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00:00 Let's get it. Let's get it. Get in the game. I can't believe it man. Hundreds of people have
00:05 joined our church already. Those watching virtually and in the sanctuary. We're relaunching
00:10 on Easter Sunday morning. Over 200 new people have joined ministry. You're connected with this
00:15 virtually. We want everybody to get in the game. Jesus said, Jesus said, "The harvest is plentiful,
00:22 but what the labors are few." My sermon this weekend, help, warning. Watch this.
00:30 Let's do it. Grab your phones right quick and let's tag this text. I see people are coming.
00:39 As you guys can see, we got to have a third service because we're not, you know, there's
00:44 some people feel like if there's no room for me, I won't come back. And so we're going to make room.
00:48 Amen. And so let's get ready, ready for that. On Easter Sunday, we'll just, you know, we do what
00:55 we got to do. Those sitting in the overflow right now, everybody watching, that's the good problem
00:59 of growth. Amen. All right, let's do this. You got your Bibles? Go to Matthew 9, verse 37. Matthew 9,
01:06 verse 37. And it's right there on the screens. If you're here for the first time, Matthew 9,
01:14 verse 37 says, "He said to his disciples, 'The harvest is great, but the labors are few.'"
01:26 Let me try that one more time. "He said to his disciples, 'The harvest is great.'" You grew up
01:31 on King James. "The harvest is plentiful, but the labors are few." Do me a favor,
01:38 hit four people and tell them, "Help, warning. Help, warning. Help, warning. Help, warning. Help,
01:42 warning." Stay with me upstairs. "Help, warning. Help, warning." All right, take your seats in the
01:48 house of God. "Help, warning." I don't care what side of the political aisle you reside on.
01:57 I think most thinking persons would agree that it seems like America maybe could have a little
02:05 bit more to offer in terms of candidates for presidency. Not to bombastically put down
02:12 our current president or even the individual who's running against him, but I just believe
02:17 that there has to be maybe some other persons that can help us that doesn't have quite the age
02:24 challenge, the character challenge, all those things that are necessary in order to lead
02:31 multi-millions of persons. That said, whatever side of the aisle you reside on, be careful not
02:38 to get caught up in political banter during this time of year, where they start to tell untruths
02:45 in order to strengthen their position. And so you hear them say stuff like, "The economy has never
02:50 been worse," when any economist would tell you things are better now in terms of economy than
02:56 it was last quarter. But as persons are running for office, there is this scare tactic that suggests
03:02 that the reason why you're not doing well is because of people who have come from other
03:06 countries who are stealing your jobs. Flavor Flav said, "Don't believe the hype." No matter
03:14 what they tell you, I am in my 50s, I've lived in Cleveland the entirety of my life, and I have
03:19 never seen so many help-wanted signs in the window. I mean, you go down any street, particularly in
03:26 restaurants and places of service, they are literally begging people, "We'll pay you in
03:32 advance if you start now. We'll do something special in terms of bonus if you can start right
03:37 away." There are that many individuals who are in need of employment and that many places willing
03:44 to hire. I get so upset when I see a brother, particularly one my color, who is not gainfully
03:52 employed, talking about, "I haven't found the job I want." For the 100th time, you do what you got
03:58 to do until you can do what you want to do. If I was a woman, I wouldn't give a brother a second
04:07 look who wasn't employed. No, there is something you can do in order to provide for your family.
04:14 That's your black history lesson right there. Praise God. Amen. That said, as we shift it from
04:20 the secular to the sacred, from the natural to the spiritual, just like there's a glaring need
04:26 for persons to help in places of service, there's also, watch this, hence our thematic thrust this
04:34 month, a need for persons to help in the kingdom. It is in this particular Matthean text that Jesus
04:42 shouts, "The harvest is plentiful. We just don't have nobody to do the work." I got to say something
04:48 at the top of this sermon. I hope you clap your hands. We just in February, over 200 people have
04:53 joined the World Church. And on a cold February day, we're still sitting chairs out in our 24th
05:04 year. There are people who simply need Jesus. Things are blowing up, and I got to say it right
05:12 off the jump, may not be nothing to persons watching, may not be sexy to some people,
05:16 but this is the kind of stuff I live for. Eight new men are in the parking lot this Sunday who
05:22 were not in the parking lot last Sunday. Oh, that's worth clapping for. And these are brothers
05:30 that just asked me, "Pastor, what you think I should do?" I said, "You don't know the Bible
05:34 that good? Cool. Go out there and be nice and smile and show the love of God. Help sisters
05:39 bring their babies in. Walk them to the nursery. Just show the love of God. Don't shoot no shots
05:44 at cute girls because they get enough of that in the streets. Show them kingdom." And eight new men
05:54 are out there. And speaking of help wanted, this particular Matthew text is pregnant with
06:01 pedagogical possibilities. I was tripping because do me a favor, read Matthew 9 in its entirety when
06:08 you get to the crib because it's just an action-packed text. And as I was studying, I'm
06:12 like, "I'm going to tell the whole church, read Matthew 9 as a part of your devotion this week
06:17 and just let the whole thing bless you." But let's start in verse 9. "As Jesus was walking alone,
06:22 he saw a tax collector named Matthew." Wow. And he said, "Follow me and be my disciples. Jesus said
06:29 to him, 'So Matthew got up and followed him.'" You just missed it. The Bible says Jesus is passing
06:34 by. He sees Matty Ice. I made that up. Praise God. Amen. He sees Matthew and says, "Mat,
06:42 follow me right now." No, don't just skip over that. Don't just take a cursory glance at that.
06:49 This is a grown man. You don't tell no grown man, "Quit your job and come with me."
06:53 Matthew is a tax collector. Man, it's not like it used to be. People used to know the Bible.
07:00 Even if they didn't go to church, they went to Sunday school when they were little. Now,
07:03 you have to break things down because a lot of people just don't know stuff you assume they
07:07 know. Like a lot of people don't know about this cat named Zacchaeus in the Bible.
07:11 Remember Zacchaeus? He was a tax collector too. And Jesus told him, "Come down. Today I got to
07:16 stay at your house." And everybody is so mad at Jesus because he's hanging with a tax collector.
07:21 And tax collectors were synonymous with slickness. The Romans would hire Jewish brothers to collect
07:29 taxes from the Jewish persons. But what those persons would do, these tax collectors would
07:34 overcharge the Jewish people, give the Roman government their cut, put the rest in their
07:38 pocket. So people couldn't stand tax collectors. It was synonymous with being slick. Couldn't
07:45 nobody stand them. And it's the slickest brother out there that Jesus picked.
07:50 Don't you look at me like that because you was the slickest person out there.
07:55 And Jesus picked you. Can I tell you, the Bible says, "He walked up to Matthew and said,
08:04 'What's up, player? Do me a favor. Right now, follow me. Become my disciple.'" Can I tell you
08:10 the first thing I want you to note? You got your phone on? Got your notes page open? Come on,
08:14 it's better to have a long pencil than a short memory. Those watching all across the world,
08:18 are you taking a note at home? The first thing that jumps out, did I tell y'all it's the season
08:22 of Lent? You know Lent, don't you? My anniversary, yeah, February 14th started Lent. And now,
08:28 from now until Easter weekend is Lent. It's the season where Christians should pay attention to
08:32 be more holy. Should pay attention to being more holy. We're not looking at as much Instagram.
08:37 We're not watching TV as much. We're watching what we do. We're praying a little bit more.
08:41 We're reading our Bibles a little bit more in the morning because our Super Bowl coming up.
08:44 So the season of Lent is a good time to preach on Christology. And can I tell you the first thing
08:49 that leaps out this text about Christ? He was powerful. He was powerful. You got to be a
08:54 powerful brother to make a grown man quit his job and follow you. He don't even know you. There was
09:00 something about Christ. And don't you look at me in that tone of voice because you do know he's
09:05 altogether lovely. Oh, he is the bishop of my soul. He's everything. Watch this. He got all
09:12 power. I don't even care what you're going through, what you've been through. He has the power to fix
09:17 every dilemma, to heal you from every demonic thing that's happened to you in your life. He got
09:22 power. Some people front like they got power. Some people think they got power. Some people
09:27 think they got power, but Christ got power. And Christ says to him, "Would you follow me right
09:33 now?" The Bible says he just got up, left all he had, and followed him. I don't know who I'm talking
09:37 to, but some of you need to leave everything you're doing right now today and come to Jesus.
09:41 No matter who you in the bed with, no matter who you think you love, no matter what you're doing
09:45 in these streets, no matter what you're doing in corporate America, there's nobody, let's go old
09:49 school, that can do you like Jesus. You ought to leave everything you have and come to Christ.
09:54 Look at the next verses on the screens because the Bible says, and it blesses my life because
09:58 the Bible says in verses 10 and 11, the Bible says, "Later when Jesus was eating supper at
10:04 Matthew's house with his close followers," watch this everybody, "with his close followers, a lot
10:09 of disreputable characters came and joined them. When the Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of
10:15 company, they had a fit and lit into Jesus' followers." What kind of example is this from
10:21 your teacher acting cozy with crooks and riffraff? Oh, thank you Eugene Peterson for your message
10:28 version of the Bible because the Bible says that that night Jesus goes to Matt's house to eat. So
10:35 first of all, he becomes a part of the Jesus crew. He said, "Come follow me." Some type of way,
10:40 there was a hookup, let's hook up tonight. Matthew was so caught up in Christ as he should be,
10:45 he said, "Come to my house." Y'all just missed it parenthetically. Why don't you invite Jesus
10:49 to your house? Yeah, invite Jesus to your house. He can help your house. The Bible says,
10:55 "Jesus go that night." Jesus go that night, but Jesus wasn't the only person there. Remember,
11:01 Matt just met Jesus that morning, that afternoon. So Matt like, "I'm having Jesus over." So Matt
11:09 invite his friends. His friends slick too. Okay, y'all just missed that, praise God. Why y'all
11:15 tripping? Because there wasn't church people there. He invited the people he knew. So he
11:20 invited some other tax collectors. He invited some strawberries. I found out how old I was
11:27 because they told me that YF don't know what strawberries are. Not the ones you eat.
11:33 Lord, I just thought of something real bad. I'm going to keep on going. Praise God, amen. I'm
11:40 going to go. Lord, I just can't do that. Praise God. Lord, I got to get my towel. Praise God.
12:05 And so all these disreputable characters, you're talking some slick people, you're talking some
12:11 dirty people, some dirty girls, some brothers who are slick, some street cats, some cats who are
12:16 wrong. They got money, but they slick. All those people. And your Bible says that the church people,
12:22 the Pharisees said, "What type of teacher y'all got hanging out with these kind of cats?" And
12:29 then Jesus says something in the next verse that all of you knew growing up. He said, "People who
12:34 are well don't need a physician." Y'all just missed it. People who are well don't need a physician.
12:42 The healthy, who needs a doctor? The healthy of the sick. Y'all been hearing me say something
12:47 for 20 years. It's my story. I'm sticking to it. I'm never going to stop saying it. I don't care
12:52 how many people join, how many degrees I get, how many degrees you get, how much money we get. I
12:56 ain't going to ever let us become so bougie that we forget this. The world church is not a museum.
13:00 It's a hospital. And when somebody acts stupid at church, don't quit. Why are you mad when sick
13:09 people throw up on you? Yeah. When sick people throw up, that's what sick people do. And I'm
13:16 sorry. Let me pause and parenthetically digress because some of y'all are looking at me like you
13:20 haven't been sick. And sometimes I still act sick. Can I just add something that Christ wouldn't be
13:24 mad at? Because Christ said that healthy people don't need a physician. He doesn't mind me
13:30 modernizing, vernonizing, and contemporizing that because here's what we know with modern medicine,
13:34 you shouldn't even wait till you get sick to go to the doctor.
13:37 Healthy people need a doctor. Healthy people need to get a physical before you get sick and a once
13:45 a year checkup, particularly black history. All the brothers, Dr. Harris, medical doctor would say
13:51 need to get your prostate checked and get your breast checked. As Lady Vernon is saying, because
13:55 you never know what's going on, that's in the natural realm. But in the spiritual realm, stick
14:00 close to Jesus before you get spiritually sick. Y'all ready? Y'all ready? Only 10 people are going
14:09 to catch this. This is a Vernonism. The worst time to call on God is when you need him.
14:18 No, call him when things are going well. Call him when you can pay your bills. Call him
14:25 when your health is good so that when you get sick, you already have a relationship with him.
14:31 Don't just use him 9-1-1 like a $2 hooker.
14:46 What's up, y'all? Can I tell you something? Let me see who's here. Oh, cool. Cool. I got my
14:54 thinking crowd because my thinking crowd can handle this. And it's the idea. It is the idea
15:00 that they say, look at these disreputable characters. Watch this. So they robbed them
15:05 of their personhood because of their issues. Because of their, because of their, because of
15:12 their issues. And some are slick. Some are tax collectors. No doubt some are adulterers. Some
15:17 are single and sleeping around. Some got the porn thing going on. Some are struggling with the weed
15:21 thing. It's a lot of people at Matt's party. And Jesus is sitting there eating with them.
15:26 And church people are looking saying, what type of teacher y'all got that he's hanging with these
15:34 kind of people? I need you to catch this because this absolutely blesses my life. Jesus said,
15:39 wait a minute, people who are healthy don't need a physician. It's people who's sick that do.
15:44 And so they robbed them of their anthropology based on their theology.
15:53 Is black history of mind? Is black history of mind? You cannot come to the word church and not
15:59 grow. You got to grow. You got to listen. Let me bless you. Dr. Jeremiah Wright, who I wish you
16:04 knew more about than a two-second soundbite, goddamn America. President Obama's pastor did
16:10 his wedding and blessed his babies. And President Obama, which I know he wished he had a take back,
16:15 sort of dished him during the election because he let Fox News put in his mind that Jeremiah Wright
16:20 was some bad guy because he spoke truth in the sermon. Condemn, damn. That's all. Damn, condemn.
16:27 Goddamn. Goddamn, condemn. It is the idea that of America, most people don't know that the Sunday
16:34 after Dr. King died or before he died, if he had lived to get back to Atlanta, his sermon that
16:41 Sunday was going to be why America might go to hell. He had wrote the sermon, why America might
16:50 go to hell. That's what Dr. King was going to preach had he not been killed in Memphis.
16:55 The point I'm making is Dr. Jeremiah Wright says something that blessed me, and he was one of my
17:00 doctoral teachers that I had a chance to have lunch with him, one of my homiletic heroes,
17:04 and I had a chance to eat with him. And one of the things he said that blessed my life, you'll
17:06 love this, he said, "Your anthropology, your theology that is," look at me, "your theology
17:12 determines your anthropology, and your anthropology determines your sociology." Your sociology.
17:19 Watch this. Let me bless you. In other words, anthropology, say anthropology. That means
17:24 humankind. Say theology. That's God. How God sees stuff is theology. Theos, logos, God's Word,
17:30 logos, Word, Theo, God, logos, theos, logos, Theo. Your theology, how you believe the Bible,
17:37 what you believe God sees in people, how you view people out of God's lens, that's your theology.
17:43 What you believe it takes to go to heaven, who you trust in, that's your theology. Anthropology,
17:48 anthros, mankind is humankind. Anthropology. If your theology sees me in my anthropology
17:57 as three-fifths of a person, then you can sleep with my woman and sell my children.
18:03 Here's your black history lesson. Let me try this again. If your theology, if your view of God,
18:13 some erroneous, eisegetical massacre that you believe I'm cursed because of Ham, and because
18:20 Ham looked at Noah, God cursed Ham, and Ham, Cush, black, dark, you believe all black people cursed
18:28 because your theology is jacked up, then it's easy for you to hang me by my neck.
18:34 Okay, okay, I'm losing you. It's black history month. I promise I'm going someplace. You do know
18:42 that the people at the top of the slave ship claim the same God as the people at the bottom.
18:47 One of us wrong. Okay, okay, I'm losing the whole crowd. Can I teach? Can I teach?
18:56 Can I teach those watching me all across the world? And so now you expect me to raise Dr. King,
19:04 and I will. Dr. King said there is nothing, there's nothing worse than intentional stupidity.
19:11 All of that kind of stuff. I could quote, Dr. King said there's nothing worse than sincere
19:16 ignorance and conscientious stupidity. There's nothing worse than sincere ignorance and conscientious
19:21 stupidity. And thank God for Dr. King and Malcolm, but we tend to name the same people every black
19:27 history month. What you never heard nobody preach about is Nat Turner. Born October 2nd, October 2nd,
19:38 1800, literally 1800 when he was born. 1831, there is the Hampton Rebellion.
19:48 Yeah, everybody goes to Hampton now for the summer to live in them big houses,
19:52 but Hampton was full of slavery. And Nat Turner said that God told him, he was a minister,
19:59 he was a reverend. He said God told him in a dream to kill his slave master and set his people free.
20:06 That's his theology. God told him, kill whoever you got to kill to get your people free. Now,
20:14 here's your jeopardy question, teenagers and why of, I want you to trip on this, was he wrong?
20:20 If somebody's raping your wife and selling your children and you say God told you,
20:30 kill them, and he just didn't kill white men, he killed white women and children.
20:34 Now you got to argue when the Palestinians bombed Israel or shot those persons in Israel at their
20:40 party, young people just chilling, they go shoot them. Is Israel wrong when they're retaliated?
20:46 And now Palestinian children get killed over 5,000 people have died in Palestine,
20:52 and a Palestinian life is just as precious to God as a Jewish life and a black life. And y'all not,
20:58 y'all not here today. Y'all don't want me to go here. I just want you. And by the way,
21:03 I'm not even going to tell you what to think. I just want to teach you how to think.
21:06 That's all I'm doing. Yeah, I don't want to tell you what to think about everything because you
21:12 may differ from me. You may say Nat was right. Others of you may say Nat was wrong. All I'm
21:16 telling you is that your anthropology is determined by your theology and your sociology,
21:21 which means you can treat me like a trip if you don't see my value.
21:24 [applause]
21:36 So they thought it was perfectly fine to kill black people and to lynch them because
21:39 they're nothing, no way. They're just dogs and animals and three-fifths of a person.
21:43 So that had a lot to do with that. Y'all ready for this? The Bible says in verse 35, I'm going
21:49 someplace. "Then Jesus made a circuit of all the towns and villages. He taught in their meeting
21:55 places, reported kingdom news," watch this, "and healed their diseased bodies and healed their
22:00 bruised and hurt lives." He healed their diseased bodies. I feel like preaching in my own church.
22:07 "And healed their bruised and hurt lives." I told you this 25 times. Nobody's hearing me.
22:13 All sickness ain't physical. Can I tell you why I got up at 4.30 this morning and walked the floor
22:22 and prayed and said, "God, please use your boy this morning. Use this unworthy vessel,
22:26 but let something come out of me to help persons who got bruised lives."
22:31 Maybe there's no pain in your body, but your mind hurt. Maybe there's no pain in your body,
22:37 but your heart hurt. You don't know who that girl's son is. Just because she's sitting next
22:42 to you with that cute face, you don't know she got a son locked up and he ain't even do nothing.
22:47 She got a son going through some stuff. She got a daughter. She's been through some stuff in her
22:51 marriage that just touched her life. Her parents were a trip. This brother got stuff in his heart.
22:56 This brother wrestling with stuff. With a wife, he wrestling with children. He wrestling with
23:00 thoughts of not having enough. He's wrestling with a whole lot. And sometimes the reason why
23:05 church got to be a real place is because the Bible says Jesus went around healing people,
23:10 not just with sickness in their body, but sickness in their life. And I got a word for 25 people.
23:18 Can I preach in my own church? If you're going through anything, here's your first shout.
23:23 There's a bomb in Gilead. I feel like preaching. He is Jehovah Rapha. And he is able to heal not
23:33 just your body, but your soul and your mind and your spirit. Hit three people, tell them he's a
23:39 healer. So let me lift this up right quick. Not only number one, was Jesus powerful, but number
23:54 two, he was polemical. Don't let that $2 word scare you on Black History Month. It just means
24:00 controversial. That's all polemical means. He was controversial. Why? Because he decided he would
24:06 break away from the pack. All the other church cats was walking around with these religious garbs on,
24:12 trying to look all deep and holy with these long beards and all this jewelry, trying to say,
24:17 "We are the holy Pharisees and Sadducees." They had big old buildings, but no members.
24:22 Jesus didn't have no building, but he got all the members. And they are hating on him. They are
24:30 hating on him because he's doing unusual ministry. They are hating on him because he's not honoring
24:36 the church dress code. They are hating on him because he's saying it's not about clothes,
24:46 it's about souls. He's saying, "Come just like you are." He's saying, "Come high, come nasty,
24:52 come drunk, come slick." Hit your neighbor and say, "He'll get to you in one minute. Hold on."
24:57 Come as a liar, come as an ex-adulterer, come as a fornicator, come as an ex-gambler,
25:03 come as somebody who crazy, come as somebody who's been to hell and back. Hit your neighbor and say,
25:08 "He's coming to you, just hold on." Come as an addict, come as an ex-crackhead, come as a
25:13 weed smoker. Just come as you are. You won't stay as you are. When God—I feel like preaching in my
25:19 own church. Oh, how I love the name. I feel like something might break out today. I feel like
25:32 something might break out in here. The Bible says he's healing, he's touching, he is absolutely
25:39 blowing their minds. The Bible says he made a circuit. But the Bible says, the Bible says not
25:45 only everybody was Jesus powerful, not only was he polemical, you'll love this, but thirdly,
25:53 he was purposeful. Because his purpose, you'll love this, his purpose, his purpose was to heal
26:00 the sick, to change lives, to posture them for Calvary, to get people ready, to show them there's
26:07 a new way. Never lose your purpose and never lose your assignment. And don't let nobody throw you
26:16 off kilter because of their lack of direction, because of their lack of focus. Don't turn 50
26:25 like me, took me too long, took me too long. I should have conquered this at 30. I didn't,
26:28 I didn't. I started with nothing, come from rejection, got a lot of stuff wrong with me,
26:32 so it took me a while to get where I'm at now. I want you to get there early in life, and that is,
26:36 anybody who don't help feed you, don't worry too much about what they think.
26:42 I don't know, I don't know who I'm talking to. People gonna talk no matter what you do.
26:52 People gonna talk. When you know your assignment, watch, watch, watch people kin to you. Because
26:59 if I'm the devil, I'm gonna try to use somebody kin to you, to make you think you crazy, because
27:05 you want more than the rest of the family got. And they'll start saying stuff like,
27:09 "You think you all that." And then they'll say, "You changed." Look back at them and say,
27:15 "The problem is y'all didn't. I'm trying to get to another level. I want more than what I've seen.
27:23 There's more in me." I can't lose no sleep. I told my wife, I would hurry up this time,
27:34 but I want y'all to catch this. I'm so happy. One of my callings is not just to love you,
27:39 but to love all the churches I cover. Some of y'all watching right now, all my pastor sons and
27:43 daughters. I've been to two different cities, just ministering and teaching their leaders. And two of
27:47 my sons, I want to just give them shout outs on national TV. Both of them have preached here.
27:52 Pastor Terry Jones, Lady Juliet, watch this. They've been in the wilderness, in buildings,
27:57 in schools, renting stuff. And finally, you guys gave $10,000, watch this, and the building is
28:03 finished. They move in Easter Sunday. And then Pastor Danny Donaldson, that's City of Goldsboro
28:15 Church, but then Pastor Danny Donaldson, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A white church decided the
28:22 neighborhood was changing too much, so they left and sold them a $3 million building for $1 million.
28:33 They both text me and said, "Would you come dedicate our building? Would you please come
28:39 dedicate our building on a Sunday night?" I said, "Absolutely, I'm coming. I'm your spiritual father.
28:44 Who else going to dedicate that building? I'll be there on a Sunday night." I told my secretaries,
28:48 "Please look up every flight that can get me to North Carolina and can get me to Baton Rouge.
28:54 It's too hot right now, especially after Easter. I can't miss church right now, but tell them I'll
28:58 be done about one, two, and then I'm going to jump on a plane." So my secretaries, they called
29:02 everybody. They called every airline, including Spirit. I'm sorry, Spirit.
29:13 Spirit CEO, like we took an unnecessary strain. Damn, I mean, we just took a strain for no reason.
29:21 I ain't trying to hate, but I'm like, "Forget first class, put me in 33B, just get me there."
29:28 Because I'm trying. They called every airline. I want y'all to catch this. They called every
29:32 airline. They said, "Pastor, even if you make one stop through Atlanta, any place,
29:36 you just can't get there before seven, eight o'clock. That's too late on a Sunday night."
29:41 I got a question for all of you. If I fly private, is that pimping?
29:45 He don't need no plane. No, you don't need no plane. Praise God. You ain't got no churches.
29:57 You're not covering nobody. All you're going to see is your mama next week. Don't you tell me what
30:02 I need for my assignment. I got a word for 25 people. Touch five people and say, "You don't
30:08 know me like that." Can I preach to 10 people and tell you this is the year for you to honor
30:19 your assignment? And don't let nobody tell you how much money you need. Oh, that's enough for
30:25 anybody. Tell somebody, say, "You don't know my enough because you don't know enough of my vision
30:29 and enough of my…" Why y'all standing up?
30:38 Not only was Jesus powerful, not only was Jesus polemical, not only was He purposeful,
30:50 here's where I want to stop. He was pastoral. Let me see if I can prove it in the Scripture.
30:55 The Bible says in verse 36, this is the part I want you to just stick with me on. If you're here
31:00 for the first time, I want you to hear this. The Bible says, "When He saw the crowds, He had
31:05 compassion on them because they were confused and helpless like sheep without a shepherd."
31:13 Yeah, He was pastoral. He was a shepherd. The Bible says He had compassion. Don't go to sleep,
31:20 this is the best part because the Greek word, "Splagia sanamai." It is suggesting strong emotions.
31:26 It means to feel deep sympathy. I got a question for everybody here. Look at Pastor, don't lie to
31:33 me. Do you care? Do you care? Do you care? I'm dead serious. I want to park here because I want
31:40 y'all to know why we got to start a third service, why we're relaunching, why I need you to get in
31:45 the game, why I need you to follow me to the convention center, have some free snacks, some tea,
31:49 coffee, all that, but I need you to sign up for something because I got a question, do you care?
31:53 I got to put my heart in you. Paul said, "Follow me as I follow Christ." What I do is not big
31:58 pimping. This is not a game. This is not some nice tennis shoes and a sweater. I do that so
32:03 young people won't fall asleep and what I do, you got to care. Look at me. What I do, how many people
32:12 told you this week, this week, how many people told you personally that they had cancer? Don't
32:18 ask all out. How many people told you this week? I'm going to argue 99% of you, not one person told
32:23 you that. Well, last week, about six people told her and I that. So every week, get this in your
32:28 spirit. Don't feel sorry for me. Just pray for me, intercede for me. I get to do it. I ain't got to
32:32 do it. I get to do it. I'm blessed to do it, but I want you to hear when somebody tells you every
32:36 Sunday, "Get your head around this, Pastor. The cancer now is in my lungs and my kidney." Heard
32:40 that last week and they don't know if they can get it or not. "Pastor, it's in my breast, Pastor."
32:44 They say it came back to my brain. "Pastor, one of my children touched my other child. Pastor,
32:50 I caught him doing something and I don't know what I should do." And I just thought we had.
32:55 And you're standing there. I want you to hear me. And then brothers come in and say, "Listen,
32:59 I can't leave this crack thing alone. I know I'm called to be married to a woman, but all I like
33:04 is people who are my gender and I don't really like this, Pastor. Don't nobody know this but
33:09 you in the world and I'm just telling you." Do you care? Yeah, all you pastors and wannabe preachers
33:16 and young people, don't jump up here because you get a crowd. No, you better have compassion in
33:21 your heart. And I don't take that home and forget about it. I remember it. I remember it. I remember
33:26 it. Ask my girl. And Monday morning when you sleep, I'm up in my prayer window saying to the
33:31 girl at 9 o'clock that said cancer is in her lungs and her kidney. God, you are Jehovah Rapha. And I
33:37 pray right now in the name of Jesus, the young sister that's about to lose her mind over what
33:43 her husband did, don't let her shoot herself and don't let her shoot him. I speak over her life.
33:48 You are the Prince of Peace and you'll give her a peace that's a pastor's understanding
33:53 and she will not lose her mind no matter what she's going through. I speak life over her.
34:00 Do you have compassion? Do you have compassion? The Bible says he had compassion. I need the word
34:09 nation to say this is deeper than me. Now, doggone it, I got to get my butt together. I've been
34:13 watching this man. I've been listening to him for 10 years since I was a teenager. Now I'm in my
34:17 20s. I was in my 20s when I met pastor. I'm almost 50-something. I've been here a while. I got to get
34:23 in the game now because he's right. People need Jesus in this city. Yeah, here we are 20-something
34:29 years later, still the fastest growing church in our, in our city, which is unheard of in 20-something
34:34 years. Still the fastest growing church and people coming from the east, west, north, and south,
34:38 and everybody don't walk in here like you because they got they self together. Some people walk in,
34:43 they sit here now, they ain't even know if they should have came today. They free and told them
34:48 at the job, "You'll like it if you come once." They're a little nervous. "Is he gonna ask me to
34:51 stand up? Am I gonna have to say my name? I heard some rumors about that church. Is it a cult? Is
34:55 it real? What's going on?" The devil's real, but if you walked in here today, I don't care what you're
35:01 going through, Jesus can save you. Oh, somebody, Jesus can fix it. And watch this. I know y'all
35:14 tired of me saying this, but clap when I say it. If he don't fix it, he'll fix you. Won't he fix
35:21 you? Is there anybody? Y'all gonna make me tear this church up. Y'all gonna make me tear this
35:27 church up. I'm going, y'all. I'm going. I love you. I bid you goodbye. Jesus said in verse 37 and 38,
35:32 "My time is gone. What a huge harvest." He said his disciples, "How few workers." On your knees,
35:39 on your knees. Intercessors, y'all paying attention? All my intercessors, on your knees.
35:43 He ain't just say pass out cars. He said on your knees. All of my praying intercessors here, those
35:49 that are on the intercessor ministry, right now I need warfare. I need y'all praying like you never
35:54 prayed before. I need people praying at the first watch, the second watch, the third watch. You know
35:58 the third watch is the witch night. Third watch, one to four, that's when fornication happened.
36:05 That's when people in the streets acted crazy. That's when clubs is letting out. That's when
36:09 one night stands is jumping off. And it's in the fourth watch, the third watch, that you need people
36:14 praying. Can you pray and say, "God, make the bed uncomfortable." Lord, take peace out of her house
36:22 until she submits herself to you. Can I talk to somebody? Can I tell you what to do? Everybody
36:29 that got a child in your house or out your house that won't change, got to ask you to pray something
36:35 that's going to take some strength. Lord, don't let them be happy until they come back to you.
36:42 Lord, shut every door. See, sometimes you got to pray an imprecatory prayer, not an intercessory
36:48 prayer. Lord, don't kill them, don't hurt them, but shut every door you got to shut. Let everything
36:56 go wrong until they come asking, "What must I do to be saved?" Mama, I want to go to church with you.
37:09 I'm going, y'all. I'm going. I'll be sure to goodbye. Can I tell you lastly, as I get in my seat,
37:15 help wanted. And can I tell you why you ought to help church? Help Christ, number one. Help your
37:21 church and help your pastor. Here it is, because he helped you. I'll see y'all next week. Let's go
37:28 ahead and have a little church. I feel like turning the day. Watch this. I said he helped you. Let me
37:32 tell you a few ways he helped you. Shout when I get to you. Number one, he helped me psychologically.
37:39 I'm sorry. Look behind you, tell somebody, "I used to be crazy." Go ahead. Cut me up in the
37:46 back. Cut me off. Come on, cut me up. Cut me up. Cut me up. I want to go to work. Cut me up. I
37:50 used to be crazy. Tell somebody, "I used to be crazy." Go ahead. But he helped me. Watch this.
37:54 He ain't just helped my body. Watch this. He helped my mind. I choose better. I pick better.
38:02 I got better discernment. He took the hate out my heart. I don't stay up all night no more.
38:09 My mind don't play as many tricks on me. Why? Because he helped me psychologically.
38:14 I feel like preaching, but not only did he help me psychologically, he helped me
38:20 existentially and emotionally. Teddy Pendergrass wrote a song y'all don't remember called "It Don't
38:27 Hurt Now." I need somebody 50 and over to have church with me. Teddy Pendergrass said, "Now all
38:34 that has changed. I found someone to ease my pain." I'm sorry if you're not 50 and over, I'm
38:39 praying for you. But the Teddy people know, Teddy said, "It Don't Hurt Now." Can I speak over your
38:43 life? That you were wounded, you were healed, you were whole. No matter what the devil tries to tell
38:48 you, God is fixing your emotions. You're not going to choose no dumb man. You don't need no man to be
38:55 your daddy. You don't need no man to be your daddy. God is your daddy. When my mother and father
39:07 forsake me, the Lord would take me. Oh, I feel like it's getting hot in here. Not only that,
39:13 he helped me relationally. I choose better now. I pick better people to go out with. I'm a better
39:20 friend to my friends. I'm not as needy as I used to be. I'm easier to talk to. I'm a better listener
39:28 now. He's taken away some of my anger. I'm not as selfish as I used to be. He helped me relationally.
39:34 But then, get ready, he helped me financially. Now you may not be rich yet. Let's go old school,
39:42 but if the Lord put food on your table and clothes on your back, if you got a roof over your head,
39:51 if you got $2 over your lunch money, slap five people say, "He helped me."
39:56 It's getting hot in here. I got to go. But then he helped me spiritually. He said, "I'll never leave
40:09 you nor forsake you." People can be finicky. People can be connected and then disconnected.
40:19 Speaking of connected and disconnected, something happened to me the other day. I don't know how
40:25 many other people it happened to. I take out my phone, my phone wouldn't do nothing.
40:31 Anybody hear about it? Anybody phone? Just stop. I bust a creep mood of apple so fast.
40:39 First one at the mall, I'm thinking I'm live. As soon as I walk up, he say, "I know why you're
40:46 here." Twelve other people been here already. It is not us. It's a national problem. The whole
40:54 system going down. Number one, here's some more black history. Got my mind thinking how fast they
40:59 can shut everything down. I'm doing everything. My wife is gone. I'm headed to Charlotte. I got
41:09 a Zoom call at 12 noon. I got book tour stuff. I'm trying to relog. This is not the day for my
41:14 phone to be tripping. I don't know what to do. My girl is gone. It won't come on. I can't even
41:19 call my team. And then it hit me, watch this, and I thank God for this. I got one thing that don't
41:26 nobody else have in the country no more. I got a home phone. When you push somebody and say, "Jesus
41:39 is on the main line." Oh, man. I got a telephone in my bosom. I want it now.
41:56 Is there anybody that knows he'll never leave, nor forsake you? Come on, let's go all through.
42:05 Push your neighbor. Say, "Call him up in the midnight hour. Call him when friends walk away.
42:16 Call him when your spouse break your heart. Call him." Is there anybody here that will open your
42:25 mouth and say, "Thank God for Jesus." Help wanted. I say, "Help wanted."
42:33 Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. You better keep the name. Help wanted. We need help because it's
42:42 growing like crazy. 200 people or more have connected already. By the hundreds, you're
42:49 watching us. Thousands virtually, the multiple thousands. It's time to get in the game. It's
42:54 more than just throw a dollar and holler one slow song and a sermon. We need you involved,
42:59 even if you're part of our virtual Word Everywhere campus. Everybody, find out,
43:04 join groups. Help us give, pray, get in the game. The game has changed. The game has changed.
43:10 I need you in the game. We'll see you later.