In The Middle __ Easter at Transformation Church 2020 (Michael Todd) - Transformation Church

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What's going on Transformation Church? Natalie and I wanted to
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tell you from our family to yours, happy resurrection. Happy res.
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Why do you continue to abbreviate everything?
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I like it.
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That's just a new thing she's doing, but we just
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wanted to let you know that we are praying for you.
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Yeah, we want to thank you.
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Thank you for sticking with us. Thank you for sharing
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and liking and being on Instagram and watching your crazy
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lives and all that other stuff. Yeah, man. And you've
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been consistent and we are just getting started because of
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your faithfulness, because of what God is doing in this moment.
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We are strengthening this movement and we just want to
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let you know that your best days are right in
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front of you. Stay plugged in, stay planted where you
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are faithful. God will make you fruitful. And we believe
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that this is just going to be a testimony of
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God's faithfulness through the pandemic with everybody else stressing and worrying.
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We know that God is going to protect us. And
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today I want to preach a message to you that
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tells you what to do when you're in the middle.
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I know some of y'all are feeling very stressed out
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and very just unsure of what's to come. But I
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know that our God has a plan for all of this.
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So I want you to enjoy this message. We love
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you and we cannot wait to see you and hug
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you again. All right. I said happy resurrection Sunday. Hey,
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I am so excited for what God is about to
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do for everybody that is watching. They just told me
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there's over 50,000 people. Right now, just on one platform watching,
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there are families gathered right now. There are people in hospitals.
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There are first responders. There are people right now that
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are watching alone and people watching with a group of people.
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I want to say welcome to the biggest church service
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you've ever been to in your entire life. The kingdom
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of God is an expanding kingdom. And I know this
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is a completely different way of doing this amazing moment
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of Easter. But I want to let you know that
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God uses everything. He's the only one that tells you
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that I'll take all the mess ups. I'll take all
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the mistakes. I'll take all the inconveniences and I'll turn
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them into a masterpiece. So today, as you are watching
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here with your family, I'm gassed up because this is
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the Super Bowl of our Christian faith where we celebrate
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not just the death, not just the burial, but the
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resurrection of our Lord and Savior. I dare somebody to
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say he lives. Come on, out of your mouth. Just
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say he lives. I'm looking at y'all right now in
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the chat. Come on, somebody say he lives. Amen. And
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that's why we celebrate today. And I'm so grateful. If
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you're wondering, who is this black dude with a purple
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Barney suit on? This is called Purple Rain. With this
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suit on, yelling at me. It's a dude who was broken, lost,
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jacked up, addicted to all kinds of things. And because
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of what I'm about to tell you about today, the
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love of Jesus, it transformed my life. And today, with
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everything that's in me, with every fiber that I have
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going through technology. I'm about to preach the gospel of
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Jesus Christ. I don't want to sugarcoat it. I don't
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want to act like I'm going to preach something else
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and come with a nice little hook at the end. No, no, no, no, no. Today,
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my whole goal, I don't care what you did last night,
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what you did today, what you're planning on doing tomorrow.
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My whole goal is in this moment that you would
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find the cure for everything that humanity has been looking for.
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And his name is Jesus. And today I feel the
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presence of God because I'm in a big room by
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myself preaching to you. But that's how intentional God is.
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He cares about the details of your life. And today
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I'm just grateful that you gave us an opportunity to
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present the truth to you. I love you because there's
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somebody that's right here right now that's just like, I
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don't feel comfortable. I want you to know I love
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you and God loves you. And right now, God's coming
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to turn situations around. People who have lost jobs this week,
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God's coming to turn those situations around. People that have
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been hurting and needing hope, I'm telling you right now
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that God is coming to turn that situation around. Somebody
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just say, God's turning it around. Come on, say it
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one more time. God's turning it around. And today, I'm
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about to show you how to get out of the
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place and the spot that you've been in And for
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all of us, the spot in the place is not
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the same, but the God who's with us in that
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spot in the place is the same. And today, I
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want us to figure out what we do in the middle. See,
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because the truth is, this is one of the craziest
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moments in human history, if we be honest. This doesn't
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account for what happened at the cross, but outside of
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the cross, I think this may be the craziest moment
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in church history that there is nobody meeting in buildings
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today and God has shut down everything to bring a
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word to you in the place where you're most comfortable.
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He wherever you're most comfortable, you're at that place right now.
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And he's trying to open your heart, whether it's in
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your home, whether it's in your bed. He is opening
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your heart right now. And he said, can I tell
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you a message in the most comfortable place you've ever
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heard it? And and when I think about what God
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wants to do today, he told me, Michael, my people,
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the ones who've been with me are the ones who
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are just coming to me are the ones that have
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been running from me. He said, everybody is stuck here.
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in the middle. And at this moment, as we're sitting
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at home right now because of COVID-19 and some of
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us have lost jobs and things have been maneuvering, I
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came to give a message of hope today that God
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has something specific and exact that he wants to tell you.
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And he wants you to get out of the place
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that has had you stuck. Because even in this moment
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right now, as we're standing in history, it doesn't feel
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like history because it's our reality. If we talk about it,
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all the moments that are great in the world, it's like, oh,
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you are a part of history. No, no, no, no, no, no.
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I was a part of my reality. And my reality
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right now for many of us is not good. The
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reality for many of us is unsure. The reality for
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many of us is not knowing what's to come. But
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I came to tell you that God is not just
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standing in your reality. He's standing in eternity. And he's
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looking down at your situation. He's looking at your pain.
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He's looking at your family. And he's saying, I got it.
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I'm alpha and omega. I'm the beginning and the end.
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But I still care about you in the middle. So today,
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that's the title of the message I just want to
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share with you for the next few minutes. The middle.
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Because I really believe. that if we don't take this
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Easter story from a perspective of a historical perspective, like
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all the time we look at this story and it's like,
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oh yeah, that was crazy what happened in history. I
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want for you today to act like this is something
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that really happened, like it was your reality, like you
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were one of the disciples, like you were walking with
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Jesus for all of those years and he just got crucified.
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And if we take it from reality, maybe we'll be
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able to understand some situations that can apply to our
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life right here in 2020. where many of us are
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stuck in the middle. I want you to think about
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walking with Jesus, giving up everything that you had, leaving
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your business and your family. I want you to think
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about being at the last supper, eating with Jesus, him
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actually saying, hey, this is my body, this is my blood.
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I want you to think about you watching Judas walk
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out the door and you knew he was about to
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do something and be a snitch. And you was like,
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I'll run over there, I'll bust Judas in his face
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right now. Like, I want you to think about being
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there in that moment. I want you to think about
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When they came to get Jesus and they mocked him
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and then they beat him. I want you to think
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about having walked with him and been around and heard
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all the stories and seen the miracles, not history. Come on,
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come into reality like this really happened right now. I
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want you to think about it. If you saw the
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man that you put all your time, treasure and talent
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into hanging on a cross. And you thought he was
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going to conquer the world, and he ends up dying
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right next to regular people. I want you to think
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of Easter in reality. No scripture, oh, he has risen. No, no, no, no, no, no.
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They just lost who they thought was going to save them.
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And now this is where we pick up the story
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in John chapter 19. And I want you to see
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something that maybe you've never seen before. It says, now
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this was the place of crucifixion and it was near
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a garden. where there was a new tomb never used before,
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verse 42. And so because it was the day of
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preparation for the Jewish Passover, and since the tomb was
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close at hand, they laid Jesus there. That is John
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chapter 19, okay? John chapter 20, the very next chapter
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and the very next verse. It says, early Sunday morning,
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while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the
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tomb and found the stone had been rolled away. Hallelujah.
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Except hold on. The end of John 19 said it
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was Friday. They put them in a tomb and then
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it goes to John 20 and it says early Sunday morning.
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Okay.
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Friday I'm in a tomb and you just skip to
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Sunday where he is resurrected. Let me put it a
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different way because some of you are dealing with this
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right now. On Friday. you're dealing with reality. You're dealing
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with not being able to pay your bills. You're dealing
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with a family who is dysfunctional. You're dealing with having
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being molested when you are a young child and having
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to grow up with anger and rage in your life. Yeah,
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I'm coming for real stuff right now. You're dealing with
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the pain of not being supported. You are in reality.
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But then they just skip. over and they say early
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Sunday morning and they say it's a resurrection. What in
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the world do I do with the middle? And that's
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what I came to talk to you about because many
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of you want to shout this morning, but you have
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not gotten to the place of resurrection yet. You're still
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stuck in the pain. You're still in the middle of
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the hurt. You're still in the middle of not feeling
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like you'll be provided for. And so many times in church,
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we shout about the resurrection and we cry about the
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reality of the death, but we don't know how to
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act in the middle. I'm about to preach in this
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place right now because I want to help you be
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able to figure out how to be able to conduct
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your life when you're in, everybody say, the middle. And
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I don't know about you, but there's some areas of
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my life, the pastor, the one speaking, that I'm still
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in the middle. But this is the thing I found
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out about the middle, is the middle is not for
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anybody else to be able to respond to. The middle
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is your responsibility. Write this point down. My response is
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more important than the reason why when you're in the middle. See,
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your response in the middle is more important than the
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reason why you're in the spot. And many times we
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start complaining and get frustrated because our reality is not good.
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And we get mad at what happened to us, what
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job we didn't get. I didn't get it accepted into
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the school. My family doesn't support me. Everybody looks at
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me through the lens of my habit and not how
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far I've come. That's the reality of it. And we
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can't control the reality. We can't control the reality of COVID-19.
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We don't know when we're going back to work, going
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back to school. We can't control the reality. And we
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are not over the resurrection, but we can do something
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about our response in the middle. And somebody needs to
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hear me say this to you. You're not helpless. You're
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not hopeless. You can't dictate what happens to you, but
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you can dictate what you do with what happens to you.
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And somebody needs to know who's in the middle right now.
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I feel the presence of God coming in this place.
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The person who's in the middle right now, you need
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to make a decision. My response is more important than
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the reason why. Because so many times the enemy tries
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to get us distracted and trying to figure out why
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it happened. Why did I lose it? Why did they
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cheat on me? Why did I lose? Why am I
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hurting like this? And the enemy says, yes, great. They're
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going to keep going in circles and the thing that
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they'll never figure out when God did not send this,
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but he's trying to make them in this situation and
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bring them to another place. And I'm encouraging you right now,
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no matter what you're feeling, if you're in the middle
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in any area of your life, in business, in relationship,
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in your marriage, in your heart, if you're in the middle,
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stop trying to figure out why you're there and start
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giving the right response while you're there. Romans 12 tells
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us if you're in the middle, you need to rejoice
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in our confident hope. That's in Jesus. Be patient in trouble.
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That means this may last a while. That means I know,
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I know that the disciples really wish it would have
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went from putting him in the tomb. Why didn't they
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just go straight to Sunday? Why did Saturday have to
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be there? Why did I have to go through those
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24 hours of not knowing what was going to happen?
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Because there is a deepening of your faith in the
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part of your life where you are not in control.
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I just said a mouthful right now. You're going to
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grow more in the middle. You're going to love more
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in the middle. You're going to become who God created
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you to be in the middle. But you have to
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go through the suffering of Saturday if you're going to
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see the resurrection on Sunday. And so many of us
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don't want to face the reality. So we try to
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skip over Saturday. And God's saying right now, I don't
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know who you are, but you may have to go
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to counseling. You may have to be patient in this thing.
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Maybe in this season, it's going to take something that
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you never thought you would have to do to be
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who God's created you to be.
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Rejoice.
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Rejoice. And our confident hope, which is Jesus, be patient
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in trouble and keep on praying. That's the right response,
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Pastor Mike. Good. That's the churchy thing I'm supposed to do. Well,
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how do I really respond in the middle? Well, this
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is the thing I figured out about our response when
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we're scared, when we're fearful, when we're hurting. How we
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respond in the middle shows what we actually worry about.
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And the thing that I'm concerned with with everybody who's
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watching right now is a lot of us are dealing
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with worries we're not talking about. A lot of us
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are silently suffering. I know there's tons of people, I
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can feel you right now. You're pulling on me right now.
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And I'm telling you, you've been silently suffering with thoughts
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of suicide. You've been silently suffering with thoughts of inferiority.
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You've been silently suffering with hurt and pain. And God's
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saying is, I don't want you to worry about that anymore.
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I did something for you that would take away that worry.
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You just got to believe in me. I didn't come
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so that you could have worry and have worry more abundantly.
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The Bible says I came that you may have life
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and life more abundantly. Somebody needs to put in the chat,
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I will have life. Oh, I feel that thing. In
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the middle, even when it looks like it's dead, even
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when the tomb has been put in, somebody shout, I
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will have life. When your reality has not met up
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with the resurrection, you still have to speak life while
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it's in the tomb. And some of y'all's businesses seem
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like they're in the tomb. Some of your relationships seem
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like they're in the tomb. Some of the relationships between
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a father and a son and a daughter and a
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mother seem like they're over. But God said, I need
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you to speak life while it looks like it's in
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the tomb. And that's why Matthew... Chapter 6, verse 31,
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it says, that's why I tell you not to worry.
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This is Jesus talking. Don't worry about everyday life. Whether
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you have enough food and drink isn't that applicable right
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now during corona. Don't worry about if you have enough
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clothes to wear. Isn't life more than food and drink
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and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds.
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He gave us an eternal sermon illustration. Like today, if
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you're in a place that's not raining, I want you
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to go outside and I want you to listen for birds.
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And I want you to see that God's telling you
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that no matter what you're going through, I'm still providing
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for inanimate animals in the middle of this epidemic and
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this pandemic. And you don't think I would provide for
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you and your family and your heart. Look at it.
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I love the Bible. I love the Bible. It says,
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look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or
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store up foods in barns. They don't have 401ks. They
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don't have retirement plans. And he says, and they don't
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plant or harvest or store up foods. And your heavenly
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father feeds them. I'm coming to tell somebody all the
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things you've been worrying about in the middle. God's saying,
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I got that. I'll take care of that. If you
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would just trust me and put your hope in me,
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I will take care of you in the middle. He says,
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and by the way, aren't you more valuable? Him than
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they are I came to tell you that God cares
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about you more than he cares about the birds out
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there and the flowers on the ground he cares about
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you even if you're in the middle I feel the
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presence of God right now somebody's heart is coming back
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alive right now somebody's faith is being changed in this
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moment God is saying and why he said can um
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all your worries listen to this add a single moment
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to your life and What I'm a little afraid of
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is that the worry is actually depleting you of the
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life that you do have. instead of you giving God
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the worry and living the life that you do have.
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He says, you can't add no time to your life,
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he said, and why worry about your clothing?
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Look at the lilies.
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He gave us another example. He said, the lilies of
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the field and how they grow. They don't work or
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make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory or
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Beyonce and Jay-Z in all their glory or Kim and
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Kanye in all of their glory was not dressed as
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beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully
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for wild flowers. that are here today and thrown away
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in a fire tomorrow, he will certainly care about you.
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The right response in the middle has to be anchored
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in who cares for you. I came to tell you
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that if you felt like nobody's cared for you, if
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you're in the middle thinking that you gotta figure it
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all out by yourself to prove yourself that you're a
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real man or a real woman or you're a boss
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or you're an independent woman, God says, will you lay
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all those burdens down and give it to me? Because
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the only anchor you're gonna have in the middle is
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that I care for you. that I was thinking about
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you when you wasn't thinking about me, that I've made
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plans and ordered your steps and God's saying, I care
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for you. And some of y'all are saying, that's great,
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Pastor Mike. But how do I really apply that in
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the middle? I am so glad you asked. I like
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breaking things down to understand them so we can get patterns.
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So I want to introduce to you something that I
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call the method of the middle. Because if you get
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the method of the middle, then you'll be able to
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manage in the middle. And what I found, no matter
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if you're a CEO or you're somebody that's living on
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the street or in government assistance, or you're somebody who's
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had a lot or somebody who lives with a little,
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no matter what you're going through right now, the middle
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still has the same things happening in it. Let me
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prove it to you. So everybody's middle and everybody's life
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starts with their reality. So right now, many of us
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are dealing with the reality that we don't like. And
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can I just say to you that for every person
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who is struggling and you clicked on to this live
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feed as a last attempt to trust God, I have
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not slept most of this entire week Listening to God
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for each one of the people who would tune in
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to this message. Because God is so concerned about you.
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He cares so much. That's why I'm up here sweating
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in a purple suit with a turtleneck on in the springtime.
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He cares about you. And listen, whatever your reality is,
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you got to understand what comes after your reality. Because
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anytime you have a reality, then you get presented with
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a dilemma. And when you get in a dilemma, this
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is where it's very important that you make sure that
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you are listening to the right things. Because in the middle,
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when you get in a dilemma, that's where the enemy
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tries to come in and he tries to present deception.
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This is what happened all the way back in the
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garden with Adam and Eve. Remember, they were in the
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garden in a perfect place and all they had was
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a dilemma. That honestly was protection for them, but they
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saw it with the wrong perspective. And when God was saying,
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don't eat from this one tree, they said, why would
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God not let us eat from that one tree? And
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it became a dilemma when it was actually protection. And
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that's when the enemy came in with deception. Did God
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really say you were going to do that? Did God
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really say your marriage was going to last? Did God
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really say nobody really cares about you? You're too fat.
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You're too young. You're too this. You're too that. And
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when you listen to the enemy's deception, when you're in
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a dilemma, it will make you make the wrong decisions.
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And this is what happens in everybody's middle. It starts
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with something that is reality to you. And it's real
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and it hurts and it's frustrating. And then it turns
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into a dilemma that turns into deception that turns into
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you making a decision. Now, I don't know about you.
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I'm going to tell on myself. But if you are
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out there and you're watching this and you've made some
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bad decisions, could you raise a hand right now? Come
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on right now. If you made bad decisions, I need
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you to raise your hand right now. Come on in
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the chat. If you make, come on, somebody's raising their
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hands and their feet. Somebody did a herky. I see
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you right now. You done made a whole bunch of
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bad decisions. Okay. The reason why we have to know
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what happens in the middle is because any time you
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make a decision, the next thing that comes after any
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decision is death. When you make a decision, something's gonna die.
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If you make the wrong decision, purpose dies. Dreams die.
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Relationships die. If you make the right decision, pride dies.
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preference dies. Your plan dies. And whenever you make the
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right decision, a decision that lines up with God's word,
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the decision that seeks the kingdom, then God promises there
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will be deliverance. And this is what this Easter story
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is all about. It's about how to navigate the middle
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like all of these disciples. The middle had a dilemma
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in it. The middle had deception in it. The middle
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had a decision in it. The middle had death in it.
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And the middle ultimately would have deliverance and there would
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be a resurrection. But if only can be a resurrection
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if I outlast the middle. And I know there's people
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here like, Pastor Mike, that sounds great, but can you
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give me some more than that? Because I'm trying to
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really figure out how to make this thing happen. I
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love the Bible. The reason I love the Bible is
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because God gives us examples of real people that were
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around when this happened that got caught in the middle.
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Let's use Jesus' mom, Mary, for an example. Let me
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show you how this works. Mary, the mother of Jesus,
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her reality at this moment is, was honestly a reality
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that nobody else could understand. Because Mary's reality was her
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son was dead. The same way that some of our
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dreams have been dead, some of our business plans have
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been dead, the thing that we thought we were gonna
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do was dead. And it presented a dilemma. Do you
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know what Mary's dilemma was? What she had to work
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through in the middle? Her dilemma was this went against
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everything that God promised her. Do y'all remember? In the
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beginning of Luke, I believe it was, when Mary was
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minding her own business and Jesus popped up, not Jesus,
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but an angel, Gabriel, popped up on her and was like, hey, Mary.
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And she was like, what you doing in my house?
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And he was like, hey, I'm about to let you
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know that you're pregnant by the Holy Spirit. I ain't
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even done it with nobody. And then he was like, yeah,
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this is a miraculous conception. And she didn't. The thing
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I kept thinking about is she did not ask for Jesus.
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She was chosen to carry this. And I don't know
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who this is for, but there's some people right now
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who are going through something in the middle that you
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didn't even ask for. I didn't ask to go through this.
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I didn't ask to start that business. You gave me
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the business. I didn't ask to be abused. I didn't
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ask to be hurt like that. I didn't ask for that.
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And what the enemy tries to do is come in
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in deception like he did for Mary. And this is
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the thing I need you to know, that when you're
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in the middle, the devil was trying to convince Mary
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that this was the end, that God's promise wasn't going
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to come to pass, that her son was really dead.
476
00:26:10.900 --> 00:26:12.960
But I came to encourage somebody who's in the middle
477
00:26:13.000 --> 00:26:16.359
right now. In the middle, the promise is not void
478
00:26:16.460 --> 00:26:19.960
because of the pain. Somebody needs to understand that. The
479
00:26:20.079 --> 00:26:26.819
promise is not void because the pain is real. See,
480
00:26:26.900 --> 00:26:30.920
if Mary would have gotten into this place of doubt
481
00:26:31.000 --> 00:26:33.920
right here, she would have thought what God said to
482
00:26:33.980 --> 00:26:40.460
her before Jesus was born was void. But I came
483
00:26:40.509 --> 00:26:43.869
to tell somebody today that just because we're in the
484
00:26:43.910 --> 00:26:48.809
middle and it looks dead, there is more to the story.
485
00:26:48.950 --> 00:26:53.170
If it's not over, that means God's not done with it.
486
00:26:53.970 --> 00:26:57.509
That means there's more chapters to be written. And I'm
487
00:26:57.589 --> 00:26:59.750
telling you right now, God's trying to do a work
488
00:26:59.950 --> 00:27:03.690
even in the middle. I thought about it. My wife,
489
00:27:04.529 --> 00:27:06.589
she's the best person in the world that I know.
490
00:27:07.170 --> 00:27:11.509
And I thought about how many times you never need
491
00:27:11.529 --> 00:27:16.180
to make a decision in the heat of pain. And
492
00:27:16.200 --> 00:27:18.470
that's where people are right now. Somebody's about to close
493
00:27:18.509 --> 00:27:21.329
their business. Somebody's about to leave their family. Somebody's about
494
00:27:21.380 --> 00:27:23.599
to give up on the marriage. And it's the wrong
495
00:27:23.640 --> 00:27:25.539
time to do that because you're still in the middle.
496
00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:29.269
and you've listened, you've looked at the dilemma, you've listened
497
00:27:29.309 --> 00:27:31.349
to the deception, and now you're about to make a
498
00:27:31.380 --> 00:27:34.750
wrong decision. And I thought about this. My wife, we
499
00:27:34.789 --> 00:27:37.390
have three beautiful kids, and we've already always talked about
500
00:27:37.430 --> 00:27:40.569
having three or four children. And one of the things
501
00:27:40.609 --> 00:27:43.190
that ended up happening is that when we went in
502
00:27:43.250 --> 00:27:46.589
to have our first daughter, Isabella, we were trying to
503
00:27:46.630 --> 00:27:49.369
have her naturally. And then they came in and said,
504
00:27:49.450 --> 00:27:53.349
something cannot happen naturally, so we're going to have to
505
00:27:53.390 --> 00:27:55.730
do a C-section. And I thought about this in the
506
00:27:55.769 --> 00:27:58.279
moment I was thinking about this. That would have been
507
00:27:58.319 --> 00:28:01.799
the wrong time to bring up the promise. Hey, babe,
508
00:28:02.519 --> 00:28:04.269
I know you're going through the greatest pain that you've
509
00:28:04.309 --> 00:28:06.150
ever had right now, but do you want to have
510
00:28:06.190 --> 00:28:10.069
some more kids? See, I knew she wanted to have
511
00:28:10.130 --> 00:28:14.150
more kids, but her vision and her perspective was blurry
512
00:28:14.190 --> 00:28:17.430
because she was in the middle of pain. And some
513
00:28:17.470 --> 00:28:20.269
of y'all are making decisions right now in the middle
514
00:28:20.349 --> 00:28:23.210
of the dilemma and you've listened to the deceptions and
515
00:28:23.289 --> 00:28:27.289
God's saying, don't make the decision now to abort the
516
00:28:27.369 --> 00:28:30.490
promise that I gave you. You will produce fruit. Your
517
00:28:30.599 --> 00:28:34.559
family will be saved. Your business will be successful. Your
518
00:28:34.859 --> 00:28:40.170
life will be whole. But you cannot make the wrong
519
00:28:40.250 --> 00:28:45.289
decision if you've listened to the lies and the deception.
520
00:28:46.150 --> 00:28:49.880
And the crazy thing about Mary is that she wasn't
521
00:28:49.910 --> 00:28:51.720
the only one in the middle. Let me go back
522
00:28:51.759 --> 00:28:56.160
down here. I love this. Peter, one of Jesus' disciples,
523
00:28:56.819 --> 00:29:00.599
he was in the middle too. Yeah, yeah, Peter. Peter's
524
00:29:01.119 --> 00:29:05.880
reality was the only man, Jesus, who ever actually cared
525
00:29:05.920 --> 00:29:10.079
for him, loved him, and looked past all his faults
526
00:29:10.160 --> 00:29:13.900
and saw his needs is now dead. That's his reality.
527
00:29:14.660 --> 00:29:18.720
And the dilemma is, is that Peter was a classic
528
00:29:18.759 --> 00:29:21.180
mess up. And I don't know about you, but your
529
00:29:21.200 --> 00:29:23.859
boy has messed up tons of times. Like many people
530
00:29:23.900 --> 00:29:26.480
that are watching right now, have you ever done something
531
00:29:26.500 --> 00:29:28.349
that you said that you would never do and you
532
00:29:28.380 --> 00:29:31.970
did it? Well, you're in good company because Peter did
533
00:29:31.970 --> 00:29:35.789
the same exact thing. See, Peter's dilemma was that they
534
00:29:35.789 --> 00:29:38.880
were at a dinner table with Jesus And and Jesus
535
00:29:38.940 --> 00:29:40.779
told them what was going to happen he told them
536
00:29:40.799 --> 00:29:43.559
and that's the beautiful thing about it it's crazy that
537
00:29:43.619 --> 00:29:46.180
Jesus tells us in reality where we're at he's like
538
00:29:46.259 --> 00:29:49.059
hey you're going to make it to the resurrection there's
539
00:29:49.099 --> 00:29:50.619
going to be victory on the other side of it
540
00:29:50.819 --> 00:29:53.000
you're going to make it but when it's real to
541
00:29:53.279 --> 00:29:56.569
us somehow that's not enough to carry us in the
542
00:29:56.609 --> 00:30:01.630
middle And Peter sat with Jesus, was at the Last Supper.
543
00:30:01.869 --> 00:30:05.150
He even cut some dude's ears off. And he was like,
544
00:30:05.170 --> 00:30:07.390
don't come at my God. Peter was like a gangster. Like,
545
00:30:07.410 --> 00:30:09.170
I don't know. Like, I feel like Peter stood like
546
00:30:09.250 --> 00:30:11.849
this and was like, what up, fool? And like, the
547
00:30:11.890 --> 00:30:13.960
guards came to get Jesus. And he was like, shank, shank.
548
00:30:14.160 --> 00:30:16.140
And he shanked the dude. And Jesus was like, Peter,
549
00:30:16.180 --> 00:30:17.859
calm down. And he picked up the ear. He's like,
550
00:30:17.900 --> 00:30:21.259
my bad, bro. Put it back on. Like, because Peter
551
00:30:21.299 --> 00:30:24.740
was always messing up. And that guy is dead. And
552
00:30:24.789 --> 00:30:26.490
now he has a dilemma. Because when he was sitting
553
00:30:26.509 --> 00:30:28.960
with Jesus, Jesus said, Peter, I know you ride for me,
554
00:30:30.500 --> 00:30:33.829
but when this all goes down, you're going to deny
555
00:30:33.869 --> 00:30:36.089
me three times. Jesus, don't even talk like that, fool.
556
00:30:36.130 --> 00:30:38.250
Don't even talk like that. You know I'm down for you,
557
00:30:38.309 --> 00:30:42.049
ride or die, ride or die. And he literally said, Peter,
558
00:30:42.150 --> 00:30:44.809
calm down. I know the beginning from the end. You're
559
00:30:44.829 --> 00:30:46.839
going to deny me three times. He was like, don't
560
00:30:47.039 --> 00:30:50.299
ever test my loyalty like that on the set, on
561
00:30:50.319 --> 00:30:53.700
the set. And he started seawalking and everything right there. Okay.
562
00:30:54.740 --> 00:30:57.940
And Jesus said, we'll see. And you know what Peter's
563
00:30:58.079 --> 00:31:02.160
dilemma was? Is when they actually came and got Jesus,
564
00:31:02.200 --> 00:31:06.150
when he was arrested, Peter did what he said he'd
565
00:31:06.250 --> 00:31:09.369
never do. And I don't know if any of y'all
566
00:31:09.390 --> 00:31:11.789
can relate to that in the middle. But sometimes when
567
00:31:11.809 --> 00:31:13.789
you get desperate and sometimes when you get in a
568
00:31:13.829 --> 00:31:16.250
spot you never thought you would be in. And sometimes
569
00:31:16.309 --> 00:31:19.799
when the way money was coming in is not coming
570
00:31:19.859 --> 00:31:22.299
in no more. And when somebody, that old girlfriend from
571
00:31:22.339 --> 00:31:24.220
high school starts reaching out when you and your wife
572
00:31:24.279 --> 00:31:26.880
are in a disagreement. Oh, I'm coming to your house
573
00:31:26.940 --> 00:31:28.759
right now. When you're spending most of your time on
574
00:31:28.819 --> 00:31:31.599
Facebook and God's trying to tell you, hey, I'm trying
575
00:31:31.640 --> 00:31:33.900
to do something for you right now. And you do
576
00:31:33.960 --> 00:31:38.490
the thing that you said you would never do. See,
577
00:31:38.529 --> 00:31:43.119
the problem with Peter is he now, because he did it,
578
00:31:43.930 --> 00:31:46.369
see some Christians and some people all of like, I've
579
00:31:46.410 --> 00:31:48.970
never done anything. That ain't my testimony. I have messed
580
00:31:49.089 --> 00:31:53.309
up a million times. And what the enemy tries to
581
00:31:53.369 --> 00:31:56.710
do in this moment of deception is he tries to
582
00:31:56.779 --> 00:31:59.940
make you think that your worth is connected to your works.
583
00:32:02.210 --> 00:32:04.509
And I know that's how some of you feel. That's
584
00:32:04.569 --> 00:32:06.559
why some of you have never come to an actual
585
00:32:06.640 --> 00:32:09.859
physical location. Because you know you've done some stuff that
586
00:32:09.960 --> 00:32:11.779
don't line up with what you really wanted to do.
587
00:32:11.839 --> 00:32:13.180
But you did it because you were in the middle.
588
00:32:13.220 --> 00:32:15.980
You were desperate. You were searching. And now people have
589
00:32:16.000 --> 00:32:18.490
made you feel judged. And I'm coming to tell you
590
00:32:18.750 --> 00:32:21.390
that the grace of God is available for you. The
591
00:32:21.470 --> 00:32:24.319
grace of God is here right now for every mess up.
592
00:32:24.609 --> 00:32:26.589

593
00:32:26.630 --> 00:32:29.470

594
00:32:29.569 --> 00:32:32.109

595
00:32:32.150 --> 00:32:35.450

596
00:32:35.519 --> 00:32:38.099

597
00:32:38.210 --> 00:32:42.759
See,
598
00:32:42.819 --> 00:32:45.880
the enemy wants you to believe that there's degrees to sin.
599
00:32:46.890 --> 00:32:49.490
But God said, when I saw you, I saw my passion.
600
00:32:49.910 --> 00:32:51.799
And I said, I was going to take the punishment
601
00:32:51.990 --> 00:32:54.539
so that the enemy could not deceive you another day.
602
00:32:54.579 --> 00:32:58.160
I feel the presence of God that somebody has been believing.
603
00:32:58.380 --> 00:33:00.700
And I hear your heart beating fast and tears are
604
00:33:00.720 --> 00:33:03.680
flowing down some people's face right now because you believe
605
00:33:03.740 --> 00:33:06.740
the lie that you're only worth it if your works
606
00:33:06.900 --> 00:33:14.029
are good. And Peter had to make a decision. in
607
00:33:14.069 --> 00:33:16.660
the middle of what he was going through peter had
608
00:33:16.700 --> 00:33:20.220
to decide i feel this so strong that he was
609
00:33:20.259 --> 00:33:25.420
going to focus on the character of jesus and not
610
00:33:25.579 --> 00:33:30.609
focus on the concerns of critics and that's what you're
611
00:33:30.630 --> 00:33:32.890
gonna have to do in this season because some of
612
00:33:32.930 --> 00:33:34.789
you are about to make a decision to change your
613
00:33:34.829 --> 00:33:37.250
whole life In the middle of what you're doing, in
614
00:33:37.289 --> 00:33:40.019
the middle of going the wrong direction, you're about to repent.
615
00:33:40.299 --> 00:33:42.720
You're about to turn. I feel that thing so strong
616
00:33:43.000 --> 00:33:45.259
that some of y'all got plans to do stuff that
617
00:33:45.299 --> 00:33:47.319
you know goes against the will of God for your life,
618
00:33:47.539 --> 00:33:49.640
that you know that is going to hurt your family.
619
00:33:49.880 --> 00:33:51.480
And God said, this is going to be the time
620
00:33:51.500 --> 00:33:54.319
where you repent. And all that word means is turn.
621
00:33:54.359 --> 00:33:57.950
Somebody say turn. I feel a turn in this world. Somebody,
622
00:33:57.990 --> 00:34:00.849
your life, because you clicked on this live stream, because
623
00:34:00.869 --> 00:34:07.490
you're watching this rebroadcast, everything is about to turn. And
624
00:34:07.509 --> 00:34:10.639
the only way it can turn is if while you're
625
00:34:10.679 --> 00:34:14.139
in the middle, you focus on the character of Jesus
626
00:34:15.539 --> 00:34:17.639
and not the concerns of the critics. And you know,
627
00:34:17.679 --> 00:34:21.320
critics can be family members. Oh, you know, critics can
628
00:34:21.360 --> 00:34:23.159
be the very people that was in the club with
629
00:34:23.199 --> 00:34:25.369
you popping the bottles and doing everything else. Those will
630
00:34:25.389 --> 00:34:27.989
be the same people like you have changed. What's wrong
631
00:34:28.010 --> 00:34:31.110
with you now? Oh, you hold it. You hope. No, no, no, no, no, no.
632
00:34:31.670 --> 00:34:34.030
What you got to understand is that at some point.
633
00:34:35.360 --> 00:34:37.480
You have to make a decision that lines up with
634
00:34:37.500 --> 00:34:40.800
the purpose God sent you to earth for. And not
635
00:34:40.840 --> 00:34:45.070
for popularity for people. And Peter had to trust and
636
00:34:45.159 --> 00:34:48.710
focus his eyes on the character of Jesus and not
637
00:34:49.289 --> 00:34:51.889
the chattering of critics. And I just feel this so
638
00:34:51.929 --> 00:34:53.989
strong because somebody's about to make a decision that your
639
00:34:54.030 --> 00:34:58.159
whole family is not going to go with. But through
640
00:34:58.179 --> 00:35:03.969
your decision, through your desire to actually Make it out
641
00:35:03.989 --> 00:35:05.989
of the middle, not just exist. Because y'all know this
642
00:35:06.050 --> 00:35:08.809
is the enemy's plan for families and generations. Some of
643
00:35:08.829 --> 00:35:12.469
y'all families can literally mark this. This was their dilemma.
644
00:35:12.550 --> 00:35:15.130
This was the deception. This is the decision. That's the
645
00:35:15.170 --> 00:35:17.929
death that happened. This is the dilemma. That's what happened
646
00:35:17.949 --> 00:35:20.510
to Big Mama. That's what the decision they made. And
647
00:35:20.550 --> 00:35:23.500
that's where death happened. And it's been cycles and years
648
00:35:23.780 --> 00:35:27.639
and generations of the same curses. your mama was molested,
649
00:35:27.860 --> 00:35:30.840
and now you start feeling insecurity, then you make a
650
00:35:30.900 --> 00:35:33.039
decision to find love in all the wrong places, and
651
00:35:33.059 --> 00:35:36.170
then you feel death and worthless and useful and useless.
652
00:35:36.409 --> 00:35:38.630
This is what I'm telling you right now. The enemy
653
00:35:38.670 --> 00:35:40.869
doesn't have new tricks, but right now I feel the
654
00:35:40.929 --> 00:35:43.849
faith of God rising up somebody, and we're going to
655
00:35:43.909 --> 00:35:47.719
make different decisions in the middle. Somebody say, I'm making
656
00:35:47.760 --> 00:35:50.719
a different decision in the middle. Somebody say it one
657
00:35:50.739 --> 00:35:54.559
more time. I'm making a different decision in the middle.
658
00:35:55.409 --> 00:35:58.389
Pastor Mike, why are you preaching so passionately? It's because
659
00:35:58.409 --> 00:36:02.420
I've had conversations with people who felt like when they
660
00:36:02.480 --> 00:36:05.340
make the right decision, they were going to get ostracized.
661
00:36:06.940 --> 00:36:08.949
And I want to apologize. You know, this all came
662
00:36:08.969 --> 00:36:12.710
to life for me. This year I had, no, last
663
00:36:12.750 --> 00:36:16.000
year actually, I had the opportunity to connect with I'm
664
00:36:16.019 --> 00:36:18.019
with my bro Kanye West and I got to speak
665
00:36:18.480 --> 00:36:20.880
at the Sunday service in the forum to a bunch
666
00:36:20.920 --> 00:36:24.610
of people. And when I was doing that, I was
667
00:36:24.679 --> 00:36:27.429
sitting there telling people about the good news of Jesus
668
00:36:27.489 --> 00:36:30.750
Christ in this huge arena that all these people have
669
00:36:30.809 --> 00:36:34.590
played in before. And they started singing this song called
670
00:36:34.650 --> 00:36:37.630
Hands On. And it convicted me. And I want you
671
00:36:37.650 --> 00:36:39.969
to look at the lyrics of this song because it's
672
00:36:40.130 --> 00:36:43.389
one thing to be criticized by people who don't believe
673
00:36:43.809 --> 00:36:46.849
and people who don't have your best interest in heart.
674
00:36:47.130 --> 00:36:50.409
But it is a totally different thing to be criticized
675
00:36:50.730 --> 00:36:54.250
and ostracized and made to feel lower or less than
676
00:36:54.309 --> 00:36:58.980
by people who are supposed to be Christ followers. And
677
00:36:59.000 --> 00:37:02.059
many of you watching right now, you've stopped messing with
678
00:37:02.119 --> 00:37:07.469
God because of Christians. You stop having anything to do
679
00:37:07.510 --> 00:37:10.889
with the relationship you really need in your life because
680
00:37:10.909 --> 00:37:14.110
you are hurt by people. And that's why next week
681
00:37:14.150 --> 00:37:17.309
I'm doing a series that starts called Deliver Us From People.
682
00:37:17.349 --> 00:37:18.929
And I believe that there's going to be healing. And
683
00:37:18.949 --> 00:37:20.559
I want you to come back for that because we're
684
00:37:20.579 --> 00:37:22.840
going to start talking about relationships. And I believe God
685
00:37:22.860 --> 00:37:24.519
is going to peel back the layers of your life.
686
00:37:24.739 --> 00:37:26.360
And you're going to be able to get free right
687
00:37:26.400 --> 00:37:28.340
there in your bedroom. I feel the presence of God
688
00:37:28.380 --> 00:37:31.119
on that. But they started playing these songs. And I
689
00:37:31.139 --> 00:37:33.159
want to put some lyrics up. It said, said I'm
690
00:37:33.219 --> 00:37:35.900
fitting to do a gospel album. What have you been
691
00:37:35.960 --> 00:37:39.739
hearing from the Christians? They'll be the first ones to
692
00:37:39.800 --> 00:37:43.159
judge me. Make it feel like nobody loved me. That
693
00:37:43.239 --> 00:37:46.920
is the deception of the enemy. To make you feel
694
00:37:46.980 --> 00:37:49.699
like when you make this decision, people who love God
695
00:37:49.900 --> 00:37:52.239
are gonna think that I'm not worthy enough. And then
696
00:37:52.340 --> 00:37:54.780
people who don't love God is just gonna think I'm weird.
697
00:37:54.980 --> 00:37:56.960
And this was the same thing he penned. He said,
698
00:37:57.039 --> 00:38:00.280
told people God was my mission. What have you been
699
00:38:00.340 --> 00:38:03.610
hearing from the Christians? They'll be the first one to
700
00:38:03.670 --> 00:38:06.750
judge me. And make it feel like nobody loves me.
701
00:38:07.030 --> 00:38:08.349
This is what I want to do. And I want
702
00:38:08.369 --> 00:38:10.650
to be so sincere in this moment because I don't
703
00:38:10.670 --> 00:38:13.090
know if I'll ever have your attention ever again. But
704
00:38:13.170 --> 00:38:15.090
right now in this moment, if you have ever been
705
00:38:15.150 --> 00:38:20.190
hurt by somebody that wears the badge of Christian, Christ follower, pastor, preacher,
706
00:38:20.670 --> 00:38:23.409
somebody who knows the Bible, if you've ever been hurt
707
00:38:23.449 --> 00:38:26.929
by them or you've been criticized by them, I want
708
00:38:27.010 --> 00:38:31.820
to apologize to you on behalf of every person who
709
00:38:31.900 --> 00:38:35.170
hurt you. And this is from my heart because That
710
00:38:35.289 --> 00:38:39.750
hurt has kept you away from healing. And today I
711
00:38:39.789 --> 00:38:42.840
feel the spirit of God coming to your home and
712
00:38:42.889 --> 00:38:45.619
coming to your life. And some of you have just thought, oh,
713
00:38:45.619 --> 00:38:47.820
they just want me for my money or this is. Listen,
714
00:38:47.960 --> 00:38:52.019
anybody has who has misused power or manipulated or done
715
00:38:52.079 --> 00:38:55.579
anything to make you feel like God is not who
716
00:38:55.619 --> 00:38:58.420
he is and his character is good and his character
717
00:38:58.500 --> 00:39:01.230
is love and his character is for you. I want
718
00:39:01.250 --> 00:39:04.389
to say I'm sorry because that is not the character
719
00:39:04.449 --> 00:39:07.820
of our God. The character of our God is found
720
00:39:08.119 --> 00:39:11.440
in the scriptures when it talks to us in 2 Corinthians,
721
00:39:11.519 --> 00:39:15.000
I believe it is. Oh no, let's just go John 3, 16.
722
00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:16.900
Let me make it very plain. Let me make it
723
00:39:16.920 --> 00:39:19.920
the most famous scripture. For God so loved the world
724
00:39:19.960 --> 00:39:23.150
that he did what? He gave his only begotten son
725
00:39:23.389 --> 00:39:26.869
that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have
726
00:39:26.989 --> 00:39:30.730
everlasting life. Everybody knows verse 16. but the character of
727
00:39:30.769 --> 00:39:34.619
God is revealed in verse 17. For God did not
728
00:39:34.780 --> 00:39:38.300
send his son into the world to condemn the world,
729
00:39:39.260 --> 00:39:43.619
but he came to save the world through him. And
730
00:39:43.659 --> 00:39:47.659
if you have been held down because of anybody's criticisms,
731
00:39:48.590 --> 00:39:50.639
Right now I want to ask you, could you please
732
00:39:50.699 --> 00:39:54.380
just focus on the character of Jesus? And the reason
733
00:39:54.400 --> 00:39:58.010
why this is so real to me is because Michael
734
00:39:58.050 --> 00:40:01.389
has a middle too. I'm not just talking about old
735
00:40:01.429 --> 00:40:06.269
Bible characters. But right now, in this moment, I am
736
00:40:06.389 --> 00:40:10.110
dealing with the reality that hits my heart to the core.
737
00:40:10.409 --> 00:40:12.070
Some of you may not know this, but I'm going
738
00:40:12.090 --> 00:40:14.130
to go ahead and be hot, humble, open and transparent
739
00:40:14.389 --> 00:40:17.539
and be a real man up here that happens to
740
00:40:17.579 --> 00:40:19.639
be a pastor. And I'm going to tell you that
741
00:40:19.699 --> 00:40:22.360
me and my wife right now, we have a son
742
00:40:22.699 --> 00:40:26.059
that has minimal verbal skills. He is four years old.
743
00:40:26.360 --> 00:40:29.639
and he has autism. And every day I wake up
744
00:40:29.940 --> 00:40:32.829
and my son cannot verbally tell me what he wants
745
00:40:32.889 --> 00:40:35.130
to eat or what he wants to drink or what
746
00:40:35.170 --> 00:40:38.130
he wants to do, there's something in my heart that
747
00:40:38.190 --> 00:40:41.949
begins to penetrate. MJ is my namesake. I'm getting emotional
748
00:40:41.969 --> 00:40:45.320
right now because I know that every day that I
749
00:40:45.380 --> 00:40:47.739
wake up, I have to deal with that reality. No
750
00:40:47.760 --> 00:40:50.460
matter how many people get saved, no matter how many
751
00:40:50.519 --> 00:40:53.559
people fill auditoriums, no matter how much money I make,
752
00:40:53.940 --> 00:40:56.860
My reality is I want my son to be able
753
00:40:56.909 --> 00:40:59.320
to function in a way that he could support his
754
00:40:59.409 --> 00:41:02.989
life and he can't at this moment. And the dilemma
755
00:41:03.230 --> 00:41:10.670
is that I teach faith to everybody else. So the
756
00:41:10.710 --> 00:41:13.829
dilemma is I have a reality that doesn't look like
757
00:41:13.869 --> 00:41:17.190
the resurrection. He is sitting in my face and I
758
00:41:17.309 --> 00:41:20.030
rock him to sleep every night. And my dilemma is
759
00:41:20.110 --> 00:41:22.900
I have to get up every week And tell everybody
760
00:41:22.960 --> 00:41:27.929
God can do it. God can make a way. I
761
00:41:27.969 --> 00:41:29.829
have to look at my wife when she's in the
762
00:41:29.909 --> 00:41:33.650
bed fighting depression off of her because to her thinking
763
00:41:33.690 --> 00:41:36.070
it's something that she did. And I have to say, no,
764
00:41:36.110 --> 00:41:40.159
God is still good. The dilemma is I have to
765
00:41:40.239 --> 00:41:44.340
teach and live something that is contrary of what I'm
766
00:41:44.420 --> 00:41:48.389
experiencing at this moment. That is where the enemy tries
767
00:41:48.449 --> 00:41:52.239
to come in with deception. And he tries several times
768
00:41:52.639 --> 00:41:55.400
every week. He tries to make me feel like God
769
00:41:55.659 --> 00:41:59.019
can do miracles through me, but not do miracles for me.
770
00:42:00.360 --> 00:42:02.599
And I know this may not be your situation, but
771
00:42:02.639 --> 00:42:05.079
you can plug and play your situation in here. But
772
00:42:05.099 --> 00:42:08.400
for me, that's my reality. That's my dilemma. And that's
773
00:42:08.440 --> 00:42:11.239
my deception. But baby, I get to make a decision.
774
00:42:11.480 --> 00:42:14.179
And me and Natalie have made a decision as for
775
00:42:14.280 --> 00:42:17.369
me and my house. Oh, I feel this thing. No
776
00:42:17.409 --> 00:42:21.110
matter what happens, no matter who comes, no matter what goes,
777
00:42:21.369 --> 00:42:25.309
no matter if he never speaks a whole sentence, I
778
00:42:25.349 --> 00:42:29.210
have made a decision that I will serve the Lord.
779
00:42:37.079 --> 00:42:42.610
It doesn't make the middle feel any better It doesn't
780
00:42:42.670 --> 00:42:46.030
make the fact that after this I'm gonna go to
781
00:42:46.070 --> 00:42:49.409
his playroom and he's not gonna even know I preached
782
00:42:49.469 --> 00:42:52.590
today And all he's gonna be looking for is love
783
00:42:52.650 --> 00:42:56.360
from his father. That doesn't make it any any less
784
00:42:56.989 --> 00:43:02.130
less real but when I make the right decision Then
785
00:43:02.150 --> 00:43:05.619
there comes the death to some things. And see, my
786
00:43:05.659 --> 00:43:08.909
pride has died because of the decision that I've made.
787
00:43:09.730 --> 00:43:11.949
Like the enemy used to say, you can't tell nobody that.
788
00:43:11.989 --> 00:43:14.230
You can't do that. Oh yeah, baby, I'm using everything.
789
00:43:14.269 --> 00:43:16.210
The Bible tells me I overcome by the blood of
790
00:43:16.250 --> 00:43:18.889
the lamb and the words of my own testimony. This
791
00:43:18.949 --> 00:43:21.309
is what we really going through. And there's been some things.
792
00:43:21.349 --> 00:43:23.840
My pride has died here. My plan has died here.
793
00:43:24.099 --> 00:43:27.159
My preference has died here. And now when something dies,
794
00:43:27.280 --> 00:43:31.320
it creates an opportunity for God to do a miracle,
795
00:43:31.719 --> 00:43:35.460
for him to deliver, for him to do what seems impossible.
796
00:43:37.030 --> 00:43:40.119
And when there's death and deliverance, that's the only time
797
00:43:40.219 --> 00:43:44.760
it could be a resurrection. And I don't know what
798
00:43:44.780 --> 00:43:47.539
your reality is. I don't know what your dilemma is.
799
00:43:47.639 --> 00:43:50.260
I don't know what deception you have believed. But today
800
00:43:50.400 --> 00:43:52.889
I want you to know there's a decision you can
801
00:43:52.929 --> 00:43:58.670
make in the middle that can change everything. And the
802
00:43:58.710 --> 00:44:05.980
reason I know this is because your middle, Mary's middle,
803
00:44:06.829 --> 00:44:10.849
Peter's middle and my middle all have the same thing
804
00:44:10.909 --> 00:44:17.070
in common, that God stepped into our middle. See, some
805
00:44:17.090 --> 00:44:21.050
of you don't understand, but God was faced with the
806
00:44:21.070 --> 00:44:24.469
dilemma as well. The reality was, oh, I feel the
807
00:44:24.510 --> 00:44:28.510
presence of God, that in the garden, Adam and Eve
808
00:44:28.550 --> 00:44:36.989
made a decision that separated humanity from the Creator. And
809
00:44:37.010 --> 00:44:41.010
that was reality. Eden was shut down like all your
810
00:44:41.050 --> 00:44:45.349
favorite clothing stores. That's why I'm glad everybody's at home
811
00:44:45.389 --> 00:44:47.320
on Easter, because we would be looking like a Target
812
00:44:47.510 --> 00:44:51.639
ad and a Walmart poster at this current moment right now. OK,
813
00:44:52.760 --> 00:44:54.940
the reality was we were Eden was shut down and
814
00:44:54.960 --> 00:44:58.639
we were separated from God. And God had a dilemma.
815
00:44:59.639 --> 00:45:01.719
God was separated from us, but he wanted to be
816
00:45:01.760 --> 00:45:04.800
with us. And he said, there's no way because I'm
817
00:45:04.880 --> 00:45:07.219
holy that I can go and be with them unless
818
00:45:07.260 --> 00:45:09.840
there is a sacrifice that is made. And this is
819
00:45:09.880 --> 00:45:11.320
the thing that you need to know. I need you
820
00:45:11.340 --> 00:45:14.690
to write this down. God always makes a way in
821
00:45:14.730 --> 00:45:17.449
the middle. I feel this thing right now. No matter
822
00:45:17.550 --> 00:45:20.030
what your reality is and no matter if it doesn't
823
00:45:20.070 --> 00:45:23.210
line up with the resurrection, no matter what your expectation
824
00:45:23.250 --> 00:45:25.889
was and it has not lined up with your experience,
825
00:45:26.179 --> 00:45:29.380
no matter what's going on right now, God always steps
826
00:45:29.460 --> 00:45:32.500
from reality. Matter of fact, he steps from eternity. He
827
00:45:32.539 --> 00:45:34.760
ain't even on this. He's all around it. And he'll
828
00:45:34.840 --> 00:45:41.969
step into your dilemma. And he said, he said, I'm
829
00:45:42.010 --> 00:45:45.750
not just going to stay here in this dilemma because
830
00:45:45.789 --> 00:45:51.440
the enemy has been deceived. He think he won. He won.
831
00:45:51.789 --> 00:45:53.530
The enemy thinks, and that's the same thing he thinks
832
00:45:53.570 --> 00:45:55.769
for your life because you've been addicted to drugs. That's
833
00:45:55.789 --> 00:45:58.590
the same thing he thinks about your family, that he's won.
834
00:45:58.670 --> 00:46:01.429
I got him forever. And God said, the enemy really
835
00:46:01.489 --> 00:46:05.159
thinks that he has outmatched me, but one of my
836
00:46:05.219 --> 00:46:07.820
names is a matchless God. That means nobody can step
837
00:46:07.860 --> 00:46:10.980
to me. Not a sickness, not a disease, not diabetes,
838
00:46:11.019 --> 00:46:14.199
not coronavirus. He says, I have the name above every name.
839
00:46:14.539 --> 00:46:16.599
I'm the king of kings, the Lord of lords, the
840
00:46:16.860 --> 00:46:19.820
one that sits on high, but works in the details
841
00:46:19.860 --> 00:46:22.869
of my children's life. And he said, the deception is
842
00:46:22.909 --> 00:46:27.750
the enemy thought he won. But then God made a decision.
843
00:46:29.409 --> 00:46:34.289
And when God made a decision, he decided to send Jesus.
844
00:46:34.349 --> 00:46:36.929
I'm about to preach this thing right here. And when
845
00:46:36.969 --> 00:46:40.349
he sent Jesus to earth, he sent Jesus to earth
846
00:46:40.690 --> 00:46:44.079
so that me and you could have an ability to
847
00:46:44.159 --> 00:46:47.340
be back in right relationship with God. That's why 2
848
00:46:47.340 --> 00:46:53.230
Corinthians 5.19 tells us that God said, was in Christ.
849
00:46:53.550 --> 00:46:55.869
So when he sent him, he was in Christ and
850
00:46:56.050 --> 00:47:02.989
he was working through Christ to reconcile the entire world
851
00:47:03.250 --> 00:47:08.800
back to him. But the only way that this could
852
00:47:08.860 --> 00:47:13.639
work is that his decision to send Jesus had to
853
00:47:13.739 --> 00:47:20.050
move to a place of death. And that's why the
854
00:47:20.110 --> 00:47:24.889
cross It's the symbol of our freedom. It's not just
855
00:47:24.949 --> 00:47:29.469
a medallion that we wear. It's not just something that
856
00:47:29.510 --> 00:47:35.369
we put on t-shirts and outside of churches. It's the
857
00:47:35.510 --> 00:47:41.389
symbol that represents your payment. The cross is your receipt
858
00:47:41.760 --> 00:47:48.739
for salvation. It's the thing that proves that God made
859
00:47:48.780 --> 00:47:53.780
a way in the middle. And that's why as he
860
00:47:53.920 --> 00:47:59.239
sat there and took the scourging for us, as he
861
00:47:59.360 --> 00:48:01.980
sat there and had a crown of thorns put on
862
00:48:02.019 --> 00:48:05.000
his head, as he sat there and he let them
863
00:48:05.300 --> 00:48:09.670
abuse him, the Bible says that he could have called
864
00:48:10.130 --> 00:48:12.789
legions of angels to save him, but he saw you.
865
00:48:13.809 --> 00:48:16.590
And he saw me addicted to pornography. And he said,
866
00:48:16.630 --> 00:48:20.780
if I don't die, they can't be delivered. If I
867
00:48:20.800 --> 00:48:24.210
don't take this death, they're going to live in it.
868
00:48:24.559 --> 00:48:26.980
And God didn't want that. And he made a way
869
00:48:27.340 --> 00:48:29.119
in the middle. And this is the thing I need
870
00:48:29.159 --> 00:48:35.510
everybody to see right now. Now it's your turn to
871
00:48:35.550 --> 00:48:39.530
make a decision. Are you going to live your entire
872
00:48:39.590 --> 00:48:45.849
life in the middle, not recognizing what God has done
873
00:48:46.210 --> 00:48:50.539
for you? Can I be very clear about how Jesus died?
874
00:48:52.039 --> 00:48:56.539
I feel the presence of God. When Jesus died, when
875
00:48:56.579 --> 00:48:59.960
I saw this in the Bible, it hit me. Because
876
00:48:59.980 --> 00:49:03.039
so many of us are dealing with so many dilemmas
877
00:49:03.099 --> 00:49:06.920
and deceptions. And now we're at the point where we
878
00:49:06.960 --> 00:49:09.860
got to make a decision. And the Bible tells us
879
00:49:09.960 --> 00:49:15.579
in Luke that Jesus literally died in the middle of
880
00:49:15.679 --> 00:49:20.420
two thieves. Literally, when I'm talking about in the middle,
881
00:49:20.500 --> 00:49:23.860
there's so much imagery and symbolism. And God was speaking
882
00:49:24.139 --> 00:49:27.869
to your situation all the way 2000 plus years ago
883
00:49:28.130 --> 00:49:29.969
when he saw that you were in the middle of
884
00:49:30.090 --> 00:49:33.949
losing your house and keeping your family fed. You were
885
00:49:34.030 --> 00:49:36.750
in the middle of staying in this marriage or walking
886
00:49:36.829 --> 00:49:38.889
away from it. You were in the middle of two
887
00:49:38.989 --> 00:49:44.760
things that were trying to rob you. They had an
888
00:49:44.820 --> 00:49:50.250
exchange in the middle. And one thief said in Luke 22, 32,
889
00:49:50.250 --> 00:49:53.550
I believe it is. He was like, hey, aren't you
890
00:49:53.570 --> 00:49:58.409
the son of God? Well, if you're the son of God,
891
00:49:58.449 --> 00:50:02.230
why don't you save yourself? And while you're at it,
892
00:50:02.250 --> 00:50:05.530
why don't you save us? At that moment, that thief
893
00:50:05.590 --> 00:50:09.099
made a decision. Like some people sad to say that
894
00:50:09.139 --> 00:50:13.360
are watching this will make. That even though God is
895
00:50:13.440 --> 00:50:16.550
close to us. we're still not going to make a
896
00:50:16.590 --> 00:50:20.769
decision that could free us forever. And he said, I
897
00:50:21.670 --> 00:50:26.280
won't believe. I can't believe you're dying here just like us.
898
00:50:27.360 --> 00:50:31.780
But then there was another man that had done the crime.
899
00:50:33.449 --> 00:50:37.409
Another man who was guilty. another man who did do it,
900
00:50:37.980 --> 00:50:41.639
but he had a different perspective on what Christ was doing.
901
00:50:41.909 --> 00:50:45.210
He said, bro, don't you even understand and have the
902
00:50:45.309 --> 00:50:48.010
fear of God when we're sitting here and we're guilty
903
00:50:48.070 --> 00:50:49.889
for what we did? And the thing that you got
904
00:50:49.909 --> 00:50:52.449
to understand is we should have been in the place
905
00:50:52.469 --> 00:50:54.969
that Jesus was in. It was my sin. It was
906
00:50:55.050 --> 00:50:58.159
my addiction to pornography. It was my lying. It was
907
00:50:58.320 --> 00:51:00.840
my cheating. It was everything I did that put him
908
00:51:00.920 --> 00:51:08.099
on the cross. And in that moment, This man said, Jesus, hey, listen,
909
00:51:08.119 --> 00:51:09.519
I know I messed up a whole bunch, and I
910
00:51:09.539 --> 00:51:11.880
know there's a lot of stuff I need to explain,
911
00:51:13.139 --> 00:51:14.900
and I really don't even have time for that. Jesus
912
00:51:14.960 --> 00:51:17.449
doesn't need your explanation. He was there anyway. He saw it.
913
00:51:17.500 --> 00:51:22.320
He saw it happen. He said, but this one thing,
914
00:51:22.480 --> 00:51:28.400
could you, at this moment, at this last moment, I'm turning.
915
00:51:28.420 --> 00:51:31.889
I'm turning. I'm going to repent. I'm going to I'm
916
00:51:31.909 --> 00:51:33.849
going to I'm going to go away from what I've
917
00:51:33.889 --> 00:51:37.530
been doing and I'm going to turn to you. And
918
00:51:37.570 --> 00:51:40.110
I don't know if he was standing on this cross
919
00:51:40.170 --> 00:51:43.329
and he just literally just turned a little bit. I
920
00:51:43.349 --> 00:51:44.880
don't know if the life was sucked out of his
921
00:51:44.920 --> 00:51:47.360
body so much that he couldn't really do anything. But
922
00:51:48.400 --> 00:51:52.219
somehow he turned to God and listen to Jesus's response
923
00:51:52.380 --> 00:51:57.619
on the cross. He literally says to him. He says, hey, today.
924
00:51:59.539 --> 00:52:04.409
You'll be with me in paradise. Your decision to believe
925
00:52:04.449 --> 00:52:09.750
in me has changed everything in your life. And today
926
00:52:09.789 --> 00:52:14.289
I want to give you that exact opportunity. Because your
927
00:52:14.329 --> 00:52:17.929
decision in the middle right now, your decision of faith,
928
00:52:20.039 --> 00:52:24.699
and Jesus' commitment to death will produce the deliverance you need.
929
00:52:26.699 --> 00:52:33.130
When Jesus stretched out His hand, And they put nails
930
00:52:33.190 --> 00:52:39.300
in his hands and nails in his feet. He did
931
00:52:39.340 --> 00:52:45.380
it so that he could pay for everything you would do.
932
00:52:47.659 --> 00:52:49.539
And at this moment, I feel the presence of God
933
00:52:49.619 --> 00:52:53.219
coming into your homes, meeting you on your porch, meeting
934
00:52:53.269 --> 00:52:55.269
you wherever you are right now. And I want you
935
00:52:55.309 --> 00:52:59.079
to feel the love of God. poured out through a
936
00:52:59.159 --> 00:53:04.019
man giving his entire life who did nothing just for
937
00:53:04.500 --> 00:53:06.860
you well I messed up so many times and you
938
00:53:06.900 --> 00:53:09.659
don't know how bad I really am and God said
939
00:53:09.780 --> 00:53:13.070
I knew it and so I paid the ultimate death
940
00:53:14.710 --> 00:53:21.170
so that you could have ultimate freedom And I don't
941
00:53:21.210 --> 00:53:24.309
know who you are, but the death of Jesus Christ
942
00:53:24.650 --> 00:53:28.889
was not worthless. This was the most expensive payment anybody
943
00:53:28.929 --> 00:53:31.590
could ever make. And he made it so that you
944
00:53:31.650 --> 00:53:36.099
could be delivered from shame, delivered from pain, delivered from lying,
945
00:53:36.380 --> 00:53:41.059
delivered from cheating, delivered from the hurt, delivered from the pain,
946
00:53:41.400 --> 00:53:47.300
delivered from the loss. And that's why we celebrate resurrection.
947
00:53:48.480 --> 00:53:50.599
I need to tell you something that if you don't
948
00:53:50.639 --> 00:53:53.059
remember anything that I say ever again, you need to
949
00:53:53.119 --> 00:53:57.460
remember this. The resurrection is not an event. The resurrection
950
00:53:57.559 --> 00:54:03.050
is an interruption. Anytime that God can interrupt your pain,
951
00:54:03.369 --> 00:54:07.010
that is a resurrection. Anytime you're in the middle of
952
00:54:07.070 --> 00:54:10.750
a situation that seems hopeless, God says, I will produce
953
00:54:10.769 --> 00:54:18.840
a resurrection. And I'll interrupt it. Do you know? Jesus
954
00:54:19.000 --> 00:54:20.599
interrupted the enemy's plan.
955
00:54:23.599 --> 00:54:24.119
In the middle.
956
00:54:25.340 --> 00:54:28.309
Remember, it was Friday. Friday, the reality was he was
957
00:54:28.349 --> 00:54:33.190
in a tomb. And early Sunday morning, he rose. But
958
00:54:33.230 --> 00:54:34.909
do you know what he was doing in the middle?
959
00:54:36.050 --> 00:54:40.409
He was interrupting the the plan of the enemy the
960
00:54:40.469 --> 00:54:43.010
Bible tells us that he was in the belly of
961
00:54:43.050 --> 00:54:45.280
the earth I feel the presence of God and he
962
00:54:45.340 --> 00:54:49.059
was fighting and he took the keys of death hell
963
00:54:49.460 --> 00:54:52.139
and the grave and he took came back with all
964
00:54:52.199 --> 00:54:55.400
power so that you could live your life in a
965
00:54:55.440 --> 00:54:58.519
resurrection I don't care what's broken in the middle I
966
00:54:58.539 --> 00:55:01.679
don't care what's hurting in the middle a resurrection is
967
00:55:01.760 --> 00:55:08.300
an interruption today God wants to interrupt whatever lie you've believed.
968
00:55:09.809 --> 00:55:13.329
I don't care what reality you're facing right now. I
969
00:55:13.369 --> 00:55:16.630
don't care that you can't figure it out right now.
970
00:55:17.269 --> 00:55:20.360
God wants to meet you and make a way in
971
00:55:20.420 --> 00:55:24.159
the middle. I know this has presented some dilemmas, but
972
00:55:24.179 --> 00:55:26.550
there's a resurrection and God is ready to interrupt it.
973
00:55:26.880 --> 00:55:29.800
I know that you have believed the deception, but God's
974
00:55:29.820 --> 00:55:32.400
saying right now there's a resurrection and I want to
975
00:55:32.460 --> 00:55:35.400
interrupt it. Today is your moment to make the greatest
976
00:55:35.460 --> 00:55:43.059
decision of your life. Pastor Mike, how do I do that?
977
00:55:43.099 --> 00:55:45.820
The Bible tells us all you have to do is
978
00:55:45.880 --> 00:55:49.219
call on the name of the Lord and you will
979
00:55:49.639 --> 00:55:55.900
be saved. Can I be real, real with you? I
980
00:55:55.960 --> 00:56:00.579
struggle with what I was going to teach today because
981
00:56:00.599 --> 00:56:03.050
I wanted to go super deep and then I wanted
982
00:56:03.070 --> 00:56:05.429
to make people laugh and then I want to do
983
00:56:05.489 --> 00:56:09.230
all these other things. But God told me this moment
984
00:56:09.269 --> 00:56:13.849
is not about you or anybody else. This moment is
985
00:56:13.909 --> 00:56:18.320
about me getting to my children and letting them know.
986
00:56:20.320 --> 00:56:23.920
That even with all of the mess, I still love
987
00:56:23.940 --> 00:56:27.320
them in the middle. And I don't know who that's
988
00:56:27.380 --> 00:56:33.320
for right now. But there's some person in this moment
989
00:56:34.519 --> 00:56:39.239
who's really feeling like God has forgotten about them. He hasn't.
990
00:56:40.400 --> 00:56:42.489
Matter of fact, he thought about you before you were
991
00:56:42.550 --> 00:56:46.969
even here. And that's why he sent Jesus. And today
992
00:56:46.989 --> 00:56:50.400
I want to give you the opportunity. not to just
993
00:56:50.480 --> 00:56:55.559
live with your reality, live with the dilemmas, be tricked
994
00:56:55.619 --> 00:56:59.300
by the deception, make wrong decisions, have to see death
995
00:56:59.340 --> 00:57:03.059
in your purpose and family. I want to give you
996
00:57:03.079 --> 00:57:08.300
an opportunity to make a decision that brings deliverance. Wherever
997
00:57:08.340 --> 00:57:11.610
you are right now, I want to pray with you.
998
00:57:12.750 --> 00:57:15.170
I've never given an altar call sitting down before. I just,
999
00:57:15.210 --> 00:57:16.730
I don't know, I feel like this is more personal.
1000
00:57:16.769 --> 00:57:19.900
I feel like this is a moment where Somebody's in
1001
00:57:19.940 --> 00:57:24.019
a vulnerable place. You've been searching for God in all
1002
00:57:24.059 --> 00:57:26.719
the wrong places. You thought if you got more and
1003
00:57:26.760 --> 00:57:29.440
if you got in those connection groups and if you
1004
00:57:29.480 --> 00:57:32.659
had the success or the how, somehow you would be fulfilled.
1005
00:57:33.179 --> 00:57:35.480
And the truth is, there is a hole that you
1006
00:57:35.519 --> 00:57:39.559
have in your heart that God can only fill. And
1007
00:57:39.619 --> 00:57:42.130
until you invite him into that area, you make a
1008
00:57:42.159 --> 00:57:46.570
decision to accept the way that God made for you
1009
00:57:46.670 --> 00:57:48.570
in the middle of whatever you're going through right now.
1010
00:57:49.800 --> 00:57:54.570
You'll always be searching. Today is the day where you
1011
00:57:54.610 --> 00:57:58.170
make the greatest decision of your life. And I believe
1012
00:57:58.409 --> 00:58:03.039
so firmly that this is your moment. This is your moment. Yes, you.
1013
00:58:03.260 --> 00:58:06.099
I'm talking to you. This is your moment. If you
1014
00:58:06.159 --> 00:58:09.380
want to accept Jesus Christ into your life, to be
1015
00:58:09.400 --> 00:58:12.739
your personal Lord and Savior, this is not about being
1016
00:58:12.860 --> 00:58:15.039
spooky and crazy. And this is the thing I need
1017
00:58:15.079 --> 00:58:18.289
everybody to understand. God is so good that he accepts
1018
00:58:18.329 --> 00:58:20.889
you with all your habits. See, some of y'all like,
1019
00:58:20.909 --> 00:58:22.670
I got some stuff I gotta clean up first. There's
1020
00:58:22.690 --> 00:58:24.570
some stuff I need to change. And God says, if
1021
00:58:24.610 --> 00:58:26.750
you give me your heart, I'll help you change your habits.
1022
00:58:27.110 --> 00:58:29.210
If you give me what you have, I'm the only
1023
00:58:29.289 --> 00:58:31.469
one that can make it what it will be. Today
1024
00:58:31.570 --> 00:58:36.219
is your decision that changes everything. And you can't focus
1025
00:58:36.280 --> 00:58:38.360
on the critics right now. You can't focus on them.
1026
00:58:38.619 --> 00:58:40.760
This is the time you focus on the character of Jesus.
1027
00:58:42.159 --> 00:58:44.039
Because my God always makes a way in the middle.
1028
00:58:45.440 --> 00:58:49.260
If that's you in your home, watching this at whatever
1029
00:58:49.300 --> 00:58:52.679
time you're watching it, some of you are already crying
1030
00:58:52.739 --> 00:58:54.909
tears and some of you are sitting in so much
1031
00:58:55.030 --> 00:58:57.590
pride and your insides are shaking because they're saying, this
1032
00:58:57.670 --> 00:59:00.829
is what we need. This is what we've been searching for.
1033
00:59:02.010 --> 00:59:03.610
But you don't want to be a hypocrite and you
1034
00:59:03.630 --> 00:59:06.230
don't want to have anybody talk about you. Listen, all
1035
00:59:06.289 --> 00:59:09.030
that doesn't matter. See, the decision you're about to make
1036
00:59:09.090 --> 00:59:12.539
right now is not just a decision for your eternity
1037
00:59:12.699 --> 00:59:17.599
it's a decision for your history too and right now
1038
00:59:19.440 --> 00:59:21.840
God wants to come in but you got to make
1039
00:59:21.880 --> 00:59:24.739
the decision if that's you right now would you just
1040
00:59:24.780 --> 00:59:26.900
lift your hands wherever you are Come on, I don't
1041
00:59:26.940 --> 00:59:29.849
care who's sitting around you. I could care less. Your
1042
00:59:30.090 --> 00:59:33.469
life matters more than what people think about you. Right now,
1043
00:59:33.530 --> 00:59:35.320
just lift your hand. If you're tired of doing it
1044
00:59:35.360 --> 00:59:37.599
your way, just lift your hand. I want to pray
1045
00:59:37.619 --> 00:59:40.340
for you. I feel the presence of God coming and
1046
00:59:40.380 --> 00:59:44.900
invading people's lives right now. You're making that decision right
1047
00:59:44.940 --> 00:59:47.099
now and we're going to pray. And at Transformation Church,
1048
00:59:47.139 --> 00:59:49.619
we pray all together. So I want everybody that's watching,
1049
00:59:49.760 --> 00:59:53.730
every device, every person sitting around, every teenager, every child,
1050
00:59:53.929 --> 00:59:55.889
I want you to pray this prayer with me because
1051
00:59:56.030 --> 01:00:01.050
I believe that total deliverance is happening even in this
1052
01:00:01.130 --> 01:00:05.369
moment right now. Everybody say, God, thank you for sending
1053
01:00:05.469 --> 01:00:11.500
Jesus and making a way in the middle just for me. Today,
1054
01:00:12.400 --> 01:00:17.550
I give you my life. I turn from everything that's
1055
01:00:17.630 --> 01:00:22.820
not like you and I turn to you. God, heal me,
1056
01:00:23.699 --> 01:00:29.519
deliver me, change me from the inside out. I accept
1057
01:00:30.280 --> 01:00:35.659
the resurrection is now an interruption and I give you
1058
01:00:35.699 --> 01:00:38.139
my life in Jesus' name.
1059
01:00:39.110 --> 01:00:39.570
Amen.
1060
01:00:40.230 --> 01:00:43.110
Yo, if you just prayed that prayer, I need everybody
1061
01:00:43.150 --> 01:00:45.829
to start clapping because I know there are thousands of people. No,
1062
01:00:45.909 --> 01:00:47.889
I need you to clap right now in your house
1063
01:00:47.969 --> 01:00:51.349
right now. There are thousands of people who just made
1064
01:00:51.389 --> 01:00:56.570
a decision that changes everything in the middle. And what
1065
01:00:56.610 --> 01:00:58.889
I'm telling you is right now, you need to know
1066
01:00:59.639 --> 01:01:02.730
that you don't have to walk this alone. We don't
1067
01:01:02.769 --> 01:01:04.539
want you to walk this alone. We want to help you.
1068
01:01:04.579 --> 01:01:06.139
I want you to text the number that's on the
1069
01:01:06.199 --> 01:01:09.090
screen right now. Text save to this number and we're
1070
01:01:09.110 --> 01:01:11.090
going to help you. We're going to walk with you.
1071
01:01:11.329 --> 01:01:13.150
And this is all I'm asking you. I'm begging you
1072
01:01:13.210 --> 01:01:16.239
right now. Keep coming back. Every Sunday, we're going to
1073
01:01:16.280 --> 01:01:17.980
be here. Next week, I'm going to do a series
1074
01:01:18.039 --> 01:01:20.480
called Deliver Me From People. And I'm telling y'all, y'all
1075
01:01:20.500 --> 01:01:22.280
do not want to miss this. And then after that,
1076
01:01:22.300 --> 01:01:25.219
we're going into a series called Relationship Goals Reloaded. And
1077
01:01:25.239 --> 01:01:27.619
we're going to help your relationships get in place. I'm
1078
01:01:27.659 --> 01:01:29.469
telling you, I want to walk with you. I want
1079
01:01:29.489 --> 01:01:31.269
to be your coach. I want to be your guide.
1080
01:01:31.570 --> 01:01:32.989
And we want to help you. We want to pray
1081
01:01:33.050 --> 01:01:37.010
for you. We want to stand with you. We want
1082
01:01:37.030 --> 01:01:39.610
to be real with you. We want you to know
1083
01:01:40.300 --> 01:01:42.500
The best days of your life are right in front
1084
01:01:42.519 --> 01:01:50.230
of you. Thank you, Father, for what you did today.
1085
01:01:52.269 --> 01:01:54.570
And God, thank you for what you did over 2,000
1086
01:01:54.570 --> 01:01:58.389
years ago. Thank you for standing in the middle for us.
1087
01:01:59.949 --> 01:02:02.849
And God, today we worship you. This is not about
1088
01:02:02.889 --> 01:02:06.599
an Easter bunny. This is not about eggs. This is
1089
01:02:06.659 --> 01:02:09.739
about the way you made in the middle. For each
1090
01:02:09.860 --> 01:02:12.980
one of us. And today we call you who you are.
1091
01:02:13.659 --> 01:02:17.230
You're a good father. And you're a way maker. You're
1092
01:02:17.269 --> 01:02:20.480
a miracle worker. You're the light in the darkness. No
1093
01:02:20.599 --> 01:02:23.710
matter how dark the middle gets, God, we can trust
1094
01:02:23.769 --> 01:02:26.750
you right now. And today we make a decision that
1095
01:02:26.829 --> 01:02:29.289
we will not stop in the middle. We won't let
1096
01:02:29.449 --> 01:02:33.579
our deceptions be able to control our decisions, but we
1097
01:02:33.619 --> 01:02:36.380
will call you who you are and we will worship
1098
01:02:36.420 --> 01:02:38.719
you in this moment. Can we do that right now?
1099
01:02:38.940 --> 01:02:42.349
Can we call God who he is? Somebody say. Way maker,
1100
01:02:42.929 --> 01:02:48.739
miracle worker, promise. Come on, say light in the darkness.
1101
01:02:49.280 --> 01:02:53.559
My God, that is right now in your living room.
1102
01:02:53.900 --> 01:02:56.719
I dare you to lift your voice and say way maker,
1103
01:02:56.989 --> 01:03:02.429
way maker. Hey, come on, lift it up. That's our God.
1104
01:03:02.510 --> 01:03:07.539
He's lighting it up. I feel the presence of God.
1105
01:03:07.670 --> 01:03:11.050
Come on, I dare you to just get some faith
1106
01:03:11.110 --> 01:03:12.690
in you and say, wait.
1107
01:03:12.750 --> 01:03:13.630
Come on.
1108
01:03:13.690 --> 01:03:18.719
God's changing your situation. He's moving things around. In the middle,
1109
01:03:18.820 --> 01:03:24.460
He's making a way. Somebody, you can get faith again.
1110
01:03:24.599 --> 01:03:28.480
You can make it to tomorrow. And wait, wait, wait.
1111
01:03:28.639 --> 01:03:35.199
Come on, somebody say. Come on, let's lift it up.
1112
01:03:35.300 --> 01:03:43.389
Lift your hands all over this world and say the
1113
01:03:43.510 --> 01:03:52.070
way maker. You don't have to move. There's still hope
1114
01:03:52.110 --> 01:04:05.300
for you in the middle. Way maker. Promise me. Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!
1115
01:04:29.900 --> 01:04:34.480
say way maker miracle.
1116
01:04:33.719 --> 01:04:57.519
Worker Come on, believe it right there.
1117
01:04:57.539 --> 01:05:09.500
Say, my God. It's changing right now. Say, way maker.
1118
01:05:09.679 --> 01:05:19.159
I feel the presence of God there. I want to
1119
01:05:19.219 --> 01:05:22.300
pray over you. And I want to pray that no
1120
01:05:22.360 --> 01:05:25.949
matter what the middle brings you this week, that you're
1121
01:05:25.969 --> 01:05:29.889
gonna remember that your reality has a resurrection on the
1122
01:05:29.929 --> 01:05:33.179
other side of it. No matter how it feels, no
1123
01:05:33.219 --> 01:05:35.400
matter what the enemy tries to lie to you about,
1124
01:05:35.679 --> 01:05:38.559
no matter the deception, you're gonna make the right decision
1125
01:05:38.599 --> 01:05:41.670
to focus on Jesus. And in that, he already took
1126
01:05:41.710 --> 01:05:43.869
the death that we didn't have to take. And there's
1127
01:05:43.909 --> 01:05:48.130
deliverance coming and you will experience a resurrection. Father, I
1128
01:05:48.150 --> 01:05:50.829
pray in the name of Jesus for everybody that is
1129
01:05:50.889 --> 01:05:53.369
watching right now. I declare that the best days of
1130
01:05:53.409 --> 01:05:55.590
their life are right in front of them. I thank you,
1131
01:05:55.630 --> 01:05:58.909
Father God, that everything is moving and changing towards purpose
1132
01:05:59.010 --> 01:06:01.809
and destiny. And God, I ask you right now that
1133
01:06:01.949 --> 01:06:05.409
every dark place light it up. Every place, Father God,
1134
01:06:05.619 --> 01:06:08.820
that they've been stuck in, interrupted. I declare and I
1135
01:06:08.880 --> 01:06:12.420
believe that you are a way-making God. And today, Father,
1136
01:06:12.559 --> 01:06:15.860
our lives, our destinies, and our families have changed. We
1137
01:06:15.929 --> 01:06:19.090
stand firm on the anchor who is Jesus Christ, who
1138
01:06:19.130 --> 01:06:21.090
stood in the middle for all of us so we
1139
01:06:21.110 --> 01:06:21.710
didn't have to.
1140
01:06:22.010 --> 01:06:25.369
And today, we give you glory, we honor you, and
1141
01:06:25.429 --> 01:06:26.250
we tell.
1142
01:06:26.269 --> 01:06:35.900
The world that the resurrection was not an event. Thank
1143
01:06:35.920 --> 01:06:39.059
you so much for watching this message. And if this
1144
01:06:39.099 --> 01:06:41.900
has impacted you in any way, I'm asking you to
1145
01:06:41.960 --> 01:06:44.800
do a couple of things. Number one, join Transformation Nation.
1146
01:06:45.119 --> 01:06:48.690
Join us right here every Sunday. Gather your friends and
1147
01:06:48.710 --> 01:06:51.369
your family and be a part of not just this moment,
1148
01:06:51.429 --> 01:06:53.730
but this movement. The second thing I would ask you
1149
01:06:53.750 --> 01:06:57.250
to do is share. Share this with your friends, your coworkers,
1150
01:06:57.309 --> 01:07:00.349
people that are around you because transformation is just one
1151
01:07:00.409 --> 01:07:02.340
click away. The last thing I would ask you to
1152
01:07:02.400 --> 01:07:05.940
do is partner with us financially. If this ministry is
1153
01:07:06.000 --> 01:07:10.199
impacting your life, transforming you, I would ask you to consider,
1154
01:07:10.380 --> 01:07:12.900
pray about what you could give to help us take
1155
01:07:12.949 --> 01:07:15.429
this message to the whole world. I want you to
1156
01:07:15.489 --> 01:07:19.150
know that we love you and your best days are
1157
01:07:19.190 --> 01:07:21.309
right in front of you. This week, I want you
1158
01:07:21.329 --> 01:07:23.349
to live a transformed life. See you next week.