Let’s Get It Started Today - Dr. E. Dewey Smith
Transcript
00:00 who are present. If you get your Bibles, turn to Luke chapter 4. Not gonna worry your patients
00:04 long. We're gonna leave some time to pray for Omega Prep before they leave and some others who may
00:11 need prayer. So I'm gonna leave some time for us to minister and have prayer at the end of the
00:17 service. Amen. Amen. And pray for all of us Morehouse College students. Yes, they didn't
00:25 go too well for us on the football field. Amen. And so we need prayer today too. Amen.
00:32 Gospel of Saint Luke chapter 4. God bless those of you online, those in overflow.
00:39 Gospel of Saint Luke chapter 4. And I'm gonna begin reading at verse number 16. It says,
00:48 "He went to Nazareth where he had been brought up and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue."
00:55 As was his custom. "And he stood up to read the scroll the prophet Isaiah was handed to him.
01:02 Unrolling it he found the place where it was written, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me
01:06 because he's anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, good news to the poor. He sent me to
01:12 proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed,
01:19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Then he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the
01:26 attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began
01:33 by saying to them, 'Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.'" Verse number 20.
01:42 "Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in
01:48 the synagogue were fastened on him and he began by saying to them, 'Today this scripture is fulfilled
01:57 in your hearing.'" I want to start preach from this subject. Let's get it started today.
02:04 Let's get it started. Come on, look at neighbor and say, "Let's get it started today. Let's get
02:10 it started." The Lord, as we shared with you for the last several weeks, there's a difference
02:22 between the energies of God versus the essence of God. That Eastern Orthodox perspective about
02:31 this dichotomous motif basically suggests that the essence of God is who God is,
02:39 while the energies of God refers to how God operates. Who God is, is dependable and unchanging.
02:48 He said, "For I am the Lord and I change not." The essence of God, the character of God, the nature of
02:56 God is dependable and unchanging. The Hebrews said about Jesus that he's the same yesterday,
03:05 today, and forevermore. Who God is, God's essence cannot change. But through God's energies,
03:14 while the essence refers to who he is, the energies refers to how he operates.
03:20 And how God operates cannot be predicted. How God operates is not static. He's not stuck.
03:30 God can use prophets. God can use kings. God can use judges. God can use men. God can use
03:39 women. God can come by AM, by FM, by satellite. You can't predict how God is going to operate.
03:46 God operates in different ways. And that's important because for some reason in my life,
03:54 between the months of September and February, God operates quickly in ministry.
04:00 It's just for some reason, God... For some reason, church services are not as long from
04:08 September to February. I don't know. I can't figure it out.
04:12 But I don't believe that the Lord has to keep us here all day from September to... I mean, to...
04:26 God moves quickly. And today, seriously, today is exciting for me because I've been an avid lover
04:33 of God all my life. I love God, but I also love football. There's nothing like football season.
04:39 And I love football. Call me on save, whatever you want to call it. I love football.
04:45 And I believe that there are sometimes God can give spiritual insight even through secular
04:52 entities. I love... There are things that we can learn that are spiritual,
04:59 but we can learn them from the natural. Even Jesus, when he would teach in Matthew chapter 6,
05:05 one time he was talking about not worrying like those pagans. He said, "Consider the fowl the air
05:13 and consider the lilies the field." He was using these natural ocular demonstrations
05:20 to convey a spiritual truth. And I believe that even today, as we have what's called NFL Sunday,
05:27 my love for football, my homiletical antennas went into full gear because I see that there are
05:33 a lot of parallels in how football season starts with really how our lives should be based and be
05:43 determined. It's really powerful here because the text today is, if you let me use this as
05:50 a metaphor, it is the NFL starting day for Jesus. If you let me put it in context, he's about to
06:01 begin his ministry. The thing that he loves, the purpose for which he has been sent,
06:08 is getting ready to commence at the time of this text. But he says, "Today is this scripture
06:16 fulfilled in your hearing." But what I want to talk about today is he just didn't pop out of
06:24 his mama's belly and said, "Today, let's get it started." Seemingly, that was a process that led
06:34 up to him walking in his God-ordained call. That was some prerequisites. That was some things that
06:42 had to be in place in order for him to get to this point where he could say, "Today is my starting
06:49 day." A few things I want to share with you and make them, hopefully, you see the parallels.
06:54 The first thing I want to say about this text and about our lives and even about what happens
06:59 at 1 o'clock today is before you can get to this point where you want to get it started today,
07:09 you have to understand this, something I want to call pre-season.
07:12 Somebody say pre-season. Pre-season stuff. Pre-season stuff. See, please understand that
07:20 the teams that will be playing this afternoon, this is not the first time that they've assembled
07:26 themselves. What you see happen today is not the fruit of osmosis. Somebody just didn't jump off
07:36 the back of a collard green truck and say, "Let's get it started today." The challenge with many of
07:43 us, particularly in this day and time, is we want to get started, but we want to get it started.
07:53 But the challenge is we want to get it started without understanding the nuances of pre-season.
07:58 What got me here is that we see Jesus in Luke 2, verses 41 through about verses 52. He's 12
08:06 years of age. Can somebody say He's 12 years of age? At the age of 12, His family has gone up to
08:11 Jerusalem for one of the annual Jewish feasts. There were several Jewish feasts they participated
08:17 in. The Feast of Weeks, Feast of Tabernacles, Feast of Pentecost, Feast of Passover, Feast of
08:23 Unleavened Bread. Jews from throughout the diaspora will go up to Jerusalem, participate
08:28 in those annual festivals. His family had gone there from Nazareth for one of those festivals.
08:34 And when they got there, Jesus was, if you let me contextualize it, was spending His time in the
08:40 film room. Jesus was spending His time with the coaches, with the doctors and the teachers of
08:48 the script. He was there with the teachers of the law while the other kids were in the back having
08:54 Kool-Aid and hot dogs and punch, if you let me contextualize it. Jesus was getting insight from
08:59 the veterans of the gang. In so much that on His family's way back to Nazareth that they got
09:07 temporarily disconnected from Jesus because Luke says they supposed that He was in the crowd.
09:13 They traveled a day's journey before discovering that they had left Jesus back in Jerusalem.
09:19 They went back there and found Him there after a day and His mother and father said, "We thought
09:25 you were in the crowd with us." And He said, "You should have known that I'm going to be about
09:30 getting ready to get started because I'm about my father's business. Are you going to help me here?"
09:36 He's at 12 years of age. But what is interesting here is that is the last time that we see Him
09:44 up until this text this morning. At the time of this text, He's 30 years of age. We have not seen
09:53 Him since He was 12. So brothers and sisters, so there's an 18-year gap biblically that we don't
10:02 know much from a canonical perspective. What I mean by the canonized books of the Bible, we don't know
10:09 what really Jesus was doing. Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, none of the epistle writers give us any
10:16 insight about what was happening in Jesus' life between the ages of 12 and 30. Some commentators
10:26 call it the unknown years, the lost years, or the missing years. From 12 to 30, we see nothing
10:37 about Him. We get information from some esoteric literature and some non-canonical books that
10:44 suggest that He was working as a carpenter with His stepfather, Joseph. There are some others that
10:49 said He perhaps visited India and spent some time with the Essenes. We're really unsure.
10:56 One writer, the Gospel of Thomas, which is not a canonical book, talked about that Jesus was doing
11:03 some things during that age. Another writer who's not an inspired writer, he suggests that between
11:09 12 and 30, that one day some kids were messing with Jesus and bothering Jesus and picking on
11:15 Jesus, and Jesus had a problem with it because they were teasing Him because He was different.
11:21 And one writer says that the little boys that were bothering Jesus, that Jesus got mad with them
11:26 because they were bullying Jesus. And what Jesus decided to do was He was just going to
11:32 kill their little play birds, their pet birds. And Jesus killed their pet birds and made them
11:38 start crying. And when they start crying, Jesus laughed and then resurrected the little birds.
11:45 Amen. This is true. This is a true...I'm not saying the story is true, but this is what has been said
11:53 about Him. We don't see that in this canonical literature, and some people have a problem with
11:59 that. I really don't have a problem with an immature Jesus, if that happened. I'm not sure
12:05 if that happened or not, but it made me like Him a little more. Amen. Yeah, that Jesus was just
12:09 was, "We're going to bully Him." Yeah, that He would get Him up off you. Yeah, that He just said,
12:15 "I'm not going to hold you long." Amen. That Jesus got the little boys off of Him, one writer says.
12:20 But we're really unsure what happens between 12 and 30. They're called silent years, but can I
12:27 tell you what I believe they're called? I believe they're called the pre-season years. And I think
12:33 the problem for the child of God is all of us want promotion, but we don't want pre-season.
12:38 Pre-season is a time when nobody knows your name. Pre-season is a time when it's not yet
12:46 manifested. Pre-season is a time for OTAs. Pre-season is a time where it's hot. Pre-season
12:52 is a time where you deal with the cramps and get all the stuff, the junk out of your system that
12:57 you've eaten since the last season. Pre-season is a time to get away from those distractions.
13:04 Pre-season is a time for preparation. And some of you are wondering in your life right now,
13:09 perhaps you're frustrated with God because the stuff you've been praying for has not started
13:14 today. May I suggest parenthetically that perhaps the reason why you're not walking in it yet
13:20 is because simply this, you're in pre-season. Pre-season is a time when you may see others
13:27 decline the corporate ladder. Pre-season is that time when others may get married before you get
13:33 married. Pre-season is a time when your change may be strange and your money may look funny,
13:38 but it's at those moments when you're in pre-season that you got to understand this,
13:44 that pre-season is an important part of your development. Because if you get to the game time
13:50 without going through the nuances of pre-season, you won't have the character, you won't have the
13:56 dexterity, you won't have the stamina. Come on, help me somebody. You won't have the endurance
14:03 because what happens, a lot of us, we get to it when we're not properly prepared for it,
14:08 but then you quit as soon as you run into some problems. There are some people here who want to
14:14 be business owners and you want to walk in entrepreneurship and God is saying you're not
14:18 ready for that yet. And you're frustrated on the job because you're still working that nine to five.
14:24 You got dreams and visions in you that have not yet manifested and you're praying and you're
14:28 wondering God, when are you going to let my business get started? God told me to tell you,
14:33 you're not ready yet because entrepreneurship looks good on the outside, but are you ready to
14:39 deal with customers yourself? Are you ready to go without getting a check when the revenues don't
14:45 come through? Are you ready to go without any insurance? Y'all quiet on me here. Are you ready
14:49 for the phone calls? Are you ready for all the responsibility being on your shoulders? God may
14:54 be saying, I am protecting you by withholding what you really desire because I know what's best for
15:02 you and you're not quite ready for it. So instead of cursing pre-season, start to thank God, not just
15:10 for what God provides, but what also God prevents. I'm thankful that some stuff in my life did not
15:18 manifest because if I had gotten what I thought I wanted, y'all quiet on me here, I would have lost
15:25 my mind by now. I'm in pre-season. Be thankful for the relationship that didn't work. You thought
15:32 you were going to marry them and have two kids by now and it broke your heart. Guess what? You're
15:37 in pre-season and what God wanted you to understand was everybody who starts in pre-season can't go to
15:44 you, can't go with you when the season starts. There's a period called cutting. There's a period
15:50 called waving and you can't get to where you need to be until you get your roster down. Y'all quiet
15:57 on me here. Fella, you can't get married because you got too many girls on your roster. You gotta
16:02 go through a cut season to dwindle that number down the size. Y'all quiet on me here. But guess
16:08 what? Instead of being mad at God for what didn't work, you all thank God. Am I talking to a young
16:15 lady here? Oh, there's a young lady here from 1984. You were so in love with Junebug. You remember
16:21 Junebug, don't you? Junebug wore that members only jacket. Junebug that wore the Jordache jeans.
16:28 Junebug that had that long cherry curl. You thought the sun rose and sat on Junebug. Am I talking
16:36 right? But you went back, Lord have mercy, to the 35th class reunion because Junebug left you and
16:42 married Faye Mae Quisha and you thought your life was going to be over. But you went to your class
16:48 reunion and the first person you saw was Junebug and he had that same members only jacket with
16:54 them same Jordache jeans, that same cherry curl and three teeth in his mouth and you lifted your
17:01 hand right there in the family reunion and said, God, I thank you for letting me go through a
17:06 preseason, for not bringing this stuff into my post. Am I talking to somebody who can look at
17:12 your life and say, I'm in preseason. I'm not there yet. I'm in preseason. Don't you hate on me now.
17:19 You might, I may look small now. I may not look where you think I should be right now, but I'm
17:25 in preseason. I may be traveling by a car that don't work now, but don't judge me on my preseason.
17:31 Because when God gets through with me, when I work these muscles off, when I sweat some stuff,
17:36 when I cry some tears and deal my crap, I'm going to be what God wants. Am I talking to somebody?
17:43 Can you handle your preseason?
17:45 And if you don't know what season you in, you will spend regular season money
18:00 off a preseason salary. Come on, help me. Somebody help me. Somebody. Yeah. When you're
18:07 in preseason, you may not visit Dubai when you're in preseason. You maybe you can't go
18:16 to take an Alaskan cruise. Sometimes preseason may mean you take your girl up the lake out of Tuna
18:27 with some baloney and some spam. Come on, help me some punch and some Kool-Aid. But if she really
18:34 with you, at least you'll be thankful that you're spending time. Come on, help me somebody.
18:38 And you're building something together. When you in preseason, you may not be able to buy
18:44 a Louis Vuitton. What good is having a Louis Vuitton purse, but nothing in it, but old
18:49 peppermint and lint. Y'all quiet over here. Preseason may not be a time for Gucci. It may
18:55 be a time for guests. It may not be a time for Prada. Maybe a time for Payless, but you have
19:01 more peace in mind and understand that God can take you from glory to glory and faith to faith.
19:07 If we mess up preseason, and I don't know who I'm talking to, but I heard the Lord say to tell me,
19:15 you in don't get weary in preseason for in due season, you shall reap if you faint.
19:24 I came to tell you some people on your job who are trying to suppress you now, just keep praying,
19:30 keep showing up, keep working hard. Cause the last gonna be first and the first gonna be last. I
19:39 don't know who I'm talking to, but God told me to tell you for your faithfulness is your time.
19:44 You've endured. Come on, the rush, going through the pain and for your faithfulness, God,
19:51 God, brother and sisters. If you be faithful over a few things, God will make you ruler.
20:08 I keep telling you, if you stay small enough, long enough, God will make you big enough,
20:14 soon enough, but can you appropriately handle some outside, maybe in preseason
20:20 and sometime in our lives, we may be in different seasons in different areas,
20:25 but Jesus for 18 years, no record, no productivity, nothing. But then all of a sudden,
20:36 18 years later at the age of 30, he reappears and pops on the scene.
20:42 18 years. Don't think he was not doing anything.
20:47 I can't tell you what all he was doing, but I do know it was preparation time.
20:53 18 years of preparation. He pops on the scene here in Jordan River,
21:02 his cousin who's six months older than him. His name is John. John's mother was Elizabeth.
21:09 Jesus's mother was Mary. Mary and Elizabeth were cousins. Both Mary and Elizabeth had miraculous
21:16 conceptions and births. Elizabeth had a miraculous birth because Luke one tells us she was old,
21:23 had been barren, well-stricken in her years. And in her old age, God gives her her
21:30 gerontological blessing, allows her to conceive a child whose name was John.
21:35 Mary has a miraculous birth because she's a 15-year-old ghetto fabulous girl from the slums
21:42 of Palestine who had never been engaged or never been touched by a man, but she was overshadowed
21:47 by the Holy Spirit. Are y'all going to help me preach this thing? Now, John is six months older
21:53 than Jesus, so he's 30 and a half years of age. He's been doing a baptism of repentance.
21:59 He's been called the forerunner of Jesus, the one who preached, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord."
22:06 He is preaching the gospel of repentance saying, "Come back to God," but also preaching,
22:11 "There's one who's coming after me, whose shoes I'm not worthy to tie. I indeed baptize you with
22:18 water, but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire." Are y'all going to help me preach this?
22:24 He's called the forerunner of Jesus. He's called the voice crying out in the wilderness. Well, at 30
22:31 years of age, Jesus shows up and his cousin is doing a baptism there in the Jordan River.
22:38 And this is when we see the second point, a second movement. We see how we see that that should be
22:43 the priority of submission because Jesus shows up and says, "Cuz?" John said, "Yes." He said, "I need you
22:50 to baptize me." And John said, "No, no, no, sir. I can't baptize you. I can't baptize you. I need you
22:59 to baptize me. I was the one who was sent to prepare the way for you. It would be disrespectful
23:05 for me to try to baptize you." He says, "I've known you cuz prenatally." Are y'all with me here?
23:13 Yeah, when his mama got pregnant in her old age and Mary got pregnant and was sent by the angel
23:19 Gabriel to see her old and cousin Elizabeth. When Mary came to the house when she was pregnant and
23:25 her old cousin Elizabeth was pregnant, Luke 1 tells us that when they made the salutation that Mary
23:32 is at the door, John had a prenatal theophanous epiphany while in his mother's womb he got filled
23:40 with the Holy Ghost and had a prenatal praise break right there while he still was in the uterus.
23:49 John said, "I'm gonna shout." John got filled with the Holy Ghost prenatally while he was still
23:56 in the umbilical cord before his mom had reached her third trimester. Y'all quiet.
24:01 John, while he still was attached, while he still was him then in the womb, he said, "I'm gonna
24:08 shout and be filled with the Holy Ghost prenatally." Now, here's the challenge. Why is it
24:14 that John can leap in his mama's womb with no space while not even being free, still attached
24:21 to his mama's umbilical cord and some of y'all got all the space you need, ain't attached by nothing,
24:28 but ain't said amen since Methuselah was a baby. If John could shout in his mama's womb,
24:35 somebody should be able to open your mouth right in his house and give God some glory and some praise.
24:43 Am I talking to somebody around this house who knows that John ain't the only somebody who's
24:49 been filled with the Holy Ghost? If John was filled with the Holy Ghost prenatally,
24:54 you all have the Holy Ghost since you've come out. As a matter of fact, it was early.
24:58 One morning, just about the break of y'all got the break so man, I feel like Christian. Jesus
25:06 came in my room and touched me and washed all my sins away. I started running. I started shouting.
25:14 I found no doubt about it. I got nothing but the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost saved me. The Holy Ghost.
25:33 Look at somebody say, I've got nothing but the Holy Ghost.
25:40 So John, let me, Jesus, Jesus steps to John and says, John, cuz I need you to baptize me.
25:57 He said, I need you to baptize me. John said, John said, cuz I can't baptize you. This is in Luke.
26:04 I'm in Luke chapter three. Now I can't baptize you. I can't baptize you. You're the savior. I'm
26:08 your servant. You're the Lord. I'm your subject. I can't baptize you. Matthew four, Jesus said,
26:14 suffered so, suffered to be so for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Jesus said, no,
26:23 this is a pattern. What do you mean a pattern? He says, it's a pattern because what I need
26:29 the people in succeeding generations to know is this, that you can't walk in a today's season
26:36 if you don't understand the priority of submission.
26:45 He said that, he said, I can't come to show you salvation until I've come to show you service
26:55 and submission that in order for me to fulfill my season, this is not a solo act.
27:09 Now, now, now I thank God. Let me just cross season for a moment. This may be
27:16 not a part of metaphor, but I'd be remiss if I didn't do it. Even in golf,
27:21 you got to have some submission and teamwork. Tiger Woods got to have a caddy.
27:29 You're not feeling me here. The only time you don't see nobody with them, you saw yesterday
27:38 cause she's a bad mama jamma. ATL's on. Coco.
27:43 Coco did the dog on thing. Y'all, y'all not helping me here. I wish somebody give it up for Coco.
27:51 Coco Stewart, US Open, 19 years old. And I love it cause soon as she finished, she got down on her
28:00 knees and told God, thank you. But even Coco has a coach. Now I'm going somewhere with this. Jesus
28:10 said, the problem with some of you is some of you are too arrogant to find somebody else that you
28:18 submit to. You can't make it to your destination unless you have somebody to come alongside you
28:25 and walk with you. Jesus said, in order for me to fulfill my responsibility, I need John. I'm
28:32 going to submit to his leadership and let him baptize me to show you I'm not too good to be
28:40 submitted. I need somebody who has a connection, somebody who's a little older, somebody who may
28:52 have some maturity in the area that I don't have them. I need John to baptize me. And then John
28:58 took him into the water. Can I tell you what happened to me? It really was great. I didn't
29:02 know what God was doing until he gave me this message, but it blessed me. Other day, my friend
29:06 called me. He said, I need you. He said, I need you to do me a favor. I said, what? He said, I
29:09 need you to be with me in Colorado. I said, really? He said, yes, I need you to be with me in Colorado.
29:15 He said, yeah. I said, well, church is on Sunday. He said, just figure out how to be with me in
29:20 Colorado. I said, okay. I said, what's up? He said, well, I need to do something for the first time.
29:28 It's my first time coaching at home and I cannot step on that field
29:36 to play a game unless my man of God
29:46 wants the field with me. He said, and everywhere you put your foot,
29:52 I'm going to put my foot. He said, because it's deeper than football. It's about God getting the
30:01 glory. Y'all quiet on me. You know what I did? I took, I took this plane and I took,
30:06 and I didn't, I didn't get the word. How did you need me?
30:12 You're a professional hall of famer athlete. What you need me? You got a coaching staff. What you
30:17 need? You got, you got two Hydeman trophy, uh, people in the consideration and you need me.
30:22 I ain't played football in 35 years. I can't go run, catch, tackle, block, can't do nothing to
30:30 help you on the field. He said, yes, you can. I said, what's that? He said, cause that's something
30:35 you can do. What's your mouth and your connection that we can't do without physical abilities.
30:42 He said, because I know if God does not anoint my steps, I came to tell somebody here. If my friend
30:51 Dion Sanders could start his chapter by saying, I need to submit myself to the man of God, who's
30:57 going to stand right beside everybody needs somebody to stand with you when you're trying
31:02 to start your season, who you have in your life that can pray with you, that can pray for you
31:08 when you're up, when you're down, when you need some consider who you have in your life.
31:12 And you all take God for a moment and thank God for the people
31:19 who went before you in prayer. Oh, you all thank God for a praying mother, a praying grandmother,
31:27 a praying auntie, a praying preacher, praying grandfather who went before you in prayer.
31:32 And the reason why you're standing right now is cause somebody prayed for you.
31:37 Had you on their mind. Took the time and prayed for you.
31:53 So he, so he goes down, he goes down in the water, he goes down in the water,
32:02 he goes down in the water. Yeah. Precedent. You got to have to precede the situations,
32:09 precedence stuff, prioritize submission. But then third, you got to prepare for struggle.
32:14 Yeah. You got to prepare for struggle. I said, you got to prepare for struggle.
32:21 What you mean do it? Well, before Jesus got started, after he got baptized and submitted,
32:28 Matthew four one says he was led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
32:44 And here's when you know you really already.
32:49 Because when Jesus was baptized, his father spoke
32:56 and his father said in Matthew three, you, that this is my beloved son
33:08 in whom I'm well, please. I was talking to a buddy of mine in NFL and he blessed me. He said,
33:15 he said one of the things about football previously, sometimes particularly in NFL, he says
33:22 that often jerseys in the past and it happens sometime in basketball too, but often in jerseys
33:34 within sports with jerseys in preseason, they wouldn't put names on the back.
33:42 The name wouldn't go on the back of the jersey. And so I asked the question, well,
33:55 why wouldn't they put names on the back of the jersey? And he said, because they hadn't made the
34:01 team before we spend the money and the time to put our name on you. You got the first
34:14 made the team. Come on. I'm how somebody, uh, why you got his name tattooed on you?
34:42 Why do you got her name tattooed on your arm? And she ain't made.
34:50 See what happens is if we put your name on us prematurely and you get cut,
35:05 I'm stuck. You stuck with the tramp stamp. Y'all, y'all, y'all, y'all, y'all, y'all,
35:11 y'all help me appreciate and got the rear range, go through some more pain to change the name.
35:16 Cause you gave somebody your name prematurely. You better be careful before you get somebody
35:21 your name and before you take your name, y'all not saying anything to me.
35:32 Everybody don't qualify to take your name
35:35 and you don't qualify. Don't give them your body.
35:40 If you don't mind having that name,
35:46 how many times Lord, Lord helped me.
35:59 And mama told me if you, if she is not the one you marry, don't touch you.
36:07 Fellas, how many times have we wasted our seed
36:17 and threaten our future? Just throwing seed everywhere.
36:28 What's somebody that you know, don't qualify to take your name.
36:35 Oh, y'all ain't shouting like he was shouting when, when, when the praise team just was singing.
36:45 Lord, forgive us, forgive us.
36:57 Just in stoop. Just how many times that we stupidly,
37:01 if someone's had a hundred dollars for our stupidity, for each stupidity,
37:13 we'd be right next to Elon Musk in terms.
37:17 Jesus goes through the struggle and God said, let me put my name on you.
37:31 Since you submitted, you are my son. So the back of his jersey said God's son,
37:39 but two verses later, the devil come and said, if you are,
37:45 if you are the son of God, what the devil wants to do is make you question your identity.
37:51 He wants you to question everything God has said about you, but I wish you open
37:58 your mouth. So I am what God says I am. I can have what God says I can have.
38:03 So did not. So now he's weak. He's in pre he's in, he's in training camp.
38:13 His, his, his diet has changed. He's in the wilderness. He's hot. He's weak. He's been
38:23 fasted. And now the devil comments said, if you are the son of God, command that these stones be made
38:31 bread. Often the devil gets you, wants to attack you. Once you understand what God says about you,
38:40 the most threatening thing to the enemy is somebody who is aware of how God feels about you.
38:44 You ain't the son of God. If you are proven
38:52 Jesus, you know, I ain't got nothing to prove to you. I made the team already.
38:59 I got his name on the back of my jersey.
39:07 Let me say a word about this before I move on. Be careful about
39:10 revenge strategies.
39:15 A lot of us live our lives. Like we got something to prove.
39:21 And we say stuff like, you know, folks that I wasn't gonna make it. So
39:26 teach that won't make it. So every day I'm going to show that teacher,
39:31 she told me the fifth grade. So here you are 30. My teacher, the fifth grade told me I wasn't
39:36 going to be nothing. When you grow to a certain point, you don't live your life
39:42 to prove what somebody said about you 15 years ago was wrong.
39:48 What that really means is they still control you.
39:51 It says that you can't even be motivated unless you got a hating person.
40:00 Don't get up every day to prove people wrong. Get up every day to prove what God says about you is
40:08 right. Let me lose this weight to show him he missed the catch.
40:19 I'm gonna get fine. So every time he sees me, he'll know what he missed out on.
40:28 Now, won't you get fine for you?
40:30 So you can look good to you. Won't you get fine for the next joker who's coming along
40:37 so he can enjoy the fruit of your labor? Why'd you get fine?
40:41 But somebody who moved on, ain't thinking about you get fine for the next
40:45 body. Stilettos for the next y'all y'all got y'all got the brakes on me here.
40:52 Stop spending your time looking through the rear view mirror.
40:56 He said, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You know why? You know why? You know why I'm ready?
40:59 He says, because the playbook guarantees success.
41:02 Yeah. And here's when you know, you ready to get started. He says, the devil says,
41:09 I'm gonna make you struggle. Command these stones. He made bread. I'm gonna cut you.
41:13 He said it is written.
41:16 It written that man shall not live by bread alone,
41:24 but by every word y'all forgive me. I feel so churchy. I really, I thought just,
41:28 I don't know what's wrong. Man should not live by bread alone,
41:32 but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God. Oh, I feel good in my soul.
41:41 Ah, let's get it started today. In other words, Jesus said, you're going to be successful. You
41:48 better have some word in you. Yeah. I know you got secular humanism. I know you got moral
41:56 relativism, but you better have some word. Why? Cause his word is going to be the thing that
42:03 stands. Ah, when both heaven and earth, uh, passed away, I'm reminded of a little boy whose name was
42:15 Johnny. Johnny was 10 years of age. Johnny went on a fishing trip as Johnny was going on a fishing
42:30 trip on his way back to the truck. Johnny slipped, hit his head and it left him permanently blind.
42:42 Little Johnny was a member of the Sunday school group at his local church and he had a love
42:50 for God. Yeah. Little Johnny was left with a permanent blindness,
42:56 stuck in the hospital. Seemingly folk thought God had forsaken him.
43:05 But before Johnny had his accident, he spent time in Sunday school. He spent time in BTU.
43:13 He spent time in vacation Bible school. He spent time with his local Oana group.
43:21 And the students said to the teacher, let's go to the hospital to encourage little Johnny.
43:34 And they told the Sunday school teacher, let's go and have Bible study at the hospital with little
43:43 Johnny. We know that he cannot see any longer and he probably needs some encouragement.
43:52 And the school Sunday school department went to visit little Johnny in the hospital.
44:00 And to their surprise, when they got there, Johnny had a smile on his face.
44:05 He had bandages on his eyes. Oh Lord. The teacher said, little Johnny, we came
44:14 yeah, to read you the word of God. Yeah. We know you love the Bible and you're going through
44:24 struggle. So we came, you can start your new life having some Bible study. And Johnny told them,
44:35 I appreciate the gesture. I've always loved my classmates and love my Sunday school teachers.
44:42 But little Johnny said, if y'all would allow me, I can't read. I don't know Braille yet.
44:50 I want to study the word with him, but I really don't need y'all. Yeah. To read for me.
44:58 All I need y'all to do is say your ABCs. Yeah. And if y'all say your ABCs,
45:08 then I can have Bible study with y'all. Somebody said, Hey, and Johnny said, ask
45:17 and it shall be given. Seek and ye shall find. Somebody said, be. Johnny said, but they that
45:29 wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. Somebody said, see. Johnny said, come unto me.
45:43 All ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you the desires of your heart.
45:50 I feel churchy here. Somebody said, D Johnny said, delight yourself in the Lord,
45:58 and he'll give you the desires of your heart. Somebody said, E Johnny said,
46:09 into his gates with thanksgiving, into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him and bless his
46:16 name. Somebody said, F Johnny said, friend not thyself, because of evil do. Neither be thou
46:27 in this of the workers of iniquity. Somebody said, G Johnny said, go ye therefore and teach your
46:37 nation. Y'all got the breaks on, do we? I guess I got the preacher on. Somebody said, H Johnny said,
46:44 hide me as the apple of your eye. Somebody said, I Johnny said, I will lift up my mind
47:02 unto the hill with come with my help. For my help. Y'all got the breaks on me. Come from the Lord.
47:10 Somebody said, J Johnny said, yeah. Johnny said, joy will come in the morning. Y'all got the breaks
47:23 on me. Somebody said, K Johnny said, now unto him who's able to keep it. To keep
47:32 you from falling. Somebody said, L Johnny said, love your neighbor as yourself. Somebody said,
47:40 M Johnny said, make, I said, make to y'all booze and sediti folk. Make joy for nine.
47:49 And serve the Lord with gladness. Somebody said, N Johnny said, now unto him. Yeah, who is able
48:00 to do exceeding abundantly. Above all you can ask on thing. Somebody said, O Johnny said,
48:08 O magnify the Lord with me. Y'all got the breaks on me. Somebody said, somebody said, P
48:23 Johnny said, pray ye. Praise ye the Lord. Praise him in the front of his power.
48:30 Praise him for his mighty acts. Praise him for his excellent greatness. Is there anybody around
48:36 the house of hope? Then come to look at the preacher. But you came to praise God. Yeah.
48:42 Somebody, somebody, somebody. I said somebody. Somebody said, R Johnny said, resist the devil.
48:54 And he will flee. Somebody said, S Johnny said, seek ye first the kingdom of God and all in the
49:02 righteousness. Somebody said, T Johnny said, trust in the Lord. I feel good y'all. Trust in the Lord
49:13 with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding. Somebody said, S Johnny said,
49:20 seek ye first the kingdom of God. Y'all got the breaks on me. Yes. Somebody said, Q Johnny said,
49:29 quench not the spirit. Not your neighbor. So don't you quench the spirit. Somebody said,
49:34 you're quenching the spirit. Yes. Somebody said, use Johnny said, uphold me with thy free spirit.
49:43 Somebody said, V Johnny said, vengeance is mine. Say the Lord and I will repay.
49:52 Are y'all going to help me preach here? Somebody said, W Johnny said, wait on the Lord.
49:59 Be of good courage and he'll strengthen your heart. Somebody said, why Johnny said,
50:09 I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
50:14 Well, fear no evil for thou art with me. Give your neighbor fist bump and say neighbor,
50:24 the Lord is with you. Say neighbor, I don't know what you're going through, but the Lord is with
50:34 you. When you've been crying, the Lord is with you. In the midnight hour, the Lord is with you.
50:43 And then somebody, somebody said, Johnny, we only got one more alphabet. Johnny,
50:51 it's a strange letter. We know you ain't got nothing for this. Johnny said, what is it?
51:00 And they said, Z Johnny said, don't you forget this. I may be blind. I may never see again,
51:08 but don't feel sorry for me. Don't cry for little Johnny. Here's why. Cause I am bound
51:17 for Mount Zion, way out on a hill. And if anybody makes it, surely I will look at your neighbor,
51:37 say neighbor, it's time to get started. Say neighbor, God's got blessings waiting on you.
51:46 Say neighbor, it's time to give him praise. Say neighbor, it's time to go to higher levels.
51:54 Say neighbor, it's time to run through troops and leap over walls. Are you ready?
52:06 I gotta take my seat. Can I tell y'all what happened? When I got in the locker room,
52:13 my friend, Dion, let me speak to the team. I gave them a pre-gang speech. And after I gave
52:22 them a pre-gang speech, he said, we're going to get it started. Then he said, it's personal.
52:29 He said, we're getting ready to go and win. We're getting ready to get started. But before we get
52:35 started, we can't take the field until y'all give me my theme music. I don't know about y'all,
52:44 but somebody is getting ready to start your business, start a new level, start a new relationship,
52:51 start getting your joy back. But before you get started, can I tell y'all something?
52:58 Jane, do me, give me my theme music. Let me dance. Let me shout. Let me get a glory.
53:09 Somebody shout yes. Somebody shout yes. Somebody shout yes.
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58:23 Wow. Wow.