake and this followed. They made a mistake and that followed. But there is a third form of trouble that is more difficult to reconcile in our mind. And that is what I call uncontrolled trouble. I did not plan for this. I did not see this coming. This is not what I wanted to happen in my life. It caused us to say things like, why is this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this? Where did this come from? I'm doing everything I know how to do, man. I'm serving the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm being faithful in everything I know how to do. And yet this thing has hit my house. This thing has hit my marriage. We were doing everything right. And still there's trouble, man. I did not want this. This thing has hit my marriage. We were doing everything right.

And still there's trouble, man. I did not want this. I did not plan for this. And man, and that's a more difficult kind of suffering to reconcile, a more difficult kind of trouble to reconcile. Because we think about, man, I did not do anything to deserve this at all. Man, I think about we got a partner church in Orlando, Florida called New Creation Fellowship. It's pastored by my close friend, another urban theologian. His name is Recap Gray.

Right now, oh, shout out to my brother Recap Gray. Right? I'm part of a tribe of urban theologians who have a different expression of Christ, but we serious when it comes to the word of God. And so we got a partner church in Orlando, Florida. If you live anywhere in the Orlando area and you're looking for a Bible teaching church full of presence and proclamation, yo, you need to go visit New Creation Fellowship pastored by Recap Gray. The word is being preached. The spirit of God is there. It is a new church plant and it's going to take Orlando by storm. I believe that in the

name of Jesus. So right now in our partner church, our brothers and sisters down there are walking through the book of Genesis. We're walking through Matthew. They're walking through the book of Genesis. And my brother Reekab and I, we're having these discussions about Genesis because his church right now is being reminded that all of human suffering, all of your tears, all of your insecurities, all of your issues, all of the problems we have right now, it's linked to that fact that we are living in a Genesis three world. We're living in a world that has fallen and broken, not because this is what God wanted. No, we're living in a world that we have created because of our rebellion against God.

That God created a world that was perfect and a world that was ordered. But because we thought we were smarter than God, we still do that now. Come on now. Our pristine parents rebelled against God and plunged the world into sin, Genesis chapter 3. And because of that, I keep reminding our church, listen to me.

I know you don't like to hear this, but it's the truth. You need to stop pointing fingers at all these things because of all these things. The reason for all these things is because of sin. And that's why I keep trying to get you to hate sin. I want you to hate sin in you. I want you to hate sin in the world. I want you to not keep playing with sin like it's to hate sin in the world. I want you to not keep playing with sin like it's a pet and keep it in your house on a leash like it's a pet dog.

No, I want you to hate sin. See, some of us, man, we keep sin in our house like a pet and we just keep strumming. I want you to hate sin. I hate it in my heart. I hate it in my mind. I hate it in the world because sin is the origin of all of our pain. We keep pointing the fingers on my father left you because of sin and my mother rejected me because of sin and I got this diagnosis because of sin. Now I got a cold right now because of sin. I got snot running out my nose right now trying to breathe as I'm talking to you because of sin. When the Lord did not design us at trying to breathe as I'm talking to you because of sin. When the Lord did not design us at first to be sick, but we get sick now because of sin.

Stop blaming the government. And stop blaming all these people. We're dealing with the products of leaders who are filled with sin. And men who are filled with sin. And men who are filled with sin. And if we stop putting our stock in men and start putting our stock in Christ, that the answer is not the next president or the current president. It's the spread of the gospel. It's the saving of souls.

It's the spread of the kingdom of God. There's nothing going to change a man's heart like the power of the gospel. And so there is a type of trouble that comes into our life, not because you've done anything wrong, but it is uncontrolled. Watch. You almost can't do anything about it when it comes you can't stop it from coming some of us know what this is like some of us has just come out of something like that we are currently in something like that I hate to say this to you might be headed for something like that and I know you're looking down

your road saying this message is for that sister, that brother. If this is not for you, just hang on to this teaching. You might need this six weeks from now. It is this last form of trouble, uncontrolled trouble that is at the center of our text. Let me walk you back into our context before we get into the text. Matthew, an outcast Jew, we're reading his record of the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. He records for us, man, the birth of Christ or the incarnation of Christ, that which this eternal being took a body and came into the world to pay the price for all of our sins. He records the birth of the ministry of John the Baptist, who was the cousin of the Lord Jesus Christ, who came to preach first, who prepared the world for the coming of Christ. He records,

man, when Christ was being afflicted by King Herod, when he was a little boy, his parents running to make sure he wasn't put to death because the devil loves to kill children. And since God is a God of life, he loves procreation. I don't care. They're attacking me every week on social media God is a God of procreation he said to the first human beings

a male and female be fruitful and multiply Come on. Come on, Pastor. Amen. Amen. Father, I pray. I pray, God, for every troll on my page, every person who is blinded by the devil, every person who thinks God does not exist, every person who blasphemes him on my page, not knowing they're headed for eternal damnation,

I pray you would awaken them and open their eyes. They only breathe them because of your grace. They are not my enemy. So we just pray right now as a church for the awakening of the blind. And I pray for an awakening of the sons and daughters of Christ that we will raise the banner of righteousness against the agenda of perversion in our nation. That we will not tuck our tails and run in the opposite direction.

We are the people of God. We are the truth preservers of the word of God. And I pray your people be awakened as we are in a cultural warfare for truth. In Christ's name I pray. Don't run from no warfare. We were built for warfare. That's why the whole back half of Ephesians chapter 6 gives you an armor. You know, this ain't got nothing to do with my message, but I just want to tell you.

That whole arm of Ephesians chapter 6, notice there's armor for no, You know, this ain't got nothing to do with my message, but I just want to tell you. That whole arm of Ephesians chapter 6, notice there's armor for no, there's only one place there's no armor for, and that's your back. Because the Lord don't expect you to do this. But there is a breastplate because he expects you what? To fight forward. I don't even know who I'm talking to. so Matthew records the rise of the ministry of Jesus and then Matthew records his own calling to the Lord Jesus Christ the fact that we're reading the words of a man who were called to Jesus it blows my mind because

the Lord saw something in Matthew that he did not see in himself. Just like the Lord sees something in you, oftentimes what you don't see in yourself. And if Matthew did not fully surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ, we would not be reading his words today. That you have no idea what is on the inside of you until you fully allow God to get a hold of your life. Not a half devotion, but a full devotion. Matthew left everything he was doing, fully surrendered to the Lord. Man, 2,000 years later, we're reading about him. Matthew records when he threw a dinner or a party for Jesus. Jesus is in his crib. He got all of his disciples. All of these cronies are in there, tax collectors and sinners. Matthew records when the disciples of John comes to Jesus

they're asking him a question about fasting he teaches them about cloth and new wine taught y'all about that last week that the Lord did not come to patch up your old life of sin he came to give you a brand new life of righteousness he didn't come to fix your old vehicle he pulled up next to you in the cross and said hop into a new vehicle and then on the back side of his talks about wine Matthew records this powerful incident which is recorded in three gospels man this this right here is heat and I want you to be in awe of not my preaching, but the word of God. All right.

So in the heels of that, Matthew records this next incident in Matthew chapter 9, verse 18. He says, while he, which is Jesus, was saying these things to them. What things? He was teaching them about wineskins so first he is interrupted by the disciples of John the Baptist as he's teaching and now he's interrupted again while he was saying these things to them behold a word. A ruler came in and knelt before him saying, my daughter has just died. That's painful. But come and lay your hand on her, which is illegal for a Jew to touch a dead body but watch this man has so much faith he said forget tradition because sometimes your need got to be greater than man-made traditions. A ruler came to him and said to a Jew, which is illegal to touch a dead body,

my daughter has died, but forget tradition. Trouble has hit my home. Don't got time to be pretty now. Don't got time for man-made traditions now. My daughter has died. So I want you to break your man-made traditions, rabbi, and come,

watch, and lay your hand on this dead child. He don't even doubt in his mind and she will live. Now family, let's unpack this together, right? We're in the book of Matthew, but in the very next book of the Bible is a book called Mark. Mark was a companion of a man named Peter. Mark was the first person to write a gospel

narrative. Mark tells us some details that Matthew leaves out because Matthew's focus is a much broader picture, so he omits a few details from this account. But Mark tells us some details from this account that I want to tell you for your own personal learning. So Mark would tell us in his gospel, the name of this man is Jairus, and that he is a ruler of a synagogue. And as a ruler of a synagogue, he is a man with great influence and status. And that he's responsible for running the church. But not immune from trouble. Status can't keep him from trouble. His position can't keep him from trouble. Him doing everything he knows to do in the law can't keep him from trouble.

Some theologians believe that Jairus may have been a Pharisee. A member of a religious Jewish sect that became the chief agitators of Jesus. So now put the pieces together. He's a ruler of a synagogue, a man of status, a man of money, maybe a Pharisee who knew about Jesus. Jesus is supposed to be his enemy. But his need is greater than his pride. His need is greater than his pride. Jairus gets the phone call that no parent wants to get. In the middle of the night, your son, your daughter was found dead.

Now, family, come on, stop playing around, right? You be reading this and acting like these are fictitious characters. That's why we don't even use that word at this church. Because when you hear the word character, you think fake. These are real human beings who lived in the first century A.D. This is a man who had a little girl who Mark would tell us was 12 years old. This is daddy's little joy. And anybody got a daughter, you know what daughters do to you.

I got two of them, Israel and Abigail. They'd be working me. They'd be slipping in like, daddy, don't you want to buy us a boba today I mean they just it's almost like you can't tell them no and if you got a daughter or a child man you know what it is if your child gets sick you feel some type of way when your little baby got a snot nose you feel some type of way when your child is coughing you feel some type of way this man who loves his daughter obviously he must love her because he's breaking tradition he's swallowing his pride he don't care if this second is the enemy of Jesus a type of trouble that has hit his home that is bigger than his pride so he comes before a man that's supposed to be

the enemy of his own sect and what does he do man he kneels down in that man's presence and that knee on the ground is a sign of watch I'm at the mercy of this circumstance and I'm at the mercy of you, our Lord. I know you are Jew. I know you're not supposed to touch dead bodies, but I don't got time for tradition. There is something happening right now in my house. Something blowing up in my marriage. Something happening in my family. And I don't got time to be cute,

and I don't even got time to fix my hair. I need to get to God's house. I need to let out a praise. I need to get down on this floor. I need to pray. I need to shout. I don't care who's watching me. I got a need.

And I'm not going to let my get us in the face of my need sometimes the only thing blocking us from getting a move from God is our pride so I'm gonna ask everybody in this room a question. Let me ask you a question. Everybody in the overflow, let me ask you a question. How do you respond to trouble? No, let me go deeper. How do you respond to trouble you can't control? I know how y'all get down. Some of us, when trouble you can't control hits your house, man, you just get paralyzed by fear.

I've been there. Sometimes when trouble hit our home that we wasn't prepared for, you know how we respond? Man, we respond by just depression. We just sink into a basement and we stay there. I've been there too. Can I go deeper? Sometimes when trouble hits you that you can't control, you know how some of y'all respond?

Just with indifference. I know how you get down. You just don't give a darn. You don't care that your family's a wreck. Everything is blowing up around you. Your marriage is falling apart. Your mind is falling apart. And all you keep, you just don't care.

You just don't care. Why? You know why? Because some of us, man, we make dysfunction a family member. We love dysfunction so it becomes normal to us. Some of us have been raised in dysfunction so long we just think dysfunction is normal. So you think it's normal to be fighting so long we just think dysfunction is normal so you think it's normal to be fighting every day you think it's normal to be arguing every day and you think it's normal to be in a beef every day and you think it's normal to not have peace

because some of us man we just tattoo with dysfunction but what did trouble do to Jairus Because some of us, man, we just tattoo with dysfunction. But what did trouble do to Jairus? You know what it did? It pushed him out of his comfort zone. Into the hands of the Savior. But watch, some of us won't even do that. You know why?

Because another way you respond to trouble is you try to be with God. You try to do things trouble you get down there's some of us where trouble comes we try to be the god of our own lives this is bigger than you and it's above your pay grade but you don't even have the humility to go to god instead you're going to try to engineer your way out you're going to try to manufacture your way out because we love being the God of our own lives. We think that we're all wise and that we're all knowing

and that we really have all the answers for a trouble that's much bigger than our experience. But what did trouble do to Jairus? He didn't just stay in panic. He didn't just stay in fear. He didn't even try to be the God of his own life.

He didn't even care that the Lord was supposed to be an enemy. Man, trouble pushed him into the hands of the Savior. And I want to tell all of you, my brothers and sisters, when you are dealing with trouble in your life, hardships, agitations, pressure, especially that which you cannot control, man, the best place you can run is to the presence of the Savior. Don't nobody want to say amen about that. That the scripture says our God is a strong tower. The righteous. You know your Bible? That the scripture says our God is a strong tower. The righteous, you know your Bible?

The righteous run into him. And are what? They're now safe. We find refuge under the shadow of his wings. So why are you trying to handle all that trouble on your own? Your shoulders ain't tough enough for that. And I know you said, but pastor, you don't know my life. And you don't know how I ain't been reading my Bible. And I ain't been praying.

And I feel ashamed about some mistake that I made. Let me tell you something. Because the devil is a liar. The Lord delights in being needed. Let me teach you about the character of your father. He takes delight in being needed. He loves to hear the cry of his children. He loves when your back is up against the wall and you have no place to turn but to look up. Some of you, man, you're so prideful that he'll just let stuff blow up in your life just to get your attention. And it doesn't matter if you feel ashamed. It doesn't matter if you feel ashamed it doesn't matter if you feel distant

I'm telling you according to the word of God the Lord watch he loves to be needed he loves to hear the cry of his children he loves when you're shedding tears in the middle of the night and you have no place to go but up he loves when you're thumbing through social media looking for a word you get frustrated and close your phone you open your Bible you said Lord just speak to my heart right here he loves when you fall in your knees that Lord I don't know I'm gonna do but the only thing I can't do is trust you anyhow he loves to be needed. How does the Lord respond?

You know what? I gotta tell you this before I tell you, before the next verse. You know, when I think about trouble, you know, I feel like the Lord always responds to trouble in three ways. Can I tell you the three ways the Lord responds to trouble? The first way the Lord responds to trouble when you cry

you'll cry and he'll just deliver you from the trouble. It's like instantaneous. You cry and then he opens the door and walks you out of the jail. Side note, some people are in jails and the door is wide open. You just got to walk out. And then another way the Lord responds

when you cry for trouble is that you'll cry out in the middle of trouble and he won't deliver you from that trouble he'll just give you the strength to walk all the way through it and then a third way the Lord responds to trouble is that you'll cry out for deliverance from trouble and the Lord will both deliver you and he'll transform you at the same time. Now, why do I separate these three? Because, man, they're different. There are people who cry out to the, watch this.

Everybody watch this. There are people who cry out to God for deliverance in the middle of trouble. The Lord moves on your behalf and then they forget the Lord. You know you don't believe that? There's Bible for just the whole book of judges right god's people he gives them their laws their purpose his presence they go after strange gods they get in bondage they cry out to god for deliverance in the middle of their trouble the lord sends somebody to deliver them from trouble. They live chill for a little while. They forget God. They go right back into bondage. Try out to God, deliver them from trouble.

The Lord delivers them from trouble. They live good for a little while, forget God, go right back into bondage. It's like a cycle of dysfunction. He's only good enough to help when I'm in trouble, but not good enough to follow. Watch. And then there's some people, man, the Lord is not going to deliver you from that trouble. It'd be like Paul, a former murderer who was saved, who cried out to the Lord three times, Lord, man, this thorn in my side, this agitation in my life, man, would you take this away from me? Three times Paul prayed, Lord, take this away from me three times Paul prayed Lord take this away from me and the Lord said no I would not take that away for you but Paul will learn that his

grace is sufficient to walk with you through this thing that's agitating you and then there's sometimes the Lord will deliver and transform in the same time because he has to you know is there a bible for that I think about like Mary Magdalene who was possessed with seven demons the Lord delivers her from that demonic oppression and transforms her life she becomes a committed follower of Jesus when the Lord is resurrected on a Sunday morning she becomes the first person to preach the gospel it was a woman Mary Magdalene who saw the Lord resurrected and he said to Go and tell my followers that I have risen. A former prostitute. Possessed by a demon.

Delivered from trouble and transformed. See? The problem is too many of us the Lord delivers but we don't learn so he pulls you out but you remain ignorant of the lesson amen how does the Lord respond to Jairus? I'm almost done. Take my time?

They don't want me to, bro. You part of TST? I can't. You in 2019 culture, take my time. How does the Lord respond? Listen, everybody watch. How does the Lord respond to Jairus, a potential Pharisee, potential enemy of God, a ruler of a synagogue, not part of his group, not in his disciples, not walking with the Lord, no reason to come. How does the Lord respond? We in the Lord, no reason to come.

How does the Lord respond? We in the text, right? Verse 19. And Jesus, somebody shout the next word. And what? With his disciples. So the Lord looked past all the barriers that should hinder him from moving you know what the Lord saw humility you know what the Lord saw worship so we see that worship has an effect on God and humility has an effect on God I see you with your hands up in the risers, brothers. Worship has an effect on God's

heart and humility has an effect on God. I remember my scripture saying, man, a broken and contrite heart the Lord will never despise. That even when I don't feel right, even when I know I haven't done right, man, if in humility and worship and in homage I cry out to the Lord, help me, Jesus. Man, he will move towards you some shape, some form, somehow. He'll either deliver or he'll walk with you through it. Now, everybody pay attention. A desperate man named Jairus, Jesus, and his disciples are traveling to Jairus' house to raise to life the body of a 12-year-old girl who has died. You following that?

Almost done. Everybody following that? Okay. Almost done. Everybody following that? Jairus, Jesus, his disciples are traveling through a city on the way to Jairus' house to raise from the dead a little girl who's 12 years old. Jairus Jesus and his disciples are walking through a city on the way to a man's house to raise a dead girl

who's 12 years old alright let me say this one more time Jairus Jesus his disciples are walking through a city on the way to Jairus' house to raise from the dead a little girl who's 12 years old. As they're walking to see a girl who is 12 verse 20 happens and here's that word again.

Behold, which means stop and pay attention. A woman who had suffered from a discharge or a period or a menstrual cycle of blood for 12 years. Came up behind Jesus and touched the fringe of his garments. Verse 21, for she said to herself, because you know you're always having a conversation with yourself. And most of our conversation during the day is very negative. Nobody's more harsh towards you than you. But she got a need. And she's reaching for Jesus in a crowd.

And as she's reaching, she keeps saying to herself, if I only touch his garment, I will be made well. No. So Jesus, Jairus, and his disciples are headed to the house of a desperate man to see a 12-year-old girl who has died physically and is interrupted by another desperate person who's been sick for 12 years who has died socially. All right. Everybody got a Bible? All right, so Matthew doesn't give us details about her life.

I want to give you her details from Mark's account. Mark chapter 5, verse 21. Okay, here are the details of the same woman. And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him. And he was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue. There's his name, Jairus, by name. And seeing him, fell down at his feet and implored him earnestly begging saying my little

daughter is at the point of death come and lay your hands on her so that she may be made well and live and he went with him and a great crowd followed him and thronged him about and there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for 12 years. And watch this. Here's the details Matthew don't give us. And who suffered much under many physicians. God, I feel sorry for her. We don't know her name, but she lived one day and was no better. But rather she grew, shout the next word, worse.

She had watched. Oh my God. Heard. Because faith comes by hearing. And hearing by the word of God. She heard the report about Jesus. And came up behind him in the crowd. And she touched his garment for she says if I

touch even his garments I will be made well now let's go back to Matthew chapter 5 9 all right I'm sorry snot nose I'm sorry all right everybody look at me all eyes on me like tupac everybody in the overflow look right at me because y'all like to read the word like this is fairy tales all my women just rave at me real quick all my women all right here's a woman who we don't know let's give her a name sarah we're gonna call her sarah we don't know her name i'll just take that sarah let's give her a life sarah has a husband maybe she has a mother and father

she has family and friends sarah has a mother and father she has family and friends Sarah has a normal life in the middle of the month Sarah comes on to her period like any other month she's a five dayer three, five, seven I don't know. Three, five, seven. Five. Three, three, two, one.

Five. Five. Five. Seven. Five. Five. Five. Five going once.

Five going twice. So, the women says five. Okay. All right. Five. That's why we have children's church downstairs. Five. Five. We'll take five. Sarah is a five-dayer. It's the middle of August. Her period comes on. Now, Isaiah teaches us about period cloths that are like filthy rags in God's sight. So we know that although they did not have tampons and things like that, they did have period cloths, right? Just rags they will put there. Now, everybody pay attention. Sarah comes on her period, this woman.

Middle of the month, she's a five-dayer, everything normal, everything good. Six days come and she's still bleeding, but it's all right though. Her girlfriend goes, she's a seven-dayer, no problem. Her girlfriend in her small group is a seven-dayer, no problem. We all right. Ten days go by. We still all right. Twelve days. Two weeks. Two weeks. Now she's starting to get a little concerned.

And because of Jewish culture, she's considered unclean while she's bleeding. So she can't have sex with her husband if she had one. And anything she sit on is unclean. And because of Jewish culture, while she's bleeding, she has to be in isolation while she's bleeding. So she's been in isolation for two weeks. She ain't sleeping with her husband. My man is feeling some type of way

like, yo, it's been two weeks, but it's all right. We can, we can rock with that. She can't see her girlfriends because nobody can't come near her because she's unclean. And since most people did not own a wardrobe, she's running through her clothing because she got to keep washing the same clothes every two days because her cycle won't stop. She don't got a wardrobe to keep picking out new clothes. So she's bloody every day, rinses out those clothes and puts back on the same garments to just get bloody by the end of the day. Now it's 21 days and she's still bleeding. If she has a husband, he's concerned. If she got children, she hasn't seen them. If she got girlfriends, she hasn't seen them. Now it's a

month and she's very nervous. She makes her first appointment to go see a doctor. He examines her and says, I've never seen this before. I don't know what to do. Drink this tonic. Hopefully it helps. She pays for the tonic, but now it's two months. Now it's three months. She's getting tired of washing clothes. Now she's starting to get worried.

She goes back to see another doctor. He examines her and says, I've never seen this condition before, but drink this tonic. She pays big money for that, but she's still not well. Now we're six months. If she was married, her marriage now is going through tension. Her children are not around her. Her girlfriends are not around her. She has not seen anybody in the community.

Watch, she can't even go to the synagogue. So she can't even go into the house of God. She can't even be in church. And now she's been isolated, unclean for six months. She's been washing her clothes every day for six months. She hasn't slept with her husband if she has one for six months. Hasn't seen her friends if she has them for six months haven't seen her children for six months now she's going to multiple doctors and now it's a year ain't none of y'all women in here ready for that A year turns to two. Two years turn to three. Three years turn to five.

Now pay attention. By this time, if she had a husband he's probably gone why do I say that because we learned from the Sermon on the Mount Jewish men were divorcing their wives quickly don't separate the scriptures they lived in a day where divorces were flying like frisbees. So if she had a husband, he's probably gone by now. She ain't seen her friends in five years. They can't come near her. She ain't been to church in five years. She can't go to the synagogue.

She's running through clothes. She's burning through money. She's burned through her 401K, her Roth IRA, her money market account. She's running through her savings. She's depressed. She's in despair. She's crying every night. Everybody watch.

Five years turned to seven. It's a long time to suffer. Seven years turn to ten. By ten years, you've probably accepted this as dysfunction. Watch this. Some of y'all been here. it's always gonna be like this. This will probably never change. But she hears the report

about a rabbi after 12 years and hope comes back into her life. Now everybody watch this. And she kept, she hears the report about the rabbi and while Jesus, Jairus, and the disciples are traveling

to Jairus' house to raise the body of a 12-year-old girl who has died physically, this woman who has a 12 year old girl who has died physically. This woman who has been sick for 12 years, who has died socially, pushes through the crowd. Watch this. And she's saying to herself in her mind, if I just grab. I've been stuck here for 12 years. And I know because I'm unclean, I can't talk to a Jew face to face.

But I don't care. I'm going to hijack a miracle anyway. I'm almost finished. Ain't nobody going to stop me from getting this miracle right here. I don't care if he's a Jew. And I don't care if I got no more money. I'm at the end of my rope. And the only person that can help me now must be this rabbi.

And so she's pushing through the crowd. And she says to herself, man, if I could just grab the hem of his garment, I believe that this 12 year trial, if I get a hold of Jesus, I believe that this

12 year trial, if I get a hold of Jesus, I believe that this 12 year trial can come to an end. Watch. Why is she saying to herself, if I just grab the hem of his garment? I'm almost done. I'm landing the plane. Why would she think that his clothes could bring her healing what in her mind would think his clothes could bring her healing I got two theories I don't know which one is right I'm not to be honest I'm the preacher I don't know which one is right but I want to put forth two theories I want to posit two theories and whichever one sounds better to you, take it. They both start with an S. Two words. The first word is superstition.

A belief with reason that is unfounded. That she's just superstitious and just believes if I touch this man's clothes, I know this 12-year battle is about to be over. So she could just be superstitious and a lot of people believe she was. But there's another S. My other theory is called scripture. And I don't know which one is true, but in the last book of the Old Testament, there was a prophet who wrote named Malachi, who I named my son after. He is the last person to write before God gets silent for 400 years. And Malachi chapter four, he makes a prophecy. He says, a day is coming when the son of righteousness will arise with healing in its wings. Now, if you read the prophecy, it says S-U-N, like the sunshine,

but it attributes to the sunshine righteousness. The sun is an inanimate object, so there is no righteous quality about the sun. So we know that the prophet is not talking about the physical sun. He's using the sun as a metaphor for the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of righteousness. And he says about him, when he arises, there will be healing in his wings. That word wings is a Hebrew word, which means the extremity of one's garments or tassels. So I don't know if she was superstitious

or she read Malachi because they had the Old Testament. But if she did read Malachi, she would have known that whenever this son of righteousness arise, whatever he was wearing, there would be healing in his wings. In the border of his garment, there would be healing. So if she read that, her faith was founded on something she read in the word of God, because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the heart of God. So maybe, maybe she read,

there is the son of righteousness. And because of what I read in Malachi, because of what I read, I believe. Because of what I read, I believe. Because of what I read, I believe. Because of what I read, I believe. Because of what I read, I believe. Because of what I read, I believe. Because of what I read, I believe.

Because of what I read, I believe. I don't know. Because of what I read, I believe. Because of what I read I believe because of what I read I believe I don't know because of what I read I believe because of what I read I believe because of what I read I believe because of what I read I believe I read that he is good I read that he is a promise keeper I read that he is the lily of the valley the bright and morning star I read that he is the lily of the valley, the bright and morning star. I read that he is Christ the healer, Christ the redeemer, Christ the restorer. Because of what I read, I believe. Because of what I've read, I believe.

We need to put that somewhere on social media. Because of what I've read, I believe. We need to put that somewhere on social media. Because of what I read, I believe. I believe. Do I got anybody else that believe? If it's in the word, I believe. Somebody holler at your boy. If it's in the word, I believe. Somebody take the roof off with a praise of faith.

Because of what I've read, I believe. Can I be honest? Last week, somebody made a threat against me. And our security team was on high alert. You don't want to run up on me in here. It's going to end bad for you. That's all I'm going to say. We got more than Bibles, but listen to me carefully.

And I remember sitting at my desk and watching, and I was nervous. Can I be honest? I was nervous. And the Holy Spirit told me, go to Psalm 91. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God and who I trust. For He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler

and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions and under His wings you will find refuge. His faithfulness is your shield and buckler. You will not fear. Because of what I read, I believed. I believe because of what I read I believe because of what I read I believe because of what I read I believe I read I believe I read felt when I read that? Peace.

Lord, I'm in your hands. And when you're ready to take me, it's a wrap. So I'm going to go to church and preach my heart out. I don't care about no threats. Because of what I read, I believed that the Lord was saying, I got you. Yes. Hallelujah. So whether she was superstitious or she read the scriptures, Hallelujah.

So whether she was superstitious or she read the scriptures, you take whichever one you want. I know she would not be the last person to grab Jesus' garments and be healed. Keep reading in Matthew. She would not be the last person to grab his garments and be healed. All right, let's just finish so we can go home. Jesus. Teach, sir.

Teach. Give me my last set of verses. Everybody watch. Let me close the message because I already know you're hungry. This is the word. It's the food. No, let me close the message because I already know you're hungry. No, let me close the message.

Everybody watch. Verse 22 of Matthew. Jesus turned and said, seeing her, he said, take heart daughter. Your faith has made you well and instantly the woman was made well. Everybody look at Jesus' words. Take heart.

He's saying that to a woman who was in despair. He's saying, be encouraged. He calls her daughter. He's saying that to a woman who was disconnected from community. Saying, you belong. So he gives us comfort. He gives her community. Your faith has made you well.

He's saying this to a woman to commend her there's comfort community and condom come he's commending her for faith and in the last few verses and when Jesus came to the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the crowd making commotion. He said, go away, for the girl is not dead, but she is sleeping. Look at me. Today, when you go to a funeral, they're quiet, they're somber, they're respectful, not in these days. These days, according to the Jewish law, you had to hire one musician and one wailing woman, minimum.

So you went into a funeral and there's somebody playing music and there's somebody yelling and crying and screaming. So it's loud, it's disruptive. Jesus comes in and he says to them, go away, get out of here. This girl ain't dead. She only sleeping at which they laugh at him. Now, I remember when my father passed in my mother's home three months after we started this church. And I remember looking at his lifeless body because he had just transitioned to eternity. And there he's standing there, his body, just a shell.

And I thought to myself, if somebody knocked on my door and came in and said, Leo is not sleep. Leo is not dead. He's just sleep. I wouldn't have laughed at that person, but maybe something inside me might have thought, maybe this was going to be a divine moment. But they laughed. They didn't have faith.

That something divine was going to happen. What do you do when you're going through trouble and you're around people with no faith? You do what Jesus did. Verse 25, but when the crowd had been put out, he threw them out. What did he do?

He set a boundary between him and people who had no faith. Because sometimes there's some level of sorrow that doesn't let Christ in. Like, okay, you've been depressed about this for so long, Jesus can't even talk to you. So you got to throw that out. And then there's some level of faithful, faithlessness that doesn't let Christ in. So we got to throw that out too.

Faithlessness must be thrown out and over sorrow must be thrown out. Both of them block Christ from getting in. That sometimes when you're going through, you need people around you who can believe with you. That's why whenever I'm casting vision with my staff, I don't let them use the words, we can't.

I don't let my children say, oh, we can't. I don't like negative Nancys around me. Don't be birth control to my vision. And you got to know sometimes in your life, I don't care if they're your family. I don't care if they're your mother or father. You got to know sometimes when people are anti-Christ and the devil is using them to hinder what God is trying to do, you got to know how to set proper boundaries. Look at me. Love is a grace gift. We owe that to everyone.

Access must be earned. He put them out. Finished the verse. And he took her by the hand, which was illegal. And the girl arose. Because sleep is just temporary for the believer. Don't want to get into that. And the report of this went through all that district the fame of Jesus spread

how do I close this message my brothers my sisters and trouble is inevitable man this life is full of hardships I know you keep listening to that cotton candy gospel that make you think you're awesome in a bag of chips and that because you fast and pray and read your Bible, you're never going to have problems. Jesus said in this life you will have trouble. The trouble is going to come. You're going to have problems and hardships and trials.

Look at me. But man, you got to see from this this text with a heart of humility and contrition it's nothing you're going to go through that the lord is not willing to step into that space with you man son all it needs is a touch for the lord to restore restore peace restore healing restore faith restore joy joy. And somebody look at me. Sometimes when you feel like you can't get to Jesus yourself because you feel far away from him, okay? Maybe you can't touch Christ for yourself, but you can touch something that's attached to Christ, like she touched the bottom of his garments. Maybe you feel far away, but you

can touch something that's attached to Christ, like you could touch a seasoned saint that has the wisdom of christ you can touch a prayer warrior that has the fire of christ you can touch a small group that has the care of christ you could touch a new church that has the heart of Christ. And even if I feel like I can't get to him, I can still grab something that's touching him. That's right. Amen. And I want to say to everyone,

he's catching those tears, my sister. Everyone in this room right now who's going through anything, anything, anything, anything, we're not helpless. We're not forsaken. We're not abandoned. The Lord is willing to step into that space. My daughter Abigail, who's homesick right now, when my wife was pregnant with her, like three, four months, and we got our first ultrasound,

the doctors came in the room and said, Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell, we have bad news for you. Your daughter has a massive cyst on her brain. It's leaking liquid down her spinal cord. She's going to be born with some type of mental deformity. She'll never be able to walk probably. She'll never be able to, she'll never be able to, she'll never be able to. And because of where it is, we can't perform surgery. We can't go into the womb. Watch. We're sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell. There's nothing we can do about this.

But because of what I read, I believe. I remember going home and opening my Bible to Isaiah 53. Where the prophet says, Whose report shall we believe? I took that ultrasound, and I laid it on Isaiah 53,

and Lena and I got down on our knees, and in the middle of our trouble, we didn't sit in fear. We didn't sit in pride. We didn't try to be the God of our own life. Trouble pushed us into the hands and the word of God. And we laid our hands on Isaiah 53 and we cried out for Abigail. God, this is beyond our control. And because of what I've read he may not always come through

the way that we want him to but we gotta keep reading and believing that we can touch God and he can restore and what he did for Abigail in the womb was restore to her her health even before she came out of the womb but because of what I read I had believed

and the Lord came into that trouble with my wife and I he was willing he got up from the table and walked with us to heal Abby what trouble are you facing what are you believing God for what has he spoken over your life he is willing he is able he is compassionate he is kind he is a healer and with one touch he can restore anything that was lost and even if it doesn't happen in this life all will be made well in the life to come. So right now, I want to pray for everyone

who has and who will have trouble. Eternal God and ever wise Father, Father, I pray over these, your sons and daughters. Lord, let us be in awe of you, Jesus. Let us be in awe of your compassion. Let us be in awe of your power and your might, even over death, God.

Lord, we reach to you right now and grab the hem of your garment, Lord. There are knees in this room. Father, Lord, I pray you would step into spaces where there is trouble and worries and cares remind us that just one touch

you are able to restore our peace our joy, our confidence, our intimacy. Let faith arise in this room. I pray this now in the mighty and the majestic in the matchless name of Jesus. While heads are bound and eyes are closed, don't move. The most important thing that will ever be restored in this life is you back to the Father.

That there are men and women in this room right now, you are disconnected from God, and you know it. You do church well, but you're not in relationship. And here is the gospel. My friend, my brother, my sister, you are a sinner, and I am a sinner. We have broken God's laws.

And the scripture says, if anyone dies in their sin, you're going to be separated from God for all eternity. Hell is forever. And it is real. And there are people who are there who are never getting out, but the father and his love for you sent the Lord Jesus Christ who died a sacrificial death in your place. And the father says, if anyone would turn from sin, put their faith in the son, I will save you. I will deliver you. I will restore you back to me as a son, as a daughter, you can walk out of here, a brand new man, a brand new woman. I want to pray for you you feel it right now in your belly the Lord calling you

you feel it in the pit of your gut he's working in your heart even right now it is sovereign has nothing to do with me right there in your chair just surrender to the Lord Jesus tell him you're sorry for all your sin tell him you surrender sorry for all your sin. Tell him you surrender.

Put your trust in him. Tomorrow's not promised to you. He has a life for you inside the kingdom that is much greater than the life you're living right now. If I'm talking to you, I want to see who I'm praying for. Nobody can see. It's just between you and the Lord. you I want to see who I'm praying for nobody can see it's just between you and the Lord

when I count to three I just want you to throw your hands up in the air and leave it there you're saying preacher that's me I'm feeling something happen in my heart I'm surrendering I'm letting go I'm shedding tears I'm not going another day like this

I'm giving my life to Christ right now I want the Lord to touch me I want to be restored back to the Father I want to live a life of purpose I want my life to Christ right now. I want the Lord to touch me. I want to be restored back to the father. I want to live a life of purpose. I want my sins to be forgiven. I want heaven to be my future and hell to be my past. If that's you on the count of three, throw your hands up. One, two, three, throw them up. Leave them there. Throw them up. You know what? Today is going to be a day of commendation. All of y'all with your hands up, come meet me right here, right now. Tell the person next to you, get out of my way.

Come right here, right now. Tell the person next to you, get out of my way. Get out of my way. Get out of my way. Get out of my way. Come on. Come down here right now. Come close.

Tell the people next to you, get out of my way. Come all the way down here. Come down. Run down here. Tell the people next to you, get out of my way. Come all the way down here. Come down. Run down here. Tell the people next to you, get out of my way. Come on. Come close. Come close. Come close. Come close. Come close. Come close. Come close. Come close. Come close.

Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come close! Come close, come close! Come on, try to celebrate, celebrate, celebrate! Come on, come close! Come close, come close. Come close. is And I believe that you're my healer. I believe, God, that you are all I need. Everybody at this altar, your head is bowed, your eyes are closed. I don't want you to look at me. Nobody in the room is moving. It's a sacred moment.

Man, people are still walking. Come on. That's all right. Come on. Yeah, let them in. Everybody at this altar, your heads are bowed, your eyes are closed. Because you're not focused on me. I'm just a man. He sees you, daughter. It's okay.

Yes. Yeah, let that out your system. Yeah, it's all right. Oh, there she go. He sees you, daughter. It's all right. Yeah, he sees, he knows. He knows you would be here in this moment.

Go ahead, cry. Let that out your system. Those are the tears of repentance. I can't do that. Only the Holy Spirit can. Yeah, let that out. He sees that, brother. Somebody hold that, brother. Men cry. That's the cry of repentance. Don't move. This is a sacred moment. Go ahead, let that out, brother. He sees. He knows. That's called repentance. I can't do that. The Holy Spirit does that. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Let that out. Yes, that's called repentance. He sees that, brother. Yeah, let that out. He sees. He sees. He sees. Yes, he sees, daughter. He sees. He sees. He knows. He knows. Your head are bowed. Your eyes are closed. He's catching those tears. He knows.

That's all right. You can stay right there on the floor. He knows. That's the posture of humility. Don't move. This is sacred. Father, I thank you that you are saving these sons and daughters by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. I thank you, God, that you are filling them with your Spirit according to Ephesians 1.

I thank you, God, Lord, that you are erasing their past and that you are forgiving their sins. He sees those tears. I thank you, forgiving their sins he sees those tears I thank you God that he sees those tears I thank you God their names are being recorded right now in the book of life I thank you God they're about to be brand new creatures inside the kingdom heaven rejoices Here I come running, running Here I come running, running And I won't look back, no I won't look back Here I come running, running Here I come running, running

Here I come running, running And I won't look back, no I won't look back Here I come running, running Here I come running, running Here I come running, running to this Father And I won't look back, no I won't look back Somebody praise Him right now! Come on, praise Him right now!

This is what He died for! May the Lamb who was slain receive the reward of His suffering! Don't move. Yes. Hold on. All right. May the lamb who was slain receive the rewards of his suffering.

This is what he died for, to put the jewel of souls in the crown of our Savior. Now, don't move. This is what he died for, to put the jewel of souls in the crown of our Savior. Now, don't move. This is sacred. Everybody at this altar, look at me now. Eye contact now. Man, all these tears.

Look right at me. Now look at me. Oh, my sister, the Lord is working something special in you. Eye contact. Everybody look right at me. Look right at me. Look right at me. Eye contact. Even if you haven't read it, let me tell you what the word says about you that you may believe. This is the most important moment of your life. My brother, my sister. the first thing the book says about you is that if anyone is in Christ you are a brand new creature the old is gone the new has come the word says

about you that all of your sins have been forgiven you have been washed in the blood of the Lamb the word says about you what's your name nikeria the word says about you not carry that your name has been written now in the lamb's book of life Yeah, the word says about you, Nykeria, yeah, you just hold her. Y'all are now sisters in Christ. Look right at me. The word says about you that you are now the son, the daughter

of God most high. He is your father. You can talk to him about anything, everything, anywhere, anytime. Watch. Listen to me. It's okay, Nicaria. Today is the beginning look at me today is the beginning look at me look at me I was here In 2003 In Durham, North Carolina Over a toilet seat in a bathroom Suicidal

The Lord did this for me Over a toilet seat I never look back I never look back you have a new life now in Christ and all you gotta do is just follow him

forward forward when you leave here today if you live in a different city forward. Forward. When you leave here today, if you live in a different city, find a Bible teaching church where Christ alone is being exalted. If you live in Atlanta, you don't have to run.

We are your new family. We don't do membership here. We just want you to keep coming back. Just spend time with us for six months. If in six months the Lord hasn't done anything in your life, then you are free to go. When you leave today softly, there is a black tent in the lobby, in the parking lot. We have a bag for you, a gift. We want you to stop at that black tent and get that free gift. Inside that bag, we have put together a package to help you on your next steps in your relationship with Jesus.

You need that information. And inside that bag, there is also a Bible so you can read and believe. Y'all got time for one verse? Y'all know this song? You make all things new? You make all things new. You make all things new. You make all things new. You make all things new. When I can feel my love for you Come on. For he who says I will follow him

Come on, one more time. Everybody sing. You make all things new. For he who says I will follow him Oh, follow the Lord Follow the Lord Welcome to the family of God, Victoria. What's your name, brother? George, how old are you? 17? Welcome to the family of God.

What's your name? Chanel? Welcome to the family of God. Everybody listen to me, okay? This is the part of our gathering where I'm supposed to tell you to be faithful in your giving. This is the part of the gathering where I cringe because I struggle here. I've been told that I do a terrible job

at raising capital. I just don't think about it. We are commanded to be faithful in our giving. In the Old Testament, 10%, in the New Testament, just give according to your heart. We are trying to purchase our own building. We are trying to raise $5 million. We do have special giving coming up in October and February I told you that

never done that before because I feel like God is telling me the time has come to expand this ministry but one thing that can't help is if those of you who have jobs and businesses if you would honor God with a percentage of your income by supporting this house not just just be consumers, but be contributors of the gospel. I'm not a manipulator. I'm not going to try to make you feel bad. When we give, it honors God.

And this is what is going towards your heavenly bank account. And those of us who are generous, man, all of this is being credited to your heavenly bank account. Like, let's not be American Christians. Let's be Bible Christians. People who are devoted not only to the word

and to the gathering, but to generosity. For God so loved that he gave. So you could do that at home. You could do that online. You can text to give all of that. I'm not going to, I want us to just be radical givers. Just be faithful.

Anything you have belongs to him anyway. And if you got a job, if you got a business, it's his strength giving you the grace to be able to do that. So I want to pray over the supporters of this house. Father, I pray over every financial partner in this house. Every person who's sowing into the ground of 2819.

I pray for increase in their businesses, increase in their endeavors. I pray for promotions on their jobs. I pray, God, they will never have a need that you do not meet I pray God for open doors and favor I pray you would prosper what their hands are laid to according to your perfect will

I pray for ideas that makes millionaires out of people in this room that they may be generous on any occasion to support mission work and the spread of the gospel I pray that this is a blessed house and that we are generous people in Jesus name I pray may the Lord bless you may the Lord keep you may the Lord make his face to shine upon you and give you peace.

In Christ's name I pray. Our announcers is coming. Somebody celebrate Jesus.