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00:00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:00:03 This morning, I want to talk to you
00:00:12 from the subject, the inescapable role of service.
00:00:20 The inescapable role of service.
00:00:24 You can't get around it.
00:00:28 The inescapable role of service.
00:00:30 Go to Philippians chapter 2, verse 4 through 11.
00:00:36 I'm going to read it in the Amplified Bible
00:00:38 because I love how the Amplified Bible takes truth
00:00:42 and just amplifies it in such a way
00:00:45 that your understanding is increased because this text is
00:00:49 rather complex.
00:00:51 It is self-explanatory in many ways in the Amplified Bible.
00:00:55 So I chose that way to present it this morning.
00:00:57 When you have it, say amen.
00:01:00 You got to have it because we're going to put it on the screen.
00:01:04 For all you people who fake it and can't find the Philippians,
00:01:09 we save you from being a liar when we put it on the screen.
00:01:12 I got it, Bishop.
00:01:13 I got it.
00:01:14 Over in Matthew, faking it.
00:01:16 Listen carefully.
00:01:22 Do not merely look out for your own personal interest,
00:01:31 but also for the interests of others.
00:01:36 Have this same attitude in yourselves
00:01:40 which was in Christ Jesus.
00:01:43 Look to Him as your example in selfless humility,
00:01:50 who although He existed in the form and unchanging essence
00:01:55 of God as one with Him, possessing
00:01:59 the fullness of all the divine attributes,
00:02:01 the entire nature of deity, did not regard, did not regard,
00:02:08 did not regard equality with God a thing
00:02:12 to be grasped or asserted as if He did not already possess it
00:02:18 or was afraid of losing it.
00:02:22 He wasn't intimidated, but emptied Himself.
00:02:27 He felt safe enough, strong enough
00:02:30 to become vulnerable enough to empty Himself
00:02:35 without renouncing or diminishing His deity,
00:02:39 but only temporarily giving up the outward expression
00:02:43 of the divine equality and His rightful dignity
00:02:47 by assuming the form of a bond servant
00:02:53 and being made in the likeness of men.
00:02:56 He became completely human but was without sin,
00:03:02 being fully God and--
00:03:04 God.
00:03:04 God.
00:03:05 God.
00:03:06 There you have it.
00:03:08 Afterward, He was found in terms of His outward appearance
00:03:15 as a man for a divinely appointed time, 33 years.
00:03:20 He humbled Himself still further.
00:03:24 If that were not low enough, He went down lower than that
00:03:27 by becoming obedient to the Father to the point of death,
00:03:34 even the death on a cross.
00:03:38 For this reason also, because He obeyed
00:03:44 and so completely humbled Himself,
00:03:47 God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name,
00:03:56 the name, the name, the name which is above every name
00:04:03 so that at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow--
00:04:14 uh-oh-- in submission of those who are in heaven and on earth
00:04:23 and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess
00:04:29 and openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
00:04:32 sovereign God to the glory of God the Father.
00:04:38 Can you say amen?
00:04:40 Let's pray while we're standing up under the banner,
00:04:43 the canopy of His word, the auspices of His deity,
00:04:51 the transparency of His humanity.
00:04:55 You are covered under the cloud of His divine power
00:05:02 and omnipotence.
00:05:05 Father God, in the name of Jesus,
00:05:09 let the word be made flesh in us today,
00:05:12 not just something that we read or studied or heard or listened
00:05:16 to politely, but let it take on flesh in us today.
00:05:22 Let it become tangible.
00:05:24 Let it become material.
00:05:26 Let it become maternal.
00:05:27 Let it become matter in us.
00:05:29 Let it become physical in us until the nature of Christ
00:05:33 becomes the habits of men.
00:05:36 In Jesus' name we pray.
00:05:38 Somebody shout amen.
00:05:41 You may be seated.
00:05:42 Well, I got in about midnight and got in the bed
00:05:53 about 1, just landed from Virginia,
00:05:57 determined to be here this morning.
00:05:59 Because I'm on assignment.
00:06:09 I'm on a mission.
00:06:11 And it's a tough mission because I
00:06:14 am fighting the galing winds of the sociological push that
00:06:19 is sent on us today to undermine the spirit of humility, which
00:06:25 is supposed to perpetuate itself in the children of God.
00:06:29 Words like servanthood are not popular today.
00:06:34 Even we ourselves have a leadership conference,
00:06:38 but we've never had a follower conference.
00:06:41 I've never had a follower conference.
00:06:45 I don't know anybody that's having a servant conference.
00:06:49 Because who would come?
00:06:53 Because people are attracted to the idea of leadership,
00:06:58 not servitude.
00:07:01 But number one, if everybody's leading, who's following?
00:07:10 And so we all like to think of ourselves in a certain light
00:07:14 because we don't want the vulnerability of not
00:07:17 being number one.
00:07:20 So if you want to wreck a church real quick,
00:07:23 use something like a subject like I'm the one.
00:07:27 Out of 8 billion people on the planet, you the one.
00:07:30 We like to think of ourselves in that light
00:07:36 because we have been taught to be enamored by success.
00:07:43 Consequently, servanthood is unpopular even with children.
00:07:50 I know I sound old, but I grew up
00:07:52 in an era where the children were the dishwasher.
00:07:55 I heard somebody say their mama didn't have no dishwasher.
00:08:02 My mama had five.
00:08:05 Three, I got five.
00:08:08 Yeah, we were the dishwasher.
00:08:09 Servanthood was inbred in the nature of how we were raised.
00:08:14 Now, your little ooty booty is too cute.
00:08:17 I'm allergic to soaps, mommy.
00:08:25 And we are not taught to be servants.
00:08:29 Words like submission, the disdain for the word submission
00:08:34 has exceeded cursing words.
00:08:38 If you don't believe me, get on Twitter or Facebook
00:08:41 or Instagram and say something about submission
00:08:44 and watch everybody beat you up.
00:08:48 Caregivers aren't seen often in a positive light.
00:08:53 Disdain for it.
00:08:56 Nobody wants to give care.
00:08:58 Everybody wants to receive care.
00:09:01 There is today a bloodlust for power.
00:09:07 In almost every area of our society,
00:09:11 we have gone nuts for power.
00:09:16 Nobody's for people anymore.
00:09:20 They want power.
00:09:23 They want to make moves.
00:09:26 They want to be movers and shakers.
00:09:29 From corporations to marriage, everybody's fighting for power.
00:09:36 Nobody's submitting.
00:09:39 The husbands aren't submitting.
00:09:41 The wives aren't submitting.
00:09:42 The children aren't submitting.
00:09:44 Nobody's submitting because submission is not popular.
00:09:49 And everybody's in a fight to prove to the other one
00:09:52 that I'm the one.
00:09:54 So in that fight, we end up with no one.
00:09:57 Oh, I'm going to mess with you today.
00:10:03 I didn't expect to get many amens.
00:10:05 I'm hoping for a few ouches.
00:10:07 When you start talking about careers,
00:10:12 people are only interested in seeking protection
00:10:15 so that they can climb the ladder.
00:10:18 In corporations, in businesses, everybody's trying to get
00:10:21 higher.
00:10:21 How high can I go?
00:10:23 What promotions are available?
00:10:24 What can I do next?
00:10:26 I want to go up.
00:10:26 Everybody wants to go up.
00:10:28 Nobody wants to go down.
00:10:29 Everybody wants to be higher.
00:10:31 Everybody wants to be bigger.
00:10:32 Everybody wants to be greater.
00:10:33 And no matter what method we choose,
00:10:35 whether it's the best look, the best dress, the best style,
00:10:39 the best this, the best that, the most educated,
00:10:41 the most intellectual, the most articulate,
00:10:44 everybody's trying to get further along than the people
00:10:47 beside them because all that is advertised to us
00:10:51 is grandeur and opulence and excessiveness.
00:11:00 And so here we are in a fight between political powers,
00:11:07 between racists, between family members, between genders.
00:11:17 It's a fight.
00:11:17 I don't know whether you noticed or not.
00:11:19 It's a war going on between men and women.
00:11:21 We used to like each other.
00:11:27 [LAUGHTER]
00:11:30 Want to get with each other.
00:11:33 Now we've turned our guns on each other.
00:11:36 God help us to have some children because--
00:11:38 [LAUGHTER]
00:11:44 All in-- and the church is not exempt from this.
00:11:47 [LAUGHTER]
00:11:50 There is an insatiable desire amongst many,
00:11:54 even in the church, for status, titles, and recognition.
00:11:59 And to get it, they'll do anything, say anything,
00:12:03 undermine anybody, kill your reputation,
00:12:07 destroy your influence, go after you by any means necessary
00:12:11 so that they can get to the top.
00:12:13 And I'm starting to wonder if there
00:12:15 is any substantial difference between the church
00:12:19 and the world because everybody is trying to get up.
00:12:22 [CHEERING]
00:12:24 Nobody's trying to get down.
00:12:28 Nobody's trying to be low.
00:12:32 Even when we do the right things,
00:12:34 we often do them for the wrong reasons.
00:12:37 I'm after you this morning.
00:12:41 We do right things for the wrong reasons.
00:12:46 To be sure, those who put others' needs above their own
00:12:50 often do the right thing, but they do it
00:12:53 for the wrong reasons because they want
00:12:54 to medicate low self-esteem.
00:12:57 And they do so to their own detriment.
00:13:05 They become people pleasers in the hopes
00:13:08 that they will get something back from the people
00:13:10 that they seek to please that validates their own existence.
00:13:14 They are self-medicating their pain
00:13:17 by false missions of humility because they
00:13:22 think so little of themselves that they do the right thing,
00:13:30 but it's for the wrong reason.
00:13:33 It isn't their service that is toxic.
00:13:36 They give great service.
00:13:38 It is the motive of being people pleasers that is the problem.
00:13:47 The antithesis, however, is we have
00:13:50 become so against being people pleasers
00:13:53 that we no longer serve.
00:13:54 We seek only to be served.
00:14:01 We have this vision, this idea, this philosophy
00:14:05 that being served elevates us into positions of authority.
00:14:11 And so if we can't have that, we would rather
00:14:14 be alone than serve anybody.
00:14:19 We would rather be lonely and alienated
00:14:23 and go to bed every night hugging our pillow
00:14:25 rather than to serve anybody.
00:14:31 And the children cannot learn how
00:14:32 to serve because they cannot be what they do not see.
00:14:42 Are you hearing what I'm saying?
00:14:45 Somehow it has been made more significant in our minds
00:14:48 to meet a ravenous need for acceptance.
00:14:53 This kind of good deeds and service giving is fictitious,
00:15:00 is phony, is fraudulent.
00:15:02 It has a negative motive behind it
00:15:07 because it seeks grandeur by doing acts of service
00:15:12 in the spirit of manipulation.
00:15:14 This is an exercise in total futility
00:15:23 because people will eventually come
00:15:26 to see your kindness as weakness.
00:15:32 They will use you till they use you up,
00:15:35 and it still won't elevate you to the place
00:15:38 that you need to be.
00:15:42 I know I ought to get an amen right there.
00:15:44 Servitude cannot be done for what you can get out of it,
00:15:52 for how you can be acknowledged or how you can be recognized
00:15:56 or how you can be validated by it.
00:15:58 You cannot medicate a low self-esteem, a fear,
00:16:04 a vulnerability by hiding your vulnerability,
00:16:08 by acting like you care about people, but you really don't.
00:16:12 You really just want to be seen in a certain light.
00:16:15 The real test is would you do it if nobody was looking?
00:16:24 Would you do it with the lights off and the cameras gone?
00:16:34 Would you do it if the boss didn't see you?
00:16:37 I'm not worried about the people who serve in this church
00:16:40 when I'm here.
00:16:42 I'm not worried about the people who come to church
00:16:44 when I'm here.
00:16:46 I am suspect of people who only do it when I'm here.
00:16:51 You couldn't be doing it for the right reason
00:16:54 if you only do it when I'm looking.
00:16:56 I'm not worried about the staff member who performs well
00:17:03 when seen and say they love you, but they really
00:17:08 don't love you because they're really killing you
00:17:11 because the only way they will do their job, which
00:17:14 they get paid for all the time, is when you're looking.
00:17:21 I'm going to set it off in here this morning.
00:17:30 Real servitude must come from a sincere place,
00:17:36 an authentic place of strength.
00:17:41 I know you don't associate servitude with strength,
00:17:44 but you have to be strong to serve.
00:17:50 Yeah, I'm going to shock you with this.
00:17:52 I know you think all the people who are serving are serving
00:17:54 either because they're ignorant or because they're stupid
00:17:57 or because they're weak and they should have got more this
00:17:59 or more that or they should have been more ambitious or more
00:18:02 degrees or more education or more this or that or the other,
00:18:05 but you have to be strong to serve.
00:18:07 Do not allow the menial tasks that we
00:18:16 do to blind you of the absolute strength
00:18:19 it takes to give yourself away.
00:18:26 You have to have strength and you
00:18:29 have to feel safe enough to become vulnerable enough
00:18:37 to be of service to others.
00:18:39 And the reason some people will never serve
00:18:42 is because they're too weak to serve.
00:18:44 Because they're afraid if they lay it down,
00:18:50 they'll never get it back.
00:18:53 So they would rather fight you for the position
00:18:57 than serve you because they're weak.
00:19:01 It's really weakness.
00:19:06 I have learned over the years that arrogant people are
00:19:11 the weakest people I have ever met.
00:19:13 They are arrogant because beneath that disguise,
00:19:23 that's why I wore this camouflage,
00:19:25 beneath this camouflage-- and I like it and I think it's cute.
00:19:30 I got to keep it 100.
00:19:37 But come on, somebody.
00:19:39 I'm not the only one wearing camouflage in here.
00:19:42 It's a whole lot of people wearing camouflage here
00:19:45 with a false sense of importance because they don't
00:19:49 have the strength to serve.
00:19:51 You have to be strong to serve.
00:19:53 You have to have a sense of self and identity
00:19:57 in order to be a good servant.
00:19:58 You have to know who you are.
00:20:01 If you don't know who you are, you can't lay down
00:20:04 what you don't know.
00:20:19 I don't do it because I'm weak.
00:20:23 I serve because I'm strong.
00:20:26 I'm here because I'm strong.
00:20:29 Just because I'm on a stage doesn't mean I'm not serving.
00:20:32 See, you think getting into a higher position isn't service.
00:20:42 That's the problem.
00:20:43 It's like people who start companies because they're lazy.
00:20:48 I'm going to be an entrepreneur so I
00:20:50 can sleep in in the morning.
00:20:52 You're going to be broke.
00:20:54 You're going to starve to death.
00:20:57 Because if you start a business, you're
00:20:58 going to work twice as hard for half as much
00:21:02 trying to pay the people.
00:21:03 And you're the last one to get paid
00:21:06 because you have to be strong enough to be the boss.
00:21:10 You got to pay the cost to be the boss.
00:21:14 Come on.
00:21:15 Talk back to me.
00:21:16 I wish you would.
00:21:17 I'm ready for you.
00:21:18 [CHEERS]
00:21:21 So you have to feel safe.
00:21:32 And you have to be strong to serve.
00:21:39 And a lot of us don't feel safe because we have been
00:21:43 used or misused or abused.
00:21:47 And we have allowed the behavior of the recipient
00:21:50 to change who we are as a person,
00:21:55 to protect ourselves from somebody
00:21:58 who is no longer present.
00:21:59 Somebody who is gone has disrupted your future
00:22:06 over something they did in the past.
00:22:09 And now you are camouflaging your propensity
00:22:13 to give your gift and your service and your time
00:22:15 and your love into a false sense of arrogance
00:22:21 because you're too weak to be healed.
00:22:23 Because healed people can be vulnerable.
00:22:31 Healed people can help people.
00:22:34 Healed people can serve people.
00:22:36 Healed people understand that the only job in the kingdom
00:22:41 is slave.
00:22:42 [CHEERS]
00:22:46 Why do you think in God's green earth
00:22:51 did Jesus on the last night of his life
00:22:55 get up from the table, gird himself with a towel,
00:23:00 sit down on the floor, and wash the feet of the people who
00:23:05 were his disciples, and then said,
00:23:08 if I, being Lord, know how to serve,
00:23:11 how much more are you to be able to serve?
00:23:15 And yet, you won't give up your seat.
00:23:20 Somebody's sitting in my chair.
00:23:23 Jesus got out of his chair and washed other people's feet.
00:23:28 But when I say you're not a Christian,
00:23:30 you get hot mad at me over a parking space.
00:23:35 [CHEERS]
00:23:39 Oh, let me get off of this, Lord.
00:23:42 It ain't going good, Jesus.
00:23:44 [CHEERS]
00:23:47 It's not going good because what I'm teaching about
00:23:49 affects every area of your life--
00:23:51 your peace, your happiness, your mental well-being,
00:23:55 how you see yourself, how you relate to yourself,
00:24:00 how you relate to your family, how you relate to your friends,
00:24:04 your spouse, your co-workers, your laborers--
00:24:07 has to come from a place of strength and safety
00:24:10 where you do what's got to be done,
00:24:13 whether it's in your job description or not.
00:24:15 When you see something that needs to be done,
00:24:17 you just jump in there and help get it done.
00:24:20 You're not after the credit.
00:24:21 You don't need the recognition.
00:24:23 You don't need the glory.
00:24:25 You don't need to be acknowledged.
00:24:26 You do it because it's within your power
00:24:29 to be of help to your fellow man because you love the Lord
00:24:33 like that.
00:24:35 And you are so blessed to be alive and blessed to be here
00:24:40 that you don't mind giving whatever service you can give.
00:24:44 If I can help somebody as I pass along,
00:24:49 if I can help somebody in a word or song,
00:24:53 then my living will not be in vain.
00:24:57 So that means that all the camouflage is vanity.
00:25:04 All this fake strength I see.
00:25:06 I'm just strong.
00:25:08 I'm just strong.
00:25:09 I'm just a strong person.
00:25:11 And they can't deal with me because I'm strong.
00:25:13 No, we can't deal with you because you're arrogant.
00:25:15 We can't deal with you because you're nasty.
00:25:17 We can't deal with you because you're hateful.
00:25:19 It's not your degrees that's the problem.
00:25:22 It's your attitude.
00:25:23 [APPLAUSE]
00:25:27 Somebody hurts you so bad that you don't feel safe enough
00:25:41 to serve.
00:25:44 And then you wonder why you are so alone.
00:25:50 [AUDIENCE RESPONDS]
00:25:53 This camouflage is killing you.
00:26:01 It is so heavy because you act tough around everybody
00:26:06 and go home and cry.
00:26:07 [AUDIENCE RESPONDS]
00:26:10 It would be easier to get healed into a place
00:26:15 that we are not constantly fighting over who's the boss
00:26:19 and who's the smartest and who's the greatest
00:26:22 and who's the most talented and who can sing the best
00:26:25 and who can preach the best and who can do the--
00:26:27 it doesn't matter.
00:26:29 The best preacher I ever heard is the one God was using.
00:26:32 [AUDIENCE RESPONDS]
00:26:35 I'm going to say that again for the people in the back.
00:26:39 The best preacher I ever heard is the one that God was using.
00:26:43 And he never uses the same person all the time.
00:26:47 And you've got to learn whether you're up or down.
00:26:50 I can tell what kind of preacher you are,
00:26:53 how you act when you are not preaching.
00:26:56 Because if you really love the Word, you love the Word,
00:27:00 I don't care who's delivering the Word.
00:27:03 If you only love the Word when you got the mic,
00:27:06 you don't love the Word.
00:27:08 If you only worship when you got the mic,
00:27:11 you're not a real worshiper.
00:27:12 A real worshiper will fall out in the floor
00:27:16 even when somebody else--
00:27:18 [AUDIENCE RESPONDS]
00:27:21 The inescapable role of service means
00:27:41 that no matter how high up the ladder you go,
00:27:45 all you run into is service.
00:27:48 [AUDIENCE RESPONDS]
00:27:51 The guy who drove me to the airport last night
00:27:56 said, thank you for your business.
00:27:58 I said, thank you for your service.
00:27:59 [AUDIENCE RESPONDS]
00:28:04 I got on the plane and laughed to myself.
00:28:07 He sees me as a customer and a client.
00:28:08 That's OK.
00:28:09 He thinks he's serving me, but he
00:28:11 doesn't realize that he's serving me so I can serve.
00:28:13 [AUDIENCE RESPONDS]
00:28:18 Because the only job available is service.
00:28:22 [AUDIENCE RESPONDS]
00:28:27 Are you of any service?
00:28:32 Or are you like the tree that takes up space and draws water
00:28:36 and takes up sunshine and produces no fruit?
00:28:40 And the Bible said, why cometh it the ground?
00:28:42 Why are you taking up space if you're not going to?
00:28:45 [AUDIENCE RESPONDS]
00:28:51 Why are you in this house if you're not going to serve?
00:28:54 [AUDIENCE RESPONDS]
00:28:56 I ain't serving nobody.
00:28:58 I went to school too long to get out.
00:29:00 [AUDIENCE RESPONDS]
00:29:02 I'd rather live in a trailer with somebody
00:29:04 who's got some sense than to live in a mansion with somebody
00:29:08 that I got to come home and fight at home
00:29:11 like I fight at work and fight at church and fight everywhere.
00:29:15 I got to have some place to lay my head.
00:29:18 [AUDIENCE RESPONDS]
00:29:25 You power tripping, I just asked you for some coffee.
00:29:28 [AUDIENCE RESPONDS]
00:29:30 We got to fight over a cup of coffee?
00:29:33 [AUDIENCE RESPONDS]
00:29:35 I didn't go to school all these years to make your coffee,
00:29:38 make your own coffee.
00:29:40 You mean you went to school all these years
00:29:42 and you can't make a cup of coffee?
00:29:44 You should go back to class.
00:29:45 You flunked.
00:29:46 [AUDIENCE RESPONDS]
00:29:56 I was in DC, and I was in an elevator coming
00:29:58 from a preaching engagement.
00:30:00 I was tired and headed back to my room.
00:30:03 I had been giving service.
00:30:05 Our team was on the elevator with me,
00:30:07 and a stranger got on the elevator we didn't know.
00:30:10 This white guy in a pair of blue jeans, a t-shirt, tennis shoes.
00:30:13 And asked us where we were coming from,
00:30:16 because we, in our tradition, we're church folk.
00:30:18 We kind of dressed up.
00:30:19 He thought maybe we'd been out or something.
00:30:22 We said we came from church.
00:30:26 And the guy said, really?
00:30:27 I said, yes.
00:30:28 He said, what do you do?
00:30:29 I said, well, I'm a preacher.
00:30:31 He said, you preach?
00:30:32 I said, yes.
00:30:33 He said, where is this at?
00:30:35 I would like to come.
00:30:38 I said, really?
00:30:39 He said, yeah.
00:30:40 I said, cool.
00:30:41 So I had one of the brothers that
00:30:43 was with me to slip one of the flyers,
00:30:45 because we had flyers back then, up under the door,
00:30:48 so he would know where to come.
00:30:51 Didn't think he'd really come, but I
00:30:54 wanted to make sure that I made the way.
00:30:56 [LAUGHTER]
00:30:59 Because that's service.
00:31:02 That's service.
00:31:03 Didn't matter who he was.
00:31:05 That was service.
00:31:07 Bless my soul, he came.
00:31:10 He came to church at that time.
00:31:11 I did not know that he was the owner of what was then
00:31:14 called the Atlantic Monthly.
00:31:15 And it ended up leading to an invitation for me
00:31:25 to come and speak at the Aspen Institute of their Ideas
00:31:29 Festival.
00:31:30 [APPLAUSE]
00:31:33 And to this day-- and Jan is waving at me,
00:31:37 because she was there, and she knows all about it.
00:31:39 To this day, I wonder what would have
00:31:41 happened if I thought myself too high to give the man a flyer
00:31:46 that I didn't even know.
00:31:49 But in humbling my tired self to make sure he still got a flyer,
00:31:55 God gave me an opportunity.
00:31:57 I didn't even know what the Aspen Ideas Festival was.
00:32:00 I didn't know what Aspen was.
00:32:04 Let me be honest with you, you don't hear black people
00:32:06 talking about Aspen.
00:32:07 [LAUGHTER]
00:32:12 It's just not where we go.
00:32:13 [LAUGHTER]
00:32:19 We go to New Orleans.
00:32:20 [LAUGHTER]
00:32:24 We're going to Aspen today.
00:32:28 I had to ask Jan, what is Aspen?
00:32:32 She said, take it, crazy.
00:32:36 That's a big deal.
00:32:37 Stand up, Jan.
00:32:38 She's been my publicist for years.
00:32:40 My literary agent for years.
00:32:42 She said, take it.
00:32:43 That's a big deal.
00:32:43 That's important.
00:32:44 You should take that engagement.
00:32:46 I didn't know what Aspen was.
00:32:49 It was there that I met Colin Powell.
00:32:54 I spoke out to Alan Greenspan at the time
00:32:59 and was interviewed by Bob Schaeffer
00:33:04 in front of an audience of thousands of people
00:33:08 that started on an elevator.
00:33:11 Colin Powell was sitting on the front row.
00:33:13 I knew who he was, but I didn't think he knew who I was.
00:33:16 He probably didn't.
00:33:17 I'd never seen him before.
00:33:18 And afterwards, he struck up a conversation with me,
00:33:20 and I thought, pinch yourself in both.
00:33:23 And I mean, it wasn't polite talking.
00:33:33 He was like, really talking, like really?
00:33:35 Having to come out and talk, really?
00:33:37 I didn't wash my hands for about six weeks.
00:33:39 We didn't have COVID back then, so you could
00:33:42 afford to just kind of keep it real.
00:33:50 Later on, a relationship ensued, and we would text back--
00:33:54 we would email back and forth from time to time.
00:33:56 And I took my oldest son to DC to meet him
00:34:00 because I was writing a book called Mama Made the Difference.
00:34:05 And I wanted to know, who was your mama?
00:34:07 I know you're a general, five-star general,
00:34:12 but who was your mama?
00:34:14 What's her story?
00:34:15 How'd you get to be--
00:34:17 how'd you get to be--
00:34:19 he was born in April of 1937 in Harlem,
00:34:26 but his family was immigrants from Jamaica
00:34:31 who snuck over here on a fruit boat in hopes of a better life.
00:34:39 Made it to New York, went to school.
00:34:43 He said, I lived in a day when my mama and her sisters
00:34:46 raised me.
00:34:49 If you got a whippin' from one, you got a whippin'
00:34:51 from everybody.
00:34:52 Somebody know what I'm talking about.
00:34:54 And you had to pass by all your relatives' houses
00:35:00 to get to school.
00:35:02 And they would say, hurry up, boy.
00:35:03 You got to keep going.
00:35:04 You got to get in that class.
00:35:06 Hey, Colin.
00:35:07 He graduated from the City College of New York in 1958
00:35:14 with a degree in geology.
00:35:16 And he told me about the skin of his teeth,
00:35:21 about the skin of his teeth.
00:35:23 And he decided to take ROTC for some extra credits,
00:35:30 and the rest was history.
00:35:33 He served in the US Army for 35 years,
00:35:35 achieving the rank of a four-star general.
00:35:37 [APPLAUSE]
00:35:43 Served two tours of duty in Vietnam,
00:35:50 and earned the military honor of a Purple Heart.
00:35:53 [APPLAUSE]
00:35:57 He was appointed as national security advisor
00:36:00 to President Ronald Reagan all the way back in 1987.
00:36:06 He became the first African-American chairman
00:36:09 of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1989,
00:36:13 up under President George H.W. Bush.
00:36:18 He played a very pivotal role in the military operations
00:36:23 during the Gulf War in 1991.
00:36:27 Right on the land that we are hoping to remodel for housing
00:36:32 is where he bonkered.
00:36:36 Are you hearing what I'm saying?
00:36:38 He retired in 1993 and published his autobiography,
00:36:44 My American Journey, in 1995.
00:36:48 He was appointed as US Secretary of State
00:36:50 under President George W. Bush in 2001.
00:36:54 And that's when I took Jamar up there, my oldest son,
00:36:58 because I wanted my oldest son to be
00:37:00 in the room with greatness.
00:37:02 [APPLAUSE]
00:37:07 Because if you could just get him in the room,
00:37:09 just get him in the room, just get him in the room,
00:37:11 just get him in the room.
00:37:13 And so you had to go through magnometers
00:37:16 and all of this stuff.
00:37:17 And they escorted us up there.
00:37:18 And me and Jamar is going up there
00:37:20 to meet Colin Powell.
00:37:21 It was an amazing moment for me.
00:37:23 And I'm writing a book about him called
00:37:26 Mama Made the Difference.
00:37:28 And I'm interviewing him with my son in the room
00:37:32 because I want him to be in the room.
00:37:34 [APPLAUSE]
00:37:38 And though he had some slips up in the war in Iraq
00:37:41 and went through some changes and struggles and all of that,
00:37:44 he still remained, till his death,
00:37:47 one of the most amazing leaders in our country.
00:37:52 [APPLAUSE]
00:37:58 And like we do with all military,
00:38:00 as I was leaving out of his office, I said,
00:38:06 thank you for your--
00:38:06 Service.
00:38:07 Y'all don't get it.
00:38:13 The dude is the Secretary of State.
00:38:14 He's a four-star general.
00:38:17 And at the height of his career, I said, thank you--
00:38:21 [APPLAUSE]
00:38:26 --for your service.
00:38:29 Protected by the FBI, covered by the CIA,
00:38:32 going through all kinds of magnometers to get to see him.
00:38:35 And I said, thank you.
00:38:37 Y'all don't get it.
00:38:41 When you saw his picture, you all clapped in the room.
00:38:48 You see him as a great leader.
00:38:49 [APPLAUSE]
00:38:58 What you don't realize is that you cannot escape giving
00:39:02 service.
00:39:02 If you want to be great, serve.
00:39:05 If you want to go high, go low.
00:39:08 If you want to go up, go down.
00:39:10 If you want to make yourself indispensable, serve.
00:39:14 Everybody, anybody, even strangers in an elevator
00:39:19 with blue jeans and tennis shoes and t-shirts,
00:39:22 you never know what's going to happen if you
00:39:25 give your life to service.
00:39:27 That's what this text is all about.
00:39:35 This text is about the example Jesus teaches us about service.
00:39:42 Put my text back up.
00:39:43 When you understand the text, you will understand humility.
00:39:50 Philippians 2, 4, and 11 is a message not just in divinity,
00:39:56 not just about the Godhead, not just
00:39:58 that he thought it not robbery to be equal with God,
00:40:01 not just that he was both fully God and fully man.
00:40:05 It is a message in humility.
00:40:09 It is given to us in the hopes--
00:40:13 the writer that writes the Philippians
00:40:15 writes to Philippi a diverse society of a cosmopolitan group
00:40:21 of people that he might bring them into a place of unity
00:40:25 because you cannot have unity without humility.
00:40:29 And the reason we don't have any unity in this country,
00:40:33 though we call ourselves the United States of America,
00:40:36 is that we have lost our mind to power,
00:40:39 and nobody has the humility.
00:40:41 And without humility, you can never have unity.
00:40:45 If you want unity in your house, you got to have humility.
00:40:49 If you want unity in your country,
00:40:52 you got to have humility.
00:40:53 If you want unity in your office,
00:40:56 you got to have humility.
00:40:58 Everybody can't be walking around with a t-shirt that
00:41:01 says I'm a--
00:41:01 [AUDIENCE GROANS]
00:41:05 [AUDIENCE LAUGHS]
00:41:14 The Bible says do not merely look out
00:41:17 for your own personal interests, but for the interests
00:41:24 of other people.
00:41:26 Forget about you, this narcissistic attitude
00:41:30 that it's all about you.
00:41:32 They did it to you.
00:41:34 Your daddy left your mama, and you said he did it to you.
00:41:37 No, he left your mama.
00:41:38 [AUDIENCE LAUGHS]
00:41:42 He left your mama.
00:41:43 I'm not saying he didn't hurt you.
00:41:45 I'm not saying he didn't change your life,
00:41:47 but he wasn't aiming at you.
00:41:50 Everything is not about you.
00:41:53 [AUDIENCE LAUGHS]
00:41:58 Everything bad that happens is not about you,
00:42:01 and everything good that happens is not about you.
00:42:04 Can I go deeper?
00:42:05 The Bible wants you to have the same attitude as Jesus.
00:42:13 The same attitude.
00:42:14 The Bible cares about your attitude.
00:42:16 Your attitude determines your altitude.
00:42:19 I don't care how smart you are.
00:42:21 If you have a bad attitude, it will stunt your altitude.
00:42:26 I don't care how fine you are.
00:42:28 They will be attracted to how cute you are.
00:42:31 But as soon as they meet you and discover your attitude,
00:42:35 you can't be cute enough to camouflage a bad attitude.
00:42:40 You don't stay married to people for 50 years
00:42:45 because they're fine.
00:42:47 You stay married to somebody 50 years
00:42:50 because their attitude is one of service.
00:42:54 You're working on the wrong thing.
00:43:01 If we could take some of the money
00:43:03 you spend on them eyelashes that are as long as Egypt--
00:43:09 I'm not saying you can't have them, put them on.
00:43:11 I'm just saying you're working on the wrong stuff.
00:43:13 If we could take some of that money
00:43:16 that you're putting on other things to camouflage
00:43:20 and understand that the beauty that you have
00:43:23 is a meek and quiet spirit and a kind heart,
00:43:28 if you would understand that lasts longer.
00:43:38 In all fairness and baldness and beards and biceps and triceps,
00:43:45 we go to the gym every day.
00:43:46 We hardly ever read our Bible or help anybody along the way.
00:43:51 Because we-- every selfie.
00:44:02 We're working on things that do not work.
00:44:07 You have to have this attitude.
00:44:13 And the Bible wouldn't tell you to have it
00:44:15 if it were automatic.
00:44:19 So it is not just natural to have a good attitude,
00:44:24 because I never have to ask you to be what is natural to you.
00:44:30 I would never have to ask you to be black,
00:44:35 because that's inescapable.
00:44:37 If I ask you for something, it only
00:44:40 indicates that you have an option.
00:44:42 Your attitude is within your control.
00:44:45 You can change your attitude.
00:44:49 If there's anybody in here that's
00:44:51 ever had to change your attitude,
00:44:54 you ought to shout me down right now.
00:44:57 [CHEERING]
00:45:00 So the Bible says, look to Jesus as your example
00:45:14 in selfless humility.
00:45:18 The old King James Version says, "who
00:45:20 thought it not robbery to be equal with God,
00:45:24 but made of himself no reputation,
00:45:28 and took on himself the form of a servant."
00:45:31 Not because he didn't know who he was,
00:45:34 but because he knew who he was, he
00:45:37 was strong enough to lay down who he was,
00:45:41 and put on the form of a servant.
00:45:44 Which is why he put on the towel anyway,
00:45:47 because the towel is a type of him showing what
00:45:51 he was when he took on flesh.
00:45:55 He came to serve.
00:45:57 The lion became a lamb.
00:46:00 The divine became a servant.
00:46:03 He who sat up high came down low,
00:46:06 and was born in a manger, that he might show us
00:46:10 that he's stronger as a lamb than he was as a lion.
00:46:16 I feel like preaching this gospel in this place.
00:46:21 We are headed in the wrong direction.
00:46:24 Everybody's trying to roar, but who God wants to bless
00:46:29 is a lamb worthy.
00:46:31 It's the lamb that was slain from the foundations
00:46:36 of the world.
00:46:37 [APPLAUSE]
00:46:47 He said, "I know I'm God.
00:46:51 I don't need you to tell me I'm God,
00:46:54 but I took on the form of a servant."
00:46:57 Now look at how opposite that is.
00:47:00 We are servants acting like gods.
00:47:04 [LAUGHTER]
00:47:10 And he's a god acting like a servant.
00:47:15 And he said, "If you get my attitude,
00:47:21 I will change your whole life."
00:47:25 The Bible said that he took on the form of a servant.
00:47:29 That's his birth.
00:47:32 And then became even more obedient to his father
00:47:38 and died.
00:47:40 It was amazing that God would become a man that's
00:47:46 humble all by himself.
00:47:48 For the first time, he got sleepy.
00:47:52 As God, he never took a nap.
00:47:54 As God, he never got rest.
00:47:57 As God, he sat on the circle of the earth.
00:48:00 As God, he commanded winds and waves.
00:48:04 As God, he said, "Let there be light."
00:48:06 And there was light.
00:48:08 But as man, he needed milk.
00:48:11 As man, he needed a manger.
00:48:13 As man, he needed a woman.
00:48:16 As man, we find him sleep on a boat.
00:48:19 He took on the form of a servant.
00:48:23 And that's what he's acting out.
00:48:25 When he wraps himself up in a towel,
00:48:27 he's showing you that he wrapped himself up in flesh.
00:48:30 What do you need to wrap up in to change
00:48:43 the trajectory of your life?
00:48:47 And he became obedient unto death.
00:48:55 And death is the trip switch.
00:48:59 If you can die to your own ego, if you
00:49:11 can die to your own significance,
00:49:14 if you can die to your own selfish needs,
00:49:18 if you can die to your visions of grandeur,
00:49:21 if you can die to the point that you stop thinking more highly
00:49:26 of yourself than you are, if you can just die--
00:49:29 nobody's preaching about dying anymore.
00:49:32 In the old church, we used to preach, if I die now,
00:49:35 I don't have to die no more.
00:49:37 And we'd be shouting about that.
00:49:39 Ain't nobody shouting about dying now,
00:49:41 because nobody wants to give up nothing.
00:49:44 Everybody wants to gain something.
00:49:46 What can I get from knowing you?
00:49:48 [CROWD SHOUTING]
00:49:51 Jesus said, if any man shall be my disciple, take up your cross
00:50:04 and follow me.
00:50:06 You become my disciple at the point you die.
00:50:15 Because if you can get your ego and your pride
00:50:21 to get healed enough to find a dying place--
00:50:25 [CROWD SHOUTING]
00:50:28 --to find a dying place, maybe the reason
00:50:37 you're going through the trouble you're going through right now
00:50:40 is that God is trying to kill your pride and your ego
00:50:44 so you can find a dying place.
00:50:48 I've got to find a place that I can die.
00:50:52 The Bible said that when they hung him on the cross,
00:50:57 no man takes my life.
00:50:59 I lay it down.
00:51:00 And if I lay it down, look at how bad he is.
00:51:03 I can pick it back up again.
00:51:06 That's how come I can get down.
00:51:08 Because if you mess with me, I always know I can get up.
00:51:12 [CROWD CHEERING]
00:51:15 He says he had set his face to go to Jerusalem.
00:51:24 He wasn't going to rest till he found his dying place.
00:51:27 Where Samson rested in the lap of Delilah,
00:51:33 Jesus, the ultimate judge, rested his head on the cross.
00:51:40 And they hung him high.
00:51:42 And they stretched him wide.
00:51:45 And he hung his head.
00:51:47 And for me--
00:51:50 [CROWD CHEERING]
00:51:54 --for me, he died.
00:52:05 [CROWD CHEERING]
00:52:09 And the Bible says because he went so low,
00:52:17 God has highly exalted him.
00:52:22 [CROWD CHEERING]
00:52:26 Watch this.
00:52:27 You trying to get a great name?
00:52:29 And gave him a name that was exalted above every name,
00:52:37 every name, every name, that at the name of Jesus,
00:52:47 every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess,
00:52:57 Jesus, how did you get a great name?
00:53:02 He said, I didn't get it by trying to be high.
00:53:05 I got it by going down low.
00:53:09 And I got so low that I didn't have to exalt myself.
00:53:15 But God became my booking agent.
00:53:18 And he has highly exalted me and gave me a name
00:53:24 that at the name of Jesus, at the name of who?
00:53:30 At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow,
00:53:36 and every tongue shall confess whatever you're wrestling with.
00:53:42 If it's got a name, there's a name above it.
00:53:48 The name of Jesus is greater than the name
00:53:52 of any president. The name of Jesus is greater than any king.
00:53:58 The name of Jesus is greater than any witch.
00:54:03 The name of Jesus is greater than Baal.
00:54:08 The name of Jesus is greater than Buddha.
00:54:12 The name of Jesus is better than Asherah.
00:54:17 The name of Jesus is greater than Diana.
00:54:22 The name of Jesus is greater than Zeus.
00:54:27 The name of Jesus is greater than cancer.
00:54:32 The name of Jesus is greater than leukemia.
00:54:37 The name of Jesus is greater than Hitler.
00:54:42 The name of Jesus is greater than any name.
00:54:47 I've seen the pharaohs come, and I've seen the pharaohs go,
00:54:53 but the name of Jesus is a strong tower
00:54:58 where the righteous run their in and are safe.
00:55:02 If you know anything about it, somebody call his name.
00:55:07 [applause]
00:55:14 I'm about to take my seat.
00:55:18 I'm about to sit down. I'm about to get out of your way,
00:55:23 but I will not apologize for being a little old school.
00:55:28 In the old church, we got around the altar,
00:55:32 and we didn't just say glory,
00:55:35 and we didn't just say hallelujah,
00:55:37 but we get down on the floor and say,
00:55:40 "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus."
00:55:47 After a while, we say, "Gee, Jesus.
00:55:49 Gee, gee, Jesus. Gee, gee, Jesus.
00:55:54 Jesus, Jesus. Jesus, Jesus."
00:55:58 And the more we called him, the more we got set free.
00:56:03 The more we called him, the more the power fell.
00:56:08 If you could call on Jesus right now,
00:56:12 every demon in your house would have to run for the door
00:56:18 because at the name of Jesus,
00:56:21 every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess.
00:56:26 You want to do some spiritual warfare,
00:56:29 open your mouth and call his name out loud.
00:56:34 He had been highly exalted above every name
00:56:40 that's in the earth and under the earth and above the earth.
00:56:46 I don't care where you are.
00:56:48 The name still works.
00:56:51 Somebody call him like you know him.
00:56:55 Call him like you need him.
00:56:59 Call him like he's got all power.
00:57:04 I beg you to open your mouth.
00:57:07 [cheers and applause]
00:57:10 ♪
00:57:18 ♪
00:57:26 ♪
00:57:30 If you call him, he'll deliver you.
00:57:34 If you call him, he'll set you free.
00:57:38 If you call him, he'll bring you out of your camouflage.
00:57:43 If you call him, he'll bring you out of your disguise.
00:57:47 If you call him, he'll bring you out of your pride.
00:57:51 If you call him, he'll bring you out of your ego.
00:57:56 If you call him, somebody call him.
00:57:59 Anybody call him.
00:58:01 Anybody call him.
00:58:03 Black folks call him.
00:58:05 White folks call him.
00:58:07 Ukrainians call him.
00:58:09 Frenchmen call him.
00:58:11 Somebody say Jesus.
00:58:14 [cheers and applause]
00:58:17 ♪
00:58:25 ♪
00:58:35 ♪
00:58:39 Demons tremble.
00:58:41 Demons tremble.
00:58:43 Demons tremble at the sound of his name,
00:58:48 which is wrong.
00:58:50 At the sound of his name.
00:58:53 Somebody call him like you know him.
00:58:56 [cheers and applause]
00:58:59 ♪
00:59:09 Jesus, I need to change.
00:59:13 Jesus, I need to drop my disguise.
00:59:17 Jesus, I need to humble myself.
00:59:21 Jesus!
00:59:23 [cheers and applause]
00:59:26 ♪
00:59:36 [cheers and applause]
00:59:39 ♪
00:59:49 [cheers and applause]
00:59:52 There is not an area in your life that's under attack
00:59:58 that wouldn't benefit from this message.
01:00:02 There is not an issue in your life
01:00:05 that God is not talking to you about this morning.
01:00:09 [cheers and applause]
01:00:12 ♪
01:00:18 There's not a relationship in your life
01:00:21 that wouldn't benefit
01:00:24 if you would drop your camouflage.
01:00:26 I know it's scary.
01:00:28 [cheers and applause]
01:00:31 I know it's frightening.
01:00:33 [cheers and applause]
01:00:35 I know you got hurt.
01:00:37 [cheers and applause]
01:00:39 But their behavior should not control your response.
01:00:43 [cheers and applause]
01:00:46 ♪
01:00:49 What you're doing to protect yourself
01:00:52 is prohibiting yourself
01:00:56 from what it really means to be a Christian.
01:01:01 [cheers and applause]
01:01:03 What it really means to be a Christian
01:01:08 is to understand the inescapable--
01:01:13 [cheers and applause]
01:01:15 the inescapable necessity,
01:01:22 the inescapable immediate urgency,
01:01:28 the role that servitude wants to play in your life
01:01:34 is how you are going to be exalted.
01:01:38 [cheers and applause]
01:01:42 I got exalted preaching in storefronts.
01:01:47 [cheers and applause]
01:01:50 I used to have to put my car in neutral
01:01:52 and float down the hills 'cause I didn't even
01:01:54 have gas money to get back home.
01:01:57 [cheers and applause]
01:02:00 I heard Pastor Robinson holler, "Yep, he remembers
01:02:05 those days in the hills of West Virginia
01:02:08 when they would give you canned goods."
01:02:11 I can't spend no canned goods.
01:02:14 My car don't run off of green beans.
01:02:16 [laughter]
01:02:19 But I had to pass by the dying place.
01:02:23 [cheers and applause]
01:02:28 So God could trust me.
01:02:30 [cheers and applause]
01:02:33 I am not name-dropping when I talk about Colin Powell
01:02:45 or any of the things that I talked about preaching
01:02:50 because the highest position we can ascend to
01:02:55 is servant.
01:02:57 [cheers and applause]
01:03:00 I would have loved to have had him come speak
01:03:07 at my leadership conference about being a servant.
01:03:13 And I thought to myself, "Your parents were literal servants
01:03:18 in Jamaica, working in the hot sun as obvious servants.
01:03:26 And now you got stars and purple hearts all over you,
01:03:32 but you're still serving."
01:03:35 [cheers and applause]
01:03:37 If you want to master something this morning,
01:03:45 it's going to be hard.
01:03:48 Master being a servant.
01:03:53 Children, serve your parents.
01:03:56 Parents, serve your children.
01:04:00 Husbands, serve your wives.
01:04:04 Wife, serve your husband.
01:04:09 Because the more you serve each other,
01:04:12 the more you exalt.
01:04:15 [cheers and applause]
01:04:18 You make yourself indispensable by how you serve.
01:04:29 I don't know why God had me preach this message this morning,
01:04:34 but I think you do.
01:04:36 [cheers and applause]
01:04:39 And if you have any aspirations to go up,
01:04:43 switch them around and go down.
01:04:49 If you take care of going down, God will take care of it.
01:04:54 [cheers and applause]
01:04:57 I don't care whether you came from another country
01:05:04 or you walked across the street.
01:05:07 If the Lord needed for you to hear this message,
01:05:11 if this message--I didn't preach it to make you shout.
01:05:14 If it convicted you, if it challenged you,
01:05:18 if it spoke to your attitude,
01:05:22 come down to this altar,
01:05:24 and let's seal the deal on the transformative power
01:05:30 of God's ability to change your life.
01:05:33 If you're watching online as they come,
01:05:35 if you're watching online,
01:05:37 the fact that you cannot come to this altar
01:05:39 does not mean you cannot come to the altar.
01:05:43 God wants to do something amazing in your life,
01:05:47 even in this season.
01:05:49 And maybe the trouble in your life
01:05:52 is just there to create a place for your pride to die,
01:05:57 for your ego to die, for your ambition to die,
01:06:01 for you to take on the form of a servant,
01:06:04 not because you're weak,
01:06:08 but because you're strong.
01:06:12 And because Jesus has modeled to you how to go higher.
01:06:18 God has already prophesied to you about higher.
01:06:24 He's already given you a vision of a crown.
01:06:28 The prophets of old, Sarah,
01:06:30 all through the Old Testament,
01:06:33 they saw the crown.
01:06:36 They were waiting on the Messiah.
01:06:38 They were waiting on him to restore Jerusalem,
01:06:42 rebuild Israel, set up his kingdom.
01:06:45 They were looking for him to reign and to rule.
01:06:48 Most of them saw the crown,
01:06:52 but very few saw the cross.
01:06:58 So the cross was the mystery that brought you to the crown.
01:07:04 God prophesied to you about crowns,
01:07:07 but told me to preach to you about crosses.
01:07:14 Maybe God gave you that unmanageable,
01:07:16 disrespectful child to be your dying place.
01:07:23 Not your fighting place, not your cussing place,
01:07:27 not your warring place, your dying place.
01:07:33 Die till you shut up.
01:07:36 Die till you stop defending yourself.
01:07:39 Die till you hold your peace.
01:07:42 Die till you stop being vindictive.
01:07:45 Die till you stop rendering evil for evil.
01:07:50 Die till you get over your need to get back at who hurt you.
01:08:00 There is room at the cross for you.
01:08:13 There's room at the cross for you.
01:08:24 Though millions have come, there is still room for one.
01:08:37 There is room at the cross for you.
01:08:53 There is room.
01:08:56 You're standing there looking at me,
01:08:58 but there is room at the cross for you.
01:09:09 There is room at the cross for you.
01:09:21 Although millions have come, there is still room for one.
01:09:41 There is room at the cross for you.
01:09:57 I am not bothered by those who have assessed themselves
01:10:01 and found no need to come because they are already crucified where they stand.
01:10:09 But I am deeply concerned by those who will not drop the camouflage.
01:10:20 And your stubbornness is not just exemplified here where it doesn't really matter to me
01:10:27 because I'm going to go eat in a minute either way.
01:10:34 But it's messing up your life.
01:10:39 It's messing up your emotional well-being, your mental health, your spiritual life,
01:10:44 your financial life, your marital life.
01:10:51 And sometimes you don't know how to be humble.
01:10:56 Sometimes you're scared to be humble.
01:11:01 I want to wait a minute for somebody who doesn't feel safe enough to do what you just did.
01:11:14 But deep down in their heart they know that God is talking to you about serving.
01:11:24 Not so you can get something from people, not for validation.
01:11:28 Listen, this has nothing to do with other people.
01:11:32 This has everything to do with you.
01:11:37 Although millions have come,
01:11:45 there is still room for one.
01:11:54 There is room.
01:11:58 You got room to change whether you take it or not.
01:12:01 There is room.
01:12:06 Don't blame nobody if you stay like you are because
01:12:09 there is room
01:12:17 at the cross
01:12:20 for you.
01:12:29 God has made room at this altar for you.
01:12:34 God has made room for you.
01:12:38 Different people have come to this altar for different reasons.
01:12:43 Different areas in their lives where they long to be better,
01:12:47 to be stronger, to be safer.
01:12:50 Maybe areas where they need to be more confident in themselves
01:12:54 so that they can be more vulnerable in their service.
01:13:02 Maybe it's a perpetual low self-esteem
01:13:07 brought about by something that you did not cause yourself.
01:13:13 You've been victimized into a place
01:13:17 where the only time you feel safe is when you're in control.
01:13:23 And you cannot legislate your own resurrection.
01:13:30 That's where your faith comes in,
01:13:34 to believe God, though he's slaving.
01:13:40 Yet shall I trust him.
01:13:46 The only way this prayer works
01:13:49 is if you drop your camouflage at this altar.
01:13:57 If you stop fighting back,
01:14:00 stop being snide and smart,
01:14:04 vindictive and getting even,
01:14:06 manipulative,
01:14:10 and really become like Jesus.
01:14:14 This is an attitude change.
01:14:17 We always preach about actions.
01:14:21 Stop drinking, stop smoking, stop fooling around, stop acting.
01:14:24 Those are actions.
01:14:26 Sins of the flesh, we ought to preach about them.
01:14:29 But there are sins of the spirit
01:14:33 that are just as damaging.
01:14:38 I have not mastered it.
01:14:41 I'm yet in process.
01:14:45 As a little boy, I grew up singing, "To be like Jesus.
01:14:49 Oh, how I long to be like him.
01:14:53 He was meek and lowly.
01:14:57 He was humble.
01:14:59 He was holy.
01:15:01 Oh, how I long to be like him."
01:15:04 I'm 66 years old, and I'm still longing for it.
01:15:08 I haven't mastered it.
01:15:11 But I'm better.
01:15:13 I'm better.
01:15:15 I'm better.
01:15:17 I know I'm better 'cause I don't have to say
01:15:19 everything I think anymore.
01:15:22 You know what I'm saying?
01:15:24 I don't have to say everything I think anymore.
01:15:27 I don't have to respond.
01:15:29 I know I'm better 'cause sometimes I respond to people
01:15:31 on Instagram and then delete it, I know I'm better
01:15:34 'cause I thought of something to say and then deleted it
01:15:37 because I thought it not robbery of equals,
01:15:41 but humble myself.
01:15:42 I know I'm better 'cause I can walk away
01:15:45 from your negative opinion and not be bothered by it
01:15:48 'cause I know who I am.
01:15:50 And I know, I know I'm better.
01:15:52 I know I'm better, I know I'm better, I know I'm better.
01:15:56 I know I'm better and I got more peace and I got more joy
01:16:00 and I got more contentment and I got more deliverance
01:16:03 and I got more resources and I got more doors opening
01:16:07 for me and I got God making ways for me
01:16:09 that I never even asked him for.
01:16:11 I got God blessing me in ways I never even thought
01:16:14 to pray for.
01:16:15 I got God doing things that I never even thought
01:16:18 in all my life I would see,
01:16:20 especially at this stage in my life.
01:16:23 And I found out that if you can spend almost 20 years
01:16:28 pastoring a storefront church,
01:16:31 that God can put you in some place like this.
01:16:37 I still can't get used to it.
01:16:39 Every time I drive up to it, it still shatters my thinking.
01:16:43 From a 1967 Valiant with the floorboard rusted out,
01:16:51 getting canned goods for offerings,
01:16:53 to here I can't believe, I can't believe,
01:16:58 I can't believe what he did.
01:17:01 In a short time, when I stopped murmuring and complaining
01:17:08 about teaching Bible class to five people
01:17:11 and two of them sleep.
01:17:18 Last Sunday we had 91,000 people streaming online.
01:17:21 From every country imaginable,
01:17:32 that people from France would come to the Potter's house.
01:17:37 That people from Ukraine would come to the Potter's house.
01:17:43 That people from Brazil would come to the Potter's house.
01:17:48 I couldn't get people to come down the street.
01:17:50 Y'all don't hear me.
01:17:51 I couldn't get people to come down the street.
01:17:53 But when I...
01:17:54 You wanna grow your marriage,
01:18:04 you wanna grow your business,
01:18:05 you wanna grow your life.
01:18:07 When you stop worrying about profits
01:18:11 and start worrying about service,
01:18:16 how can I serve?
01:18:18 How can I leave the world better than I found it?
01:18:21 How can I make a difference for the people
01:18:23 that's coming behind me?
01:18:25 How can I help my neighbor?
01:18:26 How can I help my sister?
01:18:28 I wonder if that woman stopped on the side of the road
01:18:30 needs jumper cables.
01:18:31 I wonder what I could do to help somebody in need.
01:18:35 Lift your hands.
01:18:39 God is getting ready to use you
01:18:40 like you've never been used before.
01:18:42 He's gonna use you in a way
01:18:45 that you don't have to promote yourself.
01:18:48 He's gonna promote you.
01:18:49 He's gonna take you up.
01:18:51 Don't you worry about up.
01:18:53 You worry about down.
01:18:54 The lower you can go down,
01:18:57 the higher you're gonna go up.
01:18:59 Hallelujah.
01:19:00 They dug these footers so deep
01:19:03 that they could have wrecked this building
01:19:05 and it wouldn't collapse.
01:19:06 God wants your footers to go real deep.
01:19:10 This is a deep down season
01:19:11 'cause God's getting ready to take you to a high place.
01:19:14 And you gotta be willing to get down.
01:19:16 And the only way you can get down
01:19:17 is to know who you are.
01:19:19 And know who you are in him.
01:19:21 And know what he's done in your life.
01:19:23 And know that you don't have to fight for yourself
01:19:25 or promote yourself.
01:19:27 That God's got you covered.
01:19:29 Hallelujah.
01:19:30 It took strength to walk down this aisle.
01:19:31 It took strength to come to this altar.
01:19:34 It took strength and safety
01:19:35 that some people are still working on.
01:19:37 Maybe they'll come in three weeks
01:19:39 or four weeks or a month.
01:19:40 Everybody don't come at the same time.
01:19:41 But this is your Sunday for deliverance.
01:19:44 And as you lift your hands and you open your mouth,
01:19:47 God is getting ready to do a new thing in your life.
01:19:50 God is getting ready to do a new thing in your life.
01:19:53 God is getting ready to do a new thing in your spirit.
01:19:56 You don't have to get even.
01:19:57 You don't have to respond.
01:19:58 You don't have to get back.
01:20:00 There are gifts in you that God's getting ready to release
01:20:03 that you're gonna serve people
01:20:04 in ways you never served them before.
01:20:06 God gave you talents and degrees and education.
01:20:09 And yes, beauty and all the talents,
01:20:12 not for you, but so you can serve somebody.
01:20:14 God's gonna use everything you got,
01:20:16 everything you cook, everything you build,
01:20:19 everything you draw, everything you make,
01:20:21 every business plan you got, every hope,
01:20:23 every aspiration, every book, every dream you got.
01:20:27 God's getting ready to use you.
01:20:28 When you stop letting it be about you
01:20:31 and you start letting it be about Him,
01:20:33 God is gonna blow your mind.
01:20:35 With your hands raised and your heart open,
01:20:38 God is gonna fill you with fresh oil.
01:20:41 I feel fresh oil blowing.
01:20:43 I feel fresh oil coming this way.
01:20:46 I feel fresh oil flowing in the people right now.
01:20:49 The Spirit of the Lord God be upon you.
01:20:52 From the crown of your head to the sole of your feet.
01:20:57 As you take on the firm as a servant,
01:21:01 God is gonna use you in fresh ways.
01:21:04 As you get creative about how can I serve,
01:21:07 how can I help, how can I be used,
01:21:10 how can I make, I need to serve.
01:21:12 I need to sow, I need to give, I need, I need,
01:21:15 I need to do it.
01:21:16 You may not need to take it, I need to give it.
01:21:21 I need to give it, I need to do it,
01:21:22 I need to give my time, I need to give my service,
01:21:24 I need to give my talent, I need to give my wisdom,
01:21:27 I need to give it, I need to give it
01:21:29 'cause I gotta show God that He can trust me with servitude.
01:21:33 If He can trust me with servitude,
01:21:35 He can raise me as a leader,
01:21:36 but He can't raise me as a leader
01:21:38 until He can trust me with servitude.
01:21:40 Until I can preach and not be seen,
01:21:42 until I can serve and not be seen,
01:21:44 until I can sow and not be clapped for,
01:21:47 until I can give and not be clapped for,
01:21:49 until I can give my life, not just to my church,
01:21:53 but to my children, to my family, to my friends,
01:21:56 if I can serve somebody.
01:22:06 Lord, give creative concepts, innovative ideas,
01:22:11 ways in which we can get beyond ourself and serve.
01:22:17 We have asked you for creativity,
01:22:20 but sometimes we ask for ourselves,
01:22:23 but now we're asking you to make us creative servants,
01:22:27 that we can solve problems
01:22:28 that have never been solved before,
01:22:30 that we can deal with people
01:22:32 that nobody else will deal with,
01:22:34 that we won't just talk about people and be arrogant,
01:22:37 but that we might serve our community in amazing ways,
01:22:41 that we might touch the unclean,
01:22:43 that we might serve the lepers,
01:22:45 the broken, the wounded, the hurting, the suffering.
01:22:48 God, anoint us, anoint us with fresh oil
01:22:51 until we can help the homeless
01:22:52 and feed the hungry and clothe the naked.
01:22:55 Anoint us, Lord, that we can be valuable
01:22:58 in the kingdom of God.
01:22:59 Stop us from being impressed with ourselves
01:23:02 and trying to impress people that don't even matter
01:23:05 and give us innovative, creative ways
01:23:07 that we can serve people who desperately need
01:23:10 to see Jesus through my hands,
01:23:12 Jesus through my voice, Jesus through my talent,
01:23:16 Jesus through my education,
01:23:18 Jesus through my intellect, Jesus through my connection.
01:23:21 You put me in that position, put me in that office,
01:23:25 put me in that corporation so I could serve the world,
01:23:28 not so I could be important,
01:23:30 and today I surrender, I surrender all,
01:23:33 all to thee, my blessed Savior.
01:23:37 (upbeat music)
01:23:40 (upbeat music)
01:23:42 (upbeat music)
01:23:45 (upbeat music)
01:23:47 (upbeat music)
01:23:50 [BLANK_AUDIO]