I’m Not Gonna Stay Broke

0:00 Brace yourself and buckle up. You are about to hear a life-changing, history-making, world-defining message from the New Birth Podcast. Tell everybody you know, things will never be the same. Thank you. Clap your hands if you love our God and feel him in this room.

0:53 Come on, clap your hands if you feel him in the room. Amen. As you stand to your feet all over this room, we're one week away from Resurrection Sunday. How many of you are glad you serve a living God? You serve a living God.

1:19 Next Sunday, I want you to bring all of your friends, all of your family, all of your coworkers, all of your neighbors as we celebrate a resurrected God together. This Friday night is going to be a healing and deliverance service. How many of you believe God is a healer? God is a healer. Miracles, signs and wonders are going to happen in this room Friday night. How many of you believe God's going to do it? I want everybody dressed in black on a good Friday. It's going to be a funeral for the old you. Everything about you that doesn't mirror and line up with God's will is going to die next Friday. How many of you know God is able to do it? Friday at 12 noon right here in the sanctuary be the seven last words all weekend long. Our bullseye market 100 businesses will be here.

2:18 I want you to come and support them. Let's go to the word of God if you will. Join me in Matthew's gospel chapter 21. Matthew 21. Allow me a moment, if you will, of personal privilege just to express my overwhelming gratitude for how you lavishly loved on me last week as we celebrated our seven years together as both pastor and people. I am grateful for this incredible team and our immaculate staff and for my wife helping to pull this together in a masterful way. I'm grateful and I am just excited with tiptoe anticipation for where God is going to take us in the next seven years. Matthew 21, Matthew 21, verse 7, 8.

3:18 and 9. Matthew 21 verse 7 8 and 9. Once you found it, won't you say I have it? Let's read together with uplifted voices. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that follow shouted, Hosanna. Would you go back to verse number eight, please? Verse number eight, Matthew 21.

4:13 Let's read together with all of the enthusiasm you can muster. Come on, everybody. A very large crowd. Amen. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. a very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road while others cut branches from the trees I want to preach today using as a subject I'm not gonna stay broke I'm not gonna stay broke would you just take your neighbor by the hand shake that hand and tell them I gotta promise you something as God is my witness I am not gonna stay broke My dear friends, might I say to you without fear of contradiction, there's no greater agony than being broke.

5:39 and I don't want you to think for a moment that you are the first. The word bankrupt comes from the Italian word bancarota, meaning broken bench because during the renaissance, Italian moneylenders did business while sitting on benches. when a lender failed his bench was literally broken leaving him out of business and not able to find a place to sit being broke makes you feel like you can't find your place being broke makes you feel like you're not sure where you ought to be in medieval england a merchant who couldn't pay his debts was said to be broken at that time they kept coins from their travels in clay jars and when they reached their proverbial in, they would break the jars to get whatever change they could in order to sustain themselves.

7:08 Going broke was being down to your last. Pulling together chains just to grab something out of a vending machine, scrapping together gas money just to get home, orchestrating your existence until next Friday, hoping two payments don't hit at the same time. wishing your debit card will just let you get away with it hoping that if you don't open the envelope the bill will just evaporate thinking back to what you shouldn't have bought two months ago. Imagine this.

8:00 You got an attitude because they calling about the money you owe. Y'all ain't never been there. I know it ain't just me. Moses experienced this as well. In Exodus 32, the Lord summoned him to Mount Sinai and gave him tablets with the Ten Commandments etched on it. But while he was on his way down, the people of God got impatient and built a gold calf to worship. you got to be careful about what you do while you're waiting on God your impatience will get you played. Moses saw them singing and dancing to an empty deity, and he became full of rage and threw down the tablets so heavily that they broke.

9:09 Ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, we all break the law. stealing his glory we break the law murdering people's reputation break the law jealous of other people's favor we break the law and ladies and gentlemen i wanted you to be cognizant of the fact that when we break the law we are breaking god's heart while we were yet sinners he died for us so moses has been entrusted with the 10 commandments he comes down mount sinai he sees the children of god out of order and instinctively in unbridled rage he throws it down breaking the commandments and they lay there on the ground broken until this day. It wasn't just Moses. It was also Mary. In Mark chapter 14, verse 3, she heard about a private dinner party where the honoree was Jesus. But she wasn't pristine or prominent enough to make the invitation list. So she snuck in through the back door with a brown bag.

10:41 Negroes thought it was Hennessy or Jack Daniels White. but it wasn't either of those. It was an alabaster box of perfume. She had been saving up a whole year just to buy it. Somehow or another, she navigated to get to the feet of Jesus. And when she opened up the bag and looked at the alabaster box, she noted that it did not come with a spray. It didn't come with a roll on. In order for her to get to the ointment, she had to break the whole box. She was prepared in order to get intimate with the Lord, hear this, to go broke. So she broke the box knowing that she could not save any of it, but she had to use all of it. She took that oil that began flowing and put it in her hair and then began washing his feet with that oil. Ladies and gentlemen, might I posit for your consideration this morning that you really don't know how to worship until you've been broken.

12:03 It is not till you get to your last. It's not till you hit rock bottom. It is not until you feel like you got nothing to lose, that you'll get to the feet of God. And even at the risk of people talking about you and misunderstanding you, you will worship God in public. That's how I can tell how many of you have really been broken. Because if you ain't been broken, you worried about, is the camera going to get me? Who looking at me? Am I sitting in the right section? but if you live through some stuff where you almost lost your mind where you almost went crazy when you didn't know how it is you were going to provide for your children you'll get into god's house and you'll scream you'll yell you'll holler you'll kneel you'll lay prostrate and i don't care who looking i don't care what folk got to say i owe god everything Hey.

13:05 Hallelujah. You may be seated. See, when you praise God, you can pull it back together after the choir stops singing. When you praise God, as soon as the musicians stop playing, that's the end of it. But when you are a worshiper, you ain't got to wait till you get to church. sometimes sitting in your car by yourself tears start coming down your face sometimes when you're in the shower and you just start giving god glory here's for nine of you sometimes you got to sit on the edge of your bed and just start thinking about the night you didn't think you were gonna make it can i pause right here for just 50 real worshipers that know god don't get me started in here. I will tear this whole church up. He been that good to me.

14:08 is that how you feel come on will you just give him some worship right there when she worshiping here come the church folk it don't take all of that i wish she would sit down and get out the way you ain't really worship god till negroes get offended you ain't really worshiping God till they start talking about you behind your back you really ain't worshiping God till you stop caring about what your hair look like and your mascara running down your face this joy that I have It wasn't just Moses. It's not just Mary that went broke.

15:03 You may be seated. It wasn't just Moses, not just Mary. It was also the masses. Jesus was teaching one day. He was teaching until the sun starts going down. So about 5,000 people out there and all they could come up with was two fish and five loaves of bread. Matthew 26 and 26. said that Jesus then did the unconscionable. It's 5,000 people. And all Jesus has is two fish and five loaves of bread. And he did something that didn't make sense. He broke it. just like the tablet got broken, just like the alabaster box got broken.

16:04 He broke it. I want to tell the person behind you, sometimes division comes before multiplication. he separates the tares from the wheat God help me in here and I wanted to tell just for a hundred of y'all that don't mind shouting this is your last loss before the game you gotta go broke before you can appreciate the bounty you get ready to go from insufficient to overstock but God wanted to see what was your attitude gonna be like when you were losing stuff would you still come to church as high as gas is will you still go bless God when they've been playing with your check will you still go holler under God when you're not sure how April's bills are going to be paid, but I will bless the Lord at all.

17:11 He took the bread and made the bread go broke. You may be seated. Today, all over the country, yet yet all over the world, people are going to be crying out, Hosanna. And today, contrary to the approach of most pastors, I don't want to deal with the donkey. I have no intention to expend any energy on the coal.

18:01 I don't want to waste any of your precious and valuable time talking about the crowd. Almost at the risk of being a heretic, I'm not even going to talk about Jesus. for the moment that I have what I want to talk about is the tree the Bible says that as he went into Jerusalem people got machetes went into the field and began chopping off the branches they didn't use their hands they used sharp blades they cut off the branches hear this but didn't cut down the tree people will take swipes at you cutting off pieces of you one at a time just to see will you stay standing after you've been cut God, I got some people in here.

19:09 So they cut at your character. They cut at your name. They cut at your reputation. They cut off your money. Y'all ain't saying nothing. And they don't understand none of that makes me who I am. That there's some people who have survived some cutbacks in here where they should have bled out. They should have died right there on the floor. but in spite of all of it I'm still standing would you just grab the person's hand next to you so you don't run and take off and look at him and say do you know how many cuts I've had to deal with I've had to downsize my car downsize my house downsize my life but in spite of all of that it never diminished who I was as a person there's more to me than the money in the bank There's more to me than having validation from social media.

20:08 There's more to me than having a ring on my finger. I'm so bad. I done lost everything and started over twice. And you can't even tell because of how good I look. I'm like a time-match watch. I can take a licking and keep on digging. I've been caught, but I'm still standing. Thank you. I should say, I should say here that these were not heathens that cut them.

20:50 These were not demons that cut them. Y'all not going to like this. It was church folk. it was church folk that cut them down and left them for dead under the caveat they were doing it for God sometimes y'all ain't gonna like me today sometimes you gotta check some church people who feel like they can handle you any kind of way because they get to sit up front y'all ain't saying nothing think that they better than you because they know three more scriptures than you do you better let them know I may not dress like you or drive like you but there's an anointing on my life I will cast out a demon and I'll slit a witch's throat in a minute don't pray with me The mistake I made is I thought we were a team, but you saw me as competition.

22:05 God, y'all ain't saying nothing. There's nothing worse than having to defend yourself against somebody who should be fighting for you. You don't even know that I'm your best ally. I'm your best friend. And all the while you jealous of me when we serve the same God. Put that knife away and let me bloom where God is planted. You may be seated. They cut the tree. They cut the tree and left it in the field. I don't reckon many of you will be able to identify with how painful it is to be cut and left. to have to bleed by yourself, to have to pull it together with no support, to trying to figure out why did they pick me?

23:15 Why did I look like a victim that they could use and play and take advantage of? I'm standing here stripped with nothing, and while I'm stripped with nothing, they out in the street waving a piece of me. God, y'all don't like this. They will cut out your heart and then ask you, do you still love them? They'll cut your head off and then want to know why you ain't talking. They'll cut their own nose to spite their faiths. But I got nothing else to give. I got nothing else to share. I got nothing else to contribute. I got nothing else to say. I got nothing else to do. and now you want to accuse me of being stuck up and self-righteous as if you ain't the one carrying the knife in the first place. You ought to be glad I'm still standing here not saying nothing because the old me would have pulled out my own knife but I gave you grace and let you live.

24:18 so they cut off all of the branches and I got nothing to praise them with the wind is blowing but I got nothing to wave I don't know if you've ever been there at a place in your life where you were in the presence of God but you felt like you didn't have nothing you saw them moving but you didn't have nothing left and people don't know how many cuts you've endured they're looking at you judgmental trying to figure out what's wrong with you and they got no idea whatever strength I had I was using it just to stand God I can't hear nobody in here I gotta pat myself on the back that I don't just break down and cry that I that I don't even just start cussing folk out for no reason y'all ain't never been there. It's been days where I had to calm myself down from not being revengeful because in my head I was plotting how to get my lick back, but God told me to just hold my peace.

25:28 If I hold my peace, he would fight my battle for me. Y'all ain't saying nothing. I rehearsed what I was going to do if I ever caught up to you again. And then I saw you and I figured it wasn't even worth it you wasn't even on my level because you were so miserable that you thought you could cut me down when you didn't even take nothing but my branch people cut your branch but couldn't cut your roots y'all just miss what I just said they cut my branch but they didn't cut my roots see you thought all this outside stuff made me who I was they took Joseph's robe but he still had the glory on her that's why they don't know what to do with you you broke and still fly You ain't got a man, but you look like you kept.

26:34 You struggling and Negroes are jealous of you. You might have took my branch, but you didn't take my root. you may be seated I'm almost finished please be seated they cut off the tree's branches they cut off the tree's branches and went on their way what I wanted you to see is that when Moses threw down the tablets go back and read Exodus when you get a chance when Moses threw down the tablets and they broke God never fixed it when God saw that he broke the tablet, he never fixed the tablet, he just gave him a new one.

27:36 when uh when Mary broke the alabaster box there's no record of her ever purchasing another one when it went broke that that that was the end of it when Jesus broke the bread He broke the bread and then he gave it away. And they never put a brand new loaf in the hands of the boy that gave it. Different than what happened to Moses. Different than what happened to Mary. Different than what happened with the little boy. It's what's getting ready to happen for you.

28:29 they broke the branches off the tree hallelujah they broke the branches off the tree but what the bible never recorded that according to dendrology which is the study of trees when you break the branch off of a palm tree within three months it's gonna grow back but it's going to grow back stronger. I'm going back to my seat. I just wanted to prophesy to 3,000 people and I wanted to see if you'll shout about it. God told me to tell you in three months, everything you lost is coming back to you. Everything that was taken from you is about to be restored.

29:26 Everything that was snatched You Be seated. I'm coming. I'm coming. Please, would you be seated? All right, y'all don't feel like sitting down. Would you take that neighbor by the hand real quick? I got to show you something, then I'm out the door. The Bible only records the tree losing. The Bible only records the tree losing, but nobody ever came back to see its restoration. When God put you back together this time, oh my God, folk who thought it was the end of you are not even going to recognize who you are. God, I'm waiting in here.

30:19 April, May, June. I declare by Juneteenth, if I got any worshipers who are in this room your finances are gonna be restored I need somebody that got crazy faith that before June the 30th everything I need to close the house everything I need to start the business everything I need for my kid to go to school in the fall It will be my press down Shaking together Run it on Okay.

31:09 All right. I asked you. I asked you to sit down. You wouldn't do that. I asked you to hold your neighbor's hand. You wouldn't do that. Would you lift up that hand right where you are? What they say in the study of trees, that if they got cut by a machete, when it grows back in three months, it will be harder to break this tie. Oh my God. It's going to be harder to break this time than what they did last time. I came to tell every demon a sign to you. Whatever you did to break me last year, it ain't going to work this year. Whatever it is that caused me to be depressed, caused me to be lonely, caused me to be suicidal, I never would have made it But I'm stronger I'm wild lift that hand you wouldn't sit down you wouldn't hold your neighbor's hand I want you to lift your hand I want to say this to you this year it's going to be hard for you to go broke that's the best thing I done said today it's gonna be hard for you to go broke because God has put something in you this time that no matter what the enemy brings your way you are fortified to stay I need somebody in this room would you give God glory like you ain't gonna break will you give God honor come on you only got 30 seconds open up your mouth I'm not gonna lose my mind I'm not gonna go crazy I'm not gonna give up on myself it's too hard for me to break

33:22 Hallelujah. Lift up that hand. I want to pray for you. in the next three months prepare yourself for the financial restitution that's getting ready to come prepare yourself for the miracles that God is going to perform in the next three months that everything you've had to live without you are now gonna live with come on I can't hear no worshippers in here I don't know where my screamers are but God said if you give me glory it's your last season of your children living without if if you open up your mouth everything you want to do for your mama is about to happen you ain't going broke in this Lift that hand, let me pray for you.

34:29 that hand is lifted I'm praying for your private financial matters that you have not spoken out loud I'm praying for the issues around your economy that have robbed you of your sleep. I'm praying for those of you who are self-employed and entrepreneurs who have been considering and weighing, waving the white flag. I'm praying for those of you in this room who are right on the brink of losing it all. And every week you are living hand to mouth.

35:24 I'm praying for somebody online who's not sure how they're going to be able to keep the car another month. Not sure how they're going to be able to renew the lease. I'm praying for somebody who's got financial challenges that are only as big as your physical challenges. God says, I'm going to give you all the resources so you can get the procedure. All the resources so you can get the assistance that's needed and necessary. As long as it takes for me to rebuild the branch. is as long as it's going to take me to rebuild your finances. And I'll do it in the next three months. Here's what I appreciate about the trees is the trees worshipped him when they didn't have nothing. It's easy to give God glory when you got money in the bank.

36:20 But if there's anybody in the room that got enough crazy faith that you can worship God even when you done lost everything, will you just take one moment and worship him right there come on I bet you got more than that I bet you got more than that I bet you got more than that Lord, in the name of Jesus, I pray for whoever's hand is lifted that in the next three months, you'll instill in them the discipline and the wisdom to not blow a blessing. I pray that you will give them foresight to be able to handle a windfall of finances. I pray dear Lord that you'll give them miracles that are not connected to money give them what money cannot buy exceed their expectation do for them what their credit score says they should never have and I trust you for the unusual and for the ridiculous and those of you your faith comes into agreement with my faith would you give God your best shout of Thanksgiving right now.

37:43 Come on, open up your mouth. Come on, I said open up your mouth. I want to do this. Those of you at the altar, if you go back to your seats, I want to do this. Hallelujah. I'm going to do this. I don't know who this word was for today. I don't know where you are. I don't know what you're contending with. I don't know what the issue is, but I just came as a subtle reminder that there's nothing too hard for God.

38:21 There's nothing that God can't do. It's nothing that is beyond his grasp and beyond his scope. I want you standing all over this room if you'll yield to me just a few moments of your time. I just want to be obedient to what I hear God saying in this moment. You're in this room and you are facing imminent eviction in the month of April. Imminent eviction in the month of April. Don't worry about what people say, what people think, what they feel or what they believe it ain't their business imminent eviction in the month of April I want you to come meet me at this altar I want to pray for you I want you to move at the speed of your faith at the speed of your faith. at the speed of your faith.

39:19 at the speed of your faith. You don't think God is able? Stay right where you are, at the speed of your faith. Hallelujah. I trust in God because he cares for me. On mountaintops, even in the stormy sea. Stretch your right hand to faith. Hallelujah. Bless his name. Thank you. All over this room, would you just begin praying that God will perform a miracle? here's where God is going to stretch the elasticity of your faith.

40:06 They can't wait three months. They need three days. And if you're in church, you've got some record of what God is able to do in three days. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I want you to open up your mouth all over this room. Would you just begin to give God worship? Tell me what this is in your hand. Tell me what this is. yes thank you lift up that hand open up your mouth hallelujah if you any of you who are at this altar you got your eviction notice with you i want you to bring it to me you got your eviction notice hallelujah i want you to bring it hallelujah stretch that right hand to faith i feel god in this place that god's gonna do the unusual God's going to do the ridiculous.

41:04 He's going to do the overwhelming. God's going to do what no other power can do. Hallelujah. Can you imagine sometimes God will give you a miracle that ain't for you. It's to embarrass your enemy. They meant it for evil, but God will work it out for your good. If this is where we are tonight, I'm telling you all, Friday night is going to be miracle signs and wonders. I wouldn't miss this move of God. Just a right hand of faith. I want to hear just the sound of worship.

41:40 I hope you are energized that you don't need an energy drink. What you just heard should have you off and running, chasing your dreams, pursuing your purpose and answering your call. If this was a blessing, share it with somebody else. Don't be selfish. this is what God gave you so that you can be a blessing to somebody who needs it worse