SPEAKER_02: Let's all stand if you're able to.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna read our scripture for this morning.
SPEAKER_02: Our first scripture comes from Psalms 139.
SPEAKER_02: We're reading from verse 13 and a couple verses, then we're gonna move to Jeremiah chapter 1 and verses 5.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah?
SPEAKER_02: You guys got it?
SPEAKER_02: You can't even in old church used to be like turn your Bibles, and everybody's here just sitting here waiting for it to pop up on screen.
SPEAKER_02: It's like it's about to pop up soon.
SPEAKER_02: Don't even have the Bible app on your phone, amen.
SPEAKER_02: Just put it on.
SPEAKER_02: Save your phone.
SPEAKER_02: Bible app right next to your sneaky link.
SPEAKER_02: That is something else.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: I love, I love our gap members, our gap leader.
SPEAKER_02: She was like this.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's sketchy, Pastor.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know about that one.
SPEAKER_02: But we're just so grateful.
SPEAKER_02: Psalms 139 to verse 30.
SPEAKER_02: We read a couple verses uh for the new international version of the Bible.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: For you are created my othermost, innermost being.
SPEAKER_02: You knit me together in my mother's womb.
SPEAKER_02: I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
SPEAKER_02: Your works are wonderful, and I know that full well.
SPEAKER_02: My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in a secret place.
SPEAKER_02: When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my inner unformed body.
SPEAKER_02: All the days ordained for me were written in a book before one came to be.
SPEAKER_02: How precious to me are your thoughts, God.
SPEAKER_02: How vast is the sum of them.
SPEAKER_02: Where I count them, they will outnumber the grains of sand.
SPEAKER_02: When I awake, I am still with you.
SPEAKER_02: Jeremiah chapter 1 and verses 5 says, giving the media team a little time to catch up.
SPEAKER_02: Before, before I formed thee in thy belly, I knew thee.
SPEAKER_02: And before you came out of the womb, I sanctified thee.
SPEAKER_02: Today we're gonna be sharing and teaching on a sermonic topic.
SPEAKER_02: Bloom.
SPEAKER_02: Look at your neighbor say bloom.
SPEAKER_02: Bloom.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, we thank you for this message.
SPEAKER_02: Make it plain, make it meaningful.
SPEAKER_02: In your name we pray.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: You may be seated no matter who you are, no matter where you are, no matter what's going on.
SPEAKER_02: We're so happy that you've gathered with us.
SPEAKER_02: If your mom is next to you, if you're here, we're just celebrating wherever you are.
SPEAKER_02: We're just so grateful to see you.
SPEAKER_02: Now there's a phenomenon that happens.
SPEAKER_02: We had our gap meeting and I am meeting a lot of people who fall in the gap.
SPEAKER_02: That's people ages 21 to 45, give or take.
SPEAKER_02: And if you haven't signed up, if you haven't come there, I want you to connect.
SPEAKER_02: Our next one is gonna be the first Wednesday in June.
SPEAKER_02: Now, I want you to be there.
SPEAKER_02: But what I've realized is that there's a new phenomenon that's taking place.
SPEAKER_02: There's a new phenomenon that's taking place in the world that even if you're not a biological mom, there is a new mom being born every day.
SPEAKER_02: But this is not just just moms or physical women, there are men as well who are taking on this role.
SPEAKER_02: They're called plant parents.
SPEAKER_02: These are people who love plants more than people.
SPEAKER_02: These are people who never saw a plant that they didn't want to buy.
SPEAKER_02: These are people who knows the owner of Fort Dodding and the assistant by name.
SPEAKER_02: They have Esther's personal phone number.
SPEAKER_02: They never see a plant on the side of the road that they think they can't catch.
SPEAKER_02: Catching is meaning that they were able to take a piece and plant it at home.
SPEAKER_02: These plant moms become very possessive and very serious.
SPEAKER_02: They they miss appointments, they miss dinners, they miss social time because they have to go home to attend to their plants.
SPEAKER_02: But there's another variation of plant moms.
SPEAKER_02: Those are the people who just have plants, but imagine the people who have plants that bear vegetables.
SPEAKER_02: Those are special types of people, the ones that bear tomatoes and peppers and grow provision.
SPEAKER_02: It others you and it causes you to be something even more.
SPEAKER_02: Now we look at this topic called bloom, and this scripture from the verses of Psalms on Jeremiah, we realize that a lot of things were taking place.
SPEAKER_02: That seeds and plants and all these things that come together are really important.
SPEAKER_02: If we look at this verse in Jeremiah, this scripture is a very, very, very profound Psalms.
SPEAKER_02: Psalms 139 is one of those Psalms that will get you through anything in your life.
SPEAKER_02: No matter what you're going through, you read Psalms 139.
SPEAKER_02: There is gonna be something to guide, give you wisdom, give you comfort.
SPEAKER_02: If it's any scripture that you want to be able to recite, remember, or call upon, go to Psalms 139.
SPEAKER_02: In your deepest, darkest moments, Psalms 139 will be a light in the midst of the darkness that will give you a compass when you feel lost.
SPEAKER_02: Psalms 139.
SPEAKER_02: Now, this was really important because in Psalms 139 and verse 13, as also Jeremiah chapter 1 and verse 5, it talks about God taking time to knit you together, put you together.
SPEAKER_02: It talks about God in the sense of being a mother who formed in the womb.
SPEAKER_02: God taking out now this personality of being this person that plants seeds and allow things to grow.
SPEAKER_02: Now, I have my handy dandy set of kits because I too love Fort Garden.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: This is a stay interactive class.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna get through it.
SPEAKER_02: Now, this is actually my Mother's Day present for my mom.
SPEAKER_02: This it's brand new.
SPEAKER_02: See?
SPEAKER_02: Brand new.
SPEAKER_02: It's a self-watering pot.
SPEAKER_02: It's very innovative.
SPEAKER_02: You put the water in it, and it just keeps the water there.
SPEAKER_02: And people like me who forget often too often, it reminds you, just keep some water there.
SPEAKER_02: So if you forget for a couple weeks, the plants will water themselves.
SPEAKER_02: A week, three days.
SPEAKER_02: Now I want you to walk with me.
SPEAKER_02: Imagine now God with your life.
SPEAKER_02: And you are now a seed, and God has you in his hands.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not Dr.
SPEAKER_02: Mike anymore.
SPEAKER_02: I'm Farmer Mike this morning.
SPEAKER_02: And farmer Mike is gonna take you on a journey that allows you to put things together and allows you to see how you go from a seed to being blooming.
SPEAKER_02: I want you to look at your life as seeing that God is forming you in their rooms.
SPEAKER_02: Now, you have to understand sometimes you're not able to catch things.
SPEAKER_02: In here, I have seeds of chives.
SPEAKER_02: I also have seeds of some carrots.
SPEAKER_02: I also have seeds of some asparagus, which I'm gonna really try to see if my hand is good enough.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Anybody has a good hand?
SPEAKER_02: And then I also have some thyme.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Now, I want the people in here, if you be interactive, the people in here who likes time, just say yeah.
SPEAKER_02: All right, all right, the time people seem popular.
SPEAKER_02: Uh the people who will prefer carrots, all right.
SPEAKER_02: The carrot people, we got a couple carrot people, and the people who will prefer asparagus.
SPEAKER_02: All right, I said the people who prefer, if you don't like it, please be quiet at this section of the sermon.
SPEAKER_02: The people who prefer asparagus, hey man, I never see asparagus that I don't like, and the people who want chives.
SPEAKER_02: All right, that's a okay, all right, all right.
SPEAKER_02: So remember who you are.
SPEAKER_02: Remember who you are.
SPEAKER_02: Do you remember who you are?
SPEAKER_02: What's your favorite?
SPEAKER_02: All right, so remember that.
SPEAKER_02: So now God is now designing you, and you have a favorite.
SPEAKER_02: God says, All right, I'm forming you in my womb.
SPEAKER_02: I'm knitting you together before eternities even come together.
SPEAKER_02: You know what?
SPEAKER_02: You are gonna be a carrot.
SPEAKER_02: This side of church, you are carrots.
SPEAKER_02: This side, your time.
SPEAKER_02: You y'all look like y'all need some vegetables.
SPEAKER_02: Asparagus.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
SPEAKER_02: This side of church with joy praise.
SPEAKER_02: Y'all are chives that come from onions.
SPEAKER_02: I know, but flavor is complicated.
SPEAKER_02: Remember?
SPEAKER_02: Carrots, thyme, asparagus, and all right.
SPEAKER_02: Now, you are assigned this because everything that I've known you to be is designed to be like this.
SPEAKER_02: So that's your seed.
SPEAKER_02: That's your seed, that's your seed, that's no remember.
SPEAKER_02: God has now assigned you to be this.
SPEAKER_02: You understand?
SPEAKER_02: You got it.
SPEAKER_02: That's who you are.
SPEAKER_02: Ain't no changing, okay?
SPEAKER_02: Don't try to move from this side to that side.
SPEAKER_02: No, you are a chive.
SPEAKER_02: Don't be trying to mix with the asparagus.
SPEAKER_02: You are a what?
SPEAKER_02: Don't try to mix with the who the carrots, right?
SPEAKER_02: I don't want you now.
SPEAKER_02: Here's what happens in life we go through life, and God says, I've designed you perfectly to be what I know you will best thrive at.
SPEAKER_02: But guess what happens?
SPEAKER_02: We go through life and we start to question, God, why you have me just being a carrot?
SPEAKER_02: I wish that could just be some chives.
SPEAKER_02: They're green, everybody uses them.
SPEAKER_02: They even spring up from onions when you leave them on the table too long.
SPEAKER_02: I like chives.
SPEAKER_02: You see, they have a national chive day, ain't nobody have a national carrot day, and then comes along cartoons with a character name Bugs Bunny.
SPEAKER_02: Bugs Bunny now makes carrots popular.
SPEAKER_02: Y'all staying with me?
SPEAKER_02: You guys, you you gotta pay attention in this sermon.
SPEAKER_02: You look away, you're gonna be like, what is Pastor talking about?
SPEAKER_02: You like, then Bugs Bunny is like, oh, come around these carrots.
SPEAKER_02: And like me, I was one of those kids.
SPEAKER_02: And if you're in here in the gap between that age range, you at one point in your life stood around, took a carrot from your mom's fridge, and started, started biting the side.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, maybe it was okay.
SPEAKER_02: I did it.
SPEAKER_02: Man, I was like, what's up, doc?
SPEAKER_02: And I thought it was cool.
SPEAKER_02: And so now the the the the child people are upset.
SPEAKER_02: Why does carrot people have a show?
SPEAKER_02: And asparagus is just there on the shelf.
SPEAKER_02: Ain't nobody want to cook it, ain't nobody asking for extra side of asparagus, and asparagus people are feeling forgotten.
SPEAKER_02: But that's not like a time.
SPEAKER_02: The time is thinking, I'm tired of being put in when the dish is almost finished, and most of the times they throw me in there with chicken, salmon, steak, and it's hot, and then I pop up out the plate, and then nobody even knows where the seasoning came from.
SPEAKER_02: They're like, I like this seasoning, I like this sauce, but all along the time never gets the credit because nobody never sees it.
SPEAKER_02: But it was in there in the deep set of ingredients, and everybody is now wondering where do I find my footing?
SPEAKER_02: Where do I find who I am?
SPEAKER_02: I want to be something else.
SPEAKER_02: No matter what, God says, I designed you in a specific way for a specific purpose.
SPEAKER_02: But all of us at some point in time want to be a carrot when we are time, want to be a time when we're asparagus, want to be asparagus, but feeling jealous of the tithes.
SPEAKER_02: No matter who you are, you have to trust what the scripture says that God designed you specifically for a purpose.
SPEAKER_02: So here's what happens in our life.
SPEAKER_02: God now is trying to niche you, put you together, and he takes your seeds that are really, really small.
SPEAKER_02: These are carrot seeds, they're really, really small.
SPEAKER_02: But here's what we try to do.
SPEAKER_02: We get friends who are time.
SPEAKER_02: And God is saying, I want you to make sure you know who you are.
SPEAKER_02: But these, what we do in our life is that we mix ourselves too early with different types of seeds.
SPEAKER_02: If we were to plant this with these mixed seeds with thymes and chives together, it will be a mixed bag of confusion.
SPEAKER_02: Because they ain't supposed to plant in the same pot at an early stage.
SPEAKER_02: Because everyone needs their own light, their own soil, and their own attention.
SPEAKER_02: Some of you in here are too early in your purpose to be mixing with people who are not on the same path as you, and you're wondering why you never bloom, why you never shoot up.
SPEAKER_02: It's because you got killed in the soil.
SPEAKER_02: See, the soil represents the things that happen behind the scenes.
SPEAKER_02: See, everybody wants to see this, but before you get to this, you got to be underground.
SPEAKER_02: You have to be hidden.
SPEAKER_02: And some of us need to understand what you do in the dark, what you do when no one is looking, what you do in your private time will be dependent on how much you grow.
SPEAKER_02: So you gotta be able to separate.
SPEAKER_02: You gotta be able to separate from what's going on in your life.
SPEAKER_02: You have to separate for some people.
SPEAKER_02: You can't be mixing everything with everybody.
SPEAKER_02: Tell somebody I gotta separate right now because I'm about to go in underground, I'm about to do some stuff, and God is about to plant some stuff in my life.
SPEAKER_02: I need to separate.
SPEAKER_02: It's not you, it's me.
SPEAKER_02: And sometimes you need to stop trying to justify why you need to pull back from some things and some situation and some people.
SPEAKER_02: It's because sometimes separation is needed for growth.
SPEAKER_02: Well, your neighbor says, I gotta separate, I gotta, I gotta move, I gotta, I gotta, because now imagine how crazy it is that we continue to open these bags and mix all these seeds together.
SPEAKER_02: So we gotta separate.
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna make sure I have a pot that is just for my carrots.
SPEAKER_02: Carrot people, y'all still with me?
SPEAKER_02: Y'all got a whole cartoon, right?
SPEAKER_02: And now I'm gonna put you in here.
SPEAKER_02: Now, what becomes really important when you have your seed is that you have to watch where you're planted, you have to make sure where you're planted is important.
SPEAKER_02: Now, what happens with us is that we don't want to do the difficult work of what planting really means.
SPEAKER_02: All of us just want to show up and say, Hey, here's my produce, but there's a process.
SPEAKER_02: Some of us just like to go to the grocery store and pick up the stuff off the shelf, but somebody had to do the planting, but you have to be mindful about where you put your seeds.
SPEAKER_02: Now, your seeds in the Bible represent your physical purpose.
SPEAKER_02: What is your God-given purpose?
SPEAKER_02: What has God put inside of you to be able to bloom?
SPEAKER_02: What is it?
SPEAKER_02: And here's what here's what happens in our life is that we have to get planted in some areas that are not for us.
SPEAKER_02: Do you know that there's different type of soil that's required based on the type of plant you're about to plant?
SPEAKER_02: That you can't just put any, you can't plant a grape tree in some climates because it's too hot.
SPEAKER_02: Do you know that you y'all y'all in here need to go to agriculture class?
SPEAKER_02: If we have a famine here, we are about to go hungry because ain't y'all the head knots, some of y'all like this?
SPEAKER_02: We're not sure, Pastor.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
SPEAKER_02: I didn't even know you plant food.
SPEAKER_02: I I just thought it just I thought it grows at the grocery store.
SPEAKER_02: I I don't even really they have a there's a cucumber tree.
SPEAKER_02: Oh you gotta watch where you're planted because if your soil is corrupt, it's gonna kill everything.
SPEAKER_02: Some of you are wondering why you're not growing, why you're not blooming, why you're not nurturing, is that you have to check the soil.
SPEAKER_02: Ain't nothing wrong with your seed, meaning it's nothing wrong with you sometimes.
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes it's where you are.
SPEAKER_02: The conditions are not good for you to grow.
SPEAKER_02: So you're dying, you're there over and over.
SPEAKER_02: Anyone ever tried the same thing over and over in the same place and position and always fails?
SPEAKER_02: You know why?
SPEAKER_02: It's because there are people and environments and conditions that are not contributive for you growing.
SPEAKER_02: And sometimes you have to do the hard work of being able to move things.
SPEAKER_02: Secondly, we have to be able not only to watch, we have to separate, but we have to make sure we don't settle where it's easy.
SPEAKER_02: Well, your neighbor says, Don't settle where it's easy.
SPEAKER_02: Don't settle where it's easy.
SPEAKER_02: Because sometimes the best place for you to plant is the ones that are filled with rocks, filled with obstacles, hard to get to, not easy to cultivate, but it has the biggest reward.
SPEAKER_02: You might be like, Oh, I could plant on the side of the road, I don't have to do nothing.
SPEAKER_02: And guess what happens?
SPEAKER_02: Your plant is gonna be hit with debris and all types of things because it's in the wrong place.
SPEAKER_02: Don't settle where it's easy.
SPEAKER_02: Some of you in your life are saying, Well, I'm gonna just do this for the rest of my life because it's easy.
SPEAKER_02: Easy will get you just being lackadaisical in your life.
SPEAKER_02: Nothing good will come to you that easy.
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes you have to put in work.
SPEAKER_02: Now, anybody knows if you've ever been doing something meaningful.
SPEAKER_02: I told this story about my son and I planting our green.
SPEAKER_02: Island Ficus, the same ficus that I bought from the store.
SPEAKER_02: And I took a little piece.
SPEAKER_02: I was catching a piece from town.
SPEAKER_02: I'm happy I did that experiment before they put the cameras on the street.
SPEAKER_02: Imagine breaking news comes on, and Dr.
SPEAKER_02: Mike is caught on camera snipping a piece of Green Island ficus from outside of Clovers.
SPEAKER_02: Oh my God.
SPEAKER_02: And somebody comes into prison.
SPEAKER_02: Dr.
SPEAKER_02: Mike, why are you here for?
SPEAKER_02: Well, what was happening?
SPEAKER_02: I was I was concerned about showing the people at church.
SPEAKER_02: So I just thought it was public knowledge to just snip.
SPEAKER_02: So you can't plant where it's easy.
SPEAKER_02: Because the easy places sometimes don't give you the nourishment that you need.
SPEAKER_02: Now we're getting there.
SPEAKER_02: Don't worry.
SPEAKER_02: Just stay with it.
SPEAKER_02: We gotta go through this before we get to the fun part.
SPEAKER_02: So now we have our seeds.
SPEAKER_02: Our care people, our time people, our chive people, all of you are here.
SPEAKER_02: And now you are not, you're separating yourself, you're going and finding good soil, and now you have everything set up.
SPEAKER_02: It's your life.
SPEAKER_02: God said, I designed you in a perfect way.
SPEAKER_02: And this is what happens.
SPEAKER_02: This is our life.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, God, we separated.
SPEAKER_02: We found good soil.
SPEAKER_02: We didn't settle where it was easy.
SPEAKER_02: And what do you do next?
SPEAKER_02: Some of us, unfortunately, don't do what's important for that to bloom.
SPEAKER_02: Well, we're saying, God, you gave me a gift.
SPEAKER_02: I'm nurturing it.
SPEAKER_02: And now you just leave it.
SPEAKER_02: I will tell you your gift and your purpose, and you won't bloom if you don't pay attention to what God's given gift in your life.
SPEAKER_02: It's gonna die.
SPEAKER_02: No matter what, no matter how much carrots you promise or think it's gonna die.
SPEAKER_02: So a lot of us are wondering why you look like this.
SPEAKER_02: Now I have a confession.
SPEAKER_02: And I hope the person is not watching or listening.
SPEAKER_02: Well, I hope you are because you'll need this word, amen.
SPEAKER_02: This is a pear tree.
SPEAKER_02: This is an avocado pear tree.
SPEAKER_02: It was gifted to me seven weeks ago.
SPEAKER_02: This person took their time and planted this seed and separated it from everything else.
SPEAKER_02: They found good soil and grow it from the seed to where it is.
SPEAKER_02: They brought it to me, and you can see it was full of leaves.
SPEAKER_02: The first time I got it, the first two days I got it, I was so excited.
SPEAKER_02: I went out and I watered it, I talked to it for a bit, and I was like, You're gonna be great.
SPEAKER_02: I can't wait to have you and some salad.
SPEAKER_02: And then life started happening.
SPEAKER_02: I will walk by the plant and be like, I'm gonna come right back to you.
SPEAKER_02: Then I'll go on, turn on Netflix.
SPEAKER_02: Next day I'm rushing out the house when I get back.
SPEAKER_02: First day, second day, one week, third week, and then I was about to take a trip.
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, This is gonna be amazing.
SPEAKER_02: And my trusty brother who lives next to me.
SPEAKER_02: I told him to make sure you take care of my dog.
SPEAKER_02: We have a German shepherd, and every day faithfully, he will make sure that dog is fed and given water.
SPEAKER_02: I forgot to tell him about the plant.
SPEAKER_02: And I looked on the camera and I saw the plan.
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, Lord, make it rain.
SPEAKER_02: It didn't come.
SPEAKER_02: I came back, saw the plan.
SPEAKER_02: I was like, you're not doing good.
SPEAKER_02: It had two leaves left.
SPEAKER_02: Right at the top.
SPEAKER_02: Do you see where it's green?
SPEAKER_02: That's where it's trying to grow.
SPEAKER_02: It had two leaves left.
SPEAKER_02: Then it had a windstorm over yesterday, the day before, Friday night.
SPEAKER_02: Saturday morning, I woke up.
SPEAKER_02: No leaves.
SPEAKER_02: And now I've allowed and potentially allowed the seed, the separation, the purpose, the gift to die because I didn't do this last thing.
SPEAKER_02: I didn't give it these last three things.
SPEAKER_02: And I want you to remember it as fat.
SPEAKER_02: Look at your neighbor, you say fat.
SPEAKER_02: The neighbor, I didn't look at it, I looked at it.
SPEAKER_02: It's fat.
SPEAKER_02: The first thing is I didn't give it no food.
SPEAKER_02: I didn't, I didn't, I wasn't there walking around, watering the plant.
SPEAKER_02: No, every day I walk by, be like, hey plant, I'll catch you tomorrow.
SPEAKER_02: Hey plant, I see you.
SPEAKER_02: You you're looking good.
SPEAKER_02: All right.
SPEAKER_02: And sadly enough, I had the plant food right inside.
SPEAKER_02: I had access to food, but I didn't pay attention.
SPEAKER_02: I had the food.
SPEAKER_02: I had I pay no attention.
SPEAKER_02: So these orchid spikes that last for two months when you put it in the soil is all here with the label and the price right on it.
SPEAKER_02: Some of you are down there judging me, and you're listening to this, you're judging me right now.
SPEAKER_02: You're like, Dr.
SPEAKER_02: Mike, you should know better.
SPEAKER_02: You imagine what that person feels like who gave you this plant and expected it to bloom?
SPEAKER_02: Imagine how that they took the time to separate these seeds and put it on good soil.
SPEAKER_02: And there you go now, you spent all the time you got, all the resources you have, that you're gonna allow really, you're gonna take the time to tell your brother to look up for the plant.
SPEAKER_02: You couldn't every day, Monday through Friday, for me for three whole weeks, you didn't water this plant and allowed it to die.
SPEAKER_02: Dr.
SPEAKER_02: Mike, you're gonna tell me you don't have food, attention, and you don't even have a little bit of time to even give this plant that you know that if you nurture it, if you give it food, attention, and time, it's gonna grow into something great.
SPEAKER_02: You boy, I ain't giving you no more plants.
SPEAKER_02: That's how you feel about me with this plant.
SPEAKER_02: I see it on your face.
SPEAKER_02: It's okay.
SPEAKER_02: Imagine how God feels about you.
SPEAKER_02: I separated you from your womb, I gave you a purpose, I gave you things to do, and you're here walking around, allowing your gift to die.
SPEAKER_02: You're not feeding it spiritually, you're not praying, you're not reading your Bible, you're not fasting.
SPEAKER_02: So, guess what is gonna happen?
SPEAKER_02: It's gonna die.
SPEAKER_02: You're not even giving your gift attention.
SPEAKER_02: You don't even pay attention to your God-given gifts.
SPEAKER_02: You're just saying, I'll get back to it tomorrow, I'll get back to it next week.
SPEAKER_02: Every day you pass by the church, every day you come to Sunday and you say, God, I'll give my life one day, I'll trust you one day, I'll do this something one day, and then you then you know what?
SPEAKER_02: Life gets so busy, you stop paying attention to God and church and all the purpose that you're really given, and then time just goes on, and guess what?
SPEAKER_02: Your purpose looks like this, and guess what happens?
SPEAKER_02: You start becoming like the chive people who are looking at the asparagus people and the carrot people and the time people, all now blooming, and then you start hating on other people because they have gifts and purpose, and their life seems to be going well.
SPEAKER_02: When you had the same opportunity, the same access, the same God, and you could have had the same food, attention, and time.
SPEAKER_02: And so this is what goes through life.
SPEAKER_02: Y'all know those people.
SPEAKER_02: Y'all know y'all haven't met those people?
SPEAKER_02: Imagine this plant was from outside the church.
SPEAKER_02: Sister Ernestine and her husband Prince take care of all the plants here at church.
SPEAKER_02: Sister Ernestine and her husband, brother Prince, every Saturday unless they're traveling, are here.
SPEAKER_02: They are here, giving food, attention, and time and consistency.
SPEAKER_02: And this is the end product of someone every day, every Saturday, consistently nurturing this plant.
SPEAKER_02: This is the example of someone not nurturing their plant.
SPEAKER_02: This is you barren.
SPEAKER_02: Now, if I would ask this, okay.
SPEAKER_02: I know this is Sister Ernestine's plan, this is my plan.
SPEAKER_02: Which one do you want?
SPEAKER_02: Which one?
SPEAKER_02: A or B?
SPEAKER_02: Everyone wants B.
SPEAKER_02: Yes?
SPEAKER_02: You agree?
SPEAKER_02: Nobody wants A.
SPEAKER_02: Right?
SPEAKER_02: Now, here's the thing.
SPEAKER_02: Can I have a confession?
SPEAKER_02: I want B too.
SPEAKER_02: I want this.
SPEAKER_02: God wants this for you too.
SPEAKER_02: But you can't have this with the discipline of this.
SPEAKER_02: If you're gonna be, if you want to have this in your life blooming, you need to have this level of discipline, food, attention, and time.
SPEAKER_02: You can't expect this level result putting in this level work.
SPEAKER_02: And some of you are out here hating on people and you don't know that that person has been working on something for 10, 15 years.
SPEAKER_02: All you see is the end product and you don't know the process.
SPEAKER_02: The people out here literally hating on people because they're blooming.
SPEAKER_02: I want to tell you if God is blessing you in your life and God is out there doing amazing things in your life, I don't want you to be ashamed of your bloom.
SPEAKER_02: I don't want you to be ashamed of the things that are going on in your life.
SPEAKER_02: I want you to be able to know that you can too can bloom.
SPEAKER_02: I just need you to get connected with the gardener.
SPEAKER_02: Now let me talk about your life.
SPEAKER_02: A lot of us are going around in life trying to say, how do we go through life?
SPEAKER_02: How do we get to this?
SPEAKER_02: It's gonna take some time and attention.
SPEAKER_02: You know what happens?
SPEAKER_02: I'm trying not to, I'm trying not to to preach too much.
SPEAKER_02: So, brother Kim, you're gonna have to ease up on the keyboard.
SPEAKER_02: All right, I'm trying to teach.
SPEAKER_02: My God.
SPEAKER_02: Here's what happens with also in time.
SPEAKER_02: Go back to where we started.
SPEAKER_02: These seeds, they come with specific instructions.
SPEAKER_02: It says it's great for grilling, freezing, and it's worth the wait.
SPEAKER_02: It's asparagus seed.
SPEAKER_02: However, they're perennial, meaning they could bear all year, but they need full sun.
SPEAKER_02: Now, here's the part where most people don't plant asparagus.
SPEAKER_02: The cycle from seed to fruition in natural circumstances, it says 24 months.
SPEAKER_02: You're gonna have to wait two years before you eat this.
SPEAKER_02: Boy, a lot of us, that first year, we're gonna be like, I'm gonna have myself some asparagus.
SPEAKER_02: Hey, you know what I have at home?
SPEAKER_02: Asparagus.
SPEAKER_02: It's gonna be good.
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna invite you to barbecue.
SPEAKER_02: Then 13 months, you start to feel a little bit funny because the time people says ours is also perennial, and we could thrive in the sun or the clouds, but guess what?
SPEAKER_02: It only takes three months from seed to use, and now you're wondering, God, why can't you have me more like time?
SPEAKER_02: It's because I made you different, and other people may get to where they need to get to in three months or a year or shorter.
SPEAKER_02: But I say, no matter what, I am the one that planted you, don't give up.
SPEAKER_02: Now, what I'm trying to tell you is that no matter what's going on in your life, even if it takes three months, six months, ten months, or twenty-four months, God still has his hand on you.
SPEAKER_02: But just don't give up, don't give in, don't quit.
SPEAKER_02: And lastly.
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes over the two years, you gotta check that plan, that purpose, and cut some things off.
SPEAKER_02: Don't be afraid to bring the big scissors, they'd be like, What you bringing this here for?
SPEAKER_02: I got some cutting to do, and there's some intricate parts of your life that you can't go with this.
SPEAKER_02: God is saying, Let me put my hands on you so you move back clearly.
SPEAKER_02: See, this is a palm tree, this is a weed.
SPEAKER_02: A lot of you have weeds in your pots, and God is trying to tell you, I know that you worry about the weeds, they don't belong in here.
SPEAKER_02: All they're doing is robbing you from your nutrients when you water it, it's taking what you need, it's not allowing you to grow to your full potential.
SPEAKER_02: You could have been much better if you watched the weeds.
SPEAKER_02: So he's asking you, can you allow me to allow me to enter your life so I could put my hands on you and I could start to go through and make sure everything is good, and I take out the addictions, and I take out the anger, and I take out the unforgiveness, and I take out the greed, and I take out all that stuff, and guess what?
SPEAKER_02: Oh, I found this little thing in your past.
SPEAKER_02: I know it seems small right now, but if I allow this to stay here, it's gonna cause some problems.
SPEAKER_02: It's gonna hurt, but guess what?
SPEAKER_02: It's necessary.
SPEAKER_02: Some of you right now are going through a hurting period, but it's God pruning you for the next level.
SPEAKER_02: You can't grow beyond where you need to, and just so God says, Let me trust me.
SPEAKER_02: I planted you, I designed you, and we pull this little weed out.
SPEAKER_02: Want to be great that we catch things early before they put a strong hole in your life, and then you have to lose too many parts of your purpose trying to get rid of the weeds.
SPEAKER_02: You want to be bloomed, you want to plant, you want to go bigger.
SPEAKER_02: Put yourself in the hand of God.
SPEAKER_02: Simply, God designs you with a specific purpose, but you're gonna have to separate from the things and the people that you thought.
SPEAKER_02: It's not gonna be easy, but when you have your purpose, it's gonna need food, attention, and time.
SPEAKER_02: But then after that, you're gonna have to keep pruning it.
SPEAKER_02: God is not done with you yet.
SPEAKER_02: So, just as we stand and stand here today, you all stand no matter where you are, no matter what you're going through, you can bloom, you can do great things, you can actually go from this to this.
SPEAKER_02: Here's my last point, it is dropped in my spirit, and I'm gonna be obedient to God.
SPEAKER_02: I had two of these, same condition.
SPEAKER_02: Someone was at my house, and they are a big plant fanatic.
SPEAKER_02: And it says, Dr.
SPEAKER_02: Mike, these plants are dying.
SPEAKER_02: But if you give one to me, I'm gonna bring it back.
SPEAKER_02: I didn't have that level of faith.
SPEAKER_02: I said, I'm throwing this thing away, and she says, Don't throw it away, I want it.
SPEAKER_02: She went home, changed the pot, dusted off the old soil.
SPEAKER_02: She has leaves, minds have dropped off.
SPEAKER_02: I want to let you know that's how God looks at us.
SPEAKER_02: Even when you look like this, God sees you blooming.
SPEAKER_02: So no matter where you are, you may feel like this right now, and God says, Don't worry about where you are right now, I see your potential.
SPEAKER_02: So here's the act of faith.
SPEAKER_02: If you've never trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and personal Savior, and you're feeling like your life and your purpose is more like this.
SPEAKER_02: God is saying, give me that life.
SPEAKER_02: I restore.
SPEAKER_02: I renew.
SPEAKER_02: I refresh.
SPEAKER_02: Now here becomes the part with your faith.
SPEAKER_02: Are you faithful enough to say, God, I'm too tired of trying to do this on my own.
SPEAKER_02: Revive it.
SPEAKER_02: For those of you who've never trusted God as your Lord and personal Savior, never said, God, I want to put my hands back in your life, today we pause for an opportunity to give your life to Christ.
SPEAKER_02: As we get ready to pray, I want you to say, God, I want to move from just being here to being full.
SPEAKER_02: But you've been trying to do it on your own.
SPEAKER_02: So if you're here and you want to give your life to Christ, no matter where you are, I want you to shoot your hand up into the air and we'll come pray for you.
SPEAKER_02: As we're praying all over sanctuary, as we're praying all over sanctuary, I want us to be in a moment of knowing that God can do things exceeding above all we ever asked, hope, or think.
SPEAKER_02: And for those of you who are here, who are feeling like your life doesn't have a purpose, I want to tell you your life absolutely has a purpose.
SPEAKER_02: Your life absolutely means something.
SPEAKER_02: And that God can do exceeding above all you can ever ask, hope, or think.
SPEAKER_02: I just need you to believe.
SPEAKER_02: So if you're here and you just want prayer to God to realign you to your purpose, to give you strength to continue, that you have some great challenges that are about to happen.
SPEAKER_02: If you need prayer, no matter where you are, you raise your hands, a sign of faith, and we're gonna pray for you wherever you are.
SPEAKER_02: You raise your hand, we see those hands raised over the sanctuary.
SPEAKER_02: We see those hands, no matter what, I know that I see those hands.
SPEAKER_02: No matter, if you no matter who you are, you're saying, God, I want to be more walking in your purpose.
SPEAKER_02: For the hands that are raised, Lord, we thank you.
SPEAKER_02: For the hands that raised all the sanctuary, the hands are a symbol of your faith.
SPEAKER_02: Eyes have not seen and ears not heard the glory that will come from them following their purpose.
SPEAKER_02: So, God, now I ask you where they feel doubt, where they feel worry, that you remove it.
SPEAKER_02: I pray, God, that you renew with them a clean mind and heart and renew a right spirit within them.
SPEAKER_02: God, I pray, Lord, now for anything that they're worrying about, that you cast their cares upon you.
SPEAKER_02: I pray, Lord, that you'll forgive them.
SPEAKER_02: But God, I now I want you to give them refreshing to be able the courage to go forward and do amazing things, knowing that they can depend on you.
SPEAKER_02: For the person that was on the verge of giving up, I pray, Lord, that you'll renew their hope.
SPEAKER_02: For the person that was about to give up on their dreams and themselves, I pray, God, that you'll give them courage to fight another day.
SPEAKER_02: God, we all have the potential to bloom, and we pray, Lord, that you'll embark your spirit upon us.
SPEAKER_02: In the name of the Father, in the name of the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: All those who believe say amen.
SPEAKER_02: All those believe say amen.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for worshiping with us today.
SPEAKER_00: If you'd like to go deeper in your walk with Christ, we invite you to contact us at 284-442-4222.
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