Unfinished Glory - Dexter Jakes

3:33 Happy 30th. Now, before we go anywhere, I want to honor the one who sent me. So bow your heads with me. Heavenly Father, we thank you. We honor you, God. We worship you. God, we did not come here for a performance, but we came here for your presence, God. Heavenly Father, I give these people to you. We present ourselves to you as living sacrifices, God. We thank you that your hand is upon us right now. Continue to work on us, God. we give these 30 years over to you but we know you're not finished with us yet Heavenly Father their glory is still going to fall upon this place in the name of Jesus in the name of Jesus I pray Amen give the Lord a praise So first things first, I just want to honor my pastors, Pastor Touré, Pastor Sarah.

5:00 I honor you. Thank you so much. I know how big it is. This is a year into you all's leadership. And to hand me this platform on the 30th anniversary, I don't take it lightly whatsoever. So I honor you. May God continue to cover you. I bless you. And to our founders, our bishop and first lady. I'm standing in your prayers today.

5:38 I'm not standing on your name. I'm standing on the prayers that were prayed. The word that you spoke over my life. The glory that you imparted upon me. I thank you and I honor you. God is not done with me. He's not. Thank you for your belief. It means the world to me. To my queen. Mmm. trying to keep my oil on me.

6:19 Girl, I love you. Thank you for your covering, for praying over me. You sent me up here. God spoke to you first, but all of it is going to go back to him. I honor you, girl. Thank you. Love you. Child, they got me up here preaching. I don't know why.

6:53 But I know God is going to do something. He sent me. And I feel like I have a word for you. I feel like the glory of God is already in this room. Does anybody else feel that? He's gonna show up. He's gonna show up. He's gonna show up. I should have been Jesus. Thank you. Forgive me for being emotional because... I was saved in this place.

7:38 This place raised me. I'm looking at some of the faces, people that helped raise me, who prayed over me before I had the words to pray for myself. As much as I honor our leaders, I honor you all, because you are the village that helped raise me and build me. Thank you. Thank you so much.

8:05 Please sit down. Please sit down. I'm not used to this. It's not going to be very formal. Yeah. Well, for those of you who have no idea who I am, You were probably expecting one of these people up here to be up here, but they sent me. So, I've grown up in this house. I'm literally member number five. So in a way, I was one of the babies of the house, but I'm also a seasoned saint. Okay? Next month I'll turn 32. This is our 30th birthday of the Potter's House, so when I tell you this house and I have been growing up side by side for the entirety of our lives, I hear all the time from people, you know, I knew you when you were this short.

9:16 All the time. I thank you for it. but I want to tell you, family, that 32 and us at 30, I have a feeling that neither one of us is finished, that God still has more he wants to do for us, that God has more he wants to do through us. So we're going to continue to go forward, continuing to build. As you saw January 10th 2001 That's when I gave my life to Christ in this sanctuary But I have to be honest with you family, because anything less would dishonor this moment, and that's not what I came here to do.

10:11 You might ask if I always felt like I was called to this space and called to be on this stage. And if you know me well, not at all. Not at all. I didn't always feel it. Some days it was a dream, but most days it was a nightmare. And I want you to know what I mean when I say that. I'm not saying that I don't love this house because I do. I love the people of this house. But honestly, I think I ran away because I have so much reverence for this space.

10:56 It just means so much. A lot of people are rushing to get to the stage and they're not ready. I was unfinished. God still had more work to do. So as opposed to running up here, to be honest, I ran away from it. out of fear, doubt, insecurity. And I just didn't run. I ran towards the thing that I did feel God's hand on because I'm always going to be obedient to God. Always. And for me that was music. Spent over 10 years of my life working on music, classically trained pianist. I've been playing piano since I was eight.

11:52 Received a degree in music production. The very thing my father brought me up on this stage and said, bring daddy back a degree. That very thing is what I did. And then as I was closing out college, I overheard my father saying that he needed a little help back at the ministry.

12:17 And I figured I'd just give it a few months, you know, intern and figure out what God wanted me to do here. Now go back off to college, get my master's. Eight years later, that's not what happened. Now, when I asked my father where he really needed assistance, he told me marketing. Now, mind you, I didn't have any training whatsoever in marketing, but I dove right in.

12:51 Regardless, it was my service to God, so I wanted to do it with intentionality. So I learned everything I could, took the courses, took classes, got mentored, got certified, did lots of on-the-job training, interned in every position there. And what I thought was just a detour became one of the most fulfilling things I've ever done in my life. Not because of the numbers and all of those things, but it was the comments from a lot of the people in this room and some of the people watching this right now, knowing that I was a part of helping to lift up the platform. It seemed like it was so fulfilling.

13:46 It was so enriching to me. It gave me what I needed. So now I'm up here, somehow, someway. You see, as I was on the pursuit for my purpose, I'd always ask my father, what is my purpose? He would always tell me, one, to give your everything to anything that you do.

14:19 Two, if that thing is not the thing, it's the thing that will lead to the thing. See, family, that is the entire gospel of an unfinished life right there, that God will not waste a single season of your life. There are no detours. That all things work together for the good of those that love the Lord. All things. Flash forward to earlier this year, I just started writing, posting blogs and something unfinished in me came out. To be honest, it was birthed out of one of the hardest seasons in my life.

15:17 And I'll bring you into that, but not yet. There's still more to do. But what I want you all to know is that I am a man who for 32 years, a man who said I'm not called to preach out of his own mouth, who wrote it and posted it. Someone said, yes, you did. Sure did.

15:43 Despite people prophesying to me for years and years that I'll be doing this very thing that I'm doing now. You see, there's one thing for people to say you should do a thing. It's another thing to actually feel God's hand on it. I had an entire plan, an entire life that I built in a different direction. First it was music, marketing, maybe a master's degree, then maybe someday on my own time I'd finally be up here. I built an entire life built around something totally different. So before I go further, I want you to hear exactly how this happened.

16:38 Because some of you already know, I did not want to be up here. But like I said, more than my wants and desires, I want to be in the will of God. A few weeks ago, God spoke to me, said to call a fast at our house.

17:04 You see, the entirety of my wife and I's relationship, we've been almost righteously indignant about one thing. come up in our conversations all the time, and it was to feel God's glory.

17:25 And when I say that, I want you to know exactly what it means because we throw around that word without really giving the meaning of it. The glory is the weight, the presence in the room, the same presence that saved me that night, pressing into a room until it changes the very air of the room, until it changes the very person that it encounters. That is the glory of God. That is the glory. thought it was important for us to seek his face. And amidst the fast, I prayed a dangerous prayer.

18:14 Say, God, however you want to use me, Have y'all prayed that one before? If you haven't, you should. I fell on my face and I asked God, use me however you want to. However, because my obedience to him is more paramount than anything. It's bigger than my fear, bigger than my insecurity, bigger than my doubt. It's my obedience to God. he revealed to me two things.

19:01 One, he said, I want to use you to help shepherd my people. Now. That wasn't what I asked for. He said he wanted to use me to also speak to his people. Understand there's a difference between those things.

19:25 That you can help lead people, care for them. That'd be a totally different office than preaching. So he clarified because he knows I needed to know. It's like, I feel like I'm shepherding right now. I feel like I'm good. Second thing was that he wanted us to start a community group on the very thing that we were hoping for, that we wanted God's glory to return in our lives. You see, the indignation wasn't birthed out of us not having an encounter with God. My wife and I also grew up in Pentecostal roots and know the Holy Spirit and were filled with the Holy Spirit at a young age. We wanted more of him. Have you ever just wanted more of God? You felt it, but you feel like there's still more to feel.

20:25 So that's what we're starting a group around. And I know the sign-ups start today, but you can join the community group, but it has a cap. We didn't build it just for people to be able to come into a room. We want people to feel that same presence wherever they are. Now listen, family, I know I'm in marketing. I'm not selling you a product. I'm not.

20:52 I just feel it's important for us all to be able to make room for the presence of God in our lives. So if you want to join us on that journey, it's a six-week journey to learn how to invite God into your life. It's available to you right now. put it in English of course but it's also in Portuguese and Spanish because I want it to go as far as it can and I feel really really pressed by God to make sure that there is a restoration of glory Well, I haven't preached in 20 years. So I'm going to have some training wheels. So if y'all see me looking at my notes, I'm trying to make sure. Speaking to exactly what God gave me, all right?

21:48 Y'all be patient with me, okay? Glory to God. For your glory, God. For your glory to fall. It's all we need. It's all we need. Just real quick. because I didn't tell you why I'm actually up here.

22:28 As we were closing out the fast, my wife told me, you should preach at the 30th. Now, I figured there was some static on the Holy Spirit line that day, because that ain't what God told me. You know, he told me about the community group. Cool. I figured he'll give me a little time to feel confident, get comfortable, You know, get my reps in. Small room, something manageable. What is this? I didn't sign up for this. Immediately, I swatted it down, you know, figured it was a little static.

23:10 Flash forward to a week later after the fast closed down. We were sitting at breakfast with Pastor Sarah, my parents, just eating eggs. Casual day, chill day, I thought. Sarah looks over and says, you should preach the 30th. Not me.

23:38 Immediately I tried to swat it down again. But before I could, God reminded me, if you're going to say yes, then it's yes. So since breakfast, I have been studying.

24:02 Now in this house, we're not supposed to start preaching before we read the word. So please stand for the reading of the word if you're able to. Glory be to God. and let the word stand over everything I'm about to say. It's a very familiar passage, particularly if you've been to this house for a while.

24:43 Jeremiah 18. You know where I'm going. The first six verses. I'll be reading from the NASB. Please read with me. The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying, Arise and go down to the potter's house. And there I will announce my words to you. Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something on the wheel.

25:32 But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter. so he remade it into another vessel glory to God as it pleased the potter to make Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does, declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hands, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. remain standing with me. The message that God gave me as we're talking about being unfinished is unfinished glory.

26:26 because it's not finished. It's not over. 30 years in, God is still remaking us. God still has his hand on us. God still desires to dwell with us, family. And today we're going to invite his presence. Heavenly Father, we honor you. consider it a privilege to be able to serve you, God, to be in this space.

27:04 I'm standing on someone's prayers. So like you told Moses to take off his shoes, so will I, as this is holy ground, Heavenly Father. I know the prayers that were written on this stage, mine are too. Utilize me, Heavenly Father, as a vessel until it pleases the potter, God. God, your people want to hear from you. They long out for you. They hunger to hear a fresh word, God. Show up, God. Show me your glory, God. We want to feel it, God. It's all we need. It's all we need. God, touch us.

27:55 May the only thing that people remember about today be you and the encounter that they had with you. In the name of Jesus, amen. Amen.

28:22 So let's kind of break down that text. Jeremiah 18. And I want to be honest with you before I go any further. When God says, so are you in my hand, he's not talking to an individual. He's talking to the house of Israel.

28:46 But later on, I want you to see what God's people did with that verse. They prayed back to him in the first person. Isaiah says it plainly, it says, We are the clay, and you our potter. And all of us are the work of your hand. So the prophet's word quickly became the believer's confession. I am the clay, you the potter. The verdict is in your hands, God. and when God comes to the prophet he doesn't give him an address he doesn't just give him a sermon he tells him to go down to move his feet move out of your comfortability and go down to the potter's house and the watching will become the word so Jeremiah goes down and he writes what he sees It says, there he was making something on the wheel, something.

30:01 But the vessel that he was making, the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter. So what did he do? He didn't grab something else. It says, so he remade it. he remade it into another vessel until it pleased him imagine what Jeremiah is saying Seeing a wheel spinning, clay that's wet, and a vessel that has gone wrong. Wrong meaning caved in, off-centered, marred. Like I said, you would assume that this potter would do what any other potter does. They take off that failed shape and discard it in the bed.

31:03 That's not what he does. It's not what he did with you. That's what all of us expect though, if we're honest. It says that he remade it. So I have a question to ask you. You could be in this room in the back. You could be watching online.

31:34 It's your phone on a countertop. Just trying to get the word. but church might not have even been the thing that you wanted to do today, but he brought you here. See, I didn't come to preach to a crowd. There's somebody here in the name of Jesus. Somebody in here.

31:59 The enemy wants you. I rebuke it in the name of Jesus. You thought you were discarded. and I want to ask you what did you assume God did? What did you assume he did when your marring happened? When you felt broken? When you felt as though you were something unworthy of being used? What did you assume God did in that moment? When the diagnosis happened, the relapse, the divorce papers, when you did the very thing that you said you would never do, when it actually happened, what did you assume God did in that moment?

33:02 You might assume that he reached right over you, got someone smarter, maybe got someone more useful. the vessel that wasn't broken the vessel that could be used something that's not cracked what did you assume God did He didn't reach for cleaner material. That's not what the text says. It says, so he made it again. Make me over, God. Make me over, God. Make me over. With the same clay. But the same query. The same thing that was marred, that fell apart in his hands, he takes the same exact clay that just fell apart in his hands, and he sits back at the wheel just so he can make it again.

34:07 That is what type of God we have. That is what type of God we have. Now, I hear you clapping for Make It Again. That's not a gentle word. See, I'm looking at what it takes to actually use the same clay. It takes a lot more than just a gentle press. You see the potter presses down, crushes the failed shape into a formless lump, drives the air completely out of it, puts his entire weight into it, his entire weight into it, until it stops and it runs true. That is what remaking entails.

35:04 the same clay being remade. And if we're honest, sometimes we think our pressing that we feel in life is punishment. Can anyone testify to that? You feel like you've been afflicted?

35:29 Like the pressing is God saying that you didn't do right. Surely I've done something wrong. Like Job and his accusers, surely you did something. Surely. But that's not what it is. The pressing is proof that you're still on the wheel, y'all. That you're still in God's hands. That he still has a purpose and a plan for your life. The pressing is the proof that you're still subjected under the hands of your creator. He's not done with you. So you feared that your marring disqualified you, and it did not. So your marring is what God looked at and called his next assignment.

36:25 You are his next assignment, broken as you are. That is exactly who God wants to use. That is exactly who God wants to use. The very collapse you've been hiding from, that's the exact spot he says, I'll make it again.

36:50 See, I know something about being clay in this house. And I see a few of us in here. I grew up and went to the church's school, Clay Academy. We got any Clay Academy Eagles in the house? Just a few? I see a few. I see you. It's the only time I supported the Eagles, Anthony. I want you to know that. It's the only time. Only time. How about them Cowboys? How about them? Come on. I knew I felt glory in this room. I'm preaching. Not on my time. Not on my time. No booze on my time. Save your booze for another day. You see, I already alluded to that being the place where I was formed. See, I went there as maybe a six-year-old, seven-year-old.

37:45 I was very young. Before I read a verse of Jeremiah 18 and understood what it meant to be clay, God was already forming me. You see, Clay Academy is the last place that I spoke at 20 years ago. It's a place I fell in love with music. Even then, God was forming me for where I would eventually have to be. I was being formed in the potter's hands, just right there. I didn't know it, but he still had a purpose and a plan for my life. Then I caved in. I ran from the call.

38:35 I signed up for ministry school twice. And I quit twice. I did. I have to be honest. I'm not going to lie to you. I didn't come here to flatter you. I ran from the very thing that God was eventually going to have me do. I was a marred vessel with the famous name. Thank you. See, and what I assumed is that God reached for other clay. I figured, we've got enough people that can preach in our family. Like, you don't need a gangster, Lord, nothing. You don't need somebody that will fight. They'll pray for you.

39:28 Somebody has, okay. But I was unfinished. It wasn't time. It was not time for me to step into this call. He made me again. The same exact clay. The runaway. The quitter. The scared one who said, no, not me. Not this. Not yet. I gave him every no and not I could. until he put his hands on me. And he stooped down, put his hands in the dirt until I ran true, until the person that ran away was preaching to you on the 30th anniversary of the church that raised him.

40:25 See, and don't clap for me because that's what type of God you have. It's not about me. I'm just talking about me so you can know the type of God that we have, the nature of the potter and his clay. It's just that. He will continue to form you, place his hands on you. That is not a testimony I earned. that's just what type of God that we have. And who is like the Lord? Who is like the Lord? Who is like the Lord our God who is enthroned on high? Who humbles himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in earth? The same God enthroned on high comes to behold his creation.

41:25 You see, the same God that spoke stars into existence and did not lift a finger, but when it came to us, he put his hands in the dirt and he had to touch us. The same God that stepped off a throne just to die on a Roman cross. It's the same God who stoops over on the wheel and works on us. The same God. The same God. That is what type of God that we have. That is the power of our master.

42:02 Because a potter can only work on the things that he will bend down over and expect. It's the only way our God, God, would humble his self for broken clay. for my salvation to remake me. makes no sense to me, but that is the type of God. That is the type of God that we have. I have to be honest with you, I've just handed you half a Bible.

42:49 Let's go back to the text. See, we usually read verse 1 through 6 in Jeremiah 18. We get happy, we clap like y'all just did. but we miss. That God warns a whole nation right after that, I am fashioning calamity against you. Turn back each of you. See, we don't clap as loud for that. The same God that has the power to remake you can tear a nation apart. The same hands. You see, this potter is sovereign, not sentimental. It's totally different. He is God and God alone.

43:46 and there's truly only one vessel that he can't work with. It's not the one that is broken or marred. Verse 12 says it to you. They hear the offer, and they answer, it's hopeless. There is no use. And when you read that verse, I want you to understand that that is not a whispered, just giving up. It's not a marred vessel just saying I can't be used. It is a clenched fist saying I will not turn. It's the only clay the potter cannot work with is the one that refuses to turn towards him. They don't want to do it.

44:49 They refuse to. I know what that feels like. But I know what it feels like to give in. Finally say, God, use me however you want to use me. I don't know how you're going to do it. But I know that only God can do it. Glory to God That is what type of God we have Do you understand that part of the house? Let's go deeper You see, the real disqualifier is in that verse.

45:31 Some of you have been crying out saying that I'm too broken, that I can't be used. That is not the cry of verse 12. It's a totally different cry. So please, family, I want you to understand the most dangerous lie that you have ever told yourself was never I feel worthless. It is I will not turn. That is the most dangerous lie that you can ever tell yourself. It's totally different. I refuse to be used by you. It's the only way that God cannot use you. So I want you to hear me, family, wherever you are, you are not too far gone. You are not too far gone.

46:24 Do you hear me? No, hear it inside. Hear it inside. Because there's a part of you that needs to hear it. The part of you that already gave up on yourself. You wrote yourself off. You are not finished. And those are totally different things. to be too far gone and to be unfinished. It's a totally different thing. Now, I'm sensitive.

46:54 I can feel someone being nervous when I say that. Because the way I describe unfinished, it can start to sound like unstable. If I'm never finished, am I ever safe? Am I ever going to be finished?

47:18 And most importantly, who's holding me together on the nights where I can't hold myself? so let Paul answer you Philippians 1.6, it says, He who began a good work in you will, will, will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

47:50 See, in that verse, he gives you two things you need to survive being unfinished. First, who? He does. He does the work, not your willpower, not your resolution. So lay down the pressure of putting yourself together. It's not your job, it's his job. He is the one that must perform the work. He started it, so he's the only one that can finish it.

48:23 Second, when? Until the day of Christ. not your own time not your 30th your 50th not when you feel like it it's until the day of Christ Jesus so if you're not finished this morning good and look at who he sent to tell you He didn't send the best-selling authors. He sent someone that is still unfinished himself. Because I am you.

49:07 I am you. We're in the same boat, baby. We are in the same space. Now allow me to turn that shame around. because you were never supposed to be finished yet. It's not your plan. It's his.

49:29 Doesn't happen on your time. be happy you're not finished yet don't be ashamed be happy you're not finished yet Let's turn that shame around, y'all. Because the enemy's strongest tool was getting you to read unfinished as failure. And it was glory the whole time. It was glory the whole time, y'all.

50:04 2 Corinthians 4 describes, we have treasure in what? That's that potter word again. Clay. Same clay. So that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God, of God, and not from ourselves. Then it goes on to describe what a clay jar feels like. Afflicted, but not crushed. perplexed but not despairing struck down but not destroyed pressed on every single side but doesn't shatter But here's what I've come to believe about that family.

50:57 It's not a verdict. You're just reading the pressure wrong. You're just reading the pressure wrong. The crushing is not the end. It is not the end. He's still remaking you. See, Paul says it himself. Death works in us. Life in you. You see, the cracks that you're worried about, the cracks that you're trying to hide, are hiding treasures.

51:35 See, your fracture is not failure. Your fracture is a window for God's glory to come out. That is why the cracking happens. Because glory is going to get out right out of that space. Because a jar that never cracks hides its treasure. Your fracture is that window. Now I have to testify to it because I lived it. I told you something unfinished in me woke up when I started writing.

52:16 You see, last year, on April 1st, it was just a normal day, I thought. I was holding one of the most beautiful things I could ever hold. I was in the middle of cooking, just sauteing shallots. I don't know why I remember that. I never finished the dinner, but I know when I'm sautéing shallots, it's going to be good.

52:48 Then my wife walks in with a look that I'd never seen before, and I haven't seen it since. It's a mixture of surprise, awe, and gratitude. as she handed me two positive pregnancy tests.

53:11 You see, five years of our life, we had been trying, we had been hoping, we had been praying, and I was finally holding what I hoped for. Finally, it happened. A few weeks later, I was holding the most pain I've ever felt in my life. I won't dress it up for you because it wasn't dressed up for me.

53:53 We lost the baby. Just as it happened, I could feel the floor coming out from under me. As the doctor told us the words. even as I felt that pain. ask God to be glorified in it not because I'm so spiritual not because it all made sense, but because through it all, through it all, I've learned to trust in Jesus. I've learned to trust in God.

54:51 Through it all, Through it all I've learned to depend upon his word Didn't mean I didn't cry But I've learned to depend upon his word I ask for him to be glorified as I could feel the affliction growing in my body. held my wife while she was crying many nights. And I asked God to be glorified in that. You see, the word that I reached for out of instinct is the next word that Paul uses in 2 Corinthians 4.17.

55:48 The next verse said, for momentary light affliction is, not was, but right now is producing for us an eternal, no you don't hear me, an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. is producing. Present tense. Right now. You see, the affliction isn't blocking the glory. The affliction is how the glory gets out.

56:29 It's manufacturing it. You see, the pressure, the pressing down is the factory God uses in order for his glory to come out. I'll be honest with you. I still don't know why we lost the baby.

56:52 There was no reason handed to me. I'm not up here to preach a testimony and bring out a baby from the back and we all shout. It's not that. I'm not preaching because the grief added up. I'm preaching unfinished as a man with the unfinished prayer. Still. You see, that's not a hole in my message. That is the message.

57:34 Because the day I pretend that I've got my stuff together is the day I lose the right to tell you about yours. You see, I was holding my peace hostage, suffering in silence. Right after it happened, people would still come up and say, when y'all going to have kids? At first I would joke back with them, you know, on God's time. But I had to be honest, I had to stop holding my piece hostage to make other people comfortable. He didn't hand me an explanation. He handed me an assignment.

58:30 God told me to plant it now, to plant the seed right now. So on the anniversary of the day where I felt like I held the most joy, I put it out there. I cracked on purpose in public. I wrote about it. Put it all out there on Front Street, something that other people would hide.

58:57 The cracks were the window where the glory came out. because there's somebody in this room sitting on their worst day still, still unprocessed, unfinished, still waiting for God to answer their prayer.

59:21 But I had to reach out to them to say, don't hold your peace hostage. because when I was in grief, I missed so many of the things that God was still doing in my life. You see, I had enough pain that could have made me lose my faith, that could have broken up our marriage, but it didn't.

59:50 Glory to God. So that means that you can be unfinished, but keep your mind. You can be unfinished, and God can still hold your marriage together. Unfinished, but your faith won't fail.

1:00:11 That is the type of God that we have. That is the type of God that we have by the glory of God. This is what the cracks are for, family. The cracks are proof that he's not done with you. That he's still working on you. And he's still working towards the glory itself. Glory to God.

1:00:42 Now, let me be honest. Because grace that doesn't tell you the truth is flattery. And I didn't come this far to flatter you. I don't have to come back. So I'm going to tell you all like it is while I have my little time. See, family, there is a way to lose it.

1:01:06 Not your salvation, but that glory. There's a way to keep absolutely everything and lose the only thing that made it matter. Recall how I define the glory as the weight, his presence, the nearness of God that you can feel. That is what leaves when his hand is off the wheel.

1:01:36 Let's look at some examples of how the glory leaves. 1 Samuel chapter 4. I'll just describe it to you. It's very familiar. Israel loses a battle against the Philistines. the ark is captured in one day and then the pregnant woman and I do not say this lightly after what I just told you all with her dying breath names the baby Ichabod for the glory has departed from Israel she names her son out of the grief Now watch how the glory goes away. His ego kind of slows it down for you.

1:02:31 Can you put it up on the screen for me? You see, the glory doesn't always leave all of a sudden. Sometimes it leaves by inches. So you may not notice it, but the glory is leaving. Ezekiel, in a vision, describes the glory departing. doesn't leave all at once,

1:03:05 lifts off of the mercy seat, hovers over the threshold, goes out to the east gate, and sits there above the mountain. Imagine that. A God departing slowly, lifting by inches and inches. And here's the danger.

1:03:30 The services didn't stop. It didn't stop. incense kept on burning no one missed a Sunday but the glory was departing the whole time and that is the danger that you can sing over a room that God has already left that is the danger Thank you. Slowly, all by inches, just a drift. Doesn't happen always as a scandal. Sometimes it's just a drift.

1:04:23 You don't decide to walk away. You just get busy. So you can keep the worship playlist and lose the prayer life. You can keep the form a long time after the fire went out. Nothing dramatic. So you probably didn't even notice the temperature drop. But the glory has departed. Slowly but surely.

1:04:56 Back to 1 Samuel. See, they tried to haul the Ark of the Covenant. like it was going to guarantee some victory. while they were living any way that they pleased. You see, they wanted the power of God without actually getting the presence of God. I'll snitch on myself one more time. The lifelong temptation I had as T.D. Jakes Jr. was to wield my name into battle, thinking that it was going to guarantee me a certain end, to wield the house's name.

1:05:51 That was a lifelong temptation. but that's not how it happens. You see, I wrote a piece saying, I'm not my father's pulpit. and I'm not. I don't have to be him to still be called. In it, I hid behind a false humility.

1:06:28 I remember posting it so happy. I finally told them, I'm not called to preach. They'll leave me alone now. You see, I enjoy holding the stage up. I enjoy serving with you all. I didn't need to be on this pulpit for it to be called ministry. You don't have to be up here to be called.

1:07:00 You don't have to. But I couldn't disqualify myself. You see, Paul settles it. He says, the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you. There is no lesser form of ministry. It's all a part of the body. And right now, Thank you, Jesus.

1:07:32 God is overruling that lie right here in front of you. You see, the presence cannot be wielded. The presence can only be sought. You must seek the presence. You can't command the presence. You can't negotiate with the presence of God. You have to seek his presence. You invite him in. You invite him in. And that's where he comes.

1:08:08 So when it came time, I didn't pull rank. I fasted. I fell on my face. I prayed to God. And through worship, that is where he came to me. Y'all have to put the ark down.

1:08:34 Don't hold the box that contains the presence. Go after the person. That is what we must learn. And that is the danger, Potter's House. Hear me loud and clear. Because we stand on a great name. The temptation is to lean on a name this big. You stop seeking the one who made this house anything. I know some of y'all ask who's preaching today. Don't worry who's preaching today. Worry that God sent them. That's all you need to worry about. I don't care who it is, as long as the Lord sent them. Because you can coast off of somebody's Bishop, Pastor Sarah, Pastor Toure's fire a long time before you realize yours went out.

1:09:42 Their glory does not mean that you don't need to seek his face yourself. You have to get to know him for yourself.

1:10:08 They didn't grow up just so all their glory can be spent out and not teach you how to seek his face for yourself. You got to seek him. He wants to dwell with you, Potter's House. He desires to dwell with you. Thank you. You see, What a pregnant woman said in grief, God ends up reversing. Ezekiel slowed it down how the glory left. Not in that instance, but in a vision.

1:10:53 You see, the glory left out of the East Gate, but it comes right back the same way, the same exact space where he left out of is where the glory returns. You see, the prayer life that you stopped, the altar that you quit, the thing that you started and abandoned, the business that failed is the very place that God is going to come back. The very place.

1:11:27 The place you keep on losing him is the exact place where he's going to come back to. It's the very place. You see, Ezekiel's last verse renames the city Jehovah Shammah. The Lord is there. The Lord is there. you have man saying Ichabod and God saying Yahweh Shema. You see, only God has the right to reverse what you already named. Be careful what you speak over your life. Say, God, what do you speak over my life? Who do you need me to be?

1:12:20 so whatever you named yourself in the worst season of your life God reserves the right to rename that don't give up on yourself Let's go deeper.

1:14:18 Now, Haggai slows it down just a little bit more. In this verse... There are Israelites that have been building just for a few weeks, rebuilding a temple.

1:14:47 And in this verse, the people that saw the former glory are weeping because they see a smaller temple. It seems as though it doesn't have as much. It's not as ornate. they remember what the presence of the Lord felt like in that room and they start weeping.

1:15:12 Who was left among you, it says, who saw the temple in its former glory and how do you see it now? Does it not seem like nothing in comparison? You see, the temple that didn't look like much is where the glory ended up falling. Let that sit for a second. And some of you aren't grieving a temple. You're grieving a version of you. The you that have more money.

1:15:58 The you that was in a circumstance that was better than where you are now. Looking at an old picture of yourself, calling it your glory days. the you before the diagnosis,

1:16:19 the you that used to feel faith stronger when prayer felt like breathing. But Haggai says too, in Haggai 2.9, the latter glory of this house. Hear me, Potter's house. The latter glory of this house will be greater, will be greater than the former. Not equal. not just as good as before, it will be greater, greater. The best is yet to come. The best is yet to come.

1:17:12 So don't let the devil sell you a counterfeit family. Greater isn't your old life back with an upgraded body. It's not that. Upgraded car. That's not greater. That sounds like a sales pitch. I don't want that.

1:17:36 What made it greater? What made it greater? It wasn't the size. It wasn't the LED screens. It wasn't who was singing or even who was preaching. It was the glory that fell. It was the glory that fell in that room. That, family, is what we're here to honor. We're not here to honor a building.

1:18:11 Buildings don't get saved. Buildings aren't up at 2 a.m. wondering if they've gone too far from God for them to be wanted by him. People do. And that's what God wants to do with us. He wants to continue to dwell inside of us. In the name of Jesus. You see, that greater being defined by the presence who filled it.

1:18:46 Watch the tense of that verse. It said, shall be. Shall be. Means he fouled it under coming up. Next up, the glory shall be greater. Potter's House, that's what I want you to know, that the glory shall be. Come on. It what? Shall be. Speak it over your life. It. You shall be.

1:19:25 You can go to my next training wheel. And then he proved it. You see, the smaller second temple, the one they were crying over, mourning, is the same place where the Messiah walks into. That same temple is where one of the biggest manifestations of his glory actually fell. Malachi says the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple that is where God came the presence still fell the morning did not stop the glory it does not stop the glory whatsoever. So I want you to write that over your less than self.

1:20:23 The you that you've been grieving, the smaller temple held the larger presence. See, what we need is less of our stuff, more of his weight. The smaller season that you're embarrassed by may be the exact room that God will dwell in. That is what type of God that we have. I have to be honest with you about the other side of greater. where I've just given you a lie and dressed it up as faith. And that's not always how it goes.

1:21:08 There's someone in here. You prayed years ago for something, and it still hasn't showed up. You planted the seed, but you don't see a blade of green grass. You see, there's no guarantee on this side of heaven that it will happen, but you're still holding on.

1:21:40 Sometimes you plant something in the dark and you're still holding the seed at the funeral. It happens. It happens. See, we don't clap for that as much. But it's the reality that we're dealing with. that is not your faith-failing family. That is God still continuing to put you on the wheel to be able to remake you. And that, that is not always the easy process.

1:22:16 But the word still gives us things for that. Psalm 88 describes a song that never turns. It opens in dark and ends in the dark. Literally, the last word is darkness. But God left it in the book on purpose. See, we're used to Psalms being praises and glory and turning around to exalt God. But this one doesn't ever make that turn.

1:22:53 But God kept it in the word. that means that we can still be broken, be unmended, and give it over to God. He's not going to blot it out for his record to seem good. He wants you to know that you can still go towards God. So if your greater family, if your greater has not came yet, don't assume that God is finished with you or that he has left. Because sometimes the greater could mean that you feel absolutely nothing, but God is.

1:23:32 That God is. God still is in the room. The place where you felt like he had left, that is exactly where God still is, family. You may not get the gift, but you'll get the giver. and that's all right.

1:23:54 That's all right. Then one last thing about greater, it's deeper than Haggai. It's a question you've already been asking yourself your entire life. Greater, but do I finally arrive?

1:24:17 Am I done? But the early church gave us an answer for that. See, it says in the Bible, from glory to glory. Paul also says we're all being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord in the Spirit. From glory to more glory. The one moving is named in the verse.

1:24:48 The Lord. Not you, but the Lord. The Spirit. Not your striving, but His. You have to understand that. And then Gregory read it like this. an old church father from 1600 years ago. He set those verses beside each other from glory to glory and Paul's, I press on forgetting what lies behind, reaching forth to what lies ahead. And he read it like this. Because God is infinite, the soul never arrives. You see, you can truly have him and never reach the end of him. Every time you reach for him, there is more to reach.

1:25:42 He called it the pectasis, the eternal stretch forward, to always strive and be hungry for God. You can't be finished. You don't get enough of God. You're never just filled up. He's still sending you. He still wants you hungry again.

1:26:04 You know that if you've ever loved someone for a long time, the more that you love them, the more there is to love about them. It's the longing. The more of them there is to find, you just keep on unraveling parts of it. And that's what unfinished means for you. You see, you being unfinished is not you being behind. It is the nature of being alive. Because we're moving in the only direction a soul was ever meant to move. You'll be unfinished at 50. You'll be unfinished at 105. You will continue to be finite, stretching for infinite God. That's what type of God that we have. That is the nature of God. I'll be honest with you because the church has never fully agreed on what I just said.

1:27:06 And I don't want to mislead you. Because the scriptures do also sing that we will finally come to rest. But the reading I can't stop drinking from is that even in heaven, when we are glorified and perfected, we'll still be reaching for more of him. We'll still need more of God. There's still more of him to come. Not because anything is missing. Because he has no end. He has no end. The gap was never the problem. That is just the romance of all eternity. Reaching for God. So you'll never be finished. The glory that you seek. you'll always be reaching for it.

1:27:59 That is unfinished glory. You see, holy discontent, holy discontent is not immaturity. Saying that I've had him and I want more of him, that is not immature. That is the very thing my wife and I were praying for. The very thing we were fasting for. God, I felt you, but God, I want to feel you more. I don't think that you're done with me yet.

1:28:41 I don't think that you're finished with me. And a church that thinks it's arrived is a church that has not matured. It has stopped reaching. It has stopped seeking the presence. See, the cure family is not to mourn old glory. It's to get hungry again. Church, we have to get hungry. We have to get hungry again. Get your appetite back up. We have to get hungry again. We gotta want his glory. The second I ask for his glory is the second that it gave it to me. We have to get hungry again. Don't wait on someone else to sing the song that you like. Don't wait for someone to preach the way that you like. Stop waiting on me to hoop. That's not going to happen. Wait for his glory. That is what you came to seek.

1:29:37 That is all that you need. That's all that we need. If his presence falls, we don't need anything else. We could turn off the screens and the presence falls, and that's all that we need. The glory of God is all that you need to be able to sustain you, family. The glory of God, the same glory that was imparted on me, the same glory has the ability to press into this room right now if you would ask him ask him ask him don't wait on me ask him right now ask him God I want to feel your presence God I need you in every facet of my life God I want to feel your presence I'm tired of mourning something that you haven't touched yet.

1:30:39 God, I want to touch from you right now. Just want to feel your presence. I don't need the gift. You can give me stuff and I won't know how to maintain it. God, I need to feel your glory. That's all I need. That's all that I need. That's all that we need to sustain us. God, send your glory. Send your glory. That's all we need. it's all we need speak to your father invite him into this room invite him into this space Holy Spirit we need you you're not done with us 30 years and we're still building Our best days have not come yet.

1:31:38 The highlight reel is cool, but I can't wait to see what you're going to do, God. I'm still hungry for you, God. God, I still want to feel your presence. There's still more of you that I need in my life, in every space of my life, God. I need your glory. I need your presence, the weight of your presence, God. place it upon me. That all-consuming fire. God, I need it. I won't go without it. I will not go without it. God, I need your glory.

1:32:19 I don't need a performance. I need your glory. I want to feel it. Not just in this room, but everywhere I go. Because the glory's got to spread. like Moses coming off of Mount Sinai, his face shone with glory. Everyone should be able to see the glory when they see you. They should be afraid to just walk upon you any kind of way because they can sense the spirit of the Lord dwells within you. We didn't come here to celebrate a temple family. We came to celebrate God's hand, His glory falling fresh in this place over and over and over again.

1:33:15 There's no building where the presence cannot dwell. you are his temple. You are his temple. The indwelling spirit is in temple within us. Right now, the Holy Spirit, the all-consuming fire, the fire that used to consume is sitting on us right now.

1:33:43 Ask God to send that fire. That's why we built the group that we built because we want to feel his presence. The returning glory. God, may your glory return. See eventually no temple can hold the glory Revelation talks about John looking for a temple The Lord was the temple The city became the temple The glory is not meant to just stay in this room y'all The glory is meant to envelop every part of this city every part of your life. That is where the glory must reside. Make room for the glory of God in your life.

1:34:38 Make room, church. Make room, get hungry for his glory to fill you. God sends your glory. So we can honor the 30th. But we have to bless the city until the whole city feels the glory that God started off in this room. We're just lighting a match, but your family needs to feel your glory. When they encounter you, they need to feel glory coming off of you. the glory will change you.

1:35:16 He's not done with you. He still wants more of you. He desires to dwell with you, family. See, that's just what an unfinished life is all about. I want you, but not on my own time.

1:35:38 Within your divine will, God, right when you say it should happen, that's when things need to happen. I won't go ahead of you, try to force my will. God, I'll be patient and wait on you. but send your glory God we need your glory is there anyone hungry for his glory I can't be alone I can't be alone There still has to be more of him.

1:37:59 I know there's someone in here. Someone that feels the weight of being unfinished. You almost didn't come today. You didn't want to come to church. You didn't know who was speaking. but it doesn't matter. The glory is in this room. That's all that matters. It's all we need. See, family, today, it's not just for healing. It's for sending.

1:38:53 The glory that you receive, you must share with everyone. Because he's not done with you. He's not done with you. So he's calling you to do more. So, I challenge you to pray the same prayer that I prayed. God, use me however you want to use me. God, I surrender it all to you.

1:39:24 I don't know why you would call me. I thought it was too late. You could have sent someone else. but somebody needed this. and that's why I really came because he wants to dwell with you, family. He wants to dwell with you. I'll tell you what God told me.

1:40:05 Plant it anyway. Plant it anyway. Don't wait for your testimony to go the way that you want to tell it. Glorify God in the part that is not done. That's all that you need. the seed that you plant on your hardest day could help somebody else. The very unfinished thing that you cried over, the very unfinished thing that I cried over,

1:40:40 is the treasure that God wants to use. Family, know that you are allowed to come unfinished. because that's the only way that any of us ever came. so I invite you I invite you if you have never accepted the gift of salvation and if you want to feel his presence in your life like me you might have gone through life searching for things and feeling unfulfilled looking for something to fill up that hole those cracks inside of you to bury that affliction. He wants you to come as you are.

1:41:30 Unfinished is the way that all of us came. There is no finished part of you that he needs. He just needs a willing part of you, family. You see, there's an opportunity for us to dwell with him, but we have to invite him.

1:41:55 And another call to the people that want to feel a heavier weight of God's glory in their life. The person that's struggling with the unfinished story, a prayer that has not been answered yet, a thing that has not happened yet God still wants you to come and dwell with him you are the person that God wants you might have walked out of church the same way that you went in but God wants to change you right now he wants to invite you into relationship with him so that he can place his hands on the very clay that broke down in his hand. If you want to come to offer yourself unto Christ, rejoice with him. Amen.

1:43:07 Family, the word says, whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved. Whosoever, whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Is that wide enough for you? Is that enough room for you? Whosoever, whosoever calls on the name of the Lord. I don't know who you are. I've been praying for you all week.

1:43:43 It's been someone. the devil wanted you. He tried you over and over again. He tried to lay hold of your joy. but I rebuke the devil. I rebuke the enemy that will try to lay hold of your future. God has called you for greater. God has called you for greater family. He wants more.

1:44:21 He wants to fill you. So invite him. God wants to be with you. he doesn't need a perfect version of you. He just needs a willing vessel. someone that's willing to change. Now, unfinished does not mean unchanged. Because you have to turn on the wheel.

1:45:00 You can't stop turning. You have to continue to come through this same gate over and over again. To repent. To lay aside your wicked ways and say, God, I want you to change me. Broken as I am, God send your glory. there's no version of me that's better than this. It's the best you can get, God. But it's enough. It's enough in your hands. Not in my hands. But it is enough.

1:45:41 I want to invite you. Because I'm not pointing at the gate. From across the room, I'm standing in it with you. please come stand with me please come stand with me because God wants to do something in this room and the glory of God is not done falling on this house he still wants to dwell with you y'all come unfinished come unfinished surrender it all to him surrender it all to him all of it, the parts you've been hiding, the parts you've been ashamed of, the parts you thought he could not do anything with, send it. Ask him right now.

1:46:38 God, fill me up. Daddy, I'm going to ask for you to pray the prayer of salvation.