Jesus Walks Stride (Part 1)

0:42 We are Marines. We were made for this. We are starting a four-part series called Stride. Again, just one more time because we got to get it in our hearts. Everybody say Stride. And this is not a word that's commonly used. It's probably not a word that you've used any time this whole year. Probably not in the last five years. Probably not in the last 10 years. How many people have never used the word Stride in a sentence? Come on, just be honest. Look at y'all like, yeah, I didn't even know that was a word. okay I didn't really use it either until God started to do a work in my heart and I begin to pray in August as I do every year about what God wants to say to our church last August I prayed and God gave me the word beyond and I was like I like that word oh come on that means exceeding the limits going past where we are breaking out of limitations Christians beyond. And God did it. He clowned us. Like, like he went beyond personally in this church. I mean, y'all, do y'all see what God is doing here? He went beyond. Well, this year I began to pray and I heard this word, stride. And if I can be honest with you, cause we're a hot church a humble open and transparent church i hated it it that's weak like like stride like what's our word for this year god come on give it to me stride is there some more with that i mean god we just had a beyond year and i'm a mover and i mean you did all that this year you can do exceedingly abundantly above you can do all that so can we try another word can we do like explosive like i was trying to give god suggestions of what the words should be like expanding moving and god said no stride so I went to our lead executive director and she said what's the what's the word for the year

2:50 I couldn't even get energy for it I said it's stride she said what does that mean I said I don't know I said put it down put it on some t-shirts we're gonna stride this year and it's funny because sometimes God gives you a word before he gives you explanation so sometimes he gives you what he wants you to do before he explains it all to you. And so for four months, I'm walking around like stride. I tried to change it every week. We were in a meeting and I was like, the word is stride. And I was like, no, it's going to be invitation. That's what God is saying. It's we're going to win souls and we're going to invite people. And the Holy Spirit, every time I go back to prayer, stride. So I said, fine, we're going to stride this year. But I thought if he didn't bring clarity to it, I would be ignorant. And so I could just do what I wanted to do and say that I didn't really understand what he was saying. God, I didn't understand you.

3:51 Oh, you meant stride, but I thought you meant run. Like you said stride, but I thought you meant take over. Like I didn't really. And sometimes we do that. We try to interpret what God's saying in our plan. And he said, no, Michael, I want you to stride. It wasn't until the beginning of December when we were in a meeting, a strategic meeting for our church and what we're going to do in this next three years. And we were there with one of our oversight pastors, pastor Tim Ross, and we were chronicling all the many amazing things that God has done in the past three years since me and Natalie have been pastors of this church. And he stopped us. He said, I feel like God wants me to say something right here. And all the staff members in the room can vouch for this. He said, what God has done at Transformation Church has been absolutely phenomenal. He says, I mean, the growth that's happened, the different generations, the different ethnicities, we've grown almost 500 people in one year when the average church is 200 people in America.

4:50 Can we give God praise for that right now? Y'all wasn't here last year. Hey, hey. Like God did all of this in one year and he said, and it's awesome and it's glorious and it's amazing. He said, but you guys have been running. And you only can run for short distances.

5:12 He said, it's time for you to start walking. And when he said that, I was offended. I was like, what? Did we invite him here? Did we bring him to this meeting? And he stood up in the authority that God has given me. He said, it's time for this church to start walking. And I said, you're going to have to give me some more explanation on that. And this is what he said, and it changed my life, and I hope it changes yours. He says, it's awesome what God is doing, but it's unsustainable.

5:43 And I begin to look in my life, and I want you to look in your life. What is happening in your life that seems awesome, but that is unsustainable? do you have a relationship that seems awesome right now but it won't last the test of time she does do you have a drive for success that's awesome that people are applauding you for man he's always grinding he's always on the move he's doing something he got three jobs five jobs seven jobs he's doing it and god's saying that's awesome but it's unsustainable you're losing your family like the house that you wanted is tearing down the house that i gave you like it's awesome what's happening but it's unsustainable it's time for you to stop running and it's time for you to start walking and i said god okay i hear you but god you've given us this church and you've given us this awesome opportunity so you're telling us we're supposed to slow down and stop doing stuff he said no i'm telling you you're supposed to be deliberate and do what i tell you to do not what you think you should do and if we're honest many of us are not in purpose we're doing things around what we think we should be doing come on let's just be honest like if somebody set you down in a room and said are you functioning in your purpose most of us would be like well you know i just you know i maybe i don't know come on let's be honest we're we're working jobs that pay us the most that we hate so that we can live a life to kind of feel some type of satisfaction where it's actually empty and we're just trying to provide Jordans for our son or our daughter or a vacation and we're not working in purpose and we're empty and we're making everything look perfect for Instagram but we cry ourselves to sleep at night and we're going through the motions and we're acting like it's all together but we're really so up to our head in debt trying to keep up with the Joneses and we don't even know who they are they've never come over for dinner it's like so many things

7:52 that we're striving for and this is what the holy spirit spoke to me he said michael as a leader and for your church in 2018 i want you to stop striving point number one stop striving and start striding. And I said, okay, striving, striding. He said, striving is you. I want you to write this definition down because, because many of you are doing this right now and you don't even know it. Striving means to exert oneself vigorously to try hard, to go after it, to use your own wheel, to use your own resources, to use your own connections, to try to make it happen. And God says, what are you striving for? You're striving for love. Some of you, some of you are striving for acceptance. Some of you are people pleasers and you'll do everything and kill yourself striving for somebody to say you're a good enough. God already called you good enough. Oh, y'all, y'all, y'all didn't hear me. Some of y'all are in this rat race and on this hamster wheel trying to climb this corporate ladder that reaches nowhere you think more zeros in the bank account is going to give you self-worth it it's not gonna and you're striving and and you're trying to make people feel like you always fresh but your draws thing come on y'all let's be honest we're trying to always act like we always got it together and you're striving so that somebody can think that you're really better than the version of you that you really are and you're just reaching and you're exerting your energy and it's like being on a treadmill you expend a lot of energy and go nowhere and God said Michael that's why every year you get to the end of the year and you're like we so glad for the next year because you feel like you're gonna get off of the treadmill

9:58 and start something different you just scoot over and get on a different treadmill you just stepped off to the 2017 treadmill that you were striving for people to like you and striving for friends and striving for promotion and striving for a bigger house. Cause some of y'all want things. So you want the boat in the lake house and you're just striving. And he said, it's a new year. It's a new season. 12 o'clock midnight, step onto the striving of 2018. And that's why some of you feel like nothing's changed this year. And God's saying, it's not going to change until you learn the pace of grace. He said, there there's, there's, there's a pace that I want to set for you. That is going to allow you to walk. Everybody say walk. Not run. Walk into everything that God has for you. And that's what I want to present to you because I see you're tired.

11:40 this there's so many people in here broken i mean literally if if you would just stop long enough and stop running for approval and stop trying to prove your parents wrong yeah i'm gonna say right there because some of your whole existence has been trying to prove to a father that's not even here anymore that you're worth it. But when you called yourself a child of God, he accepted you. He called you his own. He adopted you into the family. It doesn't matter what they called you. He says, you're approved. You're accepted. You're called. You're loved. And I have a purpose for you. But why are we still striving? Why are we still using all of our effort and energy going after something that wasn't even made for us? Some of y'all have met people you were never intended to meet because you met them while you were striving for your own will. you dealing with problems that weren't even supposed to even be in your life because you wouldn't walk the path that God called you to walk you wanted to run in a lane that you saw somebody else running in and God said when you outrun me when you don't step in my pace he said you have to sustain yourself out there has anybody ever um seen snow when it's freshly fallen and It's just like a blanket and it's covered everything.

12:55 It's like something so quiet and beautiful and peaceful. And I'm the kid that disrupts that. I'm the one that goes out there when it's all beautiful and pretty and I just start stepping on everything. And I want to make footprints in the snow. And God said to me, he said, Michael, he said, what you have to realize is when you stop striving, using all your effort and energy and you start striding, which let me give you the definition of that. So that you can understand this. Write this down. Striding means to walk. Everybody say walk. With long decisive steps in a specific direction. Like God has a specific direction that he wants to set your life on course to. And he doesn't want you to run into purpose. He wants you to walk into purpose. And what he showed me about the snow is he said, see, many of my children are out here like you, Michael, trying to make your own paths and make your own footsteps. But what you have to realize is I've already made steps for you that you don't have to make for yourself. And if you follow my steps and find the stride, I've already been there before. See, see, one of the things that you have to realize is God doesn't want you to blaze a new trail. He wants you to walk the trail he has for you. And some of us are out here trying to blaze new trails. And he says, what you don't realize is I've already been in the valleys and I've already been in the hills.

14:23 And if you step where I step, I'll keep you from danger. If you step where I step, you won't meet the things that were there to take you out. I've been there before. The Old Testament tells us he's the God that goes before us. But many times where he's at or where he's been, we're not. It's because we're striving. We're trying to make our own plans. I already done my vision board. I already know what I'm doing for 2018. I'm gonna get these apps. I'm gonna get married. I'm gonna get this business. I got my 501c3 have you even prayed about it once like you're planning a wedding and you haven't even asked god is this the person my destiny is supposed to be tied to like can we be honest you're about to move to another state because you see an opportunity and god says that's the state of obstacle your opportunity was where i planted you I know it's not your best and I know it's not what you want to do.

15:25 He said, but this is where I've called you. Will you step where I've already been before? And everybody this year as a church, as a people, God wants us to stride. To stop working outside of the grace that he's already set for us and to get into a rhythm and a pace that is going to produce our purpose. no more years of making missteps and having to ask God to recalibrate our whole lives at the beginning of every year like even if my intended goal is way down there I'm not stepping this way this year if it's only one step I make I'm gonna step in the direction of my purpose do you understand what I'm saying it may not be a run to it but I might get two steps towards what God has called me to be. And being in purpose is better than pursuing your own will every day because there's fulfillment there. So somebody shot at me stride.

16:30 Now, this is a very hard concept for me to get. So I'm not trying to come up here and act like God's working this in me. And I figured that it would be better to be a leader that shares what God is doing in my life than me getting to a place where it's finished. And then let me tell you the great exploits of God. I want to be like Jesus. He told people, he said, just follow me. They said, where are we going? Don't worry about it. Just follow me. And they walked together. And for me, my desire is that every year, every moment, every week, it'd be bigger, faster, more, quicker results. And God said, Michael, what if this year I want you to walk into your blessing and not run into it. See, because you're so excited about running into your blessing, but the thing about running into anything, there's always damage. Run into a pole.

17:27 Run into a wall. run into something. And many people are running into what they think and they're getting damaged because it's not what God called them to. You didn't even see the trial. You didn't even see the struggle. You didn't even see that you were losing your family. You didn't even see that you were losing your identity. You didn't even see because you was running to the next thing. Oh, maybe this is my purpose. Oh, maybe this is my husband. Oh, maybe this is my church or that's my church or this is my church or maybe, and we're running into thing that's damaging us and damaging others and God says if you would find my pace of grace you would begin to walk into everything that I have for you so how do we do that pastor Mike I don't know never done it before like like I'm not again I want you to hear me say that my only example can be found in the word of God so when I don't know how to do something I go to the word of God Well, was there anybody who walked?

18:29 Is there anybody who lived at the pace of grace that was able to learn and teach lessons because they were going at a pace that people could follow them? Was there anybody that was able to have success and not alienate everybody around them? Was there anybody that walked and actually made impact in this life but didn't isolate themselves at the end of it?

19:27 Jesus walks. Point number two, just write it down. Kanye prophet. Kanye said it. Jesus walks. Just say that with me. Everybody say Jesus. As I begin to look at this, when God's telling us to stride and find the pace of grace and walk in long, decisive steps towards an intended end, I begin to get a revelation that changed my entire life. The fact that I've never, ever slowed down enough to even see this in the word. I don't know about you, but when I read my Bible, it's for sport. Come on, let's be honest. If you're reading them, everybody else ain't reading them. So they was like, but when you read your Bible, I set my timer and I'm trying to get through this whole chapter and I'm trying to move this thing and God's telling all of us, slow down. There's some things I want you to see in there. Yeah, you might get stuck on a verse, but God, I need this new revelation. He said, it's in there.

20:34 Just keep reading that one over and over. And I began to read the Bible after God told me through one of our overseers that we got to start walking. And this is the craziest thing. Y'all don't ever forget this because most of y'all have never heard this because I had never heard it before. Jesus fulfilled the entire Old Testament. Thirty nine books of the Bible. Hundreds of messianic prophecies from about 1450 B.C. to 430 B.C. I mean, people were saying there was a Messiah coming, a savior coming. He was going to fulfill. He was going to he fulfilled all of the prophecies in three years. and you never hear about Jesus running to his next appointment.

21:24 Jesus walked. It hit me like a ton of bricks. There is a pace that you can live in this life that is countercultural, that you can fulfill everything that God placed in you to do and you don't have to lose your life doing it.

21:46 Look, people don't even know. They don't even know what to do. So then, ah. because all your life they told you to grind because all their life they told you to work harder than everybody else because all your life they told you that you got to be two times better than somebody else you you can't stop won't stop rockefeller you you just been doing all this other stuff and trying to make all of this stuff happen and it's out of your own works but remember what jesus came to do he came to save us from our works and to give us grace and i'm not talking about being lazy and I'm not talking about about not doing anything I'm talking about being diligent of what God has purposed you to be here for and too many of us are striving and not striding and Jesus gave us a perfect eternal example of what striding looked like he was walking and long decisive steps towards the cross the whole time and on the way that he was towards his purpose hey peter john follow me i'm not breaking my stride to go get people i'm telling people to follow me as i walk out my purpose see too many of us have been breaking our stride to find a husband breaking our stride to find friends break it and god says you meet the one as you continue to walk in purpose as you oh y'all better help me the job that you really want is coming as you continue to walk in purpose the family that you've always seen is coming as you continue to walk and you better not let nobody break your stride in 2018 you got to keep walking towards God and Jesus started walking now this is crazy and I'm just learning all this stuff about walking like I've been so against walking all my life like you know what I'm saying like walking that's stupid let's run let's get a scooter let's get some rollerblades let's get a bike you know what I'm saying let's let's go and God says you miss so much

23:53 when you run through the process and what you don't learn in this season has to repeat itself because you didn't go at a pace that you could be able to see what I was doing in you yeah God's trying to develop some people's character right now and you running you trying to run through this job you trying to run away from these people and God says it's okay they coming back in another form they're gonna have long extension braids next time and they're gonna be even louder than that one was they're coming back because the lesson you don't learn repeats itself so you have to walk at a pace that you can see what god is trying to do in your life stop running away from what god is trying to do and start walking into what god has called you to do and so i i look at this and we look at jesus walking and it begin to mess with me because y'all know i see movies and so i'm i'm trying to go through the whole bible finding a place where it said at least one time And in haste, Jesus and the disciples dashed.

24:51 You know what I'm saying? Like not one place do you see. And with the quickness, Jesus. It said they walked from town to town. And so then I began to do research and I looked at different theologians that said where all the miracles, according to all the miracles that Jesus did, that he walked in three years, approximately 3,000 miles.

25:17 Now, I don't know if you've walked even 10 miles. but in three years 10 mile 3 000 miles would be the equivalent of somebody starting in la and walking to new york for three years but that that's what you would do hey today i'm gonna walk 3 000 miles to my purpose like i'm not gonna run i'm not gonna jog i'm not gonna sprint I mean if it was me I'm the son of God I know every I know the end for the beginning I saw the the the the electric car all the way I mean the electric car was in my creation when we was walking I mean me I would have at least invented a bicycle or a hover around yeah I would have been the only one up there on a on a segue keep up disciples I would have I mean I would have been doing something but he decided to walk and I begin to ask myself why would God walk I mean just think about it he could have at least ridden a horse a horse is a running animal and it's a galloping but do you know what I found when I searched the scriptures the only animal that Jesus ever got on was a donkey and what type of animal is that a walking animal you ain't never seen eeyore like you ain't you ain't never seen eeyore moving fast and i begin to conclude that the only reason that god would do this is to show us that we can reach purpose at a pace of grace yes some of you needed to hear that Because you've been struggling and striding and you feel like you've lost too much time.

27:10 And God said all things. All of that. That's where we're going. Pastor Moika, I'm 32. do you know what God did for Abraham and Sarah at 90 and 100 like like like if you would just start striding and find the pace of grace God says I'm gonna make everything you well I gotta I gotta get this business off the ground this year he said what if you just get the business plan done this year and it's a good one and you proof read it and the numbers are right because when you're running you can't pay attention to details you know what i'm saying what if this year you didn't get the bomb house for your family to to to have when you when you pass on but what if this year you and your wife actually liked each other Do y'all understand what I'm saying? Like we're striving after all of these things.

28:06 And God's saying, what if we stride in the purpose this year? I know you want more degrees than a thermometer because it feeds your insecurity that you're nobody. So when you can tell them you got a master and a double master and all these masters, you got so many masters, they should just give you a green jacket. Do you understand what I'm saying? Some people don't play golf, but my boy Jason got that. I love y'all. Do you hear what I'm saying? But but but that's not that's not going to allow you to actually feel fulfilled. God says you being in the purpose that I created for you that was before you were in your mother's womb. That's where I want you to be. So this year we have to stride. Somebody yell at me stride. So I begin to search Jesus walking.

28:50 Why do I need to walk? This year I had big plans. i done already made my my list and you're messing up my plan this church was going to expand to like two thousand three thousand i wrote down five thousand lord you know i did come on because the word says exceedingly abundantly above all can I be honest? But he said, what if you only grew 50 families this year, but all the 400 you took in last year really loved me?

29:34 Like, like, like, like, hear what I'm saying. Like, like, like, what if your well went deeper this year and not wider? Like, like I'm trying to ask you, like what, what if God did a work in you that nobody else could take away. And so I'm asking you, could you allow God to teach you how to strive this year? Like to find a pace that is full of grace. Let me give you one reason why, because for the next four weeks, we're about to walk this journey. What are we going to do in this journey? We're going to walk. See, because I know right now this is cracking like your thought process right now. Like some of y'all don't even take a break on the weekend. You're still working. You're still moving. Like your kids don't know you. They know the things you get them. like you're Santa Claus to them you're not their father or their mother like like come on y'all let's be honest I know you've been trying to do the thing so that your kids didn't grow up how you grew up but what you're doing is you're repeating a cycle of loneliness just covered by things like like if we're honest about it and God's saying to us could you could you find my case this year, could you walk in the steps that I've already set out for you? So as I begin to look at this, I want, I want, I want you to hear this quote that I heard that really solidified this for me. I heard a quote that said, if the enemy can't get in front of you and stop you, he'll get behind you and push you.

31:13 Just think about that. What are you striving at? Who told you you had to be married at 24? Who told you? Society, culture, things are pushing you. Every time you walk into your mama's house. When you gonna have some grandkids? When I get married and I have a job and I have a husband. take care of that dog do you understand what i'm saying but hear me what but hear me if the enemy can't get in front of you and we learned last week if god is for us who like who can who who can be against us so many times for believers god gets behind us and push us the enemy the enemy gets behind us and pushes us and makes us feel like we missed it and we lost time and so now you got to start working and striving. And God says, if you would find me, I got a pace of grace and a stride that will produce your purpose. So why walk? Write this down. If you run, you miss moments where miracles happen.

32:19 if you run you miss the moments where miracles happen and the the reason that many of us are unsatisfied with our lives right now because we've missed the miracles God's already done because we haven't stopped long enough to look around and see them like some of y'all shouldn't be married right now like you're sitting next to somebody that you should not be married to but you don't even consider that a miracle because you haven't stopped long enough to see that God has changed our life. Do y'all hear what I'm saying? We're running from place to place. What's my next thing? What's the thing that I got to do? What's the thing? And you didn't even see that you were barren and you have a child now. Like, like you, you were divorced. You, you couldn't pay to get the application in college and you just graduated. it when you're running you can't see the miracles in front of you and some of you are saying well I ain't got all that stuff the enemy's tried to take your life several times but God has sustained you that's a miracle but you won't see it if you don't run at the pace of grace just think about Jesus walking because Jesus was walking and was not running. Okay. Because he was doing that.

33:43 He was able to do his first miracle at the wedding of Cana. And he stayed at the wedding long enough to be able to produce the miracle. If he was running, he would have just stopped in to say, congratulations I'm on to heal some people I'm on to do something else and he wouldn't have been in the place long enough to even be effective many of you have been so busy that you won't stay in a place long enough to be effective when he got there they had what they needed it was because he stayed that they ran out and then he became the one that created a miracle oh that's some good teaching right there you're trying to get out of that job because you think they got everything their need there's coming a time where they're going to run out of something and if your heart is still right and you're obedient to God he will use you in that place to perform a miracle that nobody else could but you will not stay if you don't stop running If Jesus was running, he wouldn't have been able to curse the fig tree in Matthew 21.

34:53 Some of y'all know what I'm talking about. He was walking at such a pace. Somebody say Jesus walks. I'm trying to help you understand that our Lord, our Savior, divinity wrapped in humanity, our example came and showed us how to walk this life out. he's walking at such a pace that he says i'm hungry let me get something from this fig tree has no fruit like yeah shrivel up and die disciples like what just happened did he just did he just curse that fig tree and it actually shriveled up and died see jesus was walking at a pace that he could pay attention to details and he could see what was in his life that wasn't producing fruit you've been running so long that you you don't even see that the relationships that you got on your call log right now are dead and not producing fruit. And you should have been able to speak to those things a long time, but all you can do is see, oh, that's a fig tree. When you're running, when you're running, oh, that's my broken family.

36:06 When you're running, yeah, I still got insecurity issues. But when you're walking, oh yeah, they're my insecurity issues. And it started when I was five years old when my father left and then the stepfather came in and just talked down to me but you're not producing food in my life anymore so i curse you and in the name of jesus you no longer have power to you no longer have power to hold me back see if you don't stop running you can't address the issues oh that's good if you don't stop running you will never address the things that have been holding you back and keeping you from receiving the nourishment that's supposed to be there but if jesus was running he would have never been able to even see that can i tell you my favorite example of jesus walking i want you to go to mark Mark chapter 5 and we'll start at verse 22 because this one, it really tells you how can you prove that Jesus was walking, Pastor Mike? I mean, it's not that detailed. Some of y'all real scientific.

37:21 I'm going to search it out. I'm going to find a place where it says in haste. Okay, go ahead. Try. I've already looked. But watch this example. Mark chapter 5 verse 22. It says, then a leader of the local synagogue whose name was Jairus arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell to his feet and he said, pleading fervently with him, my little daughter is dying. Please come right now. Come and lay your hands on her. I know if you lay your hands on her, she can be healed and she can live. I want you to see the level of of urgency jairus came with like his daughter was dying so so he didn't approach jesus with the hey jesus god bless you worthy is the lamb It was no time for formalities.

38:19 My daughter's dying. Come quick. Let's go. And many times we allow people's problems, issues or their urgency to take us out of the pace of grace. To break our stride. And look what it says. It just says, and Jesus went with him. It didn't say he took off. He didn't say, everybody, let's go. There's an urgent message. No, he said he went with him. And here's where we find out the pace. It said, and all the people that were crowded around him followed. So Jesus was not just walking slower than what Jairus wanted him to walk. he was walking surrounded by a group of people okay so i want you to hear me all my dudes right here on the front row come here okay quickly okay uh brent come here okay come here right here okay so so it's time to leave and people are all around jesus okay people are all around jesus Jairus. Okay. KJ, come up here. Be Jairus. Okay. Hurry. You too cool. Jairus. All right. Right there. Jairus, right there. Jairus Jairus is saying my daughter's day and he's probably already leading and trying to run towards where the problem was. But Jesus says, Hey guys, we're going to start walking towards Jairus's house. Okay. All right. Come on. Let's just start walking. Jairus was probably frustrated. Jairus, are you frustrated, Jairus? Jairus, you're not frustrated.

40:10 Now watch. Now watch. Though Jesus could have moved the people out of the way to pick a new pace, he decided to walk with people. And in his walking with people, people were changed because he decided not to leave them behind. so so he's walking and i bet jairus excuse me for one second i bet jairus if jairus was really upset was up here like all right y'all up two three four up two three four come on can we pick up the pace can we can we can we go a little faster can we really kind of leave the process behind break protocol can we get to where we're going faster than what we should can we kind of forget about the character of jesus and just get to the content that he can provoke because that's what we want to do many times we want to forget about the character part of God developing us into who we're supposed to be and we want to get to the content of oh come on y'all y'all got what I'm saying and Jairus has to wait. Okay. I just wanted to paint this picture. Thank you guys. Okay. Now watch this. Go back to the scripture. Cause I wanted you to get a picture that he was walking at a pace that a whole crowd could follow him. Okay. And while that was happening, verse 25, a woman in the crowd who had suffered for 12 years with consistent bleeding, now pastor mike why does that even matter some of y'all have heard of the woman with the issue of blood okay there was a woman in that group of people that was around jesus that had been bleeding for 12 years now i've never had the end of a sentence okay a period some of y'all is slow oh there it is i've never i've never experienced that but i've been around enough women to see

42:22 that sometimes that pain can make you not want to talk to nobody it can make you want to lay down on the couch and it can it can make you and and and and so this woman just imagine a non-stop menstrual cycle for 12 years look oh the women's oh god i repent right now i give i give hey hey Got all you can use. okay but just just think of that and this is what that woman was dealing with and jesus was walking at a pace to where this woman who had been bleeding for 12 years could reach out and touch her I want you to see that if Jesus was running, that woman that needed a healing would have never been able to touch. And some of you have been running and you have the Jesus on the inside of you that if they could just get close enough to you to touch you, they could be healed.

43:30 But you're on to the next thing and you want to be the best. And Jesus said, will you please live at a place and at a pace? that somebody can touch your life and that you can touch somebody's life. They can find healing. They used to be you and you used to be them. You used to be broken and jacked up and limping and hurting and broken and God said, I waited on you.

43:56 Why won't you wait on them? But God, I got so much to do. You don't think the son of God had things to do, people to heal, a humanity to save? But he still walked at a pace that the most broken person could catch him and touch him and so now remember our character jarius jirus jirus that's such a black name he had to be black uh it's okay i said it all the white people were like oh my god you ain't never met no white jirus anyway the name is Jairus Williams anyway uh so if your name is Jairus Williams see me after church okay this is so so watch I know at this point Jairus is done he's undone because he needed Jesus to come quickly his situation was dire and his daughter was dying but Jesus doesn't just walk at a slow place where the woman can touch him. This tripped me out. He stopped. The woman touched him.

45:06 who touched me and I do gyros is like what oh no why would you what oh god it's a and the disciples like who touched you Jesus you're walking in a crowd everybody's touching you he said no I felt virtue I felt freedom come to somebody I felt that somebody somebody got changed when they got in worship that somebody actually lifted their hands and mint it and it started to heal the sickness in their life virtue when i and he was like who was it i mean he stayed there who and the woman trembling who's now just in her body getting strength for the first time she said it was me i knew that if i could just touch that you didn't even have to say nothing to me if I could just get in your presence and touch you that I'd have the ability to be healed and made whole and Jesus said I'm coming y'all hold on a second woman your faith has made you whole and at that very moment word comes back from Jairus's house Yo, Jay.

46:36 bro um i don't even know how to tell you this your daughter's dead so um don't bother the master he he doesn't have to finish walking this distance because she's she's already gone and look what the bible says in verse 35 it says while he was still speaking to her like see I love Christ because he'll interrupt our death sentence like somebody's spoken death over the marriage and somebody's spoken death over the dream and somebody's spoken death and and it says while he was still do y'all see that while he was still speaking to her messages arrived from the home of Jairus the leader of the synagogue they told him Your daughter is dead. There is no use in troubling him now. Verse 36.

47:36 But Jesus overheard him. And he said to Jairus, don't be afraid. Have faith. And I came to encourage somebody this morning who there has been a death sentence to something in your life. A dream, a book, a vision, a business. And God says, don't be afraid. have faith i'm still here see jairus didn't know who was walking towards his house he had no clue he had only heard but he had never experienced who was walking to his house and this is the funny thing that jesus is the only one that can manage a miracle and mayhem at the same moment he just healed the woman from bleeding for 12 years and then word comes back that she's his daughter is dead and he speaks into the middle of that situation miracle on this side mayhem on this side and he says don't be afraid have i don't know who i'm talking to in this place right now but i came to tell you don't be afraid somebody shout at me have faith I feel the presence of God in this verse 37 it said then Jesus stopped like I want you to see he just started walking again he he didn't he didn't speed up his pace because at this point if I was Jesus thank God I'm not but if I was Jesus I at least start jogging to show Jarius you know I'm saying bro don't even worry you understand bro we y'all know that fake jog people would be doing like you might as well be walking like you like i would at least started that jesus didn't break his pace or his stride for anybody okay he then he stopped the crowd and they they they uh wouldn't let anyone go with him except peter james and john there's a miracle that's going to happen that everybody's not going to be able to see there's some some there's some things god's going to do that it's not going to be a facebook spectacle that he's going to only

49:43 call a few people around to be witnesses of the miracle that he's going to do in your life okay i'm just trying to this the bible he said when they came to the home the synagogue leader jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing and he went inside and asked why are these folks acting up why is there all this commotion and weeping the child isn't dead she's only sleeping your vision isn't dead it's only sleeping your marriage isn't dead it's only been in a place of slumber your children being saved and and and walking in the things of god that dream is not dead and when he spoke faith into the situation the crowd laughed at him don't be surprised that the same people who act like they're crying over the thing you're crying over start laughing at you when you speak faith into it.

50:41 Oh, don't be surprised when they say, God told me to do this. And they'd be like. see because everything god's gonna do is not gonna need committee approval it's gonna need people with faith but look what jesus did you're gonna have to do something he made all of them leave he cleared the space and he took the girl's father and the mother the only people with faith and his three disciples the only people there were even disciples that didn't have enough faith oh i wish i could teach this there's some church people that don't have enough faith for the miracle that god's about to do in your life i know they believe in for costs to be healed but you need cancer to dry up and everybody's not going to be able to believe with you for that so i need you to make sure you have the right inner circle that'll believe with you verse 41 holding her hand he said to her to lethia kumi which means little girl get up and the girl who was 12 years old immediately stood up and walked around they were overwhelmed and totally amazed did y'all see the miracle that happened because jesus was walking this is the thing that tripped me out the woman who got the miracle at the beginning had been suffering for 12 years the age of the girl who got the miracle was 12 years old that means that at the beginning of both of their situations and their lives that God saw a moment that if Jesus would have sped up he would have missed this moment if he would have slowed down he would have missed this moment that there was a pace that he was walking to end him up at that place at that time to not just perform one miracle but to do a double miracle because he had found the pace of grace pastor mike what are you saying to me right now the thing that you think is sick and the thing that looks dead if you would find the pace that god wants you to walk out both of them will live both of

52:47 them will be healthy oh y'all didn't hear me your family and your business your church and your ministry y'all i'm telling you stop believing the lie of the american dream because you can have stuff and be empty but god says if you find my pace of grace i'll make you have money and your family will like you oh y'all didn't hear me i'll i'll let you walk out of way that you can impact culture and you can give back to people in need both miracles happened because jesus walked at the pace of grace. This is the season where God's challenging all of us. Less of me, more of him. Less of me working and running and making a plan and I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna do this. Yeah, you got a lot of skills, but what has God called you to do?

53:43 Not forever, but right now. Yeah, he told you to serve in the children's area and you too busy and your fly is too nice and you don't like children. you trying to be ready for when he comes but your husband is back in the children's ministry working right now and because you won't follow the pace of grace you're missing what god has for you stop trying to strive reach use all your energy for things that god said if you would just follow me it's on the path as i change your stride and you'll find it in the pace of grace i want to encourage everybody to reevaluate your life right now because i know for me there's areas that god is challenging me and he said yeah you need to change your pace in that area one of them is this church y'all i'm gonna go get it like if god wanted a person to build the church he picked the right person because i'm gonna do everything i can i'm gonna do the instagram post i'm gonna make the music i'm gonna lead praise and worship i'm gonna preach i'm gonna play the drums i'm gonna do everything god says slow down he said what what if what if my plan has you 10 years out to being most effective are you gonna spend all your energy in the first three years burn out and quit because you won't find the pace is your wife gonna have to leave you oh this is what's happening all over america every day in the name of jesus i only can be transparent with you and so i told god during this 21 days of prayer and fasting i'm putting everything on the table my my desires my wants what i've already said putting it all on the table god if you want to change my pace you can change it well pastor mike we have another campus on the other side of town It's on the table.

55:42 But we already bought it. It's on the table. Because if God wants us to open that campus three years from now and let another church use it until then. why why would we try to plant another church on the other side of town that god has not given provision for yet because i said it i'm dumb like y'all know what i'm saying like i'm just human i'm just trying to i see in part i hear in part but i would rather be going at the pace of grace than trying to prove myself to anybody else i'm telling y'all this is the time some of y'all are in careers that you've never liked and you're only there because of the money and God said, I'll give you less money and more fulfillment if you would walk at the pace of grace. I don't know what it is for you, but I know there's no better time to stride. Remember what stride means, taking long walking and long decisive steps towards our purpose. There's no better time for God to change our direction than in this time of prayer and fasting. I'm asking everybody, If you're watching online, everybody in here, it's time for you to give up something so God can give you something.

56:56 Give up food. Give up TV. Give up social media. Give it up so that God can clear your head and you can stop being distracted and that you can hear his voice. Remember what Adam and God did? They walked together in the cool of the day. Why? Because I can hear you when we're walking. if I start running I miss stuff what'd you say oh yeah go get I don't know if you've ever tried to talk to somebody while you're running but but it don't come out clear but when you're walking with when you're at a pace of grace I can hear everything you're saying oh that's what you want me to do God that's where you want me to give that's where you want me to serve that's where that's what you want me to do so during this time I'm asking us to put everything on the table for the next 21 days. Starting tomorrow, we're going to be here and we're going to ask God to give us a pace of grace. We're not going to outrun him. We're going to step in the places where he's already gone before us. Does that mean some of your plans are about to get interrupted? Yep.

58:02 Because you made them without him. Like you told your family, y'all moving into a bigger house. You told them and it was by faith. You didn't even consult the one who's going to provide the resources. Maybe he wants you out of debt before you do that. And so this next 21 days, yeah, some of y'all are in relationships that will not last past January. I'm so sorry. Oh, not Jerome. Yes. he's he's got to go because he broke your stride you used to be on fire and you used to have a purpose now you don't know nothing but doing whatever he says and giving him whatever he wants come on y'all i counsel you i counsel people i know what's happening god wants to change our stride so i want to pray for you right now because you know what I've come to the conclusion of?

58:59 Running is overrated. And I know some people who've been trying to lose weight, that's like, yes, that is my pastor. He said it. He had a word today. Running is overrated. No, you're going to still be fat. Let me just help you. You're still going to be fat if you don't work out, okay? But what I'm talking about is in our lives, as we're striving, running after things that God said he would provide, remember the scripture in second corinthians says that we walk by faith and not by i see it though i see my dream i see my wife and god says yes i'm showing that to you so now that you can walk by faith you can catch a stride and you're gonna get there but it's not gonna kill you in the process father i pray for every person under the sound of my voice come on just lift your hands all over this place. I want you to receive. God, I thank you that you're changing our stride. Father God, that we are going to walk this year. Father God, not trying to prove ourselves and not for validation. God, we're already called. We're already loved and you have a plan for us. God, let us tune our ears to what your plan is for us. God, let us stop striving for things and let us start striding, walking with you. Father, I pray against fear. I pray against doubt. I pray against Father God, that thing that will make us be afraid.

1:00:22 Father, we say to you, say to us, like you said to Jairus, Father, don't be afraid. Have faith. God, you're raising dead situations and you're reviving and healing other situations. We just believe as we trust you and we find our stride, Father, you're going to teach us to pace a grace. Have your way in this entire series and do a deep work as we start this fasting and praying. In Jesus name, we agree. Somebody give God a shout of praise.