Signs Of The Season 2 -- Antionette Brazelton
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00:00I am just so blessed and so privileged to come before you again this morning.
00:07My parents, Apostles Tony and Cynthia, they send their love. They miss you guys.
00:12They are with our Charles County location celebrating their 14th anniversary.
00:18Yes, that's something to celebrate. And so we're going to continue to dig in this morning.
00:26We started last week talking about the signs of the seasons and how God wants us to be aware
00:32of what he's doing in the earth. So you can have your seat. We're going to jump right on in.
00:38You know, throughout history and throughout the Bible, God would give people signs to show them
00:46what was happening in the earth and to show them what was to come. And so there was a time where
00:52God put a star in the sky to let everybody know that the Messiah was here, that he was born. And
00:58that was a natural sign that God put in the sky for mankind to see something's happening,
01:03something's changing. And then there were times where God would give people spiritual signs,
01:08where he may give them a dream or give them a prophetic word about something to come.
01:13And God was looking to bring in mankind on what he was doing in the earth. And so I say to you
01:20this morning, God is still the same God, where he's looking to give us signs to represent the
01:26seasons of what's happening and what is to come. And so it's just a matter of whether or not we
01:31are aware of it. And so our prayer this morning says, God, to make us aware of what you're doing
01:36in this time. And so can we say it this morning and say, God, make us aware of the season we're in.
01:44I want to read Matthew chapter 13 in verse 16 through 17 in the New King James Version.
01:55Here's what God is saying about you and I. Says, but blessed are your eyes for they see,
02:02and your ears for they hear. For surely I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desire
02:09to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it. And so
02:15here in the scripture, God is saying that your eyes and your ears are empowered by God to see
02:21and hear the things that God is revealing to us in this season. And not everybody had the ability
02:26to see, it says, but your eyes are blessed. So say, my eyes are blessed. Say, my ears
02:34are empowered by God to hear what he's saying.
02:39Let's go to Song of Songs. It's just a little recap from last week. Chapter 2 in verse 13 in
02:47the Passion Translation, it says, can you not discern this new day of destiny breaking forth
02:54around you? Since the early signs of my purposes and my plans are bursting forth, the budding vines
03:02of new life are now blooming everywhere. The fragrance of their flowers whispers, there is
03:08change in the air. So good. There's change in the air. Look to your neighbor and say,
03:14there's change in the air. The rest of the scripture goes on to say, arise my love,
03:21my beautiful companion, and run with me to the higher place. For now is the time to arise and
03:28come away with me. And so God desires for us to discern the seasons and the changes of what he's
03:35doing in the earth, that he doesn't want us to be ignorant to his plans. He doesn't want us to be
03:40ignorant to what's happening in the earth. You know, throughout the Bible and throughout history,
03:44there were things that God has set in motion that would take place in different times, in different
03:49seasons. There were movements that would come through the earth, and God says he wants you to
03:53be aware of it, that he doesn't want you to be ignorant of those things. And so he says, look,
03:58pay attention. Can you not discern things are changing? There's change in the air.
04:05In Isaiah chapter 42 verse 9 in the Holman Christian Standard Version, it says the past
04:12events have indeed happened. It says, but now I declare new events and I announce them to you
04:20before they occur. And so God is looking to announce to you things before it happens.
04:27People want to know what happens before it happens. Like, tell me what you know. What's going to happen
04:31next? And here is God saying to you, he wants to announce to you the things that's going to happen
04:36before they occur. It says, look, there have been great things that have happened in the past.
04:40It says, but there are new things that are on the way, and I'm looking to reveal those things
04:45to you. Let's go to John chapter 16,
04:54verse 12 through 13 in the New NET Version. It says, I have many more things to say to you.
05:03It says, but you cannot bear them now, but when he, the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you
05:10into all truth, for he will not speak of his own authority, but will speak whatever he hears,
05:16and will tell you what is to come. And so God, again, is looking to show you things to come. This
05:23morning we sang a song where we were welcoming Holy Spirit to come. We were welcoming him in this
05:28place. And let me tell you, one of the things that Holy Spirit's job is to do is to show you things
05:33to come. And so if I invite Holy Spirit to come into this space, now I'm opening up the realm of
05:38revelation, and understanding, and signs for God can show me what's happening in the room, and what's
05:45coming. You know, last week I shared when I was in praise and worship, God says to me, get on your
05:51knees, I have something to say to you. And so I get down on my knees, and then God begins to say to me,
05:56you cannot anticipate what is about to happen. You haven't seen it, you haven't heard it, and there
06:02were things that was changing. Then I share, Miss Aquila walked up to me, she says, hey, God said
06:07he's getting ready to catapult this ministry. And I said, okay, so God, if he's getting ready to catapult
06:13us into something, the question is, what is he catapulting us into? And so here's Holy Spirit
06:18saying, I'm here to show you the things to come. He's here to show you what he wants to do, not just
06:25in our ministry, not just in the world, but what he's doing in our personal lives. Like the same way that
06:31God has things in motion for what he wants to do in the earth, God has things in motion of what he
06:36wants to do in you, that he literally hand-picked each and every one of us to be born in this season,
06:42in this time, for a greater purpose than what we realize. And so you bear on the inside of you the
06:48living strategies of heaven, the living movements of heaven, that as you move about the earth, the
06:54strategies of heaven are being fulfilled just because you're here. And you can live life as
07:00normal, doing life as normal, going to work, going to school, doing the things that you have no idea
07:05that on the inside of you, God is looking to cause things to shift and change. There are seasons of
07:11God that are being released from your spirit because you're there. Like there'll be times where God will
07:17have you get on the job and you'll be like, why am I even here? Why am I even working here? I don't even
07:22want to be here. And it's like just because you're there, everybody who's in their office, it's a new
07:26season for them. They're about to now encounter God in the way they haven't encountered him before.
07:32Just because you're there. And so what is God revealing about what is coming? What is God
07:40showing you? Are we sensitive to listen to his voice? I'm going to tell Stacia's story. She works
07:47at a job and you know, just not too long ago, we were celebrating my grandmother's homecoming.
07:54And so she came out to the service and obviously in support of it. And I remember her walking up
07:58to me and she said, Hey, I can't stay long because you know, I have to leave to go back to work. And so,
08:03you know, like you would think like, you know, this is your friend. You're going to be here for
08:06you. But it's like, I feel like God is calling me to go back to work. So I'm going to leave service a
08:10little bit early. And I said, okay, I understand. And so she'd be, she's been on this job, believing
08:14God for her coworkers to have salvation and get to know God and have encounters with them. And they
08:19have different struggles and things of that nature. So she gets back to her workplace. She opens up
08:25the phone and begins to continue to watch the service on her device. Well, all of her coworkers
08:32are hearing the service. They're hearing about the testimonies of how God would speak to my
08:37grandmother and how she walked with God and how God would do supernatural things in their life.
08:41And I'm like, Hey, like I want to walk with God like that. I want to experience him in that way.
08:46They come to her and says, Hey, I want to give my life to Jesus.
08:50Come on. They gave their life to the Lord, watching a funeral. God is so good.
09:00I'm trying to tell you, but here was, she was a releaser of a new season for everybody in that
09:08workplace. Now they haven't had encounters with God just because she's there. And here's what God
09:14wants to do with you and I did. We will be sensitive just like she was like, I feel like
09:18I need to go back. That we will be sensitive, be aware when God is leading us and moving us
09:24because he's calling people into his heart. And so let us be aware of the seasons that we're in.
09:31And so the question is, how do we prepare for the season God is bringing us into?
09:37Number one, we want to live by the spirit. You know, we live in a time where it seems like
09:44people are pushing the next season much quicker than they are before. Like it seemed like we just
09:50finished selling Easter eggs and then they start putting out Halloween costumes or, you know,
09:54it seemed like summer haven't even ended yet. And they got Christmas trees up for sale.
09:58Anybody feel like that? Or is it just me? It's like the stores, they're ready to push you
10:04into the next season so quickly. And it's almost like, if you know, if you wait to the last minute
10:09in the store, it's like, when you go to get it, like you waited to the last minute. Like me,
10:12I've done that before. I wait to the last minute, get some Easter eggs for the kids. And I get to
10:16the store and it's just ransacked. Like it's just, nothing's left. And now I'm unprepared for the
10:22event because I waited to the last minute. Or you wait to the last minute to get Christmas tree
10:26lights and ain't nothing left. They're all broken up in Walmart. And so, but here is God. Like God
10:33is looking to prepare us for the next season that we won't wait to the last minute so that we can
10:38have everything that we need to move into the next season. You know, because different seasons
10:44require different things. That when you're in summertime, you need shorts. It's one of my
10:50favorite things to wear. You need sunblock. You need sunglasses. When you're in winter, you need
10:55coat and socks and gloves and hats. And so, if you try to go into winter with summer gear on,
11:02you won't be ready for the season. And so, here is God looking to equip you with things, looking
11:08to prepare you for the season so that you're ready for it. And so, let us say to God, say,
11:13God, make me ready for the season that you will have me to walk in. Can you imagine that God
11:23had prepared a land flowing with milk and honey? It talks about in the children of Israel how God
11:29would literally prepare. He wanted to prepare them for this land of favor. But because they
11:34weren't ready, they wandered in the desert for 400 years. And so, there were many people who died
11:41waiting for the fulfillment of the promise, and they didn't get to obtain it because they
11:45weren't ready. And so, we're going to say, God, make us ready. We want to see. We want to know,
11:52like we were singing this morning as well. And so, we must, number one, live by the Spirit.
11:57Let's look at Psalms chapter 92,
12:02verse 5 through 6 in the Passion Translation.
12:07It says, depths of purpose and layers of meaning saturate everything you do.
12:13Such amazing mysteries found within every miracle that nearly everyone seems to miss.
12:20Since those with no discernment can never really discover the deep and glorious secrets
12:25hidden in your ways. And so, here in the Scripture, it says, look, there are some people who have no
12:30discernment that they can't see the signs. They can't see what God is looking to reveal. And so,
12:36in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 14 in the Mirror Translation, it says, here are the people
12:42who have no discernment. It says, the soulless person has no capacity to comprehend the language
12:48of the Spirit of God. Spiritual things seem meaningless to them. They are incapable to
12:53discern that which can only be spiritually appreciated. And so, those that only live by your
12:59soul, that only live by what you think, you only live by what you feel, you only live by what's
13:05going on on the inside of you. It's that if you only live from that place, you won't be able to
13:10discern what God is doing. But if you live by the Spirit of God, if you live by what God is
13:17revealing to you in your spirit, while what you're sensing in the realm of the heavenlies, if you live
13:22by that place, then you'll be able to discern what God is saying, you'll be able to discern what God
13:27is doing, and you'll be able to live from that reality. Let's look at 1 Corinthians chapter 2
13:39verse 9 through 10 in the Amplified Version. It says, things which the eye has not seen
13:46and the ear has not heard and which has not entered into the heart of man, all that God
13:52has prepared for those who love him. It says, who hold him in affectionate reverence, who obey him
13:59and who gratefully recognize the benefits that he has bestowed. It says, for God unveiled them
14:05and revealed them to us through the Holy Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things diligently,
14:12even sounding and measuring the profound depths of God and the divine counsels and things far
14:20beyond human understanding. And so we must be willing to stop and listen with new ears,
14:27to stop and listen with new eyes, the eyes of our spirit, because God is looking to reveal to
14:33you things that come by the Holy Spirit. And so there are just some things, you know, that our
14:38minds and our souls won't comprehend, but our spirits can. And so I really want to make it
14:44really simple, because you're like, how do you live by the Spirit? How do you know what God is saying?
14:48How do you know what God is showing you? And you know, God is speaking and talking to us all the
14:53time. He communicates to us in so many different ways. It's just whether or not we recognize it
14:59when he's coming. And so I just want to talk about just a few ways that God will speak to you, or he
15:04will show you things by the Spirit, because we want to make this very practical. I don't want
15:08to be like, so do I have to live by the Spirit, you know? And it's like, how do we do that?
15:13You know, and so we want to make this very practical. And so one of the ways that God
15:18will often speak to you is on the inside of you. I like to call it like your inner voice,
15:24or some people will say like, maybe it feels like your conscious, like almost like this inner
15:28knowing that you should do something, or you shouldn't do something. You go somewhere like,
15:32I feel like I should. I hear on the inside of me this, and oftentimes that voice on the inside,
15:38if it's yielded to God, it's him speaking to you. But let's do a practice. Everybody close your eyes
15:43really quick. We're just going to make it very practical. So at the count of three, I'm going
15:49to ask you to say your name, but without opening your mouth and without making any sound. Everybody
15:57got that? On the count of three, you're going to say your name without opening your mouth and
16:03without making any sound. So one, two, three. Now, if you can hear yourself say your name,
16:12just raise your hand for me. Inner voice, just that simple. Now, nobody said it out loud, but
16:18you heard it on the inside of you. And so a lot of times when God speaks to us, it's in that inner
16:23voice that you hear on the inside of you. Well, God would begin to whisper you things, or he would drop
16:28what seems like spontaneous thoughts in your mind. And if you pay attention to what God says to you
16:34in the moment, you'll begin to recognize his voice. And look, it's a journey that we walk with with
16:39God. Like, you know, we, you never get to this place, but you feel like you just arrived and
16:42a hundred percent, you know, this, but God, as you begin to speak to you and you begin to practice
16:48hearing his voice, you will grow more comfortable and you will grow more confident with using his
16:53voice. Like one of the things I used to do, I used to practice with people. I would ask God questions.
16:58I would listen to what I would hear on the inside of me. And the first thing that would come to mind,
17:02I would write it down and share it with someone else. Like, I feel like God said this. I feel like
17:07God said that. And then God would confirm the things that he said to me. And then after time,
17:11I realized, hey, this is God. This is how he speaks to us. I hope that helped somebody in the room.
17:18Okay. Another way that God will often speak to you in your spirit is through your seeing.
17:23So again, I want you to just close your eyes. I'm going to make this really practical.
17:29And with your eyes closed, using your imagination, a gift from God,
17:34I want you to just pull up an image of an elephant.
17:40And so if with your eyes closed, you could pull up an image of an elephant in your mind, just
17:44raise your hand. Okay. Now I want everybody to open your eyes. And while you're looking at me,
17:50I want you to pull up that same image of an elephant again. If you could do that with your
17:54eyes open, just raise your hand. Okay. Is there an elephant here? No. Okay. But you can see it.
18:02And so a lot of times when God will show me things like angels in the room with Jesus showing up,
18:07it almost looks just like that. Like something transposed over reality where God will show me
18:12things in my imagination. He will show me pictures on the inside of what's happening in the room.
18:18And so look, your imagination is a gift from God. He will use it to paint pictures of things that
18:23are happening in the spirit around you. And if you would just pay attention to it, you'll notice
18:27that God is here. You know, I shared earlier in the message that Aquila walked with me and says,
18:32hey, I see like God is getting ready to catapult the ministry. Well, it was only a few minutes later.
18:36Somebody else walked up to me, sent me a picture of a catapult and says, hey, this is what the
18:41sanctuary looks like right now. Here was what it looked like to look in the eyes of the spirit,
18:46to see what God is doing. Like there's a huge catapult here in the sanctuary. God wants us
18:50to be able to see the things that are happening in the spirit so we can live by that reality.
18:56And so God is going to open your eyes to see things in the days to come. Don't discount what
19:02God shows you. Whatever it is that you see, whatever it is that you hear, you hold on to it.
19:07God wants to give each and every one of us signs. He's looking to reveal to us, all of us, the plans
19:13of what he's doing in the earth. That this is not just reserved for just a few people.
19:19That God is not looking for you only to know what's coming just by what comes across the pulpit.
19:24That he wants to reveal to each and every one of us. As you're walking with God on your job,
19:29as you're doing your daily task, God will come to you and whisper things on the inside of you like, hey,
19:34guess what I'm going to do today? Hey, guess what I'm going to do in the country? Hey, do you know
19:38what's happening? There are angels around your house and God will begin to show you things in the spirit.
19:45And whatever it is he shows you, you want to live by that reality. And so we want God to show us
19:51things by the spirit with our eyes and our ears. You know, we've spent long enough just giving over
19:59our ears and our eyes to everybody else's opinions but God's. And so what would happen if we had a
20:06question of life or if we were concerned about something that instead of going to the news or
20:10instead of going to our co-workers that we went to God first. God, what are you saying? God, what are
20:16you doing? I know what everybody else is saying for us to do. God, but I'm looking to hear from you.
20:22I'm looking to see what it is you want to show me. And so this was one of the ways that the children
20:28of Israel was not prepared for their season because they had an opinion
20:32of themselves that did not match how God saw them. We saw this in Numbers chapter 13.
20:41In verse 33 in the amplified version, it says, there we saw the Nephilim.
20:47They were, you know, here was God calling them into this land flowing with milk and honey.
20:51Their land of favor. It says the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim. And we, it says, and we were
20:57like grasshoppers in our own sight. And so we were in their sight. And so here they were. The children
21:04of Israel, it says, they looked at these giants in the land that God told them that they were supposed
21:08to take over. And they said, oh no. Like we're grasshoppers. They had an opinion of themselves.
21:14They saw themselves differently than how God saw them. And it prevented them from moving forward
21:18into the land. And here's the catch. Like God didn't tell them about the giants in the land
21:23because they didn't even matter. And so sometimes like we have things that look like giants in our
21:29lives that look like they're preventing us from getting into our next season. That maybe like I
21:34don't have enough resources. That looks like a giant. Like I don't have enough time. That looks
21:39like a giant. It seems like I've wasted my time. It looks like a giant. And you look at those giants
21:44and it's like, hey, like how can I move into a next season? How can I move into what God has
21:49for me? I don't have what's in me. And God says, if you would just look at yourself with my eyes,
21:54you will see that there's a greater one living on the inside of you, able to do all things.
22:01That greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. That God has equipped us with
22:06everything that we need for the season. That he's a good father. So anything that he has called you
22:12to do on the inside of you, you bear all the power to do it. And so God wants to prepare you
22:20for the upcoming season. And one way he would do it is saying by live by the spirit. See how I see.
22:26Because when you live by what God sees, it changes everything.
22:32It changes everything. Like I know it seems like everything's crazy, but all I do is I just have
22:37peace. I know it seems like my marriage is failing, but I hear God saying he's going to
22:42restore. Like sometimes you can't look at what it looks like in the outward. You just got to look by
22:46what it sees in the spirit. What it looks like in the spirit. So don't limit yourself by what seems
22:54like giants in the land. God has well equipped you to take over, to move forward, to advance in life
23:03in whatever area that he has called you to move forward in.
23:08How do you prepare for the season? Number two is to overcome fear and discouragement.
23:16I hate fear. Like I literally loathe it. And fear, you know, will attempt to paralyze your movements.
23:23Like keep you frozen right where you are. Discouragement will attempt to keep your eyes
23:30on the past instead of what God is doing now. Like you're looking at what happened,
23:35how it didn't happen the way you thought, how it didn't go the way you thought, and it keeps
23:39you looking backwards instead of looking forward. And so we have to overcome fear and discouragement
23:45so that we can be prepared for the next season. Like don't let those things be hang-ups.
23:52One day I was at home by myself and God gave me this dream. And in this dream,
23:58this spirit of grief came into the room. And I knew it because in my dream, I literally was
24:04sobbing so hard. And for no reason, like in the natural, I didn't have anything that I was
24:08naturally sad about. But in my dream, I'm crying and I'm sobbing so hard. And my chest is contracting
24:14and it's contracting so much. So I wake up out of this dream feeling the contractions of my chest.
24:20And then when I look around the world, I feel sadness. And it was, sadness wasn't in me,
24:25but it was all around me. And so I knew it was a spirit and God began to reveal to me that this
24:29spirit of grief was there. I said, okay. So I felt like God was showing me something. And
24:34as I looked at the spirit of grief in the room, all of a sudden it looked like what looked like
24:39a dark whirlwind. And I remember I was a little bit confused when I saw this wind, because there's
24:44been many times where God has opened my eyes to see Holy Spirit in the room. And He looks like a
24:49wind or He looks like a tornado. It looks like, you know, change is coming and Holy Spirit is here.
24:54And here was a spirit of grief looking similar to that of Holy Spirit, but a counterfeit.
24:59And so I remember just feeling this sadness in the room and feeling like there was just grief
25:04present. And then all of a sudden I yelled the name of Jesus and Jesus comes into my room like
25:10a lion and He grabs the spirit of grief by the neck to kill it. And so I was like, whoa. I was like,
25:17okay. Now in my history with God, there's been times when I've been on the mission field and,
25:23you know, we've encountered witchcraft or just craziness. And so there's been many times where
25:27Jesus will come in my room and He'll sit on the edge of my bed as a lion. Whenever those spirits
25:32were there, He might roar, He might just show up and the spirits would just leave. And so this time
25:37when I called to the name of Jesus, like He didn't just come in the room and He left, He grabbed it
25:41by the neck. And so I remember asking God, I'm like, hey God, like why did you come in and grab
25:46it by the neck? And He began to say to me, some things cannot be cast out, they must be killed.
25:52And so I said, okay, we're not giving no room for it to come back. And so He began to
26:00reveal to me what was happening in the spirit of grief. And so as I saw the spirit of grief as a
26:04whirlwind, He says the spirit of grief will come as a counterfeit, as a release of sadness.
26:10You know, because there's a natural place that says, the Bible says for us to mourn with those
26:13who mourn. And there are times when things happen and you will mourn and cry, but then there's a
26:17difference when the spirit of grief comes in and now it's tormenting. It's like you can't land
26:23because it keeps you in this whirlwind. And so I saw the spirit of grief like going around as a
26:28whirlwind. And as it went around, all of a sudden it will morph into different faces and different
26:33images. And so it will morph into one face and go away. It will morph into another circumstance
26:38and go away. And it was almost like there'll be times where you're struggling with grief.
26:41And it's like you keep replaying circumstances over and over again. You keep seeing those same
26:46faces before you. You keep seeing those same situations. It's like your mind can't land.
26:52It keeps you in a cycle. And God was saying, no, we're going to kill the spirit of grief. We're
26:56going to reveal and expose who He is. That this is not just natural sadness. This is a spirit
27:02of attack against you, trying to keep you from a place of landing. And so look, there may have been
27:09people that have died close to you. There may have been terrible things that have happened to you.
27:14And there's a natural sadness. But God says He will not allow the spirit of grief to keep us in
27:19a cycle. And so we're going to expose Him. We're going to kill that spirit of grief. It has no place
27:27in our church. And so God, we thank you for each and every person in this room
27:33that have battled with the spirit of grief. God, we say we kill it now in the spirit.
27:38And we invite your presence to free us so that we can move forward into the next season. We will not
27:44be held up by grief. We will not be held up by fear. We will not be held up by discouragement.
27:52In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
27:56Amen.
28:01We not allow any unnatural spirit to keep us
28:06bound. Not in this season. It's time for a new season. Look, discouragement or disappointment
28:15will come to rob you of expectation. It's almost like it puts you on the defense instead of on the
28:22offense. It puts you in a place where instead of investing the talent, you bury it. Or instead of
28:28like advancing, you just stand your ground. And God is not looking for us to stand our ground in
28:34this season or to be paralyzed by anything. He's looking for us to advance. He's looking for us to
28:39move forward. And so we won't allow discouragement or fear or anything of the past to keep us from
28:45moving forward. Keep us from having an expectation from God. You know, there was one time God came to
28:51me. He says, look, Antoinette. He's like, you haven't been dreaming. He's like, you got to dream again.
28:57Look, there are times where you will be in a place of stagnation. Holy Spirit will come and tell you,
29:01get out of that place. It's time to move forward. I got some things to show you.
29:08And that's because hope leads you into the next season. Say that. Say, hope will lead me
29:17into the next season. And so seeing new things requires hope and expectation.
29:26Because then your neck isn't outstretched to see what's coming next. It just keeps you looking at
29:31what you're currently dealing with. But God says, hey, just hope again. Get your neck outstretched
29:37so that you can see new things that God is looking to reveal. Remember, He's looking to show you
29:42signs of what's happening and what's to come. I had this dream as well. In this dream, I was actually
29:51inside of God, like in first person. And I come outside of my chambers and I see the bride of
29:58Christ laying outside in the darkness. And I had this huge clay pot in my hand. And I see God like
30:04literally throw it down to the ground in front of her trying to wake her up. And I was like, my God,
30:11what does it mean? And so I begin to look up how in the book of Jeremiah, and I felt like it was
30:16one reference to Jeremiah, where he begins to explain that as long as clay is on the wheel,
30:22that even the potter can make a mistake and that clay can be molded into something else.
30:28But once it gets baked and once it gets hardened, the only way to change it is to break it.
30:33And so like when you have hope in God, it's like staying on the wheel. Because there are times
30:39when things don't go the way that you planned. And it's like, you know, I took a pottery class
30:44before. And so I had a chance to actually fill it for myself. And you could be molding things
30:48on that wheel. And if you make a mistake, your finger kind of goes in. And then all of a sudden, that
30:52pot that you've been molding gets a little wonky, right? It looks a little crazy. But you're not
30:56bothered by that. Because as long as it's on the wheel, as long as it's soft, as long as I have
31:00hope, I can mold it into something else. And so here is God saying he will take anything from my
31:06past and he will mold it into something good. As long as we stay in a place of hope. And so when
31:12we allow things to bake, when we allow discouragement to set in, when we allow fear and grief to bake in
31:18situations in our lives, God is coming to smash those things that have kept us in those places
31:24so that we can wake up. He is looking to smash anything that is keeping you from progressing,
31:32that is keeping you from waking up. So stay on the wheel. Stay in hope.
31:41This is good. Okay, Stacia, come up. I was talking to Anastasia yesterday and I was sharing with her
31:47my notes. And she has a word from God. And I was like, I feel like you got to read that tomorrow.
31:53So this is good. Amen. So this is a word that I actually have read before. I got it in 2017.
32:03But I've been feeling the word for a while now that sometimes, sometimes we don't need a new
32:08word. We need to be reminded. So he said, or this is the word, I saw a vision of a great shaking,
32:18the floor of victory cracking and the walls crumbling in a heap.
32:24I felt like this was also a vision of the global church. He said, what was will no longer be.
32:33And in comparison to what I am about to do will look like ruins.
32:39See, I am doing a new thing. And the old things will not be remembered anymore.
32:45I saw the lives of the people looking just like the building that a great shaking was happening.
32:52And many felt that their lives were crumbling all around them and they were becoming fearful.
32:59He quoted Hosea 6, 1 through 3. Come and let us return to the Lord. For he has torn so that he may
33:10heal us. He has stricken so that he may bind us up. After two days, he will revive us, quicken us,
33:19and give us life. On the third day, he will raise us up that we may live before him. Yes, let us
33:27know, recognize, be acquainted with, and understand him. Let us be zealous to know the Lord, to
33:34appreciate, to give heed to, and cherish him. His going forth is prepared and certain as the dawn,
33:41and he will come to us as the heavy rain, as the latter rain that waters the earth. And he said,
33:48fear not, for I am doing a new thing. This crumbling is necessary because I am doing
33:56something so new that I must clear off the old.
34:06You will find the things in the rubble that you thought you had built for me.
34:14So you will find the things in the rubble that you thought you had built for me
34:20are the very things that have been holding you back from me.
34:24And you will find a new faith arising in this hour, in spite of this apparent destruction.
34:31Even amidst the crumbling, your faith is arising. And as the dust from the ruins cleared, I saw the
34:37most beautiful city in the midst of these ruins. Bright and sparkling of gold, and every type of
34:43jewel and costly substance, it looked like the city of heaven itself.
34:49Say, God is doing a new thing. Holy Spirit, we invite you to smash every clay pot that would
34:58keep us from progressing, that would keep us from moving forward. Let's look at Philippians chapter 3.
35:07Thank you, Stacia. Verse 12 through 15. In the voice translation, it says, I'm not there yet.
35:14Nor have I become perfect. It says, but I am charging on to gain anything and everything the anointed one Jesus has in store for me, and nothing will stand in my way because he has grabbed me and won't let me go.
35:33Brothers and sisters, as I have said, I know I have not arrived, but there's one thing that I am doing.
35:39I'm leaving my old life behind, putting everything on the line for this mission. I am sprinting towards
35:46the only goal that counts, to cross the line, to win the prize, and to hear God's call to resurrection life
35:54found exclusively in Jesus the anointed. All of us who are mature ought to think the same way
36:00about these matters. If you have a different attitude, then God will reveal to you as well.
36:06You know, even this morning, Elder Bill talked about, you know, being in a race or sprinting.
36:10And here in this scripture, I love it. It says, I am sprinting towards the only goal that counts.
36:16It says, I may not have arrived, but I am charging on. And so here's what we have to do. We must charge
36:22on. Don't allow fear and discouragement to keep us stagnant. We must charge on forward.
36:28Despite what has happened, despite what has not happened, we are sprinting towards the only goal
36:34that matters. And so, you know, when you're sprinting, it means you're running as quickly
36:39as you can, as fast as you can to get to your end. You know, it looks a lot different than when you're
36:44jogging. I don't know about you, but anybody like to go for jogs? And it's like, you know,
36:50you know, it's like, it can be a little cutesy. Or if you go for a stroll, right? You can go on a
36:56stroll and maybe you smell the flowers as you're walking by. And, you know, you can stare at the
37:00trees as you're walking. Like, wow, it looks beautiful in here. And you can notice all the
37:05things all around you. But when you're sprinting, there's no time for any of that. The only thing
37:10that you can look at is what's before you. And so there's no room for distractions. There's no room
37:16to look at what the trees look like or who's walking around you. Like, I'm sprinting. My eyes
37:20are glued and set on what's in front of me. And so here's what God says we must do. We must sprint
37:27towards the only goal that matters. And so you have to evaluate your walk with God.
37:32Are you jogging in the things of God? Are you going for a leisure walk in the things of God?
37:39Or are you sprinting? Are you giving it all you got? It's in that scripture says you lay everything
37:45on the line for the mission that nothing is left out. That means I'm willing to give all of myself
37:50for the calling of what God is doing in this season. I want to be a part of God's plan.
37:56And so I'm sprinting to be a part of his plan. So say, I must sprint to prepare for the season.
38:07How do I prepare for the season? Number three is to be ready to get up and move.
38:14Song of songs, chapter two, verse 10 through 13 says, get up, my darling, my beautiful one.
38:23Let's go away. Look, winter is past. The rains have come and gone. The flowers are blooming
38:30in the fields. It's time to sing. The doves have returned. Young figs are growing on the trees.
38:38Smell the vines and bloom. Get up, my darling, my beautiful one. Let's go away. Here in the
38:47scripture, we see God inviting us, saying to us, get up and pay attention to the signs of the season.
38:54And he points it out in so many different ways. Like, hey, look, winter's over. Because sometimes
38:59you could be doing life and you feel and you think you're in the same season and God has moved on to
39:03something next. And he's like, look, winter's over. The rains have come and gone. There are flowers
39:11that are blooming. He says, come on, it's time to sing. The time of morning is over. It's time to
39:16sing. He says, look, doves have returned. Figs are growing. Smell the vines. He's like, he's inviting
39:22you to pay attention to the signs of the season with all of your senses. With all of the senses
39:28of the spirit. Because there are some times with God, we'll be doing something new. Remember, you
39:32may not be able to see it, but you just feel like something's changed. And God is looking for us to
39:37pay attention to those things. And so he says, get up. You know, in the parable of the 10 virgins,
39:44we see that same call come to them where the bridegroom comes and says, get up. And it says,
39:49five of them were ready and five of them were not. And so the question is, how do you stay ready?
39:55How do you be the virgin that's ready for when God gives the call to get up, that you're ready to go?
40:00Well, Matthew chapter 5, verse 6, in the voice translation, it says, blessed are those who hunger
40:10and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. And so how do I keep my lamp full of oil?
40:18How do I stay ready? It says, you hunger and thirst for righteousness, which means you hunger
40:24and you thirst for God's way of doing things. That means I have a desire more than anything else
40:30to know what God is doing and to live by that. When you're hungry or you thirsty, it drives your
40:36actions. Like you cannot live without eating. You cannot live without drinking. It says, when you're
40:42in that place with God, I can't make a move without you. I can't live without you. I can't do nothing
40:47in this world without you. When I have a hunger for God's way of doing things, not my own way of
40:53doing things, not what everybody else says I should be doing at this time, because sometimes people have
40:59opinion about what you should be doing with your life at whatever season you're in. Like, okay, like
41:04now you 60, now you need to be doing this. Okay, now you 45, you should have been found you a husband.
41:10Like people will have opinions, right, of what you should be doing with your life if you just hunger
41:16for God's way of doing things. If you thirst after that, it says that's how you stay full.
41:22That means every day I'm looking to live my life based on how God intended for it to be. That I want
41:28his way, not my way. And when I want his way, I stay full. Let's look at Luke chapter 12.
41:41Verse 35 through 36 in the voice translation. It says, if you're apathetic and complacent,
41:48then you'll miss the opportunity. It says you should be wide awake and on your toes
41:56like servants who are waiting for their master to return from a big wedding reception. It says
42:02they'll have their shoes on and their lamps lit so they can open the door for him as soon as he arrives
42:09home. And so in this passage, it says we should be wide awake and on our toes ready to move with God.
42:17Remember, here was God in that dream, smashing that clay pot. Why? So that the bride will wake up.
42:22So that the church will wake up. So that we would not be sleeping. God is looking to wake us up.
42:27And so in the scripture says you should be wide awake. Why? So you can be ready to move with God.
42:33And so we want to be the servants of God. It says who have their shoes on
42:37and their lamps lit. Y'all remember that? Okay. He said shoes on, lamps lit.
42:45Okay. You want to have your shoes on and your lamps lit. Your shoes on mean that you're ready to move.
42:53You know, whenever you're about to go out and do something, you have to have your shoes on in order
42:57to properly move about. And so God wants us to have our shoes on, meaning that we're ready to go.
43:02And then again, we have our lamps lit, meaning that we're full. We have been pursuing God's way of doing
43:07things. And because of that, I'm ready to move out with him. And so when God yells, get up, your time
43:14is favorite here. When God yells, get up, it's a new season. Now we're ready. I love this example.
43:21It's a story in the Bible in Acts chapter 12. We're going to read this passage and starting at
43:27verse 6 through 11 in the easy to read version. It's a story about Peter. It says one night Peter
43:36was bound with two chains and he was sleeping between two of the soldiers and more soldiers
43:42were guarding the door of the jail. I'm like, what kind of guardianship they had on him, right?
43:49He was sleeping between soldiers. They had soldiers on the doors. Like he was a real threat to them.
43:53And that's how we should be to the kingdom of darkness. We should be a threat. Like the enemy
43:58should probably send every attack towards you because it's like, uh-uh, keep an eye on her. I don't know
44:02what she about to do. That's how we should be. That's how we should be. It says Herod was planning
44:09to bring Peter out before the people the next day. And suddenly an angel of the Lord was standing
44:15there and the room was filled with light. The angel tapped Peter on the side and woke him up.
44:20And the angel said, Harry, get up. The chains fell off of Peter's hands. The angel said, get dressed
44:29and put on your sandals. Put your shoes on. And Peter did as he was told. It says, then the angel
44:36said, put your coat and follow me. So the angel went out and Peter followed. And he did not know if the
44:43angel was really doing this. He says he thought he might be seeing a vision. That was just so good to
44:49me. Like here is Peter. Angel comes to release and freezes. I don't even know if this is really
44:53happening or this is just a vision. And I'm like, what kind of place was Peter walking with God?
44:57He couldn't tell the spirit from the natural. Like he was so meshed with God that he was literally
45:04living in two worlds at the same time. And so here's how we should walk with God. Like we're in
45:09this world but we're not other. It's like was that was that really something that happened in the
45:14spirit? Was it happening in natural? Like those worlds get meshed together when you live by the spirit.
45:20Here was Peter like, is this really happening? Goes on in verse 10. It says, Peter and the angel went
45:26past the first guard and the second guard. Here is God moving him past every guard. Moving him past
45:34every giant that sought to keep him in prison. It says, then they came to the iron gate that
45:40separated them from the city. And it says the gate opened for them by itself. Here is God coming to
45:48move Peter into his next season. Getting all the guards from around him. Getting him out the gate.
45:55Taking the chains off of him. And then it says he gets to the gate. It says, doesn't say a man opened
45:59it for him. Says the gate opened by itself. So supernaturally God opened up a gate to his next
46:06season and nobody can say they put their hand on it but God. Because sometimes it's like we think we
46:16need someone to come along and give us favor. We think we need someone to come along and do something
46:21for us so that we can step into our next. But here is God saying there are some things that only God
46:26can do for you that nobody else can do. That he will open up gates supernaturally. He will cause
46:32chains to break off of your hands. He's like, I don't care what soldiers and guards are around you.
46:40I don't care what it looks like. I will move you past every one of them. Here was the good thing.
46:46He came to Peter told him to get up but all the guards couldn't see any of that. And so when you
46:52ain't walking with God you can't see. But when you walking by the Spirit of God it's like a seamless
46:58transition from one season into the next. He's breaking off chains. Moving you past things that
47:04seem like obstacles and freeing you from prisons so that you can do what he's called you to do.
47:12Here it says in verse 10 again it says the gate opened for them by itself. That just
47:20seemed gangster to me like. It says after they went through the gate and walked about a block
47:27and the angel suddenly left. Peter then realized what had happened. He thought now I know that the
47:34Lord has really sent his angel to me. He rescued me from Herod and from everything those Jews thought
47:40would happen to me. You know at the time when this happened there was a group of people that was
47:45literally praying for Peter to be set free and when he shows up they can't even believe that it's
47:50him. They're like we praying for him like this can't be Peter. Like some there's been people
47:54that's been praying for things for years. There have been prayers that have gone before you before
47:59you ever took your first breath from your grandmothers from your grandmothers grandmothers
48:03from people generations have gone before and those prayers are being answered today.
48:07Prayers that are being prayed are causing supernatural movements in the spirit where God is
48:16freeing us not even because of anything that we've done but because of somebody else prayers
48:21that it's just time and so he comes to set him free and so I say God is able to circumvent
48:29and get you out of every circumstance to bring you into your next season.
48:33Sometimes we may be in prisons and we don't even realize that we're in them
48:40until God comes along and reveals it to you like hey that's you're not living you're not operating
48:45in faith you're afraid to step out you're afraid to move well sometimes God you know like he said
48:51to me hey internet you're not dreaming you're not allowing me to paint the pictures you're not
48:56allowing me to show you your next season and God will come to you and free you sometimes from
49:00prisons that you don't even realize you're in and it may be prisons of insecurity addiction
49:08because sometimes you could be addicted to things and you don't know you addicted to it like
49:12I don't need that I feel like that's how coffee coffee drinkers are sorry I did the lactose people
49:19last Sunday so this this time for all the coffee drinkers like I don't need coffee every day and
49:25then the one day you don't have your head hurting you feeling terrible you you stretched out of your
49:29bed it's like because that caffeine okay and sometimes we could be addicted to things that
49:36we don't even know it and God wants to free you from every prison he wants to free you from anything
49:43that will try to keep you in bondage from moving forward and advancing and God has the ability to
49:49supernaturally move you from one season to the next God would do that so this morning y'all have
49:58y'all communion elements if you don't if you missed getting it raise your hand so the ushers
50:04can put it in your hand we're going to take communion this morning this is one of the ways
50:14that we prepare ourselves for the season and communion you know Jesus came to this planet to
50:24restore mankind into having a relationship with God and then he was inviting the disciples to be
50:30a part of that work and so in Luke chapter 22 verse 14 through 16 in the new living translation
50:38it says when the time came Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table and Jesus says I
50:45have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins
50:51says for I tell you now that I won't eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in
50:56the kingdom of God and so how did God prepare them for what was to come he took communion
51:02he says hey I'm doing this before this next season comes up before my suffering
51:06let's sit down and eat together I need to prepare you for this and Luke chapter 22 verse 19
51:14it says he took some bread and he gave thanks to God for it then he broke it in pieces and gave it
51:20to the disciples saying this is my body which is given for you do this in remembrance of me
51:25I'm gonna y'all can stand up if you want I'm gonna lead y'all through it though
51:30and then verse 20 says after supper he took another cup of wine and said this cup is the
51:35new covenant between God and his people an agreement confirmed with my blood which is
51:41poured out as a sacrifice for you and so these signs of what God did during this time of communion
51:47were signs of a new season he says hey like take this body take my but it's a sign of a new
51:53covenant says of a new covenant between God and mankind before Jesus showed up on the scene before
51:59he died they were operating under a different covenant but here was Jesus coming to die to
52:05move them to push them into a new season of what his death would do so good here was God
52:13through Jesus flinging open the door to mankind to come back to God and to have access to everything
52:19that his blood would have access to that we would live our lives the way God intended to before the
52:24fall of mankind that we won't have to live in sickness that we don't have to live in defeat
52:29that we don't have to live in poverty here was God flinging open the door again in first
52:35Corinthians chapter 11 verse 26 it says for every time you eat this bread and drink this cup it says
52:44you are announcing the Lord's death until he comes and so when we take communion we are announcing
52:51the new season it's like you're putting a shofar to your mouth and you're saying there's a new
52:58season i'm announcing what God's death has done
53:05and here God Jesus says to them do this it remembers in me so every time you take communion
53:10it's announcing all over again the new covenant of what God made available to us with his blood
53:16with his body that because his body was broken on the cross that because his blood was poured
53:23that now we can live life in walking in communion with God that God is moving us into a new season
53:31and so this morning as we take communion let us do that with this in mind that God is announcing
53:38the season that we are proclaiming the death of God death of Jesus all over again that what was
53:45done in the past is made real to us in the present that his death and his blood would not be in vain
53:53and so this morning as you take your bread
53:58God we thank you for your body that was broken on the cross for us thousands of years ago
54:05we thank you that we announce it again and again and again what you have done for us
54:12and God we thank you that it's becoming real to us that it is sinking on the inside of us
54:17in our spirits and in our hearts and as our mind you can break the bread and we eat
54:28thank you for your body
54:32thank you for coming for us thank you for not leaving us in our prisons God
54:37thank you for setting us free
54:39amen
54:45and this morning as we take our cups God remember your blood that was poured out and we thank you
54:53that not one ounce of your blood was poured out in vain God we thank you for every sickness
54:59every disease is being healed in this place God that we make real the reality of what you've done
55:06very present in our behalf right now so God I thank you as we drink
55:17thank you for your blood Jesus thank you for what your body did for us we bless your name
55:25look there are so many promises so many things that God wants to pull his people into in this
55:34season things are changing things are happening are we listening are we paying attention are we
55:42sprinting and so God we want to be the ones that say we're ready to see what it is you want to show
55:50to see what it is you want to show us
55:55you know it's so important that in order to be a part of what God is doing in the earth that we
56:00first give our lives over to him and so if you're here this morning and if you've never actually
56:06made a heartfelt decision for God to be your father for him to be your friend to him to be
56:15your leader and your guide we want to welcome you this morning to make that decision and we
56:20would love to pray with you it's the best decision that you can ever make in your life
56:24is to be a part of what God is doing that he chose you to be here on purpose and he wants you to be a
56:32part of his unfolding plans in the earth and he wants to show you those things and so if you're
56:38here this morning and you would like to give your life to the Lord you can come forward to the altar
56:42we would love to pray with you