Transcript of a published sermon by Drew Galloway, transcribed from the podcast recording. An attributed primary source — not Acts 2:38 Life doctrine text.
Summary · Transcript · Scripture Index · Download transcript (.txt)
Summary
Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the transcript below — the preacher’s words follow in full.
Times of Refreshing
- The capture opens with the speaker himself leading a pre-sermon refreshing appeal, before the honors and the sermon's own reading.
- Acts 3:19 is designated three times and read: repent and be converted, and times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.
- Refreshing means a recovery of breath — the weary and spiritually dehydrated are refreshed in His presence.
Scriptures: Acts 3:19
The Race Is Meant to Be Finished
- The sermon's text, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, is read entire: run to obtain the incorruptible crown, keep the body under, lest having preached to others he himself be a castaway.
- Paul's fear was not finishing — and the call on every Christian is completion, not starting.
- Florence Chadwick quit half a mile from shore in the fog, then finished when she kept the shore in mind; John Stephen Akhwari finished last in 1968 because his country sent him to finish, not to start.
- Galatians 6:9: be not weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not — the seed in the ground is planted, not dead.
Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Galatians 6:9
The Enemy Wears at the Saints
- Daniel 7:25: the spirit of antichrist would wear out the saints of the Most High — a wearing away of the mind.
- Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:7-8: I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith — and the crown is for all who love His appearing.
- Micah 7:8 holds two certainties: when I fall, and I shall arise.
Scriptures: Daniel 7:25; 2 Timothy 4:7-8; Micah 7:8
Endure to the End
- Tucked between the perils of Matthew 24 is a promise: he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved (Matthew 24:13).
- Hebrews 12:1-2: compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
- The devil carries many titles in Scripture, but he is never called the finisher — that title belongs to Jesus alone.
Scriptures: Matthew 24:13; Hebrews 12:1-2
Jesus Finished His Race
- John 19:30: having received the vinegar, Jesus said, It is finished, and gave up the ghost — they could not kill Him; He laid His life down.
- Psalm 23:6: goodness and mercy are summoned to follow the runner — too much seed in the ground, too many miracles seen, to quit now.
Scriptures: John 19:30; Psalm 23:6
Sowing in Tears, Reaping in Joy
- Psalm 126:5-6 was the verse he clung to as the only convert in his family: they that sow in tears shall reap in joy; he that goeth forth weeping, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with his sheaves.
- The harvest stood up in his own family: he baptized his grandmother, both sisters, two best friends, his stepdad, and his mother, all receiving the Holy Ghost, and his cousin and the cousin's wife were baptized and their children restored.
Scriptures: Psalm 126:5-6
The Comforter Beside You, Rest for the Weary
- Like Derek Redmond's father coming down to help his son finish, John 14:26 promises the Comforter — paracletos, one summoned to one's side.
- On a hedged designation — 'I believe it's Isaiah 28' — with stammering lips and another tongue will He speak to this people, and this is the rest wherewith the weary may rest (Isaiah 28:11-12).
- Acts 20:24: none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy.
- The sermon closes inside its altar appeal: there is a refreshing in the building for weary minds, marriages, and parents.
Scriptures: John 14:26; Isaiah 28:11-12; Acts 20:24
Scripture index: Acts 3:19; 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Galatians 6:9; Daniel 7:25; 2 Timothy 4:7-8; Micah 7:8; Matthew 24:13; Hebrews 12:1-2; John 19:30; Psalm 23:6; Psalm 126:5-6; John 14:26; Isaiah 28:11-12; Acts 20:24.
Transcript
media team. But if you can pull up Acts chapter three and verse number 19, Acts chapter three and verse number 19. Here's what's going to happen today before we leave. It's already started, but it's going to, the fulfillment is going to happen when the word goes forth. Acts chapter three and verse number 19, if they can put that on the screen. Here's this building today and you've been searching for answers and you've never found what you've been looking for. And you've never experienced the power of God through the infilling of his spirit. The Bible says when we repent, we can get baptized in Jesus' name. If you've never been baptized in the name of Jesus, today is the perfect day for that to happen. But when you receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, you're going to begin to speak in other tongues. That's what the Bible says. And that is what you hear people do. And this is what they're saying right
here. Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out. But this is what I want to focus on. Times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. When you got spoke to me and said, I want you to look up the word refreshing. And here's what it means. A recovery of breath, a cooling of refreshing or a revival. And there's people in this building. You came today feeling like spiritually you're out of breath, spiritually you're dehydrated, spiritually you feel like you're about to have a heat stroke. God, I don't know if I can do this any longer, but I'm telling you what God is going to do for you today. He's going to refresh you. You may have came out of breath, but you're going to leave with the recovery of breath and say, you know what? I've got my mind made up. I'm going to walk with God. I'm not going to quit. I'm not going
to give up. Here's what's happening right now. There is a refreshing. I want you to lift up your hands right now and receive it. You may be weary and you may be tired, but there is a refreshing in the building. Oh, that's a refreshing. Come on, it still comes from the presence of the Lord. For in His presence is fullness of joy. And the joy of the Lord is my strength. One more time. I want you to clap your hands up to the Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. If you have your Bible, 1st Corinthians, chapter nine, verse 24, she's preparing to read with me. I want to take an opportunity right now and give honor to this amazing church, the leadership of this great church. I give honor to Bishop. I give honor to Pastor Dillingham, who from this moment on will affectionately be known as my uncle. We look so much alike. His daughter one time got us confused this
week and actually more than once. And so from this moment on, it's going to be Uncle Dillingham and I'll be Nephew Drew. But I give honor to you. So thankful for you. I appreciate your passion, your intentionality. Aren't you thankful for an amazing pastor? Give honor to his family, sister Dillingham, children, their spouses. Give them honor. So thankful for the boy family, amazing student pastor, the court and his wife. Thank you for all of your hard work. Amen. It's been an amazing weekend. I told Pastor Corey and Pastor Dillingham, I said, I feel like I'm blinked and it's already over. Some people are saying thank God, tired, weary, but it's been an amazing time. And I want you to know that I came here wanting to be a blessing to you, but I'm leaving and you've been a blessing to me. I appreciate your hunger, your worship, your desire. I'm very thankful for what God is doing in this group of young people
and young adults, but also in this church. I feel such a momentum about this church. It's just what God is doing now and what God is going to do. You've seen glimpses of it, but you've not seen the fullness of it. I'm telling you, this church is primed and ready. And if you're visiting today and you're looking for a place to belong and a place to plant your family, welcome home and welcome to the family. Amen. Give honor to my wife who typically would be with me, call her before service, her and my two and a half year old son, Oliver. I love my family, so thankful for them. God has blessed me with an amazing family. I give them honor. They're praying for me and I appreciate their prayers. Give honor to my pastor who allows me to travel and covers me. I'm so thankful for him. First Corinthians chapter nine and verse number 24, Paul says, no, you not that they
which run in a race run all, but one receive at the prize. So run, he says, that you may obtain every man that strives for the mastery is temperate and all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible ground, but we, what we're after is incorruptible. We therefore so run, not as uncertainly so fight. I not as one that beat at the air, but he says, I keep my body and I bring it into subjection, lest that by any means when I had preached unto others, I myself would be a castaway or I would be disqualified or I wouldn't finish. What Paul is saying is I'm telling you to run, but I'm letting you know I'm in this race too, because he says my greatest fear is that I would not finish. The scripture use the symbolism. Jesus spoke in parables, the disciples use symbolism, oftentimes to make a complex point, very simple. And so Paul is using the Olympic race to
kind of draw the analogy of someone who was walking with God in a relationship with God. And he compares it to a race and he talks about finishing the race. He talks about not being a castaway. And I've come to preach this morning to some people that the enemy has told you you are finished. It is over. Your mistakes will be the sum total of your life. Your children are not coming back. Your husband's never going to be in this church. Your family's never going to be put back together, but I've come to preach to you today. I am not finished. I will finish. I've just come to preach to somebody. I don't know how long we're going to get through this, but the Bible says in Galatians chapter 6, be not weary and well do it for induced season. You shall reap if you don't faint. There's some of you you've got seed in the ground and you've been wondering, is it
over? Is it dead? Is it gone? No, it's planted and there's going to be a day that it sprouts up, but the enemy's trying to get you to forfeit before you see the fullness of the promise of God. But I want you to declare today, I'm not finished, but I'm going to finish. I wish somebody would just let the enemy know I'm not a quitter. God's brought me too far to quit now. I've seen too many miracles to quit now. He's been too good to quit now. Come on, clap your hands all over the building and give Jesus high praise. Come on, mix your faith with it. I want you to give somebody high five and say, you are not finished. Maybe seated. I read a story of a woman by the name of Florence Chadwick, a native of California who was the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions. On the 4th of July in 1951, she attempted to
swim from Catalina Island to the California coast, which is over 20 miles long. And the challenge was not so much the distance, but the bone chilling waters of the Pacific and the presence of sharks that boats around her had to constantly ward off. That would be enough to make me quit. To complicate matters, there was a dense fog that lay over the entire area, making it impossible to see the land. After about 15 hours in the water, Ms. Florence started to get weary and wanted to quit. Her mom and other supporters encouraged her and trailed her by boat and tried to persuade her, you do not need to quit. You've come too far. But reluctantly she decided to give up. What she did not know due to the fog is that she was within a half a mile of her goal. She swam for 15 hours over 20 miles and within a half a mile of her destination, she gave up. Ms. Florence
told the reporter, listen, I'm not trying to make an excuse, but if I could have seen land, I think I would have made it. Not long after she attempted this feat again. And once more, there was a misty veil that settled over the water and obscured the coastline. She couldn't see the shore once again. But this time she made it because she kept reminding herself, the land is there, the shore is there. I know I can't see it, but I know that I'm close. And she finished this time breaking the record by two hours all because she made up her mind. I know the fog is hiding the shore, but I know if I just keep going, eventually I'm going to make it. I know they sang the first song about heaven. And I know there's an enemy trying to put a fog over the people of God. But I'm trying to let somebody know today, you may not see it, but we're
almost there. And now it's not the time to quit. I've got a very simple message for somebody. The enemy's trying to tell you to give up, throw in the towel, but I've come to preach to you. God called you to finish. God called you to finish. Everybody shall finish. So Paul tells us, we're in this race and we're in this race to finish. God did not call us to be castaways. I believe the call for every Christian is completion. I believe what Jesus has started in your life. He intends to finish. I feel like the man who traveled from Tanzania to the Olympics in Mexico City in 1968, he started out on the race and he fell and got his knee. Everybody thought he was going to quit, but you can look it up on YouTube. You seem stumbling to the finish line. Everybody else is going home. He finished in last place and they said, Mr. John, why didn't you give up?
He said, because my country didn't send me 5,000 miles to start the race. They sent me here to finish. I want you to know it don't matter if you're stumbling, if you're weak, as long as you finish, that is what matters. And I'm going to tell you what's going to happen today. God is going to refresh you and God is going to strengthen you. You feel like you've been in battle after battle, like you barely come up for water and you go back down. Like you get out of one battle and you go into another, but there is an antidote to weariness and it's called rest and refreshing and God is going to give you rest today. I don't know that I've never seen it quite like the last three years. It was more than just a pandemic, but there is an attack from the enemy to wear out the people of God. The Old Testament prophet tells us in Daniel 7 that
the spirit of antichrist would attempt to wear out the saints of the most high God. When you study out what that means, it means to wear away mentally and I've never seen an attack on the minds of the people of God. I've never seen the attack on the mindset of the children of God and he's unleashed everything that he has, but I've come to let you know on this Sunday morning, God has sent me here with a word to help somebody understand you can do this. I wish somebody would go ahead and settle it in the beginning of this message. I'm not going to quit. I'm not going to backslide. I'm not walking away from God because God has never walked away from me. I refuse to quit on the God that never quit on me. I refuse to walk away from him. It's the will of God that you finish. The reward they sing about in heaven. They sing about here and
well done because the reward is granted to the finishers. Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 4, he said, I fought a good fight. He said, I finished my course and I kept the faith. Here's what happens when you fight. Here's what happens when you keep it and here's what happens when you finish. It's forth. There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge shall give to me in that day, but not to me only, but to all that love is appearing. Do you know what the testimony of everybody in heaven is going to be? I'm only here because I never quit. I'm only here because I never gave up. I want to let somebody know heaven is going to be populated not with perfect people, but with persistent people that said no matter what, I just kept praying. No matter what, I just kept believing. No matter what, I just kept going to church. This
is going to be everybody's story. How'd you make it here? I just didn't quit. When times got hard, I kept going to the house of God. When I got knocked down, I just got back up. I know the enemy told you, you're finished. It's over, but I've come to preach to you. You're not finished, but you will finish in the faith. I will finish. Is it hard? Yes. Are there tough days? Yes, but you know how you make it? You get up and say, I'm going to put one foot in front of the other. I may not be walking fast, but I'm walking with him because I know as long as I keep going, I'm going to make it to the shore. I know as long as I keep moving, I'm going to make it. Am I weary? Yes. Am I tired? Yes, but am I going to quit? No. Here's what the Old Testament prophet said, and we love to quote it,
but I pray we would do more than quote it. I pray we would live it when Micah said, and Micah 7 and 8 rejoiced not against me, hold my enemy for when I fall. The first certainty is you're going to fall. I'm going to fall. We're all going to fall, but that's not the only certainty in this verse. The second one is I shall arise. Oh, I know there's been times I've been knocked out. I've been on my back, but you know I'm here because I said I will not take the posture of a quitter. I'm going to get up and I'm going to walk with God. I'm going to get up and I'm going to believe again. I'm going to get up and I'm going to pray again. I'm going to get up and I'm going to give again. I don't have it all figured out, but here's what I know. As long as you don't quit, you're not going to lose
if we're going to make it in 2023. We must have the mindset that no matter what happens, quitting is not an option. Pastor said it in first things, my worst day with Jesus was better than my best day in the world. How could I forsake a God who's never forsaken me? What a savior that never gave up on me. I want to look him in the eye one day and say, Jesus, there were some hard days, but I thank you that you always got me through, and you know what I'm going to be able to say? Heaven is worth it. Heaven is worth it. Come on, if you're weary today, clap your hands. There's a refreshing in the building. There's a refreshing in the building in Matthew 24. The Bible tells us what the end time is going to be like, and I know everybody likes to talk about it. There's going to be wars and rumors of wars. There's going to be
pestilence. There's going to be earthquakes. There's going to be nations rising against nations. There's going to be false prophet. The love of me is going to watch cold, but tucked in between the perils and the problems is a promise for the believer. In Matthew 24, 13, this is what Jesus said, but he that shall endure to the end the same shall be saved. Heaven is obtainable through endurance. You can make it if you have the mindset that I'm just not going to quit. Starting is essential, but finishing is eternal, and the kingdom of God exists to help people that started Rome in right. That's what the Bible says, and he, verse chapter 12, verse number one, we're foreseen. We are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. Let us lay aside every weight and the sin that does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Here's what I want you to
focus on. How do we do this? Verse number two, we look unto Jesus, who is the author. He started my story, but he's also the finisher. He said, look at him who endured the cross. He despised the shame and was set down on the right hand of God. Here's what I want to let you know today, church. Satan, the devil is given a lot of titles and scripture. He's called Satan 52 times. He's called the devil, the tempter, the evil one, the son of the morning, the enemy, the father of lies, the accuser of the brethren, the deceiver of the dragon, the old serpent, and the adversary. But you know what he's never called. It's the finisher, because that title belongs to one, and that is Jesus Christ. So here's what I want you to know. If you don't finish, it's not the devil's fault. It's your fault. But as long as you make up your mind, I'm going to finish. I'm going
to finish. I'm going to finish. If the devil could have ended you, he'd already done it. But your presence here today shows me you're stronger than what you think you are. Somebody rejoice, because you're still here. Come on, somebody praise him, because that situation didn't take you out. Somebody praise him, because you made it through the hard time, and you say, I'm still here, and I'm not going to quit. I know it's a simple message, but I want to encourage you. The devil cannot stop someone who will not stop. The enemy has no answer for a resurrection. When Jesus resurrected, you know what they said? If we would have known, we would not have crucified him, because there's something about a resurrection that pathos the enemy. We don't have an answer for that. We don't have an answer for how somebody can be dead and sin and come back to life, make another mistake, and then that same spirit that raised Jesus from
the grave will quicken your mortal body. I've built him somebody you may have walked in and felt like you were in the grave, but we serve a resurrecting God, and the enemy has no answer for that. But even Jesus, the Bible says he came to earth God, manifested in the flesh, and for 33 and a half years he ran his race. Some days they mocked him, other days they marveled at his message, until his race one day led him to get symphony. When he said, not my will, but thy will be done, and then his race led him to the cross, it led him to Calvary. They beat him, they scored him, they made a mockery of him, they put him to an open shame, and the Bible says he opened not his mouth as a lamb led to the slaughter. They said, if you really are who you say you are, some of the angels will salute you from this cross, but
Jesus didn't say anything until you get to John chapter 19 and verse number 30. The Bible says after he therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished, and upon that declaration, that's when he gave up the ghost. They could not kill him, he had to lay his life down. But Jesus said, I will not stop prematurely. I'm going to finish my race, and if he can finish his, you can finish yours. We have everything we need to be successful. We have the blood of Jesus. We have the word of God, the spirit of God, the church of God. We can make it, we can make it. I know you're weary. I know you're wondering, is the tide ever going to turn? I know you're wondering brother trailing. Well, I know I feel like I step out of one battle and to another. There is an attack on you. There's an attack on me. The enemy is praying that you quit, because
if you don't quit, you won't lose. He can't finish you, so he needs your cooperation by throwing in the tower. But as long as you'll make up your mind, no matter what happens to me, no matter what happens around me, I am not quitting. There's nothing he can do with you. Here's how the Bible says it. Not only does Jesus call us to follow him, he has summoned two things to follow us. So in this race, we're walking with God. Not only is there something that we're following, there's something that's following us. The Bible says in the book of Psalms, chapter 23, verse number six, that certainly on one side there's going to be goodness, and on the other side there's going to be mercy, and they're following me, and they're reminding me, sir, you can't quit now. You've seen too many miracles. You've heard too many messages. God's come through too many times. There's too much on the line. You've got too
much seed in the ground to forfeit the harvest. You've got too many family members. God promised you we're going to be saved. Can I preach to a weary mother and father the enemy wants you to quit, because if you walk away, you'll never see your children come back, but I'm telling you as long as you stay, God will do what he said he would do. I can't quit. Somebody's depending on me. Somebody's counting on me. I've got family members I've been praying for, and if I quit, I forfeit the harvest. That's why, that's why Paul said, be not weary and well-doing. He did not say don't be weary, because weariness is a byproduct of humanity. Here's what he said, don't be weary and well-doing. Don't get so weary you stop doing what you know to do. Don't get so weary you stop praying. Don't get so weary you stop coming to church. Don't get so weary you stop giving. Why is that important?
Because in due season, you shall, listen to me, listen to me, you shall reap if you don't quit. You don't faint. I'm telling you, I know what it's like to have seed in the ground and soak those seeds with my tears and with my prayers, and you know why I can't quit because there's a seed that hasn't broke forth yet, and God is bound by his word, and as long as I stay, I shall reap. Quit. Come on mama, don't quit. Come on dad, don't quit. Come on grandparents, don't quit. I've got too much in the ground. I've got too many days of prayer. I've got too many days of fasting to quit. You're not finished, contrary to what the enemy wants you to believe. You're not finished. Your family's not finished. Your marriage is not finished. Your ministry's not finished, but you must make up your mind. I will be a finisher. Jesus started this story, and Jesus will be the end
of the story. I will not let the enemy try to make me quit prematurely before Jesus is done working in my life. Paul said, the longer I preach, there's something that wells up in you that says, you know what, I've been contemplating doing in the towel. I've been contemplating just walking away. Pastor, I've been contemplating just giving up, but there's a word that's coming forth today that is refreshing you, and that is strengthening you, and that's going to give you the ability to keep walking. I'm telling you the shore. I knew you can't see the shore of a fulfilled promise right now. I know it's foggy due to the situation you're in, but if you keep moving, you're almost there. I shared with the team before service. I had no intentions of preaching, and I thought I would share with them and just leave it right there. But when I was almost away to be here with this church praying, seeking God, seeking
direction, there was one verse that God kept dropping in my spirit. This is a verse that I found as a new convert. I was the only one in my family serving God. I had a dream before my conversion, and God spoke to me in that dream and said, if you'll serve me, I will reach your family. But I was the only one in the church. Some of my family thought I was crazy. Friends thought I had lost my mind, and then I stumbled upon Psalm 126, when the Bible says in verse number five, in Psalm 126 and five, that day that so in tears shall reap in joy. Maybe, maybe this verse stuck out to me past, because I'm a bit emotional. I'm a cryer in church. You can be off-key, off-beat. I still cry because I'm emotional, especially when it comes to things of God. But I stumbled upon this verse, and I used to cling to it, and I used to
hold to it in those times of prayer, when the tears were soaked to carpet. I would say, God, He that sows in tears shall reap in joy. And it wasn't until about a year or two ago that I decided to read the next verse, verse number six. He that going forth and weeping, but bearing precious seed. God, I'm praying for my family. God, I'm praying for my future family. Come on, young people. God, I'm praying that one day, God's going to turn it around in my life, and my future marriage will not be like the marriage I saw growing up. I'm putting seed in the ground. I'm praying for my lost children. I'm praying for my husband. I'm praying for the city of Toledo. I'm praying for the revival that God promised us. What are you doing? I got some precious seed, and I know I'm weeping right now, but I'm putting it in the ground. But here's what the Bible says. He
said, you shall doubtless come again. You know what that means? You didn't walk away. You didn't quit. When it seemed like the seed was buried and not planted, you didn't give up. And here's what's going to happen when you don't give up. He's going to draw the eyes, and the weeping turns into rejoicing. And the seed turns into a sheath. That is the harvest. That is the fulfillment of the promise. And I've just come to preach to somebody. There's going to be a day when God wipes the tears away, because you're going to be able to walk in church with your sons and daughters and say, this used to be a seed, but now it's a sheath. Now it's the fulfillment of the promise of God. You know how I know that? Because I got to baptize my grandmother in Jesus' name, and she received the Holy Ghost. I got to baptize both of my sisters in the name of Jesus, and they
received the Holy Ghost. I got to baptize my two best friends in the name of Jesus, and they received the Holy Ghost. I got to baptize my stepdad in the name of Jesus, and he received the Holy Ghost. And guess what? There was a day I got to baptize my mother in the name of Jesus, because the seed turns into a sheath as long as you don't give up on the harvest. I had a cousin who was strung out on drugs, meth, heroin, all the hard stuff. He went to prison, and I went to prison, and I looked at him and threw that glass, and I started sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with him. It was so bad the state stepped in, and they took his children away, said you're not fit to be a parent. He started teaching them a Bible study on a Saturday night. When he got out of prison, I started talking to him about baptism in the
name of Jesus, eating in how the blood of Jesus will wash away all of your sins. And they said, when can we get baptized? I said, tomorrow. So I got to baptize him and his wife in the name of Jesus Christ. God filled both of them with the Holy Ghost. They got their children back, and they're still not on drugs. Why? Because he that going for the weeping, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with the sheath in the hand, with the evidence of the promise. You know what you're going to say? I didn't give up on you. I didn't give up on you. I didn't stop praying. I didn't stop believing because I'm not finished, but I will finish. I want you to stand to your feet all over this building. I've come to preach to some weary minds. The enemy is doing his absolute best to get you to quit, because that's the only way you lose if you keep going.
Here's what I believe is happening right now. I'll never forget I read this story. How about this young athlete? His name was Derek Redmond. He'd always trained to be the Olympics. Always wanted to be in the Olympics, but he had injuries, so he kept training. Finally, he got to be in the Olympics. Started out. He was the head of everybody. Jane, he was in first place. But all of a sudden, you can see this on YouTube as well. He grabs the back of his leg, and he's the top one. And this young man that had been so destined for greatness in the middle of the race gets hurt, and now it looks like he's not going to finish. All of a sudden the camera pans, and you see a man running down the steps. He jumps over the wall. He comes onto the Olympic track. The official said, sir, you cannot be on the track right now. This is only for track and
field participants. That man said, get out of my way. That is my son. And I've come to help him finish this race. And you can see it in the video. Sorry, I'm sweaty. You can see it in the video that father takes Derek by the hand, and they stumble to the finish line. Why? Because there was something about a father that couldn't sit in lofty heights and watch their son struggle. So he came down to where he was and said, I'm going to come alongside of you, and I'm going to help you finish. Doesn't that sound like Jesus who came down from heaven to come alongside of us and say, because you are my children, I'm going to help you finish the race. Like the Bible says it like this in John 14, 26. Jesus said, I've got to go, but I'm going to send a comforter to you, which is my spirit, the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit. He said, I'm going
to send that. When you look at what that word means in the Greek, it's paracletos, which means something that is summoned to one side. I want to let you know there's not just a God that's above you and in you, but He's beside you helping you, and you may be limp and you may be hurting and you may be tired, but God has sent me from Louisiana to let you know there's a God that wants to help you today, finish. So I read to you in the beginning in Acts chapter three, when they said, times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. But the Old Testament prophesied, I believe it's Isaiah 28. He prophesied that with stammering lips and another tongue, God would speak to His people, and He says, and this is the rest where the weary can find rest. There's something intrinsically woven in the Spirit of God. Yes, it gives you rest, but it also gives you
the strength to keep going. There's something about God's Spirit, Brother Corey, it's rest. When the tolls of life are all around you, it's rest, it strengthens you, it helps you, it encourages you, and it gives you the ability to keep going. So if you're in this building, it's going to take a little transparency. I don't want anybody to move yet, but if you're in this building and you can say, you know what, I got to be honest. I'm tired, I'm weary. Listen, that doesn't make you bad, that makes you human. We all go through it. There's been season I'm going through it, but the reason I'm still here is before I ever got weary. I made up my mind no matter what happens. What happens? I'm not quitting. I feel like the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 20 when he says, I don't even count my life dear unto myself, and none of these things move me so that I may finish my
course. If you're in this building, maybe there's been an enemy attacking your mind, attacking your marriage, attacking your children, and you're just saying, you know what, God, I need some help. I need some help. It's me, God. I need that refreshing. I feel like I'm on the verge of a breakdown. I feel like I'm on the verge of just quitting and throwing in the towel, but God, there's something you can just do for me today to help me. I'm telling you, if that's you, God has sent me here for you with a word to let you know. He is here to refresh you. The recovery of the breath, the cooling down of the pressure, and to give you a revival, times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord. That's why we can't stop coming to church. Something happens when we gather. But if that's you, I want you to step out of your seat, and I want you to come. I
want you to come. You don't have to be embarrassed. God, I need you. God, I need you. Come on. There's families here right now. If you would be honest with yourself, you would say the last few weeks, the last few months have been hard. God is here to help you. Come on. I want you to press in close, pressing close. There's going to be a refreshing that takes place. There's parents. Listen to me. There's parents. You've asked, God, did you forget? You forget about the promise you made me. You forget. It feels like your children are further away today than they've ever been. I've just come to encourage you. Don't quit. It's not over. I want you to lift up your hands all over the building. They're going to sing in just a moment. But right now, I want you to just begin to cry out to him. Come on. There's help in the building. There's hope in the building. There's a refreshing
in the building. There's healing in the building. Father, in the name of Jesus, these are your people. These are your children. God, I pray right now that there be a refreshing that would be released into this room. Confirm your word, God, as only you can do in the name of Jesus. I pray for weary minds. I pray for weary marriages. I pray for weary parents. Come on. If you're not praying by yourself or for yourself, I want you to link up with somebody. Maybe there's a mother that can pray with another mother. Maybe there's a young person that can pray with another young person. Come on. We're not finished, but we will finish. No ministry leader. I know you're tired. Come on, Sunday School Teacher. I know you're tired.
Scripture references as spoken: Acts 3:19; 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Galatians 6:9; Daniel 7:25; 2 Timothy 4:7-8; Micah 7:8; Matthew 24:13; Hebrews 12:1-2; John 19:30; Psalm 23:6; Psalm 126:5-6; John 14:26; Isaiah 28:11-12; Acts 20:24.