Catégorie
📚
ÉducationTranscription
00:00 I feel like I felt at 2600 HF Shepherd.
00:03 (crowd cheering)
00:05 I feel like I felt at 656 L Street in Macon, amen.
00:10 This feel like home, amen.
00:13 When the saints are praising God together
00:16 and having church together,
00:18 not spectating but participating.
00:20 Yes, Lord, yeah.
00:24 You hear somebody shout over here,
00:26 hear somebody shout over here.
00:29 Yeah, it's like when you put popcorn.
00:31 Yeah, popcorn praise, amen.
00:35 Amen, not crock pot praise, but popcorn praise.
00:40 Some energy and life, amen.
00:43 'Cause if you have breath, let everything that have breath.
00:47 Praise ye the Lord, amen.
00:52 This month I'm preaching from the theme, the next play.
00:56 And in keeping with that,
00:57 I want you to come to 1 Kings chapter 17.
01:01 And you see these words in verse number two.
01:03 And the word of the Lord came unto Elijah saying,
01:07 "Get thee hence and turn thee eastward
01:11 "and hide thyself by the brook Cherith
01:14 "that is before Jordan.
01:16 "It shall be that thou shall drink of the brook,
01:20 "and I've commanded the ravens to feed thee there."
01:23 So Elijah went and did according to the word of the Lord
01:26 before he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith
01:28 that is before Jordan.
01:30 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning
01:34 and bread and flesh in the evening
01:35 and he drank of the brook.
01:37 Verse seven, our key verse says,
01:39 "And it came to pass after a while
01:44 "that the brook dried up
01:48 "because there had been no rain in the land."
01:51 Now verse two, it says,
01:52 "And the word of the Lord came to Elijah saying,
01:54 "Get thee hence and turn thee eastward
01:57 "and hide thyself by the brook Cherith
01:59 "and it shall be that thou shall drink of the brook."
02:04 God said, "And it shall be that thou shall drink
02:10 "of the brook."
02:11 Verse seven, "It came to pass after a while
02:14 "that the brook dried up."
02:17 I wanna talk simply from this thought this morning
02:20 when the play changes.
02:22 (congregation murmuring)
02:24 You may be seated in the presence of the Lord.
02:26 Somebody say, "When the play."
02:28 When the play changes.
02:32 Israel had had a variety of play changes.
02:37 First play for their government
02:41 would be that they would be ruled or governed
02:46 through what was called theocracy
02:50 in which God would rule over his people
02:53 with chosen men and even a woman
02:57 who would be called judges.
03:01 That was the play called by God.
03:07 In order to implement that play,
03:09 God raised up Atenel and Ehud and Shamgar and Deborah
03:13 and Gideon and Abimelech and Tolar and Jair
03:17 and Ibdam and Elam and Abdam and Samson
03:20 to rule the people theocratically.
03:24 But then the Hebrew people wanted to call an audible
03:30 on what God had called.
03:33 They noticed the governments of the pagans
03:37 and instead of theocratic rule,
03:40 they wanted monarchical rule.
03:44 They wanted to have a king like the other nations.
03:48 Let me pause parenthetically just to insert here.
03:53 You have to be careful when you start admiring
03:57 what you think other folk have.
03:59 And that's one of the dangers and even the tragedies
04:06 of this social media world.
04:11 It has caused people to have a negative self-image
04:16 about themselves, thinking that they have to compete
04:21 with someone else's photograph,
04:24 not knowing that often it's a bunch of filters,
04:31 fakeness and phoniness.
04:35 And people are losing real joy trying to emulate
04:39 that which is fake.
04:42 And God acquiesced to the will of Israel
04:45 and said, "Since you want a king,
04:49 "you need to be careful what you ask for."
04:51 So God goes to the inconsequential village of Gibe
04:55 and raises up a fellow whose name was Saul,
04:59 allows the play to be changed.
05:02 Monarchy was instituted with Saul and then David
05:06 and then Solomon and then Rehoboam.
05:09 931, the play changed again.
05:12 Rehoboam's foolishness and unwillingness
05:15 to listen to wise counsel caused the nation of Israel
05:19 to split, 10 northern tribes choosing a guy
05:23 whose name was Jeroboam to be her king
05:27 in the two southern kingdoms,
05:29 Judah keeping Rehoboam as his king.
05:34 It's the time of this text, the nation has split in twain.
05:38 And at the time of this text, God is allowing King Ahab
05:43 to rule there in the northern kingdom.
05:45 Unfortunately, Ahab has forgotten about
05:52 the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
05:54 Abraham, at the time of this text, Elijah is not called yet,
06:00 but Ahab has begun to look at political complicity.
06:07 - Yeah.
06:08 - And wants to foment his own strength.
06:10 And so he sees a woman who did not serve the God
06:13 that he served, she served a God who's called Baal,
06:18 B-A-A-L, Baal, a Canaanite God, a God of fertility,
06:24 a God of rain.
06:27 And so in order to foment his own leadership,
06:31 he married a woman who did not share his same faith.
06:36 Let me add again, be careful when you connect with that
06:41 which God has not ordained.
06:43 And so in order to make this marriage make sense,
06:48 he forms somewhat of a hybrid faith
06:52 where he could worship Jehovah and Baal simultaneously,
06:57 not knowing that God had already said, I'm a jealous God.
07:03 And thou shall have no other God before me.
07:07 God here in some type of righteous indignation
07:12 finds himself with the anthropomorphic quality of jealousy
07:15 and even anger.
07:18 The Puritan preacher, Jonathan Edwards,
07:20 would call this a case of sinners
07:23 in the hands of an angry God.
07:26 And so in order to exact and enact punishment and judgment
07:31 on this new faith that worshiped Jehovah and Baal
07:35 simultaneously, God tells Elijah to go
07:38 to the palatial palace in Samaria
07:40 and prophesy on my behalf.
07:44 But don't tell the king he's gonna get a car in three days.
07:47 Don't tell the folk they spin around four times
07:51 their blessing is coming.
07:53 But tell them because they've turned their backs on me
07:57 that I'm gonna let a famine come in the land.
08:01 And there would not be any rain
08:04 until I say it's gonna rain.
08:07 And so as a consequence of Elijah's actions,
08:10 God institutes a seven-year famine there in the land
08:15 when there will be dry and arid conditions.
08:19 However, even when the conditions were dry and arid,
08:24 God comes to Elijah in 1 Kings 17 and two and says,
08:28 Elijah, I want you to go eastward,
08:30 find this transjordanic area called Shareth.
08:35 And when you get to Shareth, know this,
08:37 that although there'll be no rain in the land,
08:40 there'll be no evaporation,
08:42 foliage, supplies won't be accessible,
08:45 the good news is I have already ordained and consecrated
08:50 that a brook is gonna bring you water.
08:52 Let me just insert again.
08:55 I don't want you to be troubled
08:57 by what's happening in our world.
08:59 I want you to be careful about your mental health
09:03 and don't get caught up watching CNN and C-SPAN
09:06 and MSNBC all day long trying to figure out
09:10 what's gonna happen in government
09:12 and who's gonna run for president next year.
09:15 Don't let the talk of inflation drive you crazy
09:18 and make you feel you can't live your life
09:21 because even if there's a famine in the land,
09:24 even if inflation is still high,
09:27 I still believe that God has a brook for his children.
09:31 Am I talking to anybody who can testify
09:35 that you still believe that the cattle
09:38 on a thousand hills belong to God?
09:41 I want you to know that the earth is the Lord's
09:44 and the fullness thereof and the world and they that dwell,
09:47 if it's Trump or DeSantis,
09:50 if it's Biden or if it's Kamala,
09:52 please understand this,
09:55 I have never seen the righteous forsaken.
09:59 Are y'all gonna take the brakes off me here?
10:01 Oh, it's seed begging bread.
10:05 And so while he's there at the brook,
10:07 God says, Elijah, for seven years,
10:09 there will be no rain in the land
10:11 and the play call is for you to make your habitation
10:16 by this place in Sheriff.
10:18 And so for three and a half years,
10:21 for 39, if we would, for 42 months,
10:25 Elijah has enjoyed the security of the same play call.
10:31 Yeah, there he is for 42 months,
10:34 for three and a half years,
10:36 God has commanded the waters of the brook to not evaporate.
10:40 And then God commanded a ravens and ravens,
10:44 birds who were scavengers,
10:47 birds who were only concerned about their own culinary diet
10:51 to bring him bread every morning and every evening.
10:56 It was strange, God did not command a dove.
10:59 Dove symbolizes the Holy Spirit.
11:03 You would have thought that God would have sent a dove
11:06 to bring him food every morning, every evening.
11:09 But God says, no, it won't be a dove,
11:12 it's gonna be a raven.
11:13 In other words, I'll use strange strategies.
11:17 I'll use unlikely people and unlikely things
11:20 to get a blessing to you.
11:22 As a matter of fact, if I want to,
11:23 I'll even use your enemies.
11:25 Y'all got the brakes on, do we?
11:28 To be a blessing to his people.
11:31 And so for 42 months, for three and a half years,
11:36 Elijah has enjoyed the play call of God's stability.
11:40 Water from the brook, bread from the ravens.
11:44 But then three and a half years into this play call,
11:48 God decides, Roberts, to change the offense.
11:52 I'm glad I can hear you, brother.
11:53 God changed the offense,
11:55 and now God institutes a new play call.
11:59 Verse seven is a troublesome verse.
12:01 It says, "And it came to pass after a while
12:04 "that the brook dried up."
12:08 Now that's a problem for me because God is the one
12:11 in verse two and three who told him to go
12:15 and reside by the brook.
12:19 Now the problem for me theologically is,
12:21 why would God lead you to a place
12:24 and allow you to be comfortable in that place
12:28 and find security in that place
12:30 and comfort and contentment in that place?
12:34 And you know it was him that sent you.
12:36 And then without warning, without notice,
12:42 without a tweet, without a call,
12:44 without an email, without Morse code,
12:47 a carrier pigeon, a message in a Bible,
12:49 not even through MySpace, Instagram, or TikTok, or Twitter,
12:52 God changed the play
12:57 and did not invite you into the huddle.
12:59 Y'all quiet on me here.
13:02 Some of you have been going to jobs
13:04 that you know God gave you the job.
13:07 And you've been comfortable in that job
13:09 that used to bring you joy and contentment and excitement.
13:12 You used to be excited to get there
13:13 'cause you prayed for it.
13:16 And now the thing that you prayed for
13:18 is getting on your last nerves.
13:19 I wish somebody would talk to me here.
13:21 Some of you prayed for that relationship.
13:26 Oh, you sung Luther's "If Only for One Night."
13:30 But now Luther's "If Only for One Night"
13:31 has turned to BB's, the thrill is gone.
13:34 What happened when that person that used to bring you life
13:37 and sustenance and enjoyment,
13:40 my, my, seeing now that what you once enjoyed
13:43 is now empty and vain.
13:45 Can I tell you why?
13:46 'Cause we serve a God who if He wants to,
13:50 He can change the play.
13:52 And not only can God change the play,
13:58 He does not need your permission.
14:00 He does not need your vote.
14:03 He does not need your inclusion.
14:05 He does not need your knowledge.
14:07 The question is, what do you do when the play changes?
14:13 I had to ask a text this question,
14:15 God, why do you change the plays
14:20 on the lives and in the lives of the people
14:23 that you say you love?
14:25 God, God, why is it that you would change the play?
14:28 And God said to me,
14:29 here's why I have to change the play in your life,
14:33 even if it makes you uncomfortable.
14:34 He says, here's why, because I have to change the play,
14:36 number one, because it prevents you from being stuck.
14:41 (congregation shouting)
14:44 Prevents you from being stuck.
14:49 Verse two, Elijah, the Lord came and said,
14:52 go and hide thyself by the brook Cherith.
14:57 I've already given you prophetic inclinations.
15:00 Your name means Yahweh is my God.
15:03 You're gonna be a prophet.
15:04 You had a prenatal ordination.
15:08 Oh, before your dad planted the seed
15:11 and your mom's womb released the egg,
15:14 they connected to form a zygote.
15:16 The zygote became an embryo.
15:17 The embryo became a fetus.
15:19 You had three trimesters.
15:20 Before the process of gestation,
15:22 I'd already anointed that you would be a prophet
15:26 to the nation.
15:27 You are a prophet of God.
15:30 And yet for 42 months, Elijah has been sustained
15:37 but not prophetic.
15:38 For three and a half years,
15:44 he's done nothing that we know of
15:47 that has connection or affinity to his call.
15:51 For three and a half years, he's been by a brook.
15:58 We've heard nothing prophetic come from his lips
16:01 'cause he's been in hiding.
16:03 (congregation chattering)
16:08 Some of you are wondering, why is it
16:11 that seemingly people on my job
16:14 who show up late and leave early,
16:17 they lay off on Fridays and Mondays
16:21 before and after holidays?
16:22 Never show up on time, never do a decent day's work
16:26 for a decent day's wage, but they get the promotion.
16:29 I bring coffee twice a week and donuts every Friday.
16:33 And seemingly, I'm stuck here in a cubicle
16:36 in a place of hiding.
16:38 Are y'all gonna talk to me here?
16:41 Why doesn't anybody see me?
16:43 When is my time coming?
16:45 I came to tell you this, listen very carefully.
16:47 Just because you're not visible
16:49 does not mean you're not valuable.
16:51 And maybe God has you in a place of hiding
16:57 because he's preparing the blessing for you
17:01 or he's preparing you for the blessing.
17:03 Maybe God has in a place where he is protecting you
17:07 'cause you have the gift but don't have the patience.
17:10 You have the anointing but don't have the character.
17:13 So let me let you stay there for a minute
17:16 to cultivate what's in you
17:18 'cause if I get it to you too quickly,
17:20 you won't be able to handle it.
17:22 Are y'all gonna help me here?
17:24 It reminds me of my grandmama back in the day.
17:28 I never shall forget my grandmama when they made cakes.
17:31 Somewhat telling my age here
17:32 but back in the day when they made cakes,
17:34 they didn't always have ovens with lights on them.
17:38 And you can make a cake and put the cake in the oven
17:43 but you can't look and cut a light on
17:45 to see if the cake is ready.
17:48 And sometimes when you put the cake in the oven
17:52 and can't see when the cake is ready,
17:55 sometimes in an amateurish and neophyte way,
17:58 you can take the cake out because it looks ready.
18:01 And get your knife and cut the cake.
18:05 And you cut the cake and the cake looks done on the outside
18:08 but it's not done on the inside.
18:11 And once you cut it, you can't put it back in the oven
18:14 because then it'd be like some of those cakes
18:17 y'all bring to Thanksgiving, it'll bring too dry.
18:20 Are y'all gonna help me preach here?
18:22 But then somebody came up with a great concept
18:25 that even without lights in the oven,
18:26 what we'll do is we'll put toothpicks.
18:29 I wish I had somebody who made cakes
18:31 and didn't buy them from Publix.
18:33 And what you do when you get the cake out the oven,
18:35 you pull the toothpick and look at the toothpick.
18:39 And when you pull the toothpick out,
18:41 if there's anything runny on the toothpick,
18:44 the cake ain't ready.
18:46 So you put it back in the oven.
18:48 And you pull it back out and pull out the toothpick
18:50 and when you don't see any moisture on the toothpick,
18:53 then you know the cake is ready.
18:57 Some of you wondering why you being poked.
19:00 Some of you wondering why you been put in the heat.
19:02 And you're wondering when God is gonna take you out the fire.
19:05 God's told me to tell you 'cause you ain't ready yet.
19:09 I got you in there 'cause I'm developing something for you,
19:12 but I'm not trying to destroy you,
19:14 I'm trying to develop you.
19:15 I wish I had somebody who can say,
19:17 "Anyway, you bless me."
19:19 (congregation cheering)
19:22 Don't you be frustrated because
19:26 it feels like you're stuck now.
19:31 'Cause the same God who sent you there
19:34 is the same God who knows how long to keep you there.
19:37 And when God gets ready,
19:40 he can pull you out of any circumstance,
19:42 situation of toxicity and negativity
19:46 that does not line up with your destiny.
19:48 Somebody say, "When you get ready, I'm ready, Lord."
19:51 Yeah, he says, "Listen, listen, listen,
19:53 "I have to change your plate
19:57 "to prevent you from being stuck.
19:59 "Elijah, you been there 42 months.
20:01 "If I don't change it, you'll stay there.
20:04 "But now I know you're ready.
20:05 "I'm changing it so you won't get comfortable."
20:07 How many of you so comfortable in that place?
20:10 Won't start your business 'cause you're too comfortable.
20:13 Don't wanna go back to school 'cause you're too comfortable.
20:16 Don't wanna write the book.
20:18 Don't wanna institute the program
20:19 'cause you're comfortable.
20:20 Sometimes God says, "If you don't do what I told you to do,
20:24 "I'll change your plate to force you into your destiny."
20:29 My God, he says, "I gotta change the plate
20:32 "to prevent you from being stuck."
20:33 Number two, I gotta change the plate,
20:35 it is to push you beyond survival.
20:38 I wanna push you beyond survival.
20:43 Yeah, he calls the plate
20:45 for Elijah to be by the brook and sheriff,
20:47 for 42 months, for three and a half years.
20:51 And for 42 months, Elijah has been surviving.
20:55 Can I tell you his survival plan?
20:56 Water from the brook every morning, every evening.
21:03 And every morning and every evening,
21:05 the Raven Express.
21:07 Before you had DoorDash, Elijah had the Raven Dash.
21:16 Ravens would drop by every morning, every evening
21:19 and bring him bread.
21:21 Yes, Father's Day, Elijah had water from the brook,
21:27 bread from the ravens.
21:31 Fourth of July, let me contextualize it.
21:35 Water from the brook, bread from the ravens.
21:39 Labor Day, water from the brook,
21:44 barbecue bread from the ravens.
21:45 Thanksgiving dinner, water from the brook.
21:50 Ravens brought the, that wasn't turkey, bread.
21:55 Christmas dinner, water from the brook,
21:58 bread from the ravens.
22:01 January 1, water from the brook, bread from the ravens.
22:04 Easter dinner, water from the brook,
22:08 bread from the ravens.
22:10 For three and a half years,
22:13 his culinary expectation has been limited.
22:16 Same beverage, same bread.
22:20 For 42 months, he's eaten the same thing every day.
22:25 He's been on a space of survival.
22:28 Now, please don't get me twisted.
22:33 Don't get me twisted.
22:34 Don't think, don't take this wrong.
22:39 If water and bird food
22:44 are God's best for me,
22:49 then like Paul, I've learned,
22:54 no matter what state I'm in,
22:56 I've learned how to be content.
22:59 God, if this is what you want me to have
23:02 for the rest of my life, water and bird food, I'm thankful.
23:08 However, if you got some filet mignon
23:13 and some chateaubriand,
23:17 and every now and then let me chase it down
23:20 with some Dom Perignon,
23:21 if you got more for me,
23:24 then God, don't just let me survive,
23:26 but push me beyond survival,
23:30 'cause I'm ready to thrive.
23:32 Am I talking to anybody in this house
23:35 who you can be thankful for bird food,
23:38 you can be thankful for going to Orlando to Disney World,
23:41 but if God got Dubai in your future,
23:44 y'all quiet on me here.
23:47 Oh, God, yeah, I appreciate going to Lakeland, Florida,
23:51 but I sure rather go to London, England.
23:53 Y'all quiet on me here.
23:55 Oh, God.
23:55 If a picnic by the McMurray River
24:03 is your best for me,
24:07 I'm satisfied,
24:09 but if you want me to have an Alaskan cruise
24:12 with entertainment and all you can eat,
24:17 I'm ready, Lord, 'cause you know what?
24:19 Too many of us have a survival mentality,
24:23 and God sent me to tell some of you,
24:25 you've been surviving too long.
24:27 Get out the survival mentality and say,
24:30 I serve a God who can let me thrive.
24:34 Oh, y'all quiet on me here.
24:35 Now unto him who is able to do exceeding,
24:39 abundantly above all you can ask or think
24:42 according to the power, that's that word.
24:44 Does anybody know we serve a God of more?
24:47 More provision, more blessing, more breakthrough,
24:50 more favor, we serve a God of.
24:53 Look at somebody quick, I speak more in your life.
25:05 Get out of the survival mentality,
25:08 barely get along, and I want to thrive,
25:11 not living paycheck to paycheck,
25:13 not having to go to work when I'm sick.
25:16 God, give me survival where I can sit back
25:19 and enjoy some of the fruit of my labor.
25:33 Now God, if this is your best,
25:36 if this is your best, I'm thankful.
25:42 But my prayer is, in this season of my life,
25:48 I want more.
25:50 Wicked folk ain't the only somebody who can have more.
25:55 Why do the saints for a long time
25:57 have this poverty mentality?
26:01 Now I grew up with my mother, her relatives,
26:03 apostolic, overcoming, wholeness,
26:05 incorporated denomination.
26:07 It was almost like you couldn't look good.
26:10 Had to take a vow of poverty,
26:14 and the broker you were, the more spiritual you were.
26:17 The nappier your head was, the more holy you are.
26:24 Y'all quiet, you can't put makeup on,
26:26 or can't wear jewelry, makeup ain't never
26:29 sent nobody to hell.
26:31 Come on, help me here, somebody.
26:33 Man, we can have more.
26:34 Go sit in the chair and get you a massage,
26:37 and get you a manicure and a pedicure in the summer,
26:41 and paint your toenail white.
26:43 City girl summer, y'all quiet on me.
26:47 It's time for somebody to say, I want more.
26:50 (audience cheering)
26:53 Somebody say, push me beyond surviving.
27:05 Push me beyond surviving.
27:07 I want more for my children, more for my grandchildren,
27:10 more for my church, more for my business.
27:12 Lift your hands, say, God, don't just let me survive,
27:15 let me thrive in every area of my life.
27:18 And I speak favor, increase, and overflow
27:21 into somebody's life right now, in Jesus' name.
27:25 Clap your hands if you receive that.
27:27 I feel God here.
27:29 He said, listen, I got the chain to play.
27:35 I got the chain to play to prevent you from being stuck.
27:41 I got a chain to play to push you beyond just survival.
27:49 But then thirdly and finally, I got the chain to play
27:53 to propel you into the supernatural.
27:58 I'm finished.
28:00 Elijah, I got to dry this brook up and chain your play.
28:06 Stop waiting for a bird in Cherith
28:12 when I got a blessing for you in a place called Zarephath.
28:16 (audience shouting)
28:18 I've already commanded a widow woman
28:20 who ain't going to feed you bird food.
28:24 She going to have a hot meal waiting for you.
28:30 Your first hot meal in three and a half years.
28:34 But I had to change the play
28:36 to get you out of sack bird lunches.
28:39 Y'all quiet on me here.
28:41 He gets to Zarephath and sees a woman there, a widow woman.
28:43 He says, can you bring me a drink of water?
28:46 She brings him a drink of water.
28:47 He says, well, why you at it?
28:49 Can you bring me something to eat?
28:50 She must've been a sister.
28:53 Yeah, she was a sister.
28:56 I believe she was a sister, Zare.
28:57 I really believe, not just 'cause she was Zarephath,
28:59 but her attitude.
29:00 I like this, I like this woman.
29:02 I like her because he says,
29:04 can you bring me a drink of water?
29:05 Can you fetch me a drink of water?
29:06 She said, sure.
29:07 She goes and fetches the water.
29:11 Ain't nothing wrong if your man asks you
29:12 to bring some lemonade.
29:14 Sure.
29:16 (audience chattering)
29:18 Well, I'm at it.
29:19 Ain't nothing wrong with that.
29:20 Some of y'all are too strong now.
29:23 Go get your own lemonade.
29:26 What have you done for me lately?
29:28 Ooh, yeah, ain't nothing wrong.
29:30 Y'all quiet on me here.
29:32 Ain't nothing wrong with fetching.
29:34 Ain't nothing wrong with fetching
29:38 the brother some lemonade.
29:40 Ain't nothing wrong with being sweet and being kind.
29:43 If he asks you for some lemonade, it's reciprocal.
29:46 Y'all not helping me here.
29:48 You ask him for money.
29:51 You ask him for money,
29:54 but he can't ask you for no lemonade?
29:56 Come on now.
29:58 Fair exchange, ain't robbery.
30:00 Oh, y'all going to help me preach this thing like I feel it?
30:04 Ask her to bring some lemonade,
30:05 and she goes to get the lemonade.
30:07 Then he says, why you at it?
30:08 Can you bring me something to eat?
30:10 She said, hold up, time out, sir.
30:13 Just one second.
30:14 Hold, hold, hold, hold, time out.
30:19 There's a famine in the land.
30:22 Ain't no food nowhere.
30:25 My husband died.
30:28 Didn't give me a 4.3B or a 4.1K.
30:31 There's no governmental assistance.
30:32 I got a little meal and a little oil for me and my son.
30:37 For my son and I.
30:38 I'm going to make this last cake.
30:40 Grandma called it a hoe cake.
30:43 Make it for you, my son, and me.
30:46 We going to eat, and then we going to die.
30:51 I like this sister.
30:52 You know why I like her?
30:53 Because she's sweet enough to say yes,
30:55 but strong enough to say no.
30:57 I respect you.
30:59 I'm by myself, but I'm not so desperate.
31:02 Then I'm going to let some new joker come in here,
31:08 and I feed him while my son's starving.
31:12 Y'all got the brakes on me.
31:14 Nothing makes me look, nothing looks worse
31:18 than a lady who goes to work
31:20 while your boyfriend plays PlayStation.
31:22 All day long, eating your groceries,
31:25 and your kid's got the white mouth,
31:28 looking like Bebe's kids were hijacking clothes on.
31:30 The devil's a liar.
31:31 If nobody got new clothes on,
31:33 y'all can listen, that's another sermon for another day.
31:35 Another sermon for another day.
31:36 She's sweet enough to say yes.
31:38 I'll preach that next time.
31:41 She's strong enough to say no.
31:43 He said, I'll tell you what I get,
31:44 I hear you, but the Lord sent me.
31:46 And the Lord told me, if you cook mine first,
31:51 thank God she'd already got confirmation from the Lord.
31:54 She'd already been commanded by the Lord,
31:57 according to verse eight and nine.
31:58 She's waiting on him to confirm what the Lord has said.
32:01 Every man and woman ought wait for somebody
32:03 to come in your life to confirm about you
32:06 what God has already spoken about you in initiation.
32:10 She makes his first.
32:12 And as she made his first, he started eating.
32:14 Guess what happened, the Bible said,
32:16 look here, verse 11 through 14,
32:18 that the meal, I feel God here,
32:22 and the oil, because she obeyed God,
32:27 and because the prophet had somewhere to go,
32:30 and because he was a man of God
32:31 and he wasn't trying to pimp her,
32:33 because it was a real divine connection,
32:35 God said, because you put me first.
32:39 Because I got work for him to do next chapter.
32:41 I need him to be fed.
32:42 I'm gonna make sure, oh, I feel God,
32:46 that your cruise of oil and your meal never runs dry.
32:50 Let me help you here.
32:53 If eggs get to be $11 for 12,
32:57 I'm still looking for my omelet.
33:01 Y'all quiet on me here.
33:05 If gas gets back $6 a gallon,
33:08 God just gonna have to do more with $20 worth in the tank.
33:11 Am I talking to somebody who knows
33:12 God has a way of stretching?
33:14 If you give me your two fish and five barley loaves,
33:19 won't he take care of you?
33:20 Oh, I feel God.
33:25 And they ate many days.
33:30 Then the text says, and it came to pass, y'all,
33:32 I'm finished, that her son died.
33:38 Verse 14, 15, her son died.
33:41 She goes, Elijah, did you have something to do
33:44 with my son's death?
33:45 He was fine until you showed up.
33:47 Elijah said, I tell you what, give me the boy.
33:51 He took the boy upstairs in the loft,
33:54 and in a spiritual way, stretched himself over the child.
33:58 Text has three times.
34:02 Come here, Jack Smith, one for the father.
34:06 (audience cheering)
34:08 One for the son.
34:10 One for the Holy Ghost.
34:14 Oh, you don't hear me?
34:15 Yeah, I believe, I believe.
34:19 Y'all, let me just contextualize this.
34:20 I can think with my own,
34:21 I've been thinking with my own imagination
34:23 that if Elijah was a Baptist deacon,
34:26 that last time he said, Father, I come to you
34:33 as an empty pitcher before a full fountain,
34:37 earnestly desiring to be filled with thee.
34:42 Can't y'all hear him?
34:44 I believe Elijah prayed, Father, I thank you
34:46 for my last night laying down.
34:49 I thank you that my bed wasn't my cooling board.
34:55 I wish I had some country folk there.
34:58 And my sheets were not my winding sheets.
35:03 And on that third time, Elijah said, Father, I stretch
35:08 and my hand to thee.
35:12 No other help I know
35:16 if thou would draw thyself from me.
35:21 And where shall I go?
35:27 On that third time, he stretched himself
35:30 over that young child.
35:32 And guess what happened?
35:33 The third time, the little boy came back to life.
35:36 In other words, Elijah is operating in supernatural power.
35:42 But guess what?
35:45 But if God hadn't changed his plan,
35:48 okay, y'all ain't got me,
35:50 he still would be stuck at a brook
35:52 waiting for birds to feed him and water to bring,
35:57 and water to quench his thirst.
35:59 Some of y'all wondering what does this have to do with me?
36:02 But I came to tell y'all what God is doing.
36:08 He might be changing your plan
36:10 because there's supernatural visions
36:16 waiting for you on the other side.
36:19 I gotta close here, but can I tell y'all a little testimony?
36:24 20 years ago, this same week,
36:29 one of my classmates from Morehouse called me and told me,
36:34 he said, "Man, I keep having dreams about you."
36:37 I said, "What kind of dreams?"
36:38 He said, "The Spirit keeps telling me
36:41 "that you're gonna be the pastor of my church."
36:44 I said, "Man, what in the world are you talking about?
36:45 "I got a wonderful church.
36:48 "What is the name of your church?"
36:50 And he said to me, "My church is Greater Travels Rest."
36:54 I wasn't familiar with it, but he said,
36:57 "I keep dreaming about you, and you've been in my spirit."
37:01 Now, you have to understand,
37:03 you have to know him from Morehouse
37:05 to know if he says something was in his spirit,
37:08 it had to be God,
37:10 'cause he don't talk about nothing being in his spirit.
37:13 But y'all know what happened?
37:15 He was right because a few days later,
37:18 God began to work on my own heart
37:21 and say, "Do it, I'm getting ready to change your play."
37:26 Yo, I was comfortable where I was,
37:29 loved my hometown, loved everything about it,
37:33 but God told me, "This has nothing to do with you.
37:36 "I got to change your play
37:39 "in order for you to live by faith."
37:43 And know what happened, y'all?
37:44 In that obedience to the Lord,
37:47 we decided to put a house on the market,
37:50 a house I just purchased.
37:53 And the first day I put it on the market,
37:56 yeah, somebody put a contract on it.
37:59 I said, "Lord, this must be you."
38:01 It didn't even make it into a relative book.
38:04 The first person who saw it said, "I want it,"
38:07 and gave me everything I asked for.
38:10 And then I asked the Lord, "Well, where am I gonna live?
38:13 "I got a wife and a three-year-old son.
38:16 "Where am I going to live?"
38:18 He brought me to Metro Atlanta.
38:20 Andre said, "Go down this street."
38:24 Went down this street and we saw a house,
38:26 and she said, "That's the house."
38:28 I said, "Are you sure?"
38:29 She said, "That's what I saw in my vision."
38:33 We drove by, she said, "Drive back by it again."
38:36 We turned around and went back the other way.
38:39 She said, "Now drive back by it again."
38:42 I drove down the street, she said, "Now drive by it."
38:44 I said, "Now just wait just a second, you.
38:45 "Come on, now calm, you're getting too busy here.
38:48 "Drive back again."
38:50 I drove back again, she said, "Now turn around.
38:51 "Drive back slow one more time."
38:53 I drove back slow one more time,
38:55 and the last time I drove back,
38:58 I looked in my rearview mirror,
39:00 and when I looked in the rearview mirror,
39:02 the strangest thing start happening.
39:05 Guess what happened to me?
39:06 The rearview mirror start preaching to me.
39:09 I said, "The rearview mirror start preaching to me."
39:15 I said, "The rearview mirror start preaching to me."
39:20 Do you hear what I said?
39:22 I said, "The rearview mirror start preaching to me."
39:27 It was a nine-word sermon,
39:30 and I close by giving y'all the rearview mirror sermon.
39:34 The last time I drove by,
39:37 here's what the mirror said to me.
39:39 It said, "Objects in the mirror are closer
39:45 "than they appear."
39:47 Y'all got to break some mean.
39:49 Do me a favor, look at a neighbor and say,
39:51 "Neighbor, God is getting ready to change your place."
39:56 But baby, changing your place
40:01 is because he got something better.
40:04 I said, "He got something better."
40:06 If he changes your place, lift your hands.
40:11 It may be uncomfortable.
40:13 It may be scary.
40:15 But God has not given you a spirit of fear,
40:20 but of love, power, and a sound mind.
40:27 I got the closing,
40:30 but I came with a word of prophecy.
40:32 God told me to tell you,
40:34 in the next 30 days,
40:37 somebody, your place is gonna change.
40:41 It's gonna be scary,
40:43 but your destiny,
40:45 your destiny depends on you.
40:50 Throw your hands up and say,
40:52 "Yes, Lord.
40:53 "Yes, Lord.
40:55 "Yes, Lord."
40:58 Touch your neighbor's shoulder for the last time
41:02 and say, "Neighbor, I prophesy,
41:07 "along with the preacher,
41:09 "that your next move is gonna be your best move."
41:14 Yeah.
41:16 And be not dismayed.
41:18 Whatever they call it,
41:24 the Lord will take care.
41:27 (screams)
41:29 He will take care.
41:32 I want you to praise God like you know he has more.
41:43 I don't hear nobody.
41:45 I don't hear nobody.
41:47 I don't hear nobody.
41:48 More provision,
41:51 more power,
41:52 more promotion,
41:55 more salvation,
41:57 more anointing,
41:59 more favor,
42:01 more deliverance,
42:03 if you believe it, shout it out.
42:05 (upbeat music)
42:08 (crowd cheering)
42:37 I gotta let you go.
42:38 Let me call for you.
42:46 Some of you have been in
42:50 a weird place.
42:55 It seems uncomfortable.
43:01 You're in the heat.
43:07 It's like you've been poked by the two peaks of life.
43:12 And you're wondering, "Why am I in this season?"
43:17 I heard the Lord so clearly this week to say,
43:24 he said, "Because your play is changing."
43:26 (crowd applauding)
43:30 (crowd cheering)
43:33 I wasn't supposed to preach this today,
43:38 but somebody's house,
43:40 it feels like it's a weird place.
43:46 Especially for those of y'all who control freaks.
43:51 You have to know every step.
43:59 Those of y'all who plan the family vacations
44:01 and the family reunions,
44:01 and you pick out the T-shirt,
44:03 and what color we gonna wear every day,
44:05 and you don't pick the menu out,
44:06 and you gotta run everything.
44:09 God looks at you and he laughs.
44:19 'Cause you thought by this time,
44:23 I'm supposed to have be married with the two kids,
44:25 and the dog, and the cat, and the fish tank,
44:29 and the picket fence, the minivan,
44:34 taking the dog to the vet.
44:37 You're like, "What happened to my life?"
44:41 Just because you're not visible
44:45 doesn't mean you're not valuable.
44:47 But preach, I'm in my forties now.
44:54 Man, is he coming?
44:56 Is she coming?
44:57 (heavy breathing)
45:00 When God ordains it,
45:03 it's gonna be the sweetest thing.
45:07 You're gonna be your most healed self.
45:10 (audience applauding)
45:13 Sometimes God says, "Do you wanna suffer,
45:18 "or do you want solitude?"
45:19 And if solitude helps you to be healed,
45:24 so you won't suffer,
45:27 I'm gonna protect you by the brook
45:29 to prepare you for him and her for you.
45:34 That's how God works.
45:37 I gotta let you go here,
45:38 but I wanna, if you were here today,
45:40 I want you to find the nearest isle
45:42 and come up here right quick.
45:43 I wanna pray for you right quick.
45:46 If you're here, you say, "Preacher,"
45:48 you were preaching to me today,
45:49 if you were here.
45:56 Come on, yes, come on down here now.
45:58 (audience applauding)
46:01 Yes, I'm in a weird place.
46:08 God, when is the child coming?
46:18 Sit back and you see your friends,
46:23 everybody else, you wonder,
46:24 is it, are you gonna pass me by?
46:26 (audience murmuring)
46:28 Look, you gotta come out of this with a testimony.
46:31 You're too special, this child's gonna be too special
46:37 for you not to have a testimony to go along with it.
46:40 (audience applauding)
46:44 God still works miracles,
46:46 and he chooses select people in order to manifest them.
46:50 Elijah had to go through uncomfortability
46:54 for three and a half years,
46:56 so he could walk into supernatural.
46:57 And y'all know what, that same Elijah was able,
47:01 not only to resurrect that boy,
47:02 but in the very next chapter,
47:04 he went up on Mount Carmel
47:05 against the 450 prophets of Baal
47:08 and called fire down from Mount Carmel.
47:10 But if God had not changed his play,
47:14 he'd still right now be drinking water from a brook,
47:18 eating bird food,
47:20 never walking in what God had ordained.
47:24 And that's why I came to tell you,
47:27 if God is doing something weird in your life
47:29 and changing your play, just say yes, Lord.
47:31 I don't have to see it, just keep your hand on me.
47:38 Give me peace in my spirit,
47:40 I'm ready for manifestation time.
47:42 I will be with you, I will be with you.
47:47 ♪ I will be with you ♪
47:53 I felt this so strong in my spirit all week.
47:56 I will be with you.
47:57 I'm gonna need y'all to go in a minute.
48:00 ♪ I will be with you ♪
48:04 What have you been going through with that family?
48:06 I will be with you.
48:07 That's why the story,
48:08 the story,
48:11 if you,
48:15 ♪ If you would only ♪
48:19 Trust me.
48:22 ♪ Trust me ♪
48:24 I know it's uncomfortable, God says, trust me.
48:27 ♪ Trust me ♪
48:29 Even when your family turns their back on you, trust me.
48:32 ♪ Trust me ♪
48:34 Here's my verse, I'll fight your battles.
48:36 I'm letting you go, I'll fight.
48:38 ♪ I'll fight your battles ♪
48:42 Do y'all believe that?
48:47 I'll fight your battles.
48:48 ♪ I'll fight your battles ♪
48:53 I'll fight your battles.
48:59 ♪ I'll fight your battles ♪
49:04 If you,
49:07 ♪ If you would only ♪
49:10 Trust me.
49:13 ♪ Trust me ♪
49:15 Trust me.
49:18 ♪ If you would only ♪
49:21 Shh.
49:22 ♪ Trust me ♪
49:25 Listen, I'm gonna give you 60 seconds.
49:26 What I want you to do in this room,
49:29 let's fill this room with the sound
49:31 of petition and supplication.
49:32 I want you to make your request known unto God.
49:36 Now I'm gonna close the prayer out.
49:38 But wherever you're standing or wherever you're sitting,
49:41 if you're watching me live at home,
49:43 I want you to open your mouth.
49:45 I want you to make your request known.
49:48 God is gonna do something through you
49:50 that's individual, that's unique.
49:52 I heard the Lord say to me this morning,
49:54 he's moving somebody from surviving to thriving.
49:57 You may not see it.
50:02 When you're in it, you're not gonna see it.
50:05 But when you come out of this,
50:06 when you come out of this,
50:09 you're gonna thank God for the pink slip.
50:11 You're gonna thank God for the demotion.
50:15 You're gonna thank God the company shut down.
50:18 You're gonna thank God the situation disappointed you.
50:21 It was disappointment in the beginning.
50:23 It's gonna be destiny when you recognize the manifestation.
50:26 God is moving you from surviving to thriving.
50:30 He's changing your play.
50:32 I want you to agree with him.
50:33 Tell him how you feel.
50:34 I'm gonna give you about 60 seconds.
50:36 Let's fill this room now
50:38 with the sound of petition and supplication.
50:39 Open your mouth, saints.
50:41 Let the devil hear you.
50:42 Come on, open your mouth, saints.
50:43 Begin to pray in your own way.
50:46 Just say, Lord, here I am.
50:48 I'm going through this in my situation.
50:49 I'm going through this in my family.
50:51 God, I need you to step in this situation.
50:53 God, I love you and I bless you and I honor you.
50:55 God, would you grant me the desire of my heart?
50:58 God, this is my concern.
50:59 Come on, open your mouth, saints.
51:01 If you're at home, watch it online.
51:02 Touch your computer screen, your iPad.
51:04 Connect your faith with ours.
51:06 That's it, that's it, that's it, that's it, that's it.
51:12 Hallelujah.
51:13 That's it, saints.
51:15 That's it, saints.
51:17 That's it, saints.
51:20 Hallelujah, that's it, saints.
51:21 That's it, saints.
51:24 Glory to God.
51:25 Hallelujah.
51:30 Glory, glory, glory.
51:32 My, my, my.
51:37 God, we bless you in this place.
51:43 Thank you for these saints who've gathered.
51:45 Those who are watching now online all over the world.
51:51 Nearly every continent, those who are watching, we thank you.
51:56 Lord, thank you for this word about Elijah.
51:58 And Lord, when we're in the strange places of life
52:02 where it seems you've changed our play,
52:04 changed our relationship status, changed the job,
52:07 many of us are in a season of transition and shifts.
52:10 Help us to not get stuck on the old play.
52:13 But you got more and better for us.
52:15 And so in the name of Jesus,
52:17 for everybody who's been stuck in a place,
52:21 living beneath your best for them, would you release them?
52:25 Release them from a poverty mentality.
52:27 Release them from a lack.
52:29 Let them know they deserve better in a relationship.
52:33 Release them from being mishandled and maltreated.
52:36 And let them know, God, that they are child of the king.
52:40 I come against negativity and toxicity.
52:43 Anything that's unhealthy that's keeping them stuck
52:46 in a place of pain, release them from chariot.
52:49 And let them walk in Zarephath.
52:53 God, heal them from the wounds caused by their parents.
52:56 Lord, heal them from the wounds of the disappointment
52:59 of the expectation that has not yet manifested.
53:02 I pray in the name of Jesus
53:04 that this month will be the last month
53:08 where they struggle with this.
53:10 I feel God.
53:13 And thank you that when you bring us out of chariots,
53:18 we'll never go back to bird food again.
53:20 I thank you that our bird food days
53:24 are getting ready to be over.
53:25 I said our bird food days are getting ready.
53:28 We're getting ready to walk.
53:30 And what you've ordained,
53:33 if that's healing, if that's breakthrough,
53:35 if that's the salvation of a loved one,
53:37 if that's deliverance, if that's peace of mind,
53:39 if that's joy, if that's ministry possibility,
53:42 help us to walk in your ordained destiny.
53:46 We leave our concerns on this altar.
53:50 Those who've been poked and prodded
53:52 by the two picks of life,
53:54 those who feel like they've been in the heat
53:55 and the heat is getting too unbearable,
53:57 thank you that you're getting them ready.
54:01 And when they come out this fire,
54:04 oh God, they're gonna walk in a way
54:07 they've never walked before.
54:09 'Cause I have not seen, neither have you heard,
54:11 nor have you entered into the hearts of man
54:13 the good things you've prepared
54:15 for those of us who love him,
54:16 but you're gonna reveal those things by your spirit.
54:18 And we give you praise.
54:20 And we give you glory.
54:22 In Jesus' name.
54:23 Now clap your hands, go back to your seat,
54:25 say, I receive it.
54:26 Come on, go back to your seat,
54:28 say, I receive it, I receive it.
54:32 Say it over again.
54:34 Go back.
54:35 Trust me.
54:38 ♪ Trust me ♪
54:42 ♪ If you, if you ♪
54:45 ♪ If you will love me ♪
54:49 ♪ Trust me ♪
54:50 ♪ Trust me ♪
54:53 ♪ Hey, trust me ♪
54:55 ♪ Trust me ♪
54:58 ♪ Ooh, trust me ♪
55:00 ♪ Trust me ♪
55:02 ♪ If you, if you ♪
55:05 ♪ If you will love me ♪
55:07 ♪ My, my, my, my, my, my, my ♪
55:09 ♪ Trust me ♪
55:10 ♪ Trust me ♪
55:12 Listen, keep it right, keep it right there.
55:14 While you keep standing, keep it right there.
55:17 If you stand with me for a second, we're almost finished.