It Was Just God and My Momma

0:30 daughter that she gave birth just for me thank you so very much you went through all of that just for me i'm grateful i'm grateful luke chapter 7 verse 28 Thank you. I tell you, among those born of a woman, there is no one greater than John. Yet the one least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

1:00 I tell you, among those born of a woman, there is no one greater than John. Yet the one least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. you may be seated in the presence of the Lord I want to preach today using as a subject, I just had God in my mama.

1:26 I just had was God in my mama. Look at the person beside there and tell them, I don't know what your testimony is, but all I had was God in my mama. Oh, the last 100 days, there's been much ado about diversity, but little discussion on commonality. I want America to put aside for just one moment the distinction between being rural and urban, Democrat or Republican, prosperous or impoverished, European or Sub-Saharan, Apple or Android, exercise or ozempic because at our core, we were all shaped in iniquity out of the image and the likeness of God.

2:43 If we put aside our politics, our predilections, and our prejudice, there is a compatibility to our humanity. In every culture, on every continent, in every community. People love, they laugh, they dance, they lie, and they disagree.

3:09 Race was created by white supremacists as a social construct conceptualized by European colonialists amidst the transatlantic slave trade to justify inequality and oppression. a race unto itself is a competition so just imagine an environment where we didn't run against each other but we walked with each other the Negro spiritual admonished us to walk together children and not get weary every human being is born with a brain and therefore a mind, which suggests you were designed to think for yourself.

4:07 In addition, you are a sentient creature which endows you with a capacity for feelings. Howard Thurman wrote one of my favorite books entitled With Head and Heart because we are not just thinking entities, but we're also feeling.

4:32 You can't let people convince you that what you think and how you feel is not important. It may not matter to others, but your opinion and your outrage have merit. You will not be over-talked, nor will you be undermined.

4:57 Making other people happy should not be your ultimate goal. You can't make them ecstatic while you're taking ecstasy. You're feeding their ego the whole while you are starving for affection. Your feelings are valid. People who used to walk over you are going to have to adjust to you standing up for yourself.

5:32 Because your existence is exquisite. And your being is top tier. You should have all of this in mind when you hear Jesus say, Among those born of a woman, there has not been one born greater than John. And smack dab in the center of the verse is a quiet reality screaming loudly. And that is the fact that every person in this room, every person who can hear my voice without exception was born of a woman. That's our common collective denominator.

6:19 It took a woman to get you here. Without her, you would still be embroiled in an embryo. It took a woman to push you out of nothingness. She used her vitality even when she wasn't taking vitamins.

6:42 She used her energy even while she was feeling overwhelmed. you were not harvested from a solar farm you were not plugged in to a charging station but God chose a womb to welcome you Simon of Cyrene carried a cross but your mama carried a fetus the calculations have come in that the fetus was heavier than the cross.

7:20 You are somebody's son. You're somebody's daughter. Jesus highlights nothing about degrees, nothing about Greek affiliations, nothing about your circle of influence. The only thing Jesus referenced is that you were born of a woman. his value is linked to his mother before he was a prophet before he was a preacher before he was the protagonist of the text he was a son and at the end of the day you are somebody's baby. I don't care if you 17 or 57, you somebody's baby. A mama will fight for her child. And the only person who will fight for their child more than a black mama is a black God. God don't play about me. God is so serious about me. Not only will he fight for me, he'll die for me you better be careful how you treat me how you handle me how you talk to me how you spread stuff about me how you look over me how you abuse me how it is that you minimize me and underestimate me i'm still somebody's child and there's gonna be a day of reckoning if you don't handle me right I'm somebody's child.

9:01 I'm somebody's son. I'm somebody's daughter. Somebody prayed for me. They had me on their mind. They took the time, and I'm so glad that they prayed. Your mother was a special agent, and you were the assignment. She carried the weight that wasn't hers. It was yours. And God chose her to carry you. Let me tell you how amazing your mother was. Your mother walked around until the water broke. She stomached the pain of labor before they could get her the medication. she pushed until you popped out for some of you your mother was in the delivery room by herself with no support and with no backup and even when the family tried to talk her into other options and alternatives she said this is mine I got to see this through and I've got to fight for it even if y'all don't agree with it she wasn't sure where she was gonna live or how she was gonna eat She had no guarantees and no certainty.

10:18 She had no insurance. All she knew is God told her, I got you, I got you, I got you, I got you. She's a wonder woman who didn't need bracelets. She's a superwoman who didn't need a cape. She's fragile like a bomb, not like a flower. she's a heavyweight champion after the way she fought for you she deserves a show on the food network for how she cooked even when she had missing ingredients she should have been elected the pope the way that she prayed for you behind closed doors i can't hear nobody in here after all that your mother went through. She deserves a medal of honor and a certificate and a plaque.

11:12 How dare you sit up in God's house talking about you ain't talking to your mama. Get yourself together and go get on the phone and call that woman that made a sacrifice. after all that your mother went through you mean to tell me your mother can't get a livable wage it is only receiving 10 cents on the dollar of every man that she can't get access to capital to start a business has had opportunities passed by her and given the people she trained knowing that she winning the debt just coming out of the delivery room couldn't afford affordable housing but was able to decorate an apartment but you sitting up bougie acting like you made it on your own you had a mother who never took the SAT never filled out an essay never walked across a college but she got more class than you because she knew what it took just to be a lady.

12:28 It's a whole lot of women running around, but it ain't that many ladies. You ought to thank God you were raised by a lady. Your mother was different because your mother understood that I walk high even without red bottom heels. I'm carrying a lot and I don't have a Louis bag. I believe in God's best and I've never flown out of the country. I'm trying to figure out how you got so puffed up and filled with yourself that you have neglected the God of your mother's salvation. I don't know how you've been sitting here this cute and this erudite and so full of yourself and your accomplishments as if you were all of that.

13:20 Please bring it down a notch. Go and sit down somewhere and thank God for a mother that understood if God be for me, who can be against me? You I ought to be thanking God for a mother who didn't know everything, didn't read all of the best books, but would show up at PTA and would argue the teacher down about how much potential you have. I can't hear nobody in here. You ought to be thanking God for a mother. I better switch that a little bit. You ought to thank God for a grandmother that raised you. God, I can't find no worshippers, a grandmother that stood in the gap, a grandmother that had to put her teeth on the nightstand and got up two hours before everybody else and had her own prayer meeting with James Cleveland and Albertina Walker and was going, giving God the glory, and yet you sitting here waiting to be entertained.

14:31 What's wrong with you? I woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Tuesday. Ladies and gentlemen, maybe the Vatican will have it right now that they got a Creole sitting in there. Hail Mary full of grace. The Catholics know you can't celebrate Jesus until you thank God for the mama. Every time you get a raise, you ought to be thanking God for your mama. Every time you get a promotion, you ought to thank God for your mama. Every time you get an advancement in this life, you ought to thank God for your mama. Can I pause right here?

15:25 Somebody just give God glory for the woman in your life that made some sacrifices that you still can't see. For two days, for two days, last week in Rome, there was a group of women who kept issuing out pink smoke. Said everybody's waiting on white smoke. But there was a group of Catholic women outside of the Vatican issuing up pink smoke, saying that maybe the Catholic Church will now recognize the weight of glory that rest on women. That women ought to be able to preach. That women ought to be able to give the Eucharist. That women ought to be able to function in high ordinance. And while I looked at it, I thought to myself that that same pink smoke should be outside of the black church.

16:24 Because there were so many of your mamas that should have been the pastor. So many of your mamas that should have been the bishop. So many of your mamas that kept that church together and they made your mama pray from the floor and preach from the floor. But God said, I'm getting ready to shift some stuff, that I'm getting ready to raise some women. If they're good enough to fry chicken, they're good enough to lay hair. If they're good enough to sing in the choir, they're good enough to be deacons. shame on us if you don't recognize the oil that's on your mama's life and your mama didn't have no armor bearer your mama ain't have no reserved parking space but your mama knew how to pray down strongholds and bind and loose whatever was out of order There is not one woman in the Bible.

17:31 When I give you this, I'm telling you three of y'all should be doing somersaults. Not one woman in the Bible ever prayed and didn't get her prayer answered. y'all just missed what I just said I said there ain't one woman in the Bible that ever prayed to God and didn't get her prayer answered the reason why you still standing is God is answering your dead mother's prayer God is still responding to prayers that was prayed over you while you were still in your mother's womb. You are the answer to your mother's prayers.

18:20 You may be seated. Your mama had the gift of prophecy. Your mama had the gift of prophecy but never called herself a prophet. Your mama tried to tell you who your real friends were. God, y'all ain't saying nothing to me. Your mama told you to leave that boy alone. She taught you how to fix your face before you get out the car. She told you when we go in this store, don't ask me for nothing. I need some real people right here. She told you, now, if I got to come up to that school, there's going to be a problem. Your mama told you, now, let me tell you one more time. And I'm gonna shut all of this down. I need some of y'all raised by a black mama. Now don't make me take all these toys back if you mess up one more time. your mama taught you how to stay out of grown folk business and stay in a child's place those of y'all under 40 don't know what I'm talking about but those of y'all they had an old school mama I dare you to just blink at somebody and say I know what he talking about.

19:44 John was underscoring in the scripture that John the Baptist was somebody's child and you too are somebody's child. Because I'm somebody's child, love me, respect me, honor me, pray for me, disagree with me without destroying me be patient with me don't pray on me you can challenge me without calling me out my name I am a child of God somebody say it out loud I am a child of God come on say it out loud I am a child of God now I'm getting ready to cause a rupture in this church but I might as well just get it out in the open.

20:40 Would you just whisper to somebody around you? I usually don't say this. Come on, tell somebody, I usually don't say this, but I'm too old to lie. Look them in the eye and tell them, I got to tell you the truth. I am my mama's favorite. Come on, I can't hear nobody and not only am I my mama's favorite, I am God's favorite. I am the apple of his eye he made me the head and not the tail I am above and not beneath I am a lender and not a borrower anybody know I got the favor of God on my life You needed your mama and didn't even know it. You may be seated.

21:38 Look at you standing up in church like your mama. You needed your mama and didn't even know it. It was a mother who taught Toni Morrison to write. was a mother that taught bell hooks how to read. He was a mother that taught Fannie Lou Hamer her alphabet. He was a mother that taught Dorothy Height to lift her head. He was a mother that forced Jesus to turn water into wine. He was a mother that taught Shirley Chisholm she could be anything. He was a mother that taught Marcus Garvey to think larger than himself. It was a mother that taught Tupac to believe in black power. It was a mother that taught W.E.B. DeWa that Harvard is still obtainable. It was a mother that taught Hank Aaron to color outside of the lines.

22:39 It was a mother that taught Martin Luther King Jr. that he had what it took to change America. And it was a mother that taught Jamal Harrison Bryan how to pray. you ought to thank God for whatever your mother gave to you it's what those tools would help you to become where it is that you are today some of y'all can't give God glory because you ain't had a mama to teach you nothing but those of you that got a mama that taught you the good and the bad of life taught you come on I'm going to go old school if they lie they steal if they steal they kill your mama I'll touch you something. Studies now show you get your intelligence from your mother.

23:34 But not only do you get your intelligence from your mother, you also get your perseverance. I don't think you understand how strong your mother was. Your mother overcame the threat of miscarriage. Your mother was able to bypass fetal growth restriction. Your mother was able to survive stillbirth. Your mother did not panic even with a low birth weight. Your mother was not shaken by placental abruption. Your mother did not close her mind over premature obstetric labor. your mother did not succumb to hypertension your mother was not shaken by ruptured fallopian tubes your mother did not turn back because they found the cysts your mother was undaunting even after excessive bleeding and that's everything she had to go through here's the catch before you got here and here you are having to pop pills just to get out of the bed talking about you can't even work until you done had your cup of coffee you need your mother's kind of strength your mother didn't have a Rolex she had a Timex she could take a licking and keep on ticking folk don't even understand how it is that you've taken the blows of life but you are weeble wobble and you will not fall down come on there's somebody that ought to acknowledge that the strength you got ain't cause you know Delta.

25:19 The strength you got ain't cause you an AKA. The strength you got ain't because you know Zeta. But look at your neighbor and say, I got it from my mama. I look good. I look fly. Come on, I can't hear nobody. Oh, my mama. You ought to thank God in this moment that the best of me, I got it from my mama what can't you conquer if your mama was able to do more with less what is it that you think you ain't gonna be able to do when your mama was able to keep her head without the benefit of therapy how you think you gonna throw in the towel now when your mama never had a savings account or an investment portfolio.

26:18 But she said, I'll look to the hills from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord. There are 500 of you who ought to be getting another dose of strength. Because with everything your mother went through, she should have had a nervous breakdown. She should have committed suicide. She should have walked away from everything. But she said, this joy that I have, The world didn't give it. And the world can't take it away. A day to shake that neighbor's hand. And say you now have your mama's anointing. You got the anointing to lay hands on the sick. You got your mama's anointing. You gonna take care of your kids. And you ain't gonna lose everything. Come on shake that neighbor's hand.

27:12 You got your mama's anointed. You gonna survive and you ain't gotta sleep with nobody for the bills. You got your mama's anointed. Every person, every person was born of a woman. And so you got eyes, you got legs, you got hair, you got lungs, but you also got a larynx, which is your voice box. Hallelujah. You got your mother's ability to speak up for yourself. You are not a silent partner. One thing about your mama, she going to tell you what you feel. Come on, I can't hear nobody. If she don't like it, everybody in the house going to know she ain't happy about it. She's going to be fussing while vacuuming.

28:18 Y'all ain't saying nothing. She's going to be making a case while doing the dishes. I need you to understand that your oppressor is banking on your silence. Martin Luther King Jr. said silence is betrayal. Your mother couldn't deliver you in silence. When they brought her in the delivery room in order for you to come out, she had to make a noise. if she delivered in silence you would die y'all just missed the principle right there i said you were not delivered in silence she couldn't deliver you in silence or you would die i came to tell somebody if you want to be delivered you can't be silent whatever it is that's in you is getting ready to come out of you i gotta get out of here i need somebody to lift up your voice like your gift cannot die your assignment cannot die your child Hallelujah.

29:31 Homeland Security. Homeland Security put out a sign in 2012. The sign that they put up at the train station, at the bus station, at the airport, is if you see something, I got to get out of here. Those of y'all who ain't seen the hand of God move, you got my permission to be quiet but if you've seen something I've never seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging for bread. Look at your neighbor and tell your neighbor if you see something you ought to say something. He prepares a table in the presence of my enemies.

30:28 If you see something, say something My cup runneth over Surely, goodness and mercy Will follow me all the days of my life If you see something, say something And he will supply all of my needs According to his riches in glory If you see something, say something In the time of trouble, He will hide me If you see something, say something We've been made in door for a night But you're joy is coming in the morning if you see something say something look at me I'm a testimony I didn't make it on my own somebody prayed for me If you see something, my eyes have seen The glory of the coming of the Lord If you see something You are somebody's child.

32:14 Can you imagine that God is going to introduce you by using your mother? You just miss what I just said.

32:36 God is going to introduce you to the world by your mother's testimony. that you came through something because there's an assignment over your life something that you are assigned to do and your mother carried you to the point where God had to say I'll take it from here come on I can't hear nobody in here I want you to lift up that hand. I want to pray for you. I'm gonna pray for you. Hallelujah, God, I bless you. Hallelujah.

33:24 One year ago today, One year ago today, I preached right at this same place, and I handed Pastor Stokes the microphone. I said, I'm flying to go see my mama. I want to take my mother out for Mother's Day. And I had no idea that that was going to be my last Mother's Day. I've been articulating. I've been processing. Saying I ain't even want to come to church today.

34:07 I'm telling y'all what God loves. I'm telling you the truth. I called four people to come preach today. All four of them told me they couldn't come. I said, Lord, how are all these people booked on Mother's Day? God said because I need you to stand hear this in the strength of your mother Nobody said the road was going to be easy.

34:42 And I don't believe he's brought me this far. To leave me now. I want you to lift up that hand. I'm going to pray for you because I needed you to hear that text. And I want you to read it when you get home. There was nothing about the characteristics or the attributes of John's mother. Her only assignment was to birth him. And many of you are harboring issues against your mom about who she wasn't or what she didn't do. Whether she was there or was not there. Can you imagine? For some of you, your mother's only assignment was to get you here.

35:31 God, five of y'all ought to be shouting right now. Her only responsibility was to get you to the earth. God said I'll take it from here. Lift that hand. I got to show you something because I got to disavow you of something. Softly musicians, the Bible says something that I think you misunderstood. I got to give it to you. I hate that it took me until Mother's Day to give it to you, but I got to give it to you. I need you to see what the Bible says. Honor your mother. Watch this. That your days may be long. and here's where you messed up. It never says honor good mothers.

36:15 Y'all done got quiet. It never said honor sober mothers. It never said honor mothers who wasn't for the streets. Said whatever was the vehicle I used to push you into the earth, I want you to honor her. because she had nine months to change her mind. God, I can't hear nobody. She had nine months to go in another direction. In my mother's second trimester, I was born in Boston. She went to the hospital and when she went to the hospital, they saw that the tubes were around my neck. And the doctor told my mother, you have got to abort him now or he won't live.

37:15 God help me. My mother said, I'm not sure what to do. Says, if you keep on, it will further impact your own life. My mother said, give me a minute. She scooched off of that table, closed the gown by its back and walked down the hall. This is the seventies.

37:40 Found a pay phone, called my grandmother in New York. She said, Mama, now watch this, my grandmother had no degrees. Said to her mother, my grandmother, Mama, the doctor said, I gotta abort the baby. And my grandmother with no medical training said, get out of that hospital. There's an assignment in your womb. There's something you're supposed to be doing. Ignore the doctor. If my mother would have listened to professional advice, you would be absent of a pastor. God, help me to preach it right.

38:34 But I'm thankful for a praying grandmother. I need 50 people to shout right there. I'm thankful for a mama that heard God. Lift that hand, I want to pray for you. I pray for every single one of you I pray for every single one of you that God would give reconciliation for those of you who have disaccord with your mother I pray in this moment that the best of your mother will be evident in you I pray that the lowest of your mother will never be found in you I pray that God will anoint your head with oil that you'll be able to see your mother differently after today because of her strength and because of her witness I pray that God will do what no other power can do and those of you, your faith is leaning on the chest of God.

39:53 Would you give God glory even right now? My time is My time is up My time is up I done gone everywhere My head is everywhere today Those of you at the altar If you'll go back for just one moment I gotta do this Y'all forgive me I'm gonna give you your time back On the last Sunday Everybody stand The last Sunday before the rapture I'll give you your time I want to pray. Listen to me, softly musicians. I want to do this. I just feel the prompting of the Holy Spirit. I got to do this. I know you got brunch reservations. I know you got stuff to go. I know you got to go to the store. You got to go to the store. I get it. But I want to do this.

40:46 I just really feel it hankering on my shoulder in this moment. I don't know if I'm talking to a teenager, a 13 year old I don't know if I'm talking to a 17 year old a 23 year old I don't know if I'm talking to a 32 year old but I'm telling you it's been bothering me all service and I can't let you out of here until I do it but those of you who have an estranged relationship with your mother and you need God to fix it I want to pray for you real quick I know I'm out of time I know y'all got stuff to do. I know you sick of me, please. I know you sick of me, but I need God to heal that thing. I want him to heal that thing. You got an estranged relationship with your mom. Can you meet me at this altar real quick, please?

41:37 Y'all can't be in the same room for an hour. Come on. y'all fighting like siblings come on i need you to come Hallelujah. I don't know what's happening today. Come on. Hallelujah. Thank you. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I want God to fix it.

42:03 I said I want God to fix it. we've been at this altar heavy today I need God to fix it I'm telling you in my mind I saw some young people at this altar that ain't even here yet I'm talking to you I need you to come please I need you to come please Hallelujah something heavy you got to talk to your mom about I need you to come please Hallelujah I need you to come please Hallelujah Hallelujah I need you to come I need you to press your way softly musicians hallelujah I need you to come please I'm telling you weighing on me and I don't want to call it out I need you to come you're not sure you're not sure whether you are expecting how to have that conversation with your mother I need you to meet me at this altar God is going to fix it I need you to come you're in this room, hear this and you're being handled inappropriately physically, sexually and you gotta have a hard conversation I need you to come meet me at this altar I'm telling you, I feel you pulling on me I need you in this room Would you all pull in as close as you can?

43:35 Hallelujah. Hallelujah. that's his name thank you those of you in the room would you stretch your right hand to faith to this altar those of you who are online i'm praying god gonna fix it i don't know where you are but god gonna let you be involved in them grandkids life come on i can't hear nobody in here the season of disaccord is coming to a screeching halt I need you to come you are not going to be taken advantage of you are not going to be taken for granted God you're going to come hallelujah what's crazy for some of you it ain't even your fault it ain't even your responsibility you know how hard it is having to parent a parent oh y'all ain't never been there come on stretch that right hand to faith good and gracious God I come to you humbly asking you'll turn this into a surgery center perform open heart surgery on the other party that is not here I pray dear Lord that you'll fix my heart so I can receive the apology fix my spirit so I can give an apology God beyond everything else I want harmony in my family and I know it can't happen unless you get involved and unless you get engaged God I pray that the 4th of July will not get here without my family being reconciled God I'm only asking you because I know you got the power and the authority to do it how you do it ain't my business but I trust you for it.

45:38 God, let the phone ring. Let a text message come. Let there be a knock on my door but God, I trust you for it. I believe that you can. I know that you will in Jesus' name. Those of you who trust God, here's the shout, listen to me carefully, who trust God for a healthy family. Will you give God praise right there for a healthy... 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.