The Apostolic Church's Greatest Power

He sat in the back of the philosophy final exam, and the papers were handed out. And the final exam in the philosophy class was simply a piece of paper with one word, followed by a question mark, at the top of the page. It was simply the question: Why? They were given 90 minutes to fill out the exam, and students began to feverishly write paragraph after paragraph of answers to the question Why. And the young man sitting in the back of the room really hadn't studied for the final exam. And so in a matter of about 10 seconds, he wrote his answer and he turned in the final exam to the professor. When all the papers were graded, he received the only A in the class. He finished in 10 seconds what took others 90 minutes. They wrote all the theories and all the truths and all the principles and all the facts that they had studied all semester. But the one guy in the back who hadn't studied, to the question Why, he simply answered: Why not?

So why do we come together and worship God with abandon on a Friday night at camp meeting? Why not come to camp meeting on a Friday night and worship God with all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind, and all of our strength? Look at somebody and say, "Why not praise Him? Why not wave your hand? Why not dance a little bit? Why not lift your voice in praise to the Lord? He's worthy. He's worthy." Praise God. Praise God. Oh my, my. This has been such a marvelous service, and I am just glad. As Brother Tenney used to say, this service has burned a blister on my soul. I feel that tonight, and I am so honored to be here. You can make your way back to your seat, but remain standing, if you would. And I want you to grab your Bible, and we're going to go to the Word of the Lord in just a moment.

To Bishop Jordan and Sister Annette Jordan, thank you for your leadership and your kind hospitality to me this week. We love the Jordans. Thank God for them. Thank you, Brother and Sister Carter, the district board. Brother Reading, for that marvelous message today that you preached. What a word from the Lord. My, my. Brother Woodward's ministry was so impacting to me throughout this week, and I am grateful for these men of God. Brother Mitchell, Sister Mitchell, I give you honor. You were the one that invited me to preach at this camp meeting under your leadership, and I honor your tenure as district superintendent here in the Indiana district.

Let's go to the Word of the Lord. The Gospel of Luke, chapter 14. In fact, if you have your Bible, would you hold it up? I want to see your Bible. Hold it up real high. Real high. Hold it up real high. Now, keep it up in the air, but I want you to look around. Because when I ask you to hold your Bible in the air, there are leather-bound books that are high. There are smartphones that are lifted high. There are tablets that are up in the air. I asked this at a meeting recently. I said, "Hold up your Bible." And everyone did exactly what you did, except for one young man on the front row. He just pointed at the screen, because he knew, sure enough, it's going to be on that screen. Luke chapter 14. The praise, the worship, the music, the instrumentation has just been marvelous. We give God praise for these great anointed musicians and singers.

Luke 14 and verse number 25. "Now great multitudes went with him. And he turned and said to them, If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." Now, I'm going to read a few more verses, but how many of you know, in the catalog on how to get people to follow you, that's probably not a main chapter right there. 27: "And whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." Verse 33: "Likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple." In the New Living Translation of the 33rd verse, it reads like this: "So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own."

Now, if you get to know me, I am not a man that is given over to superlative language about things that are not worthy of superlative language. For instance, I've had someone — a waitress at a restaurant — read for me the dessert menu, and she said, "Now, this lemon pie is to die for." No, no. I have never seen a piece of lemon pie for which I want to give my life. Not even close. We throw words around like "amazing," "phenomenal." And most of the time it's not phenomenal, but we're given over many times to superlative language. So the title for my message — I'm going to take a risk tonight, but I feel like the Bible will back this up. With the help of the Lord, I want to preach on the apostolic church's greatest power. The apostolic church's greatest power. I want God to speak tonight. And if you're ready to be open to what God wants to say in this great place, would you just set your Bible down? And I trust your prayers right now one more time. Would you lift up your voice and say, "God, I'm open. We have prepared our heart with worship, and we yield ourselves to You. Unequivocally write upon our hearts with the power of the Holy Ghost tonight. Thank You for the sweep of Your Spirit. Thank You for the manifestation of Your presence in this house. Would You, through the Word, let it be mixed with faith, Lord, and bring forth supernatural understanding, illumination and revelation. Let it be so, in Jesus' name." Everyone say: in the name of Jesus. God bless you. You may be seated. Thank you for standing. Thank you for following along in your Bible.

I also want to say how great it is to be with our wonderful friends Brian and Ginger Labat. Wonderful pastors in Illinois, and they are dear friends of our family. We love the Labats so very, very much.

In the 1980s and the 1990s, Roberto Durán from Panama was a champion boxer. Now, lest you judge me for using a boxing illustration, it is mentioned in Scripture. Paul talks about beating the air. So, we're in the Bible. Durán was quite the champion. In fact, his nickname in Spanish was "Mano de Piedra," or "Hands of Stone." That's a pretty nifty name for a boxer. On November the 25th, 1980, he engaged a man in a match for the second time, named Sugar Ray Leonard. This particular bout in November was for the middleweight championship of the world, and Durán had already won the first fight between the two boxers in June of that year. Yet when this match began, it was very obvious from the opening bell that on this night Durán just did not have it. Sugar Ray Leonard was quicker. He danced around the ring. His punches landed more solidly than Durán's. And he was beating the champion to a pulp in the ring. One round after another, punches connecting with the chin — uppercuts, lefts, rights — and it was so obvious that this was not going Durán's way. And then in the eighth round of that championship fight, something unfolded that shocked the sports world. Roberto Durán, the middleweight champion of the world, after getting pulverized by Sugar Ray Leonard for seven-plus rounds, looked at the referee in the middle of the eighth round, lifted up his gloves, both of them high, and simply uttered two words. "No más." "No más." He started shouting it. "No más." It shocked the referee. The referee looked at him with a bit of a quizzical look and said, "No más?" To which Durán replied, "No más." Now, for those of you that English is your mother tongue and you do not know Spanish, let me help you. "No más" simply means: no more. I'm done. I give up. A boxer who was a champion decided, "I have had far too much beating, and I do not want to go through this one more moment. No more. I give up. I'm done."

You see, the struggle can be very real in Indiana. Too often, there is far too much of me, and not enough of Him. You and I live in a self-made culture. We make it happen in America. Capitalism and personal rights rule the day. In fact, this individualistic spirit is inbred in our culture's DNA. It's all about us. It's about our comfort. It's about our personal satisfaction. And so almost imperceptibly, if we are not prayerful and careful, we can embrace a rugged attitude which elevates my opinion and my reality above — or at least on par with — biblical responsibility. You see, herein is the struggle. Once we are born again, we do not exist in a spiritual democracy. Oh no. Once we are born again of water and of Spirit — I want to be kind, but I want to be direct — once we are born again, it really doesn't matter what we think. You say, "Brother Gaddy, it matters what I think." It matters as long as we are not born again. But when we are born again of water and Spirit, we're not in a democracy anymore. But we are in something far greater than a democracy. You see, there exists a key which provides access from where we are tonight to where I believe God wants to bring His church. And that key is full and total surrender. I want men in this house to get good tonight at giving up, and surrendering to the will of God. I want women in this house to get okay with saying, "It's not me that sits on the throne anymore. But there is a God who is above all, and He is through all, and He is in us all. There is nobody like Him. There is nobody greater than Him. There is nobody beside Him. I surrender. I give up. I agree to stop resisting. I agree to stop fighting." Because in the end, if we fight against God, we know we will not win.

See, yielding and surrender requires humility. It requires us to come off of the throne and to put Him on the throne. It requires so much less of us, and more of Him. That's why the proverb writer said, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him" — not just in some of our ways, not just in our ways in the church house, not just in our ways when our pastor sees, but in all of our ways acknowledge Him — "and he shall direct thy paths." James said, "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." That's what James said. But Peter added, "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time." James declared it. Peter echoed it. The Apostle Paul wrote on it: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." It was this great man, Jesus the Christ, who went a little farther and fell on His face and prayed, saying, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."

Our greatest power is not in our achievement. Our greatest power, apostolic church, does not reside in our ability or our charisma or our skill or our strategies. I thank God for ability. I thank God for strategies. I thank God for the giftedness of the Indiana district. But our power is in our decision to surrender to the will of God. When you and I surrender to the will of God, we become a real enemy of hell. When you and I surrender and say, "Not my will, but Your will be done," we become a weapon in the hands of this great God. There is a power in surrender. Listen to me. When we repented, we had to surrender. We didn't come on our own terms. We had to turn around and say, "The way I've been living hasn't worked. I come to You, Lord Jesus, and I ask You to forgive me." When we were baptized in water in the name of Jesus Christ, we did not baptize ourselves. We had to surrender to the authority of a man of God that put us underwater and called the name of Jesus Christ over us. Come on. When we were filled with the Holy Ghost, we had to surrender our language and our tongue. When we live a holy life, we must surrender body, soul, and spirit. When we accepted the call of God on our life, we had to surrender. Indiana District, surrender is not optional. Surrender is absolutely necessary. Surrender is not something you take or you don't take. We must surrender.

We must surrender. It's our greatest power. There is something about a man and woman of God who says, "Lord, it's not about me. It's not about my reputation. It's not about my agenda. It's not about who likes me, who is clapping for me." It's about a man or a woman of God who gets on their face and says, "Not my will, but Your will be done. Shake this state with Your glory. If You can use my hands, use my hands. If You can use my voice, use my voice." Let me preach to our young preachers right now. You don't need a pulpit. We need a prayer room where our spirit dies, and our agenda dies, and our reputation dies. The pathway up is down. The pathway up is down. God has a way of taking a surrendered vessel and trusting that man, trusting that woman.

I must surrender, first of all, to the kingdom of God. I got to give up control. The kingdom is the domain, or the influence, of the King. I've got a news flash for somebody in this great district. This is not our church. This is not my church. This is not Brother [St. Sinclair]'s church. This is not Brother Carter's church. This is not Bishop's church. This is God's church. He said, "Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Brothers and sisters, we must get good at surrendering to the kingdom of God.

When I surrender to the kingdom of God, there are two words that order my priorities, my conduct, and my goals. You ready? You don't even need a piece of paper for this one. The kingdom. See, the kingdom of Jesus Christ provides for numerous and varied privileges, great benefits and responsibilities. But please hear me, apostolic church: there is only one right that we possess in the kingdom of God, and that is the right to surrender my soul completely to Him. That's the only right I have. You say, "This is my praise team. This is my song." No. No. Is that not your Sunday school class? Those are not your people. Those are not your preachers. Oh, you didn't die for them. You didn't go to the cross for them. There is one King in this kingdom, and His name is Jesus Christ, and we must surrender to the kingdom.

That's why, when Jesus was teaching His followers to pray, He said, "In this manner, therefore, pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread." Do you know that Jesus taught that, before I ask for anything personally, I ask for His kingdom to come first? You say, "I got a big list that I want the Lord to take care of." I know we've got lists. But what if we would transition our prayer life to walk into His presence and say, "You are the King of the kingdom, and I declare that You are Lord of my life. And I am a child of the King, and so I am asking for You to give me my priorities, You to give me my duties, You to give me my agenda for today"? Listen, listen to me. The word of the King is always right. When we pray and say, "Lord, let Your kingdom come in Gary. Let Your kingdom come in Anderson. Let Your kingdom come in Indianapolis. Let Your kingdom come in Brown County. Let Your kingdom come in Seymour. Let Your kingdom come in Hobart." And the Lord starts to drop spiritual nuggets in your mind and give you something from heaven — you don't have to question that. You have been praying that the King would give the priorities. And when the King speaks, it's always right.

Oh, I got to preach it tonight. Matthew 9 and 36. Jesus was moved with compassion when He saw the multitudes, having no shepherd. And He said to the disciples, "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into" — what's those next two words? "His harvest." The King is the Lord of the harvest. He's already got our harvest in mind, because He's the Lord of the harvest. He already knows where the influx is coming. He already knows who you're going to meet next. He is the Lord of the harvest. We must — I must — surrender to the kingdom of God. His kingdom, His influence, His domain, His priorities are above everything else.

We may pray it again before we leave, but I wonder how many — maybe several hundred in this house right now — could just lift up your voice. You don't have to stand right now, but I wonder if there'd be a prayer come up from this great tabernacle that would say, "God, let Your kingdom come in Indiana. Let Your kingdom come in Indiana." Come on. I wonder if there's a man or woman of God that would say, "I'm surrendering on Friday night to the kingdom. I'm surrendering to the kingdom. I'm surrendering to the King of the kingdom. I'm surrendering to Your agenda, Lord. I'm surrendering to Your priorities, King. I'm coming under submission. I am surrendering to the kingdom of God." Come on, say it with me: "God, let Your kingdom come." Please hear me tonight. I must surrender to God's kingdom.

And I must surrender responsibilities. Now, I'm not preaching to the Southern Baptist Convention tonight. I'm not preaching to the United Methodist Church tonight. And if you're here from those denominations, we welcome you. We're glad you're here. But I'm preaching to the apostolic church tonight. And in the apostolic church, it is incumbent and necessary — according to the pattern of the New Testament, for the church to access everything it's going to in the future — that we get really good at surrendering responsibilities. Now, I don't anticipate that anybody's going to jump over chairs right now. I don't think anybody's going to take a lap right now. But let's just go to the Word of the Lord. You and I open our Bibles to the book of Acts, chapter 2, and we rejoice. It's the new birth message. It's the plan of salvation. And we ought to get excited about the book of Acts, chapter 2. But honey, did you know there are other chapters in the book of Acts? I would submit to this great camp meeting that Acts chapter 6 is the hinge point of the entire book of Acts. Listen to me. When Acts chapter 6 opens up, God is giving the church what they have been asking for. So I must rise in this pulpit and challenge this great district: What are we going to do when God gives us what we have been praying for? How are we going to act? How are we going to respond? What practices are we going to start? Acts chapter 6: "In those days, when the number of disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected" in the daily ministration.

Now, the reason why I am chuckling is because in my experience, church growth causes issues. I told you you wouldn't be running the aisles. You say, "No, Brother Gaddy — not if it's a one-God, Jesus-name move of God. Everything's going to be perfect. Everybody's going to work together in harmony. Nobody's going to disagree." I got a Hebrew word for that, and it's hogwash. Because in the Bible, when the Lord gave the church what they were planning and praying for, it caused issues. People started murmuring. "I don't have enough face time with the pastor anymore. I don't have front time with the pastor's wife anymore. Seems like, with all the new people, they're getting the attention, and we're kind of neglected back here." Church growth causes issues. And so the hinge point of Acts chapter 6 was when the men and women of God decided we have to come to some sort of understanding as to what we're going to do with all these jobs, all these responsibilities, because we do not want to lose what God has given to us. So the Scripture says that they chose out seven men, whom they appointed over this business, and the apostles said, "But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word."

Now, I would like everybody that is not a senior pastor to look right up here. And can I tell them — put your eyeballs on the forehead of the short preacher right now. Look right up here. If you are not a senior pastor, look up here. You ready? I am commissioning you, and I am challenging you, to go home from camp meeting and come up for your senior pastor with an "I don't do" list. Now, I know some of you are begging me in your mind to explain that right now. Let me tell you what I don't mean. I don't mean that you come to your pastor and you say, "Pastor, I don't do this, and I don't do this, and I don't do this." I'm not talking about a list for you. I'm talking about a list for your pastor. Now, everybody look up here. Senior pastors, you can look up here, too. What Brother Gaddy is not preaching on Friday night is that a senior pastor is too good to do anything in the church. So if you walk out of here and say, "Brother Gaddy — he used to be a pastor; he's just kind of coming to bat for the pastors, thinking they all need to be high and mighty and sit up on—" I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about being a biblical church. I'm talking about surrendering responsibilities according to the New Testament church example.

By the way, I had a family move to our church years ago. Sweet family, sweet family. And the young man in the family came to my office on a Sunday morning, and he said to me — and by the way, if this is a habit in your church, you just do your thing — but he came to me and he said, "Pastor, would you like me to escort you to the sanctuary, and I will carry your Bible for you?" And I think I really hurt his feelings, 'cause I said, "No, bro. I know where the sanctuary's at." And I said, "Even for a small guy, I can handle this."

But here's what the New Testament church decided. In order to make sure that the growth continues, we've got to search out people that we can equip and we can enable to help us in the work of the church, so that we can have the men and women of God give themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word. I don't think Indiana has seen yet what can happen if men and women of God give themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word, and the saints of God and the helpers rise up in the apostolic church and say, "There's a job for me. There's a responsibility for me. There is something that I can do in the kingdom." Brothers and sisters, we must surrender responsibilities. I'm just going to cut right down where the rubber meets the pavement. Pastor, if you are so insecure that you have to do every job in your church, you are paralyzing your church from the growth that God wants to give your apostolic church. Oh, that there would be something that would rise up inside of us, that would say, "I want to be a New Testament church. I want to be an apostolic church. I want to be a sharing church. I want to surrender to the plan of the Word of God."

I never will forget — I never will forget — Brother Stout, our church went through a building program for about eight weeks. We had to totally desert our building. We were doing a big remodel. There was dust everywhere, sheetrock, and paint. And it was just a disaster for a while, until it turned out beautiful at the end. So for eight weeks we had to rent a school gymnasium in which we had Sunday services. And it was wonderful to see. We had this team that would show up about 8:45 on Sunday morning, and in about 30 minutes they could put the entire gymnasium together. They set up the stage, and they set up the chairs, and they got the sound system set up, and they got the welcome center set up. It was just awesome. There was one Sunday in particular that I went to the gymnasium early. I wasn't on the setup team, but I went early. I was ready. I was ready to preach. I thought, I'll just go there early. I walked into the gymnasium. It's like little bees, everybody hovering around doing their jobs. I said, "Hey, guys." "Hey, Pastor. Good morning." "Morning." So I kind of walked around the gym, and I started noticing there's sound system needing to be set up, and they were working on the speakers up at the front of the gym. And I'm kind of an intuitive guy. So I noticed there was a cord over here that wasn't plugged into anything. There was a cord over here that wasn't plugged into anything. Being the intelligent guy that I am, I thought to myself, well, it just seems like they should go together. We're stronger together. So I reached down, I grabbed that cord, and I got this cord, and I just put them together. I'm helping. I'm there early. And when those two cords connected, there was a sound like a rushing mighty wind that filled all the house, and it was horrific. And have you ever had one of those moments when all of a sudden you think — and it happens quick — you think to yourself, "Did I just do that?" And so intuitively, without thinking, I just unplugged the cords. And when I did, and let them drop to the floor, it was as if Jesus walked to the bow of the boat and said, "Peace, be still." There was quiet. Everybody on the sound team is looking around, trying to figure out what just happened. Meanwhile, I just busied myself with another box. And while I'm unpacking the box, I'm thinking, I wonder if anybody saw me do that. And as I'm unpacking the box, I'm kneeling down, and a hand comes down on my shoulder, and I look up. It's the hand of Jonathan Evans, who is over our entire setup team at the gym. He says, "Pastor, good morning." I look up to him. I said, "Good morning, John." He said to me, "I need your help with something." Now, that was like music to my ears. I'm there early. I'm ready to preach. I said, "John, anything you need, bro? You just tell me. What do you need me to do?" And here's what Jonathan Evans said to me, with me kneeling down, his hand on my shoulder. Here's what he said. He said, "Pastor, will you take your Bible and your iPad, and would you walk through that door right there?" He said, "If you'll walk through that door right there, you'll come right around the corner, and there is a couch there. It's a very nice couch." And John Evans said to me, "Please go sit on the couch and hear from God for us." And then he said, "We'll set up the sound system." So, you know what I did? I got my Bible and my iPad, and I made my way out the door, and I sat down on the couch, a little bit bruised in my ego. And I'm sitting there on the couch, and the Lord spoke to me. You say, "Well, that's pretty dramatic." No, I'll just — I'll help somebody right now. When God speaks to me, it's usually far less dramatic than you might think. I'm sitting on the couch, and the Lord spoke to me, and He said, "Tim, they're getting it. Tim, they're getting it. Tim, they're getting it. It's not that you are too big and too mighty to set up a sound system, but they understand they have a job to do, and you have a job to do. And if you can marry those two things together, God will give increase." Come on, Pastor. Find other leaders. Come on, Pastor. Equip other leaders. Come on, Pastor. Give those jobs away. Give those jobs away. Everybody say: "Surrender." We surrender responsibilities.

Now, this is Friday night, and as Brother Woodward said, the plane's coming in for a landing. But I am probably here for this final point. We must surrender to the kingdom of God. We must surrender responsibilities. By the way, in Acts chapter 6, when they gave away jobs, the Bible says a great number of disciples were multiplied, and priests became obedient to the faith. What could be waiting on us, man of God, if we would give responsibility away and equip people to help us in the ministry — help shepherd people, help come alongside us? It doesn't abdicate our responsibility, but becomes in alignment with the New Testament model. "I am surrendering, Lord, to Your pattern for what a church should be." So we surrender responsibilities — or we should. But I also must surrender to other leaders.

Listen, the apostolic church must go on. It must remember, in the kingdom, it's not about me. It's not about my legacy. It's not about my reputation. It's not about my good words. It's not about what people remember about me. I shudder to think that anybody would have said of them, "The days you led were the greatest days for the church." I hope that is never said in the apostolic church, because Isaiah said, of His kingdom there shall be no end. It's going to go on and on and on and on and on. And if that is the case, then the greatest gift I could give the future church is the training, equipping, and releasing of the present church.

Moses was God's man. His father-in-law showed up. Nobody can talk to you like a father-in-law can. When Moses's father-in-law saw all that he did to the people, he said, "What is this thing that thou doest to the people? Why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning till evening?" Here's what happens to leaders who don't share leadership. Exodus 18 and 18. And Jethro said: "Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out, for this thing is too much for you. You are not able to perform it by yourself." And so, "I want you to find able people. I want you to find people who possess a healthy fear of God. I want them to be truthful, and hate covetousness, and not be greedy." We fast-forward to Acts chapter 6, and we already talked about it. Those men must have a good reputation, be full of the Holy Ghost, be wise in their pursuit. Jethro told Moses, "Here's what'll happen if you surrender to other leaders: if you do this thing, as God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will go to their place in peace."

See, Jesus — every one of us in this great house would say, "We want to be like Jesus." Jesus is our great example. His purpose was to teach, and to intentionally invest and train the next generation of leaders. You say, "Brother Gaddy, it's risky. What if I give all this time and all this energy to raising up other leaders, and they walk out on me, and they are disloyal?" Can I tell you, men of God, there is no way to eliminate risk when we empower other leaders. However, there is no way to estimate the worth of God-equipped, anointed leaders leading in our churches. The future of our churches is in our church. The future of our church is there. That is my job, to keep my eye on the next generation.

Indiana District, I want you to look up here. You remember, about 40 minutes ago, this platform full of young adults and teenagers and young folks who were worshiping and praising God. I agree: the greatest days, Bishop Mitchell, are not in the rearview mirror. But the greatest days are ahead of us. And I just want to tell you — please hear this, preacher — I come boldly on this Friday night. But I come humbly on this Friday night. Those young people have the same Holy Ghost that you have, residing inside of you. They need to learn. They need to grow. But we must release them. We must equip them. We must empower them. Come on, man of God. Somebody gave us a chance. Someone let us get up to the pulpit. Someone let us make mistakes. I must surrender to other leaders. That does not make me less. It makes me wise, because the apostolic church has to go on. Come on. Your grandson may be preaching this camp meeting in 20 years. We have to invest in that generation. We must surrender. It's imperative. It's necessary.

Stand with me, if you would, please. And I'm going to ask you not to move in and out right now. We're going to pray together, and then we're going to go home in just a few minutes. But I'm going to ask you, if at all possible, not to move in and out right now.

Stacy and I were at a youth camp a few years ago. There was a mighty move of God. The evangelist was up preaching, and, Bishop, he said this. He said, "In just a moment, I'm going to have all the ministry come forward. They're going to line up across the front of this tabernacle. And after I call the ministry up here in just a few moments, I'm going to have all you teenagers, all you campers, all you students, come and find your pastor, and let them lay hands on you. And there is going to be an impartation from one generation to another." And you could feel it in the room. It was so filled with expectancy. The evangelist said, "Come on, ministers." And Stacy and I came out from our chairs, and we came up to the front right over here, and I looked, and there were — and I'm not exaggerating — probably 100 to 150 preachers and spouses filling up that altar. It was a mighty army. You could tell — there were tears streaming down the faces of students. That man of God behind that pulpit said, "All right, students: come and find your pastor, and let them lay hands on you. God's going to do something mighty in this house. We all lifted our hands. He said, 'Lift your hands and close your eyes.'" We all lifted. But before I closed my eyes, I witnessed as hundreds of students started to make their way to the front. Now, you have to understand, Stacy and I are over here. We're standing. She's right next to me. My hands are lifted. My eyes are closed. And I am expecting at any moment for there to be a throng of students around me, as I begin to lay hands upon them and impart from my generation to their generation. I had my hands lifted high. And to this side, I heard students praying with their pastor. And over on the other side of Stacy, I heard students praying with that pastor. But I felt nothing in front of me. Now, I'm going to kind of pull back the curtain on us preachers right now. We can think a lot of things at the same time, because while my hands are lifted in prayer, this side of my brain is praying. And this side of my brain is thinking, where are they? Because we had about 25 students at that camp. And the longer I prayed, the madder I got. I'm telling you, honey, there was not any movement in front of me. I was doing everything but this. There was nobody in front of me. And inside I'm thinking, if those students are in the lobby or the restroom right now, I'm going to wear them out. 'Cause I had a meeting with them before they got on that van. And I told them, "When you go to youth camp, you represent the Lord Jesus. You represent your church. You represent Pastor and Sister Gaddy. You represent your parents. And we're going to be in the altar. We're going to be praying. We're going to be breaking through in the Holy Ghost." And there's nobody in front of me. So I decided to just open one eye, and I looked, and confirmed there was not one student in front of me. And so I thought, I got to investigate this. I'm looking all over the congregation. I don't see one of our students. And I stepped forward, and I surveyed the altar. And I looked down at the far end of the altar, and I saw our student pastor and his wife. And in front of them was every student of our church. Our youth pastor is wading through them, laying hands. I'm watching it unfold. He lays his hands on them, and they fall out in the Holy Ghost. They're speaking in tongues, having a massive move of God. Meanwhile, on this side of the altar, the lonely senior pastor and his wife. And while I'm looking down at that happening, it was as if God said, "Tim, that's why you brought him on the team." Now, you can act like you never deal with this. But He said, "Tim, that man is their pastor." Now, lest you think that they do not appreciate — at that season of our life, myself and my wife, as their senior pastor — they respected us highly, and called us Pastor, and we were that senior pastor in their life. But that leader knew them better than I did. How much of a fool would I have been to get all insecure and say, "No — if it's a real move of God, it has to come through me." No. Here's the Bible principle. Be the man of God, but surrender to other leaders. Equip other leaders.

Here's what I want to just have happen right now. I just want you to find someone that's not from your generation. I'm not going to choreograph this right now, but not from your generation. Preacher, I want you to find another preacher from another generation, and I want you to bring them to the altar together right now. I want you to find someone. By the way, if you're just staring at me, that's not how this works. I want you to find somebody that's not from your generation, and I want you to bring them to the altar right now. Come on. I want you to get here as close as you can. Come on — preachers, saints of God, members of churches — I want you to find somebody, somebody that's not from your generation. Come on. Some of you, as you're making your way down here to the altar, there's a sweep of the Holy Ghost that's sweeping in this house right now. You are joined up with a necessary part of the body of Christ. You are joined up with a necessary part of the body of Christ. Indiana District, I have to tell you: this is our greatest power. Surrender is our greatest power. Surrender is our greatest power. Surrender is our greatest power. It's not too early to think about succession. It's not too early to start equipping. It's not too early to start investing. Surrender is our power. Come on. Come on. We're going to go out with a prayer tonight. We're going to go out with a prayer tonight. We're going to go out with a prayer tonight. It's one generation helping another generation. Come on, elders. Come on, young men. Come on, young ladies. I hear the sound of outpouring in Indiana. I hear the sound of revival in Indiana. There is something about surrender. There is something about surrender. Oh yes. Oh yes. Come on. Pray till there's a breakthrough. Pray till there's a breakthrough.