Refuel Throwback: "The Pursuit of Happiness Part 2" Rev. Reginald W. Sharpe Jr. 013123

1:10 All right. You be blessed. Now, see you in a minute. Whenever you're talking about the pursuit of happiness, the pursuit of happiness, and you go to Matthew chapter five and look at the Beatitudes, that word blessed means happy, fortunate, all the bliss, happy, fortunate, all the bliss. And it's it's it's four P's for P's. They're providential. It's paradoxical. is purposeful is perennial is providential because it's divine insight divine foresight is paradoxical because it kind of contradicts each other happy are those who mourn what do you mean why are you saying happy are those who mourn it's paradoxical but then they're purposeful because jesus always teaches with an aim or a goal and then it's perennial because it's lasting existing for a long time it's always enduring it's continually reoccurring it'll never be out of date and the four insights I gave you on the word blessed for those of you who missed it it speaks of divine concern somebody say divine concern because if I live like Jesus is telling me to live I will be blessed but if I'm on the opposite side of this I'm not going to be blessed I might be cursed so Jesus is not just telling you what to do he's giving you a warning of what not to do because whenever he tells you what to do he's also telling you inadvertently don't do the other side of this make sure that you are on the right side of history so it speaks to divine concern but then it speaks to divine continuity somebody said continuity where do we get this word continuity from it means continuous that's why my installation was uh the theme was the legacy what continues because it speaks to leadership continuity and the fact that the bible says blessed are not blessed shall be i can't get happy about that again because i want to it means i'm blessed right now. I'm not waiting on a blessing. I may be waiting on another blessing, but I'm blessed right now. I dare you to tell somebody like you really know it's true. I'm blessed right now.

3:06 That's why we get happy. That's why the room starts shifting. That's why the person in front of you can barely sit down and hold their composure because when you really think about it, although your life is not perfect, Jessica, it's still some proof that you are blessed right now. Now that's divine continuity. And then there was divine what? Contentment. Because we are jacked up in America. You almost can't even say the word happiness without somebody thinking about materialistic possessions. Happiness has nothing to do with your ability to go wear a certain brand, drive a certain car, shop in a certain place. Now let me be clear. Ain't nothing wrong with having nice stuff. But if you think the stuff is going to make you happy, If you think that a certain car is going to make you happy, I'm talking about a deep happiness. Because I remember buying my first real, real car, Deacon Brenda.

4:05 It was the car I got out, that Lexus I bought in 2017. And I thought I was riding clean with my preacher lane. I called that car Black Panther. I was so happy. It was black leather on the inside, black on the outside, black on blackity black, black. And I pulled off the parking lot. Y'all feeling so good. I was happy. Got on the highway, a rock off a truck, flew, cracked my windshield on the same day that I drove, same day that I drove off the parking lot. And that's a lesson that your happiness better not be just tied up in stuff. see that word makarios bless speaks to divine contentment somebody say contentment because you're like an island that already has what you need on the island you're an island that needs no imports but then church got so good that day i just stopped preaching there was another sea can i tell it to you right now it's not just divine concern or divine contentment or divine continuity it's divine connection let me tell you this and then i got to run on it's divine connection because the source, Deacon Gerald, of my happiness is my connection to God.

5:23 Whenever you see this word blessed, it is not about stuff. It's about who you're connected to. It's about who you're connected to. It's about who you are connected to. I wish I had something deeper to tell you, but that's about deep as I can get on that point. It's not about what you have. It's about who has you. and that's where your happiness that's where your peace that's where your joy that's where the source of your life it's about who i'm connected to because if i don't have a blessing a specific blessing that i'm looking for as long as i stay connected to the blessor i'm always connected to the source of more blessings but too many of us like god's hand but you don't like god's face and that's why we have people that love praise but they don't know how to worship because praise is about God's hands it's about God's activity but worship is about God's face it's about God's identity see worship is a little different from praise I praise because God has blessed me I praise because something happened that I like I praise because God has either kept me from something or God has brought me to something I praise because of activity I praise because of what's been happening but worship is about identity because there's some seasons where i don't get what i want and i'm not gonna have everything i pray for and i can still be like joe and say naked i came into this world naked i'm gonna leave the lord gives the lord takes away but bless it be the name of the lord are there any worshipers in the house any people that have grown a little deeper in your faith you are so connected to god that even when it's not going the way you want it to go you still know how to give god glory and say lord it's a bad time but you're still a good god that's worship and i'm trying to tell you that your happiness is tied into your connection i've told this story before but can i tell it one more time my first time going

7:31 to the bulls game my first time going to the bulls game i went down i set 12 rows up from the floor. I was so happy to be there. Went with Reverend Jesse Jackson. And so I went with Reverend Jesse Jackson. Everybody knows that when you go to Reverend Jesse Jackson, I need some water. It ain't cold by it. But some, I don't know what's happening. It's the air. Turn the air down to something, something. we're going to get through this I got too much to say Lord I'm trying to get through this I went with Reverend Jesse Jackson and you know when you walk with him you just walk it don't matter who's in your way it don't matter what door is locked you just walk and he walks past everybody and y'all we were sitting in seats 12 rows up from the floor that was some good seats I could see the actual faces of the players I said man I ain't never been this close I was happy. We were in comfortable seats.

8:25 But somebody came from upstairs and said, Reverend Jackson, you can't stay right here. You cannot sit like this. I mean, your knee, you don't have no leg room in that center. Y'all know what I'm talking about. Your knee right up on the back of the seat. And Reverend Jackson said, well, I got a group of guests for me. Bree was there and I was there and some other guests were there. He said, I can't leave my guests. They said, give me one second. Ran upstairs, came back. He said, you and all of your guests, come on upstairs to the suites. and Reverend Jackson jumped up, I jumped up and we went walking right behind him went straight upstairs and the point of the story is when you went to right person you will move from seats to suites and I'm trying to speak a blessing over your life that if Reverend Jackson got that kind of power don't you know God the creator of the ends of the earth can move you places that you could not have accessed on your own somebody say my real flex is God the real reason I got that job was God the real reason I lose my mind was God it is not cuz I'm smart it's not cuz I knew somebody who knew somebody I just knew God and he opened the door somebody say I'm connected I don't need to be liked by you I don't need your approval I got a connection a connection that won't fail it's better than wifi I got a connection I ain't never got to roam I don't have to worry about it breaking I don't have to worry about a weak connection or signal I just got to stay close enough to God and there goes the source of my oxygen the source of my smile The source of my endurance The source of my resilience The source of my brilliance The source of my ability to work your way to Harvard Young man The source of how you make it is God And I can't wait to see you get into Harvard Because when you get there Since you're a member of fellowship The only thing he's going to say is If it had not been For the Lord on my side Now let me behave

10:30 So let's break it down We're in the pursuit of happiness We're in the happiness We're dealing with verses 1 through 12 I want you to see this And I want you to feel this We're going to divide these nine Beatitudes Into groups of threes The first three Beatitudes Deals with happiness with yourself Uh huh The next three deals with happiness with God. And the last three Beatitudes deals with happiness with others. See, some of us are seeking happiness from others. And some of us are happy with God. But some of us haven't learned what real happiness looks like with yourself.

11:23 And so the first three deal with happiness with yourself. Prove it, Sharp. Listen, blessed are the poor in spirit. That deals with your personality, who you are as a person, poor in spirit, which does not mean poverty. It just means somebody who knows that they need God. Somebody who has a dependence on God and others. There's a level of poverty there because you know you don't have everything only by yourself. so blessed are you who are poor in spirit because you can be happy when you know you need god blessed are you who mourn i'm coming back to that one come back to that one blessed are you who are meek those of you who don't have the big head who are not full of yourself because how can god fill you up with anything if you're already full of yourself and then we'll get to next week the happiness with god and the happiness with others but today I just want to deal with the first three Beatitudes because you got to learn how to fix some stuff right here within yourself. Number one, pour in spirit speaks to humility in life.

12:33 Somebody say humility. I don't have everything. I don't run this thing by myself. I'm not in charge of my own life. I need God and I need people. Here's a remix. Here's a good book for you if you want to go deeper on this. It's called The Sermon of the Mount by Amy J. Levine. It's called The Sermon on the Mount by Amy Levine. L-E-V-I-N-E. Amy J. Levine is a New Testament scholar at Vanderbilt Divinity School and she says that the poor in spirit beatitude can be remixed like this. Blessed are those who recognize the gap between what we have and what we should have. Blessed are those who recognize their dependence on God. Blessed are those who orient themselves to others and to God and not toward their own self-centered concerns blessed are those who recognize their dependence on others and others dependence on them basically when you go through life acting like you are a self-made woman a self-made man that's not the life of happiness a life of happiness means i know i need god watch this i know others need me and i need others now that goes antithetically against the culture of america because we're taught get your own i can shine all by myself i don't need nobody i'm good out here by myself bro i'm out here on my own i always had to do it by myself because i ain't never had to need nobody bro I don't need nobody and you are I don't need nobody's story because nobody makes it and has real happiness and you just out here floating by yourself somebody had to help you if you ever see a turtle on a fence post there's one thing we know is true that turtle did not get there by him or herself somebody had to put that turtle on the fence post am I talking

14:38 Can I get one amen, one somebody say I know that's right? Blessed are you, happy are you, fortunate of you who know you thrive in community and not isolation. Happy are you who know I need people, I need God and somebody's going to need me. So I live my whole life understanding it's alright to need somebody. recently I've been in these devotionals for Lent and one author Monica Coleman she's another scholar out in California and she remixed John chapter 5 you know the man that was sick by the pool of Bethesda for 38 years and Jesus asked him do you want to be better and then the man said well I don't have anybody to put me in the pool and every time some of the pool gets stirred up somebody jumps in front of me she says we always act like it's an excuse we really need to listen deeper Jesus said do you want to be better he says I don't have anybody to help me in the pool.

15:39 We got to pause right there because that sounds like our young people. That sounds like marginalized communities. That sounds like people we kick to the curb in church. That sounds like members of certain communities where we just hush them and push them off to the side. Somebody's trying to tell you I need help. So we got to remix how we look at that text and not blame him for giving an excuse. He's actually asking for help. I need help. And some of us, lean up a little bit, are not going to make it to the next level because you're not humble enough to admit you need help. You around here trying to scrape it together, walking, dressed up, looking really nice, hair done, face beat, eyebrows on fleek, lip gloss popping, suit, iron shoes shine, hairline crispy, and you're broke. and you're ignorant and you are out here trying to act like you got it all together and all you need to do is have a little humility and just pull somebody to the side and say now i look like i know it all but can you be my mentor can you help me how to save money can you teach me how to invest i'm looking to go higher in my business can you holler at me to help me Thank you.

16:52 happy are you who are poor in spirit because it means you don't have a haughty arrogant spirit all right well that's that that that one speaks to humility in life somebody say humility in life what i'm really trying to tell you if you want some happiness inside you got to work on your humility. I don't care how high God takes us. We got to always know I'm only here because God brought me here. I'm only at this level because of the grace of God, not because I'm super duper intelligent and I'm super duper special. No, no, no. I'm here because God brought me here. I'm preaching. If y'all don't say amen again, I'm going to preach all of this. I'm here Lord because you did this. The Bible says humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and in due time God will exalt you because God resists the proud but he gives grace to the humble I can't stand arrogant people and there's a whole lot of them be up in church just sitting there looking snooty and they know so far up in the air if it rain they'll drown it's irritating you ought to be in this church the first one to shout and then some people say well I'm educated you know I'm living in a mansion I'm doing well now I don't need all of that noise I don't need you to yell preacher I'm okay Hey, I can hear you when you whisper.

18:27 Well, since God has been extra, super duper special to you, you ought to be the loudest one in the church thanking him for blessings. You know you didn't give yourself. Matter of fact, the more blessed you are, the more radical your worship ought to be. Every Sunday we ought to see you and folks just say, leave her alone. She just moved into a bigger house last week. We can't sit her down because it's nobody but God. God, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you Tell somebody around you If I get loud It's because I had a flashback Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh If I get loud It's because I know who brought me here I know who kept me here I'm trying to move on But my soul is happy Because the more I think about Everything I have God gave me everything I know God taught me where I am God brought me what I own he hooked me up with who I know he made a way Anybody like me, you didn't come from no rich family.

19:37 You didn't come from a family with silver spoons in your mouth. and some of us are blessed because our grandparents prayed us here oh lord there's some stuff on your life right now how dare you get arrogant god just blessed you because your grandmama knew him it ain't even about you it's a blessing that just came generationally sit down sit down sit down because I'm getting happy and I'm trying to act like I got good sense but I got to say thank you how can I say thanks for the things you've done for me things so undeserved yet you gave to prove your love for me the voices of a million angels cannot express my gratitude all that I am and ever hope to be I owe it all to thee to God to God be the glory Now.

20:39 Be easy. Sit down. Happy are you And the more you spend time thinking about it The happier you're going to get Are y'all catching this? The happier you will get The more you think About all God's done for you I'm holding it together But I wish y'all could see me on the inside I'm like a little boy on a trampoline on the inside Happy, happy, happy, happy, happy Me and Bree moved here three years ago this month By faith So March is an anniversary for us When we moved from Atlanta Left family, friends, familiarity, comfort Good soul food.

21:45 Cornbread, collard greens, black-eyed peas, rice and gravy, macaroni and cheese, sweet potato pie. Left it all. Came up here by faith. didn't know this church well just knew of it in you know in passing didn't know Pastor Jenkins well just knew his name in passing didn't know Reverend Evans you know individually, personally we just knew his name in passing respected him from a distance and then you tell me God gonna take a little black boy from Lithonia, Georgia and make him the pastor after two legends and you want me to come up in here and act like I'm too cute to give God glory I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for God's grace huh and I'm not by myself some of y'all have seen God put you some places that you still can't explain alright alright that's enough that's enough That's not.

23:06 You know, so blessed are you. Happy are you when you have a humble spirit. He's like, Lord. you did that here's a second one here's a second one where you want some happiness with yourself here's a second one blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted watch this one this speaks to your capacity to love when I first read this and I only need about 10 more minutes so y'all just ride with me we good? we ain't going nowhere? ah ah ah ah ah when I first read this one I was confused because this one speaks more or less to paradoxical this is contradictory happy are those who mourn fortunate are those who mourn oh the bliss of those who mourn and then Amy J. Levine in her book Sermon on the Mount helped me out she said the reason why people are blessed and happy who mourn is because at least they have something to mourn Thank you.

24:09 She said That the only way you have a heart That can mourn Is that you have had a heart That has known love What a gift What a blessing To have been loved What a blessing that you have known love deep enough that when the person dies, you are left with love that has nowhere to go, which is why we call it grief. Because grief and mourning is love that's still coming out of you with nowhere to go.

25:01 Blessed are you. And last week, I really thought that the Lord was going to let me say this to you because it was the anniversary of us leaving the building last week. So God healed our hearts in a different way. But I want to tell you, we don't come two years after a pandemic and people are not mourning. Deacon Gerald, I see you here. Deacon Bernard, I see you here. Dr. Walker, just on the front row. People who, Deacon Evans and Miss Claudette, Auntie Claudette, I see you on the front row and I'm saying, how dare me stand to tell you, happy are you who mourn? And God said, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's not that you're happy because you're mourning. It's you're happy that you have known deep love.

25:45 And when you pause and think about those memories, good times, a tear may fall, but your heart is smiling. Because you have known rich. Am I talking to somebody? I don't apologize for being human. And there have been some times I've come up here over the last two years and I shouldn't have been up here preaching. And now, sometimes I just take a break whenever I feel like I need to because I have to give, you have to take time to mourn.

26:24 You know, some villages in Africa, they give you seven days. You can cry, holler, fall over the casket, roll in the dirt for seven days. On that eighth day, they say, get up. They gave you a period of mourning. They mourned for Moses in the book of Deuteronomy for 30 days. And then after that, they said, uh-uh, time to move forward. Time to get a new leader. But you got to take time to mourn. And sometimes when you're the leader, when you're the patriarch of the family, when you're the pastor of a church, you feel like I got to stand up and prove to everybody I'm strong. No! And if I ever hear somebody tell me, after I lose a loved one, be strong, You don't want to say that to me. Now you want to find something else. You might just want to say praying for you. Thank you. But whatever you do, don't look me in the eye and tell me be strong. Because that's an insult to my humanity. God is strong.

27:17 I can be weak. And the Bible says that his strength is made perfect in my weakness. Don't tell me I got to be strong. You be strong. and sometimes people only say stuff to you like that because they're trying to comfort themselves and so the fact that you've known love my aunties died four months apart and i've been thinking about every time i go home to atlanta now and i told you i was just there whenever i go home to atlanta it's mixed emotions because i'm riding down streets i know she lived down that street she's not there i write down another street some streets i avoid because i don't even want to go by grandma sharp's house i don't even want to go that street i go to highway turn another street go another way i don't even want to go by there because she's not there. But then on the days where it gets really, really heavy and I'm missing aunties and uncles and grandmamas and people who have passed that I've loved and have loved me deeply, I have to pause and say, but at least I know what real love is.

28:17 At least I know they love me and they knew I love them. And so tell your neighbor beside you, you're still happy. Even when you're hurting. so Eve I don't know who I'm talking to today but I just want you to be if the tears fall let them fall if you get emotional get emotional if you're having a good day have a good day if you're having a low day have your low day because this is the rest of it for you shall be comforted oh shall be. I can't go there. I can't do it. Shall be. It is a promise that the comfort of God and I've wrestled.

29:09 I'm still wrestling with it, Dr. Walker. I'm still wrestling with it, Pastor Pope, because I ask God, what does comfort look like? God, what does your comfort look like? And the Spirit just gave it to me a few minutes ago. It says, I can't tell you what it looks like, but I can tell you what it feels like. it feels like just enough strength to get out the bed when you really want to lay in it all day long can I tell you what comfort feels like a smile will come on your face on a day when the tears are falling and you you laughing and crying on the same day you're laughing at a memory but you're crying because you miss them can I tell you what comfort feels like it's a sympathy card that somebody on the other side of the world sends to you just to let you know that they're thinking about you can i tell you what comfort feels like on the right sunday the choir or the preacher will sing a song that ministers to your soul that gives you just enough resilience to make it one more week can i tell you what god's comfort feels like it feels like a hug in the spirit it feels like strength from heaven it feels like confidence that i can make it one more day And I'm hurting and I'm grieving and I'm mourning and I feel the pain But I still feel the comfort of God Saying my child I have not left you I have not forsaken you Be still and know that I am God For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time Are not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed Many of the afflicted many afflictions of the righteous but the Lord shall deliver you out of them all weeping may endure for a night but joy When peace like a river attendeth my way When sorrows like sea billows roll Can I tell you what comfort feels like?

31:15 Whatever my lot thou hast Yes me to say what is it? What is it? It is it, it with what? Do you know the story behind that song? A man by the name of Horatio Spafford was at home minding his business and his daughters, three or four of them and his wife got into a boating accident and the boat sank, all of his children died his wife survived I believe and she sent a telegram to him wherever he was and said all of our daughters have perished in a boating accident well he had to travel a few days later on the same water where they lost their lives he got over near the spot where the boat went down and the and the captain of the ship said this is the spot where we lost the voyage this is around the spot where your daughters perished and he picked up a pen on that boat and wrote that song.

32:34 It is well it is with my soul. Come on, say it like you mean it. Come on.

32:55 Happy are those who've known love. Happy are those who can remember love. Happy are those who have the names of their ancestors on their minds today. Happy are those when you walk in a room, your grandmama, your granddaddy, your auntie, your uncles, your mama, your daddy, your son, your daughter, your wife, your cousin, your husband. walks in the room with you because as long as you remember them they are still alive so so so blessed are those who mourn blessed are those who are poor in spirit and then finally if you want happiness with yourself because the life is trying to rob you of it it's almost like i don't know if i should continue but the last one i'll just give it to you and you just let it do what needs to do because it all ties together blessed are the meek and this speaks to authority with limits blessed are those of you who are meek blessed are those of you are meek write this down write this down meekness is not weakness it is strength under control blessed are those of you are meek that greek word for meek is p-r-a-u-s praus somebody say praus the greek word for meek is praus it's a word that describes the attitude of one who is friendly warm forbearing patient kind gentle oh lord so many people miss these adjectives the attitude of one who is friendly warm forbearing patient kind gentle although a meek person faces opportunities to react in anger or to get upset he or she has chosen to be controlled forgiving and gentle blessed are the meek happy of those of you watch this lean up a little bit lean up a little bit I ask God what's the difference between poor and spirit and meek. Lean up a little bit. Lean up a little bit.

34:49 Y'all not leaning. I can see you now. I used to say this on the virtual ship and y'all still be sitting at the back of your chair. Lean up a little bit. I want you to get this. This is when it's about to get juicy. So what's the difference? You can be poor in spirit and not have authority. Meekness matters when you have authority. That's why it's called authority with limits. See, we always preach to the people that have to deal with difficult supervisors. Some of y'all are the supervisors who are difficult. some of you all are the leaders that make it hard for people to follow you some of you have been given power and you forgot what it felt like to not have power some of you God has promoted and you lost your head and you lost your mind and so blessed are the meek blessed are those of you who have authority but still know how to have self-control still have strength but know how to deal with it in a calm manner you still have authority but you know how to talk to people you still have authority but you know how to give grace you still have authority but you know how to when to be lax and when to be rough you you you know when to speak to people and they need to really grab it and you know when to just whisper and a whole lot of us are gonna miss happiness because we don't understand the power of being gentle blessed are the meek why for they shall inherit the earth now i'm gonna just save my breath and i'm gonna save my voice right here because the message bible is about to say it better than i could ever say it put the message bible of this verse up on the screen the message bible the message bible message bible of verse five verse five verse five on the screen message bible verse five on the screen y'all read this with me you're blessed you're happy when you're content with just who you are. No more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything.

36:40 so why do i need to be gentle why do i need to have an easygoing spirit why do i need to be forgiving why do i need to be patient and kind and warm and friendly because your success is not your responsibility the moment you become meek your response your success becomes god's responsibility and you become the proud owner of air thing stuff that can't even be bought do i have some people around here that have some stuff in your life that you did not buy and you're so glad that nobody but god gave it to you because if god had not hooked you up with it but it is a promise connected to those who understand meekness i'm done i'm done the first one deals with the the humility in life blessed are the pure in spirit blessed are those who mourn that deals with the capacity to love and to love and then blessed are those of you who are meek because you shall inherit all of the things that cannot be bought that speaks to authority with limits this is how i want to close verse three and verse 10 say something that absolutely bless me and i'm done verse three verse 10 verse three says blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of god y'all see that now verse 10 blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven now the rest of these beatitudes and promises say for shall for they will or they shall but verse three and verse 10 oh i hope you wake up verse 3 verse 10 don't have a shall be or will be it says for theirs is so that means that some of this happiness and some of the residuals that come from this kind

38:47 of happiness is not something i've got to wait on if i am being persecuted because of what i do for jesus the moment i decide to have a spirit that is humble that is dependent on god yours is the kingdom of heaven. I know why you're not shouting because that's not everyday language for us is it? What that means is your life is completely ruled by God. Your life is completely under the control and the charge and the surveillance and the canopy and the protection of Yahweh. whatever God's got you've got it too right now y'all ain't listening because i'm gonna get through these shall be's eventually but right now can i talk to a few folk who are glad that god has some stuff for you to enjoy right now yours is the kingdom of god jesus says later the kingdom of god is not outside of you it's already in you the lord's reign the lord's authority the lord's blessings the lord's protection the Lord's leadership, the Lord's guidance, the Lord's canopy and refuge over your life is right now.

40:12 Church folk don't know when to shout. I just gave you a reason to flip that chair over and tear this church up and you're still looking at me talking about, huh? I said right now, God is completely in control of your life and that's why you're so happy. That's why you're so safe. That's why you're so anointed. it's because God is completely running things right now.

40:37 Now help me preach online and help me preach in the building and somebody say that's why I'm sleeping tonight. Tell somebody else that's why I'm sleeping tonight. I don't care who doesn't like me. I don't care what the enemy is plotting. I don't care what demonic force is working against me. I don't care what kind of sickness they saw in my body I'm going to sleep tonight Because my life is completely under the keeping power of my God Y'all ain't feeling me I went to preach in Seattle, Washington And you out there in forest country They have a lot of wildfires out there And so I went to my hotel And I kept seeing something on the wall around the elevator that said area of refuge.

41:31 I could not understand what this was because they don't have a lot of that in Chicago and Atlanta and other little normal places I've traveled. I'm out in Seattle, never been out there before, never preached out there, never stayed in a hotel out there. So I'm trying to figure out what is the area of refuge. And this is, you know what, I discovered something that shouted me and I was shouting right there by the elevator when I figured out, I Googled just as quick as I was standing there. That's an area of refuge. And y'all, I stumbled upon something on Google. And y'all, this is what it said. This is what it said. This is what it said. It said the area of refuge is a place in a building where you can stand or wait until help arrives when you're in an emergency.

42:21 It's a safe place that you can stand or wait when you don't have the power to get yourself out the building. As long as you go to the area of refuge, it is a place that's set up to preserve you until assistance arrives. now it's a couple things about the area of refuge that have to happen or else it will not be confirmed as an area of refuge i'm closing whether you know i'm closing or not i'm closing right now in the area of refuge there is a fire defense wall that even if the building is on fire they have built the walls around the area of refuge that whatever's going on outside of you cannot to harm you because you're safe as long as you're in the area of refuge y'all still ain't hearing me another thing that has to go down in the area of refuge is there has to be a two-way communication system the person in trouble has to be able to talk to somebody who can help them and the person that can help them has to be able to talk to the people who waiting on help in this area of refuge i can talk to the one that can help me and the one that can help me can get some words to me Watch it.

43:54 And the area of refuge is on every floor. It doesn't matter if you're low or if you're high. There's a safe place. I'm done. For me to run into. And I can wait until help shows up. Now I'm tired but can I get about 50 of y'all who can give God glory that your life. is set up in the area of refuge that's why Psalm 46 says God is my refuge and my strength a very present help Well, there you have it. The pursuit of happiness.