Strong Hands

The Lord has a word for all of us today. This message is something that can be applied to everyone in the room today with me, but I will be very specific in that I'm reaching for men today in the room since it is Father's Day. But this message is for all Luke chapter 6. This same story I'm going to read to you is also in Mark chapter 3 and I believe also in Matthew chapter 9. So it's recorded in three of the gospels. They're there. And it reads this way, verse number six. Now it happened on another Sabbath also that he entered the synagogue and taught. And a man was there whose right hand was withered. So the scribes and Pharisees watched him closely whether he would heal on the Sabbath that they might find an accusation against him. But he knew their thoughts and said to the man who had the withered hand, "Arise and stand here." And he arose and stood. Then Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one thing. Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?" And when he had looked around at them all, he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." and he did so, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. But they were filled with rage and disgusted with one another what they might do to Jesus.

For a little while today on this Father's Day 25, I want to preach about strong hands. Strong hands. The Bible does not give us his name. We don't know where he come from. It doesn't give us where he lived. It doesn't give us any background on his family. Jewish tradition says that he was a brick layer, a common just an ordinary man, but he was reduced to a powerlessness because of the condition of his hand. The Bible speaks of this calamity that had befallen him and the he finds himself in the situation that he's in. Now, what we know from reading the scriptures is that he was in the house of God. What we don't know is whether or not he was in the house of God because he desired to be healed. We know that the Pharisees were there because they were trying to find some accusation that they could hold against Jesus. So, they were looking to see if he was going to perform a miracle on the Sunday so that they would have something against him. But what we are given the information both in Matthew, Mark, and here in Luke is that he was simply there in the house of God. And that he had a withered hand. Luke goes so far, which I read to you the Luke's account, that it was his right hand. And as you've heard me say many times, there's never accidental words in scripture.

The right hand is the hand of power. It's the hand of purpose. It's the it's the hand of authority. It's the hand that gives blessing. So we see that that hand of power and authority and of blessing has been withered while he is in the house of God. He's there. This wasn't something that was identified outside the house of God. But he was there. He was present. He was he was a he was a member of the church that was there. But even sitting on a church pew, he still had something inside of him that was wrong. it wasn't quite right. Maybe he was embarrassed about it or maybe he was there to be healed. We don't know. We will never know this side of eternity what his purpose or reason for being there was. But we know the Pharisees were looking for a miracle. And we know that Jesus knew their thoughts. So as he looks around the room, he sees someone with a need, which I love when Jesus is looking out for those that have a need. That should be good news to us in this room today that that Jesus is here and Jesus pays attention to those who have a need in the room today. So if you have a need in this room today, he's looking for you. He he's searching out for the ones who have a need.

Does anybody have a need in the house today? Anybody bold enough have enough faith today to say, "Hey, hey Jesus, I want you to know that I'm here and I have a need. I have a need for a touch in my body, a healing, a restoration, whatever it may be." Yeah, we're here and he sees. He knows. So Luke saying it was his right hand. It was the hand that dominates his life. It was something that was critically important. It was vital to this man. He had been crippled by it. It had seemingly wasted away. The Bible uses the word withered. It was a withered hand. Everybody say withered. He wasn't listed as a He wasn't listed as lame. Again, the Bible is very specific in what it does. And the word that was used here is withered. He was forced by the situation to meet the demands of life with a disadvantage or when problems come, he was less than what he should have been when it come to handling those situations. Once his hand had been strong. To say withered means at one time it once was complete, but now it's not. It's missing. It's something that was less than what it originally was. And I think it's important again to remind you that he's in the house of God sitting amongst the members with a withered hand. I'm trying to speak to somebody today.

Trying to speak to a man today. I'm trying to speak to someone in this room today to say that do you have a withered hand? Is it is it something that that has caused you to struggle in life? Maybe it hasn't always been that way. Maybe at one time you were strong in your walk with God and you had purpose and you had clarity and you had a calling that you were embracing, but somewhere by time or by chance or by circumstance or by hurt or by disappointment or by failure or by bad decisions or bad choices, somewhere along the way, it's become withered. It's become drawn back. You're still here. You still come to the house of God. You still enjoy being in the presence of God. You still enjoy seeing what God can do. But you're less than what you were at one time. That's what I see when I read this story. I feel like God was speaking to me to let me know that there are people here today at Centerpoint Apostolic Church that you're here. You're in the house of God, but you you're not where you once were in your walk with him. You're still present. You're still here. And I'm thankful that you're here. I'm thankful that you can feel the presence of God moving. I'm thankful that you still have an opportunity to hear the word of God being preached.

But if you're honest with yourself, there's something about you that's a little bit withered. It's a little bit drawn back. It's not quite what it once was. Something that has withered by definition is something that has dried up, something that has shriveled, something that has lost its freshness and its moisture, something that has faded or drooped. Whether we understand it or not, withering is a process of life and time. It didn't happen overnight. My wife, as many of you know, she's a gardener and we have fresh flowers frequently in our house. We have an abundance of fresh flowers. This house is beautiful. I love them all. I really do. They remind me of you. And you're beautiful. Yeah. But something I've noticed about those flowers. She'll go out and she has beautiful rose bushes and right there by the driveway and she'll cut those roses and she'll put them in there and she has dalas in the back and she has all these other flowers that she'll put together and make these beautiful bouques and we have them there. There's always a bouquet of fresh flowers on our kitchen table and there's usually one on the on the bar top and one in the living room there's these flowers. But what I've noticed is you give them a couple days that begin to droop a little bit. What once was so beautiful all of a sudden begins to fade and begins to draw up and begins to shrivel.

Begins to lose some of the beauty and the potential that it had at one time. Why? Because it's been cut off from the source of life. I want you to notice that when that happens, and many of you are know full well what I'm talking about is when it was cut immediately, it didn't immediately dry up and shrivel. Now, for a few days, everything looked like it was okay. For a few days, it was still beautiful. It still had the petals that was there and the leaves were up, but if you give it enough time of being cut off from the source, life and time have a way of causing it to droop and causing it to wither. When I when I began to think about the story, as I was as I was processing and praying and asking God to help me help me unpack what it is he wanted us to have from his word today, he brought back the membrance of those flowers that were there that there are those that that happen to walk away from me for differing circumstances. Sometimes it's a hurt or a frustration or a failure or a bad choice or a bad decision, but it doesn't happen immediately. It is not one of those things that they notice immediately that they've been cut off from the source. And because of that, I feel like we feel like we're okay.

You know, it's like the prodical son when he left his father's house. For a while, everything was good. You know why? Because he still had daddy's money in his pocket. He was able to buy, he was able to do, he was able to he was able to flourish for a while, but the supply had been cut off. And eventually, he ran out of money. And that's what I feel like happens sometimes in our walk with God is when we begin to drift away. It's not a big thing. It's not an immediate. It's a slow erosion. It's a slow withering that takes place in our life and before we know it, we find ourselves sitting in the house of God, but we have a withered hand. We're less than what we used to be. our strength and our power and our vitality and the things that made us who we were. The things that that defined us as a man, the things that defined us by the ministry that we acknowledged and accepted in our it begin to wither back and begin to draw away. We are less than where we used to be. And we got to be careful because life can cause you and I to wither away. And if we're not careful, that process of time and life can cause us to fade into nothingness. We're still present. We're still there. But we're merely a shell of what we once were.

We start out strong. We start out vibrant. We start out sure of ourselves. But then life happens to us and begin to wither and begin to go away. I believe this story is descriptive of the time in which we live in now. I believe that the enemy of our soul, if he could have one thing, I believe he would have crippled our men in the sanctuary. He wants men to have crippled hands. I believe our enemy, if he had anything he wanted, he would want our men to be weak in their hands. He would want our men not to be able to hold on to things, not to be able to hold on to grip onto truth and righteousness, not to stand for what is good and pure and holy. He'd want our men to lose their ability to lay hold of anything that take hold of something that would keep it close to life. And if so, the Bible describes this man as having a withered hand. He was alive, but he couldn't hold on to anything. He was breathing, but he couldn't hold on. He had a withered hand. He started out strong. He started out being able to do it. You start out with this stride but this divines so many men and so many lives that they start pursuing their dream and not God's dream. They start pursuing what they want and not God's purpose for their life.

And before long they end up drifting away. Not not instantly but over time they begin to withdraw and wither away. Life can cause us to lose our ability, our grip and to hold on to what we need to hang on to. What power he had at one time. He could he could get up before dawn. He could prepare himself for the day. He could he could accomplish task. He had a purpose. He had a plan in his life. And at first he didn't realize it. It was not something that he really noticed. But as time went on, it began to draw up. It began to become less dexterious and less loose useful there. And I feel like most of us who are at least my age or above, you we realize that if you don't start strength training, strength goes away. And y'all left me by myself, man. I got no amen on that. Not a one of y'all was like, "I ain't admitting that." No. Yeah. We're going to have a push-up contest here in a minute. See where we at. Yeah. No, it does. It happens over time. It's not instantaneous. It's not like you just wake up one day and you're like, "Man, yesterday I was strong as an ox. Today I'm weak." But over time, over time, you're like, "I used to be able to do that. Now I Now that hurts.

Now I can't move that. I used to be able to grab that and move that piece of furniture over there, but now I can't. My wife bought a chunk of concrete off of marketplace on Friday. A literal chunk of concrete. We drive over there and it was a concrete planter. It was I don't know 36 in wide, you know, by yay. And I reached down to grab it to load it up in the back of the Yukon. And when I first grabbed it, it didn't move. I stepped back from it. I looked at it. I'm like, is it bolted down? I'm like, "What is this?" And I looked at her. I'm like, "What did you buy?" She did help me. You got the end of it. She did. She's strong and beautiful. And I love going and picking up marketplace things. My face may not show up, but deep down inside I do. Sometimes it fades. You don't realize it. You can be in the house of God and you can be in the presence of God. You can be hearing things, but if you're not working towards the goal he has for you, you can find yourself being withdrawn and withered. You can find yourself into a position and a place where you cry out one day for God and things don't seem to do what they used to do. One time you used to be able to be able to pray and it seemed like you were able to move heaven and earth at the same time, but now it seems like it's a distant ring.

And you maybe don't know why. Maybe you haven't realized that you're living with a withered hand. You're living with something that was never intended to be. When life hits us and the enemy attacks us, many times what happens is hope begins to shrivel and love begins to shrivel and vision begins to shrivel and it starts to die and we become despondent over what could have been. How hopeless and how helpless a man is who touches the task that is before him but doesn't have the faculties of a strong hand to make it happen because he's lost a relationship with God. And I'm speaking to somebody in the room today. Anatomically, the hand is defined as one of the chief ways for physically manipulating the environment that human beings live in. The bones and the hands 27 and the multiple muscles and tendons and nerve endings. It's one of the ways we feel and sense. And there's so many things that are tied into the tips of our fingers that give us the ability to know and become aware. Allows us to navigate, allows us to work. It gives us a skill set that that is unique to humankind that is there. But when it becomes withered and drawn away, we miss these things. We can't always fill out the way we used to be. I had a bicycle accident about three years ago, three and a half years ago.

And I was out here on 96. We were on a long bike ride and I had a bicycle accident. and I fell over and it exacerbated an old injury I had back when I played football. And because of that, I've lost some dexterity in my left hand. And you probably have noticed from time to time, or you will now that I've mentioned it, that I can't always make my left hand do what my right hand does. That's why usually I put my left hand in my pocket. I use my right hand because my left hand doesn't work as well as my right hand. I'm living with a with a dysfunction. I'm living with a nerve endings that aren't right. I don't have the ability to feel with the tip of my index finger on my left hand anymore. I lost that ability there. And it may not seem like it's a lot, but when you're trying to work on something with your left hand and you can't feel the tip of your finger, it's there. Some of you know what I'm talking about. It's very frustrating because I remember one time I could have the ability to do that and I'm missing it. It's not there. Same things that happen to us in the physical also happen in the spiritual. And if we're not careful, sometimes we can get find ourselves drifting away from God and not being where we're needed to be, not having spent the time digging out and pouring into the opportunity that God has for us.

I know bad things will happen, all right? Something major will happen in our life and we find ourselves pulling the Bible out and spending some time in prayer. But I'm here to tell you that if you're going to be a man or a woman who has strong hands, this is a daily walk you got to have with God. It's something you have to work on, just like the physical. If you're going to maintain your physical fitness, it's something that you have to do. It's unfair how quickly we deteriorate. It's unfair. I've run, I don't know, a dozen or so half marathons in my life. And I'm going to tell you, the very first one I ever ran back when I was young and good-looking, I took a month off from my run. One month, just one, four weeks from me running 13 miles with no problem. Four weeks later, I went out for a run. I tried to run three miles and I thought I was dying. I'm like, "Something's wrong with me. I need to go see a doctor." There's no way I ran 13 miles four weeks ago. And but that's what happens unless you practice, unless you're working, unless you're doing strength training. It goes away. That same thing is applied in the spiritual as well. It's a daily activity. It's daily talking to God. It's daily reaching out for him. It's daily applying his word.

It's daily seeking after his face. It's daily looking for his guidance. It's daily following after the calling. It's a daily activity. If we're not doing it on a daily basis, we begin to wither and we become less than and we lose out on what God has for us. And I'm telling you, it affects your life. But it also impacts the church when men and women are not having strong hands in our life and we're allowing other things and distractions and other pursuits to take prominence in our life. I'm here to tell you, you can have a good job and you can have a career, but don't you ever put those things above the call of God in your life. And I'm here to tell you, every man, woman that's in this room today has a call of God on your life. Some purpose that you were created for. And when you discover that, you have to pursue it with passion and purpose every day of your life if you're going to have the strength to accomplish what God wants you to do. We need strong hands in the house of God. We don't need a withered hand. We don't need to be limited by our choices and our decisions. I need men and women to have strong hands. Centerpoint needs men who have strong hands. I don't mean to rule with an iron fist. There's difference in being overbearing and having a strong hand.

Our church needs men to have strong hands. I will tell you this morning that the devil laughs and he mocks at a weak-handed man. The man that has no grip on life. The man who has no hold on anything. The devil mocks and ridicules the man who cannot hold on to anything. And the enemy wants to the ability of our men to grip the ability of our young men to hold on to things. I'm going to tell you something. Withered hands cannot wreck his kingdom. He's not worried about the wither hand man because he know he doesn't have any power. He's not worried about withered hands cannot bless your family. Withered hands cannot hold on to things that are important. Withered hands cannot feel for the things that are so important in life. having a withered hand. There's a dissent and consecration of the nerve endings in almost any part. So you got to pay attention to the feeling out. You can't do it unless you have a strong hand. I want to tell you men this morning, there's nothing the enemy of your soul would rather see than you to have a withered hand. One of the greatest blessings that a man can do is to put his hands on his kids and pray blessings over them. But a withered hand can't do that. Withered hand can't do that. Huh? You know, my daughters, Kaylee, Avery, and Emmery.

I love them. They're smart and they're beautiful. And it is one of the highest things in my life that they call me dad. I love them so much. There's been times when I and they'll tell you there's been times when I've been praying for them. I'll just walk by over here and I'll feel I need to pray for one of my girls. And when I pray for them, I put my put my hands on their head and I pray specific prayers. God, let the spirit that rest on me pour onto them. God, what you've given me, I pray, God, you give them a double blessing. God's been abundantly good to me, he has blessed my life beyond measure, beyond what I can even describe. But I pray for my children that they would have a double portion of what has rested on me and my life. You know why? Because my dad put his hands on my head. And he prayed that blessing over me. And it's my honor to do that to my children. But you can't do that with a withered hand. You can't do it if you've been playing your part for the world or your part for yourself and you haven't been obedient to the call of God in your life. Listen to me, men. It matters how you live. We need men with strong hands in our day. We need men that know how to lead.

We don't need a weak-minded man. We don't need a weak-spirited man. We need someone who's had their hands on filthy things and things that don't do any good, things that are only of pleasure, things that are only of material gain. Listen to me. You don't need that kind of stuff. You need to be things that are holy and righteous and true and pure so that when you put your hand on your kids, you have the ability with a strong spiritual hand to pray blessings into their life. They're going to face things in this world beyond what you and I can even imagine. They're facing stuff every day. They need somebody in their life who's trying to make the way better for them. We need stronghanded men today. A weak hand can't grip the promises of God. Hands that can't take a hold of God through the night. Hands that have lost the power to apprehend. Lost the power to control. Lost the power to direct. Men cannot function with a withered hand. They can't operate to their full potential with a hand that is withered. It's not just that we're hold something, but that we keep holding on to the right things. Is there any men here today who understand what I'm talking about? It's important that we know how to hold on to the truth of the word of God, but you got to have a strong hand to hang on to it.

The world has tried to neutralize the men. You know, Hollywood tries to paint us as a dummy. Just the guy that's in the corner standing as the good laugh. He He's never has the ability to make a right choice or right decision. Either paints us as the villain or the dummy, but never just a good man. A good moral man who just loves his family who wants to provide. A man with a strong hand, who has a hand on morals and truth and righteousness and goodness and purity. No, it never gets portrayed that way. Why? Because the enemy is always trying to demonize the man in the home. Make it not right. But I've come to minister the gospel of Jesus Christ to say to this church, we need some men who have strong hands. A man knows how to grip onto the truth and hang on to it. A man who's willing to sell out for God, not for the world, not for fame, not for fortune, but to God. When I began to think about this message, I thought about the need and the hour in which we live in for men with strong hands. Paul writing to his young protege Timothy said this in 1 Timothy 2:8. I desire therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and without doubt. We need working hands. We need holy hands. We need We need hands that don't doubt what God's going to do in their life around here.

When I was I was thinking about us going through this building project 5 years ago. How many of you men helped us over here? Helped us build this building, helped us hang sheetrock, helped us put the studs in the wall, helped us sweep up and clean up and let's be honest, there were times that we were involved in things that we didn't know what we were doing. We acted like we knew what we were doing, but we were here. We were working. and we were doing what we were accomplishing. Why? Because we were unified together. We're stronger in n numbers. We need each other. We need each other. And when we get together, we can accomplish great things for the kingdom of God. We need men not just physically that are there, but men who are spiritually clean, not engaged in questionable activities, not not having secret things on their phone or secret things at work or secret things in their life, but h have the ability to come into the sanctuary of God and we begin to worship can lift up their hands and their holy hands without wrath or doubting. We we've had a lot happen over the last several years. We've lost a lot of our pillars in the church. We lost a lot of men who are so important. I said earlier, I miss my dad. I do. I miss him a lot.

I miss him praying over me. I miss his voice. I got voicemails. I pulled up one today. Bishop was in there and I just played it. I miss your dad, Bishop. Miss Elder Depri. I miss him being here. I miss the impact he had in my life. He spoke things into me. I'm the man I am today because your dad took time to speak into my life. I miss it. I miss Ed Sailing. Sister Peggy, I was thinking about him today, too. He was He was who he was. He was the weeping prophet. He cried every time he got behind the pool pit. There's two or three times I vividly remember when he come over to me when I became pastor and he spoke a word into my life. I miss men with strong hands. These men helped us build this church. They helped us get to where we were. They helped us helped us make things happen because they were willing to sell out and to hang on to what was right and what was true at the sacrifice of their own personal cost. Who understood there's something greater than the moment I'm living in. I'm speaking to somebody today. You need to push past the moment. There's a greater cost than just a moment that you're in. There's a greater price to pay than just a temporary moment of pleasure or dismissive spirit that it's not such a big deal.

I'm telling you, there's something about being in the house of God with a withered hand. The enemy will leave you alone because he knows when you have a withered hand, you can't accomplish the purpose that God has for you in your life. And I'm here to call men out today. I'm here to call people out that we need to not have withered hands in the house of God. We need to have strong hands. We need to have holy hands. We need to have righteous hands so that we can accomplish God's purpose and plan for this church. We need hands that know how to bless, know how to pass on things. Psalms 24, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded upon the seas and established upon the floods. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul into vanity, nor sworn deceit sworn deceitfully, he shall receive the blessing from the Lord and the righteousness from God of his salvation. I want to know, do you have clean hands? Do you have a pure heart? Where are you at today, man? Where are you at? Do you have Do you have clean hands and a pure heart? Like, what have you been putting your hands around?

What have you been putting your hands around that you shouldn't have been putting your hands around? What have you been thinking about that you shouldn't have been thinking about? What have you been doing? What have you been suddenly inviting into your life? I'm here to tell you, it's caused your hand to wither. It's robbing you of what God's wanting to do in your life. I'm here to tell you I'm looking for someone to have strong hands in the house of God today. We stand here at the greatest moment of the New Testament church. Listen to me. Outside of what Jesus did when he poured out his spirit in Acts 2, this is the greatest moment of the New Testament church. We're living in the day and age in which I know we're going to see the Lord come back. We're in the moment. Why would you lose out now? Why would you come this far? Why would you put in all this time and effort to be simply satisfied sitting on a pew with a withered hand when you can stand up and have strength and power to accomplish his purpose and his will for the kingdom in the hour in which we're living in? I need men with strong hands today to stand up and say, "I'm with you, pastor. I'll stand strong. No matter what I got to sell out, I'll sell out for the kingdom."

It's too important. There's too many things relying on you and I to have a strong hand. Nehemiah's story. The book of Nehemiah, most of us know it, the flyover version. He was in captivity, but God had elevated him to a position of importance. He was the cup bearer for the king. He seen some travelers coming back from Jerusalem, from his home. He began to ask, "Hey, tell me what you seen. I so long to be home. I don't want to be in this captive place. Tell me what you seen." And the report came back and it was the gates are broken down and the buildings are broken and burnt. Everything's in disarray. It's in disrepair. And it so affected Nehemiah. It just caught him in his heart because he just wants to go home. Well, the king sees that his countenance has fallen. Dangerous position to be in because no one was allowed to be sad in front of the king. So the king asked him, says, "Nehemiah, what's wrong with you? Nehemiah prays." You go back and read it. Chapter one, Nehemiah prays. God help me in this moment. And God opened a door of opportunity for Nehemiah to tell him what was on his heart. And the king grants him the wish to go back and to work on rebuilding the walls that were there. Now, I love this. I brought this point up before.

This I think it's so powerful that Nehemiah when he goes back home, the first thing he does after he surveys everything, he goes around looks at all makes makes a list and then he comes back and he finds men and he says, "Look, this is what I want you to do. I want you to work on the I want you to work on the wall that's right outside your house. right outside your house. Go back to chapter three of Nehemiah to go read it. Read it. Every one of those guys, he says, "I want you to work on the fence or the gate or the wall that's right outside your house." Why? Because he knew if I could get to the dads and say, "Hey, would you be willing to repair what's broken right outside your house?" There's something in a man's heart that says, "Yeah, I can take care of that." Because I want to make sure that my house is protected. There's something that's why I'm reaching for men today. It's Father's Day. I'm being a little bit pointed in my message, but this message is for everyone. It's important what you do. It's important that you pay attention to what's going on in your house. I don't live in your house. You live in your house. You live in your house. Listen to me, man. It is your God-given authority that's that that he's given to you to be the man of the house.

Not the Lord over there, not to rule, like I said, with an iron fist, but you to be the protector. for you to set the tone, for you to set the spiritual temperature, for you to be the leader in the home, for your kids to know what it sounds like to hear their dad pray. Do they know your voice? Do they know what it sounds like? Do they know that you're a man of God? Do they know that you're a man of prayer? Do they know that you're a man who knows the word of God? Do they know what it's like when they get sick before you go and go to the doctor's office? Do you pray for them? Do you do you do you put your hand on your head of your child? Are you this strong man that is there that says, "Look, we're going to go to the doctor, but on our way to the doctor, I'm praying in Jesus name that he's going to do." I'm talking about having a strong hand. Listen to me. I thank God that we have Advil. But I pray in Jesus name while I take it. I do that. I got faith. I got faith in God and I got faith in Advil. You can look set the example. Be the strong spiritual leader that God has called you to be in your house. Quit letting mama do it.

Matthew 5, Jesus speaking says, "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is sit on a hill cannot be hidden, nor they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven. Go back to verse 15 on the screen. It gives light to all where in the house. You know, I'm getting ready to close. The musicians can come. We're living in a day and age where it just keeps getting darker and darker. It's not getting better. It's getting darker. I need some strong handed men know how to hang on to truth, to hang on to the light of truth. Men, you were given a light when you came in. I want you to turn that light on. Every man, hold it up. Do you see what happened in this room in the darkness? When we stand and hold the light, you see what happens is even in the darkest moment, it can't stop the light. It can't stop it. But if you got a withered hand, you can't hold the light.

You can't hold it up. I'm telling you, it's for those in your house. Listen to me, dads. Listen to me, men. Listen to me, future fathers. Listen to me, granddad. Listen to me. It's important that we don't have a withered hand. There are so many people who we are accountable to who need us to hold the light of truth in this dark world we're living in right now. There's so much information and we have mistaken information with knowledge. It's not knowledge. It's just information. But I need some men with strong hands who know how to hang on to the truth, who know how to take their light and not hide it under a basket, not hide it in secrecy, not hide it behind the a password, not hide it behind a no. but willing to stand and say, "God, I'm willing to hang on to your truth because my family's dependent on me to hold my light up and shine because there's going to be some dark times coming and I want to make sure I'm shining the light to say, "No, honey, over here's where you need to be. Don't drift over there. Stay right here with dad. Let me show you the way. I'm going to lead you to safety. I'm going to lead you to heaven one day." We have to have men with strong hands in this day and age. We need people with strong hands who are hanging on to the word of God, who are shining the light of truth that is here in this world we're living in.

So I'm asking today, I'm asking, is there anybody willing to have a strong hand? Now listen before you answer, okay? It's not just simply you saying, "Yeah, but it's going to cost you something. It's going to cost you something. Anytime there's strength training involved, pain and sacrifice are there. I've been working out with some guys and it seemed like the optimal workout time is around 4:45, 5:00 and nobody really likes that hour. But we got to fit it in to get the rest of the stuff during the day. That's what I'm saying. It's going to it's going to you're going to have to prioritize some something in your life. If you're going to have strong hands, I'm talking about spiritually strong hands. If you're going to have some spiritually strong hands, it's going to take some time you investing in this, right? It's going to take some time you pushing back from the table and calling your own fast instead of waiting on me to call a fast. It's going to take some time of you putting some good things in you without me saying you got to put these good things in you. It's you having a desire to fulfill the God-given office that you have been given. And I want to know there any men who want to have strong hands. I want to know any man. I'm waiting. Is there any man want to have a strong hand?

Thank you, Brady. Anybody want to have a strong hand? I'm putting you on spot on Father's Day. I'm going to give you cake in a minute, so you can at least be on the spot now. I gave you a flashlight, too. So, here's what I want. I want I want every man who wants to have a strong hand. I want you to come down if you're comfortable. I want you to come down here. Yeah. Come on. Come on. This is what I know. There's enough representation here. There's enough representation here to turn this city upside down right here to turn this city upside down. If we will truly take to heart that I'm going to be a man who has a strong hand, that I'm going to hang on to truth and righteousness, and I'm not going to have tenacity, and I'm not going to walk away. And I know it's going to get uncomfortable sometimes. And I know it maybe be a little bit awkward when I have to be the one that stands up and prays. But I'm looking, I'm telling you, we got too much at stake. Too much. I need that light shining cuz the world keeps getting darker and darker and darker and darker. I want to shine my light and I'm going to hang on to it with a strong hand. And I'm going to have my other one on the word of God.

And I'm going to march my family out of this darkness that surrounded me. In fact, here's what I feel like. Jesus himself said, "The gates of hell shall not prevail." Have you thought about that? I mean, hell has put up a fence and they're trying to keep in what the enemy is taking on the other side of the fence. And Jesus said, "No, my kids are coming and that that gate is going down." So, but you know how it happens? Strong hands. Strong hands. I need some strong handed men now. Come on, guys. Squish in close because we got something coming behind you. Now, I know. I wonder if I got any strong-handed women that want to stand up cuz hey, we need y'all, too. We look a whole lot better with y'all. We're ugly bunch. So, I want I want us I want the ladies just come on up. Push in close. Pushing close. Pushing close. I want us to pray. All right. If you if you where you can get to your dad, are you where you can get to your husband? I want you to push up. Baby girl, come up here. My other three, if you're in this room, come on up here. Sometimes, let's admit it, man. Sometimes we get tired. We do. We get tired. Sometimes I need my wife to pray for me. She's a good woman. She is.

I know I pick on her a lot, but I would not be here today without her. I wouldn't. I'm telling you, there's been times when she's put her hand on me and prayed for me, and God moves. He moves. So, what I want is if you can, and if you see somebody right there, if it's appropriate, I just want you to put your hand on their shoulder. I want you to pray. Put your hand on their shoulder right there. I want us to pray for I want the body praying for the body. We need strong hands. Okay. I want you to pray that prayer. We missing kids. Ah, there you go. Come on up. I want us to pray right now. I want us to pray specifically for this that we'll stand in this day and age with everything that's bombarding us, with everything that's trying to come against us, what everything is trying to tear down the family, that we will have strong hands to hang on to truth. Let's do it right now. Jesus. Oh God, we need you. We need you today, Lord. God, I pray for every family, for every home that's represented here, oh God, that you would touch and move, that you would strengthen us in the hour in which we live in, God, that we could stand for truth and stand for righteousness, that we could hang on, God, to what you've given us.

God, I pray that men would step up and be that God-given, God called leader in the home. Come on, men. Let me hear you cry out for God right now. Oh, we need you, Jesus. We need you. Lead me, God. Direct me, Lord. I need you. Order my steps in your word.