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Chosen City Church
13925 Erwin Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28273
Chosen City Church Sermons
By Any Means Necessary | Luke 5:17-26 | Pastor Walter Bowers Jr.
We're continuing in the "Breaking Barriers" series with By Any Means Necessary. This sermon focuses on breaking barriers through faith and community support, illustrating the journey of a paralyzed man aided by his friends to reach Jesus for healing. Pastor Walter Bowers Jr. emphasizes the necessity of community, the power of improvisation in faith, and the importance of mutual support in overcoming life’s obstacles.
• Exploring barriers in personal and collective faith
• The importance of community in experiencing breakthroughs
• Going above societal expectations to seek divine intervention
• The power of improvisation when faced with obstacles
• Recognizing spiritual support through relationships
• Jesus’ holistic healing approach as a model for personal growth
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Intro and outro created by Joe Anderson Jr. of Truflava Productions
Oh, Father, I stretch my hand to thee. Oh yes, no other help, I know.
Speaker 2:If thou withdraw thyself from me, oh Lord, where shall I go?
Speaker 2:You're doing something exceedingly and abundantly in this place, and I thank you, lord, because truth of the matter is, every time we show up, we just don't know how it's going to go, and I thank you for that. I thank you for it, god. I sense in my spirit that some people have already decided that they're going to recommit their life to you. Today, the worship is already connected and they said you know what? Today I'm going to give God my yes, I thank you for it. Some have said you know what? I have never been baptized, or I didn't understand it younger. So now I understand that baptism is me putting the world on notice that Jesus Christ is Lord of my life. It's me making a public declaration that I live for the King. It's. I ask that God will fill me afresh with the power of the Holy Ghost, and I thank you for those souls that have already responded. I can sense them in this atmosphere.
Speaker 1:God.
Speaker 2:I sense them online. I sense them in this atmosphere, god. I sense them online. I sense them in the building. Now, god, in this sweet, sweet atmosphere, speak like only you can Touch, like only you can Proclaim, like only you can. Let your people know that at any time that they need to get to this altar, it's open. Let them know that this is a free house. Let them know that you didn't bring them here by accident or coincidence. Speak Lord, speak Lord.
Speaker 2:I pray for our sister church, victory Temple Outreach Center, and their pastor, pastor Q. Thank you, master, for his commitment to what he does here and what he does down the road he just poured out mightily. God, fill him up again so that he can go down the road and do it one more time. God, they are a smaller church but with a big impact. And, god, sometimes, when you're small but you're called to do big things, sometimes the resources get a little bit tight, but, god, you are able.
Speaker 2:We pray for yet another supernatural breakthrough in the financial realm for the people he served. He served a group of people, god, that have a whole lot going on in life and we thank you for what he's doing. And, god, I pray for supernatural people, for the breakthrough for the people that we serve collectively here at Chosen City Church, open doors that no man can shut. This is our season, this is our year, this is our most of breakthrough. So we declare breakthrough in this house on today, god, there shall be no distractions in Jesus' name. Speak, holy Ghost, like only you can, and at the end of it all, god, we'll be careful to give your name all the glory, honor and praise, for it's in the powerful and undisputed name of Jesus we pray. Let the people of God say together amen, amen, amen. To God be the glory, to God be the glory To God be the.
Speaker 1:Glory To God be the glory To God.
Speaker 2:Be the glory Family. Let's just get ready to ride with the Holy Spirit. Today we're in this series called Breaking Barriers. In a moment I'm going to read the text. I think, for brevity, we will read verse 17 through 19 when I get there. Luke 5, verse 17 through 19 when we get there. But I want to help this uh series come alive, because it's more than a series, it's a movement.
Speaker 2:Somebody says a movement breaking barriers is a movement if we, if we obedient to the Holy Spirit and do everything that God has mandated for us to do, it's a movement. When god gave me this. If we come to church, we talk about strongholds. Right, that's good, strongholds are a part, but I'm not necessarily talking about the strongholds and proclivities. The best example is I could use pastor chris he don't mind pastor chris, he is he. He don't probably don't mind me saying he's working on a book and it's finally about to come to pass.
Speaker 2:But the reality was, if pastor chris could tell his testimony, he was supposed to write this book years ago. So then the question is, why didn't you do it last year, pastor chris? Because the truth of the matter is that there was a barrier. What is it that you were supposed to do last year, the year before 1989, when y'all wearing them Tommy Hilfiger jeans? What was it that you were supposed to do a long time ago and you hadn't done it? And it ain't because you're lazy, it's not because you don't have the intellect, but every time you try to do it there's a barrier in place. Can we be real about that?
Speaker 2:So the prayer and objective and the goal today is simple we want to break barriers. Now, every week, you're going to see more and more. It's like today, we got these awesome uh hoodies, we're going to have everything because they got to be visual everywhere you go, you say, no, I'm gonna break the barrier. Once you get discouraged, I want you to have something at your house. That's how I'm gonna break through this barrier. We got a visible one of our early. Every week is gonna be another display. This way, this week's display right here, I need, uh, elder jamal. He's gonna show you what I need y'all to do, what this means. And then we're going straight to the word of god, because I told it to you last week, sometimes you got to see it, elder jamal, and and uh, our young adult leader, brianna, where she at. Come on, come on down, bring, bring me with you. Come on, y'all, come down. Come, y'all, come down. You got somebody else. Listen, this is the instruction. This is what I want y'all to do. I got some of the students coming as well. That's awesome.
Speaker 2:I want every last one of y'all to get a magnet right. And there is a magnet that image the line in between the, in between the body of that silhouette, is the barrier. So everything below that barrier line, such as his legs, represents what people are going through. Does that make sense? And I told y'all last week that what I need you all to do is to come write one word that describes your barrier, your initials, because it ain't everybody's business what your barrier is, but your initials and what the elders of the church are going to do, and the ministers and the deacons every day, in Jesus name. We have a. We have a prayer ministry, intercessory prayer ministry. We're going to come by and intentionally pray for the things.
Speaker 2:Now, what I expect is to see a hundred things below the barrier today, but by the time we get through addition 12 weeks, I'm looking to see y'all because, guess what? I'm not going to touch it. It's going to be days. On sunday, before you speak to anybody, you're going to run down here and get what was below the barrier and and place it to the upper quadrant. That means that you had a breakthrough. That's what it looks like. If you notice, I got one magnet above, because that's my faith magnet. It don't have a name on it in particular, it don't have a breakthrough on it in particular, but we walk by faith and not by sight. Somebody said that's my, that's my faith. One right there, that's my faith magnet, that one that's above, meaning I believe by faith that somebody is going to happen for somebody today. Thank y'all for modeling that for us and I'm telling you, I believe, god, that after a while don't worry, this won't be the only that board is not big enough to hold all of your prayer requests. They're working on a massive one that will be up by next week, but I wanted us to make sure that we saw that today. Listen, family, there's a word from the Lord. Because we believe in the power of prayer, we believe in the power of breaking barriers.
Speaker 2:Matthew, the fifth chapter verses Today. I'm going to work 17 through 26, but for the sake of uh brevity, I'm just going to read matt uh. Thank you, luke. Thank man of god is. We had a time at eight o'clock I preach a brain. Luke the fifth chapter, verse uh, 17 through 19. We'll read luke 5, verse 17 through 19, and it is our custom to read the word of God together out loud. So let's do that Ready set read.
Speaker 2:One day, while Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of religious law were sitting nearby. It seemed that these men showed up from every village in all Galilee and Judea, as well as from Jerusalem, and the Lord's healing power was strongly with Jesus. Some men carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside to Jesus but they couldn't reach him because of the crowd. So they went up to the roof and took off some towels. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat down into the crowd right in front of Jesus. And I would just like to use as a subject today, as the Holy Spirit would allow, by any means necessary. By any means necessary, you may be seated in the presence of our Lord. In the presence of our Lord.
Speaker 2:There are four amazing times in history where the phrase by any means necessary became a part of our vernacular. It was first used by a Frenchman back in 1948 in a play called Dirty Hands. The second time it was used by an intellectual by the name of Frantz Fanon, who used the phrase in his 1960 address to the Positive Action Conference in Accra, ghana. The third time it was used was used in a time where most of us are most familiar with, by a civil rights activist by the name of Malcolm X. Malcolm X. Malcolm X, at the organization of the Afro-American Unity's founding rally on June 28, 1964, got sick and tired of being sick and tired. He got tired of asking folks to treat us right. He got tired of waiting on folks to treat us right. Y'all ever get like that when you get tired of waiting on folks to do what they should have done. A long time ago, malcolm X declared I would even dare say somewhat prophetically, by any means necessary, we coming out of this. And then that was the fourth time that it was used in history.
Speaker 2:It was used January 12th 2025 by some folk down in a little church called chosen city. They got tired of being sick and tired too. They got tired of the status quo. They got all got tired always talking about being delivered but never experiencing. They got tired of talking about getting to the place where god would have them to be. They got tired of talking about having a good marriage. They got tired of talking, and so what they said on this fateful day January, the 12th 2025, was that, by any means necessary, we were going to be who God has called us to be. Now to understand what that means in the Christian context. It does not mean that I'm going to operate outside the will of God, but when you look at the phrase, means it really literally means that I'm going to look at the hand that I was dealt and I'm going to use what God gave me to get to the place where God will have me to be. I realized that I can't do it outside of him, but I realized in my mind that God has given me more than enough to get to the place that I'm supposed to be.
Speaker 2:It was some time that I talked about that we, as a people, have to have a growth mindset in comparison to a fixed mindset. The fixed mindset is always talking about what can't be done. The fixed mindset always talks about it is what it is. The fixed mindset has come to the conclusion that it's just how it's going to be and there's nothing I can do about it. But you got to have a growth mindset. You got to look and say there may be one out of a hundred odds that it's going to work. But good news, there is a chance. You got to have the little engine that could.
Speaker 2:Theology Y'all ever read it's 66 books in the Bible. But there's a 67th book you need to read. It's called the Little Engine that Could. The Little Engine that Could had a growth mindset. See, if you read the whole story, the Little Engine that Could was not the only choo-choo train on the track. There were other choo-choo trains on the track that looked at that raggedy track and looked at that big old hill and said you know what it is, what it is. There's no way that we can get to the other side. And that's when people are just like you. They looked at the circumstances that you face. They look at what you're trying to do and they've come to the conclusion that it is what it is and that's just nothing we can do about it.
Speaker 2:But I thank God that you built different. I thank God that you fight different because you looked at that same hill, because you got a growth mindset. You looked at that same hill because you feel what the Holy Ghost and you got the little engine that could theology. You started to look at your obstacle and you started to think I think I can. I think I can. I know it's the Bible, because the word of God declares as a man thinketh, so is he. Men and women of God, I need you to get a choo-choo train mentality that I think I can. I think I can.
Speaker 2:They call that type of mentality in theology having mental fortitude. And I'm here to tell your family that you are going to break the barrier that has been plaguing you. You're going to finally do what you're supposed to do, because God is about to give you a mental fortitude that you didn't have before. I speak this prophetically that God is about to give you mental strength that you didn't have last year. You will have emotional control that you didn't have last year. You'll be able to adapt to situations better than you did last year, because this time you're going to break through by any means necessary. And so God is saying in this series, I'm going to send you a cloud of witnesses to help you to understand what it looks like to break through Deacon Jones by any means necessary. Coach Brown, you got some big time dreams, but for those dreams to come to pass you got to have a breakthrough and you got to be willing to do it by any means necessary.
Speaker 2:Our witnesses today are a group of individuals and in the group of individuals they have a friend that is paralyzed. He can't move his limbs. The group of friends they hear that there's a healer in the house. It's kind of like how some of you all heard about this church. I pray that you didn't hear about me, because if you heard about me and you came here, you're going to be disappointed. You might not come back because I mess up sometimes, I make bad choices sometimes, I don't get it right sometimes, but if they told you about the God that we serve, I got some good news, you in the right place and he's not going to let you down.
Speaker 2:These friends had one of their friends that was paralyzed and he was in need of a physical breakthrough. His barrier was that he needed to be healed. I want to talk to anybody in the room that needs a healing, whether it's in your mind, body or soul. Physical breakthrough His barrier was that he needed to be healed. I want to talk to anybody in the room that needs a healing, whether it's in your mind, body or soul, that there is no breakthrough, no barrier that is not available unto the Lord. The friends help us understand how to break barriers by any means necessary, because the first thing that they teach us is that in order to break any barrier, we have to get to where God is working. If we're going to break the barrier, so we got to get to where God is working. I'm gonna try that one more time so we have to get to where God is working. I'm going to say it one more time it's important we have to get to where God is working.
Speaker 2:Look at the text verse 17 and 18. They especially in verse 18, some, some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat and they tried to take him to Jesus mat. And they tried to take him to Jesus. But look carefully in verse 17. In verse 17 it tells us something that Jesus had been teaching and the Lord's healing power was strongly with Jesus. Luke takes the time to help us know that Jesus is a healer, but God was doing something different that day by Luke 5. Jesus had done many miracle signs and wonders, but Luke, let us know that it was something different happening that day.
Speaker 2:I feel like today. I walked in with our program but I walked in the door I said something different happening in here today. I had to tell them about the sock hop and the basket weaving and all the announcements. Oh, because something different happening in here today? Because every now and then God moves in a supernatural way. Do y'all believe that there was a time in the Bible where people would be at this colonnade or porch? Because the Bible said that an angel would come down and trouble the water. And the Bible said that an angel would come down and trouble the water. And the Bible said that in the Old Testament, in the New Testament, that when the water was troubled, the people would try to be the first one in, because the first one in would get their healing.
Speaker 2:Well, I got some good news is that the way that God moves post resurrection is that there is more than enough Holy Ghost healing for everybody. When the water gets troubled, there's enough troubled water for everybody. When the water gets troubled, there's enough troubled water for everybody. When I need a breakthrough, I ain't got to be jealous because you got yours, because there's enough Holy Ghost in here just for me, and I want to tell you that I feel that God is up to something in his house today. I believe that we'll see a manifestation of whatever God is up to today. I believe that, by faith, will you pray with me? Do I have any faith warriors that say, before I go home today, god is going to trouble someone. Before I go home today, god is going to answer some problems. Before I go home today, god is going to speak. I wish I had some prayer warriors in here.
Speaker 2:I can't do this one by myself. We want this type of move. We got to set an atmosphere. The people have to do that. I can encourage you, but I can't make you. I need everybody in the room that wants to set an atmosphere for your family's deliverance. I want everybody in here that want to set an atmosphere for your future. I want everybody here that want to set an atmosphere for your assignment you know God got greater for you here that want to set an atmosphere for your assignment. You know God got greater for you. We got to set an atmosphere in this house so that God can do what only he can do For us to get a breakthrough, we have to get to where God is working.
Speaker 2:In Henry Blackaby's book Experiencing God, he says that we have to identify the places and the people where God is actively present and moving, because the place that he is working is where you want to be. It is so true. You don't want to be at the place where God used to be. You want to be where God is actively working right now. I encourage the people of God today that you have been brought here today, especially our first and second time visitors and those that are still trying to sense something.
Speaker 2:You have been brought here not because we are perfect, but because God is at work. We know he's at work here. That's why we sometimes have to ward off attack, because we know that he's at work here. That's why we sometimes have to ward off attack, because we know that he's at work here. That's why the enemy don't want us to ever be friends and get alone, because he knows that God is at work here. It's oily here. God is doing something here. It was rich before I got here to be rich before I leave. God is doing something in this geographical area and you have been elected to be a part of what God is doing. So we're going to get, we're going to experience breakthrough. We got to get to where God is working.
Speaker 2:But then, when we get to the place where God is working, so these men have their friend now the text never refers to them as being friends. The text says that there are some men and there's an individual on a mat and they're carrying him. But I've come to the conclusion, just like you have, friendship is what friendship does. You can say you my friend all day long, but if I go through something that paralyzes me, will you pick me up when I'm down? I got some friends that I may not talk to on the phone literally, but every two or three years. We text once a year just as a post check. But I promise you if I call one of them brothers right now, he'd be on I-85 coming out of Alabama pulling up, saying we ain't going to ask you where you been, but we just got that hooty hoo. You got to be where I'm from to know about that.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, you know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I ain't got to explain that. All I got to do is send that message and they're going to pull up. Thank God for real friends. So I said that's a real friend that's going to carry you when you're down. They're carrying him when he's down and when they get there there's a crowd which reminds me that if you're going to have your breakthrough, the Lord is saying that you've got to go above the crowd. Somebody say go above the crowd, help me, holy Ghost. Go above the crowd. They get there. And the Bible says they couldn't get to Jesus because of the crowd. I wonder how many times people come to church and can't get to Jesus because of the crowd. They can't get to Jesus because of you came in with your stuff and your attitude got in the way. They can't get to Jesus because your religiosity got in the way. They can't get to Jesus because you condemned them before Jesus did. So the Lord is saying if you're going to get your breakthrough, you got to go above the crowd. To go above the crowd means that I'm not going to respond to calamity and situations the way that the world responds to calamity and situations.
Speaker 2:There's a scripture, two scriptures that y'all don't like. One of them is when somebody smacks thee, turn the other cheek. I know we don't like that one, and the Lord wasn't teaching us to stand there and get our head busted. Nah, he wasn't saying that. But what he was saying is that every now and then, people are going to lie on you. Every now and then, people are going to run your name through the mud. Every now and then, people are going to misunderstand your intentions everybody. Every now and then, people are going to be offended just by your very presence. You ain't even had a chance to open your mouth. They just don't like you because you represent and sometimes people don't like us because of what we represent. We represent the glory of the of the lord, and the truth of the matter is, every now and then, the fact that you represent what they could be causes them to feel some type of way. They mad, because they have the same potential and the same opportunity, but that barrier kept them from being. You had your breakthrough. If you could talk to them and say I ain't no better than you, I just had my breakthrough, tell them I ain't no better than you, I just had my breakthrough. I had a divorce too. I had abuse too. I had struggles too. I had struggles too. I had issues in sexuality too. I ain't no better than you. I just had a breakthrough. That's why the Lord is saying that you got to learn to go above the crowd. Another scripture that we don't like, but I got to read it. I call this scripture how not to build a mega church.
Speaker 2:Matthew 7, verse 13 and 14 says this about going above the crowd. You can enter God's kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad and his gate is wide. Why? Because that's the way that the crowd chose to go and the gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But somebody say but the gateway to life, or the gateway to your breakthrough, or the gateway to your destiny, or the gateway to the promises of God is very narrow and the road is difficult. I'm here to tell you on this journey of being a believer in the most high God. You're gonna cry sometimes. I'm here to tell you on this journey with the most high God. Sometimes it's gonna be the people in church that hurt your feelings the most. I'm here to tell you on this journey with the Lord. Every now and then it's going to be your own family sometimes, because the text says that it's narrow, it's potholes in this road. It's narrow, it's people that got other intentions and other motives and it says only a few will ever find it. But if you stay on this road, family, I heard the Lord say that you're going to break through and he says to let everybody in the room that's on the crowd road, the other road, the highway to hell, as the text declares, because I ain't going to lie, I can't judge nobody that's been on the highway to hell. Because, if declares because I ain't gonna lie, I can't judge nobody that's been on the highway to hell. Because, if I'm gonna be honest about it, I got about 100,000 miles on the highway to hell. I wish I had some other witnesses in the room. Don't come in here. All saved today. I got good miles on the highway to hell. I had to change my oil and my tires a few times because I was on that road a long time.
Speaker 2:But somebody said thank God for the exit. Yeah, we got in the house of God because there's an exit and it's flashing. And you know what it says. It says above the crowd If you take this exit, the lord is saying you're about to operate in a way that other people don't operate. If you you take this exit, you may cry sometime, but you're about to accomplish some things that some people in your family have yet to do. If you take this exit, god is about to use you in a supernatural way. And the lord said tell the people that chosen city this. Don't judge somebody just because you took the exit a little bit quicker than they did. You better just thank God that the exit is still available.
Speaker 2:And I want to talk to somebody today and say God is saying it's time for you to go above the crowd. We fight different, we pray different. We pray different. We love different. We forgive different. We believe God different. Because it is in our belief in God that we will go above the crowd. And in the text that's what they do.
Speaker 2:Because of the crowd they couldn't get to Jesus and the way that homes were built there are stairs often on the side of homes in ancient Jerusalem that would give you access to the roof from the outside and so they go above the crowd by going to the roof. So now they have gone to where Jesus is working. They have gone above the crowd. But when they get to the roof there's a problem. The roof is closed. There's a problem. There's no access to the inside. There's a problem. There's no access to Jesus. There's a problem, there's no way in. That's how some of us feel. We we take these steps in life and we get to the barrier and say I'm going to break it. But the problem is I don't see an access point. But the Lord told me to tell you to look at your barrier. He said when you don't see an access point, you just got to break the roof. I didn't talk to somebody right there and say when you don't see an access point, break the roof. I know y'all don't like talking to y'all neighbors, no more, I get it. But we do it to make sure you ain't sleep and we do it to. Sometimes you got to encourage somebody. So if I promise not to ask you, but maybe one more time, would you do it? This one time Would you turn to somebody and say if there is no access, break the roof. See, they needed that encouragement. Say if there is no access, break the roof. Yeah, so what we see in the text they go up and they get to the roof and they couldn't get to Jesus. So they took the tiles off. They started to break the roof. They broke the roof by moving the tiles and what the Lord said to me was that we have to break the roof on the essence of who we are in order to get to the place where God will have us to be.
Speaker 2:John Maxwell is one of many leadership individuals in the world, and I remember reading one of his books years ago, and in that book he talked about the law of the lid. Anybody remember that conversation? The law of the lid. What John says in the law of the lid is it states that a person's leadership ability acts as a lid, meaning that you can go no higher than your ability. So your leadership ability acts as a lid on your potential and, in a nutshell, the lid can be good or the lid can be bad. If you have a high lid, that means you have high potential to do great things in the earth. If you have a low lid, you will never go higher than your lid. The most dangerous thing that can happen is not only do you have a low lid, you have a leader in your life that has a low lid.
Speaker 2:My elders and ministers will tell you that our last meeting of the year I kind of fussed at them and I fussed at them real good I did. But let me tell you why. Because I understand. I understand that they are the lid as it relates to where some of y'all are going to go spiritually. If they don't have a devotional life, how can I expect y'all to have a devotional life? If they don't operate as a team, how in the world y'all going to operate as a team? And I'm mad because I'm like like I put sweat, blood and tears and everything into this and I can't go. We can't go no higher because of the level of y'all lid. And the Lord is saying in this room every last one of us gotta check the level of our lid. I don't care if God got you over to basket weaving ministry, the basket weaving ministry ain't going no higher than your level. So the Lord is saying every last one of us got to break the roof by breaking the lid.
Speaker 2:Can I tell you what that looked like for me personally? I was raised in a very traditional Baptist church. I learned slogans like this Baptist born, baptist bred, and when I die I'll be a Baptist dead. A very traditional church had no women in the pulpit ministry. Church had no women in in in the pulpit ministry. Ironically, it was the women that honestly taught me the most about a lot of things that I knew about god, my sunday school teacher and others. But down there they just didn't have, they just didn't believe in women in pulpit ministry.
Speaker 2:When I came to charlotte I said, what is this strange fire? They got these women in the pulpit and I quickly realized that if that was my theological perspective, it was going to limit what God was going to be able to do in my life. It was going to limit the people that God would allow me to encounter. Ain't no way that an elder Colleen or elder Rosa. It was going to limit the people that God would allow me to encounter. Ain't no way that an elder Colleen or elder Rosa or a Melissa or a Brianna would ever connect with a man that has that type of concept.
Speaker 2:Now, what you got to understand is my heart was always pure, but I was limited watch this by what I had been exposed to. I had never been to a church that had women in ministry, so some would suggest that I was a hater or misogynistic. I just had no exposure. Can I talk to some of y'all in the room? They said you got to change your exposure. What you know ain't good enough. Part of the reason you ain't broke the barrier is because you have not been exposed to the other side.
Speaker 2:And then God sent me down here to Chosen City Church where we got Church of God and Church of God in Christ. We got Apostolic, we got Pentecostal, we got non-denominational, we got a few Baptists, we got Lottie, dottie and everybody. And then the Lord said in order for you to change and serve the people down here, there has to be another level. And this breakthrough y'all was, I believe, the most important breakthrough. I had to start learning, and I'm still learning, how to operate in the power of the Holy Ghost. I had to start learning, and I'm still learning, how to operate in the power of the Holy Ghost.
Speaker 2:I had a very limited understanding of how the Holy Ghost works. I understood Holy Ghost in the work of salvation, but after that I didn't think about the Holy Ghost much. But as I had to grow, I had to understand that I needed to be filled with the power of the Holy Ghost to do what God has called you to do I had. My faith had to grow. I had to become a person that believes in miracles, signs and wonders. I had to become a person that was filled and then could start to speak prophetically in your life, because sometimes you're going to come into the house of God and your question is going to be like that king in the book of Jeremiah Is there any word from the Lord? And if I don't have a feeling of the Holy Ghost, I cannot prophetically declare that everything is going to be all right.
Speaker 2:I had to get filled with the Holy Ghost and start to learn how to operate in the gifts of healing, and I remember the first time we saw somebody get healed of cancer. I remember the second time we saw somebody get healed of cancer. I saw God keep people when they couldn't keep themselves, and now that that lid is wide open, I expect anything at any time from our God. You know why? Because I'm Holy Ghost filled, I'm fire baptized. I, god, show me stuff that I've never seen before. It hit different. When God show you something, it come to pass. When, when God show it to you and it actually happen, your faith go through the roof. And I'm I'm just trying to help y'all, because the Lord is saying for you to break this barrier, you're going to have to have a deeper understanding of the power of the Holy Ghost. And not only do you need a deeper understanding of the Holy Ghost.
Speaker 2:The truth of the matter is some of us need to pray that the Holy Ghost would fill us again, that the Holy Ghost would fill us again. Some of us need to pray that the Holy Ghost would fill us for the first time. It's not my responsibility to be judgmental, but if I preach it right, chris, if I preach it right Marcus, if I preach it right Brandon, if I preach it right Brandon, everybody will have their own conviction and say I can't lie. If I'm filled with the Holy Ghost, I gotta forgive you. If I'm filled with the Holy Ghost, I can operate as a team. If I'm filled with the Holy Ghost. And I gotta ask myself the question do my actions show that I'm filled with the Holy Ghost, or has the void in my life where the Holy Ghost is supposed to reside become a lid on what God really wants to do through me? Can I say that again? Am I filled with the Holy Ghost in such a way that I can break through roofs. Can I say this how I feel it?
Speaker 2:At some point your prayer should be shifting, because you shouldn't be praying for the same stuff year after year after year. I mean that in the most respectful way. I have prayed for stuff the year after year after year. It's true that sometimes God take you through a process, but what I'm trying to tell you is that when you get filled with the Holy Ghost and God really starts to show you how to pray for real, our prayers are the stuff of breakthrough. Our prayers are the stuff of transformation. Our prayers shift atmospheres. Do you not know that when you show up on your job I don't care how sideways them people are if you're filled with the Holy Ghost, when you show up at the water cooler, it's going to be a shift. If you feel with the Holy Ghost when you show up on patrol, it's going to be a shift. If you feel with the Holy Ghost when you show up at the bank, it's going to be a shift, because there's a power that is within you.
Speaker 2:So I raise the question am I filled with the Holy Ghost so much so that I can break the roof, or is that void in my life, the lid that is keeping me praying the same prayers over and over again. That's why I'm putting them on the boy. So I'm putting them on the board. I'm going to say, sister Wilma Jean, now that prayer right there, we've been praying for you. We've been praying that one long enough. At some point you're going to dry them tears. If you're going to be here At some point, I can't pastor you. If you just choose to be depressed for the last ten years, I can't do it. You just choose to be depressed for the last 10 years, I can't do it. At some point, there has to be some accountability that we're going to break through and be everything that God has called us to be. They go to where Jesus is working. They go above the crowd, they break the roof and then for all of you organizational leadership gurus out there, y'all gonna like this one In order for you to break through and break barriers, you have to become an improvisational leader. You have to become an improvisational leader. You have to become an improvisational leader.
Speaker 2:When you look at the text, we understand how they carried the man. They had a mat and they were able to carry the four corners of the mat. That makes sense, we understand how they got to the roof, because if you study architecture at the time, it was customary for stairs to be on the side of the house. But what the text does not tell us is how in the world they was able to find some rope to get the man down to Jesus. We even understand how they broke through the roof because they removed the tiles.
Speaker 2:But sometimes where the scripture leaves a blank, reverend Shank, is because it's a reminder that that's a wonderful opportunity for us to use to be able to improvise. If you think about how the building was built, it's probable and possible there could have been some string or some type of rope, even somewhere in that roofing structure. And I want to remind you that that's what the Lord is saying that, as a person that is filled with the Holy Ghost which is one of the reasons you need to be filled with the Holy Ghost is so that you can improvise, because the people in this text if I could sum up what they did in one sentence, I would simply say they found a way, and that's what I want to say to the people that I serve that have a barrier that you're trying to break is that under the power of the Holy Ghost. You have to find a way. I told you I wasn't gonna make you do it, but maybe two more times it's the second one turn one more time and tell them you have to find a way. Say no excuses, find a way. Yeah, I like that. Say no excuses, find a way.
Speaker 2:And the beautiful part about being Holy Ghost filled is that the Holy Ghost is going to give you a supernatural strategy to do what other people would not do, what other people would not do. Do y'all realize? There are a few people that would have carried that man and there are even fewer people that would have taken him on the roof. But man, the finite number of people that would have broke through the roof, and the less than what y'all mad people, what you call less than finite, the less than finite number of y'all mad people, what you call less than finite, the less than finite number of people that would have found some rope, cannot even be explained. What am I trying to say? There are some of you all you've gone to where god is working and then you've gone above the crowd. You even saw the steps and now you're on the roof. But now you stop because there's no hole or no access. I want to talk to somebody right now, right there, and say, when you make the hole and access, say, pastor, I found access, but now I can't find my way down. See, god is saying this. He gives us a road map, but he didn't make us robots. He requires us to use what he gave us.
Speaker 2:Dr Lynch used to teach a lesson about the Great Commission Go ye, therefore teach all nations, baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. He said the Great Commission is an amazing story because it gives you the who, who, who, who you go who, where, where we going everywhere, when, right now, why? Because lives are on the line. So they get the who, they get the where, they get the when they get the why. But the Great Commission does not give us the how, because the how changes from generation to generation Evangelism in ancient Jerusalem look a little bit different than it will in 2025, charlotte. So that means that we have to be a people that know how to do what Improvise, to be able to tell young boys and young girls that Jesus is still theered away, the truth and the light. We got to be able to do that, improvise and be able to tell somebody how to do what God has called them to do. The who, the what, the where, the when, the why doesn't change, but the how changes from generation to generation. And the Lord is saying just because you don't know the how, all it means is it's time for you to dig a little bit deeper. See, we come from a people that know how to improvise, don't we? Don't we? Am I the only one in the room? Am I the only one who had a grandmama and a mama that could make a way out? Of no way.
Speaker 2:I know Anita Bowers online. She'll tell you when times got hard. It got hard for me and my family one time, especially after my mom and dad got divorced and both of them weren't making but so much money. It got hard for them. But I'm going to tell you one thing Me and my brothers, we never missed a meal. It got hard. My great grandma and my grandma they didn't have a chance to get the education that me and my brothers got. But I'm going to tell you, they took care of their family because they knew how to improvise. What do you mean?
Speaker 2:My auntie she was the candy lady in the projects and my grandma was the candy lady in the north side of Bessemer. They would go down to the wholesale store and buy jars of pickles and buy pig feet. They used to sell pig feet for a quarter. They'd buy now and later they'd buy jolly ranchers because you'd get about a hundred of them for ten cents back in the day. And what they would do is they'd open up their living room with that plastic steel on the furniture I ain't lying and then in the summertime they'll sell bee bops that plastic still on the furniture I ain't lying and then in the summertime they'll sell bebops.
Speaker 2:Now, y'all don't know what a bebop is. Y'all it's in there. I don't know what. Y'all call it up here. Different names in different regions In Alabama. We call them a bebop. Y'all don't even know what a bebop is, what y'all call them Little styrofoam Kool-Aid cups. We we call them B-Bots. Where I come from they sell a B-Bot because in the summer time they knew that they could sell two of them for 25 cents and at the end of the day I got a college degree. My brothers got a college degree because at the end of the day they knew how to improvise and I'm trying to tell some folk in the room when there is no way, you better make a way, because God has said I've given you more than enough to overcome some stuff that other people were not able to overcome. Men and women of God, we have to be improvisational leaders. We have to study and learn how to adapt and overcome any situation. And learn how to adapt and overcome any situation. And finally we got to do this. We got to let faith do its work.
Speaker 2:The text says in verse 20, when Jesus saw how they came to him and he saw that they didn't let the crowd stop them and he saw their ability to go above the crowd and he saw their ability to break the roof and he saw that, even when they didn't have any rope, they improvised until they got some rope. Jesus said, seeing their faith. Jesus said to the man young man, your sins are forgiven. Let us not look over these three powerful words that Jesus didn't see the man on the mat's faith, because the man on the mat represents those times where life be lifin' and you've just gotten to the point that you can't even hardly get a prayer through when life be lifin' and you love God, but you just tired and you on the mat and you, just you ain't even got it. No more, anybody want to be real. It's some people that's been there and the truth of the matter is it's some people that's there and I want to let you know that, even though you may have just a spoonful of faith left, you took all the faith you had just to get here.
Speaker 2:You are in good company, not because of your faith, but because of their faith, which is why, when you are in a season or when you're in a breakthrough movement, you really have to be mindful of the connections that you are making in breakthrough. If we're going on vacation together in Jamaica and you ain't got that much faith, as long as you're paying for your room and your plane ticket, I'm good. Are we going to see America's greatest football team, the Dallas Cowboys? Amen, amen, won't he do it? Hey, we rebuke that spirit of jealousy and envy. We go to Dallas together. We, if you go, you go see. We go to Dallas together. As long as you got your ticket and I got my ticket, I'm not worried about your faith, but there are some journeys where I'm not trying to be entertained and I'm not trying to have fun. I'm fully committed to my breakthrough.
Speaker 2:And then you gotta ask the people that are around you, because sometimes, when you trying to break through, you gonna end up being a person on the mat. So if I end up being a person on the mat, do I have enough people around me with enough faith to carry me when I can't carry myself? That's why I have to look at people like Elder Mark, pastor Chris, all the elders, and ask them where is your faith? I have to say, elder Colleen, you love God, but if it get tough and I end up on the mat, where is your faith? You got to ask the people in this season, when you're trying to break through a barrier, where is your faith?
Speaker 2:We have our church polity, we have a governing board, we have a business administrator, we have a budding finance team and they do all they can to make sure that I don't spend up all the money and we go broke. And they're good at it. They are not. Yes, men and women. I thank God for them every day. I didn't have to put them in place because I'm the founder here, but I got enough business and common sense to know that I don't look good in orange, so put that in place.
Speaker 2:But I have to ask them, since they are so close to me as I vision, when the math ain't mathing, where is your faith? That don't mean bounce a check, does it? But all I do is say, as they are punching the numbers, just put a little bit of faith in that thing, because in the world, sometimes we're going to be above budget and sometimes we're going to be below budget, but where is your faith? Everybody in the room that's trying to break through. You got to look at your girlfriend, your boyfriend.
Speaker 2:Now here's the reality. If they ain't, if they been how we used to say it, pastor Chris, if they, if they been, that is, if they been drinking the milk but they ain't bought the cow, it's a, it's an easier separation. You know what I'm talking about. So if you, if you got somebody in your life they drinking the milk, they ain't bought the cow and they ain't got no faith. Time is filled with swift transition. I'm just talking about what. I'm talking about what you waiting on somebody to buy the cow for and they ain't got no faith. But it gets a little bit harder when you done put a ring on it.
Speaker 2:What do you do when your spouse is the one that doesn't have any faith. I believe the Lord is saying that. Your faith, because the text just said their faith. That should encourage every spouse in the room. Say my spouse lost faith, but my faith is going to carry us till my spouse get up off the mat. My faith is going to carry us till my young adult child comes back into worship. My faith is going to carry the Bowers household until Jonah, jacob and Joshua, on their own accord, come to me and say Daddy, we want to be baptized. I got enough faith to hold it in the road till they catch up. But if I get weak, the question is can I depend on y'all? That's the question. So I'm going to remind everybody in order to break through, you got to let faith do its work. Certainly, as faith is doing its work, what we see God do, because the spirit of healing was thrown upon Jesus this day there is a holistic healing that happens here.
Speaker 2:The first healing that happens to the man on the mat is spiritual, because Jesus said young man, your sins are forgiven. I want to talk to every person in the room, but a special shout out to all of the young men in the room, all the young brothers in the room. I want you to know that you don't have to condemn yourself because you made some choices that you're not proud of. You don't have to condemn yourself because you made some choices that you're not proud of. You don't have to condemn yourself because you fell into various temptations that every last one of us in the room most likely have fallen into. The Lord says speak to the young man and say young man, your sins are forgiven. Young man, he says all you got to do is confess your sins and he's faithful and just to forgive your sins. Young man jesus says that there is no condemnation in christ, jesus. Young man jesus says that who the son sets free is free. Indeed, young man jesus says that know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord. Young man, the Lord is saying your ladder shall be greater. Young man, the Lord is saying that I'm waiting on you to surrender and eyes have not seen, ears have not heard what he have in store for you.
Speaker 2:Honestly, the application of this text is actually gender neutral. Even though he's talking to the young man, the Lord is also talking to our amazing young women. Young woman, the Lord is saying you don't have to accept anything and everything simply because the pickings have gotten a little bit slim. Young woman, be who god has called you to be. Young woman, heal from every wound, from every relationship that meant you, no good woman. Heal now because God is trying to prepare you for your next. Young woman, forgive now so that you don't carry that over to your breakthrough. Young woman, keep educating yourself. Young woman, keep leading from the front yourself. Young woman, keep leading from the front.
Speaker 2:Young woman, when you confess your sins, god is faithful and just to forgive your sins, jesus heals the young man and declares that spiritually, his, his soul, has been saved and he'll spend eternity with the lord. But I'm glad about what he did there in the spirit, because faith is doing its work. And as faith is doing its work, the last thing and we're really done now family, as they have done this thing and faith is moving and healing is starting to happen. God ain't done with the young man yet. Can I talk to somebody in the room and encourage you and let you know that God is not done with you just yet, that he that begin it a good work in you shall see it through to completion. That ought to be some good news, because God has started something in this man's life that's laying on a mat. But the God that we serve says I'm going to see this thing through all the way to completion. Well, as God is working in our lives, there will always be naysayers and critics that have something to say.
Speaker 2:The pharisees and religious teachers of the law. They began to call Jesus a blasphemer Because, they said, only God can forgive sins. What the Pharisees and religious leaders of the law didn't realize is that they were having a conversation with God himself. What they didn't realize is that they were having a conversation with Jehovah Rapha. What they didn't realize is that they were having a conversation with Jehovah sitting new. What they didn't realize is that they were having a conversation with the way maker. They didn't realize that they were having a conversation with the miracle worker. They didn't realize they were having a conversation with the miracle worker. They didn't realize they were having a conversation with the promise keeper and they didn't realize that if Jesus started it, he had the ability to see it through. Jesus knew what they were thinking and he said to them is it easier for me to say to this man stand up, or to simply say that his sins are forgiven. It reminded me, chosen City, of something that God is saying about your barrier Is that sometimes God is using the very barrier that has been blocking you as a testimony to his power. Did you hear what I said?
Speaker 2:Jesus was trying to teach the Pharisees and the Sadducees. He was trying to teach the crowd. He was trying to teach the Jews. He was trying to teach the Pharisees and the Sadducees. He was trying to teach the crowd. He was trying to teach the Jews. He was trying to teach the agnostics. He was trying to teach the world that he was the way, the truth and the light. And in order for him to teach, he is a teacher that teaches by example. And so he calls this man on a mat to say come here, you are the one that I have selected, and sometimes you went through what you have gone through because you're the one that God has selected to be a testament to his power.
Speaker 2:He said Pharisees and Sadducees in verse 24. Since you don't believe in my power, since you don't believe in my authority. I know that this young believe in my authority. I know that this young man had to go through a lot. I know that this young man had to spend some time on the mat. But the young man should soon realize that the best is yet to come, that I was just using his problem for my purpose.
Speaker 2:I was using his predicament to display my power. Young man, I'm up to something and I want to encourage some people that chose in the city church that your God still loves you, your God still cares. Your God's hand is on your life, but he's just using your predicament to show the world his power. Yes, there's another single mother. She don't have the faith that you have and you have an ugly predicament, but when you come out of this you'll be a witness to her that he still has power. Yes, there's a young man. There's another brother sitting right next to you. They are new to this thing called faith and they are watching to see how you're going to deal with the drama that has come into your life. But in about 15 days you're going to be able to testify. I had some drama, but our God is a deliverer. Do I have any witnesses in the room? Do I have any seniors that can testify? There was a time you went through something. It didn't make sense at the time, but it became your testimony.
Speaker 2:I need everybody in the room to listen now, because what the God is saying to us, the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the way maker the God is saying to us, the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the way maker, what he is saying. If you listen in the midst of your problem, you are about five minutes away from a leap. Did you hear what I said? If you listen to what God is saying in the midst of your persecution, you're about five minutes away from your biggest leap. Jesus says to the haters I know you counted my daughter out. I know you counted my son out. I know you counted that family out, but I'm about to show you my power. So, as all eyes are on the man, can I tell you that all eyes have been on you. All eyes have been waiting for you to fall. All eyes have been waiting for you to throw in the towel. All eyes have been talking sideways on social media. And God is saying I let it go that way because I'm about to show myself mighty. I'm about to show myself mighty. I'm about to show myself strong. Everyone that was speaking against you are not going to believe what's about to happen next and, if you listen, in about two minutes you are about to leap.
Speaker 2:Jesus shift the conversation from the Pharisees and the Sadducees, because sometimes you've got to stop talking to the haters. We spend too much time talking to the haters. We got to learn to decree and to declare. I ain't talking to the haters much in 2025. I'm talking to God and I'm decreeing and declaring in his name.
Speaker 2:Jesus turns from the haters, he looks at the man and he's about to give him a word. I promise, if you listen, you're about 60 seconds from your leap. He says to the man stand up, pick up your mat and go home. Did you hear what I said? Jesus said to the man I've healed you in your spirit and now there's going to be a natural manifestation. I just heard the Lord say he has healed your spirit, man, now you ought to get ready for a natural manifestation. Do I have any people that can get excited? Well, if you heard what the Lord said, the Lord said stand up, pick up your mat and go home. You thought I was talking about the man in Luke. I'm talking about the woman in your seat. I'm talking about the man in your seat. I'm talking about the children in your church. I'm here in Chosen City. I'm talking about the people on Facebook church Down here in Chosen City. I'm talking about the people on Facebook. Y'all just hear what the Lord just said. It's quite prophetic, if you can catch it.
Speaker 1:Jesus said stand up, Pick up your mat and go home. I'm going to try it again.
Speaker 2:I'm going to see if you can catch it. The person that's in your seat Just trying to try it again. I'm going to see if you can catch it. The person that's in your seat that's trying to break through something. The person in your seat that's been in the storm too long. The person in your seat that's tired of being sick and tired, did you?
Speaker 1:hear what the Lord said. I hope you can catch it before I have to throw it.
Speaker 2:He said stand up.
Speaker 1:Pick up your mat. You see, the man represents the barrier that had you. We are shouting now Because we now have it. Did you hear what I said? The barrier that had you. I now got control of it. Pick up my mat and I'm going home. Where is home? Home is my destiny, home is joy.
Speaker 2:Home is peace, home is purpose. I wish I had some people that could understand y'all. When Jesus spoke like that, the Bible said that the man responds. Not only did he stand, the Bible says that the man responds Not only did he get up, the Bible says that the man of God he took a leap.
Speaker 1:I wish I had some leapers in the room that say I'm breaking out of this. When God gives you a word that connects with your Holy Ghost, there ought to be a leap somewhere. I wish I had some leapers in the room that can leap on what God has declared on your life. That can leap on what God is about to do.
Speaker 2:We're breaking out of this what God has declared on your life that can be told what God is about to do. We're breaking out of this.
Speaker 2:We're coming out of this and the text says that as the man began to leap, there was a shift in the crowd, the same crowd that wouldn't let them get to Jesus. They are now in awe about what Jesus has done and now the crowd, because of the man's faith, they start to worship God. I need to talk to some people in the room and say because of your faithfulness, because you didn't quit, your life is about to be a testimony to the crowd. When people know how God has rescued your life, the crowd ain't going to have no choice but to give God some praise. Can I pull the room before I go home?
Speaker 2:I want to know in the last 90 days if God has done a miracle in your life in the last 90 days. I know he did a miracle last year, but I'm talking about the last 90 days. I'm talking about a sure enough miracle that if God didn't do it, it wouldn't have got done. It may be a small thing to somebody else, but it was everything to you. I just need about three or four of you so they can know that I'm speaking the truth, that if God has done a miracle in the last 90 days of your life, I want you to come give the pastor a high five because the crowd needs to see what God is doing. I need everybody in the crowd to see that these people are testifying. They went live in church.
Speaker 1:They went live in church In the last 90 days they've seen God do some stuff In the last 90 days. They've seen God do some stuff. Now if you're waiting on God to do something, you ought to get excited, because if God is doing it over there, that's where he can do it over here. Now the crowd these folks are testifying they went live in church In the last 90 days. They've seen God do some stuff. They went live in church. They just see God do some stuff. They went live to church In the last 90 days. They just see God do some stuff. Now that crowd went crazy over one person. I think we can have about 50. They said in the last 90 days we've seen the hand of God. What kind of worship should we give of God that is moved like this and people's lives in the last 90?
Speaker 1:days If they was going to pray to the other one, we ought to go bananas over 50.
Speaker 2:If they was going to pray to the other one.
Speaker 1:We ought to go crazy over one. We ought to go with nine and over fifty. I don't think y'all heard me. If they can go crazy over one, we ought to lose our natural mind over fifty, because I heard the Lord say you next, you next, you next, you next, you next.
Speaker 1:Elder Jamal if they can go pray it over one. I need you to help them to go pray it over 50. I may not see it, but I hear rain. I said I may not see it, but I hear rain. I said I may not see it, but I hear rain. I hear rain, I hear rain.
Speaker 1:I don't know what you need from God, but just grab your neighbor. Grab your neighbor and say come on and go with me, ask them where are we going? We're going to get our joy back. We're going to get our peace back. We're going to get our faith back. And I dare you, if I can just get my people to go to leave me, leave for your joy, leave for your healing, if I can just get five people to go to leaping leap for your joy, leap for your healing, leap for your peace, leap for your God overcoming leap for your breakthrough. I may not see it, but I hear rain. I said I may not see it, but I hear rain. It's getting ready to happen. It's getting ready to happen. It's getting ready to happen. I said it's getting ready to happen. It's getting ready to happen.
Speaker 1:It's getting ready to happen. Well, I may not see it, but I hear it. I hear rain. I may may not see it, but I hear it. I hear rain. Oh, I, I may may not see it, but I hear I hear rain, said I I may I may not see it, but I hear I hear rain. It's getting ready to happen, but I hear, I hear it. It's getting ready to happen. It's getting ready to happen. It's getting ready to happen. It's getting ready to happen. God, I'm gonna do it. It's getting ready to happen. It's getting ready to happen. It's getting ready to happen. He'll do more than I ever expected. He'll do more than I ever expected. He'll do more than I ever expected. He'll do more than I ever expected. He'll do more than I ever expected. He'll do more than I ever expected. He'll do more than I ever expected. He'll do more than I ever expected.
Speaker 2:It's getting ready to happen. It's getting ready to happen.
Speaker 1:It's getting ready to happen. It's getting ready to happen.
Speaker 1:It's getting ready to happen. It's getting ready to happen. It's getting ready to happen. It's getting ready to happen. It's getting ready to happen. It's getting ready to happen. It's getting ready to happen. It's getting ready to happen. It's getting ready to happen. It's getting ready to happen. It's getting ready to happen. It's getting ready to happen. It's getting ready to happen. He said he'll do more than I ever expected. Shout it out in the house. He'll do more. He'll do more than I ever expected. He'll do more than I ever expected. He'll do more than I ever expected. I have not seen him do more. His ears have not heard. He'll do more. He'll do more. It has not hurt. My God is bigger. My God is bigger. Hell, do more Than I ever expected. Hell, do more Than I ever expected. Oh, I, I may not see it, but I hear. I hear it ring Because I'm on my way. No chains holding me, right in my reach.
Speaker 2:I see clearly I'm on my way as he is ministering. Don't stop, elder Jay. As he continues to minister, he says we're on our way, our elders are ministers, are walking in the aisle right now. Because you are on your way With the heart of God, I extend an invitation to you, in the mighty name of Jesus, to be a part of this With the heart of God. I extend an invitation to you, in the mighty name of Jesus, to be a part of this family of believers. You know something?
Speaker 2:I learned the other day that even when we say the word family and church, depending on your experience with family, that may be a positive invitation or it may be a negative invitation. So let me say what I'm trying to really say. What I'm trying to say is that God has called us to be together to do what he has called us to do. You need a covering. You need a spiritual covering. Someone is going to pray for you and be there. You need a spiritual covering that's going to help you develop your spiritual gifts. You need a place where you can exercise your spiritual gifts. So I want to extend an invitation. If you don't have a church home and the Holy Spirit is speaking to you, even if it wasn't on your plan, even if it wasn't on your schedule. Glory to God. I thank you for the first people that moved. Because you just opened the door, somebody yell out welcome home. Real loud, say welcome home, hallelujah. There may be some others in the room today. We extend this invitation to you Now as y'all see them. Y'all just get to the point where y'all just stand, welcome. You didn't even got to wait on me. Y'all just get to the point where y'all just stay and welcome. You didn't even gotta wait on me. Somebody without y'all yell welcome. I know somebody moving. Somebody said welcome home, welcome, welcome, welcome.
Speaker 2:Listen, there are so many of you today that need to give god a fresh. Yes, you need to give god a chance. We're not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but man do. We serve a perfect god and we believe that there's something in you that can help us to accomplish God's will in the earth. We need one another. I'm unashamed to say I need you, because I also know that you need me. We need one another. So I'm extending this invitation to not join any family, to join the family of God. If you need to rededicate your life to God. There's an opportunity to do that today. If you have never been baptized and the Holy Spirit is saying this is a fresh year, a fresh start, an opportunity for you to give God a yes, we want to extend that invitation to you. Meet you right in the aisles, you ain't got to walk by yourself. Come on, stand right by me. Elder Masons, come on stand right here on this side.
Speaker 2:Somebody right here on this side may want to give God a yes. What we try not to do is what we give you is no pressure. It's opportunity for you to give God a yes, no pressure. It's no pressure. It's opportunity for you to give God a yes, no pressure. It's just time. See, this is a serious decision. It's a real decision. So sometimes you need a minute to process.
Speaker 2:So I promise you, if you pray, god will tell you what to do. You ask God, god should this be the day? And if God say yes, don't let fear stop you. If God say yes, don't let the unknown stop you. If God say yes, don't let the unknown stop you. If God say yes, don't let the uncertainty stop you. If God say yes, don't let the fact that we are imperfect stop you. We extend this invitation to you today. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Come on. He's making a way. Somebody today wants to rededicate their life. Somebody want to get baptized for the first time. Yeah, he's making a way, but his thoughts with you giving him a yes. Crank that up a little bit, elder J. He's making a way, right there, right there, he's making a way, right there. Right there, he's making a way, somebody else wants to give him a yes today. We're waiting on you.
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