WEBVTT

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<v SPEAKER_00>My name is Ephraim Smith, co-lead pastor of Midtown Church.

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<v SPEAKER_00>We are one church in two locations, and I'm so excited to be on the Elk Grove campus.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And I just want to thank Pastor Tyrone and Sister Raquel for all that they do with their team because this church is doing amazing stuff.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Amazing, this campus.

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<v SPEAKER_00>We are winding down a sermon series that we have been in all summer entitled God Is.

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<v SPEAKER_00>We've been looking at the various names that the Bible presents about God that we might learn more about the character of God, the nature of God, and who God desires to be in our lives.

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<v SPEAKER_00>If you've missed any of the sermons in this series, no worries.

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<v SPEAKER_00>You can go to our website, you can go to our YouTube channel, you can go to our podcast, and you can watch and listen to the sermons on both campuses.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Because just because we're preaching the same thing on both campuses, sometimes God says a little bit something different through whoever is preaching.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And it's been a blessing that we've had so many voices that have shared in this series this summer as we get ready now, man, for the fall.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Some of y'all kids already in school already.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Man, man.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I I grew up in, she was like, praise God.

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<v SPEAKER_00>She was about to speak in tongues because her kids is back in school.

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<v SPEAKER_00>She was like, Chandelier, Taibotai.

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<v SPEAKER_00>My kids is back in school.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Thank you, Jesus.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Thank you, Jesus.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Chandelier.

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<v SPEAKER_00>All right, anyway.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Uh we're about to uh go into a sermon series in the fall called Go, which is gonna be about discipleship and spiritual growth.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So we're gonna have a strong focus this fall on how you grow spiritually, how you mature as a disciple who is following Jesus.

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<v SPEAKER_00>But let me close out this God is series uh by preaching to you.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I'm I'm gonna preach something to you that I preached at the Sacramento campus last week, but I feel like God has has more He God wants to say through me in this sermon.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So you're gonna get something they didn't get last Sunday as we talk about God is king.

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<v SPEAKER_00>God is king.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Uh my wife Danisha, wave your hand, sister Danisha, she's here with me.

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<v SPEAKER_00>She'd be like, don't be putting me on the spot in London.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So uh, but uh I I bring her up because uh in the last three years, uh we've been to Ghana four times, I think it is.

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<v SPEAKER_00>We've been we've been to Ghana, we've also been to Kenya, we've been to Rwanda, and so on our very first trip, about three years ago or so to Ghana, uh we were uh we were in Accra, and then we went to Cape Coast, and we um visited the slave dungeons, the River of the Last Bath.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Uh we we we go on these trips in partnership with World Vision and Sankofa U.S.

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<v SPEAKER_00>and we take pastors and their spouses to the places that represent the origins of slavery, and we reclaim these places as spots of healing and worship and prayer and liberation and strength that we might come back to the United States as pastors, and and because sometimes as pastors we don't admit our trauma.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Uh, and sometimes there's generational trauma that go all the way back, and so we we go all the way back so that we can be healed and we can be better pastors.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So, on the very first trip, we also went to this place called the Ashanti Kingdom, and the Ashanti Kingdom represents that even though Ghana is a democratic republic, uh, people get to vote for who their president is.

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<v SPEAKER_00>They still have this traditional monarchy called the Ashanti Kingdom that still has a king.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So I guess this would be Ghana's version of the royal family in England.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And so uh we had a chance to go and tour the Ashanti Kingdom, but while we were there, our our tour guide says, Y'all y'all might be in for a treat, because normally when people come to visit here, they don't get to see the king.

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<v SPEAKER_00>But the king uh is about to come out and get in his motorcade because he was heading to England for the coronation of King Charles.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And so he says, if we stand right here, there's a good chance we're gonna see the king as he comes out with his delegation and gets into his motorcade and heads to the airport.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So we were standing there and I'm like, I'm about to see the king.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I'm about to see the king.

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<v SPEAKER_00>This is better than Wakanda, this is better than Zamunda, this uh, I'm about to see the king, I'm about to see the king.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And and and literally, I think we saw the king for like four seconds.

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<v SPEAKER_00>It was some, but to me, it was like a big deal.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And he was probably as far as like the the back of this room, like he was way back there.

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<v SPEAKER_00>But to me, like for that four or five seconds, I was like, I'm in the presence of the king.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I'm in the presence of the king, and it was like something just came over me.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I can't describe it.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And as we've gone to small villages, communities that still have a traditional chief or king in that village.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I don't care how small the village might be in Kenya or Rwanda or Ghana, when I'm in the presence of the chief of the village, when I'm in the presence of the king, I like something just comes over me.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I'm in awe because I'm I'm I'm in front of authority, I'm I'm in front of majesty.

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<v SPEAKER_00>But it made me think, if I feel that way when I'm that far away from the the king of Ashanti, when I feel that way when I'm in the presence of the chief or the king in a village in Rwanda or Kenya, or uh, what does it mean to really be in the presence of God?

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<v SPEAKER_00>Because God is our heavenly father, God is also our king, a king of kings, a lord of lords.

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<v SPEAKER_00>The Bible presents God as king, but the Bible also shows us multiple times where the people of God actually reject God as their king.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I want to look at two scenes in the Bible where godly people, people that say they believe in God, people that say they they they walk with God and yet they reject God as their Lord, as their king, as the highest authority in their lives.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Would you go with me to 1 Samuel chapter 8?

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<v SPEAKER_00>1 Samuel chapter 8, beginning with verse 1, it says this When Samuel the prophet grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel's leaders.

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<v SPEAKER_00>The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba, but his sons did not follow his ways.

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<v SPEAKER_00>They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Rama.

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<v SPEAKER_00>They said to him, You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.

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<v SPEAKER_00>But when they said, Give us a king to lead us, this displeased Samuel.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So he prayed to the Lord.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And the Lord told him, Listen to all that the people are saying to you.

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<v SPEAKER_00>It is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.

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<v SPEAKER_00>As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Now listen to them, but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I'm going to go down to verse 19.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Verse 19 says, But the people refused to listen to Samuel.

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<v SPEAKER_00>No, they said, We want a king over us.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Then we will we will be like all the other nations with the king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.

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<v SPEAKER_00>When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord.

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<v SPEAKER_00>The Lord answered, Listen to them and give them a king.

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<v SPEAKER_00>If you think this is the only moment in the Bible where godly people rejected God as king, I have to show you one more scene here.

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<v SPEAKER_00>It's the Gospel of John, chapter 19.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Now in the New Testament, the Gospel of John, chapter 19, beginning with verse 16, they're about to crucify Jesus.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Says in verse 16, Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the skull, which in Aramaic is called Gogatha.

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<v SPEAKER_00>There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on each side, and Jesus in the middle.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross.

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<v SPEAKER_00>It read, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek.

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<v SPEAKER_00>The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, Do not write the King of the Jews, but this man claimed to be the king of the Jews.

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<v SPEAKER_00>From these two scenes, I want to preach to you on the title, God is King.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Maybe a better title of this sermon is a question.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Is God your king?

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<v SPEAKER_00>Is God your king?

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<v SPEAKER_00>God, I pray this would be your message that you would preach, that you would speak to these, your beloved children, my sisters and brothers.

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<v SPEAKER_00>God, I just want to be obedient to your word, what you want to say, so please let that be done.

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<v SPEAKER_00>In Jesus' name, amen.

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<v SPEAKER_00>At least through the news outlets, there seems to be an obsession with royal families.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Ah, people will stay up all night.

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<v SPEAKER_00>People will wake up early in the morning to watch a royal wedding in England.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I'm telling you, the news outlets report to us on what is going on with the royal family in England as if all of us care.

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<v SPEAKER_00>If you turn on CNN, they will tell you something that's going on with the royal family.

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<v SPEAKER_00>MSNBC or MS Now will tell you what's going on, Fox News, Entertainment Tonight.

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<v SPEAKER_00>You at the cash register in the grocery store, and there's a magazine telling you something that is going on as if you really care about what is going on day to day with the royal family.

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<v SPEAKER_00>The whole world, I guess, has to know what is going on in the monarchy of England.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Now, that doesn't move me personally that much, but I'll have to confess to you what I have been moved by outside of what I told you on our trips to different parts of Africa.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Years ago, when George W.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Bush was still president, I was invited to be a part of a group that went to the national prayer breakfast in Washington, D.C.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And so uh it's it starts at like 7:30 in the morning, but you have to get there at five because you have to go through at least two, if not three, kind of security stations before you can get in there.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And there are dignitaries and political leaders from all over the world that come to this national prayer breakfast.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And so you get in there, and once everything's secured and everybody's in the room, then all of a sudden somebody stands up and says, ladies and gentlemen, the president and the first lady of the United States.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And we stand up, and then George W.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Bush came in with First Lady Laura Bush.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And I was like, at the time, I was like, you know, he's the president.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I am making big, but when he came in, I was like, it was like just something came over me, just like something came in the room.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I was like, that's the president of the United States, that's the first lady.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And then we went through it.

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<v SPEAKER_00>A few years later, uh, I was invited again when President Obama was in office.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And when they introduced him, he walked in a little different.

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<v SPEAKER_00>He had a little I mean, he had a different walk.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And so and so when when President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama came in again, I was like, I was like, man, I was I I was I was moved.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I mean, because this is the president of the United States and the first lady.

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<v SPEAKER_00>You know, uh, you know, to a degree, unless somebody just like just disrespects and soils the office, I guess you should be like in just like this posture when you're in the presence of like the president.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Uh but again, it raised the question if this is how I act, if this is what comes over me when I'm in the same room as the president of the United States, what does it mean to be in the presence of God who is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords?

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<v SPEAKER_00>And the funny thing is, I don't have to fly to Washington, D.C.

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<v SPEAKER_00>to be in the presence of God.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I don't need a special VIP invitation to be in the presence of God.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I don't have to go through three security stations to be in the presence of God.

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<v SPEAKER_00>We are in the presence of God right now.

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<v SPEAKER_00>When you woke up this morning, you were in the presence of God.

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<v SPEAKER_00>When you got in your car, you were in the presence of God.

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<v SPEAKER_00>When you got out of the car in the parking lot, you were in the presence of God.

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<v SPEAKER_00>This is the good news that when you're in the valley, you are in the presence of God.

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<v SPEAKER_00>When you're in sorrow, when you were in the hospital, when you were in jail, when you were unemployed, when you were upside down on your house, you were still in the presence of God.

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<v SPEAKER_00>When you couldn't find your way, you were in the presence of the king of kings.

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<v SPEAKER_00>You don't need to be at a certain income status in society to be in the presence of God.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So what we're looking at is really wrestling with the question: is God your king or not?

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<v SPEAKER_00>And this is what we see here in 1 Samuel chapter 8.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Israel decides that they want a human king, they want a man to lead their nation.

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<v SPEAKER_00>They want someone they can see to lead their nation.

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<v SPEAKER_00>How did Israel come to this decision to want a human king in the first place?

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<v SPEAKER_00>Well, it's it's right here.

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<v SPEAKER_00>There was a real issue of corruption and injustice.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I'm gonna read it again.

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<v SPEAKER_00>1 Samuel chapter 8, beginning with verse 1.

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<v SPEAKER_00>It says, When Samuel the prophet, this is important because at this moment, God is functioning as Israel's king, highest authority, highest leader.

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<v SPEAKER_00>The prophet is there as a representative of that king, as an ambassador of that king, to speak on behalf of that king, to behave on behalf of that king.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Samuel's not the king, he's the representative, he's the ambassador, he's the expression of that king.

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<v SPEAKER_00>He's grown old.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So he appointed his sons basically to do what he's supposed to do.

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<v SPEAKER_00>He says to his sons, it's your turn now to represent God, to be an ambassador of God, to express who God is in front of this nation.

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<v SPEAKER_00>But says in verse 3, his sons did not follow his ways.

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<v SPEAKER_00>They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.

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<v SPEAKER_00>This is why Israel wanted an earthly human king because of corruption.

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<v SPEAKER_00>The spiritual leadership that they were supposed to have that was supposed to represent who God is in front of them, decided to be perverted and wicked and unjust.

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<v SPEAKER_00>We see this multiple times in the Bible where people that are supposed to represent God end up representing themselves, unfortunately.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And so what happens is if you are in a spiritual setting and you get disappointed, you might seek a natural answer.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Because your disappointment with human beings that were supposed to represent God caused you to then seek an alternative solution.

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<v SPEAKER_00>See, we have to be careful.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Just because you get disappointed in church, just because you get disappointed with a friend that said that they were Christian, just because you get hurt by a pastor, I trust me, I've been a pastor on some level for 33 years.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I've been in church since I was, I said my mama drugged me to church.

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<v SPEAKER_00>You know what I mean?

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<v SPEAKER_00>Like I remember uh the late Bishop Sherwood Carthon would say, I was a drug baby.

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<v SPEAKER_00>My mama drugged me to church on Sunday, on Tuesday, on Wednesday, on Saturday.

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<v SPEAKER_00>He used to say, I felt like that too.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So I've been in church a long time and I've seen my mother get hurt by church.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I've seen my father get hurt by church, I've seen my siblings get hurt by church, I've seen people get hurt by church.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I've seen some of my closest friends get hurt by church and walk away and seek alternative solutions.

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<v SPEAKER_00>But I want to say to you that just because people that said they believed in God hurt you doesn't mean that God's still not king and savior and full of grace and love and peace.

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<v SPEAKER_00>But these people couldn't see that.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So they said, you know what?

00:19:28.599 --> 00:19:37.319
<v SPEAKER_00>Prophet, your sons are so wicked, we came together and we decided we want a king.

00:19:38.039 --> 00:19:42.119
<v SPEAKER_00>So, since we're talking about a king, let me give you some definitions.

00:19:42.359 --> 00:19:48.119
<v SPEAKER_00>What is the the definition, just in general, of a human king?

00:19:48.279 --> 00:19:51.559
<v SPEAKER_00>When a man is king, what's the definition of that?

00:19:51.799 --> 00:20:04.199
<v SPEAKER_00>A king is supposed to be a sovereign ruler who possesses the highest authority over a kingdom, exercising the right to govern, to protect, to judge, and lead a people.

00:20:04.359 --> 00:20:05.559
<v SPEAKER_00>That's what a king is supposed to do.

00:20:05.720 --> 00:20:19.960
<v SPEAKER_00>A sovereign leader who possesses the highest authority over a kingdom, over a nation, and exercises the right to govern those people, protect those people, that's why he needs an army, judge those people.

00:20:20.199 --> 00:20:31.960
<v SPEAKER_00>So, like in these days, the king is basically like he's the president, he's the supreme court, he's the judge, he's he's he's all that the prosecutor, all that in one.

00:20:32.439 --> 00:20:34.519
<v SPEAKER_00>To judge and to lead.

00:20:34.759 --> 00:20:43.960
<v SPEAKER_00>Now, the Bible, sisters and brothers, presents God as the ultimate understanding of what a king is, should be.

00:20:44.679 --> 00:21:03.799
<v SPEAKER_00>God is king is someone who's his reign is eternal, righteousness is who the ultimate king is, and God's kingship is universal, which means there's no territorial limits to where God is king.

00:21:04.199 --> 00:21:06.519
<v SPEAKER_00>God is king over everything.

00:21:07.559 --> 00:21:12.439
<v SPEAKER_00>Now, the people asked for an earthly king.

00:21:12.759 --> 00:21:18.759
<v SPEAKER_00>So sometimes God will accommodate for what people want.

00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:35.399
<v SPEAKER_00>Sometimes we ask God for something that in the long run we actually don't need and we shouldn't have, but sometimes in order to grow us, shape us, mature us, God will accommodate and give us something we want that we don't really need.

00:21:35.720 --> 00:21:47.399
<v SPEAKER_00>God will allow us to receive something that we think is best for us so that we can come to the understanding that it's not best for us so that we can grow and mature over time if we allow it.

00:21:47.879 --> 00:21:55.480
<v SPEAKER_00>So God says, okay, if you want a godly, if you want an earthly king, this is what a human being as a godly king should look like.

00:21:55.960 --> 00:22:02.519
<v SPEAKER_00>A godly king is someone who should rule under God's authority, not their own.

00:22:02.919 --> 00:22:09.480
<v SPEAKER_00>A godly king is someone who should administer justice and righteousness on behalf of God.

00:22:09.799 --> 00:22:20.199
<v SPEAKER_00>A godly king is someone who should protect and shepherd people, defend the weak and the vulnerable, and lead a nation in faithfulness to God.

00:22:20.919 --> 00:22:41.799
<v SPEAKER_00>But the problem is, multiple times in the Bible, if you read it, we see kings that start out kind of good, and then once they experience that power, once they sit on that throne, once they see how all these people do whatever they say, it is hard for them to stay faithful to God.

00:22:41.960 --> 00:22:50.839
<v SPEAKER_00>There is something about power and profit and a high seat that tempts human beings to think they're God.

00:22:52.599 --> 00:22:55.159
<v SPEAKER_00>This is why you need to be careful what you ask for.

00:22:55.399 --> 00:23:01.720
<v SPEAKER_00>A nation should be careful what it prays for, a country should be careful of what it desires.

00:23:02.679 --> 00:23:06.119
<v SPEAKER_00>So, really, what I want to get to, I didn't that sounded political for a minute.

00:23:06.199 --> 00:23:07.559
<v SPEAKER_00>I didn't mean to do that.

00:23:09.720 --> 00:23:10.839
<v SPEAKER_00>Because what I really want to do.

00:23:11.240 --> 00:23:16.759
<v SPEAKER_00>In this sermon, in these last few moments, is just wrestle with this.

00:23:17.079 --> 00:23:18.839
<v SPEAKER_00>What kind of king is God?

00:23:19.720 --> 00:23:27.240
<v SPEAKER_00>Why would we want God to ultimately be our king over any political leader?

00:23:27.399 --> 00:23:32.599
<v SPEAKER_00>Yes, we live in a nation where, praise God, we get to vote, and you should exercise that right.

00:23:33.240 --> 00:23:44.119
<v SPEAKER_00>Every time I go to Ghana and I stand in the slave dungeons and I look at the docks where the slave ships took off, it reminds me why I better exercise my rights to vote.

00:23:45.720 --> 00:23:46.759
<v SPEAKER_00>So do that.

00:23:47.159 --> 00:24:04.519
<v SPEAKER_00>But at the same time, I want to present to you why, even in a democratic nation, you still want to claim God as your ultimate king, ultimate authority over any political leader wherever you live.

00:24:04.919 --> 00:24:06.599
<v SPEAKER_00>Over the mayor, over the gay.

00:24:06.919 --> 00:24:08.439
<v SPEAKER_00>This ain't no disrespect to the mayor.

00:24:08.519 --> 00:24:11.879
<v SPEAKER_00>If the mayor is somebody from the city council here, something like that.

00:24:12.519 --> 00:24:14.919
<v SPEAKER_00>This ain't no disrespect to no political leaders.

00:24:15.079 --> 00:24:20.759
<v SPEAKER_00>This ain't this no disrespect to the to the state senate, to the governor, to the U.S.

00:24:21.159 --> 00:24:22.919
<v SPEAKER_00>Congress, to the president.

00:24:23.079 --> 00:24:35.559
<v SPEAKER_00>But the bottom line is godly people are sus we're still supposed to look to God as our ultimate king, our Lord, our ultimate authority, and this is why.

00:24:48.599 --> 00:25:01.399
<v SPEAKER_00>No, I want to give you some practical biblical reasoning for why you should choose God as your king over any other earthly political leader.

00:25:01.559 --> 00:25:02.279
<v SPEAKER_00>This is why.

00:25:02.519 --> 00:25:09.000
<v SPEAKER_00>Point one, the reason why you want to choose God as your king is because God is creator, not conqueror.

00:25:09.879 --> 00:25:11.960
<v SPEAKER_00>Let that sit in your spirit for a minute.

00:25:12.279 --> 00:25:15.159
<v SPEAKER_00>God is creator, not conqueror.

00:25:15.319 --> 00:25:16.839
<v SPEAKER_00>Oh, I gotta go to Genesis.

00:25:16.919 --> 00:25:18.119
<v SPEAKER_00>It's just it's just one verse.

00:25:18.279 --> 00:25:21.000
<v SPEAKER_00>Genesis chapter one, verse one.

00:25:21.960 --> 00:25:25.720
<v SPEAKER_00>In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

00:25:26.199 --> 00:25:27.159
<v SPEAKER_00>That's it right there.

00:25:27.240 --> 00:25:29.079
<v SPEAKER_00>That's all I really want to say about that.

00:25:29.559 --> 00:25:33.559
<v SPEAKER_00>In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

00:25:33.720 --> 00:25:40.679
<v SPEAKER_00>That means God doesn't need to conquer the heavens and the earth because God created the heavens and the earth.

00:25:40.919 --> 00:25:46.839
<v SPEAKER_00>See, earthly kings, in order to show power, they have to conquer new territory.

00:25:47.000 --> 00:26:09.399
<v SPEAKER_00>That's how kings gained power in the ancient days, in what we would call the Old Testament and the New Testament days, the biblical days, that that the king of Babylon or the Pharaoh of Egypt or the king of Assyria or the head of the Philistines, how they prove that they were a real king is I've got to conquer more places.

00:26:09.559 --> 00:26:11.720
<v SPEAKER_00>I have to take more territory.

00:26:11.879 --> 00:26:18.039
<v SPEAKER_00>And when you're taking and conquering places, you automatically conquer people as well.

00:26:18.359 --> 00:26:20.759
<v SPEAKER_00>So earthly kings conquer.

00:26:21.000 --> 00:26:24.359
<v SPEAKER_00>They take territory and they take people.

00:26:24.519 --> 00:26:33.960
<v SPEAKER_00>They go into places that didn't belong to them and said, Because of my army, because of my power, because of what I did, what you thought was yours is now mine.

00:26:34.119 --> 00:26:36.839
<v SPEAKER_00>Yes, I now take over this nation.

00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:39.720
<v SPEAKER_00>I now take this is still happening around the globe today.

00:26:39.799 --> 00:26:40.199
<v SPEAKER_00>Come on.

00:26:40.279 --> 00:26:42.599
<v SPEAKER_00>Why do you think this war with Ukraine is going on?

00:26:42.759 --> 00:26:58.359
<v SPEAKER_00>Why did that there are still nations saying, no, uh I have enough power, I have enough military might, I have nuclear capabilities, and because of all that, I can I can take over a vulnerable nation, a vulnerable country.

00:26:58.439 --> 00:27:17.000
<v SPEAKER_00>And so earthly kings conquer places and people, but God creates places, God created spaces, God created people, God created you and I in God's own image to flourish, to thrive, to be empowered.

00:27:17.240 --> 00:27:23.559
<v SPEAKER_00>So God's not trying to conquer you, God's trying to clarify why He created you.

00:27:24.119 --> 00:27:26.279
<v SPEAKER_00>Oh, I wish I could get that in your spirit.

00:27:26.599 --> 00:27:36.679
<v SPEAKER_00>God's not trying to conquer you, God's trying to clarify your calling so that you and I know why we were created by God in the first place.

00:27:37.319 --> 00:27:39.559
<v SPEAKER_00>God wants you empowered.

00:27:40.839 --> 00:27:47.480
<v SPEAKER_00>God wants you in intimate relationship with the Messiah so you won't be enslaved to materialism.

00:27:48.599 --> 00:27:50.679
<v SPEAKER_00>God is creator, not conqueror.

00:27:50.839 --> 00:27:54.599
<v SPEAKER_00>Two, God is liberator, not oppressor.

00:27:54.919 --> 00:27:56.599
<v SPEAKER_00>God is liberator, not oppressor.

00:27:56.679 --> 00:27:57.720
<v SPEAKER_00>Y'all a little quiet on me?

00:27:57.799 --> 00:27:58.279
<v SPEAKER_00>It's okay.

00:27:58.359 --> 00:27:58.839
<v SPEAKER_00>It's okay.

00:27:59.000 --> 00:28:00.519
<v SPEAKER_00>Because you might be like, what are you gonna say next?

00:28:01.159 --> 00:28:02.679
<v SPEAKER_00>It's okay, it's okay.

00:28:03.079 --> 00:28:04.919
<v SPEAKER_00>God is liberator, not oppressor.

00:28:05.079 --> 00:28:07.480
<v SPEAKER_00>I'm gonna go to Exodus chapter three.

00:28:07.799 --> 00:28:11.399
<v SPEAKER_00>Exodus chapter three, and I'm gonna begin with verse seven.

00:28:11.559 --> 00:28:23.480
<v SPEAKER_00>It says this this is God looking at the people of Israel who are now enslaved in under Pharaoh in Egypt.

00:28:23.879 --> 00:28:24.759
<v SPEAKER_00>Verse 7.

00:28:24.919 --> 00:28:28.599
<v SPEAKER_00>This is before Samuel, before, give us a king.

00:28:29.399 --> 00:28:30.919
<v SPEAKER_00>Exodus 3, verse 7.

00:28:31.079 --> 00:28:35.399
<v SPEAKER_00>The Lord said, I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt.

00:28:35.639 --> 00:28:40.599
<v SPEAKER_00>I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I'm concerned about their suffering.

00:28:40.679 --> 00:28:56.679
<v SPEAKER_00>So I've come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey, the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebuzites, Aphrodites.

00:28:57.000 --> 00:29:00.599
<v SPEAKER_00>There ain't no Afrowites, I'm just trying to see if y'all are paying attention.

00:29:01.720 --> 00:29:08.599
<v SPEAKER_00>Some of y'all probably was Afrowites in the 1970s until you were Jerichoites, but that's a whole different sermon.

00:29:10.599 --> 00:29:11.879
<v SPEAKER_00>So, verse 9.

00:29:12.119 --> 00:29:19.240
<v SPEAKER_00>And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way of the Egyptians are oppressing them.

00:29:19.399 --> 00:29:20.439
<v SPEAKER_00>So now go.

00:29:20.519 --> 00:29:25.000
<v SPEAKER_00>I'm sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.

00:29:25.079 --> 00:29:26.439
<v SPEAKER_00>Do you see the difference here?

00:29:26.759 --> 00:29:39.720
<v SPEAKER_00>Pharaoh, an earthly king, is enslaving people, oppressing people to show how much power he has as the king of Egypt, as the Pharaoh of Egypt.

00:29:40.199 --> 00:29:41.559
<v SPEAKER_00>He's enslaving.

00:29:41.879 --> 00:29:43.639
<v SPEAKER_00>God is liberating.

00:29:43.960 --> 00:29:47.240
<v SPEAKER_00>Earthly kings colonize and enslave.

00:29:47.559 --> 00:29:50.759
<v SPEAKER_00>God is the king who empowers and saves.

00:29:51.559 --> 00:29:52.519
<v SPEAKER_00>This is the difference.

00:29:52.599 --> 00:29:54.759
<v SPEAKER_00>This is why you want God as your king.

00:29:55.079 --> 00:29:58.599
<v SPEAKER_00>Do you see the difference between the earthly king and God is king?

00:29:58.759 --> 00:30:09.639
<v SPEAKER_00>God is creator, not conqueror, God is liberator, not oppressor, and and and three, God is provider, not a perverter of possession.

00:30:10.359 --> 00:30:18.359
<v SPEAKER_00>God is Jehovah Jirah, the Lord, the king who provides, not takes.

00:30:19.000 --> 00:30:22.119
<v SPEAKER_00>Oh, now I gotta go back to where I began this sermon.

00:30:22.199 --> 00:30:25.319
<v SPEAKER_00>Let's go back to 1 Samuel chapter 8.

00:30:25.559 --> 00:30:32.439
<v SPEAKER_00>Because when the Israelites say to Samuel, we want a king, God says, Don't get mad, Samuel.

00:30:32.599 --> 00:30:36.119
<v SPEAKER_00>They're not rejecting you, they're rejecting me.

00:30:36.359 --> 00:30:44.279
<v SPEAKER_00>They actually have been rejecting me as their king since the day I brought them out of slavery in Egypt, Exodus chapter 3, which I just read.

00:30:44.519 --> 00:30:49.639
<v SPEAKER_00>God is saying, I delivered them from the hands of an earthly king.

00:30:49.960 --> 00:30:57.319
<v SPEAKER_00>I set them free from an earthly king who enslaved them, who oppressed them.

00:30:57.559 --> 00:31:06.839
<v SPEAKER_00>And you would think because of that, they would accept me as their king, but they've actually been rejecting me as their king since the day I saved them.

00:31:07.000 --> 00:31:14.119
<v SPEAKER_00>Do you know that it is possible to be saved in Jesus Christ and still reject God as the highest authority in your life?

00:31:14.359 --> 00:31:19.399
<v SPEAKER_00>I don't want God to say about me what God said about the Israelites.

00:31:19.559 --> 00:31:26.679
<v SPEAKER_00>Even though I saved them, they've still been rejecting me as the highest authority to speak into their lives.

00:31:26.839 --> 00:31:45.399
<v SPEAKER_00>I gotta be honest, as even as I'm saying that, I've been saved since I was a teenager, and yet I have to confess to you, there are times when I allowed another institution, another person or structure to have more authority over my life than I let God.

00:31:45.559 --> 00:31:46.599
<v SPEAKER_00>Let me say it again.

00:31:46.759 --> 00:31:49.399
<v SPEAKER_00>Some of y'all are dealing with trauma right now.

00:31:49.480 --> 00:31:58.439
<v SPEAKER_00>You're dealing with pain and frustration because you let a human being be God in your life when you shouldn't have given them that much power in the first place.

00:31:58.679 --> 00:32:00.279
<v SPEAKER_00>I know they said they loved you.

00:32:00.439 --> 00:32:02.839
<v SPEAKER_00>I know they said they were gonna offer you a job.

00:32:03.000 --> 00:32:10.919
<v SPEAKER_00>I know, don't let another human being be God in your life because no other human being can be God like God can.

00:32:12.119 --> 00:32:13.079
<v SPEAKER_00>I'm a witness.

00:32:13.159 --> 00:32:16.919
<v SPEAKER_00>I ain't telling you something I thought about, I'm telling you something I experienced.

00:32:17.079 --> 00:32:28.359
<v SPEAKER_00>As a pastor, I can confess to you that there have been times when I let somebody have too much power and influence in and over my life, and I paid the price for it.

00:32:29.159 --> 00:32:40.039
<v SPEAKER_00>That's why God is saying, Ever since I saved them, they've still been rejecting me, giving other human beings too much power in their life.

00:32:40.439 --> 00:32:41.399
<v SPEAKER_00>My God.

00:32:42.359 --> 00:32:45.079
<v SPEAKER_00>You you you want the creator or you want a cult?

00:32:46.039 --> 00:32:48.279
<v SPEAKER_00>Okay, let me get to what I was gonna talk about.

00:32:48.439 --> 00:32:49.559
<v SPEAKER_00>Let me get my bad.

00:32:50.359 --> 00:32:52.599
<v SPEAKER_00>Let me get to what I was really gonna talk about.

00:32:52.919 --> 00:32:54.599
<v SPEAKER_00>That just came out of my mouth.

00:32:54.679 --> 00:32:57.480
<v SPEAKER_00>That is, let me this is what I want to talk about right here.

00:32:57.559 --> 00:32:59.240
<v SPEAKER_00>This is what I want to talk about right here.

00:32:59.559 --> 00:33:02.359
<v SPEAKER_00>So God, I'm trying to wind this sermon down.

00:33:02.439 --> 00:33:04.039
<v SPEAKER_00>I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be long-winded.

00:33:04.119 --> 00:33:07.000
<v SPEAKER_00>So so God tries to give them an out.

00:33:07.480 --> 00:33:09.960
<v SPEAKER_00>He says, Samuel, this is what I want you to do.

00:33:10.119 --> 00:33:18.039
<v SPEAKER_00>Before I give them what they're asking for, tell them what it will be like if I give them an earthly king.

00:33:18.279 --> 00:33:26.599
<v SPEAKER_00>And so in verse 10, Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king.

00:33:26.759 --> 00:33:33.240
<v SPEAKER_00>He said, This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights.

00:33:33.399 --> 00:33:40.839
<v SPEAKER_00>So he's saying, If I give you an earthly king, this earthly king is gonna claim rights over you.

00:33:41.159 --> 00:33:50.039
<v SPEAKER_00>He says, He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.

00:33:50.199 --> 00:34:02.519
<v SPEAKER_00>Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.

00:34:02.599 --> 00:34:10.599
<v SPEAKER_00>He's saying, If I give you an earthly king, this earthly king's gonna take your sons and make them fight in wars that have nothing to do with God.

00:34:10.920 --> 00:34:25.880
<v SPEAKER_00>He's gonna take them and for his own purposes, for his own power, for his own ego, for his own narcissism, this king that I'm gonna give you, Israelites, is gonna take your kids, put them in the military, and make them fight wars that have nothing to do with God.

00:34:25.960 --> 00:34:27.159
<v SPEAKER_00>Are you sure you want this king?

00:34:28.199 --> 00:34:30.199
<v SPEAKER_00>He's like, okay, okay, okay, okay.

00:34:30.440 --> 00:34:41.159
<v SPEAKER_00>He's also, he verse 13, he will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers, and you'll see later concubines and wives.

00:34:41.480 --> 00:34:53.559
<v SPEAKER_00>So if I if I give you this king you want, he might take your daughters and make them his multiple wives, his perfumers, his bakers, his cooks, and and his side uh concubines.

00:34:57.960 --> 00:35:04.119
<v SPEAKER_00>It says in verse 14, he will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to attendants.

00:35:04.360 --> 00:35:15.640
<v SPEAKER_00>He'll take the land that you work hard for to build your own business, and he'll take your businesses, your land, your crops, your harvest from you and give it to people that didn't even work for it.

00:35:15.960 --> 00:35:18.760
<v SPEAKER_00>Because they his friends, because they like him.

00:35:19.000 --> 00:35:19.800
<v SPEAKER_00>That's what he'll do.

00:35:19.880 --> 00:35:22.440
<v SPEAKER_00>I'm talking about the king in the Bible.

00:35:22.760 --> 00:35:25.880
<v SPEAKER_00>This is what you will get if you ask for this king.

00:35:26.040 --> 00:35:30.360
<v SPEAKER_00>He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants.

00:35:30.440 --> 00:35:35.800
<v SPEAKER_00>He'll take your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use.

00:35:36.040 --> 00:35:37.560
<v SPEAKER_00>He will take a tenth of your flocks.

00:35:37.640 --> 00:35:41.720
<v SPEAKER_00>Okay, he already took a tithe, now you're taking another tenth, that's a twentieth.

00:35:42.360 --> 00:35:46.120
<v SPEAKER_00>And you yourselves will become his slaves.

00:35:46.360 --> 00:35:53.720
<v SPEAKER_00>When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.

00:35:53.880 --> 00:35:56.200
<v SPEAKER_00>That part seems messed up to me.

00:35:57.320 --> 00:36:01.880
<v SPEAKER_00>That one day he says, they're gonna cry and say, God, we changed our minds.

00:36:02.040 --> 00:36:03.720
<v SPEAKER_00>We don't want this king no more.

00:36:03.880 --> 00:36:06.200
<v SPEAKER_00>And God's gonna say, That's what you wanted.

00:36:07.800 --> 00:36:12.920
<v SPEAKER_00>That does seem a little mean, but I think this is the better interpretation.

00:36:13.400 --> 00:36:23.960
<v SPEAKER_00>Sometimes, even as much as God loves us, God has to let us go through something so that we can experience something to say, I don't want that ever again.

00:36:24.200 --> 00:36:25.240
<v SPEAKER_00>Come on, parents.

00:36:25.560 --> 00:36:34.440
<v SPEAKER_00>There are times when you've had to let your children experience something you don't want to experience, but you didn't told them three times already.

00:36:34.840 --> 00:36:39.800
<v SPEAKER_00>And and then they think, you know, they as my grandma would say, they smelling themselves a little bit.

00:36:40.600 --> 00:36:43.320
<v SPEAKER_00>They think they grown without paying a mortgage.

00:36:43.720 --> 00:36:48.760
<v SPEAKER_00>So you have to let them experience it to say, I tried to, out of love, I tried to tell you.

00:36:48.920 --> 00:36:54.280
<v SPEAKER_00>Sometimes you have to let your grown children experience something.

00:36:54.520 --> 00:37:05.160
<v SPEAKER_00>You don't want this to happen to them, but but but but maybe for their further development, maturity, and growth, they have to experience it.

00:37:05.400 --> 00:37:12.200
<v SPEAKER_00>So, what I'm trying to say in this point, God is a provider, not a perverter of possession.

00:37:12.840 --> 00:37:21.240
<v SPEAKER_00>In the hands of an earthly king, possession means you and everything you think belongs to you is mine.

00:37:21.880 --> 00:37:23.720
<v SPEAKER_00>You are my possession.

00:37:24.120 --> 00:37:29.480
<v SPEAKER_00>With God, possession means this you are my beloved child.

00:37:29.720 --> 00:37:31.320
<v SPEAKER_00>I want what's best for you.

00:37:31.560 --> 00:37:34.280
<v SPEAKER_00>I want you to flourish, I want you to thrive.

00:37:34.440 --> 00:37:37.800
<v SPEAKER_00>I'm not trying to keep you from that because I want to enslave you.

00:37:37.960 --> 00:37:45.720
<v SPEAKER_00>I'm trying to keep you from that so that you can feel liberated and empowered by my love and my grace and my truth.

00:37:46.040 --> 00:37:52.840
<v SPEAKER_00>To be God's possession is to be God's beloved, to be God's set apart.

00:37:53.880 --> 00:37:59.720
<v SPEAKER_00>So, sisters and brothers, as I close, why do we reject God as king then?

00:38:00.280 --> 00:38:01.640
<v SPEAKER_00>I'm gonna tell you why.

00:38:01.800 --> 00:38:12.040
<v SPEAKER_00>And I'm gonna use Prince Harry and Duchess Megan to prove why people reject God as king so that we can solve this today.

00:38:13.400 --> 00:38:24.440
<v SPEAKER_00>Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan Markle decided to leave the royal family, and they probably had good reason.

00:38:24.760 --> 00:38:29.400
<v SPEAKER_00>The tabloids were brutal to Megan and to Prince Harry.

00:38:29.560 --> 00:38:37.080
<v SPEAKER_00>I don't know if it had anything to do with the complexion of her mother, but they were brutal to Megan.

00:38:37.560 --> 00:38:47.400
<v SPEAKER_00>And out of disappointment and pain, they distanced themselves from the royal family and they now live in California.

00:38:47.640 --> 00:38:49.080
<v SPEAKER_00>Now don't feel sorry for them.

00:38:49.160 --> 00:38:51.640
<v SPEAKER_00>They live next to Oprah's house in Montecito.

00:38:52.280 --> 00:38:58.280
<v SPEAKER_00>I mean, it's basically like Oprah's house, Gail Tyler Perry, them.

00:38:58.360 --> 00:38:59.560
<v SPEAKER_00>So I mean, you know.

00:39:00.920 --> 00:39:04.840
<v SPEAKER_00>So before you feel all sad for them, they alright.

00:39:05.320 --> 00:39:07.720
<v SPEAKER_00>But it's the principle of the thing.

00:39:08.360 --> 00:39:21.400
<v SPEAKER_00>People tend to reject God in the valley of disappointment, in the valley of trauma, in the valley of this is not going the way I wanted it to go.

00:39:21.640 --> 00:39:28.040
<v SPEAKER_00>Y'all are not doing what I needed you to do, and in the midst of disappointment, you didn't love me like I thought I should be loved.

00:39:28.200 --> 00:39:40.920
<v SPEAKER_00>You weren't there for me, and so I take the fact that a person wasn't there for me, I take the fact of disappointment, I take the fact that Samuel's sons were wicked, and I put that on God and I reject God.

00:39:41.160 --> 00:39:51.160
<v SPEAKER_00>And I want to tell you that when you're in the valley of disappointment, this is the moment you want to connect with God, not the moment you want to disconnect from God.

00:39:52.040 --> 00:39:52.920
<v SPEAKER_00>Let me use Peter.

00:39:53.000 --> 00:39:55.160
<v SPEAKER_00>I'm trying to come to a close, but I'm a chocolate preacher.

00:39:55.240 --> 00:39:56.360
<v SPEAKER_00>But I'm closing this sermon.

00:39:56.440 --> 00:39:57.320
<v SPEAKER_00>I promise you.

00:39:57.560 --> 00:40:00.600
<v SPEAKER_00>I promise you, I'm hungry, so I'm gonna close this sermon.

00:40:01.960 --> 00:40:04.920
<v SPEAKER_00>Why did Peter reject Jesus?

00:40:05.400 --> 00:40:06.760
<v SPEAKER_00>Disappointment.

00:40:07.160 --> 00:40:10.680
<v SPEAKER_00>Because Jesus was not the king he was looking for.

00:40:10.920 --> 00:40:17.800
<v SPEAKER_00>He wanted a king that would get a sword and bring an army together and take on Caesar and the Roman Empire.

00:40:18.040 --> 00:40:38.120
<v SPEAKER_00>And Jesus was too busy giving sight to the blind, casting out evil spirits, giving a woman with no health care coverage healing, raising the dead, giving dignity to prostitutes, standing between rock throwers and a woman caught in adultery.

00:40:38.280 --> 00:40:43.400
<v SPEAKER_00>That's what Jesus was doing, giving dignity to people, saving people.

00:40:43.960 --> 00:40:53.720
<v SPEAKER_00>This was not the king Peter was looking for, and so in disappointment, he rejected God as king.

00:40:53.960 --> 00:41:08.600
<v SPEAKER_00>And I want you to know that when you're in the valley of disappointment, this is the very moment where you need a king that is higher than a governor, higher than a senator, higher than a president, higher than a prime minister, higher than a king.

00:41:08.840 --> 00:41:12.520
<v SPEAKER_00>You need the one with all authority and all power.

00:41:12.680 --> 00:41:16.600
<v SPEAKER_00>Let you, when you are in disappointment, you need to pray to the king.

00:41:16.760 --> 00:41:23.480
<v SPEAKER_00>You need to worship the king, you need to fast and give up some stuff so that you can have a deeper experience of the king.

00:41:23.640 --> 00:41:26.680
<v SPEAKER_00>There's a song that says, Take me to the king.

00:41:26.920 --> 00:41:29.000
<v SPEAKER_00>I don't have much to bring.

00:41:29.160 --> 00:41:32.840
<v SPEAKER_00>When you are in the valley, that's when you need to look up.

00:41:33.080 --> 00:41:45.240
<v SPEAKER_00>I am a descendant of people that came here on slave ships, and their personhood and their name and their culture and their language and their humanity was taken from them.

00:41:45.400 --> 00:41:54.520
<v SPEAKER_00>But in the hush harbors, in the backwoods, in the midnight hour, they sang, swing low, sweet chariot, stop and let me ride.

00:41:54.760 --> 00:41:56.600
<v SPEAKER_00>They prayed to a king.

00:41:56.760 --> 00:42:10.200
<v SPEAKER_00>I don't care what your race is, I don't care what your ethnicity is, I don't care what you've been through, if you are burdened, if you have anxiety, if you are angry, if you are frustrated, this is why you need the king.

00:42:11.320 --> 00:42:12.840
<v SPEAKER_00>This is why you need him.

00:42:13.400 --> 00:42:13.880
<v unknown>So the