Keep Your Grade and I'll Keep My Dream

you can be seated across this house thank you praise team and all of the musicians so faithfully every single week and all of our technical staff just preparing and leading us and setting the atmosphere for god to move in this house i want to say happy birthday this morning to elder brown turning 77 years old let's give him a great big hand i love you brother and i want to say happy birthday to my dear friend he's going to kill me he might turn my mic off so i'll say it real fast brother justin mass and go let's give him a great big hand love and appreciate him uh so much uh pastor nate and sister ashley are up doing a marriage retreat for pastor stayton and ministering to them over the weekend so we got a we had to trade out with them to get them so be in prayer for them i know they're having uh great services uh this is valentine's day weekend and uh all of the festivities and all of the pink and red and the hearts around remind us of love and last night i was watching the tennessee basketball game and they were celebrating life which is absolutely fantastic and they were celebrating organ donors and their communications director tom zakowiak who is the beneficiary of being alive today because of an organ donor and he he made a very powerful statement that i wanted to repeat this morning he said it's humbling to live with and be convicted by every single day that someone perished and that because of this i am able to be alive and i think that's so appropriate even in our christian understanding and making shadows and decisions in the making decisions in the shadow of the cross that we have hope today we're able to sing about miracles taking place today because our savior manifest himself wrapped himself in flesh and came to this world and died for our sins and that's the hope and the ultimate love that we celebrate today and i want to wish everyone a happy valentine's day weekend and most importantly i want to wish my beautiful and lovely wife kelly a happy valentine's day let's give her a great big hand first off she tolerates me writes most of my sermons and she does so many different things ministering to others behind the scenes and i i love her so much and my daughter eleanor and we've got a little boy on the way so we are excited about that uh bishop often tells about his dating days i guess you would call it our first date kelly and i our first date we went to again i relay a tennessee basketball game and we went with brother steve hamer and brother malachi hamer i pulled out all the stops for that one so uh young men when you find that special someone make sure you get brother steve to to go with you he's greater than cupid but steve is undefeated if you have your bibles this morning a few would two verses of scripture one from the new testament and one from the old to give honor to bishop and pastor and this great greatest saints on the face of this earth i also want to say everyone that's watching online all of our senior saints that maybe there's illness that you're unable to be here and then we just have a faithful congregation of our online congregation we welcome you and you're right here with us luke 4 24 and genesis 37 and 5. luke 4 24 states and this is jesus speaking and he said verily i say unto you no prophet is accepted in his own country genesis 37 and 5 states and joseph dreamed a dream and he told told it to his brethren and they hated him yet the more i want to speak to you and this title will make sense in uh just a few moments but i want to speak to you on the topic of keep your grade and i'll keep my dream keep your grade and i'll keep my dream and the story of a gentleman named monty roberts who owns a horse ranch in san isidro he had left his friend use his horse ranch to put on fundraising events to raise money for at-risk youth programs one day he told his friend he said i want to tell you why i let you use my horse ranch it all goes back to a story about a young man a younger me who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer monty's father was an itinerant horse trainer who traveled from ranch to ranch never staying in one place for long and the family struggled to make ends meet the boy's future did not look promising especially considering that his education was frequently interrupted by the family's constant need to relocate from town to town this family would go from stable to stable race track to race track and ranch to ranch training horses as a result the boys high school career as mentioned was continually interrupted when he was a senior in high school his teacher asked him to write a paper about what he wanted to be when he grew up that night putting more effort into any assignment that he ever had doing all the research exploring all of the different interests as he that he had that night he wrote a seven page paper even though the assignment was due two weeks from that date he was so excited and he poured his heart out into a seven page paper describing his goal of someday owning a horse ranch he wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a diagram of a 200 acre ranch showing the location of all the buildings the stables and the track then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4 000 square foot house that would sit on a 200 acre dream ranch he put great detail of his heart into the project and the next day 13 days before the assignment was due he handed it to his a teacher no doubt confident obviously he was interested in receiving a an excellent grade but his motivation was much deeper he was so excited about this ex this assignment two days later he received his paperback and on the front was a large red f with a note and that dreaded red ink see me after class the boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked why did i receive an f the teacher said monty had you written this report in seventh or eighth grade you know i would really appreciate it but you're now a senior in high school reality is about to hit just in a few months and you're going to have this disease called l-i-f-e that you you've got to you've got to be able to make a living for yourself this is an unrealistic dream for a boy like you and i i'm going to shoot you straight monty you need to have this hard truth realize to you you have no money you come from an itinerant family you have no resources and owning a horse ranch monty requires a lot of money you have to buy the land you have to pay for the original breeding stock and later you'll have to pay large stud fees there's no way you could ever do it maybe maybe one day after you achieve a measure of success and you and and you're able to do this but but right now this this is this is not appropriate for the class assignment and it doesn't meet the expectation that i'm requiring from you but i'll tell you what monty if you'll rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal i will reconsider your great this such a gracious teacher the boy went home and thought about it for a long and a hard time and he he asked his father what he should do his father said look son you're going to be 18 here in just a few months and you've got to make up your mind for yourself this is a very important decision for you but you have to make it on your own finally after sitting with it for a week the boy turned in the exact same paper no edits no changes he stated you can keep the f and i'll keep my dream you can keep the grade and i'll keep my dream monty then turned to the assembled group that he had begin speaking to some years later and said i tell you this story because right now you are sitting in my 4 000 foot square foot house in the middle of my 200 acre horse ranch i still have that school paper framed over the fireplace he added the best part of the story is that two summers ago this same teacher came with 30 kids to visit the camp and the teacher confessed to monty on his way out i must confess monty i was somewhat of a dream stealer during those years i probably stole a lot of kids dreams and should have been encouraging them instead of discouraging them fortunately you had enough gumption to not give up on your dream monty roberts now one of the most successful and notable horse and notable horse trainers in the world and has a ranch down to the detail of his high school dream a teacher waving a failing grade of rejection in front of him was no match for the young man's dream how we respond to rejection is what makes the difference between success and failure in both our life and also in our ministry the story of monty roberts illustrates the perfect response to doubt and rejection and you and i not might not perhaps you and i will face rejection you and i will face criticism you and i will be second guessed you can count on it jesus said verily i say unto you no prophet is accepted in his own country if people doubted jesus the only perfect man i might add whoever lived then they surely will doubt us and we may even prove our doubters right occasionally but the question is not whether will people believe in us but rather will we believe what god has said about us will we believe and make our decisions based on god's word will we believe in the promises that he has over our life will we believe he can use us despite our many flaws and despite our many imperfections that's the question this morning if we internalize rejection and believe what others think about us is the truth it will severely limit us in what we are able to accomplish for god's kingdom but if we follow the example of jesus and keep doing what god has called us to do we will find that there is no limit there is no devil in hell there is no critic no scoffer that can keep us or prevent us from fulfilling the dreams that we have so i agree with monty today where you can keep your report and rejection and your analysis over my life but i'll keep my grade we can receive a report of sickness that's like the red f that monty received and say have two options where we sit at it am i going to accept this am i going to wallow in it or am i am i going to say oh no this is not the promise that god has over my life i'm going to give you this report back and i'm going to maintain on my hope of healing i'm going to maintain my dream oh but the the statistics say that you're not qualified to start that business you need to examine your family lineage now some someone in your situation could surely never do something like this uh you've done too much in your past for you to ever be used by god in this manner you know most marriages are going to break up after a storm that you've endured i tell the enemy 100 percent here's your report back over my life i have a dream that my marriage is going to be restored i have a dream that if i'll put in the work and the effort into my life that i'm going to be prosperous i'm not talking about the prosperity gospel i'm talking about a god who is going to bless the work of your hands if you'll be faithful to what he has called you to do enemies scoffers doubters those who hurl criticism and rejection i say a hundred percent this morning that you can keep your grade and i'll keep my dream god's anointing god's healing god's provision his ability to open doors and his ability to kick them down is not dependent on one person in this world he said don't touch what god has anointed and i choose this morning to believe what god says about me i choose this morning to remain on to the calling that god has for me and i'm not going to let anyone else become a hindrance or try to hold me back or keep me from progressing to what god has called me to do those who have moved away from place to place where they were raised usually appreciate the opportunity to visit home it's the plot line for television sitcoms every every sitcom has that one episode where there's a high school reunion or uh or that person travels back home for a holiday to their hometown it's it's the plotline for movies as old as time when the lead character finds their way back home to catch up with old friends and to hear what has been happening with former neighbors and schoolmates in most cases this plot line is centered around a character who has found success in this world but when returning to their hometown the reception is not like the treatment they they have been receiving in this newfound lifestyle expectation they because these people they they know the real you or they or they know the old you and this envy it seems in this plotline as old as time brings about an unimpressed welcoming committee jesus in his humanity was just like you and i and he also took advantage of the opportunity to visit his hometown in nazareth and as his custom was he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day perhaps the same synagogue that he grew up going to every sabbath the people who attended there clearly knew who his parents was for they begin to ask is this not the carpenter's son is this this is this is joseph and mary's son who's returned back to nazareth considering his growing status as a popular prophet you would expect jesus to receive a warm welcoming as he made his way back to nazareth this would be the time when the palm leaves would come out and jesus our our hometown hero is returning home and at first it appeared the hometown crowd did recognize his status and they invited jesus to address the assembly but by the time he got finished their mood had soured considerably by the time he got done telling telling them the truth their mood was greatly altered jesus former neighbors were willing to accept him as the son of joseph and mary this it's fine if this is just the carpenter's son but recognizing his status as the son of god was more than what they were willing to consider the truth of what he began to preach to them about made them very uncomfortable instead of congratulating the hometown boy on what a great job he had done preaching that day the bible tells us the audience was filled with wrath and sought to throw jesus from a nearby hill perhaps envy perhaps not hearing the truth of what god had to say to them sometimes unfortunately it seems the people we love most will not accept our decision to follow god's call sometimes his anointing his sometimes his anointing sometimes means foregoing acceptance from others including those closest to us pastor whitley's told us before on many accounts when he starts ministering and and giving someone a bible study this person starts to make a even more strong commitment to christ regardless of where they're at in life than they ever have before and it seems he said it it seems like great uncle who's a deacon used to be a deacon in this church just comes out of the woodwork uh another aunt pulls out her seminary degree out of the woodwork and they start coming up with all of these different things while this why this person shouldn't uh begin to believe in the baptism in the name of jesus and and you've never heard from them before they were content with them uh just going about the motions as they had done so before but now that they were about to make a stronger commitment for christ because oh no that makes me uncomfortable that's not what my tradition teaches i've unfortunately seen this same attitude with parents before parents that just kind of mingle around the house of god are closely affiliated and associated with it just to come in and get a touch every now and then i've seen them put their kids in the school or make sure their their student is is faithful to the events of the church and that student begins to play an instrument or or perhaps they get in the choir but then and it's oh and when they're young it's so cute look at that picture of my my child up there praying this is so sweet i'll look at him in the kids choir with their valentine's hearts and all that and getting a video of them and it's so sweet but then they begin to reach their adolescent years and they begin to start making decisions for themselves and they they start to make commitments to christ and those those commitments they make don't align with the lifestyle of their parents and it forces these students to come to a crossroads and unfortunately sometimes i've seen parents seem like they get their kids to a certain point and when they should be supporting them to push them just as forward and as much as possible into the house of god it begins to convict them and make them uncomfortable [Applause] and unfortunately it seems like they'll start throwing blockades in their way and doing every single thing they can to keep their kids from not being closer to god or having a stronger commitment than they do because it makes them it's it's uncomfortable and unfortunately sometimes the ones we love the most sometimes the ones that are supposed to be protecting us sometimes the ones that are supposed to be caring for us the most will be the very ones that's got the hand on the back of the the jacket just saying you you can go this far but but i don't want you going too far we as a church body must make a concerted effort to see people as they are now and not as they once were we live in a multi-generational church we know stuff about each other going back to who knows when right we've got to make a concerted effort and i and i say that with a shade of humor but also even more so with the most imperativeness that i could say that we have to respect one another we've got to look out for one another we can't remember how we want how somebody once was we've got to make a concerted effort to look for the now to see how people have grown to see how people have developed amen give the lord a hand crap of praise we must be cautious as a church body not to have the spirit of being unimpressed unimpressed by the talent or growth someone has achieved and you know i preached to the choir with this church congregation but i've i've been in some settings before where the altar call will go forth and somebody will come up to the altar and they'll come up they'll come up alone and it's like the the minister's pulling teeth to try to get for someone to come up and pray with them i'm so thankful to be in a church body that when somebody has a need they're not being looked at with the harsh binoculars of criticism not worried about what they did not worried about how many times they come but but you but they were up there doing the same thing last night well who cares keep coming to the altar the altar is the place that we all must come to and if you haven't been in a while you might need to come amen amen also we can't get unimpressed when somebody gets baptized i remember growing up when somebody was about to get baptized and it's still the same i'm not having revisionist history but i i say it from the standpoint of a young child it is the most sacred thing that takes place you shut up you stop what you're doing everybody assembles in and looks forward up to somebody taking on the name of jesus does the public aspect of it give it any more significance with salvation absolutely not you can get baptized by yourself and it's it's the same you're taking on the name of jesus at the same time when someone does we celebrate it uh well hey wait y'all are just making a spectacle out of it yes you got it you you understand we're here to celebrate it yeah we're going to we're going to play music and we're going to sing and we got a screen that lifts up and down if i could get that remote right here that would be even great but derek maybe put put some arrows with some neon flashing lights pointing down somebody's getting baptized somebody's taking on the name of jesus yeah it's a spectacle we're celebrating it we're celebrating the greatest thing that could take place on this earth because somebody's saying i don't care what this world says about me i care what he says about me and i'm taking on his name in baptism would you give the lord a great big hand oh yeah yeah we're going to celebrate [Applause] that's that's just emotionalism yes you're finally catching on because i've got the intellectual understanding that the god who created this world the very same power that created this world the very same power that was alive when he rose from the grave the same god who has the hairs on my head numbered the same god who put the cosmos into existence that same god isn't a distant god far removed from humanity but he wrapped himself in flesh and he came to this earth and lived as a human like you and i he was bruised for our iniquity he was crucified on a cross for you and i and he rose from the grave and that's why i get a little bit emotional when i begin to think about that spectacle yes emotionalism yes call me let's have a theological discussion about it yes you're catching on you you got it you got it we're not going to sit around and make apologies and and be apologists for for worshiping and lifting up our voices and and jumping and and running around and going crazy when somebody gets baptized all right all right where were we i was not at first jesus synagogue sermon was well received by the people of nazareth you know just give me the motivational stuff you know tell us how good we're doing and you know i think i can get behind you jesus jesus wasn't a politician he didn't succumb to the the greatest giver he didn't succumb to whoever had the political power he preached the truth of god's word and it says they wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth this is a this is a carpenter's son where'd this guy learn to you know well we all grew up in the synagogue we all have a understanding of all of the uh the different celebrations and the the stories of our uh lineages and how we got to where we are but where did this this guy's dad's a common labor and you remember you know the circumstances surrounding his birth they weren't married you know uh all of those all of those things as people begin to nudge one another where did this guy learn to speak like this it's like he speaks like he has authority their attitude changed when he reminded them of a moment in elijah's life god sent the prophet elijah to minister to a widow in zurich during the time of famine this woman was not a member of the nation of israel this woman was outside of who they thought were the only ones who could ever hear and receive god yet because of her faith in god she received a continuous supply of food during a famine god's people had rejected the lord and his prophet during this time so god worked outside the boundaries of the nation of israel and a gentile received miraculous provision while faithless israelites went hungry new testament believers us as professing pentecostals who we believe in the uh repentance and going down in the name of jesus and immersion and in water and receiving the gift of the holy ghost with the evidence of speaking in another tongue we cannot take one thing for granted we cannot be unimpressed we cannot come into a service and not give god the praise he deserves we can't go out in this work a day world and not represent him with everything we have because if we can't become content if we become comfortable if we just consider we're just going to go through the motions then god will do a work but it's going to be outside of us but i'm so happy and thankful to be a part of a church body this morning [Applause] who says hey whatever we need to do we're going to make sure somebody is able and seen to get baptized we're going to come into this house and worship if i've got to get here two hours early on a sunday morning and two nights during the week to make sure the music is right where it needs to be i'm going to do it if i've got to get up early and come to choir practice and make sure that the praises of god are going forth and not hurting people's ears with being out of key i'm going to do it if i got to greet if i got to be on the technical staff sometimes out of the month i might have to watch some kids so some other people can enjoy service whatever it takes we're going to make sure that this gospel goes forth the experience of jesus mirrored elijah while jesus owned people refused to believe in him outsiders often readily accepted his claims jesus later said of a certain centurion who was a gentile i have not found so great faith no not in israel but what jesus don't you know who my dad is don't you know who my grandfather is i made this mention sunday night a week ago i'm a fifth generation pentecostal i'm fifth generation in the who cares okay who cares do you have faith do you have faith what are you doing for him what are you doing for god jesus said i haven't found faith anywhere you've had the most faith he said verily i say unto you no prophet is accepted in his whole own country and i believe this is a country this is a congregation who is going to be accepting of children as they grow up and they see their callings and and they're yeah yeah you had them in middle school and yeah you had them in high school yeah you were if my teachers are out there i say thank you for not just getting up and walking out when i when i start to speak but this is a church congregation that's interested in people yes get baptized but then continuing to grow in christ sometimes and he said very i said you know prophet had sex in his own country isaiah prophesied that the messiah would be despised and rejected of men jesus frequently faced rejection during his ministry including rejection from the people unfortunately of his hometown sometimes we as saints sometimes we those that you know make sure we're at church on sunday morning sunday night revivals wednesday night whatever it takes we are more equipped to go out into the desert for 40 days and be tempted and find a devil in a desert that'd be a good hashtag and it doesn't affect us because we're ready for that our mind is set for that give me that 40 days out in the desert and it's and it's nothing but then there are those times when we experience rejection or or a word of criticism or maybe an insult is thrown our way and that spiritual high and that clarity of might and the vision we have it seems like it just destabilizes us and not just rejection but a lack of acceptance and it hurts the most when it's from the peers in my hometown jesus though never allowed that rejection to derail his ministry regardless of whether he was welcomed with open arms or he was thrown out of the city jesus continued to be faithful to his calling and his example stands to us today his present day followers to be faithful in the face of rejection whether it's satan tempting me out in the desert or whether somebody says something to me in the congregation that hurt my feelings we've got to have a mindset that nothing shall separate me from what he's called to do in the book of isaiah 54 17 we quote this verse often but we sometimes and it's a powerful verse just quote the first half of it it says no weapon that is formed against me shall prosper and we quote that we believe that and it's fantastic but the second half of it is equally important to the context of the overall statement it says and every tongue that shall arise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn this is the heritage of the servants of the lord and their righteousness is of me saith the lord no weapon that is formed against me no sword no spear no instrument of persecution or torture no instrument that is made by the smith isaiah states shall prosper and we we got that we we see this militaristic imagery and we're like let's fight we got it we we understand that but that second part says every tongue that shall arise against the unjudgment thou shall condemn we've got to hang on and remember this promise as well he's saying no one shall be able to injure you by words and accusations if a controversy shall arise if others reproach you by words of deceit you shall be ultimately to able to convince them of error by the manifestation of the truth you shall condemn them whether it be through militaristic artillery whether you get a negative report from a doctor whether you are falsely accused and brought before a court of justice whether it's a gossiping tongue spreading rumors of slander about you maybe you made a mistake and the enemy or someone else waves that in your face as a roadblock every time you begin to progress in christ holding on that in front of your face we've got to understand that indeed no weapon formed against us is going to prosper but every tongue that rises up against me thou shalt condemn and that's my inheritance and i condemn it by continuing to be faithful regardless of the circumstance because the infallible word of god says that truth will manifest itself it might not be overnight it might not be in a week it might not be in a month or a year but eventually truth will be manifest itself and not one thing in this world will be able to stop it your continued pursuit in the face of rejection is condemnation to any judgment that will arise it's tempting and it's weak-minded and easy to base our sense of self-worth on the acceptance of others as a result we often will bend our behavior to conform to the expectations of our associates we judge whether we have done well by the feedback we receive from life's audience from life's opinion poll i tell you all that to say this just because you live out truth just because you preach out truth it doesn't mean that everyone is going to accept it just because you do and you say and you have the morals and do everything right and say the right words doesn't mean people are going to respond in the way that they should i've told you this before peter preached on the day of pentecost pricked their hearts baptized revival pentecost sunday stephen picked the hearts of the people he was preaching to and he got stoned to death all right we can't base we can't base our perceived success in ministering whatever call it is god has for our life by the acceptance or the rejection of others we have to do what god has called us to do so just because you do everything right and say the right words doesn't mean that people respond the way they should no man could make such a plea regarding jesus then you know jesus no person could have given them a better bible study if you will he was the messiah wrapped in human flesh the one who had been foretold by the prophets but still some accepted and some rejected you in your ministry you in your life some accept some reject anything you go to do the greater the level the greater the devil some accept some reject but you have to keep doing what god has called you to do so i say today keep your rejection keep your judgment keep your criticism keep that letter great f and i [Applause] will keep my dream [Music] [Applause] in mark 12 verse 10 we read and have ye not read this scripture the stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner if you'll stay faithful you don't have to go out and tell everything you do and shout it from the mountaintops if you'll stay faithful he said if you'll be faithful over a few things i'll make you ruler over many this is true in every aspect of our life whatever occupation vocation calling you have in christ whatever those things are people will begin to acknowledge your diligence your hard work and your stewardship and in due time though you might be rejected you will eventually be the head of the corner jesus never fell into this trap his ministry was established on god's word and god's power not humanity's approval doing god's will often put him at odds with the culture which which he lived he clashed with both the pharisees and he clashed with the sadducees he never minced words to appease either party his death came at the hands of the romans voted on by his own people the jews to be crucified who held the reigns of government and jesus knowing the kingdom that he was a part of looked pontius pilate the roman governor right in the eye and says thou could has have no power at all against me except it were given thee from above despite this jesus enemies recognized he was not like any other men when you continue to live out a life of faith doing what god has called you to do even your enemies will profess that god has called you one of the pharisees who witnessed jesus miracles acknowledged that this is a teacher from god the roman centurion who witnessed jesus crucifixion declared truly this was the son of god but more important oh and yes we love those memes that pass around like uh i need new haters because my old one like me now right or even in monty's case he he put that f up over his fireplace and uh what they call it bulletin board material before an athletic team takes the court or field and they look at the negative headlines that someone's talked trash to them and that's that's the fuel for their achievement in success but i tell you all that that that stuff is nothing in comparison to the acknowledgement his enemies uh but more important than acknowledgement of his enemies was the com accommodation of his heavenly father who said this is my beloved son and whom i am well pleased the greatest fuel and the greatest motivation in our lives can't be from somebody that's hurled an insult or someone that said a negative word that oh that's going to drive me to the top oh no it's got to be because i want to please god so much that nothing in this world even matters i want to live out a life of faith so badly and keep on to that dream that god has called for me that nothing in this world and it all falls short in comparison to it our anointing doesn't come from our neighbors our anointing does it come from our families our anointing doesn't come from our friends it's not based on the acceptance of others our anointing comes from god and he has called and anointed us and we must carry on the mission to complete it as i come to the to a close in genesis 37 5 it says and joseph dreamed a dream he told it to his brethren and they hated him even more joseph sat on a crude bench within the walls of an ancient egyptian prison deep in thought he tried to make sense out of this situation what had gone wrong did i take the wrong turn why did god let this happen to me and we've all been there in the situations that we face in life and from his youth the beginning of his calling joseph had a strong belief in god and he experienced these dreams he was convinced were inspired by god but after blow after blow life had reduced him to living as a societal outcast in a foreign land joseph's mind flashed back to the traumatic experience of being tackled of being tied up and being thrown into a cistern not by a foreign oppressor not by bandits and thieves that sought to cause his harm not by a desperate heathen that broke in just to get his next quick fix but he was tied up and thrown into a cistern by his own brothers the ones who were supposed to be protecting him the ones who were supposed to be mentoring him the ones who were supposed to be pouring into him would be the very ones that would throw him and put him in a pit he would never forget the feeling of helplessness and horror when his own brothers perhaps they've had a change of heart when they hauled him out maybe joseph was thinking you know i'm ready for to forgive them now just get me out of here and that false sense of hope as they pulled him out of that cistern then they traded him and he went on a voyage with a kerrigan a caravan the years that followed were not much kinder to joseph his new boss's promiscuous wife falsely accused him of rape he had the moral high ground and after he resisted her unwanted advances he was paying for his good moral behavior while she continued to enjoy a life of wanton luxury finally joseph lux seemed to change when god gave him the interpretations of the dreams of two people who were close to the most powerful man on the planet at that time pharaoh joseph had hoped that initially one of the men would mention his situation it could help him but it had been some months after this took place and he had still yet not heard anything the loneliness joseph was experiencing was suffocating the sense of abandonment chipped away at his self-esteem it was difficult to resist the temptation to curse god why god would you allow all this to happen i've been faithful to you yet here he was months years sold by his brothers falsely accused he was seemingly paying the price for other people's mistakes he sat on that crude prison bench overlooked and forgotten he was a short distance from the throne room of pharaoh and people saw no value or potential in this prisoner that is no one but god god saw joseph in a very different light god saw a young man who was learning to trust god saw a leader who could step into the most powerful empire at that time to ever exist try this guy see if you're going to do something that can shake him it's not going to happen god saw the man who would then preserve his chosen people dream killers perhaps you got a negative report of health perhaps you've received that report of financial loss maybe it's a marital relationship maybe it's in the context of lost loved ones and friends perhaps you've been betrayed and by humanity standards you have every justification to curse them to go at them and to never ever hear their words again but we don't live by the standards of this world we just give the enemy his report back and say i'm going to choose to keep my dreams stand with me perhaps you've experienced rejection because of your stand for god or maybe you find yourself and what you seem you know i haven't really prayed about this but i'm in a work situation where it feels like i'm constantly undermined and passed over and looked over you know what you need to do today i'm going to hang on to my dream it's not over god's faithfulness did not eliminate the difficulties from joseph's life but rather he overcame them withstood them weathered them joseph's the tool that joseph's dreams are the very thing that got him into the pit and they would be the very thing that would make him rise to second in command into all this world the same is true in our lives from our earth-bound limited perspective the pain and the rejection and the hurt in our current circumstances don't make a lot of sense oh but if we could step back and see the beautiful story that god is writing if we only could just have that aerial view of what god has for our lives and if we could just trust him in every circumstance i know that person hurt my feelings and i know i've got i've got to be strong and not act like it i'm not talking about acting like something doesn't hurt you i'm not talking about brushing things under the rug i'm not talking about not seeking treatment for an issue in your life i'm talking about doing every single thing you can to scrap and get by and continue the fight of god's calling for your life and giving it to god and trusting that behind the scenes he's just orchestrating some things that you don't even you couldn't even write on a list of goals he's going to supersede them at times we enter his house with vision energy revived oh i can't wait for the quiet as soon as that first note hit i'm gonna run up here and it oh man nothing get me out in the desert 40 days devil in the desert i can handle that but then there's other times it's everything i can do just to limp into the house of god and in life it's not always clear what those defining moments are be that make and accumulate together to come about the overall story of your life but it's all the life-defining moments are are not what you anticipate the life-defining moments are those times on a sunday morning and sunday night when these two statistics say you you shouldn't be here statistics the report says you should just you should just stay at home but you said i'm trusting in you god i know the enemy's given this report and if i have to crawl into the house of god i don't have the energy like i did last week i don't have the vision of what tomorrow holds but i'm trusting in you lord and i'm giving the devil this report back and i'm going to maintain my dream of being healed i'm going to maintain my dream of that relationship being restored i'm going to maintain my dream of my children coming home i'm going to maintain that dream of having a prosperous business so i want to invite every single person this morning maybe you've since maybe been feeling a sense of rejection in a situation maybe you feel like you've been overlooked in a situation maybe there's some circumstances in your life that are just extremely dire and you've life's given you this report card back in that situation i wonder if somebody this morning with the invitation that i'm giving you would come up this morning symbolically and say enemy here's your report i'm not accepting it i'm going to choose to maintain the dream and the calling that you have over my life would you come this morning [Music] now listen i'm not preaching having a pity party this morning all right if you need to cry over situation do it absolutely yes i'm preaching transparency if you've got hurt if you've got brokenness absolutely you give it to god and i'm not preaching we'll sweep it under the rug and suck it up and get going that's not what i'm saying but what i am saying when you take on the name of jesus you better be ready for a fight jesus said if the world hate you guess what it hated me before it hated you okay when my father and mother forsake me david said then the lord will take me up if those closest to me the two people responsible for me coming to this world reject me and despise me i've got to have the mindset that my calling in god is not dependent on any person in this world it's solely dependent on my relationship with him and i want to end with this and then the praise team can sing and we're going to have a time of prayer the apostle paul said of the jews five times received i 40 stripes save one [Music] thrice i was beaten with rocks once i was stoned thrice i suffered shipwreck a night and a day i have been in the deep sounds like he might be battling a sense of rejection in turnings often in perils of water and perils of robbers and perils of mine own countrymen in keeping with the theme of our sermon this morning oh in perils also by heathen in perils in the city and in perils in the wilderness whether i'm in the town or i'm in the outskirts and perils also in the sea and perils among false teachers in weariness and painfulness and and watching and keeping awake often oh yeah by the way in hunger and in thirst and fastings often also i'm cold and naked the apostle said bring it at me he said beside those things that are without that which cometh upon me daily are the care of all the churches oh when i have the calling of god on my life the only thing that is important to me is if i am doing his will oh shipwreck that's not going to stop me being beaten by those that love me the most that's not going to stop me oh a hurt word and offense that's not going to stop me a negative report that's not going to stop me because i've got a mission to do there's some people that need to hear this gospel there are some people that are depending on me to go out into this world and preach and teach them about the messiah the name of jesus so this morning across this house i want all of us whatever situation we're facing i want us to hand it over to the enemy and pray the prayer that greater is he that is within me than he that is in the world [Music] [Music] when you sacrifice yourself you thought [Music] me up inside [Music] you thought i was ashamed [Music] book of proverbs it tells us that you are trapped by your words thou snare with the words that come out of thy mouth so what that tells us this morning is that faith-filled words will put you over and fear-filled words will defeat you jesus didn't just walk around when he was on earth and just with his mind just pointing a direction but while jesus was on earth he spoke the word out he spoke to the wind he spoke to the sea he spoke to the demon he spoke to a fig tree he even spoke to dead men he said peace be still demon come out lazarus get out of the tomb the disciples said arise and walk faith comes quickly when you hear yourself speaking it out when you hear yourself quoting and saying the things of god you're going to be more readily to receive god's word and to your spirit by hearing yourself so across this house whatever situation you're facing whatever that report card was that you brought to the altar i want us to lift our hands across this place and with a mighty voice i want us to speak out to the situation in our life let's pray right now mighty god we thank you this morning god we know the situation and the hurt and the brokenness and the circumstance that surrounded my life but right now under the authority of your name i don't use the enemy as motivation i use your call on my life as motivation but right now in jesus name i declare that this relationship is going to be restored right now in jesus name i declare healing it's going to take place in my body right now in jesus name i believe you're going to work out this situation how are you freaking it out i can feel it this morning there's a movement beginning to take place right now in jesus name my son is coming home right now in jesus name my daughter is coming home oh i believe in this morning is