Seeds of Life: Activating the Exceeding-Abundantly-Above Harvest - Pastor Denny Duron

Welcome to SC Church Podcast! We’re so glad you could join us. Today Pastor Denny Duron shared with us his message:

“Seeds of Life: Activating the Exceeding-Abundantly-Above Harvest"

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:01

Praise God. Anybody here ready to hear from God today? Amen. I'll tell you, I'm ready to hear from the Lord. You say, yeah, but you're preaching. Well, strangely enough, when I'm preaching, it's one of the times I hear from God the most clearly. Because God is not just going to give you something and not give me anything. I am ready to hear from the Lord. Here's what I want to make sure of today. I want to make sure that nobody leaves early in this message. You say, why is that? Because you need to hear it all the way to the end today. It's going to be at the end of the message that somebody gets spoken to the most clearly. This is a time of transformation. And God has called us to be transformed by his word. Can you imagine? What if all the words of God that were pertinent to the human condition were just put in a book? And you could just go down to any bookstore and buy one of those. Say, hey, give me all the words of God. And you could actually pay a price, sometimes discounted right on the cover, for all the words of God. And then you could take those words of God home with you and just put them on the shelf and pass by them every day as if they were just ordinary words. What is that? Oh, those are the words of God. That's all of the information that is pertinent to the human life and condition. No matter what you're going through, you can pick up that book that I bought down there at Barnes and Noble's, and it will give you the exact answer you need. And it will not be a human opinion, it will be the words of God. Hallelujah. How many of you are glad you have the words of God? Stand with me, please. Hallelujah. We often say stand with me all over this place. I think that's so funny because where else am I asking you to stand? Like one fella got up and he said, I want all of you folks to just shake around and turn hands. Just kind of got it backwards. For those of you that are a little slow kids, that meant turn around and shake hands, but you know, you got it backwards. Now you get it. You'll get it on the way home. On the way home. I thank God for the privilege that I have to preach the word of God. This is my 55th year. And people have often asked me, yeah, but when did you really start preaching? Well, I really started preaching at the very beginning. Because when I was 17 years old is when I began. And I preached 200 times that year. And so from that time to this, I've been preaching the word of God. Last weekend, I was in Cumberland, Maryland. Almost 50 years to the exact day I was at that church preaching. 50 years ago. And there was a young man that I recruited there that at that time was 16 years old to come and play for the football team I had just consented to coach in Springfield, Missouri of Angela University. So he's one of my first recruits. And today he's 65 years old. And he has just come out of retirement one more time to be the defensive coordinator at Allegheny High School in Cumberland, Maryland. So as I look back over my shoulder, you know, sometimes I feel like a dinosaur, but at the same time, all I can see is the faithfulness of our God. Hallelujah. You would have gotten the biggest kick out of it because there was a lady in the women's ministry group that was busy with a lot more ladies just like her. And they were making peanut butter chocolate eggs as a fundraiser for missions. And so here is this wonderful white-haired lady working on mixing all of this concoction up. And she just smiles ear to ear when she sees me and she says, Oh, it's so good to see you. I was graduating from high school the last time you were here. She is 67 years old. All I can tell you is God is faithful, and I'm glad that He's given me one more chance to stand here and to proclaim the words of God. Hallelujah. Let's pray right now. Father, in Jesus' name, I pray that you will move in our midst. Speak to us the words of encouragement that we need. In Jesus' name we pray. And everybody said, Amen. You may be seated. We are in a series entitled Seeds of Life, Seeds of Life. And of course, we know that Jesus is the ultimate seed of life. When we plant a witness about Jesus in somebody's life, it changes everything. But you are called to sow all kinds of seeds of life so that the world may be filled with the light of God. I want to further drill down in the subject this morning by saying we are in the Seeds of Life series, but today's message is entitled Activating the Exceeding Abundantly Above Harvest. Activating the Exceeding Abundantly Above Harvest. In other words, how to add God's super to your natural. But the name Acts is a perfect description for the book. Acts is a record of the supernatural acts of God through ordinary believers, just like you and me. God's desire is to make all of us supernaturally empowered acts Christian. In other words, we're not just talking about the gospel. We're not just debating the gospel. We are not just reading the gospel, but we are acting out the gospel in our world. The book could have been called the book of action. Good name. But this morning I want you to think of it as the book of activate. Say that with me. The book of. Because this book is filled with seeds of life that will activate the exceedingly abundantly above harvest. Now, I remember when I received my first credit card in the mail. That was an exciting day. All of you ladies remember that day. I'm sure it was exciting for you. I knew how much credit I had on that card. I knew that it had my name on it, and I knew how much interest I'd be paying. And I couldn't wait as a 22-year-old professional football player to use my card. But when I used it the first time, it was declined. Now it had my name on it. I had access to the funds, but I overlooked the fact that the card had to be activated. I had to personally call Visa and activate the card before I could access the available funds. Everything in the book of Acts belongs to you. You have access to the very same funds that they were able to draw on. But some of us have not learned how to activate the exceedingly abundantly above. You have to activate the power, provision, and purpose to have access to what belongs to you. You know, I've been a football coach for 40 something years, and I believe in teaching fundamentals. Whether I'm on the field with a 17-year-old quarterback or I'm speaking in a corporate setting or in a church setting, I want people to leave with tools they can use. I want you to leave with something that not only will get you through Thursday, but will get you up on Monday with new purpose and confidence. And for a few minutes today, I want to give you some coaching points from the book of Activate on Seeds of Life that activate the exceedingly abundantly above. How to add God's super to your natural. Now, our springboard scripture, of course, um has already been stated over and over in this introduction. It's found in Ephesians 3 and 20. How many of you appreciate that scripture? Raise your hand if that's been good for you in your life to encourage you. Here it is. Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we are able to ask or think according to the power that is work in us. Now, those of you who have been believers for a while, you already love this passage. I mean, wow, what a word this is. God not only wants to answer our prayer, he wants to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we're able to ask or imagine. The Bible literally says, if you can ask it, God can exceed it. Somebody say amen. If you can dream it, God can exceed it. If you can think it, God can exceed it. If you can pray it, God can exceed it. He can do, repeat after me, come on, exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we can ask or think. Sometimes we miss the most important part of this verse when it comes to activating this supernatural provision of God. Let's say it all together one more time. Everybody, you ready? Our God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we are able to ask or think according to the power that is at work in us. God cannot and will not do exceedingly abundantly above until you take the first step and give him something to exceed. God is saying, I'll exceed your expectations, but you must sow seeds of life that activate my promises. I'll exceed what you ask, but you must sow seeds and ask. I'll exceed what you think, but you must think. You must dream. You must believe. Let's get right to the major coaching points. Number one, we activate the exceedingly abundantly above the power of God by sowing the seed of being instant in prayer. That's number one. You have to have a power working in you to get the benefits of the verse that we quoted. The Acts of the Apostles is about one thing. The lives being chronicled of those in the first generation church that had the power of God working in them. It's not just about receiving the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 2, but it's about the rest of the book and the outflow of this great tsunami of power that came from the lives of ordinary men and women. Do you know that you are supposed to be living a supernatural life? Do you know that you are supposed to be changing the world? Do you know that you are supposed to be a healer for the broken? That you are supposed to be an encourager for those that are forlorn and depressed and have given up? Do you know that your words should light up the atmosphere? That they should be combustible when you speak them? Because you are one of those activate believers. Turn with me now to the book of Activate, the third chapter. Let's read this story that we all know one more time. Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour, and a certain man, lame from his mother's womb, was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, which is called beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple. Who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, ask an alms. So here is this man that is at this gate. That's his spot, by the way. His parents carry him there and leave him there every single day because he not only earns money for himself and his condition, but he earns money for his family. It's one of the horrible things that happens in other parts of the world. Often, families will break the limbs of infants so that those limbs will grow crooked and grotesque, that they can put them at a public place, and that child will grow up into adulthood, having earned money for the family. A horrible, horrible practice. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed unto them, which means he turned his eyes toward him, expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, give I thee. At that moment, Peter gave the perfect example of a life that is able to activate the exceeding abundantly above. He said, I have something working in me. I have something that is a now portion of the Holy Spirit that God can activate, that God can exceed. And he took him by the right hand, lifted him up, immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up, stood and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God. You know, it is possible that Peter and John had passed this man hundreds of times. They may have known him even by name. And the man may have asked them for money before and gotten it. Maybe he knew they normally dropped something into his tin cup. But on this day, Peter and John were looking at this man through a different lens. They were not the same guys that passed that gate the last time. They had in the interim seen Jesus come out of a tomb. They had in the interim been filled with the power of the Holy Ghost in an upper room. They had in the interim watched as Jesus ascended to his throne in heaven. Now, as they walked through this gate, they were living in the exceeding abundantly above anointing of God. And this man was going to receive not a gift from their pockets, but a gift from heaven. They were instant in prayer. Instant in prayer. Romans 12 and 12 says this, be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, instant in prayer. Now, that's one of the most important life scriptures you will ever, ever read. In fact, you probably need to write this one down and put it wherever you work in your home every day. If it's on your desk, men, put it there. When you go to work, put it there. Ladies, if you are constantly toiling in that kitchen and cooking and washing dishes, put it up there. Be joyful in hope. Always keep your hopes up. Turn to the person beside you and say, always keep your hopes up. Be patient in affliction. Turn to the person on the other side and say, I know you're going through stuff, but it's going to work out. And be instant in prayer. Be instant in prayer. Peter and John instantly took the man's hand and prayed in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Rise up and walk. Was a long prayer, wasn't a polished prayer, wasn't an impressive prayer, it was short to the point. But that three-second prayer activated God's exceeding abundantly above, and God added his super to their natural. And the lame man stood up on his feet for the first time in his entire life. And my first coaching point is simple sow seeds of life. Be instant in prayer. If you want God to give you exceeding abundantly above, then you've got to do something first. And that something should be to always be willing to pray. Say this with me. May I pray for you right now. Again, everybody, may I pray for you right now. Some of you so desperately want to be used of God to see his power in the lives of those you encounter. This is it. This is it. You should be known as that person who always wants to pray for you. How? I absolutely loved. Hearing doc. I tell you, not my little doc. But a gentleman that was revered in this community. Doc Bailey was revered. He was the guy who started FCA. When I was in high school, it was it was Doc who took us to FCA camps. It was Doc who started FCA here. And the one thing about Doc was he was instant in prayer. Have you ever seen somebody that was so instant in prayer that it didn't matter where you were, what the circumstance, he was gonna pray. If you were downtown in a meeting, which I've been with him several times, and the meeting had absolutely nothing to do with God, he would say, Coach, let's pray right now. Give me, give me, come on, come on, just take my hand, let's pray. So we'd be over there in a meeting that wasn't Prayer meeting praying. He believed that prayer made a difference. So, therefore, when you look at Doc's legacy, what you see is a man who won hundreds of people personally to the Lord, and one who was able to set in motion generational chains of life of lives changed by seeing so many people transformed through his prayers. But I want to ask you this how often do we do that? How often do we pray during the day? Did you pray for anybody spontaneously last week? Have you prayed for anybody spontaneously this week? I mean, that's who you are. You're the praying people. Have you ever noticed how somebody absolutely won't even apologize for turning the air blue with profanity? The kind of stuff that they're saying out loud should embarrass them, but doesn't. Oh, I'm sorry, that's just who I am. Well, guess who I am? I want you to get your foul mouth self over here and let me get my hands on you so I can show you who I am. In the name of Jesus, Lord, help this man. I know he doesn't know what he's saying. I pray you'll open his eyes and see, so he can see just how rude and crude his language is. And Lord, I pray you clean him up in the name of Jesus. Hallelujah. Let me just tell you something. It will amaze you at how people will not resent you for being who you are. And if you are a Holy Ghost-filled Christian, you have a right to pray wherever you go and with whomever you are with. You want to see the exceeding abundantly above, then you begin to be instant in prayer. We have weapons that we put on the shelf, and it's time for us to dust them off and use them in this day when the air is filled with spiritual warfare.

unknown 24:20

Amen.

SPEAKER_02 24:22

I've been asked, why do people overseas so many miracles see so many miracles? You know, these missionaries that come back, even our kids come back from all of these missions trips. Blinded eyes opened. It's true, it's still happening. People getting out of wheelchairs, cancerous tumors visibly shrinking, thousands and hundreds of thousands saved during the course of open air crusades in Muslim countries, in Hindu countries. It's happening all over the world. And my question is: how many of us are giving God a chance to do the miraculous? When we send teams to Africa, they come back with all of these stories, and most of the stories will begin with the account of somebody being instant in prayer. Well, the missionary just said, Let me pray for you. You know, well, we just lined up people and we just begin to pray for them one by one. Well, we called everybody forward that wanted to be healed. We just begin to pray for them. Here's what I'm gonna tell you. Sometimes you will pray for people and you won't see a miracle. But I can promise you, you'll never see a miracle if you don't pray for people. I went to watch our baseball team play this uh this week. I love seeing our baseball team scrappy, and they're they're just hustlers, they're just out there doing the deal, and I so enjoy watching them play. But I watched a couple of our very best hitters as they just watched the ball right over the strike zone. And under my breath, because I am a polite fan, I said, You can't hit it if you don't swing it. Here's what I'm gonna tell you. If somebody has terminal cancer and you wish you had the courage to pray for them, but you walk away because you are shy, are self-conscious, or try not to be offensive, then I can tell you that person didn't get healed. But if you pray for them, you break through the fear barrier, and you say, May I pray for you? Take their hand, be instant in prayer. You never know God could perform a miracle. All you have to do to activate the exceedingly abundantly above is to have a power working in you. I said, working in you. That's the way it happens. Yeah, but that's not my personality. I know, I know, I know. That's why your personality has got to change. We have got to all begin to be bold because the Holy Ghost is not bashful. He is powerful, He is bold, He is efficient, He is a warring God. Hallelujah. I have this salesman in town. I hope he's not in church today, but I'm gonna talk about you if you are, pal. I have not bought a suit from him in 10 years, but he still calls me. I bought one suit from him, and he calls me all the time. Pastor Denny, got a new selection. Would you like me to come by? For 10 years I've been telling him, no, I'm good right now. I I'm I'm good. I I don't I'm he is gonna call me in six months again. Because this man has the principle of sales down. If if I call him, he may say no, but he's not gonna say yes if I don't call him. So I'm gonna keep calling him, and everybody else I've got to lead. I am not feeling special because he's calling me. I understand that his job that day was to take a list of everybody in town that has almost bought a suit from him and to call them one more time. Folks, we have got to get busy for the kingdom of God like that. We have got to be instant in prayer. We've got to throw off all of the sophistication that we have acquired as the church of Jesus Christ. I don't care if people walk in here and they see something that is palatable to them, that is appealing to their flesh, that doesn't make them feel uncomfortable. The last time I checked, when the conviction of sin is preached in the pulpit, people are supposed to feel uncomfortable. When people are told that there's a possibility they could go to hell rather than heaven, they should feel uncomfortable. When they feel the presence of God on the outside and understand that they need it on the inside, then they ought to be feeling a little bit uncomfortable. We are the power people. And when we are instant in prayer, God falls on us, equips us, and we get the exceeding abundantly above. Hallelujah. Somebody ought to give our God praise. Secondly, we activate the exceedingly abundantly above power of God by sowing the seed of putting God first. We sow the seed to put God first. Let's get another snapshot from the book of activation. Activation chapter four, verse 33. With great power, the apostles continue to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. Look at me and listen to me. And I want you to hear this with your heart. And I want you to forget the people that are on Instagram that have absolutely no idea what they're talking about when they address this subject. When the power of God begins to move in your midst, in the midst of the Church of Jesus Christ, there are no needy people among us. God meets all of our needs. Say, what about the poor? Folks, do you understand why we reach out to the poor? It's not just so that we can give them a meal. It's not just so that we can relieve their suffering for a moment. We reach out to them so they can get the power of God in them. Because one of the promises of our God is that the poor don't have to be poor anymore. Do you know that poor is a curse? Do you know why neighborhoods in town are called at-risk neighborhoods? Because they're poor neighborhoods, and it's in poor neighborhoods that so many things grow and thrive and develop that are unsavory and detrimental. God doesn't want his people poor. If you are poor and you've started coming into this church, here's what I want to tell you: you are not going to be poor for long. God is going to bless you because he's no respecter of persons. And the curse of poverty will not be on you or your children or your children's children. God wants to activate something in you, and that's what happened here. Look at this scripture. This is describing the first generation church that lived under the domination of the Roman heel. This is the first generation church that was being slaughtered in a wholesale manner. This is the first generation church preaching a message that was treason to the government and heresy to the religious order, but they preached it anyway. And this is what the Bible says about them. Listen to this. Now look at me, please. Don't be stubborn on this. Don't you let their tradition of men rob you from what the Bible says. The Bible says that in the first generation church there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time, those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales, and put it at the apostles' feet. Isn't that interesting? And it was distributed to anyone who had need. You know that we've been doing that here for generations. You know this church from its inception, and we don't even know the story of its inception because its inception was in a wooded area in what was called a brush arbor. This church was started in a brush arbor. You say, what in the world is that? Well, they would just cut down trees and make poles, like all the way around, like it was going to be a building, and then they would fasten them together on top with these cross timbers. So now they had this little structure, and then they would go out and cut down foliage and branches and stack them on the top so that it would keep people out of the rain. Call it brush arbor. From the brush arbor days, this has been a church that has always taken care of its own. Do you know? Do you know that we meet every need that we are aware of in this church and have for generations? Do you know that we have never ever, to our knowledge, had a widow who couldn't pay her rent, who was going to be put out on the street, that we allowed that to happen to her? Do you know that you can be so proud of a church that is interested in the needs of the congregation, but is also interested even to reaching outside these walls and touching people that are all over this area. Now, historians tell us these believers who sold properties and brought money were probably practicing a scriptural principle called first fruits and the tithe. These acts Christians believe that God's exceeding abundantly above was activated. Listen, when they put God first, they put God first. God knows we all need things to live in this world. We need food and shelter and clothing. Our kids need to go to college. Some of you need to pay off college debt. In fact, that has given you a new understanding of eternity. We need to have enough to meet our needs and enough left over to help somebody else. We have needs. We need God to get involved. The Bible plainly says, seek first the kingdom of God. Say it with me. Seek first the kingdom of God. And his righteousness said. All these other things. God knows you need things. God knows you need things. All these other things shall be added to you. It says, might be added to you, could be added to you. Roll of a dice added to you? No. Shall be added to you. It also says this: give and you shall receive. Your gift will return to you in full. Now, please hear me. I've heard pastors in such a self-righteous manner get up and say, I'm tired of this give to get theology. This doctrine of man, it's not a doctrine of man. It says it right here. I think it says it right here. I mean, are you kidding me? Give and you will receive. Give and you will receive. Is that what that says? Is that heresy? Give and you will receive. Give and who will receive? Say, I will receive. Give and you will receive. And then it says this. This is this is amazing. Your gift will return to you in full. Y'all don't believe this. Surely you don't believe this. You believe that? Oh, you're a heretic. Give to get. What are you talking about? Here it is. Press in full. And then it says this press down, shaken together to make room for what? I'm tired of this more theology. Can't stand these Christians that believe always wanting more and more and more. We don't want more. We just want what our God says we can have. Running over, poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back. You know that my family's lived by that. I'm talking about the Durons have lived by that for as long as I know. When my dad was not receiving really an adequate salary because the church wasn't able in those early days, he was still giving back a huge percentage of what he earned. Deonza and I have lived like that. You know, Deonza, uh, when we moved into our new house, which we're just so grateful to God for, we play a little game. When we pull into our neighborhood, we say, Oh, isn't this a beautiful neighborhood? Well, we do this regularly. She started it. And so I play along. Oh, look at this beautiful neighborhood. Isn't this wonderful? I said, Oh, yes. And she will say, Boy, don't you wish we could afford a house here? I say, baby, I sure do. Maybe one day God will give us a house in this neighborhood. And we just go through it in gratitude to God. How grateful we are. We get out, we walk through the front door, and we say, Oh, look at this home. Isn't this a beautiful home? Don't you wish you had a home like this? We just, I mean, it's it's just God gave us that place. And I don't have time to go into the details, but Denny Rodney had a lot to do with it. All I can tell you is, but but uh because God wanted to put him on the lake so that he could be close to Uncle Mark and go over to his place and jump off the trapeze into the water. That was, you know, that I think that was part of it. But but all I can tell you is this we are grateful to God. So grateful to God. And Deonza wanted her kitchen upgraded. So she she said, I'm just gonna start saving money. So she began to put aside. When she would go speak somewhere, she would put aside her honorarium. If if she had an opportunity uh at Christmas to get cash instead of some sweater or something, um she would put that aside. And so she began to develop, she quite she built up quite a little uh sum. She was getting close to honestly being able to afford the upgrade to her kitchen. So thrilled. This happened about three times it to my recollection. She had gotten enough, saved enough for the kitchen. Every single time there would be a missionary come here, or somebody that was working with trafficked women or some other wonderful cause. And every time she would say to me, I just feel like we've got to give. And then she would say to me, I'm going to give my kitchen money. And once again, the balance would go down to zero of her kitchen money. You say, Oh, isn't that sacrificial? Well, yes and no. Because go back to that other scripture. Because this is what we believe, and this is the way we've lived. We haven't lived by our investments, we haven't lived by our savings, we certainly haven't lived by our salaries. I was so thrilled just this year to be able to look back and to realize that God had He had answered a prayer that I had prayed for years. I said, Lord, I want to be the highest ranking volunteer at this church. This last month, I was able to look at what we had given, Dionz and I, compared to what we'd received as pastors. And guess what? It's a zero balance. I am the highest ranking volunteer in the history of this church. You say, Oh, you're so no, don't, I'm not so anything. I'm selfish. Because I know this, that God says this to me. Give and you will say it. If it breaks your jaw, say it. Give and you will. Your gift will to you in full. Say to you in full. Now go down to here. To make room for more. Running over, pour it into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get. So a gentleman and his wife in this church who literally came to Christ because the message of the tithe reached him when he was lost. As a businessman, it was the part that appealed to him. And he's so devoted to the Lord, and his wife is so devoted to the Lord, they just came in one day without. Without knowing anything, and they said, We'd just like to spruce the place up a little bit. He came in with his crews and gave Deonza a kitchen that she would not even have been able to afford. While he's there, he said, I also want to do all your floors in the house and put wooden floors in this house, which he did. He said, I also want to paint your house because Deonza always wanted our house to be white on the outside, painted the whole house. This gentleman and his wife, they uh they just poured out more than we could ever receive. And we got the, listen, we got the blessing of giving it all to God, of laying it at the apostles' feet. And then God kept his word by giving back exceedingly abundantly above all that we were able to ask or think or buy or dream. Now, folks, let me just tell you something. If a church ever began to come into this knowledge and to believe it, because it's this part that's the most difficult, because our money is our money. And we don't want anybody talking about our money. It's our hard-earned money. I get it. It took you a long time to earn that money. You put up with some very belligerent bosses and some absolutely cantankerous uh clients to be able to earn the money you earn. It has not been easy. You had to get an education, and that was hard, and then pay for that education to be able to perform the skill set that you perform in the workplace. But here's what I want to tell you. If you could ever get to the place of understanding how to sow this supernatural seed, God would do more for you than you ever dreamed, than you ever hoped. You would tap into the exceeding abundantly above. Hallelujah. Glory to God. Now, the last one. Number three was really good. I don't have time. Number four. We activate the exceeding abundantly above vision of God by refusing to quit. Everywhere I go, being as old as I am now, they ask the 73-year-old guy, how do you make a difference in the community? These young pastors. When the writing manager doesn't match you in the newspaper, you should say. When people that you thought you could count on leave and say bad things on their way out the door. When you get so tired of giving, giving, giving, and you wonder if anybody gets the message. When your feelings get hurt, when you get tired, stay. When you get to say, you just stay. And you stay so long. And when somebody tries to get you to leave, you say, You leave. I was here first. You stay. That's the way you make a difference. You want a great marriage? Stay. When he's insensitive, stay. When you don't know if he even cares about you anymore, stay. I want to tell you that you can outlast. You can outlast the stamina of any devil if you will stay. You can outpray any strategy of hell that is going to try to come against you if you'll just stay. We look for justifications to leave. You need to start looking for justifications to stay. How to make a difference in your corporation or your job? Stay. Stay. Appreciation is not a necessary quality to be able to make it in life. If they don't appreciate you, we know they're stupid. So don't you leave and give up your place because somebody else is stupid. God appreciates you because you are staying. You need to outlast the bad boss. You need to outlast the unkind supervisor. You need to outlast the stupid policies. You need to be there when the smoke clears and all the battles have been fought. You're still the one. Hallelujah. You stay, and I can promise you, if you won't quit, you will activate the exceeding abundantly above that God has for you. You see, the reason you stay is because you haven't seen God move yet. You don't leave before he moves, you don't leave before he works, you don't leave before he delivers. You don't leave before he bails you out. You don't leave before the coach quits. You don't leave until he's done what he's gonna do. You stay. Stay. Look at me. You gotta stay. Now, the word of God is full of wonderful things. The book of Activate is not just full of wonderful, encouraging platitudes. It's also a break with reality. So the things that he's about to say in Corinthians, we actually see him going through in Acts. But here he kind of summarizes what happens in the book of Acts to him that we're able to see in order. He says, Are they servants of Christ? I'm speaking like I'm out of my mind, but I'm so much more. In harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews the 40 lashes minus one, 39 lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned, that means that now that doesn't that's not that doesn't mean what some of you think that means. Because some of you heard that and said, Well, I've been stoned more than that. But no, it's it's talking about being hit with rocks. It's a terrible thing, terrible thing. Three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea. In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and bandits. In danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers, in labor and toil, often without sleep and hunger and thirst, and often without food and cold and exposure. Apart from these eternal trials, I face daily the pressure and my concern for all the churches. Picture yourself standing before God. You're standing before God. You're called forward to give your testimony. Your testimony is so impressive. How you got saved. And then the Lord says, I had something for you to do in that church you belong to. Why did you quit? The Apostle Paul is standing there because he's doing what he's doing here and measuring himself by everybody else, making sure that he's he's still first in all of his trials. You know, he said right at the beginning that he said, I'm gonna talk to you like a man out of my that that's out of his mind. I I had more trials than all of y'all. He knows that's a little bit out there for him to say that. But I see him standing there at that moment. Well, I left because uh Jesus, you know. Those folks didn't appreciate me. And sister shout about she hurt my feelings. Brother Hoop and Holler. You know about him. I couldn't be there anymore. I just was gonna write micelobo, I mean pick a bot over the door. Here's what I want to tell you. It'll be something for you to stand and talk about your puny little trial. Some of you been through bad stuff already in life, some some of you have been through stuff that you felt like your very flesh was just hurting because of what you went through. God bless you for staying through the big trauma. But for most of us, it's not that way yet. For most of us, it's something that we would be ashamed to admit to Jesus while we quit. Don't quit. Don't quit. If you want to activate this exceeding abundantly above, and it hasn't happened yet, don't quit. Until it happens. Don't quit until it happens. I'm gonna ask the um musicians to come, please. And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. Um every time I drive by the exit at Louisiana Tech, I'm flooded with memories. I remember two back-to-back national championships where I was the quarterback. Wow, what an experience that was to play on that great team. I remember the last two years being in a genuine revival that shook the entire campus and has set to flight ministries that have reached millions over these years. But I also remember a cold, sad Sunday morning. I just played the worst game I could imagine as a freshman wide receiver. I dropped two passes, both of them were difference makers. In my starting role at flanker as a freshman at Luciana Tech. My coach was irate and he should have been. I really lost that game. If I'd have caught either one of those balls, we'd have been in it. I sat in front of my locker not knowing how to handle the emotions, tears streaming down my cheeks, just so angry that I had failed when they depended on me, a freshman, to pull the game out. Call my mom and dad when I got back to tech and I said, I'm on my way home. So what's wrong? I said, Well, I'll I'll talk to you about it when I get there. I got home to Shreeport and I said, I'm not, you know, I missed God. I had to miss God in this whole thing because it's not going well. And then when I get my big chance to make a difference, I can't even do it. I said, I'm not even college material. I said, I'm quitting. I said, I'll go to Southwestern and prepare for the ministry at semester. Called Coach Lambright and I said, Would you meet me at uh at the Phil House tomorrow? He said, Yeah, Danny, I'll meet you at what time? He said, um, he said, Can you meet me there at seven o'clock? I said, absolutely. And so I drove over from Shreepport. And he met me in the locker room. I was just very short and sweet in my explanation. I said, Coach, I said, I I want to apologize for last night. I said, I lost that game. And I said, uh, I just realized I'm not college material. And I I need to I need to quit. I want to go do something else. I'm sorry I've taken your time, wasted your time. I wasn't feeling sorry for myself. I just honestly had been so bashed in the very heart of my confidence that I couldn't get my breath to believe again. I just couldn't believe that I could get this done. He said, Well, Danny, he said, you're right. He said, last night was tough. He said, but he said, I think if you stay, you're gonna do something to help us win a game. He said, right now, Danny said, you ain't done anything to help us win a game. He said, if I let you quit your whole life, this will be your last memory of Luz Antech. He said, you know, I'm not gonna let you do that. He said, I want you to stay around till you do something good. And then I'll let you quit. Because you will be looking back at Louisiana Tech in a favorable manner. And this will be a good memory, not a bad one. Now I want you to take a brief glimpse back with me from God family football and an international audience that hears us preach the gospel. To Evangel Christian Academy, a hundred and twenty boys that have played in bowl games, over a hundred at Division I schools, seven in the NFL last year, to Evangel University, where my linebacker from Evangel University founded the seminary in the Ukraine, Evangel Seminary, and stayed during the bombings, just as he did when he was serving in Israel in the Gulf War and when he was serving in Georgia in the Russian invasion. He never runs because of the courage in him. And the Mike Bax, who started Eagle Creek, and the pastors and evangelists and missionaries that came out of that evangelical university team, and the souls that were won, the boom boom bertos. Look at all of it with me. There is no measure of what God did. It was exceedingly abundantly above. I never asked for it. I never saw myself seeing God do anything that great. It was. Because here's what I'm going to tell you. No matter where you are, God is going to put you through a test of fire to see if you're worthy of the exceeding abundantly above. Thank God I was not worthy. But an old football coach who at that point didn't claim to know Jesus was used by the Holy Ghost to step in front of me and say, son, you are not quitting till you get your birthright. I said don't quit. Don't you quit? Don't you quit on your marriage? Don't you quit? Don't you quit? Don't you quit on believing that your children are gonna come around. They are. God has given you a promise. You shall be saved and your house. Don't you quit because of some petty little thing that's got you bound up because your feelings are so hurt. You shake loose from all of those trivial bonds and stand up with a backbone like a crowbar and say, I am here to stay. I will not quit until the exceeding abundantly above is released in my life. Stand with me all over this place. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. God ignites them for his purposes. And what he also does is this he drives them home to your spirit. And some of you on some level, listen to me, some of you on some level needed this. I didn't say all of you. I said some of you on some level needed what I'm saying. And if you know you needed it, and you'll say, I want to be one who activates the exceeding abundantly above in my life, and you'll say, Pastor, thank you, because it has shaken me awake to some things in my life, and you'll say, I am going to pursue God's very best. I want you to step out and come and stand right here. I'm gonna pray for you. This is gonna be a new beginning in your life. You're not gonna be discouraged, you're not gonna quit, you're not gonna throw in the towel. God is gonna do something good for you right now. Hallelujah. In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, glory to the name of our God. Glory to the name of our God. Listen to me, please. Look. Number one is this we got the best thing in town happening right here in this church service. Do you understand the investment of years that have gone into the anointing that's in the atmosphere of this place? It's not even about us, it's about what we carry on. You understand? But you know something? We need to love God's house more, don't we? All of us. And we also need to take personal responsibility to build God's house. Say, what do you mean? Get people here. Let's go get them. Let's do what we do, Mark. Let's do what we do. Nobody influences people like you. It's amazing. You you've put you brought more people to church than just about anybody I know in the history of the world. This church. Let's get back to that, all of us. Amen. Let's all do it. Let's find people. Let's pay them to get here. No, I'm just kidding. But you it's time to help build the house. Amen. Let's build the house of God. Hallelujah. Glory to God. God is just looking for somebody that'll say, I'm not going to quit. I'm going to hang in right here. See God move. Now let me just say something to you. If your marriage ended and you feel like you gave up because of abuse, because of things that were happening, immorality, other things. I don't want you to even look back. Because the scripture covers that. But here's what I want to say to you. And you hear me in this. In Jesus' name. You hear me? Sometimes when you preach, you get so focused, but I have to say some things around this. Also, if God is speaking to you, quit, move, go. God spoke to me to quit the Washington Redskin. It was going to be the easiest gig I'd ever had. There wasn't another third quarterback in camp but me. It was Kilmer, it was Eisman, and then it was going to be me. Because I was young and I wasn't making any money, Ken. I was going to be the choice. And God spoke to me and said, leave. And I did. That's not quitting, that's following. Do you hear me? I'm talking about where you are right now. I'm talking about the opportunities you have. Hallelujah. Praise God. How many of you want to be totally yielded to God again? How many of you want to be totally yielded? So yielded that he just feel like he's everywhere. An old boy, old boy gave his life to Jesus after he broke his back, trying to break evil canival's record. How many of you know some people need just to be satisfied where they are? And he stood on those crutches. I said, What's your name, man? He said, My name's Fat Rat. Fat Rat got so saved that day that he called me up two days later. He said, What'd you do to me? I said, What do you mean, what I do to you? He said, He said, I always knew God was with me, but said now I got him in my pocket. What'd you do? I said, I didn't do anything. That's the Holy Ghost. He's touched you and changed you. Well, all I'm gonna tell you is this. We need to have a season in our lives where God's in our pocket. Man, where he's all over us, where he's with us, where we want to talk to him when we get in the car, and we want to sit down with the missus when we get home and be able to talk to our wife about the things of God. You know, we do we just gotta get we just gotta get there. Amen. It's gotta get there. That's what God's calling for us to do. Lift your hands like this, lift your hands like this all over this place. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I want you right now to freshly yield your life to the Lord. However, you do that, that's what I want you to do right now. Just freshly yield your life to the Lord. Hallelujah. Praise God. Lord, we freshly yield our lives to you. We give you our hearts. We give you our lives. Lord, thank you. There is no one like you. And Lord, we want to be those supernatural, activate people. We really do. Lord, I pray that this stretch that is ahead of us, however long or short it is in our lives, that you will give us the greatest benefit of righteousness that we have ever had. That you will give us the exceeding abundantly above anointing. Lord, I pray that we will see it in our ministry as we set captives free with our prayers. I pray that we will see it. Oh God, in our finances, because we need, Lord God, we need you to move there. It's become a pressure. Lord, please move there. For so many in this room, it's become an issue. I pray, oh God, that you will show us how to put you first and how to receive your abundance, that it is your joy to give. And then Lord, I pray that we'll put all thoughts of quitting out of our mind, away from us once and for all. Lord, we are here until you move. We are here until you move. Now let me pray for you. Father, I thank you that each individual here, Lord, even as they have prayed in these last few minutes and surrendered in a fresh way. Lord God, I pray that each individual here will walk into something brand new this week. They will see a door open that they've never seen open that will relate to them. I pray that they will find joy in the harvest. I pray that you will give them souls, that people will be born again filled with the Holy Spirit in a fresh and powerful new way. Lord, we thank you that it's not by might and it's not by power, but it is by your spirit. We give you the glory and honor in the holy name of Jesus. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Bless the name of Jesus. Praise God. Say this with me: new vision, new anointing, new authority, new freedom, new prosperity, new presence in Jesus' name. Hallelujah. Give the Lord praise. Give him praise and honor. Thank you, Jesus. Glory to God.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:36

Thank you for connecting with us today. The first step to a new life in Christ is receiving the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. If you have never received Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, repeat this prayer after me. Jesus, I believe you died on a cross and rose again for me. I ask that you come into my heart and be the Lord of my life. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Whether you committed your life to Jesus for the first time today or are already on your journey of faith, we would love to stay connected with you. Please visit SCchurch.com and follow SCchurch on all social media platforms. And remember, the best is yet to come.