Joel Osteen Podcast - Grand Opening Weekend | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: February 11, 2021

Let this special message from Lakewood's Grand Opening Weekend encourage you that you haven’t reached your limit. God wants to take you further than you’ve ever dreamed. Your best days are still ahead, and together we can make a difference in this world with the message of God's hope and love.To give visit JoelOsteen.com/GiveHope Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of the Joel Osteen Podcast ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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supporting the ministry. If you enjoy today's message, why don't you be a blessing and share it with a friend. We appreciate you and pray for God's very best in your life. This is the very first weekend here at the new Lakewood Church. We're here at the former compact center and after a year and a half of renovations, we are celebrating what God has done. And there is so much history in this building for nearly 30 years, this has been one of the premier facilities in our city. I'm told that over 2 million people a year visit this building. And practically every major musical artist has played here. And of course, the Houston Rockets have won two world championships here.

I used to have season tickets right over there in Section 104. Growing up, never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that one day this building would be ours. This is where I brought Victoria on our first date. 19 years ago, we came in and sat way up at the top. You may remember the story. Somebody spilled beer all over her. I thought surely that was the end, but thank God that we made it. But isn't it great that we can all come together today,

not for a ball game, not for a concert, nothing wrong with that, but we can come together to celebrate the good things God has done. You know, for nearly 30 years, They've crowned champions in the sports field in this building, but I believe for the next 30 years, we can crown people champions in life. We're going to let them know that they are victors and not victims. We're going to let them know that they can do all things through Christ. And really, our message is a message of hope. It's a message of victory, and it's for all people.

And that's one thing I love about Lakewood. We have people from every race, every social standing, every background, every denomination. I mean, that's what heaven is going to be like. People ask me all the time. A reporter asked me last week, how did y'all get the church so diverse? And the truth is, we never tried to do it. God did it. Really, it's a testament to each one of you. It's a testament to the people of Lakewood. That just shows me, you don't look at the outside, you look at the heart. Daddy used to say, where there's grace, there is no race. It's like that story I heard. these two guys named Archie and Jack. They argued for years whether Jesus was white or black. Archie was sure he was white and Jack was just as certain he was black. And his fate would have

it. They both died on the same day. And they rushed to the pearly gates and they said, St. Peter, please tell us, was Jesus white or was he black? We've been arguing our whole lifetime. About that time Jesus walked up and said, Buenos Dias. We have to realize that God likes variety. He made us different on purpose. Have you noticed when some people worship, they sing and shout and lift the hands? Other people, they're more quiet and reserved. You know what? That's okay. God's given us different traits, different personalities, different looks. Think about it like this. The same God that made the poodle made the bulldog. Same God that made the butterfly, made the cockroach. The same God that made me made my brother.

I didn't say he was ugly. Come on. Seriously, I don't believe that I would be standing here today if it were not for the faithfulness and the obedience of one man. And that man was my father. Daddy had a heart of compassion. His love for God was seen in his true love for people. Everywhere that we went, I would see my father encouraging the bellman at the hotel,

giving the security guard $20. In India, he would stop just to take take time. to play with the kids. He invested in their lives. He loved people. And Daddy was a man of integrity. He always took the high road, served in the ministry for some 60 years, and people that knew him had nothing but respect for him. And it was those two things that made such an impression on me. His love for people and his life of integrity, that really impacted my life. And I know my father is looking down on us right now. He's so proud. He's saying, keep on, keeping on, keep on fighting the good fight of faith.

And, Daddy, I just want to tell you that I love you. I miss you, and I thank you for all that you've sown into my life. See, I know I'm reaping many benefits because of my mother and my father and many others that have so sacrificially and faithfully served before us. Many of you, even here today, you've given your time, your energy, your finances for 20, 30, even 40 years to help us build this place. And for that, we want to say thank you for your labor of love. It's like my father in that first group of people, they took us right up to the

promised land. They laid a great foundation and did so much of the hard work. But now you and I get to go into the promised land. We get to see more of the goodness of God. And I believe as Lakewood has entered into a new era, that the same favor that's on our ministry, the same promotion and increase that we've seen is going to flow right down onto each one of you. And it's my desire that today would be a time of new beginnings in your life, a time of refreshing where you'd enlarge your vision and believe that you can be all God's created you to be. I know I never dreamed that I would be up here. My father through the years, he tried time and time again to get me up here to preach.

But I just didn't have the desire. I remember toward the end of my father's life, people used to ask him, who's going to take over when you're gone? Who you're grooming to be the next successor? And really, Daddy didn't have anybody. And I know it sounds kind of naive, but it didn't seem to bother him in the least bit. They would ask him and he'd say, oh, I'm not worried about it. I know God will raise up somebody. I know God will not let his work go down. And I used to think, yeah, God's going to raise up somebody.

Well, I had no idea it was going to be me. If I'd have known that, I may not have agreed so quickly. But when Daddy went to be with the Lord and we took over, our goal was just to try to keep the church going, just try to maintain, try to survive. After all, all the critics had already told us how we weren't going to make it. But isn't it great to look around today and see what God has done? Really, this is a testament to the faithfulness of God. The critics said that we would go under, but God said, you'll go over.

The critics said we would have to shut our doors. And in a sense, I guess they were right. We had to shut those doors because they were too small. We had to shut those doors so we could come down to a Texas-sized sanctuary. God has done more than we could even ask or think. And I hope you'll let this be an inspiration in your own life. God has great things in store for you. There's no obstacle too big.

There's no challenge too difficult. If God did this for us, certainly he can bring your own dreams to pass. And I know one of the reasons that we're seeing this, favor and this increase is because of God's faithfulness to my father. See, when you are faithful to God, he'll not only be faithful to you, he'll be faithful to your children. He'll be faithful to your grandchildren. When you do your best to live a life that's pleasing to God, you are sowing seeds for future generations. I remember a few years ago when our son Jonathan was about six years old, we were driving here in front of the freeway. And I slowed down and I said, look, Jonathan,

one day that's going to be your building. That's the compact center. One day you're going to be in there preaching. He shook his head and said, no, Daddy, one day I'm going to get the Reliance Stadium. And I thought I like that. He's got a big vision. And really, that's what God wants from each one of us. Some of you today, you're stuck in a rut, thinking that you've reached your limits. Well, Joel, I've gone as far as my parents. No, God wants you to go further. The first year after Daddy died, I wore a pair of his shoes to speak in every Sunday. I don't really know why I did it. I guess it just felt right.

I was drawn strength from knowing that he had stood in those same shoes. But on the first Sunday of the year 2000, I'll never forget, I put my father's shoes away, and I put on a pair of my own shoes, and I've never worn his sense. And that time was very significant to me, because up until then, I know I was being carried by my father's grace and by your loyalty to my dad.

but at that time it's like a light turned on in the inside. God gave me the confidence I needed. I thought, hey, I can do this. This is what I was born for. People used to ask me back then, Joel, do you really think you can fill your father's shoes? Do you really think you can keep the church going? And I would always tell them, and I didn't say it arrogantly.

But I'd say, you know what? I believe with God's help, we can not only keep the church going, but we can go further than my dad went. I believe we can reach new heights. And today, as we celebrate, this great victory, it's just another part of that dream coming to pass. It's another part of the faithfulness of God.

And I know God has raised Lakewood up as an example. He's chosen us to be one of the leaders. It's my prayer that pastors and ministers all over the world will get a bigger vision. Let's believe that in every major city there can be churches just like this with 15, 20,000 people at each service.

Not focused on a denomination, not focused on not focused on rules and regulations but rather focused on lifting up the name of Jesus focused on giving people hope and encouragement and really it's an exciting time to be alive I've never seen a hunger for God like I've seen today faith in our society is at an all-time high

and yes I know there are some negative things happening but I believe there is a spiritual awakening taking place I believe God is on the verge of doing some unusual things. And I can tell you, we are seeing doors open for us in unprecedented ways. And I pray every day for God's far and beyond favor. Not just for me and my family, but I pray it for every one of you, all of our friends. Somebody has said, when you go into a city, you can see what's important to the people by the buildings they have built. And most of the time, it's office towers and sports arenas, stadiums,

nothing wrong with that. But isn't it great now when people come into our city, the city of Houston, one of the major landmarks is a house of worship. When people drive by, they can tell their friends, hey, that's a place of hope. That's a place of healing. I want to publicly thank the city leaders, the city government, for believing in us enough to make it possible that we could be here not only today, but for the next 60 years. It says a whole lot about what our city stands for, that they would lease a premier facility to a church. I was thinking about when my father started Lakewood back in 1959. They were in that abandoned feed store and they cleaned it out,

put some chairs in it and started having church on Mother's Day. And people came by and told my dad, John, nobody's going to come. You got this old rundown building. You're not in a real good location. You just can't build a big church out here. But I love this about my father. he never listened to the naysayers. He knew God had put that dream in his heart,

and so he just kept pressing forward. One thing I've discovered is that people will try to talk you out of your dreams. As a rule, more often than not, people will tell you what you can't do instead of what you can do. The scripture says, a wide door of opportunity is open for me, and there are many adversaries. In other words, any time you try to go forward,

anytime you try to fulfill your God-given destiny, there's going to be opposition. There's going to be people telling you that you can't do it. And that's why you've got to stand strong and fight the good fight of faith. People give up way too easily these days. If you have a dream in your heart, my prayer is that that dream today is going to really take root. And you're going to know that you know that you know that you can be all God's created you to be and you can accomplish everything that he's put in your heart. Well, five years and 14 days ago, myself and a handful of people met for the first time about acquiring the compact center.

We had tried for many months to buy property to build a new facility, but those doors just kept closing. And when we got word that the rockets were moving out, and this might be available, I knew deep down in my heart that's what God wanted us to pursue. And so we started taking some steps of faith. but man, when the word got out on the streets, you would not believe how many people tried to discourage us. One of the main business leaders called me, and he meant well, but he said, Joel, don't waste your time, don't waste your money, you don't even have a chance, don't even go there.

Just like back with my father, people were trying to talk us into giving up before we even tried. And I didn't know for sure that we were going to really get this place. But our attitude was, God, we know you put this in our hearts. And if it doesn't work out, we know you've got something better, but we are not going to let people talk us out of it. We are not going to just give up and not even try just because we're listening to all the naysayers. I like what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 3. He said, what if some do not believe? Will their unbelief make the faith of God of no effect in your life?

One translation says, so what if they don't believe? In other words, just because somebody else doesn't believe in your dream, that doesn't change anything. The good news is you don't have to have every person on board in order to see your dreams come to pass. You're never going to get every family member and every business associate neighbor to agree with you and to cheer you on. In fact, a lot of times they'll say, you're going to do what? I don't think that's possible. You can't get the compact center. I don't think we should be disrespectful, but sometimes we've got to have an attitude like the Apostle Paul and say, so what if you don't believe? In other words, I'm not going to

let your lack of faith steal my faith. God didn't put the dream in you. He put the dream in me. And that's exactly what we did. Report after report came in. So and so doesn't think it's a good idea. Our attitude was, so what if he doesn't believe? Or this other expert, Joel, he just doesn't think it's going to be possible. Fine, we know the things that are impossible with men are possible with God. And it's great to have people to believe in you. It's great when people are cheering you on. But you're not always going to be able to find somebody to encourage you. You're going to have to learn how to encourage yourself. You've got to learn how to dig your heels in and say, God, I know you put this dream in my heart. And every circumstance looks like it's not going to happen.

All my friends are telling me no way, but God, I know you can make a way. I know you can do what men can't do. I think about David. You know, when he was just a teenager, he went out to face Goliath. And all of his brothers, all the people around him, they tried to discourage him. They laughed at him, kind of made fun of him, ridiculed him. They said, David, you're going to do what? Face Goliath. You're just a kid. You don't have a chance. You're going to embarrass us. Go on back and take care of your sheep. But I love what David did. He let it go in one ear and out the other ear. His attitude was, so what if you don't believe? And he said to them in effect, guys, you better get a good seat and don't turn your head

because this battle's not going to take me long. I got the power of the most high God on the inside of me. He said, in effect, I know Goliath may be big, but my God is much, much bigger. You know the story. He went out there, and with a slingshot and a few smooth stones, he defeated Goliath and became the king. But he could have so easily let people talk him out of his divine destiny. And I know it's good to get advice. It's good to be open and listen to wise counsel.

But when something is in your heart and you know God's placed it there, you've got to keep pressing on, keep believing, keep hope, and keep praying. Somebody may say, you really think you're ever going to get out of debt? I've seen your finances. No, so what if they don't believe? You really think you're going to get that promotion? You've got a hundred people in front of you. So what if they don't believe?

Or how about this? You really think you're going to get well. Well, my aunt had that same sickness you had, and she died in three months. No, quit letting people discourage you. God didn't put the seed of hope in them. He put it in you. Keep believing. Keep pressing forward.

You've got to quit looking at what you don't have. All David had was a slingshot and a few smooth stones. All Moses had was a rod, a stick. He threw it down. It became a snake. He picked it up, and God used it to part the Red Sea with just a sand. stick. Every one of you has more than that. All the disciples had were a few fish and a few loaves of bread. Yet God used it to feed the thousands. You have everything you need to fulfill your God-given

destiny. You've got to quit looking at how big your giants are and start looking at how big your God is. That's what we did. Over these last five years, it has not been an easy road. Well, we just kicked back and coasted to victory. No, we had to press through the discouraging times. We had to not allow ourselves to be poisoned by the naysayers. We had to believe, even though we didn't see anything happening. We had to keep moving forward, even though we felt like giving up. Time after time, as we did that, God began to supernaturally change things

and supernaturally make a way where it looked like there was no way. I remember when it came down to the final city council vote, we were one vote shy, and it was just a couple days away. And we went back and met with another council member. Council Member Goldberg, who's here today, and he changed his mind that day, voted for us, and here we are this morning. He said something interesting to me. He's Jewish.

He said later, he said, yo, it's kind of funny. Here a young Jewish man is voting so a young Christian man can have your church in my district. God works in mysterious ways, doesn't he? When we first started going after this place, a friend of mine came back from this big business luncheon, and he said, Joel, they were kind of making fun of you today, thinking that you could really get the compact center. He said, this guy stood up at my table, and he didn't really know that I knew you.

And he kind of laughed, and he said, yeah, it'll be a cold day in hell before Lakewood ever gets the compact center. I was thinking today how it must be a little bit cold down there, because here we are. God has done great things. We give him all the praise, all the honor, all the glory. somebody asked me a reporter last week. What's next for Lakewood? All I could say was I don't know. I never dreamed we'd be here. All I've learned through this last six years is you've got to take the limits off of God. In 1988, when my father built the sanctuary that holds 8,000, remember walking in the first time. It was so big. I thought to myself, we will never feel this place. It's huge. Yet 17 years later, it's too small. We had to move out. I look around at this. place today and it already looks too small. I think my son Jonathan was right. We may need a bigger

place. But I know this. This is only the beginning. And we could not be more thrilled to have you as a part of it with us. We know we're all in this together. And so many of you watch us by television. Thank you for letting us be a part of your lives. Victoria and I want you to know how much we love you. We counted a great honor to be your pastors and to be able to stand before you. It's our goal to see you grow and become all God's created you to be. Some of you have supported us from the very beginning. When I first started, I didn't even know if I could preach. I was so nervous, yet you believed in me. You cheered me on. Thank you for that. Many of you have written me letters and just by your being here today. I see so many great friends. That means so much to us.

thank you for the bottom of our hearts. Our commitment to you is that every time you walk in these doors, every time you flip us on television, we will build you up and not tear you down. We will focus on the love and the mercy and the goodness of God, not on judgment and condemnation.

We will be there to lift you when you fall, to comfort you in the tough times, as well as to rejoice with you in the good times, to celebrate the victories with you. We commit to you, like my Father, that we will be people of integrity, that we will take the high road like Daddy did. We'll do our best to make you proud to be examples of what it means to live a holy and a godly

life. Six and a half years ago, I was working behind the scenes here at the church doing the television production, just kind of live in a nice, quiet, reserved life, and I can hardly believe how much God has promoted me. I'm so humbled. I heard a coach talking to a reporter after his team just won a great championship. And he said, all the glory goes to God. All the credit goes to my team members, and the privilege has been mine. Really, that's how I feel today.

Don't congratulate me. All the glory goes to God. All the credit goes to you, the people of Lakewood. It's because of your faithfulness, your generosity, your willingness to get behind the vision. The credit goes to my mom, my dad, the original members that have stuck with us through the years. I can honestly say that the privilege has been all mine.

Would you bow your heads in prayer with me today? Thank you so much. Some of you today have let the fire go out on the inside. You've kind of given up on your dreams and gotten complacent. But my message to you is you've got to rekindle that fire. You've got to stir your faith up. God has great things in store for each one of you. And I'm believing that today is going to be the start.

of a new season in your life, a season of increase, a season of refreshing. And on this first weekend at our new facility, I want to speak some words of faith and victory over your lives. I want to speak a blessing over each one of you. You may remember in the Old Testament when the father was getting close to death, he would call his children in. He would lay his hands on each child and speak loving, faith-filled words over that child. And those words could literally help set the direction for that child's future. It was called the blessing. I believe we can do the same thing today.

Unfortunately, many of you have had so many negative things spoken over your lives. And those words, just like seeds, they've taken root and created a stronghold in your mind. Kind of like I was talking about people telling you what you can't do, what you're not going to be, how you're never going to go any higher. And unless you change your thinking and get rid of that junk, you'll never become all God's created you to be. So with your heads bowed in prayer, first thing, before I speak words of faith over you,

I'm going to ask you to just get rid of every negative thing that's ever been spoken over you. It doesn't matter who it was from. Maybe it was your parents. Maybe they didn't know any better. Maybe it was from a spouse that was just always beating you down, a coach, a business associate. Just get rid of every bit of that junk.

And then listen to these new words. and my prayer is that you'll let them sink deep down on the inside of you and that you'll not only hear my words but that you'll hear God's words. I believe this is God's dream for your life. Father, thank you for this beautiful facility for the opportunity to be here with all my friends today. We are so humbled at what you have done.

And I don't stand up here in my authority nor in my own confidence, but I stand up here in the name of Jesus. I know I didn't choose you, but you chose, each one of us. And Father, I declare right now in the name of Jesus that every person under the sound of my voice is blessed. I declare that you are blessed with God's wisdom, that you have clear direction in life, that you will always make good choices. I declare that you are blessed with creativity, with good ideas, with courage, with strength, with ability. I declare that you are blessed with

good health, a good family, good friends, and a long, prosperous life. And I declare that you will be blessed when you go in and you will be blessed when you come out. You will be blessed in the country. You will be blessed in the city. And I declare that whatever you put your hands to will prosper and succeed. I declare that you will lend only and not have to borrow, that you will be the head and not the tale. And I declare that every negative thing that has been spoken over you, every curse, so to speak, that right now that curse is being broken. I declare that things that have been in your family line for many generations, it'll no longer have any effect upon you and your family. Friends, I declare from this day forward, you will sense a new sense of freedom, a new sense of

joy, a new sense of victory. I declare that you are blessed. And if you receive it, we'd just shout amen. Thank you for listening to the Joel Osteen podcast. Help us continue to share the message of hope with those all over the world. Visit Joel Osteen.com slash give hope to give a gift today. Thanks so much for listening to today's message. I hope you'll subscribe so you can receive the latest podcast to keep you inspired all through the week. We're praying for you.

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