The Danger of Self-Powered Faith: A Critical Analysis of ‘Keep Pouring’

• Human Struggle and Resilience 00:32:01 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor introduces the theme of people 'falling apart while holding it together,' using personal anecdotes about a broken car and his son's maintenance work to illustrate how people manage crises with temporary fixes.
• Divine Opportunity in Extremity 00:40:48 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor argues that reaching one's 'point of extremity' is actually the 'point of God's opportunity,' where God can take over when human resources are exhausted.
• Biblical Illustration of Provision 00:38:46 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor reads and analyzes the story of the widow of the prophet in 2 Kings 4, highlighting how God provided oil only after the widow gathered all available empty jars, symbolizing God's provision meeting human effort.
• Divine Refinement vs. Punishment 00:41:09 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor clarifies that God's actions to break down or empty a person are not for punishment but to build reliance on Him and remove worldly mindsets.
• Human Investment and Divine Interest 00:45:17 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the principle that 'where there's no investment, there's no interest' to explain why God requires human effort and 'skin in the game' before providing miracles.
• Gratitude and Perspective 00:47:15 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor encourages the congregation to praise God for what they have and where they are, rather than focusing on what they lack or comparing themselves to others.
• Spiritual Warfare and Perseverance 00:49:41 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes the enemy's strategy to wear down believers until they quit, urging them to hold on to their faith and presence in the church.
• The Vessel of Desire 00:53:53 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor introduces the concept of the 'vessel of desire,' urging the congregation to be passionate about God first to allow Him to fill them.
• Desire 00:53:53 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor introduces 'desire' as the first vessel, urging the congregation to be passionate about God first, above all else, and to cultivate a specific space for prayer.
• Obedience 00:56:21 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor defines obedience as flowing with the Spirit rather than fighting God's will, emphasizing that it should not be difficult or burdensome.
• Expectation 00:57:17 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor discusses setting high standards for oneself and expecting God to move in one's life and church, using the metaphor of drawing a line in the sand to raise the standard.

• Sermon Illustration 00:33:11 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a story from the late 90s about borrowing a wrecked Geo Metro with a bungee cord holding the hood down to drive to a festival, using it as an analogy for how people 'hold it together' with temporary fixes like tape or bubble gum.
• Sermon Illustration 00:35:12 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor mentions his son Jackson, a maintenance man, who successfully assembled complex equipment, contrasting this with the pastor's own lack of patience and tendency to 'jimmy' things together.
• Sermon Illustration 00:37:02 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes his own recent humbling experience where God took away his walking ability, comparing his crumbling state to a sandcastle being sifted through fingers but held together just enough to withstand the wind.
• Sermon Illustration 00:39:00 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts the biblical story of the widow of the prophet who, despite having nothing but a small jar of oil, was instructed by Elisha to gather all empty jars from neighbors and pour oil into them until they were all full.
• Sermon Illustration 00:39:43 ▶️ 📄
  > The biblical account of the widow of Zarephath (2 Kings 4) who used a small jar of oil to pay her debt and provide for her family after following Elisha's instructions to gather empty jars and pour.
• Sermon Illustration 00:41:59 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor's personal testimony of falling apart internally while trying to hold it together outwardly over the last 10 years, and how God helped him through that extremity.
• Sermon Illustration 00:46:02 ▶️ 📄
  > An anecdote about the pastor's 16-year-old buddy who damaged his mom's boyfriend's truck by doing donuts with a spool of cable, illustrating how 'skin in the game' (ownership) creates care and interest.
• Sermon Illustration 00:48:03 ▶️ 📄
  > A story about 'Sister Hedrick' who continued to shout and praise God whether she had nothing, had something, or lost it again, demonstrating steadfast faith regardless of circumstances.
• Sermon Illustration 00:50:36 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor's personal background from 'Ladybug Lane' (Jacob Hedrick), describing a harsh environment of racism and poverty, and how God pulled him out of that situation to give him a new testimony.
• Sermon Illustration 00:53:17 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the analogy of empty vessels that need to be filled, contrasting filling them with 'trash' or 'hatred' versus filling them with God. He also uses the metaphor of drawing a line in the sand to illustrate how setting high standards creates power in the spiritual battle.

• Pastoral Charge 00:19:54 ▶️ 📄
  > Come forward for prayer and anointing
• Pastoral Charge 00:42:39 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor urges the congregation to attend church, be prayerful, and present themselves well.
• Pastoral Charge 00:44:42 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor requests the congregation to verbally affirm the preceding statement about healing.
• Pastoral Charge 00:49:01 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor requests the congregation to verbally affirm the blessing of God's name.
• Pastoral Charge 00:51:35 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor instructs the congregation to close their eyes and offer thanks to God.
• Pastoral Charge 00:55:31 ▶️ 📄
  > Identify or establish a specific private space for prayer and communion with God.
• Pastoral Charge 00:57:41 ▶️ 📄
  > Maintain high personal and spiritual standards rather than lowering them.

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:00:00] I seek you how I praise you, Lord Jesus, my God, knowing that you're great, knowing that you're holy, knowing that you're powerful, Lord Jesus, holy, gracious King, bless, move, and touch. I believe in you today, God. I believe in you today, Jesus. Glorious King Jesus, powerful God, the heart is open to you. Thank you for that, Jesus, to meet us in this place, to reside in this house, to change lives, to rearrange, to
[00:05:12] My God, my God.
[00:05:18] I can get 100% today.
[00:05:22] We stand in awe in awe of you.

[00:18:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:18:13] I was sitting there thinking, I was like, I said, man, sometimes it looks so bleak.
[00:18:17] You know, I remember my wife was going through her treatments and it just seemed like there was no light at the end of the tunnel.
[00:18:23] My married pastor was walking and he had a nasty old limp.
[00:18:27] You know, I'm sure things were looking pretty bleak.
[00:18:29] Sometimes they have finances and we're like, man, how do we pay our bills?
[00:18:34] You know, I stand there and I said, man, it doesn't matter.
[00:18:37] If you're going through that and you're in your darkest and your needless place, that you just lift up your hands and you look to God Almighty.
[00:18:43] Come down and He will fill every need.
[00:18:45] If you have pain in your body, He will touch your body.
[00:18:48] He will fix your finances.
[00:18:49] It doesn't matter what you're going through.
[00:18:52] Stand and sing.
[00:18:52] It's truly the good that we bring before the Lord.
[00:18:59] It doesn't matter.
[00:19:01] When we come before God, every need that we have, God's going to fix it.
[00:19:06] He's going to fix our problems.
[00:19:07] He's going to fix everything that we have.
[00:19:09] And sometimes we worry.
[00:19:10] Go before the Lord with a request.
[00:19:19] request, and I know if you have an unspoken request, if you need a special need, you can come forward and we can lay hands and put oil on you, and we can go to God, and he's
[00:19:33] got to open some doors so her mom can move to North Carolina, and I believe that God can do anything, I need to pray for my brother-in-law Bobby, he's going through a rough patch right
[00:19:42] now, and he needs a touch from the Lord, continue to lift up my mom, she's still in the recovery center, and just pray and believe that God is going to do a mighty, mighty work, if you
[00:19:54] If you have unspoken requests, if you need a special touch with God, you can come forward this morning.
[00:19:58] But, God, we come before you today, God.
[00:20:00] You see the thief that has been represented here in the house today, God.
[00:20:04] God, we ask that you would touch and do a mighty work, Lord.
[00:20:07] God, I pray for Sister Cruz's mom, God, that you would open the doors that need to be opened, God, for her to be able to move out here and be family, God.
[00:20:15] I pray for Bobby that you would touch him right now.
[00:20:17] You see the situation that he's in, God.
[00:20:19] I pray right now, God, that you would touch him, God, that you would drag him, bring him up out of that mess that he's in.
[00:20:27] Thank you for your praise, your worship, your glory to God.

[00:21:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:21:19] The updates as I have them, but if you have anything new to share, there's some answers we've still got to gather that I want to gather before I share with you or anything like that with the property and the building.
[00:21:37] But don't forget, live stream is coming Wednesday night, 7 o'clock.
[00:21:41] If you can watch it then or watch it later, we save it.
[00:21:43] Praise God that it's on Facebook and YouTube.
[00:21:46] Then we'll also share the link on Instagram.
[00:21:48] We can't do it any better than that, praise God.
[00:21:51] So try to watch.
[00:21:52] I know this past week every once in a while we get pickups with Internet, which I can't stand.
[00:21:57] But the Internet kicked us off last week, so we just uploaded a quick video as well.
[00:22:02] So whatever the case may be, make sure that you tune in.
[00:22:05] We pray deeply over those particular messages and spend quite a bit of time in preparation for that.
[00:22:12] So I want to make sure that you're benefiting from what the Lord wants to share with you on those particular videos.
[00:22:18] Amen.
[00:22:18] Also, working diligently if we can to at least get together to schedule some monthly prayer meetings and things like that.
[00:22:25] As the weather begins to get prettier, then we'll hopefully be able to get some things like that on the schedule.
[00:22:30] At least a meet at a park or at a restaurant or something of that particular stature so that we can get together and have a prayer meeting.
[00:22:38] Maybe throw some good fellowship in there as well.
[00:22:40] But nothing scheduled just as of yet.
[00:22:44] So, to God be the glory for His righteousness today.
[00:22:48] I want to say thank you to those of you who have given deeply, to those of you who have sacrificed deeply, for those of you who have jumped on board understanding the benefit of what it means to give and to tithe to God.
[00:23:04] There's three areas of giving.
[00:23:06] There is your offering, which is what I just offered to God as my choice.
[00:23:10] There's your tithing, which is God's choice.
[00:23:12] He chooses for you to do that unto God.
[00:23:14] That's a 10% of your income pre-tax.
[00:23:18] And then there is sacrifice.
[00:23:20] That means times that it goes deeper and I give until it hurts.
[00:23:23] Maybe I give when I don't have it.
[00:23:26] Those are the three areas of giving.
[00:23:28] I would say start with the area of tithing first because that's God's expectation.
[00:23:33] That's the base level right there.
[00:23:36] And so if you've not began to do that, the Lord is asking you to do just that.
[00:23:42] And so we ask that you would do that either online or you could do it in person.
[00:23:46] we've made about as easy as we can for you. Amen?
[00:23:49] Let's stand once again and we're going to prepare to march around and give in the offering today if you have something to share, if you have something to give this morning.
[00:24:01] Let's pray right now, shall we? Gracious God, I believe in you and trust you, God.
[00:24:07] Thanking you for your glory, Lord Jesus.
[00:24:10] Let your righteousness come down and multiply this time of giving. Multiply this time of sharing with your righteousness today, God.
[00:24:19] Let it be in your name, Savior, your glory.
[00:24:22] We believe you, Lord God, in Jesus' name.
[00:24:25] Let's worship again today, shall we?
[00:24:27] God, knowing that you're good, believing that you're powerful, that you have something great, wonderful, and holy in store for us today.
[00:31:08] Mighty God, it's in Jesus' righteous name.
[00:31:11] Amen, amen, and amen.
[00:31:14] You may be seated this morning.
[00:31:16] And thank you for being in the house of the Lord today.
[00:31:23] It's been some nasty weather.
[00:31:25] I'm looking forward to the pretty weather once again.
[00:31:28] People want to get outside when it's pretty weather.
[00:31:30] I'm looking forward to longer days.
[00:31:33] Amen.
[00:31:34] So we can get outside and get some sunlight.
[00:31:37] Praise God.
[00:31:38] Maybe get a little S-O-N light.
[00:31:41] The Son of God has come to seek and to save that which is lost.
[00:31:44] If I could change the title, I'll give you the quote.
[00:31:47] I didn't want to name it the quote that I that I heard, but there was a pastor that said, some of us are falling apart while holding it together.
[00:32:01] Some of us are falling apart while at the same time holding it together.
[00:32:10] And I heard that and I thought, my God, that is many, if not most, if not every single person in our church that we minister to.
[00:32:23] That particular quote, that particular thought, and I believe if you'll receive it today from the Lord, is something that we are going through collectively today.
[00:32:36] Today, I was reminded when I heard the quote, go with me back to the 90s, if you will, and we decided to go to the Clemens Festival of Lights, Tanglewood Festival of Lights.
[00:32:51] Raise your hand if you've been there. A couple people? It's pretty cool. If you've never been there, if you've been there a couple times, it kind of played out.
[00:32:57] You know, you have to find some of the lights to go see. You've seen it five times, it's all at the same time, same every year, just about.
[00:33:03] They throw some little wrinkles in there every once in a while.
[00:33:07] But us and our friends in the late 90s, we said, let's go see the Tanglewood Festival of Lights.
[00:33:11] Let's just hang out with our friends.
[00:33:12] We were married at the time.
[00:33:14] Both sets of people were married.
[00:33:15] So it was like, hey, let's just go have some fun.
[00:33:17] We didn't have kids yet.
[00:33:18] So we were still living large.
[00:33:21] Praise God.
[00:33:21] And we thought it was the most appropriate thing to borrow a Geo Metro.
[00:33:29] It doesn't stop there.
[00:33:31] and my wife probably knows where I'm getting to here.
[00:33:33] Not only did we borrow a Geo Metro, I'm not sure what my car was doing at the time.
[00:33:37] Probably blown up.
[00:33:39] Probably didn't change the oil right.
[00:33:40] I don't know.
[00:33:41] The tire probably fell off.
[00:33:42] I don't know.
[00:33:44] We had multiple cars that would do that when we were younger.
[00:33:47] So we borrowed a Geo Metro from my stepdad.
[00:33:51] And not only did we borrow a Metro, it was like, little bitty car.
[00:33:56] Right, little bitty car.
[00:33:57] And it had been wrecked.
[00:34:00] So the whole hood had been caved in on the motor, but it still ran.
[00:34:06] And we had a bungee cord to keep the hood from flying up.
[00:34:12] Seriously.
[00:34:12] And we thought, hey, let's get some friends and let's take that car to go have some fun.
[00:34:19] And we drove, man, we thought nothing.
[00:34:23] Did we think anything?
[00:34:24] We thought nothing of it.
[00:34:26] I don't know if even my kids would ride in a vehicle like that.
[00:34:29] I don't know if your grandkids would ride in something like that today.
[00:34:33] But we literally, not one word was said about it.
[00:34:36] Not one word was said about, hey, we've got a bungee cord holding the hood of the car down.
[00:34:43] Let's go eat at Fred's Kicking Chicken.
[00:34:45] Praise God.
[00:34:46] And so I thought about that when I heard it because the bungee cord was kind of holding it all together.
[00:34:52] And it did a good job.
[00:34:54] I don't know how many jobs you've ever been on.
[00:34:56] You say, let me just get a piece of tape and we're going to tape that together.
[00:34:59] I told Brian last week, I said, I think I'm getting to be the master of kind of jimmying stuff up.
[00:35:04] Let's put a little bubble gum on that and that'll hold it together.
[00:35:08] Put a little glue on that.
[00:35:09] We might can make that work.
[00:35:10] I'm so proud.
[00:35:11] So proud of Jackson.
[00:35:12] He got a job just this past week.
[00:35:14] He's a maintenance man.
[00:35:15] So let's give him a hand clap right now.
[00:35:17] He's a maintenance man.
[00:35:19] And he's already done multiple projects at the job that he's taken.
[00:35:23] And I was hearing about the things they were asking him to do.
[00:35:26] I was like, I don't know how to even do it.
[00:35:29] And he sends us pictures of him putting a couch together, of him putting rehabilitation equipment together.
[00:35:38] I said, man, I would never, I can't do it.
[00:35:40] I would never be able, I'd start throwing stuff.
[00:35:43] I don't have the patience.
[00:35:45] And I've told my family this.
[00:35:47] I've hung a chandelier before that fell off of the ceiling.
[00:35:50] That chandelier, if I hung it, it'd fall on the ground.
[00:35:53] But you understand what I'm saying.
[00:35:55] So I've become a master at kind of jimmying stuff up.
[00:35:58] But that jimmy will only last for so long.
[00:36:00] So I thought, it's falling apart, but we're just kind of holding it together.
[00:36:09] Some of us on the inside privately feel as if things may be kind of falling apart.
[00:36:19] Jobs, issues, problems on the occupation, marital problems, things that you never thought would happen.
[00:36:30] Things that you never thought in a million years would happen or would happen to you because you tried to make the right decisions.
[00:36:38] And even decisions you didn't make right, you thought God would kind of see you through it and wink at the ignorance.
[00:36:46] Falling apart, but somehow holding it all together.
[00:36:52] How many people am I speaking to today?
[00:36:54] I don't know who I'm speaking to.
[00:36:55] Hey, maybe I'm just personally speaking to myself who have been humbled and broken down over the past year, man.
[00:37:02] I've been not just hobbling, but broken down and humbled over this past year.
[00:37:07] My God, God knew that I needed a little humbling.
[00:37:10] So he said, I'm going to have to take away your walking ability.
[00:37:13] If anybody's been humbled, folks, it's been me.
[00:37:15] So we've been on this journey together.
[00:37:20] It seems like it's kind of all just kind of crumbling.
[00:37:22] but it's almost like a sandcastle that you built.
[00:37:27] The sandcastle's together, but you're trying to hold it together and stuff just kind of sifting through your fingers, but you're getting enough of it together to where the wind doesn't blow it over.
[00:37:38] Somebody's smiling to keep from crying.
[00:37:41] You've got a public presence, but a private pain.
[00:37:45] I understand where you are.
[00:37:46] I'm only saying this stuff today because I believe it hits the nail on the head for where 95% to 100% of our people are or where they have been recently.
[00:37:56] And I just want to let you know that God is seeing you and God is with you through this.
[00:38:01] If I have nothing else to say, I want to say that God is with you through this and God is going to see and He can take you to it.

[00:38:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:38:09] He can take your peace and image back today.
[00:38:13] God, give it back to us today.

[00:38:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:38:15] And we're hoping that you get to come back and rescue us from this moment.
[00:38:20] My God, we want to see you come back.
[00:38:23] We want to see you return.
[00:38:25] I just want to hold it together enough until you return for a church that's unspotted.
[00:38:30] Somebody say amen.
[00:38:31] Amen.
[00:38:32] I don't mind sharing, but we've all, many of us have been humbled.
[00:38:38] We've been based, been humbled, crumbled down.
[00:38:43] I want to focus for just a second if I can.
[00:38:46] On 2 Kings chapter 4.
[00:38:49] You can go there if you want to, verses 1 through 5, 2 Kings chapter 4, verses 1 through 5, or you can just listen.
[00:38:55] I'm going to read a newer translation.
[00:39:00] 2 Kings chapter 4, verse 1, it says, and some of us know this story from just talking about it and just hearing about it sometimes in Sunday school.
[00:39:08] The wife of a man of a company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, your servant, my husband is dead.
[00:39:17] and you know that he revered the Lord, but now the creditor has come to take my two boys as slaves.
[00:39:26] Pause for just a second.
[00:39:27] Back in the time before there were any kind of social safety nets, even up to about the 1900s.
[00:39:34] If you had debt, they could put you in prison and work that off.
[00:39:39] So this is what we're talking about in ancient days.
[00:39:42] Keep going.
[00:39:43] Elisha replied to her, how can I help you?
[00:39:45] tell me what you have in your house the servant has nothing there at all she said except a small jar of olive oil Elisha said go around and ask your neighbor for empty jars don't ask for just
[00:40:04] a few then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons pour oil into all the jars and as each is filled put it to the side she left him and shut the door behind her and her sons
[00:40:20] and she brought the jars and she kept pouring when all the jars were full she said to her son bring me another one and the pouring didn't stop until all the jars were full now you hear all that
[00:40:45] And I just want to break it down for just a second if I can.
[00:40:48] But let me just remind somebody that when you're at your extremity, your point of extremity, you're at the point of God's opportunity.
[00:40:56] You're at the point of when I run out of myself, I'm at the point at which God can finally take over the way that he needs to.
[00:41:03] God is able to kick in.
[00:41:05] For some, God has brought us to our minimum.
[00:41:09] He's brought us down and broke us down to our very minimum.
[00:41:13] recently not to punish you but to empty ourselves of ourselves to empty us of us why did it take so long for the children of israel to get to the promised land because god had to get
[00:41:34] the egypt out of them he had to get some of those mindsets those philosophies once again i'm not saying that he's done what he's done to punish you but he has done it for no other reason to
[00:41:45] empty ourselves of ourselves anything that he can do to build a reliance upon himself you can bet you he's going to do that hey some of you can testify to the fact that there were points and
[00:41:59] times within the last 10 years i had no idea how things were going to come together i was falling apart i was falling apart but i was trying to hold it together outwardly hey i don't know how i even
[00:42:10] pulled it through, and now I found myself there again. Not only does God know your problems, but He can release your potential.
[00:42:19] Have you heard me talk about potential?
[00:42:21] Have you heard me preach about potential? Have I told you how much it bothers me when somebody doesn't reach or either try their potential?
[00:42:31] Hey, let me tell you something. Once God comes alongside of you, that potential can be unleashed.
[00:42:38] Amen.
[00:42:39] Praise God. Man, hey, why not why not be here why not show up why not be prayerful why not try to look your best you don't have to you don't have to you know dress to the nines but man why don't you just try to
[00:42:51] look good why don't you try to impress the lord praise god why don't we try to at least have a presence of holiness and modesty about us amen while her husband lived she had luxury and after he died she was in the pits of despair she leaned on her husband
[00:43:11] to take care of her and that's that wasn't uncommon for the time i want to draw you to two questions that elisha asked her he asked her two questions and i want to ask you the same
[00:43:23] questions today what do you need and what do you have what are you in need of from god But what do you already possess that God is able to work through and use?
[00:43:40] Elisha asked her the very same thing.
[00:43:43] Her response was, I need to somehow figure out how to save my boys.
[00:43:48] But all I've got is a minuscule bottle of oil.
[00:43:53] That's all I've got.
[00:43:55] That's okay.
[00:43:57] That's all right.
[00:43:58] Because many times within the word of God, what do we see?
[00:44:01] Well, I've only got a couple of fishes.
[00:44:03] I've only got a couple pieces of bread.
[00:44:05] That'll work.
[00:44:06] I don't have anything.
[00:44:08] Lord, you know I can't speak.
[00:44:09] I'm slow of speech.
[00:44:10] Moses said, okay, that'll work.
[00:44:12] We can use that.
[00:44:13] Hey, but I'm going to ask you to do some things that might not make a whole lot of sense.
[00:44:17] Moses, take your shoes off your feet because the place that you're standing is holy ground.
[00:44:24] Hey, begin to pass me those fishes and loaves.
[00:44:26] We're going to begin to separate them.
[00:44:28] We're going to begin to pass those things out.
[00:44:31] Hey, lady, you need a healing.
[00:44:33] I know you're going to have to push through the crowd.
[00:44:35] But if you push through the crowd and just touch the hem of his garment, you'll be surprised at the healing that can go forward.
[00:44:42] Come on and say amen.
[00:44:46] What do you need?
[00:44:48] And what do you have?
[00:44:50] He erased faith in herself and placed it within him.
[00:44:56] If you're not willing to help yourself no matter what the Lord does, he can't help you.
[00:45:00] If you're not willing to do something, And if God pours out the miraculous to you, he still can't help you.
[00:45:07] God will not help the helpless.
[00:45:10] Amen.
[00:45:11] And so God has asked us, every single one of us, what's your part?
[00:45:14] What's your investment?
[00:45:15] You know why he asked for your investment?
[00:45:17] Because where there's no investment, there's no interest.
[00:45:21] If I'm not invested in something, I don't care quite as much.
[00:45:27] If I had to put some skin in the game, I don't know if I'd worry about it quite as much.
[00:45:32] That's why your kids throw their clothes on the floor.
[00:45:35] They didn't pay for those clothes.
[00:45:36] And I'm not knocking them.
[00:45:37] It's just what it is.
[00:45:39] The car's not taken care of quite as good if they're not paying for it.
[00:45:44] They might change the oil.
[00:45:45] They might get the sticker changed.
[00:45:47] They might go get some new tires.
[00:45:49] But if there's no investment in it, there's no interest.
[00:45:55] Takes me back to another 1990-something story.
[00:46:00] I'll stop sharing some if it gets too much.
[00:46:02] but I had a buddy and he had his license but he didn't have a vehicle yet and he thought it was a good idea to take his mom's boyfriend's truck that had a spool of fiber
[00:46:15] or cable on the back of it and he was doing donuts with that thing and the spool was just going BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
[00:46:25] Tore the bed of that truck to pieces Wasn't his truck so he didn't care until mom's boyfriend got a hold of him.
[00:46:41] 16-year-old, and that boy got a spanking.
[00:46:44] He cared then because he had some skin in the game then.
[00:46:50] Praise God.
[00:46:51] Moving on from stories.
[00:46:53] Do you realize that Elisha could have literally spoke it and the debt could have been paid?
[00:46:59] Elisha could have taken care of it himself.
[00:47:02] But he asked her, what do you have and what do you have need of?
[00:47:05] He said I'm going to put the responsibility back on you I want to remind somebody that sometimes We've got to quit fussing about what we don't have And praise God for what we do have
[00:47:15] My God I know I don't have a whole lot But I've got something I know I don't have everything But I've got something Hallelujah We ought to start praising God For what we've got For where we are
[00:47:28] And where God has brought us from Hey there's some of us that say I'm not where I want to be But thank God I'm not where I used to be.
[00:47:37] Thank God I'm not who I used to be.
[00:47:40] Amen.
[00:47:41] You know, none of us are rich, but I can promise you you're richer than you were 10 years ago.
[00:47:47] I promise you you're driving a nicer car than you did 20 years ago.
[00:47:53] You're dressing nicer than you did 20 years ago.
[00:47:58] God's blessed you.
[00:48:00] God's touched you.
[00:48:02] Amen.
[00:48:03] You can destroy.
[00:48:04] You can't destroy something Or someone that isn't wrapped up in stuff You can't shake someone Who knows that their help comes from the Lord Hey The way I think about it is Sister Hedrick was shouting before we had anything
[00:48:18] And she shouted after we had something Hey You were shouting when you had nothing When you finally got something You kept shouting When God took it away

[00:48:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:48:30] You kept on shouting When God replaces it I'm going to shout some more.

[00:48:35] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:48:35] When God provides it again, I'm going to shout some more.
[00:48:39] I'm just going to keep shouting all the way through and praise God for what I do have and not what I don't have.
[00:48:46] Can somebody give me praise?
[00:48:47] I just know how to praise Him no matter what because the Lord gives and the Lord takes away.
[00:48:59] Blessed be the name of the Lord.
[00:49:01] Somebody say blessed be.
[00:49:04] Live as much when it's in the hands of the Lord.
[00:49:10] Pastor, I'm slipping a little bit right here.
[00:49:13] Pastor, this is slipping a little bit.
[00:49:15] I've even had some of you tell me that.
[00:49:18] This is slipping a little bit.
[00:49:21] And I'm doing all I can just to hold it together.
[00:49:27] Almost 100% of people are doing everything they can at times just to be a church.
[00:49:41] The devil, I will say this.
[00:49:43] the enemy is fighting you tooth and nail not to be in the presence of god because he knows that's where the breakthrough is if i can just keep them out of that if i can just keep them away from that
[00:49:58] then this little bit that they're holding together they'll eventually just quit that too this little bit that they're just trying to corral together it'll eventually if i wear them down long enough it'll slip through their fingers and they'll eventually say what's the use i've let it
[00:50:16] all go i don't have anything else to hold together anymore this week i don't even deserve to pastor this church do you know where i'm from if we took a little ride down jacob hedrick or i think it's
[00:50:36] called ladybug lane now they had to spice up the name a little bit make it sound nicer because man as soon as you get on the road you can begin to feel the racism am i wrong you can feel it
[00:50:50] there's some people back here that don't want you back here and that's the truth you can feel the backwoodedness that's where i'm from that's where i came from backwoods in the back side of nowhere. Racism, potheads, pot smoking, dropouts, no future, no direction. How in the world did I
[00:51:14] come out of that, Sister Anna? How did I come out of that? What happened to take me out of that?
[00:51:22] How did it change to pull me away from that? My God, thank God that he did. I don't know how it happened. I don't know why it happened, but it just reminds me that every single one of us can have the
[00:51:35] very same testimony. We all come from nothing, going to somewhere. Somebody just close your eyes and just thank God for His truth. Thank God.
[00:51:47] Thank God for His righteousness.
[00:51:51] Hallelujah, God.
[00:51:54] I look at this lady in 2 Kings, and it lets me know that revival is not what necessarily he does it's part of it but part of it is also what i do what do you have what do you need let me take what you have to help get you what you need
[00:52:17] half of it is me half of it is god and revival will take place how hard is it to hold it all together i know but thank god she reached out she reached out to the prophet as long as your vessel
[00:52:39] is empty he can fill it up what does she say she filled up one moved it to the side the bible lets us know that she poured and she poured and she poured and she kept pouring and she kept pouring
[00:53:00] And it just kept Pour, fill it up, move it to the side The prophet even told her Don't ask for just a few Ask for as many as you can possibly get Fill it up, move it to the side
[00:53:17] As long as you've got something that's empty My God can fill it up So I don't want to fill it up with chocolate I don't want to fill it up with trash

[00:53:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:53:26] I don't want to fill it up with hatred I don't want to fill it up with disobedience With offense I want to fill it up with God

[00:53:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:53:36] Thank you Lord Let me close this out And let you say Let you remind you to say That there's three types of vessels That I'd like to focus on today Now this is not This is not spoken about in the word of God
[00:53:53] As that there's these kinds of vessels But I attribute these These pieces To the vessels The first one is desire. Desire. The vessel of desire. What are you passionate about? What are you most passionate about? Can we have a desire to put the Lord first so everything can fall into place?
[00:54:27] What are you passionate about?
[00:54:30] What do you desire the most?
[00:54:34] If I could just get you a little bit closer to desiring a little bit more from God, I would have done my job.
[00:54:41] I would stand before the Lord and say, God, I did the best that I could with what we had.
[00:54:47] And God would say, well done, good and faithful servant.
[00:54:50] I want to be passionate about him first.
[00:54:53] I want to be passionate about him most.
[00:54:55] even above my family even above my relationships Him first and foremost.
[00:55:04] Can I ask you, and I'm not going to make you answer me but where's your prayer closet at?
[00:55:09] If you've got to think about it if you don't know that's what I'm saying.
[00:55:15] Let's get a little bit more desire than what we've got. If I raise the question of where is your prayer closet? I'm not talking about just your closet but if i asked you where's your prayer closet can you point it out to me and tell
[00:55:31] me right here right now as soon as i said it you know yeah i know where it's at it's got my imprint there it's got my fingerprint there it's got my space there if you can't tell me or if you don't
[00:55:44] know this vessel this point is just for you this might have saved your spiritual life by me bringing that question to your, to the forefront. You need a prayer closet and it doesn't have to be a closet.
[00:55:58] It just needs to be a space where you get along with God privately. Amen. If you get mad at me for that, that's fine. That means I've done my job. If I can just get mad, get you mad enough to get a
[00:56:10] little closer to God, you can get mad at me all you want to. I could personally care less. I just want you to draw closer to God.
[00:56:17] Amen.
[00:56:19] The next one is obedience.
[00:56:21] It's a vessel of obedience.
[00:56:26] We've made this thing way too hard.
[00:56:30] Some way too difficult.
[00:56:35] Obedience really is one of the easier pieces because I just flow with the river of God.
[00:56:43] I flow with the Spirit in the direction it's trying to lead me.
[00:56:47] We only become disobedient when we fight against the will of God in our lives.
[00:56:56] We've made it into something difficult, and it doesn't have to be.
[00:57:02] It doesn't have to be.
[00:57:03] I don't have to just drag into church.
[00:57:06] I don't have to be tired and weepy and sleepy at church.
[00:57:09] I can make this a priority.
[00:57:12] The last vessel that I have is expectation.
[00:57:17] As a pastor, I have an expectation to see people grow.
[00:57:21] I expect to see people become more mature and not less.
[00:57:27] The question is, is what are your expectations with God?
[00:57:31] What are your expectations of yourself?
[00:57:35] Do you hold yourself to a high standard or are you constantly just whittling the bar all the way down?
[00:57:41] Hold your standards high.
[00:57:45] Let the bar be high.
[00:57:48] Let the line be drawn in the sand.
[00:57:51] We always learned growing up that wherever you draw the line in the sand, That's where the battle starts And so if I can set it as far away And set it as high as I can
[00:58:03] Then the standard is raised And I've got more power In the fight Wherever you draw the line Is where the battle Begins And so have expectations For yourself Have expectations for God to move in your life
[00:58:21] Have expectations for God To move in your church Have expectations for God to pour out as he does And as I said before Until he does I'm going to be shouting all the way until it happens
[00:58:32] Because guess what One day or another You're going to see him face to face Whether he heals you or not And I'm still going to shout all the way through glory Somebody say amen Hallelujah
[00:58:42] Well I've got the vessel of expectation I've got the vessel of obedience And I've got the vessel of desire Ultimately, I want God to fill every single one of them.
[00:59:10] Let's all stand.
[00:59:11] Folks, we're on a journey.
[00:59:22] I prayed about, because ultimately the altar call is really the most important time.
[00:59:29] But I just felt like God wanted to talk to somebody today.
[00:59:34] I honestly felt like God wanted to share this with somebody today.
[00:59:42] And to let you know that He recognizes it.
[00:59:46] Pastor, it's falling apart, but I'm holding it all together.
[00:59:52] You see, I say holding it all together because I want that to be the last word.
[01:00:03] And when His strength meets your strength, and He wraps His arms around your arms, it's beautiful.
[01:00:09] It's beautiful what can happen.
[01:00:12] It's beautiful what can take place.
[01:00:13] Why don't we just all begin to come and thank God.
[01:00:17] That's what we're going to do.
[01:00:18] We're going to thank God alongside us.
[01:00:23] I'm just going to keep pouring until I have no more to pour into.
[01:00:35] my God, somebody just give me thanks begin to pour it out and so God can begin to refill you with something great wonderful and powerful