Sunday Morning Worship Service

Praise God. I am so delighted to be with you. And uh you may be seated in the presence of the Lord. Um I'm so thankful for the leadership of this house. Wow. Bishop is turning 90, y'all. Wow. Praise God. Sharp as attack. Sharp as attack. And if I understand correctly, they celebrating 70 years of marriage. Just so many wonderful things are happening. God is good. Look at what the Lord has done. I know it's normal for you all, but look at what the Lord has done. Wow. I honor pastor. I'm so thankful for you, sir, first lady, Pastor Anthony, everybody. Pastor Nathan, you all have got a great leadership team, first class, and I'm so thankful for what the Lord is doing. And I get the opportunity to tease my friend, Brother Moore. If the sound is not right, I think he might have something against me. I'm going to need you to get me right, brother Moore. No, he does an excellent job uh serving new beginnings with integrity, offering financial advice, counsel, direction. He's played an integral part in what God is doing. And so I'm so thankful for his friendship. I honor you, sir. Well, I'm going to do things a little different today. I'm going to uh treat you a little bit if that's all right. And so we're just going to walk through the scriptures. This is what the Lord has laid on my heart. And uh I want you to get your Bible, open that up to 1st Samuel 17. Uh and instead of typically a tradition might be where you would stand in honor of the reading of the word of the Lord. But because of today I'm going to read through many passages of scripture and just refer to them. We won't do that today. My wife and family send their greetings. My wife is an Appalachin girl and so she is from the southwestern part of Virginia. We've been married 26 years and uh we thank God for what he's done. We have two young adult kids and uh the church in Toronto was doing well. We give God praise. It's his church. He's going to build it. And so that's exactly what he's doing and we celebrate that. I'll never forget pastor when the Lord called me and told me to start that church. He said two things I want to get straight. He said don't you ever refer to these people as your people. He said they belong to me. He said they belong to me. He said this is my church. I will build it. Second thing he told me he said if you if you want to do something he said you can lay down your life for your wife. He said that's what you can do. And he he said but I I'll send the people. Matter of fact, told me he said, "If you'll let me, my spirit will lead you to people who will abandon all for the call." The first service we ever had, uh, we didn't have a promotion, not a Facebook ad, not an Instagram ad, didn't have a sign, didn't do anything because the Lord, he wouldn't release me to plan, but he released me later. But anyway, because he told me, he said, "If you plan and do all this, I'm somewhat of a proficient administrator." He said, "You'll get some results." And he said, "You'll think you had something to do with that." He said, "You have anything to do with that." Uh the first Sunday we had 65 people come. They were getting off buses. We had Hindu and Buddhists getting off buses saying, "I I think a higher power told me to come." And so we said Toronto is the most diverse city on the earth. And we celebrate what God is doing. Our team text me last night. We're baptizing six people today in the name of Jesus. God's filling people. He's healing. So believe with us for revival in Toronto. Amen. Praise God. Now, what we're about to step into is a valley text. And I'm going to preach this thought to you this morning. You are not losing your learning. You're not losing your learning. Amen. Praise God. And so, what we're about to read, I want you to understand you. You might often times feel like learning or and we can misinterpret that season of growth as losing. But you're learning some things so that you can advance the kingdom of God. I think oftentimes if we're not careful, we can see seasons incorrectly. But what if the season is not punishment? What if it's preparation? What if there's a greater demand on your life and what you're going through is not the end, but it's a setup for something that's going to affect a whole LOT OF PEOPLE. WHAT IF you're learning how to pray when you can't control the outcome? What if you're LEARNING HOW TO TRUST and depend on God when Mastercard and Visa won't come through? >> WHAT IF YOU'RE LEARNING HOW TO STAND 10 TOES DOWN FOR JESUS WHEN EVERYBODY ELSE wants to run? >> All right. Praise God. So, let's look at verse four of chapter 17. Then Goliath, a Philistine champion. Somebody say, "He's not my champion. He's not my champion." He's a Philistine champion. Came out of the Philistine ranks to face the forces of Israel. He was over 9 feet tall. Verse 5 says, "He wore a bronze helmet and his bronze coat of male weighed 125 lbs." Now, let me just stop here for a moment. There was a time where many of us can remember when we weighed 125 lbs. That was a long time ago. Now, if you're married, don't let this don't don't look at your wife. Praise God. That was a long time ago. In the event that some of you, we have some young people here. I size some of you all up. Uh some of you are not yet 125 pounds. and and and Goliath was basically wearing you. So look look at this verse six. He also wore bronze leg armor and he carried a bronze javelin on his shoulder. The shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick as a weaver's beam tipped with an iron spearhead that weighed 15 pounds. His armor bearer walked ahead of him carrying a shield. Verse eight, Goliath stood and shouted a taunt across to the Israelites. WHY ARE YOU ALL COMING out to fight? He called, I am the Philistine champion, but you are only the servants of Saul. This is wild. Choose one man to come down here and fight me. I don't know if you caught that language, but what's interesting in the New Living, it says that Goliath said, "Come down to fight me." You have to understand that the the enemy LOVES TO PULL US into low places. And then act like the low place is actually where you're going to lose. But some of us are going to understand today that there's victory in the low place. You need to know you can win in the low place. >> YOU NEED TO KNOW THAT YOU WIN NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE BECAUSE HE'S WITH YOU. >> I told y'all I'mma treat you a little bit today. That means I'mma teach and I'm going to preach. BUT I WANT YOU TO KNOW YOU'RE LEARNING TO WIN in the low place. >> Okay. Praise God. Yeah. Yeah. Look at your neighbor. Tell them you're not losing. Tell them you're learning. Praise God. That that ought to encourage you right there. Praise God. SOME OF YOU ARE ready to GIVE UP BECAUSE YOU THOUGHT IT WAS OVER. BUT YOU'RE NOT LOSING. YOU'RE LEARNING. You're learning what fear sounds like so you can stop obeying it. Yeah. You're you're you're learning what faith sounds like so you can start speaking it. Praise God. You're learning the difference between what the enemy says about you and what God has already said about you. You're learning. So he he says, "Come down and fight." This is interesting because the enemy thinks because the elevation has changed that he has an upper hand. That's not the case. He's so confident that because the elevation changes, he he makes a declaration. He says in verse 9, "If he kills me, like this is not plausible. If he kills me, then we will be YOUR SLAVES. BUT IF I kill him, you will be our slaves. I defy the armies of Israel today. Send me a man who will fight me. This this this is a challenge from Goliath. Let's skip to verse 16. Look how long this happened. For 40 days, every morning and evening, the Philistine champion struted. He wasn't just talking smack. He was strutting while he was talking smack. You now I didn't I didn't I didn't grow up in church. I know all of y'all came out the womb speaking in tongues and I praise God for that. I rejoice in that. But I I I I didn't I didn't I wasn't born into the kingdom. And so when I when I came to know the Lord, uh I had I had a past and and we would growing up we would get in fights. But but before we got into the fight, pastor, we would talk a whole lot of smack. >> The smack talking was was just as important, if not more important than the fight. You you you would get to the fight and and and you would you would say something about the person you about to fight and the people would gather around, they'd be like, "Oh." And then that person felt like they had to respond and they say something, they'd be like, "Oh, snap. And here's when you you would drop the atomic bomb and cuz when you had nothing else to say, you would be like, "Uh, your mama." AND THEY'D BE LIKE, "NO, NO, HE DIDN'T SAY HIS MOM." IT WOULD IT WOULD GO UP TO THIS IS WHAT GOLIATH IS doing >> for 40 days. NOW, HE'S NOT JUST DOING IT FOR 40 DAYS. He's doing it in the morning. And in the evening, SO THE FIRST THING THEY HEAR IS GOLIATH talking trash. THE LAST THING THEY HEAR is Goliath talking trash. Isn't it just like this is why this is so important. You've got to be careful what you listen to. SOME OF US, HOW IS IT THAT ISRAEL WOULD LET THE ENEMY TAUNT THEM for 40 days and say nothing? SAY NOTHING. SOME OF US HAVE ALLOWED THE ENEMY TO TALK SO LONG WITHOUT ANY INTERRUPTION, WITHOUT ANY REBUKE, it's become normal. >> JUST BECAUSE IT'S BECOME NORMAL DOESN'T MAKE IT RIGHT. SOMEBODY IN THIS HOUSE TODAY HAS TO DRAW A LINE AND SAY, "LISTEN, I'M DONE LISTENING TO THE LIES OF THE ENEMY. I'M DONE ENTERTAINING THEM. I'VE COME TO DECLARE SOME THINGS AND LET YOU KNOW I REBUKE THOSE LIES. I WILL NOT ALWAYS BE AFRAID. I WILL NOT ALWAYS BE A LOSER. I WILL NOT ALWAYS BE DEPRESSED. I won't see SEE SOME OF US, we we we LISTEN TO THIS ALL THE TIME. WE LISTEN TO INSUFFICIENCY. WE LISTEN to accusation. WE LISTEN TO THE LIES OF THE enemy and we COME INTO AGREEMENT WITH IT. WELL, you say, "Pastor Aquil, how how do we come into agreement with the lies of the enemy?" I don't agree with the your silence. >> YOUR SILENCE SAYS YOU'RE COMPLICIT AND YOU AGREE. WHY ON EARTH? WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU LET SOMEONE TELL you you're inferior? WHY WOULD YOU LISTEN TO THE LIES OF THE ENEMY? YOU'RE GOING TO DIE. WHY WOULD YOU LISTEN TO THE LIES OF THE ENEMY? HE'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU. He'll never use you. And you LISTEN TO IT SO MUCH it becomes normal that you don't even realize how it affects your psyche. All of a sudden you begin to embrace inferiority. You begin to come into agreement with it. You begin to declare insufficiency. The first thing you say when you wake up, I didn't get enough sleep. I I know some of y'all I love y'all. I love y'all. You'll tell You'll tell your beloved that you've been married to for years that you said better or worse and you'll look at them and say, "Don't talk to me. I haven't had my coffee yet." >> Like you need caffeine to be nice to somebody. >> You have the Holy Ghost, right? >> Here's what we do. We wake up and we're like, "Oh, I want to go back to bed." Like, like waking up is a bad thing. I don't want to go to work. I hate this job. Six months ago, you was praying for the job. >> But now YOU HATE IT. YOU GOT TO BE CAREFUL WHAT COMES OUT OF YOUR MOUTH. YOU GOT TO WAKE UP AND SAY, "NO, NO, NO, NO, NO. THIS THIS IS THE DAY. THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE. AND I'M GOING TO CHOOSE TO BE GLAD. I'M GOING TO CHOOSE TO REJOICE. I'M GOING TO MAGNIFY HIM. I'M THANKFUL. IT'S THE LORD ON MY SIDE. I'm not going TO LISTEN TO THE LIES OF THE DEVIL. I'M NOT GOING. >> Isn't it interesting? You know what? I I I I prayed this today. I I felt like the enemy said something to me. He said, "Ah." He said, "Nothing going to happen today." I said, "No, no, no, no, no, no." I said, "There's going to be an outpouring of his spirit today." >> I said, "There's going to be a flow today. I'm going to step in the Holy Ghost and he's going to supernaturally EMPOWER ME TODAY. I'M NOBODY, BUT I SAID HIS PEOPLE are going to BE BLESSED AND THEY'RE going to be filled and they're going to BE RENEWED." YOU GET WHAT YOU DECLARE. >> PAUL TELLS US IN CORINTHIANS, "WE BELIEVE, THEREFORE, I SPEAK. WHAT COMES OUT OF YOUR MOUTH MATTERS. DON'T TELL ME THAT DOESN'T BECAUSE YOU KNOW JOB SAID THIS. YOU KNOW WHAT JOB SAID, FAM? OH, FAM. LITERALLY, praise God. Wow. Congratulations. Praise God. Beautiful. Beautiful. I'm just all in your business. It's like, I don't even know this brother. First, huh? Yay. They change everything for the better. Babies change everything for the better. When I when we first had Mia, I was like there was this reservoir bishop in my heart that I didn't even know existed. It just and then just overflowed and I was like wow. So they changed everything for the better. But we have to be careful. You know Job said this. He said the thing that I have feared has come upon me. In other words, he would talk about it. Just say what am I going to do if I lose everything? What am I going to do if I lose my babies? What am I going to do if I lose my livestock? What am I going to do? Later, if you keep reading, he says, Lord, teach me to be quiet. I talk too much. Some of us talk too much. Just he said, teach me. Then later he said, he said, "I understand that if I decree a thing, it shall be established." You want to know how to operate in the spirit? You know what it says? Hey, you got to listen first, hear what the spirit is saying, and then you declare. Now, I'm not talking about blabbing it and grabbing it. But I am saying when you declare the word of God. So when the enemy tells you, "No, you're you're this." You can say, "No, I've been redeemed by the blood of the lamb. I serve a good good father. Praise God." And you can say, "Oh, this trial, but you know, man, this trial is going to kill me." No, I declare that he chasens those whom he loves. And because I know that, he says, I'm going to prroom those so that you can produce more fruit. I declare I'm fruitful and everything that I do will be fruitful because I abide in the word and I meditate on IT DAY AND NIGHT. I'M NOT GOING TO LISTEN TO THE LIES of the enemy. I SPEAK. YOU GOT TO WAKE UP AND SPEAK LIFE. I I DON'T KNOW WHY I'M FLOWING IN THIS, BUT I just want to declare some things. You need to speak over your children. >> You need TO SPEAK OVER YOUR FAMILY. IN THE MIDST OF ALL HELL BREAKING LOOSE, YOU NEED TO GRAB YOUR SPOUSE AND BE LIKE, "NO, NO, NO. WE'RE NOT GOING TO STAY HERE. WE'RE NOT GOING TO STAY ANGRY AT ONE ANOTHER. WE'RE NOT GOING TO STAY BITTER. WE'RE GOING TO PRAY. WE'RE GOING TO FORGIVE. COME ON. IF YOU BELIEVE THAT, YOU OUGHT TO GIVE HIM PRAISE. SOMEBODY'S GOT TO GET SOME FIGHT AND SAY, "NO, I'M GOING TO DECLARE SOME THINGS. OUR MARRIAGE WILL LIVE AND NOT DIE. OUR CHILDREN WILL SERVE GOD. I WILL BLESS HIM AT ALL TIMES." You get what you declare. You get what you declare. You get what you declare. Y'all, where you going this morning? I'm just I'm just going to church like I do every Sunday. Is that all? Is that all it is? Or are you going into the presence of the king with brothers and sisters who you are in covenant with? This is covenant community. The world likes to put buzzwords out there and and the church likes to to to replicate them and implement them and and community is a big buzz word. But the kind of community we have in these four walls is not like the community they have out there. WE ARE IN COVENANT. WE are in covenant community. IN OTHER WORDS, IT TRANSCENDS POLITICS. >> IT TRANSCENDS RACIAL BACKGROUNDS. IT TRANSCENDS ETHNICITIES AND CULTURES. OH, Y'ALL. WE'RE IN COVENANT COMMUNITY. IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU'RE 85, IF YOU'RE 13. I BELONG TO YOU AND YOU BELONG TO ME. I'M HERE TO ENCOURAGE YOU AND TO BLESS YOU. AND WE'RE COMING FROM ALL CORNERS OF KNOXVILLE TO LIFT HIM UP. I'VE COME TO MAGNIFY GOD. THAT'S WHAT I'VE COME TO DO THIS SUNDAY MORNING. I DIDN'T COME TO GO THROUGH THE MOTIONS. I CAME TO GIVE GOD THE GLORY. >> SOMEBODY BLESS HIM. >> SOMEBODY EXALT HIM. >> Come on. I I FEEL A SHIFT. I I MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO PREACH THIS. I MIGHT HAVE TO STEP INTO FAITH, BUT I'M HERE TO DECLARE HE'S HERE TO HELP YOU. OPEN UP YOUR MOUTH AND DECLARE. >> THAT WAS ISRAEL'S PROBLEM. THEY WERE TOO QUIET. >> HUH? >> I remember I told the Lord, he sent us to the most diverse city in the world. And where I'm from, we consider diverse to be uh frankly black and white. And in my cultural ignorance, I had traveled all over the the country, been to every state with the exception of Alaska, traveled all over the world. So I wasn't ignorant to multi-ethnic, multicultural settings. But what had reared me and formed me was one thing. And the Lord challenged me. He said, "Listen," he said, "you got to be careful." He said, "You cannot disciple people into your tradition. You can't disciple them into your expectation. You are to disciple people unto me. He said they have to grow up in me. He said, "Anything you put before that, anything you put before me is an idol." But I can remember we stepped into this very diverse place and and I've just learned now to declare some things by this point in time. I've I've learned some things in the valley. So, I'm walking and we were going, we were just getting set up, Pastor Nathan, and we set up uh our website and we were taking some photographs for the website and it was we were in this park and the photographer was with us and my family and by this time they got used to me just kind of opening my mouth no matter what, no matter where and declaring some things. So, uh I'll give you a funny example. We were driving uh we were driving our car in Florida. We were in Florida and had a minivan, Honda Odyssey. I just loved Honda Odysseies. I don't know why. We just loved it. And this one we called Big Blue. Big Blue was doing her thing and we were driving and next thing I know I just hear this loud pow and smoke is coming all out and I was like, "Oh no." Uh that's exactly I said, "Man," I said, "What are we going to do?" That's what I thought to myself. And uh as we pulled over it, it smoke was coming out and I'm not I'm not a auto mechanic. I know my lane. Praise God. And I'm not going to step in that. So uh my lane was to to call AAA. Praise God. And so I said, "What what are we going to do?" I said that out loud and the Lord was like, "Pray." He said, "As a matter of fact," he was very specific. He said, "Speak to it." See, you need to realize you can speak to inanimate objects. Y'all looking at me like I'm crazy. You can That's That's the problem. See, you have You haven't been speaking. You haven't been speaking. If you realize, you can Jesus spoke to a tree. a tree. And it doesn't say that the tree heard it, but it says when the disciples heard him, they were like, "Okay, Lord, now you doing the most. We talking to trees. Is that what we doing in Jesus?" He spoke to the tree. And what they didn't realize is the next day they come back and Peter's like, "There he go again." Lord, the tree that you spoke to, IT'S IT'S DONE. He didn't realize that even though when Jesus spoke it, Peter didn't SEE IT ABOVE THE SURFACE, but beneath the surface, >> beneath the soil. Are y'all hearing what I'm saying? The word that Jesus spoke was moving. If you would just realize when you SPEAK SOMETHING, IT MIGHT not happen when you want it to happen, but it doesn't mean it isn't happening. You might have spoke it on Monday and it might not have happened. YOU MIGHT HAVE SPOKEN IT A YEAR AGO, BUT WAIT ON GOD AND WATCH WHAT HE SAYS. OKAY? SO, LOOK, I spoke. He said, "Speak to it." So, I spoke to it. Now, my family thought I'd lost my mind. I said, "Big Blue, I'm commanding you to work and we're going to get another 150,000 miles out of you." So, somebody was driving by. They said, "Man, is that you?" I said, "Man, that is me. Come on, help us out." We we got our stuff in their car and we went on to camp and the tow truck, they took it to the dealership. The guy called me from the dealership. He said, "Pastor Thompson," he said, "Uh," he said, "I can't find anything wrong with this vehicle. He said, "I've I've checked it from top to bottom." He said, "As a matter of fact, not only is anything not wrong with it," he he said this, "you going to get another 150,000 miles out of it. >> IF I CAN SPEAK TO INANIMATE OBJECTS, you better believe I'll speak to depression." >> If I can speak to depression, YOU BETTER believe I'll speak to heartache. IF I CAN SPEAK TO HEARTACHE, YOU BETTER BELIEVE I'LL SPEAK TO CANCER. >> YOU BETTER BELIEVE I'LL SPEAK TO DIABETES. You better believe I'LL SPEAK TO REBELLION. AND IF I CAN SPEAK TO ALL THOSE THINGS, YOU KNOW WHAT I'LL DO? SATAN, THE LORD JESUS, REBUKE YOU. YOU CAN OPEN UP YOUR MOUTH AND DECLARE. SOMEBODY OUGHT TO DECLARE SOMETHING TODAY. I NEED SOMEBODY. I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU NEED, BUT YOU NEED TO DECLARE IT. I FEEL IT IN THE AIR. YOU NEED TO OPEN UP YOUR MOUTH AND SAY, "SO, WHAT DO YOU NEED, GOD? I DECLARE IT IS DONE. I DECLARE YOUR WORD. I DECLARE PEACE IN MY HOME. I DECLARE VICTORY IN MY HOME." SOMEBODY GIVE HIM PRAISE. Help us, Holy Ghost. SOMEBODY GIVE HIM PRAISE. SOMEBODY MAGNIFY HIM. IF YOU BELIEVE HE'S ABLE TO DO EXCEEDINGLY, ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL THAT YOU COULD ASK OR THINK, SOMEBODY SHOUT UNTO GOD, Help us, Lord. Help us. This is This is interesting. I'm I'm just going to fast forward because I'm just trying to walk in the Holy Ghost here. Where where where do the musicians go? I need at least one keyboardist. Praise God. Thank Come on. You heard what the pastor said. He said, "Get on up there. Praise God." G. Let me get one to help me out. Thank you, Jesus. Praise God. So this is this is really interesting. At some point you have to silence the enemy and tell him enough is enough. And this is crazy because the talking if he Let me just tell you, think about this. Why is the enemy talking for 40 days and 40 nights and hasn't done a thing for 40 days running his mouth? That's what we would do growing up. We would talk so much nobody would fight and then the friend your your friends around you they BE PUSHING ON YOU FIGHT. NOBODY REALLY WANTED TO FIGHT. >> THE ENEMY DOESN'T WANT ANY SMOKE WITH YOU. YOU'RE RIGHT. >> BUT HE REALIZES IF I CAN JUST talk and convince them of every lie that I've spoken in their ear, if they'll just believe that, then they'll listen TO ME. IF HE WANT IF HE COULD HAVE KILLED YOU, HE WOULD HAVE KILLED YOU A LONG TIME AGO. >> ALL he can DO IS WHISPER THREATS IN your ear. IF HE COULD HAVE STOLEN YOUR PURPOSE, HE WOULD HAVE TAKEN IT A LONG TIME AGO. BUT WE SERVE A GOD WHO IS ABLE TO KEEP YOU. OH, that was okay. All right. Let me hurry up here. So, this is crazy. I'm I'm I'm going to skip through some things. I just feel like here's what I feel like. I I feel like the Lord told me because I wasn't sure, but he's given me clarity because I was wrestling with this. I said, "Lord, is this what you want me to deliver to your people?" He said, "Yes." Here's what I want you to know. There are growth spurts that are happening throughout FAC. There are growth spurts that are happening. Do you know that a growth spurt when it happens, you can't control it. >> Let let me You know what? Pastor will will recognize this. He'll remember it with his his son. At some point, you know what? His appetite begin to grow. And my my son is is 20 now, but you know, see, back in the day, we didn't have this, but these kids today, they can track where you are. I'll be driving down a major intersection. He'll be like, "Uh, are you close to Wendy's?" Here's what he says. He, you know, uh, this Toronto uh, lingo was a little different. He's like, "Is it a Dawn's motive?" Dons means McDonald's, you know. He's like, and and motive, he's like, "Is this what we're trying to do?" I was like, "I'm not trying to go by McDonald's. I'm I I I I don't eat that. I don't I don't I don't eat Wendy's. I did at one point, but I'm I'm done with that. And he'll say, "Well, grab me something, Dad." He'll say, "Grab me a a 20 piece." A 20 piece of what? I'm like, "How are you eating 20?" And then he's like, "Give me a 20 piece chicken nugget. Give me a large French fry. Give me two snack wraps and a root beer." He eats all of this. My man said, "Amen." See, these kids eat all this. He said, "Amen." Like that was snack. We And he eats this. and he eats it. And I'm like, and then he goes to the gym. He's like, I'm bulking. And and so what happens is my mom comes up all the time. Well, here's what she does, pastor. She's like, so she my name is Akil, but she's she just kind of when you get around family, she's like, "Kill kill." So she say, "Kill kill. Stand up." And I already know what she's trying to do. She's like, "Lincoln." No, I hope he's not watching. Uh but but she'll call him by his nickname. His nickname is is giggs, right? And that's a whole another story for another time. So she said, "Geeks, geeks, get next to your dad." And I already know. She's like, "Stand stand be stand your back to his." And I'm like, "Mom." She's like, "Go ahead and do what I said, boy. Do what I said." And so I already know. So I'm like this. I'm trying on my tippy toes. AND SHE SHE'S LIKE, "OH." SHE'S LIKE, "YOU GOT THEM, GIGGS. YOU GOT THEM." UH, in other words, what happened while she was gone for just a few months, cuz grandma comes often, a growth spurt occurred >> happened right underneath my nose. I I didn't recognize it, BUT ALL OF A SUDDEN, SOMETHING HAS CHANGED. AND I'M NOT LOOKING at Lincoln like this. I'm looking at Lincoln like this. This This is interesting because growth spurts, you have to cooperate with a growth spurt. >> You need to hear me. YOU HAVE TO COOPERATE WITH IT. YOU CAN'T REJECT a gross word. God is trying to grow you. And it h You know what's interesting? SEE, SEE, GROWING UP, WHEN I GOT WHEN I WAS YOUNG, IT WAS SIX. Mom and DADDY BE LIKE, "BOY, GET OUT TO BED. IT'S 6:00 SATURDAY MORNING." I'M LIKE, "It's six." Somebody felt it over here. They could relate. She comes to visit. It's like 8:00. I'm like, "Baby," I'm like, "Baby." Uh, that's what I referred to my wife. I said, "Baby, tell the kids to get up." And my mom just interrupts me like, "THEY DON'T NEED TO GET UP. LET THEM SLEEP." I'm like, "Let them sleep. Let them sleep. Who is this woman?" And then she would say, "Yes, they need they need their rest." I'm like, "No, what he needs to do is get out this bed and cut this grass." >> She she she'll she'll do things. She will make food growing up. She would make food. I'll be like, "Oh, is that macaroni and cheese?" Cuz moms can cook, right? Macaroni. I'm like, "IS THAT IS THAT FOR ME?" SHE LIKE, "Don't touch that." She just left. I said, "What are y'all doing?" Uh, she's like, "Oh, I'm I'm making a whole bunch of macaroni and cheese for for Lincoln." Like, what what's happening here? But this is a growth spurt. So, what's happening is God is growing many of you and it's uncomfortable. That's uncomfortable. I'm going to show you. I'm going to show you three things that are going to help you understand you are growing. And this is how because this growing has been uncomfortable. Hear me. Hear me. You know what? When when you're going through a growth spurt, what you wore yesterday all of a sudden doesn't fit you today. >> Some of y'all are trying to wear yesterday's attitude and it won't work. Some of y'all ARE TRYING TO WALK in yesterday's discipline, but it won't work. You've outgrown that. SOME OF YOU ARE TRYING TO OPERATE IN RELATIONSHIPS, but they don't fit anymore. YOU'VE OUTGROWN THAT. DOESN'T mean you're better than them. IT JUST MEANS THAT GOD HAS CALLED YOU AND HE'S CALLING YOU TO HIM. AND AS HE'S CALLING YOU TO HIM, OTHERS ARE KIND OF FALLING OUT OF YOUR LIFE AND YOU'RE TRYING TO MAKE IT WORK AND YOU'RE WONDERING WHY IT'S NOT WORKING. IT'S BECAUSE HE'S GROWING YOU. YOU'RE LEARNING. SEE, you look at the relationship like it's a loss. It's not a loss. You're learning. Oh, somebody lift their hands. Somebody bless him. Somebody magnify him. I got to hurry up and get back to the text. Here's here's a Some of y'all hear me, young people. SOME OF YOU THIS SUMMER have grown. There's been a supernatural growth spurt take place in your life. Some of you are walking in callings and walking in clarity, walking in purposes. AND WHEN YOU GO BACK TO SCHOOL, THEY WON'T RECOGNIZE YOU. THIS LEARNING HAS MADE YOU UNRECOGNIZABLE TO YOUR PAST. >> So hear me. This is crazy. I I I want to put this in the atmosphere. This is so important as we're learning. Uh David, you know what? He shows up. Uh, and the reason why he showed up is because his father sent him. >> Now, this is crazy. His father sent him. And it was bread and cheese. That's what he was taking. David was the first Uber Eatats. We got skip the dishes up in Canada. He was the first one. And here's the thing. He didn't realize that deliverance for the nation of Israel was in that hidden assignment. >> How do you handle your bread and cheese? >> How do you handle the ordinary? How do you handle the mundane? See, you think you're losing because you haven't had your big moment yet. But when you understand you're learning how to be faithful, >> you're learning how to praise him in the valley. You're learning how to trust him in the valley. You're learning how to do the small things and understand that oh in go take some bread and cheese to your dad or to your brothers and will ultimately mean that you'll be on the precipice of getting ready to be utilized by God to be a deliverer for a nation. Never underestimate, NEVER MINIMIZE THE ASSIGNMENT GOD HAS PUT BEFORE YOU. Hear me YOUNG PEOPLE. YOUR MINISTRY, HEAR ME, CHURCH FAMILY. YOUR MINISTRY LOOKS LIKE A lot looks a lot like the opportunities that are before you. That's it. How are you going to handle the Sunday school class? HOW ARE YOU GOING TO VACUUM? HOW ARE YOU GOING TO CLEAN THE BATHROOMS? HOW ARE YOU GOING TO teach that Bible study? How are you going to handle that guest followup? HOW ARE YOU GOING TO CHECK ON SO AND SO THAT HASN'T BEEN HERE BEFORE? ARE YOU GOING TO BE FAITHFUL IN THE LITTLE? DON'T DESPISE THE LITTLE. So he goes, "And then some crazy things happen." Now, the first thing I I want I want you to see this. Here's how you know these are three things I want you to know that you're shifting. I feel a shift in the Holy Ghost. Lord, there's a shift right now. Open every mind. Oh Lord God, speak to every heart. Take us from this place of defeat to understanding. Let revelation be routine that we walk in it with obedience. Oh Lord God, I declare a shift over every mind right now in the name of Jesus. an understanding of not just going through the motions, but coming into alignment with your word, with your purpose in the name of Jesus. So, David shows up, fam. David shows up, and here's what David says. DAVID'S LIKE, "I'LL FIGHT HIM." THIS IS HOW YOU know you're learning and you're not losing. When you start going to the fight. Yes. >> You know what David said? He said, "Listen," he told Saul. Saul was like, "You going to fight him?" HE SAID, "OH, YEAH. YEAH." He said, "As a matter of fact, when there was a lamb or uh he said there would be a lion or a bear and it would try to take one of my flock," he said, "I would go after it." >> HE SAYS, "I WOULD GO AFTER IT. I WOULD TAKE THE LAMB OUT OF the lion or the bear's mouth, AND I WOULD TRY TO GO ABOUT MY BUSINESS." THAT'S WHAT he said. BUT HE SAID, "BUT IF THAT BEAR OR LION CAME AFTER ME," he said, "I would club it to death." This is how you know you're growing. When you decide to start taking some fights to the enemy, stop sitting back so casually. You want to fight? Let's go. See, y'all don't know nothing about this, y'all. Boy, it it it was it was theater, pastor. When somebody said they want to fight, "Oh, you want some of this?" Oh, and don't let the ladies fight, they'd be like, "What? Take their shoes off?" I had a friend I had a friend that you did not want that smoke. He if people told him they wanted He would come come to my house. He stayed with us from time to time. He I like, "Bro, where did you just come from?" He would be like, "Oh, yo, they was talking that smack, so I just went right to their house and handled that." I'm like, "What? He came and like he's READY TO BOWL. HOW ABOUT WE GET THAT MINDSET? How about we understand? You know what? I'm coming after you. I'mma run the devil. I'm going TO RUN THE DEVIL ABOUT MY HOUSE. I'm going to run THE DEVIL ABOUT MY YOUTH MINISTRY. I'M GOING TO RUN EVERY PRINCIPALITY about this region and DECLARE THE KING. I'M NOT GOING TO WAIT FOR THE FIGHT TO COME TO ME. I'M GOING TO COME TO IT. HE HAS ANOINTED ME TO PREACH, TO BIND UP THE BROKENHEARTED, TO SET THE CAPTIVE LIBERTY. HEAR ME. I'M HERE TO DECLARE HIS KINGDOM. >> If you're ready to take the fight to the enemy, somebody give him praise. THAT WAS CUTE, BUT IF YOU MEAN IT, SOMEBODY GIVE HIM PRAISE. I'M READY TO TAKE THIS TO THE ENEMY. I'M READY TO GET BACK WHAT BELONGS TO ME. I'M READY TO GET MY PEACE. I'M READY TO GET MY VICTORY. I'M READY TO GET MY JOY. I'M READY TO GET MY MARRIAGE. I'm Oh, come on and bless him. Come on and BLESS HIM. THERE'S NOT A DEVIL IN HELL THAT CAN STOP WHAT GOD WANTS TO DO IF YOU'LL STEP OUT IN. IF YOU ONLY KNEW WHO'S BACKING YOU UP. We going to GO HARD. IF YOU ONLY KNEW WHO WAS BACKING YOU UP. YOU ARE BEING BACKED UP BY THE GOD OF GLORY. You cannot lose. Oh, somebody give him praise. Come on, somebody bless him. SOMEBODY GIVE HIM SOMEBODY GIVE HIM GLORY. SOMEBODY MAGNIFY HIM. I'M READY TO FIGHT. So here's what here's watch what he does. He says this. See David re recognizes. He says I'm going to fight him. He says look at verse 32. I love this. Oh, if we could just get this, Pastor Nathan. He says in verse 32, don't worry about this Philistine. I'll go fight him. In other words, somebody come to you, man. and I'm struggling WITH THE DON'T WORRY about this depression. What if you WENT TO BISHOP? WHAT IF YOU WENT TO PASTOR? YEAH. DON'T WORRY ABOUT THIS spirit of division. DON'T WORRY ABOUT THIS CRITICISM. I'LL FIGHT IT. DON'T WORRY ABOUT YOUR PAST COMING TO TRY TO HAUNT YOU AGAIN. I'LL FIGHT IT. WHAT IF WE SO HERE'S THE THING. WELL, YOU KNOW YOU'RE learning when you see yourself coming out on top. He's like, I'll fight. And watch watch what David says. I'm going to show you something because he's like, look what Saul says. Excuse me. He look verse 33. He says, don't be ridiculous. Saul replied. There's no WAY YOU CAN FIGHT THIS PHILISTINE AND POSSIBLY WIN. This is when you know David was TAPPED IN. HE STOPPED BELIEVING EVERYBODY ELSE. He said, "YOU'RE ONLY A BOY. THIS GUY GOLIATH HAS BEEN A MAN since his youth." But David persisted. I had been taking care of my father's sheep and goats. Like, that's a resume builder. Saul is like, "What are you talking about? Sheep I mean bears and lions." Watch this. Watch this. Here's the second thing I want you to get. You know you're you know you're learning when the problem doesn't matter. Okay, you might be wondering what what do what do you mean pastor kill? What do you mean when you say the problem the type of problem it is? It doesn't matter. I I I did something. I asked the prophet Google. >> Google sometimes can come through. I I I I sent it to our media team. I said, "UH, HOW HOW TALL is a lion on its hind feet, nearly 10 feet, when a lion is standing on its hind legs, I said feet, pause, on its hind legs, it's almost 10 feet." Then I thought to myself, this is interesting. What about the bear? I said, let's let's see about the bear. How tall is a a bear standing up? Watch this. 9 ft. In other words, if you don't know, Goliath was in between 9 and 10 ft. Oh, help us, Holy Ghost. So David's like this. Bear got him. Lion got him. Goliath going to get him. >> You going to get them. YOU GOING TO GET THEM. I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'VE BEEN FACING, BUT YOU GOING TO GET THEM. YOU GOING TO GET THAT OPPRESSION. YOU GOING TO GET THAT DEPRESSION. YOU'RE GOING TO GET THAT RESISTANCE. YOU'RE GOING TO TAKE THEM RIGHT. WHY? THE SAME GOD THAT DID IT BACK THEN IS THE SAME GOD THAT'LL DO IT RIGHT NOW. YOU KNOW WHAT DAVID WAS DOING? HE WAS TESTIFYING. I WISH I HAD SOMEBODY THAT WOULD TESTIFY. WHEN I THINK OF THE GOODNESS OF JESUS, WHEN I REMEMBER HOW HE HEALED ME, WHEN I REMEMBER HOW HE TOOK CARE OF MY HEADACHE, he can take care of my cancer. WHEN I REMEMBER HOW HE HEALED MY BROKEN HEART, HE can restore my joy again. IS THERE ANYBODY THAT HAS A TESTIMONY? Is there ANYBODY THAT'S READY TO BLESS HIM? Is there anybody that know we serve a faithful God? You ought to give him praise. You ought to give him glory. You ought to give him honor because he I feel it in the Holy Ghost. I feel it in the Holy Ghost. Y'all trying to act like extraordinary church. Now, here's here's what I want you to know. The next thing he does, this is your responsibility. And this place going to blow out of faith. I'm telling you right now, whatever you're facing under the I'm in the authority of the Holy Ghost. I'm in the authority of the Holy Ghost. and I'm aligned with his word and I'm on an assignment. I want you to know right now that thing, that thing, that thing, that thing that has been taunting you, that thing that's been tormenting you, that thing's been opposing you, reminding you that you'll be bound. I want you to know that thing, that thing is being brought aunder today. >> I got a few I got a few that believe it. But here's what David said. David told Goliath, he said, "The Lord," you can read it. HE SAID, "THE LORD HAS ALREADY CONQUERED YOU, >> AND I'M GOING TO CUT OFF YOUR HEAD. >> The Lord HAS ALREADY CONQUERED, BUT YOU HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY to cut the head off of that." I don't know ABOUT YOU, BUT I'M READY TO cut the head off of some stuff. >> In other words, I'm not going to deal with it again. I'M GOING TO CUT IT OFF AND I'M GOING TO WALK IN VICTORY. I'm going to send the enemy running RIGHT UP OUT OF THIS VALLEY because my God has conquered. Do you believe that? Do you believe it? Here's what we're going to do. Praise God. I feel the Holy Ghost. day. Come on. I want us to begin to lift our hands. And as we begin to lift our hands, our We're going to begin to sing. We're going to begin to worship, but I'm going to pray the prayer of faith. This has gone into the direction I didn't anticipate, but somebody's about to walk in something new. Somebody's about to walk in a greater victory. I'm in the Holy Ghost. The learning that you are be that you are walking in is to show you how to operate in a greater degree of dependence and faith in Jesus Christ. Okay, you've got that thing. You're going to SPEAK TO IT. YOU'RE NOT GOING TO IGNORE IT. YOU'RE GOING to speak to it and you're going to let it know THAT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST HAS CONQUERED YOU. Hear me. YOU ARE NOT WHAT YOUR PARENTS HAVE SPOKEN OVER YOU. YOU HAVE NOT WHAT THE WORLD HAS SPOKEN OVER YOU. Are you ready? Lift those hands. When I begin to pray, you're going to begin to speak to it in the name of Jesus. And you're going to begin to war in Jesus name. Somebody's going to war with their praise. Somebody's running to that thing. Somebody's not running back. Somebody's running to it. Come on. Come on and begin to call it out. Begin to call it out. Begin to call it out. Begin to call it out. We ready? Begin to call it out. Father, in the name OF JESUS, THE POWER THAT'S IN THE NAME OF JESUS, WE'RE IN AGREEMENT WITH THE WORD of God. Right now, I command every opposition. I command every hindrance. I command every foul spirit TO BE BROUGHT AUNDER in Jesus name.