1 00:00:01,560 --> 00:00:03,280 Thank you, Bishop. Let's give the Lord a good hand 2 00:00:03,280 --> 00:00:05,920 of praise and Thanksgiving this morning. 3 00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:16,160 What a wonderful God he is. When we're down, he's still God. 4 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:21,640 Amen. This is my first official day 5 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:24,160 out. No better place to be than in 6 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:28,280 the House of the Lord. Thank you Jesus, Give honor this 7 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:30,600 morning to my Bishop. I thank him for those kind words 8 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:32,320 this morning. Support. 9 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:35,080 Bishop will be ministering tonight. 10 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:38,520 We're looking forward to that. Let's pray for him that he will 11 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:41,400 be able to deliver tonight what God has laid on his heart. 12 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:44,800 Give honor to my pastor this morning who is not here. 13 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:47,560 There's no greater privilege than to be asked by your pastor 14 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:52,600 to minister, especially when he's not here, and honor and 15 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:55,640 appreciate him for that honor. Brother Alex's sister Grace are 16 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:58,200 youth pastors. Man did he did not did he ever 17 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:03,040 more preach last weekend? What a message we heard last 18 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:06,640 Sunday night. And I want to give high honor 19 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:10,520 this morning to my beautiful wife who is in the office 20 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:14,120 working but no doubt listening. I love her and appreciate her 21 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:18,040 and thank God for God's gift of her to me. 22 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:23,960 Luke chapter #11 and verse #29 I will keep you standing only a 23 00:01:23,960 --> 00:01:26,960 very short while this morning on a Sunday. 24 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:33,120 One verse that I feel like the Lord laid on my heart several 25 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:38,200 days ago and it reads this. And when the people were 26 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:46,520 gathered thick together, he began to say, this is an evil 27 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:52,320 generation. They seek a sign and there shall 28 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:58,560 no sign be given it but the sign of Jonas the Prophet. 29 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:05,200 I honestly don't know if I'm preaching or teaching or what 30 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:09,360 I'm what end of the spectrum this falls on this morning. 31 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:12,760 I'll let allow you to decide, but I do want to minister today. 32 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:16,080 A subject that I believe the Lord laid on my heart earlier 33 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:21,240 this week and that is the danger of seeking signs. 34 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:25,720 The danger of seeking signs. Would you lay your Bibles down, 35 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:29,280 lift your hands one more time and ask God to help us today on 36 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:31,160 this Sunday morning to speak his word. 37 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:34,720 Jesus, mighty God, in your name today we love you. 38 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:37,880 We're thankful God, for the opportunity to be in your house 39 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:40,720 now. God, by the anointed word that 40 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:42,840 we have read openly. Lord, in your hearing. 41 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:44,840 God, I ask you to minister today. 42 00:02:45,640 --> 00:02:47,240 Touch my lips to speak your word. 43 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:51,880 Allow your anointing to be ever present with us, minister hearts 44 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:54,080 and lives and on our ears to hear what the Spirit would say 45 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:57,640 to the church and will not fail to give you glory and honor and 46 00:02:57,640 --> 00:03:03,360 praise and Thanksgiving. And the church said Amen, Lord 47 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:05,440 bless you. You may be seated today. 48 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:07,200 That is a courtesy and not a command. 49 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:17,920 Seeking after a sign generally means looking for evidence or 50 00:03:17,920 --> 00:03:23,640 indications that confirm or guide a decision or a belief or 51 00:03:23,640 --> 00:03:27,120 an action. This can happen in various 52 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:31,840 contexts, spiritual or religious contexts. 53 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:36,440 People often seek signs from God or a higher power or some people 54 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:40,560 refer to him as the universe to validate their faith and to 55 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:45,040 guide their actions or prove some sort of reassurance. 56 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:50,840 For example, someone might pray for a sign to confirm whether 57 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:53,960 they should take a particular path in life or not, or before 58 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:57,160 they make a significant life changing decision. 59 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:03,080 Another way that this happens is in personal decision making. 60 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:06,840 Daily life. People often look for signs to 61 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:09,800 help them make choices. Could be anything from 62 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:14,000 interpreting coincidences or patterns to help guide them as 63 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:18,000 they seek advice from trusted sources that seem particularly 64 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:21,200 relevant at the moment. And then there is the 65 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:26,160 psychological context where people seek signs that be a way 66 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:29,400 for them to deal with anxiety or uncertainty. 67 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:33,960 Looking for signs can often provide a sense of control or 68 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:39,000 clarity, even if the signs themselves are ambiguous or open 69 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:44,320 to interpretation. Overall, seeking after a sign 70 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:51,640 involves a search for meaning, and it involves what we perceive 71 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:56,960 as a confirmation that is often driven by a desire for clarity 72 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:00,640 or reassurance in the face of uncertainty. 73 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:06,320 A primary issue today with sign seeking is that it doesn't stop 74 00:05:06,840 --> 00:05:08,920 with the realization of the sign. 75 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:14,520 In our humanity we have this insatiable appetite to interpret 76 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:16,960 and understand the meaning of the sign. 77 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:21,000 For what good is a sign if I don't know what it means? 78 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:25,520 So there are some dangers that are associated with the 79 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:31,040 interpretation of signs. One is confirmation bias. 80 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:35,800 It causes the interpretation of events to be slanted in a way 81 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:40,720 that confirms a person's pre-existing beliefs leading to 82 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:45,280 skewed understandings. Another danger is the over 83 00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:49,920 generalization in seeking patterns or signs where none 84 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:54,760 exist that results in over generalizing the circumstance 85 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:57,240 creating an incorrect conclusion. 86 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:03,240 Then there is one of my favorite to speak to, and I'll be brief 87 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:07,160 on it this morning, but is known as paralysis by analysis. 88 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:10,320 And if you've ever studied spreadsheets or numbers, you 89 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:13,080 probably can relate to what I'm referring to here. 90 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:19,640 But sometimes we can focus so much on one thing that it leads 91 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:23,760 us to no action. It leads to indecision and 92 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:28,440 inaction as one might become overly concerned now as to 93 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:31,040 whether they're making the right choice or not. 94 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:36,120 Another danger is the misinterpretation of events that 95 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:40,760 can be ambiguous or influenced by a range of factors and 96 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:45,320 interpreting them as signs can lead to misunderstandings and 97 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:49,000 incorrect assumptions. And lastly, this morning, a 98 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:53,840 danger in interpreting signs is emotional distress. 99 00:06:54,280 --> 00:06:58,360 Believing that certain events are signs of negative outcomes 100 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:03,120 might cause unnecessary worry or stress. 101 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:09,120 So signs seeking and sign interpretation coexist. 102 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:13,760 They are not mutually exclusive. The problems that come with this 103 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:17,440 interpretation is that there's no logical criteria for 104 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:21,680 understanding the meaning behind these alleged signs. 105 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:26,600 It is an emotion based process that yields a false perception 106 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:30,800 of reality and leads us to inaccurate conclusions. 107 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:34,480 Some people will interpret resistance as a sign. 108 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:38,760 I have been in company with people before where we have, and 109 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:40,880 I'll give you an example this morning where we've had an 110 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:45,720 upcoming long-awaited and anticipated revival and people 111 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:48,840 have had a hard time getting to the House of God. 112 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:53,200 Some people interpret that resistance as we need to stop. 113 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:55,640 This isn't working. This is a sign. 114 00:07:56,120 --> 00:08:02,240 Others will interpret the exact same set of circumstances as the 115 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:05,640 resistance is from our enemy. We need to push through. 116 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:09,640 God's going to bless us. Now. 117 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:13,200 While I have no argument with the faith behind those 118 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:16,600 statements, I hope you understand my point this morning 119 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:20,640 that people will interpret the same set of events and 120 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:26,160 circumstances in different ways. And so it it, it implies to us 121 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:32,159 today the the, the, the fallacy of our ability to properly 122 00:08:32,159 --> 00:08:36,880 interpret what we perceive as signs in our life. 123 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:43,240 Somebody say Hallelujah. So interpreting signs is 124 00:08:43,520 --> 00:08:47,480 difficult. There have been many times in my 125 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:50,880 life where signs were not what they seem to be. 126 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:55,240 I'll give you a couple of personal testimony examples this 127 00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:57,120 morning. And some of these stories are 128 00:08:57,120 --> 00:08:58,640 things. If you've been around here any 129 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:01,840 length of time, you might have heard all of these, so I will be 130 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:04,200 brief this morning. I won't drag you through the 131 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:07,680 entire story, I promise. Just looking to serve a point 132 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:10,320 today. When I was 17 years old, I was 133 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:14,000 asked by an up and coming Southern gospel singing group to 134 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:15,880 join them on the road to play piano. 135 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:20,880 Now as a 17 year old, you can only imagine, you can only 136 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:25,360 imagine the, the, the lights on the marquee and the, the, the, 137 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:28,200 the, the, the feeling that that brought with. 138 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:32,480 Wow, this is pretty awesome. They were rising on the charts 139 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:34,720 of the singing news at this time. 140 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:36,800 They were in the Top 40 and climbing. 141 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:42,280 They were Apostolic. So I thought they liked me. 142 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:45,840 I liked them, I enjoyed their music. 143 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:49,720 It felt good. What could be wrong? 144 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:57,320 I believe my dad's words were something like over my dead body 145 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:05,480 because he saw a sign that I didn't see. 146 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:10,760 If we're talking signs, less than a year later they were 147 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:16,760 dismantled and news was released that he had had, for some 148 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:20,880 sizeable amount of time, a mistress on the side that he was 149 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:22,760 supporting financially and intimately. 150 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:28,480 The signs were wrong. The first time I was asked to 151 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:31,800 take over as the pastor of a church, I was in my mid 20s. 152 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:35,000 As a young minister in my generation, you couldn't be 153 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:38,360 serious about ministry if you weren't open to pastoring. 154 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:42,800 It was kind of the unspoken rule of the 80s and the 90s. 155 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:47,000 There's still a flavor of that today, but I'd like to think 156 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:49,960 it's better. But there were some things that 157 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:54,560 were on my personal punch list that I just thought in my mind, 158 00:10:54,920 --> 00:11:02,120 this would be pretty great if the Lord were a nice brick 159 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:07,080 building with landscaping, paved parking lot, a well decorated 160 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:10,160 sanctuary. And this, this was the cherry on 161 00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:12,320 top. All right, this was me at 24. 162 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:14,040 All right, give you a little peek behind the curtain. 163 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:20,040 A office decorated with mahogany cherry furniture. 164 00:11:21,560 --> 00:11:25,480 That was it. That was that was my bucket list 165 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:31,440 for ministry at that time. So we went on the invitation. 166 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:34,480 We preached, we sang. Guess what? 167 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:37,320 It's a nice brick building with landscaping. 168 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:42,960 Had a paved parking lot. It had a beautifully decorated 169 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:45,760 sanctuary. Actually, those were things I 170 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:49,200 already knew. The next one I did not know. 171 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:52,520 So as we received a private tour of the office area after 172 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:56,800 service, guess what? The office, what would be my 173 00:11:56,800 --> 00:12:01,640 office was decorated with what it wasn't. 174 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:07,080 Light oak, mahogany, cherry. I walked into that room and I 175 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:13,000 heard the angels sing Hallelujah and I thought I was home. 176 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:20,400 But the signs were wrong. Throughout my professional 177 00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:26,000 career, spanning the last 25 years, I have lost my job three 178 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:31,200 times. All dismissals were executed as 179 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:35,640 legal no fault separations and the reasons behind them, while 180 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:37,120 similar, were uniquely different. 181 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:41,280 The first time, in February 2008, I made it onto the list of 182 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:45,000 14 employees who were cut in a corporate downsizing event. 183 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:49,120 Although I was not at fault, I walked away with lessons 184 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:51,880 learned. It would take me several years 185 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:55,400 to emotionally recognize these lessons because of the scars 186 00:12:55,400 --> 00:12:58,520 that developed because of hurt and misunderstanding and 187 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:01,320 confusion and the feelings of rejection. 188 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:06,600 The fight I came away having to fight, sometimes daily, was 189 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:09,920 whether or not this was a sign that I didn't have what it takes 190 00:13:10,560 --> 00:13:15,960 to survive in business. The temptation to read this sign 191 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:20,200 was, and I will admit occasionally, still very real 192 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:23,760 sign in and of itself. Bishop was wrong. 193 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:29,760 The second time was in January 2010, working 105 hours a week 194 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:34,240 due to a whole set of events that unfolded not of my doing, 195 00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:37,600 but I was one of many that had to try to make the best of it. 196 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:43,160 Again, no fault release, but being released still means they 197 00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:48,240 don't want you, and that's a lot to deal with. 198 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:56,240 That's a lot of hurt. More scarves, more years of 199 00:13:56,240 --> 00:14:00,600 grappling with the temptation to listen to signs speaking things 200 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:06,320 into my life that don't exist. The signs were saying you're not 201 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:12,120 worth it, you can't do it. This is twice now. 202 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:16,600 How many times till you stop? You're fake, you're not a 203 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:19,120 leader. Just go back to driving a 204 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:20,880 forklift and leave everybody alone. 205 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:25,200 Stop trying to be something you're not. 206 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:32,040 The signs were wrong a third time. 207 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:36,960 Similar but worse signs were wrong. 208 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:42,760 A few years ago I found myself with my wife with me traveling 209 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:47,960 on a business trip to Ontario. We were at the Canadian border 210 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:52,440 and I found myself afraid. I don't know if I've told this 211 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:57,120 one or not, but I found myself afraid of either impending 212 00:14:57,120 --> 00:15:04,480 arrest or border rejection because I did not interpret the 213 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:10,120 sign correctly. I've been to Canada several 214 00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:13,640 times, but this was my first time crossing by car. 215 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:17,240 Now, let me tell you something. I know. 216 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:19,240 I know, some people want to downplay Canada. 217 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:23,600 Canada's in North America, but Canada's still another country. 218 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:28,120 It's just as much another country as Mexico is their own 219 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:32,280 laws, their own language, even their English is different, 220 00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:37,800 their own everything. And there's about 30 million 221 00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:41,280 people in Canada, which is about 10% of the US population. 222 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:45,840 So what you find at the border are people trying to prove 223 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:49,000 themselves to the Americans on how much, how they are just as 224 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:53,880 good or better than you are. Make a Long story short. 225 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:57,000 Passing through the city of Detroit, coming to the border 226 00:15:57,000 --> 00:16:00,280 crossing, there's approximately 14 lanes of entry. 227 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:06,840 They were all empty. I still chose the wrong one and 228 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:09,320 we were driving through that lane and it was a lane that 229 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:12,600 required specific pre authorization to pass through. 230 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:16,840 My wife brought it to my attention because she read the 231 00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:20,160 sign correctly. Now, you notice how I said that? 232 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:22,680 Because she'll say that. So I want to. 233 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:26,440 I want to get ahead of that. So she read the sign correctly 234 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:29,600 and I said, well, it'll be all right. 235 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:33,160 I can't back up now. I'll just apologize and we'll 236 00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:34,640 move on. It wasn't intentional. 237 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:41,160 Let me tell you something, Mr. Canadian Border Patrol agent 238 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:43,040 didn't care that it wasn't intentional. 239 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:48,240 I wrote down my window and he asked for that card that I did 240 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:51,360 not have. And I said, I'm I'm sorry, Sir, 241 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:55,640 I didn't mean to take the wrong lane because I didn't mean to. 242 00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:01,360 And his response was, and I believe I have this word for 243 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:04,599 word, weren't you driving the car? 244 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:12,440 And his next words were are you dumb or just illiterate? 245 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:22,640 It was then I was worried I was about to go to jail. 246 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:35,720 Anybody who knows me, anybody who knows me well, knows there's 247 00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:41,400 only probably two people, maybe three on the face of planet 248 00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:48,840 Earth that can call me dumb or illiterate and get by with the 249 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:54,040 cops, Border Patrol, and my wife. 250 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:00,880 No, Sir. No, Sir. 251 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:03,320 I'm sorry, Sir. Thank you, Sir. 252 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:06,560 I'm sorry, Sir. It didn't stop there. 253 00:18:06,840 --> 00:18:10,640 I'll cut the story short because it's a much longer story, but he 254 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:15,120 had a whole lot of fun with me that day, tossing me back and 255 00:18:15,120 --> 00:18:18,000 forth like a ping pong ball between two different buildings 256 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:21,080 that I will tell you was entirely unnecessary. 257 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:26,880 But he was teaching the dumb American a lesson or two, and he 258 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:30,440 did. Don't drive across the border, 259 00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:36,800 I'll just fly. The sign was right, but back to 260 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:38,840 our difficulty to interpreting the sign. 261 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:41,200 I did not read the sign correctly. 262 00:18:45,560 --> 00:18:51,640 On August the 2nd, 2018, after a few solid years of serious 263 00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:56,560 health issues, I had what was supposed to be a routine sinus 264 00:18:56,560 --> 00:18:59,600 surgery to help fix some of the issues I was having. 265 00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:04,080 Surgery was a great success, but the exit of the surgery did not 266 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:05,840 go well. As many who have heard the story 267 00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:07,880 know. Or if you read my anniversary 268 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:11,320 post on Facebook a few days ago, you know, the doctor told me 269 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:14,400 afterwards that afternoon, it took three times to bring you 270 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:19,480 back and his exact words were I almost didn't bring you back. 271 00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:25,280 After hearing this, I was filled with a mixed emotions of 272 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:30,680 gratitude, but also with paralyzing fear that I was 273 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:35,960 washed up, that I had nothing left to offer, that the sickness 274 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:39,360 was going to get the best of me and there was too much working 275 00:19:39,360 --> 00:19:42,560 against me because there was too much wrong in my life. 276 00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:50,160 What I heard, Bishop in my ears laying in that hospital bed, was 277 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:53,120 I might as well stop playing music. 278 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:58,280 I might as well stop singing, and I might as well stop 279 00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:03,120 ministry. Maybe God was just done with me. 280 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:11,120 I want to note that there was a shift in this moment in. 281 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:15,360 The negative temptations working against me, because this time 282 00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:17,760 they were not about my secular employment. 283 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:21,880 This time they were about my calling and my salvation. 284 00:20:23,360 --> 00:20:27,400 Ladies and gentlemen, your enemy will stop nothing short than to 285 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:34,760 try his very best to steal from you and to destroy you and to 286 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:38,920 kill you. He will start at one juncture, 287 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:42,520 and he will not stop till he gets everything. 288 00:20:43,120 --> 00:20:47,240 But I've come to tell somebody today that greater is he that is 289 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:49,960 in me than he that is in the world. 290 00:20:50,200 --> 00:21:03,200 God is still able. So two days later, still in the 291 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:08,480 hospital bed. August 4th, 2018, I received a 292 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:11,800 message on Facebook Messenger from Pastor Brent Wedding. 293 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:16,240 Some of you know him. Pastor Wedding did not know what 294 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:20,920 was going on and the message I received was this. 295 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:28,200 I had a dream this morning about you which while I was dreaming I 296 00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:31,680 must have been half awake because I thought why am I 297 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:34,040 dreaming about brother and sister Mason? 298 00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:40,280 Anyways the dream there was a celebration dinner going on. 299 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:43,720 I got the impression you were retiring from a position you 300 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:45,960 held in church like youth leader or something. 301 00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:49,840 People were there giving cards, speeches, laughing, crying, a 302 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:52,760 typical thank you, congratulations type dinner. 303 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:55,720 Someone asked what are you going to do now? 304 00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:59,600 You replied I don't know, probably going to rest and take 305 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:01,760 it easy and just see what happens from here. 306 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:08,200 I got the impression that you felt like your work was done and 307 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:10,760 didn't know what your calling was now. 308 00:22:11,360 --> 00:22:15,080 But in the dream I heard the Lord speak. 309 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:22,840 His work is not over, bigger and better things are in store. 310 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:25,600 Then I woke up and read your post. 311 00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:29,920 Your work is not over. God has a plan for you, and it's 312 00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:34,800 bigger than you can imagine. Once again, the signs were 313 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:36,960 wrong. The voice of the enemy was 314 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:39,600 wrong. The whispers in my ear rejecting 315 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:43,120 me were wrong. I hope somebody's seeing where 316 00:22:43,120 --> 00:22:44,560 we're going with this this morning. 317 00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:49,080 It's dangerous to heed the call of signs because the signs may 318 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:51,680 not be giving you the right the right voice. 319 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:58,040 We need to heed the voice of God Almighty today because the signs 320 00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:02,320 can steer us the wrong direction behind many signs and their 321 00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:07,120 their ambiguity that behind them is the voice of our enemy trying 322 00:23:07,120 --> 00:23:11,440 to deflect us away from the voice and the power and the 323 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:18,440 wonder of an awesome God. Jesus was very clear in our text 324 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:22,600 this morning when he said this is an evil generation. 325 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:30,520 They seek a sign. We often seek signs to have 326 00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:33,960 answers to questions that we're curious about. 327 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:38,560 Let me tell you, there's some questions we're not going to get 328 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:44,000 answered. One of the signs we often look 329 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:47,360 to, it's very popular, very popular in our movement, is the 330 00:23:47,360 --> 00:23:52,560 signs of the end times. It's a subject matter that 331 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:58,440 garners much attention. I'm not here to interpret them. 332 00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:03,760 That's somebody else's job. I'm not here to speak against 333 00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:08,000 them either. But I do have a few things to 334 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:13,920 say because there's a myriad of opinions about end times and 335 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:16,200 here's what I believe. We need to consider it at a 336 00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:18,720 basic level. If you want to take it deeper, 337 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:21,360 that's between you and God. You take it deeper, but at a 338 00:24:21,360 --> 00:24:24,080 very basic level. This is what we need to consider 339 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:27,000 about in time. Understanding the subject matter 340 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:29,520 should be educational and informational. 341 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:36,680 I do not believe some will disagree with this, and that's 342 00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:41,840 OK, but I do not believe in time. 343 00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:49,120 Signs should be inspirational. I won't leave you there, I'll 344 00:24:49,120 --> 00:24:57,360 explain why because if you go on inspiration alone, you can be 345 00:24:57,360 --> 00:25:02,160 inspired in and you can be inspired out. 346 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:10,560 We need more than inspiration. We need God ordained anointing 347 00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:19,760 we yes, I know inspiration comes with it, but when I'm inspired, 348 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:21,520 I hope there's anointing present. 349 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:29,320 We need more than just that Was inspiring. 350 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:33,520 One of the greatest insults someone I've had this happen 351 00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:35,720 before, they probably didn't know it was an insult, but one 352 00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:38,800 of the greatest insults I have ever received as a preacher is 353 00:25:39,360 --> 00:25:41,040 Sir. That was a very inspiring 354 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:48,880 message today. I'm not here to be inspired when 355 00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:51,400 I'm on the recipient end. I'm not here to be inspired. 356 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:56,400 I'm here to be changed and the only way we can seek after 357 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:58,200 change is not through inspiration. 358 00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:03,200 We get changed today through God's anointed word. 359 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:08,720 So in lieu of signs today we need to focus on our 360 00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:12,960 relationship with God. Here's the thing. 361 00:26:13,360 --> 00:26:17,480 If a sign is needed, the sign will come. 362 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:23,320 It will come from God. You don't have to seek the sign. 363 00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:26,760 Signs come through various means. 364 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:31,560 Signs come through prophecy. Signs come through His written 365 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:35,160 word. Signs come through His spoken 366 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:37,800 word. Signs come through undeniable 367 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:40,200 God moments. They happen. 368 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:45,080 Sometimes they happen on a day of the week that you'd least 369 00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:51,600 expected I had. I had an undeniable God moment 370 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:57,480 last weekend pulling a tire off of my wife's vehicle and the car 371 00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:01,200 Jack collapsed or or flipped over and the car fell to the 372 00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:04,760 ground 30 seconds before that happened. 373 00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:07,680 Brother Fred, if I had positioned my body the way that 374 00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:10,720 I almost did, my legs would have been under that axle. 375 00:27:13,120 --> 00:27:17,840 To me, maybe you disagree, but to me that was an undeniable God 376 00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:20,760 moment. He cares and He was watching out 377 00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:27,420 for me. It's not a sign. 378 00:27:27,420 --> 00:27:29,620 It's not the sign that's the problem today. 379 00:27:29,860 --> 00:27:33,020 Signs will happen. The problem is in the seeking 380 00:27:33,020 --> 00:27:35,900 after the sign above seeking after God. 381 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:40,600 The problem is seeking after a sign to do what only God Himself 382 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:42,920 can do. We don't need the sign to do 383 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:45,560 something for us. We need God to do something for 384 00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:47,600 us. We need to stop searching for 385 00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:50,720 signs today to validate our worth and to validate our 386 00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:53,120 readiness to receive what God has for us. 387 00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:56,800 What God has for everyone today doesn't need a sign, it just 388 00:27:56,800 --> 00:27:59,800 needs our obedience. Receive it. 389 00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:05,040 His mercy, His grace, His blood covering His love, His arms of 390 00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:08,200 acceptance wrapped around you. They don't require a sign. 391 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:13,920 They just require us to say yes because that's all He needs from 392 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:19,320 us is a yes. He loves you. 393 00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:28,280 As our musicians come this morning, He has great things for 394 00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:30,680 you. But we often look for signs 395 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:33,880 today to validate our relationships, to validate our 396 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:36,480 direction, to validate our actions. 397 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:39,040 We even look for signs to validate our walk with God. 398 00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:44,160 And I've come to tell someone today, let's stop worrying about 399 00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:47,800 the sign and let's worry merely after what God has for us. 400 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:51,800 Because when God looks at you, he sees you as worth it. 401 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:56,800 When God looks at you, he sees you not as an investment, but as 402 00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:59,360 a precious gem that he loves, the apple of his eye. 403 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:04,840 When God looks at you, he sees worth above everything else. 404 00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:06,160 Would you stay in with me this morning? 405 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:12,920 When God looks at you, he sees his child and he sees someone 406 00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:16,600 that he's just begging and waiting, pining after to say, 407 00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:20,480 Won't you let me in? This altar is open this morning. 408 00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:23,720 If you need to pray, if you want to pray, come, pray. 409 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:25,720 Come. Let's worship the Lord together 410 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:28,320 this morning as Brother Alex takes us in song this morning. 411 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:30,320 There's a danger in seeking signs. 412 00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:33,680 Let's not seek signs today. Let's seek after the face of God 413 00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:37,320 and allow God to be God in our life.