7:00PM "Refuel" Pastor Reginald W. Sharpe Jr., Tuesday September 24, 2024

30:55 You got it, D. You a scholar. All right. Virtual ship, if you don't cheat and you take the test and you do good, you let us know now and we have sent something to you. I got virtual ship members who've been feeling some kind of way. They're saying we're passing the test too. If you're passing the test and you're using integrity,

31:23 if you tell a story about passing and you fail, I promise you, you're gonna get a gas pain. It's gonna be a bubble. You can't move. The Vito, you know this.

31:44 Them gas bubbles that make you pray different, won't they? You finished. You finished. You finished. You done gave up? No. All right. Uh-uh. Cheating. Oh, no, you can't show the answers on the screen, media team. You know what? I'm going to get this media team. Y'all show earplugs, answers.

32:26 Leave people alone. All right, listen, you got 60 seconds. Well, you have to put your pen down. Pencil. I didn't even ask, does everybody have a pen? 40 seconds. If I need a pen, it's a little late to ask. 30 25 20 15. Don't be looking at me like that. Ah, darn. I see you.

33:20 I see you. Don't bring her in this. That's a good Delta woman. but she's not gonna cheat in church. In church. Deltas don't cheat in church. Ten. Nine, eight, seven. six five four three two one all right put your pens down put your pen no pins in your hand put it down unless you're greater yourself there's only be great in yourself y'all ready in what book of the Bible can the story of Peter being delivered well let me ask you this how was this test Hard.

34:08 It was hard. Okay. It was hard. Was there something on here I didn't talk about last week or the weeks prior? I talked about everything. You just, huh? So is it on me or is it? Amen. Y'all ready? Let's see. Don't cheat. Listen now. y'all have been listen don't be playing with me you're going to get all this Decatur where it's greater and this Lithonia where they own you don't play I got discernment I'm going to know if you pass or you're cheating alright number one in what book of the bible can the story of Peter being delivered from prison be found in Acts if you wrote anything other than the book of Acts it's incorrect Acts. Acts. It's in Acts chapter what?

35:04 Don't worry. Don't say it because that's going to be the bonus if I got too many A's. When you are a functioning member, you are what? A, supportive? Yes or no? B, serene? C, serious? D, sowing? Alright. The answer should be A and D. If you only put one, you do not get the full point. You can give yourself half. You can give yourself five points. If you put A or D. If you only put A or if you only put D, you give yourself five for that. Each of these, one through ten, are worth ten points each. That's how you get to a hundred. So, so if you got number one, you have ten points. If you have number two, completely you have ten. If you only put A or you only put D, you get five points. Got that? If you put B, you get no points. It's good to be a but I ain't talk about that last week.

36:00 All right, three, who wrote Psalm 73? she said a a c whoever c is asaph c asaph the psalm asaph we closed talking about how he was mad at the wicked from verse 1 through 16 until he went in the what sanctuary then he understood he was able to understand some things in the sanctuary he couldn't understand anywhere else Four, religion and theology are the same. Is that true or is that false? False is the correct answer. I taught what in Morehouse? Religion. And some of you need to know this. Religion, you could say it is the set belief system. You could say it is the study of the belief system or the practice of beliefs. religion is the belief system or the practice of beliefs when i was at morehouse i didn't just teach christianity i taught buddhism jainism islam i had to teach all the world religions some of my students thought that i didn't know jesus because i had to teach it all because we were studying the the way they believe in the way they practice their beliefs see that uh-huh i had to study it all uh-huh and then theology is what the study of god study of god when you study theology you're studying god so theology shows up in the study of religion you got that but this is a subtle difference the study of god the study of god or how we interpret god number five now y'all better remember what i just said now religion is the what study of the belief systems or the practice of the belief system all right theology is what the study of god all right but and theology can show up in the study of religion all right good i love y'all who said that although we have different body parts we are all still a part of the same body this was a biblical example

38:10 of the church. Who said that? Pastor Sharp said that? If you put Pastor Sharp, raise your hand. Come on, raise your hand, raise your hand. You are wrong. Paul said that. The Apostle Paul when he was teaching us in the book of 1 Corinthians last week. Paul said that. He said we are many members, but we're all part of the same body. Yes, ma'am. If you said what? No.

38:43 No, who said it was Paul said it. And he wrote it in the book, in the letter to the church of Corinth. Who wrote the book, I Am a Church Member? Who was it, y'all? Huh? Tom Rainer. C, C, C is correct. How we doing so far? All right. Number seven. Pastor Sharp described what behavior as antichrist behavior specifically last week?

39:13 Being cliquish. Being cliquish. Now, there's a whole lot of antichrist behavior. You know, if you wrote one of the presidential candidates, you were wrong. I didn't say that. But we always talk about the antichrist, you know, this whole group of people. No, no, no. Some of our behavior is antichrist. Anything against Christ is antichrist. Got that? All right. Number eight, according to Acts 2, list five things that the church does together. now I don't know what I'm about to do let me find my list no here's the problem I don't have it but I can tell you this if you didn't put pray we pray together we eat together we worship together we get delivered together.

40:23 We watch people get saved together. We witness miracles together. Come on, any questions? no I'm not making it up it's all in the book all the book, Acts 2 fellowship together is right anybody got a question about one you wrote down that you want to know are you right study together, I didn't say that I didn't say so together not according to Acts 2 Acts 2 was specific it was all out of the Bible come on, what's your question struggle together? I did say struggle together we share resources together I did say that nope we don't talk about one another but I didn't say that that's not in Acts 2 huh we what fast together did I say fast together I didn't say fast together that's not in Acts 2 Acts 2 is eating fellowshipping praying worship together bring our resources together we struggle together, we deliver together we watch people get saved together we're baptized together all those things. If you didn't put that on there just uh uh it's either all or nothing all or nothing all or nothing I said what I said you either got all five right or you didn't get them all right and you get nothing cause the question required five. You either wrote down the five I just said or you don't get it. Amen. What word did Pastor Sharp ask us to underline in the scripture where Jesus said upon this rock I will build my church? What was the word? Huh? What was the word? What was it? My. Because Jesus is talking. A lot of times we think it's our church. It's Jesus's church. My church. I specifically said, underline my, upon this rock I will build my church.

42:25 All right? Number 10, being a church member means that we will not make the church about our preferences and our what? Desires. Good job. D, desires. Desires. All right, here's a bonus. Here's a bonus. And what's crazy about this is the bonus from the other weeks. Who was the second person to tithe in the Bible? Jacob. Good job. Good job. Good job. What does the firmament of God's power mean? The entirety of creation, the world, the globe. If you said the world, the globe, the entirety of creation, because in Psalm 151, no, Psalm 150, it says, praise the Lord in the sanctuary and in the firmament of his power. So sanctuary is sacred spaces. Firmament of his power is secular spaces, all spaces in the world.

43:19 All right. tally up your grade what'd you say the whole power no the whole world the globe, all of creation everywhere basically alright if you made a 100 please stand if you made a 100 please stand made a 100 you kidding come on y'all give a hand All right, Brianna.

43:56 Okay. Now, she the only one? What was your grade? Did you get the bonus points too? So you didn't get that. So you have 100. So what's your total overall, including a bonus? 105. Does anybody else have 105 today? Does anybody else have 105? Bonus is five each. So you add on five and five.

44:35 Then five plus five is ten if you get both. Got it. So you only got one right. So she's the only one that got 105. Y'all give it up for Breonna. She gets some more money. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. all right now if anybody is on the virtual ship and and you like i just passed i just got a now you got to have 105 don't don't email us to me i got 100 because somebody already beat you but if you got 105 or 110 then you contact the church somehow call up here uh rafael brother rafael will be at the phone. And you ask to speak to Reverend Pope. don't ask to speak to nobody else ask for the executive pastor Reverend Pope and you prove to him that you got 105 or above Amen, Reverend Pope is so ready to receive all of your calls let's give it up our executive pastor Wave at them.

45:47 Wave at them. All right. Let's jump into the lesson tonight. It's very quick because this is a part one and a part two. So my wife taught me don't, you know, just don't give it all to the people at once. Spread it out. So this is part one because it's nine points in all. But today you only get four. Come on, somebody say amen. You only get the first four. y'all I am concerned wait wait wait before we get into this somebody pull out you pull out a question I got to do it today Lord because these questions boy y'all think them test hard put put put pull out one don't look just pull out one there we go come on you pull out one for me just pull out one I'm gonna do three these are questions that you all asked at the beginning and I'm going to do my best to answer them on site.

46:42 Pass the shop. This is personal. All right. All right. I heard the Lord say, I had to read it first because I ain't reading this out loud and get caught up all over the internets. I heard the Lord say, let him help you. Now, it's a friendship and relationship. He hasn't said, love me to me that. Okay, he hasn't said to me that he loved me. Help me, please. But he always shows me. This is personal. I heard the Lord say, let him help you. Now, it's a friendship and relationship. He hasn't said to me that he loves me. Help me, please.

47:38 But he always shows me. Okay. do I'm going to come back to it. Let me think on that. Because I mean, y'all writing riddles.

47:59 He helps me. And he sees me. But he didn't tell me he loves me. Help me. Help me. I don't know what you're talking about. Why don't we discuss abstinence, premarital sex, and that not everyone is called to marriage? Okay, so y'all, I want one today. Somebody went and typed up there. First of all, we do talk about all of these things.

48:36 Listen, it's complicated. It's very complicated. And y'all not going to get me caught up on the internets. The Bible teaches that we should wait. So. no see y'all don't understand what's happening in my head I know the answer but I don't know how to tell you the answer one day I'm going to help you unpack some of the words in the Bible to the original Greek meaning and you'll understand what the real original meaning of the word fornication means in the Greek because sometimes we've taken some of these words and just put the english definition to them and we don't know what the original writer was trying to express so i can't give you the full thing right now because it'll derail this whole bible study so i need to prepare the answer for this and come back and give you a solid answer of what the Bible actually teaches about premarital sex and fornication because there are people, times have changed, and there are people who are living into their 30s and their 40s who are virgins, and they've not had sex, or they've decided to be absent or celibate, and so originally, y'all folks in the bible were losing their virginity at the age of 13 and 14 and 12.

50:17 So now you're telling people to hold off to marriage to 35 but God made them and knows that just as spiritual as you are you're very human you're hitting up against some challenges and so it ain't about whether you agree or not I'm telling the truth it's a challenge folks are dealing with, they're having a hard time piecing together what the Bible says to what now the culture is. So I live to be 40 years old before I get married and I ain't supposed to do nothing but come in here and sing He Shall Rain Forever. I'm just exposing the tension, if you will. No pun intended. So, I mean, that's what we're asking people to do. If we just take the Bible, just walk this, throw it on folks, I think we need to exegete the text, go a little bit deeper and figure out what was Paul trying to say to that church then, and how does it apply now?

51:22 Am I making sense? Now, I can tell you this as a witness. You have a lot more peace when you do wait until you're with somebody who actually loves you. Now I'm done with that. I'll come back to it later. And the real, oh, no. Mm-mm, mm-mm, mm-mm. Mm-mm, not tonight. Don't do it. I need to go to my lesson. Okay, I'll go to my lesson. They heard me, they loved me, they saw me, but they didn't say they loved me and helped me, so they showed me. if somebody is showing you they love you and they haven't said they love you i think that you can rock with that i think you can rock with that but it's up to you and i think that people need to learn how to communicate the real issue is communicate if it bothers you that y'all have been together for a while and the person he or she has not said that they love you uh you need to communicate and say hey why you why you don't say you love me you show me you love me but but what is this that's keeping you from expressing the words i love you so get clarity ain't nothing wrong with getting clarity and i'm gonna tell you now you might as well go on and get clarity on the front end so you don't get the the waters mud muddled on the back end so those of you that don't know how to open your mouth and express what you're wondering and what you're worried about, to all my overthinkers, you free yourself when you stop assuming.

53:04 You free yourself when you stop having a party in your mind with solo cups in your mind. You and yourself and your I sitting around in your head with red solo cups having a party about what you think that person meant when they said what you thought they were trying to say when they said what they said. Instead of just coming out to the party and saying, Why you say that? Why you don't say you to love me? I love you. I don't have no problem saying that. We ain't got to be boyfriend, girlfriend in a committed relationship. And why you text me love you and not I love you? And why you, you know, I'm serious. Is there a difference? Lower case L-O-V-E-Y-A versus I love you. Are you trying to differentiate something? Get clarity. Let the church say clarity. Uh-huh. because I want all, I want the I, I want the love, and I want the you, and I want an emoji. And I like the one with the kissy heart one.

54:03 I want all of it if that's what you need. So the real underline of this is a communication issue and I'm glad that it came up because a lot of our marriages and our relationships, we better stop holding stuff in. Tell yourself, stop holding stuff in. Get the clarity you need so you can have the peace you need. Am I making sense? All right. Now, let me read this one. Last one, last one. And I'm going to come back to the sex because everybody loves to talk about sex. So we're going to talk about premarital sex and later. What's up, Pastor? I'm 19 years old and I want to become a preacher of the gospel. All this is new to me. Can you give me some advice about how should I start the process? What Bible should I get?

54:55 Wow. Where should I start in the Bible? And any other tips you would like to give me? Appreciate it. S-N, what that means? Side note. You are one of the reasons why I want to become a preacher of the gospel. So even before I became a preacher, I want to say thank you for inspiring me. God bless whoever this young man is or young woman.

55:18 Come on. Because it doesn't say it's a woman or a man. So let me just say this. God bless you. Let me tell you how the Holy Ghost works. on my way out the door, the Lord said, grab your study Bible to tell people who really are serious about going deeper in the word so you can put this and help them invest in it. For those that really want to understand more about the Bible, it's a breakdown in front of every book of the Bible. It's some deuteroconotical books, which means the Apocrypha is in here. You get some articles in the back this is a the most scholarly bible you can have the scholars got together who knew the original greek who understand the original hebrew and they made this rendition and it's called the harper collins study bible student edition new revised standard version the harper collins y'all get close as you can camera person y'all come on in i need folk to Get this.

56:23 So the Holy Ghost knew you needed this young preacher before I knew. All right. How do I do it? There it is. The HarperCollins Study Bible. Every serious student of scripture needs to invest in this Bible. The HarperCollins Study Bible. I recommend it. I recommend it. I've had this one since 2013. Can you tell? Mm-hmm. The cover needs to be rebinded on it. but this has come with me through many many many of of situations and so go get this and it's not just for that young preacher all of you if you're a member fellowship didn't i tell the ministers this four years ago if you're a minister if you're a member of the ship and you're serious about going deeper in the word you want to understand where's the rep getting some of this from i'm giving y'all the secret recipe. This is the scholarly, one of the most scholarly Bibles that you can have. So young preacher, do that. And what's some advice? I want you to be 19 and not 91. You need to be a young person. You need to be wise. The times are changing. You can't just send out anything in a text message. You live in a screenshotting generation. You live in a untrustworthy generation where people will try to corner you just to catch you.

57:49 So be careful with what you say, where you are. Make sure you have some friends that allow you to be human because you're a young man, you need space to make mistakes. Or a young woman, you need space to make mistakes. You need some friends who respect the spirituality of you but also understand the humanity of you. So make sure you're around people that respect your oil but also let you be human as well. So your crew is going to make the difference. Make sure you study all preachers. You can learn something from anybody. You can learn what's good. You can learn what's bad, what not to do, what to do. Study every preacher you hear. White, black, Japanese, if you can understand them, I don't care if they're deaf and they sign language. If you know sign language, you study that sign language preacher and you learn from everybody. There is nobody beneath you. You are the eternal student. So you're always learning.

58:42 You're always listening. And just because somebody hadn't gone to school don't mean they can't teach you something. It's going to be some older ladies or some older men in your life. It's going to be some regular people in your life. Listen to them. When people hit you up, feel what they're going through. Because the more you listen to people's struggles, their joys and their pains, it'll make you a more relatable preacher. Don't just listen to gospel. You need to know what Cardi B is saying too. And you need to know what J. Cole is talking about so you will be able to relate to people who are outside the walls of the church. Because here's the little secret. We up in here in our own little world and nobody know what we talking about half the time. So you need to know the language of the culture so you can take the Bible and make it relevant for the culture. I'm trying to help you tonight. And then second, and then number one above all, make sure you have a personal relationship with God. you are a good preacher when you are a good Christian when you have a prayer life when you fast, when you study and I'm going to get into some of that today so God bless you to all my young preachers out there have fun don't get old before your time and don't let people aid you and don't worry about the spotlight don't worry about people trying to make you perfect because you're not going to be perfect and have the people trying to make you perfect if you knew all that stuff all that stuff stink and to be the main people trying to judge you who actually have no right in the world to say anything about you.

1:00:10 So be free and grow and make your mistakes and get a good therapist early on so you can avoid some of the private pitfalls that come in ministry. Am I talking good or am I talking good? All right, so here's our lesson tonight, and I'm going to be quick, so don't worry. Don't stress yourself. We're going to get out in good time. How do I get the most out of a message and a sermon? Can I tell you all something? I am deeply concerned, deeply concerned as a preacher and a pastor in the 21st century. Let me tell you why. because one of the worst feelings is working on a message for five to six days trying to organize your thoughts pray about what to say how to say it making sure everybody understands it and you come in church and look on the front row or the second row or the fifth row and nobody is taking any notes.

1:01:15 It is an insult. It's an insult to any preacher. Another insult is when I bring a guest and the church starts pouting because I'm not present and make the preacher work out of a hole. I know they're prepared because I'm not going to bring nobody that ain't prepared. and I think five years later you can admit Rev don't bring too many awful terrible preachers now we've had our days where the preacher just you know struggled through and we struggled with them and prayed them on over with I've struggled in some of my sermons and y'all prayed me through and gave me patience and grace but listen I want to teach you how to receive the word of God where you get the most out of it.

1:02:11 Are y'all with me tonight? I want to teach you how to get the most out of it because the worst feeling I've felt over the last eight years of pastoring, totally, eight years total, eight and a half really total, I come home sometime and I know what Jesus meant when he said, don't cast your pearls amongst the swine. I never want to feel like you're bringing jewelry and gems and the only people there to receive it are pigs who trample on the gifts that God has brought. Jesus said this. I'm not coming for nobody. I'm telling you. Jesus said, do not cast your pearls amongst the swine, amongst the pigs. They don't have the capacity for the excellence and the exquisite nature of the treasure that's being thrown in front of them. And I never want fellowship to be that kind of church where people are up here with pearls and sapphires and diamonds and gems and they're throwing it out and it's just falling in the mud.

1:03:19 I never want us to be that kind of church. Don't get quiet now. I need your amens on a hundred. I want us to be the kind of church where literally, have you ever heard me say, I said the other week when I wasn't here, I said, pull on their anointing. pull on the preacher's anointing get the most since you up today I know sharp ain't here but guess what don't play with my time today cause who in here ain't got time you don't have time to play who in here done fought through everything in the week when you come to church on Sunday you have one question like in the book of Jeremiah is there a word from the Lord nobody cares if you, uh oh, I'm about to get you. I'm about to get caught up. Nobody care about your lipstick. We don't care about your shoes. We don't care about your hair. We don't care if you got on a robe, if you got on tennis shoes, if you got on a dashiki, if you up there in pajamas.

1:04:16 Is there a word? Anybody come here looking for a word? Anybody come here looking for strength? Do you feel the energy in the room right now? That's how it ought to be when the preacher gets to the pulpit. One thing I loved about Reverend Jenkins, Pastor Jenkins, when the man or woman of God would get to the pulpit, what would he ask us to do? Stand to honor the anointing on that person's life. Because he was setting the house in order to say, hey, I don't know what that preacher went through to get here, but we need a word. We need to hear what Yahweh is saying to us. So we're going to honor the preacher, honor the moment with our attentiveness, with our pull in the spirit to say, hey, Reverend, you better bring it today. You ought to be on the edge of your seat, especially leaders. Huh? I just can't.

1:05:13 Oh, the Sundays I want to just run down and just grab people. I just want to grab them and shake them. How you fight to sit in the front and sleep? I just, I don't, I'm, I'm, I'm, you understand? Casting pearls amongst the swine. So number one, here it is. Here's how we get it, how we get it. I'm done, I'm done already. I'm done before I start. Number one, end of the moment with expectation. Oh, I need a word. Listen, it's called holy anticipation. Enter the moment of the preaching moment with the holy expectation. Uh-huh. In the book by Richard Foster, A Celebration of Disciplines, in the chapter about worship, he calls it holy anticipation. You have to enter with anticipation.

1:06:08 You ought to want something. When I go to a restaurant, I'm anticipating something. especially when people been bragging about it when I go in a movie and everybody been talking about that movie alright let's see I'm waiting on something I'm looking for something and write this down listen for God's voice in the preacher's voice listen for God's voice in the preacher's voice when I got here I wasn't everybody's style My style was different from Pastor Jenkins. Pastor Jenkins' style is different from me. When Pastor Pope preaches, he's different from Pastor Gio. Rabbi preached Sunday and literally 12 people got saved. Rabbi didn't hoop. He didn't get an E flat.

1:07:01 He didn't grab his ear. He didn't say, ah, ah, ah, none of it. but if you were listening to God's voice in the preacher's voice 8 o'clock in the morning we had an older preacher from North Carolina three piece suit on and a glitter tie and let me tell you something he started talking slow and he was going slow but about middle way through he sped it up and shut down the 8 o'clock service but if because he was too slow for you you check out you miss God's voice in the preacher's voice everybody not gonna holler some people gonna whisper listen for God's voice in the preacher's voice I might holler every week I don't need all that holler get through the holler and say Lord let me hear your voice through my pastor's loud voice or else you're going to miss. Have an anticipation.

1:08:07 Here's what's sad. Mark 6, 3 through 5. Let me read it. Here's what they said about Jesus. This is about Jesus, y'all. So preachers be encouraged. This is what they said about Jesus. He over there healing and teaching and doing his thing. He doing his Jesus thing. Verse 3. Here's what the crowd starts saying. Is not this the carpenter? Look at how they try to debase him. bring him down to size. Ain't he just the son of Mary? Not the son of God, son of Mary. And the brother James and Joseph and Judas and Simon and are not his sisters here with us? And they took offense at him. They took offense at Jesus. Then Jesus said to them, prophets are not without honor except in their hometown among their own kin and in their own house. Remix, if you're a prophet, the place you will be least honored is around the people that know you best.

1:09:01 Because just like a faucet in a fountain, the water around, whatever is most around where the water's coming out, it doesn't get wet. Did you hear what I said? The water comes up and it goes out. And everything right around the spigot, whatever it is, doesn't get wet. And that explains why you can help everybody else's children except yours.

1:09:28 You're able to minister to everybody else's family and yours is in a mess. Because a prophet, a preacher, those of you who are called, very rarely get honor from the people that know you best. Keep on reading. And because of this, verse 5, and he could do no deed of power there except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. Why is that? Because the people had no faith. The people had no faith. So when you come into the moment, it's not that Jesus doesn't have the power. Do you have the faith? Do you have an expectation? Matthew 13, the same thing happens. Same thing happens. Verse 58. Go to verse 58. Matthew 13, 58. I just want them to see this. Verse 58. And he did not do many deeds of power there because of their unbelief. So sometimes you block your own blessing because your heart ain't right during the preaching moment.

1:10:25 The preacher wasn't that good. No, you weren't listening that good. I ain't never heard a sermon where I ain't getting nothing out of it. Because here's what's happened sometimes. Even if the preacher didn't work the text, I fell in love with the text reading it while they were preaching it. And I went home and studied the text on my own and wrote my own sermon. And said, now this is how it should have been. Or could have been. I'm serious. they preach in Psalm 23 talking about making it on broken pieces now that don't make no sense ain't no broken pieces in Psalm 23 but since you pull Psalm 23 and even if you mishandled it and don't make it make sense I'm going to sit there and read it and get something I'm going to leave saying the Lord is my shepherd yes he is and I shall not want and he going to make me lie down in green I get happy reading the scripture because that's how much anticipation you ought to have Listen, if nobody but those of you in this room right now Shift the atmosphere when preaching is going on Shift it Shift it And in black church, there's something called call and response That means if the preacher is saying something true She or he, our sibling, our brother, our sister We ought to holler back Amen Come on preacher Sad I live to hear Minister Tuesday holler out You better go ahead Oh, I know we about to have church then.

1:11:56 What does Deacon and Lois say over there sometimes? What you say? Oh, I know it's about to be a good Sunday. If I hear what you say and I hear you better go ahead, I say, oh, it's about to get hot in here. And people laugh at folks like that, but they control the energy. So what I want you to do is enter with expectation. Everybody say expectation. Then number two, engage in meditation. engage in meditation engage in meditation you ought not just hear that word and throw it away that's why you got to take notes and now everybody has a phone sometimes i'm y'all think i'm over there texting i'm not texting i'm writing my notes in my notes section i'm on my phone trying to make sure i got the word i have the text who preached it what date it was what what the points were i can tell you right now Sunday at 8 o'clock in the morning the points were the sermon was I got a reason to praise him. The reason I can praise him is because he stilled my anxieties.

1:13:01 He stopped my adversaries and he stationed some angels. I'm holding on to that on Tuesday. Why? Because I wrote it on Sunday and that thing been in my spirit. At the 1045 service the sermon was the race. And the first point was about how there are people in the stands who are cheering me on who already made it to heaven and who've already run their race. And the second point dealt with the ability to make sure we drop weights and sins because weight and sin can be different. And sometimes if you hold on to the weight too long it'll become sin. The third point was we gotta endure. And the fourth Point was, we gotta look to Jesus. Am I right? I ain't over here standing on the steps to be seen.

1:13:58 I'm standing because I got an expectation. Don't stand up there and waste my time. Don't stand up there and play with God's people. You understand? And then all week I've been meditating on the fact I got a race and on the fact that I got angels. I woke up this morning happy on a cloudy day on the prayer call talking to the people 599 callers on a prayer call and I told them you got some angels today why am I talking about angels on Tuesday because I'm still meditating of what I got Sunday have you ever heard me preach a sermon that didn't leave you have you ever had a sermon that just didn't leave you I know the sermon that didn't leave you Sharnita I can tell you because you told me two years ago I'm about to get you you want me to tell you it all makes sense now I preached that sermon in 2019 it was about Joseph who got betrayed by his brothers and it wasn't until about the last chapter of Genesis where he said literally you meant it for evil but God many for my good and i called it it all makes sense now but it's not usually till you get on the other side of the trouble that what all you went through starts making sense shanita told me two years ago that a sermon so two years ago was 2022 so a sermon from 2019 is still holding on to her and she's still holding on it because meditation psalm one I'm not making this up. Blessed is the person who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. Don't miss it. Did you catch it? Blessed is the person. Psalm 1. Psalm 1. Should be coming up on the screen, media team. Psalm 1. Blessed is the person that doesn't walk in the counsel of the ungodly,

1:16:05 nor stand in the way of sinners nor sit did you catch it? first you walking then you're standing and then you get so comfortable with them you start sitting you got to be careful who you walk with because you'll start standing with them and you got to be careful who you stand with because you'll start sitting with them blessed is the person that keeps the right company verse 2 because this person's delight is in the law of the Lord and in that law he or she meditates day and night so to the person that doesn't walk around the wrong crowd and keep God's word on their mind. I'm about to get you with the Hebrew word for meditate. And he or she verse 3 shall be like a tree. planted by streams of water.

1:17:02 I'm getting happy and it's getting lesser because it don't matter if it rains or not when I'm planted by a stream. It doesn't matter what comes from above. I got some from below. My roots are so deep that they always tap to an ever-flowing stream and my leaves won't wither and everything I do is going to prosper. I get 60 and I'm still sexy. sexy. I get 70 and I still got strength. I get 80 and I'm still in my right mind. I'm 50 and I look better at 50 than I did at 20 because my leaves don't wither because I've been meditating on his word. You ever seen mean, ugly acting people? It shows up in their skin. They get wrinkled prematurely. But when you've been in God's word and you love God's people and you got your life tied to his word there's an effervescence about your countenance there's a liveliness and a vibrancy about you everybody say meditate that that hebrew word is haggar i'm about to mess you up i'm about to mess you up y'all now ready for this haggar h-a-g-a haggar some people put another h on the back in. It doesn't matter. You can spell it H-A-G-A-H or H-A-G-A. Everybody say Haga.

1:18:22 That's where we get the word meditate from. Now, of course it means to reflect. Of course it means to ponder, but it also means to growl. growl growl G-R-O-W-L growl and I started to figure it out growl it is like a tiger that has been on a hunt caught their prey and they finally get their food in their grip and before they devour it they just They growl. No longer are they growling to scare anybody away. They are so enjoying what they're about to enjoy.

1:19:17 It's like a dog that gets their favorite toy. And you come around them when they're playing with it and they let out that little... They're not going to bite you, but they're enjoying it. They are totally satisfied with what they have. so when I meditate on God's word I hold on to it because I'm totally satisfied with what I caught now unto him who's able to do exceeding and abundantly I hold on to it he'll do more than you ever expected that's biblical I hold on to that cast all your cares upon him because he cares for you that I'm totally satisfied that.

1:20:18 So when you meditate on his word, you're holding it and you're totally satisfied with what you've hunted down. Because I went to church at eight o'clock service and I was on a hunt. Other folk were looking for a boo. I was looking for a scripture.

1:20:41 Other folk were looking to be seen on the front row. put me in the balcony but I'm on a hunt for some oil some anointing for some power and when I get what I come for looking under Jesus who's the author and the finisher of my faith totally satiated totally satisfied even before I eat it I know it's gonna be good wait you missed that even before I get it totally in me before it's fully manifested I'm happy because I got it it may not even be showing in my life yet and I'm going to meditate because sometimes you sitting there listening to everybody else shouting you're like I ain't seen that yet no weapon formed against me these weapons prospering pastor some of these words hurt real I ain't seen that one yet but that don't mean you don't grab it that don't mean you don't meditate on it that don't mean you don't hold it because one day God's going to prove to you what he means by it didn't prosper And sometime it'll be two years later for you to say, it all makes sense now.

1:22:10 Because some of them weapons look like they did prosper until the full story comes out. All right. I got to get you out of here. All right. See, it is. Then number three. Number three. Lord, I feel like teaching tonight. Am I helping somebody? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You got to come in here. Meditate. go home and be in the gym who got some air pods and some you better sow your seed who in here go to the gym and you put the word on while you're on the treadmill you just meditating on it I need to go back and listen to that again thank God for YouTube we used to have to buy tapes after church now you can just go get the word for free go to Facebook trying to look for that sermon no I don't want the 8 o'clock I need that 115 one yeah cause I need to meditate on his word day and night. Okay, here it is.

1:23:04 Number three. I need to slow down. I'm getting happy. Entertain moments of self-evaluation. If you hear every sermon and it makes you run and shout, you ain't really listening. If you listen to every sermon and you say, oh, I wish such and such was here to hear this. They sure need to hear this. You're missing it. Because when you hear the word of God, you ought to entertain moments of self-evaluation. Everybody say self-evaluation. I don't want to read this whole thing, but there's a story about when David sinned against Bathsheba, the prophet came to him. And he gave him this real interesting story. And he told him, no, we're going to read it. Verse 1. Come on. Verse 1. 2 Samuel verse 1. Y'all read it with me. I want you to see how the prophet Nathan checked David. And the Lord sent Nathan to David. Y'all read it with me. He came to him and he said to him, there were two men in a certain city.

1:23:59 the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing but one little e-lamb that he had bought. He brought it up and he grew it up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his meager fare and drink from his cup and lie in his bosom. And it was like a daughter to him. All right. So here's the analogy. There's this rich man that got a bunch of sheep. Then there's this little poor man had one and he took such good care of it. Now verse four. Now there came a traveler. Verse four. There came a traveler to the rich man and he was loath to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him. But he took the poor man's lamb and prepared that for the guests who had come to him. So the rich man had a traveler that was coming in instead of him using one of the ones out of his mini flock he went over and got the poor man's sheep killed it and fed the gas verse five then david's anger verse five david's anger was greatly kindled against the man he said to nathan as the lord lives the man who has done this deserves to die he shall restore the lamb for foe because he did this thing and because he had no pity and Nathan said to David you are the man thus saith the Lord the God of Israel I anointed you king over Israel and I rescue you from the hand of Saul when David took Uriah's wife Bathsheba David had all these concubines had multiple wives and multiple is an understatement he had in different area codes.

1:26:00 And he went over and messed with this man's wife. One wife. And the prophet said, hey, bro. David said, oh, whoever did that, they should die. They should pay back. And the prophet said, you the man. That was just an analogy. That was just a parable. You did that. You are the man. Some sermons, you ought to get hit. some sermons i sit there i i can't holler if i wanted to because i'm like jesus it is me oh lord standing in the need of prayer i was on the phone to preach earlier today and he said man i've been pastoring almost 40 years he said i done seen some everything he said i had a lady stand up in the middle of me preaching one wednesday noonday service stood up in the middle the sermon and said, who you talking to?

1:26:55 and started walking to the pulpit. The security had to stop the lady. He was just up there preaching, and that thing hit her so deep. She thought he was preaching to her only. Just because she got convicted, I could not imagine one of y'all standing, who you talking to? Man, Deacon DeAndre beat them flu cross three pews.

1:27:35 You don't want to do that up in here. That's so funny. But y'all catch it. You can get hit so close to home that it's like, wait a minute, Rev talking about me. He has been in my group chat. Have you ever had a Sunday like that? You're like, now, hold on now. Somebody done told Pastor what I've been through because that's just too weird.

1:27:57 That's the Holy Ghost. And you ought to look at yourself. I look at myself. Y'all, I've been preparing sermons in tears. Sometimes when I'm writing sermons and reading the text, I am in tears because it hit me that close. So by the time I get to y'all, it's one of them Sundays where I say, y'all, I ain't got to say nothing. You said right there today I'm giving all of this because this already got me I'm dead I want to join the church again On my own sermon I'm going to walk down one Sunday It's me Shake my own hand Can I get a witness? It'll hit you like that sometimes Hit you like that sometimes And then over here Acts 2 37-41 It's just about Peter telling them, repent and be baptized, meaning there's work for you to do. Don't just hear me preach and don't repent.

1:28:55 Don't just hear a preacher preach and not repent. You know, repent means, uh-oh, quiz to change directions. It's one thing to confess your sins, but y'all, it's a whole other thing when you got to do a U-turn or you got to turn and shift. There you go, Ryan. You got to shift gears. I like that. You got to shift gears. You got to go a different direction. Listen, lean up. I'm going to tell you something. That's where your real power is. That's where your real fight is. Not in your ability to say, I'm sorry. Not in your ability, and this is with God and with all of your relationships on earth. The real power, the real truth of your character gets revealed. Not in you just saying, I'm sorry, I'm wrong, my bad, I apologize. The real truth is in when you repent and you stop the behavior and go in a different direction. and that's hard that's why we need the Holy Ghost because some of us are still talking to people and the rum all right next no it's too late too late to go there so so here it is when you are doing self-evaluation a repent b i'm almost there reflect A. Repent B. Reflect C. Reshare Tell somebody Reshare it Reshare, reshare, reshare D. You can restart Ain't that good news?

1:30:25 I can restart I can restart All over again Then D. E. I rejoice That's why Is there a witness in the room? you know has God been good to anybody yeah that's why you ought to rejoice these are ways you evaluate a sermon re-evaluate a sermon internally and then number four last and finally and y'all gonna get real quiet on this it's about to get even more quieter than this it's about to get more real quieter number four encourage the messenger through kind acts of reciprocation reciprocation just big word it means if somebody gave you something give something back reciprocate it and the text is 1 Timothy 5 18 for the scripture says you shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain and the laborer deserves to be paid if a preacher is blessing you ain't nothing wrong with you blessing that preacher after rabbi preached good as he preached somebody should say where's your cash at i want a soul into you because to muzzle the ox meant i'm gonna put a mass on the ox while he down there stepping out on the grain and working is keeping him from eating but if you keep the ox from eating while he's working he's gonna lose his strength if you take the muzzle off and let him eat while he's working you're gonna get more out the ox So the Bible said don't muzzle the ox that's trading out corn.

1:32:03 So the preacher, your pastor, or any preacher you hear is trading out for you to eat. Trading out the corn. Trading out the grain. And when you don't give to that man of God or that woman of God or find a way to bless them, somehow you're muzzling an ox. You got that? no I ain't telling you you ain't got to do nothing for me that you don't want to do the Lord's been good to me but let me tell you ways that are not just monetarily that have blessed me I got members that write thank you notes and they say that that message touched me that's reciprocating that lets me know somehow there are people that get in line some of them some of them get in line with good intentions some of them some of them some of them quiz how many people get in line with good intentions some of them and what blesses me was when they walk up and say i needed that thank you for that word today you touch me pastor i need i gotta go home and sit with that one now all that work all those weeks of preparation in that one moment somebody just said thank you other people send a cash out what's your cash out whatever way you want to do it i don't care but find a way usually in our church we have pastors anniversary and there's some black person somewhere saying well they are now we ought to pay him now what we got to do with it we he ought to pay I mean he ought to get a salary then what we can what we got to do all this oh once a year don't muzzle the ox we about to honor Pastor Jenkins and we gonna raise an offering somebody serve this church 20 plus years and you you ain't got to understand it but if you gonna be at this church we ain't an ox muzzling church we gonna bless the man and woman of God

1:34:11 for the years that they sold into this church so we can get to where we are right now. You take care of preachers, and I promise you, when you show your respect and show your appreciation, you're going to keep getting more grain, more life, more bread, more encouragement. I ain't telling you to do nothing. I'm all right. You ain't got to give me nothing, but if the Lord tell you to, you be obedient. Come on, let's stand. Let's get on out of here. Let's get on out of here. Let's get on out of here. Come on, let's thank God for this Word tonight. Let's thank God for this Word. I said let's thank God for the Word tonight. I want you to be the kind of church fellowship where when preachers get to the pulpit, they leave saying, Lord, that's a good house to preach in. Because those folks want the word. Those people are evaluating themselves.

1:35:06 Those people are paying attention and taking notes and getting the most out of the experience. Speak to my heart, Lord. We're going to close with that song tonight. Speak to my heart. because that's what we need God to do. If you don't know Jesus Christ, I want you to step out into these aisles and shake my hand tonight. If you need a church home, listen, we're going to keep it real as we can here at Fellowship. No perfect church. I'm not a perfect pastor, but we try to set you up for success in the spirit. If you need Christ tonight, I want you to come down to the aisles. If you're online and you're watching and you want to join us virtually, you can come down to the aisles tonight. Some of you say, well, I'm going to wait till Sunday. Sunday's not promised. and so I want you to move tonight if you need to do that if you need to do that if there's anybody here the doors of the church are open the doors of the church are open doors of the church are open doors of the church are open y'all turn the band down I need some come on Dr. Dan give me your plugs you got some extra ones thank you thank you I can hear my thoughts if you need Christ come on down come on down come on down come on down come on down come on down God we thank you for this word we laugh and we learn and we thank you so much for helping us be better thank you for those who listen cause these seeds prayerfully God will always fall on fertile ground we don't want to be like the seeds that fall on rocky ground and get picked up by birds and just fly away Lord no we want these seeds to be planted in fertile ground get the glory in this church allow your word to go forth like dynamism like dynamite let your word explode in our lives so that we're better because of it I thank you for this refuel community even on a rainy night in Chicago.

1:37:05 So many sacrificed to be in the room. So many are gathered around televisions and laptops and phones. Bless us. Keep us. Protect us. In the name of Jesus we pray. Let everybody say amen. Amen. Can we sow before we leave? Somebody came? Come on tonight. We want to welcome our sister. God bless you. You want to join tonight? You want to join the church? God bless you. We welcome you. This your mama? This Deacon DeAndre's mama. Welcome, welcome, welcome. Our First Touch ministry is coming. Come on, you can have a seat right here on the front row. And we're going to make sure that you're covered tonight. Do I have a represent? Come on, y'all. Let's praise God for that. Welcome home, mama.

1:37:55 Bless you. First Touch representative, they got you covered. They're going to make sure you have everything you need. Before we leave, we thank God for that. Look at this on a Tuesday night Turning up going up On a Tuesday I want us to sow before we leave Our deacons thank you Deacon Johnny Thank you Deacon Dixon We want to thank you so much Amen amen We want to thank you all so much for sowing Those of you watching online let's sow Whatever the Lord puts on your heart to give You give that tonight And let it reflect your faith Everybody's sowing everybody's sowing You can give online You can give online virtually digitally or you can give in the room. May your struggles keep you near the cross. May your troubles show that you need God. May your battles end the way they should and may your bad days prove that God is good. I pray your whole life keeps on proving that God is good and all the people said amen. Amen. Get home safely.