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Chosen City Church
13925 Erwin Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28273
Chosen City Church Sermons
God HEARS You Too! | Psalm 34 | Minister Colleen Damon-Duval
Praise opens the door to God's deliverance, breaking down every barrier that stands in our way as believers seeking His face and calling upon His name.
• God sees you and hears you too—not just everyone else's prayers, but yours specifically
• The difference between blessing the Lord and extolling Him is the level of enthusiasm and whole-body engagement
• Psalm 34 outlines God's promises: seeking Him leads to being heard and delivered from all fears
• There's a spiritual formula: seeking + looking + calling + fearing + crying out + taking refuge = deliverance
• Our barriers break when we praise God with our whole being, not offering "patty cake" praises
• Personal testimony of divine protection through praise during a home intrusion
• Even when circumstances don't change immediately, faith grows through each experience of seeking God
• Some barriers require vulnerability and transparency with others to be fully broken
• God often uses our difficulties to work His purpose in our lives according to Romans 8:28
• Learning to praise enthusiastically now prepares us for eternity where we'll continuously worship God
Come unto Jesus if you don't know Him as Lord and Savior. Repent and accept Him today. He hears the sinner's prayer, and He will answer according to His will and purpose for your life.
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Intro and outro created by Joe Anderson Jr. of Truflava Productions
Mighty good God. Thank you, lord, jesus, god, we give you praise and we thank you, lord, you've been mighty, mighty good Lord. We can never repay you for all the things you have done for us. All we can do and say in our limited language the highest praise that we can give God is hallelujah. We can say hallelujah, god, you've been mighty good, thank the Lord. I am grateful that Pastor Walt has allowed me the opportunity.
Speaker 1:I told our elders and ministers in the room when they were praying with me that this was a setup. This was a setup by the Holy Spirit and pastor to come after this week of revival and after all of these powerful preachers that proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. And as we were looking at, as I was looking at, all of the scriptures and the sermons that was preached this week, monday night, the topic was evident and proof. Tuesday night we're going to the next dimension. Wednesday night, what happens in an atmosphere of praise? Minister Brandy texted me. She said he's preaching your sermon. What happens in an atmosphere of praise? Thursday night, there's a prophetic rush on the way to your house and then Friday night, we sealed it at the altar. All week God has been speaking to us. And then Pastor Potts came to us this morning at the eight o'clock service and he talked about standing behind the shield, and we know that God is our shield and God gave me this word. Pastor gave me this assignment three weeks ago and he gave me this word three weeks ago and little did I know that the week of consecration and all of the preachers that came in this week all mentioned the text that I'm going to read today. It was a setup, I tell you, but God confirmed his word not one time, not two times, not three times, not one time, not two times, not three times, but five times. He confirmed this word on today. So I have confidence in knowing that God is speaking and I pray that you all hear what the Spirit of God is saying to the church on today.
Speaker 1:Certainly we honor God, who is everything to me, and I'm so grateful for Pastor Walt for allowing us the opportunity we certainly always cover him and Lady Tiffany and the boys. I'm grateful for my fellow clergy elders and ministers who continue to cover us. We all cover you as Chosen City partners. I am grateful for my husband. He's out of town this weekend but I always honor him. I'm grateful for him and I'm grateful for our family, my family, who's here today. My sister drove from Columbia, one of my cousins is here, that's here in Charlotte, and I'm grateful for you to be here this morning.
Speaker 1:Let us go to prayer, father God. We thank you, lord, that you are doing a new thing in this season. God, we thank you for the week of consecration. We thank you, lord, god, that you poured out to us. Lord God, and in this season, as we are studying, breaking barriers, lord God, father, we thank you for the barriers that have been broken already and we give you praise, lord God, for the barriers that you have yet to break. So use me in this moment, god, fill us up. Holy Spirit, do what only you can do and, god, we will be mindful to take no glory or praise for ourselves, but as we are going to proclaim today, we're going to give you the praise, and when we give you the praise, god, we know that you will hear us. And so, god, we thank you for this moment and we honor your word and we give you praise if you can use anything, lord, you can use anything, lord, you can use me.
Speaker 2:If you can use anything, lord, you can use me. Oh, take my hands, lord, and my feet, use my heart, lord, and speak through me.
Speaker 1:If you can use anything, lord you can use me.
Speaker 2:Hallelujah, if you can use anything, lord, you can use me. Yeah, if you can use anything, lord, you can use me. Oh, take my hand, take my hand, lord, and my feet. Touch my heart, lord, lord, and speak to me. If you can use anything, lord, you can use me One more time. You can use anything, lord, you can use me, if you can use me. If you can use anything, lord, you can use me. Oh, take my hand, take my hand, lord, and my feet, excuse my heart, Lord, speak to me.
Speaker 1:If you can use anything, Excuse my heart. Lord, speak to me. If you can use anything, Lord, you can use me. Yes, Lord.
Speaker 2:And I need thee, oh Lord, I need Thee Every hour. Lord, god, I need Thee. Oh, bless me now, my Savior.
Speaker 1:Yes, lord, right now, in this moment, god, I come.
Speaker 2:Yeah, lord, I come, I come. Thank you, lord, god, for what you're doing in this moment. God, I come to thee, hallelujah. Thank you, lord, thank you, Lord.
Speaker 1:Our scripture text comes from Psalms 34, 1 through 7, and we're going to be reading the NIV version. And, God, I got to tell you all something. You all may be able to hear it a little bit. My voice is a little scratchy, but in the room 15 minutes ago, when the ministers came in and prayed for me, it wasn't this clear. All week the enemy's been trying to attack, because that's what he does he tries to attack. But I declare today in this place, in this free house, as we've been praising God all week long that I will bless the Lord at all times and his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
Speaker 1:That's the King James version of the scripture that we're getting ready to read right now Psalms 34, 1 through 7. I will extol the Lord at all times. His praise will always be on my lips. I will glory in the Lord. Let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord and he answered me. He delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant. Their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called and the Lord heard him. He saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and who delivers them. Amen. Look at your neighbor to the left as you go to your seat and tell them God hears you too. Look at your other neighbor and say God hears you too, you too, amen.
Speaker 1:Some of you may recall last year when I preached a sermon. One of the sermons that I preached in 2024 was entitled God Sees you Too. Today is a sequel to God Sees you Too, because now we're going to talk to you and let you know and remind you that God hears you too. We often hear our pastor, pastor Walt, say the phrase this is the phrase that pays. So the phrase that pays today is God hears you too and trust in the Lord.
Speaker 1:Too often we think that God hears everybody else's prayer. God hears the pastor's prayer, he hears the elder's prayer. He hears everybody else's prayer but ours prayer. He hears the elders prayer. He hears everybody else's prayer but ours. And with Haggai that, when she gave the Lord the name Elrohi and she said he is the God who sees me. God sees you too, he sees your situation, he sees the things that you're going through. But now, today, with everything going on in the world and as we have been practicing learning how to praise God and open our mouths, the Lord wants you to know today that he hears you. God hears you too. The word too is an adverb. It has a couple of meanings, but the main meaning that we read from the NIV version, and I also wanted to mention the King James.
Speaker 1:Version because the King James Version says I will bless the Lord at all times. The NIV Version says I will extol the Lord. The NIV version says I will extol the Lord, I will extol the Lord. So, as opposed to the NIV version, which is typically my Bible of choice, I love the NIV version, but when I read, when I looked at this particular version, and anytime I'm beginning to study for a sermon or to prepare to teach, I ask the Lord to give me new revelation, to allow me to see something different or to learn something new about him that I did not know before. And he certainly did that as we read through this text. So allow me to give you an example of what I mean from the King James Version and the NIV. The NIV, as King James says I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. We've heard this scripture many times. The word blessed stood out to me in the King James.
Speaker 2:Version.
Speaker 1:What does blessed mean to you? Well, defining the word blessed in a religious sense, it means to invoke divine favor. When we say Lord, god bless you or Lord bless you, that means to have God's favor shine upon you. That's what we generally mean it in our veracola today. It also can mean praise. Blessed can mean praise and, as the text states, we should continually have praise in our mouths to bless God. But the NIV version reads slightly different.
Speaker 1:I will extol the Lord at all times. His praise will always be on my lips. Now there's a difference between bless the Lord and extol the Lord. The definition for extol in a religious right it means to praise, but it means to praise enthusiastically, to celebrate loudly. I will extol the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be on my lips. I'm excited about it. So when I think about this text and I put it in the intended language, then my conscious mind begins to think about it differently. My whole body gets involved. Yes, I will bless the Lord, but when I say I extol the Lord, I'm going to extol the Lord with my whole mind, body and soul. I'm going to extol the Lord with everything in me. I will extol the Lord and his praise will always be on my lips, on my lips In this season that we're living in. We need to know how important it is to bless the Lord and extol the Lord. We need to know how important it is to praise him for all the things that he has done. And so, as we begin to think about the goodness of Jesus and all the things that he's done for us, that ought to make us open our mouths, lift our hands and just give God thanks and praise for all the things that he has done and continually does for us. This brings me to my first point for today, which is the promises of God is good news. The promises of God is good news.
Speaker 1:This text of Scripture gives us several promises from God. I don't know if you were paying attention as we were reading them. Did you hear the promises? Do you know what the promises are? Can you see them? Well, let me tell you what they are, just in case you missed them. When I read this passage of scripture from the NIV version, my mind, I can see the promises of God, and when I ask the Lord to reveal something new to me, this is what he showed me.
Speaker 1:But first let's define the word promise. The Oxford Language Dictionary defines promise as a declaration or assurance that one will do a particular thing, that a particular thing will happen. So when I think about that definition and I'm thinking about the promises of God, and I'm thinking that it makes a declaration it says one who makes a declaration? Well, the one that we are talking about is God. The one that we are talking about, the one that can assure a thing and do a particular thing and make sure it will happen, that is God. Verse 4 says when we seek the Lord, he hears us and delivers us from our fears and our troubles. Well, here's the promise you got to seek the Lord, and when you seek him, he hears us and he delivers. And that means he hears you too.
Speaker 1:In verse five, those who look to him are radiant. Their faces are never covered. Well, here's the promise when you look to him. First you got to seek him, then you got to look to him. And when we look to him, that means that our faces are radiant, and if I use a common vernacular today, that could mean I don't look like what I've been through. Do I have any witnesses in the house? You don't have to be ashamed of what you went through. Your face can be radiant when you look to God. We don't look like what we've been through.
Speaker 1:Verse 6 says this poor man called and the Lord heard him. He saved him out of all his troubles. When I read that, I said, well, I'm gonna make it personal Colleen called. Colleen called and the Lord heard me and he delivered me from my troubles. And God hears you too. Then there was the promise in verse 7. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear and he delivers them. I know y'all can say it with me. Here's the promise. So here's the promise For those of you who fear the Lord he allows his angels to surround us. Verse 17, which I was supposed we were supposed to read. But verse 17 says the righteous cry out and the Lord hears them. He delivers them from all their fears. All right y'all. So here's the promise those who are deemed righteous, who cry out to God. He does what. He hears us and he delivers us from all of our troubles. Then there's verse 22. The Lord redeems His servants and no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him. Well, here's the promise. The Lord redeems his children. If you are a child of God. If you know him as your personal Lord and Savior, he redeems his children, he redeems you. So let's recap when we seek him, when we look to him, when we call on him, when we fear him, when we cry out to him, when we take refuge in him, when we do any and all of these things, it declares by the word of God that he hears us and he will indeed deliver.
Speaker 1:A couple of weeks ago I was home visiting my dad and it was about 6.30 in the morning, 6.30 or so in the morning, and I was up. I had gotten up around six o'clock, 6.05. I was going to tune into our eight o'clock service. So I said, well, let me go ahead and have my devotion and begin to do a little bit more with this text and read over it and just worship, worship the Lord in my own way, the way that I do. And around 630, someone they told me not to use the word broke in my sister's over there broke into my father's house. I'm going to use the word broke in. He didn't actually break in, he used the key and the key had fallen on. He came through the front porch and the key had fallen on. He came through the front porch and the key had fallen, because that, if you recall, a couple of weeks ago was a lot of wind and a lot of things were blowing it. I can only assume that the key fell and so he's homeless and he's found the key and he's thinking no one is in the house. So he came into the house, he went in my dad's office my dad, his bills and he had money laid out because he's going to pay his bills for the week. He had checks out, he had his wallet out and he just, I guess, he looked around the office and he picked up a piece of paper. The paper that he picked up was the paper that my dad was writing all his bills out.
Speaker 1:I was in the room praising the Lord. I was reading this text, y'all, when it says that the Lord will deliver us from all of our fears and all of our troubles. When we seek the Lord, when we call to the Lord, he will hear us and deliver. A few minutes later, my father locked on my door. Colleen, there's a man in the house and I'm like what? Because I'm coming out of worship. I was just getting ready to go in, y'all.
Speaker 1:I was just getting ready to go in, he said there's a man in the house. And I said a man in the house. And then he comes behind my father. He comes and stands behind my father and I said, sir, who are you? And so my dad backs up. Now here's the funny thing about this my dad backs up and he goes to his chair in the living room. So my dad was sleeping on the couch and he woke up to see this man in our house standing over him. We don't know what could have taken place. He just saw this man standing over him. We don't know what could have taken place. He just saw this man standing over him. And in retrospect, and even after I talked to my dad, after all of this was said and done, and my siblings even asked my father you know, you're pretty calm over there, sir this man done broken our house and you standing there I mean you sleep and he's standing over you and he sits in his rocking chair.
Speaker 1:And so I'm coming out of worship and I'm looking and for some of y'all who know my story and my history well, I used to work for the Central Intelligence Agency and so when I got up out the bed I was like let me put on my house coat, let me go out agency. And so when I got up out the bed, I was like let me put on my house coat, let me go out. Who are you and why are you in this house? You don't belong here. You can't be in this house, you can't be in this place. And I began to look at him, begin to talk. I said sit down. So now I'm telling him you sit on the couch, sit down, what's your name? And he tells me his name. I said you don't know the house that you broke into.
Speaker 1:Let me tell you something God lives in this house, the spirit of God lives in this house, the angels of the Lord and camp around us in this house. I'm speaking to him and he's looking at me like okay, okay, ma'am. When I asked him his name, he told me his name and I said you understand, you can't be here, you're not supposed to be here. He said yes, ma'am can't be here, you're not supposed to be here. He said yes, ma'am, I understand that. Now I don't got in this man's face.
Speaker 1:Pastor, chris, I'm ready, I'm like. I believe me and daddy can take him. I'm about ready. And the spirit of God stood up in me because I was ready to fight y'all. I was going to protect my father if I had to. But the spirit as the spirit of God stood up in me and I begin to ask him questions, elder Irma, as I begin to ask him, I saw him. The Lord quieted my spirit, so I wasn't in his face. I raised my voice. I saw him the way God sees us, and what I saw was a homeless man with no shoes on his feet. It was pouring, raining. If you guys remember, about three weeks it was pouring raining.
Speaker 1:He didn't have any shoes on. He had tattered jeans on that was cut off. He had on a sweatshirt that was turned inside out so I could see his um, the inside tag, and he had another shirt under there. And so I? Why did you do it? He said because I'm hungry and I'm cold. I said, okay, well, I'll fix you something to eat. That's a turn of events I wasn't expecting and my dad was sitting over there, just sitting, like Jamal is sitting over here in this chair, just sitting, looking what is going on here, and I said why you don't have any shoes? He said I don't have any shoes. I said, daddy, do you have some shoes? My father went in his closet and got him a pair of sneakers and he put his shoes on his feet and I went and got him some socks and as I was sitting there and he was sitting on the couch, my father cut on the television. Daddy done, cut on the TV. They sitting there looking at the TV. And he's sitting there.
Speaker 1:Now I can tell and I'm leaving some things out of the story but I can tell that there wasn't something quite right with him, so I could tell he had some mental issues. And as I saw him, and the other thing too, prior to that, my family, we live in a cluster, so one of my aunt's houses, a couple of my aunt's houses, was right next to my dad's and another one and he apparently had been to that house. But they have a ring system and they talked to him through the ring system, like telling him to move. But he came into our house. But he came into our house and as he came into the house I just was reciting that God hears us in the midst of our troubles, in the midst of our fears, and he will deliver us. I think I felt fear for this long, because when the Spirit of God stood up in me, I didn't feel fear anymore. That's just like David when David calls on the Lord, he delivered him from all of his fears.
Speaker 1:David was on the run. He was running from people trying to take his life. This man could have had a knife, he could have did something to my dad while my dad was sleeping on the couch. But God's word says that he will deliver us from all our fears, and so I just asked him. I said can I pray for you? It's a whole turn of a situation. And he looked at me. He said yes, ma'am. So I took his hand and he put one. I took his hand and then he put his hand on top of my hand and I covered his hand and I began to pray for him and I began to call on the name of Jesus on him and ask the Lord to help him in his mind, that his mind could be clear.
Speaker 1:And when I began to call on the name Jesus, because I was holding his hand, I felt a quickening. I said Jesus, thank you, lord. Jesus, god is able to do anything but fail. He is able to deliver us from our fears. He's able to deliver us from our troubles. He's able the things that we don't even know about. When we begin to pray and we ask God to keep us from seeing and unheard, unseen dangers. I'm in the room crying out to the Lord. I'm in the Lord, in the room, praising God for his goodness and his mercy, and in that moment someone was coming into my dad's house. But God heard my cry Because his daughter, I'm one of his children. The righteousness of God. I begin to praise the Lord. Thank you God. Hallelujah.
Speaker 2:Thank you, lord.
Speaker 1:So I, after I prayed with him, I mean he just looked at me and that's all I could say. I just kept saying Jesus, because there is power in the name of Jesus. And now I'm, you know, still thinking. I said well, daddy, let me call Barron, my brother. I want him to know. We got some men, some brothers, around here, just in case. And I got on my phone and I started texting my family and letting them know what was going on. And my sister immediately called my aunt that was next door and we are alerting the family that there's someone on our property that could cause us danger or harm.
Speaker 1:Now, I don't know about you, but I come from a family we know how to pray. My dad is a pastor. Now he's resigned, now he's Pastor Emeritus. But my dad is a pastor, was a pastor, and he taught us how to pray. He taught us how to call on the Word, call on the Lord. There were many times when I would sit in church and I would look at daddy. He's just and I would just be looking to take all that, sir. Well, the days and the time that we are living in today, it takes all of that and then some it takes more than that. So I have learned from watching my parents, my mother and my father, and that's why I can stand before you in this free house. Pastor Walt said be free, be free. Thank you, lord. God we're free today. Thank you, lord, god, for this time of consecration, god. Thank you Lord. Thank you God, that you hear our prayers. Thank you, god that you hear our cries. Thank you God. Thank you, lord.
Speaker 1:As I was talking to my family, as I told y'all, this started around 6.30. It took three hours. I called the police, everybody. Colin, you need to call the police, you need to file a report. So I said I'll file a report. I finally went ahead and did that around 8.15, 8.30-ish. They didn't get to us until after 9. 15, 8.30ish. They didn't get to us until after nine.
Speaker 1:And when I was talking to the lady the dispatcher and she was asking me to describe them and I gave her such an accurate description, I was like oh yeah, he's about 6'1". He probably weighs about 130 pounds. He had on green jeans that were tattered and torn. He didn't have any shoes on his feet. He had a black sweatshirt that was turned inside out and then he had a gray t-shirt on it and she was like ma'am, and I'm thinking because my CIA training, some of the things that we had to do, and I'm sure people who are here in the military, who have been in the military, may know we had to be able to turn around, be able to see something quickly and identify it, identify where the threat is, identify what's going on. That thing kicked in and she said I didn't tell her.
Speaker 1:I said, well, I'm, I'm usually very observant, so the sheriff came about nine o'clock and when the sheriff came he said ma'am, are you the person who filed the report? And I said yes, sir, and he asked my name and I told him. He said, okay, this is the name that I have on the report. And he said well, I'm sorry that there was a delay because we got another, uh, we got another call and it was an emergency and we needed to go work that call out. And so I told him I was beginning him to tell, tell him what had happened. And I told him that I took a picture of him. He said you took a picture. I said, yes, I told him to sit down on that couch and let me take his picture so the police would be able to see and know who he was. And he was like, okay.
Speaker 1:So he pulls out a wad full of checks and he said so, this is your dad's house, you don't live here. I said no, I don't live here, I'm just visiting, because my dad was sick and I came home to visit him. And so he pulls out this wad full of checks and he said I want to see if there are any names. If your dad's name, what's your father's name? And I told him and he flipped through the checks. He said well, there, he didn't steal any of your checks. And my father said, no, the only thing he took was this piece of paper off my desk. He had been around the neighborhood, he had broken into several houses and he stole checks and the police asked him well, what was you going to do with them? He said I was going to cash it for money. When he was in our house, daddy had a lot of money on the desk. He had checks on the desk. He didn't touch any of my father's money or checks because the angels of the Lord encamped around us and me and my family members several of us.
Speaker 1:We have been praying the Psalms 91. And even when I told my sister that I was going to preach from Psalms 34, and we're just talking about. We have been praying over our family and I pray over Chosen City. I pray for my pastor. Lord, put a hedge of protection around us, lord, put your hedge of protection not just my family, but all of us, because the times that we are living in, we need to know how to call on the name of Jesus. There is power in the name of Jesus. When you extol the Lord enthusiastically, celebrating what God has done for you, the Lord says through his word that he will deliver us from all of our fears and from all of our troubles, and from all of our troubles. Thank you, god. This brings me to my second point. So we know that the promises of God is good news. This is good news that God says he will deliver and heal us from our troubles.
Speaker 1:But the second point is our barriers can be broken when we praise God. Our barriers can be broken when we praise God. When we praise God, when we seek the Lord, when we extol him, when we look for him, when we cry out to him, our barriers can be broken. When we cry out to him, our barriers can be broken, all of the barriers that's on this wall over here. They are slowly breaking down. It may seem slow to us, but there's still a process that God has to do in a lot of us and as that process is completed, the barriers will come down and we'll be able to move them up above the line. Our barriers can be broken when we praise God, when we extol the Lord, when we come before him with enthusiastic praise. These are the things that have held us back for so long. The strongholds can be broken through our praise.
Speaker 1:As we've been studying breaking barriers, I feel that the Lord is trying to tell us and get our attention. All week long, as I said, every person that's still behind this pulpit talked about giving God praise. I will bless the Lord. Even Pastor Chris, when he was opening, he said the same thing. All week, god has been telling us and reminding us. I said Lord, god, thank you, god, because you gave me this three weeks ago. Oh, and we know that when we do that, god will hear us. So I was thinking. I said well, there's a formula. If we read the text and look at it and if we're looking in the natural sense of a mathematical formula. Typically, if you miss one portion of the formula, you'll get an error message. For those of you who work in Excel, you know if you're trying to write formulas, that thing will give you those hashtag marks and tell you in a minute that you got a wrong thing in that formula. But from a spiritual perspective, sometimes we eliminate these things that we talk about here in Psalms 34. Plus looking, plus calling, plus fearing God plus crying out plus taking refuge in him equals deliverance. Yeah, yeah, seek plus look, plus call, plus fear, plus cry out, plus take refuge in him. That equals deliverance. That equals our barriers falling and coming down.
Speaker 1:Many people today we barely turn and look at our Bibles or open them, much less study it, and then we don't praise the Lord. We give God these patty cake, these patty cake praises. What does your devotion look? What does your devotion time with the Lord look like? And I wasn't necessarily just because I was preparing for a sermon that I was in the room praising the Lord. And, as I just said to you all a few minutes ago, I grew up with that, I saw it. But mama and daddy's and grandma's praise. It got us through. It's got us to the point where I can praise God for myself because I learned how to do that. So we have a daily devotion time. It's very few days I don't have a devotion time. It is a priority to me, and the older I get I recognize it needs to be a priority. It's not something that I can skip.
Speaker 1:If we were to hope to spend our eternity with God as a Christian and the Bible says that we would be saying holy, holy, holy, lord, god Almighty. Every day, all day long, we would be saying holy, holy, holy. So should we not now try to get into the practice of praising God? Not now try to get into the practice of praising God? Should we not now try to think about the goodness of God all the time, on a regular basis?
Speaker 1:Because I work here in the building, I walk past this barrier wall and I look at the things that have been written on that wall, and one particular day I think I was feeling so much I felt the weight of the prayers on this wall. It was so heavy. I went into the conference room and Coleman was in there and I said, coleman, coleman was in there and I said, coleman, we have to pray, the elders have to pray. The people of God has to pray. The things that is on this wall was just breaking my heart and I even told Brandy the other day. I said I got to get through this sermon because when, in this season that I'm in, now, that I'm truly learning how to put my whole self in a praise, it just overwhelmed me and I just just crying tears because I feel the weight and the pain that's on that wall.
Speaker 1:That's our assignment, elders. That's our assignment, ministers. That's our assignment, deacons. That's our assignment To cover the people of God. We are coming to terrible times and we have to know how to call on the name of Jesus From the pulpit to the door. We have to know how to do that.
Speaker 1:So I just wrote down a couple of the things that's on the wall that caught my attention. There's the barrier of life troubles that many of us deal with. There's the barrier of fears and self-doubt. There's the barrier of afflictions, sickness and disease. There's the barrier of unforgiveness and offenses. There's a barrier of lack of finances or lack of altogether. These are barriers Family, my family, our CCC partners. These are barriers that's on this wall. But I declare to you today, by the Spirit of God, that, if we implement everything that we have learned during consecration week, when we offer ourselves up to God, when we begin to praise God, when we begin to worship God, when we begin to seek God, when we begin to cry out to God, when we begin to take refuge in God, I declare that the Spirit will break the barriers.
Speaker 1:When we praise God, when we praise God, our barriers can be broken. Sometimes we just got to go through some stuff, minister Rhonda. We got to go through it, but when we go through it, we get to where God will have us to be. We get to be able to then serve. We get to then be able to help our brothers and our sisters. We get to do it. We don't have to do it, but we get to do it. We get to do it because we are free. The chains have been broken, the strongholds have been broken. We can be free in Christ Jesus. Thank you, god, for your freedom. Thank you, god, that this is a free house. Thank you, lord. When we allow the Holy Spirit to do the work in us, around us, through us, the load becomes a little bit more bearable. It's easier to carry. Here at Chosen City, we are constantly asking God to fill us with his Holy Spirit. It's the Spirit of God that gives us the power and the grace to deal with our troubles and to break our barriers.
Speaker 1:You may have heard the cliche. You know prayer. We ought to pray. Well, it's a scripture. We ought to pray about everything and be anxious for nothing. But then there's a cliche that says prayer changes things. But when we pray, oftentimes the change is in you. God changes your heart. God changes your perspective about your problems. He changes what you think about your problems. He changes how heavy you feel or think it is. Jesus said come unto me all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest". God will carry it.
Speaker 1:Too often we are carrying the load by ourselves. We are holding our own barriers. We are the cause that some of the barriers are not broken. God has to deliver some of us from ourselves. Our works and our efforts are not sufficient to break our barriers. We can't do it on our own. We cannot do it on our own. But those of us who trust in the Lord that's the good news, that's the good news, that's the promise of God those of us who trust in the Lord, according to the promises of God, even though we have our share of troubles and problems, the word of God says that he will hear us and he will deliver us from them all. And he will deliver us from them all.
Speaker 1:James 1 and 2 says we should count it all joy when we fall into diverse temptations. This verse encourages the people of God to find joy in difficult times, as those difficult times can lead to spiritual growth. I think we miss that sometimes, but if we were continually praising the Lord, we wouldn't miss that. It's an opportunity for God to show up and show out. It's an opportunity for God to supply us with more of what he needs. It's a part of the normal Christian life that we are going to experience things that are not pleasant. But James 1 and 2 encourages patience and perseverance in the face of our adversities.
Speaker 1:Romans 8 and 28 tells us. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those that love him, have been called according to his purpose. I won't go into that, but I was talking to Mary and I was talking to Mary and I think Carla was on the phone and I was telling her I was reading the Word and I said I get so excited in these days when I'm studying the Word and God reveals new things to me, and when I read that Scripture I probably read it since I grew up in church. I've heard it hundreds if not thousands of times, but something about it. That day when I was in my devotion. I've heard it hundreds if not thousands of times, but something about it that day when I was in my devotion and I began to study in all things God works.
Speaker 1:Colleen's not working, pastor Chris is not working it out. God is working. God works in all things. But here's the caveat For those of us who love him and are called according to his purpose All of us have a purpose. Each of us have a purpose. This verse gives us hope and assurance that, as believers in God's plan, even amidst difficult circumstances, the negative things and challenges that we may experience that God brings, he can bring about good out of them for those of us who love him and are called to his purpose. This is yet another promise of God which is good news for the believer. Our barriers can be broken and used by God to work in our lives for his purpose. And that brings me to my third point. So we know that the promises of God is good. Our barriers can be broken when we praise God. And the third point is seek the Lord. He hears and will answer according to his purpose, according to his purpose. Seeking the Lord is the first portion of the formula that we discuss. Purpose Seeking the Lord is the first portion of the formula that we discuss.
Speaker 1:When we seek the Lord and we see that he is answering our prayers, then our faith continues to grow. So we have one trial, one situation. We seek the Lord, we call out to God. He hears us, he answers us. Our faith grows. We have another test, we have another trial. We seek the Lord, we cry out to him. He hears us, he delivers us. Our faith continues to grow and our situations, our troubles and our problems, as we have heard people say, sometimes higher heights, bigger devils. But when you've been walking this thing out and your faith is growing, one step at a time, and your faith is growing and moving, we get into the habit, which is what Pastor Walt has been trying to get this house to do to get into the habit of calling out to God and blessing his name and praising him. That's the promise, that's the promise of God.
Speaker 1:Verse 4 says when we say seek the Lord that point, seek the Lord he hears and will answer according to his promise. Verse 4 says I sought the Lord and he answered me and he delivered me from all my fears. This verse reads exactly. This is the one verse in those two passages of scripture. It reads exactly the same. There was no change in any of the wording that was used. I sought the Lord and he heard me. He delivered me from all my fears.
Speaker 1:David, the author of this text, is letting us know that he sought the Lord or he seeks the Lord. The biblical definition of sought means to inquire for, to ask for, to solicit, to endeavor, to find or to gain by any means. If we incorporate this biblical definition into the text and we look at it the way David was looking at it, reading it, david sought the Lord by any means. He went to God by any means, he cried out to God by any means. Lord, I need you, help me. Lord, god, there's men chasing me trying to kill me. Father, god, deliver me from all of my fears. He sought the Lord to seek him, and God heard him and he answered him and he delivered him from those fears and those troubles. And God hears you too. God does not ask us to seek him in vain.
Speaker 1:Matthew 6 and 33 lets us know of another promise of God. It does say seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all other things will be added unto you In case you missed it. The things will be added unto you. In case you missed it, here's the promise when we seek the Lord, the promises of God, these things shall it used, the word shall be added unto you In the Bible. Anytime we see the word shall, that means that it will happen. When we see shall, that means it will come to pass. It is definitive, it is final, it is complete and it cannot be changed. The word of God cannot be changed. It's definitive, it's final. It says it shall. So we seek God, god, and we should seek him and make him a priority in our lives over our own interests, trusting God to provide for our needs.
Speaker 1:I'm telling you, saints, we're going to have to know how to call out to the Lord. We have to feel that thing so deeply in our spirit and our souls. It got to be so deeply rooted in us, like David, to trust God. It doesn't matter what it looks like, it doesn't matter what it feels like, it doesn't matter what it sounds like.
Speaker 1:A couple of weeks ago they had to wheel me out of here in a wheelchair and Pastor Chris and Pastor Nakima came and they began to pray for me because I was going through some things and several people said Colleen, why did you even come to church. I said I don't know about you, but what I know is when I come into the presence of God, sickness cannot stand. When I come into the presence of God, when I lift up my voice and worship the Lord, he will hear me and he will deliver. Even when they were praying for me, I said to pass in the chemo, I said it don't matter what it looks like right now this is a testimony is yet another testimony. This is spiritual warfare. It don't matter what it feels like. My legs felt like lead. They even had to take me to my house and help me up my stairs because I couldn't climb the stairs on my own.
Speaker 1:But it doesn't matter what it might look like in a time of trouble. It doesn't matter what it feels like in a time of trouble. When we know how to call on the name of Jesus, he will deliver us. He will hear our cry, and sometimes it's not instantaneous, but we can count on the promises of God because he doesn't lie and he will not fail. The promise of God is standing before you right now. I'm walking around talking about the goodness of Jesus. I don't need a cane, I don't need a wheelchair. I'm telling the world by way of social media and those of you who are in the house when we trust in the Lord, he will hear us. He heard me and he hears you too. We have to seek the Lord. We have to trust in the Lord and the promises of God.
Speaker 1:Psalms 34 is written by David and serves as a beautiful example that our Father is our protector, our healer, our deliverer. There's key words, and we talked about them to extol the Lord, glorify the Lord, sought or seek after God, call after him for those who are righteous. The word delivers was mentioned in this text alone four times. The word troubles was mentioned three times, the word fear was mentioned three times and the word hear was mentioned several times. So the main takeaway from this passage of scripture is a reminder to us that God hears us and he delivers us from all of our troubles. He delights in our seeking Him. He delights in our extolling Him. He delights in our glorifying Him. He delights in us calling on him and making him our priority.
Speaker 1:When we look at everything going on in our society, all kinds of things happening and going on, and so many people are beginning to feel anxious, so many people are beginning to feel afraid. But when the people of God stand on the promises of God, when we eternalize God's promises, you can only internalize them if you pick up your Bible and read the word of God for yourself. When we internalize his promises, we can look at whatever is going on and say no, I trust God because I'm the righteousness of God. I'm a child of the Lord. He is going to supply our needs, and it may not look like what we are accustomed to all the time, but he will do it because that's what he promised that he will do. His promises are yea, yea and amen. He cannot fail.
Speaker 1:The praises of God should always be in our mouth. We must always see ourselves in the word. Did you see yourself in this word today? Do you praise the Lord? Do you worship the Lord? Are you going to walk away with a different perception? We ought to come and praise and worship the Lord, enthusiastically, celebrating the promises that he has already given us. That's the word of the Lord From the pulpit to the door. The praises of God should always be on our mouth and when we cry out to him, he hears us.
Speaker 1:As a matter of fact, the redemptive message part of this sermon is that he heard us on the cross. He heard us on the cross when he died on the cross for us, when he shed his blood for us. He heard us. He heard every cry that was there at his feet and every cry into the future. He heard our cries at the cross. That's the message and we have to be able to see ourselves in the message and the proper response to a message. When you see yourself, you have to see that maybe you haven't done anything right, because all of us have fallen short of the glory of God, and the proper response is to repent.
Speaker 1:I don't know about you, but even as he was dealing with me in this and I think I praise the Lord, I praise God a lot at the house, I'm worshiping the Lord, but what he said to me is one of your barriers. One of your barriers in order house. I took off running. I don't know if y'all saw I took off running around the church. All I heard was I heard the air and the wind and the breath of the Spirit of God. Even when I was in my teens, I don't think I ever ran that fast. I was running around the church and, as I took every step calling out God, I thank you, hallelujah, the walls began to crumble down, the barrier began to come down. I began to just run. I'm running, god. Thank you Lord.
Speaker 2:Hallelujah. Thank you, God, for what you're doing.
Speaker 1:God, we bless your name and I waited for today. I waited for today to move this barrier off, this wall.
Speaker 2:Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. Glory to God.
Speaker 1:Pastor had given us an assignment and he said pray about the barriers that you have and that God will reveal them to you. And I honestly said I said, lord, I already wrote two barriers. They up there already. I don't think we got anything else to work with. But the Spirit of God said no, and then he reminded me of God said no, and then he reminded me.
Speaker 1:24 years ago, the pastor that I had in Maryland said to me you have to. You are so emotionally tight. You got to let God in. When you get to the day that you let God in, god is going to use you in a mighty way.
Speaker 1:Then, about 10 years ago, I was going through a few years ago, going through MIT. In MIT they gave each of us like a prophetic word and the word that they gave to me was almost the same word. He said, colleen, you're going to be somebody's preacher one day. But you got to let some things go. You got to let it go. And I was telling Pastor Walt I said you set me up, sir. You set me up because the barrier that I had being transparent, because we are in a transparent house and I pray that this will also set somebody else free.
Speaker 1:And what the Lord deposited in me was for me to understand that that barrier even though, yes, my child, you praise me at the house, you worship me, you have devotion, you pray, you study the word of God but you got to allow other people to see, you got to allow other people to see your vulnerability, for anybody who knows me. I don't do that. I don't do that. I don't allow myself. Even when I was sick, I even was thinking I was like Lord. I got to get into the house of the Lord, I got to get the church, but even in that I felt some kind of way. When people saw me having to be taken out of here in a wheelchair, I felt some kind of way about that way about that, but the bondage of holding on to your emotions and not allowing people to see you worship and praise the Lord in the spirit of holiness and in the truth that God has given us. God. I thank you because the barrier was broken.
Speaker 2:Hallelujah, thank you, god. Was broken Hallelujah, thank you God.
Speaker 1:And then Bishop Jenrite came and his text was what happens in an atmosphere of praise, right, in an atmosphere of praise, what happens? Well, let me tell you what happened in the atmosphere of praise when he laid his hand on me that electricity. They just shot through my body and I fell out and I kept trying to get up. I think I was down there for a good 10 minutes. I couldn't get up off the floor. God was just working in me. He's like no, I broke one of the barriers. But now I got to do something else in you. I got to continue to remove those things that would keep you from being who I've called you to be, and he wouldn't let me get up until that barrier was broken.
Speaker 1:And so, god, I thank you for breaking barriers, because the barriers that he broke for me, he can break them for you. And, just like our pastor have been saying, we're going to pull it to the top. We're going to do that because we're going to seek the Lord, we're going to seek after God, we're going to call on him, because when we do that, he hears our prayers and he answers and delivers. But let me tell you about the wonderful thing about God. I didn't even pray that prayer. I didn't pray that prayer. I don't know if somebody else was praying it. I don't know if Pastor Walt was praying it because he recognized that that was something that needed to be broken. But, god, I thank you that you broke it, because I'm free.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Lord.
Speaker 1:Thank you, God, Hallelujah. There's a popular song out right now. It says I trust in God. That has been on my replay for several weeks and I sing that and sometimes I can't get through the song. I wind up prostrate before the Lord at the house. I wind up prostrate before the Lord, just praising God. But some of the words in that particular text says what he did on Calvary was more than enough. God, the author of our tomorrow, has ordered my steps. I'm praising my risen Savior all the day long. But then in that same song it says I sought the Lord and he heard me and he answered, and that's why I trust him. That's why I trust the Lord, that's why I can trust that his promises are true. I seek God.
Speaker 2:I will bless the Lord, I will extol the Lord at all times.
Speaker 1:his praise shall continually be in my mouth. Oh, won't you exalt the Lord with me today? Think, I challenge you right now to think of something that God has done when he has answered your prayer. Think about the goodness of Jesus. Think about what he's doing. Think about what you are yet asking him to do. Think about the day that you're going to move one of your stickers from the bottom line to the top, and I declare that you ought to exalt the Lord.
Speaker 1:Yes, lord, bless the Lord. Oh, my soul and all that is within me. Yes, I will bless his holy name. All that is within me, not parts of me, not some of me, but that's what extol means, all that is within you. Everything comes to the praise party. Everything, our heart, mind, body, soul, our limbs, our hands, our feet, everything comes to the praise party when we extol the Lord. And that's what we're trying to get us to learn and understand in this house in this season for what is to come, we have to know to be able to praise the Lord. I love that song, I love the words of that song and clearly, as I was studying Psalms 34, I said, oh, he was reading Psalms 34. Verse 4 in Psalms 34, he was reading Psalms 34. Verse 4 in Psalms 34. I sought the Lord and he heard me and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. And that's why I trust him, that's why I trust in God.
Speaker 2:Yeah, lord, my Savior, the one who will never fail. Fail he will never fail. I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail. He will never fail.
Speaker 1:Yes, I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered.
Speaker 2:I sought the Lord, and he heard and he answered.
Speaker 1:I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered.
Speaker 2:That's why I trust him.
Speaker 1:That's why I trust him I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered, and that's why I trust him. That's why I trust him. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered, and that's why I trust him. That's why I trust him, that's why I trust in God. Yeah, lord, god hears you too.
Speaker 2:God hears you, he hears you, he hears every cry, he hears you and he will answer. Yeah, lord, hallelujah, se Lord, hallelujah, seek God, seek the Lord. Yeah, lord, hallelujah, hallelujah, he answers, he answers. Yeah, lord, thank you for healing us. Thank you for yeah, lord, thank you for healing us. Thank you for delivering us, god. God, you know what's in need of right now. We thank you, lord, that as we seek your face, you will hear us and you will answer and you will deliver. Thank you, lord. Seek the Lord, seek the Lord, seek the Lord, seek the Lord, seek the Lord, seek the Lord, seek the Lord, seek the Lord, Seek the Lord. Call on. He will answer. Hallelujah, thank you, lord, hallelujah, hallelujah. He's the one who will never fail. Hallelujah, thank you, lord. He will never fail, he will never fail.
Speaker 1:He will never fail. Just like he heard David's prayer and just like he heard my cries when I was praying at my dad's house and didn't even recognize that we could have been in trouble. That trouble was at the door. He heard me some 40 years ago when I gave my life to the Lord. He heard me and he will hear you too today.
Speaker 1:If you don't know this God that we are talking about, this God that we are singing about, if you don't know this God as the elders and the ministers walk down the aisle, if you don't know this God who is a deliverer and, as I told you, he is a healer, he's a protector. He's a protector, he's a provider. If you don't know God to be all of these things, seek him, repent. If you don't know the Lord is your Lord and Savior, repent. He'll hear you, he'll hear your heart. We have to come to him with a humble heart, with a repentant heart. Lord, forgive me.
Speaker 1:I don't know about you, but as I was going through this, I realized that I still owe God some praise. I still owe God some praise about some things. I don't want to be like the 10 lepers who Jesus healed and they all went about their way, but only one came back. One came back to say thank you, thank you, lord. I want to always be the one that's going to come back, and say God I thank you, god, thank you, you delivered me from cancer.
Speaker 2:Thank you, lord, god, thank you, lord, thank you.
Speaker 1:Lord, god, and all of the things that I have dealt with. The enemy has been trying to take my life for decades, but I know how to call out the name of the Lord hallelujah. Thank you God. Thank you Lord, repent, come back to the Lord. If you don't know him, come to him. Seek the Lord, fear God, take refuge in him, call out to him. He will hear you. He has no respect of person, all of us. He will hear our cries and he will answer according to his will and purpose for our individual lives.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Lord God.
Speaker 1:Thank you, god, that barriers are broken. Thank you, lord God, that you hear all of your children. Thank you, lord God, that you hear a sinner's prayer when we accept you in our hearts and believe that you are God and we confess with our mouth. His word says that we're saved. It doesn't take a whole lot Accept, believe, confess. God hears you. God hears you. What I'm looking at. You see me. He hears you. He hears you. Can't you see me? He hears you. He hears you and he will deliver and he will answer.
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