This is “How to Finish Stronger Than You Started”. You can find the faith to overcome and finish stronger than you started! You can do better than you’re doing right now. In “How to Finish Stronger Than You Started,” you’ll see that how your story began is far less important than the direction you’re traveling now. Are you moving toward God, or away from Him? Just because you had a bad start, or made some poor decisions along the way, doesn’t mean you have to walk out that destination. You can change the course of your future today!

♪ ♪

>> Welcome to Kingdom

Connection.

I’m so glad that you’re joining

us today and I hope you

and your family had a wonderful,

happy Thanksgiving.

What a great time to sit back

and look at everything God

has done and remind

ourselves that He is faithful.

Well, let’s go right

into the message today.

I know God’s Word

is gonna speak directly

to you and I believe you’re

gonna find faith to overcome.

♪ ♪

>> And I want you to go

to Matthew 21,

and I’ll begin reading

with Verse 28,

and I believe the Lord

is going to speak to you

today in a personal way.

“But what do you think?”

Jesus speaking.

“But what do you think?

A man had two sons,

and he came to the first

and said, ‘Son, go,

work today in my vineyard,’

and he answered and said,

‘I will not,’

but afterward he regretted

it and he went.”

Verse 30, “Then he came

to the second and said likewise.

And he answered and said,

‘I will go, sir,’

but he did not go.

Which of the two did

the will of his father?”

They said to Him, “The first.”

Jesus said to them,”

they were pharisees.

They were there with

vicious intent, and He said,

“Assuredly, I say to you

that tax collectors

and harlots will enter

the kingdom of God before you.”

Wow!

I thought Jesus was

a sweet, kind —

“For John came to you

in the way of righteousness,

and you did not believe him;

but tax collectors

and harlots believed him;

and when you saw it,

you did not afterward

relent and believe him.”

What a powerful lesson

Jesus taught about two

sons and their father.

Most of the time we think

about the two sons

of the Prodigal story

of Luke 15,

and this is the forgotten

sons and the father,

but this is a powerful lesson

that I’m gonna share with you

today from this that

I want to try to really

get it into your soul,

into your spirit.

I’m preaching today

on “Finishing Stronger

Than You Started”

because you can do better

than you’re doing right now.

You can do more than

you’re doing right now.

You can finish stronger

than you are right now.

The two sons represent

two directions that

life can take you.

The father said

to both of the sons,

“Go into the field and work.”

The father represents God.

The field is the world,

the harvest field,

and he said to his sons,

“Go into the field and work.”

And the one son said,

“I will go,”

but remarkably the Bible said,

“but he went not.”

The King James put it that way.

He said, “I’ll do it, dad.

I’m in.

Let’s go.”

But when the dad looked out,

he wasn’t in the field.

The second boy had an attitude,

and he said, “I will not go,”

but the Scripture said later

he repented and did

the will of the father.

Two pathways.

Two responsibilities for

every person under the sound

of my voice at all

of our campuses and online

and by television.

You have two possibilities.

The one son is an example

of someone who started out well.

I’ll do it.

I’m in.

I’ll serve you.

I’ll work in the church.

I’ll work in the field.

I’ll work in the harvest.

I’ll use my talents,

my gifts, my resources.

I’m gonna do the will of God.

I’m gonna be a part

of the harvest.

I’m gonna sell my life out

for your work and your will.

He started out well

with right intentions

beginning the right way.

But then along the way

something happened.

He began to be distracted.

He made the promise he started,

but along the way he lost his

way and somehow he fell away.

There’s more than

one way to get lost.

The Bible in Luke 15 talks

about three lost things.

It shows us the three ways

that people can be lost.

There was the lost sheep,

there was the lost son,

and there was the lost coin.

Not all are the same

kind of loss.

The first one,

the lost sheep was lost

because it wandered away.

It didn’t intend to get lost.

it just started nibbling,

and it got away and got some

distance between the sheep

and the shepherd,

and it just started wandering

further and further away,

and somehow, it looked up

and all the other sheep

were gone and everything

looked confused,

and it was lost

and it was in wolf country

and it didn’t even

know how it got there.

It’s one thing,

you know, when you

do something intentional,

but there are people today

who are lost who have

just wandered off.

They go to church.

They’re sheep.

They’re not a goat.

It’s still a sheep.

It’s possible for sheep

to wander, to drift further

and further and further

all the way out onto

the turf of the enemy.

Have you ever been lost?

Now, many of you young

people won’t understand this,

but back before they had GPS

we used to literally use maps

to tell us how to get to places.

It was the craziest thing.

I know.

You’re used to Siri.

You said give me directions,

and it will tell

you exactly how.

She will.

Well, before Siri,

I had Cherise.

We used to travel in our

car as evangelists all

over this Nation.

Every night of the week we’d

preach revival after revival

after revival after revival,

and I preached in almost every

state of this Nation,

and we’d get in the car

and go to another one

and go to another one

and go to another one,

and one time, my Siri,

who was Cherise because

that was her job.

My job was to drive.

Her job was to tell me.

So, I’m used to a woman

telling me how to drive my car.

But she fell asleep,

and she slept for several hours,

and I didn’t know it,

but I was drifting further.

Somewhere I took a wrong turn,

and we drove for hours

and when she woke up,

she said, “Where are we?

Why are we in,”

I forget where it was,

South Carolina,

when we were supposed

to be in North Carolina

or wherever it was

we were going.

I don’t remember,

but it was a whole

different state,

and she said,

“What have you done?”

And I remember when we finally

got back on the right interstate

it was the most wonderful

feeling to know that

we were back going

in the right direction.

Well, let me tell you.

That’s how a lost sheep feels.

A lost sheep got lost

wandering away.

It didn’t mean to get lost.

They don’t ever like being lost,

and that’s how you know

if you’re a sheep or not.

If you like being lost,

if you like your world

and your sin

and all your stuff

that you’re doing more

than you love the church,

let me help you out.

You’re either a sheep or a goat,

Jesus said,

and if you’re a sheep,

you don’t like being lost,

and when you hear a sermon

like this you wanna get back

quick to the shepherd’s arms,

but people who are not saved,

they’re not sheep.

They don’t want to get back.

They have no intentions

of getting back.

They’re okay living their

life far from God.

That means you’re not a sheep.

You’re a goat,

and unless you repent,

you’re going to die

and go to hell.

We need to hear

straight preaching.

We don’t have time

for games no more.

You’re either a sheep or a goat

and if something

in your nature —

here’s how you know

you’re a sheep.

Something in you if you feel

yourself drifting and you hear

the call of the shepherd,

it instantly even though

I have drifted,

even though I have

gone far away,

even though I shouldn’t

be over here nibbling

in this pasture where

there’s wolves,

I wanna get back.

If you don’t have a want to,

something is wrong

with your soul.

Now watch this.

The lost sheep wandered away,

but the lost son walked away.

It was intentional.

It wasn’t an accident.

He knew what he was doing.

He said, “Give me

my inheritance.

I know where I’m going.

I know what I’m doing.”

He went to a foreign countries.

“I choose to do this.

I’m not wandering away.

I’m not wanting to get

back on the right path.

I’m not missing going

in the right direction.

I like where I am.

I join myself to this

foreign country.

This is my new world.

These are my new people.

I don’t want that.

I don’t want the church.”

That’s the difference

between the lost sheep.

It wandered away,

but was glad to get back.

The other one,

the lost son,

walked away.

It’s interesting that

the shepherd was commanded

to go get the lost sheep,

but the father never leaves

and goes to get the lost son.

Now, listen to me

carefully because you

can’t find a lost son.

He has to find himself.

You can’t find a lost daughter

who’s been raised in this.

They have to find themselves.

There’s not enough

talking you can do.

And it was when the prodigal was

in the pig pen the Bible says

these amazing words in Luke 15,

“He came to himself.”

And when he found

and came to himself,

then he said,

“I need to go home

to the father’s house.”

But never did the father

go after the son until

he saw him coming home

and when he started coming home,

he ran with the coat,

with the ring,

with the shoes,

and covered his disgrace

and brought him back and said,

“Look what God has done.

My son is home.

Kill the fatted calf.

Let’s have a party,

and let’s never talk

about what happened again.”

I don’t know who

I’m preaching to,

but I’m praying today that

you will come to yourself.

You were not born

to be a drug addict,

an alcoholic,

somebody out in the world.

You are called

and chosen of God,

and you can come home today.

You’re welcome home today.

You need to turn around

and run home today.

And then there’s the lost coin.

So, you’ve got the sheep

that wandered away

and you’ve got the son

that walked away,

but then you’ve got

the lost coin,

and it was lost

and it didn’t go anywhere.

It was lost in the house.

The Bible said that there

was a woman who lost

the coin in the house.

It was there in the house.

It stayed right here.

We think everybody who sits

on these seats are saved

and going to heaven

’cause they came to church,

but you can be

in the house and be lost.

You can be in a Gospel

preaching church where

the Spirit of God is moving,

and you can be as lost

as a goose in a snow storm.

You can be lost sitting in house

playing religious games.

Many of you are cold

and indifferent

and you’re straying

and you’re going further,

and you never get stirred

up about it.

The Bible said the woman took

the broom and started sweeping

the house stirring the dust up

trying to find the coin

because the coin was there.

It had not lost its value.

It was out of circulation.

I’m praying that the Holy Spirit

will bring His broom into

this church, into my temple,

into your temple,

into our homes

and into our families,

and those of us who

are sitting here

and we’re still valuable,

but we’re out of circulation.

We really aren’t praising God

and loving God like we ought to.

Lord, sweep the dirt out.

Sweep the world out.

Sweep ungodliness out until

we begin to shine again,

and God can reach down

and pick us up

and say I can use you now

that you’ve been cleansed.

Clap your hands

and say I want it, Lord.

Somebody shout I’m gonna

finish strong.

Say it again.

Get the dirt out of me.

I’m gonna finish strong.

I haven’t come this far

to be covered up in nastiness.

I’m done with the nasty life.

I want Jesus in the final

hour like I’ve never

wanted Him before.

Woo!

Hallelujah!

Now, I close this little

sermon with the second son.

He’s the late bloomer.

The Bible said the other boy,

now the boy who started out

strong is never seen again.

But then there was

that other son.

When his dad said go work

in the field, he didn’t play

and he didn’t pretend.

He said I’m not gonna do it.

He refused the call

of his father.

He said that’s too much

of an intrusion on my plans.

I don’t want that life.

I want my own life.

In other words,

he stumbled out

of the starting gate.

He ran with the wrong crowd;

fornicators, idolaters,

thieves, drunkards.

And I’m preaching

to people today,

and maybe you didn’t

start out well.

Maybe you stumbled at the gate.

Maybe you weren’t raised

in a Christian home.

Maybe you were raised a Muslim.

Maybe you were raised by some

other faith or no faith

by atheist parents,

and you didn’t’ start out well

or maybe you started

and something happened

and you stumbled at the gate.

Maybe a preacher hurt you

or maybe somebody did

something and you thought

they’re hypocrites,

and I’m done with the church.

You may have stumbled

at the gate,

but I came with a word

for you today.

You can start bad and end good.

That’s what this story proves.

The Bible said in Habakkuk,

“Your latter end shall

be greater than your former.”

Just because you

had a bad start,

just because your dad left you

or your mother wasn’t there

and you weren’t raised

in a Christian home,

just because you had a bad

start doesn’t mean that

you have to be that

the rest of your life.

Just because everybody in your

family had an addiction

and now you feel that

grip on your life,

it doesn’t mean that you

have to stay that way.

You can have a bad start but

have a great ending today.

Things happen.

You say, well, Pastor,

how does that happen in my life?

Something happened to that

boy who started bad

and without his dad chasing

him and without anybody,

he came to a place in his life

where he said I know

what I’m here for now.

I’ve tried all of this,

and it doesn’t satisfy.

I know where peace is.

I know where joy is.

I know where,

I know where I can

lose the guilt

and the condemnation

and the shame

and the disgrace on my life.

I’m just gonna get out there

in the field and surrender

to the will of the Father.

I’m just gonna do what

I can do for the glory of God,

and suddenly,

Jesus Himself says,

“Which one was greater?

The one who said it and talked

it and started it but fell away,

or the one who got a bad start,

had a bad start and got into

a lot of bad stuff,

ran with a lot of bad people,

got in all kinds

of addictions and problems,

but boy they end up right

in the plan of God.”

Jesus said,

“That one was the greatest.”

And he turned

to the pharisees,

and He said,

“Harlots and fornicators

and tax collectors,”

which they were known for

their thievery and dishonesty

under that system.

He said, “They will

enter into heaven,

but you pharisees who

talk the talk,

you’re lost right

in the house.

You’re not gonna make it,

but all those people who had

a bad start that they brought

to me their brokenness

and their failure

and their disgrace,

I’m gonna give them grace,

and they’ll enter

the kingdom of heaven,

and I’ll use them a whole lot

quicker before I would ever

use somebody like you

who’s lost in the house.

You still have value,

but you’re out

of circulation.”

God help us to have such

a spiritual temperature

in this church that

people cannot sit with

dirt all over them

in the house

and feel comfortable.

I know this is a strong message,

but we need strong

preaching right now.

How many of you are so glad

and you’d be honest enough

to admit how many of you

feel like you just

kind of had a bad start?

You didn’t know.

You didn’t know.

The only time you saw people

raise their hand in church

was when they were voting

a preacher out,

and you got so disgusted

with that you left,

and then you started

down another road,

and then you got

to an end to yourself,

and the Lord brought you back

and now here you are.

How many of you can truly

say I started bad,

but I’m gonna end good?

Let me see.

How many of you have made up

your mind that you’re not gonna

sit in the dust and let dust

collect in you in the house

of God when you got gifts

and talents and the world

is dying going to hell?

I’ve got something.

I can park a car.

I can volunteer.

I can lead a small group.

I can sing in the choir.

I can give.

I can do something for

the harvest to be reached

in this final hour when

the bridegroom is about to come.

Wonder how many of you,

the oil is draining out

and the fire is barely

flickering right at this

momentous hour just when

the bridegroom is about to step

out and blow the trumpet,

and we who are alive and remain.

It’s not enough

to start out on fire.

You have to be alive

and remain alive.

Remain stirred up.

Remain after God.

Remain with oil in your

lamp and fire in your soul.

We’re gonna be called up

together with those who have

died to meet the Lord in there.

He’s coming.

You just keep on smirking.

He’s coming.

You just keep on laughing.

You just go I’ve heard that —

You’re gonna be left behind

’cause something in you

is saying you need to get back

something in you ’cause

you’re a sheep right now

if you’re hearing this sermon.

It’s saying you need

to get back.

You need to get close.

You need to get out

of that pasture.

You need to get back

to where the shepherd

is so you can rejoice,

but if you’re a goat,

that means if you’re dying

on your way to hell,

you don’t want nothing.

You willfully walk

away from the love

and the mercy and the grace

and the favor

of the Father’s house.

God help us.

This is a serious thing.

I don’t know about you,

but I have decided

that I’m gonna end stronger

than I started.

♪ ♪

>> I’m so thankful, today, that

you’ve watched this program.

And I don’t think that

it’s an accident that

you’re viewing right now.

Because right where you are,

it can become a powerful place

where you invite the Lord

Jesus Christ into your home,

into your family,

into your pain,

into your heart,

into your trouble.

Pray this prayer today, say,

Jesus, I’m coming home.

I’m so sorry.

I really need your

grace and your mercy.

I really need you to change me.

I can’t do this without you.

I need you.

Save me, heal me,

help me, deliver me,

and restore my life

in every area.

I give you the broken pieces.

In Jesus’ name.

Now, I praise God for this

moment because the Spirit of God

is doing a miracle in your life.

And Lord, we pray that you

would release healing

across the land,

in Jesus’ mighty name.

We would love, today,

to agree with you

for your miracle.

And if you just

prayed that prayer,

I want you to let us know

by calling the number

on the screen.

We just enjoy hearing

back from you so much.

There’s also a website

that you can visit

and we will send you

our Salvation Journey Kit

and it’ll get you on a path

for the next 21 days

of devotion to God

and you will begin

to grow immediately in your

new walk with Jesus Christ.

Well, in our closing

moments together,

I want to say thank you

to everyone who is responding

to our ministry

with your generous support.

There’s only one way that

we stay on the air.

This is a 100% fully-supported

by our television

audience ministry.

And we do three things with

the money that you give.

We preach the gospel,

and buy air time,

to over 200 nations around

the world through

broadcast television.

Secondly, we produce

inspirational resources

to build people’s faith.

And thirdly, we go above

and beyond to support

projects just like

Operation Startup.

It’s solely directed

at bringing comfort with

grace to many Jewish people

who have been displaced

from Israel.

They’re scattered all

over the world

and we’re partnering with

Christian Friends of Israel

to bless Jewish people returning

to their homeland in Israel.

Many of these families

are traveling from

distant nations and they arrive

with nothing but just

a few belongings

and a little hand bag.

And we help these families

with their transition

by providing with, you know,

just the basic

necessities of life.

These are precious Jewish people

returning to the Holy Land.

You can be a part of that today.

Thank you so much.

We’ll see you next time

on Kingdom Connection.

>> God has been bringing

Jewish people back to Israel,

from all over the world,

for the last 100 years.

Especially so in the most recent

decades, since the miraculous

founding of Israel in 1948.

Some of the these precious

individuals and families

are from very poor nations,

where the Jewish people have

experienced persecution

for centuries.

Many Jewish families arrive

in Israel with little

more than the clothes

on their backs.

Many struggle to get

their feet under them,

and become established.

Jentezen Franklin Media

Ministries has partnered with

Christian Friends of Israel

Jerusalem to help these Jewish

people successfully make

the transition back

to their homeland.

Operation Startup will help

the poorest and neediest

of Israel’s newest arrivals

and their transition.

When you give, you are actively

helping fulfill the biblical

prophecy found in Ezekiel,

“For I will take you

from among the nations,

gather you out of all countries,

and bring you

into our own land.”

The ongoing regathering

of scattered Jewish families

back to the land of Israel

is a miraculous fulfillment

of biblical prophecy

in our lifetimes.

Let’s join together to ease

and comfort the transition

for these precious

Jewish families,

returning to their homeland.

Thank you for your continuous

support of Jentezen Franklin

Media Ministries.

With your generous gift to help

these Jewish families in need,

we have some special resources

we would love to send you.

Call now, or go online

to join Operation Startup today.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

>> We hope you’ve enjoyed this

teaching by Jentezen Franklin,

and thank you for your continued

support of this ministry.

Your prayers and financial

support make these

programs possible.

For more information about this

message and other ministry

resources, visit us online

at JentezenkFranklin.tv.

♪ ♪