Over this past year, you’ve been rocked by one thing after another with people putting you on a pedestal, misunderstanding your message, or throwing off your focus. But every time you’ve been knocked down, God has given you the courage to leap back up. Take heart: Your best days are ahead of you because God is incubating a power in you that is controversial and cannot be defeated by any weapon your enemies will throw at you. Gather your people, get up, and go back into the city — because God’s mission is bigger than others’ malice!

[Music]

this sunday morning i would like to draw

your prayerful consideration to the book

of acts chapter number 14

verse 7 through 20

where we will find a very interesting

moment in the life

of the apostle paul

as we discover it we do it to the intent

that we might first of all become

biblically literate

because we are living in the most

biblically illiterate

generation of the history of this nation

not that we don’t have a lot of

religious people

they just don’t know what they’re

religious about

it’s not that we don’t have a lot of

believers they just don’t know what they

believe

come on talk to me somebody it used to

be you could pick

anybody at random and they could explain

their faith in great detail

anybody in this sanctuary could lead you

to jesus

but now more and more we have people who

just

like to be in the atmosphere

of jesus stuff but do not want to apply

themselves

to knowing jesus personhood do you hear

what i’m saying to you

but i have labored over the past 45

years of my life to preach the gospel

in a way that i might convince you not

to fall in love with me but to fall in

love with your bible

to fall in love with the word of god you

have no more of god than you do of his

word

do you hear what i’m saying to you and

so as we go into the word of god today

we do it to the purpose that you might

be biblically literate

that you might see the text in the

context for which it is extrapolated

understanding how hard it was to be a

christian

we hope that it will humble you down

from complaining about

silly things like parking spaces and

rain

when you see what the early church had

to endure

to name the name of christ we hope you

will grow up some and not

be petty enough to say roll your eyes at

your sister in christ and say

she thinks she’s something when you see

what the early church had to endure

it’d change your definition of pain

and ultimately you will redefine what it

costs

to be a christian and you will recognize

that god has favored you

even in the midst of your problems the

fact that you’re breathing good

the fact that nobody’s coming to your

house that assaulted you

for being a christian you’re privileged

the early church would have passed out

to have the kind of favor you ignore

but to that ends we preach today and i

believe with all of our

heart that something is going to happen

i wouldn’t have got out the bed this

morning if i didn’t think

that something was going to happen are

you ready

again acts chapter 14 verse 7 through 20

and it reads thusly and there they

preached

the gospel and there sat

a certain man and lystra impotent

in his feet being a

from his mother’s womb who never

had walked the same

heard paul speak who’s steadfastly

beholding him

and perceiving that he had faith to be

healed

said with a loud voice stand up right on

thy

feet and he leaped

and walked and when the people saw what

paul had done

they lifted up their voice saying speech

lyconia the gods are come down

to us in the likeness of men

and they call barnabas jupiter

and paul mercurius because he was the

chief

speaker then the priest of jupiter

which was before their city brought oxen

and garland unto the gates

and would have been sacrificed with the

people

which when the apostles barnabas and

paul

heard of they rent their clothes

and ran in among the people crying out

and saying sirs why

do you these things

we also are men of like passions

with you and preach unto you

that ye should turn from these vanities

unto the living god which made heaven

and earth

and the sea and all the things that are

therein

who in times past suffered all nations

to walk

in their own ways nevertheless

he left not himself without a witness

and that he did

good and gave us rain from heaven and

fruitful seasons

filling our hearts with food and going

hold it right there

i just got to stop a minute and praise

god for being good to us

when we were ignorant of him

paul’s point is that god took care of

people who were

ignorant of him who served other gods

and did other things

and god still clothed them and let it

rain down on them

and overshadow them and that’s shouting

stuff

because you know that god was good to

you when you weren’t

thinking about him

oh my god i would read again

nevertheless he left not himself

without a witness and that he did good

and gave

us rain from heaven and fruitful

seasons filling our hearts with food and

gladness

and with these sayings scarce restrained

they the people

that they had not done sacrificed unto

them

they still wanted to do it and there

came the other

certain jews oh this is a new

development

there came that there are certain jews

from antioch

and iconium who persuaded the people

and having stoned paul

drew him out of the city

supposing he had been dead

how being as the disciples stood round

about him

he rose up and

came into the city and the next day he

departed with barnabas

to derby i want to talk to you

about left for dead

let’s pray spirit of the living god

thou who causes the rain to descend

on the just and the unjust

thou who lavishly gives air to breathe

even to atheists and heathens

thou who has regulated the beating of

our hearts

even when we were busy doing wrong

now that we come to our senses

we recognize that you didn’t wait for us

to be good

to be good to us over the next few

moments i

ask you to honor my time with you

as i have my time with him that you

might use me as a conduit through which

you might flow through

to touch the hearts of your people

i believe you for excellence

i believe you for excellence i believe

you for excellence

define it in this room in the name of

jesus we pray

somebody who really loves him

shout amen you may be seated in the

presence of the lord

[Music]

now we know and understand that in the

early aspects of jesus ministry that he

had set aside

12 men that had the distinction of being

categorized

as apostles we are quite clear that he

found them during different aspects of

labor

some were fishermen some were tax

collectors

some were physicians but he gathered

them all and coalesced him together into

becoming

a team around him a fortress

a bulwark a board

an executive board a mentorship

board and through the auspices of their

connection with jesus

they began to do exploits in the land

the criteria for them being an apostle

included them being an

eyewitness to the resurrection of christ

from the dead

and so after he was crucified he made it

his business to show himself

alive to all that remain seeing as judas

had now

hung himself and his mouths had spilled

out

in the potter’s field he shows up to the

eleven

that remain so that they can be an

eyewitness

he wanted to leave an irrevocable

mark on their lives that was strong

enough

to cause him to withstand the

persecution

that inevitably would occur for naming

the name of the lord

i took the young man the other day i

said when you associate with me

you gained my friends but you also

gained my enemies

you can’t gain one’s friends without

gaining their

enemies they all go

together and when you accept the name of

jesus

you gain his friends but you also gain

his enemies and the 11 were locked up

and you know

how they did and how jesus appeared in

the room

to make them an eyewitness and settled

all doubts by letting them touch

the nail prints in his hands and where

they pierced him in the side

be not faithless and believe because he

wanted them to know

that he was lord over death because if

he could be lord over death he could be

lord over

anything death was the greatest enemy

but he took the sting out of death

and the victory out of the grave and

rose up and taunted them

and said oh death where is i sting o

grave where is thy victory we read in

the book of acts how they cast lots

to replace judas with matthias

by the casting of lots they appointed

matthias to stand up

in judah’s place there’s a great deal of

controversy

as to whether matthias is then

legitimately

an apostle or whether this was something

they did in a human

effort to fill a divine void

what we are sure of is that god

called a very unlikely individual

named saul saul

was a christian killer

he was a christian killer not because he

was an evil person

he was a christian killer because he was

a religious person

his religion informed him that what

christianity represented was a cult

being an orthodox jew all of his life

for christianity to now come and

threaten

judaism he thought he did god’s service

to kill out the christians because he

is a pharisee he was devoutly jewish

because he was of the tribe of benjamin

he comes from royalty

because he was part of the sanhedrin

court he had

influence and affluence because he had

been educated at the feet of camille

he was articulate and multilingual

and he was a christian killer until god

stopped him on the road to damascus and

arrested him

and knocked him down off of his beast

and left him impaired and partially

blind

initially totally blind most historians

say

he continued to be partially blind most

of his life

and those who do describe him often

describe him

as being short and humpback and there

was nothing

amazing about him and yet god did

amazing things through him

suck it only to jesus in the new

testament

paul contributes more to our

understanding

of god than any of the other apostles

even though he never had the last supper

with him he wasn’t

there when he turned water into wine he

wasn’t there when he healed the woman

with issue of blood

he wasn’t there when he lays lazarus

from the dead

he never got the benefit of growing up

in the pedigree

of christianity he is an outsider

brought

in sometimes you can do more with an

outsider than you can and inside

[Music]

because when you’re an insider you have

a tendency to take for granted

the experience but when you come from

the outside there’s a greater level of

appreciation

for the illumination of the word of god

and paul

was brought into a place where first he

would go to his own

and his own would receive him not like

jesus

he was steeped in jewish tradition but

they rejected him

they laughed him to scorn and ultimately

he became the apostle

to the gentiles what a humbling

experience

for a pharisee who wouldn’t eat with the

gentile

to now be called to serve the gentiles

i’m just saying that in context you see

to serve the gentiles

would be like asking you to go feed the

swine

the gentiles were called swine sometimes

dogs you will remember jesus said it is

not meat to give the children’s bread

to the dogs and now the apostle paul

with all of his intellect and all of his

language

and all of his religious pedigree is now

sent

to feed the dogs

when we step into this text we step into

this text at a time

that paul is with barnabas and it is not

just that paul is mentoring

barnabas barnabas is also mentoring paul

while paul knew how to articulate and

argue the faith

once he was converted with jews he was

unaccustomed

with communicating with gentiles in my

book i wrote recently

and i’m gonna make a shameless plug

don’t drop the mic

uh if you haven’t read it you ought to

get it one of the things i talk about

is being able to communicate with

diverse groups of people

because when you can only talk to people

who look like you dress like you vote

like you

think like you you limit the breadth of

where you can go

you have to be broad enough to

understand how to be diverse

and often you have to do that

intentionally

that does not happen accidentally

i say that because some of the places

god’s getting ready to take you

is away from the familiar it’s off of

your territory

you have to be mentored and you have to

be groomed to find out how to work

in that atmosphere this was strange

but not to bother me see barnabas was

used

to winning gentiles when paul says i’m

not ashamed of the gospel of jesus

christ

it is the power of god unto salvation

unto the jew first and then to the

gentile

so there was a boomerang of faith it

started amongst the jews

but little by little by little by little

throughout church history

it moved toward the gentiles it started

in jerusalem it ended up in rome

because the gentiles being heathens

were more open to christianity than the

jews were

being religious they thought it was

sacrilege

for jesus to say he was god

it is into this atmosphere that paul

steps now with barnabas

and they come to lystra which is a greek

country

a greek country being not a jewish

country

paul is learning how to deal with him

and in the midst of this atmosphere he

begins

to minister paul

is often considered the most important

person after christ

in history his epistles his letters

have influenced every aspect of what we

call christian theology

without the apostle paul we would know

little about the resurrection from the

dead

we would know little about the catching

away of the saints without paul we

wouldn’t understand the mystery

of godliness for paul teaches us

greatness a mystery

of godliness for god was manifest in the

flesh

justified in the spirit scene of angels

preached unto the gentiles

and believe on in the world and received

up in the glory

without paul we would not know that if

this earthly house or tabernacle

shall be dissolved we have another

building eternally in the heaven

without paul we would not understand

what the fruits of the spirit were

love joy peace meekness temperance we

would we would not understand

without paul we wouldn’t understand what

the gifts of the spirit were

we wouldn’t understand the unknown

tongue the interpretation

of times of discernment of different

kinds of spirit without paul we would

not understand

therefore being justified by faith we

have peace with god

without paul we wouldn’t understand i

can do all things through christ

which strengthens me without paul we

would not understand

the apostles the prophets the pastor the

teachers the evangelists we would never

understand without paul we would not

understand that

having made known unto us a mystery of

his will

without paul we would not understand the

providence of god

the prudence of god the manifold wisdom

of god

without power we would not understand

those sorts of things about god without

paul

we would not understand the glorious

grace

wherein we stand without paul we would

not understand shall we continue in sin

that grace may for abound grace for

god forbid he that is dead is freed from

sin

without paul we would not understand

that as many of us have been baptized

have been baptized

into jesus christ’s death that if we are

buried together with him

in the likeness of his death we shall be

also like him

in the likeness of his resurrection

without paul we would not understand

that the same spirit that quickened

jesus body

and raised it from the dead shall also

quicken your mortal body

we would not understand that without

paul we would not

understand the foundations and the

fundamentals of the faith

he teaches us our relationship with god

the father and jesus

and on the mystical human relationship

with the divine he teaches us the power

of prayer

he teaches us uh the contribution of

understanding that we can come boldly to

god in prayer

that god hears us when we pray he

teaches us

having peace with that therefore being

justified

we have peace with god he teaches us

about peace

he teaches us about power he teaches us

about majesty

he gives us all of these contributions

but he also had his controversies

he was not one of them and

anytime you’re not one

of them didn’t come from among them

there’s a certain invisible wall you

have to contend with

anybody know what i’m talking about you

can move into a city

and there’s a certain invisible wall

that exists because you didn’t grow up

in that city

you’re not considered one of them you

can join a particular board

and because you’re an outsider and you

come in you’re not considered one of

them

paul was not one of them he was an

outsider

they didn’t like him they didn’t

appreciate him they didn’t particularly

want him

they didn’t trust him they didn’t

believe him they had reason not to trust

him

he used to be a christian killer they

doubted his conversion

they doubted the authenticity of his

faith they did not see

him and jesus interact with each other

he was controversial

you cannot be the kind of person

that makes great contribution and not

have to endure

great controversy

oh can i come on with it

jesus made great contribution but he

also had to contend with great

controversy

some of you are saying lord i want to

make great contribution

but i don’t want any great controversy

you cannot have one without the other

they are siamese twins they are

connected together

and if you are a person with a lot to

contribute

then you got to be strong enough to deal

with a lot of controversy

there’s always somebody trying to knock

you off your position

there’s always somebody laughing at what

you do there’s always somebody trying to

discredit

the authenticity of your work the legit

the legitimacy

of your apostasy there’s always somebody

who’s always trying to put you down

and you have to be strong enough and

tough enough

to withstand the controversy is there

anybody in here

that can stand to be blessed

and of all things he describes himself

as the chiefess of sinners

and in god’s response to that god gives

him a call

to go to the gentiles to go

feed the swine

in our text today we find him

feeding the swan he has gone to lystra

to minister he is preaching the gospel

of jesus christ

just merely preaching the gospel

he has touched no one he has laid hands

on no one

he has not spoken in tongues he has not

cast out a devil

his shadow has not fallen on anyone just

preaching the gospel was strong enough

to create a disruption the gospel all by

itself the gospel that needs crutches it

doesn’t need help

it doesn’t need tricks or gimmicks or

scams and a standoff by itself

when it is preached right somebody will

grab a hold to the gospel

and the bible said while he preached the

gospel

something began to happen something

began to happen

something amazing began to happen

somebody in the crowd

got healed

oh you you you got to see the beauty of

this

i said somebody in the crowd got healed

[Music]

the beauty of the text is paul himself

is called the of tarsus

and though he is called the of

tarsus no doubt

because he could barely see and

hunchback no doubt because he prayed to

have his thorn

removed out of his flesh and it had not

been removed he was crippled and yet

healing the sick

y’all didn’t hear that i’m gonna say

that again he was crippled

and yet healing the sick all of you

think

everything in your life has to be

perfect before you can serve anybody

else

but god has a way of using ordinary

people

broken people wounded people hurting

people bleeding people

suffering people the of tarsus

is preaching the gospel so that a

can be healed

good god almighty i wish i had me at

church the of

tarsus is preaching the gospel and

there’s a lame man

in the crowd and the bible said that the

lame man was laying

in both his feet he was lame in both

his feet he was lame in both his feet

he had been crippled from his mother’s

womb

that means not only was he lame he never

knew what it was like to walk

he had never walked and yet he was

fastened on paul

and paul noticed him while he was

preaching

discerned that he was fasting on it see

when you preach the gospel

it don’t hit everybody

you have to know that in a room like

this you don’t hit everybody

everybody on the zoom you’re not going

to hit everybody but there are

some people who become fascinated to the

message

they become attached to the message they

focus on the message there are other

people that can’t focus they’re thinking

about what they’re going to cook for

dinner

did i leave the stove on i hope i

unplugged the iron

i don’t know what i’m gonna wear to work

monday you can’t get no healing

because you can’t get no healing if you

don’t have no focus

you have to have a focus if you want to

get healed

somebody say focus focus focus

focus focus focus focus focus focus

i can’t afford not to focus i got a lot

to think about

i got a lot to do next week but i can’t

afford not to focus

cause i got a devil to fight

i got a devil to fight i got a devil to

fight

i got a devil to fight and i’m listening

at the word listening

for clues how i can fight this devil

that wants to come against my life

and my mind and my heart and my spirit

is there anybody in this place

that’s got to focus focus focus focus is

there anybody watching me online who has

to focus

focus focus is there anybody in here

the bible said that the man had been

laying

from his mother’s womb he was a heathen

he was not used to christianity he

wasn’t even used to judaism

but when he heard the gospel oh

wait when he heard oh wait when he heard

the gospel

i gotta stop him in it and thank god

that

god didn’t let everything break down at

the same time

both his feet were lame but both his

ears was good

look at somebody say i could hear it i

could hear it i

may be broke but i can hear it i may be

divorced but i can hear it

i may be heartbroken but i can hear i

may be under attack but i can hear

when he had the gospel

i feel like preaching this world

faith coming by hearing and hearing by

the word of god

if you can hear it you can get out of it

if you can hear it

you can get a release if you can hear it

you can get a break too

if you can hear it things can change if

you can hear me

sitting on that couch if you can hear me

sitting on the side of the bed

if you can hear me sitting in your

living room if you can hear it

a yoke can be broken a yoke can be

destroyed

a yoke can be released in your life

how did somebody say can you hear me now

can you hear me now see the devil don’t

want you to hear

he’ll do anything to distract you he’ll

get you playing on your phone

anything to distract you from hearing

the word of god because the devil knows

faith

coming by hearing and hearing by the

word of god

and if you mess around and hear

something you can be healed from

something

and the bible said that paul fastened

his eyes on the man

and he yelled out at him and when he

yelled out at him

and told him to get up and walk

he asked him to do something

for which he had no point of reference

it’s one thing to ask a man who to walk

who has walked before

but to ask a man to walk who has never

walked before

i don’t even know what that would be

like i don’t even have the coordination

i don’t even have the muscular dexterity

i’m not sure my nerve endings are

connected in my feet

my ankles have never worked together

with my feet in a coordinated method

in order to be able to walk i have never

walked

since my mother’s womb i was born broken

i was born broken that me can i take

time oh god

i that that means broken is my normal

i’m gonna keep going until again that

means anger is my

normal that means alcoholism is my

normal

that means malice is my normal and

you’re asking me

to leap out of my normal

paul challenged him to go beyond his

experience

and do something he’d never done before

to leap out of his normal the lord sent

me here

to tell somebody i don’t know who it is

that he’s calling you to do something

you’ve never done before

and in order to do it you can’t

gradually do it

you can’t do it one toy at a time you

can’t stick one

foot in and see if it’ll hold you up god

says you’re gonna have to leap

out of your door somebody just leap just

sleep

that’s how you’re gonna come out of it

that’s how you’re gonna come out of it

that’s how you’re gonna come out you’re

just gonna leap out of your door

you’re just gonna leap out your friend’s

not gonna understand it

your family is not gonna understand it

your neighbors are not gonna endorse it

but what god is gonna do in your life is

so quick

it’s so sudden it’s so massive it’s so

comprehensive

it’s so complete it’s so

all-encompassing

that you get ready to leave look at

somebody tell them give me some room i

gotta leave

[Applause]

give me some room i gotta leave give me

some room i gotta leave

if i don’t leave now i won’t get out of

this if i don’t leave now i won’t get a

breakthrough

if i don’t leave now i won’t start the

business if i don’t leave now i’ll be

where i always were

if i don’t bleed now i’m not like my

mama die

if i don’t leave now i’m getting ready

to leave give me some room

give me some room give me some room

give me some room i’m getting ready to

leave

[Applause]

there is a leaping anointing

in this place right now i don’t know who

i’m preaching to

i don’t know who i’m preaching for but

you’re getting ready to leap out of it

you thought you were gonna eek out of it

you must go

gradually get out of maybe in the next

five years

god said no leap out

god is gonna make you leap

[Applause]

[Music]

god is gonna make you leap and it’s not

because you’re lame

he’s going to make you leap as a witness

to all those people who doubted that he

was

who he said he was god said i meant for

you to be lame

because i chose such a time as this to

prove who i am

by making you leap oh somebody’s gonna

get a miracle

somebody’s gonna get a miracle

somebody’s gonna get a miracle

and god’s gonna use your life

all on the line type leap out leap out

leap out leap out

all in the room say leap out leap out

leap out leap out leap out

leap out leap out leap out leap out of

that bitterness

leap out of that anger leap out of that

hostility

leap out of that poverty leap out of

that neighborhood

leap out of that situation leap out of

that dead end job

god is going to make you leave he’s

going to let you leap out

it ain’t going to be gradual you’re just

going to leap out you’re gonna leap out

and the bible said when he leave he

started walking

he didn’t even you’re getting ready to

do something

that you’ve never done before who am i

preaching to

make some noise in this place

yeah yeah yeah

yeah yeah look at somebody say i’m a

leaper

i’m a leaper you you might not you maybe

you are not sitting next to me

because i’m a leaver i might make you

uncomfortable because i’m a leaper

i might get thrown out of the click

because i’m a leaper

i might not be in the club because i’m a

leaper god is going to make me leap out

of my situation

god is going to make me leap out of my

circumstance i wish

i knew who it was but you’re gonna have

to leave

you’ve been looking at it you’ve been

thinking about it you’ve been hearing

the gospel

your faith has been stirred this is

about god said leave

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

sit down i’m gonna go deeper

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

i’m getting warmed up sister i’m getting

warmed up

i’m getting ready to leave i’m getting

ready to leave

i’m getting ready to leave anybody

getting ready to leave

i

i never did before i’m gonna go

someplace i never went before

i’m gonna walk like i’ve never walked

before i’m gonna move like i never

pulled before

i’m gonna talk like i’ve never talked

before i’m getting ready to leave

i’m leaving i’m leaving from charleston

to dallas

i’m leaking i’m leaping from a

storefront to a mega church

i’m just going to

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

now we’re going to set that to the side

that’s so appetizing

that’s what get him here

[Applause]

you know you got to have some courage to

leave

most folks are scared to leave you got

to have some courage

to leave lord

is there any courage over here

any courage over here is there any

any uh courage anybody got some courage

you don’t think it’s too late you don’t

think your time has passed you by

you think you got one more leap left in

you come on come on

you you and anybody got some courage

over here

everybody got some curry anybody

watching me online

have you got some courage have you got

some courage

have you got some courage this is a

moment you’re gonna have to leap into

glory to god when they

saw him leap

bear in mind they’re not jews

[Applause]

they’re not familiar with jehovah

they’re amazed they

experienced god

they experienced paul’s ministry

but it is through the lens of their

theology

so god has done it through paul

but those who behold it don’t know how

to understand

it

a lot of you have an experience with god

and you go home and you try to explain

it to people

and they don’t understand what you’re

talking about

because they’re experiencing it through

their theology

their theology was built around

jupiter who was the king

of the gods of a polytheistic society

in roman mythology jupiter

he’s the same thing as the greeks were

called zeus

so they figured well

maybe barnabas is jupiter

and then they figured paul must be

mercurius

another one of their gods what i’m

trying to get you to see

is that we behold the same thing

but from different perspectives

[Applause]

and how we interpret what happened

depends

on how we think

so they think that they’re mercurius

and jupiter and the priest

who prepares sacrifice for jupiter

gets an ox and gets ready to prepare

a sacrifice to the apostles

and the apostles heard about it right

now here i am

trying to bring you to jesus

and jesus has performed a miracle

and you’re ready to praise somebody who

didn’t do it

do you know how many people praise other

people

for stuff god did

do you know how many people call grace

luck

their mentalities are in such a way

that they they can’t really

embrace the splendiferous

grace of jesus

the magnanimous ability

of god to do exceedingly abundantly

above

all that we may ask or think

we bring him down to mercurius

and jupiter and fall back into our

routines

of worshiping gods we made

and paul and barnabas

rend their garments said our whole

purpose

in coming here is to get you delivered

from vanities

[Applause]

[Music]

are there any vanities in your

are there areas in your life where you

worship things that don’t matter

are you in a place right now

that you got a little bit of jesus and a

little bit of jupiter

one of the problems in the early church

that led to the niacin creed

was they started calling everything

christian

it became difficult to distinguish the

theology

of christianity the new testament has

not yet been written

so anything you did you could call it

christian

like praying for somebody else’s husband

[Applause]

i’m just i’m just

[Applause]

i’m just giving examples i’m just giving

examples

i’m just i’m just giving examples

[Applause]

i’m just getting exactly like like

trying to

curse somebody because you don’t like

them

so you a witch and an alto in the choir

i i i’m just asking questions

so they got the jupiter and the jesus

and the mercurius

and the paul and the barnabas all mixed

up

and paul rins his garment

he does not want them to make

him a god

let me tell you why

when people make you a god

they later kill you for not being what

they made you

for everybody to think you’re amazing

and admire you might look like it’s

wonderful

but out of that everybody there’s always

somebody

who lifts you up and denies you of your

humanity

and they turn you into a deity

only to destroy you for not being

what you never said you were in the

first place

oh that’s so good i’m gonna shout myself

i’m gonna shout myself

i’m a child myself i’m shocked i’m a

child myself

[Applause]

[Music]

[Music]

[Applause]

don’t let nobody make you

a god player you don’t have to solve

every problem

you don’t have to fix every situation

you don’t have to have

all wisdom you don’t have to have all

the answers

you don’t have to get up at 3 o’clock in

the morning because you are not

god and they will make you a god

player and generally the same

the same

the same people who make you a god

player

[Applause]

they kill you for being

like them

paul told them don’t worship me

we are men of like passions

and they killed him

they stoned him

for being too much like them

[Music]

and that’s what happens in the church

today

we kill people who get caught

acting like us

[Applause]

oh y’all ain’t shout now

cause when you kill somebody for having

like passions

it throws the heat off for you

because if you can kill them nobody

would suspect you

but they had a little help i’m almost

finished they had a little help

because the jews came down

and talked to the men of lystra

into killing paul

now bear in mind

they didn’t like paul anyway

but it’s funny how when folks hate you

they won’t like kill you themselves

you don’t hear me they won’t kill you

this hell

they’ll turn a posse

is there any witnesses in here have you

ever had

a strange posse rise up to take you out

and you didn’t know where it came from

only to find out that it was one of your

[Applause]

own

so they said if they men are like

passions

you ought to kill them

and they took rocks

and they stoned paul

with rocks big rocks

hitting him in his head lacerating his

skin

knocking him down to the ground they

stoned him which was a custom

amongst their people like they were

going to stone

the woman caught in adultery they had

experience they knew how to kill you

with rocks i want to talk to some haters

you’re good at what you do you know how

to

kill with rocks you throw your rocks you

hide your hands

and you keep throwing rocks and you’ve

had experience

at being a rock thrower

and the bible said they threw rocks

and supposed him to be dead

this is where it gets good to me

they supposed him to be dead

now i realize maybe 50 of the church

won’t know what i’m talking about

so i got to preach to the other 50

have you ever had anybody do anything to

you

to take you out

and they supposed you was dead and they

suppose you’d never be back

and they suppose you’d never get up and

they suppose you’d never be nothing

have you ever had anybody tell you you

can’t beat nothing without me

and they supposed you to be dead and

they left you in trouble

and they left you in debt and they left

you with the kids

and they left you with the bills and

they laughed and they went on to the

strip club

and they suppose you to be dead have you

ever had somebody leave you

and think you can’t cook you can’t clean

you can’t iron you can’t wash

you can’t make it without me i’m going

to expose what a bum you

are and they suppose you to be dead

they supposed paul to be dead

and they left him for death

everybody who’s ever been left for dead

give me

60 seconds of praise

[Applause]

well this is a resurrection

service we are about to have a

resurrection

service we’re about to give you some

tips that are going to prepare

you for what god is going to do next

sometimes you got to lay there and let

them think they won

oh i’m going to give you a pathway

sometimes you got to stop fighting and

stop kicking and stop fussing

and stop cussing and stop calling and

stop yelling

and stop texting and stop writing and

just play

real steel and

act like you got me i just lay there

with blood running down your forehead

and act like i’m harmless i ain’t got no

more power

i don’t have no more message i can’t get

up

so that they can go on somewhere else

cause as soon as you shut up

they gonna leave you alone your mouth is

fueling the fight

if you be still and know that god is god

god will fight your battles for you

you don’t have to defend yourself oh god

this is so good i’m gonna get my own

cd you don’t have to defend yourself

because the battle belongs to god if you

just be

still and lay there they will leave you

for dead

but just because they left you for dead

does not mean that you

are dead i feel a resurrection

spirit in this place right now

look at somebody saying ain’t over

i may be broke but it ain’t over i may

be sick

but it ain’t over i may be down but it

ain’t over

my business might close but it ain’t

over

as soon as y’all get out of my way

i’m getting back up again

so this is what you’re gonna do you’re

gonna form your committee

[Applause]

you’ll get a few people to surround you

who believe in you and the bible said

the apostle

surrounded himself with a few people

that believed in him and they made a

circle

around what they thought was dead

this is nature’s way

of incubation whenever

nature gets ready to incubate anything

it will always put it in an egg

it will wrap it in a shell and you’ve

been out there by yourself

but god said for this second half of

your life

you need to surround yourself

with a few people who know it ain’t over

a few people who are wishing you well

a few people who can get a prayer

through

a few people who are expecting a return

a few people who got the same mind

and the same spirit paul was laying

there

bleeding laid up looked dead

changing colors getting cold but because

he surrounded himself

[Applause]

get you a handful of people

that can come into agreement and come

both shy

[Applause]

this is your year

i know it don’t look like it because

your head is bleeding

and i know it don’t look like it because

they’ve been rocking you ever since

january

but the devil is alive can you

hear me on the internet the devil is

alive this is your

year don’t let the stones fool you

they rocked you they stole you

they scandalized you they laughed at you

they left you but now that they’re gone

[Applause]

it doesn’t say they bandaged him

it doesn’t say they poured wine in his

wounds

it doesn’t say that they set him on the

beast

he just stood up

and i said my god he ain’t doing number

reaping what he saw

[Applause]

god said what you make happen

for other people god will make happen

for you and because you raised up

the lame man god said i’m getting ready

to raise you up who am i preaching to

god said i have not forgotten

your kindness to other people

and in your day of vulnerability

because you had the courage to make a

lame man leap

i’m gonna leap you up out of this thing

he leaped up on his feet

and he started walking

and passing by this is what got me

i would have walked away from lystra

but he went right back into lystra

just to let them know no

weapon formed against me

chad pastor

against me shall

prosper

can i get a witness

it won’t work

god will do what he said he would do

he said he will stand by his word

he will come through i know god will

do

he will stand by his word

he will come through

against me shall prosper

oh hold it right there don’t let it go

just hold it right

there i want you to take a minute and

think about the weapons

that have been thrown at you this year

[Applause]

over the last 12 months

everybody’s taking some blows

[Applause]

some hits

some scrapes

wanted you dead

left you for dead

wanted to drive you over the edge

[Applause]

wanted to wear you completely down

[Music]

but the lord sent me here

to tell you that what they threw at you

[Music]

it won’t work

think about it

[Applause]

it hurt but it won’t work

[Music]

this and that and the other and this and

that

and the other and i’ve been sitting up

at night on the side of the bed

and my sleep’s been mad and my mind’s

been upset

and my body’s been in turmoil and i’ve

been walking the floor at three o’clock

in the morning

but the lord sent me to church this

morning to tell you

it won’t work

[Music]

nothing they did nothing they said

nothing they’re trying to do

nothing that you’ve been worried about

the holy spirit

just spoke in my belly and said i don’t

care how many rocks they through

[Applause]

you hear me real good i don’t care how

many rocks

they threw and i don’t care how dead you

look

and i don’t care how broke you look

and i don’t care how depressed you’ve

been

and i don’t care how upset you’ve been

and i don’t care how lonely you’ve been

and i can see you laying in the bed

crying at night

i can see you crying on your pillow

in the middle of the night thinking that

you can’t get up

and that you’re tired and you had too

many battles

and you can’t make it out of this one

but the devil is alive

the devil is alive the devil is alive

the devil’s the devil is alive

[Applause]

god’s got you surrounded yes sir he got

to surround

the angels of the lord and camp

about them that fear him

yeah no weapon

that they sit against you it’s going to

work and i want you right now to be

renewed

because you have made other people leap

all your life

you have made other people leave all

your life

but you are coming into a season that

you are not just gonna make

other people leave you will get ready to

leap into your destiny

you gonna leap so far in your destiny

that you can confront your haters

and smile at them because you know it

didn’t work

and i want you to lift your hands and

open your mouth and fill this room with

praise

as the holy ghost comes in this room

here he comes

here he comes here he comes here he

comes

god

[Applause]

god

[Music]

foreign

[Applause]

foreign

[Music]

just

[Music]

thank you

oh

[Music]

[Music]

the anointing of god is in this place

the spirit of god is right in your house

right in your living room

sitting there with you and you got a

whole list of things

you’ve been stoned one thing after

another after another after another

after another there just ain’t one

[Music]

but it’s not gonna work

and i want you to step into an attitude

of gratitude

[Music]

he goes back into listener and then he

moves on the derby and he keeps on

moving

and he keeps on going can i tell you

something

god is not through with you yet

he goes to iconium brother he goes to

antioch he keeps on moving

your future is waiting on you

your future is waiting on you

your future’s waiting on you your future

is waiting on

your future’s waiting on me do you

receive it

lift your hands up and receive it

[Music]

i believe our best days

[Music]

are ahead of us honey would you come

here and stand with me for a minute

[Music]

i know

i know we might not we could

have another 39 years

[Applause]

[Music]

but whether it’s 39 or 29

or 109

i believe our best days are in front of

us

you believe that do you believe that

about you

[Music]

shake off every other spirit that would

tell you

every other thing cause those are stones

get rid of your stones

and make up in your mind

my best day is coming

my latter day she’ll be greater than my

foreigner

i told her i said we’re going to live

our latter days differently than we did

our early days

yeah we’re coming into our own

yeah i know we’re getting great but

we’re coming into our own

yeah we’re getting to the good part

yeah how many of you believe you’re

getting to the good part

i want to i want to sow a little seed on

our anniversary

for the future just just a small seed

just a hundred dollar seed but i want to

sow it into our future

that we’re gonna make it 100.

yeah we’re gonna make it

if you got the courage it takes courage

to believe that you can get older and

get better

[Applause]

in a culture that glorifies you

it is easy to get to 40 and think your

life is

over but that’s a lie

i want to challenge you to join us and

sow a hundred dollar seed

everybody listening at me everywhere in

the world

and i want you to make it 100.

i want you to leap up out of where you

are right now

and start walking into your antioch in

your iconium

and start moving around in your future

and start moving around in your destiny

because your future is waiting on you

let’s make it 100.

[Music]

that means you got to let some people

call and not answer the phone

and you may even have to get radical and

change your number

[Applause]

but we’re going to make it 100. look at

somebody say let’s make it 100.

i want everybody online streaming

zooming looking in

to make a commitment and i’m going to

pray that we make it

100.

[Music]

i know we’ve been stoned i know we’ve

been scarred

i know we’ve had the wind knocked out of

us and i know they have left us for dead

either physically emotionally attitudely

in some area of our lives we have shed

some blood

but in that same spot

[Music]

we’re gonna make it 100.

and take advantage of this moment to

covenant with yourself

i i’m gonna stop murmuring i’m gonna

stop complaining

i’m gonna stop trying to fix the pass

it’s over i can’t do nothing about it

it doesn’t matter who was right it

doesn’t matter who was wrong

it’s over i pronounce benediction on my

past

and i open up the door to my future

and i’m gonna make it 100. i’m gonna

find

something to laugh at every day every

day

even if it’s the last thing i do before

i go to bed

even if i have to turn on a comedy show

even if i have to get in the mirror and

laugh at myself

i am going to laugh myself to sleep i

will not

cry myself to sleep another night

i’m going to make my life 100 and i will

get better

and i will get richer and i will get

stronger

and i will get tougher anybody with me

anybody shout out with you bishop

lord i now realize why the shepherd left

the 99

left the 99 unattended and went out

looking for one sheep

he was trying to make it 100.

whatever’s been missing in your life

[Music]

pull it back in

and let’s make it 100. we’re not gonna

argue with people in the parking lot

we’re not gonna get upset with nobody at

the drive-through window

we’re not gonna argue about dinner being

late we’re not going to do anything that

breaks the peace

that we have right now we’re going to

make it 100.

let me do one more check before i close

if there’s a person in this room that

doesn’t know jesus

i hope i inspired you but inspiration is

limited

what i really want to do is convert you

converting you doesn’t mean i’m going to

start going to that church i want you to

come

i’d love for you to come i’d be happy to

have you

but that’s not conversion conversion is

when you

change the way you live and you say lord

i’m ready

to walk with you i may not be perfect

i may get it wrong i may need to be

corrected

but i’m ready to walk with you i haven’t

been walking with you

but i’m ready to walk with you hold your

hand up real hard i just want to pray

for you

thank you somebody else thank you thank

you leave it up

leave it up thank you leave it up while

i pray for you

leave it up anybody i see you in the

balcony

i see you i see you i see you

i see you father god in the name of

jesus

every hand that’s been raised up is

raised up in submission to you

asking you lord to take over residents

in their heart

in their life repenting of their sins

confessing you as lord and savior they

invite you into their heart

i pray they’d never be the same again i

pray they’d never be the same again

that a new joy and a new peace and a new

fullness

will come into their heart and soul and

that they walk in that peace

and that power and that they’d never be

the same again and lord finally

no weapon formed against him

shall be able to prosper in the name of

jesus

again 60 seconds of praise and we’re and

we’re going

shout out for us

[Music]

just before i dismiss you give me just

five minutes just three minutes

just before i dismiss you if you can

if there’s somebody here who would like

to make this your church

we’re prepared to open up the doors of

the church

we’ve got everything prepared for you in

a very safe and sanitized way

to give you the right hand to fellowship

welcome you into the church

if you come to my left the doors of this

church are open for membership

whosoever will let them come

we’re getting back to normal y’all

[Applause]

[Music]

come on down

[Music]

so glad to have you so glad to have you

so glad to have you so glad to have you

so glad to have you

[Applause]

so glad that yeah

somebody clapped while they come

somebody climb up

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

i don’t care where you come from

i don’t care where you come from i don’t

care what you got on

i don’t care what your culture is i

don’t care about your ethnicity

if the lord is nudging at your heart

don’t let the devil teach you

come on come on again

come on in come on in

this is the father’s house

[Music]

you’re welcome you’re welcome you’re

welcome

you’re welcome so glad to have you

[Music]

somebody get bishop steal a mike

and i want bishop steele to come and

greet the church

and pray the closing prayer on us as we

prepare

to go all the way from arizona clap your

hands and make him welcome as he comes

such an honor to be here how many were

blessed by the word on this morning

my god in heaven my life will be forever

changed

left for dead my god in heaven everyone

lift one hand to heaven father we thank

you we honor you for this

powerful word on today and we thank you

for even the 39

years of bishop and first ladies

anniversary god continue to extend years

on this earth oh god continue to use

them continue to anoint them

now god give us peace as we leave on

today now god as we even leave

traveling mercies over your people in

jesus name we pray and everybody said

god bless you

you