Holding on to a Bloody Coat | Student Pastor Zach Hammond

blessed be the name of the Lord come on that's it what's your love song to him tonight from the depths of your own heart from the depths of your own story Lord I Thank you tonight Lord I love you tonight with all my heart Lord I love you Lord I love you Lord I love you Lord we feel your presence in this place tonight if you feel his presence could you shout amen amen amen it's so good to be in the house of the Lord Lord tonight what we feel uh we never can take for granted amen never one time take for granted if you will turn to Genesis chapter number 37 and verse number 31 we will go to the word of the Lord tonight give honor to this great church and all that it means we just came through a great youth Revival the past few nights the past few days and our students uh were so uh locked in I'm so proud of them in fact if you'd give all of our students here our Strong Tower students a big hand um they responded to the word of God and I believe great things great things happened over the past few days and I'm uh just give honor to brother and sister Carpenter and we hear a great word this morning from Pastor I give them honor and love them they deserve double honor all that they do for us and Pastor sister Ericson and to uh all that they do I give them honor tonight I I my wife is not here tonight and uh as Pastor mentioned Hampton is sick and I'm praying that uh they will figure out what's going on with him just over a matter of just a couple hours all of a sudden he just turned uh for the worst it seemed and so she's got him at the clinic right now trying to figure out what's going on and I'm just so uh so thankful I realized last Sunday night that you got to be careful when you're um when you're requesting prayer uh from the microphone I'm thankful now to have my sister and brother-in-law here and their family last Sunday night I was praying and uh I said Lord touch my sister who is having throat surgery tomorrow referring to the sister here that was having throat surgery tomorrow and my sister got about 72 million texts wanting to know what was wrong with her so I'm getting used to uh my sister being here too and people realizing that she is not having throat surgery it was just her birthday and happy birthday to her so Genesis 37 and verse number 31 and they took Joseph's coat and they killed a kid a goat a kid of the goats and dipped the coat in the blood and they sent the coat of many colors and they brought it to their father the other brothers did and said this have we found know now whether it be thy son's coat or no it's very interesting that whole verse there and he knew it and he and said it's my son's coat they knew it too of course an evil Beast has devoured him Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces notice Joseph there's a there's there's a plenty of lie there from the brothers in 32 but then 33 he just takes it beyond what they had said he says and he knew it and he said he said Joseph said my son's coat an evil Beast has devoured him a lot of times we get story gets told that the brothers told him that no he just assumed that because it's easy to assume the worst right and Joseph is without a doubt rent in pieces and Jacob rent his clothes sack upon his loins and mourned for his son many days and all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him like a family should right and he refused said no I refuse to be comforted and he said for I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning thus his father wept for him I want to preach to you for just a few minutes tonight I understand in the scripture the logic of God and the ways of God the precepts the promises the principles of God can be PR preached a million different ways from a million different passages and uh I realized tonight I could preach this same exact thing from a lot of other places but this is where the Lord has brought me tonight and I I feel very burdened and just knowing that studying the Lord brought me to tears a few times understanding that a even a lot of my family I know of just this past week hearing some things that's going on in my family um not my immediate family but my extended family um in in Georgia that um this relates to a lot of people and uh I hope that I can just just communicate it to you tonight and I if you would would you just pray with me and help me help me pray for a moment I want to preach to you about holding on to a bloody holding on to a bloody coat right holding on to a bloody coat could you lift your hands and could you pray that the Lord would speak speak to us tonight Lord I Thank You Lord I Thank you for what I feel I thank you for your word I thank you for God all the Praises that's went up in this room I thank you Lord for Lord the healing power of your anointing and your God touch that we've activated in prayer and giving and everything that's happened in this service Lord but as we break open the scripture I pray God that your power would manifest itself in this place Lord that you would do what Only You Can Do Lord that you would open up the eyes of those who are bound God you would open up and give Revelation to those Lord who have come into this house in need of a change and need of a touch from you Lord I God I give you all the glory and all the honor I Surrender completely to you tonight to have your way throughout this short time we have together in jesus' name we pray and everybody said amen amen amen you can be you can be seated Jacob refuses he refuses the comfort in his pain Jacob chooses to take on the identity of his loss to take on the identity of his hurt anybody ever been hurt before huh maybe maybe raise your hand could we all admit huh we we've all been hurt before he holds on if you could just see it I want to just paint a somewhat of a picture for you tonight he holds on says no I'm not going to be comforted but Thon he said I'm going to go to my grave and my son's death he immediately grabs a hold of that coat I could just see it I can imagine the sun comes up the next morning there Jacob is over in the corner clinging to his pain right they try to come over and comfort him and he says no I'll hold on to this till they bury me oh yeah could you see it with me could you just just PL he he he immediately assumes they've devoured him a beast has tore him to pieces this is definitely his code and and I I'm going to identify with this hurt I'm going to it's not a Body of Proof there's no there's no scene to investigate it's just a bloody coat he didn't say take me to where you found it he didn't say take me down and show me where you perhaps saw some Blood on the ground where you found the coat he didn't need any backstory he didn't need an investigation he didn't ask any other questions he just assumes in the narrative he's dead no not possibly that he escaped with some scars and let's go look for him let's not try to do anything let's just assume that he's dead it's an interesting way to look at it and I I'm afraid that there's some times that that we look at Jacob and we begin to turn the page and turn the page and turn the page and for chapters and years go by and Jacob just holds on to a lie yes Jacob holds on to a bloody coat didn't ask any questions just assumed that's right just assumed the worst just assumed that this is who he was going to be and I've come to preach to somebody night very simple but you need to lay down the LIE yes lay down the you need to put down the hurt you need to put down the pain some of you young people need to put down the insecurity because more than likely you picked up something that even though it may have happened to you and even though it may have hurt you even though it may feel real to you it's a lie but some of you have taken and maybe you're not even carrying it around maybe you've put it on huh and people know when they walk in the room with you they don't really know which one of you is going to show up the hurt you or the strong you the Christian you or the victim you huh why because some days you're not just caring it some days you actually robe yourself with it and there's really something I'd like to focus on tonight that I feel is a main bloody coat that we as Christians hold on to yes sir Luke 17 and verse number one look at this with me Jesus said unto the disciples it is impossible it is impossible somebody say impossible impossible but that offenses will come will but woe unto him through whom they come they're going to come woe unto him through they that they come through it be better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he cast in to see that he should offend one of these little ones now that's not just children that's those that are are young in the faith take heed to yourself If thy brother trespassed against thee rebuke him and if he repent forgive him and if he trespass against thee seven times in a day seven times in a day turn again to thee saying I Repent Thou shalt forgive him I'm here to tell you today I'm hoping that you understand this and you probably already felt this that we live in an offended day we live where everybody's offended Democrats are offended Republicans are offended the religious are offended the transgenders are offended women are offended men are offended races are offended you can't make a statement tonight from this pull pit you couldn't get online and type anything without taking the risk that somebody's going to be offended it's just the way it is everybody and sadly we've raised kids who are offended they come out of the womb looking through the lens of offense offended I didn't get the opportunity offended I didn't get the job offended that somebody didn't talk to him I didn't get invited you can't say nothing nowadays somebody's going to be offended yeah that's right that's right but I've come to challenge you don't let it get in your spirit we're living in an era of offense it's easy it's easy it's easy on Sundays to act like a Christian but can you react like one on Facebook can you react like one when you don't get the job can you react like one when you don't get the bid can you react like one when you don't get the solo can you react like one when somebody said something they shouldn't have said about you you can you react like some yeah I'm a Christian I dressed the part but can you really put into action love when they didn't love you huh oh I know they meant that you don't know they meant that you just assumed you just picked up the coat you didn't need a story you in fact didn't even ask them the details of what they meant by that you know what I'd rather do in fact I did it just this past week with another fellow Minister he said something I didn't agree with him guess what I did I asked him why cuz I could have just assumed brother Josh and went ahead and put that identity on him that that's what he thought and guess what I wasn't right that's right we've got people that are walking around with bloody coats and they're taking one step at a time slowly slowly slowly backsliding based upon assumptions based upon something that's not even true 1 John 4:19 says we love him why because he first loved us how easy is that it's our reasonable service he died for us but if a man say I love God and hateth his brother he is a liar liar that escalated quickly but he that loveth not his brother whom he has seen how can he love God whom he has not seen I believe that this scripture right here is the most difficult scripture in the Bible to obey oh I love Jesus you better love Jesus you ain't never going to find nobody nobody that's going to treat you like Jesus you'll never take a peel you'll never find a solution you'll never find anything that's going to love you when you turn your back on them that's going to die for you before they ever real you don't even know that you're going to come to an altar but he'll get on a cross and take blood and take shame and take a crown of thorns yeah we ought to love him that ought to be our reasonable service anybody's got a brain ought to love Jesus anybody's got a heart ought to be able to express some praise to a god that died for you anybody it ought not be difficult to love him for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever will you don't have to check the boxes you don't have to be perfect you ought to just love Jesus it's the easiest thing you'll ever do he said he saidh but if you love me you got to love your brother and he said if not you're a liar and all liars we know where they go don't mention that word you really offend some people huh huh right God forbid you say something like hell you know fear mongering yeah huh oh somebody get offended right yeah huh everybody's offended you can't even put where you went to eat lunch without somebody getting upset I can't believe they go out and spend that much money on food huh my God how do you know I didn't have a coupon huh you just assume huh you can't do nothing you can't do nothing huh I I want you to look at the LIE tonight of offense if we're not careful the church WIll cave to it it's came to each of us Jesus said and it's going to come again and how you handle it matters all your relationships matter how you view relationships they matter if the Lost World don't buy B you that matters it matters if if you have no care for anyone other than you and your family that matters the Next Generation they matter the previous generation they matter I'm telling somebody tonight the relationship you have with God's people matter we love because he first loved us but it's going to take more than us just returning love we many times are going to have to be the first ones to extend an arm of love and grace and mercy they didn't love us they didn't care about us they didn't have anything to offer us but I offered a hand of love and care to them I can tell you I'll tell you this I can tell you all I need to know about a person on based on how they treat people that can do nothing for them some of us are in a rut some of us are dry spiritually some of us are looking for purpose and I'm here to tell you tonight that people are your purpose love them your relationship with people is the purpose of God your relationship with your brother and your sister and how you you deal with offense determines your spiritual status that's right PE people don't leave church because of God they leave church because for some reason they assumed people didn't backslide because of the Cross people didn't backslide over Doctrine people didn't people backslide because that there somebody's fault somebody handed them a coat somebody handed them a fence somebody handed them a lie look at it I'll just show you a few examples there's husbands in this place that have lost their prayer life because how they treat their wife so that's a strong statement 1 Peter 3:7 says likewise ye husbands dwell with them according to knowledge giving honor unto their W unto your wife as unto the weaker vessel and as being heirs together in the grace of life that your prayers be not hindered be not hindered so how I treat my wife determines if God listens to me why because my Covenant with God's people you're going to love God you're going to love people you're going to love God you going how can you pray to me but you treating your wife like trash how can you pray to me but you don't love your neighbor how can you pray to me and expect mercy here but you don't give Mercy you are living a lie oh I'm a Christian no you you you how you see others determines your relationship with God I know you feel like it's the opposite way but some of us are sitting here claiming to have the Holy Ghost but we treat other people as if they are some kind of Pawn in the game of our life some of us are struggling serving God and it has everything to do with are we serving people Matthew 24 and8 says all these things are the beginning of Sorrows then shall they deliver you up to The Afflicted and they shall kill you and he sh Ye Ye he said ye shall be hated of all Nations for my name's sake and then shall many be offended betray one another hate one another then comes the false prophets yes false Propet you see all the things that we want to see that that happen and everybody's figur out what the Antichrist is the the most thing Antichrist right now is you not loving your brother yes sir there's nothing more non- Christlike than for me to be able to walk by somebody in the same church and not even say hello I'm coming to church but I got to sit on this side cuz cuz I don't like them you're full in yourself some somebody's walked in this place tonight you're just holding on to a bloody cat of offense pain regret abuse they don't like the I see people all the time they don't act the way they used to act why well you won't believe what so- and so said to me they don't worship no why more why they got offended they they didn't get the opportunity Sally did huh this is how serious offense is but who so Matthew 18:6 says but who so shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me it'd be better he says it again a millstone will be hanged about their neck and they were to be drowned in the depth of the sea woe unto the world because of offenses for it must needs be the defenses come they're going to come he keeps reminding you that but woe to the The Man by whom the offense cometh wherefore If thy hand or thy foot offend thee cut them off cast them from thee it is better for thee to enter in uh life halt or maimed rather than living two hands or two feet to be cast into Everlasting fire and if thine eye offend thee pluck It Out cast it from thee it is better for thee to enter into life W with with one eye rather than having two eyes and be cast into Hell Fire all that that's pretty extreme that's that's radical why why is it so radical because off fense will kill you yes sir there's people in this room tonight there's people that that that have backslid that have turned their back on God all because they just thought they just thought that somebody had done them wrong but perhaps somebody did do them wrong perhaps somebody did lie to them perhaps somebody did abuse them perhaps somebody did mistreat them perhaps the worst of the worst happened I'm here to tell you tonight it don't matter how bad it is there's not one thing that man will ever do to you that will change what God's done for you it doesn't matter how much you believe that this is true there's a Forever settled word of God that I've got to turn to consistently constantly and I've got to remind myself that that we we we we if if you don't get nothing else get this tonight we are in a society that this this simple concept of offense the simple concept of a lie is causing a catastrophe in Christianity we are not serving God and pleasing people people we are to please God and to serve people that's right that's right and we've got it backwards if you work to please people you are going to be of all men most miserable but if you seek to please God there's going to be an affirmation that comes with those who hunger and thirst after righteousness they will be filled but if you're looking to to please people it's going to be a long long life we find ourselves in hurt many times because we're living our lives trying to please the wrong person but yet we are called I believe to love and to serve people many times in scriptures I begin to to study this subject it seems that that people get offended most often over time time it's very interesting to me Mary and Martha they get upset with Jesus they get offended at Jesus because he was late huh it ain't even Jesus's fault but when you're offended you got to blame somebody it ain't Jesus's fault Lazarus is dead where were you at what do you mean where was I at aren't you glad I'm here cuz they know he can raise the dead that's never in question though they though one's willing to worship Him one's willing to work for him we got to make sure that both of those things are happening there's a balance of those things and that's the way Jesus addresses that whole thing but the bottom line is they knew he could raise the dead but they were offended because he was late and they simply said Jesus if you'd have been here huh he say show me Martha where you laid him down I I know I know you and then if it ain't enough it's like the perfect qualities you just look at these two here they both come to him and say the same it well I know you're going to raise him again you know at the at the resurrection and we know that you're going to do that show me where you laid them down they they they they know that he's able to do exceedingly and abundantly and above but have you ever been around people that's offended people I could give you the characteristics in just this one I know you're just trying to do that cuz you didn't you didn't text me back last time huh huh I know you're going to raise him I know you're going to raise him in the resurrection you you should have been here huh I know you're just carrying the groceries in because of how you talked to me yesterday huh huh I know you're trying to I know you're trying to butter me up now because of how you treated me a few months ago huh that's offended people right I know you're going to raise him when you do everybody up but you could have been here on time and you huh offended you can't tell them nothing you don't put on this coat of bitterness don't put on this coat of offense because of it's taking time why why the prodal story this prodal son story it's all because he wanted now what God was going to give him later think about it spiritually it's I want now what I'm going to get later we want a resurrection now we want our part of the inheritance now but the bottom line is we can't get offended at what God is trying to teach us in the time and the process because what you know there there there's something powerful that you learn while you earn but you'll lose what you don't earn see this with me you learn in the process so don't get bitter waiting on a blessing don't get offended cuz he's not right here when you think he ought to be here don't get frustrated and and leave God and turn your back on God and be a a son that's over here in the pig pin well God promised me and he hadn't done it so I'm just going to leave God promised me he's going to bring my daughter home God promised me he was going to he was going to heal the SI God promised me that I was going to do this but I'm not willing to wait so I'm just going to go ahead and assume that God's not for me huh all right I'm just going to I'm just going to wear this there's some people that they they they went through the process and the process wasn't fast enough so they just said I'm going to be I'm just just going to be offended if God promised it and he hadn't done it yet sure way to know that he ain't going to is to get offended you see it all throughout the Bible people get offended people get hurt it was Naomi lost her sons her husband Naomi her name means Pleasant and delightful she says no don't call me that anymore call me Mara huh which means what bitter one translation say just means offended I'll just wear this don't call call me Pleasant delightful don't don't don't call me what I what I used to be she lost something and wanted her name change don't don't let what happens on the outside contaminate what God's doing on the inside you are not your loss you are not your mistake you are not your abuse you are not your hurt and you're not your success but ultimately her past polluted her present something happened and all of a sudden I put it on is this identity we get hurt and offended and we cling to this coat and I can't help but knowing that it's a coat the Cod represented the identity of people it's it's it's who they were that's why it was a coat of many colors he was favored and all of a sudden we see our identity becomes what has happened to us but here's the thing when it happens to us and I want to speak to you just from experience when we use different words for oursel we can preach about it we can talk about it tonight when it's somebody else but when we are offended we don't use words like offended we use words like we're just careful just careful I'm not offended I'm not I'm I'm not offended I'm just careful I'm not angry I'm just a realist huh I'm not bitter I'm just not going to trust anybody just yet I'm not offended I'm just not going to associate myself with you and you put up all of these the these these things it's just could could I ask you tonight just a simple question but to take a little bit of inventory you say how do I know if I'm offended or not have you lost all optimism in people do you see anything positive in anybody else do you trust when you're offended your defense is high and your faith is low I'm going to say that again when you're offended your defense is high and your faith is low right are you consistently negative huh I feel like Jeff Foxworthy you might be offended let me speak to some adultist age hyphen age young people today can you seemingly not find anybody that meets up to your criteria huh Can you seemingly find nobody that you can open up your heart to huh can it it doesn't matter what you say to some people it doesn't matter if it's a if it's a new job well it's a new job it's more money but you won't believe the hours I got to work somewhere in the depths of your negativity is an offense the bottom line is somewhere very deep down in there somebody's done something somebody's said something you have somehow identified yourself with a perception huh well you know I I I don't have everything they have and I but but I'm I'm not offended huh no I'm not I'm not offended there's many people it's just you got to you got to you got to take and you you either fall into the category or not we we hate statistics but we create them you know huh it's it's it's it's you're either one or the other you you could you could you really be honest with yourself tonight and and if we're not careful we find ourselves in this place of offense let me ask you this do you put everybody in a category do you do like David did when he got mad in Psalms 116 and said I have set in my haste all men are liars huh hey every one of them huh yeah yeah you better be careful put don't put this one on social media you'll have all them folks huh all them folks over at fac are liars huh huh that's what happens look at this look at this through the lens why did Jacob grab a hold of that Pastor so quickly huh why did he snatch that thing up because when you're a deceiver huh yes sir when that's your lens of life you deceived you were deceived and you're being deceived again huh so that's your lens of life that's how you look at it so I'll grab a bloody coat fast I'll run with the crew the crew that says yeah I can identify with hurt I I'll run with the victims faster than huh I'll get in that chat room I'll get in that comment section quicker cuz all men are liars trust me I've been done by done wrong by so many people that I can't even trust anybody all right I won't risk trust I'll put everybody in the same category huh this is how people backslide yes this is why people leave God yes a couple people do them wrong perhaps at the same time that something's going in their family and it offended them and all of a sudden they hate the whole stinking Place yeah that's right that's right that's it it's the reality of it it happens all across our world what a way to live clinging to a lie they become deceived because the truth is a powerful thing belief is a powerful thing you said you'll he'll prosper in what your your soul does Prosper your mind does prosper I've seen people I'll just be honest with I've seen people this is a powerful thing I see it and it's very comical but I see people I probably shouldn't say this uh they're not goodlooking but nobody's told them you know what I'm saying like if I'm not goodl looking nobody tell my wife okay you know what I'm saying like I don't but they got more confidence you know they just come in just they believe you know what I'm saying they wear stuff I'm like all right go ahead brother rock on you know just believe my pop always said man if you could buy them for what they were worth and sell them for I'm going to get this wrong buy them for what somebody know that same H that one yeah they thought they were worth there we go optimism don't care what anybody thinks huh it's kind of the other side of the spectrum could care less huh that and it's so frustrating to those that are holding on to a coat what in the world are they doing worshiping don't they know they've offended me huh what in the world would they be doing going up to the altar after what they said to me you think God's going to accept them after the way they've been treating me huh come on now why because that's that's that's the perception when you're holding on to this coat you think everybody else has got one in their closet you think everybody else has got one hanging on the coat rack and they can grab it whether or not just like you do when you walk out in the morning huh but they're so optimistic and they cling it's on both sides of the spectrum we can cling to what we believe is true it's not really true true Joseph's alive they and it just happened so easy somebody said this and you heard that and all of a sudden you've put your proverbial thermostat in their room and whatever they want the temperature to be determines how's your how your season of life's going to go there's some people just so affected by people and I I want to to give you just this amazing Revelation right now you ready what do you do with God when you trespass or break the Covenant what what what what what do we do and we can we can open this up for some conversation here what repent forgiveness what does that require that requires us communicating with God yes it's simple he doesn't bring some kind of Supernatural thing into the process you don't have to have a goat you don't have to have your first fruits you don't have to have a fire you don't have you just got to find a place and you got to talk to God guess what happens when somebody else offends you or you offend them just go talk to them that's what he says every time how many times do I go talk to him as many times as you had to talk to God about your sins oh well you you say they've offended me so many times you've offended God quite a number if we're all honest right so how many times am I going to keep going to the altar how many times am I going to have to keep looking down the aisle saying brother man when you said that to me it really offended me I'll just be honest with you the people that hurt you are the people that you're close to the people that that hurt you or the people that you care about I could give a rip about that guy that gave me the middle finger right down Alcoa Highway the other day why I don't know who he is huh but if it had been Brother Thompson on his motorcycle he wouldn't do it I know I that's why I used him right I said Brother Thompson we got to talk about something I don't know if you meant to give me a thumbs up but that ain't it huh but we allow just the smallest of things that a simple conversation a simple prayer a a simple uh just just open honest real conversation but Proverbs 18:19 just to just to validate this a few more times of scripture a brother offended is harder to be one than a strong City and they're intentions are like the bars of a castle when we put on that Cod of lies and offense and hurt and pain and loss as a reminder to not let it happen again we build in protection what becomes a prison it's meant for protection but before you know it I can't get out and I don't know why I feel this way I don't know why I feel zero Liberty in the house of God I don't know why I feel like it's a drudgery to come to the house of God because ultimately my Covenant with God and the presence of God and what I want to feel and what I want to be used in is all contingent upon how I treat people right I can't stress to you enough church is it's it's why it's built the way it's built it's it's it's purposed by god let's look at this reference here in Isaiah Isaiah 35 and4 prophecy John knew what the Messiah could do he's saying to them th that that are of a fearful heart be strong fear not behold your God will come with vengeance even god with with a recompense and he will come and save you then the eyes of the blind will be open the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped then shall the lame leap as a heart and the tongue of the dumb sing for in the wilderness shall break out the streams in the desert chapter 61 of Isaiah verse one the spirit of of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach the Good Tidings unto the meek he saith to me to bind up the Brokenhearted to procr Proclaim Liberty to the captives and to open up the prison to them that are bound but here in Matthew look at this with me Matthew Jesus begins to speak and Jesus in Matthew 11:4 says and he answered and said to them go show John again those things which you do hear and see the blind receive their sight the lame walk the lepers are cleansed the deaf hear the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them but Jesus don't finish the prophecy that's right that's right that's right he stops in verse six and said and blessed is heess he whosoever shall not be offended in Me God I know what he can do that's not in question he loved me first he died for me there's not in question the love of God tonight what's in question is the love for my brother and my sister do not get offended follow peace you know it follow peace Hebrews 12:14 with all men and Holiness without which no man shall see the Lord what does this tell me I know we use it we're Holiness people God forbid we not use it but falling out with people affects how we see God all right all right yes that's what it says my Covenant with God is connected to my Covenant with people in all our relationships we see God we see people offense offense is our opportunity to be Christian hurt pain struggle abuse gossip yes whatever it is it is your opportunity to be Christlike oh I know it's easier said than done but don't get offended you can't you can't just you can't anyone if anybody in this place has ever been offended you understand that offense is that opportunity it's that moment of decision it's that pivotal moment in your life am I going to am I going to travel down this road am I going to pick up this coat am I going to assume this or am I going to choose to extend Mercy because Mercy's been extended to me it's like the teacher or the coach or the boss they can tell you what to do Christ can show us what to do but now it's time to do it the coach don't play the game the teacher don't take the tests the boss don't do the work they it's our opportunity as Christians there's nothing more Christlike than when we extend Mercy we extend Grace we choose to not assume that somebody's trying to hurt us we assume the best in people please feel this the biggest lie you'll ever pick up is not that Joseph is dead the biggest lie in our dispensation we'll pick up is that people are perfect that's what we ultimately carry around huh I can't believe they do that to me what did you expect huh they killed Jesus and he didn't do nothing wrong oh well the prophecies put him on the cross no man put him on the cross and you you take up your cross daily but who puts you on it is ultimately your brother and your sister and that's where we activate who God is in our life that's where we activate the the the the the Fruit of the Spirit and the love and the joy the peace all of those things great peace have they which love thy law nothing shall offend them what does that tell me love the law what's the law exactly exactly that's some of us don't know enough to to not be offended we don't know enough about what God's done for us to share it with somebody else or to extend it to somebody else see this with me if you love the law then you know just how good God's been to you and God forbid if God's been so good to a wretched sinner like me so the more I know about his goodness the more I'm able to share his goodness the more I'm able to activate to say love it love the law love his word love his promises love his precepts love what he's done for you and you'll do it for somebody else love the law so you can love people I'm coming to a close he did it for us so it's now it's our opportunity through a fence to prove that we are a child of God you're fooling yourself you're carrying a lie if you think nothing bad's ever going to happen offense is going to come it's so much bigger than just Joseph being dead I've got to put down this bloody coat because I need the comforting of somebody else I need people to be able to help me I can't do this on my own we need each other I wish you'd say that with me we need each other I know it's hurt it hurts I know you've been done wrong I know it requires quite the step of Faith to trust again but that's why we have what we have in us the New Testament the word tithe is mentioned 24 times offering is mentioned 20 65 times fasting is mentioned over a 100 times prayer is mentioned over 200 times but together is mentioned over 484 times together gathered together is mentioned over another hundred times tells me over and over and over again that I can try to do this on my own but I'll always struggle spiritually because the only accessing the only access I have to the parts of the Bible that are the ones that apply to me if I'm sitting over here with this bloody coat it's always about me it's always about my problems it's always about the situation that I'm in and I miss out on over 500 scriptures that involve someone else you say I'm a good judge of character that great but we don't judge Mercy Mercy has no laws of lines in my life and it doesn't have any lines in anybody else's life you might be a good judge of character but don't let it allow you to shun those who you don't think's worthy of your relationship you might have got it all together but all it takes is one bloody coat one belief one day of hurt one day of pain and you begin to dwindle out further and further less involved I used to do this I used to do that I used to be at prayer I used to sing in the choir I used to be attached but I can't seemingly get over this pain of my child not serving God I can't get over this pain of this hurt the sister said what she said the brother said what he said I've been done wrong in fact I moved to this church because I was done wrong in another church I'm here because I ultimately trying to build that trust back up that you you just you you you you you you pray till you pray in the Holy Ghost but there's there there's there's something that comes with that Holy Ghost and that is you got to lay down a fence you got to lay down the life Li it's time to put down the coat yes because Joseph's not dead yes it is and neither is Jesus yes it's time to let go go of whatever's been done some of us we just can't oh you you it's fine as long as I'm around the youth group but when I lay my head down on the pillow at night I know you were mistreated I know some of you sit in this room and you have experienced what I would consider some of the worst trauma that anybody should ever experience and that's the abuse of a child and I hear what you're saying but I just can't believe it my faith is low and my defense is high let's close the story out Genesis 45 you know the story of how it lays out if you don't it'd be a great read this week on just how God moves Joseph through and allows him to to fulfill not only his plan but other people's and most of all the plan of God and his brothers come to him because of a famine and all the things play out and ultimately Joseph saves a nation and Jacob I can't help but see it those boys he sends them in and he's still there dealing with it chapters and chapters later I won't let go of Benjamin cuz I know what happened last time I don't trust anybody you're not taking him cuz I know what happened but verse 25 says and they went up out of Egypt and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father now for four and a half five chapters Jacob their father Jacob their father and he told him saying Joseph is yet alive Joseph is alive the coat is not true huh that's what I hope this is for somebody tonight I I can't give you a full explanation or a rundown of your story I I don't know but I can tell you this that the blood of Jesus Christ I can tell you tonight that Jesus is Alive and if he got out of the grave and he conquered death hell in the grave and that gives power to not only his name but that gives power to his blood to allow you to lay down whatever you walked in here with to allow you to put down whatever it is that you feel like is that one thing that keeps you from taking that step forward he told them Joseph is alive is yet alive and he is the governor of all the land of Egypt and Jacob's heart fainted for he believed them not brother Dale he created his own narrative he believed the coat so strongly but when they show up with the wagons n there ain't no way the devil's convincing some of you right now that even before I give this altar call I don't believe what he's saying he don't know how bad I've been hurt he don't know what I've dealt with I've carried this for years I've carried this for decades you don't know what they said to me you don't know what my parents did to me you don't know what they what what what I've been through you don't know what I've had to to comprehend and had to go through sleepless nights I'm here to tell you it's true he's alive and they told him with all him all the words of Joseph which he had said unto them and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him the spirit of Jacob finally revives and verse 28 is so powerful because he's been Jacob their father Jacob their father Jacob their father and all of a sudden and Israel said you go J Jacob their father said oh I don't know if I can believe Jacob their father said oh that must have been a ravenous Beast that tore him to pieces Jacob was just a he's a deceiver he's always been a deceiver and so he can immediately cling to a deception but all of a sudden his spirits notice that Jacob didn't Jacob didn't stand up J no Jacob's Spirit yeah Jacob their father is revived and Israel said it's enough I've here to come to I just come to tell somebody tonight tonight it is enough Jesus is here to tell you it's enough enough's enough it's been long enough you you played the game long enough Joseph my son is yet alive and I will go see him before I die I go from holding on to a bloody coat saying I'm going to be buried with it to now take me see him before I die oh stand to your feet notice notice that all of a sudden that name change that name changes when you put down the identity of hurt all of a sudden there is a know Israel said it's enough Naomi said I'm not going to be Mara anymore I've come to ask somebody tonight to put down the coat and to come see the wagons I feel the holy ghost in this place right now I wish you'd bow your heads I want to open up this altar to somebody who's been dealing with hurt who's been dealing with abuse who's been dealing with pain and I know tonight you're surpassed with such a great crowd of witnesses that wants to come pray with you I want you to lay aside every sin that's supposed that since been carried you've carried it you carried it you carried it it's time to lay down what he's already carried for you it's time to put down that Bloody coat come on if the Lord's speaking to you tonight don't let the devil deceive you into thinking you'll never get over it come out come out of your seat tonight I'm begging you step out of your seat tonight I promise you it's enough he's enough he can do it tonight Lord I pray God over every person T put down that Bloody coat tonight put down that hurt tonight I know you were done wrong I know it hurt I know it's try you're trying to cope with it but just lay it down come on Church be the body of Christ ch right now and say I have no clue what you're talking about I wish you'd find somebody that's falling on their face and begin to pray for them right now there's people that have lost and they're trying to deal with it and you can help them right now as the body of Christ to reach over and pray with them in the name of Jesus come on lay it down tonight lay it down tonight come on church I encourage you to pray with somebody tonight come on if nothing else let the Next Generation see you praying one for another together two can put two together United together come on find somebody and pray with them tonight come on let us be the body of Christ tonight come on let somebody feel that you care about their hurt you care about their pain you care what they're going through I know some of you not felt maybe rejection some of you haven't felt what we're talking about tonight but there's somebody who has God let God let this be your all your glor I love you I love you I want to sing tell you I oh I love you I love you from the evening to the morning I will praise you when I I will pra I will seeing my I will you I you you I love you oh let I love you I you I want to be I you oh let now I will sing I love you I love I love you I love you I want my my GL pra when I I I will praise you oh let beet love you Lord I love you I want to see a sweet to tell you I love you oh let it be a sweet swe love I love you Lord I love you I want to sing to tell you I love you oh let it be a sweet sweet me the of and my I will praise you be to the Lord I will praise you when iise when I I will PR it all I will sing to when I'm and I'm I will pra on the mountain I'm I will praise you when I Rise when I fall I will praise all I will I love you Lord I love you I want to see the sweet sweetness to tell you that I love you oh let it be a sweet sweet I love you Lord I love you I want to sing swe s to you I love you oh let it be a s i love you I want to see to tell you that I love you oh let it be a sweet sweet to my king I come and my go I will praise you from the even through the morning I will praise you when I Rise when I fall I will praise you through it all and I will sing Love than you Lord thank you Lord thank you Lord thank you Lord what a message what a message what a message tonight what a message tonight now not around here not around here but there's several places that determine the success of a service by and they'll they'll plaster it on social media how many got baptized how many got the Holy Ghost that's all well and that that's that's all that's all well and good or there it'd be something like there was U notable Miracles notable Miracles and I've never really understood what a miracle is and versus a notable Miracle all right I've never understood you see we had five Miracles and six notable Miracles I somebody take note of them I don't I don't I don't don't don't I don't know but I going to tell you something about tonight I'm going to tell you something about tonight in the Holy Ghost I tell you this there were multiple healings here tonight there's multiple healings multiple healings well brother carer tell us who who God healed of this blood disease who got healed of this no no no no no no man is made up of more than just his body man is made up of Body Soul and Spirit I submit to you tonight I laid my hands upon several tonight and I felt the healing virtue of God flow through their body tonight and I am going to tell you something I'm going to tell you that when we're able to release those that have done us wrong or those that we have perceived that's done us wrong when we're able just to release them you just feel a a burden lift off of you it it's like I'm finally free I'm finally free oh what a message tonight what a message tonight oh what a message thank you Lord in the spirit in the spirit you'll walk away from the altar but you're leaving the coat for the angels to pick up and discard tonight God is good why don't you one more time raise your hands give God praise and wor worship tonight thank you Lord for the word thank you Lord for the word