it's always good to come into the house of God touching and agreeing if you can't reach out and touch somebody whoever's close to you father we thank you again for the precious privilege to come to honor you and bless you we saw in all of your majesty grateful for all the wonderful amazing things that you do on our behalf not because we've been so good but because you've been so faithful and for that we give you glory and we give you honor we thank you again for this precious privilege to come to celebrate 40 years that you've allowed this branch of Zion to exist as a beacon of light a place of fellowship stewardship and worship Solo was so grateful to be in this house tonight and such an awesome privilege it is to partner with our brothers and sisters whose hand we're holding tonight we thank you for their life and we thank you for their commitment to the kingdom of God and what they invest to make sure that your program continually presses forward bless you for this pastor in its first family this leadership fellowship of this great church so what help us to continue to keep you the main and center of all of our attention and all of our goals now God as I stand give me preaching and teaching power study but I need you are free but I need you send the anointing that makes preaching and teaching these tonight we'll be so mindful to give you all the glory and all the praise so Lord have your way tonight in the precious name of Jesus Christ we do pray a man come on release those hands they give God your absolute best raise tonight oh come on fellowship you can do better than that let's give God your absolute best face at night he is worthy to be praised from the rising of the Sun to the going down of the same and while we're celebrating our savior can you do me a favor and celebrate one of God's absolute best preachers and best pastors a general come on let's thank God for pastor tolet Morgan tonight Oh fellowship you can do better than that to his lovely wife and family you may be seated it is such an honor to stand in the place where one of God's most capable and gifted Proclaimers stands every single week fellowship I don't have to tell you but sometimes you have to remind people that you can be so close to greatness that you don't appreciate it and pastor told Morgan is the Lord's preacher amen and and I am a fellowship disciple man I tune in every week to get me a word from the Lord but so grateful for his gift I don't just as a preacher he's just an incredible individual and we thank God because God really must have truly felt the heart of fellowship for y'all to move from such a great pastor pastor Reid was a great mentor of mine some years ago and it was always kind and gracious to me as a young preacher he was someone I looked up to and for y'all to move from strength to strength and glory to glory really shows y'all must be doing something all right here in Warner Robins I forgot to smile on you in such an awesome way can we thank God for the legacy of past to read and the continuation through pastor Toland Morgan come on it's always good to celebrate gong has don't has done and what God is doing ever so we celebrate that tonight so a good friend pastor DeAngelo keel who's with us tonight just stopped Ian it's just good to be in the house of the Lord and I bring you greetings all the way from Augusta Georgia I see some former Tabernacle folk in the house it's always good to see some people wherever I go who oftentimes are in this place can we thank God for this music ministry that graced us tonight awesome job and we're grateful for you listen y'all got Church the rest of the week you got some amazing preachers who are coming to share so I know my role as first in the lineup is to just get off the track cuz the train is coming amen so I'm gonna share but the Lord has placed upon my heart if you have your Bible serving me to the book of Joshua or Junction what you have to find I think it is significant as we come to celebrate 40 years of ministry 40 time of season time transitions always interesting how God uses numerology in order to kind of proclaim his progressive revelation and things that he is really up to and trying to accomplish to us jeongsu chapter 5 if y'all don't mind standing is we give reverence to the reading of God's Word we're gonna read it around verse 8 Joshua chapter 5 I'm reading from the New Living Translation but as long as your book says Bible you are absolutely fine Joshua chapter 5 if you got it say I got it here is a word of the Lord for the people of God tonight beginning around verse 8 here is what it sails with all the mills had been circumcised they rested in the camp until they were healed the Lord said to Joshua today I've rolled away the shame of your slavery in Egypt so that place has been called Gilgal to this day while the Israelites were camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho they celebrated Passover in the evening of 14th day of the first month the very next day they began to eat unleavened bread and roasted grain harvested from the land verse 12 says no manna appeared today they first say from the crops of the land and it was never seen again verse 12 again no mana appeared on the day they first saved from the crops of the land and it was never seen again but the time with the sound was can you encourage that neighbor tonight and said neighbor get ready for greater that's the wrong liebe find you somebody else a neighbor I hope you're more excited than my last neighbor say neighbor the preachers don't challenge us tonight to get ready for greater lift those hands to heaven say Lord speak we need to hear you may be seated in the presence of our God get ready for greater we're here tonight on the auspicious occasion tonight as you are celebrating 40 years and in my introductory remarks I reminded you of the significance of the number 40 40 a time of transition 40 represents seasons got Aubrey's moves and seasons he moves from one season to another season God is big on shifting and transitioning that's why you can never be comfortable if you will and just trying to maintain staying in the same season but the problems I see happen too often pastor Morgan's we have too many people that are successful in one season but their success in one season forces them to miss out on the next season because oftentimes God moves us from strength to strength and glory to glory but he shifts us because God understands that what you accomplish now is perhaps not the ultimate end goal that God wants to accomplish in and through you with that being said tonight I want to submit that part of the challenge is especially in the context of church is that sometimes we can become so intoxicated with good that will forfeit great so many times we like to be good we want to be a good church we have a good pastor understanding that many times God is not interested in just you being good but God is very interested in you being great and perhaps it'll be easier tonight if we could move from good to great if the good we had was bad it's easier to move from something negative to positive but what happens when God is not asking you to move from something negative to pass but he's asking you to move from something positive to something greater see that's sometimes the challenge because for many of us we get excited and we enjoy where we are but what if I told you that you have not even seen the best that God has to offer if we're not careful we'll become intoxicated with where we are and we miss out on where God ultimately wants us to be that's the context tonight this passage found in the book of junction with this book of transition most of you know the story of the book of Joshua it lifts up this notion this change if you will as God was preparing the children of Israel to move into their greater you know the story of Joshua my brothers and sisters because one of the things that most people miss about how God wanted to bless the children of Israel is that he didn't just want to get them out of Egypt he wanted to bring them into the Promised Land that's powerful for us to understand tonight because God is not just interesting to delivering you from something he also was interested in making sure that you maneuver where God won't shoot a big for the meanwhile the children of Israel if you read your Bible know that they had to spend 40 years in the wilderness they wonder they meandered and it simply was because of their own disobedience they missed out on God's promise because they did not believe that God had greater in store for them that's why God had to do some things to set them up to receive greater that's why the book of Joshua is important as it stands as a moment of transition it stands as a book that begins to outline for the people of God the progress that God had for the children of Israel Joseph one opens with a change of leadership Moses dies and now Joshua is giving the opportunity to lead the children of Israel what makes this important tonight is that Moses was Moses and Joshua was Joshua when you read Joshua chapter one the Bible is very clear the same anointing that was on Moses was also found on junction they had a different skill set they maneuvered in a different way but the same way God had anointed Moses God was gonna do the same thing to Joshua that's what it's all about it's about learning how to navigate when God shifts things in our midst because God knows what we need when we need it jax-ur one is about a shift of leadership Joshua - it's how we see God uses a woman the name of Rahab in order to prepare the children of Israel to embrace the promise of going through Jericho Joshua one is a shift of leadership Joshua two is how God uses a woman by the name of rehab and Joshua three and four is about them crossing over the Jordan River you know the story of Joshua as it moves and meanders and then ultimately we shout over Joshua chapter six Joshua chapter six is when the walls come tumbling down well I mean if you look at all that God did in just the span of six chapters in the life of the children of Israel you can tell that God had some great things in store for them in Joshua Juana Joshua 2 and Joshua 3 4 and yes Joshua 6 was the culmination here they were able to walk into the Promised Land but tonight I want to submit for you that is great as chapter one two three and four and six are what if I told you tonight the most pivotal chapter is Joshua chapter 5 isn't just what you have to find that the enemies of Israel once again hear about the exploits of God they begin to hear about how God has been leading them and guiding them and providing for them and now they were shaking in their boots Joshua 5 if we were to look at it from a strategic perspective for most of us we would say this is the prime season to attack the enemy was on their heels they knew there was nothing they could do that could stop God are progressing on their behalf but something shows up in Joshua chapter 5 that we learned something that happens that God has strategically positioned and Joshua 5 to tell the children of Israel what their biggest enemy could be and it wasn't a hit I said what a amarice it was not the Canaanites but the biggest enemy for the pro-christian of Israel was gonna be Israel itself y'all ain't trying to hear me tonight cuz I know that you want to spend a whole lot of time blaming your neighbor and blaming your hater and talk about how many full trying to stop you but what if I told you that people can't stop you but your biggest enemy could be your enemy I wish I had some people have fellowship tonight that can be honest and look back over your experience with God and testified you should have been further along but there was something in you something prohibiting you up and if the truth be told it wasn't a hater and what no gossiper it wasn't a liar but sometimes we can get in our own way tonight and that's what makes Joshua v so pivotal for us tonight I feel so compelled by God to share this tonight because fellowship God is moving you in a new progressive way God is trying to shift you from good to great you've been spending 40 years and I'm here to prophesy that the next 40 is gonna be even greater than the first 40 but I want you to understand the only thing that can stop you is you so what was it that the text seems to outline for us tonight there's a few things that I think our text helps us because he begins to deal with the trilogy that it must be checked in the life of the people if they're to progress to the greater that God has that's my simple thing tonight is to push you I come to challenge you in three areas my aim tonight is to make you understand that if we're going to embrace the greater God has for fellowship there's some things we got to make sure we do here it is my brothers and sisters let me share a couple of things for you I hope you're taking good copious notes tonight there's some things that our Texas tailor to teach us tonight to help us understand the process in order to receive the greater that God has first thing that I want to submit for you tonight that if we are gonna embrace the greater if we're gonna make the next four day greater than the first 40 the first thing that he warns them in the text is that I need to make sure that you learn how to check your flesh it's like here in the text verse Mercedes intriguing it's important pastor Morgan tonight I've been noticed that when God gives him the directive God has this plan for them God has this idea for them and the first thing he tells Joshua he says Joshua this is what I want you to do before you start yelling at walls and causing stuff to come down this is what I need you to do is take all the man in the camp and circumcise them well why would God pause in this moment to do something that for many of us especially as men we cringe when we hear circumcision you know what circumcision is my brothers and sisters it is literally the cutting away of fleshes it's an important maneuver matter of fact it was something that God gave to Abraham as part of Abrahamic covenant he told him that in order to prove your worthiness in relationship with me I need you to have all the men circumcised but why would God think it's so significant and important that the people cut away the excess flesh why would God say that I need your flesh to be cut in order to be a sign of relationship but first of all you must understand that the children of Israel these people that God had ordained and blessed were a small nation and God understood that in order for you to be powerful you need to be you need to reproduce and so God understood if there was too much flesh in private places it would hinder the ability to reproduce and so what I need you to do is I need you to get rid of excess stuff my brothers and sisters that has the potential to inhibit your ability to grow y'all don't want to hear me tonight because I know that you want to submit them we're just about this church but every now and again there's a level of sanctification that God requires of us and because God understands I need you to grow there's some stuff we got to get out of the way here's the challenge about circumcision pastor Morgan tonight is that circumcision the dealing with the excess of flesh is a private matter in other words I can't tell if you're circumcised are not just by looking at you so why would God make an important thing for the children of Israel something that wasn't even publicly displayed because God understood that unless you deal with some flesh there's gonna be some problems and how you can grow and you can expand and be who God wants you to be see some of us don't even understand why circumcision why excess flesh can be a problem we're in those days first of all you must understand that that excess flesh was a place where bacteria could accumulate but if you did not deal with the excess flesh it could cause some infection you my brothers and sisters in other words I what God was singing to them as I need you to cut some stuff because if you don't cut some stuff it don't won't just infect you but it in effect whoever you are connected to y'all ain't tryin to give me the knife and no y'all don't have this at Fellowship Bible Church but I got some people sometimes that will spread some STD some spiritually transmitted demons y'all ain't trying to hit me tonight and when you ain't dealt with your flesh you'll start infecting people all around you that's why you got to be careful what pele you sit on when you show up to church because everybody you connected to us may not be trying to give you something positive but may be trying to give you something that you can't get rid of touch somebody next to you and it caused problems it didn't just affect them but it also affected who they were connected to you I've learned in pastoring churches and dealing with church people that sometimes that's a main issue that we have is we got a whole lot of infected people walking around infecting other people you gotta cut it but don't just cut it but I also want you to understand that also for skin the area that was excess that needed to be cut was sensitive it was an area that was a ball of nerves so literally you could tell who was uncircumcised because they were sensitive everything got on their nerves you can tell people who have not dealt with their flesh because everything is a problem I don't like this and I don't like that is too hot and it's too cold I'm sitting too far I'm sitting too close is too high oh it's two y'all ain't trying to hit me tonight and if you got a complaining spirit that simply means you ain't dealt with so flesh y'all ain't trying to hit me tonight and I'm not your pastor but I come to do surgery up in this place lean over to somebody and say neighbor sometimes you just gotta cut it that if you're gonna be who God wants you to be there's some stuff you gotta get rid of [Applause] but here's the ironic about circumcision is that when God ordained and it was supposed to be done on the eighth day after the birth of a male child but notice who Joshua has to circumcise grown men so the biggest issue that Joshua had is he was having to provide surgery for grown people that were still dealing with little children issues y'all don't want to hear me tonight and maybe that's why some of us still struggling coz there's some stuff you should have been dealt with long time ago and here you are up in church with your big grown self still closing issues and still closing pain cuz baby maturity is not based on your chronological age maturity is based on the fact that you dealt with your flesh on I need you to understand Josh if y'all gonna grow if y'all gonna be a relationship you got a deal with your flesh and the Bible said something intriguing to me because here is where most of us miss it is that in those days in order to perform circumcision they didn't have scalpels they didn't have knives but they would use what they considered the strongest and sharpest material that was at their disposal it was a rock a flint stone they would use a bloody rock in order to cut the excess flesh they would take a rock that they needed to apply to the area that needed to be dealt with and once they put the rock in the right place it was able to handle what they need y'all miss what I'm preaching about tonight cuz you still think I'm talking about some Flint rock but somebody can testify you had your own flesh problems until you put the rock of ages' in the place you needed to use it because sometimes you need a bloody rock in order to be deliver lean over to somebody and tell them sometimes you gotta let Jesus handle you but here's the problem because this is what you miss tonight you didn't read your Bible because the Bible tells us the intensity of the text of the surgery is so intense notice what the Bible says that it took some see some time for the men to heal because you just can't cut flesh and keep going there needs to be a process of proper healing in order for you to get through the dilling of your flesh y'all don't want to hit me tonight and maybe that's why some of us are bleeding in the new season cuz you ain't healed from the old season maybe that's why some of us can't appreciate the new relationship because you're still bleeding from the old relationship maybe that's why you still hurt from the old situation because you have not allowed yourself to heal and I got something to tell you child of God that if God can't cut you God can't trust you I'm here to tell you tonight that at some point you gotta understand that God has to do some things and when God cuts me I need to take some time to make sure I get heal from what I've been God sent me on assignment to share with you but I want you to know fellowship if you're gonna be greater first thing you gonna have to do is learn how to deal with your flesh there's some stuff that you got to leave in the old season some things you got to leave in the old forty years in order for you to progress to be where God wants you to be in the next 40 years he tells them I want you to understand first of all I need you to deal with your flesh but then the second thing God told them is that if I'm gonna get you the greater and I'm gonna move you to where I want you to be second thing I need you to make sure you do is learn how to deal with your mind see the issue my brothers and sisters is that what we learn in the scriptures is that one of the greatest battle fields that we wrestle with is in the battlefield of the mind and that's why it's interested if you keep reading your Bible around verse nine the text says that God told Joshua I need you in order for you to move I need them go to a place called Gilgal Gilgal because i need you to deal with the guilt of their shame from being in egypt this is important my brothers and sisters matter of fact Gilgal is not just first mentioned in Joshua chapter 5 it takes us back to Joshua 3 & 4 lets us know that there was also a place that they called Gilgal Gilgal in the hebrew simply means to roll back to turn back and he calls his place in Joshua chapter 3 and for Gilgal road back because it was Center it was critical for the children of Israel that when they were to get through the Jordan River it was how God was gonna do it that was gonna differ from how their ancestors did it because if you read your Bible you remember in Joshua chapter 3 and for the children Israel find themselves at a large body of water its flood season according to what scripture says and this is not the first time that the children of Israel have stood in front of a large body of water and I can imagine as they were their congregated on the shores that was probably some people in that crowd that probably thought to themselves well why don't Joshua just raise his hand like Moses and let God blow on the water but this is the irony of the text my brothers and sisters that Joshua 3 and 4 teaches us that you can have a similar situation but God decided to use a different strategy because in order for them to cross this body of water it was not for them to be reactive it was meant for them to be proactive in this moment what happens is that Joshua was told by God I want you to tell the priest to put the Ark of the Covenant on their shoulders and I need you to tell them to start putting their feet in the water the more they've stepped out in the water the more I'm gonna let the water recede until they get in the middle of the Jordan and by the time they get in the middle of the Jordan the waters would have parted but the water is not going part unless they take the step see some of y'all don't know when the shout because here is the challenge of contemporary churches that most of us are standing on the shores of the Jordan expecting a red sea miracle you want God to blow on the water she won't to move when I'm here to tell you that God sent me on assignment to tell you that this is not the season to wait on God to blow on the water this is the season that see if you got enough faith to get your feet wet you all don't want to hear me tonight because we got too many dry feet saints that show up in church weekend and we can't talk about what you want God to do and how you expecting God to move but what if I told you fellowship in this season that there is not gonna be no parting of water unless you are willing to get your feet wet this ain't for everybody cause some people like sitting on the sidelines up and waiting on God to move but where my wet sheets say that in fellowship tonight they said I came to get my seat well preacher I come to tell God that he ain't gotta wait on me but I must start stepping out on some stuff because the more you put your feet in the water the more the waters gonna be able to up I'm raising Greensboro North Carolina Greensboro North Carolina y'all BC I'm raising Greece where my grandparents adopted me at 14 months of age it's raised with my grandparents Charlotte's warning and Ernest Wong he wouldn't wanna be the glory in 2008 he's the greatest individual I know in my life but I never forget as I got older my granddad was one of those guys who was just a worker he worked 40 years and didn't miss a day at Southern optical in Greensboro North Carolina I'll never forget my high school years granddad decided he wanted another job I mean I'm confused you didn't work 40 years ain't missed a day and you still want to work some more he got him a job as a courtesy clerk at a at a grocery store called by Lowe's I only know if y'all know what Barlow's here and I never forget I had the opportunity to take my grandfather the first day on his job too to go to buy Lowe's it was around the corner from my house here actually had been when he signed for it he didn't go to that particular store but that's where they assigned him to the battles right around the corner from our house I never forget as I drove up my grandfather to his first day on the job I was excited to drop him off for his first day at work and I could imagine as I drop them off in the front of store I'm starting to go off until I look back in my rearview mirror and I just saw my grandfather standing there staring at the door curiosity got the best of me I'm back my car put it in reverse Road window down I said pops what's the problem so charlie I don't know how to get in the store so what you me you'll know how to get in the store I said Charlie ain't no handles on the door I don't see no sign that says push or pull and I don't know how I can get in the store I start shuffling put the car in park get out the car I said granddad um you don't need no handles on these doors you don't need no sign and say push your paw on these door granddad if you want to get in the store through these doors oh you got to do it y'all miss your shelf see some of y'all we're just like my grandfather sitting there looking at the door talking about God where the handles that part up where's the pusher Pula but what if I told you the doors that God has for you fellowship is not gonna have handles up it's not gonna push a pool but if you gonna see these doors open you gotta learn how to I wish I had some folks grab someone by the hand and say neighbor we gonna walk this thing down there's some doors that God is opening and it's not predicated on us sitting on the sidewalk but we gotta learn how to walk towards them cuz when we walk towards them they open some melts because there's something else that intrigues me about the text the text is this pastor Morgan tonight the reason he calls at Gilgal is not just to which establish this path for them but also he says to erase their shame from Egypt now that sounds incredibly insightful itself when you study the timeline for the children of Israel by the time these people get to this point in their history there's only been two people that even remember Egypt Joshua and Caleb they were the only ones that knew firsthand the experience of Egypt so the question I got a raise at the techs tonight it's God why are these people got shame from a season they never experience what do they still got an issue from something they never experienced firsthand how can you roll away shame from a place they'd never been argued tonight that maybe it's because they're guilty of doing what we do we'll pass this function down and so we'll start telling people how it was back then and then we wonder while the next generation is so infected and so dysfunctional because they're dealing with stuff that we already passed down from our dysfunction y'all don't want to hear me tonight but one of the challenges for a growing church is that sometimes we put so much pressure on the next generation we're quicker to tell them who they're like and what they've been to and talk about this and talk about that you gotta be careful with what words you put on the next generation you gotta be careful what you start to declare over the next generation and sometimes we got a new generation of shameful people that don't even know why they got shame in the first place and they saw them moving and as you're maneuvering you got to be careful what you tell the next generation you gotta be careful try and tell them they just like they daddy and got to be careful telling me just like they mommy you got to be careful the stuff you put on and here's the challenge is because why we struggle is because the reason we can't connect with the next generation is because their shame you ain't dealt with and I've learned I know y'all don't do this to here and Warner Robbins but my low church I passed I got some people that's that's mangry at the next generation because they can't do some stuff that they used to do so they mad at the girl with a nice dress on because they wish they could wear dress like that they mad at the brother with the dress because they can't grow know him y'all ain't trying to hear me tonight and I'm here to tell you that if we're not careful we'll start infecting the next generation base our own dysfunction how can I be positive to you if there ain't positive by my own self how can I build you up if I don't even feel good about me how can i declare blessings in your life if I don't feel blessed in my own life see that's the problem why we struggling so that's why we wrestle and stuff in church and we put people in position and we wonder why stuff keeps going on it's because we putting people in position that keep passing stuff on that has nothing to do with building the kingdom of God and so you wonder why they can't exhort and we wonder why they can't be honest because when you can't see yourself correctly friend of mine was traveling with his wife and they were headed to preach he gave me this illustration he said good we were going they say here's the crazy thing when we got through security he said man it was it was crazy he said I made it too cool but you know now if you go through security ever since 9/11 you got to basically take everything off if you ain't got a pre-check you're gonna be there for a long time you got to take your coat off and you got to take your shirt off and got to take your belt off you got to take your shoes off you got to take literally everything to get through security what's intriguing to me is that you can have a ticket but something happened my friend said as we were going through I made it through but my wife had forgot her ID he said I learned something valuable good he said you can have a ticket you can have a destination but if you don't have your ID you're gonna be stuck [Applause] you can pay for the fare you can have a destination to go to but if you ain't got your ID so we said I sat there and I'm struggling and I'm wrestling because I'm good but my life ain't good they pull it to the side and there they go looking through stuff and they're rummaging she pulls out a wallet but her ID is not in there she goes through her briefcase said and nothing's there and I'm looking at my wife like boo you know we got cash this right I gotta go preach and then all of a sudden the light went off she runs over to a briefcase saying she he said he looks at her and she pulls out her Bible in the briefcase he said baby the same time to be having no Bible study we we gotta claim the cash she said now baby y'all understand I know I get absent-minded sometimes and I knew whether sometimes I'll misplace my ID so I decided to put it in a place that I will never forget so I didn't put my ID in my wallet didn't put it in my briefcase I put my ID in my Bible y'all don't wanna hit me tonight and maybe that's why you struggling because you trying to find your ID in your wallet you trying to find your ID in a job you try to find your ID in a relationship but baby if you will just learn to put your ID in the Word of God I wish I had somebody in fellowship tonight moon over to a neighbor and say neighbor when you know who you are is based on the Word of God I'm the head and not the tail I'm not the borrow I wish I had somebody here tonight that can testify I Know Who I am [Applause] I'm gonna move you to greater I got a deal with your flesh if I move you to greater I got a deal with you with your mind here's the last thing watch this I'm gonna move you to greater I got a deal with your appetite the flesh is important your mind is important but your appetite is was crucial because Bible says something intriguing around verse in rotas where the Bible says that after they go through this race of Gilgal the Bible then says that on the plains of Jericho they now represent or they go through what is called the Passover this is actually the third time in the history of the children of Israel that they go through the Passover the first time when they were leave in Egypt the second time was that Mount Sinai when God gave them the Decalogue through the inspiration of revelation given to Moses and now in the valley of Jericho they have Passover this is the third time in the history of the children visitor had passed the first time it's when they were leave in Egypt the second time in Mount Sinai is they got the Decalogue from God and now in the valley of Jericho but y'all can shout cause y'all for some reason have forgot what Passover represented when God originally initiated Passover it was the culmination and climax of a 10-round fight between God and between Pharaoh you remember the different plagues that God was going back and forth in order to get the Pharaoh to let his people go until finally on the 10th round God said I'm tired of this I'm gonna claim what belongs to me the first belongs to me first of your children is mine the first of your livestock is mine so this is what I'm gonna do I'm gonna send a death angel to come clean oh that is mine but Israel I love you so that's what I'm gonna do in order for you to miss out on me taking what belongs to me I need you to take an unblemished lamb slit its throat let it drain take a history and I want you to make sure the blood is over the doorpost so that night when I release my Death Angel that's gonna take what rightfully belongs to me if the death angel sees the blood on the doorpost then that Death Angel is simply gone Passover in other words the only thing that's gonna keep you is if you've been covered in the blood y'all don't want to hear me free night that's why I know we're Baptist Church and you come and you have a little grape juice and a little wafer and you just thank God for communion but sometimes you want to thank God for the stuff you've been covered trauma you wanna thank God that God has been covering you somebody knows what I'm preaching about tonight because as you look back over your like the chalice if it ain't just a corporate covering but there's been an individual covering some of y'all should have been dead in Kona slippin in your grave but the blood wish I had some rider died leaned over touch fifteen people listen neighbor I've been covered up that's the only reason I lost my mind lost my charm that's the only reason I'm not cuckoo for cocoa puffs because I've been covered by the blood do I got anybody here tonight that said I've been covered up that I'm grateful [Applause] because before you enter in you must remember that I'm the one that's gonna keep you the thing that's gonna give your mind right and get you together is that you must understand the same way I kept you in the wilderness and the same way I kept you in Egypt it's the same God that's gonna keep you in the promised land see everybody can shout over there cuz some y'all can only shout about what God delivered you from but somebody ought to have a crazy shower not just what God delivered you from but what you expecting God to keep you in in other words if he kept me in Egypt and he kept me in the wilderness then I'm just crazy enough to believe he's gonna keep me in the promise Tech says they they have Passover and then watch this and the next day the next day they ate the unleavened bread and the grain that was harvested watch this in the promised land and verse 12 said that very day when they start eating the produce of the promised land God ceased the manner oh I wish I had time this is an important moment Manor was significant for the children of Israel man in the Hebrew simply mean what is this it was a gift that God gave them they didn't have to work for men and when they found themselves in a foreign place in the wilderness all they had to do was wake up and walk outside and manna was right there for 40 years God provided for them they didn't have to work for they'd have to do nothing for it for 40 years God gave them sustenance God gave them a meal God gave them a feast in the wilderness but now they're getting ready to move in the Promised Land and the Bible says that as soon as they started tasting what was in the promised land God ceased the manner whoa somebody's gonna miss my revelation here tonight because once they got a taste of where they were going God said I can't give you do I'll endure your taste buds tonight I can't let you eat what you're gonna have and then get addicted to what you've been had so either way in order for me to set you up for your future I gotta get rid of that which has been sustaining you in your past so I've got to allow manna to seize y'all don't wanna hit me tonight because unless I seize your manna you cannot appreciate what the promised land has to offer y'all wish I had some time cuz I can hear what some of you saying that must have been a heck of a meal to have one taste in the Promised Land for one day and now God get rid of 40 years a promise in the manna and I'm here to tell you child of God that every now and again you just gotta be satisfied with the taste sometimes you just gotta be grateful for the little bit that God gives you about your future and I know that your pass was caught up but every now and again you oughta say Lord I don't want to just be intoxicated about where I being up but Lord I want you to set me up for where I'm going I'm going may the Lord bless you real good but I was raised in Greensboro North Carolina and my grandmother she was one of the best bakers I knew when she knew that I absolutely love me some pound cake and I'll never get past the Morgan one day I came home I was famished and as soon as I came in the house I could smell that pound cake in the oven but when I walked in the kitchen I said grandma I want some of that pound cake and she said Charlie the pound cake ain't ready I said but grandma I smelled the pound cake it smells good she said Charlie the pound cakes not ready she opens the up and up takes a toothpick and puts it in the pound cake pulls it out baby don't you see that the pound cakes not ready but I was an inquisitive little boy and I knew that my grandma whenever she wanted to bake she had all the mixing bowls she would use her and I saw grandma's mixing bowl sitting there on the counter of the kitchen and I walked over to the mixing bowl and I put my little scrawny finger in the mixing bowl and I asked my grandmother I said grandmother I know the pound cake ain't already but do you mind if I take a little bit out of your mixing bowl because I was smart enough to know that the same thing in the mixing bowl what's the same thing in the pound cake my fellowship may the Lord bless you're real good but lean over and grab a neighbor by the hand you need is a tasters get ready enough in your mixing bowl just give me a taste God what else you got to offer for fellowship I'm gonna make the Lord bless you real good but shake that neighbor sound like you got the Holy Ghost tonight shake their neighbors hand like you know God is good shake that neighbors hand tonight like you believe in God has greater install and while you're shaking the neighbors hand look them square in the eye and look at the neighbor and Sydney tonight we gon' shout case we gonna shout over taste a piece I tasted show and a taste of God's power yes 40 years been good but neighbor tonight we go shout about what we believe in the next 40 years gonna be chopped maybe that's a bad and boozy neighbor is somebody else tonight look like they came to help church on a Tuesday night get in the house if you got to huh and grab your somebody by the head don't be acting bad and Boozer tonight but shake that neighbors hand like you know god is good we don't shout over where we be but can we give God shifty seconds of a shouting where we believe God is taking us do I got anybody here tonight I'm gonna give him [Music] everyone started up again I wish I had your pastor's voice I apologize but if you were to be play softly well I need you to be I need you to deal with your flesh I need you to deal with your mind and I need you to deal with your empathy everyone's standing tonight I'm on assignment I didn't come with a sermon I came with a message because I wonder why would God be so intentional about the menu he provided them why couldn't they just keep eating manna in the promised land when 2008 I moved from eating meat to being a full vegetarian so I made that health choice but as I started getting more intense working out pastor Morgan my doctor came back to me and said pastor um for the intensity of your workout you have to change your diet I don't just want you to eat vegetables I'm gonna need you to add some more protein because if you were not as active then the vegetarian diet would be fine but based upon the intensity of your new workload you need a diet that's gonna sustain oh I need y'all to hear me tonight there's a reason why manna was good in the wilderness because manna is good wilderness food [Music] you ain't gotta fight in the wilderness you just gotta wonder in the wilderness but the Promised Land is gonna have some battles and it's gonna have so you'll be fatigued in the promised land still eating what you ate in the wilderness so I need to up your appetite cuz where I'm taking you it's gonna be a struggle workload which means you can't eat what you're used to eat and think you're gonna survive that's why we got too many churches dying because they were in the promised land eating manner that's subpar you gotta say God up my appetite I'm done tonight can I be myself pastor I need to know who I'm preaching to the neighbor who said you know what P G I needed this word because I've been wondering why I've been so fatigued it's not that you're not eating you're just eating their own stuff if this is for you tonight rush this on to I want to pray with you if it's okay pastor those who you say listen this is the word I need to deny Harry arrest Assange I want to pray with you come on come on get out that seat tonight y'all pray for me I'm Baptist Oh y'all y'all pray for me got y'all got 40 years I don't think it's my happenstance but y'all are celebrating 40 years time of season a time of transition time to see where we've been but also to celebrate where we're going and the challenge sometimes is that sometimes we see change in transition as being bad as it somehow seems to disqualify where we've been there is nothing guys that will erase the legacy of the first 40 years of this church there is absolutely nothing that can erase the legacy of Pastor Reed absolutely nothing but if we get stuck and don't get comfortable and understanding that it's meant to shift us and transition us then we end up getting stuck in a place that God never wanted us to get stuff do you know why the children of Israel had to wander for 40 years because they wouldn't believe the promise of God if you ever study what Moses told the spies he said listen go spy out that were spying Hebrew simply means go enjoy the Promised Land they spent 40 days on an all-expense-paid trip by God to the promised land they'd have to pack a bag they had clothes there food and drink by the time the trip was over they were lucking large grapes back to Kadesh Barnea can you imagine as those Moses's crew could see those people come in and they were weighed down with such large groups but when they got to the Congregational meeting 10 of those who had been there 40 days decided to talk about giants instead of grapes they had the grapes but they wanted to talk about giants and God said because she didn't trust me you didn't believe I'm not gonna let you I'm not gonna let you experience what rightfully belongs to you the title deed for the promise and I'm gonna keep until y'all die and I'm not going to now you I'm just gonna delay you because once I give a promise I can't renege on my promise and I would hate to miss out on God's best cuz I don't believe I would hate to miss out on greater cuz I don't believe I want everything God has swimming and I made up my mind I don't want to be the reason why I miss out on God's mess as your head is bound tonight this is a self introspection or moment what flesh you need to deal with tonight what things is hindering your growth that God says I I need you to may be sure about your relationship with me I know we don't talk about it that much anymore but I still believe that holiness is right and there's a standard that God has for us what can I do in my private life will not allow that will but I need to deal with so that I can see all that God has her but it's not just my flesh tonight but what about your mind what Jordan River are you sitting that waiting on a Red Sea miracle I'm declaring this is the season of wet feet at fellowship this is the season of muddy shoes at fellowship we're no longer gonna be reactive we gonna be proactive and the reason we're gonna be proactive is because we know who we are in God we fellowship strong we are people of faith and tonight I'm praying God up your appetite I'm praying to release tonight that you no longer desire where you been but you get a craving for where God wants to take you Oh father in the name of Jesus I thank you tonight I feel a shift in the atmosphere I feel a change in the atmosphere tonight I kind of think you're that no longer will we desire Mara but tonight appetite God we are hungry for greater now we're hungry for more haha oh you have for us going forward so that we celebrate where we've been we thank you for the foundation of 40 years but we believe best is still yet to come so God do the work in us increase our faith increase our desire to please you God enlarge our ability in our capacity of stewardship I'm praying for a greater level of engagement and sacrifice and surrender that we make the necessary changes to be the greater people you called us to be I pray it individually I pray it corporately God continue to expand this man of God god I pray that you make his voice greater and his vision greater God protect him and his family now God you didn't bring them here to keep the status quo but God you got an assignment for him in this place god I thank you for the harvest that's on the way I think it for the greater that's gonna come if they think they've seen something they ain't seen nothing yeah so God let us partner in purpose and while you do a corporal here in a macro level God do it in each of us now I pray for greater in their homes and greater in their relationships greater with their children and greater their a capacity and potential and purpose we're gonna be all that she want us to be so we give you glory and praise we're released now to where you want us to be in Jesus name we pray aim up two or three people and tell her we go on the great are we going the great are we going the greater come on come on come on come on hug them tight [Music]