WEBVTT 00:00:16.839 --> 00:01:28.760 God Thank you for what you started But Lord you ain't done yet We are like Jacob We will not let go until you bless us We will not let go until there is complete healing We will not let go until there is full deliverance We will not let go until there is salvation in the house Thank you Master for what you've done Thank you for what you're going to do Lord we're careful to give your name all the glory honor and praise It's in the powerful name of Jesus we pray that the people of God say Amen Amen Amen to God be the glory to God be the glory to God be the glory listen family there's a word from the Lord uh we're still going to get out of here in um in a very very great time um it it it comes from Nehemiah the third chapter for those that um may be visiting with us today the Lord has given us vision for his house but he's also given us vision for our house and if you don't have vision for your house as an individual there's no way you can have vision for his house. 00:01:28.920 --> 00:01:30.040 Amen, somebody. 00:01:30.280 --> 00:01:37.879 And so we have been on this journey because we've called this a season of vision for us, so that we can run into 2026 full steam ahead. 00:01:37.960 --> 00:01:40.920 And I want to encourage you to tag in into this season of vision. 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:47.719 Um and today, as we have been journeying through the book of Nehemiah, because that's who the Lord has given us as a visionary to help us. 00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:51.240 Uh today we are in Nehemiah, the third uh chapter. 00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:53.640 For the sake of time, we'll just read the first two verses. 00:01:53.799 --> 00:01:56.840 Nehemiah, the third chapter, uh, the new living translation. 00:01:56.920 --> 00:01:58.200 Let's read that out loud together. 00:01:58.359 --> 00:01:58.760 Ready? 00:01:58.920 --> 00:02:00.040 Said, read. 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:06.680 Then Elisha, the high priest, and the other priests started to rebuild at the sheep gate. 00:02:06.840 --> 00:02:21.400 They dedicated it and set up, there we go, set up its doors, building the wall as far as the tower of the 100, which they dedicated, and the tower of Hananam. 00:02:22.199 --> 00:02:29.319 People from the town of Jericho worked next to them, and beyond them was the cure, son of Emri. 00:02:29.800 --> 00:02:37.080 And I would just like to use as a thought today the gates have been broken long enough. 00:02:37.800 --> 00:02:40.759 The gates have been broken long enough. 00:02:41.080 --> 00:02:45.960 Can you turn to the person to your left and just say the gates have been broken long enough? 00:02:46.199 --> 00:02:48.520 Now do it one more time to stretch the room. 00:02:48.599 --> 00:02:52.439 Turn to the right and say the gates have been broken long enough. 00:02:52.599 --> 00:02:59.319 We're in a house that believes in speaking the word of God, so that's why we we do have to every now and then talk to our neighbor. 00:02:59.400 --> 00:03:03.719 I know, I know, but it's how we just make sure that we profess what we believe. 00:03:03.960 --> 00:03:13.560 Men and women of God, the the the the the testimony of Nehemiah is incredible because he teaches us what's it what it really looks like to be a visionary. 00:03:14.520 --> 00:03:22.759 Nehemiah and his people had been taken into Babylonian captivity because of their disobedience to God. 00:03:23.400 --> 00:03:30.360 In that moment, God said, You're going to make it, but you're going to be where you are for 70 years. 00:03:30.920 --> 00:03:38.680 Isn't that just like God that sometimes, let's just be honest, sometimes he doesn't move as quickly as we would hope he would move. 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:47.240 But in reality, he says, Even though I may not have brought you out of it yet, you're going to be okay until I do. 00:03:47.479 --> 00:03:49.479 Can I prophesy that to the amen? 00:03:49.560 --> 00:03:52.039 Can I can I prophesy that to some of you all? 00:03:52.599 --> 00:03:58.840 Even those that I'm telling you that I'm I know God is gonna heal, and I'm still believing some of those healings are happening today. 00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:05.400 But for even the for those he have not brought out of it yet, the Lord says, You're gonna be all right until I do. 00:04:05.560 --> 00:04:07.240 And so the point finally comes. 00:04:07.400 --> 00:04:12.439 70 years of bondage is coming toward the end, and the people of God are allowed to return home. 00:04:12.599 --> 00:04:15.719 Nehemiah has a job as the cupbearer to the king. 00:04:15.879 --> 00:04:19.800 His assignment was to taste test the food to make sure that it wasn't poisoned. 00:04:19.879 --> 00:04:23.560 His assignment was to be close to the king, but he was still in bondage. 00:04:23.719 --> 00:04:29.399 That should break the myth for some of you that just because you got a good job, you're not, you're you're you're no longer in bondage. 00:04:29.560 --> 00:04:36.759 Your job does not predicate whether or not you are actually free because the Bible says who the Son sets free is free indeed. 00:04:36.920 --> 00:04:39.319 That's why money sometimes can't make you happy. 00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:48.040 That's why elevation sometimes always doesn't feel as good as you thought it was, because there's a bondage beyond a position that only Christ can heal. 00:04:48.439 --> 00:04:58.199 Nehemiah is in a good position, but he's still in bondage when um his brother and some of the friends come back and say, Hey, we got a report on um the hometown. 00:04:58.280 --> 00:05:00.839 We got a report on the hood, and it's a terrible report. 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:04.280 Everything has been burned down, and the walls have been destroyed. 00:05:04.360 --> 00:05:10.920 The Kmart, the Wall Mart, the Target, everything has been burned down, torn down, and uh it's in bad shape. 00:05:11.079 --> 00:05:12.519 And I've been talking about this. 00:05:12.680 --> 00:05:15.800 Now everybody heard the news, but it stuck to Nehemiah. 00:05:16.040 --> 00:05:22.360 And so for those of you all that hear news and it sticks to you, that means that's something that God has called you to operate in. 00:05:22.439 --> 00:05:23.480 Does that make sense? 00:05:23.639 --> 00:05:37.399 Um, shout out to a partner who heard uh uh a story about a uh that tragic story of that four-year-old little old boy um and that lost his life uh unnecessarily and tragically right here in the 28273 uh zip code. 00:05:37.480 --> 00:05:43.560 And and she was uh doing everything that she could to help simply because it stuck to um her. 00:05:43.879 --> 00:05:45.240 Um, can I ask you a question? 00:05:45.399 --> 00:05:47.240 What have you heard about that stuck to you? 00:05:47.319 --> 00:05:48.199 You can't let it go. 00:05:48.280 --> 00:05:50.759 It it keeps you up at night, you can't let it go. 00:05:50.839 --> 00:05:53.000 It just it just keeps going around in your brain. 00:05:53.079 --> 00:05:56.680 It's partly because that's somewhere God may be calling you to operate. 00:05:56.839 --> 00:05:59.720 And so it's stuck to Nehemiah that the hood has been torn down. 00:05:59.879 --> 00:06:06.199 It's stuck to Nehemiah that the walls have been torn down, and he is concerned because without wall there is no protection. 00:06:06.360 --> 00:06:11.560 And he's like, even if I get to go back home after bondage, if there are no walls, we're still in trouble. 00:06:11.720 --> 00:06:18.120 And so what God does is he gives Nehemiah a vision to go back and to rebuild the walls around Nehemiah. 00:06:18.199 --> 00:06:19.480 I mean, around Jerusalem. 00:06:19.639 --> 00:06:24.040 When he gives him this vision, um, God also does something amazing. 00:06:24.280 --> 00:06:26.360 Wherever there's vision, we say that there's what? 00:06:26.519 --> 00:06:29.560 Provision, and that provision is in the form of favor. 00:06:29.639 --> 00:06:37.240 So Nehemiah goes to his boss, his supervisor, the king, and asks uh uh for and tells him what's on his heart and his mind. 00:06:37.480 --> 00:06:42.839 But there are at least three favors that flow, three or four favors that flow ahead of Nehemiah. 00:06:42.920 --> 00:06:48.759 There's the favor of time, there's the favor of provision, there's the favor of protection, and then there's the favor of overflow. 00:06:48.920 --> 00:06:50.360 Um, these flow with Nehemiah. 00:06:50.439 --> 00:06:57.879 And you need to know what flows with Nehemiah because I want to let you know that those things are flowing with you when you go and do what God has called you to do. 00:06:58.040 --> 00:07:04.759 By the way, these things don't flow at you when you do what you want to do, these things don't flow with you when you do what everybody else is doing. 00:07:04.839 --> 00:07:09.079 No, these types of favors flow with you when you are on assignment for the king. 00:07:09.160 --> 00:07:13.399 Uh, and the first thing that flowed with him was the favor of time. 00:07:13.560 --> 00:07:15.079 Everybody say the favor of time. 00:07:15.399 --> 00:07:18.519 He goes to the king and says, I need to go back and fix home. 00:07:18.600 --> 00:07:20.680 And the king says, How long will you be there? 00:07:20.839 --> 00:07:24.280 And Nehemiah responds, and the king says, I'm going to give you time. 00:07:24.439 --> 00:07:27.639 And I want to encourage you again that God, you still have time. 00:07:27.720 --> 00:07:31.079 For all my seniors in the room, it's a lie that you don't have time. 00:07:31.160 --> 00:07:35.160 You have time because God is the God of the Kairos and the Kronos. 00:07:35.240 --> 00:07:40.280 He controls time, He's above time, He's outside of time, and He says, I'm going to give you time to do it. 00:07:40.439 --> 00:07:45.639 I wish somebody just celebrate God right down because you've just been gifted time to do it. 00:07:47.800 --> 00:07:51.959 Now, just because God gave you time is not an excuse to delay. 00:07:52.759 --> 00:07:55.240 It ain't an excuse to sit on your derriere. 00:07:56.040 --> 00:08:02.519 God gives you time because he knows that so much has been coming against you, but now he's favoring you with time to get it gun. 00:08:02.600 --> 00:08:04.759 But not only does he give him time, he gives him provision. 00:08:04.839 --> 00:08:10.199 He says to the king, Neil, thank you, King, for letting me go, but I need some wood, I need some lumber. 00:08:10.280 --> 00:08:14.759 Um, can you go down to the manager of the forest and tell him to give us some lumber? 00:08:14.839 --> 00:08:18.280 And then if the king replies, yes, I will tell him to give you timber. 00:08:18.439 --> 00:08:23.879 And anytime in the Bible you see the conversation about timber, it's a it's provision, it's resources. 00:08:23.959 --> 00:08:27.399 And I want to tell some of you all that are doing what God has called you to do, get ready. 00:08:27.480 --> 00:08:28.600 The timber is coming. 00:08:28.759 --> 00:08:30.120 Yeah, the timber is coming. 00:08:30.199 --> 00:08:34.759 You gotta believe that with God told you to do it, he's gonna give you the resources to get it done. 00:08:34.919 --> 00:08:39.720 You just gotta have faith enough to hold on until the the timber shows up. 00:08:39.879 --> 00:08:45.000 You gotta have enough faith, Montina, to build bricks without straw until the timber shows up. 00:08:45.240 --> 00:08:50.039 You gotta know, you gotta have enough faith to eat uh Roman noodles until the steak shows up. 00:08:50.199 --> 00:08:51.399 Amen, somebody. 00:08:51.639 --> 00:08:56.199 You gotta have uh uh enough faith for them beanie weenies to just to hold on a little while. 00:08:56.279 --> 00:09:03.559 I need some people that know what I'm talking about that say, I got enough faith to hold on and run on to see what the end is gonna be. 00:09:04.039 --> 00:09:13.559 So he gives him, he gives him, he gives him time, he gives him, he gives him provision, and then he gives him protection because Nehemiah said, I gotta travel through some enemy territory. 00:09:13.799 --> 00:09:15.000 Give me some letters, King. 00:09:15.079 --> 00:09:17.159 And God, and the king gives him letters. 00:09:17.239 --> 00:09:25.079 So the letters say, if you mess with Nehemiah and you messing with me, and that's what God says about you, if they mess with you, they are messing with your God. 00:09:25.159 --> 00:09:39.639 But the fourth one is the most exciting one to me, is the uh what I call overflow because as the king is watching Nehemiah get ready to go, the king said, You know what, Nehemiah, you didn't ask for this, but I am also going to give you my army to take with you. 00:09:39.799 --> 00:09:41.399 And that's what I call overflow. 00:09:41.479 --> 00:09:45.079 You see, when God shows up, he does more than you asked for. 00:09:45.239 --> 00:09:47.159 He does more than I ever expected. 00:09:47.319 --> 00:09:49.479 Is there anybody in the room that could testify? 00:09:49.639 --> 00:09:50.919 Listen, y'all, I'm trying to tell you. 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:58.439 I ain't gonna tell you nothing that God hadn't shown me, and most of the stuff that I've experienced, I serve a God that did more than I ever expected. 00:09:58.519 --> 00:10:02.679 Yeah, my my my mom is here, my mother-in-law is here, my father-in-law is here. 00:10:02.839 --> 00:10:09.239 Um you know why they're here uh to celebrate uh the fact that um uh that we just baptized two of my boys. 00:10:09.319 --> 00:10:10.759 We had already baptized the other one. 00:10:10.839 --> 00:10:17.639 You gotta remember, all we were doing was praying for one, but the Lord showed up and he did more than we ever expected. 00:10:17.799 --> 00:10:20.679 I ain't telling you what I heard, I'm I'm telling you what I know. 00:10:20.759 --> 00:10:22.039 I got triple for the trouble. 00:10:22.199 --> 00:10:23.079 Lord have mercy. 00:10:23.239 --> 00:10:27.639 Can I prophesy that to somebody in the room that God is gonna give you triple for the trouble? 00:10:27.799 --> 00:10:36.439 Yes, and I'm believing God that he's about to show up in your life for what he has called you to do if you got faith enough to receive it. 00:10:37.079 --> 00:10:50.839 And so, Nehemiah, he he he gets to his place of assignment, he gets to the place of purpose, he gets to Jerusalem, he finally arrives, and when he gets there, he starts to work. 00:10:51.319 --> 00:10:55.799 But before he can work, he realized something that the gates are broken. 00:10:56.359 --> 00:11:04.839 It's interesting because he realizes that the only way that he is going to bring the vision to pass that God has given him is that he has to deal with the gates. 00:11:05.319 --> 00:11:11.159 And I want to go briefly and help us to deal with the gates in our lives because the gates speak to us and they speak to us real good. 00:11:11.399 --> 00:11:13.959 The first gate that Nehemiah deals with is the sheep gate. 00:11:14.039 --> 00:11:15.399 Everybody say the sheep gate. 00:11:15.719 --> 00:11:26.119 Yeah, the sheep gate is an interesting gate because uh the sheep gate speaks to the fact that um in all of our lives uh we're going to need the sheep gate. 00:11:26.199 --> 00:11:28.759 Do y'all know what the sheep gate did in the Old Testament? 00:11:29.000 --> 00:11:37.719 Um they lived in a city, they lived in a town, they lived in Jerusalem, and there was a sheep gate, and that was the gate that all of the sheep came into the city. 00:11:37.959 --> 00:11:40.199 Do y'all know why the sheep came into the city? 00:11:40.439 --> 00:11:44.839 It wasn't because they liked lamb chops with mint jelly like Tiffany liked. 00:11:44.919 --> 00:11:46.519 She liked mint jelly with a lamb. 00:11:46.679 --> 00:11:47.719 I don't know where that comes from. 00:11:47.959 --> 00:11:49.239 That that's country, I don't know. 00:11:49.319 --> 00:11:57.639 She likes it, but it wasn't for the fact that they liked like lamb with jelly, it was because of what happened in the garden. 00:11:58.279 --> 00:12:07.719 You see, when Adam and Eve failed a test of freedom and they sinned, God had a plan for our sins immediately. 00:12:08.039 --> 00:12:15.079 When Adam and Eve took a bite of forbidden fruit that they weren't supposed to touch, they instantly discovered that they were naked. 00:12:15.639 --> 00:12:18.839 Meaning the whole time before, they didn't even know what nakedness was. 00:12:18.919 --> 00:12:22.679 They were just they was just used to working and walking around free. 00:12:23.159 --> 00:12:28.439 But suddenly, after they took a bit of that forbidden bite of that forbidden fruit, they discovered they was naked. 00:12:28.519 --> 00:12:28.919 You know why? 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:29.879 Because sin does what? 00:12:29.959 --> 00:12:31.159 It exposes us. 00:12:31.799 --> 00:12:38.679 I want to tell you that's why sometimes you can't do what other people do as a man or a woman of God, because you will get exposed in the spirit. 00:12:38.839 --> 00:12:44.599 And so now they're exposed that they are naked, and what God does is says, I gotta cover my people. 00:12:44.839 --> 00:12:49.879 So he takes an animal, he slays the animal, he takes the fur from the animal. 00:12:50.039 --> 00:12:53.719 Obviously, to slay the animal, he had to kill the animal, and blood had to be shed. 00:12:53.879 --> 00:12:57.719 And so he takes that and he takes the fur and covers Adam and Eve. 00:12:57.879 --> 00:13:10.519 And from that moment he establishes a precept that stands today that any time that there is sin, in order to cover the sin, in order to cover the person, there has to be the shedding of blood. 00:13:10.839 --> 00:13:12.119 Y'all walking with me? 00:13:12.439 --> 00:13:15.559 Because of what Adam and Eve did, sin entered. 00:13:15.719 --> 00:13:17.399 He slayed an animal to cover them. 00:13:17.479 --> 00:13:19.959 This isn't in the book of Genesis, the third chapter. 00:13:20.119 --> 00:13:25.079 Uh, and now, because of that, now every time there is sin, there has to be a sacrifice. 00:13:25.239 --> 00:13:27.479 Every time there is sin, there has to be blood shed. 00:13:27.639 --> 00:13:36.279 So in the Old Testament, before Jesus came, they would have a sheep gate where all the sheep would come in to be slaughtered. 00:13:36.519 --> 00:13:40.519 Now, if you've ever been to a butcher house, you know slaughtering animals is not cute. 00:13:40.679 --> 00:13:47.479 You gotta shave the animal, you gotta cut the vein, you gotta, it's bloody, it's nasty, it's smelly, it's not, it's grotesque. 00:13:47.559 --> 00:13:53.559 Uh, because uh when you're violently butchering something, um, is there's no cute way to do it. 00:13:53.799 --> 00:13:57.319 And they would have to do this for all the sins of everybody. 00:13:57.479 --> 00:13:58.839 And I said, Lord have mercy. 00:13:58.919 --> 00:14:04.039 I'm glad I ain't lived back then because I would have had about 17, 30 sheep a day with my name on it. 00:14:04.119 --> 00:14:05.399 So shout out to the real people. 00:14:05.479 --> 00:14:10.199 They would be like, hey, we shout out to the people in the room that said, we we're gonna need some more sheep for him. 00:14:10.359 --> 00:14:12.679 Yeah, we we gonna we're gonna need some more sheep. 00:14:13.239 --> 00:14:14.039 Do we got any more? 00:14:14.119 --> 00:14:14.679 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:14:14.839 --> 00:14:17.959 We're gonna be honest, some of us would have needed a few more, few more sheep. 00:14:18.119 --> 00:14:18.759 Yeah, yeah. 00:14:18.839 --> 00:14:29.319 And but but but but but but God got to the point where he said he was tired of the sacrifice of lambs and that uh animal couldn't take away the sins of the world uh forever. 00:14:29.479 --> 00:14:31.959 And so uh God sent his son. 00:14:32.279 --> 00:14:43.079 And when Jesus came into the earth, when Jesus, when John the Baptist, who had been preaching that the Savior was coming, when he looked up and he saw Jesus for the first time, you know what he said? 00:14:43.319 --> 00:14:49.239 Behold the Lamb of God who is come to take away the sins of the world. 00:14:49.479 --> 00:14:50.599 What does that mean? 00:14:50.919 --> 00:15:01.159 That Jesus has come to restore right relationship with you and God forever, and that your sins are forgiven because who the Son sets free is free indeed. 00:15:01.319 --> 00:15:07.479 And so the sheep gate is necessary today because the sheep gate speaks to your relationship with God. 00:15:07.719 --> 00:15:12.039 So the question is of the sheep gate is how is your relationship with God? 00:15:12.279 --> 00:15:17.639 If we want to experience miracle signs and wonders, it's not gonna happen without relationship with God. 00:15:17.799 --> 00:15:22.759 I don't care how much we pray or scream or shout, it requires relationship with God. 00:15:22.839 --> 00:15:25.959 Uh, and it requires us to be washed in the blood. 00:15:26.119 --> 00:15:35.319 We have to be those individuals that have made a confession with our mouth that we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that he died for our sins and that he shall be soon returned. 00:15:35.399 --> 00:15:40.039 So let me ask you the question: what's the status of the sheep gate in your life? 00:15:41.639 --> 00:15:53.479 Because Jesus is uh operates like a sheep, he doesn't operate like the bill collector, meaning he doesn't knock on your door until you answer. 00:15:54.279 --> 00:15:57.799 He don't operate like the police with a battering ram. 00:15:57.879 --> 00:15:59.079 I'm talking about search warrant. 00:15:59.319 --> 00:16:01.559 We coming in one way or another. 00:16:01.879 --> 00:16:03.719 No disrespect or no shade. 00:16:03.959 --> 00:16:10.359 He don't operate like our sisters and brothers that are Jehovah's Witnesses, knocking on the door and you in there to everybody be quiet. 00:16:10.519 --> 00:16:12.919 Everybody shh say, shut up, boy. 00:16:13.079 --> 00:16:13.879 Don't say nothing. 00:16:14.119 --> 00:16:15.079 Don't say no. 00:16:15.639 --> 00:16:18.919 Jesus said, I stand at the door and I knock. 00:16:19.879 --> 00:16:21.959 And he said, if anyone does what? 00:16:22.359 --> 00:16:23.319 Invite him in. 00:16:23.399 --> 00:16:25.399 What's the status of your sheep gate? 00:16:25.959 --> 00:16:34.359 The problem is that your relationship with God is so broken that you can't even sense that he's been standing there knocking, trying to get back close to you. 00:16:34.839 --> 00:16:36.679 What's the status of your sheep gate? 00:16:37.159 --> 00:16:44.039 The problem is that you have so much going on in your life you don't even realize how far you are from God right now. 00:16:44.279 --> 00:16:46.839 But the Lord says, I stand at the door and knock. 00:16:47.159 --> 00:16:48.679 And all you gotta do is come in. 00:16:48.759 --> 00:16:50.679 He said, I'll break bread with you. 00:16:50.839 --> 00:16:54.519 I I I I we'll talk about it and I'll set you on a path for your life. 00:16:54.679 --> 00:16:57.479 But if we doesn't stop at the sheep gate, then we gotta talk about the fish gate. 00:16:57.559 --> 00:16:59.000 The fish gate is an interesting gate. 00:16:59.079 --> 00:17:01.719 The fish gate, we're going counterclockwise around the wall. 00:17:01.799 --> 00:17:09.240 Uh the fish gate is uh interesting because the fish gate was literally the place where they would bring in fish into the city. 00:17:09.640 --> 00:17:13.000 Literally would catch fish in the sea and bring them into the city. 00:17:13.160 --> 00:17:21.000 And the Bible talks a lot about fish from the perspective of that Jesus said to Peter that you are a good fisherman, but now I'm about to make you fisherman of men. 00:17:21.159 --> 00:17:29.000 Uh, can I talk to you and tell you that I'm concerned that the fish gate is broken at church and the fish gate is broken at your house because we stopped fishing for people. 00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:33.559 We've been waiting for people to come to us instead of us going to the people. 00:17:34.440 --> 00:17:36.679 And we wonder why the world is going crazy. 00:17:36.839 --> 00:17:39.159 We gotta prepare the, we gotta repair the fish gate. 00:17:39.319 --> 00:17:41.159 Somebody said we gotta repair the fish gate. 00:17:41.399 --> 00:17:42.919 Yeah, we gotta repair the fish gate. 00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:46.440 We gotta repair the fish gate when we get back to being a fisher of men. 00:17:46.599 --> 00:17:51.720 Hear this, watch this, so that we can reach the community right where they are. 00:17:52.359 --> 00:17:55.240 I've been fishing and I talk a lot of trash when I fish. 00:17:55.480 --> 00:18:01.559 And my father-in-law, I I I could, if he wasn't here, I could tell y'all how much of an awesome fisherman I am. 00:18:01.879 --> 00:18:04.599 But he's been with me a few times, and so far I ain't caught nothing. 00:18:04.759 --> 00:18:07.720 So I gotta tell the truth today. 00:18:09.319 --> 00:18:14.359 The problem with fishing is I've discovered them doggone rascals don't just jump in the net. 00:18:14.440 --> 00:18:16.119 I I I figured that part out. 00:18:16.359 --> 00:18:18.599 I've discovered you gotta put a little bit of work. 00:18:18.919 --> 00:18:20.759 I've discovered you gotta be patient. 00:18:21.159 --> 00:18:23.799 I've discovered you gotta have the right bait on the hook. 00:18:23.960 --> 00:18:26.599 I've discovered that you gotta hold the reel a certain way. 00:18:26.759 --> 00:18:31.480 I also discovered that you gotta fish at a certain time of day depending on the type of fish you're trying to catch. 00:18:31.720 --> 00:18:35.159 I've discovered there's saltwater fish and there is freshwater fish. 00:18:35.240 --> 00:18:37.079 I've discovered that there's tilapia. 00:18:37.159 --> 00:18:40.679 I know y'all don't like tilapia, but I enjoy tilapia myself. 00:18:40.759 --> 00:18:43.319 But uh it's all types of fish out here. 00:18:43.720 --> 00:18:49.960 But for the fish you're trying to catch, you gotta be willing to fish in the pond that God called you to. 00:18:50.919 --> 00:18:52.440 And I want to tell y'all something. 00:18:52.519 --> 00:18:53.159 We are in trouble. 00:18:53.240 --> 00:18:54.839 The fish gate is broken in the church. 00:18:54.919 --> 00:18:55.480 You know why? 00:18:55.799 --> 00:18:58.359 Because we're no longer fishing in the pond anymore. 00:18:58.599 --> 00:19:00.599 We think faith's supposed to work like DoorDash. 00:19:00.759 --> 00:19:02.759 You just put it on your phone and they show up. 00:19:03.000 --> 00:19:05.480 But God has called us to the lost, the least and the left out. 00:19:05.559 --> 00:19:07.639 Let me tell you the danger of the fish gate being broken. 00:19:07.799 --> 00:19:10.039 Can I tell y'all the danger of the fish gate being broken? 00:19:10.200 --> 00:19:12.839 When we start fishing for people, you know what happens? 00:19:13.799 --> 00:19:20.519 A mental health issue turns into a homicide on the light rail in the city of Charlotte. 00:19:20.679 --> 00:19:22.279 I'm gonna say it again. 00:19:22.599 --> 00:19:31.559 When we stop fishing, a mental health issue, everybody know what I'm talking about, turns into a homicide on a light rail. 00:19:31.960 --> 00:19:35.159 And it's because you have individuals out here that need God. 00:19:35.319 --> 00:19:37.319 You have people out here that need deliverance. 00:19:37.399 --> 00:19:40.119 How many of us still believe that deliverance is real? 00:19:40.359 --> 00:19:41.319 Yeah, yeah. 00:19:41.559 --> 00:19:44.119 I I thank God for our mental health professionals. 00:19:44.200 --> 00:19:55.799 We need them in a season such as this, and we need the body of Christ to work alongside our mental health professional professionals so that the Holy Ghost can touch where medicine has no power. 00:19:55.960 --> 00:20:00.119 We gotta fish, you gotta fix the fish gate, we gotta fix it at the church, but guess what? 00:20:00.200 --> 00:20:01.319 You gotta fix it at your house. 00:20:01.399 --> 00:20:02.519 Can I ask you a question? 00:20:02.759 --> 00:20:05.240 I know you prayed for the Lord to bless you real good. 00:20:05.319 --> 00:20:11.240 You pray for increase and you pray for overflow, but when was the last time you told somebody about Jesus? 00:20:12.119 --> 00:20:16.679 When was the last time you said to somebody, you know God loves you and He had a plan for your life? 00:20:16.919 --> 00:20:19.720 When was the last time you invited somebody to church? 00:20:19.879 --> 00:20:24.679 When was the last time you went to a stranger and just told them and shared your story and shared his story? 00:20:24.759 --> 00:20:26.839 And and you say, I may not be comfortable doing that. 00:20:26.919 --> 00:20:28.919 And let's just be real, we all struggle with that. 00:20:29.000 --> 00:20:30.039 But can I tell you what that means? 00:20:30.119 --> 00:20:31.639 That the fish gate is broken. 00:20:32.359 --> 00:20:43.559 If you're not a person, because all of us are called to share the gospel, all of us are called to get into the streets, all of us are called to call our cousins and family and friends and say, Hey, come back, sis, hey, come back, bro. 00:20:43.799 --> 00:20:45.480 God loves you and has a plan for you. 00:20:45.559 --> 00:20:49.079 And if you stop doing that, I'm here to tell you that the fish gate is broken. 00:20:49.480 --> 00:20:52.839 And God is saying, I'm calling y'all now to fix the fish gate. 00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:55.799 But there's also something else in the fish gate that you gotta understand. 00:20:55.879 --> 00:20:58.679 Whenever you see fish in the Bible, it also deals with provision. 00:20:58.839 --> 00:21:00.119 Everybody say provision. 00:21:00.279 --> 00:21:10.200 Um, when you see fish in the Bible, you see that what Jesus did with two fish and five loaves of bread, he fed a multitude of thousands because he was able to do a whole lot with a little. 00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:12.919 And can I encourage all of the visionaries in the room? 00:21:13.079 --> 00:21:17.559 When you're doing what God has called you to do, you should be ready because the fish are coming. 00:21:17.720 --> 00:21:18.440 What does that mean? 00:21:18.519 --> 00:21:21.720 That there will be more than enough for what God has called you to do. 00:21:21.799 --> 00:21:24.279 I thought I'd have an entrepreneur say thank you, Jesus. 00:21:24.440 --> 00:21:28.679 I thought I'd have somebody that's got a job that's looking for promotion and say glory to the Lamb. 00:21:28.839 --> 00:21:34.359 I'm just trying to tell you that when you are being who God has called you to be, you should expect the fish to come. 00:21:34.519 --> 00:21:38.759 Yeah, in the natural fish don't jump into um your your net. 00:21:38.839 --> 00:21:51.000 But there's a story where where God was speaking to Peter, and and it was after Peter was restored that that that that Peter was fishing between night and nothing, and a strange voice told him to cast his net on the other side. 00:21:51.159 --> 00:21:54.759 And when he cast his net on the other side, uh, y'all know what happened. 00:21:54.839 --> 00:21:57.799 There were so many fish, Pastor Chris, that the net broke. 00:21:57.879 --> 00:22:07.240 Can I declare a net breaking blessing is about to come to your house simply because you are doing what the master called you to do. 00:22:08.200 --> 00:22:13.639 When you start to do what he called you to do, you ought to expect a net breaking blessing. 00:22:14.119 --> 00:22:19.480 Because God wants the world to know that it was by his hand you got to the place that you are. 00:22:19.960 --> 00:22:22.200 We dealt with the first and the second gate. 00:22:22.279 --> 00:22:23.159 Let's look at the next one. 00:22:23.240 --> 00:22:25.879 The next the next one um is the old gate. 00:22:25.960 --> 00:22:27.240 Everybody say the the old gate. 00:22:27.319 --> 00:22:28.519 We go in the counterclockwise. 00:22:28.679 --> 00:22:31.079 The old gate uh was interesting in history. 00:22:31.159 --> 00:22:36.599 It said it was a place where the wise people would gather and they would have conversations at the old gate. 00:22:36.679 --> 00:22:37.559 It was an old place. 00:22:37.639 --> 00:22:45.399 But the old gate is a reminder uh that we shouldn't uh forsake the ancient oil, we shouldn't uh forsake the ancient ways. 00:22:45.559 --> 00:22:49.799 Jeremiah 6, verse 16 said we ought to go back to the old way. 00:22:49.879 --> 00:22:59.240 And and when I when I heard that, it's not talking about methods, it's not talking about whether you're gonna use technology or whether you're gonna use uh pen and paper. 00:22:59.399 --> 00:23:07.319 It's talking about there are some things about our faith that worked from the beginning that we have abandoned and we got to get back to. 00:23:07.399 --> 00:23:07.879 Amen. 00:23:07.960 --> 00:23:08.599 Somebody. 00:23:08.839 --> 00:23:13.399 Don't y'all know that they've been praying and fasting since the book of Genesis? 00:23:13.639 --> 00:23:24.919 Don't you know, even when it came to stewardship, uh that that that um Abram offered a tithe to Michael Zedict even before the tithing system was in place because the principle was in place. 00:23:25.079 --> 00:23:31.000 Don't y'all understand that that praying and and prayers in God and and trusting God? 00:23:31.159 --> 00:23:32.440 Uh, can I say it real plain? 00:23:32.599 --> 00:23:39.960 I feel like sometimes we didn't got so uh so commercial and so new age that we've gotten away from old school prayer meetings. 00:23:40.039 --> 00:23:46.039 Yeah, uh we've got we've gotten away from old school fasting, we we've gotten away from some of the old school songs. 00:23:46.200 --> 00:23:50.440 That's why in this in this in this church, uh we'll never forsake the old gate. 00:23:50.519 --> 00:23:56.839 That's why, as much as we sing some of the uh fresh new stuff, we're gonna sing songs like order my steps in your word. 00:23:57.079 --> 00:24:09.079 That's why as we sing Waymaker, uh Miracle Worker, we'll still sing, Pass me not, oh gentle Savior, hear my humble cry, and while on others are calling, do not pass me by. 00:24:09.240 --> 00:24:14.440 That's why we'll sing Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. 00:24:14.599 --> 00:24:17.319 I once was lost, but now I'm found. 00:24:17.480 --> 00:24:19.960 Was blind, but now I am see. 00:24:20.359 --> 00:24:24.679 That's why we'll say, Jesus be offense all around me every day. 00:24:24.759 --> 00:24:33.639 I wish I had some old school folk in the house because there's some old stuff that kept our ancestors, there's some old stuff that kept your grandmama. 00:24:33.720 --> 00:24:43.000 And if it can keep your grandma before she can get to a podcast, if it can keep your grandmama before she had a cell phone, if it was a good enough for them, guess what, family? 00:24:43.159 --> 00:24:44.440 It's good enough for me. 00:24:44.599 --> 00:24:48.440 I wanna tell somebody I've discovered ain't no school like the old school. 00:24:48.599 --> 00:25:02.919 Yeah, there are new methods and new ways, but sometimes we just gotta go back to water baptism, sometimes we just gotta go back to tarrying services, sometimes we gotta lay prostrate before the Lord, sometimes we gotta cry out to God. 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:08.919 I wish I had some old school folk in here that was wasting the old way to show the new folk that listen. 00:25:09.319 --> 00:25:15.799 I thank God for the new, but every now and then ain't no school like the old school. 00:25:16.119 --> 00:25:17.000 Lord have mercy. 00:25:17.079 --> 00:25:27.079 I'm glad sometimes when we say, Take me back, take me back, dear Lord, to a place where I first received you. 00:25:27.960 --> 00:25:36.119 Take me back, take me back, dear Lord, to the place where I first believed. 00:25:38.839 --> 00:25:44.679 So the Lord is reminding us by way of the old gate, don't throw away the ancient oil. 00:25:46.200 --> 00:25:53.240 All the elders, and when I'm talking elders now, I'm not talking about those with that biblical title, I'm talking about the seniors in this church. 00:25:53.639 --> 00:25:56.279 I need y'all to step y'all game up. 00:25:57.079 --> 00:25:59.399 I need y'all to lead from the front. 00:25:59.799 --> 00:26:07.000 Y'all been through too much hell and high water to sit back and say, now look at this poor baby sink again. 00:26:07.399 --> 00:26:10.519 Back in 78, I did that three times. 00:26:10.839 --> 00:26:15.240 I'm I'm saying it lighthearted, but I'm telling you, seniors, we gotta step our game up. 00:26:15.319 --> 00:26:21.720 As a matter of fact, I was told that they're working on something where they're gonna get the youth ministry and the seniors together just to have some conversations. 00:26:22.119 --> 00:26:24.839 But young adults in the room, I need you to do the same thing. 00:26:24.919 --> 00:26:25.799 I need to sit down. 00:26:26.039 --> 00:26:30.119 It's not that our seniors are perfect, nobody's perfect, but they've been through so much. 00:26:30.279 --> 00:26:33.879 And the Lord is saying we gotta stop neglecting the old gate. 00:26:34.359 --> 00:26:40.599 You gotta sit down and talk to some folk and ask them why you stayed in a marriage the way the reason you stayed. 00:26:40.839 --> 00:26:43.879 Or watch this, why you left the marriage the reason you left. 00:26:44.039 --> 00:26:48.440 You gotta ask them now, why did you do your money the way that you did it in comparison to how we do? 00:26:48.679 --> 00:26:51.000 We gotta not throw away the old gate. 00:26:51.240 --> 00:26:54.200 Somebody said the old gate has been broken long enough. 00:26:54.279 --> 00:26:54.519 Say it. 00:26:54.679 --> 00:26:56.519 Say the old gate's been broken long enough. 00:26:56.679 --> 00:26:57.559 Then there's another gate. 00:26:57.639 --> 00:26:58.440 Let's keep going forward. 00:26:58.519 --> 00:27:01.639 So after we deal with the old gate, here we are, then we reach the valley gate. 00:27:01.720 --> 00:27:04.519 Oh my god, the valley gate is one of my favorite gates. 00:27:04.599 --> 00:27:11.240 Now, in the text, the valley gate uh represented uh uh a gate that literally connected to the valley. 00:27:11.559 --> 00:27:16.359 Jerusalem set up on a hill, so the valley gate gave access to the valley. 00:27:16.839 --> 00:27:21.079 And I'm concerned, men and women of God, that the valley gate is broken. 00:27:21.399 --> 00:27:30.599 You see, the valley gate is the space where we reach the people who are going through the worst part of life, it's where we reach the gutter folk. 00:27:31.079 --> 00:27:38.279 And God is saying that the valley gate has to be prepared so that the folk in the valley can come into the house. 00:27:38.519 --> 00:27:40.759 And I want to talk to some valley people in the room. 00:27:40.839 --> 00:27:46.440 Every now and then I have an opportunity to talk about what God has given doing in my life, and I like to tell people I'm a valley saint. 00:27:46.599 --> 00:27:47.799 Yeah, I'm from the valley. 00:27:47.960 --> 00:27:49.879 Anybody else a valley saint like you? 00:27:49.960 --> 00:27:57.799 Yeah, I know some of y'all are bourgeois, I know some of y'all are high and mighty in society, and I know some of y'all have uh never done some of the things. 00:27:57.879 --> 00:28:00.200 Y'all clutch y'all pearls when y'all hear something tell. 00:28:00.440 --> 00:28:02.359 Oh my god, I can't believe she did that. 00:28:02.519 --> 00:28:05.399 Um I need to talk to the valley saints in the room. 00:28:05.799 --> 00:28:06.919 Do I got any valley saints? 00:28:07.079 --> 00:28:08.519 I'm sorry, I'm a valley saint. 00:28:08.599 --> 00:28:09.720 I'm I'm a valley saint. 00:28:09.799 --> 00:28:12.440 I'm I'm from I'm from a place called Bestworth, Alabama. 00:28:12.519 --> 00:28:17.399 It's I love Bestwood, but it it has a high crime rate, and they are about that life in Bestwomen. 00:28:17.559 --> 00:28:26.359 I'm a I'm a I'm a I'm a valley saint where in school we had to have the police uh in the hallways because they would they would fight a teacher, nothing to be proud of. 00:28:26.519 --> 00:28:34.359 But I'm from I'm I'm from I'm from the valley uh where they were singing dope on every anybody from the anybody in the valley saints in the house that know what I'm talking about? 00:28:34.519 --> 00:28:35.319 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:28:35.399 --> 00:28:38.839 There's some valley saints in the house that you were born in valley conditions. 00:28:39.000 --> 00:28:43.159 You were born, and the moment you got here, somebody started being abusive to you. 00:28:43.319 --> 00:28:47.240 You didn't do nothing to deserve it, but you just found yourself born in the valley. 00:28:47.399 --> 00:28:52.759 You found yourself born in a situation where your mother and father were at odds with each other. 00:28:52.919 --> 00:28:54.839 Do I have any valley saints in the room? 00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:57.159 There's some other valley saints when you were born. 00:28:57.319 --> 00:29:01.639 You were born with a physical infirmment and you've been dealing with it your whole life. 00:29:01.720 --> 00:29:03.159 Where my valley saints at? 00:29:03.240 --> 00:29:05.720 There's some people that maybe you weren't born in the valley. 00:29:05.879 --> 00:29:10.759 You thought everything was good because you was in the hills, but suddenly you had a valley experience. 00:29:11.159 --> 00:29:13.799 Do I got any people in the room that had a valley experience? 00:29:14.039 --> 00:29:17.399 Pastor, I wasn't born in the valley, but that divorce took me out. 00:29:17.879 --> 00:29:21.720 I wasn't born in the valley, but COVID-19 almost took everything from me. 00:29:21.879 --> 00:29:26.679 I wasn't born in the valley, but the Great Recession almost wiped out my 401k. 00:29:26.839 --> 00:29:29.319 I need some people in the room that know something about the valley. 00:29:29.480 --> 00:29:32.519 Well, the men and women of God for the whole of the valley estates. 00:29:32.919 --> 00:29:35.799 I need you to make some noise because there's a word from the Lord. 00:29:36.039 --> 00:29:41.799 God is saying that I am about to repent of the valley gate to bring you back up on the hill. 00:29:42.200 --> 00:29:45.559 Because God says I am a God of the hill and the valley. 00:29:46.039 --> 00:29:50.759 Yeah, some of the best things that I have created were created in the valley. 00:29:51.000 --> 00:29:55.159 Some of the best people that I have produced were produced in the gutter. 00:29:55.720 --> 00:30:00.200 Some of the best people that I'm elevating have a crazy testimony. 00:30:00.599 --> 00:30:03.799 And that's why the valley gate can be has to be restored. 00:30:04.039 --> 00:30:13.799 So the people at the bottom who started at the bottom can suddenly find themselves here because God is doing something with people in the valley. 00:30:15.799 --> 00:30:21.960 Everybody that's been in the valley, God is inviting you back up on the hill. 00:30:22.279 --> 00:30:27.960 But as He brings you out of the valley, you gotta let go of them valley thoughts and them valley ways. 00:30:28.440 --> 00:30:31.720 I know in the valley you say stuff like meet me outside. 00:30:31.960 --> 00:30:34.119 But we don't we don't we don't talk like that on the hill. 00:30:34.279 --> 00:30:35.960 No, we don't we don't talk like that. 00:30:36.200 --> 00:30:38.599 I know you say stuff like this ain't what you want. 00:30:39.079 --> 00:30:42.279 But we don't we we don't talk like that on the hill. 00:30:42.519 --> 00:30:49.879 I I know uh I know in the valley you you you you kept your money under your mattress or in your bra. 00:30:50.200 --> 00:30:52.679 But but on the hill we didn't learn how to invest a little bit. 00:30:52.759 --> 00:30:54.440 At least at least get you a savings account. 00:30:54.519 --> 00:30:56.039 I'm trying to help somebody. 00:30:56.279 --> 00:30:58.839