The Rock Family Sermon of the Week
The Rock Family Worship Center is a multi-cultural non denominational church led by Pastors Scott & Britt Silcox.
The Rock Family Sermon of the Week
Special Guest Reward Sibanda
Reward Sibanda delivers a powerful revelation about our identity as kingdom people rather than just church attendees, reminding us that nothing shall be impossible for those who understand their divine authority.
• Believers are citizens of God's kingdom before they are members of the church
• Righteousness and justice form the foundation of God's throne
• Unbelief, not demons, is what requires prayer and fasting to overcome
• The gospel offers not just a new future but a new past
• Kingdom authority gives us power to bring heaven's government to earth
• Faith is the substance heaven uses to craft our desires
• Understanding our divine identity empowers us to live beyond impossibility
• Racial reconciliation requires a kingdom perspective that transcends trauma
• Creation is waiting for the manifestation of sons who know their authority
If you're not living in the power of the Holy Spirit and stepping into situations with kingdom authority, you're living below your potential. Your identity in Christ gives you access to the impossible.
Welcome to the Rock Family Sermon of the Week. For more information about our church, please visit therockfamilytv Now. Join us for a message from our special guest speaker.
Speaker 2:Rock Family. What's going on? How are you guys doing this morning? Man, listen, first of all, y'all are wild. Come on somebody. What's going on? How you guys doing this morning? Man, listen, first of all, y'all are wild. Come on somebody.
Speaker 2:You know when you're invited somewhere, you know what I'm saying. You know, if you were raised with common sense, you know to act right when you get over there, come on somebody. But when you're sandwiched between two fire hoses you know what I'm talking about it's hard to behave when the Spirit of God shows up in the room. Come on somebody. So I just want you all to know that when I came here, my intention was to behave. But if I don't, though, you know what I'm talking about. Me and you know Pastor Scott are, like you know what I'm saying bosom buddies, so you can blame him for what happened.
Speaker 2:But it is such an honor for me to be here. I genuinely believe that honor is both the culture and the currency of the kingdom, so I want to begin by just honoring this house. It is an honor to be here. Every single interaction that I have had with somebody from the rock has been an extension of God's grace and hospitality. Come on somebody, from just Patresa to the conversations pulling up rolling in, I felt like this is family. Come on. And I truly, truly am thankful just for the excellence that is in this house Now. Excellence is a byproduct of the right culture. Come on right. And the two things you will never see coexist is the orphan spirit and excellence. Come on, somebody. So whenever you see excellence, it is because that house has been fathered well. Come on.
Speaker 2:And when I stepped in here, one of the first things that I sensed in my spirit and I mentioned it as well to Pastor Lisa was the fact that there's a deep well here. And there's a deep well here because Pastor Rusty and Pastor Lisa gave their lives to dig a foundation to where people can come and fully express themselves in servitude, and people like me can come under that and feel welcomed because this house has been fathered well. So, pastor Rusty and Pastor Lisa, thank you so much for the incredible foundation that we get to stand on and we get to minister. Come on, somebody. Can we just honor them for their incredible contribution and the legacy that they have? And see the Bible. God is a God of principle, y'all, and the Bible says that if you're faithful with little, he makes you ruler over much. Come on, so, because they were faithful with little, the Lord would then give them right, men and a woman like Pastor Scott and Pastor Britt, to say, hey, stand on this foundation and be ruler over much in this generation. And there are not pastors or voices more suited to this generation than them they love. Well, in that room he says he may have been the oldest but he was the most pastoring and loving. You know what I'm saying. Other pastors came up there to take off their hats. They were taking all those hats and putting them on themselves and just loving a generation that feels orphaned.
Speaker 2:So I'm telling you this, let me tell you all this, right, let me tell you this, even if you're in the campuses. I'm not even tapping into the prophetic and it's the last thing I'll say. Right, and it is as true as truth could be. It could almost be canon. If you go to the Rock, if you're a member of the Rock family, you are in the best church within a two mile radius of this place. Come on, beyond that I would be lying.
Speaker 2:But all I wanted to say is, if you guys don't mind, could you just stand up and help me honor your pastors, pastor Scott and Pastor Britt. Thank you for storing this house. I love you. We're going to be riding for life. Come on, keep going until they blush.
Speaker 2:Y'all Come on now. I'm kidding man. Thank y'all so much for that. Please stay standing if you don't mind. You guys are standing the whole service. No, I'm kidding, but thank you.
Speaker 2:I truly believe the gift of the kingdom is never what we get to do, but it's who we get to do it with, because that's what we take into eternity. So thank you for inviting me to do life with y'all Now. The reason I wanted you guys to stay standing is because we're going to do something. The most honorable thing that we have is the word of God. Come on, and I'm in the South y'all. One thing about the South that I love is y'all got sweet tea, y'all got barbecue, y'all got the catering in heaven is going to come from the south. Come on somebody. But what I love the most is that there are restaurants here that serve things family style. I was like, ooh, that is the kingdom.
Speaker 2:So here's how I'd love just to read this scripture. I want us to read it together, like we believe it, like we will be doing it for eternity. And then I'm going to say a quick prayer and then we're going to jump into the conversation. Is that cool, all right? Matthew 17, verse 19 to 21. At the count of three, I want us to read it all together, ready One, two, three.
Speaker 2:Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said why could we not cast it out? Come on louder. So Jesus said to them because of your unbelief, for I surely I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, come on louder, madison. You will say to this mountain, mustard seed, come on louder, madison. You will say to this mountain, move from here to there and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you. Come on, fayetteville. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.
Speaker 2:Listen, I want to hinge this conversation in a simple statement. Nothing shall be impossible for you. And when I look at my Bible, it's in red. You know what that means. That means it's no cap. Come on somebody. That means the voice that spoke the world into existence, said it and that settles it. Come on somebody. If anything is impossible with you, it is not a problem with the supply, it's not a problem with the demand is not a problem with the supply, it's not a problem with the demand, it's a problem with the conduit.
Speaker 2:And the hope is that today, this conversation recalibrates us into understanding who we are and fully stepping into the legacy that was given to us, which is a life of the impossible. That is your birthright and for that I want you guys to join me in thanking the Lord right now. Father, we just come before and we bless you and we thank you. We thank you for the finished work of Jesus that enables us to live lives of the impossible and that through our lives and our existences you can stretch out the scepter of your kingdom. So we say Holy Spirit, we pray the same prayer that split time into and changed everything. And so we say come, holy Spirit. If you don't mind, could you put your hand over your heart and I want you to say this Say come, holy Spirit, come Holy Spirit. Can you say it again? Can you say it and make it personal? Just say come, holy Spirit. We thank you, holy Spirit, because when you come, everything you touch lives. And so we say come, holy Spirit, because if you don't come, then nothing else matters, but if you come, then nothing else matters. But if you come, then nothing else matters. So come, not ideas, not concepts, not words, not points, but the counsel of heaven, finding perfect expression through this lips of clay, meeting hearts positioned to receive your word and mix it with faith so it would bring great profiting and lives lived in power for your kingdom and for your glory. We say thank you for what you did at Pentecost, but we even thank you so much more for what you're about to do today in Jesus' mighty name. Amen, god bless you guys. High five the person next to you and say let's roll and you may be seated. So my name is Reward Sabanda. Everybody say Sabanda.
Speaker 2:Now, pastor Scott had talked about how your boy was originated in the upper room. That is based in Dallas, texas, but you can probably tell from the accent and the name that that is not a Texas last name. That is because your boy is originally from Zimbabwe, in Africa. Come on somebody. And one thing I want to tell you about when Africans communicate, the first thing is that I'm a hollaback preacher. Come on somebody.
Speaker 2:Right, the plan is to bring a specific teaching, but it is going to come across as preaching, because the truth just has this effect on people. When it comes through, when it mixes with you, there's a resonance and somebody says did not our hearts burn within us? So there might be a level of excitement. But I don't want you to get it wrong though. This is not a preaching, it's a teaching. And what is the fundamental difference? See, whenever we communicate the word of God, right, the end game or the outcome is always transformation. Everybody say transformation.
Speaker 2:Now, when you preach, right, the thing or the modality is transformation through inspiration. So I speak to your spirit and I inspire something in you and kind of like watching Braveheart or something, you're like, ah, I'm awake and I can take on the world, and you kind of run. That's what preaching does. It awakens. It's a hurling, right the caruso, the carucma, it's a hurling of good news, and it encounters, encounters your heart, and it makes you come alive. That's what preaching does. Now, teaching is different, because teaching, the end goal is still transformation, but teaching is transformation through information. That means I give you concepts and I gave you things that, even beyond the music and the gathering of the brethren, if you apply those principles, they still work.
Speaker 2:Now, why is it important for me to waste this limited resource, which is the time that we have together to build this foundation. It's very simple when you listen to a preacher, you listen with your spirit, but when you listen to your teacher, you engage your soul. What is a soul? Their mind, your will, your emotions and all of those particular things. So if you show up and you're waiting for a preacher, you will keep listening with your spirit and you'll miss and you'll be like when's the guy going to get started, right? So I want you guys to know that I am here.
Speaker 2:Initially, when we had a conversation with Pastor Scott and we're like, hey, I'd love for you to come and just really serve our community, we were like, all right, let's come up with a plan. And we came up with a plan and an outline and a sermon. How many of you guys know that the Holy Spirit at the moment was going ha ha, ha, ha. Right, because when I sat down with my friends Daniel and Sheree, they just told me that the Holy Spirit was here last week. I was like, well, there goes that right. And so I went back and I just spent time in prayer after lunch and I was going okay, what do you want to do? And I felt like it gave me a simple assignment.
Speaker 2:It's simple, but it is not easy. It's simple because he said, I want you to go and remind my people of who they are, but it is not easy because there is a kingdom that is invested eons and generations in order to create circumstances around you that subvert the truth of who you are, using facts. What do I mean by that? It's very simple, see, it is a fact that cancer kills, but the truth is that Jesus heals. So whenever the truth encounters the facts, the facts have to bow to the truth. So what the enemy will do is around your life and around your circumstances. He will craft a false or pseudo narrative of facts to try and subvert you from the truth. And what it is.
Speaker 2:What revival is is always an encounter, a recalibrative encounter with the spirit of truth, because when the spirit of truth speaks to you, all of a sudden, anything which is not truth falls to the side and it awakens who you are, and an awakened identity can then stretch out its hands and be the scepter of God's kingdom in a space. Because here's the thing our legacy is the impossible but the fake. You cannot live a life of the impossible simply because God does not anoint that which he did not create and call good, and the only thing that he created and called good is the true you. And as long as your life is bowed down and submitted to the facts around you and letting those facts determine or decide who you are, you will always live less than your calling. But that's why, when he sent us the holy spirit, the manifestation of that holy spirit, it could have been the spirit of power, could have been all of these things, but he said, I will send to you the spirit of truth and when he comes he will convict. What is a conviction is when he speaks to the core of who you are and he says some things and based on those things which I said, you are awakened and the behavior becomes automatic Because we do that which we truly and fundamentally are.
Speaker 2:See, one of my favorite quotes is by a man called Carter G Woodson. Now they say he was a civil rights activist. But what I believe civil rights activism is, when spoken with the right spirit, is just simply the spirit of prophecy speaking the truth to power and bringing the government of God over any other empire or spirit or philosophy or system that exalts itself above the knowledge of God. And so when people speak with a voice of truth, what happens is, whether they're tongue-talking or not, the power of that truth has the power to pull down empires and strongholds, and because of that, people can live under an umbrella of freedom. Come on, that is why, when I was like I've got those three points over here and I've got my chart over here and I'm going to draw circles and squares over here, he's like no, I want you to go and remind my people who they are and then let my spirit lead them into what they are supposed to do. So here's what Carter G Woodson says.
Speaker 2:He says if you can control a man's thinking, you do not have to worry about his action. When you determine what a man shall think, you do not have to concern yourself about what he will do. Come on, if you can make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself. Tell him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself. If you make a man think that he is justly an outcast, justly underline that. What does that mean? If you can create systems under pseudo-justice that makes people think it is just for them to feel that way, or it is just for them to be sick, or it is just for them to be depressed, or because they were abused, then it is just for them to be depressed, or because they were abused, then it is just for them to do all those things. If you can make them feel they are justly an outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door. He will go without being told, and if there is no back door, his very nature will demand one.
Speaker 2:So the enemy's greatest strategy over your life, over nations, over situations and circumstances, over marriages and families, is to create a system of pseudo-justice which makes you believe that whatever consequence is yours. That's why he'll have you calling sickness your sickness, or trauma your trauma, or lack your lack, or whatever it is. Because the moment you take ownership, the spirit of truth that is on the inside of you then begins to speak. Because listen, here's the thing God saw darkness and he spoke with the same voice and the same spirit into what it was and it incubated that and it birthed the reality. In the same way, what the enemy will do in your life is he will literally set up all these facts and the moment you speak, in agreement with what, that particular thing, the creative power that is on the inside of you, will birth that thing, and then the rest of the time he is just holding that thing up as the ultimate truth. That's why the power of the gospel, the first thing that it does is it tears down strongholds and arguments. What are all of those? Those are things that keep you bound, because when our mind is free and our hearts are free, then we can step fully into the calling of what God called us to do. But the opposite is also true. Even though we have been freed and we have perfect freedom in the life that is ours through Jesus, and we have perfect freedom in the life that is ours through Jesus, if our mind is still bound, our actions will follow suit, and the enemy doesn't have to make us heathens or make us backslide. He just has to keep us powerless, because the hope of the world is us.
Speaker 2:The strategy of God is always his spirit and his purpose in people. When Israel we had a problem, when Israel needed a defender and a deliverer, what he did is he took the answer, wrapped it in skin and called it Moses, and he sent them to a people. And, in the same way, the reason you exist is because there's a context that needs an answer. And he took the answer, wrapped it in skin and he sent it and called it Daniel or Scott or Patresa or whatever it is. Because, wherever you're supposed to be, you're supposed to just let the light of God shine and find perfect expression through you. The call to the impossible is secure cure. Our walking it out is dependent on whether we truly believe that the same God who said let there be and there was, the same God who said your sins are forgiven and they were, also has something to say about your marriage, about your children, about your job, about your city. Come on, somebody, and you are the expression of God's voice and the expression of God's government in and over that situation. And so the first thing that I want to say is to disenfranchise you of the notion.
Speaker 2:See, naming is powerful, right? I have a friend of mine who always has this joke over and over. It's gotten old but it's profound, that's probably why he keeps saying it. But he says naming is so important that if you name an alligator or a poodle, you lose your arm. He says it over and over so if you name something, exactly the first time I heard out of that, look, I was like huh, but that's what you call Texas wisdom, y'all. And what he was saying is, if you misname something, you will live under those particular consequences. And I want to speak to something which isn't as dangerous or detrimental, but it has been the vehicle that has kept us, as God's people in powerlessness. And it is simply this powerlessness and it is simply this right Before. It's the simple fact that, even though we are the church, we have called ourselves the church, and here's what I mean by that.
Speaker 2:The word church is the word ecclesia, right, and the word ecclesia, this definition from Strong's Exhaustive Concordance is this it's a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place, an assembly in a Christian sense. It's an assembly of Christians gathered for worship in a religious meeting. What do I mean by this? Yes, we are the church, yes, we gather as the church, but that is more of our sort order than it is our particular purpose. So the word ekklesia literally meant a gathering of citizens, in the same way that when you see a group of lions moving together, it's called a pride. Come on somebody. If you see a group of ladies rolling together, that's called a bevy. Right, there's specific thing. There's. A group of this type of animal is called a school or whatever it is. So whenever you hear the word ecclesia that was used for the church, it was the word that was meant a gathering of citizens.
Speaker 2:Now, it wasn't until later that they were called Christians. Why? Because they were exhibiting behaviors that made them act like little children. Come on sonship, the children of a specific king, of a specific savior, of a specific messiah who was doing things, and they were like man. They are so idiosyncratic to his actions that we will call them Christians or little Christians. But the truth of the matter is, when Jesus came, he never came propagating a religion. He never came propagating a denomination. He never came propagating a church, because the church is just a gathering. When he came, he came proclaiming the kingdom of God, and so, before we are the church or a church, what we are is we are kingdom people.
Speaker 2:So the crux of my conversation is simply this what is the kingdom? The kingdom are people submitted under a king, and in order for us to know what those kingdom people do, we have to become familiar with the traits, the values and the virtues of the king. The traits, the values and the virtues of the king, because under a kingship, what happens is the sensitivities and the proclivities of that particular king become the cultures and the laws of that kingdom. That is why it is so important for us to stay in the word, because through the word, we begin to understand the values and the proclivities and the perspectives of this king and therefore, when we see those things, we're transformed by the culture and we begin to act a certain way to where, when we step into a situation, we're like this is what my king would say, this is what this king would do, this is how we would handle these things and, apart from that, you do not have a say, you do not have a perspective. Because I come from what was once a territory Zimbabwe under the British kingdom and under British rule, and if you ever say anything which was inconsistent with the values and the wishes and the desires of the crown, that was what you call treason, what you call treason. So, in the same way, I simply come to tell you and to remind you that, before we are anything else, we're denizens and citizens of this kingdom.
Speaker 2:Here's what first Peter 2.9 says. Let me just drop a few scriptures for that. He says but you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood. There it is your royalty, royalty. Turn to your neighbor and say I'm royalty, a holy nation, his own special people. That you may proclaim the praise of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Look 22 and 29 to 30.
Speaker 2:Here's what it says. And this is once again no cap. And I bestow unto you a kingdom and what a kingdom Just as my father bestowed one upon me. That you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. See, we see this consistent right. God creates us for relationship for himself. We know the journey that happens. And then the children of Israel. He redeems them unto himself as a prototype of a people that will live under him. And this is why he did that.
Speaker 2:In the book of Exodus, 19, verse 3 to 6, this is what he says and Moses went up to God and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel you have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles wings and brought you to myself. Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to me. Above all people for all the earth is mine and you shall be to me a what A kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which shall speak to the children of Israel. Now, this, right here, presents a very interesting dynamic, because he does not take you away from people, but he says among people, I will set you apart and higher than people, as kingdom people. So you can exist in a culture, you can exist in a context, you can exist in a nation, but the very nature of who you are is like an ambassador, like the Zimbabwean ambassador living in Washington DC. You are people that belong to another kingdom. Come on somebody.
Speaker 2:But then it doesn't just stop there in Revelation 1, verse 9, so it bookends our entire existence to show that this is truly God's purpose for us. And this is is what it says. It says Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler over the kings of the earth, come on, kings, to him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and has made us what Kings and priests to his God and father. To him be glory and dominion forever and ever, amen. So he calls them out of bondage and out of Egypt to be kings and priests. And in the book of Revelation he is praised and worshipped because he redeemed us from sin and slavery and bondage unto himself so we could be kings and priests.
Speaker 2:And here's the thing. What is the dynamic that particular? Why kings and priests? It's very simple Because priests stand before God and they represent people to God, and then they step out in the capacity of their kingship and they extend the scepter of God's government over things. What does this look like? Right, the kingdom that you how many of you guys, have no problem believing that in heaven there's no sickness, that nobody's kind of walking around with masks. Come on, somebody saying, man, we got the vid running around here. No, you know what I'm talking about. No, why is that? Because it's the reality of that kingdom. So, in the exact same way, when sickness threatens, the facts of sickness threaten your family, threatens, the facts of sickness threaten your family, you have a right as a king, as a priest, first of all, to stand in the presence of God and receive his will and his whatever for that particular situation, and then step into the authority of your kingship and bring the government of heaven over that particular situation.
Speaker 2:That is all a life of the impossible is. It's when you step into situations and you bring the government of heaven over that. What I mean by that is the jurisdiction. That's all the kingdom is. It is the jurisdiction. It is the constitution, rather, of heaven superimposed on the jurisdiction of earth. So Jesus can step and look at bread and say Now there is no lack. Therefore, I extend the scepter of my kingdom and I bring the government of God over these loaves of fishes and break them and hand them out, and there's a leftover of how many baskets today? Twelve. What is twelve? The number of government? Come on somebody. That's what we do when there is sickness. We step in and we bring the government of heaven.
Speaker 2:What is the government? It's when you pass the decrees which are consistent with the ruling of the prevalent power in that particular situation and you bring everything else into alignment. See, that's why it says for unto us when he's talking about the manifestation of Jesus. It says for unto us a child is born, Come on, that's his humanity, for unto us a son is given. Child is born, come on, that's his humanity, for unto us a son is given. Sonship, right is something, it's divine. You're given a son, right, the child is born, he's human, but the sonship is given For unto us. A child is born and unto us a son is given.
Speaker 2:And what is the first thing that it says? The government shall be on his shoulders and, based on that, he shall be called a wonderful counselor. What does that mean? It means when there's confusion in a specific space, you step in and you bring the clarity of the government of heaven. Come on, the mighty God. What does that mean? It means, with weakness or infirmity, you can command that spirit to go and you can step into that and you bring the government of heaven over that. The government is upon his shoulders and it shall be called all of these things. And then you know what, in the most beautiful twist, come on of destiny. And then he says hey, you know what, it's better that I go, because if I go, what's better than one jesus doing incredible miracles? It's nine billion people filled with the same spirit, without mitigation, going into the deepest, darkest corners of the earth and bringing the kingdom of heaven in and over that situation.
Speaker 2:But you cannot extend a kingdom, you cannot extend kingdom authority, the scepter of his kingdom, if you are not submitted to the kingship of Jesus. And you cannot be submitted to the kingship of Jesus as long as you think you are still the church. You guys understand what I'm saying, right? Because the thing is when, as long as you believe you have the church, then you're just a group of people doing something and you're not different from a, a or whatever is and all these other groups that do incredible work and everything. But the difference is that when it's a group of citizens gathered together, they can enforce the kingdom. And that's why the king was here last week in visible and tangible ways. Why? Because it was a gathering of his citizens. Come on somebody oh man, this is the kingdom.
Speaker 2:So, real quick'm going to jump on two things and I want to talk about, because every kingdom I originally I'm a Zulu, so in the Zulu and the Ndebere culture there's a specific king, right, there's a kingship still alive and all those things, and you can tell who Ndebere's are, as opposed to Shonas or Kosas or sutus or whatever, because there are things idiosyncratic about the way they speak, see, that's why the thing about holiness, it's never about practicing the way or your best life, whatever it is. Holiness is just how kingdom people speak, in the same way that in the British speak. A certain way, there are certain things that the French will say that what it is so holiness in our communication is just how we kingdom people speak. Power is just how those people are. Come on, some kingdoms are stronger than other people, why it's idiosyncratic to who those specific people are. So, when it comes to this kingdom, right.
Speaker 2:If somebody were to ask what is your kingdom all about? Right, what is your king all about? The foundation If our king had to run today, it means he would run his entire campaign on two things, and it's Psalms 89, verse 14. This is what it says. It says righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Mercy and truth go before you. So the foundation if his throne was a two-legged stool, for example, it would stand on two things, which is righteousness and justice, and because of that, the extension and the expression of that is mercy and truth. So that means, as kingdom people, the thing that should mark you and set you apart isn't what you profess, it's not what you believe, it's not your orthodoxy. It is simply this Whenever there is darkness, do you stand on righteousness and justice and extend the scepter of his kingdom in any situation. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. See, this has to be the framework.
Speaker 2:I remember in 2020, I might get to it here towards the end when everything was happening racially and all of a sudden they were like hey, you know what I'm saying. If you are dark-skinned, come on. If you have melanin all up in it, here's a mic. Say something, tell us, lead us, or whatever it is. If there's a shooting, if there's an altercation, it's like what is your commentary? You now represent the whole. You know what I'm saying, and I was pastoring at the Upper Room, which is predominantly Caucasian and it's younger people, so they're driven by a cause and they want to just point us in a direction and we'll just go all of those things.
Speaker 2:And in those particular instances, it would be so easy for you to say something because you think it's right and because you think it's uplifting, but simply because, when I came into the kingdom, the first thing, the point of entry that it required was my life. I died so I could live in this kingdom. And you know what wasn't resurrected? It was my opinion. Know what wasn't resurrected? It was my opinion. My opinion wasn't resurrected. My stance wasn't resurrected. My ethnicity wasn't resurrected.
Speaker 2:Now, yes, I can express things specifically, but everything that I do is an extension of the simple fact that is the kingdom. So people would come to ask me and be like how do we know when to comment? How do we know when to say something? How do we know when to say something? How do we know when to use? I was like it's very simple. What is the foundation of the kingdom that we represent? It's righteousness and it is justice.
Speaker 2:So this shooting or this whatever thing led us as a kingdom spokesperson? Because my authority is never mine, my influence is never mine, my platform is never mine, my voice is never mine. My influence is never mine, my platform is never mine, my voice is never mine. So, regardless of what you think I should say, what Pastor Scott should say, what that other person should say, regardless of all of that, the first question is does this particular situation undermine righteousness? I'm about to explain what that is, and the second thing is has there been an injustice. It could be sad, it could be traumatic what's happening, but if there was not an injustice perpetrated, I cannot speak on that. You know why? Because if I step outside the covering of this king and I begin to speak, then I do not have his grace, I do not have his covering and I do not have his endorsement, and the enemy is just praying. I do something that's stupid. Come on somebody.
Speaker 2:Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. So what is righteousness? Let me just jump into this real quick. Righteousness is very simple. It's three aspects. There's divine righteousness and it basically just mandates that God is objectively and subjectively righteous. There is nothing crooked about him or in him, or contrary to him, because he is the very standard of all things truth. Come on somebody. So he is righteous. But because he is righteous and he shed the blood of his son to redeem me, he calls me by his name. Therefore I also am righteous. That is what you call imputed righteousness. Divine righteousness says he is Imputed. Righteousness says, therefore, I am.
Speaker 2:Why is this good news? Because it means he can trust you with the nuclear codes of his kingdom. Come on somebody, because it's never about you anyways. That means it doesn't matter what those hands were doing last night. The moment you say, father, I'm sorry, I missed the mark, he brings you right into alignment, he cleanses you and then entrusts you, like the prodigal, with the ring and the scepter of his power to do business.
Speaker 2:And what that is, and that is why you call it the gospel, because the gospel is good news. And as long as it is up to you, how many of you all know you could be as perfect. Come on somebody as Pastor Britt, come on somebody. But how many? The rest of us? We would mess it up. But if it's not us and our righteousness and it's in his righteousness, in us then it's good news because it's like if I mess up, I just bring myself into alignment and I'm once again entrusted with the ability to do this. So that means that our Christianity has consistency, as long as we walk in the light and we move in the light. That means I need a community of kingdom, people like the rock family that understand that I'm not perfect. Therefore I do not have to hide. So when I do something, I come and I confess and I say I did something misaligned with my kingdom bandit and my perspective, and they together say we don't hold it against you. The blood of Jesus covers you. Now stand up and lead us. Come on somebody. That is what it is. So here's the most beautiful thing. Here's what I think the gospel was.
Speaker 2:This is coming from somebody who for over 25 years, was addicted to pornography, and I still remember. But the irony of it was I would still come to church. I was born into church. My parents would whoop us if we didn't go to church, so I had to come and I learned to be fake and all those things.
Speaker 2:Until one day somebody just said the gospel is good news. I'm like it doesn't feel like good news, because I always feel condemned and I feel like I can't hide and everything. And I was like why do you say it's good news? His name was Eric Morgan. He said it's very simple the gospel is good news because when you say yes to Jesus ooh, listen to this when you say yes to Jesus, you don't just get a new future, but you get a new past. Oh, come on somebody. See, because if the enemy cannot keep you from being saved, then he is going to keep the hooks of your past upon you. And the moment he says these things, it is going to stop. How many of you have ever tried running you know what I'm saying with hooks on it doesn't work. But the moment you're at him he says you have become a new creation.
Speaker 2:Now I can make reference of what I used to be, but those things don't define me anymore. I have a new future and I have a new past. That was the first part of the gospel. I was like that does sound like bad news. I can't wait to shed all the crookedness in my life. Man, I was as crooked as a ghetto tattoo. Come on, somebody. I mean, I was all over the place. You know what I'm talking about. But I was like that doesn't have to define me, because it doesn't define me. I can stand on any stage and say this is what I was, but that's what Paul says Say some of you were liars, some of you were thieves, some of you were all this, but you have been and he speaks a new future. That was the first thing you get. You don't just get a new future, you get a new past. But here's another beautiful thing, and this, to me, was what changed everything, and it's what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2:It says when you say yes to Jesus, the power of the gospel is that when you say yes to Jesus, you don't get a relationship with the father, you get his relationship with the father. Oh, come on somebody. Oh, listen to me. You don't get a relationship with your father because, if you're anything like me, right, I had this chronic and recurring malady of always messing up every good relationship I ever had. But that's what happens. Hurt people, hurt people right. Broken people will only manifest their brokenness. But what happens is the moment I knew that the good news was that it was his relationship. I was like I can't screw it up. The father loves the son and when we're born again we're seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We're in him.
Speaker 2:This is what the Bible says. It says all the promises of God in him are yes and amen. That means as long as I am in Christ, because we all know that the promises of God and the blessing of God only falls on people who act righteously. But Jesus lived the perfect, righteous life, which means that every good thing and every blessing was now due to him. And then he takes us and he says as long as we're clothed with Christ Jesus, then every promise of God over us is yes and amen. And so anytime I mess up, I say I come back under the blood of Jesus and I say cleanse me and wash me wider than snow, because I'm not going to be over here limping along with sin and everything. I've got kingdom work to do. I've got the impossible to manifest to a generation so they can come to a saving knowledge of who Jesus is. Therefore, that is what it is, and because of that, sin never has to have any dominion over me.
Speaker 2:And the most beautiful picture of this is the story that we see in the Old Testament. There was a father who loved a specific son and because he loved that son, because that son was obedient, he wanted to bless that son. And then there was the other rugrat come on somebody like me and you and everybody else who wanted that blessing. And so the mother came in as a voice of wisdom, says the only way you will get this blessing from your father is if you put on your older brother. Come on somebody. And when you go, the father said ooh, I smell the son of my favor, even though the voice is the voice of reward. When does my son now have an African accent, but he felt it. So whenever we come before the Father, closed in Jesus, he's like hey, I hear you and I hear that and I see all of that, but all I smell is Jesus, all I feel is Jesus.
Speaker 2:Therefore, he speaks, the blessing, and our simple responsibility is to keep ourselves in alignment with that. That's what the book of John says. Come on, if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with each other and with him, then the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness, and when we are righteous, then we can extend the scepter of his kingdom, because that is the primary leg for his kingdom. So because of that, it's imputed righteousness he is. Hence I am. Therefore I do.
Speaker 2:And now we get to what we're talking about the life of the impossible. Matthew 17, 20 says this Jesus says because of your unbelief, nothing will be impossible for you. Jesus said that you look at the life of the apostles. They didn't know what impossible was. You look at the life of Jesus. He didn't know what impossible was. And there's not a single clause, addendum or caveat or amendment which says that doesn't apply to us.
Speaker 2:As a matter of fact, jesus who did the most impossible things turned around and he said and he simply said, the works that I do not, the same works will you do? What did he say? Ooh, come on somebody. What's greater than the works Jesus did? We see a little bit in the book of Acts Come on, you, overachieving kingdom man. If he raised 100 people, people I can raise 200. My belief system is the limit. It's an invitation to that which is uniquely yours faith is the substance of the impossible. See, in that particular scripture I didn't put it on there, but just really touching on it real quick and he it says if you say from here, move from there, it will move and nothing will be impossible for you.
Speaker 2:However, this kind does not go out except through prayer and fasting. Now I do it as separate teaching. I don't have time to do this, but we've been raised within the church to think that this kind meant this kind of demon. But in that particular conversation, jesus shifts. They come and say why could we not cast the demon out? The subject was the demon. What was the subject? The demon. Then Jesus said it's because of your unbelief. And right there he shifts the subject to their unbelief. He says it's because of your unbelief, that's why you couldn't do it. And then he goes on to say all those things that, if you believe, you can say to this mountain, be those things. That if you believe you can say to this mountain, be cast, and it will do this and everything and nothing will be impossible to you. To who? To him who believes.
Speaker 2:Because we know that faith is the substance that heaven uses to craft the things that we desire. There's not a single time where somebody had faith and jesus said, ah, you can't have it. Or heaven said you can't have it. Anytime we have the right kind of faith, heaven has always responded to it. Be it to you according to your faith. We see it over and over. The substance that heaven uses to craft the things that we desire is faith. What is faith? It's a strong. It's a strong conviction that those specific things will happen.
Speaker 2:What is the thing that undermines faith? It's unbelief. So if I don't believe it, the Bible says I'm double-minded. Therefore I cannot get the things that I ask for. And what is unbelief? It's when the things that you see undermine the things that you know to be true. It's the same faith, sorry, it's the same. Truth and facts dichotomy Sorry, it's the same truth and facts dichotomy. The truth is I know this person can live. The facts are he's been dead. Whatever I see rigor mortis, I see green and everything and it's like whatever it is. So then that undermines our faith and what Jesus was saying prayer and fasting.
Speaker 2:This kind of unbelief, not this kind of demon, does not go out except through prayer and fasting. Right, real quick to touch on it. Is this important, see? Because as long as you think he's talking about the demon, you will come into a works-based mindset, to where you think I need to pray more so I can cast out specific types of demons. Like it's the boss in a, in a video game, towards like I didn't get enough xps and I gotta come back to this. And then you begin to think and the enemy will plant doubt and say, well, you couldn't cast that out because you didn't get enough XP's and I got to come back to this. And then you begin to think and the enemy will plant doubt and say, well, you couldn't cast that out because you didn't pray enough. And when you haven't prayed enough, you'll be like don't even touch that demon, because this is that kind, as long as you believe that theology. All the enemy has to do is just point to random demons and be like bro. That's that kind the kind that you have See.
Speaker 2:But we believe this because it's consistent with number one superhero philosophy. All of us know as superheroes like the more you do this, the more powerful you get. That language of come out is also consistent right with the philosophy of exorcism, right come out issues forth and everything. But what he was talking about is simply this unbelief. This unbelief does not come out except through prayer and fasting.
Speaker 2:What is fasting? Every single time we see the Bible talk about fasting, it says when I humbled my soul with fasting, fasting humbles the soul. What is the soul? Man is spirit. Soul and body. The spirit is that part of us that comes from Jesus. Is it okay if I teach for just a second? It's eternal. That's what we are. The soul is the center of your self-consciousness, it's your mind, it's your will, it's your emotion, it's all of those things. So when you look at a situation, your mind is the one that says you can't do that. You've seen the facts, you've seen all of those things and because of that it comes into ascendancy of your spirit. So you can't pray the prayer of faith, because the prayer of faith is when your spirit connects with the spirit of heaven and speaks what's possible, but your mind will come and tell you it's impossible. And the moment it does, your mind comes into a place of ascendancy and you can't pray the prayer of faith and there's a disconnect. Therefore, you don't get those things. But when you fast, the Bible says I humbled my soul with fasting.
Speaker 2:David says over and over, in that particular culture, every time the operative word for fasting was humbling, humbling oneself. So what does it do? It humbles your mind, your will, your emotions, the things that you know about, so that your spirit's in a place of ascendancy and your spirit has no problem praying and declaring the things which are impossible, because it comes from a realm where the impossible is the very air they breathe. So this is why, when people go and extended fast, they'll say stuff like I can hear God clearly. Why? Because the voices in your head are now humbled and submitted and the voice of the spirit is the loudest. That's why when people say when I was fasting, I prayed and I got this, there's nothing magical about fasting. What it did is it just ran interference to the voice of unbelief and then from there you can pray the prayer of faith and see our potency right. And here's another thing, real quick, just to prove it wasn't a demon, and then I'll move on, pastor Scott, I promise, but then to prove that it wasn't.
Speaker 2:This is simply this Demons do not listen to us because we are powerful. They listen to us because they know the authority. So it's got nothing. You can't build authority. He gives you his authority and based on that authority you can speak to any demon in hell and it is submitted because it's under your feet. The word for authority is the word exousia, right.
Speaker 2:But then when you pray you generate something called dunamis, like where you get dynamo or whatever it is. That's why it says building yourself up in your most holy faith, praying in the holy spirit. So when you pray in the holy spirit, you build yourself up and that is the power, the express power, that makes miracles possible. Demons don't respond to dunamis. Demons respond to authority, and authority is entrusted to us. But dunamis we have to build up ourselves. So it couldn't have meant prayer is how you get over demons.
Speaker 2:You see what I'm saying, because then that was essentially talking about dunamis. So I want you to know this, and I feel like there was an emphasis on this particular thing, simply because I want you to understand. It's not how much you've prayed or not, it's simply this If you are aware of the fact, that's all the enemy and demons need to see, do you know that you're a son of the king? Do you know that royal blood runs in your veins? If you know they can sense that particular authority, and whether you sinned yesterday or whether you haven't prayed, whatever it is, you can extend the scepter of his authority in that particular instance. So faith is a substance of the impossible.
Speaker 2:And then the second one is justice, and I just want to take a few seconds to talk about this. I love Acts 10, verse 38. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth, with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him. That is justice. Justice is an affront on the order, on the divine order of God, and when you step into any situation which is misaligned and misrepresentative of the God who created all things in his image and according to his likeness and call them good, then when you extend your hand and bring the scepter of God's kingdom that is called justice. Now, there are different iterations of justice. There's different iterations of justice and I think the most pressing one if I have the permission to go here, pastor Scott is when it comes to civil justice. We know this because we navigate this within the American context.
Speaker 2:Now, with all humility right, because I really respect this platform in this house I want to explain something about this whole thing. That's kind of going on, but before I do, I need to ask you, as kingdom people, not to listen with your scars or your skin. See, if you're black in this room, I want you to listen to me, not with your scars. And if you're white, I want you to listen to me, not with your skin, but I want you to listen to me, not with your scars. And if you're white, I want you to listen to me, not with your skin, but I want you to listen to me with your spirit, because, whether scar or skin, everybody has enough justification to stick to what they essentially believe. But the truest metric to how you approach issues of justice is always a spirit submitted to the lordship of jesus.
Speaker 2:See, this is the most important thing. This is what gives the church not just an edge when it comes to social justice conversation, but a mandate, simply because the world doesn't have that same radar of the god that made everything in his image, the divine government of what it is. So because of that, the enemy will try to isolate you into a camp and to shut you up from speaking, whereas you are the only voice that matters, simply because you have a third faculty for discerning these things, and that is your spirit. See, the most dangerous thing about movements and moments and everything like we saw in 2020, is simply this that there are some people who, if you listen with your skin or if you listen with your scars, what will happen is there are some people or groups or philosophies which the sentiment will be so sound and so close to your kingdom values that, if you don't use discernment, you can say, in solidarity with this sentiment, don't use discernment. You can say, in solidarity with this sentiment, I stand with this people. So the sentiment may be sound, but the spirit is off, and so you find yourself aligning with a specific thing and later on, you're now in trouble because you have spoken up and used the platform of God's kingdom to speak up for something, and then you understand that it was just the sentiment.
Speaker 2:But the spirit behind that thing is division. The spirit behind that thing is to take. The spirit behind that thing is to steal. The spirit behind that thing is to subvert authority. And now, all of a sudden, you have lost credibility because you sided with this particular thing. See, this was what was so beautiful about Jesus. Jesus existed in the most politically charged climate in that particular thing. See, this was what was so beautiful about Jesus Jesus existed in the most politically charged climate in that particular thing. So they were constantly trying to bring Jesus to their side.
Speaker 2:Jesus, what do you say? These people here say this. And these people say here, say this. What do you say? And you know what Jesus did. He was neither left or right, but he always dragged them to the radical middle, because, well, that's where the kingdom is. See, in our day and age, if you draw a line, you draw a crowd. If I stand here and say I'm drawing this line, this is what it looks like a crowd of people will follow you. And it's so easy for you to think because you have the endorsement of a specific crowd. You have the endorsement of heaven. Come on, but what the kingdom says is it's's both and it's this and that, and so we listen with our spirit, because when we listen with our spirit, the sentiment, the true sentiment, will always line up and come with that.
Speaker 2:So the first thing that you do is reject every false dichotomy and say the my metric is this Was justice violated? Was what happened between this person and this person an injustice? If so, I not only have a responsibility, but I have the authority to speak into it. If not, even though it seems cut and dry to everybody else, I don't have the authority to speak into it, because I am not the king of my kingdom. And then the second thing is righteousness. Does it undermine this alignment that everybody's made in the imago dei? If it does, then I can't touch it.
Speaker 2:You see what I'm saying, and but, but at the same time, though, um, in the, in the time I I have left, I just want to explain this because, just as I was spending time with prayer, I remembered something which was an indictment that people said in 2020 over black people in America, and it was simply this whenever they were rioting and doing all of these things, a narrative kept coming out, and it was simply this that violence is the language of the disenfranchised, that expressive outrage is the language of the disenfranchised, that expressive outrage is the language of people who feel like they cannot articulate themselves. And this may be a. I'll show this video. It may be a little humorous take, but I want us to take this perspective. And then I want to explain this. But I saw this video and I was reminded of this particular thing and I feel like it. It. It it perfectly illustrates why there's always such a discrepancy between black people and white people and us understanding things on the same level.
Speaker 2:And my authority to speak on this, by the way, is not just kingdom, it's what I call the third sibling perspective. Here's what I mean by that. So so there's 12 of us. Same mom, same dad. Come on somebody. Right, sorry, there's 13 of us. I have 12 siblings.
Speaker 2:Now, what I learned very early enough is sometimes sibling number seven had an issue with sibling number three and they would duke it out Come on somebody.
Speaker 2:But the thing is, whenever they took it out and they would break the TV, whether you were in the beef or you were not in the beef, nobody got to watch TV, come on. So, whether you were directly involved or not, you had the responsibility to be like hey, take that foolishness out there, because in here. So if you live in America, whether you're white or whether you're black, or if you're Indian or brown or whatever it is, whatever happens between this primary right, the duality and the binary aspect of these groups, affects everybody. So therefore, if you don't feel like you have that authority, you can step up as a third city and be like hey, whatever you're doing affects me. Therefore, this is what I speak of. So my perspective before the kingdom perspective and the authority to speak into this comes from that. Whatever happens affects me and it affects you as well. But to explain it, check out this video and then I'm going to say a few more things and we'll jump into it.
Speaker 3:It's just, there's all this pressure, you know, and sometimes it feels like it's right up on me and I can just feel it like literally feel it in my head, and it's relentless and I don't know if it's going to stop. I mean, that's the thing that scares me the most, is that I don't know if it's ever going to stop. Yeah Well, you do have a nail in your head. It is not about the nail, are you sure? Because I mean I'll bet if we got that out of there. Stop trying to fix it.
Speaker 2:No, I'm not trying to fix it. I'm just pointing out that maybe the nail is causing you always do this.
Speaker 3:You always try to fix things, when what I really need is for you to just listen. See, I don't think that is what you need. I think what you need is to get the nail out. See, you're not even listening now. Okay, fine, I will listen. Fine, it's just, sometimes it's like there's this achy, I don't know what it is, and I'm not sleeping very well at all and all my sweaters are snagged I mean all of them. That sounds really hard, it is. Thank you, ow, come on, if you would just Don't.
Speaker 2:How many I was seeing that and Try to see things my way. How many. I was seeing that and I was like, oh my gosh. First of all, every man in this house, right, how many of you guys know it is about the nail? Come on, if you're a man, it is about the nail right. And every woman in this house knows for a fact that it's not about the nail right Every woman. So both sides are right. It's like it's not about the nail, because if I pull out this nail that you're talking about, then there's a hole and I don't know if you can plug this hole. You haven't even taken out the trash and it's all about all these other things. And this guy over here is like you just said your sweater's all snagged. I promise you, if we take this out, we'll deal with the rest of it.
Speaker 2:But we understand, because everybody has a sense of truth. Whenever you know there's validity to your perspective, right, there can be emotional trauma assigned to that particular thing. So what I saw when I stepped into the American context was simply this that every time I listened to people from the white perspective and because I was from Africa, they were not shy in saying it, because what the enemy has brought to a lot of white America is guilt. So they feel like they can't really have that conversation. And what guilt does is it always silences, right? And with my black brothers from this kind of side it's like there's just a lot of anger and outrage, and justifiably so. So because of that, it will always take somebody from a contra perspective, of a contra narrative to at least bring enough clarity to say well, it is about both the nail and it's not really about the nail. What I mean by that is, every single time I would sit down at tables with my white brothers and have those conversations, they would always bring out the facts. And the facts were true. If they would just pull themselves up by their bootstraps, if they would stop doing this, if they would apply themselves. Here here are the stats. To me it is as clear as day and they're right. It's the facts.
Speaker 2:But here's something that most people don't understand, and sometimes even my black brothers and sisters, is the simple fact that what happened to black America was not political, it was spiritual. See, it was the enemy that set up a specific system. Here's what I mean by that the black American. First of all, we'll come back to what I'm saying about this. Pastor Scott, can I take just a little time to kind of unpack it? Is that okay if I just unpack this for a little bit?
Speaker 2:See, here's where I, when I got this revelation from the holy spirit, the empathy and the sympathy and the love of god for black america flooded my heart more than anything and I was like I have actually sided with the enemy in accusing my brothers of something that wasn't political, it wasn't social, it was straight evil from the pits of hell. See, when black people were brought here from America, the first thing that the enemy took away I'm not even going to talk about is the colon. This was the enemy from the pits of hell. The first thing that he took away was their name, their identity from the pits of hell. The first thing that he took away was their name, their identity. Let me tell you how powerful identity is and, consequently, how tragic this is. That means that the black person who was born in America does not have a context to where their very identity is theirs as well, is theirs as well, because their last name itself is a reminder of the fact that they were property.
Speaker 2:And then the second thing is even any sort of validation. If you say, hey, just go to college and get all those accolades and everything, even the sense of validation through the path of knowledge, it's still a white institution that says you are worthy because you are now doctor, so and so that language. Here's something that my father taught me and is true within the Ubuntu context you can never truly lament in the language of your oppressors. You can never truly lament in the language of your oppressors. So, whatever happens, when I come and I run into something racial at work or with the cops, or I have brushes which I've had because I grew up in Dallas well, not grew up, but I was in Dallas when I first came there and everything. So I've seen racism wearing the badge of authority. I've seen that and I've experienced it. Do you know what the difference between me and it was? When I got home, I could completely decontextualize myself from that so I could step into my Zulu identity and process that particular thing.
Speaker 2:The black American does not have that. He does not have a contra context for him to step outside and look at it from an objective lens. And how many of you guys know that you can never really deal with anything while you're in the same mindset and the same state and the same reality that created it. So the entire world can speak to black America and say why won't you get over it? It's been all this time and it's all of this. But we all know that for you to start healing, you have to step away and decontextualize yourself from the trauma and have a conversation that sees that thing as anything other than yourself. But everything that happens to the black American happens within his kitchen. He has to use the tools that were taught to him in this same institution. He has to use the name that was given, which still reminds him of this particular thing, to navigate this particular problem. So for the black American, it's not about it's the nail, it's everything about the nail. My entire existence is the nail.
Speaker 2:I don't have the luxury of stepping into any other context apart from the nail and even just saying this, even when we talk about that like the black American thing, do you know that even the categorization the black American and I say black American, this doesn't even have a category? That is germane to who they are? See, if you're white, you have the luxury of just calling yourself. I'm American. Actually, very few people refer to themselves as Caucasian American. I don't have to qualify myself when I step into places I'm African. Descriptors call Asian people Asian American. There are very few people that walk around saying I'm Asian American, they're Asian. Even Mexicans are Mexican. You see what I'm saying. There's a context. But when you look at this right, so, for example, the terminology African American itself is not a true categorization. African American itself is not a true categorization Because the African aspect of it is the qualifier and the American aspect.
Speaker 2:Let me give you an example. So I was born in Africa. 20 years, 21 years, I lived there. It was formed there. I'm an African through and through. I speak the language. I have all the idiosyncrasies, you know. When they ask me to preach, I go longer and I apologize for that right. Everything African, I embody it. I am the walking stereotype of being African. So if I go to Zimbabwe today, right, my brother lives in Africa. You see what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:So if I go and I stand there and Pastor Scott is talking about this and he says something like hey, yeah, no, I'm talking to the African right, and somebody says which African, he can say I mean the American African because I was naturalized here. So the American aspect of it is a descriptor of the type of American, of the African that I am. Does that make sense? Which African? The American one, the one who wears cut-off pants, and the ones and everything that's as American as you get. That's a descriptor. Now you flip it right, but you can't even really say right, the African American, because that's also a descriptor.
Speaker 2:So if my brothers and sisters have never been to Africa, there's nothing idiosyncratic about Africa and who they are. So if they were to stand between a white American and a black American, you can't even say that. If you have to distinguish which one, you see what I'm saying you cannot say the African American, even though they're both American because they've never been to Africa. So not only do they have, do they not have an identity context to process what's happening. They do not have an institutional context to process what's happening, and even the very classification of who they are speaks to the simple fact that they are orphans in a nation where they look at everything that they helped to build themselves and they can't go to Africa and reclaim land because we won't let them. So they essentially you know. You see what I'm talking about. I'm just being real, guys. I know it's lighthearted, but I'm just so. There's not a single context where the black American or the African American what I don't even know what to call them will ever be a majority. They'd never have a sense of their homeland, because if they had identity, then they could trace it to a homeland. But that was taken away. And I say all that to say.
Speaker 2:What's happening is simply that melanated America is grieving and you all know that whole thing, like the different levels of grief and everything. There's denial and there's pain and we're seeing a lot of manifestation of that pain. But even beyond that, there are multiple other levels and I feel like the rest of the world and even white America is at a place where it's like okay, can I just write a check and be done with it? And melanated America is going. They're like can I just write a check? What's your name? Melanated America is like that's the problem. I don't even know what my name is. If I were to write this name on this check that you want to cash, you want to fix it with your wallet. I don't even know who I am. So I'm lamenting a lost identity in a borrowed context. Therefore, you cannot tell me slavery is 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70. It could be 300 years.
Speaker 2:As long as there's not a place for them to process the trauma, apart from who they are, that will never be done. But here's the beautiful thing, here's why the gospel is the only hope. When it comes to this racial conversation. I'm not mitigating your cultural expression. I'm not mitigating any of that. I am simply saying that, in his divine wisdom, the first prerequisite that God gave for coming into the kingdom was that you check in your identity at the door. Fractured, whole, privileged, non-privileged, you are called unto a death and resurrected with a new name and a new lineage. See, that's why the Bible says the name of the Lord is a strong tower, because that is the only place for melanated America to process the trauma that they're essentially going through. And once he gives you His name, then he can redeem everything about you. Then, when you step into what you call the culture, it's not a culture that is tied to the trauma and the systems of the enemy. It's me fully expressing the way I move and the way I dance and the way I cook and all the things that we love about melanated America when it finds its pure expression. But when we do that absent of the trauma of the orphan spirit, then it can truly be something that melanated America can then hand on to their children and their children's children.
Speaker 2:So the answer to process what this particular thing looks like is the power of the kingdom. We have a new king, we have a new identity. Whether it's neither Jew nor Greek, nor male nor female, nor African nor white, american it is. And from there we rise up as kingdom people with the responsibility to live in the supernatural and we step into situations and we can speak identity to other black people, then we can speak identity to white people. Come on, and that's the power of what that looks like. Can I get the uh, the band behind me real quick, um, and we can just kind of uh, worship with that and so, going into that, uh, if we go back to that scripture, psalms 89, verse 14, this is what it says Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.
Speaker 2:Mercy and truth go before. You See, 92 times in the New Testament the word dikaiosune is used for righteousness and once for justice. So this, the word for righteousness and justice, is the same word. 91 times it's used as righteousness and once as justice. Why is that? Why the disproportion? It's very simple when we understand, when we understand the power of our right standing with God, that we're now named by him and his divine power has given us everything that we need for life and godliness, and how the same spirit that he anointed Jesus Christ of Nazareth with, who went about doing good and healing all, were oppressed because God was with him.
Speaker 2:One of the most profound scriptures is when Jesus had to step into, when he washed the disciples' feet. It says this is how that particular pericope of scripture starts. It says in Jesusesus, knowing who he was, knowing that he came from and he was going to the father that's identity motivated by love. Then he took the feet of everybody, the disobedient, his betrayers, the doubters and everything. He girded himself and he served them, knowing that it came from God and went to God. Identity, righteousness he knelt down and they washed their feet.
Speaker 2:Justice you cannot have justice without righteousness and any philosophy that calls for justice without righteousness is an extension of the evil one. And the responsibility and the challenge for every single one of us today, as we go on Pentecost, as we go into this, is simply this If you don't mind, could you just stand up with me? It's simply this You're made in the image of God. There is not a single thing that he withheld from you. If Jesus did it, you have a responsibility to do it bigger and better. You have the tools, you have the context, you have the church community. The Spirit of God was given to you without mitigation. If you're not living in the power of the Holy Spirit and stepping into situations and extending the scepter of His kingdom and His righteousness as a son and a daughter of the King, you're living below your potential. You're living below your potential.
Speaker 2:See, one of the most beautiful, most tragic scriptures, I believe, is romans 8, and this is what it says says creation is groaning because it is waiting for the manifestation of sons, because only a son can speak to a tornado and say peace, be still. The world is waiting for your manifestation. Thank you Jesus, thank you, holy Spirit. Here's what I'm sensing in my spirit and I, just before I call Pastor Scott up, I just want to use this as a, as a moment of encounter, and it's simply. I'm just reminded of that song, it's just playing in my spirit over and over Wherever. Wherever that river goes, it brings life. Whatever dead thing it touches, it brings life to that particular thing.
Speaker 2:So you're about to be released into your week with power, but I feel like there are some hurt places, there are some dead places, there are some erroneous beliefs, things that just need the alignment and the power of God, the river of God, to just touch and bring alignment into that. So here's what I'd love for us to do. If you don't mind, can you just put your hand out in front of you as a matter of fact, if you're in this place and you're like okay, I hear what you're saying, but I really need a touch from God today. I really need the Lord to bring alignment into areas of my life so I can take the power of this kingdom and step through those doors and into the mission field of my life. If you're in this room and you want the Lord to powerfully touch you, can you just come up to the front. Thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus, thank you Father, thank you Jesus.
Speaker 2:And as you come down here, whatever you're comfortable with, whether it's on your knees, whether you're standing, whatever it is but let me tell you this what's happening right now is the same thing that happened with the prodigal, when the father, when the moment he oriented himself to head back towards the father, the father ran towards him with only one report I'm restoring the ring of your authority. I'm covering you and your situation with my righteousness. I'm putting the beautiful shoes of the good news to wherever you go. You'll proclaim the good news to people and I'm spending more than you ever lost to throw a party to make you feel welcomed in this place. So you're stepping out of your seat and coming up here. The Lord has those instruments of restoration to declare over you right now. So just begin to speak to him right now. Just, whatever that situation is, just use your voice to just hand it over completely to him and I'll say a quick prayer and then I'll ask Pastor Scott to come up, because only a father can then speak restoration over you and over your situation and over everything that is.
Speaker 2:After I say my quick prayer and, if you're a part of the pastoral team or the prayer team, just begin to walk and just lay hands on them and stand with your brothers and sisters. I thought this was going to end with a bang and I was ready for it, but I feel like the Lord wants to do something deeper. So just kind of come up here and if you're the pastoral team, stand with them. If you're still coming, find a spot and just say, father, I give you everything, I give you everything, I give you that situation. I give you Before I give you that situation, I give you before I can walk in the power and the expression and the dunamis of God. The crooked places have to be made straight. The rough places have to be made smooth. That which is crippled has to be strengthened, and that's what the Lord is doing to your brothers and sisters.
Speaker 2:If you're in this room right now, can you stretch out your hand towards them? Because we're a kingdom, we're family. There's no spectators. Just begin to speak. Whatever it is that is manifest in your life, what I mean by. If you're walking in victory, just speak victory over them. If you're walking in overwhelming peace, just speak peace over them. Just begin to speak the intention of God over your brothers and sisters. Open your mouth right now.
Speaker 2:Thank you Father, thank you Father, thank you Jesus. So, lord, I just come before you and I thank you that wherever your river goes, it brings life. So I thank you that there is no dead space in their hearts and in their lives that is left Dead, father. So I just come before your throne, holy Spirit, and I pray that. Do what only you can do over them and over their lives. In Jesus' name, give him everything right now. Continue to speak with him. I love the worship team to just take some time to just even lead us in that song about wherever the Spirit comes, it brings life and afterwards, if it's okay, I love the worship team to just take some time to just even lead us in that song. But wherever the Spirit comes, it brings life. And afterwards, if it's okay, with Pastor Scott, he will just pray a blessing over you guys and release you in the power, the covering of the Holy Spirit, to go live your lives with power.
Speaker 4:Heavenly Father, we love you. Today, god, we pray for your increased anointing on the life of the believer today. Oh, god, for those who are in search, who are hungry, who are desperate, who are looking for transformation today, God, I thank you that you have met us here today. God, I bless those that are here in the altar, those that are crying out, god, for a fresh infilling of the power of God and the spirit of God, god, that they may be able to walk out in the true authority that you have placed on their life. God, I thank you for true belief to continue to anchor, to dig deep into the hearts of men and women today, god, as they're here, hungry, desperate to make sense of what to do next. God, I pray for your supernatural touch. God, for those that are broken in this altar today, god, we cover them in Jesus' name. God, we thank you for your miraculous work, and those that are broken in body. Today, god, we stand in agreement. Today, we lend our faith God. We ask you, lord, to meet us in our place of unbelief. God, we lay that before you today, god, and we ask you to fix our unbelief. God, forgive us where we have gotten complacent. Forgive us for being complacent, that we've used our trauma to hide behind what you paid for on the cross. God, we've lifted up our problems to supersede who you are as our deliverer, as our healer, as our God, as our Savior. God, we ask you, help us reposition our hearts into God, into your kingdom, God. We thank you today, god, for what you're doing in the altars. I thank you for what you're doing in this room. I thank you that the deep conviction of the Holy Spirit that comes up, who confronts our flesh and lays it before you. We thank you today. We give you authority. We give you access. We give you authority, we give you access. We give you God. We renounce those things we've made partnerships with. We renounce what we've made partnerships our offense, our hurt, our frustration. We renounce that in Jesus' name. We replace that with kingdom language, kingdom power, kingdom authority. We replace that with kingdom language, kingdom power, kingdom authority. God, we thank you that, as we realign ourselves, it will manifest itself in what we do, in what we do, in what we do, god, we thank you today. As we realign our heart, as we realign our spirit to your kingdom purpose, god, it will realign who we are, the way we think, the way we operate, the what we do. God, we thank you today. We thank you for your touch.
Speaker 4:God, I bless this congregation today. We pray over them. Thank you for your grace. We thank you for your strength. We thank you for what awaits us this week, god. God, I thank you that tonight many will have the best sleep they've ever had. Tonight, just having guilt and shame and confusion taken off of their life. Today, they're gonna have the best sleep they've ever had. They're gonna have the best work week they've ever had.
Speaker 4:God, we thank you for these things. Today, god, we ask you to be with us. God, be with us. God Be with us. God, as we step out, god, this authority, as we step out this relationship with you, as we step out this healing that you are bringing to our mind, our body, our spirit. God, we thank you today. God, help us, help us, help us to lock in, tune in, to being led by the Spirit. God, you have called us, separated us. We are not where the world has defined us to be, but we are submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We reposition our lives, our hearts, our emotions, our scars, our weaknesses. They're all yours. We trust you to empower us into this future. We bless you today. We bless, we bless you today, we honor you today. We give you glory In Jesus' name. Everyone said Amen, come on. Everyone said come on. Everyone said amen, amen, amen, amen we hope and pray.
Speaker 1:This message was encouraging and impactful. Join us live on our website or Facebook on Sundays at 9 and 11 am. You can stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram at the Rock Family. Have a Jesus-filled week.