Transcript for:
Lakewood Church Service Highlights and Messages

Thank you. Well, good morning. Good morning, Lakewood family. How are we doing out there? We're doing good. Listen, I feel like I'm doing all right. We're matching. I was going to say, I know you're wondering. We did not plan this. We did not plan. Like there's not a theme service. or anything like that, but we got to wear yellow. But it just worked out that way. So good morning and thank you so much for joining us at Lakewood Church. We're so grateful that you chose to start your week off. Number one, we're putting Jesus in his rightful place, but also you could have done it anywhere and you're doing it right here at... at Lakewood Church. So thank you so much for being a part. Absolutely. If we haven't met, my name is Serena. And I am Devontae. And listen, I want to know who you are, though. We got a bunch of shout-outs. We do. We do have some shout-outs. We do. Wherever you're watching from, put where you're watching from in the chat with your name. But we got some shout-outs. This is one of our favorite parts. Yes. Who do we got? Who do we got, Serena? Okay, we have Ronald from Chicago. Listen, what's up? What's up, Ronald from the shop? You get an extra special welcome. A little bit, a little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Some love for Chicago there. Cedric from Canada, thanks so much for tuning in Cedric. How about this one? Sam from South Sudan. Wow, that's amazing. Thank you for watching, Sam. Danielle from Georgia. Hello, Danielle. Felicia from the UK. Victor from Honduras. And Mark from California. How are you all doing? Let us know in the chat. Like I said, we're not sure what time it is where you are, but whatever time it is, tell people that service is getting ready to begin in a little bit. Gather them around. Pull them into the living room, to the kitchen table, and say, listen, you only got a few more minutes before service kicks off. So wake up or, you know, you got your. your pajamas on, whichever time zone you're in. Either way, let them know that service is getting ready to begin. Yeah, you know, this weekend is actually a really special weekend. We have a great service for you, but I just want to take a moment to honor what this weekend represents. It's Memorial Day weekend, which is tomorrow, and Monday is Memorial Day, where we remember all of those who sacrificially have given of their lives so we can enjoy the freedoms that we have today. So we just want to salute and honor. honor all of those who have fallen and all of also the families that represent the freedoms that we get to enjoy. So we just want to salute you. We honor you. We celebrate you. And we thank you, the families. Thank you for, for really the sacrifice that we get to enjoy. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. It's, it's huge and we don't want to take it lightly. Thank you so much again, because they serve. That also means that you as the family member, sir, I know what that's like as someone apart. part of a family with a veteran who has served. So thank you so much to everybody out there. Maybe this weekend is tough for you. We want to just let you know, we are praying as you are remembering your loved ones. We are remembering them as well. So just know that we are praying for you. Also, speaking of this weekend, we had a powerful weekend. Friday night, we had men's night. We had amazing, amazing time. Tell us about it. Okay, so I'll tell you about it. I'm glad you asked. Pastor Earl McClellan, who also is here today, was speaking on Friday night. It was a incredible we had free food we had a bunch of games but you know what better than me telling them how about they take a look at the screen and see where's the worry that I'm carrying as a man and is it time that I take this transfer this over to God Jeremiah is in a pit that he cannot get himself out of. It is all giving us a wink that one day there will be a servant king that will come and he will talk on our behalf. And this servant king will be fighting behind the scenes to take you and I out of the pit of sin and depravity and brokenness and loss that we find ourselves in. And God is about to pull us up out. Well, I told you, I told you it was incredible. I told you we had a bunch of fun. You guys had a great time. Yeah, we have a bunch of fun. We had a great time. Every single time that we do it, it's amazing. So if you missed out, please don't feel like this is your last opportunity. We have a lot of stuff going on for the men for the rest of the year. And. Listen, all you have to do is sign up. We have the Lakewood Men's Winning Challenge. We have the Lakewood Open coming in the fall. So if you want to be a part of all that God is doing in our Lakewood Men's Ministry, all you have to do is sign up. The link should be in the chat or just go to lakewoodchurch.com and get more information. It was a powerful time of connection, powerful time of worship. And speaking of worship, I love our worship here. I do too. And Lakewood Music is releasing a new EP called Nothing Is Over. That releases this week. And listen, all of the songs that we've been singing lately, like Thank You for the Cross, which is one of my favorites, is on that EP. So why don't you pre-save? Carry It Well is on there. Nothing Is Over is on there. So why don't you pre-save wherever you can. There's a QR code that should pop up on the screen. pre-save the EP and you'll get it downloaded automatically as soon as you As soon as it releases. Yeah, you got to get this music in your homes and your cars and get it in your spirit. Such a good, good thing. Hey, we have something else that is coming up for you. This is for our people, our youth and young adults. This is all world, if you don't know. And so if you're in junior high, you're in high school, you're in college, or maybe you just graduated. Actually, even families come out to this together. The Hope in Life Conference is just weeks away, coming up on June 25th through the 27th. And we have some phenomenal speakers. We've got Chad Veach, Darius Daniels, John Sheree Wilkerson. Isaac Emanuel is going to join us in worship, Elevation Rhythm, Lakewood Music. The list goes on. And of course, we have Torrin Wells and Alexander Pappas. It's going to be such a wonderful time. The theme this year is the power of God. It's a free event. And I love the heart and behind this has always been for the last 15 years. and we hope for many more to come. that this would be a space where people can come from near and far. And, you know, yes, we have these phenomenal speakers, but it's also a space where you can encounter Jesus and take it back with you wherever you're from. So if you're watching, maybe you know someone who's, you know, they're in a church in a different city, invite them, come and be a part. There's still time to join us. We really hope to see you here in a few weeks at Hope and Life Conference. Yeah, absolutely. We can't wait. And speaking of things for your next-gen students to do, I'm super excited about this. this and again i might be a little biased just a little bit but youth we have summer camp right after hope in life conference so the summer doesn't stop at conference it's actually like just kind of kicking off for us so listen the youth run the world right listen to the kids listen to the kids they they make all the best decisions they set the trends no seriously though why don't you send your students we have a junior high and a high school summer camp both of them are separate junior high is on july 17th through the 19th high school is july 28th through the 31st All you got to do is register right now. You can hold your spot. Make sure that you spots fill up quickly. This is for the people who are the home team right there in Houston or around Houston. And they are going to have an amazing time. It's one of my favorite events that we do every single year. All you have to do is scan the QR code that should be on the screen or go to our website. And listen, maybe you don't have a student. Maybe you say, I had a student. They've already went off to college. They've grown up. You say, I want to help be a part of helping students encounter God. Get away. Unplug for a minute. and encounter God, all you have to do is say, I can sponsor a student. I want to help them go. You can sponsor. Your generosity matters, and it can help send students, more than one, 10, 15 students. And all you have to do is text the word LYCAMP, all one word, LYCAMP, to 77977. Select Youth Camp Sponsorships in the drop-down menu, and you can help be a part of this life-changing event for our students. It is life-changing. I know those camp moments, something happens there, and it It changes just the trajectory of their lives. So love that. Love that. Hey, listen, something else that is coming up here happening on July the 29th. Our very own Pastor Victoria Osteen is dropping a book. It is called Grace to Go. And how many of us love Pastor Victoria? Show her some love right now, even in the chat. But this book is it talks about seven ways that God prepares us for battles. And I think we all need that. So she always has so much wisdom. go Go ahead and pre-order now. You can go to lakewoodchurch.com. Again, it releases on the 29th of July. And yeah, just get ready because you know it's going to be so good. It really will. So, so good. It really will. And I believe that this will help a lot of people out there, especially our parents. So listen, in case you have a student or you say, I want to drop them off at a youth service, but what do I do? We have a parent collective that is just for you. All you have to do is pull up, meet us right here, drop your students off, and they can be a part of service. And you can be a part of our parent collective that meets in person, connect with other parents, say, hey, I don't know what I'm doing. I don't, they're like, I don't know what I'm doing either, but we're going to pray together and grow together. And I believe that this book, you know, being grace to go will help you on that journey. Be prepared for the battle that comes with parenting. So listen. Well, service is going to begin here in just a little bit. Please do let us know how we can be praying for you in any way. Pastor Victoria is going to be back. I love that we take time to just pray for your needs. Let us know what it is that you need. Maybe you're praying for someone. someone in your family, or you're struggling through something, don't struggle alone. Stand united in prayer with someone. We've heard some amazing testimonies that have come out of this. Again, service is going to begin in just a little bit. We know God's going to speak to you. I hope you stay encouraged during the week. Like and share, subscribe. Don't forget, God's going to talk to you this service. We love you guys so much. Enjoy the service. God bless you and welcome to Lakewood. Always such an honor to have our online family and listening live on Sirius XM. Hope you know we love you and we pray for you and we feel your spirit all over the world. Watching in so many different countries, but we are just honored to have you. It's our desire, our prayer, our declaration. You're going to leave better than you came. Oh, I love that. I love that. And you know what? We never want to take it for granted that you Come to our ministry to be filled with God's Word, and we know that He is doing something special in your life. So thank you for being a part of this ministry. We love you. We pray for you. Enjoy the service. You're my- Every minute for the whole team, girl Welcome to Lakewood today. How many of you are ready to worship the Lord this morning? I say this every time, but I love coming. I'm in Lakewood because I can feel faith in the room and I can feel victory in the room. And that's because when you came, you know what, you brought God with you. You brought joy with you and victory with you. So we welcome you all. We are honored to have you here. I was thinking about even on a holiday weekend, you've said, I'm going to go to the house of the Lord and honor God and put Him first place. So know that God's smiling down on you right now. And I'm reminded of that scripture that says that God is a rewarder of those that seek after Him. That's each one of you taking time to be here, our online family, listening live on Sirius XM. I don't know if there's anything trying to weigh you down today, but it's a perfect time at the start of the day and start of a new week to say, God, I'm going to turn it over to you. You know, don't go into a new week worried about, you know, the future and, you know, mad at our neighbor and upset because of mistakes we've made. You got to let that all go and say, God, today's a new beginning in my life. And really, It's not saying that there are not things that you could worry about, because we all have things that concern us, but I always say this, don't use your energy to worry, use your energy to believe. It takes the same amount of energy to think, oh man, what am I going to do about that situation, and I'm so concerned about my child, as to say, God, I thank you that you're working in my life, and that you're working in my child's life. That's releasing faith. So you're going to be using your energy. Let's use our energy to believe today that God's fighting our battles. that God has everything we need for our destinies. When we do that, that's what allows God to go to work. So if you'll release that, it's going to make room for God to fill you afresh and anew. Here's always our prayer and our declaration that not one of us are going to leave the same way we came. You're going to go out of here with more joy and more faith and more victory. Thanks so much for coming. We're honored to have you today. Yes, amen. It is good to see you this morning. I love the fact that... of everything Joel just said, because you know, it is so important that we do cast off those, those weights that would try to weigh us down. And every day is fresh and new. His mercies are new every single morning. And that's the kind of mindset we need to have because it is so easy to let things just pile up on us. And then we, it's hard to get out from under them all, but every day we can get up and say, you know what? I can cast my cares upon the Lord because he said, He cares for me. And you know, sometimes people say, well, I don't know about casting my cares. Well, he's saying, cast your cares, cast your worries on me, not your responsibilities. He's not saying that. He's saying those things that would so easily beset you, so easily try to weigh you down. Those are the things you weren't designed to carry. You're not designed to carry all the worry and all the stress and all the strain. And that's what we can get up and say this morning. Father, thank you. that I don't have to carry this. You've already said you carry it for me. All I have to do is keep my eyes on you and you will lead me and guide me and you will cause things to work out for my favor. And that's why I love to come to church because I love to be reminded of the goodness of God and the fact that he doesn't expect us to do this on our own. We are supposed to be in partnership with him and he is our heavenly father, our sweet heavenly father that wants to help us. Comfort us and strengthen us all along the way. Amen. So let's enter into his presence with thanksgiving in our heart with a freshness with a boldness. Listen, the scripture says come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find help in your time of need. So he doesn't want us shrinking back. See, we're not coming in our name. We're coming in his righteousness. We're coming in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. So let's enter in. With a fresh new boldness. And just an ability to please God. Amen. Father we thank you this morning. That we can cast our care upon you. That Father we don't come in our own strength. And in our own righteousness. But we come in the one who has gone before us. We come in the name of Jesus. And we thank you Father. That we can enter in to the Holy of Holies. That we can actually come in. And be with you in your presence Father. So thank you for everything that you're going to do today, Lord. We thank you that you are healing, you're delivering, you're setting free. You are working miracles in our midst. So we want to thank you in advance for it. In Jesus' name. And everyone said... Still as good as you were then, there's no limit to your love, oh, through it all, it's all so good, yeah, yeah You catch the word, I can send you So, so good Orgasm, right? Get your worth Said you would It's a little wild You act your own way BOOM! You said your grace is always enough. You said your heart will never forget a forsaken man. You said I'm saved. You called me yours. You said my future's full of your hope. You'll never fail. Cause I know that you're my God. You said your grace is always enough. You said your heart will never forget the saving. Through to His Word. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. He's been my fourth man in the fire, time after time. Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood, and what He did for me on Calvary is more than enough. So I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail. He will never fail I trust in God My Savior He's the one Who will never fail He will never fail Perfect song There's no tomorrow, this is a break Hey never leave us so forsaken that's who he is music That's why I trust Him. That's why I trust Him. I saw the Lord, and He heard, and He answered. I saw the Lord, and He heard, and He answered. I saw the Lord, and He heard, and He answered. That's why I trust Him. That's why I trust Him. I'm so blue, in the air, in the air, in the air, I'm so blue, Yeah. It is so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take Him at His word, just to take Him at His word. Just to rest upon His promise. Just to know the saith the Lord. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how I prove Him more and more. Jesus, Jesus. Precious Jesus, all for grace, to trust Him more. Oh Jesus, Jesus. How I trust Him, how I've proved, and more and more, Jesus, Jesus. Jesus, precious Jesus. Oh, for grace to trust Him more. Oh, for grace to trust Him more. Give me grace. I've reached the end of my own strength. That's when you step in and prove your faithfulness. I remember why I was born. And with lifted hands, won't you move again? Are you not the God who is in heaven? The one who reigns forever? My eyes are on you, my eyes are on you You fight the battle, you get the glory Here come the angels, here comes the victory The enemy is outnumbered, Like the night, oh, To the King of all, who has Lord Jesus, we love you today. Lord, we believe what we're seeing, that you are fighting our battles. Lord, that every force that's trying to stop us has been broken in the name of Jesus. Lord, I think that depression can't stay. and anxiety, sicknesses, trouble at work. Lord, we believe today is a breakthrough day. Lord, we thank you for what you're doing in our lives. Lord, we're not here with a sad song. We're here to thank you for your goodness and your mercy. and your favor. For Lord, we recognize you woke us up this morning. You gave us breath to breathe and strength to get out of bed and life to live. Lord, you chose us before we could choose you. Here we stand today redeemed and forgiven. Not as ordinary people, but as children of the Most High God. Father, we thank you for all that you've done, for the price you've paid and Lord, just for bringing us to where we are. And Lord, we thank you that you have what you have planned for each one of us. You said that our path would get brighter and brighter. Lord, I just thank you even today, fresh vision for your people, fresh anointing, fresh favor, fresh momentum, fresh growth. Lord, we believe you're doing new things in our lives that will never get stuck or stagnant, but that will keep moving forward, stepping into new levels of our destiny. Today, Lord, we let go of all the old. the disappointments, the mistakes we've made, what people said, what didn't work out. Lord, we know you're still in control. Lord, as we let go of the old, I think that we'll receive the new. Beauty for ashes, joy for mourning. Lord, making things happen that we couldn't make happen. For Lord, our eyes are upon you today. We thank you, Lord, for where you brought us to and all that you've done. And we just say it publicly that you're our Lord, our God, and our Savior. make us us and mold us into who you want us to be. Lord, I thank you that we all have a spirit of wisdom, discernment, the power to obey, that we know right decisions for our life. And Lord, I just thank you that you're making the path clear, that we will make choices that move us toward our God-given destiny. And Father, that we will not be at the same place next year as we are right now, but we are moving forward, stepping into new levels. Closer in our walk with you, kinder, more respectful, quicker to forgive. Lord, let gifts and talents come out. Lord, I thank you that your people will bloom and blossom. See things that we've never dreamed, in Jesus' name. And Lord, I do lift up those fighting battles in their health. Some watching and listening, some here in the building. Lord, you said you would restore health back to your people. So Lord, I thank you right now that healing and wholeness It's flowing into all those that need it. That the number of our days you will fulfill. Lord, even what medicine cannot do, we know you have the final say. So Lord, I just speak healing. I speak strength and vitality. I think of the tide of the battle in their health will begin to turn in Jesus' name. And Lord, not just physically, but we lift up those that are in tough times. Those that have gone through loss. Those that are hurting. Father, you said you're close to the brokenhearted. Let them feel your presence. Let them know that we're praying. Father, I thank you that you are comforting them, that they feel your presence, that you have beauty for the ashes, joy for the morning, that even though it seems like it's the end, Lord, I thank you they'll see it is a new beginning, that this too shall pass, that weeping endures for a night, but Lord, joy is coming in the morning. So I thank you for the joy that's on the way. In Jesus' name. Lord, you've done great things in the past, but we believe 2025 will be a year of uncommon favor, uncommon opportunities, things we've never seen, that we are victors and never victims. In Jesus' name. And if you receive it, can you say amen today? So awesome to have you in the house of the Lord. We're going to make our declaration of faith. Come on, say it like you mean it. I am blessed, prosperous, redeemed, forgiven, healthy, whole, talented, created, confident, secure, disciplined, focused, prepared, qualified, motivated, valuable, free, determined, equipped, empowered, anointed, accepted, and approved. Not average, not mediocre. I am a child of the Most High God. I will overcome all I was created to be in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. You sound amazing today. You sound like children of the Most High God. Keep that down in your spirit because every time you say that and every time you let it you know go through your thoughts you're getting closer to seeing it happen. You know the enemy say you know you're not discipline. You're not focused. You're not prepared. You're not healthy, but you know what? The more you say it, that's coming to pass in your life. The key is to get an agreement with what God says about you. Cause you know, life will try to tell you, no, you're addicted. You're a failure. You're lazy, but you got to tune all that out and say, God, I am becoming who you have created me to be. And not half, you know, some of you, some of us doing good or you're doing three-fourths, but not 90%. How about all God's created you to be? Come on, let's keep moving forward. Let's keep dreaming and believing and stretching. Now, I love what David said. You all know the scripture in Psalm 23. He said, surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. and I think it's interesting. seeing that it has the word surely. You know, David, you know his story. He'd been through heartache. One dad didn't believe in him. King Saul turned on him. He had all kinds of people lying about it and coming against him. He could have said, surely, man, I'm going to have more bad breaks. Surely, God, I got the wrong end of this stick. This new year's confession, surely something good is going to happen to me. Surely mercy, goodness, favor is coming my way. let me tell you in life you need some surely's but not surely doubt and surely negativity. How about surely as for me in my house, we will serve the Lord. Surely I will lend and not borrow. Surely God is restoring health to me. I will run and not be weary. Come on, have some boldness, some confidence, some surely. You know, you may not see it happening yet, but God's not finished doing it and working in your life. He's still working as we believe all things are possible. Keep this down in your spirit. 2025, God's going to do some uncommon thing in your life. Uncommon opportunity, uncommon relationships, uncommon favor, doors opening. You never dreamed, but open uncommon ability, gifts and talents coming out. You didn't know you had come on. Let's be believers and not doubters. I'm going to tell you, God's going to show out in your life, not just in the sweet by and by. How about in 2025? God do something. God do something strong in our lives. So that we can be a bigger blessing. We love you guys. We pray for you. I try to stir your faith up because faith is what causes God to work. We'll take a moment to pray like we do in every service. If you need prayer here in the building, you want us to stand in agreement with you, Anyone's welcome to come to the front of your section during this next song. We'll take a moment to pray. The rest of you are welcome to be seated if you'd like. But if you need prayer, we'd be honored to pray for you. Our beautiful online family and listening live on SiriusXM, Victoria is there to pray for you. Know that we love you and we pray for you every day. But thanks for being a part today. We are so excited to get to join our faith with you today. As we enter into this time of prayer, God is such a faithful God, and when we pray, He hears us. In fact, the Bible talks a lot about praying with thanksgiving in your heart. as you make your requests known to God, it is a thankful prayer. It's not a prayer that is, God, are you going to do it? But it's a prayer of saying, thank you, Lord. I believe you can do it. I believe you can do anything. And that's the kind of prayer. we want to pray today. We want to pray from a place of faith. You know, it's so easy to doubt, but we've got to lay aside those doubts and we've got to say, I'm going to pray some bold prayers. I'm going to believe that maybe what looks impossible in the natural is possible with God. You know, he created you and he knows everything about you. He knows exactly how your body was designed to function. He knows exactly every hair on your head is what the scripture says. So I want you to know today you're not alone. You may feel alone. alone in your situation or you're like the only one that has this problem. But I can tell you, God is in the middle of your problems. If you will call upon him, he will answer you and he will show you great and mighty things. The scripture says that he's a rewarder of those who seek after him. And you know, sometimes we're just looking for the reward, but we need to do the seeking and we need to believe that at the end of it all, he is going to be the one that turns it around. He's the one that's going to give us what we need. So I just want to encourage you today. Don't give up. Don't give up in prayer. Prayer is so important. So don't give up in prayer. Pray believing, even if you don't see anything changing. It is a process sometimes, and it's an invisible process sometimes. times. You know what? God will release his blessing when it's time. So just keep on keeping on. But if you have a prayer request today, I want you to put it in the chat because that's your act of faith. You're saying, God, I need this. And I believe that God, he sees your faith. It's like in the Bible when Jesus would ask someone what they needed. Many times he knew what they needed. It was a blind man. And he said, what do you need? Well, Jesus knew he was blind, but he wanted the man to humble himself and say, I need you to do this for me, God. And when we do that, when we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, it says that he will sustain us. He will lift us. So that's what we're going to do today. We are going to humbly ask God with thanksgiving in our heart to do what only he can do. We have some prayer requests already, and it is memorial. Weekend, so we have some prayer requests about family members who are serving in the military. And we know that we're honoring those who have served and gone before us to make this nation a great nation. That this freedom wasn't free, it cost, and it was sacrifices. So we honor those who gave so freely. But we also want to pray for those who are giving freely right now. in Jordan. It says her brother is in the Air Force and she wants to pray for his mental health and his clarity so that he can lead the team that God has given him to lead. So Jordan, we're going to agree that he has the wisdom of God and pray that he has all he needs and that he's not overcome or overwhelmed, but God has got him in the palm of his hand and we pray peace to Jordan's brother right now in Jesus' name and that the angels of the Lord would surround him. and protect him and his team. We have Blanca for her retired military son who's struggling with PTSD. And so we don't want him to struggle. God doesn't want him to struggle. So we're going to join our faith together for Blanca's retired son from the military and believe that God can heal the wounds and the emotional scars right now in Jesus' name, Father. Heal him in the name of Jesus and all. who are emotionally traumatized, Father, with whatever situation would cause the trauma and heartache in their life right now. Father, you are the healer. You're not only the physical healer, Lord, but you heal mentally. You heal our emotions, our hurts, our broken hearts. And so I pray for all of those who need healing in their emotions, their brokenness, wherever it is, their bodies. We pray healing because we know that healing is the children's bread, which means we have a right to healing. If you are in Christ Jesus, you have a right to be healed. Jesus has already paid the price and he says, you are my son, you are my daughter, and I want you to be healed. Sandy says that her daughter has congestive heart failure and kidney failure. So Sandy, we're standing in agreement with you because I know you're praying, Sandy, that God is her healer, That he is... the one who heals, that it's by the stripes of Jesus and what Jesus did for us on the cross, that we can pray boldly for total and complete healing. So whatever it is you need today, any of you who are listening, like Trish, she says that she's praying that she will get a kidney donor for her husband. He needs healing in his kidneys. And you know, the truth is God can heal so many different ways. He can use a donor to heal. He can use medicine to heal, or he can super naturally heal. But we just believe that he is the healer and however he wants to do it, he's going to do it. So I just want to lift everyone up today. Father, thank you. If they need healing in their body, that you are the great physician, the healer, the one who knows it all. Father, if they need a financial breakthrough today, Lord, give them finances, be their provider. Father, if they need relationships to be mended, walls to be broken down between their hearts, father Would you reconnect them in a new and wonderful way today? Father, we know that you reconcile all things unto yourself, and we're asking for reconciliation in our minds, in our bodies, in our homes. Whatever it is, Father, we give it to you, and we say thank you in advance that the tide of the battle is turning and that you're doing miracles in our midst. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. We love you, and we are going to stand in faith with you, and we believe you're going to see your miracle. You're always on An on-time God, amen. Hey, great to have you at Lakewood today. Friday night we had an amazing men's night with so many men here at the building, a time of encouragement, inspiration, and I asked our main speaker that night if he would stay over. We're going to welcome Pastor Earl McClellan today from Shoreline Church in Dallas. Earl is an amazing, amazing friend of mine and a great minister. He's strong and powerful. And man, you've got so much joy and anointing. We just love having you here at Lakewood. Say hello to everybody. Hey, you're so kind. Hello, Lakewood. How are you feeling today? Come on. Are you happy to be in God's house today or what? Everybody online, I know that the Lord is doing a profound work. When you get some time together in a place like this with people grabbing hands and believing God for miracles, you need to know that the Lord is not dead. He is alive and He is working behind the scenes doing things in your life that are going to absolutely blow your mind. I pray. pray that today our faith would be incredibly high because I don't think God has done with any of us yet. Since we still have breath in our lungs, let's keep on believing God for miracles, signs, and wonders. Y'all with me in that or what? Come on. Let's go. I love that, Earl. You can preach now. Come on. Let's see, Earl. Let's go back. Tell me, we were talking about how you got started. You came from a single parent home. Share a little bit. Yeah, thank you so much, Pastor. Again, so honored to be here. And Lakewood Church is so incredibly special. For a moment, Okay. Can you give it up for your pastor here real quick, too? How about he, Pastor Victoria? So loving, so kind, so Christ-like. I said to my friend today, I said, you know what? The Osteens are real Christians. And it's so encouraging to see. Yeah, I was raised by a single mom from the Northeast. And my mom, she was amazing and still is amazing. She lives with us right now. Have you ever seen the show? blackish. My mom is basically that mom that lives in the house bossing us around all the time. But she earned it because that woman has worked so incredibly hard her entire life, had us in church from the very beginning. I was seven years old and a guy showed up at our house. It was a friend of my mom's and he said, hey, Peaches, I'm here to take you to church today. She goes, I'm not going to church with you. And he said, no, no, no. I want to take you to church. She says, I can't go. I'm doing my girlfriend's hair. And he said, I'll wait. My mom said she took her sweet time doing her girlfriend's hair that morning. But Caesar did not leave. He sat there just patiently the whole time. My mom said, okay, I'm going to go with this guy to church. We go to church. We show up late and the pastor preaches the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. It pierces my mother's heart. She raises her hand, gives her heart to Jesus. And from that time on, we were in the house of God. I mean, I gave my heart to Christ when I was seven years old. You know, in kids' church, they were giving away, you know, Pringles and Doritos if you gave your heart to Jesus. So that was a no-brainer for me. It's like, hey, you're going to feed me? But then eventually I realized, oh, no, this is about something a whole lot bigger. It's not just about me thinking I'm a good person. This is about me going from death to life, from me going from lost to found, from my sins to be forgiven. And the beautiful news is that's not just for me. that's where every single one of us. But pastor, it was in God's house that I learned what it meant to grow and become a man of God. You know, my dad wasn't, you know, in my life at that time. And by God's grace, things have been reconciled all these years later. But yeah, you can clap for that for sure. It's been beautiful to see. But when I was growing up, it was the men in the church that were picking me up on Saturday morning, bringing me to church. It was the men in the church taking me out to play basketball. in the church slapped me upside my head if I needed to be slapped upside the head. It was these men of God that showed me what it meant to be a man of God. So single parents, have your kids in the house of God. Matter of fact, married parents, have your kids in the house of God. We're not really fighting as much against the devil so many times as we are against basketball and soccer and baseball and all these other things that are trying to grab the attention of our families, but we need to have our our kids in God's house, learning the word of God, worshiping the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. So it could be all that God has called us to be. I love that. I love that pastor Earl and pastor Earl, you've written a book called get your spirit back, get your spirit back. And we talked about it because sometimes we don't know who we are, our identity. Maybe you can speak a little bit about it. I love the book. Yeah. You're so kind to say that. Yeah. I wrote my first book and I felt incredibly insecure writing it. Thank you for clapping because I feel insecure talking about it right now. I wrote the book and I wrote it for a number of reasons. Number one, I felt like the Lord placed it on my heart to do something that would make me feel uncomfortable because you don't want to feel like you're trying to put your own name out there. And I didn't feel that about anybody else's book, but I just didn't know what were my own motives. I wanted to make sure they were pure and right. But then I was looking out my kids. I've got two sons and a beautiful daughter and my daughter's my favorite. Of course, Of course, come on, dad, you know what I'm talking about. And I said, man, I want to take every lid off of their life as well. So let me go ahead and just write this book by faith. I don't care if anybody reads it, but I'm going to go ahead and write it. But the book really is a story of not only my life, but really Gideon's life. Because Gideon is this man that has the call of God on his life. destined for greatness, has so much leadership on the inside of him. But here he is hiding out, threshing wheat in a wine press. This is Judges chapter 6. The angel of the Lord shows up and says to him, the Lord is with you, mighty warrior. And Gideon here is hiding out from his enemies. There is nothing about him that looks like he is a mighty warrior, but here is God. calling him who God knows him to be, not just what his situation says that he is. And this is what the Lord has done in all of our lives. So I felt compelled to get my spirit back because God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, love, and of a sound mind. And that's the same spirit that you have. But so many of us, you know, you're like me. I mean, life can hit us and we got bills and problems and issues and struggles and so many things coming our way. that can begin to weigh us down, and we can begin to wonder, man, do I really have the victory? But here is God reminding Gideon, he reminded me, and he's reminding all of us, get your spirit back. You need to become all that God has called you to be. God is not done with your life yet. That's so good. Pastor Earl, when did you, you've raised a single parent home, and then when did you know you were called to preach? Oh man, that's a long story for sure, Pastor. I was 15 years old and uh like i told you i was raised in church so my youth pastor and and my children's pastor and others were were teaching me what it meant to pray so i'm 15 years old and i'm i'm not playing mario brothers i'm playing i'm praying one day and i'm in my house and i'm praying and i i only have this only way i can describe it is have this overwhelming sense that God is calling me to be a preacher. It's as if a cloud came all the way around me in the living room. I start bawling my eyes out. It was an incredibly emotional moment. I can feel it now. I can see the living room right now. now. I remember the house that we were in. I remember the moment. I remember going upstairs, calling my youth pastor, saying, Pastor, this just happened to me. I'm feeling like God is calling me to be a preacher, and I feel incredibly inadequate. I feel incredibly scared. And he said, He said, well, you ought to feel scared. It's a holy calling. But he covered me and prayed for me. And it was in that incubator time that God just began to continue to mold me and shape me. And, man, I have not arrived at all. You can ask my wife. I'm still a knucklehead at times. And she keeps on putting up with me, which I'm incredibly grateful for, 28 years in. And we're still going at it. And she's still my best friend. But, man, I am so, so glad in that moment that I was in a great church. just like you. you're in a great church. And I was around people that would remind me of the call of God on my life and when all types of temptations and problems and difficulties would come my way, there were some people in my life to go, hey, let me remind you who you are. You're not of this world. You're from another place and you have God's hand on your life. And I want to speak that even over all of you today. You got some friends right now that are trying to pull you back to who you used to be. That's not who you are anymore. You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. brand new for such a time as this. But over the years, it just, you know, started on this journey, Pastor. I still kept cleaning toilets in my youth group and still kept serving in the parking lot and doing all the small things that God was asking me to do. And years later, you know, he opened doors for me to begin in ministry, and it has been a beautiful, beautiful, humbling ride for sure. Well, you're a great blessing. Let me ask you, Pastor, you and your beautiful wife started Shoreline Church in Dallas, and I know that wasn't easy. grown to a church of thousands now, but Pastor Earl, maybe I know people were all believing and stretching and hoping for things to come to pass. Maybe a little encouragement about how you walk through all that. Y'all remember the story, and if you're new here and you don't know it, it's okay. Jesus was walking on the water, and the disciples see him. They're all in a boat, and they look out, and there's a storm happening, and they think it's a ghost. And they're like, what's going on out here? And you can read it later in the Gospel of Matthew, and and other places. And Peter speaks up and he says, okay, Lord, if that's you, tell me to come to you on the water. And Jesus doesn't say, yeah, it's me. No, he just says, come. That was it. And Peter, as crazy as he is, think about this, okay? He goes, okay. He starts getting out of the boat. You know the other disciples were like, fool, what are you doing? You better keep your behind in this boat right here, but Peter begins to take this step of faith. he starts walking on the water. He makes his way all the way out to Jesus. When he gets there out to Jesus, he gets his eyes off of Christ, starts to look at all the wind and the waves, he begins to sink. Jesus grabs his hand, pulls him up out of the water. When we read the story so many times, we think, oh man, Peter failed because he began to sink. I read the story and I go, I don't think he failed. The man walked on water. He did something absolutely miraculous because he was following the voice of Jesus. We say this in our church, and I don't know where we stole it from. Somebody a lot smarter than me said it years ago, but we say, I'd rather be a water walking, sometimes sinking disciple, rather than a disciple that never gets out of the boat. And I want us to be those kind of fake people. Hey, everybody can play it safe. Everybody can try to keep what you have, but none of it belongs to you anyway, and none of it belongs to me. It all belongs to God. Every gift, every talent, even our weaknesses, we say, God, you can have all of them. this and I bring it to you and we're going to be a people that take some steps of faith. So my wife and I did it with our two kids at the time and now we have three. We took that step of faith, moved up to Dallas, Texas, started Shoreline City Church. So we moved to Dallas and I was like, why? is the Lord sending us to Dallas? This church is in Dallas. I want to go to. So I don't know what I'm going to do on Sunday. I'm going to feel really, really conflicted when I'm trying to go to other people's churches, but I'm supposed to be preaching. But God in his graciousness and kindness began to bring in married people and single people and college students and teenagers and black people and white people and Latino people and Asian people and people that are tall and people that are short. He brought them all in. It's been beautiful to see it be on earth as it is in heaven just like it is here so So encourage your friends. Don't stop taking those steps of faith. You will never know who is on the other side. There's somebody praying and believing God for a miracle, and you get to be the delivery person of the miracle that God has for their life. That's so good. Pastor Earl. Take the last minute or two, whatever you want to say, Lakewood, speak a blessing over me. Oh my goodness, Lakewood Church, I was praying for you this morning, and there was a couple things that came to my heart. I felt God whisper to my heart, that place is special. talking about Lakewood and it's not the building it's the people it's special and I thought I'm saying I got my hand on this beautiful special place Psalm 92 verses 12 and 13 says the righteous will flourish like a palm tree. It goes on to say, planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish. Two times he says the word flourish. The word flourish there means to break forth, to spring up. bloom and that's what God wants to do in your heart and your life wants to help you break forth and bloom not for your glory but for his glory not because we're great but because he's great and it's the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross that has made every single one of us right with God we want you to stay planted not just hopping from church to church and here sometimes and not here other times of course everyone is welcome no matter where you are on your journey but go ahead, put some roots down. down and you watch how you'll begin to grow and like a palm tree in a storm can bend but not break you'll bend and not break when everything tries to come your way because greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world god bless you lakewood church love you so much thank you come on y'all tell pastor we're so glad to have him we'll have you back to preach sometime so good so good As we approach the end of the school year, we want to take a moment to celebrate you for your support of families and teachers all over the city of Houston. This year alone, you helped provide essential supplies, support, and kindness to over 10,000 students and over 1,500 teachers at 22 Title I schools. Galatians 6.11 says that as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people. Lakewood, your faithfulness and generosity is living out that principle in a tangible way. And that's why we want to celebrate with you the opportunities God has given us to do good for others this year. And we are so thankful that our church gets to remind families and teachers they are not forgotten, that God loves them, and that our church is there to show them the hope and love of Jesus Christ in all seasons. Hi, my name is Shay Morris and I'm one of the assistant principals here at Forestbrook Middle School. I just want to give a big thank you to Lakewood for donating these school supplies to our 620 students. A lot of our scholars here are unable to buy school supplies on our own. A lot of our families, that's something that they struggle with. So this donation to the Forestbrook family will help out our families tremendously and we thank you. And I would like to take the opportunity to thank Lakewood Church and all the donors on behalf. Of all the teachers, staff, students and families for your remarkable donation. Thank you for believing our mission and to support the future of our students. We're so grateful for the partnership with Lakewood and LCISD. Lakewood reached out to us three years ago and they provided items the first year, the second year and the third year. I thought, well, surely they're, you know, they're worn out. But no, you just came back with even a... bigger donation than before. The generosity is just amazing. We have donations, but not like Lakewood donations. So we are very grateful for all the things that you've given to our LCSD family and community. We're very appreciative of our partnership. Meeting the needs of our community isn't just our duty, it's a privilege. It allows us as a church to connect with others, fostering relationships. and to demonstrate the love we have in our hearts. Together, with open hands and open hearts, we can share a light in places that need it most. Thank you for helping this ministry continue to share the message of hope found in Jesus. We do appreciate your generosity, and we'll take a moment to worship the Lord with our tithes and our offerings today. And just thank you for being just awesome givers and making a difference like you see each week. I think about how when Jesus and the disciples needed to pay their taxes and didn't have any money. And Jesus told Peter to go to the lake. And the first fish he caught had a coin in it or maybe a couple coins to pay the taxes. And God was just showing us that he's a supernatural provider. I think sometimes we look at our finances and how can I keep going or how's this going to happen? But we serve a supernatural God. Because you're a giver, because you keep him first place, you are under a... the open windows of heaven. Any moment, God can change things. He can change it overnight. He can change it in a second. One good break and one contract. I just encourage you to just continue to be faithful, continue to be consistent because God knows what you need and he knows how to get you what you need. And really not just enough, but he's an abundant God, a more than enough God. That's what we're speaking over each one of you. 2025, uncommon favor in all the good areas of your life. health, relationships, finances, whatever you need in Jesus' name. Well, let's pray together. Lord, thank you for our generous givers today. Lord, we're giving not because we have to, but because we want to, because we love you. We recognize it's all come from you. Lord, as we give, I just speak your blessings on your people, just like you did for Peter. Lord, supernatural provision, opportunities, and contracts, and Things that they couldn't make happen on their own, the open windows of heaven, your hand at work in their lives. And Lord, I just speak abundance and overflow and wisdom, creativity, your ideas, and just your goodness in new ways. Blessed to be a blessing in Jesus' name. God bless you today as you give. Here are simple ways you can give. Using your smartphone, scan the QR code located on the screen. Then, select the online giving option that is the most convenient for you. Go to lakewoodchurch.com slash give. Text GIVEHOPE to 77977. Mail a check to P.O. Box 27450, Houston, Texas 77227. Or call us toll free at 888-567-JOEL. Your giving is changing lives in our city. and all over the world. We stand and worship together, church. We stand and worship together, church. Generations know His name Our creation echoes of this phrase Oh how worthy, how worthy is our God He is God, He is faithful all the time He's God Hey, still these are the memories What is his name? Very blessed to have you with us this weekend. And of course, we all know Memorial Day is on Monday. So we want to just take a moment and just remember the great sacrifices of the service men and women who paid the price for us to be free today. and honor all of our military and remember those that have gone before us. And I know many of you have people serving now and you've had people that have paid the price and all. So we certainly thank God for a great country. country and for the great people that made the sacrifices and just remember all that they did. So, you know, we live in a blessed place, but thanks for being here today. Also once a month, we'll shift gears here. We like to honor some of our volunteer teams and this month is the service teams. That's ushers, greeters, and prayer partners. I've got a couple to represent. Yeah, come on, give them a hand clap. You see all the beautiful ushers, greeters, people praying for us. And I also have my friends here, Candice. Candice has been at the church. church some 13 years, one of our greeters, Frank Zendejas, one of our prayer partners for many years. But you know what Lakewood is? Lakewood is these guys. Lakewood is all of you. It's the people that bring joy and faith and serve. And so, man, we could honor you all day long, but we just, we speak blessing. Let me just see if you're a prayer partner, a greeter, or an usher. Just raise your hand. Guys, look around at those that are serving right among you. And thank you guys for being a part. You know, we have an amazing team. Like Pastor Earl said, I told him, I quote that scripture almost every service, planted in the house of the Lord. Life goes better. That's when you flourish. So guys, thanks for being a part. We honor you and all that you represent, but thanks for being here today. Thank y'all so much. And guys, if you want to be a, if you want to join in and You know, get connected. There's so many teams you can serve on. You can serve the same service that you come to. And what it really means is you're going to meet some great friends, some lifelong friends. So you can sign up. It's not just those areas, but there's other areas as well. But thanks for being here today. And if you're visiting, you're our special guest and love to meet you after the service. If you have a moment, I'll be back that way. But we just speak blessings over each one of you and honored to have you in the house of the Lord today. I'm going to ask you when you see yourself on the big screen can you get give our TV audience a great big Lakewood welcome. God bless you. It's great to be with you today. And I hope you'll stay connected with us during the week through our daily podcast, YouTube channel, social media, and you can come visit us in person. We'd love to have you be a part of one of our services. I like to start with something funny. I heard about this pastor. He found a small box hidden in his wife's closet. He opened it up. There were six eggs and $1,001 bills. He asked his wife about it. it. She explained how every time he preached a bad sermon, she put an egg in the box. After 35 years of ministering, he felt pretty good about himself. Only six bad sermons. He then asked what the thousand dollars was. She said, every time I got a dozen eggs, I sold them for a dollar. I told Pastor Earl, I talked to his wife and she's got $2,500 in that box. Say it like you mean it. This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today... I will be taught the word of God. I boldly confess my mind is alert. My heart is receptive. I will never be the same. I'm about to receive the incorruptible, indestructible, ever-living seed of the word of God. I'll never be the same. Never, never, never. I'll never be the same in Jesus name. God bless you. If you'd like to open your Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 17, you're welcome to, and we'll put scriptures up on the screen as well. Most of you know we have a great Spanish-speaking service at two o'clock today, the whole service all in Spanish. Monday night a Bible study online Wednesday night Wednesday we always release a teaching from our staff something to help you grow during the week Wednesday our youth meet Thursday college students something good for every part of your family but again honored to have you with us today I want to talk to you today about when God moves fast. We all have things we're believing for and dreams to come to pass, problems to turn around. We're being our best, doing the right thing, but we don't see anything improving. And the scripture says it's through faith and patience that we receive the promise. Sometimes God takes us little by little. The promise is going to happen over time, a process where our character is developed and we're learning to trust him. But that's not the only way God works. He has these moments of favor where he's going to do things fast, a sudden turnaround, a speedy recovery, a quick work. You didn't see any sign of it. You're just going along being faithful. God stepped in and hit fast forward. He accelerated what you were believing for. You thought it would take years to pay your house off, but one contract one phone call and it happened in a fraction of the time. Or it looked like a long road to recovery in your health, long road to overcome that addiction. But suddenly things changed in your favor. You defied the odds. That wasn't luck. That was the God who moves fast, speeding up what should have taken years. See the same God that will take you little by little at times will accelerate things. You can't explain it. Doesn't make sense, but suddenly he thrusts you ahead. All the circumstances may say, it's going to take a long time to get out of that legal problem, for your child to get back on course, to meet the right person. What you can't see is God has already lined up these moments where he's going to do a quick work, where suddenly you meet the right person. Suddenly the problem resolves. Suddenly your child comes back home. When you're in a waiting season, you don't see anything improving, it's easy to get discouraged, feel like God has forgotten about you. No, stay in faith. Your time is coming. God sees you doing the right thing when it's hard. He sees you being your best, even though you've been overlooked. He hears you thanking Him, even though you feel stuck. You are showing God that you trust Him. We all go through these waiting seasons, but here's the good news. Those seasons are not permanent. There is a harvest season coming, a time where God will make things happen fast, a sudden shift. You couldn't make it happen. It's the hand of God speeding things up, moving you into your purpose. And the right attitude is, God, I'm going to trust you in the waiting seasons when you're taking me little by little. But Lord, I believe you have these acceleration moments, these times where you'll do a quick work, a sudden breakthrough that thrusts me into my destiny. This is what happened with Elijah. The Israelites got off course and started worshiping other gods. The king of Israel, Ahab, married a woman from Phoenicia. They worshiped the god Baal. They believed Baal controlled the weather, rain, clouds, and sun. God sent Elisha to King Ahab. Chapter 17, he said, as the Lord God of Israel lives, there will be no rain and no dew on the ground for years. Since they had forsaken Jehovah, there was going to be a drought. Of course, water was a necessity in that area for their crops, for their animals. That's how they survived. God told Elijah to not go back home, but to go to the brook Cherith and live there. It's significant that Elijah was in a drought caused by other people's poor choices. He had to leave his home and hide by the brook because someone else did wrong. Sometimes other people's actions have caused us trouble. We're in a drought because they wouldn't do right. Look at how good God is. God told Elijah to go to the brook and he would command the ravens to feed him there. Even though there was no food, no provision. Every morning, these ravens brought food in their beaks and dropped it off to him. This was delivery before DoorDash. This was God taking care of his people. I always thought the ravens were the food, that the birds came like quail in the desert, where the Israelites ate the quail while Elijah would eat the ravens. But this was different. The ravens weren't the meal, they brought food to him. When you honor God, He will take care of you. Other people may have put you at a disadvantage. They made choices that caused you trouble and heartache. Now you're in a drought. Don't worry, God will have the ravens find you. He'll provide in a supernatural way. You keep doing the right thing. Keep honoring Him when others are compromising, taking the easy way out, worshiping other gods. They're not going to stop your destiny. People are not your source. God is your source. He controls the universe. If he has to have birds bring you food, so to speak, unusual provision, uncommon opportunity, he knows how to take care of you. When Elijah declared this drought, he didn't have time to prepare for it. He couldn't run down to Costco, stock up his shelves. This was a surprise to him, an unexpected storm. When you face things that you didn't see coming, stay in peace. God has you covered. He's going to send ravens your way. He's going to have the provision come to you. David said, I was young and now I'm old and I've never once seen the righteous forsaken. When you honor God, you are connected to a supply line that will never run dry. The economy is not your source, your company, your boss. Sure, we're grateful for employment. but they're not your source. Your 401k, your stocks, no, God is your source. He makes streams in the desert. He brought a coin out of a fish for Peter. He brought water out of a rock, manna in the desert. He knows how to take care of you. And this route went on, not for a month, not for a year, but for three and a half years. You never read where Elijah complained, God, why did this happen. He wanted to be out ministering, performing miracles, but he's hiding by the brook. Eventually, he moved to a widow's house where she took care of him. He's in a waiting season, a holding pattern. He's not seeing the promise. He's just being sustained. What you do in the waiting seasons will determine whether you get stuck there or you see God step in and accelerate things. Sitting in that drought, no sign of things changing, Elijah said in verse 41, I hear the sound of an abundance of rain. He heard something in his spirit that contradicted what he saw with his eyes. All the circumstances, there's no rain, you're in a drought. Everything is dead. But faith is believing what you're hearing and not what you're seeing. God will speak things to your heart, but there's no sign of it. All the circumstances say you're not going to get well, but inside you here, I am restoring health back to you. Your business may be slow. You don't see how you can get ahead, but inside you here, you will lend and not borrow. It looks like your child's never going to get back in course, but that still small voice says, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Now the key is don't let what you see talk you out of what you've heard. You have to believe what God promised you and not what the circumstances are telling you. Elijah went on top of Mount Carmel. and began to thank God for rain that was coming, thanking him for something that he couldn't see. He asked his assistant to go to the other side of the mountain to look and see if there were any signs of rain. He came back, no, Elijah, not a cloud in the sky. It's perfectly clear. Elijah didn't say, man, I must've heard God wrong. I don't think this drought will ever end. And we kept believing. He kept praying. He told the assistant to go check again. He went out and came back with the same negative report six times. Nothing has changed. Elijah could have let the facts talk him out of it. No sign of rain, been this way a long time, but he had the assistant go check again. On the seventh time, he said, this time, Elijah, I saw a little cloud in the sky, just about the size of a man's hand. That's all Elijah needed, a little sign, a little breakthrough. He told King Ahab, you better get in your chariot and get down this mountain as fast as you can. There's about to be an abundance of rain. Verse 45, the message translation says, things happen fast. The sky grew black with crowds. There was a mighty rainstorm. Was it like these clouds rolled in over a few days. The weather got a little overcast, more cloudy. Over time, this big storm, you know, things happen fast. These clouds didn't drift in, they formed overhead. One moment it was sunny and blue, the next moment there was an abundance of rain. You may have situations where, like Elijah, all the circumstances says, you're not going to get well. You're just like you were a year ago. You're not going to get out of debt. Break the addiction? Nothing has changed. You're still single. Still have that child break in your heart. Still no closer to your dream. Can I encourage you? Things are going to happen fast. You can't see it coming. No sign of it happening. That doesn't mean God is not going to do it. He's going to accelerate the process. He doesn't have to have clouds blow in. The sky get dark a traditional way. It's going to be supernatural, something you can't explain, a sudden breakthrough, a quick work. 2003, the Houston City Council voted for Lakewood to have this facility, the former compact center. It was more than we could imagine, a dream come true. But while we were still celebrating, the company that owns all the property around this building filed a federal lawsuit to try to keep us from moving in. They said we violated the deed restrictions. Our attorneys told us that it could be tied up in the courts for up to 10 years and that there was no guarantee that we would win. The longer they waited, the worse it was for us. There was no reason for them to try to work it out. We had a building that we couldn't do anything with. I'd already announced to the church that we're going to move in and people had given funds and I'd wake up in the night. Thoughts saying, Joel, you're going to look like a fool. What if you don't win the lawsuit? What if that building sits there for years? We tried to reach out to the other side, but they didn't want to talk. A month went by, two months, three months, no word. We had this promise in our spirit. We heard abundance of rain, but we didn't see any clouds. No sign of things improving. These are tests. Are you going to give up because the clouds haven't formed? Let the negative reports talk you out of it. There will always be people that try to discourage you and tell you how it's not going to work out. It's too big. It's too late. The report too bad. You're not qualified. Tune all that out. Don't let them talk you out of what God put in your heart. They didn't hear what you heard. Don't expect them to understand. You have to walk by faith and not by what you see. Let what you heard in your spirit overrule what you see with your eyes. Just because there are no clouds in the sky doesn't mean God is not working. Just because your assistant came in, your cousin, your friend, the expert, and said it's not going to happen. It's still sunny and blue. You'll never get the building, never get well, never meet the right person. They're telling you what they see, but what they can't see is what God is about to do. What God has coming is not going to be natural. It's not going to make sense. It's not something you can put on paper, calculate, plan. God is supernatural. He can bring rain without clouds. clouds healing without medicine abundance without the training one day I received a call from our attorneys saying that the other side wanted to meet our attorney said it was probably a distraction just to bring confusion and we shouldn't talk with them but something down in my spirit said to do it I knew we were supposed to meet the CEO of the company walked in and he came right up to me He said, Joel, I watch you on television every week, and my son-in-law is a youth pastor. I wasn't expecting that. I thought he's going to say, we don't want you here. We're going to fight you every step of the way. But God is working behind the scenes, lining up the people you need. Whoo, I feel it y'all. God is working behind the scenes, lining up the people you need, the breaks you need, the favor you need. What he has purposed for your life, no person can stop. No company, no lawsuit, no sickness, no addiction. God has the final say. We sat down and met that day and about four hours later, he told his attorneys, drop the lawsuit and let them have the building. Not only that, they leased us 9,000 covered parking spaces. Looked like it was going to be tied up for years, but things happen fast. God accelerated the process. You don't know what God is up to in your life. problems that look like they'll take years to resolve and dreams that seem like it'll take a lifetime. No, get ready. Acceleration is coming. God is going to speed things up. A sudden shift, a breakthrough, a healing, a turnaround that you couldn't plan. You couldn't explain it. It's the God who moves fast. And yes, I realize there are waiting seasons and these times where God takes us little by little and we don't see it. see anything improving, but that's not how your story ends. God has already lined up these acceleration moments where he'll do in a fraction of the time, what should have taken years. If you're in one of those waiting seasons, my challenge is wait in faith. Wait knowing that God controls time, that he can do things fast. You're not falling behind. One touch of God's favor, we'll put you 50 years down the line. the road. When you know this, there's an expectancy. You're thanking him for what's coming. You're believing that something good is going to happen. That's what causes God to go to work. The enemy would love for us to miss these acceleration moments because we talk ourselves out of it. We let other people discourage us. If Elijah would have listened to his assistant and let that negative take root, he wouldn't have seen the abundance. If he would have let his own thoughts discourage him and reason it out, man, there's no clouds, this drought's never going to end, we wouldn't be talking about it. God works where there's faith. Like Elijah, many of you have been faithful in the drought, doing the right thing when nothing's improving, thanking God when you don't see any sign of it. You are on the verge of acceleration. God is about to speed up what should have taken years. Promotion you weren't qualified for. Your business is thrust to a new level. Your health suddenly turns around. You can't explain it. It's divine acceleration. It's the God. who moves fast. This is what Isaiah said in chapter 60, the least of you will become 1,000, the smallest, a mighty nation. This is talking about increase, abundance, God exceeding our expectations. But it doesn't say this will happen over a lifetime, normal growth, ordinary promotion. Goes on to say, when it's your time, I will do this quickly. God is saying, I have these moments that I've ordained for you where I'm going to quickly make things happen. You can't reach the fullness of your destiny with just ordinary breaks. Gradual promotion, usual increase. So God says at the right time, if you'll just keep being faithful, you're going to come into these seasons of acceleration. Moments where like Elijah, you look up and say, wow, that happened fast. There were just no clouds in the sky. My assistant told me six times, now out of nowhere, abundance of rain. From drought to a downpour in a moment's time. Looked like this building would be tied up for 10 years, but in four hours it was resolved. What you're facing, your health, your family, your finances, may look like it'll always limit you, but you don't know what God is up to. You can't see what he's planning behind the scenes. Stay in faith in the drought seasons, those times of waiting when he's taking you little by little. Isaiah said, when your time comes, God will do it quickly. The least of you will become a thousand. That's acceleration. That's God speeding up things to thrust you into your purpose. I received an email from a lady and she and her husband had three children when she gave birth to her fourth child, a beautiful baby girl. They noticed early on that she wasn't developing like the other children. She barely talked. Other than an occasional mommy, she never said a word. Friends and family were concerned. They told these parents she might be special needs. You need to have her tested, but this mother didn't want to hear that. Her other children were high achievers, excelling in school. she kept putting it off. Finally, the time came to start preschool. Four and a half years old, she was tested and had the speaking ability of a 12-month-old baby. Parents were devastated. Mother told how she was paralyzed with fear. They were in a drought month after month, year after year, and now it was confirmed by the experts, not just slower than normal, but a serious problem. These parents could have fallen apart. God, why did it happen? Instead, all through the day, they kept thanking God that he was working. They kept thanking him that their little girl would be able to speak. They kept praise music going on throughout their house. They never missed our services on television. When you're in a drought, it's important what you're feeding yourself. You don't need to hear all the negativity and the naysayers, how it's not going to work out. You need to feed your faith, feed yourself hope. Meditate on what God says about your situation. When you believe, all things are possible. This little girl was enrolled in special education for speech that new school year. August went by, nothing happened. Couldn't say a word, September, no better, October, November. Like Elijah, they were praying, believing, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky. No sign of things improving. They just kept thanking God he was working. In April of that next year, she suddenly began to talk. Wasn't gradual, wasn't little by little. All at once, she started speaking like she had been doing it for years. The teachers were baffled. They told the parents that she didn't need speech intervention any longer. My friend Hokulani is here on the front row. She just finished her sophomore year. She's excelling in school. Beautiful Hokulani. That's so awesome. Let me tell you, friends, God knows how to do things fast. He has these acceleration moments. What should have taken years will happen in a fraction of the time. When you're not seeing anything happening, no clouds in the sky, that's when you have to dig down deep. Say, God, I am not moved by what I see. I believe what I've heard in my spirit, the abundance of rain, healing for my child, freedom from this addiction, this baby I'm dreaming about. When you keep believing and thanking God, despite how long it's taking, that's when God can step in with these acceleration moments. When you go from a drought to a downpour. Like Elijah, things will happen fast. This is what Joseph did. He was betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery. And even though he had done nothing wrong, he found himself in a foreign land, held against his will, falsely accused, put in prison. One bad break after another. He was in a drought, a long waiting season. He could have been bitter. But he just kept trusting God, believing that he was still in control. One night, the Pharaoh, the leader of the nation, had a dream that he didn't understand. They said there's a prisoner named Joseph that can interpret dreams. The scripture says that Joseph was brought quickly to the palace. One moment he's in prison, another ordinary day, going about his business. The next moment he's standing before the Pharaoh. He interpreted the dream and the Pharaoh was so impressed he made Joseph the prime minister second in command only to him. If you would have told Joseph sitting in the prison after all the unfair things, people betraying him, being lied about, that tomorrow you're going to be the prime minister. You're not only going to be out of this prison dressed in a royal robe, but you're going have the Pharaoh's ring representing the authority. authority to do whatever you please? Joseph would have probably said, you lost your mind. That's not possible, but God can make things happen fast. Joseph didn't have to go through a trial, be vindicated by a jury. He didn't have to run for office, have people elect him. God knows how to accelerate your dreams, how to speed things up. What should have taken years, he can do in a fraction of time. You don't know what God is about to do for you. Like Joseph, you've been faithful. You kept a good attitude in the waiting seasons when God was taking you little by little. You didn't see much progress. You didn't complain. You didn't give up on your dream. You passed the test. Now God has some of these acceleration moments for you. Don't believe those lies that you're stuck where you are. It's going to take you a whole lifetime to get out of debt, get well, meet the right person. No, God is going to do things fast. You can't explain it. It wasn't your skill, your intellect, your hard work. It was the goodness of God. Like Isaiah said, taking you from one to one thousand, the smallest to a mighty nation. How's this going to happen? God said, when it's your time. I'm going to do it quickly. From a drought to a downpour and there weren't any clouds. Don't worry if you don't see any sign. Just keep believing what you heard in your spirit. Healing, freedom, abundance, children serving God. I believe and declare it's going to happen fast. God is about to surprise you. Sudden breakthroughs, speedy recovery, acceleration. that catapults you into your destiny in Jesus name. And if you receive it, can you say amen today? Let's pray together. If you have a minute, stick with me here just for five minutes. Father, thank you for what we've heard today. I know it falls on great ground, faithful people here at Lakewood and all those listening, watching. Lord, we receive this into our spirit today. Lord, we all are in some kind of waiting seasons and I'm sure we've all got some kind of drought season, but Lord, we're going to trust you. Lord, believe in that you do have these acceleration moments. Lord, that you know how to catapult us ahead. So Lord, while we're not seeing anything happening, We're still going to keep being our best. We're going to still keep giving you praise. Lord, I thank you that you are letting faith rise in our hearts today. Lord, that we will see these moments of favor, even this year, Lord, show out in our lives in 2025 for your glory. And Lord, I ask as well that you protect your people as they go to work, the kids to school, your angels watching after them in Jesus name. With our heads bowed in prayer. Just a quick question before we leave. If your heart stops beating in the next few minutes, are you at peace with God? Do you know where you'd spend eternity if you died a little while from now? If not, I would love to pray with you. I'm not here to condemn anybody. I'm here to help you find a new beginning. I know this comes from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. In just a moment, if you're not at peace with the Lord, or maybe you are a Christian, but you've grown cold toward God, you know you need to recommit your life. You need a fresh new start. If that's you, in just a moment, I'm gonna ask you to take a step of faith and stand right where you are, and we'll pray together. I can't think of a better time to get on the road to victory than right now. God is not mad at you. Your sins have already been forgiven. All you have to do is accept the free gift of Christ's salvation. Will you do it today? The enemy in your thoughts, he'll whisper, do it next week. Do it another time. Listen, the Bible says today is the day of salvation. Don't put it off. You're not hearing this by accident. What y'all is embarrassing to stand in front of everyone. I have people at the house. I can't lift my hand. Listen to what Jesus said. If you won't be ashamed of me before people, then I won't be ashamed of you before my Father in Heaven. I'm going to give you a great opportunity to show God that you're not ashamed of Him. If you're not at peace with the Lord, or you just need to rededicate your life, you need a fresh new start, a new beginning. If that's you, would you be bold, take that step of faith, and stand right where you are? and we'll pray together. Would you do that? Come on, Lakewood. Let's give them a hand as they stand all over the building. Come on, don't put it off. I feel like there ought to be others. Your heart's beating fast. Still time for you. Anybody else watching, listening? Up top? Well, God bless you. Please remain standing if you don't mind. And let me tell you how proud we are of you. I know that took courage to stand, but more importantly, I know God will never be ashamed of you because you took this step of faith today. the scripture says that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved let me help you to call do you mind all praying this after me Lord Jesus I repent of my sin come into my heart I make you my Lord and Savior. Amen. Let me send you one moment. I want to tell you how much we love you, how we're going to be praying for you. Also want to give you a personal invitation and a challenge to come back and be with us on a regular basis. We ask new believers, give us the next year of your life. Make a commitment for the next year that it's going to be a priority. You're going to be here anytime you can. I'll make a promise before that year is over, your life will never be the same for the better. I know you're busy, you know, you work hard and you need some time off. Maybe Sunday's a day off, but I can promise you this. When you get into a community of faith and put God first place, there is a blessing on your life. Your new week is going to go better. Love to have you here at Lakewood. Like I was talking about, you can get plugged into some of our amazing teams. Hey, after service, there's a room called New Beginnings. If you need anything, stop by over there. If you got a moment, stop by. I'd love to meet you. Can't do it today. Anytime you can, I'd be honored to meet you. Also some classes after service, a lot of ways we can help you. Know this though, the moment you stood up, God washed away all your sins, your mistakes, your failures. You are starting with a fresh, clean slate. Write it down in your Bible, May 25th, 2025, a new day of victory in your life. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Well, let's all stand together, if you would, please. Thanks for coming out today. How many of you going home better off you were before. Amen. We love you. Let me speak this blessing until we meet again. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord show you his favor and have mercy on you. And may the Lord watch over you and give you his peace. God bless you. Have an amazing week. We love you very much. See you back soon. Wow, what an amazing, I'm sorry, what an amazing Sunday. An amazing Sunday. I was trying to make it incredible and amazing because they both apply. They really do. I want to say hello to all of our listeners via Sirius XM Radio. When God moves fast. How about that? Why don't you guys just tap right now in the chat or those of you who are listening. What are the things that have been speaking to you in this message? I believe that there's some subjectivity suddenlies that are coming for you even this week yeah some of you've been praying and believing and waiting i actually heard this in the first service i just heard this in my spirit but it was like like the wait is over for so many people um but you know there's also the there's also the waiting period right there is the waiting period but then god does things in the suddenly so we're praying and believing for you that this week god is going to move in miraculous ways and suddenly on your on behalf on your family's behalf. But yeah, just a powerful Sunday all around and so many decisions. Yeah, so many incredible decisions. Listen, I love that you said the wait is over. In case y'all didn't know, Serena can preach y'all. So listen, please take that word. But I really feel that for the people today who made a decision. You made the decision to follow Jesus every single day of your life going forward. I want to congratulate you first. Let me be the first to say welcome to our eternal family. We always say welcome to our extended Lakewood family. But if you made that decision today, you're a part of an an even bigger family, the one that's going to spend eternity in heaven with Jesus Christ. So thank you so much for being bold and taking that step of faith. Listen, we want to help you walk this out. We want to help you get some tools that will make your faith be a little bit more tangible, help this process be a little bit easier for you to walk out. It's not that life gets easier, but you do understand how to follow Jesus a little bit more easily. So we got a course called New Beginnings. If you're in the United States, text the word NEW to 77377. Or if you're anywhere else, make sure you go online to lakewoodchurch.com slash newbeginnings. And that course is available. Like I said, we just want to put some tools in your hand to really say, all right, I made this decision. Now what? Well, if you're asking now what, this course will give you the answer to that question. So again, congratulations. We're so, so grateful. Hopefully you or anybody in your family made that decision today. If you did, we want to shout you out. I know we say put your prayer request, but if that's you, put that in the chat. Say, put new in the chat. Everybody in the. chat that sees the word new, send them some exclamation points, some congrats, some emojis, something. So yes, listen, we're so grateful. As you can see, I love it. People are stopping me. They're like, can I, can I stop and say, you can wave, you can wave, you can wave. Hi. Hello. Service is, is just finished right now. And Hey, maybe you're going to hang around, especially for our Spanish service. But Hey, if something in this message resonated with you, if you want to take this and pass it on to someone else, we encourage you to do that. Like it, share it. You never know what sending someone this message, what it can do in their life, what it can do in their week. So yeah, share it with someone. We believe it's going to be a great week for you. And we believe that God is going to continue to do something in the suddenly for you this week. We love you guys so much. And we can't wait to see you next week. God bless you. God bless you. Have an awesome week.