Going Beyond Ministries with Priscilla Shirer – My Eyes Can See
Priscilla Shirer (born December 31, 1974) is an American author, motivational speaker, actress, and Christian evangelist. Her father is Dallas mega-church pastor Tony Evans and her brother is Christian entertainer Anthony Evans.
The daughter of Tony Evans, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship Church in Dallas, Texas,[1] Priscilla grew up well acquainted with the Bible. As a freshman at the University of Houston, she interned with a Christian radio station. Soon listeners were calling the station, inviting Priscilla to speak at their Bible study groups and other events. Soon she was invited to lead a weekly Bible study at the Zig Ziglar Corporation and then to join its speaker team. Priscilla has worked as an independent contractor for CBS and hosted a local television show, but recently she has focused solely on Christian ministry opportunities. She calls Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of evangelist Rev. Billy Graham, her mentor in ministry.
Together the Shirers established Going Beyond Ministries, a speaking bureau featuring Priscilla. The parents of three young boys, the Shirers share ministry and family responsibilities. While Priscilla continues to minister full-time, Jerry manages his schedule and other business aspects of Going Beyond Ministries.
Priscilla speaks around the world at churches and other events, including the LifeWay Christian Resources-sponsored Going Beyond conference and Deeper Still: The Event, where she shares the stage with Beth Moore and Kay Arthur. She has also authored several books.
Shirer graduated from Duncanville High School and Dallas Theological Seminary, earning a master’s degree from the latter in Biblical Studies.
In 1993, Shirer was a freshman at the University of Houston. Shirer was married in 1999 to Jerry Shirer, former Hilton Hotels executive. The couple has three sons.
In 2013, Shirer was a speaker at the 2013 Women of Faith conference. In 2015, Shirer made her film debut in the Kendrick Brothers film War Room. In October 2016, Shirer was recognized as one of four prominent women of faith during the 10th anniversary of God’s Leading Ladies Life Enrichment Program at The Potter’s House.[1] Shirer also featured at the 47th GMA Dove Awards.
the first baptist and received priscilla
shirer
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
good morning good afternoon it’s a
privilege to be with you you may take
your seats I’m so grateful so grateful
to be at the First Baptist Church of
Glen Arden it refreshes my soul it feels
like coming home it feels like coming
home I’m so grateful thank you for
allowing me the privilege to be a part
of this particular day because I know
it’s not just us Sunday it is your
anniversary and so I celebrate you today
I celebrate the years of faithfulness
all the work that God has done through
you and it feels special to be a part of
it I want to celebrate your pastor and
First Lady I cannot
[Applause]
[Music]
I celebrate them because oh man for so
many reasons but because they have
integrity let me tell y’all it’s sad to
say but it is a rare thing these days
when you find church leaders who are
actually the same people when nobody’s
looking and the fact that you all have
that is something you ought to thank God
for that he entrusted you to people like
this such a blessing so much of the way
Jerry and I have patterned our marriage
and the way we have raised our children
is directly connected to the influence
of these two people on our life I’m so
grateful I do want to greet you with
from my husband we were all planning on
coming had a little hiccup with his mom
who’s not doing well right now so he
stayed home with the bigger boys but
I’ve got my youngest son with me Jude
you do one just stand up and say hi this
is Jude shyer right there
I’m excited to have him with me in the
house of God today let’s pray and see
what it is that the Lord would say to us
Lord Jesus put a guard over my mouth
father unveil our ears Lord so that we
can hear and Lord would you open our
eyes so that we can see it is in the
mighty matchless name of Jesus the name
at which every knee will bow and every
tongue will confess the name at which
demons tremble it is in that name that
the Church of God said amen amen amen
as I mentioned I have three sons Jackson
is 16 years old I’ve been a bit
nostalgic and reminiscing while I have
been here with you today because the
very first time that I came to First
Baptist Church of Glenarden Jackson was
six months old he was in my arms like
this now he is 16 6 foot 2 inches tall
towering over me
his brother is 14 years old Jerry junior
and then Jude he’s our surprise baby we
still don’t know how you got here
ten years old now we named him Jude on
purpose because that’s as close as I can
get to Revelation because it is finished
that’s it
that’s how you got your name Jackson
Jerry jr. and Jude one of the things
that I have done with my son since my
oldest was five is when I started it I
got them each a journal I went to Ross
Dress for Less on the left hand side
back corner for about $4.99 you could
buy a journal and about one for each son
I have kept a journal for each of them
for all these years I plan to write in
it I don’t write in it every day or even
every week it’s just when I see
something I don’t want to forget that’s
happening in their lives or I see the
handiwork of God maneuvering things that
I want them to be able to recount and
recall later on so I’m just kind of
writing love letters to them I think I’m
gonna pass it on to them when they’re
old enough to appreciate it or better
yet I might just give it today wives so
they can see what they’re getting
themselves into that’s what I might do
but I’m writing these journals keeping
it for them safekeeping I was looking
through the oldest ones Journal recently
because he just turned 16 a couple of
weeks ago and so I was just sort of
looking back through his journal and I
was reminded of something that happened
on a particular day in his life and I
remember this particular incident
because I recall that after it I was
particularly spent something was going
on with the boys they were all little at
the time so it was diapers and you know
just full-on in full time when they’re
little like that and I remember being
very tired after that incident and I
will never forget it because I had to
get on an airplane and travel to memphis
the next day I was so excited about this
particular trip things had been so crazy
and so chaotic and I don’t know how it
worked out that I was traveling by
myself usually we all kind of traveled
together we homeschooled our boys for
quite a while so they could just travel
with us so usually we were all together
at least somebody was with me but on
this occasion I was by myself and I was
glad
I was so tired I could not wait to get
into Memphis I was picked up from the
airport and we went to the hotel the
sweet woman from the church that came to
pick me up took me to the hotel
she said hey do you want to stop for
dinner first I said naw girl take me to
the hotel
I am looking so forward to being in the
room by myself being able to sleep in
the bed by myself I was so excited about
all of that just getting some rest and I
fell into a deep sleep about 8:30 p.m.
really early excited for a full night
before the conference the next day but
it was about three o’clock in the
morning that I was jarred awake out of
my slumber and I wouldn’t looked outside
the window to see what was making all
this noise and not too far outside of
the back of the hotel there were train
tracks and a train was roaring by at 3
o’clock in the morning the conductor was
sitting down on the horn the entire time
that he roared by anyone one of those
short trains it’s one of the ones that
never ends it just keeps going forever
and ever and so I waited for the train
to go by and then I tried to get back
into a deep sleep but I really wasn’t
able to sleep really well after that and
the conference started early so the
woman from the church came and picked me
up early and I didn’t say anything about
the about the train at all I just went
through the day looking forward to one
more night I had one more night in the
hotel I plan to get a good night’s sleep
fell into a deep sleep about 8:30 and
you guessed it about three o’clock in
the morning a train went roaring by the
back of that hotel drop jarred me awake
out of my sleep I looked out the window
there was a train again and this time I
tried to get back to see but really I
would just couldn’t wait for the sweet
woman from the church to come pick me up
so I could ask her about this train and
so early in the morning when she came I
sat down in her car
and she said hey how did you sleep
I said well since you asked there’s a
train that has gone by not just tonight
last night but the night before as well
this train Ward by both nights waking me
up what’s the deal with this train as I
spoke to her her eyes got wider and
wider there was a look of apology on her
face I felt so bad for her she just said
Priscilla I’m so so sorry she said I
have to be honest with you those of us
who have lived in this neighborhood for
so long those of us who are used to this
community and have been here for years
and years we have gotten so used to the
sound of the train that we don’t even
recognize it when it comes to her
anymore
it didn’t even cross my mind to prepare
you for the train because we are so used
to the sound that we become desensitized
to it when it passes through it occurs
to me that those of us who live
particularly in this part of the world
in the western part of the world where
we have been so blessed by the presence
of God where you can go on most any
corner and find a Bible teaching Church
like this one with a pastor who is
proclaiming the good news of Jesus
Christ where you can turn on Christian
radio and turn on this station if you
like contemporary and Christian radio or
if you want to hear Gus well you can
turn on this station you can go in a
Christian bookstore and pick up any
Bible in any translation in any language
that you like we have been so blessed by
the presence of God around us that could
it be that when the Train of his glory
wants to fall in a unique way in your
life you don’t even recognize it anymore
have we become so desensitized to the
goodness of God that when he wants to
speak to us we don’t even hear his voice
when his fingerprints aren’t to be
recognized in our circumstances we call
it coincidence we don’t even recognize
that it’s him making himself apparent in
our lives lord help us to wake up out of
our spiritual slumber and hear you when
you speak and see you when you are near
because I don’t know about y’all but
listen if he’s speaking I want to hear
his voice if he’s moving I want to see
his fingerprint I want to see his
footprints in my life guiding my path if
he is near I don’t want to miss him when
he comes and is at least in part to this
end that I believe Luke gives us a
passage of Scripture a story of Christ’s
coming into the world that was already
read to you earlier in the service so I
will take the time to read it all verse
four verse but this is the occasion when
Jesus is coming into the temple almost
for the very first time he is about
forty days old the time for purification
which is what it was called was over
where the mother kind of kept herself in
secret with her new baby but then after
forty days they would bring the son into
the temple to be presented to the Lord
and on this occasion Luke gives us
details about the Messiah coming into
the temple I love the Gospel of Luke I
like Luke as a writer in fact he is the
physician he’s a doctor so he’s been to
details
I like juicy details I like to sing the
words that can put flesh on the story so
that we can get a full picture
I like how Luke writes throughout the
entirety of his Gospel he wrote his
gospel and recorded stories and
encounters with Jesus not only to show
us that Jesus encountered others but
also to encourage us to know that we can
encounter him that our eyes can be open
to see him in the details of our life
and listen this really should be our
goal as
believers in Jesus Christ we must not
just meet him on the pages of the Old
Testament as a pillar of cloud during
the day and a fire at night
we must not just meet him in the New
Testament as you raises Lazarus from the
dead we’re supposed to see him
throughout the scriptures and the
encounters he had with those people and
realize that they are not exceptions to
the rule they are examples for us as to
how we should anticipate seeing God in
our own circumstances he didn’t just
show up for them he shows up for us and
we can see him
he meets us we can encounter him when
we’re spent and empty and no longer to
provide for ourselves we can expect that
when we’re blind he makes us sieved we
can expect it when things are dead he
still raises Lazarus we can expect it he
still turns water into wine he didn’t
just do it for them he fully intends to
do it for you and this is why Luke
writes and he writes during a time of
national decay you need to know that the
children of Israel were in a time of
depression when Luke writes they are
underneath the sum of oppression this is
a time of more moral and social decay
and decline like never before in the
nation of Israel and I don’t know if
you’ve noticed or not but our nation is
in a time of moral and social decay like
we have never ever seen before
and the more our God is marginalized and
pushed to the periphery of society the
war y’all we’re gonna see the influx of
chaos and destruction and disaster of
every kind Luke writes to people who are
in a nation that is in need but he
doesn’t just write to people who were in
an eighth in a nation that it better
that is in need he writes to individuals
that are in need he writes to people who
don’t just want to know about what God
can do in the White House but what God
can do in their house underneath the
roof of their own home where their
marriages
fragmented where their bodies are broken
where their minds are fissured where
their hearts need mending he writes to
people who need a Savior not just out
there but in here individuals who are
struggling he writes to us
he writes encounters about broken people
who met up with a great God and I
believe that somebody they might need to
hear this
today in this service I didn’t say this
in the previous two services sometimes
sometimes your difficulties there are
less about the enemy being against you
and more about God’s showing you what it
looks like for him to be for you
sometimes when things are chaotic they
provide the backdrop that is the
backdrop for Jesus to show up and your
eyes to finally be primed so that when
he comes you will not miss him so these
people have been waiting on a savior the
nation is in trouble they personally are
in trouble they have been calling out to
God for centuries asking Yahweh to send
a deliverer to send a messiah to send a
savior they need a hero to rescue them
for the struggle and when Jesus arrives
they do not realize that it’s in they’ve
been calling out for four years and
century asking God for an answer and
when the answer comes the package in win
in which he comes is so much different
than their expectation that their
expectation has blinded them to the
reality of God’s answer to their prayer
they expected a champion on a white
horse with a sword in his hand they
wanted all of the dignity and all of the
authority that would come with the king
that they had pictured in their mind but
when Jesus comes he doesn’t come as the
king in a chariot no he has put on
humanity he has clothed his deity he has
condescended and he comes packaged as a
baby and when he arrives in the temple
they do not even know that God has
answered their prayers
I want to suggest to some of you that
the answer you’ve been praying for God
has already answered I want to suggest
to you that the invasion of holiness
that you’ve been needing in your
marriage or and your finances or in your
health I want to suggest to you that
possibly the answer has already come
it’s just packaged in a way that you do
not prefer
[Applause]
I want to suggest to you the possibility
that sometimes when we pray for oak
trees God answers in acorns possibly
when we pray for growth sometimes God
answers with rain sometimes the answer
looks different than what you
anticipated so then the prayer becomes a
Lord would you open up my eyes Lord
would you heighten my spiritual sense
our sensors so that my radar is up so
that when you are near even if you’ve
come differently than I’ve expected
I do not miss sight of you so the text
tells us Luke writes and he says listen
Mary and Joseph they come into the
temple and they bring the baby Jesus the
Messiah the one on whom everyone has
been waiting and they come into the
temple it says in verse it says in verse
22 that they came according to the law
of Moses and they brought him Luke
chapter 2 verse 22 they brought him to
Jerusalem to present him to the Lord
that’s an interesting concept isn’t it
they were presenting the Lord to the to
the Lord and they bring him into the
temple and it says in verse 24 that they
had a pair of turtledoves with them I’m
gonna open up a little parenthesis right
here if you don’t mind cuz you know this
is the twelve o’clock service so pastor
Jenkins said I had a little time
i’ma open up a parenthesis because Luke
with the details wants us to know that
Mary came as all parents of firstborn
sons would have come to the tabernacle
to the temple rather to perform two
different sacrifices it was like two
different layers in the sacrificial
system the burnt offering and the sin
offering they were required to bring
with them to animals for this sacrifice
one for each Leviticus gives us details
about the sacrificial system you don’t
have to turn there I’ll just tell you
that a Leviticus chapter 12 all the
details are given as to what they were
supposed to bring and how the system was
supposed to be outworked on the specific
occasion and Luke chapter 12 tells us
that they needed a pigeon for one of the
sacrifices but they also needed a lamb
that was the requirement that they
needed a pigeon or a Turtledove and they
needed a lamb which is why it’s
interesting that Luke wants to make sure
we understand on this occasion that Mary
came but she didn’t come with a lamb she
had two turtle doves two pigeons that
seems to go against the Levitical law in
Leviticus chapter chapter 12 but there
is a little caveat a little nuance in
verse 8 of chapter 12 of Leviticus that
tells us that if someone was not able to
afford their own lamb if they did not
have sufficient funds to be able to
purchase for themselves the lamb they
could buy the lesser expensive sacrifice
which was what was another pigeon they
could come with two pigeons if they
could not provide for themselves enough
to purchase the lamb
scholars say that Joseph had a job he
was a carpenter as we all know but he
was really more like a stonemason an
architect he had money but the thing is
they’d had to travel to Bethlehem you
remember for the for the census they had
had to stay in and around Bethlehem for
40 days scholars say that he had
probably just come to the end of his
resources and by the time the 40 days
were up and it was time for him to go to
Jerusalem they no longer had enough to
be able to buy for themselves a lamb so
when they came into the temple with two
pigeons
would have looked at them and turned
their attention away thinking that these
people are poor they are meager they are
insufficient they would have had all of
the signs of people that were living in
poverty I wonder how many people would
have looked away I wonder how many
people would have turned their noses up
at the poor couple who just came in with
the toddler I wonder how many people
because they lack the signs of affluence
would have disregarded the people who
are holding the Messiah that they prayed
for I want to speak to anybody who is in
the room and you’ve got insufficient
funds I want to speak to anybody who was
in the room and you’ve never been
marginalized or outcast or ignored or
somebody has turned their noses up at
you because you don’t have the signs of
affluence that everybody else has and
maybe your insufficient funds are not
just financial maybe it’s emotional you
are depleted you’ve given everything
you’ve got emotionally or relationally
or creatively you’ve done everything you
can and now you don’t have enough here’s
the good news while they were looking
down at Mary and Joseph because they
didn’t have a lab what they didn’t
realize at the time was that this couple
had the world
listen it is when you are in times of
lack that the lamb can be carried most
beautifully in your life sometimes we
don’t experience the Lamb of God as he
is meant to be experienced because we
got too much death as long as we are
able to provide for ourselves as long as
we have our own sufficient funds
financially emotionally spiritually as
long as we think we can buy our own lamb
we don’t experience the lamb in close
intimate fellowship the way he is meant
to be experienced so if you’re in the
room and you are depleted and spent and
lacking in some area of your life get
ready the lamb is on the way
emptiness makes room for the fullness of
God weakness is the platform for the
strength of God to be displayed in your
life I remember being with some people
in a hut y’all in Africa dirt floors
thatched roofs when it rained
they lived in squalor as the floor
became mud and I walked into the house
and the peace of God was almost tangible
they didn’t have no stuff just the lamb
and I want you could feel the presence
of God as you walked in the room the
smiles on their faces the way they gave
their last little bits to be able to be
a blessing to me the foreigner who had
come over from America and she sat me
down to tell me about her life and she
said Priscilla you need to know that we
here in this village we pray for y’all
over in America she said we need you to
know that we pray for you because when
we hear you pray when Americans come to
us and we hear you pray your prayers
they’re so self-centered
she said you’re already blessed and yet
we just hear Americans praying for more
blessing she said your prayers sometimes
they’re so weak and anemic and feeble we
are asking God to allow you to
experience him in the way we have no
choice but to we can’t afford our own
lamb so we get him in a way y’all have
not gotten him
so we’re asking the Lord to make you
desperate enough to experience him the
way we’ve experienced so if there’s some
black somewhere in your life financially
spiritually creatively you’ve run out
you’re taxed in your relationship you
just don’t have it in your own natural
resources expect that the reason why
it’s because he wants your arms empty so
that you can carry him more closely to
yourself close parentheses
the couple comes in with Jesus please do
not let it be lost on you that they
bring Jesus into the temple they are at
church and folks don’t see Jesus
young they’re in the midst of doing
religious stuff and don’t see him which
means you could be in church every
single Sunday that means you can be
waving at the service and saying Amen
and participating in religious activity
and doing your little quiet time reading
a verse a day to keep the devil away and
say in your prayers because your
grandmama said you’re supposed to you
can be doing all the religious and be
around people who are also doing it but
on this day there was a temple full of
people in the presence of God and only
one man notices later on Ana will as
well there are only a couple of people
who were seeing Jesus even though he’s
right in front of them
Lord open up our eyes so that we can
stop playing charge and see you
[Applause]
verse 25 luke says and behold somebody
say behold come on say behold in the
original language when a writer would
write the word that is translated to our
English behold it was a powerful word it
was pregnant with possibilities in our
language it just says behold and we
consider it to be a transition from one
part of the text to the other but when a
writer would write that in the original
language it was very very intentional
behold is designed to spark your
attention it’s designed to spark your
interest if for some reason you’ve kind
of fallen asleep
or you’ve been born with all the details
of what has been written before the
writer wants to make sure that now you
sit up straight and you lean in and you
put your chin in your hands and that
your ears are heightened and sensitive
so that you do not miss the person that
he wants to introduce you to he says
behold there’s a guy who sees Jesus and
his name is Simeon he says in verse 25
behold there was a man in Jerusalem his
name was Simeon and here’s the kind of
guy he was he was righteous he was
devout he was looking for the
consolation of Israel and the Holy
Spirit was upon him I’ve been thinking
about Simeon and what made his eyes
primed his spiritual eyes primed to see
something that everybody else could not
what made him different what attributes
about his experience in his life made it
so that his heart was sensitized to the
sight of Jesus the presence of God in
his midst even though he was packaged in
a way that nobody had anticipated there
are many of them that I could pinpoint
to you but there is just one that I want
to focus my attention on for the next
few minutes the last line of verse 25
says and the Holy Spirit was upon him
the Holy Spirit was on it
the Spirit of Almighty God if you are
believer in Jesus Christ you have
received the Holy Spirit Ephesians
chapter 1 verse 13 and 14 says that the
moment you place faith in Jesus you
received you were sealed by the Holy
Spirit of promise you are not waiting on
the Holy Spirit
all the Holy Spirit you ever go get you
got the moment you were saved now we
need to be filled by God’s Spirit as we
yield to him and yield in obedience to
the conviction in our life that he gives
us but you have received the Holy Spirit
if you’re a daughter or a son of the
Most High God through Jesus Christ the
Holy Spirit comes to live on the inside
of you and just in case you didn’t know
he is not a ghost or a wind or a fire or
a dove he is often symbolized by those
things but y’all that ain’t who he is he
is the third person of the Trinity not
third because he is a least in value
just third because he’s the last to be
revealed to us in the pages of Scripture
but all of the fullness all of the power
all of the glory all of the grandeur of
God the Father is in the person of the
Holy Spirit
so if you’ve received Jesus and the Holy
Spirit lives in you that means that all
of the power all of the grandeur all of
the greatness all of the authority all
of the glory of God the Father now lives
on the inside of you he lives with you
he talks to you he walks with you and
the reason why is so that you don’t have
to wait to get to heaven to experience
heaven God said I’m coming to you right
now that you might have life and life
more abundantly that’s the Holy Spirit
so he walks with you he talks with you
he lights up your steps so that he can
guide you he makes it so that you are
comforted and encouraged in times of
discouragement he is your guide he is
your advocate he is the Holy Spirit of
God he will never leave you nor will he
forsake you there is nothing that you
can do or can’t do – cause the Holy
Spirit – no longer in dwell you he
empowers you to make it so that you can
be what you cannot be in your own power
and in your own strength he gives you
fruit so that when your patience has run
out he gives you an extension of
patience
he gives you gentleness when your
gentleness has long since gone he gives
you self discipline so that you can
restrain yourself when in your flesh you
are not able to restrain yourself but he
doesn’t just give you fruit he gives you
gifts so that those things which might
just be natural talent now they edify
the body of Christ they build people up
they break yokes they loosen shackles on
people life because you have been given
the gifts of the Holy Spirit of God
[Applause]
but the text does not tell us that God’s
Spirit was in him it tells us that God’s
Spirit was
which means y’all there is a difference
between God’s Spirit being in you thank
God spirit being oh I’m so great for the
God’s Spirit is in me but I want the
presence of God on me I want to live the
kind of life that is the magnet that
calls down the presence of God on my
life I want him resting on me gracing me
with his favor on my life so that when
people see me when they see you they
don’t see us they see something they
can’t quite put
[Music]
[Applause]
God’s presence on you his presence
marking you is why your boss when it
comes time for promotion looks at your
resume and the other person’s resume and
they are far more qualified than you but
there’s something about you
[Applause]
it’s the presence of God on your life
when you are parked about God presents
that’s the difference choir that when
you sing the song it’s not just a song
that tickles folks ears now the lyrics
reach down into the souls and the hearts
of people and redeems them then delivers
them and shakes the shackles off the
presence of God on us is what takes a
message like this one help me Lord and
changes it from a motivational speech to
a message that is the power and the very
palatable presence of God that sets us
free it’s what makes you a woman or a
man on who God’s presence rests and
listen you came by it
I don’t care how much money you have you
came by it
and I’m so glad you got all them degrees
but you can’t study for it
God’s presence on us is a gift of God
himself
and I want God’s presence on this shower
of God’s presence I want that intangible
quality it’s God’s favor that’s what it
is it’s favor y’all favor is what opens
up doors that can nobody shut favor is
what puts you in positions where you
know you ain’t got no business being
there
favor is what aligns you in the right
places that went the right people in the
right season to accomplish the right
tasks it’s God’s anointing that marks
you and when you have been marked you do
not have to market yourself because
you’ve already been marked by the Holy
Spirit of God
oh I want the presence of God in my life
this is what sets you apart it’s what
makes you distinct this is why Moses
prayed in Exodus 33 he said Lord listen
if you’re not going with us to the
promised land and we ain’t going Yahweh
had been so upset with their grumbling
and with their complaining he said y’all
go ahead I’ll meet you there later Moses
said not today if you’re not going to
the promised land
we ain’t going to the promised land
here’s why he says because what will
make us different how will they know
that we’re a different nation than all
the other people if we are not marked by
your presence the presence of God and if
there is one thing that invites and
magnetizes the presence of God on your
life it is
listen to me you gotta be
[Music]
I’m talking about old-school flat-footed
holiness I’m talking about the kind your
grandmama used to talk about your
great-grandmother your great-grandfather
before we became tolerant and sensitive
and accepting anybody any old kind of
way to come and yes you should come as
you are but don’t stay as you are we’ve
been called
[Music]
[Applause]
Dallas Texas to my family at First
Baptist Church of whether to employ you
brothers and sisters by the mercies of
God to walk in a manner worthy of the
calling by which we have
I came to encourage you to me aside
every weight and the sin which so easily
entangles up so that you can walk free
Galatians 5:1 says that it is for
freedom that you have been set free
therefore stand firm and don’t be
subject to get into a yoke of slavery he
paid too high a price for us to still be
shackled by every sin and every
addiction
[Music]
you can have victory in Jesus name
living holy it’s not a call to
perfection it is a call to walk away
from a lifestyle where you have planned
to sin I mean where you scheduled it
it’s in your calendar who you’re going
to see where you’re going to go what you
plan to do it means that you choose as a
lifestyle to align your behaviors and
attitudes with the truths of God so that
you can honor him and also so that you
can invite the favor of God on your life
why do you think that the enemy tempts
you dangles a carrot of just the right
thing it wouldn’t bother her or him but
that’s yo carrot that lures you away the
reason why is because of you and I are
pulled away into a lifestyle of sin and
rebellion he knows that that resting
presence of God will no longer be ours
and if we’re not marked he can take full
advantage of us every single day
holiness you gotta live holy you got to
decide to lay it down you got to decide
not to go back you got to decide and
trust the Holy Spirit to take the taste
for it out of your mouth to change your
desire to change a wants so that you can
align with the truth of God be ye holy
[Applause]
Lord would you forgive us for wanting to
impress people more than we want to
impress you
forgive us father for wanting our
selfies to be perfectly lit more than
making sure that our lives are full of
the lights of God Lord forgive us to be
silk from being so lured in to friends
and likes and Instagram followers that
we’ve forgotten that all we need is the
applause of heaven help us Lord to be
the same in the light as we are in the
dark help us to live lives of integrity
that honor God that have character that
are the same through and through lives I
came to tell you to lay it down lay it
down it’s not worth it the Spirit of God
can’t wait to lay on your life and give
you the favor that you were made for
that you were redeemed for but you got
to lay it down if you are in this room
today and you need to lay it down listen
there is something you know right now
the Holy Spirit is beckoning you to lay
it down it might actually literally be a
physical thing you have with you and you
need to come and let it go or it might
just be a secret sin of the heart that
you know you’ve been holding on to and
harboring it today is the day when you
want to lay it down and walk in freedom
and fullness and the favor of God if you
need to man down don’t think twice about
it
run to the altar tonight
run to the altar and come and let’s do
business with holiness today
you choose to live holy he’s gonna open
up your eyes so you can see him he’s
gonna open up your eyes so that you can
experience him come on lay it down
whether it’s in your heart and you just
need to lay it down or whether it’s a
physical thing you have with you that’s
symbolic of it if you need to lay it
down do it in Jesus name come
be free in Jesus name victory it’s yours
in Jesus name
if you’re in the balcony we’ll wait for
you just come on
lay it down let it go y’all move forward
just a little bit move forward just move
it
[Applause]
come on y’all anybody else this is it
this is this is the time
today’s the day tomorrow is not promised
he’s calling you to holiness he’s
calling us to be a church that lives
right
[Applause]
if you do not know Jesus Christ as your
personal Savior if you’ve never placed
faith in Jesus you come to come down
just by you coming I’m telling you
shackles are being broken off of your
life right now
[Applause]
he’s going to take the taste for the
drug out of somebody’s mouth right now
in Jesus name he’s going to take the
taste for the alcohol out of somebody’s
mouth right now in Jesus name he’s
getting ready to change her desire so
that you’re what to wants to do what he
wants you want you to do
he’s getting ready to break ties with
that illicit relationship that you
haven’t been able to shake free from
he’s getting ready to break that soul
tie right now in Jesus name so that you
can be free
he’s gonna give you the names of the
people that you need to call into your
life to be an accountability circle to
hem you in so that you can walk in
holiness and get your footing in this
thing freedom in Jesus name
freedom in Jesus name freedom in Jesus
name
[Music]
you don’t have to go back the same way
lay it down tell them right now whatever
you’re offering to him offer it to him
right now
[Music]
anybody else
[Music]
the shepherd of this house is about to
pray over you pastor Jenkins gonna
Prairie and you don’t want to miss this
if you need to lay it down calm don’t
wait come
see you God’s got you he has got you
just a couple more minutes come on
that’s what he’s called
[Applause]
[Music]
Lord Jesus I pray right now for every
sister every brother who is gathered
here I prefers for those who may not
know you as Savior floor I ask them
right now even now in this holy moment
they would confess with their mouth and
believe in their heart that you indeed
are Lord I thank you Lord that you came
to save not just to deliver but to
provide ongoing empowerment and victory
while we’re still here
so follow my pray right now in Jesus
name then you would not only redeem but
that you would deliver you would set
free you would loosen shackles or that
you would cause us to live in a way that
is different than how we’re living now
for anyone who has come forward lord I
pray that by your spirit you would a
loosened shackles off of their life Lord
so that they literally go home different
than when they came today
father help them to have the courage
lord I pray out holy courage a holy
boldness right now in Jesus name that
you would lay it down every sin every
intercept you would not go back that you
would no longer push that button then
you would no longer sit in front of that
screen then you would no longer smoke
that substance that you would not
participate in that in the sit
relationship that your lifestyle would
be changed
name of Jesus and by his power that has
been shed on Calvary father we’re gonna
walk home late today lord I pray for
accountability in Jesus name I pray that
you would send the right mentors the
right friend to stand around to stand
guard to help them to be measured in
their their activities father so that
they want a sounding board as they want
worthy lord help them as Colossians 3
says to put off the old things Christ in
Jesus name in Jesus name we thank you
for freedom today Lord we thank you for
freedom
now listen to me look at me it is yours
now
walk in it
[Applause]
you
[Applause]
Amen