The Perfect Patience Of God | Priscilla Shirer | Social Dallas

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tonight

to be honest really it’s just a dream

come true there’s two ways to play these

moments you know when uh people that you

really look up to and revere or in your

presence you can try to act cool

or you can just have a fan girl moment

and be like oh my goodness priscilla

shire is here

[Applause]

not everybody knows pastor taylor in our

story but we did not have a plan to

plant a church this is something

that god kept pushing us towards and

pushing us towards and although this was

not on our plan it’s been evident that

the hand of god has been on it just

because we were obedient

but i will tell you this before i ever

knew i was going to plant a church

there’s just people that i had on my

mind that said if i ever had a church

i promise you i would bring them in

and priscilla shire is one of those

people

[Music]

[Applause]

i can tell you how she’s a best-selling

author i can tell you how she’s an

actress i could tell you how she’s an

international global speaker i could

tell you how she didn’t fly in she drove

in she lives here in the great country

of texas i

[Applause]

tell you how she’s incredible wife

an amazing mom her sons are here two of

her sons are here and

even her family is here her brother and

her sister anthony and crystal they’re

here

just so honor your entire family

seriously like some people have the

kennedys we have the evans if you lived

here in dallas

we love your family

[Music]

i’m just so thankful that she would come

to our baby church

and bring the word of the lord i want

you to get your heart expected i want

you to be ready

not just blown away

by her voice but her gift by how astute

she is and preaching the word of god

especially in this last season i’ve been

blown away

by watching how resilient she’s been

to fight a battle

it’s one thing to see somebody’s

ministry is another thing to see when

they’re going through pain

and they still minister even in their

pain

they can go through the fire and not

smell like smoke and give all of us hope

the way they keep standing

and i’ve watched priscilla and her

entire family do that you

are in

for a treat i want you to treat her like

we do at the 6pm be leaned in shout her

down i want her to come back

okay y’all

so without any further ado please put

your hands together and help me thank

god for the gift of priscilla

sean

come on social fam you can do better

than that

queen

[Music]

[Applause]

hi family

you all good

i’m excited to be at social dallas

tonight for many reasons but one of them

is that i love the word of god

and i’m excited to share with you a word

from the scriptures tonight so do i pray

for you before you sit down what do

y’all do with this church i’ll just

stand up the whole message

lord i thank you for your word i thank

you that it is living and active and

sharper than any two-edged sword lord i

thank you that in these next few moments

we are going to hear a word straight

from the mouth of god

father we did not come to see each other

we came to see you so i’m asking you to

open up the windows of heaven and come

down here and see about us father

we need to hear from you lord speak to

us your sons and your daughters we are

listening

in jesus mighty name everybody agreed

with me and said amen

amen

amen you may take your seats it’s a

privilege

to be with you tonight and to have an

opportunity to share uh god’s word with

you as i mentioned uh it is my joy

to share god’s word

it is the living breathing word of god

the scriptures you know that right

it’s not just a book with ink on a page

i’m telling you it’s alive

that every single time we come to the

pages of scripture we ought to expect to

feel the warm breath of god brushing

across our cheeks as he speaks a present

word over every single one of our lives

so i’m expecting that

tonight

i want to tell you before i dive into

this little little piece of scripture

that i want to share with you

i want to tell you that i’m grateful to

be here

because as pastor robert mentioned this

is my home dallas fort worth born and

raised i’ve been here my whole life

and i’m grateful to be able to minister

in the city that is my home

and i’m grateful to be at this church

i’ve snuck in before and just sort of

been here been a part of church been

ministered to

by your church by your pastor and his

wife and i want to say this just before

i jump in

i want you all to know

that every church

doesn’t have leadership

that actually has integrity

unfortunately it’s a rarity

to find churches with leaders that are

the same when the lights are off

as when the lights are on

and you ought to be grateful

that the lord has situated you in a

church with people that actually love

jesus

[Applause]

it’s a good thing

it was about five years ago

that and i’ve mentioned this to pastor

roberts about five years ago that my

husband

drove my three sons

to a conference in austin i didn’t go

with him they drove into austin

and my boys know

many things about me they know i’m

praying for them all the time they don’t

know the details of all that i pray all

the time

but one of the things that i’m praying

constantly for my sons is that the lord

would

cause the trajectory of their path to

intersect with key people that they

don’t even know in the moment are going

to shift the trajectory of their

perspective of their pursuits of their

ambitions of their choices

and i just pray that the lord would line

stuff up so they happen to be in the

presence of greatness when they don’t

even know it and about five years ago

at that conference they ended up at a

lunch table my boys and i heard through

the grapevine through a few people that

they were sitting right across the table

from pastor robert madue

and here’s what i need you to know

pastor and taylor

i need you to know that there are people

praying prayers that you guys are the

answer to

there are people right now praying

prayers

and you’re the answer

there are people that have been praying

for a social dallas

and you’ve answered peop there are

people’s grandmamas that have been

praying that some folks would end up in

the house of god on this sunday night

and i want to encourage you to just stay

faithful

because if you’ll stay faithful if

you’ll keep walking the course that the

lord sets out in front of you not only

in ministry but in your faithfulness to

each other in marriage and in the

raising of those beautiful babies that

the lord has given you i’m telling you

that you will continue to be the answer

to people’s prayers that you don’t even

know they pray in

so lord i speak blessing over this

pastor and his wife i speak blessing

over this leadership team i speak

blessing over this church father i pray

that the holy spirit would rain down in

this church so that the entire city is

shifted

as a result of social dallas being in

this city father i’m asking you that the

whole

city would be transformed because of

what you do in this house thank you for

letting this house be the answer to

people’s prayers

in jesus name i pray amen amen

[Applause]

so i have three

siblings there are four of us two of my

siblings are here my older sister

crystal

and then it’s me

then anthony we call him nene

and then jonathan we call him john john

john john’s the youngest of the bunch

he’s really the biggest of the bunch but

he’s the baby boy

and john john

is married to kanika

they have five children together

their oldest child is the same age as my

youngest child they’re both 13 now

kelsey is her name

kelsey is a

precocious sassy little thing

she’s a whole lot of fun to watch so

much personality and we saw it when she

was about one two years old we already

saw that personality coming out

jonathan was sharing with me a story of

something that happened when kelsey was

about two and he started to notice all

this personality

at two years old she went over into the

kitchen

to the big box in the kitchen that had

the food in it the refrigerator she

pointed at it and said eat

he picked his little baby girl up and he

put her at the kitchen table in the

chair where she would be able to get the

food she was asking for

in her little two-year-old mind though

she’s just far removed from the big box

that has the food in it

so she begins to throw a temper tantrum

she kicks her feet she wiggles her way

out of the chair she stomps her little

sassy self back over to the big box that

has the food in it she points at it and

says eat

he commences to pick her up take her

back over to the chair where he wants

her to be situated he puts her there she

commences to throw an entire temper

tantrum kicks her little feet wiggles

her way out of the chair marches herself

back over to the big box with the food

in it and says eat he picks her up he

takes her back over to the chair puts

her in the chair she wiggles herself out

of the chair stomps herself back across

the kitchen and says eat this went on

over and over and over again again and

as he’s reliving the thing telling me

the story i can just see his frustration

mounting

as he told me how patient he had to try

to be with this girl as he tried to get

her to see and understand that he’s her

father and he loves her and he’s only

trying to put her in the place that is

the best place for her to be to receive

what it is she’s asking him for

so i’m giggling and i’m laughing

thinking about little kelsey doing this

because he’s telling me the story i mean

i am falling out laughing i don’t know

if you’ve ever been in a situation where

you are laughing about something and as

you laugh mid-giggle the holy spirit

stops you in your tracks and says don’t

laugh too long or too hard

because priscilla that sounds just like

my relationship with you

that i keep trying to put you in a place

in a relationship in an opportunity i

keep trying to situate you in a place or

a position and in your little uh in your

little personality priscilla you

oftentimes will try to wiggle your way

out of the places that i’m trying to put

you in

because it doesn’t feel comfortable or

convenient to you it doesn’t make sense

to you and so oftentimes priscilla you

just like little kelsey will ignore me

turn your back on me try to circumvent

me go the opposite direction and

priscilla unlike your brother who did a

good job but his patience began to wear

thin after the fifth or the sixth or the

seventh time priscilla the good news

about my relationship with you is that

my grace is sufficient for even you

and i don’t know if any of you have ever

needed a second chance

a third chance

i don’t know if there’s anybody in the

house other than me that’s ever needed a

20th chance

his grace

is sufficient for you

that you do not have i don’t have the

capacity to wear god out

you not that powerful

somebody needs to be encouraged tonight

and i drove over from the south side of

town just to encourage somebody that it

doesn’t matter how many times you’ve

needed a redo how many times you’ve

needed to to to backstep just a little

bit and get the forgiveness and the

grace of god i came just to remind you

that god’s got enough patience for even

you

that he doesn’t need

a good nap before he can handle what’s

going on in your life

we don’t have the capacity to wear god

out

i want to talk to you for just a few

moments about the patience of god the

reason why i want to talk to you about

the patience of god is because if you

don’t have a full revelation of the

greatness the vastness the boundlessness

of god’s patience

then you will tiptoe walk on eggshells

in your relationship with god because

you’ll constantly be worried that if i

do one more thing that if i have one

more misstep that if i mishear him that

i’d if i make another mistake this will

be the time that he puts me on the shelf

and he can’t use me anymore and i can’t

participate in kingdom purposes the

enemy wants you too afraid to experience

the abundant life that he’s called you

to

so he wants us constantly walking on

eggshells worried and i came to tell you

that god is not mad at you

i don’t know where you’ve been i’ve only

know where i’ve been i know what i’ve

said i know what i’ve thought i know my

weaknesses and my frailties and my

faults and it’s been a revelation that

has transformed my life that god’s grace

is sufficient for us

his patience

the perfect patience of god that’s what

i want to talk to you about tonight

there are many characteristics of god

that i

am endeared to

like his sovereignty

his omniscience his omnipresence his

holiness his might i mean the list goes

on and on our god has some great

attributes they’re like links that make

up a chain of god’s character all these

different attributes that are links on

the chain of god’s character but really

when i think about it

the central link in all of those chains

that make up the character of god is the

patience of god

because if it weren’t for his patience

we wouldn’t exist long enough to

experience the the sovereignty the grace

the mercy the omnipresence the

omniscience we would have no experience

of all of that if his patients weren’t

sufficient for us

and so a revelation of god’s patience it

really does change your life now most of

the time when we think of the patience

of god or when we think of patience as a

characteristic we think of it in terms

of ourselves

patience

i am naturally an impatient person can i

get one witness in the house

i’m an impatient person i like things to

happen immediately come on let’s move

forward let’s get it going

been married for 22 years and whenever

we have a situation a dilemma something

that needs to be solved i’ve got a

solution in the first five minutes we

ever had the problem let’s get on with

it

but do you know how god is

god will oftentimes situate you with

people whether in marriage or in your

workplace or in your friendships he will

situate you with people that actually

rub against you to help mature the part

of you that needs developing

so i married a guy who you know wants to

pray about it think about it fast on it

ask wise counsel regarding it

lord have mercy

and so when jerry comes up with a

solution most of the time it’s the same

solution i had in the first five minutes

that we ever had a dilemma

now most of the time that that

solution he has come up with

is a good one that he has thought all

the way through because he’s patient

enough

to consider the entire context

in my relationship with my spouse spouse

god is developing in me

patience

so the reason why he might have you

situated next to that co-worker the one

in the cubicle next to you that one that

if she say one more thing to you you

gonna knock her out that one right there

the reason why you might have that

hardship in that parent-child

relationship or in that friendship the

reason why you might have that that

thing is because god is using that

relationship to mature in you

the characteristic of patience so

because it’s something we need to be

developed in

we often times put that same dynamic on

god

we think that because we need to develop

our patience that god must need to

develop his too

we think we have the capacity how

arrogant of us to think that we have the

capacity to actually get on his last

nerve

so god doesn’t react to us

at a knee-jerk reaction frustration

because you just did that

he is slow

to anger anybody glad about it

and he is great in loving kindness and

his patience is

perfect

one of the clearest places in scripture

that god’s patience is described

is in first timothy chapter one

it’s verse 16.

the apostle paul is writing and you know

if you actually have an old school bible

like i do with paper pages feel free to

turn to first timothy chapter one if not

your iphone your ipad any manner of

i-ness will work in getting you

to first timothy they’ll also be on the

screens paul is writing to a young

minister named timothy and he’s

basically given tim instructions on how

to minister well and right here at the

very top of his very first letter to

timothy he begins to speak to him about

the nature of the patience of god he

knows up front that timothy is going to

make mistakes that there’s going to be

hard times that there’s going to be

hardships that he’s going to take one

step forward and sometimes two steps

back and so right here at the top of his

letter he begins to speak to timothy he

says in verse 16.

yet for this reason

i found mercy

in order that in me as the foremost he

means the chief of all sinners in me

jesus christ might demonstrate here it

is his perfect patience

y’all what kind of patience is it

it’s his perfect patience perfect which

means even at that which represents its

furthest extremes there is not one bit

of deficiency or imperfection it is

completely perfect through and through

the patience of god towards you and me

and paul i love how he describes in this

verse who he is he says i’m the foremost

i’m the chief of all sinners because he

wants to make sure that just in case

there’s anybody that thinks you are the

exception to the rule

because you know what you did 10 years

ago this time

you know the decision that you made you

know the people that you allowed in your

sphere of influence you know the

addiction that you had you know what god

has delivered you from and so paul says

just in case you think you’re the one

that doesn’t fit into this passage

that doesn’t qualify for a visitation of

the perfect patience of god he says let

me free you of that right now he says

i’m the foremost the chief of all

sinners paul says you ain’t done nothing

i haven’t already done

your hands haven’t touched anything that

i haven’t already touched your feet

haven’t gone anywhere that i haven’t

already gone your ears haven’t heard

anything your eyes haven’t seen anything

your mouth has not said anything i have

not already said and if god’s grace and

mercy is so great that he could reach

down into the pit that i dug for myself

if his arm is not so short that he could

not save me

then paul says that i came to tell you

that he can save you too

he says i’m the chief of all sinners and

i am a witness paul says

that the patience of god

is perfect

i love when verses start

the way this verse starts because when

verses start like this it tells me

exactly what i need to do in my study

and in my teaching verse 16 starts by

saying for this reason

anytime you see a transition phrase like

that little bible study for a second

y’all anytime you see a little

transition phrase like that it tells you

exactly what to do it’s kind of like

seeing therefore in the scripture

anytime you see therefore you need to go

see what it’s there for

the transition is intentional because

it’s trying to draw connections draw

some intentional dots so that you know

exactly what to do paul says for this

reason

i have come to the conclusion of the

perfect patience of god that means he’s

already

developed a hypothesis he’s developed

some evidence that leads him to the

conclusion that we have come to in verse

16.

he says yet for this reason so i figure

if just for a few minutes you and i

could backtrack up through the text and

figure out what the reasons are

that we’ll be able to figure out how he

came to the conclusion of verse 16 and

in doing so i think we’ll realize that

he’s not the only one that is a witness

to the perfect patience of god i think

we are too

so he says here’s the first reason we’re

backtracking up verse 15.

he says it is a trustworthy statement

deserving full acceptance

here it is that christ jesus came into

the world

to save

sinners

says here’s how you know the patience of

god is perfect

he saved you didn’t he

he

saved us

you all know he didn’t need us right

y’all know he didn’t have to make a way

for us to have relationship with him

it was his grace and mercy his desire to

have relationship with humanity

most of us are sitting in this room not

because we found god it’s because god

found us

it’s because the hound of heaven would

not let us go even when we were trying

to run away

he saved us

never in a million years should we hear

that phrase and sometimes if you’ve been

in church all your life

you can hear a phrase like that that

you’re saved and it kind of rolls off

your shoulders casually as if it’s no

big deal

he saved you

never in a million years should that be

a casual comment that doesn’t make

something on the inside of us just want

to say thank you

because paul says that’s one of the

reasons that you know his patience is

perfect okay

do you know that it is a miracle

that you were born

okay i mean physically born that you’re

alive at this time in this generation in

this skin with this hair texture in that

gender none of that was unintentional

that is divine strategy that god

organized to make sure that you are

exactly who you were intended to be

at this time in history for the purposes

of the kingdom

this is good news i’m on a little rabbit

trail this is good news for anybody in

the house that thinks that you might be

a mistake just because your parents were

surprised that you arrived on the scene

they may have been shocked but god was

not

before the foundation of the world he

had you planned for this generation

you and i have been assigned for this

y’all

we didn’t come through 2020 all the

havoc of 2020 we didn’t exist at the

time of 2020 on accident we’ve been sign

for this

he planned us to rise up in the spirit

and the power of god right now in this

generation in these bodies in this skin

with this hair texture in this gender in

my neighborhood in my high school on my

college campus in this church

he made you for this

it’s a miracle

there was a guy

generations

ago at the time he didn’t know it but he

was going to be your great great

grandfather

he just happened

with seven billion plus people on the

planet to run into the woman that would

be your great great grandmother they

came together and they created your

great-grandfather

then your great-grandfather with the

seven billion plus people that are on

the planet

he just happened to run into the woman

that would be your great-grandmother the

two of them came together and created

your grandfather and then your

grandfather with the seven billion plus

people that are on the planet he just

happened upon the woman that was going

to be your grandmother

then the two of them came together and

created your father and then your father

with the seven billion plus people that

are on the planet at just the right time

on the right day he came together with

the woman that would be your mother and

they created

you

there ain’t nothing chance about that

that’s a miracle

and if you think that it was a miracle

that you were

born

think about how much more of a miracle

it is that you were born again

again

there was divine strategy involved in

wooing you into a relationship with your

heavenly father

i’ve heard my own daddy describe it like

a cosmic chess board

that all of time and history has been a

cosmic battle that has been waging

between a god who loves us desperately

and wants us to be in relationship with

him and an enemy you do know that there

is an enemy vying for your allegiance

and mine

so it’s like a cosmic chessboard god is

on one side of the cosmic chessboard and

the enemy is on the other side both of

them vying for our attention our

allegiance and our commitment to them

and so pre-genesis 1 1

god makes the first move

he speaks the world into existence and

he creates adam and eve in a perfect

environment perfect relationship with

himself perfect opportunity to commune

with him

but then the enemy made a move on the

cosmic chess board he slithered into

that perfect environment and he

introduced sin into the equation all of

a sudden rebellion begin to have a

ripple effect till you get to the point

where cain ends up murdering abel and

they have to be removed from the garden

because sin is now introduced into the

equation and it seems like all hope is

lost but

our god never to be outdone he makes

another move on his side of the cosmic

chessboard

somehow he causes cain he causes adam

and eve to come back together again they

have a baby boy named seth

seth gives birth to a baby boy named

enosh and i don’t know what it was about

enosh but genesis chapter 4 says that

when enosh was born everybody began to

worship god again

then the enemy made another move he

introduced sin and rebellion back into

the equation it proliferated across the

earth so much so that the entire world

now needed to be destroyed by a flood

and this time it looked like for sure

the enemy had one but our god never to

be outdone he had another move up his

sleeve and his name was noah

and he said no i need you to build an

ark noah said you need me to do what

he said i need you to build me an ark

because by your obedience humanity will

be preserved through this flood

so humanity is preserved through noah’s

obedience as the flood destroys the

entire earth and if

the enemy decides he needs to make

another move

he introduces sin and rebellion back

into the equation again it ripple

effects over time till it proliferates

across the earth and it seems like this

time the enemy has won but our god has

another move up his sleeve he goes to

this little pagan town called er he

plucks out of it a man named abram and

he says abram i’m getting ready to

change your name and i’m going to change

the gps coordinates on your destiny

your name is now abraham and look up in

the skies abraham because if you look up

you’re going to see so many stars you

need to know that that’s the number of

people that are getting ready to be born

from you i’m going to create a brand new

nation of people they will be mine and i

will be theirs

the enemy makes another move

he now takes god’s people and

causes it so that they now go down into

egypt land 400 years y’all four

centuries of brutal slavery one

generation after the other generation

under the brutal uh task masters of

pharaohs in egypt

and they are tired and weary and worn

and calling out for a savior

god makes a move

and his name is moses

he raises up moses so that at the right

time in the right way he can send him to

pharaoh and he says go to pharaoh and mo

i want you to tell him let my people go

and so pharaoh releases the children of

israel and after 40 years wandering in

the wilderness and 10 miraculous plagues

that induce their release they finally

come through their wandering in the

wilderness into the promised land that

was always intended for them god’s

people in the place of god with the

presence of god and the promises of god

here they are in the promised land and

it looks like the battle for our souls

is over but then the enemy makes another

move

in the book of judges it’s all about

god’s people being introduced to

idolatry listen to me

they do not turn their backs on the one

true god

they just station their worship of god

alongside their worship and the idols of

the culture

and the duplicity of the people of god’s

allegiance

is so devastating that by the time you

get to the end of the book of judges the

last line of the book of judges says

and everybody was doing what was right

in their own eyes

if that don’t sound like the world in

the year 2021 i don’t know what does

and it wasn’t because god’s people

totally turned their backs

it’s just because they weren’t

singularly devoted to the worship of god

this time it looks like for sure the

enemy has won but god has another plan

and her name is ruth

and ruth’s life starts off pretty hard

she has some devastating losses and some

griefs and her struggle is hard she has

to relocate to a place she doesn’t feel

comfortable and she is unknown but in

that unfamiliar place she ends up

meeting at the right time a man named

boaz who is her kinsmen redeemer and the

two of them will come together and they

create a man named jesse and and jesse

gives birth to obed and obed gives birth

to a little baby boy named

david

and the enemy doesn’t even know it

but with that one move the checkmate is

already on the way

and y’all then the old testament closes

and there’s 400 years of silence

god is sitting on one side of the cosmic

chess board the enemy is sitting on the

other side and all of history is hanging

in the balance everybody’s waiting to

see who’s getting ready to make the next

move

and then the old testament closes

and the new testament opens

and god the father makes a move the

likes of which the enemy still to this

day has never had a response

[Applause]

you got it

[Music]

he puts on flesh

and basically says you know what i’m

gonna come down here and take care of

this myself

and he lives a perfect life and he dies

of substitutionary death and then three

days later he is raised the resurrection

is our receipt

that he is who he said he is

and he has accomplished for us exactly

what he has said that he has

accomplished

[Applause]

he

saved you

and it wasn’t a quick job

it was over the course of years hundreds

of years in millennia that he was

maneuvering circumstances throughout

time and eternity to make sure that

everything lined up to where you would

hear the beckoning of the holy spirit in

your heart and want to resp have no

choice but to respond and say yes i

receive you as my lord and savior the

only reason you or i could ever see

clearly is because he himself opened up

our eyes so that we could see

[Applause]

why in the world would paul bring up

salvation in a conversation about god’s

patience

because he wants you to know that if god

had enough patience

to walk through the last few millennia

for you

that he’s got the last six weeks of your

life covered

[Music]

there is nothing you could do

to wear a god like that out

so paul says the first reason you got to

know that god’s patience and grace is

sufficient for you

is because he saved you

but he says there’s another reason

verse 13. he says even though i was

formerly somebody say form formerly

some translations say previously even

though i was formerly or previously a

blasphemer a persecutor and a violent

aggressor yet i was shown mercy

all right y’all

paul told us in verse 16 he was the

chief of all sinners

he was like i’m not going to tell you

all my whole sin resume you don’t need

all the details ain’t nobody got time

for that i’m just going to let you know

my resume of sin is full

so i don’t have to give you all the

details and i’m kind of glad that right

off the bat he didn’t give us lots of

details because we you know we

christians we have a tendency to be

looking at the details of other people’s

sin resumes

and we’re so caught up in what they did

in dissecting it and critiquing it and

talking about behind their back about it

that we forget that we actually don’t

have time to be dealing with anybody

else’s thin resume because we have one

of our own

so i’m glad that up front he didn’t blur

our attention with all the details

but here in verse 13 he says you know

what i’ma hand you just three

on my sin resume i’m not gonna let you

see all of it but i’m gonna pull down

the the shade just enough to where you

can just get just a glimpse

he says i was a persecutor i was a

violent aggressor i was a blasphemer

so he gives us a handful

but he says i want you to know even as

you read my sin resume

that there is a title

at the top of my sin resume

it is an all caps bold font so that you

don’t miss it before you read what i’ve

done

and the subtitle is this

formerly

[Applause]

he says

this is who i was

but this is not who i am anymore

paul wants you to know that the proof

that god is patient

is not only that he saved you

but also that he’s changed you

oh this is great news for anybody that

is in the room and the people that told

you they would stick with you while you

change

they’ve long since gone

that friend told you she had your back

while you went through that development

that you needed in that area of weakness

or struggle that you had she told you

she’d be with you till the end that

partner that spouse that person that was

covenanted to walk with you through that

thing and now you’re sitting here alone

tonight because that mother that father

your cousin and your mama them they all

left you because they didn’t have enough

patience for what you were dealing with

paul wants you to know that there is one

who will never leave you nor forsake you

even as you change

even when you still have work to do

even when i still have work to do even

when i see the struggle and the the

difficulty and the weakness and the

frailty of my flesh his grace is

sufficient enough for us

and paul says the reason why i know it

is because i am not the same person that

i used to be

he keeps on changing me he keeps on

walking with me he keeps on giving me

grace he keeps on by the power of the

holy spirit within me sanctifying me

somebody say sanctify

sanctification is the process by which

you and i are molded into the image of

jesus christ

him saving you was your justification

him changing you is your sanctification

this is when your mind starts changing

your perspective starts changing your

attitude starts changing your ambitions

start changing you never thought you’d

not want that but all of a sudden you

have a distaste for it you never thought

you would ever have an ambition like

this because you’ve always wanted to do

this and go here but now that thing just

ain’t appealing to you anymore and this

is a new direction that you want to go

this is the process by which the holy

spirit is molding you

into the image of jesus christ and i

don’t know about you but i’m so grateful

for the sanctifying power of the holy

spirit of god

[Music]

because i bet if i took this little

microphone off and we just started right

here on road number one and we started

to go all the way back through this room

and then into the overflow we would be

here well into 2022 talking about how we

are not the same people that we used to

be

i don’t know what your testimony is i’m

telling you that i can look back on a

time in my life where i don’t even

recognize that girl back there

that person who allowed those kinds of

relationships and made those kinds of

decisions and walked that kind of walk

and talked with that kind of talk i

don’t even it seems like an entirely

different individual than when i look in

the mirror today and i’m so grateful for

the sanctifying power of god

i’m not the same person that i used to

be anybody happy about that

[Applause]

thank you jesus

i’m telling you he can change you

the biggest miracle that often our god

does y’all is not in our circumstances

it’s in you

it’s i’m telling you he can change your

mind

i’m telling you he can make you want

stuff you don’t want right now listen

i i there have been times in my life

y’all where i’ve had a messed up want to

i mean i wanted to do what’s right the

problem was my want to didn’t want to do

what my want to was supposed to want to

do

anybody

[Applause]

i wished i wanted to do right is what

i’m saying

it’s it’s like paul in romans 7 he

describes this tug of war he’s like the

desire is present within me but there’s

something about my body that keeps

wanting to go in the opposite direction

of what is the right thing to do and he

is so frustrated by the time he gets to

the end of romans 7 describing this war

that he just says oh wretched man that i

am

who’s gonna deliver me from this tug of

war anybody know the tug of war

[Applause]

i’m telling you that the holy spirit of

god can make your want to line up with

what god wants your wants you to want to

do

[Applause]

[Music]

have you ever wondered how popcorn pops

somebody say yes

i’m so glad you want to know

there’s a little dot of water

microscopic

inside each kernel of corn

so when you put the little bag of

microwave popcorn inside the microwave

the heat is not heating up the kernel

it’s heating up the little drop of water

that’s on the inside of the kernel

and as the water heats up it creates

steam and the steam creates more and

more pressure until finally the kernel

pops open

and you see an entirely different item

not because you heated up the shell

but because you heated up what was on

the inside of the shell

listen

y’all gotta be up here with a baptist

towel like y’all

don’t play with me

[Applause]

listen to me y’all if you concentrate on

the shell on behavior modification

the best you’re gonna get is something

temporary

and not only will it be temporary but

you’ll be plain old flat out exhausted

but

if you will concentrate on heating up

the work of the holy spirit on the

inside of you the holy spirit is not a

ghost or a wind or a fire or a dove he’s

often symbolized by those things but

y’all that ain’t who he is

the holy spirit is the third person of

the trinity

not third because he’s least in value

just third because he’s the last to be

revealed to us in the pages of scripture

all of the power all of the goodness all

of the authority of god the father is in

the person of the holy

spirit and ephesians chapter 1 says that

the moment you believe you receive the

greatest gift you will ever receive this

side of eternity you receive the holy

spirit of god

okay

that means now that the holy the

presence and power of god lives on the

inside of you and 2 thessalonians 1 13

says that the holy spirit has a phd

in sanctifying you

it’s his work in you he’s doing it right

now he’s molding you changing you

transforming you redeeming you making

you a different person than you used to

be until one day you look at your

sentiment resume and realize that the

subtitle is

formal

foreign

[Applause]

[Applause]

amen

[Music]

i’m trying to tell you he’s got enough

patience

for whatever that journey is that you’ve

got ahead of you the place of sin or

rebellion or indifference or hardness or

apathy that you have in your heart right

now the anger the unforgiveness the

bitterness the struggle that you’re

having and you see no way out and you

wonder if anybody’s gonna hang in there

with you this time

you are not too too far gone

that the arm of god can’t reach out and

find you where you are

he will walk with you every

single day

while you change

grace is sufficient for you

paul says

he saved you

that’s your justification

he changes you that’s your

sanctification

and then he says there’s just one more

reason

verse 12.

i thank jesus christ our lord

who has

strengthened

your salvation is your justification and

your changing is your sanctification and

now he’s giving you some fortification

he says

i’m gonna make you stronger

than you are right now

i’m going to give you a resilience and a

fortification that’s going to be

required

if you’re going to be able to weather

the storms that are coming your way

because listen in this world jesus said

john 16 33 you will have trouble

you don’t have to go looking for trouble

have you noticed

you just keep on living and the trouble

ends up coming and finding you

you’re gonna need a supernatural

strength for that

now you know some of you may still be in

your teen years or maybe even in your

early 20s and maybe you haven’t

experienced any storms so you think life

will always be like it is right now

baby keep living

[Applause]

because the storms of life are

inevitable

you’re gonna need some strength

you’re gonna need some backbone for

anybody in this day and age to actually

have some integrity

to actually use your social media

platform and influence to be unashamed

about who your savior is to not lean to

the left or to the right in order to be

politically correct but to decide i have

made my decision as for me and my house

we’re gonna serve the lord

[Applause]

you’re gonna need some backbone for that

you’re gonna need some resilience for

that

and paul says he’s got enough patience

to make you strong enough to be able to

stand up

when everybody else caves in

so i’m speaking to everybody in this

room all the people my sons ages

teenagers who were in this room listen

you were made for this hour god has

given you the strength and the

resilience that you need to stand up

even if you have to stand alone to be

the sore thumb that sticks all the way

out to have resilience and fortification

and to be peculiar and an alien and a

stranger to this world you’ve got enough

strength for that

i’m telling you you were made for this

don’t back down and don’t bend the holy

spirit of god is making you strong

enough

for this hour

some of you are in the storm of your

life right now

culturally collectively we’ve all

globally we have all been in a storm

y’all we haven’t just been through one

pandemic it’s been like layered

pandemics on top of pandemics there’s

that medical one of course but there’s

been a social one there’s been a racial

one there’s been a political one layered

pandemics on top of pandemics you and i

are gonna need a supernatural strength

for this

and on top of what we’ve all been

through personally i know that some of

you have been through the same kind of

stuff we’ve been through

loss after loss yo we have had eight

losses in our family in two years

back to back like where every three to

four months another person in our life

passed away

we’ve had medical diagnosis after

medical diagnosis where the storms of

life it’s like that the world just

opened up over our family and there were

storms that were pelting down on us and

the reason why i can tell you that god

will give you enough strength to sustain

you

is because i’m a living witness

[Music]

that y’all we have been through the

storm

but the holy spirit reminds me that god

is still who he said he is that i’m

telling you my faith in him my hope in

him has not wavered have i cried the

tears have i been disappointed have i

asked the questions yes but i’ve asked

the questions without questioning the

character of god he is who he said he is

and i don’t tell you that to tell you

how strong i am

i’m telling you there is a supernatural

strength

that he’ll make available to you it’s a

fortification it’s a resilience

high school student you’re gonna need it

university student you’re gonna need it

jc you’re gonna need it mariah you’re

gonna need it ryan you’re gonna need it

pastor madhu you’re gonna need it

stephanie you’re gonna need it a

resilience for what it is that god has

called you to and he gives it to you

by the holy spirit

okay

he’s got enough patience for that

i want to know if you are in this room

and you have literally felt like even

before you came here you kind of felt

like you know what i’m actually too far

gone for any of this to work for me

because my story is different than

everybody else’s story

the history i have the background i’ve

come from the abuse that i’ve suffered

or that i have rendered

the hard place that i have come from i

just don’t know

that god’s grace is sufficient for

somebody like me i’m telling you if that

is you and you are in this room and you

can just feel your heart burning within

you that’s how the holy spirit speaks to

you listen to me if your heart is

burning within you right now and you

know you need to respond

and receive the patience of god for you

just come down front right now if that’s

you don’t think twice about it don’t

debate with yourself just just come on

down

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

his grace is sufficient

his grace is sufficient

his grace is sufficient

his grace is sufficient

[Music]

he’s got your back

his grace is sufficient

[Music]

his grace is sufficient he’s got you

he’s got you

grace is sufficient

his grace is sufficient

[Music]

i bet you there are some of you

that maybe have never received christ as

savior before

then there’s others of you who have you

have accepted christ as your savior but

you’ve kind of taken a little detour and

you’ve worried about whether or not the

arm of god is long enough to bring you

back

whichever category you fall into and

pray for you tonight

and i believe that the holy spirit is

going to give you before tonight is over

an awakening a revelation of the

extravagant patience of god for you that

you’re going to walk out of here not in

fear and insecurity anymore in your

relationship with god no tiptoeing no

eggshells anymore now is the time when

you’re gonna live the abundant life ryan

that god has called you to without fear

and with complete abandon walking in

faith before the lord that’s what’s

gonna happen tonight so if you need to

place faith in jesus christ if this is

the first time you’ve ever even heard

that whole salvation story what god went

through for you

and you want us to receive christ as

savior the bible says that if you

confess with your mouth

and you believe in your heart that jesus

christ is lord he did all the heavy

lifting all you have to do is receive

the gift

so i’m just going to pray this prayer

and i want you to repeat after me if

that’s the prayer you need to pray

it’s no magic in the words this is you

believing in your heart as you confess

with your mouth

in fact we can all pray this prayer

together to build an atmosphere of faith

for those who are praying it for the

very first time

so let’s pray lord jesus

i am a sinner

in need of a savior

and i believe

that you are that savior

so today

i place faith alone

in christ alone

to remove my sins

take up residence in me

in the person of the holy spirit

right now

in jesus name

lord i thank you for those who have come

into the family of god in this moment i

thank you that the angels are rejoicing

if you draw them in

i praise your father

and then lord i thank you that the

rescue mission that you’ve been on for

our soul is evidence to the fact that

your grace and patience is sufficient

for all of us so i pray right now in

jesus name that the blanket of

discouragement that the enemy may be

putting on anybody’s shoulders i ask you

to lift it off of their shoulders right

now in jesus name i pray against every

scheme of the enemy to cause there to be

a distortion of your grace and your

mercy i asked father that you would

renew their minds right now i pray lord

that you would pour out your grace upon

them your patience upon them father and

give them a revelation of your love for

them

thank you father that right now in jesus

name you are setting them free in the

mighty name of jesus christ

[Music]

[Applause]

you