hey family welcome to the house we're so glad you're here and we are excited about this word that you are getting ready to receive it's going to bless you and change your life and when God speaks to you and it resonates very deeply and there's a promise maybe something that you've been praying for and believing God for i want you to sew a seed absolutely whenever God meets me I make it my personal commitment to sew a seed to build an altar when there's something in that message that you know the light turns on or it deals with something that you have been struggling with there is something about having this practical manifestation of that response of what God just said to you and for me that comes when I sew a seed we love you god bless you watch it to the end and then share this message with somebody it's going to change your life and hopefully many others i've got a word for you it's in Matthew chapter 8 verses 5-13 my subject is rise to the occasion rise to the occasion and when we enter into the text Jesus has gone to the wilderness he's been tempted by the sa by Satan he's come out of the wilderness and he's had his first sermon his first series of sermons it starts in Matthew 5 the biatitudes and he is preaching as one who has authority and he is preaching a message that is radically different than what they have heard from the priests and the scribes they notice that there is something different about this man Jesus he's challenging their norms challenging their philosophies everyone's trying to figure out who is this man and when we enter into chapter 8 he's come out of having this sermon on the mount and now he's beginning to move into demonstrations when we find him in chapter 8 he's cleansed the leopard but in verse five he does something that is kind of radical willing to do something that is radical considering the Grecoman rules that existed at that time and verse 5 begins it says 'Now when Jesus had entered Capernium a centurion this is a a military man came to him pleading with him a Roman military general comes to him pleading with him saying "Lord my servant is lying at home paralyzed dreadfully tormented." And Jesus said to him "I will come and heal him." Now this right here is radical that Jesus a Jew is willing to go into the home of a Roman centurion it breaks all of the rules of the culture but Jesus is willing to do what others will not do in order to meet a need that others could not meet the centurion says to him though "No you don't have to do that lord I am not worthy that you should come under my roof but only should but only speak a word don't go out of your way you don't have to come to my house just send your word to my house only speak a word and my servant will be healed for I also am a man under authority having soldiers under me and I say to this one "Go." And he goes and to another "Come," and he comes and to my servant "Do this." and he does it when Jesus heard it he marveled and said to those who followed him assuredly I say to you I have not found such great faith not even in Israel how is it that this Roman centurion gets something that the people in Israel the Jews do not understand and I say to you that many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven this kingdom of heaven that he has been preaching about many are going to come in but the sons of the kingdom those who we presume will be in there will be cast out into outer darkness there will be weeping and nashing of teeth then Jesus said to the centurion "Go your way and as you have believed so let it be done for you." And his servant was healed that same hour spirit of the living God I need you we welcome you Holy Spirit walk this word out with me speak this word on my behalf god I've done all of the preparation all of the studying that I can do the praying god now this is your moment we consecrate it over to you and we say "Have your way." For every heart for every spirit for every household for every destiny that is connected to this word God I pray that they would not miss anything let them catch everything that this word has for them and may this word take root and produce fruit in their lives god may it be undeniable that you hear them and that you have plans to prosper them and not to harm them do what only you can do when you sit in a room in Jesus name I pray amen amen oh let her rip you guys pray for me i am battling a little cough one of the things that I believe makes this church so powerful is the fact that it is a multi-generational church one of our superpowers that's one of the things that we're always praying into was God how can we continue to make sure that we are honoring the beauty of multiple generations coming together from Sunday to Sunday even if you look around right now you will see that there's literally so many different generations represented i think about Mother Nyx mother Nick's generation is called the greatest generation come on Mother N mother Nyx is 104 years old okay she don't mind it when we tell her business mother Nyx is 104 years old honey I want to go to a church where I can see what my future gonna look like okay she's a part of what historians call the greatest generation the generation after her is called the silent generation these are the generation that existed during World War II the generation after that are them boomers lord the boomers come on boomers make some noise in this place my parents are boomers y'all say millennials are special boomers kind of special too and then the Xers we love y'all gen X y'all didn't cause nobody no problems y'all just came in sat down didn't touch nothing and went on about your business we appreciate y'all then here came the millennials the millennials honey y'all done got mental health everybody got to be vegan natural hair the millennials didn't just decided "We'll fix it we'll change everything." That's why the millennials tired at 40 years old baby we didn't throw everything we had into the 20s and the 30s we ain't got nothing left we got Jen Z gen Z it's What's up Gen Z we don't know much about y'all yet we don't know but we just glad y'all here i am worried about Gen Alpha coming up with their own language cuz now we talking about Skibbidity and Riz i don't know if anyone is familiar with Skibb and RZ but we need every generation represented in our church because we need to understand what God looks like from generation to generation and we have to be able to tell the testimonies of who God is from generation to generation if this church ends up becoming predominantly one generation we would have missed the mark our goal is to make sure that this is a space where every generation can come in feel seen loved and welcomed amen if you see somebody that looks like they're from another generation just say "We need you here we need you here." Turn to them we need you don't go nowhere make us better help us to translate help us to interpret because when we have a multi-generational church and multi-generational relationships it opens up discussion about our diverse experiences and perspectives and the different expectations we have in the world a multi-generational perspective allows us to see how the world is changing and yet how the world has ch is staying the same i remember uh asking my daughter to grab me a meal prep container and I had a moment of laughter in my mind because I thought about the first time I ever saw a meal prep container now the meal prep containers that y'all have now with like the cute little compartments they're black and the lids and they're reusable those weren't the very first meal prep containers those You see how nice and organized they are they're classy i remember when I was growing up I was raised by a boomer our very first meal prep containers looked like i know y'all didn't got bougie i know y'all didn't got classy but I remember when you couldn't for sure say if it was going to be margarine or spaghetti in that country car there's a generational gap there somebody lost you you They don't even make the Round Country Croc containers anymore did you know that cuz they got tired of y'all using them for cereal and spaghetti they said "Maybe this will stop them." Everyone's got aesthetic organization now their pantries all have these clear bottles with the chalkboard stickers look very nice but I remember the very first organization system that existed in my household it was this little container that should have had cookies in it [Applause] oh y'all don't know nothing about that i didn't even know that cookies belonged in that box everything from sewing kit material to safety pins and bobby pins how long did y'all have them containers you ought to be ashamed y'all didn't repurpose things out of their original intention that wasn't even what that container was for so we hear words like sustainability and recycling as if they are new concepts but for many marginalized communities these forms of repurposing existed long before we had labels for them many communities learned the benefit of having I won't even get into y'all eating chitlins many of you all have learned how to make the best out of what you have and how to repurpose and reuse it over and over again looking at what you have left and thinking to yourself how do I repurpose it for where I am now i want to submit that we're having conversations about purpose but what we're really doing is really asking God what can I be repurposed into we look at our lives we look at everything we've gone through and we think to ourselves I probably can no longer reach your original purpose so when I ask you about purpose after going through this divorce when I ask you about purpose after the mistakes I've made after the ways that I've been victimized when I ask you about purpose what I'm really asking you is what can you do with what I have left how can I be repurposed because we think that purpose has to fit within the context of our experiences that purpose must fit within the context of what has happened to us and when we want a purpose that has been adjusted to meet our failures our traumas and our shortcomings we miss out on the reality that God doesn't change his purpose just because you had an experience purpose comes before creation and even if creation changes it doesn't mean that it changes the purpose so in Romans 8 when we hear that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose good was always the destination there just some things that had to be worked out along the way so that I could get it to good but good was never up for debate i want to take you to Genesis 1 in Genesis 1 we learn that God states the purpose before he state before he creates his creation oh Genesis 1 give me verse 11 then God said "Let the earth bring forth grass the herb that yields seed and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind whose seed is in itself on the earth and it will sow." He said "So this is the purpose of the earth the earth is going to bring forth grass the herb that yields seed according to its kind and the tree that yields fruit this is the purpose now here's the creation the purpose comes before the creation he speaks what is going to be and then the being steps into what he spoke that means the word of you came before the breath of you the word of you came god spoke a word about who you were to be and then your parents got together and did they thing and you came into the earth and the only issue with that is that when you came into the earth you went through all of these experiences all of these issues all of these struggles and you're starting to believe that now my purpose has to fit into what has happened to me instead of recognizing that what has happened to me cannot stop what God has spoken over me so my goal is to make sure that I do not get trapped in what happened to me that I don't get trapped in my experiences somebody's in this room because they're trying to break out of the walls that their experiences have created so they have enough capacity to receive what God spoke over them god spoke a word over you you didn't just come into existence god says "I need this person at this time in this generation in this family for such a time as this i spoke a word because I have a purpose for you you are not random you are not here by accident it doesn't matter how old you are how young you are." God didn't just create you randomly and then decide that you were he figure it out once you got here god didn't say "We'll figure out what to do with her when she gets here we'll figure out what to do with him when he gets here he created the purpose our job is to try and to tap in to that word some people are trying to live out their dreams i'm trying to live out that word come on i'm trying to live out the word that brought me into existence i'm trying to live out the word that God said was needed before he put me in my mother's womb he spoke a word over me and I'm trying to figure out how do I live out this word how do I tap into who God has called me to be and that's what I pray to the Holy Spirit when I was growing up I thought the Holy Spirit was just about speaking in tongues and shouting the Holy Spirit is on assignment to help you live out the word that brought you into existence oh I wish I could get that real good down in somebody's spirit because the Holy Spirit is not just about you being out here speaking in tonesues and speaking tones you need your prayer language i'm not knocking that but I'm saying if you have a prayer language but the Holy Spirit isn't walking with you every single day then you may need to go a little bit deeper into what it means to be in relationship with God because the Holy Spirit knows how to get you to what God spoke over you do you understand what I'm saying that God didn't just speak something over you and then leave you without tools he says "I'm going to leave you an advocate i'm going to leave you a teacher i'm going to leave you a guide oh I feel my help coming cuz your mother won't know how to speak over you your father won't know how to lead you to this your school won't help you how to tap into what I have for you you're going to need my spirit to help you tap into it." Oh there are some moments where I just say "Holy Spirit come holy Spirit help me holy Spirit guide me." I don't just start saying it when the song plays i don't just start saying it when this track gets on i start saying it when I'm talking to my children holy Spirit I'm walking into something I don't understand who do I need to be in this moment holy Spirit I'm about to step into the unknown only you know what's on the other side of this holy Spirit help me we say this scripture all the time in 1 Corinthians chapter 2:es 9-12 but we should really read it in context to understand the fullness of it we said "Eyes haven't seen nor ears heard nor has it entered into the heart of men the things which God has prepared for those who love him." And that's worth shouting over but if you think about it it's actually a little a little sad if you just stop right there because that means that my eyes have never seen and my ears have never heard neither will it enter into my heart that means God got secrets and I ain't going to never find them if I just leave it right there cuz that was very cute like oh God got a surprise for me but Lord how I find it verse 10 continue it says "But God," Come on somebody but God has revealed them to us god says "I don't have a secret that I want to keep to myself eyes haven't seen ears haven't heard nor has it entered into the heart of man but if you really want to know what it is I will reveal it to you through my spirit for the Spirit searches all things." The Spirit searches all things yes the deep things of God god says "I haven't seen it but your eyes can see it if you're willing to allow my spirit." [Applause] Oh that's real good you don't have to stay in the dark you don't have to live in mystery you don't just have to accept that eyes haven't seen and ears haven't heard neither has it entered into the heart of man o I feel like the spirit has dropped something down into somebody's heart that eyes haven't seen but your eyes have seen it their ears haven't heard but your ears have heard it and you're wondering how come anyway how come no one else can see it and it's because God dropped it in your spirit because you have messed around and tapped into his spirit i wish I could say that real good i got a message for the spirit seekers i got a message for somebody who pursues the spirit don't be surprised when God drops something in your spirit that eyes haven't seen and ears haven't heard but my eyes have seen it sometimes I'm just waiting for the world to catch up with what I've already seen can I tell you something god gave me vision for what's going to happen in the potter's house i'm just going to sit back and wait for you to see what I've been already heard happen in the heavens i'm just waiting to see oh my goodness i feel my help coming i'm so excited i'm seeing my children walk out things that the spirit told me 10 years ago was going to happen i want to talk to somebody who understands that the spirit told you first and then the rest of the world caught up later you talking about surprise the baby ain't been surprised i had that schedule that was a divine appointment god already knew that was going to happen he dropped it in my spirit I was going to be well i'm waiting on the doctor's report to catch up he dropped it in my spirit that child was going to be saved i'm just waiting for the court system to catch up he dropped it in my spirit that I was going to walk in power and authority i'm just waiting on the doctor to catch up eyes haven't seen it but my spirit has seen it ears haven't heard it but my spirit heard it it hasn't entered into the heart of man but it's entered into the heart of me i heard God saying "I want to tell you something i want to whisper some things in your ear i want to give you some strategy i want to give you some foresight i want to give you some prophecy but God take me back to verse 10 god has revealed them to us through his spirit this is why you need the Holy Spirit cuz God's got things he wants to reveal to you i want to show you some things i need you to hear some things that you never heard before to see some things you never seen before you're not going to see this on your phone you're not going to see this on the news what God wants to show you you going to only be able to see it in the spirit some things I want to reveal to you about who you need to be in this season some things I want to reveal to you about how to raise that child some things I want to reveal you've been praying but have you been listening i got some things I want to reveal to you you've been begging but have you been listening i got some things I I don't know who this is for but I hear prophetically that you've been praying desperate prayers and I hear God saying that you talking so much that you can't listen if you would allow me to just speak to you if you would just allow me to let my spirit reveal some things to you i hear God saying the strategy for how you're going to get out of this is already in your atmosphere you're just talking over me if you would just take a minute and ask me to open your eyes to open your ears so the spirit can reveal the strategy for your identity in this season the spirit has revealed them to us through his spirit for the spirit searches all things yes the deep things of God i need the whole trinity verse 11 continues and it says "For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him even so no one knows the things of God except the spirit of God." If you want to know what God is doing you need the spirit of God to understand the things of God my thoughts are not your thought my ways are not your ways but that doesn't have to end there i can bring you into my thoughts i can bring you into my ways but you need my spirit to do that you want to be made in the image of God you got to pursue the spirit of God the spirit of God transforms you into the image of God that's it and we need to be transformed into the image of God because that word that was spoken over us it started with God man I wish I could just break the spirit of random off of us break the spirit of just coincidence off of us break the spirit of just same old days same old me off of us god spoke a word over you that brought you into existence and you got to find a way to live out that word and you got to live out that word with the spirit of God inside of you you can't live out that word on your own you need the spirit of God to do it it is no wonder the enemy will come after the word that was spoken over you the enemy comes after the word that was spoken over you because he understands the power that is in that word oh man in the garden when God creates humanity he states the purpose and then he brings it into existence he says "Let us make man in our image." Genesis 1 verse 27 and I don't think I gave it to him but if you could put it on the screen for me I just want to prove my point to you he says "So God created man in his own image in the image of God he created them male and female he created them." Verse 26 goes up a little further and it says "He creates the purpose first." Yes let us make man in our image according to our likeness let them have dominion this is the purpose of humanity they are to have dominion over the fish of the sea over the birds of the air and over the cattle over all the earth and every and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth this is the purpose and then verse 27 says after he states the purpose that he then creates them purpose and then existence he makes them in his own image in the image of God he created them male and female he created them and then it goes on to tell us that he put them over the fish and the sea he says "Be fruitful and multiply fill the earth and subdue it have dominion over the fish of the sea over the birds of there and over every creeping thing." Every creeping thing verse 28 continues "I grab my Bible i every living thing that moves on the earth." Okay he states the purpose he brings into existence so intentional is God about making sure that the purpose doesn't change even if creation does it is that we see a similar declaration in Genesis 8 where he says to Noah after the flood and the waters have receded he says something very sim similar he says to be fruitful and to multiply to fill the earth and to have dominion over it doesn't change even when creation changes the purpose still exists that same purpose about having dominion about filling the earth about subduing it exists even for us right right now but what happened in the garden is the real devastation what happened in the garden is that the serpent tries to attack the word the serpent says to the woman "Did God really say?" Questioning is how the enemy steals your word i'm put you on game it starts with a question when you look at this study you'll see that theologians say that this is when the enemy took authority away from humanity he takes the authority from humanity by questioning the word that was spoken over them when you begin to question the word that is spoken over you it gives the enemy power because the word itself has authority in it oh I wish I could say this real good when God speaks a word over you it's not just creating a skeleton of who you should be that word has everything in it that is going to help you become what that word has said there is protection in that word there is provision in that word there is courage in that word there is strength in that word there are resources in that word sometimes there are marriages in that word everything that God needs for you to do in order to fulfill that word is connected to the word he speaks over you when he says to you you're going to break that generational curse that is a word that is spoken over you and you better believe that the enemy is going to come and try and steal that word because when you lay hold of that word and believe that word you start to have boldness that comes with the word that word comes with boldness that word comes with power that word comes with authority i don't have to steal your power i just got to take your word cuz if I take your word I take your power if I take your word I take your creativity there have been words that were spoken over you and when you receive the word you feel like you can do it but then you go out into the world and you wonder "What happened i felt like I could do it when I received it it's because the enemy came and tried to steal that word from you the enemy came to try and take that word and that is what he does he tries to rob us of the word that has been spoken over us but the enemy did not know that the purposes of God cannot be stopped even when he tried to steal the word in the garden he missed a spot in God's plan he didn't realize that Jesus was the lamb slain before the foundation of the earth before you took the word I already had a plan that plan was called grace and mercy that means that even if they drop the word I'll speak another word that means even if they lose the word I'll send another word for them that means even if they miss that opportunity my grace will give them another chance i want to talk to somebody who dropped the word i want to talk to somebody who feels like they're behind i want you to understand that we serve a God of second chances if I'll be honest I'll say we serve a God of third chances if I was going to be really really honest I'll say that some of us in here on our eighth chance in here on our 100 chance cuz he doesn't let the enemy just take something that he has decided must start in the earth the enemy can't just have his way not with my purposes the Bible says "My word shall not return unto me void." Just because they didn't step into it doesn't mean that I can't order their steps i feel like somebody's about to move into another season where God's going to speak another word and this time I'mma step in it and and this time I'm going to become it and this time I'm going to believe it and this time I'm going to create an atmosphere for the word to flourish i'mma speak again i'mma speak again i hear God saying "Clear out your circle." I'mma speak again i hear God saying "Get your heart ready." I'mma speak again i hear God saying "Put on your boots i'mma speak again." I hear God saying "Get your heart ready." I'mma speak again and this time when I speak I need you to move [Applause] he's not done speaking he's not done speaking he's not done if you're still here he's not done if you're still here there's still a word for you to step into man I see some of you here with these collars on and I know that you stepping into a word that was spoken over you i hear God saying "I'm not done speaking that I wouldn't bring you here and then be silent i'm not done speaking i know you messed up i know you're wondering if I ever talk to you again if you'll ever hear from me again if you'll ever be as worthy as some of the other people." I hear God saying that the purpose of your life cannot be stopped by the pain of your life [Applause] all things work together the purpose of your life cannot be stopped by the pain of your life that purpose has been set in stone that's good so you got to get that word and you got to hang on to it can you imagine if the woman would have remembered the word that God spoke had she remembered the word that God spoke she would have realized that she had allowed that creeping thing that she had authority over to become the thing that she now is under because when we don't hang on to our word things that we should have authority over we end up under the authority of we should have authority over fear for God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power love and a sound mind but sometimes sometimes sometimes sometimes fear has authority over me sometimes sometimes sometimes sometimes my shame my anxiety it has authority keeps me from moving in the things of God and that's what happens when I lose my word so my job is to try and hide his word in my heart hide it i got to hide this word i got to hide this word cuz the enemy is coming and get it you got to hide like big mama and the TV in the money on soul food you got to hide the word in your heart cuz you got to know that the enemy is coming to get that word because if the enemy can get that word you won't have no power but if you hang on to that word you may remember that the enemy belongs under your feet you may remember that God hasn't given us the spirit of fear there is nothing like that moment where my anxiety has to come into submission to who my God is i've had moments in my life where I could tell I was in a battle and it almost felt like the depression was winning then all of a sudden I realized oh my gosh this is warfare and I started rebuking the devil and I ask other people to pray for me sometimes but every now and then you got to rebuke the devil on your own behalf you got to say "Devil I see you." And I rebuke you in the name of Jesus my mind shall be saved i've got authority over the enemy get out of my house get out of my thoughts let this mind be in me that was also in Christ Jesus i start speaking the word of God cuz I got authority over the enemy every now and then you got to break your own chains you waiting on the preacher to preach i hear God saying the greatest message you'll ever hear is the one that comes out of your own mouth you better learn to prophesy over this season [Music] don't lose your authority don't lose your authority don't lose your word the word has the authority in it the word is what you speak back to the devil i sought the Lord and he heard and he answered that's power in that i sought the Lord i knew where to go to and he heard me my God listens to me not only does he listen to me he answered me sometimes I have to let the devil know that I know where to run when I have nowhere to go i know where my help comes from you chasing me but I'm chasing after God you keep running with me you going to end up in the presence of God i won't let you trap me in this season i hear God saying somebody needs to start fighting their way through and we got a generation that is waiting for somebody to activate their authority but I cannot activate your authority all I can do is tell you you have it the words that come out of your mouth is what's going to activate the your authority the faith that you have in who God says you are is going to activate your authority and while you're looking at the authorities of this world and the authorities of this time I hear God saying that the solution lies with those who have the authority of the kingdom of heaven on the inside of them i dare you to start rebuking what you see in the headlines i dare you to start waging war with what you see happening in your schools go to war with what's happening in your family what's up church did you come to be entertained or did you come to wage war we got a real darkness to fight we got a real kingdom to establish and your voice is more important than mine and your voice is more important than Bishop and that's why we may need to go through a transition cuz you've been waiting on the next Bishop Jake what you need to be waiting on is the next you the next you that will release your anointing he put too much in you for you to wait for somebody else we're at a time where it's ghost season it's now or never baby [Music] you got authority god didn't just give authority to one he gave authority to all when the Holy Spirit came it says "I'm going to pour out my spirit on all flesh and my sons and daughters will prophesy." Y'all not about to put building this church on me and my husband i'm about to shift that weight on to you this is your installation service when are you going to step up when are you going to rise to the [Music] We got a city to change darkness is on the loose perversion is everywhere but God said "Greater is he that is in me [Music] [Music] [Music] you going to have to fight [Applause] we need people who are willing to pay the cost to walk with power and authority hallelujah we need people who are willing to pay the cost to walk with power and authority [Music] and that power and authority is in you living out the word that God spoke about who you are if there is an area in your life where something you know you should have authority over actually has you under its authority you got to do whatever it takes to break that chain call the lady check in the rehab i'm not playing with you we need your authority now is not the time for you to just sit back and let it happen create the boundaries go to the doctor take the medicine whatever it is walk away from the relationship it is messing with your authority and we need Godgiven authority cuz we got a real devil is anybody else watching or have you been rocked to sleep watching what's happening in the world wake up church we got work to do we got a generation to say and you cannot you cannot do this without authority so we take the word and we hide the word and my worship builds a wall around that wall my praise builds a wall around that work paul and Silas were handcuffed and they've been beaten so bad i'm sure somewhere along the way they dropped the word but something happened at midnight where they started praying and worshiping and all of a sudden that word started moving things around that word that says I can go with you everywhere you go and a thousand may fall on your right side and 10,000 on your left side but that word that word made the difference and all of us sometimes when you don't remember where the word is if you can create an atmosphere for the word through your prayer and through your worship God can take care of the rest they created an atmosphere your word only exists in certain atmospheres that word that God gave you requires an atmosphere yeah yeah that's why you have to be careful who you let in your circle cuz I got a word I'm trying to protect this ain't no shade everybody going through their own thing this ain't no shade but I got a word I'm trying to protect i'm trying to live out a word that's been spoken over my life that's why I got to watch my music cuz I'm trying to live out a word that's been spoken over my life i can't just watch everything i used to watch everything but I got to work i didn't know i used to do things before I knew there was a word over my life but now that I know there's a word over in my life I got to create an atmosphere for that word and this this centurion man understands something that the Jews at the time didn't understand and Jesus marveled at his understanding you got to understand first of all that Jesus is so good that when the Roman centurion comes to him and says my servant is sick he's willing to break all cultural rules to go to his house jesus was willing to rise to the occasion of the need let's think about that for a minute when we think about rising to the occasion we think about stretching and growing up but for Jesus rising to the occasion is coming down to the level of the need oh that's real good if you make your bed in hell I'll be there with you you serve a God who will get on your level for Jesus rising to the occasion as he found himself in the likeness of a man he says "I'll come to where you are." And that's what Jesus has been doing for many of us he's been coming to where we are but the centurion man says something that challenged me in my study he says "No you don't have to come to me." Just speak a word i realized in this moment that what Jesus is marveling at is that this man who for all accounts should not even know the power of who he is gets it anyway this man's faith has risen to the level of who Jesus is it's one thing to have faith that Jesus will meet you where you are it's another thing to ask for faith to move to where Jesus is i think this may not be everyone's word but I do think that some of us have gotten too comfortable letting Jesus come to where we are meeting us in our comfort meeting us in the place that makes us feel safe instead of asking him how can I stretch my faith to where you are how can I believe in such a way that I rise to the occasion of what you're doing now oh that is where we are i feel this prophetically [Music] to further contextualize this text you have to realize that God is on the brink of doing something new in the earth in this text Jesus and his ministry is going to be something like they have never seen before and very few people will be able to catch that move but this centurion man gets it he gets that for what God is doing now you don't have to come to me i have enough faith that you can speak a word and that that word will have enough authority to meet me where I am as I was preparing for this message I heard God say to me that there is a fresh move happening in the spirit and this fresh move of God is going to be carried by those who are willing to rise to the occasion the centurion man demonstrates faith and the authority of God's word if you speak a word your word has enough authority that disease has to listen to what you said your word has enough authority that the bank has to have a glitch in his system i'm going to get approved in when God speaks a word the word has enough authority in it that anything that God says is going to happen must happen in the word we need people who are willing to rise to the occasion let your faith rise to the occasion of this word of this season of this move but what keeps us from our faith rising to the occasion is when we've had faith before and faith didn't look like what we thought it was going to look like and I heard God saying that our goal our posture is to have faith in the one who speaks the word more than the outcome that we prefer oh some of us have faith for an outcome but true faith is having faith in the one who speaks the word recognizing that the one who speaks the word is trustworthy enough to help us deal with whatever the outcome is man we're getting ready to step into what God forneew would be a season at this church and it is not lost on me that as we are stepping into what God forneew that many of you in your own lives and in your own way are stepping into what God forneew as well and if by chance you feel anything like I have felt over the last few months it vacasillates between yay and yeah but I heard God tell me that your effectiveness is directly correlated to the faith that you have in what I said [Applause] the only thing I know for sure is that the next stage of my life is connected to being the co- senior pastor of the Potter's House of Dallas i don't know what that looks like i don't know if I'll be able to do the innovative things that I've seen done here for 29 years but that outcome is not on me do you understand like don't worry about it you don't have to tell me I got it cuz I know who's got me do you understand what I'm saying that my faith isn't for me to do what has already been done my faith is to do what has been spoken over my life i want to talk to somebody who's about to walk into the unknown and I want you to understand that it's not about what happens on the other side of this it's about who you become in the process of it and I hear God say that there are a few other people in this room who need to rise to the occasion of what God's calling them to do and you may have to say goodbye to some old patterns and you may have to say goodbye to some old ways of thinking but I hear God saying the more you let go of things the higher you can flow you want to rise to the occasion i hear God saying you're still weighted down you got to drop some things off before you can soar to the next height and I hear God saying that your rise is directly connected to the weight that you drop i hear God saying it's time for you to lay aside some weights to lay aside some doubt to lay aside some anxiety to lay aside some secondguessing and I'm going to ask you to be crazy enough and bold enough to tell God if you speak a word over where I'm supposed to go you don't even have to go with me just send your word ahead of me you don't even have to walk with me i don't need you to babysit me in the destiny god if you order my steps I'll take them if you point me in the right direction I'll do it some people need to be babysat other people have been called to move oh I'mma say this i'mma close i didn't know what to name this message i went back and forth but there was something I saw in the text i know y'all don't believe in tattoos but if I believed in tattoos I got them i got the eight of them but you know whatever i would have got this tatted on me at another season of my life if I do it before Sunday I did it before I was co- senior pastor so it don't count jk matthew 8:13 Jesus says to the centurion "Go your way go your way the way that you've been doing it the way that you believe the way that you see the world the way that you've been showing up go your way do you understand he saw enough faith from the centurion man some of us he'd have been like "Come my way cuz your way you need to come my way don't go your way your way." Now I'll come get the one but I didn't came to got you too many times he says "And centurion you can go your way and as you have believed so let it be done for you it is possible to reach the stage of belief where Jesus can trust you to live out his word because you have believed can I tell you what I hear up underneath all my nerves and fear and all of the things that I feel when I feel what I feel i hear God saying "I can trust you [Music] [Applause] not just to me but to you i can trust you to go your way and it's going to be done for you as you have believed for some of you you've been going your way but without belief without a word from God and this message was meant to stop you in your tracks so that you don't go without a word so that you don't build that family without a word so that you don't build that marriage that business without a word now is not your season to go your way but there are some of you when you know who you are and you have faith and you know who God is you just question who you are the purpose ahead of you is clear the path has been made straight yet you still have uncertainty because you went your way in the past and ended up broken but I hear God saying that you got to trust the transformation that has taken place on the inside of you you got to trust that the word that I'm sending with you is enough to protect you that the word that I'm sending with you has layers and that I won't stop speaking that I won't just start you and not show you how to finish and there are many of us who are about to go our way i want to pray with someone you're in this room and you're afraid to go you're in this room and you want to believe that there's a word that's been spoken over your life but if you're honest you started questioning the word you started having experiences from other people words spoken by other people and now their word has more power than God's word over you you don't believe that no weapon formed against you will prosper you don't believe that all things could work together you don't believe that you could be fearfully and wonderfully made you don't believe that you can walk in integrity cuz somebody said you're going to always be this you're going to always be that and now you're living under the authority of a lesser word i want you to come to this altar and even as you're coming to the altar I want you to say "Holy Spirit come holy Spirit come holy Spirit come holy Spirit come." As you come in the Holy Spirit is coming some of you going to be walking and as you walking the Holy Spirit is going to have an encounter with you before you even get to the altar holy Spirit come holy Spirit come holy Spirit come holy Spirit come if you're in this room and you don't have to go I'm going to ask you to intercede i know we like to get to our car i know we like to get to our day going but God's about to speak a word over somebody's life that's going to break a chain somebody's family's about to be saved somebody's health is about to be restored if you don't have to go can you at least pray can you pray for somebody's wife somebody's daughter somebody's child somebody's husband somebody's son is at this altar they don't have a praying mother they don't have a praying father but they got you standing in the gap right now if you don't have to go I'm going to challenge you to be the body of Christ to take a minute and just pray holy Spirit come holy Spirit come do the work that only you can do rest in this room as only you can do give them power give them strength give them courage holy Spirit meet him as only you can you're in this room and you don't know who Jesus is i could hear somebody saying "He's sweet." I know i want you to have a real relationship with Jesus where you understand him as the model and the example where you understand him as the one who saves you from your sin save you from yourself i want to invite you at this altar with me too [Music] hallelujah [Music] don't let fear keep you from missing this moment some of you are going to have to rise to the occasion of this altar call holy Spirit come holy Spirit come thank you Jesus hallelujah thank you Jesus thank you Jesus holy Spirit have your way holy Spirit we welcome you holy Spirit we welcome your words your language to have a confrontation with their fears and their nerves with their past with their anxiety holy Spirit we release your power to flow in this room we give you full permission to meet each and every person at this altar in the space of their greatest need holy Spirit we welcome you thank you Jesus for sending the spirit for not letting us to walk through this life without power thank you God for the advocate that we have in the Holy Spirit i thank you God that you are translating their prayers even now and I thank you God that the spirit of God is falling on them in a fresh way i thank you God that no devil in hell has stopped the purpose that you have for them i thank you God that you still have purpose on reserve i thank you God that you still have destiny on reserve i hear God saying that I can take everything that the enemy meant for evil and I can show you that I can turn it for good god I thank you for every household represented at this altar for every broken spirit for every soul for every hungry spirit god I ask that you would invade the territory where the enemy has tried to question their identity tried to question their anointing tried to question their call and I thank you God that as the Holy Spirit begins to fall and to rest on them that you are tearing down walls that you are breaking barriers that you are allowing them to create space for divine encounter with you god I thank you in advance for the freedom that exists not in years not in months but God I thank you for freedom coming to them right now in the name of Jesus i thank you that we serve us suddenly God and where there is hunger in this room that the spirit of God is going to fall with fresh fire that there's going to be a fresh wave of the anointing that falls in this room come on intercessors i need you to pray i need you to pray right now because the enemy has been tormenting them for far too long but I hear God saying that this is going to be a moment of breakthrough i plead the blood of Jesus over these your sons and daughters i rebuke you devil right now i uproot every negative thought every generational curse every generational paradigm that has made them come under authority of the enemy i rebuke it now in the name of Jesus and I decree and declare by the power of Jesus that no longer will they be subject to the plans of the enemy addiction I come up against you right now depression I come up against you right now in the name of Jesus suicidal thoughts you have no place here fear you got to lift your grasp up off of them in the name of Jesus i speak power on the inside of them i speak against the spirit of lust the spirit of addiction the orphan spirit has got to go manipulation has got to go in the name of Jesus I speak truth i speak power i speak integrity i speak anointing i thank you God that you're going to give them courage i thank you God for boldness i thank you for the Holy Spirit not just touching them but overflow overflow overflow overflow overflow overflow change their mind change their thoughts change their ways god help them lose the taste out of their mouth i speak to instant recovery instant healing instant breakthrough in the name of Jesus we don't have to wait for it i serve a God who could do it right now now now now now the curse is broken now hell is nervous now enemy you got to go now out of their house just speak a word God before they make it back home before they get into the car speak a word speak a word speak a word and may their faith may their faith rise to the occasion god I thank you for holy boldness god I thank you for authority i thank you that what they used to say yes to they'll say no to with ease i thank you that what they used to say no to they'll say yes to indeed god I thank you for a divine reversal i thank you for divine reversal even now and as they walk in that divine reversal God I pray that you challenge them in the area of their belief anytime the enemy would have them to believe differently than what you say God I pray that their spirit would jump up and kick the enemy out of their thoughts i thank you God that the same mind that was in Christ Jesus will be in their mind i thank you that you're renovating them from the inside out i thank you that holiness will be their portion god I don't care what dirtiness they went through what pain they went through i thank you God that you're cleaning them up and they will be white as snow god I thank you for innocence coming back to them for hope coming back to them for creativity coming back to them i thank you for joy coming back to them i thank you God that who the Son is set free is free indeed i thank you God for freedom in their minds for freedom in their hearts for freedom in their spirit for freedom in their thoughts for freedom in the way they love for freedom in the way hey freedom hey I speak freedom over your mind break every chain break every chain break every chain in the name of Jesus may the way to glory fall on every thought may the way to glory fall on every addiction [Music] make them hungry like they've never been hungry before make them thirsty like they've never been thirsty before and I thank you for courage courage to do the right thing and strength to say yes order their steps God give them wisdom [Music] and may this be just the beginning oh I hear somebody saying "Thank you God." I feel like somebody got breakthrough if you don't have your breakthrough I want you to start thanking God for them cuz you in the right neighborhood for your breakthrough breakthrough is contagious i dare you to start thanking God until you feel some weight drop off of you for you to start thanking God until you hear some change break off of you i know it's awkward cuz you ain't done it in a minute but I hear God saying that if you would start worshiping me you'll create an atmosphere for the word and if you create an atmosphere for the word hell will have to get up off of you and if you create an atmosphere for the word the enemy won't be able to get to you if you create an atmosphere for the word demons tremble at the very mention of his name jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus over Jesus over my life Jesus over my mind Jesus over my spirit Jesus over my business wherever the enemy is I speak Jesus wherever hell has been busy I speak Jesus [Applause] jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus over cancer jesus over depression jesus jesus jesus [Music] i'm walking in the authority of Jesus god seal this word let it take root and let it produce authority let it produce vision let it produce tenacity let it produce resilience let it produce power we'll rise to the occasion we'll be who we need to be we'll say what you tell us to say we'll go where you tell us to go thank you God for this word thank you for trusting me with this word God where I miss I know you'll fill in the gaps and I thank you God that you will restore and refuel for all of those who poured out thank you for greater capacity for the next that is ahead of us in Jesus name I pray amen can you worship for a second family [Music] if this word bless you can you just take 10 seconds and worship for a second [Applause] continue to create an atmosphere for what took place in this room i'm telling you family it's easy for us to ask Jesus to come to us but we got to grow up we got to rise to the occasion of what God is doing now i want part of your prayer this week to be asking God how can I rise to the occasion of what you're doing now what ways do I need to change what atmosphere what patterns do I need to examine so that I can rise to the occasion of what you're doing now there is no better place to be than in the will of God and sometimes the will of God stretches us outside of our comfort zone the will of God will make a detour for you but he shouldn't keep having to make detours at a certain point we should say "I see you're shifting i see things are changing i'll rise to the occasion of this opportunity of this next i'll become who I need to become." And you know what I love is that we get to do it together that we're not in it on our own week in and week out you're going to be a part of a community that's rising to the occasion of what God wants to do and together we will testify of God's faithfulness and his goodness from season to season for 29 years he's been faithful to us here at the potter's house and we fitness to see what the next 29 years going to be if you're looking for a church home and you don't mind crazy people we would love to have you if this is your church make some noise so they know where all of us are all we going to do is love you and turn to your neighbor a few times and smack you around a little bit but if you want to join this church I want you to scan the QR code that's on the screen we're growing we're changing we're evolving and we get better when better joins us and we believe you better so we need you if you're looking for a church home if you're like you know what I'm not really the scan the QR code kind of person i want to meet someone and I want to touch someone we get that our pastors are here to the left we would love to hug on you to meet on you they're down here on the left they'll love on you hug on you kiss your babies and tell you all of the things you need to know about becoming a member here at the Potter's House what does it mean to be a member we don't keep a list of when you come to church and call you and tell you who you went at church this week it's just our way of letting you know all of the things that are going here on here at the Potter's House and making sure that you feel like you have a sense of community here in Dallas it's our way of making sure that you get connected to like-minded people so if you want us to be a part of your spiritual family we would be honored if you would join us so those instructions are on the screen we're going into this week we're going into Connect Week come on make some noise for Connect Week i know so many of you are busy but if you just look at the calendar if there's something that you can pop in on please come to the church picnic it's going to be an incredible time on Saturday um obviously we're going to be fasting on the 4th of July right saw some of y'all's fast was looking a little shaky when the 4th of July came up but we will have our church picnic on Saturday and then on Sunday we will be here for our church anniversary and our pastoral installation so please come bring a friend come pray for us and be a part of what uh the next foundation of the potter's house 2.0 is going to be oh it's 11:10 we all right now look at us may the Lord bless and keep you may he make his face to shine upon you and be gracious towards you may he lift up his countenance over you and grant you shalom shalom in Jesus name have an incredible week family we love you listen the Potter's House isn't just a place it's a movement family we are so much better when we come together and today we're inviting you to be a part of something bigger when you sew a seed you're planting the future of hope healing and change in times of uncertainty the house stands strong and because of you it keeps standing for others your giving isn't just generosity it's ministry and what you sew today will be the miracle someone is praying for [Music] if this message spoke to you and if you're ready to step into faith if you believe in what God is doing here don't wait sew a seed move in faith every gift every act of generosity fuels this mission and brings us closer to reaching the lives that need it the most